The Padawan

Chapter 2

Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker moved rapidly through the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4. They were headed toward Ben's room in the Skywalker's private part of the temple. They were in a hurry because they knew they had much to talk about, especially their feelings for each other, now that they were both willing to admit them. They didn't succeed as well as they might have liked because the whole way there, they were constantly stopped by well wishers.

Finally they reached the locked entrance to the Skywalker's private quarters. Ben keyed in the password and they quickly entered and locked themselves in. "Mom? Dad? You guys home?" Ben called. There was no answer. He turned to Jacen and said, "We're alone." He ran and hugged his new Master.

Jacen leaned over and they both gave themselves to what they wanted and needed. Their lips met and they kissed long and deep, tasting each other's mouth. They broke the kiss and Ben grabbed Jacen by the hand and started pulling him toward his room.

"Why the hurry?" Jacen asked.

Ben smiled. "We're alone and I want you in me RIGHT NOW!"

Jacen stopped and refused to budge. "Whoa, Tiger, slow down."

Ben's smile faded. "Why? You know we both want it. Why are you stopping?"

"Because we need to take this slowly. There's no rush. Let's just take it slow. We need to let our love develop before we worry about me being inside you." He saw the disappointment in his little cousin's eyes. "Ben, my love and my apprentice, when the time is right, I will enter you and I will do it willingly. Until then, you must be patient." He smiled slightly. "Consider it a training exercise."

Ben smiled slightly himself. "Thanks." he said sarcastically.

"Come, sit down, Ben."

"Okay."

They sat down. Jacen cleared his throat. "Ben, we need to set some ground rules. There are times when we can't be as informal as normal cousins can. I am your Master, and in public you must address me as such. In private, you can call me by my first name. You must do whatever I ask of you. You may question me about certain things and I will answer you when I can, but you must obey me. This will be especially important when we begin to be given missions. When I give you a training exercise to do, I expect that you will perform to the best of your abilities. Is all that clear?"

"I thought having you as a Master was going to be cool. I didn't expect you to be so strict. Why all the rules? Rules are such a bummer." Ben said all this while looking at the ground.

"Well, Ben," Jacen said. "There is a process by which the Master-Padawan relationship can be dissolved when they are incompatible. Is that what you want?"

"No," Ben said quietly. "But I still don't understand why all the rules."

"Ben, what is your last name?"

"Skywalker."

"Who is your father?"

"Luke Skywalker."

"What is my last name?"

"Solo."

"Who is my mother?"

"Leia Organa-Solo."

"Last question. Who was our grandfather?"

"Anakin Skywalker."

"Okay. Here's why I asked you these questions. You need to understand that because of our bloodlines, we bear a tremendous amount of scrutiny. The expectations for us are higher than for anybody else. Until now, you have been kept out of the spotlight because your parents, especially your mom made it very clear that you were off limits. But now that you are ten and now a Padawan, the spotlight can now fall on you. That is why I'm glad to be your Master. I know what you're going to be facing. I was in the spotlight from the moment I was born. We also bear scrutiny because the shadow of our grandfather still weighs heavy in the galaxy. The name Darth Vader still frightens many people. So, as each of us come along, they watch us closely, waiting and watching to see which of us might become the next Darth Vader. Do you understand a bit more now."

Ben nodded. "Yes, Master, I do. I'm sorry for my outburst."

To lighten the atmosphere, Jacen smiled and said, "Hey, you're a Skywalker. It won't be the last." He reached for the boy. "C'mere, you."

Ben squealed and pulled away. "Come get me!" he challenged, then stuck his tongue out at Jacen.

Jacen changed his voice into an imitation of Yoda. "Strong in the Force is this little one, hm. But disrespectful he is."

This struck Ben as hilarious and he collapsed onto the floor, in a giggling heap. This allowed Jacen to reach him and they started wrestling which led to the mother of all tickling fights. They rolled all over the floor, tickling and giggling.

As they were doing this, the door opened again and Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade-Skywalker and Han Solo, entered the room. They stood watching the two figures writhing around on the floor with bemused looks on their faces. Finally, Luke cleared his throat, catching their attention.

"Why am I not surprised to see this?" Luke said.

Jacen bowed and said, "Forgive me Master, Ben and I had been having a serious discussion and I felt that we needed to have some fun to break the tension."

Luke smiled and said "No apology needed. In fact, I which that some more Masters would learn to do that with their Padawans."

Jacen finally turned and saw his dad. "Hi dad."

Han smiled. "Hello son. Luke told me you were coming back, so I came to give you a welcome back present."

At that moment, Ben ran and jumped up into Han's arms to receive a big hug. "Hello, Ben. I understand that you're a Padawan now."

Ben grinned. "Yup, Uncle Han, I got the best Master in the whole galaxy." he said, gesturing with his head, indicating Jacen.

"So I understand." Han said. "That reminds me. I also brought you a present in honor of your becoming an apprentice."

Ben got real excited. "Did you really bring me a present, Uncle Han?"

"Yeah. Wanna go see it?"

"Sure do."

"Actually, I can also show Jacen his. Follow me." He said as he lowered Ben to the ground.

They all followed Han until they reached their destination, the hanger. Han started talking. " I remember a day many years ago when a brash, smuggler met a naive farm boy and they ended up rescuing a beautiful princess. The pilot's name was Han Solo and the farm boy's was Luke Skywalker. Now we have another Solo and Skywalker being put together. Remembering all the trouble that the original pair got into, I thought that the new pair would need a good ship. So as a present to celebrate the pairing of Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker, I am offering them this:" He gestured with his hands and in looking, Jacen realized just what ship his dad was indicating: the Millenium Falcon.

"Dad, you mean that you're giving Ben and me the Falcon?"

"Yep. You two deserve it." Han said, as he handed Jacen the documents turning over ownership to him and Ben. "There's just one thing. Now that I don't own her any more, I could use a ride back to Coruscant."

Luke spoke. "Master Solo and Padawan Skywalker, consider it your first official mission to transport General Solo back to Coruscant and to attend a special audience with President Oragana-Solo." He smiled.

"Yes, Master." Jacen said and he and Ben both bowed.

Jacen, Ben and Han ascended the ramp of the Falcon as Luke and Mara returned home. Jacen couldn't believe that he owned the Falcon. He had expected to have to pry it out of his dad's dead fingers, but Han had changed over the past number of years. The war with the Yuhzhon Vong had cost few men as much as it had cost Han Solo. He had lost his best friend and copilot, Chewbacca and his youngest son, Anakin.

Jacen went to his dad and placed his arm around his shoulders. "There are a lot of memories on this ship, huh dad?"

"Yeah, there are. Too many. But I'm sure the new owners will create many more."

They heard a noise elsewhere in the ship and they noticed that Ben had wandered off. Jacen smiled and said, "Guess I'd better go collect a certain Padawan before he tears the ship apart. Was I like that at age ten?"

Han laughed. "Worse."

Jacen rolled his eyes and said, "Thanks."

Ben wasn't doing too much, except rummaging in bins and stuff. The noise was caused by him dropping some tool. Jacen cleared his throat, "Well, my young Padawan, shall we go start our mission and see what Our new ship can do?"

Ben smiled. "This ship is so cool. I can't believe that I'm going to be the copilot."

Jacen remembered that Ben hadn't been on the ship since he was an infant. "And don't forget, part owner."

"Yeah." Ben said. "Let's go see what this old hulk can do." He was trying to sound nonchalant but it was obvious that he was excited at being aboard the ship that had been such a big part of so many historical events.

They headed to the cockpit. Jacen was concerned, because if the copilot's seat was still designed for Chewbacca, Ben would have troubles reaching the controls. He'd have to get that fixed.

When they entered the cockpit, Jacen soon realized that he had nothing to fix. There was a new copilot's chair, fully adjustable to fit Ben perfectly as he grew up. Jacen knew that it wasn't something that could be rigged up and installed in a hurry. This had been done long ago. "Dad, how did you..." he was then too speechless to finish.

Han smiled. "How did I know? Well, I knew that you would eventually return from Dagobah and I knew that you were definitely going to receive a Padawan, whether you wanted one or not, Luke assured me of that. So I just played a hunch. Now if the new ship's crew wouldn't mind, I would like to go see my wife.

Jacen smiled. "I think we can handle that," he said as he dropped into the pilot's seat noticing that it had been repadded and reupholstered. "Dad, would you be so kind as to watch Ben to make sure he can handle any of the Falcon's little quirks?"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Han said.

Then Jacen realized that as soon as Luke had heard him say he would be Ben's Master, he already knew that Han had planned to give the Falcon to Jacen, so he got Han to send him a program to put in the flight simulator to get Ben accustomed to flying the Falcon. "So, let's get moving." He said. "Next stop: Coruscant." They took off and as soon as the correct coordinates came from the navputer, Jacen eased the ship into hyperspace.