Zelina stood stiffly on the bridge beside Aayla, watching as the flaming mass that was what remained of the Malevolence ran from the Republic's Star Destroyers. Obi-Wan glanced at her a few times, and Zelina was sure that he was trying to decide if he needed to worry about her at the moment or not. Still, she didn't relax her posture. They were right on the edge of defeating the terror and she wanted to see it go up in flames, if only to be assured that it would not take any more lives.

"Commander, what is the damage level to the enemy ship?" Obi-Wan asked, breaking the tense silence as he tore his eyes away from the scene outside.

"She's lost her primary shield and stabilizers sir, but the ship is so massive it can take all the firepower are cannons can give it," the commander below them responded immediately.

"We must summon reinforcements," Master Plo Koon said.

"That's why I'm here Master Plo," came a welcoming cocky voice from behind them. Zelina smiled to herself as they all turned to the newcomers of the bridge.

"Anakin, where you able to contact Master Luminara?" Obi-Wan asked without delay as Anakin came to a stop beside Zelina. Ahsoka stayed stationed on Anakin's other side.

"Yes Master. She's busy with a set of Separatist reinforcements nearby. She won't be able to give us support until she's turned them away," Anakin informed Obi-Wan.

"Then we'll have to make do with what we have," Obi-Wan replied.

"Anyone else think this bridge is getting a little overcrowded with Jedi? I mean...six of us in one place? That's more than normal," Zelina muttered under her breath. A few of the others smiled at her words, and Anakin and Obi-Wan chuckled a little under their breath.

"Admiral, status report," Obi-Wan said evenly.

"They're not attempting to jump into hyperspace; their hyperdrive must be damaged."

"Well that's convenient," Zelina quipped.

"That it is," Obi-Wan agreed. "This is our chance; all ships target the bridge. Maximum firepower!"

Zelina sighed, rubbing her temples as the guns blazed after the Malevolence. She knew that the enemy was on board that ship, but still...she didn't like how the war was quick to change morals and blur where the line was. The tone of Obi-Wan's voice—passive, understanding, peaceful Obi-Wan—had reminded her how much they were changing. Obi-Wan now had the demeanor of a soldier, a general, a warrior; someone who wasn't afraid to kill if it was necessary. Vaguely, Zelina started to wonder how much she had changed as well.

Zelina's ruminations where cut short when she felt a tingle go down her spine. She didn't keep it to herself. She'd learned to voice her premonitions and feelings the moment she had them. "Something's wrong."

Anakin looked at her sharply. "Why do you think that?"

"A tingle...down my spine...something is wrong, but I don't know what," Zelina mumbled, her eyes surveying the scene in front of her for anything that might be off.

"Master, I'm picking up a signal near the enemy vessel," Ahsoka suddenly exclaimed from her spot by the controls. "Something just came out of hyperspace."

"Enemy reinforcements?" Anakin asked slowly, holding Zelina's gaze. Zelina was already shaking her head no in answer, even as Ahsoka confirmed Zelina's answer.

"No! It looks like a...Naboo ship?"

Anakin and Zelina both froze, though the look on Anakin's face said it all. Zelina started to silently chant in her head for Anakin's sake.

Not Padme, it's not Padme, why would it be Padme? There's no reason for her to be out here...

"Gunners, stand down!" Obi-Wan barked. "What in blazes are they doing out here?"

"Ahsoka, contact that ship!" Anakin demanded. Zelina bumped his arm at the hint of desperation that crept into his voice, and he looked at her with a small, apologetic smile before schooling his face into a mask of calm.

A mask Zelina was sure would disappear if the pilot of the Naboo ship was the person they both knew from Naboo.

"Naboo cruiser, identify yourself," Ahsoka commanded.

An image of Padme soon appeared in front of them, confirming Zelina and Anakin's fears. "This is Senator Amidala."

Why does she always end up in the middle of things?

"PADME?" Anakin exclaimed, startling everyone but Zelina with his outburst. The look on Obi-Wan's face was priceless, but the situation was too dire for Zelina to laugh. "What are you doing out here!"

"I was sent on a special mission! The Senate was told the Banking Clan was going to negotiate a treaty!" Padme exclaimed.

"Get out of there as fast as you can!" Anakin said firmly.

They saw her jolted around, and heard another voice—3PO by the sound of it—say something, to which Padme responded with a, "I'm afraid it's much worse than that."

"Padme, what's happening?" Anakin asked sternly.

"I'm being pulled into the droid cruiser by a tractor beam!" Padme cried. Zelina reached out and put a hand on Anakin's shoulder. Leaning forward like she was trying to get a better view to cover up the motion. "I will not be made a Separatist bargaining chip! Continue your attack! You must destroy this monstrous ship!"

The connection cut off and Zelina squeezed Anakin's shoulder as he clenched his fist in front of his face, gritting his teeth as he warred with himself for a few brief moments. Zelina could hear the fain clicks and whirs of the mechanisms of his hand before he spun around, causing her to release him and step back out of his way. "Admiral, order our ships to stop firing."

They all watched the Malevolence out the window of the ship and, since now she couldn't make a comforting gesture without drawing attention, she reached out through the Force to Anakin, sending reassurance and comfort. He accepted it gratefully, trying to quell his fear and worry for Padme.

Anakin was quick to turn around, striding to leave the bridge behind. Zelina followed him without question, already knowing what he was doing.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Obi-Wan asked, starting to follow them.

"Somebody has to save her skin," Anakin said simply.

"And someone has to make sure he doesn't get himself killed," Zelina responded.

"I thought you might say that," Obi-Wan replied. "I'll come to make sure you two don't create an even bigger mess."

"Thanks for the compliment Obi-Wan," Zelina responded sarcastically.

"Well, I'm just saying, trouble seems to follow you two, especially when you get together. I'm just saying."

**************************

"I trust you've already formulated a brilliant plan to rescue the Senator?" Obi-Wan asked as they all filed into the Twilight, Anakin's ship. Obi-Wan took the co-pilot's seat, which meant that Zelina was going to stand once the rescue was over with.

Fun, fun.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Anakin responded before he sat down. Zelina took the seat behind him, leaning forward so she could see out the front.

"But do we have a plan b?" Obi-wan asked. "Every operation needs a back-up Anakin."

"Yeah, especially for us: nothing ever goes as planned," Zelina added, Anakin shot her a look, though considering half of it was a smile, she knew she was good.

"I don't have a backup...yet! But I do have a plan for getting on that ship!" Anakin insisted.

"Really?" Obi-Wan asked, genuinely curious.

"The enemy's sensors are obviously damaged. So we'll sneak in behind them and dock at the emergency air lock," Anakin said adamantly, eyes glinting.

"That's your plan? Just fly there, land, hope they don't spot us, and walk in the door?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously.

"Well...way to put it in a positive light Obi-Wan," Zelina quipped.

"Baisically. But yes, that's the plan," Anakin said cheerily.

"Oh, brilliant..." Obi-Wan mumbled. "Let's get going."

"Hey, if it seems stupid, reckless, or impossible, and Anakin is doing it, it's going to work," Zelina said with a chuckle as Anakin took off.

Silently, Zelina watched as they drew closer to the Malevolence, noting the continued explosions all over the ship even though they had ceased fire.

"If they spot us we'll be pulverized," Obi-Wan informed them, glancing at Anakin.

"They're too busy repairing the ship," Anakin said reassuringly. "They don't have time to notice us."

"He has a point," Zelina snickered.

"Subtlety has never been one of your strong points Anakin," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"Everything I know, I learned from you Master," Anakin responded smugly.

"Oh, if only that were true," Obi-Wan responded with a small smile, shaking his head.

"Ah, Master Padawan love, it's just...refreshing," Zelina said, inhaling dramatically. Anakin reached over and tugged on her Padawan braid.

"Look who's talking. Once more Zee, you seem to have forgotten that I'm the one who's knighted, and you're still the Padawan."

Zelina narrowed her eyes at him. "I can't wait till you can't pull that one on me."

"That's still a ways away," Anakin said with a grin.

"Not too far away," Zelina mumbled. "Just...focus on your flying and get us docked."

Anakin snickered, but said no more, 'easing' the Twilight to the air lock with a resounding thud.

"Wow, I'm sure no one noticed that," Zelina said sarcastically as they all got off.

"Anakin, you're crazy," Obi-Wan said as they made their way onto the Malevolence. "Spinning is not flying."

"But it's a good trick," Anakin responded smoothly as he opened the door in front of them.

Obi-Wan looked away, missing the two droids that were in front of them when the doors opened as he spoke. "We do not want to be spotted."

"Too late," Zelina said in amusement.

"Ah! I knew it! It's them!" one of the droids exclaimed.

"Oh no..." the other said.

"I'll let you guys handle this," Zelina said, slipping out from behind them as the two launched forward, taking out the droids with one smooth strike each.

Anakin turned to R2, who had come with them. "You stay here R2," Anakin said

"Well we better get moving. We have a whole ship to search and no starting point. Padme could be anywhere."

********************************

As they were running through the corridors, Anakin's com link started to go off. "Yes?" Anakin asked, eyes trained firmly ahead of him.

"Master, we found the Senator, I'm patching her through," Ahsoka's voice said. Anakin was quick to respond.

"Padme!"

"Anakin!" Padme's voice exclaimed.

"Are you all right? Where are you?" Anakin asked immediately. He sounded just as frazzled as when Zelina had her near death experience not too long ago.

"On the lower levels. I'm fine, but I don't know for how long...droids are everywhere."

"Obi-Wan, Zelina and I are all on board too."

"What? What are you doing here?" Padme asked accusingly.

"We came to get you off this ship!" Anakin said defensively while Obi-wan and Zelina both smirked. "Ahsoka, how can we get to the Senator?"

"According to our scans, there seems to be a large, open area in the center of the ship. It should be halfway between the two of you," Ahsoka said calmly.

"We're on our way. Did you hear that Padme?" Anakin asked.

"I'll be there," Padme responded before she cut off the communication.

Anakin sighed, already rushing towards the center of the ship. Zelina managed to stay even with him, tapping his shoulder. "Hey, she's going to be all right, don't you worry. We'll get her back, and we'll all get off this ship safe. Relax a little."

"I'll relax when we're off this ship," Anakin responded tersely.

"Well, don't snap in two from the tension your keeping all pent up inside. Two of you would be nice, but not that way."

Anakin chuckled. "I thought two of me would be the end of the Galaxy?"

"That too."

*****************************

"I don't see her Anakin."

The three of them all stood at the entrance to the spot Ahsoka had directed them to, watching as rail jets went back and forth, crisscrossing over the entire area.

"She's here Master, I sense it."

I bet you can Ani, I'd be concerned if you couldn't sense your wife when she's on the same ship as you.

She didn't say anything of course, but instead scanned the area with her eyes, trying to see some sign of Padme. Perhaps she had come out somewhere else, still in the same room, but in a different spot...

Suddenly the sound of blaster fire floated towards them, and their eyes riveted to the scene below. "There!" Anakin cried out. Obi-Wan and Zelina were already activating their lightsabers the same moment they all took a leap off the edge, dropping down to the moving rail jets below.

"I'm glad I'm not afraid of heights," Zelina chuckled.

Two droids fired at them, and Anakin and Obi-Wan deflected the shots with ease, while Zelina eyed the spot ahead where she could see Padme and 3PO. She watched as Padme pushed 3PO onto one of the rail jets before jumping to another herself.

"Padme!" Anakin shouted, launching himself from the rail jet they were standing on in pursuit of Padme. Zelina looked at Obi-Wan.

"I guess it's just you and me," she said in amusement. The amusement faded when she saw the bridge go out ahead of Padme, standing tensely as they watched Padme jump to Anakin, who used the Force to levitate her to the safety of his arms.

"Nice catch!" Obi-Wan called. "We'll find the droid!"

"That should be easy. It's hard to miss 3PO," Zelina said with a smirk.

"Come on Zelina, the faster we find him, the better."

"I never said I wasn't come, now did I?" Zelina responded with a laugh, running after him. He came to a stop at the edge of a rail jet, and Zelina spotted 3PO down below in the crates. Obi-Wan stretched out his hands, using the Force to lift 3PO out of the crate while Zelina watched for any passing droids. But she did see a rail jet on a crash course for 3PO

"Obi-Wan," she warned, but it was too late. The rail jet hit 3PO head on, carrying the droid away.

"Blast!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "That's not good..."

"Smooth," Zelina responded with a smirk. "Who knows where the droid went now."

Obi-Wan gave her a look, to which Zelina held up her hands in defense. "Hey, I'm a pain for everyone, I'm just giving you your share."

He shook his head, activating his com link. "Anakin, I got separated from your droid."

"By separated, he means he got 3PO hit by a rail jet and we lost him," Zelina added with a smirk. Obi-Wan shot her a glare and pulled the com link out of her reach, though she just chuckled.

She heard Anakin grumbled under his breath before he responded. "I'll take care of it," he said, before adding to Padme, "We'll meet you back at the Twilight."

"No! We can't leave yet. I overheard Grievous; their hyperdrive is almost repaired," came Padme's voice suddenly said urgently.

"We're already headed in that direction. Go. We'll make certain that they hyperdrive stays offline," Obi-Wan told them.

***********************************

It didn't take them long to find what they were looking for. Obi-Wan took the lead, jogging into the room with a confident smirk as they took in the two droids in front of them. But Zelina felt like something was off...something bad was about to happen, something she wasn't going to like...

Sure enough, as they approached the two droids, the lights blazed to life, and battle droids and super battle droids appeared on both their left and right, droidekas appeared from behind the monitor in front of them, and behind...

General Grievous himself, as well as several more droids. The two of them turned to face him, and Zelina took comfort in the fact that Obi-Wan didn't look too concerned. He seemed to have something in mind to get out of this certain predicament.

"Hello there," General Grievous rasped as he dropped down in front of the small group of droids that now blocked the door they had entered in. "General Kenobi; did you really think I would leave the hyperdrive unguarded?"

Nice to know I'm hardly worth mentioning. I guess I still have a little bit of a reputation to build up.

"Anything is possible. You haven't exactly impressed me today," Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard and shrugging nonchalantly.

Grievous laughed, and Zelina felt chills run down her spine. She had heard that laugh before, but where? She'd never met Grievous before now, so why was his laugh familiar?

"Kill them."

"Steady," Obi-Wan murmured when Zelina reached for her lightsaber. He tensed himself to jump, and Zelina finally caught on to what he was thinking. "Now!" he hissed lightly to her, and they both jumped at the same time, away from the blaster bolts and behind the droidekas.

"Push them," Obi-Wan commanded.

"I'm doing just that," Zelina told him, and they both pushed one of the droidekas down the walkways on both the left and right of Grievous, taking all of those droids out easily. She activated her lightsaber even as Obi-Wan pulled her behind the last remaining droideka as Grievous opened fire on them, using the droid as a shield. Zelina smiled a little as they edged around, spinning around to face their remaining enemies as Obi-Wan pushed the last droideka towards Grievous and the other droids.

"Come on," Obi-Wan said, giving Grievous a small salute before they both took off for one of the remaining ways out. Grievous fired at them as they left the room, but Obi-Wan easily deflected the shot as they bolted out of the room.

"He's not going to give up that easily," Zelina said to Obi-Wan as they ran away.

"Obi-Wan! Come in Obi-Wan!" came Anakin's voice over the com link before Obi-Wan could respond.

"Anakin! I'm afraid Grievous is onto us," Obi-Wan responded, glancing behind him. They could both sense it: Grievous was following them, though he still had yet to catch up.

"Yeah, we noticed," Anakin responded, and Zelina could practically hear him smiling. Blaster fire sounded from over their connection.

"We'll rendezvous back at the Twilight. The fleet must engage the Malevolence!" Obi-Wan said, though suddenly, the connection went crazy, and then it was dead. "Blast it! They're jamming us."

"I was wondering when they were going to do that," Zelina muttered. But her humorous mood didn't last long when she heard the sound of metal clawed feet echoing towards them. She was still trying to figure out why his laugh was familiar. She'd heard it! Where had she heard it?

"Zelina, get your head out of the stars, if we hurry we might lose him," Obi-Wan said sternly, breaking her focus. She sighed. Perhaps it was something she could think about later...right now they were nearing the rail jet room again.

But Grievous was right behind them. Once more Zelina was hit with familiarity as Grievous laughed, and she made a sound of exasperation. "I've heard that laugh before! Why is it familiar?" Zelina said desperately, looking at Obi-Wan before they jumped onto one of the rail jets.

"Don't ask me!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. They could hear the thud as Grievous landed on the rail jet with them. Furthermore, they could hear the sound of demolished crates as he closed in rapidly, crushing the crates in his way. "We need a way out..." Obi-Wan murmured.

He looked up, spotting the claws hanging from the ceiling. "Jump up there! We can come at him from above, instead of vice versa."

"That would be nice," Zelina said in mild amusement, jumping with him to latch onto the claw long enough to come back around. Obi-Wan went for a leap at Grievous, kicking the droid with both feet before hitting the ground and activating his lightsaber. Zelina tried for a slash at the General from above, but was deflected by a green blade and forced back to Obi-Wan's side.

A familiar green lightsaber.

A green lightsaber she would recognize anywhere.

Grievous slashed down at both of them, Obi-Wan blocking the blue blade while Zelina blocked the green one. But she was hardly conscious of Obi-Wan anymore. Instead she stared at Grievous in shock and hatred as it finally clicked.

"You!" she hissed furiously. "It was you!"

Grievous' head swiveled to her. "What are you talking about pathetic child?"

The break in concentration was the moment that Obi-Wan needed, and he pushed Grievous' blade aside before retreating. His retreat was cut short when he realized Zelina wasn't following him though. "Zelina! What are you doing? Come on!"

"You killed her!" she spat again, hardly hearing Obi-Wan.

"I have killed many people little Jedi; you will have to be more specific than that," Grievous snarled, advancing on her. Zelina easily knocked aside the lightsabers, unaware to the fact she was drawing on her fury.

"I'll give you a hint, Grievous: A female Jedi on Geonosis. My Master!" she spat angrily.

Understanding flickered in Grievous' eyes, and he laughed. That horrible laugh he had uttered after he had murdered Ur-Sema, watching as the life drained out of her...

"I remember now!" Grievous laughed. "You'll be happy to know she begged for mercy before she died," Grievous snarled. Zelina stood straighter.

"You lie. My Master never begged. She died with honor," Zelina responded sharply, hand clenched tightly around her lightsaber.

"Zelina!" Obi-Wan shouted at her. He was getting angry, she could hear it, but she didn't care.

"Believe what you will, child. I will be happy to kill you with her blade," Grievous laughed, holding Ur-Sema's lightsaber up intimidatingly. Zelina suddenly felt Obi-Wan's hand on her shoulder, yanking her back and dragging her up the crates as Grievous pursued them. Trying to drag Zelina along against her will, Obi-Wan tripped, falling to the floor and causing Zelina to stumble forward towards the edge. Grievous took the opportunity to pounce on Obi-Wan, arching downward swiftly with both lightsabers to land a killing blow on Obi-Wan.

But Zelina was quick to interfere, stopping both blades, just as she had with Dooku back on Geonosis with Anakin, just centimeters from Obi-Wan's face and pushing the lightsabers back up towards Grievous.

Grievous laughed. "You are brave child. Much more of a challenge than your master. I look forward to adding your lightsaber to my collection. I will put it right next to hers."

Zelina could sense the realization fall over Obi-Wan at Grievous' words, though as they disengaged, she suddenly found Obi-Wan's arm hooked around her legs and he pulled her off the rail jet. She gave a cry of surprise, especially when there was a shower of sparks and she found herself lying on her back on another rail jet, Obi-Wan over her as he looked back up at Grievous. When the droid general had disappeared, Obi-Wan stood, helping Zelina to her feet.

He didn't even pause to catch his breath before he went right into the lecture.

"What were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed! Almost got both of us killed, actually!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, some of his anger leaking into his voice. Zelina said nothing, just scowled and turned away, shoving the pain not into the Force but deep down, just trying to hold it at bay.

"Let's just worry about getting off this ship," she said darkly. Her tone shocked Obi-Wan, who stared at her for a few moments, only reacting when she had jumped off the rail jet to follow her.

"Zelina...Zelina!" he called as she powered ahead, trying to stop her.

"Not right now Obi-Wan, we need to get out of here," Zelina said sharply. "We can save the lecture for later."

Obi-Wan made a sound of exasperation before he finally caught up to her, grabbing her arm at an intersection and yanking her gently to a stop. "Zelina wait, we need to talk about this now—"

He was cut off when blaster fire came at them from their right, and Zelina yanked herself free. "No, we need to talk about this another time. Now we need to get out of here," she said coldly, pushing him forward and deflecting several of the bolts with her lightsaber. "Go on!"

Reluctantly Obi-Wan moved forward, and they rushed through the halls back to the air lock Anakin had parked the Twilight at. They rounded the corner just in time, sending several blaster bolts back towards the pursuing droids.

"Hold the ship!" Obi-Wan called to Anakin as they rushed forward, slipping through just before the doors slid shut behind them. They all rushed into the cockpit, no words spoken as they all rushed to different positions, eager to escape from the Malevolence.

"I'll contact the fleet," Obi-Wan said sternly, glancing over at Zelina a few times.

"R2, release the docking clamp," Anakin commanded. Zelina stayed over in the corner, watching them all get ready to leave as she tried to process what she had just discovered. Even as the Malevolence disappeared behind them, she could tell they were not out of danger yet. Shots went flying past them, some rocking the ship.

"Time for some clever tricks Anakin," Obi-Wan said, looking over at Anakin who was currently trying to keep them from being blown out of the sky.

"That's what I was thinking," Anakin responded with a small smile. He was already starting to spin and weave.

The ship was rocked once more by more shots.

"You know we have guns! You can shoot back anytime!" Anakin snapped.

"I was just about to—" Obi-Wan started, but Zelina spoke first.

"I've got it," she said darkly, already pulling the controls to her as she finally emerged from her dark corner to take aim at the fighters that were tailing them.

Maybe she would get lucky and one of them would be Grievous.

Anakin looked away from what he was doing at her tone, his brow furrowed with worry. "What's your problem?" he asked.

"Just...leave it alone for now Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly. Anakin met his eyes and realized that it was best he didn't say anything.

Their conversation just caused her to bristle, and she settled on taking out her raging emotions on the fighters behind them, taking them out one by one.

3PO was the one to break the sound of shots being fired from both sides.

"Pardon me sir, but R2's scan of the ship indicates that their hyperdrive is activating."

"Don't worry about it," Anakin said soothingly.

Zelina could practically taste the panic that flared in Obi-Wan. "What?" he asked, sounding a little scared what his answer would be.

There was a sudden explosion, and Zelina watched through her scope as the Malevolence suddenly turned towards the moon, colliding head on with the moon.

"I imagine you had something to do with that?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin with a small smile.

"All part of the plan Master," Anakin responded smoothly.

With the Malevolence destroyed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Well...everyone but one.

***********************************

Anakin was the first one off the ship, stealing a kiss from Padme before they stepped off the Twilight in the brief moment they were out of everyone's sight. Of course, she had to go contact people to report what had happened and other senatorial things, so she parted with him the moment they were off the Twilight.

What happened next was not something he had been expecting.

Zelina came storming off of the Twilight, a fire in her eyes that Anakin had never seen before. Obi-Wan was right behind her a stern yet somewhat exasperated look on his face. "Zelina, we need to talk about this," he said gravely, reaching for her arm. Zelina yanked her arm out of his grasp and spun around, eyes flashing dangerously.

"I don't want to talk about it Obi-Wan," she hissed. "Just leave me alone, all right?" she practically shouted.

Aayla, who had been approaching them, looked at Zelina in shock. "Padawan!"

Zelina paid her no heed. Instead, she powered past everyone, and any clones in her path got out of her way well before she reached them as she hurried out of the room.

"What was that about? Obi-Wan, what happened?" Anakin demanded, holding Obi-Wan's gaze.

Obi-Wan sighed. "She almost got us both killed while we were on the Malevolence," he said evasively. Anakin scowled.

"And...? I know there's more to it than that, it's Zelina," Anakin said impatiently.

He tugged at his beard: never a good sign. "She found out that Grievous is the one who killed Ur-Sema."

Anakin felt a hole appear in his gut, as if his insides had gone hollow. That explained it. Instead of saying anything, he turned and started down the way she had left.

"Where are you going?" Aayla called.

"To find Zelina," Anakin said stiffly.

"Let him go. He can handle it better than any of us could," he heard Obi-Wan tell Aayla.

"You could relate with her," Aayla responded softly.

"She won't listen to me," Obi-Wan responded.

That was when Anakin stopped listening, already navigating the ship to try and find her. At a certain point, all he had to do was follow the frazzled troopers who were trying to figure out why the Jedi Padawan was storming through the halls in a rage.

He heard the crash before he found her.

Picking up his pace to a jog, Anakin rounded the corner, coming to a stop outside her quarters. He should have known she'd go there. He punched in the code, walking in without asking for an invite. He had to duck almost immediately as the door slid shut behind him, the object she'd pitched missing his head by mere centimeters.

"Whoa, watch it!" he said, a little sharper than he meant to as he straightened up. Zelina whirled away from him before he could see her face, but he could feel the pain and anger rolling off her in waves. "Zelina..."

"I just want to be left alone," she whispered, her tone both choked with tears and laced with strong anger.

"Zelina, please talk to me, don't shut everyone out, that's not going to help anything," he pleaded, taking a step closer.

"I don't want to Anakin, it's just..." she cut herself off, shaking her head and hugging herself tightly.

"Zelina..." he said softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

It was like a bomb had gone off.

"He killed her!" Zelina suddenly raged, the feelings she'd been damming up since she'd found out coming out in a flood as she suddenly pitched her lightsaber—which had apparently been in her hand—across the room. It clanked against the wall, bouncing on her bed as she spun around. Her movements were unsteady, her vision blurred by the tears that were pouring down her face. "H-he took an e-electrostaff and ran her through, and electrocuted her to death. And he laughed! He laughed because he enjoyed it, and he's been using her lightsaber to kill other Jedi! She w-was one of the f-few people I let m-myself care about, and that robotic monster murdered her!" she shouted. The mirror behind her shattered, causing her to jump slightly, but otherwise it didn't faze her.

Anakin sucked in a breath, overwhelmed by the strong feelings that he was receiving from her through the Force. And hearing that...he could see why she was furious. If that had ever happened to Obi-Wan...

Don't think like that, he told himself fiercely. Nothing like that will ever happen to Obi-Wan so long as I'm alive.

Instead, he reached for Zelina again. "Zelina you need to breathe," he said as soothingly as he could, grasping her shoulders to try and keep her from lashing out or throwing anything else, or Force forbid from hurting herself. She fought him, trying to get out of his grip while she sobbed, continuing to cry out.

"He killed her, he murdered her, that monster slaughtered her, he took her from me," she shouted, pounding on his chest in an effort to get him to let go.

"Zelina, it's all right, okay? It's all right. Please, listen to me, calm down, you're going to hurt yourself," he pleaded, refusing to let go.

Miraculously, she did. She dropped like a weight in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably and clutching to his tunic. She had no words for how she felt, but Anakin could sense it clearly through the Force, and it broke his heart. His own tears pricked at his eyes. She felt like she was suffocating, like the world was caving in around her.

And he knew just what that felt like.

Anakin sank to the floor with Zelina in his arms, rubbing her back and massaging gentle circles on her head, making soft soothing sounds and rocking her lightly. "It's all right Zelina...it's all right...I'm here, okay? It's going to be all right..." he murmured into her ear.

They stayed like that until she fell asleep in his arms, and by then his tunic and tabard was soaked from her tears. But he didn't mind. Carefully he picked her up, careful not to wake her as he rested her gently on her bed, picking up her lightsaber and placing it on the small nightstand next to the bed. He tucked her in, pulling the covers close around her and softly brushing the hair from her face before running his fingers lightly down her cheek. He almost left then, but something made him pause. Instead, he pulled up a chair, situating it next to her bed before he sat down with a sigh.

He was needed here more than anywhere else.