A/N: Hello!

So I managed to get this chapter finished a lot faster than I thought I would, so here we are! I'm really really excited to post this, so I'll let you get to reading!

Enjoy! :)

As the flash of red light moved down, closer and closer to her head, Padmé struggled to pull herself back, away from the danger. But Palpatine's grip on her body was stronger than iron, and for all that she struggled, it was fruitless.

It was all over. In the end, Padmé could do nothing but watch the lightsaber blade move to strike her down, the heat searing just by her forehead, until—

From behind her, bright white light flooded the corridor, easily drowning out the horrifying blood-red that had taken over. In response, Palpatine's features transformed into ice, cold and unmoving, as his eyes flickered away from her, narrowing in uncharacteristic shock.

It seemed that the distraction was enough. Taking a deep breath, Padmé stepped sideways, the blade slashing through the air where she stood seconds later. She waited for another strike from Palpatine, but he continued to stare at whatever it was that was behind her, shaken to the core.

Slowly, Padmé turned around to greet the light.

The sound of her gasp sounded through the corridor, loud enough to echo back to her own ears. She raised a hand to shield her eyes as they welled up with tears, and with her other hand, she wiped at her eyes.

All she could think was that this couldn't be real; it was impossible.

It was impossible for Anakin to be standing where he lay dead moments ago, a hole in the center of his chest. It was impossible for him to walk closer and closer to her, features blank and unmoving. It was impossible for him to breathe, to do anything at all.

Because Padmé watched him fall, cradled his body with her own arms, and held him as he wheezed out his final breaths.

But now, Anakin stood a few feet away from her, left arm raised towards Palpatine. There was a light—a blinding, unfamiliar white light that Padmé couldn't look at directly—emanating from his eyes, washing away all the darkness in the corridor.

From behind her, Palpatine spoke.

"Impossible," he whispered, voice dripping with a mixture of awe and dread.

There was a pause, and then Padmé felt something pushing her back, away from Palpatine and Anakin. She spared a glance back, taking in the sight of Dooku's crumpled body, curled up against the opposite wall, unmoving.

When she looked back, Palpatine was moving closer and closer to Anakin, floating in the air in an odd echo of her own position minutes ago, when she'd tried to face Palpatine on her own. The white light in Anakin's eyes began to glow brighter and brighter, until some of it was arching outwards, closer and closer to Palpatine's body.

When it slammed into his chest, the Sith Lord let out a quiet, pained gasp, and Anakin's eyes narrowed in deep concentration, the light shaping into narrow slits.

"This is where it ends." Anakin's voice was different than she'd ever heard it; it was layered with other strange voices, almost like a choir that sang in perfect unison, and there was an underlying accent that she couldn't exactly place, lilting and comforting.

"No, please," the Sith Lord begged with unfamiliar dread, trembling as he was suspended mid-air. "Don't—"

"You have done enough damage," Anakin proclaimed, raising his right hand as well to meet his left. "The time has come."

In the end, it was unceremonious.

It also seemed to happen out of nowhere. When the light faded away, Ahsoka allowed herself to think—for a moment—that Obi-Wan would blink up at her and smile that familiar comforting smile that used to reassure her, no matter what.

She allowed herself to think that he would come back, that he would be there to make things right. She allowed herself to think that she wouldn't be alone now, since the attack had subsided and things were beginning to settle down.

She allowed herself to think that she wouldn't lose both her Master and her Grandmaster in one fell swoop.

Because after everything he had been through, after everything they had been through, Ahsoka thought that she could just have this one thing.

She thought that in the end, her Grandmaster would come back.

The light was gone from Obi-Wan's eyes. He stared ahead with empty, sightless eyes, still propped up slightly against the headboard. There was no more shaking, no more tears streaming from his eyes, just…

A cold stillness, and vacant, lifeless eyes.

"Master," Ahsoka croaked, and instinctively, her hand reached for his sleeve, tugging at it desperately. "Master, come back. Come back." She tugged harder at his sleeve, allowing his right hand to slide off his lap next to his leg with a heavy thud.

Next to her, Master Yoda's eyes lowered, and he bowed his head in quiet grief. Ahsoka's breath hitched at the ancient Master's forlorn expression.

"No, please," Ahsoka whispered, voice trembling. "You came back before, Obi-Wan. You did! I saw it happen. Please, Anakin is gone, the Order is broken, and I'm…"

I'm alone.

"Ahsoka." Master Yoda's voice was a quiet rasp, his clawed hand on her arm heavy and grounding.

Ahsoka pushed it off, tugging once again at Obi-Wan's sleeve.

"Please." Her voice cracked. "Just…come back."

He didn't.

He wouldn't.

Ahsoka lowered her head, trembling slightly.

The sound of footsteps from somewhere behind her pulled her out of her quiet misery. Then, a familiar voice—

"We found Commander Cody," Bant said as she moved closer and closer. "They're taking him up for surgery now, Obi-Wan; I think—"

Bant stopped right next to Ahsoka, eyes raking over the body on the bed. Her mouth froze mid-motion, and her eyes widened.

The world held its breath, as though everything had frozen in this exact moment in time, lying in wait. Ahsoka wanted something to happen, to show that everything would be alright—somehow. All she needed to know was that…

"Obi…" Bant's voice cracked. Her arm extended forward, landing heavily on his wrist, right next to where Ahsoka's fingers remained, still pulling desperately at his sleeve. "I'm so sorry, my friend. I hope you have found peace in the Force."

The acceptance in her voice was what sealed it for Ahsoka. It was the confirmation she needed to hear, to face the truth of her new reality.

Master Yoda hummed, and something deep in Ahsoka's stomach twisted.

"May the Force keep you safe," the ancient Master murmured, voice colored with the very same grief Ahsoka felt coursing through her mind at this exact moment. "Saved us all, you have, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

The silence grew louder after his words, even as Ahsoka felt the tears sliding down her cheeks. For all that she wished for just one more moment with her grandmaster, to at least be able to say goodbye, Ahsoka appreciated the moments that she did have: from all the jar'kai and diplomacy lessons to the countless number of stories they'd exchanged over the years, often at Anakin's expense, much to Obi-Wan's amusement.

Through all of her memories of the past few years—the good and the bad, the past and the present, and even the calm and the chaos—Ahsoka knew that Obi-Wan would still remain, even though he was no longer physically there.

"We'll be alright," she whispered, voice shaking as she placed her hand gently on Obi-Wan's arm. "I'll be alright."

And then, the silence grew into a crescendo: a finality, a fateful choice, and a farewell.

Ahsoka opened her mouth.

"You can go."

The world was a maelstrom of light and dark, of life and death, and of everything in between.

Anakin could barely make sense of it all. He couldn't tell up from down or left from right, let alone where he stood and where the voices in his head were actually coming from. All he knew—all he saw—was the Sith Master standing before him, suspended in the air like a puppet forced still on its strings.

"The end has come," he whispered, and all the voices around him echoed his words, foreign yet somehow familiar.

"Anakin."

Obi-Wan's voice rang through his ears, a sudden rush of wind, a warmth gathering from somewhere deep within him, bolstering his strength.

In front of him, the light grew brighter, and the Sith Master's features contorted in excruciating, devastating agony.

"We act together." Anakin's voice trembled, the words strange yet right.

"Together," Obi-Wan echoed, and the light grew brighter.

Distantly, Anakin felt the tears streaming out of his eyes and down his cheeks, leaving behind nothing more than a quiet burning sensation. There was the sound of Palpatine's screams echoing into the air, Padmé's shock coming from somewhere nearby, and the Force itself, almost singing in Anakin's mind.

The world around him lived and breathed the Force, and he, Anakin Skywalker, had a responsibility at this very moment.

He owed it—not just to the Jedi or the Force itself, but to the galaxy at large.

He would do what he must, because it was the right thing to do. Anakin knew it, from the moment he opened his eyes to find the light within him.

The light would shine bright enough to remove the dark and bring the balance that the galaxy—no, the universe—so desperately needed.

"With these words, I bring balance and peace," Anakin whispered, the words coming from somewhere deep inside of him. "And for everything you have done to this galalxy, Sith, you may never return."

May you never return, the Force echoed, its whispers ringing through his being with purpose and resolution, and may the Light remain.

With his own bare hands, Anakin Skywalker pulled apart the darkness, the Force guiding each and every one of his motions. With Obi-Wan's voice resonating through his mind, directing his every motion, Anakin sought out the balance he had always craved, finding it somewhere deep within the space between himself and Obi-Wan.

And when he found the balance, he allowed it to drift outwards, to the Force and the galaxy beyond.

The light around him grew stronger, and through the ringing and the voices in his ears, Anakin distantly heard a heavy thump from directly in front of him.

The fall of the Sith, his mind supplied, distantly.

"Well done, Anakin," the wind whispered, quiet and faraway, comforting and familiar.

"Obi-Wan," he murmured, extending a hand forward as though he was reaching for his former Master, but there was no echo this time—just his own voice, alone and uncertain.

"Well done…"

The voice drifted off into the wind, and slowly, the light dimmed into nothing more than a distant memory. The Force felt clear and certain—so much so that Anakin could sense almost everything happening around him with sudden, startling clarity.

And yet—

"Obi-Wan?" he whispered, voice shaking.

There was an odd sense of silence, the feeling of something warm and invisible pressing itself against his cheek—a comforting, familiar motion—and then it was slipping away, gone.

The bright, blinding light cleared away, fading into the dimness of the Senate building's corridor long after sunset, cast into shadows and memory. Blinking, Anakin took in the sight of Darth Sidious' body, crumpled directly in front of him, still and unmoving. The Sith Lord's skin was grey and muted, a sharp contrast to the vivacity he'd displayed moments ago, when dueling Dooku and Anakin.

The change was unnerving in some ways, but also…

There was a newfound clarity in the Force, something Anakin hadn't felt in a very long time. He felt as though everything made sense, as though the stars had arranged themselves in perfect alignment, and he could finally breathe.

For all the chaos and pain that he had felt earlier, he now felt peace, a surety that the balance he brought to the galaxy would remain.

"Anakin?"

The sound of Padmé's voice, coming from directly behind him, pulled him out of his thoughts, causing him to slowly turn around to face her.

His wife stood a few feet away, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Padmé's shoulders trembled with each breath, as though a part of her could barely believe the sight before her.

Anakin took a slow step forward, followed by another one. Then, without a second thought, he was rushing forward, pulling her into his arms and pressing his forehead down to her shoulder with a desperate cry.

"I'm here; it's me." Anakin was shuddering, threatening to topple over to the floor and bring Padmé down with him, but his legs miraculously remained steady, keeping him upright. "I'm sorry, Padmé. I'm so sorry."

He allowed himself to take in the moment of being alive and being with his wife, even as his mind spun and spun with the realization of everything that had just happened and everything that was to come.

There was much to do, especially now that the Sith were gone.

"It wasn't you," Padmé breathed, voice trembling. "I knew it. There's good in you, Anakin. I know that there is."

The certainty in her voice mirrored Obi-Wan's. The realization caused Anakin to shiver, reminding him that—

"I…I need to get back to the Temple," he replied, pulling away slightly. Then, he looked around, catching sight of Dooku still lying crumpled against the opposite wall. Anakin could see him breathing, could feel the uniformity of life in his Force presence.

Padmé nodded, features settling back into cool neutrality. "I'll have to gather the Senate, tell them what happened. I have it all recorded," she explained, nodding to a spot behind Anakin, where a commlink rested on the ground, camera tilted up towards them. "I suspect that the Senate will want your testimony."

Lifting a hand, Anakin pulled the commlink to him with the Force and then shut it off, placing it gently in Padmé's hands.

"I know you have questions about what happened," Anakin whispered, slumping his shoulders. "But I—Ahsoka needs me, and Dooku needs medical attention, probably from the Jedi Healers."

"And Obi-Wan?" Padmé prompted, looking up at him with concerned eyes.

Anakin closed his own eyes, feeling something deep inside of him twist at her words. It did feel like the conversation he'd had with Obi-Wan before was a goodbye, that he'd eventually come back to the Temple to find…

But he wasn't ready.

"Oh, Anakin." A hand pressed itself onto his cheek, a cruel echo of the wind he'd felt earlier. "I'm so sorry."

Letting out a shuddering breath, Anakin turned his head slightly, pressing a kiss to her palm.

"We'll talk later, alright?" he whispered. "I need to be with my people right now, and I need to—"

His voice cracked.

I need to know the truth.

When he opened his eyes, Padmé was nodding slowly.

"I understand, Anakin," she replied, eyes shining.

By the time he rushed over to Dooku's body and discovered no visible injuries, Anakin carefully pulled the older man into his arms and followed Padmé to the nearest hangar.

As they rushed through the Senate building's corridors, Anakin noticed that after an extended period of cold, dark emptiness, it was beginning to show signs of life. He caught glimpses of Senatorial aides, security guards, and the occasional protocol droid, but none of them paid him much attention, and he was able to get to a speeder without incident.

Before seeing Anakin off, Padmé mentioned speaking to Senator Organa about what had happened. The realization struck him then: the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic was dead, and he, Anakin Skywalker, was responsible for his death.

He knew what he did was right—that Palpatine was a Sith Master too dangerous to be kept alive, and Anakin had to bring balance to the Force. That was the most important thing.

Anakin drove back to the Temple in a haze. It was odd—he barely remembered ever leaving the Temple in the first place, but distantly, he knew that it was the work of the Sith, that his last true glimpse of his former Master was in a moment of horrifying desperation when he was last in the Temple.

In the end, it was all a trap, and he hadn't seen it coming.

But now, he would see Obi-Wan again and know the truth. A part of him hoped, desperately, that the Healers had managed to keep him alive, even now. Maybe the conversation was some sort of a dream on Anakin's part, and Obi-Wan would be awake and alright when Anakin would arrive at the Temple, and—

At a traffic intersection, Anakin stopped his speeder and glanced sideways at Dooku, who was still unconscious in the seat next to him. Then, he took a deep breath and looked down at his chest, where one of Sidious' lightsabers had stabbed through him not too long ago.

There was a hole in his tunic, and underneath it, a small circular scar adorned his skin, barely visible from where Anakin stared down at it. Anakin remembered the beginnings of the duel, along with the pain that followed, and then falling into the darkness before finding himself drifting somewhere between life and death.

Was it possible that he imagined it all?

Was it possible that it wasn't really Obi-Wan that he spoke to when he was there? Maybe he'd come back to the Temple, to the Halls, and he would go to Obi-Wan's room and he would awake and alright.

Because that was what Anakin needed right now, more than anything else.

But—

"I am with you."

Obi-Wan's words echoed deep in his mind, a reminder.

The traffic signal changed, and Anakin sped onwards, heart climbing up closer and closer to his throat.

He arrived at the Temple in something of a haze, taking in the sight of the destruction that lay waste all around it. There were unconscious clone troopers being loaded onto stretchers by medical droids, pieces of broken statues and security devices littered on the walkways just outside the Temple, and a strange echoing silence coming from somewhere within.

To the common passerby, it was clear that something had gone terribly wrong.

As soon as he landed in the hangar next to the Halls, Anakin fumbled for his commlink, noting with a sinking feeling that he couldn't patch into the Temple's network to send any messages. With a sigh, he jumped out of his seat and rushed around to the speeder's other door, quickly hefting Dooku's weight onto his arms and rushing out of the hangar.

There was a crowd of Jedi, technicians, droids, and clone troopers directly outside the Halls, nearly blocking Anakin's path to the south entrance. However, the sight of him carrying Count Dooku seemed to give them enough pause.

As the crowd parted before him, Anakin rushed through, stumbling into the Halls' entrance. His arms ached with the weight, his lungs throbbed from the exertion, and his heart raced faster and faster, urging him to keep moving.

He needed to find Ahsoka, to find Obi-Wan and see him with his own eyes. He needed to know the truth.

"Skywalker?"

Master Che's voice stopped him in his tracks. She stood just behind the admit desk, hunched over a console with a Zabrak Padawan Healer. The Master Healer's features were heavy with exhaustion, her shoulders slumped against the console's exterior almost for support.

"Master Che, I—"

She shuffled around the desk, nodding at another Healer standing a few feet away with an empty stretcher, who stepped forward. Anakin placed Dooku carefully onto the stretcher and watched as it rolled away, disappearing through a door at the end of a corridor.

Master Che took a deep breath, as though she was steeling herself, preparing herself to say something important. "Anakin—"

"I need to find Ahsoka, Master Che," Anakin blurted out, and then he was pulling himself away before the Healer could say anything else, taking the familiar path back to Obi-Wan's room, heart thundering in his chest. His legs trembled with each and every step, threatening to deposit him onto the floor in the middle of the corridor, and he couldn't breathe—

He caught glimpses of the destruction—collapsed walls and doorways, sparking, broken machinery, remnants of lightsaber strikes and blaster bolts marring the walls, and injured Jedi and clone troopers being rushed around to different areas by the clearly overworked and exhausted Healers.

At the sight of the destruction, Anakin moved faster. He couldn't bring himself to even try making sense of his surroundings, because it was all too much, too soon.

This was his home, his people, and they had nearly been destroyed, but all he could think about was—

Turning at a corner, he nearly crashed right into Ahsoka, who was only just stepping outside of Obi-Wan's room, covered in dust and bruises. Her shoulders were slumped, a fist scrubbing at her reddened eyes as she leaned back against the door, taking slow breaths.

Anakin yelped, and Ahsoka looked up, eyes widening.

"Anakin," she breathed, voice nasally and unfamiliar. There were tears sliding out of her eyes, matching the tear-tracks that were already dried on her cheeks, and her left hand moved to scrub at her eyes again.

"Hello, Ahsoka." His voice shook. Anakin opened his mouth, struggling to come up with something else to say—but what could he say? He had no idea what Ahsoka experienced since he left the Temple, and for all that he knew her, Anakin had never seen her like this.

"You're—you're alive," Ahsoka rasped, and then she was pushing herself forward, throwing her arms around Anakin's neck.

For a split-second, Anakin froze. Then, he returned the hug, melting slightly into the embrace with a shuddering sigh. Anakin allowed himself to just stand still, to take this moment of quiet peace between all the chaos he'd experienced and let it pass.

Ahsoka's tears soon faded, but they remained locked in the embrace, and soon Anakin found himself trembling again, mind flashing through everything he had just experienced.

The fact that through the destruction that ripped through the Temple, through the death and destruction, his Padawan survived.

"I am so proud of you," Anakin whispered into Ahsoka's shoulder, voice shaking. "Snips, I'm—so sorry that I left you alone, when all of this was happening. I—"

Ahsoka shuddered. "I'm just glad you're here now," she whispered. "I'm so glad, Anakin; I thought you were gone and I would have lost…everyone."

Taking another deep breath, Anakin stepped back, pulling himself out of the hug and looking at Ahsoka directly. His Padawan let out a sigh, scrubbing furiously at her eyes and leaning sideways against the wall next to the door.

In that moment, Ahsoka looked young, but there was maturity set in her shoulders, a quiet determination.

His eyes shifted to the door. "I need to know, Ahsoka," he said, voice cracking. A part of him was desperate to know the truth, but the other wanted to turn and run away from it all. "Obi-Wan; is he—"

Ahsoka's lips pressed together as her eyes welled with tears once again. "He's gone," she whispered, looking away from Anakin, to the floor beneath her feet. "He's gone."

Swallowing, Anakin bowed his head, forcing himself to take a few deep breaths through the strange tightness that was lodged somewhere deep in his throat. "I need—I need to see him," he managed, and then he was turning to the door, reaching a hand forward to press the button that would allow it to slide open.

But he was stopped by Ahsoka's hand on his wrist.

"No, Anakin; you don't understand. He's gone," Ahsoka repeated, voice trembling slightly.

Anakin frowned. "Yeah, I suspected it, Ahsoka, but I need to see—"

Ahsoka shook her head, and her hand tightened its grip on his wrist. For a moment, her mouth trembled, but then she sighed, allowing her shoulders to slump.

"Anakin, Obi-Wan's body is gone. It just disappeared right now. I saw it happen, and I have no idea why it happened, but I—"

Anakin's breath hitched as reality began to settle in his mind, just as Ahsoka's eyes lowered once again.

"He's gone, Anakin."

A/N: :)))))))))

So, I can tentatively say that this is the last official chapter of this story. There will be an epilogue, so stay tuned for that!

As always, thank you so so so much for reading, and please leave a review on your way out! :)