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12
Anakin and Mace stood there, neither one daring to move. As Mace watched, an imperceptible change came over Anakin. He opened his mouth one more time, trying to bring back the Chosen One.
"If not for the Jedi, for the galaxy, Anakin. We need you! You have no idea how important you are. I know! It's my gift, I can see it! Please!"
The words came out thickly, they sounded like a child pleading with a parent for a candy treat. Never in his thoughts did Mace imagine himself to be begging like this.
It made him feel like a dog, not a Jedi.
Anakin had to be brought back.
"No," Anakin whispered so softly that Mace stared at him. Anakin repeated himself, "No. I'm not doing what you want anymore."
"Anakin–"
"You do not understand my gift, Master Windu," he said. "This is my gift. And you can't take it away."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Anakin had his lightsaber out and ignited. The blue blade swept up in a tight arc, held close to Anakin's body by his right hand. Mace had been so intent on the changes raging through Skywalker that he almost did not sense the danger in time.
Snap-hiss.
A purple beam of light shot into existence, crossing with the blue shaft threatening to slice Mace into two pieces.
The lightsabers hissed and crackled, their wielders staring at each other. Anakin's face was unreadable, and Mace showed only fierce determination.
Suddenly Anakin pushed against Mace, making him give way.
A Jedi fought only on the defensive. And Anakin had provoked the fight.
However, Anakin knew Master Windu's weakness. They had sparred together in the Temple enough. Only a Jedi Master of the weakest quality would have to create his own lightsaber style. Mace defended Vapaad by saying that it channeled and focused his own weakness, but Anakin knew better.
If he pushed in just the right spot, no amount of Vapaad would save Mace from himself.
The darkest nightmare, Anakin found, was to be forced to face yourself.
Out here, on Stalynia, such a beautiful planet, Anakin had only had himself.
He stared that horrid feeling down the throat, prying it open so he could understand what haunted him. In doing so, everything that Anakin once had been was eaten away; left as an angry, fearful shell that was only a faint echo of the man it had been before. Through his meditations, he brough to full life the other side of him – the dark one that slumbered for so long in the depths of his heart.
This was what Anakin found upon facing himself, and now it had utter control over him. There was no stopping it, and shunted off to a corner of his own mind, Anakin hoped that in time he could regain control and rid himself of this nightmare he created.
The flashing of the lightsabers attracted the attention of the Coastals and the Inlanders alike. Groups of both people gathered around the area, wondering what the dancing beams of light were.
For the first time in many centuries, they stood side-by-side, joined by a common interest. Not one of them thought of fighting another.
Leaders of both groups would soon say that they knew the one from the stars would bring peace to Stalynia.
Long after the passing of those who witnessed the fight, and many generations more, there would always remain a sense of mystery about the place where the duel occurred.
While the people of Stalynia did not understand the reason for the fight, first there was only one person from the stars, then suddenly there were two and they were fighting – they still understood that it was a duel of great importance.
As a marker for the Final Fight that Brought the Great Peace, as they called it, they left Anakin's hut alone. A sea storm would destroy it many years later, and the Coastals who helped in its construction lamented the loss. After this time, every year on the anniversary of the duel, Coastals and Inlanders alike would flock to the site. Together, they would partake in a great feast, displaying their traditions to each other. Eventually, the origins of some traditions as being Coastal or Inlander were forgotten.
At the end of the feast, two simple flowers, one white and the other red, were placed where the hut once stood.
One for each of the two people from the stars.
White was for the one who died there; white being the color of those who passed from life.
Red for the one who came first, the one who had loved and had been loved; red being the color for love and lovers.
The Dark Jedi glowered at Mace Windu. Picking himself up from the ground, wiping off the grass seeds from his robes, he stood to face the Master.
It was time to end this duel.
The fighting had been so intense, so consuming that neither of them noticed the growing crowd of Coastals and Inlanders on the crest overlooking the site of Anakin's hut. For now, the darkness that had taken over Anakin did not care about the simple people of Stalynia. He wanted nothing more than to teach this Jedi Master a final lesson.
His hand went to his belt, and remembered that his lightsaber was not there. In fact, it was nowhere in sight. The kick that had knocked him to the ground, and the air out of him, sent it flying into the grasses somewhere. It would be a nightmare to try and find it. Anakin might have tried calling it to him with the Force if the part of him in control had been a little more rational, but the only thing on his mind was the rage telling him to take down Mace.
Blind to the stupidity of the move, Anakin ran straight for Mace. He hit him full force with a solid head butt to the stomach. Mace let out an "Oof!" as the wind was knocked out of him.
Least he knew what the favor felt like.
The move caught the older Master by surprise; he only moved his arms to block his assailant, rather than igniting his saber and skewering him like a Corellian starfin fish. Regardless, the younger man hit him full force and knocked him over. Mace's arm moved again, and something other than red took over the Dark One's vision.
Silver.
Silver outlined by gold.
It would be all too easy to wrestle the lightsaber away from the Jedi, while he gasped for breath. He knew the Master's connection to Vapaad had been shattered. Mace's concentration was always scattered for a few valuable seconds after he broke away from his precious lightsaber style.
In the end, it proved to be as easy as the Dark Jedi thought. As if it were a dream, he watched himself grab hold of Mace's arm, ignoring the struggles the Jedi put up against him. He tried his hardest to wrench the lightsaber free of his grip, but he wouldn't give up –
Anakin did not remember the exact point where part of him decided that turning on the lightsaber would solve his problems faster than getting it free from Mace. He just merely thought it. With a snap-hiss that he barely heard, the purple blade shot to life.
Jedi Master Mace Windu was no more, speared through the heart on his own weapon.
Relish flooded the Dark Jedi as he realized with his victory this horrible fight was over. For a second he just remained there, the lightsaber humming and burning the earth it penetrated under Mace. Then the realization of what he did flooded Anakin and he fought back his dark side, leaving him with the reality before him.
He killed a Master. Not just any Master – but one of The Masters.
Worse, he knew all along what he had been doing. There was no hiding from it this time. Kashyyyk he could push aside with the excuse that he lost control.
Anakin knew full well he intended to kill Mace. He knew he would.
He knew he wanted to.
Scared of what he had become, he skittered away from the body. As soon as his hands left the lightsaber, it shut off. Anakin did not miss the humming. The blood was pounding in his ears so loudly that he had not heard it in the first place. Anakin looked around, afraid of what he would find.
Coastals and Inlanders were staring at him from the crest overlooking his hut. They were completely silent.
Not even the bugs were chirping anymore.
Everyone, even the kriffing bugs, knew what he had done.
It was only a matter of time before the Jedi would track down where Mace had gone, surely he told someone back at the Temple of his destination. When that happened, they would find Anakin. This time there would be no attempts to bring him back, Anakin knew that they would come after him with the intent of killing him.
Panicked, he reached out to the Force. Instantly he found his lightsaber. He brought it to him, and took a quick glance around the area. In that single glance, everything that transpired in the past couple months flashed through his memory.
This was not how it was supposed to be.
I told you so, the darkness inside him said. They wanted to do this to you. And now they're going to kill you for what you did.
Anakin knew that was true. The Jedi spared no one that went dark, and he knew they would not listen to the subtle nuances of two identities inhabiting one person. That left Anakin one option: he would not wait for them to find him. Instead, he would go to them. The thought of hunting them down, one by one, was something the darkness reveled in.
I told you so, it mocked him again. Anakin squeezed his eyes shut, willing it to go away.
Shaking from the knowledge of what he set out to do, he jumped into his starfighter. As his hands moved over the controls, he felt the cool reserve of the dark one take over him again. Lifting off, he did not take a second glance back at Stalynia. Instead, he reached out to the Force, using that endless well of power he had within himself and found the closest Jedi.
To be continued...