Beyond - Legends The Birdcage Girl and the Too-Old Boy (AU; Skywalkers, OCs - Hope, Jon)

A/N: An AU look at some of the Braddockverse Skywalker family, c. 39 or so ABY ...

DISCLAIMER: LFL's are LFL's. Marvel's are Marvel's. OCs are their own. This is a work of fiction. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue.

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39.10 ABY: Training Pista Besh, Jedi Praxeum, Ossus:
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It's not bad enough that I can set my chrono by his workout schedule; now he's sparring after all that work?

Hope Skywalker stifled a yawn, adjusting her still-snoozing canine nusito, Sparky, in her arms, as she watched her nephew practicing various martial arts moves with a speedbag.

Jon Skywalker-Horn had completed his self-imposed morning workout - 30 laps in his bungalow's pool, followed by 50 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, and a one-kilometer run around the entire praxeum - and now, he was working through martial arts katas.

At 07:00 local time.

Hope wasn't sure whether to unleash all the snark of her 11 years, or just be jealous of Jon's energy. She settled for raising one red eyebrow, her green eyes narrowing as she assessed Jon's form.

The 13-year-old boy - teenaged only because of growth acceleration - wore black shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, while his pair of pool sandals sat near a towel on a bench across the room. His buzzed brown hair glinted faintly, and Hope could tell he was working up a sweat. Through the Force, his exertion was obvious, and his form was getting sloppier the longer he fought.

Finally, the speedbag swung just the wrong way, and Jon slipped - looking over at Hope with surprise when she caught him telekinetically. "Didn't want you to get a black eye," the girl said, giving the boy a friendly smile before setting him down near the bench.

"Thanks. Sorry if I woke you - you look ready for the day," Jon said, toweling off his head and sitting beside Hope. She nodded, shrugging - robes weren't really her preference, so she'd put on a simple tan coverall and boots, similar to the ones her dad had worn while training with Master Yoda all those years earlier.

"Not really sleepy. Once my 'passenger' wakes up, it's hard to stay asleep," Hope quipped, smirking a little as an aura of astral flame rippled about her. Jon's eyebrows rose, but Hope quickly added, "Sorry. Shouldn't show off."

~Be proud. Powerful. Strong.~

"Nobody asked you, you overgrown buzzard," Hope snorted, frowning briefly as the Phoenix Force stirred within her. The "old bird," as Hope most often described it, grumbled good-naturedly, and drifted back into quiescence.

Hope looked at Jon, who was staring at her - but not with fear. He smiled a little, letting his guard down like he rarely did, and said, "It can't be easy, having something so ... different, inside your mind all the time."

"You have NO idea. It wasn't so bad when I was little, but the dreams ... they're never nightmares. Well, they weren't until the past few years. Mostly, it was about flying through space, without a starship, and I loved those," Hope gushed, ignoring her embarrassment at being able to talk to someone who'd just listen.

She shrunk a little, rubbing Snarky's belly as the canine stirred and whimpered, and added, "But sometimes ... sometimes I'd dream of exploding stars and burning planets. Those ... weren't ... aren't ... fun. Try explaining those to Jedi ..."

Jon didn't make fun. If anything, he got that thoughtful, intense look he often had - the soldier look, Aunt Betsy, AKA Betsy Braddock, Hope's holdmother and Jedi mentor, called it. "Every once in a while ... I dream too," he said, blushing.

"I won't laugh. I promise. You didn't laugh at me," Hope encouraged, squeezing Jon's right hand with her left one. He managed another smile, then nodded.

"I'm floating in ... something like water, but thicker, like bacta. And I'm wearing swim shorts, like the ones I've got on now. It feels like I'm falling, like

 

Cute, that's the only way to describe this. Some really nice interaction between Aunt and Nephew. Now onto Ben.