"When you look at the Dark Side, careful you must be. For the Dark Side looks back."

🪐

Chapter Twelve

🪐

Othanian Translations

Kif - Ass

Zyfa zu sulan ly yasolun - May my death be glorious

Mando'a Translations

Vod - Sibling

Jareor - recklessly risk your life, act suicidally (negative connotation - foolish, not brave)

Jaig Eyes - a sigil bestowed by clan leaders as a mark of honor, awarded for particular acts of bravery

~*~

"Artoo, get out of the blast zone!"

Artoo beeped a string of insults that you would have yelled at him for if you weren't in a hurry.

"They're back!" Anakin called out as if it wasn't obvious the Separatists were making another attempt on the planet.

"I told you this victory was too easy. We never should have sent the ship back for supplies," Obi-Wan huffed.

"It wasn't my idea to send the ship back," Anakin snarked.

Rolling your eyes, you turned to Rex, Cody, and Drifter who were awaiting orders, "Second wave incoming. Cody and Drifter, battle positions."

"Rex, you and your men follow me," Anakin ordered, sprinting off to the forefront of the battle.

Whilst Anakin ran ahead, you and Obi-Wan sprinted to opposite sides of the cover your men were using to allow them more protection. Igniting your lightsaber, you immediately started deflecting the blasts that got too close for comfort.

Anakin if you're going to do something you better do it soon

Have a little faith, Master, I got this

From the sky, Anakin leaped onto one of the tanks, lighting up his saber and stabbing through the top. At his cue, several members of the 501st jumped down as well and began fighting.

Sharing a look with Obi-Wan, the two of you raised and brought down your lightsabers in synch- signaling a charge. While your men struggled to push forward and form a solid line, you ran ahead and cut down as many droids as possible to lessen their struggles. Cutting through metal had become almost therapeutic at this point as you knew each droid destroyed was one less to harm your soldiers.

"You seem to be having a good time," Obi-Wan quipped as you stood back to back and covered each other while making your way through a group of B-2 droids.

"Well, I have to have some fun somehow," you smirked, "We should move back to cover, we can't take those cannons ahead alone."

The two of you ran back and ducked behind one of the tanks Anakin had taken down. He'd be bragging about taking all three down on his own for days. It was insufferable just thinking about it.

"We're going to need reinforcements," Anakin jumped behind the tank and joined you two.

"We haven't been able to get through to the Admiral."

The exchange of fire only continued on for a few moments more before it suddenly stopped. A cursory peek out from your cover revealed that the droids were retreating.

"They're retreating," your brows furrowed in confusion. Despite all of you putting up a good fight, it was obvious they had the upper hand. Why would they give you time to regroup?

A Republic ship flew low above you, stopping over the landing zone to drop down. Obi-Wan let out a breath of relief, "Looks like help has arrived."

The three of you were quick to make your way to the cruiser, eager to see what help you now had. Though you couldn't sense many life signatures inside, just two. Unless you'd somehow gotten a concussion and your senses were off, it seemed unlikely that you'd be getting everything you hoped for.

"We're getting food and supplies at least, I don't sense many Force signatures on that ship," you told the boys, watching them reach out for themselves and deflate slightly at the realization, "Maybe it's just the first of more?"

"Yes, well in any case I'll take all the help we can get."

"Perhaps they brought my new Padawan with them," Obi-Wan suggested with a slight smile.

Obi-Wan sent a subdued surge of excitement through your soul-bond. The last time he was on Coruscant he'd watched a dueling tournament between several Initiate clans and one had caught his eye. It'd been several months since Anakin was knighted and you knew how much Obi-Wan loved teaching, so you weren't surprised when he commed you to tell you he'd decided to request a new Padawan - even if you were hesitant to bring someone so young into a warzone.

"You really think it's a good idea to bring a Padawan learner into all this?" Anakin questioned, a hint of jealousy seeping into his tone that you'd have to talk about later.

"All of us would protect them, you know that. Besides, I spoke to Master Yoda about it. You should put in a request for one, you'd make a good teacher."

Anakin chuckled, as if Obi-Wan wasn't completely serious, "No thanks."

"Anakin, teaching is a privilege. And it's part of a Jedi's responsibility to help train the next generation."

The three of you stopped in front of the ship as it shut off. Anakin crossed his arms, "A Padawan would just slow me down. I don't see you nagging (Y/n) about any of this, either"

"I've looked for a Padawan as well," you admitted. On your last trip to Coruscant, an Initiate named Cal Kestis caught your eye, but no matter how much you wanted to train him the Force pushed you away. It wasn't meant to be, "But the Force has urged me to wait. I'll have a student eventually, I know that."

The ship ramp lowered, and a familiar Togruta initiate stepped out. You grinned excitedly. You didn't know Obi-Wan had been looking at Ahsoka! You and your Master found her on a mission when she was a toddler. She attended lineage dinners often despite not being anyone's official Padawan. You always assumed your master would take her on after you were Knighted, but this was even better!

"Who are you supposed to be?" Anakin asked, and you elbowed him in the side for being rude.

<<She looks like fun>> Artoo chirped, and you patted his dome in agreement.

"I'm Ahsoka. Master Yoda sent me. I was told to tell all of you that you must get back to the Jedi Temple immediately. There's an emergency."

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed but we're in a bit of an emergency right here."

"Anakin," you chided, sending Ahsoka a reassuring smile to calm her obvious nerves, "Our communications have been unreliable, apparently. We've been calling for help."

"Master Yoda hadn't heard from you so he sent me to deliver the message."

Anakin scoffed frustratedly, "Oh great, they don't even know we're in trouble."

"Maybe you can relay a signal through the cruiser that just dropped me off," Ahsoka suggested.

Patting the girl on the shoulder, you said, "Good idea, little 'Soka. Let's go do that now."

So the four of you connected the nearest comm table to the signal in the ship and sent a comm request to the Resolute. It actually went through, which was a relief. You'd feared that the Separatists were jamming all transmissions.

"We require immediate assistance. The Separatists have regrouped and come back in a second wave."

"We also need to get into contact with the Jedi Temple to explain our situation."

"We're under attack by Separatist warships, but I'll try to make contact with the Jedi Temple for you, standby," the technician clone responded dutifully.

The four of you waited patiently, trading glances in pairs that expressed your confusion (Ahsoka), relief (Obi-Wan), or frustration (Anakin). Finally, Master Yoda's short form appeared on the holotable.

"Master Kenobi, glad Ahsoka found you I am."

"Master Yoda, we are trapped here and vastly outnumbered. We are in no position to go anywhere or do anything. Our support ships have all been destroyed."

"Send reinforcements to you, we will. In... soon... mission..." Master Yoda's form started flickering before he cut out entirely.

The technician popped back up again, "We lost the transmission, Sir."

The doors behind him opened and two more clones walked in, "We have to leave orbit immediately. More enemy ships just arrived."

"We'll get back to you as soon as we can." The transmission ended.

"Well, looks like we'll just have to hold out a little longer."

The three of you traded frustrated looks before Obi-Wan schooled his expression into something more neutral and looked at Ahsoka, "My apologies young one, it's time for a proper introduction."

"I'm the new Padawan learner. I'm Ahsoka Tano."

"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new master."

Ahsoka sent Obi-Wan a confused look, "I'm at your service, Master Kenobi, but I'm afraid I've actually been assigned to Master Skywalker."

Confusion flooded the familial bond from Anakin's end, while Obi-Wan shielded himself tightly. Through your soul bond, however, you could feel his sadness and disappointment. You sent back reassuring pulses to both of them for completely different reasons.

"What? No, no, no, no, no. There must be some mistake," Anakin pointed at Obi-Wan, who remained silent, "He's the one who wanted a Padawan."

"No, Master Yoda was very specific. I'm assigned to Anakin Skywalker and he's to supervise my Jedi training."

Of course, Yoda's meddling is the cause behind this, you lamented to Obi-Wan.

He seems incapable of staying out of his lineage's business, Obi-Wan agreed, still disappointed but now thinking fondly of his time with Qui-Gon- no matter how traumatizing his lead up to becoming a Padawan was.

"But that doesn't make any sense!"

"We'll figure this out later," you assured the pair, "We have more pressing matters to worry about. It won't be long before those droids figure out a way past our cannons."

Grumbling under his breath, Anakin said, "I'll check on Rex in the lookout post."

"Well then, you better take her with you," Obi-Wan motioned to Ahsoka.

Anakin didn't turn around or respond, but he didn't try to argue either. Sending Ahsoka an encouraging smile, you waved her off toward Anakin. Watching them go, you sighed and turned to Obi-Wan.

"No offense, but if Anakin is anything like Qui-Gon I'm going to kick his kif," you offered, completely serious.

"Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to do the same. Master Qui-Gon did his best but he made mistakes," Obi-Wan winced, likely thinking of the worst parts of his apprenticeship, "I would have liked to be her teacher. She's unique in the Force and I thought it would be a nice surprise for you."

"You wanted to surprise me?"

"You always enjoyed doing créche duty with her clan because you're the one who found her, and I know Master Plo is very close to her as well. With how often we work together I thought we could be a bit of a family," Obi-Wan blushed and looked away at that last bit.

Your heart melted. Anakin was young for a Knight and even younger to be a Master, but he was still a grown man. The two of you raised him together and considered him to be something riding the line between little brother and son. Now he was old enough to be independent and didn't need the two of you as much anymore.

"You wanted to raise another youngling with me?" You asked, cupping his flushed cheek, "With the teaching, and helping them when they're sick, and dealing with their antics?"

"Yes, I wanted to do that again with you. Our start with Anakin was rough but all I can remember now is how fulfilled I felt when all of us were together. I know we can technically have children due to our special circumstances papers but there's the matter of the war and capability and whether or not adopting would be better-"

"Obi-Wan," you interrupted his rambling, unable to resist sneaking a quick kiss, "I miss our little family too, and I'd love to raise more Padawans with you in the future. Clearly, Ahsoka wasn't meant to be, but that doesn't mean we can't be close to her like you wanted. I doubt Anakin is going to teach her the way you had in mind."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Imagine Anakin acting like a father."

"He'll be a protective big brother, I just know it," you beamed, glad you could make Obi-Wan feel better and that he admitted to wanting a family dynamic again. Lineages acted like family trees but were definitely more detached than what you, Obi-Wan, and Anakin had done, "Now, we do have Separatists to fight."

"Yes, of course. The Separatists."

The two of you tracked down your respective commanders to begin discussing potential battle plans. None of you knew why the Separatists had suddenly pulled back, which meant strategizing for a multitude of possibilities.

The four of you had managed to establish a few good plans relating to general reorganization that would hopefully provide better cover for your men no matter what happened, when Rex, Ahsoka, and Anakin returned.

"Masters, they've got an energy shield," Anakin reported grimly.

Frowning, you hurried to the nearest holotable and pulled up the schematics for the city, stomach dropping when the hologram showed that Anakin was right. The Separatists had pulled back in order to activate the generator.

"Well kark, things just got more complicated," you swore, pinching the bridge of your nose to chase away your impending headache, "Drifter, order the men to pull back. We need to focus on fortifying our position."

"Right away, Ser."

Obi-Wan stepped up next to you, stroking his beard as he looked over the hologram. He pointed out an area deep into Separatist lines, "It looks like the shield generator is here. They're slowly increasing the diameter and keeping it just ahead of their troops.

"Heavy cannons are gonna be useless against that," Rex pointed out the obvious.

"As they get closer I suppose we could try to draw them into the buildings," Obi-Wan suggested, "It would level the playing field a bit."

"As long as the floors our troops occupy are high enough to be out of range," you added.

Ahsoka regarded the hologram curiously, "If that shield's gonna be such a problem, why don't we just take it out?"

"Easier said than done," Rex deadpanned.

"Well I, for one, agree with her," Anakin said it like it pained him and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes, "Someone has to get to that shield generator and destroy it. That's the key."

"Right then, maybe you two can tiptoe through enemy lines and solve this particular problem together."

'"Can do Master Kenobi."

"I'll decide what we do."

You didn't resist the urge to roll your eyes that time. Anakin sent an indignant thrum through the familial bond, but you ignored it in favor of motioning to a point on the hologram, "If we can draw them to this area then you'll have a chance to break through their lines over here."

"They won't have much time. The droids far outnumber us, so our ability to street fight is limited without the use of the heavy cannons. They will march forward until we are right on top of our cannons, then they'll blow them away."

Thinking about the heavy casualties you were sure to face was making you feel nauseous. The cannons had been integral in protecting your men and holding back the enemy. Now that wasn't an option, which spelled disaster.

"We'll figure out a way," Ahsoka claimed confidently, "Come on, Master, let's go."

With no choice but to follow, Anakin scowled, "If we survive this, Snips, you and I are gonna have a talk."

Oh yeah, they'd be just fine. Obi-Wan would have helped Ahsoka school her snarky attitude into something more subtle and refined, but Anakin would just feed off of her. Either way, she'd end up with a master who would help and understand her. If Anakin could accept the situation - though you understood his reluctance, he had been a knight for only a short time after all - then things would quickly improve between them.

"They make quite a pair, don't they, Sers?" Rex asked sarcastically, "You think they have a chance."

"They better. If they can't turn off that shield generator before it reaches the heavy cannons, there'll be no escape for any of us."

Wishing to break the tense atmosphere and bring some happiness right before the inevitable battle, you added, "Besides, they remind me of another Master-Padawan pair."

"I do hope you are talking about yourself and Master Koon," Obi-Wan raised a brow, and you smiled cheekily in response, "Let's regroup at the heavy cannons, see if there's a weakness in the shield we can exploit."

Despite the power of the heavy cannons, no amount of blasting at the shield was going to break through it. The only thing that would take it down would be to take out the shield generator, which meant all of you would be depending on Anakin and Ahsoka.

"We have to fall back!" You shouted over the cannons to Obi-Wan, who nodded and gave the order to Rex, "I'll stay here with the heavy cannons. If all else fails, then I'll be the last line of defense. If we lose them then we lose this fight."

Obi-Wan nodded, "I'll join the fight with the men. Stay safe."

"I should be saying that to you."

You and Obi-Wan split up the clones currently surrounding the cannons, either ordering them to stay put or head up to the front lines. With simultaneous nods to each other, you and Obi-Wan went your separate ways.

Sitting down and presuming a meditation position, you drew in a deep breath and centered yourself. Instead of focusing on the deaths occurring just ahead, you focused on Obi-Wan, Anakin's, and now Ahsoka's Force signatures. All of them were fine, if not fatigued from the continuous fighting with little to no chance for rest.

Sensing several lifeforms rapidly approaching, you drew yourself out of your meditation and stood, igniting your lightsaber. The only lifeforms approaching were the clones, of course, but if they were retreating to the heavy cannons so soon it didn't mean anything good.

"Captain!" You called out when you spotted Jaig eyes over a helmet visor, "Status report."

"General Kenobi ordered us to retreat back to the cannons and protect them at any cost."

"And where is he?"

"Holding the droids back, Ser."

Scowling, you bitterly replied, "Jareor! Of course he is. Do you know where Drifter and Cody are?"

"They took aerial positions, Ser, they're likely somewhere in the buildings."

"Good, circle your men and be ready to take out any droids that break past Obi-Wan. We're the last stand, Captain."

Rex nodded once, grimly, then stepped away to get his men into the proper formation. You walked to the front, lightsaber raised and ready for anything. You were the last thing between your men and certain death, it wasn't something to be taken lightly.

The droids approached. Closing your eyes, you brushed over Obi-Wan and Anakin's Force signatures, sending waves of love and reassurance, then you shielded yourself tightly. Nothing could stop the pain of a broken bond, but they didn't need to feel your fear and pair in what could very well be your last moments.

"Zyfa zu sulan ly yasolun," you whispered, jumping over the cover and sprinting into the thrall.

There were too many, that much was clear, but your goal wasn't to destroy them all at this point. If you could just protect your men and the cannons that would be enough.

Switching rapidly from Juyo to Soresu to Djem So, you swept through the masses with expert control of your Niman style. And people scoffed at it, saying it was meant for those who weren't good with a lightsaber.

"General," Rex was suddenly behind you, pressing his back against yours and covering any blind spots, "General Kenobi has been captured."

"What?" You hissed, immediately opening up the bond to see what in the Sith Hells your husband was doing.

Rex just told me you were captured

I surrendered actually

That's not better! Obi-Wan what are you doing?

Buying time we desperately need. Negotiating is more than pretty words. It can often be stalling as well.

... I hate you

Jedi aren't meant to hate

Yeah, well, Jedi aren't meant to make stupid decisions but here we are. Don't offer yourself up for execution while you're at it.

Closing off the bond once again, you called back to Rex, "He surrendered to buy time!"

"We're being slaughtered, General! I don't know what time is going to do for us."

Pushing a group of five droids back and into a building with the Force, you momentarily reached out to the dark whispers that were ever-present in your mind. The promises of power were irrelevant, but the promise of revenge and the ability to protect your men was much more tempting.

"Rex, go back and join your men. I'm about to do something quite stupid and I'd appreciate it if it wasn't mentioned in any reports."

Rex's alarm rang true through the Force, but you didn't have time to worry about that, "This is war, General. I'm not sure what you could do that would need to be left out of a report."

"I'm afraid this is technically a crime against the Order."

"I'll let the men know that whatever you're about to do never happened."

You should have been concerned about how easy it was to convince Rex to omit information from a potential report, but all you could feel was overwhelming gratitude. The man worked with Anakin, of course he was used to it, "Thank you, now go get to safety."

Rex's steady presence left your back, leaving you alone. Closing your eyes but still keeping your senses attuned enough to block any incoming blaster shots, you grabbed hold of the darkness lingering in your mind, pulling it to the forefront.

In the past, when you'd touched the Dark Side, the first thing you felt was the cold. It left you wracked with shivers and chattering teeth and your Master always wrapped you in blankets and put a cup of tea in your hands while discussing what happened. You'd touched willingly before, for the sake of understanding what you were trying to avoid and getting a grip for how to be a Gray Jedi. But never, had you dipped more than a finger into the Dark Side. You just plunged both your hands into it. You weren't cold anymore- or, you were, but you were so cold it felt like flames were licking their way up your body.

You hated the droid army, hated the Separatists, but more than anything you loathed the pain being caused to those you cared about. You were scared and furious, and so kriffing tired of this battle.

These emotions were amplified by the Dark Side, it fed off of them and turned them into raw power. Sucking in a few deep breaths, you pushed that power into the palm of your hand. It lingered for a few moments, ready to lash out and destroy you if you weren't careful. But you had a few hundred targets in mind that would be much more satisfying than your own body.

With a ground-shaking scream, you released the energy. It pushed out in front of you like a wave, immediately destroying every droid that was unfortunate enough to be in its path. Even the aftershocks destroyed the ground and any buildings near it. You watched it plow through the droids like they were nothing, leaving only a few platoons nearly two klicks away.

Dropping to your knees, you shuddered. The Dark Side celebrated uproariously in your mind, encouraging you to pick up your saber and fight the remaining droids, to destroy them, and then track down the General leading them to inflict on him all the pain he'd caused your men.

Pulling away from the Dark Side was like trudging through thigh-deep sand. It was slow and painful and it felt easier to just give up and live that way, but you knew you were strong enough to pull away.

Going along with the "sticking two hands in" analogy, you found releasing the first hand to be the most difficult. That was packing away all the dark urges and quieting the whispers to their normal manageable levels. The second hand was much easier, despite feeling more daunting. You reached out for the Light Side of the Force, pulling yourself out of the overwhelming darkness and settling in a dark Gray that you'd have to meditate with to get any lighter. It would be near impossible to do if you were a Light sider, but you constantly fluctuated between lighter and darker, so it was just rather difficult.

"General-"

Holding up a hand to silence Rex, you shifted your torso to the side and expelled the contents of your stomach - which was truly just a couple of ration bars. Wiping your mouth on the back of your glove, you winced at the bitter taste in your mouth. Stomach acid was not one of the bodily fluids that created an aphrodisiac within Othas.

Shivering, you cupped your hands and breathed into them in an attempt to warm them up. You were no longer so cold you were hot, you were simply cold and that felt much worse. 

"Yes, Rex?" You sounded terrible, like you'd been screaming for hours on end. You were sure you didn't look much better either.

"What... was that?"

"A Dark Side, technique."

"I thought Jedi weren't supposed to use the Dark Side."

"I'm not a normal Jedi, Captain. I have special permission, you could say, to be more gray than the rest of the Order."

"Ah," Rex fell silent and offered you a hand up. Gladly taking it, you nearly fell on top of him when your legs refused to work for a moment, "Careful there, vod."

Regaining your balance, you sent Rex an embarrassed smile, "I'm alright. That particular technique uses more energy than I'm used to expelling."

"And the uh, vomiting, Ser?"

"Side effect of switching between sides of the Force so quickly. That combined with chills and a killer migraine is making simply existing painful so if you could guide me to either Kix, Helix, or Sparrow that would be lovely."

"Right away," Rex dragged one of your arms over his shoulders so he could help you off the battlefield, "Keep an eye on the enemy, men, this isn't over!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Both Obi-Wan and Anakin were nudging you in the Force, probing for answers as to what they just felt. Just thinking about using the Force at the moment caused your head to throb and it probably wasn't a good idea so soon after touching the Dark Side, so you decided you'd just let them know what happened in person.

"I've got you, General," suddenly you were being transferred, you recognized the paint as Kix's and relaxed, "We don't exactly have a good treatment space right now, now that most of our camp has been overrun, but I can treat you here. Injuries?"

"Force exhaustion, migraine, low temperature."

"And a couple of lucky blaster shots by the looks of it."

Glancing down, you spotted two scorched holes in your tunic where you didn't have armor and one on your trousers near your thigh. Huh, you didn't notice those earlier.

"For the migraine," Kix placed a pill in your hand which you swallowed dry, "Ah- alright. One of the side-effects of that is drowsiness."

Sighing, you closed your eyes and rested your head against the piece of rubble Kix had set you up near, "I'm afraid I would be much more help, anyway."

"You've done enough, already, General," Kix was placing bacta bandages over your other injuries, "What you did probably saved countless men- the shield is down!" You winced at his shout and Kix bowed his head apologetically, "Reinforcements are also coming in. I'll comm for a medical evac."

"Just get me a transport. I'll meet up with the others then go to medical," you ordered.

"Fine, but I'll be sending Sparrow with you to make sure you don't pass out anywhere because of that pill."

Resisting the urge to nod in assent because it would have caused more pain, you simply gave a smile that definitely came off as a grimace. A few minutes after Kix commed, a transport ship dropped down next to you- Sparrow jumping off and helping you off the ground.

"You always get into trouble, don't you vod?"

"Saves your sorry kif," you murmured, resting your head on his pauldron while he held you securely. Keeping steady by yourself wasn't really an option right now.

The ship took off and flew to the flagships, landing just as Anakin and Ahsoka's transport did the same. Sparrow helped you down, leading you over to Obi-Wan and Yoda.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan gave you a once-over, brows furrowing in confusion when he found no serious visible injuries, "What happened?"

Mumbling something in what might have been either Rhodian or Gungan, you blinked heavily and tried to pull your jumbled thoughts together, "Getting slaughtered, I helped."

Master Yoda hummed thoughtfully, staring up at you with a reflective look on his face, "Discuss what you did to help later, we will. Sense a shift in you I do."

"Okay," was all you could manage.

"Master Yoda, Master Obi-Wan, Master (Y/n)," Anakin greeted, approaching with Ahsoka. Both of them sent you concerned looks but you were more focused on not falling asleep on Sparrow than anything else.

"Trouble you have with your new Padawan I hear."

"I was explaining the situation to Master Yoda," Obi-Wan expanded.

"Really?"

"If not ready for a Padawan you are then perhaps we can-"

"Now, wait a minute. I admit Ahsoka is a little rough around the edges, but with a great deal of training and patience she might amount to something."

Good. It was about time Anakin pulled himself together and trained your favorite... Ahsoka... ha, Anakin and Ahsoka. Double A. Nice.

"Then go with you to the Teth System she will."

"Teth? That's Wild Space. The droid army isn't even in that sector."

"Kidnapped Jabba the Hutt's son has been."

Wait! That wasn't right. Anakin didn't like Jabba because Jabba was fat and mean and... oh there was another reason and it was so obvious! Anakin... Anakin was a slave on Tatooine! That was it. Sending him back was cruel.

"You want me to rescue Jabba's son?"

"Anakin, we'll need the Hutts' allegiance to give us an advantage over Dooku," Obi-Wan didn't sound happy about it either.

"Mmm. Negotiate the treaty with Jabba, Obi-Wan will. Find the renegades that hold Jabba's son, your mission will be, Skywalker."

"Come on Master, it doesn't sound that hard. I'll find Rex and get the troops organized."

"I can... I'll do it. Not good for Anakin to go back," you offered. Even just pushing the words out was a struggle at this point. Were you even talking or were your thoughts echoing to make it seem like you were? That pain pill was strong. At least Sparrow was warm though, the clones always ran hotter than other base-line humans and it was chasing away the chill.

"That's not a good idea, General. Kix reported blaster injuries and Force exhaustion."

"Yes, recover you must, (Y/n). Handle the mission Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka can."

"Bunch of poodoo," you leaned too far forward and nearly fell. Obi-Wan darted forward and caught you.

"Alright, you need to go to medical. There's no use holding it off anymore."

"Had no choice."

"I know. You did well, (Y/n). Now it's time for you to rest."

Sparrow took up the majority of your weight once again, practically dragging you away from Obi-Wan to take you to medical. You fought to keep your eyes open but found yourself unable to resist drifting off now that everything was taken care of.

~*~

There were Force sensitives around you, many more than you were used to.

Forcing your eyes open, you grimaced under the unnecessarily bright lights of what you knew to be the Halls of Healing. Well, that explained all the Force signatures. You were back at the Temple.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Master Che stopped by your bed, looking over some of the machines around you, "That was some intense Force exhaustion. Those blaster wounds certainly didn't help."

"Everything is alright now?" You asked nervously. If one pushed themselves too hard when they had Force exhaustion then it could seriously affect their ability to reach out to the Force after the fact.

Huffing, Master Che crossed her arms over her chest. You were never as scared of her as Obi-Wan - because you'd never tried to escape the Halls before she dismissed you - but that didn't mean you weren't intimidated by her.

"Yes, everything is fine. You've been out for a couple of days so your wounds are mostly healed, though I'd recommend another day of bacta bandages just to be sure. You'll want to spend some time meditating to enter into using the Force again slowly, but you were smart enough to not push yourself so there was no permanent damage to your Force abilities."

"Good to hear that (Y/n) is healed, it is," Yoda and Mace approached, carefully crafted neutral expressions on their faces, "Released they may be?"

"As long as (Y/n) takes it easy and the two of you don't send them off on a mission immediately, then yes."

Waiting patiently while Master Che disconnected you from the surrounding machines, you were eager to stand up and stretch your legs - though it took a few moments to keep your balance. You'd have to stretch out your muscles later and make sure you treated them well after a couple of days of disuse.

"How are Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka?"

"They successfully completed their mission with some help from Senator Amidala. We now have Jabba the Hutt's allegiance. Let's meditate together," Mace suggested casually as the three of you left the Halls.

Seeing as how it would be impossible to say no, you simply nodded in agreement. The pair led you through the Temple to one of the private meditation rooms. As Grandmaster and Head of the Order, it wouldn't have been hard for them to sign one out for the day.

Settling on one of the circular ottomans, you situated yourself in the standard meditation position.

"Touched the Dark Side you did," Master Yoda stated as a fact, which it was.

"Yes, Master Yoda."

"None of the men included the Dark nature in their reports, though that could be dismissed due to their ignorance pertaining to Dark Side techniques," Mace continued, and you weren't going to tell him that they knew it was Dark and left it out per your request, "However, touching the Dark Side always leaves some trace."

"Exhausted you were after the battle, unable to maintain a false Force signature you were." That... wasn't something you thought about in the moment but you probably should have, "Darker than before it was."

Knowing there was no proper excuse for what you did, you straightened and explained yourself, "We were being slaughtered. Anakin and Ahsoka hadn't taken the shield down and they were getting close to our heavy cannons. It would have been over if they made it."

"So you Fell."

"I pulled myself back up," you shot back, "I've touched the Dark Side before. Better than anyone I know how to go between the Light and the Dark. I wouldn't have done it if I doubted my ability to come back."

Humming, Mace ran a hand over his chin, "We said when you were young that allowances would be made. This is a very difficult time, and having someone with the ability to use Dark Side techniques without falling could be pivotal."

"A fine line it is," Yoda pointed out, "Used too often the Dark Side can overtake any Jedi no matter their power. Used only in emergencies it should be."

Bowing your head, you responded, "I agree, Master Yoda. I will not touch the Dark Side unless there is no choice."

"Good. Meditate we shall to chase some more darkness away."

The three of you closed your eyes, emptying your minds and reaching out to the Force.

That could have gone much worse in your opinion. Having official permission to touch the Dark Side, even if it was only for emergencies, would be essential in the future. You knew the rest of the Council wouldn't be happy when they heard, as many of them held onto the hope that you'd never touch the Dark Side even as a Gray Jedi, but that wouldn't matter. You could protect your men better now. You would.