Here we are again.
You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting to post this. This chapter has been written for about two years. After all the editing, outlining, and trying to get the plot right, all those roads have led here.
This fic is my baby. Easily the longest thing I've ever written. And to those of you who have clicked even if only to to read, I thank you.
I'll just leave it there for now.
Reviews are encouraged and appreciated. I really want to know what you guys think of this one.
"I guess that's the part about loving people: you have to give things up. Sometimes, you have give them up."-Lauren Oliver
Chapter 45. End of the Clone Wars Part 6- Redemption
Ahsoka tried to ignore her own pulsating anxiety as the Marauder zoomed closer and closer towards their destination.
She could sense much was happening- an epic battle of light and dark seemed to be echoing within the cosmos, a duel of fates unlike anything ever experienced within the history of the Jedi and Sith. Even the galaxy itself. But the Force also remained clouded. All swirling in a vortex of uncertainty.
I'd be willing to bet half the Republic fleet it's something to do with Luke and Anakin…
Their strong bond allowed her to catch shadows, fluctuations, even deep seated emotion from her former master but discerning them into something concrete eluded her capabilities. She could only pray that Sidious hadn't turned Anakin, or initiated Order 66…or killed anyone…or anything else considered nefarious.
I could be heading into a trap. What if the Sith have already won?
Taking a deep breath, Ahsoka confronted that fear just like Luke always said to do. She was afraid. There was every possibility that Sidious might win, or that deleting the voice activation command hadn't actually worked. But she would not abandon her Master, Luke, or her friends…no…her family. They meant everything. Whatever the fates had in store, they'd face it together.
A twist of tortured darkness throbbed in the Force. Not a good sign.
"Anakin," she breathed.
An equally strong sensation followed, this one light and soothing.
"Luke."
"You okay, sir…uh, I mean ma'am?"
She looked into the kindly face of Wrecker, whose scarring and one blind eye failed to dampen the childlike innocence within.
"Yes…I'm fine. Thank you, soldier."
It wasn't that she had the heart to lie to Wrecker, rather she couldn't explain the truth. How could she?
Hunter knew better and gave a look but was tactful enough not to ask.
"Tech, how long until we get there?"
"I estimate five minutes."
Rounding the corner, the Bad Batch didn't care whatever speed limit there was, it hardly mattered with a curfew and hardly anyone else in the air. The only security forces that mattered were the shock troopers, long supplanting their civilian counterparts. Still not one hundred percent definite if their gambit had worked, it was best to avoid them altogether.
Hoping Cody and Rex had already secured the landing dock, she pressed her comlink but got nothing. Merely static. Their mission had been a double-edged sword after all.
"We're almost at the Western entrance," Tech announced.
The Executive building rapidly came into view, but the closer she got, the more she could sense something was off. Blue and yellow seemed to clash with bright crimson as multiple clones scattered about on the platform.
Without warning, the red-clad troopers pointed and began firing at her speeder.
"Whoa!"
She managed to avoid a succession of DC-15 blasts. In the corner of her eye, she thought one of the blue-clad troopers subdued a couple with stunner blasts, but not before one of them landed a direct hit against the left wing.
"We're going down!" Tech shouted. "Everyone, hold on!"
The skilled maneuvering of the pilot prevented outright disaster, as the ship hit the ground at an upward angle, preventing overturn. Skidding and sliding, bits and pieces of metal, including half the left wing, flew off the Marauder before coming to a halt at the end of the runway.
Ahsoka smelled smoke. She lifted herself out of the chairlock and found that the hatch door was jammed. A lightsaber slice did the trick.
"Everyone okay?"
By the grace of some higher power, none of them were seriously injured. Hunter pulled up Crosshair, who rubbed the crick of his neck. Tech's forehead was bruised. Otherwise, they had been unscathed.
Wrecker kicked the door open to find multiple troopers, obscured by shadow and smoke, aiming at them.
"Jedi!"
"Fire!"
Ahsoka jumped in front of the Bad Batch, who returned fire. Tired and a little shaken from the crash, she didn't know her strength would last before it gave out.
Order 66 was in full effect. Their efforts failed. But they'd go down fighting.
"Stop firing! STOP FIRING!"
Ahsoka didn't feel overly concerned as she easily deflected the attacks but nevertheless felt grateful when Ridge stunned one of them. When the other turned to retaliate, Hardcase pulled the guard into an aggressive headlock, slowly lowering him to the ground. A third shock trooper hurried over; this one she recognized: Commander Fox.
She could see his blaster pistols were set to kill, and the fingers dangerously close to pulling the trigger.
Immense relief washed over her. It was the Coruscant Guard. Not the 501st or 212th.
"I said, stop firing."
Rex and Cody were in tow, the former having relayed the command in an effort to prevent Fox from doing the unthinkable. When no answer came, Cody spoke with a deeper authority.
"You heard the orders. Cease at once."
"I am following orders," Fox replied in a cold, ruthless response, helmet visor fixated on Ahsoka.
"You've got them mixed up, Fox," Rex countered firmly.
"I'm doing the Chancellor's bidding. Order 66 labels all Jedi as traitors to the Republic under designation of immediate termination. Under Order 67, I have the right to eliminate any soldier of the Republic who disobeys that order…including you."
He pointed one of his blaster pistols at Rex but found himself surrounded by multiple DC-15s from the 501st and 212th, including Cody, all of them quite ready to blast the Fox into oblivion.
"That's enough of that."
"I never took you for one to disobey orders, Cody."
The leader of the 212th gave no visible sign of being rattled or angry, instead replying with the same calm precision that made him so effective as a leader.
"Commander Fox. We've been over this. The Jedi have nothing to do with the situation. This is from the Senate. Stand down."
"Good soldiers follow orders…the Chancellor," Fox breathed before continuing. "…has given the Coruscant Guard the command to execute all Jedi. That includes Ahsoka Tano and her companions."
The Bad Batch bristled, but Hunter instinctively stepped in front of his brothers.
"We'd love to see you try."
"Fox, the Chancellor Is no longer in office, in case you haven't heard," Cody said, stepping in between all parties. "We are loyal first and foremost to the people of the Republic, not an aspiring despot. Now, I won't ask again. Stand down."
Many eyes were observing, some in trepidation of what would happen next, some merely curious to see which highly decorated hero of the Republic might make the first move. Fox was outnumbered, and multiple blasters belonging to yellow and blue-clad men were aimed straight at him. Any sane man would have given way.
He's loyal to a fault but surely not stupid?
Ahsoka's thoughts were proven wrong as Fox redirected his second blaster pistol toward Cody.
"Marshal Commander Cody and Captain Rex. I hereby declare you both in violation of Order 66, conspiring against the Chancellor and the Grand Army of the Republic. You are to be demoted in rank, arrested, and executed- AGH!"
A stun shot knocked him out cold.
"He was done," Fives said coolly, putting his blaster pistol back in the holster.
The standoff was over but not the questions on the tip of Ahsoka's tongue. Thankfully, Rex wasted no time in explaining, helmet off, eyes frantic.
"General, thank goodness."
"Rex? What's going on? Did Sidious give the order? Did the chips still activate?"
She realized almost straight away it was a slightly silly question. Were that the case, every man on the platform would have tried to kill her. Nevertheless, it left quite a bit of confusion.
"No," the Captain said with relief. "At least no one in the 212th or 501st. But the moment we arrived, the Guard tried to prevent us from entering the building."
"Claimed they had special orders to let no one inside the facility, and any Jedi attempting to enter were to be executed for treason," Cody expounded. "I tried explaining that the Senate voted the Chancellor out of Office, even showed him the directive on the comm channel. But he just wouldn't listen."
Fives and Echo both looked down at the unconscious Fox with a heavy amount of emotion, even some disdain.
"Scum," Fives muttered.
"I'm not so sure," Tech commented. "Fox's reaction was similar to the other shock troopers. It's only when the General arrived that they began firing and ignoring commands."
"Then we can't be sure if Order 66 is totally disabled," Echo surmised. "The GAR could still be compromised."
"I don't think so."
Jesse arrived on the scene and gave a quick salute before continuing.
"A couple of Sergeants among the shock troopers tried issuing Order 66 to a few of the men in my platoon. Nothing happened, and we subdued them easily. If something's made Fox and his men act like this, it's not the chips."
"So why did they fire on us?" Wrecker asked.
Ahsoka looked around and saw numerous red-clad clones being led away by blue and yellow ones. They seemed to still be in the trance-like state she'd witnessed earlier at the Republic Databank Compound.
"They're under a different kind of programming," she theorized, still ignoring the throbbing ache in her forearm. It had improved slightly, but not by much. "Blind loyalty. Or something worse."
"We can't just stand here," Fives stated urgently. "Someone should try to contact the other commanders to see what their status is."
Crosshair jeered even while grabbing his neck.
"Did you miss the part where we shut down the comm center?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Secure the inside of the building first," Cody countered. "The Senators need to be assured Order 65 is being followed. We'll send in platoons from each of our units just in case."
Rex nodded in agreement but not before making one more point of emphasis with his hand.
"Our top priority is still Sidious. Ahsoka, is he still in there?"
"He is," came the simple reply. She could sense it quite strongly. "On the top floor in his private suite."
"Then we'll take multiple squadrons. Stick to the original plan. Once the perimeter is locked down and the exits blocked off, there'll be no way for him to escape."
"I'm not so sure he'll want to," Ahsoka told them all ominously. "This is unlike anything you've ever faced. The Sith are brutal and bloodthirsty…you could die."
Rex showed no hesitation as he smashed on his helmet. "That's what we signed up for. It's a choice I made. A choice we made when General Luke helped us secure our freedom."
He could see the anxiousness in the former Padawan, the precocious youth having turned into a seasoned warrior and General right before his very eyes. A surge of affection went through him even as the possibility of death loomed over them all. Some things were scary enough to frighten Jedi.
"Ahsoka, whatever happens, I'm right behind you."
There was little time to continue chatting as the Togruta felt a sudden jolt within the Force. Something was happening…something big. Every fiber of her being told the story of a momentous calamity. But what exactly?
"We need to move," she said with clear urgency. "Stay behind me. I'll lead the way."
"I'll stay behind," Cody said. "Keep an eye on things."
"Sir, you should go." Hunter said. "We'll hold the fort down here."
Despite their minor injuries the Bad Batch locked in their weapons in a show of support. Even Crosshair, still rubbing his sore neck. The Marshal Commander nodded in appreciation. He put two fingers to his mouth and whistled.
"212th on me! On the double!"
"501st, roll out! Follow General Tano!"
Ahsoka took off running towards the entrance. Cody, Rex, Echo, Fives, Jesse, and twenty-five others followed in behind as they barked out orders to their respective units. The 501st and 212th were now in control of the Senate docks and building.
But would it be enough? Could they get there in time?
"Come on, Skyguys," she whispered through breaths, referencing both father and son. "Hang in there just a little bit longer."
Anakin and Luke simultaneously collapsed onto the ground, mentally crosswired from the tumultuous experiences they'd shared.
The brunette propped himself on one knee for half a second, barely registering anything around him before his vision found a familiar face.
Luke…
With the full truth having been revealed, Anakin suddenly felt lighter than air and yet heavier than a tidal wave on Mon Cala. Luke had come all this way back in time in an effort to save him from making a terrible mistake. Not just out of necessity, but love. Love for each other and their family.
"Luke," he said softly.
Each pair of matching blue eyes found the other, twinkling with delight and raw emotion.
"Father."
"My son…you…incredible man…"
A hand reached out and cupped the blond's cheek.
"Can you forgive me? For everything?"
Luke gave a tired but incredibly warm-hearted smile.
"There is nothing to forgive."
"But…I-" Anakin stuttered through quiet breaths. "What I did…your mother…"
"Is still alive."
The Chosen One blinked twice, and seeing the confusion on his face, Luke repeated himself.
"Mother is still alive. Sense it for yourself."
By the Force he was right. The cruel illusion he'd witnessed earlier, the sudden disappearance of Padme's presence in the Force, it had seemingly never happened. Tapping into his own power, he suddenly found his wife…weakened but alive and full of love.
"Padme," he whispered to the heavens as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Luke I-"
"It's okay, Father. It's okay."
Anakin suddenly embraced Luke in a massive hug, and neither man let go. The sheer joy and happiness each of them felt became magnified a hundred fold. A bond that truly superseded time and the Force.
In fact, they almost forgot that Darth Sidious was still dueling Yoda and very much not dead yet. Unfortunately for the Sith Lord, fortune evaded him on this fateful day.
The Jedi Master, old yet experienced and powerful beyond measure, seemed to be energized by the surge of light and happiness that suddenly permeated the room. Obi-Wan could feel it too. And Sidious, by now losing steam and concentration, slipped as a result.
Yoda extended in the air, jumping to the right, then the left before bouncing off the wall, aiming a decisive strike at Palpatine's head. It was blocked, but not before Yoda gave an almighty three-toe clawed kick, creating a nasty gash on the Sith's forehead as he stumbled back.
"Jedi filth!" he spat.
It was then Sidious finally noticed that Anakin and Luke were close together, unable to perceive the shift in the dynamic between them.
"Anakin!" he called out. "What are you waiting for? Help me! Kill the Jedi, and the power to save Padme is yours!"
By now, the two Skywalker men had risen and set their respective ires on evil personified standing in front of them.
"You must have hit your head pretty hard if you think I'm falling for that again."
Anakin's derisive response temporarily confused the Sith when he suddenly realized that all the negative feelings he'd stoked within the young man had been redirected towards himself.
"Anakin listen to me-"
The Chosen One answered with a calm but massive Force push, slamming Sidious back into his desk with an audible crunch. Wincing, the sixty-five year-old struggled to get back on his feet from the hit. All the while, Anakin, Luke, Yoda, and even Obi-Wan, now able to stand, began advancing on him.
"Anakin…" he began to plead while clutching his back. "Your wife…I can save her…if you do the right thing and-"
"Pledge myself to you?" the brunette cut across forcefully. "Turn to the dark side? Betray my friends and family? Become a puppet?! A slave?!"
He spat the last word out so viciously that the Sith Lord visibly recoiled. Yoda and Obi-Wan said nothing. Even Luke stood silent. This was Anakin's moment. The one prophesied since his birth.
"I see your lies for what they are, Chancellor. What they'd lead me to. I'll have no part in any of it."
Sidious had barely moved a muscle when a commotion could be heard in the foyer of his private office. Soon, Ahsoka Tano came through the open doors, emerald blades bared. She wasn't alone as Cody, Rex, and two dozen clone troopers came into view, blasters primed and ready.
"Looks like we're here just in time," the Torgruta observed.
"Snips?"
The arrival of the clones came as a welcome relief to the Sith Lord, who was now prepared to use the ace up his sleeve to get out of an unexpected predicament.
"Ahh! Good! Commander Cody," he said, a creeping smirk stretching across those thin, pale lips. "The time has come."
Turning back towards his foes, he gave a hideous laugh before barking out the command.
"I win, Jedi. Even in defeat, I can start anew. Starting with your deaths! Execute Order 66!"
But the mindless obedience of the clones never came, instead Commander Cody stood rooted to the ground and uttered a single harsh retort full of unbridled hatred.
"No."
If Sidious had been surprised before, the look on his face now could only be described as positively flabbergasted.
"Chancellor Palpatine," Rex stated firmly, stepping forward now. "You are hereby charged with the respective crimes of murder, attempted murder, fraud, embezzlement, corruption, conspiracy, and treason against the Galactic Republic. Under Order 65, now issued by the Senate, you will be subsequently removed from office, arrested, and put on trial for these charges in the person of Darth Sidious. All emergency authority is now forever stripped and dissolved. Failure to comply…gives us the right to terminate you on the spot."
"In other words, we ain't taking your orders anymore," Fives summed up quite succinctly.
"Must really suck to be you right now," Jesse quipped, unable to resist cracking a joke amongst the tension, if nothing just to taunt the Chancellor further.
It was then, for the first time, smug triumph faded into palpable fear for Darth Sidious. Entrapped and surrounded by enemies, it finally dawned on him that he'd been outwitted by the same people he'd believed to have controlled only minutes earlier. In a world turned upside down, the hunter became the hunted. The Grand Plan completely flipped on itself. A scheme thousands of years in the making, so carefully crafted, torn to shreds.
But it was Luke who hammered the point home.
"It's over, Sidious. You've lost. For all your conniving and politicking, there was always a person one step ahead."
Me.
Pointing his emerald blade at the Sith Lord, everyone else followed suit as lightsabers ignited and blaster rifles clicked.
However, in giving him time, the forces of righteousness allowed Palpatine one more chance at victory. Like a cornered animal with nothing to lose, he began gnashing and gnawing his teeth, clenching and bending over as though something were physically hurting him whilst the room seemed to pulse with powerful streams of energy…
…all retracting into a massive ball of pure dark side evil.
Before anyone could issue so much as a warning, a scream with an accompanying blast exploded. One so loud it shattered any remnant of glass still intact, rupturing all eardrums caught in the shockwave. The sheer power threw back every being inside the room, the sound reminiscent of a deranged banshee unleashing its rage and hatred in a symphony of attempted murder.
When the animalistic wailing ended, no one had been killed, but not a single disoriented soul moved a muscle in retaliation. Peering up and covering his face from any falling debris, Anakin saw Palpatine's sickly yellow gleam aimed straight towards them, arms outstretched.
"Skywalkers," he snarled viciously. "I've had just about enough. Since you will not turn…since you continue to resist me…then you're no longer of any use."
In a final effort to kill the ones who'd foiled his plans of galaxy-wide domination, a stream of lightning issued forth with no way to stop it. Anakin couldn't regain his bearings in time. He'd be roasted alive.
Until Luke intercepted the blast.
Jumping out of nowhere, the blond began to spasm, yelling in agony as the dark side energy crackled, his skeleton glowing against the backdrop of such enormous power.
He landed with an ominous thud on the ground, smoke rising from the body. The scent of burnt flesh immediately hit the air.
"Luke!"
Sidious only watched with sickening curiosity as a lopsided smile graced his features, crooking the head to one side.
"Hmmm, I had planned on teaching a lesson to my disobedient apprentice first. But seeing as you were the catalyst to ruining my plans, I suppose it's only fitting you take the honor."
Anakin peered around, frantically searching for any sign of life. Some were stirring, but even Master Yoda had not fully regained consciousness. And the Dark Lord prepared to strike again.
"Die, Luke Ahch-To!"
The lightning came once more, this time with full intention to kill. In a split second, the traumatic images of Luke being endlessly tortured by a madman in a black robe returned to Anakin. All the while watching helplessly as the life slowly drained away from those sparkling blue eyes.
'Father, please!'
"NO!"
The brunette sprang into action, intending to take the brunt of the blast for his only son. Except instead of merely taking the blast, he'd begun deflecting it. With one hand. His organic hand.
Soon, the rest of the fallen awakened, bearing witness to an incredible battle being played out before their very eyes. Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka seemed particularly transfixed. Anakin was the most talented Jedi alive, but since when had he learned to block such sorcery?
The stream of lightning increased as Sidious pressed the advantage, drawing upon the full power of the dark side to overwhelm and crush his opponent…just as he'd done with so many over the years, including Darth Plagueis himself. They'd all pay for their lack of judgment. But he would take particular pleasure in ending the existence of the so-called 'Chosen One.'
"Idiotic welp!" he screeched over the noise. "You will soon learn the consequences of your insolence!"
Indeed, Anakin was already reeling. Under the strain of blocking such a substance one-handed, it seemed he couldn't muster enough strength to match the raw energy summoned against him.
Boots began sliding against the floor. Sweat dripped from matted, brown hair. Jaw muscles retracted into a firm grimace, determined not to lose.
"Fool!" Sidious screeched once more when Anakin still didn't yield. "Only someone fully immersed in the dark side can defeat me! A choice you have unwisely rejected!"
As if such a thing were possible, the lightning intensified again, causing Anakin to slide back further. He turned away as it burned bright enough to scald corneas.
"There is no hope! Only DEATH!"
The last surge almost made the brunette's knees buckle. He could feel the sheer lethality of the lightning as its tentacles snapped and popped everywhere, the heat threatening to scorch skin and bone. By now, the air was thick with the smell of ozone, stinging the nostrils.
And suddenly, Anakin's left arm went numb. As did his legs and other necessary parts of the body. He was losing.
He's right, he thought. I can't beat him like this.
Taking a quick glance around, the Jedi Knight saw the faces of those currently counting on him. The lightning illuminated a bluish glow so powerful, it reflected in the pupils of those who still dared to risk their eyesight.
Weakening by the second, Anakin gave a silent apology.
I'm not going to last much longer. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I was too short-sighted to make the right decision in the first place.
The black dragon made its presence known, whispering old fears; encouraging him to tap into the wellspring of the dark side once more.
It's the only way to save them.
No. He would not dishonor himself or anyone else by succumbing to evil a second time. Memories of Darth Vader were fresh in his mind as they warned what the dark side held in storee. And the chance that still lay on the table. He remembered the lesson taught by his son.
'Love is more powerful than hate.'
It provided the spark he finally needed.
Darth Sidious knew nothing. There were things in this universe stronger than the dark side.
Visions of his friends and family filled him with great joy. He remembered the faces of Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Yoda, Rex, all the men under his command, his mother, Padme, the beloved wife he cherished…and his son. The beautiful golden-haired, fair-faced son who sacrificed his own well-being for the sake of their family…for him.
Taking a deep breath, the Chosen One allowed pure love to fill his body as he kept their faces front and center. It raged like rolling thunder, gushing down with unimaginable power. The beating heart of a force so strong, it conquered the greatest evil, even death itself.
With renewed faith and resolve, Anakin fought back, slowly pushing his hand forward. The lightning began to crackle and snap even louder, as though the fabric of reality was twisting into an indiscernible labyrinth of contortion.
Sidious saw this and tried to counter but was unable to provide any more additional vigor. His power had officially reached its limit. The same could not be said for Anakin Skywalker.
You manipulated me, he thought towards the Sith.
He took a mighty step forward.
Tried to divide me from my friends.
Another step forward.
Poisoned my wife.
He inched closer and closer. Sidious howled and frothed in a vain attempt to stop him. Still Anakin came.
And tried to kill my son.
By now, the blast began to eat away and disintegrate the black glove encasing the metal prosthetic of his right hand. But he did not flag or fail, coming within mere feet of Sidious.
Prophecy or no prophecy, you will not harm them.
In the briefest of nanoseconds, Anakin closed his eyes and drew upon the potential so many had spoken of from the moment he'd been discovered on Tatooine. And in that moment, there was nothing; only the Force and the love for those he cared about most.
Yelling out to the heavens, he pushed the pulsating lightning straight into Sidious, electrocuting his body with the potency of a thousand storms striking the ground at once. Spazzing, convulsing, and completely at the mercy of the dark side energy he worshiped so much, the Sith uttered a horrible, blood-curdling scream. It lasted for what seemed like half a minute before he dropped to the ground in a robed heap.
Panting and barely able to keep himself upright, Anakin waited for the clouds of smoke to dissipate before claiming victory. No one currently inhabiting Palpatine's office moved a muscle. Was it truly over?
The Force told him otherwise.
Lying there, still alive, was the malformed, scared, pruned, true embodiment of Darth Sidious, similar to the vision Anakin had witnessed on the second Death Star. But in a dramatic reversal of roles, the disgraced Chancellor posed no threat to anyone, clinging to life by the desperation of his own hatred and contempt. A once all powerful Sith Lord, perhaps the most powerful in Galactic history, reduced to a mere skeleton of wrinkles and yellow eyes.
"That's who you truly are, isn't it?" Anakin said in quiet disgust. "What you've always been."
Sidious crawled forward with one last wicked plea.
"H-Help me…A-Anakin…I-I'm too w-weak…"
He wasn't lying this time, unlike in the memory with Master Windu. But that hardly mattered.
"You will never hurt another soul ever again."
Instinctively, Anakin summoned his lightsaber from across the room and ignited it while using his stump hand to pull Sidious towards him.
"NO! Wait-"
The poisonous, serpentine tongue of Sheev Palpatine was forever silenced with one fluid movement of the azure blade, striking straight through the chest in an epic act of finality.
A lifeless body hit the floor with a dull thud. The lightsaber switched off, and Anakin's knees hit the crimson carpet out of mental and physical exhaustion.
He'd done it. The Chosen One, so discovered and proclaimed by Qui-Gon Jinn thirteen years prior, had fulfilled his destiny: bringing balance and peace to the galaxy.
As if some enchantment had been broken, the room's other occupants finally seemed to realize this same fact. Obi-Wan, battered and bruised but no worse for wear, quickly rushed over to his best friend, keeping him steady as did Ahsoka.
"You did it, Anakin. It's over."
"Master…"
"You're all right," Ashoka soothed, taking his head in her arms gently. "It's okay."
For all the celebration that should have occurred, a melancholic atmosphere spread across the Chancellor's office in an ominous manner. Master Yoda was the first to notice, hobbling over gingerly.
"Skywalker," he said sadly. He wasn't referring to Anakin.
The clones, back on their feet and peering around at the scene, sprang into action.
"The General's down," Rex whispered in panic, as though he couldn't believe his eyes.
"The General's down!" he repeated to the rest of the men. "Get Kix up here, pronto! We need a medic!"
With a sickening jolt, Anakin remembered the actions it took to get to this point. And who it was that took the brunt of the lightning.
"Luke," he breathed out, practically stumbling over to his son, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka right behind him.
He couldn't die. Not like this. Not after everything.
"Luke!"
Pain. He'd expected a lot more of it. But for someone shot full of lightning, Luke Skywalker felt nothing. Almost as though he were drifting, being spirited away by a warm, invisible hand.
He wasn't dying. He was going home. To the Force.
In truth, he knew this was coming. Whether by the timeline adjusting the paradox or irreversibly changing future events, his existence was now entirely compromised.
Luke took steady breaths, knowing he only had minutes left. But he didn't mind, experiencing no amount of fear or regret. The mission he'd set out on, the one so aided by the spirits of Yoda, Obi-Wan, and his father, had been fulfilled.
He'd seen Anakin defeat Sidious and do as prophesied. By the Force they'd done it. And now the Force was calling him home.
"Luke!"
Speaking of his father, the twenty-two year old came into view along with Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Yoda. He could sense Cody, Rex, and the others as well.
"Father," he said with great effort.
"Son," Anakin said, tears brimming in those magnificent eyes of his. "You'll be alright. Rex just called in a medic. We'll get you fixed up in no time."
"I'm not dying, Father."
Confusion interlaced between anxiety and loss for the Chosen One.
"What do you mean? What is-"
"By the Force, he came to our world," Yoda explained sadly. "By the Force, he now leaves. Changed forever, time has. His existence, untenable it is."
Anakin held no desire to accept this explanation, but Obi-Wan and Ahsoka understood and put it more succinctly.
"He traveled back from a future that no longer exists," his former master explained.
"We've…known for a while that he's been on borrowed time," Ashoka admitted, real regret entering her own blue orbs. "I'm sorry I never had the chance to tell you."
Still, Anakin did not seem to accept this paradox, trying to piece together some sensible explanation in his mind for how Luke could stay with them.
"Luke," he said, voice cracking as he lifted him up by the back. "Please…don't go."
"There's no choice, dad," Luke responded, growing weaker by the second. "This was the plan…all along. That's what the prophecy meant."
"But-but…"
Anakin sputtered as his rationalizations finally ran dry. Luke could sense it, too as the moment of parting was at hand. He gazed at every single person huddled by his side.
"Words cannot express my fortune and gratitude to live amongst those I love."
"The feeling is mutual, my old friend," Obi-Wan returned, his own voice starting to falter.
Ahsoka didn't bother to hide her own free flowing tears.
"You're one in a million, Skyguy Junior."
The clones said nothing, but they didn't need to. Removing their helmets, they surrounded their General in a semi-circle, paying their respects to the man who helped free them. Eyes closed and heads bowed.
Luke felt their gratitude and love just as he felt himself beginning to slip away into the cosmos. But not before he appealed to Anakin one last time.
"Father," he said through the slowing patterns of his own breath. "Listen...I have to go now."
In a last ironic twist of fate, Luke sensed that Anakin desired to save him the same way he did on the Death Star in another lifetime. But he had to learn one final lesson. You couldn't save everyone.
"Luke, there must be something I can do."
"There isn't," he said with soft bluntness. "And that's okay. This is the way of things. The way of the Force. But remember...no one is truly gone."
As much as it went against the nature of Anakin Skywalker, Luke felt that his volatile father, so afraid of losing anyone he cared about, was able to accept that explanation. Using the same technique he'd taught him; to focus on love and not fear the inevitable. By the comfort and care of those who loved him back.
The father took his son's hand and began squeezing tightly.
"I'll never forget you."
This time Luke gave a smile that was almost mischievous in contrast to the parting mood. Anakin frowned slightly but held onto every word his son spoke.
"Trust me, you'll see me again sooner than you think. "
He felt ready. It was time. But before Luke slipped away completely, he whispered one final request. One more sin to make amends for.
"Father…"
"I'm here, Luke."
"Tell my sister…tell Leia…I'm sorry. And that I hope…she can forgive me."
Anakin nodded and affirmed he would do so.
"I will."
Master Yoda spoke the last word, soft and true.
"Go, Luke Skywalker. Be at peace."
Luke nodded, closed his eyes, and gave himself away to the gentle guide now returning him to the confines of history. To the Force. His long, arduous, incredible story had officially come to an end.
A cold wind blew through the wide open window, and the Last Jedi faded into nothing, leaving a pile of robes and a lightsaber as the only evidence that he ever existed.
And though better days were ahead, though the evil had been finally extinguished, the righteous mourned the loss of their friend and honored what he represented to them all.
The greatest hero the galaxy had ever known.
The Last Hope.
Alright, it's over...meaning the climax. Not the fic. I have some quick thoughts.
A/N#1- A lot of you have really come to despise Anakin over the course of this fic. And while I don't blame you, I also hope you don't believe I wrote him that way for no reason. He's got a lot of healing (and no small amount of therapy) ahead. He's going to try to do better. The point is not to hate Anakin but to see just how emotionally broken he is. It's how we got Vader in canon. But this is AU. There's another fate in store for him.
A/N #2- There was also quite a bit of debate over the prophecy and its meaning. Whether Anakin had to die, whether Luke to die, neither, both, I even saw one where a person theorized that it spoke of the timelines. The old one had to disappear for the new one to be created. Honestly, I'm leaving it open ended. I think it works better that way. Prophecies only go so far. It's up to us as individuals to make our own choices. Luke made his.
A/N #3- Speaking of, I've seen a lot of fics where the person going back in time sort of just stays there in weird kind of limbo. Or their time travel was to another dimension not the timeline they came from. I wanted this to be different, to have Luke's sacrifice mean something. He's simply one with the Force now. The paradox has been corrected and the timeline is now on an altered track.
A/N #4- I told you I'd have Cody do something cool haha.
That's enough jabber for now. Just to clarify for some people, this story is NOT over. We're close to the end but there are some loose ends to be taken care of first. I'm taking a minor break, so I don't know when the next chapter will be. But keep your eye out because after all this drama and angst, we're going to have some fluffy things XD
Rock on!
~The Wasp
