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

[middleoftheforce]

He pulled out the box that had a few toys in it, opening it to let Ani in to take his pick.

[jedi_librettist]

Ani turned away from his father's hands, still holding the figurine. He ran over to the toy box, repeating that the thranta was his.

"I'll... I'll find you a toy thranta, Ani. I don't know where. Somewhere. But that's not a toy."

He looked over at his brother, eyes wide.

[middleoftheforce]

He wasn't really sure what to do, and couldn't help but shrug in response. He knelt down at the box.

"Hey, wanna give me the Thranta?"

[jedi_librettist]

Ani held the figurine tighter. "Mine," he insisted, reaching for a toy. "It fwy."

[middleoftheforce]

"It doesn't fly," he said, gesturing. "Just something that can break easily."

[jedi_librettist]

"It fwy for me!" the child crowed, grabbing a block. "It need a bed."

[middleoftheforce]

"It could have my jacket to sleep in? Shall we put it to sleep now?"

[jedi_librettist]

"I make bed first." Ani set the block down and grabbed another one. "Then bwanket."

[middleoftheforce]

He nods slowly. "Do you want me to hold it?" He asked. "So you can make the bed with both hands."

[jedi_librettist]

Ani shakes his head. "Mine. It mine."

[middleoftheforce]

There was a sigh, and he looked over at Ben shrugging. He tried.

[jedi_librettist]

Ben nodded, sighing. All he could do now was hope their mother wasn't too angry when she got back with the food and try to make sure nothing happened to it until the toddler lost interest. He yawned, his eyes fluttering. No, he had to stay awake.

[middleoftheforce]

It was fortunate that it was then that Leia came back in, carrying some food.

"Here we go."

[jedi_librettist]

Ben spun around when she walked in. "Mom..."

He let out a breath of relief, though. This should make distracting his son easier. "Ani, it's time to eat."

[middleoftheforce]

It was mostly fruit she had brought in, healthy things that would be okay for someone Ani's age to eat.

"It's all fresh, so eat up."

[jedi_librettist]

Ani came running over, porcelain thranta still in hand. "It eat, too. It want yogun."

[middleoftheforce]

Leia laughed. "Really? Well, can you see any yogun here?"

[jedi_librettist]

"Dere!" the toddler crowed, pointing to a slice of jogun fruit. He picked it up and held it to the figurine's mouth. "Vor'e."

Ben couldn't help flinching again. "Use Basic, Ani."

[middleoftheforce]

"Basic is the most spoken around here," Leia confirmed to Ben. "Not that the others aren't spoken but," she shrugged as if to say that a language barrier would not be very helpful to their cause.

[jedi_librettist]

"I don't speak Mando'a," Ben clarified. "I learned a couple phrases but... Ani starts speaking sometimes and I have no idea what he's saying."

[middleoftheforce]

"Ah," Leia said simply. She wondered, vaguely, where the child picked it up if it wasn't from Ben, but she supposed there were always going to be things about her son's life she wouldn't get answers to. After all, it had been a long time and he had had so many experiences that she hadn't been around for.

But he was back now, that was what mattered.

[jedi_librettist]

Relieved that his mother didn't press the issue, Ben turned back to his son. "You fed the thranta, Ani. Now give it to Grandma and eat your fruit."

The child shook his head. "It mine!"

Ben sighed. "Do you want it to break?" He waited for the kid to shake his head. "Then give it to your grandma."

[middleoftheforce]

Leia just waited to see what would happen. She know how stubborn children could be.

[jedi_librettist]

"Mine!"

Ben thought he might cry. If the toddler broke his mother's irreplaceable figurine, he didn't know what he'd do. "Ani. Give it to your grandma. Now."

The child pouted. "Dada mean! It mine!"

Ben looked to his mother for help.

[middleoftheforce]

Leia leaned down to Ani's height.

"Ani?" She asked, in a gentle tone. "Can I see the figure while you're eating?"