Obi-wan looked down at Anakin, his former padawan, his family, his life's work. His heart shattered into a million pieces. Every time he looked in those tainted eyes, all he could see were the slain younglings on the council chamber floor. The anger, hatred, malice that seethed in his heart. How could the man he loved so much have turned into such a monster before his very eyes?
He had been blinded by familiarity, always trying not to hurt the younger man's feelings. Forever dancing around delicate subjects, looking past grave misdeeds that would have told to his dwindling light, to his growing darkness, if Obi-wan had cared to look. But he had been ignorant, perhaps even willfully so.
But now there had been too much death, too much killing. All of the order was gone, dead, slain by the man he had loved the most, and by the dark one he now called Master- Darth Sidious. Everyone he might have called friend or family, dead.
Too many had been taken by the war, it was a wound on the heart of the order that inflicted its pain on all of the Jedi. But this was so much worse, a culling. And it was all his fault. Every last death fell heavily on his shoulders. Worst of all, he had failed Anakin.
And now, Anakin was dead, too. Gone, devoured by Darth Vader, the hungry rapacious demon that held no heart. So Vader looked to steal everyone else's joy, their heart. So that he might have one, even for a moment until needed to move onto the next. With him at the helm of Palpatine's new order, there would be massive suffering. Hope would die. It had already died.
"Please, it's not too late," Obi-wan pleaded, saber angled at his closest friend. "Come back with me, forget all of this madness. Your fate is not yet decided!" He yelled over the sound of the rumbling lava flow that carved a line in the dark black rock of the cursed planet. He couldn't decide if he really believed those words. He certainly wanted to.
"Don't be a fool." Vader said, looking up at him wrathfully, darkness all around him. "You know it's too late," another voice spoke. The dwindling life of Anakin, drowning in darkness and pain. His words painted with remorse only for a moment before Vader took control again.
"You should take your own advice, Obi-wan," Vader warned. "It's not too late for you. Come back with me, serve the Emperor." He spoke, knowing too well what was in Kenobi's heart. He would never serve the dark side. Just as well, he would never know its power. Vader wanted him to learn, as he had. Through suffering and pain.
"I'm sorry, but you know that's never going to happen." Obi-wan said, shaking his head. How could this be happening? How could it have come to this?
"Then you will die." Vader said, condemningly as he held Anakin's saber alight, angled at the one he once called Master. From the platform that held him afloat in the stream of magma, Vader somersaulted up into the air, landing behind Obi-wan as he simultaneously pulled the molten rock from the glowing red stream, to where Kenobi stood.
Obi-wan was forced to choose between protecting himself, or mounting an offensive. Predictably true to his reliance of Soresu, he deflected the lava, trying to push it onto Vader who deflected it with ease.
Vader kept up a barrage, guiding the man to stand uphill from him, pushing Obi-wan up the incline as he advanced. He could see the man holding back. His compassion was his weakness. Vader held no reservations, he would exploit the vulnerability. He was stronger, unaffected by such things. Just as the dark was stronger, more so that Kenobi would ever imagine or believe.
"Please, Anakin," Obi-wan implored. The Jedi inside of Vader stirred, wanting to reach out to the one he had called Master. He wanted it all to be over. Vader reminded him it would never be over, that he had gone to far. Too far to go back now, or ever.
"Anakin is dead." Vader said, a single tear falling from his eye. Obi-wan could still feel the conflict inside of him. But could he really be saved? After everything? Truly he was just foolish to even let himself believe it. He had been blinded by his emotions this entire time. No reason to put any stock in them, now.
"So i've seen," Obi-wan answered back grimly, meeting Vader's aggressive blows just barely, being pushed to the brink of his practice.
Though Vader had been so entrenched in his pursuit, he didn't sense Obi-wan's subtle move, as he shifted the rock pile that formed the top of the hill. The ground gave way under his feet, as gravity pulled him to the edge of the lava bank. Obi-wan descended on him quickly, saber angled for a killing blow, but still hesitating.
But only for a moment, before the Jedi stole away Anakin's saber, crossing it with his own at Vader's throat as he pushed him backwards with his boot, searing his back on the rocks that were hotter than coal, that even began to singe Obi-wan's clothing.
"Don't make me do this," Obi-wan begged, tears falling from his face onto Vader's as he held him down, writhing against the pain of the near molten rock searing into his flesh.
Vader squirmed, screaming. Then there was a snap, and Obi-wan was on the searing hot rocks beside him screaming, clutching at his thigh, where Vader had crushed the bone of the leg that had pinned him.
The sith scrambled to his feet, calling both sabers to hand and pulling them to cross at his former Master's neck, similarly if not identical how the Jedi had pinned him only moments ago. But to outright kill him now, it was a mercy. One he didn't deserve.
How could he make him understand all of the pain? The suffering? No one could ever know. But he wanted this Jedi to know, to feel it. All of it. Vader snickered darkly, bright yellow eyes tinged with blood red boring into him. "Do you know what it's like to have one of your limbs sheared off?" Vader pressed a boot to his chest, another standing on his arm as he traced the edge of his saber in a line on Obi-wan's arm. He grunted and hissed against it, the smell of ozone and charred flesh even noticeable amidst the lava and sulfur filled rock that made up this awful world.
"Do you want to find out?" Vader sliced deeper, cutting through the skin, the muscle of his forearm, slowly. The man writhed and cried out. He could feel Obi-wan delving into the force, trying to escape the pain, just how Qui-gon had taught him. Vader pressed on, sinking his blade deeper until there was nothing left but a charred stump below his elbow.
Still it wasn't enough. How could he make him understand? "If only you had a mother, then I could take her from you, too. You still wouldn't understand." Vader spat scornfully, still Obi-wan squirmed, trembling from shock that began to set in. Certainly not out of fear, Vader knew the Jedi better than to expect that from him so soon.
"Because you don't care about anyone. Jedi like you are just as good as droids." Vader said condemningly.
But the Sith's mask faltered, when he felt something unexpected. His wife, the one he had strangled without thinking. She was dying, he could feel it. Promptly, Vader rose up, dashing up the crumbling hill of lava rock and out to the platform where Padme had landed.
He knelt down to hold her, the skin of his back pulling tight, charred, sticking to his tunics that had become thin from being burned and ripped. "Padme," Anakin said softly, not wanting to believe what he was feeling. But her life force fas fleeting fast. "Padme no!" Anakin yelled, tears blurring his vision. He pulled every ounce of strength he could, pushing life into her body.
He could feel her retreating from him, as if all of his efforts only took her from the world of the living that much more quickly. The light in her belly, their children, dying along with her. Her amber eyes flickered open with a dull haze settling in over them. She glanced up at Anakin, no- Vader. The sick gold hue of his eyes confirming what she already knew.
"Why?" She whispered breathlessly. "Why did you do this to us?" Padme asked, tears welling and falling down the corners of her eyes as Vader cradled her closely to his chest, ignoring his own pain.
"I'm sorry," Anakin bit out frantically. "I'll do anything just please, don't die," He held padme's head to his chest as he trembled fearfully. She couldn't die, not now. Not after everything. But she was, and she was fading fast.
"I love you," Padme said on her last breath, both an accusation and declaration, brows furrowed in frustration as her dull gaze took on a lifeless quality. The last of her life force, the light once inside of her, gone. He had taken it.
No, it was Obi-wan. He brought her here. He brought her here to die. Surely he must have sensed it, and he did nothing. His once beloved Master, now fated enemy. He killed her, He did this. Vader vowed to make him suffer for it.
Just as he had finished the thought, Vader saw a shuttle land off in the distance. He could sense his Master, his true Master, on board. Instead of going to him, he stayed, cradling the body of Anakin's dead wife in his arms. Sidious instead, approached him, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder.
"She's dead," Vader lamented, heart broken. "He… he killed her," he added, venom in his voice. In a moment, a spark of hope lit in his chest. "You said you have the power to bring people back, you can save her," Anakin nearly begged, looking on his wifes face, heart dissolving into ash.
"My dear boy, I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. I'm so, so sorry," Palpatine said mournfully.
Suddenly Vader was filled with rage all anew, so much so that it caused him to tremble, the sheer immensity of it. He did not sense the smile that bloomed on his Master's face.
"Yes, I sense your anger, Lord Vader. You are right for it. It will make you stronger, stronger than you could ever imagine," Darth Sidious cooed darkly, gravel in his voice. "You can make him pay for this. I sense he is not dead. Not yet. Not until you want him to be."
Vader wanted to push his Master away, to scream and hurt him, too. But he knew better than to even try. Sidious was still far too powerful. He had planned on killing him, taking over the empire, his empire. But now was not the time. There would come a time however. He would wait for it. He could be patient if he tried to be.
"Now come, let us collect that filth you once called Master and depart. We have much to do." Sidious urged him on, sorrow gone from his voice just as quickly as it had arrived.
"No." Vader said obstinately.
"I beg your pardon?" Sidious said in disbelief, waiting for Vader to redeem himself before he doled out any punishment. It had been quite a day, one that called for such allowances.
"We lay Padme to rest first. Everything else comes after."
Sidious chuckled, a wry smile forming on his cracked malformed lips. "Yes, my apprentice. I agree. First we bury our dead. Then we can avenge her. Bring peace to the galaxy. I am proud of you, Lord Vader," he said, commending him.
Vader only bowed his head again, bringing the face of Anakin's dead wife in his hands, caressing the soft cooling flesh of her cheeks. He would avenge her. He would do more than that. He would make everyone pay, bring pain and suffering to all of those who might have never understood what it was to feel the weight of it all.
He would use it, his anger, rage, hate, suffering. He would bring peace to the galaxy, crush his enemies. Kill, he would kill so many. But not Kenobi. He would suffer, just as Vader had been made to suffer. Death would be far to swift and kind for that one. Obi-wan would be made to understand. He would wish for death, beg for it. And vader would be the one, withholding it, taunting him with it.
Because at a time, Anakin had loved him, thought the world of him. But Kenobi had let him down, failed him in the worst ways. His mother was slain, all while Obi-wan had told him not to worry. Obi-wan led his own wife straight to her death. He had been cold and distant, and not understanding. He was a Jedi robot who couldn't love, he didn't know how. Anakin had loved him, only to be burned so badly in return.
Obi-wan would pay for it, for everything. Vader vowed to make it so.