Beyond - Legends The Shape of Life (A Ben and Luke Skywalker Vignette for the Mini Games Challenge)

Title: The Shape of Life

Author: devilinthedetails

Characters: Ben Skywalker; Luke Skywalker

Genre: General; Family

Timeline: Beyond the Saga-Legends. Set early on the in Fate of the Jedi series when Luke and Ben begin their exile.

Summary: Ben and Luke reflect on the shape of life.

Author's Note: Written for @Raissa Baiard's Idiot Array Sabacc challenge in the Mini Games Challenge thread. My challenge was the Wheel, which represents luck, both good and bad, the beginning and the ending of things, random chance.

The Shape of Life

Ben sat cross-legged on the floor of the Jade Shadow. With his father meditating barely a hand-span away from him, it occurred to him for the first time how cramped the ship’s quarters truly were as they sped through the vacuum of space. Maybe he had been impulsive, after all, to volunteer–no, insist–on accompanying his father on an exile that could last years. Yet he knew that he couldn’t have stayed on Coruscant with the other Jedi. He needed to go on this journey–this quest–to understand why Jacen had fallen to the Dark Side. To understand the shape that Jacen’s life and his own life had taken.

“Dad?” he asked the man meditating across from. “What do you think is the shape of life?”

Dad was silent for a moment so the only sound Ben could hear was the echo of his father’s breathing in unison with his before replying, “I think it’s a circle like a wheel. It goes up and down with no clear beginning and end. It’s an eternal cycle of which we are only a small part.”

Ben didn’t need to open his eyes to see–he could picture it in his mind–his father’s fingers folded into circles on his knees, his fingers looping together in a wheel that had no beginning and no end. Hid dad, he thought, was a serene circle–assured that what appeared to be good or bad fortune were equally part of the Force.

Ben wasn’t a circle. He was a rigid line, his spine tense even as he tried to find peace through meditation.

“I think it’s like a line.” Ben trailed his finger in a straight line across the floor. “We know it’s got a beginning and an end but we’re all trying to extend that line out as long as possible.” That sounded too morbid. “Or maybe you’re right. Maybe there is something circular about the line. Perhaps it’s a line that goes up and down like a rollercoaster, and we don’t have to be afraid of the speed of life–just the sudden drop at the end. Or maybe it’s like a Spin-a-Whirl with a wheel to control how fast you spin on a pre-determined path and when you get off if you spin too fast you feel dizzy and need to search for a trash can to barf into...”

“Life as an amusement park ride.” Ben could hear his dad’s headshake. “Sounds like teenage perspective all right.”

“Teenage wisdom,” Ben corrected, cracking a smile. Then, sobering again, he asked the question he suspected neither one of them could answer, “Do you think Jacen got dizzy from the speed of life and got off too soon?”

“I don’t know, son.” Dad reached out to squeeze Ben’s shoulder. “That’s what we’re going on this journey to find out, isn’t it?”

Ben could only nod mutely in response, reflecting on how little both of them knew as they sped fast as light through the dark vacuum of space.

 

Oh wow! I started quoting bits and pieces of this and then had to stop because the whole conversation was so fluid, with each part complimenting and ebbing into the next! I loved their perspectives, and how they contrasted and yet ultimately agreed in their own ways! Teenage wisdom, indeed.

This was a beautiful, thoughtful piece, and perfectly captured the EU voices I adore so much. Well done!

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha As always, thank you so much for your kind comments! This challenge provided an excellent opportunity to explore some Jedi philosophy and perspective in a way I wouldn't have imagined otherwise, so I'm so grateful to have participated in it. I feel like Luke and Ben's journey together in the Fate of the Jedi books gave them a perfect chance to explore some of the deep questions of life together so it was nice to delve into that with this story and to give them a chance to come to terms with some of the emotionally painful implications of their musings.

@Briannakin Thank you so much for commenting! I am a huge fan of Luke, Ben, and their father-son relationship too but so often I'm afraid to write them or I somehow lack the inspiration to do so but this challenge was awesome for providing me with that inspiration and urge to step out of my comfort zone and write something about them, and I'm so happy I did. Even this little story was so rewarding for me to write. I think the Fate of the Jedi time period between Luke and Ben might be my favorite since they are really beginning to understand and bond with one another which gives me so many mushy feelings. I am so flattered that you felt I got their voices and perspectives right, and I agree that they are both wise in their own ways!

@Mira_Jade Thank you so much for your sweet comment! I am so insanely flattered that you had to stop quoting specific parts because there were so many you liked. The conversation just seemed to roll off my fingers as I was writing it so I'm so happy to hear that it read so fluidly to you and that you felt each part of the conversation flowed into the next. I really enjoyed being able to explore their different perspectives and how those perspectives ultimately came together in some interesting ways so I'm so glad that appealed to you as well. Teenagers can be wise in the funniest ways as Ben proves. Thank you again for your comment, and I'm so happy to hear you found this piece a beautiful, thoughtful one that captured some of your favorite EU voices.