I don't own Star Wars or any of the characters.

Anakin and Luke slipped away before anyone else noticed they were gone. The father and son found an old balcony to talk to each other in private but neither knew what to say. How were they supposed to talk to each other? In truth, they had thought the other dead for the majority of twenty years and after that only ever known each other as enemies. They had only ever had a true moment as father and son as Anakin lay dying on the second Death Star, and that only lasted a few minutes at most.

Finally, after what could have been minutes or eons, Luke spoke up.

"So this is what you looked like before you became Vader?" asked Luke.

Luke mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't have asked that question. However his father got to be in that life support suit had to be a terrible memory. And he had just brought it up.

Anakin just took his son's question in stride. He knew his son would be curious as to what he had looked like before he was forced into that accursed life support suit. During his time as Vader, he had been sure to destroy everything he could find on Anakin Skywalker. In order to live in his new life he had to completely destroy his old one, both literally and metaphorically.

Anakin looked down at himself, a small smile gracing his face.

"I looked like this before I became Vader, only I was younger back then." joked Anakin.

"How old are you anyway, Father?" curiously asked Luke.

"I guess I'm about forty-five. At least that's how old I was on the second Death Star when I…" spoke Anakin.

Anakin trailed off. He really didn't want to think about his death. Forcing his mind away from his death, Anakin remembered it was still his day off. That's when Anakin got an idea.

"Luke, come with me. I want yo show you something." told Anakin.

"Where are we going, Father?" wondered Luke.

"We're going to my apartment. Well, technically its Padme's but I still live there." said Anakin.

"Who's Padme?" asked Luke.

Anakin froze mid-step. How could he have been so foolish? In all of his excitement he had forgotten that his son might not know anything about his own mother.

"Padme's your mother Luke. I think we have a lot to talk about, my son." sighed Anakin.

For the next two hours Anakin revealed his entire life story to his son. He told Luke about being born a slave on Tatooine, being freed at the age of nine by a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon (who had been Obi-Wan's mentor) after winning a pod race, leaving his mother, his only family, behind on Tatooine so he could be trained as a Jedi, meeting Padme and learning she was actually Queen Amidala of Naboo and not the handmaiden she had first introduced herself as, his first interaction with Obi-Wan, and helping defeat the Trade Federation during the Naboo Blockade. He told Luke about the assassination attempt on Padme (who was now the Senator of Naboo) that brought them back together after ten years, and how they slowly fell in love. Anakin was pained by bringing up the memories of his mother's death and his slaughter of the Tusken Raiders, but he knew he had to tell Luke everything if he wanted his son to fully understand and trust him. After the Battle of Geonosis he and Padme had been married, and the trouble of keeping a secret relationship began. He briefly went over some of the highlights of his life during the Clone Wars (his knighting, becoming Ahsoka's master, a number of battles he won, etc.) before Palpatine manipulated him to falling to the Dark Side.

"…and after I pledged myself to him, I led the attack on the Temple. I slaughter so many innocents, but I didn't care. All I cared about was saving Padme. And I couldn't even do that. I almost killed her on Mustafar. If Obi-Wan hadn't been there she wouldn't have betrayed me…. No. I betrayed them. I forced Obi-Wan to fight me. I was the one who did that jump and forced him to cut off my remaining limbs. I was the one to turn the Republic into the Empire and kill thousands, if not millions of innocents because of my own selfishness. There is no one to blame but me." exclaimed Anakin.

Anakin didn't notice the tears forming in his eyes until they were running down his cheeks. With everything that had happened in the last few hours and retelling every painful event in his life had become too much for Anakin to bear. He buried his head in his hands, ashamed for all that he had done in the past.

Luke was also having a hard time of grasping what his father had said. All his life he wanted to know about his parents and in the course of a few hours he had been told everything he had ever wanted to know about them by his dead father. With that and the events of the last few hours combined, Luke was surprised he wasn't in a state like his father. But he knew breaking down would do them no good. If they wanted to find out what was going on, they couldn't be feeling sorry for themselves.

Luke put a hand on his father's shoulder. Anakin's head snapped up and he looked into the concerned eyes of his son. The former Sith wiped the tears from his eyes, feeling foolish for losing control of himself in front of his son.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't know what overcame me." apologised Anakin.

"That's alright, Father. We've both been through confusing events over the last few hours. You revealing your past to me all at once only made it worse. But if we want to know what happened to us we need to keep our heads. Do you understand." calmly spoke Luke.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance." said a deep voice.

Luke and Anakin turned to see the glowing blue figure of a man standing behind them. The glowing blue figure was obviously a Force ghost, dressed in light Jedi robes and carrying a lightsaber. The Force ghost was a human male who looked no older than sixty, with long gray hair half tied back and bright blue eyes. Anakin was shocked when he recognised the Force ghost as a man he hadn't seen since he was nine years old.

"Qui-Gon?!" gasped Anakin.

Qui-Gon smiled at the man he had saved from slaver as a boy.

"It has been a long time, Anakin. The Force has sent me here to help you." calmly told Qui-Gon.

"Then can you tell us why we are here, Qui-Gon?" asked Anakin.

Qui-Gon slowly shook his head.

"I am sorry, Anakin, but the Force will not let me reveal why it brought you and your son here. It is not yet time. However, I can tell you about the changes that occurred in this timeline that caused it to split from the one you two originated from." confessed Qui-Gon.

Anakin had so many questions he wanted answered. Why was Ahsoka still a part of the Order? How could Obi-Wan have two children and be married to Satine? How could the Jedi Order allow him to be married and have children? Why was Padme still alive? The list of questions went on and on. But, there was one question Anakin knew he needed answered more than anything else in the galaxy.

"Why didn't I turn to the Dark Side in this galaxy? Did I not have visions of dying in child birth? Did my mother not die? Did Ahsoka not leave the Order? Please, Qui-Gon, tell me." pleaded Anakin.

"I had a feeling you would ask that question, Anakin. To keep it simple, you did not have any motivation to turn to the Dark Side in this universe. In the universe you originally came from you had a number of factors contributing to your fall to the Dark Side. Here, they didn't happen or occurred with different results. Your mother did die, but Padme had gone with you to rescue her from the Tusken Raiders instead of you going on your own as you did in your timeline. Because of this, Shmi died at home with her family around her. This prevented you from slaughtering the Tusken Raiders, which was your first step in falling to the Dark Side." explained Qui-Gon.

Anakin remembered his mother's death, only like how Qui-Gon described it. He hadn't wanted Padme to come with him, but she had insisted that he couldn't go looking for his mother alone. They had found Shmi and managed to rescue her with only killing and wounding a few Tusken Raiders, but Shmi had still died in Anakin's arms in the Lars family homestead. But, Anakin realised, his mother dying in the Lars' home instead of the Tusken camp had prevented him from taking the first step down a long and dark path.

"The Battle of Geonosis and the outcome was much the same as it was in your time. Much of the Clone Wars happened as you remember it, until Maul and Savage invaded Mandalore. You and Ahsoka went with Obi-Wan to Mandalore and exposed Maul and Savage for being behind the invasion. It was because of this that you and Obi-Wan managed to kill the Zabrak brothers and save the Duchess Satine's life. There was conflict between the remaining Death Watch supporters and the New Mandalorians, but an agreement was finally reached. Mandalore is still a pacifist society, but the Death Watch has now become an Honour Guard that works to defend Mandalore during times of crisis to prevent any further destruction." continued explaining Qui-Gon.

A smile crept onto Qui-Gon's face as he stroked his neatly trimmed beard.

"You, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stayed on Mandalore to help with the transition. It was during this time that Obi-Wan and Satine finally confessed their feelings for each other. You also revealed your marriage to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, Anakin, once again freeing you from a burden you bore in the other timeline." spoke Qui-Gon.

The smile was swept from Qui-Gon's face and he suddenly became very serious.

"Revealing your marriage to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka became a very important factor further down the line. Because you stayed so long on Mandalore to help the transition from the Death Watch being terrorists to an Honour Guard, Ahsoka was not framed for the bombing on the Temple as she was in your time. You were able to catch the bomber—Barriss Offee I believe her name was—much quicker than you did in your own time. Unfortunately, Barriss managed to escape before her sentencing. The Order spent months searching for her, but she has yet to be found." continued Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon went on to tell how the rest of the Clones Wars went. Apparently the secret of the clones' having chips in their brains was revealed to the Jedi and all the clones had their chips removed, preventing the execution of Order 66. Then Qui-Gon went on to tell about how Anakin defeated Palpatine with help from the Jedi Council and his old mentor. After Palpatine was defeated, the truth about Anakin's marriage was revealed. When threatened with expulsion, Obi-Wan told of his own relationship with Duchess Satine and other Jedi confessed to having secret relationships or attachments. Anakin had been put on suspension alongside Obi-Wan and all the other confessed Jedi for over two months before the Council decided to change the rules on attachment.

Anakin could almost remember returning to the Temple when the suspension had been lifted and his excitement when he heard that the rule on attachments had been lifted. Other events flashed in Anakin's mind as Qui-Gon continued to speak. He remembered becoming a Jedi Master and getting a seat on the Council a year after he defeated Palpatine. Being the best man at Obi-Wan and Satine's wedding. The excitement and happiness he felt as Ahsoka was promoted to the rank of Knight, and the joy of seeing her take her first Padawan, a Tholothian female named Katooni, a few months after her knighting. He remembered taking a Corellian boy named Petro as his second Padawan and raising him to Knighthood, before seeing him and Katooni married a few months later.

Luke was also having the strange sensation of remembering things that never happened to him that he never actually did. He could remember meeting Galen and Ezra for the first time when his father brought him and Leia to the Temple when they were three. He recalled meeting Mara when he was six years old, the fiery red head only being four at the time. He remembered growing up and playing with his adoptive cousins Jinn, Katana, Mira, Sky, Steel and Annie. Luke remembered when he, Leia, Ezra and Galen all became Padawans when they turned thirteen. Luke had been excited to be trained by Uncle Obi-Wan while Leia was just as excited to be training with Aunt Ahsoka. Ezra had gloated that his master, Caleb Dume, being the best Jedi Knight in the Order, only for Galen to return the fire by stating that his new master, Rham Kota, was already a Jedi Master. Mara has silenced the two's squabbling later that same day by revealing that Master Skywalker had taken her on as his third Padawan.

Mara? Luke remembered the first time he had told Mara that he liked her. He had been seventeen at the time. He, Ezra and Galen had been making jokes about each other's crushes. Ezra had tried to play it off about Sabine rejecting his flirts for the billionth time. Galen just acted cool about him and Juno going on their official first date. Luke, however, had quickly become the target of his two friends' attention when Mara Jade had walked into the room at his father's side. The two had dared Luke into getting Mara to kiss him. Luke couldn't remember much, but he remembered winning the bet and him and Mara having been in a steady relationship for the past six years.

"…and that I'm afraid is all I can tell you." concluded Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon's voice snapped Anakin and Luke back to reality. The father and son thanked the late Jedi for his help before slipping back into the Temple, wondering what they should do next.

Sorry this chapter doesn't have much excitement. I just wanted to explain some of the differences in this timeline and the one Anakin and Luke originally came from. If you have any theories on why the Force brought Anakin and Luke to this new timeline for feel free to put them in the comments.