Growing Up Solo

Chapter Twenty-Four

Leia forced a smile and headed for the front door, Han carrying her bag. As he secured the bag down to her speeder, he gave her one last kiss to her forehead. Leia started up her speeder and adjusted her helmet, speeding off through the forest and to the Academy.

*few hours later*

Leia had yet to see what the Academy looked like when it was completed. She heard her brother talk about it for days on end, but seeing it in person was completely different. The large gates around the entrance, protected by a few of Luke's Padawans. Leia parked her speeder and unattached her bag, making her way up to the front gates.

Just as she was about to push through the doors, the padawans  stopped her, obviously not going to let a regular trespasser inside the training grounds.

Leia smiled down at the two boys, noticing their braids right behind their ears. She removed the hood from her head as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "Easy boys, I'm just here to see my brother," she explained, opening they would recognize her as Luke's sister.

One of the boys looked over at the other, then back at Leia. "Who's your brother?" He questioned, reaching for his lightsaber on his hip.

Leia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Your master," she said in a sarcastic tone, the boy's jaws almost dropping to the floor.

When the boy who had questioned Leia finally stopped staring, his guard went up. "How do I know you're not lying to us?" He asked, causing a small chuckle from the heavily pregnant princess.

Leia stood in front of the boy, slowly waving a hand in front of his face. "You will open these doors and let me in to see Master Luke," she stated with a firm tone.

After Leia had to repeat the phrase a second time, the boy turned sideways and looked at his companion, his eyes looking glossy. "I will open the doors and let you in to see Master Luke," he said as his friend watched in awe of the situation. The doors soon opened up and Leia smiled at the boys before walking beyond the walls. "Thank you," she said politely as the doors closed behind her.

Leia's boots made a "clack-tap" sound as she walked across the marble floor. She glanced up at the walls, noticing portraits of other Jedi Masters. Leia could name a few, relying on her memory from the lessons about the Jedi's past from her brother as apart of her training. Noticing the picture of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia smiled and walked up to the picture. She had heard stories of him from Luke himself. He could talk about his old teacher for hours on end. When Leia saw Luke's portrait, she smiled even more, waddling her way over to it. She placed her hand on the frame, studying her brother's picture. He had grown so much in the months that they had been apart. His long hair was trimmed back, a bit of stubble surrounding his cheeks/mouth.

"Leia!"

The Princess was taken from her thoughts as she turned her head, only to see her brother. Luke walked up to her quickly, placing a hand on her forearm and guiding her down a hallway.

"What are you doing here? It's not safe for you to be here," he explained, a great amount of worry in his eyes.

Leia looked at the Jedi Master with confusion. "I came to see Ben. He came home last night, Luke," she said to him, her hand on his shoulder. "He destroyed Jaina's room with his lightsaber. I need to talk to him."

Luke took a deep breath and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. "Leia, you don't understand. Ben has been gone for the last three days. Nobody has seen or heard from him and he has been skipping his training. I'm afraid he's falling to the Dark Side. He's transforming too fast and I can't help him. I've failed him, Leia."

"Stop it! You're a good person and an excellent trainer, Luke. I know you better than anyone else. This is not your fault," Leia said to him, trying to get him to come to his senses.

Luke looked up at his sister, deep in thought as she searched his face for clues. "Leia, he's here. I can feel him. You have to hide. You and Jaina are not safe here. Put a barrier around your presence," Luke said as he took his sister down the hallway and helped her into a storage closet, closing the door behind her as her protest continued.

"Luke! I need to see Ben!" Leia yelled as she pounded on the door, hoping that he would let her out, but it seemed Luke had already left the hallway. Leia did as she was told, using her Force ability to cover her presence,  waiting to be retrieved from the closet.
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A.N.
Guys I can't thank you enough for all of the support of this book. I love waking up to comments and feedback. With that being said, this book is no where near what I planned for it to be. I have more ideas popping up every now and then, and I think I might rewrite this book. I feel that I missed out some important details along the way and I need to go back and start over. However, I will not start my rewrite until AFTER this is completed. So I am leaving this up to you, my readers:
Should I start posting on Fanfiction.net and will you guys read this book again once it is rewritten? Let me know what you think!
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May the Force be with you, always.
M.S.
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