I am leaving it a bit ambiguous for you here. This was a pretty intense chapter to write. I feel that I'm still trying to rectify the poor choices Lucas made in the prequels as we saw them. First, I hope this is more convincing. Second, I hope you enjoy this. I think we will start the path to Episode 4 in the following chapters. Things will change there as well. I like doing flashbacks (if you've read my other stories, you'll see I do that as a lot as a plot device or to explore a particularly interesting or relevant episode).

As usual, please read and review. Would love to see longer critical reviews here. Let me know what you think and what you might be interested in seeing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Chapter 10

They faced each other for a moment. Padmé struck at him, but he blocked her easily.

"You can't win." He said. She clutched her waist as she stumbled back. He pulled his blade away from her. "You're in pain. You need a doctor not a fight." She clenched her teeth as she brought her blade crashing down toward him. He blocked her again as he backed away.

"I've got enough strength to kill you!" He raised his blade up defensively.

"Please don't do this," Kenobi pleaded with her. She grunted slightly again, backing away from him. The pain was unbearable, but that only made her more angry. Her eyes were deep red now as she summoned all her strength. She fumbled through what was left of the med-pack on her side and plunged a vile of bacta into her side. The pain began to subside, though not entirely.

"I'll ask you one more time Kenobi," she taunted him. "Where is my family….tell me now!" He shut his eyes deeply and raised his saber up once again. He refused to answer her questions.

"I won't fight you Padmé." She smiled now, as she raised her blade.

"I am more powerful than anyone in this galaxy, you cannot stop me!" With that she charged at him and they began fighting on a catwalk near the flowing magma and steam vents. She swung her blade aggressively, occasionally losing balance. By contrast, Ben Kenobi remained calm, slowly deflecting each of her blows without striking back. He was fighting defensively, he didn't desire to kill her. She swung harder and managed to land a kick into his chest sending him flying backward landing hard on the ground. He stood up and quickly parried another one of her blows.

She was becoming more disciplined as she relied heavily on her Jedi training as well as the anger that he could almost feel flowing through her. She swung harder, almost taking off his arm. There was no turning back now, one of them was not going to make it out alive from this duel. He grit his teeth and began to push back, this time he was aiming for some sort of a blow to end the battle. He swung back furiously and flipped over her swinging hard. She blocked him.

"Padmé give this up, please…"

"You taught me too well master." He backed away, barely dodging another one of her blows as he raised his saber above his head and swung down hard singing her arm lightly. She grunted in pain but quickly recovered.

"Apparently not well enough," he retorted as he leapt over her and aimed for her back. She fell to her knees and blocked his strike stretching her arms behind her to parry his strike. They both paused. They were tired. The red color of her eyes began to fade back to blue for a moment.

"Why won't you end this already?"

"Because I can't stand the thought of losing you." He paused as he extinguished his blade. He remained cautiously, keeping the hilt of the lightsaber in his hands as he steadily backed away from her. "I know that there is good left you, don't let the darkness overtake you!" He pleaded with her. It seemed, that maybe Ben Kenobi's words were reaching her. Then he saw the redness written and she again rose up with her blade gripped tightly in both of her hands.

"It's too late now Ben. You had your chance to join me." She closed her eyes, summoning all of the fury she could muster. Then she ran at him and struck him blow for blow, he quickly ignited his blade and blocked each strike. Nevertheless, she was slowly pushing him back toward the edge. He had to do something drastic otherwise she was going to kill him. He closed his eyes. Obi-Wan Kenobi would never forgive himself for what happened next. She was too confident in her next strike and leaned too close to him. He quickly struck down hard, severing her droid arm. Then, in a split second, he struck her hard, severing her right leg, sending her crashing down the side of the mountain. He saw her fall screaming loudly down into the fiery valley of smoke and black rocks below. She had dropped her old lightsaber on the ground. He signed, there were tears stinging his eyes as he knelt down and picked up her Jedi weapon.

Two hours later. Polis Massa Medical Center.

Kenobi's ship landed five minutes earlier. Bail Organa met him at the platform.

"How is Senator Skywalker?"

"He is stable, but he lost a lot of blood."

"And the babies, Bail?"

"They are healthy." It was then that Bail noticed the condition of the once venerable Jedi. His face was covered in soot, his clothing was in tatters. He was bleeding from several wounds in his face and side. "You look horrible, Obi-Wan. What happened back there?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." He paused. "Just take me to Anakin…"

They made their way without saying another word to the medical ward. Anakin Skywalker looked less pale than before, but it was clear all was not well. He noticed Obi-Wan's appearance, and turned away.

"Leave me alone Ben."

"You know I can't do that." Bail Organa discretely left the two men alone.

"Did you have to kill her?" Skywalker asked him as he contemplated his appearance.

"I'm not sure she's dead, I feel her Force signature." Anakin Skywalker sighed as he painfully helped himself out of the bed. "Don't stand."

"Why not? Whatever's going to happen to me will happen regardless of what I do now. You knew that the moment you entered the med-bay." He paused as he loosened his blue vest, revealing the gaping hole on his chest. It was purple and black. It had been cleaned, but it did not look good at all.

"What did the med-droids say?"

"They can't stop the bleeding. We have to wait and see if it stops." He paused as he gently touched the wound on his chest. The wound that his wife had inadvertently given him as a parting gift to the man she loved. "But I'm no fool. I've been losing a lot of blood, I feel it building up here." He pointed to the lower part of his chest, where the bottom part of his lungs were to be found. "I broke my promise to Padmé."

"How?" He laughed to himself as he replied to Kenobi's question.

"I named both of our children. She wanted to name the first one, but that wasn't going to happen." Kenobi smiled uneasily as he patted Anakin on the back slightly.

"What are their names?"

"Luke and Leia Skywalker."

"Those are nice names."

"Yes, they are." They were silent again for a moment. Finally, Anakin Skywalker sat down and laid back on the bed. He faced Kenobi. "Whatever she has done, whatever she has become. There is still good in her. Even you felt that." Ben Kenobi nodded his head in agreement. "I only wish I had enough time to raise them, to tell our children about what a beautiful person their mother was."

"You'll have that time," said Kenobi.

"Don't lie to me Ben." He turned away and tried to sleep, but found that he could not. There was something else he needed to do before he closed his eyes. "Promise me something…"

"Anything Anakin, tell me." Anakin Skywalker grabbed hold of Kenobi's hand hard, clutching at it desperately. His face was growing more pale by the minute. There were small beeps and alarms coming from the IV's and plugs that were monitoring his vital signs.

"Promise me, that you will raise the children." He paused. Ben Kenobi was too shocked to respond. Anakin Skywalker's eyes widened, there was a seriousness of purpose in his face. "Promise me that Obi-Wan!"

"I promise, I'll protect them." Anakin Skywalker relaxed a bit and smiled. Kenobi grabbed a chair and sat next to him in silence as they both look out at the stars and asteroids that lay outside of the chamber. Ben Kenobi always stood by his word. He was unsure of how he would fulfill this promise, but he intended to guard the children of his former apprentice with his life if need be.