Edit: 5/17/2020 dialogue tags fixed.

"Ben?"

It's unbearably hot and Ben would think he was on Mustafar once more except for the strange coolness on his forehead keeping him grounded in reality.

"Can you hear me?"

It was dark and it was hot. He didn't know where he was and he didn't know who was talking to him.

"I don't think he can. He was very sick when I found him." A different voice. A deeper voice that triggered some small recognition in Ben's mind.

Before he could open his eyes and reply, darkness carried him away once more.

It's hard to breathe the next time he regains a form of consciousness. His forehead is still covered in something cool, and he's not as hot as he was before. His eyes flicker and the world is blurry when he finally gets them open.

A man and a woman stand before him. He thinks there's worry on their faces, but he can't be too sure.

"Obi-Wan?" Ben knows that name. He knows he's heard it somewhere before. "Padawan, can you hear me?" Padawan? He knows that word too.

"Ben?" A different voice this time, though he heard it the first time he woke up. The woman standing before him is brushing his hair out of his face and he gives her a small, tired smile. "Do you know where you are?" It hurts to think, but he tries anyway.

That proves to be a bit too much for his mind as he slowly succumbs to sleep once more.

The cloth is still there when he wakes for a third time.

"He's awake again."

Ben breathes for a moment while he claws his way out of his sleep.

"Beru?" He can't hear his own voice very well, but he can't imagine it sounds good. His eyes flicker open once more and he meets the worried face of Beru Lars. She lets out a loud sigh and her body slumps.

"Ben, you idiot."

Ben raises an eyebrow but the movement disrupts the cloth against his brow. It slides down and onto the surface beneath him. Ben grumbles at the loss of the cool cloth and tries to grab it.

He finds that his arms are too weak and embarrassment takes over. Beru huffs out a laugh and Ben just smiles sheepishly back at her. The woman takes the cloth and wets it once more before placing it back on Ben's brow.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Beru nods as she thinks. Ben waits patiently and tries to gather his memories of what could have led to this moment. "Luke wouldn't stop crying. No matter what we did, he wouldn't stop. It took us an hour to realize that it was probably because of you." Beru pauses and Ben waits again. "Owen went to find you. He checked your home first and he found you there. You had fallen to the floor and you weren't responding to anything. Bail Organa was trying to wake you." Bail? "He explained to Owen that you two had been talking. Someone by the name of Fulcrum is supposed to be here later today. He explained everything."

"When was the last time you slept?" Owen's voice is softer than normal and Ben thinks over his question. He couldn't quite understand why he was concerned about that.

Then, the memories hit him.

Ben bolted upright and tried to leave the bed, but he was too weak to move on his own. He tumbled out of the bed and Owen barely caught him.

"Woah! Relax, it's alright." Owen helps the Jedi back into the bed he was laying on. "I'm guessing things are coming back to you."

"I hurt you. I hurt you and I left. I shouldn't be here. I don't know if it'll happen again." He was rambling. That was something Ben was very good at. "I need to leave."

Owen shakes his head and presses the man further back into the bed. Beru replaced the cloth on his head once more.

"When was the last time you slept?" Owen asks once more. Ben bites his lip and thinks, knowing they won't let him leave until they at least get an answer.

"2 weeks, maybe." Silence floods Ben's ears and he closes his eyes. "I couldn't risk it." He mumbles as he thinks. "Anakin's using our bond to talk to me. That's what happened that day." He swallows thickly and opens his eyes to gaze at the couple in front of him. "I must have lashed out in my fear. Qui-Gon was somehow in my mind with me and he managed to keep Anakin at bay, but I was worried. I couldn't fall asleep with the knowledge that Anakin could access the bond again and find me. I didn't know if Qui-Gon was still there or not. I hadn't heard from him."

"I don't know anything about your Jedi mumbo-jumbo, but that was the stupidest idea I've ever heard." Owen's voice is still soft but it carries an edge of hardness to it. "Yeah, you were scared and you lashed out, but you didn't mean to. We fixed the things that broke and we healed. Ben, we were worried about you. Every time we tried to find you, something blocked us. If it wasn't for Luke, you could be dead." Ben doesn't speak. He doesn't think he can. Owen sighs and places a hand on Ben's leg. "Now, we've got this Fulcrum person coming by in a few hours. Try and get some rest and if you feel up to it later, you can eat some food."

Ben nods, knowing he can't really say no. He has to be at least slightly better before this mysterious Fulcrum comes to visit.

So, Ben falls asleep and basks in the warmth of the Force and his Master.

By the time he wakes up again, he feels infinitely better than the other times he was awake. He's able to sit up and eat and the Lars couple even lets him shuffle around the home.

He still feels shaky and slightly weak, but at least he's able to move about.

"You know we're gonna have to talk about what happened soon, right?" Owen asks from his spot next to Ben. Ben twiddles his fingers and bunches the fabric of his sleep clothes in his hands. He nods, reluctant about having to think about the subject. "Good." Owen grips Ben on his shoulder and sends him a smile. Ben sends him a smaller one back.

A few resounding knocks echo through the home. Beru appears at the edge of the kitchen with Luke in her arms. Ben's hands shake as he stands and makes his way slowly over to the door. He can feel Owen close behind him, ready to catch the Jedi in case his strength fails him.

The door opens.

A Togruta that's all too familiar to Ben stands in the entrance. Her face breaks out into a soft smile.

"Obi-Wan."