Star Wars the Clone Wars - One shots

When we're home

It was a hard mission.

Every mission was hard.

Every time a soldier collapsed to the ground, Ahsoka felt her heart quench. She hated that the clones were being killed, and that her childhood consisted of running across battlefields, fighting for her own life.

She hated the constant exhaustion and fear and the horrible stench of death that tended to linger in the aftermath, sometimes for hours at a time.

Her limbs ached, new blisters on her hands from her lightsabers. She was dehydrated and hungry, though she knew the slop served in the mess hall wouldn't fill the emptiness in her stomach. She needed a real meal, and a hot bath, and a proper night's sleep.

Those luxuries would have to wait.

For now, there were wounded men who needed help to get to the medbay. There were reports to write, and equipment requests to make. The aftermath of a battle could be just as exhausting as the fight itself.

Across the bustling hanger of blue and gold armoured soldiers, Ahsoka made out the form of her Master. Anakin was walking with a limb, his trousers scorched and torn. He looked barely human, with ash and dirt covering his face. He was moving carefully, like it hurt to breathe.

"Good work today, kid," Rex patted her shoulder, his armour coated in filth that would take hours to scrub away.

"You too, Rexster," She nodded in acknowledgment, then jerked her head in Anakin's direction. "Any idea what happened to him?"

Rex followed her gaze, sighing, "His squadron had a rough time clearing that outpost. One of the guys said it was booby-trapped with a bomb. No casualties, probably thanks to the General."

Always playing the hero.

She glanced around for Obi-Wan, knowing he would have better luck than her at getting Anakin to see a medic, but her Grandmaster is speaking to Cody with his brows furrowed.

Sighing, Ahsoka dragged her feet across the durasteel floor. Rex slipped away, too many tasks to allow him to waste time mingling with his Commander. She was on her own for this, and Ahsoka dreaded it.

"Hey, Master," she said, just before she came to a stop in front of the elder Jedi. Still, Anakin was startled at her voice, tired eyes lifting from where he was fiddling with his mech hand. Some of the wires were exposed, likely causing him some discomfort and annoyance.

"Snips," he nodded briefly, already returning to fiddling with the wires with a servodriver that was usually kept on his belt.

Ahsoka noted he wasn't in a cheerful mood, but she was determined to try anyway.

"You need to go to the medbay." She said, using a somewhat gentle tone to begin with. "Kix's orders."

She knew Anakin held a healthy amount of fear for the medic who was fiercely enthusiastic about ensuring the Jedi were looked over after every rough battle.

Even if she was lying about the orders coming from Kix, snitching to the medic was her backup plan if Anakin downright refused.

She watched his jaw tense, the cogs in his brain turning.

"I'll go in a minute," he ended up saying, putting the servodriver away.

"He sounded pretty insistent when I spoke to him." Ahsoka said, furthering the little white lie. "Threatened to hunt you down if you didn't turn yourself in, and you know he's serious."

Anakin just frowned, "And what exactly did you say to him, Padawan?"

If she had hair on the back of her neck, it would've stood up.