With all this in mind, I present to you my tribute to this fallen noble. The language got a little bit bombastic here and there, but I sort of like it that way as it goes with the mood. I hope you will all enjoy it, and please remember to review! (Even if you didn't.)
This fanfic is dedicated to that crazy Aussie, Arliddian. ;)
THE DEATH OF COUNT DOOKU
A Star Wars fanfic by Ghost
Count Dooku felt the seething burning –and just underneath it, a terrible freezing chill– as he looked down on the burnt stumps that was once his arms.
Anakin Skywalker had proven too formidable an opponent. Dooku silently cursed himself for provoking him. In a flash of anger, Skywalker had found a strength Dooku had not anticipated and for but a moment, the count had lost control of the battle. That moment was enough; Anakin's youth and power did the rest.
Dooku slumped to his knees, defeated. Anakin caught his Sith lightsaber in the air and ignited it. Crossing it with his own, he held both blades to Dooku's throat as if daring the crippled man to defy him one last time.
"Good, Anakin! Good!" Palpatine chuckled. Even though he was chained to the chair he was sitting in, the air he projected was that of a ruler rather then a prisoner. A king sitting on his throne. Almost as an afterthought, he added: "Kill him. Kill him now."
No! How could his master do this to him? Had he not served him faithfully? Obeyed every last command? Dooku searched the chancellor's face to find any inclination of a complex scheme behind the words. A reassuring nod, perhaps, or a hidden thought through the Force. But all he could see was calm satisfaction. The Sith Lord had made his move and now awaited the outcome.
"I shouldn't…" Anakin mumbled, almost as in a trance.
Dooku tried to speak, voice his outrage, spite his treacherous master. But he could find no words. Non at all. He looked up on the young Jedi Knight who now held his life in his hands. Skywalker's face reflected his inner battle, where his gentle conscience and fierce sense of duty fought his burning anger and deep hatred.
Dooku realised that he had been a fool. Palpatine had never even considered allowing him to live past his usefulness. He had grown too powerful, posed too much of a threat. Now, he would die and be replaced by a younger, stronger apprentice. He wanted to curse Palpatine, the war, and the entire Dark Side for his misfortune. But still, no words would come.
Palpatine's face showed a more eager look now, as he sensed that Anakin's resolve faded. "Do it!" he hissed.
Dooku saw how the dark passion overwhelmed Anakin, and realised that his life was over. He felt empty. No more anger to empower him. No more hatred to flow through his veins like cold fire. Not even the fear he had always carried with him, hidden deep within his heart until the day Darth Sidious had drawn it out of those dark depths, forcing him to face it. It was as if Palpatine's vile Sith teachings had betrayed him as well by denying him the strength to fight back, leaving him with nothing but apathy.
He heard the blades of the lightsabers gliding against each other as they rushed towards him. And then the world disappeared.
Dooku had always imagined death to be dark. A fall into shadow and oblivion, a flash of inky black before the last remnants of his mind was obliterated along with the essence of his life. But instead of darkness, the world became light. Blinding white, brighter then anything, eating into his being. He could feel his body drifting. Body? He had no body! Clawing at the white nothing, he felt himself loosing his shape, his very substance…
But suddenly he felt a presence by his side, comforting him, easing his fleeting, panicked mind. He felt a firm hand grab what he perceived as his wrist. The sensation of being touched gave him the memory of his body back and he felt as if he still had it. The light sank away and he found that he could see his mysterious saviour.
It was a man, smiling, wearing Jedi robes and shining in an otherworldly, blue light. A noble man whom Dooku knew well.
"Qui-Gon," he whispered.
"Master," Qui-Gon Jinn said.
The former count slowly shook his head. He looked down at his astral shape and saw that it shared the same ghostly, blue glow. "How is this possible. You are dead."
"So are you," Qui-Gon said. "But there are other paths to walk, if one knows how to find them."
For the first time, Count Dooku looked around. A gasp escaped his lips.
They were standing –no, floating– in an endless void. But the void was not empty and lifeless. Above them, stars burned with fantastic strength and colour, unlike any stars he had ever seen. Beyond them, distant galaxies swirled across the universe like playing children. Underneath them was an enormous sphere, a planet shimmering and glittering like a giant jewel filled with fire. Coruscant? A thousand golden lights danced through the stratosphere like giant, ethereal fireflies. Phantom choruses sang an eternal hymn to the glory of Creation. There were no limits and no boundaries. Dooku knew that if he would just reach out with his will, he could be anywhere and sense anything. As a deep serenity settled over him, he felt waves of an incredible energy pulse through his entire being. It beckoned him, called him, tried to sweep his little being away and make it a part of itself. But Qui-Gon's firm hand held him in place, anchoring him to this twilight world.
And standing amidst these wonders, beholding the majesty of an entire universe uncovered before him, Count Dooku finally realised what the Force truly was.
"It is beautiful," he said quietly. "If I had only known…"
"Regrets have no place here," Qui-Gon said softly. "No one can change what has been done, but everything becomes one with the Force sooner or later."
Dooku sighed. "I believed in him, Qui-Gon. I truly did. I set out with good intentions but somewhere along the way…"
Qui-Gon nodded. "No man is evil by choice," he said, as if quoting someone.
Dooku turned to him. "You were wrong about the boy."
"His fate is still to be decided," Qui-Gon said.
"Oh? You know something that I don't?" Dooku asked.
Qui-Gon smiled. "Let us say... that I have faith."
"Then you have more hope in death then I could ever find in life," Dooku said, his voice wistful. But then he looked up, and suddenly he was once again the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn had known and loved. "And now, my Padawan, it is time for you to let go."
"Stay," Qui-Gon said. "Please. I can teach you how."
Dooku sighed and shook his head. "I am weary of this existence, old friend, and there is no longer any reason for me to hold on to it. I'm tired. Release me, and let me become one with the Force."
"But…"
"Qui-Gon," Dooku said. "Let me rest."
Qui-Gon hesitated. Memories of a distant time stirred within him and resurfaced. Meeting his master for the first time as a child, thinking him stern and authoritative. Making his first lightsaber, and the praise he had received for it. The sharp reprimand he had earned by loosing it on a mission. A hundred battles and a thousand adventures. Laughter. Days of intense training and mediation. Philosophical and political discussions late into the night. Smiles. The great pride he had felt from his master upon his knighting…And then he let go.
With a blissful smile, Dooku's spirit flickered like a flame in the wind and drifted away like smoke. Qui-Gon watched him vanish and then, as an echo of a whisper, or a fragment of a dream, one last message touched his heart.
You were my greatest achievement…
Alone once again, the spectral image of Qui-Gon Jinn closed his eyes and smiled. "Farewell, my master and friend."
And then he continued his journey down the secret paths of the Force.