When Ferus awoke, he was lying on a thin, hard bed in an unfamiliar room, and his head hurt. He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the low cot with a groan. As he did so, he heard a noise beside him, and looked up to see a med droid.
"All toxins have been removed from your body," said the droid without preamble. "But you may experience a few mild, unpleasant side effects until the full dosage wears off."
Several questions entered Ferus's mind simultaneously, but he chose the most important one to ask. "Is my friend all right?"
"The malnutritioned human is being cared for as well, but—"
"Where is he?" Ferus demanded. Fastidious as med droids necessarily were, they generally did not appreciate being interrupted. This one paused a moment, miffed, before leading the way into the next room. Ferus hopped off his cot and followed, headache forgotten.
Anakin was lying on a bed similar to the one Ferus had woken up on. There were multiple IV's in his arms, the needles taped into his skin, but his face was no longer a deathly white. Ferus breathed an immense sigh of relief.
"The malnutritioned human is being cared for," said the med droid, as though it had never been cut short, "but he may not survive. He was severely dehydrated; his body will find it difficult to recover."
Ferus shook his head. "He's stronger than you know," he said. He looked around—the darkness bothered him. "Can I open that window?"
"As you like," said the med droid indifferently. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have several other patients to which I must attend."
It departed, leaving Ferus alone with Anakin and numerous beeping noises. First things first—he crossed to the other side of the room and slid the shade away from the small window, allowing for some natural light. Then he grabbed a chair from the corner and pulled it to sit beside Anakin's bed, knowing that he was in for a long wait.
For at least a day and a half, Anakin stayed unconscious, and he hardly stirred in his bed during that time. Though Ferus refused to entertain the med droid's suggestion that, perhaps, Anakin might not survive, he could not help but worry.
Sometime during the late afternoon of the second day, Anakin's eyes opened, but before Ferus could say a word, Anakin himself was speaking, his voice hoarse from lack of use. His gaze was blank, and an odd little smile rested upon his lips.
"I hate sand," he murmured. "You know that, right?"
Ferus blinked, startled. "What?"
"I hate sand," Anakin repeated. "And the heat. There's nothing good on Tatooine." And then without warning he was unconscious again.
The med droid that came by once or twice a day told Ferus that delirium was common in instances of serious dehydration, not necessarily a sign of escalating danger. It disturbed Ferus all the same; to hear Anakin talking so strangely, entirely detached from reality, was frightening.
It kept happening, too. The most bizarre things would come out of Anakin's mouth in a manner entirely random. Once he turned to Ferus and whispered, "I'm sorry that you died." Once he spent a full hour insisting to the air that he wasn't special, he really wasn't. And once—Ferus froze when he heard it—he called out for Obi-Wan, and seemed bewildered when there was no answer.
It was on the morning of the fourth day that Ferus awoke from his cot to find Anakin blinking at him. He braced himself for another stream of nonsense, but instead he heard Anakin ask, "How long have I been here?"
"Almost a week," Ferus replied. "How do you feel?"
"Tired," he answered honestly. "But a lot better than I've felt for the past two weeks. Did you get me out of there?"
"Yes."
Anakin sank back into his pillow, nodding. "I thought you would," he said. It seemed to cost him a good deal of effort to speak.
"Do you want anything?" asked Ferus anxiously.
"Yeah…about as much food as you can carry, and some water."
Ferus grinned and went to find the med droid.
As Anakin ate, he seemed to regain strength. Ferus sat beside him, glad that they could finally talk.
"So, do you know how this happened?" he asked. Anakin swallowed.
"They must have been working for the same person that murdered Macket. After I found him in—"
"Whoa, back up—Macket's dead?"
Anakin grimaced. "Yeah. Strangled, probably by one of those two bounty hunters. Speaking of which, are they dead?"
"One of them is," said Ferus. "The Tendresti. But I had a hard enough time getting out of there alive without killing the other one, who, by the way, I think is that kid from Geonosis."
Anakin's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Fett's son?"
Ferus nodded.
"Well, I'm sure his father would be very proud of him, kidnapping Jedi and all. Anyway, I found Macket in the abandoned droid factory, and then I woke up…somewhere. I heard them talking; the Tendresti wanted to slit my throat, but Fett wouldn't let him. He said that whoever hired them wanted to starve me to death and then leave me in the wilderness, so it looked like I'd gotten lost out there and died."
"And they didn't say who their employer was?"
"If they had, they wouldn't be very good bounty hunters," reminded Anakin, reaching for a glass of water and gulping it down in one breath. "Off the top of my head, I'd guess Macket was working for him and something went wrong. I can't think of any other reason that a crime lord would want to kidnap an engineer."
"Then you think it was Adurian?" asked Ferus.
"To be honest," Anakin sighed, "I have no idea. All I know for certain is that it was someone with power and money, and Force knows how many people there are like that in the universe."
Ferus was quiet a moment, thinking hard. "Assuming that we're not dropping this mission," he said at last, "and I can't see why we would, this is a lot more serious now. We're investigating a murder, not just some random disappearance. Whoever had him killed must have known that this would be hugely publicized, since Macket's so well-known, so they must have covered themselves up well enough so that we won't be able to find them easily."
Anakin's mouth twisted into a frown. "The last thing we need is publicity," he said.
"Yeah, but we'll get it anyway." Ferus pulled the commlink from his belt; he could see the lucidity in Anakin's eyes beginning to fade. "I'll call the Temple."
"Mm…ok." That was all it took before Anakin dropped off into deep, healing sleep.
Once the feverish delirium had ceased, Anakin's strength returned and his recovery was swift. The very next day he wanted to get out of bed, although his muscles were shaky and weak after nearly three weeks of being entirely bedridden. His first attempt to stand would have landed him on the floor if not for Ferus's startled arms, but with characteristic stubbornness, Anakin refused to rest until he could walk again. When at last this was accomplished, the two Jedi left the med center and boarded the transport to Coruscant that Ferus had summoned.
The relief that Anakin felt at being home was almost palpable. He needed this place to keep him going, needed its sun-bright corridors and white stone walls like he needed breath or water; being away from it too long put him on edge.
Both Jedi were fully established Knights now, with no real need for their Masters, but the instincts remained: as soon as they arrived, Ferus was off to Siri's rooms and Anakin went to find Windu. He didn't have to go as far as the Council Chamber—Windu met him in the hallway.
"I'm glad to see you're all right," Windu said after greetings had been exchanged. They were alone in the hallway, their footsteps echoing softly; the dying sunlight colored everything a dull gold. "You had the Council very worried."
"The Force was with me," Anakin replied. "How long was I gone?"
"Almost five months," said Windu. "And the Trials took place while you were away."
"Anyone I know?"
"Aviva Kenmur."
Anakin stared. "Aviva? She can't be a Knight; she's far too young."
"True," Windu conceded, "she's young, but she's not overly young. She showed great aptitude at the Trials, and the Council agrees that she's very talented."
Anakin shrugged. "Well, I trust your judgment, Master," he said. "Anything else I should be aware of?"
He had been Windu's apprentice long enough to know that his Master was about to speak of something serious. A quiet sigh came from Windu's lips.
"There have been rumors in your absence," he admitted. "More than one account has reached the Temple that Count Dooku has taken an apprentice."
The significance of this hit Anakin like a rock as he stopped in mid-step. "Then there are two of them again." Didn't they ever die? 'There are always two' had begun to seem more like a law of nature than a credo.
"There is no way to be quite certain," Windu said, "but I see no reason to disbelieve the rumors. To take an apprentice is an enormous obligation for a Sith, since there are so few of them; to be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't done it already."
They continued down the hallway. "The Council would prefer," continued Windu, "that such information was kept secret, but I'm afraid it's already too late for that."
Anakin was frowning. "I don't like this," he muttered. "Least of all that there is nothing we can do about it."
"Sometime action is not the best course," Windu reminded his former apprentice. "The Sith are overeager in their hatred—that is their failing. In time, they will overstep their own boundaries and reveal themselves to us."
"And in the meantime we swing at shadows and hope we hit something," Anakin grumbled.
"In the meantime," Windu corrected him, "I expect to see you and Master Olin in the Council Chamber in twenty minutes time to recount the details of your mission."
He left, and Anakin let out a groan, but only when his Master was out of earshot. With a grim expression set upon his face, Anakin went off to find Ferus and drag him to the Council Chamber.
"Murdered?" echoed Ki Adi Mundi.
"Without a doubt, Master," Anakin replied.
A murmur raced through the chamber like worried lightning. Yoda turned to the Jedi standing in the middle of the room.
"A dangerous situation, this may become," he said gravely. "Dangerous it may already be. Investigate this murder, you must, and find who is behind it."
Ferus bowed. "With all due respect, Master," he said, "the person who orchestrated this crime kept himself very well-concealed. He hid his trail well."
"The Council understands the difficulty of such a mission," Windu assured them. "It may take a long time to accomplish, but we all feel that this is of sufficient importance that you continue the mission for a while. Find out what you can."
"Very well, Master," said Anakin, bowing. Together, he and Ferus exited the chamber.
"So what now? Back to Korus?"
"We've been home for an hour," Anakin replied. "I'm not…" His voice trailed off as his expression grew distracted.
"What is it?" asked Ferus concernedly. Anakin shook his head.
"It's nothing. Listen, I've got something to do. I'll meet you on Korus, all right?"
"Um—"
But Anakin was already gone, heading toward the hangar. Bewildered, Ferus let him go; there was no keeping Anakin from doing things like this.
The office was quiet and dim, in no way different from the last time Anakin had set foot in it. When he opened the door, she didn't look up for a moment.
"I'm sorry—just one moment," she murmured, shuffling through a pile of papers on her desk. When she finally saw him standing there, the breath left her throat, and she was speechless.
"I came to keep my promise," Anakin said softly. He hesitated, struggling for words, but all he found was, "I'm sorry."
Dura-Na's eyes closed for an instant, her face white, and then she opened them again. "Thank you," she said. "I'm glad you came."
"Are you all right?"
Dura-Na nodded, and when she spoke again, her voice was very low. "I think I already knew," she said. She cleared her throat. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."
Anakin left. There was nothing more he could do.