Chapter Text
Anakin was starting to wonder if merely existing in the past was deeply traumatizing.
The young jedi, Luke, if the Mandalorian was to be believed, was frozen, looking at Obi-Wan with an expression somewhere between relief and terror. It was confusing, but perhaps understandable. Anakin thoroughly believed this young man was the Grandmaster of the Ossus temple, and according to Obi-Wan"s story, the last thing he"d managed to do back in his own time was send out a distress signal, so Anakin could forgive him for being a little on edge.
"Ben." Luke breathed out in a whisper, eyes still firmly fixed on Obi-Wan. It felt like the temperature had risen, like a sudden wind had picked up, waves of grief and pain rippling through the Force, and Anakin was actually glad that Luke was trying to disguise his Force signature, as being hit with the full force of the young Jedi"s emotions seemed like it would be overwhelming, especially since this was the dampened version.
For a brief moment, Anakin could almost swear the scenery around him changed again, flickering from the familiar sight of the Negotiator to a landscape of sand, wind, and heat that Anakin was certain was Tatooine. It was hot, and the wind was blowing, and for a split second Anakin thought he saw an old man with eyes that sparkled with both mischief and a deep grief Anakin couldn"t fully understand, a smile that was both deeply comforting and promised the recipient trouble, and this man felt so familiar and foreign at once that Anakin wanted to sob.
Then came the voice, a deep echo that somehow felt like it was being shouted and whispered all at once, carrying one very simple message.
"He"s me."
The sound seemed to reverberate around Anakin"s skull, and it was only when Obi-Wan placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder that Anakin realized a few tears had started to roll down his face. He quickly scrubbed his eyes, feeling a bit silly at reacting to a vision so strongly, especially when he had no clue what it meant.
Luke"s eyes followed Obi-Wan"s hand as he gently placed it on Anakin"s shoulder, the young man"s blue eyes settling on Anakin"s face for the first time, and Luke flinched, a wave of fear, grief, longing, regret rolling through the Force. It was strong, and it was disconcerting, and Anakin almost felt bad, as if he had personally done something to this man. It was impossible, but Anakin couldn’t help the surge of guilt he felt, like he had somehow ruined Luke’s life, like he was solely responsible for every bad thing Luke ever had to experience.
It lasted for only a moment though, before Luke seemed to regain his composure and gave them both a smile that, admittedly, seemed a bit forced. "I apologize. For a moment I mistook you for someone." He told Obi-Wan, his voice warm like sunlight, an edge of sincerity to what he said, though Anakin got the sense it wasn"t quite the whole story.
"It"s quite alright." Obi-Wan assured him. "These are disconcerting times for everyone."
"Indeed." Luke agreed in a hum, trailing his eyes over the pair of them again. "I suppose I should introduce myself." He still sounded polite, though Anakin got the sense he really didn"t want to actually introduce himself. "I am," he paused to take a deep breath, "Jedi Master Luke Skywalker."
Time seemed to stop entirely, and Anakin felt very much like he had been doused in ice cold water, not even sure if he was breathing for several moments. "S- Skywalker?" He asked in a shaky whisper, almost afraid of the answer.
"Yes." Luke answered, looking right at Anakin, and Anakin wondered if he was aware of the relation between them. It felt like he was.
Anakin was struggling, not sure what to think or feel, too many thoughts and emotions passing through him at once, too many to focus on one at a time. Obi-Wan was faring somewhat better, managing to disguise his surprise and shock, though just barely.
"I see." He mused, not quite able to make himself sound normal. "Well, I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this-"
"I"m Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker." Anakin cut him off quickly, tone almost challenging, glaring at Luke as if the man would suddenly give him answers.
Luke at least had the decency to look mildly shocked, though it seemed like a mere facade, which only made Anakin more frustrated. It seemed like Luke knew things before he should, things he should have no way of possibly knowing, and it was profoundly confusing, not to mention irritating.
He was silent for a moment, looking between Obi-Wan and Anakin, as if giving them time to process what he had said, or perhaps because he didn’t know what else to say to them either. The silence was short lived, however, as Luke took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself down. “Skywalker. I see.” He paused for a moment, as if still processing that fact. “Then I suppose we all know what is happening here?”
“If you’re referring to time travel, yes.” Anakin confirmed, voice still a bit cold and accusing. “Though the fact you’re also a Skywalker was unexpected.”
Luke nodded, looking a bit like he was lost in thought, but also relieved that they knew he was from another time entirely and thus didn’t have to explain it to them. “I can understand how that might be surprising. Rest assured, I didn’t expect this either.” He paused once more, hesitating for a moment. “Though, I hope you understand, I can’t exactly go about telling you everything about my time.”
“That’s perfectly understandable.” Obi-Wan agreed. “After all, we probably shouldn’t go about messing with the flow of time till we understand the implications of us doing so. I’d hardly like to be the one changing things for the worse in such a way.”
Even Anakin had to begrudgingly and silently agree, knowing that messing with the past could cause issues for them now, worse than the war they were already dealing with. No, as much as Anakin was excited by this, he knew they would have to figure out how this would impact both the past and present before messing it all up and intentionally making it worse.
A tense silence stretched over the bridge, everyone grappling with the current situation, and not sure how to deal with it. Thankfully they were spared from more awkward silence the second a familiar set of heavy footsteps stepped onto the bridge.
"Luke." A deadpan voice hidden behind a vocoder intoned dryly, and Anakin could practically see Luke"s face light up.
"Din!" He chirped happily, spinning around and giving the Mand’alor the brightest smile Anakin had ever seen on a person. And though the Mandalorian was wearing his armor like always, Anakin could practically feel the waves of relief coming from him at the sight of Luke, awake and well.
Din stared at Luke for a long minute, no doubt trailing his eyes over the Jedi"s body beneath his helmet, checking Luke for any injuries himself. He eventually nodded, seemingly satisfied. "You look... alive." Din commented hesitantly, and Anakin internally winced, the tension between the Mand’alor and the Jedi Master palpable. Anakin would almost assume it was romantic in nature, if not for the Jedi Code, which Anakin got the sense Luke followed like law.
And if that was Din"s attempt at flirting, he had a deep sense of sympathy for the man, but couldn"t exactly judge him. Anakin knew his own attempts were often painful at best. It was honestly shocking Padmé ever gave him the time of day, let alone married him. Anakin still wanted a swift death anytime he remembered he once ranted to Padmé about sand in an attempt to woo her.
Suffice to say, Anakin was no expert in this kind of situation, but he knew well enough to know when someone was struggling, and Din very obviously was. It was almost entertaining enough that for a minute Anakin nearly forgot that this was his ancestor , who was a Jedi , which in itself threw out everything Anakin had thought he knew about his family and past.
"I"m fine." Luke assured Din, still cheerfully, to which Din tilted his head and presumably fixed the Jedi with a disbelieving look. "I am." Luke insisted indignantly. "It was a brief bout of Force exhaustion."
"And Force exhaustion can kill a jedi." Din pointed out calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Did you tell him that?" Luke asked, turning to Obi-Wan and Anakin, looking like they had betrayed him.
Obi-Wan was silent for a long moment, clearly struggling to think, and nearly unable to form words. “W- well it is the truth.” He finally managed.
Luke huffed and rolled his eyes, a strangely immature gesture on the Grandmaster, and Anakin was once again struck by just how young the man was, and briefly wondered if perhaps something had happened to the Jedi in Luke’s day that made it a necessity for someone so young to be Grandmaster. Though, he couldn’t deny just how powerful Luke’s Force signature was, even when he was trying to hide it. Anakin could rather easily assume it was nearly as strong as his own, if not exactly as strong. There was a certain familiarity in the young man’s signature, and Anakin wondered if it was merely because they were related.
“I was in no danger of death.” Luke told Din gently, reaching out to gently place a hand on Din’s pauldron-clad shoulder. “ I assure you.”
Something about that seemed to actually reassure Din, but he still let out a sigh that was audible through his vocoder. “You’re frustrating.”
“Yet you love me anyway.” Luke joked brightly, and Anakin gave a sharp inhale, feeling very much like he had front row seats to a very awkward rom-com. He wondered if Luke really was that oblivious, or if he just took great delight in frustrating the Mand’alor .
Din muttered something quietly that sounded suspiciously like “Manda only knows why,” but otherwise didn’t reply. It was honestly impressive that he could act so nonchalant when, given how concerned he’d seemed over the Jedi the last few days, Anakin was sure he thought of Luke as plenty more than just an acquaintance, or even friend.
It was almost painfully obvious in Anakin"s eyes that what the Mand’alor really wanted was for Luke to be an actual part of his clan, despite the fact it would almost certainly never happen.
“Where’s Grogu?” Luke asked, looking around Din like the child would be hiding behind the Mand’alor .
Din let out another huff that was audible through his vocoder, shaking his head in what Anakin assumed was amusement. “As if I could tear him away from the jett"ika.” [1].”
Luke raised an eyebrow slightly. “ Jett’ika?”
“It means-” Anakin tried to explain, having gotten used to a few of the words Din used while he’s been on the Negotiator , only for Luke to wave off his explanation.
“I know what it means. Do you have a padawan onboard?” He asked, sounding a bit confused.
“Yes, Anakin’s padawan is with us.” Obi-Wan answered quickly. “And the adiik seems to have taken a liking to her.”
Luke gave Obi-Wan an incredulous look, likely taken aback by his use of a Mando’a word, though he didn’t comment on it. "Perhaps we should go find them." Luke suggested quickly, as if he worried of what would conspire should Ashoka and Grogu be left alone, which, in Anakin"s mind, was completely reasonable.
Din nodded silently, reaching out and offering a hand to Luke, which the Jedi took surprisingly quickly and easily, as if it was a regular occurance.
Anakin moved to follow them, but Obi-Wan quickly put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “We’ll catch up later.” The Jedi Master informed Luke and Din, gesturing for them to go ahead as he held Anakin back. He waited till they left before letting go of Anakin and turning back to him. “Are you alright?”
“Of course I’m fine. Why?” Anakin asked, sounding slightly confused, though it was really a facade he was putting on, not wanting to admit how shaken up he was by this whole thing.
Obi-Wan gave him a disbelieving look, clearly not convinced by a word Anakin said. “Are you sure? After learning that Luke is-”
“A Skywalker?” Anakin cut him off, voice perhaps a bit sharper than it should be. “Why would that concern me? Just because that means he could be my ancestor, that my family could have possibly not always been slaves, that I may be distantly related to a Jedi Grandmaster?”
All Anakin’s rambling achieved was a raised eyebrow from Obi-Wan, who looked thoroughly unimpressed and unconvinced, but slightly worried. “You’re doing a poor job of convincing me you’re unfazed.” He commented dryly.
“Well, I am. This whole situation is perfectly in line with our usual lives, and is not making me question my whole life and world-view at all.”
“Perfectly in line with our usual antics, yes. Unconcerning, no.” Obi-Wan commented, voice still dry and unconvinced. “It’s alright to admit this is getting to you, at least a little.”
Anakin could hardly hold back a scoff at that comment, a small, bitter part of him wanting to snarkily ask Obi-Wan if the Jedi Council was suddenly advocating for Jedi to do such things as ‘have emotions’ or ‘express healthy desires and feelings,’ but held back. “I’m fine. I just… have some questions for Luke.” Anakin said hesitantly. Truthfully, the thought of talking to Luke terrified him, as Anakin wasn’t sure how to act around the young man, who was presumably his ancestor, made all the worse by the fact Luke’s Force signature almost seemed as powerful and strong as Anakin’s own, though it was impossible to tell, as it seemed like the young Master was trying to make it seem as small as possible.
But there were questions Anakin needed answers to, and Luke was the key. If Luke was here, in this time, then how could his family line even continue? Did Luke perhaps have siblings that Anakin might have descended from instead? It would make sense, especially since Luke was a Jedi and Grandmaster, and likely didn’t have any sort of romantic or physical relationships. But then, why were Anakin and his mother slaves if their ancestors, at least one of them, was a Jedi? Why were no more of Anakin’s ancestors, to his knowledge, Jedi as well?
It was a mountain of speculation, assumptions, and unanswered questions, and it was just giving Anakin a headache at this point.
“I think I need to retire for now.” He muttered, turning to walk out before Obi-Wan could protest, needing some time to himself to think.