Chapter Text
Coruscant: Residential Complex near the New Republic Senate Building
Year 6 After the Battle of Yavin
Leia Organa sighed as she entered her apartment building, feeling exhaustion creep into her bones. Removing her cloak, the Princess of the destroyed planet of Alderaan and heroine of the Rebel Alliance moved to her couch and allowed herself to collapse into the seat.
It has been another very long day at the Senate building of the fledgling New Republic. Ever since the alliance managed to retake the capital world of Coruscant 2 and a half months earlier, more and more systems were sending their representatives to discuss the possibility of joining their new government instead of remaining with the increasingly weakened and fractured Imperial Remnant. Which was exactly what they had wanted but the countless diplomatic meetings of the past weeks were starting to drain her more and more.
Yet she didn't ask for time off. There was much to do and she still preferred to throw herself into her important work than...thinking about Han's death.
Leia buried her head into her hands and took a deep breath.
"Don't even go there," She told herself in a murmur. "What is done is done. You need to focus on what you can actually do."
Abruptly, she heard the electronic doorbell ring and she had to suppress a loud groan. She had hoped she could have some time to rest before the Senate had need of her again. Taking a moment to compose herself, she looked in the mirror to make sure she was presentable and then went to the automatic door.
Then her eyes widened at the unexpected visitor.
"Luke! It has been so long!" Leia said as she returned his smile.
"Yeah, I know," He responded. "We are both so busy these days. Can I come in?"
"Of course," She said as she led him inside. "Please, sit."
He did just that and Leia took her place across from him in the living room. "So, to what do I owe your visit? Last I heard you were looking for more records on Jedi lore out there somewhere."
"Yes, well, it took a while I think I have finally made a breakthrough," He said, sounding pleased with himself.
"Good, then tell me all about it."
Luke took a deep breath and took out a small datapad kept inside the pocket of his suit before turning it on. "It took some time and I still don't know all the details yet but I believe I have found a world that holds an intact Jedi Temple."
And with that, he showed her a map of a planet on the screen for her to examine.
Leia scratched the back of her neck. "Hmm. I have seen the maps of thousands of worlds during my time at the last 2 incarnations of the Senate and with the Rebellion but I can't say I recognize this planet."
"I am not surprised," The young Jedi replied. "From what I have been able to gather, the precise coordinates of this world were deliberately suppressed by the Jedi Council at some point before the end of the Clone Wars. It doesn't show up on any public database and since the planet is in the Unknown Regions, it has remained undiscovered by the galactic community at large."
"Huh," Leia said slowly. "Why would the Jedi want to keep that world hidden?"
"I am not entirely sure yet," He admitted. "But from what little records I have been able to find in the encrypted databases we recovered from the Emperor's secret hoard of Jedi archives that was hidden at the Imperial Palace, it seems that it was a world the Jedi discovered and turned into one of the order's classified planets even before erasing the coordinates, like the world of Ilum became, due to being one of the Jedi's main worlds to look for kyber crystals. Take that, add in the fact that they made a Jedi Temple there, and consider the timing that the Clone Wars were only getting worse...well, this may be me getting more optimistic than I should but perhaps the order established a hidden colony in that world as a safe haven in case Courscant fell to the Separatists. Moot point aside, that still would have been just as useful for the continued survival of the order when the purge began."
Leia's eyes widened. "That would be excellent news for the New Republic if so. And for you, of course. But, why wouldn't they have made themselves known to the wider galaxy by now?"
"Well," Luke began, "I have been searching for references involving Jedi protocol for something like this, that is, a contingency plan to rebuild the order in secret in times of great danger. And from what little I have been able to piece together, it appears that in these situations, the protocol is to wait until the correct encoded signal is sent or, barring that, to receive personal codes of at least three members of the Jedi Council simultaneously. Until then, they are supposed to remain in hiding with their communication lines to the wider galaxy shut down and just keep training in the meantime. And as far as I know, the only members of the council that survived the initial purge were my two masters, so they were one Jedi Councilor short to enter the password."
"I see," The princess said. "Still, Luke, I am sorry for saying this but...if this information was kept by the Emperor, how do you know he didn't already crack the encryption and wiped out the colony long ago?"
"Because of the failsafe inside this thing," He said with a confident tone as he showed her a glowing dodecahedron he had been keeping inside one of his pockets.
Leia stared at it for a long moment, feeling something strangely appealing about although she couldn't tell why. "What is it?"
"This is a Jedi holocron," Luke replied. "They are used as holographic repositories of Jedi knowledge that are opened with the Force. I am not entirely sure why it's red instead of blue, since that was the most usual color among Jedi holocrons but it's not pyramid-shaped, so from what I know, that implies it was not made by Sith hands. More importantly, though, this holocron holds information about that world but it has a failsafe that Palpatine wouldn't have been able to overcome easily after the purge."
"Well, don't keep me in suspense," She urged. "What does it need to be opened?"
Luke took a deep breath. "To fully access the data, you mean? Long story short...to be unlocked by Force-sensitive twins that came from a Jedi bloodline."
The two of them remained quiet for quite a while as Leia finally understood why he came to her so late at night. She sighed. After Han died at Endor, she begged Luke to keep the fact they were actually twins that were separated at birth a secret, for the time being, since her feelings of grief and confusion were still very raw. Besides, she wasn't ready to let the galaxy know she was...Darth Vader's daughter
Luke, ever caring, decided to respect her wishes. And she knew he had been patient with her on the matter for more than two years. So, while she was still uncomfortable with her ancestry, the adopted princess supposed she could still help her secret brother out with this since it meant so much to him.
"Alright, what do you need me to do?" She asked with a sigh.
Luke smiled warmly at her. "I got the map and a few details but little else. To fully unlock it and gain access to the coordinates, it seems I can do the heavy lifting with the Force but I am going to need a few drops of your Force-sensitive blood so that it recognizes your presence too, as well as your connection to me."
Leia raised an eyebrow but didn't object. Instead, she went to look for a small kitchen knife and returned just as Luke was placing the glowing holocron on the wooden table. Shrugging, she made a shallow cut on one of her fingers and pressed it until a bit of blood started falling towards the device. Before long, Luke raised his hand and closed his eyes, clearly focusing on the Force around him. It didn't take long before the brightness of the glow intensified and a loud click was heard within the object.
Suddenly they started hearing a female voice in Galactic Basic, listing the numbers that made up the coordinates to this hidden planet. Leia hurried to write them down in the datapad her brother had shared with her. After the voice finished reciting the coordinates, there was a long pause before she had something else to say.
"You have fulfilled the requirements but it is not safe to share all the information yet," The echoes of the Jedi said. "If you wish to know more, Force-sensitive twins, travel to the world of Syrax and follow the trail of the Force to the Great Temple near the equator. Once you return the holocron home, vital secrets of the Force will be revealed to you, some of which predate the foundation of the Republic itself. Pass the tests, and you will be equipped with knowledge capable of renewing the Jedi Order."
The recording ended and the holocron's glow began to fade.
"Knowledge capable of renewing the Jedi Order," He repeated with a delighted grin. "That is exactly what I have been looking for all these years!"
Then he paused, clearly analyzing the words before turning back to her. "Please Leia," Luke begged. "You heard the holocron, I really do need you to come with me this time. Only together can we overcome the failsafe."
Leia sighed deeply, feeling tired. "Well, Mon Mothma did say I was in serious need of some vacation days after all of my non-stop work at the Senate. And I suppose this is for a good cause..."
"A very good one," Luke stressed with a vigorous nod.
She smiled lightly. "Very well then, I suppose I better put our blood relation to good use then. I will speak to the Chancellor in the morning and let her know I will finally be taking some days off. You just focus on getting the ship ready by the time I am done in her office."
"Thank you so much, sis!" He said, beaming.
Leia's smile widened, realizing this was the first time he called her that, and with such affection too. Remembering they were alone in her private quarters, she decided to drop her guard.
"You're welcome, my dear brother, I will see you tomorrow."
And with that, they said goodbye, with Luke exiting her apartment soon after. Staring at the closed door for a few more seconds, she ultimately stood up and went to take a shower before turning in for the night. As she lay on her bed, trying to fall asleep, she thought she could sense the Force a bit. She was untrained, so she wasn't completely sure what to make of it.
But regardless, Leia realized she had a very good feeling about this for some reason. Yawning, she tossed around the bed and fell asleep before long.