Prologue
"It's over Anakin," Obi-Wan mocked him. "I have the high ground."
Anakin stared at this man on the bank of black soot and ash, the intense heat of the particles and smoke making him appear as if there was a bleak aura around him, so it gave the impression the tragedy he had become was being forcefully mirrored back at him tenfold. Looking at his face, Anakin was painfully reminded of the bond they had once shared together as they had fought as equals more than countless times, doing what was best to serve the Republic and apprehend their enemies at every turn…
Except, this time, the enemy within had struck a blow too deadly to recover from, and the poison had already worked its way into the heart of a brother.
"Please," Anakin emotions were straining to overcome him. "There's still hope. Come back to us. I'm offering you this last chance. Don't make me do this."
Obi-Wan chuckled, the way he usually did, but not often had Anakin heard it tinged with a lace of sorrow.
"I'm sorry Anakin," he said. "But it's too late for that now. I have found a new purpose. I've failed to see it for so long, but the dark side gives me all that being with the light could never have. I now serve a new master, and with him, a new role to play."
"I can't let you do this," Anakin could feel his voice straining not to break, was holding back the wetness from his eyes. "This is wrong! You aren't the brother I once knew. The dark side is fear and suffering. The Obi-Wan I knew would never sink to temptation!"
Obi-Wan's eyes, once an oceanic blue, now turned into a turmoil of orange and yellow, gazed at him, his sorrowful demeanour slightly reproachful. "If only you could understand the grander scheme of things, my old friend. My eyes have been opened. There are things I haven't told you. Things I've kept to myself for a very long time."
"Your mind has been twisted!" Anakin shouted, his anger at what had been done to his friend overcoming him. "Don't even you yourself understand? You're their pawn, in their cruel game! Don't throw this all away. You were my brother! I loved you!"
"Maybe once," Obi-Wan's eyes flickered down as he began to turn away from the edge of the bank. "But no more. I am sorry it has to be this way."
Anakin's sorrow finally burst free of its cage, and with a roar filled with so many desires, determinations and resolves, he leapt from the floating platform, his lightsaber a stark blue arc in contrast to the hard environment.