Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All original characters belong to me.
Keep going. Keep running.
Naya was using up her adrenaline at a fast rate. She could already feel her legs starting to go numb, which began at the ankles, but she couldn't stop. Her mind was telling her that she had to go farther and she did so. The sharp snaps from twigs that were breaking under her feet created a cacophony of noises around her. She had to get out of her home. Staying there was starting to suffocate her. The air outside was cold, bitterly cold. The wind stabbed at her face and body, numbing her instantaneously. But, she didn't care. Just a little farther and she would be fine. Naya finally made it to a clearing when she felt the instant pain in her side. She came to a hard stop, stumbling, and falling to her knees. Her hand pressed against her side, the pain now turned into a slow throb. She tried taking steady breaths that ultimately turned into a pathetic wheeze.
This can't be happening.
She shook her head, eyes scrunching closed, trying to allow the pain in her side to slowly die down. Once it was at a bearable level, Naya crawled over to one of the trees and sat up against it. She continued with her breathing, every exhale puffed out as clouds in front of her face, disappearing into the darkness around her. When she gazed up, she could see the tops of the trees were barely illuminated from the city lights, the city was nothing more than a mass of light when she looked back at it. She just wanted to be alone, to be surrounded by some form of peace. Her home had become too crowded, with her parents completely breaking down and the General trying her best to console them. She had to get out of there and she went to the only place that offered a form of solitude. The woods.
Her mind was swirling and her entire body was aching from a piercing numbness, from both the cold and her own shock. Naya's sense of reality was destroyed only a few moments ago, the walls crumbled around her, piece by piece. There was no way she could put them back together, not after what she had overheard.
The information had been given to her parents by General Organa, who had made the trip out to see them. She wanted to be the one to give them the news, she felt it was only appropriate. Of course, Naya and her parents were more than surprised to see the General here. However, the look of grim sadness was the first thing Naya took notice of when Leia entered the home. And right then, she knew that something was wrong. Naya had never seen the General adorn so many emotions before. Sadness. Distress. Shock. Leia had always been someone that Naya associated with calmness, someone who always had a form of control on everything around her. To see her in that kind of state was alarming. Naya was told to leave the room, that the information needed to be exchanged between her parents and Leia. Of course, being the curious one, Naya simply stood outside of the room. Now, she wished that she hadn't.
An attack on the Jedi. All the Jedi Luke had been training were killed. Slaughtered. Including her brother.
The news made her entire body go cold, eyes widened with shock and disbelief. It couldn't be true; her brother couldn't be dead.
This had to be some form of misunderstanding. Who would do such a thing?
Luke would never allow such a thing to happen. He would have been able to stop it. That is what Naya believed whole-heartedly. Naya had been in the clear, no one knew that she had been eavesdropping on the conversation. That was until Leia stepped out of the room, taking immediate notice of Naya's presence. She didn't do anything to cover up what she was doing. Naya could only stare up at Leia, both of them standing in silence, trying to figure out what they should say to each other.
Naya was the one to break the silence. The first thing she asked was, who did it? She wanted to know who was responsible for killing her brother and Ben, who she thought had also perished during the event. While she was listening to the conversation, there was no mention of Ben. That made Naya believe that he too had perished in the event. Not only did she lose her brother but she lost her best friend as well. However, the truth was something Leia had hoped to avoid telling Naya, for now at least. But Naya begged her. This information would only make the situation worse. Leia couldn't look Naya in the eyes and not tell her the truth. The longer she kept this from her, the harder the fallout would be.
Leia ultimately relented and told Naya the truth. It was Ben.
The words didn't register at first. Naya thought that it was some kind of cruel trick that was being played on her. Fortunately, she was able to dispel the thought immediately. Naya knew better. Leia would never put her through something like that. But that meant Leia was telling the truth. Once the full meaning behind Leia's words finally came to pass, Naya's instant reaction was denial. Leia had predicted that would be her first reaction and she couldn't see any fault to it. Leia herself had to deal with her own denial that any of this ever happened.
Ben would never do something like that. He never would.
That was the only defense Naya was able to conjure up at that moment. But in the back recesses of Naya's mind, past all her denial and shock, she knew it was true. How could this have happened? What would make Ben do such a thing?
Leia had tried talking to Naya, using gentle words to try and calm her. Naya could only shake her head, it was too much. Naya couldn't bear to stay there a moment longer. She couldn't look at Leia, or hear her voice. It was already messing with her clouded mind. In response, she ran. Naya pushed right passed the General and was out the door before she could even stop her.
The minute she was out the door, only one thing came to Naya's mind. She needed to go to the woods. It was where she could go for solitude and that was something Naya desperately needed. It had only been minutes since she arrived at the clearing and it hadn't made any of this easier. The cold air stung her throat and lungs as she inhaled heavy breaths, trying to supply her body with the oxygen she had lost during her run. Naya hugged her knees tightly to her chest and leaned her head against the tree.
How did it come to this?
Five years. The last time Naya ever saw Ben was five years ago before he was sent away to train with Luke. As she sat in the cold, Naya recalled Ben's hesitation. Several times he had admitted to her that he didn't want to leave. For a reason that he never truly disclosed with her and she never pushed him about it. Did she want him to leave? A part of her didn't at the time, it was strange not having him around. Even now, five years later, Naya still caught herself in moments where she forgot that Ben wasn't here. It was something she never truly adjusted to. In response to his hesitation, Naya could only offer some kind of comfort and enthusiasm. Telling Ben that it would be good for him, to go and train to be a Jedi, something that Naya had always been fascinated with after hearing countless stories growing up. Ben was less than enthusiastic, however, it was what his mother wanted for him, how could he get out of it? Still, Naya couldn't fathom the correlation between that moment and now. Ben left to start his training under Luke, to become a Jedi. Now, he has wiped them all out including her brother.
She should've seen it. There was a reason he didn't want to go. She should've pushed him to tell her. Maybe she could've prevented all of this.
Naya allowed her eyes to close, feeling her tears press against her eyelids. "What happened, Ben?" she whispered. Her chest ached as his name fell past her lips. She didn't know what to think or feel. The only thing she wanted to know was, why?
Five years was not a long time but something happened. Something that completely changed Ben to the point that he would betray his family and his fellow peers. And Naya couldn't help but feel that Leia may know more than what she has said. Although, Naya could be completely wrong. Naya couldn't help but feel unfair while thinking this. Leia was already going through her own hell. Knowing that her son was even capable of doing something like this must have been disheartening. The more Naya thought about it, she couldn't get past her own confusion. Granted, she was still in shock by it all, but she knew Ben, or at least she thought she knew him. Ben had to have some kind of motive behind it, which made all of this even more disturbing for Naya. The very thought of him becoming a cold killer, completely unfazed by what his actions would do, it tore her up inside.
The reasoning behind this event soon became unimportant to Naya. Her brother was dead. Ben was gone, she didn't know where and for all she knew, her family was broken. There was an instant ache in Naya's throat that brought forth new tears that spilled down her cheeks. She covered her mouth, silently choking on the cries she was trying to hold back. Being out here in the woods wasn't helping her in the slightest. This wasn't just her place; it was also Ben's. It was here that they frequented together, where most of her memories of him originate from. The very foundation of their friendship started here, a chance encounter was what Naya always called it. The boy with dark hair and fair complexion. And his eyes, they nearly matched his hair in color. Yet, Naya always remembered how they stood out, there was so much light in them.
Now, the image of the young boy she befriended was tainted. Ben Solo, he was no longer there. The Ben she knew would never commit this kind of heinous act. That was when Naya first felt it. That anger. It was starting to spill over the brim. She quickly wiped at the tear stains on her cheeks and bit down on her lip, hard enough to the point she could start to taste a little blood. Her arms hugged her knees closer to her body, trying to conserve the warmth her body was creating, and wiped the remaining tears from her eye. She hated that this ever happened. And, she hated Ben for going through with it. How could he betray his family? How could he betray her?
This initial hatred would only be temporary because below that, Naya knew there was more to this. There was more she wasn't being told and it would only be a matter of time before she knew the entirety of what happened. And she honestly didn't know if she would ever be prepared to hear it.