Ch. 17
"She's just…" Anakin yelled, accosting Sidious' blade, "a little…" he grunted, pushing Sidious back towards the woods, "girl!" He screamed, letting his anger power him.
"Good, Anakin, good," Sidious laughed maniacally. "Your anger makes you stronger."
"Anakin, don't do this," Obi Wan yelled, trying to bring back Anakin's rationality. "Don't give in to your anger like this, you're not helping Leia here, you're only hurting her…" Obi Wan knew that Sidious had purposefully had Leia shot, knowing that if one of the children were hurt Anakin's anger would be almost uncontrollable. In fact, Obi Wan thought, that must be the reason Leia had been separated from Padme and Luke- they probably had been planning to hurt her. 'Thank the Force we got there in time,' he thought to himself, watching helplessly as Anakin attacked the Sith. He wanted to help, but knew that it would only encourage Anakin to fight.
"I hate you!" Anakin yelled at Sidious, expertly attacking him.
"Wonderful, Anakin," Sidious said evilly. "You've gotten so much stronger since the last time I fought you…"
"He only wants to seduce you with the Dark Side Anakin!" Obi Wan tried to reason with his friend. "Do not give in to him, Anakin! You're so much better than this…"
Anakin heard every word Obi Wan said, and knew that he was right, but something kept him attacking Sidious, a deep hatred for this man who had caused so much grief and pain for Anakin's family. Anakin wished he could stop, or at least use the good side of the Force to power him instead of his hatred, but something in him that he couldn't even control wanted revenge. As Obi Wan held off the rest of Sidious' group that he had led to the ship, Anakin continued to fight the Sith, forcing him back into the woods, Sidious encouraging Anakin all the time.
Back on the ship, Padme rushed to Leia at the ship's entrance- she had been sitting in the cockpit preparing the ship to takeoff when she had seen her daughter shot. Tears streaming down her face, she saw Luke hugging a whimpering Leia tightly in his arms, Han quickly wrapping her arm in a bandage. Luke and Leia were always able to comfort each other better than anyone else- despite their constant teasing and bickering, it was obvious that the loved each other very much and had a deep connection as twins, especially Force-sensitive twins.
"Oh, Leia," Padme cried, rushing to her daughter's side.
"She'll be all right," Han said warmly, "Really it just nicked her. I think the target of this wasn't Leia, but..." Han nudged his shoulder towards Anakin, though he didn't have to. Padme knew exactly what was happening, and she knew that Anakin's protectiveness of his family was a dangerous thing to mess with- obviously, this had been Sidious' plan all along.
Padme carried Luke and Leia inside, Han following quickly, and placed them safely in the cockpit.
"Are you sure she's ok?" She asked Han worriedly.
"Yes, the blast just barely nicked her arm," he pointed out. "Look, you can see for yourself." He removed the layer of bandage he had just put on and revealed nothing more than a bad flesh wound. Padme was somewhat comforted, but the knowledge that her little girl's soft, perfect skin had just recieved its first scar caused Padme to feel somewhat nauseous.
"I'm like daddy now!" Leia announced proudly, and Padme was jolted out of her sadness to look Leia straight in the eye. Padme couldn't help but think how strangely touched Anakin would be by that comment when he was finished claiming revenge on Sidious. Seeing that Leia was already over the whole thing, and fine, Padme calmed down.
"You stay here," Padme instructed the twins. "And you stay here too," she said to Han, in a tone that told even him not to argue. "I need you to look after them," she added, knowing that it would make him feel less like one of the children and more like the strong fighter he wanted to be. Han nodded and Padme rushed outside to find Obi Wan having cornered Sidious' followers and Anakin still fighting hard against Sidious.
Padme watched, tears in her eyes, for the first time truly fearing for her husband's life… normally his enemies were no match for him, especially in the time of peace when he would only be dealing with small scale criminals and gangsters, but she knew that if anyone could hurt Anakin, it was Sidious- if there was a time to worry, it was now. She searched for a way to help Anakin or Obi Wan, looking for a blaster or weapon that was misplaced, but she could find nothing at hand. So she watched helplessly as her husband tried to defeat his longtime enemy, knowing the whole time that the best thing for him would be to stop and go home and let the other Jedi deal with Sidious later.
Sensing Padme's distress, Obi Wan called to her- luckily he was in a position where she could hear him and Anakin couldn't.
"He'll be all right," Obi Wan tried to reassure her. "Initially he was letting his rage control him, but he has calmed down. I do feel that the best thing would be to leave and let the Council deal with this, but this could be a good thing. Anakin is very strong- he will probably win."
Padme nodded, biting her lip- though Obi Wan's words did help to quell her nervousness and fear, she couldn't help but feel her heart shudder every time Sidious struck at Anakin. Suddenly, Anakin yelled to her.
"Padme, go inside the ship," Anakin instructed strictly.
"What? Anakin why should I-"
"I don't want you to see this," he said, staring the whole time intently at Sidious, concentrating fully on the fight.
"Anakin, I see you fight all the time, this is ridiculous," she said stubbornly.
"This is different," Anakin said, his tone increasingly pressing as he continued to battle Sidious.
"What do you-"
Suddenly, before Padme or Obi Wan could register what had happened, Anakin had Sidious kneeling in front of him, both of their sabers crossed over his throat (A.N. Killing of Dooku style). He stared intently at Sidious; his anger extremely evident yet suppressed just enough so that he wasn't allowing it to control him- he was thinking for himself. Padme clapped her hand to her mouth, suddenly realizing that Anakin's job as a Jedi meant killing people. She had seen him kill clone troopers and strike down battle droids, but, though she knew the clones were living, their mass numbers and helmets dehumanized them as much as she didn't want to admit it.
"You don't have the guts," she heard Sidious cackle evilly, and her hatred for him only increased.
Sheknew now that Anakin was right- she had never seen him actually kill someone when he was staring him right in the eye- much less someone she knew very well- at least, had known when he was Palpatine. Though she had always known it subconsciously, she found it very eerie now to realize that Anakin had to kill people routinely, even if they were evil, even if she wanted, as she did with Sidious, for them to die.
"Please," Anakin begged her, and without a word she turned around and went inside.
His one inhibition gone, Anakin pulled the blades to him and finally killed Sidious. He let out a gulp of air and, panting and sweating heavily, dropped Sidious' red blade next to his corpse.Anakin turned around right away, not wanting to think about the events of the past few days, and walked slowly towards Obi Wan.
"You did well, Anakin," Obi Wan said warmly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know you feel as if you've failed your family, putting them through this and then jumping into a fight with Sidious, but I'm proud of you- once you engaged him in battle you let your Jedi senses take over, and not your rage. You really have matured- you really deserve to be a Master."
Anakin gave a weak smile, knowing that Obi Wan understood how much his words had really meant.
"Thank you," Anakin said, sighing. "What are we going to do with them?" He nodded towards the group of Sidious' followers, whose eyes were beginning to peer out of their cloaks.
"I couldn't kill them," Obi Wan said, looking tenderly at them. "We can help them…"
"I know," Anakin responded, understanding completely, and agreeing with Obi Wan. "They're just kids…"
As heads emerged from beneath the cloaks, Anakin and Obi Wan could see now that the oldest looking one among the children was about 15, the youngest no more than 10. It broke the Jedi Master's hearts to see how manipulated these children had been, having been instilled with Sidious' twisted ideas since they were tiny.
"I think we have to go to the council first," Anakin said warily, not knowing if it was truly the right step or not.
"I agree… but how can we just leave them here?"
"We'll stay," said a voice from the ship. Han and Chewy were walking down to them, Han striding confidently but compassionately among his former peers.
"They might be angry with you," Obi Wan warned him. "They can't just suddenly forget everything they knew..."
"Now that he's gone," Han began, shuddering as he looked towards Sidious, "They'll realize… they already have realized a little bit, I think. Chewy and the Wookies will keep us safe, and I'll try to explain everything to them, all right? I'll be fine," he added, his defiance showing itself again. "Just make sure you come back. For the Wookies, if no one else- Kashyyyk needs help recovering from the time of Sidious' presence."
"We will," Obi Wan promised, putting a hand on Han's shoulder. "For everyone...This problem needs to be dealt with seriously, I know the Council will respond immediately."
Han smiled and Chewy gave a grateful growl as Obi Wan and Anakin ascended into the ship.
As Anakin walked in, Padme jumped into his arms, and he held her closely and kissed her before turning quickly to Leia.
"Is she all right?" He asked, hugging his daughter to him.
"Yes," Padme assured him, looking warmly upon her husband and children.
"I'm like you daddy!" Leia repeated proudly. "Battle scars!"
Anakin laughed, unsure of whetherit was a good thing or a bad thing that his four year old daughter wanted scars to be like him. He sighed as he thought of the scar over his eye, and the mechanical arm, not to mention the hundreds of other small scars he had scattered about on his body. At least his children saw them as marks of bravery, and weren't afraid of them...
"I want some," Luke pouted, feeling left out.
"Don't worry Luke," Anakin assured his son, giving him a hug. "You will be the best Jedi in the order one day and you will have just enough battle scars, I promise. But not too many," Anakin added hastily, nervously noticing Padme's frown.
"Maybe I'll lose an arm like you, daddy!" Luke said excitedly, studying for the millionth time his father's mechanical arm.
"Oh, I hope not," Anakin smiled at his son. "Your arms are too good to lose."
"But I heard mommy say how much she really likes your metal arm!" Leia interjected, smiling brightly.
"Uh," Anakin laughed uneasily. "When was that Leia?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
"I don't know I heard you from down the hall and she said well it certainly hasn't made you hold back at all!" Leia said quickly, beaming at her father. Padme looked away, and Anakin shifted uncomfortably in front of Leia.
Obi Wan snorted from the pilots seat, and stared intently out the window as they left Kashyyyk's atmosphere and were once again in space, trying to hide his amusement.
'Very funny,' Anakin shot to him through the Force.
"Well if it didn'thold him backit wouldn't make me hold back at all either!" Luke said proudly, still convinced, as Leia was, that their mother had been completely serious and had been talking about fighting when she had said that.
"Um," Padme quickly cut her son off. "Let's not think about that now, ok?"
"It's ok mommy, I know you don't want me to lose an arm yet, but it will be ok, I promise!" Luke assured her.
"Yes, lose an arm, that's what I don't want you to do," Padme muttered, and Anakin burst out laughing. Padme hit him, and he enveloped his whole family in a huge bear hug. As the twins giggled, Anakin and Padme smiled lovingly at each other, both understanding the extreme relief of being together and safe again. Anakin kissed her tenderly and went to join Obi Wan in the cockpit. After a minute, he turned back towards them, frowning.
"Well, aren't you going to follow me?" He asked, and the twins squealed in delight and ran to sit on their father's lap and watch the stars. Padme followed more slowly and sat next to Anakin and Obi Wan, smiling at each of them and happy to have her family and friends safe again and to finally be going home.
Hi all! So sorry it's been so long since I updated, but I was away! But I'm back now! And now I get to write the happier parts, but I also get to have Anakin confront the council in anger about why Sidious was still alive! Exciting… hope you're enjoying this still! It's fun to write!
Sewardsfolly