Work Text:
Ahsoka decided she hated recon missions.
“They’re just so boring,” she said again, propping her legs up on the console. Obi-Wan returned to his seat, hands empty of the tea he’d left to find. “Nothing?”
Obi-Wan pursed his lips. “It seems this ship is severely lacking in its stocks.” He gave Anakin a pointed look.
“I’m so sorry I don’t keep your precious, overpriced, luxury tea on board the Twilight, Master,” Anakin said, rolling his eyes in fake irritation. “It’s not like it’s my ship, anyway.”
Ahsoka laughed as she helped Anakin drop the ship out of hyperspace so they could attempt to navigate through an asteroid field. They were on their way to the Mid Rim, per Master Windu’s instructions, which said that there’d been reports of a Separatist outpost stationed somewhere near Trandosha. It was technically Republic territory and enough ships had mysteriously disappeared in that area to cause an investigation. And, as always, the job fell to Ahsoka, her Master, and her Grandmaster.
Anakin swooped them under an asteroid with a spin. Obi-Wan made a sound of protest behind them as Ahsoka giggled.
“Maybe you should’ve given Master Kenobi a warning,” she told Anakin.
He grinned. “What was that? You want me to do another one? As you wish, my young Padawan!” He flipped the ship upside down three times, only stopping when Obi-Wan shouted that he’d be sick if there were any more. Anakin just laughed.
“Come on, Obi-Wan! Live a little!”
Obi-Wan settled back in his seat, looking sufficiently ruffled. “I won’t be for much longer if you keep on with that.” Even Ahsoka was dizzy.
“And you say my flying is bad,” she said under her breath. Anakin gasped dramatically, such betrayal, and Ahsoka retaliated with her favorite challenging look—the one that said And? What are you gonna do about it? Anakin, never one to back down from a fight, told her fine, then. If she was so much better, then she should take over. “Fine!”
Ahsoka ignored Obi-Wan’s sigh as she leaned forward and took up the controls. She flew through the field, dodging asteroids as they came and doing a top-notch job of showing Anakin up. Really, she thought as they drifted out past the edge, this was Knight material.
When she looked over at Anakin, he was wearing a familiar smile; it was wide and proud, flooding the Force with warmth. Ahsoka kept herself from overwhelming their bond with happiness in reply, though just barely.
“Not bad, Snips,” he said. “Master?” They both turned to Obi-Wan.
Ahsoka didn’t know why Obi-Wan’s eyes were so bright or his face so soft, but it cleared away all the stress and shadows that usually haunted his face. “Wonderful flying.” Anakin high-fived her. “I assume you didn’t learn that from Anakin.”
“Hey! I’m an incredible teacher! Right Snips?”
Her eyes shot to Obi-Wan in purposely-awkward silence. “Right,” she said slowly, trying not to laugh.
“Hey!” Anakin said again, tugging on her braid. “Ungrateful little—”
“I dunno, Master.” Ahsoka shrugged. “Maybe I’d be nicer if I got something in return.”
Anakin crossed his arms over his chest. “Such as?”
“Oh, nothing big,” she said with a casual wave of her hand. “Something you wouldn’t even notice, something so tiny you couldn’t possibly refuse. Like, oh, I don’t know . . . a second lightsaber?”
Anakin rolled his eyes as Obi-Wan snorted. “Nice try, Ahsoka, but I already told you no.”
Ahsoka slumped with a glare. Scratch that. The job always fell to her, her insufferable Master, and her Grandmaster. “I don’t get it! You’re always saying my left side is vulnerable—which it isn’t, by the way—and a second lightsaber would fix that!” Anakin shook his head.
“Learn to block better. A second lightsaber wouldn’t be a tool, it’d be a crutch. Can’t have that.”
“Anakin—”
“Wh—that’s ridiculous! Why are you depriving me, Master? Don’t you want me to succeed? To have everything I want?”
“Padawan, in life, you can’t—”
“Depriving you, come on. Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Oh, I’m dramatic? Who was the one who just did three spins? And who was the one who did five barrel turns in the middle of a battle? After all the stunts you've put me through, I deserve a second lightsaber. It’s like compensation. Master Kenobi agrees with me, right?”
They both whirled around to Obi-Wan. He gave them an exasperated look and said, “Do not involve me in this, I beg you. Our mission is time-sensitive, if you’ve forgotten, and we could all do without your arguing.”
Suddenly pulled away from the topic at hand, Ahsoka smirked. “What do you mean arguing, Master? This is discussion, debate, negotiations, if you will!” she said loftily.
Anakin elbowed her lightly, face both sly and thrilled. “Exactly! We’re just learning from you, Master. Or should I say, oh great and powerful Negotiator.”
Ahsoka’s laugh echoed high and bright around the ship while Obi-Wan huffed. “I’ve had more than enough of that particular nickname, thank you.”
“We could try something else, maybe f—”
Obi-Wan put up a hand. “No, Anakin. That’s quite alright.”
Okay, so maybe recon missions weren’t so bad after all.
“We’re coming up on Trandosha,” Anakin said, turning back to the viewport.
Obi-Wan clicked something behind them. “The scanners aren’t indicating any—oh. That’s strange.”
Ahsoka leaned out of her chair, sobering as a dull pang of dread pricked the back of her mind. “What is it?”
“I’m getting a small signal from something nearby, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. The beacon is extremely small, almost negligible, really. I’m sure it’s just a—”
Ahsoka yelped as Anakin flung the ship left. “We’ve got incoming!” Red blurs shot across the sky, narrowly missing them; the ship veered and spun out of the way, but the shots kept coming.
“What?” Obi-Wan and Ahsoka yelled together.
She leaned forward in her seat. “There! On the right!” She pointed out the viewport at the round metal hub floating next to Trandosha—the outpost they’d been looking for, though it was far larger than expected. Its cannons had extended and were firing non-stop at the Twilight.
“Ahsoka, the guns!” Anakin called.
“Right!” She hauled herself out of her seat, which Obi-Wan quickly filled to help Anakin fly. They hadn't brought R2 this time—that was dumb—and so Ahsoka would have to take down this outpost herself. Scratch that—outposts. “There’s three of them!”
“Nothing to worry about, huh?” Anakin repeated, spinning the ship twice. Obi-Wan threw him a glare.
Ahsoka ducked back down. “Can you get us any closer?”
“Not without getting hit!”
She groaned in frustration. “Just get me as close as you can.”
There was nothing but the sound of clicking and creaking as Anakin and Obi-Wan tried to maneuver the Twilight around the barrage of shots. Ahsoka locked onto one of the outposts and fired. Her shot hit dead-center and the station exploded in a slow blast of flames and metal.
Anakin and Obi-Wan spoke at the same time.
“Nice shot, Snips!”
“Well done, Ahsoka.”
She grinned as she shifted the gun to the second outpost, but before she even had the chance to blink, there was a flash of red and the ship boomed as it took a hit. A massive hit.
Smoke trailed out from under the hull, blocking the viewport. Alarms blared, echoing in Ahsoka’s ears through all the sudden yelling from Anakin and Obi-Wan. “They hit the engine!”
“Ahsoka, strap yourself in, quickly!”
Ahsoka hurried to comply, securing herself with frenzied hands, when the ship shuddered. She tried to help steady them as much as possible, but the controls were locking up. “Stabilizer’s out. Can you land this thing?” They careened down toward Trandosha, the muddy brown landscape rapidly approaching.
Anakin reached up to tap a button. “Of course I can. Might just be a little rough.” They broke through the atmosphere and roaring flames obscured the entire viewport. The ship screeched, sections of the walls crunching in and chipping away.
“Uh, Masters?” But her words were lost over the thundering of their descent. They were nearly on the surface, mere seconds before their inevitable collision.
Anakin jolted them around a stone spire and they haphazardly spiraled over a forest, hurtling straight toward the edge of a cliff. The Force pierced a warning into the air, the Twilight smashed into the ground, and Ahsoka’s world went black.
Anakin groaned. “I’m getting too old for this.”
Beside him, Obi-Wan pressed a hand to his head and struggled to unbuckle himself. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” he replied, blinking the spots out of his eyes. “I’m fine. You?”
“Still alive, no thanks to your flying.”
Anakin scoffed, checking to make sure he hadn’t broken anything. That’s a first. “What about you Snips?” They’d really made it out okay. Oh, he was so going to rub this in their faces. “Snips?” Anakin’s head swung around to see the back half of their ship completely gone, torn off in the crash. The rest was sitting meters away, turned so Ahsoka was partially hidden from view. All Anakin could see was the edge of her arm, blood streaming down and dripping silently from her fingertips. “Ahsoka!” Anakin wrenched himself out of his seat, Obi-Wan close behind.
“Anakin, wait the ship is—” Anakin rushed forward. But as he ran to check on his Padawan, he saw that the ship was resting—precariously, barely—on the edge of a cliff. He could hear it now, waves crashing and pounding the walls of the canyon far, far below them. The ship tilted dangerously.
“Ahsoka!”
They were close enough now to see her, but Obi-Wan stopped Anakin a few yards away with a hand on his chest. Ahsoka blinked slowly, dazed eyes drifting open. A clumsy hand pawed at the wound on her head and she hissed in pain.
“Ahsoka!” Her head flew up and she jolted forward as the ship creaked and tipped back.
Obi-Wan and Anakin raised their hands in tandem, gathering the Force around her. Rocks and chunks of the cliff edge plummeted into the canyon and the ship slipped further, metal grating against stone, Ahsoka’s panicked breaths. Clearly disoriented, Ahsoka fumbled with her seatbelt, hands flailing desperately at the lock. “Master!” she called wildly. Blood poured into her eyes and she reached blindly forward.
Anakin’s brow furrowed in concentration. Come on, come on. Metal screeched, the Force and Ahsoka both screamed, and Ahsoka fell.
“No!”
In the space of a breath, Obi-Wan ripped off Ahsoka’s seatbelt, flinging it over the cliff, and the Force surged around Anakin. He frantically tore Ahsoka out of the careening ship as it plummeted over the side and she came rushing at him. Anakin caught her in his arms with a quiet oof! and they both toppled over.
“I got you!”
Anakin sat up, bundling Ahsoka close in his arms. Ahsoka gasped, panicked breaths sawing in and out, her hands holding tight to Anakin’s robes. “Hey, hey, hey, you’re fine, you’re safe! You didn’t fall, we caught you.” Anakin let out a shaky sigh, his own heart beating hard. “We caught you.”
Obi-Wan kneeled behind Ahsoka, his face pale. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave a small nod—as if to reassure himself she was still there.
Ahsoka’s breathing eased, though her eyes were flushed with residual terror. Her hands were still fisted in Anakin’s shirt. He didn’t mind. He wasn’t quite ready to let go either. Obi-Wan gave her shoulder a squeeze and as Anakin’s hands skimmed over her head, checking on the wound there, he heard Obi-Wan turn away and tap his comm.
“Captain Rex. Do you read me?” There was static on the other end. “Hello?”
More static, some weak sparks, and for a moment Anakin worried it was broken, but then Rex’s rigid figure fizzled into being. “Read you, General,” he greeted.
“We’re in a bit of a—” his eyes darted to the half of the ship still intact “—situation with the ship. There was indeed an outpost off Trandosha and I’m afraid we’ll need a retrieval.” He looked at Ahsoka with a worried frown. The cuts on her face and head were still bleeding. “And medical.”
At that, Rex stiffened. “Right away, sir.” There was a bustling noise on his end as he leaned out of frame, calling briskly for an evac unit and for someone to find Kix and Coric, and the call ended.
Ahsoka’s hands loosened on Anakin’s robes and she squeezed her eyes shut in pain as he pressed on the wound on her head, trying to stop the bleeding. “Sorry, sorry,” he murmured. He slowly got her standing, one of her arms slung over his shoulders and the other wrapped instinctively around her stomach. Broken ribs, then. “Are you alright?” A hasty nod.
A ship broke through the clouds hanging high above them and Anakin sighed in relief even as a chill ran down his spine. “That was fast,” Obi-Wan said carefully.
Anakin squinted. “Can always count on Rex . . . to . . .” His words drifted off as the ship descended and he realized—“Run!”
Twin shots ruptured the ground around them as they ran for cover. Ahsoka stumbled and Anakin grabbed her hand, pulling her along behind them. They entered the forest and ducked down under a cluster of towering trees. There were no other shots from the ship, but Anakin knew the battle droids concealed inside would be coming for them in no time; backup was on the way but there was no telling when Rex would get here. And, Anakin bit his lip, they were pretty much down a fighter.
Ahsoka was breathing hard beside him. “What’s the plan?” she asked, looking up at him, eyes wide and mostly alert.
Obi-Wan spoke first. “We can’t stray too far from the ship, or Rex won’t be able to find us. We’ll hide here for now.’
“And if the droids find us before Rex does? Which they will.”
“Keeping morale high, I see.” Obi-Wan settled against a tree trunk. “If they do, then we can do things your way. Run straight at them, theatrical acrobatics, whatever you like.”
Too worried about Ahsoka’s injuries to argue, Anakin complied and dropped down next to Ahsoka, who was in between him and Obi-Wan. He tried to clean as much of the blood and dirt off her face as he could.
They sat there for a while. Anakin tried to scout out ahead of them, see what else lurked in the shivering forest, but there was nothing to find, and he hurried back in fear that Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had been ambushed by the Separatists. They hadn’t of course, and when he returned, Obi-Wan was speaking softly to Ahsoka. She shrugged rather sullenly.
“Are you sure?”
Ahsoka’s eyes flicked to Anakin then back to Obi-Wan. “It hurts,” she murmured.
Obi-Wan’s face softened and Anakin could feel his own eyebrows press together. This was all his fault. If he had evaded those outposts, made sure she was safe when the ship landed, then none of this would be happening. He’d gotten out okay, but she hadn’t. That wasn’t how it was supposed to work.
Not knowing what else to do, Anakin wrapped an arm around his Padawan and the weight of her head tipped against his side a moment later. The trees rustled in a breeze, purple leaves thundering around the forest. No, wait a minute. That wasn’t leaves, Anakin realized. It was the too-familiar sound of mechanical marching.
Anakin and Obi-Wan’s heads turned at the same time to the edge of the forest. “We’ve got company.”
The three of them stood and ignited their lightsabers in sync, taking their usual battle positions. Ahsoka crouched. Battle droids swarmed into view past the trees. “Only a few. No problem.”
Two more companies joined them. Anakin saw Obi-Wan shake his head out of the corner of his eye. “Thank you, Anakin.”
Anakin donned a smirk. “This still too boring for you, my Padawan?”
“Eh.” Ahsoka flipped her lightsaber twice, eyes locked on the approaching droids. “We’re getting there.”
The droids hesitated for a breath, the Force tingling with anticipation, and then the forest exploded with light and sound.
Anakin ducked and sprinted up to the front lines, slashing through droids as he went. They were falling quickly. A shot glanced off his shoulder. Blurs of blue and green mixed with red, and within minutes, they had cut through nearly half the battalion.
There was a grunt from behind him. His eyes shot to Obi-Wan who stood at his right. “Is Ahsoka—”
Obi-Wan sliced down two droids and spun around. His lips lifted. “It seems she has everything under control.”
Anakin chanced a look behind him and saw Ahsoka flipping over a pile of defeated droids and cutting off the head of the final one. She joined them as more droids poured into the treeline, and Anakin was torn between pride and worry as she carved through them like she’d never been injured at all. She shouldn’t be fighting, what if something—he was wrenched from the thought when Ahsoka shoved him, deflecting a shot that would’ve hit him straight on.
“Pay attention, Master!” she shouted, running around to outflank the droids. He huffed in mild pride.
Anakin lost himself in the whirl of the battle. Slice, duck, stab, spin, make sure Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were still alive, flip, repeat. Soon enough, there were only a few droids left and Anakin bounded over to take care of them.
He cut down the last droid with a flourish and turned to see Obi-Wan frowning, face pinched in concern as he reached for Ahsoka. Her knees buckled and she collapsed into his arms.
“Ahsoka!” Anakin shouted for the hundredth time that day.
She was conscious when he reached them, thankfully. “Ahsoka, what is it?” Obi-Wan asked, voice almost shaking.
He started tearing at the end of his robe as Anakin dropped to his knees beside them. Ahsoka’s hands were hovering above a blaster wound on her left side—it’d clearly missed anything vital and Anakin breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m sure Kix will do a far better job than I can, but that should be enough for now,” Obi-Wan said. He sat back against the ship. “Luckily, it’s not too bad.”
Anakin, not totally convinced, helped prop Ahsoka up against the ship in between him and Obi-Wan. He wrapped an arm around her for good measure. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I think most of the damage was to Anakin’s heart.” There was a faint smile on Obi-Wan’s face, even though worry still gleamed in his eyes. “Let’s try to avoid a heart attack today, shall we, Padawan?”
Anakin relaxed when Ahsoka huffed in amusement. “Hey, I’m not the old man here.”
“No, just the reckless pilot. I won’t even mention that we’re currently sitting against only half a shuttle.” He winked at Ahsoka and the silent air was broken by her giggling.
Anakin’s indignant “Hey!” was rewarded when Ahsoka laughed harder. But then she suddenly gasped and jolted forward, arms wrapping around her stomach. Anakin leaned closer.
“Okay, okay. Sorry,” he said, heart clenching. “Ahsoka, I’m—no more laughing.”
She eased back.
“Sorry, I didn’t—just—no laughing, Padawan. Just stay still.”
They sat there in light silence, Ahsoka’s rough breathing the only real sound. Anakin kept his eyes on the clouds, urging Rex to get here already. Ahsoka’s head lolled against Anakin’s shoulder. His stomach lurched. “Hey, hey, Snips!” Her eyes fluttered open. “Don’t fall asleep.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. Obi-Wan shifted closer. “Sorry. And sorry for the—” she gestured vaguely. “The thing.”
Anakin’s brow furrowed. “What? The—you’re sorry for getting shot?”
Ahsoka lifted a shoulder, pressing a hand to her ribs. “Were right. Left side.” A harsh breath. “Wasn’t fast enough.”
Anakin felt guilt bloom in his chest. “No, hey, no. You have a concussion,” he said pointedly. “I didn’t mean it like that. And earlier, I—I’m sorry. You were right, I should’ve—” he locked eyes with Obi-Wan. He tamped down his squirming pride. “I should’ve listened to you.”
“That’s a first,” Ahsoka and Obi-Wan said at the same time. Anakin fought a smile, but then Ahsoka laughed and he failed entirely.
“So,” Ahsoka said weakly, eyes drifting along the sky, “does that mean I can have another lightsaber?”
The three of them all laughed again and Anakin decided he liked it, the sound of their laughter mixing in the air. He didn’t get to hear it enough. “You can have three lightsabers if it means you stay awake until Kix gets here.”
She pretended to think it over. “Deal.” Anakin tugged lightly on her braid. The sky darkened and she shivered, so Obi-Wan and Anakin both tucked themselves closer; he felt Ahsoka’s head drop onto his shoulder a moment later. The familiar sound of a ship engine rumbled above them and finally, a gunship was gliding down to meet them.
“You know,” Anakin said as he waved a hand to signal the ship, “a second saber means a trip to Ilum.”
“Woo!” Ahsoka replied quietly.
Anakin realized Obi-Wan was holding one of Ahsoka’s hands. “But not until you’re fully healed. Right, Anakin?”
He gave Obi-Wan an incredulous look. “I am highly offended by whatever it is you’re insinuating, Obi-Wan.”
“That’s a big word, Master,” Ahsoka said sleepily. “Know what it means?”
Never mind, Anakin thought with a wry smile. Obi-Wan’s laugh was annoying. The gunship landed gently in front of them and Kix and Coric both rushed out, arms already extended to help Ahsoka.
“Rex,” Anakin said with a grin as Obi-Wan slowly guided Ahsoka up. “Perfect timing.”