Backwards/Forwards or Anakin's and Obi-Wan's time travel shenanigans, part 1.

Light. Blinding, pulsing, pounding. Like a rough ride inside a white wave. Less than a second, more than an eternity. Nothingness that bursts into colour, sound and movement so intense it must be what being born is like.

"Yeah, this is definitely NOT the Vigilance," Anakin groaned somewhere behind Obi-Wan. The grey steel of the Star Destroyer had changed into lush greens and sparkling blues, the recycled bland air into an exotic blend of sweet and salty. He was laying on something soft and damp that his brain recognized a moment later to be soft green moss. Mindful of the drunken reeling of his insides, Obi-Wan carefully sat up. Yes, they were most definitely not on his ship. In fact, it looked suspiciously like…

"This looks like Naboo," Anakin marvelled, his long legs appearing on the periphery of Obi-Wan's sight.

"You just had to open that holocron." Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet, trying to prevent his nauseous stomach from emptying itself all over the ground. "You just had to. You couldn't listen to me this once –"

"I think this –" Anakin spread his arms around, gesturing to the mossy clearing surrounded by thick green growth, the water cascading over the rocks to a small pond – "is evidence enough that it was not, in fact, a holocron."

"That is not the point!" Obi-Wan dry heaved, feeling even more wretched. "That is most definitely not the point, Anakin….at least tell me that you have the holocron?"

"Ah, no…I don't think it came with us – to wherever we are."

"Of course it didn't."

"Are you alright Master?" Anakin's face suddenly came into focus right in front of Obi-Wan, his former Padawan's brow wrinkled with concern. "You usually aren't this panicked over the shit we get into."

"You think this is something bad then?" Obi-Wan swallowed, trying to get himself under control. He was not panicked, but the whole blinding light-strange wave-whatever they had just experienced-thing had twisted his stomach into more knots than he knew how to untangle.

"Well, it's us so…yeah." Anakin's hand came to rest on his shoulder. "You're alright though?"

"Yes, just a little queasy," he confessed, drawing the Force around himself like a soft blanket, letting it numb the horrible swaying bile wreaking havoc to his insides.

"So…just your normal airsickness then," Anakin grinned. Obi-Wan did not bother to dignify that with an answer.

-o-

There was nothing for it, but to start walking around, to try to ascertain not only where they were, but when they were. Obi-Wan had read about ancient Force objects that could transport people to the other side of the Universe in the blink of an eye and through time itself. Those objects were notoriously fickle and seemed to be the catalysis' for the most disastrous incidents. There was no proof yet that was what had happened to them, but as Anakin had said – it was the two of them. Weird – bad – things always happened to them.

It didn't take long for them to confirm that they were in fact on Naboo. The planet's Lake Country to be exact. When they broke the cover of the forest and a view of beautiful lake surrounded by sloping green mountains opened up before them, Anakin exclaimed in surprise.

"That's Varykino! Naberrie's lake retreat." On the opposite shore stood a grand villa, its golden stone glittering in the sun, reflected brilliantly from the smooth surface of the water.

"Oh?" Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows in silent question.

Anakin blushed. "I came here with Padmé, when I was assigned to protect her from those assassins." As that hardly narrowed things down, he added, "just before Geonosis."

"Well, lead the way then. Let's see if anyone is at home."

-o-

First, it seemed that nobody was home. The lake retreat was old, lavish and silent. There was no one to be seen on the front side of the villa, and wary of going straight inside, they went around to the back, where there was a large veranda overlooking the lake. Three humanoids and two droids were standing next to an ornamental railing, and with a sudden jolt Obi-Wan realized what he was seeing –

R2-D2 and C-3PO – how had the droids got there?

Padmé, who was wearing a white dress that even Obi-Wan, who knew nothing of fashion, could tell was a wedding dress if ever there was one.

Anakin, who still had his Padawan haircut and braid, and was NOT the Anakin, who was now standing next to Obi-Wan and gaping like a fish out of water.

The third humanoid, an older man, was almost an afterthought. He was the only one of the strange gathering Obi-Wan did not recognize, although he could guess –

Some detached part of Obi-Wan, the part that could analyse calmly the most clusterfuck of situations and act accordingly, noted that time travel seemed to be real – or he was hallucinating something fierce.

"So hey," his Anakin said nervously, "now we know not only where we are, but when we are. That's a plus."

"You got married?!"

Anakin's wince was engulfed by a bright, blinding light. Typical, Obi-Wan thought just before the white wave swallowed him up.