Rex had been in tough spots before. He'd survived countless battles, stormed through fire and brimstone, watched his brothers die, and faced enemies that would make lesser men crumble. His general, always leading from the frontlines, pressed forward relentlessly, wielding insatiable compassion and a burning desire for justice. Never, though all that they'd done together, had Rex seen Anakin Skywalker so much as stumble.

Currently, the esteemed general was hyperventilating and swaying as if he was going to pass out.

"WHAT?" Ahsoka's voice burst through the tiny room. She was grabbing Anakin's arm and shaking it, eyes glued on the little girl in front of her. "Mas—Anakin, what does she mean?"

Even Obi-Wan was shaken by the news—visibly shaken. Rex had seen Kenobi lose composure only once before, when informing him of Umbara. This was nothing compared to his reaction to Waxer's death but, still, it was shocking to see the Jedi Master falter.

"I… I need to…" Anakin stuttered. "This can't be right."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan spoke with his usual level cadence, but a subtle twitch in his eye betrayed him. "May I speak with you?"

Anakin stammered out a rapid-fire defense, "Obi-Wan, I have no idea what these kids are talking about. The order doesn't need to hear this, right? I've never seen them in my life and Padmé would have—"

"I meant privately, Anakin," Obi-Wan urged.

"I…" Anakin's eyes darted from Obi-Wan to Rex to Ahsoka, poignantly never looking at the two children.

"I agree with General Kenobi, sir," Rex stated, trying to come to Anakin's rescue. "It's probably best not to discuss this in front of the kids."

"Why not?" Luke unexpectedly spoke up.

"Because you two are confused and we need to figure out how to help you," Anakin answered with a bit too much insistence in his voice.

Obi-Wan added, "And because it's grown-up talk, not to mention official Jedi business, youngling."

"Ahsoka's not a Jedi," Luke pointed out.

Obi-Wan nodded, the faintest hint of sadness crossing his face. "That's why Ahsoka also isn't invited to this conversation."

Beside him, Rex felt Ahoska shrink. Rex had never managed to get the full story about why Ahsoka had left (Anakin got dark when anyone tried to ask) but he knew it came from a deep betrayal. He reached out a hand, putting it on her shoulder. He knew what it felt like to have family—or, at least, the closest thing they had to it—break your trust.

Luke seemed to sense the pain in the room, frowning and looking at his hands.

Leia, on the other hand, did not. "I know you know about my mother already," she insisted staring sternly up at Obi-Wan. "And I know you don't want him to get expelled from the Order. Anything you're going to interrogate him about, you can do it in here with us."

"No one is getting expelled from anything!" Obi-Wan said, probably louder than he meant to. "There is nothing in the code explicitly forbidding s—erm, the act of making children. Although," he glared at Anakin, "I have a few choice words about the rules of common sense and safety when we get a moment alone."

"I didn't—" Anakin began but was cut off by a sudden eruption from Obi-Wan.

"Anakin, I can't clean up every mess for you! I try my best, and maybe this is my fault for being so lenient, but this is probably the stupidest problem you've ever gotten yourself into. I knew you and Padmé were closer than you should've been but… but this! I expected better from both of you! Did you ever stop to think about how this might affect her and her career? I mean, a senator with secret bastard children from a Jedi Knight!"

"They are NOT bastards," Anakin snapped, raising a harsh finger to Obi-Wan's face. He almost immediately backed off, looking to the side. "A-and they aren't mine."

"First of all," Ahsoka interrupted the tense scene, "Gross. This whole thing? Gross. Second of all, Anakin's probably right. These two are too old to be his kids. He would've still been a tiny padawan when they were born, right? You said he didn't meet Padmé again until he was an adult."

Obi-Wan sighed. "Ahsoka makes a valid point," he conceded, glancing at the two children. "But we still need to understand what's going on here. Their presence is undeniably significant."

Leia's narrowed her eyes. "We're not leaving. We have just as much right to be here as any of you."

"Leia, this is a Jedi medbay in the Jedi temple," Luke whispered, trying to quell his sister, but she shook him off.

Anakin rubbed his temples. "I need to call Padmé."

Rex could see the emotional exhaustion in Anakin's eyes. He stepped forward, hoping to diffuse the situation. "Sir, maybe we should just hear them out first. They might have information we need."

Obi-Wan nodded reluctantly. "Very well. But Senator Amidala should be informed of this as well. Even if these children are mistaken, she deserves to know about them. Maybe she has information that will help clear this up."

Leia took a deep breath, her determination unwavering. "We were sent here for a reason. We didn't come all this way to be dismissed."

"Sent?" Rex turned to face her. "Sent my who?"

"The force!" Luke piped up, smiling innocently. "At least, that's my guess. I'm not sure what else could have brought us back here."

Leia nudged him in the side. "We can't tell them everything!" she hissed.

"No, no, I think you should tell us everything," Obi-Wan insisted.

Leia frowned at him. "Well, I'm not going to. And you can't mind-trick me into doing anything, either, Jedi."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Leia, if there's something you know, it might help us understand why you're here. We're not your enemies."

Leia crossed her arms. "You haven't proven that yet."

Luke looked between his sister and the adults, clearly conflicted. "We just... we need your help. Something bad is happening, and we were brought here to stop it."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "What kind of bad thing?"

Luke hesitated, glancing at Leia for approval. When she remained silent, he took a deep breath. "We don't know exactly. But there's a darkness coming, something that's going to hurt a lot of people. Someone."

"A separatist attack?" Rex asked.

Luke gave him a funny look, but Leia held a hand up before he could speak. "Not likely," she said. "But we're not sure. We don't know who we can trust outside of our parents, Ahsoka, and Rex."

That caught Rex off guard. He raised his eyebrows. "Why me? Why not the Jedi?"

Leia frowned, giving Rex a melancholy look.

"Because," Luke, clearly the more agreeable of the two, said. "You were protecting us when…"

Rex blinked, feeling a pang of something he didn't have the words for. "Protecting you?"

Leia nodded, her expression softening for a moment. "Yes. You risked everything for us."

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin, curiosity clear on his face. "How do you know all this? We've never met before today."

Luke and Leia exchanged a glance. Luke nodded toward the adults; Leia shook her head vigorously. Luke nodded again, harder.

"Don't," Leia ordered.

"You already told them we're dad's kids. We might as well clear this up."

"They'll think we're crazy!"

"They already think we're crazy!"

"Of course they do!" Leia huffed. "Force, I still half think you're crazy, and I've lived it alongside you."

"Do you have a better explanation, then?"

"Luke, I'm serious, do not—"

Luke turned to the three adults in the room. "We're from the future."

There was a stunned silence, thick and heavy, as the weight of Luke's words settled over the room. Rex felt a shiver run down his spine. Time travel was not something he had ever considered to be within the realm of possibility. Yet here were these two children, with knowledge kept secret from even the Jedi Council, claiming to be from the future.

"Time travel?" Obi-Wan finally broke the silence, skepticism etched into every word. "That's... improbable."

"I know it sounds impossible," Luke tried to explain, "but it's true. We were sent back because something terrible is going to happen, and we need to stop it."

"Sent back by who?" Anakin demanded, his voice shaking. "How?"

Leia sighed deeply. "Again, no one sent us. We had a nightmare—"

"We saw a vision," Luke interrupted. "It was terrible."

"And then there was this room with endless hallways and holos of the past—"

"It was made of the Force. It was so strong you could feel it pulsing through your veins every time your heart beat."

"Luke got this crazy idea that we—"

"The Force showed us how we could fix everything!"

"Stop interrupting me!" Leia shoved Luke so hard he nearly tipped out of his hospital bed. She looked back at the adults and straightened out so stiff Rex could mistake her for a soldier. "My brother, sensitive as he is, thought the Force was telling us to go back in time to stop our 'vision.' I thought he was being ridiculous but…" She raised her arms, gesturing vaguely at the three adults.

Rex studied the children. There was an earnestness in their eyes, a sincerity that was hard to fake. He glanced at Anakin, who was still reeling from the revelation; Ahsoka, who was staring at Leia so like she was about to explode; and Obi-Wan, who had a hand on his beard and a look of utter confusion on his face.

"Alright," Rex said, stepping forward, "let's assume for a moment that what you're saying is true. You came back to stop something bad from happening. What is it? What's the threat?"

Luke and Leia exchanged another glance.

"It's complicated," Luke said quietly. "It's not just one person."

"Why don't we make a deal?" Leia offered. " Obi-Wan leaves, our mother comes, and you swear there's no spying going on. Then, we'll tell you absolutely everything."

Obi-Wan frowned, clearly suspicious. "I assure you, Leia, I'm here to help, not to spy."

"Then prove it," Leia insisted. "Leave us alone with our family and Rex. Let us have a private conversation."

Obi-Wan hesitated, his eyes shifting to Anakin, who gave a subtle nod.

With a reluctant sigh, Obi-Wan turned to leave. "Very well, but I expect a full report afterward."

As soon as Obi-Wan shut the door, the room filled with a pressurized awkwardness. No one spoke as they waited.

— — —

Padmé burst through the door, sending a sudden jolt of energy into the silent room. "Anakin!"

Anakin stood up swiftly, moving to meet her. "Padmé, I—"

She cut him off with a quick embrace, pulling away almost instantly and looking confused at Luke. "I thought you were hurt. Obi-Wan sent me a discreet message telling me to come here and nothing else."

"Hi, mom!" Luke cheerily remarked.

Padmé looked at him, then back at Anakin, then at Leia, then at Rex, then finally back at Anakin.

"What's going on?"

"I… think that the younglings should explain this one," Anakin said, turning Padmé to face them.

"Right," Leia put a hand to her head. "From the top."