Star Wars : Tanya

"Alright, it is." Yoda chuckled, his high pitched tone turning his laugh up. "For one outside the Order, strange we must be."

"I really meant no offense, it's just… well, you're right. To me the Jedi seem so very strange."

...

Yoda waddled closer, his cane tapping on the ground with each step. How Athemeene hadn't heard that sound before she didn't know, but somehow the little old man had crept up on her. "A question I have if you will."

This wasn't part of the plan. If she said anything wrong here Yoda might vote against letting her keep her daughter. Dooku was supposed to be the one whipping up votes; right now he was off speaking to Plo Koon. The Grand Master of the Order wasn't supposed to seek Athemeene out on his own.

Athemeene turned, putting her body between her daughter and the old man, breaking eye contact as she did. "What did you want to ask?"

The small green man paused, before saying, "Sorry, I am. Wish to frighten you, I did not."

"That's okay." Athemeene said quickly. "I was just startled. Ask your question."

Yoda looked at her sadly, before quietly asking, "Treat you well, Dooku has?"

"That's… private." Athemeene answered, voice small.

Yoda considered for a moment, before saying in a soft voice. "Sorry, I am. Mean to pry, I do not. But Dooku, my padawan, once was."

After a moment's pause, Athemeene glanced over. If she hadn't seen anything other than a small, frail seeming old man, looking concerned for someone he cared about, she wouldn't have answered. The expression on Yoda's face tugged at her. She knew the smart thing to do would be to say nothing, but she couldn't help but give him something.

"Our relationship has… changed. When we were first married he was always busy, and I was scared to speak to him, but now… Well, he's still busy, but I'm a part of that now. He smiles from time to time, and we're comfortable together. He speaks to me now, and not just about our business, or Tan'ya, but his thoughts and feelings. I'm not scared of him anymore, and I'm not alone, we're actually together. I think… that I've helped him. Recover, maybe."

"Recover?" Yoda asked.

Athemeene chewed her lip for a moment, not sure how to answer the old man. "I think the Order broke him."

Yoda away at that, his face clouding over.

They waited in silence, for a few moments longer.

"Sorry to disturb you, I am." Yoda turned and left, his cane tapping as he went.

...

Five and six, Dooku thought to himself. With Plo Koon and Sininfa having agreed to vote his way, Dooku only needed to find time to speak with Yoda. He left the training room he'd spoken with them in, and made his way to the central elevator. He was musing about the best way to approach his former master, when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Master Dooku, may I have a word?"

The Count turned to face the speaker, surprised to hear his voice, but then as opportunity presented itself he smiled. "Of course, my old friend. I always have time for you."

...

Sitting together with the Council, Yoda was distracted. Around him the other Jedi Masters spoke their reasons for voting for and against Dooku's proposal, but Yoda didn't hear any of the words they said. Usually Yoda remained quiet in their meetings, allowing the others to say their piece and only speaking his own thoughts at the end. He found that if he offered his opinion first, other council members would feel unable to contradict it. So today, none of them noticed that the Grandmaster was somewhere else entirely.

The Order had broken Dooku. That was what his young bride had claimed. That couldn't be true.

Like all Jedi, the Count knew how to conceal his feelings from other force users. It was fully possible that Dooku had been hiding the depths of his emotions from the rest of the Order, but surely Yoda, who had practically raised the boy, would have noticed such a change in his padawan? Dooku was frustrated with the Republic, everyone knew that, and he even clashed with the Council often near the end of his time in the Order, but he couldn't really have been consumed with despair, could he?

Athemeene had barely known her husband for a year, and yet she was convinced that the Order had left Dooku adrift with his faith shattered. She didn't know enough of the force to shield her mind, and so Yoda could glean much from her emotions and intentions that she hadn't meant to share.

Heartbroken. She believed that Dooku was utterly heartbroken when they first married.

After Galidran Dooku had been furious, Yoda remembered that. There had been other missions as well, leading up to him quitting the Order. Bad missions that every Jedi in the Temple must have heard about.

But that was the thing. Sometimes missions went badly. Any time a Jedi stepped out the front door of the Temple they entered a dangerous galaxy, full of treachery and danger. Any mission was a roll of the dice, a chance that they might never return home. Every Jedi understood that. What could even be done about it?

But Dooku had always been proud. Maybe he really believed he could fix the entire Galaxy?

Sighing to himself, Yoda became sure that was what it was. His apprentice had always been talented, and with that talent came pride. A belief that he could succeed where others had failed.

In the end, that was all it was. Pride.

A few bad missions had shaken him, and he Dooku had convinced himself that someone else was to blame, be it the Council or the Republic itself. It was too late to change now, but really Yoda should have tried to do something about it when the boy was younger and still more pliable.

Really, it was Yoda's fault for not-

"Your thoughts, Grandmaster?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

Yoda blinked, remembering where he was. The Council meeting, debating what to do with Dooku's child. Even without having kept up with the debate, Yoda knew how he would vote. Whatever the boy's pride might sting for it, the risk of him training his own daughter was just too great.

"Ready to vote, the council is." Yoda declared. "Trust your decision, I will."

Around the room, each master declared their position. By the time the vote reached the end of the room, it was six for and four against. That just left the Grand Master of the Order and the Master of the Order to make it a tie.

Then Mace Windu spoke up. "I abstain from voting."

Shock ran through Yoda, and he looked at his friend with surprise. He wasn't the only one that did.

"Sure of this, you are?"

Windu nodded. "I spoke to Dooku earlier today, and found many of his arguments persuasive. More than that, I know we can trust him. Dooku and I have clashed in the past because of how… unorthodox he can be, but often he's been right when I was wrong. A Way-Temple in the Outer Rim may just be necessary for the Order as a whole. On the matter of his daughter…" Windu paused shortly as if collecting his thoughts, "I don't approve of a Jedi becoming a father, or training their own child in the Jedi arts, but Dooku has agreed to allow Tan'ya to be padawan to another Jedi when she comes of age. I think that as long as we supervise her training as a youngling, the girl will be no more attached to her father than any learner is to you, Grand Master."

Mace Windu finished by simply saying, "I'm satisfied with this compromise."

There was a murmur of general agreement among the council who were in the affirmative, and even those who voted in the negative seemed to find this agreement more satisfying.

With Mace's abstaining, that meant that even if Yoda voted against it the issue would still be five to six. The decision was made, unless the Grandmaster decided to oppose the rest of the Council.

Yoda was almost ready to do so, but then he hesitated.

Broken, Athemeene had said.

"...I too will abstain." Yoda spoke at last. "I do not approve, but will trust the decision of the Council."

...

Hours later, in a dark alley far below the surface of Coruscant, another meeting was taking place. In a dimly lit alleyway, the only visible light coming from a faded, filth covered bulb at the back of an abandoned mechanic's shop. A meeting place like this was far below the dignity of a Count, but that was what happened when it was arranged on such short notice.

Standing opposite to Dooku was a man in a black robe that almost seemed to draw the shadows to it. His hood was pulled up to conceal his features, his unseen eyes burning into the Count.

Usually when Dooku spoke to this figure there was a slither of fear inside him that he had to control. This time he also had a strange sense of guilt that had never been there before. This was a secret he couldn't tell anyone, not even Athemeene. Especially not Athemeene.

"This changes nothing." Dooku assured him. "Our plan will go forward. Sifo Diyas has commissioned the army, and the Clone Wars will come at the time of our choosing."

"Goooood."

...

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