We're back! Welcome to the third story in this collection titled, Becoming.
I've posted a short, second epilogue here that sets up a bit of the plot. The rest of the story will begin its daily updates tomorrow under its new title! Stay tuned!
Thanks so much for reading! Enjoy!
Epilogue 2- Becoming
"How are you?" Leia asked what seemed like a customary greeting.
"Fine." Ben gave the stoic, customary answer.
"Ben…" That wasn't the answer she was looking for, so she asked again. "Really, how are you?"
Of course, she knew him, was able to see through any bluster he was portraying.
"I'm content." His answer was honest, but it lacked any helpful information.
Leia changed the direction of the conversation. "How's Rey?"
This he was happier to talk about.
"She's good." He nodded as he thought back to their previous conversation. "She's looking forward to the end of her first year of training."
"I imagine so." Leia smiled thinking about the girl's success in her academy. "She's doing well."
Ben nodded, agreeing with his mother's assessment. "You've seen her in training. I know she values your input."
"I'm happy to give it."
Ben swallowed before taking another step towards his mother. "She's still questioning her own skills and her abilities as a teacher."
Leia listened, nodding with acknowledgment. "I can understand why. It's a massive job she's agreed to take on and she's following in the footsteps of massive failures."
Ben had to agree with that statement, but it only made him feel even more anxious for his wife. He believed in her and he believed she was doing the right thing. But he understood the pressures that were being placed on her as the new generation of Jedi.
"I don't know how to help her," he admitted.
"Just be there." Leia raised her eyes to her son as she gave her well-earned advice. "She'll need you there to quell any doubts in her mind and show her the power she already possesses inside of her."
He nodded, finding so much appreciation for the family he had supporting him.
She lowered her head and then raised it again as she changed the subject. "I got another call from my contact."
He crossed his arms and leaned on one of the landing gears. "Where are they sending you?"
"Arkanis," she uttered in a cryptic way that made him believe there was more to the story.
"Arkanis." He raked back through his mind as he tried to remember why that planet sparked his memory. "Something happened between you and them."
She let out a telling smirk as she confirmed his broad memory. "You're right about that."
"They were allies of the First Order…" He didn't have anything else of substance to offer.
She wet her lips and opened her jaw slightly before revealing the irony. "Senator Carise Sindian from Arkanis was the one who…"
She didn't need to continue. He sucked in a full breath as his entire torso rocked. "Now I remember."
Leia continued now that they were on the same page. "I personally informed her of her demotion of both Senatorial and royal titles. And that was the last time I saw her."
"I don't remember her name other than from…" he gestured to the story she just told. "That. She's former First Order?"
Leia nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "She certainly supported their rise and apparently gave them enough support that they gave her back her title and she earned enough respect to continue to influence their politics."
That seems to be a predictable pattern nowadays. Senators and influencers who lost power under the New Republic gained it back when the First Order ascended. Now, the entire galaxy was in a place of flux and new negotiations were happening everywhere. This was obviously the case with SENATOR Sindian.
"She's back in power now?"
Leia nodded again, however reluctantly. "It seems she wants to align her leadership with the Alliance of the Republic. And I, or should I say we, have been charged with negotiating this process."
He caught the 'we' in her statement.
"Will you come with me?" She finally asked.
His eyes scanned down to the floor and then back to her. "Is Dad going?"
She tilted her head in a way that meant yes. "He volunteered himself."
"You think I can be helpful." It was a statement, not a question. She would never have asked him if she didn't think so.
"I do," she confirmed. Her head then turned to a different angle and her eyes told him she was again changing the topic of conversation. "I also think it will be good for you."
He noticed as her eyes glanced around the mechanics covered floor.
He felt his fingers fiddle with the wrench he was holding. "Gives me something to do."
"How are you, Ben?"
This was the third time she asked and she hoped she would get a better answer.
She wasn't going to leave until she had an answer, so he strove to give her one.
"I'm still feeling…" He did his best to search his feelings. "Lost."
She was silent as she let him continue.
"I'm happy, it's not that." He wanted to make sure he expressed that clearly. "But I don't know what to do with my time."
She had a wry smile forming on her face. "You sound like your father."
If he had a credit for every time he heard that phrase…
"When the Empire fell and he left his military post, he didn't have any professional aspirations or plans."
"Except for you," Ben cut in. "You were his plan."
"That's for sure and certain," she confirmed as her voice turned firm. "He was stuck with me by that point. But he was feeling…" She couldn't have chosen a better word. "Lost."
"All I know is my plan was to train Rey." He stopped his fingers from fiddling as he raised his eyes to meet hers. "She will carry on the Jedi. My job there is done."
"Your father also knows something about living in a spouse's shadow."
Yes, Ben supposed his father had already experienced much of the emotions and situations rolling through his head.
Leia leaned forward, her elbows coming to rest on her knees. He knew from experience that she was about to share something important and probably extremely relevant.
"You have the great fortune to be able to make a choice."
He listened intently.
"My Ben, my little Ben wanted to be a pilot. What does he want to be now?"
That was the question he wished he knew the answer to.
"I still love flying," 30-year-old Ben confirmed. "I still want to do that."
She seemed satisfied with that answer. "That's a start."
"And this…" he used his arms to gesture the space around them. "This makes me happy."
"I know it does." She acknowledged the personal satisfaction he got from his ships. "You bring a combination of highly valued skills, sweetie. You'll find the path that's right for you."
He took his hand and pressed his palm into the landing strut. "Maybe… Eventually."
She disagreed with his dismal sentiment.
"You'll become who you were meant to be by choosing to be more like that person every day."
He heard her, but it didn't give him much clarity.
When he raised his eyes, he was ready to return to their previous, more immediate topic.
"I don't know how I can be helpful with Senator Sindian," he admitted. "I never worked with her or even traveled to Arkanis."
"It's nothing spectacular." She raised her eyes to the side. "Lots of rain."
As the last memory she had flickered into her head, she shared a glance with him.
"It's also where General Hux was born." The one member of First Order leadership they had failed confirm a kill or location on.
Ben didn't seem phased with that new knowledge. "Then the planet's weather clearly affected the dreary bore it birthed."
He stood up straight from his previous leaning position.
"I better bring an extra pair of boots."