Misplaced In The Force

Chapter 4

"How...What...Where..." I started asking three separate questions, stopping each one short as I stared at my long-lost friend.

I must have been hallucinating but I prayed to the maker that Ben was somehow here in this cave system under the old Jedi temple. Maybe he remembered the stories that Luke had told us. He had always shown an interest in the planet of Ilum and maybe that's why he was here. Maybe he had come here for his own salvation and our paths were destined to cross once again. Or maybe he wasn't really here at all and I was slowly going insane.

I had asked around for years about Ben Solo to anyone who would listen to me. But no one had known where he was. Those who knew of him either straight denied knowing of his presence or truly had no idea. But a lot of people didn't know who he was since the General of the Resistance wasn't exactly advertising her only child to the galaxy.

One time about a year ago I had been in a cantina asking around and a Resistance pilot had tried to approach me. He seemed angry that I was looking for Ben and I couldn't understand it so I had hightailed it off of Tatooine and never went back. When I had waited for the ashes on Yavin Four to cool I had looked for Ben and a few of the other students but several bodies were never recovered leading me to believe that they had escaped the carnage.

"How are you?" Ben smiled as he looked me over slowly.

"I...I don't know how to answer that. Where the fuck have you been?"

"All over the galaxy. I traveled for a while until I found my way." Ben started to walk along the edge of the room slowly as he kept his eyes on me. "You've come for your crystal finally then?"

"Yes." I swallowed back the tears I wanted to cry as I walked toward him. "I missed you so much. How did you end up down here? How long have you been down here."

"You know that the crystal has to pick you?" Ben asked without answering my questions.

"I know." I moved closer to Ben as the torches filled the smaller cavern with warmth from their flames.

"Then get to picking, girly," Ben smirked and I nodded knowing that he wouldn't say much else.

Ben had never really been a man of many words so I knew better than to press him to talk more. I moved around the cavern slowly as I closed my eyes and let the Force guide me along the walls. I could hear the footsteps behind me as Ben followed close behind as I search for my own Kyber.

Nearing the back of the cave I stopped and reached out my right hand as I touched the crystals in the wall. They all felt cold and unfamiliar as I moved my hand along the wall. Some were sharp while some were dull but none of them felt like they were mine. I continued to stroll along the outer edges of the cave with hope filling my heart. But I knew if I didn't find my crystal here I would possibly find it in one of the other chambers that were littered with Kyber Crystals.

It felt like time stood still as I focused my energy and opened myself up to the Force more. There was so much energy bouncing around the cave that it became hard to differentiate between myself, Ben, the Snowfeathers above, and the energy of the caves. With a deep breath, I reached up a little higher until I felt a row of wet crystals. My fingers started to tingle as I touched the cluster and my eyes shot open.

Forgetting the world around me I tucked my saber hilt into my belt and extended both hands above my head. I grabbed the section of crystal and tugged freeing the entire cluster quite easily from the attached wall. I pulled the Force closer to me and focused on the cluster in my hands as I pulled crystals away and tossed them aside to the floor. Once I had chipped away at the outer crystals I set eyes on the crystal hidden in the center of the clump.