Chapter 7 – Chance for Rest…Or Possibly Not

As the sun started to set, they had finished making their camp, a fire going steady as well. The only problem was Anakin, he was not in good condition and they no longer had the ship to keep him alive. "Anakin doesn't have much time," Aayla reveals. "We have to find help tonight."

Sulani was sitting beside Anakin's head, her hand on his forehead in comfort even if he could not feel it. Ahsoka was the one to reply, "Okay, you and Bly go south; Mother, Rex and I sill stay here with Anakin."

Sulani looked up at this, oh she knew Ahsoka did not want to leave Anakin alone like this, but there was too much at stake for everyone to stay here. Aayla agreed, "No Ahsoka. In order to get help quickly, we must work together."

"I can't leave him," Ahsoka quickly protest. "Master, I know if I was hurt, he'd never leave me behind."

"I know this is hard Ahsoka, but Anakin has to stay behind, and we have to go now. There is nothing more we can do for him," Aayla persists.

She was right, of course, besides, Ahsoka seemed to be forgetting something, "Ahsoka," she finally speaks up, "are you forgetting about me? I can stay with Anakin and besides, I didn't tell you this before because I knew how worried you were about him, but well, I'm not really going anywhere in a hurry."

This certainly caught Aayla and Ahsoka's attention, "What are you talking about Mother? Are you not well?"

Sulani sighs before answering, "You may have noticed I haven't stood since I situated myself in here, I'm afraid I may have sprained my ankle during our landing. I can walk a little, but not as far as you no doubt need to in order to find help. I'm sure I can look after Anakin while you are gone."

"Mother, why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh Ahsoka," she starts. "Anakin is in more critical condition than I am, I'll be just fine, now go; the longer you stay here, the worse he gets."

"We must do all we can to get off this planet," Aayla reminds her in agreement with Sulani's words. "As a Jedi, it is your duty to do what is best for the group."

Ahsoka takes a look at Anakin before walking away, and before long, she is looking off into the distance for anything useful.

Commander Bly comes up to them then, "Generals, look."

In his hands appears to be a piece of timber off a tree, he continues as he hands it over to Aayla, "We're not the only ones here on this planet. There has to be some kind of something here."

It was at this moment that there was a distant screeching noise that sent chills down Sulani's spine. The clones turn on their helmet lights to look and see if there was anything nearby. When nothing is seen, they turn them off and Bly talks again, this time with a little unease in his tone. "If you don't mind me asking General Secura, where exactly are we going?"

"To go find the people who live on this planet."

"Where are we going to find them? We have no idea where they are," he reminds her.

Ahsoka grabs the piece of timber out of Aayla's hand before giving her opinion, "It appears to me that the people we're looking for live near giant trees."

Aayla looks at her with satisfaction, "Very perceptive, Padawan."

Ahsoka kneels before the little tent, "Be strong Master. Just a little bit longer. Mother will be here and Rex will watch over you."

"It is time to go," Aayla says softly.

"Don't worry kid," Rex reassures her. "I'll take good care of them."

She gives a nod towards him before walking away, Aayla giving her final order, "Captain Rex, keep your locator on. We should be back by daybreak with whoever or whatever lives on this planet."

"Got it General Secura," he confirms. "Hey kid. Good luck."

"Come on guys, let's move out," Aayla calls to the whole group.

With that, the Jedi, the Padawan and four clone troopers were off leaving Rex and Sulani with an unconscious Anakin.

They had been on the move for a short while when Aayla started talking again, "I can still sense your worry for Anakin, your attachment to him."

"It's just…" she starts, "I get so confused sometimes. It's forbidden for Jedi to form attachments, yet we are supposed to be compassionate. Not to mention, Guardian Mothers are allowed to form attachments with their younglings, but expected to let them go when they either become Padawans or join the Service Corps. Mother Sulani raised me since I was small, am I supposed to just forget that?"

"It is nothing to be ashamed of Ahsoka; I went through the same process when I was your age with my own Master, my Guardian Mother as well."

"Really? You?" she asks in surprise.

"He was like a father to me, and of course, Mother Dorrel pretty much was my mother. I realised for the greater good, I had to let them go," Aayla explained. "Don't lose a thousand lives just to save one."

"Maybe," Ahsoka only agrees in part, "but that doesn't mean that I can't try to save his life."

Ahsoka could to some degree understand this in regards to a Master; a Padawan and their Master are only together for a short while. The Jedi way is to let go of that attachment when the Padawan gets Knighted. However, for Ahsoka, just as Master Secura had said, Anakin is now the closest thing to a father she'll ever have. However, her Mother raised her, and she does not think she could ever let that go. Likewise, her older group siblings have all said the same to her whenever she ran into them. A teacher is one thing, a Mother is another. Try as she has, her Mother is still in her heart always, and Anakin was creeping his way into the space right next to hers.

Sulani found herself dozing in her position next to Anakin's head; she still had her hand on his forehead, but her own head was drooping. She was starting to think she may have hit her head a little too hard when they crashed. She was barely aware of her surroundings, but she did notice when Rex turned on his helmet lights, "Is something the matter Rex?"

"I'm not sure General, I think I heard something."

Sulani was a little more alert now and tried to spread her senses around their little camp. She could not sense anything and told Rex as such. He turns his lights back off and stares in at Anakin. He then stands and decides to scout around the camp. Sulani tried to remain more alert, but she was having minimal luck; she was definitely more tired than she thought she was originally.

Several minutes later, Sulani was continuing to get drowsier, but she was able to notice when Anakin started coming to, "Ani, how are you feeling?"

He clearly heard her, but did not reply; he probably was not able to. He tried sitting up and so she helped him the best she could. He was staring off into the grass and so she looked over. They spotted it at the same time and she was suddenly a lot more alert. Anakin tried standing, Sulani tried to as well, but just as he fell forward, her ankle protested and she followed him back down to the ground. "General! Are you alright?"

Rex was making his way over having seen Anakin fall to the ground. He looked in her direction, noticed her discomfort, but Anakin tried speaking before he could ask her the same question, "Be…Behind you."

Rex turned just in time to see some kind of creature advancing on him, "What the…" and the creature was on him. It grabbed him by the arm and was throwing him around; it threw him to the ground and he tried his best to fend it off. He pulled out his blaster, but it quickly dealt with that problem. Sulani wanted to help, but her ankle was throbbing and her attempt to use the Force to throw it off was not working.

Thankfully, Rex was able to get a shot off that scared it off; he continued to fire as it ran, but was not able to hit it. Anakin slumped onto his arm in relief and Sulani likewise lay down on the ground with a sigh. Rex moved Anakin back into his spot in the tent and then proceeded to help her into a more comfortable position beside him. "Thank you Rex."

"No worries, General, you're actually looking a little worse than you did earlier, are you sure it's just your ankle?" he asks, giving her a once over with his eyes.

"I thought so at least, but I did hit my head a little and maybe it's worse than I thought. I'm just a bit drowsy though," her words were slowly tapering off as she spoke.

"I think you should rest General, I don't think that thing will be back for a while."

She barely had time to reply in assent before she was asleep; it did not even occur to her that if she had anything like a concussion, falling asleep was the last thing she needed.

Ahsoka was relieved upon seeing the little village made from the pods. After a quick exchange with Master Secura, they quickly made their way down to the village.

When they entered, they found the people of the village to be small furred creatures, "Hello?" Ahsoka called out to them.

She watched as two of them let through one who appeared to be much older than the others and he spoke, "What have you come here for?"

"We are peacekeepers," Aayla informs them, "We are Jedi from the Galactic Republic. Our ship crashed a few miles away, and one of us is very badly injured. We need your help."

"Violence breeds violence," the elderly one insisted. "Jedi are no peacekeepers."

Aayla looked down at her lightsaber, thinking she could understand what he was trying to say. Ahsoka could not stay quiet and tried to protest, "We're fighting for freedom."

"And freedom and peace require fear and death?" he argued. "We colonised this system to find solace from your wretched war. We came here to find peace. You must leave. You will only destroy what small amount of peace is left in the galaxy. You will only bring the destruction of us."

"Regardless of the Clone Wars and our part in them," Aayla implores, "we still need your help."

"I'm afraid I must do what's best for my people. We cannot help you."

As he was turning away, Ahsoka called to his back, "Please, can you at least give us some medical supplies? My friend is dying and my Mother is injured."

He pauses in his walk before gesturing to one of his people to come over, "I cannot ignore a plea for help. I will send my son, Wag Too, to help your friends. He is a Healer, but only one Jedi may go with him. The other must stay as insurance. We wouldn't want a surprise attack on our village or the kidnapping of our only healer."

"Bly and I will stay," Aayla agrees, "Padawan, go and help your Master, and make sure Mother is okay as well."

"No!" the elder calls out. "The clone and his blaster cannot stay. He will go with the youngling."

"I can handle it," Ahsoka insists, "I don't need help."

"Ahsoka!"

"Don't worry," she cuts in.

"Be mindful of your surroundings, Padawan," Aayla warns her, "those creatures are still out there."

"Got it," she assures, "we won't be long."

With that, Ahsoka and Bly were off alongside the village healer to help Anakin.

Thankfully, rest appeared to be what Sulani needed for as soon as Anakin stirred next to her, she was wide awake. His groan alerted Rex who turned to face him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "General, you need to maintain your rest."

"I can't rest," Anakin insists. "Rex, they're coming, I can hear them. We must fight."

Rex helped Anakin to stand and Sulani was sitting up, watching the grass for the arrival of the creatures that she could now sense as well. Unfortunately, she could not stand, but she reminded herself she could still help in other ways. One of the creatures came running out of the bush before screeching loudly. Anakin activates his lightsaber and Rex raises his gun ready to fight back. Sulani also takes out her lightsaber just in case they decided she was easy pickings because she was down.

Rex shoots first and manages to knock one of them down, the other storming between them. If Sulani had not reacted quickly and rolled to the side, she would have been trampled as it stormed through the tent. It did manage to knock Anakin over, and she was starting to worry when Ahsoka and Bly arrived with help from a small furry creature.

When the creature knocked over their new friend, Ahsoka went in to assist with her lightsaber, but the small guy stopped her, "No, don't!"

He grabbed the rope he had been using to wrap around its legs and started to pull. Ahsoka quickly rushed in to help him pull with a disgruntled "Fine."

They were having difficulty, so Captain Rex jumped in as well. With the help of the clone captain, they were able to pull its legs and knock it over, the new friend hurrying to tie its legs with the rest of the rope. "Good work, little guy," Ahsoka said with relief that it was over.

Commander Bly took this opportunity to run over to help Anakin and Ahsoka notices, calling out to him, "Master."

As she kneels beside him, he looks to her, "Good to see you, Snips."

As Rex comes over to help Sulani over to the rest of the group, Ahsoka introduces her new friend, "This is Wag Too. He's a healer. He can make you well again."

"Don't you worry," Wag Too says. "I can fix you right up."

Rex takes this moment to cut in, "General Kenobi is also not in the best condition."

Ahsoka turns towards him and sees him supporting her pale-faced Mother, "Mother, you look so much worse than yesterday."

"I'm okay Ahsoka; you should have seen me before I got some sleep. I am still by no means in worse condition than Anakin," Sulani reassures her.

Not willing to argue with her Mother, she turns back to see Commander Bly helping Wag Too get Anakin onto a make-shift stretcher. Sulani spots this as well, "Please tell me I don't have to be carted on a stretcher in such an undignified manner as well?"

"Don't worry General," Rex says to her. "You're nowhere near as heavy as General Skywalker; I can carry you to where we're going."

"Oh thank you Rex," she says with a relieved sigh.

With Ahsoka and Commander Bly carting Anakin, and Rex carrying Sulani on his back, the group was on their way to the village.

When they arrived, Aayla and the chief were there to greet them. Anakin was placed on the ground, he closed his eyes only for a moment and when he opened them again, he was surrounded by a group of small furry creatures, "Um…Snips?"

Without further delay, Anakin was moved into a small pod and that is when Aayla noticed Sulani on Rex's back, "Mother Sulani, you really do not look very well."

"Oh I'll be fine, don't you worry," she reassures for what feels like the hundredth time. "Rex, take me into the pod with Anakin, I might as well rest some more while we have the moment."

After she had been situated beside him and Wag Too had used some oils or whatever to help with Anakin, she noticed who she had been told was the chief looking in on them. The look on his face seemed conflicted.

Hopefully, Admiral Yularen would find them soon and they could rest for a while, preferably back on Coruscant.

A/N: You will have noticed that I have still not finished the arc and it is already the end of the second chapter for it, that would be because, as I mentioned in the AN for the last chapter, Sulani was way more involved in this arc. I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish the arc, because like I have mentioned before, work is picking up tomorrow and weekdays are almost gone.

Long story short, for the next several weeks, chapters will be slow going because I'll be typing only when I can.

As usual, I hope you have enjoyed it up to here and I always love a review.

Seza, out.