Saga To cast away stones--Winner of Best Epic, 2007 Saga Fanfic Awards--AU Pre-ESB time-travel

And boy is she going to freak when she meets Padme and Anakin. I have a feeling that Han will be more intrumental in Anakin's not turning than anything. I know he remembers the stories of "The Hero With No Fear". LOL PM list please.

 

I'm floored. I skipped past this a few times, I'm afraid, even though the "to cast away stones" reference caught my eye -- but then I finally picked up on "Leia in ROTS" and went "Hmm."

This is fun. And I can't help hoping that however traumatic finding out the truth might be, the changes to history will be an improvement.

 

Heh, I've only just found this, and I love it! OT Leia and Han in RotS? Too good to pass up!

*blinks* Sweet force, that brings to mind NJO Jaina very strongly... (When she's pretending to be the Vong Goddess) Nice little parallel.

You're closer than you might think... And if they went looking for 'Most Likely to Commit Genocide' that'd probably lead them to Anakin anyway...

I dread to think what I'll happen when Leia finds out who Vader really is, and that she's his daughter...

Keep it up, Ish! (Is there a PM list for this? )

~Misha

 

Leia's going to question her mother?

Loved Han thinking that Leia looks beautiful in the mornings.

 

Heh, awesome that Han and Leia's cicadian rythyms are off. Nice little detail. And hmm, loved that she dismissed Anakin as Vader. Oh, how lovely irony is.

Going to interview Padme, eh? Quite a shocker, there.

 

::loves the taste of bitter dramatic irony::

Of course it's not Anakin, Leia.

Vader, Luke's father?

No, that's not true, that's impossible.

 

Takergirl316--Hiya, jules. ::Hubs.:: Yeah, closer to the truth, but a bit messed up... Yeah, I like the idea of Grievous as the boogeyman.

owphoenix--Thanks.

dark_jedi_lover--The irony is the best part of writing this. Thanks!

dm1--Scary! And Han should appreciate it or else! The shock begins with this post.

Padmeshandmaiden--Hugely so, yes. Han will be a very interesting role in this.

Persephone_Kore--Awww, thanks! The title is very helpfully created by Layren who took my idea about quoting Ecclesiastes and cropped it to be helpful. Fun is a bit of an understatement and/or misnomer.

DreamingIce--Yay! New readers abound! Thanks! I hadn't thought of Jaina in that part, cool! Yeah, all roads lead to Mos Espa. Dread away.

Golden_Jedi--I liked that bit about Han because it's so preliminary and fun. And Leia will be a lot more subtle than questioning.

RK_Striker_JK_5--Like that you like the off-balanced rhythms. Lots of irony delicious here.

SpiritofEowyn--You're entertainingly morbid! Of course it's not Anakin.
*****
The day proceeded in a form that was only to be expected from a pacifist planet in the middle of a wartime crisis. Alderaan did not take part in the war effort so much as make an effort at keeping out of it, but Leia had spoken to many of the people who represented worlds that Bail had helped during the Clone Wars.

The downtime between the sessions, therefore, was spent mostly in meetings. Most were of the variety that involved petitions for asylum, legislative measures and such, but she had not expected to sit in on the convocation that Bail had called.

"The appointment with Senator Amidala will be at midday," he said quietly after giving her the day's assignments. "I would appreciate if you could attend."

It was a familiar request from the days when he could trust Leia to be his eyes and ears during meetings. She had her mother's intuition if nothing else and he had always found some kind of pretense to have her attend, whether it was note-taking or grooming her to take his place one day.

This was, however, obviously not his intention in the current circumstances. She had neither proved herself to be loyal nor made her intuition known to him. She was, for the moment, someone who had simply stated her loyalties.

"Yes, Senator," she said, her voice reflecting her innocent curiosity and unabashed confustion, "but wouldn't another with more experience be preferable?"

He nodded, more out of understanding than confirmation. "Certainly I have aides that are more familiar with the situation. Even so, the number of people in my own delegation who can be trusted to remember our purpose here is dwindling."

"Yes, Senator," Leia said automatically.

His hand clapped her gently on the shoulder. "You need not worry," he assured her. "I believe you are to be trusted. I simply want to prove myself right."

She didn't ask any further questions, since that had been her priority for as long as she could remember.

The meeting took place in Bail's office, though it was hardly the most secure area of the Senate complex--Palpatine had seen to that. It was another one of the places that was inexpressibly familiar, the sensation only heightened by the fact that Threepio was wandering around as usual like an underappreciated busboy.

Most of the faces were unfamiliar, since they were either names that she had only heard in reports or people who had been assassinated in the early days of the Empire, but perched on a chair opposite the position that Bail and Mon Mothma had taken was the person she had hoped to encounter again.

There was, however, no time to consider how she would approach Padme, since the appointment of regional governors?the first move towards the official tyranny that had been known under the system of Grand Moffs?had been announced that morning. Understandably, this pleased no one, but they could not know yet that this was one of the symptoms of the end-stage of the Republic.

As a result, Leia sat wi

 

I wasn't aware Bail knew that Padme was married to Anakin at this point. Leia is looking for Obi-Wan's student and she is going to be surprised that he only had one. She's now aware of how close Anakin and Palpy were. I wonder how long it will take for her to connect the dots.

 

?It?s not exactly a subtle way to go about things,? Han reminded. ?We can?t just look at the Jedi vote for ?Most Likely to Commit Genocide.?

*can't stop herself from pointing at Anakin*

It was starting to become very clear where Luke got the tendencies that made him a faithful Rebel and a conscientious leader.

It is very ironic, even if Leia doesn't know it yet, that she could say the same.

I look forward to the next part.

Wonderful work!

Ani-maniac

 

Oh-oh the famous meeting. Is Padmé publicly married to Anakin in this universe?

 

I can't figure out how I got behind on this awesome story....

I can't believe how close Leia is to the answer- she must have not even considered that Luke's (and unknowingly hers as well) father would be the one to turn into Vader.

And it's interesting that Bail is aware of Anakin and Padme's relationship.

Please PM me so I won't get behind again. Thanks!

 

I'll obviously get to reader replies before the next post, but I wanted to answer the question on why Bail knows. Padme never told him directly, but he suspected because of how closely she was 'friends' with Skywalker. At some point, he mentioned it in passing and she tried to deny it, but he assured her that he hadn't thought of letting anyone except her divulge that secret. So he knows, but won't admit it unless someone else guesses.

 

Well, it seems like everything is set for Anakin's appearance. I wonder if he'll notice the resemblence between Leia and Padme?

 

I'm torn between the idea that it's interesting for Bail to know and the canbon part of me saying that Bail DIDN'T KNOW. Only Padme's handmaidens knew, I think...

But what the hell, it's AU you can do what you like.

Love how you used that deleted scene, Ish

 

Well, the pieces have begun falling into place now. Excellent look at the formation of the Rebellion through Leia's eyes. Loved that the stuff they start now continues on.

 

Mon Mothma concurred, ?The Chancellor has played the Senators well. They know where the power lies, and they will do whatever it takes to share in it.?

Her eyes lowered slightly as if she felt the guilt of allowing tyranny. ?Palpatine has become a dictator and we have helped him to do it.?

And that is why you have spent every waking moment since the founding of the Empire attempting to correct that.
I liked the snipet into Mon Mothma's motivation in this post. She is treated as a non character in most references her presence is there but it is to move the story along, a filler.
I had a big Uh Oh when Leia refered to Anakin as Padme's husband I actually thought padme would have more of a startled reaction. Of course, Leia had no way of knowing it was not common knowledge.Good post.

 

?Anakin Skywalker?? he stammered. ?You don?t think??
?Of course not,? Leia snapped. ?Don?t be ridiculous.?

ROTFLMAO! That was perfect. Just perfect.

I enjoyed the 'Alliance' meeting very much. The conversation between the politicians was very well-written. But why didn't you mention Padme wanting to discuss it with [Anakin] a Jedi? And I'm confused as to how come Bail knows that Padme is married?

Anyway, this is still one of the best written stories on the boards right now. I'm really sorry I've been adrift from it for so long.


Edit: sorry, just read your explanation.

 

Finally! It lets me post. Good chapter, but I am also confused as to how Bail know about Anakin and Padme. As for Leia, she is about to find out a few other very unpleasant facts as well. I do believe by the timeline we are only about 3 days from Anakin turning. Great post. More please.

 

Great chapter. I like the meeting. It was very good and intense. Will we be seeing Anakin soon? I like your explanation for Bail knowing about Anakin and Padmé's marriage. Something tells me it'll help with things in the future.

 

She waved a hand dismissively with a slight grin. ?Sleep is for mortals,? she stated firmly. ?I?m not exactly immortal, but I?m pretty indestructible, so I figure sleep isn?t meant to be on the agenda.?

You know, this reminds me of a sign someone put in the hallway when I was in highschool:

Drink Coffee
You can sleep when you're dead.

 

If Bail knows about Anakin and Padme, it makes me wonder if there are other senators or even Jedi that just turn a blind cheek...

It's nice to see that no matter what, Leia is working hard against the Empire.

 

Just wanted to say that I stumbled across this, and, well...

It may be the best time travel AU that I've read.


Keep up the good work!

 

When's the next update, Ish?

Can't wait for more, any chance of Leia meeting herself later?

 

!!!

 

Like it alot please UPDATE


PM if possible