The stars were bright on this night. As they blurred by the viewport, the man inside was looking at something that seemed much further away than any star. Edric Black gripped the controls of his star fighter, the grief that he had been holding in during his harrowing escape from the Empire threatened to overwhelm him. Jedi don't cry for loss. He thought to himself bitterly. But could he even consider himself a Jedi? The order was in smoldering ruins thanks to the betrayal of a man whom he had long considered his brother. Anakin Skywalker had been the hero with no fear. The Chosen One whom would lead to the end of the Sith.

However what had happened was the opposite.

He couldn't really blame his brother for defecting. The Council had long distrusted Anakin. And that had created an unrepairable rift that would never heal. This had allowed Darth Sidious to sneak in and seduce his friend to the dark side. And after killing Mace Windu, Darth Vader was born.

After witnessing the death of Padme, he himself had fled. He tired of the schemes Yoda and Kenobi were coming up with. He knew what they were doing, splitting the babies up so Vader would never sense them. Kenobi had failed though. He had failed to even injure Vader in their fight and he had barely gotten away with an unconscious Padme in tow. Coward. Edric gripped the controls harder, gritting his teeth.

Suddenly, his ship lurched out of hyperspace breaking him out of his trance. "Shit! My hyperdrive must've been damaged somehow!"

Frantically he worked trying to stabilize his quickly destabilizing ship. He steered the vessel to the nearest habitable planet.

Keeping steady as best he could he descended onto the world. As soon as he broke through the cloud cover, his ship began dropping at an alarming rate while alarms blared all over. His instruments were going haywire. Knowing he had no choice he landed as best as he could, not even bothering to deploy landing gear.

With a jerk, he landed in what seemed to be snow and after skidding to a stop and making sure the air was safe to breathe, Edric popped the hatch and leapt out of the ship, extending his senses into the forest around him. Suddenly, the ship exploded into a ball if flame. Puzzled, he stared at what had once been his ship.

Strange. It's as if the Force guided me, rather violently I must say, to this place. He looked around, noticing how similar to his own home world it was, but also knowing that it wasn't.

Well, might as well start walking. He had no idea where to go. Didn't even know what was North and what wasn't. He had nothing but what he currently wore which was ill advised to be worn in a cold environment such as the one he now found himself in, and his dual lightsabers. His Jedi robes were somewhat helpful, but not enough and soon, he found himself shaking from the biting cold.

Even drawing strength from the Force, his exhaustion was nearly all consuming. The Last thing he remembered before blacking out were voices "My Lord, we found someone!" "We need to get him to warmth. Get him up on a horse and let's get him back to Winterfell." "Yes Lord Stark!"

Bleary eyed, he stirred sitting up with a groan.

His body ached all over but he was in a warm bed. Frowning, he looked to find his lightsabers lying on a bedside table. Calling them to him with the Force, he leapt up out of bed and was surprised when he nearly hit the floor, his legs unable to completely support him. "How long have I been out?" he asked himself. "And where am I?"

"You're in Winterfell." He whipped his head around to find a young girl standing in the doorway surveying him coolly. "And you've been unconscious for three weeks. Apparently you were nearly dead."

Edric's lips quirked. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Oh, so you make a habit of nearly freezing yourself to death?"

With a chuckle, he knelt in front of the girl who by this time had a small frown on her face. "What's your name?"

"My name is Arya Stark, daughter of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North."

"Well, Arya Stark of Winterfell, my name is Edric Black, Jedi knight if that means anything to you."

"Old Nan tells some stories, but not much."

"Well perhaps if I'm allowed I can fill in a few gaps. I'm a student of history."

"Will it be boring?"

"Some of it might be, but it doesn't have to be boring. Now, can you take me to your father please? I'd rather like to thank my savior in person."

Within minutes, he was standing, albeit a little wobbly, in a study in front of the man himself. Eddard Stark was a broad man who was in fairly good shape for a man his age. He had a beard and sharp eyes that seemed to look through you. "Please accept my thanks my Lord, if not for you and your men, I wouldn't be standing here now."

With a smile, Stark gestured towards a chair in front of his desk. "Please, sit. You look like you're going to fall over otherwise."

"Thank you my Lord, I do think I will." After easing himself into the seat, he looked at his host with a burning curiosity. "I must say that I am curious as to why you would help a stranger, especially one whom appeared on the heels of a rather violent explosion."

"I did wonder what that was. But when I find a man near death, I could never just leave him to die. How could I ever call myself honorable if I had done that? What kind if example would that have set for the men who were with me? What about my children? So you see it was an easy decision for me to make."

"Well, thank you all the same. I owe you a great debt."

"Well as to that, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement." Stark looked troubled. "In fact, I could use the help of a Jedi."

"Oh?"

With a nod, Eddard launched into his troubled tale. By the end of it, they both had glasses of Meade in front of them. "So you took your sister's son as your bastard to save him from your best friend because he hates the boy's father and his family."

"That covers it."

"And what is my role?"

"I fear that this secret could put my family in danger."

"Then shouldn't they know? If they are in danger for the secret then don't they have a right to know?"

"I haven't told them yet. But I fear I may have no choice. My wife hates the boy because she thinks that he is my bastard. If I tell anyone, it'll be her."

"I see. So you want me to protect your family."

"Protect them, guide them. Whatever you have to do. I don't think it'll be necessary, but it never hurts to take precautions."

"No," answered Edric, thinking of Anakin. "it doesn't."

It was in that chamber that Edric swore his life to the Starks as their guardian. He thought of the friends he had lost to Order 66. He thought of his Padawan, a Jedi Knight whom he had come to love and respect, dead from the betrayal if her own men. He thought of the brother that he had lost to the darkness, and in that moment, he left it all behind.

So this is just something that was floating around in my head. I'm not sure if I want to do a full story on it so let me know!