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Ben sat down at the top of the hill, his back rested against a large rock and his bottom sank into the sand. He looked out to the horizon, he could see the quaint town of Jedi in training quite clearly glowing from the sunset’s harsh, orange light. Ben furrowed his brow, crossed his arms and bent his legs, curling himself into a slight ball-shape.
His lower lip quivered softly.
His expression was still and firm, yet the muscles on his face twitched erratically. In his mind, his uncle’s words echoed. Master Skywalker’s disappointment hung over Ben like a thick fog, covering the poor teenager in the stink of failure. Ben broke his focus on the horizon to look down in between his legs, his face souring. His heart sank further into his chest and caused tears to flood his eyes. Ben slapped his hands to his head, fingers grasping at delicate black hair. He winced, throwing his head back against the rock and sobbed.
His stomach churned and his body shook as he sobbed hopelessly to the evening sky. He let it all out, his anxieties, his fears, his guilt and all the darkness that had plagued him. Ben needed to let these feelings out, one way or another he needed to, there was simply too much there. He had thought of confiding in his parents to hear and know his troubles but he didn’t want to bother them. And Ben wasn’t sure if his father or even his uncle could even help or relate to his problems.
“Ben?” A female voice said.
Ben gasped, throwing himself onto his feet and wiping his face furiously. He had readied himself for a fight, though he did not have any need, it was purely for show. To look tough in his weakest moment.
He rubbed his eyes. “What do you want?” He hissed at her.
He recognised her, he certainly should have; he had been flirting with her ever since he found girls and relationships to be interesting. She was a fellow student of Master Skywalker. Ben knew she was strong, but she could never defend herself against Ben’s immense power.
She sighed, pushing stray hair from her face. “I…I heard about what happened between you and your uncle.”
Ben frowned at her. “Come to gloat then?”
She frowned in return. “What? No, don’t be an idiot. I-”
“Then what did you come here for?” Ben cut her off and treaded towards her to intimidate her. It had worked, she took a few steps backwards and held her breath.
Ben looked her over. The thought of seeing her in robes more form fitting had crossed his mind but that was quickly replaced with how annoying she was to him. He could never concentrate with her around, she was awfully distracting.
Her eyes were wide, looking up helplessly at him with her mouth agape. A dirtier thought crossed his mind and it lingered.
He shook his head and scoffed. “I don’t want your sympathies.” Ben turned away from her and sighed, folding his arms. He kicked at the dirt, some of it rolling down the hill. He pursed his lips, rolling his eyes. “Is that why you’re here? Sympathy?”
“Well, yes.” She said weakly. “But your father sent me to find you.”
Ben quickly turned around and dashed at her, eyes wide and heart pounding furiously in his chest. She screamed as Ben grabbed both of her arms and looked to her with intense eyes. He squeezed her arms tightly. He leaned in close to her, his nose a mere centimetre from hers yet he failed to notice her blushing cheeks.
“Why did he send you?” Ben said softly, actively contrasting from his aggressive stance.
She pursed her lips together and furrowed her eyebrows. “Because you ran away. I think he’s worried about you, alright could you let-”
“One more question.” He interrupted her again. “How did you find me?”
She tried to smile, disguising her pain. “Well, he told me he often found you right at this spot so that helped.”
He shook his head, now noticing how her mouth twitched as she spoke. “What…What’s wrong with your face?”
“You’re hurting me!” She screamed out.
Ben quickly pushed himself away from her. She rubbed furiously at her arms and glared at him as he stuttered a small apology. She sighed, trying not to smile.
“Also.” She boomed at him, grinning. “The crying was loud enough to hear you from all the way down the hill.”
Ben blushed, embarrassed by her obvious amusement. “You think it’s funny, huh?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Only a little. I could imagine you stamping your feet on the ground like a child.”
Ben sighed and lowered his eyes to the ground, looking for a witty comeback in the dirt at his feet. ‘Do you imagine me all the time?’. He grinned.
He looked to her with a soft expression and a half-smile on his face. “Do you imagine all the time?”
Her eyes darted to his, Ben’s eyes wide. He was a disgrace to the Solo name, he thought. But she smiled comfortably to him. Ben noticed her blushing this time.
“Uhh…I guess I do, yeah.” She sighed, facing the horizon. “It’s a big galaxy and I don’t know what’s out there. I mean, you hear stories from the others.”
Ben smiled, lightly stepping towards her and gazing softly at her face. The conversation took a rather pleasant turn, he mused. “Like what?”
She looked to her feet and then smiled widely. “I remember one of my friends bothered Master Skywalker about his adventures. He desperately wanted to know about the Death Star and some of us were curious about it too. It was fascinating and Master Skywalker seemed more than happy to tell us all of the details. The flying, the fighting, the battle, the feeling and so much more. Now, it seems so surreal.” She looked up to Ben and their eyes met. “They say that it was the size of a moon, Ben! Couldn’t you just imagine it?”
Ben liked hearing her talk. He could imagine his uncle telling a group of young children the story of the Death Star and the campaign’s success. He could imagine Luke Skywalker telling children hyperbolic stories about his past, perhaps even his own. Ben had heard some stories a few times himself as he grew up. He liked her brief story slightly more for some inexplicable reason.
“I could name a few planets that are bigger.” Ben grinned.
She punched him in the arm, the two chuckled. “Oh! That’s not the point!”
Ben laughed at her. “Come on, it may have been big but it’s weakness was so small and yet so…well, big.”
She became serious all of a sudden. “We all have weaknesses.” She said bluntly. “I think that’s the whole point of the story, Ben. No matter how big and strong you may be, you do have a weakness.”
Ben grinned and shook his head at her. “Whatever you say.”
She leaned in close to him. Ben shifted away from her, face red hot. “I know your biggest weaknesses.” She cooed.
Ben folded his arms and rolled his eyes. He hoped his cocky grin would hide his blushing cheeks. “I do not.” He scoffed. “I am not weak, alright?”
She puckered her lips at him and clicked her tongue. “No you do. I’m trying to pick it.” She mused. Ben looked to her intently, unsure of himself all of a sudden. She grinned slyly to him. “Ben you have so many exploitable weaknesses.”
Ben bowed his head to her. “Oh, do tell.”
“You’re stubborn.”
Ben’s eyes widened. “I don’t…”
“You’re too emotional.”
“Hey, come on-”
“You have no self-control.”
Ben’s face flushed red. He furrowed his brow and was ready to raise his voice at her. He pushed his chest forward and clenched his hands into fists. “Alright listen you-”
“And!” She chuckled after a pause. “You’re too pretty.”
Ben squinted at her. She struggled to contain her laughter, needing to hold her mouth in her hands to contain it, even so laughter poured from her hands.
“No self-control?” Ben scoffed. “You think me a child?”
“Ben, we are children.” She chuckled, trying to calm herself.
He sighed. “No, we’re almost adults now. THEY…just…treat us like children.” Ben returned his gaze to the horizon. It was getting dark now.
She stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Ben looked down to the hand fondly, following the line of her arm he carefully drew his eyes to hers. The two exchanged pleasant smiles. She raised her eyebrows to him with an expectant look in her eyes. Ben grinned at her.
“Fine. I can be a little childish…and emotional at times.” Ben scoffed. “Though, I wouldn’t call them weaknesses.”
She shook her head at him. “Well, they can be exploited pretty easily, so… watch out.” She bit her lip, lowering her eyes. “We’ll call them flaws then. They make you interesting at least.”
Ben cocked his head forward, hair concealing his grin. “Ah…So I’m pretty and interesting, huh?”
She darted her eyes to him. “You…You heard that?!”
“Uh, yes?” Ben chuckled.
She gasped and slapped him on the arm before retreating to the rock behind them. She slammed her head against it. “I thought you didn’t hear that! You didn’t even react!”
“Oh, I heard it, I just didn’t acknowledge it.” Ben chuckled to her, following her.
She hid her head in her long robes. Ben laughed to her stepping closer to her. He could hear her cursing in an alien language. He knew she was cursing because of the panicked, hissing tone in her voice. Ben thought girls like her were cuter when in a state of embarrassed panic. He could hear her desperately trying to calm herself.
Ben lightly grabbed her wrist. She gasped turning to face him, her face was bright red. He chuckled at her.
“And you have the gall to call me childish?” Ben’s grip tightened on her wrist as he reached down for the other. “Honestly…” He groaned.
Ben looked to her lips, finding his own drawing closer to them. Their noses lightly clashed as he pulled her in for a kiss, letting go of her wrists. She whimpered as she realised what was happening yet she gently melted into the kiss. Ben tried not to grin.
Unsure of what to do with her hands, she resided to resting them on Ben’s shoulders. At her touch, Ben pulled away to her dismay. The silence between them was prolonged yet comfortable as her eyes traced up from Ben’s chest to meet his eyes.
She grinned at him, pulling closer to him. “Good to know I was right about your self-control too.”
Ben could only smile to her in return.
She blushed at him, eyes wide and in awe of him. The light of the moon gently lit up his face, the shadows were harsh and bold. She smiled.
“You’re really something.” She cooed.
Ben cocked his head backward and grinned. “I know.” He said softly.
“BEN!” A man shouted.
He pushed her away from his body. “It’s my father.” He announced, an air of distaste escaping his lips.
Ben put his hands to his hips as he watched his father struggle to meet him. He cocked a brow when Han keeled over and panted heavily, like some kind of animal. He looked to the girl beside him, she stared to the floor with a pale face and a wide grin on her face.
“Ben, what took you so long?” He asked before directing his attention to the girl. “Actually, what took you so long?!”
Ben sighed before she could open her mouth. “It’s my fault. She was helping me…work through things.”
His father cocked his head forward and spread his arms out wide. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, father.” Ben replied coolly.
Han smiled and paced towards him, hugging his son tightly. “Your mother and I were worried about you. Even Luke, he kept fussing because he…well we all know what he did, don’t we?” Han pulled away from his son and looked to the girl, wrapping an arm around her. “You too, everyone was starting to worry… and spread rumours. Thank you for going through all the trouble to find him by the way.”
She smiled, looking to Ben. “It… was my pleasure.”
Without a word, Han herded the two teenagers back home. Ben shook his head, it certainly felt lighter than before. His eyes slowly focused on her, her eyes focused on the ground. He felt a warmth in his chest as he watched her face carefully, struggling to hide his smile.
Ben looked back to the horizon and imagined what would happen tomorrow; with his uncle, his parents and even his fellow pupils and her. He just wished he’d survive the wrath of his mother to see the next day.