Revenge of the Sith: Prophecy Fulfilled
Chapter 2: Cooldown
--(0)--
"WHAT HAVE I DONE?"
Anakin stumbled backward and deactivated his lightsaber.
"WHAT HAVE I DONE?" he howled again.
It was a simple question, yet Mace Windu held no answer for him.
In truth, Anakin Skywalker had done his duty as a Jedi. Nothing more, nothing less. But Mace knew now that for Anakin, things were much different.
For Anakin, he had just condemned the love of his life to death. For Anakin, he'd single-handedly destroyed the only two people who had truly loved him unconditionally. For Anakin, there is nothing left but pain and fear.
Attachment is forbidden within the Jedi Order, as is marriage. Jedi do not have any family outside of the Order. It is this way because attachment is the easiest path to the Dark Side. It is the shadow of greed. Yet Mace Windu can tell now that Anakin draws a great deal of his strength from his love for Padme.
Which puts Mace in quite a bind.
On the one hand, Anakin Skywalker is a hero. Both to the Republic and to the Jedi. He has saved countless lives and many battles have been won off the blade of his lightsaber. Yet on the other hand, if Anakin Skywalker were to fall to the Dark Side, it would mean the destruction of the Jedi.
'If only Obi-Wan were here,' Mace Windu thought, 'I'm no good at this sort of thing.'
That's when it hit him. Mace Windu swiftly dug through the Force, following nothing but a random hunch, to try and trace the source of Anakin's power. Unsurprisingly, Mace found that it had come from a desire, no, a need, to buy time for Obi-Wan to get back.
Mace Windu breathed a deep sigh of relief. While he sincerely doubted that Darth Sidious was dead, he knew it would be a while before he recovered from Anakin's attack. It was a win-win situation. The Chosen One had stared darkness in the fact and survived, and Obi-Wan would have plenty of time to return from Utapau and talk to Anakin.
He just needed to know.
"Anakin," Mace said, addressing the bundle of trembling Jedi robes on the floor, "You are free to go. I'm going to contact Obi-Wan and let him know of what has transpired here. Given the circumstances, I'm sure the Council will vote to pull him back from Utapau."
It wasn't much as far as comforting words go, but it seemed to be enough for the young Jedi, who had immediately jumped to his feet, eyes shining with hope. He soon recovered some semblance of Jedi calm and nodded his thanks. Mace Windu returned the nod and moved toward the Chancellor's private office.
"Where are you going?" Anakin asked.
Mace paused and looked back over his shoulders.
"To make sure that a handful of Jedi receive a Jedi's funeral."
Anakin knew then that he was talking about.
'I was too late after all,' Anakin thought glumly, 'Palpatine still killed them.'
Mace Windu caught Anakin's thought and turned to face him.
"Anakin…"
Mace hesitated, did he really want to say this? After all, Anakin had always had problems with his ego. Indeed, his outburst in the Council chamber just two days prior had contained a hint of the Dark Side. Yet as Mace looked at Anakin now, all traces of darkness had gone away. Before him now stood not an arrogant Sith, nor a troubled Jedi. Before him now stood simply a young man. And that young man now wore an expression of deepest sorrow and regret, of pain and loss.
The expression of a lost, abandoned child looking desperately for someone to tell him that everything would be alright.
And because Mace Windu is who he is, he found himself unable to give Anakin what he is silently begging for.
"Anakin…" he tried again.
Mace knew he should offer something to comfort Anakin. After all, Palpatine had been like a father to Anakin, comforting and supporting him when no one else could. Not only that, but Anakin was convinced that if he didn't do something, the wife that he loved and treasured more than anything else in the galaxy would die in a matter of days! Jedi Code be damned; fact was fact. Anakin was losing himself and Mace needed to do something to help. So at last, with a heavy sigh, Mace Windu decided to do his best.
"Anakin…I have never seen power the likes of which Palpatine wields. He channels the very darkness of the galaxy itself. He doesn't use the Dark Side of the Force, he is the Dark Side of the Force. Against such power, what hope can any Jedi have?"
Mace sighed. True words, but they still felt hollow. It was then he realized just how exhausted he was. Using Vaapad against Sidious had been the most draining experience of his life. To take in that kind of power and reflect it back, as Vaapad was made to do, was something Mace Windu had never thought he would wind up doing. Still, there remained one last bit of work to be done for the night.
But at his words, Anakin's expression seemed to lighten. Not in any obvious way, but his frown seemed to be a little less pronounced and Mace took a small bit of peace in that.
"Is there anything I can do to help, Master Windu" Anakin asked hopefully.
Mace nodded.
"We came here in one of the Temple's LAAT/i gunships. If you could bring it up to the office window, it would save us a lot of grief."
Anakin nodded with surprising vigor. Now that he had something to focus on, he could ignore his real troubles for that much longer.
--(0)--
A cold gust of wind slapped at his face, and the shadow that is Darth Sidious awoke with a start. He tried to stand, but every bone and muscle in his body screamed in painful protest. He shook his head and tried to remember the last thing he could. He'd been firing his Force Lightning at a Jedi, was it Anakin? It must've been because not even Yoda could've thrown him so far. Sidious looked up and found that the Senate building was much smaller than he remembered it. It had to have been Anakin. Yoda wouldn't have been able to throw him several miles.
The roof he was currently sitting on was cold and metallic. Par for the course on Coruscant, and Sidious knew that one way or another, he had to get down. If Anakin was going to reject him, well, that would have to be that. But he hadn't come so close to final victory to give up yet. He could still break the boy, he just needed to find another way.
And for the darkest of the Dark Lords of the Sith, there is always another way.
--(0)--
On the top level of 500 Republica, Padme Amidala woke with a start. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She swiftly slid out of bed, her elegant nightgown flowing behind her like silver water, and rushed down to the balcony. Once there, she was slightly surprised to see Anakin sitting on one of the couches.
"Anakin?" she asked, "What are you doing here?"
Anakin didn't answer immediately. Rather, he looked up at her and gave her a happy, yet simultaneously sad, smile.
"Anakin," Padme repeated, "What's…"
At that, Anakin rose to his feet and walked toward her, his dark cloak billowing slightly in the breeze. Before Padme could protest, Anakin gently wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. Padme was surprised by this, but did not shy away. Instead, she repeated her question.
"Anakin, what's going on?"
Anakin didn't answer at first. Instead, he squeezed her tightly and walked back to the couch.
"There's been a…" he began, unsure of how to continue, "There's been an…unexpected development."
"What happened?" Padme asked, alarmed.
"Palpatine…He's a Sith Lord."
Before Anakin had spoken, Padme's mind had been furiously going over every possible explanation for what had Anakin so upset. But upon hearing his words, everything going on in Padme's mind came to a screeching halt.
"Oh Anakin…"
Palpatine had been like a father to Anakin, almost as much, if not more so, than Obi-Wan. To find that Palpatine was the very thing that he had sworn to destroy would've been one of the most upsetting things that Padme could envision Anakin having to go through,
"Oh Anakin…"
"And that's not the worst of it," Anakin continued, "He's the Sith Lord whose responsible for starting the Clone Wars!"
This revelation sent Padme's mind in full reverse. If what Anakin was saying were true, that means that everything Padme had thought about the man was a lie. Including everything he'd done for the Republic. Including everything he'd done for her when she had been Queen of Naboo! How could that possibly be true?
"Anakin, are you sure?"
"He tried to kill Master Windu, Padme! I know, I was there! He even tried to kill me!" Anakin shouted frantically, jumping to his feet.
"Anakin…" Padme stated simply, too dumbstruck by her husband's words to speak.
Anakin did not offer any reply. He merely hung his head and stared at the floor. The silence hung in the air like a suffocating cloud, and finally Padme asked the only question she could form in her currently jumbled mind.
"What are you going to do?"
Anakin sighed, his lips twisting in to a sad smile.
"I really, really wish people would stop asking me that question."
"I'm sorry Anakin, but…" Padme began.
Anakin held up a hand to silence her.
"It's alright Padme," he said, standing up and walking to her, "Obi-wan should be on his way back now and I'll be able to talk to him then."
"What are you going to tell him?" Padme asked.
Anakin sighed heavily. Much as he may wish things were otherwise, this was his only chance.
"The truth."