Luke watches the remaining TIE fighters fly out of Crait's atmosphere. He turns to face the few stormtroopers still standing. He gives his lightsaber a causal twirl. The troopers collectively raise their hands. Luke nods, then deactivates the saber. He walks past them, towards the Resistance base.
A crowd is rushing out to meet him, proceeded by their cheers. At the very front of pack is Leia. Despite her age, the older woman runs faster than anyone. She sprints across the salt field, nearly tripping in her haste. She skids to a stop just in front of Luke. The two siblings stare at each other. The crowd stops short, giving the two a wide berth.
Luke smiles weakly. "Hi Leia...I'm back.
Leia nearly tackles Luke with the hug she wraps him with.
"Where have you been?" She says, teary-eyed.
"Away...for far too long." Luke admits, hugging his sister back.
"Why?" Leia asks, pulling back.
Luke looks down. "I...never could find a way to bring Ben back to you. It was my fault I should have..."
His eyes water.
"...I'm sorry Leia. I should have been able to stop him. Should have been there to save Han."
Leia shakes her head. "There you go again, trying to bear the whole galaxy's weight on your shoulders. "It's not your fault, Luke. Ben made his choices. Not you, not Snoke or anyone else. It took...took losing Han for me to realize that."
Luke opens his mouth to say something, but it gets caught in his throat. Instead he simply embraces Leia again. They pull apart, and Luke's eyes shift over to Rey.
The girl give him an "I told you so." look. Luke smiles, and nods.
"You've got her to thank you know." Luke says indicating Rey. "She told me how stupid I was being. That you'd want to see me no matter what I failed to do. Took some help from a few other old friends, but without her, I'm afraid I never would have left that island."
Leia looks back smirking at Rey. "She's got fire in her, that girl. Reminds me of myself at that age. It's why I sent her to drag you back here."
Luke chuckles.
Ackbar clears his throat. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt reunions..."
They both turn to look at the Admiral.
"...but despite all this." Ackbar waves his hand across the desolated battlefield. "There is still a fleet of ships up there, considering their next move."
Leia nods. "This battle is only half over."
Luke sighs, exasperated.
"I know I made that look easy, but I don't think I can't do all of that again."
"No, we're getting out of here," Leia says. "Our ships should be back up and running soon. Once they are, we're gonna fly out of here, slip past that fleet and jump out of the system."
She quirks an eyebrow at Luke. "You still as good at piloting as you are at being a Jedi?"
Luke shrugs. "Guess we'll find out. By the way, is there someone that can fix my X-wing? I think it got a little banged up in the uh...landing."
"I can!" Poe shouts, running up. "I can fix your X-wing! I'm Poe by the way, Poe Dameron."
Luke nods at him. "Nice to meet you Poe. I'm Luke Skywalker."
Poe grins "I know!"
***
Everyone stands in the command room of the Resistance base, a holographic projection of the First Order fleet before them.
YOU ARE READING
STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE LAST JEDI (with a better story)
AdventureI didn't like the Last Jedi. Had a lot of problems with how certain characters were handled, and missed opportunities. So, I decided I could do it better myself. Enjoy. (currently doing some light editing)
