The Foundling

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A/N-thanks so much for the kind reviews and for reading this story.

Chapter Two-The Blue Butterflies

The brightly coloured blue butterflies were quite the sight to be seen. Ben was supposed to be meditating-a daily exercise that his uncle insisted was important for a jedi-but he couldn't help but be captivated by the butterflies as they flittered from one vase shaped flower to another, pausing to drink the sweet nectar inside. Ben sat watching them, marvelling at the iridescent glow on the butterfly wings. Their beauty cast a spell on him and his soul soared along with the beautiful creatures. He felt at peace among them, a calmness washed over him that was soothing and intense all at once. That instant of seeing those petal wings brought him a serenity that he had never experienced before.

There was movement beside him. He turned to find Rey crouching down next to him. The little girl looked spellbound as she watched the blue butterflies dance intricately through the air. She was still wearing the jacket he had given to her the night before. It was zipped up tight to her chin, the hem dragging along the ground whenever she moved, but it didn't seem to impede her as she stood up and turned around and around as her quick eyes followed the butterfly's graceful movements. One of them landed on the end of her small nose and her eyes crossed as she stared at it in delight.

Ben laughed at her astonished expression. At first, he was shocked at the sound coming out of his mouth, but it came out of him with such unrestrained joy that he couldn't stop. He scrambled to his feet and picked Rey up, swinging her around as his laughter continued to come from deep within. He delighted in it and soon she was giggling too as the blue butterfly attached to her nose took flight again.

"Ben!" Leia's stern admonition sobered him up at once. His laughter died on his lips as his mother strode toward him and took Rey away from him. "Look at her, she's all hot and messy."

"We were just…" Ben tried to defend himself, but Leia was already walking away. He sat down on the grass and watched the butterflies again, but the light had gone out of the day and soon he left to go back inside.

Ben listened as Han complained to Leia about some parts that had gone missing from the Falcon. He was extremely harassed. He and Chewbacca had been planning to take the Falcon and fly to Kashyyyk so that the Wookie could spend some time with his family. Leia pretended to be interested, but her focus was on the little girl sitting in front of her. She concentrated on braiding Rey's hair as she let her husband's complaints wash over her. Ben noticed the tense set of Rey's shoulders and he remembered all the scrap metal that Rey had scavenged and hidden in her closet. He bet the Falcon's missing parts were among them.

"I can help you look." He offered as he approached his father.

Han didn't hide his surprise at this unexpected offer of help, especially from Ben. "A fresh pair of eyes would be good." He conceded with a half-smile. "Thanks kid. The sooner we can locate them the sooner I can get Chewie back home. There's nothing worse than a stressed Wookie." He quipped.

"No problem." Ben shrugged nonchalantly.

He saw his mother looking at him warily. He could tell that she thought he was the one who had taken them just to spite everyone, just so he could suddenly find them again later and look like a hero. A spike of anger lit up his eyes as he glared in her direction. Leia met his resentful gaze with a cool stare of her own. He wondered how she would feel if she knew it was her precious Rey that had actually done the deed. He opened his mouth to yell the truth at her, but he caught Rey looking at him. The little girl's eyes were big and round, her lower lip wobbling slightly. She was terrified that he was going to dob her in. Ben's mouth snapped shut as he stormed off to his room.

Han stared after him in confusion. "I guess that means he doesn't want to help." He sighed. He had completely missed the silent exchange between mother and son.

"I'm sure the parts will turn up soon." Leia said calmly as she finished braiding Rey's hair.

Ben was packing his things. He was done. He should never have come home. He had been an idiot to think that his parents actually wanted him there. When Luke had first told him that Han and Leia had requested he come home for a visit, he had been secretly thrilled. He had hidden his excitement from Luke. It was against the Jedi Code to show too much emotion. The Jedi Code was a set of rules that governed the behaviour of the Jedi Order. It taught its followers to not give in to feelings of anger toward other lifeforms, which would help them resist fear and prevent them from falling to the dark side of the Force.

"There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force." Luke had told him.

There were so many rules that it made his head ache. According to the code you weren't allowed to have any feelings at all, only compassion. You had to learn to subdue them, something that Ben struggled with constantly. In the Jedi Order, attachment and possession were forbidden, because they could lead to jealousy and fear of loss, and ultimately the dark side of the Force. For that reason, Jedi were not allowed to marry.

The door to his room opened, breaking him out of his bitter thoughts. His brows drew down into an angry scowl as he watched Rey shuffle inside dragging a heavy bag behind her. She wasn't wearing his jacket anymore. He assumed his mother had taken it from her. Leia wouldn't want anything of her first child to taint the new one.

"Go away." He hissed at Rey. "You've caused me enough trouble already."

Rey's fine hair was coming out of its intricate braids. It looked like she had been pulling at it nervously. She looked up at him with those brilliant hazel eyes of hers. They were full guilt. He remembered her happy giggles as she played amongst the beautiful butterflies. Now she was sad.

Ben felt his anger drift away and he sighed. "Don't worry, my mom thinks I took them anyway." He said to her. "Come on let's give them back." He leaned down, picking up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

Chewbacca was roaring up a storm when Ben and Rey reached the opened ramp of the Falcon. Ben had warned the little girl to stay behind, but she had stubbornly followed him anyway. When the large Wookie heard them approach, he quietened down.

"We found the parts." Ben said, dropping the bag at his surrogate uncle's feet.

Chewbacca fell silent as he looked down at the two children, before surprising them both by bending down and scooping them up into his hairy arms. He let out an amused whine when Ben yelped and Rey squealed. He carried them all the way to the cockpit, before setting them down gently in the twin pilot's seats. He let out another amused whine as he ruffled Ben's thick black hair affectionately. A rare grin lit up Ben's face as he looked up at his surrogate uncle. There was nothing better in life then being hugged by a Wookie. He watched as Chewbacca left the cockpit and descended into the belly of the ship to retrieve the bag filled with the missing parts from the Falcon.

Ben's happy grin faded as he glanced down at Rey. While his focus had been elsewhere the little girl was automatically falling into her familiar pattern of scavenging useful parts. She had already yanked out a circuit board and was skilfully taking it apart.

"Rey, stop." He scolded her. "You don't have to do that anymore."

Rey froze as her eyes filled with shame. She quickly shoved the circuit board into place with shaking fingers. Ben felt guilty. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh. It wasn't her fault. She was just acting on instinct. It annoyed him that his parents hadn't given it a thought to address this issue with her. Had they even noticed she was struggling to adapt to the new way of life they had given her.

"Its okay." Ben assured her. "I won't tell." A small smile flitted across Rey's face in response. He decided she needed something to distract her. "Hey, why don't I teach you how to fly this thing." He offered, not even factoring in that she was only five. Han had shown him how to pilot the Falcon at an early age. There was no reason why she couldn't learn, too.

While Chewie replaced the stolen parts that Rey had scavenged, Ben passed a few happy hours tutoring Rey on how to fly the Falcon.

A/N-thanks for reading. Please review!