Judgment Day

Chapter 18 - Aftermath

Author's Note: Anakin and Luke have a talk that was a long time in coming. :')

~ Amina Gila

Anakin returns to the others as soon as he finally calms down, accepting that his son isn't going to just disappear as quickly as he came. He takes off to find Obi-Wan immediately, just to make sure he's okay. Vos is dead, and Maul is... he doesn't know, but he's alone in there with Obi-Wan, aside from Fisto and the clones.

All the while, he tries his best not to think about how Palpatine is dead, gone forever. He knew that would happen the moment Palpatine revealed being Sidious, but now, he knows without a doubt that his friend is gone forever. Palpatine wasn't really his friend though, but it still feels like, somehow, Palpatine and Sidious were... different.

Since he can't well climb back in the window he jumped out of, though, he'll have to walk all the way there... through possibly still hostile territory. "How did you get here?" Anakin asks, as they walk.

"Did you really think we wouldn't plan a rescue, Skyguy?" Ahsoka chirps. He doesn't miss the slightly distrustful glances she keeps shooting Luke, and he knows it's something they'll all have to sort out. It... will not be easy to piece his family back together, but at least all of them are alive.

"Wait, you didn't plan any of this?" Luke asks in surprise, looking at Anakin.

"No. I don't know what they did. How did you get on Coruscant?"

"The clones," Ahsoka explains cheerfully, "Clone Force 99, Rex, and Cody discreetly replaced some of the guards around here. We didn't think Sidious would notice, as long as they watched their thoughts, because most people don't pay attention to them. And we had Echo shut down all communications so no one would be able to call for backup."

"That was a very reckless plan."

"I learned it from you," she replies, casually waving a hand, "And it was the best shot we had at it."

"Well, thank you," he finds himself saying, grudgingly. "I am grateful you came for us."

"Don't be silly, Skyguy. Of course, we did."

"I should thank you too," Luke speaks up, eyeing Ahsoka.

She nods, almost curtly. They need to talk about this, but first, Anakin wants a private talk with Luke.

"Won't the security attack us?" Anakin asks, glancing around warily as they make their way through the palace, and formerly Jedi Temple. It screams of the Dark Side now, and it's sickening. This shouldn't have happened, either, but it did. Maybe... maybe there was some reason it needed to. There probably was, but he can't imagine why. It will take time – a lot of time – for him to accept that.

"Not everyone knows that I... committed treason," Luke points out, "I can tell them to let us through."

Finally, they reach the room where the fight happened in. The room is covered in lightsaber marks, and the walls still echo of pain and death, but he doesn't focus on that.

Obi-Wan is sitting on the floor, and Anakin immediately can see the burn marks on his robes from when Sidious electrocuted him. Not to mention how dangerous that is, because he was injured fighting Sidious before, and if... yeah. Anakin doesn't fully understand the extent of external damage that could be caused, but there's a lot of damage Sidious could've done. It's not as though Obi-Wan ever fully healed from before.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin asks worriedly, darting over to him. Fisto doesn't seem particularly concerned – he's already discussing something with the clones – so what happened can't be too serious, but still. And Anakin does not appreciate the way Maul is eyeing him. "Are you alright?"