Oh Force this took too long to write! At first I was just having some writer's block trying to figure out how I was going to write this, then I got EXTREMELY busy, and now, finally, I have finished this chapter! Gosh, it's nice to be past this chapter. There's always that one chapter that's problematic for an author to write in their stories...this was this story's difficult chapter, uhg.

Now..again, I am sorry that you all had to wait so long, but here it is! Yaaaayyyyy new chapter!

And be forewarned, I'm going to jump ahead a few days in the next chapter. *Sighs* Thank you for your patience, I will try to be more consistent and frequent in my writing despite all the craziness going on. Thank you for your reviews (And for those of you that went to reviewing my other stories with the enquirer of where this chapter was) because they kept giving me the kick in the pants I needed to make some sort of progress on this chapter. Yes, your reviews tend to be what gets these updates! That's why I always say Please Review!

Enjoy!

It took several minutes to get everyone settled at the table between hunting down more chairs for the three extra guests and getting the fussy one year old in her high chair. Joshua was complaining about dinner taking too long while running around the table and Aria was setting a few last minute items on the table, including a drink called Mountain Dew she had convinced her mother to let her open for the 'special occasion.'

Once everyone was settled, Alaric and Padme were sitting at opposite ends of the table, Selena was sitting on her husband's left with the one year old beside her and Joshua beside the one year old, Aria was on her father's right, Anakin sat beside Aria, and Obi-Wan sat beside Anakin. Selena controlled Joshua and the baby before the family said a prayer over the food, signaling the beginning of the meal. Aria leaned over, the first to cut into the enchiladas.

"Joshua, give me your plate," she said with a small smile before placing a large, stuffed enchilada on his plate. She did the same thing with the plates of everyone else before she put two on her plate and Alaric's plate.

"Why do you guys get two?" Joshua complained immediately.

"Because we have the stomach for two," Alaric said easily.

"And we usually eat, what, four each by ourselves?" Aria joked, already cutting into her enchilada. "Besides, it will be a miracle if you finish that one. Can you pass the Mountain Dew?"

In the brief moment of silence that followed, Alaric took no time in getting down to business. "So…any ideas on how they're going to get back?" Alaric asked Aria, gesturing vaguely at Padme, Anakin, and Obi-Wan. Aria sighed.

"I'm not sure; it might help if we could figure out how they got here in the first place," Aria said, pouring her drink. "Do any of you want to try some? It's carbonated," she added, looking at the other three.

"Sure," Anakin said, taking the bottle she passed to him.

"Perhaps it's the Force," Alaric said with a small smile. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Such a default answer Dad," she said with a smirk.

Alaric gestured into the air with his fork. "Don't look at me; you're the Star Wars fanatic who knows everything. I only ever liked the Original Trilogy. The only reason why I know so much about everything else is because you're always talking about it," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Aria blushed as Anakin gave her a mildly amused look, passing the Mountain Dew bottle to Obi-Wan.

"I'm sure that it is the will of the Force that we're here; though why is what's unclear to me," Obi-Wan chipped in. Anakin rolled his eyes.

Maybe to find out about our futures so we can change something. Am I the only one who thinks this, Anakin wondered.

Aria sighed. "Well, once we're done eating I'm going to head upstairs and start trying to figure out how you three came through and set up those mattresses."

There was a clatter as the one year old threw her plate on the floor in apparent protest. "Roxanne!" Serena said sharply, scowling as she leaned over and picked up the plate, setting it out of the child's reach.

"That's a very pretty name," Padme complimented from her seat at the table.

"I was insistent," Aria said with a smile, sitting a little straighter. "I wanted to be able to call her Roxy."

Padme returned her smile. "And this is very good. They're called enchiladas?"

Selena nodded. "It's a family favorite, though we only have it on occasion due to budget."

Padme nodded. "I see."

The conversation was cut short when Anakin suddenly broke into a fit of coughing. He hadn't been expecting just how bubbly the Mountain Dew would be and his eyes had watered. He smiled sheepishly under their gaze. "Wasn't expecting that," he said with a cough.

Aria gave him a shy smile. "Sorry. I guess I should have given you a better warning that; it's carbonated."

"You don't say?" Anakin coughed before he cleared his throat. "So, uh…Alaric. What do you do?"

Not only was he curious, but he was hoping to shift the attention away from him. The look Obi-Wan was giving him made Anakin want to crawl under the table.

Alaric took a drink of water before he answered. "I'm a Captain in the U.S. Army," he said evenly.

I was right, Anakin immediately thought. He didn't miss the fact that while Aria looked proud of the fact, she also seemed a little wary, and Selena was suddenly very interested in her food. It must be a touchy subject.

"How was school?" Selena asked suddenly, the tension in the room shifting.

"The usual," Aria said, becoming focused on her enchilada.

"And the usual would be..?"

Aria shrugged. "We started learning about imaginary numbers in Math…I asked Mr. Timble if we would be learning about unicorns in the next chapter. Tried not to fall asleep in government; I don't know what it is about that hour that my brain decides it just wants to sleep. I'd rather spend more time talking about the Necessary and Proper Clause than the same court case for days on end. We're supposed to be writing a seven hundred and fifty word essay in English about pollinators all week; I'm already finished. The stages of mitosis are getting drilled into my head for Biology, though that's the only thing in this chapter that's sticking in my head; gosh sometimes I'm horrible at science. I just can't grasp technical stuff; it goes over my head most of the time. In Microbiology we're about to start studying viruses and bacteria and I convinced Ms. Blare to let me study the Black Plague, Rabies, Yellow Fever, The Flesh Eating Bacteria, all the scary stuff no one wants to go near. I think we've finally made it past chapter two in French after all those projects I've done. Accounting is as easy as ever; I don't see why everyone complains about it. And my College English class is just as easy as well; I just need to look over my narrative essay before I submit it tomorrow. My class still is arguing over Senior Trip and can't decide where to go whilst they completely ignore any suggestion I make, and Prom is going to be a fifties theme this year. There's also a home basketball game next week and a half day next Friday."

Anakin looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Nothing indeed, he thought sarcastically.

"See, you did do something," Selena said pointedly.

"Mhm," Aria said, taking a bite of her enchilada before Joshua erupted into a very long, detailed story about cars and a boy named Creo. By the time Joshua finished his enthusiastic story, Aria had already washed down her last enchiladas with the remainder of her Mountain Dew. "I'm done," she announced, gathering up her dishes as she stood. Alaric wiped his hands on a napkin before tossing it onto his plate.

"So am I; so we can have that talk," he said with a small smile. Aria nodded.

"All right."

Anakin watched the pair as they disappeared into the other room, curious to know what was so important and secretive that they had to find a secluded room. Still, he wasn't going to be able to eavesdrop on them right now. He was quick to finish up his meal, retracing Aria's steps to find where he was supposed to place his dirty dishes. Padme had followed behind him, and they lingered in the kitchen.

"It's all rather crazy, don't you think?" she asked softly, staring at her feet.

"Yeah, definitely; and is it just me, or have we ended up with more questions than answers?" Anakin responded, watching her closely. She sighed.

"I would like to know how an Empire became established, and when. That part really worries me."

Anakin shook his head. "Well, if it's as far into the future as Aria claims, than perhaps we don't need to worry about it right now. Take note of it for future reference, yes, but I don't think it will be happening anytime soon."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Anakin started, looking up as Obi-Wan entered the room, a grim look on his face. "What makes you say that Master?"

"Boba Fett is the name of Jango Fett's son," he said simply. Anakin's eyebrows skyrocketed upwards and he frowned.

"You don't think all of that is going to happen in our lifetime, do you Master? I mean…we never saw Boba Fett's face; he could be any age."

"You have a good point Anakin…but I think we should look a little closer at what Aria is telling and showing us. There's much more to it than she's been letting on," Obi-Wan said wisely. Padme sighed, making her way to the living room.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go upstairs and start trying to find what brought us here in the first place."

"The Force, obviously. I don't have any doubt about that," Obi-Wan said as he followed after her.

"I think she meant what acted as the portal of sorts Master," Anakin said with a small roll of his eyes.

"Knowing that the Force sent us here still helps us with this mystery my very young apprentice. We know the Force wants us here, so now we need to figure out why."

"I have a theory, but no one seems to want to listen to it," Anakin grumbled under his breath as they all made their way back upstairs and into Aria's room.

It didn't take long for Aria to appear once again, two small sacks in one hand and three sets of bed sheets in the other as she made sure the door closed firmly behind her. "I'm back."

"How did your talk with your father go?" Anakin asked her. She blushed a little.

"Ah, he expressed some of his concerns and we worked out some minor details," she said evasively. "I've got the blow up mattresses; thankfully the pump is still up here so I'll have your beds made now."

Anakin raised his eyebrows but Padme spoke first. "So where do you think we might have come through?"

Aria sighed, plugging the pump into the wall before she started to pull out the air mattresses. "I don't know…maybe start looking around and see what point in the room matches the angle you saw me from before you ended up here?" she suggested, watching as the air mattresses slowly rose.

"I'd say somewhere over there," Obi-Wan said with a wave of his hand, gesturing towards the corner of her room that housed a mirror, a giant homemade pillow, and other various possessions. Aria moved onto the next air mattress, studying the corner.

"Do you think the mirror might be the portal?" Padme asked curiously. Aria shook her head.

"I don't think so…I've had that mirror for years, why would it suddenly become a Star Wars portal now?" she asked skeptically.

"You never know, stranger things have happened," Anakin offered. Aria was silent until she finished airing up the mattress. Once finished with that task, she moved to the corner of the room, picking through her various possessions.

"There's not much over here; just my bow and arrows, my guitar, my make-up case I hardly ever use…oh, I completely forgot about that puzzle I'll have to finish…" Aria paused, frowning and studying the puzzle, looking up at the other three a few times. The gears were obviously turning in her head.

"What is it?" Anakin asked with a frown.

"My puzzle…my Star Wars puzzle. I started it last night before I went to bed, and I only got you three done on it….you don't think...?"

"That perhaps we came through your puzzle?" Obi-Wan finished for her, coming to her side to inspect the puzzle that Anakin had noticed earlier that morning.

"It's strange but…like Anakin said…stranger things have happened," she murmured, running a hand over the puzzle. "One thing's for sure; there's no way I'm going to finish the puzzle now. I don't feel like risking the chance of a droid army, a highly skilled bounty hunter, or a Sith coming through this puzzle."

"A Sith?" Obi-Wan asked sharply. Aria winced.

"Yeah…a Sith. A Sith is included on this puzzle somewhere. I'm just glad I didn't do the puzzle of Darth Vader and accompanying stormtroopers in the process of forcing their way onto a starship."

"So you're telling us that we came through a small, unfinished puzzle?" Anakin asked, peering over her shoulder and down at the puzzle.

"I'm suggesting it, I'm not saying that it's true—" Aria started defensively. Anakin shook his head and cut her off.

"It's all right, I think you might be onto something…" he muttered, studying the puzzle closely. He had a feeling…

"Okay, so you came through the puzzle because of the Force…we still need the why, and we still need to figure out how to get you back," Aria said, rolling with the assumption easily. She stood up, heading over to the beds now occupying most of her floor space and making the beds. "I don't know much about portals and such, so I'm not sure how this all works…I'm sure if the Force brought you here that it will bring you back."

"But when?" Padme asked. "There were a lot of important things going on when we suddenly ended up here."

"Whatever ground you lose while you're here, if you lose any, I'm sure I can make up for it. However, I'm sure the Force will return you to the very moment that it also took you from," Aria said distractedly, arranging the blankets on the beds.

"Why are we even here in the first place?" Padme asked.

Aria sighed, sitting on the bed the same time that Anakin spoke. "I think that we're supposed to learn more about these Star Wars movies, perhaps even our own futures, but it seems that I'm the only one who thinks this."

"Anakin—" Obi-Wan started, obviously about to give him a strong reprimand. Aria surprised them all by cutting him off before he could.

"No…no I'm starting to wonder about that myself," she said thoughtfully, staring off into the distance, seeing something none of the others could. Anakin frowned, hardly daring to breathe. "What if…if I could change one thing in the entire series…" Aria mumbled to herself before she shook herself a little. She sat up straighter on the bed.

"I don't know…I'll have to think about it…and even then, I just…I have a gut feeling that I still shouldn't say some…certain, rather big and very important things…I'll think about it and then get back to you on your futures, though I'll gladly tell you more of what I know about the others like Luke until I can decide what I should and shouldn't say."

Anakin visibly brightened a little. Finally, he was getting somewhere. Of course she was only thinking about it right now, but maybe, just maybe, they would start getting somewhere.

And he was eager to find out just what it was she was trying to hide from them.