𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙞𝙩 - 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧𝘧𝘦

14 - 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

Count Dooku leads Senator Black to a separate room before planning his conversation with her,

"Tell me, Thea, how-" Dooku asked sincerely before being interrupted by her.

"You lie. The Senators would never be under the control of a Sith, we are loyal to Chancellor Palpatine and to democracy. We are no servers of the dark side."

"No? Wasn't your family once associated with the dark side? Directly to the Sith?" he mocks her.

"My family would never associate themselves with people as vile as you." she spits at him.

"You have grown, smarter, braver, and stronger. Palpatine has taught you well," he tells her kindly.

Thea looks at him with tears in her eyes before quietly replying, "he wasn't the one who taught me to be brave, smart, and strong. But I don't know if that same person still exists." one small tear escapes her eye as Dooku struggles not to wipe it away as he had so many times when she was a child.

"What happened?" Dooku asks 4-year-old Thea as she sat on the floor crying.

"I fell and my knee is red," she tells him with a broken sob.

"Let's go and fix it up," he says before taking her in his hands and placing her on his hip, using one free hand to wipe her tears away, "does it still hurt?"

"Not so much but it's still red," she sniffles him into his neck while he pats her hair.

"I saw the corruption of the Senate and the lies of the Jedi, didn't they also lie to you?" he asks her.

"They told me you died, I grieved for you, cried for you, while you were off abandoning all your principles. A code you devoted your life to! A code you honored."

"Why can't you love?" 5-year-old Thea asks cluelessly as she picked the petals of a flower she found in the garden.

"It is against the Jedi code," Dooku answered, amused.

"Why?" she continues.

"Love can lead to emotions of fear, jealousy, and anger," he tells her carefully.

"Why would you be jealous, angry, or fear the person you love?" she asks him still incredulously. "I thought you loved me?" she finishes quietly.

"Of course I do," Dooku assured her quickly as he sits across from her, "but you are big and brave and I know nothing could ever happen to you," he tells her.

"How? Do you see it in your daydreams?" she asks him, giggling.

Dooku chuckles at her question before responding with a small yes.

"I broke the code many years ago," he tells her quietly.

"But you didn't become evil then, what changed?" she asks wearily.

"Your parents died," he responds.

"Don't you dare use the death of my parents as an excuse for your fear and abandonment? They deserve better than that!" she yells at him "I know the effect on my parent's death, do you see me being evil?!" she yells.

"You cannot be evil," he tells her

"Everyone can be evil," she replies.

10-year-old Thea stood in the front line, holding her brother's little hand while he clutched onto her like a lifeline as they watched their parents' coffin hover down the road. 8-year-old Lucien had tears running down his face while his other hand held his stuffed toy he sleeps with. Thea looked down at her brother and brought him into a hug, burying his head into her shoulder, while silent tears escaped off her face and into his hair. A comforting hand positioned on her shoulder as she looked up at Dooku, who stood with a strong face in front of the children as he watched the coffin hover further away from them.