When Reality Is A Lie

by Acexx

Arl's finally made it through the war, she thought she had reached her finish line. Unfortunately, someone else has other ideas. With a second chance at her life, what will Arlie do? Can she save her friends? Or is her future as clouded in darkness as it has always been? All she's really sure of is, it's gonna be one hell of a ride. Part 2 of 'The Misadventures of Arleia Skywalker'

12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Knight Orla, stop, whatever it is you are doing just stop." Arlie requests interrupting the sparring match between Das Orla and one of Arlie's other students, Petra Hone. "Okay, Das, sit down and watch for a moment, not with your eyes but with the force. Hone, attack." Arl requests centring herself, holding her hands behind her back and closing her eyes, opening her awareness to the force around her. She feels the currents of the force as Petra does the same only keeping her eyes open. She swings her arm towards Arl who duck under it, jumps and rolls in the air over a kick that would have hit her shoulder (Stupidly short), she summersaults between Petra's legs which gets her out of the way of the knee Petra sent her way. They dance like this for a moment before Orla simply 'pokes' something in the aura of the force, Arl gets kicked in the head and tumbles to the ground landing in the perfect position to continue fighting however she yields.

"I did not do that did I?" Petra asks.

"Sorry my friend, no. Orla, what did you notice?"

"You were not listening to the force, you were watching it for the discrepancies of Petra not doing what it suggested. I just changed something else in the force and it threw you off." Arl smiles and gathers the class around her.

"Everyone, I told you to use the force, listen to it telling you how your opponent will move instead of trusting it to tell you how to, but in doing so, you are not doing as it requests. In the force, that leaves a…hole I suppose, a part of the force not behaving as the rest does. When fighting an opponent using the same technique, you must balance listening to the force, and looking for what it cannot tell you." They seem confused but many look to know what she means even if it does not yet make sense.

"Master Aa where did you learn this?" Knight Hone asks.

"Not doing what I am told comes naturally to me." She tells them and hears a snicker behind her.

"No kidding." Mace says from the doorway.

"Master." Arlie says bowing to him respectfully as do the Knights around her. "Can I help you with something?"

"I just came to observe the class, the council wants an update. Micah was being a two-year-old so Yoda decided he would not get what he wants and sent me instead." Mace says, Arlie badly covers a laugh as do many other knights.

"Well, pair off again guys, continue as before but keep my words in mind." The class immediately follows her instructions as she is joined by Mace.

"You have been at this for three weeks, ever since your arms were healed. The council does not believe enough progress has been made." He tells her as they begin wandering past the sparring pairs.

"It is difficult to train people to do what they view as the opposite of what they have been taught their whole lives." Arlie reminds him.

"I realise that, as do they, but there are worries that with everything you are doing, you're spread too thin to complete your task. With no one else who can do it, well they are frightened."

"What do they expect me to do?" She hisses to him so that her students will not hear.

"I do not know Arl, but with the shielding, healing, and these classes plus the specialist ones for Xanatos and the private tutoring you are giving to the padawans, your efforts for the research venture are lacking. Not to mention your sleep. I think it is the minimal amount of spare time you have that they have an issue with."

"What, they do not think I should be spending time in the creche?"

"It is not that Arlie, but they believe you should be taking your time for meditation, you seem stressed." Arl rolls her eyes and stops walking to look at him with her arms crossed.

"The research venture is Dooku, Tahl, and Bant's project, I just help out when I can. Those kids in the creche, they are the ones that have to become Padawans, the Padawans to the Knights being forced into this mess. They will be learning things completely differently from any time before and what they are doing in the creche is preparing them as well as it has these guys. Plus, my time down there has increased effort and scores of every initiate in there. Xanatos has not had 'an episode' since a week after my instruction with him began and those Padawans and Initiates I am tutoring in sparring, could beat half the Knights in this room. As for the Knights in this room, you do not believe I am making progress? Paeree, come here." Arlie requests, the Knight in question walks over and bows immediately.

"Yes Master?"

"You and Master Windu are going to spar, use everything I have taught you and your own training. Remain calm and listen to the force as you have learnt to here." Arlie tells him encouragingly, he nods without hesitation or fear. Mace wanders to the centre of the mat as Arlie calls the other Knights over to watch.

It's ten minutes later that Mace is pinned on the ground and yields.

"Congratulations Knight Paeree." Mace says bowing to her, her eyes widen at the recognition of battle superiority he is giving, she smiles widely.

"Thank you Master." She replies bowing as well.

"Class dismissed." Arlie announces noticing the time, "Report that to the council." Arlie tells Mace testily as she walks past him and out of the training hall.

Three hours later Micah walks in to the creche and finds his former shared Padawan with an armful of wookiee and a small Mon Calamari child attached to her leg as she helps a young human girl with what looks to be work from her classes.

"Having fun?" He asks her, she looks up and smiles at him.

"Master, how was time out?" She asks, he laughs.

"Boring, apparently I had to learn a lesson in patience and was forced to trim the grass in the meditation garden using only the force." Arl winces.

"Yes, I remember that punishment well." She says. "Good job Kyla." Arl says giving the girl she is helping a smile, the girl high-fives her before running off to play. "Kylara Holde, brilliant potential but is struggling to learn Basic." She tells Micah, who nods.

"I thought all initiates learnt basic from a very young age." He remarks not unkindly.

"They are taught it, some take longer to learn than others. Oh, this is Initiate Tillandáar and that there is Initiate Roland Pierro."

"Nice to meet you both." Micah says with a bow, Roland releases Arlie's leg and bows while the wookiee buries her face into Arlie's shoulder.

"It'sa honour to meet you Master Gett." Roland tells him, he smiles at the child and sits in the chair Kylara vacated, Roland takes the invitation to sit on his lap as Arl sits on the table in front of him.

"Tilli, are you going to say hello?" Arl asks the girl in her lap.

"Hello." She mumbles in Shyriiwook without turning her head, Micah raises an eyebrow at it but says nothing.

"Tilli's real shy at the moment, the others were bein real mean to her coz she hears the force speakin and no one believes her. But Master Aa saved her which was good coz I tried and they didn't listen." Roland tells Micah.

"Tattle tale." Tilli says turning slightly to see Mic before turning back into Arl's shoulder.

"Everyone here can hear the force Tillandáar, it is nothing to be ashamed of. And if you hear it better than others, that is a skill to be rejoiced in." To Mic's dismay, that disheartens the girl more than anything.

"I can't get an explanation from her either." Arl admits as she strokes the girl's hair fondly, "But from what I hear, she doesn't hear it better she hears it differently."

"Differently how?" Mic asks, Tilli turns slightly again.

"It speaks to me." The girl says, Micah looks confused, Arl makes a face showing she does not understand either.

"What do you mean speaks to you?" Arlie asks, Tilli shrugs and looks to her friend for help, Roland straightens up.

"Most of us can fell the force, that's what the teachers teached us anyway, but Tilli hears it speaking like we speak." Micah looks surprised.

"You mean that it actually talks to you? In a voice?" He asks shocked but not disbelieving.

'A force-seer is someone that the force has chosen to interact with in a more direct way than most force sensitive beings get to'

"Oh." Arlie says remembering her mentor's words, she could have just said that. Stupid madam force-seer and her damn round about ways.

"I see her too." Tilli tells them.

"Her?" Micah asks, Tilli nods, Roland runs over to a draw and opens it, grabbing a piece of paper before running back.

"She's drawed it." He says as he climbs back into Mic's lap holding out the crude drawing of a person.

"It's not very good, she's more beautiful in real life." Tilli says smiling and looking more confident now that she knows they aren't mocking her.

"Tilli, how do you know it is the force?" Micah asks in a reassuring voice, he's actually scared shitless that the Sith are influencing the young but recognizes the possibility of it truly being the force presenting itself this way, it had happened before.

"She told me, she's not like people, she's safe."

"If she speaks to you, does that mean that you could tell us what she says?"

"If you were truly willing to listen." Tilli responded after a moment, Mic looks a little surprised at the wording choice.

"She does that sometimes. The force gives her the words and she sometimes chooses to use them." Roland says.

"But sometimes you choose not to?" Mic asks.

"She don't…doesn't, make me do things. She just gives me an option I didn't see. And words I don't know."

"That is a remarkable gift Tilli." Arlie tells her, Mic looks at her and mouths 'future' wondering if she can confirm his suspicion, she nods and mouths back 'force-seer'. He had suspected, but facing the reality is quite different.

"Have you ever heard of a force-seer?" Mic asks, Arl nods in encouragement to him telling the little girl, she shakes her head.

"A force-seer is someone that the force has chosen to interact with in a more direct way than most force sensitive beings get to. The force appearing to you and speaking to you, that is incredibly fortunate. Force-seers are very rare." Arlie says nicking her mentor's definition, Micah looks approving.

"Why don't we learn about that in classes?"

"Because many people believe that that particular talent is a myth. If there have been any force-seers in the last few hundred years, they've kept it quiet." Micah tells her.

"Is Master Yoda one?" Roland asks curiously, Mic looks thoughtful as does Arlie.

"I do not know." Arl answers honestly.

"I can ask?" Tilli offers.

"Is she…?" Mic begins to ask but the wookiee shakes her head.

"She's not hear right now but I can call her here."

"Tilli, would you mind if I told the council about this?" Micah asks her, she shrugs.

"I guess not."

"They may have questions, if they ask to talk to her through you, both you and her can choose to say no, any questions you do not want to answer you do not have to. We follow the will of the force before we follow the council." Arlie tells her Micah nodding along.

"I don't mind, unless she tells me I can't so I suppose I should ask her." Tilli says before closing her eyes, Arl and Micah feel for a change in the force, they aren't very surprised when they do not feel a difference.

"Only I can feel the change, but I always know when she's here, it's warmer. We've tested it, it was funny." Roland says with a laugh, Tilli laughs too.

"They know your there." Tilli says to the air beside Micah's chair, he turns half expecting to see some glowing embodiment of the force. "She says she doesn't glow so you can forget that right now." Tilli tells him, Arlie and he share an ecstatically bewildered smile and disbelieving laugh.

"My apologies…force." Micah says, Tilli laughs at something she said but does not translate it.

"They wanna tell the council. They said if they ask questions we can choose to not answer if we want." Tilli says, she looks thoughtfully at the reply for a moment. "What does that mean? … Oh, okay then."

"Well?" Micah asks when she's quiet for a long time.

"You can tell the council but she says there are somethings she will refuss…refuse to answer." He nods his acceptance. "She also says that you should state your true intention of coming down here since it was not to investigate bullying within the initiate rank…oh, you know about that."

"True intention?" Arl asks as Tilli listens to what Arl guesses is a lecture of some kind.

"We're worried about you Arlie." Arl rolls her eyes.

"Not you too."

"Arl! When was the last time you meditated? Or slept? Or ate for that matter?"

"I know my limits Mic, believe me I've been pushed to all of them."

"You should not have to reach them, you have the chance to look after yourself, or you would, if you were not trying to do everything yourself."

"Oh and who else is going to do it? I left the research to others!"

"Arlie…"

"No Micah, stop. Honestly, who else is going to do these things? No one else knows force-magic and no one else knows the Sith like I do." Mic narrows his eyes.

"You are lying." He says looking hurt.

"Okay, there are people who know the Sith in a different way but for the purposes of what we are doing it is not necessarily better." That was true at least, Dooku and Anarch may know it better but it is a different and less helpful kind of better. "More importantly, we cannot tell the council."

"What?" Micah, Tilli and Roland all ask in confusion.

"Why would they do that?" Tilli asks the air, "She said that the council would treat me differently."

"She's right, you are three years old Tilli, already you sound far beyond your years. I know what it is to grow up too fast, you deserve a childhood."

"She says stop being melon-mellooo-melodramactic." Tilli says, in her defence, complicated word for a three-year-old.

"Melodramatic?" Mic asks, Tilli nods.

"Your dad did not mean to alienate you after Sonny was born." Tilli tells her clearly just repeating the words, Arl looks shocked, Mic looks at her questioningly, she ignores him.

"Well he did, Trick and I raised ourselves. But that is not even what I mean."

"She says she knows, 'but you have people here to lean on, you are lucky to be alive, do not forget to live.' Whatever that means."

"Quite a bit I think." Micah says seeing Arlie's reaction to that.

"You think you have the right to tell me how to live my life when you never let me do it? You have done enough."

"She doesn't look happy Master." Tilli says, "She says, 'You know nothing.'"

"I know that I was right about her the first time, that's all I need to know."

"Don't be a child."

"You made me one, you deal with it."

"She says 'Are you seriously annoyed at me for that? You would have died if that had not happened. You should be grateful.'"

"Why would I be grateful for you interfering in my final moments? My final decision?"

"Because you agreed to something far more important than your promise, you agreed not to lose your capacity to love and you have, overridden by your stubbornness and the hatred you remain ignorant to because you cannot bare to face it. You are not leading an army anymore Arleia, let the past go, you do not need it anymore." Roland, Micah, and Tilli all look surprised at the words Tilli is repeating, Arl is absolutely livid, so much so that they could all feel it in the force. She hands Tilli to Mic and storms off.

"Are you alright Tilli?" Mic asks the young girl.

"Did I do a bad thing?" She asks in a small voice, he holds her and Roland close.

"No, Arlie has some bad memories from a war she was in and the force was being quite cruel to her because she felt it was the only way to make Arlie understand. Arl just needs some time to calm down and she will be okay."

"You should go check on her." Roland suggests, Mic nods and after leaving them in the care of Master Penn, he goes back to his and Mace's quarters and finds Mace, Garen, and Obi-Wan sitting at the dining room table making sandwiches. He knew it was for a party they are throwing Arlie since she neglected her birthday so they were no longer giving her a choice, but it was still a weird visual.

"Arlie?" Micah asks.

"She just stormed into her room and slammed the door. It was, interesting." Garen says, that explained their shocked looks and why Shmi was standing at the door to her daughter's room.

"ARLEIA SKYWALKER FRONT AND CENTRE, NOW." Micah says in a no-nonsense voice only Garen and Mace had heard before and very, very rarely.

"WHAT, YOU GONNA TELL ME I'M INCAPABLE OF FEELING LOVE AND FULL OF HATRED WHILE JUDGING MY LIFE CHOICES AS WELL?" Arlie yells back followed by a crash of something, Micah looks impatient.

"NO, I AM GOING TO SCOLD YOU FOR ARGUING WITH THE FORCE!" He yells back.

"THE FORCE WAS BEING A TWAT!"

"ARLIE DO NOT MAKE ME COME IN THERE." Mic demands, there's a lot of muffled cursing before she comes out looking extremely pissed off and with tear tracks on her cheeks. "I get it okay, she was cruel, but is there a possibility she was also right?" No one knew it to be possible but somehow Arlie's glare got more venomous.

"Yes. Of course. You are right. I have no capacity to love which is why I have spent all but ten years sacrificing everything for the people I am incapable of loving. Been tortured, worked tirelessly into the ground, sat in meetings arguing in favour of a fucking Sith lord because I can't love people. My hate for everything so great that I tried to help someone commit murder in order to free them from darkness. Run a war effort, been sold in slavery several times, helped a slaver stop a slave uprising, come back from the dark side, lived with the Jedi, refrain from beating the stupid troll senseless, am continuing to try my absolute hardest to stop the galaxy from plunging into darkness but you're right, I can't feel love, only an unending hatred I am afraid to face and a whole load of stubbornness." Arlie rants angrily though by the end of it there are tears running down her face.

"I am not saying you cannot love Arlie, all I am saying is that perhaps you are forgetting to feel it."

"I do feel it, you want to know what I love? I am a very unfortunate person cursed to love everything. Because I do, I love every living being, I love everything we are given, I love this galaxy, this universe, and the other. I love everything because it exists and I remember what it is like to not have that. But all that love has ever gotten me is pain. You are wrong Mic, I do feel it, I just wish I didn't." She says before going back to her room and slamming the door again. Mic sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Umm, Mic?" Mace asks confused, Mic turns and sees the others sitting at the table looking quite shocked by the scene they created.

"Long story. I think a lot of it is her having adult emotions in a ten-year-old brain. It doesn't quite compute sometimes and she overloads. That plus a lack of sleep and meditation."

"Or maybe she's traumatised, having a breakdown, and is getting yelled at instead of helped. She forgets she's allowed to sometimes, remember?" Garen says calmly walking past his Master and walking into the room he and Arlie share 90% of the time.

Later that night Arlie wakes up from being shaken however she senses no danger, opening her eyes she sees Tilli standing in between her bed and Garen's cot.

"What's wrong?" She asks immediately, Tilli shakes her head.

"Nothing, the force asked me to tell you that you've forgotten you aren't alone but she cannot be the one to remind you, so you have a choice. You can give one person memories of their life in what you call the other timeline, but they have to agree."

"What? How?" Arlie asks barely comprehending what she is hearing despite being wide awake.

"You will know." Arl knows she is not going to get anymore instruction. "I have to go before they realise I am gone, Roland is keeping watch at the door." Tilli whispers, Arl nods and watches the girl walk away.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Garen asks apparently having woken up, Arl nods, "What are you going to do?" He asks not sure how she is feeling currently. She had cried until she fell asleep in his arms earlier but seemed better now.

"I am going to go back to sleep." She says laying back down, but sleep did not come to either of them.

Hours later Arlie is teaching Garen Tai Chi in the main area of their quarters.

"Where is the table and couch and armchair?" Micah asks as he walks out of his and Mace's room.

"On the balcony." Arlie replies without faltering in her movements.

"Mace, your kid is doing weird shit again." He says as he walks to the kitchen to make Mace tea.

"Haven't we covered this Mic? They are our Padawans not our children." Mace says from the bedroom before walking out rubbing the sleep from his eye, "Arlie, where is the furniture?" He asks looking around the room.

"On the balcony." She answers, Garen is trying not to grin as he copies her movements, she seems perfectly at ease. Mic hands Mace the tea he made, Mace takes a long drink from it despite the temperature and immediately looks more awake, he smiles thankfully at Mic.

"Why?" Mace asks.

"We needed room for Tai Chi." Garen replies.

"And what is Tai Chi?"

"A way to channel the mind and align it with the body. It's like a meditation kata except from Earth."

"And Earth is?" Mic asks, Arl looks shocked.

"Have I not told you of this before?" She asks, her Masters shake their heads though Arlie knows for certain that Garen knows. "Earth is, well, Earth is overly complicated." She says shaking her head slightly as she continues her movement.

"Well, we have a council meeting today, they will want to speak with you Arlie about your various projects." Mace tells her completely sidestepping the Earth issue for now, he has a suspicion it's got something to do with the other universe she spent time in and knows any explanation will take a long time.

"Good, I must speak with them as well, an opportunity has arisen and we need to decide how to use it together."

"What opportunity?"

"One that if used correctly could be of great strategic value. Now this will entail them knowing of my past so be prepared for that. Also, given the nature of this, I would like to request that Master Dooku, Knight Vos, Master Jinn, Padawan Kenobi, Master Tahl, and Padawan Bant be present. All heavily involved in the Sith situation, perhaps Healer Terza as well, and Padawan Bellan if she likes."

"Not Xan?" Garen asks surprised.

"We cannot risk the Sith finding out about any of this, it is an advantage we cannot afford to lose."

"You know when you go into Master Mode, you can be quite cold."

"As can all Jedi Masters when they believe the situation calls for logic instead of emotion. We must be smart and concise in this matter, our purpose must come before our feelings."

Two hours later they are all in the Council Chamber, oddly full with them all there, every bit of wall space taken up.

"Something to tell us you have?" Yoda asks bringing the room to attention immediately.

"Yes, What I am going to say is going to sound completely unbelievable so I implore you, read the force and see my words as truth. I came from what you would perceive as another timeline, I have lived through these years before though they progressed quite differently because of things I have changed. I did not tell you before because I first felt I needed to earn your trust. I hope by now I have, but more importantly, we have an opportunity we cannot pass up and you must have all the information to help me make the decision."

"What happened in this other timeline that we should know about?" Master Poof asks, looking around the room, Arlie sees many faces looking overwhelmed but none seem all too surprised, good.

"Xanatos did not come back, Qui-Gon died, Sheev Palpatine became supreme chancellor, there was a three-year long war across the galaxy orchestrated by Sidious. Eventually we lost, so utterly and completely. The Jedi were hunted down until only Yoda, Obi-Wan, an as of yet unborn Padawan, and Micah remained. I died, that's when I was suddenly in the past." That earnt the shocked looks she had been expecting.

"Why do I get the feeling you are leaving a lot out?" Qui asks, Arl smiles ruefully.

"Because I am, but that is what you need to know for now."

"So, when you refused to celebrate your birthday, was that because we did not really know it?" Depa asks, Arl nods keeping her face the same blank expression it had been since she began speaking. She was standing in the perfect Jedi position, arms crossed in front of her as she stood up straight.

"It was awkward, my supposed ninth birthday was the worst, I decided to cut myself a break this time."

"Why was last year the worst?" Quin asks earning knowing smiles from Garen, Obi, Dooku, Mace and Micah.

"Because she got old." Garen says, Arl huffs.

"Just because you are a child does not mean I am old. I am still far younger than half the people in this room." She says, Garen and Obi-Wan snicker at her. "I turned fifty." She explains for the others who seem shocked but satisfied with the answer. "Now if we could get back to the topic at hand, it is rather important."

"Of course, you mentioned an opportunity." Ki-Adi reminds everyone in an effort to get the conversation moving forward, Arl nods.

"The force has granted me the option to bring back one person's memories of this other timeline. I believe that such an ability, if used correctly, could be of great strategic value in our efforts to stop the Sith."

"How so?" Mace asks since she had not told them anything more before the meeting.

"We know more about the Sith in that future, we have been fighting them for years. Some people were in a position to know more or different than I do but I am not sure who would be best. I have narrowed it down, though, to my beliefs on our best options."

"Would it be safe for whoever is chosen?" Terza asks, Arl turns to face her directly.

"Physically I believe so yes, though that is why I asked you be here. Mentally is another story, you cannot go through a war like that and come out of it okay, not after the things we saw." She says with a haunted look in her eye before she shakes it off and allows her expression to fade back to neutrality. "I have taken that into account when making my list."

"What role did the Jedi play in this war?" Master Gallia asks after seeing her reaction and recalling observations she has made over the last two and a half years since Arl arrived.

"We led the Grand Army of The Republic."

"The Republic does not have an army, grand or otherwise." Dooku says at the same time Shaak Ti says, "Jedi are peacekeepers, not soldiers."

"We had an army of men who had been cloned from a bounty hunter, they were bred for the war. And you are correct Master Ti however you must keep in mind that there was a Sith in control of the Republic, we were not given another option. If It helps, we were not doing terribly, actually we were doing rather well towards the end of it."

"Then what changed, how did we lose so badly?" Micah asks, Arlie cannot fight back the flinch as she thinks of it.

"Order 66." She says, "I'm not sure what happened, but the clones were influenced somehow, I am sure of it. Regardless of how or why, they turned on us. We were completely unprepared, our best general only just survived that and only because he was riding a lizard at the time and the clone missed his shot. How he did that with a kriffing rocket launcher I've no idea, I was preoccupied when I heard the story months later. Anyway, any Jedi that survived Order 66 died in the following purges. I need you to understand how bad it was, the temple was assaulted and none were left alive, not even the younglings."

"Everyday this knowledge you deal with?" Yoda asks looking heartbroken on her behalf, she smiles sadly at him, for once feeling older than even he.

"Believe you me, it is far easier dealing with the knowledge than it was living the actual events."