II
Ben felt a twinge of guilt as he, Luke, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 landed amongst the ruins of Coruscant. The parting kiss with his wife felt almost forced, as if Rey hadn't wanted to see him off at all. And he knew why: she hated the idea of Ben, still seen as a traitor among the Resistance, being in a dangerous situation without her by his side. Rey had never been a clingy person, but ever since Cela entered their lives his wife was reluctant to let any immediate family members travel beyond her reach. Such was the mindset, Ben realized, she'd retained from her childhood on Jakku.
And then, of course, there was the matter of where Ben and his family should go now that the Dark side of the Force begun to stir. After discussing the situation with Luke, the three adults came to a mutual decision that the Jedi would first speak to their closest advocates in the Rebel Alliance. But before Luke would attempt that task, Ben and his uncle agreed to first check the archives of the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant to see if they could find any additional information on the Dark side. The more they could gather about this coming storm, the better off the Resistance would be (not to mention the more Ben could prove himself a useful asset to the Alliance).
It was easy to picture Coruscant bustling with life once upon a time. But the war had taken its toll, shuffling the grasp of power between Empire and New Republic hands until nothing habitable of the planet remained. The Resistance, First Order, and scavengers had already taken anything visible of value. And so the planet was left to its own devices, an empty memorial to the Old Republic.
It was decided before they landed that Luke and R2 would remain on the Falcon while Ben and Chewbacca explored the ruins. Ever since his near brush with death, Luke still walked with a cane; as for R2, it would be hard for the droid to roll through the debris. "Remember," Luke reminded Ben as he prepared to depart, "If you sense any sign of danger, come back to the Falcon immediately," Luke nodded at Chewbacca. "That goes for you too,"
Chewbacca gave an indignant growl. His life debt was to Han, and it extended to both Ben and Cela. The wookie wanted to find out what the Darkness was planning just as much as anyone else.
After three hours of trudging through debris, Ben begun to lose hope that they would find anything of significance. He'd become extremely optimistic a few times when he thought they'd found a holocron, only to discover that it was a broken fragment that could no longer hold information.
As his legs began to grow weary, Ben's thoughts drifted back to Endor. What were Rey and Cela doing at that exact moment? Was he missing any "firsts" with his daughter? Was Rey still upset at him for going on this pointless mission?
There was a loud CRACK, and before Ben could re-orient himself with the present he felt himself fall face-first through the floor. The plummet was short, ending almost as quickly as it began. Unable to grasp ahold of the situation in such a short timeframe, Ben landed flat on his stomach, instantaneously knocking the wind out of him.
"Ben?" Luke's voice came through the static of the comlink as Ben struggled for air, vaguely aware that Chewbacca landed feet-first next to him. Once his windpipe was able to transmit air to his lungs, Ben pressed the button on the transmitter and choked out "I'm okay,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Ben knew the bruises on his chest would linger for a while, but at least he hadn't broken anything.
"Make sure you're mindful of your surroundings," Luke warned. "Distractions will only hinder the goal you're trying to reach,"
Ben was going to respond when he stopped short. "Uncle Luke," he said as a smile crept upon his face, "This may be the one time a distraction actually helped,"