Chapter 3

Meeting at the Havens

Luke and his company had finally reached the Havens as a ship came to port. Luke and the others waited as the ship docked and the ramp was lowered. Luke leapt off his horse with a soft thump and walked towards the ramp. As he walked, he raised his hood to hide his identity, and tightened his grip on his lightsaber, which was hanging on his belt. He slowly approached the ramp as a beautiful lady dressed in a shimmering white dress walked down the ramp and laid eyes on him. As her eyes flashed, Luke felt a great tremor through the Force. Clearly this woman was strong in the Force. Her Force presence was similar to that of Gandalf, but somewhat different.

"Halt, stranger! I am Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien. Nobb and Lacnas I recognize but you three in robes of strange make, I do not. Who might you be?" Galadriel demanded as she lowered her hood and several elves joined her.

Luke's heart leapt with joy. They had made it to the Havens in time!

"Greetings, Elves from the Undying Lands of the West! I am Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker. I am here on behalf of Olorin, the great white wizard and Halfling friend. This is my sister, Galactic Alliance Chief of State, Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo, and her daughter Jedi Knight Jaina Solo." Luke said as he removed his hood and bowed.

Galadriel raised one eyebrow. There was a murmur of voices behind her as the rest of the Elven fellowship came to see what the commotion was about.

"If what you say is true, Master Jedi, then where is Olorin?" Galadriel inquired.

Luke was about to answer, but was interrupted when a whole other group of travelers arrived. With them was none other than Radagast the Brown. All the elves gasped when they recognized him.

"Radagast, what brings you to the Havens?" Galadriel asked, clearly bewildered.

"I haven't the faintest idea, Lady Galadriel; I was just trying to find Olorin." Radagast said as he looked around at the other strangers in puzzlement.

"If I may, I think I can explain." A red haired man said as he strode into the middle of the group, gaining a huge gasp from Luke, Leia, and Jaina.

"Ben, you're old!" Luke managed after a moment.

"Hello, father. Yes, I am old; for I come from the future." Ben smiled.

Luke almost fainted. "What are you doing here, son?" Luke gasped.

"I am here to stop Jacen from enslaving all the free-peoples of our galaxy. I am the Grand Jedi master and all, you know." He smiled.

Luke paled. "Ben, what happens to me in the future? Do I die at Jacen's hand?" Luke whispered.

"Dad, don't talk like that! You just passed on the role to me. It was time for you and your generation to pass on the torch to us. I had to step into my legacy." Ben said as he patted his father on the back.

Luke gave a smile. "Well, I'm glad that you stayed in the light. But, where's Jacen?" he asked.

Ben smiled slyly, almost like Han. "Let's just say he's tied up at the moment, shall we?" Ben laughed with a twinkle in his eyes.

A tear slid down Leia's cheek at this. "What happened to my son, Luke? How did we let this happen?" she whispered.

"Aunt Leia, I have everything under control. Very soon the author of this whole story will join forces with the Hyrulian Fellowship, and the tide will turn in our favor. It's all part of my master plan, trust me. I can't avert this whole war, but I can sure as the Force end it quickly." Ben explained.

"Wait, did you say something about an author and a story?" Jaina asked in interest.

Ben nodded as he walked over. "Yes, Jaina, we are all in a story. I sensed Jacen was going to try to capture the author and use him for his own evil schemes, so I pulled the author out of his own time and sent him to join our allies in Hyrule. Brilliant, huh?" Ben smiled.

Luke scratched his chin as he thought this over. With the author pulled from his own time, the story would be left to the Force. "This is good; very good." He said with a smile as he walked over to his son.

Ben chuckled. "I learned from the best, Dad." He replied simply.

Luke almost fainted. "Ben, please tell me, you don't mean Jacen!" Luke gasped.

"Dad, I was talking about you." Ben said slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, I knew that." Luke grimaced.

"Wait just one second! What about the Ring and Frodo?" Galadriel demanded as she walked towards the Jedi.

Ben gave a small reassuring smile and walked towards her. "Lady Galadriel, the Ring is --- by the Force, this is not good!" Ben gasped as he put a hand to his forehead.

"What isn't good?" everyone yelled in unison.

Older Ben ignored them and began pacing. "He'll take the Ring once the Hero is dead. The War will be all over, and the Jedi dead. This is all my fault!" he kept murmuring to himself.

Luke and Mara shared worried glances. If their son from the future was worried, things were bad; very bad. "I have a bad feeling about this." Luke, Mara, and Leia all said in unison.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" young Ben shouted at his older self.

Not only did the older Ben Skywalker 'Snap out of it', but the rest of the Skywalkers and Solos as well. Young Ben smiled to himself and walked back over to his parents. "That's better. Now what's wrong?" he demanded of his older self.

Older Ben walked over to his family and wiped a tear from his face. "I'm sorry Mom and Dad. I've failed you; I've failed the Jedi Order." He said as he bowed his head.

"Now, Ben, honey, whatever you did, it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be, right? After all, you are a Skywalker." Mara smiled.

"Mom, I've let Jacen have the One Ring! Now tell me, how BAD IS THAT?" Older Ben shouted.

Mara didn't cringe or even back off when her son yelled. "So he takes the Ring when he kills Link; is that it?" she asked.

Older Ben nodded, and then smiled as he realized what she was saying. "Eureka! That's it, of course; why didn't I think of that?" he exclaimed as he gave his mother a hug.

"But we can't stop this event from happening. It has to happen; it is the will of the Force. Jacen has to kill Link, he has to take the Ring. If the Alliance of Dark Lords doesn't make their own Rings of Power, we will never defeat them. We have to let it happen." Ben explained.

Luke suddenly understood. " Of course, all we have to do is collect all the rings and destroy them, thus destroying the Dark Lords themselves!" Luke said.

Ben shook his head. "Sorry father, but it's not that easy. It will significantly lessen their power, but they will live on. We have to be ready to attack as soon as the rings are destroyed. It's the only way." Ben said.

Luke nodded. "But first we have to save Middle Earth from utter destruction and war." He told everybody as he tightened his belt and took his wife's hand.

"We are the Jedi, the protectors of the Galaxy, and we will not let Middle Earth fall into ruin and bloodshed! You have our lightsabers this day!" Luke said as he looked everyone in the eye.

"Thus it begins." Ben whispered as he vanished.

Luke was the only one who heard the whisper. The Force worked in mysterious ways. He was ready for the coming war. He felt that it would be the last great war he would fight in.

"Would you quit thinking like that, honey? We have a war to win, remember?" Mara said with a sly grin.

"Right, Mara. Alright, everyone; we're heading out!" he shouted for all to hear as he mounted his horse.