STAR WARS VIII : CHILDREN OF THE FORCE

Disclaimer : Disney and Lucasfilm own everything.

Summary : Set immediately after Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. Based on all the rumors. Who is Rey? Is she Luke Skywalker's daughter? Why did Luke vanish? Did he find the First Jedi Temple?

Now put on your Star Wars soundtrack, sit back and enjoy.

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STAR WARS VIII : CHILDREN OF THE FORCE

The Republic is in agony. The remaining systems have made a sudden alliance with the Mercenary Syndicate, an obscure and violent organisation of hired hands, in an attempt to crush the First Order with their deadly fleet. Unhappy with this choice of allies, General Organa has resigned and has retired to an undisclosed location. As a result, many of the Resistance fighters have elected not to return to their base.

Meanwhile, the rumor grows: Luke Skywalker has been found...

CHAPTER 1: Luke and Rey

Time had stopped. Luke Skywalker's eyes were fixing her, seeing right through her. She could barely move or think. She wasn't scared or intimidated, but in a trance. He wasn't pushing into her mind, as Kylo Ren had done; he was a welcomed presence, a soothing whisper around her, a bubble of warmth and peace. She could almost see the light around him, like an aura. But there was something else underneath. Shame. Guilt. And something deeper: sharp, mind-numbing doubt.

He sighed and pressed his good fingers over his eyes. The other hand, a metallic implant bare of any skin, slipped inside his ragged white cloak. He seemed to be searching for words. At last, he let out a long breath.

"They had to believe that I was the last of the Jedi."

His tone was almost pleading.

She was tempted to shout 'why did you leave?' but she remained quiet, almost embarrassed by her boldness. Who was she, after all, to question the great Luke Skywalker?

"This is yours." She waved the lightsaber in his direction. The words that she had been practicing popped into her mind. "I've come to ask you to teach me the ways of the Force."

His sad expression turned into a soft grin. "You've already taken your first steps, Rey. In time, you will remember."

"Remember what?"

He took a few strides towards her, stopping in front of her extended hand and the weapon it held. Again, his eyes seemed to look through her, up and down, inside and outside. She was aware of his presence in her mind, but she did not try to block it.

Luke's voice was hoarse. "You remember nothing of your family. Not even names. Just some images and feelings. You lived a harsh life on that desert planet. What was it called?"

She was suddenly aware that tears were rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them hastily with her sleeve.

"Jakku," she uttered. "How can I know that and not know my parents' names?"

"It's not your fault."

"After a while, I just forgot. I was so young..."

"You weren't," he interrupted her. He raised his good hand and placed it just over her forehead, yet he didn't touch her. "Your dream has tricked you. Facts can be removed from memory, but not knowledge. You rely on your instincts to fill the gaps. You can speak different languages, am I right?"

She gasped in surprise. "Yes." She had always thought that speaking the native language on Jakku had come from growing up there. The language of droids, she had learned from practice. Chewbecca... Well, she did not know how she could understand that specific speech. As for her instincts, she immediately thought about how she had escaped from her cell at Starkiller base. She had known how to use the Force to manipulate a weak mind.

"Just as I thought," the Jedi said. "It's still there, beneath the surface."

He smiled softly, and then he glanced down at the lightsaber that was now resting on his chest.

"Sorry," she said hurriedly, lowering the weapon to her side.

"You can keep it." He looked over her shoulder as though he was seeing something on the horizon. "You're going to need it."

She glanced around quickly, but there was nothing there but rocky cliffs and the sea. She had heard stories about the Jedi having premonitions. What had he seen? How much did he know about the future? Excitement bubbled inside of her as she put away the lightsaber into her travel bag. She had found Luke Skywalker.

"Are you coming back? Are you going to help the Resistance defeat the First Order?"

He brushed his long grey hair with his good hand. "There is a plan, but as strange as it may sound to you, it's not supposed to be me."

She immediately thought of the other possibility. "When you vanished, people said that you went looking for the First Jedi Temple. Is it true? Did you find it?"

He nodded and smiled. "You're standing on it."

She immediately took a step back.

"What did you expect? White towers and gleaming halls?" the Jedi said, amused.

She had imagined a building of some kind, at least. Around her, there were only ruins, stairs of crumbling stones, the remains of rocky shelters covered with moss, but no standing structure as far as she could see.

She glanced around, in case she had missed something, but there was nothing of significance in sight. "I expected walls, I think," she finally said.

He looked at her fondly. "Honesty. I like it. Just like your mother."

Rey's heart skipped a beat. "My mother?"

She could see that the topic was troubling the Jedi Master. He wrapped his white cloak a little tighter as a gust of cold wind swirled around them. "Your mother was my greatest student. She had many gifts. Healing was the main one. She saved my life many times. She could also find people who were strong in the Force, even if they didn't know it. And places too. We came here a lot. It was our favorite place. You were born here."

She gasped. "I was born here. How would you know that?"

A shiver ran through her body, but it wasn't because of the cold weather. Luke Skywalker had known her mother. Her mother had been a Jedi. How could this be true? How could she not remember? The notion was making her slightly light-headed.

His eyes were searching hers. "This world is called Ahch-To."

She repeated the name soundlessly. It was familiar, but at the same time the information was slipping away from her, like trying to recall the details of a dream.

"And my mother's name?"

It seemed like she had waited her whole life to know that name.

"Fay Ora," said the Jedi.

A memory burst into her mind: a woman with copper-colored hair appearing through an aura of light. The vision changed and the woman was running through white corridors in a long evening dress, black and sparkling like the night sky. And then, the image changed and it became that painful vision from the basement of Maz's Castle. Kylo Ren was standing over her, his red lightsaber was about to strike her down, but this time she knew that he wasn't killing her. She had it all wrong. She had experienced it from someone else's perspective.

Luke Skywalker placed his good hand on her forearm, bringing her back to the present time.

"He killed my mother, didn't he? Kylo Ren."

She could hear the hate in her voice, but she didn't care.

Luke Skywalker held her gaze. "He did. I saw it happen, but I was wounded and I couldn't stop him."

"My mother is dead! Because of him!" she burst out, aware that she was shaking. The memory of Han Solo's death flashed through her mind. "He took everything from me!"

"That's not true," the Jedi whispered, suddenly stepping close to her. His blue eyes were full of meaning. "You're a child of the Force. No one can take that away from you. The Force is strong in my family. My father had it. I have it. My sister has it. Your mother had it. You have that power too."

She didn't need to hear the words to know the truth. It had been in her heart ever since the first glance. The embrace that followed was that of a father and daughter reunited.