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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga Red Five (Luke/OC) Updated 20 September

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by JadeLotus, Sep 23, 2015.

  1. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004
    I would like to respond in more depth but the first scene has made me TORN APART. :_|

    It was awesome seeing the temple on Devaron, though. Oh, how I hope we get that story someday.
     
  2. taramidala

    taramidala Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 1999
    You did a great job with little Ben! All the right seeds sown: entitlement, jealousy, suspicion, and embarrassment. All without going over the top and making him out to be baby sociopath.

    The reunion broke my heart, as usual. Those dunderheads. Han's probably right. ;)
     
  3. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    JadeLotus --

    The dejarik scene started out so intense then dissolved into giggles and rough-housing. I loved it!

    Han's happiness and contentment is so wonderful. :D :D

    **

    The teasing between Han, Luke, and Chewie, that will never get old for sure, for sure! :) :)

    **

    Devaron sounds a wonderful place and the Temple, not as full of preconceived expectations like the Legends Praxeum on Yavin :p - For one ginormous thing, there's no lingering Sithly presence like Exar Kun. :p

    Woot, although I wouldn't mind if you accidentally on purpose wrote in Corran and/or Kyp [face_batting] [face_laugh] - it's those green eyes =P~ etc. [face_laugh]


    **

    Valara is very vulnerable in the final scene and Luke's gentle acceptance of her on whatever terms - I just wanna eat him up like candy! [face_love]
     
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  4. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Yikes, Ben is a kid, but there's already something slightly creepy about him -- everything taramidala said, really.
    So much irony in this sentence, I don't even know where to start ;)

    Gee, the relationship between Luke and Valeria isn't getting any healthier with time. "This is something we won't talk about" is a recurring start to all their conversations, isn't it? Although, not having seen each other for several years isn't exactly a good starting point for improvement. And, well, even after they've acknowledged each other, they're still light-years apart. This obsession with doing what's right for the other, with or without their consent, is really coming to bite them in the butt at every turn.
     
  5. ginchy

    ginchy Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 25, 2005
    Well, you know I loved this section. And Han as a father is terrific. I'm glad to know they had some good times before all the turmoil. I love how Ben was a bit suspicious of Valara. 5 year olds always like to think they're the smartest ones in the room. LOL I love the Temple that Luke has built, and that last exchange between him and Valara was perfect. I cannot wait for more!!!!! [face_love]
     
  6. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005

    I hope so too! WoTJ certainly seemed to be setting it up, and I kind of like the idea of Luke as a fairy-tale prince in his tower :p

    It makes me sad to think that Han and Ben always had a strained relationship, and to me it makes more sense that Han would be Ben's primary caregiver and that they would be close when Ben was young.


    Han is always right ;) Yeah, there were warning signs from the start with Ben, but probably no more than any other five year old who thinks the galaxy revolves around them :p

    Thank you! I like to think that this little family had good times and happiness before everything went to hell.

    [face_laugh] I'm sure she does too ;) But I don't think I'm going to include any Legends characters in this, since it seems unlikely that they'll be in the nucanon.


    Yep!


    Well, it's a starting point, so that's at least something, right? ;) But you're right, they're still talking and acting past each other, and that's something which needs to be fixed before they go any further.


    Thank you! I love Dad!Han, and little Ben would absolutely be the light of his world. The family would be so close, of course little Ben would be suspicious of any intruder, right? :p
     
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  7. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Tags: mattman8907, EGKenobi


    I really didn't mean to leave almost a month between updates! This one gave me a lot of trouble, but hopefully it is satisfactory. As always, thank you to taramidala and ginchy for their constant help and support (and taramidala for suggesting a line of dialogue). You're the best, ladies!




    10 ABY, Jedi Temple, Devaron

    Every morning as the sun rose, Luke held meditation sessions in the tower of the Jedi Temple. He sat at the base of his Force tree, the one which had been liberated from the Empire after Endor. He'd recounted the story to Valara years ago and at the time she hadn't thought much of it - just another relic to add to his collection. But seeing it grown, its strong branches reaching out like grasping fingers towards the sun that streamed in through the open windows, the soft, green leaves that rustled slightly in the breeze; feeling the purity of the Force that emanated from it - gave her a sense of peace she hadn't been able to find even on Jakku.

    Valara hadn't made a habit of attending the daily meditation sessions, although Luke urged her to do so. He was used to rising with the sun, while she enjoyed a sleep in if she could manage it, her thoughts always clouded immediately after she woke. But she'd dragged herself from bed that morning, knowing that she had to take Luke's advice sometime.

    Perhaps thirty others were in attendance as a few stragglers like herself wandered in. Luke sat cross-legged under his tree, his eyes closed and hands resting lightly on his knees. On either side of him were his two acknowledged apprentices - a Togruta woman Laisha and a male Abenedo named Maliak, both strong in the Force and eager to become Jedi. There was a collection of padawans seated together nearby, hopefuls of all ages and races who had begun basic Jedi training. Farnay, a native Devaronian who acted as emissary to the Temple from the local populace, sat on the other side of the room a small collection of her people. There were scholars and historians who had found their way to the Temple, and several acolytes of the Church of the Force, eager to make their home in the heart of the new Jedi Order. None, thankfully, were from Jakku, since her time on the planet was something Valara wanted to keep for herself. But there were vicarages all over the galaxy and pilgrims had flocked to Devaron to meet Luke Skywalker and touch the warm trunk of his Force tree.

    Valara took a seat by herself, crossing her legs and straightening out her back as Luke had taught her. Closing her eyes, she took deep, even breaths, settling first into a state of calm before reaching out through the Force to join the collective. It was like a surging river, the Force presence of all that were gathered streaming around her. Luke was the current, guiding and directing them so that they could feel one another, but did not merge.

    It was not unpleasant; Luke's spirit familiar and warm. She could feel the others as well, surrounding her but not in the intrusive way she'd once felt with her Inquisitor brethren.

    Open yourself up to the Force. Luke's voice in her mind, and no doubt everyone else's in the room. Listen to what it has to say.
    As an Inquisitor she'd been taught that the Force was a mere tool, a power to wield. After she'd joined the Rebellion she'd done her best to never think about the Force at all, and on Jakku her contemplations had been directed inward. Now Luke was encouraging her to branch out and embrace the Living Force rather than isolating herself away from it, although that was difficult since her nature was always to pull away. There was a low murmur in her ears distracting her, like the buzzing of gnats which was likely the minds of the other students.
    Concentrate. Luke's voice again. Feel those around you, don't block them out, but don't intrude on them either. You are walking different paths, but you are still beside one another.

    Valara followed his instruction, not seeking to ignore the others as was her instinct. Instead she let them linger on her periphery while retaining her focus as Luke had taught her, her eyes closed but willing herself to see.

    The Force tree was the first light to break through the darkness, and in her mind it quickly took shape, the strong, erect trunk, the spindly branches, even the delicate leaves. It was not the same as seeing with her eyes, as there was no hope of discerning colour or detail. Rather she felt the Force pulsating through her surroundings, and she was slowly learning to isolate the individual beings and objects from one another to get a general sense of the space.

    Luke was a fountain of light, almost drowning out everything else in the room, but through concentration Valara was slowly able to pull things into better focus, the beings around her discernible as figures of white and grey. She turned her face towards the open window to her right and reached out with her mind until she could see small pinpoints of light signifying birds flying through the air. She could even hear their song, her senses heightened and freed and she let herself be carried away by the high, trilling notes as they called to one another.
    Good, Valara. Luke again, speaking to her directly this time. Trust your senses, they will not lie to you.

    She wondered if he was carrying on a dozen different conversations with the rest of the student gathered, sharing their meditation and helping them find their own paths. Not for the first time, his mastery of the Force both awed and frightened her.

    He must have sensed her reticence, because she felt him withdraw slightly to the fringes of her consciousness. Valara wanted to reach for him, pull him back but stopped herself. He had other students to teach, and she'd promised herself that while she'd come for Luke's help, she would do this on her own.

    Time passed, and when Luke called to them to finish the session the sun had risen. "Thank you for sharing your journey with me," he said, so genial and earnest Valara had to clamp down on a smile. And yet she found his hokey words somewhat endearing, pulling up her knees to her chin and allowing herself the time to watch him. However bright he shone through the Force, she knew she would miss the sight of him as her vision slowly decayed.

    "Some of you have come here to walk the path of a Jedi," Luke said as he rose to his feet. "Which is a noble and lofty goal." He began to walk slowly around the room, taking the time to address everyone assembled. "I was once told by my Master that a Jedi requires the deep commitment and serious mind, but if you want to be a true Jedi you must understand that our life is one of service. To be a Jedi is not about showing off tricks or proving yourself a warrior. It is about using your gifts to improve the lives of others, to be a conduit of the Force to keep it in balance."

    For a moment Valara was reminded of when he'd stood before her flight class, delivering a speech that was equal parts inspiration and realism. He truly was a born teacher.

    "Some of you have come seeking knowledge, or a better understanding of the Force, and that too is worthy." Luke passed through the crowd, nodding to a few. "The Force is present in all life and all things - every single one of you here - it courses through your veins. You are the Balance, too, and every creature in this universe, be they Jedi or layperson, from the lowliest sand-crawler to the Chancellor of the Republic, all have the same worth. Never forget that."

    Luke passed by her as he said those words, and although he did not glance down, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder for the briefest of moments before moving on.


    ___________________________________________

    The dining hall of the Jedi Temple was simple in style, with tables to accommodate groups or various sizes, and a collection of chairs adapted to both humanoids and species of less conventional shapes. Valara took her seat at a small table in the corner, inhaling the scent of slow roasted nerf stew she'd chosen for evening meal.

    Temple living was mostly communal - no one was asked to fund their stay, but rather to earn their keep through a roster system. Cleaning, gardening and administrative work was assigned to all residents on a rotating basis with no one exempt, not even Luke, who liked to win people over by associating each task to some kind of Force training. Valara had to admit that likening sanding the floor of the sparring squares to lightsaber kata was fair enough, but thought explaining away scrubbing the 'fresher as "focus exercises" was a bit much.

    Kitchen duties were also in the rotation, except the position of head chef, the only role for which Luke had actively recruited. Abelia was a native Ithorian, but in the years following the fall of the Empire she had become the darling of the Coruscanti elite, her restaurant booked two years in advance. How Luke had convinced her to come to Devaron and work in the Temple kitchen for a tenth of what she was earning before, no one had any idea. But the food was delicious, and Valara spooned a helping of the stew into her mouth, the flavours rich and hearty.

    "Eating alone, V?" Luke approached with a loaded tray and took a seat across from her with a teasing smile and a wink. "How shocking."
    "I'm hardly beating them away with a stick." She smiled back at him and took another bite of her stew. "You're the first person to come over and try and sit with me."

    "Maybe they're scared to," Luke suggested, looking down at his numerous plates for a moment before picking up a spiced nerf skewers and taking a bite. "You do tend to give off a vibe that says keep away."

    "You know me Luke," Valara shrugged. "I've never been one for pleasantries."

    "Every person here has their story," Luke said. "If you bothered to ask, maybe you'd find conversations that weren't just an exchange of pleasantries."

    "Like this one?" Valara teased, reaching for her bowl of boiled rice and tipping it into her stew, mixing it to soak up the rich sauce. "Don't scowl, Luke, you know I always enjoyed exchanging pleasantries with you."

    Luke smiled but did not answer, finishing off his nerf skewers and moving onto a plate of roasted fowl and root-vegetable mash. "How is your vision today?" he changed the subject.

    "Fine." Valara lied, choosing not to tell him about the debilitating headache that had come on after she'd spent two hours in the archives reading the writings of a blind Jedi Master who'd lived five hundred years earlier.

    "I'm glad you came to meditation this morning," he said, gaze lifting to her again.

    "It wasn't a complete waste of time," Valara conceded, taking a sip of water. "I did...see, or as close to it as possible."

    Luke nodded. "In time, it will become second nature. Don't worry, Valara, we'll find the answer together."

    "It's been a while since we've done anything together." She propped one elbow on the table rested her chin in her palm. "Are you sure you remember how?"

    This time Luke's face split into a grin and he laughed lightly, folding his arms on the table and leaning forward. "I'm sure it will come back to me."

    It felt good to flirt with him again, for everything to fall away but his beautiful smile and kind eyes, drawing her in again. She'd missed it.
    But the moment was broken almost as soon as it had begun, Luke visibly checking himself and leaning back in his chair, eyes darting to something beyond Valara's shoulder. She felt a strange sort of tingling at the back of her mind, and turned to see a short woman of an unfamiliar species approach. That the creature was old would be an understatement; her orange-gold skin was wrinkled and no hair was visible under the grey woollen cap she wore on her head. But her gait was graceful, with no apparent discomfort in her stride, ambling slowly over their table.

    "Hello, Maz," Luke called to her. "What brings you here?"

    The woman pulled out a chair and clambered up onto it, giving Valara a sly look before turning to Luke. "What else, Skywalker?" she asked in a husky, accented voice. "I've found something you may want."

    "Of course," Luke nodded, and then turned to Valara. "Maz Kanata," he gestured to the woman by way of introduction.

    "I'm Valara." She nodded, unable to stop staring at the strange, clear goggles the creature wore over her eyes.

    "Yes, I guessed as much," Maz chuckled to herself as Valara looked over at Luke quizzically, but he gave an embarrassed sort of shrug and looked away.

    "Maz runs an...establishment on Takodana, in the Mid-Rim," Luke said hastily.

    "I know it." A planet not that far from Jakku, it was a haven for smugglers and criminals.

    "She's been kind enough to share her knowledge of the old Order with me," Luke added.

    "Oh?" Valara raised her eyebrows. "Are you a Jedi?"

    Maz laughed again, her large head bobbing up and down. "Sweet sarlacc no, child. Just old as sin."

    "And strong in the Force," Luke added. "One day I'll get you to teach me your soul-sight, Maz."

    "Soul-sight?" Valara felt suddenly uneasy. "What's that?"

    Maz touched one spindly finger to the rim of her goggles. "Something that cannot be taught, as you well know, Luke," she admonished him, then reached into her bag to retrieve a lightsaber and lay it on the table. "In the meantime, this will have to do."

    "Maz is kind enough to procure items of interest for me," Luke explained. "You wouldn't believe the Force artifacts traded on the black market."

    But Valara wasn't listening, her eyes fixed on the lightsaber resting on the table with a long steel-grey hilt indicating it was double-bladed, and a ringed emitter which would allow the blades to spin.

    "That's an Inquisitor's lightsaber," she said, her tongue thick as she looked at Luke accusingly. "Why would you want that?"

    Luke picked up the hilt and examined it. "There's nothing inherently evil about a blade's design," he said evenly. "It's missing the kyber crystals."

    Maz clucked her tongue. "Yes, I know," she replied. "But I thought you might find it interesting nonetheless."

    "It might be worthwhile to study different forms of lightsaber combat," he said, putting the blade down and giving Valara a beseeching look. "Unless you have a strong objection."

    Swallowing down the bile that had risen in her throat, Valara shook her head. What objection could she have, that the sight of it made her uncomfortable, that it reminded her of all she'd once done with a similar blade? He'd only suggest, quite rightly, that it was time she acknowledged such things, not hide from them.

    "So, how much do I owe you?" Luke asked.

    "1200 credits." Maz peered up at him through her goggles, clearly pleased.

    "For a saber with no crystal?" Valara asked, eyebrows raised. "I think you were cheated."

    "Including my commission, of course," Maz smiled, revealing rows of pointed, ale-stained teeth. "It takes time and fuel to schlep out here, my girl."

    "That price is fine, Maz," Luke stood. "I'll go arrange it." He grasped the saber hilt and left purposefully, and Valara watched his even stride until he disappeared from the hall.

    "He'll be a while." Valara turned to Maz and forced a smile. "He's probably going to tinker with that thing for an hour before he remembers to get the credits."

    Maz helped herself to the remnants of Luke's lunch. "Nice of him to let us ladies talk."

    Valara shifted slightly in her seat, pushing her near-empty bowl away. "How did you know who I was?"

    Maz turned, dark eyes behind her goggles studying her. "The cries of the heart are the loudest, my dear."

    Valara rolled her eyes at the triteness of the phrase, but Maz smacked her light on the arm in reprimand. "Scoff all you like," she scolded. "But know I see through you - even without my soul-sight. Luke told me once about you - oh, not much, but enough for me to get the picture. So when I walked in here and you two were making eyes at each other, who else could you be?"

    "I'm hardly the only woman whose been in Luke's life," Valara protested, looking around the room and wondering if anyone else had seen her with him and thought the same thing.

    Maz gave her a hard look as she gnawed on a fowl drumstick. "I don't need the Force to see your problem, my girl. Willful ignorance is worse than any other kind."

    Valara scowled and rose to her feet, not about to be lectured by someone she'd only known three minutes. Shoving her hands harshly into her jacket pockets, Valara stalked out of the dining hall and through the corridors of the Temple. Her expression must have been dark, for everyone she passed gave her a wide berth until she was outside and blessedly alone. But Valara didn't stop there, walking into the thicket of vines that surrounded the Temple, the green stalks and low-hanging mist quickly obscuring the building from view. She sat down heavily on a large vine which had grown along the rich brown earth and exhaled harshly.

    Her peace was interrupted when Maz Kanata approached looking unapologetic. "Skittish, aren't you?"

    There had once been a time when she'd been considered anything but. Valara looked down at her boots and didn't respond.

    "It's pretty easy to run when things get hard, isn't it?" Maz's voice became softer. "Then you don't have to deal with what you left behind - until it catches up with you, of course."

    Valara looked back up as Maz grew closer. "Do you always speak in platitudes?"

    "If I thought subtlety would work on you my dear, I'd use it."

    Despite herself, Valara laughed - being scared off by a few pointed words from a creature half her size was rather silly. Especially when they'd been true.

    "Have you ever asked yourself why your first instinct is to run?" Maz eyed her keenly, and Valara felt a tingling on the back of her neck again. But there was something in Maz's expression that invited trust.

    "I suppose…" Valara looked down at her boots again, tapping the toes together lightly as he levity fell away and quickly as it had come. She thought back to being trapped at the orphanage, and all the years she'd spent hating it, wanting to escape "I hated the place where I started so much, I've never really stopped trying to get away from it."

    "Valara." She reached forward and gently tugged at Valara's sleeve until she withdrew her hand from her pocket. Maz clasped it with her long, orange fingers, ornate gold bracelets clinking together. "You grew up all alone, and you are alone still - all your running has not changed that. Rather, it has ensured it."

    "I came here, didn't I?" Valara said, the excuse sounding weak even to her own ears. "The only time in my life I've ever come back with the intention to stay."

    "And yet, you still run," Maz pressed, squeezing Valara's hand gently. "In your heart, and with your words. Tell me truly, have you ever been honest with him - with yourself?"

    Valara thought back to all the conversations she'd had with Luke - she'd shared more with him that any other person alive. He certainly knew her better than anyone else, but she had to admit he didn't know everything. She'd still kept herself cloistered, those final barriers around her heart and deepest secrets fortified and strong.

    "No."

    "And why is that?" Maz leaned in closer, her eyes narrowing as if trying to discern the answer. "Why are you so afraid of happiness?"

    "I'm not afraid of anything." Automatic, defiant words.

    "Please child, be honest." Maz's voice was firm. "There is nothing you can hide from me, that is my gift. I see people."

    "And what do you see in me?" Valara asked, a lump forming in her throat.

    Maz reached up and adjusted her goggles, working the toggles on each side which had the strange effect of magnifying her eyes. Startled, Valara pulled back slightly as Maz started at her intently. The tingle at the back of Valara's neck returned, stronger this time, but her gaze was locked onto Maz's, seemingly unable to break away as a searching wave passed through her.

    After a few moments Maz stepped back, working the toggles again as her eyes returned to their normal size. She then lifted the goggles up, resting them on the top of her head before taking Valara's hand again.

    "I see a girl who paid a high price for her ambition," she said softly. "But who was brave enough to stray from the path set before her. Evil is grown, child, surely you know that by now."

    Valara swallowed heavily. "Does it still grow in me?"

    "Only you can answer that."

    "I'm afraid, sometimes," she said in almost a whisper. "Of what I'm capable of."

    "Luke would tell you that fear is a path to the dark side," Maz said. "But I would say to you that fear is useful, if it forces you to answer it with courage."

    Valara had never thought of herself as someone who lacked courage - she had flung herself into every dangerous mission the Empire and Rebellion had ever given her with nary a thought for the possible danger. But she knew that wasn't what Maz was talking about.

    "Luke is coming," Maz told her, squeezing her hand again. "Now is your chance, girl, to tell him everything you've feared to before." She turned, placing her goggles back over her eyes and sure enough within moments Luke appeared, a small box in his hand.

    "There you are," he said with a smile as he approached and handed it over. "Your credits, Maz."

    "My thanks," Maz nodded, stowing the box away in her satchel. "I've been having a nice little talk to your girl here."

    Luke laughed. "Well she's not mine, but I'm glad to hear it."

    "Hmph." Maz cast back a sly look at Valara, who recoiled slightly. She wasn't as convinced as she'd been a few moments before, that old fear creeping back into her mind. Maz sighed with disappointment, and then turned back to Luke.

    "And you?" she demanded of him.

    Luke frowned, peering down at Maz in confusion. "Me what?"

    Maz sighed and shook her head. "The young have such short memories."

    "Oh." Luke's gaze flittered from Maz to Valara, and he shifted his weight nervously. "Right."

    Valara's heart began to race - what exactly had Luke told Maz about her, and what had the old woman advised him to do? She looked up at Luke hopefully but he avoided her gaze, and Maz's head swiveled back and forth between the two of them until eventually she threw her hands up in the air.

    "What do you see Maz, they ask," she said. "I tell you what I see - stupidity! He deserves better, she needs time, but underneath that a longing so deep that it draws you back together time and time again." She smacked one hand into her palm, her bangles shaking. "It's all there, in your eyes, but neither of you are brave enough to actually look at the other!"

    Valara bit her lip, feeling like a child who'd been chided for pilfering from the kitchens. Of course, Maz wasn't whacking her fingers with a cane or refusing her food for two days so it was hardly comparable, but the woman's disappointment was worse somehow.

    Maz huffed at their continued silence. "Make it work, fools." And with that she stalked away, her diminutive form disappearing between the sea of vines that surrounded them.


    ________________________________________


    That night Valara lay restlessly in the small quarters which had been allocated to her, Maz Kanata's words spinning through her mind. After she'd left she'd looked to Luke - wanting desperately for him to say something but he'd withdrawn with the excuse of afternoon classes. She'd spent the rest of the day hiking and looking for answers within as Maz had suggested, but Valara still found her mind troubled.

    She sighed and turned over, reaching to open a drawer in the bedside table and remove a small jade stone. It was cold in her hand, and in the dim moonlight filtering in through the open window the inside no longer shone as it had done under the bright sun of Jakku. Valara ran her thumb over the indent and took a deep breath, seeking calm in what had been a daily ritual on Jakku.

    Strangely, it was the first time she had reached for the stone since arriving on Devaron. Perhaps it was the regular mediation sessions Luke held in the tower which left her thoughts clear when it came time to sleep.

    Be honest. Maz's voice again, unable to be denied. The truth was, on Jakku when she'd struggled to sleep and reached for the stone, her thoughts had often drifted eventually to Luke. His smile that never failed to incite the same response in her, his gentle teasing in response to her sternness, the strength of his arms as he held her, the passion they shared followed by blissful moments of peace.

    Happiness had always been a foreign concept to her. In the orphanage they'd been unwanted, unloved burdens, so what right did they have to hope for or expect anything more? As an Imperial cadet and then an Inquisitor she'd been encouraged to feel satisfaction in her service to the Empire but nothing more - positive emotions were frivolous and unnecessary. Loyalty was crucial; happiness was not.

    So when she'd joined the Rebellion the idea that life could be anything more hadn't even crossed her mind. Even when she'd met Luke he had been just that - satisfaction, a pleasant distraction from the war that raged all around them. But Maz Kanata had been right - she had kept coming back to him, unable to stay away. It had evolved into something far deeper, something she had convinced herself she wasn't capable of feeling. Now she had come back to him again, and if she was honest, it wasn't because she needed training.

    Valara pushed aside her blankets and rose to her feet, stowing the jade stone back in it's drawer. She crept barefoot down the still, silent hallways of the Temple until she found Luke's door. It was unlocked, and she slipped inside, taking a moment to survey the open-plan living quarters. They were larger than her own but only slightly, the furnishings sparse and plain. The only extravagance was the multitude of holos scattered around the room, hanging on the walls and placed on almost every available surface. They were mostly of his family - Han, Leia and young Ben, with the Wookiee Chewbacca and Luke's two droids often appearing as well. Others were filled with the smiling faces of his friends from the Rebellion - Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, Hobbie Klivan, Shara Bey, Kes Dameron and their little boy Poe. There were none of her, Valara noted, and although she wasn't surprised there was an odd tug in her chest.

    Only two faces was unfamiliar to her, the holos in pride of place on the bureau. The first was of a beautiful woman with dark eyes and hair - it looked like a holo a family would keep of their daughter once she'd moved away. The second image was grainy, as if it had been spliced from an old news report, containing the visage of a young man with sandy hair and a charming grin. A scar marred the side of his face beside his right eye, but that only added to his roguish good looks. Still, a shiver went down her spine and Valara forced herself to turn away and enter Luke's bedroom.

    Despite the darkness of the room she could sense that he was awake - as if somehow he'd known. The cold feeling disintegrated in his presence, and Luke turned his face towards her, his soft smile visible in the dark as he lifted the blankets. Valara crawled into the bed beside him and lay her head in the crook of his neck as his arm curled around her.

    "I've been waiting for you," he said softly, his warm breath tickling her hair.

    That was it, she realised - he'd needed her to make the first step. She sighed and nuzzled closer, inhaling his familiar scent. "Maz talked some sense into me."

    "Oh?" Luke rubbed her arm lightly. "What did she say?"

    "That I'd never really been honest with myself," she said, toying absently with a loose thread on Luke's tunic. "What did she say to you?"

    There was a long pause before Luke answered. "It was a long time ago," he spoke up eventually, his fingers still lightly running up and down her arm in a way that soothed her. "She told me that there was more to life than duty, and to strive for more if I ever got the chance again."

    "I thought you would have known that already," Valara murmured. "While I was away, I kept expecting to hear you'd gotten married."

    Luke chuckled softly, and she felt the soft vibration of his chest against her cheek. "Rebuilding the Jedi hasn't left a lot of time for dating."

    Valara bit her lip. "Is that the only reason?"

    Luke was silent for a moment before sighing deeply. "No."

    Smiling to herself, Valara rested her hand flat against Luke's chest. Even though the fabric of his tunic she could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady but perhaps slightly quickened. Be honest, she told herself.

    "You know you weren't completely right before," she said softly. "About only coming back because I needed something from you."

    "No?"

    Valara took another deep breath, and steeled herself. "The truth is, I just need you."

    She felt Luke smile against her hair, his hand coming to rest on her waist and arm tightening around her. It was like a weight had been lifted from her chest, and she felt calm even when he didn't say anything in return.

    It was just a first step, and a small one at that, something she should have told him years ago. Something she should have admitted to herself even earlier. But better late than never, Valara thought to herself, her eyes fluttering closed as she drifted off into an easy and restful sleep.
     
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  8. taramidala

    taramidala Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 1999
    Maz Kanata is my faaaaavorite! You wrote her perfectly. One of the things I loved best in the film was how she balanced snark with utter compassion, and you've written her that way here. And her send off...hee! [face_laugh]

    You know I love the meditation scene: the tree, how Luke is the brightest light...these were wonderful things for Valara to "see" and to feel.

    As for the last scene...I am a puddle. Brava, lady! :)
     
  9. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Oh wonderful! Luke being like a fountain of light, his natural teaching skills, the teasing at the meal ... :) Maz's wisdom and frustration at each of them [face_laugh] And V's honesty at the end. SQUEEE! Your writing is like - it is like an SW homecoming. [face_love] [face_love] All the things that reeled me in but better. [:D]
     
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  10. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004
    I love how quiet and calm their "consummation" was. With all the chaos in their earlier relationship, this was very fitting way to show how much Valara has grown.

    I loved seeing Maz again, and Farnay! Yay!

    Cannot wait to see where you go from here.
     
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  11. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    I absolutely love Maz playing matchmaker [face_laugh] but also telling things as they are. Great way to mirror the scene with Rey in TFA -- I've said this before, but I'm amazed at how you integrate bits and pieces of the new canon at every turn of this fic.

    Interesting idea that Maz would have been collecting artifacts for the Temple. I wonder if your psychic skills are at play here, because it feels very credible.

    I can understand why you found this chapter difficult to write, because to achieve this sort of balance in the meditation scene alone is quite a challenge. I liked how you dropped hints at Valara's past throughout the chapter -- the mention of the Inquisitors of course, but also the punishments for children pilfering from the kitchen :)eek:) And the recurring theme of Valara replacing eyesight with Force-sight has given me an idea about who you might have in mind to be an older Valara, but I'll wait until we get to that part of the story.

    Like JediMara77 said, this chapter went a long way to show how Valara has grown, but IMO it also shows how Luke has grown. He may still be a true believer (scrubbing the fresher as a focus exercise? [face_rofl]) but he is able to see his own limitations now.

    Can't wait to see what happens next!
     
  12. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Catching up after I resolved to go through all ST/A stuff properly and after I saw your entry in the OC thread. That, and Dasha, yeah.


    Chapter 1

    Love it how it starts with Leia being prickly and then there's a warning to Luke that somebody *else* might be prickly. The idea of somebody being involved in getting the Death Star plans like that and then getting some time off is some cool speculation. But there's the thing that followed luke throughout A New Hope - people die before he even gets to know them, which is evident when he toasts and realises that he didn't know anybody other than Biggs. :(


    Chapter 2

    Is this Valara some sort of a female Han? :p

    OK, kidding, but she definitely has something in common with Han. The first time I skimmed through this in September/October, I missed the crucial detail - her blindness - and it was only today that I figured out that this is not what I thought it was, when I saw the doll in the OC thread and a mention of Dasha Promenti (which is always nice!), so...that definitely changes things. It's hard to write blindess, but I can see that you're doing the same thing I did, writing a Force-sensitive blind person. There's no way that she would fall for Luke that easily after so much cynicism expressed otherwise, something is drawing her to him.

    Her stance after the first couple of sentences was prickly up to eleven, but with such a story, there are multiple ways to view it: from the cynical idea that Luke gets all the glory for the process she started, all over to the thought that she does not want him to end up like her.

    And that helmet definitely needs to be replaced. Yikes!


    Chapter 3

    Luke wanted to interject and point out that it wasn’t the case since he’d practically forced Valara to come Is that an innuendo?

    Valara laughed and shifted closer. “I think he meant don’t do anyone he wouldn’t do.” I guess I got the answer to my own question.

    I know that’s hard for you, but not everyone needs saving. - This needs to be printed out somewhere, I think. For all the serial saviors, regardless of gender. Sure, it came from somebody who doesn't save people, because serial saviors don't get it.

    even though its was fast-paced pronk - Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey. :D :D :D :D :D


    The kiss scene was beautiful. :) But wow, from never kissing a girl to what is obviously going to be some awkward first time experience with an older woman? Is it OK to assume that Valara's still got some of the dark side in her, something of the mythical kind? Those tropes are slippery ground (speaking of innuendos, mine are horrible :p), so this can get...sticky? OK, I'll stop here and start being serious.

    Now, everybody goes Nu!Mara, but from the little I know of Legends, there's definitely some Shira Brie in this character, too. Knew she would be a Force-sensitive somehow, but an Inquisitor? Whoa.

    As melodramatic as this may get, with the English Patient kind of a feeling and a common soap opera trope of blindness, this is Star Wars, therefore there's something creepy just around the corner.



    Chapter 4

    It's interesting that the morning after chapter starts with a throwback to the beginning of the story and the motif of loss. Now, we know where thinking of one's losses too much may lead, so Luke will hafta be careful.

    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. Here's one of 'em rough trades. You asked about it elsewhere, and you have them yourself, r-right here. Whether it's losing practically everybody vs. saving the Galaxy, saving his side while killing one million (?) folks on the Death Star or anonymity vs. notoriety and eventual celebrity of some kind, it's one of 'em rough trades, indeed.

    Wow. Valara sure has some strange habits. Going through her guy's things and then directing the conversation to the question about him thinking if she's a spy. Can she read his thoughts or something?

    And then, this, after he basically told her his whole life story.

    “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.”

    I...smell trouble. Not sure what kind of trouble, on whose behalf, but definitely trouble.

    Also, just realised that my spoilered guess in chapter two was spot-on, given that Valara knows these people are avoiding her.

    She laughed. “Sure, you’ll see me, Skywalker,” she said over her shoulder. “Even if I don’t see you.” - Reminds me of that line from Coolio's C U When U Get There. "I guess I'll see you when you see me."

    And that rule...hmmm. Fear of attachment may be fear of dark side once again.

    Sorry that this comment was basically "blah blah dark side blah blah".


    Chapter 5

    This is the kind of a thing that made it hard for me with my brain fog symptom to follow your other speculation fic before it was complete, so if I lose my mind - that doesn't mean I got p'd off or whatever - it was my stupid brain.

    For some reason, I think of kamikaze in the WWII. Nice duality, especially combined with dark as blind, dark as the result of noble sacrifice and dark as her dark side past.

    Now, I had a thought that is - sadly - so common IRL. Perhaps these people would be meh towards Valara even if it wasn't for her past. With a particular personal style and a troubled relationship with authorities, especially when the authorities are confusing, which is no doubt the case in the guerilla-style faction that is the Rebellion, one gets the bad guy/girl reputation easily. Even when they aren't a bad guy/girl. And that kind of stuff is hard to shake off. While I'm warry of her, I also feel for her regarding that AND the ugly teeth. Mine are the other way round, but it definitely is something that contributes to kids teasing. :(

    Is Yukimo a Miraluka?

    And I guess this was break-up sex in the end? Or temporary break-up sex, since they'll so obviously meat, I mean meet again. :p



    Chapter 6

    "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."

    Now, this is what I wonder about any situation where any kind of a celeb girlfriend would end up next to a fangirl. Been on the other side only, though. :p

    This worry stone reminds me of the mood ring from My Girl 2. There's something Vada Sultenfuss about Valara.


    Chapter 7

    Hobbie Klivian and Wes Janson sat to Wedge’s right, although Valara couldn’t remember which was which since they both wore identical expressions of idiocy. - This is very familiar. OMG MISANDRY. POOR MENZ. :p

    "He refuses to confirm or deny. But he blushes so prettily when asked." - So much about that no-blush-training.

    I'm drawing comparisons to common Tarot cards here and...hmmm, interesting. Really interesting.

    “So you’re saying that you haven’t given me a thought in the past two years?” Luke asked, before her now. He placed his hands on either side of the bar, boxing her in, his eyes boring into hers. “No fond memories to keep you warm on cold nights?” - Like father, like son. Now, THAT was awkward.

    The ice thing was cool!


    Chapter 8

    Uh-oh, from the romantic aspect, this was kinda painful and definitely lots of shades of grey - not talking about the book, but the principle. First she learns about the other girl and then it turns the other girl is dead, just like most people who enter Luke's life and whose life Luke enters.

    Now...Vader. He definitely did something to Valara in the past.

    And I find your lack of an obligatory mention of Aphra in this chapter disturbing. BECAUSE APHRA.



    Chapter 9

    This is where I start wondering why Valara has just one name. I understand that she's an orphan, but still, wondering if her last name is spoilerific. :p

    “It helped,” Luke conceded. “But you don’t need the Force to accomplish what at first seems impossible - my teammates in Rogue Squadron don’t have the Force, and I’ve seen every one of them do amazing things in an X-Wing. Or ask your Commander here how she once assaulted an Imperial Base and stole the Death Star plans,” he gestured to Valara. “At the time everyone said it couldn’t be done, but here she is, able to tell the tale, if you ask her nicely.” He winked at her, which earned him a scowl in response. “Very nicely,” he added. Wait, does he not get it and WE get it? Hmmm...

    Valara's hints of Luke and Leia being something else made me a bit uneasy. Then again, The Empire Strikes Back.

    Other than that, the whole school scene was great.


    Chapter 10

    That was awkward. It's like mentions of Vader change Valara's behaviour completely. She gets irrationally jealous, kind of strange and gets that L/L thing in her head again. Got to wonder what will happen once he's dead.

    And Leia is odd in Valara's presence, too! Then again, after what she'd just gone through, it's perfectly acceptable that she would be kinda aloof. In fact, she's pretty straight for somebody who went through such horrible things. And this is where her and Luke's motif from chapter 1 become a single thing. Whatever they touch is gone, gone, gone.


    Chapter 11

    And there they watch you, test you and train you, pushing you to the limit to see if you’ll survive - if not you’ll probably end up as a stormtrooper on some backrocket. - Another reminder of comics with Shira Brie in them!

    And this was an interesting clash of moralities. I did not look at others' comments until this chapter, but now that I did, everybody said everything I wanted to say.


    Chapter 12

    Remembering himself, Luke closed the distance between them, embracing her. “It’s good to see you,” he said a bit stiffly, drawing back to arm’s length. “To really see you. You never told me you were Force sensitive," he added lightly, trying not to show his hurt. “You said you knew nothing of the Force.” - Well, that took him ages. But now, come to think of it, given the story Obi-Wan presented to him, of course that he thought there was nothing Jedi-esque left anywhjere, all along.

    “Make sure you get the right hut,” Valara warned him with teasing grin. “I accidentally walked in on Bey and Dameron making another genetically perfect baby.” - Ha, Shattered Empire. Poe. :)

    “Well, I have a certain princess waiting for me,” Han said airily. - I have a bad feeling about this.

    And WOW, that didn't end well!


    Chapter 13

    Interesting contrast with Wedge and Valara - he could not avenge and, well, now I can see why he has that odd dislike for her. :(

    Great battle scene, but eeek at what happens!

    Back to square one...


    Chapter 14

    The feeling of not belonging anywhere, another theme I generally find gripping, shines through this. Or sheds darkness, whatever.

    “What’s left of the Empire has been driven to the Outer Rim - practically the Unknown Regions. It is anticipated that their Capital will be Rakata Prime, where what remains of their fleet has settled.” - This gives me some really bizarre ideas on how Snoke learned of the Force etc.

    The game Leia is playing here is risky, but totally in-character.

    And the ending...YKES.


    Chapter 15

    Oh, hello there, Huxy-Schmuxy. Oh, wait. It's his dad. His name sounds like a medicine.

    While I love it that Luke went for Valara, I'm still not sure if he can eventually save her from herself.


    Chapter 16

    Knew that she would break, but realise that she may need some time away from everybody. Such decisions are almost always extreme and never made easily, but if that's the price of finding her peace, the one she cannot find in the New Republic. I kind of suspect that she'll go for some monk-like life.


    Chapter 17

    Finally, Dasha. <3 <3 <3 And shes a kid. :)

    And yup, a monk life! However, in some form, this is cheating, since she can't let go. And she won't let go. If she was to let go, she would be someplace else and away from

    Now, Lor's mission has got to have something to do with Ach-To, right?


    Chapter 18

    Knew that wouldn't last long...ohwell.

    Ben and Valara seem to be making each other uneasy and Ben is as whiny as I expected him to be.

    Ben's love for swoop....very familiar.

    As far as the Devaron temple part goes, nothing to add.



    Chapter 19

    Every morning as the sun rose, Luke held meditation sessions in the tower of the Jedi Temple. He sat at the base of his Force tree, the one which had been liberated from the Empire after Endor.

    Now, the last thing I expected to see here was an Ewok custom!

    It was just a first step, and a small one at that, something she should have told him years ago. - Cool foreshadowing for Rey's climbing.

    ...

    After the whole scene and the part with Maz, my off-the-wall theory is that Valara gives birth to Rey [Skywalker] and then falls under Ben's mind probing somehow, as he's capable of those new, new things and then betrays the order and dies to save her daughter and somehow get Lor to escort her to Jakku and keep her away from the trouble. I'm probably crazy, so feel free to laugh at that.
     
  13. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005

    It was as satisfying for me to write as I hope it was for people to read. And I love Maz so much! She's such a joy, and she knows what's what - and thanks for that send off line, it was a good one!


    I admit I the "fountain of light"was inspired by Shadows of Mindor and the line "the opposite of a black hole is a white fountain" - and in many ways that's how I see Luke and his role in the Force, and now Valara sees it too. Being honest with herself as well as Luke is an important first step - it's certainly the first time she's ever been so emotionally vulnerable with him.


    Consummation is a good way to describe it - it was an emotional rather than a physical one, and the former is what was needed in this moment much more than the latter, especially when the latter has in fact hindered their relationship somewhat in the past.
    I really love picking up all these threads and characters from the nucanon - I imagine Farnay was a great help to Luke in setting up the Temple, and has been an important friend and ally since then.

    Given Maz's treasure trove beneath her pub and Luke's search for artifacts with Lor San Tekka as per the Visual Dictionary, it seemed appropriate to connect the two! She's a bit of a Rogue, too, but with a kind heart dispensing advice and understanding to Valara as she will one day do with Rey.

    Oh, now you've intrigued me to know who you're thinking! I've kept a lot of Valara's past back, but now as she's opening up to herself it's being revealed to the reader as well, quite sadly I thought, since she recalls an abusive and difficult childhood with nonchalance. That was just normal life to her - punishments were handed out freely and on some level she probably saw them as deserved.


    I admit, there is an aspect of Mr Miyagi in teacher!Luke - "sand the floor!" :p

    ANH is such a tragedy behind the happy ending of the throne room scene, which I think would hit Luke pretty hard in the aftermath.


    I'm a sucker for the trope of the bitter, beaten-down-by-life person being drawn to the person of pure sunshine, and was attracted to the idea to her being inexplicably attracted to the person who she really should dislike.

    Valara's a good teacher, and Luke's eager to learn ;)

    Well, there were always similarities between Mara and Shira, and who knows if any part of them has been repurposes in Rogue One - I guess we'll see! And yes, there's creepiness, but perhaps not in the way people would expect...


    You're right - and Valara's certainly had her own rough trades to make in her life as well, so it's apt.

    She's an odd duck, not particularly trusting, and prone to falling back lifelong habits rational people would find intrusive ;)


    Got it in one.

    Have you seen pictures of Felicity Jones? The teeth thing was based on the actresses' which I can imagine were a source of teasing when she was a kid, and as with so many childhood anxieties/habits is one that carries over into adulthood.

    But yeah, you're right she'd probably be an outsider in the Rebellion even if they didn't know her past since she purposefully keeps people at a distance by being generally unlikeable.

    I admit I had to Google that! It's based on the promo shot for Rogue One, and Donnie Yen character who seemed to be depicted as blind or otherwise vision impaired.


    [face_laugh] Okay? Although given that she does also lose a childhood friend (albeit in vastly different circumstances) maybe it's not so far off. Maybe more Sourpuss than Sultenfuss ;)


    Well the cards were based on nucanon sabacc with a hint of Legends sabacc, but some of the game/card play was definitely deliberate.


    In my defence, when this chapter was written all that had been released was the inital preview with the crash - I didn't know Luke and Aphra were going to meet, hence Luke brushing off an explanation of what else happened ;)



    Not a spoiler so much as an indication that she and her fellow orphans were so little considered by the Imperial establishment that they didn't even bother to give them proper names. And her not having a proper name has some emotional weight which may be addressed later on...


    Leia is the ultimate internaliser, keep calm and carry on person. In many ways she and Valara are very similar, and they have a kind of accord even if they're not quite friends.


    Yes, and my reasoning was also that Luke underwent a spiritual awakening of sorts on the Death Star in ROTJ - he truly became a Jedi when he threw his lightsaber away, and so the universe fully opened up for him and he was able to see and perceive things he hadn't before.

    The OT was in many ways a story about orphans, but at least Luke and Leia were raised in loving homes - Valara never felt wanted and more than that her very existence was considered burdensome on the system - the only people who ever wanted her turned out to be evil and used her poorly, and after that she shunned emotional connections of any kind until it snuck up on her with Luke.


    She was right, he has to save people, and especially people he loved. It was a character growth moment for him as much as her, in forcing himself to step back and allow her to make the choice herself, on her own terms. While he can help, only she can save herself and have it mean anything.


    You suspect correctly!


    Perhaps ;) And yep, we don't know Dasha's age but I did some research on the actress and at this point in the timeline she would have still been quite young. It was a necessary cheat at this point, I think, to make a clean break while the wound it still raw but as Lor tells her she can't run away forever.


    I don't think Ben is a complete entitled brat at this stage, and Valara's somewhat tumultuous presence in the Force makes his suspicious and uneasy - but kids can be so proprietary over their loved ones.


    I didn't know! It's actually a reference to the Force Tree Luke liberates in the Shattered Empire comics.


    Nope, no laughing here. Although I won't say how close you may or may not be ;) Thanks for the extensive commentary!
     
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  14. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Yikes, another month between updates, but at least it's a nice long one.

    Tags: @mattman8907, @EGKenobi


    10 ABY, Jedi Temple, Devaron

    Valara awoke with a sense of unease, and turned her face towards the open window where a breeze was lightly rustling the linen curtains. The sun was already piercing through the morning mist - she'd slept in. Turning over, Valara ran her hand over the empty bed beside her, a slight depression in the mattress from where Luke had slept.

    It had been several weeks since she had gone to him, and every night since when the Temple was silent and its inhabitants abed she crept down the hallways and into his room. Luke would always welcome her to slide in beside him and they would talk, often just about the mundane events of the day, but sometimes the conversation would drift deeper - she would speak more freely about her childhood and the Inquisitorius, and he told her all he had discovered about his mother and father.

    In the dark and in his arms her secrets flowed more freely than they had ever done before. But words and a soft embrace was as far as they ever went, their relationship remaining utterly chaste. But as Valara ran her hand through the rumpled sheets and inhaled Luke's scent that still lingered, the stab a longing hit her in the gut was impossible to ignore. She didn't dare reach out for him in the night, knowing that they'd made that mistake far too often in the past, but it was also clear that they were on the cusp of something powerful.

    Valara pushed aside those thoughts and rose to get ready for the day. Luckily Luke's quarters were located in an isolated wing of the Temple and so no one was around to see her creep back to her own room even though it was late morning. She'd missed meditation, so decided to make her way down to the sparring gym.

    Luke's apprentice Laisha was already there, performing a kata for Form V lightsaber combat, her lekku bouncing softly as she did so. Otherwise the room was empty, and Valara wound her way through the bleachers, collecting various items which had been left there the day before.

    "I wondered who had forgotten to clean up last night." The Togruta threw her a smile as she practiced a blocking move.

    "I didn't forget." Valara picked up a discarded sash and flung it over her shoulder. It had been another headache, and she'd retreated to her bed to rest right after dinner but hadn't been able to sleep until she'd gone to Luke later. Unable to keep her headaches from him any longer, Luke had held her face in his hands, pressing the pads of his index fingers gently to her temples. The pain had eased with sweet relief, and he'd promised to teach her the healing power and suggested a reduced workload. Valara had refused, adamant that she must pull her weight and learn to cope.

    "Do you want to join me?" Laisha tried again, and although Valara appreciated the girl's attempt at kindness she shook her head and continued with her work. It didn't take long; practice weapons returned to the storage room, robes and attire sent to the laundry and rubbish disposed of. By that time Laisha had moved onto practicing with her lightsaber, the green blade reflecting off her pink and purple lekku as she swung it around.

    Valara sat down on the bleachers to watch, intrigued by her style which was obviously influenced by Luke's, but had a certain flamboyance to it. Laisha was quick, moving the saber from one hand to the other, spinning the handle around her wrist twice.

    "Where do you think you are?" Valara asked when she could stand it no more. "The Felucian Academy for Baton Twirling?"

    Laisha halted, shutting down her blade as the pink skin of her cheeks darkened to red, making her zig-zag face marking stand out. "I've been watching holos of Old Republic Jedi - many of them employed such moves."

    "After they mastered the basics," Valara said sternly as she rose and approached the young Togruta. "While you're flipping that thing around your opponent can attack you here." She pointed to Laisha's unprotected side. "Or here," she pointed to her left kneecap. "Your inexperience leaves you open."

    "Will you spar with me then?" Laisha asked, unperturbed by the rebuke. "I want to learn."

    A chill went down Valara's spine, and she turned away. "I'll watch," she conceded, taking her seat back on the bleachers. "And tell you what you're doing wrong."

    That worked well for a time, with Valara calling out advice and instructions and Laisha quickly adapting to fix her mistakes. When they stopped for a break she plonked herself down on the bench, and Valara instinctively shifted slightly away. But it Laisha noticed she didn't say anything, her smile broad.

    "You're a good teacher," she said, her breathing still slightly laboured. "I mean, Luke is too, but he tells me to trust my instincts a lot, and I worry that my instincts aren't right."

    Valara nodded, threading her fingers together on her lap. "He's has such a strong connection to the Force, he forgets not everyone hears it as clearly as he does."

    "Right?" Laisha inched closer, seizing on the common ground between them and this time Valara forced herself not to move away. "Sometimes it's just nice to be told how to do something, rather than trying to figure things out by myself."

    "Careful though," Valara cautioned her. "Lest it go too far the other way."

    Laisha's smile faded into something more serious, but Valara could still see excitement simmering under the surface. She nodded, leaning in closer still.

    "Were you really an Inquisitor?"

    Valara bristled, looking away as her hands clenched together in her lap.

    "I'm sorry, Luke said you didn't like to talk about it," Laisha said. "He told me not to ask."

    If Luke had one firm rule at the Academy, it was that people address him by his first name. They would always greet him in awe, it's such an honour to meet you, Master Skywalker, and he'd always reply, call me Luke. Some took to it straight away, while some - usually the older ones - held firm for a while until they were worn down by Luke's affable insistence.

    "Yet you did ask." Valara appraised Laisha coolly, but held her gaze steadily and did not blink - not challenging her, but not backing down either.

    "Yes."

    "I don't always do what Luke tells me either." Valara smiled, satisfied by Laisha's resolve. "And I suppose I should talk about it."

    Laisha looked visibly relieved. "Did you know the Emperor?"

    "I met him once," Valara told her, blood running cold at the memory. "We were overseen by the Grand Inquisitor, who answered to Darth Vader. The Emperor rarely gave orders directly."

    "My older sisters were both slaves in his court," Laisha said softly. "I was only a child, and my parents were able to get me away at the cost of their own lives - I traced the records of my sisters to Coruscant, but have never been able to find out what happened to them."

    Valara swallowed the sudden bitter taste in her mouth. "I can't help you, I'm sorry." She was - how many times had she walked past slaves in the Imperial Palace and not seen their suffering? How many excuses had she made for the system that had made her, abused her, and then risen her?

    "I know." Laisha's gaze slid away, and she was visibly disappointed. "But...what did the dark side feel like?"

    "I hope you never know."

    "But how am I to fight it if I cannot recognise it?" she pressed. "Luke says not to suppress my feelings, but not to let them rule me either. I feel anger and sorrow about my mother, but what of that is natural emotion, and what is dangerous?"

    "You'd be better off asking Luke those kinds of questions."

    Laisha looked down at her hands, abashed. "I already pester him so much. And you always seem so...controlled. So self-possessed - I wish I could be like that."

    "How I learned that isn't exactly aspirational," Valara said, that cold feeling of dread returning. "As an Inquisitor, we were taught not to feel anything except gratitude and loyalty to the Empire for our position, satisfaction in fulfilling our purpose in life. And when you feel nothing, control is easy."

    "You feel now, though." Laisha put a hand on her arm, squeezing it lightly. "When you look at him, a little bit of that control slips."
    Valara looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

    Laisha laughed. "Of course not." She reached into the bag by her feet and withdrew a lightsaber handle, different to the one clipped to her belt. "If you don't want to talk about that, perhaps you can help me with this." She held out the Inquisitor lightsaber Luke had purchased from Maz Kanata.

    "Did Luke give you that?" Valara was concerned - it hardly seemed in character for him to hand over an unfamiliar blade to an apprentice.

    "It was in his weapons room," Laisha defended herself, the blush on her pink cheeks indicating her guilt. "He didn't say not to use it, and you're the best person to show me."

    "You're brave, girl," Valara couldn't help but smile. "I'll give you that. And I don't want you to cut off your hand with that thing." She held out her palm, and Laisha dropped the saber handle into it. It was sleek, and she didn't recognise it as belonging to any of her former comrades. But she reminded herself that she'd likely been quickly replaced when she'd defected, and many years had passed before the Empire fell.

    Still, just the shape of the blade with its semi-circular emitter made her pulse quicken. There was a pull of familiarity inside of her, not unpleasant but still slightly frightening. Laisha stood and crossed to the centre of the sparring square, folding her arms and looking to Valara expectantly.

    "It is much the same as a normal lightsaber," Valara said as she stood at the edge of the sparring square and ignited one side of the blood-red blade. "Just longer," she added with a smile, thumbing the switch which extended the second blade as she held the lightsaber horizontally in front of her and shifted into a defensive stance.

    "Length doesn't necessarily improve performance." A warm voice called from across the room, and Valara turned to see Luke leaning casually against the bleachers. She threw him a flirtatious smile.

    "Really? That hasn't been my experience," she teased him.
    "It means nothing if you don't know how to wield it."

    "Oh, I know how." Valara grinned over the red glow of her lightsaber blade. "As has been your experience."

    Her words had the desired effect, and Luke grinned, his Force sense rippling pleasantly. Laisha cleared her throat, reminding them of her presence.

    "I'm here to learn lightsaber combat," she said dryly. "Not innuendo."

    "Don't underestimate the power of unsettling your opponent," Valara told her, moving into attack stance. Then she advanced, grasping the saber with both hands and striking at Laisha with one blade and then the other. She blocked easily enough, although she seemed a little surprised by the speed of Valara's attack, but quickly found a pace. Luke had taught Laisha well, although she had the tendency of most beginners to over rely on standard moves of the Form and so it was easy for Valara to anticipate her movements.

    It wasn't long before she'd confused the girl, knocking her lightsaber away with one of her red blades, and then holding the other to Laisha's throat.

    "See?" Valara kept her eyes on Laisha, enjoying her defeat, but raising her voice to Luke. "An extra blade is an advantage."

    "Yes, congratulations on overcoming a beginner." Luke strode forward, resting his hand lightly on Laisha's back. "Not that you didn't do well, Lai'," he added. "Your footwork has greatly improved."

    Laisha didn't seem cowed by her defeat. "Like you say, Luke, every defeat is a chance to learn."

    "And Valara's happy to give the lesson." Luke winked at her, still playful although she felt a ripple of his intent. "But can she school me, do you think?"

    "I think it's something I'd like to see," Laisha said slyly, slipping away to collect her saber and take a seat on the bleachers.

    Valara stepped back but kept her lightsaber activated, a thrilling surge of anticipation down her spine. She'd never dueled with Luke before although he'd asked - she'd been too wary of being drawn back into her Inquisitor mindset, but when she'd sparred with Laisha it had sparked something in her long forgotten, tapped into a well of adrenaline impossible to ignore.

    In one smooth motion Luke drew his own lightsaber and ignited the green blade, bringing it up vertically before his face in a classic Jedi sign of respect. Valara grasped the long handle of her weapon with both hands and pivoted on one foot, bring one blade down towards his.
    They met with a resounding crack, the energy of each blade impacting against the other in fits of sizzling sparks. Valara kept her eyes on his face, lit up by the green and red of their sabers, his expression determined but calm.

    She began her attack and they dueled, a precise but frenzied volley of parries and thrusts as they danced each other around the sparring square. Valara had known he was an exceptional swordsman from watching him train, but was astounded at the ease in which he fended off her dual-bladed blows with his solitary one. Within minutes she was panting heavily, sweat beading on her forehead and the back of her neck while he remained unruffled, the small smile on his face almost taunting her.

    Valara fended off a blow and took a few steps backward, holding her blade before herself with one outstretched arm. Luke hung back, intrigued as to her next move. He must have figured it out, Valara told herself, perhaps even practiced carefully in private. But she'd show him how to truly wield an Inquisitor blade. With her free hand she flicked the switch on the emitter and the second half of it snapped into place; the handle now encased by a perfect circle of steel. She heard Laisha gasp as the twin blades began to spin around the emitter, picking up speed until the blades were moving so fast they formed a light shield.

    Luke laughed and stepped back into an attack stance. "A neat trick," he declared. "But one that only compensates for lack of skill."
    "Come get me then, if you're so sure."

    "Pleasure." He moved forward with characteristic grace, bringing his blade down upon hers but was repelled. Valara chuckled, the power shifting between them as she only needed to make small movements to fend off his attacks. Then she pushed back against him, years of practice and battle flooding back to her as she pressed her advantage. How many hours had she spent training with such a saber, the laser power turned down so a mistake would result in injury rather than a lost limb? But the Grand Inquisitor had not been an easy master, and every time she clawed a victory he would turn the power up, pushing her not just to excel, but to be without fault. How many nights had she wept as she'd applied the bacta salve to her legs and arms, the effect only minimal against burns so severe? But she had mastered the weapon, and an insidious voice inside her called her wasteful for abandoning the skill until now.

    The friendly spar turned on such thoughts as Valara set her sights on victory. She could taste it, feel it in the thrill that ran up her spine and tingled in her belly, hear it in the clash of their blades, smell it in the sweat that clung to her hair. Luke's smile was gone, his focus honed in on her and she could feel him cautiously on the fringes of her thoughts but she battered him away.

    However, he proved himself greater than any of her past opponents when he took an unexpected step back and then stabbed with his saber directly at her heart. The solid, strong movement was timed perfectly to penetrate the spinning blades of her lightsaber, halting them in place. Valara looked down at Luke's green blade mere centimetres from her body, but of course the movement and distance had been precisely calculated. She'd never seen anyone use such a move - not even the Grand Inquisitor whose skill with the blade had far exceeded her own.

    Inexplicable rage filled her as that voice railed against defeat. Valara swung her blade again, throwing Luke off kilter, and she felt his surprise in the Force. Bested, he must have expected her to accept good naturedly, exchange a few playful words and have a long discussion about technique. Instead she gave him a fresh assault, her old drive fueling her, as powerful as it had ever been before she's suppressed it. Now it rose to the fore like a pilot gleeful to be back at the controls, and Valara swung her blade wildly.

    Luke could only be kept off guard for a second, and defended against her spinning blades which struck at him again and again. When she got too close, her blade skimming just centimetres away from his right shoulder, he deflected with his lightsaber in one hand, and then held out the other and pushed. Valara was thrown backwards, Luke deactivating her lightsaber with the Force as she flew through the air. She landed in a crouch, and looked down at her lifeless weapon as white-hot rage erupted within her. How dare he disarm her?

    She thumbed the twin blades back on spin, stretching her arm behind herself as they picked up speed. Then she rose and launched the saber at him with one swift movement, heedless of Laisha's gasp or Luke's grunt of surprise. But the moment it left her hand she regretted it, a silent no forming on her lips as the spinning blades flew directly at Luke's head.

    He deflected it with a swift movement of his own blade, sending it spinning onto the far side of the room where it hit a sparring mat, ripping through the rubber before deactivating and coming to rest on the floor.

    Valara panted heavily, pressing a hand to her mouth as a wave of nausea passed through her. What had she done? She could have killed him, and for what? She turned to Laisha, wide-eyed and trembling on the bench.

    "There, did you feel it?" Valara asked her. "The dark side?"

    Unable to look at Luke she ran from the room, the pain of failure closing like a vice around her heart.

    ______________________________________________________


    It was late - past midnight by Luke's reckoning. Usually Valara had come to him by now, but the long minutes ticked by and she did not appear in his doorway as he had grown used to. He knew what kept her away, of course, how could he have expected otherwise? She was ashamed, and his gentle understanding would only make her feel worse.

    Having spent years without her, it was strange how quickly Luke had become accustomed to her warm body curled up beside his, the idle way she toyed with the loose fabric of his tunic when they talked, the smell of her hair when he awoke in the morning. He reached out to her through the Force, carefully navigating the rest of the sleeping populace to gently touch her mind.

    Please come.

    A long time ago, she would have refused just to prove she could. But Luke hoped that they had moved beyond such meaningless games, and was proved right when within ten minutes her shadow appeared in the doorway. He could still feel the aftershocks of the dark side about the fringes of her presence, but he did not pull back. Instead Luke lifted the blankets as he always did, allowing her to slide in beside him.

    This time Valara turned in his arms back to face the doorway, although she accepted his embrace as he shifted his body to spoon her. Luke did not speak, knowing how difficult it had been for her to come at all, to face him after her failure in the sparring square. How dark she'd felt in those moments, how unpredictable and relentless that even hours later it still clung to her.

    "That girl of yours is rather inquisitive." Valara's voice was measured and calm, but Luke did not miss her deliberate choice of words.
    "She will make a fine Jedi," Luke replied, happy to begin with an easy point of conversation. "Although I admit I do not always have the answers for her."

    "Ah, so trust your instincts is Jedi code for I have no idea?"

    "You know all my secrets," Luke shifted closer to her.

    "No I don't," Valara said mildly. "And I shouldn't."

    She was projecting, but Luke didn't want to press the issue too soon. "You know more than anyone else. You're the only one here who sees me as something other than the wise Jedi with the power of the universe in my hand."

    Valara ran her fingers lightly along his arm around her waist. "That's because I remember a fresh-faced farmboy who didn't know the difference between an under-swoop and a pitch maneuver."

    "That's because I flew on instinct, not form," he teased. "And besides, they call it a Skywalker Swoop now."

    "Of course they do." He couldn't see it, but knew she was rolling her eyes. "If they named something after me, it would be the Valara Valet: doing all the work and getting none of the credit."

    "The Valara Vantage point," Luke suggested. "In sims you'd always fly above everyone else."

    "The Valara Vamp," she shot back. "How to seduce the hotshot young pilot every other girl is going wild over."

    "With insults, as I recall," Luke teased, before lifting himself up on one elbow to get a better view of her face. "The Valara Valiant," he added softly, running one finger lightly over the scars by her eyes. "For extreme bravery."

    "How can you say that?" Her voice was very soft. "After what happened today."

    "Valara." He stroked her cheek lightly, and she looked up at him, her eyes filled with great sorrow and regret. "You knew that was still inside of you, surely you didn't think ignoring it would be enough?"

    She cast her gaze down again, but did not flinch when he reached out to her through the Force, seeking to envelop her in a safe, warm cocoon.

    "You failed, so what?" he continued, running his hand along her upper arm, warming the cold skin. "It happens. I know - I failed so many times early in my training I got used to it, and it wasn't the same for you. I know in the Empire failure meant punishment or death, and embracing the dark was the only way to survive. But that darkness isn't who you are, it's what you were taught."

    Valara shifted slightly and bit her lip, but he knew she was listening.

    "Yoda once told me that I had to unlearn what I had learned. I think what he meant was that nothing defines us completely, because we are constantly learning, constantly growing. And we move in the wrong direction, we can correct it."

    Curling up within herself, Valara pulled the blankets up to her chest and sighed. "It's a long way to come back from."

    "But not impossible," he pressed, his most fervent belief. "The dark side was always described to me as a fall - but no one can fall forever, eventually they must reach the bottom. And once there they can choose to stay, or to claw their way back out."

    Valara was silent for a long time, and he could feel the workings of her mind even if he could not discern her exact thoughts. "I shut myself away from it," she said eventually, nodding ever so slightly. "I thought if I found peace that would be enough, but I need to learn tolerance."

    "Balance," Luke corrected her. "The darkness within you must be faced - only then can you overcome it, and live with it."
    Valara turned in his arms, taking his face in her hands. She seemed anxious as her eyes darted over his face, as if she was searching for something - his reassurance?

    "When I threw that blade at you, I was right back to that girl who killed her only friend for position," she said softly.

    "Taleem." Luke recalled her confession so long ago. She'd only spoken of him obliquely since, the wound still painful.

    "He told me to, and I obeyed - my will so weak against him."

    "Who?"

    "The Grand Inquisitor," she told him, visibly shuddering. "He had once been a Jedi you know - a Temple Guard."

    Luke was surprised that the Emperor would have allowed it, but he supposed the man had found it fitting to distort and turn a Jedi into an Inquisitor. Palpatine had been a true corrupting force, everyone he turned a victory because in turn the dark side would infect others. But this was the key, he realised. Not the moment when it had begun for Valara - no, they had been pulling her her soul since birth. But the moment her path had been set.

    "Show me," he requested softly. "Show me what you cannot tell me."

    Valara's eyes widened for a moment, but then she closed them and opened herself up to him. Luke pressed his forehead lightly against hers and saw through her eyes, the memory as crisp as if it was his own, but coming to him in flashes.

    The Grand Inquisitor - humanoid but not human; tall, his skin white with red markings. Choosing her, praising her, training her. Six brothers and sisters of varying races who made up the Inquisitorius.

    Taleem on the floor, defeated, the Inquisitors forming a circle around her, but their faces did not contain the approval she had expected.
    "You must finish him." The Grand Inquisitor, his voice cultured and rich but with an edge of steel. "To serve the Empire you must sever all bonds, prove that you cannot be swayed by emotion."

    Taleem looking up at her with his large, dark eyes, saying nothing but pleading with her all the same. The snap-hiss of the Inquisitor's lightsaber, feeling the edge of it sear her hair and the red shaft in the corner of her eye.

    "There is no place for the weak here. Finish him."

    Hesitation. Flashes of the past, them both much younger, sitting on hard bunks and giggling, swapping stories, her punching an older boy in the face for calling him crippled, Taleem teaching her the inner workings of an alarm system.

    The Inquisitor's voice again, screaming, demanding, ordering. What was she, if not obedient?

    Raising her blaster and shooting Taleem right between the eyes. An emptiness where he had once been in her heart and mind.

    The Grand Inquisitor's hand clasping her shoulder, his crisp voice in her year. "Good. But my dear, you hesitated, and that is unacceptable."

    The attack from her left, the First Brother with his fiststriking her cheek. Blocking the second blow; another coming for her.
    Pain screaming through her, on the floor, badly battered and sobbing.

    The Grand Inquisitor ordering a halt, knelling down before her, using the sleeve of his own robe to clean the blood from her face.

    "The Empire was benevolent. You were an unwanted child, and you were given a place to live, food to eat, a chance to prove yourself. That is a debt you can never repay."

    The truth she had been taught since birth.

    "And now I have saved your life again - so it belongs to me, do you understand?"

    Her mouth tasting like blood, her lip swollen, her arm broken. "Yes."

    His dark smile, his gentle but strong arms helping her to her feet. The others closing in on her again, but this time embracing her.
    "You are our sister, now."

    Luke gasped as he pulled himself from the vision, reminding himself that they were only shadows of a past. Valara's face was wet, and the look she gave him expected rejection.

    "Oh, V," he said, drawing her close. "I wish I could take these burdens from you."

    "No," she shook her head and sniffed. "They are mine to bear."

    "Not alone," he assured her, brushing back the hair from her forehead and placing a gentle kiss to the scars around her eyes. "Not alone anymore."
     
  15. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Luke's analogy about Darkness - wonderful and so full of trust and hopefulness in innate goodness and in the fact that it's never irreversible or too late. [face_love] [face_love]

    I love his wisdom and the dichotomy you've created, or the divide rather. He and V are platonic atm but growing closer as confidantes. She's letting herself feel emotionally safe instead of using physical intimacy as a "solution" to not facing things. [face_thinking] And it's working well for her, looks like. She's really truly letting go and moving onward, on the inside where it lasts and counts. :) @};-
     
    AzureAngel2, JadeLotus and Ewok Poet like this.
  16. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Re: "Yet another month" - all good, how would it be the way you want it to be if you hurried it? :) It's so obvious that you worked a lot on this chapter and that's for the best!

    Valara awoke with a sense of unease, and turned her face towards the open window where a breeze was lightly rustling the linen curtains. - Not sure if I'm supposed to see a parallelism with TYFTTS and your wedding fic gift here again, but I do. The whole "sun" motif, as starwarsy as can be, is like a drone tone going through your stories <insert a nonsensical comment about Camille Dalmais' Le Fil here>

    They would always greet him in awe, it's such an honour to meet you, Master Skywalker, and he'd always reply, call me Luke. - Heeeeey. :D

    She was projecting, but Luke didn't want to press the issue too soon. "You know more than anyone else. You're the only one here who sees me as something other than the wise Jedi with the power of the universe in my hand." - Knew this would come in handy, but not without a price. Everything they have been through so far is a huge price for "knowing the real you".

    "Of course they do." He couldn't see it, but knew she was rolling her eyes. "If they named something after me, it would be the Valara Valet: doing all the work and getting none of the credit." - Said this, will say it again: that kind of stuff HURTS. :( Can't even begin to imagine how much it hurts when one's almost killed.

    There are a lot of little gems throughout this chapter - Luke healing Valara's headache, the forehead-to-forehead moment so prevalent in many cultures even here on Earth, the great flashback and a gripping combat scene. However, I'm most concerned about Laisha, as she may be playing with fire out of curiosity, accidentally getting Valara to the side she does not want to remember, the side she's supressing, or both. On the other hand, they can probably identify with each other's lack of identity story, at least a little bit.

    Not to mention that somebody else also had a bold Togruta Padawan...;)

    The platonic aspect of the relationship, the new, new thing to explore that can be intense enough with or without sexual passion...loving it!
     
  17. Jedi_Perigrine

    Jedi_Perigrine Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2008
    I've been reading this over the last week or so. I have to say I love this story! You've crafted a brilliant character in Valara--she's a wonderfully crafted person, with believable motivations, a strong (understatement) personality, and someone we can cheer for through all her faults. I also really like the world you're constructing here. I think it gives a fantastic direction to the questions left behind by Ep 7. I think Disney could use this whole thing...they'll call it Rogue Two. ;)

    Great job! Just love it. Please let me know when you update this! =D==D==D=
     
  18. JediMaster_Jen

    JediMaster_Jen Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2002
    Just caught up. Wow!!^:)^ I love how you write Luke and Valara. His staunch belief that people can choose who they want to be is spot on. Valara is such a complex mix of anger and fear, love and longing, happiness and despair; all are what make her such an interesting character.

    Can't wait for more. Great work.=D=
     
  19. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Thank you! That analogy was actually poached from another fic which is unfinished and probably won't be posted and it seemed to fit here.


    I think they're both aware that in the past they've used each other as a distraction, and that V has to actually deal with her issues if she wants to heal.

    Thank you!

    Valara awoke with a sense of unease, and turned her face towards the open window where a breeze was lightly rustling the linen curtains. - Not sure if I'm supposed to see a parallelism with TYFTTS and your wedding fic gift here again, but I do. The whole "sun" motif, as starwarsy as can be, is like a drone tone going through your stories <insert a nonsensical comment about Camille Dalmais' Le Fil here>[/quote]

    Yep, "Luke as the sun" is a motif that runs through pretty much all of my fics, and imo is the core of Luke's character

    The other core of Luke's character is a lack of pretension - at 30 he's still the same man who told a droid not to call him Sir ;)

    A price they'd both consider willing to pay, I think.

    Very true ;) Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to make things clear - it's natural padawan curiosity about the dark side and Valara has more experience than Luke so she's the best person to comment on it - and it exposed something Valara needed to deal with, and better for her to do that in a controlled environment rather than continue to bury the problem.

    It was important for me to show progression in their relationship - they've done the friends with benefits, (kind of) tried the relationship thing, and now it makes sense to leave the physical to one side to break the cycle.




    Thank you, I will!

    I don't think the background to TFA will look anything like this, but hey, speculation is what fanfic is for ;) Valara's become very special to me, so I'm always so chuffed when people like her, especially given her flaws and dark backstory.


    Thank you! Star Wars is all about choice to me, and I think there's great strength in acknowledging the mistakes of ones past and choosing the light. There's a quote from JaneAusten that I love - "I am half agony, half hope" and I think that's the point Valara is at in this chapter.
     
  20. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Tags: @mattman8907, @EGKenobi Jedi_Perigrine

    Thanks to taramidala for her help with this chapter!

    Update just in time for the Rogue One teaser trailer to drop, and everything in this fic starts to be contradicted ;)

    Edit: And it's happened - Jyn Erso is the character name, and the backstory is clearly different BUT I actually think the characterisation looks pretty close.



    11 ABY, Jedi Temple, Devaron

    It was the middle of summer and temperatures had been climbing higher every day, much to the discomfort of the Temple residents. For Luke himself it was perhaps worse than for most, for while he was accustomed to the heat, he struggled with the humidity and fierce downpours of rain. While the stone Temple walls kept out the worst of it, Luke regretted his decision not to install climate control facilities and had taken to holding classes outside.

    By the afternoon however his eager students had dispersed to pursue private study or reflection, and as had become their habit Luke and Valara commenced more directed training.

    She stood on one of the thick vines which grew and spread along the ground, separating the Temple from the dense jungle beyond. Her eyes were closed and her arms held slightly outwards for balance, breathing slow and even. Luke reached out through the Force to touch her mind gently, and she let him in without resistance. When he closed his own eyes he could see through hers - the dark world which every day was drawing closer.

    But there was light as well - Valara had developed and deepened her senses to discern the world around her through the Living Force. The Temple in the distance shone brightly, the Force-sensitive souls within giving form and structure to the building. The maze of vines almost gave the appearance of power lines siphoning light from Temple back out to feed the jungle, which was alive with variances in the Force. He saw himself, shining on the periphery and blinked back into his own head.

    Valara began to walk along the length of the vine, her steps nimble and sure. “Simple,” she proclaimed, pausing slightly before walking backwards, slightly more cautiously. “In Inquisitor training they used to make us walk tightropes.”

    “Blindfolded?”

    “No,” Valara conceded with a smile. “But they were suspended ten metres in the air, so there were higher stakes.”

    “I see.” While Luke was glad to know that she had become far more open with speaking of her past, the details still troubled him. It had been many months since she’d returned, and the nights they’d spent together sharing secrets had brought them closer than he’d ever thought possible. The more she shared of her past life, the more her fear of it receded, and in turn Luke shared with her his doubts and worries, finding her understanding and advice a cool relief from his former loneliness.

    “So I can see well enough here,” Valara spoke up, eyes still closed as she jumped up onto a higher vine with a graceful leap. “But what happens on a planet without life in abundance?”

    “I’ll have to take you to Tatooine one day to see,” Luke said, recalling a conversation from many years earlier. “You asked me to once, do you remember?”

    “I do.” Valara balanced herself as she walked the length of the vine. “Although I also remember you saying you’d never go back there.”

    Luke slicked damp hair back from his forehead and chuckled lightly. “A dry heat isn’t sounding too bad right about now.”

    “I suppose-” Valara lost her footing and fell back to the lower vine, recovering enough to grasp it with her hands and steady herself. Luke knew better than to intervene - she needed to learn to get by with assistance. Eye still tightly shut, Valara righted herself and sighed.

    “More focus,” she muttered to herself. “Right.”

    “Try it with the staff,” Luke suggested, picking up the metal quarterstaff he’d cobbled together from scrap metal at Valara’s request, and tossing it to her. She caught it with ease, spinning it around a few times and holding it in front of her in a defensive position before starting a kata. Her balance wobbled moving into the first position, but Valara slowed down and took a deep breath to centre herself before continuing with the exercise.

    There was a rustling from the jungle behind them, and Luke turned to see a young Devaronian woman emerge from the trees, her white and brown hair braided down her back. It wasn’t uncommon to find her in the trees, unnoticed and keeping an eye on things.

    “Farnay,” Luke greeted her with a smile. “How nice to see you.”

    “I was intrigued by your lesson, Luke,” Farnay said, coming to stand beside him as Valara continued with her kata, feet moving through the various positions with care. “She fell, and yet you challenge her with more?”

    “Sometimes when you fail at something simple,” Luke told her, “you need to excel at something difficult.” He rose his hand and through the Force called several small pebbles up into the air. Without warning, he directed one Valara’s way, and he felt her flicker of surprise before she brought up her staff to deflect it. Luke shot the rest of them through the air, and Valara wobbled a bit but kept her balance, spinning her staff to block all but one, which hit her in the shoulder.

    She exhaled harshly as she opened her eyes, holding the staff with one hand and using the other to rub the spot. “Nice shot,” she said with a wry smile.

    “But that was very impressive Valara,” Farnay told her, always supportive of her fellow students.

    “90% impressive, perhaps,” Valara said wryly, spinning the staff absently between her hands.

    “No, Farnay’s right,” Luke nodded. “You asked before how to sense non-living things. You seemed to do just fine with the rocks.”

    Valara stabbed the vine she was standing on lightly with the staff and leaned on it, and next to him Farnay winced slightly.

    “Sorry,” Valara said, seeing Farnay’s distress and removing the staff.

    “A chance to test your new skills,” Luke encouraged her, putting his hand on Farnay’s back as they approached the vine. Valara hopped down onto the ground as Luke took a seat on the vine next to the wound. When he placed his hand over it he felt the plant’s pain, not the kind one would get from a sentient being, but injury all the same. Devaronians had been maintaining the ecological balance of the planet for generations, and through much study and time spent with Farnay’s tribe, he determined it was based on a Force connection with their living world. What he had been trying to teach them was a more active role they could play in the planet’s recovery following the Imperial occupation.

    Farnay placed her small hands over the tear in the vine. “I feel it, Luke,” she said softly, closing her eyes. “Just like you taught me.”

    “Good,” he encouraged her. “Now you can heal it.”

    Luke left her to the task and turned back to Valara, who had planted her staff in the ground, her hands folded over the tip and her chin resting on them. Stepping closer, Luke examined her eyes and was heartened to see the translucent film that usually covering her pupils had cleared somewhat. After concentrated use of the Force or meditation he’d determined that her vision always improved, although the effects were temporary.

    “So how did you sense the rocks?” he asked her.

    The corner of her mouth quirked, and Valara brushed back a strand of hair which had come loose from its tie. “Why do you want me to answer questions you already know the answer to?”

    “So I know you know it.”

    Valara sighed theatrically, but her smile widened just a bit. “I felt every living thing around them,” she said, leaning slightly forward on her staff. “So the gaps were apparent, and then I felt the shift in the wind. I could hear them.”

    “Good.” Luke was pleased, and turned back to see how Farnay was doing. Her eyes were scrunched shut, and she murmured softly in her native language. Then she stopped, letting out a musical sigh as she removed her hands from the vine. A thin scarline remained where the staff had pierced its flesh, but otherwise the damage was gone.

    “I did it!” Farnay turned to Luke, a smile lighting up her face.

    “Well done, Farnay,” Valara congratulated the young woman, stepping forward to pat her lightly on the arm. “The ability to heal is a true gift,” she added, almost longingly. “Don’t ever take it for granted.”

    _______________________________________________________________________________________

    The docking bays of the Temple were rarely used, since few students or pilgrims owned their own ships. Most came on shuttles from Chandrila or Coruscant, which docked in the primary hanger every other week and Luke always met in person. Valara had even accompanied him a few times at his request, and obtained wry amusement from the enthusiastic gushing directed at Luke followed by bewildered looks directed to herself. But that couldn’t have been the reason he’d asked her to follow him after lunch, since the last shuttle had been a few days earlier.

    In fact he bypassed the corridor leading to the main hanger, instead taking her downstairs where smaller, private docking bays were located. A handful of them housed personal vehicles including Luke’s own ship and speeder, but again he passed that entrance before thumbing the access pad of the hanger located next to it.

    “What are you up to?” she asked as she walked past him into the bay, which was large enough to hold a small freighter and open at one side where the sky beckoned. However the hanger did not house a freighter, but a ship that was almost dwarfed by the space.

    It was an X-Wing - or what was left of one. Old and charred from battle, it was much like the ships that littered the junkyards of Jakku. Valara blinked, drawing on the Force to pull her vision into better focus but that did not improve the sight of the vessel or its mangled fuselage, shattered cockpit or obliterated engine.

    “It’s for you,” Luke said, taking her hand and tugging her close to the ship. “I thought you might like a project to work on.”

    “You think I should fix it?” Valara ran her hand along the bent wing and then turned to him in disbelief. “That will take years!”

    “So?” Luke shrugged. “You’re a great mechanic, and I have faith in you.” He stepped closer, cupping her cheek in one hand. “And I know right now you’re thinking what happens when your vision gets worse? Well then you can go by touch, and use the Force like I’ve taught you. It would be a great way to hone your focus.”

    He was right, and yet all the unspoken reasons were clear. He wanted her to have something to call her own, separate from the Temple and its inhabitants. An escape, if she needed it, work to lose herself in and a way to recover all that she had lost. Valara took a ragged breath, tears forming in her eyes.

    “I don’t know what to say.”

    Luke grinned. “A thank you will do. I promised you’d fly again one day, Valara,” he said, thumb lightly brushing her cheek. “I keep my promises.”

    Valara leaned up and pressed her lips to his - softly and only for a moment. “Thank you,” she breathed as she pulled away, seeing the responding affection in his eyes before turning back to inspect the ship. She ran her hand over the red Rebel starbird on the hull, memories flooding back of a battle above an Imperial base.

    “This is my ship,” she said quietly.

    “Yours,” Luke nodded, leaning lightly against the hull and crossing his arms. “Then mine - and now yours again.”

    Valara laughed, her mind trying to make sense of it. “I thought you destroyed her ramming into Vader’s TIE?”

    “I did,” Luke nodded. “But I had her recovered from Vrogas Vas.”

    Valara examined the extensive damage - she should have been surprised that Luke had even lived through such a crash, but he was a survivor. They both were.

    “You never did tell me the whole story,” she said, leaning against the hull next to him.

    “About Vrogas Vas?” Luke shrugged. “It’s not a pleasant tale - I came this close to being trussed up and carted off the Vader. He knew who I was by that stage, and if he’d told me then...who knows what I would have done.”

    “Not given in,” Valara assured him squeezing his arm slightly. “I’m sure of that.”

    “Maybe,” Luke said, a little wistfully. “Maybe I could have saved him.”

    “There’s no point thinking about all the ways your life could have gone,” she told him, a trifle sharply. “It can’t end well, trust me.”

    Luke nodded. “You’re right, of course.” Yet his thoughts were still clearly in the past, performing an examination of all the choices he’d made and trying to find alternate paths.

    “So who was this wily hunter who captured the great Luke Skywalker?” She nudged him to regain his attention.

    “I’m afraid to say it wasn’t a great gambit,” Luke chuckled. “Some archeologist by the name of Aphra, she painted her droid gold and I thought it was Threepio until the blasted thing electro-shocked me.”

    Valara pressed one hand against her mouth to stop a laughed escaping.

    “Yeah, I know,” Luke said with good humour. “Some instincts, huh?”

    “Well, you’ve changed a lot since then,” Valara rubbed his arm lightly.

    “I hope so. I seemed to spend a lot of time in those days needing to be rescued,” Luke said, ducking his head sheepishly. “Even by you once.”

    Valara smiled at the memory - it had been not long before the Battle of Endor, when Luke had started to get frustrated over his lack of progress with Han’s rescue plans. A mission to Carriban had gone sour, and with the rest of his squad half a galaxy away Valara had hitched a transport to the planet and tracked him down in a smuggler’s den.

    “Well luckily you’re quite safely ensconced here,” she teased him. “And more than capable of rescuing yourself or anyone else should the need arise.”

    “Ah, but the need doesn’t arise much these days, does it?” Luke looked up at the roof, a note of longing in his voice.

    “You miss it, don’t you?” Valara tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. “As much as you’ve changed, at heart you’re still that reckless farmboy who will leap at the promise of adventure.”

    “I suppose so.” Luke gently ran his fingers over her her knuckles. “I should give him up.”

    “No,” Valara told him firmly, resting her head against his shoulder. “Never lose him.”

    ___________________________________________________________________________________

    It was past midnight as Luke lay in bed, staring at the empty door waiting for Valara to appear. It was strange that she had not, and after making his gift that afternoon he’d felt so close to her the absence felt odd.

    Unless… Luke sighed, resting his head back against the pillow. Maybe the ship had been too much, too intimate. It seemed odd to describe a hunk of metal that way when they slept in the same bed every night, but they’d held back from becoming lovers again for precisely that reason. The X-Wing had been the reason they’d met, and on some level it represented a bond between them nothing could erase.

    Luke threw aside the bedclothes and rose, traversing the dark and silent corridors of the Temple towards Valara’s quarters. He knocked lightly on the door before entering, and found her still awake, reclining on a chaise by the bay window and gazing up at the stars. Her hair was unbound and she wore her nightclothes and a long silk robe, her feet poking out from underneath the hem. She did not turn to greet him, but he neither did he feel unwelcome.

    Luke crossed the room and cautiously took a seat beside her, covering one cold foot with his hand. “Are you alright?” he asked, rubbing her skin lightly to warm her.

    “I was thinking about flying,” she said, her soft voice almost a whisper. “That was the one thing about the Inquisitors - we were spies and hunters, and while we were trained to fly as a necessity it was never more than that. It wasn’t until I joined the Rebellion that I flew properly and discovered the freedom of it. It was like discovering a secret that had been kept from me, the only true joy I had because it wasn’t tainted by what had come before.”

    Luke followed her gaze to the dark skies above, littered with a multitude of stars. He’d watched them as a boy from a different part of the galaxy, but their pull had never diminished.

    “I suppose I never knew any different,” he told her. “I was flying almost as soon as I could walk. I think Uncle Owen always regretted putting me in that sandskimmer, but the call was too strong.”

    Valara turned to him, the moonlight casting deep shadows over her pale face. “You don’t get much of a chance to fly now.”

    “No,” Luke conceded. Although he often took his own X-Wing out over the jungle when he had a spare afternoon, but it wasn’t the same as soaring through the stars.

    “I suppose the difference is that you can go back to it if you choose, and I can’t.” Valara touched the scars beside her eyes.

    “You will,” he assured her, squeezing her foot lightly. “You have to believe that.”

    “I’m beginning to,” she nodded, a small smile appearing. “I believe a lot of things now I never thought possible before.”

    Luke felt his heart leap into his throat, but quashed the feeling and desire as he had done so many times before. The truth was, as close as they were now, he still wasn’t sure where it could lead, or if he even wanted it to.

    “Tell me a secret,” she asked, as if to break the sudden tension. “Something you've never told anyone before.”

    Luke pondered for a moment, for he had few secrets he had not shared with her already. But there was one, he realised, that he’d never dared speak aloud. One he thought traitorous even to his own mind.

    “Sometimes I'm not sure whether I want to be a Jedi,” he said softly, casting his eyes down so not to see her surprise. “I made the choice without even knowing really what it was. I just wanted to be like my father, a man he would have been proud of. I started walking the path without looking ahead and now I can't leave it.”

    “You can,” she said softly. “The only duty anyone has is to themselves.”

    “That's not how I was raised,” he lifted his gaze to hers again. “It's not how you were raised either.”

    “No,” she said almost hesitantly. “But there’s a difference between loyalty and blind devotion.”

    “True,” Luke said, considering. Idly, his fingers slipped under the hem of her robe to draw random patterns on her ankle. “I followed Obi-Wan willingly with just a scrap of information and opportunity. Fight the Empire, save a princess, and become a hero - how could I resist?”

    “You make it sound so trite,” Valara said, her mouth quirking into a smile.

    “Isn’t it?” Luke asked. “I thought there was such glory in being a Jedi, to be able to harness and master this incredible power. It wasn’t until Yoda knocked some sense into me that I learned some humility.”

    “That’s not true though,” Valara shifted slightly closer, causing his hand to skim up her calf. “When we first met I thought you’d be this glory-hound, but you weren’t. You were kind, and humble...and you didn’t back down when I tried to push you away.” Her smile widened, and he was reminded of their first meeting years ago, when he’d sat on her sickbed and her smile had made his stomach flip-flop. Of course, he hadn’t had his hand on her leg then, the skin smooth underneath his fingertips.

    “Still, being a Jedi isn’t exactly what I thought it would be,” Luke to distract himself, although he did not remove his hand. “It’s so much more, in many ways, but…”

    “A part of you misses being a pilot.” Valara nodded in understanding. “Is that what you would do, if you weren’t a Jedi?”

    “Probably,” Luke admitted, his thoughts straying to his X-Wing, the thrill of battle, the utter confidence he always had in the cockpit. He couldn’t claim the same of being a Jedi, since while he was sure of his own mind and abilities, now he was responsible for many others. The burden had fallen to him to rebuild the Jedi Order, and he could not shirk from it.

    “But there are many other pilots in the galaxy,” Valara voiced his thoughts. “And only one Jedi.” She shifted closer again, and gently cupped his face in one hand. “But there won’t always be, Luke,” she told him, her eyes clear and her voice firm. “The burden will not always fall to you.”

    “I do feel burdened,” Luke admitted, her touch on his face light and comforting. “Weighed down by all that I do not know. The Jedi thrived for a thousand years before they fell. Am I so arrogant to believe I can surpass them?”

    “It’s not arrogance to learn from the mistakes of those who came before you.” Her touch drifted lightly up his cheek to stroke the hair at his temple. “You’ve already proved yourself beyond the wisdom of your old masters when you refused to follow through on their plans to kill Vader.”

    He looked at her with some surprise, and she laughed. “I listen when you talk, you know. Even if it doesn’t always seem like it.”

    “That’s not it.” Luke squeezed her thigh gently. “I’m just surprised to hear you speak of Vader.”

    Valara sobered, her hand dropping back to her lap as she cast her eyes downward. “Vader was in charge of the Inquisitorius, and so I will never forgive him for the part the played in my upbringing. He was a looming spectre, a threat should we ever do anything which required...tutelage beyond even the Grand Inquisitor. That fear is still there.” She looked up at him again and blinked a few times before holding his gaze.

    “But I understand your love for him,” she added. “That compassion is more important than a thousand rules and codes and lightsaber techniques. So I know that the future of the Jedi is safe in your hands.”

    He was touched by her words and obvious sincerity, especially given her own complicated relationship with the Force. And yet other, deeper feelings arose as he gazed at her. He allowed himself a moment to examine the way her hair spilled over her shoulders, and with his free hand reached out to run his fingers through the ends. It was like silk, like her robe, which during their conversation had slipped open to reveal a thin summer nightgown. The skin of her neck was exposed; he could see the quickened pulse beating in her neck, and below…

    Luke lifted his eyes swiftly back to her face, feeling warmth blossom in his cheeks. Valara smiled, having likely felt exactly where his thoughts had drifted, and he swallowed heavily.

    “Your turn,” he prompted, backing away from the edge although he could not quite bring himself to remove his hand from her leg. “Tell me one of your secrets - I know there’s quite a few to choose from.”

    She poked him softly in the belly. “Not as many as there were a year ago.”

    He couldn’t deny that, their nightly conversations yielding a wealth of knowledge “Well I hope it’s a good one,” he teased.

    “It is,” Valara nodded, her smile fading into something more serious. “A secret I’ve kept even from myself.” Her voice quavered, and she took his hand where it had tangled in her hair, holding it in her lap and squeezing lightly.

    “So what is it?”

    She bit her lip, before looking up and into his eyes. “I love you.”

    Luke couldn’t have been more surprised if she’d told him she was running away to join a dance troupe. He’d known, deep down of course, but he’d never expected her to say it, at least not without prompting. It was the simplicity of her statement that shocked him the most - without caveats or conditions.

    Before he could give the matter any further thought, Valara shifted forward and pressed her lips to his. He responded automatically, warmth spreading down from his cheeks and along his nerve endings. The kiss she’d given him by the ship had been chaste, not unlike the few they’d shared since her return as expressions of affection. They’d never led anywhere, but the intent behind this kiss was unmistakable.

    Luke found himself drawn in, his hand on her leg skimming higher as his other returned to her hair, cupping her neck as she pulled him down with her onto the chaise. He sighed into her mouth and shifted his weight so not to crush her, but Valara grasped at his back, pressing the length of her body against his as she kissed him fiercely. It was like renewed fire in smoking embers and Luke gave himself over to it, the touch and taste of her so familiar and intoxicating he wondered how it he had managed to keep himself from her for so long.

    But reason asserted itself with sudden clarity, as he remembered why he had not pursued anything physical since her return. Luke tore his lips away from hers and pulled back, stumbling a few paces away before righting himself and turning back to her.

    Valara sat up, leaning back on her hands with a bewildered expression. She was breathing heavily, robe rumpled and fallen off one shoulder, her hair tousled and lips plumped. Luke ran his hands through his hair and forced himself to look away.

    “We can’t do this, V, it’s not right.”

    “What?” she asked,and when Luke turned back to her she looked even more confused. “Why not?”

    “Because...we’ve made this mistake before,” Luke tried to explain, gesturing to the space between them.

    Valara recoiled. “Mistake?”

    “I didn’t mean it like that,” Luke tried to defend himself. “I mean rushing into something physical - I know you’ve thought the same.”

    “It’s been months,” she said, an edge to her voice. “Where did you think this was leading?”

    “I…” Luke scrambled for the answer. “I don’t know.”

    Valara drew her robe around herself and scowled at him. “I told you why I came back. I was honest.”

    “I know,” Luke responded, exasperated and unsure of how to articulate himself. “But I remember what happened the last time you left. And I know why you did it,” he added quickly. “I understand.” All of those harsh memories came flooding back, the anger, the worry, the loneliness and heartbreak. “But it still hurt.”

    He’d never told her that - never really admitted it to himself either. On Rakata Prime, when she’d been prepared to end her own life in order to take out the Imperial Base, he’d told her that losing her would shatter him, but her leaving had been almost as painful.

    “I'm sorry for that,” Valara said, but her expression was guarded. “But I can't change it.”

    “Then accept that I need more time,” Luke insisted, not exactly moved by her apology. “Let's face it, Valara, you've set the pace of our entire relationship, the least you can do is cede some control.”

    Valara’s mouth twisted in distaste. “That's what this is about?” she all but spat. “Pride? You want to be in control?”

    “No,” Luke responded with exasperation. “It's about you running when you get scared, packing up and leaving with some nonsense excuse, when the truth is things just got too hard. How can I trust that you won’t do the same thing again?”

    He chanced a look back at her. Valara’s face was impassive, all desire and emotion stripped clear as her cloudy eyes bored into him.

    “I guess you can’t.” Her words were inscrutable, impossible to tell it it was an admission or judgement.


    Luke ran a hand over his mouth in frustration, holding her gaze until he could no longer. Then he straightened his clothes and left the room, making the long walk back to his bed alone.
     
  21. JediMaster_Jen

    JediMaster_Jen Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2002
    Oh, Luke!! Silly man. [face_shame_on_you] She loves you. You love her.

    Wonderful chapter. I loved her openness and Luke's ultimate hesitancy after her declaration of love. It fits with his experiences with Valara so far. Seems very real that he'd be gun shy. I find it interesting that she was asking him for that trust, when she herself doesn't really trust things, or people, either.

    Two steps forward, three steps back with these two. :( Terrific update!=D=
     
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  22. taramidala

    taramidala Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 1999
    I don't care what her name is, I love her. And you're so close to being on point when compared with the trailer it's not even funny. I'm in awe. I'm flippin' proud. There are so many great moments in this chapter: I love the calm of the training scene (with bonus Farnay!) and the sweetness of the hangar scene (the x-wing!). The last bit, though, was as lovely as it was painful. There's so much that still needs to be said between them. They've made great strides in their relationship, but this scene makes is painfully clear that there's a lot to work through. [face_love]
     
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  23. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004
    LUKE. UGH. *bops him on the head*
     
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  24. NightWatcher91

    NightWatcher91 Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2014
    Well that was certainly a tense exchange between those two!
     
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  25. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Firstly, thank you to everyone who nommed this fic, and voted it Best spoiler/spec fic and Luke and Valara for (tied) Best Relationship in Sequel Trilogy! [:D][:D] I'm very chuffed that this fic, and V as a character has been so well received.


    It is, isn't it? Valara's come a long way but past experience has made Luke hesitant.

    Thank you!


    Thanks for the constant help and cheerleading gal, it's been invaluable. I really wanted to include Farnay, even if the story is not really about the Jedi or the Temple. And yes, the return of the X-Wing - a broken relic of the past being rebuilt through hard work and determination ;)


    [face_laugh] He's nothing if not obtuse sometimes...


    The storm before the calm, so to speak... ;)