Light vs. Dark

"Count Dooku," Anakin glared at the man as he stalked down the hatch of his ship, "You are under arrest, in the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic and by order of the Jedi Council."

Dooku just sneered at him, lifting his lightsaber, the red glow reflecting off the natural darkness and orangey glow of the magma pools around them, making his face appear even more sinister.

"Do not take another step," Amira moved beside Anakin, both of them readying their sabers.

"You think you could defeat me?" Dooku eyed them, though he made no other move, "You may have defeated my Master but you will never destroy us. The Sith will rise again and the Galaxy shall be ours."

Amira and Anakin glanced at each other for that, not entirely sure what he meant by the fact that Palpatine had been 'defeated' though they could hope that it meant the Senate had been presented the evidence before Palpatine could do anything. But they couldn't be certain, not till they were able to contact the Order and see what had happened.

"You have no idea what you have done," Dooku continued, "We could have brought peace to the Galaxy. We could have ensured justice, freedom, and security to the people. And you have turned your back on that, on the power to affect all life in the universe. And yet you betrayed our Master!"

Amira could only look at Dooku in sorrow and pity for that. The man, she could see it in his eyes, he genuinely believed in the Dark Side, believed it was not the evil it was. And that was truly the saddest and most dangerous enemy there could be, one that believed in their evils so much that they saw it to be good.

Anakin shook his head, "He is not my Master, nor shall he ever be," he stated, "I will not see the Dark rise if it is the last thing I am able to do, I will stop your order."

"WE will stop you," Amira agreed, not about to let Anakin face this man alone, but trying, just once more to try and get through to Dooku as, to take a life when life was sacred was the greatest burden of a Jedi and she would avoid it if she could. Perhaps there was even a shred of Light still left in him, she doubted it, but she had to try, "Can you not see how your anger and hatred and…and lust for power has corrupted you?" she asked the man, "You were a Jedi, you were one of the greatest, you swore to defeat the Darkness not stand with it," she looked at him with pity, "We count you among The Lost Twenty," she reminded him, "We count you as one of them, as a JEDI, one merely lost to us, but you can come back, you can find your way back to the light."

"Who are you to lecture me, young one?" Dooku all but sneered at her, "I have long since seen the lies of the Jedi. They are the evil ones, not the Sith. THEY will be the ruin of the Republic."

He could feel his anger boiling inside him at that. He had been on Mustafar, just before Anakin was to arrive, had been called back by his Master, to stand by him after he gained control of the Senate. He'd been on his way there, had been halfway back...when he'd gotten a distress call from his Master from the Senate, had been able to make contact and get a report from one of the Clones about what had happened. Anakin had betrayed his Master, had fooled them all and was still on the side of the Light and, because of that, his Master had been overwhelmed by three other Jedi and taken into custody. He'd felt so angry that all he could think of was finding Anakin and seeing him punished. He had immediately turned to return to Mustafar to see the Jedi flying away with the Separatists in their own custody. His rage knew no bounds at that, he HAD to face the little brat down and show him the error he'd made in turning his back on the Dark, on betraying his Master as he had.

"No," Anakin defied him, "The Jedi will always protect the peace, uphold justice, and bring security to the Galaxy. Nothing you say shall sway us from our allegiance to the Order and the Republic, from democracy and Light."

"You have such potential, Anakin," Dooku frowned at him, "My Master spent years cultivating it. And you would turn your back on that, on the chance to be the most powerful Jedi ever," he seemed disgusted by the thought.

Anakin's eyes narrowed, "Rather a Great Jedi than a Powerful one."

Amira, despite the situation, couldn't help the rush of pride and warmth that spread through her at his words, at the reaffirmation of how deeply rooted Anakin was to the side of the Light. He had been trained in the Light, tempted by the Dark, and was choosing to remain in the Light. He was choosing his destiny, one that was set out before him with such ambiguity, and he was taking hold of it in his own right.

The Chosen One would bring balance to the Force.

The whispers said it was Anakin, that he was the Chosen One, but nothing said that it would balance the Force to the Light or Dark, something she could tell the Council was all too aware of, that it never said to which side the Chosen One would turn. But here he was, and it was to the Light.

"Then you shall fall," Dooku glared, "It would bring me the greatest honor to cut you down for your betrayal of Darth Sidious," he nearly laughed when they moved into a ready stance to fight, "You are fools," he spat at them, "You're no match for the Dark Side."

"Arrogance will be your downfall," Amira stated calmly.

"And Love will be yours," he shot back at them.

Anakin's grip on his lightsaber tightened, "You will not take her from me," he warned the man, understanding that Dooku knew, likely the Chancellor had told him, of his affections for Amira, that he was going to try to make him suffer, to truly punish him for his 'betrayal' by targeting her first.

Dooku just grinned darkly at him, "We shall see."

And, not a moment later, the duel of the century began, with Dooku launching himself at Anakin and Amira with all that he had.

It was almost like a horrifying memory playing out before them as Anakin and Amira fought on, both had fought the Count before, never at the same time, and both had been able to hold their own. Together they should have been able to defeat the man quicker than before, two on one, especially with the man being so much older than they were, with the disadvantage to certain parts of his body that should have made holding a lightsaber and fighting with one more difficult. But the man was holding his own and doing so very well, even against the both of them.

They pushed on, as hard as they could, neither of them willing to give up, neither of them speaking a word as they tried to focus on Dooku. The man truly was a master of the saber and had many, many more years over the two of them combined in dueling with it. They wouldn't let on their concerns about it however. Dooku was angry, they could tell, and anger was always the shortest distance to a mistake, they just had to hold out long enough for him to make it. But as they went, pushing the man from the landing platform and towards the base itself, they could tell that the anger was also making him stronger, he was holding on to all the anger and hatred he felt and using it to reaffirm his attacks, hold strong against them.

Dooku was wrong, though, their love would not be their downfall, for it powered them as mightily as his anger and hatred powered him. They were fighting for each other, to protect each other, to keep themselves safe so the other wouldn't worry. But more than that, they were fighting for their Masters, to make them proud, for the Order, to show that the Light would always defeat the Dark, for the Republic and the Senators who were trusting them to end the war, and for all the sacred life throughout the Galaxy that they had sworn and were privilege to protect. They were fighting for everything good and just, everything deserving of love, and that was making them endure as well as Dooku was.

They didn't even realize they'd been pushing the man so far into the base until they'd reached the control room where they'd taken down the Separatists. It was difficult to focus as they approached it, their sabers flying everywhere meant bits of the halls itself ended up getting carved, small chunks of it and debris from the lights above them falling around them, still they pushed on, avoiding the rubble as it fell. Amira flinched as her saber skimmed one of the monitors on the wall, causing sparks to go off, the screens exploding, making bright flashes of light appear at the corner of their eyes, distracting.

Dooku threw his hand out, sending Amira flying back in her distraction, landing on top of the table of the conference room the moment they'd made it inside that chamber, leaving Anakin to lunge forward and pull Dooku's focus to him, not about to risk the man choking her with the Force or use the Force Lightning against her. Dooku seemed pleased with the change though, and focused intently on Anakin, managing to knock him back into the doorframe that led to a balcony just outside the room. He swung his saber down at Anakin's arm, intending to cut it off, when Amira's lightsaber blocked it, the girl having gotten off the table in time, quickly shooting her elbow up and knocking Dooku in the nose with it, sending him stumbling back onto the balcony as Anakin pushed himself up, the two of them resuming their dual-attack on the Count.

Dooku grit his teeth at them and held out his hand, summoning various objects off the walls, using the Force to hurl them at the duo, but they quickly cut through whatever came at them with their sabers, still coming at him. He looked over his shoulder, at the end of the balcony, to see there was either a pool of lava below him that he could try to knock one of them into, or a metal supply pipe running between the control center and towards another structure. He grinned at that and turned, jumping off the balcony and onto the pipe, moving backwards, clearly thinking this would be the best way to go, it would force him to face only one of them at a time as the pipe was too thin for them to stand side by side.

Anakin and Amira ran to the edge of the balcony, looking down, before glancing at each other, not even needing to speak to know what the other was thinking. Anakin nodded and stepped onto the balcony, concentrating as he used the Force to leap off it…and land behind Dooku on the pipe, causing the man to spin around and face him as Anakin grinned at him. But a moment later, Dooku froze, hearing a thump behind him as well. He turned slowly to see Amira had managed to jump down onto the pipe as well, now leaving him trapped in the middle of the two Jedi. Anakin would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious. He'd been better at manipulating the Force, so it made sense for him to take the bigger and farther leap, but Amira had improved on her Force Jumping, had managed to jump the straight path down from the balcony to the pipe.

Dooku grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes at them.

"Arrogance," Amira called, reminding the man of the very warning she'd given, "I did say arrogance."

He had assumed more about himself and less about them than he should have. He thought he'd be safer there, that he'd have an advantage, and now he'd lost both.

Dooku lashed out at that, spreading himself out between the two but not facing one or the other, straining himself to be able to continue to fight, but he was managing it, using the Force to keep knocking Anakin further and further back, allowing him to start make his way towards the end of the pipe, towards the structure that it was connected to at the end. He breathed only one sigh of relief when he reached it, reached the wider platform of the structure, giving him more room to maneuver as he faced the two Jedi once more. He didn't give them a moment to recover as he reached out and struck at that them, this time taking the offensive, pushing THEM back, fighting them and forcing them back alone the frame of the structure, towards a lava rig that was connected to the main structure. They'd only gotten half way when a mass of lava shot up in a bubble and covered the frame behind them, the sparks from it starting to burst into the air, raining down on them.

Anakin and Amira turned and ran, Anakin pulling her off to the side as Dooku gave chase but was forced to take cover on the other side of a beam, avoiding the lava spilling down. Anakin clutched Amira to him, both of them panting hard as they tried to catch their breath at the short reprieve they'd been given. The moment it seemed the lava had let up, they leapt around the beam and resumed their fight with Dooku, only managing a strike or two before the rig they were on began to shake and break apart from the main structure. They looked over, seeing that it was about to topple over into a pool of lava and raced back for the walkway they'd been on as the rig shifted in its fall, the base of it striking the lava below them, causing the walkway to shoot straight up, leaving them hanging from it, Dooku just below them as he too had run for the walkway.

They winced, trying to pull themselves up, trying to climb as the rig began to sink into the lava, needing to get to the top of it, to find a way off it, somewhere to go, something to do to keep them from falling to the same fate while also trying to block the swings that Dooku was sending up at them with his saber.

Amira let out a scream below him that had Anakin's heart stopping in his chest, turning to see that Dooku had managed to slice at her leg, not sever it, but there was a deep gash against it and, when Amira tried to block the next attack, Dooku managed to swing hard enough to knock her saber from her hand.

"Amira!" he shouted, reaching for her as the next swing from the Count had her twisting to avoid, twisting too much, so much that she lost her grip on the walkway and began to fall…right for the magma, just as she had in his vision, "NO!"

He grabbed onto the walkway with one hand, reaching out with the other for her, using all his might, all his concentration and focus to manipulate the Force, to pull her back towards him as she reached for him in her fall.

He didn't even realize he'd dropped his lightsaber to do so until Amira had been pulled back up to him, allowing him to grab her arm in his hold, leaving her dangling below him as he tried to pull her up, tried to get her close enough to the walkway to get a grip again, but the angle that he'd grabbed the walkway on, the position of his feet, how he was half leaning off the structure to hold her made it nearly impossible.

He froze when he heard a deep chuckle above him.

He let out a breath and turned, looking up at the top of the melted walkway. He was so near the top, so close to safety…and yet in his distraction to stop Amira falling, he hadn't seen Dooku pass him and reach the top. The man was standing there, panting, sweating, grinning at him as he looked down his nose at the two Jedi, his red lightsaber clutched tightly in his hand…and the two of them without theirs to defend themselves.

"I did warn you," Dooku mocked them, "Your love shall be your downfall."

Anakin almost didn't even feel the lightsaber in Dooku's hand slice through his forearm, cutting the rest of his hand as it clung to the walkway from his body. Without the grip, there was nothing he could do to stop himself and Amira falling back towards the magma, nothing he could do but look up at Dooku as the man laughed and watched them fall. He turned, not wanting that to be his last sight, and managed to pull Amira into his arms, holding her tightly to him as they fell, the magma getting closer and closer…

When a small, flat shuttle flew past, just under them, catching them on top of it and not a moment too soon.

They landed hard, both of them barely conscious from the pain and blood loss, not even sure if they were really safe or if they'd just constructed the image of the familiar Jedi shuttle in their minds to save themselves from the agony of burning to death. But they could hear Dooku screaming, his voice angry and hateful, and managed to look over towards the walkway.

Dooku was facing them, watching the shuttle that carried them, so intent in his focus that he didn't notice the lava had reached and edge, like a waterfall or a cliff, until it was too late, until the walkway had started to topple over it, taking Dooku with it down to the magma below.

Anakin let out a shuddered breath and turned his head, able to see Amira lying beside him, both of them pale, shaking, their eyes drooping as the events caught up to them, as the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in. He reached out his good hand and took hers, the last thing either of them saw or felt was the other, before their worlds went black…

~8~

They owed Neeva their lives.

That was the only thing Anakin could think as he sat at the base of the large waterfall in the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the Jedi Temple two weeks after the events of Mustafar.

He and Amira had woken in a Jedi shuttle to find that it had been Neeva that had flown to the planet after them once she had been confident that she'd heard from all the Jedi possible, once she was sure that Order 66 had run its course and the Clones were on their way to having the order revoked. Neeva had gone to Mustafar, intending to help them with the Separatists, but been contacted that they'd been dealt with. Still, she had sensed something wrong and continued on to the planet, and just in time too. She had seen them falling, had flown her shuttle just under them and rescued them from dying by fire. She had gotten them into the shuttle and begun to patch them up before flying them right back to the Temple for more medical attention, while having R2-D2 slave the other shuttle to hers, towing it back, having it follow her.

He couldn't remember much between waking in the shuttle and when he'd fully woken in the Temple's medical rooms, to see a droid fitting him with a robotic hand to use. It was more realistic than he was sure it would have been three years ago if Dooku had managed to cut off his limbs like he was sure the man had wanted to, but it was still clear that it was robotic in nature. He looked at it now, he'd taken to wearing a glove over it, not wanting to look at it.

He saw it as a failure on his part, as a lesson, as a reminder to be better next time, to not make the same mistakes that he'd made.

He would NOT count saving Amira's life as a mistake, but he knew that if he'd positioned himself differently he could have gotten her to safety and kept hold of his saber. Amira seemed more inclined to hold his robotic hand though, as though she were trying to prove to him that it wasn't as bad as he took it to be, as though she were telling him that she didn't care it was robotic, just that she was glad she could hold it, that he was still there and alive for her to hold. She'd said as much. But he couldn't help but think that this was just another reason to train harder. He was a Knight of the Order, yes, but he was also young. He was only in his early 20s, Dooku had decades of experience on him, and he never wanted to be in a position where he came that close to losing Amira or losing his own life. He felt like he hadn't really defeated Dooku, not in a saber battle, but it was encouragement enough to try harder next time he faced an enemy, to keep practicing and working hard and, one day, he would be that good.

She didn't count their duel on Mustafar as a failure though. Neeva had told them that she'd seen Dooku falling over the cliff, taken down to a pool of magma, that she was sure no one could have survived it, not even Dooku. But that wasn't a certainty. By the time she had made it around to where he'd fallen there was no body. She claimed it was because it had burned up, but Master Yoda had been hesitant to assume anything. Dooku was powerful, he'd been coursing with the Dark Side at the time, and anything was possible when it came to the man. He refused to believe that Dooku was dead, as did he, Obi-Wan, and Amira as well though Amira was hopeful that the man was gone for good.

Even though it wasn't a complete success in stopping Dooku, it HAD been a success in other ways. The Separatists had been apprehended, had been brought to trial and, it was decided, executed for their crimes against the Republic, the Senate, and the peace of the Galaxy.

And that wasn't even the end of it.

Senator Amidala had done exactly as she promised, had used the evidence Amira had given her from the transmission to out Palpatine right in the middle of the Senate. She had gotten him into a trap by just letting him talk. He'd called a meeting of the Senate and presented all his 'evidence' of the Jedi plot against him, had claimed at their attempt on his life was what had caused the drastic change in his appearance, before trying to wean the Senate into agreeing to a Galactic Empire. It had been then that the Seantor had spoken up, had risen with over 2,000 other Senators against the Chancellor, had displayed to ALL of them the transmission, outing the Chancellor as not just a liar but a traitor to the Republic.

It had been chaos after that, from what he'd been told. Master Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Windu had tried to arrest the Chancellor, even the Clones had seemed to want to step in and stop the man when the Senate began to cry to unseat him, to execute him for his crimes. The Chancellor had reacted in his anger, as was typical of a Sith, had revealed himself for what he was in pulling a red lightsaber and starting to fight the Jedi right then and there. The Senate had been evacuated by the Clones, leaving the three Jedi Masters to face off with Palpatine.

The Sith Lord had been defeated, had been apprehended and brought to custody, was to stand trial before the NEW (if temporary) Chancellor, Senator Amidala. But it appeared that there were still those loyal to the man and he'd been secreted out of the holding cell. He had disappeared in the night and not even the Jedi knew where he had gone. It had left the Republic in fear, had left the Senate crying for the new Chancellor to hold the power she now had, to ensure the Republic was safe…but she refused, her only wish was to return the Senate and the Republic to its rightful place as a democracy, having only used her power in one last act to do a purge of the Senate, to launch an investigation into every Senator, even the 2,000 who had supported her (upon their own insistence), to weed out those that had been loyal to the Chancellor in a bid to remove the corruption from the government.

Anakin shook his head, he couldn't believe it, he still woke at times thinking it was all a dream.

The Senate stood democratic again, a majority of the Jedi had survived Order 66 and were recovering, the Temple still remained, the Sith had been dealt a deadly blow, and those Sith that could cause trouble had been forced to flee to the darkest recesses of space, hopefully to never return.

And he had Amira.

He smiled at that, he had Amira. He still had the Council's permission to be with her, and the two had been near inseparable since then. She had injured her leg badly, had almost lost it had Neeva not been there to care for it when she had been. She walked with a faint limp still, the medical droids had warned she likely would always have it, but just like with her and his robotic hand, he didn't care so long as it meant she was still alive to limp with it.

"There you are."

His smile widened as he heard her voice behind him, having sensed her before she'd even spoken, and turned to look at her, "I needed a moment of peace," he explained.

There was so much to do, so much destruction and devastation and damage that the Chancellor's reign had done, it was almost like a never-ending list of tasks for the Jedi to see to. He and Amira had been given a reprieve from it, taking on the more localized tasks due to their injuries, but it did get tedious to deal with.

He held out a hand to her, holding it as she sat beside him, her legs out before her, an easier position for her to rest in than crossing her legs with her injury. It was healing well, but it still left twinges of pain at times, "How was your exam?"

She had gone for her last examination of her leg and herself from Mustafar, the Council wishing to make sure they were both well and, once they were fully recovered, would be assigned to take on more off-world missions to help the Republic.

Amira sighed, "I don't think I'll be leaving the Temple any time soon."

He frowned, "Has your leg worsened?"

Amira just laughed at that, "Look at you, Skywalkwer, worrying about my poor old leg."

"I love your legs," he shrugged easily, "I love all of you."

She smiled at that, "Did you ever, truly, think that we'd end up like this?" she asked him, genuinely curious, "That the Council would really let us be together one day? That we'd be here, the two of us, together?"

He let out a gentle breath, "I'd hoped they would," he nodded, "I wished for it. More than anything."

"Well it only took us three years," she nudged him.

"We could have been together before then," he reminded her, even though he knew that they likely couldn't, he hadn't had the understanding of how he felt for her before they'd faced the Council, he hadn't had the insight to realize that he wouldn't fall to the Dark, that she kept him to the Light, till then.

"I don't think the Council would have agreed," she remarked.

"Master Yoda might have," Anakin mused. He had spoken to the green alien a short while ago, when he had been just lost in thought, wondering what it was that had made the Master consider the possibility of allowing them to be together. He knew that Yoda had been the one to call the Council to discuss them and he'd been curious what had made him consider it.

The answer had shocked him. Yoda had been aware of how close he'd come to the Dark Side years ago, with the Tusken Raiders and his mother. The Master had sensed the pull to it, the anger and hatred that had risen in him for seeing his mother in such a state. But he'd also sensed how Amira had pulled him back, made him stop, gotten through to him. He had felt a shift in the Force then, had described it now that he understood more that it was almost as if the Force had been guiding them together, had been approving of their bond. It had taken him a while to understand the Force's intention for the two, but talking to him about how he loved Amira and how he feared he'd fall to the Dark without her had enlightened him. It had, it seemed to him, made the Master cautiously curious of whether the Force would allow for something like that to happen again. Their way of life and dedication to the Force had been build on the Code, but their relationship went against the Code…yet the Force had essentially smiled on it.

It had left Master Yoda contemplating what it could mean, if, perhaps, they should reexamine the Code. The Master had even asked him HIS thoughts on it, having been raised outside the Code for so long and having a new perspective on it. He had declined to answer though, the Code was sacred to the Jedi and it had worked for them for many years, had kept many more Jedi than himself safe and content. He was not like other Jedi, he accepted that, but all the other Jedi that had been raised the same way for so many years, they were all very much honoring the Code. He suggested, perhaps, instead of changing the age-old Code, being more open to exceptions to it. To make it so that there was less a fear of banishment or punishment for breaking certain aspects of it, but making it clear that it was not going to be an exception for everyone. Amira had been so terrified of breaking the Code, had felt like a failure and feared banishment for it, when it had ended up being something beneficial to the Order. He would not tell the Council how to guide their Jedi, but he did suggest being more open when small exceptions to the Code might arise, to consider it on an individual case instead of keeping everyone to one single punishment when many cases were always different.

Amira hummed, "It will be a story," she murmured, "How two Jedi, one stubborn and the other persistent, so much so that it took them three years before they could finally be together."

Anakin smiled at the thought, "A story for our children, one day."

"One day," she agreed, "…or in nine months."

Anakin nodded absently at that, when her words caught up to him, "What?!"

Amira just laughed, "I DID just tell you I wouldn't be leaving the Temple for a while," she nudged him.

Anakin blinked at her, stunned, "You're…" he shook his head, "But we only…" he flushed at the thought of what they'd done just after he'd tricked Palpatine, after they'd been given the permission of the Council to be together.

"Two weeks," she started to smile, tears prickling in the corner of her eyes, "Seems you're not just strong in the Force, Skywalker."

Anakin let out a breath at that and looked down at her stomach, reaching out a hand to place it on, his human hand, wanting to feel it, wanting to sense it himself…and there it was, the smallest of sparks of life right under his hand, his child, their child, "I…" he shook his head, not sure what to say at that, before he looked up at her, "I love you," he breathed, staring into her eyes, "I love you so much."

She beamed, leaning in to kiss him as well, "I love you too, and I love our child," she put her hand over his.

Anakin started to laugh, grinning widely as he moved to kiss her again and again, half falling back with her as he held her, laughing and smiling, unable to believe the Force would bless them that way.

Amira though, she could very much believe it.

Anakin was everything the Council had hoped he would be and so much more, in her opinion. The Chosen One, the one they hoped would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force, allowing the light to shine on the Galaxy.

But she knew, as there always was with balance, where there was light, there was also Dark. The Dark Side of the Force would always be there, the Sith lurking in the shadows, but right now…right now there was hope and light and happiness and love.

And, no matter what happened, no matter what the future held, so long as that remained strong, the Dark Side would never prevail.

The End

A/N: I cannot believe the series is over! I have this listed as 'The End' instead of my typical 'To be continued...in...' because I'm genuinely not sure if I'll be continuing into Episode 4-6 or not at the moment. A lot has changed for Anakin and Amira and the Galaxy around them. The Jedi are more plentiful without Order 66 succeeding, the Temple is still there, Palpatine's been forced to retreat, it's still the Republic instead of the Empire, Padme is alive as is Windu, Amira likely doesn't carry a twin-gene the way Padme did (scientifically, I think it's been researched that the woman carries the twin-gene over the man), and she's only JUST found out she's pregnant (to sort of tie to a hint of Luke and Leia, a continuation and 'child' being present if the story continued). The Dark Side had been severely beaten down though they're not quite defeated yet.

It could make for a possible, very AU version of 4-6, I feel like I could work something out of the Sith trying to take back the power they almost had from the shadows (after all, worse than having power and wanting to keep it is having it and losing it and wanting it back right?). Palpatine is still alive, Dooku might be as well }:) We can assume they still have the plans for the Death Star, and they've already proven they can hide entire planets and systems from the Jedi in the past, they could likely hide creating it in the future. And with the Jedi still around, it would be easier to find other Jedi, perhaps try to raise an army/order of their own right from infancy, completely loyal to the Dark that could create an interesting army/enemy in Episodes 4-6...hmm...

I'm really not sure though, there'd be a lot to work out for it to happen, so I don't want to make any promises till I am sure :)

I hope it wasn't too much of a let down that Anakin and Amira were unable to truly 'defeat' Dooku in a saber duel. I feel like Anakin was more evenly matched with Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan only having a few more years experience than Anakin did. Here Dooku had decades more experience and time to practice and if he was able to defeat twice, then Dooku would be able to hold his own against two relatively new Knights. They still did win, but I didn't think it would be realistic for them to suddenly be able to defeat Dooku like that, not when he was angry and out for blood. Dooku still was stopped, but I wanted it to also be a reminder that they are still relatively inexperienced and will still need to work on their skills in the future and to be a small reminder that their Masters will always have their back and be looking out for them, even if they're not Padawans any more :)

I just want to take a minute to say thank you again, to all of you that read/reviewed/favorited/followed anything the story. It really makes me SO happy to know that you've enjoyed my little rendition of Episodes II and III. I really am so glad that you've liked the stories :')

Also, tiny line from Doctor Who in here, virtual cookies to those who spot it ;)

Some notes on reviews...

C-3PO is at the Temple, he was helping Neeva with the communications and, I like to think, helping watch the Younglings :)

Amira came close, but she's ok ;) They semi-prevailed against Dooku. He was stopped, in the end, but by his own arrogance, though they held him back for quite a while :) But yup, Neeva to the rescue! :)

Oh I got the reference ;) I'm slightly obsessed with Dracula, I've got his movie in my collection ;)

Lol, I'm glad the chapter worried you ^-^

Yup, Anakin and Amira had a very intimate, private moment that two people in love do behind closed doors and, usually, when there's a bed available ;) And now they've got a little surprise from it :)