𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 25: master and padawan

When Akya and Anakin heard footsteps outside, their romantic moment quickly ended and Anakin rushed to sit in a less awkwardly close position nearer to the end of the bed.  The person they'd heard was Ahsoka, who opened the curtains to the room with a big smile on her face. 

"Akya!" she said happily, giving her friend a quick hug.  "I'm so glad you're okay.  I was so worried.  Someone made me stay here while he went and rescued you." She gestured to Anakin.

"That's—" Anakin was cut off by his Padawan.

"Rude? Yeah."

Anakin smiled and rolled his eyes.

"It's good to see you, too, Ahsoka."

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was twelve hours ago."

"Good," she said.  "You'll need your rest."

Akya scrunched her brows.  "For what?"

Ahsoka turned to Anakin.  "You didn't tell her yet?"

"Tell me what?"

Anakin stared down at his feet and sighed, then turned to Akya.  "Obi-Wan's pulled back the siege of the Main Post to tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" said Akya.  "What? Why?"  She looked from Anakin to Ahsoka until one of them offered an answer. "That can't possibly give enough time for reinforcements to arrive."

"That's the problem," said Anakin. "Reinforcements aren't coming."

Akya's face scrunched up in confusion. 

"They can't bring them here with such a high risk," began Ahsoka, answering Akya's unspoken questions.  "Without the Main Post's fueling stations, there's no way to get fuel to a cruiser big enough for the reinforcements we need.  They can't send a ship this far into the Outer Rim without assurance that it can get back to Coruscant."

"So then what do we do if we lose?"

"We have enough fuel to take our small crew of cruisers back to the city," Anakin said.  "But that's all.  Without the main post, they can't continue the Outer Rim Sieges."

"So they're depending on us to take this fueling post, but they won't send any reinforcements?"

"I don't like it either," said Anakin. 

"So then what do they want us to do?"

"They want us to go through with it."

Akya shook her head, putting her hand to her forehead.  "This is insanity," she said.

"Master Obi-Wan would have gone today, but he wanted you to come with us," Ahsoka added. "We need as much help as we can get."

"I'll be there," she nodded.  "But I still think this is crazy."

"I know," said Ahsoka.  "But that's war, I guess."

"Where is Master Kenobi, anyway?"

"Pouring over holo-maps," Ahsoka said.  "By the time we're done here, he's probably going to have every sector of this planet memorized."

"I just wish we didn't have to rush into this."

"The longer we wait, the more droids they'll have ready for us," said Anakin.  "When we saved you, it alerted them to our intentions.  They're not going to make this easy for us."

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Akya added sarcastically.

— ★ ✰ ☆ —

Once she was finally up and walking again a couple hours later, Akya went straight to the briefing room, where Obi-Wan continued looking over maps of the Main Post, Commander Cody standing just beside him. They looked rather confused and stuck, but their faces became livelier once they noticed Akya had walked into the room.