Location: Endor
" A few days after the Battle of Endor "
The makeshift command tent had grown quieter each day. Generals came and went with new orders, transports lifted off into the stars, and the celebration had long since faded into weary rebuilding. The war wasn't truly over , not yet, but its thunder had become a distant echo.
Leia stood by a folding table covered in star charts and transmission data. The datapad in her hand buzzed faintly, but she wasn't reading it. Her mind was elsewhere. She was tired, bone tired, but something deeper than fatigue lingered in her chest.
She stared at the star map, tracing systems she used to dream about as a girl.
Luke entered quietly, brushing the tent flap aside. His presence brought with it a stillness. He didn't need to say anything , she felt him before she saw him. A part of her still wasn't used to that.
"Am I interrupting?" he asked gently.
Leia turned and smiled. "Only the endless details of trying to rebuild a galaxy."
He approached slowly, folding his arms. "You look like you haven't slept."
She gave a small laugh. "Says the man who disappeared into a jungle full of bugs for three days."
"I was meditating," Luke said with a smirk. "The bugs were a bonus."
Leia chuckled, shaking her head. "You're becoming more like Obi-Wan every day."
Luke's smile faltered slightly. "I hope not too much."
There was silence for a moment. Not awkward, but reflective.
"I've been thinking," he said, more serious now. "About what comes next. What we really fought for."
Leia raised an eyebrow. "A Senate, hopefully. Maybe a generation that doesn't grow up under occupation."
"Yes," Luke said. "But more than that."
He stepped toward the edge of the table and placed a small holoprojector on the surface. It activated with a quiet beep. A flickering image of the old Jedi Temple shimmered above the map, tall spires reaching skyward, surrounded by Coruscanti skyline.
"I've been seeing it in my dreams," Luke said, voice softer. "Not Coruscant... not the Temple itself. But… the Jedi. Their light. Their failure. Their hope."
Leia stared at the image, lips pressed into a line. She said nothing for a moment.
"You want to rebuild them," she finally said.
Luke nodded.
Leia looked at him carefully. "Not everyone will support that. There are still people who think the Jedi were dangerous."
"I know," Luke said. "But I also know the dark side isn't gone. The Emperor may be dead, but what he stirred in the galaxy, the hunger for power, the fear, that doesn't vanish overnight."
Leia looked down. Her voice quieted. "We saw what the dark side can do. We felt it."
Luke's eyes met hers. "That's why I want to start again. Better. Smarter. Not as warriors. As protectors. As teachers."
"And you think you can do it alone?" she asked gently.
"I can't," Luke said simply. "That's why I need an apprentice."
He let the silence hang, not as a challenge, but as an invitation.
Leia's gaze dropped to the glowing temple again.
Then she heard it.
The shift in his breath. The slight smile in his tone.
"You," he said, "could be the first step."
Her eyes widened. "Me?"
Luke nodded. "You're strong in the Force, Leia. You always have been. Even when you didn't know it. It's not just our blood. It's you. You feel things before they happen. You moved through war with a presence I didn't understand back then. But I do now...."
Leia stepped away from the table. She was quiet for a long time. "Luke… I'm not a Jedi. I'm a senator. A soldier. I've spent my whole life fighting with words and warships."
"And I spent mine fixing droids and whining about sand," he said gently. "It doesn't matter where you started. What matters is what you choose to become."
Leia turned her back, staring out through the opening of the tent where jungle winds stirred the canvas. She crossed her arms.
"I've seen what it did to you," she said. "You carry weight behind your eyes now. The kind that doesn't go away."
Luke stepped beside her. "Some of that came from battle. But not the Force. The Force gave me peace. Direction. It helped me face what I was."
Leia looked away. Her voice was soft. "And what if I don't like what I see?"
Luke didn't answer right away. Then:
"Then you'll grow," he said. "The Force doesn't ask for perfection. Just honesty."
Leia exhaled, the tension in her chest loosening. Something in her ached to know more. To understand what she had felt in the quiet moments, in her gut during battles, in her dreams when Alderaan burned. She wanted answers. She wanted… purpose.
"I don't know if I'm ready," she whispered.
Luke smiled. "That's exactly why you are."
They stood in silence again, but this time the air between them felt full, with possibility, with legacy, with something older than both of them.
Leia finally turned to face him. "Alright," she said. "I'll train. But I'm not putting on one of those brown robes."
Luke laughed, loud and free. "Deal it is then... hmmm" he said, imitating Yoda.
They clasped hands, brother and sister. Skywalker and Organa.
And for the first time since the war ended, Leia felt something shift inside her, not relief, not grief, not duty.
Hope.