So sorry for the delay! There was Christmas and New Year's stuff, and then I was finishing up my novel. Whew! Thank you all for your supportive reviews! Please continue to enjoy!

RSRSRSRS

CHAPTER TWO

"Where is he? We have to find him—Han, we have to find him! He's too little, he doesn't know his way around here—"

"Sweetheart, calm down. He can't have gone far. We'll just—We'll just get some lamps and—"

"Leia, what's wrong?"

"Luke! Luke, can you tell where he is?"

Rey tried to focus through the foggy darkness. The voices swam around her head, and she thought she recognized them. The first sounded like General Organa-Solo, the second…

The second, like Han Solo!

And the third…

A light blinked on through the darkness. White light. A single lamp.

And by that light she could finally see the three of them.

Leia Solo. Han Solo. And Luke Skywalker.

But they didn't look the way she remembered.

Han was so much younger, with dark hair. And though he wore sleeping clothes, he was stunningly handsome, his eyes alert. Leia, standing before him in a white nightgown, was vivid and bright and restless as a thrush; her chestnut hair undone and hanging in waves down to the backs of her knees. And Luke, who held the lamp…

Slender and nimble, dressed in black. He had no beard, and his sand-colored hair tossed in the night wind. Those same brilliant eyes, though, glanced cuttingly back and forth between his sister and brother-in-law.

"When did you notice he was missing?" Luke asked, his voice swift and youthful.

"Just five minutes ago," Leia answered, wringing her hands. "I thought I heard something, and got up to check on him. Han, he must be sleepwalking again—I was afraid he would do this after we moved here, I knew it would unsettle him—!"

"Well, let's get going and look for him!" Han shot back impatiently, waving at the blackness. "We'll go back to the house and get some lamps—"

"No, let's stay together," Luke amended. "I can feel that he's nearby, but for some reason he's a bit cloudy. Come on. We'll call for him. If he's just walking, he's probably close and we'll be able to wake him up."

And the next moment, the three of them took off, away from Rey.

A flash of alarm shot through her, and she started forward. Her feet swished through grass, cool midnight air chilling her skin. She opened her mouth to say something to them, but stopped herself. She didn't want to confuse them or frighten them, especially if they were searching for a little boy…

The lamplight bounced as they picked up their pace, and Rey watched as all three of them moved like nimble, experienced warriors down the uneven hill. Soon, the light began flaring against trunks of large trees, closely knit, and the trio's feet crunched through pine needles.

And then they began calling for him.

"Ben! Ben!" Leia cried. "Ben, where are you?"

Rey jolted to a halt, stunned.

Ben?

Kylo Ren…?

"Ben!" Han shouted. "Son?"

"Ben, it's all right!" Luke added. "Don't be afraid! If you can hear us, try coming toward our voices!"

Rey stumbled, and put a hand out onto the rough bark of one of the trees, all of a sudden feeling lightheaded. She watched as the lamp darted off into the blackness, growing smaller and smaller, the calls and footsteps trailing into the distance.

In almost no time, they had vanished, leaving her alone with only a thin curve of moonlight that hardly gave any light at all.

And then—a sound.

Just to her left.

Wet, ragged breaths. Quiet, suppressed. Choking.

A child. A little child. Crying.

She spun to face the noise, her brow tightening painfully. She froze, trying to listen.

It sounded muffled, like he was covering his face. And he had to be sitting…

Right by her feet.

"Hello?" she tried.

The crying instantly cut off with a gasp.

Movement.

The outline of a little head—it jerked up, and the moonlight outlined mussed hair.

He noisily scrambled to his feet, turned and ran.

"Wait!" Rey lunged after him, reaching out to him—

"Rey!"

Rey's eyes flew open as strong arms clamped around her. She sucked in a wrenching breath as her vision clarified—

And she realized she was standing on the very edge of a towering precipice, staring far down at the black, foaming sea, all of it blanketed by silvery moonshine.

She instantly broke into terrible shivers, and twisted her head to the left to see…

Luke.

Luke, with his beard again, his hair wild; held fast to her, pulling her into his chest with both arms. His gaze burned into her, even as he kept fistfuls of her tunic.

"What…What…?" Rey stammered.

"Back up," he urged, easing her away from the reeling plunge. "Careful, careful."

Rey shakily obeyed, letting him guide her several steps backward, away from the ledge, until her legs suddenly gave out and she sat down with a thud. Luke released her, but stood just beside her, watching her gravely.

"What…What happened?" Rey tried again.

"You said 'Wait,'" Luke told her. "And then you almost walked right off a cliff."

Rey slapped her hands to her head.

"I'm losing my mind!"

"Hm. Probably not," Luke ventured calmly. "What did you see?"

"What do you mean, what did I see?" Rey demanded.

"In your dream," Luke said, deliberately squatting down in front of her. "What did you see?"

She looked back at him for a long time, letting her hands drift back down. Finally, she swallowed.

"I saw…I saw you. And General Organa-Solo. And Han Solo. Only you were…much younger," she began. "And you were searching for a little boy. A boy called Ben. In the woods."

As Rey watched him in the harsh moonlight, Luke's expression slowly transformed. It intensified, his gaze scorching white-hot.

"That's a memory that only the four of us share," he murmured. "But I've kept my mind cloaked for years. So has my sister."

"Wait, it…That really happened?" Rey asked, sitting forward.

"Yes," Luke answered softly. "Ben was five years old."

"So…what does that mean? Why did I see it?" Rey pulled her arms toward herself. Luke's attention drifted away, the skin around his eyes tightening.

"Have you ever had any other visions like this?"

"I…Well, not like this. But yes." She nodded. "When I first touched your lightsaber."

Luke's gaze snapped back to fix on hers.

Rey's brow knitted as she stared at the ground, trying to articulate.

"It was very confusing. I was in a corridor for part of it, I saw a man with a metal hand with an artoo unit…" She blinked, then glanced up at him. "Oh. That was you."

Luke's mouth hardened, but he said nothing. Rey went on.

"I heard a man screaming, I saw Kylo Ren and other masked men standing in a muddy battlefield, surrounded by…by bodies. He came after me in the forest, with his lightsaber—but out of nowhere I heard a man say my name! I'd never heard his voice before. And then he said 'These are the first steps.'" Rey searched Luke's face. "What is all this? What does it mean?"

Luke's expression darkened further, he stood up, and turned away. He paced up the hill, then stopped and folded his arms, his back to her. For a while, the wind gusted over the rugged mount, ruffling their clothes, as silence hung between them. He finally shook his head.

"I promised myself I wouldn't get involved. Not ever again," he said. "Yes, there's evil in this galaxy, and I hate it with everything in me. But I can't defeat it or even hold it back. I've tried." He faced her again, his features set. "I do have an idea about what is happening to you. But I can't help you."

Rey bared her teeth and jumped to her feet.

"But I need your help. And she needs your help—your sister!" she cried. "I'm…I have no idea what to do with this sort of thing!"

Luke stared at her, silent. Rey strode toward him, again trying not to tremble.

"I know terrible things have happened, and that everyone has made some terrible mistakes," she whispered earnestly. "But we can only face what is before us. Because no matter what, in the end…" She locked gazes with him, and would not relent. "You must do what you feel is right."

Luke took a deep breath, and lowered his head, still holding her gaze. Then, he glanced off, toward his hut.

"Come on. We'll get Chewie and Artoo, and I'll go back with you in the Falcon," he murmured. "I'll tell Leia what I think is happening to you, and she can help you from there."

Rey mentally stumbled.

"Wait you—you're not going to stay?"

"No," Luke said, starting up the hill. "That's as far as I go."

Blinking back tears again—it seemed to be frequent, around him—Rey clenched her fists and marched up after him.

RSRSRSRS

Kylo Ren jerked awake.

Searing pain lashed up his right shoulder, the side of his neck and across his face. It throbbed through his left shoulder, and speared through the left side of his gut. He tried to focus, but visions of what he had just awoken from clouded his head.

Lost. Lost in a forest, at night. Stumbling around in the dark, having awakened with no idea how he'd gotten out there. Falling down in a wild rosebush and cutting up his hands. Hearing people call for him, but they were too far away…

Seeing a winsome, blade-like young woman move into the light of the moon right above where he sat. Her silhouette captured against the whiteness. She turned. She saw him.

"Wait…!"

Kylo blinked again. He had something in his mouth, clenched between his teeth—something that covered his mouth and nose. His exhalations bubbled around his face, and his body felt strange and drifting…

Ah. A bacta tank.

Aboard a ship, apparently. He could feel the vibration from the engine tingle up through the walls of the tank. He could only see vague distortions outside the curved walls.

But he could feel him just beyond.

Supreme Leader Snoke.

His powerful black presence seeped and slithered like a wraith just out of Kylo's sight. And though Kylo could hear nothing while submerged in this liquid, he could feel Snoke's words.

"You have disappointed me, Kylo Ren. I expected more from you."

Kylo's memories suddenly clarified—

Earthquake. Ice. Two lightsabers, blue and red.

Before that—bleeding. Bleeding onto the snow. Running.

Before that. Inside the battle station. Watching him fall.

Before that…

The blade. All the way through.

A hand on his cheek. Calloused. Gentle. Hazel eyes.

Before that: "Yes. Anything."

Kylo choked, biting his tongue.

"Yesss," Snoke hissed through his skull. "You know what I mean. And so now, you will have another chance to prove yourself. I am taking you to a desolate planet, where you will finally undergo the trials that have been awaiting you since you began this journey. I hope, for your sake, that you do not fail me again."

The shadow faded away, though Kylo tried with all his might to catch a glimpse of him. Coldness settled in his muscles, and he strained to recall the breathing techniques he'd been taught to calm his hammering heart.

But nothing worked. And then, the lights in the roof of the tank went out.

To be continued!

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