Kenobi was in his grasp. Even as their lightsabers clashed, Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, knew his old master would die under his blade this time.
Old and grey, his master had grown to be. The robes he wore were tattered and sand dusted the floor as they moved, crunching under his boots.
Backing away under the force of his blows, Kenobi's blade stuttered under his own. It was almost a game now, seeing how long he could keep this weak creature alive, giving him the same hope he had before Kenobi had taken everything from him.
The hum of a third lightsaber igniting was a surprise, to be sure. But Kenobi was his sole focus. Another jedi was no danger. Kenobi's eyes looked towards the new combatant.
That's when Vader exploited his weakness. With a slash, Kenobi fell, a grunt of pain as he rolled away from Vader's next attack, his hand curing protectively across the burn on his ribs.
Vader continued forward, preparing to strike down the febel o;d man his master had become.
Suddenly a young man appeared, his blade, a very familiar one, intercepting Vader's blow.
Kenobi had given his old blade to this… boy!
Leia took the opportunity to shoot at Vader, but he casually deflected the bolts without even looking her way. Brave but foolish girl. The fact that Kenobi and this boy had even gotten her from his quarters was infuriating. Someone would pay for that.
"And who is this?" Vader asked, not even struggling to hold his own against the boy's pitiful strength.
"Did you take a new padawan? I can't see you raising anyone successfully, Kenobi. But he shall die quickly, as a mercy. No one should have you as a Master." Vader couldn't help the distain that dripped from his voice.
"No!" Kenobi exclaimed, attempting to painfully rise from the floor, one hand on his side.
The young man with Vader's saber, HIS saber, dared to attack him once more.
Swatting the blade aside as a minor nuisance, Vader kept his eyes on his true target. He wanted to see Kenobi's anguished face as he killed his padawan.
Obviously poorly trained, the boy left an opening that Vader exploited with relish. His lightsaber skittered across the floor. The boy's hand went with it.
The boy fell backwards with a scream, clutching what remained of his right arm.
Leia screamed.
Vader raised his lightsaber to kill the boy, but suddenly Kenobi was between them, his lightsaber held high.
Taking the crushing blow and barely holding up, Kenobi grunted.
"I told you to get away from here! Take Leia and run!" Kenobi commanded.
"No," said Vader, "No one will take Leia away from me. She is mine!"
Vader turned as he blocked the blaster fire that Leia had resumed. He deflected the bolts, then pushed her gently against the wall; her blaster falling from her hands as she struggled against his grasp.
No matter how she felt about him now, Vader was her father and she would stay with him.
"Leia!" the intruder cried, gaining his feet.
"Now, boy," said Vader, "I shall kill Kenobi, and then I shall kill you. Leia will stay with me, where she belongs."
"No," said Kenobi, still struggling against Vader's blade.
"Take Leia and get out!" Kenobi commanded his padawan.
The boy ran towards Leia, but Vader did not let him get far. Vader lifted him from the ground, his single remaining hand clutching at his throat.
"No," begged Kenobi, "Don't do this; by the Force don't do this. Not again!"
"You cannot tell me what to do and what not to do, old man. You are nothing now. I shall enjoy killing your Padawan in front of your eyes. Then you will die."
"No, you can't! You don't understand!" Kenobi was down on his knees now, where he belonged, his arms shaking as Vader's lightsaber neared his throat.
"Please, please, Anakin," Kenobi rasped.
"That is not my name!"
Kenobi coughed, a burn slowly etching across his throat from Vader's blade.
Vader felt a small thrill as he saw the skin bubbling. Nothing would stop him this time.
"You mustn't hurt them," Kenobi's voice cracked and tears were in his eyes. Fitting that this man should beg.
"They are your children."
Vader reared back.
"Children?" he hissed, looking between the boy and Leia.
He released both of them.
He had a son.
Leia immediately ran to the boy's, her brother's, side as he gasped upon the floor.
A cold wave rolled through Vader. He had almost destroyed his son.
Kenobi. It was all Kenobi's fault.
"Twins," Vader growled, his mask shifting to look down at Kenobi.
"You knew this. You knew all along. And you took them from me."
Rage fueling him, he swung his lightsaber and cut off Kenobi's head.
Vader watched his old master's head roll across the floor and felt only a distant satisfaction.
There were more important things to think about now.