Chapter 3

After passing through that door, I found myself in a dark place for a few seconds before seeing a boy with blue eyes and golden hair, about five years old, standing in front of me with a cheerful smile.

He slowly approached me, maintaining his smile, and when he stopped in front of me, he spoke in a language I didn't recognize but somehow understood.

He said, "That kind-looking grandpa already explained everything to me and showed me what was originally going to happen."

I looked at him strangely and asked, "Grandpa? Which grandpa?"

He looked at me and said, "I don't know him. He introduced himself as Chaos and showed me what was originally going to happen. He explained that I would merge with you and that this would make the future better, and that mom would be happier, and I want her to be happy."

I knelt in front of him, placed my hand on his hair, and gently stroked it, asking, "Are you Anakin?"

He nodded with a happy smile and said, "Yes, I am Anakin Skywalker."

I smiled at him and introduced myself, "Nice to meet you, Anakin. I'm Arthur Highland."

He nodded with an even bigger smile, saying, "Pleasure!"

I chuckled and ruffled his hair a bit. "Haha, you're a cheerful guy, aren't you? But what do you mean by Chaos showing you what was originally going to happen?"

His bright smile faded to a sad expression as he said, "He showed me what was going to happen in the future and what I was going to become."

Hearing this, I felt a bit angry at Chaos for showing such things to a small child. I hugged Anakin and said, "You don't have to worry about that, Anakin. It won't happen anymore."

He snuggled up to me and said, "I know, and I thank you for preventing that from happening. What I became is the complete opposite of everything my mother taught me. I can't believe I did those things."

I hugged him a bit tighter and said, "You didn't do any of that. And the version of you that did wasn't entirely to blame. There were many culprits, including Palpatine, who slowly made you trust him and corrupted you, and the Jedi Council who didn't know what to do with you, among other factors. But your other version had some faults, even if not all. And well, you didn't do any of those things. You're just a kind-hearted child."

Anakin broke the embrace, wiped his tears on his sleeves, and said, "Thank you for everything, Arthur."

I gave him a comforting smile and replied, "You're welcome, Anakin. You're welcome."

Then, looking around at the darkness, I asked Anakin, "So, how do we get out of here?"

He looked around and pointed behind me, "Over there."

I turned and saw a white door and a path extending towards us. I muttered, "I swear there was nothing there before."

Shaking my head, I looked at Anakin with a small smile, "Shall we go, Anakin?"

He gave me one of his radiant smiles and said, "Yes!"

We walked towards the door along the illuminated path and soon crossed it.

------

The next thing I saw was a ceiling made of what seemed like adobe. I looked around and saw a small room with very basic things: the small bed I was lying on, a small wardrobe, and some scattered machine parts.

I noticed I had all of Anakin's memories, though they were so brief they barely influenced me, which was not unexpected considering he was only five years old.

As I was about to get up, I felt an extreme pain throughout my body, so intense I couldn't even scream. Then my head hurt even more, and I passed out.

-----

A few moments later

-----

I slowly woke up and noticed I was still on the bed but had grown bigger and slightly more muscular. I quickly realized I had a new set of memories – modern human technology from Halo, and some from the ancestors.

I laughed quietly, "Haha, it seems Chaos wants me to conquer this galaxy since he gave me the ancestors' technology."

As I was about to get up, I saw a note at the corner of my bed. I picked it up and read, "Don't expect this universe to be the same as you know, and not everything will happen as it originally did. You will encounter some surprises in the future."

After reading, I muttered worriedly, "What does he mean by surprises?" I shuddered at the possibility, "He couldn't possibly do that, at least not for a while... I better prepare countermeasures just in case."

Then I heard Shimi, my new mother, calling me, "Anakin, come eat!"

To which I yelled back, "Coming!"

After hearing my mother calling me I get up from the bed and crumple up the paper and throw it in a corner and when I start to leave my new room I feel something that I hadn't felt before, something that I didn't notice due to everything that happened.

I feel a presence that emanates a feeling of kindness and comfort in everything around me, it seems like it is everywhere at once and I notice that it is emanating a feeling of concern and confusion and I quickly stop to think about what that could be and I come to a conclusion

"the strength... You are the strength" I say muttering to myself and when I say this I feel this presence emit a feeling of confusion and happiness probably because I noticed it

When I'm about to talk to her more I hear my mother calling me again "Anakin come quickly! You have to get to Watto soon"

"I'm coming, mom!" I answer her and I look around and say to the force "Later we talk more now I have to go eat" the force emanates a feeling of confirmation and understanding so I quickly leave my room and go eat.