Building Attachment

Chapter 26

Months later

POV: Ahsoka Tano

It was not uncommon for the people I encountered on the streets to tell me that fighting as a commander on the front lines of war was not a normal thing, but to me, it was my life and that made it normal to me. I never knew any differently. Almost all of my normal "training" up to this point had been learning as I went on the battlefield with the direction and encouragement of my master beside me.

Even though I could not see it at the time, nothing was ever normal again after that day all those months ago on Naboo. Loving Anakin made my life exciting and adventurous, but also uncertain and fearful.

It was naive of me to believe that my training would ever be able to resume a state of normality after everything that had happened on Naboo. If I thought he was protective then, it was nothing compared to what he put me through now.

I walked through the doors of the medbay to find Anakin already sitting on the edge of the bed, his back facing my direction. He seemed to have not yet noticed my presence as I quietly sat down on an extra chair against the wall.

"Anakin, this is getting out of hand," I said mildly from my position situated behind him.

He looked over his shoulder just long enough to see that I was there and then turned away. "Yeah, your welcome for saving your life," he said in a forced calm voice. "You need to be more careful."

"Careful?! I was perfectly capable of deflecting the shot myself!" I felt a wave of frustration seize through me but managed to temporarily push it back down. "I wasn't asking for you to take that shot for me."

This time he stood up from the bed and turned to face me with an expression I couldn't name. I swallowed hard and studied the white bandage running across the side of his exposed chest where the bullet had hit him as he was only wearing his opened black robe and pants. I tried to look away from him just in time to block a darkening blue from finding its way into my lekku. But before I could do anything, he caught my chin with his gloved finger and tilted it up to face him. My breath hitched in my throat as his eyes met with mine.

"But I had to Ahsoka," he dropped both my chin and let his hand fall to his side as he looked at the ground a few feet off to his side. "Would if you didn't see it, it could've caught you off guard or-"

"No! This is exactly what I have been talking about! You always make me stay back from dangerous missions or push me behind you on the battlefield, and now you won't even let me defend myself from a simple blaster shot? You've been holding me back!"

"I've been protecting you," he said in a cautious voice.

"Well, you know what Anakin? This is war and we are on the front lines! You can't protect me from the galaxy and you can't stop me from dying."

I had never seen such a pained expression lace across his features as he stood there unmoving and on the verge of falling apart.

He slowly straightened his back and silently watched me until his comlink started beeping and he turned away to answer it. "Skywalker here."

"Ah, Anakin," the voice of Obi-Wan traveled through the device. "Are you feeling recovered enough to come up to the council chambers?"

He looked back at me as if asking my permission to say that he was fine, but I only wouldn't give him any response. "Yes Master," he finally said.

"Alright I will see you shortly... and Anakin?" he paused. "Bring your padawan," Obi-Wan finished and then ended the call.

I watched from the side as Anakin slid out of his robe, letting it fall to the ground to reveal the rest of his glistening chest. He then picked up his dark tunic from the ground and pulled it over his shoulders, recovering his chest and the white bandage that pained me to see. If Anakin noticed my staring, he didn't say anything about it.