Before you get to reading this, the points of view switches a lot in here. Plus, this has been pieced together bit by bit for the past few days...and i'm exhausted but pushing through! I hope it all still makes sense hahaha. Yay updating haha.

Thanks for your reviews, I know I've just had bad news after bad news, but guess what?

GOOD NEWS!

Now...review and...

Enjoy!

(Alternate Timeline)

"Obi-Wan! I think I found something! Though I don't like the looks of it…"

Obi-Wan, who had been studying the contents of a holocron across the room, put it down and crossed the room to where Ahsoka stood. The others, Galen, Leia, and Mara, also put down what they had been looking at to come see what Ahsoka had found. It had been roughly a full day since they had started their search, and to hear that someone had finally found something was some much needed news.

"What is it?" Obi-Wan asked as he peered over her shoulder at the holocron she was holding. "The blood boiler epidemic…wasn't that…"

"The genetically engineered poison from the Sith Empire during the Cold War that was tested on the Killiks of Alderaan? Yes, it is. I'm not sure why I chose it; I just followed the Force…" Ahsoka muttered.

"What did it do?" Leia asked her with a twinge of worry.

"It, ah…it turned the infected's blood into acid basically," Ahsoka said, avoiding Leia's gaze.

"What does that have to do with my father? His blood hasn't become acidic," Leia stated, glancing around at everyone.

"Actually…" Obi-Wan started slowly, "I talked to one of the Healers…they said that it seemed his blood had developed an acidic quality to it…though from what I've gathered it wasn't like this…though…it might be similar. Perhaps Sidious took the basis of this poison and altered it to create his own poison."

"Sidious is a special kind of monster, isn't he?" Leia mumbled.

"You have no idea," Galen, Mara, and Obi-Wan all said at the same time. They all looked away, probably thinking of their individual experiences with the Sith Lord, Mara and Galen's coming from their other lives.

"Well, if this is something that the Healers can use, shouldn't we get it to them?" Ahsoka asked Obi-Wan. "They might be able to figure out a cure from some of the information in here."

Obi-Wan nodded. "We should. Come on, put the other holocrons back; Anakin only has so much time, the faster we move the better."

They all bustled around the room to put away the holocrons lying everywhere, hastily shoving them back into their places on the shelves. They all filed out the door, hurrying along the halls to the medical wing.

Hours later, the Healer in charge of Anakin emerged from the room he had been in; holocron crouched in one hand, a crumpled piece of paper in the other.

"You were right: this is definitely something we can use. The Blood Boiler wasn't even on our mind. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. We took another look at his blood sample, and we think we might be able to develop a cure of him…but we will need a few things first. I hope you wouldn't mind getting them for us?" he asked.

"Of course not! Anything you need," Leia said immediately.

The Healer sighed, handing Obi-Wan the crumpled paper. He took it quickly, eyes scanning the list scribbled hastily across its creased surface.

"Wuppa root, resin from a fire bush, Barenth healing plant, star urchin quill, pommwomm…just how many things do you need?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously.

"More than you'd think," the Healer replied.

Obi-Wan waved the list in the air. "Some of this stuff is very hard to find: and some of it is rare from planets far away: I don't think we have the time to find each of these and bring them back before Anakin gives into that poison," Obi-Wan said in his own fierce way.

He had a point. Anakin's ailment had only gotten worse: the healer's attempts to stall its progress had begun to fail, and even now they could hear the occasional cry of agony through the wall separating them from his room. The blackish veins had just about covered him completely by now: it was obvious he was running out of time.

"Well, we need it if you want to get that cure for him. All of it," the healer said, standing his ground.

Ahsoka turned to Obi-Wan. "Master Kenobi…wouldn't we be able to get this stuff from, say, the black market? We just need to find the right people. I'm sure we can find all of this stuff somewhere on Coruscant if we spread out."

Obi-Wan sighed, shifting back and forth in deep thought. "Alright…we'll spread out to cover more ground." He glanced back at the healer. "We'll get the ingredients. Be ready for us when we return, I don't know how long it will take."

The Healer nodded. "We'll be awaiting your return Master Kenobi."

Obi-Wan turned around, ushering everyone out the door. "Come on, we've got a lot to do…"

Once they were outside, Obi-Wan spoke before anyone could swamp him with questions. "Galen, why don't you and Juno go ahead and gather some of the more common ingredients on this list: it shouldn't be too hard to find them."

Galen blushed slightly. It was no secret that despite everything going on, he had been slipping away every now and then to visit with the pilot that had brought him back to Coruscant. When asked, Galen would only reveal that she had been part of his other life. Though, since Leia also had known the two in her other life and Galen wasn't being entirely subtle, it wasn't that hard to tell what was going on between the two.

Obi-Wan put a hand on Leia's shoulder. "We'll go see some of my contacts about the higher priced ingredients on here. Mara and Ahsoka, you two wouldn't mind hunting down the rare ingredients like the star urchin quill, right?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "It won't be a problem Obi-Wan."

Mara nodded with a small smile. "Not at all. I know of a few places that are pretty promising."

"Well then, we better get to searching. We have an entire planet to scope," Obi-Wan said with a weak smile.

With that, the group split up, racing the little time that remained for them to save Anakin's life.

(Original Timeline)

"Alright kid, explain to me again what's happening."

Luke gratefully accepted the glass of water that Han pushed into his hands, downing the entire glass in minutes. They all sat in the living room, Han and Leia watching Luke's every move anxiously. He'd been rather weak since his episode at the Senate Building, and it unnerved them all to see him like that. Thankfully, he was slowly getting better.

Luke sighed, rubbing his eyes for a moment before he spoke. "Sidious somehow cut me off from the me in the other timeline. Whenever our times merge…I'm not going to be able to merge with the other me."

"Well, considering the other you went and made a deal with the Emperor, I'd say that's a good thing," Han said with a small smirk. Leia shot him a glare. "What?" he complained.

Luke gave him a sad smile. "No Han, it isn't a good thing. There's going to be two of me running around, instead of us merging like we're supposed to. It's going to keep this split in time from healing completely. It's going to throw things out of balance…"

"I didn't know things were in balance, I thought everything was in chaos right now. Or is that just me?" Han asked.

Luke sighed. "You know what I mean…" He shook his head, staring out the window for a moment. "I just wish I knew when we were going to merge…it would give me some sort of peace of mind to have a general idea of how long we have to wait."

Leia shook her head. "We're all going to be fine Luke, we've pulled through all sorts of things; we can get through a time merge."

Luke shook his head once more. "I'm more worried about what we're going to get thrown into than the merge itself Leia. Everything's becoming one big mess on that side."

"So you've told me."

Han shook his head. "And to think it was all because of one trip…it seems no matter what lives we lead we're bound to have horrible luck."

Luke shrugged. "I'm beginning to think that it runs in the family."

They all allowed themselves a laugh as Luke eased back onto the couch, his smile slipping away once more after a few moments. Leia put a hand on his knee and he sighed, clasping his own hand over hers as he thought about everything going on. He halfway wished he could still see what was going on with the other him. If he knew what Sidious was up to, he could tell Leia and Han, and they could warn the others whenever the timelines merged…

It seemed the only way he'd see what was going on would be if he was graced with a Force Vision at this rate.

"We'll be okay Luke…you'll see…we won't lose our family again…" Leia said quietly.

Luke could only hope she was right.

(Alternate Timeline)

Mara and Ahsoka pressed against the wall of a dark alley, waiting for Mara's contact to arrive.

Mara kept her head resting against the cool wall behind her, eyes closed as she allowed herself a brief breather. The past few days had been a whirlwind and, despite her usual craving for adventure and need for excitement, she needed the few moments to gather her thoughts.

Yet again, the vivid memory she had received early this morning came back to her. Her head pounded as Darth Sidious' voice echoed all around in her mind.

"You will kill Luke Skywalker!"

Her other life as the Emperor's Black Hand was definitely going to be a problem. An unexplained, deeply engrained hatred of Luke was trying to break through from her other life. However, Mara was doing her best to set aside those strong feelings of hatred. She had spent time with Luke, she knew what he was like: he was not at all a bad person.

Though now that he was on the dark side…

You don't need to be thinking about this right now Mara. Right now you need to focus on getting those ingredients for Master Skywalker so that he can recover as soon as possible.

Master Skywalker…the same person that had been Darth Vader, second in command to the Emperor…the other Mara had hoped to be permitted to take out Darth Vader so she could be second in command to the Emperor. However, that had obviously not happened.

Mara shook her head. This was too confusing. Hopefully when these two timelines merged, things would somehow become clearer for her and anyone else having difficulties.

Mara glanced over at the Togruta Jedi across from her. She wondered if Ahsoka was having any visions of her other life, or if she somehow remained in the dark.

"When is your contact supposed to be here again?" Ahsoka asked, a bit of impatience leaking through her voice.

Mara held her eye for a moment. "He'll be here. It shouldn't be long now…"

Ahsoka sighed. "How do you know he's even coming?"

"He'll come. I know he will."

"Well her better show up soon, because I don't know how much longer I can wait," Ahsoka grumbled.

At that moment, a third figure entered the alley with them, and Mara gave a small sigh of relief as she recognized the man as her contact, the Weequay called Naab.

"There you are. My friend was beginning to think that you weren't going to show up," Mara said smoothly, hands on her hip as she eyed Naab.

Naab glanced at Ahsoka. "I'm here as always Jade. I don't go back on my deals."

Mara sighed. "Alright Naab, let's just get on with this so we can go our own separate ways again."

Darth Eius walks slowly beside his Master, his black cloak's hood pulled over his head as they make their way out of the Sith Academy and out onto Koribaan's surface. Eius' eyes were closed as he inhaled deeply, submerging himself further in the dark side of the Force. He could sense it coiling around him, in the very air, in his very veins. The dark side had a certain, unique seduction with it, one that Eius was finding he enjoyed deeply. It called to him, beckoning for him to travel further into its depths, a command Eius was eager to oblige to.

"You're progressing rapidly Eius…soon you will be ready for your role in all of this…" Sidious said.

"Thank you Master," Eius said with a tilt of his head.

"We will act in the chaos after the timelines merge. While the Jedi are in disarray…we'll begin our attack…but we will need to act quickly if we're to be prepared."

"What would you have me do Master?" Eius asked quietly.

"When I deem you ready, I want you to start to pick off Jedi across the Galaxy, do some damage to their numbers. If any of them can be turned and recruited…do it. Send them back to infiltrate the Temple so that when we're ready to strike, it can be in one clean move. The Jedi won't see it coming."

Eius bowed his head as they came to a stop. "Yes Master."

Sidious grinned sickeningly, though Eius didn't bat an eye. "You will take the ship in the Academy. You must act quickly if we are to be successful."

"It shall be done Master," Eius replied fluidly.

Sidious grinned. "Good. Now, I believe you have some hunting to be doing Eius…"

Eius nodded before he took off down the valley. He had a Tarentatek to track down…

"They…they have a cure for Anakin?"

Padme's voice echoed quietly and timidly around the room; it seemed she was afraid to hope, if only for a moment.

Leia nodded enthusiastically. "They do! They said it should be ready by the time we get back there. Father's going to be fine," Leia said firmly.

Padme rose from her seat on Anakin's bed, brushing the hair from her face. "Well then come on, why are we all just standing around?"

"They did say it will be a while before he wakes up Senator," Mara said quietly.

"I don't care: Anakin won't wake up to an empty room. I'll be right there with him," Padme said firmly.

"We all will Padme. Though you might be waiting for a while…" Obi-Wan told her gently.

If it even works, Mara found herself thinking. She shook her head. She had seen how Anakin had looked when they'd left the medical wing: he didn't have much time. This cure the Healers were developing had to work.

"I'll wait as long as I have to," Padme replied. With that last statement, she pushed past all of them, Leia in tow, and started on her way to the medical wing. Mara couldn't help but admire the woman: when she made up her mind, she wasn't easily swayed. With a small smile twitching into place, Mara and the others followed after the fast moving duo.

They burst through the doors moments later, startling the Healer who stood by Anakin's bed, the syringe full of the newly concocted cure in his hand. Leia took note of the fact that it seemed to have a thick consistency and was a pale yellow color. She winced sympathetically for her father, glad that it was possible he was unconscious for this.

Speaking of Anakin, he looked even worse somehow than when they'd left. There wasn't a spot of him that didn't have a black vein spider-webbing across it, his breathing was slight, shallow, and he twitched every now and then. Leia could hardly sense her father's Force Signature even though she was standing in the same room with him, and her impatience for the Healer to try the cure grew significantly.

"Just in time," the Healer mumbled as he leaned over Anakin. Leia winced once more as the Healer injected the needle's contents into her father's neck. They all stood tense with anticipation, obviously afraid the cure wouldn't work. The Healer caught that easily as he stood back up. "It will be a while before we start to see his recovery if it works…just be patient."

Padme pretty much ignored him, pushing by to sit at her husband's side. Leia took up a spot behind her, and Han put a hand on her shoulder as he came up beside her.

Mara shook her head as she watched them. It was amazing how everyone was trying their hardest not to think of the missing Luke, or of the shift towards the dark side since Anakin had arrived. It was almost as if Anakin's condition was also serving as their distraction from the horrible truth they were trying to deny.

However, when Anakin got better…

That was when they would all be forced to face the truth.

It was the next afternoon that they noticed the beginning of Anakin's recovery.

Padme had just woken from one of her many naps at Anakin's side when she noticed it. The black veins had begun to recede from his face, and a little bit of color came back. It was their first ray of hope.

The next improvement came when the black veins had retreated below his collar line. His complexion became healthier, and his breathing evened out. The others started coming in and out on random group visits of sorts at that point, leaving only when they were needed elsewhere or to get their own rest.

After that the twitching from his agony faded. With a few more days the black veins disappeared, his color was healthy again, and his breathing was deep and even. All the Force Sensitive visitors could sense his Force Signature growing in strength as time passed.

After almost two weeks, Padme found herself still at Anakin's side, sleeping with her hand wound in his own limp hand. Her eyelids fluttered open and she stretched, glancing at her husband as she did routinely every time she woke up. She smiled at him lightly, rubbing her thumb along his hand, wishing he would wake. He'd been unconscious for so long now...

"Please wake up Ani," Padme whispered.

She stiffened a little, her eyes trained on the hand she held clasped in her own. She could have sworn…

There it was again. Excitement coursed through her as she turned to face the others, who had all stayed in the room the night before. "Guys!"

The Jedi in the room, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Leia, Galen, and Mara, all startled awake, though Leia had to shake Han awake. "What is it?" Ahsoka asked groggily.

"I think he's waking up…" Padme said quietly, turning back to Anakin. The others seemed to be awake immediately, rising to their feet to stand by the bed.

"Are you sure?" Galen asked, staring intently at Anakin.

"His hand's moved twice now," Padme told him confidently, staring intently at Anakin as well. "Come on Ani…please…wake up."

Several long, intense moments passed, and just as Padme began to think she had imagined the whole thing, Anakin's head moved. A soft moan came from him and they all waited, stiff from anticipation for him to wake up.

"Anakin?" Padme asked softly, squeezing his hand.

Finally, his eyelids fluttered open.