Kalex Bonteri
10 ABY
Maz Kanata's Palace
Takodana

Kal hated his life. There were good and bad days, of course, but sitting on the cool dungeon floor, he had never been more certain of anything. It wasn't that he hated life in general, just that he hated his. Switching lives with some being high up in the Imperial ranks would be ideal.

None of it was really his fault; his father's reputation had preceeded him everywhere. Everyone seemed to know Luxorion Kored Bonteri, Senator of Onderon, freedom fighter, leader of the fallen rebel alliance. Either that or they recognized the name.

It was always the same conversation, or some variation of it. "Oh, yes, I knew your father during the clone war. He was always so kind. You look just like him!" Then they'd pause, probably noticing his tan, almost orange, skin or the way his hair turned brown from sapphire blue roots. He would've liked to tell them why, but he simply didn't know. His father had always told him it was from his mother. But who was his mother?

Lux had never told him what happened to her. He always dissmissed the question, saying it was a conversation to have when he was older. The only thing he had ever disclosed about her was that she was a hero during the clone wars, admired by many. It didn't matter; she was dead, and he was left alone with his father.

And he didn't understand why everyone thought he was so kind. For as long as he could remember, Lux had always been hard on Kal. He meant well, but it never came across that way. One of the many examples would be the fact that he was sitting in a jail cell in a friend's cantina. Kal couldn't blame him, though; after all his father had gone through over the course of his lifetime, he was surprised he was still sane. It was probably just some form of PTSD that caused him to act a little strangely sometimes.

A small orange figure came bobbing down the stairs. Maz was probably coming to check on him again.

"I know, I know, it's for my own protection that I'm in here," he said.

"Get over it, my friend. You've been here, what, seventeen years? You should know how the system works by now. The Imperial patrol comes, you hide, they leave, you come out. It's pretty simple."

He stood up and placed his hands on his hips while she unlocked the door. His father came up behind Maz and glanced at him disapprovingly. "Kal, I spent a month in a cell under enemy control much less appealing than this one. They only fed us once or twice a week, and your mother and I survived. I'm sure you can survive a half hour in a jail cell with a couch and a toilet." He unlocked the handcuffs around Kal's wrists and hung them on the wall.

"Thanks, Dad. Love you, too," he joked, stretching his arms and walking into the hallway.

Maz snickered to herself. "He's just like she was, isn't he?" She asked Lux.

He nodded. "He reminds me of her a lot. I miss her more than I care to admit."

There was a long silence as both of them dwelled on their thoughts. Kal stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, hearing the music above them. "So, uh, if you two don't mind, I'm jusy going to go back upstairs and have a drink or two–"

"Have you done your training exercises yet today?" Lux asked.

"No, I don't think so," Maz answered for him. "You should probably get a headstart on those sooner rather than later."

You're not helping, he thought to himself.  "Sure, Dad! Doing work instead of hanging out with my friends sounds like a great idea! I'll go get started on that." He ran off to the tower for target practice, but couldn't help but overhear. Maz and his father's conversation.

"He really is a jerk sometimes, isn't he?"

"Well, he's your son."

"That doesn't mean I understand him anymore than you do." He ranna hand through his hair. "I hardly ever get to spend time with him now that he's older."

"You try so hard at the wrong things, my boy. Spend some time with him doing things other than training. Father and son bonding time, you know?"

"But do you really think that will work? He pushes me away whenever I try to have a heartfelt conversation with him."

"Talk to him. Show him you care. I've see his eyes; I know that he's desperate for your approval. You'll be surprised, I can promise you that."

A/N: So, Lux's son is a jerk, Lux has become pretty eccentric, and Maz is just a wonderful cinnamon roll. You gotta love Maz.

Why is Lux so protective of his son, Kal? Why are they at Maz's cantina? What happened to Kal's mother (you've probably figured out who it is by now)? All shall be answered in time, my friends... hehehehe

I HAVE SURVIVED ALL MY AP TESTS. GO ME. I still have some other exams this coming week, so I'm basically going to fry my brain with study overload. I'm not sure how much writing is going to happen, but I'll give it my best shot to get something up before school's out. The Ed Sheeran songfic was a bit of a struggle because I wrote it in the midst of review guides and state testing, but it turned out halfway decent. I'm leaning towards another Tango update, since that's what I'm the closest to finishing. I'll get something up soon.

May the force be with you!