Palpatine cackled, summoning Force Lightning to his hands once more, and Mace Windu no longer had a way to block the attack.
The Jedi Master was flung backwards, out the window, and vanished into the Coruscant night.
"Power!" Palpatine laughed. "Unlimited power!"
Anakin looked on in horror, staggering back.
"What have I done?" he asked.
"You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin," Palpatine said, slowly rising from where he'd been seated. "Become my apprentice. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force."
Anakin half-opened his mouth, then stopped. Trying to think, to focus.
"I will do whatever you ask," he said. "Just-"
"Good," Palpatine interrupted.
"Just help me save Padme's life," Anakin went on. "I can't live without her. I won't let her die. I want the power to stop death."
Palpatine nodded.
"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved," he said. "But if we work together, I know we can discover the secret."
Anakin stabbed him.
"Wha-" Palpatine asked, sounding quite surprised, and looked down at the blue blade disappearing into his chest.
"You lied to me?" Anakin demanded, his voice hot and full of passion. "You tricked me – and – you can't even do what you promised?"
"Anakin, you've killed me," Palpatine said, but he was having a bit of trouble getting much volume with the serious damage to several organs.
"You said you had the power to save the one I love!" Anakin snapped, not really paying attention to what Palpatine was saying. "You said you were dying! I thought – I thought you were going to be put on trial, not electrocute Master Windu and throw him out the window!"
Then Anakin frowned. "Oh, uh, I guess… it's going to be hard to put you on trial now… what have I done?"
Palpatine coughed.
"Oh, right, fulfilling my destiny, you said," Anakin realized. "...hey, wait, isn't Darth Sidious the guy in charge of the Separatists? And that's you? That must mean the war's over!"
He gestured with the hand holding his lightsaber. "Finally, I can retire! And – and Padme can get medical help without some really awkward questions that would get me expelled from the Jedi Order!"
Now bereft of the lightsaber holding him up and with a much larger hole, Palpatine hit the ground with a thud.
"...man, I am really having impulse control problems today," Anakin muttered. "Maybe I should call Master Kenobi about that. And… uh, come up with an explanation for what just happened…"
He turned the events of the office over in his head.
"...I showed up late, just before Mace Windu lost his hand, then I killed Palpatine," he decided. "Yeah, that should work."
AN:
Live by the exploited impulse control problem…