A Master and Padawan's Bond

Florrum Part 6

Oh, Anakin hadn't been sedated, no, no. He had made sure of that. Coric's injection fluid may or may not have been removed from the cyduct. He was completely conscious, as he needed to be, but it was important that everyone else think he was out.

He lay as still as he could on the stretcher, masking his Force signature so Ahsoka couldn't tell he was awake. Voices of clones mixed together around him.

"Secura...Blye...Yularen..."

"Red light, stand by..."

"Communications jammed..."

"Commander...red light...Yularen..."

Ahsoka's voice broke through the chatter. "All right, boys, let's get up to that cruiser. Take us up, pilot."

A chorus of "Sir yes sir"s followed her words, and a jarring shift of gravity slid Anakin's arm off the stretcher. The sensors in his mechanical hand felt Ahsoka replace it next to him.

~~

Ahsoka stood in the cramped shuttle, holding on to the straps dangling from the ceiling, watching her sleeping Master. A sharp turn jostled the passengers and caused Anakin's mechanical arm to fall. She let go of the strap for a moment to replace it and sighed.

A proximity alert blared. Her body went rigid, alarms going off in her mind as well as her midi-chlorians flipped out.

Her instincts told her to run, but they were on a shuttle 500 feet above the ground.

Then a huge blast hit the ship, sending Rex and Lux tumbling to the floor.

When her eyes adjusted, she almost wished they hadn't.

There was a hole in the blast door, and three clones were gone.

"Pilot!" Ahsoka screamed over the alarms and wind, "What the hell is going on?!"

"We've been hit, sir! Multiple vulture droids! We can't outrun--AAAAARGH!" The pilot screamed as another blast hit, this time taking out the pilot. She snatched her lightsaber off her belt and started to head for the pilot's seat, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

She looked up to see her Master looking into her eyes sorrowfully. He twinkled his blue ones at her, and she blanched with the realization of what he was about to do.

"Master, no!"

He Force-pushed her away, sending her thudding into the opposite wall. He strode to the blast door's hole, steeled himself, and thrust out his hands.

Ahsoka watched in slow motion as Anakin gathered the Force around him and channeled it to the ground, creating a stabilizing pillar. She could see more vulture droids converging around the ship, and he pushed them away.

He was burning himself out, and he knew it.

She tried to get up and stop him from killing himself with the effort, but he jerked his arm out in her direction and sent her careening away again. He flicked his fingers and the discarded stretcher wrapped around her, keeping her pinned to the wall.

All she could do was watch, horrified, as Anakin Skywalker overpowered himself to protect his friends. His life force was failing and flickering; Ahsoka could feel it. He became paler and paler. He squeezed his eyes shut as his midi-chlorians slowly perished, one by one.

A vulture droid hovered right in front of him, raised its guns, and fired.

Ahsoka screamed as his Force-signature tore apart, tearing a piece of her apart as well.

Then the shuttle hit the ground, and she knew no more.

~~

Three hours later

Obi-Wan pulled his speeder up next to the crash site and jumped off, landing askew. He ran to the shuttle, hope sinking as he took in the damage.

The thing was half-buried in the dirt, only the front end sticking up. Of the parts that he could see, it wasn't looking good. The pilot was dead, the window and controls blasted apart. Obi-Wan lifted his body out of the cockpit and set him on the ground, then clambered over the control panel into the shuttle itself.

He dropped down to the back wall and ignited his lightsaber, casting a faint blue glow into the pitch-black.

Ahsoka was at his feet, somehow wrapped in a repulsorlift stretcher. He used the Force to bend it off her. She groaned and shifted, and Obi-Wan sighed in relief. She was alive.

He looked past her, seeing Lux, Rex, Coric and two others, but no Anakin. He scanned the floor, searching for any sign of his former Padawan.

And there, clutching his ligtsaber, lay his metal hand.

Obi-Wan made a sort of choking sound and fell to his knees.

Anakin...no.

Ahsoka groaned again behind him, and he tore his eyes off the gold mechanics to turn to her.

She sat up and winced, then yelped outright in pain. His eyes widened when he took in her damage.

Her left lek had been ripped in half, and it was bleeding heavily. Her left arm was burned bright red.

He tore off his sleeve with his teeth. "Ahsoka. Can you hear me?" He said thickly.

"Master...Kenobi?" Ahsoka whispered.

"It's me. This is going to hurt, but we need to stop your bleeding. Hold still, now," he said to her, then slipped the fabric under her lek and wound it tightly. She cried out in pain, but remained still.

"Ahsoka, where is Anakin? What happened?"

Her sapphire eyes filled with tears as the previous events rushed back to her. "He-he..." She said as the tears started streaming down her face. His heart filled with dread. "He sacrificed himself," she whispered.

Obi-Wan's face paled, and soon his eyes mirrored hers. He pulled her into an embrace as she sobbed, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

OOF!

Sorry everyone, but it was a necessary evil. You will come to see why, I promise. :'(

And that's a wrap on the Florrum arc! The next part of this story will take place years in the future, when Ahsoka's older and we can follow her life after this horrible event that I caused...sorry again. But also not sorry? Sorry!

I know I probably just lost a lot of your trust (sorry again) but life for Ahsoka and Obi-Wan must go on, and how will that happen if no one is here to read it? Heh heh...heh.

May the Force be with you,

Little_Tano