AN: So begins the main segment of the story. I wanted to imagine what it would be like if Ben and Rey opened a Jedi Academy after the war as Luke had done after the fall of the Empire. Please enjoy and don't forget to rate and review!

Disclaimer: Star Wars doesn't belong to me. Otherwise, TROS would have ended MUCH DIFFERENTLY! (╯ರ ರ）╯︵ ┻━┻ #bensololives *rant over*

~Rae

Chapter I: The Jedi Academy

The Corellian freighter was decades past shiny and new, and it rattled when it touched down on the mossy jungle floor of Yavin 4. Despite its outward appearance, it was a ship that was built to last and served its current stewards well. The clearing where the ship landed was surrounded on three sides by dense tropical foliage; to the north of the landing pad, a path that threaded through the dense purple-barked trees. It was nearly dusk, and the balmy air was filled with the sound of insects and birds calling.

The landing ramp descended from the ship. A dark-skinned man in robes and a brown cloak emerged first, leading several children behind him.

"Welcome to your new home," the Jedi Knight said as he motioned toward the jungle. He looked back at the children. This time, he had found four new younglings for training: a shy Pau'an boy, a pair of Twi'lek sisters, and an excitable Devaronian boy who couldn't have been older than 4 years old.

Speaking into a handheld commlink, the Jedi said, "You can send the transport out for us! There's five of us, plus the droid."

An orange astromech droid rolled around and chirped excitedly. This made the Pau'an boy giggle, and inch closer to pat the droid's dome. The droid beeped happily again at the attention.

"Roger that," a female voice replied. "Welcome back, Finn."

"Thanks, Rose," the Jedi replied. "It's great to be home."

In minutes, the transport arrived, a wagon-like speeder that lumbered steadily over the path. It came to a stop in front of them, piloted by a blonde driver accompanied by a golden protocol droid.

"Master Finn! I am overjoyed to see you again, sir," the droid said.

"Hey, Threepio," Finn said. He waved at the driver. "Hello, Kaydel. Students, this is Kaydel Ko Connix, a lieutenant in the Resistance."

"Are you a Jedi?" the older Twi'lek sister asked, her orange head-tails twitching.

"No, I'm not," Kaydel laughed. "I'm just the operations manager here."

"She's being humble," Finn explained. "She's in charge of all our communications and supplies. Without Lt. Connix, you'd all be without meals or a way of phoning home."

"I'm just doing my part," Kaydel said with a smile as she lowered a ramp on the speeder. "All aboard!"

The Twi'lek sisters and the Devaronian boy clambered up the ramp and into their seats. The Pau'an boy hesitated, clinging to the astromech droid.

"Bee-bee-ate, why don't you show him the way up?" Kaydel said gently. The droid did a lap around the boy, which made the boy giggle again. Then, BB-8 rolled up the ramp. The boy followed him, and at last, everyone was on board.

"The terrain's a little rugged, so hold on tight," Kaydel warned playfully. The children fidgeted excitedly, except for the Pau'an boy, who clung tightly to BB-8. Finn chuckled.

"Don't worry, kiddo - we are all safe here."

Finn and Kaydel shared a poignant smile, remembering everything that they had been through in the rebellion. Even a decade later, some wounds would never heal. Still, they were glad - glad that their sacrifices had helped to give these children, born after the war, the luxury of peace.

One bumpy ride through the jungle later, the speeder-wagon emerged from the ferny underbrush into a wide clearing. At the center of the field was a large, colorful adobe temple, with sloped sides like a pyramid. The temple's flat roof was bedecked with flags that fluttered in the breeze, representing the homeworlds from whence the students came. The second level of the temple had columns and arches all along the walls, and below, a wide plaza was full of students playing in the last hour before sunset.

"Okay, kids," Finn said as the speeder-wagon slowed to a stop next to the plaza. "You can play here with the rest of the students. We will have our evening meal soon, and, uh, you'll get to introduce yourselves, but for the meantime - Hey, don't touch that!"

The younger twi-lek sister, who was reaching out to touch Finn's lightsaber, immediately yanked her hand back and crossed her arms, pouting.

"You'll get to see lots of these soon enough," Finn said, softening his tone. "When you're ready, you'll even make one of your own. Anyways, go ahead and go play, and I'll see you all at dinner."

With that, they all disembarked from the speeder. Finn and Kaydel started walking toward the temple, followed by BB-8 and C-3P0.

"Where are you going, Teacher?" the younger Twi-lek said.

"We need to check in with the directors," Finn replied.

"The Skywalkers," the older sister said reverently.

With that, the Jedi and Lt. Connix crossed the recreation yard and disappeared into the temple. The children were left alone. Immediately, the Devaronian boy jumped into the ballgame that some of the other younglings were playing. The Twi'lek sisters saw another group of girls playing with a long skipping rope. The Pau'an boy looked around fretfully, then sat down where he was an started to cry. With BB-8 gone, he didn't have anyone...more than anything, he wished he was back home with his mother.

A few moments later, the boy's hypersensitive ears picked up the sound of gravel crunching as someone approached. Whoever it was sat next to him on the ground.

"Hello there," a friendly voice said. "Are you okay?"

The little boy sniffed and peeked out from under his arm. A teenager with light skin and dark eyes was smiling at him. The boy said nothing.

"Quiet type, huh? That's okay. Sometimes it's tough on the first day. What's your name?"

More silence, although the crying had stopped.

"I'll go first, then. My name is Temiri Blagg. I've been here at the Academy for...well, since just after the war ended. You probably weren't even born yet. They came and got me from Canto Bight. Master Finn showed up and got me out of the stables and brought me here. I've been training to be a Jedi ever since. I was your age when they took me."

The boy was curious, and pointed at the lightsaber on Temiri's belt.

"Yeah, that's my lightsaber. I made it when I had been training for a year...we take a trip to Dantooine, as a school. You'll do that too, soon enough."

A gong rang out from within the temple.

"That's the dinner bell!" Temiri said, jumping up to his feet. He held his hand out. "You coming? Don't want to be late, or all the good food will be gone...today is Stew Day."

The boy took Temiri's hand and they started walking towards the temple.

"Silban Zlohum," the boy said quietly.

"What?"

"My name is Silban Zlohum."

"There we go!" Temiri said, laughing. "It's nice to meet you."

Together, they entered the Academy. Silban was still homesick, but when he got to sit with Temiri and his other friends, he felt a little better. He couldn't help but be excited for dinner...especially because it meant meeting the Skywalkers.