Galactic Alliance Courtroom [very, very early Tuesday morning, Fandom time]

[momslilassassin]

Ben sat ramrod straight in the back of the court chamber, not looking at his family or at Ender. The only evidence of how the last week had weighed on him was in the bags under his eyes: he hadn't been sleeping well since Valin Horn went insane and led the Jedi on a chase through Coruscant, which meant that when his father left in the middle of the night yesterday, he'd heard it.

That they'd been called to meet Luke in court so early this morning and so unexpectedly was, in his view, a really bad sign.

The Falleen judge looked up, glanced at Luke and his lawyers, and spoke. "In Alliance case Y0043-170014, The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances versus Luke Skywalker, we have a negotiated conclusion, agreed to this day by the prosecution, the defense and myself."

The hair on the back of Ben's neck stood up.

"The defendant will stand."

Luke and Nawara rose.

"On the revised list of charges, now consisting of one charge, reckless endangerment of a population, how do you plead?"

Luke cleared his throat. "Guilty, Your Honor."

"You are found guilty as charged. Please sit." Once Luke and Nawara were seated she continued. "Thus ends the trial phase of the proceedings. We now move on to the sentencing phase."

Ben's face went pale. The original charges had been capital offenses.

"For a period of time, beginning tomorrow at one hour before midnight in the current time zone and continuing for not less than ten Coruscant years, you are exiled from Coruscant. You will maintain a distance of not less than five light-years from this world.

"During that same period, you will not act as Grand Master of the Jedi Order, nor in any position of authority or consultation within the Order.

"During that same time, you will not visit or approach any closer to one light-year to any world upon which exists a Jedi Order Temple, Jedi Order school, or any other Jedi Temple facility.

"During that same time, you will refrain from establishing any new Jedi Order Temple, Jedi Order school, or any other Jedi Temple facility, or any business that structurally or organizationally resembles those concerns and thus might readily be converted to such a concern after your sentence is fulfilled.

"You will appoint Jedi Master Kenth Hamner to perform the duties of leader of the Jedi Order, and will subsequently exercise no influence over him for the duration of your sentence.

"Any violation of the above restrictions incurs a more severe penalty: incarceration in an Alliance maximum-security prison facility for the remainder of the ten-year period."

Ben was forgetting how to breathe.

"By the provisions of the arrangement, your sentence can be commuted or a pardon issued if you can convince a board of inquiry that you have determined the nature of the events and other causes that led to the aberrant and destructive behaviors of Colonel Jacen Solo leading up to and during the Second Galactic Civil War, the board of inquiry to be made up of one prominent member of each of the following: the Galactic Alliance Judiciary Branch, Galactic Alliance Medical Association, and the Galactic Alliance Armed Forces, each of these individuals chosen by the Office of the Galactic Alliance Chief of State," the judge concluded. "Do you understand these terms?"

Ben watched blankly as his father nodded. "It is so ordered," the judge concluded. "Case dismissed."

Ender	Saying anything about the inevitability of this sentencing - or the fact that as far as sentences for this particular problem went, Luke had managed to negotiate himself into a pretty decent position - would be a bad idea, Ender reflected. At least right in the middle of it all. So instead Ender did what he'd been doing a lot the past week, and glanced aside. "Ben..."
Ben	"Ten years." Ben looked like someone had clocked him with a speeder bike.
Ender	"If he doesn't figure it out before then," Ender said, quietly. He fought briefly with the thought that he really didn't want to be putting out any conflicting signals right now, then decided it didn't really matter, and reached for Ben's shoulder. "But it's Luke. Have a little faith."
Ben	"Daala gets to choose the tribunal," Ben said. "If she could, she'd assign Palpatine, Lumiya, and Grand Moff Tarkin to be the judges. I'll be 26 before I see him back here."
Ender	"Correct me if I'm wrong," Ender said, keeping his voice light, "But none of those people are alive right now." The lightness vanished quickly, though. "The important thing is that he's not being locked away for life, and there are options. Unless you intend to stand here and contemplate the worst for the next ten years."
Ben	"Maybe for the next ten minutes," Ben said, sounding defeated. "I can't lose another parent, Ender. I just can't."
Ender	"He's still alive and functional," Ender said. "That's not lost." If they hadn't been standing in a room full of people, he might have even briefly contemplated a hug. His hand on Ben's shoulder would have to suffice for now (and at least it spared him another mental battle). "Coruscant isn't the whole universe," he added. "This doesn't end here. He doesn't die, he doesn't vanish. Whatever happens, whenever this ends, you'll still have your dad. And 'when and how' aren't written in stone, either."
Ben	Ben nodded, but he didn't really look convinced. "I should go with him," he said softly, glancing over where Luke was talking with Han, Leia and Jaina. Han was saying something unflattering about the prospective new acting Jedi Grand Master.
Ender	Ender tried not to visibly take a deep breath, though he felt like he needed one. He wasn't surprised in the slightest, but it suddenly gave this more finality than even he had planned for. Ten years, if Luke's exile didn't get cut short - still possibly years even if it did. It really had turned into a long engagement. He studied the room, drawing battle lines in his head: the Jedi on this side, politicians and the people on the other. Except some of the people would be on Luke's side, too, and he could already see the war looming, the battles that would be fought for people's hearts. It didn't matter that no blows had been exchanged. Even in day-to-day life, everything functions by the rules of war, he thought, Or maybe that's just my life. Maybe that's just always going to be my life. He realised he hadn't said anything in a few beats, so he locked his eyes back on Ben's. "I know," he said. End of the road, then. Is it? his treacherous brain murmured, nudging gently at thoughts he'd anchored in his brain and hadn't looked at since, in fear of changing them.
Ben	Ben's eyes widened slightly as the full weight of what he'd just decided smacked into him. He'd miss graduating from high school, and prom, and a dozen invasions of weird that he wouldn't really care about. And seeing Tahiri. And Karla. And Tony. And the boy in front of him. He squeezed his eyes closed and tried not to hyperventilate.
Ender	And Ben would be alone, except for his father. The enemy's gate is down, Ender thought, randomly. A second later, he realised it wasn't that random-- that his decision to step away from Ben this summer had been a tool and not the purpose. The purpose was to make sure Ben was happy in the long run, to give him a fair shake, and 'getting too attached to Ender' had simply been an obstacle to that. Ender's thoughts ran around that years-old obstruction now, jumping from point to point: Ben wasn't going to be all that happy running around the universe with Luke alone for five years, or eight, or ten, he knew that. Tahiri couldn't come with him for a lot of reasons. Karla had her obligations back home, and so did Tony - nevermind that Tony wouldn't survive here for too long. And Ender-- Ender had a year. And it didn't matter where he'd spend it, because either way it would just be marking time, counting the days until he got shot into space to govern his colony. Valentine wasn't at Fandom anymore, either; the only thing anchoring him there was the Hive Queen, and she wouldn't care if he was gone for a while. He did audibly release a breath this time, feeling strangely as if some burden had fallen from his shoulders. "I'm going to have to borrow some of your clothes," he said. "I only brought enough for a couple of days, and I don't want to stink up a ship for the next twelve months."
Ben	Ben blinked at him for a moment, not comprehending. "You want to come?"
Ender	"I still have to leave in a year, no matter where I decide to stay," Ender said, looking back at him evenly. His tone was matter-of-fact, and his shoulders had squared the way a soldier's did. "But I might as well make myself useful in the interim, and I have a better chance of doing that here than I do at Fandom."
Ben	Ben fought back the irrational urge to burst into tears. "Okay," he said, giving Ender a tiny, relieved smile. "We have a day to go shopping and to make some calls back to Fandom." Beat. "Oh, and we should tell Dad we're going."
Ender	"He might like to hear about it," Ender agreed, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly and breaking the previous picture a little bit. He squeezed Ben's shoulder, then let go.
Luke	"Hear about what?" Luke asked, leaving Leia, Han and Jaina behind to join them. "We're going with you," Ben told him. Luke shook his head. "I don't think so." Ben's eyebrows drew together. "Why not?" "Well, first, you're not a convicted felon and don't need to serve the sentence of one. Second, no teenager I ever knew, myself included, could survive being in the constant company of a parent for ten years." Luke smiled at Ender. "Even if he did bring a friend."
Ben	"I have you on a point of logic," Ben said, holding up a finger in an unconscious imitation of his grandfather. "No teenager can remain one for ten years." Luke snorted. "Conceded. Still, Ben, I think you should go back to Fandom." "Dad, this is my mission too," Ben said, voice no longer that of a wheedling teen. "I was Jacen's apprentice. In the end, he tortured me, tried to make me a Sith. He killed Mom. Do you think I'm going to be able to rest, ever, without understanding why?" Luke's eyes were visibly weighing his son's words. He turned to Ender. "What do you think?"
Ender	"I think Ben has some demons to deal with, metaphorically speaking," Ender said, meeting Luke's eyes with no visible trouble. "And if you send him back, you might be taking his chance to settle something that has been hurting him for a long time. Nevermind that we both have skills that will be useful here, and if you want to turn those down to protect either of us, you're a little too late."
Luke	Luke was quiet for a long moment as he weighed the decision. Finally he nodded. "You're right. Pack up and make your farewells."

[OOC: Taken from Aaron Allston's Outcast and preplayed with the lovely endsthegame, which will become a theme this summer. NFI, NFB, OOC is love.]