Chapter One

Anomaly

Obi-Wan Kenobi glanced over at Anakin Skywalker as he piloted the ship out of their initial hyperspace jump. The two men sat in silence for quite a bit of the journey from Coruscant to Corellia, despite the fact they hadn't seen each other for several weeks prior to leaving. Now over a year into the Clone Wars, the Jedi seemed stretched thin across the galaxy, leading troops, going undercover, striving for peace, and Obi-Wan and his former apprentice had been separated by light years and different missions.

The older Jedi knew a rift continued to form in between himself and Anakin, but he could not put his finger on the cause. He and Anakin, although close, did have a rough time over the years, and Obi-Wan often wondered what he failed to do as a teacher. He longed to have with Anakin the relationship Qui-Gon Jinn had with him when Obi-Wan was a padawan, but as Anakin grew older and more rebellious, Obi-Wan saw this could never be, and he felt he'd failed in several respects. Still, Anakin turned into a marvelous Jedi, dedicated, intelligent, hard-working, loyal. He even had an apprentice of his own now.

Obi-Wan wondered momentarily if Yoda sensed this gulf forming between Obi-Wan and Anakin and arranged this rather mundane mission to Corellia, to procure more ships for the Clone Army, to encourage the men to bond. Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head.

"So, how's life on the Council?" Anakin asked, breaking the silence.

Obi-Wan's grin grew. Typical Anakin, could not stand a thoughtful quiet, a slower pace.

"Interesting. I honestly don't feel a whole lot different, being a Master now. I thought I would but…perhaps if the war wasn't happening," he answered.

And how is Padme? He longed to ask in return but kept his mouth shut. No use opening that discussion. But Obi-Wan knew much more than Anakin thought, and he also knew not to breech the topic. The argument that would inevitably occur would further drive them apart, and Obi-Wan did not see Anakin's transgressions as being terribly harmful, as he was the Chosen One after all.

"Think I'll ever be a Master?" Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed, looking through the front window. A bright blue aura appeared and blinked out in space ahead of them. Strange.

"Master?"

"Huh?" asked Obi-Wan turning to Anakin.

Anakin sighed heavily. "You don't, do you? The Council, especially Master Yoda and Master Windu, don't trust me. I can feel it. They give me an apprentice, but I don't think they'll ever…"

The aura appeared again, but only for a second.

"What the….?" exclaimed Obi-Wan leaning forward in his seat. "Did you see that?"

Anakin turned to Obi-Wan and rolled his eyes in spectacular fashion. "Of course you're avoiding the topic. C'mon Obi-Wan, you're my friend! My brother! You've gotta have allegiance to family over the Council, right? I know Master Windu says I'm…"

The blue anomaly flashed again, and their ship headed straight toward it.

"Full stop!" Obi-Wan cried, reaching over and grabbing Anakin on the shoulder. "Now."

Anakin glared over at Obi-Wan but stopped the ship. "What's your problem?"

But Obi-Wan didn't answer. He studied the space ahead of them. They were in between systems, empty vacuum. Had he been seeing things?

"Didn't you see that blue flash?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin grabbed the metal cup in the holder on the helm and took a long drink of caf. He laughed. "Getting old, huh master? They say the mind is the first thing to go."

"I don't think…well, maybe it was my imagination," Obi-Wan said, puzzled. He looked around him on the small ship, which consisted of only the cockpit and a storage bay, minimal weapons. A simple transport really. He suddenly laughed, trying to put himself at ease. "Maybe I am getting old."

"There's a few more grays than the last time I saw you," Anakin teased. "Although I must say the beard is looking very well groomed."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "A new barber near the Temple, yesterday. Nice to have someone else do it for once." He shook his head. "Sorry, Anakin. Let's continue."

Anakin studied the panel, entering the next set of hyperspace coordinates.

"You know, you could make a little more effort with that mop on top of your head," Obi-Wan said, raising an eyebrow playfully at his former padawan. "You look in a perpetual state of…"

"What in the…" cried Anakin, and Obi-Wan turned toward the window in time to see the blue flash burst and suddenly swallow them.

The ship shook aggressively, and both men cried out.

"Did…did you put it into hyperspace?" yelled Obi-Wan over the clanking of the ship's metal. The transport sounded like it would fall apart at any moment.

"No!" Anakin screamed just as the colors around them changed, running through the entire spectrum.

The movement of the ship seemed to speed up, going forward, and for a time going backward, then spinning…spinning uncontrollably through a tunnel of rapidly changing colors.

Obi-Wan felt himself increasingly pressed to his seat to the point he might implode and become nothing altogether. He reached out to the Force but sensed nothing. His vision began to dim, and he had the sudden realization he might die. But that thought didn't frighten him since he slipped into unconsciousness.

Jerking awake suddenly, Obi-Wan sat up from his slumped position, his eyes darting around the cabin. How long had he been out? Was he hurt? He made a quick assessment of his well-being, noticing his only injuries seemed to be bruising caused by the crash webbing. Thank goodness he always belted in, especially when Anakin drove.

Anakin! He turned toward his friend to see him still out cold, his forehead bleeding profusely. Obi-Wan looked at the floor to see Anakin's metal caf cup with a blood stain around the rim. He'd probably been hit when the ship spiraled. Otherwise, Anakin looked fine, breathing steadily.

Finally, Obi-Wan looked out the front window. A large gas giant planet filled the view, swirls of orange, red, and yellow. He could see several small moons orbiting. While Obi-Wan traveled throughout much of the galaxy in his time as a padawan and a Jedi Knight, he couldn't recall this world, nor the name of the system.

The ship seemed dead in space, the emergency lights and life support system on, as indicated from the helm. Slowly unbuckling, Obi-Wan stood on wobbly feet and went to Anakin.

"Anakin, wake up," he said, ripping a piece of fabric from his robe and applying pressure to Anakin's cut. His friend's eyes fluttered, and he suddenly became wide awake.

"What…where…why is there blood?"

Obi-Wan sat back down as Anakin took over the cloth on his cut.

"What happened?" Anakin said, looking dazed, staring at the planet in front of them. "Ah…that wasn't there before."

Obi-Wan just shook his head, and Anakin began to check all the systems.

"Seems the ship is fine. Looks like some damage to the outer hull. We should do some repairs before attempting hyperspace again," he suddenly looked over at Obi-Wan in excitement. "Hey, maybe we discovered a new hyperspace lane. There's money to be had in that."

"Maybe," said Obi-Wan, curious now. Maybe the Kenobi-Skywalker Route, a new trading lane. Or just Skywalker, as he foresaw Anakin arguing the point that he was, in fact, piloting. "How far away are we from our previous location?"

He turned to Anakin in time to see utter shock take over the Jedi's face. "I…that…no…"

"What?"

"That can't be possible. That would mean we're in another galaxy," Anakin said, barely above a whisper.

"How far?" demanded Obi-Wan, suddenly feeling cold.

"The gauge says we are 20 million light years from our last stop," Anakin said.

Obi-Wan shook his head in disbelief. Twenty million? That seemed like an obscenely large number. He reached out with the Force without thinking and gasped. The Force existed here, but it definitely felt different, hard to place or describe, that difference, but different nonetheless.

"Another galaxy," Obi-Wan said, barely audible, shock settling into his every fiber. "Twenty million light years."

Author's Note: Welcome to my new story! This plot idea kept itching at my brain, so I just had to write and share. While my other Star Wars story is my top priority, I look forward to sharing this fun little tale with you. Expect adventure, friendship, romance, humor, and angst. The rating may change to M, depending. This story will be updated sporadically and chapters will be shorter than my Tatooine Trilogy, although reader feedback through reviews might inspire me.

Please follow/favorite/review. Happy reading, and may the Force be with you!