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[t65]

Who: Leia Organa imahologram & Some Other Guy crudematter
When: 4/27 eveningish
Where: The Hangar Bay
What: Two adults politely and rationally discuss their opinions on marriage, family, and becoming wizards.
Warnings: This is a PG franchise, kids. Go ask your mother.

[Luke has been spending his time, more and more often, in the hangar bay, surrounded by the assorted droid parts he's been given for his new job. Initially, he'd been doing the work in his room, but concern over whether he was annoying his roommates has moved him here, among the hustle of transport shuttles.]

[He's sitting next to two empty coffee cups, with his torso half inside the outer shell of a quarter-finished gonk droid. He's finally managed to get outfitted with a prosthetic hand, and while it's not the most elegant thing in the world-- it's clearly, obviously mechanical-- it does the job well; he can make droids much faster, if he has two hands to make them with.]

Comments

[imahologram]

[Leia's still irritated by the things she's discussed with Obi-Wan and Anakin, but with everything else going on, the question of becoming a Jedi has taken a backseat. Somehow, mutants determined to drag them into the depths of an abandoned prison takes precedence.

But eventually, there's time, and she goes looking for her brother.]

I got our answer from Obi-Wan. [You're listening inside there, right? She crouches down next to his legs.] You're not going to believe this.

[t65]

[Luke smiles, though his sister can't see him. There's something refreshing about her annoyance-- maybe that it means she hasn't succumbed to weariness.]

You'd be surprised by what I can believe, there days. [The galaxy's finest whines, special for you.] What happened?

[imahologram]

[Trying to drag Luke away from his droids, these days, is about as difficult as getting him away from his lightsaber.

...Well. When he has one, anyway.

The point is that she's not going to bother trying. She's willing to have a conversation through a half-built droid.]

Obi-Wan expects you to follow that code of his. [It's easier to start with Luke than herself. How can she tell him that she can become a Force-user but not a Jedi under Kenobi's tutelage?]

[t65]

[Luke is sweaty and has engine oil in his hair; really, she's doing him a favor. Luke waits for Leia to work through her thoughts enough for this to start to make sense to him.]

I know that, Leia.

[imahologram]

And you're fine with that?

[She can't imagine that's the case, but she's also biased by the fact that she can't imagine herself being fine with it.]

It means never having a family. Never falling in love.

[t65]

[Okay, you have his attention. The clanking from within the droid stops, and Luke stills. A moment later, he pulls himself out of the droid's interior. He has a swipe of engine oil above his left eyebrow, and it's dried and stuck his bangs to his forehead. His right hand is new. His expression is quietly concerned.]

He didn't tell me that. [Luke shouldn't be surprised.] It's too late, then; I already have family.

[imahologram]

No more family, I guess. I didn't ask him how the rules affected us.

[I was a little too busy thinking about Han. Her gaze falls to his new prosthesis.]

How's your hand?

[t65]

Us, and... by those rules, we shouldn't exist.

[It seems foolish, to Luke, to make a stand when the dam has already broken.]

Oh- it's fine for now. I just needed it to work on this. [He gestures to the droid with a shrug.]

[imahologram]

No, we shouldn't. As far as the Jedi Order is concerned, we're the result of clouded judgment. [Leia's still not happy about that fact, but there's nothing she can do about it except grouse. Which she'll do.]

It looks nice. [Very...silver. Maybe they'll be sent some synth-skin in the mail.]

[t65]

[This, finally, gets a rise out of Luke. There's a moment's wincing anger, flashing briefly across his face. His father is his to judge-- perhaps not alone, certainly not alone, but knowing what the man is truly capable of, it's oddly offensive to judge him for the wrong thing.]

[Luke sighs.]

I won't do it. Leia, Ben is a great man, I- [Love him like a father? No, wrong choice of words.] I trust him, but... that doesn't mean he's never wrong.

[imahologram]

[It shouldn't be satisfying to see Luke angry, but it is. It's only for a moment, and it says you aren't alone in this--I don't like it either.]

He doesn't think I should become a Jedi. Because of Han. [This part is quieter, less grounded in the certainty of pique. She shifts from a crouch so she's sitting on the ground, giving herself something to do besides staring at Luke or the droid or the ground.] He still wants to train me--but not as a Jedi.

[t65]

[If Leia liked the anger from before, she should be overjoyed, now. It's one thing to insult his father, a man for whom Luke feels, at best, highly ambivalent. It's another thing to assign his sister some second-class status as someone talented and powerful in the Force. Luke's jaw clenches, and he snaps-] He said that?

[Luke folds his arms over his chest, ridiculous in his sweaty uniform covered in engine oil, but in that moment he only cares about the insult to Leia. How could he-]

[Luke unclenches his jaw. Gently, he reaches out to put his hand on his sister's shoulder. The silvery panels clash against the white fabric of her dress.] No. You are a Jedi; it's your destiny. Nothing can change that.

[imahologram]

I'm not going to join an order that doesn't want me.

[It's a sore point, made somehow sorer by the fact that it angers Luke, too. His irritation is proof that this isn't right. So there's room for my brother, but not me--not unless I give up something that makes me happy.]

It looks like my destiny is being a Force-user. I'm not breaking things off just to hear him call me a Jedi. [She puffs out a breath, and if it wasn't so humorless, it might sound like a little laugh.] They think that people with attachments won't be able to make sacrifices.

[Quick, don't dwell on that part. She doesn't want to tell Luke how she threw Alderaan at Obi-Wan like it was a weapon. It wasn't one of her better moments.] I don't want you walking into training with him without knowing what he thinks.

[t65]

Leia... That order is gone. [He says it as gently as he can. It's not that he's happy about how the Jedi have diminished, but it's not a fact he can ignore, either.] Even if we do what he says, we can never join his order.

[Luke remembers Dagobah, and for the first time in recent memory, it doesn't feel like an utter failure. The thought gives him strength where he hadn't expected it.]

I know you. I'm not worried about your commitment. [He moves his hand from her shoulder, holding it out in front of her.] I'm only worried you won't help me make a new order when we leave this place.

[imahologram]

I know that. But as long as we're here-- [She cuts herself off, taking a moment to decide exactly what she wants to say.] We could train with Anakin instead. He can hardly mind if you and I have attachments.

[When he offers his hand, Leia takes it.]

Of course I'll help you. You'll have to share me with the Alliance, but... [A shrug.] The galaxy needs Jedi.

[t65]

[Luke has been trying, in his own way, to understand his own origins. The journal he received in the mail has been helping, in its own way. Luke isn't sure why, or if it even matters, but as long as he's going to be here, trapped on a Star Destroyer with a man who will one day be Vader... some questions need answers.]

[However, to the question of whether he'd want to be trained by his father, the only answer he can provide Leia is-] No- no, I don't... [He sighs.] I don't think that's a good idea.

[But that does give him an idea. Perhaps they both have to better understand their father. Before Leia walked in, Luke had been listening on and off to the journal left by their grandmother. He quickly turns from Leia (it's with some guilt; he knows he's doing it too quickly to answer questions) and picks up the little holojournal.]

Here. You should... you should see at this. [He holds the journal out to her, and lets the last entry he'd been reviewing play. The voice Luke has begun to recognize as his grandmother's whispers through the staticy relays-] Owen makes me miss you so much, Anakin. I can’t look at him without thinking of you-

[imahologram]

Why not?

[But already, her attention is caught by the fact that Luke's turning to grab something--a data chip? No, she corrects herself, a holo.

Leia peers at the tiny figure, a woman whose age isn't immediately apparent in the image. She looks tired, but there's something quietly pretty about her despite the careworn touches to her face.

The name Owen registers in a vague way, but Anakin makes her start.]

What is this? [She doesn't look up as she normally would. It's hard to look away from the woman. Anakin's family. Anakin's--mother? Who else could it be?]

[t65]

[Luke reaches out and places it in Leia's hand.]

It's our grandmother's journal. The Ingress... delivered it.

[imahologram]

[Leia holds it reverently, still looking down at their grandmother, with her wavering features and gentle voice. She's quiet some long moments, listening to her speak of her family and her son, and all the longing he had for a life beyond the deserts of Tatooine.]

Does our father know?

[t65]

No.

[It's not that Luke's been keeping it from him, he just wasn't sure what to do, if he could handle any of it, anything. With obvious care, Luke takes Leia's hand and folds it over the journal, metaphorically closing the issue.]

You should give it to him.

[imahologram]

[She looks down at her loose fist, the journal within it, and then back up at her brother.]

You should have the honour. The captains gave it to you.

[t65]

[Luke shakes his head.] You- you know him better. [And their relationship seems to be stronger, one of mutual trust. Leia will be in no danger, if this raises their father's ire.]

[imahologram]

Are you sure?

[There are so many other questions she wants to ask. What's wrong? and Why do you sound so sorrowful all of a sudden?, and plenty more beyond.

But Luke deserves his privacy, and if she's wondered for a year what's bothering him, she can wonder a while longer. Even without Han's warning not to press him, she wouldn't.]

He'd want to hear from you, you know.

[t65]

Why me? [He shrugs, trying to play it off as nothing.] We're twins, right? He shouldn't play favorites.

[The joke comes out a bit hollow, but he's trying.]

[imahologram]

He could get to know you better. [She follows his lead on this one, taking a light tone that says this doesn't matter, even though they both know it does.] Have you spent much time with him?

[t65]

[Luke rocks back on his heels, and his smile becomes strained.] A little. Enough to know he'd appreciate it from you. [Kindly, gently, the joke dying quietly.]

[imahologram]

Luke...

[But if she's not going to press, she's not going to press. Sighing, she leans forward and loops an arm around him in a loose embrace, little caring if any of his grease stains make their way over to her. Grow up a tomboy princess and you learn to get all kinds of stains out of white clothes.]

Fine. But you should talk to him. You have plenty in common. [More than he and I do, and we get along just fine.]

[t65]

[Luke sighs, and tries to hide how worrying he finds that statement. He hugs her back, and lets her go.]

Listen to it. Tell me... what you think.

[imahologram]

I will.

[She reaches up to touch his cheek, wiping off a bit of engine grease.]

Get some sleep, all right?