Disclaimer: I don't own anything (except a few original characters) and I'm not making any money off of this.
Ch. 14: Nothing Is As Real As A Dream
Airiana awoke with a start, once again drenched in sweat and twisted up in her sheets. As she caught her breath she turned to Master Yoda expectantly. But as soon as she saw him a cold shiver went down her spine; he looked like what she imagined he looked like after discovering the Order had been wiped out and then being defeated by Sidius – shocked, beaten, tired, and completely at a loss for what to do.
"Master?" Airiana whispered anxiously, startling Master Yoda out of his reverie, "What's wrong?"
Yoda looked up at her, but still did not answer her. Airiana repeated herself and Master Yoda looked back down at the floor and sighed heavily.
"Worse my findings are than what was first suspected," he looked back up at Airiana with a compassionate and remorseful expression, "Not only relive the events of the battle in your mind did you, but also in reality. When, in your dream, you were falling, feel the force begin to surround you and pull you, I could. But upon landing, ripped away your presence was and gone were you when open my eyes I did. Physically going back to the battle you are."
Airiana stared at him, not realizing what he was saying. She then began to smile and look at her Master mischievously.
"Master, are you sure it wasn't you who was dreaming?"
"My padawan, wish I was dreaming I do."
He said it so sullenly and so full of remorse that Airiana's smile faded away and the immenseness of her situation began to make her numb. Yoda waited patiently for Airiana to come to terms with what he had just told her. A few minutes passed and a few tears began trickling down her face at the realization that she had actually seen Master Yoda die and Obi-wan die and Anakin die and countless others die over and over again.
Her grief at knowing that in some kind of alternate universe, people that she had come to know died, overwhelmed her; the faces of those she saw dying filled her mind and the groans of explosions and the injured deafened her ears. She thought of all the Jedi she had seen die in her 'dreams' and what it would be like if they had died on Genosis in this universe. It was a sobering thought and gave her a whole new perspective on how her actions in this time could change the future that she knew. A new sense of responsibility crowded in on Airiana and threatened to crush her. Just when it was beginning to get hard to breath, Master Yoda called to her attention.
"Airiana, calm down you must. Much work we have to do, if find a way to stop this we are."
"Yes, Master," Airiana answered dutifully as she calmed herself down.
When she was calm, Master Yoda sighed heavily and looked at the clock, "Early it yet is. Go I will to meditate on these findings."
Airiana watched as Master Yoda got down from his post and walked out of the room. When she finally heard the door slide shut, she allowed herself to release the sigh that she had been holding in from the time her master had told her what had happened. Though Master Yoda sounded somewhat hopeful that they would be able to work something out, Airiana didn't let her get her hopes up. She had no idea how they were even suppose to go about finding a solution – then again, knowing her master, it would probably require a lot of meditating, she thought with a sad smile.
Not wanting to think about her new 'problem' anymore, Airiana looked pitifully at the clock; it was just after four. As much as she hated getting out of bed this early, she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so she threw the covers aside and stood up to stretch. At the same time she began wondering what she was going to do with herself with four and a half extra hours. She contemplated heading down to the healer's wing, but figured there probably wouldn't be much for her to do since it was so early. After running a few other ideas through her mind, she finally settled on going to the practice rooms to face off against a training droid.
After getting dressed she left her room and wound her way through the empty halls to the training rooms. Passing some large windows on the way, she noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise in the east, just like on Earth. She stopped to simply enjoy the view for a little bit and saw that even the city that never sleeps seemed to be a bit calmer at this early hour than it usually was.
The sky was clear and showed every color blue in the spectrum, from the almost white, where the sun was rising over the horizon, to the deep velvet blue of the remaining midnight. She loved the way mornings felt and looked, even if she didn't like getting up to enjoy them. Imagining how clean and crisp the air felt outside, Airiana turned away from the window and began walking toward the nearest exit, deciding that she could use a little fresh air.
After about an hour of jogging through the mostly deserted streets of Coruscant, Airiana slowed down and finally came to a stop. She had thought about a lot while she jogged and her head felt clearer and her body felt less tense. As she took a few moments to stretch out her legs and her back, she looked around to see where she was. She hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going before and by the time she finished stretching, Airiana had figured out that she was pretty close to the Senate building.
Looking in the direction where the Senate building lay, Airiana felt a slight tingling in the Force, coaxing her onward. Not one to go against the will of the Force, Airiana followed its calling and began walking toward the Senate.
A few blocks later, Airiana's stomach began to beg for food, so she stopped at a small bakery that was just opening up and bought a couple of hot rolls to eat on her way and hold her up until she could have a decent breakfast back at her apartment. Just as she was finishing the last of her rolls, Airiana reached the Senate complex and stopped in amazement and disgust at the sight of the first star destroyers, waiting to be filled with stormtroopers. The scene sent an eerie chill over her. It also reminded her that she had the chance to stop those from ever being used in the name of the Empire. Or did she?
Ever since arriving here, Airiana had thought she was meant to change the future; to stop the Sith Lord from taking over the government, to stop the Jedi from being destroyed, and to stop Anakin from turning into Darth Vader. But ever since this morning, she wasn't so sure. She had traveled to alternate universes; there was no other explanation for why her 'visions' were of the same thing, but with different things happening in them. And knowing that made her wonder if it meant that this universe couldn't change.
Looking back at the star destroyers, Airiana thought that it was time to get back to the Temple; perhaps Master Yoda had discovered something during his meditation. At any rate, she could take a nice, long shower and eat a real breakfast. Maybe she'd even go see what Obi-wan was up to. It had been a few days since their 'disagreement' and she felt a little foolish about it now and wanted to talk to him. Maybe she would even see if he wanted to join her for breakfast, she thought as she hailed a cab to take her back the Temple.