R2 chirped. A ship was on the approach.
Luke looked towards the rising sun, but the light brought him no warmth. The charred wood of the burnt buildings crumbled as he walked across them. The ship flew towards him leaving a contrail in the cold air.
He stepped closer. The fractured bones in his ankle caused him to slide painfully. With his focus devastated by what had just occurred, the Force could do nothing to ease it.
As the ship touched down, through a blur of pain, failure and Darkness he could feel a Light. It was different from what he ever felt before, yet he realized there had never been a time when he hadn't felt it.
He made it a few more steps towards the ship as the ramp came down. The sun rose over the ship temporarily blinding him. He squinted to see the cloaked figure step out towards him.
The Togruta's waist length lekku swayed in front of her white robes as she walked swiftly towards him. Her long staff tapped on the ground with each step.
Luke stumbled, his foot screaming in pain. When she reached him she knelt down to steady him. As the staff passed close to his ear he could hear the kyber crystals within sing with a purity he never heard before.
"I'm sorry, Master Skywalker, that I couldn't get here sooner. I could feel them from Hyperspace."
Luke couldn't find any words to speak.
She placed her hand over his foot and eased his pain. "Are there any other survivors?" she asked.
Luke shook his head. "No."
She stood, pulled the hood off her cloak, and loudly tapped her staff on the hard walkway.
Luke remembered stories he had heard. The stories of the Ghost Jedi. Sometimes no one was seen, but the day after a slave revolt was put down the trader disappears and the guards suddenly free them and distribute the trader's credits. Some stories tell of a settlement defending themselves against raiders helped by a figure that appears out of the smoke using twin laser swords. Luke had tried to trace down the stories a couple times. Some said she was a Twi'lek. Others said she was a Zabrak. A lot of them seemed to have had their memories tampered with. Luke looked up, finally with some hope. "Are you the Ghost Jedi?"
She laughed. "Yes, I am. I guess being a ghost means I can't choose my nickname." She pulled Luke to his feet. "I suppose I can tell you. My name is Ahsoka Tano. What happened here? I got a distress call from Hedala…"
He recognized the name and another flood of memories came back to him. The stories of the Jedi who survived to fight in the early Rebellion. At flight school he had begged Gen. Syndulla to tell him about them, but he only got a few stories. He knew they all disappeared before his time, but not how or why. "You… you helped free Lothal from the Empire."
"Umm… not exactly."
Luke realized something even more important. "You were part of the Jedi Order. Before the Empire."
"Yes. I was a Jedi Padawan at the temple on Coruscant."
Luke spoke urgently. "You have got to help me. Look what I've done. They are all dead or gone. Ben Solo, he is going to kill so many more. Because of me and my mistakes. You have got to help me rebuild the Jedi."
"No."
Luke got down on one knee before Ahsoka and looked down at her feet. "Master Tano, by the will of the Force, I pledge myself to be your Jedi Apprentice."
Ahsoka knelt down to look at Luke face to face. "That is not the will of the Force." She held him by his wrists and they genty rose together.
"I've been alone for so long. Trying to rebuild the Jedi from scraps and ruins of ancient temples. Trying to interpret what Yoda said to me a thousand different ways. I have finally found you with your proper training and experience. You are the only one who can restore the Jedi. The Galaxy needs you. I need you." Luke looked around at the smoke from the few remaining fires. "They needed you."
Ahsoka closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Master Skywalker. I can't help you. I left the path of the Jedi a long time ago."
"I don't understand. You feel more connected to the Light then anyone I ever known."
Ahsoka laughed to herself. "The Republic. The Clone Wars. Order 66. The Empire. The New Republic. The First Order. What happened here today. It has all taught me one thing." Ahsoka looked out to the horizon. "It's time for the Jedi to end."
Luke felt everything he has been working for his whole life crumbling. He started to sob as Ahsoka lowered him down to sit on the remains of a low wall. He looked up at Ahsoka. "Who will protect the Galaxy?"
"They say the Jedi protected the Republic for 1,000 generations. I've explored the Jedi archive and the Republic was corrupt for 999 of those generations. The Jedi foresaw any threat and manipulated and even murdered them to protect the system. As a result, the system was never forced to improve itself.
"What did the people do when faced with a corrupt Senate? They said wait for the Jedi to fix it. What did the people do about their slavery? They said wait for the Jedi to fix it. What did the people do about the Separatists? They said wait for the Jedi to fix it.
"It was the Jedi who were the leaders in the Clone Wars. All that death and destruction over trade arguments and some people seeking a bit of self-determination. We were literally fighting for the Sith Lord. In their arrogance, the Jedi didn't see it, but a lot of people did and they didn't use the Force to figure it out.
"It was the Jedi who expelled me from the Order for a crime I didn't commit, not because they thought I was guilty or innocent, but because they wanted to look obedient to the Senate."
Ahsoka put her hand on Luke's shoulder. "It was the Jedi... and me, who turned Anakin Skywalker, your father, to the Dark Side."
Luke stood up again. "No. You couldn't have."
"I abandoned him. But my point is after the Jedi were gone, the people began to rise up and fight back against the Empire. They didn't wait for the Jedi to fix it. Sure you helped and I helped where we could. Now they are building the New Republic themselves. There will be mistakes, but they won't wait for the Jedi to fix them."
"I'm starting to understand, Master Tano. I've spent my whole life idolising the Jedi. I've been as arrogant as they were. Why didn't you come to tell me this sooner? You could have saved them."
"It is not my place to show up and tell you what to do or what not to do. That was the mistake of the Jedi. Pretending they had all the answers. You had to find your own path." They started walking together. "Let me help you with the fallen, Master Skywalker."
R2 alerted them to two more bodies behind the ashes of the temple. They approached them together. "Felk and Hedala," Luke pointed to the human man and woman.
They both could feel that Felk had turned to the Dark Side before he died. Ahsoka said, "I knew Hedala since she was a little girl." She examined their wounds. "They killed each other."
Luke looked at Ahsoka, "They were lovers."
Ahsoka smiled. "I thought attachment was forbidden in the Jedi Order?"
"New Order, new rules, but still the cycle continued. The Force is still out of balance."
R2-D2 bought over the hovercart and they used it to take the two bodies over to the funeral pyre that they had built with the remaining wood of the temple.
Ahsoka put her hand on R2-D2's dome. "Thank you, Artooie." He chirped in appreciation. Luke looked on confused.
Luke readied the torch and the three of them stood solemnly in front of the fallen Jedi. Luke began, "They are one with the Force, now. I will always remember them."
"We will always remember them." Ahsoka thought back to all the Jedi she knew from the past and how every single one of them were gone.
R2 somberly reminded them that he will remember, as well.
Luke stepped forward and lit the pyre.
They stood silently together for a long time before Ahsoka turned to Luke and said, "I wanted to thank you Master Skywalker."
"Call me Luke."
"Luke... is better. I wanted to thank you for turning Anarkin back to the Light. He was my Master and like a father to me. I guess the father you never had. He was the only one who never stopped trusting me, but I pushed him away. Pushed him to the Dark Side.
"You saw the good in him that, in my shame, I couldn't. I felt him turn back to the Light and then I felt him die. I wish I could have gotten there sooner, but I found the pyre you built for him on Endor and in the forest I saw him though the Force. I was able to apologize for what I did and he forgave me. I just wanted to thank you for that."
Tears were streaming down Luke's face. They hugged and he said, "I'm glad I was able to do some good."
After the fire went out they walked together towards Ahsoka's ship. "I think you are right about the Jedi," Luke said. "It's time for them to end."
They reach the bottom of the ramp. Luke gave her one last hug. "I will travel to the first Jedi temple and meditate."
"I'm sure you will do what's right."
"Master Tano, may the Force be with you."
She looked back from the ship, "The Force will be with you, always, Luke."
End theme.
When it was revealed at the end of Rebels that Ahsoka lives past the end of Return of the Jedi I was uncomfortable with it. Why would Luke lead the new Jedi when there was a better trained and more experienced Jedi around? He wasn't too proud to let her take over or care if she technically left the Jedi Order.
I wrote this to help explain why she doesn't and also Luke's controversial decision not to fight the First Order in The Last Jedi. Poor Luke gets different advice from wise old Ahsoka and wise old Yoda.
Hedala is a force sensitive minor character from the Ahsoka novel. Based on the timelines she would be a couple years older than Luke. So much for starting the training young.
You might be interested in reading "Ahsoka's Destiny" which I wrote before she left the order in Season 5 of Clone Wars and gives an alternate reason why she left the order. However, my other Ahsoka and Anakin story "Sparring" was much better received. There is also "The Force and the Art of Astromech Maintenance" (I like a good title).
I would appreciate it if you leave a review.