The flame turned on with the spark of a match. He placed his kettle over the open flame and sat next to his robe that lay by the chest full of items he dared not to open. He sighed, "Oh, Anakin. Why?"

He buried his head in his hands, pressing them against his head. He thought it would relieve his stress, but it made it all the way worse.

Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Anakin's half-body being burned alive and his screams. They echoed in his mind like a broken record.

"I HATE YOU!"

There was nothing he could have done. Anakin was already lost.

"Shoot!" He said, quickly getting up and running over to the cabinet by the fridge. He opened it, reaching his arm in it and frantically searching. "Darn it, no sugar. Better run to the market."

He pulled on his robe and hid his lightsaber in his hilt, covered by the brown tunic. He opened the door and walked outside but stopped. He felt a cold shiver go down his spine and to his feet.

A being in black stood before him. It was mostly machine, but Kenobi could sense a live being within it. Wires poked out from his left shoulder, and he could feel the anger radiating off him, but yet, there was something familiar about it. Too familiar.

"Who are you, stranger?" he asked. Without a second's delay, the creature pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it to show its crimson red color. His eyes furrowed together. "You are Sith," he said. "Why are you here?" Was he here for the child? No, it couldn't be. He was hidden. Whatever the reason, I will not let him get to the boy. He placed his hand over his lightsaber but not yet igniting it.

"Do you not remember me, Kenobi?" He growled at the words Kenobi as if he was his mortal enemy.

"So, you know who I am. What is it that you want?"

"Revenge!" His anger multiplied. It was like being behind a ship taking off, Kenobi could barely keep it from blowing him away, but he controlled his senses, letting the light shine through and anchor him.

He opened his eyes, "You do not want this fight," he told the mysterious cyborg. "Leave, or I will do what I must."

"As you did on Mustafar."

Mustafar.

How, who… what— "Who are you?!" he yelled.

"You will pay for what you did to Padme, to my child, you will pay."

His eyes widened at the same time his heart stopped. Could he beNo, no. It can't be, not him. I— no one could have survived that but… could it.. could it be him? Brother, could it be you?

Obi-Wan tried to let out the words he was thinking, but he found that only one word came from his mouth, the one word he never thought he would say to his old friend ever again. "Anakin?"


"Anakin?"

His heart skipped a beat when he said that name. That name. He furrowed his brows, though Obi-Wan couldn't see it, he was sure he could feel his anger.

"That name means nothing to me. I am no longer Anakin Skywalker. I am Darth Vader—"

He looked at Vader with sorrowful eyes, "What did they do to you, Anakin?"

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Four hundred and seventy-six was his heartbeat. His suit read him at a hundred-and twelve-degrees Fahrenheit, far more than any living being should be able to reach.

"Anakin, please. I did what I had to. What you became, what you did, I had no choice."

"You had a choice," Vader growled at him. "Now, you will pay for that choice."

He pointed his blade at his old master and readied his stance.

"Anakin, don't do this. Not again."

"Fight me or die."

Kenobi sighed, closing his eyes, then opening them, his brows snapping together.

His robe fell to the floor, and he ignited his blue lightsaber. It cackled alongside Vader's. He raised his blade parallel to his head and pointed it towards him.

"I will do what I must."

"You will try."

Vader ran for Kenobi, but Kenobi did not move, did not avert in any way but waited for him to strike, so he did.

He struck his blade downward, and Kenobi blocked it, clearly struggling. Vader may be more machine than man, but he had the strength of a Wookie. Obi-Wan pushed him off him. He jumped back, and Obi-Wan got into his stance once more.

"Anakin, please stop. This won't end well."

He lunged at Kenobi and swiped at him with his blade, but Kenobi got out the way, throwing force push at him. Vader went barreling through the door, breaking it. He got up quickly, turning around to see a blue blade coming at him. He dodged, his cape being cut in half, out the way.

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes onto Vader's feet, slicing downward at them, but Vader jumped.

Obi-Wan was much faster than him. He needed a way to slow him down.

Vader smirked. He had just the idea. He buried his hand in the sand, causing the sand to explode upward.


Sand got into his eyes. He had no time to clean them as he heard footsteps coming at him. He raised his blade. Anakin's footsteps were being muddled by the sand; he couldn't tell where he was but…

"The force is with me." He stood still and waited. Anakin's footsteps were coming and—

He blocked his attack, force pushing him back ten feet. He cleaned his eyes and saw a downed Anakin struggling to get up. Now was his chance. He didn't want to do this, but he had to.

With the force, he launched into the air thirty feet and at Anakin.


Vader had lost his lightsaber when Kenobi had pushed him. When he looked up, Kenobi was gone and, in the air, barreling down towards him.

Vader rolled out the way. Kenobi landed; sand being blown from its rightful resting place. Kenobi was in front of him, and he had no lightsaber.

His heart was pounding. He couldn't lose now.

With all his might, he force pushed everything in front of him, sending Kenobi, and everything around them, hurdling backwards.

In all of the commotion, Vader saw his lightsaber. He flung at it and towards Kenobi, who was still recouping from Vader's last attack. Vader struck Obi-Wan's blue blade with his. He was pushing down hard, and he could see Obi-Wan losing his grip.

Kenobi raised his hand, force pulling the door Anakin had broken before at him, causing him to fall onto his stomach. They both got up quickly, and Anakin bombarded him with constant, unrelenting jabs with all the force he could muster.

Vader was breathing heavily, and whatever human parts he had left felt exhausted all the while, Obi-Wan looked like he was barely breaking a sweat.

"Don't make me repeat history, Anakin."

"Don't call me that!" He lunged at Obi-Wan, their sabers clashed with a crackling frenzy. They both pressed against each other's strength, but neither gave in.

"What should I call you then? This Lord Vader? The dark lord of the Sith? You betrayed everything you stood for!"

"AHHHHH!" He pushed down harder on his blade, forcing Obi-Wan to bend his knees.

"You betrayed Padme—"

"Don't speak her name. You took her away from me, turned her against me. YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

"You did that yourself."

Obi-Wan pushed Vader's blade to the side, causing Vader to tumble onto his knees.


"She loved you, Anakin, and she died loving you. If only she could see the monster you have become."

Anakin erupted into a scream that Obi-Wan had heard only once before on the lava planet of Mustafar.

It was all too much for him. To have to fight his brother again was more than his already broken heart could manage. After Satine, all he had left was Anakin, but soon, he left him too.

Anakin came at him. He was slow, not as fast he was before, before he was this thing, and could see every attack coming from a mile away.

His attacks had no form behind them, no strategy. They were random, angry attacks that were followed by his clear exhaustion.

Anakin grunted, slashing at him with an attack that caught them both off guard when Obi-Wan parried it. Anakin stumbled; he had another opening. Obi-Wan slashed his blue blade at him before Anakin could dodge it.

It struck his face, revealing one of his yellow eyes.

Obi-Wan stood motionless at the pale white skin of his old friend.


"Anakin…" he said slowly, his eyes widened at the reveal of his new face. "Look at you. You allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind. Look at what you have become, what you did. Padme would never have wanted this—"

"Don't say her name. She hates me—She's dead because of you!"

"Anakin, I didn't kill her. She loved you, she died—"

"Shut up!" He sliced downward, missing his target, then upward, cutting a piece of Obi-Wan's clothing. "You're the reason she died."

"Anakin, you chocked her in your anger. Is that what your newfound powers were supposed to accomplish? The death of your wife?"

Padme.

She was choking on the platform, but he felt her; she was alive. He couldn't have killed her… he killed her. Obi-Wan, it's his fault.

He lunged at Obi-Wan, crossing blades once more. He looked into his eyes, and all he could see was the image of Padme. Her beautiful smile, her brunette hair, and her lips. He loved her lips.

His child, he didn't even know the name, died alongside his wife because of his failures.

"Anakin, listen to me. Padme loved you; she died loving you."

"She died thinking I was a monster because of you."

"No, Anakin, because she saw what you became."

Was it his fault? Stop it, he told himself.

Vader grabbed Obi-Wan by the neck, squeezing hard and forcing him to the sandy ground.


Even though he was in scrutinizing pain, one thought went through his mind. Why Anakin, why did you do all this? Even though he knew, why didn't he come to him for help? Why?

Everything started to go black. With all his might, he couldn't force Anakin off him. His eyes began to roll behind his head.

His body went limp; his lightsaber fell from his hand, and within a fraction of a second, it cut at Anakin's foot.


Vader fell to the floor, screaming. Obi-Wan got up, coughing and grabbed his blade, and towered above Vader and, with a look of regret, brought down his blade over his head. Vader lifted his arm, using the force to keep the lightsaber from striking him.

His left arm began to short-circuit, sparks were flying out, and his ability to keep it up was failing. He couldn't give up now, not when he was so close. He pushed harder, trying to break his old master's strength, but he wasn't giving in.

He was losing.

No, no, no!

"AHHHHHH!" Vader's screams echoed through the desert.

He let go, Kenobi's blade cutting off his robotic arm, but he didn't scream. Instead, he ignited his lightsaber, but now with one arm and a single foot, and pressed it once more against Kenobi's.

"Anakin, is this what you wanted?"

No, he didn't want this. He wanted his wife, his child, and his brother beside him, but that reality crumbled when he got in the way.

"Anakin, I'm sorry. It is my fault, I failed you, and for that, I am so so sorry."

His eyes widened, what did he just say?

"Anakin, I know why you did it, but let me tell you one thing." Vader's eyes glared into Obi-Wan's. "Anakin, it was Palpatine who fed you those dreams. Palpatine who drained Padme of her essence so she would die."

What? "How do you even know that?"

"Yoda, before we parted ways, meditated and saw what you saw. The visions of her death in childbirth. Anakin, there is a Sith shrine underneath the Jedi Temple where Palpatine forced those visions inside your head, and when she died, Palpatine was at that shrine, stealing her life force. Yoda saw it all."

"No, it can't be.. not him. He's… he's my—"

"Anakin, he played you. He played us all."

There was no way Palpatine killed her. He cared for him like a son… he couldn't have.

"Lord Vader, can you hear me?"

There was a moments silence, "Yes, my master. Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she alright?"

"It seems, in your anger, you killed her."

"I—I couldn't have. She was alive; I felt it." She's dead; my love is dead, my child. No. No. NO!

Vader broke from his restraints, not aware of what was going on around him, destroying everything. The droids, the light fixtures, the table that held him just a moment ago were all crumbling.

He screamed, "NOOOOOOOO!"

Palpatine was behind him smiling, menacingly. He was happy.

He did it. He did it. "That no good—"

Palpatine, he betrayed him, used him. He couldn't—why? Why did this have to happen to him? He just wanted to be with Padme and his child. He didn't want any of this, not this Sith life or being this machine. He just wanted his wife, his family.

Vader stopped, pulling his lightsaber away. Obi-Wan held his lightsaber firm in front of him.

"Padme loved you, she always did. She died thinking you have good inside you—"

She did? No. "She hates me…" he was breathing heavily. He looked down onto the sandy floor, then back up at Obi-Wan. "It doesn't matter how she feels, she's dead."

"It's not too late to avenge her, to make Sidious pay for what he did."

All this, it was too much. His head felt like it was going to explode. He had all this anger, all this hate, and he didn't know what to do with it.

"Let it go, Anakin. Let it go."

He stood motionless. Padme, my dear, my child… I am so sorry. He looked up at Obi-Wan, at his old friend. What had he done? He fell to the floor, tears rolling down his face. "I'm so sorry." He looked up at Obi-Wan with his blue eyes, and Obi-Wan looked back onto him with the same sad blue eyes they had greeted him with earlier. "Master…"