Chapter 3: Confusion

Medic droids of different shapes, sizes, and purposes quickly attended to them, eager to help the wounded patient. They led Jard Dooku to one of the beds and he gently and carefully laid Padme there. He didn't know why, but he felt so protective of her. He knew he had to leave her to the droids now so that they could tend to her, but he couldn't find the will to leave her alone.

Padme was surprised at how this Dooku had handled her. He was strong, yet gentle, formal, but kind and humble. If this man were a relative of the Count Dooku she knew, then he reflected more of what the Count was before he turned to the dark side…For he was nothing like the Dooku who had them killed for game in Geonosis.

Little Qui-Gon followed after them and trotted to the side of the bed. He placed his hands on the edge of the soft cushion and looked at Padme, hoping that she'd be all right soon. "What will happen next, Master? Will she be well?"

Dooku looked at his little apprentice and smiled. "She will be well, Qui-Gon. Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right. I promise." His voice was calm and hopeful. He knew that what he said was true. Padme was going to be all right. He was going to make sure that she was going to be all right. It just felt natural for him to do so.

Padme looked at the little boy who stood right next to her medical bed and gently placed her hand on top of his. "Jedi Dooku is right, Qui-Gon. I'm going to be all right. After all, it's just a little sprain and some bruises. It's nothing serious. Trust me, I'll survive." She assured her words with a smile.

"By the way," She continued. "May I please know your name?" She felt silly thinking that this boy could be THE Qui-Gon Jinn she knew. In fact, it was impossible that he was. But something in the back of her mind was nagging her that it was possible, no matter how ridiculous the notion was.

The boy smiled back. "I'm Qui-Gon Jinn. You can call me Qui-Gon of course."

Padme's chest tightened and her stomach did a flip she didn't expect. Her throat felt dry and she felt as if she were living in a dream at that very moment.

Then Qui-Gon grabbed Dooku by the wrist and pulled him closer so that he was standing right next to Padme's bed. "And this is my big brother, Jard Dooku. I prefer to call him master, but you know him. He dislikes it."

/"This can't be possible. This must all be just a dream."/ She thought to herself.

Padme couldn't believe what she was hearing and what she was seeing. This couldn't be. That nice young man cannot be Count Dooku and that boy cannot be Qui-Gon Jinn. The Count Dooku she knew was out there, battling it out against them. And the Qui-Gon Jinn who had been one of her closest Jedi friends, was now one with the force.

She couldn't understand what was happening anymore. Everything confused her. She looked around the medic room, thinking of where she could truly be. But this did look like the medical room in Jedi Temple --- only older and ancient looking.

One of the droids caught her eye. It seemed to be injecting various kinds of medicines into its built-in glass containers. She doesn't remember seeing that droid before. Not once in her entire life. But then, she did remember seeing it once, in a book about medical droids. The book said that those droids were once used in olden times to mix and match serums. It tests which medicines would serve the patient best.

Then her eyes widened, and sweat tricked down from her smooth forehead. A ridiculous thought struck her mind…Perhaps she truly wasn't in another place…But in another time? Could it be that she had been flung back decades into the past? Well, it was either that, or she was dreaming. But this couldn't be a dream. It seemed far too real.

A concerned look reflected on Dooku's face. "Is something wrong, Padme?" His deep, yet young voice asked. "You seem…worried about something…"

What was she going to tell him now? That she came from the future? That someday, he was going to sentence her to death in Geonosis? She couldn't even look at him straight anymore, unlike when they had first met in the steps of Jedi Temple. Because now, every time her eyes caught his face, he saw the Count…not Jedi Dooku.

"Padme?" He asked again, utterly worried about her sudden strange behavior.

She finally had the urge to face him. "Don't worry, Cou--- Jedi Dooku. I'm all right. I just seem a little bothered by the pain all over my body. Please, don't worry about me. I'm sure you have more important matters to attend to." Now she sounded like she wanted to drive him away.

To ease her current confusion, she looked at the very young Qui-Gon Jinn. If he truly, really was the Qui-Gon she knew, then she was thankful that he was there. He was the only friendly face around her.

"I thank you again for finding me, Qui-Gon. I don't know what would have happened to me if you didn't come to my rescue." She said with a smile.

But behind her smile, hundreds of thoughts and questions swirled within Padme's mind. How will she get back to her present time? Will she ever even see Anakin again? What will her Anakin do with the knowledge of her sudden disappearance? Will she be trapped in this past forever? And now that she was in the past, if this truly was the past and not just a dream, does that mean that she now has the power to change the future?

So many questions, so many things to think about, but she couldn't find the answer to any one of them. She had been in desperate and life-threatening situations before, but none of them could ever compare to the situation she was in right now. This was too unreal to be real. Not even the Jedi Masters have welcomed the notion of time travel.

A number of medic droids started to crowd around her, ready to treat her injuries.

Qui-Gon and Dooku stepped away from the bed to give them enough space.

"We'll be waiting in the lobby, Padme." He said as he looked at her. "We'll be here of you need anything."

Padme just looked at him and smiled. She still felt uneasy interacting with THE Count Dooku like this. It felt awkward and surreal. She shouldn't even be here! In fact, she expected to wake up from this lucid dream any time now.

Qui-Gon noticed that his master still hasn't moved from his spot. In fact, Dooku was still standing there, looking worried sick about Padme. It actually seemed as if his master's had a sudden attraction to their new female friend. He may only be ten years old and fourteen years younger than Dooku was, but he wasn't blind. He can see the attraction, amour and concern in his superior's dark brown eyes.

The little boy chuckled and took his master by the hand. "Let's go, Master. She'll be all right. You said so. She may need some time alone to recuperate." He said jokingly.

Dooku's tall frame allowed him to see beyond the medical droids. He saw that she had already fallen asleep. One of the droids has probably sedated her in order to force her body to rest. Based from the shape her body was in when Qui-Gon found her earlier, rest was one of the things she definitely needed at the moment.

He was suddenly interrupted by the little youngling who was tugging at his hand.

"Master, let's go. Lady Padme needs to be tended to by the droids now." He said in his own innocent, childish way.

Dooku felt a little embarrassed and exposed at the moment. Looks like his padawan had caught him off guard. "Oh, uh, yes. You're right, Qui-Gon. Let's go." He said as he ushered his little friend to the lobby. But before they could step out of the room, Dooku looked over his shoulder and glanced at Padme one last time.

/"Until we meet again, Lady Padme. I am at your service."/ He thought to himself..

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The confusion Padme was feeling at the moment didn't help her in any way. Though one of the medic droids has sedated her, she found it hard to put her mind at rest. How could she when she was here, stuck in a time where she didn't belong? She still hoped this was all just a dream and that soon enough, she would wake up and find herself wrapped around the arms of the person who was her heart and her life.

But then, what if this truly wasn't a dream? What if, by sudden twist of fate, she had truly been transported decades into the past? What will she tell Qui-Gon or even Dooku?

She had no problems with Qui-Gon. In fact, she liked interacting with the Jedi Master's youngling counterpart. But what of Dooku? She had never met him prior to his fall to the dark side, so she had no concrete view of what he was like before he had given up his place in the Jedi Order. The only Dooku she had come to know was the Dooku who captured Obi-Wan and the Dooku who had them almost killed for sport.

This was all too confusing. She just wanted to scream and cry at the moment. If only she could, but the sedatives were keeping her down. Perhaps it would be for the best if she just gave into the sedative for now…gave in to sleep and rest.

Her mind and her entire body still felt all battered and broken and raw from the "ship crash" that never really happened. And so she would rest for now. Then after that, she would find a way to get out of this mess that had turned her life upside down, even if that meant asking Count Dooku and the young Qui-Gon for help.

Padme tried to calm herself. She cleared her mind of her present troubles and let her body give into a deep and peaceful sleep.

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