"Rey, is this really necessary?" asks Finn nervously, he then glances at Poe who seems just as worried as he is. They are lying on their backs in the palace garden, both wearing a pilot's helmet, waiting for Rey to begin her Force practice. "Can't you just practice with the droids again?"

Rey shakes her head. "No, Finn, as I explained before there's a difference between moving organics and droids; an organic has more variables in the Force than a droid does, so I have to practice figuring those out."

Poe rolls his eyes. "I think your grandfather just wants to torment us."

"He's not wrong," says Anakin and Rey giggles.

"I heard that," retorts Poe and Anakin rolls his eyes.

"What did he say?" asks Finn, a little more panicked. "C'mon Poe, what did he say?"

"You don't want to know," replies Poe sternly and Finn's eyes go wide. "Rey, when are you going to teach Finn how to talk to your grandfather?"

Rey smiles a little sadly at Finn. "I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, Finn isn't as Force-sensitive as you are, so he wouldn't be able to learn. Actually, it's a surprise that you're able to hear him at all, Poe, it took me a while before I could figure it out."

Poe shrugs. "My instincts have always been above average."

"You could've been a Jedi, Poe," says Anakin encouragingly. "Instincts like yours aren't just a fluke of nature."

"Can we please get this over with?" asks Finn, his patience already thin from the anxiety of what is to come.

"Of course," says Rey as she looks down at her friends, C-3P0, R2-D2, and BB-8 waiting in the wings. "Threepio, R2, BB-8, you might want to move back a little."

The droids obey and move behind a nearby hedge.

"Now, close your eyes and clear your mind," says Anakin gently. "Feel the Force around you, inside you. You control the Force, Rey, you direct it where to go. Can you feel it?"

"Yes," replies Rey, her voice quiet.

Anakin smiles. "Good, now command it to do as you desire."

Rey opens her eyes and outstretches her hands, directing them at Finn and Poe. Taking a deep breath she focuses on lifting them, finding them not as compliant as the droids had been but she continues trying regardless. Moments later she watches as they begin hovering above the ground, encouraged she raises her arms and they float higher, now they are almost five feet off of the ground.

"Whoa, this is crazy!" says Finn, panic and excitement lacing his voice.

Poe laughs. "I've never flown without a fighter before! This is great."

"Stay focused, Rey," says Anakin sternly when he sees her straining. "Don't—"

It is too late and she collapses to the ground, the two men then drop out of the air and onto the ground as well, although their landing is not nearly as nice as Rey's.

"And that's why we wore the helmets," groans Poe as he sits up and takes his off.

Finn does the same. "Yeah, a great piece of advice on the droid's part."

"You're very welcome, sir," says C-3P0 from behind the hedge.

"Rey, are you alright?" asks Poe a little worriedly when he sees her lying in the grass. "Do you need us to get a stretcher?"

"No, I'm fine," replies Rey wearily. "That just took more out of me than I thought it would." She pushes herself onto her back. "I need some water though."

C-3P0 rushes out from behind the hedge, hydropack in hand, towards Rey who sits up and eagerly takes it from the droid.

"Thanks, Threepio," she says before downing the contents of the pack.

"You're most welcome, Miss Rey," says C-3P0 fondly. "Is there anything else you require?"

Rey shakes her head. "Not at the moment, Threepio." She looks at her grandfather's ghost. "I'm pathetic, aren't I? I can lift a bowl of water with no problem but I can't levitate two men."

Anakin shakes her head. "No, you just need to practice. Inanimate objects are different from animate ones just as droids are different from organics. You do very well with inanimate objects and droids, but people are a completely different realm." She does not look convinced. "If it makes you feel any better, your father had a hard time learning this stuff too. He couldn't even keep rocks floating for a decent length of time at first."

"How do you know that?" asks Rey skeptically as she stands back up.

"Yoda and Obi-Wan told me," says Anakin. "Now, try it again."

Rey balks at him. "Again? I collapsed after just a few seconds, if I keep it up I won't be able to walk back to the palace."

Anakin shrugs. "Then you should learn how to prevent that by building up your stamina; practice is the only way you're going to make any significant progress."

"Were you always such a slave driver?" asks Rey and a shadow crosses Anakin's eyes but it is quickly gone.

"No, actually I was quite lenient with Ahsoka," replies Anakin then he smiles wickedly. "But with age and time, I've learned from my failings and am now implementing my new method of teaching with you."

Rey scowls. "Lucky me."

"Exactly," says Anakin lightly. "Now, tell the boys to lay back down and try again."

Poe puts his helmet on and lies down, Finn following his lead as Rey resumes her previous stance. She does exactly as before, feeling the Force around her and using herself as a means of controlling it, only this time she senses something different. She can feel the true power of the Force, how strong it really is around her and instead of applying as much as she did before she uses a little less and the two men immediately go up at least six feet in the air and she is still standing. Rey grins inwardly before trying to lift them higher, still applying the same amount of power, she watches them go another four feet before she feels herself weakening. Immediately she begins to lower them, not wanting to drop them from almost ten feet in the air, she brings them down to about three feet before she falls.

"Well done!" says Anakin brightly. "That was a huge improvement over your last try."

"I didn't last very long," says Rey, taking in deep, slow breaths. "But I did notice a difference this time, I could get a better result by limiting how much power I threw at them."

Anakin beams. "That's one of the first lessons the Masters teach. Throwing power behind something doesn't always mean you'll have the best result. I'm glad you learned that on your own, I didn't want to have to tell you that."

Rey cocks an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"It would've defeated the purpose of the lesson," replies Anakin simply and he glances at the two men still on the ground. "Want to work on levitating organics with motion?"

Before she can answer, Connix comes running up, looking a little out of breath.

"Miss Skywalker, I'm sorry to interrupt," she says, glancing at the two men groaning on the ground. "Your aunt's asking for you."

"Alright, thank you, Connix," says Rey and she looks at Poe and Finn. "Do you need medical attention or can I just go?"

"Just go," wheezes Poe and Finn just nods. "We'll get up when we're ready. Just leave the droids."

Rey chuckles. "Fine, Threepio, R2, BB-8, stay with Finn and Poe until they're recovered."

"Yes, Miss Rey," says C-3P0, R2-D2 and BB-8 beep their agreement.

Rey smiles then together with Connix, she heads back inside the palace, wondering what her aunt could possibly want with her. These last few days, she had been so focused on her training that she had not spent much time with her aunt or her family's other friends, actually she was lucky to see Poe and Finn as often as she had; they were often in the hangar with the rest of Poe's pilots working on the squads' X-Wings. She desperately wanted to be with them, working on a ship she loved but she knew if she was going to save her father, it would be with her training not her mechanic skills.

When they enter Leia's room, they find her sitting at a table with tablets piled high on the surface, a stylus in her hand and one behind her ear, she looks exhausted but when she looks up and sees Rey she instantly smiles.

"Thanks for bringing her here, Connix," she says as she stands up and walks over to Rey. "You're dismissed for now, do try to do something fun."

Connix smiles sheepishly. "I guess it won't hurt me. See you later."

Leia smiles and then embraces Rey. "Sorry for interrupting your training, I was just going stir crazy and needed a break."

"I can completely understand that," laughs Rey as they pull apart. "What did you have in mind?"

"A tour of the city?" suggests Leia and Rey nods enthusiastically. "Good, now I believe there's a carriage waiting for us at the front entrance. We should probably get on it before it decides to leave without us."

"You've had this planned for a while," accuses Rey teasingly.

Leia says nothing but she does wink and it brings a smile to Rey's face.

"New Alderaan is so beautiful!" exclaims Rey as they head down the main street of the city, the carriage gliding smoothly over the surface. "I'm so glad I got the chance to visit."

They had just finished walking the Victory Garden, where they had a pleasant lunch consisting of ingredients grown in the garden and listened to some music played beautifully by the Melodic Order. After the performance, her aunt had introduced her to the band and when they heard she was the daughter of Evaan Verlaine, they all embraced her and said she was allowed to any of their performances on any planet free of charge. It was then that Leia explained that she and her mother had rescued the band from Naboo during the war, and Rey was astounded at the story. Her own father did not seem to even know the full story.

"As am I," says Leia, resting her head against the headrest. "During my career as a Senator, I tried to come back here as often as I could, and I would often bring Ben with me when things aligned. Han would meet up with us sometimes as well, whenever his schedule allowed for it, and we'd have a pleasant holiday where we could just be a family."

Rey looks over and sees tears in her aunt's eyes so she moves towards Leia and takes her hand, smiling sweetly. "What would you do?"

"Go to the beach mostly," replies Leia, wiping away a stray tear. "Ben and Han loved it there; Han had spent so much time in space, I think he had forgotten water existed and living on Hosnian Prime with me, Ben didn't see much water either. I taught them both how to swim, Han knew a little but I helped him refine it and Ben was like a little fish once he understood."

"I remember you teaching me a few times," says Rey quietly. "I was about six or seven when you started teaching me and I was very skeptical about actually being able to move in the water."

Leia chuckles warmly. "If your mother had lived, you would have known how to swim before you were three. She loved the water almost as much as I do and whenever she came to visit, she'd immediately go for the beach." There is a devilish glint in her eyes. "She taught your father how to swim."

Rey tries not to burst out laughing as she imagines her mother trying to keep her father afloat in knee-deep water, however she ultimately fails and her laughter causes a few heads to turn. "Really? Dad didn't know how to swim?"

"He's from Tattooine," says Leia a little defensively but her grin gives away her amusement. "The only water he saw came from his uncle's moisture farm."

"What was it like when you found out he was your brother?" asks Rey, she had been thinking about this since she recently recovered a memory of her aunt and father having a conversation about their different upbringings.

Leia smiles fondly and her dark chocolate eyes have a distant look to them. "It was bittersweet. I was thrilled to learn I had a brother and that he happened to be a very good friend, but he decided to tell me just before he turned himself over to Darth Vader."

"Oh," says Rey, holding her aunt's hand just a little tighter.

"Yes well, it ended up being the right thing in the end," says Leia lightly. "Luke seems to have always been able to see the good in people, something I've always admired about him. I seem to be the more cynical of the two of us, immediately jumping to the conclusion that a person is only doing something for their own gain and don't actually care about anyone else. Most of the time, I'm right but I've been wrong on one or two occasions."

Rey cocks an eyebrow. "About who?"

"Your uncle," replies Leia with a worn smile. "Your mother and I were both wrong about him but Luke somehow knew that deep down, Han cared."

Before Rey can speak again, the carriage stops outside of a large, white stone building with a bright blue roof that shines in the sun as if it were an ocean. Without another word, Leia leaves the carriage and Rey follows after her, wondering where they are and what they are going to be doing here. They head up a short flight of white stone stairs and enter through a pair of glass doors, Leia seems to know exactly where she is going so Rey just trails behind, glancing at the pieces of art on the wall and holos of various people she assumes are notable Alderaanians.

"How is your memory, Rey?" asks Leia suddenly and Rey starts for a moment before realizing that her aunt had spoken.

"Getting better," she replies, her hand unconsciously running over her head. "I haven't remembered much before the age of six but everything else seems to be more complete."

"What about your memories of your mother?" she presses as they pass through a white door.

Rey sighs. "I don't have any memories of her at all, Aunt Leia, just of looking at holos and hearing stories."

"I'm sorry to say I can't bring her back but maybe I can give you some more memories of her," says Leia gently as they enter into another room.

This room is about the same size as the front entrance of the palace, with natural light pouring in from the glass dome ceiling, there are more holos in here and a few displays. It takes a few moments for Rey to realize what exactly is on display and who is in some of the holos.

"Is this room dedicated to our family?" asks Rey when she sees a holo with her parents, aunt, uncle, and Chewbacca.

"I guess you could say that," replies Leia as she looks at the holo. It is of the day after the destruction of the first Death Star, when Luke, Han, and Chewbacca received their medals; she smiles a little as she stares at the holo, they all look so very young and happy. Her gaze drifts to Han's image, his signature smirk replaced by a warm smile, his chest puffed out as he waves at the crowd behind the imager. Her younger self is standing just behind him, a wide smile on her face, Leia notices that her eyes in the holo keep darting to Han and back again. "For a while, we were the first family of New Alderaan," she continues, her voice somewhat distant. "The people were so happy that two Alderaanians played a huge part in the downfall of the Empire."

Rey is watching her mother and father: Luke is smiling brightly and waving tentatively at the crowd although he seems a little overwhelmed by all of the attention, and Evaan has a calm, professional expression that is only broken when she looks at Luke then she cracks a lovely smile. "I can imagine, and it probably made them happier when one of the heroes married their princess and the other married her bodyguard."

Leia nods happily. "Indeed, although by the end of the war, Evaan wasn't really seen as my bodyguard; she was a revered commander known for her tactical brilliance and success in the field. I believe your parents' love story was the people's favorite. The last Jedi and Rebel commander falling in love and traversing the galaxy to restore order and peace was a story told and retold by many media outlets and people. Han made the story better by adding the fact Evaan and Luke thought the other was in love with someone else."

"Really? Who?" asks Rey, intrigued by this news.

"Luke thought Evaan was in love with Han," says Leia with a slight eye roll. "And Evaan thought Luke was in love with me."

"What sorted it out?" presses Rey.

"Bespin," replies Leia softly. "That planet was a turning point for all of us."

Rey nods. "From what you told me, it was a turning point in the war, too."

"Yes, well, that was a very long time ago," sighs Leia as she turns to Rey. "Why don't you look around? There are more holos than just this and some very interesting things on display."

Rey looks at her curiously before edging away from the holo and towards another one, this one depicting Evaan standing in front of her Y-Wing, helmet under her arm and saluting proudly. She smiles at her mother's image, she looks so serious and determined; Rey's eyes mist over as she realizes that she does share that same look with her mother. Hearing it from Luke was one thing but actually seeing the proof is something completely different and she wonders what else she might share with her mother.

"I do look like you," she whispers, barely holding back her tears.

She then moves on to a display case, it is just a little taller than she is and in it is her mother's orange flight suit, there are some gashes and poorly done repair jobs scattered across the material along with scorch marks and a few blaster holes. "Not in very good condition," she mumbles as she takes in the damaged suit.

"It's like that on purpose," says Leia, startling Rey a little. "Evaan was very proud of every scar she and her flight suit had. There was a story behind every single one of them." She points at the poor repair job on the upper left thigh. "She got that one when we were on Cymoon One. We were in an AT-AT that was crashing and during the evacuation your mother stayed behind and was nearly killed in the rubble. She came out with a broken leg and that tear, Luke was the one who fixed it."

"That's a pretty sad patch job," says Rey with a slight laugh.

Leia nods. "Yes, but his hands were shaking at the time and it seemed like he wasn't very focused on the job. When he was done, I offered to redo it but Evaan said no. I could never figure out why but my guess is it was special to her because Luke had done it."

Rey smirks. "It doesn't sound like my parents had typical romantic gestures."

"Not really," agrees Leia. "When Luke lost his hand and got the mechanical one, your mother spent weeks learning how to disassemble and reassemble the model he had been outfitted with. When she showed Luke she could do it, he picked her up and kissed her."

"How do you know that?" asks Rey curiously.

"Because he did it in the hangar," laughs Leia. "Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch, because up until then Luke and Evaan had been very private about their relationship."

Rey laughs because she can imagine her parents in that moment, so happy and then realizing that everyone is staring at them.

"That was Han's reaction exactly," says Leia as she wipes a tear away. "He laughed so hard he ended up on the ground. Evaan and Luke turned bright red and tried to hide their faces but then the whole hangar erupted with cheers so they just went with it."

"I never knew that," says Rey a little sadly. "From what I remember, Dad didn't talk much about his relationship with Mom, just about her in general."

Leia reaches over and squeezes her shoulder. "Your father was always a private person, and he might have just wanted to keep that to himself. Maybe he was waiting for you to get older before he told you about that aspect of his relationship with your mother."

"Maybe," says Rey as she moves to another display, this one contains her mother's helmet. It is black with a white visor piece and yellow accents. She notices the three 'V' symbols along the sides and the lone star shape. "Looks like Mom knew how to use her cannons."

"Yes, she certainly did," agrees Leia as she stands beside her and points to another case with another helmet. This one is almost completely white, a bit weathered with red and yellow accents, and there are more 'V' symbols along the side than her mother's. "This is your father's helmet."

"Really?" says Rey excitedly as she looks at it. She then remembers trying to put this same helmet on when she was escaping Gatalenta. "What's it doing here? I thought it was with his X-Wing."

A conspiratorial smile stretches across Leia's lips. "Well, technically both helmets and their flight suits are with their respective owner's spacecraft. These, like the ones that had been on Hosnian Prime and on Coruscant, are very well crafted replicas. I was a little curious to see if you would realize it or not."

"So this was a memory test?" asks Rey, feeling a little betrayed.

Leia shakes her head. "Not entirely, I wanted to bring you here and tell you about your parents before you were born. Because, as I'm sure you're well aware of by now, history isn't as accurate as people believe. And I wanted to spend some time with you, I have this feeling that free time isn't going to be something we'll have a lot of in the coming days."

Rey smiles kindly at her aunt. "Don't worry, I'm sure there'll be a lot of times to make memories like these."

"I'm sure you're right," says Leia and then she smirks wickedly. "So, has any dashing hero captured your attention, Rey?"

A light pink tinge graces Rey's cheeks and she smiles coyly. "Perhaps."

Leia laughs as Rey tries to cover her pink face.

Luke tenses, despite the darkness he can sense that someone is moving around in the never-ending gloom that surrounds him. "Who's there?" he calls out, his voice echoing through the room. There is no response except a steady set of footsteps approaching his position against the stone wall.

"Answer me!" he shouts angrily as the footsteps continue their advance. "I know you're out there, so answer me, Snoke!"

In response to his words, a glowlamp is lit but even with the dim light coming from it, he still does not see a face or even a body as the lamp seemingly floats towards him in the dark. He realizes that it is not Snoke but it still could be someone who works for him come to torture him once again. Luke has no idea how long he has been down here, his Masters and father are unable to reach him wherever he is, and without any windows he cannot tell when it is day and night. He knows that time is still passing, as his wounds from his torture sessions are healing, albeit very slowly and he wishes for a little more light so he can see where they are and maybe heal them. The glowlamp, however, is not a reassuring sight.

It continues to grow near him and when it is close enough he can feel the warmth coming from the device, making him realize just how cold he has been while in this dungeon. He closes his eyes and prepares for the sharp sting or painful burn from whatever device his tormentors have come with but none of that comes, instead a warm hand cups his cheek.

"Luke," says a painfully familiar female voice, a voice that makes Luke squeeze his eyes even tighter but this time against tears rather than pain. "Luke, please look at me."

"I can't," he whispers roughly, his throat tight.

"Why not?" asks the voice, one that has haunted his dreams and his nightmares.

"Because you're dead," he chokes out and the hand on his cheek begins to caress. "Please, just go away. I know you're not real, I know that you're dead, so please don't do this to me."

"If I were any of those things, how can I be here, touching you?" the voice presses as the hand continues to soothe the wounds on his face. "Luke, reach out to me, listen to the Force."

"No!" he says sharply, pulling his face away from the tender touch, his eyes still closed. "You're just another one of Snoke's ploys to try and get me to join the First Order. I won't be broken so easily! Now leave!"

He expects the hand on his cheek to fade away only instead he feels it slip away like a real person is pulling it away and then he hears footsteps echoing once again. When he no longer hears them, he rests his face against his bicep and quietly weeps, tears soaking into the soiled material of his tunic. His heart aches as he cries, he wants to believe that it was just a dream, a beautiful nightmare but he knows that it had been real. The voice, the gentle touch, the absolute feeling of belonging that made his soul sing and cry at the same time. Every single one of his senses is telling him the same thing, even the Force seems to be in agreement with everything his mind is opposing: Evaan is alive.