"You're Not Alone"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 4

Twenty-one-year-old Ben was on his way to lightsaber practice when he heard a familiar voice cry out in pain. Suddenly there was Rey, lying collapsed in a heap, gripping her left leg and whimpering in pain.

"Rey!" Ben shouted, diving to her side, not caring if his Jedi robes got muddy. "Rey, Rey, what happened?"

"Leg," Rey whimpered between pants. "Hurt . . . leg."

Ben looked down, gasping at the sight of a long, bleeding gash in the leg she was gripping. "How did that happen?" he exclaimed.

"Tripped while scavenging," she whimpered. "Cut it on some metal."

"We've got to get this treated," said Ben, all thoughts of lightsaber practice gone from his mind. "Here, can you put your arms around my neck?"

Despite the pain, Rey managed a tiny grin. "You're going to carry me like you did when I was little?"

"I should if you can't walk," said Ben.

Rey's grin widened. "Then carry me away." She wrapped her arms around his neck and he hoisted her up, trying not to grimace at her weight bearing down on his arms as he got to his feet.

"I still don't know what happens if I bump into something in your space," said Ben. "So, uh, maybe you should let me know if I'm about to do so."

Fortunately, the Temple was nearby and there was no one in the entrance hall to notice Ben carrying what would appear to be empty air. He carried her past the statues of old Jedi Masters, placing her on a couch within sight of a refresher. "Stay here," he said. "I'll try not to go too far away."

"How far away is 'too far away'?" Rey mused. "What happens if we do get too far away from each other?"

"I don't know," said Ben, "and I don't want to find out when you're hurt, so please stay here."

"I will," said Rey. "After all, I don't have much choice."

Ben quickly ducked into the refresher, where he grabbed a roll of bandages and a towel, which he wet in the sink. After wringing the towel out, he brought both the towel and the bandages back to Rey, who thankfully hadn't vanished yet.

"This will probably hurt," he said as he knelt down next to her leg.

Rey smirked a little. "I know a lot about pain by now."

Ben's stomach tightened a little. The little girl who once asked if sunburn treatment would hurt was now shaking off the idea of pain on the grounds that she was familiar with it. "Where are you?" he asked as he ran the towel over her wound and she only flinched a little. "You must know by now."

"I don't," Rey responded automatically.

"I don't believe you. It's been five years – you must have heard where you are by now!"

"I haven't," said Rey.

"Rey, you've got to tell me! What if something like this happens again when we aren't linked?"

"Then I'll take care of it myself. I'm not a little kid anymore."

She said it in such a strict, final tone that Ben almost felt guilty for treating her wound now. "Rey," he said as he started winding the bandage around her leg, "please. I can help you. You don't have to suffer like this."

Rey leaned back, blinking upwards, her breath tight. "Yes," she whispered, "I do."

"Rey, don't be . . ."

She held up her hand to silence him. "My parents, they're coming back, they're still coming back. I need to be here for them."

With that, before Ben was even finished with the bandage, she disappeared.

. . .

Ben knew he still couldn't tell his uncle about Rey, but he could ask for leave. He was a legal adult now, after all. Sure, the idea of searching every planet with a desert, one sun, and two moons was crazy, but what other choice did he have at this point?

Did Rey finish wrapping the bandage after she vanished? Did he wash the cut well enough so that it wouldn't get infected? Was she able to limp back home? Why didn't she just reappear now so Ben could at least be assured that she was okay?

His heart raced as he approached the ornate door to Luke's office. "Beware of him," the voice in his mind said. "He won't give you what you want."

Ben didn't answer the voice this time. There was a chance that Luke might listen to him, right? Right? He held his breath as he knocked on the door, tensing up at the thought that the voice might berate him for talking to Luke in the first place. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

"Come in, Ben," said Luke, causing Ben to tense up even further. Of course he knew that his uncle could sense his presence, but at the same time it felt . . . invasive.

Luke was behind his desk, giving his nephew a slight frown that crinkled into his beard. "Ben, why weren't you at lightsaber practice?"

"I'm sorry, Uncle Luke," said Ben, sliding into the chair in front of Luke's desk and once again concentrating on shielding his thoughts. "I got distracted and lost track of time." Again he told the truth – just not all of it.

"Ben, I sense something troubling you."

Ben ground his teeth behind his lips, hoping his mental shield was holding. "There's something I want to ask you."

"Yes?"

Ben kept his eyes down, focusing on the dark wooden desk, feeling like his uncle would penetrate his thoughts if he looked him in the eye. "I want to be able to leave for a while."

"Leave? For how long?"

"I don't know. A while. There's something I want to do." He stared at a knothole in the wood. "I'll come back, I promise."

Even without looking at him, Ben could feel the sternness in his uncle's voice. "Ben, I can't just let you go flying off if I don't know where you're going or how long you'll be away."

"Why not? I'm an adult now."

"You haven't even taken the trials yet."

"Only because you won't let me!" Ben's fist came down on the table as his head shot up to glare at his uncle, who was giving him a hard look. "Why don't you let me take the trials and then I can leave?"

"You're not ready." He said it in that harsh, finalizing tone he always used when Ben asked about the trials.

"He's afraid," the voice said in Ben's mind. "He wants to keep you here indefinitely so he can keep an eye on you."

"I am ready!" Ben shouted. "I've been ready!"

"Ben, I don't want to lose you," said Luke, staring into his eyes as if trying to break through the mental shield. "You may say you're ready, but the dark side is stronger than you think."

"I'm not afraid of the dark side," Ben declared. "I'll face the dark side a hundred times if it means I'll get to leave – this is something I have to do!"

"Ben, just the way you're insisting that you are ready shows that you're not ready!"

Ben felt his teeth grinding behind his lips. "Fine, don't let me take the trials, but let me leave because I really need to do this!"

"You are wasting your time," the voice declared. "He doesn't trust you."

Meanwhile, Luke's eyes were narrowed as if scrutinizing him. "I'm sorry," he said. "My answer is no."

Ben leapt to his feet, glaring at Luke for a few seconds, feeling his eyes starting to well up as his mind's eye saw Rey, hungry and alone on some unreachable planet, waiting for a family that would never come.

Then he fled from the room.