Anakin stood, staring ahead as a cool mist rose from the sides of the bridge. He thought of Musafar and the fog from the lava banks twenty seven awful years ago and suddenly– fear gripped him. He remembered what it was like to burn. To burn in agony over every awful decision he'd made. Of Padme collapsing to the ground, her lungs collapsing inside of her under his hand, even with the child they conceived together within her. Of his mind blank with pain and his body limbless and writhing in turmoil as Obi-Wan Kenobi collected his lightsaber and climbed the black sand to safety away from the emperor's approaching ship. He could have used what was left of his powers to force pull his former master to die with him, but not even the man who sent him to that awful place without arms or legs deserved such agony.He would not wish it upon his worse enemy, except perhaps the man whose plotting and deception led him to such an undesirable predicament. Hell? He'd already seen it, felt it, as it seared the flesh from his bones.As it crept up his spine and caught to his hair and scorched the strands until they burned to flakes of black ash that pouf fed over his head as a breeze carried them away. He had nothing to fear.

As Anakin walked toward what would be the path to hell, he could almost see Obi-Wan Kenobi twenty-seven years ago in the fog. Was it merely a memory? Or was it real?

Hands and faces of the dead rose from the bridge and wailed. Anakin found it difficult to walk over them. But the figure in the distance remained, and now, he was certain this was no memory.

"Lightsaber," Anakin said, commanding the force to relinquish a weapon to his hand.

The force, now in balance, also commanded a lightsaber to Obi-Wan's open palm.

Anakin pressed the small oval button on the hilt of his weapon and a beam materialized. To his astonishment, it was still red. Obi-Wan's lightsaber was blue. Even in death, a Jedi still...

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan called, using his "teaching" voice.

Anakin sighed. Power swelled within him and surged through his spirit. He would crush Obi-Wan.

"You won't stop me, Master. My powers are unlimited now."

Obi-Wan shook his head. His eyes gave Anakin that look – disappointment – a look he gave him many times throughout Anakin's years as his pupil. The look he gave him on Musafar as he stood atop a platform and announced his failure in training him.

Obi-Wan lowered the lightsaber and threw it aside. "I've no wish to stop you, Anakin."

Obi-Wan raised a hand and the voices, gnashing of teeth, and hands reaching from the floor of the bridge disappeared. Even in spirit world, death still managed to fill Anakin with dread. As Vader, he thought he conquered the fear. But it was still there. He still hadn't learned to let go.

Obi-Wan approached even as Anakin's lightsaber crackled with a lust for blood and fallen spirit. He touched his former pupil's arm, the one he severed those years ago on Musafar. Seeing Anakin a whole man again gave him a bit of peace.

Anakin pressed the button on his lightsaber and the red beam disintegrated. "Why are you here?" Anakin asked.

"To tell you what you will need to know," Obi-Wan answered. "The path you take now, will shape your eternity. Choose wisely," he cautioned.

"Your teachings are useless to me now." The muscles in Anakin's shoulders flexed. Obi-Wan nodded.

"You've reached the zenith of your powers, Anakin. When I look at you I see all the things you could have been. But the wisdom, Anakin, isn't there...you still haven't learned to let go...

Anakin's eyes dropped. "I know, Master. I've lost so much. Lost... All the things I couldn't let go of follow me in the afterlife. My soul is tortured. It won't rest. Not until Palpatine has paid for all he's done."

"But revenge isn't the Jedi way," Obi-Wan replied.

Anakin smiled. Obi-Wan called him a Jedi.

"I trust you will do the right thing. That I haven't failed you, and the good within you lives. I know it does, Luke proved it to you, Anakin. You just need to believe it."

"Master, I'm sorry for all I've done. I realize you've always had my best interest at heart."

"None of that matters now. What's done is done." His mind flashed back to Musafar and Anakin on the bank of the lava consumed by its fire – agony seized him, but he released it.

"What will happen to them?"

"The voices and the images you see in purgatory is your conscience... guilt. The innocent wait in heaven where they belong. Anakin, only you know where the path of redemption lies. Let the Force guide you. What happens in the material world where we once dwelled is only temporary. This is your eternity. The guilt you feel means your soul wasn't fully corrupted by the emperor. The goodness within you will serve you on this journey. As long as you don't forget it."

Anakin nodded.

"I must go now. Be well my friend. And may the force be with you."

Obi-Wan pulled him into an embrace and slowly, Anakin's arms rose to wrap around his friend. It was as though a dam had broken and suddenly the love he felt as a boy poured forth. Obi-Wan held his face in his hands, eyes twinkling. "See you on the other side," he muttered, then faded away.

Nevertheless, a voice at the back of Anakin's mind beckoned him forth, "Your path will lead to me, where you will kneel."

And he knew, the voice belonged to the emperor.