Ahsoka's decision

The Illness

She's been acting funny all day. Coughing, sneezing, headaches, stomachaches, vomiting... She's burning up. "I think Ahsoka might be sick..."

It was the middle of a duel with her master. Ahsoka had been fine all week, very energetic, and happy... Just as Anakin slammed his lightsaber against hers, she pulled back and started coughing... Coughing for a long time. "Ahsoka, you alright?" Anakin said. She nodded and rubbed her sore throat. "Just a little cough." She lied. Ahsoka's throat was on fire. She picked up her water bottle off the floor and took a long drink, thinking that might help.

Just then, she started sweating. Like it was hotter than it should be in the room. And without warning, she broke into a sneezing fit. "Ahsoka... Ahsoka, your clearly not OK." Anakin said. "Master, your being over protective again..." She said. "Yeah... Holy Force, Ahsoka, your burning up." He put his hand to her forehead and she groaned. "I'm fine, Master. Its hot in here anyway..." Just then, everything started spinning. Ahsoka sat down and rubbed her temples, feeling a headache crawl into her skull. "Headache?" He smirked.

"I- It's nothing, Master... I'm fine." She stood up and then he could hear her stomach growl. Ahsoka held her breath and grabbed her stomach, letting out a breath... "That's it. I'm taking you to the medbay." He said. She groaned. "I told you, I'm fine!" She shouted angrily... But then, even her mind was made up as she felt something crawl up her throat... She stopped in her tracks and grabbed her stomach. "Snips, you've got a stomachache and a headache. Admit it... Snips..." He saw her face expression change as it went a pale orange and it looked like she was holding her breath or she swallowed her tongue...

Her head fell forward once before her whole back gave and she crumpled over and threw up right there... All over Anakin's boots too. "Ah, come on! That's gross!" He jumped back and she looked up, vomit falling down her lips. And it almost came up again. Ahsoka's hand flung over her mouth as she ran from the training room and to the nearest refresher. Anakin looked down at his feet... Covered in chewed up government rations and something else he couldn't identify... Just then, he heard someone laugh. Anakin looked up at Captain Rex.

"You- You feeling alright, General?" He said. Anakin flung his hand as vomit fell from it. "I'm fine. It's Ahsoka who threw up... Ugh, that's just disgusting..." He kicked his foot and walked off to find Ahsoka... "Who's gonna clean this mess up?" He swore and notified a cleaning droid... "Yeah, Commander Tano just threw up in the training arena..."

Anakin found Ahsoka behind the refresher door, vomiting into a toilet. "Ahsoka!" He knocked. Long silence before Anakin finally mustered up the courage and opened the door. He saw Ahsoka at the sink, cupping her hands under the faucet and rinsing the taste out of her mouth. She spit it into the sink and wiped her lips, grabbing the towel on the side and wiping her face off.

"OK... OK, so maybe I'm running a fever... And maybe I'm coughing and sneezing... And maybe I threw up... But that doesn't mean I'm sick!" She snapped. Anakin groaned and rubbed his temples. "Ahsoka, come on." He grabbed her wrist. "Ow, ow, ow! What are you trying to pull?" She ripped her wrist away. He groaned. "I'm taking you to Kix. He'll tell if your sick or not." They walked out into the halls. "I'm not sick." Ahsoka said as they walked up to the medbay. "Oh no, not at all." He said with sarcasm. "Something wrong, General? Commander... Are you feeling OK? You look awful." Kix said, looking at Ahsoka. She rubbed her forehead. "Thanks, Kix..." She sighed. "Listen, grumpy here keeps saying she isn't sick... Can you be the judge of this?" He asked. "Course, sir. Sit down, Commander." He said, patting the bed.

"I'm not sick." As if on cue, she sneezed several times. "Oh no, course not." Kix joined into the sarcasm. He took her blood pressure, felt her tempurature and checked for an irregular heartbeat. And then, he found the problem... "C-Commander..." The breath got caught in his throat. "What? What is it?" She looked up. "Uh... I'm gonna need a sample of your blood." He grabbed her arm gauntlet and started undoing the straps. He pulled it off and then they all stared at her wrist... The skin on her wrist was getting to turn a dark brown. "What the-" Anakin started. "That's why..." Kix stuck a needle in her arm and extracted the blood... It was brown. She bit her lip as he put it under the microscope...

"Oh, Gods..." Ahsoka felt a sickness crawl down her spine. "What? What's wrong?" She turned around to look at him... "T-There's no easy way to say this, sir..." He started. Ahsoka then felt someone grab her hand. She looked up at Anakin. "You have Thorn Fever." Kix said. "WHAT?!" They both shouted out. Anakin's grip on Ahsoka's hand got tighter... "Th- Thorn fever... Deadly disease? The one that eats you from the inside out?" Anakin stuttered. Kix nodded. And then, Ahsoka's face went pale and her stripes were sky blue... "Oh, no." She jumped up and began to throw up in a nearby trashcan...

Anakin rubbed her back as it came out of her and then she was just coughing... "P-Please tell me there's a cure for this!" Anakin said. Kix shook his head with fear written on his face. "No cure? So she's just gonna die?" Anakin said with anger. "I'm sorry, sir! There's nothing I can do! A cure has never been found..." He said. "I want you to search everywhere! You find a way to cure this." But Ahsoka's hand grabbed Anakin's wrist. "Master..." She started. Anakin looked down at her with startled eyes. "C- Can we have a moment alone, Kix?" She asked him. The medic nodded once before leaving the room. And then, Anakin broke down crying.

"Master... Master, why are you crying?" Ahsoka asked. He shook his head. "Why, Snips? Why'd this have to happen to you?" He said, sniffling... "Master, please don't cry." She begged, grabbing his hand. He looked down at her and then she smiled. "Th- This might sound crazy, Master, but... This might be my chance. My last chance to LIVE my life! Actually live it... Before I die, there's so many things I still wanna do. And I'm gonna do them." She said. Anakin blinked away the tears. She grinned. "But I don't wanna do them alone." She grabbed his hand. He looked at her and then smiled. "I'm so happy to have a Padawan like you... But what if it gets worse?" He asked. "Well... We'll just have to go as fast as possible." She grinned. Sure, Ahsoka felt terrible. The more she moved, the more she wanted to lie down, but she wasn't gonna let this... This Disease beat her!

She'll live her life. With the last few months that she has left, she'll live her life to the end. And Anakin will be there, right beside her. Helping her as much as possible, making sure she lives her life as she's always wanted before she dies.