Saga Anakin's Last Breath (RotJ missing scene, Anakin/Vader-centered ; updated 3/29)

LaYa, poor Anakin indeed - a lot of people seem to pity him here

Lol... yeah..

 

Upping this before a post later today

 

Posting this on the fly And now, time to get back to work

---

Anakin fell into a state which felt a lot like sleep. Soon, he found himself in a dream.

Or, rather, in a nightmare... for he remembered the vision he now had all too well.
[i]I did not choose to live this moment again ![/i] Anakin thought. [i]I would never have thought of it ![/i]

And still...

Two Tusken raiders, each holding a cane in his hands, entered a mud-made hut. His sight was following them, as though he was seeing an holovid. But he knew what he saw to be real, and at the same time wished it were not.
Inside, the Tuskens stood in front of a rough cross. A woman was tightly bound ; her face was leaning against the cross, and she had her back to the raiders.
The Tuskens rose their canes and started to beat her, harshly. Anakin could hear the woman's screams - and, when she could endure no more, her whimpers.

He [i]had[/i] to do something. He had to, because it was his mother being beaten to death by the Tuskens...

'[i]And you did something in the end, did you not ?[/i]'
It was, once again, the familiar, tiny voice Anakin was beginning to hate.

[i]It was not my fault if she suffered so much[/i] he replied in thought, his "voice" vibrant with the efforts he made to control his anger.
'[i]It was not [/i]my[i] fault. That is a certainty ; and the only one.[/i]' the Emperor's voice said. '[i]Though I will acquiesce to the fact her suffering and her eventual death served my plans admirably.[/i]'
[i]You could say that, yes[/i] Anakin growled.
'[i]On the other hand[/i]' the voice continued, and Anakin felt a prickle of fear, 'you [i]were quite responsible for her suffering.[/i]'

Anakin heaved a mental sigh of relief.
[i]That is the best lie you can tell ?[/i] He laughed sadly. [i]I did all I could to save her. It was not my fault if I was there too late.[/i]
'[i]Yes, you were a little too late[/i]' the voice agreed, full of scorn.
[i]And [/i]that[i] was your fault. Without your plot to take Padme away from Coruscant, I could have gone to Tatooine much sooner.[/i]
'[i]Oh, but how quick you are to blame me ! After all, you lost very little in this plot. Save perhaps the tattered shreds of your innocence - or your boyhood.[/i]'
[i]I will not say that losing my mother was losing "very little".[/i]
'[i]Ah. So, you imagine Obi-Wan would have let you go to Tatooine to rescue your mother ?[/i]'
[i]He would have had no good reason to stop me if I had taken my leave.[/i]
'[i]No other reason than to stop your love for your mother turn you away from your Jedi training, hmm ?[/i]'
[i]He would have-[/i]

Once again, Anakin realised that his former master was saying the truth.
[i]No, he would never have[/i] he thought. [i]He would have never let me turn away from the Jedi path, and I would have had to feel my mother dying from afar. Attachment [/i]is[i] forbidden to the Jedi.[/i]

He took a heavy "breath".
'[i]I can feel that you realize the truth[/i]' the voice made, quite content of itself. '[i]You finally accept that without my interference, you would never have seen your mother alive again.[/i]'
[i]You will get no thanks from me.[/i]
'[i]Oh, how ungrateful you are ![/i]' a voice full of feigned sadness made. '[i]I gave you a chance to speak to your mother one last time, a chance the Jedi would never have let you, and you will not thank me...[/i]'
[i]You said yourself that her suffering and her death served your plans.[/i]
'[i]And you know there was no way her torments would have never happened[/i]' was the flat answer.
[i]Of course there was ! But I let myself stopped from choosing that course of action.[/i]
'[i]No, you chose yourself not to act early enough to save her. You could have gone to her rescue anytime.[/i]'
[i]I could never have ! It would have meant being expelled from the Jedi Order ![/i]
'[i]And now you finally recognize that the order was more important to your eyes than your mother was. A cruel person, that Anakin Skywalker.[/i]'

Once again, Anakin was frozen. Though dead he was, the Emp

 

He wants vengeance. Vengeance against me, turning me back to the Dark and dooming me in the end ; and vengeance against my son, because if I die under the thrall of hatred, I will die the way Palpatine did, and my son will be killed by the energies I'll release if I fall. This is not merely a fight for my soul.

I am fighting for all the Skywalkers.

This section just blew me away! I love this kind of thing. You've done a great job of describing the internal dialogue and the interaction between Palpatine and Anakin is wonderful. A superb update!

 

I agree with the Emperor, Obi-Wans attitude of ?dreams pass? can be interpreted as being an attempt to prevent Anakin from acting by undercutting Anakins confidence in the importance of these dreams. Had Obi-Wan even not been so dismissive then Anakin might have acted alone, and had Obi-Wan supported Anakin and argued that these could be Jedi Visions before the Council then they could even have been sent to Tatooine (which was a plot bunny).

I had taken it as being stupidity on Kenobis part rather than malice but considering how Obi-Wan and Yoda were so willing to manipulate Luke with their lies and attempt to trick him into committing patricide I could almost believe the worst of them, so it would be easy for a seed of doubt to be sown in Anakins thoughts.

I do like the way that Anakin suddenly changed his approach, he was trying to argue against the Emperor having done him any service and then he realised that he did owe the Emperor gratitude though as much not for what the Emperor was claiming (since Anakin being given the chance to say goodbye to his mother was an unanticipated side-effect of the Emperors plans rather than deliberate).

He die Dark Side! He go BOOM! And even if Luke survives that his heart would be broken, as that would prove he had not managed to redeem his father. Now Anakin has motivation, but force of will can be considered as partially Dark Side as the stronger an individuals will and self confidence the less he will submit to the will of the force.

Good Luck to Anakin, especially since what he considers as just his own memories of the Emperor could actually be the Emperors spirit dallying a little before transferring into his waiting clone at Byss.

 

I just found this story, and I'm fascinated that you are tackling head-on the complexities inherent in the concept of redemption. Of course a man can no more be redeemed by a single action than he can be doomed by a single one. Anakin/Vader's slide to the dark side had to be a long one, composed of many individual choices and decisions; in the same way, it makes perfect sense that his redemption much be an equally long process. Bravo for taking this on!

Debates about these issues are running rampant at the moment, but I much prefer to see them dealt with through fiction, as you are doing. Stories are always alive and fresh, and focus the mind so wonderfully on the "here and now" of the characters and of the world that is being created.

I'm really looking forward to seeing where you go with this!

 

He wants vengeance. Vengeance against me, turning me back to the Dark and dooming me in the end ; and vengeance against my son, because if I die under the thrall of hatred, I will die the way Palpatine did, and my son will be killed by the energies I'll release if I fall. This is not merely a fight for my soul.

I am fighting for all the Skywalkers.


I love this part!!! Ok, I liked all the chapter, but this part... is simply great!

 

Thanks, Kimberley Well, I hope I won't have messed up the rest of the fic

JM, actually, there is a bit of information Yoda gives us about the Jedi in AotC which I found extremely important : the Jedi are growing arrogant. Obi-Wan, who has never known attachment, does not try to understand what Anakin is feeling and merely dismisses the dreams. After all, attachment is forbidden to the Jedi, and if Anakin had let the dreams pass, he would eventually have stopped having them, and would have slowly forgotten them.

Geo, we're in agreement here And the fact is that Anakin begins to fall in AotC. Besides, he's spent nearly twenty-five years in the thrall of the Dark Side by RotJ (even if he's been doubting for a year, since ESB), which does make a lot to atone for

LaYa, as always, extravagant praise

 

I have no lengthy review. The others have made some of my comments.

 

I agree, the dreams would have passed. After all eventually Shimi would have died, Anakin would no longer have been able to sense her pain, and so he?d stopped dreaming about her being in pain.

So yet again Obi-Wan Kenobi is telling the truth, from a certain point of view.

 

Awesome

Hope the next installment will be soon!

 

RebelMom, the easy path is the way leading to the dark Side Thanks

JM, you're right : from a certain point of view. And nobody said Obi-Wan's point of view was perfectly objective

Connemara, thanks ! Next installment should come on Friday - I'm back to work, so I'll be posting at a slower rhythm (this week ; I'm on holidays this Saturday )

Also, I wanted to apologize for not sending the PMs I usually send when a new post is up ; I put this online on the fly before I went back to work.


EDIT - I am going to do a petty thing, and I hope you'll forgive me
I am going to advertise for a vignette I have put online today, 'Remember Yesterday' ; it deals with original characters, but the issues are not that far from those covered by 'Anakin's Last Breath'

 

You might have been a bit late with the previous update, but it was worth waiting.
After all you've been said it's gonna be difficult to praise you in an original way, so I'll only say this : I loved it !

Thanks for the PM

 

This was a powerful post.

His "gratitude" to Palpatine for reuniting him with Padme was an unexpected twist.


I am fighting for all the Skywalkers.

I loved this.

 

Blue, I was late posting, but you WERE a bit late reading
Thanks And you're welcome

Gina, you will find out that I am full of surprises

 

Hey...is this going to be updated again? I was really curious where this story was going!

 

This is going to be updated again I'm working again on the centerpiece of the story, and it's taking me longer than I thought it would. Don't worry, though : you're in for a nice, long post by Thursday

 

Yay

 

Oh crap! Now Anakin's fighting for all the Skywalkers!

Great post!

~*Mariana*~

 

All right, I guess I have a bad new and a better new The bad new is the following : the post you're waiting for will have to wait until tomorrow. It deals with Episode III material (spoiler-free material, but still ) so I felt more or less obliged to post a vignette that would explain a bit more about the vision of Episode III I have right now. The vignette has taken a life of its own (I should have expected it ) so I had to edit it extensively for it to become readable (the original one had grown past 20,000 words - a bit much for a vignette ).

The Fall is here for you to read ; the scene in Anakin's Last Breath's next post will take place immediately after the vignette