"aaaa" - talking through a holocomunicator or comlink. aaaa - inner thoughts and Force Visions. 'aaaa' - talking through a bond.

AN: Thanks princesselsaamidala22 for the review! I'm glad that you like my character!

I really didn't know what to write for this interlude, but after reading (and rereading) Chapter 15 of KaitiJo's story Crossing Battlefields, (hope you don't mind me borrowing the same chapter title) I came up with this piece. I hope you enjoy it.

Interlude: Too Precious to Lose

Anakin was sitting in the living room of the apartment that he shared with Rosella. He sighed, knowing that Obi-Wan was right. He had risked everything on their last mission just to save R2 and wound up almost losing her. The Council had been kind enough to give them both a few days off to get some much needed rest and to make sure that they had mentally recovered from all the things that they had seen during their time on the front lines.

He sighed as he recalled what Rex had told him upon meeting up with him in the hanger bay of the station. When he heard that Rosella had taken it upon herself to go after the Jedi killing cyborg while their men completed the mission that they had been assigned to do, a massive amount of panic and worry had surged through his system. He had tried to get to her but was forced to quell his emotions once R3 had revealed himself to be a traitor. All throughout the fight in the hanger bay, one thought had been at the back of his mind. What if Grievous managed to actually kill her while they were fighting?

Anakin shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but it didn't help. He wondered if this was how Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan felt whenever he came back from a mission with either a new bruise or scar when he had been a teenager and under Obi-Wan's tutelage. Then he looked up as the door to their apartment slid open and Rosella walked in. Sensing that something was bothering her, he asked, "Ella? Are you alright?"

Rosella looked at her father. "I'm fine," she responded, walking over to the couch. Unhooking her saber from her belt, she placed it on the coffee table and sat on the couch. Then she drew her legs up to her chest and quietly sighed, knowing that she couldn't keep whatever was on her mind to herself any longer. "Dad?"

"Yes?" Anakin asked.

Not knowing how her father would react to her question, she took a deep breath and asked, "Were you scared?"

"Scared?" Anakin asked, a little confused. "About what?"

Rosella lowered her gaze to the floor as she thought about her fight against Grievous. She knew that she could have been badly injured, or worse, even killed by the cyborg during their little game of hide and seek in that supply room, but also knew that she had successfully distracted the metal menace by leading him away from the reactor room, allowing Rex and the other trooper to set the charges so they could destroy the station. She was also glad that they had gotten R2 back. "About what I did on our last mission…" she mumbled quietly.

Anakin raised his eyebrows, wondering why she was talking about this. "Sweetheart, like I told you after my chat with Obi-Wan, I knew that you would finish the mission while I went after R2," he said. "Even though I'm still not happy about you fighting Grievous by yourself."

The teenager shifted her gaze so she was looking at him, remembering how Grievous had easily bested her during their first encounter. When she had come around after he knocked her out and saw that there were only two members of the squad left, she knew that she would have to lead the cyborg away so their objective could be completed. "If I hadn't fought and then led him away, he would have killed Rex and the other trooper who was left. Then there would have been no one to plant the bombs and none of us would have escaped that station."

Anakin smiled a little. "Rosella, I'm proud of the fact that you did what you had to do to save Rex and what was left of the men," he said.

Rosella smiled slightly at her father's words of praise. "Thanks," she replied. Then she sighed, knowing that their conversation wasn't over yet as there was still one thing that terrified her when she thought about it. "I'm lucky that I escaped that metal monster's clutches when I did. If you hadn't set those explosives off when you did, Grievous probably would have done a lot more harm than just trying to choke me."

Anakin could only nod, the smile disappearing from his face as he was trying not to think about how scared she must have been at that moment. "When Rex told me what you were doing, I just got so worried," he said. "I'm wondering if you know just how close you came to losing your life."

Rosella slowly nodded, showing that she did understand. "Next time I'm going to think twice before doing something that puts me in danger," she replied. "I know that I didn't have the training nor was I strong enough or even ready to go up against Grievous on my own."

"I hope you don't do something like that ever again," Anakin told her.

"I won't Dad," Rosella said.

"I'm glad to hear that," the Knight responded. "You are a very important part of this family and I don't think any of us, even Padmè, are ready to lose you."

"I don't want to lose any of you either," Rosella said, placing her feet on the ground as she leaned into her father for a hug, wrapping her arms around him.

Anakin softly smiled and hugged his daughter back, wrapping his force signatures around hers, flooding their bond with love and happiness. 'Are you up for a friendly spar?'

Rosella pulled back, an excited look in her eyes. 'Race you there.' She disentangled herself from his arms, stood up, grabbed her lightsaber off the coffee table and then leapt over the couch as she ran for the door, which opened as she approached, allowing her to race into the hallway.

Anakin laughed, got up off the couch and took off after her.