For the Decorate the Palace challenge on Caesar's Palace forum
Nope, I don't own Star Wars. That's Disney's job. Also, help support Star Wars Theory with episode two of his Vader fan film series!
It was another day on Ahch-To for Luke Skywalker, yet there was something psychedelic about how seemingly all the waves below him seemed to crash against the cliffs before retreating in the same manner. It was almost as if this was the pulse of the vast ocean that blanketed so much of this world. Oddly thought-inspiring would have been his reaction if he wasn't already thinking. About what he'd done so far in his life, glorified by the New Republic seemingly oblivious of the menace posed by the First Order.
However, feeling oddly drowsy, the master pushed the thought away from his mind. He was safe here, they would not reach him. Already gone beyond the point of return in the maze of his own mind, a sense of regret and guilt passed over him.
He'd packed up and left once he'd seen Kylo Ren's handwork. The destruction of the new order he had worked so tirelessly to build up, in other words. Feeling equal parts enraged and saddened, there was no easy way out for the person who for some had singlehandedly taken down the empire. Luke almost laughed at himself there: was this the right thing for a hero to be doing? Would he have done this in the days of the empire, when he would've probably been hunted too?
Probably not. But then again, he'd been much fitter, physically and mentally, than the worn out husk he had become as a result of his self-conviction. Then a thought passed him, which made him sink just a little bit lower in his mind. He'd been born in Tatooine, been on the run in various undisclosed locations when he had been fighting for the rebels against the empire, and now this. Thrown from one remote place to the other.
Was it the galaxy's way of telling him that he wasn't ever actually needed?
It was like being the mascot for a starship squadron. There to raise the spirits when the chips were down, and to be a figurehead for hope and persistence, but contributed in no way towards the end result, be it the rare win or the frequent loss he had experienced in his younger days. While it was him that blew up the Death Star, it was by mere fluke. Han Solo, one of his closest friends who he hadn't seen in years, had taken out, except for his own father, the triplet of TIE Fighters that would have surely destroyed him, along with any chance of a seemingly organised rebellion against the Empire. And the Sith of course, Luke's polar enemy throughout his life that, socially or biologically, always seemed to be related to him.
He wasn't, from his own mouth, even the cream of the crop for the rebels' fighter pilot reserves. That honour probably went to his old friend Wedge Antilles, Solo or even Lando Calrissian. They even didn't have the gift of The Force, not that Han cared about it, much less believed in its existence.
To add more torment, it occurred to him that it wasn't even him that killed Darth Sidious. That was his own father's doing, and to fuel his heroism, had died because of his achievement. He'd also learned that Anakin had more Mitochlorians than even the great Yoda, so that was great for Luke's confidence now. Unlike father, unlike son. It also wasn't him who had negotiated their way into forming the New Republic which, at least to his knowledge, still had the most power in the galaxy, but its mere existence was threatened by the First Order so intent on killing him. That was because of all the diplomats around the galaxy.
Including his own sister. He really felt like he had contributed to the Rebel (and Republic?) cause now that he had taken nearly half a day to realise what (or what he hadn't) done in his life.
Irrelevant and a burden. So Ahch-To suited him perfectly for his future role as a footnote in the otherwise illustrious history the galaxy possessed. Not that he minded or cared for that matter. He just wanted to be allowed to wither away on his own without anyone knowing.
Somehow, he reckoned his actions would be put to paper by one of his… fans, who was blind enough to think that he'd been the driving force behind the Empire's demise.
But would it rise again as the First Order?