Title: Separation Is A Must.
Author: Erin
Rating: G.
Distribution: The Archive. Force Haven. Anyone else, just let me
know.
Disclaimer: Don't own them. If I did, I would never have to
worry about anything financial ever again.
Warnings: None really, time line is over the course of all the
movies.
Pairings: Anakin/Amidala, suspicions of Obi-Wan/Ankain. Well, for
once in his life, Ani doesn't confide in him, so he relies on his
suspicions.
Summary: Just Palpatine's thoughts about his plans, his future
apprentice, his plot over getting Amidala and Anakin together. The
usual.
Author's Note: Palpatine does not separate himself from his Darth
Sidious identity. I doubt I could write him as two different people.
This goes along with the Obi/Ani drabbles. Boy, this is turning into
a regular series, isn't it? Any requests? I'm pretty sure I
can do most of the characters.
Anakin Skywalker.
He was my Masterpiece.
Mine, not that fool Obi-Wan's.
But I needed that foolish Jedi to do what I could not.
No, that's not quite true.
I could've trained him, my creation.
But that would've meant a sacrifice on my part.
A sacrifice that meant losing all I had worked for all these longyears.
So, he was given to another.
One who could not really influence him to follow that useless codethey speak so highly of.
The elder one, that stupid Qui-Gon who could've had the world,would die.
I could not work around him easily, blind though he could be by hiszeal.
Once my apprentice Darth Maul fulfilled his part, he would besacrificed as well.
A small price to pay to get at the true apprentice I dreamed of.
The one, their Chosen One, was the only one worthy to use my teachings.
Obi-Wan was nothing, nothing at all.
Or so I thought.
My boy, so full of passion and fire, did the unthinkable.
He bound himself to that worthless Jedi with all his soul.
I could see it every time he visited me.
His confidences were mine.
His passionate obsession was for Queen/Senator Padme Amidala.
That couldn't have worked out better had I planned it.
And fit right in with my own designs for his life.
She played a part in my ultimate plans, this Angel of his dreams.
I knew that she, like so many, would not be able to resist him and hispleas for long.
But I could not possibly have foreseen this…this unthinkable actof his.
That he would allow the full extent of his loyalty to be given to thatObi-Wan.
The Jedi, that by the book, straight-laced man, who claims to be his Master.
I watched them from the shadows.
I listened to every word that fell from my boy's lips.
I scrutinized every detail of their missions together.
How could I have missed this blatant connection?
Was it so obvious in all they did that I ignored its presence becauseit was normal?
I, who am aware of everything that boy does, chose not to see it?
To know how much trouble it was going to cause me, as it was insignificant?
"Kill Kenobi," I ordered Count Dooku on Genosis.
He failed, though it was through no direct fault of his own.
That flair for dramatics has often been a failing of his.
"Destroy him," was my every order after the war began.
It had to look natural, as though it was just one more tragic loss ina long and painful war.
Many would mourn his fall in battle, that was a given for he was ahero.
I would see to it that he would not die ignobly.
He deserved no less after the service he provided for me.
If not for him, Anakin would never have been given the very keys to destroy the Jedi.
But separate him from Anakin I would for that was my main prioritynow.
Unfortunately, the desire of my boy was opposite of mine, he wanted Obi-Wan by his side.
Full speed ahead, off he would go to his rescue every time he needed it.
EVERY SINGLE TIME, that attitude slowly began to grate on every one of my nerves.
Taking a step back, I needed to rethink my plan.
Sending them both off to track a ship would get them off my hands.
And, with my capture, drive a wedge between them.
Knowing Anakin as I did, he would feel that he would have protected mebetter.
Somewhere inside, he would blame Obi-Wan for keeping him away from Coruscant.
I would finally see that Jedi bane of my existence destroyed and
Anakin join me.
I can almost taste Kenobi's death and the fallout ofSkywalker's rage.
It wouldn't take much to push him away from the Jedi disciplinethat has indoctrinated him.
Has allowed him to temper his rage, turning it into a weapon of leashed potential.
Confident, I wait for the moment to dawn on a new day.
The victory of the Sith was assured.
And it would begin with the fall of Kenobi.
Those fatal words rang in my ears, "His fate will be the same as ours."
Swallowing my indignation, I followed him out of the room.
Within I had reached the end of my patience.
Kenobi must did, there was no other option.
That Jedi had stood in his path for the last time.
In truth, even the first time was one time to many.
Anakin revealed more to me then he knew.
I knew he despised me for wanting to leave his friend behind.
His blind devotion worked in my favor, allowing him to see me as only a harmless man.
A courageous man, true, but not a soldier.
Not a man who understood the extent of what he was asking of him.
Oh, I understood far more than he thought I did.
It was all there in his words, "Then we'll all be adrift together."
Saying with those six little words that he would rather die than loseObi-Wan.
He could not comprehend life without his friend.
This friend who he honored and valued above the bond we shared.
I could see what he could not, disappointing though it was.
I knew then that I could never win this contest.
If forced to choose between us, I would lose to Kenobi.
It was all there when he refused to let him go in order to grab my
hand in that elevator shaft.
Time to once again rethink my strategy.
Divide and conqueror, that was always an option.
But how would I accomplish this task if he refused to let go of Kenobi?
There had to be something that I could use.
Something that was more vital, more important to Anakin's life than I obviously am.
And then it came to me, it was really all too simple.
Padme Amidala Skywalker.
The one secret that he would never reveal to Obi-Wan, no matter how close they got.
Fear of his friend's reaction would keep him silent.
Fear would keep him off balance.
And it would be she who would give me what I wanted.
I would give him the power to save her.
I could see the struggle, the question in his eyes.
What would Obi-Wan do if he were here?
I twisted that against him in the most simple, direct way I could.
Did he love Obi-Wan Kenobi more than his wife?
Letting him leave, telling him to meditate, I knew it was only a matter of time.
A desire to stop change had often been his driving force.
To stop the death of his beloved, it really was no question without
Obi-Wan there to guide him.
Though he wanted his help, Obi-Wan would be far away from him.
Obi-Wan could turn him from the Sith path, yet he would not be there.
Of all the Jedi alive, he only ever listened to Obi-Wan.
And he was gone from his side, sent away by the Council as I had foreseen.
He was left to listen to those who let fate dictate their path.
A way of life that had never been his own for he was born to be a Sith.
For a Sith deals in absolutes.
He must choose to learn the Dark Side of his own free will.
No one would make this choice for him.
Once he made the choice, I made sure there was no going back.
I knew that they could not allow him to live.
I could not allow them-or his wife-to live.
Ironic, isn't it that it was Kenobi himself who gave me the perfect tool to reshape the world?
Destroying him and leaving him to die like that, such a waste.
Yet, it gave me the chance to recreate him in a new, more awesome form.
A form that gave the impression of strength-while robbing him of the full power he used to have.
The Force that used to be his greatest ally, became nothing more than a token tool for him.
Its presence is in everything but, being more machine than man, he could not touch it as before.He could not use it as once he did.
Though it denied me the full range of his abilities, it protected me from him.
My Apprentice could never betray me now.
I alone was the Master of the Force.
The Jedi were gone, almost entirely.
Anakin's child was dead, along with Amidala.
Soon, Kenobi and Yoda would fall by my blade.
All that I have worked for has fallen into my grasp.
Never again would I have to hide my true face.
All bow before me and I have all that I want-though, of course, I desire one thing more.
The death of Kenobi at my Apprentice's hand will be sweet indeed.
Yet when it happened, I was denied my victory.
Even when the killing blow was struck, that Jedi dared to taunt me.
He transcended mortal flesh and has evaded us as he had done for years.
I feel him, that disdainful Jedi, in the air about us.
I can sense his mocking presence wherever I go now.
There are currents manipulating themselves about me that I cannot push back.
Kenobi shelters someone and after much concentrated searching, I finally know who it is.
The knot he carefully constructed has come undone at last and I see him fully now.
Skywalker had a son with his wife, a son-and he is not dead but lives.
I see him and do not like what I see for he breathes of the Kenobi andSkywalker team.
The loyalty and passion his father wore like a badge of honor flows within him.
The caution and foresight Obi-Wan Kenobi was known for tempers that fire.
Within him I perceive his mother's courage before I broke it completely by tying her to him.
I can feel Qui-Gon's measured recklessness.
And Yoda's never say die philosophy.
This boy, this Luke Skywalker, must die or he will be the death of me.
End.