A/N: Well, I am back to this story at long last. I saw the Force Awakens again recently and it reignited my muse. I didn't fit in quite as much as I originally said I would, but it is still quite a lot. Hope you enjoy! Still don't own Star Wars. The only characters I own are my OCs.
Chapter Nine
Luke walks carefully. It can be said, he thinks, that his pace does not measure the urgency of the situation, but as he carries the girl in his arms, he knows that care takes precedence over haste especially with Rey in this state. She is shivering causing his elbows to shake with her, and her mouth moves in silent protest of whatever it is she is seeing. He is tempted to tap in, a wave of concern overwhelming him.
But he mustn't dwell on such things. He has found her. That is what matters. And once he gets back to the house, he can help her, but for now he has to get them both back in one piece. Even as he knows in the back of his mind that the situation is different now, he still hears the measured and metallic steps of the stormtroopers, sees the blasters pointed at him, feels the unending sorrow and the boy's anger, so much like a blade twisting in his own heart.
He walked the familiar path to the temple, carrying Rey gently in his arms. He would drop her to the healer's. It was important that he talked to Ben, apologized. He felt a small grasp on his tunic, an insistent tugging as bleary eyes look into his own. He can make out the mumbled words "Don't be mad...not Benny's...my idea."
Luke sighed shaking his head as a smile found its way onto his countenance. Rey was always concerned about others. She held much compassion for one so young, and he knew that she would take it personally if he didn't sort things with his nephew. She was much like him in that sense. "It will be fine. Rest now Little One." He planted the gentle suggestion.
Rey scowled at the endearment, but found herself unable to fight the appeal of a nap in her father's arms, where she felt safest of all.
He reached the temple just as the sun was beginning to set. He couldn't figure out why Ben would be here so late, but as he walked the silent halls, he could imagine. It was the same reason, he, as a young man would sneak away from his own uncle, spending countless hours in the garage tinkering with speeders.
"Master Skywalker," He heard a soft voice, awed. A young boy stood in the hallway. Elikyre, one of the temple's brightest young recruits, and if Luke remembered correctly a friend of his nephew. The boy's gaze drifted to Rey. "What happened?"
"Walk with me." Luke nodded. "We will talk on the way."
Elikyre gave a curt nod. "Yes Master."
Luke explained with careful deliberation about how Ben and Rey had been playing when they were attacked. He didn't go much further than that leaving it to the boy to deduce as he spoke to the healer. Despite the look of disapproval he received from the woman, he did not make to shoo the boy away. He left decisions like that to the students themselves. The best learning was done when one was not coddled, an old principle he found when exploring the temple's history, and one that seemed fit to adopt with this group of students. But the question remained. What did a teacher do when that student was also family?
Luke reaches the small dwelling without any sort of interruptions. He taps the door open with his foot and enters. He only allows himself the opportunity to think in basic actions in an effort to stave the memories: enter the house, place Rey on the couch, remove his cloak (the closest item in reach that resembles a blanket) and cover her still shivering form. He grabs a chair from the small kitchen and sits across from her, closing his eyes. He can't avoid this. He desperately wants to. How can he be the one to break the truth open, after all he had done? It will be cruel. Selfishly ( and it is selfishly) he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want her to see him any differently. But then, she begins shivering violently. Her head is tossing back and forth, and her eyes shut tighter against something unknown. And he knows now, he has no choice. He places a hand on her forehead tuning into the Force that thrums around them, and he is pulled in almost at once.
Rey is now six years old, as eager and as much of an explorer as ever. She is in the healer's nearly as often as some of the most rambunctious Padawans, and has formed a friendship with one of the students, the very same that Luke had talked to the day of the attack.
"Where's Benny?" Rey is sitting on the temple steps as the boy comes out.
"The Archives." Elikyre sighs. "He won't come out."
Rey is puzzled. "Daddy said that Benny had to meet him in the garden." Rey couldn't understand why Ben was ignoring what her Daddy said. He was Ben's uncle and his teacher. Wasn't he supposed to do what Daddy said?
"Master Skywalker told me to tell him that." The older boy shakes his head. "But he locked me out. Whatever, he's doing in there, he doesn't want me to see. Do you think⦠maybe he'll show you?"
Rey purses her lips. Elikyre is a big kid, one of the senior students. If he is giving Rey the job Daddy had given him, he must need help. She nods "I'll try Elikyre."
"I'll show you." Elikyre offers Rey a hand, and walks her to a part of the temple that she had never been in. She thinks it's a library. Students are watching holovids, and a few are typing into datapads. A few smile down at her, jibe Elikyre good naturedly.
"Creche duty again Padawan Dingarr?"
Elikyre just grins, shaking his head in response.
"Teaching Rey early? Master Skywalker's going to be impressed."
"Any of you Poodoos seen Solo?" Elikyre says.
"He's been in there too long. What if-?" The other padawan stops suddenly, a twi'lek girl. She takes in Rey. The severity of the stare makes Rey want to run and hide. Elikyre gives the padawan a look, the kind that Rey recognizes from when Daddy was trying to get Uncle Han to shut up about something she and Benny weren't supposed to know.
"What's so bad about it?" Rey asks. Too late, she realizes she probably shouldn't have.
"Elk," The twi'lek girl shakes her head.
Elikyre, for his part, looks torn. Rey tugs on his tunic. "Is Benny in trouble Elikyre?"
"You know what Rey?" Elikyre smiles as he crouches in front of her, but it's too wide, too soon. "You go on. I can handle it. Why don't you keep Master Skywalker company?"
Rey frowns. "Are you sure I can't help?"
"Just go see your dad. I can take care of Benny, and we'll both see you later, I promise."
"Okay. I'll see you later Elikyre." Rey nods. She'd go see Daddy, and maybe he would know what to do about Benny.
A/N: So what do you think? What do you want to see? What can I improve? Feedback ignites the muse. Until next time.
