This will be the first of a small series of one-shots I'll be periodically adding as time permits. Please enjoy. - Belzigzimr Zirkalda.

Voice of an Angel

Sometimes, in the rare moments of quite, he hears her voice. In the solitude of his cockpit, or the isolation of the hyperbaric chamber. Each time, he ignores it. He refuses to acknowledge the voice of his dead wife. Each time, it gets harder. Her words echo in the dark recesses of his mind, locked behind the helmet.

"Anakin."

The words and sound of her voice change every time. Every time, her voice grows weaker. Every time, he hates himself anew.

"It's only because I'm so in love."

Sometimes, her whispers are a comfort, soothing him after particularly hard days when nothing goes right. Other times, he hears the horror she felt when she learned of his deeds, her despair as she died, and with her, their child.

"When there was nothing but our love."

For a while, a part of him had refused to accept what had happened. She could never be afraid of him. She loved him, and he her. She was an angel, and angels forgave the sinners.

"I truly, deeply, love you."

Now, he pities and hates his former naivety. Nothing is stronger than fear, not even love. He should know. Fear lead him to killing his own wife.

"You've changed."

This time, her voice is just a whisper inside his head. He doesn't have the will or need to resist it. Not anymore. Today, her words bring him no solace. They cut him deep, remind him of the blood on his hands, and how nothing will wash them clean.

"You're going down a path I can't follow."

It drives him mad, and once more he wishes for death. Any form of escape from the sweet voice that haunts him.

"Stop!"

A part of him, the guilt and self-loathing buried and hidden beneath layers of rage, demands that he receive no rest. Not even in sleep. Every crime, every death he inflicted and administered will not be forgiven, no matter how much he curses the cruelty of the Force or begs for its mercy.

"Stop now!"

He knows that he will never find her in the next life, if such a thing ever existed to begin with. He knows that the Force will never relieve him, so he embraces the pain.

"Come back!"

Her voice continues to echo around him, and he worries for his sanity.

"I love you."