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He felt them coming the moment they entered the system. For all that Luke had pulled away, hidden from the greater galaxy, here, in this system, little changed without his knowledge. It wasn’t just his senses either, but those of the sensors placed in various locations throughout the solar system.
Whistler had interrupted him just hours ago, rolling into the room in a manner that made him ache for Artoo as the little droid often did. The astromech had been a faithful companion, manning the technological security precautions that pervaded the system, keeping them safe. The green details still stood out, for all the scrapes and dents in the metal, one of a more pervasive set of details that kept him apart from the droids blue and white counterpart Luke had left with Leia.
Never mind that Luke was not, not would ever be, Whistler’s in that manner that he belonged to Artoo.
The familiar sense of Chewbacca in his mind’s eye had brought a wistful smile to Luke’s lips for moments before it was swept away at the unfamiliar, bright presence beside him and more so, the lack of Han’s familiar warmth.
He made his way to the highest spot on the island and allowed himself the pleasure of watching as that familiar gunmetal grey, roughed up ship swooped into the atmosphere. He let himself remember the other moments that same vessel had come speeding toward him, swooping in for last-minute saves.
There was only one place to land upon the island, opposite the stone village built around the ancient temple. The construction of this far-flung outpost was built not for the space fairing Jedi Knights of the Old Republic in mind, but for a calmer order, one that kept to themselves and apart from the greater world.
One that would not be influenced by the machinations of power-hungry politicians.
He allowed them to see him, stood upon the cliffside, watching as Chewbacca and a slip of a girl that—from a distance at least—reminded him of his sister.
Leia. Luke ached to reach out to his twin, to touch her across the bond they shared. But he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. It had been years since he dared to do so.
The girl won out the discussion, at least for the moment, and Chewbacca stared up at him, until Luke backed away, as the girl trudged up the long stone staircase.
There was a long moment, as Luke stood waiting, meditating on this new arrival. The force was bright within her, bubbling untamed, coursing through her very being. It was beautiful to view, nearly untainted by shadows unlike any force sensitive of her age Luke had stumbled across.
It wasn’t until she was nearly upon him that he turned to meet her, taking in her appearance. Her brown eyes were earnest and the edges of her presence reached out in such a way that it took nearly too much to shield her away from prying eyes. There was a pause as she noticed that something had happened, brows drawing slightly together.
Then she retrieved it, pulled a lightsaber he could not ever forget from her satchel and held it out before her, face drawn into a desperate determination and stopped him still.
His breath caught, and his heart stopped as he reached out to her, one flesh hand and the skeletal remains of his once state of the art prosthetic gingerly took the metal tube from her.
It sung of sorrow and grief, of love and hate and—Luke’s features hardened as he held it and stared. The last time Luke had seen this weapon . . .
Red hair pushed out of the way of sparkling green eyes. She smirked at him before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
“I’ll be back, farmboy,” Mara whispered across his lips as she pulled back, “before you know it.”
. . . he closed his eyes and focused and the pain . . . the desperation . . . he dropped the blade as if it had burned him. Eyes snapping open before he turned away, catching the briefest look of surprise and confusion upon the features of the slip of a girl who had brought his father’s lightsaber back to him.
The lightsaber he had given to his wife, Mara Jade, years ago.
“Master Skywalker?” the girl called after him, voice far too cultured for the desert rags that adorned her body. “Luke Skywalker?!”
He ignored her as he took the short way down the mountainside, relying on the force to guide him down and bolster his movements as he siphoned away the emotions tumbling through him.
For the first time in a long time, Luke Skywalker wanted to be truly alone.