Star Wars the Clone Wars - One shots

You were always so sure of yourself

You were always so sure of yourself: Sometimes, Anakin gets so lost in upholding his own reputation that he forgets that everything he does and says has an impact on his very impressionable Padawan.

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Anakin wished that Padawans came with an instruction manual.

Of course, he ought to know what he was doing. He was a Padawan himself for a decade of his life, and despite their frequent fallouts, Obi-Wan was an exceptional, model Master.

Anakin didn't know the first thing about raising a child, let alone one who could access crazy Force-powers at the flick of a switch. He didn't know how his mother or Obi-Wan could do it for so long, he was struggling after a couple of hours as Ahsoka's guardian.

It was a full-time job. One moment, he'd be cleaning up vomit after Ahsoka was dared by Rex to eat the least favourable ration out of the entire GAR supply, and the next he was trying to calm her down before her distress caused a tank to explode after a brutal battle.

It wasn't easy, but nobody said having a Padawan was a walk in the park.

Over time, Anakin learnt how to keep another person alive and healthy whilst not losing his sanity in the process. He learnt not to completely freak out whenever she got injured in battle, and he finally relented in trying to teach her a more traditional grip, accepting that Ahsoka fought at her best in a reverse grip.

Ahsoka looked out for Anakin as much as he looked out for her.

She was a lot like him in so many ways, headstrong and determined and never one to back out of a fight. It was part of the reason they got along so well. He sounded like a hypocrite every time he told Ahsoka off for doing something reckless and brash.

Like Master, like Padawan.

Obi-Wan encouraged him to be open and honest with Ahsoka, claiming that communication was key in a Master and Padawan relationship. Once they swallowed their pride, Anakin and Ahsoka were reasonably clean with telling each other when problems arose.

Something he never quite got used to was the sight of his Padawan doing her schoolwork. Unlike him, she never needed motivating, and being raised as a Temple child, she never struggled with illiteracy like he did.

As soon as they returned from a mission, Ahsoka would seat herself at the kitchen counter and work through half a dozen datapads until late into the night. Anakin would be leaving for Padmé's before she went to sleep, though she never argued his elaborate excuses, she just kept her head down and cracked on with her work.

Anakin supposed he should tell her to tone it down at times, seeing as she could never really switch off, but he was really just grateful that Ahsoka hadn't picked up his bad habit of leaving everything to the last minute and actually cared about her studies.

He knew she was smart; everyone could see that. She often used words that Anakin had to search the meanings of on the HoloNet later, and could do complex equations in her head without needing a calculator or pen and paper.

Anakin found it amusing. During strategy meetings, Ahsoka developed a tradition of correcting officers three times her age about historical events or logistics. The Admirals would mutter an apology, then give Anakin a funny look, to which he'd roll his eyes. His Padawan's apparent cleverness was something of an inside joke between him and the other officers, something that closed the gap between him and them.

"Do you think Ahsoka appreciates your jokes about her intelligence?" Obi-Wan asked after he witnessed Anakin and two Admirals laughing when Ahsoka subtly corrected them.