Luke sat on one of the cots in the back, his head turned towards the small circular window to his left, and his feet dangled over the steel floor of the ship. He let his eyes wander the small specs of light that filled the empty vacuum of space. He remembered as a boy longing to even scratch the surface of Tatooine's atmosphere in hopes that maybe he would see the closest inhabitable planet. His reality indeed did surpass his hopes of getting off world. Him and Biggs always talked about all the adventures they would journey on together. Those plans shattered when his old boyhood friend was shot down during the Battle of Yavin. By...

Vader.. It was Vader who had sent them here. He was responsible for nearly every tear he had ever shed, even the ones threatening to roll down his cheeks now. And yet he loved his father so much that he would let his death leave him distraught. As much as his anger begged him to hate the man, he didn't. Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader, he understood, we're two separate entities. His father was manipulated into becoming that monster, perhaps not by his own will, that part he didn't know.

He felt Artoo's memory part, poking into his thigh. He reached from inside is pocket and held the small metallic object in his hand. His thumb rubbed over the part and he felt ashamed.

"Luke?" Leia appeared from the slid open door. She could see the pain behind his blue eyes. There was something else, something she couldn't describe. She sat beside him and quickly threw her arms around him. She felt the edge of Artoo's memory poke her should as he gave her a squeeze back. She held him tightly for what seemed like hours. She felt a tear every now and then dampen her shoulder and he would sniffle. Once she felt his breathing settle she decided it to be a good time to talk.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, clearly ashamed and embarrassed of his actions.

"Luke.." she pitied him. While she knew of her Jedi heritage, she saw what it did to their father and what it nearly did to Luke, and what it was doing to him now. All of it made her want to remain ignorant of ever becoming a Jedi herself.

"It just happened.. It's like I wasn't in control." He looked at her with widened eyes as if he were telling her of some vicious monster he had witnessed. "I was so angry, like I nearly blacked out and I wasn't voluntary of my own actions. Leia.." she could hear him struggle as he said her name. "Leia I remember hearing him struggling so vividly. His babbled pleads have been playing over and over in my mind and they won't go away!" He balled his hands up into a fists and crashed them against the sides of his head. His eyes shed tears once more and when Leia went to hold him again he buried his face in her shoulder.

"I didn't want to kill him Leia. It was so tempting, and overpowering. Greater temptation than with Father on the Death Star. Once I tapped into it, I couldn't master it." Luke wept.

"It's ok Luke. Everyone's allowed bad days." He raised his head up. "Even Jedi." Leia smiled. "I know what your thinking. Don't even compare yourself with that monster, your nothing like him."

"I don't want to become him.." He uttered in desperation.

"You never will Luke. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know. And you didn't let the call of anger corrupt you on the Death Star. And although you may have experienced it today, I know you won't let it rule you. All force users experience the dark side in one way or another, and now you know the fear that it brings. And I know you'll stay away from it."

Luke smiled, his tears drying into a sticky mess. He looked down into his hand, realizing that he was still holding a peice of Artoo. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do now? Ben could tell me of Father, but now he's gone. I haven't been able to hear from him in a while. I lost Father's saber on Bespin. Artoo was all I had left of him." Leia saw his frown, how dearly he admired their father.

"Father will speak to you when he's ready. Didn't you say you saw him back on Endor?"

"Yes, but we never spoke. I just want to speak with him, more than anything."

"Well..." he noticed her tense up.

"What?" He stuffed the memory peice into a compartment on his belt.

"You very well could speak to him."

"What do you mean.. have you?" His stuffy eyes settled and his face returned back to its normal shade.

"No. Luke, we're in the Clone Wars."

"Your joking." He leapt to his feet.

"I wish I was. To a normal person, being the daughter of Darth Vader seems more realistic than jumping through time via an old temple and a weird black hole."

"Are you sure?"

"Luke, Pre Visla died before the end of the war and Death Watch split upon his death. Once the war came to an end Death Watch eventually became nothing more than a faction of the past. Not to mention the two strikingly similar R2 units."

He didn't want to beleive her. Two Artoo's should have been loud enough evidence on its own but his mind tried to rationalize when he first saw them back at camp.

"Leia, we have to get out of here. Now!" He said tightly. "Ashoka had mentioned something about the temple on Coruscant. If we step foot on that planet much less the temple, there's no telling who we'll run into. And we cannot let Palpatine find us." His hand hovered over the door switch.

"What choice do we have?" She placed her hand on his hovering one. "Don't you think the same reasons that got us sucked into this mess could also get us out? Whatever Jedi stuff you were looking for back on that planet, it's all preserved inside the temple's archives on Coruscant." She was almost begging him knowing that if they left right now Death Watch would surely come and hunt them down and once Ashoka reported back to her masters the Jedi would certainly come looking for them, only drawing more attention to themselves. If they went to the temple they would be under the great protection of the Jedi Order, and what mando is stupid enough to attack the Order on their home turf?

"Ok." Luke gave a weak smile.

They felt the ship give one noticeable rattle. The two looked outside the small window to see the ship's escape pod getting smaller and smaller. Luke opened the door and rushed to the cockpit. Leia followed behind.

"Ashoka the escape pod-" he began when he noticed Lux was missing. "Lux?"

Leia noticed Ashoka silently clear her throat before speaking. "Lux couldn't come with us. The war isn't over yet, which unfortunately means there's still sides to this fight that we must return to." She could hear a hint of sadness in her words. She must have felt something for the young Mr.Bontari.

R2 let out a beep. "Making the jump to light speed." Ashoka translated for everyone.

Luke watched as the stars intensified and became streaks of magnificent light.

"Careful uh" she searched for a name.

"Luke."

".. Luke, you don't want to stare into it for too long, you know it'll make you go mad." Ashoka warned.

"I thought that was a myth?" He asked her, removing his eyes from the blue and white streaks and back inside the ship.

"I never said it wasn't. I myself have no idea." She looked over to Leia. "And who are you?" She asked curiously.

"My sister, Leia." Luke answered.

"Interesting. You two were never seperated?"

"For a long time, yes." Leia spoke up. Ashoka nodded her head.

"Luke and Leia what?"

Luke looked to Leia trying to find a name other than Skywalker.

"Starkiller." She answered.

"Well Starkillers, we have some downtime. A slight change in plans though, my master contacted me. We're going to meet up with him on one of the Republic Star ships. He's interested in meeting the two of you. From there he'll take us back home." Ashoka leaned back in her seat and rested her eyes.

"Luke." Leia looked over to him while they made their way back to the cots. "Our story doesn't line up with what we told Ashoka . Once she finds out that the council doesn't recognize us, it'll be red flags everywhere and the Jedi won't trust us." She didn't want to risk being overheard if they spoke out loud.

"The thought had come across my mind as well."

She saw his brain spark with an idea. "What's your plan?"

"I'm going to tamper with her memory." He sat on his cot.

"Your what?" He could feel her disapproval.

"There is no other option, Leia. We need those archives, desperately. Plus it's not like I'm erasing her memory. When the council asks what she knows about us, she won't be able to tell them because she won't know."

"I hope you know what your doing."

He sat and stretched his mind until his brushed up against the togruta's now sleeping in the pilot's seat up front. Her mental barriers were harder to break through than he had expected but his talents had surpassed hers. It didn't surprise him considering she was still a padawan learner, although he knew that once he and Leia returned to their home, that wouldn't be the case. He eased the young and busy moving mind, finding what he was looking for and sealing it off from everything else. He ensured she simply wouldn't be able to recall that part of her mind. He left her thoughts as gently as he had entered, without a peep.


"Master." Anakin greeted Obi Wan who had approached from behind. They stood on the command bridge looking out into deep space, having just handled business on Ryloth.

"Rex informed me of Ashoka's mishap with the mandolorians, what's going on this time?" Obi Wan rolled his eyes, figuring it was another debacle that wouldn't drastically affect the war.

"She's fine. I told her to meet us here on the Resolute. Lux Bontari isn't with her anymore, he escaped. However she did pick up two new friends. Two Jedi."

"I wasn't aware we had any Jedi communicating with Death Watch." Obi Wan placed a hand under his chin.

"Neither did I. It certainly raises some flags."

"Who are these two jedi?"

"She doesn't know, just a young male and female. Around my age she said." A warm sensation sent out subtly like a shockwave through his entire body. He felt a familiar presence. A loving presence. It was different than Obi Wan, Ashoka, or Rex's presence. Padme? What would she be doing aboard their ship? The feeling felt like a much needed warm hug that blanketed itself around him before it quickly vanished.

"You felt it too?" Obi Wan looked to his apprentice who had the same muddled look on his face.

"Sir, they're here." Rex stepped through the big metallic sliding door first, followed by Ashoka and a young male and female.

"Thank you Rex." Obi Wan said, before watching the clone return back to his troops.

"Snips." Anakin acknowledged Ashoka playfully. "Where's my droid?" He looked amongst the group for his little astromech friend.

"Glad to see your alright Ashoka." Obi Wan offered her a warm smile.

"Master Kenobi." Ashoka grinned. She turned around to Luke and Leia, "Glad someone cares about us." She teased.

"I'm always glad to see you make it out of these scraps in one piece." Her master said smiled.

"R2 is fine, just getting some repairs is all, nothing bad."

"Good." Anakin turned his attention to the two behind her. "Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight." He introduced himself with a light bow.

"Masters, this is Luke and Leia Starkiller." Ashoka stepped aside.

"Hi." Leia put one of her senator smile on. She herself was still dealing with the recent revelation of who her father was. The hatred she still held for Vader felt fresh even now. She of course had only ever known their father as Vader. Anakin was like a fairy tale to her, only brought to life during stories about the Jedi and the Republic. Seeing him here now... everything in her screamed to kill him now and save her home planet of Alderaan. All she had to do was take Luke's saber and in a matter of seconds dozens of lives would be saved. Kriff, she might even prevent the entire galactic war!

"Give them a chance, Leia" she felt Luke silently communicate with her.

Luke buried his intense fear and shock at the man's name deep down and gave a beam of warm heartedness. He couldn't help but lock eyes with his father for the shortest of seconds that he was able to. His presence radiated with magnificence and mystery, leaving Luke stumped with what to make of him. Was he really as caring and heroic as people had told him in their stories? Or perhaps they were fooled by an act? The latter wouldn't be shocking considering his father would meet his demise at the hands of Darth Vader and Sidious. Ben nor Yoda ever went into detail about what sent him over the edge, just that his father was corrupted and seduced by the temptations of the dark side.

"Hello there." Obi Wan waved his hand at the two.

"So you two were on assignment in Death Watch territory?" Anakin asked, suddenly becoming more serious.

"No. Pirates hijacked our ship and dropped us off in the area before getting picked up by the mandolorians." Luke noticed how towering and intimidating his father could be even without trying. Unfortunately height didn't seem to be a gift he had inherited himself.

"Once Luke found us, a massive brawl ensued. Ashoka explained the chaos of events that occurred to the masters.

"Are you Jedi?" Obi Wan probed.

"I am." Luke indicated, placing a gentle hand on his belt where his saber hung. "My sister is.."

"Learning." She finished for him.

"Interesting." Obi Wan's hand went to his chin, making a mental note.

"Looks like Death Watch gave you quite the fight." Anakin nodded towards the dark sticky blood on Luke's temple. "Rex will take you to the medical bay. Get some rest for a few hours and afterwards we'll see what kind of Jedi you really are." He raised a brow, tapping his own saber.

Rex came walking towards the group once he was summoned. "Right this way." He escorted Luke and Leia with Ashoka following behind.

"He is strong with the force." Anakin mumbled to his master, with his arms crossed and the wrinkles in his forehead forming an expression of interest and confusion.

"It seems you've overlooked the girl. Her presence felt every bit as strong as the boy's. But we must be careful Anakin, this could be some sort of Sith trick."

"Maybe so, everything feels clouded around those two. I don't know master, didn't you see the compassion in that boy's eyes, in his very being."

"It's too early to say for certain who or what they are. Once we take them back to Coruscant, the council will decide what becomes of them."

Anakin mentally groaned at the mention of the council. Sometimes he just wanted to force shove the entire group out of their chairs and through the glass windows. While the council was made up of some of the most gifted and wisest Jedi in the galaxy, they seemed to sometimes let their own Jedi morals be the reason for their defeat in smaller battles. Anakin believed that one day that would be their ruin. Although he sometimes couldn't stand how strict the order was it was never his intent to see the Order burned to a crisp, no matter how tempting they could make it some times.

"The Council." Anakin scoffed under his breath.

AN: Hope your liking this story so far. I originally hadn't planned to make this into a book so let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions on this story!