"𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙚"

"You sure you want to stay on the cruiser, Sil?" Obi-Wan asked me. "You're a great pilot. We could use your help in getting back the Chancellor."

I raised my eyebrows in amusement. "Oh, so now you think I'm a great pilot?" I asked Obi-Wan with a smile playing on my lips.

He sighed. "Well, you're flying is slightly less nauseating than Anakin's."

I grinned hearing that. "Why, thank you."

"Only slightly." Obi-Wan held up his hand, showing the small distance between his thumb and forefinger. He smiled and walked towards the hangar where his fighter waited.

I smiled after him. The sound of rapid footsteps hitting the floor brought my attention behind me. I turned around to see Anakin skid to a stop in front of me.

"You're not going, right?" he asked.

"Of course not," I whispered. I looked down at my torso and let my fingers lightly run over it. It had been difficult, but I was doing everything I could to keep myself out of risky situations. Flying through space in a fighter was out of the question.

"Good." Anakin smiled and glanced down at my stomach as well. "I want you both to be safe."

I giggled at his words. "Make sure you come back in one piece, okay?"

He smiled confidently. "Don't I always?"

I made a face and pointed to his metal arm. "I mean... that happened."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Ever since you came along, haven't I always come back in one piece?"

"Fine, you win this round, Skywalker."

"See you later, Sil." Anakin grinned and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. He gave me a last look before dashing away and hopping into a fighter. He, Obi-Wan, Oddball, and the rest of his flight squad took off in pursuit of Grievous' ship.

***

The rescue had been successful, even if it meant crashing onto the landing strip and taking out a communications tower in the process. The chancellor was safe and Anakin had even managed to kill Dooku. Cody and I prepared for the cruiser to land on Coruscant. On the surface, Obi-Wan informed me that Anakin would be having a long day with the chancellor and the senators. I sighed disappointedly. Ever since we left Anaxes, it had been difficult to find a quiet moment to talk with Anakin. The mystery of the chips still eluded me. I desperately wanted to talk to him about it.

I strode down the dark hall that held the Antarian Ranger's quarters in the Temple. I entered my room and paused seeing everything I had left here. It had been months since I had last stood here due to the Outer Rim sieges. My eyes landed on the trooper helmet Waxer and the guys had made just for me. I only ever wore it on the mission I received it on, the battle on Umbara. Since then, I could never bring myself to wear it again. I never wanted there to be a situation where another battalion, company, or squad had misidentified us. It would tear me apart.

My holo-transmitter made a noise from my pocket and I pulled it out. I laid it on a surface and accepted the transmission. It was Rex.

"Hi Sil," he said quietly.

I sucked in a breath. Memories of our argument back on the cruiser came rushing back. I felt terrible.

"Rex, I am so sorry," I immediately apologized. "I shouldn't have pushed you to talk to Skywalker about the chips-"

"It's alright," he cut me off.

I looked up at his transparent image confused.

"I..." he started and looked down for a moment. He breathed deeply before continuing. "I thought about what you said. On our way to Mandalore, I searched through Kix's bunk and found his datapad."

I gasped in shock. "Does it have his research?"

Rex broke into a small smile and nodded. "The Seppies must not have realized that our medic recorded what he found out."

"Does Kix's reports have anything on what the orders call for?" I asked frantically.

Rex pulled out the datapad and looked at it for a moment. "It looks like he was able to decode them, but he only managed to record about fifty of them. I don't know what rest do."

I sighed deeply. "It's a start. When you get back here, we'll have evidence."

Rex shared my smile and nodded. He looked down at the datapad again and there was a look of amusement on his face. He chuckled to himself.

"What is it?" I asked.

"While I was reading up on the chips, I.. I found another report," Rex said.

"About what?"

Rex met my eyes and smiled. "That you're having a baby."

My jaw dropped so far it might as well have hit the floor. My heart pounded to the extent that I thought it would fly straight out of my chest.

"Rex, you can't say-"

"I know, I know," he held in a laugh at seeing my state of panic. "Your secret is safe with me."

I let out a long breath and closed my eyes for a moment to calm myself. Of course he wouldn't say anything. It was Rex I was talking to.

"Thank you," I said finally opening my eyes.

He gave me a nod. "When we get back, we can talk to the generals about the chips."

"Sounds perfect," I agreed. "Good luck with Maul."

"Thanks, and good luck with," he pointed with his chin and I blushed.

We ended the transmission and I sighed in relief. Things were finally heading in a brighter direction. I stood up from my seat and made for the door to leave my room. I opened it to see Anakin standing right outside with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Anakin," I said quickly. I was shocked to see him so suddenly. It was clear that Anakin had been standing there a while. Otherwise he would've knocked and come in by now. "Did you hear all of that?"

He nodded silently and stepped inside the room. Panic rose in my chest at how unresponsive he was. I closed the door and turned around to see him standing by the window. I walked slowly to his side and looked at him.

"Are you upset with me?"

Anakin faced me with that same expressionless look, but it morphed into disbelief. "What? How could I be upset with you?"

I pressed my lips together and gazed downwards. "Because I made a big deal about the chips a while ago and barged into the chancellor's office. You weren't happy about it."

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "But I must admit, what I heard from you and Rex sounds pretty compelling."

My eyes flitted up to his in surprise. "You think so?"

He nodded with a smile and then turned serious. "But it can't be the chancellor, Sil. The Separatists are the ones trying to cover up the secret about the chips, not the Republic."

I was unconvinced. "Still, it's really sketchy. Every time I investigate this, it always leads back to the chancellor. There's something wrong here."

Anakin watched me carefully. He would never suspect a thing about the chancellor.

"Anakin, please," I said taking his hand and looked at him deeply. "All I want from you is to at least talk to him. See what you can find out. This is really, really important to me. It's not fair to the troopers who have something in their heads they don't know anything about. They have been nothing but loyal to you. They've fought by your side for years. They've died for you. I just want to do right by them. At least try and help us figure this out."

I searched his eyes for a response. He stared blankly at the ground in deep thought. He was very conflicted. Talking to the chancellor about the chips meant possibly offending him and ruining their friendship. But the people who fight by your side on the battlefield are more important. Deep down, Anakin knew that.

Anakin finally looked at me. "Fine, I'll talk to him."

I broke into a wide smile and threw my arms around his neck, holding him close. "Thank you."

He laughed lightly and hugged me back. We stayed like this for a moment before pulling away a bit. "So, Rex knows now?"

I glanced down. "Yeah," I said softly.

Anakin sighed. "I'll have to talk to him later," he said. "But also, it was about time he caught on."

We laughed quietly together. Suddenly, Anakin's eyes lit up. "Speaking of the baby, I was talking to Senator Organa today," he said.

I looked at him curiously. "And?"

"I think Alderaan is a great place to start a family," he said smiling brightly.

"Really?" I asked excitedly. "You're gonna leave all of this-"

"Yes," he answered and cupped my face with his hands. "We can finally have our own lives." I grinned at his words and he pulled me in for a kiss.

"This war will end soon," Anakin said pulling away. "Once Grievous is taken care of, we're out of here."

"Sounds perfect," I said smiling. I had been thinking about stepping out of the war for the sake of the baby, but with the end so near, I could stick around for a little longer.

***

Sunlight glared through my window, washing mercilessly over my face. I slowly blinked my eyes open and looked to see Anakin sitting by the window looking lost. I crawled out of the bed and stepped over to him.

"You okay?"

Anakin turned to look at me. He looked exhausted. His face was pale and his eyes were sunken. He just nodded in response and looked outside again.

I slipped a hand into his for reassurance. "What is it?"

He glanced down and shook his head lightly. "Nothing. It was only a bad dream."

Clearly it wasn't just some bad dream. Something serious must've happened to get Anakin stirred up like this.

"Tell me about it?"

He inhaled sharply and looked at me again. "I saw that you were killed on the battlefield."

I stood there silently, still holding onto his hand. He continued.

"I had visions like this before my mother died," Anakin said turning away with a pained expression. "I can't let that happen to you too."

His eyes turned glassy and my heart reached out for him. "Anakin, maybe it was just a dream. Don't worry about it." I tried for a smile. "Nothing's gonna happen."

Anakin grimaced. His expression turned even more hurt and I dropped my smile. "Sil, you don't know how many times I've pretended my visions were just dreams."

***

Anakin left to attend the briefing about the Outer Rim sieges. I spent the rest of my day at the Temple standing by should Obi-Wan need me. He had been busy all day with meetings which I had thankfully been left out of. I was especially glad Obi-Wan hadn't asked me to come with him and Master Windu in escorting Master Yoda to the hangar. I was terrified of the prospect of them finding out about the life inside me. I had gotten away with it for now because I had been in combat for so long, but if they found out about me, it would raise suspicion.

At the end of the day, Anakin told me to meet him in his quarters. He was only there for a brief moment before being summoned by the chancellor again. I waited all evening for him to get back. It had gotten late. As I got ready to go to sleep, Anakin finally came walking briskly through the door. He didn't even spare me a glance and plopped himself down on the edge of the bed. Something was off.

I moved across the bed and and sat myself down right behind him. "What's wrong?"

"The chancellor," he growled.

I bit back a smile to hide my pleasure, but I didn't want to be insensitive about his feelings.

"What about him?" I asked.

"I met him at the opera because he wanted to see me," Anakin started. "We.. talked about some things. Then I brought up the chips you wanted me to speak with him about. I told him what you and Kix had found out. I told him what happened."

My heart pace quickened. "And?" I leaned forward to get a glimpse of Anakin's face. He seemed upset.

"He told me to drop the whole thing concerning my men," Anakin said frustrated. "Even though there is so much evidence. He even told me to stop listening to you. That the things you say are just delusions. He said that your past and the war is messing with your mind. He thinks you're leading me down a path of false conspiracy."

I was scared and silent. I found my voice and asked him. "Do you believe him?"

"No!" Anakin nearly shouted. His eyes were lit with fury. "How can he say those things about you? I know you." He finally looked at me completely and placed a loving hand through my hair. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. You've always been there for me," his rage settled and his voice turned soft as he looked at me. I smiled a little. "When I thought Obi-Wan had died, when Ahsoka left, whenever I doubted myself, you always took care of me. No one, not even the chancellor can convince me of anything else."

"Anakin.." I started, but I found it difficult to continue. The words he said found a home in my heart.

"I love you so much," he said and pulled me into his arms. I let my eyes slide shut in bliss. As long as Anakin was at my side, we could do anything.

***

The next morning, Obi-Wan and Anakin were in another council meeting. I was standing by in the Temple again, waiting for any updates. The meeting must've ended because I saw the two of them coming my way. Obi-Wan had a delighted smile on his face.

"Sil, contact Cody and gather the men," he said. "We are going to Utapau."

"What's on Utapau?"

"Grievous."

A steady smile grew on my face. I looked to Anakin. "Are you coming too?"

He made a face. "The Council wants me to sit this one out."

"It's alright, Anakin," Obi-Wan said looking at him. "By the time we get back, the war will be over."

I smiled in agreement and excused myself to activate my comlink. "Hey Cody."

"Yes?" His voice crackled over the comms.

"Get the guys ready," I said. "They found Grievous on Utapau. General Kenobi is being sent to finish this."

"Alright," Cody responded impressed. "I'll get the men mobilized. We'll be down at the hangar."

"Good, see you there."

I cut the transmission and lowered my wrist, smiling to myself. Soon, we would take care of Grievous, Ahsoka and Rex would be back with Maul, and we would figure out the mystery of the chips. Then I could start my own life. It was all just a matter of time.

***

We met Cody, Boil, Trip, and Wooley in one of the buildings by the hangar. The rest of the men were loading onto the cruiser. While Obi-Wan conversed with Cody, I could feel someone watching me. I turned around to see Anakin, his eyes staring deeply into mine, a barely contained smile on his face.

"What?" I asked with my lips curving upward.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me," he said.

I smiled at the floor before stepping away from the others and neared Anakin. "So are you."

He smiled amused and breathed lightly. His gaze shifted to see the troops moving around weaponry and piling them into containers. His smile fell. Anakin looked at me again with fear. I remembered the dream he told me he had about me being killed on the battlefield.

"Please... please come back safe," he said. Anakin's sky blue eyes turned darker than night. "I can't live without you."

"I'll be fine," I insisted and sent him a bright smile. "I know I don't have Force gifts like you, but I know that we're going to be alright."

A small smile fell on his face again and my spirits lifted.

"Okay," he said softly. "But at least take this." He picked up a jetpack from the table next to him and handed it to me. "You forgot it in my room this morning."

I took it quickly and quietly scolded myself for being so careless. "Thanks," I laughed.

"Of course," Anakin said. "I'll see you soon."

I nodded with a smile. Our attention was pulled away from each other as Obi-Wan called us. Anakin gave my hand a subtle squeeze before walking ahead with Obi-Wan. I stayed back with Cody. We followed the Jedi at a distance as they talked. Once we arrived at the transport that would take us down to the cruiser, it was time to part. Anakin and Obi-Wan said their goodbyes. But I lingered a bit, just long enough to see Anakin send me one last smile.