Author's Note: Assuming I have any readers left, patient souls, here's the chapter before the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. I blame busy schedules, several 102 degree fevers and strep throat for this delay. Man, I can't wait until I'm a second-year teacher and stop catching everything my students cough.

Five Years (Before the Abduction)

Night was the best time at Temple, Woda decided. All the Jedi were bedding down, except the guards who now stood here and there. The all-night watchers were new, but the war made them necessary. Still, even with the guards, the Temple seemed at rest. No one was running, few talked, and all the lights were dimmed. In the stillness, if you listened with both your ears and the Force, you could hear the fountains in the room he'd named 'waterland' when his papa first brought him there.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't supposed to be out in the halls, but his papa had given him over to those that watched the younglings, and Woda had long ago learned how to sneak out. And, so far, he hadn't been caught.

Creeping from shadow to shadow, he made his way towards his favorite place: the one high window on the west side of Temple from which he could see not only the whizzing traffic of Coruscant, but the 'front porch' of the Temple and the main launching platform for space-faring vessels. He'd often wondered why a guard wasn't posted just there to watch, but surely the Council knew what it was doing.

Just before he rounded the last corner before his favorite perch, he heard voices in the next corridor. Slpiing ot the very end of the hall, he peeked. A Jedi stood near his window and another sat on the very ledge he'd come to think of as his own. Coveting possessions a way to the Dark Side is, his Yoda had said often enough, and so Woda squelched the prickle of jealousy.

Now, what to do? Should he approach and find out what was going on, should he hide here and listen, or should he beat a discreet retreat before he was found out? The last was probably the safest, but if Woda had learned anything from listening to Anakin's stories, it was that the overly-cautious Jedi didn't always bring back the prize. So he tried to make himself small as a speck- almost easy because he was scarcely a foot tall- and listened hard. He wished for Anakin's knowledge of all Jedi; Anakin could name anyone at Temple, except some of the younglings, and those he'd learned to identify in just a few short weeks with his younger brother. Well, he would listen, and maybe things would be explained.

"If they're all saying the same thing, what chance do we have?" The younger man, the one sitting on the windowsill, kicked his feet against the stone.

The older man reached up and stilled the moving feet. "Shh. We're here to listen and watch, not just to talk."

"Gareth, there are twenty Jedi surrounding this place. One more vantage point isn't going to make that much difference."

"You're only saying that because you want to talk and guard duty doesn't involve that. Don't forget, Ar', that you were the one who suggested this place. You remembered this place from your youngling days and suggested it to Yoda. You even volunteered to take shifts here."

Woda felt an instant of disappointment that his secret place wasn't secret, but let it go as the younger man said, "Fine, it's not the vantage point. It's your dreams. It's my dreams. It's Master Kenobi lying on a couch for months without any words spoken or nourishment taken. It's the Darkness rising all around us and knowing that we're going to die. Can I help it I want to escape?"

"No, but you can help giving into it."

"I haven't left, have I?" His voice rose. "I'm not leaving. I'm not like Chen or any of the other Knights who have just disappeared, without a word about their deaths, not a ripple in the Force, or a message to the Council." He jumped down, and Woda saw that the two men were near in height. "Do you think I'd ever leave you?"

"No, and that's what bothers me. We've taken a step few Jedi have taken before and now that there's a chance- a great likelihood- that one or both of us is going to die alone, we're afraid."

"You don't sound afraid."

"Huh. But you know me better." Gareth wrapped the younger man in a tight embrace. "You should have heard me talking to Master Yoda when the dreams first started coming, and you would have heard my fear." He stepped back, holding the man's shoulders. "We have two choices: try to save ourselves, or stay true to the Force. There's no middle ground."

"I know." He sighed. "But I'm still afraid. I give all my feelings over to the Force every time I get a chance, which is almost all the time, except when we're fighting, but the fear will be with me until I die."

"If it wasn't, we wouldn't be alive. Death's something to pass into with composure if possible, but inding that composure is easier for some than others. It will be hard, damn near impossible, when Obi-Wan or Anakin dies, to leave the other behind."

"But you're saying it can be done." He moved back into the other's arms. "I can't do this much longer. If we're going to die apart, I almost wish we could get it over with."

'I know, but think of the minutes we steal here and there, between saving lives and preserving societies, to be alone and simply enjoy each other's company." He trailed one finger down the younger man's jaw. "To be with Arnen one more minute Force, and one more minuste still, is all I want.

Arnen smiled. "You're an incurable romantic."

"I've been accused to worse things. Now, if there's supposed to be a watch here, I suggest you keep it. I've already given over my four hours. And while I'd love nothing more than to stand here and sense you beside me while we watch the night, I have the logistics of our next mission to plan. And since we are leaving in the morning…" He drifted away from Arnen and towards Woda, who crouched down even smaller and wished fervently that he could find a place to hide.

Someone scooped him up from behind, covering the youngling's mouth with a large hand. The man, Woda assumed his kidnapper was a man, ran light-footed around the next corner and ducked into a room.

"Sh," whispered Anakin in the youngling's ear. "It's me."

They listened to Gareth walk past.

When he was gone, Anakin set Woda down and squatted before him, bringing their faces closer to level. "What are you doing out here?"

"Listening." Woda squared his tiny shoulders but kept his nasal voice low, aware by now how much it could carry if he wasn't mindful. "Are you on guard duty?"

"Not tonight. I've been… reading." Anakin settled himself in a lotus position. "Your teachers don't know where you are."

Woda shrugged. "Trouble before they have not been." He grinned at his imitation of Yoda, then snickered. "I'm getting good at that, but I don't think I'll always do it like he does. How'd he keep that way of talking when everyone else here talks differently?"

"I think he had a long time among his own people before he joined the Jedi." Anakin shifted. "Look, Woda, I've got to go somewhere. The Force is calling me. And I need you to keep your moth shut about seeing me. I'm supposed to be resting because I'll be going off tomorrow. But I had a lot to read, and now this message from the Force…" He shrugged. "I'll find time to sleep later."

"You don't sleep much as it is," Woda said.

"Yeah, well, that's between me and the Force. Because no one else knows my weird sleeping patterns."

"I bet Obi-Wan does."

"But he's not here. Not mentally, like he should be." Anakin sighed. "Keep your lips shut about that, too. Jedi aren't supposed to speak ill of each other. If we do that, we're doing the work of the Dark Force."

Woda just looked at him.

"And I didn't mean it anyway. I love Obi-Wan. It's just that he's always gone at the worst times. If he hadn't shown up when he did on Naboo- just in time; he could have missed it if he hadn't been just in time- Qui-Gon would have died that day. He went away when I needed a master. He disappeared when I needed someone to protect me when Adee… Never mind. And he's gone now that we only have a short time to love each other before the Jedi are torn apart."

"You're angry at him." Woda frowned. "Why? The Jedi aren't supposed to dwell on anger." He blushed a paler blue. "Like I've been angry with that girl for taking so much of Daddy Mace's time when the Jedi need him more than she does. Forgive me, Force."

Anakin gaped at the Yoda-ling. "I'm not angry."

"Heh. Could've fooled me. You called him Obi-Wan. You never call him Obi-Wan."

Anakin laughed a little uncomfortably. "Woda, that's his name."

"Not to you." He spoke slowly as if he was the knight and Anakin the youngling. "You call him Obi." He plopped down on his brother's lap. "Unless you're angry."

A sigh was his answer.

Then he was dumped on the floor as Anakin stood.

"I have to go. Keep your mouth shut, all right? I'll be back by sunrise and I'll see you again before I leave."

Woda scowled. "Is it dangerous?"

"No. I'll be back soon." He started away, his long legs carrying him fast.

He'd be out of sight in a moment. "Don't lie to the Force, Anakin! It always knows!"

Anakin froze an instant, then kept going. "Good night, Woda. Go back to your room and stay there."

"No," Woda muttered. When he was sure Anakin was gone, he started for his Yoda's quarters. Bouncing down the hall- until the age of four or five, Yoda-lings traveled better by bouncing on their backsides than by walking- he rounded the same corner he'd crouched behind only a minute ago, and ran directly into Arnen, who caught him in both arms and lifted him high in the air.

Used to such treatment, Woda didn't protest the movement but said, "Tell the guards to be extra-careful. Something's wrong. I'm going to tell my Yoda."

"Little one, I don't sense-" He stopped. "Yes, I do. What's coming?" He said it more to himself than to Woda. Setting the youngling down, he said, "Go. And I'll send a message to those below."

Woda started away.

"Be careful, youngling."

"I will. Force with you." It just took too long to say the whole thing, and three words got the message across just as well.

Apparently, Arnen agreed. "And with you."

Woda bounced all the way to his Yoda's quarters, then used the Force to push the chimes.

Yoda appeared only a moment later, his eyes dark with concern. "Woda. Sensed it you did. Stay here you must, and tend this I will."

Woda scowled again. "It's Anakin. He's going to do something against the Force."

"Perhaps not as serious as that it is. In any case, stand guard over Obi-Wan you must until reinforcements I send." Yoda turned and called a lightsaber from the wall across from the couch. He floated the weapon into Woda's hand, which had come up automatically. "Use it only if you must." Yoda gathered the Force around him and leapt from the room, sailing halfway down the corridor before touching floor again. Then he was off once more.

Woda went to the couch and sat on a footstool. "I wish you'd wake up, Master Obi-Wan. Everyone needs you, but Anakin needs you most."

On Obi-Wan slept.

Woda spent a few terrified minutes listening for anyone's approach. But when he finally heard someone coming, he also felt the Light Force around them and he relaxed. He kept his hand on the hilt of the borrowed lightsaber, but didn't hesitate to bounce to the door and open it in welcome.

Arnen stood there, but he wasn't alone. His face glowed with the reflected light of a lightsaber blade, and when Woda saw the girl who held the blade, he fell back into the room and made to leap for the door-close button.

Annie Sith-mind said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you," and she moved the blade a fraction of an inch closer. "You haven't seen death yet, and even though this isn't the most painful way to die, I'm sure you don't want to see it."

We were wrong, Woda thought, filled with the Force. Then: No, I was wrong. It's not Anakin I sensed, but Annie, the girl who doesn't love anyone, the girl who takes and takes without- His heart seized. "Where Daddy Mace?"

"Chasing after your troubled brother. He thought I was asleep. He left me with that stupid girl Nela."

Woda's vision blurred with tears. Nela had taken care of him many times. "Did you-?"

Annie smiled. "There wasn't time. I only pushed her against the wall. She'll come to soon, but not soon enough to save you. Now, step aside."

Woda hesitated, not because he didn't think she'd kill- the Force told him she would- but because he couldn't see how she would hold onto Arnen when he stepped back. Or maybe she would just float, like well-trained Jedi could, trained to sustain a jump at its height for a little time. When he looked in Arnen's eyes, he expected to see fear, but he saw almost savage determination. Arnen didn't ant him to move.

But Annie was right; he'd never seen death. And he was in no hurry to see it for the first time. He stepped back.

She waved her hand, lifting Obi-Wan from the couch and carrying him to the door. She laid him, with all seeming gentleness, before her. "Good-bye," she said without a smile or any expression on her face. "You didn't want me, and I don't want you." She moved the blade from Arnen's throat.

A wave of Force swept down the hallway, shoving Woda back off his feet. He fell with a startled cry, but had the presence of mind, as soon as he realized that she wasn't hovering right over Obi-Wan, to use the Force and haul the unconscious master back into Yoda's quarters. Then the youngling did something which would have reminded Obi-Wan or Yoda of Anakin: he leapt out into the hallway.

Annie had been thrown several meters, but she now stood with her hands out, as if she would hold back all comers with the power that lived inside her. Arnen stood a little distance from where he'd been made to kneel, and Gareth faced her. The master's lightsaber was as yet un-drawn.

Arnen broke the tableaux, tugging his comlink from its place on his belt. "To any Jedi: Annie Jinn-Kenobi is armed and dangerous. She's by Yoda's quarters."

Gareth held up his hands. "Annie, let us help you. It's much harder to come back from the Dark Force than to go into it."

She took a step back. "You can't protect him forever." Her eyes went to Arnen. "I could have killed you. Don't Forget that. I could have killed you."

"But you didn't," Gareth said. "Some part of you wants to stop this before it goes too far. Let us help you. Please."

Arnen's communicator crackled. "This is Mace. Keep her there if you can. I'm on my way."

"You're not taking me back!" she screamed. She brought her curled hands down fast as if she was ripping shreds from the air, and a rumbling started overhead.

"Back!" Gareth ordered, and his own hands came up, palms towards the ceiling.

Arnen lifted Woda with the Force and deposited him halfway up the corridor.

Annie screamed again, stamped her foot and made the tearing gesture again. A crack ran along the ceiling and chunks the size of her fists began to fall.

Arnen joined Gareth, adding his command of the Force to the master's.

Annie ran.

Woda crept a step or two closer. "Is it going to fall?"

"We can't hold it up forever," Gareth said. "Better stay back."

oOo

"It was nothing I ever thought a youngling could do. When Qui-Gon used to boast about how Anakin could fly a podracer, I had my doubts, but I never would have believed this if I hadn't seen it." Gareth stood with Mace, watching masons repair the ceiling. In the end, half a dozen small pieces had fallen, along with one large square of solid stone. The rest had held until other Jedi came to help. "She commanded the Force like a master."

"Not quite," Mace said. "She couldn't fight you."

"She caught Arnen and kept a lightsaber at his throat."

Arnen blushed. "That was partially my fault. When she approached, I didn't think of her as a threat. I crouched down to talk to her, thinking she had felt the disturbance in te Force and was afraid."

Gareth said, "She still managed to coerce you to Yoda's quarters, get you to your knees, and put a lightsaber at your throat." He breathed out his fear, aware that repeating words was a show of how afraid he'd been when he'd felt Arnen's nearness to death.

Arnen nodded, looking down at his boots. "When I crouched down, she used the Force to close my windpipe. She said I had to do what she wanted or she would kill me. I couldn't break her hold. I could barely sense her. It was like she stood at the center of a dark cloud. I couldn't touch her in the Force."

"Like a Sith," Gareth muttered.

"The Sith can be touched. At least Maul could be," Mace said. "Not being able to touch her is more like coming up against one of the Fabled Ones- those Jedi or Dark Force users who were so deep in Light or Darkness that they almost ceased to be." A pause. "Like Adee was."

Gareth shook his head. "But Adee wasn't a fantastic Jedi. Where did he learn a trick like that? If he learned it from the Sith, you have to wonder why they don't use it."

"Zee might know," Mace answered, "but I won't ask him just now." He frowned deeply. "Adee was a talented Jedi; he wouldn't have been a member of the Council otherwise." He turned from the younger Jedi. "You'll stay here, please. Arnen, back to your post."

Arnen bowed "Yes, Master."

"She might return to finish Obi-Wan. Keep that in mind." He was speaking to both of them and they knew it.

They watched him sweep down the hallway then, after a shared glance, they parted.

Gareth touched the control at the entrance to Yoda's quarters and found Woda still standing guard over Obi-Wan. The youngling had a lightsaber in his hand, but it wasn't activated. "Where did you get that?" the master asked, aware that it was a true lightsaber, not a toy.

"My Yoda told me to hold onto it until he comes back. He went after Anakin."

"What's wrong with Anakin?"

"I don't know." Woda tried to put the lightsaber on his belt, but it was too large. He laid it between his feet, then said, "We shouldn't be talking too close to him. My Yoda says he could wake up at the wrong time."

Gareth wondered where the youngling's awe of older Jedi had gone. Maybe having Yoda as a parent helped him see everyone as just Jedi instead of as this or that rank. The master couldn't decide if this was better than rank playing a role in how Jedi spoke to each other. But whatever his feelings on the subject, there was much else to concern him. "I'll stand guard in the hall."

Woda nodded. Glancing down at the lightsaber, then back up, he said, "I don't want to use it. I'm not ready."

Gareth said, "Knowing that is the first step to being ready." His gaze went ot Obi-Wan. If you can hear any of this, or feel the disturbance in the Force, you need to come back. If what I feel is really connected to Anakin, he needs you. He left Yoda's quarters and took up his post.

oOo

Anakin leapt over a railing and dropped two stories. He could have taken the elevator, but he needed to clear his head, and, besides, there wasn't time. What he'd sensed might get away if he wasn't quick.

It was raining, and there were accidents everywhere as drivers in too big a hurry collided with each other or buildings. Anakin used his connection to the Force so that he could see through the torrential downpour as if it wasn't there. He caught the railing five meters down and flipped onto the moving walkway. He leapt over the heads of startled shoppers and used the Force to nudge others aside. None of these fell, but only because of their own senses of balance. He didn't stop to make sure they were all right. His hand was already on his lightsaber, though he didn't take it out just yet. If the Force was with him, his target wouldn't sense him coming until it was too late. But a small voice in the back of his mind told him he had to make his own luck tonight.

The metaphysical world hummed with the flow of a poisonous current, one Anakin remembered from the time when Obi-Wan was halfway across the galaxy. "Xanatos," the young Jedi whispered, and his blood boiled. "You're mine. You're dead already. Take a few more breaths. They're borrowed."

This he said quietly. Surely no one heard him. Still, as his rage mounted, anyone with half a brain got out of his way. He didn't enjoy this, but he sensed that if he wasn't so consumed by anger, he could have done just that, and without any guilt or second-guessing.

There were other powerful ones with his target, but he didn't fear them. One of them might even be the Master Sith; he didn't care. It was time to kill something. When he killed it, it would stay dead. Obi-Wan would be safe, but that was secondary to the fact that Anakin would have proved himself the most powerful being on Coruscant, possibly in the Republic itself.

That voice in the back of his mind, speaking from a place that had, for almost ten years, been sealed, told him that when Xanatos was dead, no one could stand between Anakin and what he truly wanted.

And what did he want? Clarity jumped to the front of his mind. He wanted to know everything before it happened, and if things weren't as they should be, he wanted the power to change them. Obi-Wan shouldn't be unconscious. He would fix that. The younglings needed to be protected; he could do that, and not just with a shield that he had to monitor when he was at Temple. He would go out and find those who had the audacity to threaten children. He would kill anyone who tried to hurt children.

Except Annie. She could die. That would be just fine.

He leapt, hurtling himself through the space between two slow-moving barges and spotted his target.

He knew the two with Xanatos, knew them in an instant. Damnable Qui-Gon, looking, as always, completely at home, even while conversing with a Dark Force user, possibly a Sith. And he was talking to at least one Sith, because Dooku was there, too. Anakin wondered if Xanatos was the apprentice and Dooku the master, then had to laugh. Dooku, a master of the Sith? Impossible.

So, one was a Sith and one was not, and Anakin didn't care which was which. Both were about to die. And when Qui-Gon got in the way, as he invariably would, Anakin would give him a token warning, then kill him, too. He should stay away from the Dark Side. Obi-Wan had almost killed himself a hundred times to try and protect Qui-Gon.

That wasn't true, but truth wasn't a top priority.

"And you never loved him. You abused him emotionally, never caring about him like I do."

The trio was standing under a small awning that hung over the door to a darkened restaurant. What place of business would be closed at this time of night, when many of the traveling politicians were just coming out?

"Who cares? No one's here to get in my way."

Qui-Gon looked up, and their gazes locked. Anakin read the surprise in the master's face, then he stopped reading expressions. His eyes narrowed and he ignited his lightsaber. His lips drew back from his teeth and he angled for Xanatos, who stood just to Qui-Gon's left, his mouth slack as if he'd been hit by a stun dart.

"You tried to break him, but that's over. He's with me now and you're going to-"

"Anakin-" Qui-Gon stepped between them, his hands up.

Anakin hit an impenetrable Force-wall and bounced off. He shook himself like a dog and sneered. "Force against Force, you're not going to win. I'm stronger, faster, better."

"And arrogant," Qui-Gon said. "What lessons did you pick up from Obi-Wan?"

"Don't blame him! He taught me just fine! It always has to be his fault, doesn't it? Always has to be his fault!" Anakin leapt again, slammed against the wall and stumbled back. "Screw you, Qui-Gon! He's a better master than you could ever be! He's a better Jedi, too! The Council is talking about making him a master and as soon as he wakes up-"

"Listen to yourself," Jinn said in that reasonable voice he'd used with Watto, with Obi-Wan, with probably everyone except Yoda, and maybe he'd even tried that until Yoda told him to stop shooting the shit and get back to business. "And listen to what I said. Obi-Wan taught you how to control yourself, how to feel the Force all the time, an you're spitting on his lessons." Then, casually, "You should leave." He was talking to the men on his side of the Force-wall. "We were called here to talk to Xanatos, but we've done that as much as we can now."

"Knowing what he's made of, I won't let you face him alone, Padawan."

Anakin gaped at Dooku, even though he'd known Qui-Gon was Dooku's apprentice once. It was hearing Dooku call Jinn padawan, as if Dooku was still a master, still a Jedi, that shocked him.

And as if Qui-Gon is still a Jedi, too. He isn't; he's been gone too long to keep his title. He put away his lightsaber and raised his hand. "You'd better go if you're going," he told Dooku. To Xanatos, he said, "Stay. We have some unfinished business."

"Gladly." Xanatos laughed. "You think you'll accomplish what Obi-Wan failed to do?"

"He never tried to kill you."

"Ah, so you're not a sainted Jedi bent on my rehabilitation?"

"If you could ever learn to shut your mouth, you would get further with people," Qui-Gon said, still sounding damnably serene. Then, to Anakin, "The Force called me here to talk to Xanatos, and Dooku is here to talk to Master Yoda. Why are you here? Whose will are you following: the Force's or your own?"

"They're the same will," Anakin said, and he leapt again, hitting the wall with everything he had.

It cracked; it splintered; it fell. Anakin flew through, going right for Xanatos, in his mind seeing every burn Obi-Wan had endured, every violation from his time with Xanatos, every weakness that the torture had brought ot the fore and exploited.

Qui-Gon could have leapt between them, but Anakin threw him against a wall and kept going at Xanatos.

Dooku could have moved, but he was driven by long-learned discretion and self-preservation, and so ducked when Anakin hurled a ball of Force in his direction that was meant to knock him off his feet, if not completely take his head off.

Xanatos could have ducked, but Anakin had frozen his arms to his sides and his feet to the duracrete.

oOo

Now, the Force whispered in Dooku's mind, and he knew why he had been called back to Coruscant this time. Last time, he'd been meant to stay behind, but he'd mistaken his own homesickness for the compulsion of the Force. This time, he'd mistaken the compulsion of the Force for him to be with Qui-Gon for an order to see Yoda.

But his mind was clear now. All he need do was obey.

But I wanted to see Yoda. I wanted to see my maser and apologize!

Now, the Force answered, and what could he do? Obey or not. There was no halfway.

Dooku didn't draw his 'saber; there wasn't time. He simply leapt, putting up a wall of Force between himself and the rampaging monster that was Anakin Skywalker.

The wall deflected the killing edge of Anakin's rage, but couldn't dispel it. Dooku staggered back and fell, his chest collapsing as his breastbone cracked and his lungs seized.

oOo

Anakin stumbled, surprised to find someone in his way. For an instant, his rage was mixed with confusion.

That instant was enough for Xanatos; he took it and fled.

Anakin stared at the crushed body, and his gorge rose. "I didn't mean-" But then he heard the slap of retreating steps and his head snapped up. He took a step towards Xanatos.

Only to have Qui-Gon get in his way. The Jedi Master had his lightsaber drawn. "Don't force me to fight you, Anakin. One death is enough for today."

"You know you're going to die? Why bother fighting me, then?" Anakin's own weapon was in his hand. "If you want to keep defending Sith scum, there's nothing I can do to help you." And he leapt.

oOo

The Dark Force obscured everything. Though the Force was alive with Anakin's anger and confusion, it gave no direction. Yoda spent more time standing still and reaching than bouncing. He was Yoda, and so frustration did not enter his thoughts or cloud his judgment. Still, by the time he at last felt something, it was a nearly too late, he knew. And it was not Anakin he felt, but Dooku opening his heart to the Light as well as the Dark, closing his eyes to all but the Will of the Force.

Yoda sent up a beacon into the Force, bright as a physical flare, and started in the direction of his former padawan.

oOo

In Yoda's quarters, Woda shrieked.

Gareth charged in, lightsaber drawn, heart pounding, eyes questing everywhere for the cause of the youngling's cry. His gaze stopped on the couch. Obi-Wan was awake.

More: he was sitting up, pulling the needles out of his arms and wrists like a man brushing off bugs that were distracting him while he worked. The younger master's eyes shone with a fire that was both still and raging-hot. Gareth read urgency in the heat and utter obedience to the Force in the stillness.

With the last of the needles out, Obi-Wan held out his hand to Woda. "I believe that is mine."

Woda held it up and Obi-Wan tucked it into his belt. Then he started for the door. "Everything will be explained soon," he said before leaving, "and hopefully it will be a tale with a happy ending." Then he was gone.

Gareth's gaze felt nailed to the closing door.

Woda said, "Finally! Geez, Force, no offense, but couldn't you have woken him up a day earlier?"

oOo

Obi-Wan went over the same railing Anakin had jumped, but further along the high-rise walkway. He could feel Yoda's flare flaming his blood, and as he ran he felt the presence of twenty other Jedi all converging on the same spot. Good. He could use the backup. So could Anakin, though apparently his lover didn't know it yet.

Landing, Obi-Wan avoided many of the pedestrians by Force-leaping over them. And because many of them saw him coming, and some saw the look in his eyes- calm fire- they got out of his way. Many of these same people had seen Anakin pass by minutes before and had only been just recovering from their shock. To see a second Jedi fly past set them talking again, though they did so as they hurried on, wondering if even more were coming. With the war on, many thought of the danger that must have called two Jedi out, and they wanted to get themselves away, despite their innate curiosity. In a time of war, curiosity was much more likely to kill you.

The master spotted Yoda and shouted through the Force, "The Dark Force is in his mind!" He was sure Yoda heard.

Then Obi-Wan saw Anakin and Qui-Gon exchanging blows. He also saw Dooku, and hoped Yoda would go to his former padawan while there was still time to bring peace to the man's troubled mind. Not bothering to draw his own blade, Obi-Wan stopped half a dozen meters from Anakin and Qui-Gon, closed his eyes, saw the Force as arms he could guide, and yanked Anakin backwards off his feet.

Opening his eyes, he was in time to see Anakin hit the ground, then struggle up at once. Obi-Wan held Anakin fast, but almost at once the younger Jedi began to struggle forward, tugging Obi-Wan with him as he strained towards his intended victim again.

"Get out of here!" Obi-Wan shouted. "Now!" And, because he could read the look in Qui-Gon's eyes, even from such a distance, he added, "He won't hurt me! Just go!"

"Obi mine," Qui-Gon whispered, his words carried by the Force. Then he turned, somersaulted over a railing, landed on a passing speeder, and was gone.

Obi-Wan didn't let Anakin go. The younger man dragged him towards the place where Qui-Gon had disappeared. If Anakin didn't come to his senses, he would pull Obi-Wan right into empty space. The master didn't let go, though his power wasn't as strong as Anakin's fury-driven intensity. That wasn't to say the younger man couldn't be surprised or saved, but Obi-Wan had no tricks to pull just then.

oOo

Yoda knelt by Dooku, half his mind on Obi-Wan and Anakin. Then he saw that his former padawan was almost gone, and he gave Obi-Wan's and Anakin's fate over to the Force so he could catch Dooku's hand in his. "At peace you should be now for in the Light you are. In harmony with the Force are you."

Dooku couldn't speak, but his eyes showed that he understood.

Yoda said, "Saved Xanatos you did, and Anakin as well. He will have a chance to come to his senses. Thank you. For returning I thank you. All forgiven is. Nothing to forgive there is."

The Force lent Dooku a final breath. "I die in the Force."

"Yes," Yoda answered.

Dooku closed his eyes, squeezed Yoda's hand, and was gone.

Only when he was still did Yoda look to where Anakin stood on the edge of the walkway. His face was shadowed and Yoda knew that now was not the time to intervene. Let Obi-Wan work whatever miracle he had been called to work.

oOo

"Are you done?" Obi-Wan asked when Anakin turned to face him.

The look on Anakin's face could have been framed and placed beside the word "shock" in a youngling's dictionary. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping you from killing anyone else."

"I didn't…" He looked past Obi-Wan, saw Dooku and Yoda, and he paled. "I didn't mean to kill him. He was defending Xanatos, and I wanted…"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Force, Anakin, listen to yourself."

There was a slight Force-command in his voice, but Anakin was reached because of the look in Obi-Wan's eyes, not by the Force. He'd blocked that effectively except for the bit he'd chosen to use. "How can you be here?"

"You know the answer to that. How can you kill?"

Anakin winced. "You know the answer to that."

"I do, but do you?"

Anakin's anger returned. "I'm not your padawan anymore. I'm your lover, your equal. You don't need to lecture me."

"I don't know if you're my lover when you serve the Dark Force this way. My first loyalty is to the Force, Anakin, not to you." Obi-Wan's hands disappeared into the billowing sleeves of his robe. "You have two ways to go: away from the Darkness, or towards it. Every Jedi makes that choice every day. Make one more choice, Anakin. Undo the distance you've made between us."

"You're not going to reach and bring me back?"

"I am." Obi-Wan dropped his arms and took a step closer. "Maybe not in the most politic way, but I am." His eyes darkened, and in their depths could be read all the pain he'd been hiding behind his polite-mask. "Anakin, come back. I love you." He swallowed, showing how hard it would for him to rein his emotions in now. "Come back."

Anakin looked away. "I wanted to end any danger to you. Xanatos was here. You didn't see him, but he was here. Qui-Gon was helping him. And Dooku was helping him. I didn't want him to touch you."

"While you were here, not following the calling of the Force, Annie almost killed Arnen, your brother Woda, and me." His harsh words were tempered by the sorrow and need in his eyes. "Anakin, please clear your mind and see the truth. Every moment can shift the balance. I'm afraid for you. And for me. Without you, I don't know if I'm going to survive. The Force will keep me alive, and maybe keep my head clear, but my heart's another story." He took a step, and reached out with his hands and his mind. "Anakin, beloved, don't turn against the Force. None of us would stand a chance if you did that."

The bond was open, and it sank deep into both their minds, past the block the drugs had caused on Obi-Wan's end and the hate that had clouded Anakin's true Force-connection.

"Yes," Obi-Wan whispered as he felt Anakin's anger and fear and regret. "I know. The Darkness lies so convincingly that not even Yoda can see the truth always." He caught Anakin's hands and bore down on them. "But you have to trust to everything you've learned at Temple because when you can't feel the will of the Force, all you have is the truth you've grown up to respect and understand."

Anakin said, "The drugs were a waste of time."

"We were deceived," Obi-Wan said. "The drugs weren't right for me then. I'm lucky the Force brought me out when It did."

"You left me again. You left without telling me."

"I was compelled. Not by Yoda; don't blame him. By something strong inside and outside myself. Mostly, I wanted to heal from all the nightmares. I'm so sick of them. Back on Rojo IV, right before I defeated Xanatos, when I couldn't remember how many ben-hunters I'd killed, I told the Force I had to get home, no matter if I was healed or not. But, back here, I wanted only to heal. I was so sick of being broken."

"You weren't"-

"Do you prefer the term 'dented' or 'rusted'? Those both describe my state better than broken, maybe. I wanted a whole skin again, and a whole soul and mind to go with it." Obi-Wan pushed his outer tunic off his shoulders and tugged aside the cloth of the light-colored tunic. The brand was still there. "You haven't said anything about this, even though I know you've seen it."

"I didn't know what to say." Anakin was sweating, and he armed some of it off his forehead.

"When I was fourteen, I read about this mark." Obi-Wan fingered it, then let the cloth cover it once more. "It can be removed with deep-tissue surgery, but only that way. I was afraid of being marked, either by physical means or metaphysical ones. But I've been marked all along, and it's time I got used to that fact." He slipped his outer robe back up into its proper place. "I am used to that fact. I had a choice: to wish for a whole new existence, or live as I have been made to live. I've been living that first choice. Now I'll live the second. Because Force knows if I keep looking for a way to protect myself or recover the childhood innocence I had for only awhile, I'll lose you. And if I lose you, Anakin, the Force will lose you. Not forever; I think your fight against the Darkness is pre-destined, if anything is. But long enough for many people to die and trillions of lies to be destroyed."

He drew back from Anakin. "It's not romantic, the truth, but you already know how much I love you. Come back, Anakin. Please come back."

Anakin sensed that he could promise he was back, and that an uneasy peace would settle between them. But as he was given a little breathing and wriggling room, he realized how far he'd walked out of the Light and he groaned. "Shit, Obi, I'm fucked. This is a thousand times worse than that time with the Tusken Raiders because I actually thought I was doing the right thing. I wasn't just following my anger, but I thought I was doing the right thing." He winced. "How could I fall so far?"

"The Force separated us so we could both be crushed. That's all I know."

"And how do we heal?"

"We run back to the Force as fast as our legs can carry us, and we stay there, and we acknowledge everything we've done wrong, and we live. There's no escape for us, and no healing place. We have to face our mistakes and move on."

Anakin looked past Obi-Wan at Dooku and whispered, "It sounds painful."

"It's going to be. But we can do it."

Anakin looked at his lover and saw nothing but ssurance n Obi-Wan's gaze. Fuck you, Dark Force. I'm never coming back to you. He moved to Yoda's side and knelt. "I'm sorry, Papa."

Yoda nodded. "In your right mind you are now. Sense that I can." He looked up, and two crystalline tears gleamed in his huge eyes. "Relieved I am that lost you also I did not. Hard enough to bear this death is. Two deaths-" his eyes flicked up to Obi-Wan, who stood a few paces away- "or even three too much to bear might have been."

"You would have had enough strength to heal," Anakin said. "You're Yoda."

"I do not know 'enough'." Yoda sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "Carry him will you?"

Anakin nodded.

Obi-Wan joined them, and together he and Anakin bore Dooku's body back to Temple for a proper Jedi funeral-pyre.