Hi everyone! So this is where the action in the story starts to pick up. Since there's an alive version of Anakin and Obi-Wan, I'm not going to be sending Luke to Dagobah, at least not yet. Don't worry through, Yoda will be brought into this mess at some point! Yoda speak, there will be. At least attempted Yoda speak.

So this chapter is a first glimpse at the difference between the two timelines. Basically where canon went wrong, the AU went right. As we go on the AU characters will give out more and more information.

Luke didn't know how, but he found himself in the hanger of the Hoth Rebel base. Once he realized where he was, he went to his X-wing and began tinkering with it. While he wasn't the best of mechanics, he knew more than a lot of the others, mostly from experience gained on Tatooine. Their vaporators always seemed to have something wrong with them. R2, who had been in the hanger when Luke arrived, rolled over and handed Luke the tools he needed, often before the boy had to ask. Luke didn't know how the droid always seemed to know what he needed, but right now he was extremely grateful for it. He didn't feel like talking.

"I had a feeling I would find you here."

Startled, Luke hit his head on the bottom of his X-wing. Biting back a curse, he moved out from under it and looked for the source of the voice. He stopped when he saw Anakin Skywalker standing before him. To Luke's surprise, R2 rolled over to Anakin, beeping excitedly. It was the most energetic that he had ever seen the droid. What surprised him even more was that Anakin respond to the droid's beeps. Luke was the only one besides 3PO who was able to understand the astromech.

"Yes, buddy, it's me. Not the Anakin you know though. We'll explain later. Can you give Luke and I a minute?" R2 beeped and rolled away. Anakin noticed that Luke was staring and raised an eyebrow.

"You can understand him? I'm the only one who can do that!" Anakin smiled.

"That's something you got from me, or rather your father. I've always been able to understand droids, usually more than I can understand organics. I even built a protocol droid when I was nine. He's usually not far from R2. C-"

"3PO? Yeah. Uncle Owen bought him and R2 off of some Jawas. That's what started this whole thing. Me joining the Rebellion I mean. You built him? When you were nine?" Luke couldn't help but be impressed. Despite all the tales of Anakin Skywalker that he'd heard from gossip around the men, Luke wanted to hear about it from the man himself. Or rather, a version of him. He had to remember that this wasn't really his father. It was just someone who looked, acted, and shared some memories with.

"How much do you know about me, Luke?" The question started the young man, who sat on the floor next to his fa- Anakin.

"Not much. I grew up thinking that you were a navigator on a spice freighter. I wan't told anything about mother growing up. Thinking back on it, I'm not even sure if Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru even knew who she only things I know to be true are what Ben told me about you: that you were a Jedi who fought in The Clone Wars, you were an amazing pilot and fighter, and that you were close to Ben."

"Well first of all, Owen is actually my step brother, not related in any way by blood. His father married my mother after he freed her from slavery." This got Luke's attention.

"WHAT?" Anakin gave the young man a sad smile.

"I was born into slavery. For the first three years of my life, we were owned by Gardulla the Hutt. She lost us betting on pod races to a Toydarian named Watto. Soon after that, Watto discovered that I was a good pilot and started making me race pods. That's how I earned my freedom when I was nine. When your mother, Obi-Wan, and his master Qui-Gon were stranded on Tatooine, I managed to win a race and earn both the parts they needed to fix their ship and my freedom. I had to leave my mother behind, though."

"When I was nineteen, I started having visions of my mother's death. I eventually found my way to Tatooine, and found out that she had been kidnapped and toured by the Tuscan Raiders. I just barely managed to save her. I don't know what happened to your grandmother, but if you did not know her she must've died before you were born." Luke looked down, digesting this information.

"I had no idea. Uncle Owen refused to talk about you or mother no matter how many times I asked. There were so many times growing up that I wished that one of you would show up and take me away on adventures." The young man looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Well I'm here now. I may not be the father you lost, but hopefully I can give you an idea on who he was. I'm not going to lie, this is as hard for me as it is for you. I don't spend every day talking to alternate timeline versions of my son. But I also know that you are so like him that you will be a great Jedi someday, and so will your sister. Already so many people look up to you here, and I am sure that this timeline's version of your mother and me are extremely proud of you. I know I would be." Luke smiled up at Anakin, grateful for his support. Then Anakin's face turned more serious.

"But also know that Ben is there for you too. I know Obi-Wan better than anyone. He was my master, my brother, my best friend. He raised me. And I know that if he had been given the ability, he would've raised you too. I watched Ben's body language as he was talking. There is something that he's still hiding from all of us, but I know that it is for a good reason. When I was your age I would've tried to wear him down until he caved and told me, but I've learned over the years that your uncle does everything for a reason. Please, just give him a chance to make this right." Luke just nodded, but he didn't say anything for a minute.

"It's just that when Ben told me the truth of who you were, I realized that I was lied to my whole life. I thought Ben would be the person to tell me the truth for once. Then I find out that I also have a twin sister that Ben didn't tell me about, even when R2 showed the hologram message of her asking for help from him. Leia told me afterwards that her father, Bail that is, told her stories of Ben during The Clone Wars when she got old enough to understand that she couldn't repeat them. As it turns out through, both of us were lied to. It hurts, you know? Why did they do it? Why did everyone around us lie?"

Not sure what else to do, Anakin pulled Luke into a hug.

Leia found herself sitting in one of the many many hallways of Hoth Base. She didn't know how she got there or even where in the base she was, which was a feat given that she had designed the base. She sat with her back against the cold wall, her head in her hands, but she couldn't bring herself to cry.

She wasn't sure how long she was there for, but she eventually heard footsteps down the hall, but Leia didn't look up until someone sat down next her her. When she did, she saw Padme, who gave the young woman a sad smile.

"I know that I'm not Breha, and that you don't think of me as your mother, but I still see you as my daughter. And now that I'm here, just know that if you need someone to talk to you can come to me. I'm not trying to replace Bail and Breha, but rather act in their name. In our timeline, they adopted a little girl named Winter. She's the same age as you and Luke, and the three of you are quite close." Padme sighed.

"I know that you probably are a little uncomfortable around all of us and are a little unsure how to act. Don't think that any of us expect you or Luke to act like the versions from our timeline. You have different upbringings, different lives, and are different people. But know that we are here for you. Not only Anakin, Obi-Wan, and I, but also your other selves and Bail. You have a huge support system now."

"I won't pretend to understand what you're going through or give unwanted advice. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving side of that. But I also know what it's like to feel like you're all alone in this galaxy. Remember that you're only human. You need to mourn, you need to feel. You're allowed to break down every once in a while. You're allowed to need the help of others."

"I know what it's like to feel like you're the reason people are dying. When I was queen, there was a blockade over Naboo. I was given the chance to sign a treaty to make the blockade legal, but I refused. As a result I was sent a message about a catastrophic number of casualties. The message turned out to be false, a ruse to try and get me to sign the treaty, but for a week I thought I was the cause of hundreds of thousands of deaths. In the process of regaining the planet by force I did lead people to their deaths, good men and women who gave their lives for their planet. I was fourteen." At this, Leia looked up. She knew of the blockade, but only through the lens of Imperial propaganda. Again Padme sighed.

"My point is that you aren't alone, and you aren't the only one to feel the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders. But you're a Skywalker a Naberrie and an Organa. You come from a family of slaves and queens, generals and laymen, senators and Jedi. You are stronger than you realize." Padme looked over, and saw that Leia was crying. Quickly, she pulled the younger woman into her arms.

"Can you tell me about them? Our family? Before, I knew that knowing about my birth family would be impossible, so I never thought about it. The revelation that Luke is my brother made me realize that I want to know about them, even if I'll never know them." Padme nodded as Leia sniffed.

"It's been hard. Luke and Han try, but they just don't understand. Han is an orphan and while Luke lost his-our aunt and uncle, his world was never bigger than their moisture farm until he left Tatooine. Neither of them know what it's like to loose almost everyone they've ever known. And while they've both let me mourn, I don't think I'll ever stop. And I don't want to. The day I forget what happened to Alderaan, the day I stop fighting for them, well that's the day that I've lost sight of who I am."

The two of them sat on the cold floor, both mourning those they had lost.

Han found himself, like he usually did when upset, on the Falcon. He didn't know where Chewie was, but the wookie was not on the ship. He sat in the cockpit of his beloved ship, trying to calm himself down. Han had no clue where his outburst had come from. Half the things he had said he didn't even realize he had noticed.

Han didn't move at first when he heard someone entering the cockpit. When he looked up to tell them to go away, he was faced with none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. He watched as he sat down in the cockpit behind the copilot's seat.

"What do you want? Look, I'm not going to apologize for what I said back there. I honestly have no clue where some of that came from, but I mean every word. The old man let himself be killed by Vader and left Luke and Leia alone. If I hadn't been there for them I don't know who would've. Luke refused to show his friends from Tatooine his grief, and Leia had lost almost everyone she'd ever known. I've done my best, but I'm only one man. I can only do so much." To Han's surprise, the older man only gave him a smile.

"I'm not here to try to correct you or belittle you. It is extremely admirable what you have done. My other self left as soon as you did. I daresay that you gave him quite the shock, which is something to congratulate you on." Obi-Wan sighed.

"I'm going to get straight to the point. While Luke and Leia look like the twins that I've known since birth, they are not them. They are different people than my nice and nephew. They act different, have different histories. Anakin, Padme, Ahsoka, and I may be their family, but you're the one who knows them best. If we are to be there for them as we want to, we'll need your help. I believe that together, the ten of us - yourself, both sets of twins, Anakin, Padme, Ahsoka, Bail and I - can bring change to this galaxy. But in order to do that we need to trust each other." Han looked over at the Jedi Master.

"You know, before I met the other you and Luke I didn't believe in The Force. I just thought it was some ancient religion that didn't mean anything. But I've seen things these past three years that have changed my mind. I don't understand it or try to, but it's there. I'm here to support those two in any way that I can. And if you guys want to help I'm all for it. But know that those two like to keep to themselves most of the time. I'll help where I can, but I'm not giving any promises. They're the two most stubborn people that I know." Obi-Wan laughed at this.

"They get it from both of their parents. My timeline's Luke and Leia are the same way." Obi-Wan became serious once again.

"I will not lie to you. I know myself. While Ben told the truth just now, there is something that he is hiding, some truth that he is protecting even from the grave, which can only mean one thing. Whatever we do not know is vital to understanding what went wrong with this timeline, what happened that made the Empire rise here but not there. And it is a truth that we may not want to know. But I'm sure it has something to do with Anakin. I could just tell from the way that Ben looked at him." Obi-Wan was about to continue, but there was a loud bell that rang throughout the base. He started, his hand going to his lightsaber, but Han only stood up and stretched.

"Come on, old man. It's dinner time. We can talk Operation Skywalker later."

I really didn't mean this to be such a moody chapter. It just happened.

I decided to show all of them in a little bit of a vulnerable state. We don't really get to see much of that in the movies.

Also, I know that Obi-Wan excluded Chewie from the head count. Remember, he doesn't know about him yet.

Next chapter: bonding time and a training session!