"ECLIPSE"
Part 28
/Anakin/
Ani groaned, his eyes heavy and his head pounding; he was hung by shackles to a plain wall in a surreal place, and there was a brightness before him so white and intense that he couldn't bring himself to look at it.
/Open your eyes, Anakin/
He groaned once more, wincing at the throbbing of the wounds he'd sustained in yesterday's battle. He tried to pry open his eyes, tried to face the vivid screen…
"It's too bright," he weakly protested, tightening his eyelids shut again.
/Watch them, Anakin/
His brow creased, " 'Them'?" he murmured, forcing his head up and finding himself able to safely open his eyes - the brightness was fading, colours becoming discernible, and numb sounds now beginning to enter the bizarre scenario.
/Yes, them/
Anakin watched patiently: a Nubian veranda formed before him, the sun bright, the lake shimmering, with lush green foliage hanging over a stone plateau - it was the veranda where he and Padmé had shared their first kiss! He inhaled, a weight forming over his heart - what was he seeing?
/Watch/
Anakin did as instructed by the mysterious, bodiless voice, and watched; the vision before him cleared and focused, and now on the veranda he perceived two figures, silhouetted against the light shining from across the lake. Bird song was now also discernible in the branches of the trees, and leaves rustled in harmony with it, disturbed by a gentle breeze.
/Can you see them?/
"Yes," the Padawan nodded, monitoring the two people with care; it was a man and a woman, for certain, both of the human genus.
Soon, the vision took him in closer to the pair, and their identities became swiftly apparent: "Padmé?" he mumbled toward the woman; he just glared at the man, blood boiling - no acknowledgment of his identity was necessary.
/Watch them/
Ani didn't question the voice - he observed the two closely, seeing Padmé turn to the Count with a smile, chatting amiably to him, whilst he returned her smile. Anakin could not make out the words they uttered to each other - their conversation was blurred and echoing - but, from body language alone, he could surmise that their exchange was easy-going and lively. Anakin swallowed his envy, his sharp eyes piercing through Dooku like a knife: Why was he privy to this? What was he seeing…?
"Where am I?" he asked hoarsely.
/Watch them/
The voice was insistent, so Anakin continued to obey, and stared back at Serenn and Padmé, just in time to see her - not him - put her hand over his on the stone wall. Their eyes met and they beheld one-another silently, the birds continuing to sing in their treetop dwellings.
Ani felt his brow crease ever the more deeply in confusion, and he wildly shook his head - this wasn't real, it couldn't be!
And, suddenly, the next words Padmé spoke came out crisp and clear, breaking through the resonant aural void of before; "I love you," she said.
Anakin's heart panged and his stomach wrenched, "What is this?" he growled toward the voice that played him host, "What is this foul trickery?!"
/Can't you see them, Anakin?/
"What is this?!!"
The vision before him continued, and the Count rose his hand to stroke Padm's face, a look of doting in his eyes.
"Hands off her!" Anakin found himself yelling, moved to hysteria by this incredulous scene, though it was obvious to him that the pair could neither see nor hear him.
/Is this the woman who swore she'd love you forever?/
Ani swallowed again, "This isn't real… it can't be real!"
/Is this the woman you've risked your career and your life to rescue?/
He shook his head, "It's not my Padmé - it's not!"
/Does she even want to be rescued?/
The upset Padawan drew a breath in sharply through gritted teeth, unable to break free from the prison of this apparition, unable to draw his eyes away from this most torturous scene; his heart pelted in his chest and he tightly clenched his shackled fists, "No…" he whimpered, his spirit splitting.
Padmé raised her other hand and placed it over Serenn's as it cupped her cheek, before she stepped into him and rested her head upon his chest, sliding her arms about his torso. There was something between them, a trust that Anakin had never felt fully developed between he and the Nubian senator… It made him deeply envious.
"No!" he cried, trying to break away - but even when he closed his eyes, he could still see them, "It's not true! It's not true!!" Hot, devastated tears rolled down his face, but were completely unable to quench his rage or distress…
/Your eyes do not deceive you/
Anakin was burning up with agony, forced to watch the unbearable scene in an act of pure cruelty, forced to see Serenn slide his hands about Padm's waist and lock his lips with hers, forced to see all the tenderness and heat in their embrace…
/She loves him/
"She wouldn't," he continued to deny, "You lie!!"
/The Force does not lie…/
Anakin heaved great, distraught breaths, his face a picture of fury, jealousy and heartbreak, " 'The Force'?"
/It shows many things… the future, the past…the truth/
"It's an illusion!!"
/Illusion often becomes reality/
He shook his head, "No…"
/What of the dreams of your mother?/
Skywalker swallowed hesitantly, "It…wasn't like this…"
The voice become derisive in tone, and chuckled at him and his naivety; /It's too late Anakin - Padmé loves Tyranus now/
" 'Tyranus'?" he stuttered.
/Oh, didn't you know? 'Tyranus' - or 'Count Dooku', as you know him - is the second Sith Lord/
"What?" he cried, "But Padmé, she said -"
/'A Sith Lord controls the Senate'? Yes. But she doesn't know that a Sith Lord also controls the Separatists!/
Ani tried to take all of this in, tried to make sense of it all, whilst Padmé and Serenn, on the veranda before him, broke their embrace and stared peacefully across the idealistic vista together.
/Oh, don't worry, Anakin - the Sith Master is only using Tyranus, just as the Jedi are only using you…/
"Why are you telling me this?"
/I think I can help you, Anakin… Give you revenge on Tyranus, give you back the woman who betrayed you, to do with as you will… give you the freedom and respect that the Jedi will never let you have and let you achieve your true potential/
Anakin's gaze hardened on Dooku, his hatred of the man consuming him.
/You are in trouble with the Jedi - they may have to abandon you, and your master will in turn have to abandon you, too…/
"He's never helped me, anyway…" Ani growled.
/Let me show you the true nature of the Force - let me make you the greatest warrior ever!/
He swallowed once more, uncertain, his eyes still fixed on Serenn, unable to even behold Padmé, it shattered his heart so…
/You deserve the best, Anakin. Come to me and let me teach you everything/
"Who are you?" the Padawan whispered warily.
/You know who I am, my boy/
He paused, brow twitching, "Your excellency…?"
/Yes. Trust me, my friend - let me help you/
"I don't understand… how can you train me? How could you? You're no Jedi…"
/No. I'm not. Now think about it/
Anakin stared into space, his eyes drawing unavoidably back onto Padmé once more as she buried her head into Serenn's chest; he clutched her hand in his, running his other through the dark tresses of her hair.
"The Sith Master," he growled.
/You know me, Anakin… am I really the inhuman monster the Jedi make you believe a Sith Lord is?/
"No, excellency… you've been good to me."
/Then don't hold it against me - perhaps it is the Jedi who are wrong…?/
Ani inhaled profoundly, "What do you want me to do?"
/Come to me, and I will explain all…/
Anakin nodded - his mother, his potential, his love… all had been destroyed, restrained or lost because of the Jedi. The Chancellor had always been good to him, and to now find that he was the Sith Master did not seem to shock him as much as he would have expected - it only proved the genius of the man and the ineptitude of the Jedi. Perhaps this was the right thing to do? Perhaps he had finally found his destiny?
'This path has been placed before you. The choice to take it is yours alone.'
"I will come."
There was a flash, and, before Anakin knew it, he was awake, laid back on a cot in some part of a Republic Cruiser. He could hear the distant rumbling of the hyper drive and knew in his gut that he was on his way back to Coruscant.
His mind was buzzing, filled with a fuzzy mess that he didn't have time to organise as, appearing in the doorway of the chamber like a thunderous storm, came his master, Obi-Wan. He looked up to the Jedi and saw the hardest, most irate look on his face, one of the likes he'd never seen formed on Kenobi's visage before.
Obi folded his arms, and growled edgily, "You're in trouble this time, Anakin - I'm very disappointed in you."
-----
Serenn woke with an equal start, bolting upright and inhaling such a mass of air that he thought his lungs might burst. Reality returning, he let his head fall into his hands and threw his duvet off him, leaning over the edge of the bed; his body was buzzing with a combination of confusion and exhilaration, the vision having seemed like an idealistic dream. But if it seemed too good, and too absurd to be true, then it more than likely was. And he knew that it hadn't turned up be sheer accident…
/Master/
He closed his eyes, rallying his strengths and searching for Sidious' telepathic signature; he could discern the Sith Master's handiwork from miles off, and only Sidious could be so cruel and clever to conceive something of the likes of that hallucination…
/Tyranus…?/
The reply was distant; they were too far from each other, but it would, even so, suffice for a brief interview.
/What was that?/
/The loss of Anakin/
/He witnessed it?/
/You all did…/
/All?/ Serenn frowned, his brow furrowing; he felt sweat roll down his forehead as he slowly came back to dull reality.
/Yes - everyone in your 'triangle'/
/So Padmé too?/
/Yes/
He sighed - he wasn't sure what he was feeling inside, nor was he now sure about the ambitions of the Sith Master. Sidious was growing increasingly more powerful, a man of an astounding, almost preposterous genius, the ultimate puppet master. He was playing all three of them on his game board for some reason or other…
/I thought you wanted me to keep drawing Anakin in? To keep Padmé, and drive him further from the road that the Jedi have set for him?/
/Oh, I know what I'm doing, Tyranus - don't let yourself lose focus. Keep on target/
The Count eventually made an uncertain nod, before he finally transmitted his response; /Yes, my master…/
-----
Padmé woke up crying, the shock of the vision was so great. She clutched her duvet tight to herself, curling into a protective ball; her pillow was sodden with tears. Yesterday, she'd almost succumbed to Serenn's carnal abuses again, and that was traumatising enough, but to then dream about loving him…? What twisted cruelty was this? Why was she being tortured so? Her life had become almost unbearable…
There was a knock...
She inhaled, wiping her eyes, and turned to look at the door; it could only be one person…
"Padmé, I know you're in there…"
It was Serenn, her intuition had been correct. She said nothing, and only coiled herself tighter into her duvet - she didn't want to talk to anyone, especially not him…
"Open the door or I'll open it myself," he went on from the other side.
'Oh, go away' she cursed silently, glaring toward the source of his voice.
There was a brief pause before the door bleeped, unlocked by the Count's Force-enhanced fiddling, and he then paced in; "Don't tell me to go away," he said whilst the door hissed shut behind him.
Padmé took a deep breath, sitting up and pulling her knees into her chest, keeping the blanket tight around her, "Don't you have any respect for my privacy?" she asked.
He seemed to ignore her and paced round the far side of her bed, studying her visage carefully, "Why are you crying?" he asked, straddling a chair by her bedside.
"Privacy," she repeated, ignoring him, "What part didn't you understand?"
His gaze tightened, "I dreamt about you last night," he whispered.
Padmé looked taken aback, and she drew away from him slightly, "You did?"
"And you dreamt about me," he added.
Her brow furrowed, "How did you know?"
He glanced down briefly, "I… just know." He looked a little numb himself, a shadow of the aggressor from last night; "Please… don't take it to heart."
She gave him the most incredulous stare possible, " 'Don't take it to heart'?" she scoffed, "After everything you've done, you tell me not to take a dream to heart!"
He clasped the back of the chair before him, staring silently at his hands.
"You haven't told me not to take your kisses to heart, or your - your-"
He nodded, the word on his mind, though he was unable to speak it…
To Padmé, it all still seemed so surreal - how it had happened, and who with, and how, even after all that, she was still sat talking to the perpetrator in what could be considered a relatively composed way. Worse of all was the fact that he was still a free man and that no one but her knew of it all… with the possible exception of Anakin.
The Count studied the rivets on his fingers, grooves telling of his age and vague stories of his life, "I take no pleasure in… 'assaulting' women…" he said.
"Oh, you do it often?" Padmé snapped.
He rose to his feet, shaking his head furiously, "Don't go sarcastic on me!" he ordered, his eyes taking on their livid hue, "I did what I had to do."
"Oh, for 'king and planet', or your equivalent?"
"Padmé, SHUT UP!!" he thundered, slamming a fist onto the unit by her bedside, causing her to almost leap out of her skin. She swallowed, looking hard into his eyes - there was a flicker of something there, a crack in the outer framework, a glimmer of something like…guilt?
He turned away, pacing to her apartment's windows, where he stood rubbing his eyes and massaging his temples.
"Why have you come?" she asked him quietly.
He placed his hands onto his hips and seemed to stare at his feet for a long time; "To…apologise," he eventually replied, his voice breaking.
She scoffed again, feeling such a rage toward him that she could barely contain it; "You naïve bastard," she snarled, "You think 'sorry' will help heal my scars?"
He turned back to her, glaring, though the curse was thoroughly justified.
"You terrified me last night…and you hurt me," she went on, "I don't understand you - not at all."
He shook his head to himself, pacing sombrely around the edge of the room, "I'm sorry… I wasn't in a good humour yesterday. I never intended to take it out on you…" He paused, finally raising his gaze to meet hers head-on, "Is your shoulder bad?"
She frowned uncertainly, giving her wound a protective rub, "What do you care, you animal? I should've kicked you harder between the legs…"
"It hurt quite enough, thank you."
"You've hurt me enough. I hate you."
He blinked, "That's justified…"
"Why?" she cried, "Tell me why! Why are you doing all these things to me? How can you live with yourself, committing crimes so sickening, then acting as if nothing has happened every morning after?"
He took his time to reply again, the silence heavy as he mustered a response, "I… have my reasons…"
Such a plain answer made Padmé feel only the more devastated, "Just 'reasons'?" she trembled.
He said nothing.
Padmé shook her head, "Then you truly are evil," she hissed.
Dooku was taken aback, the words stinging him like a fatal poison: 'Then you truly are evil'
"No", he sighed, as much to himself than to anyone else, "No, I'm not evil… I'm not."
His eyes flashed back onto Padmé and she gasped, having seen that look before…
"They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals… I hate them"
"To be angry is to be human"
She shook her head.
"To be angry is to be human"
Then she felt the following words come to her as if from Serenn:
"I'm a Jedi… I know I'm better than this"
This reworking of Anakin's words in Serenn's tone disturbed her, yet intrigued her; "What?" she whispered to herself, inwardly frowning.
The Count's brow creased, for he heard none of the echoes that resounded through Padm's mind; "I'm sorry?" he asked, stepping slowly back toward her.
She watched him carefully as he drew closer, still seeing Anakin in her mind's eye, recalling his troubled manner and dark eyes that eve on Tatooine… yet she could only hear his words in Dooku's voice.
"I'm a Jedi - I know I'm better than this"
Serenn sat by her, trying to read her expression, trying to see her thoughts. Padm's eyes jumped about restlessly, searching for some focus in both her sight and mind, breaths quickening, whilst Dooku tipped her head up with his finger and peered deep down through her pupils, "Talk to me, Padm" he whispered.
She stared at him again:
"I'm a Jedi"
Anakin's face seemed to superimpose itself on Serenn's, his voice warping to-and-fro with the Count's, and she clutched her head in her hands, trying to shake the vision free…
"I know I'm better than this"
"No! Stop it!" she moaned, closing her eyes fast.
"Padm" Dooku murmured, placing his hands onto her shoulders carefully.
"No!!"
"I'm sorry, Padmé… I'm sorry, you hear?" he said, giving her a light shake, trying to bring her back.
"Stop it…" she continued, still locked within her distorted thoughts, not hearing a word the Count said.
"I know I'm better than this!" Dooku added.
Padm's eyes shot open. The moment froze.
Her mind had suddenly silenced, and she turned to look at him, studying his face intricately and noting the torment within his eyes, and the struggle within.
"I know I'm better than this," he repeated, stroking her face gently before he cautiously leant over and kissed her forehead; "Please forgive me… I can't help myself. I'm beyond that now."
Padmé rose her hands to his chest, struck by the familiar feeling of the scenario, yet also rattled by it; "Please, go," she asked him solemnly, pushing him a short distance from her, before turning away.
The Count nodded slowly, rising to his feet and drawing a hand down her arm, before he indeed turned and left.
The door shut behind him.
Padmé sighed, hugging her duvet to herself once more; she was so confused.
----
I saw the cracks in your outer framework
They were there long ago
Serenn withdrew to his quarters, putting a hand to his bemused head, and walked across the room to the doors that led outside onto the veranda. Pacing out onto it, the rushing of a nearby waterfall loud in his ears, he halted by its edge, leaning onto the stone wall, and waited to see the sun rise over the horizon…
But now you've allowed these hairline fractures
To irrepressibly grow
He put his head into his hand, a tear running down his face; "Help me, Qui-Gon," he murmured, "Please help me…"
TBC…
Author's Notes: Gee, now where do I go? I know where I want the story to go, it's just finding the best route there, if you get me. Hope you're still enjoying the ride, and, with a bit of luck, I'll get the story sorted and updated very soon! Feel free to contact me in the mean time, and thanks to all the peeps who have prodded me in the back to get a move on so far - I need it!