#anakin literally wraps himself around baby Ahsoka

[questforgalas]

The High Republic series confirmed that part of a Jedi youngling’s day in the creche are midday naps on little nap mats, and now the image of all our faves in youngling form curled up on the nap mat is living rent free in my head

[sarcastic-sketches]

Suddenly bowled over by the image of Anakin with a baby Ahsoka strapped to his front during the middle of work. Ok I guess??

Ahsoka getting cursed into a toddler during the Clone Wars and Anakin is now suddenly responsible for a literal baby. He is now acutely aware of the fact that the 501st are in an active engagement and his protective instincts are dialed right up to max. They have to be pulled back from the front, a young padawan was pushing it as it was but this is a Babby.

He's having to think about what baby togruta eat. Ahsoka can't feed herself or defend herself or anything except wiggle around like a striped potato. Her montrols are non existant, just little nubs, and its almost bringing this Jedi Knight to tears with how cute she is. He knows she's a carnivore but surely they don't eat meat that early?? Do they need anything else to develop correctly?? Is he going to accidentally harm her somehow through neglect?!

Anakin: Master Ti, what do baby togruta eat??

Shaak: Pardon?

Anakin: Help.

She gets the explanation from Anakin in pieces and a better explanation from Kix. She can tell him how to look after her until they can reach Coruscant, milk if they have any on board will do fine in the interim and Ahsoka will like being bundled up. The pressure of being cocooned is soothing (thinking of Momma Tano strapping babby Ahsoka to her front but now it's Anakin making sure she goes with him everywhere) and will prevent her from becoming too agitated.

She keeps chewing on his leather glove when he holds her but he doesn't mind, and just lets her gnaw on his knuckles like a chew toy. Its not his flesh hand anyway so it's fine. He can’t effectively secure her to him on his own so he has to get Rex to help him do it properly with Shaak still on speeddial for instructions.

She can’t help but notice how oddly domestic the scene looks as Rex carefully wraps Ahsoka in her papoose cocoon to Anakin's chest. They're both cooing at her. Shaak cannot wait for a Council meeting to be called about this.

The clones are caught between being distraught at what's happened to their Commander, as well as thinking she's the cutest thing they've ever seen. Since Anakin is now focusing harder on keeping Ahsoka safe since she can't protect herself anymore, Rex has taken it upon himself to stick at their side even more than usual. Just a very protective satellite orbiting around both Jedi in case they need anything.

No, the other men are not jealous that Anakin automatically hands Ahsoka off to his Captain if he needs to be free if her for a minute or two.

Back on Coruscant he knows she's better off being handled by the creche but ... that's his Padawan, just small. Everyone on the Council had hoped he'd deal with a Padawan just fine but were admittedly a little surprised by just how well he took to it. Seeing him immediately throw himself into taking care of baby Ahsoka, and all her species specific needs, has a lot of them second guessing their assumptions of him.

It's Obi-Wan who eventually asks where his almost instinctual knowledge comes from. The answer is that Shmi Skywalker was the go to mum for any new mothers on Tatooine and there were quite a few in the slave quarters during Anakin’s time there. He learned by just being there to help out.

Obi-Wan: if you want to continue to care for Ahsoka, you could do so by just working in the Creche and helping there with the rest of the infants

Anakin: !!

[skywlker-sluvtt]

hii love, could i request some anakin fluff with pregnant reader, or when the child is already there? i'm a sucker for daddy!anakin :p.

-🎧

HEY BABYYYY

sorry this literally got lost in my inbox but i wrote a lil someth. its pregnant reader cause i suck at writing with kids so i hope you enjoy it's pretty short but i'd love to write more pregnant reader<33

✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

The swish of the door pulled you from your holopad and you were met with Anakin’s gaze as he walked through. “Anakin!” You grinned reaching your hands out happily. “Y/N” He smiled taking your hands aiding to pull you up. Your arms wrapped around his neck as he embraced you. Anakin’s hands trailed down your back lovingly creating goosebumps across your body. “I missed you so much Ani” You whispered fisting the fabric of his robe in your hands. “I missed you more, I feel like I haven’t seen you in years” He sighed pulling back to press a gentle kiss to your forehead. “How have you been? Is the baby healthy?” He asked. Since he’d been in the Outer Rim and lost all signal in deep space he hadn’t even been able to comm you.

“We’ve been perfect. The baby’s healthy and should be here in about a month” You grinned squeezing his hands. “I’ll be here, I promise you. No one’s gonna stop me from being here” He said kissing your fingertips and reassuring you. “I know” You grinned pulling him down to the couch. He gently tickled your tummy. His large hands almost covered the expanse of the baby bump. Anakin leaned down and pressed the softest kiss above your belly button. “Hey baby daddy’s home” He whispered to your belly. It was adorable when he did this. Your usually tough and somewhat cold husband cooing and whispering to your baby was the cutest thing in the world.

“I missed you so much baby and I missed mommy. I can’t wait to meet you” He grinned. “I love you more than anything” He continued before meeting your eyes once more. “Was that for me or her?” “Both…wait her?!” He grinned. “My guess” You giggled before he returned beside you. “I think I agree…I’d like to have a little girl” Anakin agreed keeping his flesh hand on your stomach connecting himself to both you and your little angel. “Can you feel anything from her? In the force?” You questioned. “I can only feel her presence, it’s very, very strong. She’s already making a statement within the force” He chuckled. “Sounds like your child then” You teased.

As the two of you settled Anakin told you what happened, where he’d been, and how the mission went as he usually did. While he explained how Ahsoka saved his ass you felt a flutter and jolt in your stomach. She was kicking. You grabbed his hand suddenly pressing it up against your tummy. “Feel!” You giggled and Anakin’s eyes widened at the heart beat like feeling against the palm of his hand. “She’s saying hi” You whispered. “Hi baby girl” He grinned. “She hasn’t kicked since you left…she knows it’s you” “Yeah? You know daddy’s here, after you come out I’ll never leave again sweetheart” He promised. “Promise?” “Promise” Anakin nodded pressing the sweetest kiss to your lips.

[gffa]

I feel like had Anakin and Obi wan shown up on Mandalor, Maul would have lost.

There was absolutely no way that Maul was going to win that fight against either Obi-Wan or Anakin, much less together!  We see Obi-Wan is the better fighter in season 5, we see him pretty much demolish Maul in Rebels in three hits, and Anakin would have just swatted him down like a fly, seriously, Anakin would have mopped the floor with him. But I think that leaves aside that Maul, for all that he’s batshit and deep in the dark side which lies and twists things, wasn’t just going to face them, he had knowledge that he was going to try to use to drive a wedge between them. He knew Anakin had been groomed by Sidious for years and I think he believed that he could turn Obi-Wan to his side--for at least a temporary team-up--and then use the Mandalorians loyal to him to at least distract Anakin long enough that he and Obi-Wan could kill him. Maul doesn’t count on how much people like Obi-Wan and Ahsoka love Anakin and cannot believe that he would fall, not that they don’t believe Sidious would try, but they cannot believe that it would work.  Even if Anakin lost his shit and went all murder rage ball at the mere IMPLICATION!��that his friend and mentor Palpatine was the Sith Lord (and I think that’s very possible, he certainly had a OH HELL NO expression on his face when Fives said that the Chancellor was involved with all of this), would that be enough to convince Obi-Wan?  I doubt it.  Anakin literally murdered Jedi babies and Obi-Wan was still trying to get him to come back around again. There was no way Maul was going to get what he wanted so long as it included killing Anakin, because even if Obi-Wan believed that Sidious was Palpatine and said they had to kill him, it took until the very moment they were up against Sidious that Anakin sided with him.  Even if they agreed to a truce with Maul to team up against Sidious, I’m not sure how they’d get around bringing the other Jedi in--Ahsoka is willing to go rogue for it because she’s no longer a Jedi.  But Anakin’s first choice was to tell the Council about Sidious.  Obi-Wan would do the same. Maybe Maul might have found some other sliver of a wedge to work on, but ultimately it keeps coming back to how Obi-Wan would refuse to believe that Anakin would fall and would never turn against him unless Anakin himself literally forced it. Maul was going to lose, had Obi-Wan and Anakin shown up there, because he couldn’t fathom that they would be loyal to each other, once the secret was out, because Maul just can’t wrap his head around that, with so much seething hate for Skywalker running through him.

[lacontroller1991]

SFW ALPHABET (Anakin Skywalker)

 AUTHOR’S NOTE: ALRIGHTY ALRIGHTY PEOPLE!!!! So I decided to do two versions of this in one, I strongly believe that Anakin in the films is very different from the Anakin in the Clone Wars (BOTH HOT AF), so instead of doing two posts, I will put the Movies Anakin in the first pharagraph and the Clone Wars Anakin in the second (I’ll italicize it for you guys!!!) If there is only one paragraph, then that means that I believe Anakin from Movies and TV serious would be similar in that letter. Hope you guys enjoy!!!

Also I tried to keep this as nonbinary as I could, so I hope I don’t offend anyone!

Warning: Fluff, mentions of sex, nothing hardcore tho! : Maybe some spoilers if you haven’t seen Clone Wars.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Movies

Anakin is very affectionate. He’s always somewhere near you or even if he’s away, he’s always sending you little notes on your holopad saying how much he loves and appreciates you. He also loves to cuddle and hug you from behind, really to assert his dominance. Not that you mind though.

Clone Wars

He is very affectionate as well. He and you are normally attached at the hip when together. He loves to hold your hand or pepper your face with kisses. When he’s on missions, he always makes sure to bring back little tinkets from the mission for your collection on your shelf wall.

B = Best Friend (What would they be like? How would the friendship start?)

Movies

It wouldn’t be a really healthy relationship, more of a lean on the shoulder and cry type of relationship but nothing besides that. He or you would need to rant, and the other would be there to listen, but past just ranting, you guys probably wouldn’t hang out.

Clone Wars

He’s a very loyal friend, he is always there when needed and understands when you need space. You guys would also like to go and spar together or pull pranks on Obi-Wan or the clones. Ahsoka would be pulling the pranks aswell. Overall, you guys would probably have a healthy relationship.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Both

He loves to cuddle! He loves the intimicacy of it without being sexual. He really likes to just go to your quarters after a mission and just lay down in your lap as you stroke your hands through his hair, lulling him to sleep.

Other nights, after those activities, he would be a very dominant cuddler, opting to pulling you close into his side or on top of him, to where he could wrap his arms around you completely.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Both

As I said in commitment, it depends on you and what you want to do. He is all for settling down with you and maybe buying a small house or apartment after the war is over. With cooking and cleaning though, Anakin is great at cooking, but he does leave the cleaning to you, not that you mind tho, he makes a mean bantha stew.

E = Ending (If they had to breakup with their partner, how would they do it?)

Movies

You would end it, only because of his infatuation with Senator Amidala, who you very much envied because of the amount of attention she got from your boyfriend. He would mope around for days afterwards, only a couple rotations after would he bring you flowers on your door step, asking for you back.

Clone Wars

It was a rash decision really, it was after Obi-Wan had “died” and you were comforting Anakin as best as you could, but then he shoved you off of him, resulting in you crying, him screaming at you, and that was the end of that. You guys would probably get back together, but it definitely would’ve put a strain on your relationship as a whole.

F = Fiance (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Both

He is in different about commitment, it’s really about what you would want. If they want to get married, then he’ll propose (with a cute little plan), and if you didn’t want to get married, he’s ok with that too.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Movies

He is very bipolar in mood. It really depends on the day he had. If he had a great day, then he is the best boyfriend ever, showering you with gifts and affection, showing you alot of attention, however if he had a bad day, he tends to block of anyone and everyone. Only a few people can get through to him, and even that’s rare. He becomes very antisocial and will ignore your presence until he is over whatever made him so upset.

Clone Wars

He is super gentle, if you two were in battle together, he would never be too harsh on you, and even if you get hurt, he is constantly checking on you every chance he got, sometimes sending Ahsoka or Rex to check on you if he couldn’t. Physically, he worships you, he would never purposely harm you, emotionally, he is always supportive of you.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are they like?)

Both

He loves hugs. His favorite is when he hugs you from behind, reminding you of how small you are compared to him. Your favorite hugs from him are his bear hugs where he squeezes you and spins you around. You love them. As for the frequency of them, he always gives you bear hugs after missions, other times, he just opts to bring you into his arms and place his chin on top of your head.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-Word?)

Movies

He doesn’t exactly say it, more along the lines that he and you were sparring and he thought it and you accidentally came across the thought. You questioned him about it, asking if he meant to let his quard down THAT low, or if he was stunned by your beauty. He blushed madly, but you just smiled at him and sent the thought back to him. It took him about 3 months. 

Clone Wars

You were in the infirmary when he said it. He thought that you couldn’t hear it, but the soft grasping of his hand had let you know that you heard it and returned the feelings. You guys weren’t dating when he said it though, you were friends, but after you got out of the medbay, he asked you on a date to where he could properly say those three words.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Movies

Jealousy is Anakin’s middle name. That man is always jealous of one thing or another, so needless to say, anytime you’re showing a bit of interest in a person, he would grab your hand and drag you somewhere to where he could assert his dominance over you (normally tongue is involved.)

Clone Wars 

Anakin doesn’t get jealous often (compared to Movie Anakin), when he does though, he will glare at the person for a while until they run off. After they do, you would just look behind your shoulder and sigh, walking to him and kissing his cheek, saying that you’re his and only his.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Movies

Rushed and sometimes harsh, however when he has time, he showers you with tender kisses all over your face. He is also quite fond of kissing your neck and collarbone, he loves to leave little hickeys on the base of your neck. As for where he likes to be kissed, he likes to be kissed on the top of his head when he’s laying down.

Clone Wars

Soft, they are generally little pecks here and there, but aside from that, his other kisses are passionate, literally sweeping you off your feet. He loves to kiss your lips, he loves how soft and warm they are. He also likes to be kissed anywhere really, he really relies on affection more often than not.

L = Little Ones (How are they arround children?)

Movies

Not the best at first. He thinks they’re annoying and is always complaining when he has to watch younglings train or help them with his saber techniques. But after a while, as he matured, he became more fond of them and would eventually want to talk to you about possibly having a baby together. After that, he is super good with them and always volunteers to watch over your baby when you have to do an errand.

Clone Wars

He’s great with kids, I mean he did have a padawan for a while. You and him have talked about having children after the war. He would want at least three, to which you are hesitant about, but when it came to your first pregnancy, he was over the mood, and the look on his face made you want to have all the kids he wants.

M = Mornings (How are mornings spent with them?)

Both

LAZY. He loves lazy mornings where you are both sprawled out on the bed. You generally wake up to see him looking down at you and running his hand through your hair, combing out various knots. He also loves taking showers with you, specifically when you wash his hair, he finds it really relaxing and helps loosen him up.

N = Nights (How are nights spent with them?)

Both

Every night is different. Most nights you guys are having fun in the sheets, other nights though, you and him lay side by side and have deep conversations or sometimes sit in silence while eating your favorite take out. He loves every night spent with you. When he has nightmares, you are always the first to wake him up and help comfort him until he goes back to sleep. 

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves?)

Movies

You had been friends with him ever since the both of you were padawans, so when he was younger, he normally couldn’t keep his mouth shut about little facts about himself. So the more you two grew up, the easier it was for him to talk to you about certain things.

Clone Wars

He began to open up to you after you almost died on a mission. One time you were in the infirmary, weak and bored out of your mind, so you asked him about himself and he began to tell you little things here and there. After you were out of medical care, you had become very well versed into the mind of Anakin Skywalker.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Movies

He has a temper that is well known. Sometimes, the smallest thing triggers him to where he sulks around all day, it doesn’t have to have you involved, but you do normally help by pulling him into an empty corridor and going down on him. ;)

Clone Wars

He has somewhat of a temper, but after a while, it got better to where it would take a lot to anger him. He would always calm down afterwards, normally after a sparring session or after some food.

Q = Quizzes (How much do they remember about you?)

Both

Everything. Although he acts like he doesn’t care, but once you got down past his hard exterior, you realized that he knew more about you than he let on.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

Movies

After the Battle of Geonosis, he and you were assigned to take Senator Amidala back to Naboo. On Naboo, you and him went to the lake at night and played around in the water, kissing under the moonlight. Anytime you and him go anywhere where a lake is nearby, you guys make it a habit to take a swin under the moonlight.

Clone Wars

His favorite moment is when you and he were trapped in a cave for a couple of days without any backup. You two had to survive on what you had on you, but he loved the quiet time that he got with you, plus he made the perfect excuse to loose your clothes, “you can get better body heat when clothes are not in the way,” he would say as you rolled your eyes with a smiled and took off his clothes. In his diffense, he was just joking aroud with you, but boy does he love that memory.

S = Security ( How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Both

He is very, very protective of you, even though you insist that you can protect yourself. If someone tries to threaten you, he would normally go and beat the person up (if he could), if it was a droid, then he would obviously wreck the droid to tiny bits. He likes to be held at night, as much as he hates to admit it. But he feels really secure when your arms are wrapped around him.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into a date, anniversaries etc?)

Both

He always makes sure that he remembers important events, either by writing notes all over his room or having one of his clones (normally Rex) remember it. He puts alot of his time and thought into dates, normally bringing you a random gift and always making sure that you are happy. As for anniversaries, he goes over and beyond what he did the year before.

U = Ugly (What would be a bad habit of theirs?)

Movies

His fatuation of Padme. It pisses you off to no end when he hangs out with her and not you. Of course, you understand that they are friends, but the way he talks about her to you and to other people could suggest otherwise.

Clone Wars

Impulsivity. You can’t stand when he is constantly rushing into battle without a thoroughly planned plan. You think it’s annoying and often give him the “I told you so” when he’s the infirmary, after you’ve of course held onto him for dear life. He calls you Obi-Two because of how alike you and Obi-Wan are in getting angry at him.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Movies

On a scale 1-10, he is definitely a solid 9/10 concerned with his looks. It really doesn’t help bring down his ego when girls all over the galaxy practically throw themselves at his feet, to which he loves and you hate, but secretly think that it is funny.

Clone Wars

He was concerned with his looks, but as he got more missions, he really didn’t care what he looked like, he was always focused on the mission at hand.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Movies

YES! Anakin is super clingy and sulks around alot when you’re not with him. If you were to have died, it would wreck him and further lead him to the dark side, no matter how much Obi-Wan or Padme could console him. Palpatine would only help in his descent, claiming that the war took her and that he (Anakin) could stop it if he gave into his powers.

Clone Wars

Yes. He is always worried about you and if something had happened to you, it would destroy him, much like Obi-Wan’s death. The “hero with no fear” wouldn’t be the same if you had died, and Ahsoka would suffer from it due to her Master’s lack of motivation.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them?)

Both

He uses your shampoo, how else do you think he got those lushious locks? It started when his hair started growing out after his padawan haircut and he took a shower in your quarters, ever since then, he’s been hooked on your shampoo.

 Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in partner?)

Movies

Some of the food you eat. He thinks that some of the things that you make up from scratch are nasty, and he normally throws whatever he couldn’t stomach in the trash, much to your dismay. This would normally result in you punching him and him apologizing but laughing at how cute you are flustered.

Clone Wars

He hates slave traders with a passion. Once he told you that he had to pretend to be a slave trader, you stormed into the Council’s meeting and told them off. Yes, you got in trouble, but how dare they do that to him of all people. After he heard what you did, he pulled you aside and just hugged you and told you that he will be ok, although he still hates them no matter what.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

Both

He is a very, very heavy sleeper.  In accordance to him, if you wake him, it either be for one of three things; sex, food, or mission. All three of which would make him wake up immediately, but anything other than that, good luck getting him out of bed.

[arielsojourner]

PART 15 of Luke and Vader travel through time and save the galaxy.

--Rex found Chatterbox trying to keep Hardcase from bleeding out, tourniquet tied around his leg. Fives, no one dared move any further due to a spinal injury until a medic could be called to the scene. The body of the Chancellor was nothing but a black smear on the ground. And Luke . . . Rex found Luke curled over the shattered body of his father.

He holstered his weapon and took off his helmet. He approached Luke slowly, hands clenching and un-clenching. What could he say? When he lost batch brothers or close squad mates, on the battlefield they had been trained to leave the dead, to keep going no matter what. Grief came only in the darkness of the barrack bunk, or some quiet corner of the landing bay, brothers remembering those lost. Clones were bred to be soldiers in service to the Jedi, but now when Rex had more freedom and more opportunity than ever before in his life he felt truly powerless.

Luke’s head rose and his hands came up to his Father’s cracked mask. Carefully, he lifted first the helm and then peeled back the face plate. Rex swallowed hard at the sight of the man underneath. Behind him Jesse hissed under his breath in sympathy at the sight of the burned flesh. There had been talk when Vader had shown up on Umbara, whether he was a droid or if he was like Grevious, some sort of half man half machine, inhuman and monstrous. But there was a person under the armor, a man, covered in scars. Wordlessly, Luke balled up his gloved hand and began to smash first the mask and then the helmet to pieces. Rex stepped forward, reaching out to stop Luke before he hurt himself only to realize that his hand, his hand was a prosthetic. Rex wondered how he had lost it.

When the mask was dust, Luke reached for his father’s chest plate armor and untangled the respirator apparatus and smashed that as well. Finally, he took his Father’s armorweave cloak and slowly, carefully drew it up to serve as a shroud.

“Captain Rex,” the Jedi said quietly.

“Sir,” he responded coming to attention.

“The war is over. We have peace.” There was a long pause. Luke had said those words so many times, willing them to be true. Now at last they were. “I-I am not sure what I am supposed to do now,” he admitted, voice cracking with despair.  His hands shook over his father’s body. “We–we didn’t really talk about what we would do after the Emperor was dead.” Luke swallowed hard. “I think . . .  he didn’t expect to live. I didn’t expect to live,” he added with a self deprecating laugh. “Some half-trained Jedi defeating him, when he killed thousands of the very best.” He ran an exhausted hand over his face, wincing when he touched on the burns raw and red on the edge of his jaw.

“Sir, you need a medic,” Rex offered anxiously. He wanted to stop this talk, stop it now. Luke and Vader had always stood so calm, so firm, so competent like nothing could shake them. To know that they were simply hurdling towards this confrontation with that skrag Palpatine and never expected to come out the other side. . .  “You are injured. Let us–“

“This isn’t my place,” he murmured. “No future for him, for us. I don’t want to hurt them, they’ve been hurt enough–“

Rex stepped forward and took hold of Luke’s shoulders, drawing him back from his father’s body. Jesse and Redeye moved quickly to gently lift Vader’s body onto a stretcher. “Sir,” Rex urged. “We need to get you to a medic.”

“No–“

“Sir, if Vader were here he would kill me for leaving you injured. I’m not sure that he won’t find a way to kill me even now if I don’t take care of you. Please, sir,” Rex said desperately.

Luke’s eyes never left the body. He finally nodded. He staggered to his feet, leaning heavily on the Captain’s shoulder and together they walked toward the waiting gunships.

-Even knowing that Luke had left to face the Sith Master, nothing prepares Anakin for the moment where the holoscreen had come to life and the Supreme Chancellor started screaming for the clones to kill the Jedi and drew a blood red lightsaber.  Now curled up on the floor, Obi-Wan’s arms around him, he still isn’t prepared for the screams, the crash of sabers, and Palpatine screaming about power. He catches the light from the holoscreen splashing across the walls and floor and over the bodies of the fallen.

“--worst is over, Anakin, I’m here and–“

Something blocks his view, and Padme is being helped by Echo to sit beside him. Desperate, he reaches out a hand to her, to the twins, she is here, she is breathing, the horrible nightmares that have plagued him for days have not come true. She is crying as she leans over him, hands holding onto him for dear life. He wants to tell her not to, not to hold onto him because he cannot be her bedrock, her certainty, her champion.

“--wouldn’t have gone to the Council, dear one, you must believe me that–“

The universe has cracked in two and Anakin cannot stop shaking, cannot stop the terrified sobs from spilling out.  He cannot save them. He cannot protect them. He is not good enough, fast enough, smart enough, strong enough, powerful enough. Nothing is safe. Nowhere is safe.  He hasn’t cried so hard since that day when his mother was dragged away by Gardulla to serve as a bet on a pod race.

“–please, nothing is more important, I know that–“

There is a tremendous crash and one of the few remaining windows blows out. Denal swears and then shouts that it is the Resolute that just crash landed.  Anakin squeezes his eyes tight shut. Ahsoka! Ahsoka is on the Resolute! And here he is on the floor unable to move. My Padawan, the Temple, my men–

“--I am sorry, I am so, so sorry,” Obi-Wan, that’s Obi-Wan still talking, he hasn’t stopped talking. “It’s going to be all right, I swear it. We will make it all–“

And all sound vanishes and Anakin knows what to do without thinking, he sits up and grabs Obi-Wan, Padme, and the babies close in his arms and reaches for the Force just as a wave of Darkness comes roaring through the room. It is like being buffered by a sandstorm of hate and rage, writhing evil, searching, murderous, still desperately hungry for him, for Padme, for the twins.

No, Anakin thinks and feeling his loved ones beside him, his men around him, he somehow finds the strength to stand his ground in the Force. NO.

The storm subsides and he looks around and they are all still here, they are all still breathing, the twins now wailing and crying, the holoscreen blessedly silent and off at long last. Anakin draws one shaky breath after another and then reaches to help Padme sooth the children.  Leia’s face is all scrunched up and red as she howls her displeasure and Anakin wraps his Force presence around her checking, checking, and she is all right. Luke, what about Luke? Padme is rocking him even as tears drip down her cheeks. Obi-Wan reaches out and runs a careful hand over his son’s head and sighs in relief. They are all right, they are all right and Palpatine is dead.

The Force shudders around them, reverberating with aftershocks. Anakin blinks trying to clear his vision. He needs to get up, get to the crash site to check on Ahsoka (he can feel her, she lives), go to the Temple and assess the damage, the Senate, he has to get to the Senate where Luke and the others have fought Palpatine. He can’t tell if they lived or not, the holoscreen feed knocked out by the Dark Force storm, but if he could just get up–

“Sir, evac will be here in 10, what do we need to take?” Echo asks softly, crouching down to his General’s level. Anakin cannot find the words to answer.

“Evac? Evac where?” Obi-Wan says.

“Off planet, sir. We have orders to remove you from Coruscant as soon as we had a window of opportunity. The Dauntless just came out of hyperspace and we need to move. Senator, what do we need to bring?”

Padme looks bewildered. “I-I don’t have any, I haven’t– I was going to go to Naboo to have the babies and, and –“

Echo nods, “We’ll take care of it, ma’am. Kix,” he said, calling the medic over. General Skywalker was deathly pale and sweating. Echo is sure it was shock and the Senator isn’t much better being only a few hours post labor. General Kenobi looks like he is punch drunk after staying awake for too long on too many stims.

“The Council,” Obi-Wan says abruptly, trying to engage rational thought. “We need to report to the Co. . .” Obi-Wan trails off as Anakin literally and violently flinchs away from Obi-Wan at his words, leaning bodily over both babies being held between him and Padme as if protecting them from danger. “No, no you’re right,” he backtracks quickly, placing a hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “Medical facilities on planet will be stretched thin; the Dauntless will be perfect, thank you.”

-Appo found Cody trapped under a fallen pylon on what was left of the bridge and Ahsoka collapsed nearby, both barely breathing due to smoke inhalation. There is the question of which medical facility to take them to. Finally, the decision is made and they are taken to the Temple and treated in the mostly intact healers wing along with many other brothers (there was a fight, he later heard, the Jedi didn’t want to let them bring the wounded into the Temple but Dogma, Dogma of all people, forced them to open the Temple to treat the clones). There were wounded among the Jedi Order but no fatalities. The same could not be said for the troopers. Members of the Coruscant Guard killed by sabers lay side by side in what probably was the Jedi equivalent of a mess hall. Even more members of the 501st and 212th lay there as well, killed by fellow clones, refusing to use lethal force on those still chipped even to save their own lives. The scars of Krell ran deep. Appo felt a sick sort of pride in knowing that none of the Coruscant Guard had been killed by the combined clone forces defending the Temple. Injured yes, dead no. He also found for the first time that he was deeply uncomfortable around the Masters and other Jedi who lead the Temple defenses. He couldn’t help resting his eyes on the sabers at their belts and thinking how many of his brothers they had cut down rather than subdue through some other method. Appo realized how grateful he was that with the sole exception of Krell, the 501st had worked with only the best Jedi commanders and generals.

-When Ahsoka wakes she pushes at the oxygen mask over her mouth and nose with clumsy fingers. The medical tubes and elastic ties on the mask are cutting into her lekku.  She fumbles around until she pulls off the mask and immediately regrets trying to breath without it.  Things start beeping around her and then someone grabs the mask and presses it back against her nose and mouth. She looks up and sees Cody sitting (floating, he’s on a hover chair) by her side.

“Put the mask back on, sir,” Cody croaks, “Or the medics are going to come down on you hard.”

Ahsoka uses one unbandaged (bandages? really?) hand to hold onto the mask and takes a few deep breaths. “I think you can call me Ahsoka,” she says. She looks around recognizing the Temple’s architecture. She peers at Cody whose leg is propped up and covered in bandages rather than bacta which has Ahsoka worried about a bacta shortage on Coruscant of all places.  She peers around the rest of the ward and sees troopers and Jedi in the beds, healers and clone medics and med droids buzzing around. “Master Anakin, Obi-Wan, the men–“

“Echo reported in that General Skywalker and Kenobi are alive and are with Senator Amidala. Troop casualty numbers were higher than we hoped for,” Cody says softly. “The Jedi at the Temple suffered some injuries but no deaths. There were some deaths out in the field before the chipped clones could be stopped.  Many of the injured have been taken to the ships in orbit for treatment, the hospitals and med centers are overflowing. There were some civilian casualties, but not as many as there could have been. Everyone else survived except Vader. His injuries were too severe. He died shortly after the Sith Master.”

Ahsoka closes her eyes and just breaths. She isn’t sure why but the thought of Vader’s death fills her with a strange sense of sadness, of loss. No, she wasn’t sad for Vader, she was sad for Luke! She tells herself firmly. Luke has lost a father whom he loved when no one in their right mind should or frankly could love a Sith. She shouldn’t feel upset about Vader’s death. He was darkness and pain and barely controlled violence. But as much as he avoided her during their brief time together (except to criticize her beliefs and the way she held her sabers!), she saw that he could be quirky, just as obsessed with machines as her Master, and that he cared deeply about things other than himself and power, even if he showed it in all the wrong ways. 

Sith killing Sith, that is a good thing, right? It is a good thing Palpatine is dead. It is a good thing that Vader wasn’t around anymore to try and take power or do Sith things. It is a good thing.

So why does she feel like crying?