It was six o'clock on Halloween night and at the McCall house, ten-year-old Stiles Stilinski was jumping up and down with excitement.
"Come on, come on, come on! We're gonna miss all the good candy! If we don't leave now we might just get Raisinettes or something!"
"I don't think that's how it works, Stiles. People keep giving out the good candy all night." Melissa McCall shook her head and laughed as she grabbed the camera from the table in the hallway.
"I kind of like Raisinettes, myself," said Sheriff Stilinski as he fiddled with the head of his Chewbacca costume. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this, Melissa. I can barely see out of this thing and it smells funny. And anyway, I should be at home making sure Claudia's okay."
"Oh, stop complaining. It'll be fun! I'll guide you around if you really can't see. And Claudia's fine. I'm sure she's sitting in the rocking chair on the porch, handing out all of the 'good' candy. And just think of the smile it'll put on her face when we show her the pictures." She raised the camera to him. "Now put your head on, Chewy, and let's do this."
They walked into the living room, where Stiles was now twirling his plastic jack-o-lantern candy bucket around his head with his toy light saber. "Okay guys, in front of the fireplace, just like always," Melissa instructed.
"Mom, since we're all wearing costumes this year, who's going to take the picture? We all have to be in it!" He corralled Stiles over to stand in front of the fireplace.
"It's okay, sweetie, I'll just set the timer and put it on the table. It'll wait a few seconds and then take a bunch of pictures right in a row." She giggled at the look of astonishment Scott gave her. Kids were so easy to impress.
"Here we go," she said as she pushed the button and hurried over to stand behind Scott. "Everybody say cheese!" Both Scott and Stiles yelled out "Cheese!" but the Sheriff let out a Chewbacca noise, so when the camera flashed and took the photos, everyone else was laughing.
Then Stiles grabbed Scott by the wrist and started pulling him towards the door. "Okay, now let's really go!" He opened the front door and the two of them were halfway down the driveway before the sheriff and Melissa closed the door behind them.
"Ready, Princess Leia?" The sheriff offered her his furry arm. "Ready, Chewy. We can't let Han and Luke out of our sight. Who knows what mischief they'd get up to." They could hear Scott yelling ahead of them. "Slow down, Stiles! You're gonna make me need my inhaler!" But apparently he didn't listen because a moment later Stiles was at the front door of the neighbor's, yelling "Trick or treat!" at the top of his lungs.
The adults both laughed. "Hey, how did you get those buns to stay on the side of your head, anyway?" The sheriff asked. Melissa patted one of them and answered, "About a can of hairspray and a whole lotta bobby pins. We'll see if they make it through the night." They hurried to catch up with Scott and Stiles, who were then on their way to the second house.
An hour and a half later the boys' buckets were packed full of candy and they all walked back to the McCall house. Both Scott and the adults were exhausted, and even Stiles' step was a bit less springy. Sheriff Stilinski had taken off his Chewbacca head and was now toting it around under his arm.
Once they got back in the house, Scott and Stiles immediately dumped their buckets onto the living room floor and began dividing up the bounty between them. Stiles hated Kit Kats and always gave them to Scott, and Scott always made sure Stiles had plenty of Reese's Cups and Nerds, since they were his favorites.
When they were done, the sheriff said, "Okay, kid, it's time to go home and show your mom everything you got."
The got into the sheriff's police car and Stiles sat the bucket of candy next to him. The sheriff reached over quickly and grabbed a mini Snickers bar while Stiles was wrestling with his seat belt. "Hey!" Stiles protested as his father unwrapped the chocolate. "Parent's privilege," he replied simply, and turned the car on and shifted the gear to reverse.
"Mom says candy's not good for you! You have to take care of your hearteries!" He grabbed the bucket from the seat and put it in his lap, protecting it with his arms.
"One piece of candy's not going to clog my ARTeries, Stiles. And we don't have to tell your mom, anyway. We'll keep it between us men." But Stiles just gave him a suspicious look and kept the bucket in his lap for the rest of the ride home.
Once they got home, they found Claudia curled up on the couch under a blanket, watching a Halloween movie on television. The sheriff leaned over her and kissed her cheek gently. "How are you?" He asked. She smiled up at him. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. All those witches and hobgoblins and zombies wore me out. I ran out of candy about half an hour ago." She yawned, sat up, and threw the blanket off of her. "I'm not so tired that I can't smell the chocolate on your breath, though." She laughed as the sheriff sighed and threw up his hands in defeat. "It was ONE PIECE."
"I TOLD you, Dad! Look, mom, I got a whole truckload!" He pushed himself onto the couch next to her and put the bucket in her lap.
"Wow sweetheart, this IS a lot! Did Luke Skywalker and Han Solo have to fight Darth Vader to get all this candy?"
Stiles made a sour face. "No. All the other kids we saw had boring costumes like mummies and ghosts. We had the best costumes out of everybody!"
"I bet you did! I can't wait to see the pictures. Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we all watch Return of the Jedi until it's time for you to go to bed?" Stiles' eyes grew wide and he grinned. "Yeah, let's do that!"
"You go ahead and put the movie in, kid, and I'll go get out of this furry oven. I'll be right back."
The family spent the next couple of hours together on the couch, Stiles curled with his head in his mom's lap and his legs in his dad's until he couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep.
Seven years later
Scott and Stiles are in the McCall living room as the final credits roll on Star Wars: Episode 3. They've spent the last two days watching the entire series from beginning to end.
"Okay, I've officially seen Star Wars. Are you happy now?" Scott asks.
Stiles doesn't answer. He walks over to a table by the front window and picks up a picture frame and stares at it for a moment. When he turns to give it to Scott, he asks, "Do you remember this?"
Scott takes the frame from him and looks at it. It's the photo of the three of them laughing at the sheriff's Chewbacca noise. "Of course. You had the idea for those costumes in August and wouldn't shut up about them until I agreed to wear them." He hands the frame back to Stiles. "I guess now I know who Luke Skywalker is. I had no real idea at the time."
Stiles sits back down on the couch but continues staring at the photo. "That was the last year we went trick-or-treating. That night, after Dad and I left your house and went home, Mom let me stay up and watch Return of the Jedi until I fell asleep. You know how sick she was, but that night she didn't seem so bad and I thought she might be getting better. But she got a lot worse the next day. She died two weeks later."
He turns to face Scott. "That's why I still love Star Wars so much. It's the last good memory I have of her."
Scott puts a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "She'd be really proud of who you've become."
Stiles' eyes are shiny with the beginning of tears. He shakes his head. "I'm nothing special. I'm not like you. I'm just a human."
Scott scoffs. "What are you talking about, man? Human or not, you save my ass half the time.
They both laugh. "Yeah, I guess I do."
"You're the Han to my Luke, bro." Scott holds his fist out for their secret handshake, the one they've done since they were eight years old.
"Always," Stiles answers.