The Foundling
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A/N-thank you for reviewing this story!
Chapter Six-Growing up and Growing Apart
Five years later;
Ben paced impatiently outside Skywalker's quarters as he waited for his uncle to grant him an audience. He hadn't seen much of his master lately. Luke had been off-world on another diplomatic mission on behalf of Leia and had only recently returned. Since then he had been locked away by himself, only occasionally calling upon the services of some of his apprentices, but not once had he seen fit to call upon his nephew. Ben knew he was being deliberately frozen out. He had heard whispers that Skywalker was going to send some of his apprentices off-world to gather information. Ben wanted to be one of those apprentices. He was the oldest, the most experienced, the most skilled in the Jedi arts. It was time that his uncle showed some faith him. He already knew that Tai and Hennix had been chosen to go. He planned on being the one to lead the group.
"Come in." Luke finally summoned him.
Ben took a deep breath to compose himself. He had to remain calm. He didn't want this to descend into one another one of their slanging matches which would only give his uncle another excuse to side-line him. He walked into Luke's monk like quarters-the only furniture was a simple wooden desk, two chairs and a single bed pushed up against one wall-to find Voe sitting across from his uncle. Her dark brown eyes gleamed with triumph when he entered the room, which immediately got under Ben's skin.
"What is she doing here?" He demanded.
"You can go, Voe" Luke dismissed her as he shot his nephew a dark look. "Ben, sit."
Ben was forced to sit in Voe's vacated chair as she exited the hut. He fidgeted trying to get comfortable. Now he was twenty-one he had finally reached his full height. He towered over everyone, even Luke, which was probably the reason why his uncle had made him sit down.
"Why did you want to see me, Ben?" Luke asked wearily.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ben stretched his long legs out in front of him as he eyed Skywalker keenly. "I know you're sending Tai and Hennix off-world. I want to be the one to lead the mission."
Luke's response was a flat no. "You're not ready, Ben. I'm sending Voe with Tai and Hennix. And I've placed Tai in charge."
"Why?" Ben exploded as he let his anger and resentment get the better of him. The chair he was sitting in rocked back violently as he stood up abruptly, glowering at his uncle. "You can't send Voe! She's unstable. She's too fiery and impulsive- "
"And you're not?" Luke cut in bitingly. "Look at you, Ben! You are all of those things and more. You may be my most gifted student but you lack control and focus."
"You don't trust me!" Ben retorted bitterly. "That's what you really mean. Just say it."
Luke sighed heavily and shuffled some books on his desk. "I haven't got time for this, Ben. The decision has been made. Now leave me."
Ben scowled at Skywalker, his eyes glowing like black coals. Luke's brow furrowed as he matched his nephew's angry glare. Ben was the first to break the dead-lock as he turned on his heel and stormed out of the hut, nearly wrenching the door off its hinges as he slammed it behind him.
Ben boarded his starship, Grimtaash. According to legend, Grimtaash protected the royal family of Alderaan from traitors, blinding them in frightening flashes of light. One of the holographic pieces used in the game of dejarik was shaped after Grimtaash. Ben, being the only son of the Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa, had picked the name out, wanting to feel an affinity with his mother's adopted heritage. Ben sat in the pilot's seat and began to get ready for take-off. He was still fuming at Skywalker's treatment of him and needed to get away before he did something he would regret. Punching in the co-ordinates for his home world Chandrila, Ben skilfully piloted Grimtaash off the planets surface and headed for deep space.
Chandrila was a small blue-green planet with calm seas and rolling hills. It had mild seasonal weather and rarely experienced dangerous weather conditions. Following the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Chandrila became the capital of the New Republic and the seat of the newly formed Galactic Senate as a tribute to the Republic of old. It was not permanent, however, as the Republic chose to rotate its capital world based on elections. However, Leia Organa, along with a few other senators, still kept offices in the planet's capital, Hanna city. That's where Ben headed now. Leia and Rey had been relocated there for the last few weeks as the civil unrest continued to grow.
Ben concentrated hard as he tried to establish a Force bond with Rey. It had become harder and harder lately. As she matured so did her powers. If she didn't feel in the mood to talk, or she was angry and annoyed with him-which was happening more and more lately-she would mentally block their connection. Her ability to just cut him off frustrated Ben no end. The last time he had been in contact with her was weeks ago. They had ended up arguing heatedly when she grew impatient about his list of complaints about Skywalker's treatment of him.
"Maybe Luke has a point, Ben!" Rey had challenged him. "Do you even consider the pressure he is under? If you showed more self-discipline and control then maybe he would show more faith in you."
"How dare you lecture me?" Ben had fired back at her resentfully. "I'm not an automaton like you are. You hate politics but yet you follow my mother around like a dutiful little princess instead of telling her how you really feel."
"Maybe it's because I know my duty. Something you seem to have forgotten all about. I respect Leia and everything she is trying to achieve here. She is fighting for what she believes in." Rey responded with frustrated tears in her eyes.
"Well its lucky that she replaced me with you then, isn't it?" Ben sneered. "Sometimes I wish Han had left you on Jakku."
He had regretted his outburst as soon as he said it. He saw the life die in Rey's hazel eyes, before her sadness drained through their bond, skating through him like ice over fire. It travelled through every cell in his body until his whole consciousness was subsumed with it. He had opened his mouth to apologise, to tell her he didn't mean it, but she had already cut him off and had ignored him ever since.
"Rey." Ben murmured as he pushed against her mental walls as hard as he could. He encountered the same road blocks and ground his teeth in frustration. "And you call me stubborn!" He growled when he felt her push back against him, mentally ejecting him from her head. "Fine. You can't ignore me when I'm right in front of you."
Giving up, Ben began the landing sequence as he hailed the control tower in the midst of Hanna City and requested permission to land.
Rey rubbed her aching temples. The effort of pushing back against Ben had given her a headache. She glanced to the side to find Poe Dameron looking at her in concern. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" He asked.
"I'm sure." Rey assured him with a warm smile. She placed her hand in the crook of the young pilot's arm when he offered it to her and they resumed walking.
Poe Dameron was 22 and already a decorated X-wing pilot, he could fly anything. He was the son of Sergeant Kes Dameron and his wife, Lieutenant Shara Bey, old trusted friends of Leia and Han's. Poe Dameron had followed in his late mother's footsteps in becoming a pilot. Rey had met him a few times over the years, and had at one time harboured a secret crush on the handsome young pilot when she was around twelve or so, but that had faded over time. She was sixteen now and on the cusp of womanhood. As she strode next to Poe, she politely listened to him talk about what had driven him to becoming a pilot.
"Well you already know my folks were enlisted in the Rebellion, which obviously kept them very busy, so I spent my formative years with my grand-father…and then, when I was…six, I guess? My mother took me up in her A-wing. Now this was the RZ-1 model, which is way different than the early R-22's. I mean those were basically just stunt flyers, y'know?"
"Mmm…" Rey mumbled absently. She was thinking about Ben. He was somewhere close; she could sense it.
"Are you okay, Rey?" Poe asked softly as he tried to recapture her attention.
Rey snapped out of her introspection. "I'm so sorry." She apologised profusely. "What must you think of me?"
"Its been a long day. Would you like me to walk you back to your rooms? I'm sure your mother will be free to join us soon?" Poe said kindly.
"Thank you for being so understanding." Rey gave him the benefit of one of her brightest smiles.
"You're welcome." Poe replied as they changed direction and headed back to her quarters.
Rey breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the doors closed behind her. She had been putting on an act all day and found it exhausting. She admired Leia's fortitude in putting up with the endless sycophantic chatter all day and still remain calm and composed. She drifted to her room and immediately tugged off the confining blue gown she had been wearing all day. God, it was such a release to finally be free of the restricting material. She unbound her long brown hair from its restraints and let it tumble down her back and shoulders in soft waves. Instead she pulled on a pair of light grey capri pants and a light grey tunic to match. She felt much better now. Still barefoot Rey padded out to the main room, intent on ordering something to eat when she encountered Ben lounging on one of the white leather sofas.
"How did you get in?" She complained irritably.
Ben rolled his eyes at the stupid question as he summoned the force to open and close the main doors to make his point. "Duh!"
"I actually meant what are you doing here?" Rey deliberately changed her question as she summoned a small kitchen droid to bring her some fruit.
"Am I not allowed to visit my family?" Ben drawled sarcastically.
"According to you I'm not family I'm an interloper." Rey's voice cracked on the word interloper and she quickly averted her gaze from Ben so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes, but he felt it all the same.
"You know I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." Ben's insides twisted at the thought of hurting her. He hated doing that. When everyone else seemed to have given up on him, only she had remained his champion, but in his anger and resentment he was even pushing her away. "Rey, I mean it. I really am sorry." He said in his most gentlest and sincerest tone.
"You're always sorry, Ben. That's the problem." Rey took the Chandrilian fruit that the kitchen droid brought for her and turned it around and around in her hands aimlessly. When the same familiar sadness washed over her, her appetite was like ash on the floor. She tried to eat the fruit, but four bites and she was done. The urge to cry kept coming and going, it was chaotic, powerful, the hot tears finally spilling over as her restraint collapsed.
There is the hug of gentle arms that still gives you the space to breathe; then there is the hug of strong arms that tells you everything you are-body, brain and soul-that they are with you. Ben's was the latter. She caved in and let him comfort her in only the way he could.
Rey's emotions were not easily hidden on her innocent face. Her pain was evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full lips. But her eyes, her eyes showed her soul. They were a deep pool of restless brown infused with green, an ocean of hopeless grief. His careless words had wounded her more deeply than he had ever imagined and he felt worse than he had ever felt in his life. No wonder she had ignored him for weeks. She was growing up so fast, every time he saw her, she had changed in some subtle way. But however much she tried to bury it, she could never escape the fact that her real parents had abandoned her into slavery on the desert planet Jakku.
"You still think about them?" He asked huskily.
"Yes." Rey admitted. "A lot more lately. I don't know why."
"Everyone deserves to know where they came from…" Ben began.
"It doesn't matter where I came from." Rey pulled out of his embrace and turned her back on him.
"Rey, I know how important it is to you." Ben put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off. Her rejection hurt, but he knew it was because she was hurting. "I've got some free time. I could take you to Jakku. We could do some digging." He offered.
Rey's eyes filled up again as they settled on Ben again. "You'd do that?" She whispered.
"I'd do any- "
Ben's response was cut off as the doors swept open and Leia entered the room. She halted, her brown eyes widening in surprise when she caught sight of her son. "Ben, what are you doing here?" She demanded; her tone harsher than she intended.
A/N-thanks for reading!