Chapter Text
Anakin was crying. Palpatine, his friend, his mentor, was a Sith Lord and had controlled both sides of the Clone Wars. He’d been responsible for Anakin being captured and tortured multiple times, for Padmé being in danger over and over again.
He was also the only person who knew a dark side technique that could keep someone from dying. And Padmé was going to die. He’d seen it so many times, he could barely sleep at night. The last time he’d seen someone he’d loved die repeatedly in dreams it had been his mother, and then she’d died in his arms, unable to even say, “I love you”. He had no doubt Padmé would die in childbirth, just as he’d seen every single time he’d fallen asleep for weeks.
When Anakin had realized that Palpatine was actually the Sith Master, Darth Sidious that Count Dooku, Darth Tyrannus, had warned Obi-Wan and the Jedi of, he’d done what he was supposed to, and raced back to the Jedi temple to inform the highest ranking member of the Jedi Order, Master Mace Windu. Master Windu had asked the best fighters of the Jedi to assist in arresting the Supreme Chancellor, and then commanded Anakin to remain in the council room at the temple.
Now, Anakin wondered what the right path was.
The Sith were evil. Everyone knew they had attempted to conquer the galaxy, and when they’d ruled, entire planets had been destroyed. Anakin knew this, but…
…Padmé.
Ancient laws that had never been removed stated Sith were enemies of the Republic, enemies of democracy, and no one was to interfere with the Jedi executing any and all Sith followers. In fact, everyone in the galaxy was to aid in the death and destruction of anything and everything to do with the Sith. Not that anyone still followed these rules, beyond the Clone Wars itself. Sith led the Separatists. Once that had become known, the conflict had become yet another Sith/Jedi war, one of dozens in the thousands and thousands of years of history of the order. Most people didn’t know that, because Palpatine said no one outside of himself and Jedi Order needed to know. It was completely within the law for Master Windu to arrest and probably execute Palpatine.
Even if his chances of keeping Padmé and their child alive beyond her due date in a few short weeks would die with him.
Even if he only kept fighting in the war to keep her safe. To keep their child safe.
Even if everything he lived for would die with her.
I can’t let her die, he thought. He has to tell me how to save her. Only then can he die.
Anakin went to his feet, then froze.
A voice he hadn’t heard in years cried out to him, “Call Obi-Wan! Tell him everything, and she will be saved!”
Anakin stared around at the empty council chamber.
“Master Qui-Gon?” he tentatively asked aloud.
“Call Obi-Wan!” The voice was louder, and it was undoubtedly his original master, the man who trained Obi-Wan.
I’m losing it, Anakin thought. Then he was reminded that Master Yoda said he’d spoken with Qui-Gon, and learned from him. No one had believed the grand master, except for Anakin, because he’d heard Qui-Gon once before. Now, he was hearing him again.
Anakin pulled out his commlink and immediately requested to be connected with Obi-Wan. It would take several minutes, several minutes he wasn’t sure he had, but Anakin had promised to obey Qui-Gon without question. It may have been thirteen years ago, but he wasn’t going to break that promise, not even now. So, as they connected his comm to Obi-Wan’s destroyer and attempted to reach out to the general on the battlefield, Anakin held onto that promise as a lifeline.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was exhausted. Grievous was dead, and his troops were tracking down the remaining separatist leadership, who were currently attempting to flee the planet. He was bruised all over and terribly tired, but he was the only Jedi General involved in this assault, so every single call ultimately was his to make. Thankfully, N-0, the 212th medic, was there to patch Obi-Wan up until he could take a bath in a bacta tank, so he was able to focus on Commander Cody’s report on their situation while also standing on his own two feet.
“Talk to Anakin.”
“What?” Obi-Wan asked aloud, turning to see who had said that.
Cody paused midsentence and asked, “Sir?”
There was no one there. Plenty of clones were around, but no one was standing at his shoulder opposite N-0, who cocked his head in confusion.
“Was someone standing just next to me?” Obi-Wan asked his commander.
“Uh, no, sir,” Cody answered with a frown, glancing at the medic, who shook his head. “It’s just me, you, and N-0.”
“Talk to Anakin, Obi-Wan,” the voice said again, just as clear. “If you don’t answer him, everything will be lost.”
Obi-Wan’s jaw dropped. It was Qui-Gon, his old master who had died years ago in Obi-Wan’s arms on Naboo. Master Yoda had heard him, and Anakin had mentioned hearing his voice years before the war broke out, but Obi-Wan had never heard the voice of one who was dead and had joined the Force. Confused, he reached out with the Force and felt confirmation. Qui-Gon was speaking to him, and Anakin needed him now.
“General, Sir,” another clone trooper said, going to attention, drawing Obi-Wan’s attention back to what was happening around him.
“Yes?” Obi-Wan said politely, wiping the shock off of his face.
“Admiral Block has a transmission from General Skywalker, sir,” the trooper reported. “Skywalker insists it’s important, and—”
“I’ll take it right now,” Obi-Wan blurted out.
The trooper, N-0, and Cody all stared at him. It was forbidden to take comm transmissions from those not involved on an active battlefield, and Obi-Wan had never broken that rule. Even Anakin hadn’t done it yet, which Obi-Wan thought was surprising.
But Qui-Gon had asked Obi-Wan to do so, and Obi-Wan would obey the man who had raised him.
“Tell the Admiral to put it through,” Obi-Wan said, his tone and face tightening at the trooper.
“Sir, yes, sir!” The poor, confused trooper said, snapping back to full attention.
“This is important,” Obi-Wan told Cody, who’d managed to school his face into military neutral.
The commander merely nodded, then waved N-0 back. Technically, as medic, N-0 had the right to stop Obi-Wan from taking any calls until he was finished, but the trooper merely gave the general a shot of something in his neck before packing up.
A few moments later, Obi-Wan was in a secure room, surrounded by troopers on watch. Obi-Wan took the call, and a very frazzled hologram of Anakin appeared. He looked awful, even though he was just a blue colored outline of himself, and after a second, Obi-Wan realized his old padawan was crying.
“Anakin, what’s wrong?” The master asked.
“Sidious is Palpatine,” Anakin said, his voice broken. “I’ve been seeing Padmé die, and he said he knew a way to keep her from dying like in my dreams, but he’s a Sith. H-he hasn’t taught me the technique—”
“The dark side cannot heal,” Obi-Wan told his apprentice, trying to wrap his mind around everything he’d just heard. “But it can send false visions of death and destruction.”
“I’ve had this vision so many times, Master,” Anakin said, trying to wipe away the tears that kept coming.
“Very well,” Obi-Wan said, his heart pounding. “What did you see?”
“Padmé dies in childbirth. I don’t know about the baby, but she dies. Sometimes you’re there, other times she’s alone. I’m never there.”
Obi-Wan frowned. “Were the visions of your mother’s death always the same as this?”
Anakin took a shaky, deep breath. “No, no, they were different every time. Often she would turn into something that would shatter or break, and upon waking I knew it was her dying.”
The master and apprentice looked at each other for a moment.
“He can send false visions?” Anakin asked after a moment.
“Yes, Anakin, he can. He’s manipulating you. Have you reported your findings to anyone else?”
“Master Windu and several other masters are arresting him as we—”
The Force screamed a warning out to them. It was the only warning Obi-Wan had before the door burst open and all of his clone troopers opened fire