When Paths Collide

Chapter 3 - Serenno

Author's Note: Enjoy the interactions with Qui-Gon and Dooku! ;)

~ Amina Gila

Qui-Gon Jinn

I sit in silence in the public transport ship, keeping a hood pulled up over my head in case, in the unlikely chance that someone might recognize me. It's unlikely since I'm not in Jedi robes anymore, and unlike Anakin and my former padawans, I'm not well known because of the war, but there's still a very small chance.

Ignoring the people moving about, I think over the decision again. Most of all, I'm worried about how Anakin and Aniya are going to handle it, right after losing their padawans. Hopefully the message I left for them will be enough, though. I may have preferred not to go right now when they're so unstable, but I can't continue to wait either. It's not as though my staying at the Temple will help them regardless when they're on the front lines.

Everything that happened with the whole Temple bombing incident has completely shaken my faith in the Order again. But this time, I know it's nothing that will ever fade. The Order is failing, has already failed. They've reached a point that... I'm not sure it's something they could actually change or come back from.

I'm still furious with the Council for throwing out Aniya like that, but there's more than my own personal feelings involved in this. I can feel in the Force, too. It was wrong, and that they didn't sense it is proof of how far they've fallen. It might not be too late for everyone in the Order, but as a whole, it is.

It's hard to have to admit it, but I know it's true now. It's too late.

And it hardly helps that the more I think about it, the more I'm starting to question how much of the Jedi's current beliefs is what's lead them to this point. I know there's always been things that I've had questions about, and now it's resurfacing all over again.

I can understand again, why Dooku left. That doesn't mean I support what he's done, though. The familiar mixed feel of betrayal, and too many other emotions surges through me when I think about him again.

Betraying the Jedi and the Republic to build something he thought was better I can understand. But completely unnecessarily hurting the twins, not so much.

In the end, though, Dooku is the only person I can go to at this point. I'll talk to him and see where things go from there. I can... ignore relatively unimportant personal feelings on the matter for now. Probably.

***

Seeing as I'd prefer not to announce my presence to anyone more than I have to, I make my way to the castle on Serenno about as discreetly as possible. I don't think there's actually any good way to announce my abrupt arrival to Dooku, and while I'm still contemplating which route to take, a group of droids approach.

I'm not really surprised – okay it was half-intentional – when I end up arrested in about five seconds for trespassing. I know Dooku can sense me here, and he's going to come. Hopefully without mentioning anything to his master about it.

At least I'm not left in a Force field, since the droids were too stupid to realize that I'm a Jedi. A regular cell is a great deal more... hospitable, and I can break out if I need to.

Time to wait for my former master's arrival.

As it turns out, I don't have to wait for long. It can't have been more than a couple hours when the door opens, Dooku himself appearing in the doorway. He has an odd and unreadable expression on his face. "Qui-Gon," he states.

"Dooku," I reply almost stiffly, inclining my head a little. The last time I saw him was almost three years ago back on Geonosis. It was the last time we talked since... that day he was in the middle of trying to send me a message, before he disappeared completely. What even happened? For as much as I want to know, I know now is hardly the time to get into any of that. "I was expecting you'd show up, eventually."