Hello everyone! Welcome to a different kind of fanfiction, namely a chose-your-own-adventure style one!

In this story you take the place of Anakin Skywalker. It starts on the day the Chancellor is captured and goes on to describe your fall… or your adherence to the light side in the face of temptation. Because it's your choice how the story goes! In case you've never read something like this, here is how it works!

At the end of each section, you will be asked to make a decision. Then you skip ahead to whatever letter or number describes the outcome of your decision and so on and so forth. Some decisions don't matter all that much or loop around to the main story after some time, some decisions will have an impact only later (or not) and some decisions are so important they open up a whole new path.

There are a lot of endings and I don't expect you to find the paths to all of them but you might be dissatisfied with an ending and wonder if you can get a better one. Therefore, I've added a 'rating' of how well you did at each ending, depending on how the things that would logically matter to a Light Side or Dark Side Anakin respectably turn out. The highest DS score to be reached is 55, the highest LS score is 60. There are also more LS endings than DS but a lot of those are very similar.

You don't have to note down the exact path you followed in order to find your way back but it's important to note the death of any important characters, such as Obi-Wan, Sidious or Padmé.

Please note that the focus in this experiment is the fall (or avoidance of it) and thus, everything that happens after the twins are born is only summarized broadly to give you an idea what the consequences of your decisions might be. For the same reason, the narrative sometimes speeds up a bit, especially when you're following canon timeline because we all know how that goes.

I sincerely hope I have managed to keep track of all the paths but I changed around so much I might've missed something so if you find that a path you're following doesn't make sense, feels disjointed or puts you on another planet without any idea how you got there, please note down the order of sections, write it in a comment and I'll try to correct it.

Now without further delay, enjoy the adventure!

The first time you heard about the Dark Side of the Force in any significant way, it was from your Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, shortly after the death of Qui-Gon Jinn. After the initial rejection of the Council, you had almost given up on your short-lived dream of becoming a Jedi. Qui-Gon had promised to train you regardless but he died. Obi-Wan had promised to train you but from the little you'd seen of the young man till then, Obi-Wan had stuck you as a lot more eager to follow rules then Qui-Gon. Would he really go against the Council's wishes for you? You didn't even know each other! But in the end you had been admitted into the Jedi's ranks and Obi-Wan had become your Master. The evening after it was made official, you asked why they had changed their mind and why you hadn't been admitted right away. Obi-Wan had stumbled through an explanation of you still being so attached to your life before the Jedi. Most Jedi initiates have been brought to the temple too young to remember their parents.

You didn't understand. Your love for your mother was the one thing that always brought you cheer, something that was otherwise severely lacking for a slave on a desert planet. Obi-Wan had tried to explain that it wasn't having those attachments but the fear of losing them that was dangerous. Life as a Jedi could be dangerous, especially for those in the field. It was that fear that could lead one to the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan admitted to having felt the call of the Dark Side himself when he lost Qui-Gon and that it was only the teachings of the Jedi that allowed him to keep a clear head long enough to defeat his murderer.

That triggered a discussion about why the Dark Side was so dangerous. You generally knew fear to be a good thing. Being afraid meant being aware of danger and instinctively reacting in the best way to avoid a bad situation. The importance, according to the Jedi, lays in the way someone deals with their fears. A Jedi is brave, he faces his fear instead of running away. A Jedi keeps his calm, he thinks about a solution instead of falling into panic. A Jedi is selfless, he will put himself in danger before he allows others to be hurt. A Jedi always has to see the bigger picture, he will not put the welfare of one being over the welfare of many. If a Jedi does not follow those rules, he is in danger of falling to the Dark Side, of being consumed by his fears.

"How do you avoid falling to the Dark Side?" you asked.

"You have to be mindful of your decisions. Life is but a series of important decision and there is always a wrong choice and a right choice. It isn't always clear which is which. Some decisions, even though they seem right at that time, can have unexpected bad consequences later on. But in some situations, the wrong choice is very obvious and if you take it, you will end up on a dark path. And if you make enough wrong choices and walk along that path for too long, the decisions stop being yours. Your path gets decided by the Dark Side."

As it turns out, Obi-Wan is right. You have made some wrong choices since then. The most obvious one has been your decision to murder every occupant of a Tusken raider camp on Tatooine, following your mother's brutal death. There were other less obvious wrong choices you'd made that didn't have any immediate bad consequences - not telling the Jedi about the Tusken for example or marrying Padmé in secret. But you still know them to be wrong and you know that you are dangerously close to the dark path, though it is probably still no closer than most Jedi get during the war.

"Life is a series of decisions. A Jedi always takes care to make the right one." Those were the words Obi-Wan spoke to you all those years ago and they come back to you now, on a starship taking a nose dive towards a populated planet, with the Chancellor of the Republic bound to his chair, Obi-Wan unconscious laying under some rubble and Count Dooku, leader of the Separatists and Sith Lord, literally unarmed, kneeling at your feet.

"Kill him, Anakin! Do it now!" Chancellor Palpatine shouts from where he sits, gazing at you almost hungrily. You have two lightsabers crossed in front of you, both of them coming dangerously close to Dooku's throat. One blue saber that you've painstakingly built together yourself in countless hours of meditation and one red saber, used by Dooku to kill dozens, possibly hundreds of people. You know you only have a split second to make a decision if you want to rescue the Chancellor and stop the ship from killing millions by crashing into the planet's surface and yet you hesitate, your Master's words from so long ago echoing in your ears. Your instincts tell you to kill Dooku. If you don't and he ends up surviving, the war will continue on endlessly, killing millions. And yet he is defeated and unarmed and mouthing the words 'Please don't' and where is the honor in killing a foe like that? Which one is the right decision? Which path shall you take?

I'm gonna kill Dooku and cut his ugly head off! (Go to A)

I'm not gonna kill unarmed people! Even when they're totally evil! (Go to B)

A - You decided to kill Dooku.

It is just a quick movement, a sliding of saber on saber, red meeting blue. The Count remains upright on his knees for a few seconds longer, staring at you with wide eyes. Then his body falls backwards and his head rolls across the floor like a ball a child has lost. You watch it as it tumbles away a few meters, loosing almost no blood until it comes to a halt.

"Good," Palpatine practically purrs, "good. Now free me! We have to leave this ship at once." His words shake you from your dazed state and you hurry over to the Chancellor, slicing through his binders and helping him to his feet. You let your gaze wander across the room where it eventually lands on the form of your Master. Obi-Wan still lies under the rubble. You hurry to him to check that he is still alive, which luckily, he is. Underneath you the ship shakes. You are running out of time.

"Leave him Anakin. We have to go!" You turn to the Chancellor, shocked.

"But I can't just leave him! He's still alive!"

"He is unconscious, he'll slow us down. If you take him with you, we might all die!" You look back at your Master.

Obi-Wan is like a brother to me and I love him but I guess it's time to listen to that suspicious grandfather-figure of mine and leave him to die. (Go to C)

What, are you nuts?! I'm gonna save my precious Obi-Wan! (Go to D)

B - You decided to spare Dooku

"No," you say at last and lower your lightsabers. "That is not the Jedi way." Dooku slumps a bit in relief while Palpatine now wears a scowl.

"Stay where you are", you warn the Count. "I can throw one of these faster than you can run." You hold up a lightsaber to make sure he understands what you say. Dooku gives a curt nod and you hurry to free Palpatine.

"Anakin," Palpatine urges you, "that is not wise. If he gets away-"

"Where should he go?" you snap back. "We're on a ship about to crash on Coruscant. Even if we all miraculously survive, this place will be crawling with troopers soon."

"Tell that to him" the Chancellor mutters and nods behind you. You turn around after slicing through Palpatine's bindings. Dooku has gotten to his feet and yes, he has moved suspiciously in the direction of the door.

"I require medical attention," the Count says stiffly, holding up his arm stumps.

"In a minute," you say.

"Anakin, there is no time! The ship-"

"I know!" you snap, "I know. Just... let me think."

But you don't get around to ponder much over what to do. In that moment Dooku bolts to the side and though you have your lightsaber up immediately, ready to throw it, you are too slow. Dooku is gone.

"Well done," Palpatine says sarcastically. You blush in embarrassment.

"He won't get far with those wounds."

"I really do hope you are right, my friend. Now let us go, quick."

You nod, then let your gaze wander across the room where it eventually lands on the form of your Master. Obi-Wan still lays under the rubble. You hurry to him to check that he is still alive, which luckily, he is. Underneath you the ship shakes. You are running out of time.

"Leave him Anakin. We have to go!" You turn to the Chancellor, shocked.

"But I can't just leave him! He's still alive!"

"He is unconscious, he'll slow us down. If you take him with you, we might all die!" You look back at your Master.

Obi-Wan is like a brother to me and I love him but I guess it's time to listen to that suspicious grandfather-figure of mine and leave him to die. (Go to C)

What, are you nuts?! I'm gonna save my precious Obi-Wan! (Go to D)

C - You decided to leave Obi-Wan to die (you sicko)

Palpatine is right. If you take Obi-Wan with you, you might lose not one but two friends. Your heart screams at the mere idea of leaving your Master behind - but isn't that what Obi-Wan himself would want? You can't endanger the Chancellor's life because you want to save a fellow Jedi. Even if said Jedi is your Master and a war hero. The Chancellor is more important.

It is the hardest choice you've ever had to make but you turn around and give Palpatine a curt nod. "Let's go."

What happens after that is a blur in your memory. There is a lot of running, a lot of near-misses. At some point you make it to a control center where you manage to do the impossible and crash land the dreadnought into Coruscant, avoiding any densely inhabited areas. But the missing half of the ship burns up in the atmosphere and it's all you can do to flee the scene before fire spreads through yours as well. Any hope of maybe going back and getting Obi-Wan dies in those flames. Your Master is dead. You feel it in the Force, the violent snap of a bond that has survived years of war and blood. Dooku is dead too, that is something you suppose. Even without the blow of your lightsaber, he would've died in those flames at the latest. A Sith Lord and a Jedi Master, sharing the same fiery grave.

You feel a hand on your shoulder and turn around, seeing Palpatine smile at you. He looks grateful, yet full of sympathy. "You did the right thing, Anakin. This was a great victory. You should be proud of yourself."

"Yes," you say automatically, though your heart isn't in it.

Go to E.

D - You decided to rescue Obi-Wan

"I can't let him die," you say stubbornly. You grab Obi-Wan's arm and sling it over your shoulder. The added weight is hindering you a lot but damn it, you'll just have to manage.

What happens after that is a blur in your memory. There is a lot of running, a lot of near-misses. Luckily Obi-Wan wakes up as you are half way across to the control center. With him as a co-pilot you manage to do the impossible and crash land the dreadnought into Coruscant, avoiding any densely inhabited areas. But the missing half of the ship burns up in the atmosphere and it is all you can do to flee the scene before fire spreads through yours as well. There are even a couple of explosions. And yet the heat from the burning ship almost feels good to you, once you are at a safe distance. It is as if a dark veil is lifted from you. You are still alive. Palpatine is still alive - Obi-Wan is still alive. Only Dooku is dead. Even without the blow of your lightsaber, he would've died in those flames at the latest.

You feel a hand on your shoulder and turn around, seeing Obi-Wan smile at you. He looks calm as usual, yet full of pride at the same time. "You did great today, Anakin. The Separatists won't recover from that blow. I'm proud to have been your Master."

"Yes," you say automatically, a grin slowly finding its way on your face. "That is what I'd call a victory."

Go to E.