Obi Wan Kenobi gazed at Padme, eyes soft. D210 had somehow, worked a miracle, stabilizing the young woman. She now sat with both babies cradled in each of her arms.
"What will you name them?" Obi Wan asked.
"Luke. And Leia."
"They're beautiful names. I'm sure, Anakin will be very happy."
Her eyes fell, a sadness in them. "Is Anakin in trouble?"
"I'll talk to Anakin, it's nothing for you to worry about. That said, take care of the little ones. I will come back to visit you. I promise," he said, voice in a whisper.
"Will Anakin come back?" Obi Wan being there could only mean one thing. They were going to fight.
"I certainly hope so, my friend."
Obi Wan leaned and caressed the side of Luke's face. Then stood. Could he leave Padme to raise two infant children on her own? Leave them without a father? Kill his own best friend? That's what the Council wanted. And he resented it. But Anakin made things bad for himself. He probably meant well in trying to save the clones. But meaning well meant nothing to the Council, who were already biased and against him. Namely, its second in command, Mace Windu.
Just as Obi Wan turned to walk out of Padme's room, Threepio came bustling through the door.
"OH no!" he cried. "Senator Amidala, please, turn on the Holonet. There are disturbing reports of a rebellion at the Jedi Temple."
"Are you sure?" Padme gasped.
"Yes, and the report has come from the Senate. Apparently, the clone forces are there now, squashing the rebellion. It's gotten very very ugly, my lady."
Padme sat the babies on the bed beside her. Luke squirmed and Leia wailed. Their mother used a remote device to turn on Holonet news. She, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Threepio listened, all in shock at the recent turn of events.
"I'm sorry, I must leave now. Take care, Padme"
And with that Obi Wan was off, running from the house to his starship. If only, he had listened to Master Yoda who had gone to Kashykk to investigate the clone situation. He was asked to guard the temple last night, the only master available. If Anakin was behind this, he could have stopped him. Either by way of duel or simply by way of convincing him to change course.
The starship blasted through Mygeeto's atmosphere, and linked not far out of its system to the hypernot, which allowed him to move at light speed to Coruscant.
Padme clapped a hand over her face and sobbed. Is this the reason Anakin left her alone to have their babies? To get revenge on the Jedi? Would he do something so awful to the Republic they both served so loyally?
The babies squirmed, and soon, both were wailing. Padme gathered them close, if anything, they were all she had left of Anakin, if he had done the unthinkable and turned to the darkside, or worse, died in battle.
"Please, Anakin... come back to me," she muttered.
Plumes of smoke rose from the Jedi Temple. Onlookers gawked and pointed, while Clones try to steer them away from the carnage and debris. A starship circled above, watching everything... Yellow tape surrounded the premises below. Obi Wan landed the starship near the top of the temple, on a collapsed landing dock where the spire had fallen in.
Where are the children? he wondered... the younglings, the padawans? Could Anakin do something like this? Obi Wan shook his head. Not Anakin. Not the boy who spent more than half his life under his very tuteledge.
He walked, stealth like, slipping from hall to hall, chamber to chamber, sabering Clones before they could detect them, sometimes snapping their necks...
Obi Wan sensed that Anakin was somewhere in the building. Likely, waiting for him or some other master. Someone he would match in a duel to the death. One, that wouldn't result in his own. For he was powerful indeed. Powerful enough to kill TWO Sith Lords, already at so young an age.
Obi Wan moved stealth-like to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Yes, the very place where the council rejected Anakin's plea for mastery.
He walked inside, lightsaber ignited, stepping over puddle of blood. A chill ran up his spine. Across the room, Anakin stood. Gazing out of a large picturesque window onto Corusant's blazing skies. He didn't turn. He didn't have to.
"Anakin..." the name left his lip in a whisper...a plea, even.
"If you want a fight, I'm here to give you one."
"I've come to understand. Anakin... what have you done?"
"Exactly what I needed to do. Exactly what the Chosen One is supposed to do. Balance the Force."
"By killing your brothers and sisters?"
"They were traitors."
Anakin turned, eyes dark. He pointed the end of his blazing lightsaber at Obi Wan. "Stand down, or fight."
Obi Wan sighed, heart heavy with sorrow, for all the brave heroes lost in the bloodshed there in the temple. "Master Windu was right..."
"Master Windu spearheaded the Jedi's takeover of the Republic. He is worse than Dooku."
"I admit, I don't agree with their tactics of late, but Anakin... this was not the answer."
Anakin talked through gritted teeth, seething. "I know what you're thinking," he growled. "And you're right. Not even the children were spared. But it had to be done. They were already contaminated by the flawed Jedi doctrine. They would have risen against us later."
"US?"
Anakin circled him.
"I sense it master... you too, have lost faith. You saw the error of their ways. But won't admit it. You're horried by this change. The bloodshed. Like the padawan learners and children, you too have been brainwashed to believe the old way is the ONLY way. It isn't. And nor will it be, again. But unlike the children, you are wise, Master. I know you see the truth."
They circled each other now.
"The only truth I see is that you've turned to the dark side."
"Where there is light, there is shadow. I understand what it means to balance the force. That one cannot exist without the other."
"And where there is darkness, what is there of light?"
"Nothing. Which is why the Jedi must be stopped. Master Windu has already proven, with Vaapad, that Light and darkness can co-exist. The intolerant Jedi must not continue any longer. You resent me for what I've done, my master, but was it not you, who taught me that nothing should stand in the way of one's mission? If the Council sent you on a mission and instructed you to slaughter everyone, including the children, would you do it, master?"
Obi wan was silent.
"Have i not followed you on missions where questionable tactics were employed under the direction of the council? In the name of completing a mission. What happened here in the Jedi temple, was just that. Doing what I needed to do, despite the horror it brings, master."
And now, he sounded like the Anakin, Obi Wan had always known.
"Please... I don't want to fight you. Join me. We can end this once and for all," Anakin pleaded. "We can restore balance and peace to the Republic. The Senate, has unanimously decided that I should rule, until a suitable successor is elected. My serving the Republic wouldn't contradict the law, as I have been expelled. The Council are the ones who violated Amendment 313, in partaking of politics. You can start the Order anew, my master. You were always the wisest, of all the Jedi. Yoda is too old. He won't let go of the old ways. The old ways are wrong."
Anakin lowered his light saber, blinking, body unsteady.
"I was never allowed to say this before, Master Obi Wan... but, I love you. You were good to me and trained me well. I can say I love you now, without fear of scorn or reprimand. The Jedi are against love. Life, passion...they're the ones who are on the dark side."
Obi Wan lowered his lightsaber and paced the room. Taking it all in...
The chosen one was born of the Force to introduce a new philosophy to the Order. One, the old guard like Dooku and even Qui Gonn Jin had tried to change it, but failed, the effects of which, allowed the Sith to disguise themselves becoming unrecognizable to the Jedi, who never evolved, and eventually led to the clone wars, and the near end of the Republic. Because Yoda and others like Mace Windu, were impervious to change. Unwilling to loosen their hold on power.
Obi Wan weeped for the broken down temple. The fallen Jedi. The lost Padawans. And realised, he too, had attachments of his own. Did those attachments make him evil? Were those attachments out of love, and light, and not of darkness?
If he "joined" Anakin... could he not control him better? To ensure the peace and integrity of the Order as Yoda and the other Masters had failed to do in trying to keep the old way?
"Then it is agreed, Master," Anakin said, sensing Obi Wan's faltering belief in the old system. "All Jedi, including those in the field have been terminated. All but two."
Obi Wan nodded. His body shook. The change was too much for him. "All but Master Yoda, and Master Windu," he said.
"We'll move against them, master. I'll take Windu. You will take Master Yoda."
Obi Wan managed a smile. "Anakin... I doubt either one of us are powerful enough to destroy Master Yoda."
"I've beaten two Sith Lords already. Two powerful Sith Lords. Were you not the master who trained me? I sensed it master, good will prevail against the old."
Obi Wan thought about a mission he and his master went on, to save Qui Gonn's secret love, when he was thirteen years-old. A mission that led to his being expelled from the Order. There was a civil war between the old and young on an alien planet. Obi Wan identified with the Youth, and resisting a directive from his master, he stayed fought in a war to help the Young. AFTER challenging Qui Gonn to a duel.
"Fine. If I fall, then it is my fate. And likely, because I deserve it."
"You are good, Master. We will prevail."