Anakin & Ahsoka: Two Souls - A Star Wars Fan Fiction

Manipulation

There were plenty of Jedi who Anakin had once called friends, but right now, they were the last people he wanted to see. It was thanks to their hypocrisy, their blindness to the truth, that Ahsoka had left. With Padmé nowhere to be found, there was only one person left for Anakin to speak to, a man who had been a father figure to the young Jedi since the beginning.

As he walked up to the entrance to the Senate Building, he felt something strange, something he couldn't quite place, he felt... cold. He looked up at the sky, it was a positively bright day, not a cloud to be seen.

Just stress, Anakin thought, just stress.

He knew this building like the back of his hand, and he navigated the ever-winding corridors with casual ease. It wasn't long before he arrived at the entrance to the Supreme Chancellor's office. Just as he had done at Padmé's apartment, he rang the bell, and just like last time, someone else answered.

"Do you have an appointment?" inquired the blue-robed Senate Guard.
"No, but I," Anakin stuttered.
The guard interrupted. "The Chancellor is very busy! No appointment, no..."
"Please!" sounded a familiar voice. "Is that any way to treat a guest?" came the eloquent, civilised register of Chancellor Palpatine.
"But I thought you weren't to be disturbed, your Excellency," objected the guard.
"Oh, I think an exception can be made for an old friend," he said, smiling at Anakin. "Leave us, we will be fine," he stated firmly.
"Yes sir," the guard responded, before leaving to perform other duties.
"Please Anakin, come in," invited Palpatine.
"Thank you, Chancellor," Anakin replied.

Anakin stepped into the office, as he had done so many times before, and yet the luxurious decor of the room never ceased to amaze him.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Palpatine asked.
"I didn't know who else to turn to," Anakin admitted. "I take it you've heard the news?"
"About Ahsoka? Ah yes, tragic business. A great loss, to be sure," Palpatine said with great pity and sympathy in his voice.
"I appreciate your sympathy, sir,"
"I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries here, but do you mind my asking? What caused her to leave? I know she was put on trial, but surely after the real perpetrator was found out, she would have been accepted back into the order, no?" the politician inquired, with a level of intrigue behind his mannerisms.
"The offered her the chance, but she couldn't forgive them for not trusting her. I just wish that... I wish..."

Anakin's head bowed low, his shoulders slumped. He began to feel calmer, but terrified at the same time. Jedi weren't meant to let their emotions get to them, least of all show them! But he couldn't help it. It was as though his friend's presence lowered his guard, let him vent his frustrations.

It was at this point that the other personality within Palpatine began to sense an opportunity. He placed his hand on Anakin's shoulder, and tapped into the Force.

"Tell me old friend, who do you think is to blame for this ghastly turn of events?" he asked sinisterly.

Anakin thought long and hard. The obvious answer was Barriss Offee, the true criminal behind the actions Ahsoka had been accused of. Yet, as he searched inside himself, he began to have doubts. What if Barriss was right? What if the Jedi really had become no different than the Sith? What if the Republic had fallen so far that they now represented the Separatist ideals which they had fought against for so long? What if the lines between good and evil had become so blurred that... there was no longer such thing as the Light and the Dark? These thoughts raced through Anakin's mind like a rush of blood to the head, and truly scared him.

"Well?" Palpatine persisted, latching onto this moment of uncertainty.

Anakin took a deep breath, and it felt sore as it came in. With a gulp, he went with his gut feeling.

"The Jedi," he answered at last.

This was the moment that the Sith Lord had been waiting for. At this point, the politician facade had all but disappeared. Palpatine was gone, and the monster within took control.

"Yes," he agreed, with his unhinged undertones starting to break through. "Go on," he encouraged.
"She'd devoted her life to the Jedi Order, stood by them, but they betrayed her!" Anakin exclaimed. He slowly felt himself losing control.

Sidious could barely stop himself from grinning from ear to ear, but Anakin was too caught up in his emotions to notice. He could feel the hatred swelling in the boy. It was unending, untempered, terrifying... it was beautiful.

Anakin was lost in a whirlwind of emotions. He could feel the darkness within himself that he'd worked so hard to suppress coming back to the surface. Fear. Anger. Hate. Suffering. He tried to scream "HELP ME!!" but no sound came out of his mouth, it was as if he was paralysed. Then, among it all, he saw a face, a face that he knew well. It was Ahsoka! But, it wasn't the Ahsoka he knew. Her eyes were almost sunken, a look of desperation. She was in pain!

This realisation snapped Anakin back into reality. He looked around, and realised that he was kneeling on the floor. He lifted his head, and saw Palpatine looking down at him with a cold, emotionless expression.

"What the hell?" Anakin gasped, barely capable of forming the words together. "I'm so sorry, I... I don't know what came over me..."
"You've been through a hard time," said Palpatine reassuringly. "It's perfectly understandable,"
"I need to go," Anakin proclaimed.
"Very well, Master Jedi," Palpatine said, and bowed his head formally.

Anakin took off. As Darth Sidious watched him leave, the psychotic Sith Lord smiled a sadistic smile.

Soon, he thought, soon.