Orders were given, brisk and efficient, and the soon legion found itself back at base, packing up what was left of their supplies and preparing to depart. Moral was higher than it had been in weeks thanks to this victory, and more than once during the departure preparations Obi-wan heard a clone or two express their intense relief to finally be leaving what they called the "shithole of the galaxy."

Obi-wan's joy, however, was stunted. Upon arriving back at base, he had been informed by the Jedi Council, via Admiral Yularen, that their next mission was soon to be upon them. Obi-wan and Anakin, along with the 501st, had one week to resupply and replenish their numbers before their next assignment.

While they had accomplished their goal of destroying the factory, there was still much work to be done throughout the galaxy before they could call the war over. The Separatists seemed to have more heads than hydra, and refused to back down. Day after day he saw the exhaustion etch itself a little deeper into the faces of his men, and he knew that he, Anakin and Ahsoka fared hardly any better. As it was, he had difficulty remembering the last time he has slept for more than an hour or two at a time, or even meditated without interruption. Yes, this war was taking a toll on all of them, and Obi-wan was apprehensive as to what would be left when it was all said and done. With these sobering thoughts to keep him company, Obi-wan sought out Anakin to assist in organizing their return to Coruscant.

It was sometime later before Obi-wan found a moment to himself. After making the jump to hyperspace, Anakin had left to treat his shoulder wound and Ahsoka to meditate, leaving Obi-wan to his own devices. He had always enjoyed watching the starlines of hyperspace. To him, they were peaceful and soothing after a long stint on one planet or another. While he had never been a huge fan of flying, Obi-wan could not deny the beauty created by the streams of stars. However, his moment of peace was not to last. Through the force Obi-wan could sense the presence of Commander Cody approaching him and regretfully turned away from the transparasteel window to greet the soldier.

"Cody," Obi-wan acknowledged with a nod of his head for the trooper to speak.

"General," Cody was never one of long greetings. "The girl is awake."

This was good news at least. The Force had surged so powerfully when she had appeared in that crater, Obi-wan would be surprised if Master Yoda hadn't sensed it all the way at the temple. Now that she was conscious, they could begin to gather answers.

"Thank you Cody," said Obi-wan, beginning to make his way to the medical wing. "I will speak with her directly."

Picking up his com, Obi-wan selected Anakin's frequency and waited a beat for his former padawan to answer.

"Skywalker," came Anakin's disgruntled voice after a moment, sounding like he had just been wakened from a nap. More than likely he had asked the med droids for a nighttime pain reliever to help him sleep.

Obi-wan held off on admonishing his one time student and instead got right to business, "Anakin the young woman is awake. I am on my way to see her now. Please send Ahsoka down to meet me in the medical wing. I would like her to be there."

"Wha' d'ya need Ahsoka for?" Anakin asked in sleepy confusion. "I can help you interrogate her if that's what you need. Ahsoka's not nearly as intimidating as me."

"That would be the point, Anakin. I would like another female to be present when I speak with her."

"Why?" At this point a laugh was evident in Anakin's voice. "Scared you won't be able to control yourself around your girlfriend?"

"Very funny, Padawan," said Obi-wan in slight annoyance. "Just tell Ahsoka to meet me there."

"Will do, Master," came Anakin's reply, and with that the comlink went dead.

Obi-wan rolled his eyes as he continued down the corridor, muttering to himself, "Honestly, I don't know where the boy gets it."


Elena's return to consciousness had not been pleasant. A throbbing headache had greeted her the moment she blearily opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the lights of a what she could only assume was some sort of medical bay (she had been in enough to identify the signs), and it was all down hill from there.

After she had regained her sight, Elena had bee nearly startled out of her skin when a small, white and silver robot had rolled up to her and started speaking. The robot, or droid as it called itself, informed her that it wished to check her vitals, and Elena could only sit there dumbfounded staring at the droid as it began checking her pupils' dilation.

Once it was satisfied that she was healthy, the droid announced in its metallic voice, "Thank you for your cooperation, Miss. I have notified the General that you are awake and are functioning properly. Please remain here for your escort. Your belongings are on the table next to you," and with that, it wheeled around and began to exit the room.

Elena roused herself from her stupor and finally found her voice, calling out, "Wait!"

She quickly stood up off the bed, triggering a rather painful throb from her head, snatched up her wand and holster purse, strapped them both on, and made to follow the retreating droid.

The droid paused in the doorway (which had open with a sharp hiss, once again startling Elena) and swiveled back around to face her. "How may I assist you, Miss?" it intoned.

"Could you please tell me which realm this is?" Elena asked, gesturing around the whitewashed room. If the advanced technology surrounding her was any indication, she was no longer on Earth, not even Tony Stark had anything this sophisticated. Asgard was a possibility, though she didn't think they utilized robots there, so maybe not.

Come to think of it, the portal she had been attempting to close hadn't looked anything like Asgard. The landscape had been rocky and desolate, not at all similar to what Thor had described as the "golden halls of the Realm Eternal." Svartleheim perhaps? Her musings were cut short before Elena could give the matter any further thought.

"I am sorry, I do not fully understand." If it was possibly for a droid to sound confused, this one did. "You are in the medical wing of Republic Cruiser Liberty, under the command of General Obi-Wan Kenobi. We are currently en-route to Coruscant."

It was Elena's turn to be perplexed. Absolutely none of the medical droid's response had made any sense. Maybe Coruscant was a city on one of the Nine Realms. They had cities right? She tried again, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice.

"And on which of the Nine Realms is Coruscant located?"

However, this only seemed to further confound the droid's artificial brain, and the sound of a fan whirring filled the space.

"I am sorry, Miss, but my database contains no records of any existing realms." the droid responded, its metallic voice doing nothing to assuage her growing tension. "Coruscant is the capital planet of the Galactic Republic.

"The what?" Elena had never heard of such a thing. Her head throbbed as she sat once again on the bed, her mind struggling to come up with a logical solution to what she was hearing. Not once in all her research, both magic and muggle, had she ever come across a mention of a Galactic Republic. Granted, after two years she was still getting used to the whole idea of there being eight other realms in the Milky Way Galaxy, but she didn't think something as important as a galaxy-wide government would be left out.

"Miss, are you sure you are feeling well? I can run an additional diagnostic if you would like."

"What? No, thank you," was Elena's somewhat distracted answer. "Is there a human on this ship I could speak with? No offense." She added the last part as an after thought. She didn't know if she actually could offend the droid, but JARVIS always seemed to get annoyed when people didn't trust his information.

"Of course, Miss. Please wait here for your escort." The droid made its exit, and the door shut behind it with another hiss.

Elena didn't even flinch this time, her mind busy turning over the possibility that she was somewhere outside the reach of the Nine Realms. That was a frightening thought.

As the guardian of Earth, it was her responsibility to protect its people from outside forces and act as a peacekeeper on her own world. After the end of the Second Wizarding War, Elena had hoped she was in for a bit of a break, but then came Loki and his attempted hostile takeover, culminating in the Battle of Manhattan, followed shortly by the Convergence and that damn portal, and now she was—where exactly? How was she going to do her job if she wasn't even in the same galaxy?

Once again the hiss of the door sounded, and Elena looked up from her clasped hands. Standing in the doorway were two people, one, a man, seemingly in his late twenties, with ginger hair and a matching, neatly groomed beard, wearing neutral colored robes that had a vaguely Asian look to them, and the other, a girl. Elena gaped at her. She was orange.

Well, a russet orange if she wanted to be exact, with white markings on her cheeks and forehead. Elena was fascinated, having never seen a non-human before, and her worries were momentarily forgotten as her inner Ravenclaw got excited at the prospect. Her eyes drifted up to the girl's hairline, where instead of hair the girl sported blue and white striped—horns? Tentacles? Elena wasn't sure, but she made a mental note to ask. How intriguing!

"Hello," the man said, drawing Elena's attention back to him. "I am Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi, and this," he said motioning to Stripes, "is Padawan Ahsoka Tano. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss…?"

So this was the general-in-charge guy the droid had mentioned. His voice was rich and cultured, with what sounded like an English accent, and he seemed to project and aura of power and serenity. Interesting, Elena thought. However, while his words betrayed nothing but politeness, Elena couldn't help but noticing the slight tensing around the corners of his eyes as he spoke.

He's wary of me, she realized. Not fearful, but cautious.

"Hillard. Elena Hillard," Elena said, extending her hand and returning the greeting. "It is a pleasure to meet you both as well."

Each of them grasped her hand briefly before the man, Kenobi, spoke again. "If you would please follow us Miss Hillard we would like to speak with you before showing you to your quarters."

This caused Elena's hackles to rise, and she immediately grew suspicious. "Speak with" sounded a lot like "interrogate" to her ears.

"Have I done something wrong, Master Kenobi?" She asked, placing her feet on the floor.

"No, but we would like to clear up some things about your appearance on Sullust. You made quite the dramatic entrance."

Again, he only displayed polite civility, but Elena could tell he was uneasy about something. However, she hadn't picked up any sign that he was lying.

Seeing no alternative, Elena stood gestured for the older man to lead the way. They walked in silence, and the group soon found itself ensconced in a small conference room, again decorated in the same whitewashed style. These people seriously needed to learn there was more to the color wheel than neutrals, Elena thought to herself. Ahsoka was the most colorful thing in the whole place as far as she could tell.

Taking her seat, Elena met Kenobi's eyes and nodded for him to begin.

"You may not be aware, Miss Hillard, but you were found unconscious in the middle of a battlefield, having appeared, quite literally, out of nowhere."

This was indeed news to Elena. She had no concrete memories of anything after losing control over the portal on Earth and getting sucked in. Only vague impressions lingered, and none of them specific. After the initial impact of her back onto the hard ground, a stream of blue light flashing in and out of her vision and a sensation of flying were all she could recall before waking in that medical room.

Kenobi, seemingly not noticing her preoccupation, clasped his hands in front of him on the table and continued. "You appearance was shortly proceeded by a flash of white light and an earsplitting clap of thunder, after which you were discovered in the bottom of a crater."

Not knowing what else to say, Elena said timidly, "That sounds like quite an impressive entrance."

"Indeed, Miss Hillard." Kenobi replied drily, with the slight raising of an eyebrow.

"Surely you can appreciate what difficult times these are, Miss Hillard. Master Kenobi and I only wish to know that you are not a threat to us or the Republic." This time it was the girl, Ahsoka, who spoke. Elena had been starting to think she was mute. Her tone was laced with a steady calmness that Elena had not expected. With the amount the girl had been fidgeting in her seat, she had anticipated a fair amount of impatience.

Nevertheless, her words had been full of meaning. From the sound if it they were involved in some sort of conflict or war, which would explain the paranoia and suspicion Elena had encountered thus far. Another truth wound its way uncomfortably into the forefront of Elena's thoughts. Her earlier misgivings had been right; this was an interrogation.

Meeting the cool blue eyes of the man sitting across from her, Elena stated in her most authoritative voice, "I mean neither you nor your Republic any harm. I am not a threat."

Her reply was met by more silence, but she could tell the strange pair was studying her closely.

Suddenly, Elena felt a probe brush her thoughts, and without hesitation she slammed her mental shields down into place, throwing the intrusive presence out of her mind.

The reaction was instantaneous. Ahsoka gasped softly and reached for something on her belt. Kenobi, on the other hand, had stiffened as if someone had doused him in freezing water.

Elena had learned occlumency years ago during her time at Hogwarts, and though Snape had been a pain in the ass, she was, once again, grateful for the instruction.

Clenching one of her hands around the handle of her wand, Elena glared at Kenobi, for she knew that it had been he who had tried to enter her mind. If there was one thing she despised it was when others attempted to intrude on her mind without permission. It was an abuse of power utilized primarily by dark wizards, and Elena could not abide by it.

When she spoke, Elena's words were soft, but no one could mistake the tone that was just north of seething.

"Normally, when someone wants information they ask politely. Digging through another person's head without consent is widely considered to be a violation of the worst kind, Master Kenobi."

Only a few seconds had passed since the initial touch, but Elena could see the surprise etched onto Kenobi's face. Serves him right, she thought viciously, however her anger was fast transforming into confusion. How had he been able to access her mind in the first place? He wasn't carrying a wand. Was this some new form of magic? These would have to be questions for later she decided.

"My deepest apologies," Kenobi said, inclining his head slightly, with only a fraction of discomfort left on his face. "I only meant to discern if your words were true."

"That does not give you the right to enter my mind without permission. I have no reason to lie." Elena's voice was hard, and her eyes never left Kenobi's.

"That may be so, but I'm sure you can understand our need for caution."

"It may have escaped your notice, Master Kenobi, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Elena said derisively. "I have a few questions of my own, starting with where the Hell am?"

Ahsoka looked at her as if confused by the question. "The medical droid said it had informed you that you were on the—,"

"I am fully aware of what this vessel is called," Elena interrupted, her exasperation getting the better of her. "What I want to know is which of the Nine Realms we are on."

Her question was met with silence, and Elena saw Ahsoka glance at Kenobi questioningly. The two shared a brief look before turning back to Elena. Finally Kenobi spoke.

"Miss Hillard, I am sorry to inform you, but I have traveled this galaxy quite extensively, and not once have I ever heard mention of a place called the Nine Realms."

Elena's mind had gone numb, and she dumbly stared at the table in front of her. This wasn't possible. Earth, or Midgard as the other realms called it, had been the last to know of the existence of its neighbors. Now, everyone knew they shared their galaxy. It was common knowledge. But, said an apprehensive voice in her head, what if this isn't your galaxy? She had managed to convince herself that the medical droid had been wrong, that she was still able to get home, but now all her hope and wishful thinking was being torn to shreds.

"Whatgalaxyisthis?" Elena questioned suddenly, still eyeing the table. In her distress, the words had come out choked and practically unintelligible.

"I'm sorry?" Kenobi asked, concern evident in his voice. "Miss Hillard, are you alright?"

Elena's head snapped up to meet the startled faces of her escorts. "What galaxy is this?!" This time her words were strong, clear and demanding. She could feel her earlier panic returning and knew she needed to calm down before she lost control.

"Miss Hillard, please calm down," Kenobi said, his voice still calm, soothing even. "You are in the Galactic Republic, headed towards Coruscant."

There was that word again. Coruscant. What was it?

Choosing to say nothing, Elena stood and made her way to one of the shuttered windows, and after a moment's deliberation, she was able to activate the control to open the shade. Her jaw dropped. She had been expecting to see a landscape of some sort zooming past; she was not prepared for the complete blackness of what could only be space littered with stars streaming past the windows.

Elena stumbled back from the window and looked towards Ahsoka, who was now standing and still gripping what appeared to be a short metal rod in one hand. The girl's stance was tense, and Elena could practically feel the distrust emanating from her.

"Miss Hillard?" Kenobi prompted her. This time a note of alarm permeated his voice.

Elena turned to face him, her eyes still wide. This interview was not going well, and Elena was only left with more questions than before. Deciding a truce was probably her best bet at this point, Elena drew her wand out of its holster and placed it in the middle of the large table. She felt naked as soon as she relinquished her hold on the familiar piece of wood. It was, in many ways, her life.

Kenobi studied the piece of wood in front of him for a moment before comprehension seemed to dawn in his eyes. Reaching down to his belt he removed his own silver tube and placed it beside Elena's wand.

"Master!" Ahsoka gasped, clearly aghast at his actions.

"Ahsoka, if you would please remove your lightsabers as well," Obi-wan said, his eyes never leaving Elena's.

"But Master Kenobi, what if she's a Separatist, or a Sith or—"

"Ahsoka," This time Kenobi's voice held a warning.

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka complied, her tone deflated.

"Thank you, Master Kenobi," Elena said once all of the weapons were on the table and out of reach of their owners.

"Think nothing of it," Kenobi replied. There was pause, and then, "You are not from this galaxy are you?"

Elena shook her head.

"That's impossible!" Ahsoka exclaimed, but was quickly silenced by a look from her superior.

"Where are you from then, Miss Hillard, and why are you here?" While his calm exterior was still intact, Kenobi seemed to tense even more at his suspicions being confirmed.

Elena's response was prompt. "I am from a planet called Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy."

"And why are you here," Kenobi reiterated.

"That I couldn't say." A small noise of exasperation escaped Ahsoka at these words, but Elena continued. "From what I have been able to piece together, I was brought her by accident through one of the Convergence portals.

Seeing the blank looks on her audience's faces, Elena elaborated.

"The Convergence is an event that takes place once every 5,000 years in my galaxy, when all nine of the worlds, or realms, come into alignment and the barriers between them become blurred. Unstable portals spring up on each world near the point of alignment, and one can easily pass from one realm to another in only a step."

"And you believe that somehow, a portal to our galaxy was tossed into the mix as well?" Kenobi's voice was even, leaving Elena with no clue as to what his thoughts were. She nodded.

"If these portals are so unstable, what were you doing so close to one in the first place?" Ahsoka questioned.

"It was my job," Elena answered, turning her attention back to the orange girl. Not exactly the truth, but not a lie either. Elena wasn't sure she trusted them enough to reveal her real position just yet. She had enough enemies and didn't need more. "My friends and I were tasked with safely closing the portals on Earth and preventing as much damage as we could to the population of Greenwich, the alignment site."

"Fascinating," Kenobi said softly. "Though I would wager that something went wrong."

Again Elena nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, the last portal I was attempting to close felt… different...more powerful than the others. It was as if the energy surrounding it was frayed, as though it had been torn from its source." Here Elena moved her gaze to her clasped hands, feeling almost embarrassed by her defeat. "The containment spell seemed to have no affect on it, and eventually the gravity field surrounding it was too much for me, and I was sucked in. The next clear memory I have is waking up in the medical wing."

No one spoke for some time after she finished speaking, and Elena was starting to become uncomfortable with the continued silence. Glancing up through the strands of her short blonde hair, she saw that both Kenobi and Ahsoka had their eyes closed, with looks of deep concentration on their faces. This puzzled her. What the heck were they doing?

Another few seconds passed, and slowly, both of them blinked open their eyes and focused on Elena once again.

"I sense no deceit from her, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka said calmly.

"Neither do I," Kenobi agreed, though he remained thoughtful.

Elena bristled at this pronouncement. She had thought her shields had been sturdy enough to prevent any further invasions into her mind. If the two of them had just slipped passed them…

Her thoughts must have shown on her face, because Kenobi spoke up not a moment later, his hands raised in a gesture of peace and a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth, "We were simply consulting the Force. We did not trespass upon your privacy."

"The—What?" was all Elena managed to get out, her indignation fading away

"The Force," Kenobi explained, "is an energy field created by every living being. It is what gives a Jedi his power. Though, I believe that would be a talk better suited for another day."

Elena wanted to ask what a Jedi was. Perhaps it was this galaxy's word for wizards. That would explain why he had been able to access her mind in the first place. However Kenobi continued before she could voice her speculations.

"While I believe that you are telling the truth, Miss Hillard, I would like to postpone judgment for the time being. In the meantime, I would like to call a recess to our discussion. We have all been subjected to a long day and could do with some much needed rest."

He stood, Ahsoka and Elena following, and the scraping of chairs momentarily filled the air.

"Thank you Master Kenobi," Elena said, outstretching her hand to him, "I am grateful for your understanding."

Kenobi shook her proffered hand, "I trust you will forgive our caution. As Ahsoka, said, these are dangerous times, and it pays to be safe rather than sorry."

"There is nothing to forgive. I understand just how draining war can be, both mentally, and physically."

"I am sorry," he said, and he appeared to mean it too. His eyes had taken on a slightly haunted look to them.

"As am I," Elena replied.

"Ahsoka will show you to your room. I trust you will be comfortable. Please do not go wandering the ship until my colleagues and I have made a decision. I will be sharing all that we have discussed with them tonight, and I would like to renew our conversation in the morning."

"That sounds agreeable," Elena said bending to retrieve her wand. Only once it was safely back in the holster on her thigh did she meet his piercing blue gaze again and say, "Goodnight, Master Kenobi."

"Goodnight, Miss Hillard."

And with that, Elena followed Ahsoka, who had once again donned her own weapons, out of the conference room.


It was another couple of hours before Obi-wan was able to retire to his room to sleep. After ending the conference with Miss Hillard earlier, Obi-wan had shared his findings with Admiral Yularen, Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and, of course, Anakin.

The four had been astonished, though somewhat skeptical, upon hearing what he had learned. Obi-wan couldn't blame them either. The whole ordeal was a bit farfetched even for him, but in the end the Force had confirmed what his mind could not accept: This young woman was indeed from a different galaxy than their own. Though this realization only led to hundreds of more questions, the most prominent being, what is she?

Elena Hillard had power, that much was obvious. No ungifted person would have been able to push him out of his or her mind the way she did, and fury he had seen burning in her green eyes when she caught him had been nearly palpable. Granted, Obi-wan did feel slightly guilty for his intrusion, he was not fond of forcing his way into others' minds, but he hadn't seen a better option at the time.

What did puzzled him, though, was that she did not feel Force sensitive. It was a foreign sensation, a slight buzzing of energy that seemed to surround her in a cocoon, not at all like the gentle waves of serenity normally felt in a Force sensitive. Obi-wan had never sensed anything like it before. And then there was her casual mention of spells…

Truth be told, there were no protocols in place for this type of situation, and after much discussion, the five of them had agreed that a second round of questioning was in order to determine whether or not she posed a threat. If, after that, she was deemed to be benign, Obi-wan and Anakin would bring her before the Jedi Council.

As he sat upon his bed and began to remove his boots, Obi-wan could only wonder why it was always him that the Force seemed to enjoy throwing endless obstacles to.

"Oh, well," he mumbled to himself as he dressed in his sleep attire. "At least she's not a pathetic lifeform this time."

And with that, Obi-wan settled himself into bed and was quickly asleep.