Anakin had no idea where he was.

The only details that he did know was that he was in a corridor lit up with eerie fluorescent lights. It almost felt like he was onboard the Resolute, but that was impossible since his surroundings were to gloomy. It was deathly quiet as well, save for his own breathing. Looking around, he found no visible exits that he could take to get out of here. The corridor only stretched on and on in both directions.

Anakin was contemplating on what to do when he could hear groaning coming from the distance as well as the soft clicking and whirring of machines. Were there droids possibly? There was only one way to find out.

He creeps down the corridor, making sure to walk stealthily as he approached toward the noises. Anakin didn't feel any danger through the Force, thankfully, so he left his saber alone. His suspicions about there being droids are confirmed as the whirring and clicking of servos grows louder. There's finally a change in design of the corridor wall, and he realizes this is an entryway to where the sounds originate. Placing his right hand on the durasteel wall, he slowly pokes his head out from behind his safety and finds a grisly sight laying before him.

A badly charred and burned man lies on an operating table, a mechanical arm flailing in the air as several droids work on him. How the hell is he still alive? Anakin sucks in a breath as he notices the man's prosthetic legs that one of the droids is tinkering with. The man withers around on the table, moans coming from deep within his throat. Anakin had a feeling that this was the next Grievous.

The man turns his head in Anakin's direction and burning gold eyes lock on his blue ones. Anakin instinctively gasps at the face before him, recoiling in shock. It was none other than his own. He couldn't believe it. He tried to look away, but found he was glued to his doppelgangers gaze as he was stared down. Those burning eyes were a force of their own.

Anakin is suddenly assaulted with agonizing waves of pain and he collapses to the ground unable to bear the anguish. The gold eyes track his movements as he watches Anakin spasm on the durasteel floor. Fire races through his veins and he cries out in turmoil.

In his mind's eye, he could see himself fighting Obi-Wan over a river of lava. Obi-Wan jumps to the bank, turning to stare at him with pleading eyes, arms raised to his sides. "It's over Anakin. I have the high ground."

Fury dances in the younger man's eyes as he stares down his brother. "You underestimate my power." The words are dark and a challenge to the older man's claim.

Obi-Wan looks at him in warning. "Don't try it."

The young Sith snarls as he leaps off the floating chunk of durasteel, saber ready to kill. Obi-Wan readies himself, gripping his saber tighter as the young man launches at him, halfway through his flip. A blue lightsaber swings and a scream of pain emits from the Sith's throat as he falls into the gravel and rolls down towards the lava river. His legs are amputated at the thigh, his last flesh hand gone at the elbow.

Obi-Wan looks down at him in pity and disbelief. Anakin watches as his own self stares up at Obi-Wan, groans the only thing coming from him. Rage burns as he looks up at Obi-Wan. The ginger haired man sheaths his saber, placing it on his belt.

"You were the Chosen One! It was said you'd destroy the Sith, not join them!"

Anakin looks up in desperation as he slowly crawls up the gravel bank with his prosthetic.

"Bring balance to the Force! Not leave it in darkness!"

Pain flares up in his legs as he watches the stumps start to smoke. "I HATE YOU!" he roars.

Obi-Wan picks up the younger man's saber and looks at him in sadness, failure at himself radiated in Obi-Wan's eyes as he regarded the smoldering man. "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you." His voice breaks at the end.

Obi-Wan looks away as the flames eat away at him, unable to watch his former brother burn alive. Anakin reaches out for him as the flames engulf him. Save me, Master!

Obi-Wan just turns and walks away.

Make the suffering stop, please! Tears cascade down his cheeks as the pain smothers him, leaving him wishing for death. The vision slowly fades away as Anakin watches his former Master's retreating form up the bank and out of sight. He finds his face pressed into the cold durasteel flooring, staring at a wall, heavily panting as phantom pains dance through his body, silent sobs wracking his body.

Please let this end. I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan.

A respirator fills his ears, sending chills down his spine. He listens as the operating table shifts into a standing position. Mustering enough energy, he pushes himself to his knees as be blearily looks up at the towering black monster before him. A black and menacing mask hides his face, but he swears the beast is scrutinizing him. Anakin feels so tired and miserable as he forces himself to meet where the man's eyes are. The demon turns away and looks to a small cloaked figure next to him. Belatedly, Anakin wonders why he never noticed the other person.

Oh, that's right, 'cause I was having a vision from hell itself. Anakin chokes out a broken laugh at his personal joke. It went unnoticed by the two Sith.

"Where is Padme?" the monster breathes.

A cloaked head slowly turns to look at the abomination. Anakin can't make out a face beneath the hood, at all.

"I'm afraid that in your anger, you killed her." The line is delivered nonchalantly as if the Sith were talking about the weather. The Force snaps as anguish flows off the demon and swarms Anakin in its overwhelming intensity. A guttural cry of agony tears itself out of the beast, just as Anakin feels his own heart shatter.

He starts sobbing and collapses onto his hands and knees, tears dripping from his face to form miniature pools on the floor. He killed her.

What have I done?

Anakin wakes up crying.

"Ani," Padme calls softly, and Anakin looks over to see her twisting around to look at him in the low lighting of the rainy night outside. "What's wrong?"

He feels a hand on his jaw and he cries harder, choked sobs escaping him as he wraps arms around his wife, pulling her down to his chest. Padme wraps him up and strokes his hair, trying to calm him down, murmuring words of comfort until he can reign in his emotions.

As the last of the crying dies down, Anakin loosens his grip so that Padme can lean back. He leaves his hands loosely holding onto her back as he stared up at her. She strokes his cheek in response, whispering, "Do you want to talk?"

"I do, but first I need to speak to Ahsoka."

Understanding dons on Padme's face and she kisses his forehead. "Okay. I'll be here when you're ready."

Padme always knew that if Anakin ended up talking to Obi-Wan or Ahsoka before her, it was a serious Jedi matter that they took care of with each other. It was their own little support system and it seemed to help. Anakin smiles in gratitude at her and rolls out of bed, snatching his comm as he heads for the living room.

He jabs her frequency into the little device and sits down on the couch as it rang. Looking out at the rainy night, he felt bad for calling her this late in the night, but it was urgent.

"Hello?" Ahsoka answers. He swears he heard a slight amount of fear in her otherwise neutral response, but he couldn't be sure. He found it odd that no drowsiness was present either. Huh.

Anakin swallows, readying himself. "Can we meet up somewhere and talk?"

There's a beat of silence before she replies, voice full of relief. "Yeah."

He furrows his brow at the change in her tone. "I'll send you the location."

"I'll see you there," she responds before hanging up. Anakin sends the location and heads back into their bedroom, pulling on a shirt and a pair of pants.

"Hopefully, I'll be back soon," he tells Padme as he clips his saber to his belt and shoves his comm into his pant pocket.

"Take your time if you need it Ani. I want you to feel better and if it takes you a couple of hours, so be it."

"Gods, I love you," he murmurs, grateful for her understanding.

Padme smiles in return at him. He throws his coat on, walking over to give her one last kiss before he leaves, mentally preparing himself for his meeting.

Ahsoka sighs and drops her hands into her lap.

"Sounds like the two of you have some things to talk over," Riyo states.

"You're not a kidding," Ahsoka mutters, pulling herself free from the warmth and comfort of bed. She tugs on her clothes. After two months of living the civilian life, she was still not used to it – it was a foreign life to her. Fortunately, Riyo was helping slowly ease her into her new alien life.

"You two get yourselves sorted out," Riyo comments, seriousness thick in her voice.

"Yes, ma'am. We'll try our hardest." Ahsoka winks playfully at the other woman before leaving.

Time to figure out what's going on.

A short trip later, Ahsoka found herself in a park. One of Coruscant's only parks to be exact. It had stopped raining for the time being and she shivers at the cold breeze that comes out of nowhere. Tightening her coat around herself, she senses that Anakin's close by. Why do we have to meet out in the cold, Skyguy? The cold sucks. Ahsoka finds him sitting on a bench looking around at the empty surroundings of the park. His face lights up when he hears her approach and they embrace.

Breaking apart, Anakin rests his hands on her shoulders, gratitude present on his face. "Thank you so much for coming, Snips."

"You're my brother. I'll always be here for you." Ahsoka winks at him. Anakin smiles and gestures for her to sit on the bench and he follows suit. Luckily, no one was around in the dead of night so they could talk in confidentiality. "What did you want to talk about?"

He took some time to answer. Ahsoka watches him as he worked his jaw in thought before responding. "I had a nightmare. I bore witness to a monster that I never want to become."

Ahsoka sucks in a sharp breath. Did they possibly have the same dream?

"Go on," she replies with mild trepidation.

A darkness crosses his face as he begins to recount his dream. "I was in this corridor, then I heard someone groaning and I headed for the source. There was a severely burned man lying on an operating table and he turned his head toward me as if he knew I was there. In that moment, I was encountering events that must've happened shortly before. Events where I had fought Obi-Wan over a river of lava and this tall and menacing black monster had-" Anakin takes a deep breath and Ahsoka places a hand on his shoulder, silently giving him courage to continue on, "had killed… Padme."

Tears silently track down his face, and he turns to look at her, a miserable and broken mess, and he gasps out, "I was… I was the one who k-killed her."

Ahsoka's eyes widen in shock and she wraps him up in a tight and comforting embrace as he clutches at her, afraid she'll disappear on him.

"It felt so real," he whispers into her shoulder.

Gods, I understand how you feel. She rubs soothing circles into his back as he shakes in her arms. Ahsoka sent waves of comfort down their bond in an effort to calm him down.

Do I tell him of mine?

She didn't know what to do.

Anakin eventually calms down and pulls free from the hug, making Ahsoka's decision for her. "When I contacted you about meeting up, there was a lot of relief in your voice. Did something happen to you as well?"

Ahsoka opens her mouth, then closes, trying to figure out a good way to start.

"I had a dream as well, but you weren't a monster covered in black. You were…" There Ahsoka tells him about everything. There's horror in his eyes and he stares down at his hands in numb shock. Ahsoka scoots closer to him and takes his hands in hers and looks at him earnestly as their eyes lock. "We'll make sure that you don't become this demon in our dreams. Okay?"

Anakin nods shakily in understanding. "I think it would be best that Obi-Wan knows as well."

"We'll talk to him, then." Ahsoka wraps him back up in a hug. "We're here for you and we'll be damn sure you don't become something you're not."

"Thank you, Snips." Relief floods through his voice. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Ahsoka chuckles and kisses his forehead, not providing a verbal answer.

In that moment, she had provided the conviction he needed to press on.

I'll see you all in the sequel fic, "Just Wishing to Escape This Hell."

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