Chapter Text
Luke glances over his shoulder again. He can’t shake this strange feeling that he isn’t alone. But all he sees is the trees and the ever present fog of the swamp.
But Luke knows something is happening. He can feel it, feel it in the Force.
Luke started to feel this change back on Hoth. When he had managed to call his lightsaber to his hand and see Ben’s ghost appear in the snow. Those moments had been the most progress he had made with the Force since he first learned about it.
Upon his arrival to Dagobah, Luke’s understanding and mastery of the Force had grown in leaps and bounds. Under Master Yoda’s instruction, he is accomplishing more and more.
And with each achievement, Luke finds that something’s presence growing. He doesn’t know what it is specifically, but he knows it is Force-related.
Ben and Master Yoda have both described the Force as something flowing through everything in the galaxy.
Is that it? Is he just becoming more aware of the Force?
His progress is undeniable. Master Yoda seems encouraged by his recent developments. And Luke does feel like he’s becoming more aware of the world around him. He can sense the animals near his camp or the clearing where Master Yoda has him train. He feels the snake slithering on a branch over his head. Luke can feel creatures beneath the murky waters. He’s taken to urging R2 to move away from the water’s edge. Even if the creatures can’t emerge from the depths and crawl onto the land, Luke worries for the little astrodroid.
So this feeling of not being alone could just be a reflection of the fact that he never truly is alone. And Luke’s training is just making him more aware of this fact.
***
The problem is that this something isn’t real.
Yes, it’s real and Luke can sense it, but it isn’t really real. It isn’t on Dagobah. It isn’t tangible.
Luke had tried to find the source of this something. And for his efforts, he had gotten lost in the swamp. He had easily lost his way from constantly changing directions. Because no matter which direction Luke faces, the something always feels like it's behind him.
After getting lost several times, Luke had concluded that this thing he is sensing isn’t actually here.
It isn’t here. It’s in the Force. What it is and what him sensing it means, Luke doesn’t know.
***
Come to me.
Luke sits up in bed.
“Hello?”
Come to me.
“Master Yoda?” Even as Luke says it, he knows he is wrong. That isn’t Master Yoda’s voice. The voice is genderless and musical in how it dances in the air.
Find me.
The language is foreign to him. It isn’t Standard, Huttese, Shyriiwook, or the binary of droids. Yet Luke understands it. It feels strangely familiar, but he can’t place it. He shouldn’t know it, but somehow he knows what it’s strange words mean.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
Luke stays awake all night, hand gripping his lightsaber.
***
Come to me. Find me.
Luke stiffens, glancing over at Master Yoda. The Jedi Master doesn’t react.
Luke looks back down at his feet, contemplating what this all could possibly mean.
Is the voice only speaking to him? Master Yoda seems to be unaware of it.
Find me.
Luke watches Master Yoda out of the corner of his eye. Again, nothing. Not even the twitch of an ear.
Luke shakes his head. Why is the voice speaking to him? What does it want?
It keeps telling him to come and to find. Is that not what he’s doing? He is here, on Dagobah, to learn about the Force. And he is doing just that! Everyday he learns something new.
What more does the Force want?
***
Find me.
Luke sits upright.
Come to me.
“Where?” Luke asks. It echoes through the empty nothingness around him.
What is happening?
***
Luke fights down the urge to look over his shoulder. He knows nothing is there.
He mulls over what he knows about the Force. He can only hope to find some answers in his, admittedly, limited knowledge.
Today, Luke had discovered he can sense Master Yoda.
Like a spark of light in an otherwise dark world, Luke can sense Master Yoda’s presence like a small beacon. Even after the old Jedi had retired to his hut for the night.
He feels like something old and wise, like how it feels to touch a book with worn pages and a fraying cover. And something earthy and herbal like tea. And something very powerful, yet tucked away and concealed from the galaxy. Probably by Master Yoda’s doing. He cannot be discovered here, and so he has muted what would normally sound like a rushing waterfall.
Luke had been amazed when he discovered this. The Force allows him to sense other people!
That’s how Ben had found him on Tatooine. Ben must have sensed his distress or his sensitivity to the Force or maybe whatever combination Luke gave off.
Oh, how badly does Luke want to know what he feels like to other people. But he doesn’t dare ask Master Yoda such a juvenile question, as the Jedi Master somehow thinks Luke both too old and too young to be taken seriously as a Jedi.
Nonetheless, Ben had sensed something and known to come rescue him from the Tusken Raiders.
And Master Yoda had probably sensed Luke’s arrival on Dagobah. Yes, his landing had been far from smooth and had, no doubt, made a lot of noise. But it is more likely that Master Yoda had sensed his presence and traveled to his camp to find him.
This ability to sense other people has a lot of potential. It is no secret that Darth Vader, and the entire Imperial machine, is dead set on finding Luke. He had blown up their prized weapon, of course they want his head on a platter. If Luke can sense when they are close to him, it would be a lot easier to avoid them. And he’d be able to warn the other rebels! No more frantic evacuations. Luke would simply sense the fleet approaching and inform the leaders. And then the Rebellion would be halfway across the galaxy when the Empire actually arrived.
Luke smiles at R2, who wheels around their camp. This is interesting.
***
Come to me.
Luke’s eyes open.
Find me.
“Where are you?” Luke looks around curiously, “Hello?”
The voice doesn’t answer. But Luke can feel something reaching for him in the darkness. What is that?
Something is calling to him.
“Hello?”
He hears whispering. Luke tries to move closer, but the whisper stays far away.
Luke strains to hear it, desperate to make out what it is saying.
Go to her.
“Her?” Luke doesn’t understand. He’d only ever heard the voice refer to itself. ‘Me’. So who is ‘her’?
Luke hears another whisper. It's carried to him by the nonexistent wind.
It’s a name.
***
Luke asks Master Yoda about the voice the next day. It is the first time he actually brings it up, at first believing it was just a fluke. And then that he might be going crazy.
But the voice hasn’t left. In fact, it sounds stronger the longer it stays.
Luke is convinced that it must have something to do with the Force, and Master Yoda knows far more about the Force than he does.
So Luke asks, why is a voice, a voice only he can hear, calling out to him?
Master Yoda is dismissive. How is he to know? That is his initial response. He doesn’t hear the voice, how can he know what it means or wants?
Next, Master Yoda says that hearing the Force is a normal occurrence. All living things are conduits of the Force, it is channeled through a Jedi when they use a lightsaber or lift an object. The Force calling out and speaking to a Jedi is natural. It’s how Luke can perceive Ben, even after death. Ben is a part of the Force now, him speaking to Luke is a visual manifestation of that connection.
But can it tell him to go to another person? Master Yoda doesn’t go into the specifics. And Luke quickly loses the courage he had summed up to ask.
Master Yoda had once explained the Force doesn’t control one’s actions. It has a hand in destiny, but Luke’s free will remains. The Force can’t compel or force him to go out and find this person, this ’her’. It can only speak its desire for Luke to.
And this isn’t a point of contention for Luke, because he wants to find her too.
He demands answers from the Force every chance he gets because he wants to know her. His interest is piqued by this mystery girl.
But why does the Force want him to find her? Why this person in particular?
What is so special about her?
***
Come to me.
“What is her name?” Luke cuts to the chase, “The girl. Who is she?”
Find her.
“I will! I promise! Just tell me her name!”
The voice says it.
And Luke spends the rest of the dream repeating it. Over and over. Forcing his mind to remember it.
But when he wakes up, her name is lost to him again.
***
Luke is an idiot. A really big idiot.
The thing he’s been sensing is another Force user. The girl the Force wants him to find and the presence he’s been sensing are the same person!
“Master Yoda,” he looks over at the Jedi Master, heart pounding from the realization, “can we take a break?”
Master Yoda peers at him from his perch on a fallen tree and nods.
Luke brings the rocks down to the mossy ground, tucking his body so he can return to his feet. He brushes off his dirty hands as he walks away.
He’s sensing a Force user.
Luke smiles, jittery with excitement. Another Force user! Someone else out there in the galaxy who is strong enough with the Force that he can sense them!
She has to be strong with the Force. He can’t have a connection with someone who isn’t strong, otherwise he’d have a connection with everyone in the galaxy. Right? That makes sense.
A Force user. A strong Force user. Someone with the strength and knowledge of the Force to form an anchor for this connection to hold to.
Who is she? Who had taught her the ways of the Jedi? Master Yoda and Ben act like he is the only one left. So it is unlikely that they had anything to do with her.
How do they not know of her existence?
Luke paces back and forth through his camp.
Who is she?
He still doesn’t know her name. Could it be someone he already knew? It seems strange for the Force to pick a random person he’d never met before and make this connection. Is it possible someone in the Rebellion is a Force user and Luke had been too inexperienced to notice?
Luke runs through the people he’s spent the last three years with. Who among them could he see potentially having the Force?
He suspects Han might have some sensitivity. Ironic, given his total rejection and dismissal of the idea of the Force. Han has fast reflexes and is the best pilot Luke has ever seen. He could be sensitive, but this user is skilled. Trained. Han’s attitude towards the Force means it can’t be him.
Leia could be. She has such cleverness to her dark eyes, it wouldn’t surprise Luke if she could easily tap into this higher level of being if she knew how to. But, again, this same issue remains: Leia is not trained. So it can’t be her.
Mothma could be. She certainly seems ethereal and other-worldly enough. And she has been around since the Old Republic. She had known the Jedi from that time, one of them could have educated her and showed her how to hide from the Empire.
And there are others who could, in one way or another, possibly possess a hidden gift.
He isn’t sure. And he won’t be sure until he returns to the fleet and can get a feel of everyone through this new lens.
Luke closes his eyes, trying to focus within himself. He reaches back with metaphysical fingers, trying to find that spot that he feels the Force user. If he could just grab it, hold it the way he can feel and lift a rock without actually touching it. If he could just reach it, maybe he’d be able to find out more.
He reaches further and further and further, grabbing at empty air.
Luke gasps when his mind suddenly lights up with sensation. Fireworks burst behind his eyelids.
And then it’s gone.
Luke opens his eyes, blinking dumbly at his surrounding. What the hell was that? Was that her?
He reaches back for that spot again, but no matter how far he reaches, it eludes him.
***
Go to her.
“I’m trying,” Luke replies impatiently, “but you aren’t helping.”
R2 beeps in question.
Luke glances over, “No, not you.”
The droid raspberries.
***
All hours of the day, Luke tries to reach for that spot again.
He’s fascinated by this connection. It tells Luke that he isn’t alone in the galaxy.
And, yes, even without the connection, Master Yoda is here. But he isn’t going anywhere. Luke firmly believes the old Jedi Master will never leave this swamp. And Ben is dead.
But this other person, this Force user. She is out in the galaxy somewhere. With a working knowledge of the Force. And Luke might already know her! He might return to the Rebellion and find a new friend. Someone to connect with on a new level. Someone to learn about the Force with.
Unfortunately, Luke can’t always reach the connection. Sometimes it’s just past his fingertips, dancing out of reach no matter how hard he tries. Sometimes it’s so far away, Luke fears he may never reach it again.
At night, the Force still whispers to him, telling him to find this girl. Luke knows he’s heard her name a hundred times now, but he still can’t remember it.
Maybe he needs to get stronger with the Force to reach it properly. Maybe he’s being denied the connection for his protection. The Force is dangling it over his head and teasing him with possibilities to make him work harder. Maybe this is the Force’s way to make him a better Jedi. Maybe this is the Force’s way of saying, ‘Come on! You want to know her, don’t you? Jump higher, lift a heavier rock. You need to be strong to fight Vader, boy. I’ll tell you her name if you climb that vine faster. How can you face Darth Vader when you aren’t even stronger enough for this?’
Or maybe it's that the girl on the other end needs to get stronger. He isn’t sure. And he doesn’t ask Master Yoda.
And there are two reasons for that.
First, the Jedi Master always seems incredibly bored by that type of question. It could be because Luke sounds like an idiot. He isn’t sure. But he knows it isn’t a topic that Master Yoda has any interest in discussing.
Luke manages to sum up the courage to ask Ben. Ben tells him it is common for Jedi to have mental bonds. In the height of the Jedi Order, every Jedi had these connections, varying in strength. Some of these bonds had enabled Jedi from across the galaxy to communicate as if they were in the same room.
Luke wonders if his father had any of these connections.
He reasons that this is why Master Yoda seems annoyed by his questions. Maybe Master Yoda and Ben and his father and the other Jedi of the Old Republic knew immediately who their connections were with because they all knew each other. Maybe Luke is an anomaly for not knowing who is on the other end of the bond.
Or perhaps the bond is a private thing, not to be discussed with someone who isn’t a part of it. Maybe Master Yoda is respecting a privacy Luke doesn’t even know he is entitled to.
The second reason that stops Luke from asking questions is because of what the girl feels like.
One day, when asking Master Yoda a number of questions about the Force, they had discussed the Sith a bit more. Master Yoda spoke of their volatility and how emotions corrupted their minds. Something as simple and harmless as attachment could be a slippery slope to the Dark Side. If that attachment created jealousy or possessiveness, Luke would fall. Tumbling down into anger and hatred and his emotions would overcome him and he would turn to violence and before he knew it, the dark side of the Force would dominate him life. Control his actions. He would lose everything, everyone he cared about, and himself. Luke Skywalker would cease to exist and he would become a conduit of hatred and aggression and violence and death.
Luke shivers at the thought. He thinks about how his father was slain by Darth Vader, a man who was once a Jedi and became twisted and warped by the Dark Side.
The girl on the other end of connection feels sweet like fruit. Luke remembers Beru giving him fruity candy that tasted similar to this, but he can’t remember the name. She feels like the airy nothingness that comes off of a ship that had just been in space. Not a nothing like how water tastes like nothing, it is a nothing like the distinct absence of anything that is space. The breathlessness of the upper atmosphere, the sprinkling of stardust, and the black eternity. These sensations are pleasant enough.
But the girl also feels like the metallic tang of blood.
And while it doesn’t make Luke gag like one would expect the taste of blood would, it is still concerning.
***
Luke shivers, pulling the blanket tighter around himself.
He can’t stop thinking of the cave. Fighting Vader and beating him. Thinking he had won. Only to see his own face under the mask.
And then the disappointment he had seen on Master Yoda’s face.
And the disappointment he felt in himself in that moment, and the disappointment that still lingers. Clearly he had failed the test. Master Yoda had told him not to take his lightsaber, but he had anyway. And used it immediately, killing himself.
His face under the mask of a Sith.
After all of Master Yoda’s warnings of the Dark Side, Luke had played right into its hands.
He is so confused by all of it. What is the cave trying to tell him? What is Master Yoda trying to tell him by having him go there in the first place?
Luke’s knuckles are white as he grips the blanket.
He feels for the back of his mind, reaching out for the girl’s presence. At least she isn’t disappointed in him.
It surprises Luke, how easy he reaches it this time. The taste of fruit space blood dances across his tongue in a way that is oddly comforting.
Find her.
“I know,” Luke answers, “I know that’s what you want. But I don’t know who she is.”
Go to her.
“I don’t know where she is either. I’ll find her if you tell me something. Help me.”
Silence.
“Please tell me her name.”
Luke waits patiently.
He wants to know who she is. He is fascinated by the concept of this other Force user. Even though he’s new at the Force, he’s more than familiar with the Jedi. According to the Empire, the Jedi are evil. They betrayed the Republic and tried to kill Emperor Palpatine. Luke knows this isn’t actually true, but it’s widely used propaganda so he knows it. Vader hunts down Force users in his spare time, has been for the past twenty years. Force users essentially have three options for how to avoid being found: constantly be on the run, be deep in hiding, or not use the Force at all. Luke is on the run. Master Yoda is deep in hiding. And Ben had avoided using the Force until he found Luke out in Tusken territory. And he’d died soon after.
This girl is skilled with the Force, which says she doesn't avoid using it. So she’s either on the run or deep in hiding. Luke isn’t sure which one he would prefer, which would be easier for him to get around and find her.
“I want to find her,” he tells the Force, “I want to know her.”
(Y/N).
Luke sits up straight.
(Y/N).
“What?”
Find her.
“(Y/N)? Is that her?”
Go to her.
***
Luke is hanging from some sort of antenna under the floating city. He’s bruised, battered, and missing a hand.
His emotions fly all over the place. Pain from his injuries. Terror over his situation. Fear that the Empire will find him here. Horror and despair over Vader’s confession and how right it felt. How that feeling of warmth, like how the desert sand felt against his back when he used to lay outside on the farm, while twisted and demented coming from Vader, still feels so familiar.
Luke’s first instinct is to call for Ben. He wants him here. Ben always knows what to say, and he has been a comforting presence from the moment Luke met him. There had been something about Ben from the start that had told Luke that he would be safe with him. And while their time together had been brief and far from smooth sailing, Ben had protected him, died for him.
But Luke stops himself from continuing to call for Ben. He can’t help. He had told Luke on Dagobah that he couldn’t interfere. And even if he went back on his word, what can a ghost do in this situation?
Leia! She is here on the planet and can come to his rescue if she has managed to slip away from the Imperials.
“Leia!” Luke calls out, throwing it into the air and Force around him, “Leia,” he begs her to hear him somehow, “Hear me! Leia.”
Luke can sense when Leia registers his voice. He’s hit with an earthy scent, not the scent of wet dirt that people mistake as the rain but the subtle smell that comes off of trees. And he feels the soft, pure feel of snow and tastes the cool bite of mint. Leia.
He hears her softly say, “Luke,” and can feel the urgency rushing through her to turn the Falcon around and come back to find him.
“I’m here, Leia. Under the city.”
Luke is too preoccupied to notice.
But if he wasn’t, he would have felt that something in the back of his mind come to life as, halfway across the galaxy, (Y/N) (Y/L/N) sits upright in bed, searching for the male voice suddenly calling out for help.