Building Attachment

Chapter 13

POV: Ahsoka Tano

I woke up in the early morning before Tatooine's burning suns could shine too brightly on my skin. I looked a few meters to my left and saw my master sleeping peacefully after a long night. I looked at him and sighed with sadness, remembering how miserable he had been earlier.

I wanted to let him rest longer, but I knew we had to get up and continue our mission. Obi-Wan, Ayla, and most of the clones were already awake.

I stood up and walked over to my master. I kneeled beside him and brought my hand to his head. I was tempted to run my fingers through it, but I knew that wouldn't be appropriate.

"Master," I whispered. "Master, it's time to get up."

He sighed softly as his eyes fluttered open. He stared silently into my eyes as if he were in deep thought. After a few moments, I started to stand up and walk away. He sat up and his eyes widened with confusion as he came out of his trance.

As I went to pack up my stuff, I felt his eyes on me a moment longer before he stood up to get ready.

We packed up the rest of our camp and continued our long journey. My master said nothing to anyone as we walked, but he subconsciously stayed close to me, avoiding everyone else.

I looked over to him and watched him look ahead into the nothingness, wondering what he could be thinking about.

Whatever it was seemed to temporarily be distracting him from his anger and pain.

After a few hours, I could see a town not too far off in the distance, that I recognized as our destination.

Obi-Wan and Alya would take the clones out of sight of the town to wait for battle, while I and my Master would enter the town.

I put my cloak on as a disguise and said goodbye to Alya. My master and I then walked towards the town in complete silence.

After a few minutes, he turned to look at me, and then he looked ahead to the town. As we entered the town I could feel him tense up.

"What's wrong?" I asked him again.

He sighed. "Let's finish this mission Snips."

I decided to leave it alone and continue to follow him through the maze of streets.

"How do you know where you are going?" I asked him. "Where are we going?"

He briefly stopped walking and looked away from me. "I've been here before," he whispered painfully.

Whatever had happened to him here before, I knew it hadn't been a happy thing.

"The Separatists occupate this town and we are here to liberate it," he told me. "Obi-Wan and everyone else is starting at the other side of the town and will meet us once the conflict has aroused. This town is the main separatist base for this planet, so once we take it out, the rest of the planet will be easy, but that's not our job. The reinforcements will take over and we will be free to return to the temple."

Even though our part was harder, I was glad we didn't have to stay and take the rest of the planet. I didn't want to be on this mission that long.

The farther we got into the town, the more droids I saw and I knew we were getting close.

"Come on, we're almost there," he told me.

As we continued walking down to hot and dusty streets. I noticed some Toydarians and Tusken Raiders, causing some conflict in the streets.

I saw my master freeze the moment he saw them and then quickly cover up his emotions.

"What is it?" I asked.