Sorry for the long break before this update. Things in my life runs faster than the Millenium Falcon.

For the record so the due credits are given – this chapter contains quotes from or is otherwise inspired by other artists' work: The Old Republic: Rescue Mission - (2015) Short Film, Batman: The dark knight rises and Ghost of Tsushima

What is the price of war?

He threw his lightsaber to Anakin to give his padawan a means to defend himself. Anakin ignited it, and around the audience ranks, roughly 200 more lightsabers came to life with it. The Jedi!

Mace Windu had come to intervene with an entire assault team. Despite the best efforts of those Jedi, the party was far from over. The battle was horrendous and should later be reported on as one of the most devastating events in the history of the Jedi Order. Down in the arena, Kenshin tried to create a protective shield with the Force to protect at least those around him from the barrages of blaster bolts threatening to blast them all to pieces, and sent shock waves to knock down rows of droids at once, but they came in such dense and never-ending waves that even for him it was too much. The more destructive attacks he was capable off would have felled everything and everyone, droid and Jedi alike, so there was no possible way of applying them without doing more harm than good. The battle saw Jedi by Jedi fall, until a small team was all that remained.

Only as Master Yoda arrived, with dozens of gunships and their Clone crews, the tide was turned.

Republic Clones and Jedi faced battalions of battle droids in fierce altercations.

Count Dooku fled the arena, and Obi-Wan and Anakin set after him and intercepted the moment when he prepared to board a small starship of Serennian design. A fierce lightsaber fight ensued, both Obi-Wan and the Padawan doing their best, but to no avail. Dooku did nothing but toy with the two Jedi. It wasn't long before Kenobi and Skywalker both were down, defeated and wounded. The Padawan's injuries were severe, his forearm cut off his body.

"And so it ends" Dooku said with a cold, arrogant smile and stepped closer. His footsteps echoed menacingly in the vast hangar.

"I do not think so" came a voice with a strange accent. Surprised, the Serennian turned and watched a purple lightsaber blaze to life. With a sharp rasp, a sword with a metal blade was unsheathed. Bursts of electricity were crackling around the curved blade and Dooku instantly recognized who was standing before him.

It was the very Jedi he had been ordered to kill two months before. The Jedi he had failed to terminate. Afterwards, Tyrannus had reluctantly reported his failing to his Master and he had been met with a frustrated silence. He would have expected major repercussions as a consequence of his derailed mission but Sidious had reacted with strange calm.

Of course, Dooku had then conducted investigations on his own after this unsettling event. The man went by the name of Kenshin Kano. Jedi Master, trained by Yoda and Mace Windu during his last Padawan years before being knighted at a too young age. As of recently, Master to Anakin Skywalker. With the exception of Yoda, this was the strongest in the Force he had ever encountered in a Jedi. Maybe not as strong as this joke of a so-called Chosen one, but opposite to the arrogant spoiled brat, Kano knew exactly what he was doing. And he was also strong in the dark side, possibly stronger than himself as he begrudgingly admitted to himself. But, that exact fact could possibly make Kano a piece in the puzzle he wanted to put together! He had also found out that Kano didn't have the best standing amongst his fellow Jedi. He was said to be a heretic, bold and defiant, often at odds with the guidelines that the Jedi Order wanted its members to follow. That, and in the light of how this man was an obviously cruel and ruthless warrior, how was he tolerated in the Jedi Order? Dooku quickly fought back a surge of painful regret. He had known another Jedi, in his own days, powerful, but too different. Too extreme. Sifo Dyas had been his best friend when they had been Padawan.

Too different. How the Jedi Order had always ostracized Sifo, and what he, Dooku, had had to do to himself at the end of poor Sifo's life, were some of the few things he regretted. In the end, Sidious had deemed Sifo Dyas and his powerful visions too much of a threat, and he did what he had to do.

If this Jedi Master could be swayed, and shaped, especially without Sidious' knowledge, a threat would be turned into an asset. The man would probably not yield to the temptations of money or status. But offering him an opportunity to fulfil his purpose, this could have an irresistible draw.

Maybe that was exactly the gift the Force was trying to give him. Someone powerful, with the urge to question and change the established, rigid, flawed ways. Maybe this unlikely Jedi was a key. Maybe Kano was his chance. A chance to do better and succeed.

As their glances met and he looked him in the eyes, Dooku read recognition there. Kano knew! Kano knew exactly who he was. And along with the recognition, there was terrible determination. The intent to go in for the kill and finish what he had started when they had fought for the first time. From him emanated the inexorable chill of a glacier of Hoth.

For an uncomfortable instant, Dooku felt a flash of panic. This man had nearly killed him once. 'Get ahold of yourself'. This wasn't a moment to allow himself any weakness.

"Ah, Master Kano! I am relieved to see you have recovered from our last encounter. What was the reason you and your apprentice intruded on my yacht? I must admit, you have surprised me. Not ever have I seen such exquisite swordsmanship, nor such brutality from someone who claims to be a member of our venerated Jedi Order! You've proven the first worthy opponent I have faced in a long time. What a pity I had to inflict so much damage." Dooku taunted.

"Cut the crap, you chickenshit tottery old fuck! You bothered to 'face' me after you had set your pack of robot watch dogs on me, along with that bogwitch, and then you ran instead of finishing the job. An old dog needed help to chew a bone too hard for him and even then you couldn't swallow"

"What a vulgar choice of words! So uncivilized! Does this beseem a Jedi Master?" Dooku commented, his demeanour obnoxiously regal and sophisticated.

"As much as running from a Jedi, tail between the legs, beseems a so-called Sith Lord? Or your fighting style that has seen better days! You should have some breakfast first before you suck my dick!"

"Now, now! Is there a reason to be so abusive? I am no Sith Lord! I seek to destroy them! I must also remark that this is a most curious weapon you wield, Jedi friend. Why haul around such a flashy sword with a dead blade?"

"You'll feel it when I slice your head off!"

"And why would you do that! We need not be enemies! In the opposite! You should consider joining me, consider all the possibilities I have to offer. Your strength in the Force is remarkable. Just imagine how you could change the galaxy for the better, having access to my resources and not being limited by the restraints the Jedi lay upon you!

From what I learned, you clearly see the failures of the Jedi Order and the corrupt Republic yourself. Why do you still hold your loyalty towards a degenerated institution that has given in to complacency and hypocrisy?"

"The republic is flawed, so is the Jedi Order. Both can be bettered. You on the other hand? You speak of a new beginning while you're striving for tyranny. You want power for power's sake, nothing more."

"Oh, but you are mistaken, Master Kano. What I want is an honest, a real democracy! Chancellor Palpatine has promised to cut bureaucracy, and yet the bureaucrats are stronger than ever. As I have already explained to our dear Senator Amidala, the Republic cannot be fixed. It is time to start over! The time will come when that cult of greed will lose even the pretext of democracy and freedom. The Sith are on the rise, we both know it. Join me, and we will destroy them together!"

"You have such beautiful words. If only they weren't such a big fat lie."

The man took a step forward. He casually twirled his lightsaber, the deep buzz of the blade spoke of menace and the lethal violence its wielder was intent to unleash.

"You're powerful, but foolish, my friend!" Dooku said and smiled. Blue Force lightning shot from his hands.

Kano didn't care. He shielded himself with his lightsaber and kept stepping closer with unshakeable resolve.

In a barely notable, quick precise motion, faster than light, Dooku ignited his lightsaber and surged forward. He opened with a devious feint, followed by a precise riposte, thrusting his blade towards his opponent's eyes. It was a move that, by its sheer speed, had won him many duels upon the first strike. It had made him feared in the dojos of the Jedi temple. It was always successful. Only that this time, it wasn't.

His blade met a jarring stop.

Matching Dookus speed, Kano had dodged the thrust and locked the blade. Dookus eyes went wide. The Jedi was blocking his blade with his bare hand, red sparks wildly flying.

For an instant, the Count could study his opponent's face up close. There was a calm, cold composure, almost serenity.

The self-assured smile on Dooku's lips died, distorted into a cruel grimace. Inhale. Exhale. Finally he felt it! His anger, his strength. He would not allow this Jedi to play with him. Fool! He then chided himself. This was exactly what Kano needed. This Jedi was a Master of Vaapad and would use his anger against him. He had to be more clever than that. This would be no easy victory.

Dooku retreated, just by a little bit. He guided his blade into a light, but vicious cut. Abruptly he changed the trajectory and surged forward again.

This thrust penetrated Kano's defence and singed his tunic. The Jedi dodged again and narrowly avoided a lethal hit. A few more centimeters and this would have been his heart.

Dooku gave a mocking smile. "Now, Master Kano. Don't disappoint me. Surely you can do better!"

Kenshin gave an unimpressed smile as an answer.

Back and forth, back and forth, they traded blows and neither advanced. Dooku's flourishes and footwork were impeccable and flawless. But his enemy kept up with his pace.

What is he doing Dooku wondered. Was his opponent observing, awaiting his moment? Or was he at his wits' end? His eyes revealed nothing. His aura was unreadable. There was nothing he could sense through the Force.

"Is this all you have to offer? I for sure expected more!" the Count scoffed. 'Provoke him. Know your strengths, and exploit them' he thought

' Careful what you wish for ' A demonic voice echoed in Dooku's head. What was this? Kano's lips had never moved, he had not spoken a word in response to his mockery.

A volley of blows rained down on Dooku at an inhuman rhythm. Every of Kano's moves was of shocking pin-point accuracy. The power in his offence grew from strike to strike. Dooku had always honed his defense, his precision, his speed to the point of being instinct. It had always been him who had been the unpredictable one. No matter how powerful an enemy's attacks, by deflecting and evading them rather than trying to meet them head-to-head, he could wear them out and wait until his precise ripostes and vicious feints would overwhelm them. What he was faced with now was different. This brought the sweat to his brows.

Kano's attacks came at a hellish pace. The way he moved had changed. It was a form that Dooku recognized, in parts, from their first encounter. Many moves were completely new. Only the Force allowed him to keep up with the intricate paths and the speed of his blades.

In a way it was poetic, his opponent's moves of a devilish beauty.

Then he remembered the mistake he had made the last time and that had cost him dearly.

Focus he scolded himself.

There was no time to think.

Dooku parried an attack from one blade and blocked the second. The ground shook from the impact as the two opponents collided. The Count grimaced in pain, his joints didn't take kindly to an attack with that much raw energy.

How much longer would be be able to resist? Long enough for his enemy to grow tired so he could strike? Falling back on anger would only make Kano stronger. Nothing would stop him. Nothing, only the true, sheer power of the dark side.

Dooku reached into the Force, again, but deeper this time. He dove into the dark and called on its terrible, devastating power.

Kenshin sensed it. He sensed that the strength Dooku was now drawing on was not purely his own. A Master always left an imprint on their apprentice. A reflection of their teaching, shaping part of the learner's force signature. What Kenshin sensed now had a stench to it, a touch of a signature he had sensed once before and it had been the most terrifying thing he had ever felt in the Force in his entire life. What was it? WHO was that? He could not allowed it to prevail. He stumbled into primal fear. He stopped. Distant and muffled in his mind, the angry cry of a Yashkaru. The mystic creatures of his homeworld that lived in the shadows, just like he had for so long. Something in him awoke. Ancient and powerful. Conscious thought didn't cease to exist but stepped back into the hidden depths of his mind. Now, there was only instinct. There was only him, two blades and one purpose. The evil infront of him would be destroyed. He would not merely kill the Sith Lord. A Sith Lord, that's what Dooku was. He would annihilate him. And he would make him suffer, for everything the Sith had done. In this moment, nothing else mattered.

Kenshin attacked.

All Dooku saw was a blurr of purple, deadly light. Kano's lightsaber came down on him with the wrath of a thousand demons. His metal blade moved in an opposite trajectory. Dooku sensed both and moved to parry. The block went into void. The Jedi had retracted his lightsaber, dodged the red blade and sliced his katana through Dooku's wrist.

The Count screamed. Unspeakable pain surged up his arm as he watched his sword hand fly off, and his weapon with it.

Kano sheathed his metal sword. His eyes glittered with terrible intent. This was not over yet.

Dooku noticed a strange, nauseous feeling in his midsection. His knees buckled and an uncomfortable pressure was being applied to his windpipe. A very unregal sickness rolled through his stomach. He couldn't move, he was caught, stuck in an adamant hold and his vision blurred. Images were all of a sudden lighting up in his mind.

His sister Jenza, on Serenno. She was dying at his feet. It was himself having delivered her killing blow. Sifo Dyas, his childhood friend, with his face distorted in pain. Lene Kostana, his friend and Sifo's master, hurt, crouched in the dust and bleeding, a large bird, a convor, flapping its wings and circling around her, emitting devastated cries. His sister again, only this time it was his hated father torturing her.

Jedi did not deliberately kill. They didn't, did they?

He felt a sharp pang of agony in his skull, a hot knife stabbing, then turning and finally carving as if to slice his brain in half. It burrowed deeper into his subconscious, exploding, sending thousand smouldering shards in every direction, conjuring up more buried fears and nightmares and ripping them free to the surface.

Dooku stared in anguish into his opponent's eyes. Jedi defended and protected, they never attacked. Jedi had mercy. Kano had none. His eyeballs had turned to black and the previously dark brown iris now shone with a faint, eerie purple light. A dark, reddish liquid trickled from his eyes and nose. Blood. Some powers of the dark side came with a heavy price and this man paid it without the slightest hesitation. Dooku's entire body trembled with the chills that ran down his spine. His veins were now flooding with shaky adrenaline. An overwhelming rush of helplessness and terror erased any thought.

"What...what sorcery is this!" Dooku croaked out. He sensed the very essence of his being beginning to slip away, out of his grasp, out of his control. This was what dying felt like.

Helplessly, he gasped for air but bit by bit he drifted further into a great, unfathomable nothing.

"NO! STOP THIS!"

A small figure hurried towards them and raised a Force shield blocking the deadly stream that erased Dooku's existence bit by bit. The Count crashed hard onto the ground, heaving. Yoda? He was protecting him? He scrambled, with the remnants of energy he still had, and darted towards his ship.

Kano roared in anger. He pushed to get past Yoda's blockade. The grandmaster turned and saw the Count attempting to flee.

He could either stop Dooku from moving away, or block and control Kenshin's explosion of dark energy. Not both. Let Dooku live and escape. Or capture him which would get him killed at Kano's hands.

Attachments, forbidden they are

Yoda's body was shaking. Dooku had, once, been his Padawan. Just like Kenshin, even though Kenshin had never acknowledged that.

Kill, a Jedi does not. Protect and value all life, they must

He let Dooku go.

The atmosphere in the room was icy to say the least. Obi-Wan centered himself, calming his mind, which in itself proved a challenge. The events of the past days had been unsettling. If that word could even do justice to what he had sensed and seen. A part of him was grateful that Padawan Skywalker had been unconscious as it had happened. That he didn't have to witness what his Master had done.

They all had wanted to capture Dooku. Nobody had wanted a war to begin. That was what the battle of Geonosis would ultimately mean. War between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

But did this justify the means Master Kano had resorted to? Did this justify calling on the dark side and to unleash powers of unspeakable cruelty? Did victory justify forsaking the ideals, the light of the Jedi? Obi-Wan shuddered as he recalled memories of the duel between Dooku and the young Jedi Master. Powers like the ones he had seen at display, they shouldn't even exist, let alone be used by a Jedi. Had Yoda not intervened, it would have been the most gruesome end of Dooku. Then again, had Dooku been killed and shared the fate of so many Jedi that day, the war now looming at the horizon could have been ended right there. He didn't know what to think. Tears welled in his eyes as his mind wandered to all the Jedi lost in this Force-forsaken arena. He had known many of the fatalities personally, some had been dear friends.

Kano was far from finding even a resemblance of composure. Obi-Wan glanced at the younger Jedi next to him who was visibly boiling with emotions. He could understand his frustration, oh yes he could. But throwing a tantrum, as understandable as it was, wouldn't help anyone, least of all himself. Kano's Padawan, lost in his mind, sported a new cybernetic hand glinting in the sun rays the setting sun cast into the council chamber. His own injuries had been quick to heal, thankfully, and Kenshin seemed to have suffered no injuries at all. Not of the kind one could see, anyways.

In utter disregard of protocol, Kenshin raised his voice before the Grandmaster had opened the Council session.

"Nearly 200 Jedi have died, and you kept me from bringing the one responsible to justice!"

Both hands balled to fists, he made no effort to hide his rage.

"To kill him brutally and in cold blood you attempted. Sith magic you used. Betrayed the Jedi way, you have!" the old Grandmaster slammed his cane onto the floor. He rose from his seat and took two steps towards Kenshin.

"You put a Code, a lifeless set of ideals, above the life of sentient beings? Above the life of 200 siblings in the Force? You're a psychopath!"

"Master Kano! You are in the presence of the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order and the High Council and you will reign in your temper!" Windu bellowed

"The fuck I will!" Kenshin hissed, swirling around to face Windu. Loud gasps were heard from everyone around. Such behaviour was unheard of! The tall Korun decided that this was enough now and was having no more of it

"GUARDS!" he yelled and activated his lightsaber, bringing the tip of his blade within inches of Kenshin's throat. Kenshin was not backing down. He took another step forward as if to step right into the deadly energy beam. Instinctively, Mace reacted and his blade moved back. Only by a little bit, but he retreated. Both now stood, face to face and so close they could distinguish the pumped, red blood vessels in each other's eyes. One's eyes filled with rage, the other's with righteousness and the sense of defending rules that formed the foundation of something bigger than the individual. Something he would give his life to defend and he, Mace Windu, Master of the Jedi Order, would not tolerate anyone disrespecting it as long as he lived.

"Have you no honour?" he asked with disdain.

"Honour?" Kenshin growled in response. "Honour died in the arena!"

The temple guards arrived swiftly, and Kenshin followed them without further protest but not without sending Windu a deathly glare. Everyone in the Council room remained silent. The silence of shock and disbelief of what they had just witnessed. Anakin's widened eyes followed his mentor being led away by the guards, and then sought support in the only person he imagined wouldn't chastise him right away. Like a slave boy expecting punishment. Obi-Wan met his glance. He gently laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and said: "Come. I believe there is a few things we should talk about."

It was barren and cold. Unsurprisingly so, this was a detention cell. Mace had not set foot into the temple's jail tract in years. The Jedi temple was outfitted with very few of these cells, and even fewer individuals occupied them. Hardly anyone ever gave reason to be held there. The Council member had decided to let his despicable insurgent marinate in his detention chamber for several days before coming to interrogate him. He stepped into the cell. Kano was sitting on the ground, completely still, his back against the opposite wall, legs folded underneath him and arms folded as well, within the sleeves of his tunic. The face was hidden by the hood pulled over his head. He showed no visible or otherwise palpable reaction as Mace stepped a little closer. It kept creeping him out how Kano would conceal his Force signature to the point he was imperceptible. Only Mace's eyes told him he was there, right in-front of him, but it could as well have been a statue. He couldn't even see him breathe.

"You're insane." Mace said, the words leaving his mouth before he could hold them back.

"You're a legalistic, lightsaber-stuck-up-your-ass hypocrite, and you call me insane." came the dry, calmly spoken retort.

"Are you even remotely aware of what you have done? You're no Jedi. You're a blood hunter" the Korun said.

"You hate me. And I know very well why you hate me. I am everything you are, but are too much of a coward to admit. We're at war, Windu!"

Oh how he hated Kano's exotic accent and how he pronounced his name. „War gives you no right to violate every law in the book. It gives you no right to touch the dark side!"

„Oh, does it not? We're both warriors, that's the reality of it. Only that you still claim to be a peacekeeper. We, the Jedi, have no business in war and are in it anyway. We could as well get our act together and end it quick and decisively."

"By brutal violence? By abandoning our ways?"

"I have seen war. And oppression. What it does to a people. What will it do an entire galaxy? I have seen war. Have you?" Unlike in the council chamber, where Kano had burst at the seams with rage, his voice was now calm and monotone.

"I have seen civilization! And that it needs order. We are no more than mindless beasts if we forget that. There are rules, and rules must be followed!"

"There's a point, Mace, where the structures fail you, and the rules aren't weapons any more, but shackles letting the bad guy get ahead!"

"And you're the good guy?"

"Define good! And do not presume to tell me my path when you walk yours blind."

Only now Kenshin lifted his head and stared Windu in the eyes. Where Mace had hoped to find at least a trace of sense and discernment, there was only defiance. It was pointless. He shook his head and left. If anyone was able to talk sense into this...Mace lacked a proper word, it certainly wasn't him. There is no emotion, there is peace. He would not give in, no, he wasn't allowed to hate Kano. As much as he wanted to, as much as the man found a way to push every single one of his buttons. Leaving the prison tract, he found the grandmaster already waiting, as if he had sensed that he was now needed. Yoda only nodded. No need for Mace to explain anything.

The door opened for a second time within the same hour. This time, Kenshin rose from the floor. His eyes narrowed to slits as he looked at Yoda.

"Get the fuck out!" Kenshin said, turning his back to the old Jedi.

"Very concerned I am, my old Padawan"

Kenshin was visibly annoyed at Yoda using that word, but he didn't protest.

"There is a lot to be concerned about. A war has begun"

"Not the war I talk about. In danger, you are. Too close to the dark side, you walk! A Jedi, you are and remain true to the light, you must. Help you, I can!"

"The way you helped me when I was a 13 year old boy who had lost the one who was like a mother to him? I'm better off without that 'help'!" Kenshin spat the last word like a curse.

"Forbidden, attachments are"

"Forbidden they may be, but they are a reality! You've lived nearly 900 years and you never learned that denying it is pointless! You're a hypocrite just like the others, and a senile one at that!"

"Insulting me, make things better it will?"

"I'm not insulting you. I'm speaking the truth "

"Never thought you have that care about you, I do?"

Did Yoda care? Did he really? A part of Kenshin wanted to believe that. But who would ever care about him. He who had failed to save his Master. He, who mourned his Master, who felt the pain ripping his soul apart, where the Jedi Code dictated that there was no emotion. He who was hurting so much, even now, even nearly 11 years passed, and the Jedi demanded that he'd just forget her. He, who had failed his apprentice. What irony how similar of a fate he shared with Anakin in so many ways. All Yoda and the Jedi had offered, now and then, was 'attachments are forbidden. Mourn you must not'. A part of Kenshin wanted to acknowledge that Yoda had made his best efforts, had tried to care and to train him, had given him a home after his Master had died. But the hurt was too great. All he managed to do was to turn back around and at look at the old grandmaster, his eyes now wet with tears. Yodas ears hung low, he looked back at Kenshin with deep sorrow.

He saw the terrifying warrior, the Force wielder who had grown so frighteningly powerful that by now, half of the usually composed, reasonable council members considered Kenshin a veritable threat amongst their midst. He saw the determination to use his powers to protect, willing to fight to the last, no matter what it took. He also saw the young child that was still inside this man, devastated and torn apart, drowning in grief and a sense of guilt. Like a sick Loth kitten refusing to eat, the young boy had refused everything Yoda had tried to give and he still rejected him to this day. There was so much good in Kenshin. Yoda didn't understand why he buried it so deep inside himself and instead chose pain.

Kenshin wanted to trust Yoda, to confide in him, to feel held and if only for a minute to have someone carry him where he couldn't carry his load no more. But he couldn't imagine that Yoda would truly care. To the Jedi, he, Kenshin, was nothing but a glorified search dog diligently tracking down Sith artefacts to secure them in the Jedi temple. Needed for the dirty work, but despised. Sullied by the stench of the dark side. Feared by some. What the Council didn't know was that Kenshin had always studied the artefacts and holocrons before turning them in. He didn't fear to be corrupted, he didn't long for power. He simply knew he had to understand his enemy. Kenshin had ascended to knighthood at the tender age of 16. His true master was dead. Yoda had had nothing left to teach him. Nothing but Jedi platitudes that wouldn't bring Master Fay back. Nor the others he had lost. He had lost too many. Ever since, he had scoured the galaxy for any trace of the Sith Order he could find. He knew the Dark Lord who had killed his Master had not been a singular imminence. Nor was the mysterious Zabrak who had emerged two years after that. The Council had never taken his warnings and findings seriously. They kept claiming they would sense it, should any threat arise and Kenshin wondered what it would take for them to listen.

Now, yes now, finally they were willing to see that the darkness was arising to new strength. Now, a war had begun. But who was behind it all, pulling the strings and weaving an ever tighter web through the galaxy? Where was the nexus? What had Dooku meant when he had said a dark lord of the Sith would control the senate? Even Kenshin didn't have the answer. He could have killed the Separatist leader, but defending the ways of the Jedi, Yoda had stopped him from using the means necessary.

"Touched by the dark side, you have been. A difficult choice it was, to keep you with us"

"To keep me in a cell, instead of executing me right away? And to what end? Was I ever more than a tool to you? I don't need your mercy, Master Yoda!"

"One of us, you are!"

Kenshin said nothing.

"Care I still do" Yoda said at last. Kenshin met him again with grim silence, so Yoda eventually left the cell with slow steps, heavy with sadness. His cane was echoing from the walls. Kenshin's dark eyes followed him and then stared at the spot where the diminutive green Jedi had stood, for hours after he had left. He then sank into a nebulous trance, feeling nothing.

The three men were outwardly calm. Kenobi stood, his hands folded in the sleeves of his cloak, and Mace sat on a meditation pillow. Yoda took a seat as well, and some candles cast the meditation chamber into a warm, golden light.

"Could you make him see any reason?" Mace asked. Yoda didn't answer, it wasn't necessary. Mace understood. Thought to understand.

"Master Yoda, I have always respected your points of view, but Kano is dangerous!" Windu began bluntly.

"The same thing about Quinlan Vos, you once said. Jedi who are unafraid to think, we need."

Yes, I did say that about Vos, and Vos doesn't compare to what Kano is capable of. Capable and willing to do. I sense him dangerously close to the dark side. Too close. How much longer until we have a rogue, fallen Jedi on our hands? He has done questionable things. Had you not held Kano back, he would have killed Count Dooku on the spot without any trace of mercy. He didn't merely try to kill him, he deliberately tortured him after he had already won the fight. He revelled in violence, I have never seen such murderous frenzy. He had given up control and let the dark side take it. Kano has lost his way! He has lost it a long time ago, if you ask me!"

"Wrong, Master Kano has done. Very wrong. Yet agree with you, I do not. Powerful he is, yes. Condone his actions, I do not. But never betrayed us, he has. And never betray us, he will. Warned us of a rise of the dark side, he has. Grave, the darkness in the Force is and need his strength, we will!" Yoda countered.

Obi-Wan was asking himself many questions. A part of him was scared by Kano and the demonic energy the man was capable of releasing. But to be a Jedi was to confront fear, not lock it away. He had a feeling that Kano wasn't the true villain in this story. His fellow Jedi was misguided, certainly, but if anything, he needed help. To ostracise him would only make matters worse. You must trust the living Force Qui-Gon had always said. And then there was Anakin to consider. The Padawan had immense potential, but had always been unstable. In the conversation he had had with him, after the incident in the Council chamber, Skywalker had been reluctant and not very talkative. But he cared deeply about his Master, that much had become clear to Obi-Wan. As flawed as Kano was as a Jedi, to Anakin he was a beacon of light. Someone to look up to. Maybe the only one he had. There was little that held the mess that Anakin was together, and to take that away from the young man...Obi-Wan remembered all too well what it had been like when he had lost Qui-Gon, how devastated and shaken he had been. And there he had already been a mature, composed senior Padawan learner, settled in the Jedi Code and the ways of the Force and, as Qui-Gon had gently teased, a wiser man than his own Master would ever be.

"Master Windu, if you would allow me. From my point of view, yes, Master Kano does have difficulties to control himself, which is certainly something that needs to be addressed. But he is, as Master Yoda says, loyal and carries much compassion. Isn't compassion one of the essential columns of the light we hold dear, one of the greatest qualities a Jedi needs to strive for? His means may be questionable, but his intentions are pure. A war has started, and all Master Kano wants, what we all want, is to end it. As soon as possible. We need to help him, not cut him out. And we may indeed need his powers and his help to face what is to come. He may see things we do not, and he may be able to fight battles we could not otherwise win."

"A point, Obi-Wan has. Much good in Kenshin, I can feel. Mistakes in the past we made and repeat them, we will not."

"Elevating Kano to the rank of master was a mistake. Assigning him Skywalker as Padawan was a mistake. Both are reckless, disobedient, and too powerful for their own good. Skywalker is unpredictable. Kano has come too close to the dark side. What is this, if not a blasted time bomb!" Mace exclaimed.

"Is it, really? While I respect your perspective, Master Windu, you must see that Kano is the first Master Anakin manages to respect. Maybe for the wrong reasons, but he does respect him. I've known him when Master Qui-Gon found him, and have recently had an extensive talk with him. His relationship to his first Master had been very strained, to say the least. With Kano, he had difficulties as well, at first. Ultimately, however, I have found a great sense of care for the other in both. And Master Kano may be the only one Anakin listens to. The only one who may be able to control him."

"Dangerous, they both are. Careful we must be. I sense tied to each other they are. Break a bond forged by the Force we must not." Yoda concluded.

"I can only hope you are right" Mace muttered with a somber expression.

Once more, the door to the cell opened. Kenshin didn't react. Why would he. There was no point in paying any attention to the droids cleaning his cell or bringing meals he had no interest in and never touched. He knew of the importance to properly eat, sleep and exercise to keep oneself in fighting shape and his usual self not only subjected himself to a rigourous training regime, he also endlessly chided Anakin about the matter and the padawan's laziness. Now, he couldn't bring himself to move and do anything other than remain in a numb haze. He was so over everything. For some reasons, the nightmares and visions had stopped after he had encountered his master's force ghost, or whatever it was, on Tatooine. He didn't want those nightmares to return. They had pushed him far enough to try and kill himself and even without them, his mind was scary enough of a place to be. He kept his eyes closed, back resting against the wall in the position he'd assumed days ago, and didn't move an inch when the droid placed a tray next to him.

"If you're not eating that, I'll have it. I'm hungry"

The voice sounded familiar. It sounded like Anakin. Probably a dream or an illusion. He had noticed strange sensations and his imagination had begun doing weird things these past days. The part of it that remained conscious at least. Maybe a sign of approaching delirium. What the droids never brought were the pain meds he had developed a habit of consuming in abundance. In more honest words he would have very well called it substance abuse. A classic case of addiction. So he figured he was experiencing withdrawal symptoms, uncomfortable but nothing unnatural and nothing to be overly concerned about.

"Uargh!" the voice from before said." Force, this is awful! No wonder you wouldn't eat that"

Kenshin blinked groggily. He was not used to hallucinations being this stubborn. Someone tall with blonde, buzz-short hair and a braid dangling at the side stood in his cell, his mouth distorted in disgust and spitting out the rests of the bite he had taken.

"Anakin?" he asked as his eyesight adjusted to the unfamiliar light and took in the person before him.

"Yeah, it's me alright. Wake up, sleepyhead!"

"What are you doing here?" he mumbled

"No 'hello, I'm glad to see you'? Or a 'hey, how are you?' I'm here to drag you out of this hole. Your detention time is over, you're being released."

With a grunt, Kenshin moved his stiffened joints and got up. He didn't get very far before his eyes went blank and he had to steady himself against the wall. Anakin grabbed him and kept him from tumbling back to the floor again.

"Kriffin' hells! You look like the definition of bantha poodoo!"

Anakin attempted to lay one of Kenshin's arms across his shoulders to help him walk, but Kenshin pushed away.

"Why are you here?" he asked distrustfully.

"Uhm, you're my Master? My Friend? In case that has eluded you? It's me! It's Anakin! Wake up!"

Kenshin shook his head, in the hope it would give him a better grasp of reality.

"I'm not to be executed? They didn't reassign you? "

"What? No! You're still my Master, I'm still your Padawan, even though you make little sense right now. Then again, when did you ever make sense!"

Finally, his Master's eyes lit up a little. Realization dawned and he came back to his senses.

"If you worked your lightsaber skills as much as you do your wit, you'd probably rival me as a swordsman" he said.

"I thought I already did?"

Finally, a small, tired grin came to Kenshin's face. "Only in your dreams, you kashyykian moofmilker"

"Says the guy who makes a face like a constipated happabore! Come on now, let's get you out of here!"

In lack of a better idea, Anakin took Kenshin to his quarters and went to work making some tea. Kenobi constantly made tea, it seemed to help people feel better.

"Did they tell you what happened?" Kenshin asked.

"Master Kenobi had a talk with me, and explained to me what he could. Other things I could figure out myself. They said you fell to the dark side. At least temporarily. That you tried to deep fry Dooku's mind and kill him. Although I don't entirely see why that was bad. Dooku has done terrible things. He wanted to blackmail Padmé into pledging Naboo's loyalty to the Separatists, and said he'd kill her, Master Kenobi and me if she didn't. The rest of the story on Geonosis you know. If you ask me, he deserved every bit of suffering you may have caused him. And that show-down between you and Windu? That was epic, Master. I thought you were gonna punch him in the face. Would have loved to see that!"

"Another time!" Kenshin grinned for a moment but turned serious again. "What I did...it was not the Jedi way. Maybe Yoda was right. I should have simply captured Dooku, or just killed him. Instead, I lost control. I didn't even try to control myself! What I did was wrong."

"They said you touched the dark side. That you went too far. But I understand. I above all understand what going too far means! I felt the same way with the Tuskens when they killed my mother"

"It's different. It's complicated. It wasn't just rage. I sensed something in Dooku, something that wasn't him. Darker, more evil, more powerful. Not something, someone. Pure evil, and it triggered something in me. There was nothing anymore except for this urge to destroy, I wasn't truly myself any more. It was...it was like when my Master got killed. What if it controls me? What if I cannot control myself anymore? I am preaching to you about control, and have so little grasp of it myself."

"I'm not judging you, Master" Anakin said. "You at least don't claim to know when you don't and you don't claim to be something you are not."

Kenshin gave him a sad, grateful smile. He knew this was far from over. He didn't know how to explain it, or what to do. Maybe he was dangerous, maybe he was a threat, maybe he shouldn't be Master to an already unstable apprentice. Who was he, if he lost control so easily himself. The only thing he was sure of: he had to get to the bottom of what he had sensed. This essence of evil, hidden in depths of darkness he had not yet explored. He was scared.

"How are you?" Kenshin then asked. "Your arm...and after everything that's happened.."

"I'm fine, Master!" Anakin gave back, a little too quickly to make it sound credible.

"Are you really?" he asked. Don't lie to me. You are not alone. I am flawed, but I am here for you. The words weren't spoken out loud, they echoed in Anakin's head. He sensed them across their bond.

For a while, Anakin said nothing. He had not allowed to ask himself that question, how he truly felt, because the answers frightened him. He had been longing for his mother for so many years, and then he was only granted a few, short moments with her before she died. I didn't save her. Guilt. And love. Padmé. He imagined Kenshin would not judge him, the only Jedi who wouldn't, but he had no words for all the things that were in his heart and mind. How could he possibly explain?

"I...I don't know..."he finally began.

His comlink chirped.

"Padawan Skywalker!" someone called. It was a temple attendant. "Senator Amidala is ready, and waiting."

"Thank you. I will arrive at once!"

He explained. "The Council has decided I'm to escort Padmé...Senator Amidala, I mean, back to Naboo. I have to go."

"I'm probably not in a position to give any advice to you. So I'll just ask you to be careful, Anakin. Stay true to yourself. And don't do anything too stupid!"

"I won't do anything you wouldn't do, Master." He said with a mischievous grin.

"How reassuring. May at least the Force be with you!"

"And with you. I'll see you in a few days!"

Once Anankin had left, Kenshin tried to sleep, but couldn't shake off the restlessness that had set in. He had no idea why he had been released from detention, just like that. Either way, he had work to do. He reached into the hidden pocket in his tunic and felt the strange amulet from Tatooine against his fingers. His way to the archives led past a dojo, and nearing the dojo, he heard soft sounds. Someone was sobbing. He peeked behind a column and found a female Echani youngling, maybe 7 years old at the most, and she was crying. Great. An upset child was exactly what he didn't need right now. As exhausted as he was, he wasn't heartless.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

The child first doubtingly looked at him but then decided to talk.

"They're making fun of me. Every day. It's so hard!"

"What is hard?"

"Lightsaber training. I always miss the bolts when we practice with those droids, no matter how hard I try. And then everyone laughs at me! Our teacher tries to show me but I never get it right!"

Kenshin sighed. He really had somewhere to be, something to do. Then again..."We will see about that" he said, gently pushed the girl into the now empty dojo and summoned a training droid and saber.

Upon seeing droid, the girl already tensed and became anxious. She focused so hard onto that first bolt, obsessed with not missing it, that she trembled and nearly stumbled over her own feet. And that was the problem.

"You're tense and stiff, you stomp around like a bantha. Are you a bantha?"

The Echani gave him a confused look, but then chuckled. "No, I'm not a bantha, I guess. What do you mean?"

Kenshin sent a wave of reassurance through the Force.

"Wielding a lightsaber is an art! It's violence. But it's also joy, lightness and flow." Kenshin tried to explain.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't think. Feel! Imagine you're dancing. Imagine something fun. Do you know the butterflies, in the temple gardens?"

"Course I do! They're so pretty!" she exclaimed.

"Effortless and light. They feel the wind, they feel the Force, and always land on the right flower. And that is how you guide your blade. Feel. You can do it!"

A mere ten minutes and a few adjustments later, the girl sent every single bolt back at the practice droid with ease and perfect precision. In the Force, Kenshin could literally feel the joy radiating off of her.

"Thank you" she exclaimed excitedly "What's your name? I'm Nari."

"I'm Kenshin"

"When I become a Padawan, will you be my Master?"

"What? No! Bad idea!"

"Why not?" She asked and looked him up and down. "I mean, you're nice! You're a bit short, but nice!"

"What? I'm not that short!"

"For an adult male, yes you are! And you talk a bit funny. But still better than Master Yoda! So I don't see why you couldn't be my Master!"

Kenshin didn't know what to say. Had he just gotten judged and burned, by a youngling? The young Echani expectingly looked at him and he only stared back. Hesitantly he reached into the Force. He sensed an astonishing amount of strength in her. Why wasn't she scared of him? Most younglings were. Children, Force sensitive or not, didn't know what to think of him. So they shied away. Most adults felt the same way actually, they just felt more compelled to be polite or follow protocol.

"You're not saying anything" she stated.

"No, I...I already have an apprentice. Shouldn't you be somewhere in class? I have to go!" he replied and hurried off before she could come up with a response. Trading words with a sassy youngling was not something he was familiar or comfortable with.

A gentle tap on his shoulder. Another. Kenshin finally cracked an eye open and saw himself faced with the stern glance of Jocasta Nu.

"This is the third time this week you have fallen asleep in the archives, Master Kano. I'm getting a bit tired myself of having to send you to bed every time. You're a Jedi Master, not a youngling!" "M sorry" he mumbled.

"You must know your snoring is not exactly a sound that inspires concentration in other users of the library. I really suggest you take some rest elsewhere and come back another time."

Kenshin did not go to sleep, despite the fact that he currently felt three times as old as he really was. His joints were aching, his back hurt, his head was slightly pounding. He went to find himself some caf, although he was far beyond the point where caf would have helped, and came back. Madame Nu sent him a stern glare, wordlessly conveying 'I'm watching you!' Hiding the steaming, comforting mug, he settled back into the chair and continued.

He was nearly done deciphering the mysterious amulet he had found on Shmi, and what he had found was most unsettling. Digging deep in the archives, he had eventually unearthed old scripts, millennia old in fact, about Sith rituals that enabled the user to manipulate the Force from a far distance. The described procedures were immensely complex, and required carefully prepared artefacts imbued with the dark side. That amulet however was not millennia old. The runes were, but the piece itself had been recently made. While this raised a whole new set of issues and questions, the bottom line was clear.

Shmi Skywalker's death had not been a tragic coincidence. It had been cruelly planned!

He instinctly reached for his comlink to contact Anakin, but then pulled back. With what little he knew at this point, the news would only derail his apprentice further and not lead to anything constructive. Anakin had been through too much. He would have to find out more first. Oh yes, he would find out who was behind this. And the day he'd find the ones responsible, the Force would not be with them.