Alright, last chapter for some time. I need to buckle down, get some pre written stuff out and set up that damn Patreon and maybe Discord. Anyway, this one is a time skip its like months later.
...
The war left its marks everywhere.
The surface campaign had burned for days — forests reduced to blackened skeletons, armored divisions torn apart in muddy trenches, artillery carving craters deep enough to swallow gunships. Smoke still rose in thin columns from the distant horizon as the last Separatist pockets were mopped up.
Inside the Venator's hangar, the air smelled of coolant and scorched metal.
LAATs touched down one by one, their hulls scarred and pitted. Clone medics moved quickly between stretchers. The hum of engines and distant repair tools filled the massive chamber.
Ahsoka walked slowly beside Aayla Secura.
The blue-skinned Jedi Knight's lekku swayed gently as she moved. Her expression was calm, but there was tension beneath it — the quiet after the storm.
Anakin was not with them.
He was in the medbay.
The explosion had torn through the forward command ridge — a concealed munitions cache. Aayla and Ahsoka would have been caught in the blast if Anakin hadn't pulled them both clear with the Force and taken the brunt of the shockwave himself.
The battle had continued under Aayla's direction. Commander Virek had executed her orders without hesitation. The 501st and 327th had fought like a single machine.
But the image of Anakin thrown through smoke and fire lingered in Ahsoka's mind.
She walked faster without realizing it.
Aayla noticed.
"You are going to wear a groove into the deck plating if you pace like that," Aayla said gently.
Ahsoka blinked. "Sorry. I just… I should be in the medbay."
"The medics are with him," Aayla replied. "And he will recover. Skywalker is remarkably difficult to kill."
That earned the faintest smile from Ahsoka.
They continued through the hangar, stepping around technicians and moving clones.
After a moment, Aayla spoke again.
"You are becoming very attached to your Master."
Ahsoka stiffened.
"I'm not," she said quickly. "I mean — I respect him. I trust him. That's different."
Aayla gave her a knowing look.
"The Order forbids attachment," Ahsoka added, almost defensively. "But we're taught compassion. Empathy. Love for all living things. That doesn't mean we can't care."
"It means," Aayla said carefully, "we must learn to care without clinging."
Ahsoka frowned.
"I went through the same struggle," Aayla continued. "With my Master."
"Quinlan Vos?" Ahsoka asked.
Aayla nodded once. "He was more than a teacher to me. He was… a guide. A protector. In many ways, a father."
There was warmth in her voice.
"When you are young," she said softly, "and someone shapes your path, you begin to lean on them. It feels natural. Safe."
Ahsoka swallowed. "That's not wrong, though."
"No," Aayla agreed. "It is not wrong. But it becomes dangerous when you begin to believe you cannot stand without them."
They reached the edge of the hangar, overlooking the lower decks where clones moved in disciplined lines.
Ahsoka folded her arms.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?"
"I think," Aayla said gently, "that when the explosion happened, you did not think of the mission. Or the clones. Or the war."
Ahsoka's voice lowered. "I thought he was dead."
"And if he had been?" Aayla asked.
The question hung in the air.
Ahsoka didn't answer immediately.
"I don't know," she admitted.
They stopped near the edge of the hangar, overlooking the organized chaos below.
"When I was young," Aayla continued, "I struggled with something similar."
"You?" Ahsoka asked, surprised.
A faint smile touched Aayla's lips.
"I had… feelings," she said carefully. "For a fellow Jedi. We trained together. Fought together. Grew together."
Ahsoka's brows lifted slightly. "A crush?"
"If you wish to call it that," Aayla replied with soft amusement.
"What happened?"
"I told myself it would pass," Aayla said. "That it was foolish. That the Code required discipline. I tried to push it away."
"And did it?" Ahsoka asked.
Aayla's gaze drifted briefly — not toward the medbay this time, but somewhere distant in memory.
"No," she admitted quietly. "It did not."
Ahsoka studied her. "You still—"
"Yes."
There was no embarrassment in Aayla's voice. Only honesty.
"It has never ruled me," she added. "But it has never vanished either."
Ahsoka absorbed that slowly.
"Doesn't that make it harder? Serving in the Order?"
"Sometimes," Aayla said. "When we are assigned together. When I see him throw himself into danger without hesitation. When I see the weight he carries."
She paused.
"But the war demands so much of us that there is little room for indulgence."
Ahsoka didn't notice the careful choice of words.
"So you just… live with it?"
"Yes."
"And it doesn't affect your standing?"
"Not unless I allow it to cloud my judgment."
Ahsoka looked toward the corridor leading to the medbay again.
Aayla followed her gaze.
"You must learn to stand on your own," Aayla said gently. "Care for him. Respect him. Even love him in the way the Force allows."
Ahsoka blinked. "Love?"
"The Jedi speak of universal love," Aayla clarified. "But personal love is more complicated. It can inspire strength… or fear."
"Fear of losing them," Ahsoka said quietly.
Aayla nodded.
"And fear," she said softly, "is where attachment becomes dangerous."
Ahsoka was silent for a long moment.
"Will it ever get easier?" she asked.
Aayla smiled faintly.
"No."
That surprised her.
"But you grow stronger," Aayla continued. "And strength makes the weight bearable."
Ahsoka straightened slightly.
"I'll try," she said.
"That is all any of us can do."
From deeper within the ship, engines rumbled — the fleet preparing to depart.
Ahsoka finally allowed herself to turn toward the medbay corridor.
"I should check on him."
"Yes," Aayla said gently. "You should."
Ahsoka started walking.
Aayla remained where she was for a moment longer.
Her gaze lingered — just briefly — toward the same corridor.
Then she turned away.
Some attachments were quiet.
Some were carried without confession.
And some were forged long before a Padawan ever noticed them.
///
The medical wing was quieter than the rest of the ship — the distant tremor of engines muted beneath the steady rhythm of recovery units and the low hum of sterilizers cycling.
Ahsoka walked with purpose.
Aayla kept pace beside her, calm but observant. The battle was over, the planet secured, but the image of Anakin vanishing into smoke still clung to Ahsoka's thoughts like static.
They turned a corner—
—and nearly collided with Captain Rex.
He straightened immediately.
"General," he greeted Aayla respectfully. Then to Ahsoka: "Commander."
"We're going to see Skywalker," Aayla said gently.
Rex hesitated.
Ahsoka caught it.
"What?" she asked.
Rex scratched the back of his neck, glancing down the corridor.
"It's… probably not going to be simple."
Ahsoka frowned. "Why?"
Rex opened his mouth to explain, but stopped himself.
"It's best if you just see."
The three began their way to the medical wing, where Anakin stayed.
and then they turned the corner.
There he stood.
Coppery plating, burnished and scarred with age. Photoreceptors glowing like embers. Tall, rigid, and perfectly still in front of Anakin's medbay door.
HK-47.
Rex stopped dead.
"That's what I thought."
Ahsoka looked between him and the droid. "What?"
Rex exhaled slowly. "That."
HK's head rotated toward them with mechanical smoothness.
"Statement: The meatbag Captain Rex. Your presence is tolerable."
Rex muttered, "Yeah. Good to see you too."
HK's optics shifted to Ahsoka.
"Observation: A new Meatbag. Smaller. Loud. Likely fragile."
Ahsoka blinked. "Excuse me?"
Rex stepped in quickly. "HK, this is Commander Ahsoka Tano. General Skywalker's Padawan."
HK tilted his head.
"Assessment: A child has been assigned to my Master. Punitive action from the Council seems probable."
Ahsoka's jaw dropped. "Hey!"
HK's gaze shifted to Aayla.
There was a pause.
Then—
"Recognition: Master's former Twi'lek associate."
Aayla stiffened slightly.
"Clarification," HK continued smoothly, "from his… younger days."
Rex winced.
Ahsoka's eyes widened. "Associate?"
HK went on without mercy.
"Historical note: Twi'leks were frequently classified in certain Outer Rim registries as pleasure species. It would therefore be consistent for you to visit a recovering warrior."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ahsoka turned bright red. "WHAT is wrong with you?!"
Aayla, to her credit, remained composed — though her lekku twitched faintly.
"HK," she said carefully, "that is not appropriate."
"Counterpoint: Organic sensitivities are inefficient."
Rex stepped between them before Ahsoka could ignite something.
"Easy, kid."
"I am easy!" she snapped. "He's the one—"
HK cut in smoothly.
"Correction: I am many things. 'Insane' has been suggested. I prefer 'direct.'"
Ahsoka turned on Rex. "This is the unstable one, isn't it?"
Rex gave her a tired look. "You're catching on."
Ahsoka tried to step around HK.
The droid shifted instantly, blocking the doorway.
"You will not enter."
"Why not?" Ahsoka shot back.
HK's tone flattened into something colder.
"Statement: My Master is without his mask."
The words hung heavy.
Ahsoka blinked. "So?"
Aayla stepped forward, more serious now.
"It matters to him," she said quietly.
Ahsoka looked at her.
Aayla continued, her voice measured. "Anakin does not show his face lightly. Not to clones. Not to most Jedi."
"Because he doesn't trust us?" Ahsoka asked.
"No," Aayla corrected gently. "Because when you are the last of your species, you learn to guard what remains yours."
HK inclined his head slightly.
"Addendum: Disturbance during such vulnerability would be met with lethal disapproval."
Rex rubbed his forehead. "That's not helping."
Ahsoka folded her arms tightly.
"I just want to make sure he's okay."
"Statement: The medical unit has confirmed structural integrity of my Master. Your presence would not increase survival probability."
Ahsoka exhaled sharply.
"So that's it? We're just supposed to walk away?"
Aayla gave her a soft look.
"Yes."
Reluctantly, Ahsoka stepped back.
Rex motioned down the corridor. "C'mon, Commander."
As they began walking away, Ahsoka muttered, "You said K2 and R2 were the sane ones."
Rex gave a low, humorless chuckle. "Compared to him? Yeah."
Behind them, HK resumed his sentry posture.
Motionless.
Unyielding.
Guarding the door.
And if any of them had doubted Rex before—
Ahsoka no longer did.
....
Alright, that's it, that's all I got, Im all caught up. I know where Im going with this tho. Also, unfortunately, for some of you, I've gone against my word and gonna go down the road of harem. BUT, it won't be like 10billion girls, its only gonna be like 4, and padme also isnt gonna just be ok with it, we're gonna have conflict here and there, also im gonna make it feel natural, at least try to. Anyway, gonna try and get a Patreon up tomorrow and then start figureing out some sort of posting schedule.