AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I didn't forget to upload here this time (just a few hours off, I was asleep)!

And here it comes, the thrilling conclusion of Act I! This one is by far the longest chapter written so far and for good reason. A lot of stuff happens in this chapter, things I hope you all find an interesting read.

Several chapters of Act II is already been written, but I am going to take a week break from posting just to do some writing and maybe post/work on some other stuff. When I get a more chapters written ahead, I might get trigger-happy and jumpscare you all with a chapter, who knows, it'll be a surprise? :D

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

P.S. LONG ending note ahead! Be warned!

ＰＲＯＬＯＧＵＥ

"It's unfortunate that things have to turn out this way." She crossed her arms, the woman looked through, feeling some remorse and regret.

Her friend gave her an expectant look, tilting her head.

"I… understand the consequences." She gripped her arms. "But things are already in motion. It is all up to her now." The woman sighed, finally turning away, her friend quick to follow. As she walked away, she turned back one more time.

"May the Force be with you," she lamented, with a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

【ＡＣＴ Ｉ： ＴΞＲＲＯＲ】

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ ７

Steadying her breathing, Ahsoka stared down the Sith Lord, her pose combative and ready to strike if he advanced, but he made no such action.

"I can sense your terror, little one." The older man commented. It was then he noted that one of the clones was still alive. Before Ahsoka could attempt to ward him off, Dooku plunged his blade into the clone's back, killing him instantly. A snarl appeared on her lips as she heard the clone's last dying gasp.

"You will regret doing that," Ahsoka hissed, the anger biting back her fear for just that one second, but when the Count turned to look at her, she felt herself flinch.

He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "A bold demand for someone so young." The Sith actually sheathed his lightsabers, folding his hands behind him. "You are certainly Skywalker's apprentice."

Instead of answering him, Ahsoka just growled quietly. Dooku seemed amused by this act of defiance. Clearly, he didn't see her as any sort of threat and calmly began walking around her, like he was inspecting the place for dust or something. Unnerved by his casual treatment of the situation, Ahsoka continued to train her blades on him, making sure that he was within her view at all times. She couldn't afford to let him get the jump on her, especially when she was at a severe disadvantage.

Even though she was just a Padawan, Ahsoka reckoned she could probably put up a good fight. She's one of the best duelists in the Order for her age bracket and has held her own against tough opponents. She's survived Grievous, Ventress, Death Watch, Trandoshians... The fact that Obi-wan said she was Knight-worthy ought to me something right?...but against a Sith Lord? One that apparently gave her own master and grandmaster a run for their money (at the same time)? While also being considerably exhausted and drained from this campaign and sleepless nights?

There was no way she was going to survive, let alone win.

"I have been sent here on a very special assignment," he said in a tone that seemed to mimic a friendly chat, but Ahsoka knew that it was anything but friendly. Still, she couldn't help but furrow her brows at the statement. "Curious, are you not, Padawan Tano?"

"You are here to cause some chaos. Obviously, " she quipped, taking a few precautionary steps back as he got closer. "It's what you Siths are good at."

"I see you have Kenobi's wit as well." He was certainly getting a kick out of this. "Charming."

"You may find I have many qualities for you to dislike," Ahsoka replied, with a little smirk. She was terrified, but it didn't mean that she couldn't bark back some cool one-liners.

The older man actually let out a very amused chuckle, one that sent shivers down Ahsoka's spine. "Joke now, young one." He turned to give her one hell of a glare. "I am certain you do not find the visions so funny."

The shock hearing that from him momentarily took over her focus, but she shook it off, sniffing indignantly. "What would you know about those?" Ahsoka scoffed, though she was baffled. How did Dooku know?

"Hmph." He finally stopped walking, looking at her as if she was just an insignificant speck. "I know simply because it is my master's doing."

Dooku… has a master? Ahsoka stared for a moment, confused.

But suddenly felt her blood run cold as she realised the underlying implications of what he just said. The likely origins of all these mental shenanigans.

There wasn't a doubt in Ahsoka's mind that there was someone behind the darkness of the Force, her nightmares and the slow degradation of her mind. In the beginning, she had just believed that it was her weary war-torn brain making them up, but she knew better now. The Force tilted heavily in favour of the dark side and it started happening sometime after she met Fives. There was much Ahsoka didn't know about the Sith and their strange, unnatural powers, but she knew at least the Chancellor had to be involved, though she just didn't know how.

"You're just trying to confuse me. It-it won't work," her voice wavered, uncertain of her own words. Even if she actually believed him, there was no way she was going to let him know.

"You need not believe me, child," Dooku replied simply. "The fact of the matter is, you know very well who I'm talking about. To tell you the truth, I am sincerely impressed that someone so...nondescript has attained such information." Maybe if Ahsoka wasn't so afraid, that line would have offended her. "Perhaps, at a time, I would have turned a blind eye."

The young Padawan visibly gulped as he finally brought out his lightsaber again.

"Unfortunately, that time is not now. Darth Sidious demands that such loose ends be eliminated." There was no smile on his face this time.

Darth Sidious...? Who in the galaxy was that? Was Supreme Chancellor Palpatine a...

Ahsoka realised that she needed to survive this fight. This information… it was dangerous . Not just for her own sake, but Ahsoka just knew too much to die here. She needed to tell Anakin about this, the Jedi Council - everyone.

As if Dooku read her mind, he spoke again. "You may believe that you can convince everyone that you know the truth. But very few - if anyone - would believe you, Padawan. That is certain." Dooku took a stance and Ahsoka knew their pre-duel conversation was coming to an end. "It was foolish of you to get involved."

"I am not afraid," Ahsoka replied back coolly. A bluff, one that obviously didn't work. He took a step towards her and Ahsoka took two steps back.

"Then, my dear Padawan." The way he said that made Ahsoka's skin crawl. "You will die braver than most." And he took a combative stance and Ahsoka readied herself.

Dooku was an imposing, slow, threatening opponent. His swings were violent and calculating, but most of all mesmerizingly balletic. Strike by strike, Ahsoka did her best to match the older man's more precise swings, trying to jab in a few of her more brutal attacks here and there, but the Sith parried them with little effort. Ahsoka soon realised that he was a practitioner of Makashi, a form that specialises in fighting other lightsaber wielders. In a way, it countered her aggressive-defensive Shien-Ataru fighting style.

In spite of the potential style disadvantage, Ahsoka knew that she had the agility and size to outspeed him, that was something she knew she was very good at. Her manic acrobatic speed was well known among her Jedi peers, one practically unrivalled. But as the fight continued, Ahsoka soon discovered that Dooku had the necessary skill to deal with her flashy flips, kicks, and dodges.

When her strength began waning, Ahsoka could tell she was severely outmatched.

Finding an opening, Ahsoka tried kicking the man in the head, but he dodged easily, though made a motion to try to slice off her limb. Using his chest as a springboard, Ahsoka launched herself back, punching the Force into her leg to push him back as well, just to give herself some breathing room. Landing with the agileness of a skilled predator, Ahsoka turned to face the man once again. Dooku looked jilted, but unimpressed. She took shallow breaths, feeling her terror bubbling up as she realized that she was losing this faster than she anticipated.

Hiding this motion in a stance change, Ahsoka clicked the panic button on her gauntlet to alert Jesse and her master that something was very wrong. She wasn't sure if Dooku had seen what she had done, but she didn't have time to really check. Dooku speed walked forward, blade raised to strike her down. Ahsoka blocked his attack with both of her lightsabers, then used the Force to push him back. Instead of trying to close the distance again, he struck out his free hand. From his fingertips emerged Force lightning.

Her entire time throughout this war, even through being kidnapped, tortured, and shot at, Ahsoka had been fortunate enough never to encounter such Sith Magic. The 'closest' she got to witnessing Sith Force lightning was when Plo Koon entertained her as a child with his much more fluffy light side version. Thankfully, Anakin had the foresight to teach her what to do if she ever ran into such situations. Raise up your blades to take the hit, reinforce it with the Force but don't let up. If you do… No. That won't happen.

Survival instincts kicked in and in a burst of the basic sentient's desire to stay alive, she bared her teeth and curved the Force towards the lightning in a barrier. Now that the weight was off her lightsabers, Ahsoka actually deactivated them, earning a look of mild surprise from Dooku. Ahsoka felt herself grow a little smug. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes momentarily, concentrating on a faint connection. The image of serene whitish gold feathers in her mind signalled her pushback. Using the Force, she folded the barrier around the lightning, trapping it in a sort of ball of energy.

This Force technique wasn't taught to her. In fact, Ahsoka had no idea where it had even come from. The concept sort of just… came to her during mediation one day. There was no way to practice this barrier-Force-lightning-capture-thing; Plo Koon hadn't been too keen being her sparring partner in that manner. Too dangerous, he said. Nonetheless, Ahsoka was thankful she had put the time and practice into this move, even if it was just in theory. She didn't think she would ever use it, but life's funny sometimes.

Eventually, Dooku seemed to catch on to what she was doing and released his attack, and as expected, Ahsoka took this opportunity to Force push that condensed sphere of Sith Force lightning back at him. He had seen it coming and brought up his lightsaber to take the brunt of the damage, but the electricity actually dispersed upon hitting his blade. The blast was enough to send Dooku backwards, knocking him off his feet temporarily.

Ahsoka let herself gloat in this small victory. But before she could properly relish in it, there was a sharp pain at the edges of her mind. Like someone was driving a knife straight through the centre of her brain. That scraping. It was getting through. She tried to fight it off, but it was too much for her and Ahsoka ended up falling onto one knee. She was in such agony, Ahsoka actually thought she might pass out, but there was a familiar cry. It pierced through the darkness and cleared her mind.

Out of the corner of her eye, she locked eyes with a certain owlish face, one that mysteriously was in this room somehow… it was her. She was back.

In that second, she saw flashes of what was to come, what was meant to be. It wasn't as painful as the ones she had before. The nightmare-visions before were a feverish hodgepodge of her own imagination, an attack of the mind, and what the Force wanted her to see. This was like someone had shown her vivid snapshots of the future. Out of all the Force visions she's had recently, she knew these ones were true.

In her horror, she clutched her arm, feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

Anakin! she screamed through their Force bond.

But the Force seemed so dark now, Ahsoka wasn't sure he actually heard her.

Not a moment later, she felt a tight grasp around her neck. Instinctively, she reached up to grab at whatever was choking her, but nothing was there. In her terror, Ahsoka began struggling as she was lifted off the ground via the invisible noose around her neck.

"You surprised me, Padawan Tano," Dooku said, his hand in that signature chokehold motion. "I had no idea you had such abilities tucked away."

A couple comebacks swam around in her head, but Ahsoka could only let out strangled gasps for air, clawing at her neck. In a way, it was sort of ironic that she had done the same thing to that Phindian the other day.

"Alas, it is a pity that you must die," he said simply, tightening his grip.

No matter how hard Ahsoka struggled, she felt herself grow weaker and weaker as the air in her lungs slowly eroded away. Her body started to grow chillingly numb as her vision started to fade to black. As terrified as she was, Ahsoka was comforted by the idea that at least, she wouldn't die here.

Right on cue, Ahsoka heard the familiar, comforting voice of her master. He was here. Anakin made it.

There was a fuzzy image of blue out of the corner of her eye as she felt herself drop to the ground. Depleted by the fight and the horror of what she just witnessed, Ahsoka made no attempts to get up, even when she noticed that Rex was hovering around her, trying to shake her to alertness. There were angry-sounding noises in the background, but Ahsoka was too out of it to really understand what they were. But… it was okay for the moment. She could close her eyes.

There was relief knowing that things would be alright now that Anakin was here. But honestly, all Ahsoka could feel was the dread knowing that she couldn't change the future.

"Count Dooku? " Obi-wan exclaimed in shock. "Why in the galaxy's name would he be on Christophsis? I'm certain there are other Separatist matters that require his attention."

"Beats me." Anakin didn't look like really cared about that detail. "He almost derailed our plans, but I drove him off. Our campaign was a 'success', if you want to call it that," he grumbled. "Hope the Council is happy with it by the way." The frown on Anakin's face quietly added, 'because I'm not'.

Hearing this, Obi-wan seethed out a sigh. The campaign was supposed to be nothing more than simple territory skirmish, one that the Republic needed, sure, but nothing too crazy. But somehow, it had been dragged out to one of the toughest campaigns in the entirety of the Clone Wars. Although they had expected resistance, the amount of Separatist forces that showed up was truly astounding. He was this close to taking his Forces to reinforce Anakin, but he had been assigned elsewhere at several points during the Jedi Knight's campaign and the Jedi were already spread too thin as it is. As much as Obi-wan wanted to help, he couldn't.

Although he wasn't on the mission, Obi-wan was able to siphon details from Cody (who got them via Rex) and through his frequent transmissions from Anakin. And truly, they were rough. It was a wonder and a testament to Anakin's skill that he was able to make it home with over half of his troops still alive, even counting the devastating loss of all their equipment.

"I'll…" Obi-wan had to pick his words carefully. He didn't want to agitate Anakin more than he already was. "... be sure to inform the Council of your victory."

Anakin didn't answer and just grumbled under his breath. Fringes of darkness appeared in his expression as his eyes darted around angrily. Obi-wan knew that he was thinking of something else - someone else, and he knew exactly who he was thinking about.

"How is Ahsoka?" The origin of Anakin's foul mood.

At the mention of his Padawan's name, Anakin faltered a little, though maintained that dark irritation. "Still unconscious. A bit beat, but nothing too serious…" On the surface, that didn't sound too bad, not too unlike the many missions they've done before.

But that wasn't the part Anakin was mulling over. It was the fact that Dooku had shown up and nearly killed his darling Padawan.

The very thought made Obi-wan sorta squeamish in a very nostalgic way. The Jedi Master traced his discomfort all the way back to Anakin's Padawan days, during a fateful duel that had Anakin lose his arm. It was upsetting to hear that Ahsoka had gone through a similar experience, but Obi-wan was very thankful that she hadn't lost an arm too. Still, Obi-wan was worried about this potential trend of Dooku encounters. He hoped that this wouldn't be a recurring thing in their lineage.

Shifting his focus back to Anakin, Obi-wan offered his former Padawan a reassuring smile. "Take heart, Anakin. I have already informed Master Che about what's happened. The healers should be ready to receive Ahsoka as soon as you arrive."

"Good." Anakin's shoulders relaxed a little, though he was still a little on edge. "Be there soon."

With a click, the transmission ended and Obi-wan released the tension that had been building up in his shoulders. With a long deep sigh, he sagged them and rested his hands on the transmission table in front of him.

There was certainly a ton of stuff going on lately with the Jedi. As if it wasn't already worrying enough that Dooku had ventured all the way to Christophsis when their intel said he was supposed to be planning something 'big' elsewhere. It was chillingly humbling to realise that they didn't really have a grasp on anything happening in the war at all. With the way things were turning out, Obi-wan had no idea how it was all going to end. But he felt it coming, soon. All the Jedi did.

He closed his eyes momentarily reorganising his thoughts, but instantly opened them up again, a jolt of fear coursing through his mind. Echoes of his former master, a kind gentlemanly look on his face. Images of… Satine. Oh, how he wished he could have-

Obi-wan shook his head. There was no time for such thoughts.

It was already troubling enough that it seems like the entire Jedi populace had been plagued by nightmares of some kind. The dark side eclipsed the Force, drawing out any Force-sensitive's worst fears. After much deliberation, the Jedi Council had determined that it was to be the work of a very powerful Sith, though they could not pinpoint the origin. Dooku had been a suspect but this seemed far too powerful even for him. They collectively tried to fight it, but it had been futile. The nightmare-visions persisted, they still had no chance of a good night's sleep.

Though, the thick smog that hung over his mind was no longer as strong as it was a while ago, though it didn't mean the dark feelings were gone. Now it just felt like it had shifted… elsewhere.

There was little he could do mulling about it now, there were reports and many other tasks to complete. He spent a moment compiling all the information he had received, along with the actual reports Anakin had sent over. After making sure he had everything, Obi-wan headed to deposit the items into the Council's discussion table queue, which only seemed to be getting longer and longer these days. As annoying as it usually was, Obi-wan was at least happy to know that Anakin and Ahsoka could use this time to recuperate.

Taking some of his own paperwork, Obi-wan retreated to his room (not before brewing a fresh pot of his favourite blend of tea, just to help him concentrate). He settled at his desk and began sorting through the reports. Most of it was related to his own missions or simple things that needed to be signed off on. He sent those over to Cody for him to handle.

As he was rifling through, eager to get this all done already so he can attend to more pressing matters, Obi-wan stopped mid-sip of his tea when his eyes fell on a particular locked report. He hesitated for a moment, before typing in the passcode and opening it up.

It was his personal notes and research on Sheev Palpatine, the Chancellor of the Republic.

Ever since Ahsoka had taken him aside before she was deployed, Obi-wan had looked into what she had told him, as said he would. In all honesty, his grand-Padawan told him very little, but it was enough to raise suspicions - at least his specifically. Her knowledge eerily matched up with what Dooku had told him long ago, when the Clone Wars first started. Obi-wan had dismissed it for the longest time, but hearing what Ahsoka said reopened the case.

When he had been captured on Geonosis, Dooku had mentioned something about how someone very powerful was controlling and corrupting the Republic. Now Ahsoka said something about a conspiracy against a Jedi that 'ran deep through the Republic'. That couldn't be a coincidence. The only detail that was different is that Ahsoka had mentioned a different name than Dooku did. Well, more 'mouthed' than actual spoken words. Obi-wan could understand why she feared speaking the name. If it was true, the Jedi and the Republic were in way more trouble than he thought. Could it be that Dooku actually spoke the truth about this Darth Sidious? Could it be…

He did not trust Dooku, but he did trust Ahsoka. Regardless of how she came about this information, she wouldn't lie about something so serious and while she did adopt some of his trollish behaviour, this was too scarily odd to be just a prank. The fact that his Sith-turned grandmaster randomly showed up and tried to kill her seemed to cement the idea that what she said was true.

It was clear that Ahsoka knew more than what she had told him, though hadn't wanted to tell him more. Obi-wan had a sneaking suspicion it was because she was involved in whatever happened to Fives, though to what extent he didn't know. The young Togurta had always been a close friend of the troops and had a strong drive for justice that rivalled only Anakin himself. But it was all just pure speculation, he had no real proof and to be quite frank, Obi-wan didn't feel like voicing it. He had even provided her alibi for the 'Jedi Traitor' investigation, claiming that he had sent her to her room for rest after a friendly, but lengthy discussion. Not mentioning her potential involvement might be a sign of his own attachment to his grand-Padawan. Against the Jedi Code, maybe, but Obi-wan was certain it was the right thing to do.

The young Padawan seemed to be going through some great turmoil, one that seemed intimately tied with the darkness that seeped through the Force. He didn't feel like it was a good idea to add on that, not until she had some support anyway.

Honestly, Obi-wan hadn't really found much about the Chancellor that wasn't already public knowledge. On the surface, he was your picture-perfect member of the senate, one who had the interests of the people at heart. For a man who had so much power, there were barely any scandals he had been a part of.

One thing Obi-wan could find suspicious was the absolute wacko accusation (in his opinion anyway) of a Jedi orchestrating the Chancellor's assassination based on a loose connection to Fives. The rest of the Council seemed eager to sniff out this 'Jedi traitor' in their midst despite the initial doubt, but Obi-wan just didn't think it was true. Tarkin was grasping at straws, eager to push this narrative. And in hopes of improving and protecting the illustrious Jedi public image, the other council members were now all too happy to play along.

Only Yoda, Plo Koon, and Shaak Ti seemed cautious of the whole thing. They had spoken about it briefly in confidence, but there was little they could do, being of the minor opinion after all.

This was all just more unconfirmed and baseless speculation on his part. It didn't feel like any of his theories would accomplish much other than confirm that something smells fishy, and that was already evident in the darkness of the Force. Part of him wanted to go to the Council with his findings, but he wanted to talk to Ahsoka again before he did.

Perhaps he could convince her to testify what she knew to the Council, but he didn't really want to push it right now. She was recovering from what was probably a very difficult duel, one that she barely survived. And he wasn't sure how he was going to do this without uprooting Anakin. As much as he trusted his former apprentice, he couldn't help but feel that Anakin would do something incredibly foolish if he ever found out about what Ahsoka knew.

Restless, Obi-wan downed his cup of tea, letting the bitterness rest on his tongue as he turned this all over in his head. There was, indeed, so much to think about and Obi-wan couldn't help feeling like he was running out of time.

Suddenly his communicator blinked. It took him a moment to realise that Cody was pinging him. He pressed the button.

"General." The ever-so-serious voice of his clone commander filtered through.

"Hello, Cody," he replied. "What's the matter?"

"General Skywalker has just returned. About an hour and a half ago," Cody explained. "I thought I might let you know, sir."

Obi-wan furrowed his brows, confused. Already? He glanced at the chronometer on his desk, surprised to see that over half a day had already passed since he had sat down. He must have been mulling over this for longer than he thought. No wonder his back was starting to get a bit creaky.

"I see," he said back. Obi-wan paused for a moment. "How are they?"

"They've seen better days." Cody sighed. "I personally recommend at least three weeks of rest. The troops look exhausted."

"What about Anakin and Ahsoka? Did you see them?"

"Only for a brief moment when Commander Tano was carted off. The General didn't stick around." reported Cody.

Obi-wan nodded himself. He and Ahsoka were probably already in the Halls of Healing getting treated already.

"Thank you for telling me, Cody," Obi-wan thanked. "Do feel free to help out the 501st. It sounds like they need the extra hand."

"Already on it, sir. Our medics are already helping out with the wounded."

He smiled at his commander's initiative. "Good man, Cody. Keep me posted."

And with that, their call ended. Obi-wan leaned back in his seat, reaching over to his teacup, only to realise that he had already guzzled all his tea. He sighed, he'd have to brew some more. Truthfully, Obi-wan was eager to check in on them, and perhaps critically, talk with Ahsoka again about his findings, but he didn't want to bother them until they had at least the night's rest.

With his mental schedule for the next day already planned, Obi-wan resigned himself back to his work for the night. He did take a short nap, but good sleep was hard to come by these days.

It was late the next morning when Obi-wan made the journey to the Hall of Healing to check on two of his dear Jedi friends. Thankfully, Che was out at the moment, so he didn't have to try charming his way to see them. After getting directions from one of the healers there, Obi-wan found the room they were resting in.

He found Anakin dozing in a chair that had been pulled up to the bed that Ahsoka was resting on. They both looked absolutely haggard . Anakin looked like he hadn't slept well in days and while Ahsoka was well enough not to be hooked up to any machines or anything like that, she looked drained, even in her sleep. Despite the fact they were both unconscious, Obi-wan could sense the whirling emotions of their dreams - or nightmares, perhaps.

When Obi-wan pulled up another chair to sit by the bed, intending to wait there until one of them woke up, Anakin jolted awake, looking ready to fight. Upon catching his eyes, he relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you." He sagged back into his chair.

"Well, it's nice to see you too." Obi-wan smiled a little. He glanced at Ahsoka. "Has she woken up at all?"

"No, but the healers said she's just sleeping off the exhaustion." Anakin crossed his arms, rolling his head back on the head of his seat. "But it's been almost two days now."

"She will be fine, Anakin," Obi-wan assured him. He studied Anakin for a moment. "And how are you doing?"

"Eh, I'm still breathing." He shrugged. "And before you asked, yes, I got checked over already. I just need more sleep."

Obi-wan nodded his head sadly. "Something we've all been needing lately."

They were silent for a moment, just quietly ruminating over their own thoughts. It was a while later that Anakin finally spoke again. "Any updates on the Chancellor Assassin Traitor thing?"

The Jedi master raised his eyebrow at this. "Nothing I'm afraid, but at least Tarkin hasn't released the information to the public quite yet. The Council is still looking into it."

There was a look of impatient frustration on Anakin's face, but he just shook his head, releasing whatever thought he was chewing over. "I guess that's better than something happening."

"Were you expecting something to happen?" Obi-wan noticed the little twitch in Anakin's brow as he said this.

"Maybe," Anakin just said simply. How suspicious.

He was about to keep poking around to see what Anakin meant when Ahsoka suddenly jolted awake, possibly sensing her master's unrest. There was a wide-eyed panic in her eyes as she slowly took in her surroundings, glancing at both him and her master.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin stood up and he did too. He rushed over to his Padawan, a hand on her shoulder. "You're awake!" He looked relieved, already looking much better now that his precious apprentice was awake. "How do you feel?"

The young Padawan brought a hand to her head. "Like I've been asleep for days."

"I'm guessing that's because you actually had been asleep for days," Anakin jokes and Ahsoka widens her eyes.

"It has been… days?" She was starting to get a little nervous. Technically a coma.

"You were just resting," Anakin reassured her. "I'm honestly glad you finally got some sleep."

Ahsoka didn't look assured by this. Her eyes wandered around for a moment, her brows furrowed in concentration. Eventually she met Obi-wan's eyes and he smiled at her, hoping to offer her some comfort.

Suddenly, as if a switch had been flicked, she jerked forward, grabbing Anakin's arm.

"Anakin! I have to tell you!" The young one looked like she was about to start bawling, but she managed to keep her composure. "D-Dooku-"

"Don't worry, Snips. I drove him off." Anakin patted the hand gripping him, coming to sit by the bedside. "He won't hurt you here."

"No, no, no , it's not that!" Obi-wan could sense her building panic. "He told me about the Chancellor," she growled at that last part.

Obi-wan raised his brows at this, his mouth falling slack, staring at his grand-Padawan and then his former Padawan. This was not going to end well. He was about to speak up, to stop her, but Ahsoka continued speaking, looking more disheveled the more she spoke.

"I know what's going to happen. Dooku -...he confirmed it." She let go of Anakin's arm and reached over to grab her own arm. "It's why our missions kept going badly, I know it!"

Anakin nodded his head sympathetically. "Ahsoka, you know it isn't your fau-"

" He's trying to kill me. Because I know what he is," she insisted urgently, her eyes darting between her master and grandmaster. Ahsoka was terrified.

Obi-wan tried to interrupt. "Ahsoka-"

"What do you mean?" Obi-wan grimaced as he felt Anakin's budding anger.

"The Chancellor is a Sith. He's the one who planned the whole thing, with the chips that made Tup go crazy. He killed Fives and now he's going to kill us - the Jedi. And he's going to -" She choked on the last bit, too scared to even speak.

Obi-wan snapped to attention, mouth gaping wide. Ahsoka had just… said this. Out loud. Whatever reservations she had before being deployed were gone. Slowly, Obi-wan turned his attention to Anakin, who looked shocked, and confused, but there was another emotion building.

"What are you talking about?" Her master sounded defensive, angry maybe. Obi-wan winced. This is exactly why he didn't want Anakin to find out. "There is no way that's true."

It was Ahsoka's turn to be shocked. "... But it is, master. Dooku told me about his master, a 'Darth Sidious', the one responsible for all this. He has to be the Chancellor." She sounded so desperate.

"Darth Sidious?" Obi-wan echoed, feeling his skin prickle with dread. Okay, so that was confirmation.

"That cannot be true. Ahsoka, you are making a mistake." There was an accusatory tone in Anakin's voice. "How could you trust the words of a Sith?" Anakin was agitated, but he was making an effort not to be. He was conflicted by his desire to be comforting to his apprentice. The Jedi Knight stood up, facing Ahsoka. "He is the one trying to help you, when you snuck out to help Fives. You could have been accused of being a traitor!"

Ahsoka didn't speak, stunned. But a look of terror and betrayal crept into her face. "You told him." Anakin stared back, chewing the edge of his lip.

Obi-wan just stared between the two, feeling the temperature of this room dropping several degrees. So not only did Ahsoka tell Anakin, he told Chancellor. Great, this was turning out to be a real mess.

"You promised not to tell anyone!" Ahsoka was aghast, her hands trembling. "That's why he knows. That's why…" She looked close to tears.

"Ahsoka, I-" Seeing the look on her face, it finally seemed to click in Anakin that he might've done something wrong. He hesitated, looking around, glancing at Obi-wan before settling on his Padawan again. "Listen I…" Anakin tried to sit down next to Ahsoka, hand out to comfort her.

"Don't touch me," Ahsoka snarled, swatting his hand away, getting out of the bed to get away from him. Her eyes were pointed and glaring. Anakin was stupefied, surprised that his beloved apprentice had just snapped back at him with such intensity. "You betrayed my trust!"

"Talking with the Chancellor was the quickest way to solve the problem," The Jedi Knight tried to explain. "Snips, I was only trying to help."

"You didn't." His grand-Padawan looked absolutely betrayed. "I've been wondering how he found out, but it was you." She pointed at him, her voice crackling with her emotion.

Obi-wan put a hand between them, trying his best to exude a comforting aura. He reached out to both of them through the Force with these feelings. "Alright, let's try to calm down-"

"No," Ahsoka snapped, rejecting the feelings and glowered at her grandmaster. There was a torrent of rage and sadness emanating from her. "I have tried to remain calm this whole time. I have had enough." She gave her master a broken look. "Anakin, I thought I could trust you." She took a few steps back from both of them.

"Ahsoka, you can trust me," Anakin tried to insist.

She shook her head. "No… I can't." The desperation in her voice was evident. "I can't trust you. Or, the Council…" Ahsoka glanced at Obi-wan. "I can't even trust myself."

Obi-wan felt his heart clench when he saw a few tears roll down Ahsoka's face.

Jedi don't cry. They've been trained not to, but Ahsoka reached her breaking point and frankly, Obi-wan couldn't blame her. He was still having a lot of trouble trying to process all that was said the past five minutes of conversation.

Ahsoka turned around and started speed walking to the door, her shoulder shaking.

"Ahsoka, wait! " Anakin rushed to her side, but before he could get close, Obi-wan grabbed him by the shoulder. While he didn't agree with Ahsoka leaving, Obi-wan knew that she needed the space. Anakin scowled at him, but stayed put. "Where are you going? You're still-"

"I can't stay here any longer." She didn't even turn around to meet him. "I have to sort this out on my own." Ahsoka bristled, her anger wafting off her voice. "Without the Council and without you." The young Jedi turned around to shoot Anakin a pained look.

And with that she left the room.

Some of his instincts wanted to call out to her, to stop her from leaving. She was still technically 'injured' after all, but Obi-wan didn't. Even if he hadn't been involved in their argument, he did fall under the umbrella of 'Council' and she wasn't too happy with his attempts to calm them down. The young Padawan's emotions were extremely volatile and she was oozing hysteria and paranoia. Obi-wan wanted to help (he was sure Anakin wanted to too), but they had to give her some time to process what just happened. Ahsoka shouldn't be alone right now, but going after her right now might make things worse. Especially coming from Anakin.

Instead he yanked back Anakin, who was ready to run after her. "Anakin, stop. Your Padawan needs some space."

Anakin gave him a look, one so dark Obi-wan thought he was actually going to punch him. But after a moment, he just shrugged off his grasp and just stood there, staring hard onto the floor. Anakin was stewing over his own emotions, but he seemed to understand why he couldn't just chase after her right now. Obi-wan could tell he was confused, but angry and sad at the same time.

Honestly, he understood the 'confused' part. Ahsoka had just said that Darth Sidious was Palpatine, which if true, put everyone in hot water. Obi-wan couldn't confirm if that was true, but he was leaning towards it being true if he took account of what Dooku had told him a long time ago. Also, what was this about… organic chips and the clones? He had no idea that was part of this whole thing at all. It didn't sound like Anakin had the whole story either. How much did Ahsoka really know?

Obi-wan looked at Anakin, who seemed angry that Ahsoka had just accused his longtime dear friend, the Chancellor, but at the same time was heartbroken that Ahsoka had rejected him like that. It was shocking to him. Them two arguing wasn't anything new, they did it all the time, but it all had been good fun. They weren't really angry. Their arguments had never reached this level of raw emotion and desperation before.

Ahsoka's claims were whirling in his head and Obi-wan was still trying to make sense of it all. But there was one thing he knew for sure. If Darth Sidious truly was Sheev Palpatine, the Chancellor, the fact that he knew of Ahsoka was very bad. It was the reason why she was so upset and scared.

"Anakin," Obi-wan started slowly, his voice firm, waiting for his former apprentice to meet his eyes. As the moments passed, Anakin only grew more and more conflicted as the seconds ticked by. "What exactly did you do?"

There was a dry, bitter taste in Anakin's mouth as he stared down on the ground, unsure how to answer his former master. Obi-wan wasn't angry, at least he didn't really sense that he was, but the older man was definitely deeply troubled. Honestly, Anakin didn't know how he was feeling. There was guilt, but also a sense of righteousness, one that assured him inside that he had done the right thing. But now it was all muddled to this murky feeling.

"I told the Chancellor," He finally said, though he did not meet Obi-wan's gaze.

"And what , pray tell did you tell him?" Obi-wan questioned, his voice sounding a little more uneasy than concerned now.

"I told him that Ahsoka wasn't involved. That there was no Jedi traitor." Anakin finally had the courage to look the Jedi Master in the eyes. "She just wanted to help Fives because he was her friend."

Hearing this, Obi-wan pinched the bridge between his nose and sighed. "Well, this has certainly taken a turn for the…" 'It looked like he was going to say something different, but said something else instead. "...complicated." He was trying not to agitate him, but knowing that just made Anakin more irritated.

"The Chancellor is innocent," Anakin said defensively, though something in him wavered as he remembered Ahsoka's desperate voice. "Fives was delusional, just as Tup had been. He was seriously ill, how could anyone take him seriously?"

"Ahsoka did," answered Obi-wan simply. "And your Padawan trusted you, her dear master, not to tell anyone, much less the Chancellor." He huffed lightly. "Anakin, you know that she looks up to you more than anyone else in the whole galaxy. You must understand why she was so hurt."

As reality began to set in, Anakin started to realise what he had done, but it hit differently when Obi-wan said it out loud. He grimaced, recalling the utter devastation in Ahsoka's eyes just moments before. He had never seen Ahsoka pull a face like that, ever. Their bond had flared with brutalized feelings of betrayal, anger, and fear. Regardless of what he believed, Anakin had hurt her.

His gaze fell to the floor once again.

Anakin had known Chancellor Palpatine for most of his life as a Jedi. The elder had always heard out his frustrations, being there for him when the Council had not. Anakin didn't think he would be able to get through life without his constant pillar of support. In a way, he saw him as the father he never had, especially after the death of his mother. Obi-wan was great, but he didn't have to worry about the fancy-schmancy Jedi Code with Palpatine. He could just be himself.

But Ahsoka was someone who had become extremely precious to him in the few years he's known her. He had known the Chancellor for longer, but his bond with Ahsoka was something that he couldn't even compare to the one he had with Obi-wan. It wasn't that he was any closer to her than he was with his former master, but their relationship was just… different. Ahsoka was like a halfway point between how he felt about Obi-wan and Padme. A strong sense of camaraderie that felt almost sibling-like, but there was a fierce protective desire he had for her too.

Anakin was just torn.

"Regardless of what you believe, you should have never told the Chancellor about this," Obi-wan stated firmly, crossing his arms. "I fear you may have complicated things further than they needed to be."

"Do you believe what she said?" Anakin finally turned up to look at Obi-wan, unable to hide the slight anger in his tone, but he was genuinely curious.

"I don't know," Obi-wan answered honestly. Anakin raised his eyebrows slightly, relieved that someone thought the same. "I don't believe we have all the pieces of this mystery." The older man paused. "But I do believe that Ahsoka thinks she's telling the truth. Whether or not it is the truth remains to be seen, though I am leaning towards truth rather than fiction." He sighed. "The fact of the matter now is that she will not likely talk to us for a while"

'Us' Obi-wan had said, but Anakin knew who his apprentice didn't want to talk to.

"I just wanted to help her. You didn't see her, master. She was so... scared, " he said, grinding his teeth. Ahsoka was just so traumatised after she had killed that separatist, there was just no way he was going to sit by and let nothing happen. At the time, there seemed like a way to lighten the burden for her. "It was the fastest way to keep her safe."

Obi-wan's eyes softened and he reached over to pat the younger man on the shoulder. "I know you mean well, Anakin, and your care is admirable," he comforted him, but then he added, "but what you did wasn't wise."

Anakin wanted to argue, but he snapped his mouth shut. It had felt like the right thing to do at the time, and some part of him still believed it was. But for Ahsoka's sake, Anakin knew it had been the wrong choice to make at that time. Obi-wan was right. It hadn't been wise at all.

"I suggest letting her cool off for a moment." It sounded like advice, but Anakin knew that this was more of an order than a suggestion. "Then you should apologise and talk things out. Let her know that you are still on her side."

Anakin nodded. He could at least agree with that.

"... What do we do about what she said?" asked Anakin. It was hard to believe that anything that Ahsoka said was the truth, but those accusations were hard to ignore. It stuck in his head, no matter how hard he tried to put it aside.

There was a thoughtful look on the Jedi master's face. "Actually, I've been-"

Before Obi-wan could finish his statement, there was a loud bang, one that shook the very foundations of the building. It was so intense that it almost knocked them both off their feet. The shaking stopped, but then there was another loud bang. This time, it caused some of the loose items in the room to fall over, clattering onto the ground.

After the ground stopped shuddering beneath them, Anakin exchanged confused glances with his former master before they both raced outside the room. Exiting, they saw healers and patients looking around the Halls of Healing, startled and perplexed by the loud sounds. The sense of fear was also quite palpable.

"What was that ?" Anakin turned to Obi-wan.

Obi-wan's lips were pressed into one grim line. "I don't know, but that can't be good."

Suddenly, there was another loud rumble, one less loud, but enough to cause some of the weaker patients to fall to the ground. Not wasting any more time, Anakin headed towards what he felt was the origin of this chaos, Obi-wan not too far behind.

It was a bit of a run, but with the Force, the two were able to find their way to what seemed like the epicenter of the disaster. Anakin slowed to a stop as he saw the gaping smoldering hole in the wall of the temple. Fire and smoke billowed out of the cracks in the wall. It looked like the place had just been bombed.

Jedi were running to and fro, trying to control the chaos and save the wounded. Nearby, Anakin recognized Barriss tending to another Padawan, a Rodian, who looked like they had been severely injured by the blast. Anakin quickly ran over, to see if he could help.

"Master Skywalker!" Barriss exclaimed. "Master Kenobi!" She looked relieved to see them.

"Are you alright, Padawan?" Obi-wan asked, crouching and touching her shoulder. Barriss nodded shakily, but then looked down at her injured friend.

"What happened?" Anakin questioned, glancing around him at the chaos.

"I-I don't know," she answered honestly, looking shaken and dazed. "We were just walking when that wall suddenly exploded." The Mirialan glanced at what looked like the blast zone and back at them.

"This is serious," Obi-wan said, touching the unconscious Padawan. "Come, we must bring him and the other injured to the Halls of Healing." The older man leaned over to pick him up.

A sudden icy feeling enveloped Anakin's being. His head darted towards the smoke, debris, and fire, his breathing quickening.

"Ahsoka."

He didn't mean to glare at Barriss, but his emotions were surfacing and he couldn't help it. "Did you see Ahsoka?"

"No, I-I didn't see her." Barriss swallowed, intimidated.

Before Obi-wan or Barriss could say anything, Anakin took off down the hall. He frantically began looking around, reaching through their bond in the Force to see if he could find her, but the air was rife with panic, fear and pain. It was impossible to try to track anyone in particular through the chaos. Still, Anakin didn't give up. He had to find her. She had to be okay.

Before Obi-wan or Barriss could say anything else, Anakin took off down the hall. He reached out through the Force to see if he could locate his Padawan, but the air was rife with panic, fear, and pain. It was impossible to try to track anyone through the chaos. Still, Anakin didn't give up, he had to find her.

The next few moments were like a blur. Anakin turned over every piece of stone, checked everyone, kept his senses peeled, constantly reaching out for a bond that seemed lost among the noise and darkness. He didn't even stop to help the others, Anakin didn't want to waste any time. There were already tons of others emerging to help anyway. All of that didn't matter. He just had to find Ahsoka.

But as the hours passed, no matter how hard Anakin searched, he never did find her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

And with that cliffhanger, Act I is officially done : I hope you guys can hang on until Act II! Also surprise! The Temple Bombing did happen after all! But Barriss isn't the one who did it...?

I hope it didn't feel too disorienting to have a time skip after Anakin comes to save Ahsoka from Dooku to Obi-wan's perspective (which happens about a day later). The reason I did this is because that's where I wanted Ahsoka's story to end for Act I. Originally, I was going to have a section after Ahsoka's part which was an Anakin vs Dooku part, but it was not really that important. Dooku basically pissed off after Anakin showed up after a brief exchanging of blades and told him nothing. I had such a big jump because I really wanted to make you all feel like we were 'rushing' and that there was 'no more time'.

Dooku's conversation with Ahsoka was honestly really fun to write. It's based on Ahsoka's pre-duel convo with Maul, Obi-Wan's convo with Dooku in Attack of the Clones, and a bit of Vader vs Ahsoka sprinkled in. At first, I had made Dooku way more hostile in the beginning, but in subsequent edits he became a bit more affable. It's because I don't really see Dooku as your typical Sith. It's possible that he wanted Ahsoka to survive this fight or was just amused and was toying with her, but I'll leave that up to interpretation. By the way, that Sith Lighting redirecting attack is actually the move that the Daughter performed while fighting against the Son. Ahsoka basically mimicked it, but on a much smaller scale and not as powerful. There was no way Ahsoka was going to win against Dooku. She's as powerful as she was when she fought Maul in S7, but she's not at her peak and Dooku just outclasses her at this time (maybe Rebels Ahsoka can give him a run for his money?).

Obi-wan's section was also incredibly fun to write. The section is basically insight to how Act II is going to play out, which becomes a more investigation-detective style theme than to the psychological / terror theme of Act I (Cody is there for fun because I like him). It's also supposed to address the fact that Ahsoka never really told anyone (except Rex, who Obi-wan and Anakin both don't know he knows) the full story of what happened. This resulted in Anakin misunderstanding which lead to this impulsive decision and then to this argument. I hope this Anakin/Ahsoka verbal fight was realistic enough and made sense. At this point, Ahsoka is hysteric about what she knew and had been bottling this whole thing up. She blew up on Anakin, who had told the Chancellor. The reason I had it from Obi-wan's perspective is because I wanted to show an objective view of it all instead of having it skewed by the arguing parties. Some dialogue is quoted from Ahsoka's convo with Anakin when she left the temple, seemed appropriate.

That last part with Anakin's POV originally was going to be an Ahsoka's POV but I wanted her persp to end with the Dooku fight. It was much more interesting to have it as Anakin's POV to keep the mystery of what happened and to present the conflict of choosing between Palpatine, his close friend, and Ahsoka, his friend/sister/daughter. I didn't want to immediately destroy a years long friendship between Palpatine and Anakin, it would take some time to dismantle... Anyways, Barriss was there, basically as homage to the fact she was the one who did the Temple Bombing in canon, but in this alt timeline, she was a victim.

Fun fact, the reason Act I is named 'Terror' is because of the overall theme of fear present throughout the seven chapters. It started with Fives' fears which got inherited by Ahsoka. While Ahsoka was suffering with her terror, in the background, the Jedi were also falling victim to nightmares and fears. As a tidbit for you guys, the next act, Act II, is called 'Secrets'.

A few chapters have been written, but I think they need more time in the oven. This fic will be going on a week(ish) break until I am satisfied with the drafts.

Hope to see you next time! Thank you all for sticking with me this far ^^