Endor [Sunday afternoon, Fandom time]
Ben sat in the tiny room that had been set aside for him on Endor, packing up the few belonging he’d left there. The next time he returned to this galaxy, the Jedi would be somewhere else: too many people knew about this place.
The days that had passed since Centerpoint he’d spent productively: asking questions, trying to get a sense of who was on what side these days. Finding out how his father was really doing. And figuring out where Tahiri was. That answer had not made him happy at all, for a number of reasons he wasn’t about to share with anyone in this galaxy.
Or, he reflected as he folded up a robe, any other galaxy.
Most of his questions had been concerned with exactly what had happened with Alema, and why his father thought she’d killed Mara. And as many times as he went over the pieces in his head, they still didn’t fit together for him into a coherent whole.
Ben kept seeing Jacen’s face on Kavan as he’d sat with his mother’s body, the face that promised they’d get whoever did that to her. And Jacen’s face simply wouldn’t go away-there was something wrong with it. Something that was missing, or something that was there and shouldn’t be.
People talked about how Jacen was a stranger now, but a stranger was someone you’d never loved or looked up to, and so their brutality was just another news bulletin on the holo. Family, though…family could hurt you like no one else. They didn’t even have to torture you to leave scars.
And that was part of the reason Ben hadn’t told anyone here about his suspicions until now. Aunt Leia'd had enough to worry about, and Dad…Dad would kill Jacen. He was sure of it. He’d snap. But this secret was just too big to keep to himself. So he’d taken a deep breath and called Aunt Leia.
Eventually he heard two sets of footsteps coming down the passage and had a sinking suspicion that Luke might’ve met up with Leia and tagged along. But when the door opened, it was Leia and Jaina.
Ben wasn’t sure if that was any better, really.
“Ben?” Leia’s voice was calm, the tone that said everything was under control, even when it wasn’t. “What’s wrong?”
Ben’s eyes flickered to Jaina again, flooded with memories of the younger Jaina who’d just gotten her brother back. He didn’t want to do this, but she needed to hear it anyway.
“I’ve got some difficult things to say,” he said softly. “You might not thank me for it, but I can’t sit on it any longer.”
Leia glanced over at Jaina. “You know you can tell me anything,” she said. “Do you want Jaina to leave us alone?”
Ben shook his head. “No. As long as you don’t rush off and tell Dad. He thinks I’m over the Jacen thing and I don’t want him to start worrying again.”
Jaina sat down next to him. “I won’t say a word, and Mom’s the diplomat. What’s so bad you can’t tell Uncle Luke?”
“I don’t think Alema Rar killed my mother,” he said quietly. The words hung in the air. “I still think Jacen did.”
Leia just stood there. Jaina shifted a fraction in her seat. They seemed…embarrassed. “What makes you think that?” Leia asked at last.
“I’m not going to rely on what I feel,” Ben said. He hadn’t been making great calls lately anyway. “Even though I feel it. I’m going by things that don’t add up. You know what police look for? Captain Shevu taught me: motive, means, and opportunity. And family doesn’t seem to mean much to Jacen. Look at the things he’s done to you and Uncle Han.” He shifted his attention to Jaina, remembering her sudden exit from the military. “And you, Jaina. Look what he tried to do to you.”
“I know Jacen’s doing some terrible things,” Leia said, and her eyes looked very tired, “but let’s go through this one step at a time. Why is this still eating at you?”
“He found me on Kavan.”
“He’s good at finding people in the Force, Ben,” Leia replied.
“I was hiding. Doing my shutdown act. He’s not the only Jedi who can do that-he taught me, I taught Mom, and I’ve shown Dad. He’ll tell you, once you switch out, even Master Amazing Super-Smart Jacen shouldn’t have been able to find me. And he still walked straight up to me in a tunnel on a deserted planet in the middle of nowhere. That’s not luck, and that’s not finding me in the Force. He knew. And there’s the creepy Sith ship that Lumiya had.”
He hadn’t told anyone other than about how he'd been involved with that ship. Maybe if he had, his mom would still be alive...a thought that was going to haunt him the rest of his life. The dry voice in his head that sounded a lot like Ender wasn’t going to stop it.
“What about the ship?” Jaina asked.
“I found it on Ziost,” Ben admitted. “I handed it over to Jacen when I docked on the Anakin Solo. Next time I see it, Lumiya’s driving.”
Leia sucked in a little breath. “Lumiya was adept and taking what she wanted.”
“The Anakin Solo might’ve let us aboard, Aunt Leia, but I can’t see Lumiya just wandering in and stealing the sphere without somebody knowing about it.”
“Okay, file that under unexplained. How about motive?”
Jaina shook her head. “How about the fact that Mara was in his way, like any good Jedi?” she offered sourly.
“No, let’s hear Ben’s view.”
Ben was walking back through everything he’d told Aravis and Ender. “I told Mom abut all the things Jacen was having me do in the Guard, and I could see it made her mad.” Assassination plots would do that. “I’m sure she bawled him out.”
“Okay, that’s motive, maybe,” Leia replied. “Let’s look at means.”
“Only a really skilled Jedi could ever have taken down Mom,” Ben said, voice trembling just a little. “Look at all the stuff Jacen can do.”
“But poison was Alema’s trademark,” she countered.
“So it’s obvious to use it to draw suspicion elsewhere, isn’t it?” he replied.
“Sweetheart, Alema had the sphere. She was in league with Lumiya. We know that. And I’m sure Captain Shevu would confirm that people stick with one method of killing that they feel confident using. Alema spent the last year trying to kill as many of us as she could.”
He shook his head. “Alema was crazy, but she didn’t have a motive for killing Mom. It was always about you and Uncle Han. She was in the area, yeah, but I also know for certain that Jacen was in the Hapan system at the time it happened. I watched him shoot Mom’s ship down.”
Leia was taking this absolutely seriously. “It doesn’t clear him,” she agreed, talking like Jacen wasn’t her only living son.
“Aunt Leia, why do you think Mom hung on in corporeal form for so long? Why do you think her body disappeared just as Jacen showed up for her funeral?” He focused on the floor. “I can’t stop thinking about it, but I can’t talk about it with Dad. It’s driving me crazy.”
Leia squatted in front of him to put her hands on his knees. “Ben, back when it happened, you said you recorded everything you could at the scene.”
“Yeah, because no one can mind-rub that or tell me I imagined it…” Ben said a little bitterly.
“Have you found anything in the recordings?”
“I didn’t take them with me to school,” Ben replied, “so not yet.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to find out what happened, and I’m going to do it by the book because I need to be certain or I won’t be able to live with myself.”
“What if you find evidence that it wasn’t Jacen?” Jaina asked. “Are you going to accept what provable facts tell you?”
Ben nodded. “I don’t want to get the wrong person,” he said softly. “Whatever I feel about Jacen for the other things he did to me, I don’t want to pin it on him if it means Mom’s real killer is still walking around. And if it really was Alema-fine. The result’s the same.”
Jaina looked into his face for a long few moments, and then smiled sadly. Her mother wore the same expression. Ben felt pinned down by their tolerant doubt, but he’d finally stated his case to people who really knew the players.
“My shuttle’s leaving soon,” he said. “I’m going back to school, I’m taking the recordings with me, and I will figure out what happened.”
He looked between the two of them, then reached over to give Jaina a hug. “I promised someone I’d do this,” he mumbled. It was also a silent apology for what his gut was telling him he’d discover.
[OOC: Dialogue taken and tweaked from Karen Traviss's Revelation. NFB, NFI, OOC is love.]
The days that had passed since Centerpoint he’d spent productively: asking questions, trying to get a sense of who was on what side these days. Finding out how his father was really doing. And figuring out where Tahiri was. That answer had not made him happy at all, for a number of reasons he wasn’t about to share with anyone in this galaxy.
Or, he reflected as he folded up a robe, any other galaxy.
Most of his questions had been concerned with exactly what had happened with Alema, and why his father thought she’d killed Mara. And as many times as he went over the pieces in his head, they still didn’t fit together for him into a coherent whole.
Ben kept seeing Jacen’s face on Kavan as he’d sat with his mother’s body, the face that promised they’d get whoever did that to her. And Jacen’s face simply wouldn’t go away-there was something wrong with it. Something that was missing, or something that was there and shouldn’t be.
People talked about how Jacen was a stranger now, but a stranger was someone you’d never loved or looked up to, and so their brutality was just another news bulletin on the holo. Family, though…family could hurt you like no one else. They didn’t even have to torture you to leave scars.
And that was part of the reason Ben hadn’t told anyone here about his suspicions until now. Aunt Leia'd had enough to worry about, and Dad…Dad would kill Jacen. He was sure of it. He’d snap. But this secret was just too big to keep to himself. So he’d taken a deep breath and called Aunt Leia.
Eventually he heard two sets of footsteps coming down the passage and had a sinking suspicion that Luke might’ve met up with Leia and tagged along. But when the door opened, it was Leia and Jaina.
Ben wasn’t sure if that was any better, really.
“Ben?” Leia’s voice was calm, the tone that said everything was under control, even when it wasn’t. “What’s wrong?”
Ben’s eyes flickered to Jaina again, flooded with memories of the younger Jaina who’d just gotten her brother back. He didn’t want to do this, but she needed to hear it anyway.
“I’ve got some difficult things to say,” he said softly. “You might not thank me for it, but I can’t sit on it any longer.”
Leia glanced over at Jaina. “You know you can tell me anything,” she said. “Do you want Jaina to leave us alone?”
Ben shook his head. “No. As long as you don’t rush off and tell Dad. He thinks I’m over the Jacen thing and I don’t want him to start worrying again.”
Jaina sat down next to him. “I won’t say a word, and Mom’s the diplomat. What’s so bad you can’t tell Uncle Luke?”
“I don’t think Alema Rar killed my mother,” he said quietly. The words hung in the air. “I still think Jacen did.”
Leia just stood there. Jaina shifted a fraction in her seat. They seemed…embarrassed. “What makes you think that?” Leia asked at last.
“I’m not going to rely on what I feel,” Ben said. He hadn’t been making great calls lately anyway. “Even though I feel it. I’m going by things that don’t add up. You know what police look for? Captain Shevu taught me: motive, means, and opportunity. And family doesn’t seem to mean much to Jacen. Look at the things he’s done to you and Uncle Han.” He shifted his attention to Jaina, remembering her sudden exit from the military. “And you, Jaina. Look what he tried to do to you.”
“I know Jacen’s doing some terrible things,” Leia said, and her eyes looked very tired, “but let’s go through this one step at a time. Why is this still eating at you?”
“He found me on Kavan.”
“He’s good at finding people in the Force, Ben,” Leia replied.
“I was hiding. Doing my shutdown act. He’s not the only Jedi who can do that-he taught me, I taught Mom, and I’ve shown Dad. He’ll tell you, once you switch out, even Master Amazing Super-Smart Jacen shouldn’t have been able to find me. And he still walked straight up to me in a tunnel on a deserted planet in the middle of nowhere. That’s not luck, and that’s not finding me in the Force. He knew. And there’s the creepy Sith ship that Lumiya had.”
He hadn’t told anyone other than about how he'd been involved with that ship. Maybe if he had, his mom would still be alive...a thought that was going to haunt him the rest of his life. The dry voice in his head that sounded a lot like Ender wasn’t going to stop it.
“What about the ship?” Jaina asked.
“I found it on Ziost,” Ben admitted. “I handed it over to Jacen when I docked on the Anakin Solo. Next time I see it, Lumiya’s driving.”
Leia sucked in a little breath. “Lumiya was adept and taking what she wanted.”
“The Anakin Solo might’ve let us aboard, Aunt Leia, but I can’t see Lumiya just wandering in and stealing the sphere without somebody knowing about it.”
“Okay, file that under unexplained. How about motive?”
Jaina shook her head. “How about the fact that Mara was in his way, like any good Jedi?” she offered sourly.
“No, let’s hear Ben’s view.”
Ben was walking back through everything he’d told Aravis and Ender. “I told Mom abut all the things Jacen was having me do in the Guard, and I could see it made her mad.” Assassination plots would do that. “I’m sure she bawled him out.”
“Okay, that’s motive, maybe,” Leia replied. “Let’s look at means.”
“Only a really skilled Jedi could ever have taken down Mom,” Ben said, voice trembling just a little. “Look at all the stuff Jacen can do.”
“But poison was Alema’s trademark,” she countered.
“So it’s obvious to use it to draw suspicion elsewhere, isn’t it?” he replied.
“Sweetheart, Alema had the sphere. She was in league with Lumiya. We know that. And I’m sure Captain Shevu would confirm that people stick with one method of killing that they feel confident using. Alema spent the last year trying to kill as many of us as she could.”
He shook his head. “Alema was crazy, but she didn’t have a motive for killing Mom. It was always about you and Uncle Han. She was in the area, yeah, but I also know for certain that Jacen was in the Hapan system at the time it happened. I watched him shoot Mom’s ship down.”
Leia was taking this absolutely seriously. “It doesn’t clear him,” she agreed, talking like Jacen wasn’t her only living son.
“Aunt Leia, why do you think Mom hung on in corporeal form for so long? Why do you think her body disappeared just as Jacen showed up for her funeral?” He focused on the floor. “I can’t stop thinking about it, but I can’t talk about it with Dad. It’s driving me crazy.”
Leia squatted in front of him to put her hands on his knees. “Ben, back when it happened, you said you recorded everything you could at the scene.”
“Yeah, because no one can mind-rub that or tell me I imagined it…” Ben said a little bitterly.
“Have you found anything in the recordings?”
“I didn’t take them with me to school,” Ben replied, “so not yet.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to find out what happened, and I’m going to do it by the book because I need to be certain or I won’t be able to live with myself.”
“What if you find evidence that it wasn’t Jacen?” Jaina asked. “Are you going to accept what provable facts tell you?”
Ben nodded. “I don’t want to get the wrong person,” he said softly. “Whatever I feel about Jacen for the other things he did to me, I don’t want to pin it on him if it means Mom’s real killer is still walking around. And if it really was Alema-fine. The result’s the same.”
Jaina looked into his face for a long few moments, and then smiled sadly. Her mother wore the same expression. Ben felt pinned down by their tolerant doubt, but he’d finally stated his case to people who really knew the players.
“My shuttle’s leaving soon,” he said. “I’m going back to school, I’m taking the recordings with me, and I will figure out what happened.”
He looked between the two of them, then reached over to give Jaina a hug. “I promised someone I’d do this,” he mumbled. It was also a silent apology for what his gut was telling him he’d discover.
[OOC: Dialogue taken and tweaked from Karen Traviss's Revelation. NFB, NFI, OOC is love.]