Chapter 7 – Second Chances

Author's Note: Ngl, I am sooo proud of how this fight turned out. :')

To Guest: I tried! :)

~ Amina Gila

The duel is long and arduous, and a part of Anakin is mildly surprised at his ability to stand against the Sith Master for so long. But he is still standing, and Sidious is tiring. The room currently around them, Palpatine's office, is completely trashed. Somehow, they ended up back in here again, even though one of them accidentally activated the controls for Palpatine's Senate pod, taking them both into the massive chamber where they fought furiously. Sidious even resorted to using lightning again, though he failed when Anakin's two lightsabers were more than sufficient at blocking it.

They used the Force, as well, throwing each other and Senate pods around.

Anakin can't feel too bad about the massive amount of property damage there, but he is a little impressed at Sidious' resilience and how he's so good at keeping his lightsaber in his hands. It makes sense, he supposes, since if he gets disarmed, it will all be over.

But now, they're back in the office again, or what once was the office, still fighting, albeit not with the same vigor as at the beginning. He lands a solid kick on Palpatine's leg, and he stumbles backwards. Anakin swings his lightsabers, taking advantage of the slipup, and sends Sidious' hilt skittering from his hands and somewhere across the room. Instantly, he drops his own lightsaber, keeping Dooku's just to be safe, and lashes out with the Force, pushing past Palpatine's shields and wrapping the Force around the Sith Master's neck, choking him.

He takes a step closer, and for a moment, he sees a reflection of his own face. His eyes… his eyes are glowing crimson, and he really does not think it's merely a trick of the lighting given he's holding a red lightsaber. But he doesn't care to ponder it, slowly and deliberately stepping towards the struggling Sith. Killing him like this, by strangling him with the Force, it's too merciful. The Dark Side demands more, more violence, more bloodshed, and Anakin is more than happy to feed it.

Reaching out, Anakin pins Palpatine's body against the wall with the Force before wrapping his prosthetic hand around the Sith Master's neck, crushing it. He wants to watch as the life drains from Sidious' eyes. He wants to feel it as his struggles weaken, as his body goes limp. This is the power of the Dark Side, the power to kill and destroy, and just this once, Anakin is perfectly content with what he's about to do.

**w**

Obi-Wan is vibrating with tension and anxiety when they arrive at the Senate building. The Dark Side is rolling in the air, probably because of Sidious, but he fears that some of it may also be because of Anakin. The atmosphere is… staticky somehow, as if there is something dark and dangerous looming on the horizon, and with a jolt, Obi-Wan realizes what it is. Anakin is in danger. Grave danger.

They need to hurry.

Neither of them speaks as they enter the Senate building itself, sneaking into a side entrance. Strangely enough, they aren't stopped, and the reason for that soon becomes clear. The inside is in chaos, disarray. Anakin didn't – he didn't go straight for Palpatine, did he. There are bodies strewn about in the halls, primarily Senate Guards, and there's blaster fire scoring the hallways. It's a slaughter.

Force, Anakin has completely lost control, hasn't he.

He's so focused on killing Palpatine that he didn't think about all of the other casualties. But to be fair, it's not as if Obi-Wan really cares either. He only cares that Anakin did this, that his once Padawan was pushed to this level, that he Fell to this point. Anakin was never like this; he never killed so indiscriminately, and it horrifies him to see the raw darkness which Anakin is now wielding.

Yoda's ears twitch in an obvious sign of disapproval and concern, and they follow the trail of bodies all the way to the Chancellor's office, or what's left of it anyway.

The destruction here is massive, and it's obvious that there was a major, grueling lightsaber duel which occurred in these halls.

"Quickly we must move," Yoda urges. "In peril Skywalker is."

As if to punctuate those words, an unfamiliar lightsaber rolls through the doorway of the once-Chancellor's office, coming to a stop near their feet. It must be Sidious', and indeed, when Obi-Wan reaches out with the Force, he can feel the way the Dark has permeated everything, the way the Force is crying out as something very, very bad is about to happen. All he can feel is fear, rage, and a lust for vengeance.

He darts forwards, skidding through the doorway, his heart in his throat, expecting to see Anakin injured or worse. He does not see that. Instead, he sees Anakin holding Palpatine pinned against the wall, his prosthetic hand wrapped around the Sith's throat, while in his other hand is a red lightsaber. The Sith Master is struggling, but his power is no match for Anakin's. And Anakin –

Obi-Wan can hardly breathe when he feels the raw darkness radiating from his best friend's figure. Anakin is so deep in the Dark that he feels – he feels like –

He has eyes for only Anakin, despite whatever damage and destruction lie around them. Outwardly, Anakin does not appear to be injured, but his eyes… they're red. Glowing crimson. It reminds him of – of the Son on Mortis, of how the Dark Side embodiment was a thing of darkness and death, of how his eyes glinted an unnatural red. And that is what Anakin now looks like. That is what Anakin now resembles.

And Obi-Wan would be lying if he said it didn't terrify him.

This is – Anakin is his best friend, the one person he cares for more deeply than he has any right to, and seeing him like this, Fallen so far beyond what a Jedi is supposed to be, fills him with a bone-chilling terror and dread of what is to come.

**w**

Anakin had not expected Jedi to come here, much less Obi-Wan and Yoda, of all people, but he has very mixed feelings about their arrival. On one hand, he's relieved beyond words to know that Obi-Wan is alright, that he is still alive, but on the other hand, he knows that what he has done, what he is doing is against everything he's been taught. He tapped into the Dark Side, even if it was to save people, and he's acting out of anger and vengeance. It's not the Jedi way. It's not the way Obi-Wan taught him, and more than anything, Anakin has always striven to please his master. He has always sought to make him proud, to show him that he's good enough.

For a second, just one second, all of them stand there, and Anakin catches a wordless exchange between Obi-Wan and Yoda before the former steps forward. His expression is mostly neutral, but Anakin knows that he will sense a storm of emotion if he reaches out and probes. He doesn't do that, though, because he respects his master too much, and he fears what he might find.

"Anakin, you must stop!" Obi-Wan calls, keeping a distance away, expression pinched. "Let him go! You can't kill him like that. It will destroy you."

No, it won't. Obi-Wan doesn't understand. This was a hard-won battle, and Anakin deserves, at the very least, to see the life drain from Palpatine's eyes as he dies. He wants it, needs it.

"Anakin, please. You must listen to me!" Obi-Wan tries again, but Anakin is past listening to others. All he can see is Palpatine struggling in his grip. All he can feel is the grim satisfaction at watching the Sith Master die in his hand.

The Force twinges on the edge of his consciousness, and he senses the approach of other presences. Too fast. Too quickly.

It all happens so fast.

Anakin senses Yoda reaching out with the Force, as if he's planning to stop him from killing Sidious. But then, the familiar figure of Inquiere steps into the room, followed by several dozen clones from the Coruscant Guard.

"Drop him, Skywalker!" Inquiere screams, igniting his double-bladed golden lightsaber. It's so wrong to see it in his hands, the lightsaber of the Temple Guard, knowing that this is the man who helped destroy the Jedi Order.

And then, the new Sith hurls it across the room towards Anakin, towards his arm. Instinctively, Anakin moves to block it with Dooku's, batting it aside so it doesn't injure him. The clones open fire the same moment, and Obi-Wan and Yoda instantly move to block them, but one of the blaster bolts slips past, and Anakin can't stop it and the lightsaber at once. He prioritizes, deflecting the lightsaber aside and sending it skittering to the floor before Inquiere calls it back to him. The blaster bolt strikes his prosthetic, making the mechanics go haywire. Pain spears up his arm, and his hand spasms, unclenching automatically.

Worse, his Force grip on Palpatine slackens, allowing the Sith Master to shove him back and away. His rage flares further, and he spins towards the Sith apprentice, wrapping the Force around his neck, strangling him. His careful control over the Dark Side is slipping as it crawls further into his mind, confusing him, making him more irrational, more prone to acting on raw emotion with no heed to the consequences.

The Force screams as Sidious raises his hands, and Anakin has only one second to realize that he made a huge error in judgment before lightning arcs into his body, sending him crashing backwards to the floor. It's worse than anything he's ever felt before, stronger, more painful, and it's all he can do not to cry out, as his body writhes on the ground, overwhelmed by a terrible pain. Distantly, Anakin recognizes that he can't handle more than a minute of this without dying.

And then, it lets up.

"Grab him," Sidious commands, voice raspy from being strangled.

The world is blurring around the edges, and Anakin can't even think about moving as he sees Inquiere coming towards him only for a blue lightsaber to block his path. Obi-Wan. Anakin can feel him in the Force, can feel his protective rage, and it calms him somehow, soothes him, because if Obi-Wan is here, everything will be alright. They'll figure this out. They'll do the impossible.

Blue and gold lightsabers clash together, and suddenly, Yoda is standing in front of Anakin, a tiny whirlwind as he deflects the blaster bolts coming towards Anakin's prone, immobile form. No matter the danger, Anakin does not have the ability to move just yet. He needs to. He needs to push past this and get up, but he can't. He's still gasping for breath and blinking away tears of agony, as spasms run through him clenching his muscles painfully.

More and more clones are coming into the room, replacing those who have fallen to deflected blaster bolts and lightsabers. Anakin doesn't see Sidious anywhere, so the Sith Master must have taken the opportunity to retreat – not that Anakin could blame him for that, because he's laughably outmatched now, especially with Yoda and Obi-Wan here. It is frustrating, though, since it means that they'll have to retreat as well. There's no way that they can get past all of this resistance and defeat Palpatine at once.

No matter how much Anakin hates it, they need to leave.

The lightning shook him out of his revenge-induced haze, and he can admit that he was acting rashly. He doesn't regret wanting to kill Palpatine like that, but he recognizes that a fast death would have been preferable, because at least he'd be dead.

For a couple minutes, Anakin focuses on breathing, before shakily pushing himself back to his feet, swaying unsteadily and calling on the Force, the Dark and the Light both to give him the strength that he needs. He uses the Force to keep his body upright, to push past the bone-deep pain, past the burn scars that are undoubtedly littering his skin now. And then, he summons both lightsabers back to him, clipping Dooku's to his belt, and joining Yoda in – slightly clumsily – deflecting blaster bolts with his left hand, as his prosthetic hangs at his side, still sparking and aching, sending pain shooting up his arm.

But no matter how focused Anakin is on killing the clones who are still steadily moving in on them, though it's easy to keep them at bay and push them back with Yoda helping, he keeps a part of his attention on Obi-Wan, as always. He sees the graceful, fast-paced duel between Obi-Wan and Inquire, sees the way that the new Sith apprentice uses Makashi against Obi-Wan to counter his Soresu. Inquiere is no Dooku, but he is good, which makes sense if he is the one who killed the rest of the Temple Guard, not to mention countless other Jedi at the Temple.

Keeping track of Obi-Wan during the fight is second nature to him, and he senses it when Inquiere scores a glancing blow on Obi-Wan's left arm. The Jedi Master falters for a moment, and it's long enough for a nearby clone to nearly hit him with a blaster bolt. It only skims him, but he still stumbles back a step with a pained intake of breath before raising his lightsaber to go at Inquiere again.

Anakin's anger mounts, and he spins away from Yoda, lunging towards Inquiere. This man is responsible for aiding in the decimation of the Jedi Order. He killed children, tried to kill Reva. And he hurt Obi-Wan. All of those are equally unforgivable.

The Dark Side in the room is intoxicating, and Anakin can feel it rolling under his skin, filling him with a power that demands an outlet. They need to get out of here, and fast, before they're completely overwhelmed. But together, with the two of them, it's easy to push Inquiere onto the defensive and out of the destroyed office that was once the Chancellor's. The clones don't dare shoot at them while Inquiere could be hit, so that gives them more maneuverability so long as they don't stay still.

But they need to get out.

Anakin trusts Yoda can escape on his own; the Grandmaster is small but powerful, and he can more than hold his own against the clones. He's taken out entire battalions of droids on his own during the war, so he can do this as well.

Even if Anakin has Fallen now, it's still easy for him and Obi-Wan to communicate with mere glances, and they both agree on the obvious conclusion. They need to run. Somehow.

Perhaps it is merely the increase of death which causes an influx of the Dark Side, perhaps it's the fact that Obi-Wan is injured, that he is injured, Anakin doesn't know. All he knows is that he's so angry, that he wants their opponents dead, or at least disabled, so they can be safe. The Force is flickering in his grasp, feeling violent, uncontrollable even. Raw power is coursing to his fingertips, and when he makes to shove Inquiere backwards into the group of clones standing near the doorway… well, it works.

Inquiere flies backwards, but what is unexpected is the burst of lightning that arcs from his fingers, red and blinding, flying chaotically around the room, fueled by the Dark Side itself. He has not seen red lightning since – well, for a long time. He didn't even know it was a real thing.

The clones and Sith apprentice lie scattered on the floor, stunned and smoking, and Anakin didn't miss how Yoda had to deflect a stray spark with his lightsaber before cutting a hole in the floor and dropping through, neatly escaping the electric chaos.

Obi-Wan is looking at him, seeming annoyed by the lightning storm that Anakin accidentally whipped up, but he's still panicking too much that he just did that to pay it any mind. "Come on," he says instead, whirling towards the exit and running.

He doesn't need to look back to know that Obi-Wan is following him. Yoda must be planning to find his own way out. Escaping from the Senate building is not even half as easy as getting in was, because they need to take a different route since there are clones and other guards collecting the dead bodies. They make it out a side entrance, and Anakin leads Obi-Wan to the speeder he used when he came here.

"Where are we going?" Obi-Wan asks once Anakin flies away from the Senate building, mingling with the passing traffic and focusing solely on getting them as far away from the scene as possible. First, he needs to lose their pursuers before he can return to Padme's apartment, so they can plan their next course of action.

Somehow, he doubts that Padme will be terribly willing to run away with him, no matter how much he wants that. Besides, there's the additional problem of Palpatine's survival. It's obvious to him that the Sith Master wants him as an apprentice, and he'll be hunting for him. That will pose a problem.

"500 Republica," Anakin answers, tone clipped. "We must evade our pursuers first, so brace yourself, Master."

Obi-Wan pales. "Nothing too fancy," he warns immediately.

In another situation, Anakin would probably smirk and make a snarky comment about Obi-Wan's obviously sensitive stomach. Now, all he does is nod, his mind focused solely on escaping. I'm glad you're alright, he wants to say, but he doesn't know how to say it. Obi-Wan's presence is soothing, a balm on a wound he didn't know he had. Other than his mother, there is no one in Anakin's life who is as important to him as Obi-Wan, no matter how… complicated their relationship may be.

"You're the closest thing I have to a father."

They are a team, the team, and Anakin cannot imagine being without Obi-Wan. Maybe that's why he's doing his best to not think about what will happen next once they get to safety so they can plan their next moves. There are too many people he needs to protect, and he can't watch over all of them, not when he has such a big target on his back.

And Anakin has no doubt that Obi-Wan will want to speak to him about everything – something he is absolutely not looking forward to, because more than anything, he doesn't want to disappoint Obi-Wan – but he doesn't have the mental capacity to worry about it, not when he has to focus on flying single-handedly to get them to safety.

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