Fragments in itallics are used to dive into specific characters' heads throughout the narrative.
Chapter 28: "Across the Galaxies"
About ten years after Luke took in Ben Solo, the young man was highly skilled with the Force. It would still be about four years before he turned against his master and chose a new path, but the fire of resentment had been burning inside him for some time, and he already knew he didn't want to dedicate his life to be a Jedi like Luke and his parents decided. At that moment, he was in the middle of a lightsaber fight, training with two of Luke's fellow students, Xan and Libio. The three of them swung their swords almost like they were a part of their bodies, with grace that the galaxy hadn't seen in some time. The Jedi were bound to return.
Luke arrived at the cave as the sun set, and Ben noticed his presence before turning to look at him.
Skywalker.
Fight.
Ben continued to fight.
"Hey, master," Ben said, as he dodged a swing and swung back himself, scaring off his opponents, "We've been fighting for a while now".
"You cross a lot, I've noticed," Xan commented, "Making a full spin with your entire body so that the strike with your saber is more powerful. It's an interesting technique.
"In the hands of a less skilled Jedi," Libio added, "It could be dangerous, but you know your saber pretty well".
"I'm sure Ben is humbled," Luke adds, as he enters their small stadium, delineated by a near-faded line on the ground, drawn years ago with the blast of a lightsaber, "But will you allow me some time to talk to him personally?".
The two students nod in agreement and walk away. Ben lights off his saber.
What could he possibly want? We haven't talked privately in a while.
He'll probably say something ignorant and prejudicial. You already know how he is.
"What's going on?" Ben asks. Luke faces him up front, but sits down. Ben sits down as well.
"A few things," Luke says, "First of all… Leia's out of the Senate. She wanted you to know".
Wanted you to know? Well, that's certainly uncharacteristic of her.
"Was she kicked out?" Ben asks.
"They revealed a few things about her in public," Luke responds, "And she stepped down before they could expel her".
Running away to avoid consequences? Now it sounds like her. If she could control the Senate, she would've probably sent it away to be someone else's problem.
The whisper of darkness in Ben's ear had grown too strong. The loneliness and lack of genuine emotional support or attention had fed his hatred, apathy, and resentment for years now. The resented voice inside his head was louder than the emotions he once held that made him miss his mother despite sending him away.
"What did they reveal?" Ben follows up.
"Well," Luke sighs deeply, "That's the big and complicated thing to talk about… his opponents… the more moderate Senators, who wanted her out… revealed that she sent you away when you were just eight years old".
"Right," Ben said, "What else?".
"They also revealed that… her father… and my father… was in the Empire".
What an interesting turn of events…
"In the Empire?" Ben asked, playing fool.
"Darth Vader was my father, Anakin Skywalker," Luke explained, "He's your grandfather". Ben faked a deep breath and confusion.
"I think I always knew," he said, "Deep down".
"Well… that was…" Luke continued, "That was the second thing… the third thing was that… her husband had gone back to smuggling…".
What?
"My dad?" Ben asked, "While they're married he's getting into trouble?".
"They split up a few months ago, actually," Luke clarified, "But they brought it up now".
This is absolutely unbelievable. What is wrong with these people? How apathetic can they be?
You already knew they were this awful. This has just gone to show you're right to want to rebel against them.
"I can't believe this…" Ben said.
Please reach out to me. Please do something. This feels awful. I feel awful.
"Look…" Luke said, "Just… close your eyes, bury these feelings. They'll just get in your way". But Luke was more reluctant to spread Jedi teachings now than he'd ever been before. This was his duty, though, "Rejoice for life moving forward and the truth coming to light at last".
You hid the truth. You all did. You can't even take responsibility for it. You're all terrible parental figures and role models. Please stop putting yourselves up on pedestals. It's embarrassing.
"I understand," Ben said, his lips very slightly twitching, "I must now go meditate to deal with this". Ben stood up and walked away. Luke remained sitting down, contemplating what had just happened. Was Ben sincere? If he was sincere, does that mean he's removed himself that much from feelings? If he wasn't sincere, did Luke's reaction hurt more than help? Luke knew the truth. Since the moment he arrived during the duel, he felt rage inside Ben, and even as he told him about his parents just a moment ago, he felt resentment. All of a sudden, a spirit appeared behind him. Luke felt him.
"Ben," Luke said, "Hey".
Ben Kenobi's ghost stood at Luke's side, looking toward the direction that Ben Solo took.
"You know this was the Jedi way," Ben said, "It's tough, but it makes you stronger".
"I read a bit of Jedi history, yeah," Luke responded, "And you've told me countless times already. I know".
They were wrong. The Jedi way was faulty, but it would take some more time before they began to genuinely realize it. Ben Kenobi was blinded by his limited experience, and Luke was blinded by his ego.
Years later, Ben Solo was no longer raging. He got out of bed and into his wheelchair, then rolled to the restroom and was now washing his face.
Come on. Today can be a really, really good day. None of these people think I'm a bad person. I just need to be the person they already think I am. Good. Kind. Maybe slightly aggressive, but kind. I must listen. I must nod, smile, thank, greet, ask kindly, all of these things that I already used to do over a decade ago. I'm not a lost cause. I can be good; I know I can.
The door knocks.
"I'm coming!" Ben screams, as he turns the wheelchair with impossible speed and rushes to the door, then opening it. Hangred and Ymaure are outside.
"Good morning, Ben!" Hangred says.
"We brought bread," Ymaure says, lifting a big bag, "I hope you woke up hungry".
Say something kind and sincere.
"I… don't know any other way to wake up". Ymaure chuckles, and Ben rolls back, allowing the two to come in. The door leads to a modest room, with a big table surrounded by some ten chairs. Against two perpendicular walls, there are couches, and there are several windows spread across the walls. Ymaure opens the bag of bread over the table.
All right, nothing terrible so far. Ask them something. Start the conversation.
"Hey, uh…" Ben says, "I wondered the other day… these houses, how did you guys build them?".
Terrible topic.
"Interesting question, actually," Hangred says, "Well, to answer that, we really need to go back to the aftermath of the massacre".
I need to calm down. I was here during the massacre. I have to deal with this but I can't deal with it right now. I must play it normal. I can do this. I have to. I can do it.
The conversation prolongs. Ben mostly nods and adds follow-up questions that lead to tangents. In time, six more people join in. One of them is a bald, yellow-skinned humanoid with small facial features, wearing layered clothing, and carrying a bag with gloves inside, constantly changing them. He's the local medic, Alexxo. Another one is a humanoid with rocky texture as skin in green color, called Malurne. He takes care of heavy lifting for construction, mostly. Another one is a four-legged, grey-skinned non-humanoid who is roughly as tall as Ben sitting on the wheelchair. Her name is Saare. She is one of the older in town, and she was a researcher and currently handles education in the village. Another visitor is a regular human, whose name is Wardo. He takes care of laundry for the whole village. The fifth to arrive after Ymaure and Hangred is a bright-red-skinned humanoid with black hair that stretches all the way down to the middle of his back. He takes care of organizing in general and is a friend of Burnhar from before the massacre, whose name is Mirio. Lastly, Nil also arrives, so after some two hours, there are nine people inside Burnhar's house, and the conversation flows easily, as they all work together to prepare food.
"I did not know about that," Wardo says, "So when the sandstorm was approaching I literally had to run away from it. My eyes were filled with sand and dirt for days!". Everyone laughs.
"I can back that up, he wanted me to pull his eyes out and clean them!" Alexxo adds, and again everyone laughs.
"You're the slowest person in this village," Ymaure chuckles, "That story is absolutely false and I will not hear any more of it".
"The story makes me sound very interesting," Wardo responds, "So I will keep repeating it for as long as it satisfies my precious ego, Ymaure!".
They all look so happy. This is a family.
Ben is cutting some of the fruit, as he watches and listens to the ongoing conversation attentively.
"What about you, Ben?" Saare asks, "Have you ever been near some kind of natural danger?".
Now it's… now it's getting… I'm not sure what to…
Ben inhales, looks at everyone's eyes across the room, and opens his mouth, hoping for something to come out of it miraculously. And, against all odds, something does.
"When I was a kid…" he starts to say.
What happened? I have a vague memory. Water? A flood, maybe? No, the tide rose! That's right!
"H-My dad and I…" Ben says. This was a memory he hadn't touched in a long time, "Uh… we… I wanted to sleep outside our house, because the weather was great… it wa- there was sunlight, but there was also a cool and soft breeze, you know?". His father. Han Solo, "And my mom didn't want me to stay out alone… you know, she worried… but then my dad, he uh…" Ben's lips started to flinch unconsciously, and his eyes got slightly humid, "He camped out with me, and we tried to sleep, but by… a little after midnight, he woke me up and… the water from the lake beside our house was almost on our feet!".
I must've been five or six years old…
"It was crazy, he…" Ben continues, "He carried me and ran up all the way to the entrance of our house, and we walked into the house, tired from the run, and just sat down on an old couch we had, holding me in his arms, and we just slept… I don't even think my mother woke up…" everyone in the room chuckles at that last comment, "Yeah, my dad, he was uh… he was an adventurer above all else…".
"Sounds like he was a good father," Saare says. Ben's eyes are lost, looking at the table.
"He made some bad decisions," he responds, looking up at Saare again, "Then again, we all do. He tried his best…".
I should lighten up the mood again, before it gets too uncomfortable.
"So, anyway… uh," Ben says, nervously, "Anyone else wanna talk about really intimate feelings at inappropriate moments?". Everyone around the table laughs.
I may have salvaged this.
"Ben," Malurne says, in his gruff voice, "It's okay. You're allowed to feel. What are reunions like these for, if not to nourish our relationships to each other and to ourselves?".
That is… that…
Ben sighs in relief.
"Thank you…" he says, "I think I… my dad made things tough early on… and then he tried to reach out to me again and I… I didn't allow myself to forgive him. And now he's gone. I guess I never got the closure I needed".
"That's understandable," Malurne responds, "And we're never taught how to deal with death. Grief is reasonable… and moving on is not always a straight road, of course. Like most things in life, it's usually two steps forward, then one step forward, then five steps back, and then maybe two forward again… and at times it may feel exhausting and impossible, but to keep trying to take at least one step forward… that's what really matters".
"That… makes a lot of sense," Ben responds, "I appreciate your sensitivity".
"Thank you," Malurne nods, "I write poetry, if you ever care to read it. Do you have any artistic hobby like that? They help process feelings".
"Uh…" Ben responds, "I-I'm afraid not".
"Maybe we can see if you like something," Malurne says, "I got a lot of stuff stored up in my house, you could come by one day this week, see if there's something you like".
He just… invited me to his home.
I want to believe he enjoys my company but something won't allow me to.
I gotta try to buy into it, or else I might ruin it.
"Sure, Malurne," Ben responds, with an uncharacteristic half-smile, "That'd be great".
And, for the rest of the day, they discuss everyone else's relationships with their parents, then even sharing the dinner they cooked. It's a peaceful afternoon for Ben, perhaps the most peaceful he's had in over a decade.
Halfway across the galaxy, Rey, Finn, Rose, Poe, and Leia are dressed in Stormtrooper armor, and hiding in the woods surrounding the Millennium Falcon. Leia and Rose look like slightly shorter troopers, but other than that they could camouflage decently. Right behind them, ten of the Stormtroopers who have turned to the Rebellion await further instructions, and Chewie stands nearby as well, holding BB-8 in his arms. C-3PO and R2-D2 stand behind him.
Rey looks out into the field, and it looks open, but she can sense people nearby.
"We can walk out, I think, but carefully," Rey cautions her friends, "There may be someone expecting us". And so, the five of them walk out into the field and take a few steps.
"It might be safe," Poe whispers, "I think-".
All of a sudden, out of the woods behind the Falcon, across the field, some fifty Stormtroopers walk out and aim at the disguised Rebels.
"Stand down!" the high-rank trooper amongst them orders.
"N-" Rey is frozen. This feels like exactly the same situation they got into when they first arrived, but how could they possibly escape now? Surely the troopers would damage the Falcon badly.
Maybe I could take away their weapons again? They could still get them afterwards and do some damage to the Falcon…
"We don't want any trouble!" Rey exclaims.
"I know that voice!" the high-rank trooper says, "It's you again. The wannabe Jedi girl, right? We're not afraid of you! Your pacifism doesn't work, it's pointless".
Well, to his credit… he might be-
But then, seemingly out of nowhere, fifty Rebel Stormtroopers walk out of the woods beside the heroes, and behind them, some seventy Rebels walk out as well. Many of the First Order Stormtroopers immediately drop their blaster or raise their hands, in surrender. Others take a few steps back, in fear and awe. Rey sees how far they've come. The Rebellion truly has been reborn.
It's now or never.
"The ten of you, come with us!" Rey tells the troopers behind her. Then, she turns to the front again, and uses the Force to disarm her opponents. The Rebels and troopers on her side rush forward, as most of the First Order immediately surrenders. The few that don't are threatened by groups of ten aiming at them, and then disarmed without ever blasting.
They've done it. They created a following so powerful that they beat fifty troopers with minimal violence. The spark has been lit.
The heroes rush to the Millennium Falcon, climb up the ramp and close it. Poe hurries to the cabin and sits down like it's where he's sat down his entire life.
"Oh, baby, I missed you," Poe says, "And flying in general, of course".
Finn sits down beside him, as everyone else gets comfortable in the rest of the ship. The ramp closes up, and the Falcon rapidly takes off.
"What happens now?" Finn asks.
"Well, assuming that those fifty soldiers were the majority nearby, we're safe," Poe responds, "If these foot soldiers can't report us, by the time their technology detects us leaving, it'll be too late to chase or attack us. It already is, we're out of the atmosphere".
Finn sighs in relief.
"I look and feel relaxed," Finn says, "as if we weren't about to take on a task that is almost certainly guaranteed to fail".
"You don't actually believe that," Poe chuckles, "Right?".
"No, but I am scared," Finn admits, "I gotta say, sometimes I'm not sure that we can make real, meaningful change".
Poe raises his eyebrows. He's talked about sensing this himself, but, of course, there's a big thing Finn doesn't know.
"Sometimes I feel that way too," is all Poe adds to the conversation, then working the ship to go into hyperspace, "All right, we'll be in hyperdrive for a while".
"Good, I'm going back there," Finn says, "I'll see you in a moment".
Far away, about a week later, back in Neast, Ben is able to walk the whole way through the two parallel bars, just barely using his arms to support himself.
"Astonishing!" Burnhar says, standing up from his chair, "That was wonderful, you finished it!".
"It feels… good," Ben says, "Even if I will miss the comfort of moving everywhere without standing up".
I did it. It took a few days of work but… I did it.
"What I just can't, for the life in me, figure out how to cure," Burnhar adds, "Is that scar on your face," he says as he delineates the shape of the scar on his own face, across his right eye.
"I'm sure it'll heal eventually," Ben says, "Now, I think I want to keep using the wheelchair for the rest of the day. Let's go visit Malurne".
"Absolutely," Burnhar responds, as Ben sits down on the wheelchair and his old friend starts to roll him towards the gymnasium's exit.
"See you tomorrow, Duni!" Ben says to his friend.
"Try not to run today!" Duni replies, "Take care, the two of you".
The two men thus make their way through the village, both talking to everyone they cross paths with. Finally, they arrive at Malurne´s humble household, which is just one big room, with a massive, thick mattress and three couches, several boxes filled with papers and all kinds of tools for artistic hobbies, a small contractible table, and a restroom. It's tight but warm.
"Any ideas off the top of your head?" Ben asks.
"Have you ever drawn?" Malurne asks in return, pulling out brushes and a canvas.
"Actually, no, maybe as a kid," Ben responds, "But I was never good at it".
"Well, but no one can actually tell you that for sure," Malurne explains, "Take a few of these home and try it out…" he hands them to Ben, "if you don't like it, that's fine, I'll pick them up sometime".
"I used to play a lot of strings when I was younger," Burnhar reminisces, "Music helps a lot with burdens and pressure". Ben reaches over and grabs a flute.
"Were you good?" Ben asks.
"Well, I wouldn't know, I never played in public," Burnhar answers him, as he, too, leans over and grabs a stringed instrument, an oddly shaped guitar, "I did it for my feelings, mostly".
Ben cleans up the flute and then puts it in his lips.
"Start blowing as if you were just breathing regularly," Malurne advises him, "Just to start getting a sense of it and how it works".
Ben exhales into the flute, which generates an almost unperceivable sound.
"Just let it flow," Malurne says, "The way I see it, the music is always in you in one way or another. Allow yourself to feel what you feel".
Ben blows some more, and then takes it off his lips.
"What about the fingers?" he asks, "What do I do with them?".
"Well, I would firstly suggest you just familiarize yourself with what you can do," Malurne explains, "Try all kinds of combinations and feel the way they sound. In your heart, you'll always know if it's right or not".
Burnhar tries playing the odd guitar, while Ben tries the flute.
"I play the drums," Malurne says, "Maybe one day we could start a band, play locally, you know, during dinner or something".
"I think that'd be very nice," Burnhar responds, "We should do it sometime".
The Millennium Falcon jumps out of Hyperspace and in front of a relatively planet.
"Oh, my…" Poe says, as he sees a neighbor planet surrounded by three Star Destroyers. Even from his distance, the violence is almost tangible. Poe closes his eyes fiercely, tired by the world of violence around him. Finn and Rose arrive at the cabin.
"Hey, man, so how do we land here?" Finn asks.
"I guess we'll figure that out together…" Poe responds, speeding up as he approaches the atmosphere. Finally, they get a clear image of the landscape; it's a sectioned, compartmentalized city, with some sections geographically higher than others. Most of what's in sight is either a building, a factory, or a space port.
"Where do people sleep?" Rose asks, with a look of disgust on her face.
"I'm going to assume," Poe responds, "if they're lucky… with a roof over their head"
"I mean, tall buildings aren't bad inherently…" Finn says, trying to balance out the issue.
"Not really," Rose adds, "but I think we're gonna find that this planet isn't too concerned with providing housing for those… underprivileged".
"Let's hope we're not in that demographic, at least," Poe says, as he controls the ship to approach a port, "All right, we're here now, there's no going back, let's just hope for the best…".
The Falcon lands on a port, and a small machine comes out of the floor right next to it. Every other ship present is surrounded by thick steel walls.
"How careful are we meant to be here?" Poe asks.
"There aren't many ground troops on this planet," Finn responds, "As long as we keep our heads down, it won't be an issue. This planet is home to some relatively rich guys, and the First Order likes to keep a clean image for them not to ask questions".
Leia enters the cockpit.
"Are we ready?" she asks.
"I hope so," Finn responds, as he exits the cabin, "Come on, let's go".
Rey has already walked off the ship, and is looking at the screen on the machine next to their ship. Rose and Finn walk out of the Falcon.
"We have something to pay with, right?" Rey asks them, nervously, while clicking on the screen.
"I imagine we have enough," Leia says, as she walks down the boarding ramp, "But to cover what?".
"Protection for the ship," Rey reads off of the screen, "But we can pay for a place to stay that's underneath this port". Leia arrives at Rey's side and reads the data on the screen.
"I think we can afford it for some three months," Leia speculates, "But this is crazy. It's not an accessible price for most people".
Back inside the cabin, Poe remains sitting down, his mind flooded with thoughts. Suddenly, BB-8 arrives, making a familiar noise.
"Oh, hey buddy!" Poe says, changing his expression drastically, and then getting off his seat, to sit on the ground beside his friend, "I know we haven't interacted much lately… It's been tough times for me, I… I'm scared, you know".
The droid beeps, as it rotates its headpiece slightly, indicating a question.
"Well, I…" Poe responds, "I'm not what people think I am. And if they knew what I am… they would treat me… say, differently".
BB makes a noise that evokes sadness, and its headpiece moves downwards.
"Hey, uh…" Poe thinks of something to ask his droid, "Do you feel comfortable with our relationship?".
BB-8 simply makes a slight movement with its headpiece, indicating confusion.
"You know, I…" Poe struggles to explain himself, "Droids aren't treated like us people… I just took you in like you were property… I say you're 'my droid', you know… but no one… you deserve to be treated fairly. We've been raised to treat you like property… and then I complain about how it's unfair that people would treat me unfairly for being different, but with the way I treat you and the way I treat threepio, I'm contributing to other people's oppression".
BB-8 makes a sound that sounds interrogative.
"I know we're taught to call you droids, and maybe it's okay to call you droids, I don't know" Poe says, "But the fact is that you're not allowed to have proper lives. Maybe if you did, we would realize that you are just as human as we are".
BB-8 beeps again.
"So, you'll stay with us?" Poe asks, to see if he understood the droid correctly, and the droid again beeps, while nodding with its headpiece, "All right, but do let me know if you ever want that to change… also, no more calling you 'my droid', okay? We're friends, you're one of us".
BB rolls forward and leans beside his friend, on his shoulder, and then beeps.
"Yeah," Poe says, in a tone that sounds like a scolded child, "I know I gotta talk to Threepio. I will".
"Hey, Poe," Finn says, as he peeks to the cabin, "We found a place to stay, come on!".
"Sure!" he responds to Finn, and then looks at BB-8, "And don't worry much, I'll talk to them as well…".
Back in Neast, a few days later, Ben sleeps, and his mind creates a disturbing image. Ben sees a town on a forest planet, and a massive ship arrives out of hyperspace, followed by a dozen Star Destroyers. The Knight of Ren jump out of the main ship and begin slaughtering everyone on their way. Duni is murdered. Hangred's head is sliced off and his body burned. At first there were only eight Knights, but now there seem to be over twenty. Then, leading them, is a tall, hooded warrior with grey skin. Ben runs out of his tower and sees Burnhar in Jedi clothing begging the invaders to let them live in peace this time. The bodies keep piling up. The warrior of darkness swings his arm and Burnhar is cut in half. Ben screams in pain and Force-pulls his lightsaber from inside the tower, and then, suddenly, he wakes up in his bed, and his thought-to-be-lost lightsaber flies to his hand and ignites, as he falls off the bed. He reacts immediately to it by turning it off, but then has a moment of contemplating it.
There it is. A part of Kylo Ren has returned to him.
What? Why? No. I'm tired of this. I don't want it anymore. Think, come on, I have to think. How can I get rid of all of this?
Ben throws the saber under his bed and rushes to leave his room. At this point, he can almost run normally without limping too much, especially with the fear and desperation running through his veins at the moment.
Surely there must be a way to close myself off from the Force. There must be. And surely I can achieve it.
Ben exits the house and runs toward a cliff in the village's surroundings, one he'd just barely seen from the distance when he was first brought there by Burnhar. There's a bridge linking the cliff to a different region of the planet, which he hadn't seen, and on the surface of the cliff, there is a big rock. Ben jumps onto the rock and sits down to reach out, in an effort to see what's going on. The starry sky enlightens his face. He closes his eyes and focuses like never before, reaching out as far as possible. His mind, his soul travels across the galaxies, senses every single living thing on its way, every drop of water, every voice…
And then… suddenly, his mother's soul.
"Ben?" it whispers. General Leia Organa wakes up in Cloon, on the other side of the galaxy.
"Leia…", Ben says as he suddenly opens his eyes and loses his balance, falling all the way to the ground. He's shaking.
"N- No more of this…", he says as he sits down again, frustrated.
"Trying to disconnect yourself from the Force?" he hears from a familiar yet mysterious voice. Ben turns around and sees what can be described as a spirit, a feeling, a soul manifested… a Force ghost, walking toward him through the bridge.
"Who are you?", he asks.
"Don't recognize your own grandfather, Ben?", Anakin asks in return.
"Vader…".
"Well, not exactly. How long has it been since you talked to Vader?".
"Since I killed Snoke," Ben says as he gets off the rock and starts walking on the bridge to approach his grandfather.
"Look inside yourself, Ben, you already know what that means," Anakin says and smiles.
"It was Vader's voice," Ben acknowledges, "but Snoke's words…"
"You needed to talk to someone… and Snoke took the chance"
Ben looks to be in denial, making very small but noticeable shaking with his head, and blinking much more frequently than usual.
"You're a Jedi… I called to you… I needed your help… anyone's help… you didn't respond… but Vade- Snoke did… as Vader".
"And he took advantage of your vulnerability".
"I am not vulnerable!" Ben says, clenching his fists, angry.
"Well, for some time, you didn't allow yourself to be vulnerable, that's true, but I think deep down, you know there's nothing wrong with being vulnerable. And you've allowed yourself to be vulnerable here with these people, but I get why you'd want to act like that with me right now," Anakin says. It's clear that he's been watching over Ben, "Luke may have taught you otherwise in his attempt to honor his masters' teachings, even if they weren't what he believed in. I, too, was taught that feeling was a sign of weakness, and that I should suppress it, and I, too, was then manipulated by an evil but powerful man to turn into a monster".
"What's your point?" Ben asks.
"You were okay to want help," Anakin assures, "You were okay to feel lonely".
"Luke said feelings made us turn to the dark side," Ben says, growing desperate.
"And so did my teachers, Ben! They were wrong, but it doesn't have to be like that anymore. The ways of the Jedi cleared the way for us to be turned into monsters, but things can change!"
Ben's face may seem motionless, but his cheeks, eyelids, and lips tremble like he's about to break into tears.
"... why didn't you answer me? You keep saying Luke was wrong and I needed you… so wh- why weren't you there?" Ben asks.
"Well, after a certain point, it was Snoke's power that shielded you from hearing us, but before all of that, it was us being… careless… irresponsible," Anakin says, "We heard you, but made the mistake of thinking that you were okay without us, that we didn't need to come down here with you. We were wrong. If we had simply been with you, any of us… we could've saved you and the galaxy a mountain of pain…"
Ben begins walking back to the cliff. Anakin follows him patiently.
"I'm not leading the First Order anymore. I'm not hurting anyone anymore… Why not simply shut myself off from the Force and stay here?" Ben asks.
"Because there is an intergalactic war going on," Anakin says, "and you played your part in it. We made a mistake by refusing to act when you needed us, so here I am, to fix that mistake… You made a mistake… well, a number of mistakes, actually. People have suffered. You know that now. But it's not too late and, I think, you know that to be true, as well. Search your feelings".
Ben stops walking, but remains silent, feeling impotent.
"By the time I realized how much damage I had done as Vader, and that I had to do something about it, it was too late, and all I could do was kill Darth Sidious and save my son, leaving the galaxy to heal itself from the damage I'd helped in doing it, but you still have time…".
"And if I don't want to… what would you do?", Ben said, not sure if he even meant it.
"Well, there's not much more I can do," Anakin admits, "Our duty is to listen and talk to the ones that come after us, like you… like Rey".
"You've become one with the Force, right?" Ben asks, "That's what they call it".
"That is how I'd describe it"
"Luke used to say that once you became one with the Force you'd be much more powerful than… than any of us could conceive… and yet…", Ben says, hesitantly, "… you can't do anything".
"We can teach you to be better than us. To be wiser than us. To learn from both what we did right and what we did wrong… It may not sound like much right now that there's a war… but believe me… nothing is more powerful than that. You can grow beyond us".
Ben sits down on the ground, with the weight of this newfound burden, "I c- I can't do this…", he says.
Anakin sits down beside his grandson, "Yes, we can". Ben looks at him, with a dim glimmer of hope in his eyes, "We failed you in the past, but I promise you now… we will always be with you".
"Ben!", Nil's voice yells. Ben reacts and Anakin suddenly isn't there anymore. There is a balance of anguish and relief in Ben's eyes.
"Nil".
"I heard you talking," she finally arrives, "everything okay?".
"I'm fine, yes".
He can't tell me what to do with my life. Or can he?
I'm in peace. After years and years of suffering.
"That bridge over there, actually," Nil says as the two walk back to the village, "We had to make it after the massacre, that hole wasn't even there".
The massacre.
Suffering.
The First Order.
Leia wakes up in the small room they rented. It was very small and modest. Like the rest of the planet, it was sectioned; there was a lower section with some ten beds of varying height, width, and comfort, and a higher section with a small table and a dirty and humble kitchen. The only door in and out was right next to the kitchen, and the only window was on the side of the beds, looking out at the busy city outside. In fact, Leia had decided to sleep right next to it, and now that she was awake, she lay on her head and looked at the landscape and the reflection of her face in the glass.
She felt him. She knew it had to have been him. Her son was alive.
Wasn't he? Or had it been just a dream?
He'd been dead for over a month.
He was dead.
Right?