This was one of my original versions. I was seriously thinking about going to with this storyline, but many of the reviews expressed concern about Ben and a desire to see Luke and Ben together-so I let Luke be a cake eater and have the best of both worlds. I don't think this storyline would have been too depressing.

I would love to hear from the readers and see which version I should have went with. For this version chapter 18 (the chapter that follows this) would have been similar to the original but in that case Mara pulled Luke out immediately with no problem with the winch. Luke says there was nothing for him in Waru and he decides to stay with Mara.

Please let me know what version you would have preferred.

Second Alternate Version to Chapter 17

"Mara!" Luke called out as he regained consciousness. He looked around his surroundings and found himself in what looked like a private room in a medical facility.

"Master Luke. Thank the Maker, you're awake."

Luke turned to the sound of a familiar voice. "Threepio?"

"Why yes, Master Luke. I was…" A long string of distinctive beeps and twitters of an astromech droid interrupted See Threepio.

Luke turned to his side with some difficulty. "Is that Artoo?"

The small droid made a chirruping noise that Luke knew was Artoo's way of expressing happiness.

"Yes Master Luke. We were asked to stay by your bedside. The doctors wanted someone familiar to greet you when you woke up."

Luke looked around the room and frowned. He didn't recognize where he was. Everything looked foreign. "Where am I Threepio?"

"You are in the Coruscanti Institute for Health and Science," the droid said matter-of-factly.

"Where's Ben?"

The droid hesitated for a moment. "I shall inform the medical staff that you are now conscious," Threepio stood and turned towards the door.

"Sit down Threepio. I need to know what happened to Ben," Luke paused, not knowing if he wanted to know the answer to his next question. "Is he dead?"

The protocol droid slowly sat back down in the chair next to Luke's bed. "Yes, Master Luke, I am sorry to say that young Master Skywalker is no longer alive."

Artoo gave out a plaintive moan.

Tears formed in Luke's eyes and he bit down on his lower lip trying not to sob at the news. 'Dead…my son is dead.' Luke felt like he wanted to tear a hole in this reality and escape. Hasn't he suffered enough? Why did the Force allow so much misery?

"But I must assure you that he had a very long, happy and prosperous life before his demise at an advanced age." Threepio continued.

"What?" Luke asked confused. He looked around the room again. Some of the equipment he saw in the room was technology he never seen before. His eye grew wide in shock. "What year is it Threepio?"

"It is 226 ABY."

Luke shook his head. "How is that possible? Humans can't live over two centuries."

"Technically sir, you are only sixty-three years old. In 44 ABY you passed out on your ship Jade Shadow and brought to a medical center. You were in a comatose state for months before it was decided to place you in carbonite until a remedy for your condition was found."

Luke ran his hand through his hair in frustration then he gave a caustic chuckle at the irony. After being pulled from Waru the second time he told his sister he believed he was lying in a coma dreaming—that 14ABY had come and gone for him. He wanted to believe that he was sleeping in a medward with Ben looking over him. He shook his head. It looks like he got his wish.

"So why was I taken out of carbonite? Did the doctors find a cure to whatever I was stricken with?"

"There was no evidence of infection or poisoning which brought on your prolonged unconsciousness. You were technically alive, but according to Jedi Master Organa-Solo you were no longer residing within your body; she said your spirit was gone. Your condition was similar to the comatose state you suffered on Yavin IV that was brought on by Exar Kun. The Jedi believed Abeloth used the same Sith technique to separate your soul from your body."

"What? Wait." Luke gasped as he tried to process what he just heard. If his Force essence wasn't in his body, then he couldn't be dreaming while in the carbonite. Could his spirit have actually transferred into another dimension? And if that were true, where was the Luke Skywalker of 14 ABY?

Luke groaned inwardly as a horrifying possibility occurred to him. In 14 ABY two Luke Skywalkers, in two different dimensions and timelines, jumped into Waru, sacrificing himself to save Anakin Solo. Leia and Han saved one Luke Skywalker—the one who married Mara Jade and endured the Vong War, but the Luke Skywalker in the other dimension may not have been so lucky. Could he have died and his spirit now resides in the netherworld of the Force?

If that Luke died and his spirit moved on, could Leia of the other dimension, while searching for her Luke in Waru reached out with the Force have found the wandering Force essence of another Luke Skywalker—one whose soul was stripped from his body by Abeloth in 44ABY? Inside Waru time and space had no meaning. His sister may have saved the wrong Luke Skywalker—one from another dimension and another timeline—and pulled his Force essence into the lifeless body of her brother.

Luke shook his head. Did that mean Mara was going to pull a dead Luke Skywalker out of Waru now that his soul has found its rightful body? His stomach sank as he realized he didn't foresee this possibility. He could be trapped here.

"I am sorry to say the technical aspects of the Force are beyond my understanding," Threepio's mechanical voice jarred Luke out of his musings. "Master Ben was determined find your soul and return you to your body. He consulted Jedi Holocrons, mystics, shamans, Force witches, and monks looking for a way to help you. Then for a three-day period he isolated himself within the Jedi Temple over the Force nexus and went into a deep meditative trance. When he awoke he appeared overjoyed, in a bittersweet way of course. He told your sister you were one with the Force and with his mother; he said you were happy. They quit their search for a cure and created a shrine for your carbonite encased body within the temple."

'Ben was overjoyed?' Luke wondered if had Ben sensed him, his real father, or the Luke who possibly died in 14 ABY in the alternate dimension. 'If so, that Force ghost Luke got the shock of his afterlife when the spirit of Mara Jade Skywalker arrived to the netherworld', Luke thought wryly. A small smile graced his lips. 'At least Mara could spend eternity with a version of her farmboy. Albeit a more shy and naïve version.'

He looked over to the droids. "Why was I taken out of the carbonite?" Luke asked.

"Ten days ago the Jedi Masters of the temple sensed a disturbance in the Force at the site of your tomb. You were removed from the carbonite alive, but unconscious. You were placed in a medically induced coma until your body adjusted. The doctors wished to avoid carbonite shock and blindness. For the last two days you have been weaned off the sedatives and were expected to regain consciousness at any moment."

Luke ran a hand over his face in frustration. His situation was now much, much worse. He was back to his original body, but everybody he knew was now dead. He looked over to Threepio sadly. "You said Ben had a good life?"

"Why yes sir," Threepio said enthusiastically. "Your affliction rallied the galaxy behind the Jedi. They were able to destroy Abeloth and the Lost Tribe that attacked Coruscant."

A slight smile came to Luke's lips. "Good. Did Ben marry? Did I have grandchildren?"

Threepio cocked his head to the side in an almost human gesture. "Jedi Grand Master Ben Skywalker had three children. As for living relatives, you currently have 163 great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren on record. There is a high probability that this is a low estimate since some of your male descendants were rumored to be somewhat promiscuous."

Luke had to laugh at that comment. It was hard for him to believe the bashful farm boy from Tatooine had philandering descendants.

"How about Leia and Han or Jaina and Allana?"

"They all lived to an advanced age. Jaina and Jagged Fel married shortly after you fell into a coma. Jagged Fel eventually became Emperor of the Imperial Remnant. The Fel dynasty still reigns over the Imperial sectors of the galaxy."

"How about the Jedi?"

"The destruction of Abeloth ushered in a golden age for the Jedi. The Order is now stronger than the Jedi of the Old Republic. There was some strife between the Jedi Knights and Imperial Knights, but it is more of a rivalry than a conflict."

"Imperial Knights?"

"I must apologize, Master Luke, for making reference to an organization you could not be possibly familiar with. The Imperial Knights are the Empire's version of Jedi Knights. Empress Jaina Fel herself established the guild. Her children were the first to hold the title of Imperial Knight."

"An Allana?"

"She ruled the Hapes Consortium for 48 years before she was succeeded by her daughter."

Luke smiled. It looks like everybody did just fine without him. He wished he could have seen it. As he lay frozen in carbonite, everything he could ever wish for came to pass.

But what was he going to do now? He returned to a galaxy where he knew no living soul and now he was without his wife and his son. He had lost everything and everyone and he may be trapped in this body, unable to return to Mara. Luke closed his eyes and fought back the tears as an unpleasant cold sensation of regret started to gnaw at the pit of his stomach.

"Master Luke, are you feeling well?" Threepio asked as he popped to his feet. "Oh my, I'll alert the medical staff." The golden droid tottered off in the direction of the door.

Luke let him go. He knew he wasn't ill; he was heartbroken and overwhelmed with crushing loneliness. Never again would he see his son, his sister, Han, Jaina, Allana, or his friends. No doctor could cure that. He wished he never walked back to Waru. He should have stayed with Mara. There is nothing for him here.

A sad smile spread across his face. At least Ben had found the peace that always eluded Luke during his lifetime. Ben had a wife, children and was able to die of old age. Luke found solace in that fact.

The coldness in the pit of his stomach started to spread. He started shivering uncontrollably and found himself gasping for breath. He fought to bring oxygen into his lungs, but the air was rapidly become humid, fetid and thick. He was sure death had finally come to claim him. Calmness enveloped him as he realized he didn't care. If he died he could be with his loved ones again. He gave up the struggle to breathe and he let his mind drift to the Jedi code. There is no death there is the Force.

The world turned a dark crimson, but then he saw a light in the distance. Luke turned and desperately moved toward the light. It was time for him to go home.