Chapter Twelve – The Secrets of Endor

As Rey traipsed through its burnt forest, high above Endor Kylo Ren's TIE Silence jumped out of hyperspace. Kylo Ren looked down on the world where the events that had shaped his life had played out, before he was ever born. Endor is where his grandfather had killed Palpatine, but where he had himself died, his work undone. It was where the Empire died. There had been other battles, Jakku most prominently, but the Imperials had been fooling themselves to think they could put the Empire back together with no Emperor. It was where the New Republic had truly been born, determining the course of his mother's life, and therefore his own. As he flew down to the surface, he wondered how things might have been different if Vader had survived, if he had been there to guide Luke and his mother. He pushed down the small voice in his mind that said his grandfather would have killed Snoke the moment he showed his face.

A blinking light told him that the scanners had detected a ship near where he intended to land, so he redirected his ship slightly so he landed near to what was, to Kylo's surprise, Rey's Naboo cruiser. He exited his ship and immediately went to inspect the ship. He ran his gloved fingers across her smooth metallic hull, leaving four lines through the soot that had already coated the ship in its time on Endor, and said, "What are you doing here?"

He recognized the make of the ship, and its connection to his family. He wondered, for the first time, why he never gave more attention to his grandmother. Her identity had been kept from his mother most of her life, and most of what she knew about Padme had come from research she did after the death of her adoptive parents. Luke's Aunt and Uncle had, of course only spent a few days with her, and would have been unable to share much if they had decided to open up about her.

While thinking about his grandmother Kylo heard a sound, and whirled around, pulling his lightsaber from his belt as he did so and engaging it. The cause of the sound not being visible he ran in the direction it seemed to him to have come from. He ran through the woods, his red lightsaber flashing as he did so, until he came to the top of a small hill, below which he could see a slow moving river. On it he could see the source of the noise; a raft holding scrap metal being piloted by two Ewoks. The scrap metal was loaded in an unbalanced way, and the Ewoks were consequently struggling to keep the raft afloat. Kylo watched as the small raft hit a faster section of the river, which proved too much for the Ewoks and their little craft to handle. The raft overturned and the Ewoks and their metal went into the water.

There he stood, Supreme Leader of the First Order, dressed in the black armor of the Knights of Ren, red lightsaber crackling in his hands, watching two weak aliens struggling for their lives. He knew he should not care. He knew he should leave the weak to die. And so it was with a great deal of self-disgust that he waved his hand, pushing the Ewoks out of the water and onto the shore opposite him. Once out of the water the larger of the two Ewoks picked the smaller one up, and it was this smaller one who saw Kylo Ren. It shouted with alarm and the two immediately set off running.

For a moment Kylo watched them run away, and then, for no reason he could understand he yelled, "Wait!" Whether they understood him and ignored him out of fear, or whether they were unable to comprehend Galactic Basic, the two Ewoks continued to run. After a second Kylo charged down the hill after them. He leapt over the river with little difficulty, and could still barely make them out through the burnt tree trunks which, because of the initial great size, still reached several meters off the ground. By the time he caught up to them they had reached the glade Rey had found earlier. The pair of them were huddled at the feet of Darth Vader's armor on its wooden throne. The sight of it stopped Kylo in his tracks. He stood there, staring dumbly at the scene before him, while the Ewoks cowered before him.

Then, from behind him, a familiar voice said, "I know, it's a lot to take in."

Upon hearing this Kylo whipped around, bringing his saber up to point at the glowing blue form of Luke Skywalker. The Ewoks, not able to see Luke, took the opportunity of the frightening creature turning its back on them to continue their flight. Once again the black warrior had not failed them.

"I told you I would see you again kid. Why don't you drop the lightsaber, and any other dramatic flourishes you were considering," the Force Ghost said to Kylo. In response he pushed the tip of his saber into the region of Luke's chest. "It's me Ben, just not me the way you would like."

Kylo let his saber drop before asking, bitterly, "You waited five years to gloat?"

"Well I waited five years, but not to gloat," Luke answered. "Why did you save the Ewoks Ben?"

"What are you talking about?" Kylo responded.

"Back there, you pulled them out of the water. Did you forget?" Luke said, feigning confusion.

Kylo turned around to look at the Vader's armor, but still answered Luke by saying, "So you have been watching me I take it.

"Yes, I saw the thing you did a minute ago." Luke said sarcastically.

"Is that all the watching you have been doing?" Kylo asked.

Luke ignored his nephew's question and asked again, "Why did you save them Ben?"

Kylo turned back to look at his uncle and said, "Maybe you didn't come to gloat, maybe you are here to drive me insane by repeating stupid, pointless questions."

Ghost Luke found one of the smaller tree stumps and sat down on it before saying, "Well we can talk about anything you like. We could talk about why you haven't surrendered. We could talk about why you killed your dad, my best friend. We could talk about why you held back against the Resistance all those years, until your war was basically lost. But I thought it might be best to start small, and ask why you saved those Ewoks back there."

Kylo turned away from his uncle again in frustration while saying, "It was nothing. They are nothing to me, and neither are you." Looking at Vader's armor he asked, "How did this get here?"

"If you want me to answer your questions, you have to answer mine," Luke said.

"I already answered yours. They didn't matter to me. It didn't matter if they lived or if they died. I just did it, I didn't need a reason. Might as well ask me why I put my right boot on first in the morning," Kylo answered.

"Do you normally struggle with yourself that way, when deciding which boot to start with?" Luke asked.

"I didn't struggle," Kylo insisted.

"It's odd with all the other terrible things you have become good at, that you aren't a better liar. You couldn't hide your feelings from me before Ben, you definitely can't hide them now," Luke said.

"There's no struggle. No conflict," Kylo said. "I know what I have to do."

"Here, I will get this going, start the answer to your question, then you can start honestly answering mine," Luke said. "After the Battle of Endor there was lots of debris and space garbage up there, in orbit. Some of the smaller pieces were falling to the planet surface, but they were burning up in atmosphere before hitting the surface. So we left. The Rebels that is. Things looked good, looked stable."

Kylo sat down on a nearby stone, and said, "Are you giving me some parable about the failings of the New Republic? Because I am really not interested in that, I just want to know how the suit got here."

"Ok smart guy, the suit got here because this is where I took your grandfather after he died. And the armor doesn't burn," Luke replied.

"I know that!" Kylo yelled. "But somebody built him a chair, a throne, and put flowers of all things where his helmet belongs. I wanted to know how that happened!"

"And if you hadn't interrupted my story you would know by now," Luke shot back.

"Go on then," Kylo said, sighing.

"Well there is this junk scavenger I met once," Luke began as Kylo shook his head with impatience. "She spent her whole childhood climbing through old wrecks like those that were orbiting Endor. Because people will pay good money for some of those parts. And just like on Jakku, there were people combing the ruins above Endor. And one day one of them was flying his little ship through the wreckage, when he felt something. He was used to feeling things other people didn't feel. Used to guessing correctly what was about to happen. Used to people saying how lucky he was."

Kylo closed his eyes, and it was as though he could see it. He saw snoke, without the scars, and wearing a flight suit rather than his golden robes, in the cockpit of a small ship. The ship, not much bigger than a fighter, was clearly designed for human beings and so too small for Snoke to fit in comfortably. But there the ship was, flying slowly through space, surrounded by debris.

"He could always seem to find his way to just the right part. In the mountains of junk he would get to just the right spot, find the choicest items," Luke continued. "He would follow his feelings. He was lucky. But on that day, he had a very odd feeling. A very unpleasant feeling. And before he could decide that maybe this particular stretch of space wasn't for him, it was too late.

Kylo could see Snoke's brow furrow, and his hands move to the controls. But just before he could pilot the ship away, he grabbed his head and began to scream and thrash about the small cabin.

"He had just the smallest spark of power Ben, but it was enough," Luke said. "Enough for the spirit trapped there, among the ruins, to find purchase. Just strong enough with the Force to let that spirit in, but not strong enough to fight him off. If it had been me, or your mom, or you, or Rey, that spirit would have died that day, at last. But it wasn't. And that had terrible consequences."

In his mind Kylo saw a wave of red energy being expelled from Snoke's ship, unsettling the debris around it. One piece of wreckage hit another, and a cascade of collisions began which led to large pieces of what had once been the Death Star to fall to the planet.

Kylo opened his eyes, looked at Luke and whispered, "Palpatine." Luke nodded and Kylo said, "Snoke," and Luke nodded again.

The two sit in silence for a while before Luke asked, "Why did you save the Ewoks Ben?"

Kylo breathed in deeply and answers, "That's not fair. You didn't explain what I asked you too."

"Well I started the explanation, and I think you can agree the beginning of that story is a real doozy. But there was more than one spirit hanging around Endor at that point. The malignant one was stuck up there, trying to hold itself together. The other was here because he couldn't think of anywhere else to go. That's the thing about being filled with regret, it's hard to know where to start putting things right," Luke said. "But when the fire fell from the skies, he knew what he had to do. I can appear to you now Ben, just like I could appear to your mom. Just like Obi-Wan could appear to me. But those without the Force can't see me. Somehow though he could make himself known. A whisper, a hint of light out of the corner of their eyes. But it was enough. Enough to lead some of them to where it would be safe. Where they could wait out the fire from the sky. Where they could find water and a little food. Some of them came to realize that when they most needed help, they could most reliably find the voice that led to them safety hanging around that old armor. His old armor. And with his help they survived. And to show their gratitude, they built a place of honor for the spirit that saved them. And so that symbol of fear across the galaxy became, in the midst of this horror, a symbol of hope."

"I bought his helmet off a rare items dealer on Corellia," Kylo said, trying to absorb what he had heard.

"Well the fact that there was a world burning didn't stop the scavengers. Fewer parts would be in good working order after they fell from orbit of course, but they would be easier to get to. One of them must have come across the helmet and sold it, before the Ewoks ever built their shrine," Luke said.

"So this whole time, he was with them, not with me," Kylo said bitterly.

"No, not the whole time. And you weren't even born when all this happened. Your mom and I found out about this calamity a little later. We thought there might be something up, so we camped out here for a few months. Didn't see any Ewoks. Thought they were all dead. Your mom, she took it pretty hard. I guess we both did, but it was worse for her," Luke said.

"Did he appear to you then? Tell you about Snoke?" Kylo asked.

"Not then," Luke said, shaking his head. "I think he was ashamed, especially to talk to your mom."

"But you did find Snoke, and the First Order," Kylo said.

"Well we didn't know it was the First Order at that point. Thought it was just some ex-Imperials, scavenging for parts themselves. But they had Palpatine's personal attendants and advisors with them. And that very unlucky junk trader. And they attacked us with the Force. So we responded," Luke replied.

"You could have killed him that day. Everything would be different. I wouldn't have…," Kylo was not able to bring himself to finish his sentence.

"Ben, I thought I had killed him. You saw his scars. How does someone survive a lightsaber strike to the face? But that trooper blew himself and those around him up. I didn't know who we had been fighting, but your mom and I thought it was over. There was so much going on back then. Threats everywhere we turned. We moved on, to the next crisis," Luke explained.

"Palpatine's advisors. They were Sith?" Kylo asked.

"Probably not full Sith. Palpatine likely taught them things that he found it personally useful for them to know. Like how to keep someone on the edge of death alive," Luke guessed. Luke watched as Kylo sat thinking in silence then asked, "Why did you save the Ewoks Ben?"

"Will you leave that be?" Kylo yelled as he stood up, agitated and excited. "It's not important! He was here to get something, from the Death Star. I thought it was a Holocron. I thought Snoke wanted Palpatine's secrets, but Snoke was Palpatine! What did he want!?"

"It is important Ben, why did you save the Ewoks?" Luke repeated.

"What would have been the point of letting them die?" Kylo yelled. "What good would that have done? Do you introspect every time you don't step on a bug?"

"I don't agonize over the decision. I don't fight to try to make myself step on the bug. And neither does anyone else," Luke answered. "But the Ewoks aren't bugs. You thought you should let them die, but you couldn't make yourself do it. Harder to watch something struggle and drown than to watch a beam of light incinerate planets far away."

"What are you trying to prove? What do I have to admit before you tell me what I need to know?" Kylo said angrily.

"And what is it you need to know Ben?" Luke asked calmly.

"About Palpatine!" Kylo yelled, refusing to be pacified by his uncle's steady demeanor. "He's my enemy! He's your enemy! He has spent his life trying to control our family. To use us! I will do you what you and my grandfather failed to do, and put him down. For good! But I need answers!"

"Then what? What will you do when you have freed yourself from Palpatine? You thought you were free before, after you so violently left my Academy. Before you knew what Snoke was. Is that what you want to go back to?" Luke asked.

"I don't have a Master anymore! I don't need one! I know what I have to do!" Kylo insisted loudly.

"You know what the man you are pretending to be would do. You know what Kylo Ren would do. But you don't do it. Kylo Ren would have let those Ewoks die. Kylo Ren wouldn't have been defeated by a handful of people on a single ship. He wouldn't have lost this war. But Ben Solo? Well Ben Solo had found someone who seemed like she understood him. Who cared about him and wanted to help him. And Ben Solo wanted so desperately to be forgiven. Not by me…," Luke said sadly as Kylo glared at him. "Ben Solo had legitimate grievances with me. But Ben Solo wanted so much for his parents to forgive him. It was too late for his father to do that. But maybe, maybe there was a way his mother could. But that meant the Resistance couldn't die, because then Rey and Leia would die. So the Resistance was allowed to endure. Because over the objections of his generals, the man pretending to be Kylo Ren let them.

Kylo, who had grown more emotional as Luke's speech wound on, was trying hard to keep his composure as he said, "The story of what you and Rey and my mother did, it spread. It drew people to them. It made the Resistance stronger. It…."

"Stories can only do so much Ben. Stories can't stop a fleet from blowing the Falcon out of the sky. They don't change the fact that you always had a way to find the Falcon, in those months they were on the run, before they ever got any help. The story isn't why you never used it. Why you found every excuse you could to not use it. Until one day you were relieved of the burden of making excuses, because that story had made the Resistance too strong for you to destroy," Luke said as Kylo fought to hold back his tears. "So to answer your question from earlier, yeah I have been watching you for a while now."

Kylo sat back down unsteadily, and in turn Luke stood up. "Why did you save the Ewoks Ben?"

Kylo took a deep breath and then said, "Dad and mom would tell me stories about them, when I was little. They had a little toy they gave me. A doll."

"I remember now," Luke said, smiling. "You used to call it 'little Chewie'. Big Chewie didn't care for that. Never told you though, did he?"

Kylo shook his head. "I had never seen a real Ewok myself before. I asked to when I was a kid, asked to come here, but mom always said we couldn't. I didn't…I didn't know why until now."

Luke took a step towards Kylo who leapt backwards and yelled, "NO! You tried to kill me! You think you get to forgive me? You think you get to save me? You are the one who needs forgiveness!"

"Ben I didn't, I…," Luke started to say.

"You did!" Kylo yelled, "You thought about it anyway! I was a child, and I was struggling! And you were my family! The only family I had out there on that rock! I was having dark thoughts, but you were supposed to help me, and instead you thought maybe I needed to die!"

"I'm sorry Ben," a devastated Luke said.

Kylo drew himself up, striking a more commanding pose and tone and said, "I don't need your apologies, or your understanding."

"You don't need those things from me, I know," Luke said sadly. "But you still need them from her. And right now she is on her way somewhere dark."

It took Kylo a moment to figure out who Luke was talking about. "Rey?" he asked. He looked to the East and followed with, "The Death Star wreckage?"

"She thinks she will find you there, she's going to find something else," Luke said.

"So tell her to stop!" Kylo demanded.

"I can't," Luke said.

"You can't?" Kylo asked skeptically. "You pop up in the middle of nowhere to talk to me about Ewoks, but you can't go warn her?"

"She is closed off from me. She has been closed off from me for a long time, just like you were," Luke said.

"How?" Kylo said, not really believing him.

"The darkness obscures, Ben," Luke explained. "She has had it in her, ever since that day in Snoke's throne room. Just like you did, for years before that."

"She was there for an hour," a confused Kylo said.

"Long enough for him to get in," Luke said. "Just like he did with you. Just a little. Not enough to take control, but enough to pave the way."

"Oh? So what changed?" Kylo said sarcastically. "What allowed you to come here to ask me about saving Ewoks?"

"You did, Ben," Luke said, with a little pride. "By saving the Ewoks. You aren't out of the woods yet kid, but it was enough to let me in. But now you need to go."

Kylo considered Luke for a moment and asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because, believe it or not, I care about you. And I care about her, and someone needs to go save her, and it can't be me anymore," Luke said as Kylo looked off in the direction Rey had walked hours before. "You're her only hope Ben."