AN: Okay, this is my first fic in the Star Wars universe and obviously AU. I told myself to not write something until I read all of the canon books, but the idea won't leave me alone. The story starts around the beginning of TFA and will continue through TLJ. Be warned, because there can be spoilers even in the early chapters. Star Wars and its characters belong to George Lucas and Disney.


She woke to a horrible rush of pain. Opening her eyes, she saw nothing but darkness. She was in her room and it was still the middle of the night. Slowly becoming fully awake, she realized that the pain came through the force and then she heard them, the screams of her fellow Jedi apprentices. Without much thinking she jumped out of bed, grabbed her lightsaber from the nightstand and left her small room. Outside there was chaos, the temple in the north was burning and people were fighting each other in the yard with their lightsabers. Whatever had happened before she had woken up, now she could clearly feel both sides of the Force around her, the dark and the light battling each other. Some of the apprentices seemed to have fallen to the dark side. She reached out for her master, but Luke's presence was only faint. He had apparently lost consciousness. When she turned her attention to the connection with her brother, all she felt was a wall around his mind and emptiness. He had shut her out. Before she could decide, what she was going to do, she felt a push through the Force, her head hit the stone wall of her quarters and darkness surrounded her once more.

Layla opened her eyes and let the vision from the past fade away. She sat at the edge of a cliff, a large canyon in front of her. The valley, she lived in, and the canyon were surrounded by mountains. Most parts of the secluded planet looked like that.

Usually Layla wouldn't think about the destruction of Luke's academy, but today for some reason the Force had shown it to her. She slowed her breath and tried to go back into meditation, but the laughing of small children distracted her too much. She turned her head and watched her twins, Jay and Mira emerge from the small house they were living in. They were playing with a ball and while Layla was first scared about their Force-sensitivity, it was now pride showing in her face as she watched them stopping the ball midair in turns. Here on Volik, a planet located in the Unknown Regions, they could grow up without the prying eyes of both the New Republic and the First Order, unknown to the world. She smiled.

Around midday, a smaller starship landed next to the cliffs where Layla had been meditating in the morning. Without looking at the ship, she knew, it was her close friend Paj, a male Twi'lek with green skin and a nice face. Volik was far too remote for random visitors and Layla hadn't even once met another inhabitant. After walking down the boarding ramp, like always, he first greeted Jay and Mira before giving her a small hug. She hadn't seen him for a while, he was off collecting information about the upcoming war most of the time.

"For a moment I thought you would never come back, Paj. What has kept you away for so long?" Layla had met the Twi'lek for the first time on Taul in the Outer Rim, shortly after the birth of her babies. They had quickly become friends and while she was hiding the children and herself on Volik, Paj traveled freely around the territories without being noticed. It had helped her a lot to keep up to date, but after nearly five years of searching there was still not a single hint to Luke's whereabouts. They went inside the house and Paj sat down at the table.

"Business with the Resistance. The New Republic senate doesn't stop believing that the First Order is no threat, but more and more systems fall under their leadership. A loyal friend of mine told me that General Organa has sent one of her pilots to get a map that leads to Luke Skywalker."

Layla's eyes widened and she nearly dropped the cup of water she was about to serve her friend. It was hard to believe that after all that time there finally was a ray of hope to find her former master. "Is that confirmed?"

"Yes, and I found out that it is in the hands of some explorer whose name is Lor San Tekka. You know him?" She nodded and shooed the twins into their bedroom. This was not meant for their ears.

"An old friend of Luke. He is a member of the Church of the Force. He and Luke where researching old Jedi lore when I met him for the first time." Layla liked the old man. She had met him quite often when he had visited her parents in her early childhood. Later, she had only seen him occasionally while living with her uncle and his visits had stopped when Luke made his decision to revive the Jedi Order and spent most of his time teaching younglings the ways of the Force.

"I found out that he lives on the desert planet Jakku. There is a small spiritual village where he has settled down. Shall I go to Jakku and ask him about the map?"

Layla shook her head. "He wouldn't give you any information about it. Lor San Tekka is very loyal to my uncle and the Resistance. This is something only I can get, but I don't feel like I'm ready to leave this planet yet. I want to talk to Luke, but Jay and Mira are too young to be dragged into this. I lost Ben to Snoke and I won't lose them!"

"Paj can stay here with us!" Jay shouted. Layla rolled her eyes. Of course, they had listened to the conversation.

"Paj has more important things to do than looking after two little troublemakers."

"It's fine with me!" He interrupted. "I know them and I know how to hide them. They are save with me, I promise! The New Republic is not interested in Force-sensitives and the First Order cannot track them down in uncharted space."

Layla closed her eyes. She wished she had more time, so she could meditate about it, but she wanted to be on Jakku before the Resistance. "Then I'll take my X-Wing and be on my way. Can I borrow the data of your navigation computer?"

Paj nodded and after giving the twins a quick goodbye, she strapped her saberstaff across her back and followed him to his starship. It was an old HWK-290, a light freighter in an impressively good condition, but somehow, she didn't like it. "Still no love for my little baby? Not all of us have the privilege to pilot a Corellian YT-1300 freighter like the Millennium Falcon."

"I never had that privilege. When I started to live with my uncle I was only four. I learned piloting from him, not my father."

"The more you tell me the more I believe your family is somehow difficult!"

Layla suppressed a laugh. "Difficult is a nice description for it. My father is a notorious smuggler, my mother is basically married to her job, my uncle still believes in a long extinct religion and my beloved brother is probably the most dangerous idiot in the universe." They both kept quiet after that and with the data stick in her hands she entered the forest.

Her stolen X-Wing was hidden a few miles north in a small hangar at the foot of the mountains. Hopefully, it was still in a condition to fly. She hadn't spent a minute on maintenance in the four years she had lived on Volik. She removed the dusty cover and the red X-Wing underneath looked nearly the same it had when she had stolen it. She climbed into the cockpit and placed her saberstaff into her lap. To her relief the engines started without any problem and she used the data from Paj's navigation computer to calculate her trip to Jakku. In hyperspace she shed a single tear. Her feelings told her she wouldn't see her children in a long time.


AN: Thanks for reading! The chapter is a little short and I hope the next ones will be longer.

I don't know how fast I will update on this, but I won't abandon the story. Feel free to share your ideas with me and critique is appreciated. You can be strict, but be nice. English is not my native language, so please feel free to also correct my mistakes for I don't have a beta right now.