Washed Away

AUTHOR: Abigail

SUMMARY: What if Padme was so worried about Anakin that she went looking for him at the Jedi Temple? The night of Anakin's turn to the Dark Side?

TIMELINE: During RotS, alternate universe.

CHAPTER 8: A Weakness Purged

RATING: T

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that was created by George Lucas.

NOTE: I'm truly sorry this has taken so long. Life tends to complicate my wishes to update once a day. Please forgive me! I also realize that this is shorter than usual, but I don't want to give too much away, now do I?

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It took Anakin a moment to realize that once again, he was enclosed inside the cold tomb of a medical capsule. He felt his muscles tighten as his gaze lifted upward towards the ceiling. Despite the bright surroundings of the synthetic like room, it was all overwhelmed by the darkness of his Master, who covered the room like a large shadow. Besides Darth Siddious' natural aura ofobscurity and evil, his countenance now held a feeling of malicious disappointment and anger. And as Anakin felt himself being lifted to his normal and conscious state, he understood that these feelings were aimed at him and his actions on Mustafar. For the connection between Siddious and himself had become so strong, that any interruption, no matter what the measure, could be felt by the two of them equally. And it didn't surprise Anakin that his Master already knew of the weaknesses that he still bore in his heart for Padme...

As Anakin continued to study his Master's face, the transparent glass of the capsule slowly lifted away, breakingthe physical barrier between Anakin and Siddious. Yet, Anakin remained motionless, unyielding to his Master's power over him. After a long pause, Siddious chose to speak.

"You do realize, Darth Vader, that this is the second time I have been forced to save you..." The words cut deeply through Anakin, but he remained speechless, only letting the words slowly sink in. "When I took you in as my apprentice, I realized that you did have your weaknesses, but I felt that they could be easily overpowered by your strength in the Force...I was wrong."

Anakin lowered his gaze, still listening to the harshness of his Master's words. Even though he felt ashamed and guilty, another feeling rose to the surface. It resembled sadness...regret. He then struggled to remember all that had occurred on Mustafar. He had completed his task, with quickness and speed, just as Siddious had ordered. The Separatist Leaders had been eliminated; their imminent threat to the newborn Empire no longer an issue. Anakin had satisfyingly surveyed his annihilation when...

"Padme..." he said suddenly. His voice was so strained and confused that neither Siddious nor Anakin could make it out. But the feelings and emotions from before flooded over him again, forcing him to sit up at once, in one wild movement. "Where is she?" Anakin said stiffly, trying to push the worried thoughts from his mind. But as soon as the feeling had returned, he knew that something was wrong.

A sudden smirk flashed upon Siddious' face, but Anakin was too occupied to notice it. The Sith Lord's true emotions were concealed by an unmistakable look of sorrow. "I'm sorry, my apprentice. She's dead." The words rang coldly through the silent room, gathering the artificial light of the Medical Room and cloaking it with one large shadow.

Anakin's blue eyes stared deeply into the dark cave that hid his Master's face. All that could leave his suddenly cold lips was a soft, "no". Siddious drew himself forward from the corner of the room until his presence hovered above Anakin like a dark cloud.

"It appears that your turn to the Dark Side was too much for her too handle." Darth Siddious' lifeless words did nothing to console Anakin's bleeding heart as he continued to stare blankly ahead, his face unable to register the deep and painful stir of emotions inside.

"No!"Anakin yelled louder, the room suddenly shaking violently with the tremble of his power. But Anakin knew that no matter how much he denied the awful truth, no matter how much strength he had gained, and no matter how hard he had tried to save her...Padme was gone. It was as visible and obvious to him as the beating of a pulse is missed in a person. His body and mind continued to scream, unleashing the terror and dread that had been bottled up inside him for so long.

And as the room crumbled around his tormented soul, Siddious stood tall and powerful, as he felt a new form of power surging through the Force. Darth Vader had just lost part of his soul, but what intrigued the Sith Master the most was the possibility that his apprentice's very weakness was eliminated in the process. The Dark Side had never been stronger...and neither had the man once known as Anakin Skywalker.

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Siddious was finally able to retire to his chambers, after a grueling period of time in which he observed the heavy sedation of his apprentice. The Sith Lord knew all too well that when dealing with man such as Darth Vader, certain precautions needed to betaken to ensure that he would be unable to physically harm himself in a situation such as this. As he dismissed the last of the droids from his office, he heavily sat down in the plush chair that quickly turned to overlook the bare beginnings of the Death Star. It's completion would signify his total control over the galaxy, and the fact that it remained a simple skeleton reminded him that his grip over Vader needed to tighten if he were to ensure his ultimate reign over the galaxy.

It had been far too simple for him to persuadeDarth Vaderthat his dear Padme had met her death. Vader was too gullible and sensitive when it came to the matter of his wife, which was the very reason that Siddious had chosen to end that weakness right then and there.

When Siddious had decided to train Skywalker as his new apprentice, he had his reasons. His relationship with the boy had been a close one. Anakin had gained his trust easily, whish made it effortless for Siddious to persuade him inconspicuously towards the ways of the Dark Side. Siddious also was one of the few that saw the conflict and indecision in Anakin's mind, but his advantage in the matter was that the stubborn Jedi refused to see what would become of Anakin's clouded and vague future.

Despite the weaknesses that the boy carried, his strengths outnumbered them by far. His sense of awareness and strength through the Force was so prominent when he had first met Anakin, it caused Siddious to question his own power. For this reason, he realized that if he didn't bring Anakin to the Dark Side as his apprentice, that this boy would someday overcome him andthe ways of the Sith altogether.

Siddious was suddenly disrupted from his thoughts when he felt a new presence enter the Force. Vader. The Sith Lord chose to give Darth Vader a few moments to awake from his medically induced slumber. Perhaps he would be reasonable and conscious enough to talk to.

With a slow and drawn out movement, he stood up from his elegant chair, the length of his black robes softly trailing alongside the cold tile floor. He allowed his gaze to shift from the frame of the Death Star to his own translucent reflection in the window. Siddious felt himself glaring into the dark shadows of his own façade...letting his eyes look deeper and deeper into the nothingness that he held for a face. Twisted and deformed, it was. Beyond any recognition of what he used to be. His disfiguration after the incident with Jedi master Windu had almost pleased him. Siddious smirked at this, his yellowed and decaying teeth suddenly revealed from behind his thin and parched lips. Somehow, the decomposing flesh that held the resemblance of a face made it easier to forget who he once was...made it easier to forget that he wasn't always this evil...

But those thoughts never entered his mind anymore. His transformation had been made a long time ago, and nothing could save this pitiful man from his certain fate. His soul had been perverted and warped for so long that it shriveled away into a black hole, sucking every happy feeling and sense of hope in his life...until none of these things were left. Only thoughts of power filled him.And once Chancellor Palpatine reached this point in life, it only made it easier to pursue his destructive path to more strength. His heartless and ruthless ways of deception only increased. Every moment, every thought, and every emotion had a motive of evil.

But this is what separated the Sith Lord from his apprentice. While Siddious had reached the point of no return, his apprentice, Darth Vader, had faded into the gray area of the black and white ways of the Sith. And the mistake that Darth Siddious made when thinking that he had cured Vader's weakness was that he underestimated the power of love...and it's ability to keep Anakin from hitting the same rock bottom fate that Darth Siddious met so long ago...

Siddious remained still as he felt Vader's presence fill the room. His apprentice entered the room silently, his feet forcing him towards his Master's side at the window. The two of them gazed across the expanses of space, side by side, in both a physical and visionary way. But the two of them couldn't have been farther apart...for neither realized how very much alive Padmewas in life and in Anakin's heart. And most of all, neither of them realized how influential her discrete presence would be in the dark days to come...