Sol saw the massacre. She saw the genocide that took place in the academy of the Jedi Order's temple. The merciless slaying of younglings was felt across the galaxy, and Sol, who was metres from the training room's door, watched each child fall before her very eyes.
Leaning against the pillar, Sol fell into a light unconsciousness. But instead of falling into a dreamless state, Sol was put in the body of the killer. The ignition of the blue lightsaber was out of her control, and she saw the fear and confusion in the eyes of the helpless younglings. As if it were her movements, Sol watched the blade burn through their bodies and their screams rung in her ears. But she could do nothing as the arms swung the lightsaber with such hatred and anger, that Sol feared the person she experienced.
The door to the training room opened and Sol awoke with a panicked start. She had regained some of her strength from her unconsciousness, but the strain on her emotions made Sol feel as if she had been in another battle. Her injuries had receded to a dull ache and the dizziness she once felt had subsided for now, but her mind was troubled by the deaths of the youngest generation of Jedi.
Sol went to drop her face into her hands and let the pools leak from her eyes in an uncontrollable fall, but the sound of footsteps forced her to pause. Her lips pulled back to whimper, and she scrunched her eyes shut at the sting of tears. With a burning chest and a pounding head, Sol did everything she could to emerge herself into the realm of the Force.
Anakin paused in his exit from the training room. He left the bodies of younglings behind him and deactivated his lightsaber that held the souls of a generation. The hood of his over robe remained over his head and dark purple and black stained the skin around his eyes. Anakin knew that what he had done was felt through the Force across the galaxy, and he didn't have a lot of time before other Jedi began returning to the temple in an attempt to defeat him.
He closed his eyes and entered the Force. It would be simple to search through the limited number of Force signatures that were present in the temple, and it was impossible to ignore the brightest flame of all. Anakin could find the white signature in a crowd of colours, but with just the yellow signatures of the clone army that were illuminating the imposing Jedi, he would find the only person who needed to be kept alive in no time. He could then leave the temple with the peace of mind that he and all he cared about were safe.
Sol used all her power to dim her white signature. With her mind in the Force, Sol centralised the energy she emitted and smothered it. Instead of pulsating with the pure power of the light side of the Force, Sol's signature worked at being hidden. As if a blanket extinguished its heat, the white flame was erased from the Force.
Anakin was confused. He searched the realm for Sol's Force signature but saw nothing but the dimming flames of dying Jedi and the masses of clone troopers. There was no sign of the white glow that was now the direct opposite of Anakin's crimson, hate-filled presence. When he headed for the academy, he hadn't thought to look into the Force to find Sol in the temple. And now when he looked, he couldn't find the presence of the only Jedi he wanted to take away from the mass murder.
'Sir, we've completed our directive in the Jedi Temple,' the commlink on Anakin's wrist sounded, making him open his eyes to pull the device to his mouth. 'There are no Jedi left in the halls, or in the individual quarters.'
'Excellent. Gather the troops to the hanger. They plague the galaxy, so our objective is still yet to be reached. I have a mission of my own, but you know what to do,' Anakin said into his commlink.
'Yes, sir. Over and out.'
The transmission was cut, and Anakin let his hand fall back by his side. If all the Jedi were killed in the temple, where had Sol gone? The hanger was under surveillance by the clones and there was no way that any unauthorised ships would be able to take-off without Anakin being informed. As much as Anakin wanted to search the temple to ensure that Sol was indeed no longer in its suffocating hold, he couldn't waste any more time.
With reluctance, Anakin headed towards the hanger to regroup with the clones and take-off towards the planet Mustafar, where his final mission would take place.
Sol waited until Anakin's footsteps became a light patter on the tiled floors. When he was far enough from the corridor and Sol hoped that he wouldn't look into the Force on his way to the hanger, Sol pulled her mind out of its realm with a shaky breath. The energy it took to hide her signature had tired her, but she didn't have the time to dwindle on her weakness. Instead, the tears that had fought to fall finally poured down her cheeks.
If Sol looked to her right, she would see Revan in the same position of her. After Anakin had thrown Revan across the corridor, Revan was knocked unconscious. While Sol watched the massacre through her dream, Revan was able pull himself out of his haziness when he awoke and lowered himself behind a pillar adjacent to hers. With an aching head and a lingering soreness in his throat, Revan watched felt Sol's Force signature dwindle at Anakin's exit from the training room.
Just like Sol, Revan was able to cover his Force signature by centralising his power. His maroon flame fizzled to a tiny presence in the spiritual realm. He wasn't able to be completely absent, as compared to Sol, Revan's attunement with the Force was not as impressive. But Anakin seemed to be in search of Sol and Sol only, so he overlooked the tiny flame that resembled a candle light among the clones' yellow glows. Much to Revan's relief, Anakin couldn't sense his nor Sol's presence in the Force, and the Skywalker was oblivious to the Jedi behind the pillars. He had forgotten about his intent to interrogate Revan for Sol's whereabouts, and the broken Skywalker left in a dulled rage.
Revan appeared beside Sol's trembling figure. With a heavy heart, he lowered into a crouch and felt her lasting horror that had occured within the training room. It was an overwhelming sense of loss and emptiness in the Force, as so much light had been dimmed, and the dark side had grown stronger with the massacre. Revan could fall to his knees at the terror he felt of a generation's pain, but he could see that it had effected Sol beyond what he understood.
'Sol, hey...' she barely acknowledged his presence or voice. 'I'm sorry, Sol... he's changed... I couldn't stop him...'
With knees to her chest, Sol sobbed at the image that was burned into her mind. She let out some whimpers as she covered her face with her hands. Accompanied with the horror of dead younglings, Sol couldn't accept the fact that the one who was behind the temple's massacre, was none other than Anakin Skywalker.
'H-How could he... How could Ani...'
She couldn't believe what she had seen. While Revan crouched beside her with no answer to her hysterical questions, Sol thought of all that had led up to this moment.
Ever since Anakin lost his mother, Sol saw a darkness in him. Whether it was noticeable or subtle enough to fly under everyone's radar, Sol knew it was there, but willfully ignored it. When he slaughtered the Sand People from the desire for revenge, Sol ignored the redness in his Force signature. When Ahsoka left the Order and the Council ignored her plea for innocence, Sol ignored the darkening of his usually beautiful, blue eyes. When he gave in to his urges to kill Count Dooku, Sol ignored the way his shoulders relaxed at his relief. When she was promoted to Master while he was reduced to being a representative on the Council, Sol ignored the moodiness and the anger that was in nearly everything he did. Every time Anakin showed signs of finding solitude in the anger and hatred he felt, Sol didn't want to believe that he was falling into the clutches of the dark side.
Sol feared knowing that the young boy that she met as a Padawan had turned to the ways of the Sith. The boy whose smiles were so wide and full of playfulness and tease was all Sol could ever think about. With his soft touches and dedication to protect her, Anakin was Sol's person. He was the first person to make Sol feel like she wanted to be in the presence of someone, and Anakin was the first to admit that he could feel her presence across galaxies. Anakin Skywalker was so passionate about the good and the just, and now, he had become the very thing he had sworn to destroy in the galaxy.
'Until my heart fails me from your absence.'
Anakin's voice echoed in her head. They had known each other for a handful of days before he admitted his affection for Sol on Geonosis. How much she wanted to remain in denial and believe that what she had seen in the academy's training room was nothing but a meaningless dream. But she felt the pains in the Force, and the Force held the life forms that had been taken so young in its arms.
She couldn't deny it any longer; Anakin was gone, and something evil had replaced him.
'We have to leave here, Sol,' Revan's voice broke through her sobs. 'If he senses us, there's no doubt what he might do.'
Peeling her hands from her face, Sol looked to Revan with a red face of agony. Tears continuously fell from her light purple eyes and her lips were pressed together in an attempt to hold back her loud cries. She was glad that she hadn't been able to look at Anakin with his hood over his head and his eyes brimming with darkness, because it may have broken her completely.
'Do you know anywhere that we could go?' Revan asked, pleading for some sense to come out of the spluttering woman. 'I know that there was something going on between you and... Skywalker. Where did you go to hide? We can't stay here.'
Sol swallowed. There was no use denying it now. There was no Order left to punish her for the forbidden things she had partaken in. Revan was begging her at this point, and she needed to pull herself together to make sure they were nowhere near the temple.
'I-I know somewhere...'
---
Padme trembled as she stood in her apartment. Standing in her living space and looking out the window, Padme watched the Jedi Temple burn from afar. Smoke bellowed into the sky and an orange glow could be seen within its walls. She had watched ships fly at high speeds towards its hanger, but only recently did some leave and leave the planet's atmosphere. The temple's triangular shape had fallen from its great presence in the city and Padme didn't know if any of her friends had escaped its blaze, or if they had fallen to whatever attack had occurred within its sacred walls.
'Senator?' C3-PO called as he stopped beside her. 'The Chancellor's office indicated Master Anakin returned to the Jedi Temple. And there was no word of Madam Sol's exit after you departed from her. Don't worry, My Lady. I am sure they will be alright.'
C3-PO turned from the worried brown eyes of Padme and walked away with his joints hissing. In the dimly lit apartment, Padme turned back to the blazing temple and couldn't help but be overcome with emotion. Tears filled her eyes, and she pulled her hands to her face to sob into their solitude. With splutters, Padme feared the worst and prayed that her friends would return safely.
---
'I want the skies to be searched for a yellow speeder, is that clear? I want reports of every yellow speeder you see, and if any turn out to be Jedi, have them detained. Do NOT kill them. Any act of harm towards the owner will be punishable by death, you hear me?'
'Yes, sir. Right away, sir.'
The clone trooper saluted his hooded superior before turning to relay the order to the army. The temple's hanger was full of the white armour that was now the sign of the new Galactic Empire. They now served the Sith with Darth Vader and Darth Sidious as their leaders, and the purge of the Jedi was still underway throughout the galaxy. Order 66 was nearly complete, and it wouldn't be long until the clone army regroup for their next order.
As the clones prepared to search the city, Anakin turned to head to his starfighter. R2-D2 was lodged in the wing with his head spinning around at the sight of the hanger. He had remained in the low level of the temple since Anakin had returned from seeing the Chancellor but was yet to see any other Jedi. Only clones marched to carrier ships to depart from the temple and R2 hadn't seen Sol since she left to find Revan Shan. He was confused, and had tried to question Anakin, but was constantly being shrugged off.
'Is Sol's speeder not parked in the city at the usual hiding spot?' he beeped as Anakin climbed into the cockpit. The droid was met with silence, and he let out a sad boop as the cockpit roof closed.
R2 knew that something was wrong with his master. Anakin almost always informed his droid about what was happening, but this time, R2 was left wondering why he was being given the silent treatment. He wondered if he had done something wrong, and was about to have his memory tabs reset as punishment. He was long overdue as Anakin had never wanted to reset his favourite droid. As a gift from Padme, R2 was one of Anakin's closest friends, and was one of the many signs of friendship he and Sol held with the Naboo senator. And yet, Anakin was ignoring R2, and he didn't know why.
As Anakin powered the engines and set the map to the planet Mustafar, he typed in the contact details of Padme's apartment. The feeling in his stomach that hadn't faded since leaving the Chancellor in the Senate building was festering throughout his body. As if lava burned through his organs, Anakin wanted the pain to end. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but at the same time, he felt like he was the most powerful person in the galaxy. No one was present that could control him or suppress his desires anymore. The Jedi Council were gone, and nothing could take Sol away from him. No one could separate the two, because their love was no longer forbidden.
'Anakin?! What's going on?! Are you alright?! The temple... the temple is on fire-'
'Has Sol turned up at the apartment yet?'
He didn't care that his tone was harsh, and that Padme was undoubtedly shocked by the lack of concern or welcoming in his call. Her voice echoed throughout the starfighter's cockpit and not even the sounds of the ship flying out the hanger could smother the sound of panic through the call. Her continuous questions irritated him, and he wasn't any closer to finding Sol with her babbling about the state of the Jedi Temple.
'W-What? No, she's not here. Anakin, what happened?! I can see there's smoke, and I haven't heard from anyone all night-'
'If Sol comes to the apartment, you tell me immediately, Padme. Don't let her leave. She's in danger and I need to find her,' Anakin ordered. His starfighter left Coruscant's atmosphere and Mustafar was located on the Outer-Rim. It would take time to get there, and Anakin hoped that his mission would be over quick so that he could work on finding Sol himself.
'O-Okay, Ani, I'll call you as soon as she-'
Anakin hung up the call and the cockpit plunged into silence. R2 whistled on the wing of the ship and wanted to ask why Anakin was so harsh and indifferent to Padme, but he knew that he wouldn't receive an answer. He could see that there was a flight plan to the Outer-Rim for the volcanic planet of Mustafar, and R2 had no idea why Anakin would need to go to such an obscure, dangerous planet. It was covered in destructive lava and its only inhabitants were maintenance droids.
As Anakin went to enter hyperspace, R2 hoped that Sol or Obi-wan would turn up and explain why his master was acting so strangely.