Disclaimer: See Chapter 0.

Author's note: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Sorry I'm so late with this one. I had to figure out where I was going with it.

I feel the need to mention this before someone makes a comment about how this story isn't going to follow the post-RotJ books. First, most of those books and series were written before the new trilogy was created. While everyone had to talk to Lucas before publishing their work, there are inconsistencies, not only between the books and the movies, but between the books of one author and another. This is understandable, but I don't want to try and pick my way through that maze. I'd rather just start fresh and say that, while this story does follow "Return of the Jedi", it has nothing to do with the "Expanded Universe" stories. The only things I'm allowing in are 1)Leia and Han were married, and 2) they had twin children, Jaina and Jacen. Beyond that, it's all my interpretation.

That said, I hope you all enjoy the rest of the story!

The Jedi Temple Archive had once been a beautiful, cathedral-like place, the stone archways playing with the light from the circular and triangular windows. The stacks had been full of glowing data crystals from floor to balcony to ceiling containing information on all manner of subjects, the most extensive library in the galaxy. Droids had roamed from one end to the other, taking the crystals to terminals to be observed by whichever Jedi had requested them. It had been a solemn place, but one alive with ideas and the traditions of a thousand generations of Jedi Knights.

The violent birth of the Empire had changed all that. The Archive was now a cold, haunted place, filled with dead droids, dead caretakers, and horribly, dead children. All of the dead had been destroyed either with blaster bolts by clone troops or with the blade of a lightsaber. Nothing else could have cut that cleanly. Luke Skywalker shuddered to walk where his father had walked, knowing what he now knew, that his father had destroyed this place while following the first order he ever took from Palpatine.

With the destruction of the Empire and the final surrender of Palpatine's armies, the Galaxy was trying to form a new government, trying to bring order to the chaos that had been left behind. It was not an easy task, and information was being sought out on how the Old Republic had been formed when it was still young and strong, and how, in the height of its power, it had been so corruptible. Padmé Naberie had been quoted once as saying that freedom had died "with thunderous applause". Today's leaders wanted to avoid such circumstances, and only one place was ever said to hold the kind of extensive records that they were looking for.

It had been said that if a set of facts wasn't in the Jedi Archive, it didn't exist. There was hope that the ingenious builders of the Archive might have had backups to the information they were storing, and as Luke was the only Jedi currently alive, he was the one they had sent to find out.

Luke stared at the dead walls of crystals. All had been wiped out by a massive power surge, which he guessed had occurred when the fire that had raged through the temple had reached the generators. Nothing usable had survived, which had, of course, been the intention of the Emperor. Information was a weapon he did not want the common entity to have so readily available.

When Luke had first begun looking for this place, Artoo Detoo had surprised him with the amount of information he had about his family. Not only had the little droid known Ben Kenobi, he had known him even before he had met a young boy named Anakin Skywalker. Artoo had told him the whole story of the rise of the Empire, from the Trade Federation's blockade of the Naboo to the final death throes of the Old Republic and the self-destruction of Anakin. Leia had listened to the tale as well, translated by See-Threepio, and had held his hand as they heard of the destruction of their father, the death of their mother and their own birth. Then they got to laugh when he told them about Ben ordering Threepio's memory erased and the golden droid started sputtering indignantly, but it was the only bright spot in the whole narrative.

And then Artoo had told them that there was a backup to the library, a protected independent system whose only connection to the main archive was the updating circuitry. It was fail-safed to disconnect in the event of a power surge, so there was no risk of loss in the backup. It had been built by a Master Garik hundreds of years ago and kept secret by the Jedi Council. As head of the Council, Yoda had been the only one left with that information, and he had given it to Artoo since a droid was required to access the information. He had the access code as well.

Which was why they were here. If there had ever been a time to revive the Jedi Temple Archive, it was now. Yoda had told him to pass on what he had learned, and once the Temple was cleaned up and repaired, he thought that this would make the perfect place to do exactly that.

Artoo wasted no time in locating an access terminal that had not been destroyed in the fire, and into that terminal he sent one command on all frequencies: exeunt mechanos. At first, nothing happened, but soon the whine of ancient servos could be heard deep under the floor. Then a seemingly decorative disk in the center of the floor split into four equal sections and folded down until they reached the floor. Attached to each piece was a hydraulic leg, and as the servos continued making noise, a huge droid climbed spider-like out of the hole and settled above it.

The body of the droid was sleek and golden, long and tapered like a missile and it had two compound eyes on the sides of a voice grate. The droid focused on Luke and Artoo simultaneously, and making a decision based on orders given to it long ago, it unrolled itself along the barrel. The inside of the droid was full of data crystals, all tightly packed in row after row of concentric power stations. Thousands of little arms flitted around the crystals, and one of these removed a single crystal, rolled down a track to the head end and down a slit to the tip of the nose, extending the crystal for Luke to take.

There was a strange energy about the machine, but Luke sensed no darkness from it, so he took the crystal. The droid spoke with a deep, thickly accented voice, as it said, "This collection is a complete backup of the Jedi Temple Archive, until connection was terminated precisely thirty-two standard years, four months and two days ago."

Not missing the fact that his thirty-second birthday had been four months and two days ago, Luke asked, "How much data is that?"

"Approximately seventy-five quintillion terabytes."

Artoo let out an appreciative whistle.

"No kidding." Then he looked at the crystal. It was the source of the energy he had been feeling. It was similar to the Force in nature, but it seemed to vibrate with suppressed potential where the Force was a calm flow, a part of the universe and just as old. Still it didn't seem dangerous, so he inserted it into Artoo's reader port. He immediately scanned the crystal and found a holographic recording, so he began to play it.

The image was life-sized, and obviously a Jedi. He was tall, with dark hair and a full beard, but his face was familiar. Luke shared it. That was shocking, to say the least, but he remembered that Yoda had said that the Force ran strongly in his family. Maybe he didn't just mean his father and sister.

The image began to speak. "Greetings, Jedi. I am Master Garik Gryffindor, and I am responsible for the creation of the droid backup system. My particular talents in the Force and in magic allow me to see the future with frightening clarity at times, and I knew that the day would come when the library would be destroyed, so I acted to prevent the loss of information. I also knew that a descendant of mine would be the one to reopen the Archive, and I planned accordingly. I have a lot to tell you.

"First, true magic only exists on one world that I know of; the primitive world I called home. The system is on the Outer Rim and the world is called Earth. On that world, you will find a single distant relation, another descendant of mine. He will not have the potential to be a Jedi, but he will have dire need of your aid. He will be a young man of seventeen years, physically marked by the Dark One he battles. Also, you will find another young man, unrelated, who uses magic only through the Force, and this one you may apprentice.

"Both of these men are in danger from a creature who used to be a man, a creature with seven souls, all of them despicable, diseased wisps of energy. Only one is in his body, and some of them may have already been destroyed, but until all of the external pieces are destroyed, he can return to life again and again.

"Now, Jedi, do not make the mistake of underestimating magic. While not as powerful as the Force, magic is much more versatile, producing effects you would never imagine if you had not seen them. It changes the very fabric of life on my world, creating more native sentient species than exist on any other world in the galaxy. In the hands of a witch or wizard, a human who uses magic, almost anything can happen." The ancient Jedi Master pulled a short wooden rod out of a pocket in his robes. "This is my magic wand. Since I have learned to use the Force, I have not needed it to use magic, but wizards are trained to use the wand to focus the power within them. Wands are made from different woods, all of which have different emotional properties, and all have a magical substance at their core, which acts in the same way as the crystal at the center of a lightsaber, focusing the energies of the user. But, as the Force acts in very predictable ways, enhancing our own abilities and perceptions and allowing us to affect the world, magic takes it further and actually changes matter and energy. You will not be able to understand until you see it happen. Just be wary of the wand which is pointed in your direction, as there are many spells which are weapons to the wizard."

The ancient Jedi's face was troubled, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "I know I ask much by sending you to this world. Its troubles will not spread to the rest of the Galaxy because the people there have no hyperdrive capability, and it is so remote that not even the Hutts had any interest in it. It may not technically be the business of a Jedi. But this dark creature will destroy my home world if he is not stopped. Your cousin is the one destined to destroy him, but he has no guarantee of success. He needs the guidance of one who will not underestimate him because of his youth, one who has seen battle and who is still among the living. The other young man comes from an elitist family who will kill him if they find he is not truly a wizard, and though he has skirted the dark side before, he finds it abhorrent because he has seen its effects." Master Garik straightened. "Have you any questions? This is an interactive recording, so I may answer them."

One came to Luke immediately. "How can you see the future so clearly? Master Yoda told me that it is always in motion, and I have seen that he is right."

"Master Yoda was also my Master. He was not incorrect, but magic echoes with time more easily than the Force, and events which cause ripples in the Force also cause ripples in time, and it is these ripples which can travel backward and touch the mind of a Seer. Events such as the destruction of Alderaan and the death of the Sith Emperor are so violent that they were able to reach me in this time so long ago. My own family lines getting tangled in dire events within less than a century of each other caused a major ripple the moment my son was born on Bedlin. The rise of the Empire was already causing some movement, but your father was a creation of the Force itself, a vergence which centered in his mother's womb and caused his birth. This caused me to actually produce a prophesy. 'As Twilight falls upon the galaxy, one will be born, a son of the Force, and he will return balance and bring his dawn out of the dark times.'"

Luke shook his head. "I'll bet that didn't go over well. From what I know of the Jedi Council, they were so steeped in tradition that anything outside of that would have been mistrusted."

Master Garik grinned. "You are quite correct. Most of the Council refused to believe me. As this backup Archive is being built, I am preparing to leave the Jedi Order. I have done all I can do here, and I am needed on my home world. My prophesy will be remembered, but it will be misinterpreted, even by Yoda. It is the Council's distrust of your father that will allow the darkness into his heart, and their traditions which will cause him to defy them."

Luke was not surprised by this. He had already heard it all from Artoo, but it was still the saddest story he'd ever heard. But something else caught his attention. "Your prophesy says that he was to bring 'his dawn'? Did you know what world he would be found on?"

"No. Why?"

The Jedi grinned, realizing what part of the prophesy meant. "He was found by Master Qui-gon Ginn on Tatooine, a desert world with twin suns. I was raised there later, but my sister was raised on Alderaan."

Garik's eyebrows went up onto his forehead. "Ah! Twins! That makes sense. You were both instrumental in his triumph?"

Remembering his father's last moments, a soft smile came to Luke's face. "Yes, I believe so. He turned back from the dark side for us."

The hologram turned his head slightly to the side. "Will you go to Earth? Will you help to return balance there as you have for the rest of the galaxy?"

Luke looked up. "How much time do I have, or do you know?"

"Very little. I can't be more specific because this is only a recording."

That threw Luke a bit because the ancient Jedi had been reacting so believably to his questions. He suspected that the magic Garik had placed in the data crystal might have something to do with it. But still, he had answered as best he could. Luke made his decision. "I'll deliver this droid archive to the Alliance leaders so that they can look it over, and then I'll go. As far as it not being the business of the Jedi, there's a lot of the Code that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Since I must begin anew, I might as well write a new Code, one that avoids some of the problems that the old one had. It seems to me that if a Jedi asks help for his home world, then it should be given."

Garik grinned. "Thank you, Master Jedi. I had not foreseen your changing the Code, but it is good. Go first to the one who is strong in the Force." Garik's image was replaced with that of a globe map, but his voice continued on and the map zoomed in as he spoke. "This is Earth. You will find all you seek on these islands, called Britain. Your Padawan, should you decide to take him as such, is on this one, known as Ireland. Your cousin is on the bigger island. Your droid had the coordinates." Garik reappeared. "One last piece of advice. By the time all of this comes to pass, the ignorant, non-magical public of this world will have some space capability and will have many scopes watching the night skies. It is best if they remain ignorant, that they be allowed to discover the truth on their own, because right now their military would panic, and though you could easily best them, it would be better for everyone to avoid them. I recommend using a ship with a cloaking device. Farewell, my son. May the Force be with you." And then Garik disappeared.

Luke did nothing for a moment, just absorbing everything that had just happened. When he'd first been asked to see if anything in the Archive could be saved, he had agreed readily, feeling the pull of the Force toward the very thing they were asking him to retrieve. But he hadn't known what would await him, and he certainly hadn't expected this. But still, it was worth doing. His family was so small, another addition would be welcome, as would another person to whom he could pass on the knowledge of the Force.

Artoo beeped a question at him. "Yes, Artoo. We're going. But we've got to get this droid to Leia first, and we've got to find a ship with a cloaking device. I was thinking of borrowing Lando's new toy." Artoo warbled derisively. "I know, but he'll probably let me use it once I tell him how primitive this place is supposed to be. Don't worry, Artoo. Everything will be fine."

Reviews are wonderful!