Torn Apart

Something to Consider

Naboo was quiet once again. The annual celebration to honor the victory over the Empire at the Battle of Endor was finally over. The party ended, everyone had gone home or to one of the bars in the lower parts of the city. Lux, on the other hand, sat on the polished stone ledge of her bedroom window, her legs dangling over the edge, enjoying the feeling of being so far above the ground. As if she were flying. It was the height of the warm season, which meant the air was thick and heavy even when the sun went down. Lux was only able to stand it by taking off the outer layer of her sleeping robes, leaving her arms bare to the cool breeze she felt off of the window ledge, sheets of paper on her lap while she sketched the view before her with a piece of charcoal. Nights often went like this as Lux wasn't really one for sleeping. She would sometimes cover herself up in one of Ben's dark robes to walk around the city, paper and charcoal in hand,to draw whatever was in front of her when she happened to finally stop. Tonight, though, her legs were too tired to take her anywhere further than the window. Her long wavy brown hair hung loosely in a knot at the nape of her neck though much of it had managed to escape, falling down her back or in front of her eyes, meaning she kept having to brush it away with fingers stained from her charcoal, leaving dark smudges on her nose, brow, cheeks and lips. She was so engrossed in her sketching that she almost failed to notice the figure slowly appearing at her side.

"What a strange looking creature you are when no one is around." The voice was deep but playful and teasing. Without having to look up, she could have told straight away who it was. No one had the ability to sneak up like that but Ben.

"This coming from someone who likes to wear a pretend Vader helmet when we play war in the forests." Lux's eyes never left the page as she spoke, concentrating on using the very tips of her fingers to smudge some areas of her picture.

Even though she couldn't see him, she knew Ben would have that smirk on his face and could almost physically hear it when he replied."And for someone who is supposed to be dressed for bed, you're still a mess. Do you still have the same aversion to taking a bath as you did when we were younglings?"

Lux finally looked up to find him leaning against the window frame to her left with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankle. Typical Ben stance, Lux thought and her heart beat faster. She couldn't help but smile, shaking her head at him, "Charming as ever, I see. If you could call a worm charming, that is."

Ben clutched at his heart in mock ­horror. "Ouch Lux...cut me..do I not bleed?"His face reverted back to his wide smile as he crossed his arms again, looking too much like he was enjoying their little exchange of innocent insults.

"I highly doubt there's anything I, or anyone else for that matter, could do to hurt you right now," she said in a matter­ of­ fact tone.

He leaned in slightly with his father's cocky smile on his face. She simply couldn't wait to make it disappear."Oh really? And what makes you think that?"

Lux leaned in towards him so that their faces were only a few inches apart with a knowing smile, her voice dropping down to a whisper."Because you're not the real Ben."

She knew Ben and his best friend Daen had been working with making holograms of themselves in an effort to skip their daily lessons and now they had been trying to see how many people they could fool. The image rested against the frame again, it's cockiness gone to be replaced at first by disbelief then a broad smile that reached up to its eyes spread across its face. It looked towards the door behind her before vanishing in a blueish haze. "How did you know it wasn't me?" he asked in disbelief. "I even fooled my mom and dad with this one. Only Chewbacca knew the difference."

Her smile widened at the sound of his voice, twisting round on the ledge to find the real Ben standing in her doorway, his expression a cross between amused, amazed and annoyed. He had grown at least three inches since his 15 birthday and he towered over her. His dark wavy hair was longer and Lux would be embarrassed if he ever found out how many times she'd thought about running her fingers through it.