The Revival of The Force

26 the dinner

26 the dinner

A mirror. He hadn't seen or used one in a really long time. The reflection of his face spreads a cold in his body. No blue shadow, the longest he was in a Universe and on no real planet, his body was normal. Ben didn't want to look any other second at his own reflection. He turned his eyes away. It also was one of the reasons he avoided meeting Rey. There, he was a Ghost. Touching her, like when he brought her back to life, wasn't possible. It frustrated him. Ben looked around in the room. It wasn't modern, no, a simple house made out of wood in the middle of a forest. He expected more when he was invited to come over, but he kept his mouth shut. A wooden table, four chairs with a well known man sitting on one of them, few furnitures that were more decoration than anything necessary.
"Have you tried to eat yet?" Mace Windu asked.
Ben shook his head, there was no reason for him to do it.
"That's what I thought. I prepared you something." He slowly stood up and walked to what seemed to be a kitchen. A pan was filled with white grain and all kind of colourful vegetables. "It's a specialty form where I came from," he explained with a bright smile. He took two plates from one shelf and filled them with the food. Mace Windu brought them back to the table.
Ben sat down and stared at the plate.
"You want a fork or eat with your hands?"
No response comes from the visitor.
"I see. You don't know if it tastes good. I can tell you it's great! One of the vegetables has a special taste, but I don't think that it tastes that bad."
A fork flew from the kitchen into Ben's hand. At first, he still hesitated, but then decided to try it. No food had come into his body since a very long time. And what happened with it afterwards? Mace Windu already finished his plate, he wiped his mouth with a napkin. Finally the fork ended in Ben's mouth. He chewed for some time so the taste appeared. Food did taste, he noted. A little smile formed on his lips. The plate was empty soon and no vegetable had a weird taste despite what Mace Windu said. The host understood that Ben liked it, watching every face expression of Ben.
"Love was prohibited when I was a Jedi," he said after some time.
Ben didn't know how to response to that and how much Mace knew about his life. When it came to the topic love, it usually meant they knew quite a lot.
"But I have to say that Luke and Leia wouldn't be alive if Anakin had respected that rule. And now I regret that I stopped myself from loving," he said with a sight. "You're really lucky, you know."
Was he? Ben would never describe himself as a lucky person.
"Do you know why I invited you?" Mace changed the subject.
Ben shook his head again.
"I feel like I'm talking to a wall. But I'll tell you." He leaned closer to Ben like what he wanted to say was extremely confidential. "I care about your wealth, Ben Solo. I haven't seen you at any Assemble and after an hour of a party, you're gone. I saw Leia's worried face as she arrived at events. Your uncle, Luke, told me that you haven't a Universe yet. Tell me what will make you feel better. I won't judge."
"Nothing," came uncontrollably out of Ben's mouth.
"Really? Nothing? You can tell me the impossible."
No words came from him. The impossible. Did he know? Another sight from Mace Windu, he stood up and took the two plates with him. He sat down again with a concerned frown. Ben didn't look at him, he just stared at the empty table where his plate was few seconds ago.
"I see," Mace Windu said again. The silence wrapped the two for some minutes. Since Mace was a talkative person, he was the one who asked the next questions.
"Why are you not talking, Ben?"
"Because I don't want to," he simply responded.
"Silence must be your friend then. Not mine, I don't like him."
"Then keep talking," Ben answered without a look at the powerful Jedi.
"I died when I tried to kill Palpatine. You too," he said for himself more than to Ben, but this one lifted his eyes. Mace seemed lost in his thoughts. He suddenly shook his head like he wanted to stop his mind from seeing memories. "So Rey thinks you're a really kind man?"
"I'm not sure she thinks that," Ben said and looked back to the table.
"Seems like she really likes you. I don't know her nor you well yet, so I can't understand why. But I guess there is something about you that you hide under your impassive mask."
Ben's eyes shift back to Mace Windu. He suddenly felt so naked, like the Jedi could look through him. Mace smiled satisfied that something was alive in this big body.
"Your eyes," he noted. "They say a lot."
At those words, his eyes left the host again.
"Come on, look at me, boy. Let me see your real face."
"I'm not sure you want that."
"I'm not sure you can know what I want," he responded. "I understand, Ben Solo, I know what you want, I can see it in your eyes, in your body language – "
Ben abruptly stood up and looked straight into Mace's eyes with a trembling chin.
"You know nothing," Ben said through his teeth before leaving. He had the urgent feeling to run, his steps slowly got faster and faster. This was all fake, he couldn't help but think. His sadness wasn't. Soon, he saw that someone was following him, it wasn't Mace. A woman with two tentacles on top of her head came closer to him. His pace decreased and then he stopped. She kept running and then turned to Ben.
"Ahsoka Tano" Ben declared while panting.
"Ben Solo," she responded catching her breath. "The last Skywalker."
"And he's dead."
"True, the Skywalker Family was really strong in the Force. Like you. Every time I'm close to you, I feel this raw strength. Reminds me of Anakin."
"What do you want?" Ben asked. "What do you all want from me?"
"Don't you understand?" Ahsoka answered, her eyebrows lifting.
No, he didn't understand. What he understood was that he preferred doing nothing in his Universe than to talk to Jedis that harassed him with questions about what he wanted.
"We want to help you," she desperately said. Her breath calmed down but she still seemed nervous.
Help? What did he need help for? What could they do for him?
"Why?" his voice broke.
"Because you deserve it."
Ben stayed speechless, he ignored what her words really meant. He disappeared from Mace Windu's Universe and landed back into his blank space. Help for survival there or for something else? And then, is it this something else that he wanted more than everything? Hope rose in his heart as he breathed in. His lungs suddenly filled with this fake air, but it felt so pure and fresh. So, was there still a chance?

(Boat Song - Woodkid)