THE PRODIGAL SON.

// Quick doodle I did of Aurelia and @prodijedi ‘s Dooku

A Heart In Chains

⚔️ For @prodijedi who liked for a starter ⚔️

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the discovery request was taking its sweet time being fulfilled. Whispers of suspicion were quick to rise and just as quick to die down with a few key words from a few key players. The last thing they needed was Palpatine to be made aware that there was an ongoing investigation occurring - one that could, and likely would, end with his execution. Unfortunately, the rumor mill had turned. And though it had been stopped, it was not without the ears of a certain few having been perked up and put on edge to the point where they were now digging their heels in, or otherwise dragging their feet in an attempt impede the investigation.

The High Chancellor? A traitor? Certainly not! We'll have no part of this witch-hunt.

So it went. And while many on the Council, including the Grandmaster, were convinced that they'd find enough evidence, the tension remained. Again, the idea of Dooku testifying and using his journals as evidence was raised, but that was a whole other debate that was ongoing in the council. To trust or not to trust the word of a treacherous count. The idea certainly had its merit. But the evidence was circumstantial at best. They needed concrete proof to back it up. At least, that was Master Yoda's belief.

Because if they could find that, then it could mean the fall of the Sith, and the exoneration of his old Padawan.

For now however, both the Council and their investigation were in gridlock. Still debating, still searching. And for Dooku, that meant he was stuck in a limbo of sorts. Back in the Temple at last but still donning his force-suppression cuffs, afforded only as much freedom as his leash would allow him and left in the care of his handler. His bond-mate.

"Nothing yet," she sighed as she walked in, carrying with her a datapad that displayed the current updates from the scribe recording all the ongoing conversations in the Council's chamber. "They're waiting on some sort of breakthrough from the investigation team. But they've been at a halt for the last two weeks because neither the Banking Clan nor Nute Gunray want to answer any questions. They won't even respond to invitations from the likes of Senator Amidala."

The datapad slipped from her hands into the basket tucked into the crook of one arm as she collapsed into a chair near the door, one paw rising to press at her temple. She was aggravated. Her brow and her tail were both twitching, indicating that she likely had a tension headache from all the stress. After a moment of trying to soothe it was some small circles, she looked back at Yan and smiled. Oh that smile. All these years and it never ceased to be so warm, so comforting, even with the exhaustion she felt lingering in the corners of her eyes. "I don't know how you were ever able to do all this. Politics, I mean. It all just seems so exhausting."

She sighed, trying to cast the thoughts from her mind for the moment. Trying to bask in the relief that came with the realization that such a job would never be hers. Instead, she redirected her attention to the basket still hanging off of her free arm and moved to pull it into her lap. The datapad was removed and banished to the table beside her and she moved to navigate through the actual contents within, verifying it was still intact before setting it on the floor and pushing it towards him. "Enough about that though. Here, I brought you something."

Indeed she had.

Handmade tarts, just like the ones she used to bring to their picnics when they were still just younglings. Carefully folded pastries filled with sweet creams and jam made from various fruits across the galaxy. A rare sweet treat indeed. And to think, her first thought upon seeing them for sale was of him.

THEY WERE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. With each second that passed, the chances of Darth Sidious discovering the investigation into his chancellorship — and subsequently, Dooku’s status as a TRAITOR to his cause — grew ever greater. Much to Dooku’s dismay, the majority of individuals involved were understandably reluctant to grant him a more PROMINENT role in the investigation, in spite of the fact that it was he himself who knew its subject better than anyone else in the galaxy.

⠀⠀ ⠀ Dooku was HOME AT LAST, but he was still so very despondent. What ought to be the greatest triumph of his life — overcoming the oppression of the dark side and living to tell the tale — was clouded by the fact that HE WAS NOW CUT OFF ENTIRELY FROM THE LIVING FORCE. The Jedi Temple's life and light ought to be touching his soul, chasing away the darkness in which he has willingly wallowed for more than ten years, and yet, there was NOTHING. He has been reunited with his (father) true master and his life partner, and yet, he's never felt so ALONE.

Granted, he did not have to spend these days in isolation. Aurelia granted him permission to visit the Archives and find sanctuary there if he desired, but Dooku did not wish to find himself caught up in public confrontation while he was so VULNERABLE. The handcuffs that he donned thoroughly defanged the predator at the top of the food chain; subjecting himself to the wrath of the prey that he once hunted in the name of darkness was a fool's errand.

⠀⠀ ⠀ Thus, he remained in his apartment out of self preservation, and remained solitary whilst battling through this stagnant waiting period. Aurelia, it seemed, had different plans.

Aurelia’s entry into his apartment SUPRISES him, much to Dooku’s personal shame. If he was able to access the Force, then he would have sensed her imminent arrival — and yet, she had startled Dooku. His pacing around the living room (reminiscent of a caged animal) arrived to a screeching halt. Before he could even greet her, his Dyad bondmate took hold of the reins for the conversation, bringing with her the unfortunate news that progress has not been made in the investigation.

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀THEY WERE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

“The investigators chose Senator Amidala to make overtures to the Separatist Council?” Dooku repeats, INCREDULITY woven into his voice. “Foolish idiots!” He snaps, the previous incredulity becoming IRRITATION. “Honestly, Aurelia, the only decision more dense would be sending that Valorum girl of yours—”

⠀⠀ Dooku cuts himself off upon noticing the basket of baked goods that Aurelia had pushed towards him, his breath hitching in his chest. (Naturally, only his favorite handmade tarts had the rare and enviable ability to silence Dooku’s frequent political rants.) “Oh, my dear soul—” The pet name lodges itself in his throat, forcing him to swallow a lump of sudden emotion. “—you shouldn’t have.” Yet, even as he uttered these words, he could not stop his lips from tugging upward into a real, genuine smile. “Thank you.”

⊱ ⠀⠀ … ⠀⠀ @vendettavalor

QUOTES FOUND ON PINTEREST

ASKBOX PROMPTS OF ASSORTED QUOTATIONS THAT I HAVE FOUND WHILE MAKING BOARDS FOR MY MUSES ON PINTEREST

CHANGE gendered words if necessary.

SPECIFY muse for multimuses.

“   Something in me wants more. I can’t rest.   ”

“   The sword of destiny has two edges. You are one of them.  ”

“   I don’t want worship. I want understanding.   ”

“   Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.   ”

“   The truth is, I pretend to be a cynic, but I am really a dreamer who is terrified of wanting something that she may never get.   ”

“   Your heartbeats set the rhythm for my heart.   ”

“   Because you feel like home to me. That’s why I love you.   ”

“   I feel my soul drawn to you.   ”

“   I have for the first time found what I can truly love. I have found you.   ”

“   I felt there was no point in telling anyone anything that was happening inside me.   ”

“   The world either breaks or hardens the heart.   ”

“   Am I supposed to be grateful to have survived this?   ”

“   You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering.   ”

“   It bothers me that no one has the patience to deal with someone who is just sad.   ”

“   I have never understood where the line is drawn, between sacrifice and self-slaughter.   ”

“   Sometimes suffering is just suffering. It doesn’t make you stronger. It doesn’t build character. It only hurts.    ”

“   The past beats inside me like a second heart.   ”

“   My soul and yours are the same. You appear in me, I in you. We hide in each other.   ”

“   You are always haunted by the idea that you have been wasting your life.   ”

“   I am not cruel — only truthful.  ”

“   No one wearing a crown comes in the name of peace.   ”

“   I am starved for tenderness and that is what is the matter with me and has been for months.   ”

“   You? What could one more splash of blood mean to you?    ”

“   Can you hate someone for what they have done, but still love them for whom they had been?   ”

“   I'm sorry you were not truly loved and that it made you cruel.   ”

“   I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you.   ”

“   I am not merciful, and I am not kind, and l am not afraid to make you wish that I was.   ”

“   It does me no good; violence has changed me.   ”

“   So heartless, yet so full of feelings.   ”

“   You blossom under kindness, don't you? Like a rose.   ”

“   All suffering originates from craving, from attachment, from desire.   ”

“   I look at you, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you.   ”

“   Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.   ”

“   Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.   ”

“   "Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all.   ”

“   We all romanticize the people we adore.   ”

“   I've lived too long with pain. I won't know who I am without it.   ”

“   If you know too much, you’ll get old too soon.   ”

“   Cowardice is the most terrible of vices.   ”

“   I am tired of being brave.   ”

“   I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here.   ”

“   There isn't always an explanation for everything.   ”

“   Everything will turn out right, the world is built on that.   ”

“   People do not see you. They invent you and accuse you.   ”

“   Never have I dealt with anything as difficult as my own soul.   ”

“   You are a woman marked for sorrow.   ”

“   Rise up, then. Mend your ways, start seeing what you are instead of calculating what you should become.   ”

“   Stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself.   ”

“   Very early in my life it was too late.   ”

“   I want to change. I want to stop fear’s subtle guidance of my life.   ”

“   You misinterpret everything, even the silence.   ”

“   Lately many years have passed.   ”

“   You’ll bear it. You’ll last out. You will.   ”

🌈 ― aesthetically pleasing blog ⭐️ ― convincing portrayal of a canon character 💻 ― excellent writing 🌼 ― creative headcanons 🎙️ ― great to talk to 📚 ― nice threads to read 🎀 ― all-around kind person 🥇 ― well-developed oc 😍 ― admiring from afar 📌 ― a staple on the dash 🏆 ― 10/10 blog, would recommend 🎲 ― random choice ( type @ and a letter and shout out whoever appears first ) 🧡 ― sender's choice ( sender can add whatever category they want ) 💜 ― receiver's choice ( simply shout out whoever you want )