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“the prices have risen, ben.” the twi’lek in front of the older man spoke. “i’m sorry, but i have a family to take care of.”
ben nodded, giving her a smile. “it’s alright. here-” he set down a handful of credits. “how much will this get me?”
she sorted through the credits and pulled out 2 meilooruns. “here you go ben. will you be by next week? i can save you that fruit you like.”
he nodded. “of course i will. thank you.” he bowed his head slightly in respect and walked out of the market. he had everything he needed for the week. the fruit… wasn’t necessary, but it made his day.
pulling himself onto his eopie, he took in a sharp breath. there it was again. the constant pull of fear. it made him terrified; scared him to the point that he got paranoid, at some times. he didn’t understand why. it only happened after ben fought anakin vader. was it just residual panic?
he shook his head, steadying his breathing. though, he felt eyes on him. but when he looked around, there was no one looking at him.
he really was a crazy old man, huh?
nonetheless, he started on his trek back home. he hated these days. it was nice getting to talk to others, sure. but he hated leaving. the suns were always beating down on him the whole way. if he had just settled closer to others…
no. this was his choice. it helped him focus on re-establishing his connection with the force.
he was halfway home when he felt the eyes on him again. there was no one around this time, he was certain. and when he looked, he was right. what was going on?
maybe it was his fallen friends and family. maybe they were watching over him. but for what reason?
ben continued on his ride back home.
-
when he got to the hut, he felt the fear rising again. he placed his hand on his lightsaber – he carried it with him wherever he went – and got off of his eopie. he glanced around; force, he hated this feeling. he tied her up before grabbing whatever he put in her side bags and walking inside.
it was cozy inside – definitely more decorated than his home in the temple, that’s for sure. he set the items down and sighed, making his way around the hut. the feeling didn’t go away; it was lingering longer than normal. shaking his head, he sat down on the floor. perhaps some mediation would calm his nerves.
he didn’t get far into mediation when he heard a noise outside. it… didn’t sound like his eopie. ben stood up slowly, removing his lightsaber from the clip it was attached to. something was wrong. he reached out and used the force to open the door. his heart was beating out of his chest.
as ben stepped outside, he was greeted by a hooded man about 7 feet away. he was reaching for something – a blaster? no matter. ben turned his lightsaber on and the man immediately put his hands up. he could see plastoid armor peaking out of the poncho the man was wearing. was it a stormtrooper?
“who are you.” it came out more of a demand than a question, but ben didn’t care.
the man slowly moved his hands to the hood. ben searched in the force for an answer, for a clue as to who this was. as the hood fell, so did the lightsaber.
he scanned the man’s face. he was scarred – not badly, but it seemed fresh. all but one of his scars. the way it hooked around on his forehead, went down next to his eye, and then hooked back around underneath… he knew who this was. he could never forget his face.
this man was supposed to be dead ben’s eyes didn’t leave the other. no words could leave his mouth. its as if he was frozen there. the man was first to speak. “it is you…” he could hear the former commander mumble.
ben shook his head, backing up a bit. what if he was here to finish the job? he couldn’t die – he had to make sure luke stayed safe. and what about leia? if something happened to leia again-
“cyar'ika.” cody spoke, his voice sounding rough. “cyar'ika it’s me, it’s okay. look-” ben watched as he pulled his blaster and knife out, slowly setting it on the sand.
he could barely contain the noise he just made. was it a cry? ben couldn’t tell. he felt the hot tears well up in his eyes, shaking his head. why was he saying no, was it fear? this was cody, he knew it was. CC-2224 was the one who shot him down, not his love.
“can i-” cody visibly hesitated. ben knew exactly what he wanted. he tried looking him over for any more weapons, but his vision was getting too blurry. he didn’t get to answer before he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. and ben collapsed into the man’s arms with a sob.
“shh, i have you cyar'ika. you’re morut'yc, i promise.” he heard him murmur in his ear. force, ben clung onto cody like he would disappear. “i’m not leaving.” he said, as if he could read his thoughts.
it had been so long since he saw cody… the last time he saw the commander was when he left right before order 66 his supposed death.
his sobs and cries soon turned into sniffles as ben lifted his head to look at cody. he had changed… a lot. cody looked older now, though his hair was barely graying yet. “cody… oh my sweet dear…” ben mumbled, cupping his face. there were so many new scars… he felt bad for the man.
cody didn’t say a word, just gently placing a hand over one of ben’s. he noticed tears forming in cody’s eyes. this was real. his cody came back. his commander, his friend.
his lover.