Dathomir [Saturday afternoon, Fandom time]

[momslilassassin]

The trip to Dathomir had gone quietly. The planet had fit Ben's criteria: off the beaten path but still livable (so no Hoths, thanks), temperate, and largely unexplored.

He hefted the backpack he was carrying into a more comfortable position on his back, and glanced over at Ender before beginning to walk through the forest in front of them, leaving the shuttle parked behind. "This is the planet my uncle won in a card game decades ago," he said. "Singing Mountain is a few klicks that way."

Well, Ben's definition of "a few" was closer to fifteen. "Is this what you had in mind?"

[OOC: For the bff. NFB due to distance.]

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[endsthegame]

The hive queen in Special Collections. He considered, as he had before, the idea of telling Ben about that. "Are you telling me you haven't been trying to figure out Jacen?" is what came out.

[momslilassassin]

Busted. "It's only been a few months," he said defensively.

[endsthegame]

"So why not stop?" Ender asked. "He's dead. You know what he did and most of how he did it."

[momslilassassin]

"Because he was family and I loved him," Ben said. "And I don't want to end up the same way. What's your excuse?"

[endsthegame]

"Because I cared about the Formics," he said, simply. "And now they're dead. It is fairly simple, considering."

[momslilassassin]

"There is nothing simple about any of this," Ben countered. "It's all tied into guilt and regret and trying to figure out when we missed something important."

[endsthegame]

"I'm not wondering about when I missed anything," Ender retorted, "As you recall, I was there. You're the one who spent half of it on the sidelines."

[momslilassassin]

"So you're just fine with being manipulated into exterminating an entire race?" Ben replied, arching up an eyebrow. "You don't spend any time wondering if you should have realized earlier that it wasn't really an exercise."

[endsthegame]

"I hate that it happened," Ender said, leaning back against the rock wall, "I'm angry that it happened to me, but I understand it."

[momslilassassin]

"Empathy sucks," Ben said, sounding a little snarly. The anger wasn't directed at Ender, though. Far from it. "Explain your understanding?"

[endsthegame]

"People were counting on them, much as they counted on me," he said. "In many ways, they did what they thought was best to honour that, unfair or not."

[momslilassassin]

Ben rested the back of his head against the rocks and closed his eyes. "The needs of the many outweighed the mess it would make out of you."

Standard day in the Skywalkers, sadly.

[endsthegame]

Ender's mouth twitched into a vague smile. "I had dreams about bucking authority," he said, "But as it turns out, I'm not that good at it."

[momslilassassin]

"Does Val know how much time you spend studying the Formics?" Ben asked quietly, still not opening his eyes.

[endsthegame]

"I haven't told her."

But if Ben knew either of them very well, he knew that was pretty much an affirmative, at least on some level.

[momslilassassin]

"You don't really have to, though, huh," Ben replied. "You get why this worries me, right?"

[endsthegame]

"Sure," he said, shrugging as he finished his protein bar. "You care about me. But I don't need to be worried about, Ben. Of all things in the world."

[momslilassassin]

"I'll decide who I'll worry about, thanks," Ben said, reaching out to poke Ender's shoulder.

[endsthegame]

"Right now, you can try worrying about those rancors," Ender told him, reaching over once to poke him straight back.

[momslilassassin]

"You mean you don't want to spend a weekend locked in a cave with me? I'm hurt," Ben replied.

[endsthegame]

"If you're so set on it," Ender told him, "I'd be happy to, but I think there's more to be seen on this planet than rocks."

[momslilassassin]

"There's also trees and water," Ben said, questing out in the Force. "The rancors are gone."

[endsthegame]

"Then let's get out of here."

Somewhere, somewhen, Petra was saying something about adding another brick to the wall, but Ender paid that no heed.

[momslilassassin]

Ben nodded, then waved his hand, scattering the rocks out of the way for them. He wasn't finished with the conversation, of course, but it seemed pointless to continue poking at it right now.

[endsthegame]

Vaguely, Ender wondered how much longer he was going to be able to deflect this conversation without just cutting it off completely, but he ignored that as well, and passed easily back into the sunlight.