Leia, Han, and Eli were sat at the table as they watched Luke and Arya step out of the huge ballroom hand in hand. Leia had a big smile on her face, happy that her new friends were finally realizing the chemistry between them. She swore she was going to pull her hair out in frustration if they shared one more shy glance at each other.

Han and Eli were a little less thrilled at the sight. Han didn't like the thought of his sister with anyone, even if Luke was a nice Kid.

Eli felt relieved that Arya had found someone who made her so happy. But he couldn't help the lingering fear that she would leave him by himself. He had always worried that, when the inevitable day came when she fell in love, he would be pushed away.

Arya had always been a compassionate person, which made Eli fear that her pull to Luke would mean the end of their close sibling relationship.

Outside, Luke kept his hand intertwined with hers as they sat on a small bench that sat on the balcony. Thankfully, there weren't many people out there and no one approached them to give their congratulations like people had been doing all night.

Luke took in a deep breath and pulled at the collar of his shirt. It suddenly felt like it was choking him as the weight of what he needed to tell her held over him.

"Are you ok?" Arya asked in concern, noticing his sudden nervousness.

Luke nodded rapidly. "Yeah, yeah I'm good. Just...I need to tell you something, but you have to promise not to run away and think I'm a total whack job."

Arya narrowed her eyes and let out a small laugh. "Ok." She said, her voice laced with confusion.

Luke took in a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. "A couple of days ago, before I had even met Ben, I heard something. It was a voice in my head." Luke explained slowly. He winced at his choice of words, they sounded so ridiculous. He was surprised she wasn't bolting away from him as fast as she could.

Arya felt her breathing hitch. Was it the Emperor? She had his voice in her head the last couple of days. "Do you know who it was?" She asked quietly.

Luke was taken aback. He definitely wasn't expecting that to be her first question. "I-I don't know. But...it told me that you were in trouble, that I needed to save you."

"Uhhh…" Was all she could say. What the fuck do I say to that?, she thought to herself. "H-how do you know it was me they were talking about?" She tried to keep her voice from wavering as she spoke.

"I heard your name."

Arya held back a gasp and nodded, trying to contain everything she felt. She let out a shaking breath and stood up from the bench they sat on to lean against the balcony. Luke stood slowly but kept his distance behind her.

"I know this is weird, I don't know what it means and to be honest I'm pretty freaked out." He told her.

Arya turned and they both were left breathless as their eyes met. "I knew you were coming for me." She blurted out. Luke look even more confused at words and his lips parted but no words came out. "I knew you were on the death star, well not you exactly. I didn't hear your name or anything, I just...I could feel...light. And I knew when I saw you, that it was you."

Luke let out a shaky breath. "Woah." He muttered and nodded slowly. "So...what does that mean?"

"I guess it's the force, maybe? I'm not too sure, I'm not trained."

"Ben mentioned the force too. He knew I had heard things, that I felt the pull towards you. He told me to trust the force, whatever that means." Luke explained.

Arya let out a long breath. "Huh." She laughed and shook her head. "This is definitely not what I expected to happen today." She practically groaned, rubbing her hands over her tired face.

"I'm sorry to just spring this on you. I just hoped that maybe you knew something I didn't, that it could make more sense to you." Luke said softly and sat back down on the bench.

Arya studied him curiously and sat next to him. "No reason you should be going through this alone. I mean, it was my name you heard. I'm kinda apart of this too." She said somewhat sarcastically.

Luke laughed lightly. He turned to face her and his eyes narrowed slightly in question. "Ben said that your parents were Jedi, why didn't you ever train? You have the force right?"

Arya tensed at his words and looked down, avoiding his gaze. Luke's eyes widened at her reaction. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer, I didn't -"

"It's ok." She interrupted his ramblings. "My father went to the dark side when I was younger. Guess it freaked me out, I didn't really want anything to do with it."

His darkness lingers in you…

The Emperor's voice was back in her head. Arya flinched and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the voice to go away. Luke turned his head, hearing her sharp intake of breath. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly winced and clutched at her head, a groan of pain leaving her lips.

"Arya? You ok? What's wrong?" Luke asked worriedly. He knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her knees.

Inside her head, flashes of torture ran through her mind. She had no doubt this was Palpatine's doing, that he was making her see every horrible thing that had happened to her on that death star. He wanted to make her relive it.

Darth Vader had always taunted her while she screamed, telling her the dark side grew stronger with every bout of torture.

Her body ached and a fiery hot pain spread through her body like flames. It was like she was going through it all over again.

"Arya?! Look at me, please." Luke pleaded frantically, now holding her face in his hands as he stared down at her in worry.

"Make him stop!" Arya sobbed, tears running freely down her cheeks.

"Who? What's wrong?"

"It hurts, make him stop." Her body quivered in pain and she practically fell into Luke's arms at a sharp stab in her side that mimicked the needles that turned her into their weapon.

Luke gently laid her down on the floor and sat next to her. By now a crowd was beginning to form, every onlooker either having gazes of worry of gazes of fear.

In a blink of an eye, Eli appeared in front of him and leaned down on the other side of his sister. Luke pulled away and let him pull his twin into his arms, cradling her close as she cried out in pain.

"Hey, talk to me, Ary. What hurts?"

"Everything." She sobbed.

By now, Han and Leia had arrived at the scene, it was almost comical the way the small woman elbowed her way to the front of the crowd. She placed a hand over her mouth at the sight in front of her.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Han yelled, storming over to them and kneeling down next to Arya. The anger on his face vanished immediately as he stroked his hand through her hair.

"Nothing! We were just talking and then…" Luke trailed off. He didn't know what happened. "She said make him stop."

Eli stiffened and his head snapped up to meet Luke's gaze. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why, what does that mean?"

Eli stayed silent, ignoring his question and looked down at Arya who was still wrapped up in his arms. He finally noticed the murmuring of the crowd and glared up at the people who stood watching.

Leia noticed the expression on his face and immediately started shooing people away. She didn't care that she was speaking harshly to generals who outranked her or high paying donors of the Rebellion, all she cared about right now was her friend.

Eli stood, still holding Arya in his arms and dashed out of the room, leaving a streak of blue in his wake. Luke gaped at the now empty spot where she'd been. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and let out a deep breath, hating the feeling of helplessness that ran through him.

"Should we go make sure she's ok?" Leia asked quietly. She was beyond worried about her friend. Seeing those bruises on her arms earlier really made her think about what she had been through.

Han shook his head that hung low. He put his hand against him mouth and sighed deeply as he rubbed at his chin. He tried to keep him temper under control but he couldn't help it. He kicked the potted plant that stood beside him, letting the plants and dirt spill out. Just thinking about his poor little sister, that sweet innocent girl in pain, it made it blood boil and his emotions bubble in a way that had never happened before.

"Just leave them." His voice was husky and turned abruptly, walking away without another word.

Luke stood in his spot, staring at the doorway she was carried off through. He wished he could be the one to comfort her, that he could've done more, but he knew what she needed right now was her brother, he knew better than anyone what she went through.

"Luke? Are you ok?" Leia asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. His face was pale and expressionless. He looked down at his shoes and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm ok." He said with a quiet and unsteady voice that wasn't convincing. Leia hugged him comfortingly. "I hate feeling helpless." He whispered. "Do you-" He stopped, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Do you think she was reliving it - what they did to her on that station?"

Leia sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, the memory of hearing her screams still haunted her. She nodded against his chest and looked up at him. "I think that's something she's gonna be living with for a long time. I can't even imagine what they did to her."

Luke felt his breath hitch and forced the thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't bear the thought of Arya in pain. He knew they had hurt her, not just with the experiments, he knew about the torture and it made him feel sick to his stomach.

It made the feeling of blowing up the Death Star less horrendous. There had been a lingering feeling of guilt that he had wiped out millions of people on that station, but now, after seeing Arya so distraught from what she was put through, he knew he would have done it over and over again to keep her safe.

When she opened her eyes, Arya found that she was in her room sitting on her bed. Eli kneeled in front of her, trying to calm her down before she was launched into a full fledged panic attack. She copied his breathing and focused on his voice to bring her back to reality. Her mind finally cleared from the memories of abuse and she sighed gratefully that the worst of it was over.

Her body ached, little pinpricks of pain stabbing at her as the overwhelming pain that seized her whole body started to fade. She cried softly as her breathing started to slow down. She pulled her hair away from her face and began wiping furiously at her makeup. Eli stood and made his way to the bathroom. He came out with a warm cloth and helped her remove the dark smudges under her eyes.

"Arya, I know you don't want to talk about it, but I need to know what happened to you." Eli whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "Who did this?"

Arya sniffled and looked up at him with her teary eyes. It made his chest ache. "Palpatine. I've been hearing his voice in my head. He made me see it all, the experiments, the torture, the...I could feel everything like it was happening all over again." She explained, her voice cracking as she started to cry harder.

Eli felt fear grip him tightly. Palpatine, the man that killed their mother, the man that hunted them down for years, he was still trying to coerce his sister to the dark side. He swallowed thickly and tentatively held her hands in his. There was something else that was nagging at him, something that he'd been wondering for months.

"Arya, what else did they do to you?" He asked, his voice heavy with emotion.

Arya stiffened. "It sounds like you already know." She said in a monotone voice.

Eli squeezed his eyes shut, he had never heard his sister sound so lifeless before, it scared him. He shifted uncomfortably, not able to say the words out loud.

Arya noticed her brother's hesitation and let out a shaking breath. "It's exactly what you think. They raped me." She choked out and before she could even begin to start crying again, Eli had wrapped her in an enormous hug. He held onto her tightly as her body shook with sobs. He found himself letting a few tears fall but he fought for composure.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He cried, and she buried her face deeper into his chest.

"I didn't want them to hurt you!" She sobbed, pulling out of the hug to look at him. "I knew if I said anything you would do something stupid to protect me and they would just make it worse for both of us."

Eli held her tear stained face in his hands and gently kissed her forehead. He pulled her to him again in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He whispered over and over again. "I should have done more."

"Don't. You know it was impossible to fight back. There was nothing you could have done to stop it." Arya assured him.

Despite her current state, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest. She had been so nervous to bring up the heavy subject, especially to her twin, but after finally saying it out loud, she felt like she was one small step closer to putting it behind her.

"I know it might take awhile before I'm able to get past it, but it'll happen." She said quietly, her voice wavered slightly but her tears had stopped and her breathing was back to normal.

"If you need anything, I'll always be there. You know that right?" She nodded, a small smile forming at her loving brother. She couldn't be happier to have him in her life.

"I know. But I think, right now, I just need to be alone." Eli raised his head sharply and stared at her with wide eyes.

"Arya, I'm not leaving you alone!" He yelled, suddenly losing all of his patience and composure. "You were hurt and there was nothing I could do to stop it and you can be damn sure that I won't let that happen again! I'm not leaving you." He said sternly. Arya sighed and laid down on her bed.

"I just want to sleep, ok? You don't need to be by my side every minute of the day. I'm not as fragile as you think." She told him, sounding harsher than she had meant to be but she was glad she had said it. He treated her like she was an infant and she was tired of it. She wanted to do things for herself for a change. "Please. Can you just let me deal with this the way I want to?" She pleaded, calming down as she saw his sad and hurt expression.

Eli nodded silently and reached over to kiss the top of her head. He stood and made his way to the door. He stopped before he left her room. "I don't think you're fragile. You're the strongest person I've ever met in my entire life... You're stronger than him. I know he won't get what he wants from you." He was out the door as soon as he finished speaking.

Arya sighed, putting her head in her hands and letting out a shaky breath. She was so tired of crying. She was supposed to be happy, just in the last day she had been reunited with Han and Chewie, she met Leia, the first female friend she ever had, and she had met Luke.

She smiled lightly at the thought of the blonde farmboy. He had managed to make her happier than she had ever thought possible, despite the strange force connection between them that, frankly, terrified her. Arya frowned, tears springing to her eyes once again and she buried her face in her pillow. She pulled the covers over her head, wishing she could just disappear.

The next morning, the group - minus Arya, sat at a table eating breakfast. As soon as Eli sat down he was bombarded with questions. He gave them all a pointed look, telling them to stop talking all at once.

"She's ok. She just wants to be alone." He assured them and began picking at his food, uninterested. Things were tense between the twins. Eli had no idea how to respond in this sort of situation. His sister had been hurt but the Death Star had been destroyed, he didn't know how they could get any more closure from that.

And the Emperor, he had no idea what he could do to help her with that. He knew his sister was strong and that she had a good heart, there was no way she would ever comply to Palpatine and turn to the dark side. But that didn't mean the horrible sith couldn't hurt her for it, even when she wasn't in his grasp.

"Were you- were you right about...what happened?" Han asked, stumbling over his words. He had been so worried all night and had barely slept. He couldn't stop thinking about his little sister, so helpless as people took advantage of her.

"Yeah. I was right." Eli said dryly, keeping his eyes down at his food.

Luke tensed, his knuckles were white as he gripped the utensil. He abruptly threw his fork down and stood, discarding his tray of food and walking out of the room. He didn't even acknowledge Leia calling for him, he just continued with his heavy footsteps.

He found himself outside Arya's door, he hadn't even realized that's where his feet were taking him. He hesitated but knocked softly after a few moments. He wrung his hands nervously. What am I doing here? She doesn't want to see me now. She wanted to be alone. Luke was chastising himself and was just about ready to turn and walk away before her door opened.

Luke felt his heart constrict like it did every time he saw her. She smiled at him but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hi." Luke breathed out after realizing they had both been standing and staring at each other. "I know you probably don't want to see anyone right now but I just needed to see you. I needed to know you were ok." He rushed out and nervously gauged her reaction.

She couldn't help but smile at how completely adorable he was, she could already feel her mood lightening. She stepped to the side and opened her door wider, motioning for him to come in. Luke grinned at her and stepped inside. He sat on the small couch and brought his legs closer together, making more room for her as she sat down next to him. He was so scared of making the wrong move, the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

"Stop that." She stated simply making his eyes widen and he looked at her in confusion. "Stop looking at me like that." She laughed making him relax slightly.

"Like what? I was just looking at you." He shrugged and gave her an innocent smile. She laughed and rested her head against the back cushion, crossing her legs underneath her.

"You look at me like I'm a wounded animal. I'm fine, honestly. You don't need to treat me any differently." She said making him immediately look down at his hands. "Luke, please don't start babying me. I can handle sitting on a couch with a man." She laughed and grabbed his hand. His entire frame visibly relaxed and he chuckled, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"I'm really sorry about last night." He began, his voice soft and comforting. She shook her head and squeezed his hand tighter.

"It's not your fault." She said, lowering her head so she didn't have to make eye contact.

Luke shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have brought up your family." He said softly.

Arya sighed. He thought that's what had triggered the bad memories and her subsequent panic attack. She felt her hands begin to tremble and she clenched her fists. He couldn't know what really happened. She had no doubt that he would run for this hills if he knew a dark sith lord was tormenting her.

"It's still not your fault." She whispered.

Luke nodded slowly, though he didn't feel very reassured. His hand reached over to hers but he hesitated. He knew what had happened to her on the death star, what those horrible people did to her, he wanted to comfort her but he didn't know how. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her.

Arya noticed his movements and her lip quirked up in a small smile. She bit the bullet and reached out to him, her fingers intertwining with his.

Luke looked up, his eyes wide. He laughed lightly at the expression on her face that silently told him to relax.

"I'm glad you're here." She spoke quietly and her gaze made his chest tighten.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." He said and squeezed her hand in his.

Hope you're liking it so far! xx