Beyond - Legends Not In The Stars [Vignettes - OCs (Lukia Skywalker), Ben Skywalker] Fate, Never Twisted - 07/20

Title: Not In The Stars: The Life and Deaths of Lukia Skywalker
Timeframe: Various
Categorization: Legends
Characters: OCs (Lukia Skywalker, Emrys Siboah, Jace, Akin, and Aku Skywalker) Ben Skywalker, Luke Skywalker

Notes: This started out as the origin story of my OC Lukia Skywalker as seen in Journal of the Forgotten Child, No Words, and I Will Never See Her No More, but I decided to go with a collection of vignettes surrounding her because typical prose just was not working for my brain.

The first few vignettes will build on each other, covering more of Lukia’s backstory [so reading the diary isn’t needed, and for those that have: I am changing a couple details (and YES, I have changed Anik's name to Akin because I kept getting it wrong in my own diary)]. But then I’ll probably jump abound timeline wise and play around with POVs/story formats.

ALSO, a note on the categorization: this takes in everything up to FOTJ as canon, but does not take into account the Legacy comics.



It is not the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves - William Shakespeare

 

Tell Me About It
Timeframe: 82 ABY (but most of it regards flashbacks to ~70 ABY)


Lukia’s breaths came in heaves as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her thin nightshirt was drenched with sweat but she was shivering from the stone cold within her core. She leaned over, placed her elbows on her knees, closed her eyes, and tried not to vomit as the room swayed with non-existent waves.

It all came back in these nightmares: the stench of electrocuted beings, the drop from the skies, the sudden stop of a star ship hitting water, the saltiness of the sea, and the sweet comfort of death.

The bed depressed beside her. Lukia sucked in enough air to turn to the being beside her. Her long, frizzy, currently unmanaged red hair, hung around her face. “Sorry, Em,” she said, forcing a short laugh. “I’m not a very good bedmate. You’ll learn that quickly. One of us is going to have to get used to the couch.” She had just woken herself, and her girlfriend, with a scream of terror.

Emrys only continued to look on with narrow black eyes, somehow wide with concern. Her hair was a matching endless black, and was always styled in dreadlocks. The white markings on her brow, easily seen against her dark red skin even in the dim light coming through the blinds from the traffic passing by the window, furrowed together as her crimson lips parted. Her togrutan and human heritage was clear even in the faint light. “Tell me about it. Tell me about your dream,” Emrys said, passing Lukia the glass of water she had just retrieved.

Lukia accepted the water and drank greedily; procrastinating as she tried to come up with an excuse.

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, but, Lukia, you act as if waking up screaming bloody murder is a common occurrence.”

“It is if you are a Skywalker,” Lukia said, placing down the glass on her nightstand. This was the moment. The moment that Emrys would hear all of Lukia’s demons. Emrys would either stay, or Lukia would be alone. She looked up at the blank wall of her apartment. “Darkness haunts me. I’ve made my peace with my past,” she said with confident nod. “But I can never get away from it.”

“What do you dream of?” Emrys’ large hand moved to take Lukia’s small one.

“Mostly the crash of the Barionia - that was what tonight’s nightmare was about.”

“You were, what, fifteen when the Jedi Council sent you on that mission?”

“I had just turned fourteen, actually,” Lukia corrected. “Still a Youngling. But most of the other Jedi were on Typhera, dealing with the civil war there.”

Emrys nodded. “That was twelve years ago.”

“You helped with the peace treaty between the two factions.”

“Yeah. After your father left to deal with you, Master Kirwa took over,” Emrys said, mentioning her old Jedi Master with a slight smile.

“You were knighted after that.”

“Well, I was eighteen; expected to become a Jedi Knight anyways. But back to you.”

Lukia grunted as she fell back onto the bed. “Why? I’m tired.”

“Because I have a feeling you haven’t talked about what happened in awhile. And I think telling me what happened might help.” She paused, looking down at the younger woman. “And I want to know what haunts you because I love you, every part of you.”

Lukia sheepishly hid her face in the blankets. She wanted to hide her childish grin. “I love you too.” She sighed. “What do you know about the Barionia? I’m tired and I don’t want to explain shavit you already know.”

Emrys pursed her lips. “You told me you were sent on the mission by your grandfather. The Barionia was a high class cruise ship on a galactic tour that ended on Naboo. I remember hearing something about suspicions around a plot, but no one really took it seriously so they sent you.”

Lukia nodded. “Engineers on the cruise liner had found evidence of foul play in the captain’s quarters - some noxious gas filter had been placed, leading the owners of the cruise to believe that terrorist were trying to take over the ship. Other Jedi had already swept the ship for any other signs of a plot to commandeer the ship, but had found nothing. Share holders wanted some sort of Jedi presence to ensure that did not happen, so they sent me as a token Jedi.”

“But it was actually the captain.”

“They figured that out after. He was dying of an incurable heart condition and if he died from an accident on the job, his family got a ton of credits. I’m sure you got told the heroic version of my involvement.”

Emrys smiled, reaching down to touch Lukia’s freckled arm. “Of course. You were hailed as a saviour. The captain ended up electrocuting the entire command deck: they figure he attempted to get a low enough voltage that only he would die, but it ended up being much higher and everyone on the deck died. Everything got fried and the ship started plummeting towards the capital of Naboo. That is when you got onto the bridge, started the emergency announcements, and over-rid the auto-pilot and got the ship over water. You managed to save a ton of people on that ship, not to mention millions in the city.”

“I was on the command deck when the crew was electrocuted,” Lukia said flatly.

“What? How?”

“That’s the detail that always gets left out. I was making sure no one got onto the command deck that wasn’t supposed to be there. I was being lazy and doing my civilian classwork with my feet up on another chair. The ship was landing at its final port - my job keeping an eye out for hijackers was finished.”

“You don’t still blame yourself?” Emrys said in shock.

Lukia heaved a sigh. “I did for a long time - but that’s another night. Can I finish so we can maybe get some sleep,” she whined.

Her girlfriend nodded.

“I don’t blame myself, but that doesn’t change the fact that I survived by dumb luck.”

“Or perhaps the Force?”

“Dumb luck. The Force. The two kinda blur for my family. Anyways. I still remember everything. The business of a huge ship going through a landing procedure cut off by instant silence. There was one crack, then silence.” Lukia closed her eyes. “And the smell. I can never get that smell out of my head.” She felt fingers grace through her hair, but she continued. “I tried to escape.” She gulped. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I tried to escape. I tried to escape to save myself.”

“But you stayed on the deck, you saved -”

Lukia cut Emrys off. “Only because the doors were locked - malfunctioned from the voltage - and there was no way I was cutting them with my lightsaber in time. I only stayed on the deck because I had to.” She finally opened her eyes. “I tried to save myself. I almost caused millions to die because I was so selfish. I still consider myself a monster for that.”

“You were fourteen.”

“I knew better.”

“You were just a kid, Lu.”

“Em, I knew better.”

“So that was what your nightmares was about?”

Lukia shook her head. “I have no idea where I’d be if I had ended up escaping. Probably still somewhere very dark. But I am, for some reason, stupidly thankful that I was forced to stay on that deck.”

“I remember hearing the rumours that you had died. That was never clear to me.”

“It has never been exactly clear to me either. I remember realizing I was going to die, and I decided I wasn’t going to die in vain - like I said, I knew better - so I began the launching procedures for the escape pods and put the ship over water. I… cried. I knew that was it. I remember the ship hitting the water. I was smacked around pretty hard; the viewports shattered, and I remember the water everywhere. It was so quiet. That is what my nightmares are mostly about. The salt was the last thing I remembered… but not.”

“They said they found you floating on wreckage. You weren’t breathing and your heart wasn’t beating.”

“They said I stayed like that for four hours. They only managed to save me because I was hypothermic. They say humans aren’t dead till they are warm and dead. I just remember it feeling like an eternity. And being so cold.”

“You remember it?”

Lukia paused. “Not exactly. I don’t remember being saved. It’s hard to explain. My brain knows it shut down after I hit the water and my ‘living’ memory picks up three weeks later when I woke up in the Halls of Healing. But I remember seeing and meeting people who had died: my grandmother, my father’s wife, my great-grandparents. I was… happy to see them. I felt no pain. I felt calm, like I had no cares in the world. It was a state… of pure peace… I wanted to stay in. But later, I remember witnessing what I couldn’t. I somehow have this memory of being in the room where Jedi Master Cilghal had put my father, grandfather, and brothers. As the medics and doctors were working on me on Naboo, they were sending message to Cilghal and she was explaining everything to my family. I remember being with them when she told them that I was still on a ventilator and heart stimulators and it was unlikely that I was going to pull through.”

“That was when your grandfather had his heart attack.”

Lukia brushed away a tear. “I saw as he began clutching his chest and said something was wrong. To witness him go from being so healthy to so weak was… hard. It was my fault and I was right there, but I wasn’t able to do anything. I remember being so helpless, but it was somehow okay because the peace and the calm were also there. It was like some sort of altered state, but a good thing. But I knew I wasn’t allowed there yet. Like I was underage and going to get into trouble.” She looked up at Emrys. “You must think I’m crazy.”

The other woman shook her head. “No. Not at all. I’m glad you shared that with me. I feel honoured.”

“I shared it because I am crazy.” She then pulled Emrys down. “Crazy in love with you.”

They shared a kiss.

“Now can I go back to sleep, Em?” Lukia asked.

Emrys repositioned their bodies so that they were both lying on their sides and she had her arm around Lukia. Emrys covered their bodies with the blankets and held Lukia close. “Yes, Lu, now we can go back to sleep.”

 

Poor Lukia. She was so young - too young, really - to be on such a critical mission, considering the risk. But that's what the Jedi often do; expect so much of ones so young. I think about Ahsoka and what she experienced, and she was just a kid. Naturally Lukia blames herself simply because she was there and she was somehow supposed to know what to do.

The terror of that ordeal on the ship seems to have seared a PTSD image onto her mind. She has Emrys to comfort her, but it is so much in Lukia's nature to deal with the issue herself. I hope Emrys can give her a little bit of comfort. It hurts to think that this comfort will be short-lived. Poor Lukia.

 

Yes, the Jedi have been known for sending people much too young into dangerous missions. As shown in the diary, the Jedi Council isn't without its mistakes, and missions like these are not without their long-term consequences.

Thanks for reading!

 

Mother
Timeline: A few months post ‘Tell Me About It’
A/N: I rewrote this a bunch of times but I was never quite happy with it, but I do think it is an important piece to establish Lukia’s backstory from the diary.



Emrys woke to quick, random jabs and the bed shaking. Alarmed, she rolled over to see her girlfriend shaking uncontrollably in her sleep. Lukia was softly crying in distress. Since beginning to live together and thus sleeping together on a regular basis, Emrys had gotten used to Lukia’s occasional night terrors, but this was different. Usually Lukia was still until she screamed, waking them both up.

She wasn’t sure if she should wake Lukia up, but she was unable to watch her beloved in such a state. Emrys got on her knees and ran her fingers through Lukia’s hair at her temples. “Lukia?” she said softly. “Love, wake up for me.”

Lukia began to moan, “No, no, no, no, no,” rapidly. Her limbs began to flail more violently.

Emrys pushed on. “Lukia? It’s Emrys. Wake up.” Her fingers worked through the mess of red hair so that she was holding Lukia’s head. The human was becoming warm, as though she had a fever.

Worried and confused when Lukia just would not wake, Emrys put Lukia’s head down, got out of the bed and rushed to the comm-station, not bothering to put a robe over her pink pyjamas. She entered the first code programmed: Grand Master Ben Skywalker. Lukia’s father.

Emrys wasn’t embarrassed to wake the head of the Jedi Order. Ben Skywalker’s head appeared in shades of blue. He looked tired - both his beard and hair were disheveled - but he didn’t look annoyed.

“Emrys, what’s wrong?”

“Lukia. I think she’s having night terror, but she isn’t waking. Her shaking is really troubling.”

Ben let out a patient sigh. “Her mother is reaching out to her.”

“Her mother?”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’ll explain then. Just sit with her and if she wakes up, don’t let her run.”

Not wanting to delay him, Emrys nodded and ended the communication. She grabbed a glass of water and a cool, damp cloth, before kneeling at Lukia’s bedside. Emrys gently dabbed Lukia’s alabaster skin. Emrys might have been four years older, but she was used to the younger woman, a healer in training, taking cake of her whenever she was sick or injured.

Emrys took a shaking hand and held it, trying to pour all her love to Lukia into the Force. It seemed to calm the storm - the uneasy battle - going on within her slumbering girlfriend, just a little bit.

She sat there until she heard the apartment, then the bed-chamber, doors open. She turned around to see Ben Skywalker in an utilitarian grey sweat-suit. The 56-year-old human passed a hand through his greying red hair. “Ah, dear,” he grumbled.

“What do we do?” Emrys pleaded.

“It’s been awhile since Kirae has attacked. Seems she’s waited and has stored up what strength she has left. Until Lukia wakes, we just have to sit with her, and send her our strength and peace.”

“I don’t understand. Who is Kirae?”

“Kirae was Lukia’s mother,” Ben said, simply, kneeling beside Emrys, reaching for and taking Lukia’s other hand.

“Lukia has never spoken much of her mother to me.”

“Don’t take it personally. Lu has only met her mother in these… nightmares. Do you know much about her birth?”

Emrys shook her head. “She has never really hid the circumstances of her family. I know Jace, Akin, and Aku are her half-brothers.”

“It is fairly obvious by the vast differences in appearances,” Ben murmured, rolling his eyes. Jace, Akin, and Aku were all tall, had a darker skin tone, and dark brown hair.

“I know some details. I know that your wife - the boys’ mother - was murdered.” Emrys didn’t let the grand master know the gory specifics: Sunari Skywalker had been beheaded. “I know Lukia’s mother was a Dathomiri Witch.”

He nodded. “I’m ashamed with how I reacted to my wife’s death, yet, I would never change the outcome.” He gently rubbed Lukia’s thrashing leg. “I ran. I left my sons with my father. I was gone ten months. I had only planned on being away for a few weeks, to let myself grieve so I could return and be a functioning father to my sons. I ended up on Dathomir. Not sure why I was drawn there, but I decided to hike in the wilderness. I was alone until I was approached by a woman, Kirae. She knew who I was. She was just a few years younger than me. She was honest and told me that she was an outcast from a Nightsister clan for practicing forbidden blood spells.”

At this, Lukia began to whimper and her back arched off the bed.

“Help me get her on her side,” Ben asked. “It will save her physical strength.”

They repositioned Lukia’s small body, Ben then continued. “I can only imagine what the spells were if Nightsisters forbade them. She said she had had a vision about me, about my situation. She said she wanted to help, and that I could help her. She wanted an extremely powerful daughter. She told me if I gave her a daughter, that she would teach me the ways of communicating with the dead.” Ben looked down. “I just wanted to say goodbye to Sunari. I got what I wanted, but it had taken a few months of training in the arts of necromancy. In that time, I had gotten Kirae pregnant. Not my brightest moment. I wasn’t going to leave a descendant of Anakin Skywalker to be raised by a rogue Nightsister, so I procrastinated my training until Kirae was just about to give birth. I didn’t have a plan, but I guess the galaxy did. The morning that I was able to say my final goodbyes to Sunari, who forgave me for being a complete moron, Kirae went into labour. It took too long and I knew something was wrong; she started to lose a lot of blood. We were camped out near the northern pole of the planet with no speeder and no way to get to anything that resembled civilization in time. Kirae died and I had to give birth to the child: to Lukia.”

“Wow,” Emrys uttered. “So what is Kirae doing to Lukia?”

Ben signed. “Kirae has attacked Lukia from the Netherworld - from Chaos - since Lu was a small child. We’ve never been quite sure how, or what Kirae is trying to do. I’ve always surmised Kirae has wanted to take over Lukia’s body. Kirae was a master of spells dealing with the dead and reanimation, something the Jedi and Dathomiri Witches know little about. It was quite bad when Lu was little: her grandfather and I would take turns sitting with her as she would often refuse to sleep. The attacks have since become increasingly more infrequent - she maybe has had three in the past five years. Lukia has always resisted. Though she never speaks of what she experiences. After she wakes, she will be pretty tired, but she’ll want to run - she always runs when she doesn’t want to deal with something. We have to just hold her and comfort her.”

“Has she ever had one of these… attacks when no one was around?” Emrys asked as her and her girlfriend often went on separate missions.

Ben nodded. “A couple times, back when she was a teenager. She gets up and runs until she collapses. Master Cilghal found her and took care of her the first time. She was sick for a couple weeks and didn’t talk to me. But that might have been because she was sixteen. They are so rare now, I simply pray that if she has one if she’s alone, someone will notice if she runs off.”

Lukia twisted in the bed and let out a scream as she suddenly sat up. Emrys gently placed her hand at the small of Lukia’s back. Her eyes seemed blank, drained of all energy, as her head lolled forward “Beautiful?”

“She’ll be pretty out of it,” Ben explained, crawling onto the bed and kneeling over his daughter. “Come come on, Lukia,” he said, trying to get her to lie back down.

“No,” she resisted. She looked at her father, “Why are you here?” then at her girlfriend, “Why are you up.” She began to shake her head. “No. No. You guys have to go. I have to run. I have to clear my head.”

“No,” Emrys said. “You’re exhausted. Here,” she said, getting the cup from the nightstand. “Drink, then we can cuddle and you can fall back to sleep.”

Lukia stared at the water, then at Emrys. “Will you be here?”

“Always.”

Lukia turned to her father. “And you won’t make me talk about it?”

In that moment, Emrys caught a glimpse of Lukia’s childhood. Ben was a kind, loving father, but hated to see Lukia suffer. He had probably grilled Lukia, insisting talking about her dreams would make them go away. Emrys would not do the same.

“No,” he said, gently.

“Okay,” Lukia said before sipping at the water. She placed it down. “I think I’m tired now.” She looked towards her girlfriend. “Em? I’m sorry for waking you.” The normally focused woman was very clearly frazzled.

“It wasn’t your fault. Why don’t you lie down?” Emrys said, climbing onto the low bed and helping Lukia back onto pillow.

A dopey smile crossed Lukia’s face. “My mother is wrong.”

“Lu?” Ben pried as he lay on his side.

Lukia leaned into her father as she pulled Emrys down, wrapping her arms around the other woman. “People love me.”

* * *

Lukia woke the next day sore. Fighting her mother for her soul was never a fun task, but Lukia had resisted her as a small child, resisting her now was easy. Though what the woman said, the lies she told, always hurt. The woman had been pure evil, transporting her daughter’s soul for “Mother/Daughter time in Chaos”. Lukia had been to Hell. Literally.

Kirae could somehow transport Lukia’s spirit to the Dark Side of the Netherworld. There, Kirae tempted Lukia with power, to honour her horrible legacy, but Lukia knew her mother’s path would only lead to pain, so she always fought.

Lukia went to stretch, only to collide with both Emrys and her father. Both grunted. Fragments of her bleary state last night came back to her.

Ben grunted.

Emrys rolled over. “Lukia?”

“Hi.”

“You feeling alright?” Ben said with a yawn.

“Feeling good enough to make a threesome joke,” she replied.

Emrys rolled her eyes.

“And that’s my cue to go make caff,” Ben said, rolling out of the bed.

Lukia waited until her father was out of the room before drawing Emrys close for a kiss. “Thanks for calling my dad. He knows how to handle me.”

Emrys nodded. “You really scared me.”

“There’s nothing to be scared about,” Lukia lied.

No one could ever know what Lukia saw in the darkest realms.

 

A desperate fight for ones own soul, even more spooky than in the TV series "Penny Dreadful". For it is not a scorned lover, but a mother who wants to drag her own child to hell. Lukia is very brave!

 

Fate, Never Twisted
Timeline: 70 ABY

AN: This was written for the Animated Disney Challenge. I got:

"Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it." - Brave

I had a bajillion ideas for this quote, but honestly, there was no way I wasn’t going to write a Lukia story for this (though I was stuck and tempted not to). Because, come on, Lukia is basically Merida and these are her brothers. Plus the quote fit so perfectly with the quote that inspired this Lukia vignette thread. If you are here from the challenge and have never read any of my Lukia stuff, don’t worry - it will still make some sense since this is before the Diary (her first and major fic). But some background: Lukia is the daughter of Ben Skywalker - his youngest child and only daughter via a short relationship with a nightsister. At 14, she crashed a cruise-liner and her Jedi-training was put on hold.



The water brings back memories, flooding my conscious, drowning my reality, suffocating the air from me. It is not a slow erosion of my mind. It is a flash flood of images, sounds, smells, and feelings.

And death.

My death.

The death of 2478 innocent beings.

Knock. Knock. “Lukia? You alright?” My dad. His voice snaps me out of the visions of waves and I remember it is okay to breathe. My lungs will not fill with water. I am home, in the ‘fresher, leaning against the sink.

Breathe.

“I’m fine.”

Lie.

“You sure you don’t need help getting ready?”

“Nope! I got it!” I reply.

Breathe. Lie. Repeat.

I get a cup and my shaking hand reaches for the tap and I ease the water on.

* * *

“Lukia, with the civil war on Typhera,” my grandfather, Luke Skywalker, explained, “you are all the Jedi can spare, but it should be a simple enough mission.” Engineers on the cruise liner - the Brauronia - had found evidence of foul play in the captain’s quarters - noxious gas filter had been placed, leading the owners of the cruise to believe that terrorist were trying to take over the giant ship. Other Jedi had already swept the ship for any other signs of a plot to commandeer the ship, but had found nothing. Share holders wanted some sort of Jedi presence to ensure that did not happen. That was where I came in.

I nodded with a smile. “I can hang out on the command deck and make sure no one tries to take over the ship!”

Grandpa’s grin extended to the white hair at his temples. “Exactly, Lu. If you need any assistance, please contact a knight or a master.”

* * *

I turn the water off and brush my teeth. It is time to rinse. I use the water from the cup, but I know it will not stop the memories. It’s the taste. I wonder if taste of alcohol could stop the flashbacks.

Do normal 14-year-olds have these thoughts?

* * *

There had been no signs of sabotage, no ill will, and no terrorists. None that I had detected. Yet, on the approach the last port: the sparkling city of Theed on Naboo, the command deck had cracked and sizzled with electricity.

In a flash, the entire crew of the cruise-ship seized, convulsed and died. No screams. Deafening silence.

I had my feet up on another chair. I had looked around in bewildered and horrified.

Then reality set in. The ship, the grand cruise-liner the Baronia, was free-falling, crashing, through blue atmosphere to the city below.

* * *

I finish getting ready while sitting on the closed ‘fresher lid. It isn’t that hard now that the healers have removed the bone-knitters - the wire cage that had been helping my ribcage mend. I pull on my loose Jedi robes. I leave my red hair untied. The frizzy mess just touches my shoulders. There isn’t much I can do with it given my current situation with limited arm mobility.

I stumble to the door controls and press open. My father is waiting in the hall with the padded hover-chair. “The healers said you can’t exert yourself.” I nod and sit, just to shut him up.

“You want me to do your hair?” he said picking up a brush. Being a single dad for my whole life, I know he can do any hairstyle I ask for, but I shake my head. I just want to hide. I just want today to be over.

He walks me down to the speeder-garage and loads me into the family speeder. He drives me to my fate.

And of course it is raining.

* * *

There was no saving myself. Fear that had been bubbling in my stomach exploded. The command deck doors had sealed. Cutting through them with a lightsaber would have taken too long. So I did what I knew I had to do as a Jedi. I started the emergency protocols. I realized the ship is still on autopilot: plummet towards its target, the city of Theed.

So I had thrusted my blue lightsaber into the nav-computer. I took control of the ship. I crashed the Baronia into the sea.

* * *

I sit before the Jedi High Council. My grandfather at their head has yet to speak. This is my trial - he has to remain impartial. Though officially an inquiry, I knew the masters were trying to decide if I was at fault.

I had given my testimony.

Now Master Kitehs - a Muun female, is giving the findings of her investigation. “Captain Hurosa had terminal heart neproathity. By speaking with his doctor, she revealed to me that the smallest of electrocutions would have killed him. By speaking with his employer, I learned the Captain’s family stood to gain a very large insurance payout if he died in a workplace accident. It is my conclusion, and the findings of Nabooian detectives, that this was an attempt at insurance fraud gone horribly wrong.”

Though it wasn’t my fault, no weight lifted off of my chest. It still feels like I am under the weight of an ocean. Thousands were dead because I did not detect one man’s intention.

Master Opiol nodded - his purple lekku twitching. He was the master presiding over this meeting - over what is to happen to me. “Thank you Master Kitehs.” He then turns to me. His voice is soft, but his words are stern. “Youngling Skywalker, you are not to blame, but a heavy heart I feel within you. You dwell on what you have experienced. You are not resting and it is not healthy for your body or mind. I fear I sense darkness within. At this point I do not think continuing your Jedi training is in your best interest. Perhaps we should revisit this matter in five years?” He looks to his other masters. All but my father and grandfather nod in agreement. “You are an intelligent young lady, Lukia.” He used my first name, thus stripping me of my Jedi-hood. “Get an education. Be a normal teenager. After what you have experienced, you deserve it.”

Tears come to my eyes.

I am not going to be a Jedi. How could a child of Ben Skywalker; a granddaughter of Luke Skywalker not become a Jedi?

Failure. I am a a failure.

I tumble out of my hoverchair. My grandfather and father gasp and try to come to my aid, but I am already stumbling out of the council chambers. Running, to the best of my injured abilities, far away from this place of betrayal. Gave my sanity to the Jedi, and this is how I am repaid.

Tears flow and I drown.

* * *

I had seen my imminent doom. Water hit the viewports with forces stronger than speeders. They smashed before I could take a final breath, say a final prayer, live a final moment.

Water became my everything, forcing me around, smacking me against the ship, ripping the life from my still conscious mind.

Drowning is not peaceful. Everything in your body screams for air and when you finally give in, you are met with only more suffocation of a different sort.

But, after long minutes, my body gave up. It became weightless. Cold. Lifeless. My mind was given to the abyss. I saw the galaxy. I saw the living. I saw the dead.

* * *

I find myself in a storage closet, ribs burning with pain. Back in the now it takes me a moment to realize my head is in someone’s lap. A hand stroking my back, fingers running though my hair.

I look up to see my grandfather’s kind eyes. “You’re not allowed to run away from me.”

I want to shy away from him. I am ashamed of myself for him. I am not the granddaughter he ever wanted. I was born when his son fell to the dark side and now I am proving to be even more of a headache.

Still, he wipes my tears.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” His words sound so reassuring.

“But I failed as a Jedi. I failed as a Skywalker.”

“You did neither of those two things.”

“But people are ALWAYS saying it is a Skywalker’s fate to become a Jedi. People say it is written in the stars.”

He hushes me and holds me closer. “Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it. And you are so brave, my granddaughter. You can do anything. You can be anything. And I will always be proud of you - even when you are not proud of yourself.”


He sees me for all I am and still holds me. I’ll thank him one day. I silently promise him that.

 

Riveting and intensely poignant! Wonderful support from her Grampa at the end and terrific use of the quote.

 

I need more!

Oh. Lu...

*hugs*

OW!

 

“But I failed as a Jedi. I failed as a Skywalker.”

“You did neither of those two things.”

“But people are ALWAYS saying it is a Skywalker’s fate to become a Jedi. People say it is written in the stars.”

He hushes me and holds me closer. “Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it. And you are so brave, my granddaughter. You can do anything. You can be anything. And I will always be proud of you - even when you are not proud of yourself.”


I like your Luke version: wise, not broken by his heritage, his burdens in life and certainly not by age.

 

Looks at the title again.
Looks at the subtitles.

hyperventilating.

holds head in hands.