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This isn't happening, it can't be.
Your mind was racing as you sprinted down the halls of the Jedi Temple, trying to find some hope that someone might still be alive and fighting back. As you ran down the halls, you saw bodies of younglings littered everywhere - it was a gruesome scene laid out before your eyes. The younglings bodies were spread out on the floor, some of the children's limbs were separated from their bodies and others were granted a quick death by decapitation or a quick jab through the heart. Your (E/C) eyes squeezed shut at the scene before you, your thoughts drifting to the person who you thought could never commit such a crime - Anakin Skywalker.
Anakin Skywalker. The man you had grown with throughout the years of first meeting him on the his home planet of Tatooine all the way to being granted the title of a Jedi Knight. You two had grown with each other and had developed a bond that no one could break; it was a type of bond that was built on years of friendship and a love that was written in stars. You two had been through everything together, but once you were both given the title of a Jedi Knight, Anakin had started to bring himself closer to Chancellor Palpatine and that was when you both started to drift apart.
Someone, they must be alive.
You continued your long sprints through the halls, finding more lifeless bodies staring at you as you searched for someone who would be drawing breath. You brought yourself to the younglings chambers - you had noticed that the lack of bodies in this section might bring you some hope - and searched through the little chambers, finding majority of the rooms empty. You approached the last room and you were having dwindling hope.
You entered the room and were hit with darkness, the windows letting in the only small light source that the stars provided. You stood in the doorway, your (E/C) eyes narrowing to slits to focus on looking in the darkness for anything that might be moving. You were a bit rattled when you saw dozens of heads pop up from the little cots on the floor, the stares of younglings burning a hole through your body. Their faces appeared to be emotionless, but you could see the slight fear and concern in their innocent eyes.
"Master (Y/N), you have come." One of the younglings stepped out from hiding to approach you. He looked tired and spoke with such sophistication for his age that it surprised you. You kneeled down to his level and looked him in the eyes. It killed you inside to see such innocence to be tainted in a time like this.
"Tell me, how many have you stowed away in here? Did anyone see you come in here?" You rested your calloused hand upon his shoulder and slightly gripped it, to instill some hope into him.
"Not many, only a few of us were able to make it here safely... Master (Y/N), there are too many of them, what are we going to do?" His voice had sounded doubtful to you as you looked him deep in his eyes and then looked around the room to see the other children look to you for hope. You felt the weight of the younglings lives on your shoulders and you had to shut your eyes for a moment, trying to think of a quick plan to make sure everyone was going to get out of there alive.
Something's coming... someone...
Your thoughts were disrupted by a shift in the Force, something was coming... someone... You quickly ushered the younglings back into hiding, making them get down as low as possible to make sure they couldn't be seen by the person about to enter the room.
You stood in the middle of the room, your (D/H) hovering over your lightsaber just incase any hostiles come rushing through the doors. Your thoughts were racing through your mind, trying to process how this could happen, how you could let this happen. Your breaths were calm and kept a rhythmic pace, for your sake as well as the younglings. Your eyes were glued to the door as you heard the children shuffle behind the cots.
"Quiet. Don't move."
The door to the room opened and a cloaked figure walked into the room. Their walk seemed to be with power and confidence, but it was eerie as you already knew what they were here to do. You stood your ground and held your head up high and tried to get a glimpse of their face. The figure stopped within eight feet of you; they didn't speak a word, but they tilted their head up just enough to catch a glimpse of their face.
"Anakin." Your chest tightened and the hand hovering over your lightsaber wavered, you were unable to decide whether Anakin was a threat or neutral in the moment - you were being to think with your heart and not your head.
Anakin kept his silence as he stood before you, looking intimidating to the younglings and to you. His icy gaze felt like it was carving into your skull, his eyes were sharp and void of any emotion and it sent a shiver down your spine.
"I know they're here, come out." Anakin spoke and adverted his gaze to the cots all around me. One by one the younglings popped their heads up and blown their covers. You were screaming in your mind to have them stay down, but they didn't know any better.
"Stay back. This isn't Master Skywalker." You warned the children, hoping that they would heed your warning. You quickly looked at them as they shifted their eyes from you to Anakin. Your hand hovered closer to your lightsaber and you were getting into your stance.
"(Y/N), don't feed them lies like you have been doing for years, tell them how it is." Anakin spoke, his voice sounded like a sweet poison to your ears, his voice was soothing, but the words he spoke were enough to leave scars. "I'm the one you should listen to, not her. She has been feeding you lies that the Jedi Order has fed her!" Anakin shouted in the room, making everyone flinch besides you.
"Anakin, this isn't you. You are not the Anakin that I know and love." You told him, your voice firm but the emotion was all over the place, making the air so tense. He froze and eyed you a bit longer, until you saw the shift of his demeanor; he was loosening up his stance and the anger inside him was taking over. "You know that this is not you, but you choice this new identity, why?"
"You are a fool, (Y/N). You are being deceived and you are following blindly to what the Jedi Order asks of you." His words were laced with venom and he took a step closer towards you, making you finally get a hold onto your lightsaber. He held onto his, but he never ignited it; he just waved it in the air as if he was trying to be kind and not kill you... yet.
"You are the fool Anakin! The Dark side has nothing to offer you but pain and regret. You will lose everything and everyone you have ever cared for." Your voice was louder and more strong as you raised your hand to him, filling him with more anger. "If you chose this path, I can't follow. If you chose the Dark Side, you have already lost me. My love for you wasn't strong enough to help you remain good." You finished as you watched him closely as he stood there in silence for a moment.
"I did this for you! For us. We can't love under the Jedi Order, they forbade it, our love, but under the Sith, you can have much more freedom, power. Join me, and we can love each other with nothing to stand in our way." Anakin was filled with anger and was looking for an outlet, you were going to give it to him.
"Anakin... I can't. I can't follow down this path. If you can't see reason, then I guess we both know how this will end..." Your eyes were pooling with tears, but you never let them fall, you needed to remain brave for yourself and the younglings. "Just know, that whatever happens, I did not wish for this to end this way. I love you Anakin, I will til the end of my days and beyond." You held your lightsaber outward by your hip and ignited it; it's deep purple glow lighting up the room.
Anakin's sky blue lightsaber was ignited and he quickly charged at you, but you beat him to the punch and blocked his swing towards your neck. You shoved him off and backed away from him, keeping your defense up, seeing if he was going to make the next move, which he did. He swung at your torso, but you quickly deflected it and shoved him back once more; it is then that you had realized that he was using his old routine that he would use when you two were training.
One, two, swing, block, three four, swing step, block...
It was like you had the footwork down and you knew his every move, but this time, his precision was more advanced than the the last time you trained with him. It broke your heart further that he was still attached to his past self, the one he lived with you; you knew there was still some good in him, you just had to force it out of him. His strength behind each swing was heightened and you were starting to doubt any success to come to you during this fight.
The younglings watched in fear as they watched you struggle to remain the dominant one in the fight. The hid behind the cots and huddle all together, frozen in place. Your hazy gaze drifted from Anakin's cold blue irises to the innocent faces of the younglings. You found a hint of courage left in you, a will to live so to speak, and you swung at Anakin, cutting the side of his cloak in half. He backed away for a moment and looked at you and then the children.
"You won't win, (Y/N). Surrender and I promise to give you anything you wish for." Anakin's voice was alluring and it was pulling you in with the help of your love for him, but you had to keep in mind that this wasn't the Anakin you knew and loved, this was the Anakin that was shaped by fear and hatred.
"I know I won't, but I rather die trying than letting my love for you cloud my thoughts and morals; I know what is right and what is wrong, and you unfortunately chose the wrong side." You charged at him and swung with all your might, but he brushed it off with a block and swung at your arm, cutting deep into your skin.
You let out a stifled cry of pain, but continue to hold your stance. You kept swinging, hoping that you didn't hit at all, but a part of you did, the part of you that was also filled with anger and fear. Your swings were unsuccessful and you ended up cutting off another piece of his cloak, making him take it off entirely.
You sighed and swung at him again, but he moved and cut you in your thigh, making you collapse to the floor in pain; you weren't able to stand stability without the support of something. Your lightsaber laid next to you, and just as you were about to reach for it, Anakin's boot stomped down on your hand, breaking it. You let out a scream of pain as you gripped it with your other hand, trying to lessen the pain in anyway.
"Well, this is it, isn't it?" Anakin spat, looking down at you with a slight upturn at the corner of his lips. He was enjoying it.
"Do it, Anakin. End me. I refuse to follow you and remain at your side, if this is the path you are choosing." You struggled to get out the words as the pain that wracked your body was becoming unbearable. "Just know, I love you, no matter what. I hope you regret the choices you've made today, someday, may it be months, years - I just hope you regret the day you killed me."
He held up his free hand and you felt your airways being restricted, they were getting smaller and smaller as his fist was getting smaller and smaller. You were lifted up from the ground and tossed up against the wall.
"I won't kill you, I want you to remember the day you betrayed me. You never loved me, if you did you would've supported me and joined me. Now you can watch the Jedi Order die here." Anakin turned to the younglings with his blue lightsaber and began to slash at them.
Their screams filled the room as you laid up against the wall, too weak to interfere with Anakin's killing spree. You raised your hand and focused on Anakin, but your force wasn't strong enough to hold him in his place. The younglings ran all about the room, trying to get to the door, but Anakin was quicker, he had taken the movement of their legs away from them in one clean swipe and another quick blow to their chests was to end them.
The tears in your eyes overpowered your lids and streamed down your flushed face, watching in horror the man you love - loved take the lives of innocent children. He was quick with his movements, as if he didn't really wish to end their lives, but was ordered to do so. He stands in the middle of the children's bodies, his lightsaber aimed down at an angle at his side, giving him the menacing look that everyone feared.
He turned to you and stood before you, the blue of his lightsaber glowing in your face, showing him the tears that had fell from your tired (E/C) eyes. The look in his eyes seemed to show that he was struggling with something, but was never going to discuss it aloud. His, lips were flat and they were blank. He kneeled before you and stared into your eyes moments more.
"(Y/N), why? Why do you refuse our love? Do you not want our love to be expressed freely?" He asked in almost a sad tone.
"I don't refuse it, I embrace it. We could've left the order and lived a normal life, but you chose the difficult path that lead to our destruction." You spoke quietly, trying to calm him from the storm brewing inside him. "If you are going to kill me, please do it now. I do not wish to see what you become entering the dark side, becoming a Sith... it makes me fear for you..." You spoke honestly trying to get comfortable as you feel the keep of sleep approaching you.
"I love you, (Y/N)." Anakin leaned forward and pressed a kiss on your forehead, his lips lingering for a moment before his calloused fingers tilted your chin upwards and him planting his lips upon yours.
It was bittersweet, but you would savor the moment until you were to die. His lips were soft, it was hard to think that just moments ago, he was using them to speak harsh words at you. His gentle nature had surprised you from just moments ago he had slayed children from where they stood. You had wished that this kiss could've meant something more if it was under good circumstances.
Anakin broke away and rose from his kneeling position and walked away from you. He picked up his cloak and put it on before carrying on with his order from the Sith lord, Sidious.
Your eyes fluttered shut, tasting his lips on yours for the first time, remembering all the fun you had with him while training, and doing missions... it was fun. A small smile graced your lips as you finally were taking away into the peace side of the darkness; you no longer felt the pain of your wounds, the weight of the lives that you were supposed to save, you felt... nothing.