Luke breathed a sigh of relief as he finally stepped away from Dex. He wasn't overly fond of the man, his obvious affection for Arya made that pretty definite, and talking to him about one of the worst moments in both his life and Arya's just made the interaction worse.

He stepped up the ramp and found Leia who was pacing nervously, occasionally wiping at her eyes.

"Where's Eli?" Luke asked, dreading the answer when he saw the sadness on her face.

"He's in surgery right now." Leia told him and Luke nodded stiffly. "The doctor's said he'll be fine, it's an easy fix."

Luke sighed in relief, his tense body going slack. His worry for his friend, the man who was like a brother to him, and who pretty much already was his brother in law, dissipated, but only slightly.

He didn't think he'd relax until he saw Eli walking and talking, perfectly fine.

"You should get Arya, she needs to be here for this."

Luke's body went rigid and he turned to face Leia, his brows furrowed in question. The unknowing look on her face made his heart begin to beat wildly as worry set in. "I thought she was with you." He said coldly.

Leia looked up at him with wide eyes, realizing what he was saying. Arya wasn't here.

Her face creasing as she placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob. "Oh my god." She mumbled, feeling her stomach twist in worry.

Luke swallowed thickly, remembering the dark, predatory look in her eyes when she had killed the man. It sent a chill down his spine as he thought of it.

"I need to get her." He said, his voice raspy as he tried desperately to hold back his emotions.

"Luke, you can't leave. You have no idea where she is, Eli's in surgery, Dex needs us to-"

"I don't care!" Luke yelled, his eyes stinging with tears. "Leia, I can't let her go. You didn't see her down there, I can't let her slip away."

Leia nodded slowly, her face shrouded in sadness. She quickly made her way over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, the both of them letting out shaking breaths.

"Bring her back." Leia pleaded in a whisper.

Luke nodded and without another word, he jogged off the ship. His heart beat wildly in his chest, almost painfully and he placed his hand over the spot, feeling it thump beneath his touch. He swallowed thickly, feeling tears prick his eyes as he stared out into the sandy dunes before him, having absolutely zero knowledge of where the love of his life was.

Arya slowed to a stop, finding herself in the middle of a town she didn't recognize. There were people milling about around her, some giving her weary looks as she panted heavily, dried tear streaks adorning her cheeks.

She ignored their gazes and pushed through the crowd, desperate to get away from civilization. She didn't want to be around anyone, she didn't want to see the judgement on their faces, their fear towards her, she'd had enough of that in her life.

Arya walked quickly, making her way to the other side of town in just minutes. She finally let out a deep breath as nothing but sand stood in front of her. Turning her head, she spared one last glance at the town over her shoulder and sighed.

She forced thoughts of Eli and Luke out of her head. Forced the memory of the man she killed, of the Emperor's voice, out of her head before it broke her for good, and started running again into the lonely and isolated desert.

She had to keep moving.

Luke banged his fists against the stone wall angrily, a furious shout leaving his lips. He had made it back to Ben's old place, thinking it'd be better for him to concentrate there. He'd been practicing with the force since their failed trip to Dagobah, but no matter how hard he tried to listen to the energy surrounding him, he couldn't let it guide him.

His mind was plagued with thoughts of Arya and the heavy weight of the ring box in his pocket was a taunting reminder that he didn't get to put it on her finger, that she wasn't here with him.

He buried his face in his hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Come on, you can do this." He whispered to himself, forcing his temper to subside and focus on the force again.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the bond he and Arya had. He thought of her smile, her laugh, the way his heart beat faster whenever she was close to him. He tried desperately to pinpoint that incredible aura she had.

Relax

Luke's eyes snapped open when he heard the familiar voice in his head. The same voice that had given him hope after he thought his relationship with Arya was dead.

"Aurora." He whispered breathlessly.

Focus

Luke took head of her instructions and breathed deeply, closing his eyes again to concentrate. His brows furrowed as he tried again and again to find her, to find any hint of where she could be. But again, he came up empty.

"Help me, please." He pleaded to the open air.

Luke, you have to stay calm. She needs you.

"Why can't you just help me?" He asked angrily, feeling his patience wearing thin. "Why didn't you tell me about Vader?"

Luke waited to hear her voice again, but he was left in silence. After a couple of minutes, he realized he wasn't going to get an answer. He sighed and leaned back, his head hitting the wall behind him.

He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

But he wasn't giving up. Considering her own mother wasn't going to help find her, he knew it was up to him to bring her back, to save Arya from herself.

He tried again, he'd lost count of what number it was, and closed his eyes. He thought back to their time on Dagobah, when Yoda was training him and he had to make his way through the jungle to find her through their bond.

He thought back to the feeling that coursed through him, the familiar itch in the back of his mind that connected them.

This try was different, he could feel it. He was more concentrated, his mind didn't wander and he didn't let his anger or worry affect his state of relaxation.

Suddenly the feeling was there, the feeling in the back of his mind that let him know he wasn't alone, that Arya was still with him. His eyes snapped open and he gasped slightly at the intense feeling, like a tether that was pulling him forward.

He got to his feet ungracefully, his anticipation of finding her taking over his reflexes, and he grabbed his blaster and his comlink, calling Leia as he burst out of the house into the midday sun.

"Hey, how's it going?" Leia asked, her voice small and tired.

"Is Eli ok?" He immediately asked.

"Yeah, he's out of surgery, hasn't woken up yet." Leia told him with relief. She paused, trying to find her voice through the lump in her throat. "Did you find her?" She asked softly.

"I'm on my way now." He answered quickly, getting into his speeder.

"Be careful."

Luke paused in his movements and frowned at her words. "What do you mean?"

"Dex told me what you told him. About Arya, what she did."

"And? She's not evil." Luke said sharply, immediately putting his defenses up.

"I know she's not!" Leia almost yelled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What happened down there, that wasn't her. What if when you find her, she's still not herself?"

"I'll be fine. She'll be fine." He said tersely.

Leia sighed on the other end. "Luke, I'm sorry. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know." He said quietly.

"Just bring her back." Leia said, her voice breaking with sadness.

Arya had found an abandoned hut in the middle of nowhere. She laid on the uncomfortable bed that had no blankets on it, but that wasn't the reason she was unable to sleep. Everytime she closed her eyes images of the man she killed ran through her head.

She allowed herself to break down, sobbing into the mattress until her throat hurt. She cried for hours, every time she started to calm down she'd think of Eli and how he'd fallen to the floor and it made her cry harder.

The sun was setting by the time she had no tears left. Her stomach growled, she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning, before they'd gotten the call about the missing girl. She felt dehydrated and weak.

Her eyes were puffy and strained from crying and her head pounded wickedly, making her wince as she sat up from the bed.

She sat on the edge, but she couldn't force herself to move any further. She knew she should get up and find food or water before it became done in an act of desperation and survival. But she couldn't move.

Outside, Luke jumped out of his speeder, his eyes locked onto the small hut in front of him. He knew she was in there, his racing heart and almost painfully strong ache in his head made him sure of it.

He swallowed thickly, thinking over Leia's words. What if she was still in that murderous, dark daze? What if he was too late and she didn't recognize him and thought him to be the enemy?

All these questions swirled in his mind, but they weren't enough to stop him from walking towards the hut. A part of him didn't care if she was dangerous, he wanted her back, he needed to know that she was ok, it didn't matter to him if he got hurt in the process.

Arya flinched at the sound of the door creaking open. Her heart began to race in fear and the red energy of her powers swirled around her fingers as she got ready to defend herself.

"Arya?"

She almost gasped as she heard his voice call out to her. Her heart jumped in her chest and her powers seized. Luke slowly walked around the corner and every muscle of his unclenched as he saw her unharmed.

He had done it, he found her.

He smiled widely and stepped towards her, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed her scared expression and the way she curled in on herself, her knees tucked into her chest. His smile fell instantly and he felt his chest tighten painfully.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice weaker than he'd ever heard it.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be here?"

"You shouldn't."

"Why?" Luke asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Arya sighed and finally stood from the bed, breezing past him to the next room. Luke followed behind her quickly, not wanting to let her out of his sight again.

"Why do you keep trying to save me? It's useless." She told him, keeping her back turned to him.

"It's not. What happened last night, that wasn't you."

"It was." Arya snapped at him. "I was the one who killed him, I was the one who obeyed his orders."

Luke's brows furrowed and he stared at her questioningly. "Whose orders?"

"The Emperor." She whispered after a long and tense pause. "He told me to kill him and I did."

Luke swallowed thickly and took a tentative step towards her. "Arya, he's manipulating you, you know that. You're strong, one moment of weakness doesn't change that."

Arya shook her head and wiped the tears that streamed down her cheeks. "Luke, why are you doing this?" She cried.

"Because I love you and that's never gonna change." He told her, reaching out to grab her hand. He was glad when she didn't pull away from him. "Arya, what you've been through, it would make the strongest man crumble. You're allowed not to be ok every day."

Arya looked up at him and the look in her eyes struck something within him. The sadness he saw in her eyes and how she looked so lost in that moment made his heart ache.

"Luke, it's useless. Just let me go."

He shook his head firmly and pulled her close to him. "Never gonna happen. I'm not living without you, I can't do that."

"But that fight we had-"

"Is over, it was a long time ago and it doesn't matter anymore." He told her. "We both made mistakes, I never should've kept that from you. Arya, that month I spent without you was the worst time of my life and I don't think I'd survive another month."

Arya felt the dam break again and she wiped at the tears that fell down her cheeks. Luke reached out and wiped them from her freckled skin.

"They're in my head." She cried, leaning her head against his chest in pure exhaustion.

"I know. But it's not forever. We're gonna get Han back and we're gonna keep fighting. The Empire isn't going to win and they sure as hell aren't getting their hands on you again, I'm not gonna let them and I know for sure you're not gonna let them." Luke whispered against her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"You're the strongest woman I've ever met."

Arya looked up at him with watery eyes and she sniffled. "Am I really worth all this?" She asked quietly.

"You are worth everything. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you with me."

"Why?" She asked with a broken voice.

She couldn't understand why Luke was so willing to do this for her, to deal with the darkness inside her, to face her demons with her. She certainly didn't want to deal with it but she didn't have a choice. It was surreal to her that Luke wanted to face all the shit in her life.

You'd do the same for him, the voice in the back of her head told her.

It was true, she'd do anything for Luke, she'd face anything to make sure he was ok and stay by his side. It finally occurred to her that she always figured she'd loved Luke more than he loved her. That's why she found it so hard to believe his willingness to handle her at her worst.

Her insecurities that had plagued her for years had kept her from seeing things clearly. Luke loved her the way she loved him - unconditionally.

Luke studied her carefully, noticing the pensive look on her face, the same one he'd seen all those time she'd walked around base, gaining looks from from other soldiers and generals. It was look she had when she felt insecure and doubtful of herself.

"Because I love you." He assured her.

"You do?"

Luke let out a light laugh. The thought that she had any doubt was sad, but the thought of not loving her was so ridiculous, it was laughable.

"I do, more than I ever thought was possible."

Arya looked up at him, a small smile finally cracking her features, the first one he'd seen in a long time.

"I love you too." She whispered.

Luke sighed in relief and let his hands frame her face, staring down at her intensely.

"I'm never giving up on you." He said, leaning his forehead against hers. He hesitated, unsure of whether or not to take the next step and kiss her.

He wanted to more than anything, he missed having her this close, he was aching for it. But he didn't want to push her, after what she'd been through she was acting like a scared animal and he didn't want to startle her.

Arya noticed the hesitation, the conflict in his eyes and it made her love him even more. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his slowly, feeling her heart flutter wildly as he kissed her back, his grip on her tightening.

Their slow, innocent kisses became more frantic as weeks of need for the other came bubbling to the surface.

Luke moved her slowly until her back was pressed up against the wall. Arya pulled at the robes he wore, he looked like a Jedi with those on and for some strange reason, it stirred something inside her.

Luke pulled away breathlessly as she pulled at his clothes.

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking at her intently.

"I need you." She whispered against his lips, kissing him passionately.

Luke moaned against her lips and he leaned down, grabbing the back of her legs and hoisting her up into his arms. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down slowly.

Arya felt as if she was being healed by each kiss and each stroke of his hand against her skin. They were slow as they peeled off their layers of clothes. Luke looked down at her questioningly, silently asking again if it was ok.

Arya felt her heart melt at his concern for her and nodded, biting her lip.

It was just as she remembered, better than what she'd dreamed about those weeks apart, and it was exactly what she'd needed to feel like she was back to her normal self. She clung to him tightly, like she never wanted to let go as he thrusted slowly.

He took his time with her despite her moaning for him to go faster. He wanted to show her how much she meant to him.

He breathed heavily, moaning her name as he felt that indescribable pleasure only she could give him. He hissed as her nails dug into his back, making his slow rhythm falter as he felt desperate for more.

The room was filled with breathless moans and pants as they each found solace in the other's arms, something they'd been needing for weeks.

It ended too quickly for both of them. They wanted to go forever, to never let the other go, but it had been weeks and their desperation was evident by the way the clutched each other tightly and cried out for the other as they reached their peak.

Luke panted heavy breaths against her sweat slicked skin, his body trembling against hers as he tried to regain feeling in his legs to finally move off her, but it took minutes.

Arya opened her eyes that were squeezed shut and she looked over at him, a smile growing as she saw the adoration in his eyes as he looked back at her.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you." She told him quietly, pressing a soft kiss to his red, swollen lips.

He pulled away regretfully and stared at her, his face suddenly twisted with nerves.

"What's wrong?" Arya frowned.

"You're coming back with me right?" He asked her, his voice laced with worry. He couldn't imagine not doing this without her, especially after making love.

Arya hesitated for a few seconds, which made his heart jump in his chest. She suddenly smiled lightly and looked up at him, much more relaxed than he'd seen her in the past couple of weeks.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." She told him.

He sighed in relief and leaned his forehead against hers, pressing another kiss to her lips. She pulled away before things got heated again, unable to ignore the question that rang in her head like an alarm.

"Eli...is he ok?"

Luke looked at her sadly at hearing the sadness and worry in her voice and he nodded. "He's ok. Last I heard, his surgery went well."

Arya looked up at him in shock, leaning up on her elbow. "He was in surgery?" She asked, her voice loud with fear.

"It's ok, he's fine." He reassured her, sitting up beside her and placing his arm over her shoulders. "No one's blaming you for anything, ok? Last night was hard, you needed time, we all understand that and Eli will too."

Arya nodded slowly but she still looked unconvinced.

"I shouldn't have left." She whispered, berating herself for being so selfish.

Luke looked at her and sighed, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. "You'll be there when he wakes up." He assured her and got off the bed to pull his clothes back on.

Arya followed, pulling her dress over her head. She flattened her hair, trying to make it look less obvious what had transpired between the two of them. No doubt, all eyes would be on her the second she got back, she didn't want to make it even more embarrassing.

"Ready to go?" He asked slowly, suddenly worried that she'd change her mind.

She nodded and took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers as they stepped out of the small hut.

"So...does this mean we're ok?" Luke asked somewhat awkwardly.

Arya looked up at him in amusement. Did he really think she'd have sex with him if things weren't ok? "Yeah, we're ok. Should've gotten back together a long time ago." She mused.

Luke breathed out in relief and nodded.

"Couldn't agree more." He said with a laugh, tearing his hand away from hers to put his arm around her waist as they walked to his speeder.

Arya felt all her fear return full force as Luke turned his speeder off. She stared at the ship with trepidation, knowing what was waiting for her.

She knew Eli was ok, she'd feel it if he wasn't, but she didn't want to have to tell him that she'd run off, that she hadn't been there when he needed her most. And Leia, she had no doubt that she'd be upset with her for leaving.

Luke got out of the speeder and jogged over to her, taking her hand in his.

"It's gonna be ok." He told her, squeezing her hand.

She nodded slowly and together they walked up the ramp, her heart pounding in her chest. She was barely on the ship for five seconds before a small brunette came running towards her.

"I'm so glad you're ok." Leia cried, pulling her into a tight hug.

Arya felt herself sag in Leia's embrace, her relief evident as she tried not to breakdown again. "I'm sorry." She whispered and Leia shushed her.

"It's ok, it's ok." She reassured her, pulling away to look at her sadly. "We're all here for you."

Arya nodded, biting her lip to keep it from quivering at Leia's words. The princess noticed her expression about to break and she pulled her in for another hug.

Luke came up behind the two women and placed his hand on their shoulders.

"We should go check in on him." He reminded them. Arya nodded, feeling nervous to go see him.

"Doctors said he should be waking up soon." Leia smiled reassuringly at Arya, holding her hand tightly.

Together, the three of them walked into his room and Arya's breathing hitched at the sight of him on the bed, an iv stuck in his arm. She didn't like seeing him like this, it was so unlike her brother to keep still for so long, to be quiet for so long.

She missed the sound of his voice, even if he was usually annoying her.

Luke pulled out a chair for her so she could sit next to his bed. She sighed heavily and sat down, Luke's hands immediately running through her long hair comfortingly as he stood behind her. Leia sat on his other side, the spot she'd been all day, and stared down at him, as if her harsh gaze would make him wake up.

The three sat in silence, neither having anything to say. Leia and Luke didn't want to bring up Arya's absence, they knew she'd get annoyed if they kept asking her if she was ok. Arya didn't speak, there was nothing she could say. Any conversation seemed trivial and unimportant when he brother was unconscious in front of her.

It was at least an hour later when Leia sat up, her eyes alert as she stared down at Eli. Arya looked up and noticed his hands twitching and suddenly his eyes started to flutter open. She leaned forward and grabbed his hand, already failing at keeping her tears at bay.

Eli woke slowly and smiled up at his sister who looked down at him.

"Hey, little one." He said, his voice laced with sleep as he looked up at her with a tired smile.

"Hey, how do you feel?" She asked quietly.

"I feel great. Doesn't even feel like I had a shard of glass in my stomach." He said sarcastically. Arya laughed lightly and squeezed his hand in hers. He looked up at her seriously. "I'm glad you're here."

Arya felt her blood go cold at his words. She knew it was stupid to think she could hide anything from her twin, she also knew it was stupid to feel like she was keeping a deep dark secret from him.

Luke had assured her before, it didn't matter that she ran off, it mattered that she came back.

"I'm glad you're ok." She responded, causing him to smile again.

Luke kept his hands on her shoulders, reassuring her that he was there for her. It was all she needed to feel ok, that and seeing her brother ok.

After the night she had, the worst night she'd had in a long time, she was worried she'd never feel normal again, or at least it would take a long time before she did.

She turned her head and back at Luke, mouthing a thank you to him.

It was because of the three people around her that she was ok and she was never going to leave them again, not if she wanted to throw away her sanity again. The Emperor's voice in her head still scared her to no end, but she thought back to Luke's words. They were going to lose, Arya was not going to let them win.