Author Note: One kind reader suggested I watch The Rise of Skywalker so I could get my fact straight with this timeline, but I'm a busy lady with a bunch of kids, so no. That would be two painful hours of my life I would never get back. So again, forgive me for timeline errors. Also, I want to say very clearly that I am glad some people LIKED the new trilogy. I am happy for you! Disney zigged one way and I didn't like it, but obviously lots of people did, which is great. My husband and I liked the Mandalorian and Solo, and we also really enjoyed Obi-Wan Kenobi so that is nice.

/

Organa Solo Apartment

Delaya

One hour later

"No!" Young Leia said firmly. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I will not tell the galaxy that Darth Vader, maniacal Sith Lord, the man who tortured me twice, who cut off my brother's hand, who stood there and let Tarkin blow up Alderaan – I will not tell anyone that he is my biological sire! NO!"

Luke and Older Leia exchanged weary glances. They had spent the last hour arguing with younger Leia, and were getting nowhere fast.

"Ok," Luke finally said, raising his hands in a gesture of defeat. "I am sorry we bothered you."

"And I can tell you are feeling sicker again," his twin added with compunction. "Luke and I will get out of here so you can get some sleep."

Leia bit her lip and said, "I am sorry we can't agree about this, but I just…I just can't, you know? I can't bear it."

"Of course," her Alter said reassuringly, patting her pregnant counterpart on the arm.

All three stood up and the younger woman said, "So, um, what are you going to do?"

"Not sure yet," Luke said, glancing out the window. "I have only been to Delaya once or twice and it is a beautiful world. Leia, maybe we can go for a walk?"

"Sounds good," his Leia said. "I haven't been here in years, and I love all the Alderaanian culture. It … it feels like home."

"So you are going to, um, stay in this timeline?" young Leia asked nervously.

"Oh, yeah, that is a good question," Luke said. "The answer is we don't know. The Force will yank us back to our own timeline when it wants to."

"Ok?" the younger woman said doubtfully.

Luke swept forward and hugged the younger woman and said, "Good luck with the baby, say hi to Han for us, and if it is a boy, which it is, don't name him Ben."

"Why not?"

The twins exchanged glances and Leia said grimly, "Trust me, Ben has baggage. Just don't."

/

"Was I that stubborn ten years ago?" Leia asked as the twins wandered down the main thoroughfare of the city where her counterpart had taken residence. It was a pleasant little city which was on the other side of the planet from the capital of the planet, which made her happy; Leilani was very smoggy.

It did weird things to her heart to be here. The blasted remains of Alderaan could still be seen from Delaya, which was Alderaan's sister planet. Most of the people who lived here were former Alderaanians or closely associated to the now dead planet.

Luke, who had been peering with interest into a shop selling speeder parts, turned to stare in dramatic astonishment at his twin. "Were you that stubborn? Yes. Are you that stubborn, yes. You haven't changed much."

Leia rolled her eyes. "Now that is not true, and you know it. I am way more mellow now that I am a mother of four children."

Luke bit his lip in contemplation as he pulled his eyes reluctantly away from a hyperdrive unit sitting front and center in a display case. "Yes, in some ways I guess you and I are both more mellow as parents," he allowed. "But about serious stuff, you are just as determined as you ever have been."

Silence fell again as they observed a park ahead. The twosome made their way toward a grassy area ringed with flowers, with a pool in the middle boasting a pleasant fountain designed in the shape of a starbird. It was beautiful. It was also really nice being in a timeline where the Empire wasn't actively hunting them.

They found an unoccupied bench and sat down, enjoying the pleasant temperatures and watching the various families walking and running about.

After fifteen minutes, Leia finally addressed the rancor in the room.

"So what are we going to do?"

Luke sighed and leaned back, his eyes fixed on the water splashing elegantly from the top of the fountain. "We need to tell the truth to the galaxy, as much as it will enrage your alter."

Leia frowned and ran her hands down her face, then said, "This Leia is right, Luke; it isn't obvious that the mess we saw thirty years in the future has to do with the secrecy about Vader. It might have something to do with Lando, for all we know. If there is one thing that we've learned in our jaunts through time, it is that one change can cause a domino effect through the years."

Luke reached out to take her hand in his own and said, "Well, let's ask the Force, shall we? We were sent here, at this time, for some reason, so we need to figure out what the best plan is."

They did so, reaching out into the Force, watching the timelines twist and turn in their mind's eye, before retreating back to their own bodies on Delaya.

Leia blew out a breath and said, "Ok, that was clear. The secrecy regarding Vader is the issue."

"Not surprising," Luke replied drily. "He so often was and is the issue in our lives."

"I do feel sorry for this Leia. Being pregnant is rough and to have to deal with the whole Vader thing smashing into her life is rougher."

"But we were sent now, not after the baby was born, so..."

"Yeah," Leia agreed. "So what should we do?"

Luke contemplated for another minute and then grinned. "I have a great idea."

Leia eyed him uneasily and said, "I'm kind of afraid of my Alter. She is really going to be pissed off, and I know, because I am kind of her, that I am scary when I am angry."

Luke suppressed a tremble. "You're not wrong. Well, we'll just have to hope that the Force yanks us out of this timeline before she has time to start throwing things at us."

"Yeah."

/

New Republic Studio

Coruscant

2 days later

Relinka Spetzv, hostess of the Empire's…no, the New Republic's most watched holonet show, shook her aquamarine tresses as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Very good, Paz," she pronounced, smiling up at the make-up artist who performed such daily wonders on her appearance.

"You look happy," Paz Marne remarked, closing her make-up kit and tidily putting it away in its proper drawer.

"I am," Relinka answered. "Oh Paz, I feel like a Vratixan eagle after years of being a sentient moss! I still wake up every day and think, 'I probably won't be killed at work today.' I haven't been this happy since I was a child of eight!"

Marne patted her friend on the shoulder sympathetically. She knew that Relinka had been a child actress and then became a minor reporter for a gossip show, only to be chosen unexpectedly as one of the main hosts of the official Imperial Holonet channel. She also knew that Relinka, while a pleasant person, was not the most intelligent sentient in the ecumenopolis, and that working in the very heart of the Empire within visual range of the Imperial Palace had been hard on her friend. She had not, however, realized just how hard it had been.

"You poor thing," she said. "Did you truly think you would be executed?"

Relinka rose to her feet, nodded, and said, "Every night, I used to have one last drink of Corellian brandy so I could sleep, and I would say to myself, 'Good night, Relinka. Good work. Sleep well. They'll most likely kill you in the morning.' You know I lasted for a full six years when most hosts 'disappeared' within a year or two. Cray has been around for two years, which was a record for a male host. The Empire was awful, Paz. So many people…"

She trailed off and carefully wiped her eyes with a soft cloth. She must not ruin her make-up!

"Anyway, the New Republic is obviously far more reasonable, fair, and sensible. Even ex-Imperial soldiers are receiving pardons on occasion, and General Calrissian was very kind when we met. He assured me and Cray that there would be no legal action against us since we had no choice but to serve the Empire."

"I heard that General Calrissian is very handsome," Marne murmured, "even if he does have mechanical legs."

"I love his prosthetic legs," Relinka said dreamily, "and he dresses like a gentlebeing. Most Rebels…former Rebels, I should say, are nice enough, but they have no sense of fashion!"

"Ten minutes, Host Spetzv! Ten minutes!" the intercom suddenly blared overhead.

"I'd better get on stage," Relinka said, taking one last look at the mirror. "I think this hair color is perfect for me, Paz."

"It is. So who are you interviewing today? A politician?"

"No, thankfully! Some lady named Winter; apparently she is a good friend of Princess Leia Organa's."

"That should be interesting."

Relinka shrugged as she began walking toward her door. "I suspect she will be quite boring, and the ratings will stink, but I could use a mellow day."

/

Holonet Studio #3

"So you actually switched places with Princess Leia during diplomatic missions?" Relinka asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh yes, many times," Winter Retrac said with amusement. "I can see you are looking at my hair; of course I have white hair and Leia has dark hair, but hair dye can do wonders."

Relinka tossed her head, enjoying the sight of her blue-green tresses in her peripheral vison. "That is absolutely true! That must have been thrilling, Lady Celchu."

"Well," and here Winter smiled before continuing, "I would say it was more enjoyable for Leia at times than for me. My dear friend is a very active person, and there were times that I would take her place in a diplomatic function so she could run off and do something adventurous. I was glad to do it, of course; as I said, she was nearly a sister to me."

"That is marvelous," Relinka gushed. "Now, what can you tell me about General Solo..."

She trailed off as the door flew open and two unknown sentients entered the room. Relinka shot an outraged look at the guards who followed the newcomers into the room, and then frowned in bewilderment. She knew Cabe and Drabe very well; they were hulking twins from Chandrila and were excellent guards. At the moment, they both looked very strange, with vacant stares and wide eyes. They also had allowed two random people into the studio during a broadcast, which was seriously weird.

"Leia?" Winter Retrac asked nervously. "Is…is that you?"

The female interloper stepped forward and gave the white haired woman a firm hug.

"Winter!" Leia Organa exclaimed. "It is so good to see you. And yes, I am Leia, but I am not your Leia. I'm a time traveler from a different timeline. And this, of course, is Luke Skywalker, also from another timeline."

Winter stared in confusion at the older version of her dear friend, then turned to stare at Luke, then, rather helplessly, at Relinka Spetzv.

Relinka forced her face to relax. After all, it wouldn't do to show off her wrinkles to billions of sentients! She had no idea what was going on, but the intruders didn't seem inclined to kill her or kidnap her, and it was, at least, an interesting show.

"Please," she invited, "won't you sit down?"

/