From The Ashes//anidala

2

FROM THE ASHES

Chapter Two

Obiwan's mind searched for his next move. He wanted to kill Palpatine, but wondered if he was right, would the anger it took to defeat him take him to the dark side? Obiwan moved cautiously toward the Sith Lord, but did not draw his saber. "I will never join you! What fools we all were to have fallen for your lies!" Palpatine only smiled sarcastically in his face. How badly Obiwan wanted to strike him down! Just then, the clones who had accompanied Palpatine came from behind.

"We've found him, Lord Sidious." Anakin's voice was heard screaming from behind as they carried him to the platform. Obiwan was glad his blind, injured friend no longer lay on the rocks below, but feared perhaps more for him now that he was in the wrong hands. Finally, he saw Anakin's diminished form appear out of the darkness. The clones lay him on the ground at Palpatine's feet.

"You have failed me, my young apprentice!"

"But I did shameful things for you, things I hate myself for, to save my wife, you, you lied to me, didn't you? You cannot stop anyone from dying."Anakin began to gasp for air. Palpatine laughed again. He bent down and stared into Anakin's face.

"You are blind. You are useless to me now. I will soon have a new, stronger, healthier apprentice. Clones, take his life, now. He is too strong in the force, too dangerous to be kept alive."

"NO!" screamed Obiwan, charging toward the scene. Palpatine struck him down with force lighting. Obiwan fell flat on his back, his feet in the air. Raising his head, he saw Palpatine with his back turned, watching as the clones aimed their blasters at Anakin's forehead. Anakin couldn't even see this, and didn't know what was happening. Obiwan knew he couldn't scream out, or it would draw Palpatine's attention. He did the only thing he could do to help Anakin. Closing his eyes, Obiwan drew upon the force to communicate to Anakin telepathically. He hoped he was still coherent enough to recieve the message.

"Anakin, don't make a sound, but listen to me. Clone troopers are standing over you with blasters aimed at your head. You must use the force, Anakin... His voice came back to Obiwan though the force. "Obiwan, I don't know.. I will try...

"You HAVE to, Anakin, please!" Obiwan tried to send the images he saw to Anakin's mind, but never knew if they made it. He lost contact as Anakin used all his strength to fight back. He was flat on his back, unable to pull himself up, in terrible pain, and blind. This might mean his death.But to Obiwan's surprise, Anakin raised his badly injured arms back and forth in front of his face, deflecting the shots! In his mind, Anakin could see the clones from Obiwan's point of view,

a side view of himself in ground with the clones standing over him. Anakin was able to visualize from this about where they were over him, and he could hear their movements. This helped him not only deflect the bullets, but force choke them both! Palpatine made no move to save the clones, but he smiled at Anakin's success.

"Well, Lord Vader, perhaps you may still be of use to me yet. You are still mine."

Anakin grabbed for every bit of air he could to speak. "Don't call me Lord Vader. My name is Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. I denounce you, and the Sith, and all you stand for!" Hearing this, Obiwan's heart raced, partly from happiness, partly for fear for Anakin's life.

"Well, so be it, then, Jedi, my poor, broken, blind apprentice. There is nothing left of your destiny but for you to DIE!" Palpatine let loose with his force lighting on Anakin, who was already injured and weakened. He couldn't see it, but he heard it, and felt it. He raised his hands to try to deflect it, and he did, using his metal hand to send it partly back into Sidious. This took him aback long enough for Obiwan to reach the spot. Standing behind the momentarily shocked Palpatine, Obiwan ignited his lightsaber. Hearing this, Palpatine turned his attention from Anakin to Obiwan. "Well, well, Master Kenobi, here you are with all you anger and hatred to strike me down and complete your journey to the dark side!"

"No, I am here in all my compassion and selflessness, for Anakin, for the entire galaxy, to save them from YOU!"

"Are you threatening me, master Jedi?"

"Not a threat a promise!" He raised his lightsaber to strike at Palpatine.

"Oh have mercy, I lost my lightsaber battling with Yoda, I am unarmed."

"Anakin is unarmed too, but yet you tried to kill him. No one with the force is ever completely unarmed."

"You are right, Kenobi." He said as he showed his ugly teeth through a sinister grin and let loose with force lightning from both hands! Obiwan raised his lightsaber and moved it to perfectly block it all, and send it back into Palpatine. They were standing near the edge of a cliff looking down into the lava, and all of them were in danger of tumbling with one wrong move. Heavily engaged in battle as fierce as it could be, neither of them noticed Anakin managing to pull his poor burned body up as far as hands and knees. Following the sound of the lightning, he crawled up behind Palpatine. He couldn't see anything, but was confident from all he'd heard and felt that the Sith Lord was the one whose robe covered legs were standing in front of him. He then sent a mental message to Obiwan, one of the good side of the force, one Palpatine would be unable to feel.

"Push him over Obiwan, push to your right, now!" The message came through strong. He sensed this was the moment. He did exactly as Anakin's voice in his head had instructed, he used his lightsaber, still full of force lightning, to his right. At the same instant, Anakin, on his knees, used both hands to shove Palpatine's legs toward the edge of the cliff, his left, Obiwan's right. Screaming, and streaming with lightning, Palpatine's body flew over the edge of the cliff! He was unable to save himself before he hit the lava. Obiwan leaned over the cliff and watched, making sure his body completely disentigrated and its pieces floated downstream. He was breathing heavily. Anakin, still on his knees, was having a more difficult time breathing. "Obiwan, is he gone? I mean, really gone?"

"Yes, Anakin, I saw him fall into the lava, I watched him burn to pieces."

"I wish I could have seen that."

"Anakin, you do know what this means, don't you?" Anakin's blind face made a confused expression as he tried to search Obiwan's feelings. "Anakin, you just destroyed the Sith! You fulfilled the prophecy! You are the Chosen One!" A proud smile found its way across Anakin's burned face.

"Oh, I did, it's true, the force knew all along, it was right! But Obiwan, you did it too, you are the Chosen One too." "I couldn't have done it without you."

"You wouldn't even be in this position if not for me. Can you ever forgive me, brother?"

Obiwan put his hand on Anakin's burned shoulder. "You are more than redeemed, I would say. It's over, Anakin, let's get you and Padme to the medical center as soon as possible." Obiwan was now able to pull Anakin to his feet. They put their arms around each other's shoulders so that Obiwan could help him walk.

"Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she all right?"

"She's on the ship, Anakin, safe with Threepio. Now let's go home."

Anakin leaned his head back and with all the breath he had in him said as loudly as possible. "YESSSSS!"