The Power of Love

by Lux's Sister

After the destruction of the Death Star, Yularen finds himself transported back in time to the early days of the Clone War with one mission: to destroy the Empire before it has the chance to rise. But how can one man make a difference? Look out galaxy - Yularen has decent parenting skills and a stick of butter, and he's not afraid to use them.

So this was death.

Surely, he had died. Yularen felt rather than saw the battle station explode into searing heat and white light, the instant of indescribable pain as the fire and shrapnel tore him apart before everything faded to velvety black.

Now the first thing he was aware of was the darkness and a warm presence to his right. Yularen relaxed into the … bed? Yes, it was a bed and a familiar one. His bed at home on Coruscant, which meant the warmth radiating across the mattress had to be …

"Estelle," he whispered with tears pricking at his eyes.

Estelle was sleeping with her mouth open and drooling on the pillow but his bride had never looked more beautiful. She was younger than the last time he'd seen her - her hair hadn't been that shade of blonde for years, and his body moved with fewer complaints when he reached out to embrace her. By the stars, she was real!

She stirred in her sleep. "Wullf?"

"My star," Yularen hugged her close. "I've missed you so much."

"For a few hours?" Estelle chuckled. "You romantic, is it our anniversary?"

"Why can't it be?" This was heaven, he was sure of it. Eternity with Estelle, no war or Empire to keep them apart.

"I don't know how you'll manage when you ship out."

Ship out? Ship out where? He was never leaving!

The alarm clock squawked to life and Yularen keyed it off with sigh. Estelle crawled out of bed and drew the shades, flooding the room with early morning light. Maybe it wasn't to be eternity in darkness, but instead spent with his family.

He made his way to the caf maker and programmed it to his favorite setting while Estelle sifted through the messages on the home holocomm. Once the caf was brewing he could make some eggs and maybe they could make plans for the day over breakfast.

"Wullf? General Skywalker left a message for you."

Yularen's finger punched the caf maker and accidentally added double espresso to the pot.

"General who?" he asked, because he had to have misheard. There was no way he'd just heard that correctly.

"General Anakin Skywalker," Estelle repeated. "Your Jedi? The one you're supposed to be shipping out with to Christophsis tomorrow?"

Christophsis? He hadn't been there since the Clone Wars, when he and General Skywalker faced down Trench.

That was when Wullf Yularen realized he may not be in heaven after all.

…

How was this even possible?

Yularen stared at the date on the newsflimsi and forced down the surge of panic that threatened to overtake him. If he remembered correctly, this was in fact the day before he shipped out to Christophsis and considering he'd picked up the newsflimsi in question from a random stand and then gone into an equally random diner, it wasn't a setup.

But time travel didn't exist. He couldn't have - you know what, kriff it all. Yularen buried his head in his hands. If he'd learned anything working with Skywalker, it was that impossible was more of a suggestion. Somehow, and he didn't know or care about the specifics, he was twenty-three years in the past.

"Would you like a warmup, sir?" The waitress asked. She had long red hair and a bright smile much like Yularen's granddaughter. His granddaughter, he realized with a sinking feeling, who wasn't even born yet.

"Yes, please." He took a sip of his newly-warmed coffee and watched her go. What did being cognizant of the future mean for his family? What if he slipped and made a move too early, compromising Estelle and Graf's relative safety? And would he be able to stand by while Alexsandr and Hannah were captured and tortured for daring to stand up to evil?

Or…

Yularen looked up with new light in his eyes.

Or maybe none of that had to happen.

He didn't have to sit passively by and watch the galaxy go to osik. Even an accidental change could cause a massive ripple effect, but what if he made a concentrated effort? What would a campaign to change the galaxy accomplish?

He could save all those souls on Alderaan. He could make a future where his family didn't live in fear or wake screaming from nightmares or know the kiss of a laser cutter. He could quash the idea of that demonic battle station before it was even created.

What good can you do? Said a doubting voice in his head and Yularen instantly banished it. He had twenty-three years of political knowledge, years of experience running the toughest intelligence agency in the galaxy that didn't exist yet, and all the motivation in the universe. What couldn't he do?

His mind made up, he grabbed a stylus and his napkin and bent over his task.

Sheev Palpatine was an evil dictator. According to years of intelligence experience and a teen girl holo he had watched out of boredom one day, there was one way to destroy a dictator: you cut off their resources. So what were Palpatine's resources?

On the napkin, Yularen wrote Chancellorship.

He couldn't get rid of that one right away, not without getting killed. He had to think smaller, something he could reasonably get his claws into. Yularen tapped the stylus against the table.

Darth Vader/Skywalker

Wilhuff Tarkin

Alone, Palpatine was nothing. His power lay in his ability to manipulate others to his own ends. Well, Yularen was going to un-manipulate that if it was the last thing he did.

Now he just had to figure out how.

…

Yularen shipped off to Christophsis the next day and it was a whirlwind from there.

It was a shock to see General Skywalker young and cocky, performing death defying stunts like they were nothing. Yularen didn't know how he'd kept it together in the stealth ship the first time around, much less the second. And this was why he did not miss the Navy.

But the mission was again a success. They seemingly destroyed Trench and delivered the supplies to Senator Organa, and now he and Skywalker stood in the city center watching the crates go by.

"You know General, if you'd like to debrief further then I'll gladly volunteer the use of my office. I've found the process to be more tolerable over drinks, and my wife sent along a plate of cookies which I can't eat by myself."

Skywalker blinked. "Homemade cookies?"

"No one makes them like Estelle." Yularen crossed his fingers behind his back. He anticipated a lot since he'd decided to rewrite history, but he didn't imagine the fate of the galaxy resting on cookies.

"I might have to take you up on that, Admiral." Skywalker said. "Not just because of the cookies."

Of course they didn't get to the debriefing for a long while, after Yularen had delivered little Ahsoka (Stars, had she really been this young?) and went jetting across the galaxy to settle the business with the Huttlet. When Skywalker finally appeared for the debrief he practically collapsed in his chair.

Yularen reached for his decanter and poured Skywalker a North Onderon Caf that was a little more North Onderon than caf. "Rough day?"

"What did I just do?" Skywalker gulped his drink and obliterated a cookie in two bites.

"With the mission, or with Commander Tano?" He didn't really have to ask.

"How am I supposed to teach her?" Skywalker asked. "I don't know anything. The only reason the Jedi order hasn't thrown me out on my face is because I'm supposedly the Chosen One but that doesn't mean anything. What do I do if she gets hurt?" He bleached. "Oh sithspit, she is going to get hurt and it'll be all my fault!"

Yularen waited until he'd finished before he said anything. "General, you sound very like me when my son was born."

"Really?"

"Really." Yularen grabbed a holo of himself and Graf from his desk. "It was terrifying, but I slowly got used to it. The first thing I had to accept was that I couldn't be perfect, so I had to settle for my best effort. You know, Graf and Ahsoka are about the same age. Maybe we could share our wisdom."

Anakin inhaled another cookie. "Well it's better than my current plan."

"My advice, General? There's no way to prepare for this responsibility, so you should just go with it." I would know, having raised three kids. "And I'll be here if you want to talk."

"Will you have cookies?" Skywalker winked roguishly but Yularen could sense his relief.

"Estelle always sends me with some," he promised.

…

Wullf and Estelle did not keep secrets. From the moment he realized he'd traveled back in time, he knew he would eventually have to confide in his wife. Asking her to please bake cookies for the sake of the galaxy seemed as good a time as any.

So while Graf was at school, he sat Estelle down at their kitchen table and told her everything.

When he was done, she was staring like she didn't know whether to believe him or call a psychiatrist.

"You're telling me you died and traveled back in time," she said. "And that in the timeline you came from, the Republic had turned into a fascist empire which created planet-killing weapons?"

"I know it's hard to believe but I promise, I haven't lost it."

Estelle shrugged. "Alright."

"...You believe me?"

"After everything you told me about the Jedi, it isn't too far-fetched. Besides, I can't think of any harm befriending your General can do." She stood up and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Anything else I should know about your future?"

He supposed this was a big one: "We adopted two other children. A son and a daughter; at this point Alexsandr is seventeen and Dalla should be about twelve now. They're the most wonderful children you could ask for."

"Three children? We're going to need a bigger apartment. What were they up to?"

"Well Alexsandr and his daughter —."

Estelle lit up and gushed "We had a grandbaby?"

Now he knew for sure: Estelle was all in.

…

And so the office meetings continued. Armed with cookies and a listening ear, Yularen slowly established himself in Skywalker's life. They talked about raising Ahsoka, with Yularen injecting some of his "I raised three kids including a wild child who could put yours to shame," wisdom. They discussed the battles they fought and the challenges they overcame.

And then came the incident on Cato Neimoidia.

Yularen had forgotten exactly when it took place, but when Skywalker entered his office with steam rolling out of his ears, he knew they'd come upon it.

"Rough day?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Skywalker lied.

"With all due respect, you don't look fine."

"I… you have soundproofing for your office, right?"

"I do." Yularen pressed the button to activate it and just as suddenly, Skywalker exploded.

"He didn't even go to jail! He should be executed for what he did, and yet …" Anakin broke off into an enraged shout.

"Who didn't even go to jail?"

"Senator Clovis," Skywalker spat. Without preamble he launched into a rant against the disgraced senator – the "no good, bantha kriffing, son of a Hutt" had backstabbed the Republic and was trying to secure a deal with Lott Dod, and Senator Amidala had been poisoned during her investigation of him.

"He almost got her killed and walked away with a slap on the wrist!"

This was it. This was when he laid his chips on the table and prayed Skywalker would go with it. "Your anger is justified, General. I would be furious if someone did the same to my own wife."

"W-wife?" Skywalker's eyes widened. "You…you must be mistaken, Admiral. Senator Amidala and I are just friends."

Yularen leveled him with the look he gave his children when they lied to him.

"General, I know. Everyone on this ship knows, and we've known since the Malevolence."

"You have?" Skywalker asked in a strangled little voice.

Yularen nodded.

"And you haven't told anyone?"

"Why would I do that? It's none of my business, and in the words of my child, snitches get stitches." He poured out two glasses of brandy.

Anakin slunk into his chair and accepted Yularen's brandy.

"You really don't care?" He asked. "It's not a huge scandal?"

"Why would it be? You and Senator Amidala are two consenting adults, and therefore may engage in whatever type of relationship you choose. Even though your relationship appears to have hit a snag, what marriage doesn't?"

"It's normal to fight?"

"Very. Estelle and I argued about the dishwasher before I left for this mission. There seems to be something a bit deeper going on with your argument, however. Have you and Senator Amidala ever considered couples' counseling?"

Skywalker looked at him like Yularen had proposed flying into a star. "Counseling?"

"Estelle and I went a few times. We found it very beneficial."

"We can't go to counseling," Skywalker said.

"Barring certain exceptions, all details of counseling are kept private. And it's not as if you and Senator Amidala have done anything illegal. There's no law in the galaxy saying you can't be married."

"But it could still get out, and the Jedi…"

"The Jedi are free to make rules, but there's a difference between rules and laws. The worst they could do is fire you." Yularen raised an eyebrow. "And with their critical understaffing and your excellent performance record, do you really think they're in a place to fire you?"

"But what about Ahsoka?"

"Even in the very unlikely event they decide to fire you, your military commission is separate from your Jedi status. And I believe Commander Tano might just resign in protest if you were fired. You two would remain on the Resolute as if nothing had happened."

The wheels turned in Anakin's head. "Yeah," he admitted. "It might not be the end of the universe."

"Would you like the name of Estelle's and my counselor?"

"Yeah Admiral, I think I would."

During their next meeting, Skywalker proudly announced that he and Amidala had seen the counselor twice. "I wish we'd gone sooner! Now we talk more often and I don't worry so much when I'm gone. The therapist says I have attachment issues which makes sense because…"

He continued with his therapy breakthroughs and Yularen almost passed out with relief.

Somehow, against all odds and Sheev Palpatine manipulations, he'd gotten Anakin Skywalker into counseling.

…

At the therapist's urging, Anakin remained in counseling on an individual basis after he and Amidala resolved their dispute. It seemed to help him greatly; Yularen saw him using therapy techniques during stressful situations on the bridge or when Ahsoka acted up. And being able to talk to a fellow married man turned out to be beneficial for the young husband as well. Sometimes, you just had to talk to someone who understood.

Their post-mission debriefings turned into regular meetings. But as Palpatine's grip on Skywalker lessened, the wannabe Emperor doubled down on the manipulations.

He wanted to plant ideas in Skywalker's head? Go right ahead, because Yularen tripled down. Every time Skywalker came back from the senate building spouting lies, Yularen reminded him of his therapy breakthroughs. He assured him that he could always ask for help and that his friends wouldn't think less of him for doing so.

He made hot chocolates for them, kriff it!

But most importantly, he listened. And when he saw Skywalker controlling his emotions, he knew he was on the right track.

Being on the right track wasn't the same as being home free, though. Palpatine hadn't put all his eggs in one basket.

Unfortunately for him, Yularen had a sudden craving for scrambled eggs.

…

It was an Admiral's duty to be aware of everything going on aboard his vessel, from the officers on the bridge to the cleaning droids' schedule.

So it terribly upset him when Captain Tarkin slipped on a walkway and fell fifty feet to the hangar floor, breaking his neck and dying on impact.

Why had Tarkin fallen? They couldn't blame the cleaning droid — the little machine had whizzed by just moments after Tarkin fell, nor had anyone been within arms' reach to push him, and Skywalker and Tano were on the other side of the ship. It was almost like someone had buttered the floor like Yularen caught Kallus and his friend Jovan doing when they were cadets.

But that was ridiculous. The floor where Tarkin had fallen was sparkling clean. It must have been some freak accident.

Yularen faithfully scrubbed any residual butter off the cleaning droid's treads in his quarters that evening.

…

For Mas Amedda, he went with the classics. There was nothing like a good ole scandal to shake up a politician.

Yularen had plenty of ISB dirt on the Grand Vizier, and it was just a matter of which tidbit to use. Should he go with sex or money? Then he realized that the word he should be using was and.

The financial records of Amedda embezzling government funds and spending them on adult entertainment made quite a splash on TriNebulon News. Yularen watched it with popcorn.

…

He didn't neglect Skywalker, of course. As the critical hour drew nearer, he made sure to maintain their visits and carefully prepared for what he knew was coming.

"Admiral!" Skywalker cried one day, his hair a mess and eyes wild. "Hold the ship. They're saying Ahsoka bombed the Temple but she didn't, I know she didn't! She's not capable of something like that."

"Of course, General Skywalker. Is there anything I can do to assist Commander Tano?"

"I don't know." Skywalker ran a hand through his hair, further disrupting it. "I already went to the Chancellor and he couldn't help. He wants to, but since she was arrested and there's evidence against her, his hands are tied."

"Does she have legal counsel? I'll retain a lawyer immediately." Yularen was already reaching for his comm.

"I don't have money to pay for a lawyer."

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't … worry about it? That's thousands of credits and I can't pay you back, the Jedi don't pay me –."

"I have savings and I'm happy to use them." And he did. For years now Yularen had given up his guilty pleasure lattes and stashed the credits in the Ahsoka's Lawyer fund. "Anakin, I'm your friend and friends help one another. Don't worry about it."

"The Chancellor didn't offer to help her get a lawyer," Anakin whispered. "Or even appoint her a public defender…all he said was that he knew Padme would do a good job."

Because he is not your friend Skywalker, he's a manipulative bastard who's trying to kill off your child! "Well, I'm here. Now let's get Ahsoka a lawyer."

The lawyer they retained did his best, but there wasn't much he could do in a kangaroo court. Skywalker still had to expose Offee to clear Ahsoka's name. And Yularen didn't blame the young woman a bit for leaving the Jedi Order. But he didn't realize how much of an impact his decision had until someone knocked on his door that evening.

"Admiral," Ahsoka said. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced. I just wanted to thank you for getting me a lawyer."

"Of course. Come in, and sit down, please." He waved her inside. "Have you met my wife, Estelle?"

"It's a pleasure." Ahsoka shook Estelle's hand. "I shouldn't stay long; I don't want to intrude and I need to take care of some things."

"Ahsoka," Estelle asked. "Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"...No, I don't. I need to figure something out before dark."

"We have a perfectly good guest room; consider it figured out." Estelle got up from her chair and went to set another place at the dinner table. "Do you like roast nuna?"

Ahsoka opened her mouth to protest but Yularen shook his head. "There's no use trying to argue, Commander. Once Estelle gets an idea, there's no talking her out of it."

Ahsoka smiled softly. "Yes Mrs. Yularen, I like roast nuna."

Before they sat down to eat, Yularen sent a text to Skywalker explaining that Ahsoka was staying with his family until she got on her feet. He wasn't force-sensitive, but he could feel Anakin's relief.

Graf asked Ahsoka a million questions over dinner and Estelle fussed over her like a mother hen until they all retired to their rooms.

"Thank you," Yularen said while they climbed into bed.

"She's a sweet girl. Besides, I have to do something until I get my hands on that grandbaby."

…

And then he waited. Waited while the war dragged on and men died. In public he pretended not to notice Senator Amidala's steadily growing belly while he organized a baby shower in private.

Yularen prayed to his gods, the gods of his adopted children, and gods he didn't know existed that his efforts wouldn't come undone at the last minute. Sure he had kept up his chats with an increasingly-fragile Anakin, and built him a support system from scratch, and eliminated Palpatine's other players, but was it enough? Palpatine was a kriffing Sith Lord after all; it wouldn't be a stretch to think he had another ace in the hole. What if he'd outmaneuvered Yularen and was just waiting for his chance to strike?

He was so nervous he couldn't even smell Estelle's delicious cooking. Skywalker was coming over for dinner and the stakes were so high, they were so close to –

"Wullf!" Yularen jumped at the sound of his wife's voice. "I asked, will you take the fruit out of the conservator?"

"Of course." He quickly retrieved the fruit and set it on the table.

Estelle wiped her hands on her apron and came over to his side, gently running her fingers through his hair. "Did you have this many gray hairs the first time around?"

"Probably," he lied.

Estelle wasn't buying. "You're doing your best with Skywalker, and that's all anyone can ask of you."

"I was given a second chance and I can't squander it."

"You haven't squandered it. You've done so much good already; just think of it. Skywalker, and Ahsoka, Graf, and our other children who we've yet to meet."

"Right as always." He sighed and cupped her cheek in his palm. "Have I told you today that I love you?"

"I would love to hear it again."

Yularen bent to kiss her and time seemed to melt away until the exaggerated gagging of their teenage son brought them back to reality.

"Graf, I thought you were going out with your friends."

"I'm going faster now."

Graf bolted out the front door just as Anakin reached it. "Just in time, General Skywalker. Dinner's ready."

"Right. Thanks, Admiral."

Anakin barely touched his food. He pushed it around on his plate, only a few bites reaching his mouth, and only answered the Yularens' questions with one-word answers.

Estelle gave Wullf her famous raised eyebrow and he decided to push. "General Skywalker?"

Anakin's lip twitched and then the words poured out of him like word vomit: "I keep having dreams about Padme and the baby dying and Chancellor Palpatine says that the dark side is the only way to save them but that's crazy talk, since when has the dark side ever fixed anything, but I don't know what to do."

Estelle put down her fork and Yularen's head spun with shock and oh my gods, I think I'm about to save the galaxy right here at my dinner table.

"Anakin," he said. "If you have reason to believe Padme and the baby are in danger, then you should take them to the hospital."

He watched the gears spin in Anakin's head. "The…hospital." His eyes lit up. "We need to go to the hospital!"

Yularen couldn't agree more. "Estelle, I'm –."

"Your keys, dear." She handed them over.

Stars, he loved his wife. "Skywalker, let's go."

…

Yularen went double the speed limit and even ran a red light on the way to 500 Republica. He drove like the galaxy was at stake – because it was.

When he and Anakin got to the penthouse, they begged Padme to please please go with them to the hospital even though she felt fine and they couldn't say exactly why she needed to go. Yularen was pretty sure she only went because he and Anakin looked a little unstable.

They trudged onto the labor and delivery unit, where a skeptical Padme climbed into bed to be examined by an equally skeptical nurse. That lasted for all of five seconds until the nurse saw the readout on the monitors, went pale, and started shouting for the doctor and a STAT ultrasound.

The sonographer arrived in minutes under threats of being boiled alive by the nurse. Then she delivered a shocking announcement: "It's twins."

Anakin swayed and Yularen grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Right there." The doctor pointed to a spot on the screen. "That's placenta previa. It's a good thing you came in when you did."

"Want me to prep the C-suite?" the nurse asked.

"Please." The doctor turned to Padme. "Congratulations Senator Amidala, you're having two babies today."

It was a whirlwind from there. The medical team wheeled Padme away, Anakin following in a pair of surgical scrubs, and Yularen sat down in the waiting room to text updates to Estelle. He watched while they wheeled an unconscious Anakin out of the C-suite, and a while later a very much alive Padme and two screaming newborns.

"They're beautiful, Anakin. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Admiral." Anakin removed the wet washcloth from his forehead and smiled down at his daughter in the bassinet. "Really, thank you. If you hadn't suggested going to the hospital then I don't know what I would have done."

"Oh I'm sure you would have –."

"That's not it. The Chancellor told me the dark side was the only way to save Padme because – because he's a Sith Lord. He's been controlling the war from both sides and he just told me, and I don't know what to do!"

Yularen could barely hear his mental cheer past his heartbeat.

"Anakin," he said. "I do believe we can do something about that."

…

The next time Palpatine opened his office door, he was greeted by the entire Jedi Council and a battalion of de-chipped clones.

Palpatine could deal with the clones. He could deal with the Jedi. He could not deal with all of them plus the Star Destroyer that Yularen dropped out of orbit and hovered outside his window.

"Just try something, you slime," he muttered under his breath. "I kriffing dare you."

Palpatine whipped out a lightsaber and that was all they needed. Yularen ordered the weapons officer to fire the aft cannons and the clones in the building opened fire.

The smoke cleared and Palpatine lay crumbled in the middle of the floor.

"Is he dead?" The clone officer standing at the console asked.

To make sure, Captain Rex walked up and double-tapped him. Anakin made extra sure, figuring nothing could live without a head.

"I do believe so." Yularen folded his hands behind his back. "Commander, the bridge is yours. Excuse me for a moment."

He made his way off the bridge, down the corridor to the nearest men's room, then shut the door behind him and —

"Yes!"

He started dancing. His moves were clumsy and a decade out of date, but he didn't care. He'd just saved the galaxy!

"Sir?" said a voice and Yularen spun around mid-breakdance. Standing behind him, clean-shaven and confused, was –

His son!

"Cadet Kallus!" Yularen beamed. "The war is over and I'm celebrating. Would you care to join me?"

So instead of meeting in a sterile Imperial hallway, Yularen met his son dancing in a Star Destroyer's refresher. He wouldn't have it any other way.

…

Skywalker quit the Jedi Order the next day to be Luke and Leia's full-time caregiver. He had never looked happier.

"I'm sorry to leave you on the Resolute," he said to Yularen.

"You're leaving nothing. I quit."

"You quit?" Skywalker's jaw dropped. "What are you going to do? Retire?"

"Oh, no. Tell me, how does 'Republic Security Bureau' sound to you?"

…

"A few more steps … and open." Yularen removed his hands from Estelle's eyes and she took in the setup in front of her.

"You took me for a candlelight dinner in an empty apartment?"

"An empty apartment with no children, no colleagues, and look at that …" He keyed his comlink off. "It appears my unit is out of service. It's just you and me."

"This date gets better and better."

Yularen pulled out her chair and poured her wine, enjoying the chance to treat his wife like the queen she was. "I wanted to thank you. Without your support I wouldn't have been able to do any of this. You're incredible."

"You're the incredible one," Estelle replied. "How many people can say they've single-handedly averted the destruction of an entire planet and prevented the rise of a fascist empire just by being a good person? You saved the galaxy!"

"And I didn't do it alone." He raised his wineglass. "Tonight is all about you."

Estelle smiled and accepted the toast before they began their dinners.

"Where did you find this place?" She asked after they finished their dessert. "Vacant homes aren't exactly your stomping grounds."

"It's a few levels up in our building," Yularen explained. "Senator Amidala saw it was up for sale and let me know. Did you notice the windows?"

"Of course I did. I love bay windows."

"This is the dining room, obviously, and the kitchen is right through that door. And down that hallway is the master suite as well as three more bedrooms. Plenty of space for three children." He gestured in the opposite direction. "The carpet in the living room is very soft, perfect for a grandchild to sit on, wouldn't you say?"

Estelle set down her fork as, slowly, her mouth fell open. "You didn't."

Yularen held up a set of keys. "Yes, my star. I got you a bigger house."