AN: If you haven't seen this series before, start with "what happens on exegol, stays on exegol". This is just a conclusion of sorts to the series, so there will be spoilers all over. Reading "be my empress, reign over me" is not required ;) but it's a rather fun piece, especially with that bonus chapter, and will be definitely useful for when the final chapter of "island..." is out.
It was suposed to be started in July, but life + "Shadow and Bone" gifs happened. (If you're interested in grishaverse, check out my two new fics!) But now we're here, so please enjoy this short goodbye to the whoesoe-verse, and don't hesitate to tell me what you think of the series.
A girl walks backwards, cautious and determined.
A boy runs forwards, hair wild and heart optimistic.
And a man with unkempt beard is simply trying not to fall asleep and protect his home from ship thieves.
When Ben briefly prepared before throwing himself through time and space to get to his stubborn soulmate, he didn't expect to choke on water as soon as he arrived in the past. Of course he knew how to swim – he prided himself on his skill, especially since it so obviously saved Rey's life in the very same waters – but even the best of the best doesn't act graciously after suddenly appearing with their face underwater, feeling their girlfriend and mythical counterpart almost dying because of the violent disturbance in the Force and saving her with their mere presence in the universe, right?
As if that wasn't enough, when he finally collected himself, dried a bit, put the mask back on and followed the soft hum of the Force, guiding him to the entrance, out of the cave and onto the island... He was met with a beautiful ocean view and a much less beautiful wooden staff, hitting him hard in the head.
What Ben didn't know (among many things, to be honest...) was that his family followed him. Just because the Dyad in the Force has permanently abandoned one universe doesn't mean that said universe ceased to exist. It also meant there was no escape from it.
Well, unless you were part of the Extended Skywalker Force Ghost Family.
Anakin, Padme, Luke, Leia and finally Han – our five dashing heroes and heroines, having no one left to watch over lovingly from the afterlife (maybe not no one, but without their little Bean, where was the fun – or the grandkids - in it?) decided that the last Skywalker still needed their guidance. Or at least, they needed to make sure that everything went smoothly, Ben and Rey made up, and everything would be alright. (But mostly, they are here for the great grandkids, really.)
- Luke, honey, did you really live like that? – asked worried Padme at some point, watching as Past Luke drank milk almost directly from... the source. Her son blushed deep and mumbled something incoherent, catching Han's eyes and glaring at him. After this obvious cry for help, Han went with a distraction as old as time.
- Why, Miss Padme, you sure look beautiful today... - after the danger was pacified with his lopsided smile and the grace of Padme, who saw right through them but allowed her son-in-law to chatter her up anyway, another storm on the peaceful ocean of family life came with Anakin spluttering in rage, - Miss? It's Mrs. Skywalker to you, you Water-forgotten... Stop flirting with my wife... How could my little girl marry that scoundrel!
At those words, Leia turned away from the pebbles, piled around her in some sort of mockup of X-wing offense formation, and decided to end her silent treatment of her father. Anakin would come to regret it.
Now, the Skywalkers were so busy arguing that they completely missed the warm welcome.
Quite some time has passed since the Incident, but Luke remained constantly vigilant.
When he began investigating the strange marks on the shore near the place where his old X-wing was resting and... probably rusting, the Caretakers kindly reminded him that his niece (!?) had emerged through the Cave (!) and flew away, as she was supposedly meant to.
Well, the last time Luke heard from Leia there certainly weren't any nieces planned. (Maybe if someone inherited her gift of speech and silver tongue instead of Han's questionable smooth talk... Maybe if someone didn't turn Dark. Maybe if their family wasn't cursed. Maybe then there would be a girl to become Luke's niece. Or even another nephew! That Tai was such a nice boy...)
So, the fake niece came from the Cave. The absurdly powerful Dark Side nexus couldn't spit out anything good.
They always worked in pairs, those Darksiders. That's what every sacred text agreed on (at least those which he deciphered), and Luke was almost sure that there will come another.
A small part of his brain wondered if the niece was truly fake. Could Ben find love... within the Dark? Luke couldn't imagine his shy, evil nephew courting someone underneath Snoke's nose so it couldn't be that. Right?
So, when a broad figure crawled out from the cave, soaking wet and distracted, Luke was constantly vigilant enough to hit him hard in the head with a thick wooden staff. The stranger fell down like a sack of potatoes and Luke sighed, satisfied.
He was less happy when he rolled the man on his back and took off his familiar looking helmet.
Luke stared at an unconscious face of his naughty nephew, speechless.
Ben opened his eyes to find himself tied up. Now, that's how usually started some of his more interesting dreams, but instead of Rey - with her saber turned off but pressed near his throat anyway – he only saw an old man. Once a monster underneath his bed (or more like hovering over it) and the main starring role in some of his nightmares, Luke looked tired, old and... old. Nothing like a man he fought on Crait, not the annoying Force Ghost that chased him around the flagships of the First Order, not even the angry man he shared a short afterlife with.
There were wrinkles Ben didn't remember and Luke's hair was mostly grey now. Not to mention the sad beast his beard was turned into. He smiled when he began to wonder about how much power Luke had wasted to project himself on Crait in a much better form than his real was, but that smile died quickly at the mere sight of a familiar frown upon his uncle's face.
After quite a lot of arguments – in which Ben had the advantage of knowing his afterlife's Luke's answers, but still could not predict everything that his very much alive now uncle would say, especially before he had his ass kicked by Ben's girlfriend – they finally came to agreement.
Safe in knowledge of Snoke's future defeat, Luke was warming up to the idea of being wrong about his nephew. There was, of course, the problem with the Emperor, but Ben had other priorities right now.
Ben could not be discovered by the First Order at any costs, but he also needed to find his Rey. Now, according to Ben's timeline, her younger counterpart would come visit Luke soon... She already knew Ben's face, but there was an obvious solution.
And that's how Olos Neb was born.
