Room 317 [after workshops]

[tatooine_doofus]

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

Comments

[the_merriest]

Rikku shivered again, squeezing back, and then shook her head. "Whoa. Sorry. You, uh, you were ... I didn't mean to ... I, uh."

She cleared her throat, blushing. "I kinda ... got zapped once myself. I've been stupid about it ever since."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"It hurts," he said, rocking her a little bit. "No reason to apologize."

[the_merriest]

Rikku held on for a long moment before nodding. "Y-yeah. I was ... just a kid, you know? It was an accident. B-but yeah, it ... it hurt, and it wasn't just the hurt, it was ... you feel like you're going to die and you ..."

She shuddered again, leaning in. "W-was it like that? For you? I ... oh, wow, if he's that powerful it had to be so bad ..."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

He was back on the Death Star, screaming in pain as he writhed on the floor.

He couldn't stop a shudder.

"It...wasn't exactly a highlight."

[the_merriest]

Rikku leaned her head on Luke's shoulder. "Y-yeah. I don't imagine it would be, huh?"

"W-was that ..." She cleared her throat and tried again. "He was ... trying to get you to ... be angry again?"

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke shook his head. "No, he was trying to kill me. I'd turned him down flat and he believed me."

[the_merriest]

Rikku stared. "Luke! That's crazy! He was just gonna ... zap you until you ..."

If she squeezed any harder, she might have cracked a rib.

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"That's when my father stepped in," Luke said with a proud smile. "He picked the Emperor up over his head and threw him down this giant hole in the middle of the throne room." He snorted. "Who puts a giant hole in the middle of a throne room?"

[the_merriest]

Rikku beamed back at him. "See? You were right and all those people just thought ... wow. Wow. Just like that? All those years, and ... wow. That's amazing, Luke."

And then quirked an eyebrow. "That's ... really weird, yeah. Maybe he liked the view?"

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke's smile faded a little bit. "He got turned into the human sparkplug," he said. "The Emperor wasn't toying with him. He wanted my father dead. After the Emperor was gone...well, the Alliance was able to blow the Death Star which was going to be a problem since we were both on it still. And my father...um...died. There on the Death Star."

He blew out a shaky breath. "Not a great day."

[the_merriest]

"He ... he died?!" Rikku gasped. "Wait, if you were still on it, too ... are ... d-did you die, too?"

She still had her arms around him. If Luke was dead, maybe he was sticking around for a reason, like Auron did. Right?

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke shook his head. "No, I got off the Death Star about three seconds before the reactor blew. It turned out that the Emperor'd had my father's body cloned--I don't even want to think about why--and he moved into one of those." He smiled. "And then called for a pick up. Scared the hell out of me."

[the_merriest]

Rikku blinked. "Wait, he's ... his own clone? It's still him, though? Like, does he remember the later stuff, or was it from when he got, uh. Cloned?"

She scratched her head. "Sorry, I'm not good with that kinda stuff."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Something else we don't talk about," Luke said with a wry smile. "But he remembers all of it. It was his consciousness, just, um, put into a new body. It's why he looks so miserable all the time."

[the_merriest]

Rikku shivered. "Did he ... have a choice in that? Moving to a new body instead of moving ... on, I mean. There are some people that would ... kinda resent that."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"I think he did," Luke said softly. "He wanted to stick around. He thought that dying would be too easy, I think."

[the_merriest]

"That's ..." She took a long breath to consider. "That's ... commendable. I think."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke nodded. "He's trying...he's trying so hard...that's it's kind of painful to watch some days."

[the_merriest]

Rikku bit her lip. "You said he's got a lot to make up for. At least he's understanding the ... the size of it, right?"

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"He's decided that it means he's not allowed to ever be happy again," Luke said, wrinkling up his forehead.

[the_merriest]

Rikku facepalmed. "Well, that's ... one way of doing it, isn't it."

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"A really stupid way," Luke replied, rolling his eyes, "not that he wants to hear that from me."

[the_merriest]

"That's ... kinda missing the point, isn't it?" She put her hands on her hips. "Hey, and why shouldn't he listen to you? You saved him and all, right?!"

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"I love him to death," Luke said, "which means I'm not ruling out the possibility of killing him. And you've met him. Did he strike you as a type to take advice?"

[the_merriest]

Rikku considered for a moment. "Oh. I guess not. Kinda a shame, 'cause it sounds like he really needs it. I mean, there's making up for things and then there's just sitting around kicking yourself 'cause you kinda like it."