That won't happen to you

Chapter 23

When Anakin arrived at the Tusken, he could hardly believe his eyes.

There, half-climbed out of a tent, Ahsoka lay unconscious on the ground.

Fresh blood ran from a wound on her back and she was pale too. But she had made an attempt to escape herself.

Carefully, Anakin lifted her up. "Kriff" he muttered when he noticed how light his Padawan had become.

But he could take care of that later. First he had to bring her to safety.

Quietly, not to attract any attention he sneaked out of the camp.

Ahsoka did not move an inch.

Behind a rock, he gently laid her down.

He patted her cheek lightly, hoping she would wake up, but no.

She laid motionless.

So he took the bottle from his belt and carefully poured some water in her mouth.

This did not seem to miss its effect.

Her eyelids fluttered slightly and she herself stirred a bit. Swallowed, tried to get more water.

Slowly he gave her more water. She choked and coughed.

"Shh... shhh... it's alright Ahsoka. Calm down," he murmured and stroked her gently over the lekku.

But she didn't even notice him.

She wasn't conscious enough for that.

She could barely notice that there was water. More than she normally got, and that she was terribly thirsty.

She wasn't awake enough to perceive more, she was too exhausted for that. The little she could see through her half-closed eyes was spinning dizzy, although it was still blurry anyway.

But it was enough for Anakin.

His snips was alive.

When the bottle was empty, he carefully picked her up again and carried her towards the city.

On the way, Ahsoka dazed away more and more, but more into a kind of exhausted sleep than unconsciousness.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Understandably. When Anakin stopped in front of the gate of Ryak's big house, her regular quiet breathing was, apart from her much too weak pulse, the only thing that still showed that she was alive.

Anakin knocked. Ryak himself opened. "I got her," Anakin said depressed.

He wasn't happy at all to leave Ahsoka to this slimebag, but he had no choice if he didn't want to endanger her life even more than he did right now.

"Give her to me," Ryak said mercilessly and coldly. "You know the rules Jedi. The race is in three days. In the morning, you'll be here to get your racer If you win, you get her, if you lose, you both belong to me." The young man nodded as a sign of understanding.

"Promise me that she will get medical attention. She is no longer able to go on like this. She needs a break," he said.

"I promise she will be alive when the race is over" he took her and closed the gate.

Anakin stayed behind alone. With his worries and fears, and the uncertainty of whether he would ever be able to free Ahsoka.

"I haven't found Ahsoka yet." he said through the comlink to Obi-wan and left.