Saga Red Five (Luke/OC) Updated 20 September

*snort*

You know, Luke's snappy retort telling Han and Wedge to back off reminded me of his answer to Han about a Princess and a Guy Like Him.

I also enjoyed that Valara and Leia share mutual respect...Leia as an ally? Those quick-tongued ladies need to stick together! (must be why the boys think they're so prickly!)

I love all the little details you've added. They give us just enough to make the characterizations clear, and also keep us wanting more.

 

FACT.

All those insinuations subtle and otherwise that Valara is a spy of all things? She isn't any more at any rate. Even without her injury she would be toast burnt altogether if she snuck back to the Imperials. I like Luke's people sense or instinct. Likes to give people a chance instead of writing them off.

 

Interesting development background - exactly the sort of thing that would be feasible for a Nu!Mara in the new canon. I'm kinda hoping that she IS actually a spy and is trying to lure him off to try and kill him (and gets foiled/backs out of it at the last minute) as that would both explain why she's not around for the rest of the rebellion and also would create a great back story appropriate for a Nu!Mara.

(I also rather like the idea that in Rogue One she turns out to be a spy - it's been described in places as a 'heist movie', and of course those traditionally include double crossings. Maybe she's supposed to sabotage the mission and ends up the only survivor, but her experiences with the rebels makes her start to question her loyalties?)

Anyway, all very intriguing so far, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes!

 

Woo-hoo!

Read it. Loved it. Hooked. Watched the thread. Waiting for more.

And already voting Valara best OC of 2015. That scene in the med ward? Pure genius.

 

Wait... she was an Inquisitor?! I did not see that coming! Niiiice!

I love Valara more and more every chapter!

I really enjoyed Luke standing up to Han and Wedge, that couldn't be easy for him at this point in time. I like that he's trusting his instincts here!

I'm excited to read more!

 

This is really good Always wondered what happened after the first Death Star was destroyed.

Would love to know how this develops, could you let me know when you update this?

EG

 

Um, okay. Raise your hands, ladies, if you ever wanted to say that to Luke Skywalker. *looks at Internet full of raised hands* Thought so.

This girl moves fast, and Luke's keeping right up with her! Not sure what to make of this 0-60 speed she's running at. But no one seems too leery of her, and Luke is clearly intrigued, so...we'll see.

I wonder what made her leave her position as Inquisitor and work so ardently against the empire instead. It must have been traumatic.

 

Yeah, my dreams!

She's a gal who knows what she wants, and with Luke, who can blame her (there is a character reason for the rush which will become apparent...)

Ha, maybe!

Luke isn't going to let those guys talk down to him, that's for sure

As you know, I like the ladies to be friends in my fic, and Valara and Leia have a lot in common - both seen as "ice queens" although for very different reasons and due to very different childhoods.

Thanks gal!

Luke is a very good judge of character which is his latent Force abilities shining through, although he more often than not will give people the benefit of the doubt since he is at his core kind-hearted. As for Valara's past, well it will be revealed eventually...

A storyline like that did cross my mind, but I've decided to stick with my original plan which will hopefully be just as interesting (and her character just as complex). Basically, Mara would be a pretty rubbish spy if that's what people suspect her to be - she would have tried a lot harder to ingratiate herself to people if she was trying to pull the wool over their eyes, instead of just being her prickly, loner self.

I'd love to see that in Rogue One as well! Felicity Jone's character as some kind of comflicted double (or even triple) agent would be really interesting.

Thank you so much! Great to have you on board.

No one expects the Spanish Imperial Inquisition!

Thank you! Luke's still fresh off the farm, but I think he trusts himself - and he certainly hasn't been shy about standing up to Han since the moment they met!

Thank you! And of course I will. I have a few different headcanons for what happened immediately post-Yavin, but this is the only one I've explored in any detail.

She's in a base full of men who think she's a bitch, and Luke's a young guy who hasn't seen much action There's more to it, but yes...we'll see.

Indeed [/quote]

 

patiently waiting for chapter four.

 

And here it is!

Tags: mattman8907 EGKenobi


Chapter 4


It was the unfamiliarity that woke Luke up. He'd always been an early riser - every morning when the twin suns breached the vast desert plains and streamed in through his bedroom window to touch his face he awoke almost instantly, and the habit was so ingrained that even in strange surroundings and no natural light his eyes snapped open.

Bitter memories flooded him as he realised he was not in the coarse but well-worn sheets of his own bed, but a narrow bunk with a thin blanket that did little to protect him from the cold. While the air outside in the jungle was steamy, inside the stone temple he shivered. It was nothing compared to the cold depths of space, but still Luke found himself missing the warm desert breeze that played across his face every morning, telling him it was time to awaken and head out to check the vaporators. He would never feel that again, he realised as weight settled on his heart; he would never wake up to Beru pottering about in the kitchen, or Uncle Owen’s grousing as he did the morning perimeter check.

All he’d wanted for nineteen years was his life to be more exciting - now it finally was, and Luke wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it.

More pleasant memories surfaced as he recalled the events of the previous night, and he pushed aside the painful ones, still not quite ready to dwell on them. In the dark he searched through the blanket but found it empty.

"I'm over here." Valara's voice was as crisp and cool as the morning, and Luke thumbed blindly in the dark for the light switch beside the bed. The room was quickly illuminated with a fluorescent glow, and Luke saw that Valara was seated at the small workspace diligently going through his meagre possessions - his utility belt, his desert clothes and a small, Alliance-issue medkit. Leia had gone through it with him yesterday, administering various vaccinations including a shot of repress meds which had made him blush horribly. Leia had brushed off his embarrassment, saying it was Alliance policy - especially with pilots and ground troops.

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

“Going through your things,” she said, very matter of fact. "Force of habit, I'm afraid."

"Habit?" he asked cautiously, sitting up and leaning back against the wall. "From where?"

Valara smiled in that secretive way as she picked up his multitool, running her fingers along each element as if she could divine information from each dent and scratch. "So, Red Five, think I'm a spy?"

"No." Luke answered without hesitating. Her behaviour was suspicious, but she was taking no effort to conceal it.

"You sure about that?" she goaded him, swivelling in the chair so her face turned fully to him, her eyes still fixed and unseeing. "I take you to bed after five minutes of knowing you, and now I'm snooping through your possessions. Maybe I'm going to report straight back to the Empire all about the boy who blew up the Death Star."

Luke shrugged despite the fact that she couldn’t see him. “I think if that’s what you’d intended to do,” he answered evenly. “You wouldn’t have wanted me to catch you.”

Valara laughed and turned back to the desk to continue her exploration. She felt along the surface until her hand hit his lightsaber, picking it up and cocking her head curiously. "What's this?" she asked, running her fingers along the handle and ignition switch.

"Careful," he warned her. "It's a lightsaber."

She dropped the blade as if it had burnt her. "Sorry," she said tightly, turning away from the desk to face him again. "So, are you some kind of Jedi?"

"No," he admitted, intrigued by her strange reaction. "But I want to be - my father was one."

"I see." Slowly, Valara stood and made her way back over to his bunk with a guiding hand on the wall. "So is that how you made that shot?"

Luke shrugged, running his hand along the soft skin of her arm as she perched on the side of the bunk. "I don't know," he said truthfully. "I just trusted myself, I guess," he said, careful not to mention Obi-Wan. "And it was so exhilarating, like all my doubts had been stripped away, because I knew I could do it. I know I can be a Jedi too, like my father."

A shadow passed over Valara’s face as she dipped her head. "Well, I hope you get what you want."

"And what do you want?" he asked. "Where do you go from here?"

Valara shrugged, her fingers finding his face and brushing back the hair from his forehead. "Rehabilitation I guess - on the Medical Frigate until they find a new base. I certainly won't be allowed back on missions anytime soon."

"I can come visit you," Luke suggested. "I mean...I'm not sure what they'll do with me."

Valara gave a cold laugh. "Are you kidding? They'll have you and Antilles back out in the fray, and you'll be finding new pilots and flying missions while I'm stuck doing eye exercises and sitting through bacta treatments.”

"How are you feeling?" Luke asked, tenderly touching the scorched skin at her temple. He'd kissed the spot the previous night, wishing with his whole heart that somehow he could heal her.

"A bit better," Valara admitted, somewhat grudgingly. "Which is odd, since the painkillers have worn off."

Luke tugged lightly on her arm, pulling her back into the bunk and into a kiss. It was sweet, and tender, and Luke ran his hand through her unbound hair wishing that the moment could last forever. But he knew that it could not.

“Do me a favor, okay?” she asked as she pulled away, running the backs of her fingers against his cheek. “Don’t tell anyone about this. I have a reputation as a stone cold bitch to protect.”

“Why?” Luke asked, catching her hand and bringing it to his lips. “I mean, of course I won’t tell anyone - but why don’t you want anyone to know that you’re wonderful?”

Valara pulled away and laughed coldly. “Just because I kriffed you doesn’t mean I’m wonderful.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Luke said, shifting to sit on the edge of the bed as Valara knelt on the floor and felt around for her clothes. “I just see something wonderful in you - something you don’t seem to want anyone else to notice. And I’m a good judge of character,” he insisted, picking up her white medrobe and handing it to her.

Valara snorted, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her robe and drawing it around her. "Some kind of Jedi intuition?"

“I don’t know,” he said honestly as Valara pulled the sash of her robe tight around her waist and knotted it. “It’s just..you did this incredible, brave thing,” he continued. “But you seem to almost enjoy other people still thinking the worst or you, or at the very least avoiding you.”

“Except you,” she pointed out.

“Well, I don’t scare easily,” Luke smiled as Valara felt along the floor until she found her white medpants. She sighed heavily and stood, Luke instinctively reaching out his hand to help her up.

“I suppose we fall into behaviours that are easy,” she said as she finished getting dressed. “And people ask less questions when they don’t like you.”

“I like you,” Luke told her, but the words sounded childish to his ears. Still, she smiled, and held out her hand to him. He grasped it again and pulled her closer until she was standing before him.

"I have a rule," she said, gently cupping his face in her hands. "I never spend the night with anyone more than once. Keeps things from getting...complicated."

"I see," he said, even though he really didn't. "But that doesn't mean I can't still visit you."

"Skywalker, you really are too good to be true."

"I killed millions of people yesterday," he pointed out, his mood dipping. "I'm not sure that's good at all."

Her smile faded, and she began to gently trace his face, like she had done the previous night before she’d kissed him. “And saved countless more,” she said softly. “The Empire put the blaster in your hand, Luke.”

“But I pulled the trigger.”

She leaned down and kissed him, her hands winding through his hair and massaging the back of his neck. Luke felt his spirits lift as he was drawn into her embrace, as if somehow she was drawing out his pain like one would a poison from his bloodstream. And yet there was a finality in the kiss; a gift to say goodbye.

"Are you at least going to come to the ceremony?" Luke asked when she pulled away, staring up into her hazel-green eyes whose beauty beguiled the seared red skin which surrounded them. He knew that she couldn't look back at him, and yet he knew they shared some kind of deeper connection, even if she would not admit it.

“To hear you and your smuggler friend get fawned over some more?” she asked wryly. “Tempting.”

The door chimed, and after a few moments slid open to reveal a meddroid hovering in the hallway. Luke started, reaching for the blanket to cover himself.

“I received your communication,” the droid addressed Valara, his mechanic voice almost sounding disapproving. “Too-Onebee is most displeased you left the medward without approval.”

Valara shrugged, turning towards the droid and holding out her arm. “Well, now you can escort me back - in binders if necessary to appease the warden.”

The droid cocked its head to the side as its eyelights flashed. “My programming does not have advanced sensors for human sarcasm,” he said. “I have told you before that the medward is a place for healing, not a prison.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Valara muttered under her breath, but took the mechanical arm the droid extended for her to grasp. Luke remained on the bed, unsure of what to say but knowing he had his own preparations to make - he had to go find Han and see if he’d scrounged up some appropriate clothes like he’d promised, see what his responsibilties were for the ceremony, if any. He also wanted to check on Wedge to see how he was holding up after the previous night, just in case grief over his fallen comrades had hit him any harder. As much as he wanted to follow Valara, he knew he had other duties, and could not shirk from them.

"I will see you again?" he couldn’t help but ask as the meddroid led her out the door.

She laughed. “Sure, you’ll see me, Skywalker,” she said over her shoulder. “Even if I don’t see you.”

 

I loved the feels in this one. First, the painful just-waking up memories. Very understandable, but then replaced by happier ones. Luke is absolutely right. If if Valara were a spy she certainly would be able to hid her "snooping" from Luke. She's already shown herself in a different aspect to Luke than others, the side he calls wonderful. Woot on the deeper connection. She says to him and herself that hey no strings, but there's a first time for everything and Luke has a way of - sinking into one's heart-space. He makes her smile and laugh for one thing. Can't help but be reminded by what Blue told Bree in "True Blue" - and the less-than-good ways he acted and horrific things he said to her in "God of Second Chances." As examples of how Valara is being "real" with Luke because he makes her feel safe enough not to put on pretenses.

Eagerly awaiting more! Always.

 

What I really like about this story (besides, you know, everything) is the genuine feeling that Luke is nineteen. The youthfullness comes through so strongly here. This is his first real loss with his aunt and uncle's murders. His first foray into the weight of the responsibilities and consequences of war. His first significant attraction to a woman. He has a strength and determination that is clear, but he's still trying to feel his way around these events. It's all so much so fast for him, and he's nineteen.

Then again, Leia is nineteen, too. and she is dealing with exponentially more loss, plus she's helping to run the rebellion. They are both swept into history at such a young age.

(And you teenagers out there - listen to old auntie Diva. I know you think otherwise, but you really don't know everything yet. )

What was Valera trying to learn from examining his things? Why did she drop the lightsaber so abruptly? (Unless she had common sense and didn't just flick it on and start waving it all around like Luke did at Ben's house...) I am still wondering what she's keeping suppressed. It might just be her way of dealing with the indignity of going from a hot-shot pilot to someone who needs support to navigate the hallways. It might be something more.

Great story, and I'm eager for more!

 

Beautifully understated, bittersweet scene. Really good work, looking forward to reading more.

 

looks like Valara will definitely keep Luke on his toes. Question though are you going to reference any of the Canon comics or books that take place during this time period that involve Luke?

 

I really like the relationship you've created between Valara and Luke. It'll be interesting to see how they keep keep getting drawn back into each other's lives...because you know they will.

 

I like the connection between them. Beautifully done. Can't wait to see how their relationship develops.

 

Thank you all for the comments! I'm going to post the next chapter before I go on holidays, but I will get to individual comments when I get back.

Tags: mattman8907 EGKenobi

0 ABY + 1 month


Four weeks she had spent in the dark. At first she thought she’d died, but then she heard the unmistakable voice of Two-Onebee - the Alliance’s chief medical droid - calling her name and asking if she could move. If there was any existence beyond her mortal life, Valara was quite certain that Two-Onebee would not be the one to welcome her to it.

The last thing she remembered seeing was the Imperial base explode in a bouquet of fire - Monfriel and Ralasquez had still been inside placing the charges, and the explosion had been early. Valara could only assume that something must have happened inside the base which had made the two men decide to set off the charges and sacrifice themselves in the process.

She’d only just finished beaming the stolen Death Star plans to the the Tantive VI, the closest Alliance vessel to the planet, when the explosion had rocked the transmission tower. Valara had quickly lowered the shield on her helmet before she’d been hit by the force of the blast, breaking the transparisteel window and flying backwards into the woods that surrounded the base. She’d seen a bright surge of light through the blast shield and felt her eyes burn as she fell helplessly through the air. It was the greatest agony she’d ever known, as if her skin was melting inside her helmet and her eyes being scalded right out of their sockets.

Then she’d hit the ground and everything had gone black.

A crack in the blast shield, they’d told her - a manufacturing defect so small it had been missed during the quality control phase. But she’d been close enough to the blast that the flame and light had flooded the shield, severely damaging her retinas. Bacta had healed her broken bones from the fall, but as Two-Onebee had told her, eye damage was far more difficult to treat.

She’d been so angry when the droid had told her that she was lucky to be alive she’d tried to tear his mechanical arm off. They’d restrained and sedated her, and Two-Onebee had kept out of arm’s reach since then, although his bedside manner was as irritatingly cheerful as ever.

Lucky. Valara hated the word. She’d have been quite happy to go down with the rest of her squad on the mission, and being the only survivor felt like failure rather than luck. She had been their leader after all; the commander of a sorry group of misfits and rogues, to be sure, a collection of soldiers who were highly skilled and yet not highly valuable. At least not to Alliance High Command.

They’d all known it was essentially a suicide mission, and they’d all been volunteers. It was a special kind of person so indifferent to death that they were eager for such an assignment – one which had not been officially sanctioned in case they had failed. Valara had been more than willing to take command when it had been offered to her, for she had no strong ties among the Alliance nor within the team. She could be counted on to always put the mission first, and had no greater desire than to strike at the Empire.

With the glory of death taken from her, Valara had been able to do little more than wallow as she flailed around in the dark. It was too familiar, and she’d panicked as the dark blanketed her eyes as it had once blanketed her heart. She knew all too well that it could never be overcome – she was irrevocably damaged, and no amount of time or rehabilitation could ever heal her completely.

And yet there had been one bright spot in her convalescence, and that was the time she’d spent with Luke Skywalker. Within an hour of Princess Leia’s return to Yavin with her farmboy, smuggler and Wookiee rescuers in tow the whole base had known the story. A ground tech who’d been delivering supplies to the medward hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut about the young Skywalker - how they’d stuck him in a simulator to test his aptitude for piloting an X-Wing and his performance had been off the charts. Valara had felt a small pit of bitterness settle in her stomach - she’d previously held the record for speed and accuracy in the simulator and she didn’t like being out-flown by some ‘Rim scraper. To add insult to injury the boy had been given her own X-Wing, and Valara had raged internally at the injustice, knowing that she may never fly again.

She’d expected to hate him, and yet when he’d visited her, all kindness and charm, she’d had the complete opposite response. He could have been basking in the glory and gratitude of the entire base, and yet he’d come to see her, the bitter blind girl, and had actually seemed to listen when she spoke.

She tried to imagine his face as he'd been described to her since that night. Blond hair, a deep desert tan, and the most beautiful blue eyes in history, or at least according to her informant. Shorter than the average as well, although Valara had known that from dancing with him, but evidently very handsome. Half the fleet already fancied themselves in love with him, or so the scuttlebutt went.

Valara knew she wasn’t in any danger of that. Privately, she could enjoy being the first to deflower the young hero, a fond secret to be kept in her heart and occasionally thought of when she needed a smile. But that was all - in fact she doubted she would ever see him again.

But she needed to stop daydreaming, Valara scolded herself. She needed to focus, and clutched the balance bars in front of her, trying to orient herself in the private rehab room she’d been given on the Home One. She’d lived in the small quarters ever since the evacuation of Yavin 4, and Valara was at least grateful she didn’t have to stay on the Medstar-class frigate with the rest of the wounded who trickled in following each skirmish with the Empire.

Valara sighed deeply and opened her eyes. Her vision had come back in patches, the world a blur often clouded by grey and black clouds. But she knew the room well enough by now - a small bunk built into the wall on her right, a small table and chair where she took her meals, a large, comfortable armchair to her left and the closed door next to that. In the middle of the room were the balance bars, allowing her to feel across the room by touch if required, but Valara was determined to make her own way.

She let go of the bars and willed herself not to reach out with her hands. All she needed to take was one step, she told herself, trying to lock her fuzzy gaze on the wall in front of her. Success! Valara rejoiced inwardly, and then forced herself to take another step. But that was where things went wrong - her impaired vision altered her balance, the images too blurred to lock onto anything and keep her feet. When pain hit her temples she couldn’t hold on and tripped, hurtling to the floor.

Acid-like tears stung in her eyes and Valara slammed a clenched fist against the floor. The pain was almost welcome - pain she could deal with. It was failure she could not, and what use was she if she couldn’t even walk across a room?

She didn’t hear the door slide open or hurried feet cross the room, but she felt warm arms encircle her, lifting her back up to stand. It was Skywalker, she realised, recognising his smell that was earthy like sun-baked sandstone. She unconsciously relaxed into his embrace for a moment only, until he kissed the tears from her eyes and Valara pushed him violently away, spinning around to grasping for the balance bar. The metal was cool and she clutched at it gratefully.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, her back still turned to him.

“I…” he sounded unsure. “I said I would come visit you.”

To good to be true. That’s what she’d told him, the morning after when he promised to come see her without expecting anything else. She’d thought it a convenient lie, although had no doubt in the moment he’d meant it. But Valara had expected missions and the status of Rebellion hero would have distracted him enough to forget the promise - he would have no shortage of company if that’s what he wanted.

“I didn’t actually expect that you would,” she told him, keeping one hand on the balance bar as she turned around to face him. Valara could barely make him out, a blurry figure in grey was the most she could see behind the black spots that danced before her eyes.

“If there’s one thing you should know about me, Valara,” he said, the tone of his voice dipping. “It’s that I keep my promises.”

“Good for you,” she waved her free arm flippantly. “So, Skywalker, what have you been up to?”

She couldn’t see it, but somehow Valara felt his smile as he relaxed, unoffended by her reaction. “Wedge and I have been scouting for new pilots.”

The bitterness in her belly seemed to rise, and Valara tasted it on her tongue. “Going well, I hope?” she managed to say.

“Yes,” Luke replied. “But how have you been? They said your vision’s coming back.”

“Ever been in The Spinner?” she asked, referring to the pilot’s training tool in which they put you in a simulated gunner’s chair and spun you around for five minutes, then expected you to shoot at enemy vessels. Luke nodded - at at least as far as she could tell.

“It’s kind of like that,” she told him. “Except all the time.”

“But it’s progress,” he said, again the optimist. “Someone once told me that taking away one sense allows you to trust your instincts more.”

“I suppose,” Valara said dully, closing her eyes as a familiar, piercing pain in her temples began to spread. She’d heard such words before, of course.

Yukimo on the strike team had been blind - a common birth defect among those of his home planet. He wasn’t a pilot, but when it came to hand to hand combat he had no peer, and he was a good spy. The last thing Imperials ever expected was a blind rebel, and more often than not they mistook him for a local who’d wandered too far from home - understandable enough, given his condition. However as soon as they let down their guard Yukimo would strike, his innocuous looking walking staff turning into a deadly weapon that he wielded with ease.

But in the end that had not saved him - Yukimo had fallen after they’d taken control of the central mainframe of the Imperial base, holding off dozen of stormtroopers as Valara had hacked into the system to obtain the plans. The Imps had been smart, and made the database inaccessible through droid interface. Luckily, Valara knew the Imperial systems well, and had been able to slice her way inside. The plans obtained, Yukimo had yelled at her to get out, that he would hold them off and there hadn't been time to protest. The escape route blocked, Valara had escaped through a ventilation duct and the sound of Yukimo's final scream still haunted her nightmares.

Of all her comrades, he'd been the closest thing she'd had to a friend. He didn't like to talk about his past much either, and they often sat together sharing a ration bar in companionable silence. He'd even started to teach her how to use his staff, explaining how it could compensate for his lack of vision as he'd learned the precise sound of it swinging through the air. In her blindness Valara had tried to concentrate as he'd taught her, to listen to the flow and ebb of the air as objects moved through it. He could hear a needle bug crawling on a duracrete floor if he wanted, Yukimo had once boasted, but for Valara there had been little success.

“Valara?” Luke’s voice brought her back from those painful memories, and although she couldn’t see the expression on his face he sounded concerned. “You looked lost for a moment there.”
I am lost, she wanted to say, but it sounded far too self-pitying, not to mention weak. “Maybe you’re just boring me,” she teased him instead.
Luke laughed, and to Valara it felt like a light summer breeze. "One day," he told her, "we're going to have a conversation without you insulting me."
Valara couldn't stop the smile from growing on her face, his affable charm still pleasant and surprising.
“Ah, a smile,” he said triumphantly, stepping forward into her personal space. “It’s good to see your teeth.”

It dropped instantly into a scowl. At the orphanage the other children had teased her mercilessly for her teeth, which had been too large for her five year old face. She still felt they were slightly too prominent, as if she’d never quite grown into them.

"Why are you really here, Red Five?" she asked, falling easily into the nickname she'd given him. It gave her a sense of distance, not using his name, and reminded her that she had lost the call sign and her ship to him.
"I wanted to see you," Luke said, reaching for her hand and grasping it lightly.
Valara sighed - she'd been afraid of this. One night and he’d imprinted on her like a baby whisper-bird. She should never had accompanied him to the celebration that night on Yavin, she shouldn't have kissed him on the dance floor, and she certainly shouldn't have taken him to bed.

"I told you, I have a rule," she reminded him. One night, and then move on - that's how she'd always managed things and it had worked well enough so far.

"I didn't come for that." He sounded affronted that she'd even suggested it. "I just came to see how you were doing."

“Well, I’m fine,” she insisted, pressing her palm against his chest and pushing him lightly away. But Luke held his ground firmly, and didn’t budge.

“You didn’t look fine crumpled up on the floor.”

Valara sighed - he had her there. Her first instinct was to tell him to get lost, that she didn’t need anyone’s help, but for once she held her tongue. Luke must have sensed her resignation, for he cupped her face lightly in his hands and looked directly into her eyes.

“Can you see me?”

They were blue, just like she’d been told, and he was close enough that she could focus on the depth of his gaze. “Yes,” she breathed, the bitter pit in her stomach shifting into something else entirely.

“Keep your eyes on mine,” he instructed her, and ever so slowly began to walk backwards. But Valara found she was able to keep focus on him, her gaze fused with his as if there was a connecting coil between them. She let go of the balance bar of her own accord, and when he held out his arms Valara found herself stepping towards him, not concerned with the movement of her feet, but rather drawn in by him, as if some invisible force was propelling her.

She cleared the room in half a dozen steps, into his welcoming arms which enclosed her warmly. “You did it,” he whispered, his hot breath on her cheek making the pit in her stomach surge with feeling. “Instinct, you see?”

“I’ll show you instinct,” she almost growled, pulling his face down into a bruising kiss. She knew it was wrong, she knew she would regret it afterwards, but he was a drug she needed to clear from her system with one more hit. Luke’s grip tightened around her, his tongue slipping into her mouth which far more purpose and dexterity than it had the last time. Valara wondered if he’d been practicing with anyone else, but pushed that thought aside, deciding it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Luke’s warm body pressed against hers, his hands running down her back, the taste of him which was oddly sweet.
Her head ached terribly, and Valara closed her eyes, throwing herself into the sensation of his lips sliding against hers. It was easier in the dark to push aside recriminations and logic, to allow herself to simply feel.
“What about your rule?” he murmured as he pulled away slightly, cupping her face in his hands again.

“You’re a Rebel now, Skywalker,” she said as she rubbed her cheek against his coarse palm. “Breaking the rules is why we’re here.”

 

Magnificent to read more of Valara's past & frustrations and Luke's prior, and continued effect - just SQUEEEEEEEEE!



(This pairing is growing on me too easily LOL!)

 

I love the relationship you've created for Valara and Luke. I'm very interested to see what Valara does in the war going forward, and how her relationship with Luke develops.

 

Definitely liking the developing relationship between Luke and Valara. She's already breaking her own rules where he's concerned. I think right now they both see each other as a bit of a project. Hoping it becomes more.

Good work.

 

I love how you've interwoven her backstory into her present one. How hard it must have been to lose all those comrades and friends, and the weight of each loss must be tremendous. She must be so very lonely.

Luke is persistent, I'll give him that. And he isn't quite as naive as she thinks he is - or maybe he's just reading her correctly. I understand, though, if she doesn't want to let him too close. She can't take another loss in her life.

 

Ack! I got behind! Great chapters!

I loved their conversation as Luke awoke, how she's testing him but he refuses to give into her reputation.

The most recently chapter was great! I loved seeing more of Valara's backstory and what happened to her. Luke is slowly but surely breaking through her tough exterior. I love it!
I also really enjoyed the part about the blind team member. (I've just finished watching Daredevil recently, so I can see it working completely.)

“You’re a Rebel now, Skywalker,” she said as she rubbed her cheek against his coarse palm. “Breaking the rules is why we’re here.”
Tee he he... loved this!

Looking forward to more!

 

Caught up! (okay, actually, I'd read the chapters when you posted them, but I was late in reviewing )

I loved how you integrated Luke's diverse and contradictory emotions in this story -- the feeling of loss of his life and his adoptive parents on Tatooine, the sense of achievement but also of guilt over destroying the Death Star, and the joy of meeting Valeria and connecting with her. Like divapilot said, we really see him as a nineteen-year old, and it's going to be interesting to watch him grow up into a mature adult.

And Valara... she's just a fantastic, fantastic character. It was a smart trick never to show her POV until chapter 5, because of course I was hungry for more information when chapter 5 came and what I got wasn't enough. She comes across as an ambiguous person who hasn't overcome the personal issues stemming from her past with the Empire (which of course I want to know more about). It's interesting that the only good thing she could have wanted for herself is the "glory of death" -- she still clearly doesn't feel that she belongs where she is. Another interesting thing is that she can't imagine that you can be "too good to be true" Luke Skywalker -- she constantly seems to expect him to be a vainglorious hero, and he's constantly surprising her.

Yeah. Right. Someone tell her that's not how it works.

I'm curious to see where all this goes!

PS: Loved the reference to the Rogue One picture

 

Thank you! I love writing them way too much.

Thank you! Although Valara was in some ways inspired by Mara, I wanted her relationship to be different in some ways from L/M, especially knowing young "farmboy" Luke from the beginning.

Thank you! Yes they are certainly seeking things from each other neither is prepared to admit.

Thanks! And yes - she's lonely because she isolates herself, but still feels the loss of those around her, there is definitely an element of survivor's guilt there (among other things to be revealed...)

I don't think Luke is quite as naive as anyone thinks and on some level they're at cross-purposes since he's desperate to connect with everyone he can and she wants to push everyone away.

Thank you! Valara's used to everyone starting off wary and suspicious of her, so when Luke isn't either it kind of throws (and impresses) her. I decided on Valara's injury before I read the speculation about Rogue One and Donnie Yen's character, but it seemed to work to fit that in.

I know how that feels, I'm terribly behind on my reading/reviewing!

Thank you! I find Luke at this stage of his life quite difficult to write, but it was fun to take his ANH exuberance and throw romance in the mix.

Yes, exactly, and the full explanation for why not is yet to be explored . She's become my favourite OC to write and has ended up quite a fair way from where I originally envisioned her (as basically my take on NuCanon Mara) but hopefully that makes her more unique and the story more interesting.

Thanks! We know so little about the film, but I had to include that!

 

Tags: @mattman8907 @EGKenobi


0 ABY - Allied Flight, deep space

With a spring in his step, the kind always present around a brand new ship, Luke Skywalker traversed the hallways of the newly-christened Allied Flight. It was a custom modified star cruiser acquired for the Rebellion in part due to Luke's own efforts - and Han's smuggling contacts. She was a beauty, the bulk of the ship consisting of hangar bays, training centres and storage for the one and two-man starfighters that made up the bulk of the Alliance's piloting force.

Since the evacuation of Yavin six months previous they'd had no luck in finding an alternate base of operations, which had left the Rebel fleet splintered and drifting through the galaxy in search of a new home. Allied Flight meant that the pilot squadrons could at least be consolidated and their fights berthed in one ship when not on missions.

What squadrons they had left, of course.

Which was the purpose of Luke's visit to the new training bays, complete with classrooms and flight simulators for the specific purpose of swelling the pilot corps quickly and efficiently. Yet Luke couldn't deny that he had one other reason to be eager to check in with the Alliance's new Flight Master.

Valara stood in the middle of the circular instruction room, going over hologram specs of the X-Wing's flight propulsion system. She was facing away from him, and Luke noticed that her hair was longer than when he'd last seen her, tied into a sleek tail at the back of her head. Her back was as always ramrod straight, and for a few moments Luke lingered, unsure of how to approach her, his mouth suddenly dry.

“Hey,Skywalker,” she said and turned around, a small smile on her face as she folded her arms in a familiar gesture. Valara leaned back slightly against the holodesk and Luke saw that the skin around her eyes was smooth and pale, her burns finally healed. She looked at him with such directness he was left with no doubt that her sight had fully returned.

“You know it’s me, then?” he smiled at her.

“I'd know the sound of that hesitant shuffle anywhere,” she told him, looking pointedly down at his feet and Luke forced himself to stand still. "And I heard you'd come in for an inspection knew it was only a matter of time before you came so you could see me. And," she added, her small smile spreading into a grin. “So I could see you.”

Luke was happy to see her smile and forget her self-consciousness about her teeth. He’d never considered them anything but adorable, but she’d let slip about being bullied in the orphanage the last time they’d met on the medical frigate. He’d found she was much more open with him after they’d been together, and was looking forward to unlocking more of her mysteries.

Valara's gaze returned to his face, and lingered there for several moments. The close scrutiny made Luke slightly uneasy, although he met her intense stare and did not blink. She’d still had limited vision the last time, and Luke became somewhat apprehensive of her truly seeing him for the first time.

"I hope you're not disappointed," he added trying to keep his voice light as he walked down the steps that lead to the centre of the room

"No," Valara answered, shaking her head and making the tail of her hair swing. "The day after the celebration on Yavin I was stuck next to some chit in the medward who gave herself alcohol poisoning - she couldn’t stop going on about how dreamy you were, so I'm not surprised by how you look."

"Opinion is subjective," Luke suggested with a shrug.

"I suppose," Valara gave him a long look up and down. "But in my opinion you're a very handsome young man, Red Five."

Luke refused to blush - he'd had enough practice, between Han and Wedge who'd made it their joint mission to reference his celebrity status as often as possible. Luke had long stopped being embarrassed by it and besides, there was a part of him that kind of liked the attention - it was all harmless flirting, and he never reciprocated, although he suspected his lack of response only increased the desire to conquer him. He took it all in his stride, and their efforts troubled him little.

So why could he be so calm and unaffected with those other girls and feel so flustered with Valara? She was older, he supposed, and she made him work for it, which made her attention - when he received it - feel far more genuine. And yet her obvious interest made Luke suddenly shy, as if he wasn’t quite prepared for it; he broke her gaze and looked away, clearing his throat.

"So, any new recruits that look promising?" he asked, a supremely safe topic to grasp onto.

Valara seemed amused, and turned back to the holodesk, riffling through her holographic files with deft fingers moving through the air. "A few perhaps - looking to fill out your squad?"

"Yes," Luke nodded. He'd been promoted to Lieutenant and was flying with Red Group under a new Commander, although he often found himself the recipient of solo missions from Alliance High Command.

Valara continued to go through her files, bringing up candidates, briefly scanning their records and then dismissing them one by one. "I'll have to compile a list for you."

"No chance of persuading you back into the squad?" Luke shifted closer to her, their forearms touching as they both looked at the holofiles.

"It's not me you have to persuade," Valara said stiffly, although she didn’t move away. "My vision's returned but my reflexes just aren't the same - especially in the dark of space. Command won’t let me back."

“I’m sorry,” Luke said, but it was clearly something she did not wish to discuss further, her melancholy quickly hidden beneath another mask.

"Besides," she elbowed him playfully. "Fly under your command? Not a chance."

"I don't have a command yet," Luke pointed out. He found himself sometimes chafing under the stern leadership of Commander Narra, a veteran of the Clone Wars pressed back into service after Yavin. Although Luke followed orders, he found himself often disagreeing with the safe and slow strategies of the old man, yearning to make his own choices and follow his own instincts.

"But you will soon," Valara shrugged. “You went from farmboy to Lieutenant pretty quick, it won’t be long before they’ll want their poster boy in charge of a squad.”

"You might like being under me," Luke teased her, warm memories surfacing. "You have before at least."

"That may be so,” Valara turned her green eyes upwards to him, and he decided he liked the way she looked at him. “But I don't follow commands,” she added with a hint of teasing. “Especially not yours."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked, feeling slightly bolder. "You might like that too." He was treading a fine line, he knew, but her presence enlivened him, made him playful in a way he’d never felt with a woman before. They stood still for a few moments, sharing an intense gaze. It was so thrilling knowing that now when he looked deep into her eyes she was looking back into his. He swallowed heavily, gently cupping her soft cheek and relishing the way her breath hitched in response.

Unable to stand it any longer, Luke closed the space between them, pressing his lips to hers. She responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him close to her. Luke grasped her rear, lifting her up and onto the holodesk and pressing her body flush against his as he kissed her as if his life depended on it.

"Wait -" Valara broke away and pushed him back. "Stop."

Luke took a step backwards, breathing heavily and confused at her reaction. Her hair was mussed, her face flushed and her lips plumped - her eyes bright and blazing. But Valara looked away, hopping down from the holodesk and straightening her clothes.

“We can’t do this,” she said, her voice ragged.

Luke ran a hand through his hair, willing his blood to stop rushing like fire under his skin. “Why?”

“I told you, Luke,” she said, and when she turned back to him her eyes had become blank and cold. “My rule.”

He cursed her confounded rule, wanting to remind her that she’d been more than willing to break it last time. “I thought being a Rebel meant breaking the rules.”

“I made a mistake,” Valara crossed her arms and stared him him, her rebuff palpable. “One I won’t make again.”

“Alright,” Luke sighed, still confused but knowing he had to let the matter drop. He should be grateful, he told himself, that she’d allowed him so close to her in the first place - not to mention the second time. He should have known it was too good to be true.

“So, what’s next for you?” he asked, pushing aside his disappointment and searching for a change in topic. “I can’t see you being happy stuck here for too long.”

“Lucky for me I don’t know too much about being happy,” Valara shrugged, smoothing down her hair absently. “It makes you slow,” she added, her glance flittering away. “It makes you want things that deviate from your purpose.”

Luke cocked his head, wondering exactly what she thought her purpose was. “Sounds a lot like Imperial thinking to me.”

“Shouldn’t be that surprising,” Valara shifted her stance, almost standing to attention. “That’s how I was raised.”

“But you defected,” Luke defended her. “You left to get away from all that, surely?”

“You don’t know why I left,” Valara snapped back, her anger quick and fierce.

“No,” Luke said, keeping his voice calm. “I don’t.” It was an invitation, not a request - he’d decided after they’d first met that he’d never ask her to tell him about what was clearly so painful for her, but always make it easy for her to open up if she wanted to. Her past was off limits, it seemed - but her future...

“So why are you here?” he asked.

Valara pierced him with a cold glare. “To strike at the Empire any way I can,” she said harshly. “To fight against them until there’s nothing left to fight.”

“And then?” he pressed her. “What if we win, what then?”

Valara shrugged and turned back to the holodesk, pushing aside the personnel files and returning to the X-Wing schematics. “Peace is for other people to enjoy.”

Luke smiled to himself and approached the desk, once again standing beside her and watching the blue holos illuminating her face. “That’s very selfless - to sacrifice any happiness in your life so someone else can have it in theirs.”

“You’re too generous, Skywalker,” Valara waved her hand dismissively. “Other people don’t concern me - as long as the Empire falls, I don’t give a toss what happens afterward.”

Luke didn’t quite believe her, and yet he could almost feel the bitter anger that brewed deep inside of her. “Why do you hate the Empire so much?”

Valara laughed, and turned to him as if he’d asked her why Tatooine had sand. “Why does anyone? Why do you?”

For Luke, the answer was easy. “Because they enslave, subjugate and inflict suffering,” he said resolutely. “Because they killed my Aunt and Uncle just because they could. Because they’re the reason I never knew my parents.”

“Your Jedi father, you mean.” Valara looked uncomfortable, and Luke thought back to how she’d recoiled when finding his lightsaber. “Don’t be so sure things would have been any different under the Republic,” she added. “The Jedi took children from their families too.”

Luke had heard that the Jedi of the Old Republic were trained in the Temple on Coruscant from a young age, but he’d never thought about them as taken. “What do you know of the Jedi - of the Force?” he said a little defensively. “Other than Imperial propaganda.”

“Nothing,” Valara conceded, and turned back to the holo display. Still, Luke did not miss the tensing of her shoulders and her left hand which clenched into a fist.

“My mentor was a Jedi,” Luke told her softly. “He lived on Tatooine - I think to watch over me after my father died. He gave me this lightsaber,” Luke indicated to the blade which hung on his hip. “And taught me the ways of the Force before he was killed. He told me that the Force binds the galaxy together, and that I should trust it. Trust my instincts.”

“A very pretty story,” Valara said with a smirk. “So how are you going to become a Jedi now that he’s gone?”

Slightly annoyed at her dismissal, Luke shifted his stance uncomfortably. “I haven’t figured that out yet,” he admitted. “But I will.”

“I like your confidence,” Valara smiled, her shoulders relaxing as she turned back to him and Luke felt his irritation melt away.

“Even if you don’t like the Jedi?”

Valara stared at him. “I have no opinion on the Jedi one way or the other.”

“If you say so.” Luke didn’t feel like arguing with her on a subject so important to him, not when he felt she wouldn’t be honest anyway. He remembered the other reason he’d sought her out, and dug around in his pocket for the gift he’d been carrying around for weeks, waiting for the opportunity to visit her.

“Here,” he took her hand and deposited round, jade-green stone in her palm. It as smooth, the edges and planes diligently polished to expose green clouds swirling within a deep core. “It’s a worry stone,” he told her when she looked at it blankly. Luke took her thumb and placed it on the stone, encouraging her to rub the surface gently. “My Aunt had one, although that was made from sandstone. She always said that it helped her think, or eased her worries, and I thought...it’s something you can feel, you know?”

“Why, because I might go blind again?” Valara asked, her gaze lowered and an odd tone in her voice.

The thought had crossed Luke’s mind - injuries like hers didn’t just go away, and Valara had told him resolutely she would never agree to implants.

“We all have a lot of worries,” he said instead, squeezing her hand lightly. “I can take them out in my ship, up in the stars, but I thought you might like something to keep with you.”

Valara looked down at his hand over hers, a fringe of hair falling over her eyes so he couldn’t see her reaction. Eventually she sighed deeply, pushing aside Luke’s grip and clenching her fist around the stone.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Finally, she raised her eyes again, and he saw that she was angry. “I told you not to get attached.”

Luke was taken aback by the harshness in her voice. “It’s just a gift, Valara,” he said defensively. “I found it in an abandoned quarry on my last mission and thought you might like it, that’s all.” He decided not to mention the hours he’d spent polishing the stone, or the symbol he’d carved into the back which she’d had yet to notice.

“You shouldn’t be giving me gifts,” Valara shook her head, her hair swinging again. “You shouldn’t be thinking about me.”

“Why not?” Luke challenged her, deciding that now was not the time to be coy. “Valara, I know that we share something - maybe something neither of us understand yet, but it’s there.”

Valara looked upward and clutched at her collar, puling on it as if she was suffocating. She took a step back, her rear hitting the holodesk with a bump. “We’ve known each other, cumulatively, around twenty hours, - and for eight of those you were asleep,” she said harshly. “What makes you think you know me at all - that we could share anything but the physical?”

“I can sense it.”

“Jedi intuition?” she scoffed.

“Yes,” he nodded, lifting his chin defiantly. “Maybe.”

Valara rubbed her forehead with her free hand, the stone still clenched in her other fist. “I should have know better,” she said, lifting her cold eyes back to him, “than to expect a boy like you to be able to handle this. You’re all innocence and good intentions and feelings,” she sneered. “We had a bit of fun Luke, but that’s it. You were nothing but a convenient tumble, and you’re making a fool of yourself acting like it’s anything more.”

Luke blinked, so surprised by her sudden shift that it took a few seconds for him to process it. Then his anger flared at her mocking words and contemptuous sneer - the way she’d called him a boy almost made his blood boil. She was lying, he was sure of it, her icy glare intense but not completely convincing. And yet his anger faded as quickly as it had come, leaving only sad resignation. Why should he keep trying to reach out to someone who blocked him at every turn, he asked himself. Why should he beg for her attention and affection when there were countless others willing to give that to him without running a gauntlet? Why should he waste time on someone who clearly didn’t want him around?

"Fine,” Luke said, throwing his hands up in defeat. “If that's what you want, I'll trouble you no more."

Valara was all steel and ice, folding her arms and staring back at him with her chin raised. “Good.”

“Good,” Luke repeated, turning on one heel and walking swiftly from the room without looking back.