For Anakin the rest of the journey back to Alderaan was silent and uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted to do was drug and restrain Obi-Wan, but ultimately he had acquiesced to the General's request. He knew it made sense. A tortured mind is highly unpredictable. A Jedi pushed to close to the dark side was dangerous.

Just before the ship entered the Alderaan system, Skywalker returned to the medical bay to have Obi-Wan taken out of sedation. It took less than an hour for him to wake. His first question was of Amira. "How is she?"

"She is..." Anakin hesitated.

Obi-Wan tried to see her from across the room. "Is she awake?"

"No; not yet."

He sat up weakly. "Why not?"

Anakin answered uncomfortably. "She struck...her head...there is some swelling, but I have been assurred it is temporary and she will recover."

Kenobi closed his eyes lowering his head into his hand. "I'd like to go to Coruscant immediately. The healers at the Temple have experience with my…problem."

"Master…" Anakin asked hesitantly, "What did Ventress do to you?"

"Pushed me into a very dark place." He glanced again in the direction of Amira and then quickly cast his eyes back to Anakin. "If I do not get control…I could hurt someone else."

Skywalker paced the small area next to Kenobi's bed. "We are near the Alderaan system and will be landing within in an hour. I can arrange for transport to Coruscant, but you should be treated at a medical facility on Alderaan first."

The General shook his head. "No, I need to leave. I cannot stay here Anakin, not with what's inside me, and with what I have done. Please get me to Coruscant as soon as possible."

"Of course, if you think that is best."

He closed his eyes briefly still groggy from the drugs. "It is."

Anakin turned to leave. "She will forgive you master; she will know you never meant to harm her."

"I cannot forgive myself." Obi-Wan replied softly.

Amira awoke confused. She was not on the Tantive instead she was in Aldera University hospital under the watch of her very worried brother.

Bail stood up out of his chair and approached her. "I am relieved to see you awake."

She tried desperately to remember how she came to be in the hospital but could not, and grew agitated "Why am I here? Where is General Kenobi? He was ill…"

Bail calmed her. "He and Skywalker are on their way to Coruscant where he can get the treatment he needs."

"I don't understand, he's injured…he's…this is the closest medical facility, why would he go all the way to Coruscant; did something else happen?"

Bail sat down and took her hand in his. "General Kenobi is suffering mentally with something that only another Jedi can help him battle."

"You're not telling me something; what else happened. Why am I here?"

Bail had not known she would wake with no memory of what happened and he almost preferred it stay that way, but he was not in the habit of coddling his sister nor withholding the truth from her. She would, in all likelihood, remember eventually. He released a long breath. "He mistook you for his tormentor and attacked you."

She looked at her brother as if he had just concocted the most ridiculous lie ever told. "That can't be… I would certainly remember something like that."

"It is probably best that you don't. He nearly killed you. Skywalker had to pull him away from you."

She laid her head back into the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I should have anticipated something like this and taken precautions. It is my fault."

"It does no one any good to assign blame. What is important is that you are alright and he is going to get the treatment he needs." Bail rose and headed for the door. "I'll be back a little later, you should rest."

When the door closed behind him Amira had no intention of remaining in the hospital. She climbed out of the bed and over to the wall closet. She opened it to look for her clothes but it was empty. On the inside of the door she caught her reflection in the mirror and stood frozen in shock.

The bruises around her neck were dark and ugly as was the one across her forehead and temple. She touched the cut that was already healing over. "He couldn't have." She whispered into the empty room.

The feeling she had could only be described as an overwhelming sadness. Not for herself, but for Obi-Wan. She could not imagine what he must have endured to cause him to lose control. She abandoned any thought of leaving the hospital and crawled back into bed to bury the tears against the pillow.

On Coruscant Obi-Wan was immediately admitted into the Jedi Temple infirmary and was given the treatment to rid his body of the muscle maggots. His first visitor was master Yoda who hobbled in on his gimmer stick. "Over the years a regular fixture you have been in this place. Lost count I have, how many times."

Kenobi did not laugh but did greet Yoda respectfully. "Master, it's good to see you. I did not know you were on Coruscant."

The tiny Jedi master grunted. "In between engagements I am. Of your ordeal young Skywalker has informed me."

"Master, I have been so close to the dark side. I am afraid even now that I am still there."

"Much you have suffered Obi-Wan, but strong you are."

Kenobi disagreed. "I don't feel strong, I feel defeated. Ventress showed me how easily I could cross the line."

Yoda hopped into a chair. "A Jedi healer I am not, but know you I do. Wise enough you are to recognize the line and avoid it."

Clearly distressed he protested. "No Master, I crossed it. I hated Ventress; I wanted her to suffer and in my mind I tried to kill her, but instead I hurt…I nearly killed Amira Organa."

"Heard all this I have. Responsible you are not. Clouding your mind the guilt is. Let it go you must."

"How can I?"

Yoda hopped back down from the chair and headed for the door. "With the healers you will finish then talk again we will."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes Master."

A few days later, on Alderaan, Amira had been discharged from the hospital and was joining her brother in his office. She took her customary seat across from his desk. He commented on dark the circles beneath her eyes. "You aren't getting much rest."

She shook her head. "I think I am starting to remember things; just images when I close my eyes, and they frighten me."

"At some point it will all come back to you."

"I thought I wanted to remember what happened; but now…I'm not so sure. I'm afraid I will feel differently toward him."

He leaned back in his chair. "You shouldn't, he did not mean to harm you."

"Of course, I know that…I do."

She stood up slowly. "I need to get back to work; take my mind off of this."

He walked her to the door. "Don't do too much too fast. Go back to work if you must, but do it slowly."

After nearly a week Obi-Wan had been given a clean bill of health from the Temple healers and released from the infirmary but as he sat in the Room of a Thousand Fountains he did not feel healed. In fact, he was in a great deal of pain.

Yoda's voice filled his ears. "Time to renew our discussion it is; ready are you?"

He always felt like a youngling again in Yoda's presence and it was a comforting feeling. "Yes, master."

"Better do you feel?"

"Physically I am healed; mentally I have regained control of my anger, but…"

"Too much guilt you carry" Yoda finished.

Kenobi shook his head. "I don't know how to get past this. When I close my eyes I feel my hands around her neck, I see her terrified face and hear her strangled pleas." He faced Yoda. "How do you forget something like that?"

"Remember you must...kill her you did not; wish to kill her you did not; in control you were not. An accident this was."

"If only it were that simple."

Yoda sighed and tapped his gimmer stick on the floor. "Simple it is…hard you make it. Forgiveness must be offered and taken; no chances have you had for this; face her you must."

Obi-Wan agreed. "Perhaps, someday but there is no time now. Anakin and I will be rejoining the fleet and they are a long way from Alderaan."

Yoda frowned and headed out of the room. "Then carry this burden you will."

Over the next few weeks, Amira immersed herself in work. However, she did not take it slowly as her brother suggested and was becoming increasingly exhausted. After a particularly grueling shift and fighting a blinding headache she popped a few pain killers and curled up on a break room couch and dosed off.

She awoke in a cold sweat, her heart pounding in her chest as she remembered every detail of the attack. All the vague and random images that had haunted her sleep over the last few weeks finally coalesced into one vivid and frightening memory. Before the memory, she had the illusion that it never happened, now it was real.

She bolted for the lavatory and became violently ill. When her retching subsided she had no strength to stand and slid down the wall onto the floor and sobbed silently.