The Orphan, the Princess, The Farm Boy

E P I L O G U E



THE WAVES CRASHING AGAINST THE ROCKY SIDE OF THE ISLAND WAS CALMING.

Ben Solo kept his knees tucked to his chest as he breathed in deeply. The galaxy seemed lightyears away on this small island. 

The island was green and rocky. Not the smallest thing but not huge like Coruscant. It was simple and the only island on the planet - the rest was ocean. Ach-To was an old Jedi planet and his Uncle Luke Skywalker, the Grand Master Jedi, had claimed it as a pacifist planet. 

After the Empire fell, the slow progress of the New Republic had built. With the help of his mother and grandmother, the Senate had been recreated. It took time for some of the outer rim planets to accept a New Republic but so far it seemed like the Senate had done a good job of undoing all of the destruction the Empire had caused. 

Ben didn't worry too much about it. As long as the galaxy wasn't ending, he didn't have to involve himself in anything. He had been born just a year after the final battle and even then almost everything had been solved. His mother and her friends were efficient. 

When he was five, his mom had sensed that Ben was force sensitive and sent him to the island where his Uncle Luke lived. Luke had helped somewhat when the Empire died but mostly focused on rebuilding the Jedi Order. 

He built it all on the island of Ach-To where Ben's grandfather - and Luke's father, Anakin - helped Luke and Obi-Wan did as well. Anakin had been recognized by many people when the Senate was recreated and he wanted to put that all behind him so he went and lived on Ach-To with Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

Padmé had first helped with the Senate before leaving and following after Anakin to Ach-To. Ben remembered landing on the island and the welcoming of his family. He knew Leia was concerned about him and where he might go and he knew that his mom and dad fought a lot but they loved each other. He wouldn't let his family be teared apart. 

So he came to the island quietly and learned with the other kids. Those other kids tended to go home after three months of learning - Ach-To and the new Jedi Order was more of a summer camp than anything. There were some people who stayed behind on the island; Luke had declared it a place of peace and refuge and that tended to attract people. 

One such person was Rey Palpatine. 

Ben remembered when he was seven years old, practicing with a lightsaber and it's form, his uncle surveying him and the other kids when a ship crash landed in the east. 

Luke told everyone to keep practicing and Obi-Wan and Anakin took over but Ben put down his saber. He felt a tug towards the crash so he followed it. 

When Ben reached the crash site, Luke was holding someone who looked to be about five. He was talking to presumably the girl's parents who looked and felt upset and fear struck. The conversation was short and frantic and afterwards the parents left in the ship, never to be seen again. 

Ben remembered asking about it later that night and Luke had told him to keep quiet but confided in Ben about who it was. As it turned out, the father of the girl was the son of Emperor Palpatine's brother. The girl was the grandniece of Palpatine. The parents had frantically searched for a way to hide her when they found out she was force sensitive and that's when they found Luke and Ach-To. 

Rey was curious person. 

Over the next few years, she didn't exactly trained, she more so just decided to explore and do what she wanted. Luke knew he couldn't force anyone to train so he didn't do anything about it, just advised her to be careful in certain parts of the island.