Leana was thankful for many things.

One was her amazing group of friends. Two, the healthcare on the Rebel medical barge.

All of the minor injuries she, Lucas, Ben, and Lumina had sustained over the course of their adventures were tended to by the medical droids, who cleaned and bandaged everything. Luke was currently in the process of receiving his new hand while one of the other droids finished scanning Lucas for any residual effects of the carbon freeze.

Lando and Chewbacca had just left in the Millennium Falcon, off to track Boba Fett down and get Han back. Leana knew that wouldn't happen until the next film, but she still wished them good luck. Leia was in the adjoining room with the droids, waiting for the droids to finish with Luke.

The movie was almost over, but Leana didn't know what was going to happen next. Would they stick around for the next one? But Qui-Gon had said they were destined to change the third movie – so would they go there next?

Or just home?

Home suddenly sounded great to Leana. Her warm bed, hot chocolate, her comfortable sweatshirt. Not that she hadn't loved every second in Star Wars – fine, almost every second – but home still had some great upsides, too.

She glanced at Lucas, who was lying on a medical cot. His stint in carbon freeze had really thrown him off, and the med droid was still checking his vitals and making sure everything was in order. At least, unlike Han, he hadn't lost his vision.

"I can't believe it," Luke murmured, as the med droid dismissed him. He stood, curling the fingers of his new hand inward, and glanced up at Leana. "I can't believe Vader is my father."

"Yeah, it's a tragedy," Leana murmured.

"Old Ben told me he was a great Jedi Knight," Luke continued, his eyes drifting away from hers. "A hero of the Clone Wars. Anakin Skywalker."

"He was a great Jedi Knight," Leana insisted. "And a hero. He just made some bad choices, Luke. Hung out with the wrong crowd."

"To paraphrase Billy Joel," Ben said, with a slight grin as he switched to softly singing, "It seems to me, Anakin lived his life, like a candle in the wind."

Lucas shot straight up, slamming into the med droid's scanner and making it snap reproachfully at him in a low, slow voice. But he ignored it. "Elton John! It's Elton John, Ben! For crying out loud, can you never get it right?"

Ben leaned backward, but Leana could see him biting back a laugh. They were all just so relieved to be together again – and for Lucas being okay – that they didn't care about the correction. Leana would actually have been worried if Lucas hadn't corrected Ben.

"It seems to me, Anakin lived his life, like a candle in the wind," Lumina sang quietly. "Never knowing who to turn to, when the dark side came in."

"And we would have liked to know him, but we were just kids," all four of them sang, knowing the original lyrics and bending them to suit Anakin. "Your candle burned out long before, your legend ever did."

Luke just looked at them strangely. "That still doesn't tell me much."

"Tell you what," Lucas proposed. "We'll do another song. This one will be better suited to explain Anakin Skywalker."

Leana frowned. "Wait, what song?"

"'The Ballad of Billy the Kid,'" Lucas said, with a grin. "By –"

"Elton John!" Ben exclaimed.

"Billy Joel!" the other three told him, the girls laughing at Lucas' expression of annoyance.

"I think you've got the wrong song," Luke said. "That's about a Billy the Kid, not my father."

"We'll be making it about your father," Lucas told him. They already had – the four of them loved to parody songs to fit Star Wars. They'd been doing it ever since listening to Weird Al in elementary school. He started singing in a low voice. "From a town known as Mos Esla, Tatooine, flew a boy, with the Force at his command. And his daring life as a Jedi, made him a legend in his time – east and west, of the Hydian Way."

"Well, he started at a Podrace, the Boonta Eve," Ben picked up. "The winnings would help the Jedi and queen leave. Well, his age, and his species, took the judges by surprise, when he won and the word spread of Skywalker."

"Well, he always fought the enemy, and he worked with Obi-Wan, and he soon put many older Jedi to shame," Leana chimed in. "But he did have a sweetheart, despite his Jedi oath, and the Separatist and the Sith all knew his name."

"Well, he won a string of battles from Naboo to Christophis," Lumina sang. "And the Separatists just couldn't seem to pin him down. And it served his legend well, for the clone troops loved to tell, about how Anakin Skywalker fought the war."

"Well, one bad day Palpatine cornered Annie," they all sang. "And he said, 'Kill the Jedi, even the kids.' And he led his clones as a Sith, and to the Temple went pouring in, and the Republic's downfall, was due to Skywalker.

"Well, he then became the enemy, yes, he fought with Obi-Wan, and he assumed Darth Vader as his new name. He ended up killing his sweetheart, and completely broke his Jedi oath, and a lot of people wished he was in the grave.

"From a town known as Mos Eisley, Tatooine, flew a boy, with the Force at his command. And his daring life as a Jedi, will make him a legend in his time, east and west of the Hydian Way."

For a long moment, Luke just looked at them. "I fail to see how that's supposed to make me feel any better."

"What do you mean? It's awesome!" Ben exclaimed. "I mean, it's probably less awesome when you're directly descended from the guy in the song, but still."

"Now that I think of it, I fail to see it, too," Lucas admitted. "But it's just fun."

Luke just shook his head and wandered off to stand with Leia at the viewport overlooking the fleet. The four looked at each other, and made to follow, but the air shimmered before them and Qui-Gon Jinn appeared, blocking their path to Luke, Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2.

"Qui-Gon!" Leana breathed.

"Leana, Ben, Lucas, Lumina," the Jedi Master greeted, nodding at each in turn. "Your first mission ends now."

The four exchanged glances. "So," Leana started tentatively. "How did we do?"

"You did all right, but not good enough," Qui-Gon told them. "You need to try harder to change the story if you are to succeed in your ultimate quest. But as a start, it was good."

"It's harder to change the story than I thought," Lumina admitted. "There were times I wanted to change something, but couldn't because it was simply the only way."

"And there were times where dialogue changed," Lucas pointed out. "Or moved to a different part of the scene."

"The others were reacting to your presence there," Qui-Gon explained. "Altered dialogue is a good sign, but more must be done if you really want to change the ending."

"I do have a question," Leana said, frowning. "When Luke and I were on Dagobah, Yoda kept making references to things from our world. Like Harry Potter, and Prince, and Panic! At the Disco. How come he knew about all of those things?"

Qui-Gon smiled faintly. "It is because of you four. By crossing into our world, you have brought your culture with you, which instantly makes its mark on the characters of Star Wars. Be prepared for more such references on your next mission."

All four straightened. "When and where?" Lumina asked.

"Not yet," Qui-Gon answered, causing all of them to slump and look disappointed. "Soon, but first, you will be able to go home and rest. You have several more tests in front of you before your final mission."

With that, Qui-Gon faded away and the next thing Leana knew, she was falling through space, the white room of the medical barge elongating and then vanishing to be replaced with dull grey and the noise of a crowd.

Leana stumbled as her sneakers stubbed the concrete, her body flailing through the turnstile bars. She managed to regain her balance before falling on her face, but not before earning several strange looks from those surrounding her.

Lucas, Lumina, and Ben staggered through the turnstiles after her, their momentum carrying them through. As the four of them ended up on the subway platform, it took Leana a moment to realize what they were doing there.

"Star Wars!" she exclaimed, feeling in her jeans pocket for her ticket. Miraculously, it was still there, despite everything. Then Leana realized she was wearing her blue sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, even though she had last been wearing a med tunic and boots. All of them, in fact, were back in their regular clothes.

Lumina gave a small laugh. "Star Wars is right."

"What the hell is also right," Lucas managed, rubbing his forehead. "As in, what the hell just happened?"

"A dream come true," Ben said. "And like dreams, it makes a little less sense now that we're back."

"But we know one thing for sure," Leana said, giving them a slight grin. "Qui-Gon said we were going back, soon."

"Not soon enough," Lumina replied, and the four knocked their fists together. "So, shall we see this movie?"

"Haven't we had enough of Star Wars for one day?" Lucas asked. Then he grinned at the shocked looks on his friends' faces. "Of course not, that's impossible. Let's go!"

And the four hurried over to wait for the subway, knowing that watching one of the new movies just wouldn't be the same as living through one of the classic ones.

But soon we'll go back.

Leana couldn't wait.