The Lucky One (a Star Wars fanfic)

Chapter 18

Rider's pov

Cautiously, I step into the room to see that, thankfully, Shawn is still laying on the floor, unconscious. Him not being awake to attempt to kill me will make taking him to the ship much easier. With what will happen in less than an hour looming over my head, I can't afford the added stress of dealing with Shawn too.

Why didn't I just stay with Anakin? If I had, I might have been able to keep Shawn from hurting Anakin, meaning that we wouldn't have to go to The Temple, that Obi-Wan wouldn't be about to find out my greatest secret.

"Shawn, I am so sorry that this is happening to you. I was going to save you from the Sith, keep you from meeting the same fate that my brother did, but I failed. I just hope that once Obi-Wan thinks that I am a Sith, the focus will be on me, not you. Even though things are looking grim, I won't give up on you Shawn, but you can't give up either. You have to keep fighting this Sith. He may have control, but he hasn't won yet. We can defeat him, Shawn. Together," I say as I walk over to Shawn, feeling the need to say this even though I know that he can't hear me.

After carefully picking up Shawn and beginning to walk back to the ship, the thought of running away briefly crosses my mind. I could leave now, before Obi-Wan finds out what I am and kills me.

When running away begins to look so promising that I actually consider doing so, I think of Anakin, causing my dream of escaping this fate to shatter. Throughout the entire time I have known Anakin, whenever times got tough and it became extremely difficult to stay strong, Anakin was there for me. After everything he has done for me, there is no way I could leave him here, especially while he is injured, just because I don't want Obi-Wan or Anakin to consider me a Sith.

Once I step outside, the ship now entering my line of sight, I make a promise to myself that, no matter what happens, I won't leave Anakin behind. The only way Obi-Wan, or any other Jedi, will be able to take me away from him is if they kill me.

Now that the ship is so near, despite my resolution to stay with Anakin, I can't help but slow my pace, not wanting to meet Obi-Wan, not wanting to die. Even though life is extremely difficult at times, especially since fighting against the dark side is so tiring, it doesn't mean that I want to die, but it seems that what I want doesn't matter. Despite wanting to live to see another day, Obi-Wan is going to kill me, and there is nothing I can do about it.

As I set foot on the ship's ramp, I feel a heavy weight in my chest, feeling like this might be one of the last things I ever do. A second later, tears spring to my eyes when I realize that this actually might be one of the last things I ever do.

Just as the tears are about to fall, I reach the top of the ramp to see Anakin looking at me with a smile on his face, making me feel surprised, but mostly relieved beyond belief. I expected him to hate me after finding out that I have kept another secret from him all this time, but instead, I am met by him having a smile on his face. In this situation, I am going to need Anakin now more than ever, so him being here to help me, instead of hating me, gives me a little hope that I might actually make it through this.

"I was beginning to wonder if something had happened to you. Did he give you any trouble?" Anakin says, his smile still there.

"No, he still isn't awake, he must have hit the wall hard," I whisper, feeling awful for hurting Shawn. Even though saving Anakin without hurting Shawn was impossible, I still wish that I could have found a way.

"Don't give yourself a hard time about it, Rider. After all, if you hadn't gotten there when you did, I wouldn't be here right now," Anakin says, his smile still there, but now it has taken on a forced edge.

"I know, but it doesn't make dealing with the fact that I hurt someone any easier," I whisper.

Before he gets the chance to respond, I walk deeper into the ship, taking Shawn to a room with a cot for him to lay on, making sure to lock the door once he is inside.