Hey sorry this took so long, but I had stuff n thangs to do.

Thanks to all the people who commented/followed/favourited. It means a lot.

ENJOY CHPATER 3!

Pain.

All Joa could feel was pain. A white hot searing fire that began in her chest and spread throughout her entire body.

The pain was instantaneous, and lasted for what felt like days.

As the pain began to fade, a numbness took over. Her body limp, frozen…. And numb. Like she was suspended in mid air, with no way of escaping.

After the numbness wore off, Joa's ears picked up the sounds of machines beeping, voices muttering, and her own deep breathing. Cheeks twitching, she fluttered her eyes open and was almost blinded by the white light of the room she found herself in.

Her vision began adjusting and she took in her surroundings. She was in a white room. Clean and sterile. She was in a medical room of sorts. Hooked up to a machine doing god knows what to her.

She looked down and noticed she was dressed in a pristine white medical gown. A large scar protruding from the fabric. She pulled the collar down to reveal the scar stretched from her neck towards her heart, some slashes remained on her arm also. The wound still had stitches but looked as if it began to heal.

Then the realisation hit her. She had just been stabbed with a lightsabre. And survived.

She didn't want to believe it, but the memories played over and over in her mind. Ben Solo had killed their fellow padawans, and almost killed her.

"Ben…" She muttered. Voice raspy and dry.

Her heart rate increased and her lips began to shake. The machines beeped louder and faster from the changes in her body.

A droid whizzed to her sized and took readings from the machines she was connected to.

The door to the room swung open to reveal and rather tired and frantic Leia and Han. The ran to her side.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake!" Leia exclaimed placing one hand on her head and the other on her arm. Han stood by her side and stared down at Joa with concern.

"How you feeling kiddo?" He asked.

"I…" Joa's throat was dry and she honestly didn't know how to answer that question. How would you feel if you had just been stabbed? "How long was I-?"

"Three weeks." Leia answered. "It didn't look like you were to wake up at all."

"The doctor said the sabre was only half an inch away from your heart. The odds of you surviving were extremely low."

Joa simply nodded. Still reliving the nightmare. She clutched Leia's hand tightly. She was shaking in disbelief still. She stared blankly at the wall opposite her bed. Deep in thought.

They were silent for a while. The droids, nurses and doctors walking in an out, asking her questions, and she nodded or shook her head in response, not saying a word.

When they were alone, Leia and Han attempted to ask her questions of their own.

"Can we get you anything?"

"Are you hungry? Thirsty even?"

"Do you wish to be alone?" and so on.

Each question was still met with silence, and Joa shaking her head in answer to all.

"Oh, I just remembered." Han said, reaching into his pocket, taking out a chain, a single gold ring dangling at the end. "They found this with you. I'm afraid it broke and one of the rings was lost. We couldn't find the second ring...I managed to fix it though."

Joa looked at his hand. There were two rings. Her parents wedding bands. Her father died a month before she was born and her mother followed him in childbirth. Their rings were the only possessions they had and Joa kept them close to her at all times. The chain must have broke in the struggle.

She reached her hand out and Han dropped it into her palm. She closed it tight and brought her hand to her lap. Staring at her closed fist she rubbed the stitches with her free hand and clenched her eyes shut.

Then, she spoke, finally opening her eyes and looking at her guardians. "Where is Master Luke?"

Leia and Han looked at one another. They didn't know how to explain it to her.

"Joa…" Han began. "Luke hasn't been seen since… you know… He's … gone…"

She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Wha- how? Please don't say Ben-"

"No no no dear, He is alive." Leia assured her. "At least… we think he is. Luke was the one who brought you to the healers… Then he simply…. Left."

Joa's eyes widened in shock. Luke had… disappeared?

"He can't be." She shook her head and removed the thin bed sheet from her and swung her legs over the bed, got up and tried to make it to the door. "I have to find him, we have to find him-"

"Joa please get back into bed!"

"Wait a minute kid!-"

"I need to go find him!" She protested, wincing as she unhooked herself from the machine. Joa took one step towards the door and collapsed. She was still very weak. Han and Leia ran to her side, both trying to support her.

"We have to fix this. Luke is the only one who can… We have to!"

Joa groaned and clutched her chest where her stitches were. She had popped one and blood stained the white gown. She began sniffling.

"It's all my fault…." She whispered. Large tears clouded her vision and streaked her cheeks. The tears fell at her knees. "It's all my…." Joa shrieked in despair. Emotions overwhelming her.

Han brought her face to his chest and Leia enveloped them in her arms. Joa knelt on that floor and cried. Staining Han's shirt and clung to him tightly like a scared child.

"None of this is your fault…" Han reassured her.

She cried for hours, eventually tiring herself out, inevitably falling asleep in Han and Leia's arms. Han carried her small frame on the bed and tucked her in.

Joa clenched her hands into fists as she rested them on her lap, Poe had began their decent on the desert planet. It had been a long journey but they had finally made it to Jakku. It was night when they arrived; stars shining brightly in the pitch black sky, no artificial light to pollute the night sky and obscure the stars. They landed on the outskirts of a small village, couldn't be any more than a few hundred inhabitants. It was here that Lor San Takka had resided .

She hopped out of the ship, wrapped in her poncho, hood up and her hand in her pockets. It was a bit too cold for her liking and she tried to shake it off. Poe and BB-8 emerged from their ship and joined her.

"Okay you ready?" he asked zipping his jacket up.

"Yeah," She nodded, taking a piece of paper out of her trouser pocket. "According to the coordinates, he should be in one of the huts near the centre." Joa pointed towards a hut where coinsidently an elderly man, fitting San Lor Tekka's description was entering. Poe nodded towards the hut and the three entered the desert village.

With few villagers awake at this hour, Joa, Poe and BB-8 found it easy to maneuver their way over to the hut. The small amount of villagers that were awake and outside, greeted them with curious stares. The village itself was quite isolated from any towns or cities, and as well as having little technological advances, made little to no contact with strangers and hardly had visitors.

Joa dragged her boots across the sand, can't help but feeling a strange heaviness in the pit of her stomach. She had very keen senses and when her gut said something was wrong, she never ignored it.

"We'll have to keep on alert. I'm getting a pretty strong feeling something bad is gonna happen."

Poe scoffed. "You worry too much. We'll be fine." In responses BB-8 began beeped. "See even BB-8 agrees. Don't get too worked up. I promise everything will be fine."

Joa twisted her face in uncertainty. "I hope for everyone's sake, you're right."

When they arrived outside the hut, Poe stopped Joa with his hand before she could knock on the side to let the inhabitant know of their presence.

"Wait a sec, I'll go in first. To make sure we're at the right place. I don't particularly want any Tom Dick and Harry knowing ~what~ you are. Don't need to be drawing any unnecessary attention to ourselves. We don't know these people." He whispered

"What I was." Joa corrected, in a half shout half whistler. "But fine. If you really must. Don't be too long!"

"I can hear you out there." A voice called from inside the hut. Joa and Poe pursed their lips.

The resistance pilot entered first, BB-8 and Joa waiting outside like they had agreed.

"Resistance…" The old man mused pointing to the emblem on Poe's jacket. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Please sit."

Poe agreed and sat opposite the old man on a wooden chair. His dwellings were humble, nothing but the essentials. A simple stove in the corner, where a few pans and plates at atop, a simple bedroom was through the archway and a small table with two chairs and rug where he and Poe now sat.

"I think you may already know why I'm here." Poe said, in a matter-of-fact way.

"I? And that person standing outside my home, ear pressed up against the door, is not in your company?"

Joa was shocked at how sharp his awareness still was. She entered slowly and saw the small smile from his face drop.

"Joa?" He asked, not believing what he saw. "You are alive?"

Joa smiled and shrugged. "It seems so."

"My dear you have truly... grown. Please, please sit! I know what you came for. As soon as this came within my possession, I had to discreetly alert the resistance. It was not easy to get the message out without informing the First Order at the same time."

Joa dragged a small wooden stool form the corner of the room and sat next to Poe. Tekka fished a small pouch from his robes and handed it to Joa. She held out her hand and he dropped it in, folding her fingers back. "This will begin to make things right. I've travelled too far and seen too much to ignore the despair in the galaxy." He leaned back into his chair and laced his fingers together. He then looked Joa dead in the eyes. "Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force."

"Well because of you, now we have a chance." Poe said, and Joa handed the pouch to him to place in his bag. "The general's been after this for a long time."

"Oh 'the General'? To me, she's royalty."

Suddenly, the little orange droid hastily burst through the door, chirping excitedly. The strange feeling in Joa's stomach became stronger.

"We got company." She said, feeling the presence of the First Order closing in.

They all ran outside to survey the area. The villagers were shouting in warning at one another and dread was in the air. Po got out his binoculars and looked ahead. With a serious expression, he lowered them. "You have to hide."

"You two have to leave." Tekka pleaded. "Now, go!" Joa took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. Her way of saying thank you. He replied with a silent nod.

"C'mon." She said to her companions and they began sprinting for their ships. Villagers exited their huts to see what the commotion was and warning bells echoed in the desert.

Joa, Poe and BB-8 ran as fast as they could to escape, leaping over anything in their way and Poe holding his bag close to his chest.

The villagers began to open fire on the arriving First Order stormtroopers, and they received the same. Shouting and screams came from the unarmed villagers and Joa winced knowing she could not turn around, or risk jeopardising the mission.

"Come on BB-8 Hurry!" Poe shouted at his droid, climbing into the helm of his ship.

Joa rushed to her and climbed in at the same time. They revved their engines and through their earpieces attempted to co ordinate a take off.

"Blast that X-Wing!"

"Over there! Over there!"

Stormtroopers yelled orders at one another and shots rained down on their engine was blasted to the point of near explosion. They had no way of escape.

Her breathing became fast paced, worry was beginning to settle into her mind. Hopping out of her the ship, she inspected the damage then Joa banged on the glass, blasting any approaching stormtroopers with the balster she retrieved. "Poe we gotta move on foot. The engine's busted."

Poe jumped down and joined her and BB-8 wheeled beside them. They looked around at all the destruction that was occurring. Poe grabbed the pouch out of his bag and practically though it at Joa. "Take this, BB-8 and get out of here. It will be much safer with you than it is with me."

"What?! I'm not leaving without you!"

"Well we don't got a lot of options at the moment. I'll try buy you some time. You and BB-b get as far away from here as you can. No arguing! GO!" Poe ran towards the commotion, without even giving You a chance to change his mind. She looked down at BB-8 and bent down to his level.

"He's either mad or stupid if he thinks he can do this alone." Joa pressed a compartment on the droid's round body and a holder hiss out. She took the contents of the pouch out and placed it into BB-8's compartment. Joa tapped on his head "I promise to come back for you. Me and Poe. Alright?" BB-8 chirped in agreement and rolled as fast as he could away.

Joa raced towards the blaster fire, blaster in hand, hood up and a scarf covering her mouth. She landed beside Poe and joined him in taking down the attacking stormtroopers.

"What? Are you crazy?!" He exclaimed in between blasts. "I told you to run!"

"Don't worry I gave the map to BB-8. I wasn't in full consciousness going to let you do this on your own now was I?!"

"You really are stubborn.!"

"Damn straight!" Joa was an excellent shot and every target she aimed at was hit. Trying to protect the innocent villagers from being slaughtered. Poe's firing halted and he looked into the sky. Joa followed suit and looked towards his gaze.

A large black imperial shuttle landed on the sand before the chaos. Joa's eye grew as wide as saucepans.

Its him… He- He's on that ship. Joa's thoughts screamed at her. She froze in her spot.

"He's here." She said, almost hushed. Her hands began to shake. Poe noticed this and dropped his blaster, to hold her hands and hold her down behind the dunes to shield them.

"Joa! Hey Joa! You need to calm down!"

Out from the shuttle appeared 4 stormtroopers and in front of them was a masked man in black robes. He had a menacing aura surrounding him and Joa immediately sense his presence.

Kylo Ren.

He scanned the village and immediately made his way to his men, who were holding San Lor Tekka. The surviving villagers were placed in a circle in the centre of the village, with stormtroopers surrounding them, blasters pointed in their direction.

No one had seemed to have spotted the position Joa dn Poe where hiding in and Joa used everything in her powers to keep their presence hidden from Ren.

"Look how old you've become." the robotic voice of Kylo Ren stated to Tekka.

"Something far worse has happened to you.."

Ren felt a stirring in the force he could not quite place. Ignoring the feeling for now he looked back to Tekka. "You know what I've come for." He said referring to the map.

Shit! Joa cursed in her head. We should have come sooner!

"I know where you come from. Before you called yourself Kylo Ren."

"The map to Skywalker. We know you found it. And now you're going to give it to the First Order."

"The First Order rose from the dark side." Tekka was still trying to reason with him. "You did not."

"I will show you the dark side." Ren was becoming impatient now.

"You may try. But you cannot the deny the truth that is you family."

Kylo Ren's demeanor changed almost instantly. "You are so right." He released his red lightsaber from beneath his robes and as it crackled in the wind, he quickly cut Tekka down. It was quick, but Joa knew it was not painless. She gasped and quickly covered her mouth in shock. While she was facing the opposite direction and could not see what had happened, she could feel it.

Before she knew it, Poe ran out from behind the dune and fired his blaster. Ren, with cat-like reflexes known to jedi and sith, stopped the blast in mid air and froze the pilot in the process.

Two stormtroopers ran out and punched Poe in the gut, winding him and causing him to drop his blaster. After they had disarmed him, they brought him to his knees before Ren.

Kylo bent down and examined the attacker before hi. Due to the fact Ren had a mask on, Poe could not read his expression. "So who talks first? You talk first ? I talk first?"

Poe's stupid questions caused Joa to come out of her panic attack and look on at the scene, still hidden.

"tHe old man gave it to you." Ren deduced.

"It's just very hard to understand you with all the…"

"Search him."

"-apparatus." The stormtroopers grabbed Poe by the scruff of his neck, pulled him up and began frisking him. He was glad he had given the map tp Joa, who in turn gave it to BB-8, who was hopefully miles away from this scene.

"Nothing sir." The stormtrooper concluded his search.

"Put him on board." Ren ordered.

"Sir, the villagers?"

A eerie silence filled the air as everyone waited the instruction of Kylo Ren. "Kill them all."

Almost on instinct, Joa jumped up from behind the dune and raised her weapon to Ren. "Wait!"

The Stormtroopers then aimed at the newcomer, ready to fire. Ren recognised the voice of the woman who attempted to protect the villagers. He raised his hands to signal his men to hold their fire. Joa stood before him, no longer a teenager, but a matured woman, aiming her weapon at him. This was the presence he felt. He mentally scolded himself for not realising sooner.

"You want the map?You leave these people alive… And I will co operate."

Ren tilted his head to one side as if to say 'What could you possibly do?'

"Then I will spare your men." Joa was hoping he wouldn't call her bluff. She could easily take down half of his men but she was clearly outnumbered. She slowly lowered her gun and raised her hands to show she would go with them.

Ren almost chuckled at her bravado. But he knew she had information none the less so he was going to comply. In one last attempt to reason with him, Joa looked into his eyes - or wherever she assumed his eyes where- and mouthed 'please'

"Very well then. Leave them alive. Take her." He said without another word, surprising his men. He then entered the ship and out of Joa's vision.

The stormtroopers surrounded Joa and hauled her onto the shuttle. She was placed in a single holding cell with Poe. They were both then handcuffed and guarded.

"Hey." Poe nudged her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She lied. She was the most agitated she had been in a while. Knowing she'd have to face him as soon as they arrived to wherever they were heading to.

Ren took his seat on the shuttle, and stared at his boots. It really was her.

A whole storm of conflicting emotions swirled inside of him as he planned his next move. He would have to inform Supreme Leader Snoke of her. Unsure whether or not he would be displeased to know of her survival.

It had killed Ren to attack her that day, but he knew he didn't have a choice. The dark side was strong within him but it was the moment Joa had rejected his proposal to join him all those years ago pushed him over the edge.

He thought he killed her.

Ren was unsure if the emotion he was feeling was of relief… or dread. Either way he knew he needed to speak to Joa.

You know what to do!

~J