The witching hour came and went, and Ben was meditating in his room. He had created a protective circle with chalk and candles and crystals, but it had been more energy and time consuming than before as he was now adjusting his magic to separate himself from Snoke. He was still kicking himself. How could he have fallen for Snoke's lies?An angry tear dribbled down his cheek, and Ben wiped it away, focusing on another cleansing breath.

After a time, he opened his eyes to the dim room. Rey's crystals and succulent and UV light had been moved back to the green room. He had to admit he felt lonely now.

He waved a hand for the little white box he had left on his desk. It opened, and with a flick of his wrist, his grandmother's medallion flew across the room into his waiting hand. He examined it, meditating on its properties, on the things he knew about his grandparents.

He knew that they were married in secret. Artoo had let him know that.

His grandmother was a senator, and he smiled knowing that his mother followed in her footsteps. He was sure she would be proud of her strong-willed daughter. But would she be proud of him? He shook his head and continued to take stock.

She worked opposite of a Senator Palpatine.

He suddenly became lightheaded. Palpatine. The name of the demon Hux was calling master. Was he a demon? Was he a ghost? Was he both? Did he possess Palpatine's body? But why would he keep the name? What had happened to Palpatine? Why was he toying with Hux? What did Hux have that Palpatine would have wanted? Hux wasn't magical, was he? What about his grandfather? Was his grandfather in a similar position as Ben was? Was he tied to a demon just as Ben was? Was it just as big of a mistake?

"Ben? Ben, shhhh, what's wrong?" Rey had appeared in front of him, hands on his cheeks. "I felt your distress."

He tugged her into his arms, focusing on his breathing. "I'm sorry to bother you."

"What's wrong though?"

"Palpatine was the name of the Senator my grandmother was a rival against and the man my grandfather was employed under."

"And the Demon that Hux served..."

Ben nodded. He pulled back to look her in the face. "I wonder if my grandfather was caught in the same sort of situation I am."

Rey's face fell. "He won't talk about it, will he?"

Ben looked down to the medallion in his hand. "Maybe he will."

He waved his hand, and the obsidian stoned floated down from the bookshelf. Rey sat cross-legged beside Ben and watched as he set the stones in a circle around the little clay medallion. He closed his eyes. "Who should I call first, Rey?"

"Your grandmother."

He nodded and set about calling out to her soul.

"She will not come." Ben Kenobi leaned against Ben's desk. "I told you, her soul is gone. I've tried."

Ben slouched. His eyes then flickered up to Kenobi. "You knew her. What was she like?"

Kenobi smiled and folded himself cross legged outside the circle. "Kind, noble. The noblest politician you'd ever meet. She believed in the system." He paused as he reminisced. "She was an excellent shot with a handgun. We had a few adventures ourselves."

"Hold on, you knew my grandmother and my grandfather and everything that happened! What did happen? How did they meet? How did Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader? What was Palpatine's plan? What is Palpatine now?"

Kenobi laughed. "All right, there, Clever boy. I'll tell you." He motioned for Ben to move out of the circle, which he did, settling in besides the ghost on the floor, and Rey lining up beside him, all against Ben's bed.

With a glance from Kenobi, the objects in Ben's circle rearranged themselves and a hazy circle of smoke began to form from the lit candles. Shadows started to move through it and form flashes of scenes and memories.

"The first time I met Anakin Skywalker," Kenobi began, "He was an impoverished child living with his single mother."

The smoke formed into a scene of a very young Ben Kenobi at a table with a small blonde child beside a weathered woman. An older man sat beside him, along with a teenaged girl and a third dark skinned man.

"I was an intern to Mr. Jinn. He was a part of Padme's support team. She was an incredibly successful politician, even at her young age. We were headed to DC, and our bus had broken down. We were trying to get the parts, and the Skywalkers took us in though they hardly had anything."

The scene changed to little Anakin hugging his mother before bounding onto a bus.

"Mr. Jinn promised to care for Anakin to give him a better life. We brought him with us to DC. Things did not turn out how we expected, and Mr. Jinn was killed in an assassination attempt. Raising Anakin fell to me."

Ben looked to Kenobi's face. He looked so sad.

"Mr. Jinn had powers, much like I do, like Anakin, like you. He could tell. That's why he offered to take care of Anakin." The scene changed again to an adult Padme speaking with an old Palpatine, an adult Anakin standing off to the side. "Nobody knew until much too late that Sheev Palpatine was also immensely powerful, seeking to take over the greatest power in the world."

The scene changed to Anakin and Padme embracing, hardly hidden by an ornate column at a bustling gala. "Anakin became Padme's body guard, soon after her husband. Anakin was a great many things, intelligent, strategic, powerful, but he was not discreet. He was constantly in and out of the political scene, watching over Padme. Palpatine had been watching his progress ever since we had brought him to DC that first time."

Another scene formed of a pregnant Padme giving a speech, with Palpatine and Anakin in the background.

"Palpatine had tried to sway Padme to his cause. It did not work. But he swayed Anakin to his theologies."

The scene in the smoke changed to Anakin kneeling before Palpatine. "The power was enticing to this young man who had never felt in control of anything in his life. He bound himself to Palpatine because of his fear for Padme who was growing sick with her pregnancy." The scene changed to a tender moment with Anakin rousing Padme from sleep to give her a kiss in early morning light.

The smoke formed a new scene of fire and frantic movement, and it took a moment before they could pick out Anakin casting magic through chaos. "He did many terrible things under Palpatine's guidance, and when I went to confront him...fire broke out. He did not make it out unscathed. That same night, Padme died giving birth to Luke and Leia. Palpatine's magic kept Anakin alive. The Organas took in Leia. I took Luke back to the Skywalker family. Anakin's mother had married, and his step-brother agreed to raise Luke. I stuck around there. You know the story from there, Ben."

Ben nodded and looked to Rey. She had her knees pulled up to her chest. "It's such a tragedy."

"All of this has been a tragedy."

"I will not let our story end in a tragedy."

Ben smiled at her. He knew she would do everything she could to keep that promise. "And how did Palpatine become what he did?"

"That is a story for your uncle to tell you." Kenobi stood, and the other two followed suit. "You should check in with Finn in the morning. He should be waking up."

Ben's eyes lit up. "Were you able to heal him?"

Kenobi chuckled. "Yes, I was. He'll be perfectly fine. And I added my own charm to make sure he rests."

"Thank you, Ben Kenobi. You've given us a great deal of hope."