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Dooku was shocked at the extraordinary power of the three Jedi that he faced. It seemed that they had all tripled in power since their last meeting on Geonosis. This was not going to be fun.
As they had been three years ago, his instructions remained the same. Kill Obi-Wan and the girl, and leave Skywalker for Lord Sidious. They were simple instructions, yet Dooku knew that he could not fail again.
When he had failed to capture Skywalker on Geonosis, Sidious had not been pleased. When Dooku had told Sidious that the disc that held their plans for the armored space station had been destroyed, Sidious had gone ballistic, and Dooku still winced with the memory of his Master's fury.
Dooku had thought often about his particular loyalty to Sidious. When it came down to it, he was growing old, and the older Dooku became, the more he began to realize that despite his actions and a crimson lightsaber, there was no destroying his Jedi heart.
It was particularly painful to now fight these three, when his mind and heart were not fully behind it. He thought that the girl may have noticed his briefest moment of hesitation, but she was now fighting with such fury that he was convinced that he must have imagined it.
The four fought ferociously, leaping, pushing, and parrying blows from the other lightsabers at every turn. It was a blur of color as the three blue blades slowly weakened the one scarlet. The intricate dance of the four blades scorched the walls and sent sparks flying.
Dooku was rapidly weakening, yet he was determined not to let the Jedi know it. With a huge push of the Force, he sent Obi-Wan flying violently into a wall, and just for good measure, Dooku was sure to send a railing down upon him and pin him down. Without a second glance towards Obi-Wan, Dooku flipped up to the balcony where he had originally stood, and caught his breath.
He peered at Anakin and Sarah, trying to calculate the best move. He knew that his instructions were clear, so he went for the girl first. She could not be in the equation.
This was, unfortunately for Dooku, a gross miscalculation. As soon as he moved, she had whirled away with amazing agility, and Skywalker had leapt across the chamber. Dooku had not considered the many years that the two had been fighting together, their close connection, nor their combined raw power.
With only a few more feeble twirls of Dooku's lightsaber, it had been knocked from his hands with a well-placed Force-push, and in a moment, Dooku was on his knees, two blue blades pointed at his throat, their searing heat only a twitch of a wrist away.
"Gooood," came a purr from the chair where Palpatine sat, shackled.
Sarah glanced at him, searching the face of the Supreme Chancellor, as though trying to see a hint of something that others could not.
"Kill him," was Palpatine's response to her gaze.
Dooku's head snapped up to look at the Chancellor. He looked disbelieving, betrayed. Surely he had not heard correctly? Surely, Palpatine had misspoken?
"Kill him," the old man said again.
"He is unarmed," said Anakin. "It is not the Jedi way."
"Do it."
The minute these words were spoken, Sarah once again peered at Palpatine, this time, distrust and suspicion clouding her features.
Palpatine watched her. This was not going as planned. The girl had always been a thorn in his side, and he wanted nothing more than to see her dead. That was why he had specifically instructed Dooku to destroy her first.
"Anakin," said Palpatine, ignoring Sarah, "this…creature has attempted to kill you and your loved ones on numerous occasions. Surely you want justice?"
"Anakin!" Said Sarah fervently, looking at him.
Anakin felt torn for a brief moment between her and the Chancellor, the man who had offered council on more than one occasion. But as soon as the moment came, it was gone. The look in Sarah's eyes reminded him of the Jedi way, and he lowered his lightsaber, just a fraction.
"I will not kill him," said Anakin, avoiding Palpatine's hard gaze.
"He must stand trial," said Sarah, and Anakin nodded.
Dooku stood hesitantly, Sarah's lightsaber still firmly outstretched, making it more than clear that Dooku should not attempt anything. Anakin used the Force to free the binds on Palpatine's wrists, and he then ran over to Obi-Wan, checking his pulse and clearing away the large railing that had pinned him down. He was unconscious, but Anakin knew that Obi-Wan would be fine.
"Leave him, Anakin, we don't have time," said Palpatine.
Sarah stared at the man. She had never trusted him, but his words today seemed to have only heightened that sense of suspicion. They would not leave Obi-Wan for the galaxy, and that should have been clear to Palpatine.
The old man glanced at her with a hint of vindictiveness layered in his gaze. This is precisely why he had to have Skywalker. The girl was entirely too mired in Jedi dogma to succumb to the dark side. This is why Dooku should have destroyed her. She was too much an influence on Anakin. Palpatine resolved then that she would become his next target. If his plan could not be fulfilled until she was dead, than so be it.
Anakin had hoisted Obi-Wan onto his shoulders, and the group took off across the enormous ship that was violently rocking from the blasts of the battle outside. After much confusion and a somewhat perilous trip down an elevator shaft, Obi-Wan had reawaken, and though there was a large cut on his head, his mind was still in perfect working order, and it was mildly confused as to what happened, and why Dooku had just landed on top of him when a particularly large blast had knocked them all off balance.
"Master Kenobi," said Dooku politely as he stood.
Obi-Wan's confusion was not helping his already throbbing head. "Count."
They once again took off running, and Obi-Wan jogged next to Anakin. "Exactly what happened?" He inquired, more curious than ever.
"I was not about to kill him, Master," said Anakin. "He was unarmed."
"You did the right thing, Padawan," said Obi-Wan, and then catching himself and correcting his words, "Anakin."
"I know it still hurts that you can no longer complain about us, doesn't it Master?" asked Anakin with a grin.
"Oh, my still very young former apprentice, you still have much to learn. It is a Master's privilege to complain about his Padawans, current and former, until the day he dies. And I am no exception to that illustrious right."
"Whatever you say, Master."
The ship gave another gargantuan lurch at that moment, and the group stumbled, though they managed to stay on their feet this time, with the exception of Palpatine, who tripped slightly over his own long robes and fell.
"That doesn't sound good," said Anakin.
Sarah glared at him, and it did not fade despite the innocent grin that he gave her. "Well it didn't!"
"As brilliant as you are at stating the obvious, Skywalker, I don't suppose you have an equally genius solution as to how to get out of here?"
Anakin gave her a strange look, "Since when do you call me 'Skywalker'?"
It was at that moment ray shields were activated around the small group and they could not go anywhere.
Sarah looked at Anakin, "Since you got us into this mess?"
"How is this my fault?" Said Anakin, his voice slightly raised.
Sensing more than a playful argument coming, Obi-Wan interrupted them. "Bickering won't help us get out of here, will it?"
Anakin turned on him, "then what do you suggest?"
Obi-Wan was silent for a moment and had opened his mouth to speak when a horde of battle droids came out of the surrounding doors and led the small group away to their General.
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Looking back, Obi-Wan was not quite sure how they had managed to get out of that particular situation, as it had been one of considerable chaos, but he supposed that it had been a combination of Grievous' cowardly behavior and Anakin's exceptional piloting skills.
The calm tranquility of the Temple was welcome to Obi-Wan as he meditated in the soft glow of the Coruscant morning. It would be a welcome respite, however brief, after the intense fighting of the past months.
He had a Council meeting that afternoon, and he was contemplating the discussion that would be taking place. Discussion of the war and the Sith. Obi-Wan meditated, attempting to find some clarity in the peace of the Temple, but despite the calm air, there was no doubting the darkness in the Force.
Obi-Wan sighed. His appointment to the Jedi Council had come as a complete and total shock to him. He had never seen himself as a Jedi Master, and he was surprised at the Council's faith in him. He knew that Qui-Gon would have been proud, but there were times when the weight of this new appointment weighed heavily on Obi-Wan's heart and mind. There were times when he remembered missions with Anakin and Sarah, when they were younger, when he still had much to teach him and they, much to learn. It had always felt so simple, so…right, just the three of them, working as a team.
But the war changed everything. The war had brought a new darkness upon Obi-Wan. Laughter among himself and Anakin and Sarah was rare. He observed the dark circles under both their eyes, and he felt sad that this is what they entered into as Jedi knights. He remembered the circumstances of his own elevation to Knighthood, and he could not help but wonder what it would be like if Qui-Gon were still alive.
Dooku was being held under the custody of the Senate, and he would be tried in the coming months for his actions against the Republic. Obi-Wan had considered visiting him, asking the questions that he so longed to ask, but he could not seem to bring himself to do it.
He rose, heading to the Council Chambers, still contemplating the situations that had arisen, and his mind once again turned to Anakin and Sarah, as it so often did. The awkwardness between the two had not gone unnoticed by himself, and it hurt Obi-Wan immensely to see that even after three years, they could not seem to work out what had happened at the start of the war.
Obi-Wan's mind flashed on their first few months together, when Anakin and Sarah could not resolve their differences, and he had to smile at the memory. Perhaps they simply had to learn now, just as they had then. The galaxy had changed over the years, but Obi-Wan knew that simple lessons often stayed the same. He resolved to speak to them later over their evening meal.
He entered the Chambers, still attempting to sort through the many thoughts that were raging around inside his head. He knew that the other Council members would pick up on his emotional volatility, or at least, Yoda would. And if there was one thing that Obi-Wan was positive of, it was that he wanted to entirely avoid a draining session with the small green Jedi that would surely be spent being force-fed some objectionable-looking gruel and getting whacked on various limbs with a certain gimer stick.
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A/N: I don't quite no what to say except that I am so sorry about the ridiculous amount of time that it has taken me to update. I'll spare you all excuses and explanations and just say that life has been entirely too crazy. Thank you for your patience. Also, though it may seem like I have died, I will try to update my profile in the future for this story, just to let you know what's going on, so if you actually want to read my copious list of excuses and explanations, it will probably be up there. Thanks for reading and thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, you keep me going and I do not give you nearly enough thanks, but please know that I appreciate each and every one of you.
And to Crystal: I cannot honestly answer you, because I myself do not have any idea. I began this story with many plans in mind, some of which I have stuck to, and others that I have grossly deviated from. I just sit down to write and accept whatever comes out as what the story is meant to be. Sorry for the vagueness, but we both will just have to wait and see, because I have no idea!