Prologue
It was a mild evening in summer and the stars were shining bright on the night sky of Chandrila. Leia Organa was standing on the balcony of her magnificent home. In the distance Hanna was visible. Leia loved this place because it was surrounded by nature, but the capital city wasn't far away either. For a moment she closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the balmy breeze which filled the air with feelings of summer. "You wanted to talk to me?" Leia flinched and turned around looking into her brother's eyes. "Did I scare you? I thought you had noticed me the moment I entered your home. You must be more worried than I thought." Leia knew that her brother was right, but she didn't want Luke to notice how scared and nervous she was. But it was foolish to think she could hide her true feelings from her brother who was so strong with the force. He probably was the best Jedi ever. And this was why she needed him. "I'm sorry. You are right I am standing beside myself pretty much and this is why I needed you to come." "Is something wrong between you and Han?" "It's not about Han. It's about Ben," Leia responded. "What is it? Is he alright?" Luke suddenly sounded worried. A slight smile slipped Leia's lips. The mighty Luke Skywalker was worried about something. But she knew that his nephew meant far more to him than he would ever admit. "Not really. Listen. I need you to do me a favor. It is just... I don't know..." Leia was struggling with the words she wanted to speak. "Come on. Tell me. I never experienced you being speechless, so just spit it out." Luke had this strange way of getting someone to open up. He always was very direct, almost harsh, but he also had that tone to his voice that suggested everything would turn out fine and that he could fix everything. Leia always admired this about her brother. "I want you to train Ben in the ways of the gray Jedi." Leia tried to sound firm and determined. She wanted to hide her insecurities as much as possible. At least she wanted to try. For a few moments Luke just looked at her and Leia felt as if time had stopped. She was even more scared of her brother's reaction than she had been of asking him for this favour. "This is a very rare request. I thought you didn't want Ben to be a part of any of this. What changed your mind?" Leia was glad that her brother seemed rather truly curious than shocked. "Han didn't want this. I just wanted Ben to be safe and agreed because I thought it was the right way. But Luke, the force is so strong in him and I can sense that there is darkness in him. He needs to be guided so the dark side doesn't take control over him." "But why don't you want him to become a normal Jedi. Why do you think he should be trained as a gray Jedi?" Leia wasn't sure what to answer for a moment, but she knew she had to tell Luke the truth if she wanted him to help her. "I know my son. He is so quick tempered and stubborn. Restricting him that strongly and wanting him to follow all the rules of the Jedi will only lead to him wanting to fight it even harder." Luke smiled. "What did you expect? He is Han's son as well. Of course, he is stubborn and quick tempered," he replied jokingly. "But I get your point," he added, a lot more serious this time. "What is Han's opinion on this? Did you talk with him about it?" "Of course, I did!" Leia sounded sad again. "And you know Han. At first, he didn't understand and told me that it would be best for Ben if he would be kept away from all this. But how could he? We would never be able to keep Ben away from the ways of the force forever. He is a Skywalker at last. And this is what I told Han. He agreed with me that trying to push Ben into the strict way of being a true Jedi would just cause more harm. We both figured that training him as a gray Jedi was the only way to save him from the power of the dark side." "If this is really what you want, I will do it. But you are aware that this is no guarantee for his fate. I will try my best to protect him, but I can do just as much." Luke tried to sound sincere, although he felt that this was a great risk. "Thank you so much!" Leia hugged her brother and felt all the tension built up during the last days fall from her. "Now get to sleep it is late. And let me know when you talked to Ben." Luke cast a last glance full of reassurance at his sister before he left the balcony. Shortly after, Leia heard the heavy door shut. She looked out into the dark and hoped that Han would be home again soon. She never knew when he was back when he left. But he had always been like this and she knew that he would always come back home. When she left her balcony, she felt relieved. But even though she knew she made the right choice she was anxious about this being enough to stop her son from following the path of the dark side. But it was the best she had and she trusted in the force to guide Ben and lead him onto the right way.
