Written: July 9th, 2001

Author's Notes: This fits in with 'Empty Movement' and 'From Where Ever I Am to You', though you don't need to read either of them to understand this. Possibly it's cannon- hey, it's a mystery. ^^;

Take this as you will- it's a shorty and took about ten minutes to write. ^_^ I'd LOVE the feedback! PLEASE?

Legal Disclaimer: Do I look like I am in charge?

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All Fall Down 1/1

by Meredith Bronwen Mallory

mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com

http://www.demando.net/

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"Master Obi-wan, does the Dark Side have a face?"

There came a slight noise, caused by a spine stiffening in a chair, muscles tensing in readiness.

"Pardon?"

"I want to know if the Dark Side has a face."

"Padawan, the Dark Side is a web of negative emotions. It doesn't exist on the physical plane."

Silence, nervous shuffling of feet.

"I said that wrong, then."

Quiet again, broken only by the soft sound of Obi-wan's hands on the keys. He was typing up a report on something important, something adult.

"Master Obi-wan?"

"Yes, Anakin?"

"I meant to ask, can the Dark Side *take* a face?"

"Take?"

"Assume an identity, I mean. Use someone's voice, their face, their mannerisms falsely."

A deep intake of breath, signaling the recitation of that old, old rule.

"The Dark Side is anger, fear, hatred..."

Yoda was always saying that.

"I know what it is, Master. I want to know what it can do."

"You speak as if the Dark Side were a person."

"Maybe it is. Or something like a person anyway."

It's more than that...

"Padawan, I think you're taking this a bit too far."

A sigh of slight exasperation. He'd been expecting it all along.

"No, please wait. Can I finish?"

A moment hung in which Obi-wan weighed his important chores against the time Anakin's explanation would consume.

"Fine, Anakin, you may finish."

"We're part of the living Force, right?"

"This is correct."

"The Force is Light Side *and* Dark Side."

"Yes, but the two don't mix."

"I know- but they need each other. You can't have just one."

A spark of annoyance. "Anakin, what are you trying to say?"

"If the Light Side is alive, couldn't the Dark Side be too?"

"I think you should go to bed now, Anakin."

"But, Master..."

It needed to be said. Once he said it, it wouldn't belong to him anymore, he'd share ownership with his Master. He wouldn't have to carry it all by himself.

Another sigh. This really was a waste of Master's time.

"Very well, Padawan. Go on."

"If the Dark Side is alive, maybe it can think, calculate, understand..."

Anakin was looking at his feet, but he heard the chair turn around. For the first time in the conversation, he had his Master's full attention.

"Who's face does the Dark Side use when it appears to you, Padawan?"

Now the room was truly quiet. He couldn't say it, of course. He didn't want to dirty her at all, she was too precious. It wasn't her fault.

"There's something the younger kids don't know about the Dark Side. I could tell them, but I want them to feel safe here. They should feel safe here, shouldn't they? I did, at first."

"What don't they understand?"

"All the younger kids- they leave the light on at night. They think if they turn it off, the Dark Side will come and get them, but..."

Take a deep breath, hold it for a while, let it settle in you. Let it out.

"... but, they don't understand that the Dark Side doesn't just appear when you turn off the light."

"It doesn't?"

Master actually sounded suprised. Very strange.

"The Darkness is still there when you turn on the Light- you just can't see it."

"Anakin- tell me. Whose face does the Dark Side use when it appears to you?"

"I'm going to bed now, Master."