Blurred Sides (COMPLETE)

7.10.1

Anakin ate his evening meal in his room. He didn't want to be with anyone in the Temple right now, not when tensions were high and emotions were unstable.

The arguments from the past several days had finally died down but the discussion did not. Instead of trying to convince others of their point of view, the Jedi simply avoided those who did not agree with them. It was especially rough for Padawans who did not agree with their Masters, but perhaps even more so for the Jedi Masters who agreed with none of their fellow Council members completely. There were not just two sides, now, not even three. The different positions about various topics were numerous and near-infinite.

There was some good, though. The six Younglings that had lost their memory had been released from the Halls of Healing and were training once more, but they were discouraged from meditating together again. The Younglings made no attempt to but discussed it frequently, behind closed doors and turned backs. They didn't dare bring it up in public, save with Caleb Dume, in fear of more consequences from whoever had stolen their memory. They didn't want to drive anyone else insane like Shaak Ti.

Shaak seemed to be fine, medically. There were no signs of brain damage or any other physical damage to her person, but she still spoke in very basic sentences if not single words. She had no problem recognizing people, and many people came to visit her, but if asked about the Younglings or what she remembered she would curl up in a ball and start shaking again, and only Luminara Unduli seemed to be able to calm her down after that.

For this reason, Byph, Gungi, Ganodi, Katooni, Petro, and Zatt refused to tell anyone, even Master Yoda or Caleb Dume, about what had happened. When asked, all they would say was that they didn't want anyone else to get hurt. They didn't remember what happened exactly, but if it meant that more people would go insane then it wasn't worth the risk.

So Padawan Dume kept his recollections of the vision to himself. He didn't tell his master, who was very agitated at the other Council members anyway. He didn't see much of her other than on missions. He also was very reluctant to speak with her when he did see her and conversed with the clones instead. At least they wouldn't get mad if he brought up a touchy subject.

Anakin kept to himself as much as possible. He stopped by Padmé and Palpatine's office frequently, although Palpatine was often very busy, and Padmé could only talk with him and could not comfort him the way she knew he needed to be. He avoided Obi-Wan, dreading what he would say about any given topic. If he brought up the Inquisitor again, Anakin didn't think he could stand it.

After his vision with the Father (wherever he may be), Anakin had lost his resolve that Ahsoka was not the Inquisitor. He quarreled with himself well into the nights when he didn't sleep, and his nightmares haunted him when he did. Well, nightmare, singular. It was always the same dream.

He wasn't planning on sleeping tonight, assuming that he would make it to nightfall without bursting in frustration at the Jedi Order. If he could make it back to the kitchen to return his tupperware without incident, he just might be able to pull it off. He avoided eye contact with everyone, ignored the whispers that followed him, and was about to reopen the doors to his quarters when he heard Obi-Wan calling his name.

So close.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan ran to him, and Anakin turned, seeing the distress on his face. "Anakin, they need you. It's the Inquisitor again."

Anakin was tempted to rebuke his master and jump out the window instead, but he nodded and followed him to the communication center where Master Yoda and Mace Windu were speaking with a clone through a hologram.

"Here he is," Master Windu said, and he nodded to Anakin as he walked out. Anakin did not return the gesture, but stood beside the Grandmaster and looked at the clone who had called. Obi-Wan stood by his other side.