Another Present

Summary: Sequel to Another Future: Kya is a Walker now, and she's one last universe away from fulfilling her prophecy. But no one ever said that this last universe would be easy to save, between disbelieving Jedi, plotting Senators, and a looming sacrifice. And that doesn't even begin to cover the darkness that's been waiting for a millennium of lifetimes to take revenge on her.

Rating: T due to the complexity of the storyline and some of the more suggestive parts of the story

Genre: angst (emotional & a little physical) ; romance ; hurt/comfort ; friendship ; mystery

Canon Character(s): Knight Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi ; Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (38) ; Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine ; Anakin Skywalker (22) ; Padmé Amidala (27)

OC Character(s): Knight Kya Kenobi ; Padawan Aurora Ranor ; Airean Starkiller

Set During: RotS

Author's Note: Another Present is the last installment in my "Another Universe" trilogy. The first story was Another Past and the sequel was Another Future. You could probably understand this story, but I urge you to read the other stories first because I will be pulling a lot of elements from those prequels into this story.

Another thing is that for the characters listed – there are obviously more canon and OCs mentioned, but unless I believe that they will have a POV or play a major role or if I wish to hide some plot twists, they aren't mentioned. Yoda and Mace Windu appear in this story, for example, but listing the entire council would drive me nuts, so . . . yeah.

Trailer

A big black screen with the words – Parallel universes exist everywhere, bound by the Force and with identical destinies and faces. Each will follow the same tragic storyline, with love and hate, trust and betrayal, life and death.

Or, at least, such was the fate.

Now, things are changing.

Flash.

"You look . . . ridiculous," Ben decides.

"Please be quiet."

"I really thought your training was done by now. Weren't you already declared a member of the Order?"

"Formally, yes, Ben, but my duty is not fulfilled."

"Excellent."

Flash.

A girl of perhaps thirteen or fourteen years veers away from the door and heads towards the belly of the ship, and Anakin and Obi-Wan sigh.

"Where are you going now?" Anakin demands.

"I need to find my Mother and my Master, obviously."

They stop. And stare.

And then a woman is standing there, speaking quietly to a man and the girl, before looking up and freezing, before she says, "Rescued by celebrities. I'm flattered, Master Kenobi, Jedi Skywalker."

Flash.

Mace Windu stares at Kya. "She called you Mother."

Kya remains unmoved, stroking the hair of the girl currently enclosed in her embrace and murmuring soothing words. Behind her lies the smoking ruins of battle droids, sliced to pieces by Kya's fury, and the Council stares, incredulous.

Ben murmurs, "Her Order is different, Master Windu. Aurora is bound to call her Mother, just as she is bound to call me Master."

Flash.

"Your security is absolutely horrendous, Senators."

The Delegation of 2000's commanding circle freezes, caught, unable to flee, and Kya steps from the shadows, amused.

"I've been listening for the last twenty minutes," she continues. "It was most interesting. No doubt the Jedi Council will find it equally interesting. But I do have to wonder, if you really wished to keep it secret, how did you possibly think you could do so from the Jedi Order with security bugs littering your apartments?"

Flash.

"Don't you dare judge me!" Kya hisses, and the entire room trembles with her fury. "I am no Jedi bound to follow your every wish. I am a daughter of the Walkers, sworn to the duty of the Force and the Force alone, and I will go after Ben!"

"That is out of the question. You're too firmly attached," Windu says.

All he gets is a hysterical laugh. "But of course I'm attached! I am a Walker, bound to no form except my soul! Were I to remain without an anchor, I would have gone insane years ago, and you dare to suggest that – "

"Calm yourself!" Yoda interjects.

The room stills, objects returning to their former places, and the storm quiets.

Kya rubs at her face. "Forgive me. A Walker is bound to her soulmate in bonds stronger than any other kind. Ah, but you can already see that, can't you? Already, I'm beginning to go insane."

Flash.

Anakin watches Padmé and Kya as they speak and coo at the tiny Skywalker twins with a gaze of frustration, and Ben smiles ruefully at him.

"You must learn to trust her," Ben says finally, "just as I learned to trust Kya. You cannot always save her from everything. Sometimes, you must trust her to save herself – and one day, maybe, even to save you."

Anakin turns to him. "What does it mean to trust?"

"It means to become one with another. To think of the other's soul as your own. To love beyond any rules or limits or sense. To be one."

Flash.

"I have one last task," Kya says. "One last battle to settle. And they cannot help me."

"I thought you said that no Walkers could assist you again."

"They can't. I'll be on my own, beyond the reach of the aid of any of my brothers and sisters. But if I do not succeed, then all universes will be beyond the reach of the aid of my brothers and sisters for the rest of time, and free will, courage, compassion, empathy, love – they will all fade, too. It must be done, and I must be the one to do it."

Ben hugs her close, and Anakin, Padmé, and the others smile. "Not alone. Ever."

Kya manages a small smile. "Very well. Then we'll need eight, for the binding."

Flash.

Kya Ranor-Kenobi is the last of her kind, the last of the ancient order of Walkers, destined to forever alter the destiny of the Force – for good or for ill. Now she faces the greatest challenge of all, because she was born a Walker and raised a Jedi, and both sides clamor for dominance. But only one can win, and she must find her own inner peace before she faces the greatest enemy the Force has ever faced.

Because if she doesn't, then with her fall comes the fall of every universe.