By My Side

Chapter 29 - Crashing

Author's Note: This fic is fully drafted with a total of 35 chapters! We'll be posting every other Thursday until it's done. ^-^

~ Amina Gila

"I would like to go," Ahsoka requests, silently begging them to agree. She has to. This is Anakin. She has to go there for him. He would do the same for her. She knows that without a doubt.

"You may come," Master Obi-Wan agrees. Is she imagining his reluctance? She can't tell. "This may be dangerous."

If not for the severity of the situation, Ahsoka suspects only a group of clones would be sent out to verify, but Anakin is too important, hence why she and Master Obi-Wan are going as well. And she can't deny being worried about him. He was... in pain. She could feel it. And it's taking far, far too long for them to gather troops and prepare to go, even if they're only taking a small number there to avoid drawing attention.

They're taking a shuttle. It shouldn't – hopefully – be noticed.

That doesn't mean Ahsoka isn't nervous. They weren't prepared to go out, and it took a while for Rex and the boys to come back so they could get a clearer idea of what they're up against. In the end, it doesn't give them much. Whoever it was that captured Anakin, they did a good job in covering their tracks.

Except... when they exit hyperspace above Mustafar, there's a Separatist ship there. A flare of unease runs through her, but they make it down into the atmosphere without being intercepted.

"This is unusual," Obi-Wan remarks, "And it's making me uneasy."

"Nothing could go wrong, could it?" she asks.

"It's always when we ask that, that everything goes downhill," Rex cautions.

Ahsoka huffs, leaning forwards to look out the viewport. They have a long way down, and they don't know where on the planet to start looking either. It'll take some time. Quite a bit of time, she suspects.

"There's an energy reading coming up ahead," one of the clones reports.

"Find it," Master Obi-Wan commands, "I sense Anakin is here."

That, predictably, is the moment they get an incoming transmission from the Jedi Council. "We received a transmission from Mustafar," Master Windu tells them, "Skywalker is there."

"I sense him here," Master Obi-Wan replies.

"Find him immediately," Master Windu commands. "We cannot risk losing him to the Sith."

"We won't," Ahsoka promises, leaning forwards. Her master glares her into silence. She bites her lip, stung and angry. Somehow, with Master Obi-Wan, she never can do anything right. It's not much better with Anakin, but at least he sometimes makes her feel... wanted. She doesn't understand why Master Obi-Wan is so short with her about everything. He has this way of making her feel like there's something wrong with her.

Maybe there is. She's... well, snippy. Disrespectful. There's a reason no one wanted to train her. That's why no one thought she could become a Jedi, but she's stubborn, and it's all she has so...

She must. Somehow.

"It appears Skywalker may be in the process of freeing himself," Master Windu continues, as if she hadn't interrupted at all. "He may have received outside assistance. We suspect Count Dooku may be there."

Here? Now? That's... not good.

"We'll be careful," Obi-Wan promises, and the hologram flickers off.

They can be, but Ahsoka can only hope it'll be enough.