This is a shorter chapter again, but incredibly hard to write, as you may notice. I hope it didn't come out too bad...
Chapter 28:
The turbolift door opened.
Obi-Wan took a deep breath and when he let it out again, he allowed all his doubts and fears to flow out of him with it, leaving him as serene as if he was merely walking into the Jedi Council chambers not into the lair of greatest enemy.
For the moment the Force sufficed in soothing his hurts to the point that he was able to function properly, but having suffered from Force-exhaustion once before after Jabiim and Rattatak, he knew he should better not overdo it, which was of course easier said than done when you were in the middle of the Imperial Palace.
Adding to that, he was determined to make sure that at least Anakin would survive this encounter.
Side by side the two Jedi stepped into the room, approaching the throne lying in darkness, falling back into their roles as 'The Team' with ease.
Neither of them needed to peer into the shadow to know that Sidious sat on the throne, but whilst Anakin focused solely on the Sith Lord, Obi-Wan extended his attention to the whole room, looking for hidden threats and obstacles. Thus were simply their natures, Anakin focusing on his goal, and impulsive, Obi-Wan looking at the greater picture, and planning ahead. It was one of the reasons why they worked so well together, they complimented each other in many ways.
To Obi-Wan's surprise it actually seemed that Sidious was alone in the room, no contingents waiting to barge in, the only thing he found was a secret emergency ext.
Typical.
Stopping in front of the dais, Obi-Wan exchanged a quick look with Anakin.
"It's over Sidious," he stated calmly. He didn't raise his voice, but the sound carried through the whole room, commanding attention. "If you surrender now, we might consider taking you captive."
Truthfully, neither of them thought Sidious would actually do that, but it had become sort of a tradition for him to ask that before a fight – Grievous certainly should have accepted the offer – after all he had a reputation to maintain.
And it did work sometimes – just not often.
Predictably Sidiosu only laughed, a maniac, unpleasant sound that send a chill crawling down Obi-Wan's spine.
"How droll! Do you really think you can beat me, Jedi?" the Sith Lord chuckled, but there was no real humor on his voice, only malice.
Obi-Wan raised a brow. "I take that as a 'no'."
A blue beam of energy appeared in his hand as he slid in a defensive posture, lightsaber held in front of him.
Beside him Anakin already had his ignited lightsaber ready in the Djem So opening stance.
Sidious didn't seem impressed.
"What happened to the Jedi's rule of only attacking when all other options are exhausted? You aren't actually sensible enough to be aggressive, are you?"
"That rule generally doesn't apply to Sith Lords," Anakin replied coldly.
Through the bond he asked Obi-Wan, 'Are you up to this, Master?'
'What would you do if I actually said no?' Obi-Wan asked, a hint of a smile on his lips. 'Let's do this.'
'Well, then...'
They jumped into action at exactly the same moment, Obi-Wan landing to the right of the throne, Anakin to the left.
"As you wish," Sidious hissed, and a lightsaber appeared in his hand, it's blood-red glow illuminating his deformed feautures.
With an animalistic growl Sidious attacked – him. Obi-Wan had no time to wonder if it was because the Sith wanted to eradicate him first or because he was the more convenient target, as he spun around to catch a blow to his hip, immediately wipped the lightsaber down to protect his legs and was then forced into a high guard by a swipe to his head.
For a moment they stared at each other through the cross of deadly red and blue, but then Anakin finally attacked Sidious from behind, forcing him to whirl around in a swirl of robes – and relieving Obi-Wan from being the only one Sidious concentrated on.
At last attacking their foe from both sides, Anakin and Obi-Wan fell in their long-used pattern, hammering away at Sidious, leaving him no room to launch a counter attack and forcing him to move constantly to avoid two blades; a tactic that was designed to tire the opponent, though Obi-Wan was less than happy about that because he tired the most of them – already he could feel exhaustion tugging at his nerves.
And when Sidious exploited a tiny opening on Anakin's part, who had to jump back to avoid being skewered, and sent a Force-push after him, which turned Anakin's jump into a very fast tumble, probably putting his partner out of action for a minute or two, judging by the force of his impact on the ground, Obi-Wan had – to put it simply – a problem. A very big problem.
Sidious attacked him now in full force and Obi-Wan had to use all his skill and velocity to avoid through lightning-fast parries being cut into pieces. And he still hadn't found out which form of lightsaber combat Sidious actually used, it seemed to be a mix of anything of everything. Not that it would have helped him much to know anyway, in these circumstances.
Blocking a blow to his back, his blade behind him vertical to his body, Obi-Wan pivoted on his right foot, attempting to slash through Sidious midsection, but the red lightsaber was already there, parrying his blow and driving him back on the defensive again.
Obi-Wan already had to draw heavily on the Force to keep going at the pace they were – everything else would mean certain death.
'Anakin, now would be a good time to help me!' he cried through the bond, accompanied by a light Force-wave.
'Huh?'
Anakin sounded distinctively disoriented, but at least he was recovering.
Obviously Sidious felt it, too, and he didn't seem too eager on fighting both of them again for now he was raining down blows on him so fast that his lightsaber was only a red blur of light.
Every parry cost him more strength, every block made his muscles tremble a little more, sweat running down his back, face, and chest.
And when Anakin finally rejoined the fight, Obi-Wan saw, a moment too late, the gesture the Sith Lord made.
Before he could react, he was flying though the air and just had the time to think 'Not again!' and draw on a last resort of Force-strength to sushion the impact as much as possible, before he crashed into the wall.
Time seemed to slow down as he painfully slid down the duracrete to collapse in a heap on the floor, his lightsaber slipping from nerveless fingers, fiery agony erupting nearly everywhere in his body where hurts from his previous torture were located, his senses all but overloaded.
In addition the force of the impact was enough to let stars explode all over his vision. Sending his mind in the addled state of near-black out. Sounds dimmed. He could hear Anakin crying his name, but it sounded far away, as did Sidious' gleeful cackle.
Obi-Wan fought to stay conscious and concentrate on his surroundings.
He'd just succeeded in clearing his vision and hearing, when Sidious dropped the bomb-shell.
Parrying a slash to his knees, he taunted, voice smooth as silk, "Did you know I sent a company of Clones into the Alderaan Highlands to search for Jedi and their associates – with orders to kill everyone they find?"
Obi-Wan's first reaction was shock. But then another feeling crept up on him – something wasn't right. Why hadn't Sidious mentioned Padme? And then it struck, just as a furious Anakin, already having been at the edge of anger because of the way Sidious had disposed of him, opened his mouth.
'Noo, Anakin, he doesn't know!' he cried desperately, but Anakin didn't seem to hear him.
"You will not harm her!" he shouted at Sidious, a fire blazing in his eyes. Obi-Wan could sense the anger and hate muddling his Force-signature, only held back by a thin thread of control – and it nearly made him physically sick.
Sidious only smiled cruelly. "What if I already did?"
That made the last of Anakin's control give way, and with a roar of pure fury he attacked Sidious, harder than ever ever before – and merciless.
Obi-Wan doubled his efforts to get up, all the while trying to get Anakin to come back to his senses through the bond.
'No, Anakin! Not this way! You're using the dark side!'
But he just didn't listen – or didn't want to, either way, it didn't matter really.
Anakin was pressing Sidious hard not allowing him any respite from the fight. For a moment Obi-Wan saw surprise registering on Sidious' face, his hood having slipped at some point of the duel, as he, seemingly for the first time, recognized that he might actually lose this fight.
Already Anakin was driving him back, and to Obi-Wan's trained eye it was clear that Sidious was slowly tiring.
Supported by the wall behind him, the Jedi Master finally managed to get to his feet, though his legs were trembling and he felt all-wobbly – he didn't think he would actually be to walk at the moment – but he was standing.
Exactly at that moment the Force fairly shrieked in alarm, drawing his attention back to the two combatants, who both didn't take any notice of him, and his gut turned to ice at what he saw.
Sidious had begun a combination of attacks called the 'Krayt's jaw' by many for once one of the fighters had begun it and the other didn't recognize that but continued simply blocking the attacks it was impossible for the defender to stop the last slash at his heart – obviously Sidious had decided if one had to die, it better be Anakin, apprentice or not.
How often had he already told Anakin to look out for that one? But he didn't see it, and that would get him killed in less than a minute.
Time slowed down again as one single thought pervaded his mind: He could notlet Anakin die, fail again.
The Force rushed through him as if his powers had doubled, washing away his exhaustion and hurts for a few sweet moments, fueled by his absolute, overpowering need to step between Anakin and the red death descending on him.
He didn't know how he'd gotten there, how his faltering legs had supported him that long. It only mattered that he wasthere, directly between Anakin and Sidious, where he wanted to be, that for once all he could give was enough. That he didn't have to see his Padawan die as he had his Master.
Obi-Wan watched with something akin to satisfaction Sidious smile vanish as his lightsaber passed through his body. Not Anakin's.
He fell, searing pain spreading through his abdomen, he didn't even feel his body striking the ground. Obi-Wan didn't need the Force to know that the wound was fatal.
Anakin's cry pierced through the bubble of slow-motion and silence in his mind, reverberating in the whole room. A lance of blue light passed over him, and Obi-Wan was aware of a gurgled scream, a heavy thump beside him and a soft squelching plop as another thing hit the floor about a meter away.
A shock wave in the Force rippled through the galaxy, alerting all surviving Force-users, regardless if they were Jedi, gray Jedi, or independent Force-sensitives. The taint of the dark side was gone, washed away by the light, bringing clarity. Only the usual amount of darkness in a universe of billions and trillions of people remaining.
Sidious was dead.
Obi-Wan did not feel fear – why should he be afraid of death? - or anger – he'd used up all his anger at Sidious long ago. Regret, yes; regret for the life he would miss, for leaving Anakin like this; and utter, plain and simple relief.
Thinking of Anakin...his brother's white and worried face appeared in his line of vision as he gently but with trembling hands laid his head in his lap, his normally bright blue eyes darkened with fear – for him.
"Obi-Wan! Hold on, I'll get us out of here, get a medic.."
It hurt him to hear the barely restrained panic in Anakin's voice, but he stopped the other's ramblings with a soft-spoken, "No, Anakin. I'm dying and you know it."
The similarity of this scene to Qui-Gon's death wasn't lost on him. Impaled by a Sith's blade, dying in one's apprentice's arms...He forcefully pushed those thoughts away. He wouldn't waste his last minutes thinking of the past.
In an effort to comfort Anakin at least a bit, he smiled up at his face, trying to put all his love and pride for him into that one smile.
But Anakin only held onto him harder.
"Master, don't leave me now, I need you!" he pleaded desperately.
Something wet splashed onto his cheek, slowly trickling down to his neck, and Obi-Wan needed a moment to realize that it was a tear. Anakin was crying.
"You have to let me go, Anakin."
His voice was barely louder than a whisper. Already Obi-Wan felt his mind numbing, his breathing growing more labored, each word taking more strength to utter.
"Think of your family, they need you. And always remember that you are a good man, Anakin," with a supreme effort he raised one shaking hand, placing it directly over Anakin's heart, "here, where it really counts...and that I...love...you."
Obi-Wan's voice died away as he took one last shuddering breath, his hand limply falling back to his side again, his eyelids fluttering closed.
He did not hear Anakin's agonized shout of denial, nor did he feel him shaking his limp body.
He only felt the Force.
Many felt the shock wave of Sidious' death, but only one, not so far away, noticed the following ripple of a brilliant light extinguished.
In sorrow, he sent a wordless query into the infinite vastness of the Force.
The answer he received was as simple as it was surprising. The Force would right its mistake.
