The Dreamers Chapter 6
All I could think of was that the Jedi would try to kill Palpatine again. That they were all brainwashed from such a young age. That I had never felt completely accepted as one of them. I was "The Chosen One" who hadn't joined the Order until I was nine.
I couldn't take any chances of Palpatine being killed before Padme was saved. I was also thinking of myself as I didn't want to know what the Jedi would do once they learned what I had done.
But as one of the boys said "Master Anakin, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?" it was just about the hardest thing I'd ever had to do to cut my lightsaber through him. It wasn't their fault they'd been brainwashed.
As Palpatine's men set fire to the Temple, I knew I'd left that part of my life forever. But as many Jedi as I killed, there were none that I knew personally. Most of them had been sent on some sort of mission – but not all of them.
Afterward, I received orders to go to Mustafar to kill the Separatist leaders at the base there. This was something I'd been doing for the past three years and believe me, the idea of seeing the Galaxy at peace was something I wanted. The war didn't feel as though it would ever end. It was always one more battle or one more Separatist who had to be captured or killed.
I had to go home to say goodbye to Padme before I left for Mustafar. As soon as I opened the door, she came running up to me. "Anakin, I've been so worried. You can see the smoke from the Temple from here."
I couldn't tell her I was the one responsible or I'd lose her forever. I replied, "The Jedi are behind a plot to take over the Republic. I saw Master Windu try to assassinate the Chancellor."
"I don't believe it!"
"I'm not going to go along with this plot. My loyalties are with the Republic and the Chancellor – and with you." Padme didn't look reassured, so I continued. "I'm going to Mustafar to end this war."
"And Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan was on a mission to find General Grievous. I didn't want to think about him.
"I don't know. Many of the Jedi have been killed. We can only hope his loyalty is to the Chancellor."
"Anakin, I'm afraid."
"Have faith, my love. Soon everything will be all right."
It wasn't.