Work Text:
Sometime After The Battle of Endor,
Coruscant
Luke Skywalker walked the halls of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Or what had once been the Jedi Temple.
Now it was nothing more than a silent testament to the treachery of the Sith. The Emperor had taken this sacred place and turned it into his palace. He had defaced it with his evil. He could feel the Dark Side all around him. Yet it could not touch him. He was Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, beacon of hope and of the Light.
The halls were quiet around him. It was a melancholic kind of quiet. The kind of quiet brought on by great tragedy and darkness.
He trailed his hand along the walls and through them he heard voices from the past. The laughter of children, the calm voices of Jedi Masters, sounds of lightsaber clashes, the sound of blasters and then finally screams. The warmth of the laughter drowned out by the screams in his mind.
He let his hand fall away from the wall, letting the visions fall away. He had been letting the Force guide him as he walked.
He had come upon a large room. It was dark and cold. It was almost bare except for computers and a large chamber in the center of the room. He knew this was Darth Vader’s room. His father’s room.
The darkness was filled with sadness that he could feel in his bones. It made him ache for the life his father should have had, could never have.
There was nothing for him in the room, he left it as quietly as he had arrived. Letting Darth Vader fade away with the light.
He found the Emperor’s throne room next. It was as grandiose as his throne room on the Death Star had been. The evil here was pervasive and he felt it in his soul, as he had when he met the now late Emperor.
The room was large and circular, at the very top of the Temple and he knew this was where the Jedi Council had sat, making their galaxy-wide decisions.
Of course the Emperor would make this place his home, he would find the irony amusing. Luke left this room too, shutting the door on the Emperor forever.
This Temple could never be home to a new Jedi Order. There was too much pain and darkness left in the Temple. A new order of Jedi could never flourish here as they once had. He knew that before he had ever sat foot in it, yet he felt pulled to this once great temple for reasons unknown to him.
He left the Temple but did not leave the grounds. He stayed and sat on the great stone steps to watch the sun set. The skies around him were filled with traffic and noise, he could hear sounds coming from all over the city-planet in a way he hadn’t heard before the Empire collapsed. It was the noise of a people free from tyranny. It was a welcome sound and he smiled.
The Force felt the way the city-planet did—in balance and at peace. It was no longer dark and cold but warm and bright and stronger too. He closed his eyes and let the Force envelope him.
That’s when he felt another presence around him, not far away. He opened his eyes to see a woman walking up the stone steps. She stopped when she saw him. They were only a few meters apart.
She was older than him, taller. Her robe was white. Her lekku and montrals gave her a regal look. The Force was strong with her and perhaps there was some familiarity in it as well though he couldn’t say why.
“There has not been a Jedi here for far too long,” she said, gesturing to the Temple behind them.
“You knew this place? Before the Empire?” He asked, hopeful. He craved stories of the past like he craved air.
“Oh yes.” She said.
“I’m Luke Skywalker.” He gestured beside him, inviting her to sit next to him. “Please,” he asked softly “tell me.”
“Skywalker?” She asked, surprised. “I wondered why I felt called to this place here and now after all this time. Now I can see why.” She took a seat beside him. “I’m Ahsoka Tano.”
He looked a little confused. “Do you know me?” He asked, thinking perhaps they had met and he had forgotten her. Or perhaps she just knew his name, like everyone else in the galaxy.
“I knew Anakin Skywalker a long time ago.” She said. “He was my master.“
Luke took a moment to digest that, he hadn’t expected that. His father had trained someone in the Force? At first he thought she meant she had been trained as Vader’s apprentice, but she was no Sith and she had said Anakin not Vader. So this was why the Force had called him here. Called them both here. “What was he like?” He asked softly. He wanted to know more about the man who was his father.
Ahsoka took a moment to find the right words, memories of Anakin flashing through her mind. “He was one of the greatest Jedi I have ever known. He was so strong and confident. I strived to be like him and make him proud of me. He was like my brother.” Her eyes took on a misty look, “he had many contradictions.” She looked away from Luke, not able to meet his eyes. “Contradictions I chose not to see.”
Luke understood what she was implying. She blames herself, but he didn’t and he wanted her to know that. “It wasn’t your fault.” He said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“I walked away from him. Perhaps if I had stayed—” her words trailed off, leaving so many things unspoken. Her voice was thick with emotion.
“You cannot blame yourself for his decisions.” Luke said. “There’s nothing you could have done. It was always going to end this way. Palpatine would have made sure of that.”
Ahsoka nodded and wiped a hand across her eyes. “I suppose you’re right.” She hadn’t meant to cry or for him to see her cry. She found it ironic that Vader’s son was comforting her.
No. She corrected herself. Not Vader’s son. Anakin’s son. The same kindness that was in Anakin was also in Luke.
“The past is the past. We cannot change it but we can learn from it and move on.” Luke said.
She smiled at him. “You sound like Yoda.”
“I guess he was able to teach me some things.” Luke said.
“He’s alive?” Ahsoka asked with cautious hope.
“He’s One with the Force.” Luke said, his voice an apology and Ahsoka’s hope fell away. “But before he died he was my teacher. He told me to pass on what I have learned.”
“And will you?” Ahsoka asked him, reigning her emotions back in.
“Yes.” Luke said. “Yoda and Obi-Wan taught me so much. But there’s much I still don’t know.” His eyes searched hers, hopeful that she would offer and he wouldn’t have to ask for her help.
“I walked away from Anakin and the Order when I was still a padawan.” Ahsoka said, answering his unasked question. “I don’t know much more than you do.”
“But you still know more than I do and we could learn together.” Luke said, hopeful now. “Ahsoka, the Force brought us here together for a reason. Perhaps this is the reason. For us to rebuild the Jedi Order.”
“I don’t know.” She said. “I have many of the same contradictions in me that Anakin had. I don’t know what I would do if someone I trained followed his path.”
“He is my father. I have those fears too.” Luke admitted. “What if I become like him? But I have a duty to right the wrongs he did. I have the ability and responsibility to do what I can. I’ve accepted that. Maybe I’ll fail, but if I do nothing then I’ve already failed and the Dark Side wins.” Luke said. “The galaxy needs Jedi to guide them Ahsoka. If we don’t, what happens then? I feel like this is the path I’m meant to be on. I could use your help, if you’re willing.”
“I’ve spent half my left in hiding and on the run. Never knowing what the next day would bring. My life has been spent on war. I’ve never really known peace and now that I have it, I’m not sure what I should do.” Ahsoka said. “But you’re right, the galaxy does need more Jedi, the galaxy was brighter with them in it.”
“You’ll help me?” Luke asked.
“It would be an honor, Luke Skywalker.” She told him and meant it.
Together they sat in silence on the great stone steps, each lost in their own thoughts. The sun was setting on them, on the Jedi of Old, and on the Last Great Jedi Temple. But it was not the end. It was only the beginning.