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Epilogue

Silver moonlight filtered through the branches of the forest grove near the Jedi Temple, dappling the soft green grass of the circular meadow with spots of light, as if in imitation of the star-flecked night sky above.

Luke Skywalker stood in the center of the meadow, his hood raised and his lightsaber in his hand. Arranged in a loose circle around the edge of the meadow were many other Jedi, the hoods of their robes also raised and their lightsabers held loosely in their hands. Beside Luke, at his right, stood Leia, her white robes making her stand out among the others here, who wore mostly dark colors.

A meter in front of them knelt Jacen, dressed once again in earthy brown and forest green robes. His hood was drawn back, his hands were folded in his lap, and his lightsaber sat on the ground just in front of his knees.

"The Force has brought us here," Luke said as he looked around the circle of Jedi and those beyond it. "Masters of the Council, friends and family of Jacen Solo. He has demonstrated his command of the Force and his devotion to it."

"He has passed the greatest test a Jedi can face," said Leia. "He has seen the Dark Side, but he has turned away from it, and rejected its influence. Like all of us, he has emerged from this recent conflict with his share of scars, not all of them physical, but like all of us, he has devoted himself to defending this galaxy, to protecting its people from darkness, disorder and chaos in all their forms."

Luke ignited his emerald-green lightsaber and held the tip of the glowing blade just above Jacen's right shoulder. "I, Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master of Jacen Solo, proclaim his apprenticeship to me finished." He looked down into his nephew's eyes. "May the Force be with you."

Leia ignited her sapphire-blue lightsaber and held its tip just above Jacen's left shoulder. "I, Leia Organa Solo, Master of the Jedi Order, name Jacen Solo a full Jedi Knight, protector and defender of the Republic, guardian of peace and justice in the galaxy." She looked down into her son's eyes. "May the Force be with you."

The rest of the Jedi in the circle ignited their blades as one and held them out at an angle, bathing the grove in a rainbow of multicolored light. Luke's eye was drawn to the tall figure of his father, who stood as part of the circle with his own sky-blue blade. Though Anakin's face was shadowed by his hood, Luke could still see an approving smile.

"May the Force be with you," those in the circle said in unison.

Luke and Leia raised their blades upright, and Jacen picked up his lightsaber and stood. He silently looked around the circle at those gathered in the grove, briefly meeting their eyes as he turned. Jacen's brother and sister stood at the entrance to the grove, and as he turned to face them, Jaina and Anakin stepped aside, their gleaming blades forming an arch over the beginning of the path.

Still silent, Jacen walked between his siblings out of the grove, passing quickly out of sight down the forest path.

Luke lowered his lightsaber and closed it down, and the other Jedi did the same, stepping out of the circle to signify the end of the ceremony. The others lowered their hoods and mingled with the other observers throughout the meadow, shifting into smaller groups.

A few paces away, Corran smiled and quietly said something to Malysa, to which she shrugged. Her reply made Tionne laugh lightly, the rich, musical sound blending with the whispering of the gentle breeze through the leaves overhead. Next to them, Ami and Tahiri excitedly recounted their separate adventures to one another. Luke's daughter occasionally turned to Qeris for confirmation, who mostly limited her responses to a slight nod, smiling at their exuberance.

Jenn and Revan stood nearby, quietly conversing. Luke walked over to them, waiting at a polite distance until they finished.

Revan looked up first. "Ah, Master Skywalker," he said with a friendly smile. "We were just about to come speak to you."

"Have you given any thought to what you'd like to do now?" Luke asked.

Revan gave him a wryly amused smile. "Oddly enough, the same thing I left to do after the end of the last war I fought: I'm going to go find the remnants of the Sith, wherever they're hiding, and ensure they never threaten the Republic again."

Jenn gestured to her tall friend. "I'm going with him."

"You're not leaving right away, are you?" Jaina asked as she approached.

"No, we'll stay for a while and help rebuild," Revan replied. "But if there are more Sith out there, I don't want to give them too long to gather their strength."

"You're welcome to come with us if you like," Jenn said.

Jaina nodded once. "I may take you up on that," she said. "I need some time away… to think about things," she said quietly.

Jenn put her hand on the young woman's shoulder. "No one ever really wins a war," she said. "You just survive them." She leaned slightly closer, with an encouraging smile. "But for now, we've all earned a bit of breathing room, so…"

"Keep breathing," Ami finished for her, stepping up to her cousin's other side. She smiled, and after a moment, Jaina smiled back.

Luke looked around at the group gathered in the grove. They had all done this, he thought, had all brought about this peace. They had all paid for it dearly, had earned this peace with their sweat, blood and scars. They had earned their breathing room, and Luke for one was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

He noticed Mara walking at a brisk pace, not quite a jog, for the path leading out of the grove. "Where are you off to?" he asked her.

"Ben and Anakin said something about this celebration needing fireworks," she said, her expression a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "I'm just going to go… keep an eye on things."

Luke chuckled as he watched his wife walk away, then changed his mind and started walking himself. "Hang on a minute," he called after her. "I'll come with you."

This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, right now:

For the first time in a long time, perhaps even for the first time in your life, you are happy. Truly happy.

You are here among the people who matter most to you, the family you started. Until now, you had been outside, separate from their unity, merely watching as they drew themselves together without you, but now you can count yourself among them. Now the family is complete.

Their futures are open, you think as you look at your children with their families. Your grandchildren, through your efforts as well as their own, now have the chance to build their own families in peace.

You look over as Jacen walks back into the grove, and watch him for a few moments as he rejoins the group, heading for where his parents stand with Qeris. Of all of them, he came closest to following your path, to repeating your mistakes, but in the end he succeeded where you failed, and remained on solid ground.

His example, along with the others, even helped to inspire you to finally reject the darkness yourself. It's an odd reversal of the usual way of things, but still welcome.

You notice Qeris take Jacen's hand as he stops beside her, and the look they share makes you smile. Almost by reflex, you look over at Padmé where she stands nearby.

She returns your gaze, and there is even genuine warmth in her smile, but it is not the same as it once was. The spark, the light that was once in her eyes whenever she looked at you is gone, perhaps forever. Some things, once broken, cannot be restored to what they once were.

This saddens you, but you accept it. It's another consequence of the things you've done. You cannot ignore the past; you can only accept it, learn its lessons, and use them to plot the best course for the future.

Your own future is still unknown to you, but rather than provoking fear as it once did, this brings an odd sort of comfort; rather than a feeling of inevitability, of darkness hanging over you, you feel that you are finally in control. What happens next is completely up to you.

The next months and years will not be easy, and you know difficulties and hardship are still ahead. True, you are back on the right path, but now the real challenge begins: having strayed from it before, you must now keep yourself on the solid ground, to stay away from the mire which will consume you forever if you ever step into it again.

Fireworks burst in an explosion of color and sound, high above the forest canopy. A feeling of happiness and contentment radiates from those gathered here, and you let it enfold you, let yourself contribute to it.

Much has happened to you, and your journey is not over yet, but you and your family are all safe and together, and that is good enough for now.

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* - * - *
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Final Author's Notes and Acknowledgments:

*End Title Theme*

No joke; that's what I'm listening to as I write these last notes today. I happened to be listening to the 'A New Hope' soundtrack as I wrote the first draft of this epilogue all the way back in June, and by a fun coincidence, the End Title theme happened to start playing just as I wrote the final words of the story. I'll admit to only sort of doing that on purpose. ;P

First off, I want to once again thank my beta reader hairyhen for his truly invaluable help with this story. Aside from the usual beta-reader things like catching my typos and warning me I'm using some people's full names and titles a little too often, ("No can has 'Darth'!" ;P ) he's also provided an excellent sounding board for my craziness, only some of which had to do with this story. ;) Time and again, our discussions helped me arrange and cement my ideas, and his suggestions for improvement have always helped my work to be its best. Major, major, major thanks, my friend.

Next, I want to thank John Williams for writing the music for Star Wars. Music is an integral part of my writing process, and though I listened to many other things as well, the movie soundtracks were in heavy rotation during all phases of working on this story. My goal was to keep this story consistent with the 'feel' of Star Wars, and I hope I succeeded.

Thanks also goes to the many creative minds whose work in the Star Wars universe has influenced my own definitely-not-official tale: Timothy Zahn, always my favorite Star Wars writer and one of my favorite writers in general. Matthew Stover, whose interesting characteristic writing style was a clear influence on several key scenes in this series. Michael A. Stackpole, who gave us Corran Horn, my personal favorite non-Skywalker Jedi of this era. Drew Karpyshyn and the others at BioWare for the first 'KotOR', and Chris Avellone and the others at Obsidian for the sequel, 'The Sith Lords', which, even though released unfinished, is still my favorite of the two. John Ostrander and Jan Duursema of the 'Legacy' comic series, several concepts of which I borrowed for this AU and pushed back in time a hundred years. And of course, George Lucas, for originally building such a great sandbox to play in. Han still shot first, though.

By the way, though I'm hoping for the best, if J.J. screws up 'Episode VII', I'm going to call him 'Jar Jar Abrams' for the rest of my life. I've ignored parts of the 'official' canon before, and it's not like I can't do it again.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you reading this. Your comments over the past two years have given me boosts of encouragement which I really needed at times. I try to reply to as many reviews as I can between epic duels with Darth Real Life for my free time, but in case I missed any, please know that I really appreciate your honest feedback on my work. I am by no means a professional writer - merely a fan - but I view this and my other fanfic as steps on the path there. Maybe one day I'll get to write a 'real' Star Wars story.

I'll leave you with this: I intended for this story to be the grand, epic finale to my 'One Missed Strike' series, but even as I wrote the last few chapters early this year, I kept getting the nagging feeling that I wasn't quite done, that there were yet other adventures to be had in this AU beyond what I had planned. So, although I've tried my best to make this a satisfying conclusion, I have left a few dangling plot threads here and there, should I ever wish to return. Though I'm not making serious plans right now, I do have a collection of ideas and concepts for further stories in this universe, including a potential AU of this AU in which Revan and Jenn stay in their own time and fight the Sith then. Would you be interested in seeing more of this series?

In the meantime, I've been feeling the urge to broaden my horizons a bit and write in some other fandoms for a while. I'm working on a couple of 'Terminator' fics right now, if any of you would be interested in those. In any case, as usual, until next time, thanks for reading!

Davin Sunrider