I'm on a roll! Three chapters up within, sort of, reasonable time! This chapter is a little weird. I've pretty much never done anything that's not structured completely linear. This chapter has time travel in it! Not time travel as in the basic plot of the story; time travel as in flashbacks.

Bleh.

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Chapter 10

"I still can't believe you're the Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin managed a smirk as he stared up at the black ceiling. Snores filled the room, but not enough as to prevent a whispered conversation.

"I have already said 'I told you so' quite a few times now." Anakin replied to Han.

"Yeah, I know, but… wow. The Anakin Skywalker. You are not like how you were on the HoloNet."

"People can change a lot when there's a war."

"I guess."

Anakin's mind wasn't focused on gloating. He was too busy thinking about the conversation he had had earlier with Senator Mothma.

--

"Padmé… is she here? I know she probably hates this Empire!" Anakin had said, excitedly. He had looked around, as if expecting here to be standing by the side of the room. Mon Mothma's eyes swept down to the floor.

"No, Anakin. I'm sorry…"

Anakin had almost realised then, but he kept guessing otherwise.

"S-so, she's undercover? Pretending to work for the bad guys?" Anakin grinned, but his eyes grew worried. "She's always been really brave!"

"No, Anakin." Mothma had breathed in very deeply, and Anakin was certain by this point. She wasn't here. She wasn't anywhere. She was-

"She died, Anakin. About twenty years ago. The very last day of the Clone Wars, and the day the Empire began."

"No-" Anakin stepped backwards, his face deathly white. He raised a hand over his face.

"A-and… how long were the Clone Wars?" he had asked, terrified of the answer.

"Three years."

--

Three years. That was all the time they had left. If he ever returned.

"Hey, Skywalker." Han hissed. "Is Luke asleep?"

Anakin turned on his side and poked Luke in the back. There was no reaction.

"Yeah."

"Oh." Han breathed in deeply. "Well, I'll try and get to sleep too. If I can even manage in this ice cube."

Snores rose up from him about ten seconds later.

--

It was a little later that Anakin thought of something else he needed to ask.

"Um, Senator Mothma?" he had asked, as Leia had gone off to talk to some other important person, Han had started miming blasting the wall, and Luke had continued to stare at the floor.

"Anakin?" she had looked at him, eyes full of worry.

"Where am I?"

It would have been a strange question, but Mothma had known exactly what he meant.

"The Jedi were all wiped out by Darth Vader; most of them on the last day of the Clone Wars."

Anakin nodded mutely, and went to sit down. They didn't exchange any other words.

--

"Anakin" a voice hissed in his ear.

"Shut up and go to sleep." He grumbled.

"Excuse me?"

Oops. That sounded like a female voice. And he thought it was just Han pestering him again.

He looked up, cringing.

"Leia? This is the men's dorm."

Leia rolled her eyes.

"I know, and it stinks. Come on, I want to talk to you."

Anakin muttered insults under his breath as he stood up, thick blankets falling away. The icy air immediately hit him, despite the fact he was still wearing several layers of clothes. Still, as a Jedi, this was something he could put up with. All the pestering while he was trying to get his precious sleep, however, was something that could make him very irritable.

--

"Are you okay?" Leia asked, as the sat down in the empty hallway. Anakin had his head buried in his knees. He looked at her blearily.

"Sure."

"This Padmé… was she your wife? The one you mentioned earlier."

Anakin shrugged.

"Well, I didn't really mention her. But yeah, I guess I can tell you." Anakin gave a dry laugh. "I mean, it's not like they can expel me from the Jedi Order, is it?"

Leia didn't smile. She continued to look at him, a concerned expression on her face.

"This must be difficult."

Anakin shrugged indifferently, but then nodded as he buried his head in his hands.

"Yeah."

"And also," Leia began, a little awkwardly; "I'm sorry for not believing you. There were so many opportunities for me to realise you were telling the truth- but I ignored them."

Anakin looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"That was a very forward apology."

Leia chuckled.

"I'm just so used to being right."

Anakin smiled.

"So you structure your apology like a speech in the Senate."

Leia's eyes turned distant again.

"Wait- you aren't actually a Senator, are you?" Anakin asked, amused.

"Not any more. The Emperor has destroyed the Senate. The last shred of democracy in the Galaxy." Leia replied, angrily.

"Wow" Anakin chuckled.

"What?" Leia asked, looking over at him, slightly irritated at his disregard of serious matters.

"You're even more like Padmé than I thought."

Leia smiled slightly.

"I'll see you in the morning, Anakin. Now that we know you're not insane-" Anakin looked smug- "You can go on the first patrol of the day. I'll see you at 04:00, which is in;" Leia checked the time; "Three hours. Get some sleep."

Anakin groaned as he headed back to the dorm.

End Chapter Ten

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Guess none of them can sleep. That's why they're wandering around at 1 in the morning.

This is a very serious chapter, so I wanted to end it on a slightly high note. No matter how forced it sounds. I think any time travel story where Anakin goes forwards would have to have a serious moment when Anakin realises everything has changed. That's more tragic than realising you're now evil, in my opinion. Poor Ani.