"The slights are getting worse," the smooth masculine voice said. "You're a Master; you should be out there too."

We were peering out the viewport of the ship; four robed Jedi (one of them Yoda's size) met a group of eight whose species and garb I couldn't immediately place. I turned to look at my companion, and a full-grown Anakin looked back at me.

The woman to my left - Olana, also grown, I could tell just from her voice - spoke next. "This is diplomacy, not politics. The Elligin still have a… complicated relationship with what we did here, and he was the face of it. It was wise to leave Obi-wan out of it."

"Then you should be out there," Anakin insisted. "You're a better diplomat than any of them. But just because you're young, they -"

"Is this another Vision?" I asked abruptly. "Because I have no idea what's going on."

Anakin swore. "Dad's displaced himself again. Get Artoo." Olana nodded and headed into the ship as I felt Anakin's mind expand and brush against mine. "Let's establish a baseline. How old do you remember me to be?"

"Nine." I responded quickly. "Did… uh, did you say 'Dad'?" My stomach leapt in a way that had nothing to do with the weirdness of the situation.

"I'm nine? Wow, that's the earliest one yet. Any idea what you were doing?"

"Sleeping," I said, "after my Vision trial on Ilum."

"Oh, yeah, the one with Evil Ben? You told me about that."

Grown-up Olana returned with a chrome droid I didn't recognize. It was heavily armored with four articulated limbs, and moved quite agilely on a set of repositionable wheels.

**OB1, respond to this query:** the droid beeped, and I realized it was R2-D2. **Designate unit: harmful data-source to Rohan Ruler, secret subordinate to Saruman.**

"Grima Wormtongue," I answered instantly. In my idle moments I sometimes considered a list of unambiguous questions that would make it clear that I was dealing with myself, or at least someone from Earth, but I'd never shared them with anyone else. That would rather defeat the purpose… unless I needed to have someone else verify that I was really me.

**Confirmed. Observe forthcoming projection.**

A slightly older Obi-wan looked back at me in the flickering blue of the hologram. "Hello there," I heard myself begin. "This status message is to get me up to speed when I am displaced. This is a side effect of the abilities I've gained, and a price I willingly pay. It usually lasts no more than an hour. Keep the following in mind."

"Sniper, south building," Olana suddenly announced, and the droid froze the holo. "Alone."

"One could be a precaution rather than betrayal. I'll check it out," Anakin said, unholstering his lightsaber. He closed his eyes for a moment, and I felt his mind reach out and… surprised, I was forced to withdraw my own senses from him as he did something with the Force I didn't understand. A twisting somehow, as though trying to split his senses and merge them back together in a different way.

Anakin vanished before me, and I could sense his presence some distance away.

"You guys can teleport?" I blurted out to Olana.

The woman looked at me with a single raised eyebrow that I knew reflected personal amusement. "Artoo, resume playback."

"Keep the following in mind:" my double said again. "First, many of our plans are rather delicate, so don't just jump in like you know what you're doing. Qui-Gon and the kids will pick up the slack until you return to where you came from; keep your meddling hands out of it." His look was severe, and I only wondered what my past future (future past?) selves had done to complicate matters before. "Second, think long and hard about whom you tell when you get back. It does appear that the events you see can be altered, and I have arrived at a couple of points in the future that clearly don't match what I remember having once saw of it. Third, don't press for answers. We have good reasons not to tell you very much. And finally," I saw his - my - face take on a more weary expression, "don't seek out Shmi. She's aware that this happens and finds it distressing, so leave her alone at her own request." This alarmed me; did we have a falling out somehow? "Good luck."

I felt Anakin's mind impinge strongly on mine, spreading throughout the hatch area of the ship, before he appeared again. He held a blaster rifle and looked none the worse for wear. "Just a guard wanting to keep an eye on their leadership. Nothing sinister." He sounded almost disappointed. "Dad, did Artoo fill you in? I've told you that video was a little much."

"If he didn't say it in the holo," Olana disagreed, "we'd need to tell him anyway."

"Not about Mom," he argued. "She's not here; it wouldn't come up."

I looked at Anakin more critically. "'Dad'?" I said simply.

"You married Shmi Skywalker," Olana began.

Anakin turned to her, and I felt apprehension building in both of them. "Don't do this," he urged.

"It undermined a lot of what we were building towards," Olana continued, ignoring the increasing heat of Anakin's mind. "Assured you'd never be offered a position on the Council, weakened our political leverage in the Senate."

"And you bounced back stronger," Anakin insisted.

The woman shook her head. "We recovered, mostly. It certainly didn't make our position stronger."

"I disagree, as you know," he snarled, "Mom's increasingly visible among the Core Worlds, and viewed far more favorably than any of us."

"Since none of us are standing for election," Olana pointed out, "being popular amongst the populace while being viewed as weak by the political class is less than ideal."

Anakin gave her a stony-eyed look. "After everything, you're still going to pull this. Give Dad reasons to stay away from Mom. Destroy our happiness."

Olana's eyes widened. "No! Is that what you think…" she looked questioningly at Anakin's glare. "No, Annie, of course not! I'll be clearer. Obi-wan, you should think about keeping your relationship with Shmi unofficial; an open secret. Something the Council can choose to ignore."

"And I say don't listen to her, Dad," Anakin said. "You made Mom the happiest I've ever seen her, the day you stood up and made your vows," he looked to Olana again. "They were never going to offer you a seat on the Council after what happened with the-"

"Don't tell him about that," Olana interrupted, her voice an urgent hiss.

I sensed a change in the group outside as both my accompanying Jedi turned to look out the viewport again. "Looks like they got the ceasefire without killing anyone," Anakin said. "Artoo, can you take our muddled Master down to the bunks, please? I suspect this is a conversation we don't want him to join in his current state."

**Move in this direction,** the not-so-little droid ordered as we headed away from the bulkhead.

A moment later, I awoke in the Sunset Temple with far more questions than I'd had the night before.