God, do I have a headache... Luke thought as he was waking up, still half asleep. There had been a party the nighty before; it had been held by Han, of course. He remembered that there had been a drinking contest between Han and Lando. Sighing, he remembered he had joined in, too. Well, it serves me right to get a hangover. I never could hold alcohol well, Luke mused as he noted he couldn't remember anything past the drinking contest. What had the party been for? Oh, yeah. They had won some major battle. Luke couldn't remember what battle it was, though (Stupid headache). He should have just stayed home and not listened to Leia, but she said that everyone was going to be there, and, while he hadn't seen Wedge and the rest of Rogue Squadron for a while, Luke hadn't been convinced. The topic of free food came up somewhere in the argument, and when she had said that, Leia knew she had convinced her brother.

Wait a second...Where am I? Luke sat up and looked around. Brilliant. I'm in a jail cell. That means one of a few things: a) I passed out while walking home (no way in hell I drove home), b) imperials (not likely), c) interspacial disturbance in the time-space continuum (please say I'm not stuck in Star Trek again). He looked at the style of the jail cell. It looked Pre-Imperial and had Coruscantian architecture. Well, at least I know I'm still on Coruscant. Outside the cell were numerous police officers clustered around the holovid screen, watching it. About half were drinking their coffee while watching the news broadcast. Their uniforms looked rather old in style, Luke noted. Then he heard what the news reporter was saying. And he noticed what was on the news.

"Thanks to the clone ships and the other manned combatant ships, the Separatist's flagship, the Invisible Hand, reported to have both General Grievous and Count Dooku aboard, has just been damaged severely in the battle. The ship has broken apart into at least two large pieces. In addition, it is still unknown if the Supreme Chancellor is still alive. The Jedi say they have a rescue operation in progress as we speak, but one can only hope..."

Luke decided to stop listening there. Wonderful. He was still in his own galaxy, thank the gods. Just not in a particularly great time period. Brilliant! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. A hangover and being stuck in the worst period of galactic history (aside from the Empire). The Clone Wars. Brilliant. Luke sighed. Now to get out of the jail cell. "Uh, hey!" he called out to the police officers in general.

A few of them looked his way, and one of them blinked shortly before responding. "Oh, hey, you're awake." He walked over. "Sorry about the cell, Master Jedi."

"Huh?" Good Lord, how the hell did the police figure that out? It's not like he would be known then, thank the gods again. That would have been embarrassing if he had been in his own time. Luke could almost see the newspaper headline if he had. And what was with the whole "Master Jedi" thing?

"You had a lightsaber on you. We, of course, took that away, just in case." The policeman smiled kindly. "You must have a pretty bad hangover. We rarely ever see a Jedi drunk, let alone drunk to the point of passing out."

"With good reason," another policeman called over. He turned towards Luke. "Isn't it against the Jedi code?"

"Oh, leave him alone," a policewoman retorted. "The Jedi should be allowed to take a break and have some fun every so often, especially with this damn war going on."

Luke's headache seemed to be going away a little. He realized that maybe they would tell him some information about what was going on. His knowledge of this era was a little sketchy and incomplete, like most of those who didn't live through it and some who did but were too young to know what was going on. "If you don't mind me asking, what's going on?" Luke asked the first officer.

"Oh, well, uh..." The policeman was a little surprised the young Jedi had no clue what was going on, but answered him anyway. In truth, the attack was news to them as well. It had begun last night, and he did suppose the kid (What is he, 25? thought the policeman) had been plastered last night. "Well, the Supreme Chancellor was kidnapped in a lightning raid by the Separatist forces, headed by General Grievous, of course. According to the news, victory seems near: in both the battle and maybe even the war."

"Oh." Luke supposed he sounded like a complete idiot, but he didn't really give a damn at the moment since he had no clue what the heck was going on. Who was General Grievous? More to the point, who was the Supreme Chancellor? Luke had a feeling he knew, but didn't want to acknowledge the idea. The creation of the Empire couldn't be that close, could it?

The policewoman who had come to his defense earlier cleared her throat. "Maybe someone should let him out?"

"Oh, yeah," the first officer realized. He opened the cell. "Sorry. I sorta forgot."

Luke shrugged it off. "Me, too..." His attention then turned back to the news, like the rest of the people in the station.

"Great news!" the news reporter announced. "It has just been announced by the Jedi Council and the Senate that that dynamic Jedi duo have saved the day again! The Supreme Chancellor is safe, and the Separatist navy is withdrawing! Victory belongs to the Republic!"

Luke stared at the screen, unsure of what to do. He was in the past with no known way to get back to the future. With the knowledge he had, he could change the future of the galaxy if he so chose. What a day this was turning out to be. Of course, the news broadcast had created more questions for him than it answered. Who was the "dynamic Jedi duo"? Luke decided he really didn't want to know. With his rotten luck, it would turn out to be, oh, who knows---

"Skywalker and Kenobi do it again, eh?" said the rather annoying police officer who had suggested that Luke shouldn't have been drinking to the other cops.

Luke froze. He just had to think that, didn't he? It was almost as if he had said he had a bad feeling about something. That phrase always, without fail, brought some sort of calamity on him and any of his friends who happened to be in the vicinity. Wait. If his father was that well known, then he'd have to take up a false name. Brilliant...

Another officer walked over to Luke and handed him his lightsaber. "If you don't remember where you are, the Jedi Temple's thataway," the cop told him, and pointed to the left side of the room.

"Thanks," Luke replied. Well, regardless of what he had thought about doing before, he had to admit it would probably be a good idea to go to the Jedi Temple. He imagined meeting Yoda, and then what Yoda would think some twenty-one years later when the same person crash-landed on Dagobah and asked to be trained as a Jedi. Oh God. What if he ran into Obi-Wan, or, even worse, his father. Dear Lord, that would be a disaster.

The police officer then pointed to the door. "The exit's that way."

Luke snapped out of his reverie. "Huh?" He realized what he was being told. "Oh. Thanks again." He then walked out of the station and started to head in the direction he was told the Jedi Temple was in. After five minutes, he realized that the large structure about five kilometers away was the Temple. Well, at least I know where I'm going now...


Luke cursed himself. How had he ended up getting granted an audience with the Jedi Council? Now he would have to lie in front of not just maybe a Jedi Knight or two about who he was, but a couple of Jedi Masters. All at once. Maybe Han was right and the Skywalker family really did have a talent for getting themselves in trouble. In the very least, Luke had a gift for it, but Leia wasn't as bad. Barely.

While he was waiting, a Jedi Master and a Jedi Knight walked past him towards the Council Chambers talking about the recent battle. Luke really felt like he shouldn't be nosy and listen in. But he did anyway.

The Knight, who was younger, groaned. "Why did I get called back here so soon? I thought I'd have the rest of the afternoon off..."

"It's the will of the Force," the Master replied.

"You mean Yoda."

"Sometimes that's the same difference." The Master was met with a disbelieving glare. "I was told it was something about a mysterious Jedi."

Oh, great. I ruined someone's evening because I just had to get so drunk that I passed out and woke up twenty-five years in the past. Luke decided he wasn't going to make the best impression on the Council. Oh, Sith! He still hadn't come up with an alias!

"A new Sith?" the younger Knight asked, in a tone between alarmed and excited.

The Master shook his head. "No. He's just a normal Jedi, according to what Mace told me. Except that the Jedi apparently has similar taste in clothes as you."

Luke winced. That was harsh. It was more of an insult to the Knight, anyway.

"Ha-ha, Master. But, in case you have forgotten, I'm not your Padawan anymore and can wear whatever I like," the Knight defended his choice of clothes. Luke noticed that, aside from the Knight, he was one of the few people in the entire Temple wearing black, or a dark color for that matter. And what was a Padawan? Luke felt like smacking himself when he realized that that must be the name for an apprentice.

The Jedi Master cast Luke an amused glance, as if to let him know that the Master knew he was listening. The Jedi Knight didn't notice, but Luke did and started cursing himself in his head. He still had to think up a fake name, too. "No one's seen him at the Temple before, either. A complete mystery. No one knows his name," the Master continued to his former pupil. "I have doubts about whether he knows himself..." After that line, Luke couldn't hear that conversation anymore. A door then opened and shut a few seconds later.

Luke suddenly felt a sense of urgency to find a fake name (and had time to come up with one). How about Han's name? No, Han would kill him later. How about that fake ID of Han's, Jenos Idanian? No, that might get caught up in the future. On the same note, he couldn't say Indiana Jones, either, even if that was mixing up the letters in Jenos Idanian. He could always lift someone from the Star Trek section of the universe's name, but what if he ran into someone who knew that person? Couldn't say Marty McFly, either, although that would be funny as hell seeing as Luke was stuck in a similar situation. Luke suddenly remembered a character from a very old book he had read a long time ago. (He had even had to translate the book from a dialect of Old Gaean/Terran to Basic it was so old.) Therefore, Nick Carraway it would be. If he ever got back to the future, this would be one heck of a story. And no one would believe it.


As the Jedi dressed in black walked in, Anakin couldn't decide whether he felt like laughing or whether he should just stand back politely and just say nothing. The latter possibility won out, but Anakin couldn't help but smirk since the guy looked like he had a massive hangover. Obi-Wan had been correct: the strange Jedi did have a similar taste in clothes as him, but Anakin wasn't about to bring the subject back up. The Jedi was a few years older than Anakin, but he wasn't going to hold that against him. It was strange, though. The Jedi reminded Anakin of someone, but he just couldn't figure out who it was.

Yoda cleared his throat, and, as Anakin had expected, got straight to the point. "Who and from whence are you?" Anakin raised an eyebrow. Whence? No one says that anymore...

Obviously trying to hide something, the Jedi replied. "I'm Nick... Gatz." Anakin felt that the guy standing across the room was lying about his name. No doubt everyone else in the room guessed the same thing. The Jedi paused. Quick, think of someplace really far away! Anakin thought, laughing in his mind. The Jedi suddenly sent him a sharp look. /Very funny, Smart Ass./ the Jedi replied telepathically. Then, as if to spite Anakin, the Jedi then answered Yoda's second question. "I'm from Tatooine, the planet farthest from the bright center of the universe."

"From when I asked, hail do you?" Yoda spoke more, semindicipherable.

The Jedi, whom Anakin refused to call him by his alias, was slightly unnerved. "Well, now, of course..." the Jedi lied. Anakin just knew he was lying and was wondering why none of the Jedi Masters seemed to be noticing. Except Obi-Wan. No, Obi-Wan looked slightly amused by the whole situation. He seemed to know exactly what was going on.

"How far in the future are you from?" Obi-Wan asked the Jedi.

"Why don't you believe me?" the Jedi asked. Anakin was wondering if this man was even a Jedi at all. Then he noticed the Jedi's presence in the Force. Ok, so maybe the guy was a Jedi. Anakin knew he was allowed to make mistakes. Well, ones that weren't galaxy changing. Generally.

"Because you've been lying since the get-go," Anakin mentioned. This guy really grated on his nerves, and Anakin had the feeling that the feeling was mutual. "First with your name, then the planet you're from---"

Obi-Wan, still amused, broke in. "No, I think he was telling the truth about that. Only someone from Tatooine who got away would call it what he did."

"That is true..." Anakin then revised his argument. "Okay, so you were telling the truth about where you're from, but the most obvious lie was when you are from! Are you a compulsive liar or something?"

The Jedi glared at Anakin, and the entire Jedi Council could feel the anger building up between the two. Great. They had two Jedi Knights with volatile tempers in the room instead of just one. "No, but---" The Jedi lost his train of thought and glared harder at Anakin. "God, who the hell are you! You're so... aggravating!"

"He's from the future," Mace Windu then said. "He would never have been trained in the past."

Yaddle nodded. "Much anger I sense in him."

"Like a certain other someone we know," Obi-Wan added, a comment Anakin knew was directed at him.

"Don't forget impatience," Kai-Adi-Mundi added.

The Jedi had obviously given up on saying anything and was concentrating on the floor. Anakin, however, still wanted to add insult to injury, but reminded himself that revenge isn't a Jedi thing to do, etc. "I---I don't know what to say... Maybe my presence here has effected the timestream already... Oh, God. I don't want to think about the repercussions in the present. Well, what's the present to me anyway..."

Anakin turned to see Obi-Wan patiently waiting for the guy to continue. He would never understand his old master. "So we've established that you are from the future. Is your name really of that much importance that is has to be a state secret?" Anakin asked, saying the second sentence rather venomously.

The Jedi looked up again and laughed bitterly at Anakin. "You have no idea."

"Annoying this bickering is," Yoda interrupted. "You," he said to Anakin. "Talk no more." Yoda turned to the still unknown Jedi. "You. No leading him into anger."

The Jedi looked down at the ground again, looking rather apprehensive. "Yes, Master Yoda."

Obi-Wan's smile grew to a grin. Anakin turned to him. "You know something, don't you!" Anakin accused.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Maybe... Just maybe..."

"Um." The Jedi took a deep breath and spoke again. "If you don't mind, could you tell me how to get back to the future?" For good measure, he added, "Please?"

Windu stared at the unknown Jedi. There was something much larger that the Jedi was hiding. A thought he had tried to keep from acknowledging hit him. It all fit, the bickering with young Skywalker, the dark attitude. The Force was going to be balanced the way which none of the Jedi wanted and exactly the way the Sith wanted. Two grains of sand versus a beach which would be reduced to a complementary two grains... and then nothing... except maybe this impatient Jedi with a temper who wouldn't stop arguing with the Chosen One.

"The Force will send you back when the time is right," Obi-Wan then said.

Yoda nodded. "True this is. Listen to Obi-Wan, you will."

The Jedi nodded absentmindedly, then suddenly stiffened and looked at Obi-Wan. "You---you're Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the General in the Clone Wars...?" Obi-Wan nodded. "Then that makes you..." The Jedi trailed off, staring at Anakin, who didn't see what the big deal was.

"Anakin Skywalker," Anakin finished. Okay, maybe he has a right to be surprised. I mean, I am the guy who has been saving the Republic with Obi-Wan...

"Oh, God damn it all to hell," the Jedi cursed. To top it off, he followed that phrase up with some more four letter words.

Anakin scoffed. "Come on, even if you are from the future, there's no reason to flip out this much. It's not like I'm going to be your---"

"Don't say it," the Jedi cut him off. "Just---don't say it!"

"Ask no more questions will we," Yoda concluded. "Be assigned with young Skywalker, you will."

"What!" both the Jedi and Anakin exclaimed. "But---He---Why!"

Obi-Wan still had the mysterious smile on. "I feel it would be a good learning experience for you both."

The Jedi which Anakin figured would be following him around everywhere obviously felt like hitting someone (most likely Anakin or himself). Anakin suddenly realized he wouldn't be able to be with Padme the entire time the Jedi would be following him around. Anakin, seeing no other real course of action, stormed out of the room. The Jedi watched him with a somewhat sympathetic expression which Anakin failed to notice. Once Anakin had left the room, Obi-Wan spoke again. "And now that he's gone, your real name, please?"

"I can't tell you! What about the repercussions in the future! I can't do that..."

"No matter how bad the future is...?" Windu asked.

With a wan smile, the Jedi replied. "At least it's a future..."

Obi-Wan smiled again. "Your first name, at least."

The Jedi sighed, and, after making sure Anakin was long gone and out the door, he replied. "Luke. My name is Luke."

The Council sent Luke out of the room, and the entire time they debated, Obi-Wan's smile never faltered. After coming to an impasse about what to do with the young Jedi, the Council was let out, and Obi-Wan wasn't surprised to see two rather irked-looking Jedi Knights sitting right outside the door. Well, Anakin was a good three yards away from Luke, who obviously hadn't told Anakin his real name. As Obi-Wan passed Luke, he only had one thing to say. If he was right... "I can see why you wouldn't want to implicate your parents in this matter, especially if one of them is rather grouchy and angry at you, no less." Obi-Wan gestured to Anakin, and Luke's face turned white as a sheet. At that moment, Obi-Wan knew he had been right about who the mystery Jedi was the entire time. Anakin was going to have some explaining to do.