Posting another chapter super soon after the last one. Mainly because NYCC has been reminding me of just how much I adore this fandom, and I just wanted to share more of my story with you all.

The ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi was asking her endless questions about the Jedi in her dimension, reacting with sheer wonder and joy whenever she told him even the most mundane facts about their day to day lives.

He hung on to her every word, his expression shifting back and forth between eager astonishment and profound sadness and loss the more she told him about the Order.

He kept asking her to clarify once more that she had indeed just been to the Temple a week ago, that she had grown up among it all, each bit of news she imparted both soothing his grief and exposing it anew.

She had been avoiding talking about the romantic gossip around the Temple, Uncle Obi had never much liked hearing any of that so she cut it out of her accounts for his sake. Then he asked directly about Master Quinlan Vos, and seemed stunned by what she told him.

"He's truly married to Ventress?"

He looked so much more like the man she knew like this, laughing and smiling.

"What, did they not get together in this timeline?"

"Oh, they certainly did. I had to personally deal with their… relationship, when we thought him lost to the Dark Side. But then Ventress died, and he returned to the Order, and that was that."

"Did the Order still change the rules regarding attachment?"

His laughter stopped, and he looked at her with astonishment. "Come again?"

Could Ventress dying in this reality really have had such an impact?

"In my timeline after Ventress and Vos killed Darth Tyranus, the Order decided to allow Jedi to form attachments."

Uncle Obi looked lost. "They… they killed Count Dooku?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Your father killed Dooku, it was… it was part of him becoming Sidious' apprentice, I believe. I wasn't… I didn't see what happened, had to figure out much of the specifics later with Master Yoda." He shook his head. "As for attachment, I recall the conversation, yes. Unfortunately the Council never reached the end of that debate, not before Order 66 ended it for us."

"Order 66?"

He looked terribly sad, wearing the same expression the Uncle she knew in her timeline would whenever he spoke of Satine Kryze and her death. "The start of the dark times. The day the Sith won." There was a long pause where he stared into the distance, hand on his beard, recalling all he had seen.

"It was the Clones, you see. They had chips in their head. One of the members of Anakin's 501st, Fives I believe, he tried to warn us."

Leia recalled the story about Fives, Tup, Ahsoka, and Shaak Ti discovering a plot with the Clones. It was how her Master had earned her Knighthood. She hadn't really paid much attention to the details of that story, and she regretted that now. Why had it played out differently in this Universe?

"We didn't listen, and then came the day when the Clones turned on us. We trusted them so completely. They were our friends, our brothers." His voice caught on the last word. He frowned, and made eye contact with Leia once more.

He seemed so agonized.

"Cody tried to kill me, and somehow… somehow even as I felt the deaths of all my fellow Jedi in the Force, I made it back to the Temple, to the destruction and carnage within. I still wonder how I survived."

The Clones had killed the Jedi.

She thought then of Rex, kind old Rex who lived on a farm and always had sweets to give her when she saw him. She had told him, more times that she could count, that she wasn't a youngling anymore, that he didn't need to give her those treats. He'd always laugh and tell her she needed to savor the growing process and take it slow for him. After all, Clones like him grew far too fast.

Had he killed Jedi in this universe?

What if he had hurt Aunt 'Soka? They had always had such a close friendship.

Wait…

"Uncle Obi, is Aunt 'Soka alive? From what I can gather no one seems to have seen her for several years now."

"I… I do not know. I thought her dead for quite a long time, and was shocked to discover she had survived so long after Order 66. Yes, she wasn't with the Order at that time, of course, but the Empire cares not for those distinctions. To them all Force-sensitives who are not consumed by the Dark Side are Jedi, regardless of if they have taken vows or ever belonged to the Order."

"Not with the Order? What?"

'I'm afraid I must leave discussing what she chose to do for another time young one, I sense that Luke has returned."

"Uncle Obi, no, please don't avoid explaining this to me! What did you mean by that? Had she taken the Barash vow or something? Why? What reason could she possibly have to do something like that? Uncle Obi!"

His image started to waver, and she knew he wanted to leave. He was was avoiding answering her questions, plain and simple.

Sighing, Leia frowned and cast her senses out to Luke. Luke had just entered the Horox system, and would be back at the Base soon enough.

She could leave and go to meet him now, be waiting for him as soon as he landed, or she could get Uncle Obi to give her some actual answers. She decided she'd rather the latter.

Leia focused on her bond with her Uncle, and tugged on it, tethering him in place. His presence stopped flickering, and his pale white-blue tinted image frowned at her, annoyed.

"I see you've found a way to prevent me from leaving, little one."

"The Jedi Order is Aunt 'Soka's life. I don't understand. She would never walk away from the Order."

He shook his head as he gazed at her. "Anakin's power, Padmé's determination, and trained with Ahsoka's stubbornness. You dear child, are truly something out of a dream."

"You're still avoiding the question."

"Am I now? What question was that again?"

This had to be a test of her patience.

He probably wanted to know how she held to the Code under pressure, or something like that.

Well if it was a test she wasn't going to fail it.

She'd stay calm through it all, even if she was far too exhausted at this point to deal with any of this.

"What did you mean when you said that Aunt 'Soka was no longer with the Order when Order 66 took place?"

Guilt surged through the room, and the ghost could not seem to meet her eyes with his own. "She was…falsely accused of treason following an attack against the Temple and consequently was cast out of the Order." Leia gasped, and he frowned, continuing, "in fact the military tribunal wanted her to be executed, but she broke out of prison and set out to find the one who had actually committed the crime for which she was convicted."

Uncle Obi was clearly incredibly uncomfortable with this tale, and Leia could not blame him. Everything about it was just plain awful, and as a member of the Council he should be ashamed.

"After the real perpetrator was found she was not only offered a place back within the Order but her full Knighthood as well, and she refused both."

He finally made eye contact with her. "I am sure you can see why I did not wish to recall any of this. It is far from something I am proud of. Ahsoka Tano was an exemplary Jedi, and should never have been made to deal with any of that."

"When… when did this take place?"

"Not long before the purges… before Anakin fell."

"Was that the last time they saw each other?"

"Oh, oh no. She rejoined the GAR not long after, not as a Jedi of course, but she was considered too valuable a fighter to be let go. No, Anakin last saw her on the very day Palpatine staged his kidnapping, on Mandalore. She was in charge of the campaign against Maul there, and he had been checking in on her when we got the comm about needing to stage a rescue."

"She led the battle against him there in my universe as well. Only as a Jedi Knight, not… not as someone who had left the Order behind. That's where she was when she first found out about my brother and I, and then traveled to be at our birth."

"I am afraid she was not present for that event in this universe, little one. No, it was just myself, Master Yoda, Bail Organa... and your mother of course. On Polis Massa. Oh, but you were both so small. I wish… I wish it could have been a more joyous event, but I can say with certainty that you were loved. Both in that moment on that day, and after."

He gave her a broken smile, full of far more sorrow than joy. "Now I am afraid I should depart this time for real. Luke is about to land his fighter, and you should be there to greet him. This is not a goodbye, for we shall talk more later. Know that I am here if you need me, young Padawan, I always will be."

Coruscant loomed large in front of them.

Leia hadn't said anything since she had left her home behind, and Ahsoka had respected that.

The fantasy was going to have to end. They'd land on Coruscant and Leia would have to deal with those insistent strangers treating her like a person she wasn't, expecting her to treat them like family.

They were not her family.

She had accepted that she needed to learn from Ahsoka. That she could learn things here that would be vital for securing victory for the Rebellion.

She did not know if she could be nice to the people who had given birth to her.

She wouldn't normally feel bad about it, but her mother had asked her to be nice to them.

Which meant she now felt awful that there were few beings she would like to interact with less than either of her bioparents.

Ahsoka could sense that she was uncomfortable, and kept giving her concerned looks and comforting nudges in the Force.

Leia knew she meant well, but if Ahsoka didn't knock it off she was going to scream.

"Hey, Leia, you don't have to stay with them. Or even see them if you don't want to."

Leia glared at the older woman. "What?"

"Oh come on, it's obvious what has you so upset." Ahsoka gave her a small smile. "If you don't want to see them, I'll support you."

"Where can I stay instead? Padmé was right last night, if I try to go elsewhere reporters will be all over it."

"You can stay with me. Your counterpart, she has a room in my quarters since she's my Padawan, but she never actually stays there. It's basically just an empty room with some never actually worn Jedi robes in your size in it. Plus, no one will question you staying there because, well, you are my Padawan."

Leia considered it. "Ok." She nodded. "Ok. I think that will actually work."

"Wizard! Let me just holo my wife and let her know."' Ahsoka pressed some buttons on the dash, and the holo flared to life. A Mirialan woman, whose diamond shaped tattoos communicated… Leia furrowed her brow in thought. She had studied various tattoo cultures when she was young, why couldn't she remember what those tattoos meant?

The tiny blue image of the Mirialan smiled. "Oh! Are you coming back to the Temple, Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka laughed in response. "That I am! Hey, how would you feel if Other-Leia stayed with us for however long she's here?"

The woman blinked in confusion. "She doesn't want to stay at the Chancellor's apartment?"

"Nah, she likes me best." Ahsoka gave Leia a winning grin, before turning back to her wife on the holo. "So, you ok with my new Padawan using those empty Padawan quarters we have?"

The woman in the hologram nodded. "Of course. You know I've always felt it improper for a Padawan to stay anywhere but in quarters adjacent to their Master's."

Ahsoka laughed. "I wanted to make sure first, they are your quarters too.'

The woman in the hologram's only response was to continue smiling, before suddenly remembering something that clearly was of great interest to her. "I almost forgot! I've been combing the Archives to find anything that might help us understand what happened, and I think I actually found something!" Her excitement deflated a little, but she went on. "Well, it's barely a something, but it's far better than nothing at all. It's a start, and might help us know what direction to go in as we continue to investigate the situation."

"Really? That's amazing! You're amazing. I can't wait to hear more."

"I'll show you what I found when you arrive back home."

"We're already in the Coruscant System, so that will be soon." The two exchanged some brief goodbyes before Ahsoka flicked off the holo and turned to Leia. "There, no need to worry, you have a place to stay where you can avoid Skyguy and Padmé to your heart's content."

Ahsoka tilted her head slightly to the side, her montrals and lekku dipping with the action. "Although they do both know where my quarters are, and will probably come looking for you."

Leia smiled. "What's her name? If I'm going to be staying with both you and your wife I should know a bit about her."

"Oh! She's Jedi Master Barriss Offee. She works in the Temple Archives and is on the Council of First Knowledge. Oh, the Archives are where we keep historical records, holocrons, that sort of thing. If you ever want someone to teach you about the Code or the history of the Order, she's the one to talk to. She's really into stuff like that." The cockpit vibrated with the strength of Ahsoka's feelings towards her wife.

Leia sank back in her seat, ready to land and hopefully get some rest.