Room 317 [early afternoon]

[tatooine_doofus]

After spending some time removing onion dip from Artoo’s internal systems—Force know how that had gotten there—Luke finally reached for his comlink and made a long-delayed transmission.

Leia answered immediately, and Luke chattered happily on about his workshops—and Tori— and some of the new students he’d met, including Bigg’s cousin—and Tori—and why getting bit by a gremlin had been a terrible mistake.

Leia laughed for a solid minute once Luke explained who Siegfried and Roy were. “It sounds like you’re settling right back in,” she said.

Luke nodded, then took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have taken this long to do it.”

“What happened to the shuttle?” Leia asked immediately, eyebrows flying up.

“Nothing,” Luke said, “but when I came back to Fandom, I wasn’t alone.”

Then he told her who’d been with him.

Leia’s momentary silence was the dangerous calm of the Tatooine desert before a wind storm kicked up.

“He’s WHAT?! You WHAT?! You waited how long to tell me?!” she exploded, her voice loud enough to be heard down the hallway.

Artoo moaned and rolled into Luke’s closet.

Luke chewed on his lower lip. “I was wrong,” he said quietly.

“’Wrong’ doesn’t come close to describing this, Luke Skywalker,” Leia spat, her image going in and out of his view as she paced. “He stood there on the Death Star and did nothing as Ald…he put Han into…He’s alive?!”

Her eyes finally focused on Luke’s and the anger in them made him flinch backwards. “I’m coming to see him,” she said, every inch the icy royal. “I’ll be there on Friday. We’ll talk about this more when I arrive.”

Her image shut off abruptly and Luke let out a deep sigh.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” he muttered.

From the closet, Artoo wibbled his agreement.

[OOC: Leia was loud, ya'll. Feel free to knock on the door.]

Comments

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"No, it didn't seem like it." Tori commented softly, giving Luke's hand a gentle squeeze. "Yes, I remember him." She nodded, wondering what it would be like to meet him.

"There was, right?" Tori hoped that there was. After all, Anakin was here... and Darth Vader had been.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Master Yoda and Ben didn't think so," Luke said a little sourly, "but Vader had killed Ben--I forgot to mention that--so he was a bit...upset."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah. I get that." Tori had let out a short laugh at that. She didn't think they'd welcome him with open arms after that. "But you did." Tori was always one for optimism, she'd think there was always hope.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"He was my father. I couldn't just let him go," Luke said vehemently. "Leia...has a different opinion."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"No, of course not. I wouldn't either if it was my father." Tori offered. "She does?"

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "Vader...stood behind her when the order was given to kill Alderaan. He tortured her...practically killed her boyfriend..." He trailed off. "She had a father already. And he killed him. Anakin's...a complication she doesn't want."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori sucked in a breath. She hadn't expected to hear that. "I can see why not." She admitted, though if she were in Leia's position she'd still want to get to know her father. Even if he'd done horrible things as a different persona.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Which is kind of why I avoided telling her about Anakin for so long," Luke admitted. "He's turned back to the light, he regrets what he's done--he's practically drowning in guilt on bad days--but I don't think that's going to be enough for her." He shrugged. "I think everyone deserves a second chance."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori nodded, understanding Luke's hesitation. "Yeah, it makes sense." She smiled lightly. "I'm glad he's back, though. I believe that, too." Tori really did. She even believed in giving people a third chance, if the situation called for it. "Maybe, well I'm hoping, her visit will help her and Anakin make peace." And not widen the gap.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke leaned a little heavily against her. "I'm just hoping everyone's alive at the end of the weekend," he said quietly. "And I'm not trying to be melodramatic. Leia inherited his temper, I think."

He paused. "Oh, she'd hate hearing that."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"Oh dear." Tori chuckled a little. "Well, I promise I'll try to stay alive as long as possible."

She raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. "I won't say anything. Promise." Tori gave his hand a small squeeze.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke squeezed her hand back. "So that's the deal."

Well, no, not really. He'd left out kind of an important part.

Like why his father was not in the Vader suit.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori nodded, having taken everything in as he told it to her.

"So aside from feeling endless guilt, your dad's okay, right?"

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Well...he died," Luke said after a pause, "so now he's in a cloned body of himself, but other than that, yeah."

He really thought that would count as "okay."

His world had been a little warped over the year.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"Oh." That was definitely not the response she had been expecting. "Wow. I... I'm sorry he died. But I guess it's good that he's back?" Even if it was as a clone.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke nodded. "It scared the hell out of me," he admitted. "I watched him die. I mourned him...I set up his funeral pyre...and then he called to me through the Force."

He gave her a rueful smile. "I should've known that if anyone would be able to cheat death, it'd be my father. He's never done anything the easy way."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori couldn't begin to know what that must have been like, but she squeezed his hand, reassuringly.

She smiled slightly. "I guess that's a good thing, then."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Most days, yeah," Luke agreed with a tired sigh. "It's been a hell of a year."

He gave her a worried look. "Do you still want to be here? I hide the crazy well."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

"So it seems." Tori nodded in agreement.

She took in the worried look and couldn't but smile. "Of course I do. It's going to take a lot more than that to chase me away."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke's eyes widened. "I was pretty sure that was about as crazy as things could get before someone's brain dribbled out their ears," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "I'm very, very lucky I found you."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori couldn't help but smile a bit at that. "I guess for some it would be." She shrugged, blushing slightly. "And I'm lucky I found you."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Do you want to meet Leia, then?" he asked. "Or Dawn's leaving the country. That's an option too."

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori grinned and nodded. "I would love to, if she's going to be up for it. I don't want to intrude or anything." She admitted, chuckling a moment later. "I think I'll stay here as tempting as that offer sounds. After all, you might need backup." Tori winked, clearly joking.

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke grinned. "The benefits of having a ninja for a girlfriend," he said, then bit his lip, uncertain again. "Isabel said I need to ask you about that? I mean, if you wanted to date people who aren't me?"

Re: ...and here's where we go NFB, please...

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori grinned and nodded, blushing ever so slightly. "Oh, she did, huh?" She had been meaning to talk to him about this. Tori made a mental note to see Isabel later and thank her because she would've chickened out on bringing this up. "I really don't want to date people who aren't you." There she'd said it. That wasn't so bad.