Work Text:
(Basically Chapter 18 without Padmé)
The noise in the room was not quite silence. It was a buzzing noise that wasn’t just the sound of Palpatine’s and Anakin’s lightsabers.
“Drop your lightsaber, Anakin,” Palpatine said calmly from where he stood over Obi-Wan, holding his lightsaber to his neck. “And roll it over here. Or Kenobi dies.”
“I don’t understand,” Anakin whispered. The man who he had thought was his friend… threatening the life of the other man he had thought was his friend. “Why?”
“Did you come here to learn the truth?” Palpatine asked. “How the Jedi have failed? They betrayed you, Anakin, just like Obi-Wan betrayed you.”
“No!” Anakin yelled. “That’s not true. Obi-Wan would never—you betrayed-”
“Obi-Wan has used you, my boy,” said Palpatine.
Anakin’s gaze darted to Obi-Wan, who was frozen, kneeling on the ground. “No,” he said again. “You’re lying. You’re a Sith Lord!”
So am I, a voice whispered in his mind. So is Obi-Wan.
“And was it the Jedi,” Palpatine asked calmly, “who told you that was a bad thing to be?”
“The Sith killed Qui-Gon!” Anakin cried. “They killed—they killed-”
“The Jedi are bringing their doom onto themselves,” Palpatine continued, ignoring him. “They sought to assasinated those who stood for peace, and Padmé stood with them. They betrayed you, Anakin. Padmé betrayed you.”
“Don’t listen to him, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said quickly. “You know the Jedi would never do that. You know Padmé would never betray you.”
Assassination wasn’t the way of the Jedi, but it was being considered with increasing frequency. If they did think that it was the only way to end this war-
“It isn’t true,” Anakin insisted. “It isn’t-”
“The Anakin Skywalker I know,” Palpatine interrupted calmly, “is strong enough to face the truth. It is time for the Jedi to die. You must know that, my boy, or you wouldn’t have come here.”
“No, I—I don’t-” Anakin said. “That’s a lie-”
“Why,” Palpatine asked, almost kindly. “Would I lie?”
“Because you’re a Sith! It’s what you do!”
You’re a Sith, too, that voice whispered. And so is Obi-Wan.
Anakin felt a pit open up in his stomach. Anger, fear, despair welled up inside of him. Doubt.
“Get away from him,” Obi-Wan growled, as if his wasn’t the life that was being threatened. “Don’t you touch him—I’ll kill you-”
“You see?” Palpatine said softly. “The moment he thinks you’re a Sith, he’ll try to kill you. Is that the act of a man who cares for you? Who loves you?”
Anakin looked away.
“I’m the only one who cares for you,” Palpatine purred. “I’m the only one who ever has. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy.”
Anakin’s throat was so raw he could barely speak. “What makes you think I want any of that?”
“Because I know you, my boy, I know the dark deeds you didn’t dare tell the Jedi—I know what you did to the Sandpeople who murdered your mother, I know about your marriage to Padmé, I know what you did to Dooku. I know everything. I know how Master Qui-Gon bought you, how you thought you were their property—I know how the Jedi treated you like a slave, nowhere to run, no one to turn to, bound to their dogma-”
Anakin should be denying this, Obi-Wan thought. He was always quick to speak up for what he thought was right, but he wasn’t.
Anakin flinched, looking more desperate, more defeated. No, Obi-Wan denied desperately, Anakin wouldn’t think that—the Jedi Order isn’t slavery- Suddenly, with horrifying clarity, he recalled Anakin asking him why he was to be addressed ‘Master’, and Obi-Wan had explained it was a sign of respect, to those who had mastered the Jedi arts, and Anakin hadn’t questioned it. He remembered Anakin speaking of freeing the slaves on Tatooine, and him encouraging Anakin to forget it, until Anakin had stopped mentioning it. He thought Anakin had grown out of it. He had just learned to stop mentioning it. He should have known.
“Your destiny doesn’t lie with the Jedi, Anakin,” Palpatine purred. “They are the past. Your future lies with the Sith. Join me, and you will be free—forever. Even Master Kenobi thinks you will join me. Why else would he look so afraid? He that deep inside, you are no Jedi. In your heart of hearts, you are mine.”
Anakin’s gaze slid unwillingly to Obi-Wan, who was frozen, no longer struggling against Palpatine. Despite the blood, Anakin could see the naked despair on his face. He looked at Anakin, his shoulders drooping, and looked at the floor. He didn’t say anything.
“You see?” Palpatine whispered. “The Jedi don’t trust you, and they never will. I trust you, my boy. I understand you.”
Palpatine was right, Anakin realized tiredly. Obi-Wan thought that he really was going to join with Palpatine.
Darth Sidious lowered his lightsaber slightly and used the Force to slam Obi-Wan against the wall. He hit it hard and slid down. Not unconscious, but unable to get up. Blood pooled beneath him, and he slipped.
Palpatine reached out a hand for Anakin. “Join me,” he said again.
Slowly, Anakin lowered his lightsaber and deactivated it.
Even slower, he approached Palpatine, and saw the utter despair in Obi-Wan’s eyes.
“Show me,” Anakin whispered.
And Darth Sidious smiled, the grin or maybe grimace of a corpse still walking. “I knew you were strong enough, Darth Vader,” he said.
Anakin bowed his head as Palpatine approached him, putting one dead hand on Anakin’s shoulder.
Anakin held out his deactivated lightsaber in one trembling hand, knees bent as if to kneel.
Abruptly, Anakin’s lightsaber lit and sliced right through Palpatine’s torso. “That’s for Padmé ,” he rasped as if he hadn't slept for weeks, yet his voice was strong and there was no mistaking the snarl. “You son of a sarlacc.”
There was a flash of surprise on Palpatine’s face, and then he crumpled, leaving only Anakin standing over him with his lightsaber, fury written on every feature of his face.
Obi-Wan raised his head, hope sparking in his eyes. One dead Sith Lord. Two living Sith Lords, one live Jedi Master, and one living Jedi Knight, Sith twice over.
“What?” Anakin asked. “You didn’t think I’d actually join him, did you?”