"I'll stay," her voice was icy, her saber spluttering fire, "if you kill him."
My heart pounded as my eyes switched between the two options, the two sides. Two sets of eyes stared at me, two minds begged for different directions, and two choices were set before me. My feelings pulled me one way, and my fears dragged me the other. How could I kill him? He was my mentor, my best friend, my brother! How could I betray him?
Anger coiled in ugly ringlets, causing me to crunch my fists. But he betrayed me first! It would only be fair. It would only be just. It would only be revenge. And that was reasonable ... wasn't it? That was what I wanted ... wasn't it?
I fingered my saber, constantly looking between Asajj and Obi-Wan. I could feel Obi-Wan silently pleading with me, coaxing me to make the right choice. But I knew if I did, I would be, almost without a doubt, estranged from Asajj. And then I truly would be alone. Obi-Wan would be alive, but he could never care for me again, never forgive me. He knew what I had done. He was too good, too just to let go an erring, cruel criminal like myself. I would have lost Asajj, and I would have lost everyone else.
"But she doesn't love me." Of that, I was certain. She had made it clear to me.
I would go free, but I would go alone. Or I could do the irreversible and live with the consequences. Had I not already trod that path? Perhaps that was the only way for me to walk.
I grit my teeth, watching the cold delight flickering in Asajj's eyes as she sensed my resolve. I had chosen this life. What could I do but see it through to the bitter end?
The briefest brush sent my red blade alight, igniting it with a murderous growl. I could hardly bear to look at him, but in the moment I did, I saw what I expected ... but also what I did not. Fear and sadness lingered, obviously, but shining in the perfect blues were love and hope. How could those coexist in the eyes of one whose life hung in the balance – because of one's own trusted brother?
I hesitated a moment, then tightened my grip, knowing he wouldn't go down with a fight. But what could he do against the Dark Side? What power did he have over me?
My hands began to tremble as the Force gathered around me. The sun, once full and glorious, was suddenly dimmed by a passing cloud. Oxygen started slipping from the room, being replaced by a sour vacuum. Silence molded into heartbeats, punctuated less and less by the rest between beats as they pumped harder and harder. The power grew, its cold blackness ever present.
Obi-Wan's eyes widened when he felt invisible fingers wrapping around his throat, and I saw what I knew I would see: fear. He was afraid of me. He was afraid of what I would do. He had good reason. I had nearly killed him before. Why should he believe any different of me? What hints, what hopes, what dreams had I given him to believe that in me there was left any of me? And so I guessed, with heavy resignation and bitter disappointment, that he, too, had not seen me. No one had.
"Anakin," a soft voice sounding like a shout in the stillness spoke my name – my name – and I stopped. I kept Obi-Wan in my hold, in the waiting zone, but I looked across to see who had spoken my name.
And time froze.
Ahsoka, who had somehow slipped from the room and returned unnoticed, held two tiny babies in her arms. Two tiny sets of eyes stared at me, and I couldn't help but remark to myself how much they looked like Padmé.
A warmth and a pride welled up in my chest as I gazed at the innocent faces that gazed right back. They were my children. They were my children. Padmé had had twins. Her babies had been delivered safely. Whatever dreams or nightmares that had plagued my nights hadn't come true. For two healthy babes were watching me in interest, watching their father in interest. For that's what I was. And how I had failed them. No child should have a father who tears out the very ground on which they stand.
"Luke," Ahsoka said quietly, her eyes fixed to mine, "and Leia: these are your children ... Anakin."
The strange, wholesome feelings of warmth and pride managed to sneak onto my face, expressing themselves in a wonky smile. "They're beautiful." My voice was hoarse from shouting and from stubbornly trying to crack from emotion, but I didn't care. My dreams, my memories of those dreams, my choices because of them, and my fears springing from them seemed irrelevant. They no longer seemed to matter when curious, intelligent eyes locked with my own. They were my children. And they were alive.
I heard a scoff from beside me and whipped my head around just in time to see Asajj leaping for Obi-Wan. Time took two seconds, and then it threw everything into the present, all at once. Obi-Wan had just passed out from lack of oxygen, Asajj had jumped at him, her saber on, and a cry of dismay escaped someone's lips. It was only as I side-tackled Asajj that I realized it was from mine.
The rush of adrenaline and terror that had suddenly engulfed me sent a shockwave of the Force exploding from me, and I barely had the presence of mind to direct it up, rather than out. It smashed into the ceiling with a spectacular crack, and chunks of stone started raining down while glass shattered and people screamed.
I tumbled across the floor with Asajj, pain searing across my waist from the mark of her saber. In my blind panic, I must have misjudged my tackle and collected her blade. Since then, her weapon had deactivated and had been knocked from her hand, but she still struggled as though she held it. I genuinely couldn't tell if she was trying to harm me or not.
A large chunk of ceiling crashed down beside us, narrowly missing Asajj's leg, and a chandelier smashed nearly on top of us. Pain raced across my back as glass shards attacked me, but at least Asajj was unhurt, being underneath me. She had escaped most of the danger.
She kicked me off her, and the world blurred when I hit the ground and a hundred glass fragments were driven deeper into my back. Through the haze, I could still see her murderous glower as she glared at me, shouting words I couldn't hear. Then she snapped her gaze onto Obi-Wan, who still lay unconscious, his body covered in dust and debris. And I knew what she was about to do. But pain prevented me from moving.
The scene rolled out before my eyes, each precise detail etched in blurry lines. A section of the breaking roof cracked and fell straight for Obi-Wan, but Asajj was oblivious to this new threat as her attention was captivated wholly by her target. Her lightsaber burst alight in her hand as she raised her arm, about to bring it down on my friend, my brother. She brought her blade on him just as the ceiling landed on them both, burying them alive.
My eyes snapped into focus, the haze of pain disappearing momentarily as adrenaline sharpened my senses. The ceiling cracked off the roof and began its rapid descent, this time for real, and Asajj brought her saber down, a wild fire burning in her eyes. Scraping together every last ounce of strength, I sent a shockwave of raw power at the stone, watching as it exploded into a shower of harmless shrapnel and coated Obi-Wan in yet more dust. The edges of my shockwave knocked Asajj off her feet, and she rolled a few feet away from Obi-Wan, leaving him untouched by her saber.
I breathed a sigh of relief, nearly passing out from the pain the action caused. The Force ability to see the future before it happened had saved many a life, and I couldn't shake the forbidden joy that my old skill had worked another time. I had saved both Asajj and Obi-Wan, but they probably didn't even know it – not that I did it for the praise.
The last thought that crept into my mind before darkness fully enveloped me was how very unselfish my actions had just been.
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Wow, okay, what just happened? The roof came tumbling down, not only in the city that we love, but also in the boy we love! (anybody listened to Bastille's "Pompeii"? XD) What's going on with our messed up kid?
And then there's Asajj. She doesn't seem like such a good guy to me anymore, but maybe that's just me ....
You guys are awesome, and thanks so much for giving your time to read and to support. Stay amazing! ^0^
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Wikluk/the_space_raiders/Cam_Skywalker_4ever/X_-_-_-_-_-_X/Storyteller_GA/anakinpadmeforlife
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Fears
Fanfiction"They will suffer - all of them. I will not be satisfied until I have revenge." **THIS IS BOOK no. 4 in my series "The Sting of Time!" If you haven't read the last ones, this may not make much sense!** Everything that Anakin Skywalker has fought for...
