DISCLAIMER: I own nothing apart from my own work. I do not own Star Wars, LucasFilms, Disney, Anakin Skywalker - fml - and if this work of fiction is similar to any that have been done before, I apologise in advance. I can assure you, this was created from my mind with Star Wars as the basis and my own insanity commingled in.

Author's Note: Surprise! This chapter just flowed out of me so I couldn't wait to get it up. Can I just say that you guys are like a perfect buffet of everything I love? Thank you for the feedback so far and I hope you like this chapter. Don't forget to review! x


The pain that coursed through him made him suffer like nothing he had felt before. There was a difference between holding the body of his dead mother, knowing that nothing could be done to bring her to life and holding the body of his lover, the mother of his child - the keeper of his soul - and knowing full well that he now had what it took to save her - at least, he hoped.

Anakin immediately pushed away the ounce of doubt he had just felt, severing away the bindings that threatened to take hold of the dragon raging inside. He had to make himself steel to save her. As he placed his hand onto Padmé's face, he could feel the immediate restraint returning to the venomous beast inside. Her beauty fueled him with a lightness that illuminated every particle inside, turning the dragon into a sputtering creature at the hands of Padmé. Even the strongest of creatures would fall at her feet - Anakin being the first.

His breathing slowed as she mediated hers, but he did not relinquish her from his hold. As long as she was in his arms, his power would radiate around her and it was incapable of not being absorbed by whomever was in its presence. Sweat had already begun to drench the perfect spirals that covered her ears despite the cool breeze whipping around them. Anakin hooked the hair behind her ears, brushing her face clear of any obstructions as he stared down at her with piercing blue eyes.

"Stay with me, Padmé. I need you to breathe," he instructed, his voice taking on the voice he would use with Ahsoka when she had gotten herself trapped in the many assorted occurrences that would threaten her life - and his on occasion.

Ahsoka…

The thought of his young padawan swept through him like a ghost seeking nostalgia and regret to bring it to life. She had everything it took to be a Jedi - everything. Ahsoka was clever and cunning, yet fierce and loyal, refusing to be brought down to a meager level without a fight. Ahsoka was everything he was, yet she resigned. And for what? For fear that she would hurt her family within the Jedi - that she would hurt her Master. The Dark Side of the Force had merely touched her and such extreme measures were taken for the ones she loved, to keep them safe. Another thing she had in common with her Master - the ferocity of her emotions.

But it wasn't the Dark Side she turned to. She turned away from it. And the Jedi didn't cast her out. They kept their doors open for her to return. It was her choosing, not theirs, the moral voice in the form of Padmé's voice, Obi-Wan's voice, the Jedi Council in unison all ringing out in his head causing the internal turmoil to sprout once more.

Padmé had her teeth clenched, the gritting sound heard loud and clear as she breathed heavily through the contraction overwhelming her. Anakin tightened his hold on his wife, a part of him - one that had conditioned itself to do such an action - told him to anchor himself to the small woman that held the immensity of his love. Having his arms embraced around her gave her a slight dosage of the strength that was quickly dissipating from her system. She looked up, stealing a glance at his face even though she was fearful of what she would see - and he sensed it adding onto the doubt gradually filling him about what he was to do to fulfill his operation for his Master. A smile broke as she gasped, though, and his doubt was quickly satiated with relief. Hands took hold of his neck, using Anakin to steady her as she forced him to look into her eyes.

"I'll stay with you if you stay with me," she informed him in a wavering voice, relishing in the blue eyes gazing at her in an unrelinquishing tightness.

The two stared at each other, Padmé's hard brown eyes challenging his response with Anakin simply staring back in awe. Always with awe when it came to her, even though he knew he should be fighting his cause.

He could sense fear in her, and betrayal, but it was far less potent than it was before. Now, there was a drive in Padmé, one so strong, everything the Chancellor told him about his power and knowledge to stop death all seemed like a fairy tale because this woman couldn't die. Padmé was a fighter, and Anakin could only stare at her as he saw and sensed, once again, just how brave she was. What he felt was stronger than fear - it was hope.

The darkness was quickly evaporating from his system and the habitual restraint he held on himself was returning. The wave of tingling that had stemmed out of his skull upon Master Sidious requesting his loyalty to the Sith was fading, and so was the emanating power that his new ego as Darth Vader had.

"I'm holding onto you, how could I-" Anakin began to protest, ignoring his doubtful thoughts, but before he could continue with his sarcastic retort, he sensed a disturbance in the Force behind him and with skillful speed, took his lightsaber from his belt, ignited it as he threw his right arm backwards and deflected the chain of oncoming blasts. He turned around to finally see the battle pursuing at the entrance of the Temple, but more importantly, the trooper approaching him. Still with his arm around Padmé, he held his lightsaber before him. This trooper's armor was decorated with a familiar design. "Stand down, Appo. That is an order."


A silent buzzing vibration had come from a compartment concealed within every Commander and Captain's armor. Both CC-1119 and CT-7567, Commander Appo and Captain Rex, had both received the beacon from the secure comlink that was held in the concealed compartment. It was frequency locked to a channel reserved for only the commander-in-chief - Chancellor Palpatine. Darth Sidious. Once it was triggered, a holoscan appeared on the palm of the gauntlet displaying a hooded man, their true leader. "Execute Order Sixty-Six," he said. Each and every clone had been trained since before he had even awakened in the creche-school about Order 66 - it was what they were waiting for their entire lives. However, it was Commander Appo that immediately reacted to the Order, knowing full well that Darth Vader was no longer leading them in the Operation if the Chancellor had signaled them. Lord Vader had told them to follow his orders by instruction of Darth Sidious, and they obliged - but not now. Darth Vader was no longer in control.

It was Commander Appo standing before the husband and wife now, blaster raised and staring at the blue light radiating from the lightsaber the Jedi yielded. The clone looked hesitant, his fingers twitching. He already knew that he was outmatched, especially against Darth Vader; but he had to fulfill the Order. Every fiber in his body pulled him forward to pursue the Jedi. The Jedi were the enemies now.

Both Padmé and Anakin realized this but with Anakin's ability to sense preconceived actions, he brought his lightsaber back up just as another blasterfire was shot their way, the shot ricocheting towards the floor beside them.

"Appo, stand down!" Padmé shouted in an attempt to help her husband but was taken aback when his arms unraveled from hers only to have his form stand. Within the matter of nearly two seconds, he had swiped his saber upwards and cut off the clone's hands and all she could do was watch from the ground with wide eyes as he delved the saber into the man's chest. Not even a second thought was given, it was all impulse from Anakin.

"Something's wrong," was all Anakin said with melancholy, stating the obvious. His head was turned towards the hoard of troopers attempting their way into the Temple with blasterfire heard by the front line.

With trembling hands, Padmé brought the last blaster she had kept stowed away out, using both hands in an effort to keep it steady. Wary, tired eyes looked up at Anakin as he quickly unlatched his cloak, letting it fall to the floor.

"And you've barely allowed yourself this revelation right now?" she asked dryly.

As much as she tried, she couldn't raise herself from the floor, still too weak from her most recent contraction to gather the energy to fuel her muscles. She watched as Anakin ran towards the rows of Clone's advancing on the door, being held back by those inside and leaving her alone without even a snide remark to her reply.

Padmé lay there, exhaustion cloaked heavily on her as the sweat of exertion continued to pulse out of her. There was also confusion, and betrayal; discomfort, and heartbreak all looming darkly over her, as well. Even though he was lost in the masses of white-clad Clones by now, the sounds of their blasters seemingly coming from all around continued to drive the negative emotions deeper inside. He'd left her with her thoughts. Watching the onslaught of what she knew to be a massacre before her and near complete vulnerability. That factor tried to chip away at the hope she had, but even that couldn't diminish her faith.

A darker part of her began to whisper out in its icy breath. They icy air telling her to regard her guilt and shame of what she'd allowed her husband to succumb to. He hadn't stayed, and why should he, after the choice he had made. His eyes hadn't lied when they glowed that sinister colour and Padmé's breath hitched as she felt her soul break, too.

"No." Her eyes opened though she hadn't realized that they were clenched shut. "No," Padmé repeated, forcing her darkness out of her thoughts.

Whatever had swayed Anakin would not sway her. Whatever was inside him would find its way out, Padmé was sure of it.

The sound of lightsabers impacting objects, the reflected shots from the hail of blasterfire and the consistent sounds of orders and battle cries grew to a new height due to the aid of the easily reverberating exterior Temple walls. It was piercing - primal. As if it were the clash of Heaven and Hell fighting for dominance over nothing in particular. For what even was the fighting for? Even more so, why the Jedi? Surely an entire Legion of Clone Troopers wasn't necessary for enclosing the Jedi, unless…

Eyes widened in reaction to the sudden realisation. Was this all because of what Anakin had spoken of; the betrayal of the Jedi? Was this Chancellor Palpatine extending his revenge of the Jedi that made an attempt on his life? But there are children in there, a voice screamed in Padmé's head and the faces of the many younglings and padawans she had met throughout the years filled her mind.

As if on cue, a boy, no more of eleven - by what she could perceive by his blade that was almost as long a he was tall - swooped out of the wide entrance doors and swung his weapon at the advancing clones.

"Don't hurt him!" Padmé shouted at the blockade of troops. Anakin was no where in sight, nor were any other Jedi. It was as if she were the only one there - she was the only one there to protect the boy. The energy inside had recharged and she was on her feet, clutching her stomach and pointing her ELG-3A at the hoard of white-clad soldiers progressing onto the padawan. The exhilaration of her shots were short lived, however, when return shots were propelled her way. Padmé didn't cease, though. Instead, she continued to fire as raging tears fell from her eyes at the anger she felt towards the troops.

"He is a child!" she cried at them, trying her best to dodge their impetuous fire. It had to be without thought, surely it did because there was no other excuse as to why Anakin's troops would be firing at innocent children, whether they be Jedi or not. And firing at me. They had to know full well at what he was capable of especially after their years of fighting alongside their Jedi General. And Anakin wouldn't kill younglings. With this knowledge, it only reinstated her theory - the clones weren't clones anymore, they were thoughtless droids following orders from a higher cause.

Padmé made it to the pillar in which she had hidden herself before the Legion's arrival to the Temple, but even that couldn't do the woman justice. The bellowing of her cloak as it blew in the wind wasn't the only giveaway along with the onslaught of shots she was firing towards to whom she recognized as the enemy in the ordeal. Anakin could believe the Jedi were evil, or against the Republic, but the children inside the Temple, they were of innocence. If what he had told her was true, none of it mattered to the younglings.

Anakin would never hurt the younglings. There was too much good in him for that.

The familiar, and yet entirely foreign, sensation of another contraction began to weave it's way through her abdomen, tightening every part of her and causing her short stature to bend even smaller as Padmé tried to continue shooting while maintaining her steady fire. More tears slid without prevail down her already stained cheeks, the wind doing nothing to dry them as she clenched her teeth in agony at the spasms. Not even the gasps she was attempting to inhale were sufficing the sharpness she felt in every crevice of her body, her vision blackening at the sides. Alarm went off in her head telling her that what she felt wasn't normal; that it was too early - that the baby was in danger. From the years of conditioning herself to do it, Padmé immediately reached out to Anakin. Searching for him, pleading him wherever he was to come to her. He had always promised her that if she did so, he would always be there with her. A revelation of noticing he wasn't there then almost surfaced when a new found pain licked her skin.

With a torturous scream, the newly inflicted wound on her arm from a particle beam that had finally hit its target caused Padmé to drop her weapon and fall to the floor. Her body began to spasm, trying to absorb the pain that burned through her like a raging fire. The fire sprouted from her arm, but even worse, from her stomach. Get up, a small voice instructed her repeatedly. Keep fighting, it said. But at what cost? She knew she had to get inside or to get away from the Temple altogether. The baby was coming, there was no doubt of it now, and away from the carnage would be the safest her and the baby would be. Padmé recoiled at the thought knowing full well that she couldn't leave Anakin. Not like how he was, or he would be doomed.

But Padmé knew she was outmatched. Even the Jedis that had begun to emerge from the Temple were no match for the squad of clones heading her way.

There was a thunderous roar, like the most violent of thundering skies that was followed with the sounds of lightning striking. It snapped trees and solid buildings with nothing capable of escaping its wrath. Padmé's head lolled to the side weakly, preparing herself to at least stare down the troopers who would end her. But they were dropping, one by one. A darkness taking them out with such grace and ease that in her nearly unconscious state, the Senator would have sworn that it was a fallen angel on its road to redemption.

"Ani," Padmé whispered, but in a voice that only her mind could hear.

Anakin heard it though, and he let it course through him stronger than any power the Force - whether dark or light - could give him. The rage that was already present commingled perfectly with the overwhelming necessity to save Padmé. It was real, and it was coursing heavily in his blood.


After killing Appo, remorse filled him for taking out his comrade but Anakin couldn't stall. It was clear that his Legion had turned against him and had gone in search of Rex, trying to find his fellow Captain to make his men stand down, but it went without prevail. Only a handful of troopers, the ones that Anakin would call brothers if he were to be completely honest with himself - Rex included - had kept their allegiance to their former leader during the operation. Yes, they were clones conditioned to take out the Jedi when the time was right, but they were also human. Having to shout orders to his small legion under his lead as the Clones under the magnetic hold of Order 66 was enough in its own, because even Anakin had no clue as to which side he was on, let alone, what he should even do from then forth.

Was he to kill the Jedi as instructed? The ones that had gone against the Republic and their own morals to assassinate his Master? He's not your Master, that ever present chorus of voices spoke into his mind, causing him to bellow in frustration. His saber was lifted to deflect the onslaught of blasterfire before it easily took out four troopers. The Hero with No Fear allowed this emotion to fuel him as he sliced through the troopers he had grown close to, massacring every single one in his wake. By his actions against the soldiers, his own troopers followed lead and took out any of their brothers advancing on the Jedi. Though his mind was not clear, his actions showed which side he truly was on.

And then he had felt it.

The split second of realising that he had left his wife on the sidelines made his body react faster than it did his mind. Blue eyes saw the padawans emerging, refusing to obey Master Shaak Ti and the remaining Jedi Masters within the temple after witnessing the death of Gate Master Jurokk. Anakin's face had contorted in confusion, torn between the sides of the Force as he continued to annihilate any Clone that dare corrupt in his path. Shaak Ti was to be his first victim of the slaughter, but now, the Force told him he'd have to rely on her.

He was sent there to slay the Jedi, for they had betrayed him. They had sought to kill the only person that could help him save Padmé. "Anakin!"

The sweat drenched, golden head whipped into the direction of the pillars. Anakin already knew she was there, he was trying his best to get to her. All the while, insult after insult was said like adding coals to an already raging fire. How could you leave her alone… What are you doing here… You have no chance… They are all against you now.

Exerting all of his energy into the soles of his feet, the Jedi pushed off the floor and jumped over the mass of clones, swiping to and fro as he did and taking more out, adding to his count. The troopers running towards Padmé were not given another step. The last thing they felt was the emitter of the lightsaber penetrate the hardness of their suits as the blue plasma chewed through their insides. Disgust filled him at seeing that they were advancing on Padmé - harming Padmé. Weren't they there to help him protect her?

"That is my wife!" he roared at them, but they couldn't hear him. They were all dead and continued to die as he finally made it to her as she fell over, clutching her belly before her hands went limp.