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Saga - OT [DDC 2017]Teenage Rebellion--Updated 11/27/2017 (Mara/Ezra/Luke)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Raissa Baiard, Jan 3, 2017.

  1. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    I think Luke just learned that Kanan is Space! Dad.
     
  2. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Aw, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Once again, this is just EXACTLY the message this particular Troubled!Space!Teen needs to hear, and from EXACTLY the right people. And of course it is most appropriate that Luke, who is going into all this with a double dose of misguidedness (on both the social end and the Jedi end), is getting a much-needed double dose of advice and general schooling. As always, of course, you are an ace with the ALL-CAPS TEEN JEDI ANGST, and the out-of-date magazines in the lounge—just like so many lounges and waiting rooms here on Earth!—are such a fun touch. (I kind of feel sorry for Luke for having stumbled on the particular mag he stumbled on, though—definitely a shock for someone of such delicate sensibilities! :eek: :p )

    Leia shines, absolutely. I can hear every word of this in her voice, and I can just see the gesture she makes when Luke reveals where his advice came from. Of course I can only echo what everyone else so far has said about how priceless her whole reaction to that is—and of course now that you have put out there the possibility of Luke asking Wedge and/or Chewbacca for advice about women, you have to implement it at some point, you realize. :p She shows Luke just how clueless he’s been—why yes, honey-bun, “trying to steal” Mara is exactly what you’ve been doing, thank you very much, and you got lots and lots of apologizing to do for sure. Just go her for telling him exactly like it is, all in a way that’s totally gentle and sisterly.

    And dear old Space!Dad… absolutely fantastic. :kanan: This is the kick in the pants Luke so desperately needs regarding his Jedi training—his priorities have been totally and woefully misplaced. Indeed, it’s just refreshing in general to see a knowledgeable authority figure helping him think through this very important step; even in the films he jumps SO QUICKLY to “being a Jedi like his father,” and doesn’t really talk things through with Obi-Wan beyond that. But Kanan doesn’t just give Luke a talking-to: he also, more importantly, gives him the chance to think things through and to bring his better self to bear in making this decision. And that’s exactly what Luke does. When he returns to Kanan and tells him his decision—and he’s brave to do that, given how stern Kanan can be when he’s in Jedi Master Mode—that is most definitely his better self coming through: the noble, principled Luke we know and love. I wish he had been able to say something just like this in the films!

    Another wonderful entry, and it’s especially wonderful to see Luke on the point of getting a clue and turning over a new leaf! :)
     
  3. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    The best thing about this entry - apart from Luke!angst, of course, is this subtle gradation:

    That had me giggle, that and the idea of Luke sort of believing that the things he read in Empress! are real. I conceived Empress! as a parody of Cosmopolitan, so...I kind of don't want to imagine what he read. Better stick to Rodian swamps, boy, no matter how much they remind you of Mara the Tree. :p

    Another hilarious moment was that Kanan in a green shirt pops up when Luke imagines his usual Mara the Tree.

    Both Leia and Kanan truly shine in this entry - I admire Leia's ability to try and put some sense into Luke. Of course, it's not like she has sense all the time, but he's mostly not making sense, so they make for a nice yin/yang combo. :)

    And I am glad that Kanan's little talk led to Luke's catharsis. He has finally figured out that Jedi are not the only beings capable of using the Force and that his destiny is NOT to be with Mara, but to help the Rebellion and beat the Empire. Sure, it may come out in inconsistent rambling, but he has finally figured it out and he can only mature from this point on. The difference between the Luke at the beginning of the entry and the Luke at the end of the entry is amazing. And the whole idea of the stream-of-conciousness self-actualisation is pretty curious. It's like...like he's realising all these things while finishing his diary entry.

    Brilliant, as usual!
     
  4. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Great update because two people who always make sense (Leia and Kanan) finally have a chat with Luke on two different subjects (love and the essence of being a Jedi). I really hope that both have made healthy changes here.
     
  5. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Luke really jumps in with both feet when there's a pretty girl involved, whether it's Leia or Mara. But beneath it all, he has a heart to do what's right, and he believes in the Rebellion's cause. Things can only get better for him now that he's got his motives straight.
    Thanks! :D I enjoyed including that bit. It is still early in Han and Leia's relationship, though, and he's only shown a glimmer of the heart of gold underneath his scruffy nerf-herder exterior. And, yes, Leia's going to call a spade a spade. She can do it without being unkind, but she's not going to let Luke's behavior slide.

    He's made his first steps in the right direction. The path won't be smooth but he's got a wise guide in Kanan, who, just like Leia, can call Luke on his behavior without being too harsh. Now that Luke has had a chance to take a step back, he can see the bigger picture and realize that he wants to do more.
    That he is, in the best sense! He can show Luke how limited his understanding of being a Jedi is without cutting him down, and helps him come to a better one. Kanan is firm, but he's fair. And it's just what Luke needs.

    THANK YOU! LukeAngst is a lot more fun to write than MarAngst or EzrAngst, because he's SO EMOTIONAL!11! He definitely needs a couple of stiff doses of reality to counteract all the Emo tendencies. Even after all that has happened, he can't quite give up on the idea that Mara is his One True Love. He's doomed to a life of misery, starting with reading that bastion of literary integrity, Empress! And I do feel sorry for him, having come across the RL equivalent in similar circumstances and been similarly :eek:

    Wedge wouldn't do too badly, I suspect, nor would Chewie, provided Threepio is better at translating romantic advice than writing love poems. Both of them could probably have told Luke that if she has a boyfriend already, you'd be better looking elsewhere, no matter how certain you are she's your soulmate.

    Yes, it's one of those things you only realize after years of watching Star Wars--Luke wants to be a Jedi JUST LIKE HIS DAD, you know, the dad he thought was a navigator on a spice freighter until, like, two minutes ago. He goes with Ben at least in part to rescue the pretty princess (and Ben, what were you thinking with that "she needs you" line? You know she's his sister!) Kanan is the best possible Space!Dad, because as you note, he doesn't lecture Luke on his shortcomings, but makes him think. Once Luke goes beyond the surface of "like my dad!" and "to show Mara!", he finds a true and noble reason for wanting to be a Jedi.


    It all comes back to sand for the Skywalker boys :) Riding the dewback into the Dune Sea was an incident referred to in the SW radio drama, and I imagine Beru's expression was exasperated, while Owen's was more like "idiot!" I am also not going to speculate what kind of advice Luke got from that article, but I'm sure Luke who totally does not think about Mara THAT WAY was turning as red as a Tatooine suns set while reading it.

    Not exactly the green he was hoping for....

    No one can have sense all the time, but on this issue, she's got loads more than he he does, and some of it may finally make it through to him.

    Luke has reached a turning point here. Well, all of the teens have in the last couple entries, and Kanan has helped all of them really stop and think about what they're doing and why they're doing it. Luke may not be all the way over his ALL-CAPS SOULMATE drama, but at least now he realizes that there is more to it and to him than that. Now he--and Mara and Ezra--can starting moving forward, hopefully together.
    They've both told him what he needed to hear--if not what he wanted to hear. Now he's really given some thought to his motives an actions, and as with Ezra previously, that kind of reflection can only be a good thing.
     
  6. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    [:D] and @};- to my beta-readers, Findswoman and Ewok Poet for wading through all the teen angst!

    -----------------------------
    Mara

    Awkward does not begin to describe the situation at our Force lessons now.

    Kanan reminded me again when we were all standing at the bottom of the Ghost’s ramp waiting for Luke that he would not consider it a failure if I chose to take some time off from lessons. Maybe he wouldn't think less of me, but I would think less of myself. The Force gave me something to do with Luke, even if it’s not training him, and I’m not going to just run away from it because I feel a little awkward.

    All right-- “a little awkward” is possibly the understatement of the millennium. I would rather have mopped the floor of the Café Alderaan after the cadets’ zherry bomb contests, listened to every record from the Boyz of the New Order back-to-back and spent six hours trapped in a turbolift with Rominaria and Prisk than have been there today when Luke showed up wearing that pathetic poor-me-everybody-hates-me expression. Ugh… I had all of my shields up as tight as I could get them, but I think the only thing that kept me from smacking him was having Ezra there, holding my hand, and knowing that he wanted to be there even less than I did. But he stayed for me; even if he was grinding his teeth the whole time and hardly said a word, he stayed by my side. *Because if you’re stuck with Skywalker, then so am I.* he told me. ( I love you, Ezra, and I’m sorry for the strangle hold I had on on your hand. Hope I didn’t crush your fingers too badly.)

    “We’re going to be trying something different,” Kanan informed us all once the Sad Mooka finally slunk in. “As padawans you all have the same rank, so from now on, you’ll all be sharing the same lessons. And yes,” he said, turning towards Ezra who was twitching next to me, “I realize that some of you have more experience than others, but learning with and from one another will be a valuable experience for all of you. So, sabers out, ready position and first kata. Begin.”

    I’m not sure any of us learned anything from each other today, though, because none of wanted to talk unless Kanan asked us direct questions. We spent a lot of our time Not Looking at each other, or at least Ezra and I were Not Looking at Luke and Luke was Really Not Looking at Ezra. But now and then, I would catch Luke watching me with big Sad Mooka eyes, and I would almost lose my place in the kata. I made myself concentrate on my footwork, my saber strokes, the number of rivets in the Ghost’s landing struts--anything besides Luke.

    As if that wasn’t bad enough, after we finished with the drills--which Kanan kept mercifully short today--Luke came up to me, stared at me for a good thirty seconds while his face turned as the color of a squashed blum fruit and stammered, “I’m...um, sorry--really, really sorry--for what happened the other day. And the poems...and well, um, everything.”

    I smiled a smiled that felt tight and fake, like it was held on with spacer’s tape. “It’s okay.” It wasn’t okay, and that’s not what I wanted to say to him. I wanted to smack him and tell him he was an idiot, because I don’t even think he knew half of what he needed to be sorry for. But a Jedi controls her emotions and if the Force has more in store for me and Luke--and I really believe it does--smacking him isn’t going to help, as much as I might enjoy it right now.

    I only hope the Force can show me the way to get through this.

    Ezra
    Well, that was awkward…

    So because we’re all padawans, we’re all working together now. I guess I can see what Kanan’s trying to do, but I don’t know how it’s going to work. Maybe Skywalker can learn from us, but I don’t see what we can possibly learn from him. Now I’m stuck doing the same basic lightsaber katas I mastered years ago. I think I wore my teeth down a good three centimeters clamping them shut on all the things I wanted to say and left marks in my palms keeping them clenched at my sides.

    I made myself focus on the lightsaber drills I could do in my sleep and repeated the Jedi Code to myself: emotion, yet peace; chaos, yet harmony; I will not punch the Chosen One in the face…. Okay, so that’s not part of the Code, but it turned out to be a useful mantra anyway.

    And the best part is Skywalker apologized to Kanan and Mara for “um, everything”, but never said one word to me. Thanks a lot, mooka.

    I’m trying; I really am. I didn't do anything to Skywalker today. I didn’t say anything, but I can’t stop feeling angry at him. I want to be there for Mara. I want to find the balance, but I don’t know how I’m going to make it.

    Luke

    AWKWARD…

    If I could find a womp rat burrow, I really would crawl in it and DIE because it couldn’t be WORSE than taking Jedi lessons when EVERYONE HATES ME. Okay, maybe Kanan doesn’t totally hate me, but Mara does. She wouldn’t even LOOK AT ME most of the time, and she said she accepted my apology, but I don’t think she meant it. She HATES ME. She will ALWAYS hate me and I will ALWAYS LOVE HER, so I am DOOMED to a life of LONELINESS and MISERY. The WORST PART was the way she stood there with Ezra, holding his hand like she was NEVER GOING TO LET GO. He just glared at me and if Kanan hadn’t been there, I know he would have done something horrible to me. And Leia thinks I could be FRIENDS with him? NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN

    We’re all in the same class together now, doing the same exercises, even though I’m the only one who NEEDS them. We’re supposed to learn from each other, but no one wants to talk to me. I tried to tell myself it DIDN’T MATTER, because I’m going to be a Jedi to HELP THE REBELLION and not...because of Mara. But it DOES MATTER. Mara has Ezra, but I’m not her friend anymore or even her student.

    I’m nothing to anyone.

    I don’t know how I’m going to GET THROUGH these lessons :-( :-( :-(
     
  7. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    It was kind of amusing at first, but I'm starting to get tired of Luke's mooka pup angst.

    He needs to quit being such a whiny emo brat.

    I'm starting to see where Kylo Ren gets it from.



    I like the story overall.
     
  8. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    All right-- “a little awkward” is possibly the understatement of the millennium. I would rather have mopped the floor of the Café Alderaan after the cadets’ zherry bomb contests, listened to every record from the Boyz of the New Order back-to-back and spent six hours trapped in a turbolift with Rominaria and Prisk than have been there today when Luke showed up wearing that pathetic poor-me-everybody-hates-me expression.

    Perhaps she should force "Unlucky" Luke to go through all those ordeals at one point in his miserable life. He should concentrate more on the Force than a non-existing love life.

    You write teens so well. Do you have that species at home?
     
  9. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Ah, there is a consensus at least that awkward is an understatement [face_laugh] The emotions of all three are very understandable. =D= [face_thinking] Mara is still annoyed. Ezra is trying to be the "mature" supportive one and Luke is still smarting. Totally realistic and true to life that his head tells him it's no big deal but his heart does not believe it yet. Especially since he feels he lost Mara as a friend...an unfortunate consequence of unrequited love.
     
  10. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Teen!Jedi!Awkward!Threefer—luvvitt! [face_laugh] :D

    As has been observed, this is at least one thing they all agree on—and one can hope that this consensus might pave the way for other consensuses in the future. I think Kanan's right on in taking this one-size-fits-all approach to their training; it seems ruthless at first glance, but nothing else is going to get three stubborn, spirited adolescent Force-sensitives (stubborn and spirited in three very different ways) on the same page.

    And indeed, we can see from what all three of them have written here that they each still have a good bit to learn. Luke most definitely needs to start deep-sixing the emo mooka attitude, and to not jump to conclusions about Mara's friendship or lack thereof. Ezra needs to be a lot more patient with "Skywalker"; "I will not punch the Chosen One in the face" is an apt addition to his personal Jedi Code. Plus, while I hear him on the annoyance of having to work on the same basic stuff again, it's not a bad thing for him and Mara to be revisiting some of the basics—people studying the martial arts do this all the time. And Mara—Mara needs to stop being so hard on herself! She might do well to take Kanan's advice and take a bit of a break, just to clear her mind a bit and be able to approach the situation anew. Of course, I also don't blame her for wanting to slap Luke and tell him what an idiot he is in response to his namby-pamby little attempt at apology. (And the fact that he didn't bother to say anything similar to Ezra shows that he still has a long way to go here and that he isn't totally undeserving of a sound ZeBashing for slighting A MAN'S HONOR. :p )

    Finally, in addition to the common theme of awkwardness, I love that each of the three entries here ends with a variation on "I don't know how I'm going to get through this." That's precisely how I know that they all will make it through, in the fullness of time! ;)
     
  11. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Ohwell, Kanan handled the situation in the way I did not expect him to! I'm not sure if he's trying to test Luke or if his goal is for all three teens to get the idea of working together, as a team. But yes, I did not expect it.

    I actually think that the amount of sweetness that the mooka pup is capable of puts the zherry bombs to shame. :p Now, in this state, however...

    Mara is too hard on herself. After her mini-meltdown, she's back to being the most realistic and most stable of the three and she seems not to be aware of it. That's a pity.

    Unlike her, Ezra and Luke are back to square one, kind of. Ezra wants to punch Luke again and Luke sees everything as an end of the world type of a thing. That's not the way to do team work, boys. Nobody is punishing either of you, relax.

    At this moment, Mara > Ezra > Luke. The boys do mature later than girls do, but these two need to put the disagreements behind. Ezra should not be so irritated and Luke shouldn't be so angsty. Let's see where it goes from here...
     
    Raissa Baiard and Findswoman like this.
  12. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Not to spoil things, but there’s going to be less angst from all the teens from here on out. Luke is learning, but some habits are hard to break, and he just needed to get the WHINY ALLCAPS DRAMA out of his system. I promise he’s going to improve. ;) Hope you’re still enjoying the story.
    Yup, his life is so hard... He certainly does need to get his priorities in order. Kanan can probably help him out with that. :D

    I don’t have any teens, though I do have an almost-eleven-year-old who is capable of bringing plenty of TEH DRAMA, a niece and nephew who are in that general age, and some vivid memories of all the stupid stuff I did as a teen :p
    They are all on the same page as far as general awkwardness and mortification is concerned. Perhaps they can build from that? ;) Mara and Ezra are really trying to deal with their emotions, and Luke...well, in his own overly dramatic way he’s trying to come to terms with what exactly his relationship to Mara is. It’s not going to be easy for any of them, but they can get past this.
    If nothing else, Kanan’s approach gets them doing the same thing at the same time.
    Ideally, the shared classes can get them talking to one another, instead of whining and yelling. Mara and Ezra have learned the importance of real communication the hard way. Now they need to extend that lesson to Luke.
    Oh yes, there’s still much room for improvement in all of them. Luke’s got to stop having the never ending pity party if he’s ever going to move forward. Why does the whole Galaxy hate him? It doesn’t and the sooner he stops acting like it does, the happier he’ll be. Ezra’s working on his attitude, at least. He doesn’t punch or threaten to punch the Chosen One, tempting as that might be, but he needs to re-adjust his perspective, too. As Kanan mentioned before, they’re all on the same side and working toward the same goal of defeating the Empire, and Ezra needs to accept that Luke is going to be a big part of that. And you’re right that Mara needs to stop beating herself up. She hasn’t failed the Force OR its Chosen One. She is still doing her best, and that’s all she can do. She needs to remember that a Jedi may not be controlled by her emotions, but it’s okay for her to have those emotions.

    They are more in tune than they realize. If only they could start talking to each other long enough to find that out.
    Space!Dad is full of surprises. :) You got it right when you said his goal is to get them functioning as a team by doing things together.

    In this state that sweetness has turned into self-pity. And he’s forgetting that he brought at least some of this on himself.

    I think we’re always hardest on ourselves, and Mara holds herself to very high—maybe impossibly high—standard. (Hmmm, wonder where she got that from. Looking at you, Raissa...) Mara needs to let her walls down, just a little.

    In the guys’ defense, this entry takes place just two days after all drama, so emotions are still running pretty high. If Ezra would like to punch Luke, well, Mara would like to smack him, but ultimately neither of them take that route. Again, it’s understandable that they have those feelings, the important thing is that they don’t let the emotions control them. Luke...sigh...still is learning that lesson, but he feels SO MUCH that it’s harder for him to get there. He will, but right now he’s still learning.
     
  13. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Thanks to Findswoman and Ewok Poet, friends and beta-readers extraordinaire. [:D] and @};- always!

    Mara

    Our padawan lessons are getting better--sort of, maybe--but it’s going really slowly. And when I say “slowly”, we’re talking “elderly Hutt going up an icy slope” slow.

    The first couple of days were mortifyingly awkward; I’m kind of surprised that Luke never burst into tears, that Ezra resisted further temptation to pants Luke using the Force, and that I resisted the temptation to throw up my hands and be done with the whole mess, no matter what the Force thought. But somehow we all made it and moved into a phase of Trying Really Hard to Be Nice to each other. We started talking to each other, at least enough to say “hi, how are you” or exchange some superficial chit-chat about the weather and the food in the mess hall--the kind of pointless talk I usually hate, but in this case was probably the safest thing for everyone. And slowly, Luke’s the-galaxy-hates-me expression faded a little, and Ezra only looked like he wanted to throttle Luke about half the time.

    Kanan had us doing cooperative exercises--using the Force to stack crates as high as we could or removing sticks from a pile without making the whole thing collapse. It’s the kind of thing Dad used to have us do, except with Nick and Annina, it would have been fun because we would have joking with each other and teasing each when we messed up. Luke, however, was Very Serious about the Whole Thing. When he’d put his packing crate down crooked or pull out the wrong stick so that everything came crashing down, he’d turn back into the Sad Mooka and whine and apologize and whine, even though we assured him that it was okay, everyone makes mistakes--or at least Kanan and I told him that. (Ezra, please note that “whatever, Skywalker” does not really count as encouragement.)

    All in all, things were still not quite amicable between us, even if the likelihood of one of us smacking another had significantly decreased, so I was surprised when Luke approached me after lessons yesterday. “I, uh, brought you something,” he said, looking at his feet while thrusting a flimsi-wrapped package at me at arm’s length. “Dex made Wookiee cookies for dessert today, and I remembered how you said your mom made them, so I thought maybe…” Luke jiggled package a little and offered it to me again. “There’s, um, enough there for Ezra, too.”

    “What do you want, Luke?” It probably does not speak well of me that this was my first thought--or that I said it out loud--but there it was. I wasn't in any mood to start playing these games again. I wasn’t going to fall in love with him because he brought me cookies or fruit or played an awesome game of Force-assisted stick pick-up. If he hadn’t figured that out by now...

    “Want?” He looked up at me, just for a second, and then his gaze dropped back to the toes of his boots, which he scuffed in the leaves littering the ground. A fitful, forlorn little cloud of emotion swirled around him in the Force. He shook his head. “I...nothing, I just...well, I miss you. We used to have lunch or dinner or...or breakfast together all the time, but I never see you in the mess hall anymore, and I… I miss talking to you. That’s all.” He held out the cookies again, and this time I took them, more from not knowing what else to do. Luke gave me a wistful shadow of a smile. “Well, um, enjoy the cookies. See you tomorrow.”

    And for the first time since everything blew up, I felt a little sorry for Luke.

    I remembered how helpful he had been to me when I first got there, showing me around, introducing me to everyone, making sure I knew all the unwritten rules. How we talked to each other and he told me all about his aunt and uncle and their farm, so that I almost felt like I'd been there. He’d been so kind and earnest--even kind of sweet--that I couldn’t help but like him. Luke had been my first real friend here, even before Leia. Things had been so simple before he decided he had to impress me and prove he was “the better man.” Why couldn’t it have have stayed that way? If it had, maybe we could all have been friends. Maybe we could all have talked and laughed and sat together in the mess hall, making jokes about Dex’s nuna surprise. Maybe training could have been fun instead of awkward and miserable.

    Today at lunch, I spotted Luke sitting with Leia, Chewbacca, and Han (who is not quite as bad as his first crack about redheads indicated, but who still takes the Corellian “bork all authority” ethos to ridiculous lengths). I thought about what Luke had said, that he never saw me in the mess hall anymore. I’d been eating a lot of meals on the Ghost, partly because it felt like being with family when I was there, but also because I’d been avoiding Luke. And maybe it was time to stop doing that. “Why don’t we go sit with them?” I asked Ezra.

    “Seriously?” Ezra looked at me as if I'd suggested joining a couple of hungry rancors for lunch instead of just a somewhat mooka-ish padawan and an over-Corellian flyboy.

    “Yes, seriously. It wouldn’t hurt us to be nice to Luke now that we’re all working together. Anyway,” I continued as he kept staring at me like I’d grown a second head or something, “you like Leia and Chewbacca’s a lot friendlier than he looks.” Ezra muttered something I’m probably just as glad I didn’t catch as he followed me towards their table. “Hi! Mind if we join you?”

    Luke’s mouth fell open, and he stared at me, too, stammering. “Oh, hi...um, I...you...um..”

    Fortunately, Leia interceded, like the diplomat she is. “Of course not! Please, have a seat.” She gestured at the empty spaces at the ends of the benches on either side of the table. I sat down by Luke, who was still stammering and slowly turning red, while Ezra took a seat next to Han. “Ezra, I don’t think you’ve ever met Han, have you?” Leia continued, ignoring the increasingly vague noises Luke was making. “Han, this is Ezra Bridger of the Ghost, Ezra, Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon.

    “So, you’re Ezra, huh?” From the way Han regarded him as if he was novel species of vermin that had crawled out of the jungle, I could tell that Luke had already told him a few things, none of which were complimentary.

    Ezra paused in the midst of his first bite of Endorian chicken pot pie. “Yeah, that’s me,” he replied warily.

    Leia smiled into the tension, continuing as if it wasn’t there. “And this is his co-pilot, Chewbacca.”

    "Hey, good to meet you.” Ezra offered Chewie a smile as the Wookiee stared down at him. I guess when you already room with a two-meter tall Lasat, other large, hairy beings aren’t quite as intimidating as they could be. “Um, my friend Zeb has some great stories about how the Wookiees helped get some of his people off Lasan when the Empire invaded. I, uh, don’t suppose you were there?”

    “He says no,” I translated Chewbacca’s answer. “But he wishes he could have been. He was still…a slave.”

    “A slave? Aw, man…” Ezra shook his head. “How can people not see how wrong the Empire is when it’s doing stuff like that?” He prodded the crust of the chicken pie emphatically. “My first real mission with the Rebellion was helping rescue a transport of Wookiees who were being sent to Kessel. One of ’em couldn’t have been more than a kid. Not that I liked the Empire before, but that’s one of the things that made me realize that I had to join the fight.”

    Whatever Luke had told Han and Chewie about Ezra, it obviously hadn’t been “rescues Wookiee children from slavery.” Chewie gave a surprised hoot and growled something under his breath to Han. My Shyriiwook is decent, but I could only make out bits of it: “he’s the (something) shooting (something something?”

    Han must have understood, though. “Yeah, not much of one, looks like,” he muttered, tossing a skeptical glance in Luke’s direction. “When was that?” he asked Ezra, out loud.

    “Five--almost six--years ago,” Ezra shrugged. “I was pretty new to the crew back then.”

    It turned out that Han and Chewbacca were very interested in the story of how Ezra and the rest of the Spectres had saved the Wookiees from the Empire, because Han was the one who had freed Chewbacca from slavery. (I guess he has some sense of honor hidden deep, deep down underneath the tough-guy exterior. Who knew?). The three of them got into a surprisingly deep conversation about the evils of the Empire’s policies towards non-Humans. Meanwhile, Luke sat there, his shoulders hunched, poking miserably at his pot pie. The nobody-loves-me look was starting to creep back onto his face. I decided I had to do something before it turned into a full-on Sad Mooka mope. “Did Luke tell you how well he’s doing with lightsaber practice?” I asked Leia. “Kanan thinks we’ll be able to start sparring with each other next week.”

    If I thought that was going to make Luke happy, I’d seriously miscalculated. He kept staring down at his plate. “You’re just saying that,” he moped. Oh good skies, the moping had started… “I’m not good. I’m not as good as you. I’m never going to be as good as you...or even Ezra.”

    He sounded like Annina had when she realized no matter how much she practiced, Nick and I had been practicing longer. I gave Luke the same advice Dad had given her. “Don’t worry about being as good as us; be as good as yourself.” He still looked pouty and unconvinced (Annina had, too, come to think of it, but she’d been five at the time). I followed Luke’s mopey gaze over to Han and Ezra, who’d stopped discussing Serious Stuff and were now laughing over the antics of a mutual acquaintance, the smuggler Hondo Ohnaka. “You know, it is possible for Han to like Ezra and still be your friend.”

    “Oh, that’s… I’m not…” Luke was not very good at shielding his emotions, and he was a terrible liar, or would have been if he could have finished a sentence.

    “Just like it’s possible for me to be your friend and to love Ezra.”

    He finally looked up from his pot pie, and because he was so awful at keeping his feelings in, I felt the yearning ache that was reflected in his eyes. “Are we still friends?”

    “Yes, Luke,” I said, laying my hand on his arm. “We’re still friends.” Maybe not the like we were before, not yet, but maybe with time we could be.

    A smile crept across his face, a nice, honest smile, and he seemed like the Luke I remembered from the beginning. And if his smile was still a little mooka-ish, it was a friendly, tail-wagging mooka this time and not a Very Sad one.

    Maybe we’ll make it through this after all.
     
  14. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Yay for positive strides in the right direction, everyone becoming more like pals :) and Leia helped out quite a bit smoothing out the tension. @};- Han and Ezra finding common ground also was a great thing. But what really made things uber-fine was Mara's overtures to rebuilding a platonic friendship. Luke seems to be working toward being happy about that instead of moping [face_laugh] That in turn will make the training sessions less awkward.
     
  15. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Why am I not surprised that Ezra hit it off with Han and Chewie?

    A few more lunches like this and Luke and Ezra might be Sort Of Friends, even if Ezra still Wants To Smack Him sometimes.
     
  16. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Great update where some folk acted more mature than others.

    I am glad that you used the Ezra Wookie rescue story here. That helped a lot to smooth things out between the lads, at least most of them.

    Still enjoy myself immensely with your story. [face_love]
     
  17. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Good progress is being made here, by all parties! Very encouraging indeed, even if the pace is comparable to that of an elderly Hutt ascending an icy slope. Kanan knows what he's doing with the cooperative exercises he's assigning (Force!Jenga! :D ), and they slowly but surely seem to be getting results. Not wanting to mutually smack each other is an IMMENSE step from what was the case before, and heck, even the fact that Luke brought enough Wookiee cookiees for Ezra to share some as well is already huge, given his earlier more stingy approach with the donuts. I understand why Mara feels a bit sorry for him, though he still does deserve to feel a little sheepish at this point. Still, I'm pretty sure they'll regain the point where training together is fun instead of awkward, in the fullness of time.

    Ezra's meeting with Han and Chewbacca is wonderful. Ezra's got enough of the flyboy in him that I always thought he would hit it off well with someone like Han, and now he'll have his chance. I'm not at all surprised to see Leia as the consummate diplomat getting things rolling and the ice broken, but actually Ezra's own social skills shine a lot here too. He can tell that Han is regarding him as "a novel species of vermin" based on Luke's complaints, and what does he do? He doesn't cower and get all shy and scared. No, he puts on a confident expression and immediately works to establishing common ground with the story of the Wookiees' rescue of the Lasat (which was new to me—wow, go them! :eek: ) and of his own first mission with the Ghost, liberating Wookiee slaves. And with pretty spectacular results—definitely not just a "something shooting something something" we're dealing with here! :D Ezra definitely seems to have made some new friends, and I can see this working out to be a valuable friendship for him. (As a side note, it's cool to see that they have Hondo Ohnaka in common, too!)

    Meanwhile, the tiny violin is still keening away for Luke. I don't have siblings myself, but I totally can see where "I'll always be younger/less experienced than you" is a difficult lesson to learn; I felt that way early on with some schoolmates of mine. Of course, it still says something that Annina was 5 when she learned that lesson, while Luke still has trouble with it at about four times that age! But Mara's right, of course: the only Jedi he should try to be better than is the one he was yesterday (dance schools have the best motivational posters! :D ). I hope he will take that advice to heart and realize that he hasn't "lost" Mara, Han, or anyone. Before this is all out, he may even gain a friend in that pesky, garrulous Bridger.

    (And conversely, I'll say that Mara has saintlike strength of character to still be willing to extend the hand of friendship to Luke after all that's happened. Not everyone would be able or willing to, and I hope Luke will show himself worthy of the extra mile she's going for him here!)
     
  18. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Yep, all that trying really hard to be nice to each other is starting to pay off. Fortunately, Mara has one of the Galaxy’s greatest diplomats to help out. I figured that Han would have run across Hondo at some point or other (he seems like the guy who knows everyone). Luke’s had a bit of time to get his priorities in order and gain a little bit of emotional maturity. It seems he’s decided that having Mara’s friendship matters to him, even if she’s not his “soulmate”. Perhaps this can be a step in building a friendship with Ezra, too...

    Well, they all have their roguish sides, but good hearts beneath that. I think they’d get along pretty well; maybe their respective girlfriends should be concerned at what those two might get into together ;)

    Sort of Friends would be a definite improvement for the guys, though Ezra will probably always want to smack Luke at times.
    Thank you:) They’re all working towards that emotional maturity, they’re just moving there at different rates. The story of the Wookiee rescue seemed like a sure way to win over Han. And if Luke was paying attention at all, maybe it showed him that there’s more to Ezra than he thought. He’s not just the princess-shooting jerk that Luke imagines him to be.
    I imagine Kanan had to do some similar exercises back in the day at the Jedi Temple—and the Force makes every game more fun! Makes me wonder what other board games could be improved thusly. (Force dominoes? Force chess? Force Monopoly? :p) The teens may be moving slowly, but at least they’re moving in the right direction. Luke has learned at least a little something; he’s no longer passive aggressively excluding Ezra from the treats. That little bit is enough to let Mara remember the good parts of their friendship.

    Oh yeah, scruffy-looking nerf-herder, meet not-quite-as-scruffy-as-he-used-to-be Loth-rat! Ezra’s not easily cowed, that’s for sure. He’s stood tall in the face of Dath Vader, Thrawn, Maul, various other Imps and assorted Mandalorians. And he almost never loses the ability to tell a good story. It’s a bit of a jolt for Han to find out all Luke’s complaints about stupid nerf-herder Bridger are overblown, but he quickly recognizes there’s more to the story than Luke’s been telling. Hondo is such a personality and such a smooth-talker that I think he’s probably known from one end of the Galaxy to the other—liked? Well, that depends on the day and who you’re talking to.

    Luke doesn’t have any siblings either (well, that he knows of...) so that may be one reason it took him so long to learn this particular lesson. And of course, Doran’s advice, via Mara comes from that poster. Not judging yourself by anyone else’s abilities is a hard lesson to learn, something that adults still struggle with. If Luke can let go of his “all or nothing” view of relationships, he might just learn that Ezra’s not as bad as he thinks.

    Part of it is definitely that she feels like the Force still has something in mind for her in regards to Luke (does it? Hmmm....) but part of it is that she does have those good memories of what it used to be like. Luke is learning, bit by bit. It may take awhile for him to really, truly accept the new order of things, but he’s trying. Baby steps...
     
  19. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Thanks to Findswoman for beta-reading this chapter. Extra Wookiee cookies from Dex’s for you :D

    Luke

    Today is Empire Day.

    Today marks twenty years the Emperor’s been in power. Twenty years since the Republic fell and the Jedi were destroyed. It’s all anyone is talking about today. Mon Mothma and Leia called an assembly of everyone on base, and both of them gave really stirring speeches about how we can’t give up hope, and how we're going to prevail no matter what the odds. Half the people agree with them and think this will be the year we defeat the Empire. We finally struck a real blow at the Battle of Yavin, they say, and it’ll all be a piece of ryshcate now. The other half says they’ve heard that before and the Empire’s only going to fight harder to crush us now. And both sides want to know what I think--because I’m the Hero of Yavin, or something--and I don’t know what I think.

    All I know is Empire Day means my twentieth birthday is in two days, and I don’t have a family to celebrate with this year.

    We never did a lot for birthdays. I had to work on the moisture farm like every other day, but Aunt Beru always made my favorite meal--bantha stew with hubba gourds and freshly baked flatbread and sweet sand biscuits for dessert. And Uncle Owen always made sure I had at least one nice present--a model ship, macrobinoculars, a new rifle the year I turned sixteen. Aunt Beru would sew me some new tunics and get me socks or boots, the practical stuff I didn’t really want but needed.

    This year, I don’t have anything. I don’t have anyone.

    I guess that’s not really true. I still have friends. Leia. Han and Chewie. Wedge.

    Mara…

    We’re friends again, I think. We talk after our lessons with Kanan. Sometimes we have lunch or dinner together, but it’s not quite the same. Ezra’s always there, too, and, I don’t know, it’s still kind of weird being around him. I wish things with me and Mara could be like they were before he came, especially today. I really needed someone to talk to. Leia was busy with the Empire Day rally, but I knew if I could talk to Mara, I’d feel better.

    Except Mara wasn’t there when I showed up at the Ghost. It was just Kanan and Ezra, and Ezra looked even moodier than usual. He scowled and grumbled, “Hello to you, too, Skywalker,” when I asked where she was.

    Kanan sighed a bit. Even he looked a little out of sorts. “Mara has a special project to work on today,” he told me. “Since it’s just the three of us, we’ll be doing something a bit different. We’re going to be working on the affect mind skill...popularly known as the Jedi mind-trick.”

    “Really?” That that sounded kind of interesting. I remembered how Obi-Wan made the stormtroopers let us past in Mos Eisley, and how he got the speeder salesman to give us more credits for my speeder, even though it was pretty old and beat-up. That kind of thing could be really useful. A horrible, wonderful thought occurred to me: maybe I could use it to convince...no, I’d never use it on Mara. But maybe…I glanced over at Ezra, considering...

    “It doesn’t work on Jedi,” he growled, as if he knew what I was thinking. His hands bunched up into fists at his side.

    “No, it doesn’t,” Kanan agreed, stepping in between us. “And it wouldn’t be ethical to practice it on our friends, so we’re heading into the forest to see if we can find some woolamanders.” Without waiting for either of us to reply, Kanan started off down a narrow trail that led into the forest. I followed, and Ezra lagged behind both us.

    The path led to another one of the ancient black stone temples, like the ones our barracks are in, but this one was already inhabited…

    A huge troop of simian creatures were clustered in the trees, grooming each other’s silky blue and gold hair, munching on bright red fruit, and swinging through the branches with arms that seemed too long for their bodies. Some of them climbed the temple’s crumbling stone facade, while others prowled in and out of the gaping doorway that led inside. As we stepped into the clearing, one of the woolamanders spotted us and let out a high-pitched, ululating cry. One by one, the other woolamanders stopped and stared at the three of us, and one by one they picked up the howling cry.

    Kanan waited until the woolamanders lost interest in us and only a few random hoots could be heard. “Before you can learn to affect another being’s mind, you have to be able make a connection with them. The Force binds us all together; it’s just a matter of finding that connection. Ezra, why don’t you show Luke how to do it?”

    Ezra had been hanging back at the edge of the clearing. “Me?” he asked, looking startled, at the same time I asked Kanan, “Can’t you show me?”

    “Actually, Ezra’s probably better at this than I am.”

    Ezra flashed the Jedi a “thanks a lot” kind of look as he came into the clearing with Kanan and me. “Okay, so… like Kanan said, every living thing is connected in the Force, you just have to find it. We’ll try with this guy.” He gestured up at the largest woolamander on the branch above us, a dark blue one whose silky mustache was streaked red with juice from the fruit it was eating. It eyed us suspiciously as Ezra stepped toward the tree. He closed his eyes and stretched out one hand. “Open yourself up to the Force and feel how it connects you to the woolamander. Once you find that connection, reach out to him.”

    I closed my eyes and reached out like Ezra had. I opened myself to the Force like I did for every other lesson, but...what was a Force connection supposed to feel like? A rope or a thread? A path? A presence? What? Could Ezra have been any less specific? Any less helpful? I didn’t feel anything. I heard Ezra sigh and click his tongue. “Come on, Skywalker, you have to focus. Empty your mind of everything else, except for that connection.”

    I tried, I really did! But my mind wouldn’t stay empty. It kept filling up with thoughts of Empire Day and Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. Thoughts of Mara. Why couldn’t she be here today? I really needed to talk to her! She would understand me. Instead, I was stuck here with Ezra trying to talk to a stupid woolamander and….

    The woolamander screeched and threw its fruit in my face; the half-eaten fruit pulp splattered messily, and the juice ran down my nose. Meanwhile, the woolamander leapt to its feet and started the weird howling call again. Another woolamander picked it up, and another and another. And they started lobbing their fruit, too.

    “Whoa!” Ezra leapt between me and the screeching woolamander, both hands raised now. He looked the creature in the eye. “Whoa,” he repeated. “Easy, easy…” He lowered his hands slowly, and the howling died down as the woolamanders relaxed and went back to eating their pulp fruit instead of throwing it at me. Ezra sighed. “Good thing we weren’t working with a herd of runyips or you’d be dead about now, Skywalker, provoking a reaction like that! You have to..”

    “Focus?” I snapped, wiping the mess of fruit bits and woolamander saliva off my face. “You mentioned that. Too bad you didn’t mention anything else helpful. I bet you enjoyed that, didn’t you?!”

    “Oh, get over yourself!” he shot back. “What’s your problem today, anyway? You’re moping so hard it’s a wonder every woolamander within a kilometer didn’t throw fruit at you!”

    “My problem? As if you care!” My voice was too loud, almost a shout, and any second Kanan was probably going to remind me that there was no emotion, there was peace. But I guess I still haven’t mastered that part, because I couldn’t find any peace, just like I couldn’t empty my mind of all those thoughts zipping around like speeding pod racers. “My problem is my birthday’s coming up and I don’t have anyone to celebrate with this year because the Empire murdered my aunt and uncle! Is that good enough for you?!”

    A funny sort of look crossed Ezra’s face, almost like I’d punched him instead of just yelling at him. “You’re not the only one who’s lost someone, you know.” His voice was low, all the anger drained out of it, and he just looked tired...and sad. “I can’t do this today,” he told Kanan. “I know--a Jedi controls his emotions. But I can’t. Not today. I’m sorry.” His shoulders sagged as he walked off, not on the path we’d come on, but further into the forest, pushing through the tangle of vines and branches. I don’t know why, but I started to go after him. Maybe because I’d never really seen him look that way before. Angry, yes, and annoyed and sarcastic—a lot, but never sad like that.

    Kanan laid a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. “Let him go.”

    “What’s wrong with him?”

    Kanan sighed again and steered me back to the little clearing by the temple. He sat down on a black stone column carved with pictures of leaping woolamanders that tumbled down next to the path. “What’s wrong is that today’s Ezra’s birthday, and he’s missing his family, too.”

    “Oh…” From the way he said it, I knew that they weren’t just living on another planet somewhere. “What...what happened to them?”

    “His parents were arrested for speaking out against the Empire when he was only seven and he was on his own until he was fourteen. Four years ago, we found out that his parents were killed helping other inmates escape.”

    “Oh.” Wow...that sounded pathetically inadequate, but I couldn’t really think of anything else that didn’t sound just as lame. Ezra had been his own since he was seven? I couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like...at least I had my aunt and uncle to take care of me. At least I’d had a family. “I didn’t know.”

    Kanan cocked his head and regarded me in that kind of looking-without-seeing way he has. “Did you ever ask?”

    “Umm…” No, of course not, I wanted to say. He never cared about me; why should I care about him? But it hit me that maybe I should have known something. I knew all about Mara--where she was from, all about her family—I’d known since the first week I’d met her. I knew about the guys in Rogue Squadron, too, but I’d been coming to the Ghost for Jedi training for months now, without knowing anything about Ezra...or Kanan. Without even caring enough to ask. And that thought made me feel kind of squirmy inside, like I’d swallowed a sand maggot or something. “Where’s your family, Kanan?”

    “My family?” He smiled a little and shrugged. “If you mean my birth family, I never knew them. I was taken to the Jedi Temple when I was still a baby. Don’t look so sad; the Jedi were my family. And now my family is everyone on the Ghost: Ezra, Hera, Sabine, Zeb—even Chopper.”

    It seemed like there was a lot about him and Ezra that I never knew...and a lot I’d learned just by asking a couple questions that I should have asked a long time ago. I sank down onto the fallen pillar and sat next to Kanan. “I never knew my parents either,” I told him. “My father died before I was born and mother died giving birth to me. My father’s brother and his wife, my Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, raised me. I miss them. I guess I didn’t realize how much until now.

    “As much as I wanted to leave the farm, I never wanted to leave it the way I did. Not because they were gone. Not because the Empire killed them. I never got a chance to say goodbye to them. I never got the chance to tell Uncle Owen I was sorry that we argued…” I don’t know why, but I kept talking, telling Kanan all the things that had been running through my mind all day, the things I wished I could have told Mara or Leia. He was a good listener, though, and he never said anything when tears started running down my cheeks. I’m not sure I even cried that day when I found the farm and...everything burned, but now...

    Kanan put an arm around my shoulders as the tears kept coming. “The Jedi teach that life never really ends, it just returns to the Force. So your aunt and uncle are still with you; they always will be. They know how you feel, and they’ll always love you.”

    I scrubbed the tears off my face with my tunic sleeve and tried not to sniffle like a youngling. “I wonder if they’d be proud of me, becoming a Jedi like my father?”

    “I’m sure they’re proud of you, for becoming the Jedi you are. You’ve come a long way since you started your training.”

    “Thanks, Kanan.” I smiled at him, a kind of wobbly half smile, and sighed, combing some soggy bits of fruit out of my hair with my fingers. “I sure made a mess of today’s lesson, though.”

    Kanan picked a bit off the collar of my tunic (I still can’t figure out how he can do things like that) and gave me a wry smile. “Maybe the lesson I had planned didn’t go so well, but I think the Force had a different lesson in mind for today.”

    “Huh? The Force had a lesson in mind…? Do Jedi always have to say things that don’t make sense?” I complained. They all did it—Ben, Kanan, even Mara, and it seemed like they enjoyed doing it, too. Kanan laughed suddenly. “What?!”

    “Nothing…” he said, stifling a smile. “You just sounded a lot like Ezra when I first started teaching him. And speaking of Ezra, we should probably head back to the Ghost. We’re having a birthday dinner for him tonight. Would you like to join us?”

    “That’s okay, thanks.” Maybe Ezra wasn’t quite as much of nerf-herder as I thought he was, and maybe we had a little something in common, but I didn’t think I was quite ready to go to his birthday party. Anyway, I wanted to go back and find Han and Chewie, maybe Leia, too, if she wasn’t busy. Because I was thinking about what Kanan said about the Ghost’s crew being his family, and I wondered if maybe I didn’t have a family to celebrate with after all.
     
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  20. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Definitely a valuable lesson that those you don't expect to hae similar losses and yet have also found and formed warm friendships. Glad Kanan was there to listen and provide perspective.

    I think Luke and Ezra will find things getting easier between them now that Luke knows there is common ground. [face_thinking]
     
    Ewok Poet and Findswoman like this.
  21. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Yup. If Luke didn't already know that Kanan was Space! Dad, he does now. And it looks like he found something that he has in common with Ezra.
     
  22. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Oh yes, progress is definitely being made here. This is at once one of the most levelheaded and most emotionally compelling of Luke’s entries yet—and what’s more it manages to be that without any ALL CAPS! Or maybe even because of having no ALL CAPS… hmm!

    On one hand, it’s refreshing to see Luke in a more thoughtful mood here, not whining about Stoopid Nerf-Herding Bridger or mooning over Mara or bellyaching about how he Can’t Jedi. On the other hand, well, yes, he’s thoughtful, but look at what those thoughts are about: his birthday is around the corner, and it’s the first birthday he won’t be able to celebrate as he has in the past because the Empire has destroyed everything dear to him. And it doesn’t help matters either that he’s now suddenly regarded as Some Kind of Authority on the Situation just by virtue of being the Hero of Yavin—that’s a huge amount of pressure. I really do feel for him for that, and totally can understand where all those thoughts would cause him to lose his focus during the woolamander exercise.

    Of course, between Ezra’s impatience, the woolamanders’ reaction, and the argument that breaks out between these two very spirited Jedi lads, there were several quite tense moments there! From the Saga we know just how close to the dark side Argumentative!Luke can skirt, and of course Argumentative!Snarky!Ezra is a force to be reckoned with too. Thank goodness that Kanan was there to help defuse things. I think it was wise of him to let Ezra have that time to go off and reflect by himself, which will probably do a world of good for Ezra’s mood and at this point will probably help him better than a Jedi Master Talk. As for Luke, on the other hand, Kanan knows that a good, calm Jedi Master Talk is precisely what’s needed, and once again he excels at offering just the right kind of advice and encouragement at just the right time.

    Yes, Space!Dad shines once again. :kanan: The lessons he offers here can’t be emphasized enough, especially not to spirited young Jedi: the importance of asking, the importance of getting to know the people you see each day, of understanding where they are coming from, understanding that everyone has a story. And indeed, thanks to Kanan’s good counsel, Luke now knows that Ezra’s story has a lot in common with his own, and can admit of the possibility that sometime, somehow, they’ll be able to bond over those commonalities. May it be so, speedily and in our days! :luke: :ezra:

    Another observation about this wonderful Space!Dad chat: it looks like Kanan’s gentle, understanding presence is bringing Luke some long-needed catharsis. He's finally found someone to whom he can fully unburden his heart about his loss after a whole year—someone to whom he can actually weep about it. That's huge, because it can open the way to important realizations about how to handle the grief—and we see that it already is starting to have that effect, as Luke realize at the very end that he really does have a family to celebrate with after all. Now, may he go do so! @};-
     
  23. Darth_Drachonus

    Darth_Drachonus Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2005
  24. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    October 13th

    I am getting a kick out of Mara's cynicism more and more as we go. She's super-witty and super-snarky at the same time.

    BWAHAHAHAHAHA.

    YOU.ARE.OFFICIALLY.KILLING.ME! :D

    The thing with crates is so boring, but Kanan is doing the right thing - it appears that he wants the kids to learn how to break the ice and get along with one another exactly through those extremely boring tasks.

    Aaaaand it seems to be working, oddly enough! Luke is becoming considerate and thinking that Ezra might be enjoying wookie-ookies, too. Me likey!

    I also love it, love it, love it that Mara is warming up to the rest of the gang. To get to know Luke better, one has to get to know the folks who spent the pivotal moments of his life with him, the only kind of family he has left.

    Han could outsnark Mara at some point and I love how Leia is awkward after her experience with Ezra, yet she plays the straight man.

    I can see how Zeb and Chewie could become palZ, too.

    And I TOTALLY knew what this would tie in and I love reading about it. :)

    But Luke's sudden lack of self-esteem is worrying...

    ...until he patches things with Mara. FINALLY. And she's hopeful about it, instead of being her usual snarky self.


    ...



    October 31st


    This is where Luke becomes serious and he's slowly realising the thing I mentioned in the comment to the October 13th entry - his family is there and then, those who have walked into his life by chance, or by the will of the Force.

    Horrible.Wonderful.

    HORRIBLE.WONDERFUL.

    Luke, don't be a bad boy. ;)

    I don't know much about woolamanders, but I can see how this would make a good exercise. And Luke is starting to sharpen his skills, to actually WONDER about the things he's capable of doing. Practice makes perfect and once he's learned how to make the best of his powers, things will be very, very different.

    And the idea of the mind having to stay empty reminds me of various types of meditation, which I guess was your idea. And that kind of stuff is hard.

    Love it how Ezra and Luke's unexpected bonding finally happens - no matter of how much they both seem to be denying that. The Force has strange ways, but eventually, the future stops moving and creates the present that makes sense. :)

    Eagerly awaiting more! =D=
     
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  25. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Yes, you never know when or where you’re going to find a kindred spirit. For all their differences, Ezra and Luke have some very important things in common. As Kanan was there for Ezra under similar circumstances, now he is there for Luke, and provides a lot of the same advice. Some feelings are universal. And things should be easier now that Luke is willing to see that there’s more to Ezra than a princess-shooting nerf-herder.
    :kanan: Kanan is the best possible Space!Dad and that kind of wise, comforting father figure is exactly what Luke needs right now.
    Thank you! Welcome to the story; glad to have you here and hope you continue to enjoy it. :)
    Thank you! And yes, Luke’s finally ditched the allcaps drama—appropriate since here he’s feeling depths of emotion that he hasn’t expressed in his diary before. He’s not just angsting over soulmates and stupid nerf-herders, he’s grieving a real loss. He’s found something worthy of that kind of emotion, and yet he’s able to express it genuinely.

    All of this... He’s got a lot on his mind and heart with both Empire Day and his approaching birthday. Not perhaps the ideal situation to try to reach out to the woolamanders, but appropriate because it echoes Ezra’s experience with the same exercise on the very same day five years earlier. Another connection between them; the Force doesn’t do coincidences (or at least fan fic writers don’t ;) )

    Kanan knows how fraught with emotion his birthday/Empire Day can be for Ezra. It was definitely for the best for both boys to give him that time to himself to get those emotions under control (Ezra’s comments to the contrary, that’s exactly what he’s doing). This way he doesn’t lash out at a well meaning Luke, and Luke has a chance to think, finally ask some of the right questions, and open up about his own feelings.

    Yup, as usual communication is the key. It’s important to a Jedi (well, to everyone, but especially a Jedi) to take an interest in those around them and not make assumptions about them. Thanks to Kanan’s nudge, Luke sees he’s been excluding Ezra—and Kanan himself—from that interest he’s extended to practically everyone else. But the nudge is enough to start him thinking and asking And that’s a giant step in the right direction.

    We never really see Luke react very strongly to finding his home and the aunt and uncle who raised him. Maybe it was just something that never occurred on screen, but I think it’s also possible that he was so caught up in the events afterward that he never really got a chance to mourn them. His coming birthday brings back memories, but it brings up all those unresolved emotions, too. Kanan’s there to listen and offer support at just the right moment. Luke may not see it just yet, but his space!family is bigger than he realizes.
    Mara never forgets the snark ;) In her family, it’s practically a requirement. I’ve tried to keep the wit and snark that Legends!Mara has and tried to give it to her parents as well. And I’m pretty sure that Ezra enjoys it, too.

    It may be boring and basic, but it forces them to cooperate in order to get their task done. For three kids whose communication skills are sorely lacking, it takes baby steps to get moving in the right direction.

    He’s finally taking Leia’s advice and seeing the two of them as a pair. After his passive aggressive shenanigans with the donuts, even acknowledging Ezra’s existence is a big step.

    Yep, Han and Mara could be a volatile combination under the right (or maybe wrong) circumstances. Too much Corellian stubborn in one place and something’s going to blow! (And I have a great plot bunny to write someday where Han stops in for drinks at a Certain Merkeshian Cantina and trades snark with a Certain Corellian Barkeep/Jedi). Fortunately, Leia and Chewie are there to keep things on an even keel.

    This story must be written! :zeb: :chewie:
    EVERYONE HATEZ HIM. THEY ALL LIKE EZRA BETTER. WAAAAH... except that friendship is not a fixed commodity and friendship with Ezra doesn’t mean there’s less for Luke. Mara gives him a very subtle kick in the shebs, more of a nudge, really, and thank goodness Luke picks up on the message, else there would have been a lot of snark and it would not have been pretty! Mara isn’t all snark, all the time, though. She’s got a heart, too, and returning to a friendly relationship with Luke is a cause for hope.

    Yep, it’s the same lesson that Ezra has learned over the course of his time on the Ghost, and, to a certain extent, Mara is learning it, too, as she says that being with the Ghost’s crew is like being with family.

    Well, he’s still a boy, and still not quite over that whole soulmate thing, but he would like it known that he was NOT thinking of THAT. AT ALL! Maybe kissing...but that’s definitely ALL. Because he would NEVER.... well, you know the rest.

    Woolamanders are an interesting little primate species in the Yavin jungle. I picture them as kind of a cross between howler monkeys and tamarins, and the temple where they live as being a lot like the temple of the Bandar Log in the Jungle Book And yes that “emptying your mind” aspect of meditation is darn near impossible for me, because my mind has too many stories.

    Yep, the Force doesn’t do coincidences and it’s bringing the right people together, however much they resist. :)

    How about some more right now?
     
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