Playlist:

❶ "The High Council and Qui-Gon's Funeral"—The Phantom Menace OST

A bird hooted overhead, jerking Luke from his meditation. Han and Leia had long since departed to the Falcon, and the rest of the wedding party had disappeared as well.

Trying to calculate the hour, Luke gazed above the trees to the dark sky. How long have I been standing here? The forest is pitch black ten meters back now. Not even a hint of twilight.

Plodding across the wooden planks toward the village square, he massaged his aching neck. Party's dying down. Must be later than I thought.

Across the square, Wedge caught his eye and nodded to Luke. His old friend nursed a mug of the Ewok brew as he waved his arms about and regaled an old war story. The Jedi settled down next to his friend and took the tankard a grizzled infantryman handed him.

Wedge continued his tale with his thick brogue. "So, there we were—positioned over the ring shield of Scarif, and—"

"How would you know? You weren't even there, Wedge Antilles." A green Twi'lek in an orange jumpsuit peeled her flight goggles from her forehead and worked them loose from her long lekku.

Luke grinned at his open-mouthed friend as he stammered and sputtered.

"General Syndulla, I didn't—"

"That's right, you didn't think, Antilles, as always. Now hand me a mug of that brew while I tell you miscreants how Scarif really went down." Hera chugged the beer and wiped the white foam from her mouth with the back of her hand. "If it wasn't for Scarif, the Rebellion wouldn't have survived. If it wasn't for Scarif—" Her voice cracked.

The same soldier with white hair and a beard that had handed Luke his drink now knelt beside Hera and pulled her chest into his. "Hera, we've all lost friends, good friends. But they would do the same again if they had to. We'd all do the same again and again and again. And we may have to. The Empire suffered a big defeat today, but they will rise again. Mark my words."

"How can you be sure?" Wedge asked.

Luke barely heard that question. He shut his eyes as visions bombarded him. Star destroyers covered the skies of a desert planet, their massive triangular forms casting shadows on the sand. TIE fighters and Rebel snubs zoomed around a field of Imperials walkers. The blasted heat brought him to a sweat. He looked in the sky for the twin suns of Tatooine but found only one sun. He flinched as cannon fire from an AT-AT hit—

"I was one once," the soldier said. Thumbing his chest, he continued as the visions passed from Luke's head. "But I wasn't some willy-nilly politician. I had no choice in the matter."

"Stormtrooper?"

The man shook his head. "No, a clonetrooper." He pointed to the scar above his right temple. "When we saw what was happening to our brothers, some of us took our control chips out—only days before Order 66 came down."

The group assembled around the small fire grew quiet.

I don't understand. What's Scarif? What chips? What order? Luke opened his mouth but shut it again. No, I'll have to ask Leia or Han. I can't let them think the last Jedi is an imbecile.

"Enough." The rough warrior raised his mug into the air. "Let's read in the names."

The little group stood, scraping boots and benches on the rough planks.

❶ "To those who have given their lives for what is right. May we never forget their names nor their sacrifices. May we carry them forever in our hearts."

Hera held up her cup. "May we remember those who died at Scarif, who gave their lives for the Death Star's plans so long ago: Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, Bodhi Rook." She took a swig after each name and dumped the remains of her cup into the fire. The flame shot up for a moment before she refilled her mug from a leather bota.

Wedge continued the ritual. "Admiral Raddus and the Profundity."

Another pilot said, "Blue Squadron. May they all live on in the Force."

"Padawan Ezra Bridger, missing in action," Wedge added.

The names droned on for nearly an hour, flames shooting up each time someone tossed a mug.

Luke hesitated, feeling unsteady on his feet after so many toasts and refillings of his own mug. He stepped forward and murmured, "Queen Breha and Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan." He didn't drink this time as the tears rolled down his eyes. I didn't even know them, but I can't ignore Leia's agony. It pierces me even now.

After a long silence, Hera stepped forward. "Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus."

The clonetrooper stepped forward. "Ahsoka Tano White Blades, missing in action." Tears watered the man's eyes.

"Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi," Luke said with another gulp and toss. He cleared his throat once more after topping off his mug. "Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker."

All heads turned to Luke. The clonetrooper stepped beside the Jedi. "Hear, hear, General Anakin Skywalker, The Hero with No Fear, and the best star pilot in the galaxy."

Emboldened by the alcohol in his system, Luke said, "I cannot tell you how, but know that today's victory was not won in space or on the ground. I didn't even win it. Anakin won it through the Force. He destroyed the Emperor, though it cost him his life."

"What did you say your name was, Jedi?" the older man asked.

"Skywalker. Luke Skywalker. My father gave his life for me today."

"That's impossible."

Hera laid her hand on the soldier's arm. "Rex, you've had a bit too much."

"No. Anakin died over twenty years ago when they executed Order 66. He died like all the rest of the Jedi. Slaughtered by my brothers." Spittle expunged from Rex's mouth.

He wiped his chin with the back of his hand before continuing. "I served him in the 501st. Three bloody years I served with him." He punctuated each word with a pregnant pause. "I would know if he were alive. Besides, he wouldn't have let this happen. He wouldn't. Not the Anakin I knew."

Luke shook his head, trying to clear the fog the alcohol left. What did I say? Why did I say it? They can't know who he is. 

He felt his face flush as he searched for the words to make this right. "You're right. He did die that day. But the Force brought him back today to save us, to save all of us."

Rex shook his head. "I don't understand."

Hera smoothed the soldier's gray hair and wrapped her arm around the burly man. "You don't have to. The one thing I learned from Kanan is that the Force moves in mysterious ways."

"But if it could bring back Anakin, why not Ahsoka?"

Hera led the man to a bench and held his hand while the group dispersed. "Sh, Rex. I think you need to sleep."

"No, I can't sleep. Every time I do, I see her in my dreams." Tears gathered in his eyes.

Hera placed her fingers to his lips and inclined his body toward the railing. "That's the Force, Rex. It's given you her—at least in your dreams."

"But—"

"Here, drink some more of this."

She held up her own mug to the man and made him drink. Within seconds he was out.

Luke sat beside her. "I shouldn't have spoken."

Hera shook her head. "No, it was right to remember him here. Now that the war is over, we'll finally have time to grieve our loved ones, but it will take time. It will bring pain. But it will bring closure, too, so we can live the lives they died for."

The Jedi allowed her words to bounce around in his head until they registered. He nodded, hoping she was right.

The pilot rubbed her hands down her pant legs and bit her lip. She scanned to her left and right before broaching the next question. "So, what's your next move, Jedi? Are you taking trainees?"

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "I need to study first."

She tilted her head. "Study what?"

"There's got to be something left ... some Jedi artifacts ... somewhere. I don't even know where to start."

The Twi'lek stared out into the dark trees where fewer lanterns blinked now. "Jedha. There's a temple there. Or at least there was five years ago. Lothal's is sealed. Doubt you can get into the one on Coruscant—if anything remains there at all."

"Jedha?"

"The home of the Guardians of the Whills." She grimaced. "The Empire blasted the town from space while testing the first Death Star. There might be something in the rubble."

Luke stared at her, his jaw slack. Citizens screamed as they ran down the streets of a rocky planet. Dust overtook him. He coughed as the buildings fell around him and wails assaulted his ears. 

"Do you—"

A little human boy, no older than five, ran across the square. His dark hair obscured his blue eyes, but the tips of his ears poked through the matted mess. In the firelight, Luke thought the boy had green-tinged skin.

"Mama! Mama!"

Hera turned to the boy. "Jacen, I told you to stay on The Ghost."

"I wanted to cele-celeb ... party, too."

She pulled him close to her chest.

"Why are you crying—" The young man fingered the tear streaks on her cheeks. "Daddy, you were talking about Daddy." He crawled into her lap and snuggled into her chest. "Don't cry, Mama. Daddy doesn't want you sad."

Luke felt the Force in this young one, shining brighter than anything he had seen besides Leia. It called to him. Not this young. I can't take one this young. I'm not going to take them from their parents.

Hera smiled at Luke. "I can't train him, Skywalker. He needs a teacher. He needs ..." She pointed a green finger at him. "... you."

Rain pelted Luke on a hill of black shale. Lightning struck in the distance, illuminating a hulking building. Screams howled in the night.

Jacen's screams.

Did you know ...

● Rex first appears in Attack of the Clones as CT-7567. Anakin was his Jedi Knight General. Ahsoka was his Jedi Padawan Commander. He joined the Rebellion a few years before the Battle of Yavin.

● I almost put Shara Bey in here, but I didn't want to have to wax eloquent on who she is. And I can't figure out where she left her son Poe during this battle. I doubt he was on one of the ships in space, and he definitely wasn't in her A-wing.

● Rebels Season 4 Spoiler: Jacen Syndulla is the child of Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus conceived the night before Kanan sacrificed himself for his friends.

Tell me what you think ...

● The Rebels have had little time to grieve. Now that the battle is over, their postponed emotions overwhelm them all. How will this affect the establishment of the Republic, the Jedi Order, and the new families?

● What do you think Luke will find on Jedha?