Leia didn't know what had happened. One second she had been in the courtyard of the castle on Alderaan, getting some fresh air. The next she was on some unknown rocky planet. And even though the Jedi were supposed to be extinct, she found herself face to face with three apparent Jedi.
Leia had been confused for a long minute. She had wondered if this was an Imperial trap of sorts. If they were trying to get her to reveal herself as a Jedi and Rebel sympathizer. And then Obi-Wan Kenobi had introduced himself, and the pieces all came together. The picture they painted was confusing and impossible, but it was also the only thing that made sense.
She had somehow ended up in the past. How else could there stormtroopers dressed like the phase 2 clones from the Republic era? And Obi-Wan Kenobi. He looked so young, and his eyes didn't hold the pain that Leia remembered so distinctly, but she knew that it was him. She could feel it in a way that she couldn't really explain.
Except now she could, couldn't she? She knew him because he felt familiar through the Force. Something that, until today, she hadn't thought she had. She still didn't know how convinced she was that she had the mystical abilities of the Jedi, but it made a lot of things make sense. It explained how she had always seemed to have a sense for incoming danger, and how she was so good at reading people. And why her parents had gotten so concerned when she was a little kid and talked to imaginary friends. They must have thought she was talking to people through the Force.
And who was to say that she hadn't been? What if people had reached out and talked to her through the powers of the Force? She already knew that something similar could happen. Anakin had demonstrated to her that Force-sensitives could sense each other, and for two weeks now she'd been feeling somebody reaching out to her. Communication through the mind didn't seem like that much of a stretch.
Leia really didn't know how the Force worked. She had a casual curiosity about it, as anybody who had grown up hearing stories about the Clone Wars would. Most children dreamed about pushing objects with their mind, or giving themselves superpowers. Leia herself had been interested in the mind tricks that she sometimes heard her father mention. She wondered how good a politician she could be if she could influence people's decisions with just a thought.
Now that she knew she apparently had the Force, she wondered how good she would be if she didn't have those powers. Would she be even half as persuasive and willful as she thought she was?
It hurt her head a bit to think about, and she would probably spiral into an identity crisis if she let herself. She had long-since taught herself to not give in to self-doubt. She had been taught and raised well. She had studied hard, and she dedicated hours of her day to learn to be the best princess, politician, and senator that she could. So what if she had subconsciously used the Force? It was still a part of her.
A part of her wanted to deny that the Force was within her, but she couldn't. Not when she'd felt it so strong. And especially not when for the past few weeks she'd been feeling a cry for help reaching desperately for her. Now she knew how the call had been made, and hopefully this Force would also lead her to the one who obviously needed her.
Before Leia could get what she wanted, she needed to go along with the Jedi. They knew more about the Force than she did. They would be able to help her find the one she was looking for. But Leia knew enough about politics to know that if she wanted help, the best way to get it was by cooperating and doing what she was told. If that meant going to Coruscant so the Jedi Council could look at her 'Force signature' in person, so be it.
If they didn't want to help her, she would just have to make them. If the Force had dragged her across space and time, then the least it could do was make it a little easier to find the person that was screaming for help.
On the way to Coruscant Obi-wan taught her a little bit about the Force. It was just the very basics. He mostly just talked to her about how she could recognize the Force when she felt it. She knew there was far more that Jedi could do, but they had limited time. The Jedi Council hadn't said a lot when Obi-wan had introduced her to them. They had mostly just looked concerned and said that they would like to talk to her in person when they got to the temple.
Obi-Wan hadn't mentioned to them that he meant to train her a little. Leia suspected that it was something he didn't think they would approve of. He was going behind their back, but he didn't want to betray them completely. So Leia's training would remain limited for now, and she was fine with that. She'd gone through her whole life not even being aware that she had the Force. She could live without the special powers.
Besides, now that Leia knew about her connection to the Force, she didn't think it would be too hard for her to practice and figure things out on her own. The basics really was all she needed for that.
They were just nearing Coruscant space when Leia felt a chill in the air. She felt a heaviness in her chest, and tears came to her eyes. Tears that she knew were not truly her own.
Leia knew this feeling well. She'd been experiencing it on and off for weeks, since she had turned fifteen. She was usually decent enough at masking emotions such as fear and sadness, but because this darkness didn't come from her she couldn't hide it. Her parents kept on trying to get her to talk to them about what was wrong, but how could she when even she didn't know what was wrong?
Obi-wan stopped in the middle of his explanation of their next exercise. Leia thought he was going to ask if she was alright, but he did no such thing. His eyes were distant, and he looked a little lost.
"There's been a shift in the Force." Obi-wan muttered to himself. He looked at Leia, finally taking in the tears running down her cheeks. "You felt it."
"This is what I've been feeling this whole time." Leia brushed her tears away. "You can understand why I want to find the source."
"I'd quite like to find it as well." Obi-wan stroked his beard.
"Master Obi-wan!" Ahsoka ran into the room. She looked alarmed. "Something's wrong."
"Yes, we know." Obi-wan said gently. Leia felt a wave of calmness come over her. He never came around very much. She had only seen him a handful of times when she was younger. He saved her when she was younger, and then she saw him again when he came to visit Alderaan for her thirteenth birthday. She distinctly remembered that he seemed to radiate calmness. She only now realized that it was the power of the Force.
"We felt the disturbance in the Force." Obi-wan said.
"So did I, but that's not what I'm worried about." Ahsoka said. "Anakin is…I don't know. Something's wrong."
Obi-wan now looked concerned. He hurried out of the room as much as he could without running. Leia didn't know Anakin well, but Obi-wan seemed to care about him, and he seemed nice enough. Leia was most worried about the one she felt reaching out to her through the Force, but there was nothing she could do about that now.
They went to the cockpit where they saw Anakin sitting in the pilot's seat. He was hunched over, with one of his hands resting over his eyes. He looked drained, and if Leia reached out to him the way that he had told her to, she could just feel the despair coming off from him. As soon as she touched his presence she was mentally shoved away.
"Anakin, what's wrong?" Obi-wan asked.
"I don't know." Anakin said. He sounded frustrated. "I just felt…I don't know. It's as though I just had a Force vision, except I didn't see or sense anything. I just feel that dread, like something terrible is going to happen."
"Or has already happened." Leia said. She didn't know how she knew that kind of thing. She didn't know what a Force vision was, let alone how it worked. It seemed right though. She wondered if there was something wrong with what she had said, because Obi-wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka were looking at her in confusion. "Am I wrong?"
"No, you're correct." Obi-wan said. "But I thought you knew nothing about the Force."
"I don't." Leia said. Ahsoka looked unconvinced. Anakin was just distracted by this unexpected assault of emotion. Leia wondered if he was actually feeling it stronger than she did, or if she had simply become desensitized to it. Obi-wan was just looking at her like she was fascinating to him. It wasn't as dehumanizing as the council's gaze had been, but Leia wondered if that was just because she was already familiar with Obi-wan.
He looked like he wanted to speak with her more about the Force and how she felt it, but with Anakin a little out of it, and them almost at their destination, Obi-wan took over the piloting. It wasn't too long before they left hyperspace. Leia looked out the window and saw the planet of Coruscant.
She wanted to take in the view and get excited about how this planet could be different than it was in her time. After all, while she knew Coruscant as the center of the Empire, it was now the heart of the Republic. It was a place of democracy, and it was supposed to represent everything that Leia had been wanting to achieve since she was old enough to understand just what democracy was.
It was hard to get excited though because as soon as they left hyperspace the hopeless and desperate feeling that had been following her for weeks suddenly got stronger. Her first thought was that something had happened to the one that was calling out to her, that he needed help more than ever. And then she realized something.
He. The one calling out to him was a boy. She hadn't been able to tell that much before, but she felt the truth resonate in her soul.
The feeling was stronger, and much clearer. She was getting closer to him. She didn't know how she could tell, but she just did. The boy was down there on Coruscant. After weeks of fear and frustration, Leia could finally find him. She just hoped that she would be able to put a stop to the powerful negative feelings that they were both surely feeling.
In her anxiety, it seemed to take forever for their ship to be given clearance and for them to land on Coruscant. It took even more time for them to get to the Jedi temple. The only reason why Leia wasn't trying to demand that they head straight to him was that she didn't know exactly where he was, but she could feel that they were getting closer.
Finally they landed at the docking bay connected to the Jedi temple. Leia knew that she was supposed to let Obi-wan introduce her to the Council, but the boy reaching for her was so close that she felt something like a physical pull towards him. He was within the temple walls. He had to be.
She barely waited for the landing procedures to finish. She ran towards the doors of the ship, and as soon as they were solidly on the ground she opened the doors and ran out before anybody could realize what she was doing or try to stop her. She heard Obi-wan call out to her, and she just knew that Ahsoka was chasing after her, but she didn't stop. This boy needed Leia so badly that she'd been pulled through time. She wasn't going to wait until she was given permission to find him.
The Jedi temple didn't exist in her time, and she'd never set foot in the Imperial palace before. She shouldn't have known her way around, but she didn't hesitate for a moment as she ran. The pull was guiding her. It was as though she was lost in a cave, and there was a bright light shining through. She didn't know where the light led, and it wasn't bright enough to illuminate her entire path, but it was easy to follow.
Leia ran until she reached a spacious hall that gave off an air of overwhelming peace. It seemed to be a medical room of sorts, though it was unlike anything Leia was familiar with. Whether that was because she was in the past, or because she was among the Jedi, it was hard to say.
She slowed her pace when she entered the hall, because it was clear that there were a number of people who were ill or in pain, and as desperate as she was she didn't want to cause them any more distress. Besides, she was close enough now and there weren't enough people around to stop her.
She strode confidently through the hall, letting the light guide her. She came to a door that clearly led to a private area. The boy was in there, she just knew it. She pushed the door open, and she froze at the sight she saw.
Two Jedi and a somewhat familiar woman were standing near a bed. They watched tensely as a healer of sorts stood over a boy laying on the bed. He was tense and there were tears running down his cheeks. Leia felt the tears return to her own eyes. The healer was leaning close to the boy, their hands on his forehead. Leia could sense a calming force from them, but the boy wasn't relaxing. After a long moment the healer sighed and drew back.
"He's carrying a lot of pain." The healer said. "But he won't let me in to ease it."
"I'm trying." The boy choked out. His voice was full of that intense emotion that came with someone being emotionally drained, and being completely fed up about it. The Jedi exchanged glances.
"It's just so loud in here." The boy said. "I can't focus."
"The Force, you are feeling." One of the Jedi said. "Strong, your connection to the Force is."
"I don't even know what that means." The boy sat up and pushed himself out of the bed. The young woman pushed past the Jedi and came to his side.
"Luke, calm down." She gently pushed him back down, sitting on the bed next to him. "The Jedi Masters can help you, I promise."
Leia sucked in a small gasp. Luke. That was the boy's name, and he needed help. Maybe the Jedi were the most qualified to help him, but she felt in her very being that they wouldn't be able to. Not in the same way that she could. She stepped forward.
"Luke." She said, testing his name. His head shot up and she stared into his bright blue eyes. She felt a strong pull, and she didn't fight it. She continued towards him, ignoring the Jedi that were wondering what she was doing here. She went to Luke and wrapped her arms around him. In that moment she felt like a part of her that she hadn't even known was missing was sliding back into place.
Luke made a gasping sound and returned her embrace. She knew that he could feel it too. She could feel his light prodding at her, reminding her of a cautious but hopeful small child. She didn't know how her Force presence actually felt, but she could feel how bright Luke was, even when he was in so much pain, and she didn't think she could hold a candle to that.
Leia took her presence and did what she could to reach out to Luke, wrapping her essence around his, just as her arms were tight around him. She didn't know what sort of thing was haunting and hurting him, but she would do anything she could to protect him from any more pain.
She barely knew Luke. She didn't know why she cared for him so much already, but just because she didn't understand didn't mean that she was going to fight it. Luke needed her, and she wasn't going to let him go.
"Leia!" Obi-wan's voice reminded her that there was more than just the two of them in the room. She slowly pulled away from Luke to look to the door, though she kept her Force presence tight around him. "You cannot just run off like that."
Leia normally didn't like being told what to do, but just the fact that this was Obi-wan was enough to make her feel a little bit guilty. It wasn't enough to regret what she had done. She would go after Luke again, but she didn't like disappointing this man.
"I felt Luke." Leia said. "I had to find him."
Obi-wan looked at the two of them. Leia could feel him pressing against her Force presence. She wanted to let him in, but more than that she wanted to keep her presence wrapped around Luke's, and she didn't know how to do both at once. She tightened her hold around Luke. His presence flared brightly in response. It felt like a good flare, but Luke grimaced like he was in discomfort.
"It's so bright." Luke muttered. "There's so much."
Obi-wan gave him a sympathetic look. "Where are you from, Luke?"
The boy stared at Obi-wan. He looked terribly confused, and there was a look of familiarity in his eyes. Leia thought that Luke might also be from the future, but she wondered if he knew Obi-wan too. She hoped he didn't say anything about it until she could talk to him in private. They needed to figure out what to do moving forward.
Luke looked around the room, seeming uncomfortable with being the center of attention. Leia gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he returned the gesture. "I'm from Tatooine."
The woman that had tried to comfort Luke earlier made a small exclamation of triumph or something, but she quickly got her emotions under control. Obi-wan stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I assume you didn't live in a town, or have much exposure to large groups of people." Obi-wan said. Luke furrowed his brow.
"I live on a moisture farm." Luke said slowly. "How did you know?"
"This overwhelming presence you're feeling is the Force." Obi-wan said. "You both have a remarkably strong connection to the Force. It connects all living things, and those that the Force is strong with can feel that connection."
"Most Jedi learn from a young age to shield themselves from the overbearing presence of the Force." The other Jedi, who had yet to say anything, said. He was dark skinned, and had a stern, but not unkind look in his eyes. "Even without training they adapt to the Force signatures around them, so as to not be overwhelmed. If you grew up in isolation, and without training, then you haven't learned to block out the unnecessary distractions."
Luke still looked confused, but Leia thought she understood. "You're just overwhelmed because you're not used to being in such a heavily populated area." When Leia was younger she'd had a hard time with crowds. She had felt hyper-aware of everyone's presence, and it had felt impossible to block out the sounds of their voices. She remembered describing large crowds of people as loud and bright, which was how Luke seemed to be feeling now.
It had taken a long time for Leia to feel like she could handle people. Now she barely noticed it. If she actually stopped to think about how many people were on Coruscant, and how many of those people were Jedi and favored by the Force, then she started to get a bit of a headache as it all felt like too much. It was no wonder Luke was having a hard time. He couldn't block it out the way she could, because he'd never had any reason to learn how.
"I can help you learn how to filter the Force's noise." Obi-wan said.
"He's a really good teacher." Leia assured Luke, because she didn't want him to have another reason to be overwhelmed. "He's already taught me a lot in a short period of time."
"Is that so?" The dark Jedi crossed his arms and gave Obi-wan an unimpressed look.
"Too old to be trained as Jedi, they are." The green Jedi master said.
"But they are not too old to learn about the Force." Obi-wan said. They'll be in danger if we leave them completely untrained. We felt this boy's influence on the Force from the depths of space. If we could sense them, so will the Sith."
The Jedi still didn't look convinced, but they didn't completely deny the request, and Leia had always seen that as a good sign. Finally the stern man sighed and crossed his arms.
"You can teach them the basics and how to control themselves." He said. "But the Council will need to discuss the matter further."
Obi-wan inclined his head. "Of course, Master Windu. Master Yoda."
"Master Kenobi." The Jedi nodded at him in return. Leia was impressed with their demeanor. She could tell when people were just putting on a facade, but the respect between the Jedi seemed sincere, despite their obvious disagreements. When the Jedi made their way out of the room, Leia nodded in respect at them as well. The healer left shortly after them, off to take care of their other patients.
The young woman gave Luke an odd look before turning towards Obi-wan. "Did you return with Anakin?"
A look of amusement flashed in Obi-wan's eyes. "He's on the ship, seeing to his men."
"I think he could provide some insight to this situation." She stood up and straightened her dress. "I'll speak to him and leave you to your students." She walked out, almost like she was in a hurry. Obi-wan shook his head fondly as he watched her go
"One would think a politician would know a bit more about the art of subtlety." Obi-wan said to himself. He looked at Luke and Leia. "I believe it's been a long day for all of us. Why don't I get us some tea, and then we can get to know each other a little more?" The suggestion was friendly, but Leia knew what he was really saying. He had questions, and they weren't going to get out of dodging them. That was fine, just as long as she and Luke had the chance to get their stories straight first.
"Tea sounds lovely." Leia said.
"Could I have blue milk?" Luke asked. Leia thought the request was a little childish. Not only was milk such a plain drink, but she'd been taught that it was rude to ask for one thing when something else had already been offered. Children could get away with it, but at their age they should accept and tolerate anything that someone was gracious enough to offer.
Obi-wan didn't seem offended. He gave Luke a small smile. "I'll see what I can do." He left their private room, and finally Luke and Leia were alone. She gave him her full attention, and he looked a little startled about it.
"I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to find you." Leia sat on the bed, making herself comfortable for what was sure to be a long conversation. "We've got a lot to discuss."