" What is it ?" asked Obi-Wan "You aren't acting like yourself .
If he wasn't worried about his former padawan, the jedi master would have found all this very funny. Anakin Skywalker, believed by many to be the Chosen One spoken in the ancient prophesy, had succeeded to surprise the Council yet again, and in a good way for a change to boot. When the masters had agreed to give the young jedi a seat in the Council due to Chancellor's actions on his behalf, most of them apparently had expected a row because of the refused title of master. Skywalker, however, said nothing on the matter, almost as if it didn't matter to him. Such a change in attitude alarmed his master. +
"Sorry, master" Anakin replied "But I can't shake the feeling that all this is connected to me , and not in a way I'm going to like"
"We shall see" Kenobi said "There come the first two of them"
The jedi general to whom the group had surrendered, reported that the captives were odd assortment of characters. While not immediately agreeing to that assessment, the Council heeded the description and decided to question the strangers in pairs. First two were Mara Jade and Luke Lars – at least that was how they had introduced themselves.
As the strangers entered the Council chamber, they took a good look on the seated jedi. The Council members detected no response from the woman except for the recognition when she saw masters Kenobi and Yoda. On the other hand, the man recognized several more of the jedi present, with traces of grief and relief when he saw the jedi the woman recognized, before his eyes stopped on Skywalker. A variety of emotions passed through him, but he quickly regained control over them and closed his mind from probes.
"Hmmm. An enigma, you are" began Yoda "Darkness, I sense in you, but dominate you, it does not. Powerful, you are, but known to us, you are not"
"It's unusual, but not unheard of jedi to be trained without the knowledge of this Council." added master Windu "Your timing, however, opens many questions. What will happen with you now, depends on the decisions made by those present here."
" I very much doubt we'll be able to give you satisfactory answers" said Luke, his expression unreadable "Mainly because what's happening makes no sense to us in the first place."
"What do you mean ?" asked Obi-Wan "How is this possible?"
"Well, to best of my knowledge, the last of you died twenty-six years ago. Twenty-three years earlier the Republic fell." said Luke.
"This is absolute nonsense" exclaimed Ki-AdiMundi "What exactly are you implying?"
"The best explanation we have, however bizarre it may sound, is that we have been somehow transported back in time forty-nine years"
A heavy silence settled in the Council chamber following Luke's last words. Logical thought screamed at impossibility of time travel, but the stranger's words rang true – that much no member of the Council could deny. As the masters sank in thought, Luke suddenly stumbled. Mara was immediately by his side, helping him to remain upright.
"Are you all right ?" she asked.
"I will be." Luke answered "I haven't been able to completely purge the poison from the Scepter yet."
Everyone watched carefully at what happened and most of the masters frowned, both at the conversation and the fact, that the healing effort broke Luke's facade. The eyes of Yoda and Kenobi widened slightly as they sensed Luke's true power. His raw power rivaled that of the Chosen One. Both of them realized that he would make a formidable foe in battle. Master Windu spoke:
"I sense strong bond between two of you. Attachments are forbidden to the jedi. You should have been taught about that"
"They are forbidden now, not fifty years in the future" retorted Mara.
"Hmpf" said Yoda, tapping on the floor with his gimmer stick. "Attachments lead to jealousy, and jealousy leads to the Dark Side."
Luke looked at him.
"There was never time to teach me the details" he said "Without guidance, I had to use my own experience to restore the Jedi Order. "What do you mean restore the Order?" asked Ki-Adi-Mundi in alarm.
"When master Yoda died of old age, I was the last jedi left. As such, it fell to me do destroy the Sith and help undo the damage they did to the Galaxy.
"You killed both the master and the apprentice?" asked Anakin doubtfully. Luke locked eyes with him and answered:
"No. I made them turn on each other"
"Impossible!" exclaimed Ki-Adi-Mundi "It's known that the Sith don't waste any loyalty to each other, but they'll always turn on a jedi first."
"Not if there is a strong bond between the jedi and the apprentice" Mara said. A stunned silence followed her words. With all looks converging on Luke, he closed his еyеs, sighed and dropped the bomb:
"He was my father. I helped him free himself from the Dark Side"
A stunned silence followed Luke's words. As far as the time travelers could determine, all the masters had trouble digesting the last revelation. Predictably, Master Yoda was the first to recover:
"Forty-nine years have passed, you say. No older than that, you look."
Luke nodded.
"I'll be born in few weeks. Several days after the fall of the Republic, actually."
"I hope you realize that your story becomes more difficult to believe with every word. Assuming it's true, we have far bigger problem than working out the details. You said you fought the Dark Lord. If this is true, you can direct us to him" said Master Windu. Mara laughed at that.
"That's rich. You probably know where he is better than us now. After all, I believe every one of you have met him numerous times"
"Traced the Dark Lord to chancellor's inner circle, we have" said Yoda, his eyes nearly closed.
"Then you were on the right track The Chancellor is the Dark Lord." Mara said. Anakin jumped to his feet:
"Impossible! The Chancellor is a good man!"
"Yeah, right. Real good " Mara added venomously. Luke put his hand on her shoulder
"Indeed? Exactly what makes you think that?" he asked, the awful memory of the Bespin confrontation appearing in his mind unwanted. Unable to come up with a good answer, Anakin continued to look in the disturbing blue eyes, so much like his own. Without warning, he stood up and stormed out of the Council chamber.
A/N The announcement at the end of the previous chapter was made with a different chapter in mind, one I just couldn't do right. Sorry about that. The plot points in the dropped chapter will NOT be dropped.