NEW! 6 Anakin and Ahsoka ficlets
So, swficchallenge had their Mini NaNo in November again and this year I completed all 30 days! I'm going to make a couple of separate posts with the fics (most of them are a little longer than drabble-length) broken up into, IDK, themes, I guess.
First up, Anakin and Ahsoka, doin' the Master/Padawan thing!
Here is a batch focusing on the war itself.
Here is a batch focusing on Anakin & Obi-Wan, as wll as general h/c and angst.
Here are humor/fluff/other ficlets
Here are post-RotS-based ficlets
Title: Rite of Passage
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: blackout
Word Count: 730
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In order to gain the trust of a tactically-advantageous village, Anakin must undergo a rite of passage.
-----
It felt like battle meditation, but it wasn't. It felt like everything focused on one single objective, like the rest of the galaxy had faded away. "You can do it," a voice at Anakin's side prompted. He didn't recognize the voice. Well, he did, kind of, but the focus made things sound weird, off.
His task was, ostensibly, a simple one. He'd been chosen because he amongst all of them was the most likely to succeed. The village elders had not believed their quiet proclamations that Anakin would be the Republic's champion, which made Anakin that much more determined.
He stared at his goal, gathering the Force into him, allowing it to give him strength. Everything else disappeared. "Come on, Master, just a little more." Ahsoka, it was Ahsoka. He replied to her, but he wasn't sure what he said.
He lifted the weapon, and the galaxy melted away.
-----
"You are way too heavy," Ahsoka grunted, struggling under the weight of her much-larger Master. "Could you at least try to help me out here?"
Anakin made a noise in the back of his throat, and Ahsoka quickly moved out the way to let his stomach contents splatter onto the pavement. "Gross," she muttered.
She hadn't liked the idea of the contest, but it was apparently a right of passage in the village they were trying to shore up against Separatist attack. Unless Anakin agreed to prove himself, they would not be able to use the village as a base, and the battle would be lost. Anakin, of course, with his usual brand of arrogance, had agreed.
She was pretty sure he hadn't realized the contest wasn't one of feats of strength, or killing some poor creature in the name of manhood. Instead, it had involved a bottle of the local rotgut and one of the village elders as judge. To his credit, Anakin hadn't passed out or thrown up while the contest was going on, though it was a near thing, and the elder had proclaimed him worthy.
Ahsoka had resigned herself to the fact she would likely be the one giving the orders come morning. "We couldn't have just found another staging area?" she grunted, finally dropping Anakin onto the cot in the small tent they'd set up on the outskirts of the village. He rolled onto his side and made a soft snuffling noise. She sighed, realizing that she wouldn't be getting any conversation out of him. "You're an idiot," she informed him, settling onto the floor to go over the plans for the next day.
-----
Ahsoka and Rex were arranging the troops around the perimeter of the village; they'd gotten word from the scouts that the Separatist ground troops would be on them by early evening. They made sure to occupy the high ground, and were setting up energy shields when Anakin emerged from the tent. "Hey," he said, rubbing his eyes, looking much the worse for wear. "Why didn't you wait for me?"
Ahsoka crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out in annoyance. "Because it's after lunch time, and we needed to get the troops in position. That's why."
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Anakin demanded, hands on his hips. "This is my mission, you know." He rubbed his eyes again, pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do I feel like I've been trampled by a bantha?"
Beside her, Rex's lip quirked into something resembling a smile. "Don't you remember, Sir?" he asked, and Ahsoka couldn't help smiling as well at the casual tone of the Clone captain. Apparently, the Clones had been betting on their General the previous evening with some of the locals. "You're officially a member of the village, now."
Anakin scowled. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he informed them haughtily, striding down the line of troopers that were setting up their heavy artillery. "Snips!" She went to his side, and he looked down at her, looking queasy. "You got this?"
She nodded. "Do you want me to call you when they're coming up the ridge? We've got a few hours, I think."
He nodded, heading back towards the tent. "Oh, and Ahsoka?" He turned back to her. "Never let me do something like that again."
She rolled her eyes, and went back to her preparations.
Title: Quieting the Mind
Challenge: SWMININANO
Prompt: Quote of the Day
Word Count: 437
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan (mentioned)
Rating: PG
Summary: Ahsoka and Anakin do some training
-----
It was a rare moment that Ahsoka Tano got to spend time with her Master off the battlefield. Usually, if they were not leading the troops, he was elsewhere, doing... whatever it was Anakin did when they were on Coruscant. This time, though, for whatever reason, he'd suggested they do some back-to-basics training together. "I hardly ever see you on-world," he'd commented, like it was her fault he tended to disappear the minute they hit the landing platform.
Regardless, she was grateful for the opportunity. They were in the Room of A Thousand Fountains, perched atop the towering waterfall that was the crowning glory of the atrium. Ahsoka felt somewhat impatient, in spite of herself, watching Anakin stand on his hands on the rock precipice, floating several larger stones in an orbit around himself. Not opening his eyes or dropping his focus, he instructed her to do the same.
Flipping onto her hands was easy. She had the upper body strength to maintain the position even without the aid of the Force. She lifted up a pair of her own stones, with some difficulty. She screwed up her face and concentrated harder. The rocks felt ridiculously heavy, but she was able to get them spinning around her. Pleased with her progress, she lost her focus and the rocks crashed down into the waterfall, splashing loudly as they hit the pool below.
Ahsoka collapsed to her knees, frowning. Kriff it, she should be better than this. She was a warrior, the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. She ought to be able to just float rocks for a few minutes. She felt Anakin settle beside her, cross-legged. "You're thinking too much," he informed her.
She looked at him, arching a white-marked brow. "Is that the problem." It was not a question. She was frustrated with herself at her lack of focus, her inability to perform a skill even Younglings could perfect.
"You need to quiet your mind," he prompted, like he was an expert in the matter. "You can't hear a whisper if you're constantly shouting." It sounded like something Obi-Wan had told him, because it sure didn't sound like Skywalker-brand wisdom.
"Look who's talking," she shot back with a grin. However, despite his inability to take his own advice about pretty much everything, Anakin's words made sense. She was so busy focusing on the task that she didn't let it happen.
Anakin grinned back, stood, held out his hand to her. "Let's try it again," he suggested. She allowed him to help her to her feet, and flipped back onto her hands. This time, she knew, she would succeed.
Title: Never Wondered if I Was Afraid
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: petulant
Word Count: 468
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan (mentioned)
Rating: PG
Summary: Master Skywalker and his Padawan have a discussion about responsibility
Author Notes: Title and cut-text from "No Time At All" from the musical Pippin
-----
Anakin Skywalker crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a glare at his Padawan. He wasn't sure he was as good at the "I'm the Master, that's why" look as Obi-Wan, but he'd been on the receiving end enough to figure he was able to mimic it effectively. "Care to tell me why you thought that was a good idea?" he prodded, adding the edge to his voice that he reserved for when he wanted her to know he wasn't fooling around, that for right now he wasn't Skyguy, or Anakin, or the General. For right now, he was Master Skywalker, and she'd done wrong.
"I thought it would save us time and men in the long run," she replied, cocky, arrogant in a manner Anakin recognized all too well. "And it did, didn't it?" So reckless, so confident. She'd absorbed his unintentional teachings too well.
"And you could have been killed," he pointed out, leveling a warning finger at her. "You didn't tell anyone where you were going or what you were doing." He would admit she was right, and if he hadn't been busy he probably would have done the same thing. But kriff it, he would have told her what he was doing! He wondered if she had any idea the kind of blind panic he'd felt when he'd realized she was missing, the barked orders he'd given the Clones to fan out! FIND her!.
"There wasn't time," she pushed back, the petulant teenager she was. He didn't want to recognize himself in her stance, in her words, but he did and wondered if it was too late to apologize to Obi-Wan.
He scowled at her. "You make time, Ahsoka," he ordered. "Never keep me out of the loop like that." He didn't want to throw rank around - such things made him very uneasy - but he didn't want another morning like this one again. She needed to know he was in charge. "I need to know what you're doing."
Her look branded him a hypocrite, but she knew better than to say it out loud. "I'm sorry, Master," she said instead. She sounded truly sorry, as if she'd realized what she'd done to his psyche for those few scant hours. "But," she pointed out, turning to take her leave, "I was right, wasn't I?"
She wanted his approval so badly, wanted him to be proud of her. She took ridiculous risks because he did, made her own daring choices because she thought doing so would make her more worthy in his eyes. Anakin knew how it felt to work so hard to gain praise from someone he knew hadn't wanted him as an apprentice. "You were right," he allowed, carefully. Then, reluctant, "Good job, Snips." She beamed at him, and walked away.
Title: Feasting
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: feast
Word Count: 198
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan
Rating: PG
Summary: Ahsoka is uncomfortable at the feast. Her Master isn't helping.
-----
Ahsoka never feels comfortable at these kinds of things, and she's pretty sure her Master doesn't, either. Obi-Wan is in his element, regaling the others around the table with some tale or other, his gentle voice rising and falling with the twists and turns of the story. Ahsoka can't quite hear him, seated at the other end of the table as she is, but she wishes she were closer. Not just because she wants to hear the story, but because she is profoundly uncomfortable and she feels that if she is sitting closer, maybe Obi-Wan's calm confidence will rub off on her.
Her own Master certainly isn't helping matters, looking lost as the feast revolves around them, picking at his food, trying not to look as hungry as she knows he must be. She knows they have to make a good impression, and Anakin knows as well, so he is so far from being himself that it is almost ridiculous. "I think the perimeter needs to be patrolled again," he announces suddenly, standing. "Want to come, Snips?"
She nods, relieved, and laughs as Anakin grabs both of their plates and some extra rolls and heads towards the door.
Title: Merciless
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: Krayt Dragon
Word Count: 186
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka
Rating: PG
Summary: Ahsoka just wants to know more.
Author's Notes: Takes place during the Clone Wars movie.
-----
The skeleton is bleached white by the sun and the desert winds. Ahsoka hunches her shoulders, adjusting the pack that holds the little huttlet. She knows Anakin hates the thing, but he won't tell her why. Won't tell her anything, really, not even as they pass the hulking bones and she asks what creature it had once been.
It's not until the skeleton has disappeared over the horizon that he speaks. "A krayt dragon," he says, gruffly, voice raspy with dehydration and the sand. "That one probably starved about a week ago."
"A week?" she asks, stunned.
He bows his head and keeps walking. "I told you, Ahsoka. This place..." His gloved right hand curls into a fist.
"Tell me," she prompts, jogging lightly to catch up with him.
He shakes his head, hands her his canteen. "Here," he says. "Don't want to see you end up like our friend back there." It's the end of the discussion, she knows, and the warm water tastes bitter in her mouth. She'll get him to open up, she vows to herself. If it's the last thing she does.
Title: Sensing the Future
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: hallucinate
Word Count: 485
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka
Rating: PG
Summary: Bad berries and a dark future, not a great combination
Author's Notes: Darkish, might be triggering for berry-induced suicidal ideation.
-----
The berries weren't good. They looked appealing, big and juicy and like they would provide the sustinence needed for the next few days of slogging through unforgiving swamp land after their supplies had dwindled to nothing. Ahsoka was not well-versed in botany, but she knew enough to know that if berries that looked that delicious were still on their vines and hadn't already been eaten by the local wildlife, that meant there was something wrong with them.
Anakin, too, should have known better, and though she hadn't seen him actually eat any of the berries, she had seen him sprinkling some kind of juice over the roasted meat they'd prepared. She assumed that was the reason he was currently sitting in the middle of the clearing they'd made camp in, pupils dilated, floating several large rocks in front of him.
"Master?" she asked, tentatively approached him.
He lifted a finger to his lips. "Shh," he admonished. "I'm trying to listen. I can't hear them if you're talking."
Ahsoka reached out with her senses to try and figure out what he was talking about. "Hear who?" she demanded once she determined there was nothing but the rustling of leaves.
"Everyone," Anakin replied, voice hushed. "Everyone. It's..." He closed his eyes, and the stones raised slightly. "Beautiful."
"Riiight," Ahsoka drawled, picking up her datapad and trying to find her first aid guide. Suddenly, the rocks slammed down and Anakin was on his hands and knees, vomiting violently. "Master!" she cried, running to him.
"No," he gasped at her, pushing her away. "No. I won't let you, I won't. You can't." He rose, unsteadily, to his feet, hand going to his lightsaber. "You're going to hurt so many people," he said, his voice cracking with pain.
"Master!" She drew her own 'saber up to block his strike, but it never came. Instead, he had the hilt pressed against his collarbone, tears sliding down his pale cheeks. "Master, don't! It's not real!"
He stared at her, and she took that moment to pull the lightsaber from his hand. "It's not real," she repeated. He blinked, and dropped to the ground, fisting his hands in his hair. "You're safe," she said softly, treading lightly over to him and crouching down, rubbing his back, sighing as she realized his tunics were soaked through with sweat. "Sleep." She wasn't very good at the more subtle, suggestive uses of the Force, but she tried anyway, pressing her will against her Master's, chipping away at his tattered shields. "Sleep, Master."
She was shocked when it worked, though if it was her skill with the Force or him finally succumbing to the mild poison, she wasn't sure. She draped his cloak over him and sat beside him, knees drawn to her chest, his lightsaber heavy on her own belt. She would keep him safe, from himself and everything else, for as long as it took.
First up, Anakin and Ahsoka, doin' the Master/Padawan thing!
Here is a batch focusing on the war itself.
Here is a batch focusing on Anakin & Obi-Wan, as wll as general h/c and angst.
Here are humor/fluff/other ficlets
Here are post-RotS-based ficlets
Title: Rite of Passage
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: blackout
Word Count: 730
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In order to gain the trust of a tactically-advantageous village, Anakin must undergo a rite of passage.
-----
It felt like battle meditation, but it wasn't. It felt like everything focused on one single objective, like the rest of the galaxy had faded away. "You can do it," a voice at Anakin's side prompted. He didn't recognize the voice. Well, he did, kind of, but the focus made things sound weird, off.
His task was, ostensibly, a simple one. He'd been chosen because he amongst all of them was the most likely to succeed. The village elders had not believed their quiet proclamations that Anakin would be the Republic's champion, which made Anakin that much more determined.
He stared at his goal, gathering the Force into him, allowing it to give him strength. Everything else disappeared. "Come on, Master, just a little more." Ahsoka, it was Ahsoka. He replied to her, but he wasn't sure what he said.
He lifted the weapon, and the galaxy melted away.
-----
"You are way too heavy," Ahsoka grunted, struggling under the weight of her much-larger Master. "Could you at least try to help me out here?"
Anakin made a noise in the back of his throat, and Ahsoka quickly moved out the way to let his stomach contents splatter onto the pavement. "Gross," she muttered.
She hadn't liked the idea of the contest, but it was apparently a right of passage in the village they were trying to shore up against Separatist attack. Unless Anakin agreed to prove himself, they would not be able to use the village as a base, and the battle would be lost. Anakin, of course, with his usual brand of arrogance, had agreed.
She was pretty sure he hadn't realized the contest wasn't one of feats of strength, or killing some poor creature in the name of manhood. Instead, it had involved a bottle of the local rotgut and one of the village elders as judge. To his credit, Anakin hadn't passed out or thrown up while the contest was going on, though it was a near thing, and the elder had proclaimed him worthy.
Ahsoka had resigned herself to the fact she would likely be the one giving the orders come morning. "We couldn't have just found another staging area?" she grunted, finally dropping Anakin onto the cot in the small tent they'd set up on the outskirts of the village. He rolled onto his side and made a soft snuffling noise. She sighed, realizing that she wouldn't be getting any conversation out of him. "You're an idiot," she informed him, settling onto the floor to go over the plans for the next day.
-----
Ahsoka and Rex were arranging the troops around the perimeter of the village; they'd gotten word from the scouts that the Separatist ground troops would be on them by early evening. They made sure to occupy the high ground, and were setting up energy shields when Anakin emerged from the tent. "Hey," he said, rubbing his eyes, looking much the worse for wear. "Why didn't you wait for me?"
Ahsoka crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out in annoyance. "Because it's after lunch time, and we needed to get the troops in position. That's why."
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Anakin demanded, hands on his hips. "This is my mission, you know." He rubbed his eyes again, pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do I feel like I've been trampled by a bantha?"
Beside her, Rex's lip quirked into something resembling a smile. "Don't you remember, Sir?" he asked, and Ahsoka couldn't help smiling as well at the casual tone of the Clone captain. Apparently, the Clones had been betting on their General the previous evening with some of the locals. "You're officially a member of the village, now."
Anakin scowled. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he informed them haughtily, striding down the line of troopers that were setting up their heavy artillery. "Snips!" She went to his side, and he looked down at her, looking queasy. "You got this?"
She nodded. "Do you want me to call you when they're coming up the ridge? We've got a few hours, I think."
He nodded, heading back towards the tent. "Oh, and Ahsoka?" He turned back to her. "Never let me do something like that again."
She rolled her eyes, and went back to her preparations.
Title: Quieting the Mind
Challenge: SWMININANO
Prompt: Quote of the Day
Word Count: 437
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan (mentioned)
Rating: PG
Summary: Ahsoka and Anakin do some training
-----
It was a rare moment that Ahsoka Tano got to spend time with her Master off the battlefield. Usually, if they were not leading the troops, he was elsewhere, doing... whatever it was Anakin did when they were on Coruscant. This time, though, for whatever reason, he'd suggested they do some back-to-basics training together. "I hardly ever see you on-world," he'd commented, like it was her fault he tended to disappear the minute they hit the landing platform.
Regardless, she was grateful for the opportunity. They were in the Room of A Thousand Fountains, perched atop the towering waterfall that was the crowning glory of the atrium. Ahsoka felt somewhat impatient, in spite of herself, watching Anakin stand on his hands on the rock precipice, floating several larger stones in an orbit around himself. Not opening his eyes or dropping his focus, he instructed her to do the same.
Flipping onto her hands was easy. She had the upper body strength to maintain the position even without the aid of the Force. She lifted up a pair of her own stones, with some difficulty. She screwed up her face and concentrated harder. The rocks felt ridiculously heavy, but she was able to get them spinning around her. Pleased with her progress, she lost her focus and the rocks crashed down into the waterfall, splashing loudly as they hit the pool below.
Ahsoka collapsed to her knees, frowning. Kriff it, she should be better than this. She was a warrior, the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. She ought to be able to just float rocks for a few minutes. She felt Anakin settle beside her, cross-legged. "You're thinking too much," he informed her.
She looked at him, arching a white-marked brow. "Is that the problem." It was not a question. She was frustrated with herself at her lack of focus, her inability to perform a skill even Younglings could perfect.
"You need to quiet your mind," he prompted, like he was an expert in the matter. "You can't hear a whisper if you're constantly shouting." It sounded like something Obi-Wan had told him, because it sure didn't sound like Skywalker-brand wisdom.
"Look who's talking," she shot back with a grin. However, despite his inability to take his own advice about pretty much everything, Anakin's words made sense. She was so busy focusing on the task that she didn't let it happen.
Anakin grinned back, stood, held out his hand to her. "Let's try it again," he suggested. She allowed him to help her to her feet, and flipped back onto her hands. This time, she knew, she would succeed.
Title: Never Wondered if I Was Afraid
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: petulant
Word Count: 468
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan (mentioned)
Rating: PG
Summary: Master Skywalker and his Padawan have a discussion about responsibility
Author Notes: Title and cut-text from "No Time At All" from the musical Pippin
-----
Anakin Skywalker crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a glare at his Padawan. He wasn't sure he was as good at the "I'm the Master, that's why" look as Obi-Wan, but he'd been on the receiving end enough to figure he was able to mimic it effectively. "Care to tell me why you thought that was a good idea?" he prodded, adding the edge to his voice that he reserved for when he wanted her to know he wasn't fooling around, that for right now he wasn't Skyguy, or Anakin, or the General. For right now, he was Master Skywalker, and she'd done wrong.
"I thought it would save us time and men in the long run," she replied, cocky, arrogant in a manner Anakin recognized all too well. "And it did, didn't it?" So reckless, so confident. She'd absorbed his unintentional teachings too well.
"And you could have been killed," he pointed out, leveling a warning finger at her. "You didn't tell anyone where you were going or what you were doing." He would admit she was right, and if he hadn't been busy he probably would have done the same thing. But kriff it, he would have told her what he was doing! He wondered if she had any idea the kind of blind panic he'd felt when he'd realized she was missing, the barked orders he'd given the Clones to fan out! FIND her!.
"There wasn't time," she pushed back, the petulant teenager she was. He didn't want to recognize himself in her stance, in her words, but he did and wondered if it was too late to apologize to Obi-Wan.
He scowled at her. "You make time, Ahsoka," he ordered. "Never keep me out of the loop like that." He didn't want to throw rank around - such things made him very uneasy - but he didn't want another morning like this one again. She needed to know he was in charge. "I need to know what you're doing."
Her look branded him a hypocrite, but she knew better than to say it out loud. "I'm sorry, Master," she said instead. She sounded truly sorry, as if she'd realized what she'd done to his psyche for those few scant hours. "But," she pointed out, turning to take her leave, "I was right, wasn't I?"
She wanted his approval so badly, wanted him to be proud of her. She took ridiculous risks because he did, made her own daring choices because she thought doing so would make her more worthy in his eyes. Anakin knew how it felt to work so hard to gain praise from someone he knew hadn't wanted him as an apprentice. "You were right," he allowed, carefully. Then, reluctant, "Good job, Snips." She beamed at him, and walked away.
Title: Feasting
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: feast
Word Count: 198
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan
Rating: PG
Summary: Ahsoka is uncomfortable at the feast. Her Master isn't helping.
-----
Ahsoka never feels comfortable at these kinds of things, and she's pretty sure her Master doesn't, either. Obi-Wan is in his element, regaling the others around the table with some tale or other, his gentle voice rising and falling with the twists and turns of the story. Ahsoka can't quite hear him, seated at the other end of the table as she is, but she wishes she were closer. Not just because she wants to hear the story, but because she is profoundly uncomfortable and she feels that if she is sitting closer, maybe Obi-Wan's calm confidence will rub off on her.
Her own Master certainly isn't helping matters, looking lost as the feast revolves around them, picking at his food, trying not to look as hungry as she knows he must be. She knows they have to make a good impression, and Anakin knows as well, so he is so far from being himself that it is almost ridiculous. "I think the perimeter needs to be patrolled again," he announces suddenly, standing. "Want to come, Snips?"
She nods, relieved, and laughs as Anakin grabs both of their plates and some extra rolls and heads towards the door.
Title: Merciless
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: Krayt Dragon
Word Count: 186
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka
Rating: PG
Summary: Ahsoka just wants to know more.
Author's Notes: Takes place during the Clone Wars movie.
-----
The skeleton is bleached white by the sun and the desert winds. Ahsoka hunches her shoulders, adjusting the pack that holds the little huttlet. She knows Anakin hates the thing, but he won't tell her why. Won't tell her anything, really, not even as they pass the hulking bones and she asks what creature it had once been.
It's not until the skeleton has disappeared over the horizon that he speaks. "A krayt dragon," he says, gruffly, voice raspy with dehydration and the sand. "That one probably starved about a week ago."
"A week?" she asks, stunned.
He bows his head and keeps walking. "I told you, Ahsoka. This place..." His gloved right hand curls into a fist.
"Tell me," she prompts, jogging lightly to catch up with him.
He shakes his head, hands her his canteen. "Here," he says. "Don't want to see you end up like our friend back there." It's the end of the discussion, she knows, and the warm water tastes bitter in her mouth. She'll get him to open up, she vows to herself. If it's the last thing she does.
Title: Sensing the Future
Challenge: SWMININANO2
Prompt: hallucinate
Word Count: 485
Characters: Anakin, Ahsoka
Rating: PG
Summary: Bad berries and a dark future, not a great combination
Author's Notes: Darkish, might be triggering for berry-induced suicidal ideation.
-----
The berries weren't good. They looked appealing, big and juicy and like they would provide the sustinence needed for the next few days of slogging through unforgiving swamp land after their supplies had dwindled to nothing. Ahsoka was not well-versed in botany, but she knew enough to know that if berries that looked that delicious were still on their vines and hadn't already been eaten by the local wildlife, that meant there was something wrong with them.
Anakin, too, should have known better, and though she hadn't seen him actually eat any of the berries, she had seen him sprinkling some kind of juice over the roasted meat they'd prepared. She assumed that was the reason he was currently sitting in the middle of the clearing they'd made camp in, pupils dilated, floating several large rocks in front of him.
"Master?" she asked, tentatively approached him.
He lifted a finger to his lips. "Shh," he admonished. "I'm trying to listen. I can't hear them if you're talking."
Ahsoka reached out with her senses to try and figure out what he was talking about. "Hear who?" she demanded once she determined there was nothing but the rustling of leaves.
"Everyone," Anakin replied, voice hushed. "Everyone. It's..." He closed his eyes, and the stones raised slightly. "Beautiful."
"Riiight," Ahsoka drawled, picking up her datapad and trying to find her first aid guide. Suddenly, the rocks slammed down and Anakin was on his hands and knees, vomiting violently. "Master!" she cried, running to him.
"No," he gasped at her, pushing her away. "No. I won't let you, I won't. You can't." He rose, unsteadily, to his feet, hand going to his lightsaber. "You're going to hurt so many people," he said, his voice cracking with pain.
"Master!" She drew her own 'saber up to block his strike, but it never came. Instead, he had the hilt pressed against his collarbone, tears sliding down his pale cheeks. "Master, don't! It's not real!"
He stared at her, and she took that moment to pull the lightsaber from his hand. "It's not real," she repeated. He blinked, and dropped to the ground, fisting his hands in his hair. "You're safe," she said softly, treading lightly over to him and crouching down, rubbing his back, sighing as she realized his tunics were soaked through with sweat. "Sleep." She wasn't very good at the more subtle, suggestive uses of the Force, but she tried anyway, pressing her will against her Master's, chipping away at his tattered shields. "Sleep, Master."
She was shocked when it worked, though if it was her skill with the Force or him finally succumbing to the mild poison, she wasn't sure. She draped his cloak over him and sat beside him, knees drawn to her chest, his lightsaber heavy on her own belt. She would keep him safe, from himself and everything else, for as long as it took.