A Fire Inside Pt. V

Weep For Me, Dying

In a daze, he stumbled down each hallway, pausing only to lash out at any Jedi in his way. Even then, his movements were robotic and stiff. His eyes, always so luminous, peered out from hooded lids, radiating bleakness. The loss he'd thought he'd quenched surrounded him, penetrated him, until hot tears streaked down his face. With faltering steps, he continued, his shoulders hunched and his head hung., the tears leaving salty signs on his face before falling to the floor. His only stimulus being the orders from his Master, he pushed forward.

Soon, a Force presence so strong it made him stand upright, shot into his mind with the clarity of a blaster bolt. Not bothering to wipe the tears from his cheeks, he ignited his lightsaber, both hating and loving its murderous hum. An answering hum came from down the hallway, but he didn't move, knowing his opponent would come to him.

Still, when the charismatic, dark-skinned Jedi Master strode down the hallway, an electric thrill of fear pierced him. The violet of his lightsaber blade lit the hallway with a phantasmal glow. His steps were even and sure, as if he felt no fear at the murderer of all his Jedi companions.

Anakin could only sneer inwardly at the Master's obvious composure. A Jedi shall not know fear, he mentally intoned, almost chuckling to himself at the statement. But, I shall instill fear, he thought, in the next moment.

"Anakin," the stoic master called, "Put down your weapon. You have done enough damage today."

"No, Master Windu, not quite," he called back, in challenge.

In mock salute, he raised the hilt of his lightsaber up toward his face and bowed, with a flourish of his cape, before flinging his arm out to the side and settling into an attack stance.

Master Windu's only response was a long-suffering, pained sigh. He raised his lightsaber, as well, but moved no further, waiting for Anakin to make a move.

In silence, the too stood, locked in a battle of patience and strength. But, Anakin had sacrificed serenity to the god he'd found in the Dark Side, and charged forward first.

Even in the face of this attack, Master Windu made no move until Anakin was directly upon him. With ease, he parried the hasty attack and made his own, slashing toward the ground. Anakin only leapt backwards, not parrying, before jumping forward, again, and thrusting in toward his opponent's sword arm. But, his opponent was fast and stepped back, turning to the right as he did so, until he'd turned a full circle. At the end of his pivot, he tossed his blade into this left hand and slashed backwards.

The resulting sizzle told him he'd gotten inside Anakin's defenses, cutting into the heavy, black fabric of his robes. A smile played upon his face, knowing Anakin's strength was waning. Still, his next attack caught the Master by surprise. Instead of aiming for an area unprotected by the purple blade, he swung as hard as he could into the middle of the energy beam, forcing the Master's arm down with the strength of the assault.

"Even with all your pretended strength, you are weak, Anakin," Master Windu whispered as Anakin forced the blade still lower.

For a moment, he faltered, his rage no longer augmenting his assault.

"Who did you kill? Children? Untrained Jedi? You think you are invincible, but you are merely empty."

Sweat beaded on Anakin's forehead as he struggled to maintain confidence. The Jedi Master's blade had long since sunk into the floor, leaving a swath of melted material and acrid smoke. But, he was no longer fighting Anakin's domination. At least, not with a blade.

"You can not save yourself from your hate. It will be the end of you, just as it was the end of everyone you love."

"Stop it," he hissed, his voice strained with emotion.

"Your hatred is what slowed your training, isn't it Anakin? You couldn't be trusted because you were too quick to emotions. Maybe, if you'd given us reason to trust you, you'd have gotten to your mother quicker. Your hate killed her, Anakin." Even as he said them, he knew the words were not true, but the bloodshed had to be stopped, even if it meant tormenting a former pupil.

"No. You killed her. The Jedi. If you would have let me see her, if you would have........." His voice trailed off, choked with tears.

"That's not all, is it Anakin? You left her, didn't you?"

In torment, Anakin turned angry eyes on the Master. Intuitively, he knew that he would fall if this continued.

"She was beautiful, wasn't she Anakin? Your wife. Yes, so beautiful. But, you left her, didn't you? You had a job to do, and you left her behind."

With a heavy clatter, the lightsaber dropped from his hand and cracked into the floor, still ignited. His hands flew to cover his ears, unable to bear the weight of smothered grief.

"She wasn't as important as your new Master, was she? So you left her. You left her alone, always missing you. And when you came back, well, we all know how that turned out." Forcing a taunting lilt into his tone, Mace rose to his feet to tower over Anakin as he sat heavily on the floor.

"You couldn't save her. Here you think you are invincible and all-powerful. But you couldn't save her. Your hate killed her!! The same way you killed your mother!!" he shouted, forcing Anakin to cower even lower into the ground.

"And what of your child, Anakin? What of that? But obviously, you care little for children. Your hands are stained with the blood of the little ones of this temple!!!"

Slowly, Anakin's hands dropped from his ears and he looked up at the man who was driving him to insanity.

"My hate is all I have left," he whispered, his eyes blackening with rage.

In a flash, he'd bounded to his feet and called his lightsaber into his hand. Driven by madness, he attacked wildly, forcing the Master further and further across the corridor. With a thump, his opponent's back collided with the smooth stone of the wall. With no small measure of satisfaction, he noted the obvious fear in Mace's eyes.

"Yes, now you understand the power of the Dark Side, my old Master," he whispered, driving another well-placed attack forward.

With little room to move, the cornered Master parried uneasily, not tired but realizing his battle was soon to be lost. Nevertheless, he pressed forward, taking a small step from the wall, allowing himself more room to move. Using that step as the beginning of an offensive, he directed his blade through a series of complicated thrusts and parries, utilizing every technique that had given him the second-highest rank among the Jedi.

"There is no power, but Light, Anakin," he whispered, using his new-found strength to enforce his argument.

A chill grin met his whispered remark, causing him to question the success of his offensive. In horror, he realized that their fight had carried them through the hallway and back to a small room, lined with windows, and bodies.

In horror, he attempted to drive the image of tiny, pleading hands reaching out to him as he struggled to uphold his attack. But, Anakin was using the same tactic he'd so earlier employed against the confused boy. Anakin was playing on his emotions, forcing out weakness, driving in images of the power of the Dark Side in its place. But what power would kill innocent children, little more than babies?

Weaving through their tiny corpses, not wanting to defile their deaths by stepping on them, Master Windu did not falter.

"Here is where you failed, Anakin," he said, stepping carefully. "Your emotions ruled you, but mine are ruled by me."

Anakin's only response was to take a step backwards and raise one hand, slowly, until crackling blue electricity sparkled between his fingertips. As though baffled by the light, he turned his hand slowly, inspecting it. The miniature lightning bolts crackled as they turned in the air.

"No, Master Windu. You are wrong. My emotions do not rule me. They rule with me. I embrace them, as you should embrace your doom," he said, his voice rising steadily until it boomed through the room.

Extending his arm rapidly, he flung the electricity straight toward the Master's chest. He easily caught it on his blade, but while the blade was thus engaged, Anakin surged forward and plunged his sword into the Master's abdomen.

Wordlessly, he fell to the floor, his knees thumping on the hard floor. His mouth opened dryly, no words escaping. But with a great effort that produced no more than a whisper, he said, "I'm sorry, Anakin. I am sorry that I could not save you from your pain."

With a pained cough and gasp for breath, the still-proud Jedi Master fell to the floor. His chest rose and fell rapidly for a few moments until, suddenly, his robes collapsed on themselves, and he was gone.

Anakin felt the surge in the Force as Master Windu's presence joined the whole. With another thought of self-loathing, Anakin reflected on Windu's last words.

"Yes, Master Windu," he cried, "I too am sorry that you could not save me."

Is Mace a little out of character? Yes, but war changes people. Even Jedi.