Of course, just when Kylo is feeling his most dissatisfied with his life, his dead uncle shows up to gloat about it. Luke Skywalker's surprisingly youthful Force ghost materializes late at night to surprise Kylo brooding in his quarters.

"You don't look so good, kid."

Yeah? No shit. "Go away." In the wake of the confrontation with Snoke, Kylo is humiliated, disappointed, and worried about Rey. Plus, he feels awful physically. Having his uncle come troll him is not what he needs just now. Kylo turns away and wanders to stare out the window at Coruscant down below. Maybe if he ignores the Jedi, he will go away.

But no such luck. Skywalker must see how stiffly he is moving because he guesses, "Lightning?"

"Yes," Kylo admits curtly. Lots and lots of lightning. Just remembering all that lightning makes him cringe.

"That hurts," his uncle commiserates. "I still remember how much that hurts."

Yeah, well, you don't know the power of the Dark Side until you feel its wrath, Kylo thinks. And since his old Jedi Master isn't going away, he decides to satisfy his curiosity. Kylo turns around and demands, "Is it true? Is Snoke Darth Plagueis?"

The Jedi ghost nods. "Yes."

"Yes," Kylo repeats this confirmation dully. Fuck. He's almost afraid to ask the next question. "And is it true that Plagueis was Vader's father in the Force?"

"Yes." Skywalker makes a face and looks away. "I didn't believe it at the time, but I have come to accept it."

"You knew!" Kylo accuses. He advances on his uncle's ghost with sudden, vehement anger. "You knew the whole time that Snoke was after our family and you knew why!"

Skywalker doesn't deny it. He just explains, "I couldn't stop him, Ben. I couldn't keep him from getting in your head as a kid. And I couldn't defeat him to end it. By the time I realized what was going on, it was far too late. Snoke had turned you before any of us even knew it. I don't think you were aware yet." The Jedi Master flushes with shame. "Snoke is the worst sort of predator. He took an innocent, confused kid and made a monster out of you."

"Here comes the lecture about staying in the Light, right?" Kylo jeers. He's very familiar with his uncle's simplistic black-or-white, good-or-evil, Jedi-or-Sith approach to the Force. "Well, too late!"

Again, Skywalker flushes. "I thought that I could protect you by teaching you to reject Darkness like I did. That then, Snoke would give up and leave you alone like he did with me. I was wrong." His uncle is grim faced at this humbling mea culpa. "I was wrong and I failed you."

"Are you here to tell me you're sorry?" Kylo rages. "Because it's too late for that too!"

Skywalker nods. "I am sorry. More sorry than you will ever know. I overestimated my ability to teach you, I underestimated your power, and I failed to see what a lure it was for Snoke. One day, you will be far more powerful in the Force than I ever was, Ben. Snoke saw that when you were still a child."

"Why didn't you tell me at least?" Kylo is outraged. He hates that his life feels like a never-ending revelation of lies.

"We kept it from you for the same reason we didn't tell you about your grandfather. Your mother and I worried that you would get curious and lose your way."

Kylo nods knowingly as his lip curls. His sarcasm is ugly as he quotes the old Jedi maxim on corruption. "Because once you start down the Dark path—"

"Yes," his uncle answers before he can finish. "Exactly."

"So instead, your solution was to raise me in a life of lies!" Kylo is indignant. All his family's good intentions had backfired spectacularly by priming him for Snoke's teachings. Kylo sees that now in hindsight. Snoke had manipulated his youthful distrust and rebellion and fed his need for acceptance and a father figure. And all of this came with the promise of future power and glory. It was a heady offer his teenaged self couldn't wait to accept. Before he knew it, he was kneeling to Snoke and pledging his soul to Darkness.

Kylo had no idea of the far-reaching consequences of that vow. He also never suspected the events that had occurred before his birth to ensure that vow would be made. In this, and in so many ways, Kylo had failed to appreciate the true legacy of the Skywalker family. Because being born a Skywalker turns out to mean much more than just living up to his Rebellion war hero parents and his legendary Jedi uncle. And it's more than being Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader's grandson. He's a Chosen One descended directly from the Force conjured by a Dark god. And, as it turns out, that heritage greatly limits your choices in life thanks to your immortal, uber-controlling great-grandfather in the Force who fries you with lightning and steals your girlfriend. Kylo sees now that he never had any choice about ruling the galaxy. This all feels so uncomfortably pre-ordained. Like his only real accomplishment in life was being born. Has he been blessed with greatness or cursed? Kylo isn't sure what to think.

Skywalker starts making his explanation, but it sounds like more excuses to Kylo's ears. "Your mother and I were both raised with the same lies. But we understood when we learned the truth about Darth Vader. Leia and I foolishly assumed you would react the same way when the time came for you to learn your heritage." His uncle shakes his head ruefully and his face is a mask of regret. "Ben, your mother and I were grown adults when we learned the truth. You were still an impressionable kid."

"I was a kid with a Sith lord in my head!" Kylo hisses.

"Like I said, I couldn't stop Snoke."

"You didn't try!"

"I taught you what I was taught. That was all I knew to do!" Skywalker snaps. "I was a half-trained Jedi doing the best I could based on what little I knew! And it worked for me!" His uncle is defensive and frustrated now. "It was a foolish mistake to generalize from my own experience. I see that now. And I blindly adhered to the Jedi doctrine I myself was taught. It was many years before I understood its limitations," he admits.

"You were scared of me! Just like you were scared of Darkness!" Kylo accuses.

"Yes," Skywalker answers truthfully. "I was scared you would become Kylo Ren . . . and you did."

Kylo's face screws up. Talking about this topic upsets him even more. He feels so betrayed. By his uncle and his mother for their lies and mistakes. By Snoke for his omissions and for his treatment of Rey. Kylo has never felt more demoralized. He's the Supreme Leader of the galaxy and a powerful Dark Side warrior, but he's a pawn through and through. And everyone he has ever trusted or cared for has let him down but Rey.

"So . . . Snoke really is a god of Darkness," Kylo concludes.

Luke Skywalker sniffs, ever the moral superior. "There are no gods of the Force. He is a megalomaniac."

"He said he was a Jedi once." Kylo looks to his uncle with raised eyebrows.

"He was. His story is written in the Jedi texts that Rey stole. There's a story about a Jedi Master who was expelled for exploring the Dark Side. That was Snoke."

"He's that old?"

"Yes. He's ancient. I know that he has been both Jedi and Sith. He's been other things too, I think. Over the years, there have been many cults and religions of the Force." Now it's Luke Skywalker's turn to look demoralized. "Evil never dies. I learned that lesson the hard way, kid. I thought I had won on the Death Star. But it turns out I didn't even confront the first string Sith."

"Evil isn't his goal," Kylo counters. "He says he created our family to find balance. That we were made to be conflicted. That he intended that we would veer between the Light and the Dark."

"Snoke just wants to control it all—both the Light and the Dark Sides. That's his version of balance."

"Can you really create a person in the Force?" Kylo wonders aloud.

"Why not? If life creates the Force, why can't the Force create life?" his uncle posits. "It's probably not that different from cloning in the end. Only cloning just uses science instead of the Force. It's no surprise that Snoke was the Sith behind the creation of the Republic clone army. Like I said, he's a megalomaniac. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals and he likes playing god."

"When did you meet him? I want to know what happened." Kylo demands to know the whole story. There must be answers here, he thinks.

"Snoke approached me after Bespin. Twice on his own and once with Vader. They came to tempt me to the Dark Side."

Kylo's eyes narrow at this reveal. "So Vader knew Plagueis was his father."

"I assume so. Vader didn't deny it in front of me, at least. But at the time, I didn't believe it. I thought they were claiming kinship to manipulate me."

Kylo gives an involuntary glance in the direction of his meditation room that holds Vader's melted mask. "Tell me more," he orders. "Did my mother know?"

"I told her years later when you were a boy. Your mother didn't believe it either." Skywalker sighs as he recalls, "The Snoke I met was an odd fellow. He mostly wanted to use Vader and myself for revenge on Sidious. Snoke was not happy that Sidious stole his Empire from him."

"What was Vader's angle?" Kylo wants to know.

"He wanted rid of Sidious too. There was no love lost between Vader and his Master. Vader wanted to rule it all on his own. He wanted to be head Sith."

Kylo lets this statement sink in. "So . . . it is true that Vader killing his Master on the Death Star was about more than just you." It had been about more than just sentiment. It had been about power too.

"Yes," his uncle admits. "I knew your grandfather had the motivation even before I came along. When Vader saw the opportunity, he took it. It had the added benefit of saving me. I was the instigator, but not the whole reason for the deed." Skywalker flushes again as he summarizes the crux of the matter. "Vader's goals were as much Dark as they were Light that day."

And that's perfectly fitting, Kylo realizes, for the original Chosen One Anakin Skywalker. Suddenly, Kylo is furious. "That's not the story you told the galaxy and me!"

"I know." Skywalker looks truly contrite to admit this. "The story I told fit the narrative of the Jedi worldview I had been taught. And it is what I personally believed for years. That Vader returned to the Light and repented of his Darkness."

"It was a lie!"

Skywalker takes offense at this charge. "I was far younger than you are now, Ben, when I walked in to confront Vader and Sidious on the Death Star. Back then, I was naïve about the failings of the Jedi. It took your struggle for me to see all the ways that the Jedi had failed. I learned a lot from your fall, Ben," the Jedi Master admits. Skywalker's frustration now bubbles up again, "Our family keeps learning the same lessons the hard way again and again. My father saw all the failings of the Jedi Order for himself but he made the wrong choices for what to do about it. Just like you did. Perhaps if I had known Vader better, I would have understood . . . maybe been better able to teach you . . ." Skywalker's voice trails off. "I never really knew my father," he laments.

"That's because you turned down the chance!" Kylo hisses. And that is Luke Skywalker's greatest failing in his nephew's eyes: Skywalker made the wrong choice when Darth Vader offered him the galaxy and the Dark Side. He lacked the courage to look beyond the limitations of the Jedi.

"I have made many mistakes, Ben. How I dealt with Vader is just one of them," his uncle agrees quietly. It is an astounding admission. But it comes too little, too late, Kylo thinks.

"You failed us all," he gripes. Kylo's voice is thick with resentment. "You could have found balance. Vader was pushed too far into Darkness from his injuries, but Snoke believed that you could have done it had you tried."

Luke Skywalker shakes his head to disagree. "I don't believe that any one person can bring balance to the Force. Snoke talks a good game, but no one can control the entire Force. He can't do it. You can't do it either. Balance isn't a personal project, Ben. You discount the effect that billions of individuals have on the Force."

"There aren't billions of Force sensitives out there—"

"You don't have to be Force sensitive to have influence on the Force," Skywalker corrects him. "You and I are an aberration. We are the few who can control the Force. But average, ordinary people count more than you think. And there are a lot more of them than there are us." Skywalker presses on this point. "Snoke is an elitist. He creates a master race of Force sensitives so he can control it all. But it turns out that the Skywalkers are not the puppet demigods he wants. Not all of us, at least." His uncle's face hardens and he shoots Kylo a withering look. "Our family has done far more harm than good. We have a lot to answer for."

"Yeah, well Snoke is getting another Skywalker soon. Rey is pregnant," Kylo reveals miserably.

"Oh, Ben," Skywalker's face is disappointed but he doesn't look surprised. "I feared this might happen."

Before his uncle can start lecturing him on being irresponsible, Kylo hastens to add, "Snoke says it's a child he created in the Force. It's not my kid, so don't blame me."

That information gets Skywalker's attention. "Do you believe him?" he asks.

"I don't know what to think," Kylo sulks. "But when he said it, it didn't feel like a lie." And Kylo has never once known his Master to outright lie, even if he tends to omit large parts of the truth and evade direct answers.

"You need to help her," the Jedi urges him.

And that's a sore point. "I tried! I'm not strong enough to help her." Kylo doesn't want to be reminded of his failure just now. He aches all over from his attempt to rescue Rey.

"So that's why the lightning," Skywalker surmises. "You lost to Snoke."

"Yes. Now go away!" Kylo grouses. He has had enough of this conversation. He doesn't want to hear his uncle's censure about Rey. Kylo feels guilty enough about the fate of his girl. Rey doesn't deserve this treatment. Her life has been hard enough already.

"There are alternatives to fighting," the Jedi suggests after a moment.

But Kylo isn't in the mood for any pacifist Light Side lectures. Especially from his very disappointing uncle. "Go away!" Kylo complains. "Just go away." He never should have brought the baby up. Kylo doesn't want to talk about the baby. He feels sick every time he thinks about the baby that may or may not be his.

Skywalker takes the hint. His uncle changes the subject. "I still want to teach you this skill. Just in case—"

"Go away!" Kylo repeats again. "I'm done learning from you. You can't help me. So, go the fuck away!"

"Ben—"

"Go the fuck away!"

This time, his uncle does.

But the Force must know how discouraged Kylo is because not long after his uncle disappears Kylo feels the bond opening with Rey. Tonight is apparently his night for visitations. And actually, he's really glad about this. He's been worried about Rey. Kylo squints into the blackness before him and turns up the lights in his quarters. But his vision into the bond still looks pitch black.

"Are you sleeping? I can't see you. Turn on the lights," he tells Rey.

She ignores his request and starts yelling at him. "No more rescue missions, Ben! I mean it! You only made things worse! Much worse."

"Yeah, well, that could have gone better," he concedes. And that's the understatement of the year. Basically, it was a disaster. But they're both alive and that counts for something. "I'm fine in case you were wondering," Kylo informs her peevishly. "Just a bit sore now after a bacta bath. Turn on the lights, will you? I can't see."

"There are no lights." Rey sounds stressed.

"Why are there no lights? Where are you?"

"In a cell in solitary. Your boss has a cell underneath his country estate. I guess you never know when you're going to have to imprison someone while on vacation, so it's good to keep one handy."

Oh, fuck. "This is because of me," Kylo speaks his thoughts aloud.

"Presumably," Rey retorts. Her tone is snippy. "Now that you have shown up threatening to rescue me, I'm under lock and key. Snoke just upped the degree of difficulty. A lot."

"Fuck," he complains. "When did this happen?"

"Five minutes after you left."

"That was two days ago. Have you been in the dark all this time?"

"Snoke was pretty mad after you left. And your mother was shouting. So, yeah, I've been here in this hole ever since." Rey sounds very stressed, but she downplays the situation. She's ever the scrappy girl from Jakku. Full of bravado and tough talk. "It's not so bad. I'm fine. I've been in worse situations."

Bullshit. He knows a lie when he hears one. "This is all my fault."

"Yep. Pretty much. Thanks for that. It's going to be really hard to get out of here. Mind tricks don't seem to work on these guards." Rey sighs and gripes, "I told you not to come."

There was no way he was staying away. And she probably owes him some thanks for trying to rescue her. But still, Kylo is defensive. "It was worth a try. You should have run when you had the chance," he complains. Instead, Rey had stood there gaping at him writhing on the ground. "Why didn't you run? I was the diversion, in case you didn't notice."

"Oh, I noticed. But I wasn't going to leave you behind," Rey snaps back. She sniffs and makes a little hiccupping sound that tells him she's being crying.

"Rey, don't cry—"

"I'm not crying!"

There's another lie, he thinks.

"They tagged me," Rey wails now. "I've got a chip under my skin like I'm a slave or a lost pet or something. Snoke is taking no chances I will disappear on him."

Yikes. This keeps getting worse. "Oh, Rey—"

"As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to dig it out. Then, I'm going to get rid of this baby," she decides.

"That might be our baby."

"You don't know that!" Rey snaps. "Besides, I'm nineteen. I don't want a baby."

Oh. For the first time, it occurs to him that Rey is just as unenthusiastic about this baby business as he is. Maybe that shouldn't come as a surprise, but it does. And it's kind of unwelcome news. "Wait-you would kill our baby? That's our family, Rey."

"I don't know. I might." He can hear the distress in her voice. "I'm not sure." There is a long moment of silence before Rey continues. "Look, I'm severing ties with your family. I've had enough Skywalkers."

"Does that include me?" That had better not include him.

"Yes. No. Well, maybe." Rey is as noncommittal about him as she is about the baby. And before he can protest that they love each other and that she is his destiny, Kylo hears Rey break down into tears. She's not trying to hide it anymore.

"Rey—" Oh, Gods, this is heartbreaking to listen to. It goes on for an endless minute or two before she regains her composure somewhat. "Rey, I'm sorry . . . "

"T-There's nothing here to m-mark the wall," she tells him between sniffs. "They g-give me water and protein bars. I don't get a knife and fork. There's n-nothing here to mark the days." She sounds very panicked about that.

A knife? She thinks they are going to give her a knife in custody? "If you had a knife, you would use it to dig that chip out."

"Yeah . . . yeah, I w-would," she agrees.

"Give me your hand. Are you holding your hand out?" He can't see in the absence of light.

"Yes."

Kylo steps forward and gropes into the blackness. Will this work again? It does. He feels her hand and grabs it tightly. He can't see Rey but he can feel her. And where is the rest of her? With his other hand Kylo reaches around and comes up empty. "What?" He is confused. "Where are you?"

"I'm down here. On the floor."

"Oh." He moves around blindly searching for her. Kylo is still stiff and sore from being fried but he wants to do this. Gingerly, he attempts to settle down beside Rey.

"Move over," she complains with a push. "You're sitting on me."

"No. You come here." Kylo gathers her form into his arms as he awkwardly falls down beside her, his back propped against what must be the cell wall. "Come here." He pulls her into his lap, laying her head against his shoulder. Rey fits herself against him as he feels her body relax. "That's better." He strokes her back as she sags into him.

"This has all gone so wrong," she laments.

"I know. I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

"It's too late for 'I'm sorry.'"

"It's also too late for 'I told you so,'" he points out. Because this is the situation they find themselves in. If there is anyone to blame, Kylo thinks, it should be Snoke. Kylo wishes he had some hopeful, encouraging words for Rey, but he does not. That's the sort of thing his mother is good at, but not him.

"It's only been two days." Rey is still fixated on the number of days and how to keep track of the days. She's very anxious about that. "Are you sure it's only two? It feels like forever."

He does the math in his head. "It's almost three days Naboo time."

"Okay." She digests this news. "I can do this. Jakku was worse than this." She's giving herself a pep talk.

Kylo joins in. "I'll be here every time the bond opens. I promise."

But no sooner does Rey rally than she falters. She sounds a little panicky again. "I want out of here! It's like being in a fucking hole. I'm stuck in a cell underground with the lights off."

This is punishment for him as well, Kylo realizes. Snoke knows him well enough to know that he will agonize over Rey stuck in this situation. He will suffer for her treatment too. Plus, Snoke is making a point. He means business with Rey as a hostage. That confrontation made clear that Snoke is not going to kill her now that she's pregnant, but there are still plenty of ways to make Rey suffer without endangering her physically. And since Snoke has been in her head, he must know that this isolation brings up crippling memories of Jakku.

"I am why you are being made to suffer," Kylo confesses unhappily.

"Don't flatter yourself," Rey snaps. "This is because Snoke knows I can escape on my own. You know I had everything under control until you showed up—"

"I know." He pulls her closer. For all her bold, strong words, he notices that Rey isn't pulling away. If anything, she's snuggling closer. His girl is tough, but she's never as tough as she pretends to be. She is needy in her own way, just like him. It's one more respect in which he and Rey are alike. For despite their disparate backgrounds, they have much in common beyond just the Force.

And that's how they have ended up the star-crossed lovers of the First Order. Two renegade Force users who tried to buck the weight of history but got caught. Ironically, their reforms remain in place even if they themselves are torn apart. The galaxy heralds Kylo Ren as the reigning Supreme Leader, but the truth is that he is still completely under his Master's thumb. And Rey, his valiant priestess of the Light who defied a Jedi Master and the Resistance to take a chance on him, is now a pawn in the crossfire. And this unborn baby? Well, it is another innocent victim in the making. Fuck. This cycle of dysfunction is everything Kylo had hoped to end. For he always hoped that bringing balance to the Force would do more than merely promote peace and stability in the galaxy at large. Kylo has always viewed it as the last, best hope for salvation for the Skywalkers themselves. Because if there is anything that can normalize his extreme clan, it will be balance. A little less anger, a little less righteousness, and more understanding. A little less dissonance, a little less melody, and more harmony. A little less Dark, a little less Light, and more grey. But balance seems far beyond his reach right now. For yet again, Kylo has learned the hard way that a Skywalker's worst enemy is his own kin.

"You are not alone," Kylo whispers into Rey's hair as he drops a kiss on what he thinks is her brow. It could be her cheek. He's not sure.

"Say it again. Please."

"You're not alone. I'll be here every time the bond opens."

"But what about the days?" Rey frets.

"Don't worry. I'll mark them here on my wall."

And when the bond closes, stiff and sore Kylo picks himself off the floor. Then, he lights his saber and cuts three long slash marks on the nearest wall. It's the least he can do, Kylo thinks. And it's one small way to be in solidarity with Rey.