"I guess I have some explaining to do," said Anakin as he shifted awkwardly in his chair as he stared at his two rescuers. He knew this would not be easy and he wasn't sure if he should tell them everything, or if they would even believe his strange story and that he was from the past.

He knew that Luke would be able to sense the truth, but Anakin wasn't so sure about the woman. He could feel that she was Force sensitive but that her abilities were severely diminished, probably because she had received no training in it at all. There was no question that she had the Force, but she was not strong in it like those who were trained and Anakin could only guess it was because she was subconsciously shielding herself.

Her presence was subtle and quiet compared to her companion but Anakin could feel it nonetheless, but was she able to utilize it without training? Some people were capable of doing that and others were not. The Force affected every person differently and everyone tended to feel its presence differently.

"Yes, you do," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest, not in anger but in mild curiosity. Her hostility had seemed to dissipate at that point and she was no longer making snide remarks to Anakin or Luke, but she did expect an explanation from the strange boy that they had picked up. Her tone was authoritarian, but calm and patient at the same time.

"What were you doing on Ben'we in the first place?" asked Luke, "and how did you manage to gain the attention of the Empire?"

"I was captured by the Empire, but I'm not sure how," said Anakin as he recalled the events. That Commander had said that he said just appeared on the bridge and it was the only thing that seemed to make sense. He didn't even remember what he had been doing before he woke up in the brig, all he could remember was walking through the caves on Setauri V with his Master but everything else was just blank.

"You're not sure?" asked Leia with skepticism.

"I...I can't remember," mumbled Anakin, "I was on Setauri V with a companion and then I just woke up in the brig."

"And then you broke out?" asked Luke as he and Leia shared an unreadable look.

Anakin nodded, "they didn't use a Force inhibitor so I escaped and took one of their ships but I crashed it."

Anakin could tell that they were trying to get a sense of what had occurred and he didn't blame them. There were so many details that were missing or that didn't make sense, and he hadn't even told them about the time-traveling part yet, something he wasn't entirely sure that he should share with them.

"So how do you think you ended up on the Vigilant?" asked Luke after a few moments of silence, his piercing blue eyes that mirrored Anakin's stared at the youth with an indecipherable look.

"The Force?" asked Anakin, unsure of even himself.

Luke said nothing as he leaned back in his chair, his blue gaze never once leaving the boy who was seated in front of him. It made Anakin feel uneasy as the silence felt heavy and permeated the air around them as Luke tilted his head in a curious manner, but said nothing as he narrowed his eyes at the strange youth.

"The Force?" asked Leia with a slightly puzzled expression, her perfectly shaped eyebrows scrunching up in confusion as she looked over to Luke for some sort of confirmation, even though she knew that it was the truth.

Luke remained strangely silent as he examined the teenager, who seemed so familiar to him but at the same time he knew that he had never met this boy before in his life. He was familiar but in a strange sort of way. It was almost as if he should already know who this boy was, but Luke had no idea.

Maybe it was because this boy shared the same name as Anakin Skywalker, but Luke knew better than to draw comparisons between two completely different people.

But no matter how mysterious and enigmatic the boy was, he had told them the truth. Luke could sense the truth behind Anakin's words and he wasn't about to question the will of the Force.

"I believe you," he said after a few moments of silence.

"You do?" asked Leia, her question directed to Luke while Anakin suddenly became fascinated with his lap. He was having a hard time reading the woman and her tone gave no hint as to whether or not she believed his story at all.

"I can sense that he's telling the truth," said Luke with no further comment to his female companion.

Leia opened her mouth to say something but decided against it and instead pursed her lips into a tight line, her eyes traveling over to the angst-ridden teenager who was staring between the two of them with suspense.

"Okay," she said after a few moments of silence. There was no question in her voice anymore and she trusted Luke and his mystical Jedi powers, unlike Han who had mocked the Force and still continued to have his doubts. But Leia had seen the extent of the power and she had been on the receiving end of the power when Vader had interrogated her and had tried to force his way into her mind, but Leia had been strong enough to keep him out. It was her conviction to the Rebel cause that had saved her from his probing thoughts and she knew that she would rather die than let the Empire get their hands on those plans.

Not when so many brave Rebels had been slaughtered on the beaches of Scarif.

"So where are you from, Anakin?" asked Luke as he leaned back in his chair, interested in where this peculiar boy was from.

Anakin paused, hesitant as to what he should tell them about his origins. There was so much he didn't know about this specific time period and he didn't know how him being from a planet like Tatooine would be received by his two companions. Anakin had learned to be careful who he told about where he was from because of the scrutiny and judgment he would face from those who held themselves higher than the savages from the Outer Rim, especially when it concerned a planet like Tatooine. It was a lesson he had learned the hard way, that not everyone was as accepting as they claimed to be.

It was ironic how so many who held themselves in high regard when it came to cultural relativism and how accepting they were of all people no matter their background were usually the first ones to judge him based on the fact that he was from Tatooine. Anakin was no stranger to being looked down upon by those who were supposed to be advocates of equality, which was one of the reasons why he valued his friendship with the Chancellor so much. Palpatine had never once judged him and had been nothing but kind the youth ever since he had come to Coruscant all those years ago.

But he knew that this was not the case with his two rescuers. He may not have known them well, but he could sense that they were not judgmental.

Anakin twiddled with his thumbs absentmindedly, "Coruscant, but I grew up on Tatooine."

Both Luke and Leia seemed to recoil in surprise and shock that made Anakin feel foolish. They were obviously surprised by something that he had said, but Anakin didn't know it was that made them so shocked.

"Coruscant? You mean Imperial Center?" asked Leia, "what in sithspit were you doing there?"

"I...I uh," began Anakin, trying his best to hide his nervousness as he could feel Luke's eerie and questioning gaze on him. Luke remained silent, but Anakin could feel the churning of the Force around the older Jedi and he knew that he was trying to figure him out.

"I mean I haven't lived there recently," began Anakin as he did his best to make his story sound more plausible. "I left when I started my training."

Anakin wasn't usually one to lie but at the same time, he didn't want them to think he was crazy. He could pretend that he belonged in this time and since there were no Jedi left, that he had received his training from a rogue force user instead of the truth. The Force did not agree with his tactic of deception and Anakin wasn't sure if Luke was buying into his story or not. The older Jedi had erected sturdy walls that hid his emotions from Anakin and his eyes narrowed in distrust as soon as the words had been spoken.

Luke could feel that Anakin was not telling him the truth, or at least only partial truths. But Luke decided he would not push the boy any further and respect his privacy, but he could make no guarantees for Leia, who was staring at Anakin with suspicion and distrust.

Luke had a feeling that Leia was not buying into the youth's story, but she remained silent to his surprise and instead focused her attention to the blue hyperdrive waves with a pensive and contemplative look in her eyes.

It seemed as though neither of them would further question Anakin about the legitimacy of his story, but that didn't stop the gears that were beginning to turn in Luke's head and he was starting to get a sense of what was really was going on. He had a suspicion that revolved around what Ben had told him earlier about the boy, but had seemed strange and vague at the time. Ben had mentioned something about time, correcting the mistakes of the past by revealing the future. Luke had simply brushed the comment off as Ben just being eccentric, but even now he could feel the blatant truth behind the man's words.

Anakin said that he lived on Coruscant, or Imperial Center as it was being called these days, but that simply was not possible. There was no way a Jedi could survive going to Imperial Center much less living there, not anymore that was. But he could sense that Anakin did indeed live there, just not in this current time period.

The Force had really outdone itself this time. Time travel had always been nothing more than a fantasy to Luke, but now it was a reality and he now understood. The boy was not from this time but had been sent here from the past so that he could be shown the future.

The Force churned in excitement and anticipation, agreeing with Luke about the nature of Anakin's presence. But there was something else- something more that the Force wanted Luke to know.

This Anakin shared the same name and planet as Anakin Skywalker, the man who was currently running around the galaxy, using fear as a tactic to further the Empire and crush those who would dare to oppose him. Luke didn't want it to be true, tried his hardest to ignore the absurd idea and instead returned his attention the mere child who sat in front of him, twiddling his thumbs and anxiously bobbing his leg to and fro as he stared at him with wide and innocent blue eyes, which made him seem so much younger than he actually was.

It was just a coincidence, mere speculation and maybe just a tad bit of hope. Hope that if it were possible, that Luke could change things for the better. That maybe, just maybe this was the Force's way of apologizing for dealing Luke such a crappy hand, and not in the literal sense. Although Luke had to agree that the Force had screwed him over in both aspects.

But was it possible?

Was it possible that he could save his father from the darkness that had consumed him?

"Tatooine, huh?" asked Luke calmly and nonchalantly, ignoring the flabbergasted stare of his companion. "I grew up there."

"Really?" asked Anakin, surprised to find another individual who was from the same planet as him. He had detected a slight Outer Rim accent from the other Jedi, but it was faded and he hadn't been sure from which planet it had originated.

A lot of accents carried over from planet to planet so pinpointing where someone was from could be difficult at times, unlike the Core Worlds where accents tended to be more pronounced and posher sounding than what Anakin was used to. It was also common for people in the Core Worlds to use proper basic, which had always seemed to set him apart from most of his fellow Jedi. He had a strange accent that was a combination of inner and outer rim that made him stick out like a sore thumb around his peers and no matter how hard he tried to emulate the smooth and crisp dialect of those around him, it just made him sound stiff.

Luke chuckled, "yes, I lived there with my Aunt and Uncle until I was nineteen."

If Anakin really was from Tatooine, then Luke wouldn't need to explain why he no longer lived there.

"I left when I was nine," said Anakin with a shudder, "and I've never been back since."

"You don't have family you visit there?" asked a curious Luke as he pressed the boy. He had a distinct feeling that there was something about this kid that he should know, but he couldn't quite figure out what.

"My mother is still there, or at least I think she is," said Anakin tensely, which did not go unnoticed by Luke.

"And she didn't go with you when you left?" asked Luke, the Force starting swirl around him in both agitation and anticipation, which made him even more interested in what the boy had to say.

Anakin shifted in his seat as he tried to decide whether or not Luke would be accepting of his former status. Even though he was no longer a slave, there was still a social divide between the free-born and the former slaves and he didn't know whether or not Luke would accept him or shun him when he found out. But Anakin also knew that he could not lie to Luke, not after everything he had done for him.

"My mother and I were both slaves. I ended up gaining my freedom but she did not."

Luke's eyes widened for a fraction of a second as he observed the boy in front of him, a former slave from Tatooine whose name was Anakin.

Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had told him of his father's early days on Tatooine, how he and his mother had both been slaves and how at a young age, his father had somehow managed to gain his freedom and had left Tatooine to become the Captain of a spice freighter. His grandmother, Shmi had remained in slavery for a few more years after that before she married Cliegg, only to die a few years later.

Was it a mere coincidence though, to meet a powerful Jedi with the same name and past as his father?

Luke didn't want to believe it. It was impossible and absurd that this child was the same Anakin Skywalker, the man that would become Darth Vader, one of the evilest men the galaxy had ever known.

And yet he could sense the truth behind it all.

Kriffing hell.

Vader kicked at the dirt beneath him as he stared down at the Stormtrooper's bodies, some of them having been killed by blaster shots and others cut down with a lightsaber. His ominous black mask hid a particularly nasty snarl as well as his eyes, which were undoubtedly yellow from rage.

He had been so close!

So close to finding the pesky and enigmatic Jedi that had been giving him so much grief as well as his own son, Luke Skywalker, whose presence had shown brightly in the Force, serving as a beacon for him to follow. He had been surprised at first to feel the boy's presence, here on some backwater Outer Rim planet that wasn't even on most planetary maps and barely offered anything of value to the Empire. But there had been no mistaking that presence.

As soon as he had felt Skywalker's presence, Vader had quickened his pace so that he could reach the boy before he did something foolish, but he had missed him by a few minutes and already he could tell that Skywalker, along with his companions was no longer on Ben'we.

His son had managed to escape him yet again.

They had escaped numerous Stormtroopers and had managed to get past the Imperial blockade with little to no trouble, either a testament to their skill or the Empire's weakness.

"Milord," came the soft-spoken voice from behind him.

Vader whipped his head around to stare at the Lieutenant from the Vigilant, the sun reflecting off of his lenses as he focused in on the lanky man with fiery red hair that was neatly gelled back and styled in the standard Imperial Officer haircut.

"What is it?" he asked, his mechanical voice low and stoical.

"There are a few witnesses," he said as he motioned over to where a father and daughter were being held by Stormtroopers, the fear on their face evident as they stared at the Dark Lord himself.

"They claimed to have seen the whole thing from their apartment," said the officer as he pointed up to a room on the second level that had a window that faced down on the street where the altercation had taken place. Vader already had a clear picture of what had taken place, but it would not hurt to see what they had seen.

"Did you question them already?" asked Vader, his patience starting to wane.

"Yes, they said that there were two Jedi who were accompanied by a woman. They identified one of the Jedi as Luke Skywalker and the woman as the former Princess of Alderaan. They do not know who the third Jedi was, but they claimed he matched the description that we issued."

He was not surprised to hear that the incorrigible Princess had been here with his son, it seemed as though the two were inseparable these days. Vader wondered if it was because his son held feelings for the former Senator, which seemed plausible but at the same time, not something Vader would ever approve of. The Princess was nothing more than a royal menace and Vader somewhat regretted not having gotten rid of her when the opportunity had arisen. He had always had disdain for the girl ever since he had met her when she just a child, no older than seven years old when her father had taken her to the Senate so that she could observe the inner workings of politics, something Vader had doubted a child of her age would ever be able to understand. But she did and she had thrived in the political affairs of the Empire, and even having the audacity to later betray the very system that she had learned from.

Eventually, the Princess would be taken care of and she would no longer be there to influence his son with her beliefs in democracy and the Republic, which were nothing more than a fleeting hope for the Rebels. The days of the Republic were gone, but some just refused to accept it.

"Did they see what he looked like?" asked Vader as he refocused his attention on the mysterious Jedi who kept a Padawan braid.

"They said he had his head covered with a scarf but that he was a white human male either in his late teens or early twenties."

There were billions of people who matched that description, which was no help to Vader. Even the grainy picture that they had managed to extract from the holo-security feed was of no help and did nothing to help identify the Jedi.

"Very well," said Vader with a wave of his mechanical hand, "you are dismissed, Lieutenant."

"Yes Sir," said the young man before making his way back over to where the two witnesses stood staring at them with wide, dark eyes.

Vader returned his gaze back to the bodies that were strewn about the dirty street, his breathing slow and methodical as he clenched his fist dangerously as he reigned in his hot anger that was threatening to take control of him. He stood silently to the rest of the world, but the Force flared dangerously around and none could feel the raging tempest that accumulated around him.

It was simply unacceptable that he had once again been outdone by his own son and the Princess, who had managed to escape with the rogue Jedi, who would undoubtedly align himself with their cause now and join them. Two young and powerful Jedi against him and the Emperor made him uncomfortable for some reason, and he did not enjoy the feeling.

The glass window next to Vader started to crack slowly but steadily as the fissures spread up the window before stopping suddenly, but the window did not break from the pressure of Vader's anger. His temper had been reigned in and he instead decided to direct his fury into something more productive. He would find his son and his two companions if it was the last thing he did and they would be sorry that they had run from him in the first place.

"Lieutenant," came Vader's booming voice as he turned to face the young Officer who could not have been older than twenty-five at best. "Clean this up then report back to me. We have work to do."

"What sort of work, Lord Vader?" asked the Lieutenant as he jogged to keep up with the cyborg's fast pace.

"You will see."

Luke stared out the viewport of the ship, his mind completely occupied by the series of strange events that had happened within the last few hours. He was alone and his thoughts were still reeling from the peculiar conversation he had had with Anakin, a boy who was strong in the Force and was undoubtedly from the past.

It was strange to comprehend, but Luke knew that there was something about Anakin. The Force seemed to converge upon the boy as if waiting in anticipation for him to do something. Luke wasn't sure what, but he could sense that Anakin was going to change everything here very soon.

And even while Luke knew that there was something about the boy, there was also something else that he did not want to think about. Something that he wished was not true but deep down he knew that it was.

He tried to convince himself that it was just a coincidence, a mere happenstance with no real connection, but Luke knew not to place his trust blindly in things that he could only hope for.

To encounter a young man who was quite possibly from the past with the same name and home planet as the man who had once been known as Anakin Skywalker seemed too serendipitous to be true.

But Luke could still hope that the connection was not real, that this was all just a figment of his overactive imagination and there was nothing more to this story.

But it was true.

The Force spoke the truth and that truth was that the boy that they had picked up on Ben'we was indeed Anakin Skywalker from the past. Luke had been oblivious at first, but he was not stupid and he could feel the way that he and Anakin had connected. They had already formed a bond, something that rarely happened unless there was something more to the relationship, more specifically a relationship between a parent and their child. The bond between father and son was a strong and instantaneous one and Luke thanked the Force that Anakin did not know the true nature it.

The Force hummed sadly around Luke and he could feel that there would be a day when it would all have to be confronted and all the pain that would be brought with that revelation. Luke just wished that he could walk away from it and not have to burden the boy with sins he had not yet committed, and a small part of him told him that it wasn't worth it.

It seemed selfish and a little asinine to want to walk away from it all, to walk away from Anakin, but Luke could not deny that he was scared and that a part of him wanted nothing to do with the man who had taken so much from him. That man who had tortured Leia, cut off his hand, and had taken Han from them as if he had the right to make their lives miserable.

Luke was being given the chance of a lifetime, but that didn't change the fact that Luke wanted none of it.

For once in his life, he just wanted someone else to take care of the problem that was his father and go back to living a peaceful life while someone else did all the dirty work. He wished that the war that had taken the lives of countless of people would just end and that peace could be restored to the galaxy so he could run off like he had always wanted to do.

He hated to admit it, but after all these years of fighting, Luke was beginning to see the appeal in farming again.

"Hello Luke," came Ben's solemn voice from behind him.

Luke turned around to see the blue hue of his former Master, a heavy look crossing his face that made him seem even older than he actually was.

"Ben," said Luke in acknowledgment.

"I see you found Anakin," said Ben, his eyes lingering over to the corridor that led to the quarters where the teen was currently sleeping away the exhausting day.

"It wasn't easy," commented Luke sullenly.

"No, I imagine it wasn't," said Ben with a heavy sigh. "Especially when it comes to him."

There was a moment of silence before Luke finally pushed his chair away from the console and turned to face the old Jedi, his face pensive and frustrated.

"Why didn't you tell me who he was?" asked Luke with no anger, but sadness that Ben hadn't trusted him yet again.

Luke wasn't a fool. He knew exactly who Anakin was and why he was here, he just didn't appreciate the surprise of being confronted with his teenage father from the past.

Ben sighed, "I wanted you to be able to meet him before I told you so that your first impression of him wasn't tainted so that you could have a glimpse of the person that I once knew and loved."

"A warning would've been nice," said Luke sardonically before he rubbed a hand through his hair and sighed, his frustration and anger slowly fading away.

"I'm sure it came as quite the surprise," remarked Obi-wan. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I found out what the Force had done, but now I am able to see the benefit of what this could bring. To think, he is being given a chance to correct his mistakes before he even makes them," said Ben with a faraway look in his eyes. Luke could've sworn there was hope in his eyes and he knew how much Anakin had meant to Obi-wan, how much he still meant to him to this day even though he had fallen from grace.

Luke had never realized it before, but Obi-wan had practically raised Anakin and that he had lost much more than just a friend and a former apprentice that day. Luke couldn't imagine the pain that he had been in all these years, and then to be presented with the opportunity to prevent that tragedy.

It was more than Luke could even imagine.

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Luke, feeling lost and forlorn at the looming situation. How was Luke supposed to handle this? How was Luke supposed to keep his father from falling without giving the poor boy an aneurysm?

How was Luke supposed to tell a boy who hadn't even reached adulthood yet that he would one day fall to the dark side and destroy the Jedi? Much less that Luke was his future son that had yet to be born. He didn't know which would be easier, telling someone they turn into a mechanical monster or that they had met their future child.

Luke dreaded both, but he knew that one day all would be revealed. He just knew that it would happen.

"He needs guidance," began Ben, "he needs someone to help him navigate this new time and I'm afraid that my services will be quite limited."

"What should I tell him about Vader? About me?"

Ben smoothed a hand over his face thoughtfully at the question then frowned before returning his eyes back over to an expectant Luke.

"Do not tell him anything about who Vader is or who you are. He's not ready for that information, at least not yet that is."

"But he's going to find out eventually. I can't keep that a secret forever and you know he'll get suspicious," said Luke.

"Oh I don't doubt he will, but we have some time before he starts putting the pieces together. He needs time to adjust before we burden him with his future, but in the meantime what he really needs is guidance. Your guidance, Luke."

"I'm not sure that I'm ready to do that," said Luke as he shook his head at the notion. "I'm not sure that I can guide him knowing who he is and what he'll do."

"I think you'll find that you're more capable than you think," said Ben pointedly. "I know that this is daunting for you, but you won't be alone. There is another who will need to guide Anakin and show him the consequences of his actions just as much as you will have to."

"Who?" asked Luke in curiosity but forgot about his question when he heard rustling coming from the bunkers where Anakin had been sleeping peacefully. He heard the shuffling of feet on the floor drawing nearer until the groggy-eyed boy popped out from behind the wall to stare at Luke with a sleepy smile on his face.

Luke shot his head back over to where Ben had been standing just a moment ago to find that he had disappeared into thin air, leaving Luke's question completely unanswered.

"Who were you talking too?" asked Anakin curiously as he made his way over to the co-pilots chair and plopped himself down.

"What?" asked Luke.

"I heard you talking to someone just now," said Anakin, "or at least I think that's what you were doing."

"I was sending out a holo-message," said Luke.

"Oh," said Anakin with a nod of his head as he looked at the console with curiosity, his eyes zeroing in on the navigation computer.

"Where's Leia?" asked Luke.

"She's in the lounge reading a holo-novel," said Anakin with a shrug of his shoulders. "She looked pretty engrossed in it so I didn't want to interrupt her."

"Probably for the best," chuckled Luke, unsurprised at what she had been doing these last few hours.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" asked Anakin.

"Sure," said Luke, "fire away."

"That droid you have," he said as he referred to Artoo. "Where did you get it?"

"On Tatooine," said Luke, interested in Anakin's interest in his droid. "My Uncle bought him from some Jawas. You wouldn't believe how much trouble he's given me ever since. Why?"

Anakin shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "just wondering. I once knew a similar droid."

But Anakin was positive that the droid he had seen rolling around the ship and beeping was not the same droid that once belonged to Padme. This droid acted strangely as soon as he saw Anakin, squealing loudly and rolling as fast as he could away from the boy as if Anakin had done something to offend or scare the domed astromech.

He had seen the Droid only a few times since then, watching him closely from the shadows and observing his every move. As if he was waiting for him to do something bad.

"Well he's an old droid, so maybe it's the same one," said Luke in all seriousness.

Anakin's head shot up to stare at Luke, his eyes surprised and questioning at the same time. He could feel the underlying statement behind Luke's words and even the Force seemed to churn uneasily around them.

"Now I was wondering if I could ask you a question. What year are you from?" asked Luke as he made it known that he knew Anakin was from the past.

Anakin's mouth opened to form an O before he quickly shut his mouth and replied, "How did you find out?"

"I know a lot," said Luke with a friendly smile to show Anakin that he meant no harm. "You're obviously a well-trained Jedi and you mentioned having lived on Coruscant, all of which is uncharacteristic for this particular time period. Coruscant is now known as Imperial Center, the capital of the Empire. If you had lived there, you would've been found and probably trained to be an Inquisitor or something like that."

Anakin nodded his head in resignation, "I'm from the year 3629 ATC and I'm not a full-fledged Jedi, at least not yet. I'm a Padawan," he said as he pointed to the strange braid that hung down on his shoulder, "an apprentice to Master Obi-wan Kenobi."

So that's what the braid had been for. Luke hadn't been sure if it was something Jedi related or just a horrible fashion statement.

Luke whistled, "twenty-eight years is a pretty big jump. How'd you find out you're in the wrong year?"

Anakin shrugged, "from some people on Ben'we. Thought I had hit my head in the crash because I didn't know what the year was."

"I bet you were really surprised."

"I still am," said Anakin as he shook his head. "It's strange, you know? To find out everything that's happened and to wonder why. I wonder what happened to me in all these years, whether or not I survived the purge or if I'm– dead."

Anakin had never thought about it till now, instead opting to busy his thoughts with that of the Empire and the fall of the Jedi. It was completely normal to wonder what had happened to him in these last twenty-eight years, but Anakin wasn't sure that he would want to know. He could very well be dead at this point in his life and if that was the case then he wouldn't want to know how or when.

Luke fought back a cringe, "maybe you shouldn't dwell on your own future. You may not like what you find."

Anakin sighed, "I suppose so. It's just that there's so much that has happened and I don't understand. How did this Empire come about? What happened to the Republic?"

"I'm not completely sure," said Luke shaking his head in dismay. "There's so much that I don't know either being from the Outer Rim and considering how much history the Empire destroyed. But what I do know is that there was some sort of attempted coup that ended up failing, which caused the Emperor to seize control of the Senate and declare the Jedi an enemy of the state. From there he formed the Empire and the Jedi were purged," said Luke as he did his best to recall everything that Aunt Beru had taught him during his home lessons. There was probably much more to the story, but the Empire had sanitized a lot of it in their favor.

"So this Emperor was a Sith?" asked Anakin after a few moments of silence. He was confused as to how the Emperor had gotten control of the Senate, or how he would've managed to destroy the Jedi without help. Two Sith against the entire Jedi Order just was not possible, which led Anakin to believe that there was something missing in the story that he didn't know.

"Yes," said Luke as he nodded his head, "he and his apprentice, Darth Vader were the ones to carry this out."

"But how? Two Sith isn't enough to destroy the Jedi!" said Anakin in confusion and anger.

"It wasn't just the Sith," said Luke before pausing, contemplating how he would describe the part that the Clones played in the grand scheme of everything. "They had an army of Clones that helped them."

Anakin shook his head, "but wouldn't the Republic have known about an army of Clones? Why didn't the Republic do anything to stop the creation of this army?"

"Because the Republic created the army," said Luke with an exasperated sigh. The story was complicated and one that he didn't really know, much less Anakin, who looked beyond lost as Luke's explanation.

"The Republic created the army that helped destroy them? What purpose would the Republic have for creating an army in the first place?"

"There was a war going on during that time that required additional manpower. There was a group that was trying to separate from the Republic and they had their own army," said Luke, starting to regret not paying attention to his history studies with his Aunt Beru. He wasn't sure, but he remembered droids being mentioned and what not, but then again, history was not his strong suit.

Anakin shook his head, the confusion still present on his face. He didn't understand what the Clone Wars was really about, but Luke knew that there would come a day in his life when he would live through the War.

"When did this take place?" asked Anakin in morbid curiosity.

"From 3631 to 3634 ATC."

Anakin did the math and came to the conclusion that the war would start in two years from his time, which meant that this war was already well on its way to happening. Which meant that the Republic only have five years left in his own time, which was a very short amount of time.

Anakin hadn't realized it yet, but the Republic had already started to fall, even in his own time.

"And the Jedi fought in this war?" asked Anakin in surprise. "The Jedi are defenders of peace, we try to remain neutral in Republic conflicts like these. We would've tried to find a peaceful solution first before we ever took up arms against someone."

"Moral obligation?" asked Luke with a shrug, "The Jedi did swear to protect and serve the Republic. I'm guessing that when the Republic went to war, the Jedi were inevitably dragged into it. Plus, not defending the Republic and saying no to the Senate would've been bad for publicity. Either way, it was a no-win situation."

"I guess," said Anakin. He wasn't sure about all the politics that were involved in getting the Jedi to fight in a war for the Republic, but he could sense that there was something fishy about the whole situation.

He wondered briefly if he had fought in the war along with his fellow Jedi and how many of his fellow friends and mentors had perished in the war. Is this how Obi-wan died? Fighting in this so-called Clone War or did his Master die in the purge that subsequently followed?

Did he die in the Clone Wars or in the purge as well?

Anakin shuddered at the thought and decided that ignorance was probably best in the case, and that knowing his future was best left to the imagination.

Luke patted Anakin on the back sympathetically, "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. I mean, isn't that why you are here? To go back and prevent this all from even happening in the first place?"

"I suppose. But it sure is a weird way to fix everything, don't you think?"

Luke smiled brightly at Anakin, "oh you have no idea how weird this situation is."

The poor boy really had no idea.

AN: Now Luke knows who Anakin is! What will happen next and how will he keep everything a secret from Anakin?

Comment and tell me what you thought!

Also, huge thanks to Khalthar who caught all of my mistakes :)