Cheers erupted as the rebel ships returned to Yavin 4's Resistance base. Workmen left their stations to greet their friends who pulled off their pilot helmets, and some sobbed for those that didn't return. Those who did felt accomplished about their attack on the Imperial star destroyer, and the lost had sacrficed a great deal for the mission's success. There was much to be celebrated, and the jungle around the rebel base rumbled with applause and celebratory whistles.
When the two hijacked TIE fighters entered the atmosphere on the base's scanners, the Resistance were fearful at first. But when they received communication from Obi-wan's x-wing, they realised that there had been some changes with the original plan. Captain Padme Amidala didn't hear all the details but knew enough to order her workers not to fret at the descending Imperial ships.
With C3-PO and R2-D2 behind her, Padme waited for the mission's main team to touch down in the hanger. The woman stood in a camouflage poncho and with her hair wrapped in braids at the back of her head.
She stayed cool in front of her fellow rebels, but internally, the Amidala was itching to see her Jedi Master friend. While the captain had been privately worrying for Sol, the Resistance continued its duties in fighting the Empire. Her liuetenant noticed the sometimes distant look in Padme's eyes, but finalised orders that he knew would be to her liking. Sol's disappearance had affected Padme and the mission to rescue her from the Imperial star destroyer had been all she could think about.
But at the sight of the landing grey and green starfighter, Padme bounced on her heels in her eagerness to see Sol at last.
'Obi-wan,' she greeted the man who exited his x-wing first. 'Are you alright? Did everything end up okay?'
Obi-wan went to speak, but he sensed Ahsoka and Revan's exit from their TIE fighters. While people gawked at the sight of the Imperial ships in their hanger, Padme's eyes shifted to the two Jedi who walked with two small children. She was confused at seeing Luke and Leia Skywalker, as the plan was for Ahsoka to take them back to Tatooine. But Luke and Leia stood in between Revan and the Togruta with their gazes on the starfighter a short distance away.
'What are Luke and Leia doing here?' Padme glanced back and forth between the twins and Obi-wan. With a creased forehead, the captain's confused gaze finally rested on Obi-wan, who appeared to be searching for his words.
'There were... complications,' was all he could say, before Padme's attention was drawn to the woman of hour.
The rebels' reaction to the Jedi Master's arrival was drastically different to her first appearance on Hoth. Strangers gathered around and clapped Sol on her shoulders, making her look around with parted lips and shifting eyes. She barely was able to hop off the wing of her starfighter before she was bombarded with the sight of faces and the sound of voices that she hardly knew.
'Good to have you back, ma'am!'
'We've been worried sick about you, Miss Sol!'
Sol was overwhelmed but attempted to give a strained smile. She thanked some people, even shook some hands, before she broke through to the people she wanted to see. Sol was able to crouch to her knees before Luke and Leia collided with her front. The mother embraced the two tightly and leaned her head against Luke's head with her eyes closed.
The journey from the core to the Outer-Rim was long and Sol spent every second in her ship worrying. Her departure from the star destroyer had left her empty despite the relief of their escape. Anything could have happened while flying to Yavin 4, and with Luke and Leia in the TIE fighter with Revan, Sol was constantly thinking about what could go wrong. Like Padme, Sol was torn between being optimistic, and being riddled with constant anxiety.
Had their escape been too easy? Did Emperor Palpatine know about Darth Vader's ultimate revelation? Were they planning another capture or ambush on the new base?
'Are you okay, Mummy?' Leia asked as she and her brother pulled away. It allowed Sol to look at their faces and another strained smile pulled at her lips.
'I'm okay. Are you two okay?'
The twins nodded and Sol's gaze slipped between them. She straightened up and stepped through Luke and Leia to catch the woman that barreled towards her. Padme threw her arms around Sol's shoulders and Sol did the same to the captain's waist.
Luke and Leia stood beside the women's legs and looked up at the embracing old friends. There was so much relief and worry around Padme and Sol, that the twins were able to sense their radiating auras. They were confused as to why there was still so much worry between them, as they had escaped the Imperial ship unharmed.
In their young minds, the Empire was far away and couldn't hurt them on the jungle-covered planet.
'The word has gone around that you're the Chosen One again,' Padme mumbled over Sol's shoulder. 'That's why everyone helped with the mission. They think you're going to bring down the Empire.'
'Who gossiped?' Sol whispered, hoping that Luke and Leia wouldn't hear.
'No one. They just worked out who you were during the Republic.'
Sol looked over Padme's shoulder as they embraced and saw the way rebel pilots and workmen looked at her. People gathered in groups to whisper behind their hands, and some glanced at the Jedi Master that had been rescued from the star destroyer. Those who once looked at her as just another stranger with unusual eyes, were now smiling at Sol with hope. They thought that Sol was going to be their saviour, as the Empire's sudden unease at her appearance sparked the talk of the Chosen One.
But Sol felt uneasy at the idea of being held to the standard of someone she wasn't. She knew she was just an orphan that was left on a lower-level street on Coruscant by her father. She wasn't a Force-made child like Anakin Skywalker was. To Sol, the greater destiny that was told thousands of years ago had been lost. The Resistance believed a myth, and Sol didn't want to be an imposter in their hopes.
Sol remained quiet and tried to find comfort in the arms of her old friend. Padme was the only female she knew that had been with her through everything. She knew about her struggles with the Jedi Order and her relationship with Anakin. She knew who Darth Vader really was, and why the man stopped at nothing to get to her. She also knew how important it was that the twins were kept away from the Empire. Sol trusted Padme like she trusted Obi-wan, and Sol felt her tense shoulders relax at being in the presence of her pink Force signature.
Padme pulled away first. Sol didn't want to part from the woman but did so to let the captain see her face. Sol knew that she wore a pair of darkened eyes and tight lips. She wore her emotions on her face, and Padme gripped Sol's arms with a concerned look. Padme didn't let Sol shy away and when she looked to where Sol's eyes wanted to wonder, Padme began to realise what worried the Jedi so much.
'What is it, Sol?' Padme said quietly. The hanger's inhabitants had begun to return to their stations and wind down from the battle while Ahsoka, Revan and Obi-wan remained watching the two women. Luke and Leia continued to listen to cure their own curiosity, but they still didn't understand the severity of the situation.
'Padme...' Sol started, and bit her lip. 'He knows.'
Padme's grip tightened on Sol's bare arms.
'He knows, but I... think something's changing. I felt the good in him again.'
---
Sol sat in her private quarters in the rebel base. The night fell over Yavin 4, and she was waiting for Luke and Leia to finish brushing their teeth. The two were in a bathroom that had been cornered off for the captain, which she graciously let Sol and the twins use, and two could be heard giggling in front of the mirror. Usually, Sol would be fighting a smile at the sounds of their childish giggles. But after arriving on Yavin 4, Sol found it hard to snap out of her thoughts.
Sitting on the edge of her cot, Sol stared at the two futons that were waiting for their occupants for the night. She thought about Padme's reaction to Sol's news and continued to leap back and forth between being relieved to be away from Vader, all while longing to see Anakin again.
She hadn't told Obi-wan about her thoughts, and she was yet to talk with Ahsoka about her actions that led to Luke and Leia's presence on the base, but both of these discussions were incoming. Sol had spent her time on the Yavin 4 base shaping these encounters, while fighting a battle within herself.
'Alright, you two Jawas, let's head to bed,' Obi-wan's voice snapped Sol out of her thoughts and she looked to the door. It wasn't long before the automatic door slid open and unleashed the energetic twins into the room.
'Mummy, Mummy, Uncle Obi said that you have a story for us!' Luke squealed as he got onto his knees to slide underneath the futon's duvet. As Leia followed, Sol looked to the man who stood in the doorway of the room with raised eyebrows.
'Is that right?' Sol said and noticed the small smile on Obi-wan's face. It was a look that meant that Obi-wan had been sensing something, and Sol's thoughts had already been read and counteracted by the Jedi Master.
'Is it about Jedi? Is about how you and Uncle Obi fought in the clone wars?' Leia said, her toothy grin wide and beaming through the dim lighting.
Sol knew what Obi-wan had told the two while she had been obsorbed with her thoughts. While chewing her lips, Sol cursed her presence for being such an open book. Since revealing her Force signature, Sol had let her emotions and true thoughts be on show for anyone who wished to see them. Obi-wan had heard her thoughts on seeing how Darth Vader had changed at the mention and sight of his children and knew that Sol was unsure of how to deal with it. By prompting Luke and Leia to hear more about Jed, Obi-wan was indirectly helping Sol clear some of her troubles.
'Alright,' Sol stood from her cot and stepped over Luke in his futton. She shrunk down to sit with her legs crossed in-between the twins and looked up at Obi-wan with a mix of hesitancy and gratitude. While the Kenobi remained at the door with his arm leaning against the frame, Sol prepared herself to relive some of her old memories.
'As you know, Uncle Obi and I used to belong to the Jedi Order. They were a faith of peacekeepers who used something called the Force. The Jedi Order valued the good and the just, and used the light side of the Force to create balance in the galaxy .
For a long time, the Jedi were only needed to settle small conflicts on the Outer-Rim sector of the galaxy,' Sol started, her head turning back and forth from Luke to Leia. 'When Uncle Obi and I were with the Order, there was the beginning of the clone wars. There were some people that didn't like what the Jedi fought for, and we were called to fight with the clone army.'
'Did you use your lazer swords?' Luke asked while wide-eyed in awe.
'We did. Your uncle and I met when I was just a student learning the ways of the Jedi. He helped me tell the Order that I could be independent. I owe a lot to him.'
Sol sensed the smile on Obi-wan's lips but chose to continue where she was growing the most hesitant.
'When I met Uncle Obi, I also met someone else. He was a learner, too, and we didn't get along at first. But... when we were put in charge of protecting your Aunty Padme, who was a very important person at the time, he and I found out that we could work together. It took a while, but me and this other Jedi learner became good friends, even though we didn't show it much.
The clone wars went on for years. The Jedi were used as soldiers with the clone army to try and bring back the good throughout the galaxy. But we were struggling, and we didn't realise that there was something wrong with the Order and the Republic that we served.
The learner and I became Jedi Knights, and even though the clone wars were tough, we stayed close. It wasn't long until you two came along, because the Jedi Knight was... your father.'
Luke and Leia blinked at their mother. They looked at each other with slight confusion and Leia even glanced towards their uncle in the doorway. The smile that Obi-wan held while in Leia's stare was lopsided and sunk once she looked away. Despite his knowledge of Sol's story, it still hurt to hear what had happened during the dark times.
'Our dad was a Jedi?' Luke confirmed, and Sol nodded. She went to continue but was cut off by Obi-wan's interuption.
'Your father was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and was a cunning warrior,' the man pushed himself off from the doorframe and entered the room. 'He was a good friend, and he gave you two your lastname.'
'Skywalker?' Leia questioned and looked at her mother with blinking eyes. Sol swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and nodded, making sure to smile as she looked at her daughter's small face.
'Your mother and father loved each other very much,' Obi-wan continued. He lowered himself down to a crouch and crossed his arms over his knees.
Sol looked from Leia to Obi-wan with an unmoving smile, but it meant more to him than it did to her daughter. She saw the way Obi-wan looked at the twins and resisted the tears that were beginning to brew.
Sol had wanted to keep Luke and Leia away from everything that had to do with the Jedi Order and what came after it. The thought of it brought nothing but pain and loss, and Sol didn't want her children wondering why their father never came with them to Tatooine. But when she heard Obi-wan talking about Anakin, Sol couldn't help but let the man tell the story that ended in tragedy. Seeing Luke and Leia's awe-stricken faces and sparkling eyes was more than enough for Sol to push aside the pain, and she let Obi-wan talk about the fall of the Republic.
'They would have done anything to keep you two safe, and after the clone wars, it was considered a crime to be a Jedi in the new Empire. Your mother did a very brave thing and took you two to Tatooine, and she's been a fantastic mother to you. Perhaps she is a better mother than she was a Jedi.'
Obi-wan looked at Sol with his tease and Sol let out a small laugh. A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye, but she wiped it away before Luke or Leia could see it. The story was meant to be a happy one, and Sol couldn't let them know that there was so much more to their father that they weren't telling them. But to hear how Obi-wan felt about Sol even after all these years was a heart-warming gift, and Sol couldn't help but get emotional at the sincerity in the aging man's eyes.
'And what happened to our dad? The Skywalker guy?' Luke asked and Sol looked to her son, who unknowingly looked back at her like his father used to.
'His name was Anakin,' Sol found herself saying, before she leaned forward to place a kiss to the crown of Luke's head. 'And that's a story for another night.'
Sol turned to Leia to give her the same, before she got to her feet. Sol called for them to lie down and go to sleep while she tried to keep herself together after reliving a lot of her time with the Jedi Order. As the twins laid down with hidden grins on their faces, Sol and Obi-wan turned to leave the room to let them sleep. They knew that they would be hearing their hushed whispers and small giggles after their departure but closed the door behind them and went down the hall anyway.
'I suppose I'm not being as distant as I thought I was,' Sol said, her eyes on the white vinyl flooring. 'Do you think it's right that we told them?'
'I do. They'll be confused until their old enough, but some small stories won't hurt,' Obi-wan replied and gave Sol a kind smile. 'That was very brave of you, Sol. I know that it was very difficult to talk about.'
'Thank you, Obi...'
'But I'm afraid there are bigger things at hand that need tending to,' Obi-wan replied and stopped several hallways away from Sol and the twins' private quarters. The woman stopped and looked to Obi-wan in slight confusion.
'Bigger things? Does Ahsoka need a proper scolding?'
'I think you need to do some meditating, Sol,' Obi-wan let out a small chuckle, before a seriousness overcame his face. 'Satele's been trying to talk to you since we left the core.'
Sol suddenly became aware of the itch at the back of her head. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts about Vader and the twins, that she hadn't noticed Satele's presence in the Force.
There hadn't been a time since arriving at the base to speak to the woman. Along with the itch among the strands of Sol's hair, she felt as if someone was standing next to her patiently waiting to gain her attention. At Obi-wan's mention, Sol felt Satele Shan's Force ghost standing in the spiritual realm with her descendant's name on her lips.
Obi-wan left Sol while saying he would let Padme know that Sol wouldn't be attending the discussion in the planning room. Sol let her feet take her outside of the rebel base and arrived at the outskirts of the jungle. The sky had darkened, but when Sol took her lightsaber from her belt and ignited its cyan glow, she was able to step in between the trees that were visible from the base's hidden entrance.
Sol only slipped through the first three rows of trees before she came to a stop. With her lightsaber by her side, she heard foulage rustle with moving animals and the far-off calls of Ewoks. She lowered herself to the dirt where she could sit with her legs crossed. Sol made sure to keep her searing blade away from any leaves or tree trunks and held it in her hand as she took a deep breath.
She only needed to glimpse into the Force and see the presence that was waiting for a time to reveal itself. As if she gave it permission to enter the realm of the living, Sol opened her eyes and saw the glowing Force ghost in front of her.
Satele stood in her usual blue attire and her aura radiating off the surrounding trees and darkness of the night. Sol's vision no longer relied on what her lightsaber's light could reach, and was able to focus on the Force ghost's brilliant hue that cut through the jungle's darkness. While Sol remained on the ground of the jungle, Satele stood tall and looked down at her descendant with her unblinking and icy stare.
'You've done well, Sol,' Satele said in her monotone voice. 'Everything is falling into place. Your destiny is nearly complete.'
'But I'm still confused. I'm... I'm not the Chosen One like the Resistance think,' Sol said. 'And the Force is still imbalanced. I don't know what to do about Vader. I can see he is changing, but there is still so much darkness. The Emperor has a hold on him-'
'Like Obi-wan Kenobi said, there are bigger things at hand,' Satele stopped Sol. 'There is a disturbance in the Force as one of its most powerful users is fading. His last moments are near.'
Sol felt the disturbance. It was a dull ache and Sol recognised its thundering weight on her chest. Obi-wan must have felt the same thing and had sensed Satele's urgency to contact Sol through the Force.
'An old Master of yours has some final words that are vital to your destiny.'
'An old Master? Wait... is Master Yoda... dying?'
Sol's ex-Master was entuned with the Force on a monstrous level. After Order 66, Master Yoda went into exile, and neither she nor Obi-wan knew where he had disappeared to. With Sol's pregnancy and the fear of the rising Empire, Sol hadn't forgotten about Master Yoda in the years following Order's fall.
She sometimes wondered if he was still alive, but now that she heard about him, Sol knew that she would have felt the disturbance in the Force if he had passed. When the Force eventually welcomed the small green man's presence into its realm, it was sure to be a great feeling that would wash over the galaxy.
But Master Yoda was old; older than most species that Sol had ever come across. His life of experiences had made him wise, but all beings must come to an end of their existence. If Satele was telling Sol that Master Yoda was dying, and there was an ache in her chest from a disturbance in the Force, then the old Grand Master had to be nearing his end.
'You must go to the Dagobah system, Sol. Only then will you know what your final mission holds, and what will be the result of your long-awaited destiny.'