Who Ben is Now

Ben

Confused.

When I woke up, that was exactly how I felt: Confused. I opened my eyes to find that I was trapped inside a small metal room. There were no windows, just a large door directly in front of me. The low hum that I heard told me that I was indeed in a spaceship of sorts. Captured. Defeated.

As for myself, I was strapped onto some sort of metal table. The device was angled slightly so that I was leaning back, but not horizontal enough to make me comfortable. My limbs were sore and weak, and my clothing was muddy and damp from my previous dip in the river.

The river.

And just like that, it all came flooding back to me. The ship. The Stormtroopers. The man in the cloak. It had all been real.

However, before I had any more time to panic, the doors in front of me swooshed open.

My heart practically stopped in my chest as I watched the darkly dressed man from earlier walk into the room. He still wore his helmet, although the hood of his cape had found its way off of his head and onto his shoulders. He stopped just two feet away from where I had been placed and (as far as I could tell) looked straight at me.

Looking into that mask was just too intimidating. Nervously, I turned my head away from the figure and onto the floor, focusing my gaze at a scuff on the black tiles below.

"Look at me."

His voice was so chilling that I almost found myself obeying his orders. Something inside of me though, a gut feeling, told me that I needed to rebel. Taking in a shaky breath, I fixated my gaze even harder to the scuff on the floor, trying to keep this man out of my head.

But it was too late. Frustrated with my disobedience, he used the force to reposition my gaze directly onto him. The power that flowed through his fingertips and into my body hurt. This time, I could not look away.

A lock of my dirty blonde hair fell into my face. To my shock and discomfort, the Vader-like man raised the gloved hand that was not using the force on my cranium and tucked the strands behind my ear. It made my face tingle with distress. He spoke again, the force still locking my head into place. "Hello, Allevra."

I gulped, blinking away a look of embarrassment. "He knows my name," I thought.

Suddenly, the man stopped his use of the force, allowing me to rest my head slightly. He began pacing around the table that I was strapped to, driving me crazy with fright.

"I know a lot of things about you. You would probably be surprised."

I was shocked. This force-user was powerful enough to read my thoughts. How much did he know? How much could he hear? "You know nothing about me."

His low, altered voice seemed to chuckle. I wondered if he was really laughing under that helmet.

"Let's see about that, shall we?"

I froze. The man stopped in front of me.

"You used to go by 'Princess Allevra', but that was a long time ago. You were born on a small planet, Peiamu, and had a fairly happy childhood. But as we both know, happiness does not last forever."

I couldn't tell what I felt more: anger, fear, or confusion. How did this person know so much about me?

He continued. "You are force-sensitive. You kept it hidden from most everyone. When your parents both perished and your palace all but collapsed, you fled to Yavin, where you've spent your time hiding from everyone. From me."

The bad feeling down in my gut rose up, threatening to choke me. I stared the dastardly man down, realization slowly making its way outward and into the world.

"Take that thing off," I demanded, angry that I could not see his face.

Once again, he laughed. "Why? So you can see what you already know lies underneath?"

I felt tears well up in my eyes. The lump in my throat was burning and choking me, and I felt so angry that I was ready to burst. "Take the damn thing off! Just take it off!"

He did not say anything. Instead, he ever-so-slowly rose a hand up to the side of his helmet, pressing a small button. The device made a small click. As he slid the helmet off, I watched as an all-too-familiar face was brought to light.

Ben. Ben Solo.

I should have known.

A strange sound erupted from my throat; something half-way between a sob and a scream. My shoulders fell as my head hung low, hot tears making their way out of my eyes and down to my chin.

I cried for him. I cried for the Ben Solo that I had once knew so long ago, for the man in front of me at that moment could not possibly have been him.

For a second, he simply stood there, silently watching as my emotions unraveled. He looked simply like a more matured version of his younger self, and it absolutely tore me apart. The same nose. The same pale complexion. The same dark brown eyes and feathery hair. Only now, those big eyes that had once held so many dreams for the future were now tainted with darkness. On top of that, a long scar covered the side of his face, tracing all the way from the bridge of his nose to the side of his cheek.

Now that the helmet had come off, he was no longer a stoic, emotionless man. I could see the slight twinge of a frown at the edge of his lips . . . the way his brows furrowed ever so slightly. As much as he probably hated to admit it, seeing me fall apart so easily had probably brought him some distress.

I didn't know what to say. The pain inside of me was too much to bare. Every fiber in my worn body was ready to snap.

For the first time, he spoke without the aid of his helmet. His voice was low and husky, unlike the voice that I remembered from our childhood together. However, it was indeed Ben's voice.

"I'm sorry that seeing my face brings you so much pain."

I made no attempt to respond. I simply let the tears continue to flow. I must have looked so weak.

But to tell you the truth, I was.

A/N: Hey everyone. J Thanks so much for the support that I've gotten on my first chapter. I hope that you liked the second! Please please comment, fave, follow, or pm me to let me know what you think so far!