CHAPTER TWO
( SPARE THE TIME. )

     AHMONTI DREAMED OF a red planet shimmering beneath binary suns, where oceans had once roared with life, now where only tides of dust rose and fell across its barren landscape. She dreamed that she was wading through the desert sea, although she didn't know why, just that she was here to see something. Something that the force willed her to.

     She dreamed of reaching a gash in the planet's surface, and paused at the top of a ridge to look into it. It opened up in front of her like a wound on a living creature, webs of blue-black spreading out from its edges like infection, ebbing with foreboding energy. And at its center, inky black swallowed all light from the sky, as if the darkness was a living thing capable of devouring suns. The blackness was impenetrable to the eye, and when Ahmonti tried to reach out to it, to feel it's end through the force, she found only unfathomable depth, as if it came from nothing. It was the thing that existed before creation, before perhaps even the force itself.

     "What are you?" She asked it, as if it was able to answer her.

     I am. The pit replied, fate.

     The hairs stood up on the back of her neck like someone had just breathed against it, and she pushed the force further into the pit, desperate to find whatever lay in its center. But then she felt the darkness push back, like a fist wrapping around the cord of energy she'd sent down, and tugged. She fell to her knees, grunting as her hands dug into the sand. Nothing had ever been able to grasp the force and use it against her that way. It was not natural. And when she tried to stand again, to withdraw her force from the pit, it wouldn't let her go. It was like a harness wrapped around her entire body, and inch by inch, it began dragging her forward.

     "No," she ordered, hands digging into the soft sand, searching for purchase. But still the pit dragged her downward, towards it's open mouth. "No! Stop!" She started to become desperate, pushing out the force all around, but it would no longer obey. It felt like she was pushing on a bubble of glass all around her. Helpless. Her feet began scrambling, slipping slowly over the pit's edge, and then her legs followed, her waist... "No, please!" She shouted as she slipped over it's edge—

     And sat bolt upright in her bunk.

     Sweat soaked her hair and slipped down the back of her grey tunic, and it was another second before she realised she was in her cool, dark cabin on the Spitfire, and not in the middle of the desert. "Monti! Monti, are you okay?" She looked to the side of the bunk, where Ben was kneeling at her head, and realised his hands were gripping her shoulders. "I could hear you yelling from the other end of the ship, and when I got here you wouldn't wake up."

     Ahmonti swallowed dryly. Her throat at lead felt like she'd trekked through the desert. "I'm fine," she told the other boy. "Just had a bad dream." A crease formed between Ben's eyebrows as he looked at her, and she felt the familiar probing of the force as he reached out to try and feel her emotions to see if she was telling the truth. The brunette rolled her eyes and blocked her mind from him. "I said I'm fine, Solo. Just drop it. How long until we reach the temple?"

     "We're in orbit now," Ben replied, understanding the look on his friend's face to be a warning and dropping the subject. "I'm just waiting for permission from Luke to land and we'll start the descent."

     "Master Luke," Ahmonti corrected him out of habit and moved to the edge of the bed, only to realise how close she and the dark haired boy were to each other. Close enough, even, that she noticed that he was holding his breath. Was he so afraid of contact to even breathe around her? She ignored it, moving past him to stand up and making a point of keeping her back to him as she adjusted her hair over her shoulder. "I'm going to change my robes. Do you mind making the descent alone?"

     "Sure," He said. She heard him stand up behind her and the sound of the door opening, but his footsteps halted there for one more moment. "You know... if you're having visions you can tell me about them. I get them too."

     Ahmonti dared to turn around and saw him standing in the frame of the door, dark hair edged in gold from the lamps behind him and a look of concern settled over his features. She knew that Ben had often received dark and strange visions ever since he was small, but hers had only been a dream. She was sure of that. Ahmonti made sure to school her features into a mild expression, although one she knew wasn't convincing to the man before her. "I know."

     He continued to pause, studying her with those eyes that could bore straight into anyone's soul, and finally nodded and stepped outside. The door closed between them with a small hiss and Ahmonti finally allowed her shoulders to fall.

=⊚=

     IT SEEMED THAT nothing had changed in the time that Ben had been away from the Jedi temple. The grass was still softly waving in the humid breeze, and the distant sound of students shouting and wooden staffs clacking against one another was like as familiar childhood lullaby while he and Ahmonti walked down the worn path toward the main temple. Serene, Ahmonti might've called it. Boring, he would've replied. Not that he hated the peaceful meadow with all it's modest stone and wood houses, but he felt like he deserved more sometimes. After all, what was the point of all this force-wielding, kicking ass training if it didn't come with some perks?

     Ahead of them, the doors of the main temple slid open to reveal a set of two people that Ben recognised instantly. Both Minachi and Levi Seiro were slight in stature, with the same light tan and dark hair. Even their smiles were identical, causing creases in the corners of their eyes when they smiled broadly. The only offset between them was their height, with Levi standing a few inches taller than his twin sister, and Minachi's long braid trailing down over her shoulder. The twin's were only slightly younger than Ahmonti and Ben, but from the moment they'd arrived at the temple the four padawan's had formed an almost unbreakable unit. "Ben!" Mina's laugh travelled across the field as she broke into a run to greet him, reaching him in only a few seconds to wrap him in one of her crushing hugs.

     Ben laughed, the force of her hug pushing him back a step before he could wrap his own arms around the woman as well. "At least someone missed me," he chuckled as the tiny woman finally released him and stepped away.

     "Hey! I missed you too. And if it weren't for me you'd still be freezing that pretty ass off in some outer-rim dungeon," Ahmonti reminded Ben of her presence with a shove from behind. Ben grinned at her use of the word pretty.

     "For what it's worth, the temple wasn't the same without you around," Levi added from his spot beside his sister as be finally arrived at the trio. "There was much more peace and quiet." Ben rolled his eyes at the jibe, while Ahmonti and Minachi didn't even bother to hide their snickers.

     The quartet had their small reunion cut short, however, at the sound of the temple doors opening once more. They all looked up in time to see a new grey-robed figure appear on the hilltop, the blonde hair of their Jedi master, now streaked through with grey, still glowing like a beacon under the unblemished open sky as he started the trek down to greet his returned students. Ben bowed his head to his uncle, and was quickly copied by the rest of the students.

     "Ben," Luke's cheeks creased with the beginnings of a smile, "I'm glad to see you back safe... and to see my ship unscathed." He cast his eyes over their shoulders to the Spitfire sitting on the landing pad at the bottom of the hill.

     "You don't trust me?" Ahmonti chimed at the same time as Ben said "It was a close call." The two of them shared a short glare that was interrupted by the laughter of their master, breaking their eye contact as they turned back to face him.

     "You know what, I'm not even going to ask. I don't want to know," Luke shook his head, the longer strands of hair falling in front of his ears. "Ben, I promised my sister I would have you send her a holo-message as soon as you returned. Han too. They wanted to be here in person for your return, but..." Luke trailed off with a frown that said exactly what Ben expected. Of course Leia Organa and Han Solo were too busy to be here. They always were.

     "I understand," Ben tried to hide a slight drop in his voice. "I'll go call her now." He dipped his head to Luke, and then waved to the other three apprentices briefly before making his way up the hill to the temple. He could feel Ahmonti's subtle frown tailing him all the way up the hill until it was cut off by the metal of the buildings doors sliding closed behind him. She was the only person he trusted with venting his frustrations about his parents to, and as a result she probably worried about him more than he deserved.

Alone in the temple, Ben finally let himself relax and released the sigh he hadn't known he was holding onto. The temple itself was modestly built, with unadorned metal sheeting lining most its halls and large skylights allowing for the planets natural light to pour into the rooms in lieu of artificial glowrods. Ben's boots needed no guiding thought as he made his way towards the communications room in the buildings core; followed distantly by the sound of light footsteps and muted chatting from students in other rooms. It felt like the number of Luke's students grew every time Ben looked away for more than a minute.

Once he was inside the comms room he locked the doors and walked over to the holo-pad in the rooms center. This was one of the only rooms in the temple (aside from Ben's own blackened quarters) without natural light pouring into it, since the dimness made it easier to project holos. Ben relished in the dark setting. It was cool in here, quiet. It made it easier for him to concentrate. Luke always said that sunlight made it easier to connect with the living force. But Ben disagreed; he found it blinding, overwhelming. Master Luke knows a great many things more than we do, he could almost hear Ahmonti's lilting voice chastising him even inside his own head. Shaking it away, he punched in the code which would connect him to his mother's office holo projector.

     Within a few moments a flickering blue projection of Senator Leia Organa was sitting in front of him like a static statue. But he quickly noted that her elaborately braided hair was missing one of its pins, and she had a frown on her face that Ben usually associated with a long day of discussing endless, droning policy with her peers. Although then again, she seemed to be wearing that look more and more often these days. "Hello Ben," she pushed a smile across her lips when she saw him. "I'm relieved to see you made it home safely."

     I'm surprise you even noticed I was gone. The thought rose up in Ben like a spiteful snake preparing to strike, and he bit his tongue at the last minute to keep it from tumbling past his lips. Instead he mirrored her expression of relief and clasped his hands in front of him. "I trust Ahmonti with my life. I knew she'd come for me eventually," he replied.

     "Of course. She's one of the best," Leia nodded, an oddly maternal look entering her eyes at the mention of Ben's fellow padawan. Ahmonti has been under Luke's tutelage even longer than Ben, and Leia had always had a soft spot for her. But Ahmonti had that effect on most people she came into contact with. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to greet you myself, but the Populists and I had a presentation which we've been preparing for months—"

     "It's fine, mother," Ben assured. "I know you've been busy."

     Leia let out an impatient huff of air that could only come from her and pursed her lips. "I don't know where you get your patience from, certainly not Han or myself. But still, I'll have Sella clear my weekend schedule. It's about time your father and I come to the temple for a proper visit anyway."

     "I'll tell Uncle Luke you're coming," Ben replied. He didn't know whether to dread or anticipate a visit from Leia and Han. They were his parents, above all, and a small, desperate part of him missed them all the time. But he also knew that their visits generally meant a lot of discussing his future, his training, and how his shortcomings in both aspects. Even as one of the best students at the academy, Leia Organa could always find flaws in her only son. Ben showed his teeth in a forced grin. "Ahmonti will be excited to see you."

     "And you, Ben?" Leia asked with another skeptical look. "Are you excited?"

     Ben debated how much of the truth to tell her. "Of course," he settled for the lie. He still loved his mother, he knew, they simply just had nothing in common anymore. She thrived in the world of politics, while he hated it. Her weapons were words and plans, his were lightsabers and blasters. They were simply too seperate now to connect like they had when he was a child, and he could find a way to be okay with that. When she still didn't look convinced, he decided to sweeten the deal with a small bit of humour; "And tell dad to remember those credits he owes me from betting on his last race."

     Leia rolled her eyes at him. "Your father and I will clearly have to have a conversation about teaching you gambling," she muttered, and then her face softened again. "Please stay safe, Ben. And we'll see you soon." A few seconds later her blue projection flickered away as quickly as if a cloud had moved over the moon.

     "I'll try," Ben said into the blackness. Once he was sure the transmission was off, he slumped down into one of the chairs surrounding the table and pushed his face into his hands. Eventually he would have to go back outside to greet all of the other students, and hear about what they'd accomplished while he was gone ('gone' being the term that Luke would use, rather than kidnapped or imprisoned). But for now he sat in the dark, drinking in the quiet, and allowed himself to not be Ben Solo, Jedi prodigy and war hero's son, for a little while longer. One more moment of being Ben, just Ben, then he would be ready to face the galaxy again.