Time Travel: To the Past Yoda Goes

Summary: Yoda gets sent back in time, he hopes, far enough that he can change things for the better. Some things will prove to be inevitable, but other fates, if he can get the Jedi to change enough, might just be avoided.

Beginning Note: I do not own Star Wars. I have never received payment for this or any works on this site, nor do I expect to.

Was writing my other piece, when I was hit with an inspiration bug for another AU altogether. That story's next chapter will have to wait, because I needed to write this down.

This is supposed to take place after the sequel trilogy's ending, but I wrote this loosely enough that it could take place at the end of the Original Trilogy too. I don't intend to refer to any specifics from the sequel trilogy in this. I will be using primarily Canon to write this, but some Legends stuff may squeeze in there, as my primary source is Wookieepedia.

Chapter 1 - Time Splinters

A long time ago, in a Galaxy far far away… on a world ever dark, two force ghosts met before a chasm in the Force. This chasm would not appear to anyone in our realm as anything more than rock and earth, but in their form it was a gaping open wound to reality. One which could be felt as well as perceived.

"Master this..." The taller figure motioned with his hand over the chasm. "This is what I wanted to show you. The recent fall of darkness caused such to appear all over the galaxy."

"In danger, the mortal realm is!" the shorter figure gasped.

"No, no." The taller one waved his hands to stop the other from panicking. "It is only temporary wounds. Look, the Force is healing already."

And the little green Master turned again to look. Indeed, the sides of the chasm were slowly coming back together. Reality was in no danger of falling apart.

"Like I said, Master Yoda, these opened up everywhere, but this one I feel has potential. Some connect to another reality altogether, others, like this one connect to another time within this reality." He closed his eyes, and reached out a hand. "And this one, I feel, is a very convenient time for us all."

And Yoda reached out his hand and felt. He felt feelings of people who, long before him, had joined the Force. Heard conversations of long ago whispered in his ear. He even felt himself, young (though not by much) and stupid, unknowingly about to make some of the biggest mistakes in his admittedly long life.

"Qui-Gon, me this, why would you show? Finished, the temporal past is. Changed, things cannot be." Yoda shook his head in disappointment.

"But that's why I show you this. These events can be changed. If one of us can go through the chasm, merge with our previous body, we can use what we've learned to change the time stream."

"And this, you want to do?" Yoda asked looking up at Qui-Gon.

"I'd love to, but I can't. I've already tried. The process to go through there requires a Midi-chlorian count a lot higher than I ever had. In fact, I know of only two who could possibly do it."

"Hmm, offered him this first, have you?" Yoda looked up knowingly.

Qui-Gon looked abashed. "No. Anakin has suffered enough. He deserves this now. This peace with his family."

"A peace that will not last, if this I do." Yoda looked back over the chasm.

"Maybe not, but then maybe it will be better. In some of the other universes I saw through these Anakin was alive now with his son and daughter. Their lives looked quite peaceful." Qui-Gon smiled. "In some of them father and son were Jedi together."

"If this I do, come into the world Luke and Leia may not," Yoda hummed.

"Then on that I think I should warn you, in all the realities I've seen, the ones where he doesn't have children are a lot more dark than this one ever was."

"How..." Yoda tried to ask, but Qui-Gon interrupted.

"The specifics are not important to your journey. Just the knowledge."

"Hmm, well if it must be, differently it will occur." Yoda said enthusiastically. "More time I do not have, if repairing itself these chasms are. Any more advice, have you?"

"Yes, just one more thing. If the chosen one leaves, the Jedi Order will fall." Qui-Gon winced.

"Afraid you would say this, I was."

"Few other things were as constant."

"Very well, every attempt I will make," Yoda sighed.

"Good bye, old friend." Qui-Gon bowed to the old grandmaster. "And may the Force be with you."

Master Yoda bowed back, then he reached forward through the chasm with everything he had in him.

If you'd ask the Jedi Master to describe it later, he'd say it felt like a rush of air blowing him back. He had to use every last bit of his power in the Force to push through. The air, trying like mad to pin him to his place in the timestream. But push forward he did.


He ended up as a force ghost, hovering inside the Jedi Temple. A feeling of not being right swept over him and he could feel his body somewhere was in pain. He had to find it, the spirit was not meant to be separate from its body for long. Fortunately for him, it was the nightcycle and he knew where he'd slept for several hundred years like the back of his hand.

The ghost moved with haste and in the blink of an eye, he was hovering over his still form. He used the Force to reconnect his spirit with his body, and he was flooded with experiences he'd never thought he'd have again. He gasped and air filled his lungs. Beautiful, precious air. Not swamp air, this was fresh clean air that smelled like the flowering plant a youngling had once given him, which now sat on his dresser.

He felt his warm blanket draped over his arms and legs, staving off the cold, night air. The mattress was soft and firm again. Not a bit like that home-made straw one he had to use on Dagobah.

Hesitantly Yoda opened his eyes. The room was dark, yet in the dim light he could make out the shapes of his furniture.

Jedi abscond from forming attachments. And as a leader of the Jedi, his space reflected this more so than most. Except for a few trinkets here and there, most of them gifts, his quarters were lacking any decorations. And that was good, because attachment, at least to personal belongings, leads to greed, which always leads to the dark side.

Yet still, when Yoda looked around he couldn't help but feel overwhelming attachment to the space and a distinct feeling of home.

There once was a time when such feelings would make him donate all of his belongings to the Creches and refurnish his space from scratch again. Before Luke, he probably would have.

"Natural, some attachments are. A choice, greed is. Hmm…"

And with that observation Yoda stood up. He took another moment to wow over having knees that didn't ache. Then he sat on his old meditation mat.

"If changes I must make, a clear head I will have." Yoda spoke to himself. Having been a Master multiple times, and an educator to so many younglings over the years, he'd gotten used to speaking his thoughts out loud, whether anyone was listening or not.


The next morning Yoda happily bounced to the Temple Refectory, with an energy he hadn't had since he was a Youngling. He didn't realize he was whistling as he did so.

"Good morning, Grandmaster," Depa Billaba greeted Yoda with a smile. Then she looked to side eye her fellow Masters with amusement over the sight.

Yoda didn't care. He'd spent years of trying to make the best of all the disgusting plants and critters which were native to that Swamp planet, Dagobah. Whatever Luke 'ill tell you, Yoda perfected that soup recipe. Now that he was back, however, Yoda had a list of foods to which he had a craving for. It totaled nearly ninety dishes, many of which were foreign delicacies, but this morning he would be starting with the Temple Cuisine.

Heaping a plate full of Pancakes, Yoda smiled as he poured a delicious syrup over them, not batting an eye as the syrup rolled off his pancakes and onto the sausages also on his plate.

On his way to the table he often shared with his fellow council members, he passed by two younglings who had been arguing over the fate of one last breakfast pastry. Yoda looked up and noticed a tray of freshly baked ones on the counter in the kitchen. To the amazement of the younglings, and to the bafflement of the Creche Master who had been trying to use the occurrence as a lesson in sharing, Yoda used the Force to float one more pastry off of the tray and into the second Youngling's hands.

"Why did you do that, Master," asked Even Piell.

"Is everything okay? You are behaving differently today," Depa noticed.

"A logical solution, it is. About to do the same, I was." Spoke up Master Yaddle.

"Of course you were," sighed Ki-Adi-Mundi. "You'd give them all extra sweets just for being cute. But for Master Yoda, it is unprecedented."

All eyes shifted back to Yoda, expectant of wise words.

"Why are all of you worried about this? I already know the Three of you are the worst when it comes to spoiling a Padawan." Mace Windu gestured over his shoulder at Plo Koon when he said this.

"Hey, What did I do?" Plo objected.

"Well said, Padawan mine," Yoda hummed.

Mace huffed, annoyed. He'd rather think he's the exception of his lineage.

"Yes, Master of mine," Depa annoyed the man even further by pointing out. "That is hardly my point. Grandmaster was whistling this morning. Mmm-hmm." She eyed the shocked looks of her companions and nodded knowingly.

"A good mood, I am in," Yoda explained. "Thanks to the Temple chefs, I will take time to give."

The remaining expressions around the table dropped at that statement. Mace wasn't phased, however. He crinkled up a napkin and threw it on his tray.

"Whatever, just be ready for a meeting later today. Qui-Gon just messaged that they're back on Coruscant and have requested an in person consultation concerning his mission progress."

Yoda nodded along. He had expected this. There were few days, no moments a Jedi would never forget. That he'd live through this one twice had never occurred to him.

"What would he need a mission consult for? He's doing a basic negotiation on a Senate request." Plo asked.

"You know Qui-Gon, tell him the last thing he's to do is let two parties go to war, he'll end up joining their rebellion and, as if that isn't enough trouble, he'll bring home the cutest orphan he can find!" Remarked Adi Gallia.

"Mace, With you, I would like to meet," Yoda said. "This topic and more we have to discuss."

"I have time this morning, before my lessons, if that works for you?" Mace suggested.

"Yes, work well that will." Said Yoda and he started to get up to follow Mace out.

"Uh-oh, looks like Jinn is in trouble now!" Adi teased.


Yoda gave a lot of thought to who he could trust with his knowledge of the future.

His first thought was Yaddle. They had a special connection, more than the usual Species connection. She was wise, and yet so kind. But war, he remembered, took a toll on her. She even stopped taking Padawans, towards the end there. Nothing she was more natural at than educating the young. The very news Qui-Gon brought would break her heart, and there was nothing he could tell her to temper that.

Depa Billaba and Plo Koon he could eliminate for the same reason. Both were compassionate enough to see Anakin as a boy to be helped, not a rogue dark sider in the making. But they would be deeply affected by hearing all of their fates. The war itself nearly tore them apart the first time. A potential apocalypse would destroy them.

Saesee Tiin was a stout fella. He would be able to handle the news easily. But he had such prejudice against dark siders, he'd never be able to understand Anakin's end of life revelation. Infact, just learning about his potential turn might prejudice him against the boy. And Anakin would be taking Saesee's piloting lessons, there was no avoiding this.

Oppo Rancisis, Yoda thought, was also strong enough to handle the grim facts he would share, but he was a firm conservative, and they would need to explore new ways to solve these problems.

Next was Ki-Adi-Mundi. The Cerean Master had one of the Jedi's few exceptions, allowing him to marry and produce children. It was a necessity, or else his people might face extinction. His Binary brain has been useful in the past with being able to see both sides of an issue, but Yoda thought his methodical nature might not be empathetic enough. And while his experience as a married man and father might eventually help Anakin, Ki-Adi found it a difficult balance to make between that and his Jedi commitments. Especially after what was to happen to his family, if Yoda couldn't help it. It remained to be seen, would he wish that on another.

Even Piell harbored a known hatred for slavers. And while he often put off people by being brusque, once you earned his loyalty, he'd defend you with his own life. However, he had an early end in the original timeline, and Yoda wasn't sure he'd be able to change that.

Adi Gallia was another of his council who died early. She'd already predicted the Trade Federation was up to trouble in Naboo Space. And she deserved to have her theories listened to more often, just for that, Yoda thought. But, she was also quite aggressive, and though she criticized the Skywalker Kenobi duo for being too impulsive, she was often victim to such herself. This will take careful planning and precise changes to get the effect Yoda wanted on the timeline.

Yarael Poof was one whose opinion Yoda would've liked to hear. He was a creative thinker, and he'd be able to come up with a strategy. But the Quermian Jedi also had a knack for mischief, and Yoda did not want to add any fuel to his endless supply. His solution may be just too out of the box for Yoda's liking.

Eeth Koth was one of the few Jedi who spoke up for Anakin, when they'd debated his inclusion the first time, and this time he'll probably do the same. However, he'd recently lost his own Padawan, and his grief over this limited the strength of his resolve in their debates. Though he eventually recovered, in this time, Yoda must remember, he's still affected by this. And this time, even if Yoda can keep his debates with Master Windu over the war from taking over the floor, Eeth still might leave the order. A decision he once said felt like the will of the Force. Yoda hoped his eventual family would have a better outcome this time. He never found out all the details. Perhaps eventually Anakin would have shared more, but he did confirm Eeth's death. Yoda only hoped the child they had been expecting had survived.

That left Yoda's own former Padawan, Mace Windu. The man was deeply loyal, and though he was a traditionalist, he was once a boy who was as much a liberal thinker as all the young. Mace, in the original timeline, distrusted Anakin and most of their, would have been, allies. Mace was sensitive to the dark side, and could feel it surrounding them, but he didn't know where it was coming from. If he did know. If he was able to see the dark side for what it was, would it calm his cynicism? Yoda could only hope.


"What!" Mace exclaimed. He laughed.

This was not going at all how Yoda had expected.

"You're from the future. A future with a Sith Emperor who took over the galaxy and turned the Chosen One against the order." Mace laughed again. "Yarael has to be behind this. This is one of his mind tricks isn't it.

"A trick, it is not," Yoda declared.

"Come on out, Master Poof." Mace waved his hands above Yoda's head, where the Quermian's tall head would be.

"The truth, I speak. Feel it with the Force, you shall," Yoda said again.

Mace stopped looking for another Jedi in the room, and turned back to Yoda. His eyes opened wide, and his breathing stopped when he found no dishonesty in his Master. For several seconds he stood there, blinking, as he started to breathe again. "What are we going to do?" he asked.


End Note:

I know many authors interpret Yoda's love of swamps and gross foods as his personality traits, but what most authors forget is that was Yoda's last resort, hiding place. Yoda has a face that is probably more highly recognizable as a Jedi than Posterboy Anakin before the burns and suit. He had no choice but to become a Hermit in the last place the Empire would come looking. At least in Yoda's perspective, his tastes are pretty normal.

I know the entire Jedi council has a lot of characters to dump on you at once. That's why I included the section at the end there, naming everybody. They won't all have a lot to say, but some may have more of a part than in Canon.

I also think I should warn you, I do intend to use everybody's (least) favorite Gungan character Jar Jar Binks. He definitely won't be in every chapter, but I had an idea that had me rolling with laughter, and I wanted to include him because of it. It's too early to give away the secrets now, but it will be unusual. Whether you love him, or love to hate him, you may be able to enjoy this, but do expect him to eventually take part.