Luke ducked as his father's red blade passed over his head and sliced into the trunk of the cherry blossom tree behind him in the nightmare forest of his mind.
He fell to his knees and struggled to gather the strength to get up, again, as Darth Vader stood over Luke, their blades crossing and the Sith Lord pushing the Jedi harder toward the ground.
Luke tried desperately to keep his center of gravity, continuing to fight through the pain and fatigue of his wound, as he pushed back.
His mind kept urging him not to give in, but his body pleaded another case and Luke soon found that everything started to become blurry behind his eyes—the only thing he could clearly see was the sparking red of Vader's blade as it came closer to his face.
Suddenly, one of the rogue blackbirds landed on a branch of the tree above them.
"Daddy!" it screeched in Rey's young voice and startled Vader enough that the two men flew apart like shrapnel.
Luke collapsed to the ground, exhausted, his light saber retracting as it fell out of his hand and rolled down the embankment a few feet away from him.
"Daddy! Come back!" the bird screeched again and flew away.
The pain radiated through Luke's injured side hurt so much he could hardly breathe and the snow felt cold and wet beneath him…
But, he had the Force.
The Force surrounded him and flowed through him…he could feel it and no doubt it had given him the strength to make it this far.
Now, he could also feel something else.
Something that was triggered the moment he heard his daughter's voice above him—even the nightmare version of it.
A connection...
And combined with power of the Force, it slowly began to clear his vision and his mind.
Luke could now sense Vader walking a tight circle around him, like a predator would his prey, as the dark figure regained his footing and now swung his lightsaber menacingly in his hand, the snow crunching beneath his feet as he re-approached his fallen son.
Luke couldn't just lay there.
He had to fight back.
Rey needed him to fight back…
Luke let out a gasp of effort and cried out in pain as he turned on his side and his blue eyes looked down to Rey's bracelet on his left wrist.
Luke closed his eyes and thought of the night on the roof top of the Praxeum when he had received it and Rey—at six years old—had run into his arms, overwhelmed with joy to see him.
"Daddy!"
Suddenly, Luke opened his eyes and his nostrils flared in resolve as he crawled onto his hands and knees then threw out his hand and called his light saber to him with the Force.
The saber instantly flew into his left hand without resistance and he swiftly ignited the green blade and brought it over him, shielding himself from Vader's blade with renewed vigor.
# # # # # #
The bright lighting of TIE fighter fire and dropped bombs reflected in Major General Huxley's bright blue eyes as he came to the viewing window on the main deck of the star destroyer high above Acquin III and took his place his at Imperial Leader Snoke's side as the two men watched the First Order fleet's dawn attack on the planet.
"The code?" Snoke asked, his eyes serenely taking in the massacre below them, "It has been sent?"
"It is done, my Lord." Huxley replied
"Good," Snoke retorted, "Because I'm not leaving this planet with nothing, Major."
# # # # # # #
Rey tried to keep her composure and not think of her father as she stood behind the dressing screen in the corner of Finn's quarters, hastily changing into a shirt, trousers and boots that Finn had pulled from military supply for them.
Her concentration finally broke when she heard a groan on the other side of the screen and, tucking in the tail of her shirt, peered around to see Finn struggling to help Ben on with a jacket.
It was then that she saw the blood soaking through Ben's shirt
"I got it!" Ben snapped at Finn as he pulled his half-sheathed arm swiftly out of his grasp, trying to keep his anger in check.
"Okay…" Finn said, stepping back and holding his hands up in surrender, "Noted."
Rey immediately holstered her blaster and light tsaber in the back of her trousers and moved forward, assessing the wounds that had reared their ugly head.
"I'm fine," Ben winced, trying to reassure her when she immediately lifted his shirt to see his blood soaked bandages, "Movement just broke my stitches, that's all. Otherwise, I'm alright…"
"Good. Maybe I'll get a punch or two in when this is all over…" Finn muttered as he finished dressing himself.
"Anytime, traitor…" Ben seethed, his eyes narrowing over Rey shoulder and flashing toward Finn
Finn's nostrils flared and he immediately stepped forward, but Rey threw out a hand and it hit him square in the chest, stopping his movements without looking back at him because she was too busy assessing Ben's bandages.
"Stop. There is enough fighting out there right now without you two adding to the body count!" Rey cried, then looked up toward Ben, then over her shoulder at Finn, "So I'm putting a moratorium on this little domestic squabble until we get across the base, save my father and get well away from the First Order, okay?"
Finn just flared his nostrils again, then pushed back off of her hand and walked back toward the chair in the corner of his quarters, gathering the rest of his things.
Rey rolled her eyes as she brought her full attention to Ben's bandages, lifting them carefully and examining the wounds for herself.
"I'll be fine," Ben insisted, looking down into her, then gently took hold of her hands and pulled them away as he replaced his bandages and lowered his shirt.
"Ben, you don't look fine…" Rey retorted, her eyes softening and she beheld the reality of the state he was in. He was still sick and wounded and he was hiding it badly, "You look pale and you're bleeding. No doubt our fight earlier didn't help—"
"Rey," Ben replied, closing his eyes to keep himself steady, "Don't worry about it—that was small potatoes. Besides, your father's power healed any major injuries I had. I'm out of danger—"
"It doesn't look that way to me," Rey insisted, then lowered her voice to a whisper, "Are you sure you're up for this?"
"Yes!" Ben snapped, opening his eyes, then sighing as he checked himself and met her gaze, "Can we please just follow your own advice and just get through this and then we can worry about how pale I look?—"
"Uh… you two need a moment?" Finn interjected, a puzzled expression on his face, as he threw on his jacket and stepped forward, looking from Ben to Rey, then asked, "Or can we go be heroes now?"
Rey broke eye contact with Ben at Finn's words then nodded to him before handing him her blaster and shifting herself under Ben's right arm, letting him lean his weight on her.
"Speak for yourself…" Ben whispered under his breath, casting a glance back to Finn as they made for the door.
# # # # # # #
"You don't know how much I wish you were awake right now, my friend…" Estos smirked as he quickly and hastily rolled Luke's hospital bed and machines to the far corner of the medical bay, away from all windows and doors.
It would be easier to defend that way.
He had already told the staff nurses on duty to make for the civilian shelter when the alarm sounded.
When Luke was safely barricaded in his corner, lying motionless and unaware of the chaos around him, Estos turned toward the hospital doors, drawing the blaster from the holster he always kept strapped to his side.
"But, that's alright… I owe you one anyway," Estos said to himself as he loaded his weapon and turned his gaze toward the doors of the otherwise empty medical bay.
Outside the sliding glass entry doors, Estos watched as remaining medical staff and lower level engineers rushed through the halls amidst the sirens and chaos.
Suddenly, there was screaming, commotion and gunfire…
Estos straightened.
The First Order Stormtroopers had arrived.
A few moments later, one of the base doctors flew across the hall and hit the sliding glass entry doors like a rag doll, his body riddled with bullet holes and a blood streak following him as he slid down the glass, slumping lifelessly to the floor.
In another moment, there was the sound of rapid gunfire and the glass doors shattered and a handful of Stormtroopers flooded into medical bay.
Estos immediately fell to one knee and fired relentlessly at the troops with his weapon.
He had taken down at least three, when he took a grazing blast to his left shoulder that thankfully missed Luke and ricochet off of his hospital bed frame and struck one of the remaining troopers in the neck, where his armor was weak.
"Nice, Luke…" Estos chuckled, still engaged with the last two troopers, when a menagerie of Resistance soldier suddenly burst through the side door that led into the nurse's station and adjoining hallways—the fighting happening there immediately spilling into the room.
"Grenade!" one of the Resistance soldiers suddenly cried out from down the hall, and the division scattered immediately as Estos turned and jumped on top of the Luke in his hospital bed to shield him from the blast.
# # # # # #
"Ready?" Finn asked nervously, his back pressed to the wall next to the exit door that led from the third level stairs out onto the tarmac of the main aircraft hangar as he brought his blaster to the ready.
He cast his glance over to Rey and she nodded then ignited her light saber in her right hand, while she supported Ben with her left shoulder.
They waited a couple of beats to summon their courage before they made a break for it.
"Go!" Finn cried, using one arm to fling the door open and his blaster in the other to cover Rey as she and Ben took off first out into the open.
Sirens blared loudly around them as pilots, engineers, staff and civilians raced around the base, escaping First Order ground troopers, battle droids and fire from TIE fighters that soared in the skies above them.
"Raiyah!" Ben cried and Rey reflexively swung her arm and sliced a small nearby battle droid in half with her light saber as it approached, then balanced her weight on Ben for a moment as she blocked several shots from a nearby rogue Stormtrooper—distracting him so Ben could thrust out his hand and, with the Force, thrust the weapon out of the trooper's grasp, then throw him a few yards against the side of a ground shelter entrance.
Suddenly, fire from the TIE fighters above erupted around them, kicking up gravel, dirt and asphalt at their feet.
Rey tried to deflect the blasts with her ligh tsaber the best she could as they tried to keep moving.
Behind her, she could hear Finn's blaster going off as he continued to cover them as they made their way through the front line firestorm between Stormtroopers and Resistance ground troops defending the central hub, the hangar's remaining aircraft and the civilians caught in the crossfire.
As they moved forward, Rey was surprised to see Ben expelling energy to help the Resistance by creating Force fields that shielded innocents from the Stormtroopers or by disarming the enemy, tossing them aside or breaking their arms and necks when possible and halting their blaster fire in mid-air.
But, when a rapid fire assault came down from above, seemingly focused on them from a single TIE fighter, Rey found she couldn't keep up the defenses with her saber alone and Ben immediately took hold of her and lowered her to the ground, throwing himself on top of her.
Again, to her surprise, he reached up and, with a groan of pain and effort, reached for Finn and pulled him down too.
Ben then instantly created a shield that surrounded Finn, Rey and himself with the Force as the ground continued to crumble at their feet and the blasts ricochet above them.
Rey looked up through the distorted transparency of the shield above her, watching as every blast left a small indent in the impenetrable bubble.
She knew the shield couldn't hold long. Ben wasn't strong enough.
Rey could tell by his face that he was fading fast.
It was then that she heard an Xwing fly over, low, then bank up and, setting the tie fighter in its sights, take him down effortlessly.
The pilot then barrel rolled and came back over the hanger and mowed down a cluster of Stormtroopers, who had rounded up some civilians a few meters away and were accosting them at gunpoint.
As soon as the firing stopped, Ben let out a painful gasp and the bubble around them disappeared.
Finn smiled up to the sky as he stood, just as the pilot, Poe Dameron, did another low flyby and took down another group of TIE fighters approaching from the south.
"Looks like your boyfriend saved our skin…" Finn teased Rey and she smirked
Fin then leaned down and helped her bring Ben to his feet, raising an eyebrow as he looked up again and followed Poe's path in the sky, "Damn…he's good!"
But, the moment was short lived as a series of blast fire grazed past them and got them moving once more.
"Run, now?!" Ben cried, leaning on Rey shoulder again, but looking toward Finn, "Hero worship, Later!?"
# # # # # #
"General, you've been here long enough. Please, let us get you to safety!" Major Ematt insisted as another bomb penetrated the bedrock just above the ceiling of Resistance command central, shaking the room and causing rubble and rock to fall from above.
Leia shielded her head with one arm as she held on to one of the computer consoles with the other, keeping herself from being bowled over by the force of the blast.
When she had regained her footing, she looked around the room to make sure others in her charge were alright, before she cast a glance to Major Ematt and said, "Not yet. Those hounds can bark and bark, but its gonna take a lot more than a few bombing raids to get this old fox to emerge from her den. I would rather die than give them that satisfaction!"
Major Ematt gave a defeated smirk as he brushed dust off of his military jacket.
"Where are we with the fleet?" General Organa asked, turning to one of the young radio operators
"Six fighters down, Ma'am. We've lost Lieutenant Danko and Major Hillet. So far sixteen reported dead—over a hundred wounded."
"Any civilian casualties?" Leia asked, closing her eyes and thinking of the poor souls of Acquin III.
They didn't have much warning of the attack.
"No confirmed reports Ma'am, but Captain Oro believes that most of the civilians who live closest to the base made it to the shelter, however an unknown number have been sighted in the hands of the enemy."
"Hanger four was blown by our own grenades rather than be taken," a young red-headed female operator chimed in, "And Commander Dameron is reporting heavy fire by the TIE fighters on the grounds surrounding the base."
"They are aiming for the ground?" Leia replied, her eyes narrowing, "Why? Are they targeting civilians and our field soldiers?"
"It's unclear, Ma'am, but they don't seem to be targeting any of our free standing buildings. They actually seem to be just continually firing and bombing to hit bedrock. We have confirmed damages in corridors 8, 11, 13, 16, 21 and 29 and in quarters on levels one, two and three. Reports also state minimal Stormtrooper presence above ground."
"She's correct, Ma'am," a male operator interjected, his voice mechanically automated by a droid implant, "Reports in the field confirm that the majority of the Stormtroopers have penetrated only service entrances, tunnels and our lower levels."
"That doesn't make any sense," Admiral Ackbar stated, coming to Leia's side
"No, it doesn't…" Leia mused, looking up to the radar, "A distraction, perhaps?"
"General!" a voice suddenly cried and a young man of about nineteen with dark gray eyes and chestnut hair raced in to the room, holding a decoder card.
After swiftly saluting the General in her presence, he urgently handed her the card, then said, "We have just received and deciphered a First Order code that was bounced off of an outer rim frequency. I think you should see it."
"An encrypted code sent out in the midst of battle?" Admiral Ackbar stated, sharing a look with Major Ematt
Leia read the transparent card and her face visibly blanched.
"They followed you here…" she whispered, a look of pure fear crossing her face before she suddenly turned to the head radio operator and said, in a louder voice, "Send an urgent message to all unit commanders on all frequencies on or near lower level 1 and tell them to make for the medical bay! Tell them we have an enemy execution Order 66—"
"Ma'am?" the young woman questioned, raising an eyebrow
"Order 66?!" Admiral Ackbar cried, taking the message swiftly and unceremoniously out of Leia's hands, "It can't be!"
"Please! Most of them are from the early Rebellion days, they'll know what it means! Please! Just do it!" Leia cried at the operator
"All units…All units…" the stunned radio operator called over the joint airwaves, her hand visibly shaking as she held her headset to her left ear, "We have an enemy execution Order 66. All available units rendezvous at Lower Level 1—medical bay. I repeat, by command of General Organa…we have received an enemy execution Order 66 in the medical bay …all units, respond."
"Oh Gods," Major Ematt, his eyes widening in horror, "Snoke isn't just here for us…He wants them! All of them..."
Leia's face instantly crumbled as she turned to Major Ematt and Admiral Ackbar and said with a broken voice, "And I'm afraid I sent them all right into his trap. In fact, I might as well have wrapped them up for him with a bow."
# # # # # # #
Estos coughed as the smoke cleared and he immediately looked down to Luke lying beneath him.
After assessing that Luke was unharmed and breathing steadily, he pushed himself off of the hospital bed and gazed around medical bay to the maze of rubble and dead bodies scattered about him.
Four Resistance soldiers walked out of the smoke past him, giving him a short nod, before sweeping the room assessing fallen comrades and checking to ensure their enemies were dead and disarming them.
"Lord Estos!" a familiar voice cried and Thair Hammad, Captain of Estos' personal guard, climbed over the shattered glass, fallen rubble and dead bodies, and two heavily armed men in tow behind him, to reach his employer, "Thank God, we found you!"
The Resistance soldiers immediately turned their weapons on the three men dress entirely in black, but Estos quickly stepped forward to their defense
"You're late." Estos dead panned and Thair smirked, before his face fell
"Sir, you're wounded—" he started, pushing past the Resistance soldiers and taking in the sight of Estos' bleeding arm
"I'm fine," he said quickly, waving the man off, "My wife and son?"
"I sent two men with them to the civilian shelter. They are safe, Sir."
Estos breathed a sigh of relief then nodded over his shoulder back toward Luke in the hospital bed in the corner.
"I need your help moving him. The First Order can't find him here—"
"We know. General Organa has issued a radio wide command, stating that all Resistance soldiers in the area are to converge here…Something about an 'Order 66'?"
"The Imperical code for a Jedi massacre..." Estos whispered, raising an eyebrow in stunned surprise
"I wouldn't know, Sir…" Thair replied, confused
"Nevermind," Estos said, springing into action, "Look, I need your help moving him and when then I want your men and these Resistance soldiers to fan out and find Skywalker's daughter and nephew. They're in grave danger—"
"Dad!" a female voice cried and Estos turned to see Rey, breaking away from Ben and Finn in the doorway, leaving Ben to lean on Finn for support and rushing forward.
Tears came to her eyes as she pushed past Lord Estos and his men came to Luke's bedside, beholding him still and lifeless in deep sleep.
"Rey, what are you doing here?" Estos asked in surprise, holstering his weapon then turning to Ben and Finn, "All of you."
"I shot you with three very powerful tranq darts," Thair suddenly interjected, his eyes intently on Rey, "How are you even upright right now?"
"Not the time…" Estos said out of the corner of his mouth and Thair instantly fell silent
"We're here to help Luke," Ben said as he released himself from Finn's grasp and walked unsteadily forward, "We'll need him."
"I agree—we do need him, but did you not hear what I just said?" Estos retorted as he watched Rey take a place on one side of the bed and Ben lean on the other side across from her, "We need to get Luke to safety—the First Order can't find him here—actually, they shouldn't find any of you here! You're all in danger! Please!"
Thair Hammad immediately stepped forward and put a heavy hand on Rey's shoulder to pull her away
"NO!" Rey cried, and swiftly turned on him, her eyes darkening as their gaze met for an instant before she willed the Force with her mind, creating an invisible energy that lifted Captain Hammad off of his feet and threw him back, where he landed hard on the floor as if someone had body slammed him.
The other guards raised their weapons and moved forward, but Estos threw up a hand to stop them.
"We're not running," Rey said, her eyes returning to their normal color as she looked to Estos, "We're fighting. Now, Ben and I are going to get my father. It would be very helpful if you could cover us while we do it."
"Yes," Ben said, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them again, "Stormtroopers are coming down the east hall now—thirty of them—"
"How super specific of you," Finn interjected with a haughty smile, bringing his blaster to the ready
"Shit…" Estos rolled his eyes and pulling his blaster from the back of his belt, then signaled to Captain Hammad, who was now coming begrudgingly to his feet, and his men into fall into formation. Hammad then spoke quickly to the Resistance commander and his men still in the room and they immediately and effortlessly joined forces to form a defensive wall in front of Lord Estos, Finn, Ben, Rey and Luke.
As they waited for enemy approach, Ben reached out over Luke's chest for Rey's hand.
"Don't be nervous," he said in a calm voice, as she lifted her eyes from her father's face to meet Ben's gaze
Rey took his hand without hesitation, then place her other on her father's forehead and watched her cousin's other hand come to rest on top of hers there, "I'm not—well, maybe…a little…"
"You're thinking about what Maz said?" Ben asked, "About the balance?"
Rey didn't answer, but her eyes betrayed her thoughts
"Don't," Ben said intently, "Leave that to me. I think I know a way."
"What?" Rey asked, her eyes widening, "How—"
"Just trust me…" Ben insisted, "And know…"
Suddenly, he trailed off for a moment before Rey prompted him, "Know what?"
Ben took in a breath, focusing his eyes softly on her as he said, "I have done horrific things in my life, Raiyah—things that I am not proud of. Betrayal, deception, massacre, torture... In simple terms, I'm not a hero, but I'm not a true villain, either. I am, however, a monster of my own making—"
"Ben," Rey started, but he interrupted her
"Just know," he continued, "That any good I have done in this life, especially recently—any spark of decency and compassion I still had left inside of me came forth because of you."
Rey's gaze softened, taken aback by his words
"Surely you must know that—you must have felt it—that it was for you…" Ben's nostrils flared with emotion and his voice lowered to a soft whisper, "It was all for you…"
Their eyes met for a few long moments, Rey's bordering on more tears before she nodded, knowing that there was nothing she could possibly say in response to his statement.
Ben had wanted the last word.
And he got it.
Instead, she closed her eyes and focused her energies…and through the Force and there connecting hands, suddenly felt Ben do the same.
# # # # # # #
Luke Jedi jumped up into the high branches of the cherry blossom tree, his father's light saber barely missing his boots.
He didn't quite stick the landing and due to fatigue, nearly fell, but was able to clutch the snow covered trunk as he sheathed his saber and threw out his now free hand to summon the Force.
Within moments, the ground beneath Vader's feet cracked, creating a long divide through the forest and causing the Sith Lord to stumble, then make a jump himself to avoid falling into the abyss.
When he had regained his footing, Darth Vader, threw his hand out and uprooted the tree and splintered it half, sending Luke hurdling to the ground where he landed hard on his back and slid toward the divide he had created.
Suddenly, a hand caught his wrist and slowed his momentum.
Luke looked up, a relieved smile crossing his face when he saw Rey and their eyes met.
Within moments, a dark shadow loomed and Luke's eyes widened as he saw Vader draw his light saber above Rey, ready to strike.
But, just then, a silver light saber sliced through Vader diagonally from behind, cutting him in half.
Vader's saber fell to the ground, barely missing Rey in its wake as the Sith Lord body followed close behind, separating into two pieces to reveal Ben Solo holding Rey's light saber.
Ben looked down at Vader's body, stunned for a few moments, before he sheathed the weapon, then reached down and took hold of Rey's other hand, hauling her and Luke back toward even ground.
Ben left them near the splintered tree trunk lying in the middle of the forest, then walked off, leaving Rey to help Luke up to sit on the fallen tree with her.
He touched her face with reverence for a moment before he pulled her into an embrace, kissing her hair, relieved to be holding her again—not even caring how much pain it cause his injured side.
When he winced, Rey quickly pulled back and looked down to his injury.
"You're wounded..." Rey observed, worry in her eyes
"Yeah..." Luke replied, grimacing in pain, then narrowing his eyes, "Baby, what are you doing here? How—"
"When we found out about the Rennian blades, we decided we couldn't let you stay here to suffer alone, so we used our powers to come for you. Ben and I—"
Suddenly, Rey stood from the tree trunk and looked around, sensing something wasn't right.
It was then that she saw a figure that looked like Ben's silhouette, leaning against the trunk of a nearby ash tree.
Rey immediately jogged over to him.
"Ben—" she started, but immediately gasped when she grabbed his shoulder and, instead of turning toward her, he fell limply, like a rag doll, to his knees in front of her.
"Oh…Oh…no…" she whispered, taking him into her arms and beholding his ashen face, then looking down to blood soaked in at least three large spots through his black tunic shirt and now flowing in streams down his arms and onto the white snow beneath them.
Footsteps quickly approached and Rey looked over to see Luke gracefully fall to his knees at her side, with a wince, taking in the scene.
"We have to do something or he'll bleed to death..." Luke said quickly, reaching out to Ben, but Ben grabbed his hand and held it steady.
Stunned by his action, Rey focused pained eyes on him, watching his breathing becoming shallower by the moment as Ben's grip on Luke's hand tightened.
"It is the way of the Force..." Ben whispered to him with small smirk, "Old Order justice, so to speak."
A look of conflicting emotions crossed Luke's face at his nephew's words.
Then Ben turned and his eyes met Rey's for a long moment and then...
She knew.
"You knew this would happen…" she gasped in sudden realization, tears welling in her eyes, "Didn't you?"
Ben gave a slight nod, his eyes sad and his face instantly crumbling with emotion
"You shouldn't have come back…You were injured by a Rennian blade…You weren't supposed to come back, were you?" she asked, her face crumbling, too in response.
Ben shook his head slightly then gave a sad smirk, "It was my choice."
Luke closed his eyes in pain at his nephew's words and, after a moment of hesitation, returned Ben's grip on his hand.
"I told you," Ben said in a soft, broken voice, looking at Rey, "It was because of you. It was all for you…"
"No…" Rey shaking her head, the tears falling down her cheeks now, "No…Ben…"
"It has to be this way. It's how it's meant to be. Don't you see? This is the balance…" Ben said softly, then looked toward Luke, "You need him…and he needs you…and the Force needs you both. It doesn't need me."
"But, I do. I need you…" Rey suddenly whispered, closing her eyes and immediately bringing her forehead to rest again his, "It's not too late for your redemption-please-"
Ben closed his eyes and sighed, relishing her touch for a few moments before he took in another shallow breath, "You were my redemption, Raiyah. When we were younger, you always seemed to keep me on the path to the light. And when you returned to me, after all these years of darkness and loss...it was as though that path was laid beneath my feet again. It was the will of the Force, I truly believe that. And I'm grateful-I'm so grateful. It was a hard path and it still lays unfinished, but we both have to accept that my part of the story has ended."
After a beat, he felt Rey nod slowly, then pull back and wipe under her eyes.
Ben then opened his eyes, "Just promise me that you'll be wary of your soul, Raiyah. Be wary of your power. It can gain you everything, but cost you everything...including your soul. It can be easily lost. I lost mine and I never got it back."
There was a moment of silence before Rey whispered, "I promise."
Then Ben's eyes turned toward Luke, fluttering as he tried to remain conscious, and to the Jedi's surprise, they softened as they focused intently on him.
Ben slowly released his grip on Luke's hand and reached up tentatively toward him.
After a moment of hesitation, Luke leaned forward and let Ben bring his right hand to rest on his left temple.
They held eye contact for a long minute and from Rey's point of view, reading the emotion in their faces, it seemed as if a dialogue passed between the two men.
Suddenly, it ended and both of them gasped at the loss of connection.
Then Rey watched as Ben's hand fell slowly from Luke's temple and he turned toward her, his glazed eyes focusing on her face as a small contented smile crossed his face.
"Do it," Ben said to his uncle, his voice shaking as he kept his eyes focused on Rey, "I'm ready..."
It was then that Rey heard the sound of a light saber igniting and she cried out in shock and horror as she watched her father's green blade go through Ben's chest, the force of the blow causing Ben to fall forward lifelessly into Luke's arms.
# # # # # #
"I'm sorry," Ben whispered in the back of Luke's mind, "Sorrier than you could possibly imagine. Tell my mother, I love her? I know you could never forgive me for what I've done to you, so I would never ask you to. But, I do want you to know that I haven't forgotten...Any of it..."
And in a distorted memory, a young Luke Skywalker lowered himself onto a stone bench next to his teenage nephew in the peace garden of his Jedi Praxeum.
'Today, we talk about one of the key principles in a Jedi's life… Sacrifice' Luke said in a soft voice
Suddenly, another memory flashed—that of Han Solo touching Ben's face after his son pulled his light saber violently from his chest, then watched him fall off of the maintenance walkway inside StarKiller base.
'People hear the word 'sacrifice' and often they become afraid—afraid that something will be taken away from them or that they will have to give up something they couldn't live without. Sacrifice, to most, means being selfless in a world that values strength of self.'
More memories come in quick succession.
Ben holding Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber for the first time and igniting it…
Ben standing in the rain at the head of the Knights of Ren…
Ben running his hands through the ashes on a pedestal in his room…
Then flashes of death, torture, and chaotic battles…
'In many cases, like that of your grandfather, true sacrifice—true selflessness isn't a weakness, it's a victory…'
Ben tossing Rey up in the air as a toddler as she screamed in delight…
Grabbing hold of Luke's feet to keep him from falling off the edge of the cliff with young Rey ...
Ben taking two Rennian blades through the chest trying to protect Rey during the battle on D'Qar…
'That's because it requires free will and compassion to give up something for someone you love, or something or someone you love more than yourself…
Ben watching his mother sleep through the viewing glass of the Resistance prison cell...
Ben meeting Rey's eyes over Luke Skywalker's lifeless body in the medical bay…
Five year-old Rey looking down at Ben from the ceiling rafters of the Jedi Praxeum the night of the massacre…
'I won't lie to you, Ben. It can be a gamble…"
Ben sliding his light saber toward the Stormtrooper in his quarters, giving up his apprenticeship with Snoke…
Ben standing across from Rey on the iced over lake in their first Force vision together…
'Sacrifice won't always win the physical battle and it can leave unimaginable pain in its wake—pain that's only cure is time.'
Rey delivering the final blow to defeat Ben in the woods on Starkiller base…
Ben, dressed as Kylo Ren, standing in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, placing a reverent hand on his father's chair...
Ben fighting Luke Skywalker on one of the outer rim planets and losing Anakin's lightsaber in the battle...
'But, sacrifice does win the battle against bitterness, hatred and darkness…'
Ben using the Force to lift a First Order soldier off of his feet and choke him to death…
Ben standing over Mayla Skywalker's body with the Knights of Ren at his side…
Ben, dressed as Kylo Ren, standing in front of the viewing window on a star destroyer, watching as a blast of fire created by the sun, destroyed the Republic Senate…
'All those feelings that dim the light that falls on all that is of true value in our lives…"
A young Ben running and leaping into Han Solo's arms as he walked off the Millennium Falcon…
Luke teaching him the proper way to hold a light saber...
Twelve year old Ben holding a newborn Rey in his arms...
Ben watching his parents slow-dance on the outside veranda of their home during the first snowfall of the year…
Returning back to the Jedi Praxeum with Luke and smiling as he watched his uncle joyously reunite with his young daughter, picking her up and holding her close as he peppered her face with kisses and she giggled.
Suddenly, the connection to his nephew's memories ceased and Luke Skywalker gasped and opened his eyes.
Rey lay unconscious across his chest, his nephew lay dead on the floor next to his bed and a battle raged around him.