Sorry about the confusion on chapter 11, but it's fixed now! Yay! Also, double updates? I think yes. I will do my best to uphold that!
Edit: 5/17/2020 dialogue tags fixed.
2 weeks had passed with Ben living with the Lars'. It had only been about 3 months since he had first arrived on Tatooine as well, which meant Luke was 3 months.
Ben watches the boy as he lays on the ground, gnawing on his fist. He had grown so much already, and not just physically.
He's growing stronger in the Force as well. He sighs at the thought and rests his cheek on his fist. I had hoped he wouldn't take after his father. Ben shakes his head and sits up.
"Ben?"
Right, he wasn't alone in watching the boy. Ben blinks and turns his attention to Owen.
"Yes?"
Owen fidgets in the chair he's sitting on and Ben can't help but want to do the same.
"I never got to apologize."
Surprise takes over curiosity and Ben rears back.
"You don't-"
Owen cuts him off quickly. "I shouldn't have said what I did. I shouldn't have kept you from seeing Luke."
Jedi only make things worse. The thought flows through his mind in the voice of an enslaved Togruta and Owen Lars.
"I wasn't thinking. I didn't realize how badly you were affected by everything." Owen shrugs and slumps. "I guess I thought Jedi didn't feel."
Ben smiles a little and chuckles when Owen raises an eyebrow. "What?"
"You're not the first to think that, y'know?" Ben sighs before pushing himself off the couch before walking a few paces to Owen. He sits in the empty chair next to him. "I understood where you were coming from. Things were happening and it didn't help that a Jedi arrived at your doorstep to give you a baby. I wasn't really thinking either. All that I thought was that you were his only family left and that I certainly couldn't take care of a baby." He smiles lightly at Owen who gives him a laugh back.
"You can't even take care of yourself, Ben."
Ben huffs and playfully rolls his eyes.
"You're not denying it."
A wave of worry and terror washes over Ben and he rushes to his feet. Owen follows just as quickly, not asking what was wrong.
Beru bursts through the entryway of the home. She looked scattered and disheveled.
"Stormtroopers." She gasps out through heaving breaths. Ben flinches but grabs the bags of groceries from her hands as Owen leads his wife to sit. Ben rests the bags down and quickly returns to the family. "They're coming."
Ben's hands shake and he struggles to release his fear into the Force.
"How do you know?" Owen asks her, gently rubbing her back and holding her hand.
"They're taking a census. They're going to every house and getting a count of those living there." That wasn't so bad, right? "They're also asking questions." Beru looks up at Ben and his heart falls. "They're asking about Jedi."
Ben stumbles and barely catches himself.
The loud banging on the door startles the family and even Luke starts to cry. Owen catches his eye and ushers him away.
"You stay here. You stay hidden."
Ben didn't have time to be surprised at the concern flowing through the home. He was close enough that he could still hear what was going on.
"I'll conceal myself. You don't have to worry about me."
Owen raises an eyebrow at the suggestion. Ben smiles sheepishly as he recalls the last time he did that.
He had passed out.
It was rather embarrassing.
"I'll be alright. Go." Ben watches Owen leave before slowly going to his knees. He breathes deeply as he sinks into the Force. He thinks he can feel Qui-Gon nearby, but he doesn't have the concentration to spare for that thought.
"Just the three of you?" Ben almost loses the small amount of concentration he has when he hears the voice. He shifts and thinks hard about whether it would be worth it to spare a little more concentration to peer into the Trooper's head just to see who it was. Warmth flowed over him and he lifted his lips in thanks as Qui-Gon does what he can to bolster Ben's strength.
"Just me, my wife, and nephew." Owen's voice calmly gives the Trooper their names as well and Ben looks into the Trooper's mind.
It takes time and there are obvious shields and traps in their mind, but he finds his answer.
"Have you seen any Jedi around these parts?"
"I thought they all died." Beru's soft voice barely brushes against his thoughts. Everything after that blurs out as his breathing picks up at the identity of the Trooper.
No. He refused to believe that the Force could be this cruel to him. Cody? He forcibly pulls himself out of his Commander's mind and winces at the pain in his head that he earns from the action.
He pushes it aside and casts his senses out.
Cody never faltered in his questioning. That meant that he didn't feel Ben's presence. He's grateful for that knowledge.
The sound of heavy steps leaving the home shakes him out of his thoughts and meditation. He exits the welcoming hold of the Force and whimpers at the pain surrounding his mind. He feels a wetness on his upper lip and brings a shaky hand to the liquid. Blood rests on the fingers that brushed against his lip.
"Ben?"
Ben raises his head and smiles at Owen and Beru. He pushes himself up off the ground. His legs give out immediately but he's saved by arms stopping his fall. Ben groans and pushes his head into the body in front of him.
The light hurts his head and a drumbeat of pain echoes through his mind.
"I've got you," Owen whispers, carefully pulling Ben into a standing position. He starts a slow walk and Ben's feet drag as exhaustion weighs him down. "What happened?"
Ben's eyes stay wrenched closed as he breathes through the pain. He's vaguely aware of being pushed onto a soft surface.
"I went into his mind." Ben mumbles out after he's pushed further down until he lays flat on the surface. He places his arm over his eyes and breathes deeply, one shaky breath after another.
"What did you find?" Something cold and wet brushes against his upper lip.
"Their name." His heart hurts for the Trooper that was once his friend. Silence rests over the heads of those in the room. "Cody. Commander Cody of the 212th Attack Battalion of the GAR under one General Kenobi."