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Chapter 24
Anakin woke early in the morning in a fair amount of pain. It ached at the back of his skull and radiated everywhere, sometimes dull, sometimes violently pulsing. He had a drink of water and popped some painkillers, but it didn't relent. Eventually, his stomach twisted in a knot. Something felt off, but he was so out of sorts from fever that it was hard to distinguish what or why.
Desperate to wear something other than someone else's spare clothes, Anakin peeked in the closet where he used to keep some of his garments. He was pleased and dismayed to find all of his belongings still there. He grabbed a comfortably dark tunic and pants and cleaned himself up in the refresher.
Padmé slept soundly. Anakin wanted to give her the opportunity to rest, so when the babies woke, he took them out of the room.
Both babies grumbled at him and didn't seem to appreciate his presence. Anakin pushed suggestions of comfort at them through the Force, but his usual effortless connection to the Force felt hindered somehow, like he had to trudge through thick sand to reach it. His throbbing head wore on him.
After minor effort, he was able to impress upon the twins peaceful suggestions. Once comforted through the Force, they perked up and had no issue with him. Anakin buried his lingering negative thoughts so they wouldn't burden the babies. The twins were Force sensitive and could probably pick up on his darkness.
3PO diligently trained him on every aspect of child-rearing, from diapers to baby food to bottles. Anakin changed them, prepared a meal of mush for them, and warmed a bottle for each. He sat on the sofa, a baby in each arm, not sure how to feed both, and then both babies grappled their own bottles and fed themselves. Both stared at Anakin, and he stared back.
After they'd eaten, Anakin put them on the floor to let them play with a few toys 3PO pulled out of a bin. The twins played with the toys for no more than a minute before both crawled in different directions. Anakin gathered one up and brought them back, only to lose the other. He herded them unsuccessfully several times, both giggling when he did, and finally gave up and lay on the floor with them.
Leia happily thumped at his chest with her little fists while Luke inspected Anakin's mechno-arm, which he hadn't bothered to cover. Both squeaked and squawked at him. Finally, Anakin hoisted Luke up and swayed him in the air, feigning flight, and Luke screeched with such delight that Anakin couldn't help but laugh. He set Luke down and did the same with Leia, and Luke was already climbing on top of him ready for another lift. When Luke had another turn, Leia crawled on Anakin and beat at him for her next turn.
They played that game until Anakin's arms ached.
The quiet rustling of fabric drew his attention around the sofa. Padmé watched them with a faint smile on her face, though she had her arms loosely folded at her abdomen, as if somewhat uncomfortable. She wore a light gown and had her hair straightened and fastened in a braid. Simple, yet far more put together than she'd been last night.
"I'm sorry," Anakin said, and he scooted the twins off him so he could sit up. "Did we wake you?"
Both twins let out an undignified whine at no longer playing the game. Luke crawled into Anakin's lap and looked up at him with big, watery eyes. His lower lip came out and quivered. Leia made a sound close to a sob and sat on the floor, her face all twisted in a grumpy pout.
Anakin's heart melted.
"No, you didn't," Padmé finally said, and she smiled.
Anakin almost smiled back. The ache in his head increased, and his stomach crashed so hard that it made him nauseous. The visions of Darth Vader crept back into his head even though they'd recently been so quiet and infrequent. They came, and he remembered why he shouldn't be there.
"I'm sorry." Anakin carefully moved Luke off his leg and to the floor.
When he rose, both twins let out pitiful little cries, not loud, but with very real and very large teardrops. Anakin started to crouch to console them but knew it wouldn't last—he would have to leave anyway, so why bother? Better to make the break quickly. He stepped away, and Padmé crouched by them. Both babies watched Anakin.
"You don't have to leave," Padmé said in haste, stroking a baby's cheek in each hand. Her eyes remained locked on Anakin.
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't. You belong here."
"I don't belong anywhere." Anakin made for the door.
"I didn't sign or file the documents," Padmé said, and her words halted Anakin with a hand extended to the door. She took on a fierce tone, one she often used in the Senate when she fought for something important to her. "I had them expunged, and because you weren't here in the past six months to declare otherwise, they've been marked as incomplete and void." Her voice tightened. "Whether you like it or not, you and I are still married."
Anakin's hand lingered in the air before dropping to his side. Oh, how he loved her. Padmé knew exactly what she wanted and allowed nothing to stand in her way of it. Strong-willed and powerful blended perfectly with passion and grace. He had been so lucky to have been in her company for as long as he had, to have known her as he did, though he had been so unworthy of her.
"Anakin…" Padmé spoke softly, and the twins quieted along with her tone. He told himself to leave, but his feet wouldn't move. "Anakin, you are still that warm-hearted boy I met on Tatooine… You are still the man I fell in love with on Naboo…" At that, she chuckled. "The man who couldn't for the life of him say something truly romantic and instead rambled about silly things, because you meant everything you said but couldn't properly express yourself. So unlike every other man I've met, the politicians, the nobility—people who speak with silver tongues to impress but never say anything honest."
Fabric rustled, and her light footsteps drew closer to him but halted at enough distance that he didn't flee.
"You are still that man who loves deeply… and yes, in another life, that love corrupted into something that blinded you, made you selfish, but that is not who you are today. If you were that man, you would be Darth Vader. If you were that man, Alderaan would have been destroyed. You've grown, Anakin. You've changed. You have learned to love deeply and selflessly."
Anakin shook his head as she spoke, but he held his tongue. He wouldn't argue with her and certainly wouldn't lash out at her. She didn't deserve that, and he'd already hurt her enough. What she thought was selflessness was merely him doing what he had to do to make amends. It was not selfless if he was merely repairing something he'd destroyed.
"Stop," Padmé said. "What you're thinking: stop. I know it isn't good. You're hard on yourself. Harder than you ought to be—"
"I need to go." Anakin opened the door and moved. His head, his thoughts, his body, all strangely numb.
"Anakin, I love you. I will always love you."
Anakin stepped into the corridor outside the apartment and let the door slide shut behind him. He stared ahead at the wall, the pulsing pain in his skull effectively scattering any thoughts he might have on the encounter. A dry cough drew his attention aside. Rex and a dozen other troopers gathered in the hallway, a few wearing their helmets but most without.
"I'm being monitored." Anakin felt no confusion or disappointment.
"Don't get a big head, sir," Jesse said, his helmet covering his face but his voice betraying his grin. "We're here for the babies."
Right. The twins were still being monitored until Sidious was dealt with. Anakin scrubbed at his forehead. Maybe he was getting a bit too self-centered again. Not everything revolved around him.
Anakin only nodded in response and started down the hall.
"Where are you headed?" Rex asked. He was one of the few who held his helmet at his side rather than wear it.
"To the Temple," Anakin said, and he rubbed at his head again. It really hurt. "Obi-Wan will be angry if I leave without a proper goodbye."
"I'd say, especially since he went through so much trouble to find you." Rex fell into step beside Anakin. "I'll go with you."
"Why?" Anakin raised an eyebrow.
"Not much else to do, sir," Rex said with a shrug. "We're waiting to get shipped off again. In the meantime, we're just taking turns here." He shot Anakin a smirk. "Besides, you don't have a way to get to the Temple, do you? Didn't someone give you a ride here last night?"
Anakin tripped over his boot and hastily corrected his footing. Right. Anakin had nothing to his name and had no easy means to get to the Temple. He didn't even have credits with which to pay for a lift.
"Maybe I could use a ride," he said as he adjusted the front of his tunic and looked at the ceiling, heat burning his cheeks.
Rex chuckled but was kind enough to shuttle Anakin without further comments. Anakin briefly wondered if Rex was monitoring Anakin until Obi-Wan would keep an eye on him. After all, as far as the Republic was still concerned, Anakin was a dangerous fugitive.
When they arrived at the Temple, they entered through the public entrance for verification purposes with the Temple authorities due to Anakin's questionable standing. As they climbed the stairs, Anakin couldn't help but recall his vision of marching up those steps with Appo and the 501st, controlled against their will, to destroy the Jedi. It felt wrong having Rex at his side.
When they reached the top of the stairs, both halted.
Bodies lay strewn across the Way. Several members of the Jedi Temple guard had fallen. Their lightsaber pikes remained ignited in their hands, glowing off the walkway and casting terrifying lights over their masked faces.
"What in the…" Rex put on his helmet and drew his blaster. He and Anakin moved together, their steps light along the stone.
Anakin didn't need to check the bodies. A lightsaber had cut clean through them.
They pushed through the doors unhindered, only to find more bodies inside. Guards, Knights, and even a few Padawans. Death everywhere. Images flickered through Anakin's mind of a time when he'd done this—he had swept through the Temple and slaughtered everyone where they stood. Some had trusted him, and he used their momentary confusion to his advantage and killed them. That hadn't happened here. Every Jedi on the ground had their lightsaber in their hand.
Anakin's pain and nausea worsened, and the visions of his future self grew louder and stronger. He moved forward anyway. He stepped into the Great Hall to find more bodies. Rex drew up the rear and covered his back, scanning left and right. He said something into his comlink that Anakin didn't process.
Sidious stood at the end of the Hall with a black cloak twisted around him and a pleasant smile on his face. As soon as Rex noticed no other dangers, he aimed his blaster at the Sith Lord.
"I would have thought I'd see you sooner, my dear boy," Sidious said without an ounce of concern, as though being there was perfectly normal. Friendly as ever. He sneered, and the darkness inside of him showed. "It seems you truly have cut off your connections to the Jedi. Even your beloved Master." The twisted grin stretched wider and turned to something feral. "Otherwise you would have heard him scream hours ago."
A shiver swept through Anakin and spread bumps across his skin. The hairs on his neck stood on end. Obi-Wan.
"What have you done?" Anakin asked, and his rage trickled out. All reservations lost. He had learned nothing over the past six months.
"I've only done what I should have done the first time around. Although I suppose this is the first time around in this lifetime, isn't it?" Sidious sighed, and the smile diminished. As he was so apt at doing, he put on an expression of genuine hurt and concern. "I told you, Anakin. I would do even greater things this time. I wanted you by my side—I wanted you to make that choice. I have everything needed to end the war and bring peace to the galaxy."
"You will enslave everyone," Anakin said, and his words shuddered from fury. "You will kill everyone who defies you."
"With you at my side, of course." Sidious smiled again, light and airy.
Darth Vader marched through Anakin's mind. Anakin choked.
"Sir," Rex said, putting an immediate end to the visions that chewed through Anakin's focus.
Anakin shook the thoughts away. He had a job to do and could allow nothing to distract him from it. He reached out with the Force and drew the nearest dropped lightsaber to his hand, and he ignited the blazing green blade.
"Good, good," Sidious said, and the feral smile returned. "It seems you are still willing to kill. Feed your anger, Anakin. Use it. Make it your weapon. It is the very thing that sets you apart from the Jedi. Makes you stronger. Let go of their shackles around you and be greater."
"No," Anakin said.
Sidious' grin shrank. A light dimmed in his eyes.
"You will not have a choice," he said, with a harshness he had never directed at Anakin before, at least not in this lifetime. Yet something pleasant lingered on his tongue, something full of meaning. "My Empire has been born, Anakin. Even now, my enforcers take the Senate and establish my supreme rule. You had your chance to join me willingly, to perhaps retain your will—and your family. But no longer. You tried my patience too long."
Anakin glowered at him, but his mind locked on the mention of the Senate. What enforcers? Had the Separatists somehow invaded Coruscant? And how was Sidious standing in the Temple when Anakin knew Master Yoda and many other powerful Jedi were on site?
"Rex, warn the Army. Get your men to check on the Senate," Anakin said, and he never once allowed his eyes to move from Sidious.
"Sir…" Hesitation touched Rex's words.
"Your responsibility is to the Republic and the Senate, Commander." Anakin forced his tone to that of the general he'd played for three years, to the tone with which he'd commanded one of the most powerful and effective battalions in the Republic. Not because of his success, but because of the success of his men. They could be trusted. "Go. That's an order."
Momentary silence.
"Understood, sir." Rex's footsteps shuffled back to the door. Knowing him, he probably moved backwards and kept his blaster pointed at Sidious at all times. The door creaked, and Rex's presence vanished from the Hall.
"You're already too late." Sidious grinned.
"I'm nothing if not tenacious," Anakin said.
He took a few slight steps towards Sidious as he scanned the Hall for strategic purposes. One of the pillars and terraces had fallen. A battle had taken place here. Most of the other pillars, upper levels, and decorative statues remained intact.
"Very well." Sidious let out an exhale, as though weary, and he walked towards the stairs leading from the hall. His footsteps echoed in the vast room.
"Where are you going?" Anakin halted.
"To install my throne," Sidious said, and he glanced over his shoulder with a slight smile. He climbed the steps with vigor. "You are not my most pressing concern anymore, Anakin. You will submit soon enough."
As Sidious climbed the stairs, five robed figures descended them. Masters Yoda, Windu, Fisto, Allie, and Obi-Wan marched abreast down the stairs.
"Masters!" Anakin moved to block Sidious' escape, knowing their best bet would be to surround and overwhelm him.
Sidious paused on the stairs, and the Jedi Masters strolled right around him. They drew their lightsabers and ignited them, but they paid the Sith Lord no mind. Their eyes landed on Anakin. Their cold, empty, lifeless eyes. Breath ripped from Anakin's lungs, and his heart faltered.
"What have you done?" he asked, but the words barely squeaked out.
"What I should have done from the start. Why settle for Darth Vader when you can control an entire army of Force-sensitive slaves?" Sidious laughed and proceeded up the stairs. "I told you, Anakin. My aims are so much grander this time around."
"Masters!" Anakin took a slight step back. The Jedi Masters marched in perfect accord, step for step, and showed no expression of life at all. Mindless and numb; controlled. His voice broke as he said, "Obi-Wan!"
No reaction. Nothing, not even a blink.
"Be sure not to kill him," Sidious said as he disappeared. "And Kenobi, do try to keep his arms and legs attached. He is much more valuable with all body parts intact." His laughter echoed through the Great Hall.