Author's Notes: Part 53 became too much of a monster, so I split it into two! This is the talky-and-emotional-rubbish bit, and the next one's the big-fight-and-loadsa-mess bit. That shall then be followed by a chapter I would like to call 'The End'. ;) At least it'll end on Part 55 now, which is a far better number than 54.

Part of this chapter was originally destined for the scrap-heap - it had been written as a scene on Serenno, but changes in the story meant that it had to be removed. I've now found a new home for it here - it's the final conversation between Obi and Dooku if you're curious. I wasn't sure whether or not I could make it work, or the notion feasible, but hey - you decide for yourself.

Padawanmage: This chapter's a bit rambling, but the slush has pretty much gone now. :) The next part will be interesting.

Kynstar: I'm stuck on 3 times as far as seeing Rots goes right now. And there's a digital version…? I doubt we'll see any sign of that here in the UK! I'll have to wait for the DVD…

HRHpadmeamidala: Thanks!

Silverwolf47: I told you it would tie-in with Episode IV, didn't I? Didn't you believe me? ;) Heh.

REV042175: Things have been centred around Dooku's emotions lately, haven't they? There's more of that in this part, then we'll get to his fate in the next.

Mari Skyrin-Sarker: I think you're being a little too complimentary, but I thank you all the same! Best of luck with your own writing projects.

Millie: You know, I think we've made a mountain out of a molehill here. :) I hate being at loggerheads with people, and I think we've both misunderstood one another. I took offence at your comment not so much because it was about Dooku, but because it seemed to spite my comments and therefore spite me. But I think you have misconstrued me as well - most of the lamentations and stuff over Dooku in my notes are just fan rambles, little more than online roleplay; I don't physically go about mourning Dook' or anything, so I don't really feel that I "overreacted" in that case. I'm well aware that he's not real - it's all just fun and escapism. So I accept your apology, and please accept mine in return, and we'll leave it there. Peace out.

Carolyn: Your English is excellent! I really admire you, if you've read this story and English is your second language! And I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thank you for reading.

Part 53 - Paternity

Early the following morning, Padmé's body was arranged upon a simple, wooden pyre by the frozen lake outside, and there burned in the crisp light of the rising sun. Pretty yet solemn shimmers were sent across the icy wasteland as Serenn and Obi-Wan, the lone spectators of this bleak event, watched on with their hoods pulled over their heads in respect. The morning air was chill, so their breaths hovered in small clouds before their mouths, and they each folded their arms tightly to their chests in an attempt to achieve some extra form of warmth; but braving the elements was all worth it for Padmé's sake.

"Bail will inform her family," Obi-Wan murmured after some time, "but they must not know of her children."

"It is better they don't know," Dooku replied quietly. He wasn't sure he could deal with that, anyway, of explaining everything to Padmé's parents, something which would undoubtedly lead to the subject of his attachment to their daughter… and then on to some very discomfiting questions.

He heaved a great sigh and stared hard into the flickering flames of the burning pyre. He remembered Padmé's family well, especially those two quaint nieces of hers, who had questioned him so frankly back on Naboo; none of them would ever know of Luke and Leia now. It was sad, really; for a moment, Serenn could imagine how wonderful a childhood it would have been for the twins to grow up in the Nubian lake country and to frolic around those glorious meadows under their mother's loving gaze. But that image was a fallacy, a mere dream… the children's fate would never be a light one, and they would never have any memory of their compassionate mother.

The fire before the two Jedi soon faltered to such an extent that there now remained nothing but a small flame, struggling for dear life, down amongst the ashes.

"We have to go," Obi-Wan said as he monitored the position of the sun and judged the time. "I'm sorry, but we cannot wait any longer."

Serenn didn't want to go. He could feel a cold energy in his gut, a deep remorse for Padmé that needed to be cried out; it was a profound wound that required time to heal, and part of him knew that going on this mission, whilst this wound still festered, was a bad idea. And yet he couldn't have the luxury of a period of bereavement - he had things to do, and the obstructive misery of Padmé's loss, however much it may and would hinder him, was simply going to have to be part of the luggage. "Then let us move, my boy," he murmured, giving the cinders one final, saddened gaze, before he turned and went on his way.

There was a bright light before him…

Count Dooku squinted and tried to close his eyes, but it was as if he couldn't. The glare soon dimmed, however, and Serenn thus saw a clinical and bare chamber before him. He frowned inwardly - what was he seeing now? Where was he?

The room was tiny, made up of little but four metal walls and a trellised floor, and it was so small that the Count knew it could only be a prison cell; it was claustrophobic and remarkably scary. There was no sound in this void, either - none that Serenn could hear, anyway - and he was about to turn around, to study the chamber in more detail, when he heard footsteps approaching from down the outer passage.

He stepped back toward the wall and watched as the door to the cell slid slothfully open, giving him a glimpse of the gloomy corridor beyond, which seemed to glow with a slightly reddish tint. First to walk in came a pair of military troopers. They were both human and dressed in black, their harshly chiselled faces peering out from beneath their large, shiny black helmets with a menacing arrogance; they clearly could not see him, because they looked straight through him, and it was because of this that the Count realised that this wasn't any ordinary nightmare. This wasn't even an omen. This was a vision of the future; what he was seeing was going to happen.

Serenn took in a breath as he thought on this, before he then returned his attention to the scene and saw that these two soldiers were merely a precedent for the thing that followed them. Coming in next through the door, and bowing his head beneath the frame so that he could get in, was a large and terrifying bipedal beast, a great dark creature that sent such a cold chill through Dooku's body that he involuntarily clung to the wall for support. This hulking great monster was swathed entirely in black and had limbs thick with muscle. The Count wasn't quite sure whether or not it was even human at first, or whether it was truly alive, for it seemed to breathe through a noisy respirator, and showed not a fraction of living flesh to the light, but, as he looked into those two bottomless pits that passed for the creature's eyes, things soon started to fall into place and he felt a sensation of familiarity roll over him. He knew this thing.

As the two black-clad troopers took up their positions to either side of the doorframe, the large, black wraith marched into the centre of the tiny holding cell and stared into the far corner, at a captive that was here incarcerated, and who had, up until now, remained completely unnoticed by Serenn. "And now, your highness," the monster growled in an unearthly tone, "we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base…"

Dooku swallowed, turning his eyes to the corner of the cell and looking upon the unfortunate prisoner; and there, sat on the bench and bathed in white, was his little girl; it was Leia, but all grown up. He felt his eyes widen and his stomach collapse; it was so incredible, to stand here now and see that little baby as she would be in the years ahead. He knew it was her - there was no mistaking those eyes or her essence - and, by the stars, she looked so much like--

He shook his head. This was torture - why was he being shown this? He could hardly bring himself to watch this scene; the baby he had so recently held close upon his chest was there before him and in danger, and yet he was powerless to help, all over again… simply powerless. She was in a place where he could never reach her and in a time where he would never exist, and he presumed some high and mighty force was getting a real kick out of showing him this and jeering at the fact that he could do nothing to protect her. It was just like how it had been with Padmé, where he had been unable to do anything, just when she had needed him the most… He was powerless.

Serenn thus turned his eyes with anger upon the black monster in this scene; of course, it could only be him again, his rival and his bane, the man he blamed for everything. There before him was Anakin Skywalker, in approximately twenty years time, scarred, mutilated and aged. The fact that he was plainly disfigured didn't really tally as significant with Dooku - the thing he was more concerned with was the apparent fact that, yet again, everything was Anakin's fault; Padmé was dead and Leia would one day suffer because of this stupid man, who had made the mistake of allowing one diabolically brilliant Sith Lord to twist his naïve and vulnerable mind…

'You foolish boy…' Dooku thought to himself, but this time it wasn't merely with anger, it was with pity, for, deep down, within his old, battle-scarred heart, he knew that he had been the same; or rather that he was the same.

Now entering the scene, in Darth Vader's wake, came a cylindrical, hovering, black droid, one equipped with such devices of torture it hardly bared thinking about. It carried long, wiry appendages, needles and probes; it was a monster in miniature. Vader glanced at this rotund accomplice, just as if to confirm to young Leia that it was for her, before he thus took a step toward her, and then--

And then, as always, there was a blinding flash and Dooku was wide awake. His eyes focused onto the blur of hyperspace before him and he slowly came back to himself, his heart pounding in his chest all the time. "Leia…" he muttered before he heaved a great sigh and felt his throat tighten and burn. Tears waiting to be shed were queuing up in volume behind his eyes and a terrible dark pain of loss was swelling his heart to bursting point; how he wanted to give in… to grieve for Padmé, and to run back and hold little Leia in his arms, but he could not. The mission and his responsibilities would not allow it.

/Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden./

He closed his eyes and arched his head back against the seat, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"Are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked from the seat next to him. The two Jedi - past and present - were on their way to Geonosis in a small shuttle, and, fortunately, Kenobi was in the pilot's seat whilst Dooku was in the co-pilot one… where he had promptly fallen into an uneasy but much-needed sleep.

"What were you dreaming about?" Obi went on. "You were beginning to scare me."

Serenn's body sagged as he sat there, thoroughly disheartened. "Did I say anything?" he asked.

"No," Obi conceded, "but I could feel your inner-struggle. The Force was clawing at you, like some kind of restless feline, asking you to let it in so that it could tear out your insides."

"My pain is terminal," the Count murmured. "I deserve nothing less than this…"

"Perhaps. But those you loved… didn't they deserve more?"

Serenn's eyes turned on Obi and he studied the younger man's cold, stern visage. "Yes…" he rejoined, before he forced himself to sit up properly. "But I can do little to repair the damage I caused. That pains me, but it is true."

Obi didn't turn his eyes on Serenn at all; he simply starred out of the shuttle's windows and kept up an appearance of concentrating on what he was doing.

"I saw the future, Obi-Wan," the Count disclosed. "I'm sure I did…"

Kenobi permitted himself a quick glance at the old warrior. "I see. And what did you 'foresee'?"

"I shouldn't tell you."

"Then don't."

Dooku felt his brow twitch. "Obi-Wan, I'm not sure how you do it, but you're seriously frustrating me."

Kenobi made a quick smile. "It's a habit."

Serenn exhaled noisily and closed his eyes again, before he dropped his head into his hands and tried to find some comfort in the darkness he found there. "I can't concentrate," he bemoaned. "I'm endangering this mission. What use am I?"

Obi-Wan flicked a couple of switches and stared down at the control panel, though he was not really looking at it. "I can't do this alone," he muttered grudgingly. "I need you. The rebellion needs you."

Serenn nodded once again. "I know… I want to do this, but--"

/'And now, your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base.'/

"--my mind's a mess… It's full of images and of feelings that do nothing but enclose my common sense in a mesh of irrationality. I'm just no Jedi anymore. My mind's not clear, nor are my senses, and my allegiance--"

"--Is still to the Force."

Dooku gave Kenobi a sharp glare. "Yes, but to which side?"

Obi finally turned his face so that he could look Dooku full-on. "It has no sides. We might, but it doesn't. There is only one Force. It has no halfway line, no two faces. It is one great energy field, and it binds us all, the good and the bad, whether we like it or not."

Serenn felt humbled by Obi-Wan's wise words, words he was sure he had heard before, and he could do nothing but sigh gently and shake his head at his own ignorance. "You are truly wise, my boy," he said. "I'm very proud of you."

The rest of the journey was made by the two warriors in an uncomfortable silence and it seemed an age before they arrived at the planet of Geonosis, its great, orange bulk looming up before them and filling the view screen. They passed, relatively easily, through the multitude of asteroid fields that clung to the planet in orbit, before they entered the atmosphere and those great, rocky caverns, once again, stretched out before their eyes.

They both stared at the dry and arid planet with jaded eyes. This was a place of so many bad memories, all of which rose up again, like an insufferable miasma, to come back and haunt them…

/'So, I gather you have chosen death?'

'Yes.'

'Then so be it.'/

This was where it had all begun, and this was where it might end.

They landed as close as they felt was sensible to the subterranean foundries of the Empire's super weapon, and opted to make the rest of the journey on foot, stalking stealthily through the canyons and sandstone walls. The land was desolate and the sun bore down upon them with little mercy, bringing an unwanted sweat to their brows. They trekked for a couple of hours, still saying very little beyond what was necessary, until, as they paced into a ravine, they were both caught completely off guard by a volley of laser fire!

The two Jedi reacted at once, lightsabres in their hands within seconds, and, whilst Obi-Wan took up his typical defensive stance, Serenn fell back into the rhythm of Form II and vaulted up the rocks, preparing to run the attacker through.

The Count landed atop a high rocky ledge, the one upon which he was certain the sniper was hidden, but, as he rose his lightsabre back behind his head, ready to strike, he was confronted, not by a man, but by a child; "No! Stop, please, stop!" it squealed, scrambling away from the focused former Jedi in panic. "Don't kill me!"

Dooku's creased brow flattened out as he stared at the perpetrator and he exhaled heavily, allowing his lightsabre to fall limp by his side. "In the name of…" he growled, deactivating the weapon and hooking it back to his belt.

Obi-Wan stared up from the canyon floor below, curious as to what was happening. "What? Who is it?" he asked.

The Count reached down and hauled the child up by the collar of his tunic, holding him aloft for Obi-Wan to see.

Kenobi's face soon hardened. "Him?" he gasped.

"Yes, him," Dooku growled, having, for some reason, become severely agitated by this turn of events. He leapt down from the ledge and landed smoothly in front of Obi-Wan, before he put the child down and shook his head.

"Are you crazy?" the child protested. "Take me back to my cave - there are clones looking for me!"

"Why would they look for you, Boba?" the Count groused, for it was the clone child of Jango.

Young Fett - his black hair a matted mess and his clothes worn and bedraggled - looked at Dooku with a rather surprised air, as if the answer was elementary; "They killed Poggle! They just took over and… and…"

"You think your brothers would kill you?" Obi-Wan, rather tactlessly, interceded, folding his arms in the process.

This comment afforded Kenobi a hard look from Boba. "They're not my brothers!" he spat in return, clenching his fists and looking set to spring on the Jedi at any second.

Dooku saw the warning signs, however, so again took a firm hold of the lad's collar and held him in place; "I might have killed you, young one," he murmured to the child. "I could still do so. Therefore, think yourself lucky, and don't try anything foolish."

Young Fett immediately calmed as he heard this threat and he looked at the Count in terror. "You wouldn't kill me…" he whispered. "We had a deal!"

The boy paused and then looked again, harder, at Dooku, before it finally hit him as to how bizarre this meeting actually was, and that many things were more then just amiss. "What's happened?" he asked, scrutinising Serenn's long hair, metal hand and Jedi robes, "Whose side are you on now?"

Obi snorted out a badly timed fit of laughter, and thus got a harsh look from Serenn. He couldn't help himself, though - Boba's comment had just seemed so fitting.

"General Grievous isn't with you, is he?" Fett continued, looking around in fear. "He's not here, is he?"

The name of that droid general alone was enough to sober up Obi-Wan's spirits and his face promptly turned grave whilst Serenn plainly answered, "He's dead, Boba."

Young Fett seemed relived, but was clearly still uneasy about things. "I thought you were dead…" he murmured.

Dooku smiled weakly. "Oh, I'm not dead. Not yet, not yet…"

"I knew you'd come back for me one day."

Serenn swallowed hard and sighed. "I haven't come for you, lad - this was just good fortune." He paused for a moment before he then asked, "How long have you been out here?"

"Ages… it's lucky my father hoarded so many food capsules aboard the Slave I, or I'd be dead by now."

"You need to get out of here, Boba."

Fett's face fell sour. "You're sending me away again?"

Serenn crouched down so that he was on the same level as the boy, and there was suddenly a tenderness about him that neither Boba or Obi-Wan had really seen before, so much so that it threw young Fett's guard off a little. He listened to the man all the same, though; he still respected him.

"Boba, listen to me," Dooku murmured, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I cannot take you with me, not any more. Things have changed a lot in the galaxy over the past year or so, and the separatists are now no more. The Republic yet remains, but it has become an Empire."

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

Obi looked between the two and saw a lot of history there, a history he was intrigued about but which he knew he would never now discover.

"I made a mistake," Serenn muttered.

Boba's eyes scanned Dooku's face and the boy pursed his lips, seeming to be a little unsure. "It was that woman, sir. She changed you."

The Count actually managed to smirk at the child's impertinence. "She did, Boba, and I'm thankful for it."

"Well, I'm not," Boba groused. "Who's going to help me train and stuff? Where am I going to live?"

Serenn was at a loss as to answer. "I don't know."

A silence fell on the odd scene and Dooku looked up, studying the contours of the few, thin clouds overhead, each shaded pink in a dusky, orange sky; "The hour grows late," he muttered. "Let us travel a little further and rest for the night." He turned back to Fett and patted his shoulder. "I have one last task for you, Boba."

"Yes, sir?"

"Lead us to the Imperial foundry."

Boba's face broke into a smile. "No problem, sir!"

And so the unlikely twosome had become an even more unlikely threesome. They walked on until complete darkness had fallen, which rendered everywhere too indistinct for it to be safe to continue, and consequently set up camp for the night in a sandstone alcove, beneath one of the rocky cliffs. Boba had fetched along a few supplies for them all, and helped to build a tiny campfire, but was soon fast asleep on his back, with his mouth wide open, leaving Obi-Wan and Serenn alone with their campfire in a night that was growing surprisingly chill.

"How long have you known that boy?" Obi muttered.

"Since he was born."

"'Born'?"

Serenn eyed Obi-Wan darkly. "Very well, since he was made. Is that tone more suitable for you?"

Kenobi glared back. "I just never understood that Jango Fett," he went on after a while, before he laid back on the floor and picked up a stone. "Fancy him asking to have one of those clones for himself. Why would anyone want that…?"

"Why wouldn't one?" Serenn retorted. "What man wouldn't want a son of their own? Or a daughter, for that matter? Jango was ill-likely to get one if he hadn't taken the opportunity when it presented itself." He got to his feet and looked to the star-studded skies with his hands upon his hips. "Why can't you think outside of your own little bubble, Master Kenobi? Open your mind."

"Close yours…" Obi rejoined, rolling his pebble between his hands.

"Well sue me for hankering after normality."

Obi took his stone and clutched it tightly into one of his fists whilst his eyes bored a hole into Dooku's person. "What is normality, though?" he asked. "My concept of 'normal' is very different from yours, I have no doubt. What exactly does your glorious 'normality' entail…?"

Serenn looked down at the younger Jedi and locked eyes with him. "It entails feelings, and family… It's about having the right and the freedom to do what you will. It's about having choices."

Obi's gaze tightened on the man. "Then it's mostly about love?"

Dooku nodded. "No, but that is an important element."

Obi sighed and threw his stone, with surprising force, into the nearest wall, where it remained lodged within the sandstone. "You're obsessed," he grumbled.

The Count might have been angry by this, but he wasn't. For some reason, he was filled with sympathy toward Kenobi's inability to comprehend him and his feelings. "Very well… Let me tell you a story about the Jedi," he thus said.

Obi's brow furrowed and he heaved his body back up into a sitting position. "What?" he asked.

"Just listen now."

And Obi-Wan found that he did as he was told - Dooku still hadn't raised his voice, yet it had that edge to it that he could only describe as compelling.

"The Jedi corps was as corrupt as the Republic claimed it was. As leader of the separatists, I never said all those things about the Jedi because I wanted support or that I wanted to appeal to popular opinion - though it all certainly helped. I said it because it was true."

Obi-Wan's brow had contracted at the very words, but he was curious to hear the old man out, so he remained quiet.

"And how did I know it was corrupt?" Serenn went on. "Because I had been part of the decay."

Obi looked away, but he listened on.

"I never meant to become part of it, but I did." The Count paused for a moment and pursed his lips, pondering on how best to explain things. "Let me demonstrate to you a familiar scenario - back on Serenno, laid in a cradle, is a baby boy called Luke, the product of a liaison that, in the Jedi's books, should never have occurred. That boy is the son of a former Padawan."

Obi-Wan looked down and thought on this, making a small nod of concurrence; he was still feeling bitter and guilty over the matter of Anakin, and he didn't want to talk about that any further.

"You may think," Serenn went on, "That this boy, the son of a Jedi, is a rarity indeed, but alas, that is not so… He may be the offspring of a so-called 'Chosen One', but he is only one in what has been a long line of Jedi children."

Obi-Wan was unable to hold his tongue any longer. "What in the Force's name are you rambling on about? This is nonsense…"

Serenn looked at him again with that thoughtful-come-blank expression, and said, "How did you think the Jedi kept their 'stocks' up, Obi-Wan? Did you really believe that all Jedi come from parents found outside the Temple's walls?"

Obi shook his head, not in answer to the question, but in disbelief. "Talk straight, Dooku," he said, his mind fraught with ire at these blasphemous suggestions.

"A good percentage of the children entered into the Temple's crèches are children of Jedi."

Obi leant toward Serenn. "Now wait just a minute!" he said.

"I'm asking you to listen, Obi-Wan, not to intervene. I am not lying to you."

Obi glared at the Count, and the Count held his ground.

"The Jedi were an order that, like so many of the other institutions the Republic once held dear, could never live up to its expectations. It was an order which tried to enforce unenforceable rules - it tried to take away one's feelings and one's very soul. We are all people, Obi-Wan, and all sentient beings need to feel connections with others. It is only natural. The Jedi Order repressed what was only natural, and repression leads to madness. The only way some Jedi could escape this madness was to break these rules, to allow themselves to have feelings, and, as nature would have it, to produce families."

"This is impossible - we'd have known about it if things were so out of control!"

Serenn laughed, shortly and sharply, and Obi-Wan felt the sting; "Oh, the Jedi were the best cover-up artists in the Republic. They - or rather 'we' - were well trained at it. The fact is, Obi-Wan, that if these breakaway Jedi, who were nonetheless loyal, hadn't gone about breaking parts of the code, if they hadn't embarked upon these illegal relations, then the Jedi Order might have died out long ago…. Isn't it obvious that the best candidates for Jedi training always come from Force-sensitive parents? How could the Jedi ever possibly have a constant influx of Younglings if the Force-sensitive allow their gene pools to go dry?"

Obi didn't answer.

"Yes, I know, there were - and still are - many children out there who have decent Midichlorian counts, and who come from parents who show no Force potential whatsoever, but there are, and there never shall be, enough of them." Dooku sighed and looked rather grave. "I'm not telling you all this to spite you, my boy, I'm telling you the truth. It's logical - think about it."

"Then why did the Jedi always preach about not falling in love, about having no strong feelings for one another…?"

"Because they wanted to uphold their fallacy, Obi-Wan, like any other high-ranking institution."

"It was wrong."

"I know. That's part of the reason they have failed - because they needed to change. The problem was that they just never wanted to admit it."

"But love…" Obi dithered, his mind bubbling over in shock and shame at these terrifying notions, about how he might have been living a lie, "It's a weakness, a distraction!"

"Yes, but it is also a strength. Qui-Gon loved you like any father loves his son - would you deny that made him stronger? Or was that his downfall?"

Obi began to fidget and stared down at the patterns in the sand beneath him. "No… he didn't die because of that."

"Exactly."

"But Anakin --"

"Ah, Anakin… Well, there are always those who should not be trained, regardless of Midichlorian count."

Kenobi stared at Serenn for some time. "Then you think Qui-Gon was wrong to bring him in."

"I told him so at the time."

"You did?"

"Yes. But no one could have foreseen this, or anything else that has happened…"

Obi watched the flicker in Dooku's gaze as the man took a moment to mull over his own most shameful thoughts, wondering how things had come to this.

Suddenly, Boba stirred in his sleep, his small hands reaching out for an incorporeal blaster. "No, please… let me kill him…" he mumbled.

Obi-Wan exchanged a glance with the Count before he sneered, "What a pleasant little boy."

TBC…