Welcome! So, despite writer's block on my Stargate story, I somehow discovered some inspiration for this tale I've been cooking up. You can expect steady updates for this for a while, since I have built up quite a few chapters. My head has practically been spinning with midterms, concerts, etc. I'll leave you to the story. Enjoy!

Dreams of Reality

She was walking down a long metallic hallway, stopping every few feet as soldiers in white full-body armor marched through one hallway or another. She didn't trust them. Just because the Republic was using them didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"Something wrong?" her gun-wielding partner asked, coming around the corner and startling her. "Sheena, I know you don't like being cooped up on a ship full of clones, but at least it's safer here than most places right now. I just wanted to let you know that we're receiving a transmission from Senator Organa. He said it's urgent…something about life or death…?"

"How much longer until we reach Kashyyyk?"

"Less than an hour."

Before the woman could move to follow her faithful companion back to the bridge, the clone commander approached with his helmet removed.

"What is it, Jon?" she inquired, her pleasant, motherly voice calm despite the disturbance she felt through the Force.

"Mistress Lerann, I just received an order from the highest authority. With regret…"

Sheena's hand slowly moved towards the lightsaber at her belt as several clones began lining up behind Jon.

"I assume this order came from Sidious?"

Jon straightened and looked sympathetically at the Jedi and her roguish companion.

"It has been an honor serving with you both."

"As it has with you," said the Jedi, offering the Makashi salute with her now-engaged weapon.

The clones raised their weapons and fired.

The just twenty-one-year-old awoke with a sharp yell, banging her head on the overhead light at her desk. As she nursed her self-imposed injury, a young man with straight but full black hair, expressive brown eyes, and Prince Charming features cautiously entered the bedroom. His mouth twitched as he fought to hide his amusement.

"What are you still doing here, Jake?" the girl asked, noting that the boy was just as bleary-eyed as she felt.

"I was so tired after our study group that I just crashed on your couch. I figured your roommates wouldn't mind."

"Your apartment is just a block away, Jake."

He shrugged.

"Your scream woke me up."

"I did not scream," was the snappy retort.

"Are you okay, Kim?"

Kim rubbed her eyes and stared down at her textbook, realizing that absolutely none of it made any sense. Physics was not her strong suit. Why was she even taking this class? Right. To satisfy her father, the astrophysicist. Her parents were both brilliant scientific minds. The fact that she shared none of their intellectual passions frustrated them frequently. She preferred literature, history, language, and the outdoors; they liked math, science, and technology.

"Just an overactive imagination, too many Red Bulls, and a big exam tomorrow."

"Well, it's the last exam and we're home free until Senior year."

"I wish I had actually paid attention in this class."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm getting all A's in my other classes!" she defended.

"Which include Dance, Languages of the World, French, Interpretation of Law, and Choir…"

"All of which are upper division courses. You're probably getting a C in that Law class, if you're lucky, so don't growl at me about Physics. As long as I pass the class, I couldn't care less. I need some water."

Without another word, Kim grabbed the crutches by her desk and hobbled off towards the kitchen. Stupid hiking accident…

She was completely unaware of Jake's sad stare before he followed her.

She was aware that it was a dream. She had learned to use dreams to find answers in real life multiple times. It rarely failed her. This one, however, was one of the more strange dreams.

She was walking steadily along the mountain ridge with a steep drop on the left. A few feet of trail were all that was between her and a neck-breaking fall. The terrain was beautiful but deadly to city-folk. She was aware that there were about ten people behind her. She had volunteered to lead them on a week-long hike during the spring break along the Pacific Crest Trail. She realized now that she should have gone alone or with just a friend or two. All but three of these people had little to no experience hiking and they seemed determined to prove it.

A cry and the sound of sliding rocks summoned her attention.

"Kim, we need the rope!"

Kim nimbly ran to the end of the panicking group to where Scott, a cocky Freshman at her college, was clinging to a tree root about fifteen feet down the perilous slope. His foot appeared to be caught in a rock crevice. About fifty feet further was a sheer drop down the towering mountain range.

"I don't even want to know," the girl grumbled before raising her voice. "Scott, just hold on! I'm coming to get you." Removing her pack, Kim detached a rope from it and proceeded to hand one end to Jake and hook the other to a harness around her waist. "You three, help Jake support the weight. You might need to drag Scott back up here. Check your cell phones for a signal. He'll probably need medical attention."

Slowly, she picked her way down to the stupid boy, pausing when she reached him to find a better foothold than the wobbly rock that presently held her weight.

"Here, let me steady that rock for you."

"Scott, don't!"

Too late. In the process of trying to provide a more steady foothold, Scott had lost his own balance and ended up hitting Kim, who in turn lost her own balance and went tumbling downhill another twenty feet before the people on the other end could steady themselves and grip the rope. Along the way, she heard and felt a distinct snap in her ankle as her foot got snagged in another rock crevice.

"Are you okay?!" a chorus of voices called.

"Any luck with the cell service?" Kim growled through grinding teeth. "The hike is canceled. Stupid tourists…"

Sheena awoke cringing from the pain in her dream. She had dreamt of this young woman on numerous occasions. Nothing about her seemed familiar and she never met her, so the Jedi had long resigned herself to the dreams. Master Yoda had advised that she be watchful of them, but they had no significant impact on her life beyond being an escape from reality.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the two Jedi she had been partnered with on this mission, peeked into the sleeping quarters.

"The pilot says that we should get there soon. You should get ready."

Sheena bit back a retort that she was always ready and collapsed back on the bed as soon as the Jedi Master left. She hated missions. Admittedly, they were great for the prestige and getting to see other cultures, but she preferred to be in the Jedi library or training younglings or inventing something. She wasn't the most adventurous Jedi ever. The main reason they wanted her on this mission was because of the possible technology they would find in this Separatist lab. Hopefully, it would be worth tearing her away from reading about the history of Darth Malak and Revan and the possible impact they had on present Sith thinking.

If she had been a little more competitive, Sheena could have become a Jedi Master two months ago, but she just didn't care for it. The Force was certainly a great gift and she valued the balance that the Jedi brought the galaxy over the centuries, but her life simply did not revolve around it. As a child, when her friends were sneaking off to races and cantinas in the lower city, she was sneaking off to visit scientists and libraries.

Sheena met her fellow two Jedi at the door to the miniature hangar with their shuttle.

"Are you clear on what our mission is?" Obi-Wan asked as he secured a communicator on his belt.

Sheena looked behind her to make sure that he was actually talking to her.

"I was there at the briefing too, Obi-Wan. I may not be a war hero like you, but I'm still a trained Jedi. I know what I'm doing."

Obi-Wan nodded and a call came through his com.

"Master Kenobi," the careless voice said, "we've reached Argai. I hope you have a good coat. I hear it's pretty chilly on that rock."

"We've heard a lot of things," the man replied. "Thank you for the ride, Captain Onasi."

"Any time, Master Jedi. Let me know when you're ready to be picked up. Tell your lady friend that she can take up my offer for a drink whenever she likes."

Sheena blushed slightly, but said nothing.

"We'll see you soon."

"It seems someone has a crush on you," Anakin chuckled, stepping onto the unmarked shuttle with his companions.

Sheena ignored the comment, instead asking,

"Do you think that Captain Onasi might be descended from Carth Onasi from the time of Revan?"

"Pretty good chance of it. After three thousand years, the family would probably be spread across the galaxy. The name has apparently survived."

"Hm." Sheena's interest had ended there. "Let's get this over with."

Falling silent, Sheena let herself slip into her own world. The only real reason she was on this mission was because this particular Separatist base was reported to have a highly sophisticated lab that needed someone experienced to examine what was dangerous or valuable. Aside from that, she had so far been treated as a mere passenger. She was used to it, though. She was different; it was a simple fact. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but she didn't show off her abilities like many other Jedi. She passed the Jedi tests brilliantly at the age of nineteen, a couple of weeks after the Battle of Geonosis.

What made matters worse for her ever since childhood was the fact that all of her memories prior to the age of seven were a bit…foggy. Actually, she remembered pretty much nothing. She did, however, remember Yoda talking to her about it. The first time she had actually seen the green Jedi Master face-to-face, she had been terrified but fascinated. He hadn't seemed sure of her at first (she had, after all, been found wandering around the halls of the Jedi Temple barely an hour after daybreak with no memory of how she had gotten there), but he quickly became one of her dearest friends and confidantes. He had known everything about her, while she hardly knew her own name.

"Frightened are you?" the little Jedi asked, approaching the wide-eyed child upon dismissing all but two of the other Masters from the meeting room.

The girl shifted nervously.

"A little."

"Remember your name do you?"

Her pale face screwed itself into a tight knot of concentration.

"It's… I think my name is Sheena…Sheena Lerann."

"You think?" the tall, dark-skinned man demanded a little sharply, causing Sheena's mouth to go dry.

"I…I don't know. I have a bunch of thoughts that don't make sense. Can you help?"

"Hmm," the green one hummed. "Much confusion I sense in you, but deceiving us you are not. Something has...changed."

"She does not seem to recall any of us, yet I do not sense that she is a threat either," the tall-headed one stated.

"You can return to your training and we'll try to help you," the dark man offered a little more kindly than before, holding a hand out to Sheena, who took it. He glanced pointedly at the green Master, who nodded. "Sheena, do you mind if we go down to the infirmary and get a sample of your blood? It won't hurt."

"Okay…sir."

"You may call me Master Windu."

As she followed Master Windu out into the hall, Sheena vaguely heard the short one comment to his companion:

"A close eye we must keep on our younglings. Her attackers we know not."

"What would they want with a child that was worth the risk of taking her from the Jedi Temple itself?"

Kim stared the psychologist down. She had just told the story for the fifth time and, now, her only question so far was, 'What is your relationship with this boy that fell…Scott?' She actually wanted to give a sarcastic answer of 'He's an idiot', but she had a feeling that wouldn't go down very well. Kim wasn't the type of person to stay angry with someone. She had held two grudges in her entire life, both for very good reasons. For some reason, however, every single person she ran into since the spring break had insisted that she take advantage of the free counseling services on the college campus to resolve her 'deep-seated issues'.

She really didn't care either way. Sure, she would make sure that Scott knew what he had done, but she was forgiving by nature. Scott was a good kid who just didn't belong in the wilderness and she knew that. She didn't have any issues that she couldn't deal with on she own.

Slowly, the counselor looked at the file compiled from Kim's medical records, leaving the reluctant patient to shift in her chair uneasily.

"How are your classes, Kimberly?"

"You can just call me Kim…and my classes are fine."

"And you're a Junior at USC…?"

"I'm majoring in Linguistics, and minoring in Music. I considered Archeology, but the major I have is more suited for future plans."

"You enjoy music?"

"Yes. I'm in the Chamber Singers and the women's choir."

"I thought I recognized you… Your parents are scientists…an astrophysicist and a math professor, correct?" Kim resisted the urge to grit her teeth as she nodded. She was here to satisfy her teachers, parents, and friends by talking about her accident; instead, this aggravating woman was jumping around with small talk. "What made you choose Linguistics? Did you ever consider following your folks into the more abstract sciences?"

"I prefer to be more hands-on with my work. I have a friend who was in Special Forces. I love languages and I want to possibly get involved in the military, FBI...something like that. They can always use more linguists."

"So your career choice has nothing to do with your parents…?"

"Why would it?"

"Well, apparently, you were quite interested in math and the idea of physics until you were about…seven. Do you remember if there was a significant shift in your life that changed that?"

"I…" Then something dawned on Kim. This woman was probably the psychology doctoral student she had heard about from one of her friends. She was determined to pin everyone's problems on family troubles and had gotten herself in trouble because of it more than once. "Wait a second…you're trying to eventually get around to suggesting that the reason I majored in linguistics and not math or some other technical science is because I'm rebelling against my parents for not giving me enough of a nurturing environment as a child.

"You're going to say that it's the same reason I bottle up emotions, go on crazy hiking trips, sing early music that I know my parents don't like, and have avoided taking any classes from my mother." She continued in an accusatory yet bored fashion, putting no emotional effort whatsoever into her rant. "You're going to try to pin all my problems on my relationship with my parents when the reason I'm here is because I was stupid enough to let a stupid Freshman come on a stupid hiking trip…you'll probably even say that I jumped down that mountain or that I pushed Scott down that hill because of my parent issues.

"I know what modern scientists like you are like – you push and prod and study and experiment just to see what the results are, basing everything off of a few stupid rules and findings and then running with it. Do me a favor. Why don't you study some of the real world; actually look at the lives of the people here, who you consider to be your inferiors. Go spend some time with a poor, rural family and see their love for each other and the simple things in life."

In reality, she wasn't actually as passionate about degrading psychologists as she sounded; she just had seen too many young professionals slip into prejudice and assumption, which they were never supposed to do. She had taken a psychology class during her Sophomore year, so she appreciated what psychologists did. But she hated being analyzed. So…this was the way she would throw the woman off of her trail, confuse her, and make a quick getaway.

"In short," Kim concluded with a smirk at the other student's gaping face, "…take a vacation, Blondie."

It worked. The psychologist said nothing when Kim picked up her bag and left the office. She wasn't really one for words, but desperation had given way to senseless babbling. Whatever. It was effective.

"How did your test go?"

Kim broke from her reverie as she exited the classroom to find Jake on a bench waiting for her. She had taken two of the three hours to finish her physics exam (only because she couldn't think of any more answers); Jake had taken less than an hour.

"Fine."

"Hey, you wanna get some coffee?"

"Uh," Kim hummed reluctantly. "Okay. But first, I wanted to check one of the labs upstairs. I keep passing by it and it looks like there's some pretty cool stuff there."

"Sure," Jake replied somewhat hopefully, following the hobbling girl to the elevator.

"There's this really weird professor I've seen skulking around some old machinery up there."

"Oh," was the disappointed sigh. "Well, how about some video games later before we meet up with Rick tonight?"

"Count on it. Oh, and I keep wanting to show you the book I'm working on. I'm kind of stuck."

"That's the one you're basing off of the dreams you've been having?"

"Indeed. What's weird is that the dreams don't seem to be in order any more. I write them down in a notebook, but I have no idea where to place them in the book."

Well, here's the start. More to come. May the Force be with you.