Don't give up.

Do not fear the dark side.

You'll be alright. I've got you now.

I'll protect you.

His own screams woke him up from the nightmare. Luke roared through gritted teeth as a ripping sensation tore through his body. The bright lights above him pierced painfully into his eyes and he struggled wildly to regain control of himself. He breathed in heavily, trying hard to focus on his surroundings to distract him from the pain.

He saw himself in the reflection of the chrome panel above his bed, wearing nothing but an undergarment to cover his privates. Around him a medic droid and three women bustled about. Their tertiary robes were ripples in the river of bodies that methodically worked on him.

Another sharp pain from his abdominal region shot Luke back against his bed. In his pain he caught sight of a woman that held her right palm slightly above Luke's chest. Slowly he began to feel a pool of calm energy flowing into him.

"Don't be afraid," she repeated. "You're safe now."

Luke's breathing and pain began to slowly subside and his vision began to clear.

"Who are you?" He managed through gasps. "Where am I?"

"My name is Barriss Offee," she responded as the droids began to remove the bacta injection tubes from Luke's arms. "I'm a healer here in the temple. You were brought in by one of our own a few hours ago."

"Temple," Luke repeated as the last of the bacta injections were removed from his arms. With Barriss' help, Luke sat up in his bed, the back portion adjusting to a sitting position. Nausea rolled through his stomach and Luke clenched his jaw against the pain.

"Yes," Barriss told him. "This is the Jedi Temple of Coruscant."

Luke glanced up.

"No, this can't be. There are no Jedi. I'm the last one left."

The woman exchanged an incredulous look with the droid beside her.

"See for yourself," she offered. With one motion she lifted back her dark robes.

To Luke's surprise, a silver lightsaber hilt hung from her belt. With a quick glance, he began to notice that the other two healers held lightsaber hilts clipped onto their belts as well. Instinctively, he reached for his lightsaber but it was gone.

"Where did you find me?" He asked Barriss as she collected her things.

"Master Kenobi brought you in from the industrial sector of Coruscant," she responded.

"Ben lives?!" Luke exclaimed. "Where is he?"

"He is waiting outside for you. You will see him shortly." She assured him. "Try to stand."

Luke, no longer feeling the twisting pain he felt earlier, turned and planted both feet firmly on the ground.

"Good," Barriss said. "For a man with several broken ribs and a punctured lung, you sure are spry."

With everything gathered, the Jedi Healers exited the room to give him privacy

Barriss stopped as she approached the door of the healing room and turned to face him one more time. "There is a refresher unit in the back there. When you're finished, I'll inform Master Kenobi you're ready to see him. I promise all your questions will be answered."

With that, Luke was left in the healing room alone. He found the refresher unit and took a much needed bath. His arms were still numb from the bacta injection, and tiny incision marks lined his arms, but at least the nausea was gone. All the while, his mind buzzed with questions.

Jedi Temple? Jedi Council? Ben is alive?

Luke breathed in as the cold water ran against his skin. He called out to the Force and felt its reassuring presence more than he ever did.

He wasn't sure what this Temple was but he was determined to find out.

He finished cleaning up and found a set of brown garments neatly folded in a compartment. He put them on and exited the refresher. He started heading towards the door when his curiosity got the better of him. Withdrawing to the back of the room he marched towards the window and opened the blinds.

Before him, a gorgeous view of the bustling metropolis invaded the dark room. Endless lanes of traffic flowed down the main streets of Coruscant and giant statues of Jedi rose to the skies. The red flags of the Empire did not fly over buildings like he remembered. Instead, the blue flags of the old Republic swayed peacefully in the air.

"I don't believe it," Luke said. The blue Republic Flags had not been flown in decades, which could only mean...

Have I been sent back in time?

"Splendid view, isn't it?"

Luke turned around and before him stood a man with light brown hair and a beard.

His face was younger but the Force signature was all too familiar.

"Ben," Luke breathed.

"Dear, oh dear," Obi-Wan shook his head as he walked into the room. "Stop calling me that, you make me feel like an eighty-year-old hermit."

"Obi-Wan," Luke laughed. He approached and threw his arms over the stunned Jedi Knight. "You're alive! I have so many things to tell you; so many things to ask."

A confused look came over Obi-Wan's face for a moment but he shook it away.

"I have some questions of my own, young man. Have we met before? You're awfully familiar."

Luke froze for a moment. If this really was the past, Ben hadn't met him yet. I have to watch what I say. I probably haven't even been born yet!

"In a different time, and a different place," Luke chose his words carefully, trying hard to be as clear as possible. "Ah, in a different life."

Obi-Wan's puzzled expression prompted him on.

"My name is Luke Skywalker," he said. "I'm from the future, and in my timeline, I am the last Jedi alive."

Obi-Wan obviously didn't buy it.

"Time travel? How is that even possible?" He asked.

"I don't know," Luke answered, turning to look outside the window. "The last thing I remember is confronting the Emperor who conquered the Republic. After that final fight, I perished along with my father and woke up here. You should know him. Anakin Skywalker. Perhaps it is the will of the Force that I meet him here."

"Or perhaps his fever is running a little high," a young voice said from behind Obi-Wan. A tall, handsome teenager wearing a dark brown tunic entered the room. "Seriously, not even Jar Jar would fall for that."

"Young Luke, meet your father," Obi-Wan said sarcastically."

Luke didn't realize he had been holding his breath. His father couldn't be a day older than nineteen years old. Still, he could understand their incredulity.

"Stretch out with your feelings, Obi-Wan," Luke said, turning back to him. "You'll know that what I'm telling you is true."

"What a waste of time," Anakin huffed.

Luke thought of a way to prove that he was telling the truth.

"Your lightsaber is blue," he blurted out. "And so is yours, father- I mean, Anakin,"

"And so is half the Jedi Order's," Anakin rebuked.

Luke thought again, doing his best to remember what Ben had told him before he died.

"You and Anakin are good friends," he stated.

"Oh yes, we're great pals," Obi-Wan replied, more to Anakin than to Luke. "I even jumped after him when he fell into that nest of Gundarks-"

"Not the Gundarks story again," Anakin groaned.

Luke started to feel a tinge of frustration against his young father. Who knew that the feared Darth Vader had been such an annoying brat?

Finally, he thought of something.

"Obi-Wan, I don't know if you have it yet, but in your possession was a beautiful green Kyber crystal. I took it from an old hilt and used it to create a new lightsaber, although I don't know where it is."

"A green kyber crystal," Obi-Wan said to himself. "Can you describe the old hilt?"

"Yes, it was a rusty old thing. Fading black and silver hilt with a red ignition button."

Obi-Wan sighed, staring past Luke for a moment.

"That lightsaber belonged to my old master, Qui-Gon Jinn. I still have it in my quarters."

There was a long pause before Obi-Wan spoke again.

"Alright, young Luke. My instincts tell me that you're telling the truth," he finally said. "Very interesting."

The door behind them slid back and Obi-Wan motioned him to follow."Come. The Jedi Council wish to speak to you. Your encounter here has caused much controversy and alarm."

"Alarm?" Luke asked as he followed Obi-Wan through the enormous halls of the Jedi Temple, with Anakin right behind them. Dozens of Jedi walked past him and Luke could feel their curious glances and whispers.

"Luke," Obi-Wan said as they entered a turbolift. "I need you to be completely honest with me. How did you end up in the industrial sector of Coruscant?"

"I don't know," Luke repeated. "It's as I told you already. I perished in a fight against the Galactic Emperor and somehow woke up here, in a different timeline."

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment.

"Anakin and I were chasing an assassin through the streets of Coruscant when I first felt it," Obi-Wan said, at last. "We all felt it. At first, I thought I was going crazy. But the closer we got to the industrial sector, the stronger it got. The shroud of the dark side clouded everything in that sector. Anakin and I split up and while he chased the assassin, I investigated the anomaly. And then I heard your call for help. After I rescued you, the powerful dark Force signature disappeared completely."

The shroud of the dark side.

That thought sent a chill down Luke's spine.

"Luke," Obi-Wan said as the turbolift reached its destination. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Luke swallowed hard and nodded.

"When I was sent back in time, someone else hitched a ride with me."

"Or you hitched a ride back with someone else," Anakin countered.

"And that someone else has to be the greatest source of dark side energy we have ever felt," Obi-Wan finished.

Palpatine.

"You mentioned that in the future the Republic will fall to this... this Galactic Emperor. Perhaps that is something that you should tell the council."

Luke agreed. If the evil emperor truly had returned in time he could have the chance to restart his plan to destroy the Jedi and he could even end the Rebel Alliance before its founders were even born! I have to find him.

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind as the door to the Jedi Council Chambers opened. Luke was lead to the center of the chamber while Obi-Wan and Anakin flanked him from behind.

Twelve Jedi of different ages and species sat in a ring, staring right through Luke. The air here was chilled and Luke shivered.

"Welcome, young stranger," a powerful looking man who sat directly in front of him said. "I am Mace Windu. We have summoned you here to ask you some questions. Don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid, it's just cold," Luke reassured them, bowing his head. He looked at the dozen Jedi around him as they studied him. Their interest and excitement but also apprehension and caution was palpable. His eyes came to rest on a diminutive creature with green skin and ancient eyes.

"Master Yoda!" Luke exclaimed.

Everyone was surprised, even Obi-Wan.

Luke quickly removed his outer robe and walked forward towards the ancient Jedi Master and covered him with it to protect him from the cold. In one motion, Mace Windu and Ki-Adi-Mundi ignited their lightsabers and crossed them before Luke. Obi-Wan and Anakin took a cautious step forward. The tension was hot in the air.

"Not a step closer," Windu warned. Luke stepped back in surprise.

Yoda simply laughed in that same old way Luke remembered so well.

"For 800 years have I trained Jedi more powerful than this one," Yoda said, amused. "Older, more experienced ones were they. Thousands of apprentices and colleagues. The kindness this young one has shown me, never have I been offered it before. Not even by you, my old friends."

Mundi and Windu exchanged a glance before withdrawing their lightsabers and taking their seats in silence. Obi-Wan smiled in amusement and few other masters whispered to themselves. Anakin scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Ask of you, we do, young one." Yoda said. "Who are you?"

Luke smiled at his old friend.

"My name is Luke Skywalker."


Thank you to everyone for their kind reviews and support. I'll do my best not to disappoint! I'll try to update at least two or three times a week but no promises! Enjoy!

Reviews Response

Lyn79: Thank you so much for the first review! I wanted to add a little more dialogue there and an emotional connection and highlight Vader's redemption. I love time travel fics too! I'll do my best!

Crowdust : Yes! The idea came to me while watching Empire Strikes Back!

AnakinandPadme: Thank you, I will do my best to update often. I am in love with this story and the direction it's going... let's just say few might see it coming hehe

CzarZelinsky : Thank you for your support! I will make it as different and original as possible. I've read over a dozen other fics in preparation for this one, just trying to do somethiing different!

ReySkywalker112 : Reviews like yours make me want to write faster! Thank you thank you thank you!