Prologue: A Rise To The Affinity

Jade Skywalker runs to her grandfather's room. She knocks on the door, "Grandfather, may I enter?"

"Yes, you may," said he. She walked in to see Luke Skywalker lying on his bed. He was 142 years old, and slowly dying. He senses the frantic look within her. "What is on your mind, dear child?"

"I am bearing terrible news," Jade said, "Jerico and his family, they were, they were- killed, by the Tusken Raiders while he was on Tatooine." Luke's wrinkled eyes widened, listening to his youngest granddaughter. "Everyone was killed, Grandfather, EVERYONE!" She collapsed at his bedside and sobbed.

Luke turned his ancient head toward her. "Jade, look at me," he calmly said. Jade was reluctant, but she turned her head toward him. He looked deeply at Jade, who looked exactly like her ascendant, Padme Amidala. "Even though your brother and his family are gone, there is still hope. There is you."

"Why me?" Jade asked, "Why am I the-"

The old Skywalker silenced her with a raise of his hand. "I swear I will not die until there is another Jedi in this family."

"But Grandfather, I'm only sixteen. I'm too young," complained Jade, "and how are you supposed to live any longer?"

"Only the Force will determine this," he replied.

"Ugh, why does everything have to do with the Force!" Jade stormed out of the room. She thought he was crazy. She didn't want to be married. She didn't want to have children. She was tired of the shame put upon her just because she's a Skywalker with no powers. She remembered all the publicity from when she was young. She had remembered a lot of strange people crowding around her, but then yelled and look upon her with disgust just because she couldn't use the Force. She walked into her room and went to sleep, crying.

About a week later she fell terribly ill. The local doctor came and diagnosed her- she was pregnant. Jade panicked because she had done nothing with any man. She had drunk no alcohol or spirits. She had never been out of the house all that month. The doctor recalled that there was only one other time this event has ever occurred in galactic history, and that was the birth of Anakin Skywalker.

This attracted a lot of attention. Press and ambassadors came from all over, but old Luke kept them out by using the Force. During this time, the Jedi Council on Yavin 4 heard about the news that came from Naboo. Yet only one Jedi was sent- Jaina Solo. She was very old, yet she is as skilled at being a Jedi and a pilot as she was when she was thirty. She was the Yoda of her time.

She came to a remote place in Naboo, where she knew her uncle had lived. She saw Jade and felt a strong presence. "It seems that the Force has conceived this child," Jaina told her relative, "For the Force to do this only twice and within the same family is telling us something."

"What is it telling?" asked Jade.

"That I do not know," Jaina replied, "But this time it won't be the same. It-"

"How will it not be the same? If this child is born, will it not bring a severe unbalance in the Force?"

"I believe not, Jade. You see, Anakin, my grandfather, was not discovered until he was nine. The Jedi Council thought he was already too old to start training because he was never taught the emotional aspects of the Force early enough. That is why he fell in

love with Padme. That is why he believed the Emperor. That is why he fell to the dark side. Your child, however, will be sent into training under my eye immediately. When she is old enough, she will be trained further as a Padawan under one of the most superb Jedi Masters. I assure you, Jade, that there will be no chance that your child will unbalance the Force."

Jade shrugged, "Fine, you better be right," giving up her defense on the matter.

Several months later, Jade went into labor. Jaina was there to help ease her pain. It helped, but it wasn't enough. Jade passed away soon after giving birth to a healthy baby girl, without the strength to even give her a name. "Uncle Luke," said Jaina, "What shall you name her? She's your direct descendant, so I have no right in naming her."

Luke pondered for a minute. "Her name will be Anastasia, Ani for short."

"Just like your father?" Jaina asked, "How come?"

"Because she was born like him," he replied, "It's that simple." And the name stuck.

Jaina started conducting a test to see how much midi-chlorian content was in the infant's body. She looked at the results, then gave a surprised look to Luke. "Luke, it's even stronger than your father's content! This child could be even more powerful than Anakin Skywalker could've even been, if given proper training." She looked at the test results, and looked at Luke again. The old Jedi was also surprised beyond belief. "Anastasia needs to be taken to the Jedi Academy," Jaina suggested, "So she can start training. Besides, and this is the truth dear Uncle, you can't raise her by yourself."

"I agree," Luke replied. The next day Luke, Jaina, Anastasia, and some close friends from the Jedi Order gave Jade a proper funeral. They packed their bags and flew to Yavin 4.

Throughout Anastasia's infancy, she never proved to anyone that the Force was within her, not even to Luke. She just couldn't understand it. The Jedi Order had considered that the test was false. They kept testing her, yet they always were the same results as they were from her first test. Luke suggested that she has time with him and no one else, with the exception of a droid, because of the fact that the young girl might be too confused and too scared to even show it in front of so many Jedi. The Jedi Order considered the old man's offer, and they let him do it.

The two Skywalkers, C3PO, and R2-D2 traveled back to Naboo and stayed in the home they abandoned when Anastasia was born. Ani was only a year old.

She loved the outdoors, and as soon as she could walk, she was exploring the outdoors when C3PO and R2-D2 were distracted and Luke was asleep. When Luke would bring her back in, she would cry so loud that even the Gungans complained a time or two. Luke was stern, though, and kept her in the yard, letting her cry all she wants, him knowing that crying and misbehaving was no way to get what she wanted. After a couple of weeks, she figured it out. She didn't distract C3PO and R2-D2 anymore. She didn't holler when Luke took her away from doing certain things, she would only give him a ticked look. Luke knew she was learning.

A couple of days later, she saw a large insect on the floor when she was alone in the kitchen. She gave a shriek and ran toward Luke. She pulled his leg and said, "Luke! Luke!" He followed her and saw the insect in the kitchen. She kept saying his name and hanging onto his leg. Yet it wasn't the insect that surprised Luke. It was the fact that she was talking for the first time, and this was within a month of isolation, instead of always being crowded by people.

From that point on he just wanted to be a father to her, raise her as if she didn't have powers. As if she wasn't a Skywalker. Almost everything he taught her she picked up quickly. By the time she was two, she talk at the same level a normal five-year-old could. Luke knew it was only a matter of time before the Force showed.

About a week after her 2nd birthday, they went outside. At the time they kept a large phoenix-like bird that liked to go wherever Luke and Anastasia went. The large bird flew toward a small dead tree. Ani said, "Corde, where are you going?" The bird perched upon one of the lower branches, though it was too high for the small Skywalker to reach Corde's tail. The branch started cracking. Corde felt the branch's instability, and flew off of it, pushing it in order to get in the air. Once the bird was in flight, the branch snapped and fell toward the ground. Anastasia was in the large branch's path.

Luke saw, but he took no action. He knew she was smart enough to get out of the way.

Ani saw the branch. She shrieked and put her arms up to guard her. She felt something pulsate within her and come out of her hands. She looked up after about 5 seconds, and saw the branch float above her. The green-eyed- blonde thought Am I doing that! She remembered the energy from her hands, and used it to move the branch away from her and back on the ground. Luke was astonished.

Later that night as he, C3PO and R2-D2 were tucking her into bed, Anastasia asked, "Grandpa Luke, what happened when I moved that big tree?"

The old man chuckled, and sent the two droids away. "That, my dear, is the Force. It is a very special gift that my father gave to us," He started stroking her blonde, curly hair, "Yet for some strange reason, no one in our family received this gift from Anakin after I did. That is, until you came along."

"Grandpa Luke," the young Skywalker said, "Tell me about Grandpa Anakin again."

Luke shrugged, "Okay, I'll tell you again," and he told her the story of Anakin Skywalker. After that, he told Anastasia, "Ani, will you promise me something?" She nodded, "Promise me to not be afraid to show your gift to anyone. Your gift is very valuable, and no one can take it away from you. It can be used for good, it can be used for bad. Use it for good and you will go far."

"I promise, Grandpa Luke," she said wearily.

He saw how tired she was. "Well, time to go to bed, Anastasia." He kissed her on her forehead, "Good night, Ani."

"Goodnight, Luke," she said, drifting off to sleep.

Luke walked out of Ani's room. C3PO appeared out of nowhere. "I have let Jaina know about Anastasia's use of the Force, Luke."

"Thank you, 3PO," replied Luke. "I'm going to bed, and probably for the last time. Good night, 3PO. Take good care of Ani for me. For Jade. For Anakin."

"Will do, Luke," C3PO replied. After Luke disappeared to his room, C3PO said, "Oh dear…"

The next day Anastasia was woken up by Jaina, telling her that Luke was dead. Ani started crying. "Don't cry, Ani," Jaina told her, "His body maybe gone, but his spirit is still with us, watching over you." Ani cheered up a little bit. "Let's go to a place where you can use the Force."

"Aunt Jaina, how did you know that I can use the Force?" Anastasia asked.

Jaina held her close and smiled, "Because I can use it too…"

The next day Jaina and Anastasia were on Yavin 4. From then on, the young Skywalker was trained by Jaina. Most of these days were devoted to learning about the Force and how it can be used. A couple of times Ani would travel with her master to distant planets, and when she couldn't come with her she would be with clans so she can get to know others as well as enhance her social skills. Sometimes Jaina would let her apprentice use her lightsaber.

By the time Anastasia was five, she started to grow restless. Jaina decided to take her to all the planets in the galaxy, to help her learn other cultures besides her own and let her imagination grow. Ani also assisted Jaina in small missions, and the young Skywalker enjoyed every minute of it. By the time she was eight, she could have been an excellent politician if she wasn't a Jedi.

One day when Ani was nine years old, Jaina was assigned a very dangerous mission on Kashyyk. The mission was even considered too dangerous for Anastasia, and Jaina also thought that she wasn't ready to face something like this. Before she left, she visited Ani's room. She knocked on the door. "May I come in?" Ani opened the door, with tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Ani, but this is too dangerous for you. Sit down." They sat down. "You are the best apprentice I have ever seen. I am leaving you here because your potential can be used in events far after my time."

"But Aunt Jaina, I had a nightmare. The nightmare was that you… wouldn't be coming back."

"I may come back, I may not. Promise me that you'll be strong."

Ani wiped away some of her tears, "I'll try."

"'Don't try', Ani, 'do or do not.' Remember who said that?"

"Master Yoda!" Ani answered somewhat cheerily. She paused for a little bit, "I promise, Master."

Jaina stood up, then squatted down on her knees and kissed Anastasia on the forehead. "May the Force be with you, Anastasia."

"And you," Ani replied. Jaina turned and walked out of her apprentice's room.

For the next week, Anastasia stayed with a clan, and started building a strong friendship with a male human, Reduku Tre. A month later, a Jedi came and told her that Jaina had perished while coming back to Yavin 4. Reduku tried to calm her down, but Anastasia couldn't handle it. She ran to her room and lied on her bed face-up, with silent tears running down her face.

R2-D2 was in her room, and came up to her and displayed a visual message. It was Jaina. Her image said, "Anastasia, I may be gone, but that doesn't mean I left nothing for you. Go to my room, and R2 will follow." Ani traveled to Jaina's room and entered it. "Now go to the locked drawer on my dresser. R2 will give you a key to open it." R2-D2 gave her the key and Anastasia opened it. Inside there was only the handle of a lightsaber. "Go ahead, take it out. Light it if you want to." She took it out of the drawer and lit it to see a blue lightsaber come to life.

"Is this your spare, Aunt Jaina?" Ani asked.

Jaina chuckled, "No, silly. That lightsaber belonged to Grandpa Anakin. Luke wanted you to have it. Now, go to the Jedi Council. They are expecting you. May the Force be with you, Anastasia Skywalker." The message ended. Ani unlit her new-found lightsaber and walked to the Council Room. She opened the door and walked in, the lightsaber still in her hand.

"We've been expecting you, Anastasia," said a voice. It was Jetsu, one of the senior members of the Jedi Council. "All Jedi stand up." They stood up. The ewok took a deep breath. "Those already with a Padawan please stand aside." All but four of them moved. "Anastasia, Master Solo left no word on who should train you. Pick your own master. The Force will guide you."

Anastasia looked at the Masters. Three of them were human males, the other a yellow female twilek. Ani closed her eyes and trusted the Force to guide her. She felt something different about the twilek. "Master Jedi," she stared, "What is your name?" She opened her eyes to see she had turned toward the twilek.

"My name is Master Kaali Reid," the twilek replied.

Anastasia walked up to her, "May you be my teacher?"

Kaali smiled and nodded, "Yes, you may, my student." This was rare for a human to pick a twilek to train her, so the Council was surprised.

Jestu stepped forward, "By the Jedi Council, Kaali Reid shall train Anastasia as a Padawan until she has achieved knighthood. Are you up to the challenge, Kaali? This is your first Padawan."

"Yes I am, Master Jetsu," Kaali replied.