Chapter 28 - Puzzling Occurrences

Luke was in the sonic shower again. He wasn't dirty, far from it, this was his fifth shower in as many hours. He just could not escape feeling dirty. More importantly it hid his tears and kept him from Mara.

He was shampooing his hair, about to ride another circuit on the guilt train, when he heard it.

Daddy...

It was quiet like echoes of a distant past, but Luke didn't believe he had heard it. Surely, he thought, it was just his mind playing tricks on him again. It had done so many times today.

Daddy... It came more loudly and forcefully.

Luke was shaken out of his grievous stupor. "Ben?" he called aloud. He tried and tried to feel him in the Force. Nothing. The Vigor. Nothing. But he was certain he had heard it. He waited and waited, but did not hear it again.

Suddenly standing on haste he jumped from the shower.

Mara looked up at him through teary eyes. "What's got you all worked up, Skywalker?"

"Ben," he said. "I don't know what it is, but I have to get to him, and now."

"Honey," Mara began. But Luke interrupted.

"Sorry, I can't talk. Gotta run."

"Honey," Mara said with a glare Luke had become too familiar with. "Do you think maybe you might want to throw on something else?"

Luke looked down at his absence of clothes. "Oh..."

* * *

Luke felt better in his new clothes, but his haste had not been ebbed. When he arrived at his son's room he found he was not alone. Anakin was asleep on his perch in the corner and Jacen was knelt beside Anakin, deep in concentration.

Jacen was startled out of his meditation when the door opened with a swoosh. He stood and straightened his robes to greet his uncle. "Well I better be going," he said excusing himself.

"You are free to stay," Luke said warmly.

"No, I really better go," Jacen said uneasily, not looking Luke in the eye. Then he walked away speedily.

"Strange," Luke mused. Jacen just hadn't been himself lately. He had been different since escaping his captors, but in the past few weeks things had really taken a turn. "Strange, indeed."

"Hormones," he huffed. He would speak to Jacen later, maybe he was interested in some new girl. Shrugging, he turned his attention to Ben.

He knelt beside his young son and placed his hand on Ben's forehead, gently brushing his hair aside. He still could not feel his son, but now there was a glimmer of something.

He closed his eyes and imagined a tree.

* * *

"Daddy!!" Ben was screaming at the top of his lungs. His throat was torn and bloody, and as he screamed speckles of blood sprayed from his throat.

That was the least of his concern.

When he had fallen from the tree he had broken his arm and he couldn't climb. But he needn't have broken his arm to disconnect him from the Force. As soon as he had fallen from the tree it had grown. The lowest limbs now towered some thirty meters over his head.

A fog had begun closing in on him. He could hear faint noises traveling through it. It almost sounded reptilian, at least that's how he would have described it had he known what 'reptilian' meant.

This, was the source of concern.

The noises grew closer and closer until they sounded like words. It was barely recognizable, but something was calling out to him.

He was frightened and so he screamed for his daddy.

The noises stopped. A shadow could be seen through the fog. "Come here... Jeedai!"

When he refused, the shadow came closer. Ben huddled in a little ball at the base of the tree, covering his eyes, too afraid to see what creature was after him.

"Daddy, help me," he cried to the top of the tree, his eyes squeezed shut.

A rustling of leaves and breaking of small branches could be heard from above. Just then, the eldest Skywalker landed beside the youngest and took up a defensive stance.

"Who are you?" he demanded as forcefully as he could muster.

"Trust your instincts. You know who I am, Jeedai," he snarled.

Luke was dumbfounded. "Tsavong Lah..." he could barely squeeze the words from his throat. His strength returned, he spoke, "You will not harm my son. I will not let you."

Without a fight, without even a movement the shadow was gone.

"Its alright Ben, Daddy's here," Luke spoke with a faltering voice as he rubbed his son's back. "Let's get you home." He scooped up his son. "Everyone's been worried about you. You've given us all quite a scare."

"Even Anakin?" Ben asked in disbelief.

"Yes, even Anakin." Luke's eyes watered. "He hasn't left your side."

"Don't cry, Daddy," Ben said. He gave his father a big hug and kiss. "I'm okay now."

Slowly, they started climbing the tree. Neither spoke again until they were halfway up the tree.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Ben?"

"Who was that?" Ben asked.

"A bad man. A very bad man."

"How did he get here?"

"I don't know," Luke said, suddenly feeling very afraid.