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Chapter Text

“You know,” Leia said as she followed her twin down a dark tunnel, “I don’t think this is what Mon had in mind when she insisted I take some time off to relax.”

Luke let out a soft chuckle. “I doubt she would have even thought of you doing anything like this. But I think it’s good that you’re getting out, especially after last week.”

“Don’t remind me. That was an absolute mess!”

“Then I guess it’s good that you’re taking a break now.”

That was true, Leia acknowledged. Getting away from everything, regrouping and taking a deep breath before diving right back into things. Letting out a sigh, she held the light stick up higher and continued her downward trek. She stepped carefully, not wanting to trip down the uneven stairs.

When Luke had heard about how she’d been ‘advised’ (read: ordered) to take some time off, he’d immediately jumped in to invite her to go explore an old Temple he’d found on an old Jedi storage thing from a different Temple. His main excuse was so they could spend some time bonding, as they hadn’t really seen much of each other lately. Leia was very busy with the reorganising of the New Republic and ‘handling’ Han. Luke had his Jedi school he was starting up. (he was very excited about all of his new students)

But depending on what was found here, she had a feeling that they might not be spending all that much time bonding. Luke was so easily lost in learning about the old Jedi and their ways, whether from ten thousand years ago, or just fifty. Leia indulged him, but it wasn’t something she was all that interested in herself.

But they were here now, and even though a lot of the things they would be doing were more to Luke’s interest, Leia couldn’t deny that she was enjoying being away from the Senate. It was relaxing. Not having to worry about some official come over to ask her advice, or even to give it, was nice. And even if this sort of thing wasn’t usual for her, it was still good to watch Luke go on about all the Jedi related things he was learning. She was happy for him.

Even though she really didn’t want to take him up on his offer to learn as well.

Putting all that aside, the stairs finally ended and opened up into a large, oval shaped room. Luke immediately started setting up lights, lighting up some old fashioned torches once he saw the sconces on the walls. The engravings on said wall were all similar to what she’d seen of the old Jedi alphabet for that language of theirs. Dei… something… Whatever it was. She was sure Luke would remind her if she asked.

“This is amazing!” her brother exclaimed.

“Do you know what it all says?” Leia asked, but Luke shook his head.

“Ben’s been teaching me to speak Dai Bendu,” (that’s what it was!) “but we haven’t gone much into the alphabet yet.”

It was still weird to Leia that Luke was learning from ghosts. Even though she’d spoken to Ben a few times herself.

“So are you going to take holo pics to archive them later?” she asked.

“That’s the plan.”

As Luke took pictures of the walls, Leia took the time to really look around the room. There wasn’t much here other than what was on the walls, which was to be expected, considering how old this place was. Luke had told her that he didn’t think the Jedi had known about this place, not for the last few millennia at least. Ben certainly hadn’t known about it. He’d been just as excited to learn of it, from what Luke had said, so she was kind of surprised that he wasn’t here.

“Oh, but I am here.”

Leia jumped, and did not scream when Ben’s voice spoke out of nowhere. She whirled in time to see him manifest, all glowing and blue as usual. The smirk on his face irritated the hell out of her. He knew what he’d been doing when he startled her, she was sure of it!

“Don’t startle me like that, Ben!” she chastised.

“I do apologise, my lady,” he said, giving her a short bow, but that smirk remained, so she didn’t really think he was contrite.

“Ben!” Luke came over, having heard Leia’s not-scream. “I’m so glad you’re here! I can’t read any of this!”

“Then perhaps now would be a good time for a lesson on the Dai Bendu alphabet,” Ben decided. “Leia, would you like to join us?”

“I’ll be fine,” she told them. “Go on, go have your lesson.”

“Okay, but don’t wander off too far,” Luke said. “This place is really old after all. It might not be stable further down.”

Leia nodded her acknowledgement, and left them to it.

She spent a few hours exploring, occasionally wandering back around to Luke and Ben, who were engrossed in translating the walls. She found a lot of rooms she thought might have been private sleeping quarters, as well as what may have been a large refectory, and an old indoor garden. (much like the ones Ben had once described to her that had been in the Jedi Temple, only smaller)

There were a lot more carvings on the walls, all in that Dai Bendu script, and she had a feeling that, not matter when she eventually left to go back to her work, Luke would be spending a lot of time here. This place was no doubt a treasure trove to him! Soon enough, her stomach grumbled, and she wandered back to Luke to make sure he also ate, then she resumed her wanderings.

As she was walking through a corridor that led to the garden, a small irregularity suddenly caught her attention. There was a protrusion of stone, just like what the walls were made out of. It was small, and she was quite honestly surprised that she’d even noticed it. Looking around, she couldn’t see any others like it, it was just here. Leia stared at it, contemplating whether she should tell Luke about it.

What would she tell him? It was just a bit of stone sticking out of the wall, nothing interesting there. Biting her lip, she wondered if she should just… Reaching up, she poked the rock, gasping in surprise as the wall groaned, then slid to the side. She really should go get Luke… But then she heard a whisper, and against her better judgement, she stepped in behind the wall. Leia half expected it to shut behind her, like in those cheesy adventure holo films, but it stayed open.

She followed the passageway she’d found for several minutes, turning on the light stick she had with her to see where she was going. Soon, it opened up to a large room, one that was pitch black but for her light stick and… a fist sized glowing crystal on a small pedestal. It was pure white, and made her think of kyber crystals. The only white ones she knew of were Fulcrum’s crystals. And she hadn’t seen her in ages.

Leia closed her eyes and reached out to Luke. Her brother was quite distracted, and his thoughts were being broadcast in what was probably Dai Bendu. Obviously Ben was still teaching him, and she felt maybe a little bad for interrupting them. Leia sent a small feeling of I found something, and a moment later, felt him respond with a feeling of where and I’ll be right there.

But of course, being a Ghost, Ben reached her first.

“That is fascinating.”

“Is my guess right?” Leia asked. “Is it kyber?”

Ben walked over to it, and she could feel him reach out to it. “It is,” he confirmed a moment later. “The only time I’ve ever seen kyber like this was at the Jedha Temple, the one time Master Qui-Gon and I visited. I never did get to see it when I was there in the Clone Wars.”

“It doesn’t feel like it was ever meant to be a lightsaber crystal,” Leia mentioned.

“No it doesn’t…” Ben mused. “But that’s not all that kyber were ever used for. It feels more like… I’m honestly not sure how to describe it. But it feels warm, and Light.”

Leia could sense that Luke was getting close. She was pretty sure that he’d reached the hidden entrance to this place. She turned her attention back to Ben and the crystal. He was walking around it, probably examining it ‘in the Force’. She supposed, out of all of them, he’d be the most likely to figure it all out.

Luke was almost here when Ben reached out to the crystal, physically (metaphysically? spiritually?) and with the Force. A warning flashed in her mind, and she called out, “Wait!” but it was too late.

There was a blinding flash of light that caused her to slam her eyes shut, bringing her arms up to shield her face. The Force was screeching loudly in her head, though she didn’t know what it was trying to say, if anything. When it cleared, she looked up, and the ghostly blue form of Ben was gone. In his place was a small child with red hair and blue eyes staring at his hands in utter shock. Luke chose that moment to arrive, skidding to a halt as he must have started running when Ben touched the crystal.

Luke came forward to stand next to her, even as the child in front of them looked up at them and said in a clear, crisp Coruscanti accent, “Well, that’s new,” before falling to the ground in a dead faint.

Chapter Text

When Leia reached out to him to tell him that she’d found something, Luke was both curious, and rather pleased that she was actually tapping into her Force ability. He knew she didn’t really like to use it, communicating with him was one of the few exceptions. But he’d take what he could get.

Ben had gone ahead of him, of course. Luke had followed the path he’d gleaned from his twin’s mind when she’d reached out, and he found the entryway to the hidden passage she’d obviously discovered. It was in a hallway that was halfway to the other side of the Temple, so it took a moment for him to get there.

Then, what he guessed was halfway through the passage, he felt the Force practically explode.

He broke into a run and arrived in time to hear a child that he’d never seen before say, “Well, that’s new,” before collapsing to the ground. Leia rushed forward, carefully laying the child on his side, and Luke moved over to them as well, kneeling down.

“Leia, where did this child come from?” he asked. “And where’s Ben?”

“This is Ben,” she told him, and his brow furrowed. “Seriously. Ben was here, a ghost. Then he did something Force-y to that kyber over there, and then… He was a kid. A living, breathing kid.”

Luke looked up and over to where Leia pointed, and indeed, there was a large crystal that certainly looked like a kyber. Only, there was no colour to it. Master Yoda had told him that kyber were traditionally colourless, and only changed when their Jedi meditated with them. Of course, he’d never had an untouched kyber. He’d used first his father’s, then a crystal he’d found at Ben’s place on Tatooine, that he’d said had belonged to his own Master. Then he’d synthesised his own.

“How is that even possible?” he wondered.

“I don’t know,” Leia almost snapped at him as she sat back but kept an eye on… Ben. “Maybe you should ask Ben when he wakes. He is a Jedi, after all.”

Luke perked up at that fact. He had a living, breathing, Jedi here with him. One that wasn’t off doing their own thing (Cal), lost in an unknown region of space (Ezra), or refusing to call themselves a Jedi at all and avoiding him (Ahsoka). Luke tried to contain his excitement, even as he felt a little guilty. Ben was probably gonna freak out or something when he woke up. He knew he would.

Speaking of… The small child before them groaned and stirred. Leia reached out briefly before pulling back as Ben opened his eyes and sat up. He rubbed at his eyes, then looked up at both Luke and Leia.

“Wh-what happened?”

Then he looked down and saw his young, physical body, and Luke could feel a bit of panic starting. A quick glance at Leia told him she felt it too.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Leia said. “Calm, deep breaths.”

She breathed in and out deeply, and Ben struggled at first to follow her lead, but eventually he physically calmed down, even though Luke could still feel confusion and mild panic in the Force. He was shaking, and Luke realised that Ben was holding back tears. An effect of being a child, he supposed. On instinct, he reached out and pulled Ben close, and rubbed his back soothingly.

Ben burst into tears.

“I-I’m so-sorry!” he choked out between breaths. “I d-don’t know wh-what’s wrong w-with m-me!”

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Luke told him. “You’re a kid, it’s probably some biological reaction.”

Ben said nothing to that, but he buried his face in Luke’s shirt and struggled to calm. Luke tried to send soothing waves of calm to him in the Force, as Ben and Master Yoda had taught him, and maybe he was successful, because slowly, the small child in his arms calmed down. After one long, great sigh, Ben pulled away from him.

“Sorry,” he said remorsefully.

“There’s no need to apologise,” Luke told him.

“I messed up your shirt.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse on it.”

“Yeah, like engine grease,” Leia chimed in. “Droid oil, Wookie fur, dirt from Temples and such. And there was that time he spilled Mieki soup all over himself…”

“Alright! We get the point!” Luke interrupted as Ben sniggered at that.

Ben stiffened then and perked up, looking over towards one of the walls. He frowned, cocked his head like he was listening to something, then turned back to them and said, “Master Qui-Gon said he might know what happened.”

Qui-Gon Jinn. Luke had yet to see him, but Master Yoda had postulated that maybe he didn’t see him because he’d never known him. He supposed that made sense, the only ghosts Luke had met were Ben, Master Yoda, and his own father. All of whom he knew, of course. There were other force Ghosts, it seemed. Master Yoda had referenced a conversation he’d had with one who was from the Old High Republic.

It was rather disappointing he couldn’t pick all those other Jedi’s brains.

“What’s his theory?” Luke asked.

“According to him, the Dai Bendu here references the temple at Lothal,” Ben told them. “He thinks the Force reversed time, using the kyber as a focus, as well as containing it to the immediate area around the crystal.”

Lothal? What did that have to do with that? He asked Ben, who gave him a ‘look’.

“Lothal’s temple is connected to the World Between Worlds,” he was told. “All of time and space is accessible there, though there have been few in history who’ve been allowed in.”

Luke blinked at that.

“I don’t know if I agree with that, though,” Ben was still talking. “If I was ‘reversed in time’, then I shouldn’t remember anything, right? I should have a child’s mind as well then.”

Ben glanced over to where his old Master apparently was. “Well, sure, I guess that could make sense…”

“What?”

“Oh, Master Qui-Gon just thought that maybe it only physically moved time,” Ben explained. “But I could just translate the texts on the walls…”

Ben stood and would have likely headed over to one of said walls, but he wobbled and nearly fell, only Leia catching him preventing him meeting the floor up close once more. “Maybe you should just take it easy,” she suggested. “You’re probably not used to having a body like this.”

“I hadn’t been dead that long,” Ben groused. “Not really.”

“But were you a child when you were last alive? I think not,” Leia scolded, and Ben crossed his arms with a grumpy ‘humph!’.

And then, his stomach growled.

Luke couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing.

Ben was as red as a tomato.

Leia rolled her eyes at them, but Luke saw her lips quirk. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a ration bar. “Here, this should hold you over until we can get some real food into you.”

“Thanks,” Ben mumbled, tearing open the bar and biting into it.

The face he made said everything about what he thought of the taste. Luke gave him his water canteen once he was done, then Ben tried to stand again. He still wobbled, but he managed to keep his feet this time. Luke stood and stayed close as Ben went over to the wall he’d looked it for Qui-Gon.

“It’s too dark in here,” Ben noted. “The room was well lit before by the kyber, but now…”

“There’s some torch sconces,” Leia said, coming up to them. “Anyone got something we can light them up with?”

Ben stood under one of the sconces, reaching up and closing his eyes. A moment later, it lit up.

“How did you do that?” Luke asked, fascinated.

“I simply heated the Force around the torch,” Ben said with a shrug. “It’s a simple trick, really. I can show you if you want.”

Ben showed Luke how to use the Force to light them, and even showed him how to put them out. “It’s not really a big deal,” Ben told them. “All senior Initiates were taught this in preparation for either becoming a Padawan, or joining one of the Corps.”

“It’s a big deal to Luke,” Leia said, side eyeing him.

“I guess,” Ben mused, then his attention was taken up by the script on the walls. “Here, there’s the Dai Bendu word for time. Forpai. That one’s Foelu. It means change.”

Luke soaked it all in as Ben went through everything on the wall. He asked questions, Ben answered, and they were so caught up in what they were doing, they didn’t notice Leia had left and come back again until she was interrupting them and handing them both some food that she’d obviously gone back to the ship to get. By the time she’d done that, they’d actually gotten a lot translated.

It was so much more efficient with a living person teaching him, instead of a ghost.

“Oh, there’s so much more I can teach you now,” Ben said, his eyes alight.

“Does that mean you’ll be going with Luke when we leave here?” Leia asked.

“It would make the most sense,” Ben mused. “There’s a lot that we’ve recorded here, and figuring out what happened, seeing if it can be reversed…”

“Why would you do that?” Leia asked.

“I’m not supposed to be alive here and now,” Ben reminded her, and Luke’s heart sank.

“So?” his sister demanded. “The fact of the matter is, you are alive. You are here. I don’t think you should be looking into being dead again. That’s just not how it works, got it?”

Ben frowned, looked over to the side, and sighed. “Fine. Fine, you all win. Here and now, right Master?”

“Right here and right now,” Leia affirmed. “And of course, your, er, Master agrees with me, it seems. Smart man.”

“He does,” Ben sighed, then brightened a little. “I guess that means there really is plenty of time for me to teach you. Both of you.”

Luke grinned at his sister, even as she groaned.