It felt like a lightning bolt had struck him. Every branch of every nerve throbbed sharply in the aftershock. It pinned him to his seat, frozen and breathless.

When he could finally move again, he sucked in a pained breath and loosened his white-knuckled grasp on the gun handles. Another divergence. He wasn't supposed to go to Ahch-To. Once again, the timeline was shifting in a major way, and he had no idea if it would be for the better or for the worse.

Ben climbed down out of the gun turret and strode straight for his uncle, spine still tingling.

"Ahch-To?" he spat, coming to a halt before the elder man. "Have you lost your mind?" He loomed over him, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the rest of the Resistance. "We're supposed to be meeting up on Crait. Why would you take us somewhere else?"

Luke looked up at his nephew calmly, but Ben could read the warning in his steely blue gaze. "I have my reasons," the Jedi said quietly.

Ben heard Rey hop out of the turret behind him, and pulled his uncle aside out of earshot. "We aren't supposed to go to Ahch-To," he argued softly.

Luke held up a finger. "Yet," he corrected. "But the timeline is off. The rules have changed. You said as much yourself. If the timeline has already diverged this far, then why not try something different?"

Ben's nostrils flared as his impatience grew. "Why didn't you say something before?"

"Security reasons. Leia knows; that's all that mattered at the time."

Han stepped out of the cockpit, and Luke and Ben glanced up as he approached them.

"Care to explain?" the grizzled pilot growled at his friend.

Luke sighed, his air clearly indicating he was getting tired of justifying himself. "We know that Snoke wants to wipe out the last of the Jedi," he told them. "He's after me, and now Ben, and once he discovers Rey's abilities, he will be after her, too. We need to lie low for a while, and Rey needs to train so she can protect herself. And according to Ben's vision, the First Order doesn't know about Ahch-To."

Ben frowned in confusion. Did Luke believe him after all?

"What about my wife?" Han demanded. He gestured with his hand, indicating in the other direction. "We just left her and the Resistance to fend for themselves."

"Right now, we're doing exactly what we need to be doing," Luke explained placatingly. "The Resistance is in no shape to fight the First Order, but the base on Crait isn't charted. Snoke will have no idea where they're going. They'll be safe there. Leia will lay low, contact her allies, and build her numbers. And while she does that, we need to train Rey."

Ben sighed; apparently Luke only semi-believed him. The base on Crait wouldn't be safe forever. But as long as the First Order hadn't yet figured out how to track through hyperspace, and therefore hadn't followed the Resistance to Crait, Luke was probably right. They were safe—for now.

Han let out an irritable sigh. He eyed Luke, and held up a warning finger. "This conversation isn't over," he said.

Chewie rumbled from the cockpit, and Han translated. "We'll be at Ahch-To in several hours," he announced disdainfully to the people gathered in the cabin, and retreated back to the cockpit.

Luke rolled his eyes and went in the other direction. A minute later, Ben heard one of the bunk doors hiss closed.

Shaking his head in frustration, Ben joined the other young Resistance members at the dejarik table. This was not how things were supposed to go. What was it going to mean, going forward? What was going to change next? And why, why did it always devolve into an argument? They couldn't continue to squabble like this and hope to have any chance of winning the war. This kind of miscommunication and discord was what lost wars. With a sigh, he leaned forward and rested his aching forehead in his palm, hoping the remnants of the last divergence would fade soon.

"You know," Finn broke the silence, "every time there's some sort of disagreement, your vision gets brought up. Would now be a better time to talk about what you saw?"

Ben looked up and saw both Finn and Rey watching him expectantly. Resigning himself to this conversation, he rubbed his hand over his face and sat up straighter.

"I don't know if it's worth much anymore," he told them. "So much has changed. The timeline is different now."

"Even if the chronology has changed, the key events are evidently still occurring," Rey countered. Her tone softened. "It would help if we had some idea of what to expect."

It went against his better judgment to talk about it, but she made a fair point. He sighed again. "You're right."

How much to tell them? He debated a moment, then continued, "In all honesty, you already know most of the big things. The First Order has revealed Starkiller Base by destroying the Hosnian system. They are working to snuff out the Resistance so they can claim unchallenged power and authority over the galaxy. Now they've found the base on D'Qar."

He grimaced, and peered over his shoulder at the cockpit, hoping Han wouldn't overhear the next part. "Eventually, they'll find the one on Crait too," he confided. "Everyone got out the first time, but it was a close call. I hope our detour to Ahch-To will throw off the First Order for a while, and buy the Resistance some time."

"How will that throw them off?"

"I'm not sure that it will, but in the vision, the Resistance blew up Starkiller Base before the First Order found the base on D'Qar. In the meantime, Rey went to Ahch-To to train with Luke." Ben looked at her. "You returned to help the Resistance escape from Crait, and as I said, everyone made it out."

He sat back in the booth. "For now, the timeline is still relatively on schedule, even if the events are a bit jumbled and the people are different. It's all a bit confusing, but hopefully it's still on schedule enough to mean that with us going to Ahch-To, the First Order won't discover Crait for a while longer."

"What do you mean, 'the people are different'?" Rey asked.

"Well, the first time you went to Ahch-To, Finn, Han, and I didn't accompany you. It was just you, Chewie, and Luke. I don't know how badly our presence may throw things off."

"So, what happens next on this timeline?" Finn asked.

Ben took a deep breath. "After the First Order suffered heavy losses on Starkiller Base, and then again in the Resistance's escape from D'Qar and then Crait, a message was broadcasted across the galaxy, threatening revenge."

"Palpatine," Finn said.

Ben nodded.

"But according to legend, Palpatine died in the Battle of the Second Death Star," Rey said, sounding confused. "How did he live?"

"We wondered the same thing," Ben said. "It still isn't clear. As far as we understand, he was able to use the genetic splicing technology from the Clone Wars to clone himself. We're not sure how he did it. Perhaps he was a clone all along."

He leaned forward and continued the tale. "We intercepted the message and figured out where he was—where he is. He's taken to hiding on Exegol, a planet in the Unknown Regions, where he is amassing a fleet of ships unlike anything that has been seen before. He calls it the Sith Eternal fleet, and he aims to take over the galaxy with it." He jabbed a finger at the tabletop to indicate his point. "Each ship is equipped with the same planet-destroying technology as Starkiller Base."

Finn and Rey exchanged looks of horror.

"That's what we're up against," Ben concluded. "And we don't have the firepower to win, which is why I want to use Starkiller Base to destroy Exegol before Palpatine deploys his fleet. If he deploys first… we don't stand a chance."

"But you said we did it before," Finn recalled. "How? Why not do like Poe suggested, and blow Starkiller Base now while we prepare to destroy Exegol like that?"

"No!" Ben snapped forcefully, and Finn jumped, taken aback by his vehemence.

Rey laid a hand on Finn's forearm. "We lost people," she explained softly. "Important people."

"The whole thing was a fluke, anyway," Ben groused. "Everything was done by the seat of our pants. We got lucky. I don't want to risk lives in order to try something that should've never worked in the first place."

"But aren't we risking lives by not blowing Starkiller Base?" Finn asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, if this all happened before, then we know it'll work. Why risk our victory?"

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,"* Rey supplied. "If the greater galaxy would benefit from it, then logically, it makes sense." Finn nodded.

A glimpse of Rey's limp frame draped in his arms flashed through Ben's mind, and he surged up from his seat. He couldn't think about it; it was too awful.

"I said no," he snarled fiercely at the pair of them, voice tight. "Do not mention it again. It will not happen like last time, not while I'm here to prevent it."

He left them sitting at the table and went in search of his own berth, badly needing to meditate and regain his peace of mind.

…

Rey's perspective

Rey watched Ben disappear around the corner with a sense of disappointment.

She realized now that it had sounded like she'd been supporting Finn and Poe's proposal to act as they had before, and by extension that she was in support of sacrificing people for the cause—including Ben's parents. She felt terrible. She genuinely liked Han and Leia, but even more than that, she wanted Ben to have the opportunity to reconcile with them and be a family again. She wasn't sure of the details, but she could see that the obvious rift between them pained him. For all the aloofness Ben presented to the world, he wanted a relationship with his parents, and their separation hurt him. She'd heard it in his voice when he'd told her he'd lost them in his vision. She knew he'd do anything to save them this time, and she couldn't blame him one bit.

Since joining the Resistance, Rey had come to sincerely care for the tall, surly Jedi Knight. She'd been quite impressed by him the first time she'd seen him, recalling the way he'd strode into the meeting chamber behind Master Luke. He'd been the shadow to his master's light, dressed in shades of grey and brown that contrasted with Luke's buff and tan robes. Ben had been stoic and striking in his silence. He'd revealed his intelligence when he spoke, his voice rumbling far deeper than Rey had anticipated. And there was something tragic in the way he shared his reports, tried to warn everyone about what he knew, only to be challenged by people like Poe, and disbelieved by many others. She saw how much it bothered him.

Poe was a good man, a fantastic pilot, and a loyal soldier. She had a lot of respect for him. But he was also hot-headed, stubborn, and tried too hard to win her affections. She might not be experienced in the ways of courtship, but she could spot Poe's intentions from a parsec away.

She wasn't interested in Poe.

She looked in the direction Ben had disappeared and sighed. She had a gut feeling there was far more to the vision than he was telling them, but for some reason, he'd decided he had to shoulder the weight of those details by himself. She wished he would let her in. He didn't have to do this alone anymore. She'd be there for him, if he would let her.

Finn had fallen silent since Ben's departure. Rey looked over at him, and saw that he'd leaned back and rested his head against the wall. His eyes were drooping shut.

Finn, along with the rest of the base, had been awoken early that morning when the alarms had gone off, and everything since then had been a whirlwind of activity. It was no surprise that now that things were calming down, everyone's exhaustion was catching up to them.

Rey crossed to the small kitchenette to brew a pot of caf. In short order, she had the water percolating over the grounds, and soon, the cabin was filled with the pleasant roasted aroma. She poured a mug for herself and Finn, and set his on the dejarik table in front of him. He smiled his thanks.

The smell was enough to bring Han out of the cockpit. He made himself a cup and took a seat at the table. Without anything else to do at the moment, Finn commented on the game of dejarik, and on a whim, Han switched on the table and began to teach Finn how to play.

A while later, Luke ventured into the cabin. He seemed much calmer now as he came to stand by Rey, who was leaning against the wall of the cabin, cupping her dented mug between her hands as she watched the two men play their game. They stood in silence for a moment, looking on as Han trounced Finn, before Luke spoke.

"So, how is your training coming along?" he asked in a polite tone that said he was grasping for something to say.

"It's going well, I believe," Rey answered carefully. "Ben seems pleased with my progress."

She peered over at Luke. She hadn't really spoken to the old Jedi Master one-on-one before. On the rare occasions that she'd seen him, Ben had always been there to act as an intermediary. She wasn't sure what to think of the gruff man. But she sensed this might be an opportunity to get some answers from him, so she decided to seize it.

"Why did Ben never become a Jedi Master?" she asked quietly, angling her body toward Luke to give them more privacy. "He told me only Masters can take padawans, not Knights. Why didn't he get his Mastery?"

Luke shrugged. "A war got in the way, I suppose. He challenged the Trials for Knighthood, but never got the chance to go on to Mastery."

"Does that make you my Master?"

He frowned. "Technically yes, I suppose, although we never made it official."

"Can we make it official?"

He looked over at her. "Rey," he said patiently, in his low, grating voice, "I know you desire to find belonging, and officially being an apprentice must sound like a way to do that to you. But things are very uncertain right now, which makes me hesitant to officially take you on. Besides, war or no war, you are too old to be a padawan." He regarded her gravely. "Learn from us what you can. Use your knowledge to do good in this world. Let that be your purpose in mastering the ways of the Force."

Luke's words pricked something within her, and Rey frowned, suddenly feeling a little less buoyant. She took a sip of caf to hide her disappointment.

"Master Luke," she spoke again, changing the subject, "this vision that Ben had… sometimes he seems quite troubled by it. Is there any reason to worry? He won't tell us much, other than what we already know."

Luke scrutinized her, and she wondered for a moment if he suspected her questions arose out of a regard for his nephew. But then he shrugged and settled back against the wall. The action was entirely too casual, and Rey immediately knew the Jedi Master knew more about the situation than he was about to divulge.

"Ben has always been a bit troubled," Luke said in a low voice. "Even as a kid, he was… different. Mostly kept to himself. Had an awful temper. Lashed out on occasion. None of us were sure what to do with him. His parents struggled with it. They finally sent him to me, in the hopes that training to become a Jedi would help him control his burgeoning abilities, as well as his difficulties."

A grim look came over the Jedi Master's face. "There was a time, earlier in his training, when I feared Ben would turn to the Dark Side. He was always so full of anger. I sensed it in him—a darkness around the edges—and I wondered if it would ever take a stronger hold. It didn't, thankfully, but even now, there is always a… shadow about him."

Rey could see the concern in the older man's visage. It was evident that the uncle worried for his nephew. But it was also evident that he was equally worried about the threat Ben could've become. He worried about the Resistance, and about himself; about what Ben could do to them.

It bothered her. She thought Luke would've known Ben better than that. She'd seen the things Luke had mentioned in him—the introversion, the tendency toward distemper—but behind those things, she saw the passionate heart that drove him. Ben was careful and methodical, introspective and brainy. When he'd thought something through or felt strongly enough about it, he expected others to hear his reasoning and see why he was right, and he grew impatient when they didn't agree—or when they outright challenged him, like Poe.

But even more than that, Rey heard in Luke's tale the same story Ben had hinted at, in which his two very important, very busy parents had neglected to spend the time with him that their young son needed. Left to his own devices to figure himself out, he had struggled. His fear and frustration, perhaps even regarding this "darkness" Luke had mentioned, had led to outbursts, so his parents had sent him away to his uncle. To a young child, that might've felt like abandonment, or betrayal.

Did Luke not see it? Did he not care to look deep enough?

A child needs their parents.

I agree.

She felt like pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place. No wonder there was such distance between the son and the parents. And no wonder Ben still wanted a relationship with them, despite how angry he was. Apparently he'd never had much of a relationship with them as a child, so even now, as an adult, part of him craved the fulfillment of that unmet need.

And he had witnessed something awful in that vision, but he shouldered it all by himself. He defended himself at every meeting, countered every challenge, endured every distrustful look, withstood every finger pointing blame all by himself. Neither Luke nor Ben's parents—at least not Han—ever backed him up.

She bit her lip. The more she pondered it, the more it bothered her.

"I can see your thoughts passing over your face," Luke said quietly. "He isn't the tragic hero you're making him out to be, Rey. I'm telling you this as a warning. Ben isn't a bad person, but you'd do well to guard your heart. There only lies trouble."

"He's done more good than you give him credit for," she replied evenly.

Her statement silenced the Jedi for a moment. "I suppose there are two sides to every story," he allowed.

"And what is Ben's side?" Rey asked softly. "Have you ever cared to listen? Truly listen?"

She let the questions hang in the air, unanswered. When it became evident that no reply was forthcoming, she picked up a fresh mug and poured it full of caf, then left Luke standing by himself in favor of finding the man in question, suddenly wanting nothing more than to be with him, as if her presence alone could somehow defend him. She'd woken him before dawn that morning; he was no doubt exhausted. Bringing him some caf was the least she could do.

She padded down the narrow corridor, searching for where he'd gone. Most of the doors were open, leading to unoccupied berths, but one was closed. He must've retired there.

She rapped gently on the door, but there was no answer.

She waited a moment, then tried again. Still nothing.

A little concerned, she put her hand against the door and coaxed it open with a little push of the Force. It slid away, and she peered inside.

Her eyes fell on the cot, where Ben was lying with his broad back to the door. He was curled up on his side, fast asleep.

Every so often, his shoulder would rise with a slow, steady breath. She could even hear the slightest indication of a snore. His dark fall of hair was spread across the flat, lumpy pillow, and his long legs were pulled up so his feet wouldn't dangle off the end of the cot. His boots had been discarded at the foot of the cot, one toppled over the other. He hadn't even taken the time to cover up.

Rey wavered in the doorway.

It was strange to see him in such a vulnerable state. When he was awake, he was always so physically commanding, so much larger than life. But in sleep, he seemed… smaller.

Her eyes fell on his bare, uncovered feet.

Cautiously, so as not to wake him, she stepped inside and set the caf down, then reached for the corner of the blanket at the foot of the bed. She tugged it up and gently draped it over him.

He was probably the last person who needed anyone's protection, let alone hers. He was strong and independent, and one of the fiercest fighters she'd ever met. But even so, she felt protective over him. He was a good man, even if no one else saw it.

She wanted them to see it.

At the thought, a tingling sensation washed over her, something akin to effervescence, or what radio static might feel like. It rippled lightly in the center of her chest. It almost felt like a presence, but she wasn't alarmed. She'd felt it before.

She'd been in the forest on D'Qar, meditating with Ben, when she'd felt it the first time. She'd reached out toward it, but hadn't been able to locate the source. She'd figured at the time it was just a Force thing, but it couldn't be—could it? She never felt it when she was around Luke. She didn't feel it around Leia. Only around Ben. And only when they were relaxed enough to tune into the Force.

It was puzzling, and gave her something to think about. Picking up the mug of caf, she quietly closed the door behind her and retreated back to the cabin.

A/N: Starred (*) phrases were borrowed from Star Trek! Switched it up this time, didn't I? Hehe.