CHAPTER 111 - BEN AGAIN

After spending the four days of transit to Khalkha in rapt study of the Journal, Luke made a decision—give it to Lor San Tekka and let him decide for himself. If Luke wasn't imagining things, then the cleric would come to the same decision. But an old Jedi proverb rattled in his brain.

This is not going to go the way you think.

When Luke landed, he sensed trouble. He ranged out with the Force for his nephew first. What in the world is he doing in the woodshed? Luke checked his chronometer. Shouldn't he be in class right now? He shook his head. Better go find Naluma.

He jogged through the entry and down the corridor to her classroom. He caught her eye through the hatch window. Naluma smiled with warmth and nodded for him to enter the beginning mechanics lab.

"Class, I have programmed a malfunctioning droid demo to your datapads. You are to figure out what is wrong and correct it. This is not a group project, so no talking and no mind-speech."

Naluma led Luke into the deserted corridor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

He pushed her back abruptly. "Where's Ben?"

"I sent him to his dorm for disrupting the classroom." Naluma frowned.

Luke scowled and placed his hands on his hips. "He's not in his dorm. He's in the woodshed."

Naluma started to leave, but Luke grabbed her elbow. "No, I'll go. If he's already disrupting your class, then I need to deal with this."

Luke kissed her again, this time with the passion of their last kiss before he left. "I've missed you, my love." His baby blue eyes melted as they gazed into hers. "Can I make it up to you tonight? My study? 1800?"

Naluma stroked his cheek and kissed him lightly. "What's the dress code?"

Luke thought of his surprise for her and said, "Formal. Wear your purple gown."

"The purple it is." She winked at him. "You'll just miss out on another new dress. Don't you want to see me in a slinky red sheath?"

He shook his head and bit his lip in anticipation. "Next time. But purple tonight."

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When Luke reached the woodshed, he found it padlocked from the outside. It was obvious that Ben did not want to be found.

He opened the lock with the Force and slid the doors wide open. As the sunlight glared into the shed, Ben jumped at the sound of the doors grating.

Luke thought he felt darkness here, but then it faded. "Ben, you in here?"

"Yes," Ben said with a flatness to his voice.

"Mind if I join you?"

"If you want." Ben played with a stick, poking it into the earth and making holes in the packed dirt.

Luke sat down beside him on the ground. "So, what's bothering you?"

"Nobody likes me here," Ben whined.

"Why do you think that?"

"They won't sit with me at meals, and today Jedi Fau removed me from class."

"Ben, you were removed from class because you were causing a disturbance. Every effect has a cause." Luke bored his gaze through the darkness, trying to catch Ben's down-turned eyes. "If you had behaved properly in class and tried your hardest at the coursework, you would not have been removed."

"Well, the other kids don't like me."

"Tell me why, Ben. What is the cause? You told me the effect."

Ben crossed his arms and pouted in response.

"Is it because when you don't do your duty details, they get a group punishment for it?"

Ben remained silent.

"If you did what you're supposed to do with your full effort, you would find that the other kids would like you. They don't like having to run extra clicks every day, nor do they like having extra duty details which cut in on their free time."

Luke pointed at Ben to emphasize his next point. "Treat them right by doing what you're supposed to be doing anyway, and they'll treat you right."

"Huh."

Luke stood, his body blocking the streaming sunlight. "Well, since you chose this place, this is your new home, Ben. You don't have to clean it up. The only companions you will have are the spiders. Stay here as long as you want, but if you want to sleep in a warm bed and eat tasty food, you will need to start doing the right thing, whether you feel like it or not—starting with having the right attitude and honoring your prior commitments."

Ben pulled his arms around himself and stared at the dirt floor. "Are you done?"

"When you apologize for your disrespect to both Jedi Fau and me, you may return to the academy, but not before." Luke exited the shed, closing the doors but taking the padlock with him.

Pushing Ben to the back of his mind, Luke returned to the shuttle. He retrieved the meals from the freezer and the small boxes from his gear locker, as well as the Journal of the Whills.

After giving the meals to the kitchen crew, Luke ran outdoors and hunted in the meadow for wildflowers. He left a small vase on Naluma's dresser with another note.

My love, you have no idea how much I've missed you.
I am nothing without you.
Please forgive me for the lousy greeting today.
I promise to make it up to you tonight.
Love, Luke.

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Did you know …

● The Jedi Academy's isolation makes it difficult to court your significant other. No flower shops, no restaurants, no beauty shops, no dress shops. Naluma handles the orders for the Academy, which Han delivers. She occasionally places personal orders through shops on Hosnian, which Han delivers with the Academy shipments each month. Luke picks things up when he's on missions, like vids and music chips.

● The Jedi make do for a lot of things. Instead of beef and chicken, they hunt fianna and raise zereds. The imported a couple of nerfs for dairy products during the first year, which has increased to a small herd under Wei'ahtt's tender care. [Yeah, he really was a nerf herder earlier in life.] Han still is trying to get the nerf smell out of the Falcon.

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Tell me what you think …

● What are the contributing factors to Ben's inability to get along with others?

● What do think Luke is thinking as he handpicks wildflowers for Naluma?