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damn-stark · 2 years ago

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Chapter 10 Dance of the Dragons

Chapter 10 of Sandstorm

A/N- 😏

Warning- Y/N has a son, swearing, incest, ANGST, talks of pregnancy, violence, death and destruction, ALSO THERES CHANGES THAT DRIFT AWAY FROM THE SHOW (not big, but there is)

Pairing- Jon Snow x Targaryen!fem-reader

Episode- 8x05

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

Home, King’s Landing is home. Today is the day that you finally get it back. Today is the day you finally take back what was stolen. Today.

Due to certain blessings, Daenerys left you out of joining her in burning what remains of the Iron Fleet, it’s too risky she said—can’t be that risky though, considering you’ll be on your dragon.

But Jon backed that up too so instead you’re left in charge of overseeing your plan to have Jaime betray his lover/sister, with the Sandsnakes.

It’s an overly easy task, but it gives you time to reunite with your sisters you haven’t seen in too long. Yet in this wait, in the eerie silence that was built as the city below waited for your team to attack, your mind ran with worry over Jon’s life, over hope Jaime wouldn’t betray you, and over her, Daenerys.

You’ve tried not to think of what Jon said, you keep trying to believe in her, but as you’re up in the sky waiting for her and Rhaegal to attack the remaining fleet below, that’s all that fills your mind.

She can’t be that person they paint her out to be. She can’t let them win. Most importantly what happens if that fear flourishes?

No. You can’t let them get to you.

Just wait in silence, listen past the howling wind, and look down past the clouds. You see the shadow of her dragon, the shadow of Rhaegal nearby waiting to burn down the crossbows on the walls. You wait.

Wait.

Wait, and…

That eerie silence is broken by the sound of ships exploding, by shrieks as Rhaegal catches them off guard and burns down the crossbows. Rocks and debris slamming everywhere fill the air with dust, and that’s your cue to fly in undetected.

While the ships burned, and part of the walls fell, you nudge your handles forward and part your lips to speak to Eraxis. “<Fly, girl>”

Without a second of hesitation, without needing to be told again, Eraxis tilts down, flaps her wings once to gain momentum, and then tucks them back to shoot down like a flying arrow.

The speed she travels in when she dives as such once would’ve made your stomach upset, but now that feeling as if your heart is coming out of your throat, and your stomach is floating up your body is actually thrilling and makes you grin.

“WHOO!” You let the rushing wind blasting past you carry out your excited cry. Which may seem inappropriate, but you’ve missed flying, you can’t help it. And well that joy only lasts until Eraxis slows down and now skids above the waters near the cove below the Redkeep, so as to not be seen by anyone who remains inside.

The sound of the top of the walls being blow up still rings so they’ll be distracted with that, letting Eraxis and you maneuver by the cove until you turn in a corner that has a cave, and a boat docked on the sand; it carries no banner, no other flag, and as Eraxis gets closer there's an orange and red sheets over it—this is it, it’s them!

Eraxis gets as close as she can get to the beach, letting you unsaddle rapidly.

“Y/N!” You hear a familiar female voice call.

You snap your head to the other side as you keep unstrapping yourself and immediately grin as you notice the pretty face of Elia as she runs out from the cave. And running after her is Sarella, scolding her it seems like. So once you manage to untie yourself you hastily climb off your dragon, and only take a moment longer to talk to her.

“<Go, distract them.>” You tell her so they wouldn't suspect your disappearance from battle. “<Come back.>” You pat her once more and then step back to let her fly away, letting you then turn and face Elia; who’s now grown taller, her face has matured a bit more, and her dark black braid is only longer now.

“Elia,” you call out happily and run through the water, not caring if water splashed all over you.

She meets you halfway, just at shore and you both immediately wrap in an embrace.

“Sister,” she mutters and slaps her hands on your back with more strength than before.

You grin and glance up, seeing Sarella remain hidden under the shadows of the caves. And behind her, hidden in the shadows as well is someone else, someone tall and thin…can it be, Ellaria?

“Look how you’ve grown,” Elia remarks to you as she pulls back to look down at your swollen belly.

You smile at her and cup her face. “Look at you,” you redirect. “You’re a woman now. Last I saw you, you were only a little girl.”

“Happens,” she quips and steps aside to let you walk to the cave. “Tell me, are we fighting soon?”

You sigh and meet Sarella’s dark eyes with an eager grin. “With luck all you’ll see of battle is what happened just now.”

Elia groans and lets your arm go so you can run to Sarella.

In the middle of a battle it seems wrong to be so happy, but you cannot help it with your joy that grows over seeing your family.

“Oh how I’ve missed you,” you tell Sarella as you both wrap each other in an embrace. “I hope the waters weren’t too rough.”

Sarella gives you a gentle squeeze before pulling back and facing you, blocking the view of the woman behind her. “I’ve missed you too, sister. It’s been too long.” She shoots you a smile and looks you up and down to study your armor. “Nice. A little too shiny for your liking, no?”

You roll your eyes and sigh dramatically. “Tell me about it. But it keeps me and my children safe. Besides, my husband is insistent.” You smirk.

She smiles and then glances behind you. “Where’s the young prince?” She asks.

You step back and answer her. “Dragonstone. I can’t risk his life in such a big battle. He’s upset he couldn’t come and see you both. He’s missed you.”

Sarella grins. “And we him, especially the youngest three.”

“Soon!” Elia cuts in from behind Sarella. “We’ll reunite at the Queen's coronation, or when the babes are born. Dorne will celebrate for an entire moon cycle!”

You glance past Sarella’s shoulder, and instead of looking to your sister, your eyes land on the woman she’s by, Ellaria, safe and very well; just as Cersei had promised.

“Ellaria,” you greet softly and walk past Sarella to reach her.

Said woman sits up from the rock she was resting on and walks to you. “Princess,” she greets in a raspy voice.

You offer her an apologetic look and take her hands in yours to assure her. “I’m glad you’re okay. Did the escape go with ease?”

Ellaria nods. “Yes…Elia and Sarella were swift and quick. No harm was done to us.”

You smile softly and nod. “Good….” You pause and let out a small breath as the grief of your sisters heightens and becomes hard to ignore. “I’m sorry for your loss, Ellaria. I’m sorry I failed you and her. Them.”

Ellaria's gaze hardens and she shakes her head stiffly. “I’ll know peace when I see that whore of a Queen burn alive.”

You smirk at her. “You will soon enough.”

Ellaria raises her chin and doesn’t fail from expressing her doubt. “The girls told me about the plan, do you really trust that Lannister man?”

You let her hands go and glance deeper in the cave, catching the entrance that Jaime needs to come out of. “Not fully no, but I have to have some faith in him in hopes that he will do what’s right for the people.” You meet Ellaria’s gaze. “He made promises that he cannot break again. I trust he’ll do what’s right even if it hurts. He knows what happens if he doesn’t.”

Ellaria hums and steps back to the rock she had been resting on. “I hope you’re right,” she mutters.

You sigh and nod. “I hope I am too.” Now slowly worry creeps to you, worry you didn’t want to feel but are sort of glad you do to be able to come up with what you need to tell them.

“Once,” you continue to say. “Ser Jaime comes out and you take him to the ship…” you pause and turn to watch the sky. “If you see things change….” You begin to fiddle with your rings and look down to watch the waves roll in. “Go pick up Rhaenar at Dragonstone, but change courses to White Harbor.”

“Why is that?” Elia questions.

You slowly turn around and face the girls. “There’s a worry….something might shift. You see it and do as I said. I’ll catch up while you’re all in the ocean when I can.”

Sarella notices the fear you couldn’t hide and steps forward to probe. Yet she can’t ask her question because hurried footsteps begin to echo from the staircase at the end of the cave. Is this him?

You meet each of your sisters gazes to share a pressing look that sends them to a fight ready stance, Ellaria gets up from her seat, and you lose the fear and concern to tighten your jaw and harden your gaze.

Eraxis isn’t here, but you now hope she comes soon.

Nevertheless, the footsteps get louder and the sound of heavy breathing soon travels out. The louder they get the more nervous you feel over this entire situation.

What if he turns on you at the last minute? It’d be stupid, really, you have Eraxis, you can hear the gate crumbling down from here, it’d be stupid, but well…people do stupid things for love.

Seconds pass until finally Jaime comes to view as he reaches the last few steps; he meets your gaze with a hardened gaze, but you can notice the flicker of fear over what he’s doing.

“Come,” he directs behind him as he steps down the last steps. When his feet touch the ground Cersei comes to view now, and she immediately stops in her steps as she spots you, your sisters, and Ellaria.

She doesn’t say anything, she tries to look nonchalant, but you see her fear. She looks to her brother expecting a fight, but he gets near her and takes her wrists.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters to her.

And as if on cue, or called by the drama, you begin to hear the flapping of wings before you feel Eraxis breathing behind you—you also notice the horror on Cersei's face now as she sees the dragon.

“No,” she argues and tries to yank her arms back. “No! What are you doing?! Jaime!” She yells and tries to fight back by hitting him on the chest, by pushing him away, so Elia strides over and uses the force Jaime can’t bring himself to use.

“I am so sorry, My Lady,” Elia mutters and yanks her down the steps. “But you will be coming with us. It seems your lover turned against you.” She snickers and throws her forward, letting Ellaria catch her before Cersei can fall.

“I should thank you,” Ellaria tells her as she grabs her jaw to squeeze it. “You let me live to see this.” She scoffs. “You aren't as smart as you thought you were, huh?” She looks her up and down before she lets her face go to instead grab her arm and pull her towards Sarella.

“You can’t do this,” Cersei snaps back at Jaime as Sarella slaps chains around her wrists. “You can’t do this to me! Let me go! Let me go, you fucking whore!”

You click your tongue and shake your head. “Quiet, you’ve lost now, Queen Cersei, we got the upper hand.” You begin to walk towards her, and she shoots you a burning glare.

“It’s over.” You finish saying.

Cersei yanks her arm away from Sarella and walks towards you, making Eraxis begin to growl. “I may have lost, but your battle is only just beginning,” she begins to smirk. “I know your Queen well…”she trails off and glances down at your belly. “Protect what’s yours before she takes them. It’s her you should really fear.”

You swallow thickly and simply look at her with unbothered gaze before stepping aside and letting her face Eraxis. Now her cockiness falls and horror returns. “No,” she mutters and walks back. “No, no, please.” She looks back and cries out. “Jaime, please, I don’t want to die. Please…please.” She walks to him, and you let her grab his collar and beg. “Please don’t hand me to these people. Please…I love you.”

At the sound of her words Jaime takes her hands and glances at them with a saddened gaze as he draws in a small breath.

“Only we matter, only us,” she keeps saying to him. “Please.”

Jaime lets out a deep breath and looks at Cersei with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he says. “But they have to matter more.” He lets her hands go and takes her arm to begin walking her to the boat, whilst she still squirms and fights back.

Your sisters follow after him and you walk to Eraxis, but watch Jaime help her on the boat, while Ellaria stops by you.

“I’ve stopped letting vengeance consume me,” she says. “It took too much away from me. But I will follow you.”

You pull your eyes away from Jaime getting Cersei on the boat and meet Ellaria’s gaze.

“It’s you your uncles believed in, not her, it’s you that we will follow,” she assures you. “You’ve done good Little Sunspot, I’m sure your uncle Oberyn is smiling wherever he may be.”

You offer her a small smile and whisper back. “Thank you. If you wish to return to Sunspear, you may. Return to your daughters, they need their mother.”

She nods. “Yes. They do. I will go home. Just swear to me you won’t forget who you are.”

You nod to assure her. “I swear.”

She caresses your cheek once before turning to climb on the boat, while Jaime gets out and walks to you.

“You won’t be traveling with them?” You ask.

He shakes his head. “No. I don’t think I can. If..if it’s no trouble may you take me to my brother?”

You nod. “Of course. And thank you…I know it must be hard, but…” you trail off as then at that moment bells begin to ring, letting you know that they’ve surrendered. The city surrendered.

“Hear that?” Elia taunts Cersei. “That’s the sound of victory.”

You smile up at the sky in relief and can’t help but grin at Jaime. “It’s over. We’ve done it. Let’s go and meet the others.” You walk to Eraxis and begin to climb on the saddle as your sisters drift away.

“And!” Jaime exclaims from the ground. “Do I just climb on it?!”

“Her!” You correct him as you sit on the saddle. “And yes, climb on! She won’t hurt you…unless you have bad intentions. Do you?”

He shakes his head immediately. “I can feed her my weapons if she’d like!”

You chuckle and shake your head. “No need, just grab onto her, it won’t hurt her, and climb on. You can sit behind me.”

Jaime hesitates, but slowly grabs onto everything you had and struggles to climb on with one hand. But he does, and also eventually throws himself over the saddle.

“Hang on,” you let him know and turn the handles, making Eraxis begin to turn away from the cave, and causing the knight behind you to grip onto your arm.

You snicker and nudge your handles forward to make her begin to ascend to the sky. At the feeling of the dragon lifting off, and at the sight of the waters looking smaller, Ser Jaime gasps.

“How in the seven hells do you do this?!” He yells.

“It gets easier!” You assure him, and feel your amused grin fade as the sight of the city comes to view, it’s untouched, besides the gate and the top of the walls it was all unscathed. That knowledge brings you joy, satisfaction and most importantly relief.

Finally. Finally, after years you can finally return to the ancestral seat your family held for centuries. Dragons will once again rule the sky’s of Kings Landing. At long last you can finally return home—

Wait…wait.

As you fly to Daenerys, towards the gate where Jon will be close by, Daenerys and Drogon suddenly depart from where they were perched. And she’s flying away from the gate, away from where everyone is. She’s flying deeper into the city….

And it’s now that you hear it. In between the silence the bells leave every few seconds you hear the cries for help, the cries for their Queen Cersei. They know that the city has surrendered but the people keep crying out for Cersei. And Daenerys keeps flying away.

She’s just going to the Red Keep….right?

Eraxis turns without command, letting you watch Daenerys, making you catch as Drogon suddenly shoots fire down on the people, destroying everything in his path.

“No,” you whisper. “No, no.”

Jaime lets out a shocked gasp, reminding you of his presence. Tears then begin to roll down your eyes as slowly realization creeps.

“HELP US!!!”

“HAVE MERCY!”

“The city has surrendered—”

“I’m taking you to your brother,” you cut off Jaime and make Eraxis turn away to head towards the gate.

The sound of fire slamming into houses, the sound of screaming now rings out, tuning out the bells, and your realization only heightens.

“What will you do?” Jaime asks you.

“So swear to me that you won’t fight her. I can’t lose you.”

Jon’s words echo in your head, they warn you, and only add fire to that heart shattering realization that….Sansa, Arya, and Lord Varys was right. They all were. And you…you blinded yourself by hope. By the promise of family. You pushed away all your instincts, all your own warnings out of hope she’d do what’s right. And now she’s burning it all away, she’s burning all the people, she’s…killing them.

“Save as many people as you can, Ser,” you ignore his question. “Have the armies retreat and only help who they can. Don’t fight.”

Eraxis gets close to the ground and hovers above to let him down.

“I will,” he says while he climbs off the saddle to begin to climb down. But he stops just before he can get further down to interject once more. “You’re smarter than your father, Princess. I hope you can make the right choice, not for you, or her, but for the lives you want to protect. They may be shit, but they don’t deserve this.”

He’s using your words against you. Smart.

“Don't die,” you redirect.

He shoots you a smirk and begins to climb down, once you hear his feet hit the ground Eraxis ascends again. The moment she’s above the city, all the serenity is replaced by terror, by blazing flames, and black smoke. The air that was once filled with the sounds of bells is now filled with shrieks, pained and dying cries, all over a whim.

No matter how much pain you’re in over what life has thrown at you, you know that they don’t deserve this. Not after they surrendered.

But yet…she’s your aunt, she’s the last bit of family you have left. You love her. Her—

But all those innocents dying, all the burning, all that devastation, it tortures you.

Why? Why does it have to be her?

Why does it have to be you?

FUCK!!!!

Forgive me Jon for breaking the promise.

Without needing to say anything Eraxis flies faster towards Drogon, past the battle that is now happening below. You tighten your grip around your handles and hold back tears. You narrow your gaze on Daenerys and catch Rhaegal join Eraxis' side without Jon on him.

The green dragon follows you, but will he join you in fighting against his mother and her scorn? Or will he fight you?

Doesn’t matter, you have to stand as long as you can and make her stop.

So once you’re finally close, just as you approach her and she thinks you’ll join her by raining down fire, instead you lean forward, and Eraxis quickly slams her head into Drogon, causing him to stop blowing out fire and get thrown to the side, while Daenerys quickly snaps her head over and meets your gaze with bewilderment.

You try not to look hurt, but that pain is shown by the tears that gleam over your eyes and the shaky frown on your face. You don’t say anything either, but she doesn’t need to hear anything, she knows what you want her to do. She holds your gaze actually as if debating; she doesn’t scowl, or move to attack with fire, she holds your gaze with a hint of curiosity.

Yet it’s in that stillness that suddenly Drogon blows out fire against Eraxis’s neck, making her screech out in pain and thrash away from the flames. And due to the sudden attack you don’t get to catch Daenerys reaction; you don’t know if she’s surprised or smug about it.

“<Eraxis!” You yell out as she flies away from Drogon. “Only defend!>” You can’t control Rhaegal, and he hasn’t attacked you nor counter attacked, so you hope he knows that Jon wouldn’t go against you.

“<Only defend!>” You repeat in Valyrian.

You look back and see Drogon open his mouth to throw fire again, so you make Eraxis swoop down and accidently skim over roofs. And now rather than turning to come attack Eraxis and you, Drogon and Daenerys continue to rain fire down on the city, forcing you to direct Eraxis to fly after her and chomp down on his tail when she gets close.

He screeches out, and due to the sudden cry, Rheagal cries too and begins to circle above in confusion on what to do.

It’s okay though, apparently now this fight is you against her: the woman you once wanted to make happy, the woman you once wanted to make laugh, the woman you once wanted join in victory of your family’s return to the throne. As much as it hurts, you have to fight her. And she doesn’t hold back either, Drogon turns around swiftly and snaps at Eraxis. She luckily parries out of the way and hits some tall building nearby, making it crumble.

Drogon continues and blows out fire and flies through it to catch her and you off guard, but Eraxis is lower so she flies up and rams into his throat.

Drogon gurgles, but then counters by gasheing his claws in her chest, causing her to cry out but not attack back. However, that leaves her vulnerable, letting him snap his jaw at you.

Luckily you catch his action in time and let go of your handles to jerk back, missing the clamp of his entire jaw. But, you do manage to get slashed from the bottom of your left eye down to your shoulder

You cry out sharply in pain and throw yourself forward to grab at your bleeding face. Fuck…fuck.

“FUCK!” You bellow. “Fuck,” you pant and snap your head up to glare up at Daenerys looking down at you. No retreat.

You grimace in reaction to what happened, to her inability to stop, but just as you want Eraxis to counter, Rhaegal comes flying by and slams into Drogon, letting his claws scrape off Eraxis’s chest.

You scoot forward and lift off your seat to watch, and catch Drogon slam back into houses. Yet he gains his momentum back quickly by shooting out fire at his brother.

Rhaegal albeit swoops down and misses getting hit, and rather than chasing after him, Drogon faces you and Eraxis, and flies towards you. But this time rather than turning, you fly head on, Eraxis opens her mouth to make him think that she’s going to shoot fire, making him move down. Instead she turns down too mirroring his action, and manages to shoot down and instead hook her claws around his jaw and his neck.

You can see Daenerys holding on for dear life, but you continue to have Eraxis push him down towards the ground so they can stop.

Yet, it’s while you do that, that Drogon swings his tail up and hits Eraxis in the eye, causing her to let go and letting him instead sink his teeth into her throat. Eraxis quickly retaliates by hooking her claws in his chest.

You can’t see Daenerys from here, but you hope she knows to give up this fight. You won’t stop until she gives up or….she’s dead.

But no, she doesn’t make her dragon back up, so you don’t back up either, they both hold onto each other and begin to spin around the sky, managing to crash into some buildings as they do. Rheagal still follows, he keeps on being conflicted by who to fight with, so he watches the dragons dance instead.

And they don’t stop until Eraxis slams Drogon into the wall, that’s when he finally lets her go and lets her fly away over the wall towards the water so you can get away from the city.

Of course Drogon followsand counter attacks by blasting out fire and by flying towards you faster. Just as he gets near her tail, you have her swing around and fly directly towards them.

Yet just as they're going to crash, Eraxis dips down and heads towards the water. Right before she can crash she swoops up and skims her body over the water. You quickly snap your head up and think you might have a minute to catch your breath, but you catch Drogon flying towards you, so after a frustrated groan, you direct Eraxis to fly up. She proceeds to slam into him, throwing him up.

You look down thinking Daenerys will fall, but somehow she keeps holding on. She really must have some grips of steel.

She’s also fucking preinsistent.

Whatever the case, you make Eraxis fly up a bit before drifting to the side to try and fly towards the army’s, so she’d leave you alone.

However, as Eraxis is drifting in the sky, Drogon catches up and just as he’s flying past you he scrapes his claws down, cutting the restraints of your saddle…You aren’t hooked on so as the saddle falls, you fall down too, towards the water. You can only watch Drogon grow smaller, you spot Daenerys silver-white hair above, you catch her turn her head but can’t read her reaction again, you just see her grow smaller until all you see is water when you crash in it.

All you feel is disbelief and fear for your life. For your children’s life. You see darkness, below the surface is covered in it. The only light you see is the flash of memories as your life flashes; every moment, your childhood, your father singing to you, Rhaenys and her cat, your mother, Dorne, adventures with your cousins, Rhaenar being born, meeting her for the first time, meeting Jon, being with him, and this moment.

How did you end up here? Drowning in the waters that surround what was once your home. How?

It’s hard to breathe now, it’s hard to keep your eyes open any longer so whatever amount of light that does break through the waters surface fades.

As your eyes begin to flutter shut, there is a flash of white. Death maybe?

No. Something sweeter because you feel air in your lungs again when you feel water escape out of your mouth. You feel your eyes burn for a moment, and see glimpses of the smoke littered sky, and of….Eraxis?

Yes, it's her. And a darker dragon above. Drogon! You try to react, but you can hardly move.

Alas, when your consciousness does return you realize it’s only Rhaegal. Which is good, you feel weak and just in horrible sharp burning pain. It’s aching. It makes Eraxis flying feel like an eternity, when it’s not, it’s short since she lands where the armies, and you had camped last night. She drops you off just on the shore, in the water, causing your wounds to sting as the salt water hits them.

You groan out, but get on your hands and knees even if it hurts to add pressure to your left arm.

“Someone!” You hear the sound of a familiar voice. “Get a maester, get a healer!”

You hear the sound of approaching footsteps, you feel Eraxis try to help you by nudging you to your feet with her snout. “<Thank you, girl.>” You mumble and straighten up.

Your feet wobble, but you remain up and see Jon running to you, you see Ser Jaime and others running to you, you see the soot covered army looking at you barely standing on the shore.

“It’s the Princess!” You hear.

“She’s alive!”

“Get her!”

Those men who were running to you suddenly stop though as Eraxis lifts up and stretches out her wings behind you. She roars out, making some gasp. Jon though doesn’t stop, he comes to you, he reaches you just as you can’t hold up anymore, just as you close your eyes and pass out.

——

*SOMETIME LATER*

A ruined Red Keep returns to your dreams. Two cradles stand in the middle. You see the snow fall through the gaps on the ceiling. And fire begins to grow around the floor, but that’s it, it always ends the same way, so abruptly. Just like now.

When you wake up albeit, it’s slow, you take in the brightness slowly as you’re actually blinded by the clarity that shines over your eyes. Pain is the first thing that greets you, really bad, sharp and aching pain that radiates from your face down to your shoulder. And it’s when you’re overwhelmed by that same pain that your memory is triggered and passes you like a flash, reminding you of every moment of the battle against…Daenerys, up until you passed out on the shore after seeing Jon.

That means that…the babies….

No you can’t muster that possibility so you sit up to call for someone, only spotting Jon sitting right by you on a chair rather than the bed. He’s passed out so peacefully so you take this moment to study him, make sure that he isn’t hurt.

Which he isn’t. It’d be a shame to wake him though. He looks quite beautiful sleeping.

Yet as if he can feel your stare his eyes soon flutter open, and the moment he realizes you’re awake he jolts up and rushes to your side to cup your cheeks.

“Did you just wake up? Why didn’t you wake me?”

You grin softly and grab his hands. “I enjoyed watching you sleep. You looked quite beautiful.”

He scoffs and shakes his head softly before he fills with concern once more “Are you okay?” He asks.

You nod stiffly. “In pain, but yes I’m fine.” You try to offer him an assuring smile, but your worry plagues you. “Jon…what about the babies?”

Jon lips tug to a faint smile. “The maester says they’re fine, they’ve been moving like usual, they’re fine. You just need to be at bed rest for a few weeks to make sure that you don’t come under more strain until your body is healed.”

You sigh with relief and pull his hands in front of you to press your forehead against his hands. “I’m sorry Jon, forgive me for breaking the promise, for putting the babies in danger. I’m sorry.” You mumble with a quivering tone as tears are quick to fill your eyes.

Nevertheless, Jon being the man he is is gentle as he cups your jaw and tilts your head up so you can meet his soft and assuring gaze.

“There’s nothing to forgive, my love,” he assures you softly. “I…didn’t like that you put your life in danger but it was necessary. Thanks to your counter attack, thousands of innocents lived.”

You blink in surprise and feel speechless.

“The city was left alone after Daenerys returned to the city. All she destroyed after was the Red Keep,” he continues to share the news with you. “We were able to retreat. All our armies. Of course the Unsullied and the Dothraki stayed, they’ve taken the city now….”

That was always the plan.

“Rhaenar,” Jon mentions with a smile. “He was picked up from Dragonstone before Daenerys could send word to the army that remained there.”

You smile softly and look around for him but he isn’t here. “Where is he?” You ask.

“Traveling with your sisters. We can’t risk stopping until we reach White Harbor. But I’ve made Rhaegal protect him and the rest of the Dornish fleet from the skies, they’re only a few hours behind. Cersei is also still with them, that’s the best place she’ll be.”

You scoff. “My sisters would never let her out of their sight.” You glance down and sigh. “Ser Jaime?” You ask now that you’re speaking of the Lannisters.

“Here,” Jon answers. “He’s on the boat. He helped us bring you in actually.”

You glance up at Jon and whisper. “Good. See…he did his part.”

Jon scoffs and nods slowly. “I never doubted you.”

You grin softly and caress his cheek. “The others?”

Jon nods. “Hurt, but they’ll be okay.”

You begin to snicker as your worry about them passes and refer to his other sister now. “Sansa? Has she gotten word about what happened? She’ll be happy when she hears who we captured.”

“Yes, she’s heard. Yet all I have read have been concerns and scoldings about you.”

You giggle. “As expected. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I’m sure she’ll tie you down to the bed once you get home.” He adds with a soft grin.

You scoff softly and nod. “Oh I'm counting on it.” You then proceed to meet his gaze and begin to frown since you know that this is only the happy news, you can also see dread in his eyes, it’s not hard to miss.

“What?” You probe in a serious manner. “Tell me. Is it Eraxis?”

Jon frowns and averts his gaze. “No, she’s wounded but she’s fine. She just needs rest. It’s….Daenerys. She’s now considered us traitors. All of us, The North, Dorne, The Reach, The Vale.”

“Okay,” you nod in comprehension and sit back. “That’s expected, I attacked her in front of thousands. Even if it was to save the people she will never see it as anything but betrayal.” You drift your eyes back to him and see only more discontent that now makes your heart pound, and your stomach sink and twist. “What?”

“When the Lords heard what happened,” Jon begins to explain hesitantly. “They suggested we continue to fight against Daenerys for what she did against Kings Landing, and press your claim. So far the Kingdoms that were named as traitors against her and her crown are the ones sided with us, the others are still to be determined.”

Wait….wait? If so much was shared that means that it hasn’t been one day that passed. You were so caught up with everything else that that thought never crossed your mind until now.

“Jon,” you mutter. “How many days has it been since the attack?”

Jon swallows thickly. “A couple weeks. You’ve been in and out. We’re a week away from arriving at White Harbor.”

“And Daenerys?” You probe. “Besides declaring us traitors, has there been a word from her?”

Jon shakes his head. “No. She just named herself Queen. But she has said nothing else. She’s probably waiting for your next move.”

Next move? You didn’t declare war, you just defended the people she said she wouldn’t hurt, the people that had no fault in this war. You only kept her from having her be hated even more by the people. And! She attacked you back first, after that you only defended yourself.

And of course Dorne, and the North weren’t going to like her attacking you, nor were the other Kingdoms apparently who are now siding in a war you still don’t want.

“No,” you interject bluntly. “I won’t declare war or name myself Queen.” You narrow your gaze on Jon and shake your head. “That’s not what I wanted. I don’t want to be her foe, I won’t.” You sit up straight and clench your jaw. “If they want a war they can do it themselves, but I’ll exhaust all my chances to have her forgive me, I still believe in her—”

“She attacked you,” Jon cuts you off . “You, her niece, after keeping her from raining down fire on innocent people. Of course the lords are going to take that as an act of betrayal on her part.”

“You agree?” You press in confusion.

Jon blinks and sighs. “I don’t agree with seeking war, but I know that sometimes there’s no other choice, we have to know when to give up even if it comes to her. I know you care for her, but you need to think about it, y/n. Really think about it.”

The answer is still the same. “I won’t fight against her. That’s my word. And if they want to follow me then they’ll listen. They don’t know what war with dragons means, I’m trying to spare them from tragedy.”

Jon remains quiet, he seems as if he wants to add more, but if that’s what you want then he’ll trust you.

“Alright,” Jon interjects. “We won’t declare war or press your claim. We will try to mend the relationship then.”

You smile finally and nod. “Just give her one more chance,” you say. “Just one more.”

A/N-IM SO EXCITED! IM SO EXCITED!! It only gets BETTER AHH!!

Tagged: @watercolorskyy @jessimay89 @cecespizza01 @theroyalbrownbarbie @crybabyatthediscooffandoms @neenieweenie @midnightpantherxo @ashleyforeverareject

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lamaenthel · 11 months ago

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Tivaevae | Chapter Seven: Stitch In The Ditch

Still struggling to emotionally recover from Master Obi-Wan's deception, Ahsoka discovers in the aftermath that twelve-year-old Boba Fett has been locked up among adults in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center. After convincing Chancellor Palpatine to grant him a pardon, she manages to secure his release on the condition that she serve as his legal guardian. Now, with the help of Master Plo and the Wolfpack, she vows to help him track down what family he has left.

| AO3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |

Fandom: Star Wars Characters: Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, Plo Koon, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Kanan Jarrus, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CC-1119 | Appo, Dexter Jettster, FLO | WA-7 (Star Wars), Shaak Ti, ARC Commander Blitz (Star Wars), CT-6922 | Dogma, Original Clone Trooper Character(s) (Star Wars), CC-3636 | Wolffe, Clone Trooper Sinker (Star Wars), Clone Trooper Comet (Star Wars), CC-2224 | Cody, CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-4860 | Boost, Aurra Sing, Tobias Beckett, Null-11 | Ordo Skirata, Kal Skirata, Original Mandalorian Characters (Star Wars), Original Droid Characters (Star Wars), Original Jedi Character(s) (Star Wars) Total Word Count: 123,000 Chapter Word Count: 11,878 Chapter Summary: Ahsoka, Boba, and the Wolfpack explore the catacombs of Geonosis in search of Jango's armor.

Not long after the Republic had re-secured Geonosis, a permanent outpost had been established on the surface to hopefully keep it in Republic hands. Ahsoka had no idea what had happened to the native Geonosian population since they seemed to have mostly disappeared, with only a few sightings floating through intel every now and again. The general consensus was that whoever was left had fled into their endless catacombs, leaving the surface occupied by clone troopers who constantly surveilled the dustball for Seppie activity.

Their landing site at the base was not far from the arena where Jango Fett had lost his life and was still under heavy construction. It housed the ARF troopers that made up Sandsnake Squadron, a division of the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps. There were six of the Sandsnakes wearing armor painted a dusty-red camo pattern waiting to greet them on the landing pad. The one wearing deep violet kama and a stripe of the same color up his arm stepped forward as Ahsoka's group departed The Babasta. He had painted fangs on the side plating of his helmet.

"Atten-tion!" bellowed the commander, his lilac aura flush with silver authority-respect. All six clones saluted them.

"Koh-to-yah, Commander Pelter," Plo greeted him and returned his salute. "At ease. It is good to finally meet you."

"Thank you, Sir," Pelter said warmly, relaxing. His men behind him did the same. "Follow me, if you would."

"But of course."

As they walked, Ahsoka fished two sets of nose plugs out of her belt pocket and handed one to Boba. The micromesh allowed her to still mostly keep her sense of smell, but if she had to choose a planet to never to smell again Geonosis would be it. It was dusty, musty, and had an uncurrent of sulfur and rotting meat. It was truly just a gross planet, one that she had no fondness for after being both shot down and buried alive on. "Put these on."

"I'm not wearing that shit," Boba said flatly, staring at the nose plugs.

"Yes you are," Ahsoka said primly, inserting her own set. "Unless you want brain worms."

"Unless I want what?" Boba stared at her, his aura gone lime with disbelief-suspicion.

"Brain worms. Mind-controlling brain worms." Ahsoka gave him a narrow grin. "Welcome to Geonosis."

Boba's eyes darted in between her and the nose plugs in his hand, then he hastily shoved them in. "Not my first time on fucking Geonosis," he mumbled bitterly.

Ahsoka winced at her gaffe. "I know." She patted him on the back sympathetically. "Hopefully it'll be the last for both of us."

They followed Commander Pelter into the sprawling, half-finished base and down a labyrinth of halls with exposed wiring and metal beams until they reached the commhub. A holotable topped with a slowly-rotating, glowing map of tunnels was waiting. "We've had our scouts down in the tunnels with drone mappers since we heard you were on your way, Sir," Pelter began. "We've cleared all chambers down to sector nine, as you can see here–" he pointed to a small offshoot at the base of the hive-shaped rock formation, " –and we've mapped out a grid of an additional nineteen sectors with ground-penetrating radar, though we can't speak to what's in them. The rock interferes with most of our equipment. It's almost impossible to get an accurate read without actually going down there."

"Excellent work, Commander." Plo turned to Ahsoka. "Where do you propose we begin our search, Padawan?"

Ahsoka examined the map, specifically a small, unexplored section in the southeast sector directly below level nine. It was wide open and led to a labyrinth of tunnels, but every time she looked away she found her gaze pulled back to it. She made her decision. "We'll start here," she said, pointing to sector nine. "It's been cleared, so it should be safe enough for now."

"And then?" Plo tilted his head.

"Then, Master, we should meditate. If you act as a focus for our session then I can cast out my aura much further than on my own. Hopefully I'll be able to sense if the armor is nearby and we'll at least have a general idea of where to look."

"I have no objections," Plo replied. "Commander Wolffe, do you have any suggestions?"

"We should bring Arseven. He can keep us on track with the map." Wolffe patted the astromech on the head. "Just don't get left behind, ul'ika."

Arseven honked in nervous agreement.

"Then go ahead and finish any preparations you need to for our task," Plo said. "And Commander Pelter, if you can spare a LAAT/i, we are more than capable of flying ourselves down. There is no need to distract you from your duties."

Pelter nodded. "We'll get one staged for you, Sir. I'll load it with a comm booster. These rocks… they really block everything."

Ahsoka remembered that unfortunate fact all too well. "Here, Boba, put this on." She snapped her cuirass over his chest before he could protest.

"Uh, 'kay." Boba craned his head around to look at his back. "This isn't bad. Where'd you learn how to work plastoid, Tano?"

"I didn't, Rex made it for me," she replied.

Boba smirked and his aura went brassy gold humor-exasperation.

"What?" Ahsoka asked, frowning.

"Nothing." Boba snickered, then mumbled something that sounded like oblivioussayswhat.

"Wh–" She narrowed her eyes and smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

"Boost, I assume you are handling munitions as per usual?" Plo asked him.

"Yes, Sir," Boost replied.

"Excellent. Do not forget a blaster for Boba upon your return from the armory."

The Wolfpack, Ahsoka, and Boba all stared at Plo, their auras gone bright white with surprise. Ahsoka mentally tucked away the argument she'd been practicing in her head for the better part of an hour that advocated for arming Boba and bounced on her heels, trying not to smirk.

"Sir, are you sure?" Wolffe asked quietly, glancing at Boba.

"I see no reason not to. These tunnels could prove dangerous, and Boba is a skilled shot."

"We don't know what's down there, Sir," Wolffe continued, tearing his eyes from Boba. "Shouldn't he stay at the base?"

"I don't think so, no."

Plo smiled warmly at the boy and Ahsoka's heart did a happy somersault. Boba's aura was a pale, sunshine yellow with surprise-gratitude-flattery.

"If you say so, Sir," Wolffe mumbled, turning away with beige unease-anxiety clouding his aura.

"Klef, make sure they all get a liquid nitrogen canister," Pelter ordered one of the Sandsnakes, then turned to Ahsoka and tapped on a small spray can mounted on his wrist. "Just in case you run into any of those little slimeballs," he said.

"Good thinking," Ahsoka agreed, shuddering inwardly. The thought of those worms anywhere near her brain ever again just… ew. At least she knew better than to murder a clone for falling victim to it, unlike Barriss.

Barris was such a hypocrite. All she ever did anymore – well, at least before Umbara, Ahsoka hadn't spoken to the bitch since their fight – was whine about the abhorrent violence of the war, but when her life was on the line she didn't even hesitate. Poor Trap didn't deserve to die because she was a stupid, reactionary cu–

"Ahsoka," Plo said, interrupting her racing thoughts. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka said, smiling wanly. "Just… unpleasant memories of this place."

"Hey, it'll be fine," Boba reassured her. "I'll watch your back. Just don't wander off."

Ahsoka saw the way Plo's aura went gold with humor and she patted Boba on the back, stifling her own grin.

Ahsoka kept a hand on Boba's shoulder so he didn't get tossed off the side of the LAAT/i as Comet set it down. His aura was practically vibrating with pale gold excitement-anxiety and he hadn't taken his hand off of his borrowed deece since he'd strapped it on.

"Come, come." Plo hopped off of the side of the gunship and ignited his lightsaber. The chamber was fairly bright, as the chamber was open to the bright orange sky, but the corners were dark. He stood over a wide hole in the southwestern section, roughly three meters wide and pitch-black. "Sector eight can be reached through this tunnel," he informed them. "I shall go first to ensure that the chamber has not been retaken by any Geonosians, then we can continue on to sector nine."

"Sir, let me," Wolffe immediately offered, but Plo held up a serene hand.

"I insist," he said mildly, then before Wolffe could protest any further, he jumped into the hole and disappeared.

"I hate it when he does that," Wolffe growled.

Arseven beeped to concur.

"He do that often?" Mangle asked, peering down the hole with his lights on.

"He always goes first," Boost grumbled. "He likes to worry us. I think he thinks it's funny."

"It is funny," Ahsoka smirked. "He's a Jedi Master, but you'd all tuck him into a box with packing peanuts and a fragile sticker on it if you could."

Wolffe had his bucket on, but she could tell he was glaring at her by how chartreuse his aura was. "Rex might think the suicidal tendencies of the Jedi are cute but we don't, Ahs'ika."

"We're not suicidal!" Ahsoka laughed. "We're just confident in our abilities. It's a shame that the 104th doesn't have the same faith in Master Plo as the 501st has in Master Skywalker and I."

"Oi!" Comet protested, lime with offense. "Nobody said that!"

Sinker snickered. "Very funny, Commander. What you don't realize is that poor Rex has just given up on trying to rein you two in. You and Skywalker give him a heart attack every day."

"Clear!" Plo's booming voice echoed up from the tunnel.

"I'm sending Boba down first!" Ahsoka called down. "Catch him!"

"Catch?" Boba asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Ahsoka said maybe a little too gleefully before lifting him with the Force over the tunnel. "Ready?"

"Um–" Boba said frantically.

"Down you go!"

His yelping echoed all the way down until it terminated with a shriek. It reminded her of when she and Anakin had thrown Rex off of that wall and she couldn't help but smile wickedly.

"Did you die?" she called down.

"Can you fucking warn me next time?" Boba squawked.

"I did! Coming down!" She jumped down the tunnel and slid down the smooth stone walls for a good ten seconds, then landed in a crouch at the base of a massive chamber. Green xenon lights had been affixed to the stone walls and there were stalagmites – or were they stalactites? She could never remember the difference – jutting from both the roof and floor. She gave the seething red Boba, who was still being held by a golden Master Plo, a fond pat on the head.

"See!" she said brightly. "Nothing to worry about."

"If you ever do that again, I'll shoot you in the kneecap," Boba snapped as Plo put him down.

"Yeah, yeah," Ahsoka smirked at him.

The Wolfpack slid down one at a time after her, followed by a screeching Arseven who was firing his jets wildly.

"Easy, buddy, easy," Ahsoka said soothingly, patting him on the head.

The droid whimpered and tilted forward for more pets.

"Aw, what's wrong, Arseven?" she asked.

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚖," Arseven beeped miserably.

"Don't worry, buddy, they're organic worms, that's what your liquid nitrogen is for. You're safe."

"Just keep your ports closed, my little friend." Plo patted him fondly as he passed. "Poor Arseven dislikes enclosed spaces. They make him nervous. He much prefers the open air. I couldn't ask for a better copilot."

Arseven happily bounced on his servos at the compliment.

"Come now," Plo continued. "Sector nine is just ahead."

Ahsoka kept her mouth open as she walked behind Plo and clicked softly in the back of her throat, trying to get a better idea of the dark tunnel they walked through in her head.

"What are you doing?" Boba asked, green with curiosity. His big amber eyes were nearly swallowed up by his pupils in the darkness.

"I hear better with my mouth open," Ahsoka replied.

"What?" Boba looked confused.

Ahsoka pointed to her montrals. "No holes," she smiled. "If I open my mouth I can hear almost twice as well. And if I click I can get a mental picture of what's in front of us."

"Fucking hawkbat," Boba muttered, shaking his head.

"Here we are," Plo announced as the tunnel opened into a new chamber, taller than the first. More xenon lights had been screwed into the rock walls, colored eerie green that bleached the red rock into gray. Plo took a seat in the lotus position on a large, flat rock in the center and gestured for Ahsoka to join him.

Ahsoka sank down opposite to him. "Boba, I'm going to be concentrating for the foreseeable future," she announced. "Watch my back."

Boba gave her a nod. He'd drawn his deece and held it down, but ready. His aura was nervous and dirty beige with anxiety-unease.

"It's going to be okay," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Just don't wander off."

Boba rolled his eyes and moved closer to Wolffe.

"Shall we begin?" Plo rumbled.

"Yes, Master." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me," Plo joined her. "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

Ahsoka continued to whisper the words as she let her consciousness relax and expand. First her orange aura, normally held tight and protected against her body, slowly flowed out like soft fog and blended with Plo's warm copper to make a shining russet. Their breathing synced together and she became more aware and less at the same time, focusing on the minutiae of their environment rather than the macro. Plo held her steady while she spread their aura thin; she heard the tiny beetles scrambling over the walls dislodging dust, flies buzzing around the lights, spiderwebs creaking and clicking as their architects tapped across them to wrap their trapped prey in silk, the soft slap of Wolffe's kama against his plastoid thighplates–

She took a frustrated breath. She needed to go out, but it felt like she couldn't even leave the room.

"Focus, Padawan," Plo murmured. He took her hands and squeezed. "Let go of your frustrations and stop searching. Let the Force guide your path. I will keep you from becoming lost."

She tried again. Their aura stretched further, searching, brushing, touching the walls of the tunnels near her. She took it all in softly, listening and feeling for anything that didn't belong. There was a sudden ripple on the very edge of their aura, a tug like a shy child trying to get an elder's attention by grabbing their sleeve.

It retreated once she noticed it, and she followed it down a dark tunnel in a northern direction. There was a quiet song that she couldn't quite hear emanating from this tunnel, almost like a bell that chimed and pulsed at the same time, as soft and resonant as a memory. She flowed after it over the rocks and dirt like smoke, on and on and on as the song became louder and–

Nothing. Whatever was tugging on their aura was gone like a fish on a broken line and the song quickly died away. Ahsoka huffed, frustrated, and pulled back once more. She opened her eyes and frowned. "I thought I had something, but–"

"I saw." Plo squeezed her hands. "Do you think the armor would call out in such a way?"

"What do you mean, Master?" Ahsoka asked. She gently detangled their auras and leaned back on her elbows.

"We are looking for the armor. It is not looking for us." Plo looked troubled; his aura was turquoise and was as flat and still as a pond. "I do not think that we are alone down here."

Ahsoka's eyes widened and dread clenched in her belly like a fist. "Boba?" she called, looking around.

"Right here." Boba peeked his head out from behind Wolffe. "Me'vaar ti gar?"

"Naas. Just checking in." She turned nervous eyes to Plo. "What do you think, Master?"

Plo thought silently for a moment. "Whatever is down here is not likely to be friendly," he finally said. "We should continue with caution. I do not like the idea of such an unknown entity so close to the ARF base."

"Agreed," she said, and got to her feet. "The question is, do we follow it or not?"

"Right before our connection was broken, I heard a melody," said Plo. "Did you also hear it?"

Ahsoka nodded. "Did you recognize it?" she asked.

"Possibly. I have never heard the song myself, but I have read tales in the Jedi Archives about the resonance of certain materials in the Force, only audible to those who know how to listen. Beskar is said to have an exceptionally clear tone, like a bell."

"You think the armor was singing?" Ahsoka asked a little skeptically.

"There is only one way to find out." Plo gestured to Boba. "Stay close, son. I want all of you to stay vigilant. Ahsoka and I sensed a presence in these tunnels, one that wants us to follow it. We proceed with utmost caution from here on out."

Arseven honked in a way that sounded very much like uh oh.

"Ahsoka, I must ask you something," Plo said softly as they proceeded single-file down the northern tunnel.

"What is it, Master?" she asked.

"Are you doing alright?" Plo asked, his aura a gentle teal with protection-concern-affection.

"Master?"

"Your presence feels heavy in the Force. It has not felt so heavy since…" Plo hesitated, then glanced back at her. "Since Xior-Cal."

Ahsoka didn't answer. She wasn't sure how to. There was no ceremony from her culture to help her move on this time. For a few insane moments she fantasized about knocking one of Obi-Wan's teeth out and feeding it to Hinata.

"I'm okay," she said after she realized she'd been silent for at least ten awkward seconds. "I am. I'm alright."

"When we meditated on the journey here, you had trouble fully surrendering yourself to the Force. More difficulty than I've ever seen you have, even as a child."

"I know," she admitted. "I'm not centered like I should be, Master. I'm working on it."

"Strong emotions cloud our connection to the Force. That is why it is so important to release them, Padawan." Plo's aura went dark and rich with affection-comfort. "Whatever I can do to help you move past this, please tell me. Not just for the sake of our mission, but for your own wellbeing. You are a beacon of light in a galaxy that becomes darker with every moment this war continues. It breaks my heart to see you so dim."

Plo was right, she needed to get it together. She was mentally spinning, having trouble concentrating and unfocused. They didn't have time for her to be so off-balance. Boba didn't have time.

"Arseven, the map, if you would," Plo rumbled.

Arseven beeped pitifully and projected what he had; according to the ground-penetrating radar that the Sandsnakes had used there was another large, open chamber at the end of the tunnel.

"Ahsoka, wait here with the others," Plo instructed. "Wait for my call."

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka replied, and she watched Plo dip around the edge of the tunnel.

"And now we wait," Wolffe grumbled, his aura gone a deep teal with protection-annoyance-affection. He leaned against the side of the tunnel and checked his chrono. "He's got five minutes."

"Before you swoop in and save him?" Ahsoka asked, trying not to laugh.

"Before I send your mouthy shebs in after him," Wolffe grumbled.

Ahdoka leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, smirking. "I bet y–" she began, but stopped once she noticed Boba. He was frowning and playing with the strap on his holster; his aura was green with curiosity but ringed with yellow embarrassment again. "What's the matter?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing," he mumbled. A ribbon of smokey dishonesty circled around him.

"Boba, what's the matter?" Ahsoka dropped to one knee. "What happened, what did we say?"

Boba glanced up. "I don't want to piss you off," he said, still fidgeting. His eyes flicked over to Wolffe and his aura went darker yellow.

Ahsoka put a hand on his shoulder. "You won't, I promise. Now what is it?"

"What was Xior-Cal?" he asked hesitantly. Ahsoka realized he was afraid that she would react the way Wolffe had when he had asked about his scar.

"You don't have to answer that, Commander," Wolffe said immediately, putting a protective hand on her shoulder. "Listen, kid–"

"I'm fine." Ahsoka patted Wolffe's hand and gave him a grateful look. "It's okay, Wolffe."

"You don't need to be thinking about all of that right now," Wolffe growled. His visor turned to Boba and his aura was almost opaque teal with protection-resentment. Not towards Boba, no, towards even the memory of Clan Sylen.

Ahsoka had been horribly injured at the end of her fight with Dol and his family, too injured to stay for the aftermath. Plo had arrived on his Venator a few hours after she'd left. Wolffe had overseen the evacuation of Clan Sylen's slaves, he'd been in Dol's breeding pits. He knew exactly what fate Ahsoka had escaped.

"Then let me tell him so we don't have to linger on the subject," Ahsoka said gently, then turned back to Boba. "A horrible man – an exiled Mandalorian, actually – he kidnapped Jesse and I and took us to a planet he'd taken over called Xior-Cal. He wanted to marry me and then use me to claim the Darksaber for him so he could overthrow Satine Kryze."

"Is that who you were talking about before with Nala Se?" Boba asked. The yellow bled into red anger.

"Yeah." She smiled at him and stood. "There's more to the story, but that's the gist."

"That's why he's so protective of you," Boba said, his aura tinged mint with realization-understanding. "Jesse, I mean."

"One reason, yeah," Ahsoka laughed softly.

"Clear!" Plo declared ahead of them. "Be careful, watch your step when walking. The chamber floor is cracked down the center."

Ahsoka led the squad out, keeping a careful eye on their path. She clicked in the back of her throat as they walked; there were no lights in this chamber and it felt oppressively dark outside of the small circle of light her lightsaber emitted, but she got the impression that the chamber was vaguely egg-shaped without any stalagmites. She was unwillingly reminded of the chamber she and Jesse had hidden in from Dol and his vassals underneath the moonless Xior-Cal's chandanam grove. "Stay close," she ordered Boba, joining Plo on a flat rock in the center. There was a wide hairline crack down the middle of it that they stood on either side of.

"Yeah." Boba swallowed hard and glanced around.

"Hey, kid. C'mere." Boost fished something out of one of his pouches and handed it to Boba. "Snap it on the bottom of the barrel. There's a magnetic lock."

Boba carefully applied whatever it was Boost had handed him and a flashlight flicked on once the magnet had clicked.

"This was the chamber where we lost our lead," Plo said quietly. He took her hands and they sank to their knees together. "We will begin again, but be careful, Padawan."

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka murmured. "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." She whispered the words in tandem with Plo as she once again melded their auras and reached out in a russet fog. Above them was a quietly tittering nest of bat-like creatures that squeaked and shivered amongst themselves. Ahsoka could feel their apprehension, their anxiety; they wanted them to leave and posed no danger. She continued on and tasted the gritty, musty dirt in her mouth, felt the rough texture of the newly-dug walls, heard a clear, pulsing bell that vibrated her teeth–

"Newly dug," Plo murmured. "This chamber is freshly made."

"Yes," she whispered back. "Do you hear it? The bell."

"I do. It is much louder than before."

"Do you think we're close?" she asked.

"I cannot say for certain."

Ahsoka felt sweat drip down the side of her face. The humidity of the chamber was beginning to rise, oddly, but what was causing it? "Master, do you feel–"

s ʜ ᴏ ᴡ ᴍ ᴇ

A foreign voice hissed the words in her mind at the same time the rocks cracked overhead, scaring the life out of her. It shook the walls and loosened a torrent of pebbles. Something grabbed a hold of her aura; not the shy tug of a curious child like before, but a chitinous hand that closed like a spike trap.

s ʜ ᴏ ᴡ ᴍ ᴇ ᴍ ᴏ ʀ ᴇ

"Master Plo–" she whimpered. Her lekku stung as they began to rapidly swell, reflexively trying to scare away whatever had a hold of her.

"Ahsoka, stay with me!" Plo's voice boomed both out loud and in her mind. "Focus on me, Padawan!"

Ahsoka tried but she felt her aura detangling from his and she couldn't stop it–

The floor gave way without warning and Boba rolled, too shocked to even scream. He landed with a grunt and rolled about ten feet, tangled up in the limbs of his twitching ori'vod and almost crushed by the squealing weight of Arseven.

"Ahsoka!" Plo shouted. "Boba, are you–"

"INCOMING!" Wolffe roared, then all Boba heard was blaster fire, the humming of a lightsaber, and the clicking screams of Geonosian drones. "WE'RE SURROUNDED!"

The chamber above shook. Dust and a shower of rocks fell down where Boba and Ahsoka had landed. "Tano," Boba said quietly, hoping the blaster fire above would be loud enough to cover his voice. If whatever was attacking the Wolfpack realized they were alone they'd be dead in seconds. "Wake up, Tano. Come on." He shook Ahsoka but she was completely out, and if her lekku weren't twitching like snakes Boba would have thought that she was dead. He dragged her around the edge of the rock they'd rolled down and pressed himself against it. He swept dust and pebbles off of her lips before she choked on them.

Arseven began to rapidly meep, panicked at being separated from Plo. "Quiet!" Boba hissed at the flailing astromech. "Get over here!"

Arseven meeped pitifully one more time then fell silent and rolled out of sight of the upper chamber.

"Fall back, fall back!" Wolffe yelled.

"Men, to the tunnel!" Boba heard Plo boom above him. "Boba, ke'haaranovor!"

Boba closed his eyes and tried not to hyperventilate. He hadn't heard the noise of a Geonosian army since… since…

It didn't matter. He had to keep it together.

Blaster fire started to become muffled as the troopers presumably entered the tunnel. Boba held his breath until he couldn't hear clicking anymore. He had thankfully kept a hand on his blaster, and he used the flashlight to examine where the hell they were once he was fairly certain that all of the bugs had been drawn away. It looked like the floor had just opened and they'd fallen into a much older chamber below. It smelled even worse than the first and he saw why immediately; there were dozens of bodies in the room, all wearing white plastoid armor. They'd been there a while, probably since the very first deployment. There was nothing but bones and leathery sinew left of them. Boba nervously adjusted his nose plugs and looked at Arseven. "Show me the map."

Boba examined Arseven's projection; the chamber they were in was thankfully on what the Sandsnakes had found with their ground penetrating radar and they were close to the eastern side of the hive. "That tunnel to our right," he whispered. "It leads right up against the side of the canyon. Think we can cut our way out with the laser sword?"

Arseven quietly honked.

"Alright, follow me." Boba holstered his deece. He crouched beside his twitching Togruta guardian and hoisted her tall, skinny body onto his back. "Fat fucking head," he grunted as he struggled to his feet, slipping and sliding on the debris. Her legs were so long that they dragged on the ground. He spared a glance upward at the last echoes of retreating blaster fire then turned and struggled on towards the tunnel.

Arseven beeped at him, hesitating.

"We can't get up there," Boba hissed. "Plo said to hide and we can't just sit out in the open like this, we need to keep her safe until she snaps out of it. Come on, I need your light."

Arseven sadly beeped and illuminated the tunnel ahead.

"Keep an eye on our backs, would you?" Boba whispered as they made their way through the pitch black. He could still hear insectoid clicks and distant blaster fire echoing through the stone. If they were jumped, he'd have to toss Ahsoka off his back and draw as quickly as possible. Hopefully her tails would cushion her big head in the fall.

Fuck, this was stupid. They never should have come here. The only reason they were crawling through a shabla bug nest at all was because he had cried about his dad and Ahsoka didn't know when to stop trying to help. Now she was probably going to die – well, fuck, they were probably both going to die, who was he kidding – and it was all his fault. Typical. He had managed to find the one person in the galaxy who wanted to help him, actually help him without wanting anything in return, and he was the one who was going to get her killed.

Tiarek was going to be furious. About her, at least. Boba still wasn't sure what his brother thought about him; he cared, clearly, but Boba wasn't sure if it was just his sense of honor or if he maybe felt the memories that the kaminii demagolkase had stolen from him, locked deep in his mind.

Arseven honked frantically and spun his spotlight behind them. Boba tossed Ahsoka to the ground and aimed his blaster in the direction of the light.

Something tiny, reptilian, and vaguely rat-shaped scurried across the floor of the tunnel.

Boba lowered his blaster and glared at Arseven. "I meant for Geonosians," he snapped at the astromech.

Arseven cooed apologetically and if Boba didn't know better he would have said that the droid was embarrassed.

"She's probably already got a concussion, you know," Boba grunted at the droid as he hauled Ahsoka onto his back again. "She – ugh – she doesn't need – come on, you leggy bitch – any more head trauma." He finally got her up and turned just in time to see a hissing Geonosian drone at the end of the tunnel raise its spear.

Boba tried to draw but he wasn't fast enough. The spear hit him square in the chestplate and sent him flying backwards. He landed hard on Ahsoka and heard a sick crunching noise.

Arseven screeched and sprayed liquid nitrogen in the drone's face. It reared back, screaming and clawing at its eyes. Boba aimed from the ground and plugged it three times in the face, then it fell dead to the ground with a noise like a tea kettle.

"Fuck," Boba panted, lowering his smoking blaster. "Fucking fuck!" He yanked the spear out of the plastoid and tossed it, trying not to barf. If he hadn't had her cuirass on, they would have both been skewered like a pair of fucking runis. "Thank you, Tiarek," he mumbled, then realized he was still sitting on Tiarek's Jedi.

"Oh shit, let me get off– I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry, shit–" Boba holstered his blaster and then rolled Ahsoka onto her back. Her left arm flopped in a way that made him want to puke. "Did I–" Boba gasped. "It's broken. I broke her fucking arm. Shit, shit, shit!" He stood up and placed frantic hands on his head. "Shit, Ahsoka, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Arseven let out a series of panicked beeps and started to bounce.

"Okay, okay, um–" Boba spun and looked at Arseven. "You gotta carry her. I have to keep my blaster out."

Arseven honked indignantly and waved his spotlight at him. Boba didn't speak binary but the implication was clear.

"I've got a flashlight too, now hold on." Dad had made sure Boba knew the basics of bonesetting, though he'd probably never expected him to use the lesson on a Jedi. He unclipped Ahsoka's leather belt, careful to not bump the buttons on the lightsabers clipped to it, then untied the sash it covered. Something clattered to the ground once he'd freed the cloth from behind her back and bounced a few feet away.

Boba and Arseven leaned in to look. On the tunnel floor was some sort of tooth, wide and flat and off-white; clearly a molar but way too big to be Human. Boba gingerly picked it up and examined it. "The fuck?" he muttered. He tucked it into his pocket for safekeeping and started searching for something to serve as a splint. He decided her gauntlet would have to do, and after he unstrapped it from her wrist he saw that there was a hilt sticking out of the end.

"Woah." Boba unsheathed the big vibroblade that was almost as long as her arm. He glanced down at her. "Didn't know you were allowed to use these," he mumbled to himself. "Good thing, though. Makes this easier." He carefully sliced the sleeve of her robe up to her shoulder and then made a second pass to get at her undertunic, going even slower the second time so as not to nick her.

When he got above her elbow he almost choked. The skin there was mottled black and her whole upper arm was swollen twice the size it should be. "This… this isn't new," he muttered. "What the hell, Tano? This why you've been favoring it?" He kept cutting until her arm was completely exposed and gently probed her bicep with his fingers to see just how bad the break was. "At least it's not through the skin," he mumbled, gently rotating her elbow. It didn't move right. It had broken clean in half.

She gasped in pain but didn't wake up.

"Sorry," Boba said again, then made a face. "And sorry for this." He gingerly strapped the gauntlet over her skinny bicep after maneuvering the bone as best he could back to its original position, praying to whoever was listening that he wasn't ripping up her arteries because he didn't know what the hell what Togs had in there, then tightened it down.

Ahsoka cried out and tears flowed down her cheeks, but she still didn't wake up.

"Sorry," Boba said miserably for what felt like the millionth time. "Okay, we have to move." He used her sash to tie her splinted arm to her chest, then stood and hooked his arms under her armpits and dragged her over to Arseven. "Don't drop her," he ordered the droid as he draped her awkwardly over his dome. Her lekku flopped towards the ground and tickled her nose. He slung her leather belt over his shoulder, nervously adjusting the lightsabers, then motioned at the droid to follow.

Arseven made an affronted honk at the indignity of it all and wheeled after Boba down the tunnel.

Ahsoka came to in a fog. She was in some sort of medbay, though she didn't recognize it, but the smell of antiseptic and old blood was unmistakable. She blinked bleary eyes around the room and tried to sit up.

"Easy, mo nighean," a familiar voice beside her said soothingly.

She turned her head slowly and squinted at him. "Bobi?" she mumbled through numb lips.

"Hello, my dear." Obi-Wan leaned forward and gently dabbed sweat off her face with a damp cloth. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm…" she looked around the room. "Where are we?"

"Back at the base." He leaned back and smiled at her. "When I received word that you had been ambushed, I mustered the 212th and rushed here as quickly as I could."

"How…" She stretched her jaw with a wince. "How many casualties?"

"None." Obi-Wan smiled. "Not a single one, Ahsoka."

"Thank the Force," she sighed, and let her heavy head rest on the pillow again.

"They found Jango's armor. They're going through the files in the war room now." Obi-Wan picked a piece of ice out of a cup and ran it over her lips. "They think that there might be a lead on the Sith Lord in there. It's promising. You may have just ended this war."

"Really?" she breathed, unable to believe it. "That's… that's…"

"And there was all of the information on the Cuy'val Dar that you could have asked for. Boba's going through the list now with Master Plo."

Ahsoka could have cried with joy. "Who would've thought?" she whispered. "It was here the whole time. We could have ended the war before ever leaving Geonosis if we had just looked."

"If only." She could hear the smile in his voice. "I am so, so proud of you, Ahsoka." His bare hand grasped hers. "And I owe you an apology."

Ahsoka suddenly remembered that she was mad at him.

His thumb gently stroked hers. "What I did to you and Anakin was unconscionable. I made a terrible, terrible mistake. I understand why you're so angry, and you have every right to be. I can only hope to earn your forgiveness."

Ahsoka closed her eyes. She must have been given painkillers; they made her connection to the Force foggier than a Trandoshan dawn and she couldn't see even a wisp of his aura. "Thank you for saying that, Master," she said quietly.

"...she snaps out of it. Come on, I need your light."

Ahsoka tilted her head, confused.

"Whoever is out there can wait," Obi-Wan said harshly, glancing at the door before looking at her again with a soft smile. She saw the dimple under his beard deepen. "You can't run away from me, now. I intend to make the most of this time."

Ahsoka fiddled with her IV awkwardly.

"I haven't done a very good job of protecting you, have I?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, taking her hand again.

Ahsoka frowned. "What do you mean?"

Obi-Wan looked at her sadly. "I know what Anakin did to you, Ahsoka."

"You–" her eyes went wide and panic clawed at her throat. "No, I… I don't know what Cody told you, but–"

"You don't have to protect him anymore, dear." Obi-Wan moved to sit on the side of her bed. "He is a grown man and a Knight besides. He is supposed to protect you, not the other way around."

"That's not true," she whispered.

"I assure you, he's quite grown." Obi-Wan's eyes crinkled in a soft smile. "You've been taking care of him for too long, Ahsoka. It's time he grew up and finally faced some consequences for his lack of control."

"Please don't remove me," she begged. "He didn't mean it. It was his mech hand, it got stuck, it… he didn't mean to actually hurt me."

Obi-Wan sighed. "He did. We both know he did. That's what he does. He hurts people and then he convinces them that they were to blame for it, because he is incapable of taking responsibility for his own mistakes."

All at once the air was sucked out of her chest and she arched her back away from the bed. A lightning bolt of white-hot agony shot up her arm and she struggled for the breath to scream.

"Muscle spasms," Obi-Wan said sympathetically. "Your arm was broken again in the battle. Anakin did a terrible job of healing it. I assume his emotions were too heightened to do it properly."

"Shit, Ahsoka, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm so, so sorry," Obi-Wan continued, overlapping the voice she heard outside of the room. "I wish that you felt you could come to me. You did nothing to deserve this."

Ahsoka bit down the desperate urge to defend Anakin. "I know that he struggles with his anger, Master, but he was just so lost," she panted. "It was an accident."

"It's all my fault," he said regretfully. "It was my supposed death that put him in such a state. I thought he could handle it, but evidently not." He looked away. "You were supposed to be my Padawan, remember. I should have fought harder for you. You deserve to have a Master who won't hurt you."

Ahsoka took a shuddering breath. "But–"

"But nothing, Ahsoka." Obi-Wan's eyes were heavy with guilt. "You deserve love. Safety. Someone that will teach you without changing who you are at your core. Not an overgrown child who will break your arm during a temper tantrum."

"He hasn't changed me," she said weakly. "He makes me better. Stronger. He's made sure I could survive anything."

"At what cost?" Obi-Wan kissed her hand. "You are changing, my dear, like it or not. I've known you since you were three years old. I've watched you grow into a strong, wonderful, kind Jedi, but now I fear that his darkness is infecting you." He met her eyes. "You felt it, didn't you? After my funeral, when he hurt you. You broke yourself open gleaning all of that darkness away from him, and after everything you did he repaid you with violence. That's what he always does. He takes, and takes, and takes, until finally there's nothing left to give and then he turns on you and blames you for failing him."

Ahsoka felt her lip quiver.

"Oh, mo nighean, come here." Obi-Wan pulled her up into a hug and wrapped his arms around her just like he had when she was a little girl. She buried her face in his neck with a choked sob. She had missed him so much. She didn't want to be angry at him. She felt it poisoning her memories of them together, turning them bitter and rancid.

"I don't want you to worry about Anakin anymore," he whispered against her montral, softly petting the root of her rear lek. "If you truly feel that you two should not be separated, I will–"

"I do!" Ahsoka said immediately.

Obi-Wan huffed a quiet laugh. "Then I will not separate you. But there will be a change. He will never, ever hurt you again." He pulled back and she saw his eyes had hardened. "He will regret it if he does."

" ...show the first trooper you see, they'll find Pelter and muster out here. I hope. We've got two fucking Jedi trapped down here, after all."

Ahsoka looked at the door, confused. "Boba?" she called.

"He's with Plo, dear, remember?" Obi-Wan stroked her face gently and smiled. "You have nothing to worry about."

"But what was–"

"It's nothing, Ahsoka, nothing." Obi-Wan eased his way into the bed beside her and wrapped her protectively in his arms. "You're safe here with me. Just rest."

She closed her eyes and snuggled closer against him.

"There's my little tick," he chuckled quietly. "Do you remember when I'd call you that as a youngling? You were always clinging to me back then. Qui-Gon thought it was hilarious."

"Yes." She smiled into his robes.

"I remember the first time you came face-to-face with akul lilies," he said softly. "You screamed so loud that I thought you were being murdered. I had to come and save you, and then you wouldn't let me put you down for hours."

They both laughed and Ahsoka felt her stripes go warm.

"I treasure those memories," Obi-Wan admitted. He scratched between her montrals and she began to purr. "I always regretted allowing the Council to convince me that I doted on you too much. I abandoned you back then too, didn't I?"

Ahsoka was shocked to hear him say something she'd only ever thought in her weakest moments. "It's alright," she murmured. "You're here now. That's what matters."

"But still. We lost so much time." The room was warm and so was Obi-Wan. She was getting drowsy. "I always thought of you as the daughter I'd never have. I love you so much, Ahsoka."

"I love you too, Bobi," she murmured, nuzzling into his neck. His beard tickled her forehead.

"You're not my fucking dad! My dad is dead! I watched him fucking die, now go away!"

Ahsoka jerked at the voice. "Was that Boba?" she asked, frowning at the door.

"No, dear, he's with Plo," he reminded her patiently. "Just rest. Stay here with me."

She put her face back in his neck and breathed in the warm, comforting smell of incense and cologne and warm skin. "Can I still see Boba after he picks a new guardian?" she asked quietly.

"Of course, dear. I see no reason not to. You've been a calming influence on him."

She laughed, remembering the way he'd insulted Obi-Wan in the hangar. "I'm sorry he made fun of your–"

The words died before they could leave her lips. His razor rash. He had shaved his head and beard to impersonate Rako Hardeen.

She froze.

"I don't know what the fuck you are, but you're not him!"

Ahsoka looked up at the man with a full head of luxurious auburn hair who held her in his arms.

Obi-Wan blinked rapidly and disappeared, and when the sound of a blaster bolt deflecting off of beskar rang through the room like a bell the room went with him.

Boba touched the stone wall of the tunnel. "Here. It's here, right? Bring up the map again."

Arseven projected his map of the tunnels and Boba nodded, identifying their ninety-degree bend. "Yeah. This is it. Alright, let's just hope that the wall isn't thicker than what her lightsaber can cut." Boba carefully detached the bigger one from its clip on Ahsoka's belt, triple-checked it was facing the right way, then thumbed the button. The vivid green beam shot out and he nearly dropped it out of nerves.

At least it wasn't purple.

Boba swallowed hard and carefully started cutting into the wall. There was resistance like he was trying to push something hollow underwater, but otherwise it sank right to the hilt. He stopped a few times when the rock got too hot for his fingers, but after a minute he had carved a careful square into the wall.

He turned off the blade and shoved the piece of rock forward as hard as he could. The bright orange light of the canyon poured into the pitch black and nearly blinded him.

"Boba!"

Boba dropped the saber and spun with his blaster drawn, shaking and spotty-eyed from his small glimpse of the sun. "Wolffe?" he forced out. There was no answer. "Did you hear that?" he whispered to Arseven.

The astromech beeped and shook its spotlight back and forth in a clear no.

Boba swallowed hard and picked the saber back up. Maybe they were looking for them in another tunnel and couldn't hear him respond. He didn't dare yell any louder than he had so he continued to cut carefully into the wall, kicking the chunks out into the canyon. He finally carved a rough rectangle big enough for Arseven to fit through.

He sprayed the rock floor with his liquid nitrogen canister so he didn't burn his hands and then peered over the edge. His heart sank. There was no way he was making it down a thousand-foot drop to the bottom of the canyon without a jetpack, and Arseven's boosters weren't strong enough to support the weight of the three of them combined. If they tried to go one at a time, the unconscious Ahsoka would almost definitely fall off of the droid's dome. He turned and motioned at Arseven. "C'mere, turn your holocam on."

Arseven beeped curiously but obeyed.

"This is Boba Fett. I'm with the Jedi Ahsoka Tano. She's been injured really badly and we've been separated from Plo Koon and the Wolfpack. We need reinforcements right away. There's a whole fucking army down here of Geonosians. Follow the coordinates on Plo's Arseven unit. Dad told me that the Geonosians who live underground are scared of sunlight so we should be okay for a little while, but I don't know if that will hold them back for long."

"Where are you, son?"

Boba spun and aimed down the dark tunnel. He didn't see anything, but he had definitely heard something. It had to be Wolffe looking for him. "You have to hurry," he forced himself to continue, turning back to the holocam. "Bring everyone. I mean fucking everyone, I'm serious about the army. And call for reinforcements on your way." He glanced down the tunnel again. "Boba out."

Boba clicked off Arseven's holocam and motioned his head at the canyon. "Go on and fly to the base as fast as you can. You show the first trooper you see, they'll find Pelter and muster out here." Boba grimaced. "I hope. We've got two fucking Jedi trapped down here, after all."

Arseven honked reluctantly. He stopped at the edge of the opening, flashed his light at Boba twice, then jetted off.

Boba sank down on his haunches and buried his face in his hands. He suddenly felt very, very alone. He'd protect Ahsoka as long as he could, but… but…

"Fuck," he choked out, trying not to cry. He didn't want to have to protect her. He didn't even know if he wanted to find Dad's armor anymore because he'd probably still be in it and that would be the new last touch of his father. Not the brief kov'nyn he'd given Boba right before he had put on his helmet and started fighting, but the touch of dead leather and rotten bones.

He wondered if they had gotten the helmet. He'd dropped it running to escape the arena, would the bugs have known to keep it together? Was it even still together? What if they'd melted it down and sold it to pay for battledroids?

He didn't know. He was afraid to know. The clicking in the walls was getting louder and he really didn't want to fucking be here anymore.

He sat with his back to the daylit canyon and pulled Ahsoka's head into his lap, trying to keep both of them in the light. He pulled her belt off of his shoulder and hooked the lightsaber back on it. "I'm sorry, ori'vod," he whispered. His vision went blurry with tears. She twitched like a dreaming massiff in his lap. "We never should've come here. I'm sorry."

"Bo'ika, can you hear me?"

Boba froze. The voice came from the end of the pitch black tunnel where the sunlight didn't reach. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

"Come to me, Boba. It's alright now. Daddy's here."

"Dad?" Boba whispered, trembling. It wasn't possible. He'd... he'd seen Windu…

"Leave the jetii and come to me, son." There was a glint of silver just beyond where the sunlight stopped. "You don't need that thing. Let's get out of here together."

"You're dead," Boba whimpered. He scooted back and carefully lowered Ahsoka's head to the ground. "I saw you die. You're…"

"You'd choose the jetii over your own father?" the voice hissed.

"N-no, I…"

"Boba, come here now!" the voice bellowed. It sounded just like him but it couldn't be him, it couldn't.

"Fuck off!" Boba shouted, drawing his deece. He kept it aimed at the shine as he struggled to his feet. "You're not my fucking dad! My dad is dead! I watched him fucking die, now go away!"

"Am I not enough for you?" the voice snapped venomously. "You left me to die, and now you're helping the jetiise!"

"No," Boba sobbed. His hands shook with fear and adrenaline. "No, I didn't… I never would have…"

"Then why won't you come to me now?" Dad whispered, suddenly gentle again. "K'olar, Bo'ika. Come to me. We can be together again."

"No," Boba forced through his tears. "No, you're not him. You're not."

"What are you afraid of, Boba?" He saw the outline of the kar'ta beskar on his father's cuirass. "I would never hurt you, son. I love you."

Boba shook his head. "No. No, you're not real."

"Don't you want to be with me? Mama is here too. So is Cassus."

Boba almost collapsed. "They're dead!" he sobbed. "They're dead too, because, because you…"

"You never saw their bodies," the voice said silkily. "I had to tell you they were dead, Bo'ika, so they could be safe. I would never hurt them."

Boba's sweaty hands shook so badly that he could barely keep a grip on the deece. "But you did," he whispered. "You killed them, and you tried to kill Tiarek."

"But not you. Never you, Boba." A beskar greave crossed the threshold of sunlight. "Let's go home, son." Hissing and clicking echoed in the tunnel behind him.

Boba screwed his eyes shut. "We don't have a home anymore," he whispered. "You're not my dad. I don't know what the fuck you are, but you're not him!"

"Boba, come to me!" the thing that wasn't his father screamed at him.

Boba pulled the trigger and heard the bolt deflect off of the beskar like a bell. His eyes shot open as a primal growl erupted behind him that made every hair on his body stand up, and the dark tunnel flooded with emerald green light. A Geonosian wearing his father's beskar'gam and a headpiece made of Human finger bones and insect wings recoiled with a scream, immediately echoed by the dozens of drones holding spears behind it.

Ahsoka darted forward and closed the distance between them before Boba could even blink. She took the leader's head off its shoulders with one powerful swing and then sliced her way through the swarm of screeching, clicking bugs it had stood at the head of.

Boba tried to still his shaking hands and started firing at the packed swarm. He managed to pick off six before Ahsoka cut her way to the back and disappeared around a bend. His eyes darted between her shadow and the… the thing that had stolen his father's armor. It had tied feathers to the jetpack thrusters and his customized WESTAR-34 hung around its neck like a trophy.

He wanted to step forward and rip it off but his feet felt like they'd been cemented to the tunnel floor. How had it known? About Mama and Cassus, how had it known?

He heard a final, distant hiss like steam escaping a pot and then Ahsoka reappeared around the bend, sweating and breathing hard from exertion. She put her saber back on her belt, stepped over the thing's corpse, and pushed his blaster down before pulling him into a one-armed hug that squeezed the breath from his lungs.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a cracking voice.

Boba closed his eyes and burrowed into her sweaty neck, trying not to cry. " 'Lek. Ahsoka, a'ni buir, ni buir ru'jorhaa'i, n-n-nayc, kih'bas ru'johaa'i ti ner jorad be'buir–"

"Shh, I'm here," Ahsoka murmured. Her chest rumbled weakly. "It's alright, Boba, I'm here. Just breathe."

"How did it know?" he whimpered. "How did it know those things a-about my dad?"

"I don't know what it was, but it was Force sensitive. It trapped me in a vision when I was searching for the armor's aura." She glanced behind them. "Looks like the search is over."

"Yeah," Boba whispered.

"Okay, we–" Ahsoka winced and stepped back. Her eyes went round as they focused on the hole in his borrowed cuirass. "Cac, Boba, what happened?"

"A drone threw a spear at me," Boba said with a sniffle.

Her jaw dropped to her chest. "A spear?" she squawked. "Okay, start from the beginning."

Boba wiped his nose. "Um, the floor just… it just opened up. Then we – me, you, and Arseven – fell down into the chamber below, but Plo and Wolffe and all the rest were still up above."

Ahsoka looked at her arm and bit her lip. "Yeah, that would have done it," she sighed.

"Yeah," Boba squeaked, choosing not to confess that he'd broken it by falling on her. "But you were totally out of it. They got attacked up above and Plo yelled at us to hide, but then we got jumped in the tunnel – that's when I got speared – but I took it down. I got us here and cut the wall so Arseven could go get reinforcements."

"That was good thinking," Ahsoka said, then narrowed her eyes. "Wait, why didn't you go with him?"

"You'd prefer it if I left you to be bug food?" Boba snapped defensively. "Ungrateful, much?"

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "I would prefer that you were safe at the base, but you're right. I definitely would have been bug food." She smiled, and even though she was clearly in a lot of pain, it was genuine. She touched foreheads with him. "Vor entye, vod'ika."

Boba felt his cheeks go pink. "Yeah, well, Tiarek would have killed me if I had left you," he mumbled.

It may have just been the way her lekku had swelled up, but it looked like her stripes got darker. Her head tilted and she let her jaw fall open, clicking softly in the back of her throat for a few seconds before drawing her lightsaber and spinning with it ignited. "Stay behind me," she said quietly.

Boba aimed over her left shoulder. "What is it?"

"Footsteps," she mumbled. "Coming around the bend. In three, two, one–"

Boba pulled the trigger right before Ahsoka gasped for him to hold his fire, but Plo easily deflected the bolt with his blue lightsaber. "Sorry!" he squeaked.

"Master," Ahsoka sighed in visible relief, deactivating her blade.

"Little 'Soka." Plo swept her up in a careful hug, mindful of her splinted arm. He reached around her and yanked Boba into his other arm. "Mii-in khu-khud. I'm so thankful to have found you both safe."

"Ahs'ika!" Wolffe jogged down the tunnel and put a hand on his shoulder. "Kid, where the hell have you two been? We've been up and down these tunnels–"

"Mangle, your skills are required," Plo interrupted. "Sit, Padawan. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"My back is killing me," she admitted, sinking down with his help. "I think I hurt it in the fall."

Boba bit his tongue.

"We are safe for now, I believe. We ran into a swarm not far from here. Some were already injured."

"Yeah, that was probably the swarm running from us," Ahsoka laughed humorlessly.

Mangle took a knee beside her and examined her swelling arm. "I'll give you something for the pain, Commander, but I'd rather not do any more damage to it by trying to rewrap it here. It's already secure, I'll just do more damage."

Ahsoka didn't look happy about it. "Alright," she said, wincing at the touch of his hands. "Sh– Fr– Heck, that really stings."

"Just say fuck," Boba sighed, fighting not to smile at her primness.

Ahsoka shook her head and pointedly looked away from Plo.

"Want me to say it for you?" he asked sympathetically.

"Boba, no," she choked, caught between laughter and tears. "But, uh, the adrenaline is wearing off and this is really starting to hurt."

"Not for long," Mangle said with a snicker, then jammed a hypospray into her left shoulder.

"Where is Arseven?" Plo asked, his brows furrowed. "Did he not fall with you?"

"I sent him back to the base for backup," Boba said.

"We'll need more troopers than what is at the base to safely clear out this hive," Plo said grimly.

"The hell is this thing?" Comet asked, kicking the Geonosian.

The Kel Dor's eyes found the beskar'gam. "A shaman, I believe. I felt its attempt to prey upon our minds, but because it had chosen Ahsoka to focus on I was able to shield us from its intrusion." He turned to Boba. "Are you alright?" he asked gently.

Boba nodded. He'd been trying not to look at it, but now he couldn't seem to look away. The Geonosian shaman had cut his dad's undersuit away and had reattached it to what he really, really fucking hoped wasn't Human leather. The crown had fallen off of its head and lay in pieces, the Human finger bones that made up the bulk of it had scattered everywhere. It had his dad's helmet clipped to its belt and had filled it with little green eggs.

Sinker sprayed the inside of the helmet with his entire can of liquid nitrogen before kicking it over and smashing the individual eggs under his boot. Boost knelt down and picked it up, then looked over at Boba. "This belongs to you, kid," he said quietly, holding out the helmet.

Boba stepped forward and took it with trembling hands. He turned it and stared down at the visor, just like he had that day.

He was glad in a way that his father's body was gone, even though it meant he'd never get a proper burial. He wouldn't have cared about that anyway. This was what was important. This is what held his soul, not his body, and Boba could go on remembering the last touch of his dad being with living flesh and not rot.

"You good, ad'ika?" Wolffe asked him quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Boba nodded, though it felt like a lie.

"Go sit with Ahsoka. We'll strip it." Wolffe gently steered him back towards his ori'vod and gave him a pat on the back.

Boba took the steps forward without really feeling them and sank down beside Ahsoka and Plo in the light. The elder Jedi put a clawed hand on his shoulder.

"Armor or no, your father will always be with you," Plo said gently. "He has joined the Force, and the Force flows through all living things."

"He's not a living thing," Boba said, staring down at the helmet. He traced the dent.

"But you are." Plo rubbed his arm soothingly. "Every cell in your body is alive with him. He cannot leave you, Boba. That is the nature of the Force."

Ahsoka's jaw dropped open and she tilted her head. "I hear…" she mumbled, nodding a bit from the painkiller. "I hear wings."

"Wolffe?" Plo asked immediately, turning to the trooper.

"We got it all, General." Wolffe finished loading the last piece of beskar into Mangle's ruck.

Plo quickly got to his feet and ignited his lightsaber. He cut a hole triple the size of the one Boba had sweated over in less than a second then shoved out the rock with his powers. The tunnel flooded with sunlight. "Let us waste no more time in this wretched dark," he said. "Boba, I thank you for protecting Ahsoka in her hour of need. I would ask that you continue to do so for a little while longer."

Boba put his helmet on and accepted the WESTAR from Wolffe with a grim nod.

"Wolffe, remind me of the range of the JT-12 jetpack," Plo said, peering up the canyon wall.

"Just over twenty meters per second of fuel at full blast," he replied, joining the Jedi at the edge.

"And that is for the weight of a single man, correct?"

"Yes, General," Wolffe said grimly. "With the fuel we've got left, I'm not sure we could make it up the whole–"

"Pelter to Wolffe, do you copy?" Wolffe's commlink crackled. "I repeat, Pelter to Wolffe, do you copy?"

"Wolffe, copy, over." the trooper barked immediately.

Boba felt dust from the tunnel ceiling fall onto his helmet. There was a subsonic rumbling getting closer.

"We are en route with fucking everyone, as requested. ETA five minutes, over."

"Copy that. We've got a swarm on the way. We'll hold out as long as possible. Over and out." Wolffe looked at Boba. "Guess Arseven made it back, though I don't think that's the wording he would have used."

Boba shrugged and checked the shots on his WESTAR. It wasn't made for extended firefights like the DC-17 was and only held twenty shots to the Blastech model's fifty, but it could be fired twice as fast with three times the power. Dad had left him eight shots. He switched it to his left hand and drew the deece. He'd use them both until he ran dry.

"Think we can last another five minutes?" Boost asked casually, readying his carbine.

"Let us hope so," Plo replied. "Stay in the light, men."

Wolffe, Sinker, Boost, stood three to a man while Mangle and Comet took a knee directly in front of them, forming a firing line that would decimate anything that crawled from the pitch black tunnel. Boba took a knee beside Comet and in front of Ahsoka and aimed his blasters into the darkness, waiting for insectoid eyeshine. He could feel the hum of Plo's lightsaber in his teeth.

"Five seconds," Ahsoka said wearily, doing her best to stay awake despite the drugs. Boba had just opened his mouth to ask Mangle if he had accidentally given the overgrown tooka a trooper-size dose when a swarm of Geonosians piled around the corner like an avalanche of roaches, shoving and clicking and hissing and coming right for them.

The Wolfpack mowed them down with a firestorm of bolts. Boba gritted his teeth and picked his shots, taking down two with a single bolt before plugging a fat one in the front at the knee. It went down and blocked the tunnel, trapping them and making them easy pickings for the others.

Ahsoka snatched the deece from Comet's thigh holster and popped off three shots at the end of the tunnel illuminated by sunlight. "Movement," she slurred. "They're staying out of the… the light, but they're there."

"Reloading!" Wolffe called, dropping to a knee. Boba killed four more bugs before the WESTAR went empty, then he tucked it into his belt and kept firing with the deece. Plo slid on his knees to the opposite bend of the sunlit tunnel and took on the swarm invading from that side, gracefully spinning like an ice-blue tornado of light.

The noise the Geonosians made as they died was fucking haunting; something between a hissing aklay, scratched porcelain and a teakettle on a rolling boil. "Reloading!" he barked when he had two shots left, then put them into a bug's face and replaced his tibanna canister in under a second. There were so many bodies on their side of the tunnel that he didn't know how the bugs were managing to get over them.

He spotted a line of worms rapidly inching towards them on the ground. He sprayed a wide line of liquid nitrogen and watched as they instantly shriveled up and shattered. He raised his weapon to fire again and had cut down two more drones when he felt the floor begin to rumble.

The LAAT/i descending into the canyon outside brought a gust of wind with it that was strong enough to jiggle Ahsoka's montrals.

"Copaani gaan?" Pelter called at them over the thrusters. Beside him, Arseven squealed happily and bounced back and forth on his servos.

"Move out!" Wolffe bellowed, slowly backing up to the hole while still firing.

Boba killed three more before he holstered his deece, slung Ahsoka's unbroken arm around his neck, then jumped them both over the narrow gap to the LAAT/i.

The troopers followed one by one and then finally Plo, covered head-to-toe in Geonosian hemolymph, made a running leap for the gunship. Once he landed the LAAT/i immediately started its ascent. Boba awkwardly stumbled over to a seat and put Tano in one. He took the one next to her before he fell from the turbulence, then pulled his helmet off.

"You're early," Wolffe said warmly, pulling Pelter into a one-armed hug.

"You have our thanks, Commander," Plo nodded. He accepted a sanicloth from one of the ARFs with a medic's sigil on his shoulder and scrubbed at his gooey face.

"You did amazing," Ahsoka said, smiling loopily at Boba.

Boba looked down at the helmet. The sweat on his scalp was tacky and clammy, even in the hot Geonosian air. "Thanks," he said quietly, more to the helmet than to her.

Arseven wheeled over to him, beeping enthusiastically, then tilted forward for a head pat.

"Good job, buddy," Boba snickered, giving him a good rub.

Arseven cooed happily and bumped his knees.

Ahaoka put an orange hand on the top of his helmet. "Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum." she said softly. "Jango Fett."

Kaisa Skirata. Cassus Fett. "Jango Fett," he echoed quietly, then rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

Notes:

MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS Ul'ika: little donkey (Wolffe likes Plo's robot dog and only Plo's robot dog) Me'vaar ti gar: what's new with you/what's up? Naas: nothing Ke'haaranovor: go hide Osik: shit To'bevikse: mando nunchaku (lit 'chain sticks') 'Lek: Yes a'ni buir, ni buir ru'jorhaa'ir, n-n-nayc, kih'bas ru'johaa'i ti ner jorad be'buir: But my dad, my dad said, no, the bug said with my dad's voice– Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum: I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal. (Mando remembrance of the dead) MAOR-GRASTA TRANSLATIONS Mo nighean: my girl Cac: shit KEL DOR TRANSLATIONS Koh-to-yah: hello/goodbye (Wind guide you) Mii-in khu-khud: My kids (not blood relation, Kel Dor would just say offspring [it's informal to them], just children in general) OTHER NOTES Yes I know Boba boobytrapped the helmet as a bomb for Mace. I also know that he somehow fuckin has it later, complete with the dent. But fr, from a meta standpoint Boba would never turn the only part of his dad that he had left into a bomb. There's no explanation on how he got the helmet back so once again I do what I want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Ahsoka goes ekekekek and that's her "echolocation" ability. because god knows I will spend hours too much time making up logical backflips for George Lucas' unique alien designs why the FUCK does a carnivore have two stomachs George 😃👍 Hard drugs blocking the Force (or at least making a person too fucked up to focus) is a Legends canon thing. Cade Skywalker smokes space crack so the ghost of Luke can't yell at him lol

Taglist: @starwarsficnetwork, @soliloquy-of-nemo Dividers: @saradika-graphics

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