Your prison is walking this world all alone

[jedi_librettist]

Ben watched out the window as the ship dropped out of hyperspace. He took a shaky breath. It was time. He wouldn't burden his brother anymore. He walked back to his cabin. He didn't know how what he would do after he left. It didn't matter. This was the right thing.

Comments

[jedi_librettist]

Ben sighed, shaking his hair away from his face. "Fine. Just... don't try for anything that will remind everyone else I exist."

[middleoftheforce]

Solo looked at Ben, and then glanced at Ani.

"What do we think to that, kid?"

[jedi_librettist]

Ani looked intently at his father and then turned back to his uncle. "Dada scared. Why?"

[middleoftheforce]

Now that was a question.

"It's been a long while since he's seen anyone round here," he said simply. "Seeing people you haven't seen in a long time can be scary."

[jedi_librettist]

The toddler frowned but rested his head on Ben's shoulder.

Ben shrugged his free shoulder. "That'd be simple way of putting it. I guess it's accurate enough."

[middleoftheforce]

"How would you put it then?" Solo said, tilting his head in Ani's direction as if to remind his brother of the presence of the too young to understand the complicated reasons child.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben shrugged again. "Something like that, I guess. But it's especially scary when you did things you shouldn't have done."

[middleoftheforce]

"That explain it all for you, Kid?" Solo glanced once more at Ani.

[jedi_librettist]

Ani nodded against Ben's neck. An arm snuck up and wrap around Ben's neck. "Dada not bad."

Ben stopped, closing his eyes. He bit his lip, trying not to cry.

[middleoftheforce]

There wasn't much that could be said to that, was there? He clapped his brother on the shoulder, in what he hoped would be taken as the reassuring gesture it was meant as.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben automatically stiffened at the touch before leaning into it. He still couldn't get used to touch as something benign. He walked closer to his mother. Whatever else happened, he wanted his son to know Leia.

[middleoftheforce]

As they arrived at her quarters, Leia waved them both in ahead of her. She would go grab them some food and come back, but she had the feeling Ben needed the time to get used to being around people who were not entirely awful again.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben set Ani down when the reached his mother's quarters. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The apartment reminded him of their home when he was a child except without Han's tools. "Is this... Did she..."

[middleoftheforce]

"Did she...?" He wasn't entirely sure how that one was meant to end.

[jedi_librettist]

"This is just like home."

Part of him expected to walk down the hall and find their childhood bedroom.

[middleoftheforce]

"Leia likes keeping things familiar." Not exactly true. She liked keeping things exactly as they were when Ben was with them so that it was familiar for him when he came back.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben nodded drinking in the sight. If it weren't for Ani's presence, he could almost believe the last fourteen years were a long nightmare. He walked over to a familiar painting. It was simple and plain, a child's representation of space seen from the cockpit of the Falcon. "She kept it."

[middleoftheforce]

"She kept a lot of stuff."

That didn't begin to explain it.

[jedi_librettist]

"This isn't even very good."

He couldn't believe their parents hadn't thrown it away after the twins went to the training temple.

[middleoftheforce]

"She liked it," was the only explanation he could give, coming with an arm shrug.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben ducked his head, blushing. "There's only two things I do that people like now."

[middleoftheforce]

"You'll find other stuff," he said, giving a shrug. That's what tended to happen on bases like this, people picked up skills they didn't think they'd have.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben shrugged. He was far from convinced. He hadn't learned many new things in several years.

He looked over at a loud crow from his son. His face grew paler as he realized what the toddler held. "Ani, put that down!"

[middleoftheforce]

Solo look round. "What's he got?"

[jedi_librettist]

"Mom's Alderaani porcelain Thranta," he shot back, running over to the kid and prying the priceless item away.

Ani promptly started wailing at the loss of the toy.