A/N: Welcome back to Chapter two! From now on, unless stated otherwise, the chapter will all be written from a first point of view. I'll make sure you know whose POV it is and I'll try to not switch POV's in the middle of a chapter. I make no promises though, as some parts might need more than one perspective. Just a fair warning!
Onto the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. If I did, Clone Wars would have never ended.
*Anakin's POV*
I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the ground, gazing up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Where am I? I sat up, blinking the stars out of my eyes. What happened? I tried to call upon the force to help me stop the impending headache. But it wasn't there. There was no force! I could still feel it glowing brightly inside of me, but it stopped there. The rest of the world was devoid of it. If I concentrated really hard, I could sense the bonds I had with my former Master and my Padawan, but even those were restricted. Kriff, Ahsoka!
I glanced over to my left to see Ahsoka sitting up. Thank goodness she was okay! She bolted up suddenly. She must have sensed the lack of the force. I moved closer to rest a hand on the shoulder of my Padawan, hoping to comfort her a little. She looked up at me… then jumped 3 feet in the air. She shrunk back from my touch, blinking furiously, her mouth agape. Frowning at her reaction, I crawled towards her only to have her shrink back again.
"Ahsoka, what's wrong?" I asked. Maybe whatever happened after the bright light on the ship messed with her mind somehow? I briefly wondered what happened to The Twilight seeing as we were in a completely different place now but I pushed those thoughts from my mind. Ahsoka needed my help.
"Master? What… What's happening? You-" She looked like she was going to say something more but something else behind me caught her attention. She went pale. I turned around and followed her gaze over to… What in blazes?! I looked at my former Master, who was mumbling something about hitting his head. But he didn't look like himself. Well, he did but… but… It was almost as if he was a padawan again!
He looked like he had gotten 10 years younger! He didn't even have a beard! I had met Obi-wan when he was 19 so I wasn't completely shocked. He did look slightly younger than 19 though. Maybe 18? I realized Obi-wan was staring at me, a look of confusion on his face. He's not the only one. But my mind was already elsewhere as I remembered the last person of our group. Padme! I quickly found her off in a corner of the room (yes it was a room of some sort, a bedroom maybe?) I rushed to help her as she swayed, clearly dizzy from our experience. She looked a little younger, too.
"Umm, Master?" I said haltingly, glancing back at my now very young friend. "… What happened?"
"I don't know," Obi-wan replied. His brow furrowed in concentration, "All I seemed to remember is a bright light." Padme had finally overcome her dizziness and looked towards the speaking voice. Her jaw dropped open. I imagined I did that at first too. I looked over and saw Ahsoka still frozen in place, staring at Obi-wan as well. He looked uneasy under our stares "What? Is something wrong?"
"Master Kenobi! You don't have a beard!" Ahsoka exclaimed. Obi-wan sat there, not comprehending her words. I pointed to a mirror beside Padme. Obi-wan stood and strode over to peer in it, almost blanching at the site. He always looked very young without his beard, even more now so with the youth he'd regained.
Obi-wan then motioned me and Padme over. When I looked in the mirror, a younger face stared back at me. It had happened to me as well. Though I was kind of expecting that after seeing the others. Contrary to what my Master and Padawan may think, I can actually read a situation pretty well!
It wasn't a drastic change like Obi-wan. I guessed I looked around 18. That seemed to be the magic number here, with the exception of Ahsoka. I stepped back for Padme to look in the mirror while I turned back to Ahsoka, still staring at us. She looked like her normal 14 year old self, only slightly paler. But that was understandable, given the circumstances. This was a huge shock to all of our systems. I was about to say something to comfort her when I was interrupted by an unknown voice.
"What the hell!" All heads turned to the source. It came from a young girl sitting on a bed in the corner of the room. She had light blond hair and blue eyes so dark they were almost purple. Her skin was lightly colored, but still tan, as if she spent lots of time in the sun. She stared in disbelief at us all.
"How… how did you get here?" She gawked at us, pausing when she saw Ahsoka. "I… what…how… but you can't possibly…" She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "You… you look just like Ahsoka," she said. "But you couldn't be here…" The girl focused on the rest of us, seeming to come to a conclusion in her head. "You're from Star Wars!" Star what now? "But… Why are you here? None of you exist."
I couldn't stop the sarcasm that came out of my mouth. "No, I'm pretty sure we exist. Don't think we would be standing here if we weren't." Obi-wan glared at me. I could almost hear his voice in my head, "Really, Anakin?" I shrugged and he just rolled his eyes.
"Let's start that over. Hello there," he said with a small smile, one that normally put everyone at ease. It didn't work. The girl still sat there, tense as ever. Obi-wan ignored that fact and kept talking "I am Obi-wan Kenobi, but it seems you already know that." No response. Obi-wan cleared his throat "How about you tell us your name? You are already familiar with us, so I think it's fair that we get familiar with you."
The girl still sat there in shock. Honestly, I couldn't blame her. If four people popped into my room, I'd be freaking out too. In fact, I should be freaking out now. I was flying a ship to Naboo and now I'm in some girl's room 3 years younger than I should be!
The more I thought about it, probably the only thing that was keeping me from completely losing it was the girl. It's hard to worry about your own problems when there was someone in front of you about to have a mental breakdown.
Obi-wan, for all his skills in negotiating, appeared to be at a loss. He looked back at me. Your turn, he seemed to say. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh, not knowing what to do. Padme raised her eyebrow at me. I shot her a questioning look back. What? She rolled her eyes and moved closer to the girl, leaving me dumbfounded. What did I do wrong? I turned my attention back to the girl, who was now watching Padme get closer.
"Hey, are you okay?" Padme said calmly. The girl didn't answer. "Here, why don't we get you some water or some calming tea? Will that help?" She reached out to put her hand on the girl's shoulder. Surprisingly, the girl didn't shy away from her touch. Padme always had a calming effect on people. It one of the many things I loved about her.
The girl allowed Padme to guide her out of the room in search of the kitchen, leaving me, Obi-wan, and Ahsoka alone. Everything looked like it would only get more complicated from here. What I wouldn't give to be on Naboo right now.
"So much for our vacation," I sighed.
A/N: Not the best chapter in my opinion, but it wasn't getting any better. I love the next one though and I hope you do as well! Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited and thanks to JigglyPuff334 and Gwntan12for reviewing! You guys made my day! Hope you keep enjoying this story!
~Jedi Master Megan