The odds of this encounter were slim to nowhere. Ben rarely left his house in the desert mountains to visit Mos Eisley. And the galaxy was big, no vast. There were countless places to go, thousands other planets, billions cities, hundreds alone on Tatooine but the force had its own will, Ben supposed.
He had gone to the city to buy a few replacements, things he couldn't repair without them waited for him at home. He had never quite mastered the art of repairing. However, he had decided to go into a bar for a drink. It was not like someone or something waited for him at home, beside the already mentioned broken machines of course.
Clone troops had been installed two years ago on Tatooine and he could finally face them without looking out in a desperate and foolish hope for a certain face and a known timbre.
He entered the bar and went to the counter. The man next to him was a clone trooper, a commander if he was not mistaken, but when Ben ordered his drink the clone turned around, his eyes widened with shock and surprise.
For a second Ben thought about pretending that he didn't recognize this man but then their eyes met and there was no turning back and pretending from here on.
"Cody."
"Ben."
"So what are we doing now?"
"You're not Obi-Wan anymore, therefore I have no reason to arrest you if it's that what you're thinking."
"So you're not putting orders first anymore?" He couldn't help but let a bit bitterness slip into his voice: "no wish to be promoted."
"I'm commander, I'm in the highest rank I'm able to get." Cody said factually but added in a softer voice: "I heard about Mustafar and I knew it had been you fighting Darth Vader. Hopeful and loyal to the very end, how very you."
"I did what I had to do."
"So did I."
"Why are you here, Cody?"
"Where else does a sun shine without a single cloud marring its beauty?'
"There are other planets."
"I meant a certain sun."
"You always hated metaphors."
"People change. You of all people should now that, old friend."
"We were more than friends or have you forgotten. You must have forgotten just like you had forgotten that you claimed to love me, the moment Palpatine ordered you to murder me it was all wiped out, right?" Years of suppressed anger and heartache broke their way out of Ben's soul. He had never wanted to say these words out loud, to admit to Cody – and to himself – how much he had trusted the other man, how much he had loved, still loved him. Not as Anakin, not as a brother but a lover, a soulmate, in a way that had been forbidden for him.
"I've missed you."
The single statement threw Ben off of his inner balance. He shook his head at himself: "I missed you, too."