Padmé did not move. She shook her head and cried out, "No! I will not leave you."
"Padmé! Do not argue with me. Go!"
"No!"
Sidious cackled at the couple's bickering, "I see you never did gain control over your slave, my young apprentice. No matter, soon she will no longer be our problem."
"You will not harm her!" Anakin yelled as he directed his attention back to Sidious.
"You can save her. I will spare her life if you rejoin me." Sidious replied coolly.
Anakin snorted at this, "I don't think so."
"If you will not turn, I will be forced to kill her, my young apprentice." Sidious said with an evil smile.
"I will not turn, and you will not harm her!" Anakin yelled, and then directed his attention to Padmé one more time. "Get out of here, now!"
Padmé did not leave, but moved backwards from Anakin when she heard the snap hiss of Sidious's lightsaber blade igniting.
Anakin turned back towards Sidious, and grabbed his lightsaber hilt off of his belt and ignited his sapphire blade. He was angry that Padmé had not left as he had instructed, but at least she was moving away from the ensuing battle.
"I see you have altered your lightsaber, my young apprentice. A pity you went through that exercise because soon you will be changing it back."
Anakin remained silent and glared at his enemy.
Sidious slowly started to circle Anakin, his red blade held out in an attack position. Anakin focused all of his attention on Sidious and mirrored his footwork. At the moment, his lightsaber was held in a defensive stance. He was at a disadvantage with his Force abilities disabled, but Anakin was a gifted swordsman. His natural talents would be put to the test today.
The two men continued to circle around each other for a few minutes, while Padmé looked on in apprehension from across the room. Then all at once, Sidious ran at Anakin, and started a series of violent attacks.
Sidious's scarlet blade was swung towards Anakin's left side, but the young man was quick to deflect it. In response, the Sith Lord quickly spun and launched an attack on Anakin's right side, but again this attack was blocked by Anakin's blue blade. The two men held their blades together and pushed their weight into each other, trying to dominate the other one.
Soon each fighter stepped back, and took up their respective stances to start a fresh round of attacks. This time Anakin, approached Sidious, and swung his blade directly in front of his former master. The Sith Lord easily deflected this attack, and Anakin quickly spun and attempted to lash out at Sidious's right side. Like all previous attacks, this one was parried away as well.
The two opponents seemed to dance around each other as their blades clashed with one another. Neither seemed to be gaining an advantage over the other.
After another volley of Anakin's attacks were broken off and the two fighters were circling each other again, Sidious stated, "You fight well, my young apprentice."
Anakin briefly laughed at the comment, "You should know, you taught me!"
Sidious smiled, "Yes, I did. However, you had your Force abilities at the time."
"Then you are obviously losing your touch, if you cannot best me now." Anakin replied sarcastically.
"You think so?" Sidious cackled. "You still have much to learn, my young apprentice." Sidious then quickly held an open hand out to Anakin and violently Force pushed him into one of the walls.
"Anakin!" Padmé screamed as he hit the wall near the doorway, and the chains that had previously bound her wrapped themselves around him. He had lost his grip on his lightsaber, which fell to the floor with a loud clang after Anakin's body made impact with the wall. He struggled against the chains as they wound themselves tighter against his body, preventing him from retrieving his weapon. Padmé ran to him, but was soon being dragged away from him by some invisible force.
"Anakin!" Padmé screamed again as she held her right hand out as if she was trying to reach him. She struggled to move towards him, but was powerless. Sidious was using the Force to drag her away from Anakin.
Anakin continued to struggle against his bonds. He briefly looked up and saw that Padmé was being pulled away from him. "Let her go!" He yelled angrily.
Sidious cackled, "Now, now my young apprentice. Is that any way to treat my honored guest? Your slave will be the witness to your fall back to the dark side."
"I will not fall!" Anakin said as he thrashed against the chains that held him.
Padmé continued to struggle against the hold Sidious had on her, but found her efforts useless. She stared hopelessly back to Anakin. She knew her time was up, in a few moments Sidious would kill her. She said a silent prayer for Anakin, and with her eyes tried to give him a silent farewell.
Padmé screamed as one of Sidious's gnarled hands gripped her around the wrist and sharply drew her towards him. He then fixed his gaze on his apprentice and spoke to him, "I will give you one last chance, my apprentice. Join me, and I will spare her. Otherwise, she will die. Make your choice!" Sidious finished with an evil smile.
"Don't do it, Anakin!" Padmé shouted as she struggled against Sidious's grip. She tried to claw and kick at him, but Sidious used the Force to block her attacks and keep her fairly immobile.
Anakin glared at Sidious, his anger growing exponentially with each passing moment.
Sidious closed his eyes and fed off his apprentice's feelings, "Good! I can feel your anger, it makes you powerful. Now join me, let the dark side consume you."
"No!" Padmé shouted, "Don't listen to him."
"It is unavoidable, it is your destiny. You are mine!" Sidious stated firmly, his eyes boring into Anakin's.
Anakin had felt the lure of the dark side drawing him in, but when he heard Sidious claim him as his own, he shouted, "No! I am not your slave!"
Sidious's eyes narrowed at this, and he threw Padmé on the floor between himself and Anakin. "So be it." He then launched Force lightning at Padmé who screamed in agony. The metal bikini she wore that acted as a conductor for the dark electricity magnified the pain she experienced.
"NOOOOOO!" Anakin roared in response as he violently twisted his body against his chains.
Sidious stopped his Force lightning momentarily and stared down at Padmé. She tried to pull herself up, but found herself too shaken to do so. A wicked gleam crossed his eyes as he watched the woman struggle. He then averted his gaze back to his apprentice, and smiled. He then fired another quick bolt of Force lightning at Padmé, who writhed and screamed in agony once more.
"Stop! NOOOOO!" Anakin shouted once more, still trying to free himself from his bonds. He tried to will the Force block Sidious had put on him earlier to shatter. He was helpless without his Force abilities.
"I gave you a choice, my young apprentice. You will not join me, so I will not spare her. Only the dark side of the Force is strong enough to stop me." He shot another bolt of Force lightning at Padmé who screamed again before collapsing back on the floor breathing heavily.
Sidious continued his speech, "I can feel your anger my apprentice. Release it, only your hatred can stop me. The powers of the dark side are the only thing that can save her."
Sidious paused and let Anakin mull this over. He noticed Anakin's gaze fall back onto Padmé and he could feel his apprentice's anger and hatred grow. Soon darkness would consume him. One more attack, and he would kill Amidala once and for all, and complete his apprentice's fall to darkness.
As Sidious raised his hand for the final attack, Padmé looked up and locked her eyes on Anakin's. She reached her right hand out to him and hoarsely whispered, "Anakin."
Sidious started another volley of Force lightning attacks on Padmé. However, this time he would not let up until she was dead. Padmé screamed and writhed in pain once more, and Anakin felt the hatred in him reach the boiling point. The dark side was beckoning him, and as he watched Padmé and heard her pain, he found its lure more enticing.
Padmé's life was dwindling quickly, and with it Anakin's resolve to fight the encroaching darkness. Sidious was about to win his battle, Lord Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith was about to return.
Padmé's body felt like it was on fire. The pain was too intense, and she knew she could not sustain this assault for much longer. However, she knew that she had to tell something to Anakin before she died. As the Force lightning raged throughout her body, she forced herself to repress her screams of agony. She looked up into Anakin's eyes that she barely noticed were turning a Sithly yellow and shouted, "Anakin, I love you!"
Those three simple words, words Anakin had never heard from Padmé before, shattered through the darkness that had started to consume him. His eyes regained their blue color as he let go of his anger. Padmé loved him, and his heart swelled at the thought.
Additionally, those three words destroyed the dark Force block Sidious had placed on Anakin. The dark side knew nothing of love, and the strong power it possessed. Darkness was no match for the blinding light that was Padmé and Anakin's love.
Anakin looked into his former master's eyes, whose attention was focused on causing Padmé pain. She had reverted to screaming at the torture her body was enduring. Anakin's eyes narrowed at the gleeful look on Sidious's face, and he called upon the Force to release his chains. Then before Sidious noticed, Anakin Force leapt between Sidious and Padmé, and using his left hand tried to hold Sidious's Force lightning at bay.
Padmé fell silent as her attack ended, and she blacked out as she collapsed on the floor.
Sidious was taken aback by his apprentice's sudden Force recovery. Fear gripped the Sith Lord as he realized he might have underestimated his former apprentice. Sidious tried to continually fire Force lighting at the young man, but Anakin used the Force to push it back at him.
Eventually, a large ball of Force energy was gathered between the outstretched hands of the two combatants. However, it was soon impossible for either to control it, and the ball exploded, pushing both combatants away from each other. Anakin landed near Padmé, and Sidious landed near a large window that shattered with the force of the blast.
Anakin quickly got up and sprinted to Sidious fallen form. He called his lightsaber to him and ignited the blue blade as he moved. Sidious gingerly stood up as he sensed Anakin's approach. His black Sith robes billowed in the wind that emanated from the shattered window.
Anakin swung his blade in a high arc in an attempt to behead Sidious, but the Sith Lord ignited his red blade and parried the attack away. The two were then locked in a fierce lightsaber battle, as Anakin brutally swung his sapphire blade against the Sith's crimson one. He managed to keep Sidious's back to the window, preventing any escape.
Eventually, the better swordsman won out, when Anakin disarmed Sidious by cutting through the top of the hilt of Sidious's lightsaber, rendering the weapon useless. In a last ditch effort to save his own life, the Sith Lord fired Force lighting at Anakin again. Anakin held his ignited lightsaber in his right hand, and using the Force and his left hand to hold the lighting at bay, as Sidious spoke to him.
"How can you betray me? I saved you!" Sidious called out desperately.
"No, Padmé saved me. From you."
"And now she is dead! You have lost again, my apprentice. Like you always do. First your mother, then your hand…"
Anakin interrupted Sidious before he could continue. "This hand." Anakin tilted his head and gestured to the metal hand holding his lightsaber. "Turned me to the dark side. It will now lead me away from it." Then by relinquishing his use on the Force to hold back the lighting, Anakin quickly Force flung the sapphire blade into Sidious's chest.
The remnants of Sidious Force lightning penetrated Anakin's body, depleting the young man's strength. Both the former Sith apprentice, and the Sith Lord stared at each other momentarily. The Sith Lord's eyes showed shock as his life force left him, while Anakin's showed a smug smile.
Then feeling his strength deplete further, Anakin quickly grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber, and pulled it from Sidious's body. The Sith Lord swayed momentarily before falling out of the window to land with a heavy thud on the palace grounds.
Anakin turned from the window, and staggered towards Padmé. To surprise Sidious, he had to put the full weight of the Force behind his lightsaber. As a result, he had been forced to let the Force lightning hit him. Aftershocks continued to reverberate throughout his body, and his breathing grew shallow as he felt himself get weaker and weaker.
He managed to make it to Padmé's side before he collapsed to the floor and he held a hand out to brush the hair away from her face. He looked at her immobile form, and whispered, "I love you, thank you," before he blacked out the light of the world.