***
Obi-Wan Kenobi felt the Force-ripple as Darth Vader
stepped towards him, pulled out his lightsaber. He felt the handle
of his own, feeling the weight of it in his hand.
Once, during the days when Anakin was still his
young, handsome Padawan, and he was the reluctant Master, he had seen a
vision. A man, dressed in shining black. A sith, obviously,
moving quickly, then, with a flash from his lightsaber, Obi-Wan was sliced
through...
And now he knew the truth. It was his own
Padawan, turned to the Dark Side.
"Anakin, you don't have to do this..."
"I'm not Anakin anymore. Anakin is dead.
My name is Darth Vader."
"Fine, Vader. Come with me - you can turn
back. The Council is forgiving."
That's garbage, Obi-Wan, and you know it. The Jedi order is all
but dead. Besides, I know you, you've been waiting for this chance
for years."
He was right about that, no matter how guilty that
made Obi-Wan Kenobi feel. He had taken on the Padawan with far too
much resentment, as a last show of respect to his Master. The child
had already been scarred by his precarious youth. Obi-Wan had to
admit, he hadn't been the best mentor. He hadn't been ready to mold
the mind of such a youngling. It should have been Master Yoda, in
the temple. Force, the boy had only been nine years old...
To think that only a few months ago, he had thought
the boy was nearly ready to face the Trials. True, he had been arrogant,
often emotional, but that was true of Qui-Gon Jinn as well. He'd
also adopted Qui-Gon's idealism, love and independence. Anywhere
but the Order, these would be virtues.
Now, Anakin Skywalker was going to kill him.
He would die at the hands of his Padawan learner.
It was worth it. Worth it for the future of
Padme Amidala Skywalker, for little Luke and Leia. Right now, she
was at the edge of the crater, wrapping the babies up, taking off.
Obi-Wan had told her of the vision, told her to take the only ship and
leave him. If it meant the death of Obi-Wan to destroy Darth Vader,
then that would be the sacrifice he would make. Padme had not been
content in that, however, and had taken to wailing. It was understandable,
considering their friendship as of late, but he had no time to coddle her,
instead ordering her to leave...
Then there was no time to think, because Darth Vader
had activated his lightsaber, and they were fighting, the dance of the
Jedi. Obi-Wan never remembered him being this strong, this capable.
The Sith Master had trained him well. However, he was still not as
skilled as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Before he realized what he was doing,
he used his Force powers to push Anakin back, his golden hair blowing madly
in the wind Obi-Wan created, his black cloak slamming against the
edge of the guard rail. His thin, lean body fell backwards, toppling
over, towards the lava...
It was then Obi-Wan saw the flicker of movement,
the flash of white.
Padme.
She ran towards her husband, grabbed him, hauled
him back over, her face tear-stained.
It was a reflex action on Anakin's part. His
blue blade flew forward, slicing through her white jumpsuit, turning it
black as it went through her flesh.
"No, Anakin," Obi-Wan exclaimed, "No!"
"Padme," Anakin replied, removing his cloak, wrapping
it around Padme tenderly, "Oh, Sith, Padme, how did this happen?"
"I love you, Anakin," she replied softly, her face
growing ashen.
Her face was still smiling. Anakin knew there
was nothing he could do, even though the would was not terribly severe.
Lightsaber wounds were caused by the Force, and could only be healed through
the Force. For Jedi warriors, this was a simple task, but on individuals
who were not Force sensitive, even the smallest Lightsaber wound could
prove fatal.
Anakin had killed all of the healers in the Jedi
order. There were only a handful of Knights left.
"Padme, please, angel," Anakin plead, stroking her
rapidly tiring face.
"Annie, I'm cold..."
"Don't worry, Padme, I'll make everything all right."
He dropped his lightsaber, and with a clinking noise,
it rolled away into the lava pit. Obi-Wan knew in that moment that
he should have killed Anakin, but could not. The boy's blue eyes
were so pained as he lifted his wife into his arms and carefully wrapped
her up.
With that, he turned, and walked away from the lightsaber
battle.
***