Anakin landed his speeder, his heart going a mile a minute as he sprinted into the Senate building, and down the long corridor that led to the Chancellor's office.

Just as he arrived, he noticed three bodies on the ground, Jedi Masters who had accompanied Master Windu after Anakin had told them of Palpatine's true identity.

But as he looked up, he saw Mace on the ledge of a broken window, which was 20 stories up in the air, a fatal drop. The Jedi Master was locked in a deadly duel with the Sith Lord and managed to best him with his personal lightsaber form, Vaapad.

Palpatine slid to the edge of the window, dropping his saber and cowering for mercy.

"You are under arrest, My Lord." Mace spat the title with obvious distaste.

"Anakin! I told you it would come to this. I was right. The Jedi are taking over." Palpatine pleaded with the young man. Anakin felt himself pause...

"You old fool. The oppression of the Sith will never return. Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over . . . you have lost . . ." Mace snarled.

"No! No! You will die!" Palpatine cried before releasing deadly bolts of lightning from his fingertips. Mace blocked them with his lavender-colored saber, pushing the Sith back against the window sill.

"He is a traitor, Anakin." Palpatine tried again.

"He's the traitor. Stop him!" Mace called back, confused and angered as to why Anakin was even contemplating helping a Sith Lord.

"Come to your senses, boy. The Jedi are in revolt. They will betray you, just as they betrayed me." Palpatine said.

Anakin thought it over...every word the Chancellor had spoken to him embedded in his mind. And his nightmare about Padmé...this man may be able to help him save her...but if the Jedi killed him...what use would he be?

"You are not one of them, Anakin. Don't let him kill me." Palpatine said again, placing even more doubt into the boy.

Anakin began to tremble. It was not the Jedi way to kill an unarmed man...maybe Master Windu was a traitor.

"I am your pathway to power. I have the power to save the one you love. You must choose. You must stop him." Palpatine pressed once more, knowing he was breaking through.

"Don't listen to him, Anakin." Mace grunted with effort, still holding off the Sith lightning.

"Help me! Don't let him kill me. I can't hold on any longer. Ahhhhhhh . . . ahhhhhhh . . . ahhhhhhh . . ." Palpatine pleaded as Mace pushed him out to the ledge. Mace's lightsaber reflected the lightning back at Palpatine, distorting his face into an ugly mask, his eyes turning yellow and his powers struggling to intensify.

"I can't ... I give up. Help me. I am weak ... I am too weak. Don't kill me. I give up. I'm dying. I can't hold on any longer." Palpatine whimpered.

"You Sith disease. I am going to end this once and for all." Mace snarled, raising his saber.

Anakin panicked. "You can't kill him, Master! He must stand trial."

"He has too much control of the Senate and the Courts. He is too dangerous to be kept alive." Mace rebutted.

"I'm too weak. Don't kill me. Please." Palpatine begged.

"It is not the Jedi way . . ." Anakin trailed off, turmoil burning within him.

The saber continued to raise, preparing to arc downwards to end the Sith's life forever.

"He must live . . ." Anakin said numbly.

"Please don't, please don't . . ." Palpatine's cries began to echo around Anakin's mind.

"I need him . . ." Anakin sobbed, Padmé's screams replacing Palpatine's in his mind and his instincts taking over.

"Please don't . . ." Palpatine whispered right as Mace thrust his saber down for the kill.

"NOOOOO!!!" Anakin screamed, drawing his saber just as a bright light flashed in his vision and he felt the odd sense of falling...

Until everything went dark.

•••

'There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.'

'I'll never join you!'

'If only you knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.'

'He told me enough. He told me you killed him.'

'No. I am your father.'

•••

Anakin startled awake, the scream of denial still on his lips as he slashed out at the air, his lightsaber somehow still ablaze.

There was a cry of surprise and something...or more accurately, someone, toppled over with a loud thump, painfully smacking their head on the solid rock below.

Anakin's breathing was quick and he looked around in the darkness, allowing his turquoise blade to be his light source. How he had gotten here, he had no idea, but something felt very wrong.

What had happened to the Chancellor? And had Anakin succeeded in stopping Master Windu?

Desperately, Anakin mentally searched for someone, anyone, to contact. But the Force was eerily silent...and no one was answering.

He stumbled back in shock. The Force presences of those he knew...they were all gone.

A groan came at his feet and he whirled, turning the light of his saber towards the slowly rising figure. Anakin felt slight guilt overcome him as the person wavered in their stance.

"Um...sorry. Are you alright?" Anakin asked.

"I think so." The figure grumbled, rubbing it's head. Anakin decided it was a male based on his voice, since his saber wasn't doing much as a helpful light source.

"If you don't mind me asking...where am I?" Anakin asked.

"Um...Tatooine." Then the boy stiffened, as if just realizing what Anakin was holding. "W-Where did you get that?"

Anakin narrowed his eyes. "My saber? Um...I made it. I am a Jedi you know."

"A Jedi!?" The boy cried, almost falling over again.

"Woah there. No need to give yourself a concussion." Anakin said, helping the young man stay upright.

"B-But...that's impossible." The boy stuttered, staring at Anakin with wide...were those blue eyes? The darkness wasn't helping much.

"Why? Wait...did you say Tatooine?" Anakin asked. How the kriff had he ended up on this Force-forsaken dustball?

"Yes, but answer my question! How are you a Jedi?" The boy practically shouted. "You look younger than me!"

Anakin scoffed. "I'm 22."

"I'm 23! Now who are you?" Suddenly, the boy drew his own saber, an emerald blade now pressed near Anakin's chin.

Anakin narrowed his eyes and quickly pressed back with his blade. The boy seemed surprised, but quickly recovered.

However, it didn't take long for Anakin to best the man, the green saber flying to the side and clattering to the ground. The boy blinked and raised his hands in surrender.

"L-Look. I'm only here to save a friend of mine, I swear. We can split ways and go about our business." The boy said shakily.

Anakin scowled but sighed, figuring he had to get back to Coruscant as soon as possible. "Fine. But I'm taking this saber of yours."

"What!? Why?" The boy demanded.

"You seem like a wannabe Jedi...a simple kid with a saber, no training." Anakin said simply, picking up the weapon and clipping it to his belt.

The boy gaped at him. "I-I am not! I'm a Jedi! Well...I'm still training a bit, but-"

"See? I was right. Now, the galaxy's a whole lot safer without you and your dreams, okay?" Anakin said, annoyed, before he turned to leave the uncomfortable darkness of the cave.

He could practically feel the boy steaming, his emotions erratic and broadcasting far too much.

Yep. Definitely not trained enough.

Anakin was briefly caught off guard by a tiny form jumping on top of him. The boy and him tousled around on the ground, fighting for the saber. They ended up rolling all the way out of the cave and into the sandy dunes and the unbearable heat.

Anakin cursed himself for wearing black all the time.

"Give...it...back!" The boy cried, kicking at Anakin.

Anakin was surprised how easily he could best the boy before he was holding his kicking and thrashing form under his arm.

"Put me down!" The boy screamed.

"Wow, you are really annoying." Anakin droned.

It took a few more moments before the boy finally gave up, ceasing his struggles with a huff.

"I made it with the help of a real Jedi if you must know. I do know what I'm doing."

"Oh really? Which Master?" Anakin asked.

"I...I don't really think I should say. He's in exile, hiding, I don't want to give him away." The boy said.

Anakin sighed and put the boy back on his feet. With a roll of his eyes, he handed him back his lightsaber. The boy gaped at him and Anakin finally got a good look at him.

He had tousled dark blonde hair, now covered in gritty sand and sweat. His skin was a mixture between a nice tan complexion and a fragile pale, and his eyes were an bright azure.

Anakin suddenly got the strange feeling of looking into a mirror. Force, the boy even had the same cleft chin Anakin had!

Clearing his thoughts, Anakin tried to focus back on the moment at hand.

"Listen kid...if you're sure, you can keep it. Just...don't go wielding it against an enemy you will definitely lose to, alright?"

Anakin caught the boy flex his right hand reflexively and raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Thanks for the advice." The boy whispered.

"Hey listen, while I'm here, you wouldn't happen to have a ship I could borrow? I can get the Republic to compensate you for helping a Jedi." Anakin asked.

The boy was about to answer until his mouth paused mid-sentence. "The...Republic?"

"Yes. I know we're on the Outer Rim, but it'll get to you." Anakin said, unconcerned with the boy's confusion.

"Um...well, I can't give you my ship. One is my friend's who I'm trying to rescue right now, and the other is Alliance-issued. Not technically my property." The boy said.

"Alliance?" Anakin snarled. "The Separatist Alliance?"

Anakin found his saber in his hand once again, reaching for the boy with the Force and preventing him from retaliating.

His eyes widened and he paled. "What? No, the Rebel Alliance! You...you're not an Imperial are you? I didn't think you would be if you're a Jedi."

Confusion overcame the Jedi Knight and he held his head, feeling pounding in his temples.

"I...what's your name?" Anakin asked with a moan.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked instead of answering.

"I asked you a question!" Anakin snapped.

The boy recoiled and swallowed. "Luke."

"L-Luke...right. Uh...I'm Anakin." Anakin said numbly, letting the boy go.

He barely noticed the boy, Luke, flinch at the name.

"Something wrong?" Anakin asked.

"Uh...nothing. Just that you have my father's name." Luke said with a mournful tone, messing with his saber and donning a sad look.

Anakin sighed, knowing all too well the look of one who had been orphaned far too early in life. He had lost his own mother after all and never had a father...unless he counted Obi-Wan, but his Master seemed more like a brother more than anything. Qui-Gon had been more of the father figure, but he had lost him as well... "I'm sorry." He cleared his throat, blinking away his traumatic memories and trying to stay sympathetic to the kid in front of him. "So, this friend of yours...why does he need to be rescued?"

Luke noticed that the mysterious man had veered off the topic about war and back to Luke's current problem, which interested him to no end. His aura seemed troubled, but he figured he could at least humor the man for the time being lest he draw his weapon on him again.

"His name is Han. He was captured by Jabba the Hutt because of the debt he owes him, so I sent my droids out there as 'gifts' to the Hutt. My astromech unit has a message I recorded in him. After they get there, my friend will pose as a bounty hunter with our friend Chewbacca as her bounty. So when everyone's asleep, she can sneak Han out and we can all break free. Our friend Lando is also poised as a guard. But if anything goes wrong, I'll go in and bargain with Jabba. And if that goes wrong," Luke held up his saber, "I plan to slip this in Artoo in case it gets out of hand," Luke explained.

Anakin blinked. "Did you come up with this plan?"

Luke was taken aback by the question. "I did. Why?"

"It's uh...a bit elaborate don't you think? You can't just throw in a thermal detonator or something when they're all asleep?" Anakin asked.

Luke frowned. "No. That's stupid."

Anakin rose his hands in mock surrender. "Alright. Just a suggestion. Just saying that I know Jabba, and he's not as gullible as you think." Luke pursed his lips in thought, narrowing his eyes at the stranger as he continued to talk. "So here's the thing...I know a lot about Jabba, enough that can keep you safe during this plan of yours. If I help you save your friend, then you drop me off at Coruscant and we call it a day and never talk again, deal?"

"Coruscant!?" Luke cried, his eyes blown wide with fear and incredulousness. "Why in the name of the Force would I want to go there? They'd have my head on a stick before I could even touch down!"

"You're wanted?" Anakin asked, finding the scrawny kid to be a vile gangster, or even a Sith Lord for that matter, a little far-fetched.

"Yeah...ever since I blew up the Death Star." Luke said as if it was obvious. He groaned at Anakin's blank look and rubbed his temples, "I'm sorry, I can't take you."

"Death Star?" Anakin played with the words on his lips, feeling as if the boy believed he should know what it was, even though he hadn't had the slightest clue. "Um, mind telling me exactly what that is?" Anakin asked awkwardly.

"Where have you been the past few years?" Luke asked in confusion, his eyebrows raised as if to ask if Anakin was joking or not.

"Fighting a war." Anakin deadpanned with his hands on his hips.

"Yeah? Well so have I." Luke retaliated. "Welcome to the reign of the Galactic Empire, Mr. Anakin, circa 23 years and counting." Luke said with a sigh.

"The Galactic...Empire? What are you talking about?" Anakin asked, still confused.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Listen, I don't know what rock you've been living under, but the Republic fell the same year I was born and in its place stands the Empire, the only life I and many others know. ."

Anakin stumbled backwards, thoughts occurring to him in frantic waves. "I...what year is it?" He asked shakily, trying to keep his calm facade.
  
      Luke looked genuinely concerned now, but answered the question nonetheless, "4 years after the Battle of Yavin, or 1011 years after the Republic Reformation if you still follow that galactic calendar."

      Anakin could've sworn his breathing permanently stopped, his visual focus on the blonde boy briefly going inverted. He wasn't crazy, he knew it was supposed to be 988 ARR...and it had been only a few seconds ago, but now this kid was telling him that it was really 1011 ARR? Which was 23 years in the future...

He studied the boy more as the youth began to adjust his cloak and prepare to walk off into the desert for his captured friend, his worry over Anakin fading away briefly as he remembered his original mission.

"What's your last name?" Anakin asked abruptly before the boy could wander off. He needed to know something...anything...pray to the Force that this kid was just playing a joke on him.

"Skywalker. Why?" Luke mumbled distractedly. 

       A muffled thump startled Luke and he whirled to see Anakin fallen unconscious on the sand.

The young Jedi just stared, contemplating whether or not to leave him there. He had been saying some of the strangest nonsense and the Tatooine heat was known to drive individuals to madness. But still...he looked familiar and seemed to believe everything he was saying.

Anakin, on the other hand was suffering through his last fleeting thought. Although a dizzying one, it was very clear to his subconscious. Somehow, someway, he had time-traveled.

And this boy was related to him.

•••

A/N

A NEW ERA IS UPON US CHILDREN!

XD

I don't know how I feel about this chapter, so I really hope you guys like this, as I have been editing and tweaking and planning this for awhile.

Most likely, most of my updates will be during the weekends, but always keep looking, just in case. :)

I love all of you guys and I already miss writing Redemption, but I have a good feeling that Sacrifice will be even better.

BTW, guess who's coming to my local con!?

PETER MAYHEW! I MIGHT ACTUALLY GET TO MEET HIM GUYS! I'M CRYING.

May the Force be with You,

- lucky_ducky_123