tatooine_doofus | Room 317 [after workshops]

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Room 317 [after workshops]

After his workshop with Mr. Winchester, Luke came back to his room to convince Artoo that Leia had gone home.

Artoo, still in the closet, remained unconvinced.

"I wouldn't lie to you about this," Luke told the door, rolling his eyes. "She came, she saw him, she had ice cream, she went home. Really."

Artoo let out a mournful whistle.

"Fine," Luke said, flouncing back to his bed. "I'll be over here, practicing levitation with Yoda who's a turtle again, thank the Force."

Yoda? Not thrilled by getting spun through the air again, but he couldn't talk any more, so no one cared.

The door was cracked open.

[OOC: Conversation between Luke & Rikku is locked to them and the topic is NFB, thanks!]

I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow

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Rikku shivered. "I'm not sure if that'd be a good thing or a bad one. To be able to do that, but then, if you couldn't switch it off ..."

Luke nodded, very serious. "It was one of the first things Master Yoda made me control. I don't mention it often--it has a bit of a stigma around here." He pursed his lips. "I think my father did something he shouldn't have as a student."

"You mean, if I were sitting here, being sad or angry or happy, you'd ... pick that up, or does controlling it mean you wouldn't?" Rikku shook her head. "You mean he kind of ... went looking for information he shouldn't have, in someone's mind? Can you ... do that?"

She shuddered a little, imagining someone pulling secrets out of her mind, using them against her.

"Oh, I always pick up the emotions," Luke said with a small smile. "I just can't tell if you're thinking 'wow, Luke's going around the bend' unless you project it at me."

He was quiet for a long moment, then nodded. "I think it was more that he altered someone's perception of their memories. It's called the Jedi mind trick, and it's only used in very specific circumstances. There were a lot of lectures on that."

Okay, Rikku couldn't resist. She focused for a few seconds on a single very clear thought. Wow, Luke's going around the bend. HI, LUKE!

Luke totally cracked up, then thought back, Hello, Rikku, in a very amused tone.

"Whoa!" Rikku jumped a little, then giggled. "I heard that, in my head! That's so cool!"

She blushed. "Sorry, I totally couldn't resist, uh, you were ..."

Rikku dissolved into giggles again, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, you're telling me about your dad and all of it and I'm being a dork, I don't mean to ... act like I'm not, you know."

Luke smiled. "It's fine," he said gently. "I'm not made of glass or anything. Or my father, who takes joy in wallowing some days, I swear."

Rikku nodded. "You're a lot stronger than some people would be, you know that? Maybe you can be vice-president after all."

She shook her head. "Jedi mind trick. Luke, that sounds ... bad. I mean ..."

She tried not to feel so uncomfortable, but it had to be projecting loud and clear. Dammit.

Luke nodded. "It can be abused," he said softly. "I won't, though. It only works on the weak-minded anyway."

"It seems like it's kinda ... I mean, I don't know how you'd use that that it isn't abused. Not you!" She flailed a little. "I didn't mean that I thought you would, anyway, 'cause you wouldn't? Just that that's ... whoa. Kinda scary, yeah!?"

Luke shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know. I mean, you can use it to hide in plain sight, to convince guards you're supposed to be where you aren't..."

In his head he was back in a landspeeder approaching a checkpoint and knowing he was doomed.

"...as long as there's power, there's a way to abuse it," he said. "The Jedi have a lot of power at their fingers. Which is why a fall is so catastrophic. The Emperor certainly didn't have any qualms about reading my mind. Neither did Vader."

"Oh. I hadn't ... thought of it like that." Rikku considered. "If we could have done that with the Yevonites ... wow."

"I guess with anything there's a good and a bad. I mean, you don't have absolutes, right? Someone could say 'killing people is always very, very bad' but I h-had to kill someone, and I'm not evil. Right?"

What fun it was, making sure your friends knew you were a murderer and weren't going to have ethical issues with ever talking to you again.

Now it was Luke's turn to hug her tightly. "Of course you're not evil," he said. "There are always circumstances."

Like how many people were still on the Death Star when he made it explode.

Rikku squeezed back, relieved. "I didn't ... he was killing people, you know?! And he was gonna hurt Yunie and ... and nobody messes with Yunie, yeah?"

She thought for a long moment. "Is it ... just thoughts? That you get? If I, like, thought really hard about something, I could ... uh. Show you?"

Luke knew that emotion only too well. "I went after Vader with a lightsaber because he threatened to turn Leia," he whispered. "So, yeah, I get it."

He frowned as he thought about her question. "Like flashes? Maybe. I've gotten some from Leia, but that might be a twin thing."

"You ... yeah. There are some people that, if you hurt them, I would just ..." Rikku shook her head. "It sounds crazy, but I don't know what I'd do. And I wouldn't be sorry."

Her tone changed from defiant to slightly wistful. "No, sorry, just ... memories. I wanted to show you ... Yunie, when we brought Tidus back to her. Since you helped and I can't really show anybody else or anything. She ... she ran from the beach and he jumped out of the ship and they just stood there and it was so, so amazing, you know?"

"You'd be sorry after," Luke said quietly. "That's why I didn't kill him when I had the chance. Well, among other reasons."

He smiled as he nudged against her shoulder. "I'd love to see it," he said. "Give it a try."

"You ... really think so?" Rikku shrugged, a little awkwardly. "I was n-never sorry about Seymour. But then, he didn't stay dead, and he ... killed ... most of my tribe." She closed her eyes, trying not to see that again, and swallowed hard.

And then decided to try another memory, a happier one. The wind whipping as the door to the ship opened, and watching Tidus jump out into the water. Yunie's face, mouth hanging open, as she ran over the beach into the shallow water and nearly knocked him over. Jumping out of the ship, watching just out of reach, tears spilling down her face, Jude's arms wrapped around her, as Yuna and Tidus stared at each other as if nothing in the world existed.

"When I blew up the Death Star, there were thousands of people on board," Luke said. "I don't regret it, but there are always consequences. That sort of destruction stays with me."

Then he was too busy seeing flashes of her first memory and the entirety of the second to really talk.

"...wow," he finally breathed.

"I guess ... you're right. I mean, that's ... but you had to. It was a weapon, right? It was taking out entire ships, you didn't really have a choice." She bit her lip. "And ... we didn't either. You have to live with that, yeah?"

She turned to look at him, curiously. "Did you really see that? Yunie?"

"Look into my father's eyes some day," Luke said. "Really look. It stays with you."

He smiled. "And I really did. They looked very happy."

"But then, he did ... you know. Worse stuff. If that's him and all, and he was the Vader-guy thing. Why'd he change his name, anyway?"

She smiled, remembering again. "It was incredible. She's ... that's why I had to try. She lost everything and if I could ... could give him back to her ... and he deserved a life, too. One with her. You know?"

"I've never asked. I think it was because he didn't wanted to remember who'd he'd been," Luke said quietly, then smiled. "I can understand the thought. Leia's really, really happy with her pirate. And if my future's running along the same track as Jaina's, she'll marry him and have children."

"You've ... it's one of those timeline things? You've seen them?" Rikku laughed. "I, uh, that weekend, when the kids showed up, I had one. But they said those were just maybes, yeah?"

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