Ben sat on the edge of his cot with his newly-returned lightsaber in both hands. Luke should never have taken it from him in the first place, in his opinion, or treated him like a servant. He wasn't a child and he shouldn't be disciplined like one, especially since he had done nothing wrong. He felt wounded and betrayed by Luke's reaction.
He was tempted to pack his bag and leave the Temple for good, just go back home. His uncle was apparently not the teacher he thought he would be. What kind of Jedi Master would punish a student for standing up for his own family?!
And yet from early childhood all Ben had ever wanted was to be a Jedi Knight. His uncle was the last of this Order. If he left now who else could he turn to for guidance? His mother was able to manipulate the Force, true, but she had never undergone formal training and would therefore probably not be as adept a mentor as her brother.
The question was could he bear to stay and learn the ways of the Jedi from someone whom he no longer looked up to or even fully trusted.
Luke had, of course, tried to insist that his punishment had not been a betrayal at all, that Ben had acted rashly and impulsively and needed to learn to do better. But that wasn't how Ben saw it. In his view Darriel had been the sole aggressor and he himself had only done what anyone with a sense of honor and dignity would do. The fact that Luke refused to acknowledge this cut him to the core.
Ben set aside his lightsaber and grabbed his Tauntaun from his pillow, hugging it to his chest.
Ben Solo.
"Snoke," Ben replied aloud through clenched teeth. "I told you a long time ago to leave me alone."
And yet now I am the one who you want to speak with.
"What makes you think that?"
I am the only one who appreciates you for who and what you are. Everyone else fears the anger and Darkness in you. They all want to guide you into the Light.
"And you want to guide me to the Dark Side. Is that what you think I want? It's not."
All I want is for you to reach your full potential. To fulfill your destiny.
"What are you talking about?" Ben held Snowy up to his face, nuzzling his cheek against its dingy synthetic fur. "What do you think my 'destiny' is?"
Your grandfather's legacy is your destiny.
"I'm not my grandfather. Leave me alone, Snoke. Just go away."
You have much of him in you. But you could be more than he was. Anakin was weak. He turned from the Dark Side and it cost him his life. You, Ben, could be far stronger.
"I'm not a bad person."
Darkness calls to the best of people.
"I'm not interested."
I could be the mentor you so desperately seek.
"I don't want to learn anything you have to teach me."
Do you not? I could teach you how to take full advantage of your tremendous power. Luke Skywalker won't do that for you. He has too much fear of that power. Snoke's tone was persuasive.
Ben did not respond. His own internal voice told him that it was not fear of the Force that made Luke cautious, but respect for it.
Will you allow me to see you? Allow yourself to see me?
"I don't know how to do that."
Yes, you do.
Ben shoved Snowy under his blanket then closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses.
"Good. Very good. You are strong enough to establish a connection." Snoke's voice was no longer emanating from Ben's mind but seemed to be coming from directly in front of him, slightly hollow with a strange echo. "Open your eyes."
Ben opened his eyes to see an ominous figure standing before him. It wasn't quite as though he was actually standing in Ben's tent. It was more like Snoke had somehow been pulled out of his own surroundings and superimposed in Ben's.
Ben wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but he had certainly thought Snoke would look more human than he did. He had no way of knowing whether Snoke had once been human and had degenerated over time into the deformed apparition he was now, or whether that had been his true form all along. Whichever the case, the sight of him filled Ben with unease.
Yet at the same time he was possessed by an almost overwhelming compulsion to slide from his cot and kneel before Snoke. He fought this compulsion with every ounce of his will.
"I won't give myself over to the Dark Side," he declared. "I never promised you that."
"But you will," Snoke stated with certainty.
"No, I won't."
"There is time enough for that. You will allow me to train you?"
"I'm not going to leave the Temple and come to you."
"There is no need. We can train like this, connected by the Force as we are now. But Ben, the time will come when you must choose a side."
"The Force is all about balance," Ben pointed out. "That's what it is, the Light and the Dark balancing each other out. A true Jedi should be able to use both."
"You cannot embrace both sides of the Force, boy! The Light and the Dark pulling you in different directions would tear you apart."
Ben's face pinched into a scowl.
"If I'm as powerful as you say I am then I can do it. The Force is balance."
Snoke laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh, and it made Ben's blood run cold.
"It will tear you apart, boy."
"If it does I'll choose when I have to. And I'll choose the Light. I didn't come to you, Snoke. You came to me."
Snoke laughed again.
"I look forward to our first lesson, young Solo. But we must be cautious. Luke Skywalker must never know that you are training with me."
"He won't."
"And if he does begin to suspect will you have the strength to take the necessary measures, I wonder?"
"He won't suspect anything."
"And if he does?"
Ben knew exactly what it was that Snoke was hinting at. He knew exactly what Snoke wanted him to say. But he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an answer.
"He won't find out," he insisted.
Snoke's only response was another chilling laugh.
Once the connection had been severed Ben collapsed back onto his cot, exhausted and shaking.
He pulled Snowy out from under the covers and cuddled it, wondering to himself exactly how big of a mistake he had just made.
