Chapter 4 Changes Begin

Thanks for the encouragement. I really appreciate it.

It helps me to know that this story is being read and enjoyed by someone other than myself.

Now with no further adu, the fourth chapter...

Dooku stared up at Anakin. His eyes were dark and daring, like someone who had accepted death and was not afraid of it.

Anakin stared back at him, not moving.

"Well?" Dooku sneered. "Are you a Jedi or a Sith?" His smile grew. "Are you a coward, Skywalker? You can't kill me, can you?"

For a moment, Anakin didn't answer him, only tightened his grip on the light sabers. But then he stopped and backed away from him, extinguishing the sabers. He swallowed the sickening taste in his mouth, taking his pride down with it. "No."

Dooku froze and his eyes widened slightly. "What? What do you mean no?"

Anakin smiled faintly. "No, I can't kill you. I won't... I won't become that again."

The Sith stared at him in shock. "You're not going to kill me?"

Fear started growing in his eyes. "You have to kill me!"

Anakin shook his head. "No, I don't. Get up."

But Dooku didn't listen. He rushed at him, flinging force lightning at Anakin, causing him to raise his saber to block it. He force-pushed the Count back into a wall and the lightning stopped.

Dooku slumped against the ground. When Anakin reached him, he looked up at the Jedi, pleadingly. "You have to kill me... Please..."

Anakin looked at him as if he were possessed. "Why?"

Dooku coughed. "He said you would..."

"Palpatine," Anakin answered. It wasn't a question.

Dooku nodded. "Yes."

"So you came for me to kill you? Why?"

"Because otherwise my fate would be much worse," the count grimaced. "He thought that if you killed me, you'd come back over to the dark side. You could destroy the other Jedi..." Dooku growled. "I can't, so I'm not use to him."

"You could do a lot of harm."

"Before you stop me?" Dooku shook his head. "I know too much; Always have. Besides I'm not trustworthy. He had me killed, so by right I should be looking for revenge. But you killed him..."

"So he gets the revenge," Anakin flinched.

Dooku nodded. "So I must die."

"Or get revenge."

The Sith looked up at him wearily. "I thought you were a Jedi, remember?"

"Old habits die hard."

"Isn't that the truth?"

Anakin paused a moment before bending down to look him in the eye.

"I'll make you a deal, Dooku." Dooku's eyes narrowed. "You tell me everything you know, and I mean everything. What Palpatine is up to, who is in on it. You do that, and I'll help you get your revenge."

"Kill Palpatine?" Dooku eyed him with surprise. "Thought you couldn't do that?"

"I won't, you will." Anakin locked eyes with him. "Deal?" He asked, holding his right hand out towards the sith.

-Coruscant-

Luke bounded up the stairs in the Jedi temple. Something was different, he could feel it. What it was, he had no idea, but it was there. Something in the force felt different. He brushed his sandy-blonde hair out of the way and kept going.

It's almost as if... No, it couldn't be. No way. No one could come back from the dead... Luke paused and the stairs. Could they? He continued. No. He told himself. No, they can't.

When he reached the top of the stairs, someone was waiting for him.

"You seem deep in thought, Luke Skywalker," Mara observed.

He smiled at the red head. "Mara Jade."

She didn't return the smile but got straight to business. "The force feels different, Luke. Something has changed."

Luke nodded and followed her. "Yes, Jedi signals are stronger. It's almost as if..."

"They've returned?" Mara asked said, completing his sentence for him. Luke nodded at her and Mara nodded in return. "I think they have."

He froze. "Mara... isn't that impossible?"

She looked at him strangely. "Before you knew of the force, wouldn't you have said that moving something with only your mind was impossible?"

Luke laughed lightly. "Yes, I would have." They continued down the hall, up to the Jedi council's old chambers. "So the Jedi have returned..." Luke's eyes widened. "So have the sith."

"Yes," Mara agreed. "I sense Palpatine."

"I sense my father."

Mara glanced at him. "Vader or Skywalker?"

Luke paused only for a moment before he replied, his smile starting to get bigger. "Skywalker."

"Are you sure?" Mara eyed him. "Are you?"

He nodded, looking at her with a warm smile. "I'm sure. I can feel it."

They entered the chambers and Luke froze. Mara eyes widened slightly.

A pair of green eyes stared back at them.

"Nice to see you again, young Skywalker. You as well, Mara Jade. Happy to see you both, I am."

Wonder who it is, we do.