Luke sat gazing out at the thousands of shivering stars from the co-pilot seat of the Millennium Falcon. They had won, at least technically they had. But more than joy, he felt a deep sense that a large part of him was missing. His father was dead. He remembered the funeral pyre burning bright into the dark. Murky shadows slinking by and by behind his back. Even if all that was months ago, it lingered. The memories were still fresh in his mind as if it were yesterday that it happened. He hadn't been able to tear his mind away from all of the events that took place, even if now, he was a Jedi. The feeling simply would not go, and it bothered him more with nearly each passing second. Han had noticed something was off weeks ago, but only vaguely, yet several times, asked if everything was alright. He added that cocky half smile, and called him 'kid.' Perhaps hoping it would cheer up his friend, but it didn't. And even though Luke lied like his life depended on it, he caught a glimpse of disappointment on the smuggler's face with each lie. As if he knew. But it retreated before it was truly noticeable, and Luke didn't want to bring it up with him. He didn't want to talk about it.

Han entered the room wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, pausing briefly to look at Luke. "Cheer up, kid. We can finally be on our merry way."

Luke spun slowly around in the chair to face him. "What makes you think I'm not cheery?" He teased playfully.

"Well you should be! You didn't have to tamper with that stupid engine again." He replied almost in a mutter.

"Well you're the one who blew a fuse jumping to hyperspace one too many times too fast. So it was your problem." Luke smiled sarcastically, but it still managed to look genuine and sweet. He had to force all his smiles these days. He was just too distracted. At least, he hoped that's all it was.

Han let out a grunt of dismissal and momentarily left the room. For a few more minutes, Luke wandered about in his thoughts. Meditating had not made them go away. In fact, it had made the problem worse. That had confused him, and he had not tried it again. Fearing it might decrease the quality of the situation even further. He didn't consult Leia or Han because, well, he didn't think they'd understand. Maybe they would think he was just clinging to things that he didn't want to let go. But he did want to let go. He just wanted peace of mind and clear happiness.

The solution had not yet appeared to him, no matter how long he sat and thought, desperately staring at those far away stars.

"We're going home." Luke sighed the words to no one but himself.

"Sure are!" Han sat down in the seat next to his friend, who nearly jumped out of his skin at the reply.

"Han!" Luke punched him in the shoulder, and leaned back in the chair. "You scared me. I hate it when you do that..." He trailed off, returning to his relaxed state.

"Ow, thanks for the bruise. I was bein' nice." Han smiled to just himself, and rubbed his shoulder.

"Where's Leia?"

"Sleeping."

"Good, I thought she looked tired." He commented casually.

Han flicked a few switches, and took off on a straight course for Coruscant. The Jedi Temple had been rebuilt, and many Jedi brought back to life somehow. Luke suggested it could have been the force, but Han wasn't entirely convinced of that. Even so, it wasn't the most pressing matter to either of them at that moment.

The Millennium Falcon landed on the ground, and Luke was out the door as soon as it opened. But he didn't walk in the direction of the Temple, rather, he just walked into the endless cityscape that flashed and wailed around him. The noise managed to drown the thoughts in his head, and he found a particularly noisy place to stand outside of. People from all different reaches of the galaxy passed him by, thinking little of it. There was peace in the noise, and that was all he needed to stay there for hours past midnight. But it hadn't occurred to him that Han would wonder where he'd disappeared to, and perhaps worry for his safety. Even if, yes, he was a Jedi.

He heard his holo-comm buzzing but didn't pick it up. He fell back into the noise and it felt like a wave of static, and as he closed his eyes he heard a man's voice. Strangely familiar, yet he'd never heard it before.

"Luke!" The voice called.

He spun around looking for the source, but there was no on in no one in particular who caught his eye, just the crowd of strangers. Still bustling about in the washed out music pumping through the air. Hoping that it was his imagination, he returned his gaze to the skyline. The sun had begun to rise, but only faintly. A light blue caressed the edges of the horizon, caught between the buildings that rose high into nowhere.

His holo-comm buzzed again, and he took proper notice of it this time. He stepped away from the crowd and the noise before answering it. It was Han.

"Luke? Where are you? I've been lookin' all over!" Worry quivered in Han's voice, but he masked it in a tone that almost sounded like it was meant to be a joke.

"Don't worry about me, I'm okay. I was just getting a breath of fresh air." He said it with a calmness that seemed to brush any problems out of sight and mind.

"Well, fine. But you've been gone for too long. Leia's worried. Get back here, kid."

Luke disconnected, and took one more breath of his surroundings. He didn't want to go back to the ship. He wanted to stay far from that hellish quiet for awhile. The distant echo of the strange voice clear in the air came back to him for a moment. Just a moment. Before the silence of the dark alleyway beckoned the rest of his thoughts, and it was lost in the multitude of them. It was one more thing he didn't want to think about.

Pulling the cloak over his head, he walked leisurely back to where the ship had been resting. This planet had been called "home" because the Temple was here with him, but really, he was not home. This place was a city in which he could never be found if he so wished. It's lights and towering structures made him feel so small that it was comforting. But he didn't know where home was. Once, home had been on Tatooine. And once more, for a short time, it had been a station on Hoth. Now, he had no place to call "home." No place to hide all his thoughts. No place to wake up and see the daylight streaming in through thin glass windows. His world was black and gray. The colors of space and machines. Just months ago, these new problems would have seemed pathetic at best. But each one of them felt like a stone on his shoulders, and they kept piling up and forming mountains.

This weight was a burden that he feared, would lead to something greater and more terrible. But how could he be rid of it? Meditation had not worked. He wished more than ever that Obi-Wan Kenobi, or "Ben" as he knew him, was there by his side. He wanted to hear old Ben speak, and put his hands on his shoulders and tell him that everything would be okay. To tell him what to do. And as soon as he thought it, the voice from before cried out to him again.

"Luke!"

He spun around, looking every which way. But there was no one. Not even a pale phantom appeared to guide his eyes. Instead he was met with a brisk breeze, and his gaze fell on the Millennium Falcon. Suddenly, he felt very uneasy and quickly climbed aboard the ship.

Han met him in the doorway to the pilot's controls in one swift movement. "Not so fast!"

Luke leaned back on his heels, and planted a fist on his hip. But his motions were seemingly gentle.

"Why not?" He inquired peaceably.

"Where were you, huh?" He looked down at his shorter friend, and tried to hide the fact that he had been ridiculously worried about him. It wasn't often that Luke ignored transmissions from Leia or himself.

"I told you, Han. I was just getting some fresh air. I thought you'd be asleep when I got back, honestly."

"We thought that maybe, just maybe, you were dead in a ditch." He muttered barely audibly with a sour, sarcastic expression.

Luke rolled his eyes, "C'mon, I'm fine. You should get some sleep. You've been working on ship repairs since this evening." Shooing him along, he took notice of the feeling stirring in his gut. The uneasiness was getting worse. It was quickly manifesting into a sense of dread.

He forced himself to ignore the feeling long enough to wrestle Han to his quarters for a round of much needed sleep. Luke knew that he also needed the sleep, and reassured Han that he would go to bed. And he did. But he couldn't close his eyes without horrible images of fire and molten rock flashing across his mind. Images he had never known to be in his subconscious. Sleep did come to him, but it had not been pleasant.

He carried the dread into his rest, and woke at noon with a sudden jolt of his body. Eyes wide and heart racing, his skin crawled and burned with an unusual intensity. The sensation faded after a few moments and he was left sitting up in bed, confused and shaken. He hadn't had a nightmare in so long. Not since he completed his training on Dagobah. But this felt different somehow. It didn't feel like a dream. It felt like it was a piece of history, trapped in his head, clawing to get out. Trying to go home.

He didn't understand the torrid flames and dark landscape that seemed to have no end or beginning. The voice had called out, but not for him. This time, it called no names. But it cried out in agony, as if the voice's heart had been scorched by the heat and torn open.

The memory of those cries haunted him through the day, and into the next. He dared not sleep that night. He was thoroughly confused by the experience. Still hoping, that it wasn't going to lead to something awful. But every time he tried to believe it, a feeling of momentary dread washed over him and he drifted in a state of unrest for days afterwards. Then the visit to Coruscant was deemed over, with their supplies replenished and their ship running just perfectly again. Han was excited to leave, and they headed to what would be a Rebel base on Corellia. The three of them had decided to fight what was left of the Imperial Forces across the galaxy. But not only that. Since the rise of the Jedi, there had been a rising of the Sith as well. They now flourished in nearly every star system one could think of.

However, Luke was worried about his thoughts, Han and Leia were worried about Luke, and a whole heap of freshly brewed problems had fallen into their lap when they returned to the Rebel base on Corellia.