"I only wanted to see my family one more time." Ben told his mother, as she looked upon his face with her understanding eyes. "I don't care what happens next with me... I just want to know that I'm forgiven, and I want you to know how sorry I am. And if I could take it from the beginning..."

    But he never finished his sentence, for Leia pulled him into a hug. And he wrapped his arms around her, not being able to hold back his tears.

    " You're home now, my son. And I forgave you. I forgave you for everything you've done." Leia said warmly . And he enjoyed every moment spent with her, knowing it could be the last. Her touch on his hair reminded him of the old days when he was just an innocent kid.

   His father stood up from his chair and stepped toward them, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "We need to attend the council now. To decide your fate." he said sadly.

    "I know. They need to do what they want to me, as I did to them."

    And then Leia released him and wiped the tears away from his face. "It will be alright." She smiled reassuringly.
 
    Ben could tell she was so happy of his return. And she wanted him there with them. But he knew about all the terrible things he did, and he couldn't live with that. First, in everyone's eyes, he'd betrayed his parents and his realm, and then, he was a war criminal. Everyone wanted him dead. How was he supposed to live among all those people, who looked upon him like he was a monster? How could he live with everything he'd done as Kylo Ren?

   Anything they would decide for him, he was more than happy. He'd earned his parents' forgiveness. And that was all he ever wanted before he died. To know that they didn't give up on him as he'd believed all those years. He wanted to tell them so much more... But he never got the chance.

    The two soldiers who have brought him hauled him up to his knees and bound his hands at his back. He knew he would be put back in his cell, while the council decided his fate.

    "I'll come to speak to you." his father said as he was taken back to the cells under the Red Keep.

    The soldiers' grip on him was deadly, as if they already expected him to try to break free. They are afraid of me, Ben thought. And that thought made him shudder. Was that how people regarded him? He never wanted to instill such fear in them. Yet that was what he'd done.

    But he relaxed, as if trying to show the wards he had no mind of fighting them off.