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Author	Topic: Repercussions of Time 04/20/05 Finished. Thanks for the Noms.
JediMaster_Jen Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 11/14/04 4:41pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time 11/12/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	Great post. I really feel for Ben--his whole family is gone and he's got a huge responsibility on his shoulders. I get the feeling that Jedi Order is once again gonna be shaken up by a Skywalker. -----signature----- "Qui tacet consentit"~~ (silence implies consent) L.A. Lakers--2009 NBA Champions!!! L.A. Dodgers--2009 World Series Champions!! Hopefully!!
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ZaraValinor Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 11/14/04 8:09pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time 11/12/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II - Date Edited: 11/14/04 8:10pm (1 edits total) Edited By: ZaraValinor
	Jazz_Skywalker Interesting idea. I can't wait to see where you take this! JS Thanks. Jeditheskyisblue Poor Ben has lost so much and by changing the past might not even been born. And yet just hearing Obi-Wan asked him that last question got me thinking prehaps the Jedi will change. Change is what he hopes for. Sara_Kenobi That was just brilliant, Zara. Thanks. Jaya_Skywalker Two Skywalkers for the price of one? Fantastic I love the idea, Zara, it's very cool. I can't wait to see what happens next. Lol, can't blame Anakin for not buying it, though- I'd be in denial too if some kid showed up claiming to be my grandson from 40 some years in the future Thanks. Two Skywalkers always means double the trouble. Imagine three at the same time. laurethiel1138 ditto. Very, very interesting twist, Zara. I'll be watching this story from now on. MTFBWY, Lauré Thanks. May the Force be with You. PadawanKitara did Ben create a paradox by spilling the beans? Obviously he doesn;t care if he fails to exist. There is a bit of paradox which will be explained with time. He's been through a lot and has lost everything he ever held dear. Right now, he has nothing to hope for but change and if that means a sacrifice Ben is willing to make it. JediMaster_Jen Great post. I really feel for Ben--his whole family is gone and he's got a huge responsibility on his shoulders. I get the feeling that Jedi Order is once again gonna be shaken up by a Skywalker. That's what Skywalkers are made for. He’s here! Ben’s mind announced, as they pulled out of lightspeed. The violet atmosphere of Dagobah was barely visible from this point, but the young Jedi knew full well the electric charge that brewed inside atmosphere. He and his father had hidden a small time on the planet, furthering Ben’s training before they had decided to hunt for the Jedi. What startled Ben was a streamline cruiser, of obvious rich construction that followed Dagobah’s rotation. Terrified heartbeats past and his hand drifted to the hilt of his mother’s lightsaber, before he realized that the cruiser was not moving to intercept and had not sighted them as soon as they had exited hyperspace. Obi-Wan must have read his discomfort because he rested a hand on his shoulder, in a startling likeness to the way his father had. “It is Bail. No need to worry.” “Who’s worried?” Ben said with forced cheerfulness, making a concerted effort to release his anxiety. This wasn’t his time. A foreign ship did not necessarily mean that the government had betrayed them and he would be handed over to the Yuuzhan Vong as he and a number of his fellow Jedi had before. There were no Vong. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t in a dangerous situation. Everything hinges on you, Skywalker. Stop jumping at shadows. “No one is hunting you here, they’re hunting me,” Obi-Wan said, his mouth twisting with an air of self-derision. Ben shook his head, gazing at the cruiser before him. “I’ve jumped from one bad situation to the other. The Jedi hunted down. Why did my fa...” he stopped short, unable to relay his fears, not even to himself. “But our situation couldn’t change. You and Anakin and Master Yoda, and whatever number of Jedi Knights are spread throughout the galaxy; you still have time to alter the future. This can be fixed, because it has been fixed before.” Tentatively, he cocked a smile. “Or would have been.” “What aren’t you telling me young Ben?” the older Jedi asked him, gauging him with his azure his. “You willingly render my future as it might have been, but reveal so little of yourself.” “There is little necessity in you knowing my past,” Ben answered equitably. “If we are to work together then we must trust each other,” Obi-Wan pointed out. His entire life Ben had lived in the midst of war, had experienced little respite’s in that continual scavenge for peace with the Yuuzhan Vong, had watched, sometimes helplessly, as members of his family, friends both young and old, were slaughtered. His own mother, killed on the cusp of salvation, his father sacrificing himself so that Ben could live long enough to cross the barriers of time. There was no happy ending for him, there was just the hope for a better future for those he had lost. How could he explain this to someone who had not experience that utter desolation? Swallowing, he shrugged. “You’re a good man, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I had no doubt in that. But there are areas inside of me that no person, sometimes not even myself, can tread. The only thing I need to trust you to do, is make right what was to be wrong.” Kenobi shut his eyes and Ben could feel the older man gathering his thoughts, arranging his emotions. For someone who wanted Ben to be so open, Obi-Wan was locked tighter then a pressure seal. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be. Perhaps Anakin has strayed too far from my reach.” “Then it’s my job to breach the distance,” Ben chirped in. “Which means, I’ll tell Anakin we’ve arrived.” “And I’ll contact Bail.” “We’ve arrived,” Ben told the young man who was a handful of years older then himself, the man who would become his grandfather. An energy wall separated the two Skywalkers, the past and the future, from one another. Ben did not miss the analogy in that. He had already broken the barriers of time, but he had the feeling that breaking the barrier between his grandfather and himself, plus the one between Anakin and Obi-Wan was going to be a difficulty that he had never truly appreciated. How had his father approached it with as much unfailing faith as he had. “You won’t be able to hold me forever,” Anakin hissed at him, the crimson energy wall, emphasizing the apparent anger in his young grandfather. “My Master will not be forgiving, but if you help me escape, their could be a place for you in the Empire.” Ben feigned eager earnestness. “Then why don’t I just help you hijack the ship, take Obi-Wan captive, and cart the three of us before Palpatine.?” Solemnity took over Ben’s boyish scarred features. “And how long before your Emperor finds the two of us a threat?” Now playing a considering look, Ben added, “But you are the one who is held captive, he’ll probably choose me. Though from your perspective this might seem like a terrible idea, now.” “He would not push me aside. I am the Chosen One.” Pride puffed the taller man before him and Ben had to hold on to his calm. He could feel the power radiating from Anakin, but it was like throwing a slab of permecrete; easy to dodge if skilled enough but perfectly able to flatten you like a hotcake. “Unless you were chosen to get captured you’re failing pretty badly,” Ben pointed out unforgivingly. He saw Anakin tense as though ready to pounce. “You’ve tempted fate, coming here.” “So you’ve accepted the truth, that I will be your grandson?” Scepticism had become a palpable essence, a friend of sorts, in the last two lonely years. “That my father will be your son.” Considering, Anakin answered, “You are a part of me, but distorted. A distant relative no doubt. But my grandson? I can’t believe that you’ve come back through time.” Ben snatched the lightsaber from inside his tunic, the one he had taken from Anakin. “See this?” “My lightsaber,” Anakin identified. With a nod, Ben then removed the lightsaber hanging from his belt. “How about this one?” Through the crimson haze, his grandfather squinted at the hilt. After a moment his eyes widened and flicked to his lightsaber yet again. “No two Jedi’s lightsabers are alike. Now I could have pulled parts from the ship and have made a passable lightsaber, but what are the odds that it would turn out identical to your own.” “Who are you really?” asked the older Skywalker, still struggling against his disbelief. “A ghost,” Ben said. “A specter now because my future will change. You would have survived that battle, Anakin, but something intrinsic inside of you would have been lost. The Jedi would be hunted and brought to near extinction by you. Obi-Wan, Yoda, and your two twin children the only ones to survive.” Ben waved the two identical lightsabers, one his grandfather’s present, one Ben’s future. “Obi-Wan took your lightsaber from that battle and gave it to my father. Dad eventually gave it to my mother when he began her training. After she died, it was passed on to me.” “Were you there?” Anakin asked, the subject leaping course. “Was I where?” asked the confused teenager. Those ice-colored eyes, that had held nothing but all-encompassing hatred and anger, dimmed to an old pain and sadness and lowered to the ground. “Were you there when your mother died?” Shaken by the question, Ben had to quash the instant memory that rose to his mind’s eye. He did not want to relive that moment, when he had to center on his efforts to change the future. “It’s not important.” “You want me to believe you, answer the question,” Anakin commanded. Narrowing his eyes into a glare, Ben answered, “I was! But I don’t see how that will convince you of the truth you already know as fact.” He pocketed Anakin’s lightsaber and replaced his own. “We’ll be landing soon. Now we can transfer you easily, without having to render you unconscious or we can do it the difficult way, with you enjoying another lump on the back of your head. Know that if you try to return to Palpatine I will kill you.” With his words, the softness in Anakin’s features reverted to that sharp anger. “How very Jedi of you?” “Yeah, if I were a Sith, you’d already be dead.” Padme had just finished feeding Leia and resting her next to Luke, when Bail knocked at her door. Weary as she was, she was glad for his presence. He had been a staunch supporter even before the entire galaxy began to fall apart around them, a distraction to keep her mind off of Anakin and Obi- Wan and her desire for the Jedi Master to bring her husband back to what he had been. However, his measured expression caused her heart to beat rapidly in her chest. She knew the game face of a politician, had worn it often enough, to recognize that Bail had not come with good tidings. “What is it Bail?” she asked, a thousand ‘what if’s’ swimming in her head. “Perhaps we should sit,” he said, his dark eyes troubled and kind. She liked this even less, but obliged, leading him to the small bank of cushions that lent itself as a sofa. Together they sat and Bail pressed his hands together in front of him, leaning forward, avoiding her glance. “Obi-Wan and Anakin have returned Padme.” He stopped her as she made to go to them. “There’s more.” Slowly she relaxed back against the cushion. “He’s a prisoner isn’t he?” Bail nodded, running a hand through his jet hair. “For the moment.” “Does he know about Luke and Leia?” she asked, hurtling past her grief. “I don’t believe Obi-Wan has told him,” Bail answered simply. “They’re moving him now, but I’ll escort you to meet with Master Yoda and Obi-Wan if you’d like.” Gratitude caused tears to well up in Padme’s eyes. “Thank you, Bail,” she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “Will I be allowed to see him?” “That will be up to the Jedi, though Padme, I wouldn’t recommend it,” Bail said with some hostility. He had been supportive of her but he did not want her to be exposed to her husbands evil. Anakin had already damaged so many lives, as a friend Bail did not want to see that happen to her or her children. She sighed. “He is still my husband, Bail.” “That can change, Padme. Not many knew of your marriage you could have it annulled,” Bail explained. “Find someone else to entrust your happiness to.” “Someone like you?” she asked bitterly. He scowled at her. “I’m married for Force-sake, Padme.” “I love him, Bail,” she admitted, feeling in some small way that she was betraying the Republic, the Jedi, her very people for such an admission. “Even if he isn’t the same man you married?” he asked gently. She buried her head into her hands, if only she could blind herself to the consequences to the actions around her. There had been something inherently dangerous about loving, Anakin. She had known it then, that night he had professed his love and she had felt her own burgeoning inside of her, but she had so hoped to be able to block the night from him. A fairy tale, she had hoped for. Where the brave Queen kept the favor of a good Knight. She had believed too much in that fairy tale. “I don’t know.” Silence permeated the room around them, even Luke and Leia were quiet in their bassinet. She should have seen what was happening to Anakin, should have seen it before their marriage when he’d tried to save his mother and ended up slaughtering an entire tribe of Tuskins. Except part of her hadn’t been able to deny his righteous anger. They had stolen something so precious from him that day and it hadn’t just been his mother. He had become very much like them in that moment, holding the power of life and death in his hands. And she had missed it entirely. “The Jedi will be waiting,” Bail reminded, breaking the silence quietly, yet it reverberated in the room as echoing as a thunderclap. He cocked his arm, planting his fist at his hip, offering again his stalwart support. Standing, she looped her arm through his. “M’lady,” Obi-Wan greeted her, kissing each of her cheeks. Padme instantly noticed his weariness, the bruises that were just beginning to fade under beard, mustache and firm skin. Bail had lead her into a small conference room, one he used as his diplomatic headquarters during the war. Master Yoda stood a small distance away and it wasn’t until Obi-Wan’s stance moved away that she saw the teenaged boy with red-gold hair and ocean eyes standing behind the Jedi Master. She stiffened and shot a questioning look to Obi-Wan. “Oh, pardon me, Padme,” Obi-Wan stumbled over his words awkwardly, looking at the boy behind him. “This is Ben...” he trailed off. Shooting the older man a wry grin, Ben bowed before her. “Jade. Ben Jade. I’m afraid I was left rather stranded and Master Kenobi offered his assistance.” “Ben this is Padme Skywalker, the wife of the man I told you about,” Obi-Wan introduced her, his demeanor much repaired. The boy’s eyes turned to credit chits briefly, before he nodded. “Then I offer you my sympathies,” he said a sense of sadness and wry amusement in his tone. Frowning curiously at him, Obi-Wan quickly diverted her attention. “How are the twins?” “Sleeping,” she answered, eternally confused. “What of Anakin?” “Twins?” Ben Jade asked, his eyes suddenly centering on her belly. “They’re already here?” Obi-Wan faced him. “I thought you knew.” Jade shook his mane of red-gold locks. “I didn’t know when. Padme may I see them?” Reluctantly, his grandmother brought him to her cabin where he could sense the two familiar yet oddly different auras of his father and aunt. It was dark in the room, but Ben was not afraid of a little darkness, it had been his constant companion for the last two years. And it was only a nuisance to the pair of bright lights that were the presence of the two babes at the end of the room. They called to him, tugging on his slow approach. Padme followed closely behind him, started and more then a little concerned that he had made such a request. He could not explain it to her now though, not when for the first time he knew what it was to have a grandmother, someone soft and caring, even when she didn’t know who he was. Coming to the bassinet, he peered over the edge and his breath hitched in his lungs. I didn’t expect this, he mused, as his hand reached out to the little baby boy reposed in sleep. He rested his finger in the tiny hand and felt the grip, the instant connection between father and son. Sith Kill Him, his chin trembled at that moment and he the years of being hard and surviving for his father made him wish he could cry at that moment. “Dad?” he whispered. This wasn’t his father, not yet. But the tiny babe still responded, he felt a tiny waft of the Force, tentative and wild reach out to his mind. Still he could not allow the tears to come. The Yuuzhan Vong had made sure that his grief was poison. I love you, he sent out along their tiny connection. Now his shoulders shook with restrained sobs and he momentarily forgot about his future grandmother behind him. “This isn’t fair,” he hissed. Was his mother somewhere out there now? If he reached out far enough would he feel her presence too? So close and yet forever away. “What was that, Ben?” Padme asked, her voice now full of compassion. Was that where his father had gotten it? That unfailing belief in doing the right thing. Ben felt he was very much bereft of that compassion. He cleared his throat, pushing his grief away. “It isn’t fair that you must hide you and your children, Lady Skywalker.” “Life is rarely fair,” Padme ventured, her hand coming up to touch his scarred cheek. “There is something familiar about you Ben Jade. Have we met?” Without thought, he leaned into her touch. “No,” he answered shortly. Padme was nothing like his mother. There was a smooth regalness to her, a dignity that Mara had held, but his mother had been as hard as he was. She had lived a difficult life and had suffered because of it. Yet he had always known the amount of love she’d carried for him. The ex-Emperor’s hand hadn’t been soft, she had been softened. But Ben had loved her more then anything. And he had known how much his father had loved her. How he missed them both? “You must have been in the hardest parts of the war,” she said, her fingers now playing over the red, scare-lines, on his face. “Sometimes, I feel, I never left it.” -----signature----- Proud Master to Meredith_Kenobi & Lolly_Tolly "He full-on Obi-Wan'd me!" Dean Winchester - Supernatural
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ZaraValinor Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 11/15/04 10:20am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time 11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	Upping. -----signature----- Proud Master to Meredith_Kenobi & Lolly_Tolly "He full-on Obi-Wan'd me!" Dean Winchester - Supernatural
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KSkywalker Registered: Aug '98	Date Posted: 11/15/04 4:16pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	Great Story! I like the possibility of everything being "fixed" -----signature----- It will be a hard life....But you will find out....... Who You Are! ~ Qui-Gon Jinn~ Eight Years and still loving these fan-fic Stories!
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JediMaster_Jen Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 11/15/04 6:02pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	Keep going, this is so very good. -----signature----- "Qui tacet consentit"~~ (silence implies consent) L.A. Lakers--2009 NBA Champions!!! L.A. Dodgers--2009 World Series Champions!! Hopefully!!
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Ana_Labris Registered: Oct '00	Date Posted: 11/15/04 9:28pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	OK, I'm a huge Anakin fan, but no matter what I try I can't help but feel extremely sorry for poor Ben.. I feel he's going to have a breakdown soon. :/ -----signature----- K.E.P.P. Agent #19! I am the one and only Angry Scientist. Darth Vader is my hero.
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PadawanKitara Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 11/15/04 10:47pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	Poor Ben is coming accross like a lost and confused child- good job with the emotions -----signature----- Courtier of the Royal Order of Shambling Dufi We are Dufi...Resistance is Futile! UCLA BRUINS
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JediFalcon Registered: Feb '02	Date Posted: 11/16/04 4:32am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	awesome very awesome can't wait for more -----signature----- Rogue Three in FFC Rogue Wing, Ward rm #306 Council Member of the Lightside Master to Stridarious Crimson makes my heart go Master of BYS AHBY The Impeccably Patient Drugged-Out Lunatic of the Skies I wonder whats my purpose in life
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Bekah_K Registered: Sep '02	Date Posted: 11/16/04 5:57am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	I am enjoying this fic tremendously! Can't wait for the next post! -----signature----- See bio for other fics Life Beyond the Code (Obi-Wan/Anakin) - http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/20820324/?6 a.k.a. bek Bring Him Home (Obi-Wan) - http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/21107038/?3
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Laine_Snowtrekker Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 11/16/04 7:04am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	I love this. I want to read more--that would be great! This is so wonderful--and the emotions are very real, and you have the characterizations dead-on. -----signature----- Stealth and subtlety work well, but for making lasting impressions, a blaster does just fine. -Han Room full of gold and jewels, and Dr. Daniel Jackson finds the one book. -Cam Palso's #1 Fan JO: RS1, Admiral, SC Fanfics are linked to in my bio
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Sara_Kenobi Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 11/16/04 11:48am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	What an amazing conversation. That would be so difficult for Ben. In his time Luke is lost to him, but there he is, standing over his father... it would be really different, but getting to see someone you lost in any shape would be amazing. Well done! -----signature----- Flight of Raven's http://boards.theforce.net/non_star_wars_fan_fiction/b10808/30284518/p1/?0
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ZaraValinor Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 11/16/04 4:01pm Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	KSkywalker Great Story! I like the possibility of everything being "fixed" I like that you put fixed in quotes. Things will get better, but not fixed. JediMaster_Jen Keep going, this is so very good. Thanks. Ana_Labris OK, I'm a huge Anakin fan, but no matter what I try I can't help but feel extremely sorry for poor Ben.. I feel he's going to have a breakdown soon. :/ I think Ben and Anakin have more in common then they would like to believe. And hopefully that will save the both of them. PadawanKitara Poor Ben is coming accross like a lost and confused child- good job with the emotions Thanks. Ben is lost and confused. He puts up a show but he's only seventeen. Hardly the age to be out of a parents observation. JediFalcon awesome very awesome can't wait for more More soon. Bekah_K I am enjoying this fic tremendously! Can't wait for the next post! I glad. Thanks Laine_Snowtrekker I love this. I want to read more--that would be great! This is so wonderful--and the emotions are very real, and you have the characterizations dead-on. Blushing. Thanks. Sara_Kenobi What an amazing conversation. That would be so difficult for Ben. In his time Luke is lost to him, but there he is, standing over his father... it would be really different, but getting to see someone you lost in any shape would be amazing. Well done! Thanks. I'm glad you liked that part. I loved writing it. -----signature----- Proud Master to Meredith_Kenobi & Lolly_Tolly "He full-on Obi-Wan'd me!" Dean Winchester - Supernatural
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ZaraValinor Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 11/18/04 11:19am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time Late11/14/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi II
	Who are you boy? the insidious voice snaked it's way into his mind, causing Ben to nearly buckle under the pressure of it. It was nearly a physical effort to throw off that weight. Wouldn't you like to know? he sent back, infusing his mental-voice with a cocksureness that he did not feel. He was still reeling from seeing his father and aunt as newborns, now he had to have a mental toe to toe with the man who had worked hard to destroy his parents' lives. Padme stopped next to him, avidly watching his face, not knowing the internal battle he was waging. “Ben?” He ignored her question and blanketed all thoughts of their location from his mind. It made sense that he would be able to hear the call of the Emperor, his mother had been able to hear his voice from anywhere in the galaxy. But he didn't know the extent of the Emperor's control. It made him wish he could go forward enough and ask his mother what it had been like to be the Emperor's Hand. But had his interference already voided the Emperor's influence on his mother. You are strong, young one. There is no need to be my enemy, came the silky reply. Mental laughter rang through Ben's mind and out towards the Emperor. First Anakin, now you. What do I have to do, put up a holosign over my head? I'm not going to be your convert. He started to pull the Force around him, weaving it in a lattice of protection. Ah, and advanced I see, came the lurid reply. Strange that the Jedi Masters would teach one so young so quickly. Perhaps they realized they had scum like you growing in their backyard, Ben replied, hoping that he had gotten the Emperor appropriately riled. A chilling laugh, shivered through his mind. You plot against me, young one? There was no missing the dubious nature of his tone. You seek to succeed where many have failed. Such pride is unbecoming a Jedi Knight. Ben would not rise to the Emperor's bait. He had been pushed beyond petty jibes during the Yuuzhan Vong war. I'd like to call it an optimistic view on life. The Emperor pressed heavier on his mind, hoping to break through his barriers. Ben ground his teeth together as he strained against the pressure. No peeking, he sent out, then let go of the Force and let the Yuuzhan Vong poison running through his body take hold, making him a void in the Force. It was as though someone had been holding him up and had abruptly let go. He staggered, crashing to his knees but managed to keep himself from further embarrassment, catching himself on one hand. Blood trickled down his nose and he used his free hand to whip it away. “Well, that wasn't fun.” “What happened?” Padme asked, helping him rise. “Palpatine,” he said tersely. “Where's Yoda and Obi-Wan?” If she was scandalized by his informal address of two Jedi Masters, she didn't show it. She was too confused to. “In a conference with Bail. What would the Emperor want with you?” Her dark eyes burned into his own. “I promise you if you are some harm to my children or my husband, I'll kill you myself.” Maybe there was a little more of his mother in Padme then he initial believed. Closing his eyes, he gathered the Force back around him, pushed away the poison from his system. “There is no telling you how much I would do to ensure your children's safety Padme. But you are right, I'm keeping something from you. I wish I could tell you, but I can't.” She wouldn’t be able to sense the truth in him. “Know that Obi-Wan knows my secret and he trusts me.” “I’m sorry,” she whispered and he could hear the strain of her present situation. “There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he assured her, pulling gently away from her steady grip. He couldn’t show his weakness, not when he had to guide everyone away from the future that would destroy them all. “I’m fine now thank you.” Sitting in his cell, Anakin fumed. It wasn’t the infusing heat he’d felt during his battle with Obi-Wan but a slow brewing one. Confusion fueled his anger, giving it, a tedious burn. Ben had provided evidence that was irrefutable. Those lightsabers had been identical, from his very obvious craftsmanship, to the dents and dings he had picked up along the way. There was also no denying that if Ben hadn’t intercepted his head-long run, he would have fallen into that river of lava. Yet he struggled to admit the truth. Looking into the mirror of his cell, he tried to imagine himself with red hair and features dimmed by genetics. He was nearly two handspans taller then Ben, but Padme was diminutive. The red hair must have come from his son’s wife, for neither Skywalker or Naberrie family carried such a distinct color. Even if the young man was who he claimed to be, did it make any difference? Palpatine had shown him a power, a power over everything that he had once feared. The Jedi feared the dark side and especially the Sith, now he was fear. Would that change suddenly because he had found someone very much like himself? If Ben really had come back through time it would have meant an extreme power and control in the Force. Something that not even his Sith Master would have contemplated. He had certainly stolen the saber out of his hand without so much of a bat of an eye. As the Chosen One, he should have been able to sense the strike Ben had used against him. It was this mystery, more then any fear of actually being stopped, that had kept him from escaping. He had gotten the feeling from a brief communication with his Master that Palpatine wanted him to stay amongst the Jedi. Learning more about Ben would only help the Emperor sway the boy to the dark side. Patience had never been one of his strong characteristics, but he would exercise it now. He would wait for the Jedi to come to him, pretend contrition, and work with whatever plan the Jedi and Ben were concocting. Palpatine had taught him enough to cloak his true intent. After all, the Emperor had been doing it for decades. All he would have to do is prey on their hopes. Obi-Wan heaved a sigh as Bail exited the conference room and dropped into one of the comfortable chairs lining the conference room. Master Yoda stood at the other end of the table, hunched over on his gimmer stick, looking as warn and tired as Obi-Wan felt. There was so much to be done, but all his energy had been sucked from him. Qui-Gon had been two decades older then Obi-Wan when he'd been killed, but it had seemed his old Master had an everlasting fountain of energy. “Speak about young Jade we must,” Yoda mewlled into his thoughts. Yes, there was much to speak about Ben. There was an incredibly large debt he owed the boy; first for stopping Anakin's near fatal plummet, second for managing to stop that heart-wrenching battle. He had recovered a great deal physically from that battle, but mentally...he could not get past what Anakin had become. He was meant to help Ben bring Anakin back to the light, yet his own anger flared so easily when he thought of what his former apprentice had participated in. Beyond his superficial anger there was a deeper one, at himself, for not seeing Anakin's downfall before, for not preparing his boy for his destiny. Then there was Ben himself. There was no doubt in Obi-Wan's mind the amount of suffering the young Jedi had been through. Had Ben come to deal with that pain or had he just pushed it aside for what must be done. Obi-Wan had lost Anakin because the Clone Wars had forced him to push aside his apprentice for what had to be done. Betrayal had warred so readily against his own self-derision and anger. He had been caught between two evils; neglecting the threat against the galaxy and neglecting Anakin. As usual he had taken the path of the unifying then the individual. Had he learned nothing from Qui-Gon? Of course, during the wars, he had felt he had all the time necessary to help Anakin bring balance. All he had to do was hurtle the one obstacle of a full-scale war and he could be free for his former apprentice. Strange how retrospect changes the path of time. “Be here, he should not,” Yoda broke into his reverie once again. Obi-Wan opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Ben marching unyielding into the room. “We need to talk,” he announced and plopped into one of the conference chairs. Obi-Wan mused briefly that Qui-Gon would have liked Ben Skywalker's obvious ignorance to authority. “I received a little mental visit from Emperor Palpatine.” “Sense your arrival, we did,” Yoda affirmed. “So you know who I am?” Ben asked, eyes wide with wonder. Master Yoda bobbed his head, his heavy eyes watching the apprentice thoughtfully. “Stars and skies, I thought I was going to have to consent to a blood test. I appreciate you not forcing your mind into mine, though even if you had I don't think it would have been as bracing as Palpatine's visit.” Obi-Wan frowned. “Why is that?” “My mother. Part of the history I had to skip in my rehearsal to you. Palpatine took her from her family when she was a small child, gave her a remedial knowledge of the Force, and trained her as an assassin. There were others, but I believe she was the most effective because she could hear the Emperor's voice from anywhere in the galaxy. A trait, I've apparently inherited,” Ben elucidated. “Which complicates things.” Yoda hobbled closer to Ben, his stick clanging against the wood of the conference table with a staccato beat. “Reveal our location, did you?” At Ben's age, Obi-Wan would have balked at such a sharp tone coming from the wizened Jedi Master, but Ben just shook his head unfazed. “No, I used a technique I'm aware of that disconnects me from the Force. It put me out of Palpatine's reach.” For a moment fatigue weighed on the young scarred features before Ben forced determination on his face. “I don't know how long my mental shields will keep him out. He imprinted a command into my mother's mind before he died and that clung to her for five years before she killed my father's clone.” Obi-Wan exchanged a glance with Yoda, but whatever the aged Jedi Master was thinking could not be deciphered in his large green eyes. Ben was a compilation of absent years. What would happen when Ben did change the future? It was a question Obi-Wan felt he could not ignore. The boy could very well erase his very existence. And then weren't they all back in the same impossible, doomed situation. “Precarious our situation is, help this your technique would,” Yoda mused. “Though incomplete is your training.” Ben frowned. “My training is no longer an importance. It is Anakin we must focus on.” “No!” Obi-Wan exclaimed. When both Yoda and Ben turned to him questioningly, he swallowed. Such outbursts were so uncharacteristic of him. Perhaps Ben had already instigated the changes in him that he had mentioned. “It is a danger to leave an apprentice untrained.” “I will not waste valuable time,” Ben interjected heatedly, showing a flash of unexpected anger. Obi-Wan, however, was not about to back down from this. He felt very strongly that Ben's training should not slacken. “I do not see it as a waste.” “Understand not Master Obi-Wan does, Young Skywalker. Revealed your secret should be,” Yoda admonished the youth gently. Impatience tinged Obi-Wan's answers. “I know he's from the future Master Yoda.” Ben shook his head, locking gazes with Yoda for an inexorable time. “It's not that Obi-Wan,” the boy admitted finally. He took a shuddering breath and released it in a slow hiss. “I'm dying.” Breath rushed out of Obi-Wan and he blinked at Ben. “You're dying?” Stoically, Ben nodded. “I was poisoned by the Yuuzhan Vong a month before I made the journey here. A venom that they must have been breeding to use against those Force-sensitives who they could identify early and prohibit from ever becoming Jedi. I fought my way out of a sticky situation but was poisoned. When the Force began to show me visions of the past, I realized what I had to do. To be able to come back through time, it had to be sure that I would not remain in this time.” Obi-Wan's mouth went dry. He had only known Ben Skywalker for the space of a few days, but he had brought him a hope for Anakin that he had despaired of before. There was also enough of his old Master and his former apprentice in the boy to remind Obi-Wan of the better times he'd had with both Qui-Gon and Anakin. Ben had been his connection to Anakin, a link that Obi-Wan had yet to dare travel. “You must complete the training,” Yoda said after an interminable pause. Those oceanic eyes became lidded. “There is no purpose to it Master Yoda. I have all I'll ever need.” He opened his eyes and gazed at Obi-Wan. “And if we can bring Anakin back, then the galaxy will have the slim chance of surviving the Yuuzhan Vong infiltration.” “Reason there always are, make matters worse you could untrained,” Yoda continued to argue. Obi-Wan shook his head, unable to accept this fate for one so young. “There must be a way to heal you of this ailment.” “There isn't, I tried the only cure I knew of but it did not work. My mother was dying of a similar disease when she carried me. It was only the Force that kept her alive long enough to carry me to term. By the time to birth me came, she was so close to death that my father often wondered why the Force didn't take us then. But the disease hadn't reached me yet. As a last ditch effort, my father tried to fight the spread of the infection, as I was born we healed her, my father and I.” “You tried a similar method on yourself?” Obi-Wan ventured. Finally the layers of security Ben had wrapped around himself were beginning to peel. “I did as my father had described,” Ben assured, then shook his head dispelling whatever thoughts clouded his mind. He cocked his sly grin. “Obviously it didn't work.” Leaning back against his chair, Ben eyed them both. “I'll make a deal. I'll continue my training if you don't tell Anakin my current predicament.” “Anakin is incredibly powerful, he'll be able to sense it,” Obi-Wan cautioned. Ben shook his head with finality. “Not if I don't want him to. Hiding myself has become like breathing..” “Yoda sensed it,” Obi-Wan said, pursuing the matter. Perhaps if Anakin knew the consequences of his choices he'd be disinclined to continue his dark path. “My father is an infant, I have to take his place as Anakin's link to the good side. If he knows I'm dying the future will seem helpless,” Ben countered. He then leveled a steely gaze on Yoda. “That's the deal. Take it or leave it.” “Bargain, I do not. Accept your conditions I will,” Yoda said gravely. “Your training we'll begin soon.” A quick rejection flitted on Obi-Wan's tongue, waiting to be released. There was a part of him that wanted to try again, to apprentice someone who didn't have a terrible burden of prophecy set upon his shoulders. But he knew that he still had Anakin to deal with, his fallen friend. He needed to focus his efforts on saving Anakin, not on indulging his need to be redeemed through Anakin's future grandson. “I need to see Anakin,” he murmured, mainly to himself but loud enough for Yoda and Ben. “That's a priority. The faster we bring Anakin back and rid him of the seeds of Darth Vader, the quicker we can go after Palpatine,” Ben agreed. “But killing the Sith alone will not be enough.” A nostalgic smile tugged at the corners of Obi-Wan's mouth. Watching Ben take over was very much like watching Qui-Gon Jinn defy the Council. Only this time, Obi-Wan saw the reasons for Ben's radical changes. Some of it rocked him to the core, ramming against the very code he had lived by. He wondered what Yoda's response to this would be. “A long standing tradition you hope to change. Objections expect you should,” Yoda warned Ben after the young Jedi delineated his plan. Ben snorted and rolled his eyes with a dramatic flare. “Because your interpretation of the Code has served so well. You've isolated yourselves from the galaxy. People fear what they do not understand, clearly you should have seen that if presented with the opportunity many citizens would not care what happened of the Jedi.” “Unavoidable this was,” Yoda said. “Protected from the threat of the Dark Side we needed to be.” Humorlessly, Ben cocked an eyebrow at Yoda. The wizened Jedi Master sigh. “Agree with you I do. Expand the Jedi need.” “I suggest we find a safe house, a place the Jedi would go to if endangered. A place Anakin hopefully hasn't alerted Palpatine too,” Ben said, lacing his hands in front of him. “Once we start gathering the Jedi, I'll have to teach them to void themselves from the Force. We don't want to alert Palpatine of our location before we're ready to face him.” “And if we can't bring Anakin back?” Obi-Wan asked, his heart sinking at the very possibility that he would be forced to face his fallen apprentice yet again. The boy shrugged. “Then I'll have to do what my father could not.” “What was that?” “Kill the man responsible for giving him life.” -----signature----- Proud Master to Meredith_Kenobi & Lolly_Tolly "He full-on Obi-Wan'd me!" Dean Winchester - Supernatural
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Kynstar Registered: Mar '04	Date Posted: 11/18/04 11:41am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time 11/18/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi III AU
	Oh man! That'll be interesting... if Ben has to actually take out Anakin. Poor kid... having the Emp invade his mind wasn't fun I'm sure! Heavy indeed was this chapter! Great too! Can't wait for more! -----signature----- Paddy sis to t_s & SarkaVrae/Master to hyperspace_police Member of Rebel Legion and Jedi Assembly (Kynstar Lans) Only thru fear, hatred, and pain will the true power of the Force be revealed. See stories/viggies in bio
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qtrhrs78 Registered: Sep '03	Date Posted: 11/18/04 11:42am Subject: RE: Repercussions of Time 11/18/04 Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ben Skywalker? Epi III AU
	This is a great story! I don't know how I missed it until now, but I'll keep an eye out for updates.
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