Wow, thanks for the amazing response to the last chapter! If I owned Star Wars, I would have a pony. I do not have a pony.

Anakin had never been a patient man. Watching the swirl of hyperspace with nothing to do except wonder if Ahsoka was still alive or not was driving him insane. He still couldn't feel her through the Force and he had no other way to contact her.

This is probably a trap. They most likely know I have Mindar's ship. Well, at least it will get me safely on to the planet.

Finally the bounty hunter's ship dropped out of hyperspace and was greeted by the separatist blockade of Serenno.

A battle droid's voice came through the ships comm system. "Incoming ship, identify yourself."

Anakin found himself wishing he had brought 448. The droid probably knew all the separatist codes. "Er, this is the Red Midnight requesting access to Serenno. I have business with Count Dooku."

Well, that was true, in a sense.

There was a pause and Anakin figured the droids were doing a background check on the ship. They would find out that the ship belonged to a bounty hunter Dooku was expecting and let him go... hopefully

"You may proceed," the droid said.

Anakin guided the ship through the blockade and down to the planet's surface. Just ahead was Dooku's palace.

He proceded cautiously, expecting an ambush at any time, but there was no one around. This further raised his suspicions that he was expected.

It doesn't matter. I have to get Ahsoka out of there.

Anakin cut a hole in the door with his lightsaber and clambered through. He crept through the maze of corridors, never letting his guard down.

There were voices up ahead and Anakin silently stole down the corridor. He peered to through the door to see Dooku himself, talking to Mindar.

"... Was not for her species?" That was Dooku. "Why did you not tell me this before I gave the Virdix to her?"

The bounty hunter seemed to shrink before Dooku's scorching glare. "Sorry, my lord, I forgot-"

"Excuses!" Dooku snapped.

"With all due respect, you did say that my job was to deliver Tano to you on Agamar. I did not expect to have to come to Serenno to babysit her!"

"She is dying! Because you 'forgot' that the Virdix is poisonous to Togrutas!"

Anakin couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped into the room, lightsaber blazing. "Where is my Padawan?" he demanded.

Dooku's furious expression was replaced with a pleasant smile. "Hello Skywalker, you've been expected."

"What have you done with Ahsoka?" Anakin snapped.

Dooku's grin widened. "Why, she is right over there. See for yourself." He gestured to a corner of the room where Anakin could see a small figure sprawled on the ground. She wasn't moving.

Dooku forgotten, Anakin ran to Ahsoka.

Her skin was deathly pale and her eyes were closed. Her breathing was shallow and Anakin was afraid she would stop breathing entirely.

My vision...

Suddenly her eyes fluttered open. It seemed to take her several seconds to focus on him and when she spoke, her voice was no more than a hoarse whisper. "Master, why didn't you tell me...?"

An icy fear crept through Anakin. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Dooku angrily.

"She was slightly... uncooperative, so I had to use rather harsh methods to keep her contained." Dooku said. "The chemical she was injected with was only supposed to cut off her connection to the Force. Instead, I found out it is poisonous to her kind. She is dying."

Anakin swung his lightsaber to face Dooku. "Why did you capture her in the first place?" he asked.

"The Force is very strong in her," Dooku murmured. "And now she knows why."

"What do you mean?"

"Your Padawan recently turned to the dark side, young Jedi. Yes, I know this," he said at Anakin's shocked expression. "I know how you failed to keep her from harm."

Anakin's mind was racing as he deactivated his lightsaber. Finally he said, "But what does this have to do with Ahsoka's Force power?"

"A very powerful being brought Tano back to life," Dooku reminded him. "She not only gave your Padawan life, but great Force power as well. And she knows this."

"You told her?" Anakin shouted. Great Force power? This was why Dooku had kidnapped Ahsoka?

"Yes," Dooku said, studying Anakin carefully. "I can feel your hate, Skywalker. You have lost your Padawan's trust. You must know how essential trust is to a Master/Padawan bond. It would be a miracle if she ever trusts you again... if she survives this poison, that is."

"What is the antidote?" Anakin demanded.

"I will tell you... if you join me. Give into your hate."

"Never." Anakin's hand itched for his lightsaber.

"Then I am afraid your Padawan will have to suffer needlessly." Dooku raised a hand and Force-lightning engulfed Ahsoka. Her cries rang out across the room.

No!Furious, Anakin swung his lightsaber at Dooku's head, but the Sith Lord raised his own lightsaber to meet it. Anakin struck again and the duel began.

As hard as Anakin tried not to, he fought with anger. This was the man who had cut off his arm, started the war that killed billions of beings and kidnapped his apprentice. He deserved to die.

"Good," Dooku said, as if he had read his mind. "I sense your strong feelings of hate and anger. Why Yoda gave you a Padawan, I will never know. I thought he was smarter than that."

Anakin's next swing missed Dooku by an inch and a half.

Don't fight with anger, he told himself again as Dooku kept taunting him, but the walls he had built around his anger were crumbling. He hadn't felt like this since the night his mother died. The room seemed to disappear as his anger grew. Anakin felt himself slipping further and further away from the light until...

"Master... no."

The voice was so quiet he could barely hear it. In his anger he ignored it.

"Master!" The voice was more urgent this time.

Anakin ducked away from Dooku's next blow. The darkness slipped away as he looked at Ahsoka and he suddenly felt ashamed. Dooku was right. What kind of Master was he?

"Give me the antidote," he said quietly.

"Join me and I will let her live," Dooku replied. "But know that if you refuse, you will live forever with the guilt of knowing you could have saved her."

Anakin stared down at his weakening Padawan and knew Dooku had him. He couldn't lose his Padawan again.

"No, Master," Ahsoka said weakly. "You and the Chosen One prophecy... are much more important... than my life."

Anakin shook his head. "Not to me."

Ahsoka desperately tried to think through the fog that clouded her mind. She watched helplessly as Anakin approached Dooku. She saw the triumphant grin on Dooku's face.

No, Master! She tried to shout, but now even words were failing her. She had resisted the dark side. It looked like her Master would not be so lucky.

Once again, she tried to grasp the Force. Once again, it evaded her. Darkness clouded her vision and she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness. She had to stay awake...

Calm down, she told herself. All the few times she had seen the Daughter, she had seemed serene, troubled by nothing.

The most powerful Force users in the galaxy... surely the Daughter would have been able to escape the grip of a Force suppressing poison!

From the time she was little, she had been taught that the Force was always with her. Now, she was simply separated from it by a invisible wall. If she could break the wall, she would have the Force back. And she could steer her Master away from this crazy idea...

Ahsoka closed her eyes, calmed herself and reached out to the Force...

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