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The veil is thin in such a place. Time ceases to flow like a river and instead pools in many directions like a slow flood. There, reality is open to the will of the Force. There, you will find what you seek.
The Supreme Leader’s words echoed in Kylo Ren’s mind as he knelt in The Valley of the Sith Lords. He had come to meditate, to seek strength from the Darkness, but the Dark refused to bend to his will. Even now, Kylo could hear voices calling out to him from the mist, loud enough to be heard but annoyingly indistinct. He attempted to clear his mind, but in this dizzying place filled with ghosts, he felt his consciousness pulled in too many directions at once. “Help me, Grandfather,” he whispered. He reached out mentally into the ether, looking, aching for some kind of sign.
----
Half a dozen decades ago, Anakin Skywalker found himself curiously unsettled. He was sitting around a campfire with Obi-Wan and a few troopers, as they celebrated their most recent victory. He had been laughing and talking for most of the evening, until he felt a strange tugging in his chest. He ignored it as long as he could, falling silent in the attempt. Obi-Wan noticed and sent him a questioning glance.
“I’m fine,” Anakin said. “I think I just need some air.” He stood abruptly and wandered out into the night. The sky was clear and bursting with stars. He smiled. Padme loved nights like this. He walked farther, unable to shake the feeling that he was being led, no, pulled , in a particular direction. Up ahead, the path was obscured by a thick fog. Anakin was about to turn back when he heard something that made him pause. It was almost as if someone called his name. No, not his name, but. . .
As he struggled to identify it, the mist swirled closer until it enveloped him completely. Something wasn’t right.
----------
Kylo fell back in frustration. He had been in the valley all day, unable to meditate in the inarticulate clamor of all the ghosts. Giving up, he punched a nearby pillar in frustration and watched it crumble further into dust that drifted away in the wind. This is absurd, he thought to himself as he nursed his bloody knuckles. This place holds no great knowledge of the Force. This was a waste of time. He started walking back towards his camp but the heavy fog obscured his path and it seemed to take him much longer than he remembered.
There was a dark figure up ahead in the mist. Ren took a few more steps, waiting for the specter to dissipate. It remained solid as ever. Finally, when he was no more than a couple meters away, the figure turned, and Anakin Skywalker and Kylo Ren stood face to face.
Both instinctively reached for their lightsabers. “Who are you?” they both growled simultaneously.
Anakin stopped and turned pale. “What is this?” he hissed, clutching his chest. “Why is the Force so out of balance?” His eyes widened, “Why can’t I feel the rest of the Jedi? What happened?”
“What Jedi?” Kylo answered petulantly.
Anakin strode forward. “Tell me!” He demanded. “I swear to the Maker, if you hurt any of them-”
Kylo flicked on his lightsaber, stopping the other man short.
Anakin was not deterred. “Are you actually threatening me? That saber looks like it’s about to explode. Did you find it in a junkyard?”
Kylo swung heavily at him but Anakin blocked him, igniting his saber mid swing and twirling out of his reach, his robes billowing as he spun.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know we were dancing ,” Kylo deadpanned. Anakin took a moment to drop his outer robe while Kylo twirled his saber.
What a kriffing drama queen, they both thought simultaneously.
Kylo closed the distance between them in a few heavy steps, lifting his saber to hack away at his opponent’s defenses. Anakin moved lightly and quickly, in sharp contrast to Kylo’s broad strikes.
“You fight like a rancor,” he said between spins, “Who taught you your forms?”
“You fight like a twi’lek dancer,” Ren grumbled.
The light of the clashing sabers fell on Kylo’s face and Anakin took a step back, wide-eyed. “You look like her,” he murmured. “Who are you?”
“What are you talking about?” Kylo snarled.
Suddenly, the valley around them was filled with an eerie howling, echoing in the mist. “Are those kath hounds?” Anakin asked, lowering his weapon.
“The valley is filled with them,” Kylo replied.
Anakin couldn’t explain it, but the feel of this person, his Force signature, was so familiar that he instinctively wanted to protect him. The howls grew closer and shadows slunk through the fog, coming closer.
“We need to get out of here,” Anakin whispered.
The man’s sudden use of the word “we” caught Kylo by surprise. There was something familiar about him although he would have sworn they had never met. He sized him up and came to a quick decision. “Come with me.”
He led the way through the mist towards his shuttle in silence. Anakin followed, occasionally stealing glances at the dark figure.
“You weren’t trained by the Council. Who did train you?”
“Supreme Leader Snoke.”
“Supreme leader of what?”
Ren frowned. “The First Order. Soon, he will rule the galaxy.”
“Sounds ambitious,” Anakin said, “I’ve never heard of this Order. I’ll ask the Jedi Council about it.”
“What Jedi Council?”
Anakin furrowed his brow. “ The Jedi Council.”
“There is no Council. The only Jedi, if you can call him that, is Sky--”
Suddenly, a huge kath hound leapt out of the shadows with a roar. Anakin instinctively pushed Kylo behind him and drew his saber but the hound unaccountably froze in midair. He glanced behind him to see Kylo with arm outstretched. “Touch me again and I’ll kill you,” he hissed.
“Fine,” Anakin grumbled. He was about to tuck his saber away when the rest of the kath hounds attacked. Amidst the snarls and the roars, their sabers flashed as they swung at the slinking shadows, the red and blue blurring into purple as they fought in unison. The darkness was disorienting, but they cut down the predators quickly. When the last hound fell to the ground with a heavy thud, its head following a moment afterwards, Kylo gestured wordlessly and led the way out of the valley.
They walked down the unfamiliar path in silence for a while until Kylo stopped. “Something’s wrong.”
“Now what?”
“We should have been out of the valley by now,” he whispered. “Can’t you feel it?”
Anakin closed his eyes briefly. “The Force is unstable here. Reality is . . . shifting.”
They both cast out their senses, but made little headway. Each time they sought direction from the Force, they found themselves pointed to the man in front of them.
“I don’t like this,” Ren growled.
“Obi-Wan would know what to do,” Anakin huffed.
“Obi-Wan? Like, Ben Kenobi?”
“No, you must be thinking of someone else.” He looked at Ren curiously. “Are you from Naboo?”
“No.”
“What about your family?” Anakin pressed.
“My family doesn’t matter. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You look like my wife.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he bit his tongue. What was it about this man that made him blurt out his deepest secret? It was almost as if there were no secrets in this strange place. As if the Force was trying to bring all things to light. . .
Kylo rolled his eyes.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“That you go around telling other men they remind you of your wife?”
“No, that I have a wife. Jedi aren’t supposed to love.”
“There are no Jedi. And I don’t care who you love.” He was unsure why he didn’t cut the man down. There was something about him, something familiar and slightly uncomfortable. He looked him over and his eyes fell on the lightsaber in Anakin’s hand.
Kylo grabbed the Jedi’s wrist and examined the saber. “Where did you get this?” he demanded.
Anakin yanked his wrist away. “It’s mine.”
“No it isn’t. That saber belongs to me.” He tried to force pull it out of his grasp but Anakin tightened his grip.
“You’re insane. I made this myself.”
“Give it me,” he demanded.
“No!”
Kylo tried to freeze Anakin in place but the Jedi shoved him back with a Force push. Ren caught himself then yanked the other man forward with the Force. Anakin fell to the ground in a heap, landing on his shoulder. Kylo grabbed for the saber but Anakin caught him by the arm and pulled him down with him. They wrestled like two younglings in the dirt for a few moments before Ren managed to freeze Anakin. He snatched the lightsaber and retreated back a few steps triumphantly.
The Jedi’s eyes narrowed and suddenly Kylo’s throat constricted. He dropped the saber, clutching at his collar and Anakin stood as he called the saber into his hand. He clipped it to his belt. “You will not touch my saber again. Do you understand?”
The pressure on Ren’s throat abated. He gasped for breath and said nothing.
Anakin frowned, irritated. “I can’t stay angry at you.”
“How very Jedi of you,” Ren grumbled.
“No, it’s like there is some kind of connection between us.”
Kylo arched an eyebrow.
“Not like that, sleemo,” Anakin said.
Ren felt the same way but did not want to admit it. “I just want to get out of here,” he muttered.
They walked down the path in a silent truce, still unable to see much in the thick fog.
“So,” Anakin said conversationally, “You’re not from Naboo and you don’t have a family, is there anyone-”
No,” Kylo interrupted. “There’s no one.”
“Oh.” Anakin fell silent for a moment. “You would have made a good Jedi,” he grumbled.
“I would NOT,” protested Kylo, scowling up at the sky.
It was growing dark and they still had not found their way out of the valley. They sat in the shelter of one of the larger monoliths to wait out the night. Soon it was pitch black and the two could no longer see each other.
“What is it?” Anakin asked. “I can feel you thinking. Just say it.”
“I feel the Dark side in you.”
Anakin paused. “Yes,” he said quietly. “It’s always been there. From the moment I first saw a slave beaten to death, it’s been there.”
“Do you not wish to harness it?”
“No.”
“Why not? Your precious Jedi teachings forbid it?”
“Honestly, the Jedi are a bunch of shabs most of the time. The Council is filled with ignorant hutt-spawn who think they are the wisest sentients in the galaxy. No, that’s not why I don’t embrace it.”
“Then why?”
“Because I know it will consume me. The moment I let that happen, everything that makes me me will die.”
“Do you think it’s worth it? The power?”
“Do you?”
They both fell silent.
Anakin whispered, “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Why are you here? Why did you come to this valley?”
“I was seeking guidance. I needed wisdom, direction. The path before me is clear but sometimes-“
There was silence for a moment until Anakin asked, “Sometimes what?”
“Sometimes, I doubt,” he said quietly.
They both fell silent for a while and Ren thought the Jedi had fallen asleep until he heard a small whisper, barely audible,
“Me too.”
--
Kylo awoke to the first glint of morning light. He was alone. The fog had lifted and he could see the path that led back to his shuttle. Ren decided he would leave in a few hours. He had not found what he was looking for, but he figured he could squeeze in a few more hours of meditation.
“Grandfather,” he said, his words echoing in the empty space, “Why do you never speak to me?”