Promise - Anakin Skywalker

.25

Anakin's eyes slowly fluttered open. His vision was blurred and his eyes stung as they adjusted to the bright white lights of a hospital room. Squinting, he groggily moved his head around the room to catch his bearings.

As he woke up, memories of what had put him here in the first place flooded his mind. He sighed, as the crash replayed in his head.

He remembered it clearly now. They were planning an attack on Grievous's fleet. He'd led his Gold Squadron out as a diversion and then tanks on the asteroids shot the enemy ships down. Grievous escaped the fiery inferno and Anakin went after him. Like always, he pushed his ship past the limit and crashed it. He'd only begged Obi Wan to let him fly it for one mission, and promised he wouldn't crash.

As his senses finally came to and his vision cleared enough for him to see, he heard Ella breathing soft and slow. He looked down at the side of his bed. She sat, propped up on her knees with her head and arms on the side of his bed.

Her hands were so soft that he almost didn't notice the one that was intertwined with his own. It was so delicate and so smooth that the feeling was not much different than the blankets he'd been asleep on.

She looked so peaceful while sleeping, he didn't dare move a muscle now in fear of waking her up. Even when she slept she had the same devious smirk - he could only imagine what dreams that girl had.

As he replayed the crash in his mind, only one thought came to mind: where was R2? If the medical droids and doctors allowed Ella to stay with him, or if she snuck in, she would have had R2 with her. The droid had taken quite the liking to her and when he wasn't following Anakin, he was off getting into trouble with Ella.

Suddenly, the thick metal door slid open. In came a medical droid followed by Captain Rex. He looked very pleased to see Anakin. "Glad to see you're recovering well, General," he said with a smile, "and Ella's finally getting some rest."

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked immediately, his eyebrows raised.

"As soon as we lost contact with your ship she went berserk. She practically dragged me onto the freighter," Rex explained, "and after she found you floating around unconscious, she spent an even longer time looking for R2. She recovered your ship, but no sign of the droid. They had to pull us back to base with a cable because she wouldn't stop looking for the little guy."

Anakin sadly smiled down at his Padawan, grateful for her bravery and loyalty. Later, he'd have to talk to her about attachments which he struggled with himself. In the meantime he'd need to brace himself for the amount of times she'd call him hypocritical.

"Sir," the medical droid piped up, "I need your hand."

Anakin lifted his free hand out of the thick white blanket cover and gave it to the droid. "... the real one, Sir," it said timidly, not wanting to offend him. "I need to check your pulse and the mechanical one cannot account for it."

His eyes shifted to his left hand, the one Ella held while she slept. For a moment he simply smiled softly at her, enjoying her calm sweetness. She looked so different asleep, younger almost. Awake she was nothing but attitude and excitement, but asleep Anakin could see that Ella had another, albeit hidden, softer side. 

He slid his hand out of hers and over to the droid. With its blinding white eyes shining in his face, it clutched his hand. Anakin winced at the cold hard metal claws poking and prodding his hand with various needles and instruments. This was the exact opposite of the feeling of Ella's hands.

Almost as if she heard his thoughts, Ella stirred awake with a groggy groan. She had a tired scowl on her face as the lights shone in her eyes. As soon as she caught sight of Anakin though, she sprung to her feet, wide awake.