Author's Notes: I'm gutted. Kalina Lea has abandoned her top Snape/Hermione fanfic, "Desperate Measures". Now, don't get me wrong, I respect her decision and understand that she has her reasons for abandoning it - I've no problem with that - it's the fact that there's an insatiable hunger left in my chest, begging for the story's resolution, and I know that now it's never going to be sated (wow, did that sound good to anyone else? Heh). All that has made me realise, in a sense, how you guys must feel if I never update, so I want to apologise again for my slackness and say that, in earnest, I want to finish this fanfic before "Revenge of the Sith" is released next May, and I promise never to abandon it. I really value everyone who's taken the time to read and review my fanfic, especially considering its crazy and more-than-controversial content, and I think that you guys deserve better than an author's wish to suddenly give up on it all. I hope that makes sense.

And now, back to the show… I'm not too happy with this chapter – it doesn't seem to go anywhere – but, hey, if I need to, I'll remedy that later.

SilverWolf47: I like Dooku evil, too, but as the story develops, so will he.

Audreidi: I find that people like dark and twisted things – it's just the human tendency to be morbidly curious, I guess. Thanks for your support!

Aleviel: You love me? Steady on… LOL

Dark Poetic: No, it's not dead yet… I don't want it to die, I want it to carry on and end properly. Here's hoping I can do just that! My deadline is May the whatever next year, when SW:RotS comes out!

PadawanMage: I love your reviews – they're so long and full and they make me think twice, even thrice about what I've written. It'll take me too long to respond to each and every one of your points (plus, it could spoil the rest of the story), but I'll pick out a few to respond to:

I'm surprised it took you this long to hate Dooku – he's been a real bastard so far, though that cumulates to its peak in Ch.27. If Anakin hadn't turned up, though, things would have been alot different in that part. I've got some surprises in store for him, yet, though, and there's one scene I can't wait to write, which'll really make one question his character…

The Sith are 'Dark Jedi', though I don't think they completely embody evil, so Dooku could join Sidious, think he was doing the right thing, yet still not call himself full-bodied 'evil'. The Dark side has its uses without being always iniquitous, though I know that's its outward guise. I think that the fact Padmé called him 'evil' helped bring the thoughts that his earlier 'conversation' with Qui-Gon started, to the surface, and something's finally penetrated his thick skull.

And I'm actually sleeping fine at night, though my dreams lately have been really bizarre. None of them SW related, though.

BoromirDefender: Thank you for your encouraging reviews. I think you've hit the nail concerning Anakin and Dooku – they're both on the edge of the knife now, and each looks set to topple one way or the other. Things are gonna start changing now.

Ms8309: Indeed.

"ECLIPSE"

Part 29

The Battle of Sullust raged on for several days, even though the Republic's goal - to retrieve the pair of Jedi held captive against their will - was accomplished within its early hours. The planet was devastated; many towns were lost, as the delicate chambers and tunnels were ruptured and broken, and even more lives were destroyed than originally anticipated. The separatists were the ones to back down; they just could not compete against the Republic's arsenal, and found themselves all but cornered down beneath the planet's surface below. So the Republic had scored its first great victory against the Confederacy's might. This had still, however, come with its costs - it was too late for the Republic to realise that it had all been a diversion, and that, in the mean time, the Naboo had given in to the threats of Count Dooku and joined his movement; the Battle of Sullust had been won, but at the price of the great strategic hold of Naboo.

Back in the Core Worlds, word had it that the Chancellor was elated by his victory, but equally devastated by the loss of his home planet to the wily Count. The morale of the Republican electorate was at least boosted, but still there were many factions hovering on the boundary between the democracy and its tearaway group of secessionists. All eyes now looked toward the case of the renegade Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, who had caused this entire rumpus to escalate in the first place. Though it was for the courts of law within the Republic and the circle of the Jedi Council itself to decide his fate, it was with Obi-Wan Kenobi that the boy had had to deal first, days earlier, aboard a Republic cruiser…

After his capture in Theed, Anakin had been taken, unconscious, to the Palace cells, before the Republic were alerted to his location and the circumstances of his capture. From there, the boy had been collected by one of the few remaining cruisers not sent on the Sullust escapade, at the complete discretion of the Trade Federation, which it soon became apparent, was keeping watch of the planet Naboo from very nearby. Obi-Wan, returning from Sullust, had managed to gain passage on said cruiser in order to be one of the first to see his apprentice.

Finally, stirring within the bowels of the cruiser, Anakin had awoken to the sound of a rumbling hyperdrive generator and was very much aware of the presence of an irate mentor…

"You're in trouble this time, Anakin," came Obi-Wan's voice, "I'm very disappointed in you."

Anakin slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, realising then, suddenly, how much his head was pounding, and how sore his throat felt. He cringed, putting his metal hand to his face, which - because of the sheer coldness of the metallic arm - cleared his mind with a start.

And it then all came rushing back: the fight…

"You'd better have not laid a finger on her"

The pain…

"You can't undo what has been done, boy."

The agony…

"You wanted Padmé to be yours, didn't you? Yours and yours alone!"

Padmé!

"Why am I here?" Anakin yelled, leaping onto his feet and attempting to rush for the door. If he hadn't have swayed first and collapsed against the wall, then Obi-Wan would have stopped him, anyway; he blinked back the white dots littering his vision and tried to fight the feeling of his head swimming with water whilst Kenobi muttered, "You've been very naughty, to put it bluntly, my Padawan."

Anakin slid to the floor, too nauseous to fight his disorientation as his recent concussion made its presence felt, and listened to Obi reluctantly.

"You went - not just against my word - but against the word of your elders, against the Jedi Code and, if that wasn't enough, the law, as well!"

Obi-Wan sounded different - he had never resorted to such black, bitter humour before; his voice was cold, his eyes empty - he was a man beyond grief and filled with disillusionment. He had had enough. Anakin was too preoccupied by his own personal issues to bother registering any of this, however.

"What in the Force's name were you thinking?" Obi hissed, "You killed a high-ranking politician!"

"Someone had to do something…" he murmured in return.

"Murder isn't the answer!"

Anakin shot his mentor a vicious glare, "Isn't it? A bit rich coming from the man who killed the first Sith apprentice!"

"That was different, Anakin," Obi groaned, "How exactly did San Hill provoke you?"

"By existing…" he sneered.

"Oh, well that's just dandy!" Kenobi retorted, going into a mock act, " 'Oh, this man offends me, so, hmm, what shall I do about it? I know - I'll kill him!' "

Anakin cocked an eyebrow, infuriating Obi more by his sheer mask of indifference; "You just don't care, do you?" Kenobi sighed, "You don't damn well care!"

"I care about Padmé!" Anakin snarled, "And I nearly had her back until you bunch of morons took me away again!"

"Well, thank you for the respect, Mister Skywalker - if we'd left you back there, seeing as you were flat out cold, I think Dooku might have killed you. And right now, I wouldn't have blamed him!"

"Thanks for your support, master!"

"DON'T MENTION IT!"

They were panting at each other like ravenous nexus - it was an argument unlike any they'd had before.

"You have serious issues, young man," Obi said, pointing a finger at his protégé, "Padmé has made her decisions and you have to respect them!"

"What makes you believe that she didn't give herself to me freely?"

"No! He's been making her do things! You don't understand what he's done to her! You -"

"Oh, for crying out loud, Anakin, can't you see what he's doing to you? And I presume this 'he' is, once again, Count Dooku, seeing as you speak about him with such disdain! He's a manipulator - he's probably flat-out lying to you and laughing at your sodding gullibility right now! He's not stupid, you know - he knows what buttons to press!"

"He's not lying! And you don't have a clue what you're talking about!"

"Don't I?"

"No! He's forced her into signing his treaties, and you shrug it off, he's coerced her into believing his lies, and you shrug it off. He's -"

"Enough!"

"He's gods-damned RAPED her and you don't care!!" Anakin bellowed, eyes lost to a maelstrom of rage.

"SHUT UP!!"

Obi-Wan blinked at Ani, realising, all of a sudden, that the boy had at some point got to his feet and was now stood mere centimetres away from him. He took a deep breath, shaking his head and stepping away from him, "Enough," he repeated, "I've heard enough. You're obsessed with this woman, with this girl who's turned tail, and it would seem that you'd believe anything, or try and make me believe anything, in order to support your childish possessive need to have her back!"

Anakin couldn't believe what he was hearing; "Lying? You think I'd make that up?"

"I do! I think you've grown so desperate that nothing is beyond you, now! You're not the boy Qui-Gon rescued from Tatooine any more - you're a madman, and I just can't control you any more."

"I've grown up."

"You've grown down, if anything," Obi reproved, before his eyes suddenly caught the glint of familiar, cylindrical metal hanging from Anakin's belt; talk about adding insult to injury…

"And you took Qui-Gon's light sabre into battle with you…" he gasped; tears filled his eyes, but they were of pure rage this time, "You arrogant idiot! You cur, you vagrant, you -"

"Go on, say it! You slave! Say it!" Anakin egged him on, tossing the sabre in question uncaringly back at him, "Because that's what I am! And you know it! I'm scum, I'm from the bowels of the hierarchy, I grew up alongside beggars and thieves, and, you know what, I'm proud of it!" He kicked the wall, "Well, sod you, then! You and your stupid Order! There are better things out there and I'm damn-well going out to find them! My mother didn't die to see me become a weak, simpering fool of a 'Jedi' - she died to give me something better, and I'm gonna get it! You wait and see! And then, I'll come back and show you." He pointed at his mentor this time, his powerful eyes looking down the length of his arm into Kenobi's gaze; "You wait," he muttered, barely able to contain his rage, "I am just a learner now, but when I come back… when I come back, I'll be a Master, and you will beg for mercy before the end!"

Obi clutched Qui-Gon's sabre to him, held it close as he tried to draw comfort from it and the memory it held - this couldn't be the end. He'd just lost his temper and now it was all over. He'd failed his master, he'd broken his word… but had he had any other choice?

"Get out," Anakin growled, "Go away! I never want to see you again!"

Kenobi backed out, his eyes set hard on the boy; he knew there would be other encounters, he could feel it in his soul; "If that is what you wish."

"Get out!!"

------

Padmé ran her hand over the table, ignoring her breakfast completely. Sat before her was the plain piece of parchment uniting the Naboo with Count Dooku and his movement - it was now all set in stone. She sighed, giving up on her food and sitting back. Through the windows she could see the sun peeking its glorious face over the horizon and filling the pale blue sky with its warm rays.

She had been up at the crack of dawn, again - sleep hadn't come easily since her recent absurd dream, but that didn't worry her; she'd had stints of insomnia before - it's what you excepted with the strains of being a politician - it was the bizarre fact that she hadn't come across her nemesis again since that made her uneasy. She'd expected to see him at some point during the past few days - he usually managed to construe a meeting between them whether she liked it or not - but alas, it hadn't been so. It was weird; his punctuality was undisputable, so she couldn't discount his absence for any selfish wish to rest, or something of the likes. All she'd found, a couple of days after their frightful convergence a few nights prior, had been the treaty dutifully signed by the Queen, with no words to her about it or anything. She'd since managed to strike up an audience with the Queen, who had explained the reasoning for her actions, with which Padmé sympathised fully and tried, in return and to some extent, to explain the rationale behind her own conduct.

The fact remained that there was still no sign of Serenn; his presence was felt, but his person could not be found.

News filtered through of the Republican victories at Sullust. It was with baited breath that the galaxy now looked to the judgment of Anakin, who was detained on Coruscant and held at the Republic's mercy. To think that he'd been so close, that he'd reached Naboo, yet she'd never got to see him, hurt Padmé greatly, but not so much as the guilt she felt of that everything he was going through was because of her.

As she left the breakfast table, she couldn't help but feel that something had changed, though whether it was for better or for worse, she couldn't tell. She couldn't even identify what this 'something' was.

There were now Battle Droids stationed everywhere in Theed - it was all well and good that the Naboo had signed to the Confederacy, but it still didn't make the trust between the two parties any better. The Trade Federation had set up camp in the capital and sent envoys all over the planet. Padmé hated looking at these ghosts of the past, but she didn't exactly have a choice. Now she was wondering exactly what the separatists next move was going to be, and was praying that she didn't have to be a part of it. She hadn't forgotten what the Count had said, some time back now:

"I need to get back to Naboo!"

"Not yet, you don't. It's not safe for me to release you there."

"Not safe? It's my home!"

"And currently part of the Republic… trust me."

Perhaps she could just stay on Naboo now, seeing as it was no longer Republican, whilst the rest of the Confederacy played the war game?

She walked out of the palace and into the grounds. A couple of Gungans gave her stunted greetings as they passed her in the gardens, but it was otherwise quiet. She began to feel rather nauseous. It wasn't because of Dooku, though all that still lingered in the back of her mind, promising never to go away, but because of Anakin - she was nervous for him. What was going to happen to him? The tension building up around his case was unlike anything she'd experienced before. But with all the war going on, she guessed that people were just relived to have an opportunity to blame someone for what was happening, be that blame worthy or no. In the case of Anakin, she had to admit it was worthy - he'd killed San Hill, if what she'd heard was true, and murder was inexcusable in all of its guises.

She thought that he just needed help, and she wanted to give it to him. She'd been there when he'd killed those Tusken Raiders…

She swallowed suddenly, trying to straighten out her thoughts - Anakin had taken lives, and all she was thinking about was how bad it was for him. She felt even worse because of that.

Looking up, she saw the domed structures of the funeral pyres loom in the distance, on the edge of the palace's vicinity. That was where she'd watched Qui-Gon's body burn, where Obi-Wan had taken Anakin as his apprentice, where Palpatine had stood in a feigned grief…

She closed her eyes, still unable to fully understand how a man like Palpatine could be the Sith Master. How exactly did Dooku know about that, anyway? And why hadn't she run around shouting out who he was at the top of her lungs already? What was holding her back?

Then suddenly, she glanced the back of someone stood solemnly by the central funeral dome, head hung in what she took to be grief; she frowned and, her feet doing as they pleased, headed in its direction.

The sky was becoming overcast as she drew closer to the funeral pyres, and the wind was getting up. She held her arms tightly about herself and ascended the stone steps toward the foreboding structures of death. Her footfalls echoed eerily against the flagstones and, as she rounded the corner of the first building, she saw him, just stood there, his cloak fluttering in the breeze.

"Why have you come?" Dooku murmured. He didn't turn to look at her, simply remained where he was, staring out across the empty horizon.

Padmé frowned, walking toward the left; "You should be grateful I've come, at all."

She thought she heard him scoff gently, but she couldn't be sure now that the wind rang in her ears.

"True enough," he mumbled.

She could tell that he was not going to make any effort in turning to her, so she plucked up the courage to walk to him, instead. She stared at him from his side and waited for him to look at her.

"Qui-Gon was burned here," he said, "Do you remember?"

"Of course I do…" she muttered.

"He was the best thing that ever came out of my life."

"I don't doubt you."

"What would he say to me now?"

"I'm quite sure he'd be quite frank."

Serenn almost permitted himself to laugh; "Yes… how true. You must have grasped his character well in what little time you knew him."

She shifted restlessly; "What are you getting at?" she asked.

He finally looked at her, "I don't know."

"Where have you been?"

"Should that concern you?"

"No… I'm merely curious as to why you disappeared for several days on end, and let me have no part whatsoever in the signing of the contract between my planet and the Confederacy, though you have, as of late, consistently reminded me of the importance of my presence in these matters."

He looked mildly impressed with her short speech; "But of course." He began to walk away, hands clasping behind his back, "I should have given you more access."

"So why didn't you? You're not helping yourself by adding this to your injustices of me." She fell into step beside him and fixed him with a dark glare.

"I felt," he said, "That it would have been more of an injustice for me to force you to work in my presence again."

She frowned, taken aback, "What?" she whispered.

"You heard," he stated shortly. He halted in his tracks and looked down at her, "You felt that this would not have been so?"

She glared at him, but this forced nothing from his countenance other than an infuriatingly blithe smile.

"Young Anakin," he went on, once again pacing away, "Is to be put on trial today. Did you know that?"

Padmé didn't follow him by foot, but her eyes never left him; "He is?" she asked quietly, "So soon?"

"The sooner the better, no?" he rejoined.

"I'm not so sure. We shouldn't be hasty with these things."

The amiability that had so filled his features a second ago was rapidly turning sour; "Shouldn't we?" He made a curt laugh, "My dear, he killed someone out of cold blood. Does that account for nothing to you?"

"I know that, it's just…"

"You would have made a poor Jedi, my girl," he muttered, "Your feelings are so very clouded by your emotions."

She gave him another scowl, "Meaning what?"

"Your feelings for Anakin deceive you."

"We are all deceived by the feelings we carry for the ones we love."

"Are we?"

"Yes. And if you were human, you'd realise it."

He sighed and turned away; "Oh, I am human," he said, "Frighteningly so."

--------

Anakin was tinkering about in his cell. He'd been here for several days now, trapped beneath the Republic's Courts of Law, waiting for some kind of trial to be held over him. He had grown so bored that he had asked if he could begin work on a new lightsabre. His custodians had been sceptical of this request, without a doubt, but had agreed to his wishes. Anakin had later noticed that they hadn't given him a crystal with which to complete the weapon, making it, in all respects, completely useless. It was like building a pod racer without an engine. But he went on to construct one anyway. The metal he had been presented with was rather plain and cheap, and all the components seemed to be second hand - not that that bothered him. He was too jaded to care; rather this than nothing.

The Court guards did find it odd, though, that all the boy could care about was occupying his time; it would seem that he had left his conscience, which should have been reminding him of the reason for his incarceration, somewhere else.

And it was true - Anakin really couldn't care less what happened to him now. He pretty much knew that, in a few days, or even hours, time, the 'sabre he was making now could be confiscated from him, his Padawan braid severed and his privilege as a Jedi - or at least an apprentice - stripped from him forever. Yet, even this did not perturb him.

Soon, he would be free, and then everyone who had ever wronged him would be sorry.

-------

Conscience was, meanwhile, playing heavily on Obi-Wan's mind as he sat on some steps, overshadowed by darkness, in the depths of the Jedi Temple. He felt responsible for Anakin and all he had done, though his allies kept telling him that it was not his fault. His own ghost from the past, however, insisted upon reminding him of the warning that he had long ago shouldered upon his own mentor, Master Jinn; "The boy is dangerous - they all sense it. Why can't you?"

"And why didn't you sense it?" he muttered, running a hand back through his hair, "Why?"

TBC…

'It is the disease of not listening, the malady of not marking, that I am troubled withal.'

- Falstaff, "King Henry IV - Part 2", I, ii (William Shakespeare)