By the way, for those of you who have it, your favorite author is now on twitter :D AngelDesaray You can't miss it there's a bunch of star wars pictures including the profile picture of Luke holding a blaster. Writing Addict hehehe. Anyway;

Don't kill me and review.

That's all I ask.

Thank you.

Enjoy.

With the ruins crumbling all around them, Leia and Galen had been forced to retreat.

Or, more accurately, Galen had been forced to drag a hysterical Leia out of immediate danger, earning several bruises along the way that he was sure would cause him to hurt in the morning.

It pained him to leave the room too, but they couldn't follow Anakin and Luke into the hole that they had fallen into; it had been plugged up much too quickly. On top of that, the room was collapsing too swiftly for them to do anything to move the rubble to try and pursue the two. Galen seemed to be the only one who had any remaining sense in that moment seeing as he had to drag Leia out of the room by force. They had to make their way halfway down the hall they had come down in the first place before they reached a stable structure once more.

Despite everything going on, it had been Mara Jade that fascinated Galen and piqued his interest.

When the structure began to collapse, she had rushed forward and gathered the original Luke's body in her arms before turning tail and running down the hall, ahead of Galen since Galen's extra weight was fighting back. He wasn't sure if her intentions were pure though. For all he knew she could be making off with Luke's body for some strange Sithy ritual.

Something told him that was just him being paranoid.

Leia landed a rather painful punch on Galen's abdomen, causing him to grunt in pain and slight annoyance. "Leia, stop, you can't go back, there's nothing we can do!"

"We have to! Galen, they need us, we can't leave them, I can't lose them!" Leia said, her voice just a few notes away from a shriek as she fought to release herself from the arms wrapped around her middle.

"Even if I wanted to we can't go back in there; the entire room has already collapsed, it's too late now. All we can do is hope that they're all right," Galen said as patiently and soothingly as he could manage. Leia shook her head adamantly in denial of his words.

"No, it's not true, no," she said desperately, though Galen was relieved to notice that her attempts to break free were lessening; she was starting to listen to him. It was a good thing too, because he'd started to worry about her increasingly lower blows. Leia strained against his arms, tears streaming down her face. "Father! Luke!" she called out.

"Leia, we have to get out of here; who knows when the rest of this place is going to collapse?" he plead lightly with her, glancing around at the ancient walls around and the pile of rubble in front of them.

Leia tensed, her teeth grit so tightly Galen wondered how she hadn't ground her teeth into powder yet. Finally, the girl forced herself to turn away from the rubble with a pained guttural sound emanating from her. She leaned into Galen for support, eyes squeezed shut with tears streaming down her face; it was a silent sign for him to lead her away from this place as fast as possible because she knew he was right.

Galen offered no words of reassurance; he didn't want to give her false hope or lie to her in any way. He took advantage of the fact that she was allowing herself to be dragged away, making easy progress down the hall back towards the way they came.

Halfway there, they froze in shock at the scene that greeted them.

They had caught up to Mara, who was kneeling down in the hallway, Luke's body held carefully in her arms. The woman had her head bowed in what seemed to be reverence, though as Galen watched he saw a teardrop fall from the face that was veiled by her flaming red hair onto Luke's face.

"I'm sorry," he barely heard Mara whisper to the corpse.

Suddenly Leia tore herself loose from Galen, making a beeline for the woman before Galen could stop her. Mara seemed to finally be aware that she wasn't alone, letting go of Luke's body but still not prepared for the onslaught that was Leia Skywalker's fury.

"Get away from him!" Leia practically shrieked, pinning the woman against the wall. Mara shoved Leia off of her, but Leia wasn't done with her and activated her blade. Mara spent no time in mirroring the action, her violet blade springing to life in an instant. Galen snapped into action, both blades springing to life to block each women's blade from connecting.

He was not going to see these two fight over Luke's body.

"Stop this, now," he snapped at them, glaring daggers. "This place is caving in as we speak, we don't have time for this."

Was he the only one who had seen and heard Mara's honest remorse? He could feel how genuine it was through the Force, but Leia was too grief stricken to tell.

"She—" Leia started to say in an outraged voice, but Galen cut her off.

"Will be coming with us," Galen said, giving Mara a sharp look. The woman glared back at him.

"Who said I was going anywhere with you?" Mara snarled.

"What makes you think I'll let you out of our sight?" Galen snapped right back.

"I don't think you'd be able to keep up with me," she sneered.

"Watch me," Galen said sharply. "You can either come conscious or unconscious, it's your choice," Galen said coldly, his eyes flashing in warning.

"You've got nothing on my Marek," Mara said with a smug look. Galen's eyes snapped in anger.

"I was apprenticed to Darth Vader from the time I was old enough to hold a lightsaber out in front of me, and I can tell you first hand his training methods are much more brutal than your Emperor's Hand methods. I know because I made it my business to know. When it comes to this better life we lead, I still have more years on you; do not think for a moment that I cannot take you out here and now if I want to," Galen said, getting up in her face. The two stared each other down for several moments before Mara inclined her head slightly.

"Fine; I'll go with you. But only because I want to," Mara said through grit teeth.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Galen replied coolly, finally stepping back. He turned, surprised that Leia had not made any comments up to this point.

She was kneeling beside Luke's corpse, his head cradled in her lap. The sight sent a strong pang through Galen's heart, but he said nothing as Leia brushed some of the hair from his face. Galen looked away to give her some privacy before he spoke in a very quiet tone of voice. "Leia, we have to get moving."

He never got a reply. Instead, a strangled sound emanated from Leia, causing Galen's head to whip back around to face her. Mara and Galen both stared in shock at what they were witnessing.

Leia held Luke's corpse as close to her as possible, but she couldn't stop his body from slowly disappearing. The three stared as he slowly faded into oblivion, Leia trying as hard as she could to keep ahold of his body but failing miserably. Galen stepped forward, placing a firm yet gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Let him go Leia," he said firmly even as his brain raced to figure out why the Original Luke's body was disappearing before their eyes. He was almost completely gone, yet Galen had a feeling that they shouldn't worry. Something had gone right finally; he just didn't know what.

"What's going on Galen?" Leia asked, her voice high pitched as tears blurred in her eyes.

"I don't know Leia, I just know that something's gone right," Galen said calmly as he watched Luke's body fade away completely. He pulled Leia up by the arm, taking the time to steady her and gesture sharply down the tunnel with his chin to signal Mara to start moving. "Come on, we have to get out of here; maybe we'll find another way in elsewhere that will lead us to wherever Anakin and Luke fell in."

That got Leia's attention. She straightened, still staring at the spot Luke's body had been not moments before. "You're right…you're right, let's go."

Chosen One or not, Anakin wasn't doing well right now.

Hand to lightsaber combat was not a good position to be in if you were the one who was fighting with their bare hands and the Force alone. Sidious gave him no time to focus and call his lightsaber to him, nor was Anakin able to maneuver in the direction of the lightsabers. So, he was stuck with his lightsaber to hand combat, and gaining a nasty collection of burns and cuts at the same time. Throughout the fight—if it could even be called that—a few clone tanks had been destroyed, as well as the clone inside of them. Anakin counted that as a win, but there was still too many to feel confident about the current situation.

It didn't help he was quickly tiring, and Sidious knew it.

Anakin hissed as he came out of a roll, his bicep burning where Sidious had scored a deep gash running the length of his upper arm. He tried not to think of the increasingly familiar feeling of an open lightsaber wound that cut deeper than he wanted to admit.

He had little time to muse on the subject, leaping aside to dodge a swift red arch that landed where his head had been not a moment earlier. Once more, he found himself forced to roll in the direction opposite of where the weapon he wished was currently in his hand lay prone on the floor. Anakin launched off of the floor towards Sidious, his fist connecting with the Sith's abdomen. There was a distinct grunt, followed by a sharp warning in the Force that sent Anakin leaping back once again. He was a little too slow, and Sidious gave him another gash on his back to match the other once as well as a large laceration down one leg. Anakin couldn't help the cry that escaped him at the burning pain that ripped up his back, but he didn't stay on the floor long. He pushed himself up, reading to launch right back into the precarious fight. His progress was halted almost immediately as he barely avoided impaling himself on Sidious' blade, held mere millimeters from Anakin's face. Anakin's bright blue eyes locked onto Sidious' blazing yellow ones, his chest heaving from his physical exertion of trying to doge the Sith's lightsaber.

Sidious grinned, his expression causing Anakin's eyes to narrow hatefully. "I must say it's a pleasure to kill you myself knowing your failure is complete. Your death will be the catalyst to your son's fall. Goodbye Anakin."

Anakin refused to close his eyes as Sidious' lightsaber raised high in the air. Anakin braced himself for the killing blow…

In slow motion, the red blade descended, aimed perfectly to remove Anakin's head from his body.

The pain never came.

Instead, there was a bright flash of light as the red blade met the resistance of a glowing green blade. Shock registered on Sidious' face as he followed the green blade all the way to the face of its wielder.

Luke pushed the red lightsaber gradually back to its owner with both hands on his lightsaber hilt, his brow furrowed in determination and anger as he forced his way between Sidious and Anakin.

"Not so long as I live," Luke hissed, pushing Sidious back roughly and far away from his father.

Sidious' face contorted into fury as his eyes fell on his former apprentice. A mixture of light and dark rushed through the youth, but his conscious was clear, his mind set and made up on what he needed to do.

It was indeed Luke Skywalker who stood before them, the veil of the dark side lifted from his mind even if the dark still resided in his soul.

Anakin had no doubt that his son would do whatever it took to end all of this here and now.

Sidious let out a cry of fury as Luke stood defiantly in front of him, unfazed by his Sith Master's outrage. In fact, it only seemed to strengthen his resolve.

"Impossible!" Sidious shrieked. Luke's grip on his lightsaber tightened as he brought the weapon up sharply, cutting off the attack of lightning before it could reach him or his father. "I made sure that you were beyond saving!"

"You overlooked a few minor details Your Highness," Luke said sarcastically once the lightning assault had ended. He wasted no time in advancing his attack before the Sith Master could attack again with the lighting, engaging Sidious in lightsaber combat within seconds. Fury roiled off of Sidious as the two fought, a dazzling display of red and green moving almost too fast for the human eye to follow.

Luke managed to get within Sidious' defenses, grazing the Sith Lord down the side. Another cry of rage echoed through the room, and it was noted in the back of the minds of both Jedi that the room's foundation shook; a scary thought since the structure was already unstable.

Luke ignored it however; he had a far more pressing issue at hand, even as Anakin dragged himself away from the fight, his hand stretched out for his lightsaber and brows knit in concentration. No, Luke was focused entirely on the Sith Lord in front of him, driven by a sense of revenge, protection, and duty.

"You'll have nowhere to go if you turn on me," Sidious taunted, eyes snapping with anger. Luke met his gaze with a determination that rivaled the Sith Lord's rage.

"Yes I will. I'm not as alone as you'd like me to believe Sidious," he said firmly, starting to back the Sith Lord into a corner.

"Do you think they'll take you back after all that you've done? They'll kill you for what you did, and they don't even know everything yet," Sidious spat.

"Then so be it," Luke hissed through grit teeth.

Anakin's lightsaber flew from the floor into his hand and he sighed in relief at being armed once more, trying not to wince at the sharp pain in his hand as he curled his burned palm and fingers around the hilt. That had been a painful injury indeed. He turned his eyes back to Luke, watching as the youth was kicked in the stomach as Anakin pulled himself up, leaning heavily on the wall for support.

Luke rolled with the blow, backing up slightly to allow himself more maneuvering room as Sidious sauntered confidently nearer.

"I still won," Sidious sneered, pointing a finger triumphantly at Luke. "I broke you, I made you kneel before me and serve my every whim, I twisted you so far you weren't even a shadow of your former self. You, just like your father, became my servant; a tool in my hands for revenge every step of the way."

Luke's eyes snapped dangerously at Sidious, their blades clashing violently as Luke advanced once more. He didn't have anything to say to the Sith; all he could do was growl at him, caught in a deadlock with his former Sith Master and captor.

"And neither of us are going to forget how you enjoyed it. How you carried out each murder gleefully, basking in their pain and screams, toying with them, drawing it out as long as possible and getting as creative with their torture as possible, never ceasing until they shattered and even continuing after that. How many Jedi did you break boy? How many did you drive to madness before they died?"

Sidious smirked maliciously as Luke's eyes turned gold. "You can say what you want, but I won. I turned you into the thing you despised, but you were the one who took it farther. Their blood is on your hands, and you will never wash it off. Just as you will always be mine."

Luke finally snapped, letting out a cry of pure fury and blasting Sidious forward in a powerful Force Push. The Sith Lord was slammed against the chest he had retrieved his lightsaber from earlier, momentarily dazed. That moment was all that Luke needed. The youth rushed forward before putting all of his momentum into an upward thrust through the Sith Lord's abdomen with his lightsaber. Sidious' eyes widened in shock at the injury, slowly staring down at the lightsaber imbedded up to its hilt through his abdomen. Luke had one hand clutching the Sith Lord's shoulder as he yanked upwards, causing a strange noise of agony to force its way out of the Sith's throat. Fingers digging into Sidious' shoulder, he leaned over to whisper in the Sith Lord's ear.

"This time; stay dead."

He deactivated his lightsaber and stepped away, letting the Sith Lord's body drop to the ground before he reactivated his lightsaber. He held it in a tight grip before he flung the lightsaber in a maneuver his friend Galen was rather fond of.

A lightsaber throw.

Luke's green blade spun in a dangerous circle through the room, guided by Luke as he manipulated the Force from where he stood over Sidious' body. The blade cut right through the cloning tanks, right at the height they needed to be to sever the clone heads from their bodies. After making a complete circle around the room, the blade returned to Luke's hand and he deactivated the weapon. For a moment, there was utter silence in the room besides Luke's heavy breathing.

Then everything caught up with the champion of the light, and he promptly collapsed.