Now alone, Anakin felt the cold much worse than before. He began to shiver.
He looked around, but it was completely dark. He let out a shuddering breath and wrapped his arms around him. "Great, Anakin, always helping others and getting himself into trouble. How typical of you," he murmured to himself as he ignited the lightsaber again and began walking through the tunnels. But soon, he didn't know which way he came from. He was lost.
Fear began to weigh heavy in his stomach. But then he heard something.
"…ni," it came from one of the tunnels.
"Ani!" someone shouted, more clearly now.
Anakin froze. "Mum?" he asked and then shouted, "Mum!"
"Ani!" it came back, and it was definitely his mother's voice. Without thinking why or how she got in the cave, he followed the voice, running through the tunnels. He didn't pay attention to where he went. He only cried after his mother and she cried after him.
After rounding a corner, he stopped suddenly. His mother was kneeling in front of him, fear written on her face. Someone was standing behind her, holding a red lightsaber at her throat.
"Mum…" Anakin whispered, but was afraid to come closer.
"You really came, young Skywalker," the person behind Shmi said in a low voice. The figure's face was hidden in the shadows, but from his build, it could be a human male.
"What do you want? Let my mom go," Anakin demanded, holding Master Le'lyar's lightsaber in front of himself.
"I wouldn't do that if you want your mother alive," the man said, and Anakin stopped.
"What do you want? You wanted me to come. You have my mother, so you want something from me. What is it?" Anakin asked through clenched teeth. He couldn't see the man grin, but felt the sadistic euphoria emanating from him.
"Clever boy. I'll tell you what I want. I want you. I want you to become my apprentice and join the Dark Side of the Force," the man answered.
Anakin's eyes went wide. "No…" he breathed.
"Please, Ani," his mother pleaded, and began to cry. "Please, for me. Do what he says. I want to live with you. I just want to live."
"Mum?" Anakin asked, and looked at the man. A silent tear ran down his cheek, then he nodded. "Let her go and I'll do as you say," he said. He dropped the ignited lightsaber and his training lightsaber on the ground as a sign of surrender.
"Thank you, Ani. I knew calling for you would save my life," Shmi said and stood up after the man released her.
But Anakin didn't throw himself into her arms. He froze. "What did you say?" he asked gingerly.
"I knew that you would save me if I called after you. I knew that you would do as he says," she answered and wanted to hug him, but he stepped back and called the lightsaber to his hand.
"You're not my mother. My mother would never do this. She would do everything to keep me safe and if she had to die, she'd never want me to join the Dark Side, because she loves the light and helping people," Anakin growled, and ignited his saber.
The man growled, too. "You really saw through my illusion. Well then, so be it. I'll get you nonetheless," he said, and instead of dissolving the illusion, he beheaded the illusion of Shmi.
Anakin cried out. Even though it wasn't his mother, it looked exactly like her, and seeing his mother beheaded made him see red. He stormed towards the obvious Sith, who defended himself with ease.
The Sith only deflected Anakin's blows for a while, not even attacking, as if he was mocking him. Only after a while did he finally attack, quickly pushing Anakin on the defensive.
"Take your hate. Use it. It makes you stronger. Take it and you will never see your beloved die!" the Sith taunted Anakin while fighting.
Anakin cried out again, pushed the Sith with the Force against the wall and held him there.
"Yes, use your hate. You can free all of the slaves with this power, and punish all of the slavers. You can show the Jedi how wrong they were for not wanting you. You can show them your power and how to make things right. Kill all of the slavers and their progeny, so that there will never be a slave," the man said, grinning.
"You wanted to use my mother against me!" Anakin growled.
"Yes, kill me! Satisfy your hate!" the Sith implored. Anakin wanted to thrust his sword through the Sith's heart as he heard a soft, "Ani, no. Don't do it."
He turned his head to where the Sith had beheaded the illusion of his mother. A blue light was shining, and it felt like his mother. His mother wouldn't want him to become a murderer, he realized.
Anakin looked at the Sith, who was still pressed against the wall. He retracted his lightsaber and shook his head. "No. You won't make me a murderer," he said determinedly, and the Sith disappeared.
Anakin stumbled back and had to lean against a wall in order not to fall.
After some minutes to recover, he pushed himself away from the wall and picked up the lightsabers. Then he looked at the spot where the illusion of his mother died. A crystal was lying there.
Anakin picked it up and heard soft music coming from the crystal. He decided to keep it, and put it in his pocket. Then he began to wander, searching for the right way, but all tunnels looked the same, dark and rocky.
He ended up back in the spot where he got separated from Coric and CT-5986. The collapsed ceiling was still blocking the way, but Anakin was too tired to continue his search and settled down. He shivered and leaned against the wall, looking into the darkness. He didn't ignite the lightsaber. The light wouldn't change his situation. He was so cold that he only wanted to sleep and to know if the both clones were alright.
He was about to fall asleep when the humming of the crystal in his pocket grew louder. He frowned. It was as if the crystal didn't want him to sleep. He thought that this was silly. Why shouldn't he sleep? But then he vaguely remembered that you shouldn't fall asleep when you were freezing.
He breathed deeply. The little crystal in his pocket gave him confidence. Someone would come and get him, he only had to wait.
He was about to lose his confidence and fall asleep to finally stop feeling the cold, when he heard someone shout.
"If you're down there, ad'ika, move away from the collapsed entrance, it's about to blow up!"
Anakin's eyes went wide. They couldn't just blow up an unstable cave entrance. But he didn't want to risk it, so he got up and moved away from the entrance.
He waited a minute, shivering and with aching muscles from the cold. Then, the entrance really blew up. It wasn't a big explosion, just enough to clear a small opening to squeeze through.
After the dust laid down, he saw some clone troopers who hurried towards him. He leaned against the wall next to him and slid slowly into a sitting position. Knowing that he was rescued made the last of his strength leave.
A trooper knelt down before him and took his helmet off. Anakin recognized him as Denal.
"It's alright, ad'ika, we've got you," Denal assured him and tucked him into the blanket someone handed him. "Can you get up, or should I carry you to the speeder?" he asked.
"I can walk. Thank you, Denal," Anakin answered, and stood up slowly. Denal let him have his pride and only supported him on the way.
In the speeder, Anakin sat down and received another blanket. While the speeder flew towards their base, he stared at the starry sky, thinking about his mother, and what she would think of him if he killed somebody for her.
"What do you mean, you lost him?!" Obi-Wan asked frantically.
"He was with Rex and Kix, but then he left. Nobody knows where he went," a trooper tried to explain.
"How can you lose a child? The only child in the whole base?!" the Jedi asked loudly.
The trooper winced. "Two troopers met him, but they got separated. We have already sent out some troopers to get him," he assured.
"How c-can you stand h-here in the c-cold w-without freezing," someone stuttered beside them. Everyone jumped and looked at the person who was speaking. It was Anakin. He stood beside them, shivering. In his worry, Obi-Wan hadn't noticed that the speeder had arrived and his Padawan had walked to his side. Behind him were Denal and the others who had saved him.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan cried, relieved, and kneeled down to him, looking over him.
"Stop fussing, Master, it's only dust and dirt. The only wound I have is the scratch from the battle, but could we go inside. I'm freezing," Anakin said.
"Yes, yes," Obi-Wan answered, then looked at the troopers. "Thank you. And I apologize for shouting at you," he said, directing the last words at the trooper he had talked to.
All clones saluted. "No problem, General."
Both Jedi headed to the med tent. As they entered, Anakin looked at CT-5986, who was lying on a cot. He was very pale, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. Anakin quickly walked over to him.
"How is he?" he asked Kix, who approached him and Obi-Wan.
"I'm sorry, kid. He's not going to make it. It was too late when he arrived," Kix said, crestfallen.
Anakin's heart skipped a beat, then he nodded and looked at the pale clone on the bed.
"Anakin…" Obi-Wan started, but his Padawan shook his head.
"No worry, Master. I won't let my emotions win over me. I know it isn't my fault and that I couldn't help him," Anakin said with a sad smile.
Obi-Wan nodded, "Good."
Anakin looked back to CT-5896, who slowly opened his eyes.
"What are you doing here, ad'ika. A dead man's bed is no place for a kid," he rasped.
"Maybe," Anakin answered. "But I won't leave you. I'll stay by your side, 'til the end." Anakin's voice was calm and soft.
At this moment, Obi-Wan realized how old Anakin behaved for his age. Sometimes, he behaved like he was younger than he was, and sometimes, he behaved like a grown-up. Obi-Wan realized how the different upbringing influenced his whole behavior in many ways.
Obi-Wan didn't like how Anakin's eyes looked used to the sight of a dying man. But before he could think more about it, a clone reported that the Jedi Council wanted to talk with him. He sighed, but nodded. "Stay here, Padawan," he said to Anakin, who nodded. Then he followed the clone out of the tent.
"Thank you, ad'ika," CT-5896 said, smiling, "I think the saddest thing is that I didn't even have the time to earn myself a name."
"Why didn't you choose your own name?" Anakin asked.
"I don't know… I think it is tradition that a vod… a brother gives you your name," he answered. Anakin nodded slightly, lost in thought. Everybody in the tent silently watched the scene before them.
"The second thing I'm sad about is that I'll never hear music again. I heard it once and I think I fell in love. Especially with the drums," the trooper talked to himself.
"Beat," Anakin said.
"What?" the clone asked.
"Your name. It's Beat. I know I'm not your brother, but I think it suits you. Everything I saw you doing was in the same beat. The same rhythm," Anakin answered and looked sheepishly at the ground. "Will… will you accept that I named you?" he asked.
"Thank you. I will hold my name near to my heart. Now I can die in peace," Beat answered thankfully and closed his eyes. "I think that was the best thing someone did for me… If I only… could hear music again…" His voice became slower and quieter.
All clones in the tent looked to the ground knowing their brother was dying. Then, suddenly but softly a voice sang out. A melody, a song nobody ever heard rang through the tent, soothing everyone in it.
The clones looked up, surprised to see Anakin singing. One hand was at the Beat's chest and the other at his own. His eyes were closed, and he looked like he was concentrating, but his voice stayed soft. He wasn't the best singer. His voice was untrained, but it still had a soothing effect on everybody, especially on Beat, who smiled and relaxed, showing no sign of pain.
As Anakin finished, everything stayed silent in the tent.
Kix was the first who stirred. He went to Beat and checked his vital signs. "He's dead," he pronounced, and wrote the time and date on his data pad.
Anakin rose silently, but swayed. He was exhausted and barely even noticed that he was maneuvered to the cot next to Rex's. He was set down on the cot.
Rex looked at him. "Thank you. Thanks to you, he could die peacefully. You did a great job, Commander," he said.
At the title 'Commander', Anakin looked up. "What? Commander?" he asked and looked around, expecting to see Cody, but he wasn't there. A few clones snickered at that.
"I mean you, Commander Skywalker," Rex explained. "Today, you deserved this rank. I was told what you did out there after I was carried away. Thanks to you, we won and only Beat died. Everything stood against us. Without you, a lot more of us would have died today. So you really deserved it. And after what you did for Beat, I would love to call you my Commander, right, boys?" he asked the clones, who nodded approvingly.
"Thanks, Captain. That means a lot for me," Anakin answered, smiling with tired eyes.
"Let me have a look at your leg, since I couldn't treat it completely before, and then you'll go to bed. Understood, Commander?" Kix asked, fetching his supplies. Anakin nodded, but only thought of sleeping. He curled up in the bed and closed his eyes. In seconds, he was fast asleep.
The clones stared at him, some blushed, others mumbled, "How cute…" looking at their Commander curled up in the bed.
Kix frowned slightly. The young Commander's position was clearly to protect himself. All of his vital spots were covered. Nevertheless, his face seemed relaxed. He had fallen asleep immediately. So he trusted them or was more exhausted than Kix thought, but his curling up looked so automatic that he was probably used to sleeping in this position. And Kix didn't like the thought of his Commander needing to protect himself while sleeping. He didn't really want to know how it came to this.
"He shouldn't sleep like this," Rex said, looking at Kix's frowning face.
"Yes, no kid should sleep like this," Kix answered. The smiles of the clones vanished as they realized what Anakin's sleeping positions meant.
"I will protect this adiik*," Coric said determinedly, "He saved Beat and me without thinking of himself. He stayed by Beat's side as he died. I have to protect him."
The other clones agreed. Rex nodded.
"We all will protect our little Commander," the clone Captain said. Kix went to his little Commander and finally finished treating his leg wound. He was glad that the wound wasn't infected, and only had a little dirt in it. He was sure that it would heal soon and without any problems.
*adiik (Mando'a)-child