From Darkness, I Rise

by Kurenaino

The Jedi are thrust into a war that threatens to tear the galaxy apart, and prospects are bleak when the fearsome Sith Negotiator begins to win key victories against the Republic. Sequel to From Grace, I Fall. Also, more Sith!Obi keeps the sadness away. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

23. Observations

Chapter 23: Observations

The door had sealed behind the Negotiator, and Anakin immediately began pacing restlessly. Qui-Gon and Luminara stood watching the monitor that displayed what was happening in the room, talking quietly to each other as they listened to Obi-Wan and Padmé talk, but Anakin couldn't stomach it. That Sith's words were poisoned, and if he listened to him, Anakin knew he would regret it deeply. Yoda had warned him about the Dark Side, said it would make him a slave again, and Skywalker believed him. Yoda was wise beyond measure. So wise that the Master didn't even need to listen to the conversation. Yoda sat cross-legged in a chair next to an uncomfortable looking Mandalorian guard, the tiny Master deep in meditation, and Anakin could feel his Force presence reach out and surround everything. He wondered if the containment field could stop even the strength of Yoda.

Skywalker growled and looked at the screen, eyes narrowing before he turned away. They were just sitting, though he suspected that the entire meeting would be exactly that. He walked down the long hall, passing by Satine and Barriss, the little Padawan quietly asking the Duchess about maintaining peace with a breathless awe that the young teen could not contain. Boring. He turned again, walking back toward the room where the negotiations were taking place, frowning when he saw it wasn't over yet, and with a growl, he stalked away again.

Anakin was stopped when a raspy, irritated voice snarled, "Oh, stop it, you're disturbing the Force with your stalking."

He reeled on the voice, the pale eyes of the speaker narrowed, her body relaxed against the wall next to the containment room's door, thin arms crossed over her chest, and Anakin stood as tall as he could, looking down on the woman. "I'll do as I like, Sith."

Ventress rolled her eyes. "I told you, I'm not Sith."

Anakin scoffed. "Yeah right. I feel the Dark Side in you. It's raging."

"Like it is in you?" The woman was smirking, completely amused, and Anakin couldn't help but stutter in rage.

"In me?! I'm not Sith!"

"Neither am I." Ventress yawned. "And I didn't say you were. I said the Dark Side was in you."

Anakin's jaw clenched tightly, his mechanical hand balling into a fist, and before he could move, Yoda chuckled from his chair. "In all of us, the Dark Side is," the Master said lightly, not moving from his spot and face relaxed, eyes closed. "No power over the Jedi, it has."

"Oh?" Ventress pointed at the fuming Anakin. "It has power over him."

"Learning, young Skywalker is."

Ventress frowned and looked away from the Jedi. "Yeah, whatever."

"You are a Sith," Anakin snarled, drawing closer to the bald woman, and Ventress eyed him carefully.

"You are an idiot. One of those statements was true. Guess which one it is." Her eyes narrowed and she leaned in toward Skywalker. "I'll give you a hint. I'm not Sith."

"You're hanging out with a Sith Lord."

"You're in the presence of a Jedi Master, but that doesn't make you any closer to being a Master yourself." She shifted, the dark gray cloak moving over her shoulders and she crossed her arms tighter. "Kenobi is a Sith Lord, but he's made it clear I will never be."

"...why?" Anakin felt his anger melting away. The woman was absolutely brimming with the Dark Side, but...it wasn't flaring, it wasn't turbulent or angry like on Geonosis. He could feel she was telling the truth, and he was...interested.

She shrugged. "A true Sith knows no fear." Anakin waited for her to continue, but Ventress never did. She just turned her head from him and looked at the screen, carefully observing that nothing happened to her Sith Master. He frowned. He didn't like being ignored, even if it was by a Sith, or a Dark Sider, or...whatever it was that Ventress considered herself.

He was about to resume his vicious pacing when Yoda's large eyes flew open and he focused on Ventress, the three-fingered green hand tightening around the back of his chair as if he expected something to happen, and a moment later, it did. Ventress had reached out through the Force and thrown the two Mandalorian guards against the far wall and rushed toward the door to the room the Sith and the Senator sat. Luminara and Qui-Gon had rushed to her, hands on their lightsabers, but Yoda had the situation under control. His small hand was extended, the woman clutched lightly in the Force he commanded, light enough to allow her movement, but tight enough to stop her from moving toward the conference room.

"Disturb them, you must not," Yoda rasped softly, and those pale eyes narrowed dangerously, her long, thin gray arm pointing toward the monitor on the wall.

"Look at him! He's suffering! This was a mistake, you are torturing him!"

"He's Sith," Anakin drawled, "don't they get tortured all the time as a part of their training?" He smirked in amusement as the display showed Obi-Wan, hand to his head and in obvious pain, Padmé hovering over him and clearly worried, and Anakin felt himself burn, the anger awakening in him again. And then, it was over, the Sith returning to his light, easy smile, and the negotiations continued. Slowly, Ventress lowered her guard, the fear fading and the quickly rising Dark Side fading to a low growl. With a petulant glare to Yoda, she put herself in her place against the wall, head turned to observe the monitor and ignoring the Jedi. Yoda settled back into his seat as the Mandalorian guards slowly stood and cautiously returned to their post, weapons angled in Ventress' direction.

Qui-Gon's heavy hand grabbed Anakin by the shoulder and led him off down the hallway, his stride slow and measured and drawing the Padawan close. "You need to relax," the Master said quietly, and Anakin shook his head.

"I know, Master...I'm trying, but..." Skywalker growled, looking over his shoulder down the hallway towards the room and the monitor they were walking away from. "She's in there with that beast..."

"Padmé will be fine, Anakin. Obi-Wan...the Sith is too smart to do anything here, and he can't manipulate her with the Force while he's in there."

"W-what is the containment field doesn't work?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, smiling gently at his Padawan's concern. "I tested it when we got here. It works."

"Is it painful?"

The Master chewed his lip, stopping when they were a good ways down the hall and alone enough to talk without being overheard. "It can be, yes. It wasn't for me, but I suspect that for a Sith Lord, the absence of the Dark Side will be quite uncomfortable." Anakin grinned broadly, but the smile dropped off his face when he saw how tired and pained his Master looked.

"...I'll do better. I'm sorry, I know that wishing pain on someone isn't the Jedi way..." Anakin sighed heavily. "I just can't help it. Knowing what he did to you..."

"Don't let him get to you. My first priority is you, Anakin, not him. My job is to make sure you become a Jedi, the very best of us. Qui-Gon's eyes were hard as he folded his hands into the sleeves of his robe. "Obi-Wan made his choice. There will only be so much I can do for him, and if he doesn't want my help...then he is truly lost. Don't allow him to draw you toward the dark." Anakin started to say something, but the Master quickly turned from him, looking down the hallway toward the small figures of Satine and Barriss. "I need to talk to the Duchess. Go monitor the situation with Luminara."

With a quick nod, Anakin walked away quickly, eager to do his Master's biding. With a deep breath, Qui-Gon walked toward the two women.

When he approached, Barriss bowed deeply and came to the Master's side, and he quietly asked her to leave them, which the Padawan did with no questions. When she had walked a good way down the hall, Qui-Gon bowed deeply. "Duchess Satine." She offered him her hand, which he took and respectfully brought to his lips, righted himself and smiled at the woman. "I apologize for not seeing you sooner. When we arrived, I asked to inspect the safety of the palace."

"Do the Jedi not trust the guards here?" she asked softly, but the woman was smiling.

"Just a precaution." Qui-Gon looked her over carefully, feeling her with the Force and finding no anger, no hostility. Just...relief. Satisfaction at seeing her old protector. The last time the Jedi had seem the Duchess, she had been young, a teenager with a thin, lanky body, her features promising a future beauty that her angular face had yet to fully manifest. But now, Satine Kryze was beautiful, her every movement marked with the nobility she was born to, the gauntness of her youth filled out into stunning womanhood. There was no possibility that Obi-Wan Kenobi had left her alone.

"It has been a very long time since I have seen you, Master Qui-Gon," the Duchess said softly, a light, musical quality to her voice. "I have not forgotten my Jedi protectors that helped me bring peace to Mandalore."

"I know you have not," he said gently. "You must be pleased that we are attempting for peace here today."

"I am. This is the only way. Obi-Wan would have been a credit to the Jedi, if he had remained with you."

Relief washed over the Jedi Master. Satine had always been honest, and she was making this easy for him. At the very least, she knew that Kenobi wasn't a Jedi. He'd have to test to see how much the woman did know, if she was even willing to tell him. "Listen, Satine..." he started, looking away from the woman as he collected his thoughts. Wording this without offending the woman would be difficult. "Have you had much...contact with Obi-Wan?"

She nodded, her eyebrow arched curiously. "After he left the Jedi, he came to me, yes."

"Was he...different from how you remembered him?"

She scoffed, her hands coming to rest on her hips. "Time does change us, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan was without a family. All he had ever known was the Jedi, so yes, when he came to me, he was different." She gave him an icy stare. "If you have something to say, say it."

The Jedi frowned, looking down at the ground before he nodded and stared right into her eyes. "We have reason to believe Obi-Wan is a Lord of the Sith. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes."

"Do you still care for him?"

"Of course. Obi-Wan is an old friend."

"Is that it?" The Duchess' eyes narrowed slightly, so slight that it was nearly imperceptible, but the Jedi saw it, felt the shift in her in the Force as she moved from amiable to guarded. She did not answer verbally; her body language did that for her. "Satine...if you care for Obi-Wan at all, you will turn him from the path he is on. If he went to you after he left the Jedi, than you are the first person he thought of after he fell."

"Fell?!"

"That means something, Satine! He has always had...affections for you. If you have that kind of effect on him, than maybe you can help him."

"Obi-Wan doesn't need my help, Qui-Gon, he is fine."

"He isn't fine!" he cried, exasperated. "He's Sith. Maybe you don't understand, but he has given in to the Dark Side."

"It's just another side of the Force, isn't it?"

"Yes, but not one you want him to be abusing. The Jedi live in harmony with the Force, but the Dark Side is about using the Force for their own means. It's powerful, yes, but the power comes at an awful cost!"

"He is fine," she growled, and Qui-Gon shook his head.

"Nobody becomes a Sith Lord without sacrifice, Satine, and that sacrifice comes at the expense of others. All Sith have blood on their hands, Duchess. How much does Obi-Wan have?"

"You have blood on your hands as well, Qui-Gon! How often do the Jedi kill in the name of peace?"

"More than we should, but we do it in defense of others. The Sith will do it to further their own goals."

"Obi-Wan hasn't killed anyone!"

Qui-Gon looked at the woman with pity. She didn't know what she was dealing with, and it seemed unlikely that he could get through to her. "Maybe you're right," he said softly. "Maybe he hasn't killed anyone. But he has suffered." That struck a chord with the woman, her blue eyes widening and the anger and obstinance leaving her. "You've seen it."

Satine nodded slowly, drawing closer to Qui-Gon and laying a hand on his elbow. He covered her hand with his own reassuringly. At the very heart of her was a deep and profound concern for a man she was clearly very close to. "You mustn't tell anyone," she said softly. "I'm only saying anything because I know you, Qui-Gon, and you and Obi-Wan were close once."

"Yes...I'd like to help him, if I can. Please."

"He says it's part of his training. He says...his powers come at a cost. Pain is a teaching tool. He...says he needs pain to truly understand his powers." She shook her head, her blue eyes filled with concern. "He says he doesn't regret it, but...it's difficult to see the scars."

"How did you come to discover this?" He knew the answer, of course, and the look she gave him said that she knew that he knew. But he still needed to hear it. This could not be left unspoken.

"You know I have always been...fond of Obi-Wan."

"When you were young, yes. I understand that you two were a great deal more than just fond of each other."

A faint pink came to the woman's cheeks. "We were so certain you didn't know."

"Satine, Obi-Wan and I shared a bond through the Force. I could feel his desire for you through our connection."

"Hopefully that's the only thing you felt..."

He chuckled softly. "When you are entangled the way you two were, it's next to impossible to remain guarded."

She scoffed, crossing her arms when the faint pink became a fierce red. "That's perfect..."

"A friend of his said that he loved you until the day he left us. I can't presume that you felt the same for so long apart, but if you and he are...together..."

She sighed. Qui-Gon knew, and it was pointless to deny it. "He and I are lovers, yes."

"And this is how you have seen the evidence of his torture?"

A cold shiver ran up her spine, and the Jedi could feel her distress. "It is torture, Qui-Gon, you're right. Every time I see him he has new scars, he comes to me with welts and burns and bruises, and he says he doesn't mind, but I do. I never wanted any harm to come to him."

"Nor do I." He took her hand, and it was shaking. "You're probably in a better position to help him than me. Maybe it's too late to turn him from the Dark Side, but it isn't too late to turn him from the Sith. Maybe he can never be a Jedi again, maybe he'll never return to me...but I don't mind if he's safe and happy."

"...I'll talk to him." For a moment, it looked like the Jedi Master might lose control of his emotions, his dark blue eyes wavering with unshed tears that threatened to fall. And then shouting and angry snarling and the sound of metal bending echoed down the hallway. Qui-Gon shot Satine an apologetic look as he turned from her and rushed down the hall.

Qui-Gon arrived to find Ventress in helpless laughter, clutching her sides through her dark gray cloak as she watched the Jedi try and manage their own, and fail at doing so. Anakin Skywalker, his beloved, trusted Padawan, had torn the monitor off of the wall and was holding it in a crushing grip, yelling at the Negotiator through the screen as the two Mirialan's tried their best to restrain him. It wasn't working.

Qui-Gon shot a frantic look toward Yoda, but the little Master hadn't moved from his chair, eyes closed and lost in the Force. He'd just have to deal with this himself.

"Anakin!"

"Master, they are flirting!" Anakin reeled on Qui-Gon, the two small Mirialans, grasping his arms in a restraining grip, being flung around as he turned. "I won't stand for this! Padmé and I shared something in those carts on our way to be executed! We shared something special!"

"I feel like a shared moment in a death arena hardly constitutes as romantic. It just seems like desperation."

"I'm not desperate, it was special!"

"Put the monitor down, Anakin!" It took a moment, but Qui-Gon managed to wrest the screen away from the snarling boy with the Force, setting the thing down against a corner. The fastenings were hopelessly broken, and the monitor had no hope of being reattached. New fittings would have to be secured. Anakin stalked to his Master, blue eyes wide and desperate, but Yoda had reached out suddenly when the Padawan passed him by and pulled him back, the mechanical arm striking the wall with a loud, metallic clang.

"Willful, your Padawan is," Yoda rasped, chuckling, and Qui-Gon sighed heavily, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"That's the least of it..."

"Used to a more temperate Padawan, are you?"

The Master dryly laughed. "Obi-Wan and I argued constantly. Anakin is more agreeable." He bit the inside of his lip. "But...it's true Obi-Wan was much more...mild."

"An agreeable temperament, he was."

"Yes."

Yoda nodded. "Worry not, about your Padawan. In my care, he will be, until return to Coruscant, we do."

Qui-Gon nodded wearily and dragged his feet to Luminara, who was kneeling in the corner and watching the monitor, a curious Ventress not far behind and craning her long neck to see from her place nearby. "How is it?" he asked softly, kneeling beside her, and the Mirialan shook her head.

"Not good. He's talked at length about the Jedi and their place in the Republic. He means to remove us from our place in the war effort."

"That's...bad?" Qui-Gon frowned. Something wasn't right. "Removal from the war isn't bad. What's he playing at?"

"On the surface it sounds really nice. But he means to remove us from the Republic. He's just..." Luminara bit her thumb as she watched the monitor, carefully listening as the Sith took the Senator's hands and talked so, so softly to her. "Every time she resists him, he diverts the topic until she agrees with him on something. And then he's right back to what they disagreed on, and he gains ground every single time. He's chipping away at her resolve and he can't even access the Force."

"Well, he is called the Negotiator..."

"A title wrongly given. He isn't negotiating, he's persuading. Negotiation implies that there's some give and take, but he's not giving her anything."

Qui-Gon nodded and silently watched the screen, listening intently as Obi-Wan's smooth, accented voice plied Padmé over, the Senator easily agreeing with his terms. "We had assumed he was using the Force to get his way."

"We may have made a poor assumption." Luminara hissed as the Sith slid a datapad to the Senator, which she eagerly signed. "We knew this was a trap, but we played right into his hands. Obi-Wan doesn't need the Force to get his way."

"...what have the Sith turned him into?"

"I don't know, Qui-Gon, but it isn't good." She breathed deeply, rising to her feet as the Sith collected his datapad and rose. The meeting was over. "I don't understand. What do the Sith gain by making peace? This deal sounds good. It may take a little time, but I imagine this will extend the cease-fire. Peace could be made quickly, if the politicians are eager for it."

"But peace will bring about the end of the Jedi in the Republic. Maybe that's the goal. Maybe the war will resume when the Jedi are removed and declared neutral."

Luminara looked over at her Padawan, sitting peacefully at Anakin's side, and she frowned. Kenobi had been several steps ahead of them the entire time, and it was never more apparent than it was right now. All of them were in danger.

The door slid open, and before the Senator and the Negotiator had a chance to leave the room, Anakin bolted from his place at the wall and rushed at Obi-Wan, his blue eyes narrowed and furious. Kenobi simply stepped to the side as the teenager ran through, allowing the hapless Jedi to collide with the table, the whole thing falling over with a crash as the Padawan lay in the mess, hands clutched firmly to his head and screaming as he writhed on the floor. Obi-Wan smirked as he watched the suffering boy. Anakin was always said to have more Force potential than he did...whatever that meant. The greater the talent, the wider the void it left when the containment field tore the Force away, and young Skywalker was not accustomed to pain like Kenobi was.

"Oh, Jedi?" the Sith purred, pointing at the agonized teen, the Senator fussing over him. "Do you want to come pick up your pet?" No Jedi moved. Kenobi shrugged, smirking as he watched Ventress pace restlessly along the back wall. "Suit yourself." He took a deep breath and stepped out of the room, passing effortlessly through the blue energy of the containment field.

As if the very air was knocked out of him, Obi-Wan dropped to the floor, sucking in a sharp breath and drawing deeply of the Force, the well of infinite power that surrounded all things, and the Dark Side flooded into him in a vicious, swirling torrent. Luminara drew her lightsaber, the green blade poised and ready but shaking slightly in her unsteady hands, and her Padawan followed suit. She had never felt the Dark Side so strong, not even on her mission to Dathomir, and for a moment, she felt her own connection to the Force weaken in the presence of the oppressive darkness. Kenobi's eyes shot open, a wicked grin on his lips as the dull yellow of his eyes flared with golden fire, glowing even in the bright hall as the Dark Side raged through him. Qui-Gon uneasily stepped closer to Yoda, but the Grandmaster hadn't moved.

And then, the moment was over, almost as soon as it had begun. The Dark Side abated, leaving the Force clear and mostly unclouded, save for Ventress' own presence. She was strong, to be sure, but her own surge of the Dark Side was a still pond next to Kenobi's raging torrent. Ventress ran to her friend, a begrudging smile on her face, before she reeled on Luminara, the Master's green saber still drawn and lit, and the Nightsister drew her own weapons, igniting the two red blades and snarling viciously. None of the women moved, each waiting for the other to flinch first.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue as he smoothed back his hair. "Women," he scoffed. "You're all so...violent. Honestly, it's ridiculous. Come, Asajj, we have things to do."

With a small smirk, Ventress retracted her blades, attaching them to her hip and sauntering beside the Sith Lord. They had only walked a few paces away, quietly beginning to talk amongst themselves when Luminara found her courage, swiftly left her Padawan's side and ran past Qui-Gon and Master Yoda, stopping a little ways from the Sith.

"Obi-Wan!"

The man froze. For a long moment, he didn't move, then he leaned over to whisper something to Ventress, the Nightsister looking at him curiously before slightly inclining her head and walking a little ways down the hall, stopping and leaning against the wall when she was far enough to not hear the Jedi clearly. Kenobi turned to face the Jedi Master, his golden eyes meeting the bright blue that once closely matched his own.

"Luminara."

His voice was a soft purr that she had heard so many times before, had missed for years, and it beaconed her. The Mirialan ran to him, stopping just out of reach and holding her breath. She didn't know what to say, now that she was here. She reached out with the Force, touched his mind, but could sense...nothing. She bit her lip as she slowly realized that, while the Dark Side flowed around his companion, nothing could be felt from the Lord of the Sith.

She felt the Dark Side around her mind and, hissing, reinforced her defenses, steeling herself in the Force, and the darkness retreated, but Kenobi showed no hint of being repelled. "You are concealing your Force presence. How."

Obi-Wan smirked. "Skipping the foreplay, dear?" He laughed when the Jedi flushed slightly, and he took a step closer, Luminara taking a step back. "You look well, Luminara. I'm pleased." Yellow eyes drifted over her shoulder to see the other Jedi, his gaze fixed on Barriss, her blue saber still drawn and ready, but the young teen shrank under his intense stare. "And you've taken a Padawan! Is that the one I saw with you all those years ago?" Luminara said nothing, and Obi-Wan just shrugged, chucking softly. "Be mindful of that one, my friend. I think you'll find her thoughts on the Dark Side much more in line with my way of thinking than yours."

"I won't be intimidated by you," she growled, not even looking back at her nervous Padawan. "I know how the Sith work."

"Oh, do you?"

Luminara nodded. "You taught me everything I need to know about them."

"Well, if you're going to learn, you may as well be taught by the best."

The Mirialan smirked. "Oh. Pity I wasn't, but I'd be happy to take your recommendation."

He smiled, extending his hand. "Come with me and I'll introduce you to my Master. He'd love you..." Luminara seemed to flinch, drawing back from the chuckling man. "Oh, sweetheart, there is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Don't shy away from your own Code."

"Is that what happened to you?" Her blue eyes narrowed, looking the man over. He looked enough like Obi-Wan. He even acted a fair deal like her fallen friend, but the more she looked at him, the more she felt that he was truly lost.

"I embraced what I learned. One day, the Jedi will as well. It's amazing how quickly your Code falls apart under a little scrutiny."

"And your Code is better?" the woman growled, shoulders tense, and Obi-Wan just nodded.

"Mine is a Code for all life, not just the Jedi that your Masters wish to control." Golden eyes fell on Anakin and Padmé as they staggered out of the containment room, Skywalker gasping for breath as he left the oppression of the field, his arm draped over the Senator's shoulders. "...but I didn't come here to debate philosophy with you, my dear. Perhaps another time." He flashed her a cocky smile and turned from the Mirialan, sauntering down the hall toward his waiting companion.

He never got that far. Anakin rushed him, his speed greatly augmented by the Force and pushed even further by a mindless, blind rage, his lightsaber blue and blazing in his hand, and Kenobi only just managed to ignite his own red blade to block a vicious strike. The golden eyes flared, pupils narrowing as the Sith's perfect mental defenses crumbled, leaving him bare and exposed as the Dark Side raged around him like an inferno. The other Masters tried to run in to help, but the Sith put his hand out, the full weight of the Dark Side slamming into the Jedi and sending them sprawling backwards, striking the walls and falling heavy to the ground. Master Yoda sat, unmoving in his chair, carefully observing.

The unrestrained fury of the Dark Side took Anakin completely by surprise. It was entirely unlike Geonosis. There, the Sith was in control at all times, but now...now, the Dark Side was blazing, and Obi-Wan was burning with it. That moment of hesitation was enough for the red saber to slice easily through Anakin's right wrist, burned metal and wires exposed as the hand and the lightsaber dropped to the ground. The Sith's weapon raised, point angled down at Skywalker, and as Kenobi thrust forward, the weapon was torn from his hands and caught easily by the tiny Jedi Grandmaster.

Obi-Wan snarled in frustration, his hand tightly grasping his hair as he turned from the Jedi and struck the wall with his fist, the heavy steel buckling underneath the force of it like paper-thin sheet-metal, shooting Ventress a vicious glare as she ran to him that stopped her in her tracks. His breath was rough and ragged as he wrestled with the Dark Side for control, his strong muscles twitching as he slowly exerted his will over the Force, bending it and shaping it and commanding it to obey him, and within moments, the inferno was caught in his hands and cooled, shrinking away into embers to be hidden away until they needed to be stoked again.

The oppressiveness of the Dark Side abated, and when Kenobi looked over his shoulder, the Jedi were all a few paces behind him, the Mirialans' pointing their lit sabers at him and Qui-Gon carefully attending a wary Anakin with Padmé, the Senator quietly admonishing him for being so foolish. When Skywalker looked sufficiently cowed, Padmé stood, her brown eyes narrowed and glaring at the Sith Lord. She began to say something, but Master Yoda pushed to the front of the group, Kenobi's lightsaber held in his hand.

"Impulsive, Skywalker is," the Master rasped, the lightsaber floating to the Sith, and Obi-Wan wrapped his fingers around it when it landed in his palm. "Apologize, I do, for his temper. A Padawan, he still is."

"They don't make them as they used to, I suppose..." the Sith mumbled, an easy smile coming to his lips as he regained complete control. "I...apologize as well. I shouldn't have lost my temper with a child."

"I'll show you a child, you son of a bitch!" Anakin scrambled to his feet, the stub of his metallic hand scraping the floor, and Qui-Gon pulled the teenager to the ground, putting his hand on the boy's chest and laying his full weight down on him. Padmé shot him a withering gaze, and Skywalker pouted and gave up trying to escape.

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," the Senator apologized, stepping past little Master Yoda to stand before the Negotiator.

Kenobi smiled. "No need for apologies, Padmé. It was...a misunderstanding. I have found that ancient enemies have a great deal of those."

"Can we not overcome that?" The Senator's voice was soft, hopeful, and the Sith smiled, drawing closer to her. He knew Yoda's eyes were on him, watching carefully, and while the little Master had absolutely no ability to sense Darth Sidious, he knew exactly where to look right now. He had already shown too much that day. Any other use of the Force would have to be quiet and subtle, if used at all.

Golden eyes fell on the Jedi, looking over them carefully. "Yes," he purred, drawing closer to the Senator. "I think we can. I believe the Jedi and the Sith can come to see eye to eye." A bright smile graced Padmé's face, and Kenobi laid his hand on the girl's shoulder, drawing her close and whispering something in her ear. The Jedi couldn't hear what it is, but they watched as the woman's face dropped, her eyes widening as her pupils dilated, engulfing the brown of her eyes. The Jedi moved to take the Senator out of the Sith's clutches, but Yoda raised his hand, and they all stopped, looking at the Master as though he had lost it completely.

Kenobi let the stunned women go, and bowed deeply to the Jedi. "I do hope to see each other again, my Jedi friends. Very, very soon." With that, he turned away from them, commanding Ventress to come, and the Nightsister fell in step next to him.

"Successful?" she asked quietly, far too quiet for the Jedi to hear. The Sith nodded.

"I need to see Satine quickly, and then we'll be on our way." Asajj rolled her eyes.

"You said you wouldn't-"

"Believe me, I need this, or I'm going to be useless on Felucia. I need to be at my best if I'm going to enthrall a Bull Rancor." He shrugged. "The Dark Side demands this of me." Laughing, Ventress shook her head. There could be no helping it, she supposed. The Dark Side took what it wanted, when it wanted it. Who was she to deny the Force itself?

The Jedi watched the Sith and his companion walk away from them, a light, easy laugh coming from the woman, and Luminara's eyes narrowed. They were tense, all of them, except for Yoda and, strangely, Anakin Skywalker.

"What did he say to you, Senator Amidala?" Luminara asked softly, but the woman shook her head.

"Nothing important..." The Mirialan sighed. If the woman would not talk, it was pointless to press further. In time, she would know.

"Master Yoda," the Mirialan whispered. "What did Obi-Wan do to her?"

"Use the Force, he did not." Luminara frowned. Force or not, it clearly wasn't good.

Anakin slowly stood, his Master having released him, and picked up his severed hand with a groan, trying to line up the cut to see if the hand would still move when it received the sparking pulses of the severed wires. It didn't, and he hung his head, sighing. "I hope this thing wasn't expensive..."

"It's only a state of the art piece of technology," Qui-Gon growled. "Don't worry about it off. You can work it off."

Anakin ignored him, looking at the little Master Yoda, the creature's eyes closed in concentration. "Master?" The Grandmaster's ears angled up toward the Padawan. "Was that what you were looking for?"

The eyes of the Masters shot to Yoda, then to Anakin, then back to the softly smiling ancient being, his stick clutched lightly in his hand, and he nodded. "Seen the Sith Lord, I have. Obi-Wan, he is, but a Jedi, he will never again be. Sith, he is. Save him, you cannot."

"Master," Qui-Gon said almost desperately, kneeling before the tiny Jedi. "We have to try. I have to try, he's-"

Yoda jabbed the end of his stick against the center of Qui-Gon's chest. "Only the Dark Side, there is, in Obi-Wan. From this path, he must turn himself. No power, do you have over him." Yoda frowned, looking the Master in the eye. "Your Padawan, he is not. His own choice, Obi-Wan has made. Blame you, he does, but embrace the Dark Side, he did. Not you."

"If we could just arrange to talk to him-"

The stick poked him hard right at the spot where the ribs met, and Qui-Gon nearly doubled over, coughing and wheezing as he tried to catch the breath that was knocked from him. "No," the Master sternly rasped. "Talking, Obi-Wan's power is. The Dark Side, his ally, but power there is in his words, with the Force, and without." Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed, and Yoda raised his stick threateningly. "Looked into him, I did. Intelligence, there is. Loyalty to the Sith. Power, pain and rage, there is. But also cruelty. Also murder. Blood there is, on his hands. A killer, Obi-Wan has become."

Qui-Gon hung his head, despondent blue eyes at the ground, and he didn't object again as bitter resignation settled over him. "Is there nothing we can do?" Luminara asked, kneeling beside her friend and laying a small hand on the broad back.

Yoda shut his eyes, and the Masters could feel the presence of the Grandmaster all around them. "Meditate on this, I must. Fearsome, this Sith Lord is. Cautious, we must be."

Anakin scoffed. "He's scared of you, Master Yoda. He won't do anything when you're around."

But the Master shook his head. "Forgot what Ventress said, did you? No fear, does a Sith feel. No fear is there in Obi-Wan. Caution and planning, there is. Mistake them not, Anakin, or to Obi-Wan, you will fall."

Anakin was silent after that, watching the others quietly discuss what had happened. Despite what they had learned that day about the Negotiator, the young Skywalker couldn't shake the feeling that they had lost an important battle.