Signature Bonds - Star Wars TCW

Chapter 4

Anakin felt horrible. He was nauseous, on the verge of throwing up, and had been- ever since Ahsoka left for lessons. It had started out as seemingly a stomach ache, something he could work through so he could do some sparring, but then it got worse. By the next day, he was out of commission, and Obi-wan had to take him to the halls of healing.

Ahsoka wasn't fairing any better. Combined with the mental and physical bruises and a weaker immune system, she was barely holding up, confined to her dorm until further notice. Unfortunately, being locked up allowed her more time to think about what happened, her thoughts of betrayal growing worse every second.

In the medical bay, the medics couldn't find anything physically wrong with Anakin, so they had to try to force scan him. He sat in front of the healer on a little cushion, and watched her face contort whenever she found something that could possibly be wrong. A sudden gasp rang out, causing him to snap his head up, causing another wave of nausea to come over him. The healer scurried over to Obi-wan, asking him a question, before grabbing her comm and calling someone.

Within fifteen minutes, Anakin was partially aware of two people coming in the door. A few seconds later, one left. The other one seemed to collapse on the floor, and the other two presences appeared to pick the smaller one up and carry it over to him. He was vaguely aware that it was Ahsoka next to him, but something wasn't right. She seemed... afraid of him? Anakin suddenly found her small hand against his, and he didn't seem to feel sick anymore. He sat up, careful to keep his hand touching hers, and he quickly realized she was trying to get as far away from him as she could while still touching him.

"What's wrong, Ahsoka?" His voice was hoarse from lack of speaking, but it got the message across. She didn't seem to think what he said was okay, acting as if he should know.

"What do you think is wrong?" She spat, whipping her head to face him. He immediately noticed bruises lining her face, arms, legs, and everywhere he could see.

"What happened?" Ahsoka just glared before turning away from him.

"If you were there, I don't know why you don't know."

"What?" Anakin was even more lost, bewildered.

"You hurt me, idiot! A LOT!" He stopped. There was no way he was even in the youngling rooms during that time, so he couldn't have been near her when that happened.

"I wasn't in the youngling classrooms," he muttered. Her sensitive montrals picked it up though, and she slowly turned to face him, her lekku twitching.

"I saw you. You were there!" She insisted.

"He was where?" Obi-wan came over to the cushions, gasping at the sight of Ahsoka. "What happened?"

"At the youngling rooms!" She said crossly. "And I don't want to talk about it!"

"He wasn't in the youngling rooms, young one." Ahsoka simply shut down, seeming to be lost in thought for a long time, before her lekku twitched in frustration.

"So... you didn't... you weren't..." Anakin nodded, carefully putting an arm over her shoulders. Her montrals flushed a dark navy, and she buried her head in his chest to hide her face. The two suddenly gasped, grabbing their arms in agony, and Luminara sat down immediately, monitoring the energy.
Master Unduli just smiled, letting them stay hunched over, curled into each other.

"What's wrong with them, Lumi?" Obi-wan asked worriedly, staring helplessly down at the children who were near the point of screaming with pain.

"They're bonding. It's quite the painful process sometimes, but the arm with their marks will hurt worst," suddenly, the corners of her mouth quirked into a smile. "You called me Lumi." Kenobi blushed a light pink, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. She leaned up and pecked his cheek gently, before turning and walking back over to the children as they started coming back from the land of pain. His face was a flaming red color; quite unusual for the usually calm master. Luminara glanced back at Obi-wan, giggling in the slightest bit, before concentrating on the bonding before her.

Anakin gripped onto Ahsoka's arm tighter, feeling her head dig into his chest harder, when the pain suddenly stopped. He lifted his head, tear-filled eyes starting to dry, and rubbed his bond-mate's arm comfortingly. His head lifted once he was sure she was alright, and his eyes found their way to his master's tomato-like face.

"Master Kenobi? Why are you blushing?" Ahsoka asked from her comfortable position in Anakin's lap. Her bond-mate stared down at her, confused.

"I was just about to ask that. So seriously, why are you blushing?" Kenobi was still too flustered to answer, and wound up spluttering like a broken pipe. Luminara just snickered, standing and patting his arm, leaving the master more red-faced than he already was.

"Alright children. Let's get you back to your quarters. Maybe we can fix the broken Kenobi on the way back there," she said mischievously, pulling the children up and watching Anakin put a hand protectively on Ahsoka's arm, before gasping and pulling away.

"What happened to your hand?"

"My hand? What about yours!" Ahsoka sounded offended, before staring down at her hand intently. It had a delicate, pale orange pattern on it, identical to Anakin's.

"You two got your second bonding mark. You shouldn't get anymore until about your teenage years, but your bond will strengthen," Luminara explained from her place next to the blushing master.

"Oh. Do you two have yours?" The younger girl inquired, causing even Luminara to blush.

"Well- uh, w-what makes... what makes you say that?" She stuttered.

"It's obvious. Isn't it?"

"Yep. Master, I know for a fact you don't blush, and Luminara doesn't fancy taking younglings places when they need to go somewhere. Plus, you're freaking out over a question a four-year-old-"

"Five!" Came the indignant shout. Anakin just rolled his eyes, continuing with his rant.

"Like I said, freaking out over a question a five-year-old asked. Sound like something either of you would do normally? And, I'm guessing you two don't want people to know you're bonded because the council doesn't approve of all of the bonding because it's considered attachment. But, Luminara can't help but be affectionate at times, and Obi-wan can't keep pet names from slipping out all the time." Ahsoka stared up at him, blue eyes sparking. The two adults' mouths dropped open in surprise.

"Hey! You read my mind!" The young girl accused.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not."

"Did not."

"Ha! I win! You said I didn't!" Anakin exclaimed triumphantly. She pouted and waves of annoyance and hurt flashed off of her, causing the arrogant boy to feel as if someone was kicking him in the stomach over and over again.

"Ouch! Sorry, stop it!" Ahsoka looked at him confusedly, her emotions turning to that of curiosity instead of hurt. He immediately felt better, standing up and looking to Luminara for an explanation. She had her hand placed over her mouth, laughter threatening to spill out.

"Don't insult her. Every time either of you hurts the other, that's what's going to happen. We figured that out the hard way," she nudged Obi-wan fondly, and both boys grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, Snips," Anakin muttered, holding out his arms for a hug, to which she gladly obliged. Minutes later, everyone was in the boys' quarters, the girls curled up in the boys' laps. Ahsoka was purring in content as her bond-mate stroked her montrals, and Luminara was half asleep in Obi-wan's arms. Soon, Ahsoka's breathing became even and softer, and Anakin also fell asleep. Luminara was off in the land of dreams, and Obi-wan was on the verge of sleep. He smiled at them all, before peacefully falling asleep, happy to have his bond-mate in his arms again.

0o0

TA DA! Sorry about the wait; I couldn't upload yesterday because of technical difficulties, but here's the chapter!

I decided to make this chapter really fluffy toward the end, so... hehe, sorry about that.

Comment? Vote? Read it? :D

-FlamingStarbird