Chapter 24 - Head vs Heart

They did not need to wait long for the gunship that would transport Poggle to arrive, arriving on the transport was Master Mundi, Ahsoka and Barriss. As Poggle was loaded onto the ship, Ahsoka and Barriss exited, Ahsoka giving him a side eye as she does. He was almost entirely on board when Master Mundi also made his way off. "I'm afraid we have a complication," he said to the Jedi waiting at the bottom of the ramp.

"Don't we always?" Anakin snarks lightly.

"I've just received a distress signal from our forces on Dantooine," Master Mundi explains, "Master Windu's defenses held, but at a great cost to his men. They need medical supplies immediately. We can obtain these supplies at the medical station near Ord Cestus."

"We're delivering Poggle to Coruscant," Anakin argues, "and Cestus is not exactly on the way."

"The Republic must begin debriefing Poggle right away," Master Luminara adds, "if we're to get useful intelligence from him."

"Master," Anakin begins, moving to stand behind Ahsoka and Barriss, putting his hands on their shoulders, "I suggest we let our Padawans handle the supply mission."

"Whatever needs to be done, Master," Ahsoka says, "I'm happy to help."

"As am I," Barriss adds.

"Very well," Obi-Wan says, "take a medical frigate and after we've delivered Poggle to Coruscant, we'll rendezvous with you for the voyage to Dantooine."

With everyone in agreement, the three Masters walk away while Anakin looks around. Sulani walks closer to Ahsoka and Barriss, "Good luck girls and please, remember what I said about not doing anything brave but suicidal. We're not around the corner this time and won't be easily available either. So be careful won't you?"

"Of course, Mother," Ahsoka says gently, "you have nothing to worry about."

"Now it's when you say stuff like that that makes me worry the most," Sulani says with a frown.

"There really is nothing to worry about Mother," Barriss adds, "we're just making a supply run, we shouldn't encounter anything dangerous."

"I suppose so, but be careful anyway," Sulani says, "things often don't go the way we plan."

"We'll keep that in mind," Ahsoka says as she grabs one of Sulani's hands with one of her own in comfort.

Sulani and Anakin were watching from the ramp of their transport as the medical frigate taking Ahsoka and Barriss lifted off from Geonosis. "Will they be okay Mother?" he finally asks.

"This was your idea Anakin," she reminds him, "don't second guess yourself now."

"I'm not, I'm just half expecting you to have some kind of feeling about this," he admits.

"Anakin," she says sternly, "I'm not some kind of danger radar, I can't say for sure if anything will happen. However, in all honesty, I'm feeling nothing towards their mission."

"That's good then right?"

"Actually, no," she says, "if I was having positive feelings, then it would be good, but feeling nothing, well, that's almost as bad as negative feelings sometimes."

"That is not reassuring," he says with apprehension.

"Well, there's nothing much we can do about it now," she reasons, moving into the transport, "come now, let's be off. The faster we deliver Poggle, the faster we get back to them."

He nods, though she is no longer looking his way, and stares a little longer towards where the frigate had just left. Then he too walks into the transport, Mother Sulani was right, the faster they did their task, the faster he could get back to Ahsoka.

Sulani had not been able to relax since they had left for Coruscant, and she found herself on the bridge, waiting for, well, she did not know what she was waiting for really. She just knew something was keeping her on edge. She was over on the left side of the bridge, in her own little world while staring at the stars go by in hyperspace. Master Unduli and Master Mundi were at the very front of the bridge, also observing out the front window. Anakin and Obi-Wan then entered with Rex behind them. As they walked closer, Master Unduli turned slightly to face them as she had called them in, "The cargo ship failed to check in on schedule."

This got Sulani's attention, Master Luminara had not informed her of this while she had been in the room. "I attempted to contact them," Master Luminara continues, "there is no reply."

By this point, Sulani had moved closer to the group, walking around the side. This entire situation had, not unexpectedly, ruffled Anakin's feathers, "I don't like it, something's up."

"It is certainly most unlike either Padawan to lose contact," Master Luminara agrees.

"They're in trouble," Anakin concludes with finality.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan cuts in, "have faith in your Padawan."

"She would have checked in," Anakin reasons.

"Like you always do?" Obi-Wan ribs.

"Good point."

"Sometimes I don't think you realise how alike you two have become," Obi-Wan says.

"That's an understatement," Sulani said quietly, facing away from them, just quiet enough that they might think she did not intend for them to hear it, but she had.

Master Mundi clears his throat before Anakin can try to throw something back at her, "We need to continue our interrogation of Poggle."

"Yes, agreed," Obi-Wan says, "he's being most uncooperative."

Sulani watched as Obi-Wan, Master Mundi and Master Unduli made their way from the room, but turned back to Anakin when she noticed him lean in closer to Rex, "Keep your ears open in case Ahsoka calls."

"Got it," Rex replies, before standing still at the front of the bridge.

Anakin made to leave, but realised Sulani was still here, "Mother, are you not worried about her?"

"Anakin, you know I am so don't pretend you think otherwise," she says, "however, though something is admittedly keeping me on edge, it's nothing urgent."

"Obi-Wan had a point about me not always checking in, but Ahsoka always checks in with me," he says, "she always wants to make sure I'm not in the process of trying to rain on her parade."

"If you think something is wrong, Anakin, then I believe you," she says gently, "just don't rush to be decisive on going to her rescue, give her a chance to solve whatever might be happening. She will contact you if she needs help."

"Alright Mother," he resigns.

She nods toward him and then they both turn to follow the three Masters who had already left ahead of them.

In the end, Sulani and Anakin had spent the last couple of hours hovering around the communication consoles, because yes, Ahsoka would contact them if something was wrong. However, all the same, that was not going to stop them from trying to contact her. Rex was currently trying to contact the ship she was on now, "Cargo ship TB-73, this is Clone Captain Rex. Please respond."

He had been repeating those lines a few times, but something was different this time because Rex must have gotten a response that they could not hear from the other side of the room. He replied to them with, "Likewise, sir."

They made their way over to the screen and Rex had noticed them coming, "I've got two people here who would like to speak to you."

When Sulani and Anakin were finally in view of the screen, they were happy to see Ahsoka. However, something was clearly wrong and Anakin did not waste any time, "Ahsoka, what is going on? Are you okay?"

"Well, not exactly," she says slowly, "somehow those mind controlling worms have made their way onto the ship and have infected the clones. Barriss and I have separated in order to accomplish different things. I'm so glad I was able to reach you Master, I have no idea what to do."

"Make sure you have a wrist com," Anakin says, "Keep it on. I'm going to interrogate Poggle. He might have some answers. Find Barriss and wait for my signal."

"Be careful Ahsoka," Sulani adds.

She nods at them both before ending the call. As soon as the call was over, Sulani turned to look at Anakin, but he was already walking away. If she was being entirely honest, she would admit to being mildly afraid of his disposition and the feelings he was exuding at the moment. He was angry, she could feel it, and an angry Anakin was never a good thing. Never a good thing for those at the other end of his anger, that is. Sulani always knew he had a certain capacity for hatred, though always directed at his enemies, but it was something unbecoming of a Jedi. She had ignored it mostly, he was not a normal Jedi in the least and unlike others, she did not see it as a serious concern, at least not in the way they did.

He was a good Jedi in the ways that counted and he was a good man as well, making her try to ignore the things that would normally be frowned upon by others in the Order. Like his volatile temper and need for retribution when he felt it necessary. At this very moment, he was angry, and though not seeking retribution, he would stop at nothing to get the answers he needed to ensure his Padawan's safety, something she had been informing Master Luminara would eventually happen only days ago.

As he walked around the corner, and out of her vision, she was not sure if she should follow to buffer his anger on Poggle or leave it be. She was at war with herself, she knew what she needed to do, but she also wanted the answers that would save Ahsoka. She barely noticed Rex watching her, no doubt he knew exactly what was going on. He knew his General as well as she did and he knew what Anakin was no doubt about to do. He would not do anything to stop him, and he also would not stop her no matter what decision she came to.

It was hard, the war in her heart and mind was a raging battle between what was right and what was, well, wrong. She was unsure how long she had been standing there when she felt something calling to her, so she answered and then immediately regretted it. She had no warning before the voices hit her.

"They don't trust me." "They never believed in you dear boy. They're holding you back." "It's the only way to save her from death." "You're breaking my heart." "You were my brother Anakin." "You're lying Maul." "Execute Order 66."

She returned to reality to find herself being held up by Rex, she must have collapsed from the force of the vision. She only remembered a few lines, though she knew there was more. What she did know was this, she needed to stop Anakin and for some reason, the words 'Order 66' were what was pushing her to run out of Rex's arms, and after Anakin. She had heard them before.

She barely heard Rex calling out to her, but she did notice he had not followed. She raced through the ship, getting strange looks from the clones she passed, but they did nothing to hinder her.

She finally reached the holding cells, and did not have time to notice the clone troopers supposed to be watching Poggle were outside. She ran passed them and into the cell, where Anakin was Force choking Poggle, and though out of breath, she managed to call out to him, "Anakin, that's enough."

Her arrival startled him enough that he let Poggle go, the Geonosian sliding down the wall hard, "Mother, I need him to tell me how to deal with those worms, I'm not going to fail her."

"You won't fail her by doing things the right way, only if you compromise your morals will you be failing her," she tries to reason, walking as close as she dared to his still bristling persona.

That is when Poggle started clicking in Geonosian, the droid then translating, "I will tell you what you need to know Jedi, just never do that again."

Anakin calms down immediately, but still bares down on Poggle waiting for answers. Sulani was just hoping her arrival had saved Anakin something worse in the long run. Though she was realising there was much more going on in her visions than she originally thought.

After Poggle had told them everything they needed to know, they had raced to the bridge to inform the three Masters. Sulani wanted to talk to Anakin about what had happened, but she knew now was not a very good time for that. They ran into the room and only slowed when they saw the Masters, Anakin speaking as soon as he saw them, "We made contact with Ahsoka."

"What's their status?" Obi-Wan asks.

"Geonosian parasites have infected her crew," Anakin explains.

"How did they get on board her ship?"

"Poggle said the parasites must have needed a new host after we raided the Queen's temple," Anakin answers.

"You interrogated Poggle?" Master Luminara asks him.

"I did," he says, turning to face her, "there wasn't time to get the rest of you."

"How did you get him to talk?" Master Mundi asks him next.

"Look, all that matters is that he told me how to stop the worms," Anakin skirts the question.

"Sulani," Obi-Wan turns to his sister, "were you there?"

She had no idea how to answer that, but she need not worry as Anakin snapped back at his Master, "Don't bring Mother into it, she wasn't there until after Poggle agreed to talk."

Based on Anakin's obvious temper, they decided to drop it, but Obi-Wan looked at her and raised a brow in question. She only shook her head, now was not the time. He realised that she was not going to say anything now, she was more concerned about Ahsoka, so he let it go. Though she knew he would not let it go forever.

They waited around near the terminal before Ahsoka finally made contact, "This is Ahsoka, come in."

"Ahsoka, listen to me," Anakin says to her, "The worms are affected by the cold."

"Cold?" she says softly to herself. "That's how we stop them?"

"Rupture the coolant system," Anakin says, though when she doesn't say anything in reply, he frowns and asks, "did you hear me? Rupture the coolant system!"

"The coolant system," she finally says, "got it."

She then closed the call, obviously off to do that. Sulani was finally starting to feel worried, this could all go very wrong. Not to mention, she did not fail to notice her lack of mentioning anything related to Barriss, another concern she had.

They did not wait long before they heard word from Master Kit Fisto about the status of Ahsoka and her ship. She had managed to rupture the coolant system, disabling the infected clones and also managing to save Barriss who had also been infected. Master Fisto had found the Padawans half frozen in the bridge, but still very much alive.

However, they were both in the infirmary recovering. They could not have taken Poggle to Coruscant and made their way to the medical station any faster than they did. Both Anakin and Sulani were on edge the whole trip because for all Master Fisto said Ahsoka was okay, they needed to see for themselves.

They had run from the ship and straight for the room she was in, but both her and Barriss were still unconscious. They needed to wait. Anakin had offered her the chair by Ahsoka's bed while he sat in the one looking out the window. They had been waiting for quite some time and all of the excitement and anxiety had caught up to her. As she lay her head on her arms, which were crossed beside Ahsoka's left arm on her bed, the last thing she saw before she fell asleep was Anakin staring out the window, a concerned look covering his face.

When Ahsoka came to, the first thing she noticed was her Master sitting in a chair looking out the window. Then she remembered what had happened and sat up quickly while gasping. Anakin quickly came to sit by her right, grabbing onto her, "It's alright Ahsoka, it's okay. You're safe."

He had said that last part when she finally made eye contact with him, "Barriss?" she asks, lying back down.

It was when she did that she noticed Mother Sulani sleeping on her other side, she had not even stirred when Ahsoka had sat up. Ahsoka believed it was because she had seen way more excitement in the last couple of days than she had in a long time and was exhausted because of it. She did not dwell on it long as her Master answers her question, "Barriss is fine, thanks to your efforts."

He looked over to another bed where she could finally see Barriss, unconscious, but okay, "And so are the clones," he added.

"What were those things?" she asks next.

"I think I can help answer that," Master Fisto said, coming into the room.

She noticed her Mother shuffle, but not wake, so she turned back to face Master Fisto. "We had the parasite worms analysed," he starts, "they are the same type of creature you found on Geonosis, Master Skywalker."

Anakin stood and walked to Master Fisto, "We'll have to inform the troops on Geonosis," he says, "this parasite might explain how they recaptured the planet the first time. I don't want it happening again."

Master Fisto then turned back to Ahsoka, "You have been through quite the ordeal little one."

She turns to face Anakin, "Master Skywalker, may I have a word?"

The two older Jedi share a look, before Master Fisto leaves and Anakin sits back down beside her. "Master," she begins, "on the ship, Barriss was gone, and she wanted me to kill her. She told me…"

"But you couldn't do it," he realises.

"No. No, I couldn't. But should I have?" she wonders, "I mean, it worked out now, but if we had failed, if the ship docked and the worms spread, and…"

"Ahsoka," he says gently, "it's your duty to save as many lives as you can. Barriss knew you could save thousands if the worms were destroyed, which she thought meant destroying her too, but you did the right thing. You knew the freezing cold would kill the worms. Letting go of our attachments is a difficult struggle for all of us. You followed your instincts. I'm sure she would agree that you made the right choice. So would Mother."

He takes one last look at where Mother Sulani was sleeping beside Ahsoka before he left the room, leaving Ahsoka to her thoughts and her sleeping Guardian Mother. She looked over at Barriss before looking at the ships out the window. At least it was all over.

A/N: and this marks the last chapter in this arc, yaaaaay. It was long, but it's all out now.
So Sulani gets her first look at what she's dealing with in regards to helping Anakin even though she still does not know what is going to happen, not yet anyway. She's probably not going to learn anything concrete for quite some time, but flashes and seeing the things Anakin is going through should be enough. So until the next chapter,
Seza, out.