~As I awake I'm immediately aware that Anakin is once again not here with me, and I'd been so sure he would be, things did go reasonably well last night, and he even said he would be here when I awoke, perhaps he did not expect me to be up so soon? Or maybe he's been called off by Palpatine on some important mission? Either way, I don't like it.
I've got a bad feeling about this.~
Obi Wan slowly opens his eyes and gazes around the empty bedroom, sighing and slowly climbing out of bed, his injuries still pain him, but he knows he is healing well.
He gazes at himself in the mirror for a moment, getting used to the look of his face without hair on it. It had been a very long time since he'd looked like this. He picks up his tunic and his pants frowning at them. "All this blasted black." He grumbles and reluctantly pulls them on. He then slides into his boots and puts on his belt, the only two things he was allowed that weren't black, at least these provided some sense of comfort in all this darkness.
A knock at the door interrupts his thoughts and he strides across the room to open it, finding a silver protocol droid on the other side.
"Ah, Lord Eternus, The Emperor wishes to speak with you."
Obi Wan nods slowly, "Tell him I'll be in immediately."
The droid nods and walks away, leaving Obi Wan alone with a sick feeling in his stomach; he definitely has a very bad feeling about this now. He shrugs on his black robe and heads out of the room.
He walks slowly down the corridor to Palpatine's chambers, fighting to force back this horrible feeling of dread before slowly making his way inside.
Palpatine turns to face him and grins in his usual sadistic way, "Ah, Lord Eternus. I'm glad you've come, I have news for you. Our intelligence forces have discovered the whereabouts of Senator Amidala."
Obi Wan looks shocked, then quickly catches himself and nods as though he's impressed, "That's, er, good news My Lord."
Palpatine nods, glaring coldly at him, "Indeed it is Master Jedi."
Obi Wan pauses, taken aback, "What?"
"You heard me Obi Wan. You are no Sith. Do you think me blind young Jedi?"
Obi Wan hastily shakes his head, immediately dropping to one knee, "Of course not Master, I know not what you mean by this. I do not dare defy you."
"Oh but you do Obi Wan. You always have. You know you were the only one ever to kill an apprentice of mine and then NOT take their place."
"I did not know that, no; but I have taken his place, am I not your apprentice?"
"You claim to be Obi Wan, but was it not you who helped those Jedi escape from Coruscant? Was it not you who killed all of those troops? I find it very hard to believe that there is anyone else on this planet with that magnitude of skill with a lightsaber."
Obi Wan looks panicked and shakes his head, "I assure you it was not I! There were other Jedi with my level of skill; surely you can't believe that not a one of them escaped."
Palpatine regards him for a moment and nods, "Perhaps you have a point, but I do not believe you are truly evil, you've yet to do anything to prove to me that you are."
"Anything Master, just tell me what I must do."
Palpatine grins and nods, "Then go and kill Senator Amidala. I have word that she has formed a rebel alliance, this makes her a traitor to The Empire and treason is a crime punishable by death. She is hiding on the third planet of the Moraygan system beyond the outer rim. She should be easy enough to find, there is but one major city on the planet. Will you carry out this sentence for me Darth Eternus?"
Obi Wan pauses for a moment and nods, he could not do this, but he must at least find some way to make The Emperor believe that he could, "Yes My Master, it will be done."
Palpatine gestures for him to rise, "Go then and do my bidding."
Obi Wan gets to his feet and bows politely, "Yes master." He turns to leave, hurrying out of the room and running to the lift, he had no idea what he was going to do, but he knew, somehow he knew that he had to hurry, or Padme would die.
~
Palpatine chuckles as Obi Wan rushes from the room, he knew the young Jedi was not going to do his bidding; he'd already dispatched clones to take care of the senator. He'd instructed them to kill her with a lightsaber so that it would look as though Obi Wan had done it and now he had but to get Anakin into the picture and his plan would fall smoothly into place.
He presses a button on his control panel, bringing up a hologram of a clone general, "Tell Lord Vader to come and see me as soon as he's finished his last sweep of The Temple, I wish to speak with him upon his return."
The clone nods, "Yes Sir."
Palpatine presses the button again, making the hologram disappear; he had now but to wait.
~
Obi Wan rushes to the hanger of the capitol building, selecting a small one-man fighter with the usual red markings. He leaps into the cockpit and punches the controls, quickly guiding the ship out of the hanger and into the skies over Coruscant.
He flies up and out of the planet's atmosphere, guiding the ship into one of the light speed accelerators and waiting until he is safely docked. He then inputs in the coordinates for the Moraygan system.
He's slammed back in his seat as the ship makes the jump to light speed, somehow he'd never gotten used to that. He trembles as the ship hurtles through space, feeling as though he might be sick. What can he possibly do about Padme, and where is Anakin? This is all simply too much to deal with, no matter what is about to happen, he knows it simply cannot go well.
~
Anakin makes his way into the emperor's office as he returns from one last sweep of the Jedi Temple, which had once again turned up no survivors. "You wanted to see me Master?"
"Yes I did, it is a matter of great urgency Lord Vader." Palpatine looks very grim, doing his best to look utterly bewildered and upset. "I'm afraid your 'friend' Obi Wan Kenobi has gone to kill your wife."
"What? I, no, surely you're mistaken master?"
"Oh no, I do not believe that I am. You see Anakin, I know that you and your former Master are much more than just friends, and Obi Wan, well I do not think that he can any longer stand to be your 'second choice.' I do believe jealousy has driven him mad. He told me he was going to kill your beloved Padme. I sent some clones to protect her but I hardly think that will be enough."
Anakin trembles with rage, no longer thinking about anything logically, "Where?! Where has he gone?!"
"To the third planet Moraygan system, beyond The Outer Rim, but you must be careful Lord Vader, he could be a danger to you."
"No! He is beneath me, he is not a danger to me, my skills have been beyond his for many years Master, I will bring him back here, dead or alive, either way he will pay for this. I will not let him take her from me!" Anakin runs out of Palpatine's office, not even waiting for permission, he rushes to the hanger and leaps into his ship, heading out into space, knowing Obi Wan could not be too far ahead of him. He would catch up to him and kill him for this treachery.
~
Obi Wan lands safely on the third planet of Moraygan, he hops out of his ship and sweeps the area using the force, looking for any sign of Padme, he could sense her, but only just, something is wrong.
Panicked, he rushes off in the direction he can sense her in, running through the streets pressing past the bewildered creatures of this planet, he soon finds himself outside of a small building surrounded by clones. He draws his lightsaber and immediately leaps into action, slaughtering them easily, avoiding their blaster-fire as though they are moving in slow motion.
Once his attackers are defeated, he runs inside to find Padme lying on the floor, she had been stabbed through her abdomen with a lightsaber, and her attacker was already gone.
Obi Wan drops to his knees beside her, one glance tells him that she is no longer pregnant, so the babies had already been born, but where are they, and are they in danger now as well? Tears slip down his cheeks and he pulls Padme into his arms. He can feel her life slowly draining away, and the loss is simply too much for him to bear.
He reaches out to her with the force in desperation, using every ounce of power that he can draw on, using the force to sustain her, to give her her strength back, it's now amazingly clear, he can save her, using both the dark side and the light, only their combined power could manage this. He focuses with all of his being, hoping this will work.
Anakin bursts through the door with his lightsaber drawn and leaps at Obi Wan, bringing the lightsaber down upon him with absolutely no warning.
Obi Wan is forced to abandon his attempt to save Padme as he draws his own lightsaber, just barely blocking Anakin in time, though on his knees he is now at a severe disadvantage. "Anakin! What are you doing?!"
"I'm stopping you! You will not take her from me Obi Wan! You jealous bastard!" He kicks Obi Wan hard in the chest, knocking him flat on his back and holding his lightsaber to his throat.
"Anakin! Come to your senses! I did not come here to kill Padme; I came here to save her! The clones were sent to kill her not me!"
"Then explain why she's been stabbed with a lightsaber Obi Wan!" He swings his saber directly at Obi Wan's head.
Obi Wan barely manages to block him, this time shoving him backwards and leaping to his feet, bringing his saber up just in time to block yet another vicious blow. "Anakin! Please, you must let me save her!"
"You do not honestly think you can fool me do you Obi Wan?! You've killed her!" His vision blurs with tears as he gazes at the seemingly-lifeless body of his wife on the ground. "How could you?! You told me you loved me!" He screams in rage and attacks Obi Wan with all he's got, swinging at him from every angle.
Obi Wan blocks blow after blow, narrowly avoiding the burning blade, he offers no strikes in return, no matter what this came to he will not hurt Anakin, but if this duel goes on for too long he might lose Padme, and he's not sure if he'd had time enough to give her all she needed to survive. "Anakin please! She's not dead! Please stop! Give me time to save her!"
Anakin glares and intensifies his attacks not faltering or backing down for a moment, he isn't about to let Obi Wan talk his way out of this one. "Only the Emperor has the power to save a life! You do not honestly believe that your power is anywhere near his?! You're even beneath me in strength! You're mine now! Get on your knees and accept your fate. I will kill you Obi Wan; you're just delaying the inevitable!"
"Anakin no! Stop! Please just stop!" He struggles to continue blocking Anakin's attacks, his heart is breaking and his tears are beginning to blur his vision, his sobs now shaking his body as he struggles to keep the man he loves from killing him. He feels a faint stirring in the force from Padme and turns to glance at her, dropping his guard for a moment too long.
Anakin seizes the opportunity and brings his lightsaber down across Obi Wan's face, cutting deep into his flesh and leaving a hideous slash across his eye that travels all the way down to his mouth.
Obi Wan screams in pain and clutches his face with his free hand, falling to his knees beside Padme; the agony is unlike anything he's ever felt. He'd been cut with a lightsaber before, but not like this. He struggles to regain some sense of what's going on, bringing his lightsaber up to block another blow from Anakin, though he is now blinded in one eye and has no chance of defending himself.
Anakin brings his lightsaber down upon Obi Wan again, easily getting past his feeble defenses. This time he slashes him across his chest, cutting just deep enough to cripple him but not kill him. He glares as Obi Wan screams in pain; he wants him to suffer now. "How dare you do this to me! I trusted you!" He snatches him by the wrist and yanks his lightsaber out of his hand, putting it on his own belt along with is own. He then grabs Obi Wan by the throat with his mechanical hand, squeezing him as tight as possible and digging his fingertips into the burn mark there that still had not fully healed. "I loved you! Damn you! I loved you so much! How could you kill her like this?!" He begins to sob, choking him harder, hoping to crush his throat, to kill him for what he's done to him.
Obi Wan struggles weakly against him, holding onto the robotic arm with both hands as it squeezes the life out of him. Tears slip down his cheeks as he gasps for air, knowing he is about to die at the hands of the one person he'd give his life to save.
Padme suddenly stirs and opens her eyes, "Anakin?"
Anakin abruptly lets go of Obi Wan and moves over to her, "Padme?! Can you hear me? I'm here; you're going to be alright."
"Anakin?" She moans weakly and her eyes slip closed again, though Obi Wan had managed to save her for the time being, her life was still dwindling dangerously close to the edge.
Anakin lifts her into his arms and kisses her forehead, "You're going to be alright Padme, you're going to be alright."
He glares down at Obi Wan and kicks him in the groin then in the stomach, "I'm taking her to get help, she better survive this, and you'd better be here when I get back!" He spits on him and shakes his head, glaring down at him for a moment before running out of the building, taking Padme to get whatever medical help he can find on this planet.
Obi Wan watches him go through the one eye he can still see with, his body now weakened and crippled from their fight, he has no hope of going anywhere, and he knows that Anakin only wants him to stay here so that he can finish what he started once he's sure Padme is taken care of. He groans and roles over, tears pouring down his cheeks as fear and desperation overwhelm him.
~What am I to do now? There is nothing I can say to him that will change his mind, he believes that I have tried to kill Padme, but there must be some chance that she will survive, I saved her, I know I did, surely she will live? What else can I do but wait? Wait for him to return and take my life? I only hope Padme recovers enough to speak, if she tells him the truth there is some hope, but if she doesn't recover in time, or worse, if she does not recover at all, then I shall die knowing that I am hated by the one person I would die for.
If he wishes me dead I cannot fight it, perhaps he's right to kill me. Even though I did not hurt Padme with my own hands I was too late to stop her attackers. It seems I am always too late.
I'm so sorry my love, I have failed you.~
~The End. Until Part 6~