They crashed at the hottest time of day, so it could only grow colder from here, luckily. Still, sweat dripped down his neck, soaking his back, and made his brown bangs stick to his forehead. His dark clothes heat up immediately, which was why he wore cream cloth when he lived on Tatooine. Ahsoka was oddly quiet, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other in this sweltering heat. Although she was a step behind him, she managed to keep up.

  "Have you been drinking water, Snips?" Anakin called over his shoulder. 

  "Yeah. You need some?"

He reached back and Ahsoka dropped a half-full bottle into his hand. The insulation kept the water cold. It soothed his dry throat. 

  "So... this is home."

  "No."

  "Tell me about it."

  "No."

  "Okay..."

  "The more you talk, the more you dehydrate." He wasn't sure if that was true although it seemed to make sense. "The desert is a killer. It takes everything from you."

  "I understand," she replied quietly. 

He had a feeling that she did even without knowing all the details. 

They kept their pace consistent, never once stopping, even when Anakin offered for the Padawan's sake and she refused. There had been many times when he was grateful for the brutal Jedi training, and this was one of them. 

The suns were setting now. It would only be several hours till the temperature would drop below freezing. By day and by night, the desert was a killer. 

Suddenly, he felt a chill, but it wasn't from the climate. Both Jedi simultaneously stopped. Ahsoka's eyes darted around, searching for something she could only sense. 

  "We're not alone."

  "I sense it, too. It's the Dark Side of the Force."

Anakin scanned the horizon. He still could not see what or who it was, but it was approaching, and he had a guess as to who it was. 

  "Whatever it is, it's coming for the Hutt. Time to split up

  "We'll face him together, Master."

  "Not this time, Snips." He placed a hand on her shoulder and locked eyes with her. His gaze was soft as he could see the underlining fear in hers. "I have a far more important mission for you."

  "More important than watching your back?"

  "Ahsoka, I need you to trust me on this one."

She nodded readily. She did trust him, and Anakin was sure to cherish it. It was like with him and Rex, yet also different. 

  "You're best suited with a stealthy approach, and I'm the more experienced fighting the likes of Dooku," he continued. "You can't argue with that logic." 

  "No. I can't."

  "But you will."

  "No, Master. I won't."

Although the idea had drifted through his mind once, it felt official now. It felt so natural. Like Qui-Gon had told him, it had to be the will of the Force. 

  Anakin shaded his eyes against the remnants of the suns and pointed. "See that gully between those rocks? It's part of a network of ancient riverbeds. Take R2 and follow it. Watch out for Dooku's droids, too. If he's borrowed any more hardware from Grievous, they'll be out searching, and there's not much cover out here, even at night–they've probably got infrared sensors."

Ahsoka nodded, understanding. Anakin removed the backpack and made to hand Rotta over when his hand paused. 

  "Wait. We need to make a decoy so that I look like I'm still a devoted guardian of Stinky."

  "If you keep the backpack, how do I carry Stinky? I can't carry him in my arms if I have to fight." Then her face brightened with an idea and she removed her torn up cloak. 

Underneath, the cloak had hidden most of her body, which was now in view. Numerous scars, bruises, and still healing abuse littered her body. She wore a dark maroon tube top and short skirt with white leggings, which exposed even more of her torture. 

A white hot burst of anger flared up in Anakin, which he quickly tempered. He relaxed his fists and exhaled. He needed to be calm and collected when he faced Dooku as was the Jedi way. 

He watched as Ahsoka fashioned her cover into a sort of sling for Rotta to hang against her shoulders. He removed the slimy creature from the military backpack to the makeshift one and filled his own with rocks he found in the sand. 

  "May the Force be with you, little one."

  "You, too." 

Then the small figure ran off over the dunes with R2-D2 at her heels, kicking up sand as her boots sank in. Soon, they disappeared behind a dune as Anakin Skywalker continued his lonely walk. As the distance between them grew greater, the son of Jabba the Hutt became safer. 

The twin suns sank beneath the horizon, plunging the Dune Sea into frigid cold. Anakin meditated as he walked. In tune with the Force, he placed his top awareness on Ahsoka. He could sense two life forms traveling at a quick pace across the sand. Not matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sense his Astromech. Then even presence of Ahsoka and Rotta was lost in the many Force signatures of the desert wildlife. 

He also kept a sharp eye out for Count Dooku. With each step, he was a bit closer to the rapidly approaching Sith. The young Jedi fought against the distractions of his haunting past in order to clear his focus. He didn't tell Ahsoka that the last time he faced Dooku, he had help from his Master and he still lost, not only the duel, but also his arm. But he had only been a Padawan then. Now he was a Jedi Knight. 

But he also didn't have Obi-Wan with him. 

If Obi-Wan was here, they would face him together. No more of that foolish pride and anger. They would attack together. What if it wasn't him and Ahsoka, but him and Obi-Wan like the old days? Would Obi-Wan have him take the Huttlet and he would take on Dooku alone? It seemed the most obvious answer, though he wouldn't like it as Ahsoka didn't. 

Anakin sensed him long before he heard him, and heard him before he saw him. Dooku was traveling by speeder, by the sound of it. Count Dooku had thrown away the chance for an ambush all together, even though neither of them could hide form the other. 

Dooku appeared over the dune and stopped his speeder in a spray of sand. Anakin stopped and ignited his blue saber as his advisory dismounted. 

  "Surender the Huttlet or die, Skywalker," the Count announced. Then without giving Anakin the chance to consider, which he knew he won't, or even give a witty answer, Dooku shot blue lightning from his fingertips. Anakin raised his lightsaber and blocked the attack. Then the Sith Lord pushed the hood off his head and ignited a crimson lightsaber.

They met in a clash of white light. Dooku immediately stole the offensive, much to Anakin's disappointment although he expressed only his sabacc face. 

  "Your training has come a long way, boy," the Count spat and their locked blades broke free. 

Anakin swung a few times only for the strangely agile old man to dodge. Dooku's strikes were calculated and precise, but not predictable. Anakin realized quickly he was not gaining the upper hand. 

Mid battle, the paused and Dooku looked at him with vile intent in his eyes. 

  "Ahhh, now I remember. This was your home planet, wasn't it? I sense your strong feelings. Feelings of pain and loss."

Without thinking, Anakin whipped out his hand and sent a whirlwind of sand at the Sith. Blinded from Dooku by his own sandstorm, he didn't see the Count push back and found himself tumbling through the sand. His lightsaber hilt flew from his hand and Dooku pounced. 

Anakin called his saber back to him and blocked Dooku's blow at the last possible second. He pushed Dooku's red blade away and struggled to his feet. He felt something slice through the backpack. The shift of heavy rocks made him lose his balance and he fell. 

  Dooku loomed over him in triumph. "You failed, Jedi. I have just killed Jabba's son."

  Anakin smirked and reached for the straps. "You've fallen for my little trick, Count." He tossed the pack at the Sith Lord's feet and melting, severed rocks rolled out. "It's filled with rocks. The Huttlet is with my Padawan, safely at Jabba's Palace."

Instead of the utter shock he was expecting, Dooku just raised his eyebrows mildly. It then dawned on Anakin that Dooku was not so easy to fool. Dooku had experience under his belt, and while Anakin had more than his mission companion, he was still only 20. Still only a boy. 

Dooku was playing decoy, as Anakin had done. 

  "I expected such treachery from a Jedi. I assure you my web is strong enough to catch your insignificant little Padawan." 

He was mocking them both and the young Knight felt strong defiance surging up in him. 

  "She's stronger than you think." The confident smirk was gone now, but his faith in Ahsoka was unwavering.

  "You deceive yourself!" 

Dooku charged and he raised his own lightsaber to meet him. They clashed again in a glow of white. Relieved from the weight of the rocks and spurred by the thought of buying Ahsoka more time, Anakin fought harder than before. The battle grew faster and faster. Both their strokes were just a blur now, both men needing to trust fully in the Force and their instincts. 

In the midst of the blur, Dooku managed to find a break and pushed Anakin out of the duel. He was unprepared to stop it. As he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, Count Dooku produced a holoprojector from behind his cloak. 

  "Look, I have a message from your Padawan."

The disk lit up, showing a holographic Ahsoka with her lightsaber out, facing an unseen enemy. Without thinking, Anakin used his flare of rage and attacked the Count, who continued to fight with one hand holding out the hologram to taunt him. 

  It could be a fake. He could just be using a cheap trick to win. To distract me, Anakin thought. But, as much as he hated to admit it, Dooku didn't need to cheat in order to win. It looked real enough, another tool in his bag of ways to get inside Anakin's head. 

With one of Dooku's hands immobile, Anakin used his spark of anger to gain the upper hand, kicking his opponent down into the sand. The holoprojector flew out of his hand and landed at Anakin's feet. Now he could see what Ahsoka was facing and his blood ran cold. Not one, but three MagnaGuards opposed the Padawan and she was struggling to fight them all off. MagnaGuards were Grievous' finest, and they were designed to kill Jedi. 

  "Jabba's son is still a casualty of war, alas, but your Padawan is being delivered to Jabba alive. He needs to vent his grief on something, and he won't have you to play with, will he?" 

Cold fear gripped him. Anakin sprinted for the speeder. He didn't look back to see if Dooku was pursuing him before he left him in a cloud of sand. 

As he sped across the Dune Sea, his mind was racing. Why did Dooku let him go? Why delay him for only so long? Was Ahsoka okay? She will hold out as long as she could. She would die before Rotta could be killed. Perhaps they were both still alive and Ahsoka was just waiting for Anakin to help her. He urged the bike to go faster. 

  Hang in there, Snips. I'm coming.