Untitled (Again)

Mirror and Image

---

"Anakin, what are you doing?"

"Getting us out of here, Master."

"No, you're going to get us killed!"

"Ye of little faith, Snips."

"You always say that, and then we always end up crashing!"

A blaster hit something hard, and everything in the cockpit shook. Several red lights lit up on the various screens.

"Anakin?"

A tiny bead of sweat.

"Well, if nothing else, this will be a bit more challenging than usual."

"Masterrrr!"

There was another shudder in the cockpit, and all three watched in mute shock as a wing ripped off their hull.

Obi-Wan put it best: "Oh, dear."

---

Ahsoka Tano held her forehead for a moment, trying to piece together what happened and why she was upside down, most importantly, why she was gong to kill her master. Er, figuratively speaking of course. Jumbled pieces flitted through her head, blaster fire from unseen ships - unseen and untraceable. None of them could figure out where the fire was coming from. Even their stealth ship, the one her master test piloted a few months ago, needed to de-cloak in order fire its weapons. Her master was piloting, that was it. He'd done more than a few acrobatics in the higher orbit of the planet, the gravity affecting all of them and making poor Master Kenobi particularly green. Then the wing ripped off and they were spinning, and spinning, and her master stopped being cocky and turned completely focused, and there was a mountain... right? And a forest, and then... and then...

Ahsoka finally looked up.

The cockpit was in ruins.

"Master!" she growled, working to unbelt herself, "You always, always crash your ships! And don't you dare tell me that we should thank you because of your piloting skills! Master!"

No response.

"Master?"

She finally managed to unlock the safety harness and fell up - down - to the ceiling of the cockpit. She was sore, but not seriously hurt - and so help her, if her master decided to be smug about it... She tested her footing before stepping forward to glare at the imagined grin on her master's face. There was a hissing sound in her ears and the smell of smoke and upturned earth. Looking up, she frowned.

"Master?"

Master Anakin Skywalker's face was awash in red liquid, the color of human blood.

"Master?" she called out again, fear prickling down her spine and starting to fill her head. "Master! Anakin! Skyguy, come on, wake up! Wake up! You're not allowed to scare me like this! Master!" Oh Force, this was like that time when he'd tried to hold back the power of an explosion, critically injuring him. Med-bot, med-bot, they needed a med-bot; except no, this ship was too small for one, it was just a small cruiser, there wouldn't be a med-bot for something this small. Then what should she do, what should she do? Her fear was shorting out her brain, she couldn't think, all she could do was stare at her master and the blood there was so much blood and what if she lost him and what would she do without him and how would she get to safety and how would she finish her training and what would it do to her if the bond broke because she'd heard stories about loss and what it did to Jedi and-

"Ahsoka!" The yell was deep and strong, backed up with the Force to feel like a slap to her face, startling her out of her thoughts.

To her left, also upside-down, was the pale form of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Master Kenobi," she choked out, not sure what do to, where to start, what to say.

"My dear girl," he said gently, perfectly calm, "has Anakin even mentioned to you that fear leads to the dark side?"

Fear? Was this fear? Ahsoka gasped and shook her head, trying to shake it off. But the blood, the blood.

Outside her senses, Obi-Wan sighed. "Ahsoka," he said gently, but firmly, "the first thing we need to do right now is rather imperative. Would you be a dear and check to see if the ship is going to blow up? I smell smoke and I sincerely hope that the fire - wherever it is - is not near the fuel conduits."

The young Padawan snapped to attention, the urgency of the task overriding the casual way it was delivered. Without a word she darted off, igniting her lightsaber to cut open the back hatch to explore the ship. With her gone, Obi-Wan took a deep breath - and immediately regretted it as an explosion of pain erupted in his chest. Right, something wrong with the ribs. Nodding to himself, he looked over to his unconscious former Padawan and sent out a small query through their bond.

"Anakin, can you wake up?"

"Mmasterr...?" the groan was low and slurred, but it was a response, and Obi-Wan allowed himself a shallow sigh of relief. Looking down at his own harness, he saw that the buckle was smashed and unlikely to be undone. Obi-Wan reached out to the Force to find his lightsaber, on the ceiling below him, and called it to his hand, igniting it briefly to slice open the straps and politely asking the Force to cushion his fall.

"Master Kenobi, the fires are out. How's...?"

"Next step," Obi-Wan said quickly, overriding her question, "Where are the medical kits? Anakin's not the only one who needs it."

"Right away, master!" she said, dashing back. Fear was still around her, the tendrils swirling and grasping at her presence. She was back in seconds with two kits.

"Now, how is the ship itself?" Obi-Wan asked. "Can it be repaired? Check the engines, the thrusters, and the escape pods."

"But-"

"Now, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan repeated, his voice firm.

She dashed off.

The older Jedi smiled slightly, relieved and petrified that she was so like her master. He decided to comment on it to his former Padawan. "If she gets to be any more like you I'm afraid what will become of the galaxy. At least menial tasks can calm her; I remember doing much the same when you were her age. Have you even considered talking to her about her fear? It's oozing off her in great smoky tendrils. For a girl as aggressive as she is I fear what she would do if she ever made the jump from fear to anger."

"H'r heart'sssss too big," Anakin slurred, his eyes open but rolling around in his sockets, unable to focus. "Why'm I upsssssid' d'wn?"

"I'll be correcting that in a moment," Obi-Wan replied, examining his friend's harness. He ignited his lightsaber again, this time taking a firm hold of Anakin before slicing open the harness. The taller man fell, awkwardly despite Obi-Wan's best intentions, and an agonized groan escaped him as he landed. "Easy, Anakin," he said gently.

"Master! You're awake!"

Relief flooded through the room, warm and bubbly, and Ahsoka all but appeared next to Obi-Wan. Her sunset colored skin was smeared with dirt and several cuts and bruises, but the unhidden happiness to know the welfare of her master made her look beautiful, and Obi-Wan felt a heartstring pluck as he remembered similar expressions from his own Padawan.

"Sssnips," Anakin groaned, his eyes trying to focus but unable to. "Tol' you y' had li'le faith..."

"Master?" she asked, concern erasing her happiness and clouding her features. "Master, what's wrong?"

"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said quickly, gaining her attention. "This is going to be a good lesson for you. Watch what I'm about to do. Watch not with your eyes, but with your senses." She blinked, but quickly nodded and narrowed her focus. Obi-Wan was glad for that; he remembered more than his fair share of times when he'd tried to get Anakin to focus and was utterly unable to, so consumed as he could be with his emotions. Quickly he cast the thought aside and gathered his will, focusing the Force around him and channeling it to Anakin, soft pulses that echoed back and forth in the tall man's body, reverberating and bouncing back to Obi-Wan and giving him the information he needed.

Anakin's cocky confidence about his piloting skills was not without its due; Obi-Wan knew of no other pilot that could land a one-winged wreck through reentry and leave everyone alive. That did not mean he left them without injury. Ahsoka obviously faired the best, only cuts and scrapes. Anakin himself was the greatest cause for concern, and as the Force rippled back to Obi-Wan, he felt relief at the minimal injuries his former Padawan had. There were pulled muscles aplenty, but not serious injuries other than the ugly mess that was his head.

"I heeeeard that, masss'er," Anakin said with some effort.

Obi-Wan grinned slightly. "Only you could," he replied in levity, belying the truth of it. Obi-Wan was adept at the Unifying Force, true, but he doubted even his own master Qui-Gon was as skilled as Anakin was at the Living Force. His sense of people and emotions was uncanny - and unerringly getting him in trouble.

"I heeeard that, too."

"Good," Obi-Wan replied, withdrawing his scan and turning his attention back to Ahsoka. "Were you able to make out what I did?" he asked.

The apprentice frowned. "Most of it. It looked like echo-location. Sort of."

"Yes, very good. It's a handy skill to have when lacking working medical scanners or med-bots. See if you can do it yourself, and then tell me what's wrong with your master."

Ahsoka gave a wry grin. "I don't need a scan to tell you what's wrong with him."

"Y're all meeean," Anakin whined, actually whined, in a tone Obi-Wan had not heard in years. He laughed in spite of himself and shook his head, making his way gingerly over to the two medi-kits that Ahsoka had brought in. He would have felt better if he knew who prepared the kits - Anakin often said he always triple packed for his master because of his ability to get injured - and after the mess on Rattatak and Ventress, Obi-Wan did not dare rebuke the thought. This ship wasn't Anakin's, however, nor was it his own; a hasty gift from a grateful diplomat from the last mission who wanted to express his thankfulness and yet keep his name out of the entire affair. They hadn't checked the kits simply because they were headed home and didn't think it would be an eventful trip. Obi-Wan made a mental note to check kits, all kits, in the future before heading out. It was simple moments like these that made him as practical as he was.

There were bandages and patches aplenty, some antibiotics for various races, disinfectant and some medicines for common ailments - nausea, colds, space-sickness and the like. Hardly fit for a full-blown crash, just for minor incursions on simple travels; as one could expect for a diplomat who rarely saw the battlefield. Obi-Wan held in a frown, knowing that Ahsoka would take any negative signs as another cause for panic, and since she was only just now growing out of it, he rather she didn't return there.

"Master Kenboi, what's all that echoing going on in his head?" the apprentice asked, coming out of her meditation.

"It means that's where his most serious injury is," the older Jedi replied. "Though I'm sure I could have told you that years ago," he added in wry tones. Ahsoka giggled slightly and Obi-Wan dropped back into more serious tones. "Head injuries for Jedi can be dangerous. Lack of focus, lack of control, lack of understanding for one sensitive to the Force is never a good combination. We're lucky he only has a concussion."

"Only a-"

Obi-Wan cut her off quickly before she fully followed that train of thought. "The other side of this is that Jedi can overcome this somewhat quicker than other people. Anakin, do you have enough focus to put yourself in a healing trance?"

"Do I evvvver?" his former apprentice quipped, eyes still roving everywhere.

Obi-Wan grinned, looking at Ahsoka. "Your master is going to be just fine." Turning back, he said, "When we get back to Coruscant, I'd recommend taking your Padawan to a healer's wing and showing her some tricks. Just because you can't stay on one topic long enough to learn to do it effectively doesn't mean she can't, and I won't always be around to help you out like this."

"Y'll live f'ever masss'er," Anakin slurred. "If y' didn'... I'd go nutssssss..."

"Indeed, no one left to patronize, I'm sure," Obi-Wan said lightly. He turned once again to Ahsoka. "Watch this. I'm not nearly as good as healers, but it will do in a pinch."

Ahsoka was already intently focused, with eyes as well as senses, and Obi-Wan smiled in pride - both for the girl's readiness to learn and the quickness that she prepared herself for it - a trait from her master, he knew. Closing his eyes, the older Jedi took a deep breath, swallowing the pain that came with it and focused on the bond he had with his former apprentice. Slowly, very slowly, he rubbed the Force around Anakin's head, wrapping it around the concussion. Anakin felt it and immediately grabbed it and held it to himself, gluing it where he could. Satisfied, Obi-Wan sent a sleep suggestion through the link, and Anakin accepted it gratefully, quickly falling away into the blanket of Force that he'd wrapped himself around in.

"Wow," Ahsoka said softly. "I knew there were healing trances, but I didn't think the Force could be used quite like that..."

"It can be used in almost any fashion one can think of. It is versatile and allows for great creativity - which is both a gift and a curse to those sensitive to it."

Ahsoka frowned, knowing there was deeper meaning but not understanding what it was. That was probably for the best, Obi-Wan didn't want to explain the creative flare Sith often had for using the Force. That was a conversation best left for her master, though at times the older Jedi wondered just what Anakin did with his Padawan. He would address that later. There was still more to do.

"Since the ship is not about to blow up and the more severe injuries have been treated," Obi-Wan said, "the next thing to do is to try and communicate to the outside. Do any of the frequencies work?"

Ahsoka nodded, looking up to the control panels and working out how to use them. In this, at least, Obi-Wan had every confidence in the young girl's abilities. Anakin's genius spread in several directions, and one of them was mechanics; a skill so versatile and useful that he couldn't not pass it on to his Padawan. With her occupied, the older Jedi looked to himself, trying to ascertain what was so painful about his breathing. Nothing was broken, he'd broken several bones before and knew what they felt like. An internal scan showed no internal bleeding - a fact he was more than grateful for - but there was an odd sense about his ribs. Perhaps he had bruised them? This is where a scanner would have done him good; he knew the injury was there, but he didn't know what it was. Movement would be stiff, and breathing was shallow; most likely moving would slow them down.

He paused, thinking. Could he put himself into a healing trance? Doing it would not be the problem. He looked over to the tranced Anakin and then over to the Padawan Ahsoka and the fear that still lingered about her; young and only partly trained trying to look out for the safety of two masters, one of whom she was deeply attached to and took much too much after.

No, he decided, a day or so of discomfort would be preferred to the alternative, she needed guidance - willful teenager or not - she needed a point of reference to make her decisions, and with Anakin out of the picture that left him.

He smiled slightly at the thought; it might be just like old times.

It was nightfall by the time Obi-Wan had sent his Padawan's Padawan on all the jobs necessary to do after a crash. The fires were put out, the ship was deemed trash and unfixable, the escape pods were either damaged or buried under the hull of the ship and therefore unable to be utilized. Communications were short range only, the long range console had been too badly damaged to send a distress signal; Ahsoka was confused when Obi-Wan insisted that the short range communicators be salvaged, but he only offered a knowing smile and said experience would teach her. Next was overall salvage from the ship: blankets, food rations, binoculars, blank datapads (which made her curious again), blasters (which Ahsoka didn't even need prompting to get, leaving the older Jedi to wonder just what Anakin taught her...), and two thin durasteel girders.

After that was the assembly of a workable stretcher for Anakin. Ahsoka had hesitantly suggested just carrying him with the Force, and Obi-Wan shook his head, explaining that it would be far better to conserve their energy in case they needed for more... extravagant uses of the Force. The girders were cut to size and one of the blankets used to span them.

Finally came the surveying of their grounds. Climbing out of the ship had been difficult, Anakin needed much care and Obi-Wan himself learned very quickly that lifting his arms over his head for any reason hurt. He was grateful that Ahsoka was already out the ship, working to bring her master down to earth gently. He needed several seconds to get his breathing under control and wait for the pulses of pain to subside before asking the Force for help and simply leaping out of the ship. He landed softly, a hand to his ribs, and quickly ordered Ahsoka to climb the abundant canopy of trees to try and locate any signs of life on the planet.

While she scaled the trees, Obi-Wan looked down at his unconscious partner and closed his eyes, feeling Anakin's presence through the Force. "We are going to have a long talk about teaching your Padawan pragmatism when this is over," he said softly. "I hope you don't think that blasters are more useful than communicators in situations like these. We've had more than our share of times when the former did less than the latter."

Sighing, but not deeply, he looked around. The trees seemed to be deciduous, bright purple leaves fluttering here and there in an unseen breeze; the trunks themselves a cross of green and brown, thick as people. The earth at the older Jedi's feet was brown, scorched from the crash, the streaks of it stretching for several miles.

"Master Kenobi!"

The bearded man looked up to see Ahsoka some thirty feet up, binoculars in one hand and the other arched over her head holding a green branch. The deep shadows of the evening sky made her almost invisible.

"Any signs of life?" he asked, hoping his voice carried up to her.

"Yes!" she replied before deftly leaping from the tree, somersaulting in midair, and landing on the ground feet in front of him. "There seems to be some kind of relay satellite dish in that direction," she said, pointing vaguely to her right.

Obi-Wan quickly pulled out one of the blank datapads and turned it on. "How far was it? What else did you see?" he asked.

"It was pretty far off to the horizon," Ahsoka said slowly. Her eyes brightened with an idea and she quickly pulled out some cabling, snatching the datapad out of Obi-Wan's hand. He started to protest before he saw the signs of Anakin's teaching - two cables and a few OS hacks, and Ahsoka had taken the recorded images from the binoculars and transferred them to the datapad for both of them to see. "Here," she said finally, disconnecting the binoculars. "There's a gap in the canopy here that could be a river, and over here is the mountain I saw when we were in reentry. The terrain looks pretty rugged; as I was climbing," she quickly changed images to one that was taken underneath the canopy of purple leaves, "I saw a lot of these boulders, they're pretty big and climbing them will be a pain, especially with Master..." she froze for a moment, a tendril of fear wrapping around her neck. "... Especially with my master as hurt as he is."

And Obi-Wan, too, for that matter, but he shelved suggesting that in favor of the more immediate need.

"Padawan," he said gently, "sit down."

Ahsoka looked up, her eyes darting into his before looking away, but she nodded and complied. Obi-Wan followed suit much more slowly, mindful of his ribcage.

"Why are you so scared?" he asked.

Her entire signature froze. The deep shadows of the night left her in all but a silhouette, the white of her headdress only barely discernable, but he could see the freeze nonetheless.

"I'm not-"

"I won't be angry at you, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan pressed before she could finish the denial. "I just want to know why, and help you, if I can."

He watched her through the Force, watched her presence shiver in embarrassment, then shame, and then settle on regret. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, but motioned for her to begin.

"I... Almost a year ago, we were helping Master Secura. We were getting back onboard the Resolute, but there was an explosion; Master pushed us in and tried to hold the explosion... He did it, but..."

"Not without injury to himself," Obi-Wan supplied, seeing the hurt on Ahsoka's presence. "Critically?"

"He needed to be on life-support. Then the hyperdrive and the navicomputer malfunctioned, we crash-landed on a planet, and there was no way to help him."

"It must have been very difficult," Obi-Wan said gently, seeing where this was going.

"It's just... He's always up and about and fighting and being so cock-sure of himself. He's always running off and getting into trouble, getting us into trouble, but he always seems to know a way out and his presence is so big... It's so... Seeing him like this... so still, so quiet... last time I didn't know if he would survive. I guess I'm just remembering those feelings." She looked up, away from her memories. "I'm sorry, Master Kenobi. It's foolish, really..."

"Anakin certainly does have a presence about him," the older Jedi said gently, reaching out and taking the young Padawan's hand. "It makes times like these even more disconcerting. That he's your master makes it even more keenly felt because of your bond. I remember one time, when he was an errant Padawan like yourself, and he was injured very badly. I quite nearly tore my hair out while we were waiting for the medical transport. I was very scared."

Ahsoka blinked in the darkness. "You? Scared? Master Kenobi, you said fear leads to the darkness, how could you..."

Anakin, Obi-Wan resolved, was going to have more than a concussion when he was through with him. But then, he supposed he could not begrudge his former Padawan. The "Hero with No Fear," as people were starting to call him, was in fact a man who dealt with fear very badly. He knew from any of the (sadly many) times he was injured and the anxious twist of Anakin's face as he paced about and wrung his hands and asked over and over if there was anything he could do for his master. The tall man's recourse was often to throw himself into battle or some other task, work himself into a knot before he knew that Obi-Wan would be okay. He remembered Luminara, and her cautious admonishment of Skywalker when they had both thought their Padawan's dead on Geonosis; blown up in a weapons factory they'd been chosen to destroy. Anakin hadn't believed that his Padawan was dead - refused to believe it, actually, and Luminara's remembrance of it reminded him of how Ahsoka was now.

"My dear Ahsoka," he said softly, "Fear is a natural reaction in all sentient creatures. No one, not even we 'mighty' Jedi, are immune to it."

"Then how...?"

"Honestly, this should come from your master, not me," he muttered, throwing another glare at his former Padawan. "Fear is a powerful emotion, and is quick to overtake one if they are not prepared for it. The trick, such as it is, is to admit to the fear, and then let it go. In those hours I was waiting for a medical transport of Anakin, it was all I could to do remind myself that Anakin - conscious or no - needed me, and that if I gave into the fear it would only hurt him. And so I let it go, and busied myself with making certain that everything would be ready for the medics when they arrived."

"Is that why you gave me all those things to do?" Ahsoka asked slowly.

"Predominantly, yes; I've found doing everything that is in my power to do helps to assuage any fear that I come across. Anakin calls it 'being fussy.' I call it 'being prepared.' Everyone deals with fear differently, this just happens to be how I handle it. If I've done everything I can, then all that's left is to trust the Force and know that it will be as it was meant to."

"That's... different from my master."

Obi-Wan allowed himself a chuckle - ending it quickly as it hurt his ribs to do so for long - "Anakin is rather one to break precedence wherever he can find it."

Ahsoka smiled, the effect bubbling across her presence in the darkness. "That's true," she said, chuckling herself.

"Go to sleep, youngling, I'll take first watch."

---

Ahsoka did another scan of her master, knowing that nothing would have changed since the last time she checked, almost a half-hour ago. Anakin was still in his trance, the Force healing and easing him. She was grateful that Master Obi-Wan had shown her this little trick with the Force. It reassured her. Granted, she should be letting such emotions go back into the Force, but she was having a little difficulty with that at the moment. Master Obi-Wan was deep asleep, having woken her almost two hours ago for her watch, and with Anakin deep in healing, she was the only one who could ensure their safety. So she couldn't meditate.

And when Ahsoka was so upset, she needed meditation to release her emotions. Small irritations, daily dislikes, the occasional fluster, those were easy to release. Her current, almost overpowering worry? Not so much. She knew it was something she needed to work on, but now seemed to not be the time. There was almost never any time any more. Ever since she left the Temple, she seemed to constantly be on the go, never able to sit still. Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, was always in the thick of it, battling in the frontlines, and of course, that's where Ahsoka always ended up as a result. Not that she minded. Despite her initial concerns with having such a famous (and reckless, as she came to know) master, she was very fond of him. He was a man of deep feeling and had more compassion than almost any other Jedi she'd ever met. He was inspiring. And if Ahsoka learned even half of what made him so giving and caring, she knew she'd be a great Jedi.

But with flitting about hither and yon, from battle to "aggressive negotiations" to overseeing some other duty the Council or the Senate wished them to, Ahsoka found that finding time to learn, to properly sit with her master and study was far and few between. Given how often they ended up fighting, the free time they did have was given to lightsaber combat. She had been drilled in kata and forms until her head spun and her montrals ached worse than her arms. Anakin was still trying to stop her almost instinctual reverse-lightsaber grip and pound into her head that retreat was a perfectly viable option.

"Stubbornness has a time and place, my Padawan, but simply getting killed because your stubbornness made you blind is foolish."

It was Ahsoka's nature to never back down, even when everything around her was falling apart. It wasn't until she'd lost almost an entire squad under her command that her master's words had finally sunk in. Of course, she still slipped back into her overconfidence and stubbornness, but she liked to think she was learning.

With a sigh, she poked the fire, adding a few more logs before getting up. Her muscles were positively aching, which was understandable after such a violent crash. The fact that she was relatively unharmed was, itself, a miracle. But she had woken up to stiff and sore muscles, certain joints aching and all around discomfort. Since she couldn't meditate, she might as well work through some forms. It would remove the stiffness of her joints and get the blood flowing to help start healing. She was, after all, the only one uninjured, and thus responsibility for keeping the three of them safe fell squarely on her shoulders. This wasn't like back when she, Anakin, and Master Secura had crashed onto the Lurman's world. Then, only Anakin was severely injured. Master Secura could defend herself and the rest of them, just as Ahsoka could.

This time, however, Anakin was just as injured and Master Obi-Wan was clearly being careful in how he moved. He could probably fight if he had to, and no doubt would, but Master Obi-Wan was very precious to Anakin. Ahsoka would have to be blind and completely cut off from the Force to not see how deeply the two cared and trusted one another. Many times Anakin had rushed off to save his former master, particularly if Asajj Ventress was rumored to be in the area. (Ahsoka wondered about the story behind that... but it wasn't her place to ask despite how curiosity burned inside her... It was clearly something the two did not wish to discuss.) And, just as frequently, if her master was in too deep and needed assistance, Master Obi-Wan would appear.

So Ahsoka shifted through another kata, determination bubbling up inside of her. She would protect her master and her master's master. She would be cautious, keep them safe, and do everything that they could not. Because right now, they needed her. And she would not let them down.

It as after almost an hour that she finally finished her forms. She felt reenergized and surprisingly more centered. She'd thought she needed solid meditation to release her over-abundant feelings to the Force, but it seemed just going through some kata had helped. Ahsoka wasn't quite sure how the physical exercise had helped her release some of her worries, but it had. It was something to consider during those moments when she didn't have proper time to meditate, but something a bit too large to simply let go of.

She wasn't as stiff and she felt a great deal better. Sitting down, she set about stretching to avoid stiffening again. Once done Ahsoka reached out with the Force and plucked the datapad Master Obi-Wan had apparently been working on during his watch.

"Woah..."

Apparently, Obi-Wan was not one for idle hands.

The first and most impressive was what he had done with the pictures Ahsoka had taken with the binoculars and uploaded to the pad. He'd used some programs that Ahsoka didn't even know about and converted flat images to a rough topographical map of the area, using scale reference to estimate distances and was apparently in the middle of circling points of interest and outlining a possible path to take them to the relay dish in the distance. The GPS was also hooked up to the datapad, and it took a moment for Ahsoka to realize that, while it was useless in terms of global positioning without satellites to patch into, it did have a preprogrammed compass and distance tracker to keep them from going too far off course.

Behind those windows were others. One was a text window outlining the attack in orbit in as much detail is Obi-Wan could remember and a list of speculations on what it could have been, listing reasons and theories as to why it would happen in this sector; as well as a report being prepared to the Council and the Senate about what happened and... was that a list of what to lecture to Anakin about when this was over?

Ahsoka let out a soft giggle and, in what she would later call a fit of insanity, added a few items onto the lecture list.

There were many lists on the datapad and the one she found herself studying the most was a list of their supplies with bulleted entries under each item of what could be done with it. Several suggestions were things Ahsoka hadn't even heard of, let alone thought of, such as taking apart the blasters to set traps around their campsite if they started to suspect enemies in their area. (That entry just screamed Anakin, and Ahsoka wondered what story generated such an unheard of use of a blaster.)

Looking back to the topographical map and the beginnings of a path, Ahsoka continued tracing, based on what she had seen and not necessarily taken pictures of with her binoculars. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to do with herself; after all her time with her master, she found she liked being out and doing things over these quieter moments, but it kept her busy and Master Obi-Wan had made a good suggestion in keeping herself busy to avoid letting fear grip her over her master's condition.

The sun was just barely starting to peak over the horizon when Ahsoka set down the datapad, with a shiver. Getting up, she stretched and went through another brief kata to warm herself up. Another scan of Anakin showed that he was still deep in his trance, but that the echoing around his head was less than it was when she'd first sensed it. Unexpected relief trickled down her back, warming her and taking heavy weights she didn't know she was carrying off of her shoulders.

As she watched, Ahsoka let out a small giggle as Anakin seemed to snuggle into the Force, sliding deeper into the trance. It was undeniably cute, a word she would hardly ever associate with her master other than with his looks. And even there, her master was more handsome than cute.

Still, with dawn starting, it was time to get a few things started. Breakfast for starters. She pulled out the pack she'd be carrying on their journey with the supplies she had salvaged.

"Purrraauu," was the small, trembling cry that interrupted her.

Looking around, Ahsoka saw a small quadruped with the larger head, compacted body, and spindly legs of a baby. "Well hello there," she greeted quietly. She'd always been good with children. She hoped that one day, when she retired from a more active Jedi life, she'd be able to teach younglings at the Temple. But she'd never really spent time with baby animals.

The creature shivered, its fluffy tail swishing back and forth in what Ahsoka felt was caution.

"No need to be afraid," she said softly. Slowly, with her hand always visible, she reached for a small piece of the rations she was planning to cook with and held it out. With great care and slow movements, she reached out and placed the piece on the ground and leaned back.

"Prauu?" came the questioning reply, along with a sniff.

"It's okay, little guy." Ahsoka kept her voice calm and gentle, avoiding the tendency most sentients had of "baby talk". It wouldn't help her with the scared little being. And something was telling her that this lost, lonely looking baby would be a help to them. "My masters are sleeping and they wouldn't hurt you. It's safe here."

Creeping forward, the small being sniffed the piece of food carefully, glancing up at her and at the food. Given that the baby had hoofs, Ahsoka was certain it was an herbivore, so she didn't think smiling and showing her teeth would make the animal feel safer, but she did nod and slowly turn back to her breakfast preparations. She didn't get far when a cold, wet nose poked at her leg. Turning, the baby looked up with large green brown eyes. "Puurra?" With a soft grin, Ahsoka pulled out some rice grain, and held out her hand.

The baby looked at it, ears perking forward, appearing from within the fluffy mane that Ahsoka hadn't noticed, given how well the ears blended in. A tentative sniff. A tiny lick. And the baby gave a happy little purr as it started to eat from her hand.

"Easy there, little guy," Ahsoka cooed quietly. With her free hand, she gently stroked the puffy fur, surprised at how rough it was.

Pulling out a small cup, Ahsoka filled it with some more rice and set it down, having her own breakfast and enjoying a proper cup of tea like she hadn't had since she last left the Temple. As they ate, the baby quadruped snuggled against her leg before jumping up to her shoulders.

"Oh! Hey there!"

"Rauu?" the creature blinked innocently, having settled itself under her lekku and around her shoulders, its tail tickling the underside of her chin.

Ahsoka giggled behind a hand. "Well you're built for climbing mountains if you can jump like that," she praised it. "Maybe when Master Obi-Wan wakes up, you can tell him how we can get to that river without worrying about too many of the boulders around here. At least, if Master Obi-Wan can understand you, that is."

She'd heard about how, on Ryloth, he'd calmed starved and abused gutkurrs and that Master Obi-Wan would always prefer a live mount for travel rather than something mechanical if it was available. But she wasn't sure if he could understand animals through the Force or not.

Together, with her new friend, they watched the sun rising over the mountain.

Once they had sufficient light, Ahsoka turned to Master Obi-Wan. Anakin had once said that Obi-Wan was only a morning person out of necessity, and given that he'd appeared to have been moving carefully the previous evening, she wondered if she should wake him or let him get some more sleep.

She scanned Anakin, glad to see that the strange echoing around his head had decreased again and was kneeling by Master Obi-Wan, debating on whether to scan him or not when he blinked his eyes open.

"Ah," he mumbled, "Good morn'ng, Ahsoka."

Ahsoka let out a happy smile.

"And who is your little friend there?"

"Oh this little guy-" Ahsoka was cut off as the baby uncurled itself from under her lekku and hopped down, its hooves digging into her collarbone. "Ow!"

But the baby paid her no attention as it started to sniff with great interest at Master Obi-Wan's face, eagerly licking at his nose and beard. "Puuurrau! Prauupura purrauu. Prauuu? Puurraauu?"

"Yes, yes," he replied, slowly sitting up and rubbing a gloved hand down the creatures back before scratching under its chin. "Don't worry, youngling, it will be fine."

"Master?" she asked, wondering what she was missing.

"Breakfast first, Ahsoka. I'm not quite awake enough yet for proper coherence."

She shrugged, turning back to the food she'd made. If he could form sentences like that, she was sure he was fine.

---

Obi-Wan took a deep sip of the tea that Ahsoka had prepared, immensely grateful that the padawan had even thought to make it. It wasn't the same as the blend of tea he'd make in the morning when he was at the Temple, but it was nice to have something so simple that reminded him of home. The young creature that seemed to have joined their camp while he was asleep was sprawled on his lap, purring contentedly as he stroked it.

Feeling warmer and more awake, the Jedi Master turned to his former padawan and checked him. The concussion seemed to be healing nicely; Anakin would most likely wake up some time the following day with only a minor headache at worst. Obi-Wan felt through their bond to find Anakin sleeping peacefully, if a little annoyed at how often the Force kept scanning him.

Obi-Wan blinked.

"Ahsoka, how often did you check on Anakin during your watch?"

The young padawan looked down guiltily. "Aaaah, I was just checking on him, making sure he was healing well..."

"I understand the need to reassure yourself, Ahsoka," he said gently. "But you must trust things are as you sense them. In some ways, the constant checking is also giving in to your fear. It will be a crutch. What would you do if you were separated and unable to check on him?"

"I-" Ahsoka continued to look at the ground, her cheeks starting to darken. "I understand," she gave a small humble nod.

The creature left Obi-Wan's lap with a small purr and went over to the young padawan. It glanced back at the older Jedi, an ear raised in askance, before nodding to itself and jumping up settling under Ahsoka's lekku.

Obi-Wan gave a small chuckle.

"Prauuuauu."

Ahsoka giggled, automatically running a hand through the rough fur. "Thanks, little guy," she said.

Content that Ahsoka was feeling better, the creature gave a contented purr and bowed to Obi-Wan.

"This little fellow certainly seems to respect you, Master Obi-Wan," Ahsoka commented, scratching between the baby's ears. "Do you understand him?"

"I get the basics," he replied, taking another sip of his tea. "He was separated from his father when our ship crashed and is very concerned about him. I have assured him that we will look for him."

"Father?" Ahsoka asked. "Not a heard? I'd have thought with the hooves and all that he was part of a larger group."

"No," Obi-Wan replied, "from what I can sense, the young are raised away from the group by the father so that they might better learn how to fend for themselves."

"The father? Not the mother?"

He chuckled. "When I was on Bandomeer, one of the farmers who tended to livestock explained to me once that for some species, the mother considers all of her part done by just giving birth. As she has the more difficult job, the father can raise the child."

"Well that's... different," Ahsoka rubbed at the creature's ears. "I rather like the idea of a family helping raise the child, like at the Temple, in a way." She glanced at Anakin then back at him. "But why does he seem so taken with you?"

Obi-Wan ran a hand over his bearded chin. "Well, I am the only member of this family with a full mane."

...

...

Ahsoka burst out laughing. Obi-Wan's look was politely indignant before a wry grin crossed his won features.

"All right," he said loftily, "I'd say we've spent enough time in idle conversation. I'd prefer we started sooner rather than later. First things first."

---

Ahsoka watched as the older man closed his eyes, sensing him drift into the Force but unable to see more than that. He remained that way for several minutes, long enough that the young padawan decided she'd better busy herself for whatever he had in store when he was finished. She packed up the rations and supplies that she'd gathered from the crashed ship and distributed the weight as evenly as she could. Now that they would be getting ready to move, the sunset-colored padawan realized that moving would be very difficult. There were a lot of supplies to carry - though in proof that was workable; the problem lay in her master. Anakin was a tall man, the tallest of the three, broad shouldered and heavier than most because of his mechanical arm. Ahsoka herself was too small to carry him efficiently, and Obi-Wan still seemed tender from the crash. The quadruped nuzzled against her leg, and she reached down to rub her hand into its course fur.

"It's too bad you're not bigger," she told it, "then we could use you to carry my master, assuming you'd want to."

"Ah, there he is."

The young Togruta looked up to see Obi-Wan's eyes open, alight with satisfaction. She was about to ask but her master's master beat her to it.

"I just found the father. Anakin would no doubt have found him faster, but he's on his way."

The quadruped seemed to understand what Obi-Wan was saying, and it gave a happy "Prau!" as it pranced around Ahsoka before moving over to the older Jedi and dancing around him. "Prau! Puraouuu!"

Obi-Wan slowly pulled himself to his feet, still stiff in Ahsoka's eyes, and looked at her.

"Let's finish packing up," he said. "We can redistribute the weight so that the two of us can carry it."

"But what about Anakin?" she asked tentatively. Who would carry him?

"That problem is about to be solved, if my guess is right."

Ahsoka nodded, deciding to trust the older Jedi, and emptied out the pack she'd just stuffed. Obi-Wan gave precise instructions on how to pack, explaining how priority things went on top and how things could be separated. His pragmatic sensibilities were impressive, and Ahsoka wondered why her own master hadn't picked up on the useful habits.

They had just finished up when there was a soft thudding of hooves on soft earth, and the baby quadruped's ears perked up completely before delightedly leaping up one of the boulders to meet its father who crested the rock.

"Ah, a happy reunion," Obi-Wan said softly, looking up from their work and walking up to the base of the boulder. He reached up and held out a hand, and Ahsoka watched as the father nimbly climbed down the giant rock and nuzzled the older Jedi's hand in thanks. "May I ask a favor?"

Ahsoka blinked at first, wondering what he was doing, before she suddenly turned her gaze to her unconscious master and realizing what was happening. That was why they could use two packs...!

"Thank you, you're being very generous."

The father quadruped, easily coming up to Obi-Wan's hips, had horns protruding from its forehead, curving forward and pointing outward to defend against predators. It bent its head down to sniff Anakin, and warmly butted its nose against Ahsoka's master, seeming to nod in approval.

"It's decided then," Obi-Wan said, nodding himself. "Ahsoka, pull out one of the blankets. We'll have to convert the stretcher to fit around the father so he can help."

"What happened?" Ahsoka asked, marveling that the older Jedi had managed to do all this.

"We came to an understanding," Anakin's master explained, rubbing the baby's head and walking forward to put his free hand on the father. "'Conversation' may not be the best word, but I showed him a picture of where we are heading and he sent the impression that he knew the way. It will most likely be better than any route we could plan because he knows the territory. He's also just agreed to help Anakin, offering his back the way he would for any of his children."

Ahsoka looked to the larger animal and smiled. "Thank you," she said, and pulled out a blanket from her packs. The blanket was quickly cut into strips and tied into a roughshod saddle, wrapped around the father's back and chest, secured to the two girders, so Anakin would be dragged behind the quadruped. Ahsoka smiled at the image, turning to Obi-Wan.

"You and the baby will take point," the general commanded. "You both have the energy to scout ahead and explore," and here he smiled slightly, "We alpha males will hang back and let you do the work."

Ahsoka blinked, suddenly feeling incredibly put off. Obi-Wan seemed to sense this (she still wasn't very good at hiding her emotions...) and put a much more stern face on. "Ahsoka, at this point it would be a bad idea for you to be near Anakin. You're constant scans of him may reassure you, but it makes him take longer to heal. You need to learn to deal with you fear without putting others at risk - even one as minor as this."

The Togruta immediately sobered, her eyes widening as she (finally) understood exactly what Anakin's master was doing. She didn't like the plan - not in the slightest - but she understood the lesson behind it and nodded her head in capitulation. "Yes, master," she mumbled. The baby gave a questioning, "Prau?" but she quickly shrugged off the negative feelings and straightened. "Come on, little guy, let's help the old men out."

---

Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief when Ahsoka finally figured out the lesson he was trying to bestow upon her. He looked to Anakin's unconscious form. "You certainly need to talk to her soon, Anakin. What kind of example are you giving her if she doesn't even have an idea on how to handle her fear?"

The father shook his head slightly and started moving forward, easily carrying a Jedi more than twice his size. "Lead on," Obi-Wan said smoothly, rubbing his ribs and starting what he knew was going to be an excruciating walk. Sleeping had done him no favors, and breathing still caused him pain he dared not show to the young padawan to compound her fears. The father quadruped moved nimbly up and over rocks, leaving Obi-Wan hard pressed to keep up; a feat that would have been very easy if he was allowed to bend his torso, but whatever damage he'd sustained to his ribcage made that near impossible. He did manage to keep pace, however, breaking occasionally. The older Jedi made a point of standing straight whenever Ahsoka came to check on them, letting them know of any particularly large boulders that they would have to scale.

They stopped briefly for lunch and a rest at midday, the father quadruped tired from lugging the heavy Anakin. Obi-Wan said nothing about his own weary and tired body, instead directing Ahsoka to prepare lunches, telling her to keep herself busy and also to prevent him from doing more than he had to. Once they were finished and the father nodded his head in readiness, they took up the journey again.

Twice they had to scale boulders that were virtually vertical, Anakin's padawan taking the bottom of the stretcher to help the father quadruped scale the narrow crevices he instinctively knew about to get to the top, the baby watching from the top and Obi-Wan "content to catch someone if they fell," giving him time to watch where the footfalls needed to be and calculating how he could climb the mess without aggravating his injuries too much. Then, once he knew the others were safely at the top, he would humbly ask the Force to give him a boost and climb the rock in calculated leaps to minimize the exertion. He did not like using the Force like this unless situations were more dire - a battle with Ventress, for example - but he admitted that their first priority was getting to the relay dish and get off the planet; the quicker the better.

He worried about what they would find when they reached the complex. He'd analyzed the enemy fire that precipitated their crash as best he could, and, insofar as he could tell, there had been no ship in the vicinity. Oh, he knew about cloaking techniques, but technology was not so adept yet that a ship could cloak and fire at the same time, even their own cloaked ship couldn't do that, and Anakin had piloted it; if there was a way to do it, his former padawan would have no doubt done so in the middle of trying to break through the blockade.

The next logical thought was that it came planet-side - and that idea was even more ludicrous. Even the most powerful tanks had limits on how their weapons could fire: gravity for one. Any weapon that powerful would need to break the gravitational pull of whatever planet they were stationed on; furthermore, the energy required for that would make the weapon itself weak by the time it reached out orbit, and third it would take too long to break orbit and then reach the intended target. Besides which, moving targets would be very difficult; the distance made accuracy a huge difficulty, and adjustments would have to be by hundredths of a degree, perhaps even thousandths.

The third option was a ship coming out of hyperspace, firing, then entering hyperspace again. This also seemed unlikely, the ship would have appeared on their sensors, and again it came down to a measure of precision. Obi-Wan doubted anyone other than Anakin could come in and out of hyperspace for seconds at a time to fire on a ship - especially one as small as the one they'd been flying.

Obi-Wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The relay station could support any of the three theories - a docking bay for a stealth ship or a hyperspace ship, or of the course of the planetary fire. Either way, the older Jedi did not relish the idea of what they were walking into. A remote planet, uninhabited at least in this hemisphere, and suddenly a relay dish not far from where they crashed. It was all too convenient, and Obi-Wan Did. Not. Trust. Where they were going. Conversely, because it was the only sign of life, it was also their only way off the planet to return and report not only on the diplomatic venture they'd been assigned originally, but also of the mysterious attack that had crashed them. Were they just a test? Ahsoka's pictures showed no other signs of crashes in the area, but the quadrupeds didn't seem to think wrecked and mangled metal falling from the sky was worthy of much note.

Ahsoka's presence crested a steep hill, and Obi-Wan quickly straightened himself, refocusing on looking as uninjured as possible. The father turned his head to watch the display, his tail flicking before landing by Anakin's head. The unconscious Jedi curled his head into it.

"Master, we're at the river!" the young padawan called, easily jogging down the hill without tripping or loosing her footing. Apparently the baby had taught her a few things about climbing over the course of the day. "I climbed one of the trees, and the station looks much larger now; the GPS says we're just about halfway there."

Ah, progress.

"Excellent," Obi-Wan said. "Could you tell how deep the river was? Can we ford it, or do we need to build a raft for Anakin?" It was only about halfway through the afternoon, still enough light to make progress if was an easy cross. Or, if they needed to build something, they would end up crossing the river just as night was falling.

Ahsoka was brought up short, obviously not having checked the depth of the river and she quickly scrambled up the brown and green bark of the nearest tree.

... Right. Obi-Wan sighed, then hissed in a breath when his chest stabbed him in reminder that he shouldn't be sighing. Space what had he done to his ribs? The older Jedi shrugged it off, instead taking lead, the father quadruped following behind. It was another fifteen minutes before they actually reached the riverbank. Ahsoka was there, her lightsaber on and already cutting down strips of log to size. The baby quadruped thought it a great game, apparently, dancing around the branches and butting against Ahsoka whenever she was about to cut a log.

"I see you're already underway," Obi-Wan said blandly, bending down slightly to undo the bindings on the father, kneeling down to lower Anakin as best he could. His ribs spiked incredibly as soon as he took on the other Jedi's weight, and it was all he could do to hold it in and lower Anakin gently, taking several shallow breaths afterward and waiting for the sharp tremors of pain to stop pulsing. The father butted his horns to Obi-Wan gently, sending a sense of gratitude before turning to his son and making a deeper call. His baby responded immediately, prancing after his father and the two disappeared into the forest.

Ahsoka walked up to him. "Maybe now I can get some work done," she said, irritation in her voice. "It was all fun and games when we were walking and racing and all, but as soon as I started working he acted like a total youngling!"

Obi-Wan said absolutely nothing, nothing at all, but he did slide his gaze over to a certain former padawan. "The question to pose is this: when we finish the raft, do we wait to cross until morning or cross immediately?"

Ahsoka blinked, frowning in thought. "I think... I think it would be best to cross before the sun goes down. We'll be that much closer and one less hurdle to cross."

Obi-Wan nodded, acknowledging the reasoning. He stepped up to the bank while Ahsoka went back to cutting down strips of wood. The river itself was wider than his initial estimation, wide enough that it would take upwards of ten minutes to ford. He wasn't fond of crossing the river in poor light, but once they were across Ahsoka at least would sleep easier. The water was calm, and very deep, black in the late afternoon light. Nodding, he turned back to help Ahsoka. The strips were all cut to length already, and she was trying to figure out how to tie them together. "Master Obi-Wan, do I really use the blankets? We'll need them tonight and I'm not sure if we brought enough."

"Look around your surroundings, Ahsoka; are there things here you can use?"

"I thought there might be vines, but I don't see any."

"Look at the smaller branches," Obi-Wan said, wondering if he would ever not be stuck in the role of teacher. He glanced at Anakin. No, probably not ever. "They create thick networks, hard to separate. If you linked them together, like younglings will do with flowers to make crowns of them, I'd imagine it would be very hard to break apart."

For the next hour they spent time doing exactly that, intertwining smaller branches into a mesh that they looped around the cut strips. The sun was just touching the treetops when they finished. Obi-Wan's ribs were screaming at him despite his best efforts, but now the work was done and he took the time to just close his eyes and breathe.

"Master Obi-Wan? Are you alright?"

The older Jedi nodded. "I'll be better when we're across the river."

The young padawan grinned. "I couldn't agree more."

It took both of them to drag Anakin onto the makeshift raft; the exertion was terrible on his ribs. He quickly decided that Ahsoka would be the one guiding the raft. She pouted, not liking how much work he was perpetually thrusting on her, but one straightforward look reminded her what it was all for and she would acquiesce. Once they were on the river, Obi-Wan hoisted himself up, hiding in his stab of pain and sitting by his partner as Ahsoka grabbed one of the steel girders to act as an oar, punting across the river.

Once they were clear of the bank, something prickled along Obi-Wan's senses. A disturbance in the Force.

His eyes immediately started scanning the river. It was still calm, remarkably quiet.

... Too quiet.

Like out of a bad holovid quiet.

"Something is wrong," he said slowly, reaching to his lightsaber, its grip reassuring him.

"Master?"

"There's something in the Force, cast your feelings out."

"I don't-"

She never got the chance to finish. There was a splash upriver, and then something leapt out of the water, earthy green and huge, easily five times the size of their raft, with scales and teeth. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan watched, wide-eyed; it seemed to stay in the air, weightless, before it's arc completed and it started to barrel towards the water.

"What is that?" was about all Ahsoka was able to manage before it slammed into the water, waves leaping up into the air and rushing towards them too fast to process what was happening. Then it was on them, pushing against and then sinking under the raft, tilting it at a precarious angle - first one way, then the next as it rushed past them and further downriver. Still bouncing from the aftershocks of the wave, Obi-Wan struggled to keep his equilibrium in conjunction with keeping the unconscious Anakin in one place.

"Ahsoka!" he ordered, "Keep that thing distracted while I try to get Anakin to shore!" Force only knew how he was going to manage it, but the girl already had her lightsaber out in her preferred reverse grip, the water still settling under them. Obi-Wan called out to the Force, willing the paddle into his grip. It had only just arrived in his grasp when something slammed into the bottom of the raft with enough force to lift all three of its occupants up a foot into the air.

Obi-Wan was left to let go of the paddle he'd just grabbed in lieu of grabbing Anakin, limp in midair, and quickly trying to angle the short fall in order to prevent further damage to his former padawan's head. He found himself wishing he'd scanned the younger Jedi to know how close he was to finishing his healing trance.

The aquatic predator slammed into the raft again, this time with more force. Several logs snapped, and Obi-Wan knew it would shatter utterly in the next thrust. The older Jedi knew he wouldn't be able to swim to shore, injured and carrying the unconscious Anakin. A snap decision was made, and Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber and swung it down the middle of the raft, snapping the branch bindings.

"Master?"

"Go!" Obi-Wan called out, pulling Anakin closer to him, focusing on the raft and willing the Force to push it towards shore.

The creature leapt up into the air again, between the two halves of the raft that did not have enough time to part. Both ends went flying into the air - Obi-Wan thought he was level with the canopy of the trees but couldn't be sure because he was trying too hard to keep his grip on Anakin. He did see Ahsoka's green lightsaber, and a flash of red and orange running along the creature, before his focus centered totally on the river below and wanting to land on it right.

"Anakin, now would be a really good time to wake!" he reprimanded his former apprentice.

He had enough time to grab the taller Jedi and make sure his grip wouldn't give when they hit the water. It was at that time he realized that the water wasn't the only thing he was going to hit. The raft dove into the river first and was in the middle of lifting itself end first up into the air. Obi-Wan's ribs slammed into the ends of the cut wood and the world when white with pain.

---

Ahsoka quickly darted up the giant fish's back, running up the scales in hopes of stabbing her lightsaber into its eye. It bucked in midair, her boots sliding on its slippery surface. It crashed back into the river, Ahsoka joining it and suddenly she didn't know which way was up or down or sideways or air she needed air and then she broke the surface and she sucked in a deep breath, coughing it out and snapping her head around, trying to find that stupid fish. She tried to cast her senses out, all the training with Anakin paying off as she felt it...

... Beneath her?

She didn't even have time to curse, only spread her legs and hope it was enough. The creature rammed into her extremities and created a shelf for her to stand on as it pushed up into the air once more. Ahsoka already felt herself sliding down, but she took advantage of the opportunity while she had it and thrust her lightsaber into the slimy skin of the fish. It definitely felt that, letting out some kind of keen of pain and it jerked to one side, leaving Ahsoka suddenly in midair and sinking back into the river. She reached out with her 'saber to try and scratch it again, but it jerked back the way it had come, slamming into her and knocking her senseless.

Hitting the water was like a slap in the face, and she flailed for several seconds before she broke the surface and once again found herself gulping for air. She spun around, trying to find the fish again with sight and senses. The dorsal fin appeared, waves undulating from it as it swam for her, outraged and out for blood. Fumbling, she thrust her lightsaber forward, the beam embedding itself into the giant fish and suddenly it was all she could do to hold on.

The creature cried out in pain, the weapon stuck in the wound, and Ahsoka was spun left and right, up and down, as the fish tried to free itself from the pain, diving in and out of water, leaping into the air, thrashing, writhing, twisting. Ahsoka sputtered and kept both fists wrapped around the hilt of her lightsaber, weightless and without a sense of direction.

She found herself thinking of her master, hoping that Obi-Wan had managed to get him to shore. It was her job to protect them, and she would do it. She would do it. Gritting her teeth, she bent at her waist and brought her knees to the slimy side of the creature; she dared to release one of her hands to reattach it to the dorsal fin, giving her the anchor she needed to tug and pull her lightsaber out of the fish, taking a minute as it thrashed again, and this time slashed and hacked at its head. She would protect them!

They crashed into the water again, and the force of it pushed all the air out of her lungs, and for a third time she found herself struggling to find the surface. She only had time to recognize that she had cleared the water before the giant fish slammed into her, preventing her precious intake of oxygen and pushing her back under water. Ahsoka moved to slash again and realized with horror that she had lost her lightsaber. She no longer had any means to defend herself.

The giant fish threw her up out of the water and into the air, Ahsoka numb and struggling for air and thought and calm, please let her be calm she needed to think but she was going to die before she could protect her master.

Master!

The last thing she saw was Anakin filling her vision, his blue lightsaber thrusting into the eye of the creature all the way to the hilt and into the brain.

---

Anakin was working on pure instinct. The last clear memory he had was his intense focus on landing through reentry with only one wing. After that came vague notions that his Master and Padawan were teasing him before his Master's presence had gently tucked him into the Force to heal. The only thing he was aware of when he'd dragged himself out of his trance was that there was danger, his Master was hurting, and his Padawan was struggling.

Instinct honed through battle after battle and war guided him after that. His lightsaber was in the Threat's eye, piercing deep as he pushed his presence in the Force against the Threat's awareness clearly portraying that Anakin himself was a far more fierce predator than a fish he could fry for dinner.

The Threat let out a low keen, its gills gasping for water. It sank into the water, seeking to die with dignity and away from Anakin who could turn it into a meal.

Anakin could respect that, turning off his lightsaber and letting out a breath once he jumped off the beast. The Threat was removed. Time to assess.

"Ahsoka?" he called out, turning in the water. "Ahsoka?"

"Here, Master!"

His young Togruta Padawan was swimming towards him from further down the river, lightsaber in hand, no doubt having gone to fetch it when Anakin had entered the fray. "Are you okay?" he called.

Ahsoka swam up to his side, water still streaming down her lekku. "I've definitely had better battles," she grumbled. "And you, Master? Are you alright?"

Anakin sensed her worry and offered a smirk. "Just fine, little one." He reached out through the bond as they both started swimming to shore. Ahsoka would no doubt be very sore and bruised, but she didn't seem to have sustained any major injuries. He let his relief out into the Force, glad that she was fairing so well after such a violent crash. There was a lot he needed to teach her still, especially since teaching her gave him new respect for what his own Master had had to put up with. At least Ahsoka wasn't as willful as he had been as a Padawan.

Speaking of his Master...

Reaching through his old bond to Obi-Wan, Anakin felt his Master's intense pain before Obi-Wan felt him and raised his shields.

"Master!" he called out, swimming faster. "Master? What's wrong? And don't tell me nothing!"

"Ah, Anakin..." Obi-Wan called softly. "Sometimes I think you know me too well." There was another flare of pain through the bond. "Might I... have some help swimming to shore?"

"And why can't you swim, Master?" Anakin growled.

"Master Obi-Wan can't swim?" Ahsoka gasped behind him, not having heard him clearly.

"I'm afraid... moving my arms... is a little too... painful at the moment..."

"And why does moving your arms hurt, Master?" He could see Obi-Wan now, floating on his back, breathing quick shallow breaths.

"You have... to ask... my ribs why, Anakin."

"Your ribs?" Anakin asked, pulling up by the older Jedi. That would make swimming him to shore either very painful for his old Master, or a difficult task in avoiding pulling at said ribs.

"Master Obi-Wan!" Ahsoka swam to Obi-Wan's other side. "What happened?"

"Might we... we get to shore first?" Obi-Wan offered in short gasps.

"Ahsoka, swim ahead, get a fire going in some sort of dry spot. Try and pull away from the river so the cold won't freeze us tonight," Anakin ordered. "I'll bring Obi-Wan in, but I'm going to have to be slow and careful. Make sure we have a warm spot to get to."

"Yes, Master." Ahsoka swam off, worry tricking through her, even as she pushed it aside to focus on her task.

"I... can't help but... wonder... if we even... have any of our... supplies... any more..."

"I'll worry about that later, Obi-Wan. First, let's get you to shore without hurting you."

Anakin felt his own worry snaking through his mind. He hated it whenever Obi-Wan was hurt; it reminded him all too easily of the people he'd lost in his life - first and foremost his mother. Obi-Wan was his master, the strong, ultimate Jedi that could do anything - that did anything, considering his wonderful Padawan and all the trouble he caused; it was painful to see his master sucking in air, trying to float without using his arms, trying to breathe. It was too easy to picture his mother in her last moments, his trying so hard to feel her and unable to. He wasn't sure he'd survive a funeral pyre if there ever was one.

"Anakin... don't put me... on the pyre... just yet," Obi-Wan said, responding to the thoughts the younger Jedi was having.

Always chiding, even in severe pain. Anakin thought he would go insane.

It took several minutes trying to figure out how to move Obi-Wan. He couldn't wrap his arm around the older Jedi and swim, any pressure on his chest sent so much pain through the bond Anakin didn't even want to think about what Obi-Wan was feeling behind all his filters. Eventually, Anakin wrapped his mechanical fist around the collar of the Obi-Wan's chest plate. This put no pressure on the older Jedi, indeed it lifted the plate and seemed to give him more room to breathe, and so Anakin locked his servos to prevent them from loosening in the water and began swimming to shore.

"Master, why do you always get yourselves in situations like this?"

"Look... who's... talking."

"Oh, I don't know, master," Anakin replied, arrogant confidence filling his voice. "I think I've proven I'm good enough to get off much better than you in just about anything."

"Says... the man... who just woke... from a... concussion," Obi-Wan replied wryly.

Anakin found relief in the older Jedi's ability to joke, and they spent the rest of the swim in silence as they reached the shore. It wasn't until they had almost made it, Anakin could see the orange glow of the fire Ahsoka had started in the dim, quickly vanishing light, that he heard Obi-Wan's voice again.

"Talk... to her... about fear," he murmured.

"Master?"

"She's... very scared... She didn't... know... how to... handle it."

Anakin frowned but didn't answer. It was a subject he knew intimately well, but was hesitant to broach with his Padawan, simply because he knew he could not give a good answer. Even after all his years with the Jedi, with Obi-Wan, he didn't handle fear well. It consumed him all too easily, and he knew himself well enough to know he was in no place to talk about it.

Obi-Wan, ever perceptive, seemed to sense Anakin's insecurities. "Even... partial answers... are still... answers..."

Anakin sighed. He was right of course.

Again.

Finally he got his long legs onto the bed of the river, and once the water lowered to his waist he paused. "Obi-Wan, I'm going to have to get an arm under you to get you out of the water."

He was only a silhouette in the dim light, but he nodded, and Anakin felt his partner brace himself. Getting Obi-Wan to stand was difficult, as bending and moving his torso sent waves of pain even through his shields, but once upright, Anakin's old master let out a soft sigh. The both of them were already holding the Force around Obi-Wan's ribs. When Anakin used the Force to actually look at how bad the damage might be, he almost recoiled.

"Obi-Wan!" he scanned again, listening to how the Force echoed in his former master's body. "You have a rib brushing up against a lung!"

A hand went over his chest. "Ah, is that... what happened... with the raft?"

Anakin narrowed his eyes. "Master, once we get you settled at camp, you are going to tell me what's been going on and how much you've been hiding."

"Then.. shall we be... on our... way?"

Anakin snorted.

The walk to Ahsoka's campsite was slow and difficult. Obi-Wan seemed to walk with some ease despite their heavy, soaked clothes, but Anakin could not get his old master to put his arm around his neck for support. Any attempt to lift his arms lead to severe pain and Anakin didn't want to think about how painful it would be to set the rib that was threatening to puncture his lung.

The camp that Ahsoka made was closer to the river than Anakin would have liked. With the temperatures already dropping as the sun finished setting on the horizon, the river was almost radiating chill and cold. But the camp was under low hanging pine-like branches that offered protection and retained much of the heat that her campfire was already generating. She had even gathered dead needles and leaves and had made small bed-like bunches to be covered in blankets once they finished drying out over the fire.

"So how much of your pack survived your fish fight?" Anakin asked as his Padawan bustled about the blankets and clothes she was trying to dry out for all of them.

"Not enough," she muttered. "Rations and food are completely wasted. I haven't even had a chance to see how the water damaged the datapads or blasters, or any of the mechanical stuff we brought along. I'll dry those out once we have warm clothes to actually change in to."

"We can take stock of things better in a minute. First things first."

With great chare, he helped Obi-Wan sit down. "Alright, Master, I know your modesty and bashfulness is renowned in the Healer's Ward, but do you think you can stand Ahsoka and I getting you out of those wet clothes?"

Anakin's master's face turned bright pink. "I'm sure... I'll survive this... somehow," he replied, already pulling off his gloves and arm armor.

Anakin and Ahsoka were both as gentle as they could be while taking off Obi-Wan's armor. Most of it slid off easily, once detached from the black bodysuit underneath, the only snag being his chest plate and Obi-Wan's need to lift his arms to get to the snaps holding it in place. His Jedi robe came off easily, but Obi-Wan's modesty asserted itself when Anakin unzipped the body suit to peel it off.

"Master," Anakin said softly. "Even this is soaked through. You can't stay in these wet clothes."

"Should I turn around?" Ahsoka asked quietly from where she was shaking out Obi-Wan's robe.

Obi-Wan was completely red faced and Anakin struggled to hold back a chuckle. "Oh, very well." Anakin was certain his old master sensed his amusement given the irritated scowl that was being thrown at him.

Ahsoka gave a quiet giggle before hanging Obi-Wan's robe by the fire and kneeling to help. The synthetic fabric was sopping wet and very heavy, as well as sticking to Obi-Wan's skin. Taking it off was peeling it back and gently tugging. Anakin felt shock through his bond with Ahsoka and glanced at her as she went perfectly still.

"Ahsoka?" Obi-Wan asked, turning to her.

"It's nothing, Master Obi-Wan," she replied quietly. A quick smile was pasted on. "Given your bashfulness, I'll go to the other side of the blankets. I'll check on how our spare clothes are doing." She gave a coy wink. "If nothing else, I think you'd appreciate some dry undergarments."

Obi-Wan was red again. "... Thank you."

"She's got spunk," Anakin stated fondly and smirking at his old master.

"I wonder... where... she gets it... from..." was the pointed glance.

"No idea," Anakin replied with a large grin.

"Master?" Ahsoka's hand appeared from behind the drying blankets holding something. "It seems both of you have some dry undergarments to change into."

Anakin glanced down to his own soaked robes and water-logged boots. "Good work, Snips."

Obi-Wan was grateful to have something to change into and for the drying blankets to act as a screen.

Once settled and waiting for dryer clothes, Anakin turned to the screen. "Ahsoka? Care to tell me what's being going on while I was out?"

"Of course, Master."

Ahsoka spared no details in her delivery of events. Anakin was relieved that the only major incident seemed to be when he'd awoken to the big fish that was attacking them. Similarly, he was highly amused by the tale of the energetic young life form that had been glued to Ahsoka's side.

"Too bad I wasn't awake. I'd have liked to thank that father and son." Anakin sent another tendril of the Force to his former master's ribs. "Anything to add that my Padawan missed, Obi-Wan?"

"No, she did a fine job covering the details." The time to rest and just listen as Ahsoka talked had done some good for Anakin's old master. He had better breath control and the Force that both he and Obi-Wan were wrapping around the broken and battered ribs was easing things considerably.

"How are our clothes, Snips?"

Ahsoka's arm appeared from behind the drying blankets. "I've been focusing on Master Obi-Wan's, since he'll be needing the sleep tonight instead of you," she replied. "The body suit for the armor is still very damp, but his spare robes have dried out nicely." There was a brief pause before she teasingly offered, "Shall I help you dress him, Master?"

Anakin could feel that Ahsoka was using the teasing to cover what she was feeling, but he said nothing at the moment. Instead, he grinned broadly as his master once again went bright red. "No, little one, I think we've got it."

"As you wish. I have a blanket that's almost dry, too."

"Good. Then we can finally put Obi-Wan to bed."

"I don't suppose I have a say in this, do I?" the Jedi in question said wryly.

"None at all, Master."

All Obi-Wan could do was give a soft, shallow sigh.

Dressing wasn't quite as difficult as undressing and Obi-Wan snuggled into the warm clothes with a quiet gratitude. Suggesting that he enter a healing trance as Anakin had, however, was met with resistance.

"I am fine."

Anakin scowled fiercely at him, then smiled as he thought of what to do. "Alright, Master, but we really should set that rib that's resting on your lung."

Obi-Wan hesitated, but acquiesced. Perfect. "This is going to hurt. Ahsoka, watch closely. You don't have the control for this yet but you'll never know when you need it."

"Of course, Master," she replied from behind the blankets. Anakin could already feel her senses focusing on them.

"Ready, Master?"

"I doubt this could hurt more than the breaking did."

Anaking grinned. Carefully, he slipped a tendril of the Force around the rib that was dangerously close to Obi-Wan's lung. With great care, he wrapped the Force around the lung to protect it. Then, with a firm yank, he pulled the rib back into place, cocooning it with the Force to help accelerate the healing.

Naturally, Obi-Wan cried out before passing out with a sleep suggestion Anakin slipped through his shields when the pain hit.

"Master!" Ahsoka gasped. "That was sneaky!"

Anakin gave an unrepentant grin. "Come here, Snips. We need to talk."

---

Ahsoka watched as her master pulled off his wet leather over robe and armor, tugging at his gloves and shrugging off his damp tunic. It had embarrassed her at first, when they shared quarters on a ship or a tent on a mission; they were different genders and the crèche had always kept boys and girls separate. Anakin had quickly (and irately) corrected her concerns, stating flat out that a Master/Apprentice bond just didn't do that, thank you, and that over time a person learned that modesty was really an academic concept. It took a while, but she had become accustomed to getting up late at night and seeing him tinkering with a droid or with his arm, only in his sleep pants.

She looked at his synthetic arm, the plastic skin coating almost an exact match to his own; only the scar around his upper bicep showed any indication that there had been a severe injury. It reminded her of her fear, of worrying when he was on life support after saving Master Secura, the more recent chills of him and the stillness of his healing trance. She felt herself shiver even though she knew it wasn't the chill of the air; the fire was doing a good job of warding it off.

She didn't think much about it in battle, things were always happening so fast there was no time to think; it was always after, once everything had settled and there was quiet, that she found herself reflecting, that she found herself picturing everything that could and would happen, and she shivered again. She could picture all too easily what would have happened if Anakin hadn't woken up to save her, he and Obi-Wan chewed and torn to shreds, and she would be alone and responsible for their deaths. She was always the reason that clones died, she was too reckless and aggressive, but she couldn't help it, and she was trying, she truly was. If her master had been any later...

"Padawan," Anakin said in serious tones. He almost never called her that, and she knew this was going to be serious.

"You say Obi-Wan showed you how to scan. Did you scan him?"

The young Togruta shook her head slightly. "... No."

"Did you ever get a hint that he was hurt?"

"... No. He took a minute to just breathe after we finished the raft, but I just thought he was a little stiff. He never..."

"Ahsoka," Anakin interjected, his voice firm, even angry. "If there's one thing you need to understand about Obi-Wan is that he will never let on that he's hurt. You can't trust his 'I'm fine's. He will always hide his pain rather than let anyone worry about him. Always, always scan him after a crash like that! Wait until he's asleep if you have to, but never let him hide his injuries!"

"Master," Ahsoka said quickly, if very quietly. Anakin was prone to yelling, that was true, but this - the passionate reprisal - was much worse. He was upset; he was very upset because someone close to him had been injured. If there was nothing else she learned about her teacher, it was that when he cared about someone, he cared about them with everything that he was. Obi-Wan had been with him for just over half of his lifetime; it was only natural that the older Jedi would be one that Anakin would feel protective of. Obi-Wan's injuries were her fault, indirectly, because she'd failed to think of anything other than her own panic at the thought of her master being hurt or worse. "Master, I'm sorry..."

Just like that, the anger in the air dissipated, and the pressure on the bond lessened, Ahsoka not realizing it was there until after it had left.

A sigh. "You're not the only one he's done this to, Little One," Anakin replied, his voice softer, a peace offering. "I only say this because I know from experience. I'm not joking when I say that I triple pack the medkits when we're traveling together."

Ahsoka's mind immediately filled with what she'd seen when they had stripped off the body suit; the menagerie of scars, burns, weathered tissue that made up Obi-Wan's back and shoulders. Anakin had his own sets of scars, but they paled in comparison to his former master's. Was this the Jedi way? To take part in so many battles as to receive that many scars? Would she be littered with such injuries, making her own roadmap of pain on her path? She looked down at the bindings she wore on her chest and wondered if she should start wearing more. She shivered again.

She remembered her drive to protect Anakin and Obi-Wan during her fight on the river, and her utter failure to do so. It had been up to Anakin to save them. The defeat weighed on her heavily.

She tried to release it to the Force like she's been trained. It wouldn't let go of her.

---

Anakin was watching her, watching the slump of her shoulders, the curling of her arms around her abdomen, being weighed down by her worries and doubt. He sighed deeply through his nose and crouched down to her level, shrugging on his spare tunic. His real hand reached out and touched her shoulder, warm and gentle, and it wasn't long before Ahsoka curled into his offered shoulder and started to cry.

It was only when Anakin took on a Padawan himself that he understood, at least a little, why Obi-Wan had always been so hesitant to show physical affection to him. There was the Jedi Code, of course, drivel about not forming attachment while allowing Master/Padawan bonds and other hypocrisies. For Anakin, though, it came from a very different place. He wasn't the perfect Jedi, like Obi-Wan was; and he even now had trouble understanding how he could ever have a Padawan successfully turn into a proper Jedi under his tutelage. Anakin found himself in conflict over himself on how to show his affection for his new Padawan: his own insecurities, the image of being a hero with no fear and the incongruity of a strong strapping male hugging a little girl like Ahsoka, the uncertainty - however irrational - of what Padme would think of his closeness to his Padawan, all coupled with protocol and tradition and convention, all of it prevented him from giving the hugs, pats, and other gestures of affection that he so craved from Obi-Wan. Wanting it and knowing how to give it without being scolded were two different things entirely, but in quiet moments like these, he found he instinctively knew exactly what to do, and he just hoped that it was the right thing to do.

He hadn't meant to yell; his emotions had got the better of him again, and this was all he could do to apologize for it. Ahsoka, at least, always seemed receptive to his personal variation of sorry. Padme, too, but that was different.

He nudged at the bond, trying to figure out where all the negativity radiating off of Ahsoka was coming from. He caught pictures of Obi-Wan's scars, himself lying still on a stretcher, pictures of the Lurmen and Wag Too as the young healer fixed him after their crash landing on Maridun.

"What is it that you fear, Little One? Injury?" Or something much darker, something he was afraid was the true reason, something he had a much deeper knowledge of.

He felt Ahsoka shake her head, a montral poking his cheek briefly. She murmured something into his shoulder; he didn't quite catch it.

"What?" he asked, gently pushing her back so he could face her properly.

"I... I'm a failure, Master," she said again, her voice despondent. "I promised myself I'd protect you, that I'd keep you safe, but it was you that ended up protecting me. If you hadn't been there, you and Master Obi-Wan would have... would have..." She shook her head, hugging herself. Anakin kept his organic arm on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "I couldn't..."

Anakin sensed the picture of clone troopers of Blue Squadron, lost as they tried to break the blockade of Ryloth, of the battle on Felucia, where she would have been overrun if not for Anakin and Obi-Wan forcing her back, of Anakin opening a holocron because she was being held hostage by Cad Bane. More recent pictures filled his mind through their bond, the giant fish on the river, an image of Obi-Wan prone in the water before they had reached him, Anakin limp on the raft and unable to defend himself. Moreover, he felt the sense of defeat, of failure, when she had been most needed. At last, Anakin thought he might understand.

"It is responsibility?" he asked softly, looking down at his Padawan.

Ahsoka stilled, pulling away from him, her eyes damp.

"Every time you give me some, I always mess it up," she said, pulling her knees up between them, a makeshift barrier to protect herself from her shame. It reminded him so strongly of his teenage years he almost superimposed the thought of himself over her. "I try so hard, but so many people get hurt because I can't get it right. What kind of pack leader am I? I almost got you and Master Obi-Wan killed today because I couldn't stop that stupid fish!"

"Ashoka, we all make mistakes," Anakin said gently; he tried for a wry grin. "Even a Jedi as awe-inspiring as myself can sometimes screw up. Royally."

Ahsoka didn't react to the self-flattery, and he quickly sobered. "Ahsoka, who do you think is always telling me to slow down and think? Or demands me to justify the plans I've come up with? You and Obi-Wan. If some great 'Chosen One'," he scoffed at the title, having one of his many fluctuating moments where he hated it, "like me can fail in my responsibilities, then I don't think you're in any place to complain when you realize you're not perfect."

The image of the morning after his mother's death, the twin suns of Tatooine rising on the bloody massacre, of him panting and realizing just what he'd done, filled his head. It was his one great failure in the responsibilities as a Jedi. Worse, it was a failure that didn't bother him. He still didn't know how to feel about it, but he knew there was something wrong in his feeling perfectly justified in the slaughter, glad even, but he couldn't pinpoint where the problem was, and that did bother him.

Shielded though the thoughts were, Ahsoka must have sense the emotions that the memory always brought up, for she looked up. "Master?"

He shook his head, willing the dark thoughts away. "I'm trying to tell you that I've failed in my responsibilities. We all have, we all do - except for maybe Obi-Wan, and Master Yoda," he added with another grin, a little sadder this time. "You're still a Padawan, Ahsoka, the second half of that title is 'Learner.' You're still finding your way: your style as a leader, your style as a Jedi. That's why you have me; I'll catch you when you trip, and point out which direction is the best path - not necessarily the easiest, but the best path for you to learn; just as Obi-Wan did for me and Master Qui-Gon did for him."

"But what if you're not here when I mess up again?" Ahsoka demanded, fire filling her voice. Anakin found he much preferred her when she was full of spark rather than despondency. He shrugged in response.

"You accept responsibility for what happened - not for what you think happened or what should have happened or what might have happened - but what really happened. Then, you learn from it, and you train yourself so that you don't make the mistake again. Or, if you do make the mistake again, you train harder. You'll keep training, until you surpass your limits." After all, he was still training, still trying to get powerful enough that people wouldn't die around him. He wasn't there yet, but he rather thought he was starting to make progress. "Come on, Ahsoka, I think it's time we meditate."

He grinned when she openly balked. "Meditate? On a foreign planet that we're stuck on without-"

"Grab you lightsaber, Snips."

"But you just said-"

"I know," Anakin replied before she could finish her thought. "This is a type of meditation they rarely use at the Temple."

---

Ahsoka had no idea what had just happened. Truly, she didn't. One moment she was receiving counsel from her master that she so desperately needed, the next he had this I'm-about-to-cause-trouble grin plastered on his face and telling her to grab her lightsaber for meditation, which she absolutely did not understand in the slightest.

Once clear of the fire, Anakin tapped his forehead and told her to look at her bond. She glowered, still trying to figure out what stunt he was going to pull now, but he shook his head with a gentle laugh.

"This is a joint meditation, Ahsoka," he explained. "I'm going to teach you one of the sequences in Form V, and you are going to match me move for move; but you have to match everything, not just motion and speed, but breathing and heartbeat and focus. We need the bond for that, so open up." Grinning again, he tapped her forehead with a finger. "Unless you find my company unwelcome," he joked.

Ahsoka managed a smile. "Only when you're your usual overbearing self," she quipped, her lips parting into a grin of her own.

Anakin nodded, feeling the bond open. He took a deep breath, her following close behind. At first they both just breathed, focusing on the other, trying to match their rhythms and pacing. Slowly, very slowly, her master ignited his lightsaber, and Ahsoka found herself doing the same thing at the same instant. The opening forms came next, slow wide arcs and powerful counterstrikes - distilled into poetry with their slow motion. Ahsoka channeled her emotions into each strike as she had been taught, her frustration and feelings of failure coupled with Anakin's worry about his master's health and concern for her depression that was now equal parts in her mind because of the bond. She realized, belatedly, that this was how her master released emotions to the Force when normal mediation could not quell his maelstrom of feelings. Perhaps she could do this, too, when she felt overwhelmed. Was this why she felt more centered that morning?

Yes, whispered in her ear - her voice or Anakin's she wasn't sure, they were so connected in the moment.

Then he showed her the new sequence, first in her mind, and then they were doing it together, breath for breath, each strike, each heartbeat, each flick of the wrist done simultaneously, in perfect unison. Ahsoka felt pride well within her, doubled with her master's, and as they began the closing forms, she thought she might have been grinning. She must have, because when she finally looked at her master, he was grinning too. For a while, they just breathed together, before finally the meditation ended and Anakin narrowed the bond with a shake of his head.

"Feel better?" he asked, voice full of self-assured confidence.

She was not about to give him that satisfaction. "Not really," she offered, waving a hand, but the smile in her voice betrayed her, and soon they were both laughing.

"Ahsoka," Anakin started, "Take strength in the people around you."

"Master?"

"When you're worried about them, when you feel uncertain about how they're doing but you're too far away to scan them or don't know where they are, then take strength in the fact that you can feel them. Do you remember the Malevolence? When we all thought Master Plo was dead? Who was it that found him?"

Ahsoka flushed slightly, remembering her certainty when everyone else was telling her it was impossible. "M... me..." she answered.

"You did that because you could still feel him, and that gave you the strength to find him. Master Luminara kept telling me that you and Bariss were dead on Geonosis when the factory exploded, but I knew you were alive because I could still feel you. Bonds like that, with people close to you, when they're cut you know," he voice hardened, his face darkening as his eyes looked at a memory that Ahsoka couldn't even fathom putting that kind of look on him, "and it's the worst thing to feel." Then, just like that, the expression was gone. "But if you don't feel the cut, then that means they're still alive, and that means you take strength in that fact; then you can find them and help them."

Ahsoka wasn't sure she should ask, she didn't want to press, but she found the question falling out of her mouth anyway. "Master, was it ever cut for you?"

His eyes almost looked yellow in the firelight, sending a shiver through Ahsoka, but he glanced over to Obi-Wan, sleeping quietly, and after a deep breath he replied. "There was a time... when I was still a Padawan... On Jabiim, everyone thought that Obi-Wan was dead. I had to keep fighting. The whole fight was a mess... almost everyone I fought with died. I didn't know them well, but I could feel everyone dying around me, so when they said that my master..." His voice trailed off, and he again looked to Master Obi-Wan, his eyes tracing the older Jedi's every line. "He wasn't dead, though, and it wasn't until much later that I realized it. I should have known, really, if his bond had been cut it would have been like-"

And here he cut himself off, his mental shields slamming down so hard Ahsoka startled. It must have hurt very deeply, her master was always so open that it made the moments when he shut down like this always seem sudden, almost painful; and she was left wondering if there was a type of pain that couldn't be released to the Force, because that was the only thing she could think of that would affect Anakin this way.

"In some ways, the reality was a lot worse," he said slowly, after a long pause. "He'd been captured by Ventress."

Ahsoka snorted at the name. "She always manages to sneak in unannounced, doesn't she?"

"No, Ahsoka, you don't understand. She was torturing him. Those scars on his back that gave you pause? That was her doing."

... Oh.

... Oh.

"Master, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something so painful."

"Anyway," he said, putting his hands behind his back, closing the topic of discussion. "Now that your heart and mind are back to their shiny-happy selves, let's see what we can do about salvaging the situation."

Ahsoka put on a pout. "You would say that, wouldn't you?"

The cocky grin again. "It's a Jedi's job to be practical at all times."

"And since when were you ever practical?"

"Someone has to be with Obi-Wan taking a nap."

They shared a giggle and went to work.

---

Anakin smiled down at Ahsoka, feeling proud that she had not only been so in synch with him for the meditation, but that she had grasped how to release the pent up emotion into the Force through kata and form. It wasn't a style of meditation that the Temple really taught, but it was one that Anakin had partly discovered through war and through sparring with his own master. Ahsoka was too much like himself to really meditate the traditional way. It was one of the reasons why he drilled her during their rare free moments from battle. She hadn't quite picked up on what he had been doing, but through the meditation, he'd seen that her practice that morning had calmed her. It was a good sign.

"So, you said our food was gone?"

"More or less, Master," she replied, pulling down blankets that were dry and warm. As she spread out the blankets on the leaf-beds she'd made, she continued, "The perishables perished as soon as I was dunked in the water. As for the wrapped food, I can't find it in my pack. I think it just floated away." Ahsoka scowled as she folded the clothes that had dried. The clothes they'd swam in were still drying. "I swear I'd wrapped the packaged food in one of the blankets, but as I was setting up camp, it was gone! One of the corners of the blalnket had come undone! Argh, the food!"

"Ahsoka."

A deep breath and release to the Force. "Sorry, Master."

"So, Snips. What can be done about our lack of food?" Anakin grinned as his Padawan paused. She'd been so stuck on the loss of the food, that she hadn't started thinking of solutions. The kata meditation helped, and his small nudge finally pushed her past the irritation. Now she could think.

"Hmmmm... I might be able to set some traps," she thought aloud. "That might take a while though. It may be faster for me to just go hunting."

Anakin let his pride slip along the bond. "Very good, Ahsoka." He finished his tinkering with the datapad he'd been working on. "Now that the food issue has been dealt with, our clothes and blankets are either dry or drying, what's next?"

The Torguta Padawan knelt. "Wood for the fire, I think. I was so focused on just getting camp set up and drying out clothes to change into, I'm not sure we have enough for the night."

"Easily dealt with," Anakin replied, pointing up to the tree that was providing them cover. "Whoever's on watch can climb up and break off more branches." He grinned at her. "Or you can bring some in while you're hunting."

They continued reviewing their supplies.

---

Obi-Wan woke up to the smell of cooking meat and it made his stomach rumble.

"Anakin?" he asked groggily. "Since when did you cook?"

There was a feeling of amusement. "I don't, Master. I make my Padawan do the cooking."

"I'm used to it," Ahsoka replied as Obi-Wan looked around. "Letting my master cook is a death sentence I will never earn."

Obi-Wan smiled while Anakin scowled.

"So, where do we stand?" the Jedi master asked, gently reaching up to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Snips did a great job of digging up some food, -"

"Master! Just because I had to herd that lizard into a hole and crawl in after it-"

"-dragging and dropping wood for the fire, -"

"If you hadn't have startled me, that log wouldn't have landed on your foot!"

"-drying and frying our clothes, -"

"Hey! You were the one hopping on one foot! You knocked Master Obi-Wan's robe into the fire!"

"-while I cleaned out the blasters -"

"And set it off, startling me in the first place!"

"-binoculars and datapads -"

"And laughed at me all night for that one little addition!"

"-and watched over you."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Anakin, for some reason, I'm strongly reminded of Sargasso III."

His former Padawan sputtered and went bright red. Ahsoka, sensing a story, immediately started needling him, asking what had happened. Chuckling, Obi-Wan used the distraction to look through the Force to his ribs. At least Anakin's sleep suggestion hadn't lasted more than the night. Obi-Wan had to admit, he'd needed the trance. His ribs were mending, though the process would be slow without a trained healer. He could at least take deeper breaths without being in agony.

Moving carefully, Obi-Wan eased himself into a sitting position and inhaled the delightful aroma of a hand cooked meal instead of army rations or cafeteria food. Fine eatery it wasn't, but something about a fresh cooked meal had always appealed to him. It was why he'd often cooked meals. Obi-Wan didn't think of himself as chef material, but Anakin had never complained.

"Here, Obi-Wan, let me get that for you." Anakin immediately dropped the playful argument he'd been having with his Padawan to reach the roasting animal and cut off a thick slice of what looked like dark meat. It seemed Anakin remembered Obi-Wan's preference.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said.

"How are you feeling?" Ahsoka asked, kneeling by him. The Jedi master felt a gathering of the Force as both Anakin and Ahsoka scanned his injuries.

"I'm better than I was," he replied. "I'll be able to handle today's journey." He quirked an eyebrow. "Assuming we still know where we're going?"

Anakin chuckled again. "You know me and machines."

"I certainly do. If a mere dunking of electronics got the better of you, it'd be time to hang up my lightsaber."

"I climbed this tree," Ahsoka said, patting the trunk. "We're closer than our original estimates. We made very good time yesterday."

Anakin nodded. "I think we'll make it to that communication dish some time this afternoon." He gave his master a firm look. "If you get tired at all, tell us and we'll take a break."

Obi-Wan smiled, realizing the compromise Anakin was offering. Knowing his former Padawan, Anakin no doubt would want to stay put until Obi-Wan made a more complete recovery and Obi-Wan would, naturally, insist they press on. Anakin had avoided the argument and gone straight to the compromise to save time.

"I will," he replied. "The same goes for either of you. It sounds like you didn't get much sleep last night."

---

Anakin made sure to never be far from his master as they continued their hike through the boulder-strewn forest. Not obsessively so, though given that this was Obi-Wan, he was tempted, but enough so that if the Jedi Master needed help (not that he'd ever ask for it) Anakin would be nearby. Obi-Wan made the trip with grace, contrary to his painful ribs, and only asked once for a break before scaling a particularly steep, though not very high, cliff. Anakin was glad that Obi-Wan even asked for the break. Back when he'd been a Padawan, Obi-Wan would never admit to injury until it was too severe. Since Anakin became a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan seemed more inclined to admit pain, though still not fast enough for Anakin's liking. It was a way for Obi-Wan to acknowledge that they were equals and Anakin appreciated the gesture, even if he preferred Obi-Wan not to be so stubborn over his injuries.

But while Anakin stayed physically close to his old Master, he kept an eye on Ahsoka through their bond. Their shared meditation had shown Anakin a little of what was going through his Padawan's heart and mind. He'd done what he could, offered what advice he'd stumbled on that wasn't so weighed down by the Jedi Code and more common sense. He could sense her working out the lingering fear and uncertainty. She could release it to the Force, something Anakin struggled with daily, but it would return and she'd have to accept and release again, which frustrated her. Then she'd have to release that to the Force as well.

He didn't interfere; he couldn't do this for her, nor did he feel truly qualified to help her when he struggled as well. But he kept a reassuring presence for her through their bond. When Ahsoka finally noticed it midmorning, she was scouting the upcoming terrain, she sent back a wave of appreciation that made Anakin smile.

Thankfully, there were no mishaps during their travel. Anakin had an injured master and emotional Padawan to look over, and he didn't want any distractions in his care for them. Their break for lunch was well timed, and delicious with the leftover roasted meat from breakfast, and Anakin kept light hearted banter and conversation flowing so that they lingered, giving his old master more rest and his Padawan reassurance. Two birds, one stone.

It was just past mid-afternoon when Ahsoka came running towards them with not only speed, but silence, worry, irritation, and dread filtering through the bond.

"Master!" she hissed, dropping from a tree branch. "Separatists!"

Oh no. "Are you sure? Where?"

Ahsoka pulled out the binoculars and Obi-Wan immediately handed her a datapad. Anakin felt a brief flare of pride that his Padawan had taken pictures with the binoculars and had sliced into the datapad to upload them. Clearly his time on her mechanical skills was paying off.

"Here," she selected an image of the communication dish they'd been heading towards for the past two days. A touch of the stylus, and the image zoomed in to the control tower where the skinny golden droids of the Separatists where bustling about.

"Oh dear," murmured Obi-Wan. "Then that means what shot our wing off..."

"Was a new planet-to-space weapon the Separatists have developed," Anakin finished.

"No way!" Ahsoka protested. "The distance and atmosphere and speed and trajectory of our ship... there are too many variables to account for! It's impossible!"

"And yet, we are here," Obi-Wan replied. "Shot down from a source unknown until now."

"But wouldn't they search for survivors?" the Padawan asked. "Make sure there are no witnesses to tell the tale? Like with the Malevolence?"

"Ahsoka," Anakin said patiently, flipping through images, "Would you think anyone would have survived reentry with only one wing?"

She looked down.

"That's to our advantage."

"Indeed. They won't be expecting anything," Obi-Wan nodded. Gingerly, he took a seat on an old fallen tree. "Now, let's look at these images you've gathered."

Ahsoka's shoulders slumped. "I don't think I have enough for proper reconnaissance."

Anakin sent a wave of assurance through the bond. "That's okay, Snips. You were surprised, and your first priority was to warn us before we got any closer. You did fine." He handed the datapad to his former master. "We've had you running point since we crashed. Stay with Obi-Wan, get some basic ideas, get a rough strategy. I'll take those binoculars and scout out around the dish." He glanced at the sky. "I'll probably be back at twilight."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Anakin? Subtlety was never a strong suit of yours." And there was a definite twinkle in Obi-Wan's eye.

"Ah, but I was your Padawan. If I didn't learn it, I at least absorbed it through osmosis."

Obi-Wan chuckled as Anakin slipped off into the forest.

The facility was enormous. Everyone had agreed that it would take upwards of three, maybe even four days to reach the compound, but as Anakin scaled the largest tree he could find he discovered quickly that the scale had been greatly distorted because of the size of the place. Reaching the top, the tall Jedi looked up and up and up to what was thought to be the receiver dish. Instead, the dish was sunken into the rock of the planet, the diameter easily two, maybe even three times the length of the Republican Cruiser Anakin was assigned to, the Resolute. It stretched out into the horizon, fading in color saturation with increasing distance. The perceived relay dish was actually, as far as Anakin could tell, a separate focus dish, or perhaps a separate dish for a different purpose. It moved about the sunken dish, slow considering it's massive bulk but much quicker than Anakin would ever have anticipated for its sheer mass.

Anakin recognized certain spires that spotted the circumference of the dish, magma harvesters, mostly likely to power the millions of star class fuel cells that were necessary. He frowned, because magma was a hard resource to blow up, and there was no doubt that a place like this needed to be blown up. There were six communication towers that he saw, it sounded about right for a facility so massive, and two separate compounds that looked like spaceports. Force this place was big if it needed two spaceports.

The tall Jedi lifted his binoculars and zoomed the scanners up, trying to get a closer look at the facility. Golden droids walked everywhere, some armed and some not. That was interesting; it meant that security might not be as beefed up as it should be. Perhaps no one knew about this super weapon yet? Anakin shivered at the thought. If this giant dish were mobile, if the problem of tapping into energy were fixed, then the potential devastation the weapon could call upon would be astronomical - he wouldn't put it past the dish to be able to blow up a planet! It far surpassed their EM bomb that fried electronics (and awakened a Zillo beast...) or the organic bomb that the Seperatists had tested on Maridun.

Pulling back, Anakin swept the binoculars across the facility and frowned. He couldn't find anything that looked like a central tower, a center hub for a main computer terminal or a communications nexus. Would it be underground? He didn't even want to think about how deep this facility extended.

Finally, he lowered the binoculars and started climbing down the tree on silent feet. He'd run a few clicks around the circumference of the dish and found another tree to climb to see if a different angle told him anything new. Peering through the binoculars again, he swept his vision around. The relay dish that towered over the trees seemed to be separate from the actual weapon dish itself. Anakin saw enormous hover engines and magnetic levitators to keep the giant dish afloat. It struck him that it was the floating dish that was the communications hub. He cursed creatively in his native Hutt language when he realized that - it would not make for an easy assault. It moved too quickly to just jump on it as it passed, and more likely than not it could and did move aside quickly in order for the main dish, the one sunken into the planet, would have an unblocked view of its enemies to fire. It had a massive range, but not omnipresent, it could be attacked from low flying air strike where it's radius was the smallest, coming in from the backside of the planet. That meant that the droids were likely meant for air defense.

Now knowing what he was looking for, he spotted easily dozens of defensive cannons - diminutive in comparison to the dish but enormous if considered by itself - and his mouth pinched into a frown as he considered how best to fly out of here when they procured a ship. Hopefully, if the facility was exploding left and right it would distract them, but how were three tiny little Jedi going to make anything resembling a dent in something that massive? He needed to scout more.

An hour later and he had not even traveled three degrees of the circumference of the dish, and he knew there was no way he could scout out the entire area. He glared at the facility, frustration mounting in him as he wondered how to make the best of their situation. Their weapons were minimal at best - the only ones that really counted were the lightsabers since the blasters would run out of ammo (or any explosive they could render from its parts would be moot because of the size of the facility). They simply didn't have the firepower for a full-scale attack.

What were their priorities? Survive, of course, but Obi-Wan would scoff if he kept it all so simplified.

Get off planet.

Contact the Temple.

Disable the enormous super weapon.

Really, their very first priority was getting off planet; clear of any dangers, contacting the Temple would be easy and with the Order to back them planning a strike would be much, much simpler. Turning away was difficult, though; it was very hard for him to just turn away from a super weapon that was a dangerous as this and just leave it unhindered. Even assuming the temple sent a strike force immediately, how many ships could be shot down in the hours, perhaps even days it would take to arrive. And this was the Council, they were worse than the Senate sometimes, always being so choosy in what they decided to interfere in - whispers in the Force and other excuses like that. He was hard pressed to be convinced that even a massive weapon like this would get their attention and get them on the move, quoting some drivel about being stretched too thin or not having the resources.

A pull in the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Obi-Wan's voice (as his conscience often liked imitating) reminded him that, in point of fact, that was true. The amount of firepower necessary to take down a facility this big would be enormous and, because the plant was stationary on planet, they may just decide to wait until a better date when they could launch the strike. But in the meantime... any unsuspecting ship...

Anakin shook his head. He couldn't do it. He had to leave this facility in some kind of shambles.

Obi-Wan wasn't going to like this.

He sighed as he started back, already listening to the argument in his head, and he hadn't even breached his idea to his former master.

---

Ahsoka gaped. From the images that Anakin had brought back from his scouting, the base wasn't just huge, it was massive! Unbelievably enormous! Was the point of the size to make anyone feel like an insignificant bug? At least it was locked on this planet. If the Separatists needed a ship to move such a gigantic weapon, it'd have to be the size of a planet! It had to be at least five miles in diameter!

"Anakin, I understand your concern. I don't like just slipping away either. But we don't even have schematics or a layout. We'd need to find a weapons bunker to get anything that could even make a dent and we'd be found long before we discovered a way to take out the installation."

"Obi-Wan, any ship that passes by is a potential target for this thing to perfect its destructive capabilities. This may not be out in the Outer Rim, but there is a fair bit of traffic in this sector. It's going to fire on another lonely ship like ours, and no one will be the wiser. We have to do something."

"I don't disagree, I just don't see what can be done. We don't have the supplies or intel. We need to contact the Council; they can send reinforcements. The only way to contact the Council is to smuggle ourselves onto an outbound craft from one of the spaceports you saw and take it over once in hyperspace."

"We'll be discovered before we can get onto a ship in a droid-run spaceport. We need a distraction and blowing up the place would be a good distraction."

"It would be until they all start firing on the one ship that's escaping."

"Obi-Wan!" Anakin growled, his voice a cross between exasperated and petulant.

"Anakin..." Master Obi-Wan sighed.

The discussion had been going around in circles for almost an hour. The main problem, as Master Obi-Wan had pointed out, was that they didn't know anything about this base. Nothing. Nobody had even known a base had existed. And even if the Senate or the Council had some sort of rumors or basic information that might have indicated that this thing was in the sector, that required contacting someone, which they couldn't really do at the moment.

Wait a minute. Communication.

"Masters?" Ahsoka interrupted the silence of both marshalling arguments. "How hard would it be to find a terminal to slice into?"

"Not very," Master Obi-Wan replied.

"They'd need terminals regularly spaced for the droids to plug in or make their reports." Anakin gave a small grin. "What are you thinking, Snips?"

"Well," she hesitated. She wasn't a master strategist yet. Not even close. Both Anakin and Master Obi-Wan were both renowned for their prowess in battle, both being able to find that one flaw that was necessary to turn imminent doom into resounding victory with crazy ideas that worked because the Force guided them. She wasn't capable of that yet, despite her Master often telling her she had a good inventive knack.

"Go on, Ahsoka. Any fresh ideas would be very welcomed," Master Obi-Wan said gently.

"I was just thinking... A base this big... Communication must be really important. You can't just send a messenger from one side of the base to another. A virus that interfered with comm's and garbled transmissions would keep everyone confused and would be easy for us to access."

"Very good, Snips." Anakin sent her a wave of pride and she smiled. "And I'm just the slicer to do it."

Master Obi-Wan nodded, looking out to the glowing magma harvesters that stood out in the dark night. "And, perhaps, a smaller virus that would overload the harvesters..."

"Spilling magma all over the dish," Anakin finished, his grin spread into an all out feral smile. "It'd take weeks to clean up. They'd either have to abandon the base or make do with what they have."

"And," Ahsoka ventured, feeling more confident," it would take out a lot of the air defenses, giving us a free hand in taking a shuttle and blasting off."

"Now this is a bit more workable. Anakin, you have a very inventive Padawan."

"Indeed, I do, Master."

Ahsoka couldn't help but beam.

"Now, how far is the nearer of the two spaceports?"

"We lucked out on that," Anakin replied, scrolling through images to one of a spaceport. "I'd say if we traveled through the night, we'd be able to reach it about midday tomorrow."

"And," Ahsoka added, taking the datapad and scrolling to an image that she had seen, "there's a magma harvester nearby. One-stop shopping."

"It might be more prudent to have secured our escape as we start making things interesting."

Anakin gave a wide grin. "We know I'm the best pilot of the three of us, as evidenced by our continual survival."

Ahsoka glared. "I wish I could argue the point with you."

Her master's grin was wider and affectionately superior. "You can't because there's no arguing that I'm the best pilot there is."

"But I shall be the one procuring transport," Obi-Wan said firmly.

"Master! Your ribs, the droids you'll need to face... Oh... "

"Anakin, there's only three of us."

"I don't understand..." Ahsoka looked back and forth, wondering what she was missing.

Anakin let out along breath. "I'm not only the best pilot, but I'm also the best chance we have at slicing into their communications and letting out the virus. Obi-Wan is a good pilot. But whoever sets our escape is going to be fighting off a lot of droids if discovered. Since the main event will be the virus in communications, the droids will be trying to locate where the virus started, and I'll be facing off lots of droids."

"More than just 'lots' I'd imagine."

Ahsoka blinked, the reality of what they were discussing suddenly weighing her down. The question was whose back she was going to protect. Master Obi-Wan's, because he was still injured, or her master Anakin, because he'd be facing the bulk of the enemy forces. Either way was opening up the possibility of losing one of them.

"I... I..." what was she supposed to do? It was like deciding which of the two she wanted to end up more injured. Wasn't there some other way so that neither would be hurt?

Two hands placed themselves on her shoulders. "Open up to Force, Snips. It'll guide you. You don't have to like the answer. You can try your hardest to look for a better way, but sometimes, there just isn't one. The Force is with us. It doesn't always help, but it is with us."

Anakin was leaving her the decision on where she should be? On who she should protect? On who would get injured? Possibly killed? Then it would be her responsibility...

Oh.

Her master was making her face responsibility. What had had her so turned into knots the previous evening. The fear of messing up and being responsible for more death, more pain. He knew, now, that as much as she craved responsibility, the right to prove herself, that she was petrified of the cost of her failures. And he was going to give her this responsibility. And he'd be with her through it every step of the way, including any mistakes she was going to make. But she didn't know she was going to mess up.

And this also connected to the lesson about how to handle her worries. She'd know if something happened to Master Obi-Wan, right? She may not have the bond with him that she had with Anakin, but he was still a living being and the Force connected all life. So she'd know if he died, right? If it was her responsibility of having to choose between aiding her master or aiding her master's master, she'd know either way?

But how was she supposed to know which path to take?

Taking a deep breath, she reached out to the Force. Using the Force to manipulate things had always been easy. An assisted jump, a telekinetic yank. But that was all about her guiding the Force. Turning that around, letting the Force guide her was something she wasn't used to. She still had that individual need to do it herself because of course she knew better. It was why she had no trouble getting stubborn with her Master. It wasn't that she didn't trust the Force. She'd seen how it guided many other Jedi. But she didn't want it to give an answer she didn't want to hear. Because coming from the Force, there was no arguing, like she could with her Master or teachers.

"I'll guard your back, Master."

His organic arm squeezed her shoulder. "Be careful Obi-Wan."

"I will, Anakin. After all, I think I've mastered subtlety far better than either you or your Padawan."

Ahsoka gave a weak grin.

"Let's go."

---

Anakin's estimate on when they'd arrive at the spaceport was quite accurate, but then Obi-Wan expected no less from his former Padawan. The Jedi master was crouched behind crates of supplies for the base, watching the pattern of droids move about the hanger, Anakin and Ahsoka having already slipped into the massive facility to find a terminal and start slicing into the network.

Another glance across the hanger showed Obi-Wan nothing new, but he kept his eyes open. He'd already picked the freighter that he'd acquire for escaping, as it seemed the only ship that could take the sufficient beating it would likely take on leaving and still make it to hyperspace. It was small enough so that it wouldn't be obvious, but it would still be slower than what Obi-Wan would prefer to blast off in, given the hurried nature they'd be employing on their departure.

So he waited, and kept an eye out in case something better came along. Reaching out with the Force, Obi-Wan checked on his former Padawan. Both Anakin and Ahsoka were some distance off, not wanting any action they'd face to spill in to the spaceport, but close enough that droids from the hanger would be called in for support. It was a decent plan, but Obi-Wan would have preferred some more back up.

The Jedi master felt Anakin start to harness his focus and pulled back. With Anakin beginning to create and unleash a virus on the communications systems, things would no doubt start happening.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Oh! Well that was interesting. A Delta-7 Aethersprite interceptor came in and landed in the hanger. Anakin would appreciate it, no doubt. Especially if they ran in to any more trouble with just trying to get back to the Temple. But it was a single person craft and had no hyperdrive, not without a booster ring, and there was no guarantee one was in space.

Still...

Obi-Wan looked at the small planet-to-planet freighter he'd been planning on. No, that just wouldn't do any more. However... that Action VI bulk freighter...

Hmmm...

Obi-Wan politely asked the Force to enhance his hearing, letting the words of the droids drift to his eavesdropping ears.

"HJ-460? Why are you bringing in that starfighter?"

"The communication systems not working. I almost rammed into a freighter that was leaving. Can you get maintenance to look at it?"

"Roger, roger."

Obi-Wan smiled.

"KZ-937! This freighter is ready for another supply run! Go get the manifest!"

"Roger, roger."

Things were working out perfectly.

"Hey! Why can't I contact central command?"

"I can't reach traffic control either."

Droids started gathering by various terminals to sort through the mess that Anakin was making. Staying low, Obi-Wan slipped between crates slowly, mindful of his very pained ribs. Carefully, once the droids were looking elsewhere, the Jedi master slid up the ramp of the Action VI transport. He needed to move carefully, as there were still droids on the ship, but none outside heard the sweep of his lightsaber.

There. Now for the tricky part. Sitting down, Obi-Wan slipped into meditation and started to harness his own focus. Outside, the droids were getting more confused until a panicked cry over the PA system announced Jedi were in the facility.

"Jedi? Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"Go fight, I guess."

"But we'll be in little pieces before we can fire a shot!"

"It's our programming."

The droid sighed. "Roger, roger."

As the droids continued to try and order themselves, the Delta-7 fighter slowly started to move. It gracefully eased its way across the hanger. The droids paid no attention to it, since ships were always coming and going in the spaceport. There were no questions as the fighter boarded the freighter.

With a sigh, Obi-Wan slid out of his meditation and smiled. He had quite the present for Anakin. Now to get out of here. The Action VI may have been designed for a minimum crew of six, but take off remained the same, no matter what ship one was piloting.

He didn't go far. The freighter landed by the river they'd crossed two days prior and Obi-Wan went in back to check on the starfighter. Everything seemed in working order. Excellent.

A gentle probe of the Force, however, made Obi-Wan frown. Anakin was worried about something. His focus was divided. He hadn't gotten to overloading the magma harvester yet.

Obi-Wan looked at the Delta-7 again. With a heavy sigh, he got in and started booting systems. At least he wouldn't have to worry about his ribs.

---

Her master Anakin was enjoying himself thoroughly, Ahsoka was sure of it. The big grin on his face and in the bond would have been contagious if she hadn't been focusing on the halls to hear if droids were approaching. His fingers were flying on the terminal, yet completely silent. Ahsoka wished she knew how he did that. She'd have to ask at a different time.

"How's it going, Master?" she whispered, anxious to get going. She wanted to make sure Master Obi-Wan was alright. She knew he was very capable; the Negotiator, part of the Team. But she didn't know how bad his ribs were and that complicated things.

Deep breath, release to the Force.

"The virus is just starting to spread," he whispered back. "They've realized it's a virus and are trying to counter it, but I'm countering their countermeasures."

Ahsoka was sure he was being brilliant, so she ignored him. His ego was large enough.

Wait, did she hear something?

She took another deep breath and tried to reach out to the Force to enhance her hearing. She'd only done it once before, and had only been able to maintain it long enough to hone in on a conversation she needed to overhear. Now she needed to hold it for an extended period of time to keep watch. It was... difficult.

There was a wave of encouragement behind her, and Ahsoka lost her grip on the Force, but she couldn't help but smile. Anakin had said he'd be with her every step of the way and he was. Taking a deep breath, she tried again, gathering her focus to be as quiet as possible.

"Hey, XJ061, why are we patrolling if nobody knows about this place?"

"Beats me."

Droids!

"Master-" she started to whisper.

"I know," he whispered back, back still turned to her, intent on the screen. He tapped a series of keys and then pulled away, looking around. "Up!" he hissed, his hand rising as he pulled at an air duct with the Force. Ahsoka didn't need to be told twice as she used the Force herself to leap up into the ductwork, Anakin following suit. They'd just put the grate back on when two golden droids passed under them.

"So, if no one knows about this plant, then why are there so many anti aircraft cannon, XJ061?"

"You act like I have the clearance for that kind of information."

"You mean you don't?"

"No! Our programming isn't secure enough to handle that level of information, so stop asking."

"Roger, roger."

The two droids paused, just past the grate. Ahsoka couldn't see them, but Anakin could, if the deep frown that was splitting his face was any indication. Don't look don't look don't look don't look was screaming in Ahsoka's mind, her master's wishes surging through his signature as he glared at the two droids underneath her.

"Hey, XJ061, do you know why that terminal is blinking?"

"No."

"And why are these windows open?"

Anakin muttered a word that Ahsoka didn't recognize, but she took the meaning all the same. The grate came off and Anakin dropped down first, his blue lightsaber igniting and cutting the golden robots neatly in half before Ahsoka could finish landing. He was back at the screen instantaneously. "Alright," he said quickly, his focus evident in his voice. "When those two fail to check in we're going to get very busy very quickly. Their counter viruses are better than I thought, so I'm not going to have time to fight them."

"I understand, Master," Ahsoka said, conviction in her voice. She was going to do it right this time.

"Ahsoka," he said, turning to face her, his voice serious. "Use Form III."

"Soresu? But-"

"The number of droids that are going to come will be overwhelming. Form V isn't meant for what will likely be a protracted battle. Besides which, your primary objective is to protect me while I finish my slicing. You can't get lost in ripping up droids; you have to focus on keeping yourself, and me, safe."

The logic sunk in slowly, but Ahsoka nodded, accepting the advice of her master. Form III wasn't her best form, but she knew the patterns and she'd watched both Master Obi-Wan and Master Luminara use the fighting style to great effect. She took a breath as Anakin turned back to the screen, pulling at a panel with the Force and tugging at a wire. She put her back to his, assuming the opening stance. Closing her eyes, she waited.

She was never good at waiting.

But all the same, she did. She touched on her bond with her master, touched on the presence of his master, distant, but still close enough to sense. Drawing strength from knowing they were there, the young Padawan felt her focus sharpen, and it made the waiting just a little bit more bearable.

A little bit.

"Here they come," Anakin muttered, still typing furiously at the keypad before disconnecting one wire and attaching it to another. A door down the hallway slid open, and Ahsoka saw a whole company of droids beyond the doors. Two dozen of them marching purposefully.

"Hey! It's a Jedi!"

"No, it's two Jedi!"

"What do we do?"

"Open fire I guess."

The wave of blaster fire was deafening, but Ahsoka was already reading the movements with the Force, her wrists twisting and turning in sharp, quick movements to block all the fire. It was like Djem So, in a way; she reflected as she repelled one shot after the next after the next. Only instead of aiming the shot back at the attacker, one merely deflected it away - the direction didn't matter. That made her wonder, but Anakin had said to use Soresu and so she did, blocking repeatedly as the droids advanced.

"Master, what happens when they're almost on top of us?" she asked, trying to work out how she was going to deflect blaster fire when the twenty-plus droids were surrounding her.

"Trust your instincts, Snips; I'm busy," was Anakin's curt reply, clearly intent on doing his job. He did send a wave of encouragement through the bond, however, and Ahsoka thought she might have an idea.

She changed her footing to that of Form V, the Djem So style much more comfortable for her, and she started to shift from blocking to reflecting, aiming where the blaster bolts were going. The young Togruta found that half the force was mowed down almost instantaneously, and within sixty seconds the rest of the company was destroyed. Satisfied and more than a little proud, she swept the sparking debris of junk parts aside with the Force and turned to give a cocky grin to her master.

"Not too shabby, right master?" she asked, grinning.

"That was only the first wave Snips," he said, only half paying attention to the conversation because all of his focus was on the hacking he was doing. "And stop talking to me, I'm busy. I'll be impressed when you hit two-hundred." That last sentence had a grin in it, and Ahsoka understood as she turned back to the hallway. The current record between the two of them in battle had been around a hundred seventy droids destroyed in one bout, and in a facility this large it was not much of a stretch to think that they would fight that many droids - and this time, Ahsoka had them all to herself.

She looked forward to it.

The second wave came by quickly, and Ahsoka just as quickly dispatched them with the reflection sequences of Form V. It was originally made to reflect blaster fire, and the more the young Togruta mowed down the more she became confident that this was the way to go, not using the defensive Soresu form that Obi-Wan practiced. After the second wave of fifty was obliterated she took a breath and couldn't help but smile at her success.

Then came the third wave.

It was huge.

Her eyes widened.

There must have been over a hundred droids in that wave, and more than just the golden B1 battle droids, but Super Battle Droids too. Their armor was much thicker, their shoulders rounder with more bulk but also more firepower. Ahsoka dug her heals in and pulled on her focus. She started blocking and deflecting, and when the first twenty B1s disappeared under the reflections she started to feel a little better. The young Togruta started to step forward, to leap into the fray, but Anakin's intense focus behind her grounded her feet. She couldn't leave her position, she couldn't, because she was the only defense he had while he screwed with their systems. All she could do was deflect.

Blocking another blaster bolt and deflecting it to the origin, she switched her grip to her more comfortable reverse grip. The gold clankers, at least, were going down easy.

The super droids, once the numbers started cutting down, were only ten or so, and so Ahsoka worked out the most logical strategy: mow down the gold goonies first, and that would give her the ability to snipe the SB droids one at a time. The plan worked, though it took much longer than she wanted to, but finally she only had the ten droids left - only now it was seven, three had been struck down during her blocking. Good. The impulse to rush forward was still pushing her, but she forced herself to hold her ground.

Three down. Five down. Six.

She finally gave in to instinct and darted forward and sliced the clanker in two. When the silence finally settled down on her, she realized she was panting.

She was also ten feet down the hall away from her master.

Quickly, Ahsoka jogged back to her original position, wondering how she'd managed to pull so far away from her defensive position.

She tracked her tally, and offered a quick grin. "I'm almost at two hundred, Master," she said lightly between her pants for air.

He didn't answer. The Force was pulsating around him, channeled completely on his focus on the terminal. He most likely didn't even hear her.

She took a breath. That was fine. This was her job. She would protect him no matter what.

Turning around, Ahsoka centered herself, fist tightening around her reverse grip and channeling her focus as well. She had to persevere until her Master said that it was time to move.

It was when that thought was voiced that the forth wave came. Only, it was more like two waves in one. Maybe twenty-five of them were the clankers, and the rest were the SBD.

This was going to be difficult.

Quickly she used the Force to pull the debris of the fallen droids and flung them at the battalion approaching her. Several were knocked down, and some destroyed, but not nearly enough. Already she was reflecting blaster bolts, aiming them one after the other, but she realized that there were too many to aim, and several went stray. Frowning, she redoubled her efforts. Her aim improved some, but not enough, and all too soon Ahsoka wasn't even aiming, all her focus was just on deflect, deflect, deflect because there wasn't time to aim and she had to stay put and stay alive to protect her master and slash that hand and swipe that torso and block that blaster at the same time and use the Force to push them all back and give her room to breathe and make sure she stayed in one place so she didn't put her master in danger.

A blaster bolt whizzed by her ear and Ahsoka could only growl and make an angry, aggressive shove in the Force and suddenly the droids were all the way down the hallway. There were SBD only left, their round torsos thick and durable, more than she ever really realized before. She took a deep breath, the only one she had time for before the dozen that were still mobile were up and firing again. She shifted her footing - her arms were tired - and blocked over and over and over, reflecting and deflecting and aiming and finally taking down the last of the droids.

She was twenty feet down the hall again. She swore she didn't move this time. Was Ahsoka not even aware of her movements? Instinct was everything, Anakin had always told her, but could she trust it if it took her away from what she was supposed to be doing?

She didn't even have time to move back, because the fifth wave appeared.

And they were MagnaGuards.

Five of them.

This was not going to be about blaster deflection. It was going to be about survival.

The MagnaGuards didn't have blasters; they had staffs with electrified tips, purple energy pulsing around as the five nightmares spun into action. Five on one weren't fair odds, to say the least, and it pushed at the direct weaknesses of Ahsoka's form. Djem So may have been meant for dueling, and it may have even been usable against the five battle droids, but Form V required a prodigious amount of strength - strength that, after four waves of onslaught, Ahsoka did not have. This was coupled with the fact that Djem So lacked mobility, something these droids had in spades, made for an automatic disadvantage for the young Padawan.

It wasn't long before she was losing ground; it was everything she could do to keep all five droids in her line of sight and keeping them occupied. Their programming was on a higher level than the B1s; they understood tacitly that Ahsoka was the defense and that Anakin was the source of the problem with the communications (And the magma harvesters. Please, please let him be working on the magma harvesters). They kept swinging and circling past her to assault the defenseless Anakin, and she continuously grabbed them - physically or with the Force - and pull them back to her; because she was the one that was going to rip them to shreds, thank you, so they'd better pay her some attention; only it was too much for her to handle, all she could do was block. She kept trying to follow up with a counterattack like Form V would dictate, but as soon as one electrified staff was pushed back another took its place and she was hard pressed to block five at once - only two more slipped past her guard and she grabbed them with the Force again and hauled them back, angry that she couldn't do what she needed to do and desperate to do it right this time. She was going to protect her master, she was going to keep him safe, and Force, she was going to destroy these stupid droids!

Ahsoka growled and kicked at the staff of one of the MagnaGuards and swung a wide arc with her green lightsaber to give herself some room. A second and third staff tried to pinch at her foot in midair, but she pulled it back quickly - not before she felt the sting of electricity, however. Her toes were tingling but she steadfastly ignored it as she swiped at another staff, managing to snap it in two. At first she was happy until she realized it gave the droid two weapons instead of one - and they were still electrified! Her luck going sour, she leapt over three droids to block a forth from trying to attack her master and Force pushed them all back. She was getting a headache with all the Force usage she was doing, and her montral were aching. Her arms were sore and there was no respite. She knew she was panting and it was a sign that she wasn't pacing herself well. She'd used up too much energy, she knew that now; and of course it was only after the fact that she understood why her master had told her to use Form III - it was called the Resilience form for a reason - an unbreakable shield of defense with quick short movements that conserved energy.

She tried to shift her footing to take the Soresu stance, and in that moment of distraction the MagnaGuards broke through her defense.

A staff embedded itself deeply in her leg.

All she knew after that was pain. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! Her body crumpled to the ground and curled around her thigh, instinctively protecting the injury. She knew it was a fatal move; all she could do was wait for the energy-staffs to finish her off. Ahsoka took a deep breath and forced herself to look up. She would face her death as a Jedi.

Only, there was no death. The staffs were right there, hovering inches over her face. And they didn't move.

... What?

And then she felt it. The Force was overwhelming; its presence was everywhere. She could see the staffs shaking, trying to break the hold and finish its intended path to Ahsoka's destruction, and yet they held firm. Her eyes shifted focus, and she saw the MagnaGuards themselves shaking, caught in the Force's grip.

The heavy thunk of boots echoed in her ears, and she involuntarily craned her head around to the sound. He was tall - taller, somehow - as he strode confidently forward in slow, deliberate steps. His hand was held up, palm open but fingers slightly curled - a visual representation of the Force he was holding. His eyes were intense, dark, shadowed. His brow was furrowed, the scar on his eyebrow more defined because of his taut muscles. His jaw was clenched. He looked...

He looked scary.

"You dare to lay a finger on my Padawan?"

The question was low, quiet, but hard in every sense of the word. His voice seemed different, deeper than usual, and menacing like she'd never heard it.

"Do you have any idea how hard she's been working? Do you have any idea how much effort she's exerted? Do you have any idea how many fears she's been facing?"

Then his voice dropped to a whisper.

"And you dare try to stop her success?"

Ahsoka startled when she heard a sparking sound, and she dared to rip her gaze away from... from... to look at the battle droids. The joints were sparking, the heads were twitching, and suddenly all five of them lifted into the air.

"I will crush you."

He stepped over Ahsoka's prone form, not even acknowledging her or giving her a glance, instead still striding forward, droids floating in front of him and then - just like that - they were gone; crushed as he said. The five droids crashed into each other and compressed into an awkwardly shaped ball, crunching noises grating against ears and more sparks breaking free to die in midair. His fist opened, and the scrap metal ball fell with a thunderous thud to the ground.

He stood there, back to Ahsoka, perfectly still. She couldn't see his expression, but his stature, his stance, made him look... satisfied.

When he turned around, he was nothing like his visage, he was just Anakin, turning with an expression of keen worry and he all but fell to his knees.

"Ahsoka!" he said, reaching forward and touching her shoulder. "How bad?"

She blinked, mind blank, unable to process the question; she was still reliving that hard whisper, the vision of crushing droids, the taut scar...

Anakin seemed to sense this; he shrugged his shoulders and put on that warm, arrogant grin. "What?" he asked, all smooth tones and warm laughter in his eyes. "I told you I'd catch you if you tripped, didn't I? Looks to me like you tripped pretty bad."

And everything was alright.

---

"What do you mean tripped?" Ahsoka demanded, righteous indignation coloring her voice. Anakin would have laughed, only she winced in pain, sinking back down to the cool floor. They didn't have much time.

"How bad?" he asked again, already reaching into one of his pouches for a bacta patch.

"Pretty deep, I think," she offered, "given it's still in my thigh."

The fury washed over him again, but Anakin quickly tried to push it off, the lingering feelings still clinging to him in the Force that whispered to utterly destroy this base and ensure every last droid was reduced to scrap metal for daring to harm his Padawan. He didn't need those thoughts right now, the righteous fury that someone had the audacity to interfere with his apprentice's growth. The just fury he'd felt was still wrapped around him and he had to concentrate for almost a minute to release it to the Force, because that would be distracting. Just, but distracting, because Anakin had a Padawan that desperately needed him.

"This is going to hurt," he said, trying to keep his voice matter-of-fact. Too many memories were swimming through his head. The death of his mother, the fight with Dooku on Geonosis, Jabiim when he thought his master was dead, the dreams. None of it mattered, because Ahsoka was alive, he'd proven that it was possible to keep people from dying, he was a step closer, an inch stronger, and a hair wiser in reaching his goal.

Encouraged, he wrapped his mechanical hand around the staff and positioned his flesh one to hold Ahsoka down. His servos whirred, and he yanked, and Ahsoka gasped a sharp intake of breath before the patch Anakin had pulled out was slapped onto the thigh before the blood could stain too much cloth. Gauze for wrapping would have to wait; their first priority was to get out of there.

Standing, he ignited his lightsaber and called Ahsoka's to his grip, flipping the switch on hers as well.

"... Master?"

"Watch and learn, Snips," he said brightly. Quickly, the tall Jedi embedded them into a wall, spinning them around and kicking the circular hole he'd made in. Then, before his Padawan could ask what he was thinking, he did the same thing on the opposite wall and the floor. "Now the droids are going to be hard pressed to figure out which way we went," he explained quickly, before reaching up with the Force and pulled at the ceiling grate they'd used earlier to hide from the B1 droids that had started this mess.

Ahsoka had managed to get her weight on her good leg and was trying to figure out how to limp over and jump up, but Anakin wouldn't have it. He confidently walked up to her and turned around, offering his back. She hesitated, her blue eyes still looking at him oddly, before she accepted it and he lifted her up to the grate.

Anakin let out another breath, releasing more righteous fury into the Force. It was a feeling that sometimes helped him in desperate battle, but he needed a calm center for Ahsoka. He could feel how badly she felt, she was radiating disappointment in herself for failing in the responsibility put on her. And confusion over... himself? That was understandable. She'd never been in a situation where she'd seen him dip into such indignation to win a fight. It wasn't something he did often; it wasn't a technique he'd ever needed when other Jedi were around, but when he was the only Jedi hope in battle... there could sometimes be no other way.

Another breath released to the Force and he hopped up into the vents, pulling the grating back as if it had never moved. The ducts were as huge as the facility itself, enough for the both of them to stand two or three times over, but Anakin stayed crouched over Ahsoka, his body pressed on hers to keep her shielded just in case. He closed his eyes and cast his senses out.

They were lucky; it was an air duct. He could feel the traces and pull of the currents, and he poked at the Force to ask for a direction.

"This way," he whispered. "We're going to have to move quickly. Back on my back."

"Okay," Ahsoka replied, crawling up quicker this time. Anakin's long and powerful legs started swinging back and forth and soon they were making good time. "I wonder how Master Obi-Wan is doing," she whispered.

"He'll be fine," Anakin said, pouring confidence and wry humor into his voice. "He knows that if anything happens to him I'd go certifiably insane, so he makes a point of being as careful - and as slow - as possible when carrying out an assignment."

"But his ribs..."

He'd been managing not to think about that, and he very deliberately shook the thought away as hard as he could, along with yet more fury over his injured Padawan. "He's a Jedi Master for a reason, Ahsoka; take strength in your bonds, remember?" Now if only he could do it himself...

They reached a junction, and Anakin closed his eyes, casting his senses out. Two lefts and a right later, he didn't need his senses anymore, he could feel the tendrils of air more clearly. A quickly hacked maintenance panel later, and the bright yellow sky of the planet appeared. Setting Ahsoka down, Anakin quickly looked around. They weren't on the top of the base, not by any stretch of the imagination, but they were definitely on an upper level, the flat stretch of the manmade facility stretched out easily several miles, dotted with either hundred-foot tall anti-aircraft cannon or with relay stations. Anakin smiled, those would be useless for the next hour.

"Master, how long until the magma harvesters overload?" the young Togruta asked.

He was very glad his back was to her, and she didn't see his visible wince. "Uh, yeah, about that..."

He glanced back quick enough to see a flat glare from her that reminded him a little too much of Obi-Wan. "Masteeeeerr..." she warned.

"Cut me some slack, Snips," he said quickly, waving his hands in defense, "I'd just finished frying their comm-system, and I wanted to see how you were doing, and then I was so busy helping you, and now I don't really have time, do I?"

"No wonder Master Obi-Wan is always sighing in resignation!"

"Hey! That hurts," he snapped back, wincing again. The banter somehow suddenly stopped being funny. Normally, Ahsoka was just as, if not more reckless than Anakin himself was (though her being more reckless than him was a very rare occurrence...). But when Anakin was being unusually reckless on his own, his little Padawan had a disturbing ability to channel her inner Obi-Wan to chastise him for his foolishness. And he didn't need that right now. He'd done the right thing in defending his Padawan and being reminded that it cost him the destruction of the magma harvesters was bringing back that righteous indignation he'd needed earlier, but not now.

Anakin felt Ahsoka lean her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Master," she whispered. "I know. It's all my fault. I slipped into Djem So when I should have listened to you and stuck to Soresu."

Her criticizing of self wasn't helping. He understood what had happened. There was a reason why he was working with her on Djem So. Her strength lay in that direction, one would have to be blind to not see that she had a knack for the powerful sweeps and aimed deflections. But even as Anakin was strong with Form V, he knew when other Forms were more practical. Ahsoka was young, inexperienced, and far more comfortable with turning the tables and taking the offensive than sitting back and defending. It was no wonder she'd slipped back into her well-practiced Form than sticking with the more unfamiliar Form III. She would have seen more immediate results instead of thinking more long term.

"How many, Snips?" he asked, changing direction and hoping to distract her. "Did you reach two hundred?"

She let out a soft chuckle, and he could feel her relax slightly. "I was kind of losing count towards the end there..."

Eyes sweeping the area, he saw something that improved his mood greatly.

"Why Snips, do you see what I see?"

Ahsoka perked up, straightening to look around at the surroundings. "I'm not sure, Master. Where are you..."

She didn't get much farther because Anakin gently put her down and jumped down to a walkway below them, his blue lightsaber neatly bisecting a single B1 that had was patrolling. On a speeder. He looked up with a smile as Ahsoka peeked over the edge.

"Why Master!" she smiled. "You won't be driving that speeder like you did with our ship getting here, will you?"

He shrugged, spreading his hands wide. "Only one way to find out."

---

Straightening out of yet another barrel roll, Obi-Wan was, once more, convinced that flying was not meant for people, it was meant for droids. He had almost a constant stream of discomfort being released to the Force as he rolled, pitched, and skittered around the aerial dogfight he was fighting. Communications were clearly down, and for that, Obi-Wan was grateful. The droids couldn't communicate with each other and were not in any sort of coordination for attacking. He'd lost track of the number of midair collisions that he had absolutely nothing to do with.

A freighter suddenly swarmed his line of vision and Obi-Wan found himself quickly pulling almost forty-five degrees straight up - dangerous to do in gravitational space for fear of stalling the engine, but managed to pull out of it and bank, creating a lop-sided loop-de-loop, before straightening out again and adjusting his course. Dodging left and right, he flew three loose circles around one of the magma harvesters, trying to ascertain what would be the best way to - to use Anakin's turn of phrase - blow the tower up. Overriding systems would have been much easier; he didn't have the specs, the intel, to know how the harvesters were being used. They were all assuming it was used to power the base, it was Anakin who had labeled them as magma harvesters - for all Obi-Wan knew the towers were laser projectors for the super-weapon.

Frowning, he circled again. About halfway up the tower was a landing pad... only it suddenly became more than that when a maintenance flyer flew out and off the pad; that meant there was access to the inside. That carried its own risks... but it was better than firing at the harvester blindly and hoping he was hitting something vital.

Obi-Wan made a roundabout path to the landing pad, slowing his speed just in case going inside meant front-ending himself into a duracrete wall. Anakin subjected him to that fate more than once...

The Force was with him, however, as the intake curved and then went straight down. Obi-Wan followed the tunnel, trying to parse what he was seeing. Anakin would likely understand the workings of this immediately, but that didn't mean that Obi-Wan wasn't without his own knowledge base. There, those were the magma pipes, and there were the power cables, and further down were...

Obi-Wan technically didn't know what the Huttese curse he used had meant, but given that Anakin used it when he was at his most upset made the usage of the phrase perfectly appropriate.

Those were hypermatter cells! No wonder this station had the power to break gravity and still destroy anything in orbit! It fell together in his head; the magma was being harvested to create the fusion cells necessary for containing the hypermatter reactor cores. The magma wasn't powering the weapon, but it was being used to power one of the highest energy-output sources of fuel the galaxy had.

His stomach lurched, and this time it had nothing to do with the fact that he was flying.

The Jedi took a deep breath and reached for calm, found it, and adjusted his course. The one hundred-eighty degree turn was nauseating, but he just kept releasing it to the Force and started flying his way back up, this time while taking aim. He most certainly didn't want to be below the magma when he started firing - indeed, he was hoping to be well away from the tower before the repulsor fields failed and the magma melted the hypermatter cells.

Anakin wanted an explosion, he supposed; so Anakin had better be happy he got one.

He fired.

The explosion rocked the entire tunnel, and his ship, and his ribs, thank you, but he just turned up the throttle and blew threw the explosion, the blast radius chasing after him. The curve out and onto the landing pad was suddenly sharper than he'd remembered, but he managed the turn and the wave of nausea that came with it, just flying for fifteen seconds before he dared to turn around and see is his work had managed anything.

Nothing at first, just a plume of smoke.

Then suddenly there was an explosion, triggered as the magma and hypermatter and other fuels mixed all together and decided they didn't like each other. The entire tower erupted in an impressive fireball, black smoke billowing up into the air and spreading everywhere.

That was all he had time to see, however, before his attention necessarily became absorbed in not crashing; the droid ships in the air were still swerving left, right and center, having no idea where to go and bumping, knicking, and crashing into everything in sight. Obi-Wan groaned as he was quickly back into doing barrel rolls and other aerial acrobatics to keep himself uninjured, if never quite uncomfortable.

He heard and felt an enormous groan, a sagging of metal, and he didn't need to look back to know that the tower was leaning, hopefully even falling. One of his evasions angled him enough that he risked a glance backward and saw that he was right; the enormous tower was falling, and even better, falling into the dish of the facility. Smoke was everywhere; he couldn't tell if the magma was leaking out or not, but the facility was definitely damaged, and so Obi-Wan allowed himself a small smile of triumph before turning back and then make his way back to the rendezvous point.

He hoped Anakin was faring better now.

---

Anakin was faring quite well indeed... depending on your point of view. He and Ahsoka were on the bridge of the transport that Obi-Wan had confiscated, systems up and ready for take off. The ship had a decently stocked infirmary and Ahsoka's leg had been treated with more than just a bacta patch. She had a proper bandage over it and Anakin planned to help her into a healing trance once they were safely off this planet. When Anakin had checked the systems, everything seemed to be in good working order.

A very good place to be in.

Except for one thing.

Where was Obi-Wan?

They had both watched the column of smoke rising over the base. The thick, black, billowing column of smoke that looked to easily be a mile wide and three miles tall before the winds started dispersing and spreading it. Even from their safe vantage point, several miles away, they could see sparks of magma jumping up within the smoke, and there were all sorts of crashes going on in the air traffic that they could see.

"Master?" Ahsoka asked quietly, anxiety starting to radiate from her. "You said you didn't get to the magma harvesters, right?"

"That's right, Snips," he replied, his eyes glaring at the ash and smoke rising over the facility.

"...Then, is Master Obi-Wan...?"

"He probably took care of it, Snips."

She only nodded.

Anakin had felt along his old bond, and he knew that Obi-Wan was extremely uncomfortable. That wasn't even going to begin to describe how he was going to feel when Anakin was done with him.

The young Jedi Knight let out a long and controlled breath. Obi-Wan was someone, in Anakin's childhood, that was always okay. He could handle any situation, including the trouble that Anakin often brought unintended to their doorstep. Obi-Wan was the adult that could fix any wrongs. And while Anakin had shed that fantasy after many a mission, from the death of Siri Tachi and Obi-Wan's quiet grief to the more horrible state Obi-Wan was in after Rattak and Zigool, Anakin still had that image of an Obi-Wan as the perfect Jedi Master who could do no wrong. Obi-Wan had fought by his side through battle after battle in this stupid war. And long before that, they had been together as Master and Padawan.

Anakin, of all people, knew Obi-Wan could handle himself. His childhood vision of his master did have a fair bit of truth in it.

But the war had shown to Anakin that Obi-Wan could stumble just as hard as anyone else. And Obi-Wan was out doing something with ribs that were barely put back together after a healing trance that wasn't anywhere long enough. A healthy, strong Obi-Wan would handle whatever came his way and return with grace and dignity. An Obi-Wan who went out with injury and exhaustion and desperate need of a break would often come back in worse condition than when he left.

And Obi-Wan would come back.

Anakin couldn't stand it if he didn't.

Obi-Wan knew that. And Obi-Wan always came back. Even if he was severely delayed.

Another long controlled breath. Once his former master was back and taken care of, Anakin was going to kill him.

As if on cue, a ship slipped into view - a Delta 7 flying low, just above the canopy. One of the wings was smoking, but it was in very good condition, considering the mess he and Ahsoka had witnessed as they were leaving the compound. In spite of his worry, Anakin smiled at the havoc his slicing had done. It disappeared quickly, however, as his trained eye narrowed in on the ship. Dings, dents, but no visible cracks, and the smoke trail looked like a broken exhaust, nothing too serious. Good.

Good.

Anakin strode away from the bridge. Ahsoka looked up from her own work, seeing her master's dark look quickly decided to stay out of that particular fight. That didn't stop her from following discretely, just to listen.

Obi-Wan was pulling himself out of the cockpit of the Delta 7, a hand holding his ribs and a grimace on his face. Anakin's brow creased in worry, but he stood stock still, hands locked behind his back. Adrenaline was starting to pump into his system, but he made himself still; Obi-Wan was right, in that respect, there was a time for movement and a time for stillness.

"Well, I see you're as happy as ever to see my return," the older Jedi said with a wry smile.

First things first. "Are you alright?"

"None the worse for wear," Obi-Wan replied, still grinning. "At least no further problems than what existed before this particular venture."

"And what, exactly," Anakin drew out, feeling anger pulse in his forehead, "made you think it would be a good idea to go out in a dinky little ship and try to blow up the compound?"

Obi-Wan blinked for a moment, as if taking time to process the question. Then, irritating him even further, the older Jedi grinned.

"Oh," he said in a deliberately drawn out drawl, "it seemed like a good idea at the time. You certainly weren't going to do anything."

"And what does that mean?"

The grin only widened. "Let me see if I remember," Obi-Wan said brightly, "You were too slow, or perhaps you were too busy thinking about what to do, or perhaps you weren't looking in the right places, or perhaps I simply had a better idea, or perhaps..."

"What are you doing?" Anakin demanded.

"Oh? You mean this doesn't sound familiar at all?" Obi-Wan asked, entirely too smug with himself. "Aren't those the most common things you say to me when after you've rushed off to do something, leaving me in a near panic over what you've done?"

"... What?"

"Then perhaps you'll recognize it if I put on your Padawan's flare for bravado?"

The snerk that came from behind him did nothing to quell Anakin's roiling emotions. Here he was worrying about his former master and Obi-Wan had the audacity to tease him over it? To mock him? He saw red.

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" he shouted, throwing a hand up in anger. "Your ribs are cracked - one of them was snapped in half and almost doing worse damage! You were supposed to just take a ship and wait for us! Bad enough Ahsoka got hurt - at least she was with me so I could look after her - what was I supposed to do if something happened to you? How can I keep you safe you go off risking yourself! How can I keep you alive?"

The amusement quickly drained from the older Jedi's face as he listened to the argument hit its apex. Anakin huffed, out of words, frustrated and upset. Why couldn't his master see, understand why it was so important to be powerful enough to keep everyone he loved from dying? Like Qui-Gon, or his mother? Thoughts of Jabiim filled his head; all that rain, the mud, the filth, the humidity that stuck to everything, weighing him down along with the continuous snap, snap, snap of people dying. Clones, Jedi, apprentices, he felt every one of them, and for some reason he kept on living for some undefined purpose that fell under the title of Chosen One. It hurt every time, just another snap - he never got used to it. Those weeks when he thought one of those snaps was Obi-Wan, his master, he was breaking to pieces - he had to prevent it. He had to keep that horrible thought of Obi-Wan dead from ever happening!

"... Was it serious?" Obi-Wan asked.

"What?" distracted, Anakin almost missed the question.

"Ahsoka, was it serious?"

Anakin shook his head, trying to focus. "An electro staff to the leg. We treated it quickly enough, and it didn't look like it hit anything vital. She's up and about."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, breathing out. "Good."

The silence hung there, both lost in their thoughts, trying to figure out what to say.

"Anakin, I'm very proud of you."

Startled, the tall Jedi looked up.

"You remind me of Master Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan continued, his face clouding over in the distant gaze he often took when the older Jedi was thinking of the dead. "Your passion in the Living Force drives you to great feats. Your instincts are often much better than mine and you somehow have this wonderful ability to get as side-tracked as my old master and still get it all done." He put a hand on Anakin's arm, a squeeze of affection and pride that made Anakin thrill at all the praise his former master was showering him with.

"I just hope that someday you'll realize that you're not all-powerful."

And just like that, it all shattered.

"Anakin, no one person is capable of keeping someone alive if it is their time. If the Force ever decides that you, or I, or Ahsoka, or anyone else has had enough time running around the galaxy getting into trouble, there's precious little any of us can do to stop it."

"But-" But he was the Chosen One, what good was being that person if he couldn't do exactly that?

"No, Anakin, it doesn't work that way," Obi-Wan said before the tall Jedi could finish his sentence. "Holding onto life like that isn't the Jedi way. If loss comes, you accept it, and you let it go so you can move on."

Anakin was shaking his head, unable to verbalize his denial of this one facet of the Code that caused him no end of grief.

Obi-Wan watched this, and sighed again - perhaps a little too deeply, because a hand went unconsciously to his ribs. "It took me a long time to accept Master Qui-Gon's death; you saw what it did to me. But I did, finally, manage to let it go. It was you that made me do it, Anakin. Knowing I had to look after you gave me the strength to move forward. You did the same, didn't you? When your mother died?"

The bodies on the sand burned his eyes and he closed them to the sight. To let go of that pain... no, he couldn't do it. It hurt too much. He found himself flushing, and he opened his eyes to glare at his master.

"Do you always have to lecture me? To criticize me?" To hold him back? Why was he always, always holding him back - telling him what not to do, cautioning him against doing what he knew, he felt with every fiber of his being, was right. For all his perfection, the one thing Obi-Wan did not understand was that Anakin needed to do things his way, on his terms, or else it was worthless. The older Jedi never relented; always making him wait when they should move, to talk when they should fight, to hold when they should do something.

Everything was swirling around him. He couldn't think. Synapses were firing back and forth but nothing was making sense, there was so much anger in his system, he couldn't trace back to where it came from, he was almost literally seeing red.

Ahsoka touched his arm, suddenly there. "Master?"

Release, release to the Force. Frustration, worry, irritation, pain, release it all to the Force. It worked out; it worked out. Everything was okay. Everyone was okay. There was no reason to feel this way, no reason at all, just bury it. Bury it. Bury it.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan's voice whispered into his head. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to lecture you; and I'm touched that you were so worried about me. I'm fine, Anakin, I'm really fine."

"It's like you said, right Master?" Ahsoka said. "You take strength in the people around you."

Strength in the people around him... Anakin closed his eyes and felt his bonds. Ahsoka was worried about her master, and a little nervous that she was overstepping her bounds but wanting to help because her heart was always so big in that regard. Obi-Wan, too, was worried; worried that he had once again done something wrong when dealing with his former Padawan, worried that he would ever be what was needed for Anakin. It filled his heart, and he took a breath, and it all released.

"You're right, Snips," Anakin said finally, looking at his Padawan. At his Master. He offered a placating grin. "Maybe next time, Obi-Wan, I'll just let you worry some more, so you know what you put me through."

The older Jedi shook his head, a small grin on his face. "Anakin, you can be rest assured that if anything is going to be the death of me, it's going to be you."

Anakin smiled before turning back to the cockpit. If that were true, then Obi-Wan would never die.

He would see to it.

"Come on, let's get off this planet."

---

Ahsoka warmed up the last of the systems, Anakin to her left and initializing take off, while Obi-Wan was monitoring sensors for anything they would need to dodge. She looked up to the plume of smoke, black and roiling and billowing up, filling the sky and trying to blot the sun. She suddenly thought of the quadrupeds, the father and son pair. She suddenly felt like taking her shoes off, to try and feel the earth and see how it was fairing as her Togruta heritage dictated.

The transport started to shake as its thrusters started to counter the pull of gravity and they slowly started to lift into the air.

"Master? What will happen to the planet?" she asked, eyeing the purple leaves of the deciduous trees, spying the boulders that had before looked so big but now seemed small in comparison to the super weapon, smaller still as their altitude continued to rise.

"What do you mean, Snips?" Anakin asked.

"All that smoke, and gases from the mechanics, the lava, what's going to happen to the planet? The environment?"

Master Obi-Wan seemed to take her meaning quicker. "That will depend on your point of view," he said, still eyeing the sensors. "Anakin, the winds are starting to shift, you'll have to account for that."

"I know how to fly, Obi-Wan," was the muttered reply, but the bearded Jedi spun in his chair to look at Ahsoka.

"For the immediate future, ash will rain down for several square miles, and the lava will flow into the dish for several hours - hopefully - before safety guards are initiated and the harvesters are blocked. The fuels and noxious gases that are leaking out are relatively minimal considering how much must be stored in that facility, but it will wreck havoc on the environment, and for years to come I fear."

"But, the quadrupeds... this is their home!"

"They will likely have a few lean years unless they migrate to a different quarter of the planet, but they are pretty resilient, given that they've been having starships crash on their planet often enough that they don't consider it worthy of note. They will be fine."

Anakin was still piloting, they were in the upper atmosphere now. Ahsoka could see the giant circle that was the super weapon even from this high up.

"You forget," Anakin said, not looking up from his work, "What would have happened to this planet if we didn't do anything?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "That facility easily stretches several miles into the planet surface, given that it was harvesting the planet's own magma for the fusion coils to power the weapon. If that weapon had been allowed to remain operational, it would have ultimately killed the planet, or worse shaken it to pieces. It is two evils, I'll grant you, but instant death compared to some rough years is far better a choice."

Ahsoka frowned slightly. Could there have been another way, one that didn't put the planet's life forms in jeopardy?

"Sometimes, there are no easy answers, Snips," Anakin reassured her, his voice comforting. "But these are the decisions we need to make when we're in command of something. It's these kinds of decisions that make us Jedi."

"We're clear of the planet's gravitational pull," Obi-Wan said, having turned back to his sensors. "Would you like to contact the Temple now or later?"

Anakin groaned. "Better to get this over with," he muttered. "Just let me set the autopilot. Hopefully we won't be shot down again any time soon."

---

Raith Sienar looked up from his datapad to the comm. It was a private line only a half dozen people knew; after the assassination of his father he knew the value of privacy, and only his best clients used this particular line. After all, the head of the Santhe/Sienar Technologies conglomerate didn't design the greatest of weapons without learning how to keep things quiet.

The hologram that appeared was that of Poggle the Lesser, leader on Geonosis and one of the few that was trusted with the plans of Raith's greatest weapon.

"Yes?" the tycoon asked, setting down his datapad.

"Your weapon is truly extraordinary," Poggle said, his tentacle bears twitching as the insectoid spoke. "We've been testing it, small scale, and are truly impressed with the results. It should be noted, however, that your idea of using heat fusion makes the weapon very susceptible to explosions."

Raith raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know that?"

"One of our small-scale testers... suffered an accident," Poggle ground out, as if the sentence caused him revulsion. His wings flapped in irritation behind him. "We would suggest using other means of fusion to power the hypermatter."

Raith nodded. "Understood. I can send you revisions on that particular part of the Battle Planetoid by the end of the cycle."

"That quickly?"

"Archduke," Raith said in bland tones. "You were only given one of the plans for the superlaser. I assure you, I have many variations. I hope that you will take the revisions under advisement."

"I will," Poggle replied, his face grinning. "This is very good business."

"Yes. It is."

Owari

Author's Notes: This is our first Star Wars fic. We were always fans of the original movies and it held a tender place in our hearts. The prequel, at first, did nothing for us simply because it was set up as follows: Anakin brat, Anakin teenage brat, Anakin grown up brat, and we didn't have much in the way of interest for Anakin, being the shameless Obi-Wan fangirls that we were/are.

The thing that had us dare to read more into it, however, was the Clone Wars series are Cartoon Network. Seeing an Anakin that we could actually stomach, and Obi-Wan in his prime, made us happy little fangirls. Very happy little fangirls. It was with this that we dared enter into the realm of fanfiction to see what was out there. The first foray was actually a crossover with Rurouni Kenshin called Shadows and Starlight by Vathara, and we figured that if a crossover was that good, then there must be other good stuff out there, too. We were immediately spoiled by an author named Yesac and her work, and have since become obsessed enough to try and write our own fic.

That said, we're not all that happy with our first attempt at this fandom. This fic is an example of an error that we can (and sometimes often) make: writing a fic by the seat of our pants. It all started with an idea: going home can sometimes be harder than the mission itself. This was cluttered with flowery ideas of a crash and trying to get off planet, and maybe doing some character development since that's what we love. The outline: crash, river, enemy base, get off planet. Good grief was a vague plot! No wonder we struggled through writing this!

Overall, there are parts that we like and parts that we don't. The scenes at the river turned out really well; Image had them floating around in her head for days when we were first developing the fic, and it turned into some really nice exploration between Anakin and Ahsoka later that night. We learned a lot in general about Ahsoka's character - she's not as well defined yet as Obi-Wan and Anakin just because they have this source material where she doesn't. We also learned a lot about Anakin's headspace, and we're slowly becoming quite fond of his character. The battle of attrition with Ahsoka also turned out very well.

The ending, however, leaves a lot to be desired. We struggled with the base and what it was and how it was supposed to be used until we figured out that it was a testing facility for the Death Star's weapon (assuming you didn't already pick up the hints for that..) - but I think that turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help. The fic just sort of ends, and the climax which we thought would be this big battle to get off planet turned out to be instead Ahsoka's battle against the waves of droids, which means that it didn't turn out well at all because it doesn't feel like a climax. Neither did Obi-Wan's flight in destroying the magma towers. It just sort of fizzled, and we're not completely sure how to fix it. This is why we like things much more outlined when we're writing our fics. We'll learn that lesson someday...

Regardless, it's not that bad for a first attempt, and any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated for when we next try to write a Star Wars Fic.

Oh, and if you're curious for some of our fanart and some snippets of our next Star Wars fic, feel free to check out our livejournal account at:

http: / www . mirrorandimage . livejournal . com