The Past Returns
Chapter Four
-An Angry Confrontation -
Journal Entry 7: "I just returned from my mission. I went to the planet Tynna to extract information about withheld minerals from the manager of the mines. But when I reached Tynna, I encountered an unseen obstacle. I had tracked down the manager to a warehouse and when I reached it, I was faced by the thing that I dread most. The Jedi. There were two of them, one human, obviously the master, and one Calamari. I weakened. After all my training I had failed my master. The Jedi took the man before I could react. I had failed my mission. I was punished justly yet I feel that my master is displeased with me and I'm not sure how to amend it."
Ben lay on his hard cot in his quarters that designed to keep the person uncomfortable. A small lamp shone in a corner, casting shadows. He stared at the ceiling, hardly moving. If he budged an inch, pain shot from his feet to his head and it was nearly unbearable. Yet he had deserved it. He had failed his mission.
Ben closed his eyes, remembering the dark, freezing room where unseen assailants had attacked him repeatedly. He had had no weapon to defend himself so all he could do was endure it. He had been forbidden to use the bacta tank, for he was supposed to learn from his mistakes and endure the pain. A reminder of what happened when he failed his master. Ben took small, measured breaths, so as not to awaken more pain in his chest. Bruises and cuts covered his body. One large zig-zag gash across his face that started above his right eye and traveled across his cheek and across his chin would never heal, leaving a huge scar. Ben calmed his body and tried to ease away from the pain. Soon he was dreaming. . . . . . .
"We're always going to be best friends, right?" a distant voice said.
"Always and forever. These necklaces will show our friendship."
"You'll never leave me?"
"I'll always be there when you need me, Ben."
"You're the best, Damon. The bestest friend in the whole wide world." . . . . . . .
Ben awoke to complete darkness. A sudden noise in the corridor outside startled him, and he jerked involuntarily. Pain jarred his entire body and he clenched his fists and teeth, trying to bear it. He heard footsteps stop outside his quarters and then walk away. Silence filled his room. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.
Journal Entry 8: "I have healed somewhat and I can walk now. The gash across my face has left a huge black scar. Over this past year, I've been training even harder, trying to please my master. Now, because I am stronger, I can begin my revenge on the Jedi and the very person that stood in my way to become a Jedi. Damon."
* * *
Damon stood in the council chamber, alone with Master Yoda. The blindfold around his eyes kept out a lot of the sweat that was gathering on his forehead. He stretched out with the Force, sensing the remote control droid that was moving around in the air around him. He sensed it moving to the left and brought up his lightsaber to deflect the shot. He smiled and was rewarded with a stinging bolt hitting his thigh. He grimaced. That's what he got for distracting himself. He moved his focus back on the droid. It shot a series of bolts at him and he deflected them cleanly, his lightsaber making a satisfying hum as it swished through the air.
Finally he saw, through the Force, that Yoda had stopped the droid. Damon switched off his lightsaber, returning it to his belt and untied the blindfold, shaking the sweat off his short dark hair.
Then, he felt a wave of darkness wash over him. A presence he hadn't felt in years. He blinked and returned his focus to Master Yoda. "Distracted you were," Master Yoda said.
"I'm sorry, Master."
"Be careful you must, if become a Jedi, you want."
"Yes, Master."
"You may go."
Damon bowed and walked towards the door. He opened it and stepped into the corridor. The coolness of the corridor was refreshing. It was stuffy in the council chambers! The tall arches gave forth a calming effect and he stood there a moment, breathing in the cool air. He turned to head to his quarters for a cold shower when he noticed a figure leaning against the wall.
The figure stood and walked into the light of a doorway. The man had black hair, cut in a Padawan style haircut but he wore a black cape, black boots, and a black tunic. The hood of the cape lay around his shoulders. A lightsaber hung by his side. On his wrist was a silver band. Damon studied the man's face. He noticed the scar that started above his right eye and ran along side the right side of his face and continued onto his chin. There was another, smaller scar across his nose and left cheek, this one not as noticeable as the first. Damon looked into the man's green eyes. There were full of hatred and darkness. They flashed as they looked at Damon. Then Damon noticed a small necklace around the man's neck with a small green stone in it. His eyes grew wide. No way, it couldn't be. Ben? He wiped sweat off his brow. "Ben?" he whispered.
"Yeah," the man said coldly, his face expressionless, despite the hatred in his eyes.
"Where have you been?"
"Training."
"With whom? Which Jedi Master? I thought you weren't accepted."
"You just had to rub that in, didn't you? Make me feel inferior just like you always have."
"No, I didn't mean it like that."
"So what did you mean? That I wasn't good enough to be trained by a Jedi Master?"
"No, I -"
"To answer your question, I wasn't training by a Jedi." Ben spat the word Jedi, his face filled with hatred; the scars on his face making him look even more menacing. That had been the dark presence that Damon had felt before. It had been Ben. But why? Why did Ben have to choose the dark side? A memory flashed back in his eyes as he remembered that moment when he had stood outside the room where Ben had been when he had had the illness. Damon remembered the look on Ben's face and that would haunt him forever. Damon had been so caught up in his mission with his Jedi Master Qui-Gon that he hadn't realized how much Ben had needed him. And now, because Damon hadn't been there for him, Ben was like this.
"Ben, please. Are you okay?" Damon reached for him.
"Why should I be okay?" Ben asked, raising his hands. He shoved Damon backwards. This wasn't the Ben he knew. There had to be a way to save him. "You always get everything over me! I got rejected by the Jedi Council because I was too old and then they let you in and you're older than me! Of course I'm not okay." His green eyes flashed with anger. "You said you'd always look out for me, but the minute I get rejected from something you're accepted in, you turn your back on me! You left me! All alone! When I needed you the most, you left me! I had no other choice. Palpatine was the only one who cared."
"He's just using you."
Ben backhanded Damon across the face and Damon staggered back, holding the side of his face.
"Maybe so, but don't ever put down my Master in front of me. He took me in when I needed it. He saved my life! You did nothing! NOTHING!"
"We tried, you know we did," Damon said calmly.
"Yeah right. If you had tried hard enough, you would have saved my life but you didn't CARE! You got to be trained as a Jedi, and obviously I wasn't good enough, so you figured that I didn't need to be saved."
"That's not true," Damon said, trying hard to keep his voice controlled.
"Oh isn't it?" Damon didn't say anything. "I thought we were best friends, but I guess I was wrong. You never cared. You never cared about anyone except yourself and what you wanted. When I needed you the most, you turned away from me. You left me in the dark and ignored me. Not once while I was sick did you visit me."
"You know I had to go on a mission."
"Excuses, excuses. You didn't have to. You chose to do that so you could use it as an excuse to not come see me."
"Come on Ben, you know that was part of my training. I couldn't disobey Qui-Gon."
"Not even to come visit your best friend? Qui-Gon would have understood. Palpatine came in every day, every day, to check up on me, and not once, not once, did you care enough to come see me. You could have come before you left on your mission, but you didn't want to." Ben looked down and then looked back at Damon's speechless face, his anger boiling inside him. "You wanted me to die," Ben said softly.
Damon gasped. How could he think such a thing? Damon cared about Ben more than he did anything else. Damon would do anything for Ben. "No!" Damon cried.
Damon reached towards Ben but he stepped back. Ben began backing away. "You hoped that I would die so that I wouldn't be a burden on you anymore."
"Please, Ben." Damon had tears in his eyes now.
"Nice acting, Damon, where'd you learn that? From your training?" Ben said sarcastically.
"Ben." Damon reached for Ben again and this time grabbed a hold of the necklace that Ben wore. "Remember Ben? I gave you this, telling you that I'd never leave you and I'd always be there when you needed me."
Ben jerked away, yanking the chain out of Damon's hand. Ben ripped off the necklace and threw it to the ground. Then he ground it into the floor with the sole of his boot. Damon stared at the floor where tiny bits of silver remained of the necklace. Fresh tears sprang to his eyes. How could he have done that? Damon was angrier at himself then at Ben. He understood where Ben was coming from but he also knew that Ben was getting himself sunk deeper into the dark side. There had to be some way to save him.
"That's what I think of you. All that you told me, everything you supposedly did for me, were lies! I didn't even have to bring you along with me to Coruscant. I could have left you on Earth, but I thought you were my best friend and I would never have left you, not like you did me. I hate you! You've never cared! You may say you did or do or whatever, but it's all lies! I hope I never see you again!"
Damon's jaw dropped open in shock as Ben screamed at him. "Ben -"
"You will rue the day you abandoned me and come to regret it for the rest of your life. Revenge will be mine, and I promise you, it will be sweet." Ben turned and began running.
"BEN!" Damon fell to his knees, holding his necklace. He closed his eyes.
"Hard to see, the dark side is," a voice said beside Damon. Damon looked up to see Master Yoda. "Hard to tell who is a friend, and who is not."
"Master, why is he acting like this? This isn't like him. Is it really by fault?"
"Yours, the fault is not. Clouds judgment, the dark side does. The dark side controls him. Afraid for young Ben, I am. Too deep, I fear, he has fallen."
"Is there any hope?"
"Hard to tell, the future is."
Chapter Four
-An Angry Confrontation -
Journal Entry 7: "I just returned from my mission. I went to the planet Tynna to extract information about withheld minerals from the manager of the mines. But when I reached Tynna, I encountered an unseen obstacle. I had tracked down the manager to a warehouse and when I reached it, I was faced by the thing that I dread most. The Jedi. There were two of them, one human, obviously the master, and one Calamari. I weakened. After all my training I had failed my master. The Jedi took the man before I could react. I had failed my mission. I was punished justly yet I feel that my master is displeased with me and I'm not sure how to amend it."
Ben lay on his hard cot in his quarters that designed to keep the person uncomfortable. A small lamp shone in a corner, casting shadows. He stared at the ceiling, hardly moving. If he budged an inch, pain shot from his feet to his head and it was nearly unbearable. Yet he had deserved it. He had failed his mission.
Ben closed his eyes, remembering the dark, freezing room where unseen assailants had attacked him repeatedly. He had had no weapon to defend himself so all he could do was endure it. He had been forbidden to use the bacta tank, for he was supposed to learn from his mistakes and endure the pain. A reminder of what happened when he failed his master. Ben took small, measured breaths, so as not to awaken more pain in his chest. Bruises and cuts covered his body. One large zig-zag gash across his face that started above his right eye and traveled across his cheek and across his chin would never heal, leaving a huge scar. Ben calmed his body and tried to ease away from the pain. Soon he was dreaming. . . . . . .
"We're always going to be best friends, right?" a distant voice said.
"Always and forever. These necklaces will show our friendship."
"You'll never leave me?"
"I'll always be there when you need me, Ben."
"You're the best, Damon. The bestest friend in the whole wide world." . . . . . . .
Ben awoke to complete darkness. A sudden noise in the corridor outside startled him, and he jerked involuntarily. Pain jarred his entire body and he clenched his fists and teeth, trying to bear it. He heard footsteps stop outside his quarters and then walk away. Silence filled his room. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep.
Journal Entry 8: "I have healed somewhat and I can walk now. The gash across my face has left a huge black scar. Over this past year, I've been training even harder, trying to please my master. Now, because I am stronger, I can begin my revenge on the Jedi and the very person that stood in my way to become a Jedi. Damon."
* * *
Damon stood in the council chamber, alone with Master Yoda. The blindfold around his eyes kept out a lot of the sweat that was gathering on his forehead. He stretched out with the Force, sensing the remote control droid that was moving around in the air around him. He sensed it moving to the left and brought up his lightsaber to deflect the shot. He smiled and was rewarded with a stinging bolt hitting his thigh. He grimaced. That's what he got for distracting himself. He moved his focus back on the droid. It shot a series of bolts at him and he deflected them cleanly, his lightsaber making a satisfying hum as it swished through the air.
Finally he saw, through the Force, that Yoda had stopped the droid. Damon switched off his lightsaber, returning it to his belt and untied the blindfold, shaking the sweat off his short dark hair.
Then, he felt a wave of darkness wash over him. A presence he hadn't felt in years. He blinked and returned his focus to Master Yoda. "Distracted you were," Master Yoda said.
"I'm sorry, Master."
"Be careful you must, if become a Jedi, you want."
"Yes, Master."
"You may go."
Damon bowed and walked towards the door. He opened it and stepped into the corridor. The coolness of the corridor was refreshing. It was stuffy in the council chambers! The tall arches gave forth a calming effect and he stood there a moment, breathing in the cool air. He turned to head to his quarters for a cold shower when he noticed a figure leaning against the wall.
The figure stood and walked into the light of a doorway. The man had black hair, cut in a Padawan style haircut but he wore a black cape, black boots, and a black tunic. The hood of the cape lay around his shoulders. A lightsaber hung by his side. On his wrist was a silver band. Damon studied the man's face. He noticed the scar that started above his right eye and ran along side the right side of his face and continued onto his chin. There was another, smaller scar across his nose and left cheek, this one not as noticeable as the first. Damon looked into the man's green eyes. There were full of hatred and darkness. They flashed as they looked at Damon. Then Damon noticed a small necklace around the man's neck with a small green stone in it. His eyes grew wide. No way, it couldn't be. Ben? He wiped sweat off his brow. "Ben?" he whispered.
"Yeah," the man said coldly, his face expressionless, despite the hatred in his eyes.
"Where have you been?"
"Training."
"With whom? Which Jedi Master? I thought you weren't accepted."
"You just had to rub that in, didn't you? Make me feel inferior just like you always have."
"No, I didn't mean it like that."
"So what did you mean? That I wasn't good enough to be trained by a Jedi Master?"
"No, I -"
"To answer your question, I wasn't training by a Jedi." Ben spat the word Jedi, his face filled with hatred; the scars on his face making him look even more menacing. That had been the dark presence that Damon had felt before. It had been Ben. But why? Why did Ben have to choose the dark side? A memory flashed back in his eyes as he remembered that moment when he had stood outside the room where Ben had been when he had had the illness. Damon remembered the look on Ben's face and that would haunt him forever. Damon had been so caught up in his mission with his Jedi Master Qui-Gon that he hadn't realized how much Ben had needed him. And now, because Damon hadn't been there for him, Ben was like this.
"Ben, please. Are you okay?" Damon reached for him.
"Why should I be okay?" Ben asked, raising his hands. He shoved Damon backwards. This wasn't the Ben he knew. There had to be a way to save him. "You always get everything over me! I got rejected by the Jedi Council because I was too old and then they let you in and you're older than me! Of course I'm not okay." His green eyes flashed with anger. "You said you'd always look out for me, but the minute I get rejected from something you're accepted in, you turn your back on me! You left me! All alone! When I needed you the most, you left me! I had no other choice. Palpatine was the only one who cared."
"He's just using you."
Ben backhanded Damon across the face and Damon staggered back, holding the side of his face.
"Maybe so, but don't ever put down my Master in front of me. He took me in when I needed it. He saved my life! You did nothing! NOTHING!"
"We tried, you know we did," Damon said calmly.
"Yeah right. If you had tried hard enough, you would have saved my life but you didn't CARE! You got to be trained as a Jedi, and obviously I wasn't good enough, so you figured that I didn't need to be saved."
"That's not true," Damon said, trying hard to keep his voice controlled.
"Oh isn't it?" Damon didn't say anything. "I thought we were best friends, but I guess I was wrong. You never cared. You never cared about anyone except yourself and what you wanted. When I needed you the most, you turned away from me. You left me in the dark and ignored me. Not once while I was sick did you visit me."
"You know I had to go on a mission."
"Excuses, excuses. You didn't have to. You chose to do that so you could use it as an excuse to not come see me."
"Come on Ben, you know that was part of my training. I couldn't disobey Qui-Gon."
"Not even to come visit your best friend? Qui-Gon would have understood. Palpatine came in every day, every day, to check up on me, and not once, not once, did you care enough to come see me. You could have come before you left on your mission, but you didn't want to." Ben looked down and then looked back at Damon's speechless face, his anger boiling inside him. "You wanted me to die," Ben said softly.
Damon gasped. How could he think such a thing? Damon cared about Ben more than he did anything else. Damon would do anything for Ben. "No!" Damon cried.
Damon reached towards Ben but he stepped back. Ben began backing away. "You hoped that I would die so that I wouldn't be a burden on you anymore."
"Please, Ben." Damon had tears in his eyes now.
"Nice acting, Damon, where'd you learn that? From your training?" Ben said sarcastically.
"Ben." Damon reached for Ben again and this time grabbed a hold of the necklace that Ben wore. "Remember Ben? I gave you this, telling you that I'd never leave you and I'd always be there when you needed me."
Ben jerked away, yanking the chain out of Damon's hand. Ben ripped off the necklace and threw it to the ground. Then he ground it into the floor with the sole of his boot. Damon stared at the floor where tiny bits of silver remained of the necklace. Fresh tears sprang to his eyes. How could he have done that? Damon was angrier at himself then at Ben. He understood where Ben was coming from but he also knew that Ben was getting himself sunk deeper into the dark side. There had to be some way to save him.
"That's what I think of you. All that you told me, everything you supposedly did for me, were lies! I didn't even have to bring you along with me to Coruscant. I could have left you on Earth, but I thought you were my best friend and I would never have left you, not like you did me. I hate you! You've never cared! You may say you did or do or whatever, but it's all lies! I hope I never see you again!"
Damon's jaw dropped open in shock as Ben screamed at him. "Ben -"
"You will rue the day you abandoned me and come to regret it for the rest of your life. Revenge will be mine, and I promise you, it will be sweet." Ben turned and began running.
"BEN!" Damon fell to his knees, holding his necklace. He closed his eyes.
"Hard to see, the dark side is," a voice said beside Damon. Damon looked up to see Master Yoda. "Hard to tell who is a friend, and who is not."
"Master, why is he acting like this? This isn't like him. Is it really by fault?"
"Yours, the fault is not. Clouds judgment, the dark side does. The dark side controls him. Afraid for young Ben, I am. Too deep, I fear, he has fallen."
"Is there any hope?"
"Hard to tell, the future is."