Shadow's Odyssey 2: The Chaos Continues
Anakin sat on the floor, staring at his children as they retreated to the far side of the training space. They stared back warily. They were afraid of him.
They hated him.
These were the exact emotions that he wanted to bring out but now that he had, he felt only regret. Anakin only wanted to protect them, yet because of him they were now in pain.
Anakin's comm went off with a call from Sidious. "Lord Vader, how goes the training?"
"I'm going to require more time. My son he… doesn't understand things yet."
"Hmmm… bringing out his fear and anger should not be this difficult. Perhaps I should oversee his training myself."
"I have everything under control."
"Then why do I sense conflict within you?"
"There is no conflict." Anakin lied. "I understand the consequences for failure."
Sidious rose a brow. "Do you now? Then perhaps I should come down there myself so you can demonstrate how well you understand."
Anakin was about to protest, but Sidious ended the call. Panic washed over him. What if Sidious discovered Leia was Force sensitive as well? He would only accept one apprentice. Sidious would not allow both of them to live. He would probably force them to fight to the death. But if Sidious didn't get his apprentice, Padme would die. And if Padme didn't die, she'd spend the rest of her life chained to Sidious being pulled around like a pet.
This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to save all of them. And yet, every possible scenario ends with one of them dying. And the ones that lived would live in pain and misery. Anakin was no longer sure which fate was worse.
And probably the worst part of it all… no matter which fate his family suffered, whether it was death or a lifetime of enslavement, they would blame him for it. And it was his fault. He brought them here. He hurt them. He was the reason they were about to die.
Anakin looked at Luke and Leia. They were still waiting for him to make his move. Padme had been lost to him the moment the Grievous android snatched her off Naboo, but They could still be saved.
Anakin stood up and used the Force to take his lightsaber back from Leia. She shrank back against Luke. Anakin quickly strode over to Grievous. The android stood there, awaiting orders and was helpless to prevent Anakin decapitating it.
He looked back at his children. "You need to leave. Now. There's a ship right outside with all the clearance codes you need to get off the planet."
They looked at him in confusion.
"You need to leave now, before Sidious gets here!"
Luke and Leia cautiously moved towards the door. When they got to the door, Luke stopped.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm giving you what you want. Now go."
The siblings hurried away. Anakin stood there and waited. He knew what he had to do but wasn't sure if he had the strength to do it.
Sidious arrived, dragging Padme along behind him. Without even taking a moment to examine the room he asked, "Where are they?"
"They're gone."
"Then get them back." Sidious growled.
"No."
Sidious rose a brow. "No?"
"I will not hurt them for you."
"You think sending them away protects them from me? I will search each and every corner of the galaxy until I find them."
"If they suffer, it won't be because of me."
"As if that makes any difference." Sidious clenched his fist and Padme started to choke. "But first, she will pay the price for your betrayal." He extended the Darksaber.
Anakin's entire body tensed. Even his mechanical arm felt the pressure of this moment. Sidious brought the blade closer and closer to Padme's face. Just before the saber could make contact with her skin, she went flying across the room.
Sidious looked in surprise to see Padme was now in front of Anakin, his blue lightsaber piercing straight through her body.
Padme couldn't feel the hole being burned in her chest. She knew it was there, but the only thing she could focus on was Anakin's face. She saw fear, anger, sadness, joy, as if Anakin couldn't decide what emotion he felt. Anakin's mouth tried to form words, but nothing comprehensible came out. But that didn't matter. Padme knew what he was trying to say. She reached out a hand and touched his face.
"It's okay." She whispered.
The hand fell from Anakin's face and her body slipped to the floor as he turned off the lightsaber.
Sidious couldn't believe what he just witnessed. Why would he do such a thing? But his mind soon refocused. If he could not torment Padme, then he would torment Anakin instead. He shot a burst of lightning that caused Anakin to crumple to the floor.
"You made a terrible mistake. The Dark Side could have saved your family but now you've doomed all of them!" Sidious shocked Anakin again. "You have failed!"
Then Sidious was sent flying across the room by a Force Push. Anakin could feel someone trying to pull him to his feet. They seemed to be shouting something at him, but his mind couldn't make out the words. The world around him faded into darkness as he blacked out.
He woke up strapped into the seat of a starship. Leia was staring at him intently.
"Luke, he's awake."
Luke switched the controls to autopilot and turned around. "Are you okay?"
"What happened?" Anakin thought he remembered, but it seemed like a dream.
"Sidious was trying to kill you and we rescued you." Luke supplied.
"Against our better judgement." Leia snapped.
"Padme, she's…"
"We saw that part too." Luke said.
Anakin's heart sank as that meant it wasn't a dream. He buried his face in his hands as the weight of his actions began to set in. He looked up at the sound of the nav computer. The ship dropped out hyperspace at Lothal and then landed in front of the temple.
Luke led the way. "Come on, we'd better go tell everyone what happened."
Anakin waved them on. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute."
Leia left, but Luke hesitated.
"I'll be fine, just go."
"Are you going to take the ship and leave as soon as I do?"
Anakin exhaled. "Luke, I can't stay here. Not after what I did. You said it yourself: I'm evil."
"Evil is a word that is often misused. You wanted to save us, but you didn't know how."
"Either way, how can I face them again? This is why I left the Jedi Order in the first place. Sidious was right about me. I'm not a Jedi. I don't belong here. But you do. You're far stronger and braver than I ever was. I should have never tried to keep you away from this." Anakin took his lightsaber and handed it to Luke.
He took the saber and felt its weight. He ignited the blue blade.
"You're going to be a great Jedi."
Luke looked back at his father and then at the saber again. He deactivated the blade and handed the lightsaber back. "And so will you."
