Saga Many Lifetimes -AU -H/L, A/P, L/? - COMPLETE

Chyntuck what she did was forced Anakin to make a choice and make sure that Palpatine died.

Nyota's Heart yes and someone is about to make a breakthrough.

Gemma I've only watched a couple of episodes of Fringe. At the time I made a call not to watch shows that leave me with certain sensations. However some of this is drawn from an episode of (A Town Called) Eureka.

Hazel and AzureAngel2 you both have missed a previous update.


Sorry for the delay; I had some writer’s block and then I got hung up on a name.

For something slightly amusing I was up once for almost twenty-four hours straight. Back in December I accompanied Etan and his parents to an airport so Etan could drive the car back home to save on the parking bill. We left at one-thirty in the morning, I slept about five minutes and dozed on the way down, Etan and I stopped to eat since he can’t eat and drive and got back to our hometown about eight-twenty.

We were both afraid that we were going to fall asleep because we were so tired and then the sun brightened the cloudy sky and the urge to sleep more or less vanished although I did hit the sack not long after arriving home.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Padme was drained mentally and emotionally. She, her children, Han Solo, Amariah and Obi-Wan had been waiting for over an hour for news on Anakin’s condition. Her mind kept flashing back six months ago and how this was almost a repeat. The biggest difference was that Anakin was bleeding out instead of in respiratory distress.

She hadn’t even finished dealing with her daughter’s double and the information she had imparted through recordings.

There were questions that still had to be answered but first they had to check the corpses and see if they had a living double.

Without warning the door to the operating theater slid open. Padme was one of the first of those gathered to stand. She took note of how tired Healer Koi appeared and how she looked almost defeated.

Padme knew then that the prognosis wasn’t good but that her husband was still alive; she would have known if he had passed.

“We were able to stop the bleeding but something is wrong. He told us that he can’t feel touch to his left arm or any from about his knees down however his chest and his throat are highly sensitive to touch. We are considering him fortunate since his respiratory system is not giving him any issues. We are optimistic that all of this is temporary and that he will fully recover from this like last time.” The Jedi Healer reported calmly.

“May I see him?” Padme asked; her voice wasn’t as steady as she would have liked but it didn’t matter as long as she could see her husband.

Healer Koi nodded slowly.

“He is still out of it and needs to rest so don’t keep him awake needlessly. But wait for us to take him to a recovery room before you start your visit.”

“Thank you,” Padme said softly.

xxxxxxx

Coruscant, Skywalker Apartment, 0100 hours . . .

Leia couldn’t sleep, not after what had transpired that day. It had been one thing to read a few log entries that her counterpart had written but it was another thing entirely to see holo recordings or hear her speak and to know that something terrible was possibly on the horizon.

There were more recordings but the Council and the military had decided that it was time to report everything they had discovered to Chancellor Kalena Miskra and bring her into it.

She could still remember looking at her father laid more or less helplessly on the medical couch. He hadn’t talked much during probably because his voice was raspy and barely above a whisper.

Healer Koi had promised that his voice would come back in time though.

Leia found her mind wandering as she stared out into the night. Little by little her mind began to drift to different thoughts when one particular one hit her like a ton of bricks. In the holos her double had her hair in a neat braid but when she had found her double her hair was loose and some of it was covering part of her face. Leia doubted that the woman responsible for the time travel would have undone the braid and her double wouldn’t have been able to do it with what she had claimed was a shaky connection to the Force.

That meant that someone else had undid the braid; that someone else must have been at the base at some point. She didn’t remember hearing or reading a report detailing another body there were just droids that didn’t have the appendages let alone the dexterity to unbraid human hair.

Quickly she retrieved her commlink and punched in the frequency for General Veers. “Veers?” the general responded after a few moments.

“General Veers, I’m sorry to disturb you at such an early hour but it might be important. I believe that at the base where I found . . . Indira’s mother that someone else was there at some point. Was there evidence of another body or anything?” Leia asked as calmly as she could.

“There was no evidence of another body only droids and crystals.” Veers answered. “But we can widen the search to see if we somehow missed something.”

“Someone else was there at some point.” Leia said with certainty; the Force told her that her double had been with someone else besides the female abductor.

“Is that a Force Thing?” Veers asked with some curiosity. Leia frowned slightly, usually those that worked close with the Jedi asked if it was a Jedi Thing when they made comments that to a normal being didn’t make sense.

“Yes, it is.” Leia finally answered.

“I will see about a team going back over evidence gathered from the hidden base and – BLASTED REBEL SCUM! They will pay with their lives for their sedition!” Veers suddenly snapped angrily before the commlink cutoff.

Leia stared in shocked confusion at her now silent commlink.

Xxxxxx

Jedi Temple, 1000 . . .

Anakin stared almost sightlessly out the window of the room he had been placed in to recover. It still felt surreal to remember the sight of his blood and to know that it was leaking from his chest. The Healers had told him that his chest showed extensive damage; as if he had had surgery to his chest before. They had even told him that they could see the signs of scarring on his organs, his rib cage and on his skin.

Healer Koi had informed him that there was no guarantee that new symptoms wouldn’t appear over time along with new problems.

He had already told the Healers that his eyesight wasn’t what it should be and they had confirmed that his eyesight was terrible; he was nearly blind. The Healers had told him that it looked like they had been damaged by exposure to smoke and heat.

The night before he had depended on the Force to tell him exactly where his loved ones stood. The Force Sensitives among them would only assume that he was using the Force to help dull his pain; which he had done that night and was still doing.

Anakin jerked as the hazy medical room vanished and was replaced by a room on a ship. F he had to guess he say that he was on a star destroyer; like before everything was in shades of red. He blinked in quick succession and the view altered showing him the infra-red signatures in the room. Immediately he felt frustration and blinked rapidly twice and the shades of red.

A datapad was in his hands and it had a report with a name highlighted: Luke Skywalker.

Anakin felt confusion and anger every time his gaze landed on the name. He knew that ‘Skywalker’ wasn’t a rare surname but it was uncommon. They had dis-

Then like an overtasked cable he found himself gasping in his assigned medical room. This was the third time he had experienced the ‘Red Vision’ but this was the first time he had seen anything important and experienced emotions beyond annoyance and emptiness.

He choked a few times as he struggled to make sense of what he had seen.

“She plans on traveling back in time.” Anakin whispered as things began to click into place. What had been happening was backlash from the original timeline? This mysterious woman had used Leia somehow to travel back in time and altered the past and what he and others had experienced was what was supposed to be.

Anakin felt his blood freeze in his veins as he remembered how close he had been to siding with Palpatine. He felt his breathing pick up as things clicked into place: he had joined the Sith and been grievously injured at some point.

He could hear the heart monitor beat rapidly as he began to gasp for air as the consequences of what he had done sank in.

Darkness closed in as he began to lose consciousness while the devices wailed in alarm. Maybe it was for the best if he died.


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Aha! Things are indeed clicking into place! But what a cliffie!

 

All caught up and now I'm stuck with a cliffhanger... Nice job, Misty!

 

And of course the moment they begin to make sense of things is when you had to stop. Why oh why? NOT fair!

Okay, well, I'll wait for the next update.

 

Going to work to catch up on this.

 

Lady_Misty, I am always sorry when I miss updates, but my time is very limited these days so I just manage to read updates once a week & perhaps even post an update for my own fic.

Anyway, time travel is always an interesting thing. So many crazy things can happen. There is a lot of running & screaming. Wait, I watch too much Doctor Who... ...

I am still glued to this story, even though I have very little time.

 

Nyota's Heart yes, that was quite the cliffie and now it's resolved.

Hazel well as I was telling Nyota, it's resolved.

Chyntuck the wait is over!!

NightWatcher91 have you caught up?

AzureAngel2 I understaind. I can't watch Doctor Who because of a very over active imagination which can lead to nightmares or unreasonable fears.


I didn’t realize that I wasn’t copying and pasting things correctly which was leading to some errors. I made sure this time though that things are in place.

Enjoy!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jedi Temple, 1400

Obi-Wan felt drained as he sat beside Anakin’s unconscious body. According to the Healers Anakin had been progressing well when the alarms sounded. He had already lapsed into unconsciousness when the Healers had entered the room.

Padme had been so distraught that the Healers had blocked her from most of the Temple. Last he knew she was sitting with some of the Younglings.

Obi-Wan could understand her frustration and fear. He was upset as well with Anakin’s condition. Anakin had been on the path to recovery and the Healers were puzzled by why there had been a jump in his vitals but they were optimistic that he wouldn’t suffer any ill effects.

Slowly Anakin’s eyes flickered open. His eyes appeared to be more or less sightless as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Obi-Wan, what happened?” Anakin whispered, lowering his gaze to stare at him with clouded eyes.

“Your heart rate and breathing picked up without warning and you passed out a few minutes later.” Obi-Wan answered calmly.

The light drained from Anakin’s eyes and his Force Signature filled with utter self-loathing. “I remember.” He whispered as he purposely returned his gaze to the ceiling.

Alarms rang in Obi-Wan’s mind as he watched his friend and former student slowly slip into anger and despair. Something was terribly wrong with Anakin.

“I joined him.” Anakin stated, his voice was thick with grief and shame. “That night over twenty years ago I was supposed to join Sidious, destroy the Jedi and help him subjugate the galaxy.”

The Force whispered that what Anakin had said was the truth or at least that he believed that it was the truth and that chilled Obi-Wan to the bone.

“Anakin,” he began in a calm but firm voice, “right now what you would have done or was supposed to do doesn’t matter. What matters right now is that you decided to kill Sidious when you did instead of siding with him.”

Anakin’s face twisted for a few moments in disgust and pain before he actually looked at him. Obi-Wan could only guess at what was going through Anakin’s mind.

“Tell my family and Apprentice that I’m awake and what to see them; if the Healers will let them.” Anakin told him with a faint smile.

Xxxxxx

Luke couldn’t erase the frown from his face. His father was off and after they had caught Chancellor Miskra up on everything that they knew. It was hard for anyone to believe but since the dead bodies that they had found did indeed have living doubles there was proof.

The only missing factor was his sister’s belief that someone else besides the time traveler had been with her double at the base. The base had been nearly torn apart when they understood the full implications of the giant kyber crystals looking not just for the ‘missing’ ones but to see if there were more hidden and any files hinting at their final destination.

The only things they had found were a cloak that most likely had belonged to ‘Leia’ and several cloths stained heavily in several places with ‘Leia’s’ blood. Scans had been performed on the cloths in hopes of identifying their mysterious human female since there were so many in the field of genetics and they had no idea her age either. That had proven fruitless; Leia’s DNA was the only DNA on the cloths and there were no prints of any kind on them. It was as if someone had used the Force to wipe the blood off her.

It was possible that she had wiped the blood from her arms herself but not only did she claim that she had limited control of the Force but the cloths had been found hidden in a supply closet down the hall. Yes, she could have used the Force to move them to the supply closet but not hide them in a small crate that was behind a larger crate.

Her abductor would have had no reason to hide them and there had been a bin to throw things in. According to tests that had been conducted on the bin someone, possibly ‘Leia’ had vomited in the bin several, different, times and someone had emptied it.

He turned his thoughts back to his father and how troubled his father was underneath the surface.

He was healing and the Healers said that they saw him recovering from it even if they couldn’t explain why the two previous medical emergencies had happened.

Luke thought that it was possible that in the other time line that his father had been injured severely and it was bleeding over.

Leia had said that someone had cut off their father’s remaining arm and both of his legs before they watched him burn alive. Then some time later someone had his father rescued from wherever he was burning alive and had medical droids repair his many injuries. It made sense if his father had been severely burned that the medical droids would have been cautious about how treating his injuries. But if the Sith were responsible for both his injuries and his recovery it would make sense that they would want their destroyer to suffer if they had won.

His thoughts went back to several months ago when Amariah had been viciously attacked and had begged for her life; even offered someone’s head to prove her loyalty. It still sent shivers through him Sensing her acute fear of the being hurting her.

Luke just hoped that they could either breakaway from the other time line. He didn’t think he could handle it if they could walk back and forth between the two or see thing that had or were happening.

Slowly he touched his right wrist as he remembered the pain and the numbness he had experienced that night over six months ago.

Hopefully ‘Leia’ had left some clues to how to break the connection or . . . or stop the woman from either traveling back in time or stop her from performing her bantha brained idea.

Xxxxxx

Jedi Temple, Situation Room, six hours later . . .

Anakin sat in a hover chair waiting for the politicians to arrive so that they could start the recordings again. He should really still be in the Halls of Healing but he had asked to come and between, his, his wife, children, Padawan and former Master’s assurances that if he showed any signs of physical distress they would bring him back to the Halls of Healing.

Soon they would play the rest of ‘Leia’s’ recordings and see if she revealed anything they could use.

What puzzled him was who the ‘him’ his daughter had referred to on several occasions in the recordings and entries was. She appeared to be angry with the individual but would ask them for help if she needed to.

They might never know.

Finally they started the next holo recording.

An image of ‘Leia’ appeared on the holo table in the middle of the room. She looked drastically different than from the last recording. Traces of blood stained her forearms and her hair hung in her face.

‘Leia’ was staring at them, her teeth were gritted in pain before her face abruptly went flat. Then she rattled off a string of numbers, letters and a few words. The first thing that Anakin noticed along with everyone else was that her accent was obviously different than it had been in the other recordings. It was puzzling.

Without warning ‘Leia’ stared at them solemnly. “She needs your help, I need your help; they won’t arrive in time to stop her.” With that the recording jumped back to the beginning.

Anakin could only stare dumbly. He didn’t understand what that recording was all about but it was odd.

Finally they were back at the ‘she needs help, I need help’.

It finally clicked in Anakin’s mind what ‘Leia’ was saying over and over again. It was something that if his suspicions were correct his daughter would never know: one of his codes from the Clone Wars.

Letting the Force guide him he called the code in unison with ‘Leia’ as loudly as he could. The recording paused for a moment before jumping a bit showing ‘Leia’ grimacing in pain. “May the Force be with us.” She said in her regular accent while an invisible hand ran one of the cloths over her bloodstained right forearm.

The holo jumped showing ‘Leia’ more or less limp on the crate she had been sitting on. “She did something and I saw so many possibilities. I saw my brother and I as toddlers playing with our father waiting for our mother to come home. In another I saw myself a loyal citizen of the Empire and that I was raised by my father. In another I was a street child and member of Han’s crew; I didn’t give three blades of grass about who won the war as long as there was work. In another I was raised by my parents on Tatooine with siblings and cousins. I have never felt anything like it and honestly I hope to never feel anything like it again.”

Without warning ‘Leia’ gasped and looked at something that wasn’t in the recording. “Please get me out of these cuffs, it feels like they are digging into my flesh!” A long pause with no sound but her face fell. “She’s crazy, she thinks that she can use me to travel back in time and stop the Emperor from taking over the Republic. Apparently something about my blood matches blood samples from some being that the Emperor wanted her and a team to study. She thinks that by using me that she will be able to change the past.”

Another long pause and her face morphed into a look of pure horror. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She whispered. “How do we stop her? You said that Luke and Han won’t be here for close to a day and that she will be ready in less than five hours. Is there any way that you can get me out of these?” Someone moved the cuffs and ‘Leia’ winced in pain.

“The Kawa? Are you referring to the Monks that killed half of a delegation of peaceful members of the Rebellion for no reason? What did we ever do to them to rile them?” Another long pause and ‘Leia’ looked incredulous. “They didn’t want us to restore the Republic because they blamed the Republic for the murder of a third of their Royal Family and the disappearance of two more?! Do they think that the Empire would have cared either?”

‘Leia’s’ eyes widened in shock and she looked sick. “The abductors blew the six year old heir out of the airlock and they claimed that someone was doing a favor for Chancellor Bisset by attacking the Kawan Royal Family and there was proof linking him to the incident!” She started to cry. “She must have been so scared.”

“But that was years ago! Killing beings will never bring back the dead.”

After a bit she stopped crying. “Yes I’m still recording for some reason. I pity those that watch this since they probably think I’m insane since I’m talking to no one that they can see.”

Another pause and she looked confused. “Are you sure you want to?” She asked her invisible companion. “Okay,” she stared ahead for a few moments before she gasped and twitched a bit before she blinked a few times before wincing.

“I forgot what metal on skin felt like.” She said in the accent from earlier.

“So how are we going to do this?” She asked in her own accent.

“We talk so they can follow the conversation. I don’t have a name for her but I believe I can get you out of these but if that fails than we will have to let her create an alternate time line and then have someone rescue you from it.” The odd accent was back.

‘Leia’s’ jaw fell.

“That’s your fall back plan?” She demanded.

“I will make a list of names of beings and they can send one of them. It will have to be someone that is dead here since if they are alive then they will just end up in their own body wherever that is.” She responded in the accent again.

“It better work.” She responded.

The recording was abruptly paused. “What is going on in this recording?” Someone demanded. Anakin was wondering that as well.

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The possibilities that Canon Leia sees are from ‘Dark Angel’, ‘The Chosen One’ and two plot bunnies waiting to be written.

 

Fascinating Misty! Mystifying and intriguing! I hope, like Luke, that they won't keep merging time lines long enough to solve the issues of melding identities. Like, which one am I?

 

I second Ny's comment. Great weaving of the plot!


Killing beings will never bring back the dead.

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

This plot is surely getting denser and denser each time. And I forgot to breath in between reading. I also cannot stop feeling sorry for the other "Leia".

Still dizzy from reading here and the lack of air...

 

Nyota's Heart thank you for the praise. Hopefully the will heed some advice that will go a long way to preventing that.

Hazel that's why revenge is so pointless.

AzureAngel2 take a deep breath . . . now let it out. And don't forget to breathe.


Well, Many Lifetimes is beginning to wind down. I expect there to be another two chapters before this one is finished. I will be pleased when I finish it since it will mean one less fic to worry about.

I apologize how I left ML last time but we start up right where we left off.

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“Obviously she is and someone else are discussing things that they felt we needed to know.” Anakin answered with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Around the room several beings chuckled and even more beings radiated amusement.

“A Force Ghost her companion is. Hear him we cannot if he and she don’t use the same mouth.” Everyone turned to look at Master Yoda who had broken his silence since the recording had started playing.

It was ludicrous to hear Master Yoda speak not only of anyone retaining their sense of self after joining the Force but to use a living being to speak through. But hadn’t he, Anakin, seen and spoken to Qui-Gon Jinn on Mortis?

“Master Yoda, why do you think that someone managed to retain their identity after death and why would Leia allow them to control her?” Obi-Wan asked.

“They knew my passcodes.” Anakin answered. “Why would she know the passcodes that I used during the Clone Wars? The little we know about the other time line suggests that Darth Sidious took over and they had to bring him down. I bet everyone free speeder upgrades that any Jedi that survived Order 66 in her time line couldn’t use their codes since there would be alerts in the system and possibly even for the deceased ones. But-”

Anakin paused as it dawned on him what he was saying: the supposed Force Ghost in her had rattled off his passcodes in an accent when he thought about it sounded not too different from his own. The Force Ghost in his daughter was him.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about this revelation. He had assumed that he had turned to the Dark Side but there appeared to be more to the story than he thought.

“Are the cuffs on her wrists Kawa?” Veers asked.

“The design of the cuffs on the surface appear to be Kawa in origin but there are elements from both the Jedi and Sith in the entire system. I would have to examine all of the pieces of the device to determine exactly which group created it.” Madame Jocasta Nu answered.

“What if the device was made by combining separate devices?” Anakin suggested. “The Ghost apparently thought that the cuffs at least were Kawa since he apparently voices as much to her. But if he had any other suspicions she didn’t repeat them with the exception of the Kawa. There might be more answers further in.”

Xxxxx

Leia watched with equal measures or curiosity and foreboding as the holo recording was started up.

“So let’s attempt to get out of these cuffs.” The Force Ghost in her double commented. “I suspect that they are tapping into your veins so I am going to try something first before I do what I have planned.”

“Alright,” she responded calmly.

Her eyes slid shut and it appeared that she was concentrating or the Force Ghost was at least. At first there was no visible change but slowly her fingers got thinner and her hands took on the appearance of being cybernetic replacements before reverting.

“Well, now we know that they are tapping into your blood supply. Now it’s time to try get out of them.” The Ghost commented.

“What did you do?” She asked almost suspiciously. “It felt like I lost almost all sensation in my fingers and hands for a minute.”

A wry smile came to her face, “for that minute your hands and fingers were metal cybernetic replacement. I had to figure out how deep the needles in the cuffs go and if I could get around them. I learned by going metal that they wouldn’t allow me to make your wrists cybernetic but they allowed me to alter your legs and a few other things.”

“Is that why I lost almost all sensation in my legs?” She asked.

“Yeah, I had to make sure that cuffs would allow me to change your body without accidentally damaging anything permanently.” The Force Ghost answered calmly.

Leia sniffed but suddenly she hopped oddly so that she was almost crouching on the crate.

“This is most likely going to be painful.” The Force Ghost warned Leia before she visibly started to change and the cuffs suddenly dug what appeared to be thick needles into the area below her wrists and a howl of both shock and pain ripped from her mouth as they both conveyed their emotions.

To Leia’s ears it sounded as if her double was the one in the physical pain while the Force Ghost was the one that was more shocked by the tightening of the cuffs than in actual pain.

Quickly the changes reversed and tears of agony raced down Leia’s cheeks. Blood was also running down her forearms from the cuffs.

“What happened?” she whispered, her voice shaking; no doubt in pain.

“The cuffs are modified Kawa bracelets. The Monks use them for many things. One of them is to test just how in tune with the Force members of the Royal Family are and those that wish to join their order. Standard tests can confirm just how many Midi-Chlorians a being has but in a group where only a select few are given to the Jedi Order and the rest lead normal lives they need to know how much they allow the Force to guide them. A true set of Kawa cuffs can be picked or otherwise opened if the wearer is naturally more in tune with the Force; they instinctively know how to open them. These though were modified not as an added test but for someone powerful; possibly the head of a Shrine or Sanctuary or even the ruler. A Kawa Monk told me once that they had a planetary defense system that all their leaders could connect with using the Force to defend their worlds from attackers. These cuffs might have been part of the system and were repurposed by the Sith or perhaps even the Jedi to power is machine to send beings back in time. But these cuffs have been altered beyond that.” The Ghost explained.

“What makes you so sure?” Leia asked.

‘A Kawa Monk invited me to wear a set, that I didn’t learn until later was reserved for the Royal Family, I agreed and while the hidden needles dug into my skin they didn’t puncture my skin and they sure didn’t have a mild electrical shock running along the top of them. Someone doesn’t want these to come off unless some sort of device tells them to disengage.” The Ghost explained.

“So we do have to go with ‘Plan B’ even if it has a chance of failing.” Leia said.

“We will just mess up her plan.” The Ghost commented. “We will insure that there is a lot of leak through: wreckage of ships and equipment, the remains of the dead and if we are very lucky rifts will form and those that perished will for a few moments see or experience what should be; the unlucky ones at random times experience or see things of what they should be doing.”

“It should be something big so they can’t ignore it.” Leia added.

“People with a deceased double, seeing the Jedi Temple in ruins, suddenly bleeding from wounds that just appeared and the remnants of savage battles aren’t enough?” The Ghost asked.

“I’m just saying that it needs to be something that they can’t ignore like-”

“We are NOT devastating the Alderaan System and potentially destroying it by transferring the shattered remnants of Alderaan and the effects to an innocent system. We run the chance of killing untold billions as rocks fall from the sky and leave a wake of destruction or collide with ships in the system as space rocks that weren’t there seconds ago appear out of nowhere. Orbital paths would run the risk of being thrown off as the planets try to decide whether or not Alderaan is still there or not.” The Ghost snapped.

“Then what do you suggest?” Leia asked, sounding both frustrated and annoyed.

“You,” the Ghost said. “The aim might be off and to do it we run the risk that it might take them time to find you but since she is planning on traveling back to a year before the end of the Clone Wars then it will work. But we might have to push you sideways so to speak so you aren’t here for too long. The odds are good that the Jedi will find this place quickly since if they understand the depths of Sidious’s plans they are going to want to round up all the giant Kyber Crystals to make sure that none of his allies can put them to use but to make sure I can make sure that you only arrive in the altered time line when people are here to investigate.”

“You’re going to have to make that list.” Leia commented. “And can you clean the blood off my arms? She’s going to be suspicious when she comes back and sees it.”

“I’m going to put a safeguard on this datapad as well. If she discovers it she won’t learn what we are planning until it’s too late.” The Ghost said. “I’ll get something to clean your arms and then put them someplace so they can’t deny that something is up.”

The recording turned to static for a few seconds before clearing up.

“Okay, all the safeguards are in place and only three people can get passed the different codes I gave.” The Ghost commented. “This piece is for the being that you choose to send to prevent the perversion of the time line. Sadly you need to be able to tap into the Force somewhat so Bail Organa and Padme Amidala are out; along with Master Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, any and all Skywalkers and anyone that is on the second list. The lucky or unlucky being that fits the bill during an upheaval in the Force will have to push through any and all disruptions and latch onto the point where everything is calm and pull themselves there. Be prepared for an entirely new galaxy that is painfully familiar but mind as well be a new, unexplored planet.”

With that the recording ended.

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I do not envy the being that volunteers to stop everything. They will be lost.

 

Ooh, what a complicated plan/strategy! But if it works... and things are fixed up, probably no one will remember that things were ever messed up, which is a mercy.

 

Wow, this is getting darker and more tricky every time! But I still love reading it and getting surprised.

 

Nyota's Heart plans are complicated at times. Well there will be one unfortunate soul that will remember.
AzureAngel2 I never imagined this as dark but I guess this is fairly dark.
Hazel

Hey everyone!

Just a quick heads-up I will not be on the ‘net tomorrow, Thursday and perhaps Friday. My mom has declared as least two of those days as tech free. Since I live at home I follow the rules that she sets like this.

Okay, not much happens in this chapter; at least I don’t think much happens.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Amariah Jaeger felt some tears run down her face even as she struggled to control her emotions. Her life was a lie. A rather compelling argument could be made that her life wasn’t a lie because it was all real but to know that someone had robbed her of what her life was supposed to be was upsetting.

She was angry, confused and afraid.

A hand suddenly touched her arm, startling her. Taking a deep, cleansing breath she turned and looked into the slightly clouded eyes of her Master. He was still seated in the hover chair but she could Feel him giving her strength and reassurance that everything would be okay even though he, like her, was still coming to terms with everything.

“Will I cease to exist?” she asked her Master softly; unsure what kind of answer she was hoping for let alone wanted.

“The Amariah Jaeger before me will but the odds are good that you are alive and well in the true time line.” He told her; his voice might be raspy but she Felt the conviction in it.

“What if I’m not?” she asked; not sure if never existing was worse than dying prematurely.

“Then maybe you can be the one to go and stop her; if you’re not on the list.” He told her as his face twisted into a mask of pain.

“Master?” she asked, concern filled her as she searched the Force for the reason behind his pain.

“I will be fine.” He told her with a slight smile. “I doubt my counterpart was as lucky as I was. He was nearly killed but couldn’t die until he fulfilled his destiny. Now and then I can feel his pain physically, mentally and emotionally.”

Amariah felt herself blanch at the thought. She couldn’t imagine living a half-life if she had a destiny that needed to be fulfilled.

“If I had a destiny what do you think it is?” she asked; curious and desperate for something to occupy her mind.

“I don’t think you have a special destiny Amariah but perhaps here your destiny was to help me move beyond my pain over the loss of my first Padawan. There the odds are good that you fell into the hands of the Sith as a young child and trained to serve the Sith. I don’t know what your fate there was since the Sith were killed; I suspect that with your harsh treatment you might have either been killed by Sidious or killed when he sent you after someone that you weren’t ready to face.

“Remember Amariah that whatever happened to you there doesn’t matter. What really matters is how you handle the knowledge you have now.” He told her as he pushed himself to the standing position and used his flesh hand to lift her chin. “I have faith in you Amariah.”

With a final smile he slowly limped away from her towards Master Yoda and Chancellor Miskra. She quickly hurried after him so he could lean on her for support.

“You should have stayed in the chair.” She chided him with a small smile.

He laughed and gave her a genuine smile.

“I would rather suffer my counterpart’s fate then stay in that chair when I can still move under my own power.” He informed her.

Xxxxxxx

Padme wasn’t sure how to react to what she had seen and heard. It broke her heart to think of what her children must have endured. She had noticed how the other Leia had spoken about the other possible futures that she hadn’t been raised with Luke, her father or mother.

What had happened in the time line she was from? From what she said it was obvious that Palpatine had succeeded in taking over the galaxy. Something catastrophic had befallen Alderaan since the Force Ghost had thought that Leia was insane for wanting to bring destruction to the Alderaan System through whatever transferring process had been used to move the wreckage of ships, equipment and bodies to this time line. She felt ill as she remembered the exact wording the Ghost had used: devastating the Alderaan System by transferring the shattered remnants of Alderaan and that millions could be killed by debris and rocks that weren’t there a few moments ago.

“What could destroy a planet?” she asked.

“The giant Kyber Crystals could have been part of a weapon that could theoretically reduce a world like Alderaan to rocks.” Obi-Wan mused. “We did find mentions of a large space station that Palpatine was building or hoped to build that the crystals might have been meant for. One Kyber Crystal alone could cause a lot of damage depending on the level power reflected off of it.”

Padme felt ill at the thought of a weapon that had the power that could annihilate entire planet. It was sickening. She was so lost in her own horror she barely felt her legs give away or feel her son catch her before she could fall all the way to the floor.

“Mom, are you okay?” Luke asked, his voice was tinged with worry.

Padme blinked a few times, slowly coming back to the room and could see that everyone was looking at her with different levels of concern. Anakin was even heading back over to her with Amariah’s aid.

“I think I could use a chair after a reveal like that.” She admitted; making sure that her voice would carry to everyone in the room.

“Do we have the datacard they talked about?” she asked, changing the subject as she allowed Luke to help her stand.

Anakin nodded.

“It was hidden pretty well in the datapad; someplace that I would have hidden it if I didn’t want it found by the average person. Masters Yoda, Windu, Mundi and Koon are looking over it with the Chancellor; comparing it with the lists of living trained Force Sensitives. Apparently it’s a mixture of typed and spoken; so far there are a few names that we know and a few that we don’t. We will be mediating later on the names and try to figure who the names are and who we should send.” He informed them.

“Is there a way to sever us from them?” Padme asked; knowing that the answer was that it was impossible to separate them. After all the time line had been forcefully altered by someone and the Force wasn’t going to allow it to stand now that the door had been opened.

Besides how could she knowingly allow her daughter to suffer and die because someone used her to power some kind of ‘time portal’.

Anakin shrugged, “it might be possible but I don’t think her ghost friend left that possibility open to us. Besides it might lead to heavy consequences for us.” He told her.

After a moment he wrapped his arms around her and she almost melted at his touch. She started to sob uncontrollably at the thought of a space station capable of destroying entire worlds and an end that was approaching.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Just as a quick FYI someone that isn’t Force Sensitive could time travel but not in the method that they need someone to time travel. I mean an average being can’t use the Force so that they can’t pinpoint where they need to go verses sort of dialing in a general arrival date and jumping in.

 

I enjoyed the conversation with Amariah, very assuring & I can totally understand Padme's shocked reaction.

 

After a moment he wrapped his arms around her and she almost melted at his touch. She started to sob uncontrollably at the thought of a space station capable of destroying entire worlds and an end that was approaching.

At least the two of them have a gentle moment. I fear though there is much distress & sorrow ahead.

 

WarmNyota_SweetAyesha thank you!

AzureAngel2 there is a lot of distress and sorrow ahead.


This is the last chapter so i want to thank everyone that has read and reviewed and liked. Thank you for your support and thoughts.


Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later . . .

Luke Skywalker couldn’t quite find the peace he needed in meditation but he needed to do something besides pace or stress about something that he couldn’t change.

There was nothing he could do to change anything.

“What do you suppose it will be like?” He asked no one in particular, “to cease to exist even in the Force?”

“I don’t know,” his sister answered. “I imagine that we will just float away like smoke on a breeze. It might be a relief in the end though. The Force has never been quite right according to the Masters since about the time this interloper arrived and started to create all of this.”

Luke just nodded; there really wasn’t anything he could think to add or rebuff her comments.

“Perhaps part of us will become part of the other us.” Amariah suggested.

Luke almost laughed at the thought but maybe Amariah had a point. That might be their fate. He wondered what that might be like for the other Luke to suddenly have memories or thoughts that weren’t his own.

“As much as vanishing into nothing upsets me I wouldn’t wish someone to suddenly have memories or beliefs that aren’t theirs to begin with.” He stated with conviction so strong it almost surprised him but he knew he meant every word.

“We won’t cease to exist Luke,” his father stated gently. “We will become part of the Force with no memories and become one of the many possibilities that could have been if things had turned out differently.”

Xxxxxxx

Half an hour later . . .

Amariah took several deep breaths to help center herself. She would be the one attempting to punch through the shifting of the Force, Time and Space.

At least she wasn’t going to be alone; at least not completely. The Masters would help push her but it would be up to her to latch on to the other Leia and fight her way to Leia’s side.

She closed her eyes and prepared herself. They didn’t know how much time they had but the Force had whispered ‘soon’.

Amariah wondered if it would hurt or if it would be painless or if the pain would come later. She was prepared either way to sever the bonds powering the device either way and collapse in pain afterwards.

It was fortunate that the actual controls for the device were elsewhere in the base than where Leia had been attached to it.

Disquiet grew in the Force and she knew her time was up.

Blinking back tears she looked one last time at her friends from where she stood in the circle of Masters and Knights before she closed her eyes and Reached into the Force picturing her destination in her mind.

At first there was nothing then she was buffeted by the Force and Sensations. She could Feel death and destruction but she didn’t know why or where.

The ground underneath her suddenly lurched and Amariah stumbled into a wall. Her eyes flew open and she realized she was at the base. She steadied herself and ran down the corridor; lightsaber in hand.

She focused on the room at the end of the corridor where this timeline’s Leia was chained to a wall and being used as a power source. She could Feel she didn’t have a lot of time.

Amariah burst into the room, quickly ignited her lightsaber she sliced the odd cuffs free of the cables that attached Leia to the machine before deactivating the blade to catch a suddenly free Leia.

It hurts to see Leia stare at her with no recognition when the two women had known each other for years but that was Leia Skywalker later Solo, this Leia was a stranger to her.

“Thank you,” Leia said and immediately went to attempt to remove the cuffs that were still attached to her wrists.

Amariah quickly grabbed Leia’s hands; stopping her from touching the cuffs; remembering all too well the damage that had been done to her wrists. “There are needles digging into your flesh to access your veins; you need to leave them alone until you see a medical droid.”

Leia’s presence flickered with pain and annoyance but she did nod in acquiesce.

Even though Amariah wanted to search the base for the woman she didn’t dare leave Leia alone; not in her condition.

Amariah and Leia waited there for what felt like hours; waiting for the woman to come and see what had done wrong but she failed to arrive.

Time slowly trickled by but no one appeared and Amariah couldn’t Sense anyone in the compound beside her and Leia.

“I think she fled.” She said, breaking the silence.

“I believe you are correct; I did not Sense a Disturbance in the Force so she must have fled.” Leia commented.

Amariah cursed under her breath; the woman was in the wind and free to strike again.

“She would need a Skywalker to defy the Laws of the Force.” A familiar voice stated.

Amariah looked up and saw a person she never thought she was going to ever see again. “Master!” she cried in joy and threw herself at him only to land on the floor.

A hand gently touched her but it didn’t feel like a normal hand. It didn’t seem to be solid and she couldn’t feel any details about the hand touching her.

She looked up and stared into the eyes of Anakin Skywalker; he was partially transparent but she could tell that he was looking at her thoughtfully.

“What is your name?” he asked her.

“I’m Amariah Jaeger, a Jedi Padawan from the other world.” She answered; her stomach twisted as she thought about the world she had left behind and how she was the only one left.

“Do you know her?” Leia asked warily.

“I don’t know the young woman here but I recognize her features and the core of her Force Presence. I knew her as Seeker Eight. She was used mostly for mental and emotional manipulation at his orders. He killed her when she accidentally stumbled onto something.” Anakin Skywalker stated.

Amariah felt empty. She suspected that her fate here hadn’t been good but to hear from her Mas- Anakin Skywalker, that she had been trained for mental and emotional manipulation and had been killed for learning something someone hadn’t wanted her to know.

“Was it painless?” she asked softly.

Anakin’s face twisted into a sorrowful expression and she felt the pit of her stomach drop.

“I don’t know how he killed her; but knowing his reputation and methods it must have been painful in some fashion and depending on what she had learned he would have seen it as a final punishment as well.” He answered.

She couldn’t stop the tears that fell and neither did she really want too. She had lost everything and within a few moments had learned that here her counterpart had had no name and been murdered.

“We need a name for her.” Leia’s voice said; startling Amariah out of her tears.

“Can’t I just use my real name?” she asked, puzzled.

“No,” Anakin began, “as far as the records of the galaxy are concerned Amariah Jaeger did exist and she did have a family but they remember her being taken away by Imperials and never learning her fate. It is rather well known what happened to the children taken by a certain branch of the Imperial Military and you might find yourself either having to answer questions you don’t have the answer for or dodge people trying to kill you because they wrongfully believe that you are a Dark Sider.” He told her.

Amariah felt lightheaded as she processed what was just said. She would rather keep her name but if it would only cause problems maybe it would be better to take a new name.

“As a youngling, my pet name in the training halls was ‘Mara’ but I discarded it when I grew older.” She said.

“She still needs a last name.” Anakin muttered.

“Jade,” Leia said. “We can give her the last name Jade. It’s an actual last name and, depending on where we end up saying she’s from, one that won’t raise much in the way of suspicions.”

Mara, formally Amariah, stared at them for a few moments.

“Does it all have to be decided right now?” she asked; overwhelmed by everything that would have to be done.

“No, we will need a database to help us set you up with a new name and background that will hold up and that is satisfactory to you.” Anakin answered.

Xxxxxxxxx

Coruscant, Three days later . . .

Luke Skywalker felt bad for the misplaced young woman. He couldn’t imagine what it had to be like to have lost everything and having to move on. She would have to relearn the last twenty plus years of Galactic History, a new personal history, acclimate to a different galaxy and new name.

What made things worse is that she would never be able to talk openly about what she had lost or who she truly was. No one would believe her or attempt it themselves.

She had spoken a bit about it to him but he Sensed that she was uncomfortable at times. He understood, she had been open about who she had known in the other timeline; that she had known the other versions of Leia and him.

It must hurt to see such familiar faces but you no longer share the same memories or experiences. For a moment Luke imagined what it would be like if someone dropped the alternate version of Biggs Darklighter into his life. Biggs most likely wouldn’t have known him and, going from what little A-Mara had told them they probably only rarely visited their aunt and uncle and without the War Biggs would have had little reason to leave Tatooine; even if the Republic had stepped in and helped make life better he might not have felt there was a reason to leave or if he had the odds were good he wouldn’t have met the son and daughter of a Jedi Master and politician. Mara certainly didn’t remember meeting anyone from Tatooine with the last name ‘Darklighter’.

Mara would always struggle to fit in and he wouldn’t blame her if she decided to leave and make a new and different life for herself instead of sticking around and finishing her Jedi Training.

He didn’t expect her to decide for some time but at the same time he wouldn’t be surprised if one day Han, Leia and he woke up to find that Mara had left in the middle of the night.

He hoped she wouldn’t but he wouldn’t force her to stay either; she needed time to heal and move on with her life and if that meant being on the opposite side of the galaxy living under a virtual rock than maybe it would be the best thing for her.

She already had had problems when she learned that many of the people she had known and cared about in the Republic Military were either dead or had served a corrupt Regime; doing terrible things. Her memories of them forever tainted by her new knowledge; she had almost shut down when his father informed her that he had joined Sidious instead of defeating him here.

Luke sadly shook his head to help dispel his increasingly gloomy thoughts.

Whatever decision Mara made they would do their best to support her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


End

 

Super conclusion. Successful but with full of untapped possibilities and choices for Mara.

 

Oh am I glad to see this story back, because I have been wondering for all this time how it ended! And the conclusion doesn't disappoint. I suspected for a while that Amariah was some version of Mara, but I just loved how you made her Mara here -- and the idea that both timelines are AUs to the canon timeline was an interesting twist.

I also greatly enjoyed the glimpse into scenarios that you've developed in other stories. I'm going to have to do some serious catching up here! Congrats oon finishing this