Ahsoka knew she should be leaving. She knew Bo-Katan would be looking for her soon, and she knew they would be heading off back to Mandalore, to Darth Maul, and to the rest of the chaos racking the planet. And yet, watching Anakin walk away and wade back into the hallway of rushing clone troopers, Ahsoka felt a sudden coldness grip her from the chest up. She turned around, forced herself to steady her breathing as she took one step, two steps towards Rex, who was already waiting by the gunships.

"Ready, Commander?" Rex asked.

Ahsoka managed a halfhearted smile. "I told you to stop calling me that." She lifted one of her shoulders. "Besides, you're the commander now—Anakin—" She stopped herself. "General Skywalker," she continued, "just promoted you. Congratulations."

"General Skywalker, hm?" Rex took off his helmet, his brows furrowed together.

"Yes," Ahsoka said, lowering her eyes. She cleared her throat. "He'll be going back to—"

"I know, kid," Rex replied, and Ahsoka forced her gaze back up. She must have grown a little taller since the last time she had seen Rex. She noticed that she didn't have to tilt her head quite as far back as she used to when she used to talk to Rex, and suddenly she felt another twist to her stomach. But Rex was smiling a little now, and Ahsoka wondered if he noticed too. "The general told me." He nodded at the space behind Ahsoka's shoulder. "He'll probably come back after he takes care of Coruscant."

"I can't be too sure of that," Ahsoka heard herself saying. "It's the Chancellor. I'm sure Palpatine will be in need of some more security." The words tasted bitter in her mouth, as bitter as they had when she had looked up at Obi-Wan.

"Maybe," Rex mused. "But if I know the general, he tends to come back for his friends."

Ahsoka met Rex's steady gaze. "Rex—"

Rex glanced over his shoulder. "I can stall," he said. "Just for a few minutes." He cleared his throat. "I'll let Lady Bo-Katan know that there are still some…technical issues to fix. Wouldn't want to get blasted out of the sky before we even reached the atmosphere." He started to turn around and then, re-adjusting his helmet under his arm, he said, "I'll see you in just a bit, Commander."

"Rex," Ahsoka chided.

"I'll see you in a bit," Rex said, and he was turning around, heading back to the gunships. But before he could fully leave, Rex added over his shoulder, "He missed you too, by the way." He paused. "Both of them did." And then he was gone, leaving Ahsoka alone in the hanger, and then Ahsoka stood rooted to the spot.

For a few moments, the only thing she could do was stare at the spot where Rex had been. And then she was turning around, suddenly aware of the still-blaring alarm overhead. She started to step forward, one shaky step at a time. She found the doors, opened them to find a corridor of rushing troopers.

And then Ahsoka was taking another step, another step, another step, another, and then she was quickening her pace, her footsteps falling with greater speed and energy as she rushed down the corridor, past troopers, past droids, but none of that seemed to matter, because suddenly her chest felt too tight, and her limbs felt too locked together, and a great, wild desperation seized her then—

Where was he?

Ahsoka practically threw herself to the bridge, met only with bewildered looking troopers and a wary Admiral Yularen.

"General Skywalker," Ahsoka only managed to say, her voice coming out more breathlessly than she had wanted to, but for once, Admiral Yularen didn't seem to notice the unscrupulous matter of her entry.

"He and General Kenobi are about to take a squadron out," the admiral replied, his face expressionless. "They should be down at the main hanger." Then, turning back around to one of the navigation charts, he added, "You better move quickly."

Ahsoka would have smiled if she could. "Thank you," she managed to say instead, and she rushed out of the bridge, through the corridors, her heart pounding hard in her chest, and then she was sprinting full speed into the hanger, and for a sickening second, Ahsoka thought that no, she was too late—there was no one at the hanger—

But then she saw him.

Anakin was crouched next to R2-D2, saying something that Ahsoka couldn't hear. They were by Anakin's fighter, and just the sight alone suddenly yanked Ahsoka back to a similar scene to this one. All the times Ahsoka had seen Anakin tinkering with his ship or with R2 as she had been somewhere in the background, fidgeting with either her own ship or groaning about why they had been in the hanger for more than two hours.

But now this was a welcome sight.

"Anakin," Ahsoka whispered, and then she was walking, and then she was jogging, and then she was running, her arms pumping at her sides. She watched as Anakin's head slowly lifted from R2, and his brow furrowed together for a moment in confusion, and then surprise, and then he was standing up, his lips parting to say something, but Ahsoka didn't get to hear whatever he was about to say because his arms were already lifting just in time for Ahsoka to throw herself against him.

Ahsoka heard a small grunt from Anakin, and then they were rocking back together just the slightest bit, and then Anakin was laughing a little—a soft chuckle, and then Ahsoka felt his hands on her back.

"There you are," Anakin said softly, and Ahsoka felt heat well up behind her eyes as she buried her face into Anakin's shoulder. She smelled the faintest of smoke and ash, smells after a battle field, but there was something distinct about it from Anakin—something that felt warm and familiar and right.

And Ahsoka remained there against Anakin, trying desperately to keep the tears held within, and then she felt Anakin's chest shudder a little underneath her, and then Anakin's voice sounded rougher, hoarser as he repeated, "There you are."

Here I am, Ahsoka thought.

"You're going to stay safe, right?" Ahsoka asked, her voice slightly muffled by Anakin's tunic. "When you go after Grievous, you'll be—"

Anakin squeezed Ahsoka's shoulder. "You know me, Snips," he said. He separated himself a little from Ahsoka, just enough so he could look down at her. Ahsoka found herself looking right back up at familiar blue eyes, the kind that Ahsoka used to think mirrored her own. Now Ahsoka knew that Anakin's eyes were just a shade darker than hers—if her eyes were the morning sky, his was the sky right before evening fell. "Grievous won't know what he has coming." He smiled. "And Maul will have something else coming for him this time around."

Ahsoka tried to match Anakin's smile, but it felt weak.

And Anakin, seeing that, squeezed Ahsoka's shoulder again. "Hey," he said quietly. "After, we'll actually…talk, right?"

Ahsoka lowered her eyes. She would have liked to talk then. She would have liked for them to sit down then, but there was still so much to do—

"After this is finished," Ahsoka said, lifting her eyes back up to Anakin, and this time, Anakin's smile grew wider, and Ahsoka managed to smile back.

"Then I guess we better hurry up and finish this," he said, dropping his hand from Ahsoka's shoulder. He paused. "But just so you know, I'm going to get my half of the bargain done first."

"Don't count on it," Ahsoka replied, and Anakin laughed, and that felt easy then—and then Anakin was looking over Ahsoka's shoulder again, his smile just briefly fading.

"I was just informed by Lady Bo-Katan that she's still waiting for a certain associate of hers," came Obi-Wan's dry voice. Ahsoka turned around, meeting Obi-Wan's passive stare. He tilted his head a little towards Ahsoka, just the slightest of a nod. "It would appear that Commander Rex has been doing his best to keep her entertained, although I'm not sure for how much longer our good lady will remain so."

"Of course," Ahsoka said, taking a step away from Anakin, towards Obi-Wan, and then she was looking up at Obi-Wan. "I should be on my way." She tilted her head back towards Obi-Wan, and the silence between them stretched painfully and taut until Anakin cleared his throat.

"You two are ridiculous," Anakin said, and then Ahsoka heard him rushing behind her, and then she heard sharp cries from both Obi-Wan and herself as Anakin's arms found Ahsoka's and Obi-Wan's shoulders. Ahsoka found herself pressed against Obi-Wan's chest, Anakin pressed against her side, and then she felt Anakin's arm settled around her protectively.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said wearily, "what are you—"

"Don't ruin the moment, old man," Anakin said loftily. "I'm fixing this for us. Am I right, Snips?"

Ahsoka managed to poke her head out of the mess of tunic cloth, and she found Anakin and Obi-Wan's faces. Anakin, triumphant; Obi-Wan, his mild brand of exasperation. But Ahsoka found herself meeting Obi-Wan's gaze, and there was another spark of familiarity here: all the times Ahsoka had looked at Obi-Wan with the same kind of exasperation as Anakin threw them into another one of his horrifically spontaneous plans.

And then Obi-Wan smiled first. A gentle albeit sad one, and Ahsoka felt some of the coldness in her stomach thaw.

Ahsoka smiled back.

"That's right, Skyguy," she said, and they let their laughter fill the hanger.

A/N: *shoves TCW writers out of the way* Fine, I'LL DO IT. (Also I know maybe this was slightly unrealistic at the end, bUT I JUST WANTED THEM TO HUG I'M SORRY)

As always, reviews/favorites are always greatly appreciated!