(a/n): TW, there will be death and vomiting in this chapter. Otherwise, enjoy!

(y/n) POV:

The entire ride to Kashyyyk, I bounced my leg nervously in the co-pilot seat and fiddled with my braids. This was bad. I haven't even completed my first job for Elliot and now Anakin is probably going to find out what's going on when he sees no Separatist ships there. I normally wouldn't be so worried about that but Elliot really does have eyes and ears everywhere, so I didn't want to take any risks at this point. But I also felt really bad for not telling him anything, especially since we never used to keep things from each other.

Until now. Everything's been so complicated since that first accidental kiss.

I sighed through my nose and turned my head to look out the ships window. We were now entering the planet, and I admired the natural terrain ahead of us. The green grass and water everywhere was pretty rare to see anywhere else, so being able to enjoy it was a positive aspect of this trip.

The ship smoothly landed, causing gusts of wind to ruffle the grass around us.

As I already expected, there were no other ships in sight. Or any life forms for that matter. The Wookiees might all be in hiding or eating dinner in their shelters since it was evening already.

"Huh." Anakin started, looking out at the empty view in front of us.

I nodded slowly and sucked in my teeth.

"So (y/n)," Anakin turned to look at me, "where is this Separatist fleet that you said would be waiting for us?"

"That," I chuckled nervously, "is a great question."

He raised an eyebrow and kept looking at me expectantly, but I still didn't have an explanation. I internally groaned at this situation, feeling naive to think that this would work. I may be a Jedi, but I'm not a skilled spy. And I'm practically a traitor to the Republic and the Jedi as well, since I'm helping the Separatists and the Sith without permission. My heart was wracked with guilt at that thought, but I pushed it down as much as possible.

"That I don't have the answer to." I lamely offered, finishing my previous statement.

"What?" He knitted his eyebrows together and stood up, "But I don't understand. There's nothing here for us." He said, gesturing to the area around us.

I sighed in frustration. Not at Anakin, but at myself.

"You know what?" I stood up out of my seat, "I'm gonna go check something. You stay here for now, and just trust me."

I fast-walked to the side of the ship before Anakin could say anything else and opened the ramp, walking down it and out into the open. The cool breeze made my body shiver, but it was way better than being in that stuffy ship. I looked around for a more secluded place to go, and my eyes landed on a small cave in the distance. I exhaled and began sprinting over to it, kicking up sand in my trail. I took a sharp turn into the cave and leaned back against the wall, putting my hands on my knees.

I started shaking, feeling more stressed than ever now because I had no plan.

Why did Anakin have to come? This would be a thousand times easier if I was by myself. But I have a bad feeling about this. I know this mission isn't gonna go the way I want it to.

"Okay," I took a deep breath, "you can do this. Just find the weapons quickly, and get out of here."

I got up off the wall and shook my hands to get rid of my nervous energy. Then I turned around towards the pitch blackness of the cave.

I wonder if anyone is staying in here.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called out, my voice echoing as far down the cave as I could hear.

No response.

I sighed and turned back around, traipsing into the open air again. Maybe there's another cave around here that's inhabited, and hopefully has some bowcasters lying around. Although I doubt the Wookiees would just hand them over.

Great, another problem to add to the list.

I turned left and started to go farther down the island when I heard a growl come from inside the first cave I was in.

I whipped around, kicking up more sand and ran to stand in the entrance to the cave.

"Hello?" I tried again. I heard the growling noise again, and waited until I saw two large shadows come into view. I took a step back, feeling intimidated by the tall Wookiees in front of me. They still stood in the cave, while I was just outside of the entrance. My eyes widened when I saw that they both held bowcasters, and relief washed over me since I didn't think I'd be able to find them this easily.

I smiled and waved, "Hey there! I know you both don't know me but uh....could I have your bowcasters?" I asked bluntly.

They just stared at me and didn't make any moves. I awkwardly crossed my arms and rocked on my heels. None of us did anything or made any sounds, and I just looked back and forth between the two of them. The only noises were the wind and water moving in sync behind me, but the cave in front of me blocked any outside sounds.

I was becoming impatient and was about to ask again, but they both lifted and aimed their weapons at me in unison, ready to shoot.

But I was quicker, and used the force to fling the bowcasters towards me and dropped them on either side of me.

I held both of my hands up in defense, "Please listen, I just want—"

The Wookiees ignored me and charged straight at me. My eyes widened and I shoved my hands forward, trying to push them backwards with the force despite their size and strength. But they came at me faster than I was prepared for, so I didn't have time to make a rational decision.

"No!" I screamed.

My fear and anxiety took control of the force and instead of pushing the Wookiees back, I sent a visible shockwave through the roof of the cave. I gasped and watched as it crumbled and cracked, falling to the ground in large pieces and killing both of them instantly. The impact of the weight of the debris sent the sand flying in all directions, causing me to cover my eyes from it.

I moved my hands down and looked around. The entire cave was destroyed and everything within a mile ahead of me was a mess of broken rock and sand. Since the sand also flew in my direction, a lot of it was on my clothes and in my hair.

I inhaled shakily at the sight in front of me that I just created.

I just killed two innocent Wookiees. All they were doing was protecting their home.

I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't even care that I got the weapons, because I knew the guilt of what I just did would weigh on me forever.

As Jedi who are constantly fighting, people die around us all the time. And as sad as that is, this is the first time innocents have died by my hands. I couldn't even complete one of these stupid missions without causing any casualties. I can't believe most of the Separatists do this daily as if it's nothing; as if it doesn't matter that they just took someone's life away.

The familiar taste of metal rose in the back of my throat, and I knew what was coming next. I did a one-eighty and ran all the way to the water, falling onto my knees in the sand and hurled all the blood into the crystal clear water, creating a pool of red.

I hyperventilated, trying to inhale as much air as possible even though it hurt to do so. My esophagus once again felt like it was being burned and slowly torn apart, and trying to breathe just made it even worse. I thought that the effects of the weird herb would be a one time thing, but I guess I was wrong. I laid back on my side, huffing and puffing to get my breathing normal again. The burning slowly decreased and the breaths I took returned to a regular pace. I closed my eyes and exhaled softly, finding a rare moment of peace that I hadn't felt in a while.

I regained my composure and carefully stood up, clearing my throat in case any blood was left. I walked back over to the destroyed cave, view making all my insides twist with regret and self-reproach. I did my best to push all those emotions down and move on from them. I looked down at the two bowcasters that lay on the ground. This was good enough. Elliot probably wants more but I'll just say that it was all I could get.

I grabbed them and quickly made my way back to the ship, hoping Anakin didn't leave to come and find me.

Thankfully, he didn't. When I climbed back up the ramp, I saw him sitting in the pilot seat and tapping his fingers impatiently while staring out the window in the opposite direction from where I came. I went straight to the back of the ship to shove the bowcasters in my bag, and pulled out my water bottle to wash out all the blood that I could still taste in my mouth.

"Ugh. That's disgusting." I muttered.

I heard Anakin's footsteps leave the cockpit and walk over to where I was.

"(y/n), what is going on? Is anyone even here?"

I turned around to face him and saw clear irritation in his expression. He crossed his arms and eyed me expectantly. I gulped and twiddled my fingers, "Uh not....not anymore. I called Elliot just now and found out that he actually made it back to Corellia. But we should still go check on him in case....something happens."

Nice one, genius.

I mentally cringed at everything I just said. I'm the absolute worst person in the galaxy at improvising.

Anakin threw his hands in the air and looked at me, completely stunned with my explanation.

"What—how? Did someone else come to save him or something? And if he's back home, then why did you call him? Shouldn't he have contacted you first to tell you that he's safe? And why are you covered in sand?" He said that last part a bit louder than the rest.

Crap.

I didn't think about how I said that I contacted Elliot first. Like I said, I'm the worst person in the galaxy at improvising.

I shrugged and gently rubbed the wound on the back of my head, trying to think of another excuse.

"I guess he just forgot to tell us. He was probably so happy to be home with his people that his job made him forget to say anything. And someone else might have rescued him, but he didn't say who. And the sand is because I uh....fell into a pothole."

The whole time I spoke, I didn't look at Anakin. But when I finished, I saw pure disbelief in his eyes. I didn't say anything else in fear of making this worse so I just waited for his response.

He laughed drily and shook his head, "Okay. Lets say that what you're saying is true. I still don't understand why we need to go back there if he's supposedly safe."

I nodded and tried to maintain eye contact to make this seem as normal as possible.

"Well, he might have more questions for us about taking better precautions in the future. Since he's been under a lot of attacks recently, he also said that he needs....a temporary Jedi bodyguard."

The words came out before I could think about them, and I didn't know if they were brilliant or foolish. But I thought about it; what if I was Elliots temporary 'bodyguard' on Corellia? That would work out really well, because I wouldn't have to hide anything from the Jedi back on Coruscant. I could get my assignments done for Elliot so much easier.

I mean, I won't be happy. At all.

But Anakin will be free from me and free from the threat of expulsion. He can help the Jedi to stop the war and save the galaxy from destruction. I'm not sure how long I would be gone but it's definitely a start to make sure that we don't make any mistakes for anyone to see. Besides, no matter how strong my feelings are for Anakin, I know that I would probably just slow him down from fulfilling his destiny as 'The Chosen One.'

He would be better off without me. No matter how much I didn't want to accept that, I knew I had to.

Anakin's eyes narrowed and he shook his head, "(y/n), no."

I walked forward and cupped his face, "Yes, Anakin. It's too dangerous for Elliot to not have a Jedi bodyguard. Someone needs to protect him."

He grabbed my wrists and gently held them against his chest. "But why you?" He asked softly.

I sighed, "Because I know that place better than any of the other Jedi. And Elliot is the most familiar with me."

Anakin clenched his jaw and slowly tightened his grip on my wrists when I said that last part, but not enough to actually hurt me.

"You're mine, (y/n). I don't want him getting too comfortable with you."

I felt butterflies in my stomach at his words, and I could feel my knees beginning to turn into jelly. Even though Anakin doesn't know this, he has absolutely nothing to worry about. Elliot and I both despise each other and it's clear to me now that the whole flirty act he had in the beginning was just a way to see how Anakin would react. If I did this, then I wouldn't have to go out of my way to avoid him at the Temple, which I really hated doing. There's something about him that's always tempting me to come closer and closer, and resisting that temptation is never easy.

But now it would be.

I nodded in understanding and smiled up at him, "He won't. You can trust me on that. I know that you don't want this to happen, but I want to be there for him and all of Corellia."

His gaze softened and he nodded, bringing my wrists up to kiss my fingers. "I know. As much as I don't like it, I won't be the one to hold you back. You always show compassion to others and you never give up on them. That's my favorite thing about you; you go the extra mile for others, even when you don't need to."

My heart broke at his words. Not because I didn't like them, but because I was going the extra mile for him, but he doesn't even know it. And he also doesn't know that I have no compassion left in me for Elliot. All that's there is pure disgust and hatred. I know that's not the Jedi way, but I'm way past that at this point after everything I've done and agreed to. I smiled even bigger at him, trying to seem as happy as I could be. I don't know if we'll have another moment like this for a long time so I cherished the amazing person in front of me for as long as possible. I doubt anyone is watching us right now, so I tiptoed up to get to his level and pressed my lips to his.

I missed this feeling. Even though we haven't kissed that much, I remember the feeling so perfectly.

I pulled away and got off of my toes and back to my normal stance, "I should inform the Council of this. Then you can drop me off at Corellia, okay?"

Anakin nodded sadly and released his hold on my wrists. I gave him a sad smile and went to grab my holo-communicator from my backpack, making sure that the bowcasters didn't come into view.

I turned it on and immediately contacted the Council, and was met with the sight of Yoda.

He nodded at me and spoke first, "Updates, do you have?"

I nodded back respectfully and spoke with as much confidence as I could, "Yes, Master Yoda. Elliot Dalton has already been rescued and taken back to Corellia. I contacted him and he has requested that I be his temporary bodyguard on his planet because of the many recent threats to his life. It would be just until all the attacks dissipate and we know he's safer."

Yoda nodded thoughtfully and considered my words. "A disturbance in the force, I sense. Know not yet, what it is. Go, you must."

(a/n): Let's goooo another chapter done! Inspiration really hit me for this one, so I hope you guys like it haha