Seeing Wedge again has brought Luke hope. Hope that he might someday find others from their Matrix, maybe make this place feel like some semblance of home. But it's also brought him a terrible ache for familiar things. He's homesick and it hurts so much... and Luke doesn't know how to soothe the ache anymore; not without the Force.

Wedge's whispered promise brings about another wave of emotion, but it's a grateful one. Luke chokes on a sob and his fingers finally release their grips on Wedge's sleeves to slide up around his neck.

Luke thought he was stronger than this. He'd rolled his eyes when he was told that the transition would be difficult. It had seemed no more difficult than anything he'd gone through back home. But in retrospect, this is the big one. It's the one that made all of his other experiences obsolete except in memories. They don't mean anything anymore. Is Anakin Skywalker even still his father? Probably not. It doesn't mean anything.

But this friendship is still real, Luke tells himself. Wedge is here and he's still one of the most important people in Luke's life. That has to mean something, and if it does then there's more hope to be found.

Luke's calmed his breathing and he turns his head so his temple is against Wedge's shoulder now. The ache is lessened but now Luke feels fear; fear that this familiarity might go away. He can't let it go. He needs this.

"I want to go with you. Wherever you're going."