Saga A Wish Granted, A Price Paid (AU)

A Wish Granted, A Price Paid

Summary:Anakin Skywalker desperately searches for a way to prevent Padmé's death. On his way to the Jedi Temple, he stumbles across a shop, a mysterious shop that grants wishes, but all wishes come with a price, what will his be?

Author's Note: Crash course for Star Wars fans on xxxHolic, a young teen named Kimihiro Watanuki is perused by spirits and stumbles upon a wish granting shop run by the Dimensional Witch, Yûko Ichihara, who grants wishes for a price. She grants his wish to not see spirits if he works for her. She also grants the wishes of other people who come to the shop.

And yes, Yûko and Obi-Wan are going to become…drinking buddies!

You can watch xxxHolic here, so you can understand the crossover characters.

The Inevitable

Anakin Skywalker ended the communication with Padmé as he urged his speeder toward the Jedi Temple, he knew he should try to sleep, but he wouldn't, how could he sleep when all he saw was her screaming in pain and agony for him to help her?

Anakin wiped his eyes with his flesh hand; he should go back to the Temple and try to think of some way to save Padmé. Surely the Force will give him an answer.

He prepared to turn down a space lane when he stopped. There was a spot that had always been surprisingly empty, they were supposed to put in a new building but it had been empty for some time.

Now there was something there, something so different from the durasteel buildings that he was shocked he hadn't seen it before now.

It was a wooden building; there were no wooden buildings on Coruscant. It had a unique architecture and had a wooden fence, a yard and strange trees with pink blossoms that drifted onto something similar to permacrete.

He glanced around at the building and decided he'd wasted enough time, he should go.

Anakin tried to stop himself, but something wouldn't let him move backwards, his feet were stuck to the ground like he was embedded there. He had no choice but to move forward.

He saw the doors open and a pair of young teenagers, he couldn't really tell, greeted him. What stuck out to him was that they had blue and pink hair. That was different.

Maru and Moro gazed at him. "Would you like to come in now?"

"I…I don't know," he admitted.

"It's a customer for the Mistress!" Maru chorused.

"A customer for the Mistress!" Moro joined her.

They pulled him inside or rather, his legs moved on their own into the building. They helped him walk right out of his boots, through the door and down the hallway.

"What is this?!" he demanded, panic rising inside him, he had no control over his actions. He didn't like it one bit.

"This is the inevitable," a woman's voice echoed throughout the room and in his head. He continued walking until he came to a stop in front of a door made out of what could be paper or cloth, he couldn't tell.

"You came here to inquire about something," she told him. Anakin wondered who she was.

The two girls opened the door and Anakin looked upon a sight he'd never seen before.

There was a beautiful woman lying on a couch, smoking a pipe. She had long black hair and brown eyes, she wore beautiful, elaborate robes that reminded him of Padmé's although these looked completely different There was a great deal of smoke in the room, but the patterns it left in the air made it look beautiful and mysterious, just like the woman in front of him.

"This isn't inevitable, I just came here by accident, I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Your name?" Yûko asked him.

Anakin was a bit surprised, he was so famous throughout the galaxy, but this woman didn't know who he was?

"Anakin Skywalker," he replied.

"And your birthday?" she prodded.

He told her.

"What a foolish boy, I can't believe you gave a complete stranger your real name and birthday!" Yûko laughed.

He was puzzled, why was that so funny?

"By telling an enemy your name, you give them an opportunity to capture your soul, and if they then learn the date of your birth, they can find a way to own the paths of your past and your future."

"Are you an enemy?" Anakin demanded, moving towards his lightsaber.

"Do you want to know my name?" she asked.

"I really should go," Anakin began moving backward, towards the door.

"Yûko Ichihara," she introduced herself.

"Yet you've told me anyway," he sighed.

"Naturally it's an alias," the Dimensional Witch added quickly.

Anakin rolled his eyes, she was aggravating, just like Obi-Wan, but she had a sense of humor that reminded him of his Master.

"Please sit," Yûko offered him a place to sit, so he did.

"Watanuki, get him some tea," Yûko called to a young man in another room.

A young man walked into the room, he had black hair and glasses. He handed Anakin the tea and gawked a little.

"Yûko that's—" Watanuki started.

"Yes, I know who he is," she smiled knowingly. Anakin was even more irritated, she'd been messing with him for some reason.

Watanuki handed him the tea, Anakin drank it, it tasted surprisingly good and it made him feel better.

"What is this place?" he asked, glancing around.

"It's my shop," she kept her gaze on him. It made him feel uncomfortable, he felt like he was nine years old, standing in front of Master Yoda for the first time.

See through you we can.

Yûko could see though him, it was like she knew him better than he knew himself. This was the last thing he expected.

"What do you sell?" Anakin didn't see any merchandise of any kind.

"The merchandise here is wishes."

The idea floored Anakin, the very notion that such a thing existed, it seemed impossible.

"You grant wishes?" he asked eagerly, she was his answer; Yûko could save his wife from his visions.

Maru and Moro spoke as one, "This shop can grant almost any wish, if our Mistress approves!"

"Can you…bring people back to life?" he was hopeful, if she could grant any wish then maybe he could see his mother again…

"That's beyond my power, it's too heavy a thing, you could never pay the price for something like that."

Anakin was crestfallen.

"All things die, Anakin Skywalker. Even stars burn out." Yûko Ichihara told him. Anakin stilled, horrified.

He heard that in his mind, every night the cold dead star dragon of his fear crawled up into his brain and whispered that he would lose Obi-Wan and Padmé or that they would lose him.

"I was told by…someone that he had the power to stop people from dying," Anakin admitted.

"Saving people from death is possible, but there's a price, there always is. Did you think this person would just give you this knowledge for nothing?"

Anakin knew she was right, he hadn't even thought about how the Chancellor knew about Darth Plageius. It hadn't even dawned on him why Palpatine had told him that story.

"The Jedi would say that the power over life and death are forbidden."

"People are always more likely to do something once it's been forbidden. And after they've crossed that line there's no telling what else they're capable of doing to get what it is they want. The things for which a person washes often reveal more about them than they'd like. Sometimes that's the price you have to pay."

"What are you exactly?" Anakin pressed her. She was unlike anyone he'd ever met and yet, he could sense she had power, power unlike anything he'd ever encountered.

"I'm the Dimensional Witch, the Space-Time Witch, granting wishes is my job, and no one can find my shop unless they have a wish that they want granted."

Anakin saw himself wrestling with the dragon, he was losing, but now Yûko was here to help him, maybe someone who had power over dimensions could help him keep the dragon down.

"I have a wish, it's my only wish, I wish to save Padmé from death! You said you were the Dimensional Witch, you can do that won't you?"

"And how do you know she's going to die?" Yûko inhaled the smoke from her kiseru pipe.

"I've had dreams about her death, visions."

"Dreams and visions are tricky things, you only interpret them the way you wish to see them, not as they are, never assume anything about dreams, they are only part of the whole picture."

She was so wise, Yûko reminded Anakin of Palpatine, but she reminded him of his mother, and that made him feel happy. Happier than he had felt in a long time.

Yûko smiled, she knew who he was and why he'd come, not because she was the Dimensional Witch, a powerful sorceress, no it was because she had like so many people, watched all six Star Wars movies, yes, it was amusing to think that there was a dimension where they existed too, wouldn't George Lucas be thrilled to learn that? If that ever happened, that wasn't inevitable, since Lucas was in the United States and she was in Japan, when in Earth's dimension anyway.

"Now I know your true wish, so shall I grant it?" Yûko asked.

"Yes, please, it's all I wish for!" Anakin pleaded with her.

"There's a price for your wish, are you willing to pay it?" she glanced at him. "Think hard before you answer, and don't say, "You'll do anything", such words shouldn't be spoken lightly."

"When a service is rendered a compensation is necessary to complete the transaction," Yûko explained simply. "And the payment must be of equal value to the service. It can be neither too much nor too little. There can be no deficiency or excess, only perfect balance, and equivalence."

She reached up to touch his face, cupping it in her hand. "Or harm will be done."

"Harm?" Anakin queried curiously.

"Harm throughout the universe, and harm to the soul. They both require a balance."

"I understand; what price I will pay?" he asked.

"Your price is…your life," she smiled at him.

"Are you going to kill me?" Anakin hissed, wary once again.

"No, no, death is a heavy thing, it weighs on the universe, so those who know don't kill," Yûko puffed on her pipe, blowing smoke into the room.

"Your iightsaber, isn't that weapon your life?" She gazed at the weapon on his belt.

"Y-yes it is," Anakin stammered, she'd quoted Obi-Wan perfectly, but she'd never met any of them before!

"Fine, I'll give it to you," he handed her his lightsaber; surely this would tip off Obi-Wan that something was wrong, but what was his lightsaber when compared to his wife's life?

Yûko took the lightsaber from him, "An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age," she smiled knowingly at him. She ignited it and stared at the blue blade. She deactivated it, and handed it back to him.

"I give you back your life, in exchange, between your Jedi missions, you'll work for me here at my shop, and when you've worked off your debt to me, I'll grant your wish."

"I'll do it, just help me save her, I can't live without her!" Anakin sobbed in relief.

"When one sacrifices oneself to help another, it could actually be painful to the person being helped, especially when that person is of importance to them."

Anakin stared down at his hands, "I promised myself I wouldn't let her die, not like how I couldn't save my mother!"

"Sincerity with respect to yourself! No matter what your objective… no matter who you are… if you are going to do something or not do something, that is a promise to yourself. And the one who keeps the promise, or breaks the promise, is you. No one else can be burdened with holding you to a promise that's made to yourself."

Yûko glanced over at him, "And one more thing," she added. "The price for saving your wife, one of them is that you end your relationship with Chancellor Papatine."

Anakin balked, she knew about that too?! But the Chancellor was his lifelong friend and mentor! But…who was more important to him, Sheev Palpatine or Padmé?

He'd do it; he always thought he'd do anything to save his wife, but this…

"Why? Why's this so important?" he asked.

"You'll have to discover that for yourself," she was cryptic as ever, she was even more cryptic than Master Yoda, and Anakin didn't think that was possible.

Still, she said she could save Padmé and he sensed the power she had, it was beyond anything he'd encountered, even the Force, granting wishes was impossible, but she'd given him her word that she would grant his wish, and he knew that she would, he knew it deep down in his heart.

He felt he could breathe again, he could sleep, his dreams wouldn't haunt him anymore.

"Thank you, thank you so much, I won't let you down, I promise," Anakin smiled as he got to his feet, he left the shop with a bounce in his step and a smile on his face.

Yûko watched him leave, she smiled, this was going to be an interesting experience, she was going up against the most iconic villain in the galaxy, the Emperor Palpatine, this would be fun, it would be interesting to see whether Anakin would heed her admonitions or not, his fate was decided by his choices.

"Nothing in this world is a coincidence. Everything is Hitsuzen." Hitsuzen, the inevitable, fate, destiny, it was all those things, and to be here at this time, It was fated to happen.

"There are many unusual things in this world. Everyday events occur that cannot be explained. Bizarre phenomena that often go unnoticed because people close their eyes to what they don't understand. But the truth of the matter is, there are many unusual things in this world. And people... People are the most mysterious of them all."

Anakin Skywalker could change his fate if he wished for it, but he'd have to make that wish himself, and understand that all his actions had consequences.

"Watanuki, get me some sake!" she called to her assistant, "It's time I had another drink!"

 

This was really interesting!

The line that really hooked me was:
"By telling an enemy your name, you give them an opportunity to capture your soul, and if they then learn the date of your birth, they can find a way to own the paths of your past and your future."
From there I really needed to know where this was going!

I found it really interesting that she pretty much told him how to grant his own 'wish', by avoiding Palpatine, but she leaves it up to him to fufill.

Great story!

 

And htisis a multi-chaptered story! There'll be a lot more to come! Yes, yes, yes...I'm leading Star Wars fans into the crazy world of the mangaka ladies known as CLAMP where everything is connected, love and relationships get redefined, and they break your brain with plot twists, let's just say there will be insanity, especially if you've read the manga or seen any of the Tokyo Revelations or Spring Thunder (these are links to the episodes that are amazing) original video animation.

I'm going to pull off as much crazy as possible!

 

This looks like an interesting story Any chance you could let me know when you update this story? I love the premise

 

Chapter Two: The Unhappy Twins

Author’s Note: I decided to make this a deconstruction of a plot device that I see all the time in time-travel Star Wars fanfiction. That whenever a character from the future tells past Anakin Skywalker what’s going to happen, he just automatically believes them, I think my take is a wee smidge more realistic, and I’m having fun leaning on the fourth wall!

Also I know about the irony concerning twins! And Obi-Wan’s mysterious dreams make Anakin’s dream about Padmé dying look like a happy one!

Apparently, there are multiple ways to spell Yûko’s name, Yuko, Yûko, and Yuuko, UGH! The Anime has and xxxHolic Wiki has Yuko, the manga has Yûko and the Tsubasa wiki has Yuuko. So much UGH! Enjoy the mindscrew everybody!

Here's some suitable background music "Ship of Fools" from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle on a loop here.
---

Anakin Skywalker had a dream that night, but it wasn’t about Padmé, he could see two people staring at each other through glass. They pressed their hands against it, trying to touch the other, it was impossible.

He could see the young man in a green cloak, staring at the young woman in a beautiful dress. Her green eyes looked so sad, it could break his heart.

The young man raised his hand and pushed against the glass and she did the same, each leaning, straining to be as close to the other as they could. But they could never be together.

The image hit Anakin harder than he thought it would. It was so much like his relationship with Padmé, it seemed like they could never really be together. Because of duty, to the Jedi, to the Republic.

Anakin saw the woman begin to cry, and he felt tears slipping down his cheeks too.

Suddenly, Anakin realized that they were imprisoned in a tube, a glass tube as the outside world crumbled around them.

He saw a pair of glowing wings sprout from the woman’s back as she began to float away. The young man slammed his palm against the glass.

“Syaoran!” she called his name desperately.

“SAKURA!” his shout was something Anakin knew all too well, the fear of seeing the one you loved leaving you, and knowing you couldn’t do a thing to stop it from happening. He knew that all too well.

He shot up out of bed, panting. What was that dream and why did it bother him so much? He sighed, lying back on the bed; he tried to get the images out of his mind. He’d have to visit Yûko’s shop again to ask her about it. If he was going to break his relationship with Palpatine, he might as well start by going to someone else for advice about his dreams.

----

The next day, Watanuki returned to work. He glanced over at Yûko, he needed to know the answer. Had he really seen Anakin Skywalker?

“Yûko, that was really Anakin Skywalker, right? Not just some cosplayer.” Star wars was very popular in Japan and he had loved the movies since childhood. Kimihiro Watanuki asked curiously. He’d thought he’d seen everything when it came to the customers who visited the shop, but a fictional character, it just seemed insane.

“Yes, that was really Anakin,” she glanced over at him. “I know what you’re thinking Watanuki, and no, we can’t show him the movie.”
.
“But wouldn’t seeing the consequences of his actions help him make the right decision? I mean, it’s not like he wants to end up in that life support suit for 20 years.”

“Tell me Watanuki, how do you think he’d feel, knowing he was a fictional character? Knowing that his life was purposely written to be a tragedy, that he could never have a happy ending?”

“I’d feel pretty awful,” Watanuki sighed, “But why wouldn’t he believe what he could see?”

“At this moment right now, he could never see himself killing Mace Windu, slaughtering younglings, Force choking his own wife and dueling his best friend to the death. He could never understand his visions until it was too late. As he’s said himself, “I’m a slow learner.”

Yûko drank a sip of sake, “If we showed him the movie, he’d say that we made it all up, that something this awful couldn’t possibly happen to him or the people he loves.”

“But couldn’t we tell Padmé or Master Yoda?” Watanuki tried again, he was a Star Wars fan, and like a lot of them, he’d always wondered what it would be like if Anakin could have a happy ending.

“They would most likely be just as skeptical. We can’t break the fourth wall with them, it would unbalance their universe.”

“But you’re breaking the fourth wall, quoting Obi-Wan at Anakin! Did you see how freaked out he was?!” Watanuki shrieked, flailing his arms as he usually did when he was frustrated.

“Yes, yes, I can break the fourth wall that way, dropping quotes from people they know, even tell them their own words, but in order for the universe to maintain balance I can’t give them spoilers. Anakin has to discover things on his own, and if he heeds my warnings and words his wish will be granted.”

Watanuki continued sweeping the front of the shop, “What if they come here asking for information, you could tell them then, couldn’t you?”

“Only if they give me compensation,” she took another sip.

“You’re going to take him on an errand with you,” Yûko informed him.

“I can’t do that!” Watanuki protested loudly. “People will think he’s a cosplayer who got lost going to a Star Wars convention, or people will walk up to him, call him Hayden Christensen and ask for an autograph! Either that or scream, “You ruined my childhood!”

“Celebrities have lookalikes all the time,just let him have some normal clothes, no one will think he’s really Anakin Skywalker.”

Yûko glanced up, “He’s back.”

“It’s interesting, whenever I step passed the fence, it looks like a different world.” Anakin glanced over at her.

“It is, the shop is an anchor between different dimensions, and only those who want wishes granted can come here.”

“Oh, hello there little fella!” he greeted the strange round black creature sitting next to Yûko, it had big floppy ears and a blue colored, circular jewel on his head, and was drinking out of a glass, could it be an alien of some sort?

“What is he?” Anakin pointed to the black creature.

“Mokona!” the creature shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down. He jumped up into Anakin’s arms.

“What’s a Mokona?” he examined it, his wife would have found it to be cute.

“Mokona is Mokona, you’d count them one, Mokona, two Mokona, and then you’d stop they’re only two,” Yûko answered, patting Mokona on the head.

“Have we ever met before Yûko?” Anakin gave her a hard look.

“Yes we have, but you don’t remember, it is not time for you to remember your true selves…yet.”

“My true…selves?” Anakin was puzzled. He didn’t understand what she meant by that at all.

“I need another bottle of sake, go get me some later will you?” Yûko called to Watanuki.

“I’m not your slave!” Watanuki screamed, exasperated.

Anakin was very disturbed by this comment.

“Oh don’t be such a drama king, you’re part time help, it’s not slavery,” Yûko reprimanded Watanuki, more for Anakin’s benefit than his.

“Watanuki, did you bring him some clothes?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Watanuki handed Anakin the clothes, it was a shirt, and some pants made of material he didn’t recognize.

“Do I really have to wear these?” he asked.

“In Jedi robes, you look like a cosplayer who got lost the way to a sci-fi convention,” Yûko sniggered at him.

Whatever she said went right over his head, but he understood he should change his clothes. He changed into the shirt and pants and found the pants to be tight and rather uncomfortable.

“What are these pants anyway?” he groused.

“They’re called jeans, you’ll get used to them.

“Come on Skywalker, we’re going out,” Yûko grabbed a bag.

“Where?”

“To get your fortune told.”

“I’m very skeptical; I’ve seen fortunetellers use the Force to make money.”

“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” Yûko smirked.

Anakin rolled his eyes at her.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Anakin jerked his head over at Yûko.

“No, I have to mind the shop while she’s away. You go on with Yûko, it’ll be a good experience for you!” Watanuki waved him off, “You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.”

Anakin burst out laughing, “That sounds like something Obi-Wan would say!”

Watanuki gave him a mysterious smile, the same mysterious smile Yûko gave him when she had quoted Obi-Wan. It was starting to bother him; it was like they knew something he didn’t.

He hurried to catch up to Yûko.

“Humor me, what’s the name of this planet?”

“Earth, we’re in the country of Japan.”

“I see, they must have their own form of writing, I can’t read the signs.”

“Just follow me,” Yûko instructed.

The fortuneteller they visited left Anakin unimpressed. They left the building; Anakin shoved his hands in the pockets of the “jeans” as Watanuki called them.

“They have fortunetellers all over the galaxy. She wasn’t real.”

“Oh, and how do you know that?” Yûko raised an eyebrow at him.

“If she were real, wouldn’t she know I’m not from this planet or this universe at all? It all seemed very general and vague, like what she said could apply to anyone on…Earth, that’s the name of this planet, right?”

“Now we’re going to see a real fortuneteller, she’ll force you to redefine your limits of what’s possible,” Yûko pulled out a yellow handkerchief.

“Fold it in half,” she instructed.

Anakin folded it in half. “Once more,” she told him. He did it again.

Yûko began concentrating, Anakin could sense the energy gathering around her over the fortune table he’d seen in her shop, it wasn’t the Force, it was a spiritual energy.

“Those possessing sight beyond sight, they we seek. That which can find them, rise up now and search! Begin your journey, fly swift and true!” Anakin stared in awe as the handkerchief levitated and became a butterfly, and it flew off into the air.

“It’s a butterfly, it means they’re close by,” Yûko noted.

“Fly high, butterfly!” the furry creature known as Mokona called, Larg was his true name, but everyone who knew him called him Mokona.

Anakin began to follow the handkerchief, “Impressive! Most impressive!”

“It would become a bird if its objective were further away,” Yûko noted as she walked with him.

They arrived at a nondescript building where a kindly old lady greeted them.

The older woman named Oba, smiled at him.

“A traveler from a different dimension, you’re a special one, aren’t you?”

Anakin was surprised, he hadn’t said anything.

They sat down and he placed his hand on a strange device, he watched as it began drawing in the sand.

“Don’t be saddened, your parents are resting quietly and both are at peace,” Oba told him in a soothing tone. “There was a terrible accident that resulted in their death; they gave up their lives protecting yours.”

Anakin was stunned, all his life he had no parents, only his beloved mother, and she’d died in his arms, murdered by Tusken raiders. What did she mean by parents?

A memory from somewhere he couldn’t recall sprang to his mind, a beautiful field with flowers and a large tree. He could hear two voices laughing joyfully. Since when did he have a father? Wasn’t he conceived by the Force itself?

“They want you to know they don’t hurt anymore,” she told him. “This is your previous life, that you don’t remember, but you will.”

A previous life? He was beyond confused, one did not return from the grave after becoming one with the Force. He would have to question Yûko about it.

“You’re very stressed because of your dreams regarding the future. The only way to decipher your future is to let it occur, and think hard on the choices you will make.”

Oba glanced at him. “The power to see the future, it wasn’t yours, it will return to its rightful owner soon.”

Her words brought him nothing but confusion.

“You love your wife very much and that’s why the dreams frighten you. She will have your children, whether you’re with her or not is up to you.”

He looked down at the sand beneath the pendulum and saw that it had created something, a butterfly in the sand.

She smiled. “I can see you did not come here by accident you were brought here. A butterfly is a powerful omen that marks a journey. One that always ends in transformation. The metamorphosis has already begun.”

“I can see you adore your wife, but be careful, possessiveness is a bad trait and you must rein it in or it will end badly for you.”

“You have a teacher with whom you fight a lot, but from this point on your relationship will deepen.”

She looked at him intently. “This is all you wanted to ask, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Anakin managed to smile. “Thank you.”

And just like that, the session was over. Anakin had gone off to chase Mokona, who had decided to raid the kitchen for snacks.

“The butterfly, that’s your signature isn’t it Yûko? Your guidance has set Anakin down a path that will ultimately transform his destiny. I look forward to the end result.”

There was a plaque over on the wall. Written on the paper were the words, “The present world is a dream. Dreams at night are truth.” –Yûko.

“Me too,” she smiled. He was already changing, and she could see it, no longer was he plagued by the fears that had shaped his life. And this was where it would begin, Palpatine wouldn’t stand for losing his prized Apprentice and Anakin had no idea of what hardships he and his companions were about to face, but he would come out stronger in the end.

“Tell me, what’s the weather for tonight’s forecast?” Yûko asked above the rain.

“Scattered showers,” Oba answered as she got to her feet. “But don’t worry, they'll stop by the time you leave.”

“He’s just like Watanuki, isn’t he?” Oba smiled at her friend.

“Yes, in more ways than one,” Yûko glanced over At Anakin, who was trying to keep Mokona out of trouble.

He walked beside her, feeling much lighter and freer than he had felt in what seemed like forever.

“I wish she’d tell me more. About Padmé,” Anakin smiled to himself.

“That’s not allowed.”

“Not allowed?” Anakin queried. “But she can see everything!”

“Is that so? Fortune telling is not a conduit to some preordained biography. It’s a fragile give and take sort of bond between a seer and that which can be seen. Diviners are powerful but they are limited. Not every question has one true answer; that holds true and must be accepted for all matters in life.”

Yûko stared up at the moon.

“There are those that would say otherwise, who would lie about things they can see or pretend to have abilities they don’t. At the very least, they make the rest of us look bad.”

Yûko gave Anakin a very stern look. “Any prediction true or false should not be made lightly. It can still alter a person’s path. So it’s more than rude, it’s dangerous. Just as it’s dangerous for those who possess the gift to risk altering their own path with self divination.”

“And what did she mean by previous life?”

“Many in Japan believe that souls do not die, they are simply reborn either as the same individual or as someone else, most people don’t remember their previous life, but some do, like you will.”

“I don’t understand,” he admitted.

“You will, Annie, you will,” she gave him a smile.

He returned to the shop and changed into his Jedi robes. He glanced down at his chrono. Had he only been gone an hour?! He’d spent the whole day with Yûko on Earth!

“Time flows differently in all dimensions, you’ll get used to it,” she explained.

He headed off to the Jedi Temple, to meditate on what he had experienced.

---

That night Obi-Wan Kenobi tossed and turned in his sleep. He dreamed of things he didn’t understand. He saw two young twins, standing before a great king in a palace on a planet covered in snow. In the fine clothing they wore, they could have been princes, dressed in fur coats to keep them warm from the cold. They were young, beautiful children with blond hair and blue eyes.

Obi-Wan sensed things, but he didn’t understand how he knew them. This world was called Celies, the country was called Valeria. The royal prince had been eagerly anticipating the birth of his son and heir. But to his horror, his consort had birthed twins. Twins were evil. Twins brought sorrow.

His Majesty, the prince, passed away from a sudden illness. Crops failed to grow and the water became impure. The consort committed suicide, killing herself, proclaiming that her life held no more joy because she had borne twins to the Sovereign.

Worse, the cursed twins possessed powerful magics, when they were together and it was said that their power rivaled the Sovereign himself. People whispered that the unhappy twins would usurp the throne if they were allowed to reach maturity, so the Sovereign would punish the twins. But to murder the twins would bring greater devastation, so he would sentence them to a harsher, much crueler fate.

“Oh unhappy twins,” the Sovereign’s voice boomed out to him as guards blocked their path with spears. We will seal your bodies way and with it the calamity you bring. As twins you are damned to sorrow.”

The Sovereign stretched out his hand to them. “And your magics will ensure a lifelong damnation. Dammed at birth.”

The King glared at them with cold eyes, his hatred palpable. “The more sorrow and pain you feel…the greater the kingdom will prosper. The greater the happiness of our people. That is your curse!”

“These twins will be taken by separate paths. To a valley where magics are rendered useless. A valley where time flows at a different pace. One at the top. One at the bottom.”

The unhappy twins keep their eyes forward, on the mad Sovereign sentencing them to a lifelong Hell.

“As twins…you shall live...in great pain and sorrow...and the people shall be happy!”

The Sovereign’s voice rose in rage. “Into the valley where we cast the guilty! The guilty do not deserve to lie in a grave! In the valley, they do not decay. They stay in exactly the same condition as when they were thrown in. Thatis the fate the guilty deserve!”

He looked down on the twins with disdain and hatred.

“It is the most accursed place in our country! If you balk at that fate…choose!” he commanded them. “…One of you must die!”

Simultaneously, the unhappy twins glance at each other, the same faces, the same sad eyes. They grip the other sibling’s hand tightly, determined to never let go of their other half.

The Sovereign gestured, “Then let the twins be taken to the valley! They will never be allowed to leave! NOT UNTIL THE WORLD COMES TO AN END!”

Obi-Wan could see one of the wins, huddled up against a wall, surrounded by dead corpses and white snow. Time and again, he tried to climb the tower all, and every time he fell back to the cold, soft snow.

Yûi, he knew the twins name was Yûi, but how did he know that? He couldn’t remember.

“Not one person here…is still alive,” Yûi turned his eyes upward, ad the high tower where his twin was held captive. If he could climb up he could rescue Fai.

“We’re getting out of here!” he screamed “If I can get out of here I can use magic!”

He propped up a dead corpse to use as a step stool. “And when we get bigger, our magic will be better than the Sovereign’s! Then we’ll go to some other country!”

Yûi clawed desperately at the wall,” trying to climb up. “We’ll go! We’ll go together! FAI!!”

A voice called to him from above, “…Yûi…” It was Fai.

Suddenly, the twin looked up and saw to his astonishment and horror that dozens of dead bodies were raining down on him; he watched them land in the snow, their red blood staining the pure white around him.

“Why…?” Yûi asked. “Why all these people at once…what happened…in Valeria?”

That was when Obi-Wan woke up.