Killing Evil
Anakin fell to the ground, his feet having been painlessly removed by Obi-wan's lightsaber. His own weapon lay at the feet of his master, who picked it up and stored it away on his belt. Gazing down on his fallen comrade, Obi-wan let go of his last hope for saving Anakin. "You were the chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!" Anakin did not reply, but his face showed his struggle… his passion. His breathing grew heavy, which Obi-wan took to be from anger. "It was said you would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness!" Anakin let out an audible groan, trying to fight back the evil that was growing within him. "You were my brother, Anakin; I loved you!" With that, the Jedi turned and left, too soon to see the tears stream down the face of he who was once his Padawan Learner. Little did Obi-wan know how desperately wrong he was, or how much he had yet to open his eyes to.
Padmé met Obi-wan at the edge of the landing, tears running over her cheeks. "Where's Anakin?" she queried fretfully. "Is he all right?" The reaction she got was little more than a hurt and weary shake of a head, her ally clearly too upset to speak. He paced an apologetic hand on her shoulder and began to lead her back to the starcruiser. "Where is he?" she demanded. "We can't leave without him!"
Shocked and frustrated by his friend's reaction, Obi-wan shook his head. "There's nothing more that we can do without putting you and the baby in danger. We have no choice."
Padmé couldn't believe her ears. Obi-wan was giving up on Anakin, something she could never do. "Danger?!" she scoffed, shaking her head. "And who told you I cared about danger? I'm not leaving without Anakin." With that, she twirled out of the Jedi's grasp and took off running in the direction from which he had come. From the top of the hill, she saw him… and gasped.
Anakin had only been able to pull himself up a few feet before he was overcome with guilt and grief. His energy had become entirely focused on his struggle to fight off temptation and free himself from the grasp of the Sith. After a long, grueling minute that seemed to last for hours, he was on the verge of freedom. The temptation was gone, replaced with a longing for atonement. Just when he thought he was about to lose his invisible struggle against the emperor, he felt himself begin to choke. At once, he felt Palpatine's amusement, and knew what to do. With one last burst of adrenaline, Anakin reached out through the Force, choking the emperor until he felt the Sith Lord's existence fade away.
Obi-wan watched Padmé disappear down the hill, and was about to follow her when a new feeling came over him. The peace he felt now was complete, not a trace of the dark side to be found. It was not destroyed, of course; it was what some referred to as "Hell." But now, it was powerless under the domination of the Good Side. The Force was in balance. But that meant… Obi-wan had been wrong.
When Padmé reached him, Anakin's cheek was resting against the ground, his eyes closed, his breathing heavy, but his color good. "Ani!" she cried as she kneeled next to him and gently began stroking his cheek. Anakin did not reply, his exhaustion not yet totally erased. She rolled him over onto his back, positioning his head on her lap. As she brushed his hair out of his face, he opened his eyes. His breathing slowed as their eyes met and their gazes intertwined. "Padmé," he whispered, having regained some strength.
Something was different in Anakin, the evil about him gone. Nonetheless, Padmé still worried about him. "Come back to me. I won't die in childbirth. Trust me, Ani. You have to trust me!"
Hearing her words, Anakin could feel the truth behind them. All the visions, which he now knew had been false, had been issued by Palpatine, creating the evil in Anakin that was now dead. Now, looking at his wife, all Anakin could feel was love and relief. "Palpatine – Darth Sidious – is dead," he smiled. "I strangled him through the Force. The Force is in balance now. The war is over." Padmé smiled, her tears now of joy, as Anakin sat up to face her. When he did, though, his smile was gone. "I'm so sorry, Padmé; I never meant to hurt you. I allowed the Dark Side to deceive me, consume me, betray you. What you saw in me before is gone now. And I do trust you. But more than anything, I love you, Padmé. I truly… deeply… love you." He took her face in his hands, gently stroking her cheeks with his thumbs.
Nearly overwhelmed with relief that her Anakin was back, Padmé could find little to say. "I love you, too, Anakin," she beamed. "Just promise me this is all behind us… that we can go back to Naboo and raise our child… and that you'll let love take its own course."
"I promise," Anakin pledged, his mind clear and his intentions humble. As Obi-wan pulled up next to them in an emergency medical shuttle, Anakin pulled Padmé into a gentle kiss that sealed their devotion and renewed their passion.