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ladyofleithianDisclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: I will admit, this was actually something that bothered me in AOTC -- Obi-Wan not letting Anakin rescue Padme. To be fair, I can understand why he did it (after all, they had a job to do), but it always bugged me somewhat. Not to mention I've always kind of wondered what would happen if Anakin did take that leap off the speeder.
The ground battle raged on below even as the ship sped after Dooku, ruthlessly determined to catch him. Even now, shouting orders to the clones, Anakin knew they were in good hands, and didn’t have to worry. After all, the clones would do their duty to the letter, so they didn’t have to worry there.
And yet...
“There! Straight ahead!” Even now, pointing ahead at Dooku, Anakin’s heart almost skipped a beat -- they were nearly there. So close...and yet so far.
“Should we set for stun?” one of the troopers asked.
“No,” Obi-Wan said, “We’re here to take him in. A stun blast may kill him.”
“I don’t think so, sir. It’ll just cripple his speeder -- ’’
It was then that a blast rattled the ship. It was lucky that the three of them were holding on, if only because --
Right when Anakin was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the next blast was stronger, and to his horror, Satine had fallen from the ship.
“Satine!”
“Anakin, no!” Obi-Wan sounded shaken -- if moreso. Almost as if --
No. They’re just friends. Don’t worry.
“Lower the ship!” Anakin yelled to one of the clone troopers. “Quick!”
“Anakin, we can’t! I can’t take Dooku alone!”
“We can’t just leave her there!”
“Anakin, no!”
But Anakin had already made his choice. He jumped. Even now, rolling roughly down the slope of the sandy hill, he felt, almost, as if he were being punched repeatedly. Even now, forcing himself to recover quickly, he heard Satine stir, groan slightly.
“Anakin,” she said, “What are you doing -- ’’
“I couldn’t leave you.”
“But Dooku -- ’’
“He’s heading straight here,” Anakin said, pointing towards the hangar across from where they landed. “Hopefully, Dooku won’t get away.”
“Is there a mode of transportation we can use?”
“Hold on -- ’’
It was at that moment, another clone transport came along, with -- Anakin could have groaned and rejoiced at the same time -- Master Windu inside. Even now, as the Jedi Master gave Anakin a quizzical look, Anakin could have sworn that he could feel the heat of embarrassment, worse than the Geonosian heat right now, warm his cheeks.
“Where is Master Kenobi?”
“He’s heading straight there,” Anakin said, pointing towards the hangar. “Can you take us there?”
“Why did you desert him?”
“I couldn’t leave her like that.”
Anakin wished that Master Windu wasn’t arching his eyebrow like that. It was enough to make him feel even more embarrassed.
“Look, we can talk later,” Anakin said, “Can you take us?”
“Get in.” The tone of Mace’s voice said, quite explicitly, that the Council would go over this infraction later.
Even now, as the speeder headed towards the hangar, Anakin could only squeeze his eyes shut. Not at any sort of motion sickness -- Force, he lived for this sort of thing! Podracing, racing speeders, all but chasing roads, chasing sand and canyons, chasing stars -- but out of fear...what if his decision cost Obi-Wan his life? How could he live with that?
Don’t let us be too late, he prayed, clutching the rails at the front so tight his knuckles ached. Please, Force -- don’t let us be too late. Don’t let me be too late. Please, Force, don’t be too late...
