Epilogue

Five Years Later

It was an out of the way village on an out of the way world. There was a transport that came through once a week with food and supplies, and sometimes a visitor or two from the spaceport, but other than that the main road – the only real road – largely went unused. The climate was harsh here, the economic prospects dim, but for most of the villagers leaving simply wasn't an option. This wide spot in the road, on a planet that was nothing more than an unnamed speck on most star maps, was the only home they had ever known.

There was only one offworlder in the village, and when the speeder swept through on that lazy summer afternoon, there was no question in the villagers' minds as to its destination. The weekly supply run was still a few days off, and this was a city speeder – sleek, silver, with four doors and windows tinted for privacy. Word swept through town almost as fast as the vehicle itself. Skywalker had a visitor.

She stepped down from the speeder and paid the driver, waving him off on his way, and she was as out of place here as her ride had been. Elegance graced her every movement, and it didn't take city smarts to see beyond the casual clothes and the simple, functional braid in her hair. This woman was something special. Even here on the edge of the Outer Rim, where most people knew of the fall of the Empire and the rise of the fledgling New Republic only as a rumor, a story of exotic worlds and exaggerated heroes, there wasn't a soul in town who couldn't tell that much just by looking at her.

Luke was sitting on his front porch when she arrived, bent over an ancient transmitter with a frown on his face and sweat beading on his brow. This was where he could usually be found, working on whatever bits of junk the villagers had brought over to be fixed. They brought him questions too. Whether it was the weather or the crops or the local predators, the man they called Skywalker – with nothing so pretentious as "Jedi" or even "Commander" to precede it – usually knew what was going to happen before it did.

He'd known about this visitor too, and he'd been waiting for her.

"Luke!" she called out.

He looked up at the sound of her voice. "Leia!" He set his work aside and ran to greet her. They embraced like old friends. Like lovers. Like family.

He led her to the house and they sat together, watching the late afternoon sun as it cast long shadows over the outskirts of the village and the seemingly endless steppe that lay beyond. The boy – his apprentice, Skywalker called him, although what exactly he was teaching the kid was anyone's guess – stuck his head out of the front door and stammered a greeting.

"Do you want me to bring you something to drink?" he asked.

"No, thank you," Leia replied.

Luke smiled up at the kid. "We're fine," he said. "You stick with your exercises." The kid nodded and disappeared back into the house behind them.

Leia sat on the low, dusty stoop. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," Luke replied. "How are you? How's everyone?"

"You'd be so proud of what we've accomplished, Luke. I – I wish you could see it for yourself."

"I will," he promised. "Someday."

"Lando's back on Bespin," Leia said, and Luke nodded.

"I heard."

"He's a born politician." She shook her head. "Not that I'm surprised."

"And Chewie?"

Leia's expression darkened. "He's still on Kashyyyk. It's been…hard for him."

"Not as hard as it's been on you."

"You…you seem happy here."

Luke looked up at the house. It wasn't much more than a shack, really. It had belonged to a local man – a mechanic, handyman, a jack-of-all-trades – until he'd been drafted into the Imperial Navy and assigned to the Death Star. Luke had found the boy here, living alone…. But he didn't explain any of that. Instead, he simply said, "I am. These people need me. And I can't live in the city, any more than you could live in a place like this."

Leia frowned. "We miss you. You know that…there will always be a place for you with the New Republic. With the fleet."

"I know," he said. "But I can't."

Leia nodded. "I understand. It's just not the same without you and…and Han. Luke, I…there's something I have to tell you." She looked at him with pleading eyes. "I hope you'll be happy for me."

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"I'm getting married." The words came out in a rush. She looked away, looked down at her hands as though they were the most interesting things in the world.

"That – that's wonderful." Luke smiled and hugged her, and when she pulled away there were tears in her eyes.

"Is it?"

"Of course it is."

"He's…he's from Alderaan," Leia explained. "He's a good man, and…"

Luke took her hand and looked her in the eyes. "You deserve to be happy, Leia."

"I am," she said. "I will be. But…"

"Han would want you to be happy."

Leia shook her head. "He would want me to be happy with him."

"Maybe." Luke smiled at the thought of their old friend. "You can't change the past. The only thing you can do is to make the future better. I learned that from…my father."

"So you'll be there?"

"Wouldn't miss it." He smiled again and looked down at his faded fatigues. "I might even dress for the occasion."

"Thank you." She tried to smile at the joke, but as she looked down at her fingers, still intertwined with Luke's, her smile faded and her forehead wrinkled in concern.

"What is it, Leia?"

"I…. Chancellor Mothma gave me this personally. She asked me to give it to you." She released his hand, pulled a slim datapad out of her pocket, and handed it to him.

He looked at it at first with interest, but then his expression darkened. "What is this?"

"We got the technical information from the Imperial health system. A lot of it came from…I don't know if you knew this, but Vader…."

"I knew," he said flatly, and set the datapad aside. He didn't need to look too closely at the schematics; he'd seen them all before, in his dreams.

"We've been able to learn incredible things from Imperial cybernetics. It would mean more surgery, and maybe an extended stay on Coruscant while the droids monitor your results, but…they want to do this for you, Luke. As thanks for all you've done."

Luke shook his head. "I appreciate it," he said. "But I don't think so."

"If this is about the money…."

"It isn't." Luke looked down at his hand, and at the stump where – in another lifetime – the other one had been. "It's amazing technology, Leia, and there are lots of people out there who'll benefit from it. I'm happy for them, but…."

"I – I don't understand," she said. "Why not?"

He picked up the transmitter and gave it another look. The switch appeared to flip itself, and a burst of static issued from the ancient speaker. He'd have it fixed by tomorrow, and if the old man who'd brought it to him wouldn't understand how he'd done it with one hand and a shack full of rusty parts and outdated tools, that disbelief wouldn't diminish his gratitude. Luke looked up at Leia and smiled. "I just don't think I need it."

THE END

THANK YOU FOR READING AND HELLO FROM 2018! I'm adding a new note here because I am genuinely curious. Every month, without fail, every single chapter of this fic gets at least ten hits or so, and I often get 20, 30, 40 hits from one or two visitors in a day. SOMEONE is somehow finding this 7-year-old fic and apparently binge reading it? And I'm dying to know who you are, whether you liked it, and how you got here in the first place, since I don't *think* this fic is being recced anywhere? I understand that not everyone is comfortable commenting, but if you are, I'd LOVE to hear from you. I accept anonymous reviews and PMs here, and I'm Staringatthetwinsuns on Tumblr too, where I also accept anonymous asks (and won't repost your ask if you ask me not to). I do still get the email from the account, and sometimes check my hits... dear reader, if you got this far, I would really love to hear from you! :)

Original author's note below:

A/N: Thank you very much for your support. I truly appreciate everyone who has read, reviewed, and otherwise encouraged me over the past nine months as I have written, edited, and revised this story. I would like to stress once again my thanks to my beta readers: stargazerlily (all chapters), Luke1 (chapters 1-8) and Kellie (chapters 22-epilogue). This story would not be what it is without you.

I would very much like to hear from my readers - what you liked, what you didn't like, what you just couldn't bring yourself to care about one way or the other. I welcome anonymous reviews, PMs, or you can contact me on LiveJournal (2018 edit:Tumblr) (my link is on my profile page) where I also accept anonymous comments, etc. I absolutely appreciate criticism as well as compliments. Thank you very much!