Chapter Text
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Anakin found himself slowly drifting into awareness. A steady, rhythmic beeping sound infiltrated his senses, coming from somewhere nearby his head. At first, his mind was clouded with a sense of confusion.
What…
He tried to open his eyes. But sharp light came pouring in, scalding his vision. He squeezed them back shut again, let out a whine.
Where was he? And why was it so bright?
Trying again, Anakin squinted his eyes open, this time just enough to register a light grey ceiling above him, matching walls. He was in some sort of room, he realised. A medbay, his addled mind seemed to supply him.
He blinked, taking a moment to let his vision focus, when a flood of memories suddenly came rushing back to him: The jungle. They crashed. Ahsoka, falling, climbing, running, a swarm of wasps—
Anakin's eyes went wide.
Ahsoka.
The beeping sound began to increase rapidly as Anakin's heart thumped faster in his chest.
They never reached the rendezvous point.
So how did he—where was—
"Ahsoka?" he croaked.
A wave of desperation taking over him, Anakin craned his neck, lifted his head, tried to peer around the room in search for his Padawan. His neck felt stiff.
"Ahsoka?"
A second later, there were hands on him, pushing him back down. Anakin tried to push back, struggling against them—he needed to find Ahsoka! Where was his Padawan? Was she okay? He needed to—
"It's alright, Anakin—Ahsoka's right here."
An arm was pointing to a bed across from Anakin's left. Anakin followed it, taking in the image of his Padawan's prone form lying on the bed. She appeared to be asleep.
"It's alright, she's alright," the voice—a very familiar voice—soothed. "And so are you."
Feeling himself calm at the sight of seeing Ahsoka safe right there across from him, the beeps slowing down as his heartbeat began to steady once again, Anakin turned his head back to rest against his pillow. He looked up. A familiar face was staring back at him.
Obi-Wan.
His former Master was giving him a soft smile. Anakin only stared back for a moment, an overwhelming wave of emotions suddenly flooding into him as he looked at the man in front of him.
In a mix of relief, joy, lingering fear—Anakin couldn't be too sure—his eyes welled up with tears, and he couldn't help it as he burst into a small sob.
"Oh, Anakin…shh…"
Obi-Wan immediately reached over and began to soothingly brush back his hair, gently shushing him with a calming voice as Anakin sobbed.
"Shh, you're alright, you're safe. You're safe now."
Anakin closed his eyes, attempted to calm himself down. He felt calloused thumbs wipe away the tears from his cheeks.
"Shh…you're safe, Anakin."
Obi-Wan continued to brush back his hair, the soothing movement continuing even as Anakin's sobs slowly began to settle.
Once Anakin had calmed down enough, he blinked up at the older Jedi who was sitting on the side of his bed. Obi-Wan gently wiped a stray tear from his cheek.
"What happened?" Anakin whispered in question. "We were…Ahsoka and I were almost at the rendezvous point, but then…" Memories replayed in Anakin's mind. Pain. Walking. A hive. Being swarmed by wasps. His mother, who was never really there. "We never made it, did we…?"
Obi-Wan gave him a sympathetic smile, shook his head.
"No. I'm afraid not."
Anakin drew his eyebrows in question.
"Then how…"
"Rex and I found you," Obi-Wan cut in. Anakin listened as the older Jedi explained how he and Rex had been waiting for Anakin and Ahsoka at the rendezvous point, when Obi-Wan had sensed a wave of panic in the force, and figuring it must've had something to do with Anakin and his Padawan, they had went off to go look for them.
"We found Ahsoka first," Obi-Wan was saying. "Well, actually, more accurately she found us. She ran into us while being chased by an angry-looking swarm of wasps. And when I realised you were nowhere to be seen…" Obi-Wan released a quiet sigh. He gave Anakin a grave look. "Well, I found you almost a minute later. Just in time."
"The wasps…" Anakin questioned after a moment, "How did you…"
"Well, it seems even an angry hoard of wasps can be peacefully urged away using a little force-persuasion," Obi-Wan said with a pointed smile.
Anakin felt a pang of embarrassment. He opened his mouth to speak, but Obi-Wan cut him off.
"Anakin, it's alright. You wouldn't have managed to lure them away on your own, especially not in the condition you were in," he said. "Ahsoka told me everything that happened while the two of you were down there."
At the mention of Ahsoka's name, Anakin's eyes widened. He looked across to where his Padawan was sleeping on the bed beside him.
Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was right. He had been too busy using the force to keep himself upright that he wouldn't have even been able to attempt to lure the wasps away. Besides, even if he had had his normal strength, there was no guarantee that it would have even worked, seeing as how Anakin had never been all that good with connecting to creatures like that anyway. Not like Obi-Wan was.
"Ahsoka? Is she—"
"She was awake earlier," Obi-Wan cut in. "She's alright. She had gotten stung quite badly too before we found her, but she's recovering very well after a soak in bacta."
Anakin kept his eyes trained on Ahsoka, watching her sleeping form breathe steadily in and out. Ahsoka's alright, he told himself. She's alive.
And i'm alive.
"You were actually the one we were more worried about," Obi-Wan added, his voice close to a whisper. Anakin glanced back at Obi-Wan. The older man was studying him with a significant look in his eyes. Anakin swallowed. Obi-Wan reached out and gently brushed back his hair again.
"Oh, you always do find a way to make your old man worry, don't you…?" Obi-Wan whispered softly. Anakin rolled his eyes slightly, but gave his former Master a smile.
"You don't need to worry about me."
"You're my former Padawan," Obi-Wan replied. "I'll always worry about you."
Getting an intense feeling of deja vu, Anakin looked up at the ceiling and huffed out a laugh.
"I swear I just had this same conversation with Ahsoka…" he said, turning his gaze to look at his own Padawan once again.
It was silent for a while before Obi-Wan spoke.
"I'm so sorry that this happened to you, Anakin."
Anakin looked back at Obi-Wan.
"You don't need to apologise, Master. This wasn't your fault."
Obi-Wan pressed his lips together. "I know," he said. "But i'm still sorry."
Deciding not to argue with Obi-Wan about how he really didn't need to be sorry for this, Anakin released a sigh instead, pushed his head back on his pillow. Looking down at himself for the first time, he realised he was currently dressed in a white medical-issue sleep tunic. There was an IV attached to his left arm, and Anakin noticed the barest little marks dotting his skin from where he must have gotten stung, as well as realising with some relief that his left shoulder was back in the position it should be.
"You both were treated and put into bacta quickly after we recovered you," Obi-Wan explained quietly. "And you'll be making a full recovery." Obi-Wan continued to brush back Anakin's hair. "You've already recovered very well so far, and your skin is healing nicely."
"Wait," Anakin questioned after a moment, "how long have I been…"
"Almost two days," Obi-Wan replied. "We're on the Negotiator, headed back to Coruscant. We'll be arriving tomorrow morning."
Anakin nodded in reply, set his gaze back to the ceiling. He lay there, letting himself silently process everything for a minute, before there was a quiet yawn from across the room followed by a timid "Master Kenobi?".
Glancing up, Anakin watched as Obi-Wan got up from the side of his bed and wandered across to Ahsoka's bedside, where Anakin saw his Padawan rubbing her eyes and blinking up at the Jedi Master.
"How are you feeling, young one?" Obi-Wan asked the togruta.
"Better than yesterday…" Ahsoka replied. The pair of Jedi quietly conversed back and forth for a few moments before Obi-Wan glanced over at Anakin, meeting his eyes briefly.
"Do you want to know the good news?" Obi-Wan was asking the younger Jedi. Anakin watched as Ahsoka eagerly nodded her head. Obi-Wan kneeled down to be at Ahsoka's eye level before he turned his head to Anakin's direction. "Anakin's awake."
A smile grew on Anakin’s lips as Ahsoka slowly looked in his direction, Obi-Wan's words registering in her eyes. Ahsoka's eyes widened. A huge grin lit up her entire face, and a whole whirl of feelings bubbled up in Anakin's chest. That smile was for him.
"Master!"
Anakin couldn't help but grin back at his Padawan. Ahsoka sat up and began to climb out of her bed. Obi-Wan seemed to be surprised at this at first, but he didn't stop her, keeping a hand on Ahsoka's back as he walked her over to Anakin's bedside.
"Master!" Ahsoka repeated, smiling widely. Anakin reached for her hand, holding her palm in his as he met her eyes.
"Snips."
"How are you feeling?" Ahsoka asked him. Anakin let himself relax against his pillow a little more.
"I'm okay," he replied, giving his Padawan an assuring gaze.
They stayed like that for a few moments, staring at each other in a shared sense of relief, before Anakin tried to sit up a little, shifting himself upwards. Obi-Wan quickly moved in to help him, raising the bed and adjusting his pillows to help Anakin get comfortably settled in a more upright position.
Nodding his thanks to his former Master, Anakin turned to his Padawan and invited her to come sit with him, patting the empty space to his right. Ahsoka nodded, but she glanced at Obi-Wan as if looking for permission. The older Jedi raised his eyebrows, but silently nodded to Ahsoka, go ahead.
Anakin scooted over slightly to make room as Ahsoka moved round to the other side of his bed, climbing in and nestling in at his side as he lifted the blanket for her.
Ahsoka looked up at him for a brief moment before she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Master," she said, her voice muffled in his tunic. Anakin let out a soft chuckle.
"I'm glad you're okay too, Snips," he replied, wrapping his right arm around her, returning the embrace.
Pulling away, Anakin kept his arm around Ahsoka, smiling softly as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"Are either of you two feeling hungry?" Obi-Wan asked after a few moments. Anakin looked up at him. Now that he thought about it, he did feel rather hungry. Ahsoka apparently felt the same way too as Anakin felt her nod her head against him.
"Yeah," Ahsoka replied. "I'm starving."
Obi-Wan chuckled softly before he met Anakin's eyes.
"Anakin?" he questioned.
"Yeah," Anakin said, "I think I could eat something too."
"Great."
Telling Anakin and Ahsoka that he was going to go get them some food, the older Jedi got up from the side of the bed and proceeded to leave the medbay, leaving Anakin and his Padawan to themselves for a few minutes in the quiet medbay.
Glancing down at Ahsoka again, Anakin studied her for a few moments. He could see familiar faint spots dotting her skin from where she must have been stung by the wasps, but they seemed to be healing nicely, barely even noticeable unless you were looking for them. And, from what he could tell, the stitches in Ahsoka's right arm had already been removed and the wound seemed to have almost fully healed.
"That was scary, Master…" the togruta whispered after a little while. She craned her neck to look up at him and Anakin met her eyes.
"I know," he replied, the memory of being swarmed by the wasps still fresh in his mind, flashing back to him. He comfortingly rubbed Ahsoka's arm. "But it's all over now. We made it out."
Ahsoka nodded, averting her gaze. Anakin watched her for a few moments. He thought back to when they were in that jungle, and how well Ahsoka had handled the situation; the way she took charge and took care of him when he couldn't.
"I'm really proud of you, Snips," Anakin whispered. His Padawan looked up at him. "Back there…that was an awful situation to be in, but you handled it very well."
Ahsoka's face lit up the slightest bit at that. Anakin smiled.
"Thank you, Master," Ahsoka said.
"You're welcome, my Padawan."
The force sung with appreciation as they shared a gaze for a long moment, before a clone medic entered the medbay and came over to check on Anakin.
"It's good to see you awake, General," the medic was saying as he checked Anakin's IV. "Any pain?"
Anakin shook his head. "No," he replied. "Though, my left shoulder still feels a little…"
"Sensitive?" the medic suggested. Anakin nodded. "Yeah, it'll probably feel like that for a week or so. We managed to relocate it before the damage was too bad, but since it had been out of place for several hours, and given the condition you were in when Rex and the General found you…you had some tendon and ligament damage. To be honest, you're lucky you didn't need surgery."
Anakin glanced down at his shoulder.
"You should also make sure to avoid doing anything strenuous with that arm for the next little while," the medic added. "You can still move it, but just don't go swinging it around while you're recovering."
Anakin huffed out a chuckle. "Got it. No medbay acrobatics."
"How are you feeling, Commander?" the medic asked, turning to Ahsoka as he moved round to fiddle with something on Anakin's IV bag. "Hands still sensitive?"
"I'm okay," Ahsoka replied, "my hands are actually feeling a lot better today."
Anakin glanced down at Ahsoka's hands. She was holding her palms up, and Anakin could see that the skin was slightly discoloured in the places where her hands had been cut up from climbing the ravine, but appeared to be almost fully healed. They likely wouldn't even scar. He felt grateful for that.
"That's good to hear, Commander."
The medic finished up the rest of his checks before he left the room again, only to be replaced by Obi-Wan and Captain Rex a minute later, who walked in each holding a tray of food in their hands.
"General," Rex said as he approached Anakin's bedside, "it's nice to see you awake, sir."
"It's nice to be awake," Anakin said in reply, giving his captain a grateful smile. Rex smiled back. "It's good to see you too, Rex."
"Commander," Rex said, turning to Ahsoka, "it's nice to see you up too. I did see you yesterday, though I don't know wether you remember that or not, considering how tired you were."
Ahsoka let out a small giggle. "I think I do remember that, Rex," she said. "You were talking to me, weren't you?"
"I was."
"Sorry if I didn't reply to you."
Rex huffed out a chuckle. "On the contrary, sir, you and I had quite the amusing conversation…"
"Oh…"
Beside them, Obi-Wan let out a laugh.
"Ahsoka, my dear, you look like you've seen a ghost," he said, smiling at Ahsoka. "Don't worry, you don't need to be embarrassed. Besides, it was nothing like the time when Anakin decided that he was the new Grandmaster of the Jedi Order whilst recovering from his wisdom tooth removal surgery."
Anakin felt his cheeks heat up. Rex and Ahsoka let out simultaneous chuckles.
"That was one interesting trip back to our quarters…" Obi-Wan continued. Anakin rolled his eyes. Though his cheeks continued to flush as he winced at the memory. Not that he could remember much from that particular incident, considering how he had been, well…not in the rightest mind at that point in time.
"Master…" Anakin whined. But, even still, he couldn't help the grin that grew on his face. Obi-Wan gave him a knowing smile, before the older Jedi moved round with his tray of food.
"Dinner is served," Obi-Wan said, holding out the tray for Anakin. At the same time, Rex moved to present his tray to Ahsoka.
"Thank you, Rex."
"Thank you, Master."
As Obi-Wan and Rex helped Anakin and Ahsoka get settled with their food, the four of them sank into a pleasant conversation, chatting about what Anakin and his Padawan had missed over the past few days, sharing memories of the younger Jedi’s eventful day in the jungle.
And a little while later, once all of the food had been eaten, and bellies were full, and eyes were growing tired, Anakin revelled in the company of his friends. His family.
And even when his recovering body forced him to rest again, his exhausted eyes drifting shut as warm hands tucked him in, soft voices whispered for him to rest, Anakin could still feel the presence of his family all around him; a warm body nestling closer to his side, gentle hands comforting him and keeping him afloat as he drifted off into the steady stream of sleep.
But even as his mind began to float atop the peaceful current, awareness of the waking world floating away, Anakin held on to one thought:
If he had learned one thing from the past few days, it was that Anakin could always count on his family to have his back.
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