Ben woke up, not slowly but with a start, all at once. He jumped up out of bed and started running. Something was wrong. The force was pulling on him. Not in the way that the dark and slippery voice called to him and banged on his shields. But still in a way he knew that something was wrong. Something that he needed to see to, quickly.

It was early morning, but the sun was already scorching. Leia was setting up the table and Han even carried some boxes. He blew by them, not paying attention to their calls. Ben didn't know where he was going, but he ran across the sand regardless. His feet were burning since he hadn't even bothered with shoes.

He heard footsteps behind him and he glanced behind to see Han.

"Ben, what on earth are you doing?"

He shouted back. "Something is wrong with her."

"Her? Her, who? You're bleeding and in your underclothes."

"I don't care. Keep up and shut up or go away," he snapped. Ben could hear Han breathing hard. But he couldn't spare a thought for that. He had to go. He could feel his mom pushing against his shields but he shoved her out, not wanting the distraction.

"At least take my shoes. You're leaving bloody footprints," Han said, bending over and taking them off.

Ben paused, considering. He would probably be faster without his feet burning. He was unused to the heat. He put them on and continued to follow the tugging. He eventually came on a destroyed X wing and the pulling lessened. He scanned the ruins frantically for the girl but didn't see her in any obvious place on the outside of the ship. So he climbed up the broken windshield and peered inside. There was sand everywhere, built up in dunes though there were tunnels and he wondered if the girl made them to get in and out. He waved his hands and the sand flew out of the ship in two streams around him, and he walked forward, looking all around for her. When he finally spotted her, her arm was wedged in a crevice, and it had her suspended in the air. Her head flopped to the side, and her eyes were closed.

Ben knew she was alive instinctively. He could see the rise and fall of her chest. He was now faced with the problem of how to get her down without hurting her further. He desperately hoped that she hadn't fallen from the top, but given she was unconscious it was likely. He used a tendril of the force to keep her in place and tried to gently manipulate the metal to let her go. It creaked and released her with a gush of blood. He let her float into his arms, and he wished that he had more of a penchant for healing. He pushed some of the force into her and imagined her flesh knitting back together. The blood only slowed a bit, and he decided to start running back. He knew that they only had basic medical supplies on the ship, but anything was better than nothing.

He lifted the shields and searched for his mom. "Le… Mom, I need you. She's hurt, and we need supplies."

"I'm coming. How bad?"

"She's unconscious and her arm is messed up bad," he struggled to keep the panic from his voice, but knew that he wasn't completely successful. He latched on to his Leia's signature, and walked as fast as he dared, not wanting to jostle her or injure her further. After what felt like hours, he met up with Leia and Han. He watched as Leia applied the bacta patches and felt her skull and neck.

"There's a medical center, but it doesn't have much to offer this kind of injury. But let's see what they've got that might help," Leia said, gently placing her hand on Ben's shoulder.

Ben was skeptical what this backworld planet might have, but anything that could help would be better than nothing. When they reached the outpost, Leia took on her Senator role, and demanded to see the med droid and Plutt waddled from his trading booth.

"You need credits for that," he rasped. His eyes lit up at the prospect of lots of money coming his way.

"You'll get her help now," Ben said, waving his hand in front of the alien.

"I'll get her help now," he said, monotoned, and led them further into the post.

Ben, was that necessary? Leia pushed into Ben's mind, but he put up shields again and threw an icy look her way. Han shrunk back, he hated anything to do with the force, and sidled up to a trader. Figures.

They were led to a nearly empty room with a cot, a few bacta patches, and rolls of bandages. Ben sat on the cot and motioned the droid to come over. He had doubts they would be anything they could do, but he couldn't refuse the closest medical help.

"Sir, please lay her down so I can do my scans," the droid droned at Ben.

He snarled and rolled his eyes, but complied. The droid scanned her body and went to fetch some bandages and more bacta. It took off the patch and cleaned the area. The blood came fast again for a moment because of the cleaning but, Ben noted that the bleeding had slowed further. Unfortunately, the skin was still gaping open. The droid lined it up as much as possible and repatched the area.

"The arm will be fine, sir, madam. But the brain is swollen and only time with help. Possibly a bacta tank but there isn't one on world. I can make her comfortable until then."

Ben felt Leia's hand on his arm gently tugging him to the corner of the room. "We can leave her and pay them to keep her supported until she wakes and fully recovers."

"No," he snarls. "No," he says again in a pleading whisper. He met Leia's eyes and then looked down again.

"Who is this girl? How did you know she was injured?" Leia gently prompted.

"The force. It… Well, it's hard to explain but we are connected. When she fell, I felt it. I knew she was hurt and I needed to help her. I tried to heal her… But you know that I was never gifted that way. I need to be near her, make sure that she is okay."

She can be yours, Ben. She is the key.

He shivered at the intrusion and felt the beginnings of a headache pounding behind his eyes. It unnerved him that he wanted what the voice wanted, but he couldn't just leave her here. Not with the connection, how he felt her pain, and the strange lightning he felt when they first touched.

Ben didn't wait for Leia to answer, he picked her up again and headed to the ship. Han raised his eyebrows as Ben passed but after credits switched hands, he simply got up and followed. Leia was right after him, and called out to Ben. The droid says… But Ben didn't let her finish, he just got her settled in his arms as he sat on his bunk with his back against the wall. It wasn't long until he felt the Falcon rumble and lift off. He played with her hair and hoped that she would be alright. He didn't feel any pain from her like he did when she first fell, and he didn't know if that was a good sign or not.

But all he could do was wait. And hope. Above, all, hope.