Ben had been working on a mouse droid to keep his mind occupied when he felt it: the familiar, stomach clenching vacuum in the Force of someone who should be there not existing any longer.

And even though he'd known it was coming, even though he'd grown up knowing it would happen, even though he'd said his goodbyes, that empty feeling was a shock ( Read more... )

It was all over, or at least as over as it was going to get for a while. Their Fandom friends and the Jeesh returned to their separate universes after Jaina's wedding. Allana's identity was no longer a secret, Wynn Dorvan was running the galaxy, the Jedi were leaving Coruscant permanently, and Luke, well. The meddroids said that Luke would ( Read more... )

Ender and Ben's house in the Lake Country of Naboo was as spotless and welcoming as always, even if neither inhabitant was currently home. A bit of tinkering by Ben in a moment of boredom allowed the visitors access to the house via face recognition, and the fridge was full of food, if not exactly the color or consistency Earth folks were used to ( Read more... )

Ben was back at the window, staring out at the ocean and trying to find some calm. He and Ender had called Karla over, and while Ben trusted her absolutely when it came to healing (he wouldn't have had her help with Ender otherwise) and he wasn't afraid of pain, he kind of...worried about her reaction when she saw exactly what the Sith Lord had ( Read more... )

Ben woke up in the predawn hours, though he hadn't slept much during the night either. He'd finished his work on the lightsaber around midnight, and that was about the only constructive thing he'd accomplished.

He sat up where he'd slept, a couple meters from the campfire, wrapped his blankets around him, and began a series of breathing exercises ( Read more... )

Ben wondered if he should have had a sanisteam and something hot to eat before attempting what he was about to do, but it was too late now. He trudged slowly to the spot where he, Luke, and Ender had spent so many days learning from Tadar'Ro. It all looked as it had before, the time-smoothed stones warm from the sun, the taller stones casting ( Read more... )

Without his normal choice in coping--making many, many droids--Ben chose his second option: working himself into exhaustion.

Which was why he was down at the practice grounds, ready to face all comers.

( This wouldn't be very interesting if no one stopped by, of course. )

Ben, who after two years on the island was used to the waves of emotion that happened towards the end of term, had been planning on taking a quick break to clear his head anyway, but the unmistakable feeling of death had hit him twice in two days had added exponentially to his need to go nowAnd so, after leaving a slightly garbled message for ( Read more... )

It turns out that Skywalker stupidity stubbornness can only hold out so long against the forces of nature, and healing trances and meditation are not the same thing as sixteen solid hours of sleep.

( Unfortunately for Ben, the sleep meant that his brain was trying to process all of the trauma he'd been repressing... )

Normally, Ben had a very defined routine on Mondays: run, lightsaber practice, classes, lunch with Ender, then an afternoon of either research or socializing ( Read more... )