CHAPTER ELEVEN:
Mercy

"Artoo, get the Ebony ready, destination Naboo. I'll be there in twenty…" I COM call Artoo and wait for a response.

"Dweep, dwoo."

"That's right Artoo, we're going home."

I quicken my steps, my plan resolute. Master Yoda is confronting Palpatine; I will contact Organa and tell them that once Master Yoda is finished to meet me in Naboo air space. Once I find my daughter and wife safe, I will be ready for my final task.

I have to find Anakin. The Force guide me because if left to my own doing I am afraid I will strike with anger and hate. It will only be with the goodness of the Force that I will have the power to 'slow to wrath'.

"Be careful my old friend," Bail's voice goes heavy as I relate to him my agenda. Nothing else is shared; unvoiced understandings pass between us just as they always do. We understand each other; we've fought together since the beginning of the War and there is a single understanding that has been between us since our second battle. It was a gruesome fight, one that I almost didn't make it out of. It was then as we were waiting for relief troops that I confided in him of my marriage. He told me of his wife and their hopes to start a family after the war, I told him of my daughter. That talk changed me and I am sure him, that day we made a pact that if ever one of us should fall in battle it would be the other that would personally tell the family. It's now an unvoiced promise that we issue and affirm with merely the tone of voice.

"And you my friend."

I am nearly home; I am nearly home to my family. Landing a mere quarter mile from the lake estate thanks to the landing pad we had built when we bought the Platinum Ebony it now takes only minutes to reach the house.

I leave the speeder in the driveway too anxious to find my wife and daughter. ..

Something isn't right. I feel it as I start the stairs. The wind is listless, the air silent. In fact, it seems everything on the whole property is motionless.

I bound into the house my movements a blur and I am not much aware of what am I seeing around me, I just want to find my family, "Padmé! Paddy! Leia!" I shout.

I tear through the entryway chest heaving, not from excursion…but from fear. Down the hall I, head focused on the bedroom. Throwing open the doors I find everything in its place, everything seems untouched…the room is empty. My panic builds as I wrench the double doors to the balcony open. I scan the gardens there is no sign of them. I resist the urge to search, reason telling me to clear the house first.

Sprinting down the veranda, I near the dinning hall…and I see the rubble.

I can't breathe. In seeming slow motion, I come to the destruction. The crumbled pillars make a silent scream swell in me.

No!

I move around the debris and in horror find my wife spread on the ground.

It's only pure adrenalin that keeps me moving. Fighting the need to lash out in anger and fighting to keep myself from falling to my knees. I rush to her side and kneel, feeling for a pulse. Her face is so pale, her lips are a shade just off purple…there are deep blue, black bruises around her throat…hand prints…!

There's a pulse! Oh, it's faint but she's alive! Come back to me…come on baby…come on.

"Padmé! Come on…fight…come back to me…" I whisper feeling her life force slip toward oblivion.

Her dress is tore and there are gouges up and down her arms…I touch her face, it's so deathly cool, "Come on…" I say louder parting her lips leaning down to push air into her lungs, "Breathe!" I cry pushing on her chest…"Please…"

Calm is fleeting quickly. Breath after breath I breathe into her trying to assess her other injuries too. They seem only to be skin deep…there could be deep internal bleeding, but I can't be sure.

My desperation multiplies, where is Leia? I can only hope Paddy has her safe somewhere…

"Come on…" I grunt…a breath! Oh, she's breathing!

"That's right…oh…" I brush the hair from her forehead. I've been so focused on her that I haven't even had the time to contemplate who could have done this…then I see it.

Going for the medkit on the east wall and there sitting right in front of it I find a round Fire Eye gem paperweight and a necklace. A necklace I know all to well, it was Shmi Skywalkers' last gift to her son as he left her arms.

Anakin!

Force help us, what has he done?

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"Leia…" I sputter eyes opening to slits, enough to see Obi-Wan's face.

"Leia!" I scream louder lunging up my head feeling unattached from my body. My lungs sting and I can't see straight…There are three Obi-Wan's dancing in front of me.

"Leia…" I demanded trying to turn to the pile of stone covering…killing my daughter. Oh, Leia…no….

Obi-Wan holds me against him saying something I don't care about, saying something that means nothing till I have my daughter in my arms.

I try and tell him but my thoughts get jumbled from my head to my tongue. I fight against him till he can't help but release me.

"Leia…is…" I point to the mass of stone while holding up a hand to stop him from taking back hold of me.

It finally seems to dawn as horror fills his face. I pull myself to my feet still shaking and stumbling.

I shake with silent soul ravishing sobs and Obi-Wan raises his hands to rubble. The stones shake and air starts to shift. I move forward on unsteady legs. Using the Force, he moves the oppressing wreckage to the side.

My heart can't beat; my mind can't think…I launch forward into the thick dust cloud pawing for something tangible. In seconds a Force wind blows clear the dust and Obi-Wan comes to me and we scramble to the mangled body of Paddy. Leia is nowhere to be seen.

"Paddy!" we cry and I reach for a pulse falling to the floor beside him.

"He's alive!" I sob, tears finally making their appearance.

"Where is Leia?" Obi-Wan asks, though I am not sure if he asks me or Paddy, I am too distraught to answer anyway.

"Here…" Paddy's pained weak voice breaks.

"Paddy," I choke grabbing his arm as he tries to roll over on his back.

"She's…only…sleeping…" Paddy coughs and wheezes lying now on his back, "A Force…sleep."

"Shh, Paddy, don't talk," Obi-Wan checks him over as I clutch my baby to my chest.

Oh my baby…my sweet baby…tears roll down my cheeks and fall on her precious face…I almost…I did, lose her. I could collapse…

"Oh, Paddy…" I turn to look at him, breaking all the more. I don't need Obi-Wan to tell me the extent of his injuries I seem them all to clear.

"Oh Paddy…you are so brave…I can't…" I put a hand on his dusty cheek truly feeling my heart crumble.

"It's going to be okay Paddy, just hang in there okay?" Obi-Wan assures.

"Don't…" his cough results in sputtered blood, "lie to me…son…I know…" Paddy's eyes show the pain and I reach out clutching one hand while Obi-Wan holds his other.

"I kept her safe…just like I…promised…" he looks to me "You…are…a…daughter to me…" he coughs again—and again.

"Paddy…you are so much a part of who I am! You've been a father to me; you've been so good…." I choke on a sob. I can't do it, I can't say goodbye to him! "Paddy, I love you!" I kiss his cheek.

He smiles weakly, "Obi-Wan…I kept up…my end …of the bargain…now it's your turn…promise to keep these girls safe…" his eye lids are getting heavier and my tears are pulsing harder.

"Thank you Paddy…you did keep my girls safe, thank you…" Obi-Wan's voice is haggard and I see a few stray tears slip from the corners of his eyes, "I'll always remember what you did for me…for us. I promise they'll always be safe."

"I love you so much Paddy," I whisper again, he smiles…, and life leaves him.

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Two of the only know Jedi in the galaxy sit the common room of the Kenobi's ship, silence engulfing.

"You're wife…" Master Yoda looks to the younger Jedi.

"She is sleeping," Obi-Wan's blue stare focuses on the floor.

"He attacked her! Master Yoda, my padawan, my friend…my son attacked and tried to kill my wife and daughter!" Obi-Wan's anger rolls in waves. Never has the normally even keeled mellow man had such an uprising of hate in him. Never has this man who believed in peaceful resolution felt the need to destroy and kill so deep. "Anakin Skywalker brutally attacked the innocent with no mercy!"

"Stopped, he must be…Sith still strong, they are. Apprentice to Sidious he has become…" Master Yoda weary from his battle with the Sith Lord, a battle in which he did not win.

"I have to do it. He is my responsibility, I trained him…I will stop him."

"The Force empty it is, help you it cannot. Must find peace, strength inside yourself…control you must gain."

The younger man refuses to acknowledge his Master's words; he knows that control will not come to him if not through the Force. He's human after all…and in the flesh, he is no better then flesh.

"I need to get Padmé and Leia somewhere safe, perhaps Bail will keep them on his ship for a time…till Anakin has been dealt with," Obi-Wan muses aloud.

The Master shakes his head, he knows too well the man who sits with him. He knows his sorrow and his hate. He knows that the fight he is about to embark on will either destroy him, or cripple him; there is no failsafe this time.

"Into hiding I must go, accompany me your family can, Organa's ship we use."

Obi-Wan nods slowly eyes far off.

"Find Skywalker, find evil…where to look?"

Obi-Wan cringes bringing the necklace and the paperweight containing the rare gem the gem only found on one planet, he knows, Anakin wanted him to know. "He's on Mustafar."

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I left my wife and daughter in the care of Master Yoda on Bail's ship. I alone in the Platinum Ebony leave to face Anakin.

The fiery planet is looming in my view, Padmé's terror stricken face fills my mind, Paddy's dying words echo in my ears, and Leia's ensured future fuels my heart.

Closing my eyes I seek the Force…I find pain. The wounded Force is collapsing in on it's self, Yoda was right, I am going in alone.

Anakin…you were the Chosen One and instead of being the one to defeat the Sith, you've joined them! You slaughtered your brethren, you have guaranteed that the galaxy will be enslaved to evil…Is there hope left? Is there a chance to bring you back?

I have to try, I have to believe that there is still good in you because if I don't I will massacre you without a second thought. I have to believe that somewhere in your seemingly black soul there is a shadow of goodness…if I don't then in the end…I am no better then you.

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He is here. Obi-Wan Kenobi…my former Master. How do you like it Master how do you like having your foundation ripped from you? Not pleasant is it?

It was all for naught. All your lectures, your warnings, your instructions. You failed me! That's right, land your ship…You must be here to…to what? Reason with me? Surely, you can't think you are here to challenge me?

I am more powerful then I ever knew I could be. The hunger bounds in my veins, hotter then the lava below me and stronger the iron around me, the darkside consumes and empowers. I have ended the War, I have assured that what the Jedi did to me they will never do to anyone else. I have cleansed the galaxy of the self serving, hypocrite Jedi! I will control the galaxy and it will be fair, it will be right…

I hang back in the shadows waiting for the ship to offer up its passenger.

Oh Kenobi, this is the last thing, the last part of my past left to destroy and then I will put away Anakin Skywalker and become forever more, Darth Vader.

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Steam fills my vision as I stand on the ramp, he's close. All the years of our friendship, all the years fought together to find our way as Jedi, as men…to have it all summed up here, on this fire planet.

I walk down the ramp, the steam clearing.

"Hello Master."

I check a sigh feeling suddenly weary, "Anakin…" I start, I see his throbbing hatred, he oozes with evil. Somehow, I know that all hope of goodness has died…I have to try…not for him, but for me. I have to know that I did all I could.

"What are you doing Anakin? Why this? You don't have to do this!"

He laughs loudly, mockingly, arrogantly, "You have to ask? You betrayed me! You took me from my mother, you took Padmé from me and you tried to take my power!" he starts to pace around me, hand continually going for his lightsaber.

"I didn't take you from your mother! You left because you wanted to become a Jedi…and Anakin, Padmé was never yours…"

"Lie! She loved me! She loved me and you took her away…But I took her back! You found her didn't you?" he smirks cunningly, "Her lifeless body, your daughter and your friend under the rock…How does it feel? How does that gnawing hurt, anger, and pain feel?
"The Jedi betrayed me! They knew my power and kept me from realizing it…No matter now, they've been dealt with."

I open my mouth to tell him that the hate in him is poison. I want to tell him my wife and daughter are alive that those sins he can still recover from... but in truth it is a blessing he thinks them not, they will be safe now…

"You know that's not true! Anakin I messed up, I am sorry, maybe I should have told you from the beginning but I was honestly only trying to do what was best for you! How can you do this? How can you turn your back on all your training, all the lives you saved in defense of the Republic? How can you forget all that and give into the hate of the Sith?" I plead as we've now begun our looming circle of pacing.

"The Republic has become corrupt by the power hungry Jedi! That is why you wouldn't let me ascend to the rank of Master…you knew my power could not be matched and that I would see what the Jedi really were! Now I will see every last one of them dead!"

He shrugs off his robe as I do mine. This is it, I can't fight this any longer, hope is dead. Anakin will have to be destroyed….It ends here, it ends now.

"Don't make me destroy you Anakin," I plead one last time bringing my lightsaber into my hands.

"As if—you could," he glares and our sabers ignite.

I am sorry my padawan, my friend…my son.

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I hurt all over, I ache down deep inside. Flashes of what happened on Naboo come screaming back.

Anakin attacking me…him crushing Paddy and Leia…I still feel him on me, I still hear the material of my dress ripping. He destroyed me from the inside out, or least he tried.

Now somewhere on that planet below this ship my husband seeks out the enemy. For that is what has become of that little boy who won his freedom in a podrace, that loving little boy with bright blue eyes, that little boy who had been the pride and joy of his mother's life…He has now robbed so many other mother's of their children, has now slain the innocent with no remorse, has now let evil take over. He now has darkness in him blacker then blackest hole in the galaxy.

And my husband is trying to stop him.

Sobs of terror build in me till I can't breathe. I choke on the deep soul escaping anguish as it pushes me beyond my limit of holding. My head throbs just behind my eyes so hard, that I can neither think nor see straight. I double over wrapping my arms around my middle not knowing if I could go on if something were to happen to Obi-Wan…then I look to the door separating Leia and I…and I know I could go on if I had to…I could live for her.

AN: Hi, well I felt so guilty for the last chapter that I rearranged my hectic schedule and squeezed in time to get this next chapter out :-) I feel I must explain the last chapter a bit, I am sorry that it was so…well gloomy. I had reason for it I promise.

I, as you have found out after reading this chapter, took out the scene of Padmé on Mustafar, it didn't fit with my story, though I do love in the movie. I wanted Anakin to believe Padmé and Leia dead so that as Obi-Wan pointed out in this chapter they would be safe. Safe from any of the Separatists seeking to do harm or anybody really, because it seemed best for all involved if they are believed dead.

It also had a lot to do with linking the next three movies to this story. Vader does not recognize Leia because he doesn't know she lived, the same theory here, only he thinks her dead as well as Padmé. My intentions actually were very good…honest! LOL I didn't want to kill off Padmé as it was in the movie and I might as well confess now Anakin doesn't die…so I needed a way to hide Padmé and Leia so I thought it best to let it 'appear' they died. But alas, it was my cruel streak that let the chapter end as it did…so I apologize for that.

As for any spelling mistakes that might have been there, I am so sorry, I don't know what to say. I ran it through several times in Word and spell check came back all clear, except for one that I do acknowledge I missed and it somehow made to the post. I don't know on the grammar though, that could have been messed up, and while I believe everything was spelled correctly that doesn't mean that there wasn't some incorrect wording, homonyms, idioms, auto corrected words (I don't know how many times Word as auto corrected me with totally the wrong word LOL) and for that I sincerely apologize. I was just very tired and didn't spend as much time as I should have proof reading it. It's normally not like me to post stuff that is as amber75 commented, full of spelling mistakes. So if it so horrific I will take it down and try to redo it, but I might not be able to get to it for a bit, still so tremendously busy.

Thanks for your understanding and hopefully your continued reading—RaeAnne

TheAmazingTecnocolorRingWraith: I am going to go cry now…I hate it that you hate me… I am sorry :-)

"Don't make me go force and cast Foie on your butt!"

I am afraid I don't know what that is… LOL But I am scared, and humbly submit this chapter to you in hope that you will defer this punishment… LOL
Thanks for reviewing!

jremme: Thank you :-) I have tried to continue to write and keep updating as frequently and as regularly as possible. Hating Anakin, oh boy do I hate him, I have made him very bad in this story, and that's partly because I felt so sorry for him in the original movies…up until he killed the kids that is. I so hated him after that. And what an apt comparison, Anakin's heart, Palpatine's face, oh yes one and the same! LOL Thanks for reviewing!

sassy-satine: I am the one that feels like b-ch! I have all my wonderful readers hating me! Oh it's awful…I am sorry, I know the whole death of the Kenobi family wasn't a good thing…but I've fixed it now! See all better, Padme, Leia they are okay!

I read the reviews this morning and I about cried, I felt so hated LOL It has thrown my whole day into a bad mood, so I endeavored to fix it and get this chapter up, I don't like not being liked LOL

Thank you for being honest, and your review was most kind in its dislike so I appreciate that :-) LOL

mrs skywalker: No, they aren't really dead, almost were…but Obi-Wan showed up in time. Three cheers for the WonderJedi! LOL

SuP3R G1R: The day is dawning, evil Anakin is rising, or rather Vader is rising. Yes, poor Padmé, Leia, Obi-Wan…at least they are alive now :-)

Sparkle85: I am sorry, please don't cry…cliff hangers are mean, I am a mean horrible person for writing it, I admit it! Forgive me please! But I did update soon…does that help:-)

amber75: Oh, I agree last chapter was a huge downer and it was pretty depressing to write, but I've made it better I think :-) As for the spelling mistakes, I am sorry, I didn't realize it was so bad, I hopefully will be able to find them and fix them…if I can carve out a twenty fifth hour in a day LOL thanks for reviewing

SoloKenobi:Well thank you so much :-) I think I feel safe in saying that all us Obidala fans wish it was an Obidala storyline that was in the movies instead of one that was...hey maybe we can all get together and find Lucas and make a plea to him to redo the movies...yeah that's it Obidala fans of the world unite LOL :-) Thank you so much for reviewing, and thank you for such wonderful compliments on the previous chapter, I am sorry I wasn't able to reply to them before. :-)