Hi everyone! Sorry it's been many months. College happened. Then writer's block came for a visit. So yeah.
Also, I'm sorry, but the training scene probably sucks. It's my first FanFiction story, so please keep that in mind when reading it.
One thing that I changed from a previous chapter: I decided to make Leia Ahsoka's padawan, and Luke is now Obi-Wan's. I've gone back and changed it, but I just wanted to point it out here so no one is confused later. I'm considering giving Anakin a different padawan. She won't be coming to this timeline, but she would be discussed.
THERE IS AN IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. PLEASE READ IT
Ok, now that that's out of the way, here we go!
When Leia Shmi Skywalker entered the mess hall with Luke and Uncle Bail, she wasn't quite sure what to expect. She figured it would be like the mess halls of the Temple, only encased in ice and freezing. She didn't expect to find a relatively small and extremely cramped room filled with boxes of ration bars and a few tables. She certainly didn't expect to see her parents, Uncle Obi, and Aunt 'Soka sitting with Han, her and Luke's counterparts, and a wookie. Sensing them, Dad looked up and waved them over before turning back to Luke and Uncle Obi. Leia looked at Luke and Uncle Bail, both of whom shrugged at her before the three of them met with the larger group. When they got there, Han smiled, whispering over to them aside from the energetic conversation between Luke, Uncle Obi and Dad.
"Sorry we don't have much beyond ration bars and prepackaged food. Ana-Aaron joked that it wasn't much worse than those of The Clone Wars. This sparked the current conversation of those two recounting war stories. Luke has hung on to every word. He doesn't know anything about either of his parents beyond that Anakin was a Jedi." By this time, everyone else had noticed that Leia and the others had joined them. Leia turned to them.
"Hey, glad to see you've found the place! I was going to go find you, but Aaron said to just let you guys find it yourselves. Something about sensing his, Ben and Ava's Force Signatures?" She turned to Dad, who nodded.
"See? I told you they'd find it. Plus, Liam's stomach is bottomless, so there's no way he would be able to skip dinner." Leia rolled her eyes at her father while the others laughed at the insulted look on Luke's face. He was always making jokes like that.
After that, dinner remained uneventful and eventful at the same time. Dad, Uncle Obi, and Aunt 'Soka joked around, recounting war stories to everyone else. Leia noticed that her brother's counterpart was hanging on to every word. While Han was pretending to be disinterested, she could tell that really he was fascinated by the stories being told. Her counterpart talked with Mom and Uncle Bail about politics, everything from The Clone Wars Era to how The Republic was functioning in their timeline. Unfortunately, this left Leia to engage in one-sided conversation with the wookie, Chewbacca, who was apparently Han's copilot. While she was able to understand enough to understand the basics of what he was saying, she wasn't nearly as good at languages as her uncle.
Once they were finished, Dad stood and stretched.
"Well, what's next on the agenda? Didn't you say that we were going to speak with High Command?"
Leia watched her counterpart shrug. "I contacted them, but they all are busy until tomorrow morning. I figured that we could just relax tonight and get to know each other better. We'll work on what to do and how to get you back tomorrow."
"Actually," Luke spoke up, "I was wondering if Aaron and Ben could show me some lightsaber combat. I've been entirely self-taught since Obi-Wan died, and I could really use some help." Dad and Uncle Obi looked at each other, coming to a silent agreement.
"We can certainly do that. Actually, we can train both you and your sister. We have already done it once, I'm sure a second time won't kill us." Uncle Obi joked, smiling at The Skywalker Twins, who rolled their eyes at him. Leia noticed that her counterpart looked a little skeptical about lightsaber training, but nodded in agreement.
For a second time in as many hours, Leia was surprised at the appearance of Echo Base and apparent lack of funding. The area that Luke had been using for training was little more than a storage room where he had cleared out an area. He turned and grinned sheepishly at them.
"I know it's not much, but I had a hard time even getting this. It sort of just happened as the supplies in here was used." Dad just smiled at him.
"That's fine, son. Just show us what you know."
It was clear from the moment that Luke started that he was nowhere near the level of the Skywalker Twins. As he went through his exercises, Leia recognized them as the ones that Younglings went through at the Temple. She and Luke had mastered them as 7-year-olds. Given that he had only been training for 3 years, self-taught at that, Leia had to give Luke some credit. He was doing better than most would in his situation. Uncle Obi nodded his agreement when Dad voiced this. Even so, Luke looked a little disheartened when he learned that what he had been working on was for children.
"Don't worry too much about it, young one," Uncle Obi reassured him, "Most Jedi from our galaxy start their training as soon as they can walk. The twins here have been taught about The Force since they could understand what their father was saying. The little progress you have made is a monumental achievement. You started your training almost two decades later than most and only have had a few days of formal training. The dedication that you have given to your training is very impressive, not to mention a lot higher than that shown by both your father and your other self." Uncle Obi ended his speech with pointed looks not only at Dad and Luke, but also Leia. All three of them ducked their heads. His words had their desired effect though, because Luke, Leia, and Han all chuckled, and Luke looked more confident about his progress.
Dad motioned for the twins to the center of the room. Knowing what their father wanted, both of them unhooked their lightsabers from their belts.
"Ok, my Luke and Leia. I'd like you guys to just spar a little. Luke might like to adapt the style of his counterpart, but it's entirely possible that that won't be the case. Either way, these two haven't sparred in a while and are due for one." With that, Dad nodded, the signal for the twins to begin.
As Leia immersed herself into The Force, she could feel everything around her. Her parents, aunt and uncles, as well as Luke, Leia, and Han. However, she focused on her brother, and felt him doing the same. As the two of them began to circle each other, Leia felt her brother's intention to move a split moment before he did, and raised her saber to block his.
Their spar continued like this. Blow after blow, either dodged or blocked by the other. The Skywalker twins had a reputation for having incredibly long duels, sometimes lasting up to half an hour. Still, it was nothing compared to Dad and Uncle Obi, who had once sparred for almost an hour and a half. Like their father and uncle, they also had the reputation of there rarely being a clear winner. This was exemplified when they ended in a stalemate, each twin having their saber at the neck of the other, both breathing heavily.
Leia looked over and saw that Luke, Leia, and Han had awed looks on their faces. She laughed. "This is nothing. You should see Dad and Uncle Obi." The men in question just smiled at her.
"Princess, you need to make sure that you keep your saber just a tad lower. Your brother is taller than you but only just. Don't overreach and wear yourself down sooner than needed. Pilot, same thing only you're holding yours a little too far away from your body. And both of you need to remember to not rely on your Force bond so much. You're not always going to have one with the person you're sparring, and you for sure won't have one with an enemy. Other than that, though, excellent job both of you." The twins nodded at their father before heading to stand by their mother.
"I think that's enough for the evening. I suggest we all get a good night's sleep, it's been a long day for all of us." Uncle Obi said. Everyone else nodded in response, and the group started to head back towards the barracks.
Now realizing how exhausted she was, Leia could feel herself already starting to drift off. She could hear both versions of her brother talking to Dad, everything from ships to lightsabers. Mom, Leia, and Uncle Bail picked up their conversation about politics. Uncle Obi and Aunt 'Soka were holding a sporadic conversation with each other about what to teach the twins next, Uncle Obi occasionally joining in to the politics conversation, Aunt 'Soka sometimes jumping in with Dad and both Lukes. Han and Chewbacca trailed behind everyone, speaking too softly for Leia to understand.
Somehow, she reached the room that she and Aunt 'Soka were sharing. Leia barely managed to get changed into some pajamas before collapsing on the (slightly uncomfortable) mattress and was asleep almost before her head reached the pillow.
Hi again!
So yes I know the AU twins' middle names don't really ring nicely. But whatever.
As much as I would love to, I can't take credit for Anakin's nicknames for the twins. That goes to AngelDesaray in their Test of Time series. 100% recommend.
Thanks for reading! Again, I apologize for the ridiculous wait. I can't promise it won't happen again, but I'll do my best.
Next time: A meeting with the Rebel Alliance High Council.
*************IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW*************
I'd just like to address an issue that has come up a bit in the comments. I know the tone of this story has kinda turned into an analysis of everything the Jedi did wrong. That stems from the fact that I watch way too much Star Wars lore on YouTube (see my other story for proof) including a lot of videos that criticize the Jedi.
However, there's a method to my madness. In order to fix things for the future, you need to know the mistakes of the past. And getting Old Ben to recognize the flaws of the Jedi is a major step to this. And getting the canon twins to recognize the flaws and forgive the Jedi is important, but they also need to confront the fact that they both were lied to. I have always thought that Luke was a little too accepting of Ben's reasons for lying to him. I feel that psychologically he and Leia need to face it head-on. Beyond their initial reactions to Alderaan and Own and Beru, Leia and Luke never seem to grieve. They just jump right into "let's destroy the Death Star" mode. Alderaan is never mentioned again, and neither are Owen or Beru. I want this story to be the place where that doesn't happen.
And while I respect everyone's opinions, please remember that this is my story. If I think that the tone should be darker or that the characters should be upset about something, I can do that. If you, as one person put it "don't agree with such a dark and compassionless view" that's your choice. But find another story to read, because while the issue has been resolved (more like pushed aside and ignored) for now, I can guarantee that things will get serious, even dark. Because I can't imagine any way that Anakin's reaction to learning about Vader that wouldn't be slightly explosive. Both mentally and physically.