Part II

Finding Master Windu proved to be an easy enough task. Master Windu, along with Masters Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto, had gathered in the Council Room. They seemed unsurprised to see him, leading Anakin to suspect that a Council meeting had been called in the wake of Obi-Wan's death. Only a few hours before, Obi-Wan's mission to Utapau had been their hope for ending the war. Its failure was a blow on many levels.

"So you've heard of Obi-Wan's death then," Master Windu stated as Anakin strode into the center of the Council room. "It is unfortunate that we had to lose a man of his abilities."

The casual way he spoke threatened to set fire to Anakin's age anew. Instead he clamped down on it, repeating to himself over and again, "There is no death, there is only the Force." And while it explained their lack of grief over Obi-Wan's death, to Anakin it was a hollow belief. Whether Obi-Wan was one with the Force or not, he was still lost to Anakin.

"Chancellor Palpatine set it all in motion. He is the Sith lord," Anakin announced, bowing his head.

"A Sith lord?" Master Windu echoed, granting Anakin his full attention. "You're certain?"

Squeezing his eyes shut tight, Anakin nodded his head. "Palpatine as much as told me when he offered to continue my training now that Obi-Wan is dead."

"Then our worst fears have been realized," Master Tiin murmured, shock suffusing his voice.

"We must move quickly if the Jedi Order is to survive," Master Windu added, ever a beacon of determination. "He will be arrested and made to pay for his crimes against the Republic."

"And for killing Obi-Wan."

Master Windu shook his head immediately, already moving towards the doorway. "The death of a single Jedi matters in the scope of larger events."

Anakin could only watch in shocked silence as the four Jedi masters left the Council room. Obi-Wan was one of them, a Jedi Master in his own right, and his sacrifice should have meant something to them. Obi-Wan who had given up so much for the Order in the past. Anakin could still vividly recall the mess that was their mission to Jabiim. How wasted Obi-Wan had been when he'd finally be returned to him. So many other times during the Force-forsaken war Obi-Wan had nearly been killed and yet after each narrow escape was ready to tread back into the thick of things. Even in death Obi-Wan had aided in their cause.

Anakin could still remember the first time he'd realized that his master was mortal. He'd been twelve and Obi-Wan had been sent off as part of a delegation to bring end to a rebellion on a distant planet beyond the Outer Rim. Obi-Wan had been one of only two Jedi to return from the mission. Anakin had been in the hanger when the transport had arrived. He wasn't supposed to have been there so he'd hidden himself behind some transport crates. Anakin had had every intention of staying hidden until he'd actually seen Obi-Wan.

"Master!" Anakin shouted as he burst from his hiding spot. He sprinted across the hanger, throwing his arms around his master's waist and hugging him tightly. "Master, you're all right. No one would tell me anything."

Anakin pressed his face into his master's chest, trying to stop the tears he could feel prickling against the backs of his eyes. Jedi didn't cry. The Jedi were supposed to be calm and serene, not sobbing into their master's tunics. If he were honest with himself, though, at that moment Anakin didn't care about being a Jedi. All that he cared about was that his master had returned to him while several other padawans were now masterless. They no longer had the warm, comforting hum of their training bonds to envelop them. Anakin didn't feel guilty for enjoyinghis master's presence. That would come later, while he sat at his master's beside, watching over him as he rested in a deep healing sleep.

Before that failed mission, Anakin had always believed that Obi-Wan was invincible. After all, it was Obi-Wan who'd destroyed the Sith who'd killed Master Qui-Gon. He'd still been a padawan at the time, but Obi-Wan's mastery of the Force had kept him alive. It was something Anakin had always believed would be true. There had been a time, when he himself was still a padawan, that Anakin had thought that Obi-Wan put himself in dangerous situation on purpose, knowing that he could easily save himself, but wanting to test Anakin.

It was their fight with Dooku on Geonosis that had changed that. That duel had not been play-acting on Obi-Wan's part to teach him a lesson. Obi-Wan's injuries had been real, as had his brush with death. It had taken every bit of strength he'd still possessed, but Anakin had thrown himself between Obi-Wan and Dooku. He'd been determined not to lose his master so soon after his mother's death.

Though he had lost most of his right arm that day, it was Obi-Wan who'd been the more severely injured. Dooku's red-bladed lightsaber had cut through muscles, nerves and bone, creating a jagged tear in Obi-Wan's arm and leg that had required great skill to heal without any loss of mobility. The scars they had received had lasted to that day.

While they had been recovering together in the healer's wing of the Temple on Coruscant, Anakin had finally been allowed to know the man and not simply the Jedi that his master was. As they were both confined to the same room, it had been impossible for Obi-Wan to maintain his stoic demeanor throughout. Especially when the medical droids constantly insisted on probing the wounds to rate their healing. Anakin could think of few smugglers knowledgeable of such foul language as Obi-Wan. It had been all Anakin could do to keep from laughing at some of the particular curses. Obi-Wan had also distracted him with stories of his misspent youth while the droids had prepared the stump that was Anakin's right arm for the prosthetic. Anakin would have never expected his master capable of "borrowing" Master Yoda's lightsaber after he'd lost his own.

And when it had been time for him to escourt Padmé back to Naboo, Anakin had been reluctant to part with his master. Obi-Wan had still been planet-bound by order of the chief physicians and had been unable to accompany them. In all the days since, Anakin had always regretted that Obi-Wan hadn't gone to Naboo as well. He might not have allowed Padmé to talk him into marriage. It wasn't that Anakin didn't lover her, he did. He loved her with a little boy's infatuation and a teenager's lustful fantasies. And at that very moment he loved her as the mother of his unborn child.

Obi-Wan, however, was closer to him than any other being in the entire galaxy. Obi-Wan was the other half of himself and now that he was dead Anakin felt completely lost. He didn't know what he was going t do now that Obi-Wan was no longer there with him.

"You are the son I could never have, the brother I cannot remember. The lover I entrust my heart to, the friend who protects my body and the partner who guards my life. All this and more you are to me, Anakin. All this and more."

Obi-Wan had whispered those words to him the night he'd been granted his knighthood. They'd laid tangled together on Obi-Wan's bed, their skin glowing as the moonlight shimmered against the sweat that covered their bodies. Obi-Wan had been so proud of him that day. Anakin could never remember him smiling so much. It was Obi-Wan who'd cut the padawan braid from behind Anakin's right ear, setting it inside a simple wooden box that already held Obi-Wan's own. The box and its contents had a place of honour on the mantle of their shared suite. And at the moment that slender, copper-coloured braid was all that remained of the man he loved.

Rising to his feet, Anakin stalked towards the door. Palpatine had taken Obi-Wan from him and he needed to ensure that the man paid for his crimes. The Jedi would do nothing. Obi-Wan's death meant nothing to them. He was just another sacrifice in their question to destroy the Sith and that wasn't good enough for Anakin. Palpatine, Grievous and all of the other Separatist leaders would die before his anger was appeased. Anyone who prevented him from achieving his goals would meet the same fate.

Anakin's anger was only increased as he sped across the city to Palpatine's office below the Senate building. On the sides of countless buildings were vidscreens displaying footage of Obi-Wan's death. It was the same image over and again, taunting Anakin with his inability to save the one he loved most.

Then, all of a sudden, the images changed and Anakin nearly lost control of his speeder. The HoloNet reporters had this time focused on General Grievous. The shot then panned back to reveal Obi-Wan lying in a crumpled heap at the cyborg's clawed feet..

"Obi-Wan...." Anakin moaned, his anger turning to sorrow for a brief moment.

He guided his speeder out of the flow of traffic and simply stared at the images being projected. His clothes and hair were saturated with water. Anakin stared intently at his chest, doing his utmost to ignore the burn that covered much of the center of his chest, instead hoping to catch some sight of breath. There was none. Yet still Anakin had difficulty believing it. Obi-Wan was to skilled a fighter to be brought down by something as minor as a stray blaster bolt. Droids and clones could be killed that way, but not Jedi Masters.

"I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan," Anakin whispered to the vidscreen image of his best friend and lover. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to watch your back. To protect you.... I'm just so sorry. For everything."

Anakin remained there until the the screens faded to black then guided his speeder back into the traffic lanes, heading straight for the Senate building. He had barely brought his speeder to a halt in one of the hangers before he bolted from it and began sprinting down the corridor towards Palpatine's office. The doorway was open and through it Anakin could hear the sounds of a lightsaber battle. Any doubt Anakin had about Palpatine being the Sith lord were dashed. The Jedi and the Sith were the only ones to use that weapon for it required ability with the Force to be used to any effect. Or so he had thought until Grievous had produced his four lightsabers.

The office was in complete disarray when Anakin burst in. Scattered about were the bodies of the Jedi Masters and Palpatine's red-clad bodyguards. The walls were scorched with blaster bolts and sweeping arches made by lightsabers. And the only two left standing were Master Windu and Palpatine. The two men stood on a ledge which had once held a window. Now only shards remained, wind billowing the robes they were.

"You are under arrest, my lord," Master Windu ground out, his violet lightsaber pointed at the aging Chancellor. "The oppression of the Sith will never return. Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over.... You have lost."

Palpatine's smile was a twisted, evil thing. "No, Master Windu, I think not."

Raising his hands, Palpatine released a current of Force energy directly at Master Windu. It never found its target. Master Windu deflected the Force lightning with his lightsaber, redirecting it back towards Palpatine, knocking him back into the window ledge. Undeterred, Palpatine continued, unleashing barrage after barrage of Force lightning at the Jedi Master. And all of it was immediately directed back to Palpatine himself who began to writhe and cry out as a result. Anakin could not find it in him to feel any sympathy for the man.

"Come to your senses, boy!" Palpatine shouted over the crackling of the lightning and the traffic from outside the building. "The Jedi Council cannot be trusted! They will betray you just as they did your former master. Do not forget that it was them who chose to send Master Kenobi to Utapau."

Despite himself, the Chancellor's plea gave Anakin pause.

"You are not one of them, Anakin. Don't let him kill me," Palpatine urged, his eyes turned to Anakin for a brief moment. "I have the power to save the one you love. He is not completely lose to you."

"Don't listen to him, Anakin!" Master Windu cried, risking a quick glance at the young Jedi.

"I can still save him!" Palpatine repeated, his voice desperate. "I can give him back to you!"

Anakin was torn. He knew that he shouldn't believe Palpatine's lies, but they were so very tempting. Palpatine was offering him a way to save Obi-Wan, a pledge he would never receive from the Jedi. The Jedi cared only for their all powerful unifying Force. They cared nothing for love. Or hate, jealousy, anger, joy or any other emotion. Acknowledgment of any emotion, it often seemed, led to the Dark Side. It was a creed that Anakin had never been able to remain true to. Because he did love. And feel anger, jealousy, hate and joy. Anakin felt them all and so much more, but could never release them into the Force as he had been instructed. Over time even Obi-Wan, the most dedicated of Jedi, had given up on denying his emotions.

Cowering on the window ledge, Palpatine's face began to twist and distort. He was dying and Anakin knew it. And with him would go any chance of saving Obi-Wan. Before he could think his actions through fully, Anakin grabbed up his lightsaber and rushed forward. He ignited the blade as he lunged across the final distance, slicing off Master Windu's hand just as the Jedi Master made to strike at Palpatine. Anakin and Master Windu stared at each other, shocked, their fully believing what they had just witnessed.

Palpatine was on his feet then, a smile warping his twisted features. Palpatine struck out again with the Force lightning. It overwhelmed Master Windu, who couldn't react in time. Anakin could only watch in shock as Master Windu was thrown through the shattered window, plummeting twenty stories to his death.

The sound coming from Palpatine then could only be described as evil. A dark cackle that seemed to fill the room. It broke Anakin from his state of shock and he stumbled backwards, his knees colliding with a large object behind him which he fell more than sat on.

"What have I done?" Anakin gasped, staring through the window as he struggled to make sense of what had just happened.

"You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin," Palpatine was quick to inform him, moving away from the window ledge and towards Anakin. "Become my apprentice. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force."

Anakin felt sick to his stomach, bile rising up in his throat. He hadn't meant to kill Master Windu, or even to help Palpatine. He'd just wanted them to stop so that he could find out how he was meant to get Obi-Wan back. All that Anakin wanted was for Obi-Wan to still be alive. Anakin wanted Obi-Wan safe and alive and in his arms.

"I possess knowledge that will allow you to cheat death," Palpatine continued, tipping Anakin's head back, forcing their eyes to meet. The kind, genial gaze that Anakin had known so well was gone, replaced by a frightening yellow gaze. "There is still time. Obi-Wan can still be brought back.... But only if you join me."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Anakin ripped his face out of Palpatine's grip. He shot to his feet, stumbling slightly. Anakin felt drunk, nothing was making any sense to him. He stood panting, looking everywhere but at the wizened, old man before him. In his mind, he could see only one thing.

Obi-Wan.

Dropping to his knees, Anakin stared up at Palpatine with teary eyes. "I pledge myself to your teachings. To the ways of the Sith."

The words felt like vomit in his mouth, but he said then anyway. Obi-Wan needed him now, Padmé would in a few weeks. He wouldn't lose either of them, not when he could have the power to save them.

"Then rise, Lord Vader," Palpatine instructed, his voice a rasp that only increased the sick feeling in Anakin's gut.

He would endure it, though. In the end he would have everything he wanted.

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