The Fountain Palace wasn't the only building in need of reconstruction on Hapes, as there were plenty of leveled structures in the capital city of Ta'a Chume'Dan alone. And as part of his assignment to this planet, Ben was tasked with helping wherever he could, even if it meant volunteering to help out in reconstruction efforts.

Unfortunately, there were very few places on the entire planet, let alone in Ta'a Chume'Dan, that would allow a Jedi to help out in any capacity. And even dressing down in casual civilian clothing to hide the fact that he was a Jedi didn't help since not only was he well-known as the son of Luke Skywalker, but he had also been famous—or infamous, depending on one's point of view—for his actions during the Second Galactic Civil War.

Ben didn't want to think about the fact that he was also, at least believed to be, related to Darth Caedus, one of the greatest monsters in galactic history.

So, aside from keeping up with his lightsaber practices in the Fountain Palace's dojo, there were only ever three locations where Ben was accepted to assist in repairing: a wedding cake bakery, a cosmetic appliance store, and a beauty spa. Every now and then, he would stop by to help, as the managers told him that they were only willing to accept his help if he didn't wear his Jedi robes, and he would only be allowed to work for about four hours a day about once every week or two. Then he would be sent along, whether it was because they didn't have anymore additional supplies or because the managers simply thought that that would be all for the day.

Today, however, Ben wasn't allowed to work on any of those places; for the bakery, they just didn't have supplies. The store and the spa, on the other hand, thought they didn't need him.

Which was fine by him. He wasn't in the mood to help out anyway; he was still angry with his last sparring contest/argument with Jacen days before.

Ben knew that he shouldn't be angry with Jacen; he knew that he, indeed, wasn't Darth Caedus. That had been proven months ago, so it wasn't that Ben didn't believe in the proof. Yet, at the same time, no matter how much he tried to separate Jacen from Caedus, Ben's heart wouldn't let him accept him back into his life.

It wasn't just because Jacen looked like Caedus; he felt like Caedus. Oh, sure, he lacked the dark side presence that his clone had, but his Force-presence was the same. And it was that Force-presence that served as a constant reminder of the man who killed Mara Jade Skywalker, Ben's mother; the man who had nearly torn the Skywalker-Solo clan apart, who had plunged the galaxy into a bloody war, was based off of the DNA of Ben's cousin. And no matter how much anyone tried to tell him to try to accept Jacen as part of his family, Ben could never find it within himself to do so when he still held so much resentment, so much hatred, for Darth Caedus.

Ben knew that a Jedi should never give himself into hatred or anger, that he should give himself over to peace and serenity. And in the years since the last war ended, he had been doing just that... or at least he thought he was.

There was no reason to think that he hadn't improved himself in the time since Caedus died; he was a skilled Jedi who had been granted the rank of Knight before he even became a legal adult, he had made his father proud, and he became closer to him and the rest of his family. Ben thought that if Caedus had left any kind of positive impact on his life, it would be that he had made his relationship with his family and his sense of self, especially as a Jedi, much stronger.

And then Jacen, the real Jacen, came back into their lives. Ben could still remember when he tried to strike the man down, believing that it had been Caedus reborn. He had been stopped, of course, and between that and the defeat of Abeloth, everything that Ben thought he knew, everything that he based his life experiences around, had been abruptly pulled out from under him and he didn't know how to take any of it.

He didn't care about the facts as the rest of his family did; he didn't care about the fact that Jacen had literally been slaving away on a planet in the Unknown Regions while the man who would become Darth Caedus was living his life. Ben couldn't muster up any sympathy for his cousin's traumatic experiences, even if it was all true.

When the man looked like Caedus, and felt like Caedus, even if he didn't act like him, Ben could never allow himself to emotionally disassociate his cousin from his Sith clone.

It was a long walk between the Fountain Palace and his destination; he could have taken a hovercab or bus, but Ben preferred to be left alone with his thoughts. And during his walk, he stopped by a flower shop, one of the few structures in Ta'a Chume'Dan to have been completely rebuilt since Abeloth's Infestation, where he bought a bouquet of some lovely black roses. The shop owner gave him a mild sneer even as she gave him his change, probably because of typical Hapan anti-Jedi sentiment, but Ben didn't care; not when he was on his way to probably the only person in the galaxy, outside of anyone in his family (excluding Jacen, of course), for whom he cared.

Minutes after leaving the flower shop, Ben knocked on the door of a modest apartment unit. Seconds later, the door opened and Ben was greeted by the warm smile of his secret girlfriend.

"Hey, you," she said.

"Hey yourself," he replied coyly. "Brought you your favorites."

"Oh, you remember," the girl said as she accepted the bouquet in both hands. She took a moment to breathe in the aroma from the black roses, closed her eyes to truly revel in the scent, before she breathed out a satisfied sigh and opened her eyes directly upon Ben.

"Please, come on in, Ben," she said. "Let me fix you up a drink."

"Thanks, Ves," he replied as he stepped in. "I'd like that."

When Vestara Khai, Sith Tyro of the Lost Tribe of the Sith, closed the door behind Ben, she set the bouquet down on her coffee table and went to get him some nice, inebriating Corellian whiskey.