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anakin’s breathing got heavier as the mask was pulled off of him. he hadn’t seen the world without that mask on in years. and the first thing he saw was his son. it made him smile.
“go, my son. leave me.”
he watched as luke shook his head. “no.” he spoke. “you're coming with me. i can't leave you here. i've got to save you.”
it only took seconds for his breathing to get more strained. nonetheless, he continued to talk to his son. “you already have, luke.” he tried to reassure. why was he doing this? he was dying. he should be more worried about that. “you were right about me. tell your sister…” he gasped softly for air. “...you were right.”
he barely heard what luke had said next. everything around him went dark, as he drifted into an eternal sleep.
though, something felt off. he had heard stories about what happens with a sith lord dies. he’s heard that your whole body goes numb, and it’s just eternally black for the rest of time.
that couldn’t be true, now that he was thinking about it. he felt… safe. he hadn’t felt this way since he was a padawan… he did something he didn’t think he could do.
“here, he is.” a faint voice said. it was yoda. anakin had to rethink that. yoda? he had to be hallucinating. maybe this was the hell he was sent to. “wake, young skywalker.” he heard the master say. but… why? he didn’t get time to process that, feeling a quick pain in his leg. yeah, that got him to open his eyes.
there stood yoda, who was near the leg where he felt pain it. he realized what happened. yoda hit him.
“hmp! lucky, you are.” the jedi’s voice no longer echoed.
anakin looked around. “where am i?” he asked, his eyes then widening when he heard his own voice clearly. he didn’t have his mask on. he looked down at himself and he had on jedi robes. it wasn’t his own, seeing as they were the standard ones, but they were still jedi robes.
“in the force, you are.” yoda walked around him. “saved you, it has.” saved him? anakin opened his mouth to ask a question, but the master continued to speak. “come come. ready to meet you, someone is.”
ready to meet him? who would want to meet him? he didn’t understand. but that didn’t matter. anakin stood up and started to follow yoda. “who’s going to meet me?” yoda didn’t answer. “master, if someone’s going to meet me, i would like to know who.”
“see, you will.” was all yoda said. and when they got to a familiar figure, anakin froze in his spot. yoda cleared his throat, and obi-wan turned around.
“anakin.” he said, his voice soft.
anakin’s chest felt tight. no no no no! all obi-wan had said was his name and he was already panicking. he couldn’t do that. not in front of him.
“obi-wan.” was all that anakin could say without his voice shaking.
“i’m glad to see you’ve come back.” the old man in front of him smiled at him.
was obi-wan happy? that couldn’t be. he remembered the pain on his face on mustafar. he remembered how distraught he was on mapuzo and malachor. and then he remembered how at peace he seemed on the death star. he was accepting of his death…
“obi-wan i…” he felt tears well up in his eyes. no. no he couldn’t cry. not now. he should be happy that he ended up here.
but he didn’t deserve it. he caused so much pain and death in the galaxy… he didn’t deserve this. he deserved to rot as a sith does. obi-wan went to approach him, and anakin backed up. he was scared. was this a dream? was this just a cruel hell? he didn’t deserve this! he deserved to rot, not to be rewarded!
anakin didn’t feel the tears rushing down his face. he dropped to his knees and sobbed his heart out. it had been a long time since he was able to do that. and it was somewhat relieving. he shut his eyes tight, not even noticing his former master kneel in front of him.
“anakin, deep breaths.” obi-wan told him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
“i’m sorry. i’m so sorry.” anakin cried out, clinging to his own robes. he really was sorry, and obi-wan could most likely tell.
“anakin-”
“kriff, i killed you, obi-wan. and you- you just let it happen.” he hiccupped softly, feeling himself get pulled into a hug.
“that doesn’t matter, anakin. not anymore.” obi-wan promised. “what matters is that you and i are both here.”
“it does. i-i don’t- i don’t deserve to be here.” anakin buried his face against the man.
he felt a hand start to rub his back in circular motions. obi-wan would do this when he was still a padawan whenever he’d have a nightmare. “you do deserve to be here. you’re the reason luke is still alive, and the emperor is dead.”
“i didn’t want to hurt everyone.” anakin mumbled, his voice muffled. “but he promised he could save padmé and i believed him. and after i found out she was dead i-” he took in a shaky breath. kriff, why did he have to be crying about this? he wasn’t a fan of crying in front of anyone, and he hated that he was doing so now.
“you don’t have to explain.” obi-wan sighed. “it’s in the past now. and i’m just glad you’re here with us now.”
anakin pulled away and wiped his eyes. “i’m sorry for crying on you…”
“anakin, i don’t care that you did. you needed to let that out.” the jedi master stood up. “now come on. luke should be arriving back on endor soon.”