Protégé: Padawans - Chapter 4 (Star Wars AU, Anakin and Dooku, PG)
Title: Protégé: Padawans
Authors: Persephone_Kore and Dreagoddess
Timeframe: Post-TPM
Characters: Anakin, Dooku, others
Genre: General, AU
Keywords: Dooku, Anakin, training
Summary: Sequel to "Protégé: Chosen." Dooku and Anakin begin learning to deal with one another, and Anakin meets the unexpected while seeking his lightsaber crystal in the caves of Ilum.
Notes: Anakin's early issues with gymnastics were probably inspired by one of Fernwithy/JediGaladriel's stories.
Previously in series:
Protégé: Chosen
Previous chapters:
1| 2| 3
Chapter 4
The path between Ilum and Coruscant was traversed frequently, and so the hyperspace route was refined over long years until the flight seemed to take hardly any time at all. Short enough, at least, that Anakin was still fast asleep by the time Dooku landed the ship smoothly on a Jedi-assigned landing pad. Dooku considered waking him, but the boy had had a very hard day. It wasn't difficult to disconnect Komari's sedatives, ensure she remained unconscious through a Force suggestion, and float her body behind them as he descended the landing ramp.
He wasn't expecting to have anyone waiting for him at the foot of the ramp. Qui-Gon was smiling, but it turned to concern when he saw the burden Dooku carried. "Is he--"
"Sleeping," Dooku interrupted quietly. "He did exceptionally well."
The smile returned, accompanied by a glint of humor. "Good."
"Indeed." Dooku cradled Anakin's head against his shoulder.
"So it was just very tiring?"
"I think he had more of a trial than could have been expected of him at this age," Dooku sighed. "And we had an unexpected visitor." He jerked his head back towards where Komari was gliding out of the ship.
Qui-Gon's eyes widened. "She--"
"Ambushed Anakin and tried to kill him. Nearly succeeded," Dooku growled, "in the time it took me to realize he wasn't merely having the usual challenges in the caves."
"Ah," Qui-Gon said. "In that case... I can see why you're still holding on to him."
Dooku raised his eyes toward the ceiling. "I can let go any time I need to." He started walking again, impatiently. "I need to deliver her to the Council. Come along if you wish."
"...Certainly," Qui-Gon murmured, and followed.
Anakin stirred once they'd gone inside, making a muzzy noise and shifting a little against his Master before waking up and seeing Qui-Gon walking beside them. "Master Qui-Gon!" He turned red and twisted to look around. "We're back at the Temple? Already?" Master, I can walk!
I know. You were sleeping. "Yes, we landed a few minutes ago."
We're at the Temple. I should walk! "Oh. Then...um....can I get down now?"
Dooku lowered him, carefully and reluctantly. "If you wish."
"Thank you, Master." Anakin tried to straighten his clothing and generally look as if he hadn't just been napping on his master. The stupid bandages stuck out and made it hard to make his sleeves behave. He did the best he could and smiled up at Qui-Gon. "Hi, Master Qui-Gon. ...Did Master Dooku tell you I found my crystal?" he asked excitedly, reaching into his pocket to show it off.
"Called it to him," Dooku murmured. "Without looking."
"Really?" Qui-Gon's eyebrows rose. "I felt like I'd tried every crystal in the caverns before I found mine. May I?" He reached out to touch the crystal in Anakin's hand, brushing the bandages as well. "It looks like a very fine one. But how did you hurt your arms?"
Anakin went red and opened his mouth, but Dooku spoke first. "Evidently, he blocked Komari's lightsabers with them."
"What?"
"By the time I reached them, she had already tried to strike at him with some injection -- I retrieved it, but haven't analyzed it -- which he broke, and then with her blades. Specifically, he was lightly burned on both arms, and he had thrown her backward with the Force." He glanced down at Anakin. "I confess, I was somewhat startled to come to the rescue and find the enemy already flying back through the air. And more unsettled yet to find that I was in fact too late, and he might have been dead or maimed twice over if he'd been depending on my help."
Dooku didn't think he'd ever seen Qui-Gon actually struck speechless before. His mouth was working, but no sound came out. Finally he looked down at Anakin and managed, "Aren't you full of surprises?" Then back up at Dooku, and he murmured, "I'm impressed. I wouldn't have been able to put him down yet."
"I can walk," Anakin protested. "I'm doing it."
"I didn't say you couldn't," Qui-Gon assured him, amused. "But almost losing your padawan is very harrowing, and it tends to inspire the desire to cling irrationally for a while."
"I, um--" Anakin blinked and looked up briefly at Dooku as if he couldn't quite make the thoughts fit. "Oh."
"You're lucky," Qui-Gon added, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulders as they continued walking. "Master Dooku is one of the best non-Healers at healing. Looks like he took good care of you."
"He did," Anakin said. "My arms don't even hurt anymore. And he was really gentle getting the threads out."
"The threads?"
"They weren't exactly in," Dooku said. "But there were a few fibers from his sleeves stuck to the burned skin."
"Ouch." Qui-Gon ruffled Anakin's hair. "For not having gone on any actual missions yet, you've had a remarkably active life in the Jedi so far."
"I was on an actual mission," Anakin objected. "Even if Master Dooku and I weren't exactly supposed to be."
"Quite right. I meant officially on a mission." Qui-Gon chuckled. "You're going to turn Dooku's hair gray."
"I suppose it might do that these coming years regardless," Dooku said wryly.
"Oh hush, don't be logical on me."
Anakin looked up at Dooku appraisingly. "You don't look that old. How old are you?"
Dooku smiled. "Young enough to complete your training."
"Birthday coming up, haven't you?" Qui-Gon murmured.
Dooku rolled his eyes and amended, "Young enough to complete your training, but old enough to know how."
Qui-Gon laughed at that. "I wasn't disputing the point. I'm afraid to ask how you'd evaluate your age when you began to train me, now." He winked at Anakin, but his eyes cut sideways, back the way they'd come, while his head was still down.
Dooku snorted. "Old enough to train you, but young enough to be completely terrified most of the time."
"You should see the looks I get from Obi-Wan when I tell him about something that happened when you were the age he is now."
"I'm sure if he found the right padawan, he'd make an excellent Master."
"I've no doubt of it."
"How do you know if you've found the right one?" Anakin piped up. He was still learning about this whole Jedi thing, but he was a little confused about the interplay between the two Masters. They were joking with each other, but to his inexperienced ear, it sounded a bit... hollow. But Anakin thought, after seeing Qui-Gon's surreptitious look back at Komari floating behind them, that Qui-Gon might be trying to distract Dooku.
"The Force tells you," Dooku said with a fond look at both his padawans... and without looking back. "You see a youngling and simply know that you can't not train him."
Qui-Gon smiled. "It can be rather overwhelming."
"Especially when you're still a padawan yourself when it happens!" Dooku shook his head at the memory. "And you have to wait for your Trials certain at any minute that someone else is going to claim your padawan."
"I was so utterly bewildered when you asked."
"You didn't look it!"
"You didn't look terrified either! But I hadn't heard you'd even taken your Trials yet, much less were ready to take a padawan."
"Aah. I suppose that would have been odd."
"You really asked for him on the day you were Knighted?" Anakin asked. Even in his short time at the Temple, he knew that was unusual. Then he grinned and added, "And you brought all that up to avoid telling me how old you are, didn't you?"
Dooku smiled down at him. "Seventy. Seventy-one, of course, on the upcoming birthday." He rolled his eyes slightly at Qui-Gon.
Anakin stopped dead in the hallway and stared. "You can't be that old! That's -- that's -- that's ancient!"
Dooku blinked. "Well, I wouldn't go that far."
Anakin's eyes were wide. "I never even knew anyone that old. Not a human, at least. Kit's grandfather was fifty-eight, and he was all gray and couldn't walk very well or anything."
"...A combination of individual variations, the environment, and the Force, I think," Dooku said after a moment. "The Tatooine suns are harsh to say the least, and while being a Jedi is certainly risky," a rueful look back at Komari, "the health care between times is excellent. You have been aware for some time now of the effects the Force can have on your body: healing and health are among them."
"...Oh. I guess that makes sense, but you don't even look that old. I didn't think you were much older than Mom..."
"I'd imagine a great deal of that is the effect of differences in sunlight and water. ...Some may be genetic, actually. I was once introduced to my own parents and they didn't look that much older than I."
"...Oh." Anakin thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like you can't keep up better than I can anyway."
Dooku's mouth quirked. "Well. That will probably change eventually." He sighed and looked up the hall at the Council Chamber's doors. "I suppose it's time."
"This should be interesting," Qui-Gon murmured.
Dooku chimed for entrance. "Forgive the intrusion," he told Master Ki-Adi-Mundi with a slight bow when the other being answered. "But I have a matter of some urgency for the Council."
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi looked past him, then stepped back and let them in. Dooku walked to the center of the circle and bowed. "My Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, has succeeded in finding his lightsaber crystal in the caves," he began, because that was the easy part, and then, "despite being ambushed in the course of it by Komari Vosa." He let her drift delicately onto the floor, still supine and unconscious.
Anakin stood beside and a little behind Dooku, as he remembered Obi-Wan doing when Qui-Gon addressed the Council about his training, and tried to keep his expression calm and Jedi-like. He actually looked calmer than many members of the Council just now.
"Ambushed?" Master Yoda repeated, looking between Komari, Dooku, and Anakin consideringly. "Hmm. Injured, were you, Padawan?"
Anakin still found Master Yoda decidedly unnerving, but he swallowed and said, "Only a little."
"When little you are, little injuries still can be difficult," Yoda told him with a smile. "Master Dooku, a fuller report, please."
Dooku bowed slightly and began a precise recounting of his side of the matter, filled in with some of the information Anakin had relayed. It took Anakin a little while to realize that the odd feeling in his head was Master Dooku controlling what spilled across the bond, which probably meant he was still really upset.
"There is no question, then," Master Windu said in his deep voice when Dooku had finished, "that she had fallen to the dark side."
Dooku bowed his head. "Regretably, no. She described her...conversion in some detail."
A sigh. "We will provide medical treatment in a holding cell, and alert the legal systems."
Dooku hesitated. "Masters...is she simply to be turned over to the courts? With all due respect, I don't know how much good they will do against a woman Jedi-trained and gone over to the dark side. And...I believe we have an obligation to try to help her."
"Return from the dark side, you think is possible?" Yoda asked neutrally.
"Ulic Qel-Droma," Dooku replied simply. "Our own history shows it is possible, under certain circumstances." He didn't point out that Qel-Droma had been severed from contact with the Force at th. "And...whether possible or not, I think we owe it to her to at least try. I think I owe it to her, if nothing else."
"Another Padawan, you have," Yoda said. "Many responsibilities. And much bitterness, and other things, between you. Want to help her, I have no doubt you do. But are you best to do so?"
"Perhaps not," Dooku admitted reluctantly. "But I at least owe it to see that she is helped, even if I'm not the best one to do so."
"A fair point," Yoda said. "How to accomplish it, we will discuss. Later."
"Yes, my Master." Dooku bowed his head. "And as you said, I have a padawan to tend to. I believe I should take him to the healers." He put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Where would you like me to take Komari first?"
"Hmm. The Healers, if unconscious you can keep her. Move her later, they will."
Dooku clasped his hands together again and bowed as Komari's body rose smoothly into the air. "Thank you, Master. I apologize for interrupting your session."
"Do not," Yoda said drily. "Warranted, it was, and know that I think you do."
"Good manners still require the effort," Dooku said with a faint smile. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you." A brief smile.
"Come, Padawan," Dooku murmured, Komari floating out the door in front of them.
Anakin followed, finding it somewhat unsettling to have Komari ahead of them where he could see her instead of floating off behind. Dooku was far quieter this time, too.
Anakin was glad Qui-Gon was coming with them.
The Healer padawan who opened the door to the infirmary nearly dropped his datapad in shock at the sight of the four of them. "Is your Master present?" Dooku asked smoothly.
The padawan's mouth worked for a moment with no sound before he blurted, "Yes, yes of course, one moment!" and scurried into the back.
Dooku moved inside smoothly, gesturing so Komari floated onto a bed. He inclined his head as Healer Caudle came out at her padawan's side. Her eyebrows flew up. "...That's Komari Vosa."
"Yes, I know," Dooku said. "She may have a fracture of the skull. Anakin has light burns on his hands and arms, although they may be mostly healed. She struck at him with the dark side of the Force once after that, but I could find no lingering damage."
"Have you been keeping her sedated?"
"Yes. Sedatives on the ship, Force suggestion for now. I can remove it when you wish."
"Hmm. Soon. Anakin, let's have a look at you first."
Anakin obediently held out his hands, and he felt an odd sensation sweep along them, concentrating on the burns, and then spreading out through his whole body. It must be Master Caudle's feeling in the Force. After a moment she nodded and it stopped. "I won't take the bandages off yet, but they won't need replacing. I don't sense any lasting damage beyond that, either."
"Master Dooku took care of everything," Anakin explained earnestly. "I'm fine, really. You don't have to mess with me."
Caudle smiled at him. "I'm done with you. I'll just look Master Dooku over, though I doubt I'll have much to do there either, and then move on to the more time-consuming one."
Anakin looked over at his master worriedly. "He wasn't hurt, I didn't think."
"I'm not," Dooku assured him. "She just has an obsession with prodding me at every opportunity."
"It's a perfectly standard post-mission checkup, though he skips half of them."
"I don't need a check-up. Pay attention to Komari."
"Don't start blocking me now, I'm nearly done."
Dooku sighed impatiently. "Komari. She was tortured by the Bando Gora, and I don't know what's happened to her since."
"Aside from the skull fracture?"
"I hit her head on a rock when she attacked Anakin that last time. In my hurry to make sure she was incapacitated I was not altogether careful." He paused. "She may have also taken some injury when Anakin threw her across the caverns when he deflected her lightsabers with his bare arms. She was moving fairly well after that, but she can work through pain."
Caudle's eyebrows shot up as she turned at last to Komari. "Interesting mission."
"It wasn't a mission. We went to Ilum."
"Ah. Ambush?"
"Yes. In the caves." Dooku moved to stand by Anakin again, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Caudle closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating on what seemed to be a Force-scan of Komari's injuries, and then pulled an electronic scanner over. "Nice work on the mix of sedatives," she said after a moment. "She's built up a tolerance to a lot of them."
"Maybe we should leave the healers to their work, Dooku," Qui-Gon suggested quietly.
Dooku couldn't take his eyes away from Komari. "No."
A pause. Qui-Gon said after a moment, "Why don't I take Anakin to get something to eat?"
Don't take him, he's mine! "I--" Eyes dragged reluctantly from Komari to Anakin, Anakin to Qui-Gon. Padawans past and present. "I should tend to him."
"You've obviously done a good job of it already," Qui-Gon said. "We could bring you a tray."
"...Anakin is my padawan." Not Komari. Not anymore. Was Master Yoda right? Could he help her now? "I should tend to him. Healer Caudle can manage the prisoner well enough."
Caudle glanced up. "I should be able to, yes. If you want to stay and help I won't complain either. He's right, you've taken excellent care of Anakin already."
He was fairly certain that would mean letting go of Anakin. He could do that. Possibly. But he didn't want Anakin to think he was being abandoned for Komari. Dooku looked down at the boy and asked, "What would you prefer, Padawan?"
Anakin looked back up with an expression of deep thought. After a long moment he said, "If Healer Caudle's worried about her resisting the sedatives maybe Master Qui-Gon and I should just bring you lunch."
"...An excellent compromise, Padawan." He ruffled the boy's spiky hair, touching the stubby padawan braid lightly. "Go on, then. Get cleaned up first, perhaps."
"Okay!" He stopped, looking at his hands. "The bandages...."
"Will be fine in water," Dooku assured him.
"Okay." Anakin considered, then wrapped his bandaged arms around Dooku's waist and hugged tightly. "I hope Komari gets better."
Dooku hugged back automatically, at this point more startled by the sentiment than the embrace. "So do I," he said. "And that... speaks very well for you."
He shrugged, letting go and going back to Qui-Gon's side. "We won't be long, Master."
Dooku smiled a little -- perhaps not very steadily -- and they went their way. He turned his attention to Caudle and Komari.
...Though he saved a little piece of it for the bond.
Authors: Persephone_Kore and Dreagoddess
Timeframe: Post-TPM
Characters: Anakin, Dooku, others
Genre: General, AU
Keywords: Dooku, Anakin, training
Summary: Sequel to "Protégé: Chosen." Dooku and Anakin begin learning to deal with one another, and Anakin meets the unexpected while seeking his lightsaber crystal in the caves of Ilum.
Notes: Anakin's early issues with gymnastics were probably inspired by one of Fernwithy/JediGaladriel's stories.
Previously in series:
Protégé: Chosen
Previous chapters:
1| 2| 3
Chapter 4
The path between Ilum and Coruscant was traversed frequently, and so the hyperspace route was refined over long years until the flight seemed to take hardly any time at all. Short enough, at least, that Anakin was still fast asleep by the time Dooku landed the ship smoothly on a Jedi-assigned landing pad. Dooku considered waking him, but the boy had had a very hard day. It wasn't difficult to disconnect Komari's sedatives, ensure she remained unconscious through a Force suggestion, and float her body behind them as he descended the landing ramp.
He wasn't expecting to have anyone waiting for him at the foot of the ramp. Qui-Gon was smiling, but it turned to concern when he saw the burden Dooku carried. "Is he--"
"Sleeping," Dooku interrupted quietly. "He did exceptionally well."
The smile returned, accompanied by a glint of humor. "Good."
"Indeed." Dooku cradled Anakin's head against his shoulder.
"So it was just very tiring?"
"I think he had more of a trial than could have been expected of him at this age," Dooku sighed. "And we had an unexpected visitor." He jerked his head back towards where Komari was gliding out of the ship.
Qui-Gon's eyes widened. "She--"
"Ambushed Anakin and tried to kill him. Nearly succeeded," Dooku growled, "in the time it took me to realize he wasn't merely having the usual challenges in the caves."
"Ah," Qui-Gon said. "In that case... I can see why you're still holding on to him."
Dooku raised his eyes toward the ceiling. "I can let go any time I need to." He started walking again, impatiently. "I need to deliver her to the Council. Come along if you wish."
"...Certainly," Qui-Gon murmured, and followed.
Anakin stirred once they'd gone inside, making a muzzy noise and shifting a little against his Master before waking up and seeing Qui-Gon walking beside them. "Master Qui-Gon!" He turned red and twisted to look around. "We're back at the Temple? Already?" Master, I can walk!
I know. You were sleeping. "Yes, we landed a few minutes ago."
We're at the Temple. I should walk! "Oh. Then...um....can I get down now?"
Dooku lowered him, carefully and reluctantly. "If you wish."
"Thank you, Master." Anakin tried to straighten his clothing and generally look as if he hadn't just been napping on his master. The stupid bandages stuck out and made it hard to make his sleeves behave. He did the best he could and smiled up at Qui-Gon. "Hi, Master Qui-Gon. ...Did Master Dooku tell you I found my crystal?" he asked excitedly, reaching into his pocket to show it off.
"Called it to him," Dooku murmured. "Without looking."
"Really?" Qui-Gon's eyebrows rose. "I felt like I'd tried every crystal in the caverns before I found mine. May I?" He reached out to touch the crystal in Anakin's hand, brushing the bandages as well. "It looks like a very fine one. But how did you hurt your arms?"
Anakin went red and opened his mouth, but Dooku spoke first. "Evidently, he blocked Komari's lightsabers with them."
"What?"
"By the time I reached them, she had already tried to strike at him with some injection -- I retrieved it, but haven't analyzed it -- which he broke, and then with her blades. Specifically, he was lightly burned on both arms, and he had thrown her backward with the Force." He glanced down at Anakin. "I confess, I was somewhat startled to come to the rescue and find the enemy already flying back through the air. And more unsettled yet to find that I was in fact too late, and he might have been dead or maimed twice over if he'd been depending on my help."
Dooku didn't think he'd ever seen Qui-Gon actually struck speechless before. His mouth was working, but no sound came out. Finally he looked down at Anakin and managed, "Aren't you full of surprises?" Then back up at Dooku, and he murmured, "I'm impressed. I wouldn't have been able to put him down yet."
"I can walk," Anakin protested. "I'm doing it."
"I didn't say you couldn't," Qui-Gon assured him, amused. "But almost losing your padawan is very harrowing, and it tends to inspire the desire to cling irrationally for a while."
"I, um--" Anakin blinked and looked up briefly at Dooku as if he couldn't quite make the thoughts fit. "Oh."
"You're lucky," Qui-Gon added, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulders as they continued walking. "Master Dooku is one of the best non-Healers at healing. Looks like he took good care of you."
"He did," Anakin said. "My arms don't even hurt anymore. And he was really gentle getting the threads out."
"The threads?"
"They weren't exactly in," Dooku said. "But there were a few fibers from his sleeves stuck to the burned skin."
"Ouch." Qui-Gon ruffled Anakin's hair. "For not having gone on any actual missions yet, you've had a remarkably active life in the Jedi so far."
"I was on an actual mission," Anakin objected. "Even if Master Dooku and I weren't exactly supposed to be."
"Quite right. I meant officially on a mission." Qui-Gon chuckled. "You're going to turn Dooku's hair gray."
"I suppose it might do that these coming years regardless," Dooku said wryly.
"Oh hush, don't be logical on me."
Anakin looked up at Dooku appraisingly. "You don't look that old. How old are you?"
Dooku smiled. "Young enough to complete your training."
"Birthday coming up, haven't you?" Qui-Gon murmured.
Dooku rolled his eyes and amended, "Young enough to complete your training, but old enough to know how."
Qui-Gon laughed at that. "I wasn't disputing the point. I'm afraid to ask how you'd evaluate your age when you began to train me, now." He winked at Anakin, but his eyes cut sideways, back the way they'd come, while his head was still down.
Dooku snorted. "Old enough to train you, but young enough to be completely terrified most of the time."
"You should see the looks I get from Obi-Wan when I tell him about something that happened when you were the age he is now."
"I'm sure if he found the right padawan, he'd make an excellent Master."
"I've no doubt of it."
"How do you know if you've found the right one?" Anakin piped up. He was still learning about this whole Jedi thing, but he was a little confused about the interplay between the two Masters. They were joking with each other, but to his inexperienced ear, it sounded a bit... hollow. But Anakin thought, after seeing Qui-Gon's surreptitious look back at Komari floating behind them, that Qui-Gon might be trying to distract Dooku.
"The Force tells you," Dooku said with a fond look at both his padawans... and without looking back. "You see a youngling and simply know that you can't not train him."
Qui-Gon smiled. "It can be rather overwhelming."
"Especially when you're still a padawan yourself when it happens!" Dooku shook his head at the memory. "And you have to wait for your Trials certain at any minute that someone else is going to claim your padawan."
"I was so utterly bewildered when you asked."
"You didn't look it!"
"You didn't look terrified either! But I hadn't heard you'd even taken your Trials yet, much less were ready to take a padawan."
"Aah. I suppose that would have been odd."
"You really asked for him on the day you were Knighted?" Anakin asked. Even in his short time at the Temple, he knew that was unusual. Then he grinned and added, "And you brought all that up to avoid telling me how old you are, didn't you?"
Dooku smiled down at him. "Seventy. Seventy-one, of course, on the upcoming birthday." He rolled his eyes slightly at Qui-Gon.
Anakin stopped dead in the hallway and stared. "You can't be that old! That's -- that's -- that's ancient!"
Dooku blinked. "Well, I wouldn't go that far."
Anakin's eyes were wide. "I never even knew anyone that old. Not a human, at least. Kit's grandfather was fifty-eight, and he was all gray and couldn't walk very well or anything."
"...A combination of individual variations, the environment, and the Force, I think," Dooku said after a moment. "The Tatooine suns are harsh to say the least, and while being a Jedi is certainly risky," a rueful look back at Komari, "the health care between times is excellent. You have been aware for some time now of the effects the Force can have on your body: healing and health are among them."
"...Oh. I guess that makes sense, but you don't even look that old. I didn't think you were much older than Mom..."
"I'd imagine a great deal of that is the effect of differences in sunlight and water. ...Some may be genetic, actually. I was once introduced to my own parents and they didn't look that much older than I."
"...Oh." Anakin thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter. It's not like you can't keep up better than I can anyway."
Dooku's mouth quirked. "Well. That will probably change eventually." He sighed and looked up the hall at the Council Chamber's doors. "I suppose it's time."
"This should be interesting," Qui-Gon murmured.
Dooku chimed for entrance. "Forgive the intrusion," he told Master Ki-Adi-Mundi with a slight bow when the other being answered. "But I have a matter of some urgency for the Council."
Master Ki-Adi-Mundi looked past him, then stepped back and let them in. Dooku walked to the center of the circle and bowed. "My Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, has succeeded in finding his lightsaber crystal in the caves," he began, because that was the easy part, and then, "despite being ambushed in the course of it by Komari Vosa." He let her drift delicately onto the floor, still supine and unconscious.
Anakin stood beside and a little behind Dooku, as he remembered Obi-Wan doing when Qui-Gon addressed the Council about his training, and tried to keep his expression calm and Jedi-like. He actually looked calmer than many members of the Council just now.
"Ambushed?" Master Yoda repeated, looking between Komari, Dooku, and Anakin consideringly. "Hmm. Injured, were you, Padawan?"
Anakin still found Master Yoda decidedly unnerving, but he swallowed and said, "Only a little."
"When little you are, little injuries still can be difficult," Yoda told him with a smile. "Master Dooku, a fuller report, please."
Dooku bowed slightly and began a precise recounting of his side of the matter, filled in with some of the information Anakin had relayed. It took Anakin a little while to realize that the odd feeling in his head was Master Dooku controlling what spilled across the bond, which probably meant he was still really upset.
"There is no question, then," Master Windu said in his deep voice when Dooku had finished, "that she had fallen to the dark side."
Dooku bowed his head. "Regretably, no. She described her...conversion in some detail."
A sigh. "We will provide medical treatment in a holding cell, and alert the legal systems."
Dooku hesitated. "Masters...is she simply to be turned over to the courts? With all due respect, I don't know how much good they will do against a woman Jedi-trained and gone over to the dark side. And...I believe we have an obligation to try to help her."
"Return from the dark side, you think is possible?" Yoda asked neutrally.
"Ulic Qel-Droma," Dooku replied simply. "Our own history shows it is possible, under certain circumstances." He didn't point out that Qel-Droma had been severed from contact with the Force at th. "And...whether possible or not, I think we owe it to her to at least try. I think I owe it to her, if nothing else."
"Another Padawan, you have," Yoda said. "Many responsibilities. And much bitterness, and other things, between you. Want to help her, I have no doubt you do. But are you best to do so?"
"Perhaps not," Dooku admitted reluctantly. "But I at least owe it to see that she is helped, even if I'm not the best one to do so."
"A fair point," Yoda said. "How to accomplish it, we will discuss. Later."
"Yes, my Master." Dooku bowed his head. "And as you said, I have a padawan to tend to. I believe I should take him to the healers." He put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Where would you like me to take Komari first?"
"Hmm. The Healers, if unconscious you can keep her. Move her later, they will."
Dooku clasped his hands together again and bowed as Komari's body rose smoothly into the air. "Thank you, Master. I apologize for interrupting your session."
"Do not," Yoda said drily. "Warranted, it was, and know that I think you do."
"Good manners still require the effort," Dooku said with a faint smile. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you." A brief smile.
"Come, Padawan," Dooku murmured, Komari floating out the door in front of them.
Anakin followed, finding it somewhat unsettling to have Komari ahead of them where he could see her instead of floating off behind. Dooku was far quieter this time, too.
Anakin was glad Qui-Gon was coming with them.
The Healer padawan who opened the door to the infirmary nearly dropped his datapad in shock at the sight of the four of them. "Is your Master present?" Dooku asked smoothly.
The padawan's mouth worked for a moment with no sound before he blurted, "Yes, yes of course, one moment!" and scurried into the back.
Dooku moved inside smoothly, gesturing so Komari floated onto a bed. He inclined his head as Healer Caudle came out at her padawan's side. Her eyebrows flew up. "...That's Komari Vosa."
"Yes, I know," Dooku said. "She may have a fracture of the skull. Anakin has light burns on his hands and arms, although they may be mostly healed. She struck at him with the dark side of the Force once after that, but I could find no lingering damage."
"Have you been keeping her sedated?"
"Yes. Sedatives on the ship, Force suggestion for now. I can remove it when you wish."
"Hmm. Soon. Anakin, let's have a look at you first."
Anakin obediently held out his hands, and he felt an odd sensation sweep along them, concentrating on the burns, and then spreading out through his whole body. It must be Master Caudle's feeling in the Force. After a moment she nodded and it stopped. "I won't take the bandages off yet, but they won't need replacing. I don't sense any lasting damage beyond that, either."
"Master Dooku took care of everything," Anakin explained earnestly. "I'm fine, really. You don't have to mess with me."
Caudle smiled at him. "I'm done with you. I'll just look Master Dooku over, though I doubt I'll have much to do there either, and then move on to the more time-consuming one."
Anakin looked over at his master worriedly. "He wasn't hurt, I didn't think."
"I'm not," Dooku assured him. "She just has an obsession with prodding me at every opportunity."
"It's a perfectly standard post-mission checkup, though he skips half of them."
"I don't need a check-up. Pay attention to Komari."
"Don't start blocking me now, I'm nearly done."
Dooku sighed impatiently. "Komari. She was tortured by the Bando Gora, and I don't know what's happened to her since."
"Aside from the skull fracture?"
"I hit her head on a rock when she attacked Anakin that last time. In my hurry to make sure she was incapacitated I was not altogether careful." He paused. "She may have also taken some injury when Anakin threw her across the caverns when he deflected her lightsabers with his bare arms. She was moving fairly well after that, but she can work through pain."
Caudle's eyebrows shot up as she turned at last to Komari. "Interesting mission."
"It wasn't a mission. We went to Ilum."
"Ah. Ambush?"
"Yes. In the caves." Dooku moved to stand by Anakin again, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Caudle closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating on what seemed to be a Force-scan of Komari's injuries, and then pulled an electronic scanner over. "Nice work on the mix of sedatives," she said after a moment. "She's built up a tolerance to a lot of them."
"Maybe we should leave the healers to their work, Dooku," Qui-Gon suggested quietly.
Dooku couldn't take his eyes away from Komari. "No."
A pause. Qui-Gon said after a moment, "Why don't I take Anakin to get something to eat?"
Don't take him, he's mine! "I--" Eyes dragged reluctantly from Komari to Anakin, Anakin to Qui-Gon. Padawans past and present. "I should tend to him."
"You've obviously done a good job of it already," Qui-Gon said. "We could bring you a tray."
"...Anakin is my padawan." Not Komari. Not anymore. Was Master Yoda right? Could he help her now? "I should tend to him. Healer Caudle can manage the prisoner well enough."
Caudle glanced up. "I should be able to, yes. If you want to stay and help I won't complain either. He's right, you've taken excellent care of Anakin already."
He was fairly certain that would mean letting go of Anakin. He could do that. Possibly. But he didn't want Anakin to think he was being abandoned for Komari. Dooku looked down at the boy and asked, "What would you prefer, Padawan?"
Anakin looked back up with an expression of deep thought. After a long moment he said, "If Healer Caudle's worried about her resisting the sedatives maybe Master Qui-Gon and I should just bring you lunch."
"...An excellent compromise, Padawan." He ruffled the boy's spiky hair, touching the stubby padawan braid lightly. "Go on, then. Get cleaned up first, perhaps."
"Okay!" He stopped, looking at his hands. "The bandages...."
"Will be fine in water," Dooku assured him.
"Okay." Anakin considered, then wrapped his bandaged arms around Dooku's waist and hugged tightly. "I hope Komari gets better."
Dooku hugged back automatically, at this point more startled by the sentiment than the embrace. "So do I," he said. "And that... speaks very well for you."
He shrugged, letting go and going back to Qui-Gon's side. "We won't be long, Master."
Dooku smiled a little -- perhaps not very steadily -- and they went their way. He turned his attention to Caudle and Komari.
...Though he saved a little piece of it for the bond.