Grand Inquisitor Reva lay in the rain. Her breathing came heavy and harsh. Her eyes stared up at me blindly. I levelled the lightsaber at her chest.

It was very clearly the end of an era. The end of the Inquisitorious, at least as it had once been. Their reign was over.

"Go on, then," she uttered, "kill me."

"It would be the merciful thing to do," I agreed. But I wasn't feeling merciful. I was feeling calm, and clear, and while I knew she could never recover from her injuries, I knew she could live long enough to deliver a message to the one I wanted it delivered to.

"Remember what I said," I told her, and pulling up my hood, I took the city streets at a run.

OOO

Mustafar, in all its heat, made me cold. Too many memories unfurled from the smoky, lava-ridden ground. Too many things made me trend toward anger. Too many things made each step I took leaden.

And then, I let it all go. My attachments. My doubts. My hopes. My fears. My failures. Empty, I found clarity. Scrubbed clean, I knew precisely who and what I was—and knew what I must do.

No matter what else came or went, I was a Jedi. I served the Order. I followed the will of the Force. And in that moment I knew I always would.

Then:

"So," Vader said, a dark specter who strode up, meeting my challenge, "you're the Jedi. I must say, I hoped for better."

"That makes two of us."

"You killed my Inquisitors."

"That's right. And I'll keep killing them if you make more."

"You are quite confident for a man with few allies, few resources, and no recourse."

There is no emotion. There is peace.

"Not confident," I returned. "Merely calm."

"Then you are either ignorant or arrogant, to show yourself and go against me."

There is no ignorance. There is knowledge.

"No," I returned evenly. "That is not where my determination comes from."

Passionately, Vader retorted, "Many have tried to kill me and have and failed, just as you will."

There is no passion. There is serenity.

"I do not think so."

Vader ignited his crimson lightsaber, the very same blade that had once felled Breha and Bail Organa. Though long dead, they and all those like them were not gone. Never gone. For I felt them with me now.

No one was ever really gone.

I ignited my blade to meet his.

Red clashed with blue, a chaotic battle of wills and whills.

There is no chaos. There is harmony.

And when I suddenly felt the Emperor's approach, I allowed the duel to end in a stalemate; I should've realized a possible trap was planned from the get-go. Or maybe Sidious had simply sensed us.

No matter. The time would come. But it wasn't now; that fact resonated within me just like the hum of my blue blade. Another Sith lord approached. But someday. Sooner or later. For better or for worse.

The time would come.

I had no fear of the day. I knew all would work out as it should, per the Force's will.

There is no death. There is the Force.

So let it be.

For I was a Jedi—

Like my family before me. My family, including all the Jedi of old, not just one man. Including Obi-Wan and Yoda, Ahsoka and Qui-Gon, and Leia, whose spirit was that of the greatest Jedi even though she did not call herself one. Unbroken, even amidst it all. (As I'd learned on my trip to Alderaan before this.)

OOO

I told him, "Next time… I'll go for the head when he isn't expecting it."

"Good plan," said Han.

"He knows, Han. He knows what I look like now. He knows I killed his Inquisitors. He knows my skill level… He'll be coming for me more than ever… It's only a matter of time before he comes here." To Tatooine.

"You're right. Best get goin', then, Last Jedi." Strangely, he didn't seem angry at me for my failure. Maybe he'd expected for me to fail this first time.

Maybe he'd just needed for someone to try and kill that unkillable ATAT that was the Sith lord Vader. Well, next time, I wouldn't try. I would do. I had to do. Because I knew now with complete certainty that thing wasn't my father. Anything left of him died a long time ago. Only because of that would he think "avenging" his wife through torturing a helpless young woman was right.

OOO

It seemed that I had to face yet one more blow before blossoming. I came back to the homestead to find Biggs with a packed bag and a solemn set to his lips.

He said, "No, Luke, let me go first before you start. We can't be together. You know it's true. I see that look in your eyes. Even if you didn't succeed this time—" I'd left him a message detailing the botched duel—"no, because you didn't succeed this time… you know you've got to go again. And again. Until all the work is done. And you will keep going again and again. Because you are a Jedi. No matter what, you are a Jedi still and will always be one. And like you said, Jedi can't have attachments.

"Now… I've done a lot of selfish things in my time—been a lot of selfish things. But to take you from them… from all of them who need you… that'd be the most selfish of all. And I can't do it." Tears sparkled in his fathomless hazel eyes.

Tears flowed from my own then. Because I knew he was right. And I couldn't argue. I could only give him the truth.

"I was so lucky," I said; "I was so lucky… to have as long with you as I did. To be blessed with you. So lucky."

"Sure you were," Biggs agreed, "Lucky Luke."

I laughed once, though all I wanted to do was cry.

OOO

Four months later...

I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.

I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.

I am one with the Force—

And the Force is with me.

I slammed my finger down on the trigger.

Despite everything in me wanting to look back at the Death Star as I flew away from it, I kept my gaze straight ahead. Straight ahead. Stayed in the now. Stayed in the moment.

And then—

The tidal wave of shock rocked my X-wing from side to side. Currents of heat blew out with fiery breath. And then, over the comms came an exultant voice, much changed from the torture—smoky and low, now—but still, talking at last: "Perfect shot, Uncle Luke! One in a million!"

No. Not one in a million. The Force.

I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. I wouldn't tell Padmé who had been in that TIE she'd so effectively dispatched at the make-or-break point in the battle. I wouldn't tell her that Vader yet lived, despite two attempts to the contrary—unknowing and knowing. I wouldn't tell her that. Some things… we must keep to ourselves.

And after all, the third time was the charm.

I finally allowed myself to look back, back at the debris field that had only moments ago been the planet-killing weapon used to strike terror into quadrillions of hearts and subjugate the galaxy completely under Sith rule. And now it was no more than so much floating debris, even as Chandrila and Jakku had once become. Something of that fact seemed distinctly fitting.

Yet I couldn't forget that I had just taken over a million lives. I had done that. Bloody work. Work that needed to be done. I just could never forget the lines, or the Code which I followed. Many shadowy choices remained to be navigated. But I now knew I was up to the challenge. So long as I remembered who I was, and what I chose, nothing could stand in my way.

Even after almost two decades, the road to self-knowledge was ragged enough to leave me bruised and bleeding. But the Force remained, always, my guide. Because I was the last Jedi. Because I had made my choice. Not an easy life. Not a perfect life. Not necessarily an un-lonely life. But a blessed life. A hopeful life. A lightful life.

And I was lucky. I was so lucky to have so many with me. I was lucky to have the opportunity to wield the Force, and fight for those who couldn't yet fight for themselves. I was lucky to have an ally in my niece—so much better after many months and healing intervention on my part—to have a future apprentice, whenever the time came that she was ready. I was lucky to have my sister. I was lucky to have Andor, and the old Partisans he'd recruited, and the project with Di the Nikto. And knew I was lucky to have destroyed that mass of a battle station looming over us all. It was only the beginning. But I believed.

Because I was Lucky Luke, indeed.

END OF BOOK ONE

OOO

Author's note: And… we're out! I already have some of the sequel written and will be posting it soon. Hopefully you will follow me there! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this book, as well as on the next one, which will be called 'Fairytale'.

Thank you for reading and supporting this story. You have all been wonderful.

Warmly,

Hope