Chapter 75, Epilogue
Five Years Later…
A Jedi Knight stands on the porch of an enormous living temple, watching other Jedi as they trained, read, relaxed, and so many other things. Years ago, such peace would've been impossible for Jedi, but now things were different. Still, this particular Knight wasn't sure that the necessary sacrifice had been worth it. Suddenly, Leia called back over her shoulder, "You won't scare me again, I sensed you once you got within twenty meters." From behind her came her brother, Luke, and despite his disappointed look for failing his objective, he looked much better than he had five years ago. His skin that had once been deathly pale, was now bright and full of life. He was no longer thin or sinewy, but had actually managed to build up some muscle. Leia liked to tease him that another of the Jedi here, Mara Jade, had been caught staring at him numerous times before blushing as she quickly looked away. In truth, she only said this to tease him. As his sister, she could tell that Luke actually liked Mara, and it was her responsibility as his twin to bug him about it until he either made a move or died of embarrassment.
Luke looked down at the island, the civilization that the Jedi had built here on O'Kaam in the relatively short period of only five years. Once, he had hated the Jedi. Now, he couldn't even identify with who he had once been. He cast his gaze around and saw Masters and their Padawans racing each other up steep inclines, younglings chasing each other with sticks, pretending they were lightsabers, and older Jedi practicing their dodging skills with the living obstacle course that was Vida's tentacles. Life was peaceful here. He turned to Leia and told her, "I've just returned from Coruscant. Emperor Thrawn requested that the Jedi return to Imperial Space again. Or, at the very least, let him know where we are in case they need help." Leia looked at him in confusion and questioned, "Help with…" "The war," Luke explained. "They've begun to deploy Destroyers into the Unknown Regions, looking to reach Csilla." Leia nodded and laid back in her chair. "Same answer as always, I'm afraid. The Jedi will help if they need us, but until then, we stay hidden. We do not reveal O'Kaam. Ever." Luke nodded and responded, "That's what I told him." Leia nodded again in understanding.
"On a similar note," Luke added, "the Organas have asked us to come to dinner next week. In their house. On Alderaan." Leia was confused again. "And… Why is that a problem?" Luke gulped and muttered, "Well, they invited… both of us." Now realizing the issue, Leia rolled her eyes. She smacked his arm and said, "Oh, stop it. They'll love you!" "You know, you always say that," Luke said. "But then, people find out that I used to be part of the Empire and they start to avoid me like it's contagious." Leia glared at him and asked, "How many thousands of the Imperial troops used to be evil, even after Thrawn's psychological evaluation tests? He checked everyone to see if they were more mercenaries or soldiers, and unlike most Imperial officers, you passed! If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here." "Not everyone's completely convinced that the tests were accurate," Luke muttered, but Leia's gaze had already shifted back to the distant mountain.
Luke noticed that she seemed distracted, so he followed her line of sight and nodded in understanding. He faced Leia and told her, "He'd be proud of you, you know." Leia looked down and said, "I hope so." She looked back at the horizon, lost in thought. On top of the mountain where Obi-Wan had once endlessly trained, there now stood an enormous stone statue of her Master, posed in the ready stance of the lightsaber form he had created, Form VIII, the Kenobi stance. She shook her head and told Luke, "He would've hated that statue. He never liked to use his lightsaber when he could avoid it. He always seemed calm. This statue makes him look like some ferocious warrior." Luke nodded in agreement but added, "Well, he was that too. But you're right. And, er… What are they doing up there?" At the top of the mountain, right behind Obi-Wan, there was scaffolding set up, rocks floating slowly upwards to construct another similarly-sized figure behind him.
Leia waved her hand aimlessly and explained, "Another statue. Dad." Luke's eyes narrowed and he asked, "Are we sure that bringing Vader here, building a memorial of him, is wise?" Leia looked up and sternly said, "Not Vader. Dad. Anakin Skywalker. My Master's best friend, a hero. Master Tano said that she got a… dream of some sort, and she insisted that we build another statue of Master Skywalker, standing back to back with his Master." Luke rolled his eyes and sarcastically asked, "Oh, well who am I to question the infallible Grandmaster Tano?" Leia glared at him. "One day you'll get over what Vader did to you. You know, I was kidnapped when I was a kid too." "So was Master Tano, multiple times, but neither of you were brainwashed, were you?!" Luke countered. Leia just looked away and shook her head in annoyance, having listened to Luke's ranting many times. "Don't worry," Leia told him. "Vader deserves to be left in the past. However, once we finish building the archives we're going to have a section labeled "Victims Of The Dark Side", and Vader's going in there. That section will be accessible to everyone and will include details on every Sith Lord we know of as well as what they lost to gain their power. Hopefully we'll show people why the Dark Side is a bad thing before they go running to it for answers."
She returned her attention to the island, covered in the next couple generations of Jedi. She remembered her Master's words of protecting the future of their kind, and as she had done years ago, she silently vowed to him, I will do it, Master. The ways of the Jedi will survive. I swear to you, you won't have died for nothing. As she thought it, the air seemed to wrap more tightly around her, warming her in a familiar embrace, and Leia relaxed into it. Luke moved to sit in the chair next to her, and the two of them simply relaxed together, letting the serenity of the moment fall over them, the two sibling Jedi Knights with different names, Skywalker and Kenobi.
A/N: And so, this story comes to an end. Thank you, all of you who have stayed with me throughout the process of development. Thank you for all of your reviews, comments, and suggestions. If any of you notice an error or have something to say for any part of this story, feel free to leave me a comment about it, and I will fix it. I will continue to watch this story carefully for your thoughts or concerns. There may or may not eventually be a sequel for this story, as I enjoyed writing it so much. Until then, I leave one final thank you to all my readers. I hope you enjoyed!