Oh, hell. If you're normal, you're going to be confused anyway!
As far as a disclaimer, you know the drill.
Prologue
Tatooine.
Anakin leaned over the pilot's shoulder anxiously as the ship approached the two warring figures, as if he could will the mysterious black-robed creature dead by focusing on Qui-Gon's every move.
He was not the only one. Both Padmé and a young Jedi stared intently, their faces knotted in worry and helplessness as the two lightsabers clashed amid the billowing cloud of sand.
The ship lowered, the ramp came down. The silence was palpable.
Suddenly, the pilot turned to the young Jedi, his face pale. "That other guy's on the ramp!"
Obi-Wan turned to the others, a ferocity in his voice. "Stay in the atmosphere," he commanded, then gave a lingering glare to Padmé. "You all stay here." With that, he left for the back of the ship.
Everything after that was a blur. Padmé called up security footage on a viewscreen and they all watched in horrified fascination as the two Jedi took on the creature -- each breath kept rhythm with the striking of beams of light, and time took on a distorted, unreal quality.
Storm's coming, Ani.
In that way that he'd always known things, with that ability that had afforded his current position on a royal starship, he again saw the dark wave from his dream.
A sandstorm.
But the silence was unbreakable, solemn, nearly religious.
On the screen, the dark creature drove one of his lightblades into the newly-installed hyperdrive as he collapsed to the floor.
Padmé's face fell, and she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, Ani."
"We're losing navigation controls," the pilot muttered under his breath, low and detached by the setback.
He didn't hear either of them. The knowledge was too much. "There's a--"
Before he could finish, they were all knocked to the floor and engulfed in howling and screeching, and an unnatural and sudden silence.
"I'm Your What?" (A What-If)
by JediGaladriel, Moriah Organa of Alderaan, Mr. P, SithAbigail, and Vee
Lando was about to steer the skiff off toward the valley where the Millennium Falcon had been patiently waiting for... the Maker only knew how long they'd been on this dustball of a planet. Lando had lost track at a month. He would be glad to get off it, that was for --
Behind them, the sound of Jabba's barge going up had become a drone, but suddenly, the sound changed, became a roar, then the whistling sound of a crashing ship.
"Lando, turn around."
"Already on it," he muttered, and noticed to his chagrin that he was already on it. Since when did I decide to do the Brave Rescuer bit for a living?
As they swung around, he caught the glint of the sun on a smooth metal hull, rounded slightly along the oblong...
A Nubian! It was a Nubian! Damn, he thought. When he'd been a kid, he'd thought those were the finest ships in the galaxy, and he still wasn't sorry to get to see one up close.
Up too close.
He swerved at the last minute. The Nubian and the skiff barely missed each other, and the skiff was tossed to one side like a toy. It landed in a dune.
"Nice landing," Han cracked. "You didn't do this to my ship, did you?"
Lando turned to make a retort, and he caught sight of Luke Skywalker's face.
Luke's eyes were wide and confused, and Lando could almost see his mind trying to put things together, like sparks jumping around on a circuit board. He shook his head.
"I don't understand it," he finally said.
Leia also looked troubled, though she'd looked pretty troubled in Lando's opinion ever since Jabba put her in that ridiculous gold bikini. (Lando didn't have much problem with skin, but he could think of a hundred things more flattering. And had, though he knew better than to ever say anything of the sort.) "Where did that ship come from?"
Lando shrugged. "Orbit, maybe?"
Luke shook his head. "It was flying low. It wasn't coming in -- it was trying to take off when it crashed."
Han was already denying it. "Luke, my eyes aren't at their best, but even I would have noticed something that size coming through."
Lando agreed, but said nothing.
"Whoever they are," Leia said, they'll be in trouble if we don't get to them pretty soon."
On that point, there was little argument.
----------------
Amidala of the Naboo -- Padmé Naberrie, she corrected herself, remembering that she was still in costume -- was more than a little uncomfortable.
The ship finally came to a stop against something. The wind, so loud a moment before, had gone ominously silent. But that wasn't why she was uncomfortable. The landing had thrown her across the cockpit. She'd rolled around Ric Olie and landed against a panel with some kind of control that stuck out of it, and was pressing into her shoulder. Anakin, who had been standing beside her, had somehow maneuvered behind her, and absorbed most of the blow, but he was just enough shorter that he'd been clear of it. She was sure he had to be hurt worse, but the way the ship was canted, she was having a hard time moving away.
Finally, she rolled to one side, hoping that she wouldn't find the boy crushed beneath her.
He was smiling, but his eyes were faraway. "You all right?"
"Shoulder's sore. What about you?"
He pushed himself away from the wall. She could see that most of the switches he'd hit were, luckily, small. One had torn his shirt, and drawn blood, but he was all right.
"Is everyone all right?" she called generally.
There were murmurs around the cockpit, then Sabé -- Queen Amidala -- appeared at the door, holding on to it to avoid spilling down the slanted floor. "Eirtaé twisted her ankle," she said, not putting on much of a regal act. "But the rest of us are unharmed."
"And our... visitor?"
"Is temporarily stunned from his encounter with the hyperdrive, but I do not trust it."
With an effort, Anakin climbed the floor, and reached the door where Sabé was standing. He bowed a little bit, and Amidala was sorry to see that he looked frightened. "Your Majesty, may I see Qui-Gon?"
A voice called up. "I'm back here, Ani. I'm all right."
"Master, I... I feel something..."
Suddenly, the clash of lightsabers rang through the hull.
"Master!" Qui-Gon's padawan shouted.
Anakin disappeared around Sabé -- it was all Amidala could do to catch Sabé's eye and remind her not to jump in herself -- and then the clashing sounds stopped.
Qui-Gon re-appeared at the door. "Your Majesty," he said, panting, and Amidala noticed with some dismay that he was looking straight at her, and not even acknowledging Sabé, "we have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Sabé asked.
Qui-Gon answered, still looking at Amidala. "Our visitor cut through the hull. Wherever we are, he is loose."
----------------
Luke knew what it was he felt, but it didn't make sense. There was no doubt about it -- his father was on board that ship. There was a kind of resonance to Vader's presence that he couldn't mistake --
Aren't you jumping the gun?
he asked himself. He might have been lying, trying to distract you with... with what he said...It didn't do any good. He had, as instructed, searched his feelings, and known it to be true. He just didn't much like it.
Concentrate. Bespin is in the past. Keep your mind on where you are and what you are doing.
His father was on that ship.
The resonance was there, but... but it was different. He'd thought that what he felt around Vader was the cloud of hate and anger and
(desperation)
fear, but all of that was gone now, and still, it was unmistakable. The pulse of energy was surrounded only by a vague nervousness, a little sadness...
What was happening?
He was already off the skiff, and halfway to to the ship. Leia was close behind. Han's eyes weren't quite where they needed to be, even though he'd landed a few good shots, so he and Lando were a little further back, along with Chewie, who was wounded. The droids had stayed put.
A flash of light appeared near the rear of the ship, and a black form fell out of it. This time, Luke did feel a wave of terrible hate and anger, with none of the other things he associated with Vader. The idea that the thing might have been Vader, just by its cloaks and movements, didn't occur to him. He knew better.
The gangplank lowered, and before it even came close to the ground, a long-haired main in a tan poncho leaped out of it, somersaulting down to the desert floor with a lightsaber ignited. It was green, like the one Luke himself had just built.
A powerful surge went through the Force, and Luke understood, though he understood nothing else, that this man was a Jedi Master. A wordless request came to him, and he knew that his help was requested.
He ran to the other man, who had abruptly stopped and sheathed the lightsaber. A frustrated breath escaped him, then he turned, looking entirely unsurprised to see a Jedi. "I don't believe we have met," he said. "I thought I knew nearly all the older
padawans. I am Qui-Gon Jinn."
The name meant nothing to Luke, nor did the word he'd used. "Luke Skywalker," he said. He was tempted to say "Jedi knight," but bit his tongue. Yoda had not given him permission to use the title, and he'd really only used it to --
Jinn's eyes narrowed. "Skywalker?"
Two more figures were running down the gangplank, a younger man in long brown robes and a small, dusty boy... Luke's eyes widened as he again felt the distinctive surge of energy.
"Say nothing," Qui-Gon Jinn instructed him.
Luke felt he had little choice but to obey.
At any rate, Leia had crested a dune, and was also headed over.
The three of them arrived at the same time.
-------------
"Are you all right, Master?" Anakin asked. There was another man with him, a young man, about the same age as Obi-Wan Kenobi (who had introduced himself very briefly, in an irritated tone of voice). Anakin's eyes went to the new person, like metal to a magnet. He couldn't explain it, but there was something...
Then something else. A lady came over the dune, and Anakin felt the same thing.
Only he couldn't look at her. She hardly had any clothes on. He'd seen ladies looking like that at Jabba's place and it always made him feel like taking a bath, but this one... he couldn't look at her at all. It was like looking at his mother in one of those things. He took off his shirt, keeping his eyes averted, and held it out to her. "Here,"
he said. "You'll get burned."
"It's all right."
"Please..."
"It won't fit."
He realized she was right, and put his shirt back on, still looking at his feet.
Kenobi's voice came across. "Here, Miss. My young friend is right about getting burned."
Anakin saw a flash of dark brown cloth, and looked up with relief as the lady put on Kenobi's big robe. Now that he could look at her, he thought she was pretty, and that she really did look a little like Mom. "Hi," he said.
She smiled, amused. "Hi."
"We've lost him then, Master?" Kenobi asked.
Qui-Gon nodded. "I don't know how one becomes lost in this flat expanse, but he seems to have disappeared into the sand itself."
----------------
Amidala inspected the hole carefully, getting as close as she could without placing herself inside.
The door swooshed shut behind her and the distinct rustling of Sabé's costume came to a stop at some distance from her.
"Master Jinn knows," she admitted, her voice quiet, her eyes on the figures in the sand.
Sabé's voice was tinged with disappointment. "I didn't tell him or his padawan, Your Majesty."
Amidala rose to full height, and faced her bodyguard. "I know, Sabé. You served me well."
Their eyes wandered back outside.
Sabé motioned to the elaborate dress she wore. "Shall I change out of this?"
Amidala watched as a scantily-dressed woman accepted the padawan's robe, and frowned. "No, we do not know who these people ally themselves with -- it might be best to play these roles a bit longer."
"Does Her Majesty wish for her handmaiden to assist the Jedi?"
"Sabé..." She nearly corrected her for the formality, but sighed and came to terms with it. If they behaved as if the Master Jedi knew while in these others' presences, and let such small lapses in, they might slip in a critical moment. "Yes, she does."
Sabé grinned, and nodded slightly in obeisance. "I shall send Padmé immediately."
The Queen of the Naboo brushed past her handmaiden swiftly and outside into the sand.
-------------
C-3PO was very confused by this mess. How could a ship appear out of nowhere? It was impossible, except if the ship came out of hyperspace, or it had a cloaking shield. Cloaking shields didn't really work 'cause you couldn't see out of them, and the ship appeared too close to a gravity well to have been in hyperspace, threepio reasoned.
He decided to take a look around this ship.Oh, my goodness. What happened to their
hyperdrive? They won't be leaving here soon.
Stumbling around the ship, he ran into the astromech storage room. There, he saw a shut-down artoo, sitting on the rack, even though R2-D2 was supposed to be on the Falcon. He rapped the shell, and artoo suddenly started up, wheeling around.
"R2-D2. What are you doing on this ship?"
beep-dowip notship
"What do you mean, where did I get my shell? They must have given you a memory wipe, the Maker knows why."
kowowl
"I was not 'just functional' the other day! I have been totally functional for years, you twerp! Master Luke will have your hide-"
hwert-rong tyip wer nik
"What do you mean, 'Who is Master Luke'? Do you know who these people on this ship are? They might not be friendly."
jin-gon bon-b dol-a anasky
"But Master Kenobi is dead! I saw it with my own sensors! This is madness..."
-------------
In orbit above the Sanctuary Moon.
Vader sat in his meditation chamber aboard the Executor. He was meditating, he supposed, but he could find no single focus for his anger, no particular hatred to energize him. He was tired. So very tired.
It mattered little. He had a job to do, and he did it. He bullied Jerjerrod, and threatened the pathetic troopers assigned to outside construction, and had somehow pushed the Death Star back onto schedule. The Rebels could now begin using it as target practice at their leisure.
He shook his head. His thoughts had taken a morose turn -- and sometimes a disturbingly faithless one -- ever since Bespin, and he did not care for it at all.
Luke...
He whispered his son's name into the Force, but nothing came back to him.Join me, my son.
Nothing. Too far for Luke to hear him. The boy was still largely untrained, and Tatooine was a quarter of a galaxy away. And the boy was definitely on Tatooine.
Even through the current morass, Vader was pleased with himself about that
strategy. It was partly that he'd managed to keep several leaders of the Rebellion busy with their own affairs for several months, but on the main, it was more personal: whether Luke chose to join Vader or not, Jabba the Hutt was about to keep his longstanding appointment with a Skywalker and a lightsaber. This pleased Vader deeply, no matter what else came of it. Palpatine's treaty with the slaving worm wasn't going to be protecting him anymore.
He slipped deeper into his meditation, casting his mind toward Tatooine hungrily. He saw only glimpses... fires, and a gun, and Luke's lightsaber... and Leia Organa, her arms strained as she...
And was she dressed as a slave? Had Jabba actually dared to enslave the Princess?
Vader smiled. In his brief flash of vision, he saw her pulling a chain taut around Jabba's neck, and that was even better than the lightsaber, more fitting. The slaver killed by a slave that he never should have dared to take. He would have preferred someone tied to his own blood carry it out, but Leia had done quite nicely in the end.
The sweet energy of old vengeance came to him, and he was strengthening himself
with it when...
His shoulders straightened; his back went stiff as a corpse. He could smell something on the wind of the Dark Side, a presence both strange and familiar. Along with it were other impossible presences, but this one was the one that he needed to notice, no matter how distracting the others were.
He'd felt the presence only for a brief time. By all rights, it should have long since vanished from the universe. But it had suddenly appeared again, with
(amidala qui-gon obi-wan and it cannot be but it is...)
the others.
Maul.
Vader had taken some of Maul's memories into himself when he'd bonded with his Master, and he recognized the pattern.
The first apprentice Palpatine had raised up. The one Obi-Wan had killed on Naboo.
Vader did not especially care that it was Maul, only that another Sith had entered the galaxy, and if there was one thing he knew and counted on, it was that there could not be more than two. Palpatine would choose one of them to survive and the other to die.
Vader had no intention of allowing that choice to be made.
He would reach Maul first.
He offered no explanation when he commandeered a TIE interceptor, and set course for Tatooine.
It was time, at last, to go home.
-------------
The robe was made of some kind of coarse material, and it itched. Beneath it, the ridiculous metal dancing costume was pinching her skin in a dozen places, and deep-steaming it in even more.
She was decidedly uncomfortable.
Yet she found herself accepting the strangers' appearance with no discomfort at all.
They weren't here, now they are here, ho-hum, that's nice. And if there were two members of a nearly extinct order standing there as if they had every right and expectation to be there... well, once you accept everything else, are two Jedi really that much of a stretch?
Leia didn't think so.
Until the one who had offered her his robe said, "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi."
At that point, her mind kicked in. "You're who?"
Luke gave her a look that meant something, but she wasn't sure what, then offered Kenobi a conciliatory smile. "She means 'hello and thank you.' It took me awhile to translate it the first time, too."
"It certainly isn't an intuitive translation."
Leia was briefly annoyed, but realized quickly that they were simply bantering. And she had neglected to thank him for the robe. Itchy it might be, but she was glad for the covering. The little boy who had come out with the Jedi had glanced away so quickly that she'd realized how she looked, and become deeply embarrassed to look that way. She had swallowed the humiliation at Jabba's because she had no choice; Leia Organa, princess of Alderaan, had been made into a slave -- a cheap and tawdry one at that. The boy had understood this humiliation at once somehow, and when he'd offered his shirt, she'd thought it the kindest gesture she'd seen in a very long time, though of course an impossible one to take up. The Jedi's offer of a robe was one she could accept, but she would remember that he had not been the first to offer it. When the boy turned and smiled at her after she was dressed, she felt instantly more comfortable. More dignified. More herself.
She straightened her back, and turned to the man who claimed to be Kenobi. "I do thank you, sir. I was surprised at your name. I grew up hearing the name Obi-Wan Kenobi. You must have been named for him."
The young man shook his head, mystified. "To the best of my knowledge, I am the only padawan ever given this name. It is not the practice among the Jedi to create
duplication in naming."
The other Jedi turned. "We seem to have experienced a temporal dislocation," he said, as casually as if he were explaining a minor mechanical malfunction. "We'll need to be careful."
The boy moved toward him. Leia wondered if he was the Jedi's son, but didn't think so. "What do you mean?" he asked.
The older Jedi turned around. He looked over Leia's shoulder, and nodded as Lando and Han came into earshot. "Our hyperdrive malfunction had an unintended effect, Annie. We seem to have arrived at a point in the future."
Leia's mind tried to blank again -- ho-hum, so what -- but she didn't let it. Her eyes went to the Nubian. That class of ship hadn't been made for many years, yet it looked new and shiny. She could see a small figure coming down the gangplank, and beginning to walk toward them.
"Why do you think that, Master?" Kenobi asked.
"Reach into the living Force, padawan. The city is very different now than it was even a few hours ago."
"Perhaps it's the past..."
"No. I am almost certain of it."
Leia told him the year.
"That answers it, then."
"How far?"
"Thirty-five years, give or take. We'll need to return."
"Master Qui-Gon!" a high, young girl's voice called across the sand. "Her Majesty does
not wish for you to conduct meetings without my presence."
The girl, Leia knew at a glance, and her heart began to beat quickly and furiously.
She had dreamed of her, remembered her voice, felt her running in her own blood. She turned to look her mother in the eye.
---
The older Jedi tried to suppress a grin -- the Queen's persistence in maintaining the façade was admirable. The way she carried herself, even as the handmaiden Padmé, was far too in control, confident ... too regal for a peasant girl in Her Majesty's service.
Amidala gave a quick glance to
(Anakin's son?)
Luke and his companions -- a woman in her early twenties who returned the passing look with a transfixed stare, and two men who were maybe toddlers in Qui-Gon's own rightful time.
Her lips were pursed indignantly. "The Queen wishes to know what has become of our attacker."
He challenged her stare with calm, cool eyes. "Young handmaiden, we are presented with an unusual dilemma at the moment, one of which I'm certain the Queen is not aware."
"And that is?"
The rest of the group looked at one another hesitantly, a general feeling of uncertainty attached to exactly what he would reveal to the stubborn servant of a mysterious and absent queen.
Anakin was the one to play the messenger. "We're in the future."
"The future?" A pause. Her eyebrows arched in amused, detached disbelief. "Well, isn't this all wonderful?"
---
He didn't mean to do it.
He didn't mean to laugh in front of the ridiculous parade of his child-father and the young Old Ben, but the girl did first and it was infectious in the same the way one of Aunt Beru's chuckles were when Uncle Owen would let forth a string of frustrated curses with no direction. Then to his delight the boy began to laugh even harder than either one of them, but it was probably more at the way they stood in one place, two formerly-serious public servants trying to maintain some dignity in their postures as loud sobs of laughter dissipated into shallow breaths and silent exuberance, than at the absurdity of the situation.
It was ridiculous, unfathomable even. It relaxed Leia for them to laugh, he could feel it; she had tensed up the moment she saw the girl and for a fleeting moment it reminded him of his own reaction to his father's presence and a flash of something -- the girl's own words twisted into something more intrinsic, rooted within him.
The laughter was, however, short-lived, as the reality of the situation sank in.
The girl's dark eyes searched Luke. "You were the one that said this?"
Leia jumped at the opportunity to answer this, the anxiety turning to nervousness, her eyes avoiding the penetrating stare of the handmaiden. "That would be me," she said, very softly. "I confirmed the year."
----------
Anakin was glad of the chance to laugh -- everything had been so serious lately -- and he guessed maybe he did it a little too loud, but all this was so weird. It needed somebody to laugh. He was a little sorry when it stopped, but at the same time, he wanted to hear the future-people talk, especially the young Jedi. It was funny, but he thought that the man looked a little bit like Padmé, right around his nose and the way his cheekbones looked.
"I confirmed the year," the woman in Kenobi's robe said. She was staring at Padmé nervously, like she wanted to make a good impression. Anakin wanted to tell her that Padmé was good and kind, and wouldn't make it hard to do, but he didn't figure she'd appreciate it much. (The oddity of a grown-up lady seeking the approval of a fourteen-year-old girl occurred to him briefly, but he dismissed it; Padmé was just the sort of person you wanted to have approve of you, no matter how old you were, he figured.)
Padmé smiled at her. "Well, I'm sure we appreciate the clarification. I am Padmé Naberrie, in the service of her Majesty, Amidala of the Naboo."
The young woman offered a formal bow, which looked a little ridiculous in the middle of the desert, especially given what she was wearing, and said, "I am Senator Leia Organa, Princess of Alderaan."
The two older men showed up. Both of them looked a little the worse for wear. One was dressed like Jabba's guards. The other looked like he'd just woken up after sleeping in his clothes for a few days.
They all looked at each other. Anakin had a name for the lady -- Leia Organa -- but he didn't know the others. He figured maybe somebody ought to do something about that. Well, he guessed he could do it as well as anyone else. He shrugged, and said "Hi."
The one who looked sleepy gave him a wave, and the other one nodded.
Anakin started introducing his group. "This is Master Qui-Gon Jinn," he said, pointing to Qui-Gon, "and his padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. And this is Padmé Naberrie." He presented her with a bow, trying to mimic Leia's (Leia smiled at him, and he found that he liked that).
"And who are you?" she asked.
"Oh," Anakin said. He was used to introducing people in his position as a slave -- he was good at remembering stuff, so Watto had him keep track of names of people a lot -- which meant he needed about as much introduction as the kitchen table himself. It had been weird, yesterday, the way he'd wanted to make sure Padmé knew his name. It was almost like a secret he'd wanted to tell her, even though it wasn't really a secret. Most people knew who he was because they'd seen him fly in the podraces. He sort of liked that he didn't have to tell people who he was... he showed it.
But he still hadn't told these people his name, or showed it to them... his mind had wandered completely. He brought it back on track. "I'm Anakin Skywalker," he said.
Leia and the two older men all looked up at the young Jedi, just like someone had called him. Anakin turned curiously to see what the fuss was.
The Jedi was looking at his feet. Finally, he looked up, and looked straight at Anakin.
"You've met Leia," he said. "These others are Lando Calrissian and Han Solo."
He glanced at Qui-Gon, who rolled his eyes. "I'd thought to say nothing, but it seems a pointless strategy just now."
The younger man went on. "And I am Luke." He bit his lip. "Luke Skywalker."
It took a second for it to come into focus, but Anakin was good at putting pieces together to make them fit, and he liked this puzzle a lot. He felt a smile stretching across his face, but all he could think of to say was, "Wow." He reached up to Luke -- this grown-up man who would be his son someday -- and touched the cheekbone that reminded him of Padmé, fighting the urge to look back at her and compare (he thought maybe it would be better not to say anything about that quite yet; she'd been a little bit jumpy when he'd told her he was going to marry her in Watto's shop yesterday as it was, but he hadn't doubted it then, and he really didn't doubt it now).
Luke put a hand on his head, and mussed at his hair, giving him a grin.
Anakin did the same, then laughed.
If this was the future, maybe he didn't need to be so afraid of it.
-------------------
Darth Vader looked through his TIE Interceptor at the mottled view of hyperspace, contemplating his next move.
I do not want to confront Kenobi
, he decided. Or the other Jedi, for that matter. Ionly have a single-bladed lightsaber, with that I can only take on ONE Jedi.
I cannot also kill my former self, or I will die, nor make any sort of connection between myself or my former self. If that happens, I will not be trained.
That is it. I will first go to Yavin IV, build myself a double-bladed lightsaber, and then go to Tatooine and confront Maul. It should not be more than a day's delay. I should be able to find a new crystal there. I could also use a chat with Master Kun.
Pulling himself out of hyperspace, Vader changed course to Yavin.Can I face Luke again? I'm not sure.
-------------------
Young Anakin Skywalker snuck a peek at his grown-up son, as the adults talked in the ship's war-room, trying to figure out what had gone wrong with the hyperdrive and how it could be fixed. His nose looks exactly like Padmé's. And he has my hair, totally wizard!
He couldn't help the huge grin on his face as he looked at Luke.
"What's so funny, Anakin?" Padmé whispered, amused. The pair had snuck off towards the doorway so they could talk easily.
"I'm a Dad and I'm only nine!" He started giggling at that, leaving Padmé rather startled but she soon started laughing as well. His son, he had a grown son and the Princess seemed to overhear the friends and they both looked pretty happy for some reason. I wonder what that's about... The boy mentally smacked himself. Duh! Padmé's his Mother, 'course he'd be happy... But what about the Princess?
"Come on, there will be time later to laugh at you having a grown Jedi for a son. Right now we need to figure out how we can get home before any side effects happen."
Padmé sobered up and walked over to the group, leaving Anakin pretty confused.
Anakin walked quickly to Qui-Gon Jinn and asked quietly, "What did Padmé mean by telling me there's side effects here, Mr. Qui-Gon, sir?"
"Ani, we all have certain things we do in life, right?" When Anakin nodded, Qui-Gon continued. "Well, if we can't get home, we can't do those things and this world might have some nasty effects. We can only hope nothing will happen for a good long while."
A petite female technician rushed into the room a few minutes later looking kinda angry, Anakin thought. "Our hyperdrive's totally blown out, we'll need to buy a new one, I knew that Watto would try to cheat up that---" Here the woman inserted a few choice adjectives that made even Anakin blink and he had been around spacers and Hutts his entire life.
Obi-Wan looked at his Master, barely containing his glee. "I told you that I had a bad feeling about this!"
"Now isn't the time, Padawan. So, now what do we do? Any suggestions?" Anakin saw Qui-Gon look at his son and the Princess who looked kinda like his Mom, asking for help.
He also saw the sleepy man, Han, he thought, rub his eyes and then almost trip. "I don't know that much about temporal mechanics but I'd guess you'd need to use your old ship to get back. And finding a hyperdrive for an old Naboo ship is going to be a problem." Lando, that guy with the Jabba guard uniform, rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"It won't be that hard to find on the Black Market, if you have the credits." Han said, complete with a roguish look that really got on Anakin's nerves for some reason.
Captain Panaka started stuttering and Anakin had to hold back a smirk. "I will not let her Majesty's money go towards the Black Market thieves! We have Republic credits--"
Princess Leia bit her lip. "Old Republic credits don't do any good. Besides, we can't afford to buy things that bring notice like that out in the open."
"Why not?" Padmé spoke calmly, but with a hint of 'I-must-be-answered-now' in her tone. Anakin thought that when she then leaned against the metal of the doorframe and talked like that, she looked like a Queen. Queen Amidala, maybe.
"Because we're wanted by the current goverment." Anakin watched as Leia glared at the other members of the room, daring them to say anything. Okay, I think we're in just a little trouble now.
--------
Luke caught himself wondering if there was some way that his father would be able to get into... his father's... accounts, and stopped thinking that way immediately. He doubted there was a blood scan guard on them anyway. More likely some arcane series of letters and numbers.
And besides, do you really want to tell him...
that?No, he didn't.
Father, at any rate, seemed merely curious. "How come the government's after you?"
Qui-Gon Jinn looked at him. "Anakin, there are things it is perhaps better for us not to know. We might damage the timeline -- "
"Damage it," Han said, rubbing his temple after running into a low doorframe. "Hell, you can hardly do worse knowing than they did before."
"We know so little about how this might interact with..."
Padmé Naberrie interrupted him. Luke had gotten a brief glimpse of the Queen, and he didn't think she herself would interrupt a Jedi Master, but here was the handmaiden... and what was it about her... Leia certainly seemed fascinated. "Master Jinn," she said, "we need information on our current situation. The fact that it involves a temporal dislocation doesn't change that. We can't operate until we know the system we are operating in. And I would prefer not to do business with criminals, unless I know there is a good reason for their actions."
Leia's face fell as if she'd been struck. "We're not criminals," she said. "We're... we want to restore the Old Republic. That's all we're trying to do."
"Restore it?" Padmé asked, clearly confused.
Leia nodded. "It's about to fall. Fast."
Padmé gave her a guarded look. "It's hard to believe. The Republic has reigned for millennia... "
Father was beside Luke again, a small, warm presence. They sought each other's faces, then Father said, with perfect innocent interest that chilled Luke to the heart, "What did they put in place of it? Is it really bad?"
"Yes," Luke said, before Leia could begin a diatribe. "It's very bad. But Master Jinn is right. We don't know what you'll remember when you go back. It might be better not to tell you everything."
"Thank you, young padawan." Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed a bit. "If I might ask, who is your Master?"
Luke didn't answer in words, but nodded at Obi-Wan, who was engaged with the engines.
"Am I dead?" Anakin asked abruptly.
Qui-Gon looked at him. "Why would you ask that, Ani?"
"Luke acts like we don't know each other. But I don't feel like I'm dead."
"And how would you know what it feels like to be dead, Ani?" Padmé said, running a hand through his hair, and Luke understood, suddenly and with complete certainty, that she was his mother. He didn't know how he'd missed it up until now. The two of them... fit. He tried to imagine her beside Vader. He couldn't do it, but he could hear her in Vader's voice, in the way he put his sentences together.
So what is Leia's interest?
He set the question aside. There were enough other questions.
Father shrugged. "I just figured I'd know."
Luke settled for the unsatisfactory answer that was the only thing he was logically sure of (emotional certainty had been achieved already on the matter, but he thought logical answer would be the better one here). "I'm not sure," he said. "I was brought up believing you were dead, but I'm simply not sure now."
"I'm not." The words came out simply and flatly, as if he were discussing the time of day. Then he changed the subject. "Are we still near Mos Espa? I know where most of the good junk piles are there. Unless they moved them."
He went on chattering happily -- Luke wondered if there had ever been a point in his life that he didn't feel like narrating -- and moved to the hyperdrive beside Obi-Wan.
Luke looked to Qui-Gon.
Master, there are things he shouldn't know.
There are things none of us should. Yet he may learn them before the end. And, as your companion pointed out, that may not be wholly bad.
---------------
Amidala was finding herself increasingly agitated by the whole situation. Anakin Skywalker, naturally, was taking it in stride -- Am I dead? indeed, what kind of question was that (and why does it make me feel so sick to my stomach, anyway?) -- but then again, he took everything in stride. Maybe he was just used to people doing things with his life for no comprehensible reason. She herself was used to having control, and this was... not a situation that she knew how to control.
She tried to take his example, to just roll with the punches and see where she ended up. To find it funny to see his grown-up son.
(my grown-up son)
She tried to blink the thought away -- ridiculous, why would she and Anakin have the same son? He was so much younger than she was and...
A conversation she had once had with her grandmother, Winama, came back to her. It was shortly before King Veruna stepped down. Amidala had been Princess of Theed at the time, and had expressed the opinion that it would probably stay that way for awhile. Winama had raised one wry eyebrow and said, "Little one, haven't you learned yet that the future is not just a continuation of the present?"
She didn't think she believed that -- not completely; the future always grew out of the present -- but she thought she might understand what Winama might have meant. Her perceptions in the future might be different. She could provisionally accept the idea, intellectually, for the time being, if necessary. At least Anakin was kind and cared about her, and not everyone could say that.
And, anyway, she wasn't sure, not really. Luke had her nose, but was her nose really all that unusual? She could as easily say that Leia had her eyes, and...
Well, what is that staring about, anyway?
She shook it off. She didn't know why a princess of Alderaan was acting awed in the presence of a Naboo handmaiden -- it was strange, but no stranger than anything else. When she was ready, Amidala supposed she'd talk about it.
Anakin was hunkered down beside Obi-Wan Kenobi now, Luke at his side, as they examined the damaged hyperdrive. Han Solo looked like he wanted to be there, but he was rubbing his eyes, and Amidala was finally beginning to understand that he had some kind of temporary blindness that was driving him mad. She cleared her throat.
"It's not going to magically regenerate," she said, "no matter how many Jedi stare intensely at it. We need to find new parts. Quickly."
Qui-Gon glanced at her and smirked. "Perhaps you should suggest that the Queen give the order?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Perhaps we should just go back into town."
"That's what I think," Anakin said, getting up. "Is Mos Espa still there?"
What a strange question, Amidala thought, but it seemed a logical one.
"It's still there," Han quipped.
"In all its dubious glory," Lando added, rolling his eyes. "Podracing arena's gone, though."
Anakin's face fell piteously. "Gone?"
"There was some fighting here, during the slave revolt. Guess the arena was a small price to pay."
From despair to elation in a second. "We're all free, then?"
"Free as anyone else in the Empire," Han said. "Maybe a little freer, out here in the Outer Rim."
Amidala looked at Leia. The edge of her costume peeked through Kenobi's robe. "Then you're wearing that of your own free will?"
She shook her head. "Jabba has his own rules. The Empire didn't bother with him. But he's not a problem anymore." A grimace flitted over her features.
Anakin looked delighted, and Amidala half-expected a "Yippee," but one didn't come. "Let's go," he said. "I want to go back. I'll find you some parts. We'll find something to trade with the Jawas on, if nothing else..."
He kept chattering as he headed down the ramp, back toward the desert. He seemed not to care whether or not anyone was following.
But of course, they followed.
---------------
Han Solo squinted as he tried to look at the outskirts of Mos Espa, keeping a hand on Leia's shoulder as he did so. The one good thing about being blind is I get to touch Leia without her starting fights with me.
Han smirked at that train of thought, leaving Leia to give him an odd look.
"What's up, Han?" Leia seemed a little concerned, guilt, he thought, is very powerful. That's stupid, you know she does cares, she's not just feeling guilty because Darth ... did what Sith Lords do to people. She's gone through worse, so at least it's not pity.
He was about to answer when he realized something. I can see! His vision was a little blurry but it was clear enough to not trip over his own feet. Maybe trip going into a door, but not his own feet. "I can see, Leia! I can see!
Han picked her up and twirled her, just happy to be alive and that she was alive with him, not minding that the Kid and the Kid's Father (How weird was that? The kid's father is more of a kid then he is!) were smiling, happy for them. Leia giggled breathlessly, "Han, we need to...get the, umm, hyperdrive parts. Yeah."
He put her down regretfully but before he could speak, Anakin spoke up. "It's Watto's shop! Ooh, can we go in, can we?"
Anakin didn't wait for an answer and Luke scrambled after him, yelling, "Father, wait up!"
Ya know, it says something about this town that no one ever notices a twenty-one year old calling some baby-faced kid his father.
Han, Leia and Padmé jogged after their friends, leaving the others who chose to walk at a much slower pace behind.When Han ran in, Anakin was staring around wide-eyed. He was whispering something to his son and Han only caught parts of it. "Working.. behind the counter.. I... to clean.. Watto! Ha!" The small boy continued to laugh at the unfamiliar creature behind the counter.
"You buying anything..... Skywalker?!" The little non-human started babbling too fast in an odd accent for Han to pick up but Anakin seemed to catch it okay.
"You need to be clearer. Which Skywalker? Me or my son?" Anakin smiled serenely while Watto's eyes rolled simultaneously, he stopped beating his little wings and the little bug fainted to the ground. "Watto? Watto?"
Padmé drew herself up from where she was watching (Han realized with a start, that he'd forgotten she was even there, that girl was good at sneaking and listening!) and smirked just a little, a look that didn't fit her face at all. "Good. I do hope that little slave-master dies from the shock."
---------------
Padmé closed her eys as she saw Anakin looked at her with a bit a shock. What's the matter with me? Why do I get a funny feeling whenever he looks at me? Or hate it when I think he's unhappy? He's just a child!
"Padmé! You don't mean that!" Anakin's eyes were wide as he rebuked her.
She turned to Luke, where he seemed angry at Watto as well from the way he glared. She inclined her head, searching for an ally. He nodded, showing silent agreement and Padmé continued.
"You were his slave, Ani. His slave! Do you know what kind of person it takes to keep a slave when they know to the core of their being it is wrong?" She briefly heard the gasps from Leia and Han, but thankfully, the others still hadn't shown. "He doesn't deserve compassion or respect!"
"If I don't give it to him, Padmé , how will I know to give it to anyone?" The small boy's face was serious and it didn't escape Padmé's notice how Luke grabbed his hand, trying to offer comfort.
Padmé was silent and the group fell quiet as well, waiting for the small creature to wake up.
---------------
Anakin had been having some fun with seeing Watto, and introducing his son, because he'd figured it would confuse the Toydarian, but he hadn't expected the poor guy to faint dead away. Watto? He was tough as old bantha leather.
He bent over his old Master -- old Master... he'd been free for three hours! -- and tried to wake him up. As Masters went, they could be worse than Watto. At least Watto had let him race, and didn't beat him very much. And the quarters he'd bought weren't too awful. Some of the other slaves had it worse, anyway.
The old eyes opened and glared narrowly at him. "What are you doing here, pedunkel? I freed you. That farmer cheated for you, and won you."
"He didn't cheat, and neither did I. You feeling better?"
"Eh." Watto pulled himself up, and the wings started flapping again, pulling him up to the counter level. "You want something else from me, pedunkel? What else do I have left for you to take?"
Well, that was a weird thing to say. But Anakin didn't have any idea what Watto meant by it, so he just said, "The parts got fried on our way out, which is how we ended up here. I mean, how we ended up now. You got any Nubian parts around?"
"You better have something better than Republic credits this time. Can't do anything with them anywhere now. And you can't race for it either, that's a fact." He muttered something under his breath about revolts and wars and politics taking all the fun out of life.
Anakin thought of the racing arena, and was sorry it was gone, but that wasn't why he was here. He thought about asking after his mother, but the time ... and she wasn't right here ... he had a feeling she wasn't here, and a bigger feeling that he didn't want to know why. "I'll work for the parts," he said. "If you've got them. I'll work as long as you want, on whatever needs fixing."
Watto waved a hand. "So you think you gonna just walk in here and get what you want from me? You think, all these years I've got no one can fix an engine again?"
Anakin was silent, and let it wash over him. He knew perfectly well that Watto might have found a mechanic. But not one as good as me.
"Peh. It got none of that old stuff, anyway. Haven't made that kind of ship in years. What would I keep such old junk for anyway?"
"Maybe we could see what you do have," someone said, and Anakin turned to find Han Solo coming forward. "Could be we could rig something up. I know the Nubian ships were fussy, but maybe we could convince her to slum it for awhile."