Anakin's with her, at least, which might help her luck.

The good news: Ruby's luck has held, and they're not inside a star.

The bad news: Anakin's luck has not held, and they've landed in a bedroom that's actively in use... By an alt of Palpatine. A rather naked alt of Palpatine (though she's far more leanly muscular, the same ethnicity as Lily – and she isn't hiding her connection to the Force, which feels Light).

Probably balanced out by the very Dark Anakin straddling her, both hands fisted in her hair as she drags her Master's head back, giving her perfect access to bite that beautiful neck. (Her Master is subby, at least if you successfully get a proper grip on her hair, this is the best discovery ever.)

Though that might be re-balanced by the other Anakin kneeling at the foot of the bed...

Who, being somewhat less intensely involved in the present kissing, is the first to notice their visitors.

"...Eep?"

What the fuck is it with hookups and triggering new peal members?!

"...Oops."

She turns back into her human form. "Uh. Sorry?" Either a pity or a good thing she didn't bring Daniella, that could've gone either way.

Sangua pulls back and lets go of Lily's hair. "Uh." Why was that her just a tiger. What.

...Shit, that Anakin looks freaked out. Guess they found another evil Lily.

She sits up slowly, one hand carefully on her student's hip so Sangua doesn't overbalance, carefully trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. "It's alright," she says on reflex, trying for levity. Then: "Anakin... Are you alright?"

She forces herself to take a deep breath – she doesn't actually breathe, though, so it's only marginally helpful. 

This woman looks – feels – more like Lily than Palpatine, and clearly there's already more than one Anakin here, so... "Sorry," she says, trying to release her unease into the Force, "I was just... Reminded of someone."

Gentle, encouraging smile. "I understand." She slowly reaches for a sheet to wrap around herself. "Would you prefer if I stepped out while you talk to your alts – ?"

"I mean, if you're the local Lily, we're gonna need to talk to you to, though, uh, can wait for you to get dressed?" She glances at her Anakin, concerned about what the fuck is up with the ¿panic attack?

"...Lily was the second of her alts I met," she tells Ruby. "The first... There was a bad situation there."

"Ohhhh." Yeah she knows difficult childhoods. (...Is therapy for ghosts even a thing? Note to self, Anakin might need therapy.)

" – Lily's a Jedi Master," the localest Anakin says. "This one is."

"A reversed world, then?" Jedi Master Palpatine seducing a Sith apprentice Anakin sure is... Something. (Hopefully a less fucked up something.)

"...It isn't a perfect one-to-one with the worlds so far – uh, you're the fifth set, though the, uh. Two of you and one is a tiger and you know two Lilys already thing is new." She isn't making any particular gesture to cover herself; honestly if the visitors step out Sangua's leaning finishing what she was doing. (She's horny, so sue her; she also isn't going to budge from her Master's lap without more serious nudging.) "I'm Darth Sangua."

"A chance to get dressed would be appreciated." Her padawan is, unfortunately for Sangua's horniness, not stronger than her. Lily lifts her to try and roll her off Lily's lap.

Pout!!!

She snorts. (She should be screaming internally about this, but... Well. The sex wasn't the bad part of her relationship with Palpatine.) "I remember being a teenager," she says, wryly. "I can give you more than a moment – there's another two groups anyways, right?" 

...She's pretty sure Vader was not having sex as a teenager, going by what the local Anakin's shared of Vader's past. This Anakin is reacting concerningly well, actually, for an Anakin who knew an evil Lily.

...Also Lily does not like the implications of any version of her padawan being a ghost. But.

"There are – me and Sangua's Elesses, also. There's another non-evil Lily, though her Anakin's a kid, plus. Uh. Vader – uh, did you ever..."

"...I was Darth Vader, yes, before I died."

...Wasn't there something about Anakin's past as Vader...

She shakes her head. "Still – I just had a vision of another version of myself. That's who we were searching for. She'd be thirteen or so."

"...That was me. I had those visions five years ago."

" – You came right to me, didn't you?"

"...Yes. It was fifteen minutes at most."

" – Oh shit, if the time dilation's consistent, we can so fucking use that." A much slower ticking clock on the Endbringer attack would be excellent. 

Nod. "We'll seek out the others for now," she says to the three they appeared on top of, trying not to think about how that means seeing Elesse – then, to Ruby: "I'll contact my padawans once enough time's passed for us that a time difference would be obvious."

"It'll take Daniella and Ellie a second to rendezvous, anyways." Soooo door?

Local Anakin finishes getting her robes on. "I'll lead." She sends a questioning glance at Lily and Sangua.

Sangua is taking this as her cue to climb back into Lily's lap.

Deep sigh, but she's having trouble not smiling. "We'll catch up later." It is one way to give the new Anakin some space...

"Alright." Anakin... She doesn't know what to feel, really – she put that fondly exasperated expression on the Chancellor's face often enough – she needs time, she needs to gather information, so she... Doesn't object to some space.

"Have fun," she teases, then leads the two new alts out of the door, before reaching out to her Elesse with, "Hey, uh, a new me teleported in – the ghost me, she's got a non-Anakin me with her??"

It seems the party never ends. The living room on the first floor should be clear; I will meet you there.

"Their sense of timing was just as bad as Vader's." 

"My Elesse's going to meet us on the first floor," she tells them, then, speaking of, remembers Vader's panic attack. "Will that be okay – ?"

"...I know two of her alts. I'm... Used... To reminders. And I knew – hoped – when I was coming here that your Elesse would still be alive." Also she is already aggressively releasing her emotions into the Force and therefore she's Not Panicking. 

Slow nod, and... Onwards, then.

Elesse is waiting quietly for them.

She pauses in the doorway.

Ruby sends her a concerned look, pausing next to her. (She can't exactly put a hand on Anakin's arm, but she can do her best to provide the mental equivalent...)

"Thanks," she whispers into Ruby's mind with a tiny smile.

"Hello there. It is always a pleasure to see new arrivals."

She... Missed this. Missed Elesse's calm, quiet acceptance. 

She makes herself smile a bit more and step into the room properly. "I'm just sorry about interrupting those three." 

"Sadly a risk of engaging in such activities in this vicinity. I am considering putting up informational posters about interdimensional visitors not necessarily respecting a locked door."

"I'm not sure that's going to stop most of the people involved – Sangua didn't seem discouraged, and I wouldn't have been at her age, either..."

"Daniella would be encouraged – bet you she starts trying every hookup permutation to see if that triggers more alts..."

"You might have to ride her even harder to get her to focus on her training."

"Nah, I'll just get Contessa to promise to kiss her if she behaves. – Oh, or Alexandria; even I'd behave for a kiss from Alexandria, 'lesbian with good taste' trumps 'villain with good taste.'"

"Perhaps I should try that with Lily, then."

"It sounds as though you come from a world more different than usual for our little collective."

"Anakin is from a Galactic Republic; we met on Earth Bet, which is in her universe despite most Earths not being in the same galaxy as a Galactic Republic – Earth Bet's also a parahuman Earth, which there's a lot of, but I'm originally from a totally different Earth that doesn't have parahumans – Earth Bet's also got its own whole set of alts of people from Anakin's life."

"We came over here immediately after Anakin saw... Uh. Other Anakin? Your Anakin?" They did not have this name pileup problem previously, hmmm. "So there's also a time dilation – one I'm hoping is consistent, we could do so much with a universe with hyperspace that's this dramatically faster than ours."

"I can see how that would be useful for some problems."

"...Yeah we've got a next-week-or-two kinda imminent Endbringer attack – those are an Earth Bet thing, they destroy a random city every couple of months and are possibly unkillable. Also all of the parahuman Earths, maybe all of the Earths everywhere? Are under serious threat of destruction from a super-powered godlike asshole named Scion, but so far hyperdrives have only worked in the same universe as Earth Bet – and one of the worst Endbringers is in orbit and we do not want to give her a hyperdrive. And Scion is powered by giant alien planet-spanning computers on a series of Earths not in universes with hyperspace access. Because he's rude. So we can't get our relief fleet in to try and evacuate the non-Bet parahuman Earths or to do a bit of oddly prosocial orbital bombardment on Scion's planets, because I can't teleport anything bigger than a fighter within a universe."

"Also if we can keep up a fifteen minutes equals five years time dilation, we could bring in even more assets than what we've gotten staged nearby already. And training, me and Anakin both have two students for our respective magic systems, and I for one have been stressed trying to get mine up to speed before Behemoth totals another entire fucking city."

"I see. We will give you whatever help we can, of course. More if your time dilation theory holds true."

She nods.

"If the me here is eighteen... You said there's a Vader here, right?" she asks Anakin. 

"...Yeah, we know Chancellor Palpatine's almost certainly a Sith – we're a bit over a year out from when the Clone Wars started in Vader's timeline, and we've got the Jedi Council carefully looking into things. There's an ex-Sith Palpatine from one of the worlds, too, who's been advising."

Nod.

"You're handling this... Better than I would've, at your age." Unless she's already known for years? "I'm... Sorry, for what it's worth, that we didn't arrive here sooner." 

"We have been managing. Better than some, anyway."

She nods.

"It's... Good, that you're still alive here – and that in two of the worlds, Lily's... Already free from the Sith. Her Earth Bet alt is one of my padawans, and..."

"It's good, is all, if she's at peace."

"Not a bad thing to wish for."

Small, somewhat pained smile. "It's... Difficult, but... I was complicit. It's no more difficult than wishing peace for myself."

"I'm a bit concerned about Sangua, but... I don't think the relationship itself harmed me, and... If that Lily's a Jedi, I'm willing to suspend judgement." Especially since she needs to focus on protecting Earth, not risking messing things up in a potentially misguided effort to protect her own alt.

"Ah... Well. Perhaps you should know that Sangua's Sith master is an alt of me."

...She should have expected that, given the otherwise reversed world. She just... Didn't want to think about it. ...Elesse – an alt of Elesse – potentially harming that other her shouldn't be... It shouldn't feel worse.

But panic is. Bad. She can't let her fear – her trauma – control her.

"...Sith are. There's. It's a harmful ideology." Was it, entirely? There – there were parts that... That resonated with something deep in her (that still do, really), that felt... Freeing. "Or... I guess I was... Attracted to it for a reason. But the culture is – it's a cycle of abuse, which... Matters more than ideology."

"Is everything – okay, there?"

"More than not, I think. They've dealt with the Elesse's Sith master, and I do not believe she is carrying through his philosophy. She also... shares custody with Lily, in some ways."

"...I think that's..."

"I think it'll take. Time. For me to believe it. But if that Elesse is... Openly known as a Sith, here, and if she isn't intending to destroy the Jedi Order or otherwise engage in mass murder..."

It's shameful to admit. But.

"I need to focus on saving Earth – there are, at minimum, over a hundred billion lives at stake. One potentially unhealthy relationship is..." She shakes her head. "We're already cooperating with – giving concessions to – the imperial remnants. Hell, Earth Bet is cooperating with me, and I've killed billions myself." 

Elesse proffers acceptance and warm feelings to Anakin in the Force. "I understand."

It's easy, right now, to remember why she loved Elesse. (She reaches back for Elesse in the Force, basking in that warm familiarity, letting her anxiety bleed off.)

"Thank you," she says, then: "I... I've missed you – my you."

"I am happy to provide what comfort I can."

Her Elesse is decades gone, but still it's... It's nice. "I appreciate it. I've... Done a lot of wrong things in my life. Killing my you was... Definitely in the top ten."

It would be horrendously selfish to say it was the worst thing she's done, but... Anakin often has to remind herself not to be horrendously selfish. 

"Hearing about the others- It seems my Anakin and I have walked a path narrower than we knew."

"...A lot went wrong. I think... I sometimes think that even one different decision could've... Changed things. That I just... I didn't want to turn back, because... It seemed easier, to just keep going."

"And sometimes I think that the galaxy was so stacked against us that failure was inevitable."

"...I had visions of Vader's life. I don't think... I don't think you should blame yourself. She... Wanted good things, but she was... Boxed in."

"That's a nice thought, but... It took me almost nine years to tell anyone about Palpatine – the amount of moral responsibility I had at thirteen is debatable, but... I could've gotten at least an investigation started sooner."

"And I effectively took Elesse out of the fight before killing her. I had no excuse at that point – not my anger, not my fear. It was only moments, but... I acted in haste, without thinking, because I was pissed."

"And everything Palpatine did to me and my loved ones wasn't enough to stop me from meekly joining her. Maybe she'd just trained me too well, but I was a Knight." 

"I am not a good person, Anakin. I can't delude myself, not anymore, by pretending I am and acting like none of it was my fault."

Heavy sigh.

She looks away, makes a pointless gesture of wrapping her arms around herself. 

"...I'm sorry."

"You... Didn't know."

"It isn't... Bad, that you're... Able to be innocent."

Physical hugs for her Anakin, mental hugs for ghost Anakin.

She offers support as best she can, too. And: "Do you want to grab the others?" she asks, quietly. "Bet Ereshkigal can figure out enabling hugs."

"Or like, possess me so Elesse can hug you."

She hasn't had a body in... Years. She...

...She'd rather not risk... Popping over then coming back and it's been a year, not until they know what the time dilation is, and... She's too upset to feel comfortable reaching out. 

Inhabiting someone else...

...It's still familiar, even after all these years. 

She steps into Ruby and promptly wraps her arms around herself for real. 

"Thank you," she thinks at her alt.

<3

"Hey, what's a bit of body-hopping betweens alts?" 

"Would you like a hug as well?"

Tight nod.

Gentle hug.

Tight, clingy hug, like she's trying to physically merge into Elesse. (It's only been literal decades.)

Anakin can come around to provide bonus hugs of her own. 

It breaks her heart a little every time, these sad stories. All she can do is be here now.

It's... Enough, for now. 

...Which is, of course, exactly when the door opens. Sangua pauses, unsure. 

Lily tenses, torn between hugging her padawan's alt and walking away and pretending she didn't see anything, giving Anakin space.

"...It's fine," she mutters into Elesse's shoulder. "I..."

More hugs actually sounds nice. (Her knees are already going a little weak.)

Lily steps in, and reaches up – gently, slowly – to stroke Anakin's hair, the way both her padawans have always liked.

She turns her head to nuzzle into Lily's hand a bit.

There, there.

Let's all relocate to somewhere comfortable for cuddling.

There's a good couch in easy shuffle range, at least...

Or a bed that's not too far, if Anakin doesn't mind being carried. (...Ruby's body is, at least, pretty short and light. She should be able to curl up in Lily and Elesse's laps easily.)

...Bed. (Less awkward logistics.)

...Hey, what if instead of carrying, Anakin jumped to a different alt? Who's in the bed. (Ruby does not mind and even likes body-sharing, but she really wants to try grabbing Anakin's girlfriend.)

"...Can I shift to one of you?"

"Yeah, totally – any time you wants hugs or chocolate or whatever, honestly don't even bother asking, I've got a headmate already and a three-way shuffle's not much more awkward than a two-way."

She waits for Sangua (and Lily and the local Anakin – she isn't letting go of Elesse) to move to the bed, then... She jumps over, turns her face into Lily, and curls up.

She's now getting two sets of mental cuddles, too.

And Ruby steps back from Elesse. "I'm grabbing her girlfriend – hopefully I'll be right back." She thinks she can get a near-instant timing down... 

"We will be here- Or else on the watch for your return."

Nod. "Thanks – I'll be fine, go hug Anakin."

Yes, that does seem the thing to do.

Oh, good, Elesse hugs return. (She's just going to sandwich herself between Lily and Elesse. And not think about how nice cuddling Lily feels is probably one of those weird fucked up trauma responses Palpatine loved to encourage.)

She's, meanwhile, going to write a letter for Earth Bet's Lily – The Artist Formerly Known as Bonesaw, but they seriously need to pick distinguishing names... Anyways, she writes an explanatory little thing to swap Skywalker for, then...

Hm.

Maybe if she doesn't hop all the way, instead thinks of this more like a tiger's paw lashing out from the shadows to hook in her prey? Or a cat's from under the couch.

...She bops outside then finds a nice little stretch of not-flammable beach.

Then: tiger!

She focuses on Skywalker, forms a scry in flickering life-sized flames... 

And lashes her paw out, phasing only partially between worlds – enough to drop the letter, hopefully enough to grab the cape...

Wagh!

She hops back. "Sorry for the sudden grab – there's a time dilation, I didn't want to bop over, explain things, and have like weeks or worse pass here, your girlfriend kinda needs hugs now – we found a whole four alt sets, she can apparently possess her alts so she is, also think she had a panic attack?"

"Take me to her, please."

Bop! To the cuddle pile! (Or like, to 'standing next to the bed with the cuddle pile.')

Skywalker's girlfriend immediately raises her head, reaching out with a soft, "Darling..."

That is Anakin, yep. And also... other Anakins? Strange. They look similar, if younger. (Also there is a her, which is strange. Perhaps something about everyone being Force-sensitive also amplifies the effect compared to Ruby and Ereshkigal?) But such musings can wait.

"I'm here, sweetheart."

The local Anakin rolls to the side a bit.

Enabling Skywalker's Anakin to sit up enough to grab her girlfriend's hand. "...Cuddles?"

"Since it's you asking." She lets herself be tugged down onto the bed next to her girlfriend and wraps her arms around her.

Cuddles!!!

Oh this is nice, Anakin hasn't been able to so much as properly hug her girlfriend before...

Lily smiles at them and slowly slides away, so she's not touching the newest Elesse alt, who seems... A tad shy. (Actually, if girlfriend cuddles seem sufficient, maybe they should give the girls some space...?)

...Hm.

"Sangua, Nexuha, you two alright?"

"Yeah, a third's weird but kinda nice <3" (For one thing, usually whoever isn't in front can't easily talk through the Force like this – it's weird and interesting feeling like they're both here and fully reachable at the same time.)

Though Nexuha does then reach our to her mother, with: "New alt set appeared, their Anakin is a ghost and doesn't have a body of her own and she needed hugs, so me and Sangua are letting her borrow ours, are you okay if she also uses our body with her girlfriend?" (She's pretty sure it would literally never have occurred to Sangua to check that...)

"I would prefer that you didn't, until least until I have a chance to meet her."

"'Kay, will let her know."

To the ghost Anakin: "Cuddles are fine, but our Elesse wants to meet your girlfriend before you guys use our body for anything else, is that okay?"

"That's fine. Even just cuddles are... New and wonderful." She demonstratively snuggles more into her girlfriend's embrace – and... Yeah, she's fine if the others want to slide out of the cuddle pile. She has best coziest girlfriend to hug.

Yes, she does.

Everyone else can step out, then? Back to the front room – talking more with Ruby about her world's situation might not hurt... Though Ruby also seems kinda like she needs some hugs or stress relief of some kind.

"...I mean, I'm fine," she says once Anakin brings this up. "I've got girlfriends. And therapy. I just... Need the world to be okay so things can be normal." Also you can't get into, let alone excel in, pre-med without being high-key neurotic.

"If the time differential is truly so extreme, then you can afford to relax a little. And it will help with the world after if you also remember how to be normal."

"...Once I pull my girlfriends over, I guess. Think their training as meguca would benefit from a break anyways... But like, I was pre-med before I landed on Earth Bet, I kept myself busy with like getting established in the drug trade and building my gang after that, I kinda only sorta chilled once I started dating Ellie? So this is my normal."

"And I mean I know the 'being fucking neurotic' is bad for me, I've taken anatomy and psych and all, but like. 'Fucking neurotic whenever I'm not dating someone' is just what I'm like."

Sympathetic nod. 

"You will know yourself best. Then, is there anything productive we can help you with for now?"

She might as well go ahead and get – or find out how to get – the stuff the relief fleet's gonna need... Star and hyperspace route charts, maybe, on the off chance anything's different. Plus like, she's gonna need to scout the area around Earth (or its equivalent location if this galaxy doesn't have a copy of her home planet). Oh and a chance to experiment with influencing hyperdrives with magic, she's had to be kinda sparse there, if the locals have a ship going spare...? 

They can pull up nav charts at the terminal easily enough. But while they do have a hyperspace-capable ship, they don't have enough of them to permit undefined experimentation.

...Hmmm, she'll have to figure out acquiring one, then... (There's a thought wiggling at the back of her head, but she decides to leave it be to mature for now.)

This house was originally chose for its isolation, but there is a spaceport on the planet. They may be able to acquire something there.

"Eh, I can teleport – for some reason I keep accidentally ending up inside a sun when trying to target a specific solar system so bringing passengers gets iffy, but like if it's just me,  I can just teleport around until I get an actual visual on the relevant planet. And I can bring something fighter-sized back with me, though it's tiring... So, distance isn't a big deal."

"More a question of money, then."

(...She probably should not mention theft.)

"Eh, that's a bit easier – plus, once we're a bit more sure about the time dilation scale, I can pull over some of the people from our universe who can help plan."

"Of course."

In the meantime...

"So, Anakin just told me she had a vision of your Anakin, we'd had no idea about the rest – do you know what's up with that?"

"Not really? But when I was in the crystal caves on Ilum, I had a series of visions of me and usually also Elesse – there were six totally different worlds. Nothing came of it for five years, then during my Knighthood trials I had a much more in depth vision of just... I experienced a lot of Vader's memories as a passenger, it wasn't like the... Visits? Of the Ilum one – and then not too long after, once me and Elesse were alone here, Vader showed up with her two daughters. And then it was the kid me, then Nexuha and Sangua, then – you. Timing's been inconsistent, it's been a good couple of days since Nexuha and Sangua and their Lily and Elesse came over, but... Seems everyone is colliding at more or less the same time."

"...My Anakin has a daughter and a son, Leia and Luke, and I'm pretty sure neither of them would've been traveling anywhere with her when she was still Vader – Leia's still refusing to talk directly to her, we've been playing some really awkward telephone to coordinate."

"...Weird. Vader has Leia and Dalia. And Dalia was raised as her kid so of course would be traveling with her? And Leia didn't know she was Vader's kid at first but she was dating Dalia..."

"...Pretty sure Anakin raised neither of her kids. And like, Luke's a Jedi, I was under the vague impression she'd handed baby him to some Jedi or another?"

"...Oh. While we're speaking of worlds. Can everyone named 'Anakin,' 'Lily,' or 'Elesse' please pick a nickname."

Elesse laughs. "Wouldn't that make things too easy?"

"Look, as far as I can tell we're up to three living of each, and we're gonna add at least another two Anakins soon – like I'm sorry but distinguishing between five different people named Anakin is a bit much for my poor brain."

"I will raise the issue at the next council meeting."

"And get started thinking up a name for me?" Sangua and Nexuha got named by their Elesse after all.

"Of course, darling."

Happy kiss!

Grin.

Then: "Thinking I should go ahead and grab my crew?"

"How many others should we plan on hosting?"

"At least three – my team plus Anakin's Lily – probably four, I'm thinking I'll grab Contessa... She might want to grab Alexandria or Legend – or honestly any of a range of people, but I'm sure she'll very creepily and precisely arrange for whatever she wants anyways – probably best to drop Luke off on Earth for now so he can warn Anakin if Behemoth attacks, in case time speeds up there..."

"So, eh, let's call it four, though some of us are sharing a bedroom – oh Lily's also gonna want a workshop, though she can probably bunk with me and my team if there's limited room."

"I should have rented a larger villa..."

Giggle! "What about that pyramid out front?" It's an awesome place for a villain lair, after all.

"A mostly-unexplored ruin. Or possibly an ancient ship. It was the proximate cause of one of our groups' arrival."

"Bet me and our Lily can do something with that – if it wouldn't be archeologically offensive to the group with the biggest claim to it?" Shrug. "I'll check later, I guess."

" – Oh also if it simplifies things, I think no one in my group except maybe Contessa actually needs to sleep?" Does she actually know if Skywalker sleeps, hmmm. "So we honestly mostly just need a room for occasional private time. Or less-private hookups."

"Those have been going on a rotating basis. We'll slot you in. Any particular dietary restrictions?"

Shrug. "Lily might have something, I don't know for sure though, but don't think anyone else does – she keeps doing weird bioscience stuff to herself."

"I'll ask her when she gets here, then."

"Cool." She reaches out to her Anakin in the Force (a little clumsily, but this is pretty new). "Hey, can you check time passage? Thinking of just grabbing Ellie, Daniella, Lily, and Contessa."

Fortunately she can do that while cuddling her girlfriend. She pokes Lily, then... "Basically zero time has passed – but I think the worlds sync while we're actively talking." 

"Lily knows you're going to grab her, though, and she alerted Contessa before we left that universe – your team hasn't caught up to her yet, though."

"So probably not a great idea for us to reach out... Oh, I was thinking of dropping Luke on Bet, figure he can alert us if Behemoth shows up – I'm worried the time difference isn't consistent."

"That works."

Good. (Tiger time!)

To the people in meatspace with her: "I'll be right back."

She pops over to the beach, grabs Lily and Contessa first – sways a bit – grabs Luke, Contessa very efficiently convinces him to assist while Ruby dramatically flops, then... Drops him off in the same location Lily was...

Then she reaches through to snag her girlfriends.

Annnd now she's a very tired tiger. She's just... Gonna lay down.

Huh?

Oh no, tired kitty! Must apply pets!

Yesss good. Right behind the ears...

"Sorry – apparently there's a massive time dilation, like five years passed here before Ruby and Anakin jumped over. Ruby apparently figured out how to transport other people without having to leave the universe she's in – she moved Luke to Bet, he'll let Anakin know if time there speeds up and Behemoth attacks."

"Rrright. Guess we have time to take a breath, then."

"I'm going to get so much work done."

"There are several notable advantages," Contessa says, evenly.

"Is that your excited face?"

Awkward smile?

"Ruby did not convey much information about local conditions. I need to calibrate how excited to be."

Uggghhh she kinda wants to blow her off but Contessa's cute. So. She'll roll on her back for belly rubs while she updates the team with what she knows?

Appreciated.

(Daniella promptly faceplants into tiger tummy fluff.)

"...That's a lot of alts."

Oh no she has to interrupt purring to answer... Eh, well, Daniella's unlikely to go anywhere. "Think they have even more than got like, directly described? I didn't even meet everyone."

"Luckily you already have a distinguishing nickname!" 

"Advantage to being a cape." She so wants to meet both her alts.

"Does yours really count, though? It's a bit of a mouthful for casual conversation."

She sticks her tongue out. "I'll accept 'Artist' for short."

"Fair enough."

Daniella mumbles something indistinct along the lines of 'I'll be your short mouthful in conversation'.

"Daniella, you're cute. And a total dork."

She sends a thumbs-up Lilywards, still facedown in tiger fluff.

Which is precisely when they all hear a very excited scream: "KITTY ME!!!"

Followed very shortly thereafter by a small child launching herself with the Force right at Ruby.

-Not a threat, despite the velocity of approach.

Though Daniella will try to catch the child so as to make a gentler introduction to Ruby.

Awww... Still: "Hi a my sis," she says, brightly, before trying to wiggle free to hug the kitty her. 

Ruby raises her head and rumbles a bit.

Hugging the kitty at normal speed is good and fine.

"Hi a... small Ruby?"

Kitty hugs!!! "I'm Anakin!" Pause, then: "Palpatine Panthera, not one of the Skywalkers."

Which is also when they hear another voice: "Anakin, please slow down!" Right before an older woman comes into view around the corner. 

"Mamaaaa!" she complains. "I go at normal speeds. And I found a kitty me! And a my sis and a you and a Shmi and a my mom!" 

"She was going downright slow," Ruby agrees, before headbutting the smol her. 

Giggle!!!

"Oh, if she's slow, that's alright." Still, she'll briskly walk up, on the off chance she needs to grab her imp of a child. 

"No harm, no foul."

Good, time for kitty cuddles. (She'll graciously let her sis's alt hog the belly fluff.)

She's willing to share! It is a very big kitty belly, after all. (As long as Ruby is okay.)

Oh Ruby is more than fine with this! In fact: "I can do rides, if your mom approves," she teases.

Gasp!!

Heavy sigh. "I'll approve of it for tomorrow afternoon, if you get all your homework done by lunch."

"I'll work the hardest."

"I'll believe it when I see it, fuzzball."

Eh, she's too happy about belly fluff to even pretend to be annoyed. 

Too cute.

"So, I take it you're our latest set of alts?"

"Apparently. I'm Ellie or Ereshkigal, this is Lily or Artist, and that's Daniella or Incandesce or Rose. Not sure if you already met Ruby?"

She shakes her head. "The local Anakin warned me another Anakin'd arrived, so I took my daughter on a walk to give her some space..."

Smolakin's mother's a Lily, right? She's definitely not an Ellie or Contessa alt. So: "Eh, we dropped in on Jedi Lily, she was basically okay with it? Though yeah maybe good to not immediately overwhelm us... And I pulled her girlfriend over earlier, think they're still cuddling. So don't, like, think you need to keep avoiding the house."

Pained smile. "Thank you. I'll still check with the local Anakin..."

"Sure." 

"Sounds like the logistics here are a little convoluted."

"Villa apparently wasn't rented with a whole massive group in mind – I was thinking we might try to renovate that pyramid over there? At least for like, Artist's workshop."

"Be careful with it – I'm fairly sure it's an old spaceship. We were doing archeological work there when my daughter managed to engage a cross-universe teleportation drive."

"Some of the excavated rooms might be appropriate, though, depending on what you mean by 'workshop.'"

"I've got a power – that's an Earth Bet thing, where I'm from, idiosyncratic superpowers – anyways, it helps me with biotech stuff. Gets kinda wet, but I know how to mitigate that so I'm not spilling biohazards everywhere – I'm working to develop better medical tech." 

"That'd be useful – we have some technology I can at least get schematics, maybe outright examples of for you to study, too."

"...And one of the Anakins – Vader – she's... She's in a life support suit. If there's anything you can do for her, even just to make her life support less intrusive..."

"Definitely. No matter what's wrong – and if I can't do it, I'll pester Ruby until she grabs Panacea – Panacea's another cape, she does straight healing. Pretty sure via direct bio-manipulation, but I haven't had a chance to observe her work in person."

Tired groan. "I'm going to need like, at least a day before grabbing anyone else."

"My power, in addition to Artist's, should be more than sufficient."

(She isn't positive why her power's having her continue standing here, not yet, but... There's steps clicking into place, work involving Vader – and involving getting ahold of technology from this galaxy.)

"I might be able to help, too. Life extension isn't too far conceptually from Necromancer."

Hum. "Does your 'conceptual' Necromancer power include resurrection?"

"It should, but doing it, uh, correctly, seems like it would take a lot of power."

"What do you mean by power?"

"...If it's anything the Force can provide, you'll find plenty of volunteers here."

"Well, same reason Ruby's so exhausted right now after bringing everyone over."

"Improves with practice," she grumbles. "Also part mental, part emotional, part clap if you believe. I feel like I just pulled an all nighter memorizing neurology facts, then took a two hour exam with insane moon logic questions... While doing jumping jacks."

"Worth experimenting with something smaller, though?"

"Depends what you have in mind?"

"Could try just helping speed up recovery after exhaustion – I'm not the best at Force healing, but my Elesse has a knack for it, and the local Elesse's older so might have more experience," possibly driven by her sadism habits – Palpatine has been carefully not thinking about the local Elesse's sex life, though, given it involves the local Anakin, "And I think my Jedi alt's good at it. Still, providing general energy to someone isn't difficult."

"And... I don't know what your power can do that'd be smaller, but still something where a boost is noticeable."

Oh faster recovery sounds nice. "I volunteer as tribute!"

"...Oh also our Anakin did bolster me for the universe hop plus like all of my early interstellar teleporting, but some of that was just handling the pathfinding parts on my behalf, since she can teleport too, it doesn't tire her out, and she's way better at aiming – basically never lands inside a sun. No idea if it's the same kind of bonus oomf needed for the big works, though."

"Getting Ruby back up would be a good proof-of-concept, anyway. If that doesn't work, then I can try channeling something while being actively supported. Minions might be a good pick, that's complicated enough that I'll definitely notice any kind of improvement."

"I'll give it a shot." She sits down next to Ruby's head – on the other side of the tiger from Daniella – as her daughter helpfully scooches out of the way. She gently rests her head near Ruby's ear, closes her eyes...

And meditates, reaching out as gently as she can. 

Mmm nice – Ruby's discovered she's an unabashed telepathy slut over the prior weeks of working with Anakin, and being a telepathy slut with your own alt just hits different apparently than someone else reaching into your head.

She reaches back easily, purring.

Ruby is very similar to her daughter. It makes this easier – makes the right mindset come easier, the soft glow in her chest, the syncing of their presences in the Force... Makes offering Ruby a metaphorical shoulder to lean on much easier – a well of energy and power, sure, but also a lifetime spent clawing her way to emotional maturity, a mind trained well to handle the exhaustion from challenging mental tasks, an ease in lateral thinking, a comfort with the idea of all things being possible in the Force, if only you have faith in yourself and the strength of will to match... 

Oh, wow. "Damn, that's better than any drug I've ever tried." This is so freaking nice. "Dunno about energizing – it's not really a proper upper – but feel like I just spent a week at the beach." Hmmm, actually has she ever properly tried combining her powers with drugs (other than magic mushrooms, those are a no-brainer experiment when you've got an insane moon logic power). She bets she can get some nice mileage out of various stimulants...

"As your alt's mother, I'd like to veto any plans involving power usage while high," she thinks at Ruby.

Siiiiigh.

"Fine, have it your way."

Compensatory ear-scritch. 

"Thank you for helping," she thinks at Ruby. "I don't have anyone I miss, but..."

"There's two dead Elesse's, aren't there?" So far, and isn't that a cheery thought. "Our Anakin's, plus Vader's."

"...Yeah."

"Anakin's mom is an Elesse. And... I haven't met your Anakin – I've barely met Vader – but she's so sad. And while I know I'm not the me that hurt them..."

"I mean, they're my girlfriend's alts, too, and you still gotta stare down the whole 'there but for the grace of fate go I' shit. I get it – all of it."

"I'll help, any way I can – honestly I bet nudging things so Ereshkigal gets functioning resurrection is part of why Contessa's hanging around, she's usually scary efficient. So she'll help, too, and her power's pretty much 'I win.'"

"My Shmi is much the same – both in personality and in unnerving prescience."

"Heh. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

Further ear rubs. "Do you want to relocate inside?" she asks. "I can carry Anakin."

"I've got the energy now..."

"Nooo...."

Lily snorts. "You're probably fine out here if all you're doing is cuddling. But I think it's time I split off, anyways – I need to figure out my exact workshop space, at minimum, plus poke supplies..."

"I will assist," Contessa says, then, to Palpatine: "Please ask someone to bring us a device capable of connecting to the HoloNet."

"Done." She pings the local Anakin, then gets a confirmation something will be brought to the pyramid shortly.

Then unless Daniella or Ellie have anything to add, Artist and Contessa will head off.

Don't create any eldritch abominations of nature that you can't put down again.

Putting down eldritch abominations of nature is what Contessa is for.

Have fun, then!!

She will. (And they're off.)

"So are we staying here or moving too?"

Tigery shrug. "Honestly I'd still like to flop for a bit, but I might go flop nearer the water with anyone who wants to cuddle..."

"Beach vacation!" Daniella cheers.

"The water here's nice! And I can show you all the cool places."

"I might step inside, if you don't mind keeping an eye on Anakin...?"

"I can, yeah." She glances at Daniella and Ellie. 

"I'll stay with you."

"Think I'll go inside. You have fun."

...She needs to talk to Ellie maybe, she thinks. But... It'd be kinda awkward to cancel beach sprawl right now? (...Plus she is still. Stressed. And talking is hard.)

"...Kay."

"I'll come find you in a bit; I'd like to meet some more people, I think."

"See you then." She needs to shake off the kid to get up, but once she's standing she'll allow a hand on her shoulder.

To the beach!!!

Which pretty much just leaves Palpatine and Ellie behind.

"So I don't think I caught your name."

"My birth name is Lily Palpatine. I usually just go by Palpatine, or in certain contexts by Lylí." (Which is pronounced lie-lee.) "But I don't want to go by Palpatine around the Anakins who have... Poor associations with the name. Though I'm not entirely sure if Lylí is distinct enough from Lily, now that there's three of us."

"There's only one of you in the vicinity, so Lyli works for now. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, as well."

"I apologize about my daughter's... Energy. And her volume."

"She's a kid." Shrug. "I won't hold it against her, even if it's not to my taste."

Nod. "Hopefully she'll calm a bit, once the novelty of a cat-shaped alt wears off a little."

"This is also the first time we've met alts who weren't other-timeline versions of ourselves."

"Must be a little weird. Skywalker was the first one I met and- she was just another person living in a different place."

"...Which Skywalker?"

"She just calls herself Skywalker. Uh, she would have come through a little bit before us but I think she's occupied cuddling her Anakin? Who used to be a ghost but now I guess she's temporarily possessing one of her alts?"

"...So Skywalker is a family named shared by all of the Shmis except maybe Contessa and, as far as I can tell, all of the Anakins except my daughter, as well as possibly a few others – Vader's children aren't using her family name, but another Anakin's might. Is the one in question here your alt?"

"Yeah."

She nods. "Not too confusing, at least, since I don't think any of the others go solely by their family name." She shakes her head. "Having alts in the same universe does sound exceptionally odd, though."

"Three, if you count the Elesse. Though she wasn't alive at the same time, I think."

Unhappy nod.

"...I want to fix that. She... No alt of her – of you – should be dead."

"I'll... do my best."

"I'll help, any way I can, and... There's two known universes we haven't explored – likely far more. If it's something you're unable to do, or that's too costly... It's alright. I'll keep looking."

"I- think I would have the best shot of anyone you've met. Maybe are likely to meet. I will try."

"Thanks."

"You're a good kid."

"I'm twenty-two..."

"My oldest daughter is twenty-six."

Bleh.

She laughs. "Though my girlfriend is younger than you – she's twenty-one – so perhaps 'kid' was rude of me. I apologize."

"Apology accepted," Ellie sniffs.

"Is she around?"

"Let me check." She reaches out to her Elesse in the Force.

"What is it, Lyli?"

"New alts – apparently, the universe with the ghost Anakin has multiple native sets of alts, not all of them from the same context."

"One of your alts – not their Elesse – was asking about you. She wants to speak to one of her own alts, I think." (She'll send the rest of what she knows so far, too, including the wry humor about their daughter's new obsession with her cat-shaped alt.)

"That's our Anakin. I can come meet you?"

"Sure – we're going to be in the entry sitting area." 

Then, to Ellie: "She'll come meet us. There's a sitting area just inside that should work."

"Sometimes I think I should hack together something like that telepathy you Force-y people have..."

"Ruby would enjoy that, if she's anything like her alts."

"Strong point in favor." Inside?

Inside!

The entry sitting area is vaguely formal, but it's got comfortable-enough chairs and a couch arranged for conversation. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?" Lylí asks, heading over to the hutch on one wall instead of sitting down immediately. 

"Just water?"

She grabs some out of the minifridge (as well as a bottled tea for herself), passing it to Ellie before sitting down on the couch. 

Uhhhh what the hell do you make small talk about with a MILF someone from another universe who is apparently dating a you?? And also the universe they're from isn't even this one???

Ellie drinks her water. Children are usually a safe topic with parents, right? "Who's your other kid? The twenty-six year old one."

She lights up. "Danni – she's also my apprentice, Darth Salacis – and one of the two best things to ever happen to me." A small pause, then more quietly: "She's also an alt of your Daniella." 

"Bet she's a lot of fun at parties, then."

"She usually is the party." Fond smile. Then: "Are you dating your Daniella as well – ?"

"Uh, kind of? More a friends with benefits sort of situation, we haven't really put a label on it."

"Is the relationship relatively new?"

"Couple weeks, yeah."

"You might need to tie her down first to get her to put a label on things," she teases. "Going by her alts... She's very much inclined to just do what feels right in the moment."

"Eh, I don't mind so much. Ruby can do that if she wants. Daniella is less bratty with her anyway."

She raises an eyebrow. "Are you and Ruby dating as well?"

"Yep."

"How are you two doing with, well, everything?"

"...Ruby's been stressed. She'll say that she works better under pressure, but I'm hoping the time differential here and the... extra help, will convince her to take a break."

Soft nod.

"I'll help, but... It's not just Ruby I'm concerned about."

"I'm looking forward to a break too."

"You deserve one."

"...Do you want us to distract Daniella some, too, so you and Ruby can have some quality time?"

"Might be nice. Don't think you'll have to try too hard."

"Just introducing her to her alts should work wonders."

"Yeah, I bet."

Smile.

"Oh – I apologize in advance if my daughter gets... Weird about your relationship. She's a little bothered about her alts dating alts of her moms." ...Sometimes. Anakin's been fine with Sangua flirting with her Elesse and Lily, and she'd mostly ignored the local Anakin hitting on Lily's Jedi alt. Still... "She's mostly just grouchy about it nowadays, though, and it's alright to be affectionate in front of her."

"Maybe Ruby will get some leeway for being able to turn into a cat. Come to think of it, my transformation has cat ears. Would she like that?"

"She'd love that, and then beg you to show her how to do that herself. Also – I'd assumed Ruby's form was her usual one. She's a shape-shifter?"

"It's how our magic works, yeah. We have alternate forms that are easier to do magic in. Her kind turns you into a monster, mine and Danielle's is an augmented human form."

Oh, fascinating – Lylí has so many questions about the alternative magic system(s)... 

...Elesse will probably want to participate in this conversation. Still, Lylí can't resist opening with, "Do you know if your 'magic' functions via the Force or not?"

"Pretty sure it doesn't."

"Would you mind some demonstrations? – Perhaps once my Elesse gets here, she's rather insightful and will want to see this, anyways..." Unlike her seven year old, Lylí does know how to wait.

"What do I want to see?"

"A novel magic system! That Ellie believes doesn't work through the Force!" (She's never too old to bounce in excitement.)

"Oooh." She slides into the seat next to Lyli.

She pulls out a pad they can take notes on, as she snuggle into her Elesse's side. 

"So I guess it's storytime?"

"If you don't mind," Elesse says, wrapping one arm around her girlfriend.

"I usually leave the monologuing to Ruby, but I guess I fill in." She will go over the broad strokes their powers, the conceptual themes, some stories about their exploits that might detail into parahumans which are an entirely separate thing again... (She's going to leave out mentioning the artifacts. They might be going all-in with this new group but Ellie wants to see what Ruby thinks. They're all hers, after all.)

She has even more questions about parahumans! And about how that shapes society and technology, of course...

Well. Lucky for her, Ellie is what the professionals call a cape nerd, and she has lots of thoughts and opinions on this topic.

Oh, wonderful. (...Somebody else will absolutely need to be the one to call this short, Lylí can nerd out all day.)

This is one of Ellie's favorite things to talk about, so.

Then they'll talk until someone else comes through.

Meanwhile, Anakin's muscles have started informing her she's been still too long, which is downright tragic news for her ongoing snuggles with her girlfriend. She sighs, shifting a bit. 

"Time to get up?"