Greetings, all. I'm sorry this took so long, but I was having the worst time trying to figure this one out. Just Ayame coming back was a chore. At any rate, I should be off on a roll with this one once again, so enjoy!

I do not own Star Wars. I own Ayame.

Ayame's fighter tore through hyperspace toward Courescant. She took the time to prepare herself. Through a quick mental exercise taught to her by Lana Beniko, she entered a serene state that calmed her presence down to almost negligible. It also allowed her emotions to be completely under her control. She also removed the hood from her cloak, deciding that it was going to be too cumbersome in battle. Ayame managed to finish just as her sublight engines cut in and she dropped into the battle.

A red and yellow fighter were rocketing towards the flagship at breakneck speed. Ayame matched them, slipping in to the main hangar as the red fighter – which she assumed was Anakin – maneuvered over the yellow one and killed the shields. Obi-Wan launched from his fighter almost immediately, and began cutting down battle droids, his blue saber whirling like a blur. Ayame, who pulled her grey hood and mask up, joined him, twin silver swords cutting through the droids as if they weren't there. She heard a third join, and saw Anakin calmly dispatching the Separatist forces. Once all the droids in the hangar, Ayame heard Obi-Wan's saber whirl one more time and come to rest right in front of her face. She knew that he couldn't see her face, but she still had to push down her emotions with him this close.

Obi-Wan observed this grey-clad warrior. She fought with two lightsabers, a rare color of silver. A dark grey sleeveless tunic and pants covered her body, with knee high black boots. She wore black, fingerless gloves and black leather bracers adorned her hands and arms. The bracers were embossed with a silver symbol that Obi-Wan had never seen before. She had no cape or robe, but a cowl the same color as the tunic covered her head, and a black cloth mask covered her face up to her nose. Anakin stayed back a ways, but did not lower his weapon, eyeing the woman.

Ayame looked back at her husband. He had cut his hair but kept his beard. She liked it. Anakin, from what she had seen, was no longer an apprentice, as his braid was gone and he had grown his hair out. It was now a frazzled mess that went to his shoulders. There was also a new scar on his face that she didn't remember. She would have to ask him about it later.

"Who are you?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"The Council sent me," she replied, her voice muffled by the mask.

"That didn't answer my question," Obi-Wan said. "Who are you?"

"A friend," she said simply.

"Does our friend have a name?" Anakin asked.

"Now is not the time to be suspicious," she said, deactivating her lightsabers, and clipping them to either side of her hips on a black leather belt. "The Council sent me, that should be good enough. You can debate who I am after we save Chancellor Palpatine." Obi-Wan's blue eyes widened. He suddenly felt cowed in a way that he hadn't felt in over a year. Something about the tone of voice she was using evoked a memory of… "Are you coming?"

She had already walked away from his lightsaber, and was going towards R2, who had left Anakin's fighter. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other, Anakin having a similar expression on his face, like he had just been told off by his mother. The two Jedi followed the hooded figure, who was whistling excitedly at her approach.

"It's okay, little one," she said, gently. Ayame knew that R2 recognized her. The little astromech was smarter than most of his model. "Not yet," she said quietly. "Mission first, reunion later." R2 beeped and displayed a rough readout of the ship.

"The chancellor's signal is coming from right there," Obi-Wan said, pointing to a pulsating red dot at the top of the ship. "The observation platform at the top of that spire."

"I sense Count Dooku," Anakin said, looking around.

"And I sense a trap," Obi-Wan added.

"Next move?" Anakin asked, looking to Obi-Wan, who grinned.

"Spring the trap." The three Knights walked toward a corridor as R2 beeped at them.

"R2, go back," Anakin ordered. "I need you to stay with the ship."

"Here, take this and wait for orders," Obi-Wan said, throwing a communicator at the droid. They took off at a jog towards the elevators. Almost there, they were attacked by Destroyers, and then walked into an elevator filled with battle droids. Neither were difficult to deal with, just annoying.

That much hasn't changed, Ayame thought as Anakin pressed the button for the observation platform.

It didn't take long for something to go wrong. The elevator stopped abruptly, nowhere near where they needed to be.

"Did you press the stop button?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin.

"No, did you?" Anakin asked. Both looked at Ayame, who put her hands up. "There's more than one way out of here," Anakin said. He drew his weapon and began cutting through the roof of the elevator.

"We don't want to get out, we want to get moving," Obi-Wan said, pulling out his commlink. "R2, activate elevator 31174," he said, reading off the serial number on the wall. R2 didn't answer right away, and Obi-Wan kept trying. Suddenly, the makeshift hatch Anakin was working on dropped into the elevator, and he leaped out. "Always on the move," Obi-Wan groaned. Ayame thought for a moment, wondering who to follow. Her thoughts were cut short as the elevator plummeted downward, throwing her and Obi-Wan to the floor. "R2, we need to be going up, not down!" Obi-Wan shouted into the commlink when they got up. "He's normally not like this," he added to Ayame, who merely nodded. The elevator stopped abruptly again, throwing the two to the floor…again. Finally, it was rocketing upward again. "That's better," Obi-Wan said, and cut the transmission. Suddenly, someone dropped in, causing both Knights to draw a weapon. "Oh, it's you," Ayame said when she realized it was Anakin.

"What was that all about?" Anakin asked.

"Well, R2 has been," Obi-Wan began.

"Ah ah ah, no loose wire jokes," Anakin said.

"Did I say anything?" Obi-Wan asked, insulted.

"He's trying."

"I didn't say anything!" Ayame looked between the two and smiled, glad to see that they were close as ever.

They encountered no resistance for the rest of the journey, finding the Chancellor trapped in a chair, looking out a massive glass window. The three Knights approached him calmly.

"Chancellor," Obi-Wan greeted him, bowing.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked him.

"I wasn't expecting three of you," Chancellor Palpatine said.

"The Jedi Council sent me, Supreme Chancellor," Ayame said, bowing as well. While not looking at him, she tried to reach out and sense his true intentions, but nothing came through.

"Count Dooku," Palpatine said suddenly. The three warriors turned and saw the white-haired Sith approaching with two heavy battle droids flanking him. He flipped off the balcony and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt. Anakin and Obi-Wan shed their cloaks and did the same.

"This time, we will do it together," Obi-Wan said to Anakin.

"I was about to say that," Anakin said quietly.

"Get help, you're no match for him. He's a Sith lord," Palpatine insisted. "Perhaps your friend here could be of assistance."

"Chancellor Palpatine, Sith lords are our speciality. Guard the Chancellor," Obi-Wan said, pointing the order ot Ayame, who simply nodded and drew her own weapons.

"Your swords, please," Dooku said. "We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor."

"You won't get away this time, Dooku," Obi-Wan said, as he and Anakin activated their lightsabers. There were a few seconds of fighting that Ayame watched carefully.

"I've been looking forward to this," Dooku said, looking between his two opponents.

"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," Anakin said.

"Good," Dooku goaded. "Twice the pride, double the fall." They fought for a few more minutes, during which, Obi-Wan was knocked unconscious and trapped underneath a durasteel balcony.

"No!" Ayame cried, unable to stop herself. Taking a few breaths, she calmed herself and focused on Anakin.

"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker," Dooku taunted Anakin as they locked blades. "You have hate, you have anger…but you don't use them." Ayame activated her swords, readying herself for her own fight. But, it never came. Anakin managed to sever both of Dooku's arms up to his elbows and take his sword. The Sith lord was brought to his knees as Anakin held him by the blades of both sabers.

"Good, Anakin, good," Palpatine said. "Kill him." Dooku and Ayame both looked at him, surprised by the cold tone in his voice. "Kill him now."

"I shouldn't," Anakin said, clearly fighting with himself.

Don't, Anakin, Ayame thought, quietly pleading.

"Do it!" Palpatine snarled. With some difficulty, Anakin drew the crossed blades across each other, beheading Count Dooku as he did. Ayame deactivated her weapons, furious. Unable to face the Chancellor, she went to see about Obi-Wan, and was joined a few moments later by Anakin.

"Anakin, there's no time," Palpatine insisted as Anakin looked him over. "We must get off this ship before it's too late." Ayame snapped her head up and glared at the Chancellor. She reached out again, harder this time, but was still met with resistance.

"He seems to be all right," Anakin called, ignoring what Palpatine had said.

"Leave him, or we'll never make it," the Chancellor said.

"His fate will be the same as ours," Anakin said, grimly. With Ayame's help, he slung Obi-Wan's body over his shoulders, and the four of them left the chamber for the elevators.

When the reached the elevators, they found them completely nonfunctional. Anakin contacted R2 as the ship started shaking. They were being bombarded by another capital ship, judging by the frequency of the tremors. Suddenly, one, hit its mark, because the ship started plummeting. Ayame forced the door open, and they started running down the elevator shaft like a hallway. Both she and Anakin kept an ear out for the elevator, as it could possibly crush them at the speed that it moved. They were about halfway down the shaft when the ship began to level out, turning their hallway into a shaft again. Palpatine grabbed Anakin's leg as they began to slide. Reaching with his artificial hand, Anakin found a cable to grab on to, while Ayame found a ledge. As they dangled, Obi-Wan woke up, and let out a cry of surprise when he saw where they were.

"Easy," Ayame said. "We're in a bit of a situation here."

"Did I miss something?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin was about to answer when a familiar – and terrifying – sound hit their ears. "What's that?"

"Um….oops," Anakin said. They all looked up and saw the elevator racing toward them. "R2, R2 shut down the elevator," Anakin called.

"Too late, jump!" Obi-Wan grunted, and all four of them began sliding down the shaft, Palpatine still clinging to Anakin's leg. The three Jedi pulled out grappling hooks, tossed them up, and swung themselves through an open door just in time. "Let's see if we can find something in the hangar bay that's still flyable," Obi-Wan said, looking back at the shaft.

"R2, get down here," Anakin said into his commlink, and the party started jogging toward the hangar.

Halfway down a hallway, they were caught in ray shields.

"Ray shields," Anakin said, stating the obvious.

"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan said. "How did this happen? We're smarter than this."

"Apparently not," Anakin remarked. "I say patience."

"Patience?" Ayame asked.

"Yes. R2 will be along in a few moments, and he'll release the ray shields," Anakin said, confidently. As if on cue, a nearby door opened, and the astromech came barreling in, screaming as he did so. He crashed into the other wall and shuddered a bit, shaking his domed head. Ayame smiled at him, glad to see that he had the same personality that she loved and missed. "See? No problem," Anakin said.

But he spoke too soon.

Destroyers rolled in behind R2, followed by multiple heavy and regular battle droids coming down the hall and through other doors.

"Do you have a plan B?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin did not answer.

The four of them were brought to the bridge, where the leader of the Separatist army, General Grievous, was waiting for them. Ayame didn't know much about him. From appearances, he was a cyborg, though there was very little left that was organic. From the face shape, she guessed he was originally Kaleesh.

"Ah, yes, the negotiator," Grievous said as they were brought on to the bridge. "General Kenobi. We've been waiting for you. That wasn't much of a rescue," he added as a battle droid handed over their lightsabers. Obi-Wan took a moment to get a look at their friend's weapons. The lightsaber hilts were bright red, with black grips and detailing. He made a mental note to ask where she found the silver crystals, as those were rare. "And, Anakin Skywalker," Grievous continued after a hacking cough. "I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little older." Ayame looked over at Anakin, who kept his face even, despite Grievous coughing and wheezing in his face.

"General Grievous…you're shorter than I expected," Anakin fired back, keeping his voice as even as his face.

"Jedi scum," Grievous spat. Then, he turned to Ayame, who's heart began to race. She could stop Grievous from touching her without trying very hard, but she was sure Anakin and Obi-Wan would recognize her presence. On the other hand, if he removed her hood and mask, they would see her anyway. "And who do we have here? Unusual for Jedi to hide their appearance." Before Ayame could decide what to do, Grievous ripped her mask and hood off her face, leaving her face exposed, glaring at the warlord. Her hazel eyes then shifted over to Anakin and Obi-Wan, who were staring at her in complete shock. She quickly looked away, unable to look at either of them.

OBI-WAN POV

Ayame. My Ayame. She was back.

Her long hair had been cropped short, and there were a few new scars on her face, but it was definitely my wife. In the briefest moment when our eyes met, I saw that she was both happy to see me, and sad that she hadn't been able to reveal herself on her own terms. Her emotions washed over me like a tsunami. The main one was anger, one that I had never felt in her before. It worried me.

But we had a job to do, and I had to focus on the mission.

THIRD PERSON

"Master Ayame?" she heard the Chancellor say. "You've returned?"

"Ayame Melma," Grievous said. "I had heard you ran from the war. Come to make up for your cowardice?" Ayame didn't answer. Rather, she closed her eyes and calmed herself. "Regardless, your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection," Grievous continued. He opened his cape, revealing two more lightsabers already slotted in, and put their lightsabers next to them.

"Not this time," Obi-Wan said. "And this time, you won't escape."

"R2!" Anakin said. The droid began to go berserk, all his instruments popping out of their slots, and his stun gun flailing wildly. Obi-Wan brought his lightsaber to him, cutting himself and Anakin free. Ayame did the same, calling her twin sabers to her. With one, she cut herself free, and with the other, she cut down the two droids flanking her. The two Jedi engaged Grievous' bodyguard droids, while Ayame got busy with the rest of the droids on the bridge. Anakin made short work of his, freeing the Chancellor at the same time, and joined Ayame in clearing the bridge. Many of the droids, as well as the captain, ran off in fear. Obi-Wan was the last to join in the fray, until all three had Grievous cornered.

"You lose, General Kenobi!" he cried, and slammed his bodyguard's electrostaff into the glass of the bridge. Without thinking, everyone grabbed something to hold on to as the glass shattered, opening into space. Everyone held on for dear life, except for Grievous, who could survive without oxygen. He allowed himself to be pulled out of the ship, and climbed along the exterior.

The blast shields automatically closed on the bridge, sealing them off. The humans all gasped for breath, long enough for Grievous to launch all the escape pods on the ship.

"Can you fly a cruiser like this?" Obi-Wan asked Anakin.

"You mean do I know how to land what's left of this thing," Anakin corrected him. Ayame checked a few screens. The ship was in bad shape, barely functioning.

"Well?"

"Under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant," Anakin said. "Strap yourselves in." Everyone but the Chancellor took a seat in front of a control station. "Open all hatches. Extend all flaps and drag fins," Anakin ordered. R2, Obi-Wan, and Ayame moved to obey. Anakin was the best pilot they had ever met, so in situations like this, he was in charge. Suddenly, the ship rocked horribly, and the sound of screeching, breaking metal reached their ears. A quick scan of the ship showed…that half of the ship had been ripped off by the force of reentry. "We lost something," Anakin said.

"Not to worry, we're still flying half a ship," Obi-Wan said, trying to bring some hope to the situation. They continued their plummet toward the capital, Ayame trying to do what she could from her end. They began to speed up, and entered the atmosphere much too fast.

"5000," Obi-Wan read out as they cleared the atmosphere. "Fire ships on the left and the right." Ayame looked out the window and saw the mentioned ships putting out the fires on the ship caused by their entry. "There's a landing strip straight ahead," he pointed out.

"We're coming in too hot!" Anakin exclaimed. There wasn't much they could do, but Anakin tried anyway. Finally, they made contact with the landing strip. The resulting friction slowly ground them to a halt. Once they were still, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other.

"Another happy landing," Obi-Wan said, running his hand through his hair and grinning.