The next day, Ben awoke again in his cell from the sound of his door opening. He looked up to find his father standing at the open exit, facing him.

Ben then stood up and regarded Luke angrily. "Dad, did you know I was imprisoned here last night?"

Luke nodded. "As a matter of fact, I ordered it."

Ben looked shocked. "What?! Why did you do that?"

"Because you were trying to kill Jacen," Luke said. "Something that none of us could afford right now."

"But he killed Mom!" Ben insisted. "Among many other things! I still don't understand how you can possibly-"

"Ben," Luke cut off. "Listen to me. I just came back from court to finalize the deal between Daala and I."

"What deal?" Ben asked. "And why did it have to be court?"

"If you would be quiet, I'll explain," Luke said.

Sighing, Ben nodded silently for his father to continue.

"Whether or not you like Jacen, Ben, is irrelevant now. You have to set aside the past if we're to live for the present and future. Now, in order to keep Daala from getting her hands on Jacen, and, by extension, Nom Anor, I told her that if we were to find and defeat this Force entity known as Abeloth, then she'll drop all charges against both Jacen and Nom Anor."

"Nom Anor. The Yuuzhan Vong who came with Jacen?" Ben asked.

Luke nodded. "Yes, the very same."

"Isn't he the same Vong who gave Mom that virus years ago that nearly killed me and her before I was even born?"

"Again, the very same."

Ben growled. "Great. Now, not only are you standing up for the man who killed Mom, you're standing up for the Vong who nearly killed Mom before I was born. What's next, if Palpatine came back from the dead again because the Force willed it, you're gonna protect him from getting tomatoes thrown at him by the public?"

"If that's what the Force wants," Luke replied flippantly with a raised eyebrow.

Ben sighed in defeat. "Well, thanks for telling me this before you set off on your journey. I sure hope neither Jacen or that Vong get spacesick and vomit out the airlock." He moved to sit back on the cot.

"I'm giving you the option to come with us, Ben," Luke said without anymore preamble.

Ben stopped from sitting himself back on the cot and stood up straight again. "What?"

"I know it's risky taking you along, especially since you might just kill the both of them," Luke admitted. "And quite frankly, I don't see why you should come along other than for this reason; I think you should talk to Jacen while we're on this journey, so you can trust him again."

"Why should I do that?" Ben asked.

"Because I sense much hatred from you, directed at Jacen," Luke said. "When Caedus died, I sensed that, while you still hated Jacen, I knew that you wouldn't let it consume you. But now that Jacen's back, and given what you just tried to do to him, I think that you need to truly purge your hatred of your cousin once and for all; or else, you may fall as he did."

Ben tilted his head. "And how can you trust me not to kill Jacen or Nom Anor?"

"Because, if you give in to your hate, Ben," Luke said, "Caedus will have won."

Ben remained silent and stoic for several moments. He then looked to the floor and sighed before looking back up at his father. "Then I'll come with you. And I promise I won't kill Jacen or Nom Anor; especially not Jacen."

Luke hesitated, still sensing the simmering hatred beneath Ben's pseudo-calm veneer, but nodded. "Good to know. Now, if you'll come with me, we have until nightfall to leave Coruscant, which will be..." He looked at his wrist chrono. "An hour."

Ben then walked over to Luke and looked outside, stopping dead in his tracks once he saw Jacen and Nom Anor.

"Thanks for coming, Ben," Jacen said in a genuinely solemn tone.

Ignoring his cousin, Ben looked at Nommy. "Let me guess; you're the idiot who told me to shut up last night."

The Yuuzhan Vong shrugged. "I needed the rest."

Ben rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can I hit him, Dad?"

"I don't think a punch in the gut would be fatal," Luke admitted.

"Good," Ben said. Then he smacked his fist into Jacen's midriff, causing him to double over in pain.

"Okay," Jacen wheezed. "I admit, that was a good bait-and-switch."

"Why does it have to be just that?" Ben retorted. Then he punched Nommy in the gut, too.

"Alright, come on, all three of you," Luke said as he and Ben began walking down the corridor to a nearby turbolift, slowing only to allow the pained Jacen and Nommy to follow along.

A few minutes later, the four of them were on the roof of the Jedi Temple, where they were surrounded by dozens of Jedi, including all of the Masters and several Knights and apprentices. They all said their goodbyes to Luke and Ben systematically over the period of ten minutes, ignoring Jacen and Nommy entirely; not even Han and Leia, who were also attending, wanted to speak with Jacen.

Allana, though, tried to break away from her grandparents to speak with her father, only to get held back by Leia's hand. The little girl looked back up to her grandmother with pleading eyes, but the older woman shook her head, wordlessly indicating that she couldn't risk exposing her true identity out to the public like this, even in a crowd of only Jedi.

Of course, Allana thought, that was only an excuse so that she could stay away from her father. But it was an excuse she couldn't defy.

Once all the pleasantries were done and the goodbyes were said, Luke, Ben, Jacen, and Nommy boarded the Jade Shadow, which had been parked there for this special occasion by Master Corran Horn, and a few minutes later, they took off for the sky of the galactic capital.