Narrator's POV

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood in the shattered window frame of the far window of the little padawan's apartment, his blue lightsaber clashed and standing strong against Kyla Valero's. The two blades of blue light reflected strongly onto Anakin Skywalker's sweated skin, standing a good distance away. The ear-splitting sound of the blades being pressed together filled Anakin's ears; the sight before him made his heart sink within him. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Where were Master Klavis and Master Windu?

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan groans, his power weakening as Kyla stood feet from him, teeth gritted and fists clenched around the holster of her lightsaber, pressing it further and further into Obi-Wan's, pressuring to kill him. "Anakin - help - me!" Obi-Wan's knees were buckling beneath him, about to collapse.

Anakin surveys the room, his eyes wandering wherever they could reach. An injured Master Mace Windu leans against a countertop, a hand missing, cracked lightsaber at his feet.

Master Nicolai Klavis' dead body lie only a few feet from Anakin, a familiar hole through his heart, put there by Kyla's favored deadly weapon she now wielded. Anakin stares at the body, horror pushing itself up through his veins.

History actually was repeating itself - this was nearly the same scene as the arrest attempt on Chancellor Palpatine many months ago - that resulted in his death.

"I can't kill her!" yells Anakin to a struggling Obi-Wan. "She's my padawan!"

Obi-Wan doesn't have the strength to turn his focus to Anakin. His mind is set on arresting and destroying the padawan before him, her strength only growing at his weaknesses.

"You failed me!" Kyla's wretched and twisted voice screams to Anakin, who watches in terror. She turns slightly, and he catches a split-second glimpse of her bright, yellow eyes. "I will become more powerful than you will ever be! I am the Chosen One!"

"For the use of the Jedi, not the Sith! You swore they were your enemy, not your ally!" Anakin's voice cracks as he fights off an impending sob, threatening to take its way into his body. "We were the Chosen Ones, together! Not divided by good and evil!"

"You are evil! The Jedi are evil! The Sith reign power, more power than the Jedi will ever have!" With her anger growing, rushing through her veins, she presses her saber into Obi-Wan's, and Anakin watches horridly as his knees buckle, and he collapses against the window frame, his hand releasing his grip on his saber. The saber snaps and fizzes, rolling away from his grip.

"You are beaten," Kyla snarls at Obi-Wan, her saber nearing his neck. Anakin feels tears falling down his cheeks as he watches his padawan slowly walk towards a fallen Obi-Wan, struggling to breathe. "Surrender now. Join me, Obi-Wan. We can begin my Empire, together."

Anakin swallows a lump in his throat as Obi-Wan weakly turns his head towards Anakin and breathes to Kyla, "I will never join you."

"Kyla..." Anakin chokes, slowly walking towards her, "Listen to me. You can't... kill him," he pleads. "Kill me."

"I don't want to kill you, Jedi trash, I want your power, I want more power," snaps Kyla, who retreats at Anakin's words and backs away from Obi-Wan, this allowing him to heftily exhale. Kyla's eyes narrow evilly, the yellow color staring into Anakin's soul. "Are you begging me to kill you?"

"If it means you spare Obi-Wan's life," Anakin sobs, "then yes. Kill me."

"Anakin," croaks a beaten Obi-Wan, "Don't do this."

"I'm sorry, Master," he chokes out, dropping to his knees, lightsaber still ignited. "Kyla, kill me."

Her boots click over to his direction, standing above him. "You're weak," she snaps, practically spitting in his face. "You've taught me nothing. My power belongs to the Sith."

Anakin's heart tells him the loving little padawan he once trained has completely disintegrated into this monster.

Anakin remains silent, thinking carefully about his next move. If he thinks too hard or too openly, she will be able to see right into him, to see and view his thoughts. Then she can counteract, and successfully kill him. Anakin had to think of a way out of this without Kyla realizing for herself.

"If you kill me," Anakin breathes, his chest rising and falling dramatically as he breathes heavily, "will you - spare Obi-Wan?" His voice is so ragged, it barely sounds like a question.

Kyla whirls around and faces Obi-Wan, getting a perfect view of what she could kill. Now's my time, a weakened Anakin thinks. He notices the saber held in her left hand's grip, and all at once, he does what he has to do.

He rises instantly, slashing his lightsaber through her left wrist, her hand and lightsaber clattering to the floor. She screams, whipping her head around to face him as she falls back, cowering against the wall. "YOU!" She hisses, her eyes firing with hot pain, "How could you do this?"

Anakin stands before her, lightsaber still ignited in his robotic hand. He places it across her neck and snarls, "You're under arrest. This is treason, Kyla. You made me do this."

"You... you brought this upon yourself," she hisses again, "I could've reigned my own Empire. Controlled the galaxy. You ruined everything!"

Anakin feels another tear slip down his red hot cheek, watching his fallen padawan against the wall beneath him. Before he can say anything in response to her, though, she cackles an ear-splitting laugh. "You're so stupid," she snarls, and Anakin is taken aback. He remains standing before her, saber across her neck, a confused look spreading across his face.

"You've forgotten how powerful I am."

Anakin feels himself grow dizzy, the room beginning to intensely spin. Light is blinding him, working its way to his mind, hearing her words locked in it. What is she doing? He tries to think, but thoughts can't process themselves accurately. He feels his entire body grow weak, chills running up his spine till they've encountered every bone, and his knees buckle, at last giving out. The last thing he hears is Obi-Wan's shrill, "Anakin!" before everything goes black.

Anakin's POV

I wake up, my vision still faintly blurred. At first, I don't recognize where I am, but then I see Padmé above me, her normally radiant face now tear-stained and doleful. Her sweet, soothing voice fills my ears, and I close my eyes to take it in. "Ani! Oh, thank goodness you're awake..."

I can't find the strength to say anything. I can't think, either - I feel the same way I do now as I used to feel whenever Kyla would see into my mind, my thoughts. I realize now, in a heart-sinking way, that's what she must've done.

Thinking back onto my last moments in her apartment, I remember how weakened Master Windu and Obi-Wan were. I let them down. She seized me, and I collapsed. She must've killed them; I was their last hope. I had her in my grip, right before me... If I had killed her like I had the Chancellor, I would've saved the Republic yet again. But I didn't. I was weak and I collapsed, and now I'm too fearful to say anything to my wife. If I do, she will know everything... she probably does now. The Jedi were right - attachment shouldn't be allowed. Love shouldn't be allowed. I had a bond with that girl...

Then I hear something I'd thought I'd never hear again - Obi-Wan's classic tone I've grown so familiar to. "He seems to be doing all right."

At his voice, I gain the will to speak. My voice is shattered, vague and cracked, but I speak. "O - Obi-Wan? I thought... she'd killed you..."

He is silent for a moment. "She used the same trick on me as she did you, Anakin. We encountered darkness. Apparently, she couldn't sense that Master Windu was still alive, and she left the apartment without seizing him. He came to our rescue, Anakin. We should be incredibly grateful."

My eyes open again, and this time I see I am lying on one of the couches on my apartment's veranda. Obi-Wan is seated next to Padmé across from me, and thankfully, she looks more distraught than mad. Obviously, she knows what happened, but I'm glad she isn't angered the least bit. Or so I hope.

"But... Master Klavis..."

Obi-Wan looks down. He glances back up, and shakes his head solemnly.

"I - I know. And, Master Windu - he lost his hand," I croak, and Obi-Wan now nods.

"He did. But he received a medical replacement, like you did when Dooku took off your hand."

I can't help but smile weakly. I killed Dooku; if only Windu could've killed Kyla.

"And Kyla?"

"Escaped. The Order sent out more recruits to search for her, but we think she's found refuge on a distant planet to begin working on her own Empire."

"How could she - establish an Empire on her own?" I groan, sitting up. I find I'm not in too much pain anymore, but my back aches and my head still throbs in my ringing ears.

"We're not sure," replies Obi-Wan in dismay, "but we'll find her, and hopefully arrest her this time."

I avert my gaze to Padmé and decide to apologize before she says anything. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Padmé. It was the best thing to do... I was afraid you would notify the Senate and have them assassinate her..."

Padmé shakes her head. "No, Ani, I understand. I wouldn't have notified them anyway, but it was wise of you not to tell me. I'm so sorry this happened..."

I don't say anything. Instead I look to Obi-Wan and sigh, "What do we do now?"

He looks puzzled and folds his arms across his chest, easily leaning back into the couch. "There isn't much to be done but wait, I'm afraid. She must've gone off to get a replacement arm, as you hacked it off, and most likely took refuge somewhere. We just have to locate her."

I swing my legs around the side of the couch and sit upright, facing them both. I look into Obi-Wan's eyes and clear my throat. "I'm... so sorry, Obi-Wan." Padmé turns to look at him, her brown eyes looking awfully upset, and she rises.

"I'm going to go check on Luke and Leia. Ani, please make sure you stay here. Lay off the Jedi business for awhile, you're not well." With that, she exits the veranda, and I turn my gaze back upon Obi-Wan.

"It isn't your fault this happened, Anakin," he reassures me, "In fact, I'm truly grateful you came to me in the first place and warned us. She is a great threat, and even though the arrest was only a failed attempt, it made us all more aware of her situation. They're out there looking for her, Anakin. Soon enough she will be confided to the Detention Center, or perhaps even eliminated."

At this juncture, I don't feel the need to argue with him about sparing her life. She's changed completely, and I've only been her Master a few months. I've seen with my own eyes how much of a threat she is, and can only grow more to be... maybe Obi-Wan was right. Maybe she is too dangerous to be kept alive.

I look down at my feet, clueless of what to say. At last, I've gathered words. "I - I don't know what to say about Master Klavis," I proceed shakily. "How did she do it? I didn't think she could..."

"We all underestimated her. It came as a surprise, but she used his death to weaken us. She's smart, powerful, and uncontrollable. It's unbelievable."

I was quiet again. I couldn't imagine what Obi-Wan must've been feeling; he liked Master Klavis, I knew they were friends. He watched him die. The Order must be furious. However, Obi-Wan would never have a bond with anyone else like the bond he and I have. It is Master and Apprentice; a bond I had with Kyla that was forever broken.

I adjusted to my surroundings even more and took in that it was late, late at night. Coruscant's cool air wrapped me in an entrancement, the light breeze drifting through my wavy, ruffled hair. It was a nice feeling, being back at my 500 Republica apartment, but this feeling in the pit of my stomach wouldn't leave me alone.

Guilt clawed at me and wouldn't dissipate. I felt like this was all my fault, and I couldn't do anything about it. My shoulders weighed heavily, my heart ached, and worst of all - I felt regret. I regretted severing her arm, almost surrendering and I especially regretted letting the Council down. I tried to convince myself, it wasn't my fault she got away. But I know I could've done something. I know I could've saved her from this horrid transition. I know I could have.

But now that it's all over, and she's probably seeking refuge on a distant planet, looking for a way to begin her new Empire, I feel an empowering emotion I can't describe. Aside from guilt, regret, fear, I felt like I was losing my mind, watching her become what I almost did. Watching her slowly become feared by the entire galaxy, the entire Republic.

Watching her fall to the Dark Side.

And now, I sit here, watching Obi-Wan stare sadly off into Coruscant as I did the same, I realize by staring at the little lights of speeders and fighters, that we have to respect the fallen. We have to respect them whether it means the death of Master Klavis, or the downfall of Kyla Valero, my once padawan.