Ahsoka felt the pain and terror a second before she heard the shouting. She had been perched on top of a cliff, deflecting blaster bolts and directing cannon fire down to the droids below, and she had seen Obi-Wan and Anakin on the ledges around her, felt their calm. They were on some other jungle planet—one that reminded Ahsoka briefly of Teth, just from how some abandoned buildings had been built into the cliff and mountain ledges, but no, this wasn't Teth—because this time, they were winning their battle.

Or at least, that was what Ahsoka thought before the entire planet shook, and then Ahsoka realized dully that no, the planet wasn't the one shaking—it had been another launch of a cannon, and then Ahsoka saw a blur of red and orange flame flying towards her before she was knocked and rolled over on the ground.

Ahsoka heard rocks and boulders dislodge from above her, heard the crackle of flames, felt the trembles from underneath her. When the noise and shaking finally stopped, Ahsoka became aware that Rex was right beside her, his helmet streaked with dust and dirt, but otherwise unharmed. She realized then that it was him who had shoved her away from what was now a crumbled bit of cliff edge.

"Thanks," Ahsoka said, turning to Rex.

"That was close," was Rex's response.

Ahsoka reignited her light sabers, glowering down at the droids looking up at her. "Tell me about it," she muttered, but the words had barely left her lips when there was another streak of cannon fire—this time aimed straight for Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Ahsoka felt her entire body grow cold as she whirled around for them, opened her mouth to shout a warning—

She saw Anakin tense first, saw him lift his face to the sky, and then his eyes met Ahsoka's briefly—and then she saw him race for Obi-Wan, shove him out of the way, and—

Ahsoka's shout joined Obi-Wan's.

Obi-Wan wasn't sure what happened until it was too late.

All he knew was that Anakin had been muttering at him from his side—something about always getting stuck on the hot planets, and he couldn't wait for all of this to be over, and Obi-Wan had somehow indulged in Anakin's complaints for just a short amount of time before the cannon fire was rushing for them.

Obi-Wan couldn't even process it at first—didn't have enough time to, because then Anakin was shouting his name, and then Obi-Wan was being shoved away—

And then he heard the crash, and when he opened his eyes, he found flames and an empty space from where Anakin had just been standing.

He didn't hear himself, not over the blaster or cannon fire as he scrambled for the edge, trying to find Anakin—Anakin couldn't have—

And he found Anakin a little ways below him, his body bent, limp on a ledge below him. Even from his height, Obi-Wan could see the blood pooling under him. Obi-Wan was aware of another thunderous roar of cannon fire, and then he was dully aware of how Ahsoka and his own shouts had intertwined with each other, splintering the cacophony of battle sounds.

Anakin didn't think when he saw the cannon fire. All he knew was that it was headed straight for Obi-Wan, and if his master didn't move, he'd be gone.

So Anakin had turned to Obi-Wan, found him still blind to the oncoming danger—too much, this battle had become too much, and Anakin had teased throughout the entire battle to keep their minds off the stakes of this miserable operation—and then he had seen Ahsoka on the parallel ledge, her eyes wide, mouth already opening to shout warning—

Anakin only just had enough time to think, I really hope I survive this one before he shoved Obi-Wan out of the way and instantly, immediately felt his world go up in flames.

It was an eternity before the firing finally lessened, before Ahsoka could finally race down to the cliff edge where Anakin was. She found Obi-Wan already there, shouting for medics, his face pale and streaked with blood and ash.

Blood—not Obi-Wan's own blood, Ahsoka realized. Anakin's.

Her legs felt weak as she walked forward—but she dared not let herself trip and fall, not until she was suddenly at Anakin's side. That was when she allowed herself to sink next to him, trying desperately to swallow down the panic rising in her—

"Master?" she whispered, not trusting her voice to get any louder. "Anakin—are you—"

She looked at Obi-Wan, whose face was stricken.

There was too much blood.

Obi-Wan tore at his own tunic, tried desperately to staunch up the red flowing from Anakin's side. He forced his hands to steady themselves. He numbly recited mantras of the Code, his lessons from childhood as he tried not to focus on how Anakin's face was too pale, his breathing too slow, his pulse too slow, everything too slow—

Anakin was not meant to be slowed.

Obi-Wan heard Ahsoka's footsteps. The girl had a cut on her shoulder, but if she was bothered by the pain, she didn't show it. Her eyes were too wide, her steps uneven as she lurched towards them.

"Ahsoka—" Obi-Wan started, but she was already next to them, her knees hitting the ground hard enough to hurt—but again, she didn't seem to notice.

"Master?" Her voice was small. "Anakin—are you—"

"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan tried again, forcing his voice steady, steady.

When Ahsoka looked at him, he wasn't sure what to say.

Anakin's head was ringing.

He should be dead.

He was pretty sure he would be dead, except his side hurt, and every breath he took sent a blinding stab of pain through his chest. He was pretty sure if he was dead, he wouldn't feel any of that.

And then he heard voices: Obi-Wan's, Ahsoka's. He could identify that much. Maybe someone else's, but he wasn't sure.

Anakin blinked his eyes open, managed a small groan. He hadn't meant to do that. He meant to actually say something, mostly just to tell his friends to shut up, but he couldn't find the words. Not when everything hurt. Especially breathing.

But he found Obi-Wan and Ahsoka above him, their faces ridiculously, stupidly relieved and also—he saw that both of their eyes were ridiculously shiny. He wanted to laugh a little, but he figured that would hurt too. He wished he could say something about how stupid they were for worrying—a little fall wouldn't kill him.

Instead, he settled for, "Did we win?"

He heard identical bouts of exasperated laughter. Soft, exasperated laughter.

Anakin decided that was good enough.

A/N: Two fics in one day? Kind of unheard of me, not gonna lie.

But um,,,I was working on a different angst fic when this idea sprouted into my head, and I just kinda scribbled this down.

As always, reviews/faves are always greatly appreciated!