Chapter 17: A Changed Man
With Palpatine's blood fresh on his hands, a Sith's corpse at his feet, and half of his face severely deformed, Anakin suddenly realized that he did not know where to go or whom he could run to. Would anyone believe the horrible truth? What would they think about his new deformity?
Padmé. Yes, he could go to her- she'd understand. No matter how many cuts and bruises he'd returned to her with during the wars, his wife had loved Anakin just the same.
This is a little more than a scrape he thought darkly.
Picking up his fallen lightsaber, Anakin pulled his hood over his face before calmly striding down the now-empty hallway. Unimpeded, he made his way to the waiting speeder and was soon headed towards 500 Republica.
He had to tell someone of Sidious' plans before it was too late. Though the Sith Lord was dead, Anakin knew that decades of secrecy and planning would not be foiled so easily.
Before he knew it, Padmé's apartments loomed before him. The Jedi noted that the lights were on inside. Halfheartedly, Anakin had been hoping to sneak in and was thus disappointed.
As he continued to sit there, he saw Padmé and Siri walk into the seating room. With them were the two guests and Luke.
Force, help me
Shakily standing up, Anakin stepped onto the veranda and entered into the living quarters.
Momentarily, all of the women stared at him, and Padmé watched the cloaked newcomer with evident unease. "Anakin, what are you doing here?" she whispered.
Suddenly, the young man found that his throat had become unbearably dry and could not speak. A hour ago, Anakin had thought that he'd never see his beloved wife again, and doing so brought tears to his eyes.
"Could I please have a glass of water?" he blurted out.
Surprised by his simple but odd request, Padmé scurried into the kitchen and moments late returned with the drink.
Greedily swallowing it, Anakin ignored the way she trembled and tried to look into his eyes. When he'd emptied the cup, she took it to refill it.
But the Senator saw the blood that smeared the glass.
"Anakin, why is there blood on your hands?" Padmé gasped, her eyes widening at the red stain that was now smeared on the glass.
Behind her, the three other women gasped. Luke immediately began to cr,y and Sola hurriedly took the baby into the other room and soothed him.
"Anakin?"
"It was him," Anakin whispered, his lips curling into a bitter smile beneath his cloak.
For a minute, nothing was said.
"What do you mean?" Siri asked uncertainly. Her sharp eyes scrutinized her friend, and one could tell that she sensed that something was wrong. Gone was the smile that had been on her face a moment before- Siri was now in full Jedi mode.
But Anakin was not listening to her. With everyone worriedly watching him, he stumbled over to the couch and collapsed on it. Vaguely, as the Jedi looked away from their penetrating gazes, he heard Luke crying in the background.
"The Sith Lord we've been looking for," he whispered, turning his hooded head to look at Siri.
The female Jedi went a deadly pale color, but at this moment, Ferus chose to walk in. He stopped dead in his tracks and openly glared at Anakin- he was evidently jealous of the other man's prestige.
By then, Siri had realized that the young man was in shock. She placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder, but her hands flew to her lightsaber as something that sounded like a sob and a scream combined issued from Anakin's throat.
Like he'd been stung, Anakin bolted away from her.
"Anakin, what is it?"
A sharp cry came from Sola when she realized what was going on. Sabé placed a comforting hand on the other woman's shoulder though she did not stop staring at Anakin.
"Anakin?" Padmé asked as she took a tentative step towars him.
The moment of truth had come albeit too early.
"Palpatine."
Silence.
No reaction was made by any of those gathered. All of the women stared at him, completely void of an motion. It was so silent that the normally inaudible traffic outside seemed like a dull roar.
Then, it exploded.
Padmé was the first to react. The sound of shattering glass filled the room as the one she'd been holding fell to the floor. Eyes rolling back into her had, she began to wobble on the spot.
Though her hand never left the hold of her lightsaber, Siri rushed to the fallen Senator's side and, despite the shards of glass that were now strewn all over the floor, helped move the woman over to the couch. She was soon aided by everyone at Anakin who seemed too dazed to move.
Soon, Padmé was conscious again and she turned her head slowly toward her husband and whispered, "Anakin, please tell me that this isn't true."
For a moment, he did not move.
Order 66.
Padmé and the baby.
Without really having realized that he'd moved, Anakin found his face buried in the softness of Padmé's as he knelt at her feet and sobbed into her lap. Shaking and desperately needing to hold onto her, he found that he was unable to move and just needed to hold onto the last real thing in his life.
Time seemed to stop as he knelt there weeping.
But, then an Angel touched his head.
Screaming, he pulled away from her, hot tears running down Anakin's face. "Do… not… touch me," he gasped, feverishly shaking his head.
Brown eyes gazed into his and Anakin felt himself becoming hypnotized by the soft love revealed within.
The hood covering his head was slowly pulled away…
A gasp filled the room.
Something crossed Padmé's face, but Anakin could not tell what. Horror? Disgust? Shame? Loathing? More tears coursed down his face as he watched the inner battle that waged in his wife's eyes. Lowering his head, Anakin clenched his eyes shut, the tears falling into Padmé's lap.
Soft fingers brushed against his skin, causing the troubled man to elicit a gasp from his parched lips. He opened up his eyes to find that his love was also crying as she accepted what had happened to him. To his relief, he watched as a small smile formed on her lips.
"You lived…" Padmé whispered. "That is what matters."
Somehow, Anakin knew that everything was going to turn out alright, but for now, a cruel reality awaited him.
"Force lightning," he choked in answer to the unasked question that was obviously on everyone's mind.
The room was deathly silent once more.
Anakin whipped around at the sound of boots running across the tile. It was Ferus and Siri, and it appeared that they thought that enough time had been wasted.
"He's dead," Anakin cried out.
Siri whirled around right as she reached the door. "What?"
"I killed him."
At this, the two other Jedi exchanged tense looks.
"Must… stop… it," Anakin moaned, holding his head. Once more, he buried his face into Padmé's lap.
"Stop what?" Ferus asked skeptically. Even this tense situation hadn't improved his disposition.
Haunted eyes found Siri's as Anakin shakily stood up.
Something in his face drew Siri to him. "Oh, gods! What was he planning?"
"He…. tried to turn me to the Dark Side," Anakin confessed, looking away from all the heavy and horrified looks he was receiving. "We dueled and I lost…" Anakin took a deep breath. "He told me what he was planning to do… the Jedi Order… gone…"
"How?" the female Jedi asked.
"Order Sixty-Six will make the clone troopers turn on us. He was going o kill everyone- the Jedi, younglings," he said, turning to point a shaking finger at Padmé who gasped, "and even you and the children."
"But Palpatine is dead," Ferus insisted, needing to hear it again. "His plans can't be carried out without him."
"We are still surrounded by darkness," Anakin gravely replied, for once not sniping at his peer. Closing his eyes, the Chosen One submerged himself into the Force. "I am not sure of anything."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the bowls of the Chancellor's office, a dark being stirred.
Young Skywalker would pay for this treachery.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spoiler for the next chapter: Revenge of the Sith
"I brought balance back to the Force," Anakin said weakly, wincing at the pain speaking caused his face. "I am the Chosen one."
Silence.
For some odd reason, his heart began to thud and his breathing became irregular. Even without the Force as his guide, Anakin could tell that something was wrong.
