Mutual Feelings

'Once you start down the dark path...'

"I thought I was marrying a togruta, not a Cathar." Anakin twitted her, before running a finger down the line of her spinal column, feeling the smooth muscle on either side.

She just wrapped her arms around him in response, as his hands moved down from her torso, and they began the next round of 'physiotherapy'.

Afterwards, both of them lay on top of the covers, pleasantly exhausted. Using the force, Anakin keyed on the holo, which was set, almost inevitably, to the galactic continuous news broadcast from the GBC.

"...On Coruscant, an assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala was foiled by the actions of her bodyguard early this morning. Although it is reported that her bodyguard suffered a broken arm, the attempt was foiled..."

Ahsoka suddenly cringed as one of the bedside lamps exploded, then the other. A few seconds later, a little shaving mirror on the windowsill suddenly shattered.

"Skyguy!" She gasped.

Her master didn't even look around.

Ahsoka didn't remember feeling this much anger from anyone ever. "Sky...guy...?" she asked again, more hesitantly.

It was perhaps a minute before Anakin responded. "It's ok, Snips." He said, placing an arm around her shoulders, and just holding her, turning his face away just far enough that she couldn't see what he'd seen in the mirror on the windowsill.

Eventually, he felt able to look into her eyes again. When Ahsoka didn't tense, he relaxed, and just stayed there for a while, trying to draw the peace and calm of that moment into himself.

Eventually, it was time for caf, Ahsoka's first squash of the day, and some actual physio exercises, aimed at preventing Ahsoka losing the muscle tone in her legs from being nearly unable to use them. She didn't object at all, as Anakin wasn't always entirely bothered about if he was putting his hands in the therapeutically optimal positions or not. She wanted to be able to run again. And, regardless of where his hands were, he allowed her to do her excercises.

Anakin had just sat her at the table for lunch when the holocomm chimed. He was in the process of untangling the oversized bib he'd found from somewhere from his upper body. He'd attempted to put it around Ahsoka's neck, and ended up with it around his.

"Master Skywalker speaking," he said. "Who am I talking to?"

"Master Skywalker, new intelligence we have received." Yoda said. "The separatist high command, located we have. Hiding on Mustafar, they are."

Ahsoka felt a whole wave of emotions run through her master. Satisfaction, relief, anger and something else all warred for a few seconds.

"Are we taking action?" he asked.

"We are, Master Skywalker." Yoda replied. "The 501st, we have dispatched. Bring them to trial, their orders are."

"Who is currently in command or the Grand Army?" Anakin asked.

"I am." Yoda told him. "Devolved to me as grand master, command did."

Anakin relaxed. "I want to go to Mustafar."

"Wise, would it be, Master Skywalker?" Yoda asked. "An attempt on the life of your children, was last night made. Cloud your judgement, anger will."

"How do you know about them?" Anakin demanded. "Have you been spying on me?"

"Spying, we have not been, young Skywalker." Yoda said. "Crossed my desk, it did. Your relationship with the senator a secret was not. Her pregnancy, and the midichlorian count of her children, makes a simple conclusion your fatherhood."

"I want to raise them myself." Anakin said.

"An interesting experiment, it will be." Yoda replied. "Young Jedi being raised by their biological father. About the outcome, most curious I am."

Anakin didn't respond for a few seconds. "I'm curious about raising my own children too, Master." He replied.

"Knight Tano, how is?" Yoda asked.

"Feeling better." Anakin said. "And enjoying her physio."

"That what they are calling it now, is it?" Yoda asked, with a surprising twinkle in his eye.

Anakin went a bit red. "I'll depart for Mustafar as soon as I can, Master."

Yoda ended the call with what Anakin felt sure was a wink.

"You're leaving so soon?" Ahsoka asked, looking down heartened. She'd only just got her Skyguy back from prison, and before that she'd been in a coma or his Padawan.

"I need to end this war. Once and for all. Before anyone else I care about gets hurt." Anakin told her. "Every time I think everyone I love is safe, they end up in danger. And that means I need to stop anyone from the Trade Federation escaping."

Ahsoka just sat there.

"I'm going to make sure that none of them can hurt you ever again." He told her, before collecting his flight bag and heading for the hangar.

It took Ahsoka about thirty seconds to levitate herself across to the holocomm mounted on the wall, and another five to dial Obi-Wan's code.

"Master Kenobi speaking." The veteran Jedi master replied after perhaps thirty seconds of dialing tone. He sounded more than slightly annoyed and out of breath.

"Master, it's Ahsoka." She said. "Anakin has just gone off to Mustafar."

"Mustafar?" Obi-Wan asked. "Why?"

"They've located what is left of CIS command." Ahsoka explained. "And..."

"He intends to do something about them..." Obi-Wan finished for her. "Something probably unpleasant."

"Yes." Ahsoka almost sobbed.

"Ahsoka, you did the right thing comming me." Obi-Wan said. "Shai, contact Master Yoda. Tell him Master Skywalker is suspected Code Vornskr."

Ahsoka could hear Shaak-Ti in the background passing the message on.

"The first thing we're going to do is go down to Galactic Centre Medcenter and see if they have a prototype exoskeleton in your size. Once we've done that, we're going to Mustafar." And I really hope we don't have to kill Anakin to stop him. Obi-Wan silently completed.