Seething Jealousy [SPOILER] for episodes 8 & 9
The whole Solo and Skywalker family is gathered today. They're celebrating Padme Solo's fourth birthday. The neighbors are invited over to watch a special surprize. Padme's big brother Ben is going to perform jedi magic tricks for the crowd. The party's coming an end. The last festivity on the list is for everyone to watch Ben's performance. They wait until dusk to break out the fireworks. A small crowd gathers at the family's large porch. In the backyard Ben performs various tricks with the light saber. The saber lights up the night as spins through the air.
"Ohh... Ahh..." the crowd gushes at the light show.
Everyone's pleased with the show except for one redheaded boy in the crowd. That boy being Luke Junior. His deadpan gaze levels on the horizon, giving no reaction to the illuminations.
A see-through screen is up in the sky. Ben uses his saber to draw out in the sky, "Happy Birthday Padme, welcome to the academy!"
"Yay!" Padme cheers from above the crowd.
Han has his daughter, Padme, on his shoulders to watch. He has his arm around his wife, Leia. Luke has his arm around his redheaded wife Mara Jade. L.J.'s standing near his parents, arms folded. Numb to the pain, L.J. vacantly stares into space. L.J. usually steers clear from his father's school and the lightsaber. But tonight's a family obligation he can't get out of. Luke watches his son and feels his pain. He longs to do something to help him.
Luke reaches out to put his arm around his son.
L.J. pulls away and sulks.
The performance finally reaches it's crescendo. Everyone claps except for L.J.
Ben retracts his saber and joins his family on the porch.
Leia comments, "Wow, it all looks so much cooler at night with it all glowing in the dark."
Padme whines, "Mother, Ben says I can't touch the saber. But I can do it while you're here right?"
Han still has her up on his shoulders. He pats Padme's legs while cautioning her, "No, no, no." He then puts the little girl down.
The second she hits the ground Padme playfully runs towards Ben and tries to make a grab for the saber.
Ben nervously laughs and jumps back. He runs to the other side of the porch while Padme chases after him.
The party goers watch the little family drama. They clear a path for the chase scene and snicker at the display.
By the time Padme catches up to Ben, he has the saber in his hands and outta the girl's reach.
Padme jumps up and down and still trying to grab it. She whines, "Come on Ben! It's my birthday."
Ben curtly says, "Nope, not happening." He shakes his head and keeps it high in the air.
Concerned, Han asks Leia, "So is this what they're going to be doing in school all day?"
Unsure herself, Leia remarks, "Uhh... I hope not."
All the neighbors laugh.
In the laughter of the crowd, L.J. imagines a different scenario. The scenario plays out in his mind, teasing him, taunting him. Ben is again writing in the sky with his lightsaber, gleefully twirling and whipping the saber about, leaving a glowing trail behind him. But written in that trail is a different message, instead of welcoming Padme to the academy, the message reads, "Luke Junior: the Force-less Wonder."
At seeing the writing in the sky, the whole crowd erupts into laughter. All the party-goers point and gawk at the almighty Son-of-Luke. They snicker and tease; "Crown Prince to the throne." "Jedi Master-in-training."
L.J. grimaces and winces at his own imagination.
Luke Senior sees his distress. He feels helpless to console his son. He decides to use the force to ease the young man's mind. To do so is considered a mental violation. But, at the moment, he thought he could sneak in without his son noticing. The Jedi Master reaches out and telepathically touches him. Luke then sees the nightmare scenario playing out in his head. It hurts him. He recoils at the touch. He had no had idea of the rage, and the hurt, building up inside the boy.
Distracted by his own emotions, and illiterate to the force, L.J.'s oblivious to his father's mental intrusion. The redheaded boy turns away and walks back into house. He's quite thankfully that the night's finally over. All the neighbors, and most everyone else, take little notice of him. Luke Junior's hardly the object of ridicule his own imagination tells him he is.
As L.J. leaves, Luke looks on after him. The Master Jedi now knows exactly what his son's feeling. For L.J., not having the force was an old wound, but being here tonight was like pouring acid all over it. Luke now realizes that bringing him here was a BIG mistake.
Luke sucks in his breathe and holds it, like he's waiting for an answer that'll never come.
"Luke?" A distressed feminine voice speaks up next to him.
The voice wakes Luke from the aveen of thoughts. He turns his head to the woman next to him. He sees a redhead winces. Luke realizes that he's squeezing his wife a little too hard.
"Oh... sorry." He responds. He loosens his grip.
Mara smiles back at her husband nervously. She too looks on after their son. His bob of red hair is now well inside the house.
Hours later:
L.J. lies awake in bed that night, unable to sleep. He tosses and turns. He hears his family laughing in the house.
L.J. hears Uncle Han chuckle, "It almost makes me wish I had the force."
The night simmers down and the home grows quiet. Finally, around midnight, L.J. falls asleep.
L.J. starts to have the most wonderful dream. It's a bright sunny day. He walks into a lavish historic building on Coruscant. A banner hangs above the doorway of the building, "Luke Skywalker's School for Jedi Younglings!" L.J. now out in the courtyard of the building. L.J. and his father, Luke, are on the stage. The other students are gathered to watch. L.J. duels his father before the class. In the dream L.J.'s Luke's star pupil. L.J. leaps and twirls in the air with a sword in his hand. He charges his father, challenging him. They thrust and parry. Luke laughs. The other students clap and cheer.
Little Padme's there. It's her first day of school. She points and calls out, "I wanna do that!"
Ben's standing next to her. He tussles the hair on her little head and laughs, "Let me show you how it's done."
Ben leaps towards L.J. and force rips the sword straight out of his hands. Ben kicks his cousin in the chest, knocking him to the ground. L.J. lies on the ground, clutching his chest. He gasps, just having the wind knocked out of him. The dark haired boy stands above the redhead, brandishing the sword at him in a threatening manner. (Notably the boy cousins are a redheaded and dark-haired boy. This is done so that they can be easily identified in flashback scenes.)
Luke's other students gasp at the performance. They grow silent and look to their teacher for guidance.
Luke looks angry at first and charges at Ben with his own sword.
Ben then reaches out with his free hand, gesturing for Luke to stop. The young apprentice shakes his head at the Jedi Master.
Upon seeing this gesture, Luke hesitates to strike Ben. Luke looks at his son on the ground and then back to his nephew. Luke retracts his own sword and stands back.
While lying on the ground, L.J. looks shocked. He looks to Luke and asks, "Why father? Why are letting Ben do this to me? I'm your son! Not him!"
Luke assures L.J., "Yes, of course you're my son. I'm still proud to be your father. But I need an apprentice." He gestures to Ben.
Ben glibly informs his cousin, "The family force power, the grand destiny, someone has carry this on. And myself AND Padme fit bill." He gestures to his sister.
Upon being called on, little Padme runs up to the stage, to join her family.
Sitting up, L.J. rants at Ben, "Neither you, nor your sister, are the child of a Jedi Master." He angrily points at Ben and yells, "You're not the SON of the legendary Luke Skywalker! I am!"
Padme's now standing next to Ben. The little girl shakes her head at L.J.'s pathetic rant. She reaches her hand out to Ben and looks up at him expectantly. She impatiently taps her foot with her hand open, as if awaiting a gift.
Ben rolls his eyes and momentarily ignores the girl. He gestures to the saber he took from L.J. and dryly says, "Tough luck Cuz. The force choose me... and Padme. We'll just have to assume the throne in your place."
Exasperated, L.J. says, "But I'm the only direct heir to throne, no one should be there but me."
Ben looks down at Padme and sighs. Her hand opens and closes, still awaiting a gift.
Ben reluctantly passes L.J.'s lightsaber down to the girl. (It's a "real" one, like she wanted.)
Padme looks annoyed by Ben's reluctance. She practically rips the saber outta her brother's hand.
Luke gestures to the saber that's now in Padme's hands and says, "You see son, sometimes, what you inherit, it can be just a random roll of the dice."
L.J. finally starts to get up. Furiously he yells, "What?! What do you mean, 'random roll of the dice?!'"
Luke gestures to his son and reasons, "We still love you L.J. You just didn't get the force. That's just how you were born."
The other students whisper amongst themselves saying; "No force power." "What a shame."
L.J. hears the whispering crowd and snarls. He menacingly glares while finally climbing to his feet. He darkly grumbles, "I don't want your 'love.'" He clenches his fists, trembling with fury. He explodes, "I want the POWER! The force is a birthright ode more to me than ANYONE ELSE!" He jabs a finger at Ben and yells at Luke, "Not your NEPHEW!" He jabs a finger at Padme and adds, "Not this LITTLE GIRL!"
With a jolt, L.J. wakes from the dream. He sits straight up in bed, eyes wide, breathing heavy, sweating buckets. He runs his hands through his wet red hair and slams back down on the bed. He lies in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He rolls over and looks out the window. It's a starry night. The planet has two moons, both moons are full tonight. They beamed brightly in the night. One moon's smaller than the other. The smaller moon lays on the edge of the horizon. It looks likes it's on the eve of a journey, a journey to travel across the sky.
L.J. gets up and goes to the window. Moonlight shines on L.J.'s pale face. He gazes up at these two celestial bodies. He looks at them both with such longing. The reflection of two glowing orbs glisten over his pale blue irises. Tears well up in his eyes. His trembling hands reach up to a sky, so out of reach. His reach is impeded by the window, his hands press to the glass.
Like he's wishing on a star, L.J. whispers to himself, "Having Ben out shrine me's bad enough, but now this... LITTLE GIRL is going where I NEVER will. Is it right? Is it fair? How can this be?" He shuts his eyes tight, tears streak down his freckled face. He hangs his head in defeat, pressing his forehead the window. His shoulders flinch up and down as he sobs. Steam from his hot tears cloud up the glass.
Suddenly a twanging, out-of-sync, sound reverberates throughout the room. Startled, L.J. pulls away from the window. His hand prints are left in the steamed up glass. He holds his breath as he, dubiously, looks around the room. In the corner a grey globular vision appears. Frightened, L.J. steps back from the blob. His eyes bulge out of head as the thing grows into focus. It fazes into a figure. The figure reaches out to the boy with jagged claw of a hand.
Bewildered L.J. mutters, "What the..."
The figure's Snoke. He speaks to the boy in grim dark voice, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to help you."
Dumbfounded, L.J. stammers, "Help... me..." He then laughs abruptly, realizing the joke. He bitterly chides, "Oh, Ben! Is that you? Good one. Nice Jedi mind trick. And look, I thought the festivities were over for the night." He gestures to the vision of Snoke, as if mildly impressed.
Snoke assures the boy, "No, I'm not Ben. I'm a Sith Lord. You know what this is right?"
Perplexed, L.J. says, "Yes of course. But why are you coming to me? Haven't you heard. I don't have the force." He half cries, half laughs, "Son-of-Luke. What a joke."
Unabashed, Snoke continues, "I know you don't have powers."
L.J. quips, "Well buddy, you must have the wrong room then." The bedroom's door's shut. But he points through the door and instructs, "The 'actual' Jedi boy, in the family, has a room, down there, further down the hallway. He also has a little Jedi sister, who's room's to the right of his." L.J. rolls his eyes and waves his hand dismissively, saying, "Have fun turning them to a the dark side or whatever." He folds his arms and turns away. He really doesn't care what this weird creature does to them.
Snoke says, "No, I'm here for you. I can help you. I can give you what you want."
L.J. turns back to face Snoke. He scrutinizes the Sith Lord, cynically he asks, "You can give me force?"
Snoke concedes, "No. I can't. But I can give you other kinds of power much stronger than the force." (This refers to Hux/L.J. using the super weapon to blow up all the planets. Luke Junior has a chip on his shoulder "this big" with "The Force-less Wonder" written all over it.)