Saga - ST Aftermath of the Awakening

Title: Aftermath of the Awakening
Author: egKenobi
Rating: G
Time Frame: Post TFA
Notes: According to Wookiepedia, Rey was born 11 years after the battle of Endor and Kylo Ren was only born a year afterwards. So there is quite a difference in age here so please bear with me J
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Lucasfilm and Disney, I’m just mucking about in the sandbox for a bit.

Summary: Starts immediately after the end of TFA so if you’ve not seen it yet, then run away now. It’s my take on what will happen in Episode 8.

Prologue – The First Jedi Temple Ahch-To

He stood there alone. He’d been alone for quite some time now, since that dark day on Devaron. As his mind went to that memory, the pain of that night came flooding back, the screams, and the torment. The shock of betrayal by his own nephew who tore through the academy killing anyone and everyone who got in his way. All before trying to fight him. Oh yes, he would always remember that night. He started to wonder where he went wrong. Or was it true what Han had once told him, that the kid had too much Vader in him?

That didn’t matter anymore. Ben or Kylo Ren as he was now known as, turned up with six others, and planned to wipe out the Jedi, and they would have succeeded but for Luke’s skill. But even so, he barely got out alive and he knew he would have to go in to hiding.

He remembered arguing with Leia and Han about that terrible night. He was determined to blame himself but neither Han nor Leia would have any of that! As much as they tried to talk him out of it, he knew that he needed to be alone and to meditate on what had gone wrong. But what struck him was that in the midst of their own grief at their son’s actions, they understood why He felt the way he did.

He sighed wearily at the memory. Fifteen years he’d been here in self-imposed exile. He wasn’t even sure if the galaxy wanted him back after what had happened. He simply packed his meager belongings, disguised himself and disappeared. For the first five years, he was hunted relentlessly over the galaxy. Not just by the Knights of Ren, but the Imperial Remnant too. He finally managed to give all of them the slip flying through the Maw Cluster.

He didn’t even tell R2 where he’d gone. He knew that when the time was right, the Force would see to it that he would be brought back to the fight.

The days were long and peaceful for the most part. He meditated for a few hours each day and lived a simple existence. He absently wondered from time to time if this was how Obi-Wan felt during his own exile on Tatooine? He cultivated simple vegetables and lived simply. To an outsider it was an idyllic existence.

But the last few weeks the Force had been in turmoil. He felt the scream of billions of voices scream in terror before being silenced forever. But there was one voice that hit him harder than any other.

Han.

Even at this great distance he sensed his friend’s shock in the Force as he was murdered. It wasn’t the fact he was going to die; it was who’d killed him. He acutely sensed immense sadness as Han took his last breath and realised that the son he loved so much was no more, and in his place was a monster.

A tear trickled down his weathered face. He fondly recalled the first time he’d met the legendary smuggler, declaring the Millennium Falcon to be nothing more than a piece of junk. He soon learned the error of his ways. A slight smile found its way on to his craggy bearded face. He would see his friend again in the netherworld of the Force of that he was certain.

He stared out towards the vast oceans ahead of him and breathed in the salty sea air. Vast winged beasts flew high above, and the waves crashed against the rocky shores below. He closed his eyes and called on the Force to calm him; he reached out and sensed the primitive minds of the animals around him. It was then he sensed a familiar presence.

He looked up and saw the legendary Millennium Falcon fly past below him, casting shock waves on the ocean as it flew low and fast. He watched as it came to a perfect landing on one of the craggy outcrops below. He pondered briefly who would fly the Falcon, and would Chewie even let them touch the controls. He smiled at the thought if only briefly.

He watched the ramp lower and spotted his faithful astromech R2-D2 roll down the ramp. There was no mistaking the blue and white little droid. Chewie followed, his lanky hairy frame evident from this distance. The third person he didn’t recognize. He reached out with his senses. There was something familiar, it was only as the person drew closer that he realized it was a girl. And that shocked him.

It couldn’t be could it? He thought to himself. He remembered that day, he still remembered the screams from the four year old begging him to come back. He closed his eyes as a fresh wave of shame came over him. He hid her in the hope that her cousin wouldn’t come looking for her. He’d discussed it with Leia where the best place to hide her was, and she suggested Jakku, and she contacted some people he knew there. He remembered suppressing her memories and her Force abilities in case the First Order came looking. But that was twenty years ago. It couldn’t be her could it?

He tried to call on the Force to calm him again but he couldn’t concentrate. By this point the girl was stood behind him. He could sense her apprehension and nervousness.

He turned removing his hood as he did so. It was her! His eyes welled up with unshed tears as a haunted countenance crossed his face. He’d long thought her killed in the onslaught of the Jedi Temple, he looked down to his right to the simple gravestone he'd made for her and her mother. But here she was. Somehow she was alive, and not only that, somehow, she’d found him.


They stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity before the girl reached in to her satchel to pull something out. His eyes widened as he realized what she was holding. It was the lightsaber he’d lost at Bespin. And now it was here, in the hands of his daughter.

 

Re-worded the end of this as I wasn't happy with it, would welcome your thoughts, chapter 1 is coming...