Hello, it's time for another project. I'm not entirely sure what inspired this, but I hope you like it.

It was strange how someone could long for something and yet, at the same time, fear it more than anything else.

On one hand, Kento and Mallie wanted more than anything to see their son again.

On the other hand, they knew what seeing him would mean. That his luck had finally run out, that somehow, somewhere his short life had finally come to an end. Galen was dead.

"Maybe we were wrong." She said, more to herself than anyone else. "Maybe he survived." As much as she may have wished otherwise she knows that this isn't the case.

Kento shook his head. He doesn't believe that anymore than she does. There are some things the dead can always sense. The impending arrival of someone they had known in life was one of them.

Mallie wondered if there was anything left of the child they knew in the man he had become. She really hadn't seen her son since he was a toddler; barely able to form words. Kento had raised the boy for a few years longer, but not much. The occasional glimpses of him they have had over the years in visions were not encouraging. His struggle to survive and descent into darkness had been painful to watch. Only recently had there been any reason to hope and now even that hope was gone.

They had tried so hard to keep Galen safe, to give him some sort of future. One that didn't involve constant war.

Life has a way of never turning out how you expect it to.

She had never thought she would fall in love, and certainly she had never envisioned herself running away from the Order she had served her whole life, pregnant and with no plans beyond: 'find somewhere safe'.

That hadn't worked out either.

"How do we want to handle this?" Kento asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I don't know. You knew him longer than I did." She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

He was silent for a moment, as if carefully considering his options. "I'll try to talk to him first, maybe. There's no predicting how he'll react to any of this."

"Go ahead." She had never been much for words anyway. If Kento thought he had a better chance of reaching their child she was more than willing to let him try.

There was no point lingering on things that couldn't be fixed. The past was the past, well beyond repair. They had been unable to save their son in the past. As much as they may wish otherwise, there was no changing that. All that really mattered was the future, uncertain though it was.

So, for now, they would wait and see what the future brought. Good or bad, it was time to see what had become of their son.

An individual's preconceived notions about reality have a great effect on what their mind can and cannot comprehend. The strange and unfamiliar landscape of the lands where the dead walked were translated into something the mind could recognize and understand.

No one saw that realm in quite the same way, but for Galen there was a forest of tall trees and a dense fog that made it hard to discern any detail of his surroundings except for a narrow path through the wood which was clear enough. Shadowy figures darted between the trees, just far enough away that he couldn't see them clearly. He didn't sense any overt danger from them; if anything they seemed curious rather than hostile. All the same, he had the feeling that he didn't want to leave the path.

Galen glanced down, trying to think. How he had ended up on this path he couldn't remember. He forced himself to think back farther, memories crowding in quickly to fill the void.

Deciding that the lives of others meant more to him than personal vengeance...

Drawing in more power than he ever had before. Determined not to allow any harm to come to those he defended...

Falling to the ground, drained and broken, darkness closing in...

Not caring, because he knew that his death meant Juno's escape. The only thing that had mattered to him in those last moments...

Galen shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the memories and focus on the present. He kept walking; the movement helping him think.

Now, he looked the same as he had the morning before the meeting on Corellia. Which, while not even two days before, still felt like a lifetime ago. Nothing out of place. Not a mark on him anywhere. His clothing -the same thing he had been wearing during the assault- was also undamaged.

He felt fine too. No pain, no tiredness, nothing to indicate he had just been on the losing side of a fight to the death.

All of this was so very wrong.

He walked for a long time. Uncertain where he was going or even why he was going there. There were others on the pathway. Ghostly and indistinct, as insubstantial as the shadows between the trees. Every once in a while one would stop and vanish as if they had reached their destination.

Wherever that was.

Years of caution made him long for a weapon to hold. Somehow, he doubted that one would do him any good here, but he would have felt better to know it was available. He vaguely remembered his saber falling from limp fingers as the last of his fading strength left him in one final surge. Had that last desperate move worked? Were Juno and the others safe?

He could accept whatever lay ahead if the answer was yes.

There were no answers yet. Just more fog and uncertainty.

He picked up his pace slightly, not wanting to be out in this unnatural fog any longer than necessary. Just because he couldn't sense danger didn't mean he was safe. One of his earliest lessons was that there was no such thing as safety.

Not for him, anyway.

Eventually the path came to an end and Galen found himself in a clearing. The thick fog had been pushed back to the edges and the lurking shadows were nowhere to be seen. Instead, two figures -solid and real looking- stood as if they had been waiting for him outside a small structure that was hauntingly familiar. He had only seen it twice before. Once in a vision and again as a very real ruin.

That ruin had been home once. His home. His family's home.

Not that any of that mattered. It was the two standing outside that caught his attention. He didn't recognize the woman -although she was vaguely familiar somehow- tall and lean, with short brown hair. But the man? Yes, he'd seen him before. In the ruin that had been home once. Features similar to his own, but older and with less of the gaunt, desperate edge that he possessed. The older man radiated a deep sense of calm, inner strength Galen knew he would never have.

This man was his father and he could guess well enough who the woman was.

Galen approached cautiously, unsure if he was even welcome here and wary that this was some sort of trap. He had so much to answer for. He had let his past, his memory of two he stood before, his very identity slip away from him. He had done horrible things in the service of his former master. He couldn't see how anyone would ever be willing to forgive such things.

"Galen?" His father ventured cautiously.

"I'm dead aren't I?" He said abruptly. Maybe not the best way to open a conversation with a long lost family member, but it was what he had been thinking and one way or another he needed to know.

Besides, subtlety had never been one of his strengths.

"I'm afraid so, son."

Galen had suspected as much. There weren't many other alternatives he could think of. His dreams were much more straightforward -even when they were nightmares that made him wake in a cold sweat; biting back a scream.

"So what now?" he asked, half expecting to be turned away in disgust.

"That depends. What do you want?"

It wasn't a question he had heard often. There had been only one person who had ever asked that question and truly cared about the answer. "I..." Galen swallowed and looked down, totally at a loss for words. "I don't know."

Kento put a hand on his son's shoulder, sensing his distress and trying to offer some comfort and reassurance. The simple gesture was met with unexpected violence. Galen reacted instinctively, knocking the hand aside and taking a step back with surprising speed.

Kento took a step back as well, not wanting to push too hard. "Calm down, Galen. Neither of us is going to hurt you."

"Is that what you think? That I'm afraid of you?" He said, feeling a surge of irrational anger. He had asked Juno that very same question once not so long ago.

Her answer had been that he was afraid to let anyone try and help him.

Now, seeing his parent's concerned looks, he had to admit that she may have had a point. For the longest time he had refused to let anyone in. He kept to himself out of habit as much as necessity, but he kept others at a distance with good reason.

"No." Kento answered, pulling Galen out of his thoughts. "I'm guessing that there isn't much that scares you."

Anger drained away, replaced by embarrassment. Getting angry wouldn't help him now. He needed to think before he reacted. Now more than ever. "Sorry, this is just...a lot to take in. I need a moment to think."

"Take your time." He retreated little farther, giving Galen some space. "Your mother and I will be inside when you're ready to talk."

He nodded absently in acknowledgment and watched them retreat, trying to sort out his thoughts. Had he disappointed them? Did they already know what he had done? If not, would they still want him around if they knew? There were no clear answers to any of that. But all of that fell someway behind bigger concerns. What was going on? Where was he? And what was he going to do anyway? Dead? Really?

Dead.

The truth of the statement hit him hard. All he had ever been. All he ever would be. Gone now. Like him.

Dead.

Galen could sense that the other man had told him the truth. On a gut level he had suspected as much before he had ever asked the question, before even he had dared think the word to himself.

Which didn't make things any better really. What he needed now was some answers.

"That did not go well." Mallie admitted once they were out of earshot.

"Truthfully that isn't surprising, but I didn't expect him to have such a strong aversion to physical contact. Hopefully, that wasn't too big of a misstep." Kento said as she sat down and he began to pace, trying to focus his deliberations. "What do you think?"

"I was expecting a little more fear and confusion about this. Most usually are at first, but he was remarkably detached until he felt cornered." She replied.

"Something is wrong, and it isn't just his reaction. He seems..."

"Disconnected somehow? Lost?" She suggested, finishing his sentence.

"Exactly. It's more than just being stuck in between like us."

"Well, we know why we stayed, but what holds him here?" She asked. That was the important question. Any other oddity could wait till later to be addressed.

"So, something happened with me that wasn't supposed to?" Galen said suddenly from behind them.

They both tensed immediately. It was actually a little unnerving to see how the boy had approached in total silence without either of them being able to sense a thing. He was undoubtedly skilled in the arts of stealth and had no reservations about putting that talent to use.

"I'm sorry, Galen. I didn't hear you come in." Mallie replied, working to keep her voice even.

"I didn't want to be heard." He stated matter-of-factly. "Now, are you going to explain what's wrong with me, or should I just leave so you can talk behind my back some more?"

"Galen-" His father started to say.

"No! I want to know what's happening to me. If you can't or won't explain, then I'll just leave and figure it out on my own."

Neither of them wanted that. To see Galen again after so long, only to have him turn away in frustration and anger. This was too soon, too new. If they lost him now they might not ever get another chance.

No. They couldn't do that. Couldn't lose him.

Not again.

"I suppose you do need an explanation, but keep in mind there is still so much we don't know. Some of this is just guess work" Mallie said.

"Fine. Something is better than nothing." Galen folded his arms and leaned back against the wall.

"What did you believe happened after death?" She asked.

"I never gave it much thought. Too busy just trying to stay alive to worry about what may or may not come after." He had been well schooled in the ways of the dark side, but had received little in the way of any spiritual teachings. As far as his former master was concerned, he didn't need to know any of that to hold a blade or fire lightning from his hands.

She took a deep breath before she began. "Usually, when someone passes on, their soul or spirit -or whatever label people chose to give the part of themselves that lives on after death- rejoins the force."

"And that isn't what happened here?" Galen guessed, remembering what he had overheard earlier.

"Exactly." Kento said.

"Then where are we?" he asked, gesturing at the tiny hut the stood in.

"Somewhere in between."

"In between where?" Galen said, trying to keep his irritation concealed. There was no point getting angry -it wouldn't help and might just make things worse- but anger was still his first response to stress. It was better than giving in to fear. Anger at least, had its uses.

"Between life and death. Everywhere and nowhere." She said.

"That is...really unhelpful."

"I'm sorry, son, but there isn't really any other way to explain it." She said gently.

"No. I think I understand what you mean. But what is this place specifically? It looks like..." He trailed off, unsure if his long faded memory was anywhere near accurate in this regard.

"The hut we lived in when you were a child?"

Exactly what he had been thinking. "Uh...yeah. Why is that?"

"Everything you will find here is made up of someone's memory or imagination."

"So, you made this out of your memories?"

"Yes. I can show you how to construct something later if you like." Kento offered. He wasn't sure if the boy would accept the offer. Galen was so closed off and suspicious, which in all honesty wasn't surprising, but it still made him sad to see it.

"That might be a good idea. If I'm stuck here I may as well figure out what I'm doing."

Cautiously offered, even more cautiously accepted. More trust than they could ever have hoped for.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.

I had initially planned this as just another one shot, but the story just kept growing. How long it will be before the end I don't know, but I do intend to finish this. How long will that take? No idea, but it will get done.

Special thanks to MarshMella for being willing to beta this and discuss things even though she is busy with her own huge TFU related project. Thanks also to From Pen to Paper for her excellent advice and letting me bounce ideas off her when she has also been so busy. With out them this would still be just a bunch of loosely related fragments sitting around in my story folder.

Please leave a review. I'm a little unsure about this story and I could really use some input.

Thanks for reading.