Title: How It Happened

Rating: PG

Summary: Alternate confrontation at Mustafar… with a twist. Let's just say that I shouldn't ask the question "what if."

Alright, a word of explanation. This is my first posted story in over two years. This is my first Star Wars story in three. Well, first finished story- I have over twenty snippets of various fandoms on my computer. I've been a little busy in the past couple of years, and the muses have been nonexistent.

Still, this should be alright. Enjoy the story.

So many people have asked how it happened. Oh, many of you knew the stories. We were the best, the most famous. We were called the Negotiator and the Hero With No Fear. Anakin and Obi-Wan. Kenobi and Skywalker. We were the Team. We were the most famous of all the Jedi, and had almost become living legends. Neither of us were quite comfortable with the fame, or the titles we had been given, but in the end, we decided that it was better that we were heroes to the younglings then some holo-star.

But that isn't what you want to know. You want to know what happened down on Mustafar. Almost everyone in the galaxy knows our story before those events, and everyone knows what happened after. But I have never spoken about the events on the planet- and neither has my brother. I suppose I should note that while we are not related genetically, we are family. For thirteen years, we were partners, Master and Padawan, and then both Jedi Knights. Ever since we were introduced to each other by Master Qui-Gon Jinn, we have worked together, fought, shared in the losses and joys that life brings. We shared- share a bond that is deeper then mere blood relations. He hadn't made it easy- but then again, neither had I. I don't think either of us would be the same if we hadn't known each other.

I know that some people think that we are bonded so closely together, that we are almost one person in two bodies. That isn't true. While it is true that we share a bond greater then that of any pair of Jedi before us, we do not always think alike. Quite frankly, we often disagree on a number of things.

Again, I'm digressing.

That day- that week- is one of the most important times in recent galactic history. So many things happened in those few days; historians in the future will be hard pressed to present things in a coherent order.

One of the final things to occur before the Empire was truly formed was the destruction of the Jedi Order. I do not mourn them- for there is proof that they were trying to destroy the Republic. There are some that I miss- some of the younger Knights, who might have broken away from the Jedi if they had more time to make a decision and of course Master Qui-Gon, who I hold in the highest esteem.

Of the Jedi, there were only three confirmed survivors- my brother, who had already renounced the Jedi Order, myself because I did not know of the plot, and Master Yoda- who can properly be expected to survive a supernova if he has enough warning. I would say that I was lucky to survive, but I've always felt that there's no such thing as luck. So has my brother, for that matter.

Master Yoda and I snuck down to Coruscant- Imperial Center, I should say, though I fear I will never grow used to the new name- and into the Temple. There we found many dead Jedi, and quite a few clones. I know that if the Masters had not made a stand, the younglings would still be alive.

But at the time, I still believed the lies of the Jedi. Master Yoda believed that we needed to confront those who caused this- Emperor Palpatine, and my brother. I begged to be allowed to confront the Emperor (my brother and I were close to him, and I thought it would not be hard to make him see reason), but Master Yoda sent me to Mustafar. The hardest thing I ever did was listening to him. If I had known what he was planning for the Emperor, I wouldn't have gone.

I arrived at Mustafar worried, drained, and exhausted. I had not slept in days, and was nearing the end of my temper. My brother was waiting for me, as I knew he would be.

I felt him- but what a change. There was no mistaking his Force signature, but it was much different from the last time I had seen him. At the time, I couldn't understand.

At the time, I didn't want to understand.

And there, above the volcanoes and lava rivers of Mustafar, we confronted each other.

I was so sure that my way was the right way- the right path. He spoke first. "I knew you would come. I've been waiting for you."

"Why?" I asked. No- I was not asking why he was waiting for me, I knew the answer to that. I was asking why he had left the order, why he had turned his back on everything he- and I- had been taught.

He smiled gently. "Because it was the right thing to do. Don't you see? We can have peace now."

"You've betrayed us, the Jedi, and the Republic."

He shook his head. "No, I haven't. We were betrayed by the Jedi, my brother." Again, he smiled. "They are still betraying us."

I had my saber out, but not ignited, I lit it then. He followed suit. "Don't make me do this!" I begged him. "Stop going down this path!"

He sighed, as though I was merely a slow learner. "I'm not making you do this. Whoever survived on the council, and sent you here is forcing this on you."

I shook my head, but I couldn't deny that if it weren't for Master Yoda, I wouldn't be here.

"I know you don't want to do this- you don't want to fight me, to take the chance that you might kill me." This was true. People- younglings especially- the galaxy over have said that we would never fight, that we would never want to fight. We felt that same way.

And yet, here we were on the brink of a fight to the death.

Clearly, something had gone seriously wrong.

He looked at me- his gaze both the same and different. It was if he knew exactly what I was thinking. I'd often felt that way.

In a bold move, he deactivated his lightsaber. "I can show you why, if you truly want to know." He said.

My eyes widened. "Wh-What?" I stammered out. The idea scared me… but it also enticed me. I wanted to go with him.

He grinned. "You know that separate, we are formidable. Put us together, and there is no one who could stand against us. Everyone knows it. Together, we have the power to save those who would otherwise die."

"Who would otherwise die…" I whispered. He heard me, of course. He couldn't have known how close that came to my deepest fears. But then again maybe he did know.

I closed my eyes and shut off my lightsaber. Oh, I know the risk I was taking. He was supposedly my enemy- but I loved him like a brother, and I still trusted him.

I opened my eyes. He was smiling at me, and holding out his hand. "Join me." He said.

I stared at his hand, then at his face. To join him- to join the Empire- would be to renounce all the principles of the Jedi Order.

I had always been more loyal to people then to principles. "Yes. I'll join you." I reached out and took his hand. That is how I joined the Empire and renounced the Jedi Order. It was not because I believed in the need for order, though I do. It was because of my love for this man, my brother.

I, Anakin Skywalker, joined the Empire because Obi-Wan Kenobi asked me to join. And I have never regretted the fact that I said yes.