When She Was Gone

Chapter 27

Ahsoka felt only pain. Blinding pain, everywhere from the waist down. She was vaguely aware of gripping someone's hand before slipping into sweet unconsciousness as a drug filled her body.

~

Anakin and Barriss nursed small injuries on a bench inside the cargo hold, waiting for Obi-Wan to show. Luckily, Ahsoka's wound had been inflicted by a lightsaber, so she wasn't losing any blood, but Anakin knew what it felt like to lose a limb, and it wasn't pleasant, so Obi-Wan was finding her some sort of sedative.

He prodded the side of his mechanical arm, which jerked about for a moment before going still, and he found he couldn't move it at all. He sighed and began to deactivate it so it wouldn't punch anyone.

After a few minutes, it was Barriss who broke the silence. "Where did you find this pilot?"

"She's an old friend of Padmé's. I would have enlisted Luke or Leia, but their mother is very protective."

"Mm." They went back to their own worlds.

"Barriss, I'm...sorry. I called you a traitor and you've...well, I doubt I'd be alive right now if you hadn't come," Anakin said abruptly. Barriss looked up, surprised.

They both jumped when the door to the cargo hold slid open and a green twi'lek stepped through. She descended the ladder and handed Anakin a bolt. "We'll be arriving in the Yavin system in an hour. Oh, and that's for your hand." She gestured to the bolt. "Let me know if you need anything."

She began to turn away, but Anakin said, "I don't believe we've met. Not formally, anyway."

The twi'lek smiled. "I'm Hera. Hera Syndulla. My astromech's Chopper. He's around here somewhere. The rest of my crew's on a separate mission."

"Anakin Skywalker."

"Yes, I know. And Barriss..."

"Offee," said the Mirialan.

"Let me know if you need anything," Hera said, and scaled the ladder. Before stepping through the door, she turned back and called, "Your Togrutan friend got a sedative. She'll be out for the trip."

~

When Ahsoka came to, it was hard to pry open her eyelids. Thankfully, she was not in a brightly lit space, so she wasn't being blinded.

When she did rouse herself enough to look around, she was filled with a sense of panic. The surroundings were unfamiliar and the room was almost pitch-black, so she could make out shapes but nothing else.

Fear taking over, she tried to move, and found she was bound to her bed. She struggled, tugged at the straps with the Force, to no avail.

She was back there. On the Destroyer. She must have been captured.

Any minute now, Kaivo would march in and throw her into her quarters, and leave her there for at least three agonizing days.

Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She grit her sharp Togrutan teeth and strained. She would not give in. Not again.

Very suddenly, she remembered Anakin. Where was he? What had happened to him? What about Barriss? Obi-Wan? She tried to find their Force-signatures, but was met with emptiness.

Ahsoka finally gave up on trying to escape her bonds and went limp, chin falling against her chest.

And that was when she saw it.

Several tubes were in her right arm, but one of them was filled with a glowing light green liquid she knew to be a Force-sensitivity duller. No wonder she couldn't escape. But it wasn't that that shocked her.

In the dim light from the dulling liquid, she could just make it out.

The bond ensuring none of the tubes would slip out of her arm had the symbol of the Rebellion on it.

~

Anakin jerked awake, startling his wife. She said something to him, but he was preoccupied.

Ahsoka had nudged his mind.

And she was terrified.

He stumbled out of bed and hurried down the hall. He glanced behind his shoulder once, and to his surprise, found both Luke and Leia running after him, determined looks on their faces.

He turned the corner and was met with the med bay doors. He waved them open and nearly flew down the hall, pulling out his lightsaber. He skidded to a stop before her door, waited for his children to catch up, and waved it open.

In the light from the hall, he could see Ahsoka turn her head to see him and the twins. Her face melted in relief. Anakin looked over the room, but no one was there. He hooked his lightsaber back on his belt and shooed Luke and Leia back to bed.

He stepped into the room and flicked on Ahsoka's bedside lamp, then began to loosen her restraints. After he had removed her wrist bonds, he said, "Not a very good 'Welcome back.'"

"They could have left a light on," she croaked hoarsely. Anakin crossed the room and poured her a cup of water, which she gulped down eagerly. He settled into a chair. "How long was I out?" 

"Couple of days," he said, purposefully avoiding looking at the prominent lump of her new leg. 

"Injuries?" She murmured, and he could tell she almost didn't want to know.

After a moment, he waved his hand and the rest of her restraints loosened. With a pained, tense expression on his face, he nodded towards her blanket.

Slowly, she pulled it back, and her face froze in an expression of shock as she took in her new limb.