"It's over Anakin; I have the high ground!"

Obi-Wan stared down at his former padawan from atop the black, gravelly shores of Mustafar. It was difficult to catch the younger man's eye on account of the planet's smoldering atmosphere, but even against a sea of molten lava Obi-Wan could make out Anakin's spark of arrogance and felt a sense of foreboding start to twist his stomach.

"You underestimate my power!"

'He wouldn't! He has to see that this is the end!'

"Don't try it."

The jedi master tried to ward off his fallen apprentice. He implored Anakin to rethink his next move, and simply surrender. He tried to make him see reason, before it was too late!

'Don't make me do this, Anakin.'

Yet, whatever Obi-Wan had been expecting, wasn't what came next. Because this wasn't Anakin Skywalker that the veteran jedi had been fighting…it was Darth Vader.

WHOOM

'What!?'

"Rrragh!"

The impact of the force against his body sent Obi-Wan flying. His back slammed against the hot, uncut gravel and a wave of pain crashed down on the bearded jedi as his vision blurred. However, Obi-Wan did manage to hear Vader when the newly christened sith lord leaped into the air, and this gave him enough time to roll away before he could be skewered by heated plasma.

It was a struggle getting back on his feet though, with the younger warrior giving no quarter and forcing Obi-Wan to stumble back in an effort to avoid being sliced in half.

Voom

CRACK

The jedi master felt his knees buckle as he blocked an overhead strike from Vader's lightsaber. There, with their blades locked, the men stared each other down.

"You can't defeat me Obi-Wan; not now. My new powers are far beyond anything you could even hope to imagine!"

Obi-Wan huffed. The thick smoke and dry heat made it hard to breath, and sucking air into his nose nearly made him cough.

"Hrgh! Y-You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the sith, not join them! Bring balance to the force; not leave it in darkness!"

Feeling the muscles in his legs cry out, Obi-Wan knew that he couldn't keep up this stalemate for much longer. But by now, the jedi wasn't sure he had the strength necessary to deflect his foe's lightsaber any more.

So he called upon the force; reaching out for its help in this most desperate of times.

Never before had Obi-Wan feared for his own life the way he did now. Years of war, countless battles, and an endless sea of deadly enemies all paled in comparison to this!

Maul, Ventress, Dooku, even his battle against General Grievous seemed like training exercises when stacked up against the power of his former padawan.

'I can see now, in fact, how it is that he defeated Dooku.'

There hadn't been any luck involved at all, as Windu believed, only Anakin's raw power. And standing against him now, Obi-Wan felt fear for the first time in a long time.

He had to get away.

'That moment back on the shoreline was my only chance. At this rate, I won't last much longer.'

A fact Darth Vader seemed to notice as well.

"You're finished, Obi-Wan! It all ends here; the jedi order dies with you!"

He bared down with all of his might, confident in the victory to come. But, there was no sneer, nothing from the brash teenage boy who had once raced in to take on a sith lord only to lose his hand. Now, that padawan was replaced by a fearsome Dark Lord. Vader's features were resolute, both eyes narrowed in focus as the man pushed steadily towards destroying his enemy.

However, Obi-Wan wouldn't let himself be defeated so easily.

"I don't think so."

He saw the brief flash of agitation in his former apprentice's eyes, right before it turned to shock, as the jedi master pushed off the ground using a buildup of force energy!

"Ngha!"

Whoom

Vzzz

"Argh!"

Obi-Wan had been nicked and felt the burning pain of being tagged by an enemy lightsaber, but none of those injuries were anything like having the plasma weapon slice directly across your chest. Yet, a permanent scar and tattered robes were a small price to pay for one's own life.

However Obi-Wan knew that his escape wouldn't be secured with just this maneuver. So the moment he touched back down on Mustafar's surface, and Vader came rushing in, Kenobi thrust his hand forward to send a wave of the force out to meet him…

"Rargh!"

Voom, voom, voom

"Argh!"

Only to be forced into deflecting the Dark Lord's lightsaber as Vader flung it through the air!

Yet, this small victory would spell doom for the Clone Wars veteran. Because before Kenobi could think to retaliate, he felt a dark, inescapable pressure close around his throat.

'No!'

Instinct brought Obi-Wan's hand up, but the man's fingers found nothing but his own neck even as invisible fingers tightened like a vice against the jedi's windpipe.

Wide, blue eyes brimming with horror moved to look for the source of their owner's suffering. What they found was a grinning sith lord with his gloved, mechanical hand outstretched; the fingers curled as though Vader were choking someone.

"You thought that I'd rush in; I'll even bet you were counting on it. But I've already told you, Obi-Wan, I tried to tell all of you…don't ever underestimate my power."

The sound of his former padawan's boots crunching black gravel as they moved was the only other thing Kenobi could hear besides the man's own desperate attempts at getting air.

There wasn't any hope of focusing. The force, an ally Obi-Wan had known his whole life, now lay beyond the jedi master's reach. And without Anakin beside him, to help and borrow strength from, he finally understood what it meant to be alone.

'This…was this what he felt, all of this time?'

The strength finally left Obi-Wan's legs and he dropped to his knees. Darth Vader towered over him, wearing that same cruel smirk while tightening his fist.

Spots began to dance across Kenobi's vision. His head felt light, and a powerful sense of dizziness washed over him, much like Mustafar's molten waves of magma.

So, this was death?

It…wasn't at all like Obi-Wan had expected.

He could see Vader's lips move, no doubt taunting him in his final moments, however the bearded war veteran could only see that scared little boy who'd once been a slave on Tatooine.

The boy his master asked him to train.

'I-I'm sorry…I'm so…sorry.'