A/N A huge thank you to my beta LiGi for being so prompt with this!
oh and Alice, guess who! ... (will make sense soon) :D

Chapter seven

Anakin slowly entered the room in which Echo had been left. He had been told to go and get some rest once he had been treated for his own injuries but, honestly, that was never going to happen so long as Echo was unconscious. She was his best friend. They didn't understand.

He had seen Echo with serious injuries before but never like this: she had purple blotches all over her skin from where the blood under her skin had clotted and formed bruises. She had an array of tubes running over her skin and disappearing into her wrists, upper arms, and her feet too, but they all carried different things: blood from transfusions, glucose and a lot of pain killers. Her dark mass of hair had been tied roughly to the side to keep it out of the way, but her normally soft, clean tresses were now matted and strewn with dirt and splatters of … blood and other fluids that had escaped in the rush to stabilise her. He just wanted it all to end and to have her back again, healthy and teasing him as normal. Though she looked peaceful now she would probably be writhing with pain if not for extraordinary amount of stuff they had injected her with.

They had told him that her heart had ripped itself free of the vessels attached to it; hence the extravagant internal bleeding. They also said that, technically, she should be dead … initially she was … but she had recovered. Somehow.

He slowly approached her sleeping form and sat in the plastic chair next to her bed. He gently traced his finger tips along the veins in her hand; they were thicker and stuck out more than usual because of the amount of IV fluids being force fed into her. He sighed and leant his forehead on her side.

Please, Echo. I can't go on without you here. He thought.

Echo awoke to a room completely clad in white and silver; the fatality ward. Uh oh! She thought and looked around a little, feeling something on her side she looked down to see Anakin's head buried there. Sighing, she smiled and tried to sit up slightly, wincing at the effort as a pang was sent through her chest at the movement.

"Echo! Are you alright? How're you feeling? Where does it hurt?" Anakin had jolted up right, his voice panic stricken and his eyes wild with fear. She had never seen him like this before.

"Hey … hey don't worry; I'm fine." She said soothingly.

"Well that's not true." Anakin's brow furrowed but his eyes relaxed a little. He helped her to sit up against the pillows, then dropped his voice to a whisper and, glowering at the bed, fiddled with the hem of the sheet. "I wanted to save you. I … should have saved you … but I wasn't strong enough."

"Anakin? Anakin, look at me." She took his hand back, weakly. He looked at their hands and gripped hers more strongly before looking into her eyes. Satisfied that she had his attention, Echo continued: "I'll hear none of that. Whatever happened wasn't your fault." she was so serious.

"Whatever happened? You don't remember … do you? Well that makes sense."

"Well?"

Concern flooded into his eyes again. "Not ... sure what happened but you kinda … pulsed."

"Pulsed?"

"It was like your spine rippled or something … and you released some type of the Force – Obi-Wan's never seen anything like it before – but it sent everything flying away from you … and then you started … bleeding."

There was along silence where Echo looked blank, staring at the wall behind Anakin. He was frantically searching her face for a sign of emotion – any emotion – fear or anger or anything. Should he comfort her? Or give her time to take that in?

"See." Said Echo, eventually, still staring. "Told you it wasn't your fault"

Anakin sighed with relief, closing his eyes and brought the one of her hands he was holding to his forehead. "That's the Echo I know." he mumbled.

Echo smiled gently and stroked the side of his hand with her thumb.

"You know what I don't get?" She said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Why was it after me? Why torture me for information?"

"Don't think about this now." He opened his eyes and lowered their hands and sat on the edge of the bed to look at her again.

"But it doesn't make sense."

"Echo. That thing probably knew that we three were important to the Jedi."

"But-"

"Loosing you would be the end of us." Anakin leaned closer to emphasise his sincerity.

"No it wouldn't." Echo laughed, and then winced at the pain.

Anakin placed his hand under her delicate jaw, raising her face closer to his slightly. Echo became transfixed by his eyes; soft and icy blue yet with a … shine she hadn't noticed before. He stared back into her eyes – much darker than his and sparkling in the light of the room – and brought her slightly closer again, his thumbnail gently gliding along her jaw line …

The sound of footsteps outside the door made both Anakin and Echo jump suddenly and Anakin got off the bed and sat in the chair again, but didn't let go of her hand. Obi-Wan burst through the door.

"Echo, you're conscious! Good. That will be useful." He grinned at her.

"Glad to see you care, master." She said, eyebrows raised mockingly.

"It's good to have you back. How are you feeling?" Obi-wan walked to her bad and kissed her forehead, before sitting in the edge of the bed like Anakin had done.

"I'm fine." Anakin snorted at her words and she glared at him. "Honestly, I am. I feel normal."

"Glad to hear it … but I think that, considering what happened, they won't let you out for a few days."

"What do you mean 'what happened'? I fainted right, 'cos that's embarrassing enough." Echo's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Well, you … did Anakin not tell you?" Anakin shook his head and looked down at the sheets again. "Echo … you … died. But only for a couple of hours."

"Oh." was all she could say so Anakin squeezed her hand to comfort her. "But … but then … how?"

"We don't know, I – I found you … dead, when the thing ran off but … later your heart started beating again." Mumbled Anakin.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered to him but he simply looked at her sadly, threading his fingers through hers and tightening his grip on her hand.

"I am sorry Echo, but you had to be told." She nodded sombrely, turning her gaze to him. "Well, I must go and inform people of your recovery." Obi-Wan patted her knee, got up and left the room, smiling at her as he opened the door.

"Are you ok?" Anakin asked her when Obi-Wan left. His features were distressed again.

She gave a long sigh before answering.

"Yeah … well, I mean … considering … well, physically…" She closed her eyes briefly. "I'm fine. What's life without a bit of trauma, anyway?" This made him smile again and she felt a kind of warmth at his reaction.

"Well that's enough trauma for one day, I think. Rest now, I'll be here when you wake up."

Anakin sighed as he watched Echo sleep. This time he wasn't so worried about her – knowing that she was at least not in a coma – so he just rested his chin on his hand as she twitched and sighed in her sleep. His peaceful moment was ruined as a medical droid rolled into the room and headed straight for him. Anakin stood and quickly swerved out of its way and retreated to the other side of the bed and into another chair as the droid inserted a probe into a machine above where he had just been sitting. The machine made a bleep and the droid rolled out again.

Anakin rested his elbow on Echo's mattress and placed his neck on his hand, watching Echo again. He was so relaxed yet his heart would give a flutter every time she moved in her sleep, she was still a mess but she looked more … normal.

He gave a small chuckle as he looked at her wrist.

I can't believe she still has it. He thought, as he picked at the bracelet. It was a bracelet made of fine string – twined together in a pattern – which he had made her when they were small, she had run off from a lesson and when he found her she was crying and he had comforted her. The twine had been worn a bit and it now hung loosely around her tiny wrist but the colour still remained and the beads were still attached. Even the spiral pattern had remained though very stretched. He had made the bracelet to assure her that she wasn't alone … at least not here. They were family of a sort. He rolled the beads between his thumb and forefinger; it was a sandy coloured stone that he had taken from his home and on either side of the stone were three wooden beads. Anakin's fingers slid down her wrist and laced themselves between her fingers, until they twitched.

Echo took in a sharp breath and slowly opened her eyes, rubbing her forehead with her hand. She turned her head and was immediately drawn to the electric blue eyes that stared, lazily at her.

"Hi." She sighed.

"Hey."

Echo matched Anakin's gaze for a while, being absurdly aware of the close proximity of his face to hers. They were mere centimetres from each other …

"How you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Fine." She smiled in return. "Have you been here the whole time?" She said, her tone turning teasing.

"No?" Of course he had. He smiled bashfully at her and she nervously bit her lip trying to prevent a giggle.

"Ani? Ani!" Came a bizarre squeak from the door to their right. A tall creature with bubbly brown skin and long fin-like ears stood in the door way.

"Jar Jar?" Said Anakin as he stood up from his seat hurriedly. "What are you doing here?" A smile creeping across his face.

"Eesah so good to be seeing yousah!" Cried Jar Jar as he leapt up and down whilst holding Anakin in a tight hug.

"Ani?" Said Echo, barely containing a laugh at this new pet name, sitting up in the bed. Anakin waved dismissively behind him as he struggled to breathe in Jar Jar's vice grip.

"Where eesah Obi?"

"Umm, he's around here somewhere. I hear you're a Senator now, Jar Jar. That's great!"

Jar Jar beamed and nodded enthusiastically. "Meesah filled with mwoy mwoy happiness and honour." He suddenly stood up straight with a stern face that was instantly lost again when he saw the girl sitting watching them. "And who eesah this, Ani?"

"I'm Echo." She smiled and held out her hand to greet him. Jar Jar tilted his head at her a smiled. Then his tongue shot out and licked her hand causing Echo to almost instantly withdraw her arm.

"Meesah Jar Jar Binks. Eesah so good to be meeting yousah."

"Charmed."

Anakin had erupted into a fit of silent laughter at Echo's hand assault. Jar Jar made an 'ooing' noise as his interest now turned to Echo's monitors and she motioned Anakin to come closer to her.

"Ani?" She asked again teasingly. Anakin blushed at this, slightly.

"Yeah … well … he's a Gungan, so…"

"I see." She laughed at his twisted expression until they heard the sudden beeping noise that came from the monitors soon to be followed by a clatter and a crash.

Jar Jar was half sitting, half hanging in a tangle of spare tubing that was hung up on the monitoring machines Echo didn't need anymore. One of his ears was standing upright whilst the other was wrapped over his face like an eye patch and his tongue had been twined around his neck several times and all this had been secured by the fine, transparent tubing. Echo's hands flew to her mouth in shock and to prevent the hysterics from bursting out and Anakin leapt over her bed to help, however not restraining his amusement, letting his laughter ring round the room.

"Come on, Jar Jar, I think we need to get you out of this hazard zone"

"Meesah sorwy, meesah not do it again. Oucheez!" He said as Anakin's hand slipped and thwacked Jar Jar with the tubing.

"Sorry, Jar Jar, I just don't see how you did this."

"Here…" Echo reached across the tangled Gungan and unclipped the tubes from the machine, causing him to collapse to the floor in a heap. Jar Jar made a chirping buzzing noise as he shook his head and the tangles flung off him.

"Meesah thank you miss."

"You're welcome, Jar Jar." Chuckled Echo.

"Was there a reason you wanted to see us? Everything alright on Naboo?"

"Oh yes. Naboo eesah fine. Padmé was mwoy worried when she heard abouts yousah, Ani, she wanted to see yousah and talk to the grand Chancellor about … policeez."

"Padmé's here?" His voice almost touched the octave above and his face took up an expression that was a cross between shock and embarrassment.

"Mmm hmm." Jar Jar nodded enthusiastically in the affirmative.

"Echo! You're up, and Anakin's here too, good. We have been summoned … again. Hello, Jar Jar, how are you?" Obi-Wan had returned and his originally solemn face had lit up at the sight of their visitor.

"Obi!" Jar Jar leapt at him, assaulting him with his hugs.

"It's - good to - see you, my - friend." He managed to get out with the little breath he had left. He was soon released, however and looked up to see Echo, sitting upright, legs crossed and beaming from her bed, but Anakin was leaning on the wall, lost in thought and slight frown on his forehead. "Anakin? What's troubling you?"

Echo looked between the pair before answering: "Oh, he's just learnt that Senator Padmé had returned." Still grinning, of course.

"Ah, I see." Obi-Wan gave a knowing smile and Anakin looked up to acknowledge him with a weak smile of his own. "She's actually our next concern."

"Concern?" He was still frowning.

"Yes, well I can't tell you here so we will discharge our accident-prone-companion and –"

"It was not an-"

"Echo … shh." He grinned slyly as she crossed her arms but remained silent. "Anyway, I will … tell you later."

Soon after, Jar Jar decided that licking the flickering blue light bulb was a good idea and so was asked to leave, probably before he destroyed more hospital equipment, giving Obi-Wan, Echo and Anakin a little privacy … and time to not worry about what he was going to break next. Obi-Wan had sorted out the discharge forms for Echo and they were now unplugging her from the machine, allowing the two padawans enough time to pester their master for answers on their new assignment.

"So what are we being summoned for?"

"Why do I get the feeling it's a bad thing?"

"Because you're the pessimist now." She said, sticking her tongue out at Anakin, to which he simply glared in return.

"Calm down, calm down. It's not really like anything we've done before. We're acting under request of the Chancellor."

"What?" Echo and Anakin shared a highly confused glance.

"Why? We've never done anything like that before?"

"I know but it's in the interest of the Senate. It's a protective guard over Senator Amidala." This stunned the both of them for a second.

"Why does she need us?"

"But – but … we're Jedi not Bodyguards." Echo wasn't angry, merely perplexed.

"It became public knowledge that she was coming to Coruscant on Senate business and her ship was attacked on landing."

"Was she hurt?" Anakin's concern was clear in every syllable of his words.

"No, she's fine. She used a decoy – just as we would – but her future safety is to now be our prime concern."

"Padmé wouldn't agree to something like this. She's headstrong enough to know that she can look after herself. This would be degrading for her."

"You remember her well, Anakin. Apparently she doesn't know of the plan." Anakin's snort and Obi-Wan's sarcasm made it clear to Echo – who had never met Senator Amidala – that this was very unlikely. "We are to meet with her this afternoon to try and persuade her to let us … keep an eye on her."

"Well, then we'd better get … going." said Echo as she pulled the final catheter from her wrist.

"I agree, let's get going. This isn't going to be easy."

A/N Hannah i hope this made you feel better :)
Very important that this is reviewed ... please make my day - the magic button (below) awaits! :D