You guys can imagine how evil I feel right now
Chapter 14
Ahsoka felt like she was underwater.
Her head swam with a liquid, dark blue ocean of nothingness, and she felt her mind wander around like a fish with no light to follow for a moment. Then she saw a faint light, shining through underwater particles and extending in rays toward her. She swam forward and grabbed it, hauling herself up on it like a rope. It went all the way to the surface, the first thought that went to her head as she threw herself up into the open air and heaved for a breath was, "DEROLF!"
Anakin's hands trembled as he heard the first sound. It was as if his heart had stopped, too. Had she breathed? No, it couldn't be—but it had to! It was! Another ragged breath ripped its way from his Padawan's delicate throat, and after a hiccupping pause, another.
He saw her chest rise. Impossible. She was breathing. She was alive.
Tears welled up in his eyes that hadn't been there even a second ago and he pressed his forehead to hers, unable to choke back the sobs of relief that started pouring out of him.
All of a sudden he felt someone nudge him forcefully, and he looked up with a blank stare to see Mace busily using the body shroud to stop Ahsoka from bleeding as quickly.
He'd completely forgotten about the Jedi Master. Subconsciously he was unimaginably grateful for his presence, now. Ever the present-minded soldier, Mace was fully prepared to help ensure Ahsoka remained alive, now that Anakin had found that she actually was.
A brief jab from the Force reminded him that the young woman was not out of danger yet, nor would she be for probably a very long time.
Carefully, he helped Mace tie down the bandage and tried to lift her to get her out of there and back to their ship. Mace reached out a firm hand and stopped him. "We don't know why the guards were attacking her," he pointed out. "We can't take her out in the open or she'll be arrested."
Anakin felt his eyes narrow. "I can't allow that," he replied, darkly.
Mace shifted uncomfortably. "Leaving with her in our ship would be a criminal act in and of itself."
"I don't care."
"I know YOU don't," the Jedi Master muttered.
"Well, if you don't like it, you can stay here with the clones, then!" Anakin huffed in response. "We've gotta get out of here quick; I'm not gonna talk about this any longer."
He reached for Ahsoka again and started to haul her up before he realized the task would be next to impossible. His weakened muscles were already starting to give out, and he was going to have to get her past countless guards without being noticed.
It was a little bit embarrassing that Mace already knew this, as well.
A little awkwardly, and impatiently, he waited for the Master to say something.
Mace sighed heavily. "Something's wrong here," he said at last. "The last time Padawan Tano was convicted of a crime, she nearly died in her innocence. This time, clones attempt to kill her without any trial at all." Hesitantly, he met Anakin's eyes with his own black, hard-set ones. "Tano is being conspired against, and the Jedi are too blind to see the cause of it. We'll take her back to the Temple. She deserves some protection from us, at least."
Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was seeing reason.
The solution for rescuing Ahsoka, however, proved to be a bit less reasonable.
Mace's brilliant plan made Anakin very nervous. In order to get Ahsoka off the ship without being noticed, they had bandaged her up and sedated her with drugs kept in their utility belts, which would hopefully keep her alive long enough to sneak her away.
They hoped. The plan was to actually lock her up in one of the coffins, mark it so they knew which one it was, and set it to jettison during the upcoming funeral. They would hide until the ship left the upper atmosphere and collect it with their own ship.
It would probably take several hours before they could find her and return to the Temple.
"I hate this plan," Anakin expressed for the fourth time, hesitating to close the coffin lid over his Padawan's still form. She was still hardly breathing. They'd made air holes in the sides, but the upper atmosphere was thin and they really didn't know how long she'd be exposed to it. Even inside the ship, he could've argued that she needed oxygen treatment, desperately, to stay alive.
There was a growing feeling inside him that the next time he opened this lid, she would really and truly be dead.
He didn't want to leave her.
He'd take her place in a heartbeat.
Or climb into the coffin beside her, if only there was room. They were both skinny—but not quite that skinny.
Mace shook his head. "I'm sorry, Skywalker," he sounded genuinely regretful, "but there's no other way."
Anakin gulped and let the lid fall. Together they managed to carry the coffin to the jettison line, locking it into place and adding it to the logbook so it would look perfectly normal, so long as nobody paid it too close attention.
Regretfully, Anakin turned and walked away. They found a sink and washed the blood off themselves before locking up the morgue and exiting the ship as the security check ended and several clones started looking around curiously for their missing comrades.
Hopefully, they wouldn't make the connection to Anakin right away.
It was going to be a long night.
Replies to Reviewers:
Scottusa1: Thanks! Ya know, she doesn't give up very easily (= and I have yet to delve into who Derolf even is. I considered taking him out of the story for awhile but now I know exactly why he and Ahsoka are key to this. Your reviews are great! Thank you!
M. Uchman: I am hoping that you are still reading at this point (: Killing her off would be too pointlessly cruel! I would never actually do that! Hahah so I hope the rest of the story is more enjoyable for you. Thanks for reading!
MasterAssassinScrolls: Can I have that apology now? Pwease? No, jk, I still don't deserve it, do I? More updates coming soon!
ErinKenobi2893: I'm sure you do! Hahaha. Ahsoka lives, at least for now. Thanks for being such an awesome reviewer!
