The Senator And The Jedi

Chapter Thirty: Recovering and Reassessment

Lux

Ahsoka hadn't left Lux's side since he woke up (and probably before that, but he obviously wouldn't remember that), and Lux was glad for it. He had always hated hospitals, and Ahsoka had been an immense help in keeping him grounded.

Not to mention the fact that she saved his life. Again.

He had come far closer to death this time than ever before, and Ahsoka had too, he realized with a start. According to what he had managed to piece together from reports and Ahsoka's account of the whole incident over the course of his weeklong stay at the hospital, it had been mouth-to-mouth respiration coupled with a small dose of the antidote that had kept him alive before the medics had been able to get to him. It had carried him all through their frantic research into the poison to identify it and its cure. But to save him, she had also exposed herself to the deadly lectrosterine he had in his system.

She had been willing to sacrifice herself so that he would live to see another day. Lux knew he wouldn't be able to repay that debt even if he had a thousand lifetimes to do it.

As if somehow aware that she was in his thoughts – but then again, she was a Jedi, so he wouldn't be surprised if she actually were – Ahsoka suddenly walked through the door into his hospital room.

"How are you feeling?" Lux asked, motioning for her to come sit next to him on the bed with a gentle smile.

"I should be asking you the same quest–" Suddenly, Ahsoka staggered a few steps to the side, grabbing onto an outcropping in the wall in an effort to remain upright. "I... oh."

Lux was on his feet in an instant, pulling her close so she could lean on him. "Careful now, careful," he said. "You're not well."

"You're in worse shape than I am. I should be the one helping you."

Lux grinned. "I've lost track of who's further in whose debt. But I stopped caring ages ago. We just... We just help each other."

Ahsoka butted her forehead against his shoulder as they sat down on the hospital bed, her fingers linking together with his. "That we do," she murmured.

It was quiet for a moment as they both looked into each other's eyes. Lux reached out and brushed the tips of his fingers over Ahsoka's cheek. She smiled, putting her hand over his to keep it there.

Lux leaned in a little, but as soon as it had come, any inclination to kiss her disappeared. Although she had always welcomed his affection, she had other obligations that always made her dig her heels in whenever things were really starting to go somewhere between them. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a good idea.

"I'm really not used to this," Ahsoka admitted, taking his hand off her cheek to play with his fingers. "Members of my species usually have great balance – it's literally a genetic trait thanks to our lekku and montrals –, and it's weird to be so suddenly cut off from that."

"Well, I don't have any crazy senses or anything, so I guess I shouldn't be able to relate," Lux said, laughing. But he sobered a moment later. "Ahoska, I haven't had the chance to really ask, but... what happened to you? With the lectrosterine, I mean? How bad did it hurt you?"

Ahsoka stopped twisting her fingers around his then, instead simply holding his hand. "What makes lectrosterine so deadly to Togruta is how it starts attacking you one thing at a time. First it goes after your lekku: first, your balance will be gone, then your hearing, then your proprioception. Then it spreads elsewhere, and it's your sight, and your muscle tissue, and so on, until you're completely helpless. Then it starts eating away at your vital organs until you're little more than a living corpse." Ahsoka exhaled softly, shaking her head. "I'm glad was lucky enough to only ingested enough to hit the first stage, and not enough to go further."