NEVER BETRAY

A SOFT , ALBEIT small breath is taken and satine looks down at him. ‘  it’s not that i don’t want to tell you.  ’  a pause.  what was it that ben had said to her one day.  oh that’s right !  ‘  search your feelings , i know you know the truth.  ’

her hands move to cup his cheeks in a desperate attempt to calm him.  ‘  you know , you can feel it.   you’ve always felt it.  ’   there was no doubt he’d been gifted the force , just like his father.  ‘  i will tell you the truth , but not here.  later , after the sun falls.  come and see me , and i promise you the truth.  the whole truth , okay?  ’

𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦. he doesn’t want to , but he does. the impatience of youth and well trained diplomacy was an odd mix. made odder by the storm brewing within his veins. but ever the obedient nephew , korkie nods , taking whatever comfort he can from his aunt’s hands against his cheek. 

“ okay , ” the word leaves him small and cracked , but he takes a breath and for a moment covers his aunt’s hands with his own before taking a step back. in the space created , he feels the secret. almost tangible. as though if he stared hard enough , he would see it floating like dust in the air. and when he meets his aunt’s gaze , he feels a bit stronger. “ later. ”

          his journey led him here , a desert world called tatooine that could not be more different from home. two suns beat down on his back as he wandered through the dunes. a nearby town had been all but useless. of all the languages he’d learned at the academy , huttese had not been one. and he didn’t particularly like the way folks looked at him there , as though he were a threat. or a snack. so instead , he continued to do what he had from the start: follow the force. and even when he could feel the skin on his cheeks begin to burn , and his feet ache , he did not stop until he found the small , unassuming house on the horizon. 

          could this be it ? either the force , or dehydration , told him yes. korkie stopped at the front door , and realized , quite suddenly , how ill prepared he was for whatever lay on the other side. he had spent so long trying to find this ghost , but now that he was here ... surely , there was a way he could convince him to come back. to fight for korkie’s home and the home his aunt had died for. 

HIS FINGERS brush against her wrist and it gives her pause. ‘  you are becoming who you are , nephew.  ’  a bitter word spills from her lips. she hates this. hates the lie and the deception.

‘  there is nothing wrong with you.  but – sometimes , there are things that no one can explain and life is rarely that easy.  i know you’re afraid.  it’s okay to be afraid.  i’m afraid too. ’

‘ 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙺𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 , don’t know ? ’ oh , how he despises the desperate tang in his voice as he asks. how was he ever expected to be a good ruler when his words betrayed him so ? but fear outweighed logic , brilliant blue eyes searching for answers in her aunt’s.