Well I'm sorry my chapters have been slow coming recently; its testing/prom, so I'm extremely busy. I am however writing in all my spare time. As I am absolutely sure I will not have a chapter tomorrow unless by some miracle, I'm going to say it now:
"May the Fourth be with you! Always!"
Yay! Star Wars Day!
Please Review, and, of course...
Enjoy!
Anakin gave Zelina a heart attack whenever he suddenly sat bolt upright in the cot across from her with a gasp. She'd sensed—with Mortis still heightening her Force sensitivity to him through the deep rooted bond the Father had shed light on—that Anakin had been distressed and was most likely having a nightmare. Still, the sudden movement startled her.
Anakin had laid down for a nap not too long ago and had obviously been exhausted considering how quickly he had fallen asleep; that was why Zelina hadn't said much about her dream yet. She figured it could wait until he was a little better rested.. Obi-Wan was piloting the ship, and Zelina had been reclined in the cot across from Anakin for some well-deserved rest. Ahsoka had just walked into the section of the ship that Zelina and Anakin were staying in, in fact, when Anakin had suddenly woken. Both girls turned to look at Anakin with raised eyebrows and eye tattoos.
"Were you having a nightmare?" Ahsoka asked, approaching Anakin as he swung to the side of the cot with a grunt. He was still breathing rather heavily from whatever he'd seen.
"Yes," Zelina answered for her, getting off of her own cot to approach Anakin as well. "He was."
"Something like that..." Anakin grumbled, already moving to stand up. Their conversation was cut short when there was a sudden strange grinding noise and the ship lurched, throwing them all off balance.
"If you're done napping, I could use a little help here," Obi-Wan said, his voice tense.
"I'm coming," Anakin called back tiredly as Anakin and Zelina took a step forward. A gasp behind the two of them had Anakin and Zelina whipping around the next instant, and Zelina was sure both of them felt their blood run cold at the sight that greeted them.
Ahsoka struggled in the arms of the Son, who had just appeared out of nowhere inside of their ship. The door slid shut behind them as Anakin and Zelina both turned away from the cockpit, tense and at the ready for...well...Zelina wasn't quite sure. She knew lightsabers were useless, and only Anakin stood a chance against the Son, but he wasn't doing anything at the moment.
"Leaving so soon?" the Son asked in a mockingly innocent tone. He grasped Ahsoka by the throat, swinging her around to face him while he held her like a ragdoll. "Not without this you won't."
The floor beneath them opened up with a wave of the Son's hand, and Son jumped out of the ship with Ahsoka letting loose a scream on the way down. Anakin lurched forward instinctively with his hand outstretched while Zelina grasped his other arm to keep him from jumping after them.
"Ahsoka!" he cried out, but it was too late. Son had already turned into his beast form and flown away with her. Anakin whipped back around to the door, slamming his hand down on the open button with a raging fire of determination in his eyes.
"What's going on?" Obi-Wan asked as the two of them rushed into the cockpit. Anakin immediately took the copilot seat, his hands flying to press a wide range of buttons before he even got to sit down. Zelina slipped into Ahsoka's usual spot, her hand and eyes flying over the readings.
"The Son took Ahsoka!" Anakin forced out, his hands a blur.
"What in the blazes are you talking about?" Obi-Wan asked somewhat sharply, caught off guard.
"Exactly what he just said," Zelina said, trying to keep annoyance from leaking into her tone.
"Move, let me fly!" Anakin barked, grabbing the wheel somewhat violently while Obi-Wan let go of his own so that Anakin would have complete control. It didn't take long for him to turn the ship around—in fact he did it so instantaneously that Zelina was sure they left her stomach behind in the air. Anakin angled the ship down sharply, chasing after the large, winged beast that was Son around the rock formations surrounded with mist with an ease that only Anakin could master in flying. Now that Obi-Wan could see Ahsoka dangling from Son's claws, the seriousness of the situation seemed to fall over him and he offered no protest at Anakin's reckless flying.
At least at the moment.
The ship swerved dangerously so many times; left, right, up, down, right, left, up, left, right...
At this rate, it would be a miracle if they didn't end up a stain on the side of one of these rock formations. Though considering it was Anakin flying, plenty of miracles tended to occur during flight.
Just as the air seemed to clear up of rock formations for the moment, Son suddenly shot forward, disappearing into the thick mist all around them. A look of utter despair and shock fell over Anakin's face in that exact instant before it melted away and he grit his teeth in determination, shooting forward into the mist, undeterred from his goal of recovering Ahsoka. Plunging into the depths, Obi-Wan and Zelina both hit a point of alarm when a large structure loomed out of nowhere, a glowing green orb resonating an unearthly light as they zoomed towards it with no sign of stopping.
"Look out!" Obi-Wan cried out. Anakin's eyes narrowed in determination, and Obi-Wan yanked his own wheel to the left and, not a moment later, Anakin yanked his to the right, getting them back on Anakin's desired course. However, it set them all off balance, and the ship started a sharp plunge at a speed that gave them no room to fix their trajectory and no real idea of how close they were to the ground.
Well, at least the last problem was solved the next moment. The ship collided with the ground before Obi-Wan or Anakin could stop it, and they all grabbed onto the nearest object for support.
"Brace yourselves!" Zelina shouted needlessly from her seat behind Anakin. The ship jerked up for a second before it crashed back into the ground and slid to a very rough halt that sent everyone careening forward. Zelina slammed hard into Anakin's chair, Obi-Wan was thrown against the console, and Anakin was snapped roughly forward before he pushed himself back in his chair, clutching his head in pain. Zelina groaned, listening to the sound of several different instruments in the ship spark and short. It was going to be a while before their ship made its way into the air again. The lessons Anakin had given her on mechanics were hardly needed for her to tell as much.
Obi-Wan pushed himself upright, shaking his head to dispel any dizziness. "I didn't think you saw it," he said severely, getting to his feet.
"It was a giant tower! Of course I saw it!" Anakin snapped bitterly before he turned to Zelina. "Are you all right?"
"I'll be fine," she muttered. Still, Anakin gently grasped her shoulder and helped her up before they both followed Obi-Wan off of the ship. They all shuffled cautiously off the ramp—that miraculously still worked after their crash landing—and peered into the surrounding mist. Anakin's worry and fear was almost suffocating it was so potent for Zelina to sense.
"Any sign of him?" he asked Obi-Wan.
"No...but I think it's obvious where he's taken here," Obi-Wan responded. Zelina and Anakin came even on either side of Obi-Wan, and they collectively cast their gazes towards the large green-glowing tower Anakin had almost crashed them into.
"We must hurry..." Anakin said decisively, already taking a step forward. Obi-Wan stepped in front of him and halted his progress before he could get very far though, and Zelina felt Anakin's annoyance rise sharply at the action.
"Anakin, this wasn't a mistake! He brought us here for a reason. We must not get involved," Obi-Wan scolded him, though Anakin just looked away, anger smoldering in his eyes. "Any conflict here could have traumatic repercussions for the universe at large."
"I don't care," Anakin snapped at him. "He's too powerful for Ahsoka, I won't leave her alone!"
Anakin pushed passed Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan grasped his shoulder tightly to stop him from getting any farther, spinning Anakin around to face him fully.
"We are in the middle of something we don't truly understand!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "We'd be wise to confer with the Father first."
"There's no time," Anakin growled, turning his back on Obi-Wan. Zelina decided it was time to step in.
"Maybe we should split up? Someone go after Ahsoka and someone go to the Father for help; we can compromise you two, there are three of us," she pointed out.
Obi-Wan still didn't agree. "This is what he wants; to divide us."
"It's my fault he took her!" Anakin exploded, rounding sharply on Obi-Wan.
"Anakin, there was nothing either of us could do...don't blame yourself," Zelina said softly.
"You must feel how strong this part of the planet is with the dark side. The Father will know what to do," Obi-Wan said pointedly. Anakin sighed, but it was Zelina who spoke.
"How about you go after the Father Obi-Wan, while Anakin and I both go to the tower to see if we can find Ahsoka; that way Anakin's not getting in over his head alone," Zelina said pointedly, glancing between the two.
"I don't like the thought of separating, you know that," Obi-Wan said, sounding somewhat upset.
"I'm not going to leave Ahsoka alone with the Son. Besides...the Father can't help us," Anakin said tersely.
"Obi-Wan, I'm serious; I think that it will do us good for you to go find the Father while Anakin and I look for Ahsoka; I don't think this is going to work out any other way." Zelina glanced between the two. She didn't like how tense things between them were getting right now.
"No, it's not," Anakin said flatly before he turned and started walking away. Zelina looked at Obi-Wan apologetically.
"I'll make sure he doesn't get himself hurt, all right?" Zelina told Obi-Wan. "You just...find the Father as fast as you can and see what he can do."
Obi-Wan sighed in defeat. "All right, but...be careful. Both of you!"
"I'll look after him, you know I will," Zelina assured him before she ran off to catch up to Anakin.
"Why is it always the women in my life that get hurt?" Anakin growled to her as he powered through the plateau. The tower was quite a ways away, but she was sure that they would cover the distance rather quickly with Anakin's mood.
Zelina sighed, drawing a little closer to him. "It's just the way that life is...people get hurt all the time, and there's nothing we can do to stop it."
"Well, I should be able to," Anakin snapped harshly. "Everywhere I go someone I know, someone I love, gets hurt and I'm tired of it!"
Zelina frowned softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "That's never a reason not to keep fighting though Ani; someone you know may get hurt, but there will always be someone else that loves and cares about you that's worrying about you too. You'll never truly be alone, I promise you."
Anakin glanced at her, wilting just slightly. "One of these days Zee, you're going to make a promise you can't keep."
Zelina smiled slightly. "Let's hope that it's not an important one when that day does come."
Anakin snorted softly in amusement. "We can only hope..."
The powered across the plateau in silence for a few moments before Zelina decided to speak again to try and take Anakin's mind off of all the things that the Son could be doing to Ahsoka at the moment. "So...considering every time I wait for the right moment to say things like this I never really get around to saying it, I think I'm just going to bring up that vision I had yesterday while we were at the monastery."
Anakin seemed only mildly startled. "So that's what you wanted to talk to me about."
"Considering it was a vision of Luke, and he told me who he was, yes," Zelina said lightly, as if it wasn't a big deal. Anakin actually faltered in his step, and for a moment she thought he was going to come to a halt before he continued forward.
"Really?" he asked, intrigued. "So who is he?"
Zelina was silent for a moment, chewing on her lip before she finally managed to just step off the metaphorical cliff and say it before she lost her nerve. "Oh...well...he's your son."
Whack!
Zelina ran right into Anakin, who had come to a very abrupt and firm standstill. The shock, apparently, was paralyzing; she could sense as much. Anakin couldn't even turn around he was so surprised, though he could eventually find it in himself to speak.
"My...my son?" he choked out.
"Yeah…apparently so. I was rather shocked myself when he told me," Zelina admitted, coming even with him so that she could look him in the eyes.
It took him a few more moments, but eventually Anakin came out of his dazed state and his questions began to pour forth. "What did he look like? What was he like? What did he say? You have to tell me everything!"
Zelina couldn't help but smile at his reaction as she placed her hand on his shoulder, coaxing him to continue walking forward while they talked. "Calm down Ani, one at a time," she chuckled softly. After a few moments of silence in which Anakin oozed giddiness, she finally spoke again. "He had your eyes, your chin, your hair; though his was better kept. He seemed…gentle and kind, lighthearted, like Padme."
The smile slipped off her face after that, and she sighed. Anakin's gaze was riveted to her, his eyes turning fearful. "Why the sigh?"
"He seemed...haunted, at the same time. Like he had been through too much. He didn't come for happy messages either, he said he came to deliver a warning."
Anakin grasped Zelina's shoulder so tightly his nails dug into her skin, bringing her to an abrupt halt. "What was the warning Zee?"
Zelina hesitated, but only for a moment. Not saying anything about it would only irk Anakin, and he had every right to know considering it had been his son who had given the warning. "He said that every choice that you and I make effect what will happen to him, will decide his fate. He told me specifically, I don't know if you were included in this, but he said I could be his guardian, teacher, protector or…not there at all. He also told me to take care of you, but…he wouldn't give me any details on anything. Just told me to be careful and remember that my—our—choices will decide his fate."
Anakin grimaced slightly. "It doesn't sound like he had much good news."
"No, no not really. It was a warning he was giving us; I just think we should heed what he said and be careful. We don't want to wind up doing something we'll regret later on in life."
Anakin looked away, his gaze smoldering. "I agree," he muttered darkly. He shook himself, returning his gaze to the tower that loomed in the distance. "Come on…we need to hurry if we're going to catch up to Ahsoka and the Son."
As he trekked forward, Zelina fell into step behind him. "Are you going to be all right?" she asked him softly.
"Just…give me a little while to process everything before you ask that, okay?" Anakin asked lowly, keeping his gaze trained firmly forward.
"All right…" Zelina muttered.
She sure hoped that she wouldn't regret telling Anakin about the vision.
It could have been minutes, it could have been hours—Force, it could have been an entire day—before Anakin and Zelina could be found climbing to the top of the tower by hand. They'd been scaling up the side of the tower for at least an hour or two, and if it hadn't been for the Force Zelina was sure they would have both fallen to their deaths from exhaustion a long time ago. Anakin was the first one to reach their destination, and he leaned down to grasp Zelina's wrist and pull her to the flat ledge that housed an eerie monastery. The only thing visible of said monastery was a large stain glass window that greenish yellow light poured out of and a single door, all of which blended into the rock wall around it.
It wasn't the monastery that held the pair attention though. Instead, it was the solitary figure that stood by a tree on a raised platform; a solitary togruta.
"Thank the Force," Anakin mumbled, already starting to rush forward. Zelina grabbed his arm before he could get too far though, and he turned to look at her in surprise. "What—"
"Something's not right," Zelina said sharply, cutting him off. She cast her eyes around the flat ledge, scanning for any other hidden threats. "We still don't know where the Son is either…be wary."
Anakin stared at her for a few moments before he slowly nodded, pulling himself free from her grip and starting to cautiously step towards Ahsoka.
"Ahsoka..." Anakin called. The togruta didn't reply, and Anakin tried again. "Ahsoka! It's me, y-you're safe now, let's go."
Zelina didn't miss the fact that Anakin's eyes darted from side to side in apparent paranoia. Zelina's scope wasn't so shifty, but she was still scanning the surrounding area.
"Are you...proud of me Master?" Ahsoka finally said. Her voice was eerie...off...childlike and dangerous.
"What?" Anakin asked, so thrown off his gaze riveted to Ahsoka almost immediately. "Uh...of course Snips, of course I'm proud of you, now let's get out of here."
"Anakin, something is very wrong here," Zelina muttered, looking around as lightning cracked across the sky. Ahoska spoke again.
"He's right. Right about everything. You must join him," she said, turning around. Zelina grabbed Anakin's arm.
"Ani..." she said very quietly, her eyes riveted to Ahoska's. Her brain was trying to reject the fact that the youth's eyes were a glowing yellow, and black veins spider webbed all over the young togruta.
"He only wants what's best for the universe," Ahsoka added with a very cruel twist of a pout, speaking in the eerie childlike tone again.
"Hey...what's wrong with you?" Anakin asked, taking a step forward. At least to the best of his abilities—Zelina had a pretty strong grasp on his arm and had yet to move.
"Always with the criticism Master; never really believing in me, trusting me!" Ahsoka scoffed, turning sharply away. "Well, I don't need you anymore."
"Ahsoka...Ahsoka listen to me," Anakin plead, and Zelina let her grip drop to his wrist so he could stand a little closer. "He has done something to you, snap out of it! This isn't you Ahsoka!"
"Isn't it? I feel more like myself than I ever have!" Ahsoka responded, spreading her arms wide in a gesture of freedom. "He asked me to give you a message; he said, if you don't join him, he will kill me."
Zelina felt her gut twist at the giggle that followed the end of Ahsoka's sentence, and out of the corner of her eyes she saw Anakin's fist clench.
"I won't let him," Anakin said vehemently.
"Then you will be forced to kill me," Ahsoka responded sharply, whipping around instantly as her eyes snapped dangerously at the pair. She activated her lightsaber, and Anakin started to shake his head in denial even as Zelina reached for her own violet blade.
It was only because of Zelina's quick reaction that Ahsoka's falling blade was intercepted, and she soon found her violet blade interlocked with Ahsoka's green blade. Ahsoka sneered at Zelina's interference, the anger evident in her expression.
"Always getting in the way Master Du'ahn, aren't you? Don't you ever get tired of playing the role of his babysitter?" Ahsoka taunted. Considering the girl wasn't herself at the moment, Zelina let the comment slide. She broke away from the girl, retreating several steps to get out of range of her lightsaber.
"I don't want to hurt you Ahsoka; neither of us do," Zelina said warily.
"I'm not giving you a choice," Ahsoka snarled, reaching for her belt to activate her second lightsaber. Zelina took that as her cue, and she pulled out her own green bladed lightsaber. To her surprise, Anakin took up a position beside her, his blue lightsaber adding another color to the oncoming fight. She could feel a serious conflict growing inside of him, and her heart ached for him. He didn't want to hurt Ahsoka, but he wasn't going to stand by and watch Zelina get hurt either.
Ahsoka plunged forward mercilessly, and while Zelina actively clashed blades with Ahsoka, she noticed that Anakin was avoiding using his lightsaber and dodged most of her attacks as much as he could. Sometimes, Ahsoka didn't give him much of a choice, and Anakin was forced to use his lightsaber.
"Don't do this Ahsoka, please," Anakin begged her through grit teeth. In response, Ahsoka caught Zelina by surprise with a strong Force Push that sent her flying back far away from the fight. Whenever Zelina was back on solid ground and could focus on the fight again, she saw Anakin go down, having suffered a blow to the face from Ahsoka, who had at some point returned the shoto to her side. Anakin had lost his lightsaber in the process, and Zelina was already up and moving again.
"And now, the student will kill the master!" Ahsoka jeered. She jumped into the air with both hands grasping her main lightsaber to deal a killing blow upon Anakin, but found her way blocked by Zelina's twin blades, crossed into an X that locked Ahsoka's blade between Zelina's blades before Zelina knocked it towards the ground.
"You'd have to get past me first," Zelina said seriously as Anakin called his lightsaber back into his hand.
Ahsoka made a disgusted sound. "I don't care! I'll kill you too just because I can!" Ahsoka shot at her, pulling out her shoto blade again to swipe at Zelina, causing Zelina to release Ahsoka's other blade as she withdrew to avoid the shoto blade.
That was when Anakin started to actively step in. He cut into the middle of the fight, deflecting Ahsoka's blades away from Zelina momentarily. "Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you Snips?" he asked with a slight growl, making sure that he was firmly positioned in front of Zelina so that she could get a momentary break from the fight.
"Don't call me that! I hate it when you call me that!" Ahsoka snapped. She broke loose of Anakin, spinning to take a swing at Zelina instead before she found Anakin's blade stopping the action once again. Ahsoka let out a cry of frustration, and Zelina rejoined the fray the next moment beside Anakin. Zelina sheathed her shoto, instead working in harmony with a single blade beside Anakin simply to hold the young togruta off.
Zelina feigned to the left, and when Ahsoka moved to block the blow Anakin came in and easily disarmed the girl. Ahsoka spun out of reach of Zelina's blade before Ahsoka called on the Force and used Anakin as a springboard, back-flipping through the air and landing back on the platform she had started on.
Zelina glanced over at Anakin, and saw Obi-Wan appear on the other side of her friend. Now it was three on one; two knights and one Council Master. Ahsoka surely didn't stand much of a chance in this fight, though Zelina had noticed that the girl was using the fact that they didn't want to hurt her to her advantage.
"Three Jedi? My, my, is it really that hard to defeat a Padawan? How pathetic," Ahsoka sneered, calling her blades back into her hand before she pounced on them yet again. It was obvious that she was relying heavily on the dark side to battle the three put together, and dirty cheap tricks were not below her in this fight, including trying to get the three to accidentally strike one another with their lightsabers.
There was once when Ahsoka was successful in that endeavor. Ahsoka managed to trick Zelina and Anakin and one minute she was there, the next Anakin's blade was descending towards Zelina where Ahsoka's blade had been not a moment before. He curved away at the last moment, but his lightsaber blade still burned down the length of Zelina's arm. She hissed in pain, and horror filled Anakin's features at his mistake. Zelina didn't get much time to think about it though, because in the next moment she was warding off Ahsoka while Obi-Wan protected her injured side. After a few moments of the intense duel with Obi-Wan and Zelina, Ahsoka turned back to Anakin, who clashed blades with her rather violently, bearing down on the young girl before he pushed her far back with a Force Push that caused Ahsoka to impale her lightsabers into the ground to slow her slide.
"Any suggestions?" Anakin growled at Obi-Wan. Obviously getting tricked into hurting Zelina had rubbed him wrong.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said immediately, withdrawing a blade hilt from his belt. "We cut her free."
Zelina watched in amazement as a mysterious blue-gray light materialized around the hilt, gradually solidifying into a sharp dagger.
"What in the name of the Force is that?" Zelina asked.
"I'd like to know too," Anakin muttered.
"It can kill the Son," Obi-Wan responded.
A cry of fury from Ahsoka drew all three of their gazes to her, and when the young togruta spoke her voice held an echo of the Son. "Where did you get that?" she snarled. "Give it to me!"
With an unnatural snarl, Ahsoka launched herself at Obi-Wan but found herself blocked by Anakin and Zelina in the assault. Once more, the two found themselves locked in a duel against the girl, except this time Anakin made sure not to be tricked into hurting Zelina again. Instead, he made sure he protected her injured side like he had done back on Geonosis.
Their concentration was utterly shattered with the stain glass window when the Daughter and the Son suddenly smashed through the window. All four of them scattered, getting as far from the falling shards and the two ethereal beings that were rolling to a gradual stop across the ground. Zelina laid flat on the ground, covering her head in her arms to shield herself from the falling shards all around.
"So glad you could make it to our little party Father," the Son shouted, rousing Zelina to attention. She looked up to see the Son stalking towards the Father with bright red lightning pouring out of his fingertips while all the Jedi got to their feet. Zelina felt a strong and familiar arm grasp her gently under the arm and pull her to her feet, and she leaned into Anakin gratefully for a moment.
"You will stop this," the Father ordered as he absorbed the Son's lightning.
"Are you okay?" Anakin asked her, his hand lowering to the nasty lightsaber burn that ran the length of her right arm.
"I'll be fine, it was only a graze," she assured him.
"You are too weak for me old man!" the Son snarled, increasing the intensity of his lightning and drawing closer to the Father as he spoke. Off to the side, Obi-Wan helped the Daughter to her feet. "You mean nothing to me anymore."
Suddenly, the Son's lightning became too powerful for the Father, and the Father was flung backwards from the intensity of the Son's attack. Anakin and Zelina cautiously hurried over to the Daughter's side, fully aware that they were no match for the ethereal beings on their own.
Zelina watched in horror as the Son towered over the Father and unleashed the torrent of lightning upon the now defenseless old man once again. At least she wasn't the only one who couldn't bear to stand by and watch such a thing happen.
"Anakin, now!" Obi-Wan shouted, tossing the dagger towards him. Anakin reached out for the weapon, but Ahsoka—whom they had all momentarily forgotten—snatched it out of the air before it could reach him and sprinted away. She jumped through the air, landing just behind the Son on the platform, smirking rather wickedly at Anakin before she straightened up and turned towards the Son.
"Everything has transpired exactly as I planned," the Son gloated. Behind him, the Father weakly got to his feet, staring at the dagger.
"You showed them the Alter?" he asked in shock, casting his gaze towards the Daughter.
"I am sorry Father; I didn't know how else to stop him," the Daughter said weakly while Obi-Wan helped her forward.
The Son held his hand out towards Ahsoka. "Give it to me child..."
Ahsoka glanced over her shoulder at Anakin, who stood beside Zelina in tense helplessness. Anakin took a step closer, holding out his hand pleadingly. "Ahsoka, no!"
Ahsoka's grip tightened on the dagger before she handed it over to the Son, who smiled triumphantly, turning away from the girl. "Thank you. Your usefulness has come to an end..." he drawled. Suddenly, he touched her forehead, and Ahsoka fell like a puppet that just had its strings severed. Her lightsaber rolled out of her unresponsive hand once she hit the ground, unmoving.
"No!" Anakin halfway screamed, halfway shouted. He launched himself at the Son, but Zelina hooked both her arms under his armpits, holding him back in a strong grip.
"Anakin, Anakin not now, we can't do anything right now, wait!" Zelina managed to say, her words coming out rushed and forced. He struggled against her, but Zelina held fast. She wasn't going to let him throw himself at the Son like this; he'd get slaughtered, Chosen One or not.
"The Jedi have brought me the dagger, and you have brought yourself," the Son sneered at the Father. "Now Father...you will die."
The Son raised the dagger high over his head, the Father recoiled instinctively, and the Daughter tore free of Obi-Wan's helpful grasp. "Father!" she cried out, throwing herself between the Son and the Father the same moment that the Son brought the dagger down to finish the Father off.
All three Jedi froze in shock when the Son plunged the dagger through the Daughter's back, and the light that had once shone so brightly around the woman visibly dimmed before she collapsed into the Father's arms. The son stared at his hands in utter horror, and thunder cracked while lightning blazed across the sky in response to his immediate guilt, pain, and fury. "Why?" the Son screamed before he morphed into his winged beast form and took off into the night sky.
Finally, Zelina let go of Anakin, and he rushed forward towards Ahsoka's lifeless form, practically tripping over himself in his haste. Zelina was right behind him, able to sense his pain so clearly it was like there was acid in her veins and dust in her mouth. He kneeled by Ahsoka's side, and Zelina gently placed her hands on his shoulders as he gently brushed his fingers over the girl's face. Obi-Wan stood behind them, being more of a space-giving person.
Beside them, the Father pulled the dagger out of the Daughter's back, tossing it aside. "My daughter!" he lamented. "What have I done?"
The Daughter coughed, weakly taking her father's hand. "Do not hate him Father; it is his nature."
"No..." the Father whispered mournfully. "All is lost! The balance has been broken..."
The Father looked up at Anakin. "I thought by bringing you here I would..." he choked off, bowing his head in sorrow. "But I have destroyed everything!"
"Ani," Zelina whispered sorrowfully, rubbing his shoulders and burying her face by his shoulder blade, peering over his shoulder at Ahsoka. Anakin sucked in a painful breath, looking up at the Father. When he spoke, his voice was strangled by unshed tears.
"Can you help her?" he asked.
The Father was still lost in his own grief. "There is no light; an evil has been unleashed, and the dark side shall consume her."
"You must help her," Anakin cried out pleadingly, his voice cracking painfully by the raw emotion in his voice.
"Please," Zelina asked as well, holding the Father's gaze. She couldn't bear to see him in this much pain again.
"I cannot undo what is done," the Father said firmly. "There is...no hope."
Anakin grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut against the torrent that threatened to spill forth. He locked gazed with Zelina before her turned back to the Father with conviction in his eyes. "Yes there is! There is always hope," he said, his voice filled with some nigh-hysterical sounding emotion. He refused to believe that Ahsoka was gone; he couldn't believe it.
The Daughter touched the Father's face at that, pointing weakly at Ahsoka once she was sure that she had his attention. Understanding shifted in the ancient man's gaze, and he slowly stood up, taking a position between the two. Silently, he gestured for Anakin to sit in front of him; a gesture that Anakin complied to immediately, his eyes squeezed shut as he immersed himself deeply into the Force. The Father lifted his hands, and Anakin immediately mirrored the action without even looking at the Father, who stood behind him. "Then let my daughter's last act be to breathe life into your friend."
Like a puppeteer controlling a puppet, every action the Father made Anakin mirrored, and it seemed like the Father was directing Anakin through subtle hints in the Force as to what he needed to do. One hand reached down, touching the forehead of the Daughter, before the other reached down to touch Ahsoka's forehead.
The moment that Anakin's fingers made contact with Ahsoka's skin, all three of them immediately shone a brilliant white, one that Obi-Wan turned away from because it was too intense for him. Zelina, however, couldn't turn her gaze away, even if she could hardly see anything. And what she could feel through her bond with Anakin...it was...indescribable. It was as if the very light side of the Force originated from within her and light poured from every molecule that she was composed of, and if she was only feeling a shadow of what Anakin was feeling, than it must have felt even more divine.
Both the Daughter and Ahsoka levitated off of the ground, the most intense part of the light shifting from the Daughter, through Anakin, and into Ahsoka before the process was done and Anakin collapsed onto his hands and knees from the effort, prompting Zelina to rush to his side in that moment. The black veins were gone from Ahsoka's body, but she had yet to breathe or even open her eyes. Once a thorough overlook from Anakin did not see his beloved Padawan breathing, Anakin hung his head, and Zelina was sure that she was the only one who heard the minute sob that broke forth from his lips in that moment, as her head was once more rested upon his shoulder blade.
Suddenly, Ahsoka coughed, instinctively propping herself up on her elbows as she returned back to the world of the living. Anakin's head snapped up and he scrambled forward, pulling Ahsoka into a tight and loving embrace until her coughs had subsided. He pulled away with a weak, soft laugh. "Hey Snips..."
"What's going on?" she mumbled, blinking sleepily at the three Jedi that kneeled worriedly around her.
"Um..." Anakin started, glancing at Zelina for a moment. "Not much. It's good to see you."
Anakin helped her to her feet, and Obi-Wan handed the young girl her lightsaber before Zelina stepped forward and gave the togruta a hug herself. "It's great to see you're all right little one."
As Zelina pulled away, the Father began to speak. "As the balance in this world crumbles, so shall war escalate in your Galaxy," he explained, drawing all of their attention. "As my son has descended into the dark side, so have the Sith gained strength."
"We will stop your son," Anakin said, a touch of darkness coloring his tone.
"No!" the Father said forcefully. "You must go, now. He needs your ship to leave the planet. You must leave before he can take it."
"What about you?" Obi-Wan asked pointedly.
"I shall mourn all that I have done...and all that is yet to be," the Father said quietly, staring at his daughter's unmoving, now lifeless form sorrowfully. Obi-Wan nodded, turning away already. Ahsoka followed after him, and Zelina tugged lightly at Anakin's arm.
"Come on Ani...he's right...and he needs his time to say goodbye," she said softly, meaning only for Anakin to hear. Anakin nodded in acceptance, turning to wrap an arm around her shoulders as they followed after Obi-Wan and Ahsoka on the long trip back to the ship.
"Let me look at your arm again..." he mumbled softly, carefully inspecting the wound on the way.