Candlelight

Chapter 13 - Choices

Anakin is approaching another holocron when he stops at a familiar, but not hazed over, presence. Dooku is here. Anakin isn't surprised – of course, the Sith apprentice is here as well. It makes sense that Sidious brought him here. Anakin hadn't been prepared to confront Dooku, though it can't be any harder than trying to get through to Sidious. He has more in common with Dooku. That should – hopefully – make it easier to get through to him.

Anakin shoves the door open with the Force.

Dooku stands across from him, his lightsaber in hand.

"Don't do this," Anakin requests, stopping where he is. "You can fix this. It's not too late for you to come back. It doesn't matter what you've done and what he's made you do."

Just like with Sidious, the sheer bluntness of it has thrown Dooku off-balance. "What makes you think I haven't chosen this path?"

"You did. Like I did, once. To bring order to the galaxy. You didn't know it would only bring more chaos and pain."

"The Jedi have fallen from their way," he retorts, obviously trying to find some sort of response. Anakin clearly caught him off-guard. "They have become corrupted, arrogant, complacent."

"Yes, they have. We can choose a different path, but it's not our place to tell them to change theirs."

"It is this passiveness," he accuses, "That led to the galaxy's fall."

Anakin studies him – whether or not Dooku believes his own words, he can't tell. "What passiveness?" he replies. "I serve the Force."

"Anger gives strength," Dooku argues, "You must have seen that."

"I see it blinds and it destroys, me and everyone I want to help. You don't want to see it, because you know you've become the very thing you embraced the Dark Side to destroy. Because you do not know there is more than killing that can end corruption. The death of another is not a choice we can make. It's the will of the Force."

For the briefest moment, Anakin could swear he feels a flare of pain from the Sith. "And yet, this will not give you strength to help."

"What good is strength when victory is determined by the Force alone?"

It's so easy now to see why Sith never know how to find their way back. It's... true, that the Jedi aren't anything like what Anakin thought they were meant to be. Jedi do not have the same compassion they claim to, that they must, that is needed for their duty. "I am not here to fight. I am here to end the corruption I lived in. You can do the same."

"How do you know?" the Sith demands sharply. "How do you know of the Dark Side?"

"I have seen as much of the Force as you have," he replies, intentionally cryptically, "And I have chosen to stand for what is right. I came here to give you the same."

"It is too late for that." His lightsaber hisses to life, but Anakin stands unmoved, unshaken. He's not afraid. He couldn't be afraid, when all he sees in front of him is... himself. The corruption Sidious has runs deeper, and it has always been different with him, but Dooku is so much like him.

"Why?" Anakin asks, "Because the Jedi taught you that? You know they are not always right. Choosing Light is no harder than choosing Darkness. You just have to try."

"And return to the Jedi, as if I can ignore all they are blinded to? No. The plans of the Sith are far greater than that."

"They are not plans. They are dreams. Your dreams, Dooku. Sidious would have me kill you and take your place. He would rule the galaxy as a tyrant, controlled by his blind fear of losing. You would not be there to see it."