Luke marched back to the shuttle, upset and hurt that Naluma had shut him out of her life.

Pilar asked, "Master Luke, how is she?"

He took a deep breath as he became the Jedi Master instead of the hurting husband. He shook his head. "Not good. We're heading back to the academy to pick up some things. Start the pre-flight check." 

He looked around at the main deck, pleased to discover the Padawan had cleaned up the mess. "Thanks for cleaning up. Naahah, close up the shuttle."

Geryl asked with her brow scrunched, "What about Master Fau? She's going to be all right, isn't she?"

"I hope so. Right now, she just needs to rest." He sat in the co-pilot's seat, allowing the blackness of space to bathe him as Pilar launched.

After the Falcon had departed, Ben could not focus. He stared at his food in the dining hall, unable to eat, filled with remorse at the monster he had become. He could not look at his left hand without reliving the horrible moment.

He cleared his dishes and wandered the lodge, lost in thought. When he reached the suite, he knew that the Force had led him there. The coppery tang of blood overwhelmed him, so powerful he could almost taste it.

When he passed through the open hatch, he saw the suite in disarray. The bed was torn apart with the sheets and mattress soaked in blood. As he moved to the refresher, he discovered the uniform on the floor and the blood pooled under it.

He relived what he had done—every moment of it. He felt his cousin die again. He viewed his aunt collapse. It overwhelmed him. He crumpled into a chair and held his head in his hands.

He repeated over and over, "She wasn't supposed to die. I didn't mean to kill her. I'm sorry. Forgive me. What kind of monster have I become?"

After a few hours, he raced around the room. I need to make it right. I need to do something good to make this right—wash out the evil that's in me.

The fifteen-year-old gathered the blood-soaked fabrics. He placed them in a plastic sack and incinerated them in the rubbish pit. He dragged the unusable mattress outside as well and ignited it. The flames crept high into the sky as the black fumes of the burning blood permeated his nostrils.

As the black smoke coated him, he sunk himself into the agony. He let it fuel him. He heard a deep voice come from within the conflagration. "Yes. Never regret that which must come to pass. Let the flames of hatred consume you."

"No! I'm not that creature! Get out of my head. I'm not—"

"You are." 

In a sudden gust of wind, the fire blew out, leaving the half-charred mattress to smolder. 

"I'm not evil! I'm not you! I never wanted this! I'll show you!"

Ben raced inside, pushing confused Padawan to the side. He ran to the supply storage in the basement. The mattresses and the old lodge beds were stacked in the cellar. All were wrapped in plastic protectors. Luxury bedding was stacked in shipping crates in a corner. 

 He pulled a newer mattress—the best one in stock—and dragged it up the stairs and down the hall to the Jedi Masters's suite. Another trip for the finest bedding he could find—sheets, blankets, duvet. 

"See, I'm not evil! I didn't mean to kill her!"

He spent the next two hours scrubbing the bedroom area rug and hardwood floors as well as the bathroom floor. Ben lost control when some blood hit his left hand. 

"No. I didn't mean it. It was an accident. No!"

He scrubbed madly to clean his hand, but he could never get all of it. The more he scrubbed the floor, the more blood landed on his hand.

The floor seemed to be working against him, as well. As soon as he cleaned up one spot, another would appear. He worked long into the night.

I didn't mean to kill her echoed in his nightmares as he fell asleep scrubbing the floor.

When Luke and the Padawan landed on Khalkha a few hours later, Master Kalder met them. "Master Luke."

"Kalder," Luke said with a tense voice. "When did you arrive?"

"This morning. Holding down the fort until you returned. The Senate has been trying to reach you, and they've called me out on a mission," Kalder said. "I told them you would call them back when you arrived."

Luke moved to the lodge without responding. The younger Jedi followed him to his suite.

The Jedi Master was pleasantly surprised to find the mess cleaned up entirely, wondering who had done it.

"Master, please, I have to leave now. It may be too late already."

Luke turned to him, pointing at him. "No, you are not leaving. You are assigned to the academy, Kalder."

"What about the Senate?"

"Who is in charge of the Jedi Order, Master Kalder?"

"You are, Master Skywalker."

"Then I will decide which missions we will take and when we will take them." Luke pulled uniforms from his wardrobe and packed them in his kit bag. He grabbed a PT uniform for Naluma as well for when she was discharged.

"As you wish, Master."

"I'm heading back to Koda Station. No one has authorization to accept a new mission. Once the current missions are completed, recall the Jedi back to the academy until further notice."

"Yes, Master."

"Oh, and one more thing," Luke said as Kalder turned back to him at the hatch. "You are to teach Ben's classes and have him with you the rest of the time. He can sleep on the floor in your quarters. Do not let him out of your sight for even one moment."

"Understood, Master."

Did you know . . .

● Ben's surveillance punishment is called shadowing.

Tell me what you think . . .

● Why is Luke pulling every Jedi back right now?

● Why is Luke ordering surveillance on Ben?