The Foundling

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A/N-thank you for reviewing this story!

Chapter Four-An Unexpected Connection

"It was only ever meant to be a short visit." Leia said carefully as she watched her son pack. "And you don't want to miss anymore of your studies. I expect you'll be glad to get back."

Ben didn't bother to respond. There was no point in putting up a fight. His mother had made her decision. She didn't want him around because she believed he was a bad influence on Rey and that he would hurt her. What had happened with the training saber was an accident. Rey had ended up with a slight cut on her upper arm when she fell and it ignited. The slight wound was easily patched up, but the wound between mother and son wasn't so easily covered. His punishment for something he didn't consider his fault was dismissal.

"Ben, please." Leia tried to reach out to him but Ben wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"I'm ready." He said stonily.

Leia sighed. "I wish you would just take a minute to consider my position, Ben." She continued sadly. "You have to learn to take responsibility for your actions. You should have kept your saber locked away. You can't be complacent when you have a young child running around. Of course, Rey was going to be curious and pick it up."

Ben felt bitterness well in his throat. He had locked his saber up. He wasn't that stupid. What his mother seemed to be ignoring was that Rey wasn't your average five-year-old. If she could strip parts from the Falcon without anyone being aware, getting through the basic security in this place was easy. But like before Ben took the blame. He was used to it anyway.

"Well, I guess its goodbye for a while." Leia spread her arms to embrace him but Ben remained rooted in place. Leia frowned, irritated by his sullen attitude. "Take that scowl off your face, Ben. I'm just trying to do the best I can- "

Leia was cut off when the door to Ben's room slid open revealing Rey. The little girl's face was downcast as she walked quietly into the room. She was wearing Ben's smuggler jacket again, though there was a slight rip in the arm where the dropped saber had pierced the material. The hem dragged along the floor, gathering dust as it went. She was pulling a bag behind her, filled to the brim with food and god knows what other junk she had scavenged. The scowl left Ben's face as he watched Rey trot over to him and stand by his side.

"I'm ready." She whispered, looking up at Leia solemnly.

It was Ben who made the realisation before his mother did. Rey had packed up as much food and junk as she could manage because she thought she was going to be sent back to Jakku. She saw him being sent away and assumed the same would be happening to her. The nausea swirled unrestrained in his empty stomach. Seeing Rey like that-so dejected and resigned to her fate, believing that screwing up meant being sent away-was like a punch to the gut. His head swam with half formed regrets. She reminded him so much of himself in that moment that he struggled to breathe.

"Rey, what are you doing?" Leia's puzzled expression showed she still wasn't getting it.

"She thinks you're sending her back to Jakku because she fucked up." Ben pointed out savagely. "That's why she's packed all that crap. She's been scavenging things since she got here, only you and Dad have been too caught up to notice."

"Watch your language, Ben." Leia scolded him. "I don't like it when you speak to me like that."

"Or maybe the truth hurts, Mom." Ben replied bitterly. "She sees you sending me away, so naturally presumes you'll do the same to her."

"I never sent you away to punish you, Ben." Leia implored. "That's a narrative you've formed in your own head. I sent you to Luke to help you. Don't project your own insecurities on to Rey." She locked stares with her son for a minute, before ducking down to pick Rey up into her arms. "Oh, sweetheart, shall we put these things away?" She said lovingly to the confused little girl as she carried Rey out of the room. "You're not going anywhere. You are staying right here."

Five years later;

Ben tried to settle the nerves in his stomach. This was the first time he had been home again in nearly five years and he didn't know what to expect. It would also be the first time he had seen his parents since he left under a cloud. He hadn't wanted to go, but had been given no choice when his uncle was sent away on a secret diplomatic mission, and as it was considered too dangerous for Ben to go with him, Luke had decided to send him back home to his parents for the duration.

Han was the first to greet him. "Hey, kid. Its good to see you." He said, reaching out to give his son an awkward hug.

It was like being hugged by a stranger. Ben endured it for a few seconds before pulling away quickly. Han patted his shoulder briefly before stepping back to reveal Leia. Ben tensed as his mother approached him cautiously. She looked exactly the same as he remembered, her thick brown hair still wound in elaborate coils on either side of her head. She wore a simple white dress with a belt draped around her slim hips.

"You've gotten so tall. I barely recognise you." She said carefully as she offered him her cheek to kiss.

"It's good to see you, mother." Ben swallowed down his resentment as he politely pecked her cheek and gave her the obligatory hug. "Maybe if you had bothered to come and visit me it wouldn't be such a shock." He thought to himself as he walked beside her into the open plan living room. "The place looks the same." He said aloud.

"We don't spend much time here." Leia replied airily. "Would you care for some refreshment?" She spoke to him like one of her visiting dignitaries instead of her son.

"Thank you, but I'm fine." Ben answered curtly.

An awkward silence fell between them all. Han was the first to break it when he cleared his throat. "You must be tired after your long journey."

"Yeah." Ben murmured. He was desperate to escape this less than stellar welcome home reception. "I'll go to my room."

"It's still the same as when you left it." Han smiled at him weakly. "You go and rest. Um…we can catch up later, son. We can have a nice family dinner."

"Sure." Ben felt painfully out of place. At least his father was making an effort in his own way, he wished he could say the same for his mother. Leia had already moved away, her attention engaged by one of the protocol droids who had come to her with news from the Senate. Ben forced a smile on his face for his father's benefit, before making his escape.

Ben didn't go to his room. He went straight to the butterfly garden instead. To his delight the blue butterflies were in abundance. As he approached, he held out his hand and one of then settled on his opened palm. More fragile than spun glass the butterfly beat its wings, they were like soft petals in the wind. So thin and delicate. He walked forward slowly; his eyes trained on the beautiful creature. Then just like that it took flight again. It flittered away toward the vase shaped flowers, only pausing to drink the sweet nectar inside.

Ben smiled, something else had caught his attention now. It was Rey. She was sitting amongst the tall grasses with her back to him. Her gaze was focused inward as she meditated, just like the way he had taught her. A parade of blue butterflies fluttered in a circle around her head before scattering wildly when he called her name and broke her concentration.

"Some warning would be good next time." She projected into his mind as she bounded gracefully to her feet and turned to face him.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Ben teased her lightly, his eyes twinkling with mirth as she gave him a death glare.

"Idiot!" Rey dissolved into giggles as she ran to meet him. Ben laughed along with her as he picked her up. She was like a light feather in his arms as he swung her around, before setting her back down on her feet.

Ben smirked, feeling lighter of heart after the difficult reunion he'd just had with his parents. He grabbed Rey's hand and pulled her down to the ground to sit beside him. "So why weren't you there to greet me?" He asked aloud.

Rey's brilliant hazel eyes clouded over as they slid guiltily away from his. "They thought it might be too overwhelming for you if I was there as well."

"That figures." Ben muttered as he pulled at the long grasses with restless fingers. His mood darkened again. "They still don't trust me around you. It's been years." He fell into a brooding silence as his mind drifted back to the past.

Ben recalled the moment his telepathic communication with Rey started. It hadn't been long after he returned to the jedi temple to continue his training with Luke. To his surprise he found that his uncle had taken on more apprentices during his brief visit home. Ben found himself more isolated than ever when Skywalker's attention was pulled in several different directions as he focused his attention on the new recruits. Ben's introduction to Luke's new apprentices hadn't gone well. One in particular, Voe, seemed to take an intense dislike to him. Tai and Hennix were more easy going, but still remained wary of him at first.

Ben's natural affinity with the Force did not go unnoticed by his peers, particularly Voe, who found herself struggling to hone her skills despite training just as hard as Ben. While training outside, Voe watched as Ben levitated a large rock with ease, and wondered why he was far stronger than she was. According to Skywalker, however, strength had nothing to do with how the Force worked. Using a door as an analogy, he explained that the Force flowed more easily through those who were open to its energy. Despite Skywalker's lecture, Voe never measured up to Ben's level throughout their entire time together. Ben was far stronger than her in every Jedi technique, including lightsaber combat and meditation. During one of their sparring sessions, Solo disarmed and defeated Voe and she just couldn't get over it.

It was after one particularly tense confrontation with Voe that Ben had stormed off to his hut, anger boiling up inside him. That anger was so strong that it frightened even him. He tried to use his normal meditation techniques to help him calm down, but nothing was working. He grew tenser with each passing second. Resolved to speak to his uncle about the way he was feeling, Ben had sought Luke, only to find him with Voe. He had listened resentfully as the girl gave a biased account of what had happened between them. He waited for his uncle to jump to his defence, but when he heard Luke validating Voe's concerns about his arrogant behaviour, he felt betrayed and gave up on confiding in his uncle.

Ben had gone back to his hut and tried to swallow down his anger, but it was like a fire seed in his belly, it grew and grew until he couldn't contain it. He lashed out and punched the wall with his fist. The explosion of his anger sobered him. He stood in the middle of his hut, breathing raggedly as his gaze fell to his bloody knuckles.

"What have I done?" He cried in horror.

"Don't be sad."

Rey's voice had come out of nowhere, stunning him completely. He pressed his hands to his aching temples. He was used to the dark voices whispering in his head during his nightmare fuelled dreams, but he was awake right now, not asleep. He was going crazy.

"Please go away." He whispered fearfully.

"Did I do something bad?"

Rey sounded so upset, so distraught that shame washed away his anger. Ben revolved slowly, concentrating his mind as he tried to make sense of what was happening to him.

"You didn't do anything bad." He said tentatively to the empty air.

"I'm sorry, Ben." Rey responded tearfully.

Ben's mind cleared as the fog of his anger drifted away. He turned around in the hut, looking all about him. He was more curious now then frightened. He didn't feel delusional. He concentrated hard, picturing Rey in his mind, and suddenly she was there. He could see her, but only her.

"Can you see my surroundings? I can't see yours." He asked her.

Rey's eyes shifted to the side and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As she blinked, they dripped from her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip tightly in an attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth.

Ben's heart sank. "Don't cry."

Rey's lower lip quivered as words slowly made their way out of her mouth. "They're shouting." She began, before dissolving into a fresh wave of tears.

It took a minute before Ben realised who she was talking about. His parents-Han and Leia. "Oh." He mumbled. That was nothing new. "Don't listen to them. They'll stop soon."

"But its my fault." Rey's tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks.

"Why do you say that?"

"'Cos…cos I was naughty and too…took the s…saber." Rey sobbed and put her small hands over her face to hide from him. "I'm s..sorry."

Ben sighed heavily. He guessed his father had come home from Kashyyk after dropping Chewie off, only to find him gone, and demanding to know why Leia had sent him away. Han had probably tried to defend him after Leia had told him what had happened with Rey. It had descended into another one of their many arguments and now Rey was blaming herself.

"It's not your fault, Rey." Ben had done his best to reassure her. It really wasn't her fault. She was just an innocent caught up in a complicated situation. "You should get some sleep."

"Can…can you read to me like before?" Rey begged him.

"Come on then." Ben lay down on the simple bed in the hut. He saw Rey curl up into a ball, facing him on her side. He put his hands behind his head and began to talk. A little while later he heard the steady pace of her breathing and realised, she was asleep. "Goodnight, my little Padawan." He murmured as their connection faded out and she disappeared.

"Ben!" Rey was snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Where did you go?" She asked curiously.

"Nowhere interesting." Ben mumbled as he shook his head to clear it. He flopped back into the tall grasses and concentrated on the blue butterflies swarming over his head. "Now tell me all the news." He said as Rey settled down beside him.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.