TW: Thanks.

THWA: Palpatine is another Regeneration.

Guest 1: I'd imagine so, although the Jedi of that timeline were not nearly as arrogant and hypocritical.

Guest 2: Thank you for the support against them, it is very much appreciated.

Polis Massa

Morning

Rory groaned as he began to come around, becoming aware of a dull ache in his shoulder and a weight pressing down on his chest. Opening his eyes, Rory first realized he was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. A second later, he realized that Amy was asleep on his chest, her hand unconsciously gripping the white gown he was dressed in tightly, as if afraid to let it go.

"Amy," Rory said his voice gruff as he realized his mouth was dry.

At the sound of his voice, Amy stirred, opening her eyes. As soon as they focused on him, Amy sat up sharply, looking at him worriedly.

"Rory, are you alright? Are you in pain?" Amy asked as she looked at him for any sign of discomfort.

"Water," Rory said, realizing how dry his mouth really was.

Amy quickly rushed over to a nearby water dispenser, getting him a cup and promptly handed it to him. Rory took a big drink, the water tasting surprisingly delicious to his dry mouth.

"What happened? Where are we?" Rory asked as he handed the cup back to Amy.

"Long story. Are you sure you're alright?" Amy asked as she looked at her husband worriedly.

"I'm fine. The last thing I remember we were in the TARDIS after leaving the temple. What happened?" Rory demanded.

"I'll explain everything later. Right now, I need to go get a doctor," Amy promised before she promptly left, only leaving her husband more confused.

Dagobah

Same time

Sitting on a log outside the TARDIS, Obi-Wan mediated, hoping it would bring him some clarity or understanding about what had happened. It had not, to his frustration.

"You seem lost," a feminine voice spoke up behind him.

"My path is…clouded to me. I do not know what to do," Obi-Wan admitted as he opened his eyes, giving up. "The Sith are in control of the Republic, Maul is still out there, and Anakin…he has not spoken to anyone since he returned from the cave."

"My shinning Jedi Knight, always so pessimistic," Satine said amused as she sat down beside him.

"It's hard to feel any sort of optimism in these times. The Republic is lost, as lost to me as you are. The Jedi are gone, only a few of us left. My path is not clouded, it is lost to me," Obi-Wan said grimly.

"Your path is as it has always been, to stand for what is right. Anakin will need your guidance, your friendship now more than ever. His destiny is approaching. He will soon face his greatest battle. And he will need his closest friends by his side as he does," Satine said, reaching out and placing a hand on the side of Obi-Wan's face. "That is your path Ben, to stand with your brother as he faces his greatest trial. Trust in The Force, as you always have."

"…this is a dream," Obi-Wan said with certainty, knowing Satine couldn't be here if it wasn't.

"But is it not a wonderful dream?" Satine asked with a smile.

Obi-Wan stared at her for a long moment before she leaned close to him. Obi-Wan closed his eyes before their lips met in a kiss.

Obi-Wan then opened his eyes, finding himself lying in a bed in one of the many rooms on the TARDIS. Obi-Wan merely laid there for several moments before pushing the covers off. It was time to get to work.

Obi-Wan walked into the console room, seeing Yoda and Windu were up, talking quietly among themselves. Ahsoka was standing by the console, seeming like she was examining all the different controls. It was something Anakin had done whenever he was uneasy or nervous back when he had been a Padawan, Obi-Wan remembered wistfully.

"Obi-Wan," Windu said as he noticed Obi-Wan's presence.

"Good morning Master," Obi-Wan greeted as he walked further into the room, noticing Anakin wasn't there. "Has anyone seen Anakin?"

"I went to go check on him, he wasn't in the room he sept in last night," Ahsoka informed him.

"Seen him this morning, we have not," Yoda added.

Obi-Wan frowned, his worry for Anakin growing stronger. Anakin had not spoken to anyone since retreating to the TARDIS the previous day. Obi-Wan wondered what could have shaken Anakin so much.

"If we are going to defeat The Master and retake the Republic, we need to be at full strength," Windu said, breaking Obi-Wan out of his troubled musings. "We need Anakin in the here and now, not dwelling on whatever he saw in the cave."

"Agree, I do. But able to put aside his emotions so easily, Skywalker never has," Yoda noted before glancing at Obi-Wan. "Perhaps talk to him, you should."

"Anakin has never found it easy opening up to me. But perhaps he'd open up to someone else," Obi-Wan said before glancing at Ahsoka, who stared at him evenly before nodding.

"I'll talk to him," she promised.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said gratefully.

"I'm doing this for him, not for you," Ahsoka said coolly before she jumped down from the console and walked out of the room in search of her former Master.

Polis Massa

Not long after

"You're lucky you got here when you did Mr. Williams," Rory's doctor, a human with red hair and slightly tanned skin, said as he finished Rory's checkup. "A little longer and I'm not sure we would have been able to save your arm."

Rory nodded, glancing at his shoulder, where he saw a bruise were the blaster bolt had stuck him. Even the TARDIS was dwarfed by the medicine of the future, Rory decided. In the present day, his arm would have needed to be amputated. Aside from the dull ache in his shoulder and the bruise that would probably fade within the week, Rory felt perfectly fine.

"I'd recommend you take it easy for a day or two and you'll be fine," his doctor said, snapping Rory out of his thoughts.

"Thank you," Amy, who had been watching silently from the corner, said gratefully.

"Just doing my job Mrs. Williams. I'll go get your discharge papers," Rory's doctor said before walking out of the room.

"I'd love to be a nurse here. They things they can do," Rory said in amazement as he looked down at his shoulder.

'"Are you alright? Are you in any pain?" Amy asked worriedly as she approached Rory.

"A little ache in my shoulder, but I've had worse after moving into our house after our wedding," Rory shrugged.

Amy was silently, merely taking his hand in hers. She felt stupid; this wasn't the first time Rory had been hurt. Bloody Hell, it hadn't even been the first time he'd died or almost died. But it had been the first time she'd felt completely and utterly helpless, like she would actually lose her husband without a chance of getting him back.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rory asked, sensing her change in mood.

"It's nothing. Can you-can you hold me for a moment?" Amy asked softly, hating how vulnerable she sounded.

But it was Rory, the only person in her life who had never left her, had never judged her. And so she felt no weakness or panic when he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in Rory's shoulder as she held her, stroking her hair softly.

Coruscant

Not long after

In a rundown apartment, The Doctor was using his screwdriver on the Inhibitor Chip he'd acquired before putting his screwdriver down. As The Doctor examined the chip, R2 rolled up behind him, beeping at The Doctor.

"Not yet, but soon," The Doctor answered the droid. "My plan is halfway complete. Well, more like a third of the way complete. Well, let's just say my plan is made up of a bunch of smaller, moving pieces that need to work together, including you."

R2 beeped at him curiously and The Doctor smiled as he turned to the droid.

"The Chip is the first step, but we can't use it yet. My little friend, I need your help now," The Doctor told the droid.

Dagobah, on the TARDIS

Not long after

In what seemed to be a workshop on the TARDIS, Anakin was doing what he always did when he wanted to stay focused: building something. His mind was completely focused on his task. As he put in another component, he almost didn't feel the familiar presence before the door to the room opened. Almost. But the presence was so familiar to him, he couldn't not feel it.

"Hey Snips," Anakin said softly, putting his project down as his former Padawan entered the room.

"Hey Master," Ahsoka greeted as she walked in.

"Obi-Wan send you to check on me?" Anakin asked knowingly.

"He's worried about you. So am I," Ahsoka said and Anakin fought the urge to laugh humorlessly.

"Don't. I don't deserve it," Anakin said guilty, taking Ahsoka aback.

"Anakin, what happened in the cave? I've never seen you like this before, even when we thought Obi-Wan was dead," Ahsoka said worriedly. "Please, talk to me."

For a long moment, the room was silent as Anakin wrestled with himself. But it was Ahsoka. If he couldn't trust her, who could he trust?

"I was shown what would have happened had Yoda not contacted The Doctor. I-I turned to the Dark Side," Anakin said ashamed as Ahsoka stared at him in shock. "Palpatine, The Master, whatever you want to call him, he managed to convince me to become his new apprentice, Dark Vader."

"Anakin, no. I don't believe that," Ahsoka said immediately and Anakin didn't fight the humorless laugh that burst out of him.

"I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it. But the things I saw…" Anakin closed his eyes, trying to banish the images from his mind. "I did…terrible things Ahsoka. I hurt Padme, Obi-Wan…you."

The room was silent as Ahsoka absorbed this new knowledge. She wanted to deny it, say that Anakin would never turn. But she also knew his ideas about the future were a bit…radical. And she remembered how he'd been after Obi-Wan had 'died'. And Palpatine had spent years manipulating him, gaining his trust. Under the right circumstances, if she and Obi-Wan were not there to pull him back…

Ahsoka immediately banished the thought. Musing on what ifs would not help Anakin.

"A wise Jedi once told me that nothing happens by accident," Ahsoka said and Anakin looked back at her. "Maybe in another life, you did turn; you did do all those horrible things. But that's not the life you're living now. Here, you did make the right choice, you know about Palpatine and what he's really after. Isn't that the only thing matters?"

For a long moment, Anakin was silent as he stared at Ahsoka with an unreadable look on his face. Then, he smiled.

"When did you get so wise?" Anakin joked and she shrugged.

"I had a good example. Master Obi-Wan," Ahsoka joked and Anakin laughed.

"Thanks Snips. I needed that," Anakin said before looking back down at his mechanical arm, thinking of the suit. "But you're right. The Master is in control of the Republic, with an army of men he's brainwashed into being his loyal soldiers. The Jedi are gone, it's just us now. And we have to stop him."

Coruscant

Not long after

In the same maximum security prison that had held Ahsoka after her arrest, Bail stood outside the check in, arguing with Clone Trooper Fox.

"I am a Senator of the Republic Senate. I want to see Padme Amidala," Bail said firmly.

"I'm sorry Sir, but Chancellor Palpatine has ordered that no one be able to see the former Senator until after she's been seen by a medic. She's heavily pregnant and the Chancellor wants to make sure she and the baby are properly cared for while in custody," Fox explained.

Or to take two powerful, Force Sensitive children right their mother's womb once Padme had given birth, Bail mused darkly. But he couldn't say that without sounding like a traitor.

"I suppose I'll have to take this up with the Chancellor then," Bail said before he turned and walked out.

Bail was making his way out of the prison when he heard a beep. Turning his head, Bail was shocked to see R2-D2 making his way over to him, recognizing the droid as belonging to Anakin.

"I'm relieved you're alright my little friend," Bail said in relief as R2 reached him. "But what are you doing here of all places?"

In response, R2 projected a holographic form of The Doctor.

"Senator Organa, if this is reaching you, then I was right and you have gone to visit Senator Amidala in prison. We need to meet; the fate of the universe may depend on it."

Not a very exciting chapter I know, but I hope you guys enjoyed it regardless.

Since George Lucas modeled Satine after Cate Blanchett, that's who I cast her as.

Interesting fact about Obi-Wan: In the now Legends novel Kenobi, it's revealed he chose the alias Ben because it was something Satine used to call him in private.