Don't Leave

Chapter Thirteen

Sitting behind Ben as he stared into the endless space in front of him with tears casually falling from his eyes, you rub your hands across his shoulders trying to calm him down.

Space was beautiful, and it wasn't something you had much experience with other than the trip with Luke and then the birthday trips with Ben. The stars were endless; it was insane to you how vastly large everything was in comparison to the two of you and this ship.

The chaos that ensued hours earlier felt like a lifetime away when staring into space. But any moment that you let your mind wander, the memories of all the bodies on the ground would come back to flood your brain. You caught yourself crying several times, but you never pulled your hands away from Ben's shoulders knowing that he needed the comfort more than you did.

"What is that?" Your eyes drifted from the back of Ben's head to what you thought was another ship drifting in space.

"That," Ben's voice broke slightly, but he coughed to try and cover it up, "that is where we are meeting Snoke."

The ship was like nothing you had ever seen; it was made out of what seemed to be hexagonal glass that formed into a sphere. You could see inside and notice that it was filled with plants; it was stunning. The sphere was then encased in several metal rings, you imagined that those are what kept it afloat. There were tree roots scattered amongst the metal rings, wrapping around them in various ways.

"Wow." You couldn't prevent yourself from gawking at how truly incredible it looked. Ben peered over his shoulder and gave you a slight smile; he knew how amazed you were by the various plants that you saw because of how little of the outside world you were allowed to see growing up.

As the ship grew closer to the ship a large opening appeared allowing Ben to fly the ship gently into the landing.

As you came to a stop Ben never moved; he kept his eyes on his hands, and he kept his hands gripped tightly on the control panel. You could see his knuckles turning white as tears started to fall down his cheek.

You stared at him in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ben spit out as he pulled his hands up to his face wiping the tears that stained his cheeks. In one swift motion he pushed himself up off the chair and immediately made his way to the ramp without passing you a single glance.

As you made your way over to Ben it was hard not to shift your gaze into the ship as the ramp fell to the ground. The plants scattered thickly amongst the ground; tall green flowers nearly the height of Ben, various purple flowers popping through the greenery in some places. In the midst of all of the plants there was a small path that led to a large stone staircase, atop of it rested what looked to be a throne.

"Who is this Snoke?" You shifted your gaze to Ben after you noticed the throne; something about this place made you feel uneasy.

"That voice you hear inside of your head sometimes," he turned to look at you, his eyes still red from the tears shed earlier, "it's him."

You felt your heart drop into your stomach. The voice that caused you to attack Ben that night in the tent – he couldn't mean that voice; how could he help you? Immediately your heart started to race in your chest, the sound of it throbbing in your ears.

"Why?" You spit out, breathily.

"My boy." A deep-raspy voice echoed throughout the ship.

The two of you shift your gaze to a man standing at the bottom of the stone staircase. He was dressed in green with brown accents. You couldn't help but wonder if he dressed like that purposely to blend in with the plants that he had placed around the ship.