Chapter 9: Mysterious guardian

Ahsoka's POV

I woke up the next morning and the sun was in my eyes. I groaned in frustration as I pulled a pillow over my head. I felt the bed dip beside me and a strong arm wrapped around my waist. I knew it was Anakin.

"Morning beautiful," he said as he pulled me closer to his warm body. I turned to face him and he kissed my lips slowly.

"Morning." I said. I sighed. We had to get up soon, and I didn't really feel like getting up. I relaxed and enjoyed the moment.

"We have to get up soon." He said, his ocean blue eyes staring into mine.

"I don't want to get up." I whispered.

"Good. Because I don't want you to yet." He whispered back. He kissed my neck and I scooted closer to him. He tightened his arms around me and I smiled. We stayed like this for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's presence. I felt so lucky to be the one in his arms. Of all the girls he could have chosen, he chose me. His padawan. I smiled at the thought of it. He must have caught on.

"Why the sudden waves of happiness?" He asked softy.

"I just feel so lucky to be yours. You're 'The Chosen one'. Everyone wants to be your special person. And of all those people that you could have chosen to be with, you chose me." I felt my Lekku darken as I looked away from him, a little embarrassed. He sat up against the pillows and pulled me into his lap.

"I'm not 'The Chosen One'. I'm Anakin Skywalker, and I'm your lover. I will never want anyone else but you Ahsoka. You are all I need in life. My aim and my goal are to keep you happy. If you're happy, I'm happy. I love you so much and I never want to let you go." He said lovingly. A tear of happiness trickled down my cheek and I smiled.

"I love you so much..." I said, as he wiped the year away with his thumb.

"I love you too." He whispered. I kissed him quickly before pushing myself off the bed. I walked towards the refresher.

"Aww don't leave me..." He said sarcastically, smirking. I rolled my eyes at him as I turned back around and into the refresher. I turned on the shower and made the water nice and hot. I stepped in to enjoy the heat of the water, closing my eyes. I thought about the mission I was going on today. My first mission without Anakin. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I wanted to make him proud. I wanted to show him that I wasn't the scared, vulnerable little girl that I had first met him as. I wanted to show him he had helped me and that now I was big enough to handle most things on my own. Being honest, I was a little nervous, but if anything went wrong I wouldn't be alone. Barriss is going to be there with me, so I have nothing to worry about. After ten minutes of enjoying the peace and relaxing my mind, I stepped out and wrapped the towel tightly around me. I was still a little on edge because of my past. I opened the door of the refresher and Anakin was standing outside. I jumped, not expecting him to be right outside the door.

"You gave me a fright." I said, smiling at my overreaction. He rubbed my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to." He smirked as he ran his hands down my body. Gently of course. I glared at him.

"What are you so happy about?" I questioned, his hands moving around to my back. He pulled me closer, moving to whisper Into my ear.

Anakin's POV

"I've never seen you in just a towel before," I whispered seductively, my hands moving down further to her rear. She tensed and I sensed she felt afraid. I realised she was still haunted from the events in her past. He eyes avoided mine, looking down. I quickly pulled my hands back around her to hold her arms lightly.

"Hey relax. It's just me. It's Anakin. I'm not going to force you into anything. You know that, right?" I was actually a little shocked she thought that I might force her into a situation that she didn't want to be in. She relaxed a little and looked up at me.

"I'm sorry. I just..." She trailed off. I pulled her into an embrace and she returned it.

"Ahsoka, you have to know that I would never make you do that. I understand if you would never want to because-"

"I never said I didn't want too." She said, a little embarrassed. "I'm just…" she stumbled. I could tell she was embarrassed but I was proud of her for telling me.

"Not ready." I finished for her. "I know. It's ok. Ill wait as long as it takes. You have to know that I'm never going to force you to do anything with me. I can't live knowing that you're afraid of me." I pulled back at looked back into her beautiful eyes. She was calm now. She smiled and I smiled back.

"Thank you," she whispered. I kissed her on the cheek before she went to get dressed. She took her clothes into the refresher and came back out a few minutes later. She was in her usual Padawan outfit. Her red tube top, maroon skirt and white leggings, and her training boots.

"Ok Snips, I'm going for a shower. Just hang around here for a while and I'll go down with you. I won't be long." She smiled and I smiled back before walking into the refresher and closing the door behind me.

Ahsoka's POV

I had some time to spare before Anakin came out so I decided to keep working on my sketch of him. I took out my sketch book and led pencils from under my bed and sat by the window. I opened to the right page and smiled at my work. This was by far my best so far. I had taken extra care with this sketch. I wanted to have it finished by his birthday, so I could give it to him. So far I had done the left eye and nose. I still had much to do. I began drawing the outline of the right eye, before adding texture ad shading. Sometime later it was starting to take a nice shape, but it wasn't symmetrical with the other eye. I sighed as I began to rub out the area needing improvement. I put the eraser down beside me and briefly looked out the window. I was shocked at what I saw. Standing right there, another 20 feet away, was the mysterious man that saved me those many years ago. Since then I thought I had seen glimpses of him, but this time I knew it was definitely him and he was definitely there. Although we were staring straight at each other, he didn't move behind a wall or divert his gaze. Years of curiosity suddenly built up inside me as I dropped my book to the floor and jumped out the window. I was desperate to know who this mysterious man was. He wore a dark cloak covering him from head to toe so all I could see was his eyes. But I knew it was him. I just knew it. I could feel it in my gut and I was one to trust my gut. As I began running towards him I heard Anakin turn off the water, but at the moment I don't care
I had to find out who this person was. As I reached him I came to a halt to catch my breath. I had this worked out in my mind for months now. I sighed. 'Ok, just get the facts...' I said to myself.

"Hey you," he looked at me. "My name is Ahsoka Tano. I've noticed you have been following me and watching me from a distance for a while now. I want to know what you're up to and who you're working for. And don't bother pretending you have no idea what I'm talking about because I know you're following me." I held my head high and stood strong. I felt Anakin's worry as he frantically searched for me, but I couldn't abandon my case. He sighed.

"I knew you would get curious one day... Ok look, I'm not going to hurt you." He took his hood off and raised his hands. "My name is Norall. Before you were brought here, when you were still on your home planet Shilli, your father asked a favour of me." He said calmly.

"You knew my father?" I asked quickly.

"Quite well actually. We were close. In fact, best friends." He said, I could sense he was telling the truth. He started again.

"Just before-"

"Ahsoka!" Anakin yelled from behind me. I spun around to see him running towards me. Once he reached me he pulled me into his arms. I went into them happily. "Where were you! I was so worried…" Then he looked to the man that knew my father. I felt his anger flare. "What have you done to her?" He said protectively, pulling me behind him.

"I have done nothing to her. I mean no harm. Ask her yourself." He said simply. Anakin looked towards me.

"He's telling the truth. This is the man I told you about. The one that has been following me. He knew my father. I need to talk to him." He didn't seem to get the message. "...in private." I said through our bond. He looked at me with an unsure gaze.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'll call for you if I need you." I whispered. He still didn't want to go. I decided to take it from a different angle. "Anakin I need you to understand that he has all the answers that I need answering. I need to know what happened or what's going on. He...he can tell me about my parents." This wasn't an act. He could see this was important to me and nodded.

"Ok. But if you need me, I'm going to be standing over there by the window. I won't leave." I appreciated that. He kissed me passionately before turning to leave.

"I love you," he said. He glared at the man. "If you hurt her, I won't hesitate to kill you. " he threatened.

"I assure you she will be safe with me." The man smiled. Anakin's glare didn't change as he walked away. I turned back to the man and motioned for him to continue.

"So when you were still very young, your parents knew that you were force sensitive. I don't know how, but they did. They knew that soon, Jedi would come to get you. They loved you very much. They didn't want you to go, but it was for the best. You would have a better future here. Of course, if you went with the Jedi, your parents wouldn't be with you to protect you. You would have to get through your whole childhood and teenage life on you own. Your parents felt that you needed someone to protect you in case you were ever in trouble." I tilted my head down a little, putting the pieces together. When I realised the truth my eyes widened.

"So my parents hired you to protect me. A bodyguard. " he thought for a moment.

"Well, yes and no. Yes, I was hired to protect you, but not like a bodyguard. They wanted you to figure life out on your own. They just wanted me watching from the shadows in case you were ever in danger." He explained. It all made sense now.

"Ok so...you're like my guardian angel."

"Yes, I guess you could put it that way." I smiled. Without any warning I walked closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him.

"Thank you. For watching me all these years." I said truthfully.

"Ahh it was no trouble. I've always wanted to visit the different systems in the galaxy and explore the universe. By watching over you I was able to do that. So we both win." I pulled away and smiled.

"So, how long were you supposed to protect me?"

"Until you reached your eighteenth birthday." He replied. I thought for a moment. I was nearly seventeen. Did I really want this man to follow me around and protect me for another year or so? I was much stronger now than I was when I first came to the temple and I could handle myself now. And Anakin might also not like the idea of me having a protector. He wanted to be my protector. I thought maybe it was best if I told him I didn't need a protector anymore. Suddenly two strong arms wound around my waist and I immediately knew whose they were.

"Anakin...did you...did you hear..." I whispered, afraid that he would be angry.

"Yes. I'm not mad. Your parents just wanted to protect you...but I wanted that job..." He said sweetly.

"It will always be you job Ani." I said as I kissed him.

"I need to tell him I don't need him anymore." He nodded and I pulled away to turn towards Norrall.

"Norrall, I really appreciate everything that you have for me over the last years, but I think that I am old enough and strong enough to get on by myself now. And Anakin will protect me if anything were to happen. But I'm honestly grateful for everything you've done and especially for all those years ago at the bar when…"I started to get emotional. Anakin rubbed my back and held me in his arms to comfort me.

"I completely understand. I had expected this to happen and I'm prepared for it. I will now continue my dream of exploring the galaxy. But just know that if you ever need my help with anything, just let me know and I'll be happy to help. Your father was like my brother, so you are like my niece. And I'll help you with anything you need whenever you need it." He said. I smiled and we shared a hug. I felt Anakin was a little jealous and I internally chuckled at that. I pulled away from him and went back to Anakin. He wrapped his arm protectively around me.

"I truly am grateful for the protection you gave Ahsoka all these years. It is important to me to know that she is safe. I never want anything to happen to her…" He said sweetly. I smiled.

"You're welcome. I can see that my role will be filled by a trustworthy and honourable man. I know you will take good care of her for me." He sighed. "Well, I'll best be off. So much to see in the near and far corners of the galaxy. Take care of each other. And you know you can always rely on me for help." And with that. He turned and walked to his nearby speeder. He got on and rode away into the city, fading away behind the crowds. I sighed. I felt like now he was gone I would be put in danger soon, but Anakin was here. And nothing could go wrong if we were together, right? But then I remembered, on the mission…we wouldn't be together…

I'M SO SORRY FOR THE HUGE DELAY! I HAVE BEEN ON HOLIDAYS! But I'm back now and updates will be sooner from now on. Please keep reading!

Just-Dream-18