hadthehighground | Empatheias IC Inbox

[Sorry Obi-Wan, it's just habit to accidentally ruin your peaceful times apparently.]

It's about Ben.

[Because of course it is, who else would it be about.]

He told me something recently, about the being that leads the First Order.

[Fortunately Obi-Wan is a forgiving and patient man. Though the mention of Ben brought about some tension.]

Oh? What did he say?

[There's some hesitation before Leia replies. It's a difficult subject for a multitude of reasons, and she isn't sure what to do about it all. Which, she supposed, is why she's turning to Obi-Wan for suggestions.]

He's... been in contact with Snoke, the Supreme Leader, for years, apparently. Long enough that he wasn't able to tell me when he first came into contact with him.

Snoke?

[Now Obi-Wan was puzzled. He can't recall such a person ever being mentioned to him.]

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with this Supreme Leader.

[Certainly a strange and overly self exalting title if you ask him.]

As was I, before Ben mentioned him.

[And even with that, what Leia knows is next to nothing. Just that Ben had been in contact with him and he had influenced Ben's actions.]

He called him his teacher.

I see... undoubtably the one who taught him how to use the Dark Side.

[Obi-Wan sighed to himself and folded his arms.]

You believe he was manipulated much the same way Anakin was?

The same way you believe Anakin was.

[there's an important distinction here, because Leia does not believe Anakin was manipulated. It's a fight they've had before, and she doesn't want to get into it again, but she wants her feelings on the matter made clear. Obi-Wan can believe what he will, and if that's what he believes happened, she will be glad for any advice he can give her.]

Ben did tell me that Snoke encouraged him to commit at least one of the crimes I'm aware of. I'm... worried about how long he may have been exposed to this.

[There was a pause as he caught the distinction, but didn't comment on it. He knew where Leia stood, and he knew where he did, there was no need to discuss it.]

It's difficult to say. But if I were to guess, I would say from a young age.

Anakin was brought into the Jedi Order when he was 9 years old. Palpatine had access from that time on. He took on the role of a friend and a mentor, having plenty of time to slowly and subtly affect his mind.

Such methods are... the most effective, and the hardest to break. A young mind is easily molded. He likely did not even realize it, hence why he can't remember.

Edited 2017-05-05 15:46 (UTC)

[she listens with obvious concern (thanks, telepathic emotion amulet) as Obi-Wan explains, taking in his words and not speaking or interrupting until he's finished speaking. It may be about Anakin partially, and she may hate that, but it's important information and she needs to listen.]

Ben doesn't exist yet in my time. I can't accept that nothing can be done to help him.

[because why else would they be here, if not to learn from it to change the future? Any other thoughts on that are ideas Leia wholly rejects.]

How can I prevent him from getting ahold of Ben?

[Obi-Wan does have his own ideas on that. As much as he would like to be able to change the future, he doubts that they can. But he keeps that opinion to himself.]

Not knowing the circumstances, I really can't say.

[But he couldn't just leave it at that. He wanted to give her... some hope.]

No one will know your child better than you, Leia. Watch him, listen to what he has to say. He will tell you in his own way.

I wasn't always the best at that.

[It's something she appreciates. Not so much for the sake of being given some hope, but because it's not often Leia reaches out to others for their advice. Obi-Wan is one of the only people she knows of that has any slight experience with this, and without him, she would be lost as to where to even begin with this.]

You're better at it now?

[Well now he knows what to look for, at least.]

I like to think I am.

[Because yes he does know what to look for now. And he's had to learn from his mistakes.]

But i admit it is still a work in progress.

What sort of behaviors should I be watching for, then?

[Sure, she knows how Ben behaves now, but he'd been exposed to this kind of manipulation for years at this point. How he must have been when it started, Leia doesn't know.]

[Problem is, Obi-Wan didn't know either. He could only speculate.]

The Dark Side and those that use it are everything the Jedi are not.

A focus on self, hate, anger, and using it to make one stronger. A child who does not feel secure in himself, as many tend to do, could easily fall for these deceptions without proper guidance. Watch for signs of this, anything that would be out of the usual for him.

I distinctly remember the first time Anakin talked back to me. He hadn't before, at least not like that.

[It's useful advice, and it's what she was hoping Obi-Wan would be able to provide. And it's stuff she'll be sure to also share with Han as suggestions, because even with his dislike of the Force and general disbelief in all that nonsense, she's sure he would be as willing to try anything as she is to help Ben.]

I would think it's normal for a child to talk back.

Oh certainly, even I did as a Padawan.

But Anakin took it a step beyond that. Into blatant disrespect. Which had been unusual even for him at the time.

[And it had only gotten worse. Well.. at times. It wasn't always bad certainly. But Anakin ended up having a knack for defying orders, which hadn't always been a bad thing. He had also become arrogant.]

[She doesn't respond immediately, because Anakin is a subject that's hard to deal with, and she doesn't know if this is some attempt to try and humanize him or explain his choices to her. And that's the last thing she wants or needs. Anakin is Vader, and that's the end of that.

But in the end, she decides that the potential benefits of this story and how it may relate to Ben and his experiences are worth listening to what may have happened with Anakin.]

Can I ask what he did?

[There was a pause as he considered her question, or rather how to answer it.]

Perhaps its best if I show you.

[And if she's willing he will show her a certain memory.]

[There's almost a feeling of a wall between them as she watches the memory, to conceal the hatred, disgust, and even sadness she feels as she watches. Sadness, if only because it's hard to watch this knowing what "Anakin" will inevitably do to Padme in only a few years.

But eventually she responds, keeping her tone as even as she's able to manage with this.]

It sounds no different from how he's always been here.

Indeed, but that was the first time. It was very unbecoming of a young Jedi. He allowed himself to become arrogant, thinking more of himself than he should have.

[He paused then as something else came to mind.]

There was also the dreams.

[Again, there's a pause before she responds, torn between not giving a damn about Anakin and wanting to know in hopes she can use this to help Ben later on.]

The dreams?

Anakin was plagued with nightmares at one point. Of death and pain.

It's not unusual for those who are sensitive to the Force to have visions. But these seemed... dark. They bothered him profoundly.

Of course it's not to say that Ben and Anakin will have the same experiences. It could be completely different for your son.

[Ah, so it's the Force again, then. It's not Ben that makes that click into place, but her own experiences. All the times she's had a bad feeling about something, thanks to some vague hazy thoughts and feelings she couldn't quite place beyond them screaming that things just weren't right. Leia doesn't know how to feel about that, so as with everything else she doesn't want to deal with, it gets shoved to the back of her mind in favor of focusing on Ben.]

I assume it'll be different depending on just how young Ben is when Snoke reaches out to him.

[Which she assumes had to have been when he was much younger.]

At least, it explains why we sent him to Luke.

[It's not something she intended to say, but telepathy makes that difficult and it gets sent to Obi-Wan anyway. It's slightly muffled, but it's there if he's listening.]

That could very well be. I wish I could be of more help.

[Without either of them knowing more about Ben's childhood it was difficult to know what to do. He at least hopes he helped.]

I can see why you would have, though it seeks Luke wasn't able to help him either, unfortunately.

...Luke did what he could, I have to believe that. I can't imagine him doing otherwise.

[Because they trust Luke, and Luke knows about this kind of thing, she assumes. And Luke is her brother and she loves him and she knows Ben would have loved Luke and vice versa.]

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