1 - A New Home
"Can't say I ever thought I'd see this old place again," Luke remarked as he placed the bowls and plates of food onto the kitchen table for breakfast and took a seat across from Leia. He paused for a moment and once again studied the small space with a look of bittersweet fondness in his eyes. Rey could sense the joy of pleasant memories in him, but also an ache of great loss. "Once we get the farm up and running again, it will really feel like old times," he added, before Rey could say anything. "I can teach you both all about moisture farming."
"Sounds thrilling," Leia remarked, rather unenthusiastically.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Well, we can't all have been raised as royalty."
"Oh you know I was only teasing you."
Rey could not help but smile at their lighthearted bickering. She had helped tidy up the long-abandoned homestead yesterday and spent her first night in her new bedroom, but it did not really feel like home to her yet. It felt like she was living in someone else's home, almost as if she was living someone else's life entirely. But this is my life now, Rey told herself. This is the life I've chosen, and the family I've chosen.
When Luke and Leia had first approached her about living at the homestead with them, she had not known what to say. The very thought of the offer warmed her heart and brought tears to her eyes, and after accepting the offer, she'd felt a little less strange about her own request...
She'd never had a family name, or at least not one she'd known or used. Discovering her true family name had only left her more conflicted about her own identity. The name Palpatine felt like a curse, a dark stain that threatened to taint the rest of her existence. She refused to accept the name, just as her parents had refused to give it to her.
But she wanted a family name. Something inside of her still ached with the desire to belong, to feel connected to something, or someone. There was only one name that truly felt right to her, a name connected to the people she had come to love, a name that represented hope, light, and a second chance. Thankfully, Luke and Leia shared her feelings on the matter.
"Of course you can bear the Skywalker name," Luke had said to her with a beaming smile. "I would be proud to have it continue on with you."
Rey Skywalker.
Her new name.
Her new family.
oOo
"Vaporators need a bit of tinkering with," Luke mumbled as he inspected the tall white structure. "Nothing we can't handle ourselves though, especially with that droid of yours to give us a hand." He glanced down at BB-8, who bleeped merrily in response.
As they set to work on the vaporators, Rey quickly became acquainted with the intense, scorching heat of Tatooine's two suns. Although she had grown up in a hot, dry desert, Jakku only had one sun. Sweat seeped from her pores and her clothes began to cling to her slick, damp skin.
However, once the day of hard work was over, Rey was reminded of the beauty of the two suns. She watched as the blue sky faded to a hazy mixture of pink and orange, and the two burning spheres descended together. One shone white and bright, while the other glowed a brilliant red. As the suns inched closer to the horizon of the extensive desert, the world slowly began to darken.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Luke commented in a low tone, his gaze also fixated on the evening horizon. "I once thought that if there was a bright centre of the universe, this place was the farthest from it. Now, I appreciate the beauty of it a little more."
"You must have a lot of fond memories from here," Rey said.
Luke nodded, but more solemnly than she had expected. "Of course I do," he answered. "But not all of the memories are fond." He paused for a moment. "I came home one day to find my aunt and uncle had been killed by stormtroopers. The stormtroopers, they'd been after the plans for the Death Star, which R2-D2 was carrying. They must've traced him here, interrogated my aunt and uncle, then killed them."
"That's awful," Rey sympathised, not knowing what else to say. She had sensed Luke had suffered a great tragedy here, but she could not have imagined the horrifying details.
"After that, I decided to leave Tatooine with Obi-wan Kenobi, an old Jedi. He was a friend of my father's and he'd agreed to train me in the ways of the Force. So, we traveled to Mos Eisley to find a pilot. That's where I first met Han Solo."
Rey's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"It's true."
"Wow."
Luke chuckled slightly at her excitement. "Do you want to know the rest of the story?" he asked her.
Rey's eyes widened. "Will you tell me?"
Luke smiled. "You're one of us now," he told her. "I think it's time you learnt a bit about your family history. Why don't we start with the story of how Han and I rescued Princess Leia."
"Don't let him tell you that story!" Rey turned to see Leia emerging from the house. "He's going to tell it all wrong."
"Why don't you come tell her the story of your time with Jabba the Hutt instead?" Luke called to her as she made her way over to join them.
Leia shot him a withering glare. "How about instead I tell her about your experience on Hoth?"
The usual affectionate bickering ensued, but this time Rey's mind was focused elsewhere. Luke's words echoed softly in her mind, as if they were being carefully etched into her brain. You're one of us now. Her heart swelled with joy and she smiled ecstatically.
She was a Skywalker.
Author's Note: Just thought I'd add a bit of information on the concept of this fic and what it will be focusing on going forward. As wonderful as the ending to The Rise of Skywalker is (because I do truly love it), I couldn't help but wonder what life would be like for Rey if she actually got to live with Luke and Leia, rather than just having them with her in spirit. Basically, this fic is going to focus on that. Each short chapter will show a snippet of how I imagine that life could be for Rey.