This took waaaaay too long to finish

However, I looked at the arcs I have listed that are left to do, and I don't have many. i seriously think we're at the last stretch of this story. I got picky with the last few episodes, and I can think of 6 arc I have left to do. That's it. 6. (Now that's not 6 episodes, that's just 6 story lines. For example, one of those story lines has 4 or 5 episodes in it, but I think like four of those episodes are going into one chapter due to length for those four episodes that Zelina and Anakin are involved in.)

Now I can happily attack Blood Sweat and Tears like my mind has been begging me to do for quite some time now :D :D

Don't forget I'm a published author now ;) Eternity's Guardian on Amazon, by Shaundra Nash (You will not find the right book unless you search my name with it, sorry)

Oh, and ASimpleFan: Calm down. Breathe. I know, okay? I love the twins too much to break up Anidala in any of my fanfictions. Bbbrrreeeaaaatttthhhhh. Zelina just thought she was going to die, and she was scared, so she kissed him on a spur of the moment thing, an "I'm gonna die but before I die I have to do this" thing. Anidala is still in full force in these stories rn. Breathe. I have a plan...calm down lol. No I am not taking offense btw lol. I've issued a few passionate reviews like that myself lol. I find them amusing and I love enticing that much emotion out of my readers. Just stick with me through this story, I assure you that you will not be disappointed. So long as Padme is alive, Anakin and Zelina will not be together. Just saying.

Back to everyone: PLEASE review!

Enjoy!

"Where is he?"

Zelina clenched her teeth together as hard as she could, refusing to make a sound even as the electro-whip repeatedly dug into skin. The crack caused her to wince several times, but she gave no other reaction. When Zelina still made no sound, the electro-whip suddenly stopped, and the soft hum of the electricity disappeared to be replaced by the click of heels on stone. The Queen approached Zelina, taking Zelina's chin in her hands and digging her fingernails into Zelina's skin, drawing blood. Zelina refused to flinch..

"You will tell me where General Skywalker is," she growled. "One way or another."

"Isn't it obvious? He took a vacation to Hoth," Zelina told her in a mocking tone. The Queen let go of Zelina's chin and backhanded her across the face hard enough to draw blood, which Zelina promptly spat to the floor. "A little harder; it didn't feel like you were putting your back into it."

The Queen growled at Zelina again, though Zelina remained tall—as tall as she could be chained up to the wall on her knees—and defiant, eyes sparking in a silent challenge to try and break her.

"You will learn your place again little slave; and then you will tell me where Skywalker is willingly." The Queen jabbed a threatening finger at Zelina to emphasize her point before turning back to the enforcer. "Whip her until she breaks; no food or water until she gives us Skywalker's location—"

"Wasn't hungry anyway," Zelina muttered, glaring at the wall in front of her.

"I have a call to make to Count Dooku…"

Involuntarily, Zelina stiffened, though she forced herself to relax again moments before the electro-whip came back into play.

She really didn't like the thought of her favorite Sith Lord paying her a visit right now; her mood was sour enough with her situation. Then again, she did have a good new memory to hold onto.

Even while the whip cut into her exposed back, Zelina smiled at the memory of Anakin kissing her, even if he'd been mostly unconscious at the time. She was still going to count it, and it was a memory that she knew would be able to carry her through quite a bit of pain and trials.

"R2…come here buddy…"

Anakin crouched down behind a cluster of shrubs, gesturing for the little astromech to roll closer to where he was hiding. Once the droid was within reach, he placed a gentle hand on its dome.

"Nice to see you managed to avoid that mess back there too. Do you think you could do me a favor?" Anakin waited for R2's whir of confirmation before he continued. "I need you to get inside the Queen's castle and see if you can find out where she's keeping Zelina, Obi-Wan, and Rex. Think you can do it?"

R2 beeped enthusiastically, causing Anakin to crack a smile. "Be carefully R2; I don't want you to end up captured too. Contact me if you find anything; I'm going after Ahsoka."

R2 whistled in acknowledgement before he spun around and continued on his way, the picture of an obedient droid minding its own business. Anakin made sure that the little droid made its way safely to the corner before he turned and dropped down from the railing behind the shrubs into the alleyway below. He pulled his pilfered cloak's hood further over his face before he continued on, keeping to the back-alleys of Zygerria to avoid most of the unwanted attention.

Anakin felt a tremor in the Force and paused, listening intently to the stirrings of the Force. It was brief, and there were just flickers, but it was all Anakin needed.

Something dark was coming—most likely Dooku, as he was sponsoring the Queen's attempt to revitalize the Zygerrian Slave Empire—and he'd captured a flicker of pain from Zelina before she'd withdrawn into herself again. Anakin's jaw tightened at the pain he sensed from her; he'd been catching fragments here and there, though nothing more than that. Apparently she was shielding her presence from him to keep him from sensing how much pain she was really in.

Stay safe.

Anakin swallowed painfully, keeping his eyes cast down at the cobbled street and using the Force to navigate his way towards Ahsoka as he struggled with the memory not for the first time since he'd regained consciousness. Understandably, he had several conflicting feelings of what had happened; confusion, suspicion, guilt, reasoning, and determination.

Also, as much as he tried to deny it and kept ignoring the fact it was there, pleasure as well.

The kiss that Zelina had given him had stirred up quite a bit of confusion inside of him. He wondered why she had kissed him, and why there had been so much emotion in the kiss. He'd tasted the burning, desperate need radiating from her in that moment, as well as sensed her fear. The emotions though, the caring and need and everything else, had been what came across loud and clear to Anakin in his weakened stated.

After the confusion, suspicion crept in. Was there something that Zelina wasn't telling him concerning her feelings? Back when he'd been injured and he'd dreamed of being kissed, he'd thought that the dream had felt a little too real, and the vision he'd had while Zelina was resting in the medbay after Geonosis had increased his suspicions. Now, he wondered if perhaps he hadn't been dreaming when he'd been kissed, and he wondered if perhaps it had been Zelina that had kissed him.

Quickly followed after the acceptance that yes, Zelina had kissed him before she'd darted off, was an overwhelming wave of guilt for kissing another woman besides Padme. If he hadn't kissed Zelina back, then perhaps the guilt wouldn't be there; but he had. He'd returned Zelina's spontaneous kiss, and he was still grappling with the reason why. He was married to Padme, he was in love with Padme, he should have never kissed Zelina no matter how hazy his mind had been at the time.

Still it...it hadn't been that kind of a kiss, at least not to Anakin. It didn't have any meaning, any deep feeling, behind it like he had when he kissed Padme. He didn't even think of Zelina that way; it wasn't anything serious. She'd been scared and didn't know if she was going to come back, she'd said it was for luck before she left; maybe it had been for comfort too, because she knew that when she left there was a good chance she would be captured. Perhaps he could put this entire ordeal behind him and just forget it ever happened; Padme was his wife, and he loved her. Zelina was his best friend and nothing more.

Though first...first he had to figure out why she had kissed him; he had to hear it from her and, if necessary, set the record straight.

Focusing on that thought alone, Anakin ignored the small part of him that admitted that despite everything else, he had enjoyed it.

Count Dooku remained calm and relaxed inside of his personal solar sailor, listening intently to what his Master had to say before he arrived on the surface of the planet of Zygerria.

"Long have Sith Empires been built upon the backs of slaves. To carry on this tradition, we will require...millions," Sidious announced in his deceptively calm and quite tone.

"I assure you the Queen's defiance will not sour your plans, Master," Dooku responded cooly. Sidious was not pleased with the Queen doing whatever she wished, and now taking several Jedi into her slaving empire instead of destroying them as she was supposed to do. She'd also hoped to make the Jedi slip under Dooku's notice; foolish woman.

"If she fails to see the error of her ways, end her rule," Sidious sneered. "And whenever you find the Jedi Du'ahn, be sure that she dies; I have grown tired of her meddling in my plans, and I will not see her slip out of my grasp again!" Sidious fumed before he managed to regain his composure.

Dooku's expression, despite his efforts, changed into surprise, his eyes widening slightly, before he managed to control himself once again. "I will not fail you, Master," Dooku said calmly, though on the inside he was seething.

Du'ahn, if she could be turned, would be a valuable asset to Dooku, especially since he had been force to let go of Ventress by Sidious. He was in need of a new apprentice, and Du'ahn would be a powerful, worthy apprentice; a tremendous improvement from the Dathomiran assassin. However, Sidious' obsession with removing Du'ahn from the Galaxy complicated his endeavor; if Dooku even managed to turn her, he would be hard-pressed to keep her a secret from Sidious. He'd already tried to reason with Sidious to turn Du'ahn instead of kill her; Sidious remained firm in his decision to have her destroyed, convinced that she was more trouble than it was worth and that she would be quick to turn against Sidious.

He'd have to have to test the waters before he decided whether or not he truly would carry through with Sidious' orders.

Zelina's eyelids fluttered as the door to her cell slid open and she smiled a little to herself. "I applaud your persistence, but you really should have given up by now."

The voice of the Queen was the voice that answered her. "Foolish girl," she snarled. "I would keep you locked in here until you answered my question even if this system was dying...however, it appears you have another use for me."

Zelina's expression soured. "And just would that be? Are you going to try and make me a palace dancer? Forget it, I don't do shows; public or private."

She received a swift kick to her sore back, and she cried out, hands clenching into fists. "Stupid Jedi; if it were up to me, I would wear you down until there was nothing left of you. It would seem, however, that Count Dooku has other plans for you."

"Dooku? He's here?" Zelina asked sharply, eyes narrowing. She received another swift kick, though she managed to keep her reaction to a small, sharp intake of breath.

"You will only speak when spoken to, girl," the Queen snapped. "I'm giving you to him as a...gesture of peace between us."

"Oh, did you make the Count grouchy? Don't feel bad, it's not that hard."

The Queen hissed in aggravation. "Why he wants you is beyond me, but if it will make him happy, he can have you. Rest assured, we will still find Skywalker, even without loosening your tongue."

"Good luck with that; the only way you'll find Anakin is if he wants to be found, and if he wants to be found, that's not good news for you."

There was a sharp click the next moment, and Zelina felt cold metal secure itself around her neck. She barely had the chance to glance down and register the metal collar that had been placed on her before the Queen all too gleefully activated the contraption. Zelina felt electricity coursing through her system, and despite herself she screamed, thrashing wildly against her bonds before the onslaught was thankfully ended. She slumped against the chains, falling to the floor whenever the Queen decided to free Zelina. Zelina, however, was too weak to take the chance to run. Even if she did she probably wouldn't get that far considering the collar.

"Now behave," the Queen crooned as two of her thugs hefted Zelina up by the arms. "The Count is an honored guest, and I will not have you ruin this for me."

Ahsoka lounged inside of her cage hanging by two simple hooks above the Zygerrian city, drumming her fingers against her thighs as she stared at the floor of her cage, ignoring the birds that were perched on top of the cage. However, when a shadow jumped over her cage, she sat up, fully alert. The birds on her cage let out shrieks of alarm and flew off at the same time that the cage was shaken by Anakin landing on the top of the cage. It shook from the sudden shift of weight, but Ahsoka was unfazed by the movement.

"Well...hello Master," Ahsoka said with a smile, clearing her throat once she heard how hoarse she sounded. "Took you long enough."

Anakin grinned and stood up, arms wide to gesture at the city below them. "Well, I knew you had a nice view." With that, he jumped off of the cage and onto the ledge that the cage was secured to, concentrating with the Force to lift Ahsoka's cage off of the hooks and set it carefully on the ground beside him. The next moment one side of the cage disappeared and Anakin approached, offering Ahsoka his hand to help her out of the cage. "Are you okay?"

Ahsoka frowned, reaching through the Force and shattering the collar around her neck. "I sense a disturbance in the Force..."

"It's Dooku," Anakin mumbled, unclipping his comm unit from his belt and handing it to her. "I need you to go get our ship; take this comm link with you."

Ahsoka folded her arms over her chest. "Where are you going?"

"To rescue Zelina and find out where Obi-Wan is; the Queen has them both. R2 will find you."

Ahsoka shivered at his tone and watched as he bounded away, concern for her master rose up inside of Ahsoka, but she forced herself to turn in the opposite direction and head for the ship. Knowing Anakin, the ship would play some crucial part in his escape plan and Ahsoka would be sorely mistaken to ignore Anakin's orders, no matter how much she wanted to go and help him.

Zelina was held by her elbows in the hall just outside of the throne room between two Zygerrian guards, head ducked low and letting herself be deadweight to appear weaker than she really was. She kept her presence pulled close to her both to keep her existing pain hidden from Anakin, as well as to keep away from Dooku's attention for as long as possible. Also, she was saving her energy for later, when she would need it. The conversation in the throne room drifted towards Zelina, who was straining her ears to hear what the two inside were saying.

"Please, hear my plans for the Jedi, then decide," Zelina could hear the Queen saying in that annoyingly boastful tone of voice. "Right now, at my facility in the Kedavo system, Obi-Wan Kenobi is in despair."

"I'm listening," Zelina heard the Count say. She stiffened when she heard the tone of his voice, noticing that the Count sounded like this conversation was going to end badly for the Queen no matter what she said.

"Kenobi is coming to realize, perhaps for the first time in his life, that his efforts to help others will only injure them." The Queen paused to chuckle. "As plans for escape and hopes for rescue fade, the gnawing fear that he will never be able to take action will grow in Kenobi's heart. To ease the burden of his fellow slaves, defiance will become compliance. When Kenobi realizes he cannot help those around him, his spirit will break, and he will be mine! If such Jedi as Skywalker, Kenobi, and Du'ahn can fall, how many others will follow, hmm? Image, imagine an army of Jedi in your service. Zygerria will be invincible!"

"A most ambitious plan your highness; only my goal is not the enslavement of the Jedi Order, but its extermination. I have come to supervise their execution, perform it if necessary," Dooku growled. The Queen was silent for several long moments before she spoke again.

"Is that what you plan with doing with the girl? My best have been trying to loosen her tongue on the whereabouts of Skywalker, but to no avail."

At the Queen's words, the guards holding Zelina moved forward and Zelina came alive, struggling against her captors as much as she dared to without getting a shock through her collar as punishment. The guards pushed her forward roughly and mercilessly, shoving her to the throne room floor. Zelina refused to cry out, and instead was quick to spring to her feet, standing tall and defiant even when she was bound in chains. Her hands were manacled together and the end of a long chain was in the hands of one of the guards, the other end attached to the manacles. Her whipped back was open for all to see through her shredded tunics, but she didn't care; she kept her gaze hard and stared boldly back at Dooku as the Count appraised her. Behind her, the guards handed her chain over to the Queen's advisor and left the room.

"My gift to you Count. I understand you have an interest in Du'ahn; you can do whatever you like with her."

Dooku circled Zelina like a predator, and the only reason why she didn't turn to keep from having her back to the man was the fact that the guards pulled sharply down on her chain, forcing her to her knees. She cut off the growl that wanted to come out of her in response, knowing that was the kind of reaction Dooku would want to see. Dooku came to a halt in front of Zelina, staring down at her with a cruel smile curling the corners of his mouth upwards.

"In chains again Du'ahn?" he taunted. Zelina didn't respond, though she sincerely hoped that the look she was giving him was one of calm defiance and not the hatred she was struggling to get a leash on. "You know my offer, though I'm afraid that if you do not take it this time, I shall have to execute you; I promise you that it will not be a merciful execution either."

"And you know my answer, Dooku; I'll never turn to the dark side and I'll certainly never join the likes of you," Zelina spat. Dooku's expression puckered and he activated his lightsaber, letting the ruby blade hover so close to Zelina's face it was burning her cheek. She ignored the heat and kept her gaze trained on Dooku as the man spoke.

"I will only give you one chance to change your mind, Du'ahn. It is your only chance to escape death; this time you have no friends to save you."

Zelina stared calmly back at him, the memory of her kiss with Anakin coming full force to the front of her mind. "I'm not afraid to die Dooku; I see nothing wrong with dying right now. In fact, I'd be pretty content to die today."

Dooku scowled, a shadow falling over his features.

"What a waste."

He raised the lightsaber, ready to deliver the killing blow as Zelina tensed in anticipation, her gaze never leaving the Count's face.

Behind them, the door to the throne room slid open, and a resounding cry of fury bounced off of the walls in perfect clarity.

"That's enough, Dooku!"

Dooku smirked down at Zelina. "It appears I was wrong." Despite his words, Dooku did not remove the threat of the blade from Zelina's face. Zelina didn't bother to look towards the door to confirm what she already knew; she instead kept her eyes on the immediate threat in front of her, tense and waiting to see if Dooku would carry through with the execution while simultaneously looking for a way out of her current predicament.

As Anakin slowly approached the two, Dooku did not turn; he kept his blade steady and ready to descend on Zelina, his back to Anakin. "And so he appears. I'll keep in mind that whenever I want you to show up, all I need to do is get threaten the girl. Curious."

Anakin continued to approach, and Dooku lowered the blade to hover at Zelina's throat. "One more step, and I will end her life."

"If you hurt her Dooku, I will end yours," Anakin growled.

"That's hardly the Jedi way..."

There was a crackling hiss sound, and the Queen activated her electro-whip as Anakin came even with her. He'd ignored her as if she'd been of no consequence, though now she was another factor against him in an already precarious situation.

"You are outnumbered Skywalker," the Queen purred. "If you lay down your weapon now, your life might be spared."

Anakin snorted. "Yeah right; I'm not under the delusion that Dooku would let either of us leave this room alive."

"Indeed," Dooku mused.

Then everything erupted into chaos.

Anakin activated his lightsaber and pushed forward with the Force, sending Zelina a safe distance away from Dooku as the Count swung his blade. Zelina hit the stone throne with a thud, but didn't complain, rolling to her feet and taking in the throne room with keen eyes.

The Queen's advisor lunged for her and Zelina threw herself to the side, cursing the face he had ahold of her chain when he roughly yanked her back towards him. Her hands were manacled, she had a shock collar on—

But that didn't mean she was helpless.

Gathering the Force towards her, Zelina pushed the advisor hard enough to send him sailing through the throne room window, covering her head with her arms as shards of glass rained down on her. She didn't get long to celebrate in the small victory, as the next moment there was a sharp crack of a whip and Zelina felt fire race up her back. With a small cry, Zelina whipped around to face the Queen and her cursed whip. She ground her teeth together, watching intently for any sign of the Queen reaching to activate the collar that was still around her neck.

The Queen reached for the control to Zelina's collar, but before she could do anything Zelina felt the Force shift and the collar shattered under an invisible grip, causing a relieved whoosh of air to whistle past her lips. Anakin had taken a moment from his deadly dance with Dooku to shatter the collar and free Zelina of one of her worries before his attention was again drawn to the lightsaber fight he was currently engaged in. With a grin, Zelina turned her attention to the Queen, gathering her chain up in her hands.

It would have to do for now.

While Dooku and Anakin battled with blades, Zelina and the Queen faced off with the electro-whip and the chain. Zelina wielded her chain like a whip, aiming low to sweep the Queen's feet out from under her while taking care to keep the chain from connecting with the electro-whip and stay out of the whip's reach. She sincerely wished she had her lightsabers, but she had to work with what she had.

The electro-whip coiled around one of her arms, but instead of withdrawing Zelina grabbed onto the whip the best that she could with her manacled hands and yanked as hard as she could, pulling the whip out of the Queen's hands. The weapon clattered across the floor as the queen let out a cry of rage, but Zelina ignored her, sending her backwards with a powerful Force push while throwing herself across the room towards the electro-whip. Focusing the Force towards her wrists, she shattered the binds on her wrists, freeing her hands to grasp the electro-whip. Instead of attacking the Queen, however, she lashed out at Dooku, who had to dart away from the whip while also avoiding Anakin's attack with the lightsaber. Dooku growled in frustration, batting away Anakin's lightsaber as Zelina came around to attack from behind while Anakin kept with the frontal assault.

"Guards!" Zelina heard the Queen shriek into the hall as she cracked the whip towards Dooku's legs to set him off balance. He stepped out of the way and barely missed Anakin's lightsaber. For a thrilling second, Zelina thought that maybe the pair of them would be able to defeat Dooku and provide a great leap in progress of the war for the Republic.

Then the reinforcements arrived.

As the guards rushed in both from the main hallway and the hallway that Zelina had been brought into the throne room through. Even with most of her attention on Dooku, Zelina could tell that they were sorely outmatched, ignoring the fact that the Queen was being handed another electro-whip.

"Anakin, we have to go!" Zelina shouted, wincing when her voice cracked.

"Duly noted," Anakin called back. Anakin took a risky swipe at Dooku with his lightsaber while Zelina caused the electro-whip to wrap around Dooku's wrist and successfully managed to pull Dooku off balance. Dooku still managed to deflect Anakin's lightsaber attack, but that was still all that they needed. Anakin broke away from Dooku and gently but firmly grasped her arm, steering her towards the broken window. Zelina dropped the lightsaber, rushing forwards with Anakin as fast as she could as they both jumped out of the window. Zelina prayed Anakin actually had a plan and that they weren't jumping to their deaths, putting all of her trust in her friend as they both flew out the window, a full possibility that they would plummet to their deaths.

Instead, they landed firmly on the ship they had arrived on. From down below in the palace gardens, R2 flew up towards them as they settled onto the landing ramp which was slowly retracting back into the cargo bay. Zelina sank to her knees in relief, and Anakin paused, crouching down to keep even with her and moving his hand from her arm to her shoulder. Zelina took ragged, short breaths, trying to calm down her erratic heartbeat while coming to terms with the fact that she had just been thrown back into slavery, abused like back in her youth, and was once again free.

"Zee..." Anakin muttered in a hushed tone as the doors clicked shut behind him. Zelina didn't answer him, instead struggling to keep back the tears as all the emotions she'd been bottling since she was captured rushed to the surface. She squeezed her eyes shut, withdrawing into herself. Anakin's hand gently brushed across her bare, wounded back, fingers lightly tracing the welts and cuts as he struggled against the plethora of emotions that assaulted him at the sight, a strangled sound coming from deep in his throat.

"Oh...Zelina..." he whispered, pulling her trembling form close to him and tucking her head into his shoulder. For a few moments, she fought letting go; she didn't fight his embrace, but she did fight letting herself be completely exposed. Anakin tangled his fingers in her hair, burying his face into her collarbone and letting soothing waves of comfort drift from him towards her through the Force. At the contact, Zelina shattered in his arms, her hands curling into fists in the back of his tunic as she openly sobbed into his shoulder. Anakin himself teared up at her pain, but he kept his focus on calming her down, whispering soothing words of comfort into her ear. Once again his hand ran the length of her injured back, but this time as his fingers traced the many whipping, burning, and other miscellaneous injuries, he focused the Force on healing. The split skin stitched itself together under his touch, the burns were washed away like cold water over a smudge of dirt, and the scars that would have normally taken so long to disappear faded away seconds after his fingers left the wounds behind. Zelina shuddered against his arms in relief, burying further into his shoulder as she let him heal her in the way only he could.

"It's all right now...you're okay...you're safe now. It won't happen ever again..." Anakin murmured into her collar. Once his ministrations to her back were finished, he pulled away enough to shrug off his under tunic and gently situate it over Zelina, running his hand along the length of her back one more time before he tilted her chin up so she would look him in the eyes. "I won't let anything happen to you; it's over...and I can't thank you enough for what you did for me."

Zelina let out a shuddering breath, leaning into his arms once again. "I...I couldn't...see that happen to you...it was bad enough it happened to...Obi-Wan, Rex, and Ahsoka..."

Anakin gently shook his head, rubbing her arms. "Shh..."

"Obi-Wan's in the Kadavo system...I heard the Queen tell that to Dooku...Dooku'll probably kill her if he hasn't already..."

"Let's not talk about this anymore..." Anakin said softly. "You need to rest."

"I can't, we still need to get Obi-Wan—"

"We still have a while before we arrive. Until then, you're going to rest...do you want me to stay with you?"

Zelina nodded against his chest, her fingers gently clutching his tunic closer to her. "Please..." she whispered.

Tenderly, Anakin picked Zelina up, holding her close to his chest and carrying her to the cabin part of the Zygerrian ship. He carefully set her down in the first bunk he came across, smoothing down her hair. "I'm just going to go tell Ahsoka where I am. I'll be right back, I promise."

She made a weak attempt at a smile, reaching out to grab his hand before he left the room. "Ani..."

He paused, turning to face her again once more.

"Thank you."

Anakin swallowed past the lump in his throat at the raw emotion that he could see written across her face. "To the very end...no matter what."

"No matter what..." she responded, and Anakin quietly slipped out of the room.

When he walked into the cockpit, he made sure that his expression was a perfect mask of calm, eyes appraising the scene in front of him. Ahsoka had already changed out of her disguise and was back in her Jedi apparel, eyes fixed on the controls in front of her. "Set course for the Kadavo system," Anakin instructed, glancing over at R2 in the corner.

"Obi-Wan's there?" Ahsoka asked vaguely.

"Yes, he is. Zelina heard the Queen tell that to Dooku. I'm going to be in the back—"

"With Zelina, I know," Ahsoka said calmly. Anakin froze, suddenly studying his apprentice much closer.

"How much did you hear? Or see?"

"Enough. Go on Master, I can handle this. You're needed elsewhere."

Surprised by how well Ahsoka was taking what had happened in the cargo hold, Anakin stood in the cockpit for a few more seconds before he turned around without another word to return to Zelina. He flexed his mechanical hand a few times, his mind wandering to what he'd wanted to address with her earlier.

Something told him that subject needed to wait until she was a little more stable.

Zelina was already asleep when he entered the room, and it struck him that she probably hadn't ate, slept, or had anything to eat while she was being held captive. His heart aching, he gently eased down onto the bunk next to her, putting an arm around her waist comfortingly and pulling as close to her as he dared, once again sending soothing waves towards her through the Force. He watched her shoulders rise and fall with her steady breathing, wishing he could take away all the pain he knew would follow her from this experience.

He wouldn't be able to erase what she'd been through, but he could try to ease her burden. It was the least he could do for her after what she'd done for him.

When Zelina came to, she felt as if she'd been asleep for thousands of years. At the same time, she felt oddly comfortable. Slowly cracking her eyes open, Zelina glanced around to figure out why she felt so comfortable.

To her utter bemusement, she was lying in the bunk with Anakin, his arm wrapped protectively around her midriff and his face nestled into her collar. A trill of excitement raced through Zelina, but she managed to keep her emotions under control, her stomach doing little flips as she tried to find a way out of Anakin's grip without waking him up. As much as she wanted to stay...

...they still had to rescue Obi-Wan.

As Zelina tried to wiggle her way out of Anakin's arms, he stirred, a low rumble rising from his chest in his sleep. Zelina smiled to herself, pausing and waiting for him to settle again before she went back to trying to wiggle out of his grasp.

His grip tightened on her, and seconds later his voice whispered in a sleepily husky voice in her ear.

"We're not there yet, and you're supposed to be sleeping."

Zelina stilled closing her eyes as Anakin tightened his grip on her and pulled her a little closer to him. She couldn't see him because her back was to him, but the experience was still just as pleasant.

"I need to get up," Zelina whispered back. "I need to get ready and be ready for when we arrive; who knows how much time we'll have."

Anakin sat up, and it took all of Zelina's control not to shudder at the sudden decrease in warmth from Anakin. "You can wait till we get closer. I don't want to hear it Zee, you need to rest."

"Ani, I'm not a fragile doll to be coddled," Zelina scolded him, already shifting to sit up. "I'll be fine, and I need to get ready."

Anakin captured her wrist in his hand. "You weren't fine a while ago."

Zelina gently pulled away from Anakin and got out of the bed, searching the room for her clothes. "I'm fine now."

"No you're not."

"Yes, Anakin, I am, and I want to get back into my Jedi clothes if you don't mind."

"What was that back in the alley?"

Zelina froze, the warm feeling quickly turning to ice cold apprehension. A small part of her had hoped that he would forget. Though the better part of her had known that this was inevitable.

"What about it?" she asked in a low whisper.

"What was that? Why?"

Zelina kept her eyes trained downwards, anywhere but on him. "I was scared...I didn't know what was going to happen or if I was going to make it out alive even."

"I knew you'd live," Anakin said firmly. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind. There hasn't been one since your vision where Luke told you that you'd be a part of his life—"

"He said I might, depending on my choices," Zelina said suddenly and sharply, cutting Anakin off. "Don't forget, Anakin, that he said there was a chance I could not be there at all in his life. Just because I have a vision of someone in the future doesn't guarantee I'll live through this war Anakin."

"Zelina, don't say that—"

"It's the truth, Anakin, and you need to hear it," Zelina snapped. She regretted her tone instantly, her expression softening. "There is a very real possibility that one of us dies in this war; no one is invincible, and I'm not going to make such a loss hurt even more because I made myself believe none of us were going to be killed. We're not untouchable as much as we'd like to think we are. That's why I did it, Anakin. I was scared that I wasn't going to come back from this one and...I was saying goodbye...just in case. However, I'm still here, so it's probably best if we both just forget that it ever happened."

Anakin was silent after Zelina's small speech, watching her as she finally located her Jedi clothes and bunched them up in her hands. Finally, he spoke.

"I thought it was for luck?"

Zelina laughed softly, weakly. "Nice attempt at humor, Anakin...but yes...that too."

Anakin slowly moved to the door, a thousand thoughts obviously clouding his mind. "I'll leave you to get dressed then..."

"Anakin...did anyone get my lightsabers? Does anyone know where they are?"

Neither of them missed the note of panic in her voice at the realization her weapons were missing. One of those was Ur-Sema's. As if on instinct, Zelina's hand reached up to clutch at the necklace under her tunic as if to confirm that her mother's necklace was still there. It was, and Zelina was able to breathe a little easier knowing that she'd been able to retain that small piece of her mother.

"R2 has them. I think he does anyway. I'll check with him again just to be sure."

"Thank you, Ani...again," Zelina whispered.

"Of course, Zee. You don't even have to ask."

The ship shuddered slightly as it pulled out of hyperspace, and Anakin saw Zelina's hand tighten on Ahsoka's seat out of the corner of his eyes. She was back in her Jedi clothes, and both of her lightsabers—which R2 had indeed found and hidden away in his dome—were clipped to her belt. Her eyes were trained on the planet in front of them, and she looked as if she'd already put the entire ordeal on Zygerria behind her.

Anakin knew better.

"There it is," Zelina mused. "Well, let's get this over with; I'm ready to go home."

"I think we all are," Ahsoka muttered as she steered the ship towards the slavery complex. Zelina shook her head, backing away from the cockpit once they were finished entering the atmosphere.

"I'll be waiting for you two; is Plo on his way?"

"Yes, he is, he should be coming up right behind us," Anakin responded.

"Good."

Zelina left the cockpit, navigating the halls of the freighter as she approached the landing ramp where R2 sat waiting. The droid whistled cheerfully when it saw Zelina, and Zelina smiled at the little droid, putting a hand on its shiny dome.

"Hey there R2; you might want to come with us, we're probably going to need you." The ship rocked, coming to a rather unpleasant landing, and Zelina grimaced. "That girl has got to work on her landings."

The doors to the ship started to open and Zelina started down the still extending ramp, Anakin and Ahsoka hurrying up behind her from the cockpit. Collectively, the group of four exited the ship as fast as they could. They'd hardly left the landing pad the ship was settled on when the complex's gun turrets swiveled around and took out the ship. The freighter went up in flames, bringing the four of them to a momentary halt as debris suddenly flew through the air with the accompanying explosion, and Zelina, Anakin, and Ahsoka had to duck as a particularly large chunk of the ship went flying through the air just over their heads.

They didn't get long to register the fact their ship was now a twisted remain of metal before the turrets turned their attention on the three Jedi. They all broke into a dead sprint towards the door of the facility, with Anakin issuing a curse as it slammed shut just before they reached the door. They all pressed just within the shelter of the door, using the small outcropping around the door as a shield from the turret fire.

"So much for our ride him," Anakin muttered with a smirk, jerking his thumb in the direction of the remains of the ship.

"What now?" Ahsoka asked.

"We get through the old fashioned way."

Zelina smirked, activating her violet blade the same time Anakin activated his blue one. They both plunged their lightsabers into the thick steel of the door and began to slowly cut their way through, Zelina cutting clockwise starting from the bottom while Anakin cut clockwise starting from the top. With both of them cutting through at the same time, they were making great headway, and Ahsoka was fully capable of shielding them with her duel lightsabers if it was needed.

Just as they were finishing up cutting through, and just as R2 was hit by a stray bolt from the turrets, the console came to life, and Obi-Wan's ragged face filled the small screen.

"Anakin, Zelina; I'm glad to see you two. However, I'm afraid our host feels otherwise."

"Well, you can't make everyone happy master," Anakin quipped, never wavering from his current task.

"They are threatening to kill the slaves unless you surrender."

Zelina's progress faltered at Obi-Wan's grim tone, and Anakin's expression visibly soured. However, they didn't stop cutting through the door.

"It's good to see that you're always ready to negotiate, but I've had enough bargaining with slave drivers," Anakin replied bitterly.

"Anakin, you must realize this is a fight you cannot win alone."

"Who said we're alone?" Zelina cut in, finishing her part of the hole as she spoke.

No sooner had she said that did the distant sound of fighters reach their ears, and they all saw small pinpricks on the horizon signaling their reinforcements. The fighters grew steadily closer as Anakin punched through the door.

"I hope you told Master Plo not to destroy this facility until we get off of it," Ahsoka told him.

"Yeah; all of us and the slaves." He was just about to rush down the corridor when Zelina grasped his arm, keeping him from running ahead without her.

"I'm going to stay behind and held Plo with those turrets; it might be useful to him to have a foot soldier down here."

For a second, it looked like Anakin was going to object. However, he snapped his mouth shut and nodded. "Stay safe; we'll catch up to you later."

"Don't worry about me, you worry about finding those colonists."

Without another word, Zelina took off in the opposite direction, headed full speed towards the gun turrets that had already managed to shoot down a few of Master Plo Koon's fighters. As she watched, a Jedi Fighter—Plo—tried to take out one of those troublesome turrets. All that did was bring about the revelation that the turrets were ray shielded.

Her lips set in a grim, determined line, Zelina raced towards the nearest turret, both lightsabers ablaze. Overhead, the screams of aircraft signaled new fighters joined the fray on the side of the Zygerrians, making the situation all the more complicated.

Oh, the sounds of war, Zelina thought bitterly as she plunged her lightsabers into the turret tower and started to climb her way up to the actual gun. She scaled the tower in a minute, flipping over so that she landed feet first on the double barrels of the large gun. In one fluid motion, she sliced off the hatch so that she had a way in. Again she jumped, this time inside of the turret, simultaneously cutting down the Zygerrian guard and impaling the Zygerrian at the controls. She pushed the body out of the seat and manned the controls, angling the turret towards one of the other turrets and firing experimentally to see if the gun would punch through the other turrets despite their ray shields.

It worked.

With a whoop of success, Zelina turned the guns on full power and slowly spun around, taking out each turret that crossed her path as she did so. Turret after turret exploded as the weapons crossed Zelina's path, and soon she had made a full circle, smoking turret destruction left in her path. With a sigh of relief, Zelina used her com link to contact Plo Koon.

"Master Plo, you're clear; you can bring the ship to the landing pad now."

"Cancel that order, Master Du'ahn," came Ahsoka's voice. "There's no way to get the people out of the holding cell and up to the landing platform, but I have an idea. We need to have the cruiser move in under the facility. We can escape onto the ship if Admiral Coburn can get in close enough."

"You heard Commander Tano; I want the men topside with rocket packs and cable guns. Move it!" Zelina heard the Admiral say.

"I'll go help Anakin and Obi-Wan with the Keeper," Zelina stated, already getting out of the turret. Anakin's voice joined the com chat.

"There's no need; go help Ahsoka with the colonists. The Keeper is already taken care of."

"Well then...who was it?"

"Rex."

"Ah, okay. I'll be there in a second Ahsoka."

"We don't have much time. Sooner rather than later," Ahsoka responded. Zelina rolled her eyes and turned off the com, racing back in the direction she could sense Ahsoka.

When she arrived, the floor of the holding cell was already three-fourths gone, though Admiral Coburn's men had already fired cables. Ahsoka was just starting to send the people down the cables when Zelina skidded to a halt, still in the hall.

I'll be of more use on the ship below just in case someone falls, Zelina decided, leaping down to the cruiser's surface and waiting at the bottom of the cables. She watched anxiously as the Togruta colonists shimmied their way down the cables, tense and ready to catch someone should something go wrong.

She was watching a young woman grasp at one of the cables, the chord just out of her reach, when the woman suddenly lost her footing, and Zelina sprang into action like a released coil. The woman's screams were short lived as she had barely fell a meter or two before Zelina reacted and caught her with the Force, suspending the woman in midair before gently lowering her back to the ground. Up above, Ahsoka gave her a grateful smile, and went back to helping the colonists get to the cables.

There were only two more incidents after that, with Zelina catching both of them in the Force so that the others could focus on the cables and the colonists that were already on the ship. Once everyone was out of the holding cell, the troops descended back to the surface of the ship and Ahsoka jumped nimbly to the surface as well. Zelina smiled at the younger girl and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Ahsoka had grown tremendously throughout the war; she would be a fine Jedi Knight one day once she finished her training with Anakin.

"We have to get out of here," the Captain announced. "The facility is breaking up."

"Then why are we all standing around?" Zelina asked, gesturing for everyone to get moving. "Come on!"

The group rushed down the length of the cruiser, and Zelina kept her eyes open for anyone who lost their balance as the ship slowly started to pull out from under the facility. One by one, they all lowered themselves into the cruiser, into safety, with Zelina and Ahsoka being the last ones in. Before she slipped through the air lock, Zelina glanced back behind her to watch the facility exploding in a series of fireballs and a plethora of black smoke.

Good riddance.