Chapter 1: Sunrise

The darkness calls my name it beckons to my soul, my spirit cries for freedom. A spirit light can not hold.

Luke Skywalker sat at his desk starring out the window at nothing in particular. He wasn't thinking about the pile of work he still had to do that day, nor about the endless arguments the Masters on the Council had stirred up yet again that morning. He was thinking about his son, Ben.

Luke knew there was something wrong, something Ben refused to tell his parents. Luke and Mara had both approached him, together and separately over the last few weeks but their efforts were to no avail. A knock at his his door pulled Luke out of his thoughts, this was just the person he had wanted to talk to, Ben's cousin and Master.

"Come in, Jacen," Luke said as he opened the door.

"You wanted to see me, uncle?"

"Yes, I do. Please sit." Luke motioned to a chair in front of his desk. I wanted to talk to you about Ben. Have you noticed him acting strange recently?"

Being Ben's Master, Jacen spent a great deal of time with him so Luke figured if anyone else had noticed Ben's strange behavior besides himself and Mara is would be Jacen.

Shaking his head Jacen replied, "Not really. Why, have you?"

"Mara and I both have think he is. He seems to not be sleeping very well, he barely talks to us and when he does he acts like it is an inconvenience- "

Before Luke could go on Jacen said, "He's sixteen years old uncle Luke, he's just being a teenager."

"I don't remember you being this way when you were that age."

"That is because you are not one of my parents, if you ask mom and dad I'm sure they would love to enlighten you. Besides, I had Jania and Anakin to compete for who was the most annoying teenager," he said with a smile

Luke laughed, "Now that you mention it, I distinctly remember your father shaking his head saying 'Teenagers' a lot."

"He's just trying to separate himself from his very famous family. It isn't easy you know... everyone looks at you like you have to be great, like when the galaxy falls apart you have to be the one to save it, just like everyone else in your family. Being your only child he probably feels like he has no choice but to follow in your footsteps, and those are some big boots to fill."

Jacen noticed Luke looking at the holo that was sitting on his desk, the same holo he knew Ben had beside his bed. Jacen felt bad for saying Ben was an only child, knowing that Luke, Mara and Ben got upset when someone said he was , but for all intensive purposes Ben Skywalker was an only child. He has spent most of his life as the only child and therefore he felt the pressure of being the only one to carry on the Skywalker name.

"I'll do my best to show him that even though people may want him to be, he doesn't have to be you." Jacen said snapping Luke out of his reverie.

"Thank you, Jacen. I'm glad you are here to help him find his own path." Luke said with a sincere smile.

Ben was completely exhausted. His arms felt like they weighed a ton and his legs as if they were stuck to the floor.

"Come on, Ben. I know you can do better than this." Jacen said as a sting blast from the training remote hit Ben in the leg. "You need to concentrate."

"I'm trying, I just can't seem to focus," he responded

"Do or do not Ben."

The fact of the matter was that he was doing the best he could. His mind wouldn't clear from the dream he had the night before. Death had been all around him, starting with his baby sister. Then more and more, some he knew and some he didn't.

"This is your future, Ben. You can't deny it, you can't stop it. You are a Skywalker, your destiny is fixed." The strangely familiar disembodied voice told him.

It seemed to him that the galaxy was dying around him. The more people died the more the voice repeated "You are a Skywalker, your destiny is fixed"

"Ben!" a voice pulled him back to the present

"What?" Ben said looking rather confused

"You've been standing there letting the sting blasts hit you without even trying to stop them, until I turned the remotes off. Are you okay?" Jacen as with concern

"I'm sorry, Master. I must have started daydreaming."

"Sit," Jacen said nodding to the ground Ben was standing on.

Ben sat on the ground right where he was as Jacen sat in front of him.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Jacen asked him

"Why does everyone keep asking me that!" Realizing he said that out loud, Ben changed his tone from exasperated to respectful, "No, Master I'm fine."

"I'm not asking as your Master, I'm asking as family. Your parents are worried about you and honestly I'm starting to get that way. You keep zoning out on me, you look exhausted, your reaction time has slowed significantly. People who are daydreaming don't stand there and take sting blasts, Ben. I had to use the Force to get your attention."

Ben remained silent, eyes looking downward, his hands nervously playing with the hilt of his lightsaber.

After a few minutes of silence it was obvious Ben wasn't ready to talk to him yet, so he was sent home early to get some rest. As Jacen watched him leave he wondered if his cousin was really just being a teenager, as he had told his uncle or if his problems went much deeper.