Chapter Text
If Anakin’s plan was to work, it would take some good acting, but he was sure he could pull it off. He could do anything if it meant the safety of those he loved.
Still, he had to be careful. If Palpatine suspected a hint of the truth, the whole thing would be over before it began. He stopped outside the Chancellor’s office, trying to collect his thoughts. Luckily, he had… experience sneaking around the Senate building to see Padmé, so he was sure he hadn’t been spotted. He sped up his breathing on purpose, messed up his hair for effect and entered the office he was so familiar with. How could Palpatine sit here, pretend to love the Republic, all the while plotting its downfall? He bit down on his tongue to silence the thought, replacing it with generalized distress.
“Ah, Anakin… What is the matter, my boy?” Concern was written all over his face, but Anakin knew it was false. He wondered how he had never noticed the barely restrained dark glee, the almost possessive feeling lingering over him. In that moment, Anakin knew he surely would have bended to this man’s will and thanked the Force for sending his son.
“They- They found out. The Jedi Council found out!” Anakin breathed, hoping that the fear and despair he was radiating was cloaking his true thoughts. The emotions were certainly real enough.
“About Senator Amidala, you mean?” Palpatine clarified gently. Anakin couldn’t help but throw a startled look at him. He knew about Padmé? Every moment with this man frightened him more and more. He used his emotions, feeling guilty about it, but strongly believing what he was doing was right.
Palpatine sat on the couch and gesturing to the seat next to him. Anakin remained standing, and in fact, started pacing. “I-I don’t know what to do! They’ll take away my Knighthood.” He paused. “They’ll take away my child!”
“Don’t worry, my boy, I won’t let that happen.” Palpatine stated, almost like he truly believed it.
“You won’t?” Anakin frowned, stopping his pacing. So far, this was going well, but he had to keep his guard up while not seeming like his guard was up. “But… what can you do?”
A smile, that to anyone else, might have been pleasant. “More than you might think. I have more power than I appear to.” Palpatine paused a moment, perhaps thoughtful. “You could, too.”
Anakin turned away. “I don’t want power! I just want…” Love. Family. Acceptance. Belonging.
“Not even the power to protect those you love? To end this war, to bring peace to the galaxy?” Palpatine’s tone was almost… scolding.
“I… What would I have to do?” He looked down, not able to look at this man that he had considered a mentor, a trusted friend. He had been so wrong, and the evidence was right here.
“Pledge yourself to me, and… to the dark side of the Force.” Palpatine’s voice was lower, rougher than the voice he had usually used with Anakin. It took everything he had to looked shocked at that statement, backing away.
“You… you’re the Sith Lord…” Anakin breathed, feeling his back hit the wall. The distance felt good, but he needed to be closer to end this.
Once again Palpatine paused. “Yes,” he admitted. “And what would you do with this information?”
“I… There is no place for me among the Jedi any longer…” That much was true, he knew. “All I want is for my wife and child to be safe…” Also true. If Palpatine wondered about how quickly he accepted the fact, he didn’t mention it.
“And so they shall… if you agree to become my apprentice.” He said.
Anakin could sense the gloating in his voice as he took the few steps forward, kneeling in front of him. It was the hardest thing he had ever done, his knees locking up and practically rebelling as he did so. “I will… Master.” In the past, he had often had trouble reconciling that title with his childhood as a slave, but had grown to accept it, especially after becoming Obi-wan’s padawan. But now… the word was almost physically painful to say.
He looked up into Palpatine’s eyes, and knew that his plan had been found out. The man finally sensed his hostility, the dangerous intent he had been trying to hide behind a storm of emotion. Luckily, it was far too late for him. In a movement so quick Anakin was barely aware of doing it, his lightsaber was in his hand, lit, and plunged into Palpatine’s midsection. He knew it was wrong to take pleasure in his the death of this man, no matter how vile, but he couldn’t help it. He would never admit it, but it had felt a bit like killing the part of him that could have become… Like that.
–
Immediately after receiving the news, Luke collapsed in the council chambers. I’m dying. He thought with certainty for the second time in a week. His vision whited out, but he could feel movement around him, a hand on his arm.
“Luke?” Obi-wan’s concerned voice called.
He wanted to reassure him, tell him it was alright, but his mouth wasn’t working either. But deep down, Luke knew it was alright. He was sure that he had done what he came here to do, and now it was his time. He had accepted death on the Death Star, and he accepted it now, knowing he had made the galaxy a better place. His consciousness faded to the sound of his name being called, again and again.
–
Luke woke up, and realized he was not dead. Again. He groaned and refused to open his eyes. What now? What more could possibly be expected of him?
“Luke?” A voice called. A very familiar voice. He opened his eyes, shooting upright and almost falling right back over from dizziness.
There she was. Leia. He grinned wildly and immediately enveloped her in his arms. “Leia!” He exclaimed. He was back! But… did that mean he hadn’t changed anything? That it had just been a dream? But how had he gotten off the Death Star then?
“Luke, what’s wrong?” Leia asked with a bit of a laugh in her voice, before turning serious and pulling away. “You were fine one moment, and then you just collapsed. Are you okay? Did you hit your head?”
“I… I don’t know…” He answered truthfully, looking around the room, He didn’t recognize his surroundings; this wasn’t Endor and it wasn’t any Rebel base or ship he knew of. “Where are we?”
At that, Leia looked very concerned. “Okay, I’m going to get Mom, you’re worrying me.” She left the room quickly, leaving Luke alone to contemplate things.
Clearly, something was very wrong… or right. The last thing he had remembered was being in the Council chambers and hearing the news about Palpatine, and then… nothing. Now, he was back here, wherever here was. Whether here was good or bad had yet to be seen, but seeing Leia’s face had reassured him of fears he didn’t even know he had.
A moment later, Leia returned, another petite brown haired woman in tow. Luke immediately recognized her, the years having not changed her much, and understanding filled his mind. He had really had changed things. His mother was still alive, and now that he focused, he could feel his father’s presence as well as Han and Chewbacca’s, though theirs were more distant.
Luke broke out into a grin, which simply caused both his mother and sister to frown again. Padmé put a gentle hand to his forehead, feeling for any bumps. “Maybe we should go to a medcenter.” Leia suggested.
Luke shook his head, grin still spread across his face. “No, I’m fine! I just need uh, I need to access the holonet.” The two women exchanged dubious looks. “It’s very important!” He said seriously, trying very hard to not sound like someone with a concussion or other brain injury. It must have worked somewhat, because Padmé nodded and went to talk to Anakin, and Leia led him to a terminal. Luke dove in, immediately noticing how unrestricted it was. He searched everything he could on the end of the Clone Wars, and even just on skimming he confirmed what he had thought. He was in the alternate timeline that had been created by his trip to the past. Luke settled in, trying and failing to ignore Leia’s worried presence. He would reassure her later, after he knew exactly what had happened.
It appeared that the Chancellor had been killed by an unknown force user, assumed to be Dooku, and the Republic had nearly fallen into chaos. However, gradually, the fighting between the Separatists and Republic slowed, ending with the death of Dooku at the hand of someone named Asajj Ventress. With his death, not only did the Confederacy crumble, but many secrets came to light. Palpatine’s true affiliation came to light, as well as many of his plans, namely the clones and Order 66. A clone trooper named Rex had done some digging after the death of one of his men, Fives, and discovered the plot behind the biochips. Every clone had theirs removed, though ultimately, production of clones was ceased. With the knowledge that both sides had been manipulated by Palpatine, and with no one to lead them, the war simply… fizzled. It wasn’t over in a day, but eventually a treaty was signed that recognized both the Republic’s right to exist, as well as any planet or system's right to not join it. Reform on the inside of the Republic was harder, but by then people were terrified at how close Palpatine had come to being a dictator, at how they had voted for him every step of the way, and sought to limit the power of any one person and to hold senators more accountable for their actions. It wasn’t perfect, and was in fact very messy, with pockets of corruption and power seeking appearing time to time, but faith in the system was higher than it had been in a long time.
Finding information on the Jedi Order was harder, as they seemed just as secretive, but he eventually found out what he wanted to know. Anakin Skywalker had indeed been expelled from the Order, and it seemed that not much had changed… until he noticed that many of the newer initiates were older than was allowed, and even saw mention of a few Jedi who had gotten married publicly. It had seemed that the older leadership of the council had remained steadfast, but as younger members filled empty positions, certain views had softened.
Leia who thankfully had remained silent for a while, leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. “History? Now I know something’s wrong with you. You hate history.” She teased, some concern still evident in her voice.
Luke smiled sheepishly. “I’m fine. I just had to check something, I’m sorry to worry you.”
She was not buying it. “Uh-huh. Why don’t you go lay down?”
He was about to protest but thought better of it. He really needed some time to think things over.
Flopping down on his bed face first, Luke wondered what to do. He couldn’t tell anyone; not only would they not believe him, he didn’t want to burden anyone with the knowledge of dark times that had never come. But clearly, they knew something was up. They were only going to get more suspicious when they learned how little he knew about his own life. He didn’t have any memories of this timeline-
Wait.
Closing his eyes, he focused, trying to remember his childhood. At first came Tatooine, the homestead, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen… but then…
He remembered a much gentler sun, a meadow, a planet he thought he had never seen… He remembered running around with Leia, putting flowers in each other’s hair. He remembered his parents laughing kissing.
Rolling over onto his back, he grinned. He knew everything was going to be just fine.