Card of Heart

Chapter 11 - Order 66

No, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. Obi-Wan wasn't supposed to be here.

He was supposed to be away – somewhere he'd be safe. Maybe he's a traitor to the Republic, but Anakin knows no matter what Palpatine says – even if it's true – he can't let Obi-Wan die. He can't.

"Master Kenobi," Sidious greets smoothly, or maybe there's actually a hint of... smugness? in his voice, but Anakin is panicking too much to analyze it.

"You're a traitor, Chancellor," Obi-Wan growls, a look of fury burning in his eyes that Anakin's never seen before.

"I'm afraid you are the traitor. You and your entire Order," Sidious replies.

Obi-Wan's expression only darkens, and he ignites his lightsaber. "We can take him together, Anakin."

Force, he thinks – Of course, he thinks Anakin and Ahsoka are here to fight Sidious, and Anakin knows Obi-Wan will never listen to their reasoning. This wasn't supposed to happen. The very sight of Obi-Wan here is making him question everything he just did, but he can't back out now. He can't. It's... it's the only way to save Padme and his child, and what the Jedi are doing is treason. Most of all, if they tried taking out Sidious now, he's curtain they'd still fail, and then...

"I think not," Sidious retorts, with no small measure of satisfaction, "He is no longer blinded by your Order. He sees through the lies of the Jedi. He knows how you have been excluding him from the Council and your treasonous plans."

Obi-Wan's gaze jumps to Anakin, and he pointedly avoids it. "What is he talking about?" Obi-Wan demands.

Anakin can feel Sidious' eyes on him again, and – he knows what he has to do, but he doesn't know that he can. "He is right," he says, the words coming out quieter and shakier than they were meant to. It feels like sealing his fate, almost like he's choosing Palpatine over Obi-Wan, but he isn't. There's so much else at stake here. That doesn't mean he wants anything to happen to his former master, but this – this isn't in his control, and that's what scares him so much.

"What?" He sounds shocked and confused but it rapidly morphs into even greater anger. He feels the instinctive urge to back down, as he always does, but he can't do that. Not this time. The Dark Side has filled him with a power he's never felt before, and it makes it easier.

"Your Order has fallen, Kenobi," Sidious mocks, "Even now, the clone forces march on the Temple. The Jedi will be destroyed."

Anger flashes through Obi-Wan eyes, and he abruptly moves forwards, towards Sidious.

No, no – His mind freezes in denial, because he can't have to make this choice, he can't –

"Anakin," Sidious says, and he knows what it means.

He has to do this. He has to. Even if he and Ahsoka joined Obi-Wan, there's no way they would win a fight against Sidious. Not when all the other Jedi died. And even if they did, then they'd all be guilty of treason, and then Padme and his children would die.

Anakin ignites his own blade, blocking Obi-Wan's.

The look on his former master's face cuts him to the core. and it scares him. He's seen that look on his face before, but it was never directed at him. "Anakin, what are you doing?" he demands, his fury obvious in every word.

"This is treason," Anakin replies, his voice oddly empty. It feels like he's shutting down; it's too much to process. "He is the Chancellor."

"He's a Sith!"

"Don't let him deceive you, Anakin," Sidious urges.

Obi-Wan pulls back, slashing at him again, and Anakin blocks it. They trade a few blows, though each one may well as well have hit him for how much this hurts.