Wow, seriously, this is just so cool the quick reviews I got - QueenMeep, Grizzil1213, I was writing this when you were asking for it, and here it is! I was writing this playing all my Star Wars songs on my computer. I suggest playing the Ep III soundtrack - and I must warn you, this -- gets -- dark.
So, enjoy! And with you may the Force be!
Chapter 13
give yourself...
They had been in many battles together. They had fought side-by-side, destroying whole armies as one. They were more than friends, more than brothers, more than lovers. They were one through the Force. They could tell what each other was thinking. Could react off each other before their enemy had a chance to think. They were the two sides of the same coin. Where one went so did the other. What one did, so did the other. What one felt, so did the other.
When Anakin saw Obi-Wan cut through Eyuria. When he heard her fleeting gasp and saw her fall. When he saw Obi-Wan drop his lightsaber and fall to his knees. When he felt the icy rage tearing across the Force at him. Anakin couldn't move. His mind refused to accept what he had just witnessed. Not from him. Anyone but him. Obi-Wan did not just succumb to the Darkside. It was more than impossible. It was unthinkable!
And so he couldn't think. He couldn't move.
But he could still feel. He could feel the pain, the rage, the emptiness, the cold.
And he could feel his own dragon stirring, yawning, crying out with the Tusken screams. His mother, in his arms. The twinge of his phantom arm. Jabba's deep, disgusting laugh. Watto's disgusting breath, insults, and incompetence.
And Dree'la, standing at the forest's edge, blades at her sides, buzzing red, laughing.
This was most certainly not a laughing matter.
"You killed her," he said, low and fierce. He turned from Obi-Wan - Obi, please, wait for me -- to face her, his blade held loosely in his hand. He could feel the Force flowing through him. The dragon growled, hungry.
Dree'la shrugged, shifting her stance to face him.
"It iss better thiss way. The child would have been a monsster."
He idly twirled his saber around with his hand, eyes narrowing on Dree'la.
"You don't know that."
"Of coursse I do! Mine wass!"
She was fast. She hurled herself at him, both sabers moving at different angles, different speeds. Anakin dropped back, waiting, until she was almost on top of him. Without worry, without fear, with the Force as his ally, he ducked low and swung high, countering both and simultaneously pushing her backwards.
Dree'la flew a few meters in the air before stopping herself and somersaulting backwards. She landed gracefully on her feet, crouched low, and licked her lips.
"Kenobi hass taught you well, Sskywalker."
"So I've been told before."
They launched at each other, their blades burning through the air, red on blue on red. The air sizzled as the energy snapped and hissed at each other, their dragons battling for supremacy. She was strong, and she was fast, and he could feel it in her blows. She struck with anger, with rage, full of the Darkside. She might have been a Jedi at one time. She might have even been Obi-Wan's friend. But now she was just a piece of Sith scum, no different than Dooku, and not deserving any of his pity.
She pressed down on his blade, but he held his ground, feeling stronger than he ever had. He could feel his Obi's desperation, how much his man needed him, and there was no way he was going to let Obi down. This, after all, was what he had been trained for. This was what he liked doing best.
Dree'la snarled, baring her teeth. "I have sseen the way you look at him."
Anakin frowned at her, concentrating too much on pushing back against her blades to respond. Dree'la pressed further.
"Your feelingss for him are very sstrong. Very passssionate."
"What do you know about feelings, you cold-hearted bitch!"
Dree'la growled, pressing down further, stronger. Anakin grunted. Where the hell is she getting this strength!
"What you want from him you can never have, Sskywalker," she snarled, grinning. "The Council will forbid it."
"The Council can't stop me."
"But it will sstop Kenobi," she hissed back. "Ass you well know."
Anakin shook his head. "No, it won't be like that, not anymore."
"Are you trying to convince me, young Knight, or yoursself?"
His dragon bellowed, and he surged forward, pushing Dree'la so hard she flew into a tree before she could stop herself. Her body bounced off with a heavy thump and fell to the ground, silent. Anakin, panting, watched her but saw no movement. Seizing the opportunity, he ran to Obi-Wan's side. The man had not moved, had not even shut off his saber. His eyes were open, directed toward Eyuria, who had stopped bleeding, breathing, everything.
"Obi, Obi, can you hear me?"
He shut off both their blades and grabbed Obi-Wan's shoulders, shaking him.
"Obi, please, snap out of it. Please, come back to me."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. A lone tear squeezed from those tight eyelids and slid down his cheek. Anakin kissed it away and pulled Obi-Wan to his chest. Obi didn't cry, he didn't shiver. He was barely breathing. Anakin clung to him, to his mother fenil bird, so broken and tired now.
"I'm sorry, I should've stopped her, I should've stopped this from happening, I should've stopped myself," Obi-Wan murmured. But Anakin wasn't certain if it was to him, or to Eyuria, that he was talking.
"It's not your fault, Obi, it's not your fault."
Obi-Wan snapped up and pushed Anakin away, hard, through the Force, sending Anakin across the clearing. He jumped to his feet and called his saber to his hand, instantly igniting it.
"Of course it's my fault! I killed Eyuria!"
Stunned but never one to back down, Anakin got to his feet, retrieving his own saber.
"She deserved it, Obi-Wan," he snapped back. If tender love wasn't going to work, fine, tough love it was. "Sith, Obi, she raped you!"
"I killed her! She was defenseless, and I killed her! You don't know what that is!"
Their cries, men, women, children, pets... He drew a deep breath, steadying himself.
"It was an accident."
Obi-Wan hung his head, shaking it.
"I'm not sure it was."
When he looked back up, his face was calm. Unnervingly emotionless.
"And I am -- relieved. She's dead, Anakin, and -- I'm happy she's dead."
"You ssee, I did you a favor, old friend."
Anakin's lightsaber snap-hissed to life as they saw Dree'la push herself up, reigniting her own blades. Anakin shifted his stance to face her, but Obi-Wan didn't move.
"That wasn't a favor I asked for, Dree'la," he responded, deep, calm.
"Perhapss not in wordss, Kenobi, but I know your heart. It iss like mine."
"Obi-Wan's heart is nothing like yours, Dree'la."
"We three are more alike than you both will admit," she spat, drawing up her blades to cross before her. "I can feel your anger."
"All I feel from you," Obi-Wan replied, drawing his blade before him, "is insanity."
"Sshow me you are not angry, then, old friend," she laughed. "Sshow me how much remorsse you feel for killing that creature. Sshow me what a real Jedi Masster iss."
"You're forgetting something, Dree'la."
Obi-Wan shifted his weight to his back foot, bringing his blade back as he angled his side towards her. Classic defensive pose, and Dree'la followed suit, shifting her stance slightly to his direction as she crouched lower, readying to spring.
"Oh, I don't think sso," she purred.
"Yes, you are. You're forgetting my better half."
Anakin leapt at her on cue, catching her off guard. For a split second she was exposed and Obi-Wan seized the opportunity, running forward. But Merr'yls were renowned for their speed. She was not to be so easily overtaken.
Three krayt dragons roared across the clearing and met head on, spouting fire, biting, tearing with razor sharp claws. Blue on red, blue on red. The lights and energy crackled around them. Parry, trust, counter-parry, counter-thrust. Light and dark intermingling, clashing, melding. Anakin cringed as he felt the blows on his arms and on Obi-Wan's tired frame. Dree'la had more physical strength than both of them, was faster and more agile. Were they at their top form, it would probably be no problem. But as it was, neither had slept or eaten well, and Obi-Wan had just been dragged across the lava pits of Mustafar and back. They only had one source of strength left. And by the maniacal grin on Dree'la's face, she knew it, too.
Dree'la shoved off their blades and somersaulted backwards. Obi-Wan grunted and went down to one knee. Anakin was immediately at his side, but Obi-Wan waved him off, his eyes focused on Dree'la, who looked neither tired nor bothered by the whole ordeal. Anakin grimaced. They couldn't keep this up much longer.
"Give yoursself to the Darksside, Sskywalker," she purred at him.
Anakin snapped his blade up, directed at her.
"Leave the Order and join me."
Obi-Wan sucked in a deep breath, closed his eyes. Worry creased Anakin's face.
"Are you alright, Obi?"
"Just give me a moment."
"Join me, Sskywalker."
"Don't listen to her, Anakin," Obi-Wan grunted, still panting.
"Only then can Kenobi be yourss."
"She's just trying to goad you on, Anakin. We have to control ourselves."
Dree'la laughed. "Control yoursself? Like you did before, Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. He pushed himself up and fell back into defense.
"We have to take her alive, Anakin."
"Obi-Wan, you can barely stand let alone fight."
"Don't think it - "
"It may be our only way."
"It's what she wants!" he snapped back, dropping his stance.
Dree'la charged. They leapt back, but Dree'la sent her sabers flying after them. Anakin deflected his pursuer cleanly, but Obi-Wan was not as fast. The blade ricocheted off his blade and brushed his hip, slicing through clothe and skin and muscle.
With a strangled cry he fell, hands instantly seizing on the wound.
Dree'la recalled her blades and hovered over the river, watching Anakin rush to Obi-Wan's side. He cut off part of his tunic and wrapped it tightly around the wound, happy only that the blade had instantly cauterized the wound to prevent bleeding.
"How bad is it?"
"I've had worse," he murmured through tight lips. "Can't think of any right now."
"Just stay here, I'll finish this."
"My knight in shining armor comes at last?"
Anakin smiled thinly. "Doing a Sith job of it. My damsel is getting roughed up by a lot of women today."
Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin's arm. "Don't do it, Anakin. Use the Force."
Anakin gripped the hand, pulled it to his mouth to brush the knuckles, but he could see his own reflection in Obi-Wan's wide blue eyes.
"I'll do what I must," he replied softly. "To protect you, I'd do anything. I love you, Obi-Wan. I always have, and I always will. Please," he kissed the knuckles again, harder, longer, "remember that."
"Ani, wait - "
But Anakin was listening to the dragon now. It was in his eyes, the firm line of his lips, the tightness of his jaw, the clenching of his fist as he picked up Obi-Wan's lightsaber to aid his own. The dragon didn't like his damsel being hurt, being raped, being tortured. His dragon wanted blood.
He wanted blood.
"Dree'la, this ends, now!"
The STAPs that had been hovering loyally suddenly zoomed forward, amidst much frantic cries from the droids that were no longer in control of them. They hissed toward Dree'la, who leapt out of the way as they tore into each other, exploding metal innards across the river and clearing. But still Dree'la laughed.
Trees were torn, roots and dirt, and hurled themselves at her. But she leapt and dived and sliced and rolled, turning timber to firewood. Then the rocks from the river and riverbanks leapt at her, smashing into pebbles around her, that also chased her. But she just laughed and laughed.
Anakin was no longer growling at her laughter. He no longer felt anger or rage. He was calm. He felt powerful. He closed his eyes and threw everything this stupid, backwater planet had to offer at her. She could keep dodging, and more and more debris filled the air. Soon the sky around the clearing was thick with shards of trees, fragments of boulders, bits of droids. All whirring about, getting smaller and smaller, finer and finer. Soon there was no where to dodge, no where to roll to, and too much to cut. Anakin didn't even have to concentrate anymore. He could see the whirlwind through the Force get narrower and narrower, closing in on her, whipping through her false Jedi clothes, ripping the lie to ribbons. Then it was brushing against that fur. She was fighting the worst force he knew of in the galaxy. A sand storm. And it was so easy now, he barely had to think to keep it going.
She stopped fighting as he closed it in, eyes closed, her head hanging. A smile licked his lips. Who's laughing now?
Suddenly she threw her arms out and the sand storm shattered, scattering debris across the clearing, river and forest. Anakin was knocked down by the force of the blow, losing his grip on his lightsabers. In the next second she was on him, kneeling down on his arms, sitting on his stomach. Her fur matted and bloody, her clothing all but gone. But still she smiled.
"You are powerful, Sskywalker, and very clever," she purred, licking a trickle of blood that ran down her snout. "I never would have thought of that. You almosst had me."
Anakin said nothing. He only glared at her.
"You can sstill join me, young Knight. We could learn a lot from each other."
She glanced over at Obi-Wan, who had been knocked up against Eyuria by the Force blow Dree'la had unleashed and now lay still.
"You could even bring Kenobi," she purred. "You both sshow ssuch great potential. I'm certain we could have sso much fun together."
She inched the blades closer to his throat, bent down and licked his face. Anakin closed his eyes but didn't move.
"You tasste deliciouss. Pleasse don't assk me to kill you."
But Anakin didn't say anything, didn't even look at her. For a few moments Dree'la frowned at him. Then she growled and pressed down, the blades sizzling the hair on Anakin's neck.
"Ansswer me!"
"I'm -- concentrating," he bit out.
She cocked her head. "Concentrating? On what, you have lo--"
There, that was it. He found it, beating so quickly inside her chest. Fluttering really, like some frantic butterfly. So intricately tied in to her body, to her life. But in the end, so fragile. All he had to do was wrap around it and squeeze.
He snapped his eyes open, dark, narrow, focused on the agony in her face. Dree'la arched backward, yowling in pain as Anakin clamped down on her heart and would not let go. Her body went rigid, her sabers fell empty from her hands. Unable to breathe she clutched her chest and then went for Anakin's neck.
He clamped down tighter still. It was like he could feel it in his own hand, feel the juices being squeezed from it like some overly ripe piece of fruit.
Dree'la was gurgling now. The laugh was completely gone. Her body was writhing on top of him. But it provided him no pleasure. It was only a means to an end. To a time when Obi-Wan would do that to him to give him true pleasure. To make him forget everything that had happened. His mother. Dooku. The war. Padme. Yes, even Padme. He loved her, he knew he did. But she was not Obi-Wan. Now that he had Obi-Wan, he did not need her. It was just that simple now, so clear before him. Now that he had Obi-Wan, he did not need anyone.
And no one was going to get in his way!
With one final thought Dree'la's heart burst in his hand. She coughed once and fell backwards. A foamy blood oozed from her mouth, and that was the end. Anakin did not smile, he did not frown. He simply picked her up with the Force and dumped her in the river. He got to his feet to watch her body be carried away, bobbing up and down in the rapids. She was trash, and now she was gone. That was the way it should be.
He looked over at Obi-Wan, still lying next to Eyuria's body. Dree'la was right. Eyuria deserved to die. He knew it. From the first moment he saw Obi-Wan with her at the Xaantiin village he knew it wasn't right. It had been a bad feeling from the moment he set eyes on her - Sith, before that even! When Obi had shared with him what this creature had done, he knew there would be no happy ending for her. Scum like her didn't deserve a happy ending. Not with his Obi. When Obi-Wan killed her part of him was horrified because it was his master, his beacon of goodness, acting on such a dark impulse. The other part was rejoicing, and wishing it had been him.
He retrieved their sabers and walked over to the two. Cocking his head, he stretched out with the Force and picked Eyuria up carefully from under Obi-Wan. With as little ceremony as he gave Dree'la, he dumped her in the river. He didn't even watch her body disappear down the stream. There was no need. She was gone now. Without her around, he could help Obi-Wan. He could make Obi-Wan feel better, like Obi had always made him feel better when they were together. He'd be the teacher now. He'd be everything and the only thing Obi-Wan needed.
He heard the explosions, muted by distance. Looking up he noticed that a plume of smoke had started to crawl skyward. Someone began firing at him, but he swiftly erected a barrier around them. Must be Dree'la's forces, he thought idly as he watched the blaster bolts bounce off the barrier. Not that it mattered. He still had a lot of fight left in him, if it came to that.
But he knew it wouldn't, and it didn't. Almost as soon as the firing started it stopped and another series of explosions tore through the forest, directly across the river from him. He cocked his head, curious but not surprised when their squadron of clonetroopers pushed through the forest edge on top of the steep embankment.
Anakin lowered the barrier and commanded for a shuttle. He then collapsed by Obi-Wan's side and pulled the sleeping man's head on his lap. He smoothed his man's hair, so dirty and mangled.
Obi-Wan's eyes fluttered up and looked up at him through heavy lids.
"What happened?" he asked groggily, not even fully awake, the poor dear.
"It's all over now, get some rest, I've got you," Anakin cooed.
"I love you, Ani," Obi-Wan murmured before falling back asleep.
Anakin nodded. "I know."
The sun was shining. The river was babbling. There were no insects, no Xaantiins. No Dark Jedi. No droids. No Dooku. To Anakin, it was the most perfect moment of his life.
The dragon yawned and started to snore, curling back up in the darkness for a nap.