One minute Kylo Ren is sitting in on a meeting with his generals, discussing possible locations of the Resistance's new base – not that Kylo cares, especially, about finding them at this point, considering the entire operation could fit inside of that flying pile of scrap metal, the Millennium Falcon, when they fled Crait. The next minute, he's in the middle of a desert, sand shifting under his feet, sun beating down and baking him under his layers of thick, black clothing.

He's not alone. She is here, the scavenger, Rey. He ignores the way his chest tightens at the sight of her for the first time in the months since their encounter on the Supremacy. He ignores the want, no, the need to take a step towards her, to close the distance between them. Instead, he focuses on the swirling emotions of betrayal and abandonment that accompany her memory.

She hasn't noticed him yet and he makes no sound, just watches her greedily. She cranes her neck, searching for something… or maybe someone? Who? The traitor? The pilot? His mo – the general? The thought that she is looking, waiting for someone else fills Kylo with a familiar, nearly all consuming, possessive jealousy. Still, he says nothing, just curls his hands into tight fists. He can only just hear the leather of his gloves cracking over the wind.

Rey whips around, maybe having felt his spike of emotion through the bond they share. Her eyes widen at the sight of him and then narrow angrily, murderously. The corner of Kylo's lips twitch upward at the sight, at the way she so easily draws on her anger.

"You!" She growls, her feet parting, her knees bending into a defensive stance. Her lightsaber – his grandfather's lightsaber, now repaired, he notices – is strapped to her hip. Her fingers twitch towards the hilt. Kylo does not move. "What is going on?"

"Where are you?" Kylo asks impassively. He looks around the desert spread before him. Rocky hills and cliffs dot the sandy expanse and line the horizon. He's never been here before, is this somewhere on Jakku? Why would she return here?

"As if I would tell you that!" She spits.

"I've never been able to see your surroundings before." He says ignoring the venom in her tone. He nearly smiles when his comment trips her up as much as he had hoped it would. Her eyes widen, searching around them and she takes a step back.

"You can see them now?"

"Is this where you're hiding? I have to say, I'm not impressed." He folds his arms and he ignores the sweat beginning to drip from his temple.

Kylo's brow furrows as Rey's fear and confusion dissolves into a wicked smile.

"Well, I can see your surroundings too."

Kylo nearly takes his own step back at that. She can? He had been in the middle of a very sensitive meeting, if she were to overhear anything…

"You can?" He asks, schooling his tone into one of bored curiosity and not nervous fear.

"What are you doing in the middle of the desert? You're not exactly dressed for it." She shakes her head and practically rolls her eyes.

"Wait… what?" It takes a moment for her words to catch up with his brain which is still very concerned with her overhearing sensitive First Order information. She though he had been in this desert? "I – I wasn't." He stammers, embarrassingly, but the words just won't come out smoothly. "I thought you were…"

"No, I was… No! You aren't going to trick me, I'm not telling you where we are." She grabs her lightsaber now, the blue blade humming to life in her hands, though she makes no move against him – not yet, anyway.

"I'm not trying to trick you." He says, throwing up his hands in a placating manner. Though his blood sings for a fight at the sight of her saber, he is much more interested in finding out what is going on. "I was on my ship one minute and the next I'm here… with you."

"No," Rey shakes her head even though she must sense the truth in his words, ever the master of self-delusion. "You're lying."

"I've never lied to you, Rey." Kylo implores. It's the truth, he's never lied to her before, why would he need to? He hopes that this basic truth with soothe her, but it has the opposite effect. Her face is a wash of pain and anger.

"That's not true," She snarls.

You told me I wasn't alone. Creeps through the bond and twists in Kylo's gut like a knife.

Hadn't she told him the same thing? She was the one who left him, and she has the gall to be angry with him? After he offered her everything? After he offered her his heart on a platter, and she crushed it in front of him? He feels his face settle into a grimace.

Rey's feet shift and while Kylo has no desire to fight her his fingers twitch nearby where he knows his lightsaber to be. Before either of them can make a move, they are distracted by a figure near a rock formation to Kylo's right. He does draw his saber at that, the red cross guard blade screaming to life.

An older man wearing brown and tan desert robes, his hair and beard turned white by age, stares the two of them down shrewdly. His blue-eyed gaze flicking from Rey to her blade to Kylo to his. The man's body language is stiff, defensive.

"What's going on here?" The man asks, his voice is crisp and clear with a Coruscanti accent similar to Rey's.

"Nothing that concerns you, old man." Kylo says extending his right arm, looking down his saber at the stranger.

"Who are the two of you?" The man asks, seemingly not cowed by Kylo's blade.

"Your Supreme Leader," Kylo growls, his very limited patience waning.

"My Supreme what?" The man asks, genuine confusion in his voice.

"You will turn around and go home now." Rey says, one hand raised towards the older man, her tone calm and influential.

The old man laughs lightly and shakes his head.

"That won't work on me, dear."

"Leave." Kylo warns murderously.

"Who sent you?" The old man asks to Kylo directly.

"No one." Kylo says shaking his head.

"What are you here for?" The man asks. He is still addressing Kylo but takes a step towards Rey.

"Stay away from her!" Kylo snarls, his red blade following the man. "Leave, I won't warn you again!"

The man narrows his eyes and takes another step towards Rey and Kylo lunges, launching himself up in the air and swinging down powerfully at the old man. He can hear Rey calling for him to stop but pays her no mind. In one fluid motion, the old man pulls something from beneath his robes, the blue blade of a lightsaber sings to life and blocks Kylo's swing.

The old man pushes back against Kylo's blade and swings his own up. The man's strikes are quick and precise. Kylo is forced back on the defensive, blocking each strike with force until he loses his footing and stumbles backwards into the sand. Clearly, this is not just some desert hermit who had found an ancient Jedi weapon. This man is trained, and well.

Kylo regains his balance but does not charge at the old man again, instead, he begins to circle him, his red blade stretched outward towards his opponent. The old man spins his blade around in a circle in front of his body.

"Stand behind me, dear." The old man says to Rey as he steps in front of her. "Sith are my specialty."

"What?" Rey askes. She blinks at the man looking completely and utterly confused. "Kylo's not a Sith." Kylo nearly flinches at her use of his chosen name and he doesn't know why.

"Who are you?" Kylo spits at the man. He can sense the man is strong with the Force, though he had been hiding it earlier.

"I don't believe that concerns you." The man says with a teasing smile. "Now, tell me, where did you come from and why are you here."

"We don't know why we're here." Rey said from behind the man with frustrating honesty.

"Rey." Kylo hisses.

"Wait," The old man says, turning his head for just a second to steal a glance back at Rey. "Are the two of you together?"

"Yes." Kylo answers at the same time Rey spits "No!"

"Well, now I'm quite confused." The man eyes Kylo with intensity. His clear blue eyes appraising. He sighs. "Can we all put our weapons down and talk calmly for a moment?"

"You first." Kylo says lowly.

"Oh, I don't think so." The man says with a smile. Kylo only narrows his eyes at the man and adjusts his hold on the hilt of his blade.

"Oh, Kylo," Rey sighs, exasperated. "Just put your lightsaber away."

"You drew yours first," He reminds her with a glare but disengages his lightsaber all the same. Rey and the man follow suit, though all three of them keep their hilts in their hands at the ready.

"Now, who are the two of you?" The man asks, taking a small step back so that he can keep an eye on both Kylo and Rey.

"I'm Rey," Rey says with an awkward half smile. Kylo says nothing and Rey rolls her eyes. "And he calls himself Kylo Ren." She gestures over to him.

"Who are you?" Kylo asks, setting his jaw.

"My name is Ben." The man says, his shoulders tense. He looks between Kylo and Rey as if expecting some sort of reaction.

Kylo has no reaction because that name means nothing to him. He sees Rey glance at him out of the corner of his eye. The look only lasts for a fleeting moment, but for that moment he is back in the elevator on the Supremacy where she first called him by that name.

"Well, Ben," Rey begins politely if a bit awkwardly. "Can I ask you where we are?"

"I thought you said the two of you weren't together?" Ben asks, quirking one eyebrow curiously.

"We're – it's complicated." Rey sighs. "What planet is this?"

"What planet… you don't know what planet you're on?" Ben asks, shaking his head in confusion.

"Do you know?" Kylo asks tightening his fists.

"Tatooine." Ben answers slowly, shooting Kylo a suspicious glance.

Kylo lets out a sound between a growl and a sigh and runs one gloved hand through his hair which is now thoroughly saturated with sweat. Of course, the Force would send him here. What was it with his family and this damned sand planet?

"If that's all, we'll be going." He inclines his head, gesturing for Rey to follow but she merely furrows her brow at him.

"Oh, I don't think so." Ben says with a dark laugh. Kylo feels the tendrils of the Force wrap around his form, holding him in place but breaks the hold easily.

"What are you?" He snaps at Ben, rounding on the older man.

"I could ask you the same thing." Ben says, clearly unimpressed with Kylo. The old man's face then grows deathly serious. "Did the Empire send you?"

"The Empire?" Rey asks the man with a bemused laugh.

"How long have you been buried in the sand, old man?" Kylo asks, shaking his head. Yes, Tatooine was practically a nowhere planet, a dust ball of little consequence, but the Empire had been dead for nearly thirty years by this point. Did the old man mean to say First Order? Had he mixed the two governments up in his old age?

"Answer my question." Ben says, narrowing his eyes.

"No," Kylo responds tightly. "The Empire didn't send us."

"I can sense you're telling the truth," The old man says, his genuine confusion returning. "Where did the two of you come from? What are you doing here?"

"We are here by mistake." Kylo says through gritted teeth, growing increasingly more tired of the old hermit's interrogations. "A mistake I would greatly like to correct as soon as possible, so if you could just point us in the direction of the closest town, we will be on our way."

"I can't just let you leave." Ben says, shaking his head, his fingers tightening around his lightsaber hilt. Kylo sighs, why did the hermit have to make this so difficult? Just as it seems the old man is going to ignite his lightsaber, he turns his head. "Something is very wrong." He says the distress in his voice plain.

The older man turns quickly and speeds off behind the rock feature from whence he had come. Kylo looks over at Rey who seems just as stunned and lost for words as he is. A sound like the wailing of a great, horrible animal echoes through the hills surrounding them but is cut short by a ragged, pained moan.

"What was that?" Rey breathes.

"I don't particularly care." Kylo says impassively. "We should try to find…" He starts to say, but Rey is already running around the rockface and down into the valley where Ben had disappeared. "Rey!" Kylo calls after her, following at a brisk pace that was just short of running.

When Kylo rounds the corner, he takes in the scene unfolding before him. Ben is laying in the dirt halfway down the slope leading into the valley below, Rey crouching by his side. Kylo can see from here that the old man is breathing, but only just. A dozen humanoid creatures wearing tan robes are attacking a rusty red and silver landspeeder at the base of the slope, there may be another person down there as well but Kylo cannot see properly from where he is standing. A couple of the creatures, their faces completely covered by tan rag-like masks with only small, black goggles to see through, are approaching Rey and Ben, their weapon's brandished.

Kylo ignites his lightsaber and makes quick work of the approaching creatures, one of whom calls a warning out to his comrades in a language Kylo does not understand. A few of the creatures at the bottom of the slope begin firing projectiles at Kylo who freezes them with the Force and sends the deadly blasts back to their owners. Some of the creatures flee in a panic, those that don't lie dead in the sand.

Kylo rushes back to Rey's side. She is crouched over Ben's prone body, one hand clutching one of the old man's and the other applying pressure to a gaping wound in the man's chest. Blood has saturated the Ben's tan robes and his face is as white as a sheet. Kylo looks at Rey, sensing her distress.

There's nothing we can do for him. He tells her as gently as possible through the bond.

"You think I don't know that?" She hisses out loud, tears in her eyes. Kylo, for the life of him, cannot reason why she is crying. She had only just met this man, was she like this every time someone died?

"No…" The old man gurgled, blood spurting from his mouth with the word, the red liquid dribbling down his chin and into his white beard. Rey, unnecessarily, takes a bit of the man's robes and wipes up the spittle. "Luke… Luke…" Ben coughs, his head rolling side to side. He tries to get up but fails.

"No," Rey whispers gently. "Save your energy."

For what? Kylo thinks, shaking his head nearly imperceptibly. There was nothing that could save this man now short of Force healing, something Kylo had never learned to do and doubted Rey knew with her lack of training.

Ben's breathing is a ragged, horrible thing and for a moment, Kylo wonders if the merciful thing would be to drive his lightsaber through the man, end his suffering, but just as the thought occurs to him the man stops breathing and goes limp, falling back into blood-soaked sand. His blue eyes are still open, but they are cold and unseeing now.

"Should we… bury him?" Rey asks, not looking up at Kylo at all.

"No," Kylo scoffs, shaking his head, his sweat drenched hair falling into his eyes.

Just as Rey looks up at him, fury blazing in her eyes, the old man's body fades from existence. It only takes a moment or two and suddenly, the only proof he had been there at all is the pile of bloody robes left on the rocks.

"What just happened?" Rey asks, her eyes wide, pleading Kylo for answers he simply doesn't have.

"I – I'm not quite sure." He stammers.

Without understanding why, he reaches down and picks up the man's lightsaber and inspects the hilt. The build is so familiar, it almost looks just like… He clips it to his belt next to his own.

Standing, Kylo looks down into the valley. Surely, there had to be a town not too far from here – or at least, he hopes it would not be too far. At least they have a speeder now, they can take that and find a ship and get off of this desert-hell, never mind how they got here.

Rey stands beside him, though she is careful to keep a good distance between them. She is stood on top of a rock outcropping and towers over Kylo. She brings her hand up to her eyes to block out the light of the suns and gasps in shock.

"There's someone down there!" She cries as she begins hopping down from rock to rock, descending into the valley below. Kylo's heart catches every time she lands, worried that she will lose her footing, break her neck, but climbing seems to be second nature to Rey. Kylo skids down a far safer path behind her.

There is someone by the speeder, as he descends, Kylo can just make out a mop of golden-blond hair and an off-white tunic. The figure is definitely human and definitely a man – or a boy, more like, though Kylo cannot make anything else out from where he is. Rey kneels beside the man and looks at him strangely, quirking her brow and scrunching her nose – not in disgust, but in confusion, curiosity.

"Is he dead?" Kylo asks, still descending the slope, his steps slow and careful as to not slip on the unfamiliar terrain.

"No, just knocked out." Rey says her mind clearly elsewhere. "I think he's alright, It's strange, but…" She trails off.

"But what?" Kylo asks as he makes his way around the speeder.

He looks at the boy, who does appear to be physically unharmed. He has a young, fresh face – he's most likely a teenager, perhaps just into adulthood. His skin is tanned from working out in the desert suns. His eyes are closed, so there's no way to tell what color they are, but Kylo doesn't need to see them to know what color they are. He knows the exact shade of blue because he knows this man.

Kylo could swear his heart has stopped. He reels back, bracing himself on the jagged rockface behind him, leather covered fingers gripping at the rough surface of the warm, brown stone, gripping for an anchor.

He's asleep, he has to be. He's dozed off during the meeting and instead of his usual nightmares, he is being plagued by the vision of his teenage uncle lying at the foot of a speeder on Tatooine. He can't breathe, or, more accurately, he can, but the breaths are coming in far too quickly and his head is spinning.

"Kylo?" Rey says standing, concern in her voice and on her face. She takes one step towards him and he hardly notices. "Ben?" She whispers, and oh, that makes it worse. He inhales sharply and can't breathe it out fast enough.

"Please, you need to calm down, you're going to pass out." She implores.

"That's…" Kylo begins but can't finish the sentence. If that is his uncle… The old man… Ben… Tatooine… the Empire. No, this couldn't be happening. "We're…" He gasps.

Kylo is so lost in his own winding, impossible thoughts that he doesn't even notice until his belt, cloak and gloves are in a pile in the ground by his feet and Rey is pulling his tunic up over his head that she is undressing him.

"Wh – What are you doing?" He stammers softly, his lower jaw trembling, his face is covered in a thick layer of sweat at this point.

"You're suffering from heatstroke," She says as she lifts his outer layer over his head and throws it to the ground. She then moves on to his arm guards. "You'll kill yourself out here in all these layers."

The angry, vicious little creature that lives in Kylo's mind wants him to snap at her, to ask her why she would care if he lives or dies, but he says nothing. He allows his body to be limp and pliant and allows her to remove his excess layers until he is stripped down to just a thin black tunic, trousers and boots. She pulls on his arm, urging him to follow her and he does without a word and without taking his eyes off of his sleeping uncle.

"We need to get you out of the heat." She says softly, leading him into a crevasse in the rockface and sitting him down in the shade. "I'm going to go see if I can find some… Artoo?"

Kylo hadn't even noticed the silver and blue astromech droid also using this shelter as a hiding spot. The driod beeps in confusion.

"What? Of course, I know you, what are you doing here?" Rey asks kneeling down. She reaches out to place a hand on the droid's domed head, but he rolls backward. "What's gotten into you?"

"Rey!" Kylo gasps, clarity returning to him, perhaps temporarily. He reaches out and grasps her arm with his ungloved hand and ignores how it simultaneously feels like touching a live wire and a cool bath of water.

"What?" She asks turning to him, eyes wide. "Are you… what's going on?"

"Rey," He repeats. "I think… that kid out there… We're in the past." He chokes on the words.

Rey stares at him blankly for a moment and blinks slowly. She stands, his limp grip on her arm faltering, and looks down on him with concern.

"Oh, it's worse than I thought."

"No!" Kylo calls after her as she leaves the shelter. His arm follows her, but he does not rise from his spot, he's not entirely sure he could.

Rey returns after a moment dragging a limp Luke Skywalker into the shady shelter and propping him up against the wall across from Kylo. She leaves again and reappears with a canteen and rag.

"I didn't want the sun to get to him too." Rey explains as she pours a bit of the water onto the rag. "But we've got to get you cooled down."

She presses the cool, damp rag to Kylo's forehead and it feels like heaven, but he has to make her understand. He reaches up and grabs her wrist. His grip is not tight, but she stops moving all the same. They just stare at each other for a long moment.

"Rey, please listen to me." Kylo says, his voice hardly more than a whisper. Rey just shoves the canteen to his lips.

"You need to drink."

Cold, blessed water pours into Kylo's mouth. He drinks greedily for a moment, nearly forgetting what he had needed to tell Rey that was so important and then a soft groan comes from where Luke is sitting. Kylo sputters and water spills down his front.

"Rey, I'm not – I'm not delirious. That -" He points towards the blond boy on the other side of the rocky enclosure, still passed out but now stirring fitfully. Kylo's hand is shaking as he gestures desperately towards his young uncle. "That's Luke." He chokes out past the lump in his throat.

"What?" Rey hisses. She scrambles on hands and knees over to where Luke is lying against the rocks. She hovers over him and pushes a bit of golden fringe out of his face. "I thought…" She breathes, leaning back and away from the young man. "I thought he looked familiar." She turns back to Kylo. "This isn't real, right?"

"Oh, thank the Maker!" Kylo cringes at the prim and painfully familiar voice coming from the entrance of the rocky crevasse. "Master Luke, I'm so glad I – Oh, dear, Master Luke." The golden protocol droid faces Rey. "Is he alright?"

"I think so, Threepio." Rey mumbles, her eyes glazing over, staring out not at the droid or at Kylo's uncle or at anything at all, really.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss." C3PO says, stopping short. "Do I know you?"

"Oh, uh…"

"What…" Everyone stops talking, their focus solely on Luke who is now rubbing his head and grimacing. "What happened?"

"Master Luke!" C3PO exclaims, throwing his golden arms up into the air. "I was so worried for you, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Luke says, shaking his head a bit, his blond hair bobbing along with the movement. He looks up, his focus switching from the protocol droid to Rey to Kylo. "Who – who are you?"

"Oh, um… we -" Rey starts, but is cut off by an enthusiastic C3PO.

"Our heroes, sir! They saved us from those horrible sand people, I saw them myself!"

"Is that true?" Luke asks.

"Well, I suppose," Rey says, clearly uncomfortable – whether with being called a hero or being in the past, Kylo cannot tell. "What were you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I was trying to catch up with that astromech." Luke explains, gesturing a frustrated hand towards R2D2 who has hidden himself further in the shadows. "He's looking for an Obi Wan Kenobi, I thought that Old Ben Kenobi might know of him, and I was gonna ask," He adds, looking pointedly at the droid. "Before you ran off!"

R2D2 beeps a soft apology.

"Apparently this Obi Wan used to be his master and he has a message for him, he won't show it to me though." Luke says, blowing a bit of blond hair out of his face in irritation. "Well, anyway, we were attacked by those raiders, as you saw. Thank you, by the way."

Rey nods, acknowledging Luke's thanks, Kylo just glares at the young man.

"Is he alright?" Luke asks Rey gesturing towards Kylo, his voice a whisper.

"Oh, him?" Rey asks, craning her neck to look back at Kylo and shooting him an admonishing stare when she sees his grimace. "He's fine, that's just how he is."

"Well," Luke says, standing and wiping the sand from his clothes. "Thank you again, but I should probably head home, my aunt and uncle will be worried if I'm away too long… do you know what time it is?"

"No, sorry," Rey says with an awkward shrug.

Kylo throws his head back, resting it against the rocky surface. Why were he and Rey here, and why did this situation seem so familiar? Luke following R2D2, finding Obi Wan… Kylo knows this story, his uncle had told him, but that seems so long ago now. He wracks his brain. Obi Wan wasn't supposed to die here, he was supposed to tell Luke about the Jedi, take Luke to the cantina where they meet... Luke couldn't go home to his aunt and uncle because…

"No!" Kylo shouts, struggling to stand, bracing himself on the rough wall behind him. "We have to… You were looking for Obi – Ben Kenobi, right?"

"Well, Artoo was, I guess." Luke laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Does he live nearby?"

"Yeah, just over that hill back there."

"Can you take us there?" R2D2 beeps excitedly at that and Luke shoots him a warning look.

What are you doing? Rey asks through the bond, staring at him like he is crazy, and maybe he is.

What needs to happen! He shoots back. They have messed up the timeline. If Luke doesn't get to the Death Star, Leia will be executed, Kylo will never be born.

"Oh, I don't know…" Luke says, shaking his head. "Owen's already gonna be pretty upset with me, I haven't even started my chores yet and I still need to get down to Tosche Station…"

"Ben is Obi Wan Kenobi… or was."

"Was, what do you mean was?"

"He's… He's dead, Luke." Rey says, placing a hand on Luke's arm. R2D2 beeps sadly from his hiding spot.

"Oh, no!" Luke says, carding a hand through his blond hair. "That's awful!"

"Oh, dear. What a shame, we really should be heading back now." C3PO says, turning to leave the shallow cave the group has huddled in.

"But he – he had something he needed to give you." Kylo says, his thoughts and emotions in a wild scramble.

"He did?" Luke asks, quirking an eyebrow. "What was it?"

"You'll just have to -" Kylo stops himself, reigning in his frustration. They won't get anywhere if Luke won't go with them. "Can you take us to his house?"

It's a tight squeeze, all three of them and the two droids jammed in the small landspeeder, but they make it work. Luke still seems wary of the two strangers and Rey is more than a little confused, but Kylo doesn't notice at all.

Kylo jumps from the slowing speeder as soon as he sees Kenobi's hovel. He vaguely hears Luke and Rey yelling at him to 'hold on' or 'slow down', but he pays them no mind. He throws the door open and immediately begins tearing through the old man's belongings because it has to be here.

"No, I lost my first lightsaber… Same way I lost this hand." Ben Solo's uncle and Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker laughs and wiggles his mechanical fingers. "My master, Obi Wan, gave it to me just before I met your father. It was… It had been my father's." There had been a sad glint in the Jedi Master's eyes that Ben had not been able to place then.

"What are you doing?" Rey asks as she bursts into the small home after Kylo. "Ben, stop!" She hisses.

"No, I have to find…" He opens a small wooden box tucked under a windowsill, and there it is! Thin, silver and black, the hilt buzzes in Kylo's hand. "Here it is!"

"Oh!" Rey says, stepping to stand by Kylo's side, her eyes firmly planted on the saber hilt in his hands. "It's Luke's…"

"What?" Luke asks causing Rey and Kylo to swing around. He looks curiously between the two. "It's my what?"

"This," Kylo says holding the saber out to Luke, though every atom in his being screams against it. "This is what Kenobi wanted you to have."

"What is it?" Luke asks, tentatively taking the hilt from Kylo's hand. He seems to weigh it in his palms, take in the feel of it, then raises it to his face and looks straight down the emitter.

"Oh!" Rey cries, rushing to Luke's side and pulling the saber away from his face. "Don't do that!"

"Oh, Sorry!" Luke says bashfully.

"It's a lightsaber." Kylo explains.

Luke begins to inspect the weapon further. He flicks it on and the blade extends, casting the dim hut in soft blue lighting. He takes a few experimental swings of the saber, reveling in the feel of it, the way the hilt hums in his hand, the pleasing sound of the blade as it moves – Kylo knows the feeling all too well. The boy flicks the saber off and turns his attention back to Kylo, one brow raised in question.

"Why did Old Ben want me to have this?"

"It was your father's."

"My father's?" Luke practically shouts. Kylo can feel confusion and excitement rolling off of his uncle through the Force. "Why did Ben have this? How do you know…" Luke's eyes are wide and searching, but he's not looking at anything in particular. "My father's?" He whispers.

"From when he was a Jedi…"

"My father was a Jedi?" Luke interrupts, his eyes have flown open even wider, if that was possible.

"You… what?" Kylo stops short.

He doesn't know? Kylo hears Rey ask in his mind. He looks over to her and shrugs slightly.

"What do you know about your father, Luke?" Rey asks gently.

"My aunt and uncle don't talk about him much. They told me he was… he was a pilot – a navigator on a spice freighter." Luke sputters, falling onto a nearby seat, his shoulders slumping.

Lying about family secrets must be a genetic trait. Kylo chuckles ruefully through the bond. Rey just rolls her eyes at him, but then they widen.

Does he not know about… about…

About what, Rey?

… About Vader. The name of Kylo's grandfather is practically whispered through the bond.

Obviously not. Kylo sends back, and it is his turn to roll his eyes.

When does he… Are we supposed to tell him?

I – I don't know.

Kylo doesn't know what to do. Obviously, his uncle never told him when it was that he found out Vader was his father, his family hadn't even deemed it pertinent to tell Kylo Vader was his grandfather at all. He steals a glance at Luke who is clearly distressed, not that Kylo cares, but he doesn't know what is supposed to come next, and then it hits him.

"Artoo, play the full message." Kylo commands. The droid beeps defiantly, refusing Kylo's order. "Well, he's dead!" Kylo snaps. "I – we know Leia, play the message, now!"

R2D2 rolls back and forth, beeping nervously, as though the droid was unsure if he should be trusting the dark stranger or not.

"Artoo," Rey says as she kneels beside the droid. "He's telling the truth, he's just being rude about it." She glares back at Kylo who rolls his eyes. "Please play the message."

With a high-pitched beep that sounds strangely like a sigh, R2D2 consents.

The flickering blue image of his mother flashes to life in front of him looking younger than he ever remembers her being. She is wearing a long white dress, the hood pulled up over her head, partially hiding the two large buns framing her face. Luke watches his sister speak, absolutely enraptured and Rey looks close to tears. Kylo has to look away from the scene, mostly to hide the way his lower jaw is trembling.

"Leia," Rey breathes.

"General Kenobi," The princess begins. Kylo is helpless to do anything but listen. He hasn't heard his mother's voice in years and he hadn't expected it to affect him so. He bites the inside of his cheek to distract himself. "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

"She's in trouble!" Luke exclaims.

"We should go help her." Kylo says, tonelessly, still with his back to the group.

"We – us?" Luke asks, standing and moving to face Kylo. Luke is inches away from his nephew, looking up at the taller man, his face awash with disbelief. Kylo realizes with a nauseous feeling that he has not been this close to his uncle in years, not since that night in the temple and the man's blue eyes are still the same. "Wha – we can't… I can't…"

"Obi Wan is dead." Kylo says with a tense jaw. "Who else does she have?"

Luke blinks, his eyes searching the small dwelling that once belonged to the dead Jedi Master. He opens his mouth and closes it again. He looks lost, scared, confused and so young Kylo can hardly bear to look at him.

"I'm just a farmer," Luke says with a small, breathy laugh. "What can I do?"

"More than you know." Rey says with a smile, striding up to Luke and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I've got to tell my aunt and uncle at least."

Kylo goes stiff, knowing what Luke will find back at the Lars homestead – nothing but destruction, but it has to happen because that is how it happened last time. Rey, perhaps sensing Kylo's tension looks up at him.

What? She asks through the bond.

You'll see.

The bridge of the Devastator buzzes and hums like a well-oiled machine. Officers stride across the shiny black floors at a quick pace, their uniforms pressed and neat. Systems beep and blink in the way they should – but Vader is ill at ease.

He had sensed a great disturbance in the Force not long after his flagship had hit hyperspace outside of Tatooine and then… Kenobi, he was gone. Anger, rage, indignation. He had been Vader's to face, it had been his vengeance to take – but that didn't matter now, Vader sensed, there was something larger at play. Something far more important than Kenobi or even the Death Star plans which were still at large.

"Lord Vader," A thin faced officer with pale hair stands in front of Vader, her back straight as a pin, her hands clasped tightly behind her. She is the picture of calm, but Vader can sense her fear. They were always afraid, which he was glad for. "The prisoner has been confined to a cell on the brig. We are on route to the Death Star. Do you have any orders?"

The Death Star… no, the Force screams against the idea of returning there, but why?

"No," Vader intones. "Redirect, return to Tatooine."

The officer is clearly stunned, her light eyes blinking rapidly, her mouth falling open just a fraction. For a moment it seems as though she might question Vader's orders, but luckily for her, she thinks better of it.

"Right away, sir." She inclines her head respectfully and turns on her heels to relay his command.

Vader walks slowly down the center of the bridge, officers part like water around him, granting him a wide berth, which he prefers. He stops in front of the large command deck viewport, staring out into hyperspace. He remembers that the lines surrounding them are white and blue, blinding and brilliant, though he only sees red now.

He can feel it, as sure as he is standing, that he is making the right choice. For the first time in his life, that horrific scar of a planet actually has something of value for him. He is going to find it.