Trial of the Times

Chapter 13 - Repercussions

"We have a problem," Dooku informs Anakin not long after they arrive on Serenno. His expression is grave. "My master saw you. He'll recognize you, and he knows I know you. If he even suspects that I'm plotting against him, he'll probably kill me. And if he thinks that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, the trouble only increases double fold."

"So, what do we do?" asks Anakin shifting with concern.

Dooku frowns out the window. "I think I'll wait until I hear he's been released from the med center before I contact him. He's going to be paranoid, but I'll try to assuage his mind."

"Do you know what you'll tell him?" Anakin pushes.

"I'll tell him you're a dark Jedi who wants to ally with me, and I wanted to see how you handle situations first. After attacking Sidious, I killed you," Dooku answers after a moment.

"Will it work?" Anakin wants to know.

Dooku's silence is as much an answer as his words are. "I don't know," he replies finally, "I hope so. Sidious can be excessively paranoid, which will be only increased after the attack."

Nice. Well, Anakin really doesn't care. He doesn't even know what he wants anymore. Nothing. Everything. Mainly just for everything to be over. He's tired of fighting against the Sith and the Separatists. He's tired of war. He's tired of dealing with so much pain. He's tired of life.

Anakin slumps further into his chair, ignoring the faint concern on the Count's face. Perhaps he could go to his room and stay there. "If you don't need me, I'd like to go to my room."

A sigh escapes Dooku. "Go ahead," he replies, his reluctance obvious.

Without letting him say anything else, Anakin slips out of the room. He doesn't want any pity or sympathy. He doesn't want any of it. None of it will change the facts. None of it will take his pain away. None if it will make him any more inclined to face the galaxy. When he thought Obi-Wan was dead, he could throw himself into something to honor his brother's memory. That's not possible when he betrayed him.

As soon as he gets into his room, Anakin locks the door behind him, sliding down it to the floor. Drawing his knees up, he puts his arms across them, resting his head on his arms. Now that his entire world has been destroyed, what's left for him to do? What can he do? What does he even have left to fight for? An Order that didn't care one iota for his emotions? Certainly not. A corrupt Republic headed by a Sith Lord? Absolutely not.

And if he succeeds in helping Dooku destroy Sidious, what then? What's left for him? Nothing. Well, there's always Padme. Maybe he could convince her to leave politics so they can go somewhere and be completely alone. Just him and her. Perhaps, but that thought no longer excites him the way it used to. And what of Ahsoka? Surely, he can't abandon her, but could he even bear to return to an Order that doesn't care about him? No. He loathes that thought.

Nothing can ever fill the gaping hole that Obi-Wan tore inside him. He knows it, just as surely as he knows that life no longer holds any meaning for him. If the person he'd cared for most could do that to him, what about everyone else? What could they do to him? Just as in the beginning, he's completely alone. He doesn't try to stop his tears when they come.

***

Anakin has been expecting Dooku to come to his door for the past two days, but that doesn't mean he is looking forwards to it. When he hears someone knocking firmly on the door, he doesn't need to reach out to feel who's there.

"Open the door, Skywalker," the Sith Lord's muffled, demanding voice brooks no refusal.

Groaning, Anakin rolls over in his bed, using the Force to unlock the door. Dooku opens it, stepping inside, a determined expression on his face. "You need to get up and do something," states the Count, "You've been in here for the past three days."