The Mirror of Hatred by epithree
Anakin's eyes were glowing yellow, and lava pieces drifted around him, making the scene all the more disturbing for Ahsoka.
She wanted the duel to stop right now.
Anakin had other ideas.
Hot magma bubbled up from the active river while Obi-Wan spoke. "Don't try it." A stern look appeared across his weary face.
Suddenly, the force called out to Ahsoka Tano.
Time seemed to decelerate and she could predict Anakin's next move.
He was about to leap over Obi-Wan, but something was amiss…
Obi-Wan wasn't going to hold back.
Ahsoka reeled. She knew, undoubtedly, that the Jedi master would swing away at his former student.
And then, Anakin leapt.
Entry FIVE of 5 - Blazing Objection
Mustafar
Ahsoka screamed "No!" and locked sabers with Obi-Wan, pushing the blue blade out of Anakin's trajectory.
The new Sith lord easily cleared Obi-Wan due to Ahsoka's intervention. He landed gracefully, and the new positioning gave him the tactical advantage.
Lightsabers crackled as Kenobi and Tano pushed against each other. There was an intense contrast between the blue-green saber lock and the bright red lava.
Obi-Wan couldn't formulate any words. He just struggled against Ahsoka's green saber, clueless about his next move.
While she began to process the ramifications of her decision, Ahsoka sensed more danger through the force. Her former master was approaching rapidly from his high position upon the riverbank. She instantly knew his intentions.
Before Anakin could swing at Obi-Wan, Ahsoka's emerald blade was whipped around to meet the dark lord's. The Togruta girl was quick… even quicker than Anakin remembered.
Obi-Wan backpedaled to the motionless platform, which was now lodged into the shore of the molten river. He deactivated his lightsaber, stunned by what Ahsoka had done. She had saved both men.
The Jedi master was even more shocked by his own actions. He thought about what he would've done had Ahsoka not stopped him. Overwhelmed by his raw emotions, Obi-Wan fell to one knee, water conquering his eyes.
Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker traded blows as they progressed upwards along the soot. The initial pace of the bout was extremely fast, with lightsabers whirring. Blades met every second and the sheer speed of the swordplay tested the stamina of both fighters.
They had quickly traversed a large portion of the sooty hill. Halfway up the steep embankment, Ahsoka and Anakin simultaneously realized their whereabouts. They stood next to a durasteel pathway leading back to the mining complex.
The battle had only lasted a standard minute so far, and both combatants decided that the metallic path was just an escape route. Each knowing that the other intended to stop, they both halted the battle abruptly.
Ahsoka immediately called upon the force to replenish some of her strength. She thought about Anakin's combat skills. 'How is he showing no signs of fatigue after such an epic confrontation with master Kenobi?' With a sullen gaze, she looked into Anakin's eyes. The dark side penetrated her countenance.
It was now a standoff. Both warriors held their sabers in a defensive position. Anakin smirked while Ahsoka glowered at him. The Togruta was taken by surprise when she realized that their force bond still existed. They had not communicated with each other in this way since their days as a formidable Jedi team.
What Ahsoka sensed was disturbing. The telepathic exchange allowed her to perceive Anakin's inner turmoil. Light still resided within him, but it was skewed and inaccessible. The dark side held his luminosity captive. He had been corrupted… tainted. Nevertheless, he looked at Ahsoka knowingly.
The communication had come easily, as if they were still master and padawan. Neither wanted the altercation to end. They would finish this. Emerald and cyan blades lighting their faces, the pair fixed their eyes upon the nearby durasteel pathway. They glanced at each other once more. Then, they took action.
Tano and Skywalker severed the pathway's supports in unison, golden sparks showering around them. The whole contraption tumbled into the nearby lava, assuring that this confrontation would continue.
This sudden act of demolition was simply a sign that they had agreed to resume their encounter. Neither intended to escape.
Power and intimidation fueled all Sith. While Anakin reveled in his destructive capability, Ahsoka used the distraction to her advantage. Enhancing her speed through the force, she charged Anakin. Their blades clashed. The dark lord hadn't expected such a ferocious attack from his former padawan.
To her own surprise, Ahsoka realized that she was pushing Anakin backwards. Using all of her unbridled anger, she pushed harder, causing them to move up the high riverbank even more.
"How could you defend him?" Anakin spat out. "I hate him!" The rage in his voice shook Ahsoka to the core.
Although he was now meditating upon the platform, Obi-Wan had heard Anakin yell. The pain caused by the comment devoured the Jedi master's very soul. He could only take comfort in the force. And what the force told him was crystal clear.
Obi-Wan had done what Yoda wanted. Bringing Ahsoka here to reason with Anakin was the priority. However, the plan had gone awry. She never got her chance, for Anakin had engaged Kenobi in combat. Since that was the case, Yoda's instructions called for Obi-Wan to defeat Anakin at all costs. And so, Jedi master Kenobi had been prepared to do what he must, but fate intervened. Ahsokaintervened. She had made her decision, and Obi-Wan had to allow her to confront Anakin without physical interference.
Back upon the high riverbank, the combatants stared at each other with hardened rage.
"And I hate you!" Ahsoka shouted back.
'How could Anakin say that he hates Obi-Wan?' she thought while her rage intensified.
As the young girl faced off against Anakin atop the river's embankment, she wondered if she was staring into a mirror. Would she become like him? After all, she now hated Anakin. No. She would not give in to this.
Obi-Wan knew that Ahsoka was furious with her former master, but she had still shown compassion by defending the new dark lord. The Jedi master desperately wanted Ahsoka to revert back to the original plan. 'Why would you save someone you hate?' Obi-Wan was speaking to the girl through the force. He hoped that she might decide to talk with Anakin.
Amazed, Ahsoka hesitated in battle for just a moment. It was enough to give Anakin the upper hand. Now he was the one pushing his opponent back. Kenobi had unknowingly helped the dark lord by contacting Tano.
It was true. Ahsoka had saved Anakin from Obi-Wan's hand. However, she then defended Obi-Wan by locking sabers with Anakin. Ultimately, she couldn't bear to allow either of them to harm the other. Ahsoka had seen the entire duel. Watching the master and apprentice fight was more painful than she could describe.
'Only you can return Anakin to the light,' Obi-Wan added.
Ahsoka continued to block blow after blow from the dark lord, but she was tiring. She finally faltered, and fell upon the hill of soot. Anakin's blue blade was instantly thrust towards the Togruta's face. She easily knocked it aside with her own green blade.
Augmenting her agility with the force, Ahsoka rolled into a crouch and then lunged at Anakin's lightsaber hilt with her weapon.
Anakin dodged just in time, but the attempt was enough to knock him off balance. He loosened his grip upon the hilt in the process.
While crawling upon the surface of the hill, Ahsoka unleashed another quick thrust that Anakin had to block.
Trying to recover from Ahsoka's swift strike, Anakin staggered from pure exhaustion.
Ahsoka was shocked, for she had detected no signs of fatigue from the dark lord. By utilizing his dark side aura, Anakin had taught himself how to mask that particular aspect of his constitution. However, it was now obvious that the conflict with Kenobi had taken its toll.
Anakin motioned towards his former apprentice with one palm as he regained his balance. Kneeling upon the soot, Ahsoka followed suit. They were both initiating a force-push with what remained of their strength.
The potency of the pushes built up exponentially as they both siphoned energy towards one another. After a few seconds, their power reserves were depleted. When their arms dropped, the invisible sphere between them released its energy as a powerful force explosion.
Both combatants were pushed away in opposite directions. Ahsoka was launched back to the riverbank's apex, while Anakin was thrown towards the nearby stream of lava.
As gravity stopped Ahsoka's ascent, it added to Anakin's momentum in the other direction. The newest dark lord was propelled double the distance that Ahsoka had traveled. He stumbled to the base of the hill, dropping his lightsaber in the process.
Ahsoka sprang to her feet, deactivated her saber, and yelled out to Anakin. "Stop this at once, master!" She just couldn't take anymore. Her eyes were rimmed with tears.
Anakin clawed at the soot-strewn riverbank, attempting to pull himself higher. Neither he nor Ahsoka had noticed that his boots were submerged in the nearby lava. "You called me... master?" Something had been miraculously triggered within Anakin's soul. He allowed himself to recognize Ahsoka as his former padawan rather than an evil Jedi. Anakin had tapped into memories long forgotten.
"Yes... I did." Ahsoka answered, still furious with her former master. She looked upon Anakin from the top of the hill, feeling sorry for the broken man.
Guilt and sorrow surged through Anakin like never before. Quietly sobbing, he spoke again. "Snips?"
Ahsoka noticed that the yellow had left his eyes. "Yes," she said again, mentally cursing herself. She didn't want to feel sorry for the monster. A sense of pity swept over her.
"Leave this planet," Anakin pleaded. "I can't have you see me this way." The lava had reached the top of his insulated boots, and he knew he was about to experience unspeakable anguish. He refused to get up. He refused to be saved. Hopefully, Ahsoka would get out of there before the flames started up.
All she could do was nod. Then, Obi-Wan startled the girl by grabbing her arm. "We have to go... now." He picked up Anakin's lightsaber just before pulling Ahsoka away from the scene. They headed back towards the landing pad and Padme's ship.
Anakin's clothing caught fire. No one was there to see him writhing upon the riverbank, burning for his transgressions.
Obi-Wan had spared Ahsoka, for the Jedi master knew that the dark lord would not get up. They were far away by the time Anakin's screams of agony had started.
Upon their arrival aboard Padme's ship, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka found the senator asleep due to physical and emotional exhaustion. Threepio was monitoring Padme and Artoo bleeped that she was fine.
Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi was thankful that he didn't have to explain the morbid scenario to Padme for the time being. Both Ahsoka and the senator were unaware of Anakin's destiny upon the riverbank. Only Obi-Wan knew that particular truth.
Once awake, the senator would have to agree with Obi-Wan's decision to leave the planet. She would have no choice in the matter. Kenobi was fairly certain she'd cooperate due to the fact that Anakin had tried to harm her.
The Jedi master was baffled by one troubling detail. Ahsoka never sensed Anakin's suffering and Obi-Wan couldn't explain why. He had many questions for master Yoda.
Along with the droids, the three of them shot through the ominous clouds aboard Padme's ship. Obi-Wan's commercial craft was left to burn with the doomed complex.
As they sped away from the harsh world of Mustafar, Ahsoka Tano meditated. She now understood why Obi-Wan had swung at his former apprentice. It was his destiny to defeat Anakin. However, Ahsoka had stopped it from happening, for it was her destiny to save Anakin from the darkness.
Obi-Wan deduced that the molten river had consumed his former apprentice, while Ahsoka assumed that Anakin had been returned to the light.
Both Jedi believed they had succeeded. And both were blissfully unaware that an imperial shuttle was headed for the volcanic planet. Despite his blazing objection, Anakin would be saved.
~to be continued with…
Part II: The Aftermath