Ajan Kloss, a world untouched by war. Remote, green, silent, as if time itself held its breath here.
Leia stood alone in the early morning fog, her boots resting beside a moss-covered log, her bare feet pressed against the cold, damp earth. The jungle floor was soft, a mixture of soil and fallen leaves, rich with life. She could hear it, not just the wildlife, but the presence of the world itself. Ajan Kloss wasn't dead like Hoth, or mechanical like Endor's moons. It was alive, humming, breathing.
But the silence unsettled her.
Leia Organa, daughter of a dead world, leader of rebellion, voice of the New Republic, now stood in an empty forest, eyes closed, hands still, heart uncertain.
A drop of dew slid down her cheek, or maybe it was sweat. Or a tear.
She inhaled deeply.
"Clear your mind," Luke's voice called softly from behind. Calm. Controlled. "Start with breath."
"I am breathing," she muttered, annoyed with herself more than with him. Her tone was clipped, still the senator, still the soldier. She didn't mean to be sharp. But this wasn't easy.
The truth was, it hadn't been easy since Endor. The galaxy thought peace had returned. But peace didn't arrive with a parade. It came slowly. Unsteadily. Like a wound healing under scar tissue.
Leia wasn't sure if she was healing, or just learning to cover things better.
Luke stood a few meters away, perched on the flat top of a jagged stone, one leg tucked under him, the other resting on the mossy edge. He wore a tan tunic, simple, travel-worn, marked by a life lived on the edge of civilization. He didn't look like the boy who had come to rescue her from the Death Star years ago.
He looked like a Jedi.
She envied that.
"I've led battle plans in freezing caves and argued with Hutts in windowless cells," she said, opening her eyes to look at him. "But this... standing still, listening to wind and rocks... I feel ridiculous."
"You're not," he said gently. "You're learning to hear the Force."
Leia's jaw clenched. "What if I don't want to hear it?"
Luke tilted his head, watching her. "Then why are you here?"
The question hit her like a vibroblade under the ribs. Why was she here?
Because Luke had asked her. Because Vader had been her father. Because she felt something stirring inside her every time she reached out in battle, every time she felt someone die across the stars, or knew something before it happened.
Because a part of her was terrified of what that meant.
"I don't know," she whispered.
Luke nodded. "That's the first truth you've spoken all morning. And that's where we start."
He stepped off the stone and approached her, moving quietly through the grass. He stopped beside a pile of river rocks near the base of an ancient tree, long dead, its gnarled roots twisting like veins through the soil. He knelt and picked one up, brushing off the dirt.
"Try this," he said, extending the stone to her.
Leia raised an eyebrow. "Is this a trick?"
"It's a focus tool," he replied, smiling. "For now."
She took the stone in both hands. It was smooth and warm from the sun, fitting perfectly into her palms. There was nothing special about it. And yet…
"Close your eyes," Luke said, stepping back. "Breathe. Don't try. Just... be."
Leia obeyed, this time without complaint. Her shoulders dropped. She let the tension drain slowly from her fingers, her face, her jaw. She breathed, not in battle rhythm, not in political pacing, but slow, deep, unsure.
Minutes passed. A breeze moved through the jungle, brushing leaves in gentle conversation. A flock of birdlike creatures fluttered above, unseen but heard. The sun rose higher, spilling amber light across the vines.
Then something shifted.
It wasn't noise. It wasn't heat. It was something deeper, a pulse just under the surface of everything.
Leia's fingers tightened slightly around the stone.
And then, there it was, faint but real. Like a heartbeat. Not hers. Not Luke's.
The world's.
She gasped, and her eyes flew open.
For a moment, the jungle shimmered. Not physically, but through some lens inside her. The colors were richer. The sounds sharper. She could feel her brother without seeing him. She could feel the trees.
And something else.
Far away. Cold. Watching.
Leia dropped the stone.
Luke was beside her in an instant, his hand on her shoulder, steadying her.
"You touched it," he said, voice low. "You felt it."
Leia's lips parted. "What was that?"
He looked into her eyes. "That was the Force."
She stared at her hands, the fingertips still tingling.
And in the shadows of the jungle, something ancient stirred.
Leia stared at her hands, fingertips still tingling with something she couldn't name. The stone now lay in the grass, forgotten, but its warmth lingered in her palms like an echo.
Luke said nothing at first. He stood beside her in calm silence, letting her breathe, letting the moment settle. He knew better than to speak too soon, the Force worked in currents. You didn't interrupt the tide. You learned to feel it.
Leia finally turned her head, voice quiet.
"I didn't expect it to feel so... alive."
"It is," Luke said gently. "The Force surrounds everything. Binds everything. But when you feel it directly, when it chooses to respond, it's like the galaxy is whispering back."
She didn't respond. Not immediately. Her gaze returned to the jungle, to the vines twisting like veins over stone, the birds now silent in the trees, the strange, low hum beneath it all. There was something sacred here.
Luke stepped in front of her again, kneeling briefly to retrieve the river stone. He held it up between them.
"There's a saying," he said, turning the smooth rock in his hand. "That a Jedi's strength flows through the Force… but their life is in their lightsaber."
Leia gave a soft laugh. "So I need a laser sword to be alive now?"
Luke smiled, then shook his head. "It's not just a weapon. It's more than that. A lightsaber is a Jedi's discipline made manifest. Their connection to the Force, their identity, their balance. Building one… it's not just forging parts. It's forging yourself."
Leia took the stone back, now staring at it with new eyes.
"There's a crystal at the heart of it, right?" she asked. "Kyber?"
Luke nodded. "The crystal calls to you. Just like the Force did today. It's part of the journey. Finding it. Listening to it. Attuning with it."
Leia raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "So... the rock talks?"
"In a way," Luke said. "Not in words. In feeling. In truth."
She looked at him for a long moment. Then glanced down at the stone again, turning it over in her hand. Her voice dropped to almost a whisper.
"How do you make one?"
Luke's smile grew, proud, quiet, a flicker of joy behind his calm exterior.
"That," he said, "is something we'll do together."
And for the first time in days, maybe weeks, Leia felt the uncertainty fade, not completely, but enough to take one step forward.
Just one.
But that was enough.