Swan Song

There was a strong, rolling disturbance in the Force, the Dark Side and the Light clashing against each other so strongly that Tali couldn't help the tremors that racked her body. And Anakin's familiar presence was in the center of it all; she could sense it. She didn't know where her master was, but she knew that something had to be done.

Steeling her gut and unclasping her light saber from her belt, she entered one of the Temple's jets and rode it in the direction of the Senate Building.

The closer she got, the more apparent it became that something was wrong. She stopped the jet beside an open window by one of the empty meeting rooms. As she exited the vehicle, the sound of yelling reached her ears and she was startled into action.

At the window across the room, Mace Windu stood on the frame, purple light saber pointed at Chancellor Palpatine, who cowered beneath him in the corner. The dark figure of Anakin stood just a few ways away from the scene, his shoulders trembling and his hands clenched into fists.

Tali assessed the situation with wide eyes. Windu's Force-presence was bathed in light, as it always was, but it was the first time Tali had ever seen Palpatine's Force-signature, and she knew that it shouldn't have been swirling in darkness. Anakin's was a mixture of both; Tali quickly caught on to what was happening, but she remained rooted to the spot for a while, mind working on overdrive to figure out what she could do.

"The oppression of the Sith will never return," Windu stated. "You have lost."

"No," Palpatine spat. "No, no, YOU WILL DIE!" In a surge of Dark Energy, he summoned Force-lightning and directed it at Mace Windu. It was the first time Tali had seen someone use such a power.

Master WIndu blocked the lightning using his light saber, with no small amount of effort.

"He is a traitor!" said Palpatine, glancing at Anakin.

"He is the traitor!" Windu's retort trailed off into a grunt and yell of exertion as he kept pushing against the power of the Sith Lord.

"Anakin," the Chancellor said, his voice growing strained. "I have the power to save the one you love."

Tali watched Anakin seize up upon hearing those words. Slowly, the tendrils of Darkness grew thicker and longer around him.

"Anakin!" she yelled as she finally jogged into the room, effectively pulling his attention away from the Sith's influence.

His eyes widened. "Tali," he said. "You can't be here."

"Tali!" Palpatine suddenly interjected. "Tali, yes. You'll help me, won't you? Your mother… wanted this. Wanted me to rule the Senate. Won't you do this for her?"

It was difficult to ignore his words, especially when he mentioned her mother. But she reached into the Force and drew strength from Master Windu's unwavering faith in the Light. When she spoke, her words were directed to Anakin. "Don't listen to him, Ani. We don't need him. I can help you save Padme. Obi-wan can help, Yoda can help."

He shook his head and scowled. "They don't care about her. They'd let her die as long as the Republic remains standing."

"Then it's me and you," she insisted. "We're the cream of the crop, remember? We can do anything."

Palpatine's groans of pain increased in volume as his lightning began arching back into him. "Don't let him kill me," he begged. "I… I can't hold on any longer. T-too weak. Please…"

Anakin turned back to him. Tali could see the pity rising in his eyes, the anguish, but she could also sense the growing Darkness in Palpatine. He wasn't growing weak. Not really. He wanted Anakin to turn.

"Anakin, he's evil!" Tali pushed. "Think of Padme, your baby. What would they want you to do?"

Again, he shook his head. "I can't let her die. I can't lose her."

Palpatine's Force-lightning had stopped. He was left lying limp on the window frame, skin pale and taut, eyes bulging. "Anakin, help me," he pleaded, and his voice was so hoarse, so strained, that Tali was almost tempted to come to his aid. Master Windu's voice stopped her.

"I am going to end this once and for all," he said with utter surety.

Anakin stepped away from Tali and glared at Mace. "You can't. He must stand trial."

"He has control over the Senate and the Courts! He's too dangerous to be kept alive."

Palpatine hounded at Anakin's moment of weakness. "I'm too weak… Don't kill me. Please."

"It's not the Jedi way," Anakin told Mace, stepping forward so that he stood just beside him. "He must live."

Windu shook his head, and the resolve in his eyes only hardened.

Anakin growled. "I need him!"

As the Chancellor continued begging and groaning, Mace Windu raised his light saber, the beginnings of a feral snarl on his lips. Anakin yelled in defiance and reached into his robes. Tali felt a ripple in the Force, and a sense of momentousness seized her.

Quickly, she activated his light saber and intercepted Anakin's, pushing him back.

Surprise crossed his face, and Tali took her chance. Knowing that he wouldn't feel any pain, and that the damage could be repared, she cut off his robotic arm. The appendage fell to the floor, along with his light saber. Tali rushed forward and knocked him out with the butt of her light saber.

The Dark Side of the Force receded from his aura, and she felt Palpatine's signature grow weaker as his secondary source of power faded from existence.

The Sith Lord had summoned Force-lightning again, but it was considerably weaker than before. Unfortunately, so was Master Windu, but he was still strong enough to stop the lightning with his light saber. With a grunt, he said, "Help me, Tali."

As she was raising her free hand to help manipulate the lightning, she heard Palpatine appeal to her. "I can bring your parents back."

She growled. "My mother was cremated upon her death. My father's body was never found."

"All the more easier for me. New bodies for the both of them… better bodies… untouched by the ravages of time."

"What you're saying is impossible." As she spoke, she started the tedious process of cancelling his Force-lightning. Her hands shook from the exertion, but it was working. The tendrils of lightning thinned, lost their bite.

A rush of air left the Sith's mouth. "I can save him. I can save your beloved master," he said. "He can be yours, if you just stop fighting me."

His words were like poison. They crept under her skin and threatened to burn her flesh until there was nothing left of her.

"Tali," Mace warned.

She looked into Palpatine's yellow eyes—their true form, now that he had returned to his home in the Dark Side. They reminded her of a snake. Silver tongue. Only trusted by fools.

Pursing her lips, she focused her attention on completely cancelling his Force-lightning.

He kept appealing to her as she worked, telling her that anything was possible with the aid of the Dark Side. Bringing people back from the dead, creating an entire planet, taking away a person's emotions of manipulating them. His desperation grew with each passing second.

The time came when his lightning was completely gone. Tali kept her hand up and held his powers at bay, but she couldn't hold it for long. She threw an urgent look to Mace, and he stepped forward.

"You don't know what you're doing," Palpatine continued. "I can help you bring the galaxy to into the palm of your hand. I can make you a queen. I can—"

Whatever he was about to say next was cut off, as Mace Windu killed him with one stroke of his light saber. The Chancellor fell to the floor with a hard thud, unseeing and no longer breathing.

There was nothing but silence for several beats as the Jedi who had remained standing caught their breath. Tali stared at Palpatine, wondering whether all he had said was just some product of his desperation to live.

It was Mace who broke the stillness.

"One of us should go get help," he said.

"I'll go, master," Tali suggested weakly.

Windu shook his head. "No, I will. Anakin will react better to you if he wakes up. I imagine he now harbors some ill feelings towards me after everything that's happened."

He wasn't wrong. Tali nodded and wandered over to stand next to Anakin's prone form, watching as the dark-skinned Jedi Master walked away.

Before he exited the room, he turned around and looked at Tali with surprisingly compassionate eyes.

"Your actions tonight are to be commended, padawan," he said. "But you must resolve whatever there is between you and Obi-wan. As you must know, the Jedi don't approve of love."

"Yes, master."

The all too familiar words made it easier for her to hide her emotions behind a blank voice, but all she could think about was what she was going to say to Obi-wan when she saw him again.