Chapter Text
A noise woke her. Ahsoka remained still, keeping her eyes closed as she tried to place the sound. Sixteen years on the run had given her a highly-developed danger sense, alerting her even during sleep to slight changes that could mean swift death or lingering torture. It also meant that she woke frequently when she didn't need to, but better alive and restless than the alternative.
She felt a change in the pressure of Anakin's arms holding her. He'd sensed her waking, and now he was awake, holding as motionless as she did. Neither spoke. She listened, ears straining, until she heard the noise a second time.
It was a small beep, the sound of an almost-silenced alert on the control panel in Anakin's quarters.
He sighed. "I should check that." He crawled past her out of the bunk and walked to the panel, pressing the button. "Go ahead," he said, not engaging the holoprojector. Nude holograms were generally frowned upon in the army.
"General, sorry to disturb you, but we've received word that General Kenobi will be meeting us at the base. Do you want us to dock or to hold place?"
"How many ships did he bring?"
"One small frigate. He instructed the rest of his ships to wait in a nearby system."
"We'll dock. What's our ETA?"
"Forty-six hours."
"Thank you." Anakin closed the line and came back to bed. His body was cooler, and she shivered as he moved next to her, pressing against her for warmth.
"Are we low on hangars?" Ahsoka asked, wrapping her arms around him.
"No, but we've got a maximum number of ships we want at any given base at a time. One way we keep ahead of the Republic is not centralizing." He didn't have to say they were doing the same with Jedi. No more than three met up at a time to keep the majority safe from the hunters constantly after them. Just because Ahsoka was no longer in her home universe didn't mean she was safe from pursuit in this one. The Jedi had been hunted to near extinction where she came from. They'd fared a little better here, numbering in the dozens.
"I haven't seen Obi-Wan since the end of the war in my timeline. Have you told him about me yet?"
"I sent a communication with the basics. I didn't want to tell him too much in case the message was intercepted. I'm sure you're the reason he came back from his mission so early."
Anakin hadn't said much about Obi-Wan since her arrival, only that yes, he was another survivor, and he'd taken a mission to scout out the Unknown Regions for potential bases and allies. Anakin didn't sound happy that Obi-Wan was coming back now.
"Are the two of you having an argument?" She left off the 'again.' Listening to them bicker had been the soundtrack of her Padawan days.
Anakin shifted beside her. "We're not fighting. You know we don't always see eye to eye."
"I'd like to think that difference wound up giving you both a more complete point of view."
He chuckled, pressing his lips to her bare shoulder before saying, "Now that's a Yoda answer if I ever heard one. Yoda's alive. I don't know if I told you."
She wouldn't let him change the subject. "You did. Why are you worried about seeing Obi-Wan?"
Anakin rolled, facing her, one arm propping his head. Ahsoka turned to look at him. His hair was mussed from sleep, and from the things they'd done before they'd slept. She'd taken lovers before, and there had been many times when one smouldering look between them had been enough to relight the passion for another round. Part of her expected that to happen now, but instead, his expression was sad. And she understood.
"He will not understand. He absolutely will not."
Ahsoka took this in, musing on the declaration with all she knew of her Obi-Wan and of the Anakin she'd left behind in the other universe. "You told me he got you and Padmé to safety before the twins were born. He knows about them."
"He does. He didn't like it, as much as he's fond of the kids. He said it was a terrible decision on my part and hers, one that cost Padmé her life." He still grieved. Part of him would always grieve. Obi-Wan wouldn't have possessed the tools to help Anakin deal with that pain back when everything had happened. Jedi weren't meant to leave widows behind, nor to be widowed themselves. Obi-Wan would never have intended to blame Anakin for Padmé's death, but Ahsoka could easily see him not knowing the right words to say, not with his upbringing and certainly not with his own griefs so fresh.
"I'm sure it didn't help that you didn't trust him with the secret earlier." Before Anakin could reply in piqued anger, she added, "Which means we're better off telling him up front before he finds out from someone else."
"No one else knows." He kissed her, lightly and playfully. "And we'll only see him for a short while before he leaves."
"You want to keep this a secret?" Her heart fell a little.
"Not forever. Just until after he's gone."
She hadn't made any plans since her arrival in this universe. The rules were different, and she'd spent most of her time trying to find her footing. She'd always loved her Anakin in a nebulous mix as her sibling, protector, and best friend, but the man she'd known had fallen to darkness. This Anakin wore his face and knew her name, and he flowed with the same vitality and power that her Anakin had. This man loved her in all those ways and more, had loved her completely from the moment she'd stepped back into his life. Ahsoka had no plans for her new existence except that she wanted Anakin beside her wherever she went, and as much as it scared him, he wanted the same thing.
But in this universe, Anakin was still a Jedi, even if Ahsoka was not, and loving her was if anything even more forbidden than his last relationship. She'd been his apprentice, and he'd been given the caretaking of her. While an indiscretion with someone outside the Order would be frowned upon and would be considered grounds for expulsion, taking his Padawan into his bed was considered an obscenity and a crime. The Jedi survivors were scattered, and they had no hope of recreating anything like the hierarchy from before the purge, but they'd all been raised under the same set of rules. None of them would react well to discovering Anakin was breaking a huge one. Obi-Wan would react even worse, knowing how badly the last time had gone.
He would want to protect Ahsoka. He would want to help Anakin avoid repeating the same mistakes from before. Obi-Wan loved them. He wanted the best for them both.
He would not understand.
"We won't tell him," she agreed. "But we are not going to keep it a secret. I don't intend to lie, and," she said, with a worried sigh as she brushed his arm, "you will have to tell the Organas. For one thing, they should know I know who the twins really are, and once they do, they have to be able to trust me. That starts with telling them the truth every time."
Anakin nodded once. "I'll tell them, but I am going to point out you figured out the secret on your own."
"Luke looks like you."
"Let's hope you're the only one who thinks so." He took a thoughtful breath. "They're planning on meeting us at the base. I should send them a message to wait. That's too many of us all together with Obi-Wan there."
"You said the rule is no more than three Jedi. I'm not a Jedi and neither are the kids. We could even invite Master Yoda." She grinned at him in the low light, and earned a worried smile in return. She took this as a good reason to kiss him. "It will be fine."
Anakin didn't look as certain, but he did look interested in more kisses. His hands found her shoulders and he rolled them both over with a deeper kiss.
"I should go," Ahsoka teased him, between more kisses, twisting herself to fit against him deliciously and enjoying his thick sigh. "If we're to keep this a secret, I don't want to be caught creeping out of your quarters in the morning."
"You should stay." His hand tickled down her body, knuckles brushing her skin before his fingers reached the sensitive place between her legs. She saw his point.
Sneaking around sounded like fun. On the more prudent hand, Ahsoka had learned some time ago that whispers attracted attention where shouts were ignored. She stayed to shower and dress in Anakin's quarters, then walked out with him bold as day. Had she slipped out in the early hours, watchful eyes would have wondered what they were hiding. Instead, no one batted an eye.
"They're assuming I went to see you earlier this morning."
"Let's hope so." They went to the ship's mess for breakfast, then to the bridge. Ahsoka still lacked an official rank in the Separatist structure. Anakin referred to her as Commander Tano, and that had more or less stuck, although a few members of his crew kept slipping up and calling her General as they did the rest of the Jedi. It made for awkward conversation, which she avoided by keeping her mouth shut, her ears pricked, and her mind open.
Rex's ship was docked with theirs as they traveled. He met them on the bridge, a wide smile spreading over his face as he saw Ahsoka. Anakin gave him a friendly nod, then went to the duty officer to hear the morning's report.
Rex said, "You look a lot better than you did. How's the arm?"
"As good as new." She flexed her elbow to demonstrate, then winced. "Almost as good. Another couple of days with bacta patches should finish the job."
"Well, we're not anticipating any fights soon. Rest up. Another good night's sleep or two, and we'll have you swinging a lightsaber around in no time."
"I hope so. Fighting seems to be my main job right now." The words came out unexpectedly. She covered with a smile. "We should catch up."
"You did promise me a long talk over caf. Come on." He headed towards the aft.
"Now?"
"Our course is set. Do you have something else to do right now?"
"I guess not." She glanced at Anakin, who'd just finished taking the report. "Rex and I are going to go chat."
"Have fun."
The mess was emptier than before. Ahsoka got a steaming mug, and Rex one of his own. They found a table out of the way. She started in first, hoping to steer the conversation. "How did you wind up fighting for the Separatists?"
"You know, I ask myself that all the time." He tapped the side of his head. His scar was much fainter in this universe. He hadn't needed emergency brain surgery in the field here. "You know what they did to us?"
She nodded. "How many others managed to get their chips out?"
"Not nearly enough. You've seen the battlefields. Sometimes, when we manage to take prisoners, we'll operate. Mostly we don't have the chance."
"It was the same where I'm from. The chips activated, and that was that."
"Anakin told me you came from another universe. I didn't want to believe him, but here you are."
"'Anakin?'" she asked with a delighted smile.
"It's his name and we've been friends for twenty years. I use his rank when we're working. You mean I didn't in your universe?" Rex was angling now, watching her face, curious about his own fate, and that of their other friends.
"In my universe, Anakin fell when the rest of the Jedi were killed." It was the same near-truth she'd told this Anakin when she'd first arrived.
"How?" he asked.
She'd wondered that herself. "I wasn't there. You and I were on Mandalore. And we both left there alive, which is what you really wanted to know."
"I wasn't going to ask."
"You were definitely going to ask."
"All right, yeah." The embarrassment came and went quickly. "Did we go into hiding together, or join the Separatists?"
"We had to separate. I went into hiding. You tried fixing things from within until they retired you. We fell out of touch for years. We finally reconnected about six months before I came here."
"Does he, I mean, do I, no," he shook his head. "Does the other guy know you're here?"
"No. There were some weird Force things that happened." He waved his hand; Rex was used to weird Force things. Ahsoka said, "Everyone assumed I was dead, and I wound up here."
"So he lost you, too."
A little stab of homesickness hit her. A lot of things about her universe had been rotten, but it had been hers, and she'd left her friends there behind. "I guess so." She reached for Rex's hand. "But there's no way back now, and I like it here. Why don't you tell me about what you've been doing? You have your own command now?"
He launched into a quick run-down of the squads he commanded, equally proud of the rough old soldiers and the shiniest new recruits. She listened for names she knew, her hopes dimming when she heard none. "In my universe, you wound up living with Wolffe and Gregor."
He scoffed. "Now there's a picture. They didn't want to join up. Said they were done fighting for either side. They do have a place together, though I haven't heard anything from them about making it legal."
"Legal?" She blinked in confusion. "Wait, they're married here?"
"You could call it that. It was always against regulations for any of us to get married, just like you. Guess some things don't change."
"Here's to the good changes," Ahsoka said, and toasted her mug against his.
They spent the night in his cabin again. Her quarters were smaller, and Anakin could be called in the middle of his sleep cycle to deal with unexpected problems. If they intended to keep things quiet for now, the last place he needed to be discovered was in Ahsoka's bed.
Ahsoka pushed away his worry as she pushed him down to the bunk. Her own worries had been banked for the time being. This wasn't the man who had fallen to evil, or murdered their friends, or who tried to kill her. This was the man who had stayed true to his ideals, and kept fighting for freedom and hope, and who loved her.
The emotion was easy to read inside his mind, open before her as she lowered herself onto him with a sigh. Anakin loved her with the same passion he brought to everything he'd ever done, in this universe or any other. He wanted to hide this away, but as his eyes fixed on hers, the clarity couldn't be missed.
She felt his reassurance flood her mind, picking up on her new concern. Ahsoka dropped the thought, focusing on the good, full feeling of him inside her, of the building coil of her own pleasure and the echo of his. The instant feedback loop urged them to make up for lost time and lost chances, until there was nothing either could do but fall over the edge, hands clasped and bodies shaking and souls convinced there was no way back.
She sensed Obi-Wan's presence even before their ship docked at the base. He'd survived in this universe. She still didn't know his fate in her last one, and now she never would. The years of wonder and mourning hit her with an unexpected ache. As the hatch lowered, she saw him waiting for them with his own confused array of emotions. Sorrow had aged him, greying his beard and carving lines into his face. Something inside her broke, and she flew into his arms, almost knocking him off his feet with the hug.
His surprise turned to joy. Obi-Wan embraced her, and his eyes were wet when he pulled away at last to take a look at her face. "I don't believe in miracles," he said, "but I'm happy to take the odd one. How can you be here?" He looked past her, where Rex was disembarking. "I seem to recall a very credible report of your death."
"Don't remind me," Rex said.
Anakin said, "Oh sure, Obi-Wan gets a hug as soon as you see him. I had to wait for you to get breakfast." He clasped Obi-Wan's free hand briefly; the other held onto Ahsoka's arm, as if Obi-Wan was confirming to himself she was real. "Good to see you. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."
"I couldn't not come," he said, his gaze locked on Ahsoka. "How did you survive?"
"Long story. I'm not the Ahsoka you remember." His pulse jumped against her arm, but he didn't pull away. She felt the grief inside him.
"I see. Or rather, I don't, but I'm sure you'll explain." He turned, changing to hold her hand, still unwilling to let go. "I didn't only come here to see you, I'm afraid. We've found something."
This was to Anakin and Rex, but Ahsoka was the one to say, "In the Unknown Regions?"
"Yes. We've charted the course back, but I need to take council with you and the others." He offered the most subtle of nods to Anakin.
"Ahsoka is briefed on everything."
"Excellent," said Obi-Wan, and he squeezed her hand.
"I've heard of this," Obi-Wan said, leaning back in his chair. They'd taken over the briefing room, enjoying the luxury of a closed door and a table. Rex had joined them, along with Obi-Wan's SIC, a clone named Hotwire whom Ahsoka had never met in her timeline.
"Really?" he'd asked, astonished. "I served with you twice."
"Different universe," she'd explained, and that had veered the conversation sharply.
"It wasn't spoken of outside the Jedi Council. Even then, I only found out by accident when I came into a conversation early. The World Between Worlds was considered too dangerous a subject." Obi-Wan gestured at Ahsoka. "You said your friend saved you from death. While I appreciate that you're here and alive, I can only imagine what kind of ripples his rash decision will leave behind."
"I understand," she said. "I was destined to die in that universe." She wouldn't look at Anakin. "Part of me thinks that was what brought me to this one. There's no room for me in that future."
"And now we have to wonder what purpose your being here will have on our future. All moments in time, and all the could have beens, are connected in there, or so I was told. The right person, or the wrong one, could change the destinies of everyone throughout time and space."
Which was what Palpatine had tried to do, reaching his claws in through force or Force. Ahsoka suspected that he'd been the one to place the vision of Kanan's death in front of Ezra, to tempt him to open another door and let the Emperor inside. He'd have reshaped the galaxy by preying on a boy's grief.
"I didn't come here to change your future. I came here because I walked out through the wrong door. Or the right one. Maybe I was meant to come here."
"I like that theory," Anakin said with a fond smile. Ahsoka flattened the warm glow suffusing through her. Now wasn't the time.
Obi-Wan said, "I'd like to believe it. Perhaps you were put here in our world now to help with the problem we've uncovered." He took the datapad he'd brought with him, and set it face up on the table. With a brush at the screen, he generated a hologram. "This world doesn't appear on any star chart except the ones in our ships' libraries. I'm sure of it."
The planet didn't look much different from hundreds of other worlds she'd seen over the years: blue oceans, large continents with lush greenery. There didn't look to be much in the way of technological build, from this view anyway.
"The native population of sentients number around five million, spread over the planet. They haven't developed off-world travel." He showed them a picture of the species: bipedal, vaguely humanoid with much longer limbs, large, dark eyes, and a thin, fine spotted pelt that they covered with simple clothes. "As near as we could tell, they call their world Eshara."
"Okay," Rex said. "Standard pre-indust contact. You make notes, you leave them undisturbed."
"That's what we thought," said Hotwire. Obi-Wan changed the picture to a recording. Two youngsters were at play, throwing a ball back and forth to one another. They weren't using their hands. Another reel showed a set of adults working, casually reaching out their limbs towards items they wanted, then setting to work with them.
Anakin said, "Some of them have the Force." He looked at Obi-Wan's face. "All of them have the Force?"
"As far as we could observe, yes."
Ahsoka said, "But that's not how it works. There are only one or two per billion in any species, if that."
"More if they're related," Anakin said. He watched the images in front of him. "Is it like Haruun Kal?"
That sounded familiar. "What's that?"
Obi-Wan said, "Master Windu's home world. After some study, he came to the conclusion an ancient Jedi research vessel must have crash-landed there, and the survivors went on to have children who inherited their parents' abilities. By his time, the indigenous human population of the planet all exhibited some level of Force sensitivity, although for various reasons, he was one of only a tiny few who ever trained to become a Jedi."
The story sounded familiar. "You think this new planet might have had a similar origin?"
"I can't say. We did a limited survey, careful not to interact with the people there. That's not conducive to performing a full anthropological study of their history. How they came to exist isn't the problem."
Hotwire said, "A whole damn planet full of Jedi is the problem. Begging your presence, sirs."
"As I've explained," Obi-Wan said in a raised voice, "they are not Jedi. It's a way of life, and a lifetime of commitment. These people live in a state of balance with the Force, imposed by the fact they all have the Force."
Anakin said, "That's a lot of potential Jedi."
"Or potential Sith," Ahsoka said, reading Obi-Wan's face. "You're worried that the Chancellor might find them."
"For good reason. We managed to free most of the younglings he took from the Temple, but when presented an opportunity like this, he's certain to make a move."
Younglings? Ahsoka glanced at Anakin, who wasn't surprised. She'd have to ask later. The trappings of this universe were so similar to hers, she kept getting caught wrong-footed on differences she wasn't expecting. Anakin said, "You're considering breaking the rule about pre-indust civs. Bring them all to our side."
"I haven't gotten that far," said Obi-Wan. "It's a terrible, dangerous idea. Pre-indust societies have the right to develop without outside forces directing them. Every time that rule has been broken, it's led to war, or enslavement. The Chancellor may be happy to use people as tools to shape into his desired image, but I'd like to think we're above that." He looked at Hotwire and Rex, "Begging your presence."
Rex said, "Beg your own. That's the story of your people as much as ours. We were all raised to be tools for someone else to use."
Ahsoka said, "It didn't mean that was right." She looked at the holograms. "Is there a way to hide them? Make sure the Republic never finds them?"
Anakin said, "They're in the UR. That's already hidden."
"But we found them," Obi-Wan said. "Someone else could do the same. There's another thing. The day we recorded this was the same day I got your message that Ahsoka had returned, and I don't believe that's a coincidence. You said we're tools, but we are all tools of the Force. Destiny has changed, possibly due to your arrival here." He changed the hologram. A grand building took up the entire image, the people only small figures at its base. "Their holiest site. It pulses with the Force. The Esharans built this temple to worship there. That's how the ancients chose the locations for the old Jedi temples. And now you tell me those temples might include doorways into the World Between Worlds."
A temple, built on a hub of power, just like the one that brought her here. Her breath caught. "You think there's a door."
"I don't know for sure."
Anakin said tightly, "You might have a way home after all." She saw the spool of his emotions run over his face before he carefully smoothed out his features. General Skywalker didn't have time for that. "We'll have to meet," he said. "They won't like it. They'll expect a trap, and I have to say, if the Republic got wind of it, there would be." The rule was that no more than three Jedi met together at any single location. Their numbers had been whittled to fewer than a hundred, spread out among the stars. The decision they had before them now was relevant to the entire Separatist movement, but too dangerous to discuss across transmission.
Ahsoka asked about the Council. "You can't be the only one left."
"Yoda's alive, but he won't join us. He refused to fight what he saw as an endless, pointless war. The others are gone, I'm afraid. Depa died in a skirmish eight years ago, and she was the only other member to survive the purge." He turned to Hotwire and Rex. "This is going to be boring Jedi business. Why don't the two of you get some caf? We'll join you in a bit."
To Ahsoka's surprise, both clones left. "Did you influence them?"
"Hardly. They both know there are times when we can't talk with them in the room. I'm surprised they didn't try to take you with them."
"I know what you're thinking," Anakin said, sitting back in his chair and fixing Obi-Wan with a frown. "It's a bad plan."
"It's easier for them to travel."
Ahsoka looked between them. "Care to fill me in?"
Obi-Wan said, "The Organas will be meeting us here later today. They can carry the message."
"There are a million reasons why they shouldn't," Anakin said.
"Really? I can only think of two."
"Fine," he said. "There are two reasons, but they are two very important reasons. They're supposed to stay away from other Jedi."
Now she understood why the clones had been sent out of the room. "How many people know about the twins?"
Anakin said, "The people in this room. None of the other Jedi have met them. I'd like to keep it that way, and before you start, Breha agrees. She doesn't even like the kids spending too much time around me."
"And I respect her reasons for that," Obi-Wan replied, "but the fact remains that we need to pass the word, and we need to do so via someone we can absolutely trust to deliver the message. Bail Organa is at the top of that list."
"Leia and Luke aren't."
"I'll leave that for him to decide. Look on the bright side. If he agrees with you, he might leave them here with us for a while."
She couldn't read Anakin's face. He was making his best effort to hide all the conflicting emotions rolling under his skin. "He might," he said at last.
Anakin was called to Command. Out of habit, Ahsoka followed. A light, happy sensation filled her heart as Obi-Wan joined them.
"Just like old times," he said, noticing her pleased expression.
"Almost. We're all a lot older now. Some of us may even be wiser."
"Let us hope."
"General," said Rex as they stepped onto the deck. "we've received word from our team on Alnis 4. They've run into trouble."
"Pull up the message."
The holoprojector lit up. An older man, human, stood at attention, not flinching at the sounds of blaster fire nearby. "Burra Team reporting in. We've engaged hostiles and are near victory. Please send reinforcements." The transmission ended.
"We've verified the source," Rex said. "Wouldn't be the first time the Republic tried to lure us in this way," he added for Ahsoka's benefit, and she inclined her head in thanks for the information.
"That's excellent news," said Obi-Wan. "Alnis 4 is an excellent strategic location."
"Not anymore," Anakin said with a hint of apology in his voice. He pulled up a map. "These are our current footholds. That's the Alnis system." Stars appeared, and within a ring of other blue, Separatist-held worlds, Alnis lingered red.
"Ah."
"It's still a good acquisition," said Rex. "Solidifies our hold in the sector." He pulled up another hologram showing the positions of their scattered fleet, the overlaid the maps. Anakin examined the display. "Contact the Third Battalion and tell them to send in two regiments. They're closest."
Ahsoka said, "The Third Battalion is busy with the situation on Obfar. I'm not sure they can spare the troops." She pointed to the map. "The Second Battalion has too many wounded from their last encounter. They need time to recover before they go back into combat." She moved the map around. "The Fourth is finished with their last mission, and they're only five systems away. They can be there in an hour."
"Good idea. Tell the Fourth Battalion to get to Alnis 4 and prepare for engagement." He glanced at the map again. "Once the planet is secured, send in the Second Battalion. They can have some R&R while they keep the peace."
"On it, General," Rex said.
Obi-Wan said to her, "You seem to have settled in well to this new life. When should I look forward to hearing about General Tano's many victories?"
"I hadn't given it any thought. I'm not ready to take command."
"You've been ready since you were seventeen, but of course take as much time as you need."
She didn't look at Anakin. She wondered and didn't dare ask if Obi-Wan felt the sudden rustle of worry in his emotions.