Omen of the Future

Disclaimer: I do now own Star Wars and I never have nor will I ever, George Lucas does.

SWSWSWSWSW

In the wake of the Battle of Coruscant, as the skirmish between the Republic and the Separatists was now being called, Anakin Skywalker found himself with some alone time with his beloved wife Padmé. Although he could still vividly remember the battle, and his part in the death of Count Dooku, Anakin knew that he had to do it. Just as Palpatine had said, Count Dooku was too late to be kept alive but Anakin couldn't help but feel guilty.

Sitting on the bed next to his sleeping, pregnant wife's side, Anakin gazed through the viewports of the bedroom in utter silence. The darkness above was lit by the neon lights of the upper city of Coruscant and Anakin found himself studying the stars and the moon that lay in the dark sky above. Sighing, Anakin stood up before, after getting changed, leaving the bedroom and walking toward the living area of the apartment. Sitting down on the foam couch in the center of the apartment, Anakin gazed out through the viewports and the veranda of his wife's senatorial apartment.

Sighing, Anakin was silent for a long moment until he was suddenly aware of another presence and he turned to the side just in time to find a blue Force ghost floating just next to the coach. For a long moment the Force ghost and Anakin stared at each other and Anakin was suddenly aware of how similar he looked to the ghost that was currently floating silently in front of him, aside from the fact that the Force ghost was a blue and simmering.

Anakin has only ever seen a Force ghost a couple of times before, one time being on Mortis, but he could easily determine that this was, indeed, a Force ghost. What is this Force ghost doing here? And why does he look like he's just seen a ghost? Anakin snorted at the irony of that last unspoken question as he continued to observe the ghost.

"Who are you?" he asked finally.

For a long moment, he was sure the Force ghost wouldn't reply, which was why it came as a slight surprise when the ghost spoke; his voice soft and filled with awestruck wonder. "I can't believe it," the Force ghost whispered gazing at Anakin.

Anakin raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Excuse me? Would you care to explain what you mean by that and who the blazes are you?"

"I'm sorry," the Force ghost said quietly. "I guess I'm just in shock."

You and me both. "Would you care to tell me your name?" Anakin asked.

"I'm Luke, Luke Skywalker," said the Force ghost.

Anakin's eyes went wide with shock. He and Padmé had agreed that if they had a son, Anakin was still convinced Padmé would have a girl, then they would name him Luke. The sudden use of the name he and his wife would have given their son accompanied with Anakin's last name sent off warning bells within Anakin's mind.

"Your last name is Skywalker?" he asked finally.

Luke's ghostly head nodded. "My father was known as Anakin Skywalker," he replied confirming Anakin's suspicions.

Anakin was shocked; this Force ghost was the ghost of his son but it looked as though the young man had to be in his mid-twenties at least. "How is that possible? You look like you are in your mid-twenties while my child isn't even born yet," he protested.

Luke smiled faintly before chuckling. "I know this, father. I'm from the future," he said quietly. He floated forward until he was at Anakin's side before he said quietly, "I suppose I should probably explain how this happened."

"That might be a good idea," Anakin murmured warily eyeing the boy who insisted that he was his father.

"I don't know where to begin actually," Luke admitted. "I suppose when I was younger, I never knew who my father was. I only ever knew that his name was Anakin and that he was the captain of a space freighter. That was until I met with Obi-Wan Kenobi, then I knew him as Ben, and he told me that my father had been a Jedi."

"You said 'had been'," Anakin commented noticing the use of past tense in that last statement.

"Yes, I did that on purpose. Ben told me that my father was betrayed and murdered by a man who had once been his apprentice, a Sith Lord known as Darth Vader."

Anakin frowned at that; as far as he knew, Obi-Wan never took on another apprentice after he was knighted. He didn't interrupt him as Luke went on with his story.

"Ben and I then found an astromech droid by the number of Artoo Deetoo who had a message for Ben. When he and I both listened to the message, which was a Princess of Alderaan calling for help because her ship was under attack, we left to go to Alderaan, this occurred soon after my aunt and my uncle were killed by stormtroopers."

"Stormtroopers?" Anakin echoed.

Luke glanced at him irritably. "I don't have all the time in the world and I most certainly don't want to try to explain everything that you don't understand," he said a tad curtly.

"Sorry."

"Anyway, we got transportation onboard a piece of junk freighter known as the Millennium Falcon and went to the Alderaan system. During that time, Ben began teaching me how to use the Force so that I could become a Jedi like my father. However, when we reach Alderaan, we discovered the planet had been destroyed by the Empire."

"Empire?" Anakin echoed eyes wide.

Luke sighed. "That is a much longer story, one that I do not know. From what I do know is that the Empire rose in the same year that I had been born. Anyway, that's when we discovered that the Empire had created a massive moon sized space station known as the Death Star and it was that space station that destroyed the planet. After we were caught in the tractor beam of the space station, Ben went to go shut off the tractor beam while Han Solo, who was the captain of the Falcon, and I went to go rescue the princess, who went by the name Leia."

Leia. That was the name Anakin and Padmé had decided on should their baby be a girl and Anakin found himself wondering if it was possible that his wife was currently carrying twins. He decided that he wouldn't ask that question and he would save his questions until Luke finished with his story.

"After we rescued Leia, we fled back toward the hangar bay but that's when I caught Vader and Ben fighting and that's when I witnessed Ben's death at Vader's hand."

Anakin widened his eyes. Obi-Wan gets killed in the future? By this Vader person? Who the blazes is this Vader anyway? He wondered silently as Luke went on with his story.

"After that, we managed to escape the Death Star only to discover that the space station was tracking us to the rebellion's hideout. There, the rebellion launched an offensive against the Death Star and I managed to destroy the space station."

Anakin felt pride well up inside of him at the boy who was very likely his son's words.

"I wouldn't have been able to do that had it not been for Han, who came back and kept the fighters off my back long enough for me to fire the fatal shot. Both of us, along with the Wookiee Chewbacca, were then honored although it was still a couple of years before we officially became a part of the rebellion."

"What about Vader?" Anakin couldn't help but ask. "Did he ever get brought to justice for murdering Obi-Wan? And who is he anyway?"

"I was just about to explain that part," Luke said. "It occurred about five years after the Battle of Yavin when the Empire found our secret base on the ice planet of Hoth. Upon fleeing, I went to the planet Dagobah to continue my Jedi training with Master Yoda while Leia and Han were fleeing from the Empire."

"Yoda's still alive in the future? But why aren't there more Jedi? You haven't mentioned other Jedi aside from Yoda and Obi-Wan," Anakin said.

"They were all killed in the same year of, or the years following, my birth. Ben and Yoda were the only survive Jedi, at least until Ben was killed." Luke was silent for a long moment before he went on with his story. "Anyway, while I was on Dagobah, I started having a vision of my friends in pain in a city within the clouds so I decided to go see if I could rescue them. Ben, as a Force ghost, and Yoda both warned me not to go because then I would have to face Vader and I wasn't yet ready for that confrontation. I stubbornly insisted that my friends needed me and I went anyway."

Stubbornness, a sure Skywalker trait, Anakin mused silently.

"When I went there, I learned that Han had been frozen in carbonite and Leia was being taken somewhere but I wasn't sure where. Leia kept insisting that it was a trap but I walked right into it anyway."

Trust a Skywalker to not heed a warning given to them by their friends, Anakin thought as he waited for Luke to go on. It would appear they were getting to a painful part of the story because Luke was hesitating and kept glancing at Anakin as if attempting to determine something that Anakin did not know.

"I confronted Vader," Luke whispered quietly. "We fought and I knew that I did not have enough training to defeat him. He easily beat me after he sliced off my hand…"

Anakin winced in sympathy, knowing full well of how it felt to lose a hand, or well an arm in his case.

"But he didn't kill me as I thought he would. Instead, he lowered his weapon and told me that I had great potential and I could end the conflict if I gave in to him. I told him that I would never join him and then he responded with how I didn't know the power of the dark side. After that, he asked me if I knew what happened to my father. I told him exactly what Ben had told me, that Vader had killed him."

Luke fell silent.

Anakin was wondering what Luke was going to say and he found himself impatiently waiting for Luke to go on with his story. Apparently, his earlier suspicion had been correct and this was the most painful part of Luke's story.

Luke sighed. "That's when he told me the truth. His exact words were…" he fell silent before glancing at Anakin as he went on, "…his exact words were 'No, I am your father.'"

Anakin's eyes went wide with shock and disbelief as the full impact of those words touched him; Luke's last name being Skywalker, the pain in his voice as he recounted his first encounter with Vader and the fact that Obi-Wan never did have an apprentice after Anakin was knighted. It all made sense now; Anakin and Vader were the same person.

But how is that possible? Why would I do such a horrible thing to my own son? Anakin thought gazing at his son with horror in his eyes. "What about Padmé?" he asked finally. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "I take it Padmé is my mother. I never knew my mother. I learned that she died after I was born but I never got the full story."

Padmé's dies? My vision? Anakin thought.

Luke gazed at his father before smiling slightly. "It's all right, father," he said gently. "This story does have a somewhat happy ending. May I go on with it?"

Anakin, his eyes still filled with horror at his son's words and at the truth that he and the Sith Lord who killed Obi-Wan were the same person, slowly nodded in response.

"I was in denial," Luke went on. "I didn't want to believe it so, a year later after Leia and I rescued Han from his carbonite freezing and from Jabba the Hutt, I went to Yoda. Yoda, at first, didn't want me to know but he finally gave in and told me that Vader was my father. After that, he died and I left Dagobah to rejoin with the rebellion in our final offensive against the Empire."

"However, the Empire set a trap for us and I once again confronted Vader but this time, I went determined to bring my father back to the light side of the Force. Master Yoda had told me that once you start down the dark path, it'll forever dominate your destiny but I didn't believe. I suppose I just wanted to believe that I could bring my father back so I attempted to convince my father to return. Vader insisted that Anakin Skywalker was dead, that he could never return and that there was no hope left for him. I retorted with telling him that my father was truly dead then. I think my words may have hit him hard."

Anakin winced; if he really was Vader then those words were likely to have hit him hard in the future, they certainly did now when Anakin had as of yet to become the Sith Lord that Luke was talking about.

"After that, Vader and I went to confront the Emperor, Vader's master…"

"Who is the Emperor?" Anakin asked quietly; he was a bit afraid to find out.

"He is known as Emperor Palpatine."

This time, Anakin did not conceal the gasp of surprise that escaped is lips. Palpatine is the Sith Lord the Jedi Order have been searching for ever since the beginning of the Clone Wars.

"Vader and I confronted him and the Emperor attempted to get me to turn to the dark side but I had no desire to take any part in the dark side. Naturally, the Emperor played upon my fears and upon my anger and in the end I attempted to strike him down. Vader intercepted my blow and the two of us started dueling again but this time I was doing my best to avoid fighting him because I did not want to fight my father. Vader kept insisting that I had to fight him or he would kill me but I really did not believe that my own father would kill me."

Anakin knew for a fact that he would never have even lifted a lightsaber in offensive against his son nowadays but then, nowadays, he was still a Jedi. There was no telling of what was going on in the mind of the Sith Lord that Anakin was in the future.

"Vader and I continued to fight and he seemed to be doing everything within his power to try to turn me to the dark side. When he discovered I had a sister…"

So Padmé is carrying twins? Anakin thought.

"…He told me that if I would not turn then perhaps my sister would. That angered me and I attacked him in anger. I managed to best him and I even managed to cut off his hand and leave him defenseless. That's when the Emperor came down and told me to kill my father and take his place at his side. However, I noticed that what I had just done was similar to what Vader had done to me at Cloud City and I did not do what the Emperor told me to do. I must admit that I was pretty stupid after that since I tossed my lightsaber away as I told the Emperor that I would always be a Jedi like my father before me."

"First rule of combat, son, always keep your weapon with you at all times," Anakin said eyes narrowing.

Luke, in his Force ghost form, looked sheepish. "Yes, well, I didn't think of that until later. The Emperor then declared that if I would not join him then I would die and he blasted me with Force lightning." Luke's ghostly form shuddered and Anakin readily agreed with his son from the future; Force lightning was a very painful experience.

"What was I doing?" Anakin asked quietly; he couldn't believe that he would just stand aside and allow his son to be electrocuted to death.

"You were standing at the Emperor's side just glancing between the two of us for a long moment; it was obvious that you were in conflict as if you couldn't seem to decide what to do. The part that was Anakin Skywalker was attempting to convince the part that was Darth Vader to do the right thing. At least, I assume that is what happened; I was a bit preoccupied at the moment and I really couldn't see your eyes. I felt it through the Force though."

"What do you mean you couldn't see my eyes?"

"I don't know how it happened but you were in a black suit that, apparently, you couldn't live without due to a terrible accident that I never learned about. It made you more of a machine than a man," Luke replied. "As I said, you were in conflict then finally you came to a decision in your mind and you grabbed Palpatine, lifted him over your head and then tossed him down the reactor shaft in the center of the throne room onboard the Death Star. However, the amount of Force lightning that Palpatine was generating short circuited your entire body and cut off your supply of oxygen. To say the least, you were on the verge of dying."

"At least I saved you," Anakin whispered gazing at his son. "What happened next?"

"I had to half drag half carry you to the shuttle we had arrived in but you collapsed when we arrived at the boarding ramp. There, you told me to take off your mask but I insisted that you would die if I did that and you told me that it was going to happen anyway and your last wish was to see my face for the first time with your own eyes. So I did what you told me to do and I got a good look at you, and the accident that left you horribly scarred as if you had been burned or something close to that. After that, you told me to leave but I protested that I had to save you. That's when you told me that I already did and to tell Leia that I had been right all along. You died within seconds of that last request." There were tears glimmering in Luke's ghostly eyes and Anakin couldn't help but gaze at his son with tears in his own eyes.

He couldn't believe it and yet, even though he was a Force ghost, everything Luke had said was sincere. The Force told Anakin that the Force ghost of his son was speaking the truth and he found himself filled with horror and fear that he would be unable to stop it.

Luke must have noticed the fear and horror in his eyes for he floated forward and placed a hand on his father's shoulder. "Don't be afraid, father. I came back in time to tell you of what would happen in the future so that you may change it. The future is always in constant motion, father, and that means that anything you do, even just learning of what your future is going to be like as of now, will change it. I have faith in you, father, and I believe that you can change your own destiny and your own future. I would not have come back at all when I was offered the chance if I did not believe that," he said gently.

"But how am I supposed to stop it?" Anakin protested. "Palpatine is my friend, one of my closest friends. I can tell him anything and I won't have to worry about the Jedi Council discovering my deception."

"You cannot trust him, father," Luke said quietly. "But you can trust Obi-Wan."

"No I can't," Anakin said angrily. "Obi-Wan is a hardcore Jedi. If I told him I broke the Jedi Code by getting married and was going to be a father then he would just turn me over to the Jedi Council and be done with it."

"Father, do you honestly believe that? Obi-Wan told me that you and he were like brothers," Luke said softly. "If you can trust anyone right now then it's Obi-Wan. Please, father, I do not want to lose you like I do in the future. I want to get to know you, I want to know what you are like, I want to discover what my father had been like before he turned into Darth Vader and I believe that telling Obi-Wan the truth and no longer trusting Palpatine is a step. Please father."

Luke was practically begging him; Anakin could see the look of desperation in his eyes and the pleading tone in his voice. He truly wanted to change the future and he believed that if he could convince Anakin to listen to him and do as he said then he may accomplish his goal.

"All right," Anakin said softly. "But I don't know if Obi-Wan will understand. I love him like a brother and like the father I never had but I don't know if he would accept the truth if I tell him it."

"Father, you know of what your future will turn out to be if you continue along the path you have been walking," Luke said quietly before he added almost as an afterthought, "If you have to, any time you feel like you should trust and listen to Palpatine, then remember the future I told you about."

Anakin thought about that; there was a particular image that would forever be in Anakin's mind from Luke's sincere truthful story and that was the image of Palpatine electrocuting his son. Anakin honestly didn't think that he could look Palpatine in the face again and not see him electrocuting Luke.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that image you painted in my mind of Palpatine electrocuting you and me just standing aside doing nothing while I fought with myself," Anakin admitted quietly glancing at his son.

Luke smiled faintly. "That's a start, father."

"May I ask you something, Luke?"

"Of course father."

"How are you here? I thought Force ghosts are only formed when someone dies, such as when Obi-Wan appeared to you in the future."

Luke was silent for a long moment. "Technically speaking, I am near death. I am currently on Dathomir and one of the Nightsisters that live there tried to kill me and I am pretty sure she did a pretty good job on it. I was on the verge of death when Obi-Wan came to me and told me that I had three different choices; to take the offered energy from the living Force around me and live, to let go of the world and become one with the Force, at such a young age, or go to the past and attempt to change the future that I currently lived in, by saving my father from the dark side of the Force. I didn't know how I would accomplish it but I felt that if I was able to save my father in my future then there was a chance that I could save him in the past and thereby change my future. So I told Obi-Wan that I would like the chance to attempt to change the future that I lived in."

"Did Obi-Wan believe that I could be saved from the dark side before I even turned?" Anakin asked curiously.

"He sounded as though he did," Luke replied silently. "I think he believed the same thing I did. If I was able to return you to the light side of the Force after you've been on the clutches of the dark side for twenty some odd years then it was very likely I could save you from the dark side before you even fall."

Anakin was silent for a long moment as he regarded his son from the future, the Force singing strongly in Anakin's mind that what Luke told him was the truth. It would seem that the Force decided to take matters into its' own hands by sending Obi-Wan to Luke and Luke to Anakin in a hope that Anakin Skywalker could be saved from the dark side of the Force before he falls.

"Luke, I…" Anakin didn't know what to say. His son had basically given up on the life he had led just to come to the past and make sure his father did not fall to the dark side. There were no words to express how Anakin felt at that moment. The only words he could come up with were, "Thank you."

Luke smiled at him. "I hope that you make the correct decision, father. I have seen what is to occur when I was sent to this point in time. You will be given a choice, father and I do hope that learning of the future you would lead should you chose the wrong path will help you chose the right path. And, as I said before, speak to Obi-Wan, trust him like the brother and father figure you say he is. I hope, for your sake as well as the sake of the future, that you make the right choices in the upcoming future. I love you father."

And then he was gone.

Anakin gazed at the spot his son's Force ghost had occupied only moments before, his thoughts on everything he had learned from his son. He was so deep in his thoughts that he was unaware of someone else sitting beside him on the foam couch until he felt a gently touch on his shoulder.

"Ani?" Padmé asked quietly and Anakin blinked his eyes before turning his gaze to look deep within his beloved wife's chocolate brown eyes. "Ani, are you all right?"

Anakin stretched out a hand before gently resting it on Padmé's swollen abdomen where his twin children, including the son who had given up on the life he once led to save his father, were currently growing. "Yes, Padmé," he whispered gently gazing loving at his wife and the children that she carried within. "I am all right. In fact, I am better than all right."

Padmé gazed at him in confusion. "Ani? Are you sure?"

"Yes, Padmé, I'm sure." Anakin gazed at the dark star speckled sky that lay beyond the brilliant glow of the neon signs of upper city Coruscant. Padmé continued to gaze at him for a long moment before she, too, turned her gaze to the star speckled sky and silence fell upon the couple while the faint echo of Luke's last words echoing in the vaults of Anakin's mind.

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: and that was my RotS AU oneshot

Darth: and this is the prequel to a story that Blaze is currently planning out that will take place directly after this oneshot

Blaze: well not directly although it probably will be directly. I haven't yet decided.

Darth: oh bleh

Blaze: here is the summary of the sequel to this story, entitled: An Era of Twilight

Making a life altering decision on the night the Republic falls, Anakin Skywalker, along with his family and his two best friends, flee from Coruscant. But Darth Sidious wants Anakin as his apprentice and he will do whatever he must to obtain his goal…

Darth: sounds good

Blaze: yup so please review and I do hope that you liked this extremely AU over 4,000 word RotS era oneshot