Wake up: I'm pounding on the door!
I'm not the man I was before!
Where the hell are you-
When I need you?!

"They weren't supposed to know, they weren't supposed to know, oh, Force, they weren't supposed to know!!"

Ventress fell back into Obi-Wan's arms, sobbing hysterically. Obi-Wan did his best to comfort her, but he wasn't feeling too much better. It was all he could do to keep his own tears in check. That was that, he realized. Their lives were about over now. It was all over. They would expel him from the order, Ventress would be turned over to the Senate for trial, and Obi-Wan would follow her to the grave with a blaster bolt through the brain. Shaak Ti could deliver the bolt. She was the one who had to have that stupid vision…but, deep down, Obi-Wan knew that he had no one but himself to blame. Maybe not even himself. Shaak Ti couldn't help the circumstances, nor could she have helped having the vision. He couldn't help his own feelings. He could never get Qui-Gon's defiance to fully leave him, anyway. And now, as he stood in the hallway outside the Council room while the rest of the Jedi masters screamed at each other, he was fully preparing himself for a confrontational encounter. Ventress was too upset to attack anyone, anyway. Obi-Wan wasn't worried about her just yet.

Their presence drew stares, especially the fact that Ventress was practically wrapped around Obi-Wan. He embraced her in return, rather shamelessly at this point, staring absently out the window at the other end of the hallway. Although his arms were wrapped around her intimately, so closely, his mind was far away. His hands rested in the small of her back and in between her shoulder blades; her head rested on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck. She couldn't bring herself to lift her face; he was staring up and away, trying to comprehend why life was so unfair. He was just taking in the shouting on the other side of the door in the Council room. It was all he could manage to do at this point. Several more Jedi stopped, doing the same thing as he, but they left within the next few minutes, not understanding the conversation going on. And frankly, Obi-Wan didn't blame them.

"You saw what they did to her, she can't possibly be pursuing the dark side anymore!" Shaak Ti's voice, usually calm and soft, had risen to a feverish pitch, and was now rising above every other voice in the room, overpowering and drowning out even Mace Windu's deep, booming voice. "Hell, she even went as far as to ask us to help her pursue the light side, she let one of our masters into her mind, she-Force damn it, why can't you see that she isn't going to kill us all in our sleep?!"

"This isn't about Ventress so much as it is about Obi-Wan!" Mace returned. "If he's sleeping with her, he can't be allowed to remain in the Order!"

"Well, maybe it's time for a change!" Kit Fisto interjected. "Times have changed since Master Yoda's Padawan days, maybe we should change, too!"

"We can't risk changing right now!" Even Piell threw in. "If we change our ways in the middle of war, we might send ourselves right into our own graves!"

"Well, Obi-Wan is going to send himself into his own grave if he loses her or his status as a Jedi!" Adi Gallia pulled out. "I'm with Kit! We can't just remain the same while the universe changes around us. What worked in the past won't always work in the future! It's different now!"

"Allow this Order to fall, I will not!" Somehow, Yoda had gotten his voice to match the pitch of every other, much younger Jedi in the room as him. "Be hasty about this, we. Can. Not!"

"If we can't adapt to our surroundings, we will fall!" Shaak Ti shrieked. "When the day comes that we are willing to sacrifice one of our senior members just because of staunch, old, dried-up rules that will be the day we will fall. And that day is today!!"

"We are becoming as corrupt as the damn Senate!" Mace cried. "Someone needs to do something, now!"

Everything was suddenly silent on the other side of the door.

Obi-Wan gently placed his hands over Ventress's ears, deciding it was best for her not to hear what came next. Surely, it would be another explosive finale to a beautiful fireworks show. Ventress shook her head slightly, dismissing Obi-Wan's concern. "I've heard far worse," she whispered, closing her eyes and leaning against his chest. His heartbeat echoed throughout the hollow cavity in his body, a soothing rhythm to Ventress. "This is tea and crackers compared to what Lord Tyranus, Lord Sidious, and General Grievous could get themselves into. And then you throw in the Separatist board? Oh, forget it. I had to pull my sabers on those idiot politicians several times before they shut up."

"What, your voice didn't suffice?" Obi-Wan whispered.

Ventress shook her head. "Thick-headed fools," she muttered. "They had no idea I wasn't just another idiot politician to shout over. Not even Lord Tyranus could get them under control sometimes without a blade."

Obi-Wan smiled softly, and then flinched as another shouting match punctured his eardrums. "Ah, Master Ti," he muttered. "She usually has such a wonderful, soothing voice…"

"She's got something going for her, though," Ventress murmured, wrapping her arms around Obi-Wan's waist. "She could do well in a political arena. Listen to that debate."

Mace Windu was shouting at Shaak Ti again, and Obi-Wan could see it clearly in his mind: Shaak Ti baring her rumored-to-be-poisonous fangs, making in-your-face gestures with her fine-boned hands to make herself appear bigger and more threatening, lowing those deadly horns to make herself look more aggressive…and then there was Mace. He would be puffing out his chest, leaning forward, opening his mouth, and bellowing with every ounce of breath he had within him. These two would be duking it out in the middle, and then everyone else would sort of pick someone and scream at them. Usually, everyone divided into teams and picked a side, and whoever was louder won.

But, unlike Obi-Wan's somewhat-exaggerated vision of this extensive fight, he could only hear Shaak Ti and Mace shouting. Change versus no change. Shaak Ti was hell-bent on allowing the Order to be as flexible as Kit's head-tail. Mace was insistent that if they had gotten this far, they could get farther. Shaak Ti pointed out that there hadn't been a war before like this, and the Senate had never been this corrupt, and it had never been exactly this sort of situation…she had won this one, Obi-Wan decided. And Mace seemed to realize it too, changing the subject and chasing her around like a mad bull. Shaak Ti refused to back down, however, her stubborn nature showing through as true as the day she was born. Mace finally gave up with a spectacular shout of, "Well, fine! Let's put it to a vote!"

Yoda seemed to be in charge of the vote; his croaking, gravelly voice rang out soon enough, bringing everyone else to attention. "In favor of revising not our rules, those of you are, to the other side of the room, go. By Master Piell, stand."

There was a pause, and Obi-Wan could heart he decided steps of several people getting up and moving. After Yoda had waited long enough, Obi-Wan heard: "Now, those of you who think that revise our rules, we should, stand by Master Ti."

There was decidedly more noise as people got up and moved, and Obi-Wan's heart began to beat faster in his chest. Ventress, too, seemed suddenly on edge; Obi-Wan raised a hand to one of hers, catching her slender wrist in his hand and bringing it around to rest on his shoulder. He placed his thumb on the inside of her wrist, checking for a pulse while holding her hand with his other four fingers. When he found her heartbeat, it was swift, but strong and regular. He placed a soft, swift kiss on her forehead, whispering, "It'll be alright. Whatever happens, I'm with you."

The door opened, and the two broke apart.

"Alright, come back," Mace said gruffly, waiting by the door for the Jedi and the Sith to pass through. The doors cycled closed again, and Mace entered the room.

"You probably heard, so I'll keep this quick," Mace continued. "We put it to a vote, whether or not to check our rules and revise them to fit the changing galaxy. Those standing by Master Piell are those who think we should not change, and those standing by Master Ti are those who think we should change."

"And those standing in the middle?" Obi-Wan asked slowly.

"Undecided."

Obi-Wan immediately crossed to the "change" side. He took a look around him; sitting in her own chair was Shaak Ti, looking thunderous. Standing directly beside her and to her right was Kit Fisto. To her left was Adi Gallia. Behind her stood Plo Koon, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin. Over by Even Piell stood Ki-Adi-Mundi, Oppo Rancisis, and Eth Koth. Yoda stood in exactly the middle of the circular room, careful not to choose a side until he had to. "I'm abstaining," Mace said, "for sake of fairness and the fact that we would have an even number of voters."

Ventress nodded slowly, and stepped off to the side. She leaned against the wall, keeping her eyes down, and folding her arms across her chest. She avoided meeting anyone's eyes, even Obi-Wan's, for fear of someone seeing exactly what she was thinking. Not like they didn't already…

"It's over," she whispered. "Even if Master Yoda votes no, it'll still be six to five. You have to change."

Mace sighed, and ran a hand back over his shaved head. "I know," he replied. "I just need to go through with it…just…for the closure, I guess. I need to see it…"

Yoda took a step towards the anti-change side of the room, grunting slightly as he wobbled across the room. He only got three steps, however, before resting both of his hands on his gimer stick and bowing his head over his clasped hands. "Spoken, the Force has," he said slowly, "very strongly, spoken, it has, through the mouths of Masters Ti and Fisto. And so, argue, we cannot, with their logic. The Force itself, within them, speaks, it does." Yoda shook his head sadly. "Sorry, I am. But optioning for change, I am." Yoda turned around, and hobbled over to Shaak Ti's side of the room. It took him the entire agonizing part of fifteen seconds to get there, and when he did get there, Shaak Ti rose out of respect. Yoda smiled up at her, ears curling slightly outwards.

"Master Ti, have my gratitude, do you."

Shaak Ti seemed confused. "You have my gratitude for causing one of the biggest fights to ever break out in here?"

"You make it sound like this is a regular occurrence," Mace said slowly. Shaak Ti shrugged.

"Bi-annual, I would swear. Every other meeting, some fist fight happens, some way or another."

Yoda shook his head sadly. "Because changing, the Order was, however much I fought it." He sighed swiftly, and glanced up at Shaak Ti. "Change, the Jedi should, to meet the galaxy's needs."

Ventress breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, something was happening for the better. Mace looked slightly chagrined, but said nothing. He offered a hand to Ventress in truce, which she hesitantly accepted. Mace let go quickly, and then returned to his seat. He sank down into it, putting his face in his hands and resting his elbows on his knees. Ventress went over to Obi-Wan, a smile finally teasing at the corners of her lips. Obi-Wan met her halfway, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into his embrace. The two of them shared a short, tentative kiss, and then hugged each other again. Shaak Ti seemed rather pleased with herself, if not slightly confused. She gently patted Obi-Wan on the shoulder as she walked past them, offering a hand to each of the Council members on the opposing side.

"We'll meet tomorrow again at noon exactly. Standard time. Right here. Sharp. I'll have a copy of the official Jedi Code with me."

Obi-Wan barely registered that Mace had spoken. He was too deep in shock.

A/N: For the first time in this entire fic, lyrics are not from Bye Bye Beautiful. They are actually from Wake Up, by Three Days' Grace. Good song. Anyway, review.