Star Wars work in progress You Became to Me

[polgarawolf]

Fifteenth part of a work in progress
Title: You Became to Me (as suggested by avari_maethor)
*Pairing: Mainly Anakin/Obi-Wan with some mention of Padmé
Rating: Uhm, right now pretty PG-13ish but inevitably it'll be at least an R (?)
Disclaimer: I do not own the lovely boys from Star Wars, more's the pity! What I do have is an extremely contrary muse that refuses to shut up and leave me alone . . .
Summary: This is the one thing that Darth Sidious never saw coming: a minor incident of collateral damage with repercussions that can potentially utterly unmake all of his schemes
*Author’s Note: 1) Please see essentially all of the previous author's notes and warnings.
2) Lengthy pieces in italics denote memories being shared between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Some memories will, necessarily, be a bit repetitive, so bear with me, okay?
3) My description of the Temple is deliberately not entirely consistent with canon or EU. This is an AU, after all . . .


Twisting slowly within the revolving bubble of a force field that somehow also functions as a Force-dampening field, restrained and spread out like a sacrificial offering by crackling bolts of blue energy, Obi-Wan Kenobi can only watch helplessly as Count Dooku of Serenno strides into the cavernous chamber. The palpable aura of power that surrounds Dooku is so strong that it feels as if he ought to be able to see its corona - something Obi-Wan finds immensely troubling, cut off as he currently is from the Force. Thus, when the regal elder gentleman strides right up to the restrained and Force-blocked Jedi with an expression that shows naught but great sympathy, the sentiment is one that Obi-Wan certainly does not trust.

"Traitor," Obi-Wan quietly accuses before casting his sight away from the face of the man who was once his own Master’s Master within the Jedi Order, glad that the field he is trapped in is turning and he will not be forced to have to stare at the Count.

"Hello, my friend,"Dooku only genially replies, turning aside momentarily to trigger a button on a nearby unit - one that causes the bubble Obi-Wan is restrained within to cease moving. Of course. Dooku then glides to the side until he is squarely framed within Obi-Wan’s gaze. "This is a mistake. A terrible mistake. They’ve gone too far this time. This is madness!"

"I thought that you were their leader here, Dooku." Obi-Wan’s swift response is little more than a veiled accusation.

"This had nothing to do with me, I assure you," is the former Jedi Master’s insistent response. The man seems almost wounded by the accusation, as if Obi-Wan’s opinion could actually mean anything to a man who clearly not only numbers among the Lost Twenty - as Jocasta Nu, the Jedi Archivist, so recently reminded Obi-Wan - but who is now also clearly a Dark Jedi, perhaps even a Dark Lord of the Sith. Yet, the Count keeps speaking, keeps trying to persuade Obi-Wan of his good intentions, his sonorous voice strangely earnest. "I promise you that I will petition immediately to have you set free."

"Well, I hope it doesn’t take too long, then. I have work to do." At this, Obi-Wan notes a slight crack in Dooku’s remorseful expression, a slight twinge of . . . anger, perhaps, or of damaged pride?

"Ah. Yes. About that. May I be so bold as to inquire why a Jedi Knight of your caliber is all the way out here on Geonosis?"

After a moment’s reflection, Obi-Wan decides that he has so little left to lose here that he might as well give in to the need to question Dooku and continue to press him so that he might better gauge the truth of the situation he has managed to land himself in. "I have been tracking a bounty hunter named Jango Fett. Do you know him?"

"There are no bounty hunters here that I am aware of. Geonosians do not trust them."

Trust. Trust! Now there is a fine word for this mess. "Well, who can blame them?" is Obi-Wan’s disarming reply. "But he is here, I assure you."

Count Dooku holds silent for a moment, as though weighing several possible responses, before simply nodding, apparently to concede the point. "It’s a great pity that our paths have never crossed before now, Obi-Wan," he finally offers, his voice warm and inviting. "Qui-Gon always spoke very highly of you. I wish he was still alive - I could use his help right now."

"Qui-Gon Jinn would never join you."

"Don’t be so sure, my young Jedi," is Count Dooku’s immediate chiding response, an offsetting smile on his face, one of surprising confidence and an almost eerie calm. "You forget that Qui-Gon was once my apprentice just as you were once his."

"And you believe that this would bring loyalty above his loyalty to the Jedi Council and the Republic?" Obi-Wan asks, holding his voice as steady as possible against the tremor that wants to creep into it.

"He knew all about the corruption in the Senate," Dooku asserts without missing so much as a beat. The Count allows himself a near-invisible smile, his inviolable courtesy - a hallmark of a true aristocrat - as effortless as his obvious pride in his former apprentice as he continues. "They all do, of course. Yoda and Mace Windu and the others. But Qui-Gon would never have gone along with it, he would never have allowed the Jedi Order to support a status quo that allows that corruption, if he had known the truth that I have learned." The pause is intentionally dramatic, demanding a prompt from Obi-Wan.

"The truth?" he obligingly asks.

"The truth," a confident Dooku nods quietly. "What if I told you that the Republic is now under the control of the Dark Lords of the Sith?"

This quiet, deadly affirmation impacts Obi-Wan much more profoundly than any of the powerful electric bolts or unnatural Force-restraints holding him ever could. "No! That is not possible." His mind whirls, needing a denial, wanting to be able to fully believe in such a denial. He alone among all the ranks of the living Jedi has fought a Sith Lord, and he knows far too well the cost of such a contest. That struggle had cost his beloved Master Qui-Gon his life. For him to entertain the thought that such a price might have been paid for naught . . . Obi-Wan cannot stomach that. He cannot endure even the possibility. Worse, he cannot even imagine what the cost of a challenge such as Dooku offers him - the galactic-wide battle that would most likely result if a Sith Lord were indeed found to be in a position of power within the government of the Republic - might entail. He does not want to imagine the cost!

"Obi-Wan, have you never considered the possibility that you might be fighting on the wrong side?" Dooku’s voice is so exceptionally gentle, so incredibly thoughtful and believable!

"The wrong - ? No! No, I don’t understand what you mean." Obi-Wan’s eyes snap tight as he shakes his head once violently, desperately, as though trying to shake off some tangible cloud that is trying to settle more firmly upon him.

Dooku merely presses his advantage with ruthless gentleness and an unforgiving logic so incredibly sensible, so rational, that Obi-Wan finds he cannot keep his thoughts from following and even acknowledging the all too possible validity of the argument being woven. "What if the democracy that you, and indeed all of the Jedi, have been fighting for no longer exists? What if the Galactic Republic has become the very evil you have striven all of your life to destroy? Obi-Wan, do not close your eyes to me. You were the Padawan learner of my own Padawan. In a sense, you are practically my grandson, child. Do not be blinded to the true shape of reality by the illusions the Jedi have cast over your sight. To serve the Force is to serve the entirety of the Force, not to pander to the whims of greedy and capricious politicians! I taught Qui-Gon Jinn and I knew him well. Your Master would have made sure you understood that, whatever the Council might have wished him to teach you."

"I - I - Qui-Gon was - I don’t - " Obi-Wan is a shaking, shivering wreck, his eyes unfocused by the horror of what Dooku is so rationally explaining, so persuasively suggesting.

"But you do understand, Obi-Wan Kenobi, do you not?" Dooku’s supremely serene and wise smile is disturbingly reminiscent of Master Yoda’s. "You understand the brilliance of it, my dear boy. After all, how could the Jedi ever hope to defeat an enemy that they have accepted as and truly believe to be a friend and staunch ally of the Republic? This is the true genius of the Sith. This is what makes them the very definition of unbeatable. It is a gift of theirs, to know how to turn an organization back upon itself until, like an Ethrani ouroboros devouring its own tail, it has destroyed everything that the organization supposedly stands for, supposedly is. Surely you cannot imagine that the Jedi Order is exempt from this talent."

"The High Council - "

"Obi-Wan, the Jedi High Council is not even voted upon. How can you believe that they support democracy when they are not even democratic by definition? The members of the High Council are not elected to their posts. Do you truly believe that Qui-Gon Jinn would not have possessed a seat upon the Council if the positions had been open to a vote by the majority? Qui-Gon was a hero of the Jedi Order. You must know that he was much admired and even beloved by many of the young ones within the Order and the Temple. He was a thorn in the side of the High Council, yes, but only because he would not blindly obey orders and he would not be silent about the will of the Living Force. He spoke hard truths when others would have remained silent or made diplomatic excuses; he acted when others would have hesitated or done nothing for fear of endangering the comforting security of their status. He saved many due to the strength of his convictions and he was much loved outside of the Temple - and quite often beyond the realm of politics - for the bravery and justice of his actions. He was the Order’s greatest negotiator, the most successful of its Guardians, and he would have also been the greatest of its Sentinels, had the members of the High Council not hoarded the power and prestige of a position among their ranks and withheld that honor from him. Why do you think Qui-Gon carried a lightsaber whose coloration normally denotes the position of a Consular if not because he was ready to move beyond the duties of a mere Guardian? He deserved a seat on the Council and easily would have had one, if not for their treachery. Obi-Wan, you have all the makings of an Investigator, those who are trusted to act as the eyes and ears of the Jedi Order out within the worlds that exist beyond the boundaries of the Temple. How can you fulfill that trust, how can you know how to obey the will of the Force, if you will not accept knowledge when it is offered to you?" Dooku challenges him, his words hurting Obi-Wan with their accuracy, their reasonableness.

"I don’t - "

"Obi-Wan, the Jedi Order is not a political or military group, despite the endless talk of government, justice, ambassadorship, peace, war, and so on that surrounds it. Jedi are devotees of a martial order who have trained each other and who live according to a very strict discipline that most beings would define as quasi-religious or spiritual, if not mystic, in nature. The Jedi may claim to favor democracy, but they actually function as a class of ruling elite, making decisions among themselves within the body of a High Council that accepts little to no input even from within the ranks of the Order. Individual Jedi or Padawan learners and perhaps sometimes even the entire Order might occasionally submit to the authority of the Galactic legislature - as you should well know, Obi-Wan, having been tried for a crime that you did not commit and essentially sentenced in absentia by the legal court of a system contained by that legislative body - agreeing to some few certain requests of the Republic Senate so that the Order will appear to respect the rule of law, although it would be difficult to prove one way or another precisely whose law it is that the Jedi are supposedly respecting, seeing as how the Order itself often oversees the creation and implementation of law within many sectors of the Republic. This would be especially difficult to pinpoint since the Jedi High Council often issues orders that go entirely against the written law of the Republic, whenever they see fit to do so, and even individual Jedi often fulfill their duties in ways that contradict the letter of the law or defy the orders of civilian authority outright. Jedi often break the law and yet no charges are ever filed or carried out against them simply because they are Jedi. I seem to recall that even when false charges were brought against you, when you were still a young Padawan, that many within the Republic did not approve of your treatment and several would have offered Qui-Gon their services in securing your freedom far from that system and its corruption, not because it was corrupt but rather because it was acting against one who belonged to the Jedi Order."

"It is not - it was not like that! The law - " Obi-Wan objects desperately, his body shivering convulsively at the evil memories Dooku is so quietly, so strangely gently, evoking.

"Qui-Gon temporarily sacrificed your comfort and your freedom because he supported the idea of a just system of law and he whole-heartedly believed that justice would be served, in one way or another. But do you honestly believe that Qui-Gon Jinn would have left you there, in that prison, under any circumstances whatsoever, knowing that you were innocent, regardless of what the written law demanded or of what tangible proof he could or could not have eventually gathered up to offer in defense of your innocence? Qui-Gon loved you, Obi-Wan. He believed in justice and the law, but he loved you, and he knew that you were innocent. Do you honestly think he would have ever even allowed you to be taken, if he had not already been sure that he could win your freedom back, one way or another?" Dooku shakes his head, smiling faintly.

"That’s not fair!" Obi-Wan cannot help from crying out in protest.

"Did fair keep Yoda and the other Council Masters from deliberately sending Qui-Gon and Xanatos into a situation that they knew would break Xanatos’ spirit and cause him to turn, in desperation, to the Dark Side, and all because they were unhappy that Qui-Gon had defied their will in choosing Xanatos as his first Padawan? Did fair keep you, Obi-Wan, from being rejected by the Temple and sent off to Bandomeer because Master Yoda wanted you to be Qui-Gon Jinn’s apprentice and he would not allow any other within the Temple to take you on as a Padawan learner, even though Qui-Gon himself was refusing the bond because of the guilt he felt over losing Xanatos to the Dark Side? Did fair keep that same set of meddlesome Council Masters from refusing to heed any warning about the reemergence of the Sith or the dawning of the time of prophecies, sending you and Qui-Gon as well as that petulant emotive child you now call your Padawan back to Naboo, against frankly suicidal odds, to save face for a Republican politician who was too busy trying to look good to actually do his job?" Dooku only demands, relentlessly logical in his questioning.

"The Council is wise - "

"The Council is not the voice of the Force! Nor is it the voice of the law! The Jedi Order claims to support democracy when it is utterly anti-democratic in nature, an aristocratic militia owing nothing to civilian authority and yet at the same time enjoying such an enormous say in the authority of the Galactic Republic that its members are routinely sent out to broker peace and to end conflicts between the various members and systems of the Republic, using whatever means they might deem necessary. This is the truth of the matter, a truth that you would know, Obi-Wan, if you would only open your mind to the possibilities that exist beyond the narrow strictures of the Temple! The Jedi Order is little more than a police force, one loyal in name to the Republic but in truth bound only to the power of those politicians who are able to win the support of the Jedi High Council, which rules the Order utterly and by fiat, with absolutely no democratic checks or balances, the High Council selecting its members according to its own rules - by what a less generous man would say its own whims - and authorizing them with its power, indefinitely extending the absolute control of that Council over the rest of the Order."

"That is not true! The Jedi are loyal to the Republic!" Obi-Wan only stubbornly claims.

"No, my boy. The Jedi are loyal to the Senate," Dooku immediately corrects, "and the Senate belongs to whomever has the deepest pockets. The Republic has grown so great in size and in appetite that it contains so many disparate interests and factions that it is simply too vast to be justly governable by the always highly argumentative, often greedily corrupt, and overall obviously ineffective Senators whose elected job it is to represent the many, many thousands of planetary systems contained within the Republic. The debacle of Naboo is proof of this fact. The Republic failed to protect Naboo and the Order failed to protect its own in attempting to salvage that mess in the name of a politician who would not even willingly own up to having requested the aid of the Order in the matter in the first place!" Dooku sneers contemptuously.

"The Jedi do not pander to politicians!" Obi-Wan all but snarls with disgust at the very idea. "We uphold justice and support the right - "

"The Jedi support the rule of the High Council and the High Council promotes the right of the Jedi Order to act as and to remain a self-perpetuating aristocracy, a hereditary ruling class of successively chosen and then either broken to the dictates of the Jedi Code and accustomed to the stranglehold of unbending tradition or else found wanting and casually discarded if not outright destroyed blood-marked Force-sensitive elites, a virtual army of Force-sensitive individuals in possession of entirely too much and far too monopolized power. The Jedi Order is allowed to govern itself as well as to have an enormous say in the governance of the Republic, and in return the Order maintains the appearance of upholding the supposedly just rule of the government of the Republic, though some on the Senate obviously receive more support than others and justice frankly often falls by the wayside while others on the Senate are lining their pockets by profiteering off of the blood-money and misery of other sentient beings. The Republic may have been founded in the hope of freedom and justice for all sentient beings, but it no longer functions. Take a hard look at those whose rule it if you do not believe me," Dooku offers quietly.

"The Order would not allow - "

"The Order has very little say in it, my dear boy. The Order itself is dying."

"No - !"

"Yes, Obi-Wan. It has been a long, slow, painful process, but it is about to become much swifter and much more final. There is a war coming now," Dooku insistently continues to press. "It has been coming for a thousand years, and it will utterly destroy both the Jedi Order and the corpse of the Galactic Republic that the Order insists on supporting as if it were still alive and thriving. This the Sith will accomplish because the essence of the Dark Side is a willingness to use any means possible to arrive at a desired end. Any means at all, Obi-Wan, beginning with the ability to adapt, a principle that the Jedi Order loves to preach and yet consistently fails to uphold or even to allow its members to follow, for fear that it might disrupt hundreds of years of hallowed, hollow tradition! The Sith have changed, child. The Sith have grown, have evolved, have invested a thousand years worth of intensive study into every aspect of not only the Force but Jedi lore itself, in preparation for precisely this set of circumstances, this dawning war. The Sith have remade themselves and they have become new. In the meantime, though, the Jedi have wasted that same millennium by training as though to refight the last war. The Jedi have not changed, though the galaxy inexorably has, because the absolute rigidity of the High Council and its blind obedience to tradition and the Code will not allow such change, will not allow such potential growth within the Order. The Jedi Order has stagnated and it is dying, child. You must see that. Have not the Order’s numbers been steadily dwindling, the powers of its Masters, its Knights, steadily diminishing? The Jedi are a dying breed while the Sith are energized by new ways. The new Sith cannot be destroyed by a mere lightsaber alone, Obi-Wan. You, of all people, should know this. They cannot be burned away by any mere torch of the Force. The brighter the light you would bring against them, the darker their shadow will spread upon the Force and across the galaxy, until it engulfs all within their shadowy domain. How can you win a war against their darkness when war itself becomes the Dark Side’s own weapon? You must let go of your blinders, Obi-Wan! Ignorance does not become you, my boy. Please. Allow me to show you the truth!" Dooku all but begs, his expression disconcertingly directly pleading.

"How can you dare to speak to me of truth when you have so obviously joined the forces of the Dark?" is Obi-Wan’s desperate challenge.

"Do not speak to me of darkness when you sit blindly by and do nothing to cleanse the Order or the Republic of the evil that eats away at its heart! At considerable risk to his own life, Qui-Gon once saved me from turning to the Dark Side in my despair. Do you believe I would view the value of my own life, my own soul, with such low regard that I would squander his gift in the same manner that the Council wasted Qui-Gon’s life? For they did most carelessly and callously discard his life. The High Council sacrificed the life of Qui-Gon Jinn for an ineffectual and shortsighted politician who lacked the will to truly govern the political system that he had been given power over. My dear boy, do you honestly believe that the Sith Lord did not have both of his hands sunk deep into the mess of corruption and lies that resulted in the circumstances leading up to this exact situation, or that he failed to take advantage of the power vacuum that inevitably resulted with the far too high and yet far too easily gained resolution of that situation? Do you honestly think that I or that the Masters on the Council would not realize these things, would not understand what was happening?" Dooku only demands, implacable.

"I don’t believe you! The Jedi would be aware of it, if such were true!" Obi-Wan cries, again shaking his head, as if trying to throw off something tangible.

"The Dark Side of the Force has clouded their vision, my young friend," Dooku only calmly, sincerely, continues to explain. "Hundreds of Senators are now under the influence of a Sith Lord called by the name of Darth Sidious."

"I don’t believe you!" Obi-Wan flatly snarls against this proclamation, wishing that he could hold to this truth as solidly as he has himself just proclaimed.

"The Viceroy of the Trade Federation was once in league with Darth Sidious," Dooku merely offers - a claim that seems all too reasonable, given the events of a decade before and the normally nonconfrontational nature of Neimoidians. "But he was betrayed ten years ago by the Dark Lord, whose true identity the Viceroy has never known. He came to me for help then. He told me everything. The Jedi High Council would not believe him, nor would they listen to me. I tried many times to warn them, but they would not believe me. They stubbornly chose to cling to their traditions and to their rituals and they would not listen to me. By the time they sense the Dark Lord’s presence and realize their error, it will be far too late. You must join with me now, Obi-Wan, and together we will be able to destroy the Sith, to bring true justice and harmony to the galaxy!"

It all seems so reasonable, so logical, so perfectly attuned to the legend of Count Dooku as Obi-Wan has learned it. But beneath those fine silken words and sympathetic, charismatic tone is a feeling that Obi-Wan senses, an emotion that, though he cannot name, he instinctively understands flies in the very face of that logic.

"I will never join you, Dooku!"

At this, the cultured and regal man gives a great and disappointed sigh, and turns to leave, reactivating the gradual turning of the restraining field. "It may be difficult to secure your release," he tosses back over one shoulder to Obi-Wan as he calmly exits the room.

*********

Following the destructive events of Geonosis, many lament the loss of far too many friends and colleagues within the somber Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan Kenobi stands quietly with Mace Windu, staring out the window of Master Yoda’s apartment, while the diminutive Master sits in a chair across the way, contemplating the recent troubling events.

"Do you believe what Count Dooku said about Sidious controlling the Senate?" Obi-Wan finally asks, reticently breaking the contemplative silence. "It would explain much, and yet it doesn’t feel quite right."

Mace starts to respond, but Yoda swiftly interjects, "Become unreliable, Dooku has. Joined the Dark Side. Lies, deceit, creating mistrust are his ways now."

"Nevertheless, I feel we should keep a closer eye on the Senate," Mace puts in, and Yoda agrees, nodding silently. After another period of quite contemplation, Mace turns a curious gaze upon Obi-Wan. "Where is your apprentice?"

"On his way to Naboo," Obi-Wan answers, somewhat regretfully. "He is escorting Senator Amidala safely home."

Mace nods without speaking, and Obi-Wan clearly catches a glimmer of concern in his dark eyes - concern that Obi-Wan shares about Anakin and Padmé Amidala. They let it go at this time, though, as there seems to be much greater problems at hand. At any other time, under any other circumstances, Mace Windu would not willingly let anything touching on Anakin go, and Obi-Wan well knows it. Distracted by this, it is again Obi-Wan who breaks the silence.

"I have to admit, without the clones, it would not have been a victory." It is his intention to mention this in order to segue into a discussion about the lingering sense of wrongness that he senses surrounding the far too convenient timing of the apparition and availability of the clones, but Master Yoda does not allow him the chance.

"Victory?" Yoda echoes with great skepticism. "Victory, you say?"

Obi-Wan and Mace Windu silently turn as one to the great Jedi Master, catching clearly the profound sadness in his tone.

"Master Obi-Wan, not victory," Yoda continues, seeing that he has their attention. "The shroud of the Dark Side has fallen. Begun, this Clone War has!"

His words hang in the air about them, thick with emotion and concern, as dire a prediction as anyone in the Jedi Council has ever heard uttered.

*********

Obi-Wan is wearily returning to his own suite of rooms in the Temple and is trying not to dwell upon the terrible prediction Master Yoda has just made when a shy youngling - a human or humanoid girl whose face he does not immediately recognize and who appears to be near the same age Anakin was when he was first brought to the Temple - approaches and intersects his path, her eyes looking almost everywhere but directly at him as she moves to block his way.

"I beg your pardon, little one, but is there something - ?"

"Jedi Master Kenobi?" the girl asks hesitantly.

"Yes?" he agrees patiently.

"Master, there’s a Senator who’s come to the Temple to speak with you."

"There is?" Obi-Wan blinks mildly, slightly confused. "Whatever Did the Senator say who it is?"

"Master, the Senator said his name was Bail Organa of Alderaan, and since the Temple has been closed to the public since - since Geonosis," the little girl’s voice shakes only a little, "Gate Master Jurokk would have checked before he let him in."

"That’s alright, child. I know Senator Organa. The Prince of Alderaan is a longstanding acquaintance of mine. Where is he waiting?" Obi-Wan asks.

"In the rotunda spoke connecting the Hall of Remembrance," the youngling promptly replies. "He said it was soothing there."

"Thank you, little one. I’ll head there directly," Obi-Wan promises, smiling faintly. "You should probably be heading back to the crèche, before someone misses you."

"Yes, Master Kenobi," the little girl agrees, smiling solemnly in return, before bowing respectfully and heading off towards the crèche.

Thoughtfully, Obi-Wan readjusts his path to head towards the largest of the Temple’s rotundas that is open to the general public, the central hub for the eight-spoked wheel that makes up the entirety of the Hall of Remembrance. If Bail Organa is in need of tranquility, the Jedi Temple is a very good place to seek it. After all, a majority of the interior of the Temple functions as a work of art. Generations upon generations of Jedi dedicated to protecting and serving the Galactic Republic had accumulated an enormous abundance of material wonders of both the known and unknown galaxy by the time the decision had been made to build the Temple and the Order had commissioned the intricate designs of the greatest craftsmen and builders available. The result of those commissions is a faërie realm in physical form, a single enormous structure made up of what amounts to gracefully linked and segued separate buildings, some of which are graced with soaring balconies, some of which are graced with intricate gables, some of which are graced with rooftop gardens, and some of which are graced with jeweled spires that stretch up towards the stars. The enormous city-sized home and heart of the Jedi Order is so fabulous that visitors come from all across the galaxy as much to simply see the wonders of the Temple as to actually partake of the wisdom and expertise of the Jedi. The Temple is a place of contemplation, so it is only natural that the design of it invites the mind to reach, to explore, to imagine, to expand through the process of seeking, its infinitely graceful and sometimes fanciful or mysterious lines just begging for interpretation. Culture is as much a part of what it means to be a Jedi Knight as is warrior training, and so naturally beauty and art are warmly fostered within the Temple. Art has long been considered by many Jedi to be a tangible connection to the mysteries of the Force, and so the many beautiful items that line the Temple halls and fill its many rooms are more than just pretty objects to gaze upon. They are artistic interpretations of the enormous wisdom of the Jedi they represent, saying through form and placement alone what the Jedi who created or received or commissioned or simply purchased them might have spoken in words on the vast subject of the Force.

The central rotunda that links together the eight arms of the Hall of Remembrance is a particularly vivid example of the artistry and the beautiful craftsmanship of the Temple. Obi-Wan can well understand why the Alderaanian Prince would refer to that rotunda as soothing. The sheer loveliness of the soaring chamber is certainly indisputable, with its carefully tended profusion of flowers and decorative shrubs and trees, the tranquil mirror-bright surface of its central reflecting pool, and the cheerful splash of water from its several graceful cascading fountains. In beautifully and fancifully carved freestanding niches scattered all around the perimeter of the enormous circular space, statuary carved from myriads of rare and precious substances - often in brilliant shades of sapphire and emerald and ruby and amethyst and other such richly saturated jewel tones, veined with silver and gold and obsidian - represent the most highly revered figures of Jedi history, each one illuminated with a distinctively tinted ambient glow, generated either by the focusing crystals that once powered their lightsabers or else by synthetic gems carefully chosen by the closest remaining friends and colleagues of each Jedi after that Jedi’s passage on into the Force, the entire array awash in lighting carefully filtered to capture the roseate luster of sunrise and sunset. Behind these heroic figures, in the iridescent, rainbow-chased sweeping arc of highly polished shimmering opaline stone covering that part of the great chamber’s circumference not broken up by the entrances into the eight arms of the Hall of Remembrance, glimmering nacreously in the aureate light’s warm embrace, is a commemorative monument dedicated to those rare souls who are considered special friends of the Jedi Order and who have died while in service to that friendship. The Wall of Remembrance bears the carefully carved and jewel-inset names of every such being believed to have perished in the line of duty since the birth of the Jedi Order.

Though it contains only the barest fraction of the amount of names contained in the Hall of Remembrance - which commemorates the lives of all of the Jedi and Jedi trainees who are believed to have perished in service to the ideals of the Order, protecting the citizens and the peace of the democratic Galactic Republic - the Wall of Remembrance easily bears thousands upon thousands of names, all in memory of the countless lives given for the preservation of peace and the defense of innocence. The Wall of Remembrance, in combination with the Hall of Remembrance, forms one of the strongest, brightest, most stable concentrations of Force-energy in the entire Temple. Many within the Temple think of the wheel of that hub and its spokes as the seat of the Order’s soul, almost a sort of reliquary, and treat its commemorative lists much as one would holy objects. However, it requires no special sensitivity to the Force to be awed by the magnitude, the sheer scope, of the two memorials. They command reverence and attentive contemplation, even among those who cannot actually hear its voice. For the Jedi, there are no words to explain the depth of its meaning. As a result, there is a perpetual resonant hush that lingers over the vast space - even when it is crowded and hectic with visitors - a hush that is a part, somehow, of the grand movement that is the Jedi Order, that vast harmonic orchestration of time and space and matter and energy and life that came together in the unique confluence that has evolved into the symphonic resonance of the Order itself.

The Jedi, for all their skills in articulation and eloquence, are not much given to poetic commentary, and so they do not seek to express it as such, but they are always aware of it, nevertheless, the intricate, unending interplay of that grand, sweeping, and ever expanding vast harmonic score. Even the most down-to-earth, practical, mundane, and pragmatic of the Jedi recognize that there is an almost mathematically expressible exquisite symmetry to the ebb and flow of history and time, and accept - if mostly on a nonverbal level - that they all contribute at least a scrap of basic melody or counterpoint to the grand opus of the Order’s existence, which, like all great musical masterpieces, consists of both bright soaring descants and dark basso undercurrents that surge and retreat and vie for supremacy, the various different sequences eventually spiraling together to create a harmonic whole that stands as a finished movement within an ongoing organic work of art. To stand in the middle of the great rotunda, at the center of the wheel’s hub, and gaze upon the names of those who have gone before and the doorways branching off into long stretches that hold even more such names, is to feel the spirit of that music and to know, in some small way, one’s place within that symphony. For a very rare few - those who are especially sensitive and who are unused to contemplating the sheer vastness of time, the enormity of the galaxy, and the sweeping scope of the Order’s mandate - it can be overwhelming, like vision suddenly restored to a blind man, but for most it is sublimely quieting and reassuring. Many of the Order’s more frequent visitors often return time and again to this place, dubbed by many the Bendu Remembrance Wheel.

Entering the rotunda through one of its several small lifts, which promptly sinks back down into the smoothly polished floor and becomes invisible to sight the moment he steps away from it, for a time, Obi-Wan simply stands still and allows himself to take it all in, to absorb that comforting resonant hush, focusing not only on the memorial Wall and the entrances to the Hall but also on the simple process of breathing, on the sweetness of the scents in the air around him, and the warmth sinking into his skin, filling him with vitality. Remembering the names of those he has known who are listed amongst the ranks of the Wall and the Hall, Obi-Wan can feel the grandeur of that unimaginably vast musical composition gradually settling into the more orderly patterns of discrete movements, the chorale resolving into individual voices. Relaxing, he allows himself a few sweet moments to appreciate the familiar warm baritone of his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, before he turns his attention away from the harmonics of the two memorials and focuses instead on the purely physical specifics of the rotunda itself, sighing slightly and promising himself a good long bout of meditation within the Bendu Remembrance Wheel just as soon as the time and opportunity present themselves.

Obi-Wan can feel the familiar warm presence of Senator Organa before he can locate him visually. The Prince of Alderaan is . . . unlike any other politician Obi-Wan has ever known. Bail feels so much like another Jedi that the first time they met Obi-Wan was bewildered, unable to understand why someone so strong in the Force was wearing the finery of a nobleman instead of the familiar well-made but simplistic uniform of a Jedi or a Jedi trainee. Obi-Wan had barely been eighteen, at the time, and the twenty-nine-year-old junior Senator had been a shockingly young and even more startlingly youthful seeming senatorial appointee to a treaty negotiation meant to add an alliance of half a dozen former Outer Rim Territory planets to the body of the Republic proper. Yet, Bail had also been the Crown Prince and First Chairman of Alderaan, and was well on his way to adding Viceroy of Alderaan to his string of titles - a title traditionally not granted until after the Heir of the Royal House has reached the Alderaanian age of majority, which is thirty-two, served at least a full four-year term upon the High Council of Alderaan and therefore rightfully earned the title of First Chairman, and successfully finished a full four-year term as a Senator, a representative of Alderaan in the Galactic Senate, regardless of rank.

Most Alderaanian monarchs do not add the title of First Chairman to that of Crown Prince before the age of thirty-two, and only rarely do they earn the title Viceroy before the age of forty. However, Bail Organa had been planning on a career in intergalactic law before Jedi Master C’baoth had surprisingly (at least to Bail Organa) decided the Alderaanian Ascendency Contention in favor of the branch of the Organa family tree that named Bail Prestor Organa the natural presumptive heir; thus, Bail had already served a full term on the legislative High Council of Alderaan when Master C’baoth made his ruling. Thus, the senior Alderaanian Senator, Bail Antilles, had been able to promptly and quite properly nominate the newly declared Crown Prince and First Chairman of Alderaan for the just about to come open position of the most junior member of the senatorial representative quota allowed for Alderaan, a nomination that the Galactic Senate had confirmed. Hence, Bail Organa had been confirmed as the junior Senator of Alderaan just prior to his twenty-eighth birthday, and been well on his way to earning the title Viceroy of Alderaan by the time of his majority.

Bail had certainly acquitted himself quite well during the treaty negotiations, despite the shockingly youthful features that often got him mistaken for a government intern or aide during the first week of discussion. Before being assigned to that specific treaty negotiation, Obi-Wan had completely agreed with Master Qui-Gon’s opinion that essentially all politicians naturally were - or eventually became - self-serving, power-hungry manipulators who generally had nothing more on their minds than how any particular situation might best be used to their own advantage. After meeting Bail Organa, though, Obi-Wan had found himself seriously wondering if he’d agreed with Qui-Gon only because all of the politicians he’d had the occasion to truly work with up until that time had been old men who had held on to power far too long to avoid becoming accustomed to and corrupted by it and who should have retired or else been retired long ago. At the end of the first day of negotiations, Qui-Gon had actually admitted to being impressed with the young Alderaanian Prince. For someone outside the Order to earn even the grudging respect of Obi-Wan’s exacting Master was something of a momentous occasion in itself, so Obi-Wan had been intrigued with the Prince. He had therefore quietly done some research on both Alderaan in general and the Prince in specific after he had been dismissed for the evening.

Thus, Obi-Wan had learned how Bail Organa had pursued an extremely accelerated program of study and had graduated at the top of his class with Masters degrees in Galactic History, Political Science, and Galactic Law at an age more appropriate for a Bachelors degree, even within the Alderaanian culture that so highly values education that its colleges and universities are known and respected all across the Republic and even beyond its borders. A hereditary member of the High Court, Bail had nonetheless earned the right to sit on the High Council, working his way up from a summer internship until he had gained an actual Council chair. During his time on the High Council of Alderaan, he had championed the plight of refugees fleeing from troubles in the Outer Rim Territories and among the planets who would eventually join Dooku’s Separatist movement. It was during this time that the controversy about the proper ascendancy had arisen, and afterwards the newly appointed Crown Prince had not rested on his laurels, as one might have expected for someone so young. Instead, Bail had taken the post as the junior Alderaan Senator and, in a year’s time, had earned the right to be posted to a treaty negotiation that most would have expected to go to the senior Senator from Alderaan.

During the negotiations, the young Prince had certainly proven himself worthy of the appointment. In fact, he had proven himself to be extremely intelligent as well as quite practical and shrewdly discerning about what made other beings tick. While the other representatives of the Republic had essentially ignored the Jedi and the representatives of the Outer Rim alliance of planets had initially been too overawed of the Jedi to willingly seek to interact with them, Bail had oftentimes asked for Qui-Gon’s or Obi-Wan’s input or viewpoint regarding various points of law, even some that were rather esoteric, and had also requested to have several combination planning sessions and meals to discuss one point or another of the proposed treaty that seemed less than specific or which made less than perfect sense to those more accustomed to the culture and customs of the Core Worlds than those of the Outer Rim. The young Prince’s command of Galactic law and ability to recall even more obscure details from memory alone was frankly astonishing, and his mind moved at such lightning speeds that at times the other representatives had been visibly taxed in their attempts to keep up with him. Yet, somehow the junior Senator from Alderaan managed to never come off as depreciating or smug or overbearing. Indeed, Bail had been extremely pleasant and friendly and so well versed in such a wide variety of disarming topics - many of them related to various venues of entertainment in popular culture, fine foods, and the arts in general - that he soon made friends and allies among both the representatives of the six-planet alliance and the rest of his own party, including the two extremely senior Senators who had initially not been well pleased to discover that the third member of their party would be the most junior Senator from Alderaan.

From what Obi-Wan had been able to ascertain, Bail Organa of Alderaan quite simply naturally took conscious care in every aspect of his life, from the little things as seemingly easy or as unimportant as selecting his robes and which wine to order with what dish all the way up to something as tremendously important as deliberately choosing his words and taking the time to carefully weigh what he would say before he ever opened his mouth. Before the first week of negotiations was up, Bail had even gone so far as to engage a protocol droid to teach him some of the finer points of all of the four dialects of the non-Basic language used by the Outer Rim delegation so that he could more easily and fluently communicate with them directly. Obi-Wan had sincerely wondered where the Prince found the time. Clearly, the man would have made a superior Jedi, had his family allowed the Order to take him in for training. It was a shame that they hadn’t, considering how strong and distinctive and almost overwhelmingly warm and bright the signature of Bail Organa unfailingly remained within the Force. Even without the benefit of Jedi training, the man was a prodigy. In spite of Obi-Wan’s own extremely thorough education in Galactic culture, diplomacy, politics, and negotiation, he found himself departing from most of his meetings with the young Prince either smiling and shaking his head in bemusement at the Prince’s sheer ability to get things done or else busily occupied with dozens of new facts and ideas, his head pleasantly reeling from all of the many new possibilities.

All in all, Obi-Wan had enjoyed himself quite thoroughly for the entire duration of the negotiations, even though the negotiations had ended up running for quite a bit longer than had originally been expected, since the Outer Rim delegation was so impressed with the Republic’s delegation - especially a certain junior Senator from Alderaan and a pair of legendary Jedi - that they had ended up asking for more time so that they could attempt - and quite successfully - to bring in their closest ally, a neighboring alliance of five other Outer Rim planets, so that they would also be covered by the finished treaty. Before all was said and done, one of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s missions had, for a change, actually gone off entirely without a hitch . . . right up until the time that they were almost home to Coruscant and their ship had been attacked. Oddly enough, they never had been able to discover who was responsible for the attack. The Order had, unfortunately, been unable to confirm a few suspicions regarding certain members of the Senate and the Commerce Guild who would have profited from their deaths and the loss of the details of the treaty, and the Senate had ruled it a case of piracy. He and Qui-Gon had defended their ship a bit too well, and the attacking vessel - which had somehow either known where their last calculated jump point was going to be on their return journey to Coruscant or else through some amazing coincidence simply had the misfortune to have calculated the same jump point and exited hyperspace sometime prior to the exit of their own ship and then, for some reason, remained there long enough for them to exit hyperspace - had been utterly destroyed. Their own ship had taken damage to the hyperdrive, and the closest Republic world had just happened to be Alderaan, so they had diverted to the Prince’s world. While most of their party had gone their separate ways within the next day or so, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had received leave from the Order to spend twenty extremely relaxing and enlightening days touring Alderaan as the Crown Prince’s special guests and checking up on the Alderaanian Jedi chapterhouse.

Obi-Wan still regrets the fact that the High Council had reversed its initial decision to send him and his new Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker, to the Alderaanian chapterhouse for at least the first few years of Anakin’s apprenticeship. Not only is Alderaan a gorgeously lush and peaceful planet, the Jedi chapterhouse outside of Aldera is one of the most beautiful and tranquil of the Order’s smaller Temples. Obi-Wan is certain that it would have done Anakin a world of good to have had those first few crucial years in an environment of such richly fecund life and natural beauty. He still remembers with fondness his first sight of that small Temple. The Prince had volunteered to take him and Qui-Gon to the chapterhouse personally, and had navigated one of his family’s private yachts out from Aldera down the Maeramund River. They had been talking together easily, naturally, about the perceived part and the actual role that the Jedi Order plays within the Galactic Republic, when they had rounded a bend and it had been suddenly before them: a forest of impossibly graceful towers, set like a jeweled puzzle within the larger forest of trees. The chapterhouse - which is, in truth, the size of a small city, mainly due to the fact that the Jedi on Alderaan operated several communes of artists and a few educational programs in addition to simply residing and learning within their Temple - flanking both sides of the river, had seemed to grow out of the very soil, as though the soul of the forest, restless and unfulfilled, had shaped the Temple out of itself. It certainly appeared to be as one would imagine the forest’s own dream, realized in subtle stone, a hundred dancing vibrant shades of different jewel-toned greens and pearly white and pale summer-sky blue and rich lapis. An immense and elegant thicket of needle-thin nacreous and gem bright stone, shaped by sublime and reverent hands into gossamer walkways like bridges of spider web and filigreed tower tops and minarets reaching up into the high treetops to catch the sun on their faces like icy flowers, Obi-Wan’s first sight of the exquisitely beautiful Alderaan chapterhouse had been both breathtaking and heartrending, the Living Force a vibrant, pulsing presence within that Temple in a way that even the main Temple on Coruscant could not approach.

Little wonder that Bail Organa would seek out the tranquility and the beauty of the Jedi Temple, just as often as possible, coming from such a world as Alderaan - naturally vibrant, beautiful, and naturally full of life - to such an artificial world as Coruscant.

Sighing, Obi-Wan allows his steps to automatically carry him over to the section of the Wall that bears the most recently inset names, where the familiar warm glow of Bail’s presence is currently quietly holding steady. Unsurprisingly, he finds Bail seated on one of the graceful viewing benches, just sitting silently, meditatively, patiently waiting. The Prince’s more familiar blues have been traded for a outfit entirely of black, and Obi-Wan finds the funereal color gloomily appropriate, all things considered. Obi-Wan is about to announce himself when Bail turns on his bench, somehow sensing his presence despite the utter silence of his passage across the room, and offers him a tiny, tired sliver of a smile. "Ah, my old friend, I was not sure you would be free to come and see me so soon. Have you the time to spare to join a heartsick and weary Senator who desperately wishes he could see another, far less violent way out of the terrible mess the Republic has gotten itself into," he gestures gracefully to the bench beside him, "as he mourns for the demise of a thousand years of peace?"

"I would be honored, Senator Organa," Obi-Wan replies, a ghost of a smile on his lips, suiting actions to words and taking the offered seat to the Prince’s right.

"Obi-Wan, please, let us not stand on ceremony today," Bail all but begs, his voice tired but fervent, the hand he briefly places over Obi-Wan’s left hand pressing but oddly nonintrusive. "My name is Bail, and I am sick of the empty posturing of my colleagues among the Senate."

"I apologize, Bail. The habit of formality is one that tends to linger. And I fear I’ve just come from speaking with Master Yoda and Master Windu," Obi-Wan quietly explains.

"Ah. And what is the opinion of the Council on recent events, or should I not ask?"

"You should always ask, Bail. I may not always be allowed to answer you fully, but that should not stop you from seeking the truth. Unfortunately, in this case, I wish that I did not have knowledge of this truth to share with you. War has begun and I fear there is little we can do to stop it, now that the Chancellor has claimed the clones for the Republic’s armies and is already sending them afield. Given the proper time and resources and an avoidance of such precipitous aggression, the Order could have dealt with the leadership of the Separatist movement. But as things stand now, the Galactic Republic is at war, and our hands are tied by the Chancellor’s decisions and the Senate’s approval of the Chancellor’s actions. And the High Council fears that this will only be the beginning. The growing taint of the Dark Side clouds everything, but Master Yoda nevertheless speaks of the danger of this conflict with a terrible certainty, as if it will soon engulf the entire galaxy in a series of wars within wars within wars, the violence and brutality of which many worlds both within and without the confines the Republic may very well never fully recover from. To be quite honest, I fear for the Republic, Bail. I fear for its citizens and for its democratic ideals. I fear both will take a severe beating before all is said and done," he bluntly admits to the Prince.

Hesitantly, almost apologetically, Bail responds, "Obi-Wan, you have always been very careful to appear to be only human in the times I’ve seen you outside the confines of this Temple - indeed, outside the confines of any of the Jedi Temples. Unless they must do otherwise, in the course of a mission, Jedi are all very careful to refrain from using their powers in the open. So the people have little upon which to base their expectations of the Order other than what little of the Order’s activities get reported on the HoloNet, what is repeated in local legends and stories, and things like those ridiculous holovids your young Padawan always seems so amused by. My friend, forgive me if I tread upon delicate ground, but the Separatists are already so many, their weaponry so advanced, and we have heard so little about the Battle of Geonosis, aside from the list of names of fallen Jedi - "

"You are trying to ask me if I am sure the Order could deal with the Separatists alone," Obi-Wan quietly interrupts. The Prince casts about painfully for a moment before finally simply tucking his head in slightly and nodding once, quickly. "Bail, Anakin is amused by the holovids because they are so inaccurate. On the one hand, they ascribe to the Jedi ridiculously enormous powers - such as the ability to not only survive but to fight in a hard vacuum; the ability to stop natural disasters like earthquakes and tidal waves and floods with little more than a wave of our hands; and the ability to communicate telepathically with non-Force-sensitive beings, to name just a few - while on the other they ignore feats that all Jedi are trained to be able to accomplish without thinking, even if wounded and unconscious - such as our ability to regulate our body temperatures, to avoid suffering from extremes of heat or cold; our ability to initiate healing trances that can quickly repair all but the most life-threatening of injuries; our ability to induce a bodily suspension that slows all functions to a state that appears to mimic deep sleep or death, which can be maintained indefinitely and can preserve life in the absence of certain necessities for conscious survival; our ability to sense and to affect other forms of life, even other specific living beings, through our connection with the Living Force; and our ability to overcome the limitations of bodily strength and of natural laws that would otherwise simply slow us down far too much to effectively perform our duties. Bail, I am not a man given to boasting, and you know that. So believe me when I tell you that you have no idea what I am capable of doing while I am working within the full embrace of the Force. The Separatists are many and their weaponry is quite advanced - two facts that doubtlessly continue to grow more true and will continue to do so for many more days, given the Republic’s hasty declaration of war and the new taxes being levied to pay for this war. But believe me when I tell you that this Confederacy of Independent Systems, as it is being styled, would not even exist without the influence of Count Dooku of Serenno. Count Dooku is an enormously powerful man, strong in the ways of the Force and surprisingly learned in the ways of the Dark Side, and he possesses an affinity for lightsaber combat that gives him an extremely dangerous ability to fight, but he alone is no match for the Jedi Order. Given enough time to seek Dooku out and the resources to keep him grounded in a certain area, to separate him from the means by which he could otherwise flee, Dooku’s power would be no match for Master Yoda’s. If Master Yoda and Master Windu were to combine their talents in the pursuit of Dooku, he would be neutralized - either captured and brought back to the Temple for rehabilitation, or destroyed, if he would not surrender and would not allow himself to be taken prisoner - quickly and efficiently. The Separatists would lose their leader and their Confederacy would swiftly unravel. The war would come to an end and the Republic would have no need to become mired in such morally questionable acts as paying for the breeding of docile and loyal clones in order to form some Grand Army whose only purpose thus far seems to be to perform preemptive actions and vengeful strikes against targets known to be Separatist or else simply believed to be sympathetic towards the Separatist cause," the Jedi explains, a slight tremor in his voice betraying his discontent with the situation.

Bail’s expression and the pitch of his voice are both anguished as he presses, "Obi-Wan, forgive me, but are you absolutely certain - "

"If the Senate and the Chancellor could have waited one standard month after Geonosis before deciding to send those clone troopers into battle, the Jedi Order could have found Dooku and neutralized the threat of the combined might of the fully allied Confederacy of Independent Systems," Obi-Wan interrupts, his response swift and brutally honest. "To be fair, the decision to declare war is not one that Palpatine seems to have entirely agreed with or to have made lightly, but to be honest I must point out that the Chancellor remains in office long past the end of his term and has never protested overly much any of the times that the Senate has requested he continue to stay in power. It’s been over a decade since Naboo: Palpatine no longer has any right to the position of Supreme Chancellor. He should have long since been replaced, and I cannot help but wonder if the Republic would now be in this situation if he would have retired when his term came to its natural end. War or no war, it would be better if he stepped aside now, before he has time to become too used to this mantle of power."

"I fear it is too late to consider such a change, Obi-Wan. The Senate is terrified - many out of genuine fear of what the Separatists will do and the havoc that they will wreck on the Republic’s infrastructure and economy, and others, I am ashamed to admit, out of fear for what they might lose, the power and the wealth they stand to lose, if the Republic were to simply allow the Separatists to peacefully withdraw from the Republic proper. The vast majority will most likely never agree to allow Palpatine to resign, so long as this war continues. I’m sorry, old friend, but I fear we must simply learn to make the best of a bad situation," Bail sighs, sadly shaking his head.

Obi-Wan nods helplessly, spreading his hands wide as he begins to speak. "If needs must, then we shall learn how to adjust. The Order’s mission is to serve and to protect. The Jedi will do everything within their power to help fight this war, but we will also quietly attempt to try to locate Dooku so that he can be dealt with."

"I will do everything I can to ensure that the war effort proceeds smoothly. That should help minimize the damage to the Republic and might even allow the Order enough room to maneuver an alternative to war," Bail promises. "Obi-Wan, your young Padawan is close to Palpatine. Have you considered possibly asking Anakin to approach the Chancellor with a plan to capture Dooku?"

"Anakin is not currently on Coruscant. He left Geonosis with Senator Amidala, to escort the lady safely home."

"Obi-Wan, forgive me for being blunt, but was that entirely . . . wise? The Senator of Naboo is . . . a very strong and able young lady, but she is also oddly fragile, almost vulnerable, in a way, when it comes to those few individuals she truly cares about. Anakin is an extremely passionate young man, and it is my understanding that he has always thought quite highly of milady Amidala. Individuals often form strong bonds very quickly under adverse circumstances. I thought that the Order did not approve of such strong ties," Bail hesitantly admits, forehead creasing with lines as he half frowns his confusion and concern.

"Anakin has a large heart, Bail, but he knows the rules. In any case," Obi-Wan wearily admits, "it was the Council’s decision to separate us on this mission. Anakin was assigned to protect Senator Amidala and I was given the task of searching out and neutralizing the man paid to arrange her assassination. The young Senator was understandably distraught after Geonosis. Anakin was simply discharging the remainder of his duty towards her and doing the courteous thing, seeing Amidala safely home."

"Ah. Well, you know him better than I, so I shall defer to your judgment on the matter. When he returns, though - and that will be sooner rather than later, yes? - have you considered asking Anakin to approach Palpatine with a plan that stresses the need to neutralize Dooku?"

"I can certainly try, if events will allow it. Palpatine has certainly shown a great interest in Anakin, since Naboo. He might be willing to listen to him - if Anakin himself can be made to understand how vital Dooku is to the Separatists."

"The Supreme Chancellor is strong, but he is an old man, Obi-Wan, and he has done a great many things in service to the Republic. He shouldn’t be made to feel as if he must give his entire life over to the Republic. Palpatine has more than earned the right to spend his last years in peaceful contemplation, to have enough time to finish those books he has always so wistfully spoken about writing," Bail quietly offers. "Anakin cares for the man. He will want to give Palpatine the peace he needs to be able to retire, in good conscience, from his position and to gain the time he needs to really work on those books."

"I shall keep that in mind, Bail."

"That is all that I ask, old friend," Bail nods once, solemnly, before smiling and rising from the bench, "except, perhaps, for the occasional meal. Can I interest you in an invitation to supper, Obi-Wan?"

"Indeed, you can - and you have," Obi-Wan agrees, smiling and also rising.

"Good. Perhaps we can even find a few more cheerful things to discuss, once we’ve gotten some good food into our systems."

Smile widening at the Prince’s earnest attempt to provide them with a much needed distraction, Obi-Wan quietly accompanies Bail out of the Temple to his waiting speeder.

*********