Prologue

Luke stood up, finished with his meditating for the morning. He had been deeply troubled lately. He could feel a presence in the dark side rising up. Even more worrisome was the touch of it he could feel on his 15 year old nephew, Ben. He had been sensing the darkness grow in him for years. It was why he had come with Luke 10 years ago when he opened his training academy. Leia had sent Ben with Luke to try and get control of the darkness they both felt stirring.

Luke was beginning to worry that decision had been a mistake. Ben had felt abandoned when he had been sent to his uncle's academy and that had just fueled the darkness inside him. Luke had been considering sending him back to his parents for awhile. He didn't know what more he could do for him and being around his mother's love might just do him some good.

With difficulty he forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Today he was having his students work on their lightsaber skills. All his students were already in the training room when he arrived. He quickly split them up into pairs and set them to spar. Throughout the morning he walked among them correcting stances and techniques. He stopped for a moment to watch Ben sparring. He was paired with a young woman about his same age. Ben was amazing in his skills with the force. He learned quickly and had a natural skill with a saber. Despite Luke's fear of the darkness within him, he couldn't help but be proud of what his nephew had accomplished.

The young woman, Arees was holding her own against him though. Suddenly he felt a taste of dark in the air and immediately looked to Ben. Only to see Arees attempt to throw a large boulder toward him through the force. Ben just barely dodged getting crushed. Luke's eyes narrowed and he started toward Arees to remind her this was merely a sparring match. But, before he could Ben charged her. Suddenly their sparring became much more serious and the air around them was so thick with the dark side he was almost choking on it. He had never been so grateful he had chosen to have the students use practice sabers during these matches. Both of them already looked injured.

He sent them both flying away from each other with a force push. "That's enough. C'hale, you see to Arees wounds. Ben, come with me." He commanded. He looked back at Arees. He was shocked by the amount of darkness he could still feel coming off her and other students he quickly realized. He had been so focused on Ben and the darkness in him that he had missed other students falling.

Grabbing Ben he realized with relief that the boy only had some scraps and bruises. After cleaning him up, Luke sent him to meditate for the rest of the day. Ben brightened at the prospect. It wasn't long ago that it had been impossible to get him to mediate. But, lately he'd been having a type of visions himself. From what Ben described it was more like feelings and occasional glimpses of a young woman, different ages in each vision but Ben was sure she was the same. Luke had poured over all the information he could find on the subject. But, he still couldn't understand what was happening. His best guess was that Ben and this girl had a force link. Why or how he couldn't say. He was grateful for it though. It seemed to have a calming effect on his easily angered nephew and got him more interested in this aspect of his training.

Luke had been startled at what he had seen happen today. He had always been aware of the darkness within his nephew. But, what he had felt in Arees was more pronounced then his nephews. And they were not the only two children he felt it from.

It was way past bedtime by the time he arrived back at the temple. As he noticed himself outside his nephew's rooms he came to a decision. He would find out for sure just how deep the dark side had spread inside him.

He snuck into the hut and stood beside the young man. He reached out to Ben's mind and was instantly brought into a vision. What he saw horrified him. Flashes of murders and torture and he could hear the screams of innocents. He was mortified to see a brief flash of a red saber stabbing an older Han Solo.

He drew out quickly in shock. Instinct overtook him. He could stop this. He wouldn't let his friend be murder in such a way. He wouldn't let his nephew become what Anakin Skywalker had. His hand jumped automatically to his lightsaber ready to light it and end the sith.

That thought stopped him. He gazed down at the young boy whose mother had put in his care. His nephew, who he loved very much and removed his hand from the unlit saber. This future was not set. As much darkness as he felt in him, there was just as much light. Ben needed to let go of the feelings of abandonment he had towards his parents. That was fueling his anger.

Luke made up his mind to send Ben back to his parents just as the young man was waking up. "Uncle?" he questioned.

"I was just checking on you. Go back to sleep. We have much to discuss in the morning," he replied.

Ben merely nodded before turning back over. Luke looked back at him as he was leaving, thinking back on his horrific vision and hoping he'd made the right choice.