Leia led Breha by the hand as Lor San Tekka led the way across Squan Station. After a long goodbye, Leia had finally worked herself free from Han, although it killed her very soul to leave him.

They proceeded to the one-and-only watering hole on the platform. San Tekka ordered some food for Leia and Breha as they awaited contact from Luke.

The owner grumbled at him as he realized no one was going to order the watered-down swill that passed for alcohol at this place.

San Tekka took 3PO to the outer walkway. While monitoring Leia and Breha through the Plexiglas storefront window, San Tekka took out a communicator and wrote out a message. "Droid," he said bruskly.

C-3PO said, "Yes, sir."

"Can you translate this—"

"Of course I can, sir. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication, and I can easily trans—"

"Fine. Read this message in Astromech into this communicator. I have it tuned into a shielded frequency."

"Gladly, sir," C-3PO said as he finished the message with beeps and whirrs. "There is no reply, sir."

"There isn't supposed to be."

Leia took the food gladly and gingerly ate it. She was not even sure what it was, but at least it did not make her gag. Anything was better than emergency rations.

Breha, on the other hand, did not want her portion. The girl pushed her bowl away and pouted.

"Eat your portion, young one. I'm not sure when we'll be able to eat a hot meal again."

"I don't want to. I'm tired. And this tastes yucky. Can we just go home now?" Breha whined and thrust out her petulant lip.

"We're going to a new home. Come on, one bite at a time." She lifted the spork into Breha's mouth. "That's a good girl."

San Tekka moved back inside, with 3PO guarding the door. Leia looked up at him as Breha and she finished the last of the meal. "Well, what now?"

"We wait here for further instructions."

The barkeeper approached the table. "Unless you are buying more provisions, leave now. I need the table for paying customers."

Leia looked at San Tekka with worry. San Tekka was not rattled and calmly escorted them onto the walkway.

Once outside, he said, "Why don't we stretch our legs a bit? Being on a ship always kinks my back up a bit."

He directed them down an alley of black steel walls and a grated deck. While they were waiting, they heard the steady clip of boots on the polished floor.

San Tekka pushed Leia and Breha behind him and drew his blaster, prepared for the worst. Leia reached to her back waistband to draw her blaster, groaning when she realized she had left it on the Falcon.

Leia pushed out in front and whispered, "No, it's Luke. I can feel him. Put that thing away."

The next instant R2-D2 rolled into their pathway and C-3PO said, "Artoo Dee—"

San Tekka put his hand over the mouthpiece of 3PO and then deactivated him.

"Thanks, I had forgotten how excited he gets when he sees this little droid," Leia said. When Luke slid into the alley, all her fears dissipated. "Luke!" she exclaimed as she hugged him.

Brows furrowed, eyes bloodshot, and a face streaked by tears, he looked grim, sad, and without hope. "Leia," he whispered. "Lor San Tekka, thank you for getting them here without harm. I owe you beyond measure."

Lor San Tekka said, "I would have done it out of duty, Master Skywalker, but my heart impelled me to do it out of love."

"As eloquent as ever, I see. No matter your motives, I am in your debt," Luke said as he bowed slightly to the older gentleman.

R2-D2 rolled over to Breha and beeped quietly at her. Breha listened intently and said, "Artoo, I've missed you." She then kissed him on the top of his dome. R2 beeped a few more times at her, elated to see his friend.

"Luke, tell me, where's Ben?"

Luke nodded, sniffing back the tears. "Leia . . . Ben . . . slaughtered every single Padawan. The Knights of Ren took out the rest of the Order. Snoke's looking for me right now to finish the job."

"Naluma?"

Luke nodded. "Ben."

Leia held him closely and let him mourn. It's all my fault. I should have never let him go. Oh, Ben. Leia felt the grief overwhelming Luke, felt the darkness consuming him. "Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry."

"He used Force-lightning." Luke shook as a wave of PTSD overtook him. It had been years since his last attack, but just thinking of it used on Naluma, used on his baby, brought it all back. He thrust out at Leia, screaming in agony.

"Luke, Luke. It's me. Come on. Snap out of it. It's me. Leia." She shook him by the shoulders.

His unfocused eyes pulled back to her face as he degenerated into sobs. "The baby—he took the baby first. I felt my son . . ."

Stunned that this boy would do this—no, not "this boy," my son. My son is a monster. Leia pushed the knowledge from her mind. But his face intruded on her mind. A monster.

 She jerked her mind back to the present when she heard Luke's voice.

"I wasn't there. Leia, I wasn't there. She had dreamed about this for years, Leia, and I wasn't there. She even begged me not to leave. And now she's gone."

Leia held Luke for a long time while Luke poured out his grief. After a few minutes, Leia asked with urgency, "What about Breha?"

Breha came up to her and hugged her leg. "Mommy, I'm right here. What's wrong?"

Leia knelt to hold her for a few minutes. Breha wiped away Leia's tears and looked at Luke. "Are you my daddy? Daddy makes Mommy cry."

Luke forced back his grief, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. He bent down and looked at Breha in the eyes. He smiled at her. "No, I'm not your daddy. I'm your Uncle Luke, your mommy's brother. You don't remember me, do you?"

Breha pulled backward and said, "I'm not supposed to trust brothers."

Luke grimaced. "You can trust me. I'm your uncle, not your brother." He reached out and grabbed her hand.

Breha pulled her hand back, "Don't take my hand. Mommy told me I can't hold anyone's hand but hers."

Wiping the tears from her own eyes, Leia stood up and said, "It's okay, Breha. You can hold Uncle Luke's hand, too. He doesn't bite. Really."

Breha cautiously held her hand out to him, and he picked her up and hugged her. He spoke things to her that only uncles are allowed to, and she giggled and kissed him without any prompting.

"Breha, your Uncle Luke is going to have to go away for a while, but I can promise you that we will meet again someday when you're ready," he said while putting his hand on her forehead. While he was speaking, he erased the last few days from her memory and put her to sleep. He handed Breha to San Tekka.

"I've shielded her and erased her memory of this trip. She won't remember any of it, and possibly not even her life on Naboo, until the time is right. You've taught her well, Leia. It wasn't easy, and her personal shielding is reflexive and subconscious. I can only imagine what it will be like when she actively uses her powers."

"Luke, where are you going? Come with us to Tatooine."

"No, Ben's looking for me. Snoke's looking for me."

"So, you're just going to run away and hide? When the galaxy needs you most?" Her eyes blazed with passion, passion for the galaxy, passion to make things right.

Luke hung his head low. "I can't."

"Coward."

"No."

Leia glared at him, her mouth dropping as she looked into his eyes. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I am no Jedi." Luke stared off in the distance. "I . . . the darkness . . . I used it."

Leia tilted her head, waiting.

"I used the darkside. I was going to kill him."

"But you didn't."

"If I stay, I will. I will kill him. I will make him pay for everything he ever did." 

Leia pulled back in fear.

"And I know I will enjoy it. And I will never turn back." Luke shook his head and inhaled deeply. "I have to get away. Snoke will find me. Ben will find me. If that happens, Snoke will win—and he knows it."

"You're more powerful than Snoke, Luke. You can defeat him."

Luke turned his back to her. "What good is defeating him if I become what I am fighting against? Don't realize that's what he wants. He wants me, Leia. He wants me dark. He wants to consume me. That's why I must leave. I must find my balance. I must recenter."

"What about Ben?"

"He's lost, Leia. There's no hope for him now."

"There's still good in him, Luke. Just like there is in you. I can feel it."

"Where are you going?"

"The first Jedi Temple. The answers are there. Peace is there—the peace I need. The balance." He took her face in his hands. "When it is time, you will find me. But Ben must never find Breha. He is looking for you and for her. When Snoke finds out about Breha, he'll take her. You should split up."

"I am not going to leave my daughter, Luke, no matter what the cost. I can't lose her, too. I can't abandon her, too," Leia whispered with harshness.

Luke grabbed Leia by the arms. "Leia, if you do not let her go willingly, Snoke will take her from you, and you will lose her to the dark side. I have seen it. The only sure path is to let San Tekka take her and for you to return to the Republic, to the spotlight of the government. In time, Breha will return to you. I have seen this, too."

"Well, which is correct?"

"Both."

Leia scrutinized Luke, perceiving there was more. "What else?"

A tense moment passed as they locked eyes and wills against each other. "Leia, the Republic needs you. You know with the rise of the First Order, you will return to leadership. That is your nature. That is your destiny. If you bring Breha with you, she will be in danger of being seduced to the dark side. Snoke will find her—not might, not maybe, but will find her. Are you willing to risk that?"

Leia bit the bottom of her lip and nodded her head "no." Leia took Breha from San Tekka and just held her while Luke and San Tekka migrated a few feet away.

Lor San Tekka said, "Master Skywalker, what you ask of your sister is unfair."

"Life is unfair, San Tekka. You of all people should know that," Luke said with his anger rising while clenching his fist. "Since before we were born, Leia and I have had our lives planned out for us by others and turned upside down by the Force. We are but pawns in this game, and we cannot afford to allow our sympathies to make disastrous decisions."

"You are a cold, hard man, Luke Skywalker." San Tekka pointed at him. "I am not even sure I should call you 'Master' Skywalker. Your actions are more fitting to a Sith Lord than a Jedi Master. Where is your compassion?"

"My compassion is back on Khalkha with over forty dead Padawan and every single Jedi Knight slaughtered—my wife and my son were murdered—by my nephew, because I wasn't strong enough or wise enough to make the right choices regarding him. I allowed my feelings for my family to cloud my judgment, and I will not do that again, Lor San Tekka."

Luke scrunched his nose, willing away the tears. "What I have asked Leia to do is not just to protect Breha, but the entire galaxy. The choice she makes today will be a choice that will affect billions of lifeforms in this galaxy—ones who have never heard of the Force, ones who will be under the control of the First Order, ones who will suffer needless deaths at the hands of this evil. It's not about Leia and Breha. It's about the survival of all that we know as good in this universe."

San Tekka pulled back, his jaw slack. "My apologies, Master Skywalker. As always, I am sworn to serve the Jedi and the House of Organa. I am at your command."

"I do not command, but I do request. It is your choice which you will do. If you will serve the Jedi, take Breha to Tatooine. Watch over her." He let Lor San Tekka mull it over until he finally nodded his acceptance of the task. "Here, take this bag. Enough gold druggats in it to transport you and Breha to Tatooine and Leia back to Hosnian. The coordinates to a moisture farm are on this disk. I've had some friends prepare it."

"There's more than druggats in this bag, Master Skywalker," San Tekka said as he was feeling it.

"Keep that safe. When Breha is old enough and ready, send that memory stick with her back to Leia. Combined with data from that Artoo unit over there, she will be able to find me," Luke said. "Don't let it fall into the wrong hands, whatever you do."

San Tekka accepted his charge. "Master Skywalker, I will uphold my duties to the Order of the Jedi in all that you request."

Luke bent down next to R2-D2. "Artoo, I want you to stay with Leia. She needs your help." 

A few beeps and whirrs passed between them.

Luke loaded another memory stick from his pocket into the droid's skull.

R2 beeped again.

"Just some special programming for you, Artoo. You'll know what to do when the time is right."

Luke stood and looked at Leia. "I know you are making the right choice, Leia, no matter how difficult it is. You will meet her again. I promise."

Leia snarled at Luke. "I never agreed. I'm going with them. The Republic can hang, for all I care."

Luke hung his head low, closing his eyes as the Force-visions assaulted him. "It's your choice, but it's the wrong one."

"Enough. I made the wrong choice when I let Ben go. I won't make it again."

Luke stared in silence for a long moment before kissing Leia on the cheek and Breha on the forehead.

Luke turned on his heels and walked toward his X-wing at a steady pace. As tears poured down his cheeks, he heard her voice once more.

Come to me on Ahch-To. Love you.

Luke reached out with the Force, tears shining in his eyes. Love you more.