Vader is surrounded by holocrons, datapads, and holobooks, even a few ancient paper-and-ink texts litter the floor of his chambers. It is one of those old, nearly crumbling, books that hovers in front of him now, suspended by the Force. The pages turn lazily as he quickly scans each one.
So far, his research has turned up nothing even remotely useful. There is plenty written on Force bonds in both Jedi and Sith lore, but nothing he has read speaks of a bond so powerful as the one his grandson and that girl seem to share. Their minds connected seamlessly, their power completely shared – it seems to be a completely unique occurrence, which is decidedly not helpful.
There is still much he has left to go through, of course, and he will not rest until he understands what it is he is up against. They will not catch him by surprise the next time he faces them, and he is sure that there will be a next time. So long as his grandson and the girl insist on keeping Vader's children from him there will be no way around that. If only he could convince them to work with him, though they seem far past that at this point.
Vader flicks his finger to turn the page when something of interest catches his eye – not something to do with Force bonds, no, a prophecy.
When the Force itself sickens, the past and future must split and combine.
The past and future, splitting and combining. It is too close to the current situation he finds himself so unwillingly a part of to be considered a coincidence. Could it be, then, that they did not bring themselves to this time, but the Force did? That seems as likely as any other explanation. Has the Force been 'sickened' in this time or theirs? What does the Force 'sickening' even mean? The text he is currently reading from is an old Jedi one, so surely, they are referring to corruption through the Dark Side. Are his grandson and the girl here to oppose the Sith? That is concerning, but no worse than what he has already suspected.
What does it mean by the past and future splitting and combining? Is that simply a reference to time travel? Vader's grandson and the girl are in the past, from their own perspective, and they are from the future from the perspective of the present. This prophecy will be something to keep in mind and ruminate on further, but he cannot pay much mind to it now.
While not immediately useful, the prophecy does give Vader an idea. Perhaps, Vader has been looking in the wrong places for information. He's been looking for information to do with Force bonds, but what his grandson and the girl share seems to go beyond a simple bond – perhaps it is called something else, and perhaps, if what they share is rare enough, it could be referred to in a prophecy? Both the Sith and the Jedi have loads of prophecies, most of which are meaningless, easily mis-translatable drabble, but some…
The Jedi text slams shut and flies to the top of a nearby pile. Vader brings up another text, this one Sith and incredibly old. He flits through the yellowed pages quickly, his eyes scanning, searching for something, anything.
In a time of peace, a dyad in the Force will rise. Two that are One.
A dyad in the Force. Vader does not believe he had either read or heard such a term before – but, no, he realizes, he has. The text flies away from him and a datapad floats into his waiting hands. He pulls up the text he's looking for and searches the term – one result is found. A newer Jedi text revolving around the history of the Sith. A small excerpt is highlighted.
'Only two there shall be. No more, no less. One to embody the power and one to crave it.' Often referred to as the 'Rule of Two', the most common interpretation of this passage is the master and apprentice relationship the Sith carry out traditionally. A less common interpretation is in the myth of the dyad, a powerful bond between two individuals, the Force inextricably linking them in a way unseen in more common master-apprentice bonds. 'Two in body, One in the Force' (Diavand 394). Some scholars believe the Sith tried to create such a bond but, ultimately failed. It is unclear if such a thing truly exists, there has been no concrete evidence in…
The rest of the passage is useless, but it does establish the dyad as a bond, one that is both incredibly powerful and rare. Vader pulls up the index of the text and finds that the author cites two other histories in their passage on the dyad, two histories that Vader does not have in his collection. He'll need to scan the Imperial archives, if those texts were not destroyed in the purge, he'll need to read them. If his grandson and that girl are truly a dyad in the Force, Vader wants to learn all he can on the subject.
Vader is pulling up the screen for a data transfer request when a buzzing sound rings through his chambers. At first, Vader is unsure what the sound is, reaching out with the Force, his head on a swivel to scan the room. He's been on edge since Kenobi's first visit. He sees the horrible apparition everywhere now, out of the corners of his vision, silent, watching, judging.
He rises when he realizes that the sound is simply indicating that someone is at his door, requesting his presence. With palpable irritation, Vader sets the data pad down on his desk and crosses the room, throwing the door open violently with the Force.
"What is it?" He grounds out. He has been very specific about what type of information he should be disturbed for. Either this officer is bringing him good news or their own swift demise. The way they tremble in his door frame has him thinking it is the latter. "Go on!" He commands when they do not answer immediately. Perhaps he will bring their end either way, simply for wasting his time with such foolishness.
"Lord Vader," They begin, respectfully, if a bit timidly. "There has been confirmation of Rebel sightings in the Anoat sector."
Finally, something helpful, something concrete. No perhaps-es, no maybes – just definite answers. The Anoat sector. It is close, very close. It narrows his search down considerably. They will need to act quickly, of course, if the Rebels suspect that the Empire is drawing in on them, they will flee as they had last time.
"Prepare my shuttle." Vader says. He will want to arrive before anyone else. If it turns out his children are on the base, the siege will have to go very differently than it would otherwise.
The officer bows shallowly before turning on their heel and striding off down the dimly lit halls of Vader's fortress. Vader's son is nearby, he knows this with absolute and total certainty, whether he is with the Rebels in the Anoat sector or not, only time will tell. If his children are there, Vader will find them.
Leia escapes from Force lessons when the group breaks for their mid-day meal. She is hungry, but she's not sure how much more of that fake food she can stomach. Han and Chewie are working on the exterior of the Falcon, meaning that there should be no one inside of the ship, which suits her needs perfectly. She sneaks up the entry ramp when no one is looking and heads directly for the cockpit.
She hasn't heard from the Alliance in days, has had no news since they left the base on Hoth and it is killing her. What if something big is happening? What if there's someway she can help and, instead, she's just rotting away, learning how to float rocks and twigs on this blasted swamp planet? She just needs to quickly check in with them, make sure everything is fine.
She picks up the transceiver for the ship's long-range communicator and wonders if she should comm her father directly or just try for the Alliance comm stations. She is still… frustrated with her father – frustrated but not angry. She had been furious with him the night he revealed the truth of her birth parents and that he would be sending her away. She'd laid in bed that night and steamed with how almost uncontrollably angry she was.
It was only once she remembered how very close she'd come to losing her father, to losing everything, to the Death Star that her rage cooled a bit. Where would she be if the Empire had managed to use that awful weapon on Alderaan? Adrift, surely, untethered by home or family. She'd still have the Alliance, of course, but would that be enough? She cannot fathom what losing her home, her people, her family, would do to her, despite how incredibly close she'd come to that being her reality. She doesn't like to think on it much still.
Leia decides on contacting the base directly. She's not sure how happy her father would be with her trying to make contact when she's supposed to be in hiding – but establishing a properly scrambled comm line can't hurt anything, she's sure. She leans down to input the code to contact the base. She presses a button and… nothing happens, the screen is completely blank. She looks around at the console, other lights blink happily indicating that whatever issue she is experiencing is to do with the long-range communicator alone. She sighs, frustrated.
"What're you doing, princess?"
Leia flies around at the gratingly familiar sound of Han's voice, her heart skipping a beat in pure surprise, having not heard him sneak up on her. The communicator's receiver is held in a tight fist behind her back but she quickly brings it around in front of her because she is not doing anything wrong by trying to contact the Alliance and she resents Han for making her feel like she is, even if he hasn't said as much.
He watches her with amused curiosity, wiping the oil from his hands with a soiled cloth. His eyes slowly trail from her face down to the communicator in her hand. One corner of his mouth quirks up that way that always gets her blood boiling and her cheeks flushing because she knows that he is making fun of her when he smirks like that.
"Somethin' wrong?" He asks, one eyebrow raising.
"Your ship," She huffs, shaking the broken transceiver in her hand. "It's broken."
"It's not," Han says shouldering past her. He turns one knob on the communications panel clockwise all the way around and then counterclockwise very slowly. He slaps the top of the console twice in quick succession and the screen on the front of it flickers to life. Han turns around, raising his eyebrows quickly and flashing Leia a cocky smile. "See, not broken. Just finicky."
"Well," Leia says, transceiver still in hand. She holds back her quip about him buying himself a proper ship one day because she doesn't actually care what he does one day. Once she's allowed to leave this swamp planet she's sure she'll never see him again. "I was going to place a comm." She looks at him pointedly.
Leia expects him to leave at that, though why she does she can hardly say. When has she ever known Han Solo to do the proper, polite thing when given the opportunity? Han, surely knowing that she wishes to place her comm in private, sits down in his pilot's seat, twirling it around to face her. He rests his mud-caked boots on the ship's main console and throws his hands behind his head, a relaxed smile on his lips.
"Well, don't stop on my account, Princess."
Leia grinds her teeth and purses her lips, glowering at him with all of the heat she can muster. She doesn't know how he gets under her skin so easily, why she lets him. He's just so… aggravating!
"I was actually hoping to do so in private, so if you don't mind…"
"Oh," Han barks out a laugh. "But I do mind." There's a quick flash of something like irritation in his eyes. "You see, your Highness, despite what you all seem to think, this is my ship." He juts one thumb into his chest. "So, be my guest, comm whoever you like, I ain't goin' nowhere."
"You," Leia grits through her teeth. "You – You –"
"I?" Han smirks and it has Leia seeing flames.
"You are absolutely infuriating!"
"Am I?" Han asks, leaning forward in his chair, his forearms coming to rest on his knees, his fingers folding together loosely between them. Leia's rage subsides slightly. Her skin prickles. She finds herself swallowing involuntarily at the way he looks at her. The look in his eyes, it's dark, almost dangerous, she thinks. Her stomach twists tightly as she realizes that she might like it a little bit.
"Yes," Leia says, though she struggles to keep her voice firm.
"You wanna know what I think, Princess?" He stands and looks down at her, waiting for an answer. Leia can feel her heart begin to beat a little faster inside of her chest.
"Stop calling me that." Leia says, trying to take back control of the situation. She takes a step back to place a bit more space between herself and Han. "You know my name."
"Alright." He says taking a step towards her. Leia takes another step back and her heart is positively racing. "You wanna know what I think, Leia?"
Han takes yet another step closer to her but Leia doesn't step back this time, not because she can't, but because she doesn't want to. She looks up at him and her tongue darts out to wet her dry lips. She watches how Han's eyes trace the movement.
She could leave. He's not blocking her exit and she doesn't think he'd stop her if she tried, but she doesn't try anyway.
"What?" She finally manages to ask. "What do you think?"
"I don't think you find me nearly as infuriating as you say you do." He says; his voice a low, rumbled whisper.
"You are infuriating." She protests, the last sliver of her pride speaking for her. Her face is on fire, but she's not angry anymore, not at all. Her hands are trembling. It is impossible at this distance not to notice how handsome Han is, the strong line of his jaw, his crooked nose, his hazel eyes. Leia can hear her pulse in her ears, can feel it drumming through her whole body. "You're rude and pig-headed and –"
"A scoundrel?" He asks slowly, drawing out the word, savoring it. His teeth flash behind his lips and Leia shivers despite herself. He says the word as though he likes it.
"Y-yes."
"Maybe," He says with a smirk. "But I think you like that about me, Leia." He takes another step towards her and there is almost no room between them now. Leia has to crane her neck to look up at him. He takes one of her hands in both of his own, a calloused thumb running along her knuckles. "I think you might like fighting with me. I think you might like me more than you let on."
Leia says nothing, because all she can do is breathe. Her mouth feels dry, but maybe that's because it seems to be hanging open for whatever reason. Her eyes dart down to Han's lips and she finds that she cannot tear them away.
"Well, that's what I think." He says and his voice is so low and quiet Leia almost has to lean in just to hear him. That's why she's leaning in. "What do you think… Leia?" He asks. He's smirking again but Leia doesn't think that he's making fun of her anymore.
"I – I," She stutters but her breath hitches in her throat when she notices that Han is leaning down towards her, when she notices that she is pressing up on her toes to meet him.
She kisses him and it shocks her how much she's wanted to. It shocks her even more when she realizes for how long she's wanted to. Han fills her senses. He smells like fuel and coolant and some spicy aftershave she can't name. She drops the transceiver on the ground and grasps at the front of Han's shirt, pulling him down, pulling him closer to her. One of his hands comes up to cup her face, his fingers playing at her braids, his thumb brushing her cheek.
He pulls her closer and deepens the kiss and Leia feels completely weightless, like the only thing tethering her to the planet is Han. His hands are the only thing keeping her from flying away. She wants him to warp his arms around her like he did on Hoth and fasten her to this time and place forever.
Leia is so overwhelmed by all of the Han surrounding her she doesn't hear the person calling her name from the hall.
"Leia, Threepio said that you were –" A deep voice begins, drawing closer. "Oh, you've got to be f…"
Leia breaks away from Han, throwing herself backwards into one of the Falcon's consoles, her hands grasping at the buttons and knobs behind her, searching desperately for an anchor because she still feels like she's floating a little bit. She struggles to catch her breath, to slow the traitorous beating of her heart.
She looks up at the intruder. Ben's face is as red as Leia's feels, the tips of his ears burning beneath his long, dark hair. His face is turned deliberately away from Leia and Han and his eyes are screwed shut. Ben runs one hand through his hair nervously and out of the corner of her eye she can see Han doing the same thing, though he looks nothing short of annoyed at their interruption.
Leia is actually glad for it. The tight tingling in her skin has melted away to fear and a desperation to leave this situation. Her heart is absolutely pounding in her chest. Leia hadn't lied to Han when she told him that she'd been in love before, though she had been exaggerating when she'd said it was beautiful. Her only foray into the subject had ended in betrayal and loss, and she doesn't see how anything with Han could end any better.
"Ahsoka sent me to find you," Ben says tightly. "She asked that I help you with your… I was going to… You can…" His eyes flit to hers before shooting to the floor. "I'll – I'll just meet you outside." He turns quickly and begins striding away.
"No, I'm coming!" Leia calls after him, eager for the escape. She's not sure what just happened and is not looking to explore it now. Han grabs her wrist as she moves to follow Ben, his grip firm but not too tight. She looks back at him, his eyes holding none of the mischievous light they normally do and that only frightens her further.
"Leia," He says and it almost sounds like he's pleading.
"I'm – I've got to go." She says pulling her arm from his grasp and even though her back is turned to him, she knows that he is frowning as she leaves.
Ben sits in a cross-legged position in front of his mother and uncle. He, the 'Jedi Killer' in another life, is teaching a lesson in the Force to both the future 'Last Jedi' and the one-day leader of a group whose sole purpose is opposing his stratocracy, two people he has sworn to destroy several times – the irony is not lost on him. He shifts awkwardly under the attention of their gazes. It is rather unnerving.
He's still slightly surprised that Ahsoka asked for his help, though he thinks that Rey might have had something to do with that development. The former Jedi padawan has grown rather fond of the former scavenger. She leads her through a few basic forms nearby, probably intent on keeping a close eye on Ben to ensure that he doesn't corrupt the Skywalkers with his Dark Side influence.
"So," He begins awkwardly. His experience in instructing others in the ways of the Force is rather minimal, limited to leading a few groups of younger students at Luke's temple years ago. "There are two main ways of connecting with the Force. The proper Jedi way – letting it flow through you, becoming a vessel for it – and the… rather less Jedi approved way of grabbing at it, pulling it to you."
"Why do the Jedi disapprove of that?" Leia asks, one eyebrow quirking upwards. Ben blinks a few times before responding, still feeling a little disturbed by what he had interrupted earlier. He'd prefer to forget about it entirely, if possible. Unfortunately, he fears that the image may be forever burned into his retina.
"That method is typically preferred by those who call on the Dark Side of the Force." He explains in a way he hopes is neutral. He can feel Ahsoka watching him carefully and he frowns.
"It seems a lot easier." His mother muses, clearly frustrated with her lack of progress in previous lessons.
That was one of the reasons Ahsoka had asked for his help and likely the only reason Yoda had agreed to it. Leia was the first person Ben ever learned anything about the Force from. She had been the one to help him through his earliest rages and spells, the one who talked him through the confusing things happening to him. His most basic understandings of it come from her, not Luke, so if anyone can help her learn it herself, it would be him.
"Ease is one of the major draws to the Dark Side." He admits with an awkward half-shrug.
"Can you stop teaching them how to use the Dark Side, Ben?" Ahsoka calls out from somewhere behind him. Ben whips his head around to glare at her.
"I am not teaching them how to use it. I am simply explaining the topic at hand." He grounds out, holding himself back from snapping.
"Is the Dark Side stronger?" Luke asks warily.
"I don't know." Ben answers truthfully, his shoulders shrugging.
Weeks ago – Days ago, his answer to that question would have been an easy yes, but now he's not quite as sure. Quicker? Easier? Yes, certainly. It has always been simpler for him to draw on the anger and rage always boiling just under the surface of his skin than to suppress it in an attempt to find peace or serenity, but he feels no weaker as the Darkness leeches from his body more and more by the day.
Darkness rises and the Light to meet it.
Perhaps one isn't innately stronger than the other. Maybe each side of the Force is only as strong as it's user. Perhaps it is impossible for one to surpass the other. Maybe that's balance. Ben doesn't know.
"Ben!" Ahsoka hisses.
"What?" He does snap this time, whirling around to meet her angry stare with one of his own. "I don't know and I'm not going to lie to them – even if that is what the Jedi would have me do."
Ahsoka closes her eyes and sighs, but some of the fire seems to leave her. When she looks at him again, he feels like he sees understanding under the thin veil of aggravation. She nods tersely.
"Just – can we move on from the Dark Side? That might be a topic for another day."
Ben doesn't bristle at her words as he once might have done. It doesn't feel like she's telling him what to do, it feels like, maybe, they are just having a conversation. It's hard to tell, though, he hasn't done anything like that with anyone but Rey for a very long time.
"I do have a point," He explains as calmly as he possibly can. "I will get to it, can you just let me…"
Ahsoka nods and turns her attention back to Rey who has been waiting patiently, a fond little smile spreading on her face. Ben turns back to Luke and Leia to help quell the slightly uncomfortable warmth bubbling in his chest. He sighs.
"The issue with grabbing at the Force, with pulling it to you, is that it can be actually harder to command like that, especially if you are untrained. You can easily lose control, which is sometimes what you want to happen…" Ben is interrupted by an aggressively loud cough from behind him. "Not what any of us want, obviously." He adds, rolling his eyes. "But if you allow the Force to come to you, you control the flow."
"Now, close your eyes."
Leia sighs in frustration but both she and Luke comply.
"Open yourself up." Ben says, keeping his eyes open. "Let the Force fill you." He watches his mother's brows furrow in concentration. "It can be harder to do when you are feeling a lot of very strong emotions, but it isn't something you have to try for, just let go." Leia opens one eye too look at him curiously, but then closes it and returns to her meditative stance.
"How do I – I don't know how to open up, how to feel it." Leia admits quietly after some time.
He can feel his mother's frustration, the way it mounts and simmers over into actual anger. There's so much of it there, the anger, it is actually shocking. He's always known his mother to have a temper, her and Han both were notorious for their short fuses so it's no wonder where his own temperament originates, but he's never felt it so wild and untamed. She reminds him of… himself.
"The Force is all around you, it's part of you." It's nothing to be frightened of, Ben. He can hear his mother add in a past that hasn't happened yet, one that, possibly, may never happen. "It is in everything. I'm sure you've felt it before, but it might not be something you recognize innately. I know you're frustrated but the more you focus on that the harder of a time you are going to have, I promise…"
"You need to reach out with your emotions." Luke interrupts with what he surely believes to be helpful advice.
"Well, yes, but that doesn't always work for everyone." Ben says and Luke opens his eyes in confusion. "Some people have stronger emotions than others and reaching out with those could be… less than conductive to what we are trying to accomplish."
"Leia," Ben begins, scooting slightly so that he faces his mother directly. "I want you to clear everything from you mind – everything but your breathing and my voice, alright?" He doesn't wait for her to respond simply watches her breathe in and out slowly. "Think of the Force as a river. It is always flowing around you. You are a dam, you choose how widely you open yourself up to it, you control the flow. Just breathe and try to find it." He says, his voice soft.
Leia's brows relax and her shoulders lose some of the tension they have gathered over the past few days. She breathes slowly and Ben adjusts his own breathing to match hers. He considers brushing up against her presence in an attempt to help her locate that part of herself, but he wants to see if she can do it on her own. He watches, and, for a moment, she is not his mother, just a young woman learning how to use the Force.
Time passes in near silence, the only sounds that ring through the clearing are the hissing and buzzing of Ahsoka and Rey's lightsabers and the calls and cries of the planet's wildlife. Ben opens his mouth to say something more when a wave of warmth and familiarity washes over him. Suddenly he is a boy and Leia Organa is very much his mother, her Force signature wraps around him like an embrace. He quickly throws up his mental shields while blinking tears from his eyes.
Leia's eyes stay closed but he sees her smile, knowing what she's accomplished. Ben feels that warmth bubbling in his chest again, but it doesn't unsettle him as it had earlier. He thinks that it might feel something like pride.