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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

That You Might Live (sequel to I'm Your What?)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction Stories--Classic JC Board (Reply-Only)' started by Vee, Aug 5, 2000.

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  1. Anakin's Angel

    Anakin's Angel Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2000

    Eerie post, JG! Liked it though...and must now wait for more [face_sigh] ;D

    aa :D
     
  2. Darth Padme

    Darth Padme Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 22, 1999
    Yay! I'm so excited-another good sequel of an Ani+Ami story! Can't wait til the next post. Keep up the good work!
     
  3. Alpha_Ferdante

    Alpha_Ferdante Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    May 28, 1999
    Love the sequel so far. I'm having to knock some fog from my brain and figure out which end is up and what time everyone is in, but I'll get there. ;)

    I agree that your last post, JG, was very eerie. Gives me the shivers.
     
  4. BelleBayard

    BelleBayard TFN Fan Fiction Archive Editor star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2000
    Talk about a Phantom Menace! Yikes! Brrrrr....Great post!
     
  5. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    I'm sketching a scene out (in longhand for some reason) that should explain what's going on a little better. And hopefully not break momentum *too* much.

    Yeah, Palpy in hiding is a pretty creepy dude.
     
  6. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Ghhg, it's hard to do exposition without doing exposition.... Hope this is helpful.
    ---------
    Qui-Gon always looked almost comically uncomfortable in the large, high-backed chair in the Council Room. He shifted this way and that, trying to look sage and dignified. Anakin grinned at the sight of him. His master could find deep meditative calm on the front lines of a battle, but the council chamber couldn't hold him still.

    "Anakin!" he said, rising. "I'm pleased to see you. You look well."

    Anakin embraced him. "Master. I was glad to hear you were back." He wagged a finger with mock sternness. "At your age, you shouldn't be wandering around the Outer Rim. You should be here, in the restful atmosphere of Coruscant."

    "Much more of the restful atmosphere of Coruscant is going to kill me." He looked over Anakin's shoulder, then reached out a hand to Amidala. "You are lovelier than ever," he said. "I apologize for calling you away from your Senate duties on such short notice."

    She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. Qui-Gon, nearly alone among the Jedi, had accepted her presence with open arms, and Anakin knew she loved him dearly for it. "We all know that my business with the Senate is ephemeral, Master," she said.

    "Perhaps not as ephemeral as we've thought. I have been considering this. As has Obi-Wan."

    Anakin cleared his throat. "Speaking of whom?"

    "He is still in the outer rim, investigating a series of attacks near the world of Anosham. I spoke with him before I returned."

    Anakin nodded, ashamed that he felt some relief at Kenobi's absence. He'd grown to respect Kenobi, and even, in some ways, to consider him the brother he'd never known. But he couldn't deny that the man still had a way of making him feel like he didn't quite measure up to expectations.

    Amidala pulled a small chair out from behind Qui-Gon's Council seat. He kept these for his frequent meetings. Anakin didn't take one. He had his own Council seat. He felt no more comfortable in it than Qui-Gon did, but it seemed disrespectful to the office to choose other seating in the room. "You were saying?" she prodded.

    Qui-Gon sat on the arm of his chair, one foot still planted on the floor. He had aged gracefully and slowly, and in fact looked no older than Obi-Wan. "Yes, of course. I've been considering our unusual situation of late. I wonder if we have been too quick to simply dismiss this timeline as 'false' or 'contrived.'"

    "I don't understand," Anakin said. "We know this isn't what happened when we were left to our own devices."

    "Neverthess, it is what happened when we were fully informed."

    "I'm not sure I understand, either," Amidala said. "We know that the twins... "

    Qui-Gon held up a hand. "I am not suggesting that the other line was false. We know it exists. We have seen it and tasted it. And because we know it is what happened without our conscious actions, we assume that it is somehow truer.

    "But that isn't necessarily so.

    "Amidala, you once told me that you thought of our experience as spinning a thread. It is as apt an analogy as any. Before our voyage through time, our timeline and the timeline we visited were a single strand. But because of the visit, the strand split."

    Anakin sighed. This wasn't new information, but Qui-Gon refused to explain any new insight until he had fully explained his reasoning for arriving there.

    Amidala just raised her eyebrow. "And when we found out, we created a branch timeline -- "

    "No, no... that's where I think the error in our thinking lies. It's a strange sort of fatalism, to believe that the life we choose informed is less valid than the life we choose uninformed."

    "Is this a philosophy lecture?"

    "Not at all, Amidala. We knew when we began that the temporal mechanics would be troubling. The two timelines co-exist. We fell into a habit of referring to the original timeline as the 'real' timeline, a habit I propose that we break. We should simply call it the original timeline. Our own history, I'll refer to as
     
  7. RogueJai

    RogueJai Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2000
    *sigh* I'm no good with timelines----but I can't help joining Anakin in that brief moment of hope for maybe not losing their marriage! :)
     
  8. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Uh-oh. If I'm being muddy on the timelines, we're in trouble here! ;) (Oh, to be Stephen King, to do it as nicely and clearly as he did in "The Waste Lands"... ah, well. He spent more time in setup to get there.)

    Anyway, I'll go back and fix that last post fictionally when I get it tweaked (darthcleo says we'll get editing back eventually) -- unless one of the others has a better expository scene planned? -- but to avoid confusion for now, since the timelines are going to be very important:

    I don't get the physics either. I just think of the timelines pretty much the same way I think of switching to a different planetary setting, except that some of the characters are duplicated and have totally different backstories. Time is a river. The trip in time is like a great big stone mountain that got thrown into that river, and it branched off in two directions. Luke and Leia, et al, are on the branch we know (which we'll label "Original Timeline") while Anakin and Amidala are on the other ("New Timeline"). The New Timeline folks always figured that they'd get dumped back into the old timeline and disappear, but QG thinks the waters will come together, and neither will be lost. That's pretty much the salient stuff.
     
  9. RogueJai

    RogueJai Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2000
    Whoops! Sorry, JG, I got YOUR timelines----I was just saying i *usually* don't get timelines, and can't write them worth anything! :) *blushes* sorry!
     
  10. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    22 hours without a post! Oh no! :)
    ----------------
    YIRISU. OUTER RIM. (ORIGINAL TIMELINE)

    "You sure you want to do this?" Lando asked. "Might not be pretty."

    "Quite sure," Leia said.

    "Is she gonna start shooting at us?" Han joked, leaning over the shield controls.

    Lando shook his head. "I used to date her."

    "That's why I asked."

    "Okay, I lied. I *wanted* to date her. Never did."

    "Well, that lowers the odds of her shooting at us, anyway."

    Luke observed all this as a tangent, the normal give-and-take among Lando, Han, and Leia (how they'd come to be the "normal" trio, while he himself felt like an outsider, was beyond him; Han had only been back with the group for three days, all told, while he'd been with them for months). He wasn't as certain as Leia was about seeing Sabé. He had nothing against her, but she was a good bodyguard, and if she'd known anything, he was quite sure she would have acted on it before now.

    Besides, he wasn't ready. His emotions had taken a real beating over the last few months. He wanted to crawl into a cave someplace and rest, meditate... truth was, he wanted someone to take care of him for awhile, just bring him food and treat him kindly until he pulled himself together.

    Not a productive way of coping. Leia's way was better. He knew that. And going to Sabé was at least doing *something*. They dropped into a quick circling pattern around a large estate.

    A voice came across the comm-channel. "Do you have a landing permit?"

    "No," Lando said, leaning in. "But you've got room, haven't you?"

    "Calrissian." The voice was clipped and cool, but Luke thought he recognized a bit of warmth lurking under it, even under the static.

    "How're you doing, Sabé?"

    "Well, I *was* having a perfectly peaceful afternoon with my paintings... "

    "But I've gone and spoiled it. I know. It's just what I do. I have someone here you might want to meet. Two someones actually."

    "Oh really? Who?"

    "Not on the open air."

    A deep sigh. "Oh, very well. You may land on the roof."

    Lando grinned, and Han piloted the _Falcon_ onto the wide landing platform of the main house.

    Luke said little as Han made the landing, only answering a bit of Leia's nervous chatter, and that was only so that she knew he was listening and wasn't angry at her. He just found that he had little to say.

    Sabé was waiting at the base of the gangplank. She was middle-aged, her dark hair streaked in two places with bands of pure white. She wore a flowing blue gown, and a deep blue jewel at her throat. She was, quite simply, lovely. Her expression was meant to convey annoyance and contempt, but her eyes were twinkling under the lowered brows. Lando went to her and kissed her hand. "Good to see you, Sabé."

    "And to what do I owe this visit?"

    Luke stepped forward. "How much do you remember?"

    She gave him a puzzled look. "Remember? Do I know you?"

    Leia's face fell. "Then you don't remember any of it."

    "I'm sorry, but... " She shook her head, then something dawned in her eyes. She zeroed in first on Leia, touching her hair, then she came to Luke. She looked at his face, her eyes wide, and ran a finger down his nose.

    She turned to Lando. "Are these the two someones?"

    "You got it."

    She put a hand to her throat, and the slightly mischievous look left her eyes. She smiled in pure delight. "Luke and Leia," she whispered. "I never thought to see you again."

    "Again since when?" Luke prodded.

    "Since you were born... "

    Lando took her arm. "Then you don't remember... what just happened? You don't remember coming forward in time, meeting us on Tatooine...?"

    She was shaking her head. "I don't know what game you're playing Lando, but I don't much like it. If this is some kind of con... "

    "It's not a con. I just met you. And Amidala. And I found out that when it comes to running a con, my dear, you leave me in the dust."
     
  11. RebelMom

    RebelMom Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2000
    thank you for the timeline explanation. I will admit I was confused. I think I understand now but I did have to read the story through a second time.
     
  12. ami-padme

    ami-padme Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 19, 1999
    Well...I'll admit that I'm still a little confused (but I don't think I'm that great at temporal mechanics anyway ;)).

    So when Amidala, Anakin & co. went back to the past, they changed their timeline. But that had no effect on the timeline of Luke and Leia? At all? People in both timelines expected a change, but nothing's happened yet...So they are going to create the change themselves, by somehow merging the two timelines? I guess it's the fact that the two timelines remained so completely separate that's throwing me off...
     
  13. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Basically, yes, what Amidala was afraid of at the end of IYW happened -- they didn't fix the timeline, they created a new one and had no impact on the old one (despite Sabe's conviction that she must have gone off to meet Lando to say a thing or two to him after that -- how else would she fall in with such company?! -- she seems to have met him by natural means anyway). Hmmm, wonder what the new timeline Sabe is up to...

    I'm guessing, though we haven't gotten into it yet, that there are *some* influences, kind of on the dream plane/psychic level. But the twins only have their own memories, because they weren't born in the new timeline, and Qui-Gon only has his own, because he died the day after in the original. Oh, who am I kidding. I'm making that up as I go, which I ought to save for the e-mail planning.
     
  14. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Ah, wait! Better yet! This will be short, since I have to get ready for work, but let me try this in the no-cheating way. :)
    ------------
    Sabé led the small group into her house, feeling vaguely confused.

    But only vaguely.

    Amidala's children! The twins! Anakin's children, too, but they couldn't help that. Maybe *shouldn't* help that. Sabé tried very hard to hate Anakin, but found herself unable to most of the time.

    Lando put a hand on her shoulder and she flicked it away out of habit. She'd never known what to make of him. They'd met fifteen years ago, when he was young and cocky, and she was only getting the first of her gray hairs. She'd slipped herself into a popular casino on Coruscant, disguised as sabacc dealer, to gather information for the Rebellion. She was well aware that the two people in the Empire most likely to recognize her would not deign to appear in such a place, or, if they did, to suspect that the slinky-costumed, provocative dealer was actually first handmaiden to... but she couldn't think about that. The thought of how far she had fallen, what a stain she was putting on Amidala's memory, hurt too much.

    Lando had sauntered up to the table with a handful of credits and a suit of flashy clothes. Sabé, attuned as she was to projecting images, immediately pegged him as a fake. It was the shoes. He'd forgotten to steal or win new shoes, and the scuffed boots he was wearing gave him away as a poseur. But he smiled, and there was something

    _(familiar)_

    engaging about it. Instead of making sure he lost quickly and left the table, she strung him along kept him at the table all night.

    The sense of familiarity had continued to grow. She'd known how he would say things seconds before he said them, and, despite the fact that he was clearly not devoted to any cause but himself, she had a sense that, when push came to shove, she could trust him. That had been strange enough to be interesting, and Sabé had not been interested in much for many years. It was absurd, of course, to start keeping company with a man so much younger than she was, but she felt so energized with him...

    But the true oddity had finally struck her only after he'd disappeared for the first time (Lando popped in and out of her life like hurricane season), when a recurring dream she'd had as a teenager suddenly returned forcefully. She'd had it first on the Queen's transport as they headed away from Tatooine, toward the disastrous first meeting with Palpatine. She'd been wandering around the desert in... in an entirely inappropriate outfit which she'd nevertheless secretly rather liked... with a man who knew she was not the queen. With Lando Calrissian. He was older in her dream than he was in life, while she was younger.

    _(How much do you remember?)_

    "Sabé, you still here?"

    "Yes, of course. Come inside." She opened the door to her dining room, and had the droids bring in a lunch. Dealing sabacc had ended up serving her bank accounts better than it had served the Rebellion -- someone or other seemed to have distracted her for awhile -- and she had every creature comfort she could want, except, of course, for a clean conscience. "We seem to have a great deal to talk about."

    -----------
     
  15. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Shameless "up."
     
  16. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    ORIGINAL TIMELINE

    Lando watched Sabe and the others talk, trying to be inconspicuous. He didn't want Sabe to see him like an idiot after all this time.

    *Still, the fact that she didn't shoot me is a good sign.*

    They had been a thing once, something he would bet she wouldn't admit to. It had been an on and off deal and when it had gotten serious, Sabe had broken it off. That had been around ten years ago and he could still remember how much it had hurt...

    \\Lando reached behind his back, grinning as he pulled out a flower. "For you, my Lady."

    "Oh," Sabe frowned suddenly, her eyes widening. "Lando, I'm-- I'm sorry. I can't. Keep it."

    "Not a big flower person? Should have guessed, you're not too traditional, not that that's a bad thing, you know. It makes you you." Lando realized he was babbling but if he stopped, he'd say something he would regret.

    Or, more likely, Sabe would.

    "Lando-- Force, this is hard. Did you have to give me a flower? Couldn't you have been a jerk for once? It's over. I really did love you, Lando, you have to believe that." Sabe's lip trembled and he had to fight the urge to hug her. Just great, she was breaking up with him and all he could think about was comforting her.

    "Why? Just.. This was actually working, Sabe. For once in my life, I had a relationship. An actual relationship." He shook his head, trying to stop. "Never mind. I'm sure I don't want to know."

    Her eyes glistened, something he found unusual since she was the one breaking up with him. "I'm in the Rebellion, Lando. I could die at any time! I specialize in dangerous activities. We're much to different and...and... I love you too much to want you hurt when I die!"

    Lando froze. After a few moments, he spoke hesitantly. "If that's the way you feel. I wouldn't want you involved in anything you didn't want, Sabe. If you want, we can still be business partners. Or, friends whatever. You have my number. Good-bye."

    Exiting, he couldn't help but feel that she would never call. An awful realization because a life without Sabe didn't seem like a life at all.\\

    With a snap, Leia's voice broke into his memories. "Then you agree that Mother wouldn't have killed herself?"

    "It never made sense. Last I heard, she wanted to save Anakin from himself. Then, she was gone," Sabe paused. "You do know the story? If you didn't, that would have been a horrible way to find out--"

    "We know. Father told me himself. He's dead, you know. Physically, not in the way Obi-Wan used it." Luke interrupted, trying to smile but not quite succeeding.

    Sabe's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widening. "Ani? Ani's gone? Oh no..."

    Han's lips twitched, probably trying not to smile. Lando did have to admit that to anyone who had known Darth Vader, the idea of someone calling him Ani was funny.

    "Converted before he died, though. For what good that is." Leia's voice had a slight edge to it, one she was probably trying to take out.

    "He did? Well, I guess Amidala was right then," Sabe gave a humorless smile. "We'll have to discuss this later. Now is for trying to figure out where Amidala is. I tried once, actually went on a commando raid about ten years ago. Wrong place, barely escaped with my life."

    Lando's mind tried to figure something out, there was something very important in the way she had said that. He just needed to figure it out. "What was the plan you tried then?"

    "I contacted Palpatine in disguise of a Lady of Courscaunt, trying to act like a concerned Imperial. I said I had seen Queen Amidala, hoped he would contact the prison. He knew it was a trap, contacted the wrong one." Sabe spoke softly, a sign she was annoyed.

    Han spoke up slowly, thinking as he talked. "Why didn't you dress up as Amidala? Prison garb, a little messed up, the typical escapee. Threaten revenge, he's paranoid enough right now to believe ya. Leia and Luke can be waiting to see where his call goes and then we can launch a raid."

    Leia kissed Han's cheek and Lando had to smile at the expr
     
  17. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 3, 1999
    Love the flashback, SithAbigail! I like those two together.
     
  18. Anakin's Angel

    Anakin's Angel Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2000

    UP...I love this story!

    aa :D
     
  19. BelleBayard

    BelleBayard TFN Fan Fiction Archive Editor star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2000
    Very nice! Thanks...looking forward to more.
     
  20. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Found it on page 5...

    (Be back later)
     
  21. Jedi Master Mara Jade

    Jedi Master Mara Jade Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 1999
    Awesome! The sequel's finally out! Such great posts, y'all.

    Even though I'm still confused about the timeline....so can the people in the Old Timeline be affected by the people in the New Timeline at all? Or are they two different things, completely independent of one another? Are people just going to start floating in and out of existence, as the timelines shift and turn? Arrrgghhh! ::confused::

    But I like all the interaction and conversations, no matter how the thing is set up. Wonderful writing!
     
  22. jedipati

    jedipati Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2000
    I lurked all though I'm your what and
    now I'm finally saying just how much I
    love this story
    Please post more soon
     
  23. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Thanks for the de-lurk! I'll try and post something tomorrow.
     
  24. jedipati

    jedipati Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2000
    You're welcome
    Uh... It's tomorrow. *Grins shamelessly and waits for more*
     
  25. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    PFFFFLT.

    Everything I tried to write offline today took terribly wrong turns. I'll go get dinner, then come back here and get a scene posted. I just need to find the door! :)
     
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