Bittersweet Devotion [Star Wars x Anakin Skywalker]

26.

"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope." - Princess Leia

Rain stood frozen, her mouth gaping wide as she watched her two oldest friends, Obi-Wan and Anakin—now Darth Vader—strike at each other with lethal intent. The clash of their lightsabers sent sparks flying, and the air buzzed with the deadly energy of their duel. None of them had been seriously injured yet, but she knew that if she didn't act soon, one of them would surely kill the other. The thought of losing either of them, after all they had been through together, was unbearable.

A noise to her left startled her, and her head whipped in that direction. The door to the docking bay slid open, revealing the ship—Han, Chewbacca, and her children were sprinting toward it, desperate to escape. Rain's heart pounded in her chest as she realized that if she ran now, she could make it to the ship. They could all escape, alive and together.

"Rain! Run!" Obi-Wan gasped, narrowly dodging a strike from Vader that would have taken his arm. His voice was strained, his focus divided between the battle and his plea for her to save herself. Rain looked back and forth between the people she loved most, her heart tearing in two.

But in the end...

"I'm not leaving you, Obi! Not ever again!" she yelled, her voice filled with resolve as she made her decision.

Obi-Wan glanced at her with a somber expression, his eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and understanding. He knew what she was about to do, and there was no time to stop her. Sheathing his lightsaber, he turned to face his former Padawan, the man he had once loved as a brother.

"Strike me down, Vader," he said, his voice calm and steady, "and I will only become more powerful."

Rain's voice cracked as she screamed, "What are you—"

But her words were cut off as Vader's lightsaber arced down toward Obi-Wan, intent on delivering the killing blow.

"Nooo!" Rain screamed, her voice raw with desperation as she threw herself between the two men. Her red lightsaber hummed to life, the crimson blade meeting Vader's in a powerful clash. The force of their connection sent vibrations through her arms, but she held firm, refusing to back down. It took every ounce of her strength to deflect the strike, but she knew it wouldn't buy them much time. Vader stumbled back a few steps, giving her just enough room to drag herself up and stand between him and Obi-Wan, her lightsaber raised in a defensive stance.

"Anakin! I know you're in there! Please, you have to come back to us!" she yelled, her voice breaking with emotion.

Vader's face twisted with rage, his fury palpable as he charged at her with renewed aggression. His strikes were powerful, fueled by a rage that seemed boundless, but Rain was no longer the timid Jedi she once was. She had embraced the dark side, her skills honed over nineteen years of practice. As his blows rained down, she met him strike for strike, their red lightsabers creating a mesmerizing dance of light and fury.

This was the first time Rain and Anakin had dueled since both had fallen to the dark side. Their battle was not just one of physical skill but of the darkness that had taken root in their hearts. They were evenly matched—both empowered by the dark side, both driven by conflicting emotions. Rain could feel the depth of Anakin's power, the darkness that had consumed him, and she knew he could sense the same in her. It was a battle of wills as much as a battle of blades, each of them trying to overpower the other not just physically, but mentally, emotionally.

For a moment, it felt like the battle could go either way. Rain, with her deep connection to the dark side, unleashed powers she had rarely used before. She sent a wave of force energy crashing into Vader, throwing him back several feet, but he quickly recovered, his anger only growing.