Only Hope

Chapter Two

Even from a distance Ben could identify the senator's regal form. He peered out of the viewport of the smaller shuttle as it glided directly down towards to the royal palace, where the tall silhouette of Bail Organa was unmistakeable. Stood to the side of the landing pad close to the sparkling double doors that led into the palace proper, the senator's hands were clasped behind his back, long tailored coat barely moving in the evening breeze.

Ben was distressed to feel nerves rising in him as the shuttle descended smoothly on to the platform. What am I doing here? he asked himself. He still hoped for a faint answer from Master Qui-Gon. He was still yet to hear one...

There was no noticeable impact as the shuttle settled into place. No clattering of parts or juddering of fuselage. But then, this was a royal ship. A senatorial ship. The type of ship Kenobi had not flown on for many, many years.

He stood and looked down at his shabby robes; the colour of earth and dust, of aged things and solitude. The plainest of plain. He smoothed his cloak backwards in an attempt to look a little more appropriate, noticing only now the very fine layer of sand that he had deposited on to the glossy shuttle floor.

Whoosh. The external door opened with a pleasingly soft sound, and Kenobi moved towards it. The evening air on Alderaan was warm but not hot. It was scented with the many stretching branches of thousands of trees, the vague freshness of lakewater ever-present. Stars were beginning to glimmer in a sky that was turning comforting shades of lilac, and lanterns gleamed around the perimeter of the landing platform.

"Old friend... Welcome."

Ben looked up as he descended the shuttle steps. Bail was smiling, striding smoothly towards him, hand outstretched.

Ben simply nodded before taking the man's hand. "Bail. You are well?"

"Of course. And better for knowing that you're here. It's good to see you again."

"I hardly expected it to be so soon," Ben said, in a somewhat dry tone.

"Neither did I," Bail replied. "But the princess wants what she wants."

"Look, before I see her again, and before I do whatever it is that must be done, we really must talk about this. She may well have questions, but you and I both know that not all of them can be answered – or should be answered. Have you thought this through, you and Breha?"

Bail held out a gesturing hand, and he and Ben began to walk slowly across the platform towards the palace doors. "We have. And you're right, there are things that are best left unsaid. But we always knew, from the minute Leia became our daughter, that she deserved to know something of her heritage. Not all of it, as you say – but enough. Enough for her to feel at home not just with us, but within her own heart. Within her own feelings."

Ben looked at this friend, his heart suddenly beating just a touch faster. "Her feelings?"

"She has never said as much, but... Let's just say that I would be very surprised if she was not at least somewhat Force-sensitive, Ben. There has always been something transcendental about her. And I don't just mean her wisdom beyond her years, her boldness. She has more intelligence and more wit than any child I have ever known, but she also has this aura about her. It's always been there."

Ben swallowed. It was hardly a surprise, that the child of the most masterful Jedi he had ever met should feel the Force also. In some ways it comforted him – that she might someday, somehow, balance the dark that her father had wrought by creating light. By bringing hope. And yet...

And yet the idea of being anywhere near the role of teacher for the child of Anakin Skywalker... It filled him with terror. With thoughts of failure, and weakness; of many mistakes and eons of pain.