The sleek Upsilon-class command shuttle cruised languidly across the galaxy.

Kylo stood at the bridge, leaning slightly against the glass window as he looked out into the vast expanse of space. Normally he would have a flight crew with him to handle the controls, or at least Lieutenant Tayson to act as his shuttle pilot. That was still the plan when he was in the meeting room with the other two members of the triumvirate. But when he stepped into the ship, he changed his mind.

The five randomly selected Stormtroopers didn't mind when he dismissed them. But the rest of his officer crew were surprised, and Tayson especially was concerned. Kylo wasn't particularly close to them, but his crew had bonded over a strong dislike for Armitage Hux. His officers had tried to convince him to at least have some TIE fighter escorts throughout his flight as an added safety measure. The command shuttle was built to be well-defended, but in terms of retaliatory firepower, it tend to rely on accompanying TIE fighters as cover. Kylo was almost touched by their response. In any case, his officers' attempts weren't very successful, and they reluctantly let Kylo board the shuttle alone. Once the command shuttle left the Finalizer's, Kylo had it jump into hyperspace, and it re-emerged somewhere in the belt of the Core worlds. He could have just jumped straight into Chandrila's orbit, but the thought of the planet weighed heavily on his heart.

Still, he could only stall for so long. Large swathes of blue and vast patches of greenish brown spread across a planetary surface loomed into his view. Kylo trembled despite himself. He remembered very well the last time he had seen the planet from space. It had been on board a ship as well, but one older and smaller than his current craft. But he was being flown out from Chandrila, not flying towards it. He winced at the memory, and the feelings that came with it.

No, he tried desperately to steel himself, even as he charted the command shuttle to descend on the planet's surface. Ben Solo was taken from Chandrila. The one piloting the shuttle piercing through the planet's atmosphere right now was Kylo Ren. Supreme Leader of the First Order. He wasn't coming home, he was here to retrieve the planet's loyalty.

The wings of the Upsilon shuttle folded up and inwards as it prepared to land. Kylo had purposely chosen to park the ship within a forested area away from but near enough to Chandrila's capital, Hanna City. Alighting at one of the landing and docking platforms in the city would have brought unwanted attention.

Kylo took a deep breath before he descended down the ship's ramp and onto the soil of Chandrila. The forest air was crisp and fresh. He missed it. Even more reason for the First Order to settle on a planet and establish a capital that was not onboard a space craft.

He made his way through the trees, along a path that he once knew. It would lead to a man-made trail. If he followed it out, he would reach the outskirts of the city.

Or that was what he remembered. Clearly, Hanna City had its own development ideas for the past fifteen years or so he was away. The city's outskirts, once notable for its open fields, now host massive, private residences. One could almost call them mini castles, with the way each residence was sprawled out and gated, complete with their own extensive gardens. There was a road running through that led to the city. The more clearly one could see the Skygarden hovering over it, the nearer one was to the seat of Chandrila and the New Republic.

Had he expected Chandrila to remain the same, even after he himself had changed so much? Perhaps. It would make walking down the streets and roads of the planet and its capital easier; he didn't have to think about them. Recognizing how much things have changed invariably meant that he would remember how everything had been, how his life had been, before everything that happened had led him to his current life path.

Kylo walked on in silence. Occasionally a hovercraft or two drove past, emerging from or heading back to one of the lavish manors lining the road. No one paid him any attention. Most likely they didn't care. Even if he had walked down with his mask, they would probably just pretend to not recognize him. Ignorance was how many rich and powerful people got by in life. Chandrilans, for all their idealism, were not any different.

Also he had been away for so long. Perhaps people didn't even remember how Ben Solo looked like. The last time they probably saw him around was when he was a scrawny boy of thirteen, always too quiet and too withdrawn in public settings. Kylo Ren looked nothing like that scared boy now.

And yet, he stopped at the mention of his birth name.

"Ben...Solo?"

He should have continued walking towards the city. Instead, he slowly turned around to see who had called out to him.

It was a human female around his age, with dark hair pinned back in a low bun, kept in place with a large, ornate gold hairpin. Her dress was made of blood orange drapes, embroidered at the torso with gold and bronze threads. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she carried herself with poise, an indication of her status in society.

Kylo frowned. Did he know her? He tried to recall.

The lady however had no such qualms. She walked up to him, studying his eyes and hair as she did so, and beamed. "Ben Solo! I would recognize that hair and eyes anywhere." She noticed his cautious expression and snorted, "Oh come on. I don't look that different from fifteen years ago. It's me, Dure. Dureena Adras."

"Dureena?"

"Remember when we were 5 and you, me and Talohn snuck onto your father's ship and thought we were good enough to fly? Except that we got caught by your Uncle Lando because you peed in your pants and wouldn't stop crying?"

Kylo's face burned as the memory returned to him. He regarded the lady in front of him once again. He remembered her now. They grew up together - she, him, and Talohn Olreb. Han and Lando had dubbed them the Noble Triplets, referencing both these children's place in society and how they went everywhere together. Everything ended when he was sent to his uncle.

"Dure, it's been a while," Kylo greeted her formally.

"I haven't seen you in fifteen years and that's all you have to tell me?"

"...you finally look like a girl."

"I'm glad you noticed," Dure remarked dryly. Her face grew serious. "Are you here... To see your mother?"

Kylo swallowed upon hearing her words. He had tried not to think about it. But he responded, "...yes. Is she...at the Senators' mausoleum?"

Dure nodded. "It's closed today, though. But if you'd like, I can go with you tomorrow. I have errands to run at the Plaza."

"No, it's alright," he declined, starting to move away to continue his journey to the city. "Good to see you, Dure."

"Wait, where are you going?" Her hand shot out to grip his arm. For someone with long, slender fingers, she had quite the strength. It matched the tone of her voice. "Ben Solo, you're coming with me. At the very least let me host a friend I haven't seen for more than half my life."

Kylo hesitated. But he thought about why he came to Chandrila in the first place, and eventually relented.

Dure's residence was along the road, a three-storey manor that was one of the smaller ones in the area. But like her neighbours, her manor too kept its non-inhabitants out by a tall gate, with silver bars and turreted tips. Visitors were first welcomed by a practical, well-maintained garden with a small fountain. Kylo followed her in wordlessly, even as she rattled on to describe her "small paradise".

The interior was spacious and bright. The windows stretched to the floor, allowing light from the sun to stream into the space, glistening off its brass and copper-plated furniture. A large portrait hung as centre piece: Dure holding a swaddled child and beside her, a handsome man with blond hair and sparkling grey eyes. It reminded him of another portrait hanging in another house.

Dure noticed him gazing at the portrait, and she sighed happily, "I still can't believe Thalon grew up to look like that."

"I can't believe he married you." Kylo responded with a smirk. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

A cloud passed over Dure's features. "Thalon's gone." She said softly. "Hosnian Prime. He was on their Senate."

Kylo flinched, but Dure didn't notice. Instead her attention had shifted elsewhere, as if searching for something. As if in response, the upper floors of the manor rattled.

Dure threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh Kriff! LEONARDO! Get down here!"

The pattering of feet erupted through the hallway and down the stairs. Kylo looked on as a child of about four years of age, with wavy dirty blond hair and keen eyes, appeared with all the smile of mischief done right. When he saw Kylo, however, the smile disappeared as the boy hid behind Dure's skirts. He peeked out bashfully at the towering man in front of him.

Dure sighed as she dragged the boy out from behind her. "Stop hiding, you silly boy." She chided him, but it sounded affectionate. She gestured to Kylo as she explained, "This is Ben Solo, a longtime friend of mine. Say hello."

Dure had to give the boy another nudge before he shyly extended a hand towards Kylo and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Leonardo Olreb."

Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, had no business kneeling down to people. But Ben Solo did. As he did so, he shook Leonardo's hand with a gloved one of his, and spoke as softly as the boy did, "Hello, Leonardo."

The boy quickly returned to hiding behind Dure's skirts. Dure turned to Kylo, who was still crouched on the floor. "I've always wanted Leo to meet you," she confessed. "He... Is different. I want so much to understand it...but I can't. I'm sure you could, though. He's a bit like you..."

Kylo looked up at her. "Like me?"

Dure said nothing, but Kylo understood what she meant, and what she was asking of him. He peered at the boy again, trying to see if what his mother suspected was true. And sure enough, he could see it, the Force. But it was mild, only surrounding the boy. It didn't radiate off him.

Kylo inched closer to Leo and asked, "Have you always been like this?"

".. Yes." Leo spoke in a small voice, looking down at his feet. "When I get angry, things break around me, and I don't know why. When I'm excited too. Things move."

"Are you scared of it?"

"...I don't know," he said quietly. He glanced at his mother, who took the cue to excuse herself from the room. Once she was gone, Leo took a deep breath and continued, "But I know Daddy was. That's why he went away for years."

Kylo felt a strange tug in his heart. The boy's words sounded all too familiar. And so was the fear and sadness lacing his voice.

"You shouldn't be afraid," Kylo didn't know if he spoke to comfort the boy or the boy that he was. "You're not a monster."

"Then why didn't Daddy want to see me?"

"He's afraid." Kylo's words came out with more force than he intended, but he hardly cared. "You are more powerful than he could ever imagine. More powerful than he could ever be." Kylo peeled his gloves off and extended a hand to the boy. "I understand. I'm just like you."

"You're the friend Mummy talks about," Leo commented. "The one who was sent off to be a Jedi."

Kylo had expected awe in the boy's voice at the mention of the Jedi, but it was filled with sadness. For him. Why? Kylo shifted uncomfortably, but didn't get up from the crouched position he had adopted to speak to the boy.

"Were you sad when you had to leave?"

Kylo didn't know how to answer the boy's question. Was he sad? Of course he was. Any child would be, especially when they were taken by their own parents. But even as a child, he knew to hid it on the Falcon en route to where his uncle was. Only his mother knew he cried, not because she saw it, but because she felt it in the Force. And even so, she had let him.

Without warning, Leo reached to touch the tip of Kylo's hand. His movement was cautious. He was still uncertain. Eventually the boy gathered his resolve and asked timidly, "Mr Ben, can you teach me without taking me away?"

Against Kylo Ren's better judgment, Ben Solo answered with a soft smile, "Of course."