Sorry it's taken so long to update, but it's the last chapter and I wanted to think about it for a bit. Also finals and other end of the year stuff. But it's up now!

Thank you to all of the people who have reviewed, especially if you left constructive comments. I really appreciate the feedback.

I still don't own them.

Anakin stared at Dooku's body. "What did he say?" the boy asked incredulously.

"He said we have 48 hours to live," Obi-Wan said calmly.

"But- But-" Anakin stammered, still trying to process the news.

"Calm down, Padawan."

"Calm down? We're going to die, Master! How can you tell me to calm down?" Anakin began to panic.

"We're not in trouble yet," Obi-Wan answered. /Great, I'm starting to sound like Qui-Gon,/ he thought to himself. /Oh well. At least I'm not spewing that nonsense about point of view yet./

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Dooku activated something with that box. There may be a way to deactivate it." Obi-Wan bent down next to Dooku and picked up the box. Gingerly his fingers traced the seam until he found the catch. The lid sprang open, revealing a series of wires, buttons, and lights. Allowing the Force to guide him, Obi-Wan reached into the tangled jungle, searching for a way to disarm the device.

His mind jolted with a surge in the Force. Anakin stared over his shoulder. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at a large red button.

"No, Anakin! Don't touch -" Obi-Wan's warning came milliseconds to late. Anakin pressed the button. With a start, Obi-Wan tossed the device as far down the hall of the ship as he could. "Get down!" he shouted, shielding his Padawan with his body.

***

Qui-Gon stood in the misty plane that had held him since his death, meditating. Suddenly the Force swirled and darkened, throwing him out of his thoughts. The mist had changed in character; where it had once seemed like early morning on Naboo it now boiled with the anger and hatred of the Dark side.

"No," Qui-Gon whispered, hoping that what he felt was caused by something else.

"Yes, my old Padawan," came the booming voice in answer to his unspoken question.

***

Obi-Wan braced himself for a massive explosion. His muscles tensed in anticipation of the shockwave.

But nothing happened. Seconds passed, then minutes, and finally it seemed as though the danger had passed. Warily, Obi-Wan stood and helped Anakin to his feet.

A holographic figure of the Count stood before them. "My Master," it said in Dooku's voice. "The bomb is set, as you commanded. Within the next 48 hours, the Temple will be destroyed. I have assured that the two meddlesome Jedi will be dead by then."

The holograph clicked off. Obi-Wan stooped to pick up the box.

Before his hand could close on it, a poof of smoke erupted from the projector. Even with the Force Obi-Wan had trouble backing away before the device exploded, coating the entire hall with gray dust. A strange pulse in the Force accompanied it, registering in the back of Obi-Wan's mind as a harsh scratch.

Anakin sneezed behind him. "Master?" he asked, seeing the worried expression on Obi-Wan's face. "What do we do?"

Obi-Wan didn't have to waste time thinking. "We return to the Temple and try to find this bomb."

***

Qui-Gon stood warily in the mist. He waited, searching the Force for Dooku's signature.

"Are you scared, my old Padawan?" Dooku taunted.

"Strength over fear," Qui-Gon quoted, his steady voice disguising the anxiety he felt.

"Don't worry. You won't be alone for long. Soon you will be joined by that foolish apprentice of yours."

Qui-Gon started. "What do you mean?"

Dooku smiled, his piercing eyes meeting Qui-Gon's as he emerged from the mist. He stood loosely, apparently unarmed. The black cloak draped smoothly over his shoulders and cascaded to the floor. The air around Dooku was chilled, as though his presence caused the Force to flee. The cold bit deeply into Qui-Gon, and he soon found himself struggling to control a wave of shivers.

"It is time for you to die." Dooku said nonchalantly, advancing towards Qui-Gon with malice in his eyes.

***

The two Jedi raced through the halls of the ship, searching for the docking bay. "Master, how will we make it back to the Temple in time?" Anakin asked, gasping for air.

Obi-Wan paused against the side of a large, disc-shaped, decrepit ship, gasping. "We contact the Council and alert them to the danger. Then, we take this ship to back to Coruscant. Without all the stops along the way, we should be there by this evening. Then, we have one day to find and disarm the bomb."

Anakin stared at him, then at the ship. "In this?" he asked incredulously.

Obi-Wan seemed surprised. "Of course! Don't you know the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship in the galaxy?" /Sithspit, where did that come from?/ he wondered.

Anakin still wasn't convinced. "What a piece of junk," he muttered.

Obi-Wan glared at him. "Get on board."

"But Master, we don't own this ship!"

"We're requisitioning it. It is better to borrow a ship than to lose thousands of lives." Obi-Wan reasoned. "Besides, the Council will be able to track down the owner and compensate whoever it is."

***

Dooku walked slowly towards Qui-Gon. "Did you miss me, Padawan?" he taunted. "You always underestimated my powers. Now you will find that I am more powerful than you could ever have imagined."

Qui-Gon searched frantically for something, anything, that he could use as a weapon. He backed away from the Sith, trying to buy time.

"Did you have nightmares about me? Did I haunt every moment of your pathetic existence?"

The mist yielded nothing. Qui-Gon was unarmed, defenseless, and Dooku was unhooking his saber from his belt. Suddenly Qui-Gon found himself unable to move, as if shoved up against a wall. Shocked, he realized that Dooku was using the Force to immobilize him. The lightsaber hilt positioned itself at his throat, and Dooku's finger caressed its solitary red button.

"Goodbye, my old Padawan."

***

The Council room was silent. The news delivered by Obi-Wan was disturbing, and they had to decide what to do.

"Evacuate, we must," Yoda said eventually, breaking the tense silence. "Risk the lives of the children, we cannot."

"But where will we send them?" Depa Billaba asked. "If the galaxy finds out we evacuated the Temple, they will lose all their trust for the Order."

"And if we don't, and the Temple is destroyed, it won't matter." Mace pointed out. "Maybe if we sent everyone on a field trip to one of the moons as a 'training exercise', we could disguise the true nature of our situation."

"Either way, we must find the bomb. It all depends on our ability to deactivate it," Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

The Council nodded gravely, recognizing the seriousness of their situation.

***

Anakin lay on one of the berths on the Falcon. "I don't feel good," he croaked, his small body wracked by hacking coughs.

Obi-Wan did not appear any better. "Hold on, Padawan. The Temple healers will find something." His dry, papery skin cracked as he shifted to stroke his apprentice's head.

He waited for Anakin to respond, but saw that the boy had fallen into a tormented sleep. It was not long before Obi-Wan succumbed as well.

***

Jedi Master Shedain stood before the Council. Ever since Erinn's death, he had been disinterested in his work with the younglings. The Council took his offer to head the search for the bomb as a sign that he was finally starting to recover.

"It's hopeless. We've searched everywhere in the Temple, but there is no sign of a bomb. We can't find it." Shedain's slumped back showed his defeat. "I can't even feel it in the Force. We're finished."

The Council exchanged a glance. "Evacuate, we will. Only hours we have before the end of the Order," Yoda said grimly, knowing that what Shedain said was true.

***

Qui-Gon prepared himself to die again. He watched as Dooku applied more and more pressure to the button on the lightsaber, waiting for it to ignite and sever his head.

It didn't turn on. Dooku's finger was jammed into the hilt, but the lightsaber malfunctioned, generating a shock large enough to throw them apart. Qui-Gon flew several feet through the mist before flipping and landing on his feet. Dooku landed less gracefully, flat on his back. His lightsaber soared away from his grasp.

Qui-Gon called the blade to him, using the Force to ignite it. The Force swirled around him, welcoming and aiding him to part the mist and shift the crystals in the saber. The red blade fought back against his grip, shoving Dark energy up his arm and into his body. The Force protected him, though, encasing Qui-Gon in a sheath of light that repeled the darkness.

Dooku scrambled back as Qui-Gon neared, realizing that he could not fight back. Qui-Gon never slowed his approach, bringing the glowing blade to Dooku's neck. "I undo what you have done," he said, burning every trace of Dooku's mischief from the galaxy. As all Dooku's evil faded, so too did the Count. There, in the strange plane of half-death, Qui-Gon found true connection to the Force.

***

Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably. His entire body ached furiously, but he could tell that he would survive. He cracked open his eyes, forcing himself to try and get up.

"Stay down," a warm voice said gently. "You're recovering from the touch of the Dark side." Even though Obi-Wan couldn't see his visitor, he recognized Qui-Gon's presence. "This will be the last time I can speak with you," Qui-Gon continued. "You and Anakin will both be fine. It will be a long recovery, but you will get better."

"The Temple?" Obi-Wan whispered, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"You were the weapon. The dust that Dooku sprayed you with contained a powerful disease that would have exterminated all Force-sensitives who used the Light side. With his death, though, it died as well."

Obi-Wan smiled, too weak to say anything more. He knew the galaxy would go on, and that he and Anakin would be there to help it happen.

"You will be a great Jedi, Obi-Wan. I am proud of you, and the Force will be with you. Never forget the Force, Obi-Wan. It will protect you." Qui- Gon smiled, and allowed himself to become, at last, one with the Force.

So, what did you think? Like it? Hate it? I'm dying to know.