Consequence of Oversight

ACT II - Epilogue

The door shut behind her, sealing Hazel and Ben in the dim light of the small home. The silence between them was thick—suffocating. Her dad stood by the table, his hands gripping the edges, his knuckles white.

Hazel didn't move. She had seen him angry before. Disappointed. But this? This was something else entirely.

"You disappeared," Ben finally said, his voice dangerously quiet.

This again?

Hazel crossed her arms. "I left a note."

Ben exhaled sharply through his nose, his grip tightening on the table. "A note." He turned, his eyes burning—not just with anger but with something deeper. "Do you have any idea what that was like? To come home and find you gone?"

Hazel swallowed but held her ground.

"I had no way of knowing if you were safe. No idea where you'd gone. And now I find out that you've been sneaking out for years. Training. Fighting." He took a step toward her. "How long?"

Hazel met his gaze. "Since Bo-Katan found me."

Ben stiffened. His expression flickered—anger giving way to something else. Realization.

She knew.

"Bo-Katan," he murmured. "You didn't tell me."

"Like you didn't tell me about my mother." Hazel wanted to snap, but she knew it wasn't the right time. Instead, she shifted slightly. "I wanted to."

Ben's voice was sharp. "Then why didn't you?"

Hazel exhaled. "Because I knew you wouldn't approve."

His jaw clenched. "You're right. I wouldn't have."

Hazel let out a short, humorless laugh. "Yeah, well, I didn't have the luxury of waiting for your approval."

Ben's gaze darkened. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Hazel's stomach twisted. She inhaled, bracing herself. "You don't know what happened when I disappeared that day." Her voice was quieter now, raw. "I didn't just get lost."

Obi-Wan's expression flickered, his stance shifting. "Hazel—"

"Like I said before, I was taken."

Silence.

Ben's breath came slow and measured, but his whole body had gone rigid. "Taken by who?"

Hazel nodded once. Her throat tightened. "Slavers."

Ben's face paled. In his anger, he hadn't registered that part before.

Hazel pressed on, even as her pulse pounded. "They kept me in chains. Tried to sell me off like I was nothing." The memories pressed in—cold metal restraints, the weight of the collar, the stench of sweat and fear in the cargo hold. She swallowed hard and looked away. "I don't need to tell you the details."

Ben's hands curled into fists at his sides.

Hazel exhaled shakily. "Kelei saved me."

At that, Ben's anger faltered, confusion flickering beneath the fear. "She what?"

Hazel nodded, forcing herself to continue. "She found me. Rescued me." Her voice wavered. "She's the reason I got out."

Ben turned away, bracing himself against the table, his breathing controlled but strained. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hazel exhaled sharply. "Because you already knew what happened. You just never wanted to talk about it."

Ben's fingers curled against the wood.