Ch. 20
"Anakin!" Mace yelled helplessly from across the room as Anakin fell grimacing and writhing to the floor. Yoda and Mace ran as quickly as possible, light sabers out, to block the Sith lightning. Just as Anakin stopped crying out in pain, unconscious, the Jedi Masters intercepted the Sith lightning with both of their light sabers. They held off with all of their might the Sith lightning, trying to push it back to Sidious. At this moment, Obi Wan regained consciousness. Without a word, Obi Wan ignited his light saber, and weakly but determinedly joined in blocking the Sith lightning, still unaware of the loyalty Anakin had just shown him, hardly aware of his surroundings at all. With this third blade, they could see Sidious weakening, his face wrinkling and distorting itself as if he had aged decades in just a few seconds.
"Use his!" Obi Wan said, and as Mace and Yoda tried to understand what their friend meant, Obi Wan used his last ounce of strength to call Sidious' red light saber to him and ignite it, the fourth blade now also blocking the blast. To have his own light saber deflecting his lightning was too much for Sidious, and the saber sent the lightning back to him.
"Augh!" Yelled the ex-Chancellor, now writhing in his chair. He released the lightning, and the Jedi Masters breathlessly tied Sidious' hands behind his back.
"Taken to the medical unit, young Skywalker must be, immediately," said Yoda, and the fear for Anakin's life was apparent in his voice.
"What happened to him?" asked Obi Wan, rushing to his former Padawan, sadness in his face.
Mace opened his mouth to explain it, but Yoda cut him off. "Later, we will explain it." Mace nodded, understanding that it would be emotional for Obi Wan to hear right now, and that they all needed to keep their heads to deal with this situation.
"Anakin was hit with the full blast of Sith lightning- he is unconscious, he must be taken to a medical unit." Mace explained, leaving out the detail.
Sidious cackled. "He cannot be saved. I'm afraid that now, the Chosen one will die," he said, with sarcastic sadness.
"No he won't!" Obi Wan yelled, "Anakin is too strong for that." However, Obi Wan's voice wavered, and he turned away, his face in his hands.
"Obi Wan," began Yoda, "Take Anakin, you will. Attend to Sidious and the Clones, we will, and then meet you at the medical unit."
Obi Wan lifted Anakin and carried him out, silently.
"Despair, do not, Master Kenobi," Yoda said. "Over, the war is."
Obi Wan nodded, and walked away.
"You truly believe that the clones will stop this war just because we have Sidious?" Mace asked.
"Trained to follow orders, they are. With no leader, they will follow us. No true allegiance, do the clones have- Sith, they certainly are not," Yoda explained, and he and Mace led Sidious out of the building to show the galaxy the traitor that the Chancellor had become.
Obi Wan rushed into the Temple medical unit, breathless. "This is a Jedi Master, he needs immediate medical attention," Obi Wan informed the nurse.
"We are over our limits as it is," she responded. "No doctors are free, you will have to wait."
"You don't understand," Obi Wan said, "this is urgent, he must be seen now." He lowered his voice, and in a last desperate attempt, whispered the truth to the nurse. "This is Anakin Skywalker. He's been hit with Sith lightning."
"There's a Sith here?" The nurse said, a little too loudly, and Obi Wan quieted her.
"He has been defeated, much thanks to this young Master. Please, I beg of you, you must have him worked on now."
"All right," said the nurse. "Follow me." She led them into a room and they laid Anakin on the bed.
"I will send a doctor in as soon as possible," she said. "We certainly wouldn't want to lose Master Skywalker."
"Thank you," Obi Wan replied.
He looked at his former Padawan, and a tear fell down his cheek. He had always known that Anakin was important to him, but in this moment he realized how much he needed the spirit and recklessness of his young friend. Anakin was truly like a son to him, and he just couldn't let the hopeful, bright-eyed boy he had met on Tatooine die like this. He had never been more proud of Anakin, for though he didn't know exactly how this had happened, having been unconscious, he knew Anakin had done something heroic. He could feel good flowing through Anakin, and the darkness that had once clouded his Force presence seemed to have disappeared. After all, Anakin had been holding off Sidious alone for quite some time. Obi Wan was very proud-it seemed as if Anakin had indeed fulfilled the prophecy.
"Anakin, I knew we could trust you. You did a wonderful thing today, you can't leave us like this, we need you. You truly are one of the greatest Jedi…" Obi Wan sighed, using the Force to try to heal Anakin before the medics arrived. Suddenly, his thoughts went to Padme.
"Oh Anakin, she needs you too. So do your children- hang on my friend, I will be back very soon." He went out to contact Padme. She had to know, but explaining this situation to her would be very difficult. Even more difficult would be trying to restrain her from embracing him and acting like his wife. She had to be restrained, there were Jedi and civilians everywhere and Yoda and Mace would be meeting him there soon. Taking a deep breath, Obi Wan contacted the com-link in the high Council Room, praying that she and the Younglings were all right, and still there.
After Anakin had left, Padme had sat with the Younglings and watched them play, dreaming of the day when Anakin and her children would arrive. She loved all of these children in here, they were so reassuring- happy, optimistic, and completely innocent. It almost saddened her to think that one day these children would be warriors, in charge of fighting and faced with death and destruction. However, she knew that they would be fighting only for peace and democracy, and this thought reassured her.
A young Jedi had burst in the door, saying that Anakin had sent him. He looked at Padme, and she knew immediately that he knew the truth. The young Jedi had been very kind, and he sat by the door ready to jump up at any moment and defend the room. He too was good with the Younglings- Padme was glad to know that if her children were to be trained as Jedi, they would be treated well by all of the Jedi. A great deal of time passed, and nothing happened. Peering out the windows, Padme could see that the Jedi were managing to hold the troops off from the Temple, but that there were far more clones than Jedi. Hopefully, whatever Anakin had rushed off to do would turn the tables in this war. She chatted with the other Jedi, and found out that he was only an 18-year-old Padawan. He was respectful and calm, a complete opposite ofthe Padawan that she had married. She enjoyed talking to him, hearing about his experiences and especially how he revered her husband.
Suddenly, just as Padme was beginning to feel very secure, the Jedi in front of her, as well as the fifty young children in the room, all gasped. Padme cursed the fact that she wasn't Force sensitive. "What is it?" she asked, fearing the worst.
"Something's wrong," replied the Jedi.
"Bad feelings in the Force," said Eivyn. All of the children looked at one another, and many moved closer to Padme and the Jedi.
"Someone with an extremely strong Force signal is experiencing a lot of pain," said the Padawan. "It is even painful to me. This person must be very high in medichlorians, for the Younglings to sense it too- his levels must be-" The young Jedi stopped talking, realizing that he knew exactly who it was that was hurt. "Um, I mean, it could be nothing though. Sometimes, the Force gets very strange, especially during times of battle. You never know."
"It's Anakin," said Padme, not even making it a question.
Sighing and looking at the Senator, the young Jedi nodded, "It's very likely." He paused. "I'm sorry."
Padme couldn't help it, but tears formed in her eyes. The Padawan began to look very uncomfortable, but Eivyn hugged her. She held the child in her arms, just praying that her husband would get to do the same with their own children.
"If it's any reassurance, he's alive," said the Padawan. "We would all know if Master Skywalker had died. In fact, all of the Masters seem to be alive."
"Thank you," Padme said, and she wiped her eyes. "I just hope he's all right."
Obi Wan's voice suddenly began shouting breathlessly through the com-link.
"Padme! Are you there? You must come to the medical unit immediately."
Padme knew something was gravely wrong with Anakin. He was very strong, and usually injuries didn't land him in the medical unit. He could withstand most things without even worrying about them. He had lost his hand and had it repaired on a ship for Force sake.But she didn't cry. Something inside of her froze, and she reached for the com-link in a daze to answer Obi Wan.
"What happened to him?" She asked, her emotion suddenly flooding back into her voice.
"It would be better if you would just come down here," said Obi Wan. Then he hesitantly spoke again, "And Padme- I know you will have to practice great restraint, but you mustn't rush to him. You have to be only his friend, nothing more, there are Jedi everywhere. Masters Yoda and Mace Windu will be joining me shortly, most likely before you reach me."
"I will be there very soon," she said. She turned to the Padawan, "I have to go," she said, "Thank you for everything."
"Of course," He replied. "I would go with you, but I must stay with the Younglings."
"Of course." With that, Padme left the room, the children watching her sadly, and went to find her husband.
Back in the hospital, medical droids surrounded Anakin. The problem was that no one really knew what Sith lightning did. It was hard to treat, and the droids were confused.
"His systems all seem to be in perfect order, justextraordinarily weak," a droid told Obi Wan. "They all began to shut down. There is not much we can do but give him nutrients and sleep. He has to recuperate on his own." The droid paused. "He is very weak. We will monitor his vital functions. Master Skywalker is certainly astrong person- we can only hope he will soon be back to his full power."
"Thank you," said Obi Wan. The droids left, and Obi Wan was again alone with his former Padawan. "Be strong Anakin, you will get through this."
Mace and Yoda arrived quickly, distressed to see Anakin still unconscious.
"Hit very hard, was he," Yoda said. "Died, would have anyone else in his situation."
"Let's hope that he pulls through," Mace said.
Soon, many Jedi and a few remaining Senators began to flow through the room, paying respects to the one who had ended the war. Yoda explained that as soon as the clones saw Sidious captured, they stopped the attack. They were sent to the Outer Rim, and their fate would be decided later. Jedi again were the primary fighting force in the galaxy. They discussed how to reassemble the Senate and the government, but knew that these issues would later need a lot of discussion withmany more people than the few of them in the room.
Soon, they were silent, just hoping that Anakin would be all right.
"He will pull through this," Obi Wan kept saying, reassuring himself more than anybody.
Suddenly, Senator Amidala burst into the room.
"Where is he?" She asked, tears on her face.
"He's here Padme," Obi Wan said, giving her a very stern face.
"I don't care any more Obi Wan. I just want to be with him," she said, and as the group in the room looked at each other, puzzled, Padme rushed to Anakin's bedside and kissed him right in front of them.
"Anakin, please come back. I need you, our babies need you. Please, don't leave me." She began to cry silently, and put her face down on his chest as she ran one hand through his hair.
"So," said Yoda. "True, the rumor is."