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The strongest memory of Yavin IV is the scent of resin. He carries it with him every time he leaves the planet and it fills him with nostalgia every time he returns.

So it is that time too.

They are far from the places of his first adventures.  That area is totally wild. Ben runs ahead of him, excited and eager to continue his training.

It's just the two of them this time. Luke knows he shouldn't. That every one of his apprentices is important. But he can't help but have a special fondness for Ben.

He stops for a moment and rests his fleshy hand on the rough trunk of a large, sturdy tree. It pulses with life under the rough bark. It speaks to him. It tells him that the Force that pulses in everything makes them siblings.

Who knows if he is passing on the right lessons to Ben.

Luke wonders if he can already perceive the splendour of his surroundings.

He is extraordinary. To train him is a privilege. He has the potential to become one of the greatest Jedi in history. Leia fears for him. Leia fears him.

Luke cannot fully share her fears. The shadows in Ben are the same as those in the soul of every creature. He will be able to keep them at bay. Luke will not allow anything to happen to him.

Because Ben is his nephew. Because he bears the name he would have wanted to give his son, had he ever had one. Because he loves him as if he were his own son.

Luke leans his head against the ancient wood of the tree. The Force speaks to him through it. His father was the Chosen One. He has been called a new hope. His nephew will be the keeper of the Balance.

Chapter Text

Luke has fallen behind. This does not surprise him. He must have got lost in one of his daydreams and Ben has every intention of taking advantage of it.

The roar of the rushing water is powerful and impetuous and Ben smells it as he walks through the forest.

He loves to explore alone. It doesn't happen often enough for him. His uncle tends to keep his leash very short.

Ben does not blame him for this. The responsibility on his shoulders is enormous. But sometimes Ben would like to run ahead. And not just like he is doing now.

His abilities are far superior to those of his companions, but it seems that Luke is apprehensive about recognising it.

He is the Master. He certainly knows what is best for me, he say to himself as he reaches a wide clearing bordering a river whose silvery waters run laden and swollen from recent rains.

The watercourse bifurcates and, in the middle, a small island covered with dark trees looks like a fortress.

Ben looks over his shoulder. Luke is not yet in sight.

I can make it, he thinks, appealing to the Force and taking a leap across the watercourse until he lands badly in the trees. The space between trunks is minimal. "Damn..." Ben looks down at his flayed hands and knees. "Hearty congratulations, Ben Solo..."

"Ben, where are you?"

He instinctively turns around even though there's something odd about that voice. A dissonant note.

Luke?

He sees him. In the trees, evanescent as a shadow.

He is a red-haired boy about his age. He wields a blue lightsaber and moves it deftly through the trunks without touching a single leaf. There is something tremendously familiar about him.

A ghost?

His figure is not concrete. The forest is visible in transparency beyond his body.

Perhaps he is someone who lived here many years ago... a Jedi from the ancient ages...

"Ben!"

Luke again. But at that moment he realises that call is not coming from behind him.

Luke is approaching the boy. And he is different. He has no beard. His hair is shorter. And the way he looks at the red-haired boy is filled with tenderness. And also...

He too is evanescent. They are no ghosts. They are...

"Ben..." That strange version of Luke rests a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I see you've improved, son. Your mother and I are proud of you."

The boy turns around, switching off his lightsaber. "This place is beautiful. It's so different from Ossus..."

"Ben!" He winces. Because the hand on his shoulder is Luke's. The one he knows. His uncle. "What are you looking at?"

His uncle can't see them. The two Jedi who do not belong to that world become more and more evanescent until they disappear altogether.

"I think there is some kind of Force Vergency here, Master." He doesn't know if it's right to tell him about the boy. About the son who, in his reality, he did not have. It might cause him pain.

No. He is Luke Skywalker. The great Luke Skywalker. He knows how not to give in to emotion. And I will be like him one day.

"That's true," Luke replies to him. “But I didn't think you could sense it yet. You keep surprising me, Ben. Has the Force shown you anything?" Luke's tone becomes concerned.

Who knows what he fears?

Ben smiles to reassure him. "Yes. Only good things." Then he ignites his lightsaber. "Shall we begin?"