Forever In My Heart

By RocketFAN

Chapter 12: Bittersweet Reunions

Anakin watched Ahsoka sleep soundly as he carefully cradled Cayden, who was also asleep and wrapped snuggly in his thick, brown cloak, as the sun rose and the rain stopped. A few hours after giving birth to her son in the small cavern on the desolate planet, she had decided to try to get some sleep so she would have the energy to help Anakin figure out a way to contact the Republic.

"Well, good morning little one," Anakin said softly as the sleeping baby in his arms stirred and opened his striking blue eyes that were identical to Ahsoka's. The tiny baby started to fuss and Anakin figured he must have been hungry. Having no choice and nothing to feed a newborn. Anakin reluctantly woke Ahsoka.

"Hey, Snips…its morning," Anakin said while gently shaking her.

"Ugh…already?" Ahsoka muttered wearily.

"Yeah… and I think little Cayden is hungry," Anakin said while handing her the baby as she slowly sat up.

"Oh… okay," Ahsoka replied softly while giving her baby a kiss on the forehead.

"I'll uh… leave you to that, then, " Anakin said as he stood up and begin to exit the cavern.

"Where are you going?" Ahsoka asked him curiously, as Cayden began to wail.

"I'm going to see if I can find any intelligent life that may be able to help us contact the republic," Anakin explained as he carefully climbed down the rock face, which was still slippery from the night rain.

"Shhh… it's okay, Cayden," Ahsoka said as she nervously prepared to feed her new baby. Fortunately, she had learned about the process of mother's breastfeeding their new babies during her studies at the Temple. And along with her natural maternal instinct, she did not need much information on how to do it.

"Okay… there you go," she sighed as Cayden stopped crying and, after a few moments of awkwardness, happily started to eat.

Anakin reached the bottom of the rock face and concentrated on finding any signs of life on the barren planet. He followed the same path that he and Ahsoka had walked the day before in hopes of possibly finding the transmitter that she had accidently lost.

"Oh… this is hopeless," he said despairingly just before something shiny caught his eye.

"No way!" He whispered in utter surprise as a small, square object sparkled in the sand just below where he was standing. An overwhelming sense of relief filled him as he realized it was the lost transmitter.

"-kin… hello? A-kin…are-…there," A garbled transmission was repeating itself over and over again on the transmitter that was fortunately, completely intact.

"Hello?! Who's this?" Anakin shouted eagerly into the transmitter's comlink. He sighed sadly as only static crackled on the other end. Anakin stuck the transmitter in his pocket and made his way back to the cavern.

"Ahsoka!" He called out as he neared the entrance so he would not uh… interrupt anything private.

"Master," Ahsoka replied as she held Cayden over her shoulder and gently patted his back.

"Did he eat?" Anakin asked with a small chuckle as Cayden burped softly.

"Well, I guess that answers my question," he laughed as he gave the smiling baby a kiss on the cheek.

"Any luck?" Ahsoka asked him as she wiped Cayden's mouth.

"I found the transmitter," Anakin said while pulling it out of his pocket.

"Well, at least we can find out way back to the ship," Ahsoka said while bundling Cayden up and following Anakin out of the cavern as he followed the bleep on the transmitter that represented the location of the ship.

"There it is!" Anakin cried out happily after a few hours of trekking the desolate planet.

"Oh, thank you," Ahsoka said gratefully as they climbed aboard the safety of the disabled yet still intact ship.

"Maybe we can get in contact with someone," Anakin said while flipping the switches on the comm. Panel.

"Hello? Is there anyone out there?" He asked hopefully into the transmitter.

"Anakin? Where in the world are you?!" Obi-Wan's voice chimed following a few moments of static.

"Master?! Is that you?!" Anakin nearly fell to his knees in relief at his Master's familiar voice.

"Where are you? The Council has been worried sick!" Obi-Wan added, sounding rather irritated.

"We're on a planet called "Quadrant Seven" somewhere in the mid-rim… we got caught in an asteroid field and our ship was hit," Anakin rapidly explained the situation to Obi-Wan.

"Are you okay? Is Ahsoka okay?" Obi-Wan sounded frantic, causing Anakin to suppress a snicker as he looked at Ahsoka and Cayden with a wide smile.

"I'm fine, Master Obi-Wan… we both are," Ahsoka said, trying to hint to Obi-Wan that she and her new baby were alive and well.

"What? You-you had your baby?" Obi-Wan sounded stunned.

"Yeah, last night… Anakin delivered him," Ahsoka looked at Anakin as a stunned silence echoed from the other end of the transmission.

"Anakin… delivered your baby?" Ob-Wan thought he was going mad.

"Yeah, I couldn't have done it without him," Ahsoka said while giving Anakin an adoring smile.

"Well… I can't wait to meet him. Just sit tight, I'll be there as soon as I can," Obi-Wan said before closing the transmission.

The next day, the joy of being safely back at the Temple turned bittersweet. When the Council discovered that Ahsoka had given birth to a healthy baby boy, they decided it best to send the child to Pax's home Planet of Carratos to live with his Grandparents. Perhaps one day, he would be brought back to the Temple to train to become a Jedi, as he would most likely be strong in the Force.

It broke Ahsoka's heart to give her child away, though she knew it would be for the best. The only thing she requested of Pax's parents was that they read him a poem she wrote him if he ever asked about his mother. When he arrived at his new home, his grandparents opened the envelope Ahsoka had sent with him and read him the enclosed poem:

Cayden, my darling child-

Every time I close my eyes

I see your precious face

Your sparkling eyes

So much like mine

You are perfect in every way

When I held you in my arms

I never wanted it to end

And the pain of giving you away

Is a wound that time could never mend

I dream about the day

That our paths shall cross again

And we can talk about the things we've seen

And all the places that we've been

I have never stopped loving you

And I never, ever will

And there is a hole within my heart and soul

That only you can fill

I will think about you every day

Although we may be worlds apart

And as long as I shall live

You will be forever in my heart

A/N: Now grab a tissue and write me a nice review!