Enjoy.

~Madness

**********

Boba went after Gerg, revealing his favorite memory of Danik to be the first day the man started teaching the boy how to shoot a blaster. Aurra Sing's was the first day she met him, like Gerg's had been. All in all, the memories about Danik weren't anything too tear-jerking when it came to Anakin. Sure, some people around the room would sniffle a bit, but they were nothing compared to the bomb Chewbacca was about to drop.

With each step the wookiee took towards the platform, the Jedi sitting in their seats became more and more restless. They could sense it; they knew something big was about to happen. Anakin exchanged looks with Ahsoka, asking each other with their eyes if the other could feel what was flowing through the Force. Then attempted to confirm with Obi-Wan as well, but the man remained as cold and emotionless as ice despite their efforts. Mentally, the people in the pew in the center of the room prepared themselves for what they didn't know was coming.

Chewie dropped the stone into the fire.

The veil of smoke covering the floor rippled as the sound of a mighty wind blew through the room and pillar after pillar surged up from the ground. It rattled the walls and shook the seats, as if the alien boy had drained every ounce of feeling from his heart and packed it into the rock he'd been given. A flurry of images raced through the sanctuary so fast that even Anakin struggled to keep up with them. They were all inconsistent, each scene taking place at different times in Chewie's life with multiple different individuals. But two remained permanent throughout the visions.

Chewie and his master.

A ghostly teenage girl sprinted down the aisle with a bundle of cloth in her arms and a baby Chewbacca's head poking out from the blanket's layers, safe from all harm as long as she held him close. An older version of the wookiee stood nervously a few yards away with a pale Master Yoda and a more recent-looking Denali as the small green Jedi informed the youngling that he was to become an ecstatic Denali Bleway's new padawan. A togrutian girl training with the apprentice and his master, the woman now wearing an eye-patch over one eye but a bright and excited grin on her lips. Jedi Bleway carrying her new, sleepy padawan piggy-back style to the guest bedroom in Padme's apartment so he could get some rest. Boba, Sekhmi, and Chewbacca sprinting through the sanctuary, mischievous smiles on their faces as their master raced after, shouting about the danger of eating all the sweets in the kitchen without her. Throwing a sandwich at Danik from yards away and being yelled at by his teacher before she realized that she was being uptight and decided to chuck a glob of pudding at her brother, starting a fully-fledged food fight.

The walls continued to shake as more and more images appeared and disappeared with each second, all the years Chewie had spent with his mother-figure pouring from his soul and escaping through the smoke at his feet. 

Then everything stopped.

And one memory was left, and all eyes were locked on the three figures in the center of the room.

"Are you nervous?" Sekhmi asked. 

"Of course, I am." Denali's ghost-like form replied and Anakin had to take a deep breath to keep from doing anything stupid. She was right there. Only a few feet away. It was only a flashback, a time long gone. But he couldn't help it; his heart began to ache all over again because he knew exactly when this memory was taking place- only a few minutes before her actual death. "I'm always nervous before battles." She was beautiful. So beautiful it hurt. An angel, just like he'd said all those years ago.

Then the togrutian took the woman's hand. And the wookiee placed his own on her shoulder. It was then that Anakin felt the tears dripping down his cheeks. The sight of the trio, together, for one final stand. The deep unconditional love they held for each other in their hearts. They were a team. A family. A true family, not a group of bounty hunters with a few new recruits. No. They were a family and their home was with one another. Denali smiled and tried to hold back her emotions, but failed.

"I love you guys."

They embraced each other one last time.

"We love you, too, Master."

And the final memory evaporated into thin air.

**********

He couldn't handle it anymore. He just couldn't. It was all too much, the visions of her filling the room, showing how happy she'd been and how full of life and fun and pure joy. It was suffocating him to the point of insanity. 

Obi-Wan jumped to his feet and sprinted from the sanctuary as fast as he possibly could. Everything went by in a blur between the time he left the room and the time he arrived at his destination- the elevator. All he could recall was shoving past people, bounty hunters, concerned citizens of Alderaan, and completely blowing them off. He didn't have the energy to be polite, he didn't have any room in his heart left to show compassion or kindness towards complete strangers. 

His face red and tear-stained, Obi-Wan slammed his fist against the buttons on the elevator and disappeared inside, trying to block out the sound of Anakin racing after him as the doors closed. He couldn't stop it now; he collapsed to his knees and held his head in his hands, his body shuddering with each sob and the floor becoming wet from the stream of tears dripping down his face.

She'd meant everything to him. And he'd been too late. It was his own fault this had happened, no one else's. He'd been weak and chose a life ran by corrupt leaders over the woman he'd been in love with since the first day he laid eyes on her when they were barely into their teen years. Ever since he jumped to action when her brother smacked her across the face.

He was supposed to protect her. He promised to always be there for her, to whatever end. And he'd failed her in one of the worst ways possible. Now the man responsible for her downfall was walking freely and standing tall without shame, while she was nothing but a kidnapped corpse.

With shaking hands, he took a moment to wipe the moisture from his cheeks and was met with the most terrifying sight he'd ever seen in his life. The shout leaped from his lips, a burst of agony added to a situation so terrible he wouldn't have wished it on his worst enemy. Obi-Wan blinked, but the terror was still there. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but was met with the same horrible, panicking results. There, in the reflection of his tears on the shiny, silver glass-like tiles of the elevator a horrifying face stared back at him.

His own eyes.

With one pupil red as blood.