I don't own Star Wars

Chapter 1

Jedi High Council Meeting Room

Jedi Temple

Coruscant

3 years into the Clone Wars

"Jedi Kenobi will proceed to Utapau with a contingent of Clone troops. He will personally ensure the destruction of General Grievous. His death will be the beginning of the end for the Separatists, Chancellor Palpatine."

Chancellor Sheev Palpatine smiled politely at the dark skinned Jedi Master, "The plan is excellent, Master Windu. I look forward to the death of Grievous – not on my own behalf, but on behalf of the suffering peoples of the galaxy. This war cannot end too soon."

"Indeed, Chancellor," Anakin Skywalker murmured softly from behind Windu, "given that Grievous and Dooku entered Coruscanti space and abducted you, it is clear that the Separatists are growing desperate. We must stop them before they succeed in causing further suffering and turmoil."

"I am certain that General Kenobi will be successful," Palpatine said with a soft smile towards the man whom he was vigorously manipulating towards the Dark Side. "You defeated Dooku, Anakin, and your former master will defeat Grievous, and the galaxy will finally be at peace."

There was a sudden, strange surge in the Force and abruptly, shockingly, two slim forms appeared in the center of the room where before there had only been elegantly tiled floor.

The six Jedi Council members gasped collectively and leaped to their feet, their lightsabers lighting ominously at this bewildering incursion.

"Who are you?" Master Windu demanded harshly, stepping forward.

"Please, we mean you no harm," the young female said quickly, raising her hands meekly. She was lovely, with dark hair twisted up in an elaborate hairstyle, and she was attired in a green robe which fell to her feet. The young man at her side was short, with dark blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a simple black outfit and a lightsaber hung at his waist, though he did not draw it.

Palpatine's eyes narrowed just slightly. He could sense that the boy, at least, was a powerful and trained Light Side Force Sensitive.

"We're from the future," the youth exclaimed dramatically. "We're here to warn you!"

There was a throb of shock and the Jedi shot one another sidelong glances. As one, they lowered their lightsabers and switched them off, though they retained their focus on the young ones in their sights.

"Unlikely, that is," Master Yoda stated, jumping off of his chair and stumping forward a few steps. "Visitors from the future never heard of have I."

"Master Yoda!" the youth exclaimed in sudden delight dropping to one knee to face the old Jedi at closer to the old gnome's level. "Master Yoda. It's so good to see you again! You look so ... so young!"

"We've traveled back in time more than 20 years, Luke," the girl stated with a grin. "Of course he's younger."

"He's like 900 years old, Leia," the boy breathed, his blue eyes alight with excitement. "So 20 years isn't really that much for someone like him. You just look very green, Master, in a healthy way."

"Know me you do, young man?" Yoda demanded, his ancient face furrowed in bewilderment, and then responded matter-of-factly, "know you I do not."

"Of course not," Luke replied patiently. "Leia just said that we traveled back in time 25 years or so. You train me in the future, not now. But like I said, we need to warn you about said future, and I'm not sure how much time we have. We managed to open up a portal at an obscure Jedi Temple on Kashyyyk but we may only be here for 15 minutes or so."

"Or 15 hours, or 15 days, or 15 months, or 15 years," Leia added sarcastically. "Luke was only sure of the 15 part."

"And who knows, maybe they used a different numbering system, so maybe ..."

"Chancellor Palpatine," Obi-Wan interrupted quickly. "This appears to be Jedi business. Perhaps you will permit us to collect necessary information and inform you of the details later?"

"Certainly," Palpatine agreed. This situation was confusing and worrisome, and he needed to retreat to collect his thoughts.

"Palpatine!" Luke demanded, turning towards the Chancellor. "Really? Is it really you?"

The boy stepped closer and peered into Palpatine's face, then nodded with wide eyes, "Wow, it is you. You look ... you look great, your Highness. 20+ years from now you are a wrinkled mess!"

There was another collective gasp and Palpatine tightened his shields. He has worked for literally decades on his shielding and he was adept at playing the part of the wise but gentle politician with no Force abilities whatsoever.

"I'm afraid you are confused, young man," he commented with a courteous bow of the head. "Or, sadly, insane. I am Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic, not a monarch."

"Well," Leia replied with a roll of her dark brown eyes, "given that in the next month or so you will destroy the Jedi, topple the Republic, and crown yourself Emperor, I think we can just cut to the chase and call you Your Highness, Emperor Palpatine."

Palpatine winced inwardly. This was so not good.

"These are grave charges, young lady," Master Windu stated. "You claim that the Chancellor overthrows the Jedi Order?"

"Yes," Luke explained flatly. "He's a Sith Lord."

There was a soft murmur and the Jedi Masters Kit Fisto and Agen Kolar moved towards the entrance of the room, blocking Palpatine's escape. Or the young intruders' escape. Basically, everyone needed to stay put for now.

"Really, Masters, can you not see how absurd this is?" Palpatine demanded, his tone sorrowful. "These two young people are either liars or have escaped from a mental institution. Whatever brought them here no doubt scrambled their brains. All I care for is the welfare of the Republic!"

"And you have, over the last few years, garnered more and more emergency power, Chancellor," Kenobi said gravely. "We intend no immediate harm to you, Palpatine, but given these substantial accusations, we must investigate."

"Really, Master Kenobi," Palpatine began, only to be interrupted again by the increasingly annoying young man.

"Ben? Ben Kenobi?"

"I am known as Obi-Wan Kenobi," the ginger haired Jedi replied cautiously.

Luke shook his head, "Well, if Master Yoda looks young, and Palpatine looks great, you look amazing. Twenty years on Tatooine definitely didn't do you any good at all."

"You are suggesting that I spend twenty years on Tatooine?" Obi-Wan asked, his eyes wide. "That seems most unlikely."

"Well, you were looking after me," Luke began, then shook his head, "It's complicated and we don't have much time. Again, your Chancellor is a Sith Lord."

"Absurd. I most certainly am not."

"It is absurd," Anakin snapped, "Even if the Chancellor is a Sith, which seems impossible, how could one man destroy the Jedi Order alone? There are thousands of us!"

Both Luke and Leia stared gravely at the tall, dark blond man with all too familiar blue eyes.

"He used the Clones," Leia explained carefully, her eyes now fixed on Palpatine. "We just learned more details in the past few months. A clone commander named Rex – I'm not sure if you know him?"

"Of course we know him!" Anakin retorted indignantly.

Luke gazed at the man who was his biological father, "Commander Rex told us that the clones had inhibitor chips implanted in their brains during their creation."

"Yes," Kenobi agreed in a puzzled tone, "to lower their aggression and to enable them to obey orders readily, to form a cohesive fighting unit."

Leia shook her head, her expression pained, "No. Order 66 was implanted in the chips – an order which forced the Clones to destroy the Jedi. Palpatine activated Order 66 the day that the Republic fell, and the Clones, compelled by their biochips, turned on the Jedi and slaughtered them. Rex had already had his removed so while he heard the command, he was not forced to obey it. But his fellow clones were. He managed to rescue Ahsoka Tano, who has become a very dear friend in the last few months."

There was a third collective gasp from the Jedi Masters, this one horrified.

"True, can this be?" Yoda murmured.

"The Dark Side has muddled our ability to discern what is happening," Windu replied slowly, his dark eyes fixed coldly on Palpatine. "But I sense truth in this young man's words."

"He may believe it to be true," Palpatine replied, struggling to retain his equanimity, "but he is confused. I am not a Force Sensitive, much less a Sith Lord, Master Yoda."

"Really?" Luke shot back, his eyes angry now. The boy grabbed his long sleeved shirt, ripped the front open, and dropped it on the floor. "Do you see these scars all over me, your Highness? You gave me those less than a year ago in our time. You bombarded me with Force Lightning while I screamed and writhed on the floor in agony. I came close to dying and spent weeks in recovery. Don't give me this bantha poodoo about being a sweet, innocent old man because you are indeed a Sith Master."

"Wow, Luke," Leia commented, her eyes on the youth's torso.

"What?" Luke demanded self consciously. "You've seen the scars."

"No, not that. It's just that Mara told me that you had been working out. She said that you had an eight pack, that you were shredded. She was right."

"Dear Sarlacc of Tatooine," Luke replied, blushing red even as he called the shirt back to his hand and hastily put it on, "I don't even want to know why my wife and my sister were discussing my, uh ..."

"I was worried about you," the girl replied, her smile gentle. "I'm glad you feel well enough to exercise extensively."

"Whatever these scars mean, I hardly have the capability to inflict them on you," Palpatine managed, a trifle desperately. He was powerful but Anakin had not yet fallen and there were six masters in the room. Yoda alone would be a worthy opponent. "Anakin, you know I would never do such a dreadful thing to anyone."

"The Chancellor has proven most loyal," Anakin replied, his blue eyes full of confusion. "He is correct – these are wild accusations from unknown individuals who, as he said, have come through some kind of bizarre and suspect experience. They may be here to deceive us."

"Now is the time, I guess," Leia murmured aloud to her twin.

"Anakin Skywalker," Luke stated gravely, taking a cautious step forward.

"Yes?" the young man replied with a suspicious expression on his face.

"This is ... I have to admit that this is weird and so ... so crazy. You look amazing. Leia, you have to admit he does look amazing."

Leia Organa rolled her eyes even as she nodded reluctantly, "Yes, he is one well put together man. It's obvious where you got your looks. You have the same eyes."

There was a 4th collective gasp.

"What are you suggesting?" Anakin demanded through stiff lips.

"I'm your son, Luke Skywalker," Luke declared. "And Leia is my twin sister and your daughter."

Anakin shot a horrified glance at Master Yoda even as his skin paled slightly, "You must have me mixed up with someone else. Jedi are not permitted to have, er, romantic associations of the type that would result in ... er ..."

"Are you three years into the Clone Wars?" Leia demanded fiercely, taking a step toward Anakin.

"Just a few weeks short of three years," Kenobi replied in a puzzled way. "Why?"

"Then I certainly hope, Anakin Skywalker, that you are aware that some woman is carrying your progeny because she must be close to popping."

"Unless," Luke added, his blue eyes dark with sorrow, "it was a one night stand of some kind."

"That would be so typical, actually," Leia agreed in a snide tone. "No attachments indeed. He probably is like one of those scruffy businessmen who have a one night liaison in every spaceport. Our mother is probably some hapless idiot who was seduced into ..."

"How dare you?!" Anakin thundered suddenly, causing his time traveling children to jump. "I would never betray Padme in that ..."

He trailed off, and blushed.

"Padme?" Leia demanded.

"Attached you are to Senator Amidala?" Yoda demanded.

"Did you procreate with her?" Obi-Wan chimed in, horrified.

A full minute passed in complete silence.

"Yes," Anakin said finally, throwing his hands in the air. "Yes, Padme and I were secretly married three years ago and she is indeed pregnant. I don't think she's carrying twins though."

"You apparently didn't know," Luke said softly. "You knew about me but not Leia."

"So I am in your future?" Anakin demanded.

The twins exchanged unhappy glances.

"Sort of. From a certain point of view," Luke replied cautiously.

Anakin's brow furrowed at these puzzling words, but he forged on, "What about Padme? Is she safe in your time? Is she all right?"

Luke stared into his father's desperate eyes, then shook his head slowly, "I have no memories of my mother, and Leia only has the barest fragments. We don't know what truly happened, but she ... she is dead and has been for many years."

A sudden, cataclysmic shock in the Force emanated from Anakin, one of horror and grief which rolled through the room with such power that both Luke and Leia winced in pain.

"My nightmares ... my nightmares," the young man cried out, his hands clutching his dark blond locks. "They are coming true. She's going to die. I can't lose her ..."

"Wait, Jedi Skywalker," Master Yoda said authoritatively. "Spoke to me you did of visions of death, of loss. Of your wife did you speak?"

The blue eyes of Anakin Skywalker were wild with distress and he nodded, "Every night I dream of her death. She dies in childbirth. I have to save her. I'll do anything to save her."

"Oh." Leia said aloud.

It was but one syllable, but somehow the intonation drew the attention of all those present.

"Yes, oh," Luke agreed, his eyes a mixture of dread and compassion. "Don't say that, don't ever say that. Nothing, even her life, is worth selling out your soul."

Anakin Skywalker stared at his children from the future and shook his head to clear it, "What are you talking about? Selling my soul? What?"

"In our timeline, you were a Sith Lord," Luke said steadily. "You went by the name Darth Vader. You were second in command to Emperor Palpatine."

"I wouldn't ... I wouldn't do that," Anakin returned, sweat beading on his forehead. "I wouldn't turn to the Dark Side."

"Would you do it to save Padme?" Leia demanded, her eyes glittering with grief and anger. "Because you did turn, Anakin Skywalker. You turned to the Dark Side, slaughtered tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians alike, destroyed the remainder of the Jedi Order, and brought terror and death wherever you went. You tortured me twice and you cut off Luke's hand in a duel."

The man was gasping now, his teeth clenching his lower lip so hard that it drew blood, "I couldn't do such a thing. I don't believe it. You lie!"

"She doesn't lie," Luke said hesitantly, "though Leia is being rather on the brutal side. I don't know what happened because no one told us, but if you are dreaming of losing our mother in childbirth, if you are desperate to save her, then that may have been what precipitated your Fall."

"Attachment, dangerous it is," Master Yoda interpolated, feeling the need to weigh in on this conversation.

"Oh, be quiet, Master Yoda," Luke snapped in frustration, then heaved a deep sigh, struggling to control himself. "I'm sorry, Master. But please ... please don't say that. In the end, it was attachment that saved us all. My father, from my timeline, brought me to the Emperor. I refused to turn and Palpatine began torturing me with Force Lightning. In that moment, my father's love for me won out and he destroyed the Emperor and died in the process, ending the age of the Sith."

"But," Leia chimed in grimly, "we experienced 24 years of horror, the enslavement of Kashyyyk, the massacre of Myomar, and the complete destruction of the planet Alderaan. If you can change the future, if you can stop Palpatine and prevent our father from falling, I pray that you will."

"Alderaan was destroyed?" Kenobi murmured in horror.

Leia nodded, her eyes bright with unshed tears, "An armored space station, called the Death Star, was constructed by the Empire under Palpatine's orders. In the 19th year of the Empire, the Death Star turned its weapon on my home world of Alderaan, destroying it. I was a captive of the Empire at the time, and my then unknown father held me with his cruel grip as the superlaser destroyed my world."

Anakin stumbled back a horrified step, "I ... I ..."

The sudden sound of a lightsaber broke through their concentration. All turned as Sheev Palpatine decided that his plans were going to Chaos right before his eyes and he had better move now.

The red blade spun around and attacked the Jedi Masters blocking the entrance. Kit Fisto and Agen Kolar were taken by surprise, having been far too focused on the discussion with Skywalker. Fisto fell immediately and Kolar only managed to block twice before Palpatine's Juyo fighting style overcame the Zabrak male's defenses. He fell without a cry, his life lost in one moment of inattention.

But the two Masters' sacrifice was not in vain. Luke Skywalker, who had been keeping a surreptitious Force tendril on Palpatine, leaped over the heads of both Sith and Jedi and was now blocking the door, his green saber flashing. He and Palpatine exchanged but a few blows, Luke backing away slowly, even as the other Jedi moved toward the elderly Sith.

Palpatine abruptly somersaulted backwards and took refuge in an alcove. With his right hand he held his buzzing lightsaber, with the left he grabbed his comlink and turned it on, desperately.

"Come to the Jedi Council Chamber immediately," he ordered his personal squadron of guards who were waiting in the veranda of the Jedi Temple. "I am under attack!"

Yoda jumped forward and Palpatine defended himself vigorously. He had a wall to his back and he was one of the greatest swordsmen the galaxy had ever seen, even though these fools didn't know it.

Kenobi approached from the left and Darth Sidious lifted his hand, blasting him with Force Lightning. There were cries of astonishment from the remaining Jedi and he saw, dimly, the wide eyes and shocked face of Anakin Skywalker.

Well, this stunk. Anakin was a lost cause now. But he would prevail anyway. He was Darth Sidious surrounded by a bunch of foolish Light Siders. He would destroy the Jedi and rule the galaxy and find another worthy apprentice. Maul was still out there, though in a semi-dismembered state, and he'd do in a pinch.

Palpatine used the Force to lift the comlink up to his mouth, even as he blasted the Jedi with his left hand and held them off with the lightsaber in his right hand.

"Clones," he began, switching his com to a full galaxy order, "initiate Order ..."

There was a horrifying howl, so loud that it drowned out his last words.

Palpatine's eyes shifted toward the door, where the young Skywalker from the future opened his mouth and howled again, a bloodcurdling sound which made his aged ears ring.

"I'm sorry, Chancellor," a voice responded through the comlink. "Could you please repeat that order?"

"Activate Order ..."

Another howl drowned out his words again and Palpatine grimaced first in rage, then in agony as his right butt cheek suddenly erupted in pain. He looked down in confusion, then plucked out the slender dart which had infiltrated his cloak and stuck into his posterior.

A quick glance upwards revealed Leia (Skywalker?) taking aim with another dart. The Emperor growled and knocked it out of her hand with the Force. Such a fool, to think that such a puny weapon ...

Wait a minute.

What was happening?

He was getting ... woozy ...

There were Jedi everywhere and flashing blades and he was trying to throw Force Lightning but his consciousness was fading because ...

Because ...

Because ...

The last thing he ever saw in this life was Anakin Skywalker, his face a contorted mess of grief and determination, swinging his blue blade down upon his mentor's neck.

And then, darkness.

Amid the heavy breathing of the males in the room, Leia Organa knelt down and carefully picked up both barbed darts, which she capped and replaced in her intricate hair piece.

"They each have a bulb of concentrated hypospray, strong enough to take down a rancor," Leia explained aloud to her shocked audience. "Luke's wife Mara is an ex-assassin and we've spent many happy hours throwing knives and poison darts. I thought it would be good to bring the darts along, just in case."

"We are most grateful for your assistance," Kenobi stated gravely, straightening from where he had been inspecting the dead forms of his fellow Jedi near the door. "What was that horrendous noise, young Luke?"

"Krayt dragon call," the youth replied, before turning his attention on his young father.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked compassionately.

Anakin Skywalker stared down at the dead form of Palpatine, "He was my mentor. I trusted him. I truly thought he cared about me, that he had my best interests at heart."

"We were all deceived, Jedi Skywalker," Mace Windu said gravely. "While we had some concerns that Palpatine was not all that he seemed to be, the reality that he was the Sith Lord we've been seeking for a full decade is astounding."

Anakin's eyes watered and he shook his head.

There was a soft touch on his arm and he turned to look down at the young man with his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Luke murmured softly.

/

Author Note: I intend this one to be short, like 3 or 4 chapters. We've already wiped out Palpatine so, yeah... Thanks to my husband for editing!

Also, the "You have an 8 pack, you're shredded" quote comes from the Matt the Radar Tech SNL skit with Adam Driver. I can't believe I didn't watch that until a few weeks ago. It. Is. Hilarious!