Chapter #4
Ben wandered into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of caf. He chuckled remembering the excited look on Luke's face as he opened his life day present. The skyhopper was a huge hit and the child had insisted on taking it to bed with him. The last image Ben had was of the small boy hugging the model to him like a plush toy. You are getting sentimental in your old age, Kenobi.
It was then that he noticed the message indicator on the comm. unit. It was late, but Ben decided to play back the missive anyway. He paused mid-sip as the reflection of Bail Organa came into view.
"Greetings, I hope this message finds you and the boy well."
Ben placed his cup on the counter and sat down in front of the view screen. "This can't be good."
"I have received a message from our friend in exile and have been asked to forward this information on to you. There has been a disturbance in the Force and our friend has knowledge about a youngling from the inner core."
"What in Kessel does this have to do with me?"
"This youngling is pivotal to the success of certain Imperial plans to school her into a powerful weapon. She must be removed before these plans can be implemented. The child was kidnapped a week ago, but the incident has been covered up by local and intergalactic agencies. It has been decided that you will travel to Coruscant and retrieve the child, returning her to a safe house where her parents are waiting for her."
Ben gaped. "I am hardly in a position to go gallivanting off planet. I have my own child to raise."
"I know this is inconvenient and even risky to the plans laid out previously. But our friend insists that you are the one for this mission. He has foreseen it. I have seen to it that funds have been made available to you and the attachment to this message contains all the information you will need, along with documents to enable you to go planet side."
Ben closed his eyes and sighed.
"Be well, my friend. And may the Force be with you."
"Not grotty likely."
Ben pushed up from the chair and stalked back to the kitchen, pouring the rest of his caf into the sink. He reached up to the cabinet over the cooling unit and retrieved a bottle of Corellian whiskey, sloshing it into his cup. Just when things were starting to fall into place. Luke's elementary instructions in the Force were progressing extremely well. He, himself, had finally managed to garner the skills necessary to run the moisture farm and would even turn a profit this year. How was he supposed to put all that on hold so that he could run Master Yoda's little errand?
"School into a powerful weapon…" Ben muttered. He felt an odd tingle shoot up his spine and failed to extinguish a shudder. So it was all right for Luke to be turned into a powerful weapon, but not this unknown child! He threw back the glass and felt the fiery liquid burn his throat. Coughing once, he poured another glass full and downed it again. Their plans to shape Luke into some kind of killing machine turned his stomach cold.
Ben tossed the empty glass into the sink and capped the bottle. Yes, he would do the bidding of the green-skinned curmudgeon, but he would not raise Luke Skywalker in the cold tradition of the Old Republic Jedi. He may have crossed the line and formed an attachment with the child, but so what?
"Perhaps attachments will be the saving grace of the future Jedi Order," he barked to the four walls surrounding him." If they'd been allowed, perhaps Anakin would not have fallen and the whole galaxy wouldn't been in chaos. Ben crossed to the table and sank into his chair.
But he knew. There had always been a darkness to his padawan. He had wanted to affirm Qui-Gon's belief in the boy so badly that he chose not to see what was actually nestled within—fear, anger and eventually—hate. He had tried to see Anakin's darker emotions as something that could be overcome, conquered even. Failure would only be an acknowledgement that his beloved Master had been wrong. So, he had done everything in his power to advance Qui-Gon's legacy. He thought he was doing the right thing…he hoped he was.
Ben swallowed against the lump lodged in his throat and padded to the bedroom next to his lay blissfully asleep, curled around his toy. A smiled tugged at Ben's lips as he stood in the doorway. "Sleep well, youngling." It was easy to see his mother's goodness in him. But even Padme could not have saved Anakin. The entire endeavor was doomed from the start.
And just when had he gone from guardian and teacher to…well, father? Ben ran a hand slowly through his beard. Was it the first time he had stared into the wide, knowing eyes of an infant barely a day old? Or had it been a gradual thing, a medley of sleepless nights, blue-milk kisses and trusting hugs? His jaw clenched as he realized something for the first time: he would not allow anyone to send Luke out to battle the worst Sith in the history of the Universe alone. Not even the solling former Grand Master of the solling Jedi Order.
"Not grotty likely."
