'Master Zho, I wish not to be rid of this child. I want to continue the Jedi way. The battlefield is where I thrive...'
'I will take care of the child.'
'What?'
'You will have the child on a faraway planet, where the Order will not know. You can then continue your duties as you were.'
'Thank you, Master. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.'
'But I must ask, Satele... who is the father?'
---
'I gave up my son and missed the most important years of his life,' the Force ghost, that Sol had learnt was Satele Shan, said. 'But I was reunited with him when he became a spy for the Republic.'
'He didn't become a Jedi?'
'Theron was not Force-sensitive.'
Sol pressed her lips together in a tight line. With the light from her lightsaber, Sol listened to the Force ghost intently in the first Jedi Temple. After hearing of Satele Shan's outrageous claim of being her ancestor, Sol was invested in everything she had to say. The Jedi from the times of the Old Republic claimed that Sol was the descendant of the Shan family, and that was something that Sol refused to believe. But she was eager to hear her story of why she would ever try to convince her of this fact, and why she has chosen to reveal this to her after all these years of her identity misplacement.
On the low levels of Coruscant's city, Sol was an orphan. She never knew her parents, nor what happened to them. She fended for herself and had no memory of anyone who could have been her caregivers, or anyone who could have been a relative. It was always believed by the Jedi Order that the Force was the one to have guided her and protected her as a child. There was even the belief that she was a Force child; born by the midi-chlorians that are present in the spiritual realm. These were what Jedi used to be the powerful beings they were, and Sol never had any reason to believe that this was not the truth of her existence.
'As if the Force willed it, Theron and his descendants only ever had male off-springs. This is how our bloodline has continued for decades,' Satele said, her blue glow still a beacon in the dark cavern. 'That was until the birth of you, Sol. You are the living descendant of the Shan family, and you are destined for greatness.'
No matter how much the woman said so, Sol could not bring herself to believe her. Her sense of belonging to a family was something Sol had never felt, and never wished to feel. Being a Jedi meant that all family and parental guardian attachments were forbidden. This was never an issue for Sol, as she never knew of her family. She had made her way through her young years and to her Knightship on her own, and she had no one to thank other than herself, and maybe Master Yoda when it came to her deep connection with the Force.
The information was overwhelming for Sol. Her head began to ache, and her fingerless gloves were slick from the sweat of her palms. The cold that once chilled her bones was replaced with heat, making her want to throw her over robe off to catch a gust of fresh wind. She thought of the years she spent thieving for food and hiding in alleyways before she had even reached teenage maturity. She used her Force-bending powers for little things, unaware that they were from a line of Force-wielding warriors.
'But you still can't tell me if... I'm the one who will bring balance to the Force?'
'That is not my purpose.'
'Then why have you revealed yourself?' Sol felt as if she was whining, but couldn't help but feel disappointed. 'Why do the Council believe I am the Chosen One? Why do I not dream, and why is my Force signature so white-'
'These are not questions for me to answer,' Satele remained with her stoic expression and piercing, heavy-lidded eyes. 'You were born to be a wielder of the light side of the Force. Whether you are the foretold Chosen One will only be made possible by your decisions that the Force presents to you.'
'Then why are you here?'
Sol realised how high she held her shoulders in anticipation. Her muscles were tense and her day in the harsh winds had tired her. But Satele had revealed more about Sol's bloodline than she had ever known. If what Satele Shan was saying was true, Sol had so much more to research about herself.
'There is a danger coming. The dark times are close, and I am here to guide you to your destiny-'
'SOLARIS!'
With her head over shoulder, Sol looked to the opening of the cave. Her legs took her into the cold winds, relieving her skin that had grown hot from the information that Satele had given her. The sweat in her hair line was cooled and through the opening of her over robe, Sol felt the undersides of her arms be graced with a wash of chill.
She stopped on the ledge that protruded from the mountain and looked down, to see the familiar black and dark brown robbed Skywalker with R2-D2. She assumed the droid had told Anakin where he had left her, as Anakin was stood with his gaze trained on the ledge above him. At the appearance of Sol, Anakin's shoulders visibly slacked in relief. Her white signature soothed his nerves, and even from afar, Sol's violet eyes bored into his as if the Force willed them to.
'Nice to see you, Ani! Good job, Artoo!' Sol cheered. 'You have to get up here! The Force ghost is-'
'No, you need to get down here!' Anakin cut her off, fighting against the wind's attempt to take his voice. 'We need to get back to Rex! We're under attack!'
'Under attack?!'
To the left of the island, a ship soared around the bend with its booming engines. The ship was white, with the separatist symbol on the side for enemies to see and fear. The gun that was built into the hull was aimed down, with a droid sat at its controls and looking through a window. At the sight of the Jedi, blasts were shot, and the shots that rained down on them made R2 cry out in his loud scream.
As Sol's lightsaber was already ignited, she blocked the blasts that were aimed in her direction. In a cross formation made by the twisting of her wrist, she shielded herself with the beam of cyan. The ledge was a poor spot for Sol to be stood in and it gave the ship an advantage to aim and shoot from its place in the sky. Sol had to move if she wanted to make it back to the camp unharmed, but she was aware of Anakin, who was on the path below and in sight of the gunship.
While R2 ran for cover behind a large rock, Anakin revealed his blue lightsaber and began deflecting blasts. The winds continued to whip as he sent blasts down to the floor below him but was struggling as he was at a disadvantage. The ship hovered and continued to rain down on the island, disrupting the nearby porg nests that squealed and hid from the gunfire.
Anakin knew that he was a sitting duck. He had to get cover and as he glanced up to the ledge where Sol stood defending herself, he assumed that Sol would know where to find some. Focusing the Force into his legs, Anakin crouched low, before leaping high. Blasts singed past him as he jumped onto the ledge, and he landed beside Sol with his boots making a quiet tap as they touched the rock.
'We can take cover in the cave behind us!' Sol said over the blasts. The two continued to block with their weapons and with a mutual agreement, they turned on their heels and ran back towards the opening of the Jedi Temple.
A call to the Force allowed Sol and Anakin to be consumed by its walls within seconds. The blasts came to halt as they disappeared from the sight of the ship. The droid operating the gun ordered the pilots to circle around, leaving the skies for a moment of peace.
The Jedis' lightsabers lit the way as the two looked out to the island and were well aware that the separatists would soon be back to finish the job. Sol took the time to turn to the cavern, where she had been speaking with the Force ghost of Satele Shan before she had heard the call of her name. But the mosaic image of the meditating Jedi on the floor was left bare, and the darkness of the first Jedi Temple had deepened without the Shan's glow.
Trying not to appear frustrated at Satele's absence, Sol turned back to see that Anakin was stood with his back to the cave's opening, and with his gaze on her. His saber buzzed by his side and his brow was heavy over his eyes. If Sol looked into the Force, she would see his soft orange glow flaring in solemnity.
'I hope you know the amount of trouble you've caused, bright eyes.'
Sol tried not to immediately be on the defence at the tone Anakin spat at her. She reduced her response to the act of rolling her shoulders to straighten her back, and to crease her eyebrows to show her confusion and caution.
'Trouble with who, Ani? You?'
'Careful,' he warned menacingly. 'We wouldn't be in here if it wasn't for your little side quest. We would be on our way back to Coruscant with Obi-wan if you hadn't decided to send Artoo to deliver your news of reckless decisions.'
'Excuse me?! If I hadn't warned you about the underwater separatists, you wouldn't have known that they were on this planet at all! And that's rich for you to criticise my recklessness' Sol cried, not backing down from the glare Anakin shot down at her. 'And why did Master Obi-wan leave?! We're stuck on this island with no ship!'
'We stayed so that you wouldn't have been left behind, Solaris! The whole team would have left if it wasn't for your disappearance!'
The information Sol had learnt from Satele Shan had all been forgotten. She had been excited to share the findings with Anakin, hoping that he could shed some light and truth on Satele's claims, but she now felt horrible. Not only was Anakin yelling in her face and the echoes of his tones bounced off the rock walls around the cavern, but Sol had been the reason as to why they were now suffering the separatist ambush. If she had returned with R2 to the camp, the legion would have been taken off Coruscant, and they would be away from the droid army that was now aware of their presence on Ahch-To.
'Yeah, I bet you feel bad, now, don't you?' Anakin scoffed at the speechless woman in front of him. With a shake of his head, Anakin stepped away from Sol and headed into the cavern, not able to take in the beauty of the sacred location because of his frustration and anger.
Sol's mouth opened and closed, and her eyes blinked profusely. She was so absorbed with the presence of Satele's ghost, that she had forgotten that they were on Ahch-To for a mission. Other people's lives were now at risk, and they were lightyears away from reinforcements. With no way out of the cavern besides through the entrance, where the separatist ship had seen them flea into, Sol and Anakin were trapped, and Anakin's clone legion were left to fend for themselves.
'Anakin... I'm sorry-'
'Save it, Solaris,' he held a hand up without looking at her. 'Let's just hope that Obi-wan gets back before we're all dead.'