Pain.

All Anakin could feel was pain.

He wished he was dead.

Anakin was face down on the ground, hardly able to breathe. He coughed to clear his mouth of dirt, but couldn't help letting out a moan.

His whole body was in agony. He couldn't feel his left arm, or his legs.

There's nothing left of me. He's going to kill me…

He screamed, pain coursing through his body. He felt sick, and light headed. All he wanted was to pass out, but the pain seemed to keep him present.

I'm being punished. I should have known…

Anakin screamed again, then looked up at his former master. Obi-Wan had tears in his eyes that matched those that fell down Anakin's own cheeks. He had never seen his master look so tortured. Obi-Wan's expression was a mix of guilt and depression, as he stared down at Anakin's wretched remains.

Kill me. Please Obi-Wan.

"You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the sith, not join them!"

I never wanted this…

Anakin could barely move, but even through the pain, his chest heaved with suppressed despair.

Kill me. Protect Padmé for me.

"You were meant to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!"

I'm sorry Obi-Wan. Please…kill me.

Anakin tried to move again, but only succeeded in sending waves of pain through his body. He tried to speak, but no sound could escape his lips. His throat was parched and sore. He had to speak – he had to tell his master.

Kill me. Protect Padmé, and our child. Kill me.

I can't live like this.

Obi-Wan turned, and began to walk away. He bent down and picked up Anakin's lightsaber.

Kill me. It's all I deserve anyway. Please…

With so little of his body left, he couldn't stay where he was on the incline. He could slowly feel himself sliding down, towards the lava. He reached out with his one remaining hand, trying to pull himself back up, but it was no use.

Anakin let out another scream as Obi-Wan kept walking.

He isn't coming down. He isn't going to kill me…

Somewhere, up on the landing platform, Anakin could sense his wife. She was awake, and alive, but not moving.

I can't believe I hurt her. What has happened to me?

He screamed again, trying to make Obi-Wan hear and see.

You have to kill me. You have to save Padmé and our baby…

Anakin finally found his voice, scratchy and inhuman though it was.

"I HATE YOU," he screamed, anguish washing through him as he cried out to his master, whom really, he loved.

I can't live like this Obi-Wan. You know that.

Why can't I just die?

Obi-Wan stood above him, the image of noble and good. Anakin lay in the dirt, barely alive, barely even conscious. He was still sliding slowly down the incline, unable to find anything to grab onto.

"You were my brother Anakin. I loved you."

Anakin's eyes filled with tears.

What have I done?

The truth was, Anakin hadn't meant to do all that he'd done. All he wanted was to save Padmé and get revenge on the Jedi council for their dealings with himself and Ahsoka. But it had all gone too far. He had started blindly following orders, killing wherever Palpatine told him to.

I have failed.

Anakin gasped as the dirt around him faded into a vision. He was standing on the landing platform again. This time, instead of attacking his wife, Anakin broke down in tears. Padmé approached him fearfully, before putting his arm around him.

"I'm so sorry", his dream-self whispered.

Padmé tried to comfort him, but it was Obi-Wan, standing high on the ship's ramp, that made Anakin look up. Light glowed softly behind him, and he stood with his hands on his hips. After a second of looking, Obi-Wan's arms lowered. He slowly walked down the ramp towards Anakin.

As he finally approached, Obi-Wan crouched down to where Anakin was sobbing on the floor.

"I forgive you", he said.

No.

Searing pain returned as the vision ended.

It's too late. That could never be. Could never have been. Obi-Wan please…Padmé…

The remains of his legs felt warmer, and Anakin could feel Padmédrifting off into a terrified sleep as he looked up at his master pleadingly.

He let up another scream as he felt the fire lick up his leg. He screamed in terror as well as agony.

Please no. Not like this...

PLEASE OBI-WAN

His mental cries were of no use. Fire engulfed his body, and Anakin could not see from pain. His lungs burned, and he could not breathe. He gasped, and only succeeded in breathing in more of the red hot air. All the while, his body turned to ashes.

Let me die. Please just let me die…

He could sense Obi-Wan's mental pain, and his heart wrenched in response. Anakin's own pain burned through him. In one last attempt, Anakin reached out his right hand to Obi-Wan. He could not speak, so he screeched in torment. Obi-Wan looked wretched, but continued to alternate between morbid fascination and the desire to look away.

"PLEASE," Anakin shouted, unsure if the word could be distinguished from his scream.

I'm sorry. Please don't leave me.

Anakin's vision came and went, but he was still conscious as he watched his former master start up the hill, and abandon him to the fire.

His screams were lost to the air, but he couldn't cry anymore.

Anakin reached up and stuck his hand into the gravel. Each time he dragged himself up sent more waves of pain up his body as his raw skin rubbed against the hard ground.

I have to find Padmé…she's still alive…I can feel it…

He reached up again, and nearly blacked out from the effort. He closed his eyes, and tried to breathe. Each breath was torture.

She's slipping…

One hand after another. The hard gravel rubbed against his exposed skin, and he continued to let out moans of pain as he ascended slowly.

Padmé. Where are you?

He heard a ship flying above him, and his heart leapt. He couldn't see it, but it filled him with a joy that not even his agony could shake.

Padmé. She's come for me.

Anakin reached out another hand, desperate to reach the top.

Please let it be her.

He continued, putting in more and more effort in the vain hope that he might make it to the top for Padmé. It wasn't until he could hear footsteps and the rattle of armour that Anakin realised that it wasn't his wife coming for him.

"Your majesty, this way!"

Anakin looked up to see the clone, and hung his head in disappointment, and fear.

If she is not here, then where is she? Padmé…

He rolled onto his side, hardly listening to the words exchanged above him. He sensed Palpatine…his new master…walking towards him.

Anakin's eyes fluttered open as he looked at the grotesque face. Palpatine was looking him up and down, a crease in his forehead. The creature bent down, looking him directly in the eyes.

Anakin shuddered at the proximity, and tried to hide his despair that it was Palpatine who had found him, alive. Palpatine reached out, and put a hand on Anakin's face.

Anakin's body trembled at the touch of Palpatine's rough hand against his own raw skin. He tried to suppress the groan that escaped his lips.

I should have died.

Finally, after what felt like hours of torture, Anakin passed out.

When he woke, he was on a stretcher, on what looked like Coruscant. The rain beat down on his exposed flesh, and he tried in vain to move – anything to stop the stinging pain. His face was covered with some kind of breath mask.

No. Not a mask. My dreams…

Lightning flashed as Anakin was moved inside, and into a medical room. He was lifted onto something else, and the mask was taken off him.

He sensed Palpatine in the room, and could picture a cold smile etched into his face.

What is happening…I should be dead…

A wave of nausea washed over Anakin as the medical droids around him started attaching metal limbs.

I have a full set now…

The thought almost made him laugh as the pain washed over him again. He groaned as needles seemed to go in and out of him randomly.

Padmé…where are you…

"Don't give him anything. I want to see what he does." Palpatine snapped at someone nearby.

I wish I was dead.

When he'd had his right arm replaced, he had been given a strong anaesthetic – he had barely felt them attach the nerves and muscles. Not so this time.

Each press of a needle sent agony coursing through him, and he struggled despite the exhaustion he could feel eating away at his resolve.

Surely I cannot live like this.

Somewhere between the agony of consciousness and the power of the force, Anakin could sense Padmé far away. It was the only thing keeping him awake. She was in pain. He could feel it almost as strongly as his own.

She was slipping from life, just as he was.

Padmé…

The droids didn't even clean his wounds, or remove his burnt and sticky clothes. They just continued to work through Anakin's screams.

Somewhere around him, Anakin swore he heard Palpatine laughing.

Eventually, he could scream no more. All he felt was the weight of exhaustion.

Or is it this suit?

They had lifted him, and dressed him in a suit of armour that encased his whole body. His head remained free, but from the smirks that continued to come from Palpatine's direction, it wasn't over yet.

Finally, a mechanical arm moved above him, and Anakin stared up at a mask as it lowered towards his face. The light shone through it strangely, and soon, it engulfed his face. He was struggling to breathe, and his vision was fading.

As he closed his eyes, he felt a new, sharp pain in his chest. The pain reminded him of his mother, Kitster, Watto, Padmé, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka. The images seemed to flash before him, and for a second, he lost consciousness.

Anakin breathed.

He tried to move his face under the mask, but there was barely enough room. Nausea washed through him, and he knew exactly the shape he would feel if he reached his hands up.

It's the mask. The mask from my nightmares.

Before he knew it, he was being raised upright, and his feet were nearly on the floor. His heart beat frantically under the armour. Despite his body's desperate response, something felt wrong. He felt empty.

"Lord Vader, can you hear me?"

Is this what I've become?

Heart pounding, Anakin took another breath. The sound echoed throughout the chamber.

"Yes, master."

His voice sounded alien, and mechanical. Anakin gulped as he turned to look at Palpatine.

"Where is Padmé? Is she safe?"

Somehow, Anakin thought he already knew the answer. His body trembled. Obi-Wan hadn't heard him. Obi-Wan couldn't have beared to do anything kind for his fallen pupil.

"Is she alright?"

Anakin's heart was pounding furiously, and he trembled beneath the armour.

"It seems, in your anger, you killed her." Palpatine finally replied, with the hint of a sneer.

It all came rushing back to Anakin. The landing platform. Padmé crying.

No…I didn't…I couldn't have…I didn't hurt her…not really…

"She was alive, I felt it!"

Anakin's trembling was no longer restricted to within his armour. His whole body shook, as did the room around him.

No. This isn't real. It couldn't have happened like that. He's lying...

The force flowed through him, stronger than he'd ever felt it. Rage engulfed him as he tore his arms from their restraints. His mind was filled with a buzzing rage.

She's gone. I'm trapped. She can't be gone.

Anakin could not feel his body. He could not see anything around him. Even Palpatine was barely a blur through the tears that clogged the mask. The force flowed through him like molten fire, feeding his strength and taking over his mind and body.

I can't control it.

Anakin did not want to control it. All he wanted was Padmé.

I should have died. I can't…I can't breathe…

He stepped off the stretcher, stumbling forward. He struggled to breathe, but the suit and mask seemed to do it for him.

He was trapped.

The mask. The mask. They weren't nightmares. They were all real…

The room shook, vials exploded, and Palpatine laughed as Anakin screamed and collapsed onto the ground.

Pain.

All Anakin could feel was pain.