The guardian watched as Palpatine turned to face Anakin and Obi-Wan. It was true that he couldn't actually interfere. They were all True Sith, and disputes between True Sith had to be decided between them. The guardian couldn't interfere- for either side.
"Ah, Anakin," Palpatine started.
"Don't call me that, Lord Sidious," Anakin interrupted with a snarl. "You were never my friend."
Oh. OH! That rather explained some of the anger. Anakin was feeling betrayed. The guardian could imagine how it all happened.
Obi-Wan didn't say anything as he stared at Palpatine.
Anakin looked at his Lady. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said. Her hand drifted down for a second, before she clenched her fists. "He didn't hurt me."
Palpatine looked amused. "Quite. I simply needed to get you here, Anakin."
"I said don't call me that!" Anakin snarled.
"Would you perhaps prefer Lord Vader?" Palpatine asked.
"What?" Three voices chorused.
The Sith Master smiled. "That will be your name, once you join the Sith and become my apprentice."
"Once I…" Anakin trailed off, and suddenly his eyes lit up. "You don't know," he said.
Obi-Wan's jaw dropped. "He doesn't," he breathed.
"Know what?" Palpatine snarled.
"What happens when you kill a Sith Lord."
Padmé jolted, eyes wide. "You're not going to…"
"Don't worry, Padmé," Anakin said. "I think he'll like this. Lord Rivan? I know you said you couldn't interfere, but Lord Sidious apparently isn't aware of the Rite of Combat. Would you be willing to explain it to him?"
Well, since he was being polite… The guardian materialized off to the side. "Lord Skywalker, Lord Kenobi, Lord Sidious," he said. He glanced at Padmé. "And Lady Skywalker," he offered with a bow. Anakin was trying to make a point here, so he would be formal about things.
She looked surprised, but not shocked, so evidently, her husband had told her about the temple. The guardian turned to Palpatine. "As for you, Sith Master of the Banite Line, I am Lord Rivan, guardian of this temple. And I am truly appalled that our Order has lost so much."
"We have lost nothing," Palpatine snarled. "And you are a Sith guardian, what are you doing allowing Jedi here without harm? And allowing them to kill another Sith Lord?"
The guardian sniffed. "You know nothing, or you'd know that Lord Kenobi hasn't been a Jedi- or hasn't only been a Jedi- since he killed your apprentice over a decade ago."
Palpatine sneered. "And that is why I will be taking his apprentice from him," he said. "Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi, and nothing else."
Anakin shook his head. "No," he said. "You won't." He smiled suddenly. "And no, he isn't."
"Lord Skywalker is right," the guardian said. "After all, since ancient times, one of the methods to become a Sith Lord was to defeat another in one of our temples. And of course, they could also kill a Sith Lord outside of our temples, as Lord Kenobi did."
Palpatine blinked, then apparently put the pieces together. "No," he snarled. "Kenobi is not a Sith!" he leapt forward, his lightsaber sliding out of his sleeve and igniting almost instantly.
Obi-Wan barely got his blue lightsaber up in time to block the red blade and flipped back as soon as he could.
Anakin lit his own saber and attacked Palpatine.
The guardian moved to stand next to Lady Skywalker. "I don't know if your husband can win," he told her quietly. "And my own rules do not allow me to interfere."
She nodded as they watched the fight. Anakin and Obi-Wan were doing their best, but they were up against a Sith Master with several decades more experience in both the Force and the Dark Side. And they still wouldn't use their anger and hate!
It was obvious who was going to win. The guardian didn't want that, but he couldn't interfere, not between True Sith. They were on the cusp of creating a new dynasty of Sith, and Palpatine would ruin that if he killed the other two Sith Lords.
The only thing saving Anakin and Obi-Wan was the fact that they were fighting as a team and protecting each other. One would take the lead, and just before Palpatine would overwhelm that one, the other would dart in and give the first a break.
But they were in a place that was steeped in the Dark Side, and facing off against a Master of the Dark Side. Their Jedi sensibilities wouldn't help them here. They needed to use the anger the guardian could still feel from them.
Padmé clenched her fists. "I wish I had my blaster," she snarled. "I'd shoot that…" she continued in some language the guardian didn't know, but he guessed whatever she'd just called him was highly uncomplimentary.
The guardian considered that for a moment. True, he couldn't interfere in a fight between True Sith, but Padmé wasn't Sith, and she wasn't involved in the fight. And she was the wife and confidant of a Sith Lord. It was only right she had a weapon. If she just so happened in interfere… well, it wouldn't be the guardian's doing. "There are some old Mandalorian weapons here in the temple, but I cannot guarantee they work, Lady Skywalker. And even Jedi can avoid a blaster shot."
"Just having a blaster would be nice," she said.
The guardian could understand that. He liked Lady Skywalker, more than he thought he would when Palpatine brought her here. He certainly liked her more than he liked the Banite master, For all that she wasn't trained in the Force, she was remarkably strong willed, and a fine match for a Sith Lord.
He concentrated for a moment, before he found one weapon that actually still worked. It had belonged to one of his own favored soldiers, a woman not much bigger than the petite Lady Skywalker, but an incredible shot and one of his best fighters back when they'd both been alive.
The stone behind Lady Skywalker slid to the side, and she glanced at the blaster before picking it up and checking it. "A little old fashioned," she murmured. "I haven't seen a blaster of this style outside of a museum."
"It is over two thousand years old," the guardian replied. "But it should still work. Hopefully, you won't need it." He turned his attention back to the fight. It really wasn't going well for Anakin and Obi-Wan. In fact, just as the guardian looked over, Palpatine managed to disarm Obi-Wan and leveled his lightsaber at Obi-Wan's throat.
"Don't move, Anakin," Palpatine said. "Or I'll kill him. In fact, throw your blade down."
Anakin froze, still holding his lightsaber, before he carefully turned it off and set it on the ground. "If you kill him, I'll kill you," he snarled.
"You and Kenobi together cannot hope to defeat me," Palpatine said. "I have no reason to fear you alone. But if you join me, Anakin, I will let him live."
Anakin bit his lip, and glanced at Obi-Wan. "I…"
"Come now, Anakin," Palpatine said. "You have a short time to join me, or I will make you chose between your wife and your Jedi Master."
Anakin's eyes narrowed. "Never," he snarled. The Guardian saw Obi-Wan smile in pride.
Palpatine sighed. "Oh, very well then," he said. "Chose which one I will torture, and which I will kill. Or I will chose for you."
Before anyone could say anything else, Padmé brought her blaster up and fired at Palpatine. The guardian hadn't expected it, and neither had the rest of the Sith.
The shot went right through the Sith Master's head, and he slumped down. Obi-Wan dove to the right to avoid the lightsaber and came up to stare at Palpatine- at Palpatine's body.
To the guardian's shock, he felt the Force gather around Lady Skywalker.
Almost at once, Anakin and Obi-Wan turned to stare at her.
Trained in the Force or not, she had enough strength in the Force that she was now as much a Sith as they were.
Yes, I did plan this back when I was writing part 5, so this was not a sudden whim on my part. And yes, Padmé is now a Sith Lady.