Dark Decisions

Once he was a Jedi.
Once he was a great warrior.
Once he had fought for the destiny of an entire galaxy.

He had killed a Sith and was a hero in the Clone Wars.
He was a Jedi Master and the Chosen One was his Apprentice.

He wasn't a fighter, but a Negotiator.
He was always kind and tried to help everyone who had suffered at the hands of evil.

He had shining blue eyes and a voice full of sarcasm.
His tunic was a bright white and his lightsaber was a cerulean blue.
He had lived perfect to the Jedi Codex; He was the perfect Jedi.
Until that day.
That dreadful, cruel day when his life had changed forever.
" You are the Sith Lord!", said Obi-Wan, still shocked to hear those words out of Palpatine's mouth, let alone his own.
" Yes Master Kenobi. I am the Sith Lord. So what are you going to do?"
" I will tell the Jedi Council about you and you will be imprisoned, Chancellor!", answered the Jedi Master, trying and failing to calm himself.
" Of course you will, but, as you surely know if you do that your precious student will belong to me!", said Palpatine, a wicked smirk splitting his face.
" What do you mean?", asked Obi-Wan, apprehension clawing at his gut.
" As you know Anakin and I are close friends Obi-Wan. If you should tell the Jedi Council anything about my existence as a Sith Lord, then I will just turn your apprentice to the dark side.", explained the Chancellor seriously, and at that moment, Obi-Wan had no doubt he would follow through with this foreboding promise.
" But you can prevent that from happening."
At those words the anxiety that coiled in his gut like an iron snake only intensified and Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, unable to keep the glitter of curiosity from his eyes.
" How?", he asked, not sure if he even wanted to hear the answer.
A dark chuckle escaped Palpatines lips, cold and without humor as he looked at the Jedi with an devilish smile.
" Oh it's easy, my friend. YOU will become my apprentice, instead of Anakin."
At that Obi-Wan did a double take. He could hardly believe his ears, but the shock must have shown on his face, and the look the Sith gave him in return promised that he meant what he said.
" You can prevent that from happening Obi-Wan. You can save Skywalker from the dark side. All you have to do is to become my new apprentice.", said Palpatine, wicked grin growing, and for a moment the Jedi Master was at a loss for words.
" I...I need some time to think about that!", he stuttered, voice even and calm despite his hesitation.
From the outside he made sure to appear as if he was calm and collected, but on the inside he was shaking.
All different thoughts ran through his mind and he was for the first time in his life not sure what he should do.
" You have three days to think about it.", said Palpatine and before Obi-Wan could answer, he had dismissed him, and in an instant the Jedi stood before the now-closed doors to Palpatine's office.
For a few minutes he remained there, still shocked, but then he made his way quickly back to the Jedi Temple. The bad feeling still in the back of his mind…
Slowly, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and began to meditate.
He sat alone in his chambers and was glad that nobody disturbed him right now. He was under a lot of pressure, even the Jedi Council knew this, but every time they had asked him about what was wrong, he lied and replied it was nothing, and that everything was fine, but it was clear that it wasn't.
He couldn't find a loophole, a solution to Palpatine's offer, but he knew there must be a way. A part of him wanted to give in, wanted to save Anakin, his brother, his friend from this cruel fate, but another part of his mind refused to give in and just let this happen. Ever since he was little, the Jedi Temple was his home, and the Jedi were his family. He couldn't just betray them, could he?
He worked so hard to finally become a Jedi, and now he was even a Master, but with this, everything he had worked so hard for would be for nothing?
He didn't want to believe this. He secretly hoped that there was another way, but that part of him knew there wasn't. No matter how much he meditated, no matter how much he thought about it, he had just two possibilities;
Either he would tell the Council about Palpatine and lose Anakin in return, or he wouldn't tell them of Palpatine's secret and betray his family instead.
Neither choice was easy, but who said that life would ever be easy?
With a sad sigh, the Jedi Master got up and went to the window behind him, looking out. It was dark in Coruscant, nighttime had fallen over the Galactic City. For a few minutes, the Jedi just watched the traffic outside and wished that just somebody could make this decision for him, knowing nobody could; His fate and that of his apprentice laid in his hands.
With another sigh, Obi-Wan stepped away from the window and his gaze fell on a photo on his bedside table. He silently took it and hold it into the faint light of the moon.
On the picture was a little boy with short brown hair and big blue, happy eyes. He had a birthday hat on his head and smiled at the camera. Beside him stood a seventeen year old boy, who also smiled for the camera, while he had a comforting hand on the little boy's shoulder and a present for him in his other one.
They seemed so careless, so happy, so full of peace.
Obi-Wan smiled at the memory of Anakin's birthday.
It was one of the days he had greatly enjoyed with his Padawan and the thought to lose him to the dark side nearly broke his heart. He just couldn't see how that kind, happy boy would disappear in the eternal despair of the dark side. Even the slightest thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach.
He had watched and protected the boy for so long, he felt like Anakin was his own son, his only brother and he couldn't bear the thought to lose him!
With a heavy sigh and a sad smile on his face, Obi-Wan made his decision.
He would do what must be done, for the sake of his Padawan!
Laughter echoed through the dark room as Palpatine saw the kneeling figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi in front of him. The Jedi had made his decision and joined the Sith in order to protect his apprentice from Sidiou's wicked claws. For a moment, he looked just at the former Jedi Master before he, in a deep, slick baritone said:" Rise my apprentice! From now on you shall be called... Darth Azran."
" Thank you my master!", replied Obi-Wan, while a part of him still couldn't believe that he was doing this. But his decision was clear. He would never let Anakin fall to the dark side, no matter the cost. He meant too much to him and he would accept a fate of suffering and darkness, while Anakin could live a life in peace and as far away from the dark side as he possibly could.

With a mental sigh, Obi-Wan rose to his feet and waited for his new master to say what they would be doing now.
As if he had read the Jedi's mind Darth Sidious replied:" We won't do anything yet, my apprentice. The time to reveal us to the Jedi hasn't come yet. But till it's time you will pretend as if nothing had happened. Do not let the Jedi come behind your secret under any costs! I will call you, when the time has come, but till then we will act as if nothing had happened."
The former Jedi just nodded and bowed, before Palpatine dismissed him and he went back to his former life.
But he was sure, that from this day on, nothing would ever be the same again.

Six months later, Palpatine called him to his office and told him that their time has come. Obi-Wan, who had trained in the ways of the dark side secretly and far away from the Jedi Temple, just nodded and listened to what his master had to say.
" Finally the time has come, my apprentice! Yoda, Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker are on Kashyyk, while mostly all of the Jedi are in the entire universe, fighting to end the War. Now is the time. Every Jedi is our enemy now, go to the Jedi Temple and kill them all. After that you will head to the Mustafar System and kill Nute Gunray and the other separatists to end this War. And then we shall have peace!", said Sidious and Obi-Wan, who kneeled before him nodded once, before he stood up and said:" As you wish my master."
And with those words he left, with an army of Clones, to fulfill his master's order...
With every Jedi he slaughtered he felt a little bit more of the light in his soul vanish. Now it was true, now he couldn't lie to himself anymore. He had betrayed the Jedi. He had betrayed his family in order to keep his Padawan safe.
And now he stood there, parrying a lightsaber here, killing a Padawan there, nothing could stop him, as he slaughtered himself a way through the Temple, killing all the Jedi in his way.
While the Clone Troopers would take care of all the Jedi in the Temple Obi-Wan, (he saw himself still as Obi-Wan Kenobi,) went into an Turbo lift and decided to visit the Jedi Council's Chambers.
He felt a few light presences, Padawans and Younglings, but no Knights, or Masters. As he walked inside the room every single youngling who had hidden came forth, relieved in the fact that finally a Jedi Master has arrived.
A young Boy stepped forth in front of Obi-Wan, and he immediately reminded him of Anakin; he had the same blue eyes and the same short chestnut hair. The former Jedi was brought out of his nostalgic trance, as the boy began to speak.
" Master, we don't know, what we should do! There are so many of them!", the boy said, fear written all over his features and Obi-Wan needed a moment to calm himself down.
In his mind he traveled through his entire life. From the moment when Qui Gon had taken him on as a Padawan, to his own Padawan Anakin, till the here and now. Suddenly, an image of a seventeen-year-old, smiling Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared before his inner eye and the Jedi Master was frozen in shock for a moment.
He sighed heavily and sadly as he realized that he would never smile so carelessly again. He thought about what he would do now and realized that the once so kind and happily smiling Jedi boy, once called Obi-Wan Kenobi, was gone, replaced by a monster with the same features as his.
At that realization Obi-Wan's hard eyes wavered for a moment and a single tear escaped him, as sadness appeared in his blue orbs and he whispered with pain in his voice:" Please, forgive me."
And with that he strikes.
The poor boy couldn't even answer, in mere seconds his head lay on the floor and his body limp down on the ground like a burlap sack.
A sharp gasp escaped the remaining Younglings and Padawans, as disbelief and pain filled their eyes, quickly followed by horror as they realized what their Master would do to them.
They tried to escape, but Obi-Wan blocked the only exit.
They were locked in here.
With growing terror, they realized that there was no way to escape. They could only watch and wait, watch how their friends died by the hands of their hero, and wait for their own life to end.
Which each strike, Obi-Wan lost himself more and more and finally, with the fall of the last youngling the image of the seventeen year old boy in his mind shattered, while the light left his heart and only darkness remained.
As he made his way back to the entrance of the Temple to complete his mission on Mustafar, he looked at a window and his breath caught in his throat. He saw no longer those sad, blue eyes staring back at him, but two haunting yellow ones, merciless and cold.
With a final sigh, the former Jedi Master shook his head and banned the name Obi-Wan Kenobi from his mind. Now, this name had no meaning to him anymore.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead. He died in this room, together with the Younglings and Padawans, the same ones he had mercilessly slaughtered.
Without another thought in his mind, the new Sith tightened his shoulders, took a deep breath and let his eyes harden. There was no going back anymore. Now there was nobody left for him to save.
He had a mission to accomplish, but while he was on his way to his ship, he wasn't able to push the worry off of his mind, and so he wondered if Anakin, Yoda and Mace Windu were all right.
But he shoved the thought quickly away and made his way to his ship, to complete his mission.
As he was flying into the atmosphere of Coruscant he shot one last glance at his former home...and saw it burst into flames.
On that day, on that planet Obi-Wan Kenobi died, together with all the other Younglings, Padawans, Knights and Masters in that Temple and only Darth Azran remained and left a galaxy suffering from his grasp.
But unknown to him, there were three Jedi on three different planets that were mourning. For the galaxy and for their friend, for the great Jedi Master who has been consumed by the dark side.
One of those Jedi was Anakin Skywalker.
Silent and with tears in his eyes and a broken heart in his body he holds a picture in his hands as he watched the sunset on Tatooine. Tears escaped the young man, as he looked at the paper.
On it were two humans, two boys.
One was small, with sparkling blue eyes and a party hat on his head, while the other was much older, at least seventeen. He also sported shining, watery blue eyes, and his right hand was placed comfortably on the younger boy's shoulder, while in his left hand he held a present for the younger boy.

Both had joyful grins on their faces as they looked at the camera.

A smile crossed the lips of the young Jedi, as he remembered this moment.

It was one of the happiest moments in his life.

His Master meant so much for him, and now he was gone.
His smile turned sad and pain reflected in the blue eyes, as he whispered, soft and hoarse.
" Oh, Obi-Wan, what have you done?"

Nobody heard him, as his words were slowly dragged away by the soft upcoming breeze.

Obi-Wan Kenobi.
A Hero, a kind Man, a Jedi Master, a Negotiator, a Light in the Force, a Sith.
But to one man he was more than that; He was a friend, a master and more than that, he was a brother. A Brother, who would suffer at the hands of evil, for his sake.