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He looked out to see Aayla and Harry arriving from a meeting he had asked them to go to in his place. More and more often Dooku had been asking Harry to step up to talk to the Council of Counts as a 'Jedi observer,' something Harry didn't seem to be noticing, though the other counts and their heirs certainly did. The other counts in turn routinely brought along their heirs, forcing them both to take part and to interact with Harry and Aayla. This seemed to have brought out the best in all of them, and none more so than the two padawans.
Aayla was outgoing, and Harry had an exceptionally sharp mind to go with her equally high level of Force-assisted empathy. Harry had an almost magnetic personality when he was forced into the spotlight, though he did have trouble putting himself forward in the first place. He also had an exceptionally good head for business on his shoulders, something Dooku admittedly had not expected. His political savvy Dooku could take some pride in fostering along with Master Fay, but Harry's instincts were his own. And the boy doesn't even realize what he's doing, Dooku thought with a chuckle.
Turning back to the other window Dooku stared out over the training area once more, a single word reverberating through his mind: legacy, legacy, legacy. One half of my legacy will be Harry Potter and this training center, my mark on the Order which will last for centuries longer than my own life. And Harry Potter…he will continue to change the Order for the better, to make it evolve, and possibly to even make the Republic evolve, at least this small corner of it, I can hope.
The smile slid off his face as he stared up at the stars. The other half of my legacy will be to find this hidden Sith who tried to tempt me. I will find you, and I will end the Sith for all time!
Dooku did not realize it, and none of the people around him had any way of noticing considering how good he was at not letting his inner thoughts show, but finding the Sith had become an obsession for Dooku at this point. It would be a way to for him to atone, to atone for his near fall and to atone to his padawans for what they had gone through. It didn't matter anymore if it was right or wrong; that was the way Dooku saw it, and he would see this through to the end.
OOOOOOO
Harry and Aayla walked through the doorway, still smiling and holding hands while chatting in their mental plane. They weren't trying to keep secrets or anything; it was simply that speaking mind to mind like that added a bit more tenderness to the few moments they had alone. Moments like this, coming back from a meeting, going to one, or moving from one training zone to another were the only moments of alone time they got these days. Their training schedules and their teaching schedules were simply so immensely hectic they had no time to themselves.
Added to that, both of them had become aware of the fact that Kass and Mak had feelings for one another. They had no desire to rub the fact they were allowed to have a relationship into their friends' faces. That this allowed Harry and Aayla to keep their bond slightly low key in front of the various Masters and Knights was a bonus.
They looked up, however, as a sharp voice brought them out of their personal world. "And wherever have you been, padawans?"
The pair frowned as they heard Master R'sonan's voice, turning in that direction to see him standing at the entrance to the wing of the mansion that had been turned over to the Jedi. Glancing at one another then back to him, Aayla spoke respectfully though the man's tone had put her back up a little, as was the faint tingling of emotions she was getting from him. "We were at a meeting downtown, Master R'sonan. Master Dooku asked us to observe once more, since the meetings of late have a chance of destabilizing the balance of power in this sector."
"Together?" R'sonan asked. The old human Master looked between the two of them, then sighed. "I do not know why Master Fay has allowed this connection to continue, but it must be brought to the Council's attention. The pair of you should know by this point in your training that such entanglements are forbidden."
"This entanglement is a product of the Light Side of the Force," Harry said coldly, taking Aayla's hand again in his from where they had dropped them automatically at hearing the Master's voice. "If you can sense our connection at all Master, you should know that. Further, the Council knows, and has allowed us to remain connected."
R'sonan frowned heavily, then shook his head slowly. "The Council cannot know," he said softly. "There is no way they would allow such a connection to continue. It breaks the most fundamental rules of the Ruusan Reformation. It spits in the eye of the Oath which has kept the Order pure for a thousand years."
"Not so pure as all that," Aayla interjected, shaking her head so quickly she set her lekku to twitching. "There have been twenty fallen Jedi in that time, most of whom fell because they could not be open with their relationships. As for such being at the heart of the Reformation, I thought that the purpose of the Reformation was the fact that the Jedi could no longer form armies or command them. Yes, the Senate then poked its nose where it didn't belong in demanding that Jedi create laws to outlaw relationships and thereby slowly breed the Jedi out of existence, but that was more a side show to the Reformation than the heart."
"What are you talking about?" R'sonan asked, his thoughts suddenly pulled onto a different topic. "The Order is as strong in numbers as it has ever been."
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