In which Luke Skywalker comes back from the mission he left on in the previous chapter, making Jalani Hal'star very happy to see him, as in the beginning of this chapter, she misses him dearly. His mission did not go well and Jalani comforts him. R2 has some problems that the two work to fix. He teaches her the basics of using a lightsaber(he doesn't know how to do much more than that anyways) and does some training himself. Cuteness and shenanigans ensue as always (Can we really take either of these two seriously though? Can we?). Occurs between A New Hope and Empire Strikes back, roughly a year after A New Hope. This occurs....a couple of days later(?) after the previous chapter. (We'll say that but I don't really know how long the mission took...even if it wasn't that long, she still seriously misses him. We're gonna say it was a couple days and that this is a shorter mission.)
I'm sitting on an old swivel stool in front of a monitor doing research on the planet where this mission was supposed to happen. I move back and forth anxiously as I research the group of people that Luke and the rest of the team are interacting with to see if they're good guys or bad guys and what kind of trouble they cause.
To my chagrin, it's all kinds.
Skywalker, you better come back to me or I might.....go talk to 3P0.
Oh dear....
I'm getting desperate. Not that I really want to talk to 3P0, I really just want to tell Luke that I did it so it will put the urgency of the situation in perspective for him. Not that he really considers me talking to 3P0 bad because he's always telling me to try to get along with him.
Yeah no. I'm not going to give Luke that satisfaction. How can I make this situation dire??? I tap my fingers on the monitor in front of me while I wait for the information to pull up. Apparently, this is the slowest computer in the whole base. Everyone's always complaining about it, especially Wedge who....
Wedge!!! I forgot Wedge was here. Wedge won't make Luke jealous but at least, he's a familiar face. The introvert in me is pleased. As long as there's someone who I'm friends with...besides Leia and 3P0. Except 3P0 really likes me and Leia couldn't care less at this point. I'm really just another Rebel to her.
There's two friendly faces here, one droid and one human. I could care less about making Luke jealous so he'll come back here. I still really want to him come back though. Making him jealous is too petty and not that it wouldn't work but, we've gone through enough already. The information pulls up on the computer.
"Finally got it to pull up, huh?" Wedge asks as he walks over from doing who knows what.
"Hey, Wedge," I say casually, starting to look through the information and loading it onto a data chip for the Rebel leaders.
"You know that thing is so slow. I'm pretty sure a Bantha could run faster than the speed that computer works at," he remarks for the umpteenth time. I don't even know at this point how many times he's said it.
"I wouldn't know," I respond as I always do, "We didn't have stuff like this on Tatoonie. You also realize we had this conversation a month ago?"
"We did?" Wedge asks, shocked at the idea of ever having a conversation twice.
"Yeah, we did. You doing okay? Luke said you were stressed about some stuff," I ask as I turn my back to the computer to talk to Wedge, enjoying the swivel of the chair as I spin to face him. I'm having way too much fun with this. Luke's going to be concerned.
"I'm worried about getting demoted," Wedge whispers and I raise an eyebrow.
"You? I don't think so. You do a great job, you're one of the top pilots in the Rebellion," I say. Wedge points his index finger at me.
"I'm ONE of them. I'm not nearly as good as Luke or Captain Solo," he starts and I cut him off,
"You don't need to be, Wedge. You're one of the top pilots. For crying out loud you helped Luke blow up the Death Star. He's still thankful to you for that, ya know."
"Oh...okay," Wedge says quietly, starting to walk away.
"Wait!" I call out so I don't have to be alone with a bunch of people who I don't know or don't like very well, "You don't have to leave. You can stay if you want." This is me pleading him to stay so that there's someone I actually know nearby. Wedge sighs and looks around for a second.
"I have some work that needs done," he says quickly before starting to walk away again, "Sorry." Just as he starts to walk away, a sudden rush of pain hits me hard. I grab onto the computer for support not because of the pain but because of how sudden it is. Wedge looks concerned and hurries over to me. "Lanike, you okay?" The rush disappears about as soon as it began but I feel a lingering sense of something unhappy.
"It's Luke," I say quickly, "Something's wrong with Luke. Or something happened that Luke is really upset about. I felt it. He's upset."
"Are you sure?" Wedge asks, "How do you know?"
"The Force, Wedge. It's the Force. Luke and I have a really strong bond which is part of why we're as close as we are," I say still using the computer to stabilize myself, "I know I don't feel everything that he feels yet but....when he goes through a dramatic situation or his emotions change really dramatically, I can feel it. I just felt something pretty hard and it wasn't a happy feeling. I don't think they're winning and something has either happened to Luke or maybe to Han and Luke's really upset about it." Wedge looks at me like I'm crazy.
"Are you sure you're doing okay?" he asks timidly, starting to back away, "Because I really need to...."
"Go ahead and do your work. I'll be fine," I say, "Thanks, Wedge." Wedge nods, walks casually until he thinks I'm not looking and then sprints off toward some other part of the base. I grip the edge of the computer counsel a little bit harder. Please be okay, Luke. Please be okay. I go back to looking at the information on the monitor. Leia approaches me.
Oh no. Not this. I felt something that wasn't good from Luke and here's one of the people I've been trying to avoid.
"Lanike, how's the research going?" Leia asks kindly. Okay, she's trying. Good, there's a start.
"It's going. This group looks rough but nothing the crew can't handle. Have you been in contact with any of the Rebels at all recently?" I ask, trying to be just as kind as Leia was to me.
"Yes, we were just in contact with them. Why?" Leia asks, concern rising in her voice.
"I was just curious," I say, "Did they say anything about Luke?" I notice a flicker of jealousy and perhaps anger run through Leia' eyes. "Or maybe Han?" I offer. A slight look of repulsion appears on Leia's face and maybe the tiniest glint of excitement. Not the same reaction she gave for Luke but still interesting. I see where her preferences lie. And this is why we don't get along.
"I haven't heard," Leia says coolly, "Please let me know if you find anything else of interest. I have duties to attend to."
Yep, I struck a nerve. Luke's my friend too and I feel obligated to look out for him. Especially with what just happened. You don't just feel things like that especially if you're a novice Force user like me.
Besides, I think if Leia and I weren't fighting over Luke, we would get along just fine. Our personalities are very different but I think we could still get along. 3P0 comes trotting up towards me and the monitor.
Seriously? Him too? The droid I was trying to avoid.
"Miss Mallix, are you quite alright?" C3P0 asks me and I quietly sigh under my breath.
Luke better come back....and soon.
"I'm fine, 3P0. Just fine and dandy," I say, sorting through the information on the monitor and trying to pretend that he isn't there. That's kind of hard to do when the droid never stops talking...ever. I suddenly feel a faint flicker inside. I look toward the giant hanger doors to see if they are opening and they aren't yet...but they will be soon. Going back to work on the information, 3P0 continues to try to talk to me.
"Miss Mallix, is there anything I may do to assist you?" he asks me as I feel the flicker steadily starting to grow stronger. Luke's on his way back from the mission. I concentrate on the information starting to organize it into a folder. This is all part of my training on how to handle information for the Rebellion.
"You could help me by...." I trail off, thinking of ways that he could help me without him getting super offended, "translating this file. I don't really have time to do it right now." I swipe the file to my left sending it to the adjacent monitor.
"Oh! Of course, Miss Mallix! I would be happy to assist you," 3P0 says excitedly, going to work on translating the file.
"Thanks, 3P0," I respond as I continue to thumb through the files I am looking at. I ignore the flicker starting to swell inside of me. I start to organize the information and wince the more that I read about these people. How was Luke ever going to...?"I suddenly feel a swell inside of me and glance up briefly but then go back to my work. Now that I'm focused on it, I feel bad because I could have gotten so much more done earlier. The swell rushes again but I try to ignore it.
"You know, for someone who was adamant about me not leaving, you're not very excited that I'm back," I hear a voice say. The swell hits a peak and I turn around seeing Luke behind me. I don't wait another minute and run into his arms, throwing mine around his orange flight suit. I hug him tightly and I feel his arms come around my waist. After a moment, we let go even though I don't want to.
"It didn't go well, did it?" I ask quietly. Luke looks around briefly to make sure no one important is around and shakes his head.
"No, it didn't go well at all," he whispers, putting a hand on the small of my back to guide me through the base and back towards his tiny room he shares with Wedge, Han and another pilot who I don't know the name of. Once we get back there, he looks around to make sure no one is around before leaning up against the wall next to me. "I'm so tired," he says quietly, "It was hard and they were not willing to negotiate with us. We thought we had a deal and then...we didn't."
"I'm sorry," I whisper, "I'm just happy you're back. It feels like it's been forever since I last saw you. I felt something while I was working and now Wedge probably thinks I'm crazy."
"You're not crazy because I felt your reaction to it," Luke says, "And somehow, I knew it was you. You knew I was unhappy."
"It made me stop in the middle of my work," I say, "What happened?"
"These two thugs were trying to gun down Han but R2 and I distracted them. We managed to take care of them," Luke replies, "I'm glad you were here instead of out there. It wouldn't have been safe for you."
"It would have been fine," I say, "I can take care of myself."
"You can," Luke replies, "I have no doubt about that. I just don't know that I could watch you get hurt."
"Thanks. I appreciate the concern," I say smiling at him. Luke takes my hand and rubs the pad of his thumb gently over my knuckles causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach. I intertwine our fingers and give his hand a gentle squeeze. "Do you I think I could fit in the X-Wing?" I ask. Luke's thumb, to my disappointment, stops rubbing over my knuckles while he sighs.
"You're not coming with me, Lani. It's not safe," he replies, his thumb resuming its pattern. We haven't done this in awhile, the mission must have gone worse than I felt.
"Then train me so I can come," I say impatiently. Luke sighs again with a hint of frustration.
"I'm not trying to teach you how to fly again. I think we both agree on that," he replies, "Besides, we're both pretty new to the Rebellion and they need the information that you're finding just as much as they need me to be a part of missions." I sigh sadly, leaning up against the wall. I look over at him and notice him still in his orange flight suit.
"Aren't you going to get changed?" I ask, not really wanting him to so he doesn't let go of my hand. I like it when he holds my hand and we haven't done it in awhile. I've missed it.
He's never kissed me though and that's super sad. I get it, neither one of us are really into fast paced relationships but, we've been friends since we were 13.
And it's been almost seven years since then.
It's not like he hasn't tried. Either we get distracted or it isn't the right time.
I think he tried right before he left. If it wasn't for Han.........
Hopefully he gets another chance. He should know that I'm not going to make the first move when it comes to a first kiss.
"Mmmm, not yet. I wanted to see you first and I think something needs fixed on R2," he replies, still gently rubbing his thumb across my knuckles. Butterflies erupt from deep down as his thumb continues its journey.
"I can start on R2 while you get changed," I say nudging him towards his room. As he starts to move away, I squeeze his hand to distract him and with my other one, grab his lightsaber.
"Hey," Luke starts to whine.
"You do NOT need this while you're changing. Besides, you said you would train me on how to use it when you got back, " I reply holding it in my hand. I hook it to my own belt that I wear. Luke makes some noise of irritation before moodily shuffling into his room. I chuckle and walk out towards the hangar, running right into Han as I do.
"Whoa, hey there, Mallix," Han greets me, his clothes covered in oil,"Better not have been any shenanigans going on in my room or you'll have bigger problems than just me." He casts a weary and protective look over to Leia.
"Unless you count me comforting my friend on the issues of the mission than no. There were no shenanigans," I reply, moving in the direction of Luke's X-Wing. Han sighs quietly.
"Yeah, he's pretty upset about it. I almost got gunned down," he says, "R2 took some heat while saving me and I think that's part of why Luke's so upset about it."
"I'm sure it's nothing I can't fix," I say softly, "Or that he can't fix. He's good with droids."
"I don't know, kid. It's pretty bad," Han replies, "If you're looking for something to do, Chewie could use some help on the Falcon. Something fell apart again."
"Part of the reason why I don't ride on it unless I'm with Luke," I mutter under my breath.
"What?" Han asks.
"Oh nothing," I say, "That explains why you're going to your room then. To change your shirt."
"Yeah. Happens all the time," Han says casually although I get the feeling if I asked Chewie about it, I wouldn't get the same reaction.
"Right," I say drawing out every letter of the word, "I'll see you later."
"Bye, Mallix," Han calls out before heading into his room. I continue in the direction of Luke's X-Wing, seeing R2 rolling around probably looking for Luke.
"R2," I call out and the little blue and grey droid looks at me. He looks a little frazzled and I can see some parts are a little more fried than they should be. I kneel down next to him getting him to stop moving. "What's wrong?" I ask him. 3P0 comes over when he notices the two of us outside of Luke's X-Wing.
"R2D2! What happened to you?" he cries out on his approach. I sigh, putting a hand on R2's domed head to calm him.
"We'll fix you, buddy. Don't worry," I say as I stand up to get some tools. 3P0 continues talking with him.
"Oh! I knew someday that there would be some kind of trouble," he frets. I roll my eyes as I look for tools that might help me.
"Hey, 3P0! You wanna help me?" I ask as I sort through the tools to figure out what I could possibly need. I've only worked on droids here and there. My sisters and I never had any after our parents disappeared. We had one when my parents were around but I never worked on it that much. Hopefully I'll be able to do enough to get things started.
"Of course, Miss Lanike!! That is my primary function as a protocol droid!" 3P0 replies enthusiastically.
"Tell me what tools R2 tells me I need to fix him," I say as I pull out a couple of wrenches that are typically used for fixing a droid. "R2, what needs fixed?" I ask and R2 beeps and bloops in response. 3P0 starts to say all of the different tools that he needs. I grab them out and hurry over to R2.
"Don't you think you should wait for the technicians to fix him?" 3P0 asks me as I use a tool to pry loose a panel on R2.
"Nope. I'm doing just fine," I say, wiggling the tool back and forth when the panel won't pull off. I grunt in frustration when it still won't give. "Can't even do one blasted..." I groan right as the panel flies off and hits 3P0 in the head.
"Oh my!! Miss Lanike, I don't think that type of force is necessary," he cries tottering off in his awkward robot walk. I roll my eyes, glaring after the golden robot. R2 squeaks a noise that sounds like approval.
"I have no idea what you just said but I think I agree with it," I say, going to work on some of the wiring that is underneath the panel, "Looks like you're going to need some new wiring under here. It shorted out. I'm going to get some from the technicians. Don't move until I come back, got me?"
R2 makes some sort of beep pattern that sounds like a protest.
"Stay here, R2. Even if Luke comes back," I say before taking a glance at the wiring to make sure I know what to ask for. I weave my wave back through the base and to the tech sector where the technicians keep spare parts. I knock on the workshop door and a young technician opens the door. I ask for the wiring for R2 and he nods his head before going back into the workshop to get it for me.
"Take care of that R2 unit. He's done a lot of good for the Rebellion," the young technician says and I nod my head in agreement.
"I will," I say before walking back to R2, holding the wiring tightly in my hand. R2 beeps cheerfully when he sees what I'm holding. I look at the dent in the panel as I clip out the old wires using a clip tool. I start to straighten out the new ones and hook them into R2's inside.
R2 beeps his approval.
"How's that feel?" I ask once I finish getting the wires hooked in. R2 lets out a squeak that sort of resembles a cheer. I examine the dented panel and sigh, "Don't think we're fixing this one without some help." R2 beeps and boops his opinion, not that I know what it is because I can't understand him. I turn to stand up and notice Luke walking over in clean clothes.
"Hey," he says walking over to me.
"Hi," I say with a smile, "Feel better?"
"Yeah, for sure," he replies taking the panel from me, "Taking this to the technicians?"
"Yeah, don't think it's really all that fixable," I say. He hands the panel back to me and starts to examine the rest of his droid. He grabs the tool out of my hand casually before starting to work on R2.
"Go ahead and take that to the technicians. I think I can fix the rest of him if you come back and help me?" Luke asks pleadingly, looking up at me with those irresistible blue eyes. I playfully let out a sigh.
"It's gonna cost ya," I say, gesturing with the panel. Luke rolls his eyes and goes back to fiddling with R2.
"Depends on what I owe you," he replies, trying to unscrew something.
"Lightsaber training?" I offer. Luke sighs and looks up at me, taking notice of his lightsaber on my belt.
"You're going to have to give mine back to me," he replies with a hint of warning in his voice.
"I feel cool having it on me since I don't actually have one yet," I reply. Luke moves his hand towards me, palm up so I can place it in his hand. I moodily smack the cool metal against his palm. Luke's fingers close around it and he pulls but I don't let go.
"Laaaannnniiiii," he starts to whine quietly, "It's my lightsaber." I start to let go and then I clamp on again causing him to complain and pull harder while still kind of working on the droid. He eventually drops the tool he's using and easily pulls it out of my grasp with one hand. I let out a slight groan of defeat and Luke shoots me a smug grin.
"You're impossible..." I say as Luke hooks the lightsaber back up to his belt.
"Mmmm, I think you are. You just don't want to admit it," he says with a chuckle. I huff and start walking back to the tech sector, ready to hand them the broken panel. The technicians will have a fun time with it. I knock on the door again and hand over the broken panel. The technicians must be bored because they leap at the chance to either make a new one or fix the old one. I leave them to their fun before walking back over to Luke, who's having a fight with R2.
"What's going on?" I ask. Luke continues berating R2 instead of answering me,
"Open the compartment, R2! Something's broken and I need you to open the compartment so I can fix it. How many times do I have to explain this to you?"
R2 lets out his own tirade of irritated beeps and bloops. At least they sound irritated. I sigh as Luke glares at the droid.
"Thought I was in charge here," he mumbles as he tries to force the compartment open. R2 sassily whacks the tool out of Luke's hand with one of his mechanical appendages. Luke glares at R2. "R2..." he warns. I walk over and sit down next to them.
"R2, would you open it for me?" I ask the droid. R2 whistles his approval and pops open the compartment. Luke jumps on the opportunity and tries to fix it but R2 quickly shuts the compartment.
"R2!!!!!!!" Luke groans impatiently, "I might as well try to fix 3P0."
R2 lets out a bleep and a bloop. Luke hands the tool to me in defeat.
"R2, he's just trying to help you," I say as R2 opens the compartment again, "Don't give him such a hard time and he wouldn't get frustrated with you." R2 beeps quietly in response. Luke sits down next to me and picks up another tool fiddling with another part on R2. The two of us work for awhile until we get as far as we can with him. A peaceful silence settles over on us but I still have this feeling that Luke's upset. More best friend intuition than the Force. I'm not that trained with the Force and neither is Luke. He must not be that upset about it.
After some undetermined amount of time passes, Luke stands to his feet, huffing out a breath.
"Okay, buddy. I think that's as far as we can go with you right now. The technicians can take care of the rest," Luke tells R2 before offering me a hand to help me to my feet. I take it and stand next to him.
"Thanks," I mutter quietly, clumsily trying to regain my balance.
"Your welcome," Luke responds, looking around the busy Rebel base. Activity buzzes through as different people work on different things. Luke gently slings an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer into his side. The two of us just stand and watch the activity for a moment, enjoying the view. R2 suddenly beeps and pulls us both back into reality. I turn around and start to move back to him but, Luke tightens his grip on my shoulder.
Which I would be lying if I said that didn't make me happy.
"What's he saying?" I ask Luke. He shrugs and sighs quietly,
"I don't know. It's hard telling with him." A beat of silence passes between the two of us. "You still want to try to use a lightsaber?" he asks breaking it. I nod my head quickly and Luke looks around for a somewhat private place in the Rebel base. Following him back towards his room, Luke spots an empty storage closet and flicks on the lights. Han walks out of the boys' room and rolls his eyes.
"Kids, just because I said no shenanigans in the room didn't mean the storage closet was fair game. I don't really care as long as you keep it chill but please, don't make the single people feel awkward, okay?" he says as he starts to walk off with a clean shirt.
"What do you mean you're single? I'm surprised you haven't asked Leia out on a date yet," I call out and Han rolls his eyes.
"Believe me. I've tried. She won't budge, but if you're looking for companionship, Mallix..." he starts to offer and Luke protectively puts a hand on my shoulder.
"No," is all he says and I turn towards Luke.
"Are you claiming me then?" I ask. Luke hesitates for a second. Ha!! I win!! One for me!!
"No, you just shouldn't be pushed to make a decision like that. That's all," Luke replies, tightening his grip on my shoulder, "Besides, there aren't going to be any shenanigans going on in there. I'm teaching her how to use a lightsaber."
"Okay..."Han says gesturing, skeptically before grabbing Luke and pulling him down the hallway. The two appear to have a serious conversation for a moment.
"What's going on?" I call out nervously. Han gets a huge goofy grin on his face and looks back at me.
"You're one lucky girl. Guess we're not going on a date anytime soon," he replies, slapping Luke on the back. I look at Luke in confusion and he just shrugs.
"Did you threaten him?" I ask. Luke shakes his head quickly.
"No," he says, "no. I didn't threaten him."
"Then what?" I start.
"I'll tell you someday," Luke replies. I look to Han, who just smirks at me.
"All I can say is you don't need me and you are one lucky girl," he says for the second time.
"You already said that," I reply and Han shrugs.
"It's the truth," he says, winking at me before leaving.
"He's..."I start to say to break the awkwardness.
"Interesting? Yes, let's go," Luke answers, quickly moving into the storage room. I follow him inside and shut the door behind us. The room is large enough for the two of us to fit comfortably. Luke unhooks the lightsaber from his belt and holds it his hand. He walks over behind me and places it in my hand.
"I already know how to turn it on," I inform him, looking back at him and noticing how close our faces are. I ignore the fact and ignite the lightsaber. Luke moves out from behind me and pushes the blade slightly closer to my body so he doesn't lose an arm or a leg trying to do whatever it is he's going to do. He finds a seeker droid and tosses it up into the air.
"I'm going to be honest. I kind of hate these things but they're really good to practice with," Luke admits as it starts. It starts to advance towards me and I back away a little bit.
"What am I supposed to do?" I ask as the droid keeps coming closer to me, making ominous hissing noises as it does. Luke quickly moves behind me again and places his hands over mine on the lightsaber. There almost to be some sort of tingling sensation when our hands touch and I try to brush it away.
I do not have feelings for my best friend. Nope, I don't and I can't.
Actually....I have lots of feelings for him. Just none that I'm sure he would appreciate.
Blaster fire directed at us brings me back to reality. Luke skillfully presses on my hand, moving the lightsaber to deflect them. I awkwardly move with him.
"You know?" I say, "Why don't you train for a little bit and I'll watch? I think I'm better at moving it up and down." I scooch my hands out from under Luke's and let him hold the lightsaber. He raises one of his arms from around me and lets me move to a different part of the room.
"Isn't that all this is?" Luke asks me as a smirk slides onto his face. I cross my arms and huff at him. He chuckles and moves into a more comfortable fighting stance. The droid fires blaster fire at him and doesn't land a hit on him. It nicks him on the shoulder at one point and I comment,
"That's what I'm afraid of." Luke grunts in pain and rolls his shoulder, willing the pain to go away. After a second, he stands back in the position he was in previously.
"It doesn't hurt that bad. Just enough for you not to want it to happen again," he replies as it shoots more blaster fire at him. He blocks it with the bright blue blade. I don't move from my spot in the room and Luke sighs quietly when he notices. He looks at me pleadingly.
Those big blue eyes...I hate them and love them. They're going to be the death of me someday. I walk over and Luke hands me the lightsaber. I hold in both of my hands and move into a similar fighting stance that I had seen Luke hold. The droid starts to float around me again, making me nervous. Luke scoots up behind me.
"Seriously, how bad does it hurt?" I ask as the droid moves closer. This thing is freakishly scary. I really don't want it to blaster bolt me. Luke steps up closer behind me.
"It doesn't hurt that bad, trust me," he says calmly. Blaster fire comes at me and I swing but one of them tags me in the shoulder.
"Ouch!" I gasp, looking to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage.
"Relax," Luke says, coming up behind me.
"You make it look soooo easy," I complain as I move back into the fighting position Luke had held. I raise the lightsaber up a little bit and anticipate the droid's next move. Luke gently puts a hand on my shoulder and rubs just a little bit to try to get me to relax. It feels good and at the same time is immensely distracting.
"It's not that easy. It takes a lot to be practiced with a lightsaber," Luke responds, still keeping his hand on my shoulder. The droid moves closer and fires more blaster fire, this time I manage to deflect one of the bolts. I grin at the satisfying sound and turn to Luke just as another one comes flying at me. Luke puts his hands over mine and together we deflect it.
"Thanks," I say breathing a sigh of relief. Luke doesn't move away, twisting our hands and the lightsaber in another direction to deflect more blaster fire as the droid shoots them at us.
"Don't thank me yet," he replies, "Now you try it." He steps away from me allowing me to resume the fighting stance I held. Blaster fire comes at me again. I manage to block one of the bolts and step to the side. It smashes into the wall next to Luke.
"Sorry," I mumble as I move back to where I was.
"You're supposed to protect me from the blaster fire, not bring it to me," Luke playfully complains from behind me.
"You do it then! You can protect yourself way better than I can," I say back. The droid shoots more blaster fire. I close my eyes and successfully block all of the shots coming at me.
"I can already do it! I'm the one who's been doing all of the hard work," Luke continues on from behind me.
"Oh sure. Whatever. I just saved your life back there," I say as I lower the lightsaber.
"You did," Luke acknowledges, "But I've been doing it more."
"Is that a challenge?" I ask, moving closer to him. Luke's gaze meets mine and then flickers up to the droid. Suddenly he grabs his lightsaber out of my hand and blocks the blaster fire coming in.
"So far I'm winning," he says, turning around to face me.
"How can I beat you?" I ask. Luke smirks at my determination and I see his gaze for the briefest of instances flick to my lips.
Guess we're less innocent than I thought we were. Well compared to Han and his flirting with Leia.....yeah, we're pretty innocent.
"Use the Force," Luke replies. I nod my head sarcastically.
"Right? Neither one of us has had much training in that," I reply sarcastically. Luke chuckles along with me.
"I can do it," he says with a smile in between chuckles.
"Doesn't mean I can," I reply and he shakes his head slightly disapprovingly.
"You can do it! We can both do it! I know we can. We're both Force sensitive. That's how this works," Luke replies, placing the lightsaber in my open hand. I turn around and face the droid. I close my eyes and using the Force, block the blaster fire. Opening my eyes again, I focus on the droid. More blaster fire comes and I am able to block it. After a couple more times, I'm out of breath and Luke looks at me in amazement.
"Is that not something you see every day?" I ask shyly.
"Nope. It's not. See? You can do it! We both can do it now," he says encouragingly. He walks up to the droid and swipes at it playfully with the edge of the lightsaber. The droid hums and moves out of the way to attack him. Luke stands on his guard and blocks the blaster fire coming at him. It shocks him in the shoulder only once through the small fight. Finally, he swipes at it in a way that deactivates it.
"You did it!" I say in disbelief, "You fought it off!"
"I made it fight me a little bit harder," Luke responds, turning to face me with the upper corners of his mouth forming a smirk.
"Showoff," I mumble.
"What did you say?" Luke asks playfully.
"I didn't say anything besides you're really good with a lightsaber," I respond innocently. Luke looks me in the eyes.
"Uh huh. That's what I heard too," he says, but his small smirk that's still there says otherwise. I can't break away from his pretty blue eyes. They're so gorgeous and expressive but gentle all at the same time. Just like Luke. Neither one of us really wants to break away the gaze. I can feel it. The emotions are strong.
"Luke.."I start to say but Luke cuts me off,
"I'm getting kind of hungry and I think we've done enough for today." I resist the urge to sigh...loudly.
"Me too. I think we've both done our fair share of training," I agree. The room becomes a peaceful silent laced with the tiniest bit of awkwardness. It may have been more than a little bit. For as close as we are, we're super awkward around each other sometimes. The only sound is the quiet hum of the lightsaber in Luke's hand. Neither one of us moves until I feel something really hot graze against my leg.
"OW! Hot!! Ouch!!" I yelp jumping away from Luke. Luke's gaze flickers worriedly from my eyes to my leg. I sit on the ground as Luke retracts the lightsaber blade and kneels down next to me.
"I'm so sorry," he says as he sits cross legged next to me, "That was the lightsaber, wasn't it?"
"Yep. And it hurts," I say through clenched teeth. After a minute, I am able to breathe a little bit more normally.
"You okay?" Luke asks and I nod quickly as my hands still clamp against the wound, "Can I see it?" I clamp my hands tighter around the wound making it hurt more. I wince at this new pain.
I can't imagine somebody getting an appendage cut off with that thing.
"I'm fine," I grunt out, trying to stand up. Luke rises to his feet and takes my hand pulling me up to my feet. As he does, he sneak's a look at the side of my leg.
"That doesn't look good," he says and I shoot him a glare.
"You weren't supposed to look. I didn't want you to worry," I whine a little bit.
"Lani, I don't like it when you get hurt," he replies, looking into my eyes.
"I know you don't. There's nothing you can do about it right now. It was an accident. These things happen," I say as I start to limp towards the door. I almost collapse against the door handle and I feel a pair of strong hands on my waist. Luke stands me up and holds onto me with one hand while opening the door with the other. The two of us walk out together. He pulls me next to him so I can lean on him for support while keeping his hand still firmly on my waist.
After a trip to the medical wing to get my leg bandaged, Luke and I start moving to the dining hall. He keeps his arm around my waist to support no matter how much I protest.
"I'm alright, Luke. Really..."I say as I try to walk away from Luke. His strong grip on my waist keeps me from straying too far away.
"I don't want you getting hurt again," he says as we continue on our way. Suddenly, we come across R2 who still isn't fixed but moving around the base. Even though he's not supposed to be.
Somedays, R2's stubbornness puts Luke's to shame.
"R2!" both of us scold at the same time.
R2 beeps and whistles innocently like he has no idea why we're upset.
"You're not fixed yet!" I scold, "You're not ready to move around yet."
More beeps and whistles sound out from the little droid.
"We're going to go eat dinner. We'll come see you later, okay?"
R2 beeps and sounds defeated but goes off anyways. Luke guides me to the dining hall. Han sees the two of us and approaches us. His gaze flickers to Luke's hand on my waist and then to the bandage on my leg.
"You know. When I said shenanigans, that's not what I had in mind," he says gesturing to my leg, "Guess it's hard for the two of you to stay out of trouble."
I quickly scooch away from Luke so as not to give Han the wrong idea. I catch a sad look on Luke's face at the gesture.
"Han, how would you like to get some dinner with us?" I ask, my gaze flickering over to Luke. Chewie walks over to us and Han smiles.
"Sure!!! As long as you let sneak some gravy off your plate..." Han replies slyly. I see Luke tense a little bit.
"Ummmmm, I think I'll let you sneak some off of Leia's," I reply as I hurry off to get my food. Luke quickly scoots up behind me in the food line.
"Thanks," he says.
"For what?" I ask.
"For letting me take care of you and teach you lightsaber things," he replies, "That's something I've wanted to show you."
"So, it makes you happy when I steal it?" I ask. Luke sighs slowly. We move through the food line and to the end.
"I never said that," he replies as we grab silverware at the end of the line.
"Are you sure?" I ask when suddenly, I feel Luke bump into me.
"Yep," he says scooting around me to go find a spot. My belt suddenly feels lighter and I look up just in time to see Luke casually slip my blaster into his holster.
"You sneaky Skywalker," I grumble under my breath as I grab the rest of my food and chase after him.
AN:/ Well, that took awhile. This one was way longer than intended.
Also, get used to weapons being stolen. They'll steal and use each other's blasters and lightsabers pretty frequently. The next one will be more teasingly flirtatious?? They'll be teens in the next one to give us more background on them. There is a storyline to this, I just haven't gotten around to it yet because I want to develop their relationship more.
These two....ahhhhhh, they're just so cute!! They're both awkward introverts but at the same time super cute. I love it. They'll get less awkward as they move farther along in the Jedi training. I'm trying to get Luke to be a little more...flirty??? I feel like since he's known Lani for as long as he has, he would be more comfortable flirting with her. They're still both pretty shy about their flirting but they will have and already have their moments.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed that. It was way longer than I had anticipated it being. Sorry about that and sorry for the lack of updates. It took me awhile to write out. School is hampering a lot of different things and then I try to get other life things done too. We're trying and at the same time are on the struggle bus. Feel free to comment, vote, or do whatever it is you do. Thanks for doing it too. I appreciate it!!
See you around,
Aisling.