Chapter Text
One mistake could throw the entire world, the entire galaxy into chaos.
Harmony Fernsby stands in front of the ancient machine in the basement of her house, scrolling through the controls on the small view screen.
All her life she's been obsessed with Star Wars. Although also unlike literally every other Star Wars fan she's ever met, she actually sees it as real. Yes, the movies were created by a person, but that doesn't mean the Star Wars universe itself isn't physically real, just in a different galaxy or dimension.
Space, time, reality... they don't make sense to anyone, least of all humans. Just because someone created Star Wars movies here on Earth doesn't mean the universe wouldn't have existed if it hadn't been created here. And no, she doesn't care who thinks she's crazy for believing that.
As stupid as it might seem, she's always wished that she could have given Anakin a happier ending. He didn't deserve any of the things he went through.
Still, it wasn't something she ever actually truly believed she'd have the chance to do until now.
Until that day that her grandparents died, and she inherited this house of her own from them. There were all sorts of rumors about the house, which was why she was initially a little wary about coming here in the first place. Many often said that it was haunted because of the things that could happen there, but after looking around, she quickly realized what was behind all the whispered rumors she'd heard in the past.
The machine hidden away in the basement. A machine to change and alter reality in so-called 'fictional' universes.
Yes, she always knew that Star Wars was real, but nothing could compare to her elation in that moment when she found the actual proof. Now she has the opportunity she's wanted her whole life. To change what really happened there, to give Anakin and Ahsoka and their family the lives they deserved.
What should she change? She can only pick one change to make. Or for that matter, should she actually try to change anything? She doesn't know what the consequences will be. Will it affect reality here on Earth too? What if she creates an effect she never intended too? What if she actually makes things worse?
Harmony's hand hovers over the "Enter" button as she scans the screen of what she typed in. She'd chosen a change that would make Padme far more understanding of Anakin, to create a universe in which they would actually talk. She can only hope this will prevent his Fall, or at least the worst of what came after. If they trusted each other, everything would have been different.
She doesn't know how this is going to turn out, but if she decides to go through with it, it's going to affect everything in Star Wars forever. Should she do it? It feels like she's playing with their lives, like it's some sort of game, but if it makes the world better...
If something goes wrong, she can still change it later, right? Finally, her mind made up, she pushes the "Enter" button, holding her breath to see what will happen next. If she'll even know.
***
"The Council has reached their decision," Obi-Wan tells him, expression grimmer than Anakin's ever seen it. He's already certain he knows what he's about to hear, but that doesn't make it any easier. "I'm sorry, Anakin."
"They're gonna expel me, aren't they?" he asks numbly.
"Yes," he answers quietly, "They will. Once you return to Coruscant."
"How can they do this?!" Ahsoka demands furiously, stepping forwards. Anakin can only be silently grateful for her presence. It's the only thing keeping him grounded at the moment.
"He broke the Code," Obi-Wan reminds, and Anakin looks away. He expected as much. What else could he have thought was going to happen if the Jedi found out about Padme? It was shortly after the latest incident on Naboo, when the Separatists were trying to get the Gungans to march on Theed, and Anakin had fought Dooku. He's hardly sure how word about his marriage had ended up getting out, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. The fact is that it did, and now he has to deal with the consequences. Maybe he was considering leaving the Order some day, but not like this. Never like this. It was supposed to be of his own accord when he and the galaxy were ready. After the war was over, and Ahsoka was Knighted.
"I know!" Ahsoka exclaims angrily. "But with the war, with – they'll just throw him out?!"
"It is still against the Code, whether we're at war or not," Obi-Wan replies, "We cannot make exceptions."
Anakin can't tell if he sounds regretful or not.
He should have known better than to get married in wartime. He hadn't stopped to consider the consequences. Padme was right. It will lead them to ruin. The galaxy needs him now more than ever, and he won't be there to help.
He's a disappointment, again. Obi-Wan never stated his feelings in the matter, though his disappointment is glaringly obvious. He hasn't had time to talk to Anakin privately, for which Anakin is grateful, because he doesn't think he could handle it right now.
"I'm going with him, then," Ahsoka snaps, and Anakin gapes at her, because what?!
"Ahsoka, you don't have to do this," he interjects, desperately.
His padawan seems too upset to care. "I want to," she retaliates. "I'm not going to be thrown off to some other master."
"Don't make this decision lightly, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan cautions.
"I'm not," she retorts.
"As soon as the mission is over, you are to return to Coruscant to discuss this with the Council. You can tell them your decision then, if you're certain." He cuts the connection then, and Anakin sinks to the floor, staring blankly at the wall in front of him, not really seeing it.
He doesn't know what to think, that Ahsoka is really so willing to give up everything she's worked for, for him. It doesn't really make sense. "Why?" Anakin asks glumly. "Why would you leave?"
"Skyguy," Ahsoka replies, slowly, studying him, "I can't keep fighting on the front lines and pretend nothing happened, that they didn't... expel you when you needed them."
"I didn't..." he trails off and shakes his head. "The galaxy is what needs me," Anakin replies, finally. "I can't help if I'm not part of the Order."
"It's their fault!" Ahsoka snaps. Her temper is on short fuse, it seems, though Anakin is hardly surprised. She just discovered her master broke the Code, and he can't imagine how she must be struggling. He wishes there was a way to help her, but he doesn't know how.
"Don't – don't give up your life because of me," he requests, ignoring the sheer awkwardness of the statement.
"I want to stay with you, Master," Ahsoka insists stubbornly, "I can't stay in the Order without you."
In a way, he's selfishly glad, because if Ahsoka isn't on the battlefield, he doesn't have to worry about her getting herself killed because he's not there to watch over her.
"What are we going to do now?" Ahsoka inquires finally, the faintest bit of anxiety slipping into her voice.
"I don't know." He wishes he did. He's exhausted, and he doesn't have any answers, and he hates that even worse. He doesn't know what to do. All his life, he's been a Jedi. He doesn't know where to go or who to turn to. Before when Anakin was going to leave, Palpatine had offered him a position for him to work with him, and he's sure the offer would still stand now. It's the only place he can think of, as of now.
"I guess we can figure that out together, too," she suggests.
"We'll meditate," Anakin decides finally. Even if he's not a Jedi anymore, he still has the Force. That's not something that can or will change. He doesn't know what they'll do as soon as the mission is over, but he's not ready to go back to Coruscant yet. He's not ready to hear the denunciation of everything he's ever worked towards. The thought terrifies him in a way nothing else could, not even facing Dooku.
Ahsoka moves to sit next to him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "I'm not going anywhere," she promises fiercely, and he can only be glad that for once, just this once, someone is by his side.
***
Now that the battle is over, Anakin sits across from Ahsoka as they attempt to meditate. It's hard to find any semblance of calm right now, not when he knows that before long, everything he's worked for is going to be destroyed, but he tries meditating, anyway. Without the Order, without Obi-Wan, the only thing he has to guide him now is the Force.
He doesn't know how long it's been before he finally does sense something. Something in the Force is calling to him, urging him to go somewhere. Another Jedi Temple? It's not one he's familiar with, but the name comes to him easily enough as he continues to focus on it.
Lothal.
He draws himself out of their meditative trance immediately, and Ahsoka soon does likewise. "Anything?" she asks.
Anakin nods. "We need to go to Lothal. I don't know why, but... we'll figure it out when we get there." Or so he can hope. The Force wouldn't give him an indication to go there for nothing.
He's never been there before, but finding the Temple is easy enough. Most of the planet seems to consist of grasslands with occasional small villages, and the cone-shaped structure of the Temple stands out against it all. The other thing Anakin immediately notices is how strong the planet is in the Force, especially this area where the Temple itself is. It's a Force nexus. He's felt them before, but rarely this powerful.
"I've never seen a Jedi Temple that looks like this before," comments Ahsoka, eyeing the structure, "What are we supposed to find to help us here?"
"I don't know," he replies. Why would he come a Jedi Temple for answers when he's already unofficially been thrown out of the Order? He doesn't even have a right to be here anymore, not really. "Let's find it."
They stand side by side, raising their hands towards the structure, and reaching out with the Force. The cone-shaped building slowly begins to turn, shifting a little in shape and size before finally coming to a stop with a gaping dark entrance open in front of them.
Apparently, this is where they're supposed to be going. Anakin exchanges a glance with Ahsoka before they head forwards into the Temple. The main entrance they step into is almost completely dark, the only source of light being the sunlight streaming in from outside.
They walk down the staircase in front of them, into a large room. It's brilliantly lit, even though he can't see the source of light. Something suddenly shifts in the Force, and Anakin spins around, as the entrance of the Temple slides closed, trapping them inside. Temples are unpredictable this way.
"Now what?" Ahsoka asks, frowning at the now closed door.
"We keep moving," Anakin advises, "We came here to find answers." When they're ready to leave, they'll find a door. Or at least he's pretty sure that's how it's supposed to work. He tries not to let the feeling of being trapped with no way of knowing if he'll able to escape if he needs to, get to him.
Now that they're here, something is humming, nagging at his senses, demanding his attention. The Force is flowing in calm, gentle swirls around it, but drawing it inwards. It's – it's like a black hole that draws in light but also drawing in energy. It's not dark really at the same time; it just... is.
"Do you feel it?" Anakin asks, as they keep walking down a long dark hall on the opposite side of the main room they entered in to.
"Yeah," Ahsoka confirms. "What is it?"
"We're about to find out." He opens the door at the end with a wave of his hand.
Come and find me, the thing – the object? – whispers, and he steps inside.
A tall prism shaped object, large enough for a few people to step inside, lies in the far corner, relatively inconspicuously. There are controls right next to a door on one of its side, obviously to allow someone to step inside. What even is that? "It's a machine?!" Ahsoka exclaims. "How's can a machine cause that kind of... ripple?"
"I don't know." Now that he's here, it feels even more like it's pulling him in, asking him to look at it and find out what it does.
Anakin cautiously crosses the room, approaching the machine, and pushing the button next to the door. It hisses open instantly, revealing a dark interior that looks very much like an elevator – totally out of its shaft, of course – complete with a whole control panel by the door, but the controls don't look like anything he's ever seen before.
"You might not want to push anything –" Ahsoka begins to protest.
"Too late," Anakin offers, right as he pushes the "On" button. The Force itself shifts as the machine suddenly whirs to life, the control panel entirely lighting up and a bright light from the ceiling shining down on them.
Anakin tries to push another button on the controls, to see if he can even figure out what in the world this thing is, only to rapidly realize that it's already programmed to transport them to – where?!
He doesn't even have a chance to give Ahsoka a warning, before the Force suddenly surges around them. He hasn't felt a shift this strongly since... he doesn't even know when. It's probably the very first time. A blinding flash of white light consumes his vision, and he almost feels like he's falling for a few moments, flying through a weightless void of nothing. It seems to last forever, though he doesn't think it's been more than a second, before the light suddenly fades out.
The machine around them looks entirely identical, but everything feels different. Instead of the brightness of the Force nexus on Lothal, all he can sense is a lingering darkness, much like a Dark Side planet, except it feels as though it's generated by the people living here. It's not nearly as strong at all here as it was on Lothal either. What in the world happened?
"What was that?" Ahsoka squeaks finally.
"It... took us somewhere?" Anakin replies, frowning down at the screen. Wait, what happened to the Basic writing that was there a moment ago? Why is it all in entirely a different language now? How are they supposed figure out anything?
He pushes the button to open the machine, the door sliding open again to reveal completely different surroundings. Instead of the walls of the Temple, what he sees surrounding them instead look very much like... duracrete walls? Judging from the surroundings, it almost looks like they're in the basement of a house.
What. Just. Happened?
***
Ahsoka looks wildly from the machine to her master, to the doorway where she senses an approaching presence. She has no idea what's happening. How did they even get here? For that matter, where is here?
Someone appears in the doorway, freezing in her tracks as her eyes fall on them, expression flipping between shock, surprise, confusion, disbelief, and mixture of other emotions Ahsoka can't even read. She looks to be in her late teens, with brown eyes and dark brown hair that's nearly black.
"Hello?" Ahsoka tries, cautiously.
"What?" the girl blurts finally, "Are you like – how –!"
Well, she seems as much at a loss for words as they all are. "What system is this?" Anakin inquires, looking around.
"System?" echoes the girl, "Wait – you mean planet?"
"Yeah," Ahsoka replies, raising an eyemarking at her.
"Right. It's called... Earth," she explains hurriedly, "Boring name, yeah I know." Boring name, to be sure. But Ahsoka has never even heard of a system with that name, so it's not very enlightening as to where they are.
"Who are you?" Anakin asks.
"I'm Harmony Fernsby," she explains, her disbelief still screaming into the Force. "And... I know who you are." That's not really surprising. Everyone seems to know who they are these days.
"What is this thing, anyway?" Ahsoka queries, as they look over the strange device in front of them. She's never seen or heard of something like this before, until Lothal. They stepped into it and the next thing they knew, they ended up here, and she's totally lost. She has no idea how any of this could have happened.
"Basically, it's a device that changes reality?" Harmony says uncertainly, "In fictional universes. Or whatever." She's outwardly staying relatively calm, but Ahsoka can sense how glaringly awkward she feels in the Force. "I didn't know it actually worked or that it could be used to travel places too."
"... How does that work? And what do you mean fictional?"
"I don't know 'how' it works. Something with the Force, I imagine?" the girl replies, "And I should probably explain this from the start. You're not in your own galaxy anymore."
What?! "Not in our own galaxy?" Anakin repeats skeptically.
"No," she agrees, "The machine can apparently affect things through time, space, and reality? You're in a totally different place now, but here we like, know about your galaxy? But it's considered fiction."
That sounds like a whole bunch of nonsense in Ahsoka's opinion, but the Force rings with the truth of it. Seriously, how could they have been transported to another dimension? And if they really are, how is it possible that the people here know about them? Although, that's probably even less strange than finding a reality jumping machine.
"There's holofilms about your universe here," Harmony continues.
Right now, Ahsoka's not entirely convinced that she hasn't gone completely insane. Is she imagining all of this, because her mind wanted to think of something other than the fact that everything her and Anakin have done their whole lives is being ripped away? Because that honestly makes a great deal more sense than believing that this is real.
"You're welcome to stay here if you want," Harmony offers, practically squirming, "Unless you're going back to your universe now?"
"What do you know about us?" Anakin asks instead.
"Well, the holofilms are... kind of about your life," she blurts out. "So quite a bit. You're from some time in the middle of the Clone Wars, right?"
"The middle?!" Ahsoka yelps.
"I mean –"
"How long did it last?" Anakin demands.
"Like three – I'm not sure how much I should actually tell you," she quickly interrupts herself, "I don't really want to... break reality? Any more than I might have already?"
"What do you mean 'already'?" asks Ahsoka. This is all so mind-blowing, and she doesn't know where to start.
"I changed something," she explains uncomfortably. "And you weren't supposed to come here."
Ahsoka exchanges a glance with Anakin. Is she really saying that she made a change to their universe with this machine? Like changed their lives? That – that doesn't even make any sense, and she is not about to believe that entire worlds can be changed by pushing a few buttons. But, it still feels true, in a way she doesn't understand.
"What did you change?" Anakin inquires, suddenly wary.
Harmony squirms again. "I wanted things to be better," she confesses. "I tried to make things better, between you and Padme, but I guess it led to something else happening."
What were things supposed to be like with Anakin and Padme? This is all way too weird for Ahsoka. It's too strange to accept that things in their universe could have been affected by something as trivial as a machine. Didn't all things happen because people made specific choices? How could a random machine change things like that?
"I suppose I don't know that much about the Clone Wars, all things considered. What was the last battle you fought?"
"Mon Cala," Ahsoka replies. "After which Anakin went to Naboo with Senator Amidala."
"... Oh." She seems to have a pretty good idea what they're talking about.
"You know what happened there?"
"Bits and pieces. Enough to know that I don't want details, assuming Dooku was there."
Ahsoka doesn't miss how Anakin flinches ever so slightly at the mention. "We can stay, for a while," the Togruta suggests. "I don't want to go back right now." Going back will mean dealing with everything after being thrown out of the Order, and she knows Anakin's not ready for that. She isn't either.
"Yes, we can," Anakin agrees. So, it's settled, then. They're going to stay in this strange universe, at least overnight. Clearly, Ahsoka really isn't in her right mind at the moment, because she feels like she isn't finding any of this as bizarre as she probably ought to be.
***
"Before things get awkward," Harmony chirps as she leads them upstairs into the main floor of her house, "I'll show you around. Our technology is very different than yours." She still can't believe that this is really happening, that it isn't some figment of her imagination. To be fair, she's pretty sure Anakin and Ahsoka are feeling likewise, presuming they're actually really here.
She's not sure what to make of the turn of events. She made that change to the timeline hoping that things would be better, but she never had truly considered a consequence like this, where Anakin was going to be thrown out of the Order.
Guilt gnaws at her as she thinks about this. This was never supposed to happen, and she can't imagine Anakin is taking it well at all, even if outwardly he appears fine. Maybe this is better than how Revenge of the Sith ended, but she can't be guaranteed that because of this change, things aren't actually going to end up going worse. Should she have really messed around with reality like that? Of course, it's also possible that things are going to turn out better in the long run. There's no way to know, but regardless of it doesn't matter anymore. There's no turning back now.
The three of them reach the top of the stairs, stepping out into a small hallway that leads to two of the bedrooms, as well as to the main room of the house, which happens to be a large living room. The painted fanart of Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme is hanging over the fireplace, in plain sight. Now is hardly the time to get all squeamish about it, but she feels herself blushing anyway as the two of them pause, eyeing it.
"That bedroom is mine," Harmony tells them, motioning to the door to the master bedroom, "One of you can have the other bedroom." She leads them past the living room, briefly showing them the third bedroom near the front door, telling them that the other can have that room, before she moves on to show them the rest of the house.
"This technology really is ancient," mutters Anakin, as they go through the kitchen, which is on the other side of the foyer.
Which promptly reminds her that 'fresher's are probably totally different from Earth bathrooms. So, she takes them to the Jack-and-Jill bathroom next, and that results in another stream of questions, like who Jack and Jill are, and why it doesn't have a... she can't even remember the word anymore.
"Why does the soap smell weird?" Ahsoka blurts out next, ignoring Anakin's completely scandalized look.
"What do you mean weird?" Harmony asks.
"It smells like flowers!"
She shrugs awkwardly. "It's my favorite kind. I'm the only one who lives here."
"Oh," Ahsoka says, "It was just, uhh... not what I was expecting. And I don't really want to spend the rest of the day smelling like a flower."
Anakin looks like he's about to facepalm in the background, and it suddenly reminds Harmony way too much of the expressions of parents when their children are completely embarrassing them.
"I could buy something different for you, since you're going to be staying here?" she offers. "I'll probably have to get you some clothes, anyway." And speaking of that... "You won't be able to go anywhere in the ones you have."
"Why not?" asks Anakin.
"Because I'd prefer to keep the fact that I have interdimensional travels here a secret, and no one wears robes around here. And there's no Togrutas on this planet, so Ahsoka won't really be able to leave the property."
"What, you don't have any other species around here?" Anakin queries.
"No, just humans."
"That's... an awfully tiny range."
She shrugs awkwardly again. "Earth is a pretty boring planet."
Neither of them seems sure how to reply, so she changes the topic entirely. "It's getting late, and I don't know what time of day it was with you when you came here but it's dinner time here. So, if you want to join me?"
It's hardly a surprise when preparing for dinner leads to a whole bunch more questions. Trying to explain her lifestyle to them is making her beyond uncomfortable and more than a little self-conscious. Even if it makes her want to laugh at the same time.
"Sure," Anakin agrees, and so they head to the kitchen.
Which promptly reminds her all over again how strange this situation is. "I don't know what you you'd prefer to eat or anything, but..." she trails off.
"Anything will be fine," he answers politely.
Hopefully that will be true. Because this is far weirder than she ever even considered the occasional times she wanted so much to actually meet her favorite Star Wars characters. She imagined up so many meetings with them, but now that they're actually right here in front of her, she's suddenly hardly even sure how to act or what to say, or anything.
What sort of food do they usually eat anyway, other than ration bars? Finally, she decides on pizza and soda – who doesn't like that? – and brings them to the dining room.
Ahsoka sniffs the air in a very predator-like manner as she sits down, eyeing the pizza. "What's in that anyway?"
Harmony shrugs. Who even reads ingredients? She picks up the box, reading the ingredients off the side, thankful that at least she recalled in time that they can't read English. That would have been embarrassing.
Anakin and Ahsoka are both looking at each other with alarmed looks on their faces by the time she finishes. What? What now?
"Why are you poisoning yourself?" the Togruta splutters finally.
Harmony blinks. "Pardon?"
"That has a lot of unhealthy things in it," Anakin explains, slowly, and somehow, she thinks he feels more awkward than she does. It's comforting, at least.
Back to feeling unbearably self-conscious again. "It does?"
"You didn't know that?" Ahsoka yelps.
"I didn't exactly read the ingredients," she defends, and decides to not add that she doesn't even know what's unhealthy about a single thing she read off. She can hardly pronounce half the words anyway.
"I'll just stick with ration bars since I don't really eat like humans anyway," Ahsoka concludes finally, thankfully ending the very awkward moment, because Harmony had no idea what she was supposed to do now.
"Uh, me too," Anakin decides.
"Maybe we can put some food that you're actually familiar with on the list of things to shop for?" Harmony suggests finally.
For once, that seems like a wise choice.