Chapter two

"Certainly not." Ben Solo automatically moved to follow Master Yoda and his uncle, motioning for Rey to come along. They made three steps when Starkiller's voice reached them.

"Thanks, Ben, but I don't remember mentioning I needed to talk to you. You are dismissed, children."

"If you think even for a second, uncle, that I let a Sith Lord out of my sight, you must be crazy!"

Starkiller whirled around at lightning speed, and Rey actually took a step back when she caught the thunderous expression on the older man's face. His eyes flashed when he growled, "Watch your tongue, boy, you are speaking to your elder. The standards seem to be getting progressively lower and lower around here, Master Yoda, if you let such talks slide. Should I provide a demonstration of proper discipline?"

"You criticize the younglings will not, Skywalker." Yoda's answer was firm, and Rey wanted to cheer for the old Jedi Master. He didn't look perturbed even in the slightest by the menacing tone of their 'guest.' "And you discipline them will not, either!"

He turned to face Ben and Rey, giving them a rare approving smile. "Rest, you should go. The moment a Skywalker handle I cannot, I retire will."

Rey bit her lip in an attempt to mask her smile. The impulse disappeared the moment she looked at Starkiller. His eyes were trained on her mouth as if he would like to do the biting himself. Rey swallowed and unconsciously licked at the spot her teeth had touched a moment earlier. He raised his eyes to stare into hers, then, and Rey felt a fire explode inside of her belly and travel lower.

It lasted only an instant, and then Starkiller was bowing his head in Yoda's direction. "You know I would loathe losing your respect, Master, or robbing you of your dignity."

"So I would." Yoda graciously nodded, and for a moment, Rey had the strangest feeling that they both meant what they had said. They didn't want to duel, and they respected each other despite being on the opposite sides of an ancient war. What was even more startling was the realization that neither of them knew how such a fight could end.

"There's also the fact that the Guards will be stationed outside the door, I presume, so your Master is safe with me," Starkiller said to Rey. Glancing back at Ben, his eyes narrowed, and he just smirked. Then the Sith and Master Yoda were moving away from them rapidly, the Temple Guards following closely behind.

Ben clenched and unclenched his fists, his expression smooth and emotionless, and then he looked at Rey from the corner of his eye. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Not the warmest family reunion," she answered softly.

She had known Ben all her life; their families had been close to each other from the moment Rey's grandfather had saved Ben's grandmother's life. Rey had had plenty of opportunities to get to know him both as a Jedi and as a person. Ben had been emotional as a teenager, always ending up on the 'kiddy duty' back on Coruscant, and Rey had hated her curfew as a child. They had spent hours whispering back and forth when she had followed him around on his patrols. For someone so physically imposing and so gifted in the Force, Ben was surprisingly fragile inside and often fought hard for the tranquility of the Jedi.

Like now; there was a storm brewing in his eyes.

"Are you ok, Master?" she asked carefully, her voice polite and her eyes averted from the tall man, giving him a semblance of privacy so he could compose himself. Seeing his uncle must have been a shock for him, not that Ben ever talked about the Sith part of the family. Rey had no idea what he was feeling and was suddenly glad that her ancestors were not the ones responsible for the worst tragedy in the recent history of the Order. No, her family had been as Light as one could expect from one of the oldest Jedi lines in the galaxy.

"I'm fine." He nodded and then shrugged his broad shoulders and nudged her to move. "Come on, let's get back inside. Maybe it's a nightmare, and when I wake up in the morning, my uncle won't be anywhere near the Temple."

Having a Skywalker close certainly could make a Jedi uncomfortable, she mused as they made their way towards the staircase which led to the students' sleeping quarters. Meeting that particular Skywalker had gotten quite a reaction out of her. Just the memory of the intensity of Starkiller's look speeded up her heartbeat.

Ben stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking a deep breath. He glanced at Rey and then away from her, looking troubled. Ben was only a few years older than her, but with the numbers of Jedi Knights dwindling, even someone as young as Ben had had to take an apprentice and Rey had been the only logical choice. The rest of the children he had known from the Coruscant Temple were dead, and they had always been close.

"Uh, this is uncomfortable, but I need to address your behavior tonight, Padawan," he started, staring resolutely straight ahead.

Oh. Rey stiffened, and her shoulders sagged. She should have seen that coming. Actually, it was a wonder that she hadn't been scolded by Yoda himself. "I suppose, Master."

"It's good that you are not shying away from danger, but if the situation ever repeats itself again, you are to call for the Temple Guards if you feel a threat approaching. Okay?"

"I was confident that you all felt… I mean, it's…" she stumbled over her words, finishing lamely, "He's hard to miss."

"That only adds to the urgency of what I'm trying to say here, Rey." Ben glanced at her, his dark eyes pleading. He wasn't talking to her as a Master to a Padawan but as a concerned friend. "Facing a Sith Lord is dangerous even for a seasoned Jedi, but I doubt many would dare to challenge my uncle the way you did. You're lucky he needed to talk to Yoda, and killing you wouldn't have won him any favors."

Rey nodded slowly and wondered what the hell she had thought when she had gone and tried to cut off Starkiller's calves. She shivered when she remembered how scared just a glimpse of his anger – and not even directed at her – had made her feel. But when he had focused on her, on the other hand… Her mouth went dry, and Rey knew she should stop thinking about Luke Skywalker in that light but… He wasn't angry, he was intrigued, and it certainly didn't look like he wanted to run the lightsaber through me… probably got another impaling on mind…

"…that note, I don't have any idea what he wants or how long he's going to be around but try to steer clear of him…"

"Yes, Mast-What?" Rey blinked and returned her attention back to her conversation with Ben, who was frowning at her. Oh my, Ben hasn't picked up on the way his uncle was looking at me, has he?

"I said it would be best not to get anywhere near my uncle. I didn't like the way he was looking at you."

Well, fuck. She hoped Ben hadn't noticed the way she had been returning that look. Cheeks coloring, Rey crossed her arms over her chest and tossed her head back, lifting her chin defiantly as she tried to stare the much taller man down without much success. "And how was the Sith looking at me, Master?"

Ben gave her an exasperated look and copied her posture, glaring down at her. "It doesn't take a genius, Rey, and he wasn't hiding how you've… uh… interested him. To be frank, I'm scared for you even if you don't seem to realize the danger you are in."

Rey didn't like the sound of that at all. "Honestly, Master, what are you implying here? That I would allow that… that… intruder to… It's against the rules until my apprenticeship is over!"

Her Master threw up his hands, yelling, "For Force sake, Rey! The Sith don't ask, they take!"

That hadn't crossed her mind at all. Just the idea of anyone behaving towards her in such a way… She paled and hugged her middle, deflating. When Ben saw what reaction his words had caused he shuffled awkwardly closer and reluctantly opened his arms, waiting. Rey stepped into him, and he embraced her, looking towards the skies.

"You really think that?" she asked, shivering. When Starkiller had been looking at her with that fire in his eyes, she hadn't felt threatened, quite the opposite. Rey, even though she was a Padawan still and therefore forbidden to form any relations of sexual nature, wasn't exactly a blushing virgin unaware of the facts of life.

"I don't know. It's… I didn't see my uncle in years. Whenever he had visited before, every time he had come, he had been darker and darker, and one day, he had stopped coming at all." Ben sighed and rested his chin on top of Rey's head. After a moment, she felt as he tried to project calmness around them and giggled, shaking her head.

"You've never been good at that, Ben."

He snorted and stepped away, sticking out his tongue at her. "Yeah, that's your specialty."

When they had relocated to Reeata, Rey had been having terrible nightmares, calling her grandfather's name repeatedly. Sometimes, she could have sworn that his presence had been with her, but mostly she had woken up to find uncomfortably looking Ben trying to calm her down.

We have to stick together, she thought and smiled at him. They both have an exceptional connection to the Force, and they both were burdened with their families' legacies. She was the last of her line, which had dated back hundreds of years, and he was the only Jedi in a family where every male had turned to the Dark Side. Talk about pressure.

"I… Listen, Rey, I didn't want to scare you like that. Just… He is a dangerous stranger whose eye you've caught. Be careful, please, and don't go near him, at least not alone. Please?"

"Sure, Ben. Don't worry about me." Rey heaved a deep sigh and rose on her toes to plant a peck on Ben's cheek. "I'm lucky you're looking out for me."

"You'll do the same for me." He smiled broadly, looking relieved. "I better go and let you have your sleep. Your kiddy duty ended a few minutes ago. Good night, Rey."

"Good night, Master."

As Rey rushed up the stairs and then quickly walked towards her room, she couldn't stop thinking about the events of the night, questions about Luke Skywalker plaguing her mind long after she had gone to bed. What was he doing here and what did he want from them? Who exactly he was? Everyone in the Temple had heard of Starkiller, the son of the hated and cursed Lord Vader, but those were just rumors the Padawans exchanged during breaks in their lightsaber training. Rey decided to go to the archives and learn some hard facts about the man who was able to open gates and disable shield generators with a brief wave of his hand.

It was almost morning when she finally fell asleep, and when she did, she dreamt of a cloaked figure, reaching a hand towards her, and of Ben's voice whispering over and over again.

The Sith don't ask, they take.