A/N: Thank you so much for your feedback on Chapter 1! Please keep it up, thanks a lot:)
Enjoy Chapter 2.
Chapter 2 – Choices
Obi-Wan flew over the Jedi Temple. As he approached, he spotted something in the distance. It was Anakin's starfighter, docked at the Senate building.
The Jedi Master changed course and landed masterfully on the same landing platform. He channeled the Force around him for guidance. He decided to call Anakin's comlink once more, as he had no idea where to go.
"Anakin, pick up! Where are you?" Silence again.
Suddenly, Obi-Wan's comlink buzzed, the sound of an incoming message. "Yes! Anakin?" he shouted into the device with great urgency.
However, it was not Anakin's voice on the other end. "Master…Kenobi. This is … Fisto." The voice was weak and fading, pausing to draw one final breath. "Chancellor… Palpatine… is …the Sith." The sound of a comlink falling to the floor assaulted Obi-Wan's ears.
He broke off into a run towards the Chancellor's office. He didn't think. He acted completely on instinct. He wasn't even sure he'd been to the chancellor's office before but it didn't matter. Now he rounded the hallways like he had traveled them his entire life. He sprinted through the open door, passing three slain Jedi on the floor. His heart lurched, and silently thanked Master Fisto for the warning. He scooped up two of the fallen lightsabers. Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber was still on Utapau, after he had dropped it during his battle with General Grievous. Normally, Obi-Wan would have chuckled at the fact that he had committed the most fatal error of a Jedi, one that he had chided Anakin on numerous times. Not now. He continued on, propelled only by the Force. Arriving at the innermost room, Obi-Wan unintentionally gasped at what he saw.
Palpatine's office had become a battleground. This was perhaps the most defining moment of the Clone Wars, being fought in the very room that symbolized civility and order. Mace Windu lay drained on the edge of the shattered bay window, no weapon in hand. The Jedi Master was weak, but alive. Obi-Wan tossed him one of the lightsabers. But neither Jedi could interrupt the battle that was taken place.
The Supreme Chancellor stood atop his desk, violet lightsaber in hand, and gritted his teeth. His face was covered in thick wrinkles that made him look three hundred years old. But the real focal point of the duel was Anakin Skywalker. He radiated fierceness that Obi-Wan had never seen in any being before. It was angrier than any Sith and calmer than any Jedi. It seemed like Anakin hated Palpatine more than anything, but was reluctant to land the killing blow that Obi-Wan knew he was more than capable of.
Suddenly, Anakin stumbled backward on the waxy surface of the black desk. He landed with a thud on the ground. Palpatine's reflexes were unexplainably fast. He used the advantage of the high ground to blast Anakin with lightning. Anakin growled with pain.
""You underestimate the power of the Dark Side!" the Chancellor howled with delight. "You made the wrong choice, and now you will pay!"
Mace and Obi-Wan made eye contact. Now was their chance to act. Palpatine could not continue to zap Anakin, and fight a lightsaber battle on two fronts. The gruesome Sith battled Mace with one hand, while blue electric current still blasted Anakin from his other hand.
Obi-Wan called on the Force for help. He used an old Jedi technique to make his breathing silent, and his presence virtually unnoticeable to the others in the room. He couldn't look at what he was about to do. Despite all the killing he had commanded and performed himself in the Clone Wars, he had never enjoyed any of it. He closed his eyes and thrust his lightsaber forward. It sliced through Palapatine's back and into his heart. The lightning stopped shooting from his fingers. He released Mace's lightsaber. Palpatine dropped to the floor.
Mace, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, stood in the foyer of Palpatine's office, solemn expressions on all their faces. Three of the most esteemed Jedi Masters had just been slaughtered by the very Sith Lord who had been living right under their noses for years. The Sith Lord had now been eliminated, but at what cost?
They sent out an urgent message alert to the holoprojector of Master Yoda, who was still on Kashyyyk. He flickered, and began to speak.
"Felt it, I have. What has happened?" the Grand Master's tone was one of caution and alarm.
Mace felt he should take charge. "Chancellor Palpatine was the Sith Lord. Before he died, he…" The usually stoic Mace's voice caught in his throat. He couldn't bear to explain what had happened to his contemporaries. Instead, he picked up the projector and showed Yoda the scene.
"Terrible is the damage caused by the Dark Side." Yoda whispered. "Return to Coruscant at once, I will. Honor these Masters together, we must."
"And what of the Chancellor?" Anakin asked. He didn't know how Yoda would want to dispose of a Sith, as it had never been done before.
"A proper funeral, we will give him. All life is sacred, bound together by the Living Force, it is. Even the most evil beings are tied to the purest ones."
Anakin didn't agree with Yoda, but he held his tongue.
Obi-Wan marveled at the Grand Master's ability to keep a level head in times like this.
"When I return, discuss your next mission, we will. Uncover all of Palpatine's secret intentions, the Jedi must, and expose his identity to the Senate." Yoda's hologram flickered out.
Mace turned to Obi-Wan and Anakin. "Let's get cleaned up and wait for Yoda to return. Anakin, your alerting me to Chancellor's identity saved many lives."
Anakin bowed softly towards Master Windu. He was still in shock of Palpatine's death. Though the Sith had attacked him and killed Jedi Masters, Anakin only had one looming though on his mind, What will happen to Padmé?
"And…I am glad you disobeyed my orders."
Obi-Wan and Anakin walked to their quarters in the Jedi Temple. Finally, Obi-Wan broke the silence. "I can't say how happy I am to see you alive," he said in a rare display of tenderness. He gripped Anakin's upper arm and looked through his blue, glassy eyes into Anakin's hard ones. This man was his brother.
Anakin was angry at himself more than anything. His anger at Obi-Wan for making him spy on the Chancellor seemed like it happened light years ago. Now, he felt nothing but gratitude towards his former master. "I feel like an idiot, Obi-Wan. I thought Palpatine actually admired my skills as a Jedi. I confided in him and… he deceived me."'
"He deceived us all," said Obi-Wan wistfully.
"Yes, but I was closest to him," Anakin countered. "He used my worst fears against me and tried to get me to join the Sith. In the end, I knew his was lying, but I came so close!" Anakin's voice heaved. Normally one to quell his feelings, Anakin needed Obi-Wan now. He felt weak and worn. He felt like a child.
"And what are your worst fears, Anakin?"