So it turns out I messed up the timeline and accidentally made Rey four during the first part of this story and not five. Therefore, I have to go back to chapters 27 and 28, and changed the dates of the morning after the bachelor party, the wedding, the pregnancy scare, and Felicity's graduation. I've also gone back and reedited the chapter I already edited to fix the line about the birthday party for Rey. It's the only way to make sure the whole timeline isn't massively screwed up.
Why did I dedicate to a freaking timeline?
Slightly dirtier version on AO3.
So, I've been listening to the audiobook of TFA at work to get the creative juices flowing, and wow, I cannot say my work has too much profanity for Star Wars. In the novel Finn uses the term Hell on a regular basis, and Rey actually calls Plutt a bastard.
Felicity would be so proud.
And yes, we're finally at the final flashback chapter!
Enjoy all the murder.
The Long Way Home
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Part Seven: Ending
8 Years, 6 Months, 27 Days
"I regret having children!" Felicity exclaimed as she stormed into the kitchen.
Luke grinned as he stirred the sauce simmering on the stove top. He could hear the commotion from the living room: three-year-old Rey's delighted squeals, the loud, excited beeping of the droids, and the bickering of the two teenaged boys.
"Having fun with the kids?" Luke teased as Felicity grumpily crossed her arms and leaned against the dishwasher.
"I swear to the Gods, Luke, I am about thirty seconds away from pushing one of them down the laundry chute, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be Ben."
"Sweetheart, it's always Ben with you," Luke chuckled. He offered her a spoonful of sauce, "Taste this. I'm not sure I got the spices right."
Felicity tried and paused to think, "…Needs a little more oregano."
"Thanks. Can you grab it from the spice cupboard?"
"You mean the mighty Jedi isn't going to use the Force to get it down?" Felicity smirked.
Luke pulled a face, "I'd rather not use the Force to lift items anytime soon. We don't want another incident."
"Fair enough." She glanced up towards the cupboards and groaned, "Why did we install that cupboard so high?"
"Because we had it custom-built to have the inside to hold the spice bottles in a certain way, then told Chewie to install it at an easy to reach height without specifying that it should be easy for us to reach and not him."
"You know, I think Chewbacca might literally be the height of two of me stacked vertically."
"He's at least three Reys tall," Luke conceded.
"Lesson learned then," Felicity smirked, "don't let Chewie do anymore construction for us."
"Agreed."
Felicity grabbed the stool from the corner and began rummaging through the top cupboard where they kept the spices. Even custom-built kitchens proved to be a little too tall for Felicity sometimes… though Luke certainly enjoyed the view. Her back turned to him, her muscles stretching and flexing as she moved to reach, her glutes pulling tight.
"I may not be a Jedi, but I can sense when you're checking me out, Skywalker," Felicity called without even looking down at him.
Luke blushed slightly and turned back to the meal cooking, "Sorry. Sometimes I just can't ignore the view."
"Hey, I'm not complaining," Felicity hopped down from the stool. "Let's not pretend I don't drool over you in the same way when watching you at the training gym. You know, when you're shirtless and sweaty and out of breath. Reminds me of one of my favorite activities with you."
Luke glanced at Felicity warily. She crossed the room with a slight… zest in her step, and from the look on her face, Luke knew he was in trouble in a we're about to do something we really shouldn't when the kids are literally on the other side of this door way.
"Here," Felicity handed him the oregano bottle with a sultry look in her eye. "That'll help spice things up."
Luke set the bottle on the counter, very aware of how close her body was to his, "Careful Miss Rhiaon. A man might get ideas about your intentions."
"Well after a three-week dry spell, I think my intentions are quite clear," she ran a hand down his chest and Luke struggled not to shudder. "Unless… you have reason to not want to fulfill those intentions?"
"Felicity, we have three children in the house. Finding a time and place isn't easy."
"Yes, I know," Felicity looked down and bit her lip. "Especially since both Rey and Ben have been having horrible visions… but I miss you."
Luke wanted to kiss the look right off her face, "I miss you too. It's been so hard these past few weeks."
Felicity smirked and pressed her hips against him, "I'm sure it has."
"Honestly if Reine hadn't started insisting on sitting in on all our meetings. I swear, if I just have you, twenty minutes alone in my office-"
"She's just mad because Gavyn told her what we did during her wedding reception."
"I should have lied about those broken glasses," Luke stroked a thumb over her bottom lip. His eyes were locked on that delectable mouth. "Is that door locked?"
Felicity glanced coyly at the kitchen door, "It could be."
Luke took a dominant step forward and Felicity gasped as she was suddenly forced back against the counter.
"Master Skywalker," Felicity panted, desire burning in her eyes. "Whatever are you doing?"
"I think my intentions are quite clear," Luke placed his hands on either side of her, gripping the edge of the counter, trapping her against it.
"Now, Master Skywalker, don't start something you can't finish."
"Oh, I intend on finishing."
"There's food on the stove," Felicity reminded.
"I don't care."
"The kids could walk in."
"I don't care."
"I want it as bad as you."
"Now that, I do care about," Luke grinned and pulled her in for a kiss.
It was passionate and desperate, lips and tongues and bodies tangling together. Luke's hand was buried in Felicity's hair as her nails raked down his back. Felicity moaned as Luke lifted her up onto the counter, ready to have his way with her.
"You definitely have a thing for me on tables," Felicity chuckled, breaking away.
"Stop sassing and start stripping," Luke grinned.
Her hands grasped the hem of his shirt and started lifting over his body as his lips suckled at her neck.
"This isn't fair to me!" Ben Solo's voice rang out as the door slid open.
"Not fair to you? It's not fair to me!" Poe Dameron objected as they entered the kitchen, both boys completely oblivious to Luke and Felicity's frantic pulling apart.
"Are you two seriously still fighting about that?" Felicity exclaimed as she smoothed down her hair.
"Fighting about what?" Luke tucked his shirt in, pointed ignoring Poe's raised eyebrow. Apparently the sixteen-year-old Poe was a little less oblivious than Ben was.
Thunk thunk thunk.
The sound of Ben's crutches rang out as he hobbled through the kitchen, his left foot sporting a tightly wound cast.
"He wants to sleep in my room," Ben cried.
Luke raised an eyebrow, "Yes. That was what was agreed."
"Not by me."
"As one of your legal guardians, and co-owner of this house, I'm authorized to make that decision on your behalf," Luke shot.
When Ben had come to live on Rornian, Han and Leia had legally given Luke and Felicity partial custody in the event of medical or legal emergencies. It was a point Felicity very much liked to flaunt.
"But I don't want him in my room, touching my things," Ben objected.
Poe rolled his eyes, "I guarantee you, Ben, there's nothing of yours I want to touch. But I need a bed. I'm not about to master the art of sleeping standing up."
"Why don't you sleep in Uncle Luke's X-Wing?" Ben suggested. "If you want to be a pilot, you gotta learn to sleep in a cockpit."
Luke wasn't certain if the boy was trying to be genuine or just flat out mocking Poe.
"I'll pass," Poe replied.
"Ben," Luke sighed. "You can't get up the stairs in that cast."
"Not my fault Rhiaon's house design was so ableist," Ben shot a smirk at Felicity.
She rolled her eyes, "Where did you even learn that word?"
"What he's saying is you can't sleep in your room because it's upstairs," Poe said. "Which means you have to sleep on the couch AKA the couch I'm currently sleeping on, leaving me with no bed but that free one you have vacated."
"Then sleep on the floor," Ben shot.
"As long as you are in that cast, Poe will be sleeping in your bed," Luke firmly stated. He noticed in the corner of his eye that Felicity had taken up tending to the cooking. "Sweetheart, the nuna needs to be basted."
"On it," Felicity grabbed the oven mitts.
"But Uncle Luke!" Ben wined.
At that moment, the room filled with a loud squeal, and two droids and a little girl burst into the kitchen.
"Don't let her get you, Buddy!" Poe grinned at the sight of the laughing Rey chasing a happily bleeping BB-8. He admired the previous day's paint job, "You were right, Luke. Orange does look good on him."
"Rey be careful!" Luke urged as she and BB-8 got too close to Ben's injured leg. "Artoo can you please-"
Beep bop beep.
Artoo had been dutifully following around the household's two youngest members, supervising and guiding them out of danger. Of course, he would chastise BB-8 most colorfully whenever he thought things got too risky. Luke was only glad neither Rey nor the week-old BB Unit understood such vulgar binary.
"Rey," Luke frowned as she again got too close to Ben's leg.
"I just don't understand why he has to sleep in my bed." Ben's eyes followed Rey carefully, "Hey, Nightlight. Careful of my leg, okay?"
"Okay," Rey nodded. "Can you play with us? I'm catching BB!"
"And doing a great job, Nightlight," Ben grinned. "You don't need your old cousin to play with you."
"But I wanna play with you Ben! Please play with me? Please?"
"Sorry, Nightlight," Ben patted his leg, "can't with this thing."
"Daddy, why does Ben have that on his leg?"
"It's called a cast and it's used to heal his broken leg," Luke answered.
Rey frowned, "Can't Doctor Kally heal broken bones? She made Master Gavyn's all better last week."
"She can but Uncle Han, Aunt Leia, Mommy, and I agreed his should be healed by a cast instead."
"Why?"
"Because Ben was a bad boy," Felicity cut in with a taunting tone. "He disobeyed Daddy's instructions during Jedi lessons, lifted something with the Force that was too heavy for him to handle, dropped it on himself, and broke his leg. Loud Mouth Solo and Mommy decided Ben would learn his lesson better if he had to suffer through six weeks with a cast. And that's why you have to always listen to your teachers during lessons."
"I always listen in my lessons!" Rey exclaimed. "Right, Daddy?"
Luke chuckled, "Well… almost. Wouldn't quite be my daughter if you always listened to the rules."
Rey turned back to Ben, "Well if you can't play catch, let's play something else. How about hide and seek? BB-8 and I will hide and you seek. We won't go upstairs."
"Nah, wouldn't be fair, Nightlight," Ben chuckled. "True, you might be a clever hider, but playing with droids is no fun. If I tried to hunt down BB-8, I would find him no problem."
"I think you underestimate my droid's evasion skills," Poe said.
"Challenge accepted Dameron."
"Some other time, Boys," Luke interjected. "Ben's right, Rey. He can't play hide and seek with his leg like that. Why don't you just play with BB-8?"
"Okay," Rey nodded. She turned back to BB-8, "I'm gonna get you!"
BB-8 let out a playfully squeal and shot across the kitchen. Rey followed, hot on his trail, chasing him all over the place. It was only when they got too close to Felicity bent over the oven, putting back in the freshly based nuna that Luke got concerned.
"Rey," Luke warned.
But she wasn't paying attention. Screaming in joy and obliviousness, she and BB-8 were running straight for the open oven.
"Felicity! Back!" Luke shouted.
She leapt back automatically and Luke used the Force to slam shut the oven door right before Rey would hit it.
…That is, if she hadn't suddenly frozen in her tracks, her body contorted slightly. She was mid-step, but it seemed like her muscles had just stopped and she was hovering in place.
Luke frowned, "What the-"
His heart stopped when he saw it: Ben's hand extended, eyes locked on Rey…using the Force to hold Rey in place.
"Ben!" Luke shouted.
He dropped his grip on Rey and instantly she lurched forward. It was only Felicity's quick reflexes that caught Rey's arm before she faceplanted on the floor.
"Are you okay, Sweetheart?" Felicity whispered, dropping to a knee to examine her for injury.
"What were you thinking, Ben?" Luke scolded.
"She was about to hit the oven," Ben defended himself.
"And your first thought was to use the Dark Side and freeze her in place?"
Poe's eyes flicked awkwardly around the room, "Uh… Fliss, if Rey's okay, why don't I take her and the droids upstairs to play until dinner?"
"Sounds like a good plan," Felicity nodded. She kissed Rey's forehead and turned her around, "Go with Poe."
Rey nodded and ran to Poe, who took her arm and led her out of the room.
"Look, I was using the Dark Side for a good reason," Ben said.
Luke crossed his arms, "I'm sure my father thought the same thing the first time he used it. Heck, I said that the first time I used it."
"Exactly! You use this power!"
"I have in the past," Luke conceded. "But only as the last resort when there was genuine danger of someone losing their life."
Felicity guiltily looked away from Luke.
"The problem here, Ben is your thought process," Luke continued. "Your first thought was to physically stop Rey. Your instinct was to take away her free will and agency."
"Should could have gotten hurt!"
"And it's her mistake to make."
"Careful, Skywalker," Felicity warned. "You're starting to sound like you wanted her to go in the oven."
"My point is that when I acted, I had a different mindset," Luke said. "I went to remove the danger. I closed the oven. Yes, if she hit the door, she probably would have been hurt by the heat a little. Then she learns her lesson not to play by the oven. Sometimes you have to let a kid hurt themselves in order to learn the concept of danger. Ben, you have to start thinking about things different. Don't try to control the person. Control the environment. Using that power should be your absolute last resort."
"That's not what he says," Ben muttered.
Luke's eyes went wide, "Are you hearing Snoke again?"
"No."
"Ben, don't you dare lie to me about this!"
"Maybe… sometimes. I don't listen to what he says!"
"Ben! We've been over this, you have to tell me when you hear him. He wants nothing good."
"He appreciates my powers," Ben snapped. "Unlike some people."
Luke took a deep breath, "Ben… is this about the cast?"
"I told you I could lift that speeder! You wouldn't even let me try!"
"Do or do not. There is no try, and clearly," Luke gestured to Ben's cast, "you did not. Just… Just go to your room, okay?"
"I can't. Remember?"
"Then the living room, Ben. Just please… go."
Ben grumbled and hobbled out of the kitchen, his crutches thudding down the hall.
Luke sighed, grasping the bridge of his nose and lowered his head. Why couldn't Ben just understand?
A pair of arms wrapped around his waist, and her felt Felicity rest her head against his back.
"You handled that fine, Luke," Felicity whispered.
"Did I?" Luke sighed, "I just don't understand him. Why doesn't he realize I'm only trying to help him?"
"He's a teenager. He's going through a phase."
"He's attacked you before, Felicity."
"That wasn't an attack… at first," Felicity looked away, not wanting to remember that horrible day she let Ben into her mind.
"Who knows what else Snoke is teaching him? I don't know what to do, Felicity."
"Maybe it's time to outsource. Miri and Genko are being assigned as Padawans soon, right?"
"You think I should make Ben a Padawan?"
"I don't know. I'm not great at the whole Jedi thing." Felicity came around to Luke's front and wrapped her arms around his neck, "What I think you should do is finish making dinner, have a nice meal with the family, put our daughter to bed… let the boys fight out their sleeping arrangements, and then come to bed with me and show me what I've been missing for three weeks."
Luke smiled and rested his palm on her hips, "Sounds like a plan to me."
They leaned in for another tender kiss.
SQIUUEEEE!
A loud mechanical shriek filled the house, startling Luke and Felicity to break apart. But before they could say a word, it was instantly followed by a series of loud thuds coming from the staircase.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Luke and Felicity cringed with each impact on the stairs, but after the silence the followed the eighth, they frowned.
"Aren't there nine stairs?" Felicity asked.
Thud!
"There we go," Felicity said. "What do you think-"
"Wait for it," Luke held up his hand. "In three… two… one."
"Uh oh," Rey's voice echoed through the house.
"Thought so," Luke sighed. He then yelled, "POE? EVERYTHING OKAY?"
A rumble of footsteps sounded as two humans and a droid flurried down to the main level.
"Oh no," Poe's voice was distant and soft. He then called to Luke, "WELL… REY AND I ARE OKAY, BUT…"
"But?" Luke frowned.
Poe re-entered the kitchen with a guilty looking Rey following.
Her head was bowed and her hands were clasped, "Sorry, Daddy."
"What happened?" Luke asked.
"Rey was playing with BB near the stairs, and I was trying to get them to stop, but Rey accidentally pushed him and…" Poe looked awkwardly at the doorway.
Artoo rolled into the kitchen. Two cables trailed behind him, dragging in the detached head and body of BB-8.
"I'm sorry," Rey said again.
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Poe and BB-8," Luke instructed.
"Sorry Poe. Sorry BB."
"It's okay, Rey," Poe smiled at her and ruffled her hair.
Bwop beep bo.
BB-8's noises were weak, but the forgiveness was clear.
"What happened?" Felicity asked.
"I think the mechanics that keep his head upright shorted out," Poe explained. "Luke, do you think you could fix it?"
"Sure, but this won't be the last time this type of thing happens. I'll show you after dinner how to fix it."
"Thanks," Poe smiled.
"Why don't you guys go now?" Felicity offered. "I'll finish up dinner. You fix the droid."
"Are you sure?" Luke asked.
Beep beep bop.
"See, I'll be fine," Felicity said. "Artoo will help me."
"Alright then." Luke picked Rey up with one arm. She squealed happily as he slung her over his shoulder and started tickling her stomach, "Let's go fix a droid."
Dinner was typical that night, the usual chatter that filled the dining room. Rey trying to sneak a toy under the table cloth, Luke finding it and chastising her as he repossessed it from her, and Poe, Ben, and Felicity bickering and bantering until Luke was certain his ears would bleed.
Luke was discussing hair products with Poe, while Ben mimed stabbing himself with his butter knife.
"Oh, that reminds me," Felicity grabbed Rey's knife out of her hands when she imitated the gesture. "Stop stealing my hair dye, Ben! We live on Rornian. I can't run out to the corner store to buy more."
This was during the year and a half where Felicity had cut her hair to shoulder length and dyed it black. She grew out bangs, and straightened it everyday, curling the ends inwards in a rather pretty look that Luke had been quite fond of. However the hassle of it all proved too much for Felicity, and she changed her hair back about six months after that night.
"I'm not using your dye," Ben refuted.
Luke raised an eyebrow, "Really? So your hair has just randomly started turning black even though no one in this family has black hair?"
"You don't know what my father's family has. And didn't Great-Grandmother Shmi have it?"
"There is no one alive who can confirm it."
Beep bop beep!
Luke sighed, "Of course you have footage of it. Why did I assume otherwise?"
"Oh, and if you ruin another one of my towels with said dye," Felicity warned, "you'll be using paper towels from here on out to dry off."
Ben rolled his eyes and grabbed the salad from Luke, "I am truly blessed to call you Aunt."
"You don't call her, Aunt, Ben," Luke pointed out.
"Exactly."
"So, you boys fixed BB-8?" Felicity asked.
"Good as new," Poe proudly announced.
"Oh good. I didn't want to tell Kes you had destroyed your really expensive birthday gift, three weeks in."
"Kes was smart in his purchase," Luke said. "BB Units are supposed to be nearly indestructible. You could set that thing loose in a desert, and he'd probably be okay… Sarlaacs not withstanding."
"What's a sarlaac?" Poe asked.
"Pray you never find out."
"I'm still impressed," Felicity said. "A brand-new droid, literally the eighth one of the model ever made. That's an extravagant present."
"Had to give me something to distract from your beauty," Poe grinned. "What do you say, Fliss? Wanna run away together?"
"You know I have you on retainer," Felicity chuckled.
Luke shook his head but said nothing. It was a long running joke between Felicity and Poe to run away together. It had stemmed from the day Poe had flirted with Felicity at his own mother's funeral – a nice distraction to the eight-year-old mourning his mother – and had continued for years to come. Poe had even had the gall to flirt with Felicity at her wedding reception, though Kes had made it clear to his son beforehand not to interrupt the actual ceremony.
"So seriously," Ben asked, "what's with the droid?"
"I think he's trying to make up for my mom not being around," Poe shifted the food on his plate.
"What happened to her?" Rey looked at her father.
Luke and Felicity shared a look.
"That's a story for when you're older, Sweetheart," Felicity said. She eyed her daughter's plate, "Looks like someone forgot to grab vegetables tonight."
Rey sulked as Felicity portioned out the dreaded greens.
"Of course, a droid isn't the end of it," Poe said. "Next year we're going to finish fixing up Mom's X-Wing and Dad says I can have that. And when I'm eighteen, he said I can get a tattoo of Mom's flight squadron on my shoulder blade."
"Left or right?" Felicity asked.
"Left."
"Good spot. If you need, I can give you my guy's information."
"Nah, Dad's got a tattoo artist all lined up already. Did his."
"Well, good. If there's one thing I have to say about tattoos is get a good artist… and under no circumstance do you let it be done by two Imperials – one with a boot on your back, pinning you to the dusty ground – holding you down outside an alley in the middle of the street, with a machine Gods know how old that probably was never cleaned, while your father watches in horrified helplessness."
Poe grinned, "I really gotta sit you down one day and hear your life story."
"It's a long story," Felicity shrugged.
"How many tattoos do you have?"
"Oh, let's see. There's the starbird/Rogue squad one on my right shoulder. Brendan on my right ankle. Rey of Light over my heart. And FN-2187 on my right wrist… I never thought about how all my tattoos but the Rey one is on the right. Next one will be on the left."
Poe blinked, "F- What?"
"FN-2187," Felicity repeated. "You know, the kid I lost?"
Poe's face went white, "Oh, I didn't know you two lost a-"
"No, the First Order child," Luke corrected. "Rey's our one and only."
"So far," Felicity added.
"I still don't know what you're taking about," Poe said. "Who is FN-2394?"
"2187," Felicity corrected. "You don't know that story?"
Poe shook his head.
"Well, buckle in," Felicity said. "Have I got a tearjerker for you."
And so she told him the story of the child that was torn out of her arms.
"That's horrible," Poe said at the conclusion. "And you have no idea who his parents were?"
"No one's ever come forward," Felicity replied. "And I've spent a lot of time and money trying to find them. As far as the galaxy is concerned, FN-2187 has no family."
"He has you," Luke pointed out.
"I don't count."
"You've said numerous times that if you had saved him, you would adopt him. Admit it, Sweetheart, you are obsessed with this child."
"Better than your obsession."
"What's your obsession?" Poe asked.
Luke blushed.
"Fireproofing," Ben answered. "Uncle Luke is convinced someone is going to burn down this house. He's even had a whole security system installed that if there's a fire, just tell the system Burning Homestead and all the doors seal shut. They won't open again."
"It's to trap and contain the fire," Luke explained. "And you can open the doors."
"You can?" Ben blinked.
"Have I never told you that? If you get locked in during the shutdown, just tell the system Lars and it opens the door. Tell it Whitesun to lock. And if you need to reset the passcodes for some reason, that code is Beru."
"Not Owen?"
"Owen sounds too close to open. I didn't want the system to open on the wrong word."
"Lars, Whitesun, Beru, Burning Homestead," Poe repeated. "Got it."
"You know, it's strange to think about FN," Felicity admitted. "He'd be about seven these days. I wonder how long until the First Order puts a weapon in his hands."
Luke reached over and clasped her hand, "We'll find him, Sweetheart. I promise."
"I don't think I can ever be at peace until we do."
"We'll find him, Fliss," Poe promised. "I swear to you, I'll find him, save him, and give him a name other than FN whatever he's called. I promise."
Of course, at that time, Poe didn't know how true those words would become.
But then again, as Luke remembered those words years later on Jakku… neither did he.
8 Years, 8 Months, 12 Days
Luke's eyes were so heavy. It was late and the speech was completed, but still he sat at the dining table tweaking the last few lines.
He heard when Felicity entered the room, but was surprised when she didn't say anything. Instead she just stood there, staring at him. Her arms were folded and she was in a plain blue sleeping tank and black night pants.
"Come to bed, Luke," she finally spoke.
He didn't look up at her, "I have to get this speech just right."
Felicity said nothing but exited to the kitchen. He heard some rattling and several minutes later she emerged with two steaming mugs. She set them on the table and without asking, took the datapad from his hands.
"This is good," Felicity sipped at her tea, reading his speech.
"Thanks," Luke stirred the hot chocolate in his mug. "I'm just nervous. The last time I assigned Padawans, they ended up leaving with Cade. Reine was heartbroken about Jake."
"I hear he goes by Jaek these days. Jaek Ren. That'll be fun to deal with in a few years."
"I don't even want to think about that right now. Felicity, this is so important. What if I give the wrong Masters the wrong Padawans?"
"Who is assigned to whom?"
Luke was silent.
"You'd think sleeping with the Jedi Grandmaster would get me in on all the good tidbits," Felicity teased, setting the datapad down. "Instead I'm left in the dark with the rest of the plebeians."
"You are not a plebeian."
"Do you even know what that word means?"
"…That's beside the point."
Felicity smiled and clasped Luke's hands, "Come on, tell me who is assigned to whom."
"Genko is going to Gavyn, and Miri to Obik."
"Genko and Gavyn? Interesting match."
"They'll play off each other well."
"What about Miri?" Felicity asked. "I thought one of her parents-"
"I don't want children to be Padawans to their parents," Luke dismissed. "I feel that this is the chance to develop a strong mentor bond but without the obligations and complications of parents with their children."
"For example, less likely to cut off the Padawan's hand."
"Oh for the love of- You are never giving up on that, are you?"
"Nope," Felicity grinned. "So, who is Ben going to?"
Luke sighed, "That's the hard part. I can't decide. I think she'll be the best choice for him, but I've always promised he'd be my Padawan."
"Your padawan?" Felicity's eyes widened. "Luke, he can't be your padawan!"
"Why not?"
"Oh, Honey," Felicity put her head in her hands. Luke knew he had done something ridiculous when Felicity called him Honey in that utterly disappointed and pitying tone. "Sweetheart, I love you. I love you so much. I love how exuberant you are, how you want to just take care of everything and everyone. You're a real people pleaser and an optimist. It's one of the reason I love you… but you can't keep taking on so many things."
"I haven't taken on a lot of things."
"You're the Jedi Grandmaster, in charge of management, resource allocation, ensuring everything is running smoothing on a practical, emotional, and spiritual level. Reine only just got you to give up financial control to her last year. You deal with the politics of making Rornian a Republic planet. You take business trips and go on expeditions with Lor San Tekka. You work with the Church of the Force and the Senate. You're active in the Resistance and fight the First Order. You're making buildings and gardens and tracking down Force Sensitives. You're raising Ben and Rey, and at the moment, Poe. You're married to me and have to maintain a physical, emotional, mental, romantic, and sexual relationship with me. If you take on anymore, you're going to crack under the weight. Something is going to be lost or ignored, and I won't have it be this family. You can't take Ben as your Padawan. You're the Grandmaster. Let the Masters do their job. You taught them to be Jedi, now let them teach others."
Luke sighed, "I suppose you're right."
"I always am. Even when I'm wrong."
"I don't think that's how it works."
"It is. Just go with it."
"Alright then," Luke laughed. "So it's official, Ben will be the Padawan of Tyla Kinall."
Felicity's jaw dropped, "Tyla Kinall? Luke, what are you thinking? We want Ben to like Vader less, not more!"
"I just think that it would be good for him to see another side of Vader. Get a personal account so he can see how flawed Vader was."
"Luke, Tyla hasn't even seen how flawed he is. You give Ben to Tyla for her Padawan, and I guarantee within six months there's going to be a dead Jedi."
"Ben's not going to kill anyone."
"You can't promise that. With the crazy life this family leads, that's no way he's not going to end up killing someone. Even Threepio has killed people!"
Luke sighed and rested his forehead against his hand, his elbow planted on the table.
"Come on," Felicity wrapped an arm around Luke's shoulder and began to rub the opposite tense muscle, "why are you so afraid of this? Give him to Alyla."
"What happens if she gets more serious with Lando? I know they've been discussing adoption."
"They don't even live together, Luke."
"And if they move in? If they adopt a child? He's threatened by Rey, what happens if he feels he loses Alyla to another child?"
"Ben is threatened by Rey, yes," Felicity admitted. "But he loves her. He would never let someone lay a hand on her. It would be the same for Alyla. Luke… Ben is in a dangerous place, he needs Alyla there to guide him. She's his only hope."
Luke smiled and reached an arm across his chest to stroke her hand, "You know… you're better at this Jedi thing than you think."
Felicity clasped his hand and leaned her head against his neck, "Well… I learned from a great teacher."
"Thank you for this, Felicity."
She smiled, "Anytime."
8 Years, 8 Months, 13 Days
"And so we pass down our knowledge to the new generation, not only so we can teach them, but so they can teach us in return," Luke finished his speech, his hands resting on the podium.
The ceremony took place in the Meditation Gardens. Truth be told, the Jedi Temple didn't actually have a large enough room for ceremonies, and that was on Felicity to-design list. For now, all ceremonies would take place in the Meditation Gardens until they could make such a space.
Luke stood at the head of the ceremony with the Jedi surrounding him not unlike the formation at Reine and Obik's wedding. Standing before the group were Genko, Miri, and Ben, all dressed in their finest formal Jedi robes, hands clasped behind their backs, nervous and excited.
Han and Leia were in the crowd collected behind the future Padawans, looking absolutely filled with pride. Han was even wearing formal wear… at least as formal as Han Solo could possibly get, so clean black pants with Corellian blood stripes, shined black boots, a crisp white shirt that was actually ironed, and a brown jacket with sleeves. To Luke's utter shock, Han wasn't wearing a blaster belt or any sort of weapon. He had only seen Han voluntarily sans weapon three times in his life: at Han and Leia's wedding, at Luke and Felicity's wedding, and in the hospital room when Ben was born – Leia had asked Luke to be in the room with her and Han to keep Han in line as well as to help if any weird Force things happened.
Leia was as elegant as ever, her hair up in an elaborate bun with braids and curls in her usual style that looked both complicated yet she bore it like it was nothing more than a pony tail. Her dress was white with gold accents, some Alderaanian and Jedi symbols embroidered in shining gold thread across the waist and down several lines of her slightly flowy skirt.
Felicity stood with them wearing a very similar outfit. Her hair was the same simple bun she always wore, though it did look odd with her bangs. The dress she wore was a near copy, though her dress was black with silver accents to match Luke's formal black robes. Her skirt was also a little more formal fitting, and the bodice laced up in the back rather than zipped like Leia's.
Han had confided in Luke years ago that he managed to talk Leia into switching to zippers because as fun as helping her lace up – and even more fun to unlace her, which Luke glared at Han for the comment – it was taking Leia way to long to get ready for formal events, and then she would blame him for it. He gave her an ultimatum: he either helped her with laces or with her hair, or else he was going to start leaving the house before her.
She chose hair, but was known to on occasion to rope Luke, Felicity, and even Threepio into helping her with dress laces when she insisted on them.
Felicity's dress also had symbols on it, but it wasn't Alderaanian ones. Instead she wore Jedi and Tatooine symbols to honour Luke. In fact, the dress design had originally been Felicity's, having gotten the dress custom-made after deciding to marry the Jedi Grandmaster. She knew that as his wife, she would have many cases of attending ceremonies and events in that role. While she was insistent on being more than just Luke Skywalker's wife, she also knew there were times where she would just have to concede her role. The dress was designed to reflect her role and support of Luke, but the outfit was a perfect match for Luke's so that when they did stand next to each other it was clear the outfits were a set, and thus they were equals and a team.
Rey was with her mother, trying not to fidget as she struggled to stand still and be quiet. BB-8 was at her stand, watching the ceremony and gently nudging her anytime her detected Rey's focus waning. Rey's outfit wasn't particularly formal, a nice set of grey tunic and leggings. She had little black boots that she liked to brag looked like Uncle Han's, and Leia had done her hair up nice and fancy.
Everyone else looked the same nice, but not too formal look. Poe wore his academy outfit, Lor San Tekka wore brown robes and had trimmed his beard, and Chewie didn't wear his ammo belt… which in Luke's opinion looked a little weird and made it feel like Chewie was naked. But he wasn't going to argue Chewie on the point, especially since Waroo and Malla had come to Rornian for the ceremony and were in a similar state of "undress" by human standards.
Of course, Lando Calrissian was dressed to the absolute nines, wearing a cape and everything. The man honestly made any excuse to wear a cape, but even this display was a little much for a Padawan ceremony. Upon seeing Lando, Gavyn declared that he looked like a peacock, but the outfit made Alyla smile, so Lando figured his mission was accomplished.
Everyone knew that Alyla was probably going to get either Ben or Miri as her padawan, so she had dressed up nicely herself. While the rest of the Jedi wore robes, Alyla wore a gorgeous magenta dress she had gotten the very first time Lando had asked her to attend a dinner with him. Her outfit had no other ornamentation, though a small blue morning glory had appeared in her hair shortly after Lando arrived.
Seeing Alyla, Luke was glad he had chosen her to be Ben mentor, even if it was just so that all her outfit efforts didn't go to waste. Besides Felicity, Luke was the only one who knew which Padawan would be matched to which Master. All the Jedi who were interested in getting a Padawan had told Luke, but he decided not to reveal assignments until the actual ceremony that way no one tried to talk him out of assignments… exactly as Felicity had done the previous night.
Speaking of assignments, it was now time to given them. Luke took a deep breath and nodded to the Jedi at his side. Tyla Kinall nodded back, and as he stepped back, she and Zena Halcorr took Luke's spot at the head of the ceremony.
"This Order is about openness," Tyla announced to the group. "We come from all walks of life to seek the same goal: to know the Force more intimately than we know ourselves. To study and cultivate the power within us. The Padawan/Mentor relationship is also a vessel to come to understand another person's perspective, no matter how opposite it might be."
Zena looked around the group, "As many of you know, Tyla and I came from dark beginnings. I was born into a family that was a cornerstone in the slave trade. Tyla… had Imperial roots. We will not get into those today, but we will acknowledge the fact that she was a familiar of Darth Vader's."
"Though from different backgrounds, Zena and I ended up doing a common thing: we ended up saving precious Jedi artifacts. Zena did it through her little team with Gavyn, Alyla, Coria, and the rest, and I… well, what most of you don't know is that Vader did keep some Jedi artifacts as trophies. When he died and I ended up destitute… I broke into one of his homes and stole some of the artifacts. I wouldn't let anyone else have them, because I couldn't trust anyone with them. Throughout the years, I ended selling all but one piece simply to get the money to survive. As the Force would have it, all those pieces ended up with Zena. But the one I kept, I have held to this day, the day on which I finally pass it on to a worthy apprentice."
Zena nodded, and Luke brought forth a chest he had stashed behind a large tree. He set it down on the podium and lifted the lid.
"A lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi Knight," Luke said. "Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age. These words were once said to me by my first mentor, who gave me my first lightsaber, the lightsaber of my father. That weapon is long gone, along with a hand, which I only mention now because if I don't, my brother-in-law and wife will never let me hear the end of it tonight."
The crowd laughed and Han patted Felicity on the shoulder.
"That weapon served me well for many years," Luke continued. "It is true that no lightsaber will work better than that which has a kyber crystal that calls to you… but I think it is important to have a lightsaber before you build your own. That way you come to respect it and understand its importance before you bind yourself to such a dangerous weapon. I do not give these to you lightly, but I know that you three are the future of the Jedi Order, and I trust you to wield these with respect to the past of not only the saber, but of the Order itself. They will be yours to care for until the time comes for you to build your own saber… And for the love of the Force, do not break them."
The audience laughed again.
Luke turned and nodded to Zena and Tyla, who withdrew, both hoping that they were about to hear their names called as a Padawan's Master.
"Alright then," Luke took a deep breath. "Let's get to the pairing."
A buzz of chatter filled the room in anticipation, but Reine joined Luke at his side – she had requested she not get a Padawan, still too hurt by Jake's abandonment. She held up a hand, and the room fell silent.
"Genko," Luke looked to the Mon Calamari boy. "You are vibrant, lively, and eager… but you are not grounded. While I commend your selflessness, you need to learn not to throw yourself into things with such reckless abandon… That's how you lose a hand."
The room laughed.
"What you need is a healthy dose of reality, and a little bit of cynicism to grant you perspective. You need someone who will grab you by the back of the shirt when you try to throw yourself in front of a lightsaber dealing a killing blow. And that is why I have matched you with…" Luke looked over at the tanned man to his left, "Master Gavyn Kene."
The crowd applauded as Gavyn smiled and stepped forward to shake the hand of his Padawan. Later that night, each of the three Padawan/Master sets would have private binding ceremonies with Luke and Reine in front of the Force tree. They would recite the very same vow he and Reine had sworn, making up the words on the spot, standing before that very same tree fourteen years ago.
When the room had settled, Luke took a lightsaber out of the chest, and presented it to Genko.
"This is the lightsaber of Vonar Ghyron, Gavyn's own Master," Luke proclaimed. "It was recovered by Zena Halcorr many years ago, the very first piece in her collection. It is with great pride we hand this saber down to you. May you wield it with pride and honor."
"Thank you, Master Skywalker," Genko accepted it solemnly. He then looked up at Gavyn and asked with an excited grin, "Hey, Master, what colour is it?"
Gavyn raised a brow, "Green."
"Awesome! That's the colour I wanted!"
Gavyn chuckled, "I think you and I are going to have a lot of fun, Genko."
Genko was bouncing with excitement, trying to bombard Gavyn with a million questions as his Master led him to the side.
Luke smiled and looked at the girl standing below, "Miri Halcorr-Kene. You are very much like your parents: solemn, a wonderful trait for a Jedi. But you need to learn to laugh a little more, to not take everything so seriously. You've shown a talent for being a healer, and are passionate about nurturing the people around you. I believe studying the Living Force would be a wonderful avenue for you. Therefore, I have assigned you to… Master Obik Kenu."
Miri received the same sort of applause and greeting from Obik as Genko had with Gavyn. As before, Luke selected a lightsaber out of the chest and presented it to her.
"This is the lightsaber of Qui-Gon Jinn," Luke announced. "This was saved by Darth Vader, stolen by Tyla Kinall, and sold to Zena Halcorr. It's a special lightsaber, being one of the few used to defeat a Sith Lord. Qui-Gon believed in following his own Code and followed the ways of the Living Force. It was he who found the pathways beyond death that opened new opportunities to use. I believe he would be honoured to pass his saber on to you."
"Thank you, Master Skywalker," Miri bowed her head.
She and Obik joined Genko and Gavyn at the side – the latter trying to get Genko to stop talking. Gavyn grinned at his daughter and patted her on the arm.
Luke turned his attentions to his nephew.
"Ben Solo," Luke couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "What can I say about you? I have known and loved you seen you were a mere speck in the Force. I have seen you grow strong with the Force, and been there to guide you at every step. And now we reach this next step, one of the most important in your education. Ben, you are powerful, in mind, spirit, and personality. There is a legacy that follows you, but also a darkness. What you need is a Master who knows you inside out, who can nurture and empower you, who understands the weight your legacy, and who can teach you to defeat the darkness within as they too once did."
Ben made a movement that looked very much like a rooster proudly ruffling his feather. Even his dyed black hair – the sight of which Han and Leia had been upset to see more so out of the doing it without permission, and stealing the dye from Felicity – shimmed a little bit. A cocky grin consumed his face.
Luke locked eyes with his nephew, "Therefore I have decided that there is only one Jedi who could possibly be your Master… Jedi Master Alyla Kene."
The grin fell off Ben's face, "WHAT?"
The polite applause came to a stop.
"Excuse me?" Luke blinked.
"I'm not supposed to be with Alyla!" Ben exclaimed. "I'm supposed to be with you! I don't want anyone but you!"
Ben looked absolutely outraged, and Luke wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't expected an outburst, let alone over having Alyla assigned as Ben's Master.
The crowd muttered among themselves, unsure what to make of the display. Han and Leia exchanged a very anxious look, and as Han wrapped an arm around Leia, he looked like he half wanted to murder Ben. Felicity had her arms crossed and was chewing her bottom lip, nervous over the knowledge that this was partially her doing. Lando looked offended and moved like he was going to step into the circle with Ben and give the boy a piece of his mind, but Chewie put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to stay where he was.
But worst of all was the absolutely devastated look on Alyla's face. She adored children, always wanting one of her own, and Ben is some ways was one to her. To be not only rejected by him, but so publicly, broke her heart.
"Ben," Alyla weakly said, her voice starting to hitch.
Gavyn looked furious, Zena's hand went to the hilt of her lightsaber, and Lando made the forward movement once more.
"I'm your Padawan!" Ben cried out, taking a step towards Luke.
Luke turned to Reine, and with a stiff nod from her, he understood what to do. He grabbed the final lightsaber and scaled down the few steps from the platform with the podium. Luke marched over to Ben and before he could object again, Luke thrust the lightsaber into Ben's hands.
"This is the lightsaber of Obi-Wan Kenobi," Luke proclaimed loudly, making it clear to Ben to be quiet. "The man for whom you are named. He was a great friend and mentor… if not the most honest one. In many ways, he reminds me of you."
The hard look in Luke's eyes shut Ben right up.
"This lightsaber was saved by Vader after he killed Kenobi on the Death Star," Luke continued. "It is the one piece of Tyla's collection she refused to part with, until today when she agrees to pass it to you, Ben Kenobi's namesake. I hope you learn to become as great a Jedi that he was, and that you treat it, as well as your Master with uttermost respect."
"But Uncle Luke," Ben whispered.
"This conversation is over," Luke warned, leaning in close so only Ben could hear. "Now go greet Alyla, and apologize for your outburst and how you have embarrassed her."
Ben swallowed hard, finally noticing the look on Alyla's face. He stiffly nodded, clutched Obi-Wan's lightsaber tightly, and slowly walked over to Alyla as if he were approaching the executioner's block.
As Ben apologized to Alyla, Luke returned to the podium and the very solemn Reine. They exchanged a wary look, and he turned back to the audience, who was now immensely uncomfortable.
Luke shook his head as Ben and Alyla spoke, "Reine… I have a bad feeling about this."
"Uncle Luke!"
Luke was chatting with Felicity, Rey, and Poe after the ceremony when he heard Ben's angry shout.
"Well, this should be fun," Felicity said.
Luke sighed.
"What was that all about?" Ben exclaimed as he stormed towards Luke.
Luke crossed his arms, "I could say the same thing."
"I can't believe you would do that to me!"
Rey frowned and tugged on Luke's pantleg, "Daddy, why is Ben mad?"
The query seemed to defuse Ben ever so slightly.
"I'm mad, Nightlight," Ben answered, "because your Dad is supposed to be my Master, not Alyla!"
That confused Rey even further, "But I thought you liked Master Alyla?"
"I thought he did too," Alyla said as she joined the group. "Ben, I'm very upset with how you disrespected your uncle and I today."
Ben looked away uncomfortably. The look on her face was worse than anger… it was disappointment.
"I was very glad to been assigned as your Master," Alyla continued. "I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way."
He sighed, "I'm not… unhappy, it's just-"
"BEN!"
Han Solo was a man born to loudly bark his son's name across a room. At the noise, Ben Solo winced and seemed to shrink down to half his size as his father approached with his equally stern looking mother.
"What. Were. You. Doing?" Han glared at his son, looking half a second away from grabbing him by the scruff of his neck.
"How dare you do that to Luke and Alyla," Leia fixed Ben with a look that clearly read she was the daughter of Darth Vader. "You embarrassed and belittled them in front of their friends and colleagues. Would you pull something like that to me in the middle of a Senate meeting?"
Ben looked to the ground, "No, Mom."
"I don't see what the boy's problem is," Lando said. His eyes were locked on Alyla and he had on that ever-present charmer smile of his that made women either blush or roll their eyes. Luckily for him, Alyla was a blusher. "He gets to spend hour upon hour with this beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent, courageous young woman."
Alyla blushed as Lando wrapped an arm around her waist.
"That sounds like an absolutely glorious way to spend all of my time," Lando grinned before planting a passionate kiss on her. "You look absolutely stunning today, My Dear. Congratulations on the Padawan, My Darling… even if you did get stuck with Han's kid."
"Thank you, Darling," Alyla had an embarrassed smile as she felt all eyes on Lando and his little display. "And he's not that bad."
"Ben, you will apologize to your uncle right now," Leia ordered.
"Fine! Uncle Luke, I'm sorry for embarrassing you during the ceremony, but I will not apologize for being mad about my Master. It was supposed to be you! You've always promised that it would be you!"
"Well, I changed my mind," Luke said firmly. "Ben, I'm the Jedi Grandmaster, I don't have time for a personal Padawan. Besides, it's not a good idea to make relatives be Padawans and their Masters."
"But that's not what you thought before!"
"It's what I think now."
"No, that doesn't make sense," Ben looked confused and frustrated. "You never had a problem with it before. It's what you thought last year. What you thought last month. What you thought last night-"
Ben realized his mistake too late.
"Late night?" Luke repeated sternly. "What do you mean, that's what I thought last night?"
Felicity and Leia exchanged a look of wide eyed horror, while the others just seemed confused.
"Ben…" Luke said slowly, "have you been prying into people's minds again?"
He looked like a rat caught in a trap, "Well, I, uh…"
"Ben Solo!" Leia scolded. "We've been over this. This was the entire reason I sent you to Luke to begin with!"
"Wait, what?" Han frowned. "I thought you said it was because you received intel via the Resistance that Snoke was going to make a move to kidnap him."
Leia looked awkwardly at Luke and then her husband.
"Uh…" Leia struggled for words, "we'll talk about it later, Han."
Han opened his mouth like he was about to object, but then he caught sight of Lando and Poe. He closed his mouth, clearly not wanting to have the discussion in front of such a crowd.
"Uncle Luke, I'm sorry," Ben bowed his head. "I shouldn't have been looking in your mind."
Luke crossed his arms, "How did you do it without me knowing?"
Ben gave a sheepish look, and Luke knew the answer:
Snoke.
"We'll continue this discussion later," Luke said calmly. He did not want to start discussing the fact Ben heard Snoke's voice in his head in front of Han, Poe, and Lando.
"But we will discuss this," Leia eyed her son sternly.
"Yes, Mother," Ben bowed his head. He clenched his fists tightly, "But Uncle Luke… I still don't understand. It doesn't make sense. Last night you were going to make me your Padawan, and this morning you changed your mind. It doesn't make sense!"
"Ben, just drop it," Luke said coolly. In the corner of his eye, he noticed how nervous Felicity was getting.
"No, it doesn't make sense."
"A lot of things don't make sense in life. You just have to deal with it," Luke refused to divulge the source of his change of heart.
"But it's what you thought for years! You always promised! It's not fair!"
"Ben-"
"No, you lied to me! How can I ever trust anything you say to me from now on?"
"Ben, just stop!" Felicity exclaimed. "It wasn't Luke's fault."
"Felicity," Luke interjected, "you don't have to-"
"No, it's okay, Luke. I'll tell him."
Ben looked between the two, "Tell me what?"
Felicity took a deep breath, "It's my fault. Okay? I changed his mind."
Ben's face scrunched in confusion, "What?"
"Luke told me that he was going to make you his Padawan, and I talked him out of it," Felicity explained. "Luke has so much on his plate as Jedi Grandmaster, financial provider for the Order, Senate representative for Rornian, he works with the Resistance and the Church of the Force, and he's a father, husband, and teacher. He can't give all of that adequate attention – he can't give you adequate attention with all those burdens. It would be detrimental to your education, and after a while, something was going to give out. I had to talk he out of it. I didn't want any of his relationships to suffer. Not the one with me, not the one with Rey, and certainly not the one with you. For your own good, I talked him out of making you his Padawan."
Ben stared at Felicity, his face pale, his eyes wide and round, and his jaw hung open in complete, utter shock.
"You did it?" Ben whispered.
"Yes," Felicity said simply.
He shook his head incredulously, and then uttered the eight words that would change the magnitude of their feud forever.
"Oh my God…" Ben stared at her with disbelieving fury in his eyes, "you are such a bitch!"
"What?"
"Hey!"
"Whoa!"
"Ben!"
A flurry of shouts broke out from the group as all seven adults – Poe counted among them – turned on Ben angrily for his insult.
"Whoa, whoa! Everyone calm down!" Leia ordered, holding up her hands.
And then came the six words that destroyed any possibility of Ben and Felicity ever reconciling their feud.
"Mommy?" Rey asked in an innocent tone. "Why are you a bitch?"
Felicity's eyes flashed with dark anger and Ben's face paled as he stumbled back towards his mother in fear.
"Uh, Rey, why don't we go talk with Obik and Reine?" Poe hurriedly said, literally picking her up off the ground and racing away with her – BB-8 obediently following behind – before the scene got ugly.
"I'm gonna kill him!" Felicity roared.
She lunged for Ben, but Han caught her around the waist and yanked her back. Ben scampered behind his mother, literally hiding behind her as his hands clutched Leia's shoulders.
A flurry of shouts overlapped each other in both reprimand and defense of Ben and Felicity's actions. The commotion was so loud, it was impossible to tell who was saying what.
Until a loud whistle shut them all up.
"That's better," Leia glared around at the group. "Now, what Ben did was inappropriate, but Felicity, you are definitely old enough to know that trying to attack a child is equally such."
"He called me a bitch and taught Rey to do it in the process," Felicity's eyes were cold.
"And he should be reprimanded," Leia agreed. "But not by a lynch mob. Ben needs one person to talk to him, not seven."
"Technically the seventh is gone," Lando jerked a thumb in the direction Poe exited.
A cold stare from Leia made Lando take a step submissively back behind Alyla. He wrapped his arms around Alyla trying to make it look like an affectionate gesture, but there was no denying that he had placed Alyla between Leia and himself as a buffer. Alyla just smiled at the action, and patted Lando's arm.
"I will deal with my son alone." Leia wrapped a strong arm around Ben's shoulders and forced him to turn away from the group, "Come on. Let's go have a chat."
"But Mom," Ben whined as his mother marched him to the exit of the Meditation Gardens.
"No buts, Benjamin. Move it."
No one said a thing until Leia and Ben had exited the gardens.
"Okay, you know Ben's in trouble when Leia calls him Benjamin," Han looked a little scared. "That's not even his name."
Alyla blinked in confusion.
Lando waved it off, "Skywalkers are a strange family."
Alyla sighed and shrugged, "Can't disagree with that. I'm really sad that this is the reaction Ben had to being assigned my Padawan. Truth be told, I'd been hoping for him to be mine for years."
"Give him a few days and you two will be good again," Lando promised. He kissed Alyla on the forehead, "Why don't you go celebrate with your brother?"
"Are you coming with me?"
"I'll pass for now. Gavyn always seems like he's half a second away from running me through with his lightsaber whenever we're together in front of him."
"Oh, Darling he would never run you through."
"That's a relief."
"He'd get Zena to do it."
Lando blinked, "… You are a devious one sometimes."
Alyla grinned mischievously, "I wouldn't with you if I wasn't."
"Well, if that isn't the truth," Lando chuckled and kissed her. "Now, get going. And tell your brother I said congratulations."
Alyla pecked another kiss on his lips and then went to find her brother.
Lando had a very satisfied look on his face as he turned back to the remaining trio. He froze when he saw the six eyes staring at him.
"Oh, that was adorable and you know!" Lando exclaimed. He gestured to Han still holding back Felicity, "This? Not so much."
Felicity shoved Han away from her, "Get off, Loud Mouth Solo."
"Jeeze, Fliss!" Han smoothed down his shirt. "I was just trying to protect my son."
"He was out of line!" she exclaimed.
"I agree, but that doesn't mean you need to kill him. Seriously, is this family playing an elaborate game of attempted familicide bingo I don't know about?"
"You could probably actually get Reine to start that up," Lando said.
"Can it, Calrissian!" Felicity snapped. "Alright, I'll admit it, I may have been in the wrong."
"Good," Luke nodded. "I'm glad you admit to completely overreacting."
Lando slapped his forehead.
"Excuse me?" Felicity turned on Luke dangerously.
Han groaned, "Oh, for the love of-"
"Completely overreacted?" Felicity exclaimed. "Luke, I shouldn't have tried to attack him, but he taught our daughter to swear at me!"
"Yeah, Kid," Han agreed, "he just taught your kid her second swear word."
Luke and Felicity turned on him.
"Second?" Luke said.
Han froze, "Oh, she hasn't said it in front of you?"
"Said what?" Felicity's voice was threatening.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Han lied unconvincingly. "Hey, if Rey ever uses the f word in front of you, I definitely didn't teach her that. I… I'm going go make sure Leia doesn't commit filicide."
Han could not escape the conversation fast enough.
"Well, that's what you get when you leave Rey alone with Han while he's fixing the Falcon," Lando watched Han in amusement.
"We'll definitely have to talk to Rey about appropriate language tonight," Luke mused. He eyed Felicity, "Then again with your vocabulary, I'm surprised she hasn't picked up worse yet."
She glared at him, "Would you like me to get you a shovel, or are you happy to continue digging this grave with your mouth?"
"Felicity, Ben is just a child."
"Oh, in Itar's sweet name! Are you serious? You're on his side."
"He's suffered a disappointment. You can understand his reaction."
"He called me a bitch!" Felicity exclaimed. "That would be appropriate if he needed a kidney transplant, I was the only match in the world, and I said no. But, no, what was this? This was me calmly and politely explaining why I made the logical decision to talk you out of it. Gods, Luke, nothing I do can ever please him, and I'm sick of all this fighting!"
"I'm sick of it too."
"And you here you stand taking his side once more."
"I'm just sick of having to take sides to begin with!"
Felicity just scoffed, "… And I'm sick of pretending that one day you'll take mine."
Luke sighed, calming down, "Felicity-"
"No, I get it," Felicity said quietly. There was rage simmering below the surface, but it was overwhelmed by a sense of defeat in her voice. "Ben's your nephew, and no matter what he does to me… you'll always take his side."
"Felicity-"
"I'm going to go congratulate Obik on getting a Padawan," Felicity pushed past Luke and walked away.
He didn't follow.
"Wow," Lando gave a low whistle, reminding Luke of his presence. "That was impressive how much you screwed up. I think you even gave Han a run for his money."
Luke sighed, "What am I supposed to do?"
"Definitely not what you just did."
"I'm sick of all this fighting, all this side taking. Why can't they just get along?"
"Not everyone gets along. I have nothing against Felicity, and she has nothing against me, but we don't get along well."
"But they've never even tried," Luke said.
Lando shrugged, "Then there's probably a lot more to that feud than even you know. But I can tell you that the way you treat both of them, pitting them against each other, flip flopping between sides… it's only making it worse all the time."
He paused.
"Actually, you remind me of your father in that way."
"Lando-"
"You messed up, Luke, and you hurt Fliss in the process."
"She put me on the spot and asked me to pick a side!"
"And you picked wrong," Lando said bluntly.
"I shouldn't have to pick at all!" Luke exclaimed. "She's being unreasonable. Ben is my nephew and Felicity is my wife. I'm not supposed to choose sides!"
"Yes, you are," Lando said. "And you're constantly making the wrong one."
"What are you even talking about?"
Lando sighed, "Come on, Luke. You pick Ben over Felicity every time."
"He's a child."
"And needs to learn personal responsibility. Fliss is right, Kenobi probably made these exact excuses for Vader and next thing we know, he's forcing me to freeze Han in carbonite."
"Forcing you?"
"It was for the good of my people. Look, we're getting off topic. What I'm saying is that you need to start siding with Felicity over Ben."
"It's just a petty feud," Luke dismissed.
"When he teaches your daughter to swear at her mother, it's not just a petty feud," Lando shot. "Throw me all the standard excuses. He's a kid, he's your nephew, he's jealous. None of that matters. He's not always going to be a kid, and he needs to learn to get over jealousy. Do I get jealous when Alyla acts flirtatiously with other men? Of course, I do. Have I learned that I need to get over it because it's her way of taking control of her body image, self-worth, and sexuality after years of abuse? Yes, I have. And I also know that no person owes me anything. Not their time, not their affections, not their attentions… Some people may owe me their money, but that's a whole other issue. The point is that Ben needs to realize he's not entitled to lay any sort of claim over you, whether as his Master, Uncle, or anything else. He's jealous, and needs to get over it."
"But he is my nephew," Luke calmly spoke. "I can't just set aside that fact."
"Yes, you can," Lando shot. "Ben is your nephew, but Fliss is your wife. You may be on close terms with your family, but the fact remains that you did not choose to bring him into your life. That was out of your control… Felicity was not. You looked at all the romantic partners in your life and decided that this was the one you wanted to be involved in the rest of it. You made the choice to be with her, to love her, to protect her, to have her back no matter what… And you have to live up to that. You may love Ben, but the fact remains: you picked Felicity… but you did not pick Ben."
"So, I should just stand by and let her belittle and threaten him?" Luke said coolly.
Lando groaned, "Luke, Fliss belittles and threatens people hourly! You knew what you were getting yourself into with her. And truth be told, she's actually pretty harmless most of the time. …But don't you dare ever tell her I said that. I don't want to get my ass kicked because I misjudged this."
"She's not harmless, Lando."
"Fliss threatens to punch Han in the throat on a regular basis, but has she ever actually done it?"
Luke cast down his eyes, "No."
"And when she mocks someone, isn't it always when they're legitimately doing something stupid?"
"Yes, but with Ben she always gets so defensive-"
"Exactly! Defensive. It's her guard going up and trying to protect herself from an attack. It's why she's always so aggressive, because she's fighting back to defend herself. I don't know why she does it, but there's something in Fliss that triggers her fight or flight instincts on a regular basis."
And then it clicked. The big question that Luke had always struggled to answer: what made Felicity so aggressive? Finally, it made sense to Luke… and with that knowledge he could see the possible root to the whole rivalry with Ben.
How could he have missed it this whole time?
"You're right," Luke admitted. "About all of it. I've been too lax on the issue, and it needs to come to an end."
"Well, you're starting on the right path," Lando grinned, staring at something over Luke's shoulder.
Luke glanced backward and saw Alyla speaking with Gavyn and Miri probably congratulating each other over their Padawan assignments. Alyla looked absolutely radiant as she smiled brightly at her brother and niece. There was a grin one Lando's face as he watched her that Luke knew Han would absolutely make fun of Lando for if he saw it.
"She's good for him," Luke smiled at Lando. "And good for you."
"Better than either of us deserve," he laughed. "She'll teach him to a better man just as well as she taught me."
"As well as you? I'm hoping for a little better than that."
"Temper your expectations. He's the son of Han Solo."
Luke laughed, "I suppose so… Ben will be in good hands with Alyla."
"And Alyla will be in good hands with Ben," Lando smiled charmingly as he caught Alyla's eye across the lawn. "If there is one thing I am certain of… it's that Ben Solo will never let anything happen to Alyla Kene."
Felicity was at her vanity table putting away her jewelry when Luke entered the bedroom that night. Her eyes caught his reflection in the mirror. Luke smiled at her from the door. She instantly scowled and turned her head away.
Luke chuckled at the display. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and kissed her neck.
"Get off," Felicity shoved him away.
Luke put up his hands in surrender, "Sorry."
"Whatever," Felicity crossed the room and hit the button to close the door. She then walked over to the closet and turned her back to him, fiddling with the zipper of her dress. Felicity struggled for a moment and then let out an exasperated yell. "Fine, you want to get handsy? Come help me with my zipper."
He made sure his movements were slow and respectful as he came over and unzipped her dress. His eyes couldn't help but roam as the dress hit the floor and she was all soft, pale skin. Luke resisted the urge to touch her all over and have her undergarments join the dress on the floor. He did however give into the urge to run his natural fingers down the spine on her scar.
Felicity shuddered at his touch but quickly stepped away and gathered her dress from the floor.
"I'm still mad at you," Felicity shot as she set about hanging her dress in the closet. She grabbed the closest nightgown hanging up and pulled it on without ceremony. She didn't take off her bra or change her underwear, sending a clear message to Luke that her dressing wasn't to get ready for bed, but rather to just cover herself from his hungry eyes.
"As you should be," Luke unclipped his lightsaber belt and hung it up in the closet along with his cloak. He did not change out of his other articles of clothing, leveling the playing field. They were going to fight this fight without letting either party use their body or the promise of sex as a weapon. "I made the wrong decision today, and I'm sorry about that. I should have stood by you when Ben got out of line. I'm sorry, and I promise to be at your side in all future conflicts."
"Sure," Felicity rolled her eyes and entered the fresher where she began removing her makeup and letting down her hair. "And now this is the part where you say you just don't understand why we can't be friends, and how I aggravate him, and he's just a child."
"I'm not saying any of that. I've realized that I'm wrong. Ben is old enough to know better than to treat you this way, and he certainly should not be swearing at you. Especially in front of Rey."
"Oh really? What brought you to this revelation?"
"Well, I was talking to Lando-"
"Gods help me."
"And he made me realize something," Luke shook his head lightly at Felicity. He took a deep breath and said, "He made me realize why you're so… Felicity, I love you so I say this with utter respect and devotion, why you're so sarcastic and violent."
The makeup removing cloth paused on Felicity's cheek, "Oh, you have, have you? You figured it out, the big question that you've never had an answer to. What Diego, Riz, Leia, and everyone else couldn't solve? What only my psychiatrist at the mental health facility could figure out. You have the answer."
"You were emotionally abused by your father as a child, so after you escaped his hold on you, you became snarky and violent as a defense mechanism to prevent anyone from taking control of you like he did. The reason Ben's hatred of you irks you so much is that not only does this trigger memories of your father's abuse, but it reminds you that you lost Brendan, the one person who ever protected you from Alaric, and that's why you hold onto his death so tightly. Losing Brendan was losing your defense mechanism. Meanwhile, I – who as your husband, you would hope most to step into that role of protector that Brendan once held – have been siding with your pseudo-abuser, and hence you have to double down on your defense."
Felicity just stared at him.
"Did I guess it?" Luke asked.
"Damn, Skywalker, you're good," Felicity replied. "Last time I doubt a Jedi."
"Well, I doubt that," Luke chuckled. "So… I'm right?"
Felicity sighed, "I think so… At least the Ben part. The Alaric part, you're right on the money."
"Felicity-"
"I thought I was over it," she pushed past Luke out of the fresher. "I thought I was over my father."
"He's the man who raised you," Luke followed her into the bedroom. "Like it or not, you did have several good years with him."
"But they weren't good. He told me how to speak, who to consort with, what to do, where to go, what to eat, how to dress… He said I looked like a whore in front of the Emperor, Vader, Tarkin, Bail, Leia, Brendan, and every important Imperial in the Empire. All for wearing a dress with a neckline cut higher than this," Felicity gestured to her average low-cut top. "I mean, I'm not even spilling out of this, but yes, call your daughter a schutta in front of Palpatine for less than that. By the Gods, I barely even have anything to spill out."
"Well…" Luke glanced down briefly. "Not nothing."
"Can it, Skywalker. This isn't the time to check me out."
"Sorry."
Felicity sighed and sat on the bed, "Why do I still love him, Luke?"
Luke joined her on the bed, "Same reason I love Vader even though he cut off my hand. Because however fleeting, we know there were points they loved us… And truthfully, we crave having those moments even more."
"Perhaps that's why we fell in love," Felicity leaned against Luke. "To fill the voids our fathers left in our hearts, we found someone with a similar trauma and history that we knew our partner would understand the love, but also the boundaries, we needed to cope with that scar in our hearts."
"You know, this conversation turned a lot more analytical than I was expecting."
"It's us, Luke. All our conversations end up spinning out of control with nonsensical bantering and analytical thoughts about religion and our daddy issues."
Luke smiled and let a silence fill the room. He could sense Felicity working out the conflicting feelings in her mind.
"Ben is not Alaric, Felicity," Luke said after several minutes.
"You're right, he's not," Felicity said. "My father was a weak man, but Ben is anything but. Oh, my father tried to pretend he was high and mighty, but at the end of the day he wasn't dangerous on a personal level. He just followed orders, even when they were wrong. But Ben… Ben isn't weak. He grows stronger everyday, not just with the Force, but physically. I'm scared, Luke."
Luke's heart dropped. Felicity almost never admitted to fear, so when she did, it meant business.
"I'm scared of Ben," Felicity repeated with great difficulty. "He gets more and more aggressive towards me everyday, and I'm worried that someday it will escalate to violence. And I'm going to make it clear to you here and now, Luke… If Ben ever attacks me… If he ever throws a punch, a kick, or a Force Choke at me, I will defend myself. I will hurt him, and I will defeat him. And if he ever hurts Rey… I will do what must be done. If I have to kill him, I will."
"He loves Rey," Luke objected. "He would rather die than hurt her."
Felicity looked at her husband, "And that's the only reason I don't sleep with one eye open. But you and I both know that could change in an instant. Anakin Skywalker loved Padmé Amidala, and he ended up strangled his pregnant wife. Obi-Wan Kenobi loved Anakin Skywalker, and he cut off all of Anakin's limbs and left him to burn. Love is powerful, Luke… but so is hatred, so is the Dark Side. You've tasted it, you know how intoxicating it can be, and with Snoke in Ben's head there is a real possibility that this could all go south really fast. I don't want my life to end at the hands of Ben Solo, Luke."
"It won't."
"I want you to promise me that. I can fight and try my hardest to protect myself, but the Force is a greater power than I. I'm not asking you to be a knight in shining armor… but I want you to promise me that you will protect me if I encounter a situation I cannot overcome. Promise me, Luke… Promise you won't leave me behind."
"I swear to you, Felicity," Luke bowed his forehead against her own, "I will never leave you behind."
But that was a promise he would one day break.
8 Years, 9 Months, 14 Days
"Kes just called," Luke announced, entering the living room. "He, Poe, and BB-8 got home safe. Apparently BB-8 loves the place."
Felicity looked up from her HoloReader, "BB-8 would love a cardboard box. Rey still devastated?"
"Only way I could get her to sleep was promising she could comm them in the morning. She's completely enamored with Poe Dameron and his droid."
"And she has both wrapped around her little finger."
"Meanwhile Artoo is sulking about no longer being her favorite droid."
"Give him a week, and he'll be again. R2-D2 is overly dramatic."
"Yeah, he threatened to go into Low Power Mode if she continues to call BB-8 her favorite." Luke crossed over to the liquor cabinet in the corner of the room and punched in the code, "Might I interest you in a drink, Miss Rhiaon?"
"A drink?" Felicity smirked and set her HoloReader on the coffee table. "What's the occasion, Master Skywalker?"
"A quiet house," Luke poured wine into a pair of glasses and resealed the cabinet. He set the glasses on the coffee table and joined Felicity on the couch, slinging an arm around her. "Poe is home, Ben moved in with Alyla a month ago, and Rey's going to start her first Youngling lessons next week with Reine. Sure, it's just meditation… which I'm hoping will make bedtime easier."
"I'm much looking forward into tricking her into going to sleep by getting her to meditate."
"But our kids are growing up," Luke grinned and grabbed one of the glasses. "So, I say we toast to a job well done, and see where the evening leads after that."
"Master Skywalker," Felicity playfully chided. "A girl might think you're trying to lower her inhibitions. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Luke gave a dark chuckle, "I'd say… drink up."
Felicity laughed with him as she grabbed her glass. She picked it up and raised it to toast with Luke.
"To a quiet house," Felicity proposed.
"To helping raise three amazing children," Luke added.
"And to only almost killing a kid once," Felicity grinned. She caught Luke's horrified look, "Oh, come on. It's been three years!"
"Fine. To only almost killing them once."
They clinked their glasses together and took a long drink.
"Oh, breaking out the good stuff," Felicity set her glass down. "We must really be celebrating."
"Well, I also wanted to talk to you about something," Luke set his glass down beside hers.
"Luke, I'm going to need a lot more wine if you want me to do that tonight."
"No!" He paused to think for a moment, "… Well, okay, yes I want to do that tonight, but that's not what I was talking about."
"Then what did you want to talk about?"
Luke gently rested a hand on Felicity's thigh, "I've been thinking a lot lately, ever since Ben moved out that once Poe left, Rey would get really lonely."
Felicity shrugged, "She has Artoo."
"It's not the same. I want her to have someone to play with and spend time with and love."
"Okay… So you want to hire a nanny, or-"
"Not a nanny. This wouldn't be just for Rey, but for all of us." Luke took a deep breath, "I want to make another addition to the family."
Felicity frowned, "You want to get a pet?"
"No!" Luke groaned, rubbing his temples. "Felicity… I want to have another baby."
She froze, "A what?"
"We've talked about this. We want two children, and I think it's time to have our second. Everything I've read says that a three year age difference is best, and I think with Ben gone now's the time. We do have an empty room upstairs now."
"Luke, are you certain that you want a baby, or does your poverty ridden childhood make it hard for you to bear having an empty room in your house?"
"Felicity."
"I'm kidding," Felicity gently swatted his arm. She grinned at him, but when she looked down, her grin fell. Slowly she bit her lip and took a deep breath, "Luke."
"What is it?" Luke stroked a strand of hair out of her face.
She looked up at him, "Luke, I do want to have another baby. I truly do, but… But there's something I should have talked to you about. I think I didn't because no matter what you say, I'm standing by my decision, so please try not to talk me out of it."
"Alright," Luke said cautiously.
Felicity took another deep breath, "I've decided I'm not going to have another baby."
Luke drew back in surprise, "What?"
"I'm open to adoption or surrogacy if you really want it to be from our genetics, but… I'm not getting pregnant again, and there's nothing you can say to change my mind."
"No, of course. I'll support you 100% in this. Sorry, I'm just caught a little off guard. You've never talked about this before. Might I ask why?"
"A number of factors. I'm almost forty years old. Pregnancy at thirty-six was complicated enough, but forty and above can legitimately have dangers. Higher risk of complications, higher risk of multiple babies, it's a risk I'm not happy to take. Plus, pregnancy wasn't fun. The morning sickness, the back aches, and not to mention that oh so fun thirty-two-hour labour. But of course, there's the most obvious reason… I don't want to risk getting Postpartum Depression again."
"Felicity," Luke whispered.
She took a deep breath as tears shone in the corners of her eyes, "Luke, that period in my life was horrible. The darkness and emptiness. I never want to go through it again. I know that there's no guarantees and that you can get it when you adopt, but I'm not risking it from pregnancy. Ok? I'm not putting myself through that again. That moment when I almost killed our daughter… That was the most terrifying moment of my life. And that includes lying on the floor of the Death Star, my back ripped open and bloodied, your father standing over me with a lightsaber as he swung down to deliver a death blow."
Luke wiped away a tear that dared to run down Felicity's cheek, "Alright. I understand. No pregnancy."
"Are you disappointed?" Felicity had uncertainty in her eyes.
He chuckled, "Only that I don't get an excuse to make love to you more frequently."
"Luke Skywalker, have you not realized it by now? I'm pretty much good to go any time, any place."
"Yes, and that has gotten me a lot of trouble in the past, Miss Rhiaon."
Felicity chuckled, wrapping her arms around his neck, "How much trouble?"
Luke laughed and pulled her into a heated kiss. They played for a few minutes, hands roaming and lips teasing their tastes. But when Felicity started to lift the hem of his shirt, Luke pulled away.
"Wait a minute," Luke said, his breathing heavy. "Wait, I want to finish this whole second child conversation."
"And you call me a tease," Felicity groaned, slumping back against the couch. "Alright, hit me."
"Which do you want? Adoption or surrogacy?"
Felicity absent-mindedly rubbed her wrist tattoo, "As much as I love Rey being our genetic offspring, I think I want to adopt our second. We both know what it was like to be… sort of orphans. I think giving a misfortunate child a home would be great."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Luke smiled warmly. "But if we are going to adopt… then I think we should wait a few years before bringing another child into the house. Wait until Rey's maybe five or six, that way she can understand what's going on better."
"I completely agree," Felicity nodded. "Besides, Brendan was five years older than me. I think I like that age difference."
"Then we have a plan."
"In two or three years, we'll talk to Rey and start the process of adoption… and tonight I'm going to make love to you so passionately, it'll make up for not having trying to make a baby sex."
Luke grinned, "Should we take this into the bedroom then?"
"Oh Master Skywalker," Felicity chuckled. She straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Rey's asleep upstairs, Artoo's powered down for the night, there's no more boys in the house… I think this couch will be just fine."
He laughed and laid back on the couch, pulling Felicity down with him.
9 Years, 6 Months, 4 Days
Luke leaned against the doorframe, arms folded and a smile gracing his lips. Dressed in casual pyjamas, he silently watched his beautiful wife and daughter, not wanting to interrupt the peaceful scene.
Felicity was lying in the bed with Rey, her voice soothing the little girl to sleep as she absentmindedly stroked Rey's hair. The kyber crystal bracelet was wrapped around Rey's wrist from where it had almost never moved ever since it became safe for her to wear it.
Luke sensed the footsteps thudding up the stairs before he heard them.
"Good night, Ben," Luke didn't even turn around to look at his nephew.
Ben had a scowl on his face as he reached the landing. He had been so sullen the past few weeks when Alyla had announced she was moving to Cloud City to live with Lando. Alyla still was on Rornian most of the time, but not long enough to be able to supervise a fifteen-year-old on a regular basis. As a result, Ben had moved back in with his uncle.
"Night, Uncle Luke," Ben headed for the door of his bedroom.
"Ben?"
He stopped at the door.
"The girls," Luke jerked his head towards Rey's bedroom.
Ben sighed dramatically and then entered the room.
"Ben!" Rey sat up, her happiness and energy levels going up at the sight of her beloved cousin.
"Sweet dreams, Nightlight," Ben gave her a hug that Rey was all too happy to return.
Felicity groaned as Ben undid all the work she had done to get Rey settled for sleep. But if that was his intent – and considering their relationship, it was very likely – Ben didn't say anything. He just broke off the hug and started for the door.
"Ben," Luke gently grasped his arm as he tried to pass. He shot Ben a look, "Felicity?"
"Ugh! Fine!" Ben rolled his eyes. "Goodnight, Rhiaon. Feel free to die in your sleep anytime."
"Bed, now!" Luke used his grasp on Ben's arm to move him out of the room. "And you're going to lose some privileges for that comment. You are not allowed to say things like that to my wife. We're going to have a chat in the morning about how you speak to Felicity."
Ben grumbled some angry words in Huttese, stalking down the hallway, and dramatically slamming his hand against the button to close his bedroom door.
"I'm sorry, Felicity," Luke apologized, turning back to his wife.
Felicity carelessly waved her hand, "It's nothing I'm not used to."
"Mommy, why doesn't Ben like you?" Rey innocently asked.
Luke and Felicity shared a panicked look. That answer had a few too many things in it they weren't ready to share with Rey… Heck, there were even a few things they hadn't shared with Han.
"You know what, Sweetheart?" Felicity quickly said. "That's a story for another night. Don't you want to hear the end of the one I was already telling?"
"Yes, please!" Rey exclaimed. "Were you and Master Obik scared during the Battle of Yavin?"
"So scared. I must have been squeezing Obik's hand so hard during that broadcast, but he never said a word," Felicity's voice was low as she told Rey's favorite story: the Battle of Yavin, this time from her own perspective when she listened to the broadcast of the battle with the rest of the Rebels on the Joorvan base.
Felicity's mind was on nothing but the sleepy little girl in her arms. It was impossible to conceive how much love Felicity held for her daughter. Those dark days of postpartum depression were long past, and the incident they did not speak of was a mere memory.
"Mommy?" Rey asked. "Did they really play the transmissions on all Rebel bases?"
"They did," Felicity nodded. "We knew whether we won or lost, the Battle of Yavin would be something that went down in history."
"Was flying in the battle scary, Daddy?" Rey looked to her father.
"Terrifying," Luke answered. "But I knew I was fighting for something great."
"What was that?"
Luke smiled and looked at Felicity, "Hope. The hope that was planted by your mother and her team. Hope of victory, of peace, of freedom. Of the future…"
Felicity's eyes met Luke's. They stared lovingly at each other, a flood of love and Light engulfing the Force in the room.
"Of this," Luke whispered. "I knew, I was fighting for this."
A half hour later, when Rey was asleep and the lights were out, Luke and Felicity quietly slipped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind them.
Luke smiled at Felicity in the darkness of the hallway as she turned from the door to face him. Beaming brightly, Felicity's arms automatically wrapped around Luke's neck, and she pressed her lips to his.
"Thank you," Felicity whispered when the kiss came to an end. She followed Luke's lead, bowing her head to rest her forehead against him. "Thank you for fighting for this."
"No," Luke placed his natural hand upon her cheek and stroked her lips with his thumb. "Thank you for fighting for this."
Felicity smiled, "Anytime."
9 Years, 11 Months, 21 Days
"You kidnapped Ben?" Luke exclaimed.
The Holo of Felicity shrugged, "I prefer the term borrowed against his will."
"You kidnapped Ben," Alyla repeated, seeming to hold back a smile.
"Maybe a little bit."
Luke groaned as Lando chuckled at his side.
Lando and Alyla had invited Luke over to Alyla's Rornian home for breakfast that morning to go over some paperwork. The couple was in the middle of the approval phase of the adoption process, and had asked Luke to be one of their three references to vouch they had a stable home and would be good parents – the other two references were Han and Leia, and Gavyn and Zena. While Luke knew that Alyla's brother would ensure she got a glowing reference, he could only imagine what Han and Leia would say about Lando.
Luke had actually been quite excited but the prospect. As an orphan, he always loved to see unfortunate children find a home. He had even been a reference once before when he wrote a letter on behalf of Wedge and his husband.
Lando and Alyla had Luke over for dinner the previous night to discuss Luke's letter and the following interview process, and Felicity suggested Luke just stay the night so he could continue the work with them in the morning. At the time, Luke thought it was Felicity being thoughtful, but the following morning when Luke received a comm from Reine, he realized her deviousness.
Late last night, Reine and Obik received a comm from Felicity. According to Reine, Felicity claimed that Luke had taken Ben to an overnight bonding time camping in the woods. She then had received an emergency comm from Nils Arlos saying there was something going on with an old Emissary case of hers that could only be handled by her, and he needed her to come to Coruscant right away to sort things out. She asked if she could drop off Rey at their home for the night to watch her until Luke could pick her up in the morning.
Reine and Obik agreed without a second thought, and Felicity dropped Rey off at about midnight promising Luke would come for her in the morning. When eleven o'clock rolled around and they still hadn't heard anything from Luke, Reine commed him and the deception was soon discovered. Felicity was gone, Ben was gone, and Gavyn Kene's ship was gone – Felicity having fed Gavyn some story about a family emergency and she needed to borrow it to go with Ben, Luke, and Rey to Hosnian Prime to see Leia.
One call to Gavyn's ship later and it was clear what had happened: Felicity had gotten Luke out of the house, dropped off Rey with Reine and Obik, stole Gavyn's ship, then got Ben out of bed spouting the same story about a family emergency, and essentially kidnapped Ben when he realized it was a trick.
"I don't know why everyone is so mad at me," Felicity's Holo said. "It should be a life lesson. I lied to at least four Jedi and no one caught me out."
"She has a point there," Lando agreed.
"Uncle Luke, please come save me," the Holo of Ben pleaded in the co-pilot seat of Gavyn Kene's ship – which Felicity had also 'borrowed against his will.'
"Felicity, you have to turn the ship around immediately," Luke calmly ordered.
"Luke, relax, I have a plan," Felicity assured him. "There's nothing to worry about."
"You piloting a ship is enough to worry about."
"Actually, she's making me do that too," Ben admitted.
"Well, that's a relief," Lando smirked as he took a drink of his hot chocolate – he having been the culprit who introduced Luke to the drink and began Luke Skywalker's addiction to the stuff.
"What is your plan, Felicity?" Alyla asked.
"Yes, where are you going?" Luke nodded.
"Endor," Felicity answered.
Luke frowned, "Endor?"
"Why?" Ben questioned.
The Holo of Felicity turned to Ben, "You want to be all obsessed about Grandpa Vader? Fine. Then it's about time you took a field trip. We're going to the grave of Darth Vader, and we're having ourselves a little chat."
Lando and Alyla exchanged a look.
"I thought Vader died on the Death Star," Lando frowned.
"I'll- Uh… Explain later." Luke turned back to the Holo, "Felicity are you sure about this?"
"Relax, I know where it is. Leia showed me it the time we got trapped on Endor. And you needn't worry about Ewoks. Wicket's chief now; he wouldn't dare eat Leia's kid… I might run into some issues, but I can always get Threepio on the Holo to translate."
"Well, I'm sure Ben wouldn't let you get eaten by Ewoks. Right Ben?" Alyla looked at Ben.
Ben was silent.
"…Right, Ben?" Alyla repeated with a little more of an edge to her voice.
"I'm thinking!" he exclaimed.
Luke sighed, "Felicity-"
"We agreed we had to do something about this," Felicity reminded. "Well, I'm doing something. Please, Luke… Let me do this."
Luke looked at Ben, "Do you want to go to Endor?"
Ben looked down shyly, "I would like to see Grandfather's grave."
Luke turned to Alyla.
She nodded.
"Alright," Luke conceded. "But I want you home in three days, and I'm not doing the laundry for the next three months."
"Deal," Felicity grinned. "Oh, cheer up, Skywalker. What bad could possibly come from this?"
10 Years, 2 Months, 17 Days
It was a lazy Saturday afternoon when their lives changed. Ben was in the living room floating some fruit for the entertainment of Rey as she tried to imitate the ability.
"Almost there," Ben encouraged as she focused on the pear. "Almost. Almost. Little more. There! You got it, Nightlight!"
Rey giggled as the pear floated in front of her, "Daddy! Daddy! Look what I'm doing!"
Luke looked up from the couch where he was reading. He immediately beamed at the sight of his daughter first ever fruit – or anything – floating.
"Good job, Sweetheart," Luke said proudly. "Wow, I couldn't even do that when I was nineteen."
"You were at a disadvantage, Uncle Luke," Ben said. He leaned in conspiratorially to Rey, "Go along with me. Your dad can't know we're better than him."
Rey nodded, "It's okay Daddy. Everyone has their own… learning rates."
"Okay, you two aren't spending anymore time alone with Han."
"But he's my Dad," Ben frowned.
"I don't care."
"Mommy! Mommy!" Rey jumped up when Felicity entered the room, a laundry basket propped on her hip. She guided the fruit to turn in her mother's direction, "Look what I can do!"
"Good job, Sweetheart," Felicity grinned and bent down to kiss Rey's forehead. "Did Daddy finally teach you that?"
"No, Ben did! He's a extra good teacher!" Rey declared. "Even better than Daddy."
"Whoa, let's not get out of hand here," Luke said.
"Yeah, Uncle Luke's only got one to spare," Ben teased.
"Okay, you are never seeing your father again."
"I'm about to start a load of laundry," Felicity announced. "Everyone got their laundry down the chute?"
Luke and Rey nodded, but Ben shook his head.
"Well, are you going to put it down the chute?" Felicity tried to keep it friendly.
"If it inconveniences you… nope."
"Thank you, Ben for volunteering to fold all the laundry for the next month," Luke said dryly. "Your mother's generosity surely rubbed off on you."
"Fine," Ben grumbled, standing up, "I'll go get it."
"Nope, I like this arrangement better," Felicity pushed on his shoulder, forcing him back down. "I'll get it from your hamper."
"Fine, but don't touch anything in my room."
"Why would I ever want to touch anything in your room?"
Ben sulked as Felicity went to fetch his laundry. Meanwhile Luke get down on his knees with Rey to see if he could get her to float anything bigger.
"By the Gods!" Felicity exclaimed when she returned to the living room with Ben's laundry filling her basket. "Ben, what is with the stench in your room? It smells like something died!"
Panic filled Ben's eyes, "You didn't touch anything?"
"No!" Felicity snapped. "Why would I want to touch something that smells like death? But I'm warning you: you've got until this load of laundry is done to get rid of that smell, or I'm going in there and finding it myself."
"Alright, I'll do it," Ben groaned. "I just want to help Rey with this whole floating book thing. Give me ten minutes?"
"Fine," Felicity stormed out.
Luke narrowed his eyes, "Ben, isn't Alyla coming to pick up you and Rey in five minutes?"
"Yep," Ben grinned.
"Six months of folding laundry, and three months of mowing the lawn."
"Worth it."
"He's ridiculous, Luke," Felicity declared two hours later as she dumped the freshly washed laundry on the coffee table. "If he thinks I'm not following through on my threat-"
"Don't take this specific situation so personally," Luke shook his head. "This is him just being a teenager. Besides, you know he's being so difficult because of the whole Alyla adoption situation. I still can't believe that next week those two are actually going to start meeting with children to find one that suits them. This time next month, Lando Calrissian could be a father."
"That is a terrifying thought," Felicity said. "But Ben… I swear, Luke, at this rate either I'm going to kill him, or he's going to kill me."
"I would not be surprised at either of those options." Luke caught her hand as she reached for a shirt, "I'll fold the laundry. You go upstairs and prove to Ben you mean business. That stench is getting pretty bad."
"I just don't know what he could possibly have in there that smells so bad."
"Well, scream for me if it moves and attacks you."
"And to think, people call me the sassy one," Felicity kissed his cheek.
Luke chuckled and set about folding the laundry. It was just a simple afternoon with his family's usual antics. There was absolutely nothing to indicate that their lives were about to change forever.
Until Luke heard Felicity's bloodcurdling scream.
"Felicity!" Luke yelled.
He raced up the stairs, lightsaber at the ready, rushing to defend his wife. He found Felicity on the ground, terror in her eyes, her face pale and panicked.
"Felicity!" Luke exclaimed, kneeling down next to her. "What's going on?"
"I want it out! I want it out of my house!" Felicity screamed hysterically, pointing across the room. "I want it out NOW!"
Luke looked up at the object she was pointing to, and his heart dropped.
Lying on the floor of Ben Solo's bedroom… was the charred mask of Darth Vader.
10 Years, 2 Months, 18 Days
"I don't like this," Gavyn Kene declared as he paced the length of Reine and Obik's living room.
It was where they had gathered after their failed confrontation of Ben. The mood was miserable among Sensitives and Non-Sensitives alike. After Luke, Felicity, Leia, and Han had failed to talk sense into Ben, he had been unceremoniously banished to Obik and Reine's guest room for the night. In the morning they would try again, but Luke wasn't sure how successful they would be.
"Yeah, my kid running around with my dead father-in-law's helmet isn't exact high on the list of life events I ever want to happen," Han said as he lounged on the couch next to Felicity and Zena Halcorr. He tried his best to sound grumpy and snarky, but there was no hiding the inner turmoil from Luke. Han was struggling not only to grasp an understanding of what was going on with his son… but how was he even supposed to deal with it.
"You have to admit, seeing the melted, decapitated head of Darth Vader is mildly satisfying," Felicity grinned, long over her terror of the mask. She caught Luke's dirty look and shrugged, "Sorry."
"Ok, for the record," Luke declared, "that is not my father's head. It is only his helmet. His head burned to ash along with the rest of his body when I lit his funeral pyre. And he wasn't decapitated, he died after getting electrocuted saving my life."
"Yeah, Luke, we get it," Obik said dryly. "He saved your life. Doesn't mean he wasn't an ass to the rest of us."
"Am I the only one here who genuinely doesn't have any harsh feelings towards Vader?" Zena asked.
A series of positive responses chorused through the living room.
"Just thought I'd ask," Zena shrugged it off, indifferent to the response.
"How do you not hate Vader?" Han sounded genuinely curious.
"He did some wonderful things for anti-slavery regulation."
"See," Luke said, "he wasn't a complete monster."
Felicity glared at him, "Luke, it's those freaking lectures that put us in this position in the first place. Stop praising Vader! Ben takes them way to heart!"
"Would you all shut it about Vader?" Gavyn exclaimed. "I'm freaked out about the fact my daughter had a vision about me dying!"
"Relax," Zena fixed Gavyn with a look. "You know how excitable Miri gets during meditation."
"Yeah, I swear that kid sees death every other day," Obik added. "Last week she foresaw me drown, and I'm fine."
"Obik, you did almost drown," Gavyn pointed out.
"Yeah, but I didn't die."
"Can we please change the subject?" Felicity asked.
"Gladly," Leia sighed. "I just don't understand what would possess Ben to steal Vader's helmet. What does he even do with it?"
"I genuinely don't want to know," Felicity shuddered. "And to think, it's been in my house for months. Thank the Gods, Rey never found it. Luke, are you sure she'll be safe tonight with Miri?"
"Ben isn't going to do anything to her," Luke tried to keep the annoyance from his voice. "For goodness' sake, he's locked in the bedroom of this house."
"Yeah, did we really have to do that?" Han asked. "I'm pretty sure that breaks a few fire codes."
"It's for his own good," Leia said. "We can't be sure of his actions until we talk some sense into him. He is a member of this family after all. We have the tendency to wander off and do some stupid things. That's how Luke lost a hand… a father."
Luke raised an eyebrow, "You weren't exactly stopping me from leaving that night on Endor."
"Luke, you underestimate how close I was to yelling for Han, Chewie, and a few good yards of rope."
Han smirked, "And now I'm picturing the Battle of Endor with Luke tied to a tree in the background… It's a good image."
"It is," Felicity grinned.
Luke narrowed his eyes at the duo and opened his mouth to speak when his mind suddenly filled with an image.
Ben stood in the Meditation Gardens, lightsaber in his hand and desperation on his face. A crate lay on the ground a few feet away and inside was the helmet of Darth Vader. Alyla and Reine stood between Ben and the helmet, their lightsabers in hand, ready for a fight.
"Step aside," Ben ordered, his voice shaking as hard as his grip on the lightsaber. It was unlit but his stance was threatening.
"Ben, please don't do this," Alyla's voice was peaceful and tender. It was the tone that could always calm and contain Ben, but this night it didn't seem to work.
"You don't understand."
"Then help me understand," Alyla tried to coax. She took a step forward and Ben took one back. Alyla sighed and tried again, "You don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do," Ben whispered.
"No, you don't. You're stronger than this. Stronger than him. Don't listen to Snoke. Don't let him in!"
"He's already in." Tears shone in Ben's eyes, "Alyla, please don't make me do this. I don't want you to get hurt."
"No one is getting hurt. I promise. Please, Ben, just listen to me!" Alyla begged.
Reine's countenance was not so friendly, her eyes dark and her tone hard, "Ben, if you attack, we will be forced to defend ourselves."
A panicked look flooded Alyla's face, "Reine, no!"
But Reine's words had spurred Ben on. His eyes flashed yellow, and he gripped his saber with both hands.
"Then so be it," Ben growled.
And a brilliant cerulean blade ignited.
"Luke!" Felicity's panicked voice drew him back from the vision. She was gripping the sides of his arms, looking up at him in fear.
How long had she been trying to get his attention? Long enough for everyone in the room to be staring at him uneasily.
"Did any of you see that?" Luke croaked, his voice oddly dry.
The Jedi shook their heads.
"What did you see, Luke?" Terror was also in the eyes of Gavyn Kene.
Luke blinked, reaching into the Force to try to catch back the vision, "Ben. Where is Ben?"
"It's okay," Leia said. "He's upstairs in the guest room."
"Are you sure?" Luke demanded.
"I'll go check," Han lifted off the couch and tried his best to look casual as he climbed the stairs, barking his son's name. There was no fooling the room into believing he wasn't booking it up the staircase in panic.
"Luke," Gavyn repeated. "What did you see?"
And then the Jedi saw it.
"BEN! I don't want to do this!" Alyla screamed, her violet blade interlocked with the saber that once belonged to Obi-Wan Kenobi. The weapon she had taught him to fight with, interlocked with the weapon she had entrusted him with.
There was pain in Ben's eyes, and perhaps even guilt. He loved Alyla as dearly as his own mother, and it showed in his actions. Ben used the Force to throw Alyla back from him, away from the line of fire as he swung powerfully at Reine.
Reine's face was hard, but not in anger as she dueled back Ben Solo, the same boy she used to playfully spar with as a child. But as she fought him it a clear duel to the death, Reine did not hold back. As a Jedi, it was her responsibility to subdue the Dark Side, regardless of who was using it.
Ben yelled as Reine's saber bit across his wrist, causing him to drop it. He glared at her, gripping his bloody wrist. The message was clear: Reine was not only capable, but willing to cut off his hand if she was pushed to it.
"We really got to stop using the term disarm so literally," Obik said dryly as the Jedi looked to each other in horror.
Leia and Felicity looked about the room in confusion. Neither of them were able to see visions of the Force, but Leia could sense when her family was in danger, and Felicity had lived among the Jedi long enough to know when someone was having a vision.
"What's going on?" Leia demanded. "Luke, is it Ben? Has something happened to his…arm?"
"Yeah, seriously," Felicity said, "three generations of Skywalker men losing arms just sounds tacky."
"Fliss!"
"What? It does!"
"My son could have lost his arm and you're joking about it?"
"I don't do well under this type of conversation! I thought you would have caught on to that after I made a joke about killing Rey three days after I literally almost killed her!"
"Everyone calm down," Luke ordered. "Ben hasn't lost a hand. Reine just caught him on the wrist… or will catch him. The visions aren't probably current. Last time we checked, Ben was up in the room."
"BEN!" Han bellowed from the floor above. There was a loud thudding of running footsteps and they heard Han yell, "He's gone! Ben's gone!"
"What?" Leia exclaimed, as everyone shot into action.
Han thundered down the stairs, panic on his face, "The window is open and Ben is gone."
"The visions are current," Zena shot to her feet, joining Gavyn, who was already prepping his saber belt.
"They can't be," Obik insisted. "His saber is locked in a cabinet in the upstairs office."
"Your cabinet is open, and the saber is gone." Han spat a few curses in an alien language and said to himself, "Damn it! Why did I teach him to pick locks?"
"Shocking how teaching our son to do criminal activity had negative repercussions," Leia shot. She noticed Gavyn in the corner of her eye, "What are you doing?"
Gavyn secured his saber to his belt, "Arming myself."
"No, he's not going to hurt anyone!"
"You didn't see the vision!" Gavyn snapped.
"Leia. Gavyn," Luke calmly said.
"Don't you Gavyn me," Gavyn imitated Luke's tone of voice. "My sister is in a duel to the death right now. I don't care who this kid is or how young he is. If he tries to hurt my sister, I will defend her."
Gavyn's tone spoke of more than the immediate situation. He had spent the entirety of his youth protecting Alyla from the dregs of society. Sometimes he had won, but more times he had failed. It was clear that Gavyn refused to fail this time.
Little did he know what was about to come.
"No, please," Leia begged. "You can't hurt him."
"Hurt who?" Han arrived back in the living room.
"They want to go after Ben."
"Like hell you will!" Han exclaimed. "If you think you're going to lay a hand on my son-"
"So, I just let him hurt my sister?" Gavyn snapped.
"He would never hurt Alyla!"
"Boys! Am I going to have to get Lando on the comm to mediate you two?" Felicity yelled.
"I'd at least think you would be on my side with how much you threaten him," Gavyn countered.
Felicity rolled her eyes, "My desire to smack Ben upside the head is opportunistic. I don't get the whiteboard out and design schemes in my garage."
"Everyone STOP!" Luke roared.
The group fell silent.
"We can't go in with aggression and anger," Luke spoke slowly. "Now everyone, let's take a deep breath and calmly proceed to the Meditation Gardens."
"He's right," Obik agreed. "We need to stay calm. If he go in with Dark Side in our hearts, it's only going to provoke-"
A bone chilling scream filled the Force as Ben's blade slashed down Reine's face, and she collapsed to her knees.
Obik's eyes went wide.
"REINE!" he screamed and bolted for the door.
Gavyn followed, hot on his heels pushing Luke aside to get to the door. The men were out the door, Zena tagging behind before Luke even realized what was going on.
"Damn it, Kene!" Han roared, running after the trio.
"What's going on?" Leia asked.
Luke sighed, "Ben may have just injured Reine, and he's fighting Alyla. Gavyn and Obik are going to go defend the women, I think."
"And Loud Mouth Solo is going to defend Ben," Felicity sighed.
"Oh God," Leia groaned. "Han's either going to kill someone or get himself killed."
"Let's go after the Loud Mouth before he does anything else stupid," Felicity grabbed Leia's hand. "Coming Skywalker?"
Luke groaned and punched his comm button, "Doctor Kalonia? Come in."
A few seconds later the groggy, sleep-laded voice of Kalonia replied, "Yes, Master Skywalker?"
"Join us in the Meditation Gardens immediately. I think there's been an accident." Luke then punched off his comm and looked up at Leia and Felicity, "Let's do this."
"Gavyn! Gavyn, slow down!" Luke yelled as the group raced through the village to the Meditation Gardens.
It didn't take Luke long to catch up to Gavyn. Besides Zena, Luke was the fastest runner of the lot, and in no time, Luke was at his side, grabbing Gavyn's shoulder.
"Get off me, Skywalker!" Gavyn shoved Luke away, not slowing his pace. "Alyla's in danger!"
"Alyla is not in danger!" Luke exclaimed. "How many times do I have to tell you, Ben would never-"
Something Dark slammed through the Force, and Gavyn fell to his knees. Luke was standing close enough to Gavyn to feel the ice-cold emptiness that ran through Gavyn's violet Force Signature. Looking around, he could see the wound in the Force had been so violent that not only had Leia felt it, but even Han and Felicity froze for a moment. Luke didn't understand what could possibly have affected all of them so suddenly and so dramatically.
And then he saw the vision.
Ben's lightsaber shoved through Alyla's abdomen, and a look of absolute shock on her face.
"Why?" she whispered.
Ben had no answer.
"ALYLA!" Gavyn screamed as the vision faded away.
Luke could barely stand. No, this couldn't true. Ben couldn't have…
He felt Gavyn's frantic movements in the Force. The way his violet signature flurried around Alyla's diminishing magenta one. The violet reached out for the magenta, trying to grasp and hold her, to keep her tethered to the world of the living as bit by bit it faded away.
And then the magenta was gone.
Instantly, everyone's wrist comms started to beep. A flurry of confused Jedi had been woken in the middle of the night by the sudden loss of Alyla Kene.
"No," Gavyn panted in shock, on his hands and knees. He shook violently, and his chest convulsed like he was holding back the urge to vomit. "No, Ally. Alyla!"
"Luke," Leia's voice came behind him, and he turned to face her. Absolute fear was on Leia's face, "Luke, what's wrong?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"Luke!" Another voice called, and suddenly Doctor Kalonia – still in her pyjamas – was at their side. "Master Skywalker, what's going on?"
"Alyla…" Luke swallowed. His throat was dry, "Alyla's… I think she's dead."
He didn't need to be a Jedi to feel the fear that coursed through the group.
"No," Leia shook her head. Her voice shook as tears threatened to fill her eyes. She was leaning against Han whose white was white and still. "No, it's not true. It's impossible."
Then a flurry of movement behind Luke. Gavyn Kene shot to his feet and he and Obik – fearing for Reine's life – booked it towards the Meditation Gardens. There were no words exchanged by the group, they simply turned and raced after the group.
Luke would never forget the moment Gavyn Kene entered the Meditation Gardens that night.
"ALYLA! ALYLA!" Gavyn screamed, frantically looking around the Gardens for his sister. "ALLY, WHERE ARE YOU?"
"REINE?" Obik called behind Gavyn. Both he and Gavyn had their sabers lit, ready to fight Ben should they be forced to. "REINE, BABY I'M HERE!"
"ALLY!" Gavyn screamed again as the rest of the group arrived.
"Shh," Zena held up a hand, her cat ears twitching. "Do you hear that?"
The humans strained to reach the Zygerrian's hearing abilities, but sure enough there was a faint sobbing coming not too far from them.
"REINE!"
"ALLY!"
The group raised through the gardens, Gavyn carelessly pushing through plants, trampling quite a few in the process.
"REINE, BABY WHERE ARE YOU?" Obik called.
"ALLY! ALYLA! I'M HERE! I'M HERE!" Gavyn desperately yelled. "IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY! WHERE ARE YOU!"
And then they broke into the clearing where they found a horrifying sight. Reine doubled over, screaming and sobbing in pain as she clutched at her face, her hands dripping with blood. Alyla lying on her back, perfectly motionless, her lightsaber gone and Obi-Wan's discarded at her feet with a piece of black, bloody fabric. And both Ben and Vader's mask were nowhere to be found.
"ALLY!" Gavyn bolted to Alyla's still form.
"REINE!" Obik raced to his wife's side and dropped to his knees. Without a thought, he pulled Reine into his arms and placed his hands over hers to maintain the pressure over Reine's wounds. Soon enough, his hands were coated with her hot, sticky blood as she cried in his embrace. "It's okay, it's okay, Baby. I got you. I got you."
"Oh Gods," Felicity gasped, staring at the scene in horror.
Zena slowly followed Gavyn, but said nothing as she stood watching her husband take Alyla into his arms.
"Ally!" Gavyn gasped, holding her up. He winced as her head drooped back limply. "Ally, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here. You'll be okay. You're gonna be fine."
Han, Luke, and Leia said nothing as they stared at the scene in voiceless shock. What could even be said? Ben had done this.
In an effort to help, Gavyn pressed a hand to Alyla's lightsaber wound that was oddly bloody. Lightsaber wounds were cauterized by the blade; they only bled if they were irritated. But Luke eyed the probable culprit: the bloody piece of fabric by Obi-Wan's lightsaber, that looked oddly like a piece of the shirt Ben had been wearing. Had he scrubbed at the wounds? If so… why?
"Doctor, help Reine!" Obik shouted as his sand toned hands stained with the crimson of his wife's blood. He had to shake Reine a few times to stop her from passing out.
"No!" Reine weakly pushed Kalonia away. "Help Alyla!"
Reluctantly, Kalonia rose to her feet and turned away from the woman with the bloody face. She approached Alyla, but a few steps away she stopped in her tracks. The expression on her face said everything.
But as Gavyn looked up helplessly at her, he wasn't ready to take no for an answer.
"Help her!" Gavyn screamed, cradling his sister as tenderly as he had his infant daughter. "Don't just stand there! Save her!"
Slowly, Kalonia dropped to her knees and gently began examining Alyla's form. A few touches were all it took to make her diagnosis.
"Gavyn…" Kalonia whispered. "Gavyn, she's cold."
His eyes filled with tears, "No, no."
"I'm so sorry," Kalonia touched his shoulder.
Gavyn let out one of the most desperate cries Luke would ever hear in his life. Gavyn pulled his sister's dead body into his tight embrace and sobbed hysterically as he clutched her desperately in his arms.
The scene was a blur around Luke. He barely noticed when Kalonia left Alyla to tend to Reine. He couldn't believe that Ben could have done this.
Slowly a conversation ensued among the group, but Luke barely listened. Instead, he looked around the room with detachment, trying to be more than a ghost as he participated in the scene. But he was just so stunned that night he mourned Felicity on Jakku, it was only three specific moments he could truly recall.
He remembered when he made eye contact with Zena Halcorr.
"Jedi Killer," she snarled, her eyes as cold, hard, and sharp as ice.
"No," Leia whispered. "Don't call my son that."
"Well, he is, isn't he?" Zena snapped. "He killed a Jedi, therefore he is a Jedi Killer."
"He's just a child!"
"He killed Alyla! He killed my sister who was more my sister in heart than by law. If he killed Felicity, would you want me to ask you not to mourn?"
Luke remembered the moment that Kalonia wanted to move Reine.
"I have to take her to surgery now," she said, interrupting the feud.
"Of course," Luke nodded.
Obik and Kalonia helped Reine to her feet. Kalonia had applied some temporary bacta to her face to stop the bleeding and regulate her a bit.
"How are you feeling?" Obik asked.
Reine groaned, "My face… There's not even a word for this pain."
"Are you drowsy? Have a headache?" Kalonia inquired.
"Little bit of a headache from the constant beeping of everyone's comms."
"Sorry, Reine, we'll turn them off," Felicity said.
"Wait, we might need them," Kalonia said. "Reine, I'm going to need to do a blood transfusion, but I don't keep blood on hand. I'm going to need a donor."
"Take mine," Obik rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm.
Reine rolled her eyes, "Honey, you are AB Positive, and I'm O Negative. We're the absolute opposites of the spectrum."
"Oh, I was hoping you weren't O Negative," Kalonia groaned. "You can only receive O Negative blood and there's only one other person who has that type on Rornian."
"Who?" Obik asked.
"Tyla Kinall."
Luke sighed, "I'll call her. Hopefully she won't object to being a donor."
"And if she's not, I'm more than happy to hold her down and force a transfusion," Zena sneered.
Kalonia sighed at Zena's comment but said nothing.
Luke was surprised, usually Felicity or Han would be the one to make that type of comment, but Han was looking so utterly lost, and there was fear in Felicity's eyes as she looked around the Meditation Gardens wildly.
"Master Skywalker?" Kalonia prompted.
Taking a deep breath, Luke punched in Tyla's comm code.
"Luke, what's going on?" Tyla's voice was immediately on the comm.
"There's been… An incident," Luke sighed, not knowing how else to phrase it. "Tyla… Alyla Kene is dead."
In the corner of his eye, Luke saw Leia wince. She turned and buried herself in Felicity's embrace.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Tyla exclaimed.
"It was… It was Ben," Luke admitted. "Please, Tyla I'll explain later. He also injured Reine badly. She needs a blood transfusion, and you're her only match-"
"Yes, of course, I'll come down immediately. Oh God, how could Ben have done this? And to Alyla of all people."
"I know it's all very shocking, but we need to act quickly."
"Has Ben been detained?"
"No. We weren't-"
"Master Skywalker, are you telling me that someone who just killed and injured two of our own is roaming wild? He has to be stopped! The others have to be warned!"
"Tyla, it's alright. Ben isn't-"
Zena growled, "Skywalker, if you say Ben isn't going to hurt anyone, I'm going to punch you."
Luke took a step away from Zena.
"You're right, Tyla," Luke admitted. "Everyone should be warned. I'll make an announcement, just get to the Med Center."
"Yes, Master Skywalker."
With a shaking hand, Luke punched in the code to broadcast to all of the Jedi's comms and made one of the worst announcements of his life.
"I know you all have a lot of questions, so I'll make this simple. Alyla Kene is dead. Reine Agim is injured, but alive and being rushed into surgery. Ben Solo is responsible. Though his own saber has been discarded, Alyla's is missing so he may be armed. I implore that you do not go searching for him. Justice will not be met by a lynch mob, am I understood?"
Obik, Reine, Zena, and Gavyn exchanged a look, and then reluctantly nodded.
"If you do encounter him, he is to be considered as extremely dangerous. Immediately call for backup, and absolutely do not engage him, especially not alone. If you defy my orders and do manage to capture and subdue him, do not harm him. Call me and I will deal with the situation. And Ben, if you're listening to this, I just want to say… I- I just… want to say… Oh God, Ben, what have you done?"
The final moment he remembered was when he flicked off his comm and Felicity said:
"Tyla's right."
Those were words Luke honestly never thought he'd hear her utter.
"Excuse me?" Luke frowned at her.
"Tyla's right," Felicity repeated. "Ben is somewhere out there on the loose."
Leia pushed away from Felicity, "Don't talk about my son like that! He's not a wild animal!"
"He just murdered the one woman we swore up and down he would never hurt!" Felicity exclaimed. "That boy is no longer the one you called son! If he can kill Alyla, who else will he kill? Me? Han? There's nothing to hold him back now!"
"You're wrong," Leia's voice shook. "There's still good in him, I feel it."
"God, is that what you sounded like on Endor?" Felicity shot a look at Luke.
Luke had no response, so gave a non-committal shrug.
"Easy, Reine," Kalonia said as she and Obik guided her towards the exit.
To Luke's surprise, Han was following behind them.
"Where are you going?" Leia frowned, equally confused by Han's action.
Han stopped and sighed, his head drooping slightly. His reply was devastating:
"Someone's gotta tell Lando."
Luke did not envy that conversation.
"Oh God," he heard Gavyn sob behind him. "She's supposed to go next week and pick out her kid… She's supposed to become a Mom. She's always wanted to be a Mom."
Luke couldn't bear to look at Gavyn as he broke down even further. Instead he watched Zena as she considered something, then went over to a grow of flowers, picked one, and laid it on Alyla's chest.
It was one of the blue morning glories Alyla and Lando had planted together.
"Nobody is safe now," Felicity whispered. "Not any Jedi, not any family, not any-"
And then she stopped dead.
"Rey!" Fear flooded into her heart, and Felicity bolted for the door.
"Felicity!" Luke yelled, running after her, Zena following close behind.
In the distance, he could see Han heading for the Millennium Falcon, and the other group proceeding to the Medical Center. They left Leia and Gavyn back in the Meditation Gardens with Alyla's body, while Felicity was headed straight for Gavyn and Zena's home.
"Rey! Rey!" Felicity exclaimed as they burst through the door. Before Luke could slow her, Felicity was already headed to the garage where they had hidden Rey for the night.
"Mom!" Miri scrambled down the stairs into her mother's embrace. Her face was red, sad, and confused, "Mom, I heard the message! Is Aunt Ally dead?"
Luke didn't hear the answer as he followed Felicity into the garage.
"Rey!" Felicity cried as she raced into the room.
A sleepy little girl blinked and groaned in as she sat up in her cot, confused by her mother's panicked voice.
"Mommy?" Rey rubbed her eyes, pushing away the heavy blankets wrapped around her. Instead she chose to be wrapped up in something warmer and more comfortable: her mother's arms. "Mommy, what's going on?"
"It's okay, Sweetheart, Mommy's here," Felicity frantic checked her daughter over. "Is everything okay? Are you hurt?"
But things weren't okay, Luke realized numbly. The garage was missing its most prominent fixture: Gavyn's ship.
"I'm okay," Rey replied. "I promise. Did Ben tell you I wasn't?"
Luke and Felicity froze.
"Rey, was Ben here?" Luke asked slowly. He ran a hand over her chocolate curls, doing his own examination of Rey's safety.
"Uh huh," Rey nodded. "He woke me up and asked if I was okay."
"What did he say?" Luke urged.
Rey shrugged, "Not much."
"Sweetheart," Felicity said slowly, "you have to tell Mommy and Daddy exactly what happened with Ben. What did he do? What he say?"
"He said that he was sorry, but he had to go. He did something bad and had to go away for a little while. He didn't want to leave and he said this wasn't my fault. He just wanted to say goodbye and to tell me to always remember that he loves me. Then I went back to sleep… Is Ben in trouble?"
Luke and Felicity exchanged a look.
"Yes," Felicity answered bluntly. "He's in a lot of trouble right now."
"What did he do?" Fear filled Rey's eyes.
"Oh Sweetheart," Luke rubbed her arm. And then he froze. In glanced down in confusion and noticed something was very wrong, "Rey… where's your bracelet?"
Rey frowned and looked down. Her eyes widened when she noticed her bare wrist.
"It's gone!" Rey exclaimed. "Daddy, it's gone! It was on when I went to sleep! I promise!"
"I believe you," Luke assured her. "It's okay, I believe you."
Felicity glanced at him warily, "Luke… what does this mean?"
Luke sighed, "It means that Ben Solo has been seduced by the Dark Side… and is now armed with the Sith crystal I never wanted him to have."
10 Years, 2 Months, 19 Days
A heavy silence clung to the Skywalker house. Luke's eyes were dark and his head hung heavily as he walked down the hallway of the upper level. His heart lurched as he glanced into the empty room that belonged to his nephew. Ben's possessions lay abandoned, and Luke couldn't help but wonder what other dark secrets might be hidden inside.
He couldn't bear to discover that today.
In the bedroom he had just come out of, Rey was crying into the furry arms of Chewbacca. She couldn't understand what was going on. Why Ben had left, why Reine had been slashed across the face, why Alyla was dead.
Truth be told, Luke didn't have an answer either.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Luke glanced over the railing at the entrance to the living room where Leia and Han were mourning. He felt so guilty, how could he have failed them so terribly? How could he let this happen to their son, his nephew?
Luke just didn't understand.
He sighed and entered the bedroom. Felicity was sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the wall, a hint of guilt in her eyes, and her face white with shock.
"Reine's out of surgery now," Luke announced. "Kalonia says she'll be fine. The scars won't go away for more than a year but they will fade."
"That's good to hear," Felicity didn't look over at him. "How's Gavyn?"
"In shambles."
"I can't imagine the sorrow he's going through."
"Really? I expected you to make an analogy to Brendan."
"What happened is worse than losing Brendan."
"Never thought you'd say those words," Luke said completely serious.
Felicity ran a hand through her hair, "Alyla was such an important part of his life for him entire life. I just had Brendan at the start, and you've only had Leia since you were nineteen. Losing Alyla must be like losing Brendan and Leia put together."
"Well, truth be told, it's Zena I'm frightened for. She's out for blood and already has everyone calling Ben… Jedi Killer."
Felicity looked down, "I guess that is what he is… Rey was asking me to explain what happened, but I don't even know what to say."
"I'm just thankful Chewbacca got here so fast. He's making sure she's taken care of while we four take care of ourselves." Luke sat down next to Felicity and pulled her into his arms, "Lando's breaking every law of government and physics to get here as quickly as possible. Gavyn's agreed to hold off on funeral plans until Lando arrives. He said that if Zena had died, he would deserve the chance to see her body, and that Lando deserves the same."
"Do you think Lando and Alyla loved each other?"
Luke kissed the top of her head, "I know they did."
"They were going to adopt a child."
"Yes, they were."
Felicity began to cry.
"I'm sorry," Felicity wept in his arms as Luke held her tight. "I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," Luke assured her.
"I did this, Luke. I pushed him to this."
"No, you didn't. He made his own choices. I should have tried harder to save him."
"It's not your fault, Luke. It's mine."
"Enough," Luke urged. "We could sit here and lay blame all day. I just… I wished I had listened to you. All these years you tried to tell me that Ben was turning… why didn't I listen? Why didn't I see that you were right?"
"You know for once," Felicity rested her head against his, "I wish I wasn't right."
And so they held each other and cried.
10 Years, 4 Months, 11 Days
"Pack as many weapons as you can," Luke ordered as he and Felicity hurriedly packed their bags. "I don't know if anyone else has a map to Ahch-to, and if the First Order finds us, we'll need to be prepared."
"What are we going to tell Rey?" Felicity asked as she went through the closet.
"We'll tell her we're going on an adventure. I don't want her to panic, so let's make this fun. A game of sorts."
"This isn't a game, Luke. She needs to be protected over anything else. If Ben gets to her-"
"He's not going to hurt her," Luke snapped.
"How can you be so sure?" Felicity shot back. "He's threatened by her."
"He loves her."
"That's not enough! He loved Alyla and still killed her."
"But he didn't hurt Rey," Luke reminded. "He had the chance that night, but he didn't hurt her."
"He stole her bracelet," Felicity objected. "He has a Sith crystal. Let's not pretend we don't know what he's going to do with that, Luke. Our only hope is that he forgets to ventilate it properly and blows himself up."
Luke winced at the image of his nephew dead. As much as Ben had hurt them, Luke didn't want him to die.
"Let's speak of something else," Luke shook his head. "Have you and Obik gone over hut assignments?"
"Still needs a little tweaking, but if I remember the layout correctly, we should be fine."
A coy smirk crossed Felicity's lips.
"I know that look," Luke chuckled. "Should I take off my pants now, or wait for you to do it?"
"I may have done something sneaky, Luke," Felicity set her gatherings from the closet on the bed.
"Oh, really?" Luke wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. "What did you do?"
"I may have assigned us a very familiar hut," Felicity nuzzled him. "I look forward to re-enacting a certain scene from our honeymoon."
"As do I," Luke whispered, his lips hovering over hers. "But I think we might need to practice a bit first. You know, go over the choreography, and remember our cues."
"With pleasure, Master Skywalker," Felicity wove a hand into his hair and pulled him in for a tender kiss.
They were interrupted by the beeping of Luke's comm.
"Leave it," Felicity moaned as Luke fumbled for his comm.
Luke groaned when he saw the name on the screen, "It's the Chancellor. I have to answer it."
"But Luke," Felicity whined.
"I'll be right back, Sweetheart," he kissed her before pulling back on his shirt. He surprised her by suddenly nipping at her ear, "I'm going to take this call into the office. I want you ready for me when I get back."
Felicity chuckled, a wicked twinkle in her eyes, "Don't take too long with that call."
"I'll get her off as quickly as possible," Luke promised.
"I wonder what Mothma could possibly be calling about."
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm sure it won't ruin our plans for Ahch-to."
Unfortunately for Luke, it did.
10 Years, 4 Months, 17 Days
Their panting and soft laughter filled the room as they basked in the pleasure they had just partaken in. They were entangled in the blankets and each other, nothing but the intimacy of their bare skin and the aftermath of lovemaking filling their senses.
"You have to let me go, Felicity," Luke grinned, absentmindedly stroking his hand across her naked thigh.
"I won't do it," Felicity murmured, her voice sounding sleepy as her legs were locked around his hips, holding him in place on top of her. It was nearly three in the morning, and both were exhausted. "Because if I let you go, then you leave me for a whole month."
"Orders are orders, I have to go to Coruscant. And I'm going to be late. I should have left two hours ago."
"It's your own fault for falling for my bewitching charms."
"Is that now what you're calling it?"
Felicity swatted his chest and unhooked her legs from around his waist to let him roll off her. When Luke had done so, he rested on his side, playing gently with her hair.
Luke and Felicity had a system that whenever one went on a trip, they would leave in the middle of the night, way past Rey's bedtime so that she wouldn't insist on staying up too late to say her goodbyes, nor that she would make a scene in the morning.
Of course, that also meant it gave Luke and Felicity plenty of time to say their own goodbye.
"I wish I didn't have to go," Luke sighed. "A whole month without you sounds unbearable."
"At least it's not a lifetime," Felicity rested her head against his chest, soothed by the steady beating of his heart.
"Let's make a pact, when we do die, we die together so neither one of us has to miss the other."
"I agree. We'll die together… or I'll die first and you deal with all that pain."
Luke chuckled, "You're actively wishing me pain?"
"Consider it revenge for the thirty-two-hour labour."
Luke shook his head, "Or, how about I die first, and then at least I can come back as a Force Ghost and visit you from time to time?"
"Time to time?"
"You're not the only person I'll want to visit in the afterlife."
Felicity grinned, "Oh, Luke… I love you so much."
"I love you too," Luke kissed her forehead. He glanced at the clock and sighed, "It's time for me to go."
Her voice was small, "…I know."
He dressed slowly, Felicity's eyes following his every movement. If he had known that was the last time he shared that bed with her, he would have jumped right back in and never left.
"I'll comm you when I arrive at the first fuelling station," Luke bent over the bed and kissed her.
Felicity ran her fingers through his hair, "And I'll comm you with Rey first thing in the morning."
He walked towards the doorway and grabbed his packed suitcase propped against the wall. He punched the door's open code, but when it slid open, he paused and looked back at Felicity.
"I love you, Felicity Rhiaon," Luke declared taking in one last sight of the beautiful woman he loved so much.
She smiled at him, not that wicked smirk but that joyous smile so few got to see, "I love you too, Luke Skywalker."
And with one last smile, Luke left behind his wife.
10 Years, 4 Months, 25 Days
"I can't reach them."
"Luke, don't jump to conclusions," Leia said.
"Yeah, Kid, just take a moment to calm down," Han encouraged.
"No, this is serious!" Luke slammed his fist on the dining table he, Leia, and Han were seated at. "I'm woken in the middle of the night of a vision of Temple Village burning, and now I can't get a hold of them!"
"Luke," Leia sighed.
"It's been six hours!" Luke said. He lowered his head and took a deep breath, "Something is wrong, Leia. I have to go before it's too late. Please… Rey and Felicity are in danger. I can't lose them."
Han and Leia exchanged a solemn look.
They need not exchange a word to make their decision.
"The Falcon's acting up, so we can't take that," Han said. "You go in your X-Wing to Rornian, and I'll fix up the Falcon to follow."
Luke looked up in surprise, "But what about the meetings? The Senate?"
"I'll take care of it all," Leia promised. "Please… just make sure the girls are safe."
And so, with a pat on Han's arm and a kiss on Leia's cheek, Luke Skywalker grabbed Artoo and his flight suit and set off for Rornian.
He only prayed that it wouldn't be too late.
10 Years, 4 Months, 26 Days
Luke and Felicity stood in the forest as the rain poured down and their home burned in the distance. A heavy silence hung over the duo as they stood there holding each other, taking in the tragedy before them.
Then, Luke made a decision he would regret for years to come.
"Felicity, you need to go," Luke said.
Felicity frowned, "Go? Go where?"
"Somewhere far from here. Somewhere the First Order wouldn't think to look for you."
"The First Order?"
"The Knights of Ren have always been Snoke's lackeys, and he was the one who corrupted Ben. It's obvious why they came here."
"No… I- I won't leave you," Felicity stepped out of Luke's embrace.
"Felicity," Luke reached for her arm.
"No!" Felicity jerked it out of his grasp.
"You have to take Rey and get out of here."
"We're not leaving you!"
"We don't have a choice," Luke used his extremely calm voice that always annoyed Felicity.
"Yes, we do," Felicity insisted. She lightly gripped Luke's forearm and hope danced in her eyes, "You can come with us."
"There's no room," Luke shook his head. "The only ship we have access to is my X-Wing. That's a two seater, Felicity."
"So what?" Felicity asked. "We can each take a seat, and Rey will sit in my lap."
"The X-Wing can barely hold two people, it couldn't fit three of us, let alone bare the weight."
"Don't ask me to leave you to die," Felicity begged. "I've left too many people behind to their deaths. I won't do it to you."
"Then we condemn Rey," Luke calmly said. Tears were shining in his eyes, "If we both stay, she does too, and we put her in the line of fire. I have the best chance of the two of us to survive, and I might be able to reason with Ben. Your presence would aggravate him. You've already had too many close calls with death tonight. Please, escape while you still can."
Felicity threw her arms around Luke's neck and sobbed into his chest, "I won't leave you."
"And I'll never leave you," Luke whispered clutching Felicity tightly.
Luke savoured the embrace with a sense of finality. As the time passed, Luke felt increasingly unsure he could bring himself to release her.
"Allowing yourself to let her go is not the same as ceasing to love her," The ghostly voice of Anakin Skywalker whispered in his son's ear. "It took me too long to learn that. Do not make my mistake of accepting it when it was too late. In letting her go, you are not asking yourself to permit things to end. You are asking her to live… Even if it means doing it without you."
Luke sighed: his father was right. No matter how much he wanted Felicity to stay, he couldn't let that happen.
Luke took a deep breath, and then pulled back from Felicity. He propped two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up. Felicity's tear filled hazel eyes were locked with own glistening blue orbs.
"I promise you, Felicity," Luke's voice was calm, but filled with pain, "I will never leave you. But I cannot always be by your side physically, so you'll just have to accept my emotional presence. My memory. My promises. You'll have to trust me that this will not be the end."
Felicity painfully whispered, "Luke-"
"I love you. I have from the moment I first met you, and I'll love you even beyond my death. But you have to take Rey and go. It's our best choice right now. I can handle the Knights of Ren, and you… We both know that you are more capable of making difficult decisions and even sacrifices for Rey's safety. Decisions… I could never bring myself to commit."
Felicity winced, closing her eyes as she lowered her head and sobbed. Luke's words were too true for her to deny.
Luke sighed, making a face not unlike the one he had made upon seeing his father's unmasked face for the first time: a sympathetic, loving, and pained expression.
He lifted her chin once more, "But that is why I love you. You are strong where I am weak, and we balance each other perfectly. I swear to you, Felicity, this will not be like Brendan. We will see each other again."
"Promise?" Felicity choked.
"Promise," Luke sealed it with a passionate lingering kiss.
They poured everything into that kiss. The magnitude of their love, the happiness of their friendship, the firmness of their partnership, the passion of a lover to the person they selected to create a child with, the depth of their promises, and even the sting of the possible finality of their parting.
Then they broke the kiss, they still did not part. They held onto each other, resting their foreheads together, listening to the other's heavy breathing.
Luke used his flesh hand to stroke a thumb over Felicity's cheek.
"I love you, Felicity Rhiaon," Luke whispered, relishing the warmth of her skin.
Felicity ran a loving hand through his soft blond hair, "I love you too, Luke Skywalker. Thank you... Thank you for loving me."
Luke gently smiled, "Anytime."
They embraced one final time, Felicity tightly locking her arms around his neck. Luke reached up and slowly clasped Felicity right hand with his left. Eventually he eased her arms down but did not release their clasped hands.
"Now go," Luke's voice quaked as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Slowly, Felicity backed out of his embrace, but their hands did not let go.
"Promise me," Felicity ordered. "Promise me this isn't goodbye."
"I promise you, Felicity," Luke grinned the goofy grin his wife so loved, "we'll see each other again."
Felicity gave the smile her husband loved, and let go of his hand.
"Promise me, Luke!" Felicity backed away from him into the treeline towards Rey.
"I promise!" Luke called as she disappeared into the night. "We'll see each other again! I promise, Felicity. I promise!"
10 Years, 6 Months, and 24 Days
The hallway was too quiet. Luke and Chewbacca were slowly walking down one of the passages of the First Order Tonides Base. They had their weapons at the ready, but not a single soul was anywhere to be found.
When he, Chewie, and Han had touched down on the landing platform, they had been met with the usual legion of Stormtroopers guarding the base. But there was a small number of them, and they were easy to defeat. Perhaps they had been ordered not to give Skywalker much of a fight.
But still… it was too easy.
Han had stayed behind to guard the ship, and Chewie went with Luke to find where they were keeping Felicity. It was a difficult feat though, for Luke couldn't find her Force Signature anywhere.
He reached desperately into the Force to find that familiar crimson colour, but he didn't find her. Luke felt the red tone of Phasma – maybe a scarlet shade, but he honestly wasn't paying attention to her. He felt the blood orange signature of General Hux, but he was relieved to not find the signature of Snoke: a soul black and cold as the night.
But there was a familiar signature, one that made him stop in his tracks.
Forest green.
"He's here," Luke whispered to Chewie. "Ben's here."
Roar ra row!
Luke took a deep breath, "You're right. She probably is."
Re ra grr rowl?
Luke looked around the corridor and reached out with the Force.
"This way," Luke directed them down another hallway.
It didn't take them long to find Ben, a few more turns and the duo find themselves in a very large and very dark room. The location was probably a place to address multiple legions of Stormtroopers at once, for there were multiple legions of Stormtroopers crammed into the room.
There was stage and a long aisle leading up to it. Dozens upon dozens of Stormtroopers in gleaming white armor lined the aisle, filling up the audience. They stood at attention, blasters at the ready, and facing towards the stage. As Luke and Chewie slowly walked down the aisle, not a Stormtrooper so much as twitched.
But Luke's attention was not on the Stormtroopers; it was on the figure they were staring at. A young boy, aged only sixteen clad in black and armed with a lightsaber stood proudly on the stage. He wore a mask not unlike the one his Grandfather had used to survive, but this boy's mask was one of vanity, not survival.
Luke didn't take his eyes off the boy as he wordlessly scaled the stage, Chewbacca following behind. He was holding his lightsaber, but it was unlit. After staring at the boy for a few minutes in silence, an agreement was settled between them. Luke hooked his saber on his belt, and the boy removed his mask, setting it on the ground.
"Ben," Luke simply said. "Or did you prefer Kylo Ren?"
"I prefer Kylo," the boy answered, his eyes dark with pride and fear.
"I don't," Luke replied flatly.
He looked so much paler since the last time Luke had seen him. Paler and skinnier. He stood straight, but his hands twitched at his side. The blast wound on his face had been done away with, but his visage was not the handsome young man Luke had helped raise.
"Ben," Luke whispered, "what have you done?"
Ben's lips twitched but his said in his best formal tone, "We are not here to discuss me. We are here to discuss Rhiaon."
"Oh, I think we can find time for both subjects." Luke nodded to the Stormtroopers, "Will they shoot?"
"No," Ben admitted.
"So they're here for show," Luke shook his head. "Oh, Ben, do you even understand what you've gotten yourself into?"
"Even if I wanted to escape – which I certainly do not – you can't be so naïve to think there's anything to go back to at this point? You think I can Lando Calrissian? Mon Mothma? The Senate? Han Solo-"
"Don't call your father such a cold name."
Ben stared right into Luke's eyes, "A cold name for a cold man. He's no father."
"No, my father was no father," Luke sternly chided. "Your father is flawed, but he is a good father."
"And why should I get my reference point on good fathers from a man who never had one?"
Luke shook his head, "You're afraid. I can sense it."
"I'm not afraid."
"Don't lie to me, Ben. I sense the fear, the regret, the guilt."
"I don't regret anything I've done."
Luke didn't buy it for a minute, "Really? You regret none of it?"
"Absolutely nothing."
Luke shook his head, "You don't regret burning down Temple Village? Joining the First Order? Manipulating Jaina and your mother? Running away from home? Stealing Rey's crystal?"
Ben flinched at the name.
Luke tried not to smile. He knew where to get Ben.
"You don't regret killing them?" Luke took a step forward. "Reine? Obik? Gavyn? Zena? Tyla? Genko? Miri?"
He continued on, listing the name of every single Jedi who had been slaughtered on that rainy night. But he saved the name of the woman who had died first – the one that would hurt Ben the most – for the very last.
Luke spoke slowly, "You don't regret killing Alyla?"
Ben winced.
"I thought not," Luke said simply.
Ben looked down at the ground, "Alyla wasn't supposed to die."
"But she did. By your hand. She loved you. She trusted you. She wanted nothing more than your happiness and safety. And you killed her for it. She was protecting you from this."
"And was Felicity just protecting Rey?" Ben snapped.
Luke took a step back in shock. The cold, hard accusation that had been hanging in the air.
"Why, Ben?" Luke struggled to fight back her tears. "Why Rey?"
"I will not claim responsibility for her death," Ben hissed.
"But she is dead!" Luke shouted. "My daughter is dead! You took her from me! Why? Why?"
Ben said nothing, but the guilt in his eyes spoke volumes.
"Why were you so threatened by her?" Luke felt a tear drip down his face. "She… she was innocent. She didn't deserve this. To waste away in a desert."
Ben fixed his eyes to the ground.
"That wasn't my fault," he clenched his jaw. "I didn't take away their supplies, I didn't do anything! I didn't know she was there!"
"And that's the point," Luke glowered. "She was only there because you tried to kill her! Your cousin who loved you and idolized you. Rey trusted you… and now she's dead. I will take some responsibility for what happened… but I will not take all of it."
Ben said nothing.
"But," Luke said after a while, "if I can forgive Vader… I certainly can forgive you. Come with me, Ben. I'll help, I'll show you the way back to the Light."
"I can't go back. I don't want to go back."
"We want you back," Luke put a hand on his shoulder. "Your mother. Your father. Me."
A smirk twitched the side of his face, "I wouldn't be so positive. You don't even know half of what I've done."
"And I don't care what you've done. If you killed people, hurt us… even took away Rey. I still love you. Please, hand over Felicity, and then come home with us."
Ben shook his head, "You won't love me after what I tell you next."
Luke frowned, "What do you mean?"
Ben looked up with the cockiest expression Luke had ever seen on his face. A gloating, taunting mock that was ten times more threatening than his pseudo-Vader helmet.
"Felicity Rhiaon is dead,"Kylo Ren's mocking words seemed to echo in Luke's mind.
In an instant, his world shattered.
"What?" Luke whispered.
His heart pounded violently in his chest, and he could barely breathe. No, Felicity wasn't dead. She- she couldn't be! She was alive- He- he would have felt it if she had- Oh God, but he hadn't felt Rey, had he? No. No, it's wasn't true. Felicity was alive. It was impossible for her not to be. He promised they would see each other again. He promised!
"I killed her myself!"Ben was gleeful at the thought of his aunt being murdered. "I ended her miserable existence, and ridded the world of her corruptive influence."
Ben killed Felicity? It was his absolute worst nightmare after the thought of losing Rey… But Rey was dead so this was his worst nightmare. No, it couldn't be true. Ben. Ben could not have possibly killed Felicity Rhiaon.
"No. You're lying,"Luke said, half in fear and half in genuine disbelief. He refused to accept it as the truth. "Felicity is not dead."
"Yes, she is," Ben grinned. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small HoloDisc. "See for yourself."
Ben hit play.
The Holo projected the image of Felicity on her knees, tied up, face bruised, bloodied, and hair sheered crudely. Ben, Hux, Phasma, and the Stormtroopers holding Felicity back stood around her. A Holo of Supreme Leader Snoke was projected into the room during the recording. Evidently the footage had been recorded seconds after Hux telling Luke he had seven days to get Felicity.
"Skywalker should be on his way shortly, Supreme Leader," Hux reported.
"And Skywalker's daughter is dead?" Snoke asked.
"I've seen it for myself," Ben took a step forward.
An odd look crossed Snoke's face, "Most interesting."
"Supreme Leader," Captain Phasma spoke. "What do with do with Rhiaon while we await Skywalker's arrival?"
Snoke regarded Felicity, "If Skywalker must produce another heir, it should not be with such corrupted chattel as this. Rhiaon has no further use to us. Terminate her immediately."
Felicity had been making objections behind her gag and trying to shake off her captors, but upon hearing the order to kill her, her eyes went wide. She began trying to scream at the top of her lungs and fight as furiously as possible. The gag muffled her words, but the Stormtroopers were losing the upper hand to her fighting.
"She needs to be subdued first," Hux crossed the room and opened a small case on the table laden with torture devices. He picked out one of the objects from the case and examined it, revealing it to be a set of three needles.
"What are those?" Ben asked.
"This first one is a paralytic," Hux answered. "It will get her nice and limp so with can kill her without endangering ourselves."
The Stormtroopers struggled to contain Felicity as she desperately attempted to fight them off.
"And the others?" Ben inquired.
"A special serum developed by the First Order ourselves. It's a two-part injection. This formula uses ysalamir blood as its base."
"The stuff that renders Jedi incapable of using their powers? Why? She's not Force Sensitive."
"But she is closely bonded to Skywalker," Phasma pointed out.
"Exactly," Hux said. "This is a special formula that will block out a person's presence in the Force, hence, Skywalker will not sense the moment we kill her."
"Wouldn't he sense her presence abruptly being removed from the Force?" Ben asked.
"The serum masks the disappearance of a presence. It will block her, but you, nor Skywalker will not sense the moment that happens. And you, nor Skywalker, will be able to sense when she's killed. Gentlemen?" Hux looked to the Stormtroopers. "Hold her down."
The next sight was unbearable for Luke to watch. The Stormtroopers did as they were told and pinned Felicity to the ground. There were only two of them, so Phasma had to joined in to help. They cut her ropes, though Luke couldn't at first tell why. Felicity lashed out violently trying to kick, punch, scratch, and injure in any way possible. It was her one last desperate stand to escape death.
Unfortunately, Phasma smashed a fist into Felicity's face, and as she reared back in pain they were able to grab her and force her face first on the ground. One Stormtrooper pinned down her legs, the other her arms, and Phasma herself held down Felicity's head.
Hux knelt down on the floor, and it was then clear why they cut her ropes. Felicity screamed as he shoved the first needle into the back of her neck – which had previously be obstructed by the ropes.
He didn't follow proper hygiene, placing the needles straight on the floor. Hus didn't wipe down the areas before he injected her. Just one, two, three; the needles were shoved into her neck one by one, and he rammed down her plunger as Felicity screamed, cried, and desperately tried to shake loose of her captors.
But to Luke, even more heartbreaking than his wife's brutal violation was how Ben just stood there, his face pale and scared, watching it happen… and doing nothing to stop it.
"There we are," Hux stood up, collecting his needles. "That wasn't so bad, was it Rhiaon?"
Felicity's response was muffled but angry. Still there was a heartbreaking sound of sadness in her muffled tone.
Luke had watched Felicity's eyes during the ordeal, and he observed the change with horror. As they pulled Felicity up to her knees, her body had already started to fall limp. Still she tried her hardest to fight, even though her body betrayed her more and more with every passing minute. When she could no longer hold up her own head the heartbreaking realization filled her eyes.
She couldn't win this fight. Luke watched the moment his wife knew she was going to die.
Tears flooded her eyes and her fight simmered down. Instead of trying to punch her way out, she started to yell behind her gag. Her only last hope was talking her way out of it, but the gag cut deeper into the sides of her mouth, muffling and suffocating her words and her lungs.
"What's that, Rhiaon?" Hux taunted, holding up a hand to his ear as he returned the needles to their case. "I can't hear you."
"Mmm hmph tpmh mhmm!" Felicity screamed.
"You're not talking your way out of this one," Phasma said. "Not this time."
She sucker punched Felicity right in the face, and the helpless woman fell to the ground, the paralysis almost complete.
But Felicity was a fighter, and she fought to push herself up on her elbows and lift her head.
Standing in front of her was Ben.
Tears and desperation filled her hazel eyes as they met Ben's looking down on her.
Luke could have sworn he saw fear in them.
Felicity made a choice, and using her very last ounce of strength, she kept her head up, her eyes locked on Ben and began to scream.
"It's a pity that whatever her last words are, they'll be lost to time," Ben said, shifting nervously.
"I suppose it is," Hux shrugged indifferently.
"Perhaps," Ben hesitated. "Maybe we should ungag her."
"Ungag her?" Hux frowned.
"Give her one last dignity," Ben tried to sound nonchalant. "Let her have some final words. She might tell us something useful."
Hux glanced over at Phasma, "She might."
After a moment of consideration, Phasma nodded.
"Men," Hux ordered the Stormtroopers standing beside Felicity, "ungag her. You have one minute to speak, Rhiaon. Better make it last."
A Stormtrooper bent down and untied her gag. The second it was off, Felicity started speaking. She wasn't snarky, or formal, or loving as she addressed Ben. She wasn't hateful or guiltily. There was only a single emotion in her voice as she faced her last moment to escape a death sentence.
She was desperate.
"Ben! Ben, please! Don't let them do this! Please let me live!" Felicity screamed, tears spilling out of her eyes. She was a broken woman, begging her arch-nemesis for one last show of mercy. "Please, Ben! You win! You win! Alright? You win! Please, don't do this! Please, Ben, you have to help me! You have to save me! Please, don't let me die! I don't want to die! Please, Ben, help me! I can forgive you this! I can forgive you this!"
And then the gag cut back across her mouth, muffling her cries as the Stormtroopers pulled her back to rest upright on her knees.
Luke's hands shook as he watched Ben indifferently displayed the scene before him. Felicity had begged him for her very life… and he had done nothing.
Then the camera cut to the worst footage Luke would ever see in his life.
The camera was zoomed in extremely close, only Felicity's panicked expression filling the screen. There were muffled screams behind her gagged mouth, and she was shaking her body, trying to wretch free.
Luke would never forget her wide hazel eyes; panic and fear filling them as she tried to scream for help. He would never forget the gloved hand – Ben's hand – that brought the blaster to her temple. He would never forget Felicity's muffled shouts – begging Ben one last time for mercy – as his hand squeezed the trigger.
Luke would never forget the blast, the way Felicity's eyes went blank, and how she fell face first to the ground dead.
Chewbacca let out an agonizing roar.
"Poetic, isn't it?" Kylo chuckled. "Set up to die, and then filmed when she does… Just like her brother."
A rage Luke had never known filled his heart.
"Is she dead?" Kylo's voice asked on the Holo.
He wasn't visible, the shot instead focused on Felicity's unmoving body.
"Check for yourself," Hux instructed.
The camera cut to a wide shot where Kylo, Phasma, Hux, and the Stormtroopers stared at Felicity's body. The Holo of Snoke was gone, but Luke's were only on Felicity's still form.
Kylo hesitated and took slow steps towards Felicity's body. When he was a step away, he stopped. In the background Hux watched with hands clasped behind his back, and Phasma fiddled with the dial charge on her blaster.
Carefully, Kylo stuck out a foot, and gently prodded Felicity.
She didn't move.
It did it again, like he was afraid so was a wild animal he had hit with a speeder and wasn't sure if it was dead or playing at it, about to spring up and tackle him.
Felicity still didn't move.
Kylo took a deep breath and kicked her hard. Once, twice, three times he kicked her defenseless body.
She still did not move.
Finally, he made one powerful kick, flipping her body over to observe the damage.
She laid on her back, crumpled like a rag doll. Her chest rise and fall with breaths, not an inch of her body twitched, and her beautiful hazel eyes stared glassy and unblinking up at the roof.
Kylo bent down and checked her over. He felt for a pulse, a heartbeat, the breath entering and exiting her mouth, and motioned at her eyes like he was about to hit her, trying to trigger and blink or a flinch. Felicity's body was unresponsive, but as the camera lingered on the motion of Ben trying to trigger a flinch, it almost looked like her eyes were trying to plead one last word.
Help.
Chewie growled again and again, screaming out his grief so loud it almost seemed like he was trying to let Han know back on the Falcon.
Luke shook as his brain processed the footage he had just been shown. It seemed impossible, but Luke couldn't deny that Felicity Rhiaon, the love of his life… was dead.
"And do you know what I did next?"Kylo asked gleefully, watching as his uncle literally shook with anger, struggling not to attack Kylo where he stood. The Holo played on, but Luke had no idea what more there could possibly be. "Do you know what I did to that schutta you call a wife?"
Then things got worse.
Luke would never forget the image Kylo next showed. The thing he would refuse to ever tell Han and Leia. The thing he would swear Chewbacca to secrecy about. The thing that would cause Luke to leave the base without his wife's body.
Because what the First Order did to Felicity Rhiaon ensured Luke would have no body to lay to rest.
But Luke didn't leave the base then and there. Upon seeing what Kylo did to Felicity, Luke stood there, catatonic in shock and murderous rage.
Kylo was arrogant. He was not the naïve Ben Solo, Luke had been pleading with to come home. Luke looked upon Kylo with new eyes: he knew there was no redemption. Even Vader wouldn't have sunk to the level of vicious anger and bitter hatred that Kylo had resorted to. In Luke's eyes, Vader was a hero for strangling his pregnant wife compared to what Kylo did to Felicity.
Kylo couldn't stop gloating, going on and on about what he had done to his rival and how much he enjoyed every moment of it. Luke didn't hear any of the words, them becoming muted in the background, an angry buzzing paired with the pounding in Luke's ears.
"I did it, Uncle Luke!" Kylo boasted. "I did it! I killed her! I killed Felicity Rhiaon! I freed you from her!"
Felicity was dead…
"You know, you really should be thanking me," Kylo went on. "Now you can find something worthy of your genetics. I mean, you're old, but I'm sure plenty of young Force Sensitive girls would be happy to be with the legendary Luke Skywalker himself."
Ben had killed Felicity…
"And it was so satisfying to do it too," Kylo bragged. "To wipe that smirk off her face and see her so desperate. She begged me Uncle Luke! Felicity Rhiaon begged me."
Everything was gone. His home. His pupils. His family…
"Oh, and that pièce de résistance! What I did to her body!"
He had taken away Rey… And now he had taken away Felicity…
"You'll want to see that again," Kylo chuckled. He flicked off the Holo and slipped it into Luke's breast pocket, patting his chest jovially, "Well, not worry Uncle Luke. Now you can watch it again and again and ag-"
Luke finally snapped.
The Dark Side flooding into him, Luke grabbed his nephew by the throat and threw him to the ground. Kylo let out a surprised yelp while Chewie roared and the Stormtroopers advanced.
"Luke! No!" Anakin cried.
"Stop, Luke!" Obi-Wan said at the same time.
"Stop, you must," Yoda urged a second after the pair because he always liked his voice to stand out above others.
When questioned why he did that, Yoda would usually reply along the lines of 'when 900 years old you are, have something useful to say, you will.'
Despite the objecting cries of Force Ghosts in his mind, as well as Chewie and the Stormtroopers' efforts, and no one could get Luke to stop. Consumed by hatred, anger, and the Dark Side, Luke wrapped his hands around the throat of his own nephew and refused to let go until Kylo Ren was as dead as his wife and daughter.
If they didn't get to live, then neither would Ben.
It was Chewie who eventually got Luke off of Kylo, locking his arms around Luke's chest and pulling him backwards. Holding Luke in place with one arm, his used his other to bash away a line of Stormtroopers and pulled Luke towards the door.
"No! NO!" Luke cried out, struggling to escape Chewie's unyielding grasp.
With his bowcaster in one arm and Luke in the other, Chewie found off the hordes of Stormtroopers advancing on them.
Kylo stayed behind, stunned at the turn of events. The last sight Luke would have of him for years was Kylo on his hands and knees, gasping for air, scrambling to grab his helmet off the floor.
He looked pathetic.
"No! No!" Luke continued to scream as Chewie dragged them through the maze of corridors. It didn't take them long to lose the Stormtroopers, but still the Wookiee dragged Luke along. "No, Chewie we have to go back! We have to go back!"
ROAR!
"HE KILLED FELICITY!"
And then Luke heard it: Felicity's desperate scream.
"LUKE! LUKE!"
She sounded as she did in the recording: desperate and begging. Why did the Force have to taunt him so?
"LUKE!" Felicity's voice distantly screamed for him. "HELP! HELP ME!"
There was a loud pounding, but Luke was so disconnected from the situation he barely put it together that it was a pounding in his head.
"LUKE!"
Oh God, how could he do this? How could he live with this knowledge that he had failed to save her.
"LUKE, PLEASE SAVE ME!"
He should have gone to Jakku the second Diego mentioned it. He should have kept a comm on. He should have properly stalked his X-Wing. He should have checked Leia's messages before going to Mothma. He should never have told Felicity to go. He should have never gone to Hosnian Prime.
He should have listened to her this whole time.
"LUKE, PLEASE HELP ME! HELP! LUKE!"
Chewie pulled him into a hallway and the screams and thudding in his head got louder with every step. Luke hadn't even noticed when he had started to cry until Chewie had slammed him against a door and he found himself only being held up by two furry paws.
"LUKE!" Felicity's voice screamed, her voice hitting a climax of volume. The pounding seemed to be throbbing all over Luke's body, banging him over and over against his head, shoulders, and back. He felt the vibrations tingling to the tips of his limbs.
"I can't get her out of my head, Chewie," Luke sobbed. "All I hear are her screams."
"HELP ME!"
Chewie cocked his head, sadness in his eyes and softly roared, "Raw rah ro rah."
Luke frowned, "…You hear it too?"
"LUKE! CHEWIE!" Felicity's voice now took on cries to Chewie, the only other person who had to suffer through that footage.
Chewie replied that he didn't think he'd ever stop hearing her screams.
Somehow… it comforted Luke.
"LUKE! LUKE! PLEASE!"
Luke sniffed, staring up into the eyes of his Wookiee friend; a friend he knew would always be there for him now matter what.
"She's dead, Chewie," Luke finally let the reality escape his lips. "Felicity is dead."
"LUKE!"
"This is my fault," Luke said.
Chewbacca gave a long series of roars. They were comforting words; a speech about the heartache of placing blame, the regrets of what ifs, and the danger of letting grief consume him. It was a touching and beautiful speech that calmed Luke, even if the whole time he could hear Felicity's screaming and banging.
"Thank you, Chewie," Luke whispered.
Chewie smiled and roared a word that was long in Shyriiwook, but short in Basis.
Anytime.
"LUKE!" Felicity screamed again.
Luke swallowed hard, "Chewie… You have to promise me something."
War Rah?
He locked eyes with the Wookiee, "What Ben did to her… To her body… It's sickening and pity… and the hardest thing I've ever had to watch in my life. And I don't want Han and Leia to ever see what their son did to her. Please, Chewie, promise me you will never tell them what he did."
Chewie hesitated, but promised his friend.
"Alright," Luke swallowed back his tears, "let's get out of here… Oh god, what am I going to tell Han? What am I going to say to Leia?"
Chewie patted Luke on the shoulder and promised they would do it together.
And as they got further from the hall, Felicity's screams and the pounding faded away.
"Felicity Rhiaon is dead," Kylo's words echoed in Luke's head as the Falcon flew away from Tonides.
Luke stumbled towards the sanctuary of the bunk room. He hadn't spoken a word since revealing to Han what happened to Felicity. Han knew Luke well enough to leave him alone to grieve. Perhaps Han also needed time to process what Ben had done… and formulate a way to tell Leia.
Luke closed the door to the bunk room behind him. He stared at the room, his eyes focused on the bunk of the right wall – the bunk that had been unofficially claimed as Felicity's. Luke's unofficial bunk was the one across. He recalled the nights when Felicity would tease him by throwing a pillow across the room and tell him to go to sleep.
"Felicity Rhiaon is dead."
Screaming out an anguished cry, Luke fell to his knees and sobbed helplessly.
This was supposed to be his happy ending. His happily ever after where he would spend the rest of his days with Felicity Rhiaon, the woman he loved most in the entire galaxy.
And instead he was lost at the end of a tragedy.
Because he knew Felicity Rhiaon was never coming back.
Now that we have come to the end of the flashbacks, I'm reintroducing the trivia game, and next chapter I'm going to reintroduce the "Coming up next chapter" bit. Because I've made you suffer through the horrible death of Alyla, I'm going to have the question be about her.
Chapter Riddle: As I've said before, I've assigned "face characters" of real people I base the looks of OCs on. For Alyla Kene, I've chosen a beautiful Mexican actress who has starred in such works as Triunfo del amor, Antes muerta que Lichita, and the upcoming, Papá a toda madre. Who is the actress I use for Alyla Kene?
(Seriously, look at a picture of her and you'll see why Lando went for it with her.)
Hint: Her birthday is March 9, 1983, eight days after Maz actress, Lupita Nyong'o was born.
If you can solve the answer to my question, I'll send you a sneak peak of the next chapter. You must send it via a signed review and have your private messaging turned on. Please be patient for delivery on your reward as I have yet to write out the preview. Previews may be altered in the final chapter.
