Card of Heart

Chapter 11 - Order 66

"How can you do this?" he demands, angrily, slashing at him again, "I never would have thought you'd put your loyalty to him over the Jedi."

The words hurt more than he could say, and the Dark Side responds to it immediately. "The Jedi committed treason," Anakin retorts, a little more firmly.

"You're letting this Dark Lord blind you," he hisses, throwing up a hand. It sends Anakin skidding backwards a few feet, nearly throwing him off-balance. When he straightens, Ahsoka is crossing blades with Obi-Wan.

They need this to stop. They need this to end. If they could just arrest him or something, they could figure out what to do from there, but it's obvious Obi-Wan won't stop. Anakin can't stop to think or... he doesn't even know what he'd do anymore. He runs forwards, joining Ahsoka.

They don't have the chance to talk anymore. Obi-Wan isn't holding back as he fights them, and Anakin changes onto the offensive to avoid letting him hurt Ahsoka.

He doesn't have time to feel as he throws himself into the fight, and maybe that's for the best because he can't deal with it. They've fought before but never to hurt the other. He still wouldn't, and maybe way inside, he can't believe Obi-Wan would actually hurt him seriously either, but he can't deny that there's a part of him that's scared. He knows his master will do whatever he deems necessary for the Jedi, and that hurts. Most of all, it feels like he's betrayed Obi-Wan, that he'd deserve it if he hurt him, and –

He thinks it's thanks to having Ahsoka here, and that Obi-Wan has already been fighting for hours when he finds a slight slip in his defenses, and takes advantage of it instantly, throwing Obi-Wan back, and crossing his blade above him before he can get up again. He calls Obi-Wan's lightsaber to him, so he can't take it back.

There's a look of burning fury in Obi-Wan's eyes, and it feels like... like everything of their relationship was just completely destroyed. He'll never forgive him for this. Force, Anakin will never forgive himself for this, but he doesn't know what else to do.

"Finish it, Anakin," Sidious orders, and for a moment, his heart almost stops.

His head snaps up, to look at the Sith Lord. He can feel him in all his Sithly glory, the Dark Side hovering around him sickeningly, sending shivers through him. "M – master, I –" He pointedly does not look at Obi-Wan as he addresses Sidious like that. It feels wrong. That title should only go to Obi-Wan, but in the end, this was his only choice.

"He is an enemy of the Republic," the Sith hisses.

"You destroyed the Republic," Obi-Wan snaps.

"I am rebuilding it into something far more powerful that will never fall. The galaxy will finally have peace. But they never will until the Jedi are gone," Sidious continues.

"I can't," Anakin protests, looking down. Suddenly, everything he just did feels like a terrible mistake – actually he knew that from the start – but there's still no other choice he could have made. And he needs to convince Sidious not to do this, but he doesn't know what to say or do or – "Please –"

"If he's arrested, he won't be a danger," Ahsoka cuts in, stepping forwards.

Sidious looks more than a little displeased, and the child in him immediately wants to hide. Palpatine has never hurt him before though that was before Anakin knew he was a Sith. He almost feels like a different person entirely now, but Anakin can't believe everything between them was a lie.

"We will discuss his fate later," Sidious hisses, finally, "There is no time for this." He pushes a button and moments later, security guards enter the room, cuffing Obi-Wan and dragging him out.