No Regrets (A Star Wars AU)

2 - Trust

Upon my arrival on Coruscant, something felt off. I knew Obi Wan might have gotten back from his mission to Utapau, but I wasn't there to see him. I landed the shuttle and shut everything down. I hopped out of the shuttle and began walking towards the Senate Building, where I had seen in my vision. All of a sudden, everything shifted, and I lost my balance. I felt cold. Just like in my vision. I heard something going on near the top of the building, and tried to find a better view. The window had been broken.

I ran and lept up to another balcony, trying to see who was up there. Once I finally got a clear view, I saw Palpatine and Mace. Palpatine? I thought to myself. Was he the cold presence that I had felt earlier? I heard faint shouting coming from the room. I saw electricity coming out of the room, illuminating it blue, along with the purple of Mace's lightsaber, that was pointed at Palpatine.

"He is a Sith lord! He is too dangerous to be kept alive!"

I was sure that I heard Mace saying that. So Palpatine was Sidious, and Anakin was to be his new... apprentice? What about Dooku? Maul was right.

"It's not the Jedi way!"

That was Anakin's voice. So he was there in the room, with Mace and Palpatine. Had he already turned to the dark side? My thoughts raced, and all of a sudden I heard more screaming.

"No!" I heard Anakin shout.

I looked up to see Mace's lightsaber wasn't pointed towards Palpatine anymore. There was no lightsaber at all- or a hand. I looked down quickly and spotted Mace's saber falling down off the building. All of a sudden I saw Mace being force pushed out of the window, electricity encasing him. Surely that was too much for one to handle. My heart dropped as I watched him fall. I quickly jumped down after him, igniting my lightsaber to slow my fall by dragging it down the building.

Mace landed on the ground, hard. Luckily there were no citizens there to witness it. I let my saber retract, and jumped down next to Mace. He wasn't going to make it. I saw it.

"Master, can you hear me?" I kneeled down to him.

He was still breathing. That was a good sign. I saw that he was struggling to keep his breath going though.

"Valin..." He managed to get out my name.

I felt myself tearing up. He wasn't going to make it. The man who found me as a kid, took me to the Jedi, trained me. The one who took me to get my Kyber crystal. The one who I meditated with, cracked jokes with. My thoughts were racing through my head, and my tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Valin." Mace mustered all his strength left to put his hand on mine. I felt him give it a light squeeze. "You came... for me..."

"Of course I did master. I-" I choked on my tears. "I had a vision. I had to..."

He smiled weakly. "You are strong, Valin... Thank you... for being my Padawan. For being my son."

My son. The words rang in my ears.

Mace's grip on my hand lessened, and he exhaled his final breath.

I collapsed onto the ground. I sobbed out. I couldn't take it anymore. My master, like a father to me, was dead. And I was the only one there to see it. All the time I had spent in this war affected me. I pounded my fist against the concrete and screamed out.

I cried there for only a few minutes. I felt something else shift. I looked up and saw clones running across the pathways, on balconies. A few were near me, and they noticed me sitting there. I wiped off my tears and picked up Mace's saber, which was damaged from the fall. I clipped it on my belt, planning to try and fix it up later.