reaching for the lost

"Anakin," Afir's voice was the epitome of restrained frustration. Her wavering blue hologram shone next to that of Master Kenobi. "There are other issues that need to be pursued in your quadrant. What is the hold-up there?"

"We still haven't found R2," he told her, appealing to her sense of sentimentality. It didn't work.

"Is he the only astromech droid on your ship?" Exasperation shone through in every syllable.

"No, Master Kuay-Li'in."

"Then do a couple more sweeps and then get out of there!" she told him before blanking out. His own master stood there still, regarding his image sadly.

"Anakin-" the older man began gently.

"I've got it under control," Anakin interrupted. Kenobi's comlink beeped. They both knew who it would be. "You'd better answer her. I'll be in touch," Anakin told the older man.

After Obi-Wan had ended his connection with Anakin he opened the link with his best friend.

"Obi-Wan!" she started.

He shook his head. "He's an adult, Afir. And he had his reasons."

"He usually does!" she objected. "Now, how often do those reasons usually coincide with the mandates set down by the council and the general code and his mission specifically?"

She had him there. "I'm grateful you told him to take a couple more passes around the area. I do hope we find that little guy. He's been with us a very long time and has made himself useful in a thousand different situations. I can't imagine you'd feel the same way, but he's more than just a droid. He's damn near a partner to us," Kenobi explained.

Afir growled. "Keep an eye on him. I'm going on to Bes Tha. I expect him there to extract me."

"You can count on Anakin," Kenobi told her. He chuckled. "If nothing else he knows how much I'd gripe if he lost you," he reassured her.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." The connection ended. Afir walked back toward the troops readying ships in the hold. She wiped her sweaty palms on her trouser pants and wished she'd opted for the short, easy-to-wear native skirt she'd long since given up wearing. She'd feel more comfortable going to her native planet in native garb. But this stop hadn't been scheduled when she'd left the temple. And thirty years of being a jedi had led her to dress like one.

When Afir's comlink sounded she wasn't sure what exactly she expected, but it was one of several not-good scenarios. She was immediately stunned and uplifted when Rex's face appeared in the small box.

"Am I on holo?" he asked in his usual brusque voice.

She shook her head.

"Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'd like to tell you over a nice, quiet dinner. Maybe in a park. Or a plush restaurant. Or sitting in front of a vid screen. But, no, it wouldn't help to tell you about it now. And I can't swear I can pinpoint exactly where my angst is as the moment."

"I can tell you where it is. It's centered around that little droid. What's so important about that particular droid that they can't get to tomorrow or the next day or the day after that?" Afir found an empty room, closed the door, and activated the life-size holo display. Rex knew by the quick ripple in his own display that she'd needed the extra comfort of being literally face-to-face. He grabbed a chair, straddled it, and activated his own. If there'd been food on the table in front of him it would almost have been that charming little fantasy she'd created.

"Tomorrow any data he's carrying can have been unloaded by whomever has R2."

"And that's big time?" Rex asked her.

Afir shrugged. She didn't have any proof. She didn't have any reason for suspicion. She had only her innate sense of rightness and a gut feeling. "If I bonded with someone, something, the way Anakin has R2 I'd be hesitant to wipe everything as often as we're supposed to. I've never seen him conduct that chore, no matter what message R2's carried to or from or for any of us. I've never heard him talk about it. And I think he would. He tells Obi-Wan every time he's going to be out of pocket for a while. I just have this sinking feeling that whoever has R2 has a lot more than anyone bargained for."

"Then isn't that worth letting Anakin look for the droid a bit longer?" Rex asked.

Afir shrugged. "Thus the crux of my problem. I can handle Bes Tha alone. I can probably get off alone. But the council laid down these plans for a reason and Anakin's sentimentality is getting in the way of completing the mission according to specs. Either before the fact or after." She crossed her arms and sighed. "If I'd known that this was going to be such a problem I'd have blasted Anakin out of the sky the first time he pissed me off."

"When was that?" Rex asked with a half-smile.

"He was about nine or ten I guess."

Across from her the man's hologram snickered. "We'll be there to back you up. You won't be alone. I promise."

"R2 may be more important."

He nodded seriously. "I'll be there to get you."

She gave in to his protection and nodded, her face visibly relaxing. She knew, just as he did deep inside, that it really wasn't up to either of them. Even if had been Anakin issuing the promise - - or it could have been Mace or Obi-Wan or Yoda - - there just weren't any guarantees anymore.

"You have to go," she said softly.

He nodded. "I do. But I wanted this moment with you."

"Take care of yourself," she told him.

"I will. And you as well." Rex winked as he reached out to shut down the connection.

Two standard days later her comlink buzzed. Slipping away she cupped her hand around it before answering.

"Skywalker here," she heard. "We're on our way."
She smiled. "Good job, Anakin. I'm glad to hear it. Anything interesting going on?"

"Well," she could hear the grin in the younger man's voice. "I've been given two different assignments since the last time we talked, completed one of them, adjusted one of them to fit my needs, and abandoned one."

Her heart sank. "Oh, no. R2?" She regretted the angry words she'd spoken about the droid. The little astromech touched something inside her, too.

"Nope," Anakin said proudly. "I've got my droid. And the Seps have one less listening station. And I get to tell Obi-Wan 'I told you so,' so everything's all right in the end."

"Phenomenal. When can you be here?"

Anakin's demeanor sobered. She could hear that as well. "I've got to pick up some new people to fill in the gaps my last mission left."

"Oh, Anakin," she cried out softly. "Who?"

Anakin heard the tears threatening in her voice and wondered at her reaction before passing it off as an extension of her typical reaction to the war's casualties. She took each loss more and more personally. Especially as she'd worked with more and more of the troops.

"I've got Stump, Hopper, Fishe, and Rex left," he told her. Out of eleven guys that had gone aboard with the jedi three had come back to rejoin their comrade piloting the Twilight.

Afir swallowed hard. She was so grateful that Rex had been spared - - although now she wondered if she wouldn't feel it if he came to harm - - but still she mourned his teammates. He would need bolstering, too.

"Rex is going to approve the final selections for your team while we're on Kamino," Anakin told her.

Afir rolled her eyes.

Anakin was familiar enough with his master's best friend to anticipate her reaction. "This isn't a surprise, Mast Kuay Li'in," he lectured. "You knew it was coming. You're one of the last hold-outs."

"I know," she whined. Rex, in the background pretending not to listen to the exchange, laughed to himself. "But I thought I'd be the one to pick them out."

"I believe that was Master Yoda's original intention," Anakin reminded her. "You know, when the subject came up three years ago. And every two months after that. You could probably consider this to be an end run." The smile was back in his voice. "You're getting a squad the same way I got a Padawan."

She growled at him. "Watch yourself, young one," she warned.

"Welcome to the big time. Congratulations, General. Anakin out."

"Thank you very much, Ani. Take care of yourselves."