After practicing calligraphy for a while Ben found himself getting sleepy. He rested his head down on his desk and shut his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again he was greeted by the moon and a knock.
"It's me, Ben," Sofie said from outside. He told her to come in. She entered the hut and he noticed that she had something in her hand.
"This is from dinner." She said, putting the package on his desk. He thanked her and started eating.
"Thank god, I was starving." He said. Sofie sat on his bed and smiled.
"I tried to eat but it's hard for me to find my appetite with everything that happened earlier." Sofie sighed. The thought of being completely defenseless and knocked out disturbed her.
Already finished eating, Ben sat next to her on the bed and held her.
"Don't worry, I protected you then and I'll protect you in the future." He pushed a few strands of hair out of her face and gave her a gentle kiss.
"Thanks, but remember that I can definitely handle most things myself," Sofie and Ben locked eyes. She searched them and pondered their meaning. Sofie became quiet.
"There was something that happened today." She told him. He pulled back slightly. "How do you know?" Ben asked her.
"I can see it in your eyes, something changed." She said.
Ben looked towards the holoprojector sitting on his desk. He grabbed it and started it up.
"You must be thinking of this," Ben said, handing her the projector.
Leia's projection ran through her same speech. Sofie felt her heart drop as she closed it with a reminder that she loved him and would see him soon.
She handed him back the projector. "You're… related to Darth Vader? The Darth Vader?" She didn't know what to say.
"How do you feel about it?" She finally asked him. He looked towards the ground.
"It's strange. And different. And I'm not sure how to feel honestly. He's a role model to some and considered the absolute worst by others." Ben moved the projector around in his hand.
Sofie pulled Ben into an embrace. "Well, just don't let it define you. Darth Vader or not, you've treated me well. And your mother is so sweet, I would have never guessed that she was related to him." Ben smirked at her comment. His mother had visited a few times and Sofie always made an effort to talk to her as much as possible.
Ben probably knew that her mother suspected that something was happening between the two of them.
While Ben was lost in thought, Sofie pulled herself onto his lap and straddled him carefully.
"Can we?" She smiled at him, shooting him a suspicious gaze. "Or are you too hurt?" He smirked at her.
"Never." He replied.
Unbeknownst to Sofie and Ben, while they laid in Ben's bed with each other in their arms, an unexpected visitor came in the early morning.
Master Luke decided to get up slightly before sunrise to see if Ben had processed the recent news and the events of the day before.
But when Luke arrived to Ben's hut, he hesitated. Something wasn't right.
Before deciding to knock he peeked through the small window near Ben's desk. It was dark but his eyes only confirmed what he sensed. Another person.
He knew instantly, even if he didn't want to admit it. His subconscious crept up and started to tell him that he should have known.
Luke quickly slipped away, pondering what he should do. It seemed unfair to punish just one person since it took two to have the relationship. He also knew that there would be unprecedented consequences if he expelled his nephew from the academy. What would he say to his sister and his friend?
He decided that objectively, he could tell Sofie that because of her actions and disregard for authority, he could ask her to leave.
A few minutes after Luke's visit, Sofie woke up. It was still dark and she could tell that Ben was still sleeping. She nudged him gently.
"Ben, I think I have to go back to my hut for now." She kissed him in his sleep and he muttered a few words while half-asleep.
Sofie speed-walked back to her hut, trying to stay inconspicuous. She had done the same thing many times, but she always feared being confronted by someone, wondering why she was running around in the early hours of the morning.
She slipped quietly into her hut, trying not to wake Voe. Sofie slipped in her bed to help with the illusion that she was there the whole time. She laid in silence, waiting for a sign that it was the normal time to get up.
Voe eventually woke up and she and Sofie went through their typical morning routine.
Then, the routine was changed when Luke asked Sofie to come to his study after breakfast.
Sofie's stomach turned, but she couldn't place why. Maybe it had something to do with the mission yesterday?
Sofie finished eating, waved goodbye to everyone and made her way to Master Luke's office. She knocked carefully once she got the door, biting her lip with anxiety. "Come in," Luke said through the door.
Sofie smiled at him as she entered, he smiled back.
Despite this exchange, the feeling in her stomach remained.
She sat as usual and waited for him to start talking. She could tell he didn't want to start.
"I called you in because I needed to let you know that..." Luke started and Sofie gulped. "...We're going to have to send you home." Sofie's stomach finally, fully dropped.
"Why?" She asked quickly, trying to keep a face of disbelief, even though she secretly knew.
"This morning I saw you with Ben in his hut." He stated to her. "And it pains me because this has nothing to do with your performance. In fact, I believe that if you were just a bit more focused, you'd be the best student here." Sofie kept eye contact but felt shame building up in her.
"I told you to be careful around Ben, and you went directly against my orders." Luke sighed. Sofie frowned.
"What about Ben?" Sofie started. "Did you ever tell him to stay away from me? Or even take the time to figure out why exactly I should stay away from him so that maybe I could become closer to him?"
"I already know why, and it's because of things that neither of us can control." Luke stood up abruptly. "Gather your things, I have a shuttle scheduled to pick you up and take you back to Nexa and it should be coming soon. Wait in your hut, I'll knock when it's ready." Sofie looked at him in shock.
"Nexa? What am I supposed to do there?" Sofie said, ready to beg him to send her somewhere else that was at least known to be safe.
Luke frowned. "It's where we first picked you up, so it is where we will drop you off." Sofie stood from her chair. She could tell his mind was made up, and that there was no use arguing with him.
Without another word she left his study and headed straight back to her hut.
Sofie felt like she was on the verge of tears as she entered her hut. Voe was inside, getting ready for training. She looked at Sofie with confusion and could sense that something was wrong.
"Sofie? What's wrong?" Voe asked.
"Master Luke says I have to leave," Sofie said with the waterworks beginning. She started to pack up her things into her backpack.
"What?!" Voe exclaimed. "Why?" Sofie sighed.
"I guess it's because of Ben and me." Sofie stuffed her extra clothes into her bag lazily. "He's potentially bad news according to Luke and I was supposed to stay away from him."
Voe looked exasperated. "He knows it takes two people to fuck right? And besides, Master Luke's the one who sent you two on a mission together."
Sofie laughed slightly. "Well, then I guess that tells you how much he didn't suspect anything. So imagine how shocked he was to see me in Ben's bed this morning." She wiped a tear from her eye.
Voe just stood there, shocked. Sofie finally picked up her last item to pack, her lightsaber.
"Where are you going?" Voe asked.
"Nexa, he said that's where I was picked up, so it's where I'll be dropped off." Sofie put her final item away and put the backpack on her bed. "I'll miss you." Was all Voe could say. She pulled Sofie into a hug and resisted her own tears from forming.
"You're going soon, right?" Voe asked Sofie. She nodded. She gave her another hug. Voe looked at her sadly but then left the hut to start training.
Sofie sat on her bed. She looked towards her pillow. Shit, she thought. She forgot something.
She grabbed her pillow and shook it until a pendant and ring fell out. The ones Ben gave her.
"If I don't say goodbye to Ben, at least I'll have this." She said to herself. She was trying not to think about that part.
Sofie felt like it took forever for Luke to come and take her to the ship.
A quick knock came on the door.
"Time to go," Luke's voice said to her through the door. She was right in that it was a long time because the sun had already set when she stepped outside.
Luke led her to the ship and introduced her to the pilot.
"I'm not allowed to say goodbye to Ben, I'm assuming?" Sofie asked Luke right before boarding. Luke shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said to her quietly. She nodded slightly, in understanding and resentment.
Sofie entered the shuttle, it was spacious enough to give her and the pilot some space but be in close proximity. Sofie sat towards the back, trying not to make conversation with the pilot
She rested her head and closed her eyes, trying not to think about what had happened.
Back at the Jedi Academy, the day was fairly boring for Ben. He tried to entertain himself in his hut but also tried to venture outside to watch others.
He went to watch the other students in the main plaza area. He saw many of the familiar faces but noticed that Sofie was missing.
Dinner time came and he managed to drag himself to the actual dining hall.
No Sofie again, but this time he passed by Voe. Voe stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him. She motioned him to follow her as she headed to an open table.
Once they were seated, Voe started the interrogation.
"Did you get to see her before she left?" She asked Ben in a slightly hushed voice.
"What? What are you talking about?" Ben asked, somewhat too loud for Voe's tastes. She shushed him. She didn't know if it was to be shared by anyone but Luke yet.
"Master Luke sent her back to Nexa this morning. He saw you two in your bed this morning." Ben's face instantly turned a bright shade red. He looked around the room nervously.
"She's gone?" Ben asked in complete disbelief.
"She left a while ago, I think," Voe said. Ben immediately stood up and headed to find Luke, leaving his food behind.
Voe watched him, mouth agape. She looked at his abandoned food and huffed.
Ben quickly walked to the main building, asking anyone if they had seen Luke. They confirmed what he assumed, that he was in his study.
Ben arrived at the study and opened the door immediately. Luke looked at him, knowing exactly what was coming. He stood up.
"Ben, I know why you're here. Have a seat." Luke started. Ben refused.
"Why did you send Sofie away?" He demanded.
"She left on her own will," Luke said. Ben looked at him, his expression changing. "But Voe said-" Luke stopped him.
"It was just an easier way for her to go. It was time for her to move on." Luke sat down again. "If you had taken the time to notice her as a Jedi and not just as a lover, you would have realized how much skill and potential she had."
Ben shifted his weight and diverted his gaze. "No, I knew that already. I could feel it through the Force."
"I know it seems sudden, Ben," Luke said. "But let's talk later, I have some business to take care of." A look of hurt flashed across Ben's face.
He left the study in silence and stood outside.
" Do you actually believe Skywalker, Solo?" Snoke echoed inside his head- again.
" He obviously sent her away because he's afraid of you, and he's afraid of you hurting her. He finally saw how close you had become. And now he dismisses you and sends her away without another word?" Ben closed his eyes tightly.
"Stop," he whispered out loud, smothering his anger. "I want to be alone right now."
Ben walked back to his hut and began a restless night.
He was torn between believing what Snoke told him, and trusting that his uncle was making the best choices, even if they didn't seem right to him.
But most of all, he missed her.
Finally, he dozed off into something that he could call sleep.
Then, losing track of time, he sensed something. It called him out of his sleep.
He turned over, half-asleep. He thought his eyes were deceiving him at first, but as they adjusted he knew he wasn't mistaken.
It was his uncle, lightsaber drawn and with an otherworldly look in his eyes.
Ben gasped, said nothing and grabbed his lightsaber off of his desk. He breathed heavily, his body nearly petrified with fear.
He decided that he couldn't spare even half a second if he wanted to live.
Ben closed his eyes and concentrated. He began to hear the hut crack around him, then the hut came crumbling down around both of them.
Seconds later, Ben pushed aside the rubble and pulled himself out of the now fallen hut. He got up quickly and stared at the hut, his eyes searched for Luke in the rubble.
"Why… what did I do…?" Ben wondered out loud. "Why was he trying to kill me?" His voice slightly shook in fear. He thought about everything that Snoke had warned him about. His own strength, Sofie, the pulling that he felt inside him.
His fear turned into anger, anger that overtook him completely as he realized how much he had been scorned.
The one person who he was supposed to trust and look towards for everything, had attempted to murder him. His own family member. The thoughts overtook his mind, finally solidifying their place as being true.
Then, when he came back to reality everything had changed.
There was a fire. Ben panicked. He ran to the other huts, trying to get to the other students so he could save them.
He sprinted as quickly as he could but was thrown back by a sudden explosion. His ears rang as his already sore body hit the ground.
The initial fire had now covered every building in the vicinity and reduced all of them to rubble.
"Oh.. oh my god." Ben mouthed, trying to see if anything had not been destroyed. "What happened? I- I didn't want this to happen. I was just trying to save myself."
A voice rang in the back of his mind.
"It isn't your fault."
Thousands of miles away from Ben, Sofie slept peacefully in the spaceship.
Then, something pulled her out of her sleep and she felt her heart start beating wildly.
She jumped up, unsure of what was happening and looked around the ship.
Her blood pressure was sky high without any explanation. Trying not to give herself a panic attack, she closed her eyes and tried to relax.
Under her eyelids, she saw fire.
She ran to the pilot, "We have to go back." She said to him, exasperated. The pilot looked at her and resisted laughing. "I'm sorry, but I'm following orders from Luke Skywalker." Sofie narrowed her eyes.
She drew her lightsaber. Its glow reflected off the pilot's face, his face turned from amusement into fear.
"Okay, if you want it that bad, be my guest."
A couple of minutes later, Sofie made sure he was restrained and wasn't going anywhere.
She took control of the ship and started the journey back to the academy, flying as quickly as possible. Her mind thought of all the possibilities while she traveled. Was everyone okay? Could it be just a small fire? But if so, why did she have such a reaction?
Sofie made it in record time and landed the plane. Through the window, she saw the same fire as when she closed her eyes, only more smothered than before.
Unsure of what exactly happened, Sofie ran out of the plane and straight to where thought Ben's hut would have been. It was hard to tell with the destruction.
She found where she assumed it had been, but it was a pile of rubble now, surrounded by flames. She lifted the rubble with the Force and moved it to the side.
A person. She said to herself. She got closer to inspect.
It was Luke.
Sofie hesitated but decided to brush the rest of the rubble off of Luke and get him out of the mess. She scanned again for Ben but didn't see any sign of him. She grew more concerned by the minute. Could he have done this?
Sofie tapped on Luke's shoulder firmly, trying to wake him up. He slowly came to and Sofie sighed with relief. Maybe she didn't agree with his actions earlier in the day, but she knew that it ultimately came from an attempt for goodness. She couldn't just leave him underneath the rubble.
Luke came to, and recognized Sofie. He thought he might have been hallucinating at first, with the combination of her and the fire blazing around him.
"...Sofie?" He mouthed in confusion. Sofie helped him get up.
"Yes, it's really me. You're not dreaming." She told him sadly.
Luke scanned the destruction that had been done.
"What have I done?" He walked around slowly, scanning the area and trying to take in what had been done.
He hastily moved rubble to reveal R2-D2 and leaned on him. R2-D2 beeped sadly. Luke tried to be reassuring.
"What do you mean what have you done? This couldn't have possibly been from you." Sofie said to Luke.
"I failed Ben," Luke started. "He needed me to trust him, and for him to trust me, and I ruined that." Luke sighed, defeated.
"I tried to attack him in his sleep because I felt something shift when you left. I had to know." Sofie looked at the rubble and bit her lip anxiously. It was Ben that caused this. "In his mind… I saw dark things. I saw him as the cause of the end of everything I loved."
Luke fell to the ground.
"It was a reflex, but it was still my fault. I'm a failure." He held his head in shame. "And now he's on a path that can't be stopped."
Sofie stepped towards him. "No, I'll stop him, I can stop him. I had a part in this too. Maybe I should have listened to you so that you could have focused on helping him. Maybe this wouldn't have happened then."
"No," Luke said to her. "This was all me, I was supposed to be his master."
"But… I'm sure that light is still there, it has to be." Sofie said desperately. Luke shook his head.
"Sofie what I saw… if you saw it too, you'd understand." Luke stood up and began walking away.
"Get away from here, and just try to live a semi-normal life. Forget about all of this." Sofie watched as he and R2-D2 headed towards his spaceship.
She watched as they began to leave in shock and began to run towards them. "So you're giving up?" She asked Luke.
"I don't deserve to continue or try." He said, still walking.
"But... at least tell me where you're going. Where I can find you." She said to him as they reached his ship. He looked at her with a strange calmness.
"You've been my student all these years, I'm sure you can figure it out." Sofie lowered her head and sighed as Luke went into the ship with R2-D2. She began to walk to the ship that she had been piloting earlier.
As she walked through the rubble she moved pieces, trying to see if there was anything that she could salvage. She scanned the ground, but everything was completely destroyed.
She got back to the ship and stood in silence as she looked back at the rubble. She felt a mix of emotions. She felt for Luke, who was hurt and had now lost an entire generation of Jedi, possibly the last. She also felt for Ben, now on a journey guided initially by his own doubts.
Inside the ship, she found the pilot who she had restrained.
"It's all gone." She told him. He stared back at her, confused. "Everything and everyone, it's gone." She started the ship and headed to Nexa as they had originally planned.
She sat in silence for the entire duration of the trip, unsure of what to do next, but determined to stop whatever darkness Luke had sensed.