Chapter One
Endings
The molten lava of Mustafar was blazing on their skin, and Anakin's eyes blazed red from the reflection, his face hooded and caught in shadow – the cut across his eye seemingly deeper and more menacing than before. Effortlessly, he balanced on the debris that was carefully pulling away on the river of lava, boring a glare into Obi-Wan that shook him to his very core. The distress on his face was clear, and he was trying desperately to break the hard exterior of hate. But, with a sinking heart, it seemed that the Dark Side was all consuming.
After that fraction of a second – that seemed much longer, Anakin spoke once more, his death ridden voice tearing into Obi-Wan's heart more than any light saber could.
"This is the end for you, my Master. I wish it were otherwise."
The rest of it seemed to go by in slow motion, Anakin effortlessly springing from the surface on the construction droid, rage emanating from his entire being as he flipped onto the work platform, and their sabers clashed together with a sickly recognizable fizz. Anakin wobbled on the end, fighting to regain his balance, but just in time parried his blade to Obi Wan's and continued thrashing at him. Although to any bystanders, it may have seemed uncivil and uncontrolled, but the force was guiding both their movements. Anakin's pallid skin seemed to be hit with a dull sheen of fire from the lava, and his eyes continued to blaze as he took the offensive and assaulted Obi-Wan.
Distressed, Obi-Wan simply blocked the bone crushing blows from his former padawan, trying so hard to see a fraction of who Anakin used to be, but was unable. The anger and hate coming from him was overpowering, overwhelming, and suffocating. The Dark Side of the force seemed to be pressing down on him, and he was gasping, sweat beading on his forehead as his heart pounded in his head.
Obi-Wan cursed, as their lightsabers hit again, forcing them both face to face, as they both tried to push each other off. Anakin's eyes blazed once more, and Obi-Wan knew there was not much more he could do. He had to end it. Obi-Wan, his senses now dulled, and his vision spinning and blurred from the heat of the molten rock that surrounded them, leapt from the platform and landed on the crumbling rock that led down to the lava.
"It's over, Anakin," Obi-Wan shouted, feeling another drop of sweat slide down his face, and he stared squarely at his former padawan, fury still evident on his face, unable to crack, "I have the high ground."
Obi-Wan gestured around him, numb from the heat. Anakin kept his gaze, eyes boring into his head angrily as he glanced around, still balanced on the platform as it slowed from lack of movement.
"You underestimate my power," Anakin bellowed at him, his voice seemingly in harmony with the roaring of lava and explosions as volcanoes of fire erupted around them.
Slowly, Anakin turned as the platform continued down the river of lava, making sure he kept careful eye contact with his former master. He was weighing his options, and Obi-Wan could tell.
Suddenly, Obi-Wan realized what he was about to do. Fear was struck in his eyes.
"Anakin," he said, distressed, "don't try it."
A glint of a smile shown in Anakin's eyes and he jumped.
Obi-Wan's eyes widened in surprise as Anakin manipulated the Force and flipped up and over him. Wildly, Obi-Wan thrashed at him with his lightsaber, but to no avail. Anakin was too strong, the dark side, although evil, was suffocating. Anakin's lightsaber crashed into Obi-Wan's, and they fought once more, ferociously, and, Anakin forced him down the hill, black soot from the rocks clouding around their vision and fizzing on their lightsabers.
"Look who," Anakin said, swinging madly, "has the high ground now."
With a sickening slam, Anakin hit Obi-Wan's lightsaber bodily and they held it there for a while, using both physical power and The Force to push one another.
Finally, Anakin bettered him, and slammed Obi-Wan away who fell backwards and slid down the soot, clouds of ash billowing into the air, as his lightsaber lost its light and rolled away. Anakin threw out his hand and effortlessly summoned the lightsaber to his hand, igniting it and advancing on Obi-Wan who dug his hands into the ground, barely missing the lava that was scorching behind his head. Sweat continued to poor off of his neck and he stared up at Anakin who had a morbid smile across his face, twin blue blades in his hands as he advanced on Obi-Wan.
"I hate you," he hissed, and just as he had with Count Dooku, he scissored the blades together, scraping them up against each other and a few blue sparks fell to Obi-Wan's clothes, burning miniscule holes and stinging his skin.
The blood was pounding through veins, his mind racing as he panted, but unable to keep the morbid smile from his face at h is victory. He didn't feel anything. He was above everything. He had conquered – he had won. There was no greater feeling. All the same, it was the scariest feeling he had ever had, hate dripping from him and encroaching into the tension into the air.
"I hate you," he said, louder, waiting for a response. It felt so good, so empowering. The most powerful thing he could say – overpowering all the sentiments and good wishes he could say.
"I loved you, Anakin," Obi-Wan gasped, sitting up, and still panting, watching helplessly as Skywalker lowered his scissored blades to h is throat, knowing he could kill him in one fell swoop, "You were my brother."
"Then why?" Anakin bellowed again, "Why did you betray me?"
"You're mind has been twisted by the-"
"You liar," Anakin screamed, voice even overwhelming to the roaring lava, "You are the one that twisted me. You are the one that destroyed the Empire. My Empire!"
"My EMPIRE!" he screamed, whole body shaking, "You would have ruined me. I won't let you."
Without warning, Obi-Wan a look of shock on his face, Anakin ripped the blades apart, and lopped off his old master's head, sparks landing cruelly on the ground and the sicking swish of the lightsaber still reverberating in Anakin's ears.
With a roar of fury, Anakin continued to plunge his blade into Obi-Wan's lifeless body, his entire body out of his control as his lightsaber continued to sear holes into the headless body of his friend.
Tears were falling from his tainted eyes, and Anakin flung Obi-Wan's saber into the lava, hearing the sizzle and corresponding explosion as the sacred Jedi weapon fizzled and burst under the molten river, sending a fountain of embers into the sky, one hitting Anakin hard on the hand and he moaned in pain. Anakin's robotic arm shot to his other hand, but his eyes were fixed on the lifeless body in front of him.
"No…" Anakin hissed his voice hoarse as the heat blistered his windpipe and vocal cords.
"You betrayed me," Anakin said to the dead body, his hand trailing down the robes of his fallen master, the same tired glare fixed on his face as when he had aided in the killing of Master Windu, "you underestimate my power."
Anakin stood, surveying the damage, cold eyes darting like mice that have lost their homes… but slow and jostled. He muttered incoherently as he slowly pushed and shoved the headless body toward the lava with his boot, slowly rolling it further into the river of molten rock.
With a fizzle, the robes caught fire, and it snaked upward, Anakin backing up, watching coldly as the flames erupted over his friend's body.
Slowly the anger set in again, his brows curving downward and eyes glassy once more. Anakin slowly grabbed the hood of his robes and put it over his head, retreating up the sandy black soil.
As he reached the peak of the hill, Anakin turned, wind billowing in his robes as his sinister form reviewed his surroundings.
Anakin looked down at his lightsaber that Obi-Wan had helped him make, and ignited it, looking at the wavering blue blade. Darth Vader hurled it into the fire, and continued on his way.
Yoda, sitting next to Bail Organa and speeding away from Coruscant, was still panting from his battle with Palpatine… or Darth Sidious. He closed his bulbous eyes and tried to forget the images of death and destruction. Dead. All of them. Gone. All of them.
A disciplined Jedi, I am, he thought to himself, reprimanding his thoughts that still afforded too much sympathy to the dead younglings that were smeared across the floor like blotches of red paint in a once peaceful canvas.
Let go of those close to you. Do not mourn them. Do not miss them. Even for Yoda… it was not easy. He slowly and blearily opened his eyes, looking back on Coruscant's fading lights – the city planet's bustle dying down as it disappeared behind them. Meditation I will need.
The small green creature reached up and rubbed his head slowly, moss green skin now more pallid then usual.
Suddenly, he felt something. Yoda reached toward the feeling, manipulating and sifting the Force until the feeling hit him like a train. A feeling of pain – of suffering.
He gasped, clutching his hand to his heart, and his eyes snapped shut. Vaguely, he heard Organa inquire as to what was bothering him, but the feeling that ripped apart his very soul overpowering him.
Organa looked over, panicking as Yoda's eyes flickered and he creased his brow, a look of pain and sorrow etched on his green face.
"Master Yoda?" Bail Organa asked again, slowing the speeder and wondering if he should go back to aid the apparently pained Jedi Master.
"Keep going, you must," Yoda snapped, his clawed hand reaching for this head and scratching. It looked as if he was searching for something he couldn't quite come in contact with. And then Yoda's expression relaxed.
"Triumphed," Yoda said sadly, lowering his engorged eyes in despair, "the dark side has."
Anakin's gait quickened. He was numb. Power was pulsing through him – he knew – but he was unable to feel it. He finally broke into a run, following the winding trails through mountains and galloping over the bridges that stretched across rivers of lava. The path he had followed countless times before… the times he stood contemplating his plans, and killing those that would get in the way. It was his Empire. Would be his Empire.
But he was numb to the world. A single thought pulsed through his entire being: Padme. What had he done to her? He was sprinting now, his throat dry with the heat and his exhaustion, but he continued moving, swiftly and expertly through the winding caverns of Mustafar. What have I done? Eruptions of lava roared to life around him, oozing from craters and sizzling constantly – a deafening symphony of heat and destruction.
"Shit," he muttered to himself, realizing that half of the Mustafar corridor had been torn down by his fight with Obi-Wan. What fight? He hardly remembered it… merely a blur of color and hate. So much hate. Fury. The memories forced tears to his eyes, but Padme was still racing through his mind.
"Our empire," he shouted at a lake of lava, which simultaneously erupted with a fountain of sparks and molten rock. His dull and clouded mind tried to think of another way around, and he turned from the dead end, praying that he hadn't taken down the emergency hangar as well.
Anakin started sprinting once more, heavy uniform weighing heavily on him for the first time. The suffocating melody of the dark side still racing through is mind – a choir of hate and anger, and an orchestra of anger and jealousy.
Darth Vader was in a frenzy now, running a hand through is hair, matted with sweat, and he scrambled up the dark ash hills and coughing as the clouds of dust forced their way into his lungs. The heat and the pounding anger and hate were still running through him, forcing him to hands and knees as he reached the top of the hill.
He rolled onto his back, pain and exhaustion overwhelming – the only thing stopping him from moving was the leaden weight the suffocating pain and suffering. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he stared up at the red clouds swirling overhead – mocking him. Images of Obi-Wan flashed through his mind, when he had first given him a lightsaber. Their careful banter back and forth as they fought seemingly impossible forces side by side. The teachings, the lessons, the meditation.
An indescribable wave of pain jolted through him, and he coughed, the soot and heat drying his throat and he couldn't swallow. His chest was heaving, and his fists clutched the earth under him, as if he would fall upward into oblivion. His head was spinning. He coughed again, soot and ash expelled from his lungs.
Obi-Wan being afraid of the Dark Side. Betraying him, having to keep Padme and his relationship a secret from him. The constant insinuations of him being an inferior. Who was the inferior now?
Obi-Wan had turned Padme against him. The person he had loved. She had changed as much as he had, and it was Obi-Wan's fault.
"We could have ruled the galaxy," Anakin roared into the unforgiving, red clouds, "together. I loved you. We could have given our child everything. EVERYTHING."
No one answered, and he felt anger surge through him again. The council didn't trust him. Yoda didn't trust him. They had all been against them, and they were all The Enemy. They deserved it. He didn't need to feel sad – no despair, no regrets. The Sith were all he needed, the power. He could have given Padme everything.
"I could have given you everything," he sobbed now, quietly to himself, and he rolled into unconsciousness, the merciful blackness the only thing that could quiet his frenzied mind.