A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back from my trip. I apologize for not updating sooner, but it isn't my fault. Pyril just hadn't betaed my chapter yet, so I wasn't able to post it. But now it's finally here. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 8

-Jessica-

I stumbled against the wall of a building. I had been walking for a long time. I had absolutely no idea how long it had been since I had run away. I had lost track of where I went, I was lost. Why did I run away? What was the use of it now? I was alone, cold and hungry. I shivered. I had found a dirty cloak an hour or so ago. It smelled, but I had to have something to give me a little bit of warmth. I would also be less noticeable, since I was still in white hospital-clothes. Stupid things, why did they have to be so white? This way everyone would notice me.

''What's a pretty little lady like yourself doing here at this time of the night?'' Asked a creepy voice from behind me. The voice sent shivers up and down my spine and it was hard not to show that I was really frightened. What had I been thinking? That no one would hurt me? I was a lonely girl in the slums of Coruscant. Of course there were men with bad intentions.

''Mind your own business.'' I returned with a sharp voice. I was surprised that I could sound so cold… So emotionless almost. I had never thought I would be like this. My friends always told me that I was too sweet. I had become someone else. Someone with scars. Someone shaped because of the past. The other girl was gone. She was replaced. The sweet, joyful girl was still somewhere inside me, but she was hidden. Far away. Almost unreachable.

''Got some backbone, huh?'' He came closer and closer.

''Shove off.'' I muttered. ''Or I'll skin you here alive.''

''Threatening me? What would a pretty girl like you do?'' He said teasingly and he tried to touch me. Then something snapped inside of me. I became enraged. By everything and everyone. And right now, all my anger was pointed towards that creepy guy. I turned around to face this creep and I lashed out with my fist. It connected with his nose. I heard a crack and he stumbled back because of the impact, but he regained his balance and pulled a knife from under his cloak. He lashed out at my head. I managed to duck just in time, otherwise I would now be headless. I felt a light sting on my cheek, but ignored it. In fact I only became more enraged, because he had wounded me. Something warm streamed down my cheek. Blood. The rage spread throughout my whole body, it was as if there were flames everywhere. Warm, but dangerous. I kneed him in his stomach and he bent forward. That was my chance. I gave him a big punch to the side of his head and he slumped down to the ground with a sickening sound. I had knocked him unconscious. I stumbled back and clamped my hands to my head. What had I done? I had harmed a man… I had never hurt anybody… I took a few steps and then started running. Away from what I had done. I didn't want anything to do with it. I turned corner after corner, till I couldn't run anymore. I collapsed onto the ground. Tears were running down my cheeks. What have I become?

''Please, Doctor, find me.'' I whispered. Then it went black before my eyes.

-Anakin-

We had searched everywhere. It was almost dawn and we still hadn't found Jessica. The Doctor was walking around like a ghost. At first he was full of determination. We had run and run . No sign of Jessica. After a few hours the Doctor had become discouraged. His shoulders slumped down and I even thought that I had seen a lonely tear in his eyes. But he hadn't lost hope to find Jessica. Everyone on Coruscant was on the lookout for Jessica and yet nobody had seen her.

''Have you seen any sign from her, Rex?'' I asked once again in my com, like I had done a million times before this night. Already knowing the answer deep in my heart, but refusing to give up hope. I had promised the Doctor that I would bring Jessica back to him. That I would find her. And I was determined to keep that promise. I would bring Jessica back, alive and well. I couldn't imagine any other outcome. I didn't want to think of any other outcome. The thought that maybe something had happened to Jessica, something bad, was just unbearable. Moreover, I probably would be killed by the Doctor if I didn't find Jessica, or if something bad had happened to her.

''No, sir.'' He replied. I sighed. How could we not have found her? She couldn't have gone so far in such a short amount of time. And it was absolutely impossible that she'd left Coruscant. We should have found her already. I walked in front of the Doctor and I turned another corner, not expecting anything at all.

''Jessica?!'' I exclaimed. She was lying on the ground against a bunch of crates. It looked like she was sleeping. I couldn't believe we had found her… ''Jessica.'' I said once again, but she didn't react at all. Her eyes didn't open, her body didn't move. I slowly walked over to her, fearing the worst. At that moment the Doctor came around the corner. He noticed me staring at the little body that was Jessica. He immediately rushed over to her and kneeled down beside her.

''Jessica. Jessica. Wake up.'' He squeezed her hand. She didn't wake up. I knelt down beside him and grabbed her wrist. I sighed in relief. There was still a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. She was still alive. But she was so cold. It had been a very cold night and she didn't wear that much. Only the thin white clothes of the med-bay and a smelly cloak.

''Doctor. We need to take her with us. She can't stay here any longer.'' He nodded slowly and a determined look shone in his eyes. He picked her up with his long arms and carried her away. I quickly followed him. I looked at Jessica's face. It was dirty, covered in mud and there were small tracks of white. She had cried. Then I noticed it. A cut just below her eye. It wasn't deep, but it almost covered the whole left side of her face. There was still some blood around it. She probably had lost quite some blood because of that. I knew cuts like these didn't look that dangerous, but they could cause quite a lot of blood loss. How could that have happened? Did she get in a fight? I shook my head. That wasn't like Jessica. I had known her for a couple of weeks now, but I already knew that she wasn't someone to get into a fight. She wasn't a person who would hurt anyone. Not willingly in any case. But what if… What if that wasn't the case? Maybe she was forced to fight. Oh, Jessica, what did you get yourself into?

-Jessica-

I woke up again. A bright light shone into my eyes. I blinked a couple of times and my eyes began to water. I slowly looked around and I sighed. I was back in the hospital. Again. Why didn't these people understand that I didn't want to be here. I had run away and they still didn't get the point.

''You're awake.'' Someone next to me stated. I looked up and I saw Anakin. I was a little bit disappointed that it wasn't the Doctor who was sitting beside me.

''Clearly.'' I said. I tried to be funny, but I sounded very dry.

''We were worried, Jessica.'' He said to me. He looked happy, but at the same time very angry. ''Why did you run away like that?''

''Why did you guys put me in the hospital?'' I asked him in return, avoiding his questions.

''Because you were unwell. Now, why did you run away? Do you know what you put the Doctor through?'' His eyes flared up with anger. I looked away and avoided his eyes. I couldn't look straight into his eyes.

''Jessica. Answer me.'' He grabbed my hand to bring my attention back to him.

''I… I…''

''You what?''

''I had to be out of here. I couldn't take it anymore. Everything I've heard since I've been here. All of you worrying about me. Lying in this hospital-thing. All of the strings. I just had to get away'' I burst out. He looked a bit shocked, but he quickly regained his calmness.

''You didn't have to run away.'' Was his only response.

''I did. What was the other option? You would have forbidden me to go anywhere. There were no guards. So I grabbed my chance.''

''Jessica. You must understand that you really worried us. Me, Ahsoka, everyone here, especially the Doctor. He was out of his mind. He was broken.''

''I… I didn't know.''

''Well, now you do know. Don't put us through that again. Ever.''

''I promise.'' I said. Realizing the mistake I had made. I never would have thought that they would be so worried. Why did they care for me this much? ''Why am I here again?'' I asked.

''You were unconscious when we found you. You were wounded and you had mild hypothermia.''

''How did I get wounded?'' I asked him. Trying to remember anything.

''You tell me.'' I searched through my memory. And then it all came back. The creepy man that came to me. How cold and emotionless I had felt when I was standing in front of him. The fight; the man lying on the floor; me, running away. I began to sob. A man had tried to touch me. He had tried to hurt me. And I had hurt him in self-defence.

Anakin stared at me in wonder and then hugged me awkwardly, trying to soothe me. He patted me on the back, trying to stop my sobbing. ''Shhh. It's okay. It's okay.''

''No it's not.'' I sniffed. ''It's not. I hurt somebody.'' He pulled back and looked shocked.

''You need to tell me, Jessica. What happened? What caused you to hurt somebody?'' He spoke softly, almost inaudible.

''There was a man. A creep. He tried to touch me. I told him to shove off, but he wouldn't. I punched him in the face, but he had a knife. And… And…'' I started to tear up again. ''I knocked him unconscious. He was lying there, on the ground…'' I cried. Anakin grabbed my hand.

''You acted out of self-defence, Jessica. You did what you had to do.''

''But… But… I felt so cold inside.''

''What do you mean ''cold''?'' He asked me, looking really worried now. All of the anger was gone.

''I don't know. Just… I didn't feel anything…'' I furrowed my brows, and the same feeling came back. Ice-cold, bitterness, anger. But also the fear I had felt. Just as soon as the feeling appeared, it disappeared. Anakin looked at me with an unreadable expression and stood up.

''I have to go now, Jessica, sorry. I need to report to the Council. I will tell the Doctor that you're awake.'' He nodded to me and stood up to walk away. What was wrong?

''Anakin. Wait.'' I called after him, but he shook his head an exited the room. Why had he acted so strangely when I told him about how I had felt?

-Anakin-

She had said she felt cold inside… Emotionless… I knew that feeling all too well. It was the same feeling I had when had slaughtered all of the Sand People after they had murdered my mother. It was not something I wanted to remember. And now Jessica had felt like that. I had looked into her eyes, but I wish I hadn't. Her eyes had been like stone and at the same time I saw flames. A conflict between two very bad things. The moment I had seen that, my heart sank. I couldn't look into her eyes, knowing that she had felt that and that she was feeling it again. My eyes would betray my feelings. Instead I had walked away, probably leaving her wondering why I had left so abruptly. What was I going to do now? Should I tell the Doctor or maybe even Master Yoda, both of them? Should I tell the whole Council? Maybe I had better keep it a secret for now. Maybe all Jessica now needed was rest.

-Jessica-

Finally, I had some time alone. This past day everyone had come by. I even had visits from some Clones who had searched for me. The Doctor had been by my side almost the whole day. I had cried when I had first seen him. I was so sorry… I tried to express my feelings, but the Doctor just gave me a hug and in that moment I knew it was behind us. I didn't need to explain it all, I just had to promise that I wouldn't do it again. He had been worried sick. Anakin had told me the Doctor had become enraged when he first discovered that I was gone. I couldn't imagine what it was like, and I hope that I wouldn't ever have to see it. But now I was alone in my room. They had let me go back to my room this afternoon. I was going crazy in the med-bay, so they thought it better for me to return to my room. My escape has left some marks, and they wanted to prevent any future attempts. Not that there would be any. I had had my share of that. They were still monitoring my health, though. I guess we all have to make compromises sometimes.

Today was the day that we would be going to my home world. Three days had gone by since my escape. The Doctor and I had talked a lot since then. He had told me that he couldn't lose me. Not again. We also talked about my future. I had said that I couldn't just leave my family behind. Or him. The Doctor had just listened. For once not letting out a waterfall of words. I had completely healed. There was still a nasty cut on my cheek, but it didn't hurt me that much anymore. I had thought a lot about everything. And although I knew I wasn't the same girl as before, I was still me. I had changed. A lot. And not wholly in a good way. But I knew this was just another mountain to climb.

At first I was hesitant, to say the least, to go to my home world, but over the last couple of days that feeling had faded away. I had almost become excited to see my home. Still nervous, of course, but also excited. What would it look like? What would the people be like? I hoped that we would be able to help my people. From what I had gathered, the situation wasn't that good. I was determined to help my people. I had never met them, but I already cared for them.

We had been picked up by Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka pretty early in the morning. Why was it necessary to go so early? Apparently it just was. No explanation given. I had always thought that it was early when I got up for school at 06:30 AM but this was just madness. It wasn't even 05:00 AM! The Jedi didn't seem to be bothered, though. They were probably used to it by now. Still, how could they look so fit? I probably looked like a zombie. My eyelids were just so heavy. I really wanted to sleep, but I knew I wouldn't get a chance to do that. Maybe I even had to go without sleep for a couple of days. How was I going to survive this? My sleep was very important to me. And with very I mean extremely. If I didn't have enough sleep I would get really grumpy. I wouldn't be a nice person to be around. I just hoped adrenaline would take over, that would solve all of these problems. The Doctor already had enough adrenaline flowing. He was practically bouncing, he was so excited. I didn't understand how he had so much energy. He hadn't had that much sleep. Couldn't he give me some of his energy?

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted. The Jedi had stopped walking and I bumped into Ahsoka, who was standing right in front of me. We had arrived at the hangar and we were standing right in front of two gunships.

''Jessica, Doctor, you will go with me in this gunship.'' Obi-Wan said. ''Anakin and Ahsoka will go in the other. As soon as we're close to the planet surface we will jump out of the gunships. We have to get there unnoticed.''

''Would you people mind if Miss Jessica and I go to the planet in a more civilized way?'' The Doctor asked, while putting a hand on my shoulder.

''What do you mean: in a more civilized way?'' Anakin asked, frowning. he was probably offended that the Doctor thought his ships weren't civilized.

''I mean with the Tardis, of course.''

''Of course.'' Ahsoka muttered and she rolled her eyes.

''Well, I think that couldn't hurt, could it?'' Obi-Wan said.

''Fine.'' Anakin grumbled. Still offended apparently. He would get over it, eventually.

''Good. Now let's go.'' The Doctor grabbed my hand and ran to the Tardis. He was almost dragging me with him. We went inside and closed the door.

''Hold on.'' He said with a grin.

''I know.'' I grinned back.

''Allons-y!'' He exclaimed and pulled a lever down. The Tardis started to move. I was going home.

-Anakin-

We just stood there as the Doctor and Jessica ran into the Tardis. It started to make weird noises and then it just faded away.

''Okay… That's just weird…'' Ahsoka said. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were just standing there, mouths agape, absolutely dumbfounded. I had already seen this, so I decided to tease them a little bit.

''What? Never seen a thing disappear into thin air before?''

''What are you smirking at? I bet you had the exact same response when you first saw it.'' Ahsoka snapped back.

''Of course I didn't have the same response. I would look just as stupid as you and I don't think that's possible.''

''No it isn't possible, Anakin. You would look even more stupid.'' Obi-Wan said with a grin. Kriff. I hadn't thought about the fact that there were now two to tease me. I would easily have won if it was one of them, but two, that was too much, even for me.

''He really needs to teach me that, though.'' I said.

''No. That wouldn't be good. You would probably crash it.'' Obi-Wan said with a big smile on his face. Ahsoka snickered. They were teasing me back, as payback, I guess. So I guessed it was all justified.

''I don't think the Doctor will let you anywhere near the Tardis. He already knows of your reputation.'' Ahsoka said.

''What reputation?'' I asked innocently.

''The crash-landing–reputation.''

''Oh, that one. I don't think it's that bad.'' I honestly thought it wasn't that bad. Obi-Wan just said that because he hates flying in general.

''Just make sure that you're not going to copy him.'' Obi-Wan said to Ahsoka.

''General. If I may interrupt, we really must get going now.'' Rex walked towards us.

''Yes, Rex.'' I nodded at him. Then I glared at Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. ''We will finish this conversation later.''

''What is there to finish? You know we're right.'' Ahsoka replied. I shot her one last look.

A/N: Thanks for reading chapter 8! It wasn't really long, but to make it up to you: chapter 9 will also be up quite soon (maybe even today). Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.