Chapter 28 – This Ends Today

Author's Note: No, I do not feel bad for how I skipped most of the fight with Sidious again. It was about to make me cry as it was. lol.

~ Rivana Rita

Ahsoka stumbles at the sudden flux of pain and fear and darkness flowing through her bond with Anakin. She braces her hand on the wall, gasping ,as words, images filter through in flashes. He's reaching for her, far across the galaxy. She heard, of course, how he and Rex were on some quick rescue mission that went rapidly downhill, and that he was captured, but they were tracking the ship. She wanted to go, but...

But now this is happening.

"Until then, you will remain here," a dark, icy voice sends, sending shivers through her. She doesn't know who it is. It's not Dooku, but somehow, she thinks it's someone far worse. Sidious?

"You'll what?" Anakin replies with every bit of the sassiness she knows he has but never uses, "Leave me here on Mustafar?"

Clever of him to do that – she knows where to look, at least.

"Calling for help, are you?" the other voice snarls. "They will never find you. If they come, you will be responsible for their deaths. Every single one."

The connection is snapped right after she senses a jolt of pain through their bond – that's Anakin. He's in pain. Of course, he is – he was captured, and why does this keep happening to her master?

He may not have gone through much before, but he should've taken her on this one – she could have helped him but instead, he left her here, and she didn't hear about it until afterwards because she was sleeping at the time, and it wasn't – apparently – important enough for her to be notified.

So, yes, she is very upset.

Not enough to stop her from pushing herself off the wall and comming Master Obi-Wan, even if she can only get out a half coherent story to him. This is important, and Anakin is in danger. She needs to – somehow – get him back here in one piece.

Even if it's only to yell at him for running off again and again.

One thing's for certain: he's making it very hard to have any sort of relationship with him, whatever exactly it is they share.

**w**

Obi-Wan felt something went... downhill already, but he didn't expect it to be anything like what he can gather from Ahsoka. Of course, they have no way of verifying the information they got from her, but it's something to work with.

And he cannot believe that Anakin got himself captured again. He'd be lying if he said he didn't think something would go downhill, but either way, Obi-Wan never expected it to be anything nearly this serious.

He knew, of course, that Anakin was... being hurt, because he could feel it, but... this means it wasn't a simple Separatist attack. It was a trap, set specifically for Anakin himself.

By Sidious, Obi-Wan suspects, though it could have been Dooku. Ahsoka never encountered him. She would have no way of knowing with certainty if it was him, but...

That doesn't stop his worry. They'll need to go search for him, just in case. He wants to ditch everything and go there, but he knows, that as a member of the Jedi Council, that would be inacceptable.

In the end, nothing matters to him more than Anakin, but as a Jedi, he needs to look at this rationally. If he goes there alone, he'll be captured the same way Anakin himself was – though based on the report, it appears Anakin knew what would happen, though Obi-Wan can't fathom why he would have allowed such a thing.

It's been three times now since the war started. Three. Twice, right in a row.

He may have grown accustomed to raising Anakin in stressful environments, but at certain moments, like right now, it's not enough to keep him from worrying.

Nothing seems to be enough to keep him from worrying about Anakin. He can only hope that they're able to assemble a fleet and go to Mustafar, if only to check it out, without Anakin being taken elsewhere.

And he can only hope that his padawan really will be alright when they finally arrive, because it won't be a fast process. First, they'll likely send out someone verify it before bringing an attack force.

**w**

Returning to consciousness is a ridiculously slow process. He suspected as much, but he's drifting in and out, unable to fully come back for a frustratingly long time. The Force is dark, and Anakin can feel that no matter how far out-of-it he is.

He could feel that with more certainty than whether he's alive or dead.

His... captor, whoever that is, must've been very intent on keeping him here. It's not until he hears a lightsaber igniting, sees the ruby blade far too close to him for comfort that he somewhat jerks back to himself, and memories come rushing back.

It's not Sidious, though. It's Dooku.

Somehow, he figured out where Anakin is, and he came here, though what he wants, Anakin doesn't know.

"Where do your loyalties lie?" the Sith asks.

It's a trick question, one Anakin really isn't in the mental state to answer. He blinks back against the haze covering his mind anyway. "With the Jedi," he answers, because that, at least, Anakin knows with certainty is true. He'll try to do what's right, even if he's not entirely certain what that is, and he will not embrace the Dark.

He won't.

Or, he should say, he'll try not to, because it's more a frantic plea to the Force than anything else, that he doesn't become the monster that's in his blood. He doesn't want to believe it inevitable. Both Qui-Gon and the Father acted as though it was still his choice, and Anakin clings to that belief more desperately than he has to anything in his entire life. He must believe that, at least.

"Good." The blade slashes through his restraints, and Anakin lets out a small sigh of relief at being free. He's been... restrained far too many times in Dooku's presence and having to deal with that again – if only for a few moments – was... it would've gotten hard fast, had he been able to think about it.

Anakin shoves himself upright unsteadily. He hasn't moved for what must've been a long time, considering how he's sore all over. His body is still throbbing from electrocution. It wasn't that bad, but he'll be dealing with the lingering effects for a while, either way. Sidious wasn't taking it easy on him the time he was here.

"What are you doing here?" Anakin asks. He doesn't know what Dooku is up to, and he can't deny being... worried about it. He has no idea whether he came to continue what Sidious started, or if he's here for his own agenda.

Or if he had his own agenda from the start, for that matter. Dooku is a Sith. They lie.

"Remember what we spoke of before?" Dooku inquires. He glances across the room towards someone – Ventress, Anakin realizes. They're both here. What are they doing here?

"About Palpatine?" he asks. He wishes, desperately, that he had his lightsaber here. He has no idea what Sidious did with it, but he doesn't see it.

"Yes."

"He covers his tracks too well," Anakin replies, shaking his head. "There is nothing..." He can't deny the sharp, icy fear he feels at the prospect of encountering him again. He's not ready. He'll never be ready. He can't stand being at another's mercy, and he always feels like that with Sidious. Always.

Right now, he just feels... dirty. He can't even explain why.

Maybe it's that a part of him wants to cave and give in and do what Sidious was demanding of him, even if he knows it's wrong. But is helping Dooku right, either?

"Then we will make one," he replies evenly, "He must be dealt with before peace can be restored to the galaxy."

The same goes for you, Anakin thinks, but he'll never voice that.

"Another ship is approaching," Ventress calls from across the room where she stands over some scans. She turns back and walks over to them.

Anakin feels it that moment, the dark, twisted presence of the Sith Master. Somehow, he manages to be everywhere, everywhere and nowhere, knowing... everything. And he feels the darkness touching him, tracing over their bond. Demanding more, wanting more, always more and Anakin can't... do that. And yet, he can't deny the very messed up part of him that doesn't want to hurt him.

"Sidious," Dooku says.

"Yes," Anakin agrees, nearly wincing at the shake in his voice.

"I take it you lost your lightsaber?" Ventress asks with a smirk. He could almost hit her for that.

"Sidious must have taken it after I lost consciousness."

"I can give you one of mine until you find one of your own," she says, unclipping one from her belt.

They both have their attention focused on him, and it's hard for him to... accept what's about to happen. They're about to fight Sidious, and if they fail, there is no way back. And the Council doesn't even know – they will think Anakin is a traitor if he doesn't get back to them. And he...

"I joined the Sith because I saw the corruption that was consuming the Republic and the Jedi," Dooku says, "The corruption that you were raised in. You have seen it. You know, more than anyone, how great it is. We can end this here, today. Get up and fight, Skywalker."

He doesn't want to do it, but he pushes himself upright, unsteadily, anyway. Something about Dooku has that effect on people, he suspects. The Count demands respect in a way that Anakin rarely sees anyone with. He... has a way with people. For the first time, he wonders how Dooku came to this place, because he can see it in himself. Anakin knows how he could... arrive at this same place. He knows how he could become so desperate to help that it would lead him down a dark path, and he's always been mindful of that. Always tried to... follow the Council, even when he never understood what they were telling him.

Besides, that's all he's been good at, right?

But right now, he can't afford to do that. All he can do is what Dooku said – get up and fight, because Sidious must be stopped.

But Dooku and Ventress have become the very things they want rooted out from the galaxy as well, and... Anakin highly suspects he won't be making it out of this in one piece, but that's not enough to stop him from trying.

There's a war to be won and a destiny to fulfill and maybe after that – maybe – he can somehow find rest.

Anakin reaches out with shaking hands, taking Ventress's lightsaber. The hilt weights differently in his hand than his own, the curved hilt feeling... wrong. The crystal is feels... mournful as opposed to Anakin's own, though he knows his own is stained just as much by blood and darkness as Ventress's is.

She has a reason to be upset with the Jedi as well, though that could never justify everything she's caused.

He may even speak to her about that, if they survive this. Maybe.

Dooku used her and cast her aside, and he needs a guarantee that the same won't happen now, but he doubts he could get an assurance of that, no matter how he tried.

"What's the plan?" Anakin inquires, "Do you... have a plan?"

"Some of this should remain... unknown," he replies, "But it all has been set in motion."

He doesn't like the sound of that. "What?" Anakin asks, "The Sith Empire? An Empire as corrupted as the Republic?"

"We can debate the politics later, Skywalker."

"Very well," he concedes, though he can't help wondering anyway – and fearing, because he's dealing with Sith, and there is guaranteed to be backstabbing on the way. It's only a question of when and what.

If they fail, or if this is a trap, it will be far worse for Anakin. Sidious won't hesitate to hurt him if it means driving home the point that he's willing to, or perhaps even if he wants to, Anakin doesn't know.

He draws the Force around himself, anyway, listening to its guidance and whispers. It wants him to carry through with it, Anakin realizes. Everything has changed, and it's time for Sidious to die here. It's... destined to be his resting place.

What will happen to everyone else, Anakin can't tell. The most he knows is a definite darkness looming in front of him.

But he cannot let his fear of that overtake him. He's a Jedi, and he'll do what Obi-Wan – and his mother – would have wanted of him.

And if they all die here, that's just as well.

And he lets go of his fear, letting it flow away into the Force and pulls himself together. This is just another mission like the many he's done and questioned.

Only this is by the orders of a Sith, not the Jedi, but it's the same.

They move towards the hangar. Anakin maps out the area in his mind – he will have to return to destroy it.

Sidious's ship lands and he descends the ramp. He's cloaked and hooded now, though Anakin can still see the resemblance.

"This is... unexpected, my apprentice," Sidious says, stopping a few feet away from them.

Something inside Anakin clenches at the proximity.

"I am disappointed," he continues, "You are losing focus."

"You are the one who has lost focus, Sidious," Dooku accuses. "We are not ending corruption as you promised. You are using it to grant yourself greater power."

With a jolt, Anakin realizes exactly how much like himself that statement was. Dooku cares about the greater good, and so does Sidious – albeit in fallen, twisted forms, but Dooku, clearly, after leaving the Order had lost his way, and had turned to the Sith in need of guidance, lost among the vastness of the galaxy.

That is why Jedi rarely, if ever, leave the Order.

Force. What would have happened to Ahsoka if Anakin hadn't come back here? He doesn't want the answer to that.

"It is as I suspected," Sidious replies, voice dark. He doesn't sound angry, but he still has a way of being... terrifying. "You are still as a Jedi at heart. You must prove yourself loyal to the Sith."

"Enough," Anakin snaps, stepping forwards, hand on Ventress's lightsaber. He's afraid of drawing attention to himself like this, but he must. "We know the damage you are causing the galaxy. This will end here, today."

"Siding with traitors again, my boy?" Sidious queries, turning his attention to Anakin. "I have given you everything."

"You took everything," he accuses, "You will only take and destroy. You're a Sith."

"And yet I have not betrayed you."

What? "You tortured me."

"For your own good." He can't move, even when Sidious moves closer. He feels trapped, frozen, even if he's fully capable of backing away. He's not restrained, but he might as well be. "Pain gives you strength. Let me teach you to use it."

Even as he says it, Anakin is shaking his head. "I have nothing to learn from you."

He feels strangely breathless but determined. He knows Sidious will try using their... connection against him, and he needs to make it abundantly clear that it doesn't matter. He lets himself remember the last time he spoke with Obi-Wan, tries remembering one of the nearly non-existent times he saw his master smile. And he remembers what it felt like when Obi-Wan holds him, the very rare times he ever has, the warmth, the comfort, the protectiveness. He already has a place of belonging. "I'm a Jedi, like my father before me."

He feels the flux of rage and ignites the lightsaber barely in time to shield himself from a blast of lightning. He nearly skids back from the force of it but stands firm. Sidious is angry. No, he's furious, and he's trying to make sure everyone can feel that.

He's a Sith. He's a monster. So why... why does Anakin almost feel bad for denouncing whatever relationship they had? Why does he almost wish he could retake that? But in the end, he is Obi-Wan's, and there is no one he could call father more than the man who raised and cared for him, regardless of what Palpatine may have done for him.

Dooku and Ventress use that as their cue to move forwards, lightsabers ignited. Sidious has to withdraw his own to parry them, letting up the attack on Anakin. He's using two. Anakin never took him for that type, but... it's dangerous.

It's also the sign of someone whose strength isn't lightsaber combat, though. Anakin trained Ahsoka. He knows where that came from. Dual-lightsaber wielders are either unable to move fast enough otherwise to keep up with others and are frequently in deadly situations or aren't entirely right-handed. Ahsoka is both of those. He just... didn't quite think Sidious was, too.

Their blades clash on repeat, Sidious moving in a blur and swirl of darkness. It makes Anakin wonder how he missed it before. He wouldn't be struggling quite as much as he is if he hadn't been electrocuted right before, not to mention whatever else Sidious did to him. He can't say he knows.

He may not be able to press the attack, but at least he can keep up where he can. This is... insane. He never would've imagined he'd fight someone alongside Dooku and Ventress. Especially not someone who he saw as his friend. It's not easy to let go of that. He's not well accustomed to their fighting styles either, and that makes it more difficult.

Dooku calls in a group of MagnaGaurds – a very large group, Anakin might add – which finally gives him the opportunity he needs to slip away. There is something else equally important he needs to do, first.

He senses there's someone else coming, though he can't say who or why. It's important though. Anakin shakes off that knowledge as he slips back inside. He can only hope it won't be hard to work through the intricacies of the programming, or whatever it was Sidious did here. The information this place has is everything they'll need. It takes him a ridiculously long time to gather everything and send it to the Jedi Council.

He knows it incriminates him, but it doesn't matter. As long as the galaxy is alright, he can work out this... situation. It isn't as though they could – or would – do anything to him that he hasn't already been through and survived.

Though he's not entirely certain he wants to survive, anyway. Not entirely convinced it would be good.

If he does this, everything else he knows he needs to, it's practically a guarantee of his death, and Anakin isn't entirely certain if he wants to do it. But what choice is there? It's the only way to guarantee Sidious will die.

Hands shaking, he turns off the shields over the building. It'll fall, and yes, the evidence will be destroyed, but he already sent the Council the recordings and whatever he could gather from the building. There has to be something there they can use to their benefit.

Anakin turns around and takes off back for the door. Locating Sidious will be difficult, but it's what needs to be done.

He takes off back outside, drawing the Force around himself. Moments like this, it's best not to think. Not to feel. To stay empty. He is though – he can't think about how he's guaranteeing the death of someone he once trusted. Someone he thought cared about him.

But he's a Jedi, so his own feelings on this matter are irrelevant. Unimportant, as they always have been.

So, swallowing back his own fear and concerns, he steps back out into the stinging, hot air of Mustafar. The planet is dark, but here, Sidious is like a swirling cloud of darkness as he draws in the Dark Side to fuel him. Anakin can feel him now that he looks, and he takes off after in search of it.

It's not hard to find him concluding decimating an army of MagnaGaurds. It must've been to wear him down, and Anakin has to admit it wasn't a bad idea. It gave them time to stay back and plan.

If they have a plan – he isn't seeing much of one, though Dooku assured him the political details have already been attended to.

Anakin has no reason to disbelieve that – of course, the Separatists have control over some Republic Senators.

He jumps down onto the landing platform where the fight is occurring, lightsaber ignited. The blade feels wrong in his hand – the crystal is hurting, and that makes it hard to connect with.

They move in at once. Sidious, predictably, moves away, trying to run. Anakin follows instantly. He knows all the ways this could end, and he won't stop until it's over.

"I offered you everything," Sidious hisses, yellow eyes burning with anger. They practically glow from the darkness, or maybe it's just that they stand out against the darkened landscape. "And you betrayed me."

The accusation sends an expected but unwelcome flare of guilt through him. "I'm doing what I have to," he replies firmly. But that's what Obi-Wan said to him, too. That's what he said to Ahsoka. What if this isn't the right answer? No. He can't start doubting now. A mission is a mission, but...

His orders aren't always right.

"They're not yours to give me," is all he can say in response as he follows Sidious onto one of the narrow walkways coming off the building. It's dangerous, yes, because now that the shields aren't up, the lava sprays can start everything on fire easily, or just melt the building altogether. It'll take time, though.

"You will lose your only chance to bring order to the galaxy."

That is the first thing that makes Anakin falter. "The Dark Side won't bring order," he argues. He should stop talking. If he attacks Sidious again, the Sith won't have time to use words. Anakin jumps over him onto the other side of the walkway, letting Dooku and Ventress close in on him.

Anakin lunges at him again, only to be stopped by a blast of lightning before Sidious lunges at the other two Dark Siders. Dooku is graceful but Sidious is fast, and his speed is... he'll wear down eventually, but until then, keeping pace with him is difficult. Ventress is at a disadvantage with a lack of two lightsabers, also.

Because Anakin has it. He needs to give it back to her, but...

Unless he can... borrow one of Sidious's, he doesn't have another.

Ventress isn't nearly strong enough to stand up to Sidious, and if Anakin wasn't here, he highly suspects she'd have died already. If they weren't together...

He feels a warning in the Force before a splash of lava hits one of the beams they're standing on, separating Anakin from the others.

Sidious goes for Dooku first, throwing him off with a blast of lightning. He Force-shoves Anakin back, and he falls onto a platform lower down, catching himself easily enough. It was intentional to split them up, he realizes a second too late, just before Sidious slashes his lightsaber deeply through Ventress's thigh and Force-shoves her off the beam they were standing on.

Anakin thinks he saw Dooku move forwards to catch her with the Force before she can die, but he's more focused on how Sidious is stalking towards him. For the first time since they started fighting, he finds himself feeling fear. He doesn't want to die here, even if he knows it would be better.

He's more afraid of not dying, of either being sent back again or... whatever it is Sidious plans to do to him.

"I will give you one last chance." The way he says it, drawing it out so slowly is unnerving. Everything about this is unnerving, and instincts kick in, screaming at Anakin to be submissive and agree to this – whatever it is – to spare himself whatever is about to happen.

Could he really do that, though? Can he back down when he already came so far? No, he can't.

Anakin lunges at him, red clashing on red, sparking from the force of the blows. If he'd had his own lightsaber, he wouldn't have slipped up. He doesn't know how long their fight drags on. In truth, he doesn't really remember. All he does remember is when Sidious brings one of his blades up, slashing it deeply across Anakin's chest.

He stumbles back, a raw, blinding pain tearing through him. It takes a moment for the pain to set in, and when it does, it's burning enough to send him stumbling to his knees. He doesn't know if it hit anything fatal, but it might as well have, for all that it feels like the pain is drowning and blinding him.

And he can't breathe.

His vision is blurring over, too much in such a short time, he suspects, but Anakin struggles to blink past it, because he needs to get up, to keep fighting.

Sidious steps forwards, and everything is too blurred over for Anakin to react before the Sith touches him – again – lifting his chin to force Anakin to meet his gaze – it's pointless when everything is so blurred over, anyway.

All he knows is that the burning agony flares harder in his chest every time he breathes.

"I warned you of what would happen, should you betray me," Sidious hisses. "You will pay the price for your lack of foresight."

He's shaking, his mind too overwhelmed by agony to be able to capture a clear picture of anything. He should... something, but he can't do anything right now.

His vision is blurring over, and everything hurts. It's like when he lost his arm, only this is more central and different, because he didn't actually lose anything, or at least Anakin doesn't think he did. The most his mind can manage to make up is that he really, really should not have said what he did earlier to upset Sidious so much.

The Sith throws him sharply to the ground and he lands hard on his back. Every movement seems to make it hurt worse, but it could be just the constant throbbing that's not subsiding.

And for the faintest moment he almost... feels bad about saying that to Palpatine. He can't say why. He just shouldn't have... said something that would hurt him that would cause this. It's not like he can apologize though, because that would no doubt make Sidious angrier and more than that, he doesn't think he could if he tried. The most sound he's making is a sort of strangled gasp-hiss as he struggles to breathe.

It feels like Sidious tried to cut his heart out, and whether by literal means or not, he succeeded.

He's not totally certain if he blacked out or not, but either way, everything seems much too far away. The world is going dark and hazy, but there's still a mission to do, and Anakin knows Dooku is now fighting Sidious alone. They have to stop Sidious, somehow. That – he remembers that, and he grasps that knowledge, desperately.

Standing hurts. Standing is hard, but he does it anyway. He needs to – he has to destroy the Sith. All of them, but he thinks he already mostly did that.

He feels something soft amidst this all, which strikes him as odd, but Anakin shoves that from mind as he keeps moving, stumbling, using the Force to keep him upright. He dropped Ventress's lightsaber too, now. He keeps doing that. He needs to stop doing that. Obi-Wan would be so disappointed, but he's always disappointed, right?

Sidious is right up ahead, though, their red lightsabers flashing back and forth as he fights Dooku.

Anakin can't fight anymore. He knows that, because his body is about to give out on him, so he does the first thing he can think of, no matter how insane it is. He Force-jumps to where Sidious is and bodily tackles him off the beam, crashing towards the lava below.

It's a guaranteed death, and he doesn't have the mental space to think of how he's going to regret this. It'll hurt, but it couldn't be worse than... If Anakin is a monster enough to be willing to do it, he deserves to die in it, too.

He's ready. He's as prepared as he was last time to embrace death, but then... something stops him. He doesn't have the strength to look up, but he swears he could sense a very familiar soft-as-rose-petals presence.

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