THE X-WING SABOTEUR
By Aura Thundera deonii@yahoo.com
Catagory: Rebellion
Keywords: Luke X-Wing romance
Rating: PG
Spoilers:minor hint at Vision of the Future
Dislaimer: I'm not making money off this. George Lucas owns all the
Star Wars characters. I created Kerryne Malinne, and I'd be perfectly
happy to disown her. Other authors are free to use Kerri, though I'm
not sure why you'd want to.
Summary: Someone is sabotaging the X-Wing fighters of the Rebel fleet.
Or that's what Luke thinks, and he thinks he knows who it is too. Of
course, it's a little more complicated than that.
Standard fanfiction author's too-long intro ramble follows...
Author's note: I apologize for some of the events in this story.
I wrote the beginning and outline before seeing The Empire Strikes
Back and Return of the Jedi, and also before I had read any of the
books. If I had known what Luke went through in the course of those,
I would have never written this story. The ending, however, was
written later (several months later, as a matter of fact), during
late nights after work with a bottle of Jolt, a Phantom Menace
soundtrack CD, and a ton of chocolate. The end result? A vision
that ties in very nicely with the Star Wars canon.
Timeline: almost immediately after ANH; more specifically during the
evacuation of Yavin Base.
***
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax
And other fancy stuff
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Together they would travel
On a boat with billowed sail
And Jackie kept a lookout perched
On Puff's gigantic tail
Noble kings and princes
Would bow where'er they came
And pirate ships would low'r their flags
When Puff roared out his name
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Now dragons live forever
But not so little boys
Painted wings and magic rings
Make way for other toys
One cold day it happened
Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff the Magic Dragon
He ceased his fearless roar.
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee.
***
The X-Wing streaked back toward the base on the moon of Yavin.
There were no survival pods to be found in the wreckage of the
Deathstar, and the Rebels' mission was done.
Luke Skywalker relaxed in the cockpit of his fighter. His
girlfriend, Kerri, was waiting for him back at base. Luke felt
a warm, familiar tightening in his lower body. He cursed under
his breath and tried to control himself.
But Kerri's long black hair and blue eyes kept coming back
into his mind. Kerri had agreed to a date after he got back from
this mission.
Kerri had caught his eye from the first time he had seen her.
At the time, she'd been on her back, working at the guts of a Y-Wing.
Han Solo had walked up to Luke and closed Luke's mouth with his
finger. Luke hadn't even realized that he'd literally been drooling.
On another occasion, Luke asked another pilot about the
beauty who fixed the engines. The other pilots had responded to his
excited queries with a sigh.
"That's Kerri Malinne," one had said. "The Ice Queen of Yavin.
Don't get your hopes up. She's looking for her true love, and whoever
he is, compared to him pilots are the scum from the Deathstar's
toilets."
"I wonder what she'd think of a Jedi Knight?" Luke muttered
under his breath.
Eventually, Luke decided to try his luck and walked up to Kerri
one day while they were watching other pilots train. Kerri had noted
the lightsaber clipped to his belt, and decided to be a little more
friendly to this one. After all, a boy who believed in the Force was
less likely to be after nothing but her body.
Kerri had found a good friend in the young pilot who always kept
the lightsaber by his side. And Luke found a good friend in the
mechanic who disliked pilots. Their friendship grew, and they became
very close.
Now, Luke sat in the cockpit of his X-Wing, fidgeting inside his
sweaty flight suit. He wanted a bath and a clean shirt almost as much
as he wanted to see Kerri.
At last, the moon loomed up ahead. Luke brought the X-Wing in
for a clean landing at the North Landing Pad. As he climbed out of
the cockpit, Kerri ran up and hugged him.
Luke Skywalker's sleek body thrilled Kerri with how strong and
handsome he was. Luke kissed her softly on the cheek, ashamed to be
caught in his rumpled flight suit.
"I'll meet you in twenty minutes," Kerri whispered.
"Good. I need a bath," Luke replied.
Twenty minutes later, Luke met Kerri. Kerri giggled and slung a
leg over her boyfriend's hip. Luke pulled Kerri close to his sleek
chest and caught her lips in a warm kiss.
As they stood kissing in the isolated corner of the base, a
disaster was about to take place. Abruptly, a loud explosion echoed
across the moon, knocking Luke and Kerri off their feet.
Luke began muttering ungentlemanly words as he noted every place
where his body had contacted the unforgiving stone pavers. Those were
going to be beautiful bruses tomorrow, all right. Kerri, however,
didn't mind. When they had fallen, Luke's shirt had opened a little
more than usual, revealing his lean chest.
Luke picked himself up, and looked out across the jungle. A
column of black smoke was rising from the area of the South Landing
Pad.
"Come on!" Kerri cried, and the duo raced down a narrow path
to the landing pad.
Luke and Kerri came out onto the pavement of the landing pad. In
the middle lay the smoldering remains of an X-Wing.
"What happened?" Luke asked. "And who?" He noticed some medics,
carrying away a body on a stretcher, but it was little more than a
charred skeleton.
"We don't know what happened, he appeared to lose control, but
was coming in for a near-perfect landing. He would have made it
too, but the X-Wing exploded just a few meters above the pavment,"
said a frazzled lieutenant.
"Who?" Kerri asked.
"Merry Keernan," the lieutenant replied.
"Damn," Luke said. He bestowed a vicious kick upon a piece of
slagged conduit, sending it flying into the jungle.
"Hey!" the lieutenant bellowed at Luke. "I'll thank you not to
kick evidence!"
"What do I care?" Luke bellowed. "Merry was my friend, and now
he's dead." He immediately looked sorry about his outburst and
spoke again. "Sorry."
Kerri clutched Luke's arm. "I'm sorry, Luke. I know Merry was
one of your best friends."
"Why should you be? Merry's out of your hair now," Luke said
nastily, still upset. "He was the one you disliked because your
Ice Queen act wouldn't get him to stop asking you out."
"Luke, I may not have liked him, but I certainly don't want him
dead!" Kerri cried out. "You know me, Luke. I just needed the right
boy to love, the one who would be just right and put me at peace with
the world. And I found him."
"Kerri, I'm sorry. I suspect everyone, and especially that rat
Koto," Luke said.
"Koto?" Kerri said. "Koto's a harmless mechanic."
"Koto is nuts," Luke said. "He's a frustrated pilot-he lost his
hand irreplacibly in a crash, and now he's jealous of anyone who can
still control a starfighter. He went for me once, choked me."
"Oh, Luke!" Kerri said. "I've worked with Koto a long time.
While he may not love pilots, he does love the fighters. He would
never destroy one!"
"I'm sorry," Luke said, giving her a quick kiss. "Do you mind if
I break off our date? I feel like I've been shot down by an Imperial
star destroyer, and I'd like to rest. I have a training flight
tomorrow."
"Wait! Luke!" Kerri shouted. "Don't go on that training flight
tomorrow! Let me and the other mechanics check out the fighters
before you fly again!"
Luke shook his head and continued to his room.
"Luke, please!" Kerri cried, her face contorting. "Do you want
to go down in flames too? Do you think I want to watch you go down
in flames?"
Luke shut the door.
"Luke Skywalker, you can be stubborn as a mule," Kerri said as
she turned around and walked toward the mechanics' barracks.
The next morning, Luke climbed into an X-Wing. He sat ready for
the high speed search and destroy practice.
As he lifted off, Luke noticed a faint rumbling sound in his
engines, but he assumed he'd simply gotten a cranky older fighter.
He pulled out of the hangar to contiue with the training mission.
Kerri had been watching the pilots train from a window and
talking over some strategic locations for a new base with Leia.
And then there was a second blast.
In an instant, both Kerri and Leia took off down a path toward
the South Launching Pad. They swiftly arrived to view another
starfighter laying in a pile of twisted, charred parts on the stone
paving.
"Oh, who is it this time?" Leia cried.
The commander of the training mission spoke."Sorry to have to
tell you two ladies this, but . . . it's Luke Skywalker."
PART 2
"Dammit, Luke," Leia said, turning toward the wreckage. "Make
me like you for the fool idealist you are, and then go get yourself
killed."
Tears stung Kerri's eyes. She hoped against hope that Luke had
somehow managed to survive the crash.
Two medics were hauling away the remains of the canopy, trying
to get at what was left of Luke. They pulled a body out of the
wreckage that was clothed in a charred and bloodied flight suit--Luke
Skywalker.
Kerri ran to where the medic were strapping Luke to the stretcher.
Kerri gasped as one of the medics ripped the flight suit off of Luke's
upper body, revealing burns and bloody gashes. His ash-blonde hair
was singed and his face scratched.
"Don't die, Luke," Kerri whispered, stroking Luke's bangs out of
his face. "I love you."
Kerri and Leia were abruptly shoved aside by a medic, who began
cleaning Luke's wounds.
Later, Kerri was permitted to sit with Luke as he lay in his bed.
Luke had been heavily sedated to keep him from feeling his many wounds,
but Kerri held his hand anyway.
Luke lay still without a sign of life except for the slow rise
and fall of his bandaged chest. He was naked except for the bandages
and the sheets of his bed, which left him looking pathetic and
helpless.
Kerri released his hand and began to gently trim away the charred
ends of Luke's hair. As she worked, soft blonde curls began to frame
his innocent, round face again.
When she was done, Kerri bent down and bestowed a kiss on Luke's
still lips. Sadly, she relived the night before, when Luke had
returned her kisses.
"Luke was probably right," Kerri muttered. "Koto probably did
this to Luke because Luke Skywalker was the hero Koto could never be!"
Kerri left Luke's bedside and tore off toward the hangar where
Koto had been scheduled to work that day. She was no longer able
to bear the sight of Luke's still body.
"Koto?!" Kerri bellowed. "Where are you?"
The little man with his single hand appeared. "What's your
problem today, Kerri?"
"You know full well, Koto!" Kerri shouted, not caring who heard.
"You didn't check Luke's fighter like I asked you to. He almost died
because you didn't check it properly."
"I checked it. There was nothing wrong," Koto said.
"No one had even touched that fighter in a long time because it always
ran well."
"Or maybe you wanted Luke Skywalker to die!" Kerri yelled.
"Because he was what you weren't. Because he was the hero of Yavin!
You didn't care that he was my boyfriend and I planned to marry him!"
"Whatever you may think," Koto said, shrugging his misshapen
shoulders, "I did not try to kill Luke. I hold respect for anyone who
could train as a Jedi, as he does."
"Whatever," Kerri said.
Weeks later, Kerri still sat by Luke's bedside. Now, he had
nutrients flowing through a needle into one arm and waste flowing out
through a catheter hidden by the sheet. He still slept, although he
was no longer sedated and his wounds were nearly healed.
During that time, the Rebel Alliance kept vigil over its hero.
The wreckage of the X-Wings, both Luke's and Merry's, were pulled to
pieces. No clues were found.
Late one night, Kerri cried by Luke's bedside. Luke lay, still
and silent. His bandages were gone, but the catheter and nutrient IV
remained. His pale skin was covered only by a sheet.
As Kerri cried, one of the medics appeared and began to speak to
her.
"Kerri, I know this is going to be hard on you...hell, it's hard
on me too, but I have to say it. We think he may never wake up, and
even if he does, he may not remember anything," the medic said.
Kerri gasped. She had been clinging to the hope that he would
wake soon, squeeze her hand. She had dreamed of his baby-blue eyes
fluttering open and him proposing to her.
"The essential part of Luke Skywalker, Luke's mind and heart,
they will be gone. It's your decision, because you are the closest
thing to family that he has," The medic sighed, and continued.
"You have to decide whether we should let Luke die now, without any
pain, or let him live, perhaps forever a vegetable, dependent on life
support."
PART 3
"No," Kerri said. "I must give Luke the chance to return to me."
"Very well then," the medic said, obviously relieved that he would
not have to pull the plug and kill one of the Rebel Alliance's few
heroes.
Days passed and Luke still lay deathly still in his bed. As each
day passed, Kerri grew more distraught, more sure that the medic had
been right. ~Is Luke dead? Is his mind, the power of the quiet Jedi,
gone?~ Kerri asked herself. ~Is it right to leave this soulless hunk
of flesh on support to help it live like a vegetable, the light within
gone?~
Kerri cried again, sobbing into Luke's caramel-colored hair and
clutching his limp, saber-callused hand in hers. Eventually, Kerri
thought she felt Luke's hand move, but she wrote it off to her nerves.
The squeeze at Kerri's hand came again, stronger this time. She
dropped Luke's hand and looked at him. Slowly, Luke Skywalker's baby
blue eyes fluttered open.
"Oh Luke!" Kerri cried. "You're awake!" She embraced Luke as he
sat up.
Luke slowly nuzzled Kerri and kissed her. Kerri returned the kiss,
reminded of how much she had missed this while he had been out, and
caressed his bare chest.
"Do you think you could go over to the closet and get me some
clothing? No offense, but I'd rather not be naked," Luke asked Kerri.
"Hey, I don't mind it," Kerri said teasingly.
Luke playfully shoved her off his bed. "Just get me some
clothing."
Kerri dashed to the closet and pulled out Luke's old white tunic
and pants. As she helped Luke slip into the tunic, one of the medics
came in the door. Immediately, the medic's eyes widened.
"Luke Skywalker? You're awake?" he said.
Luke rolled his blue eyes. "Of course I'm awake. I'm fine, but I
can't get up."
"You shouldn't be paralyzed..." the medic said.
"I'm not, my legs are just weak. I can't stand," Luke replied.
"With Kerri's help or a stick to lean on, I should be able to walk."
"Well, first let me remove the catheter," the medic said and
reached under the sheet. He yanked the catheter free of Luke's body.
Luke bellowed like a wounded Wookie and took a weak swing at the
medic. Fortunately, Luke's punch missed.
The medic laughed. "Every man who I've seen have a catheter
removed acts like that." Luke replied by grabbing his pants
wrathfully and yanking them on. Kerri giggled, because Luke never was
quite so cute as when he let the whiny and frequently indignant
Tatooine farmboy come to the surface, like now. She kissed him
tenderly on the forehead.
"I have to go for my shift in the hangar now," Kerri whispered to
Luke. "But I'll be back in time to eat dinner with you. They refused
to exempt me from duty to sit with you."
"And that is just as well," Luke said. "The Rebellion can't afford
to lose a skilled mechanic to sit with an injured pilot."
In the hangar, Kerri laid on her back, working in the guts of an
X-Wing. She groped for her socket wrench to tighten down the casing of
the compressor to the hydraulic system.
Koto pushed the wrench into her hand. "Thanks," Kerri muttered.
Meanwhile, Luke lay in his bed. He'd given up on watching the
trashy holovids long ago. He'd never had the patience for romantic
holos anyway. If he wanted romance, he'd take the real thing with
Kerri. Now he watched the preparations for a test flight of some new
X-Wings.
Kerri pushed open the door, carrying a large tray of food for
herself and Luke. Luke made a face and pulled a pillow over his head.
"Come on, Luke, you have to eat," Kerri said, pulling the pillow
off of Luke's head. "This isn't that bad, it's the same food everyone
gets."
"Just keep the medics and their nutro-paste garbage away from me,"
Luke replied. "I want REAL FOOD."
"It is," Kerri said. Using female wiles and a large amount of
trickery, Kerri managed to get all of the food into Luke.
After Luke managed to finish his dinner, Kerri slipped into the
bed beside him. Luke slid his arm around her and held her close.
"Do you think you could take me to the landing pad so I could
watch the training flights?" Luke asked Kerri.
"Sure," Kerri said, slipping Luke's poncho over his shoulders.
She helped him walk to the nearest landing pad.
Luke smiled as he watched the fighters in the air above. Abruptly,
one X-Wing peeled off from the tidy squadron and headed for the landing
pad.
One of the fighter's engines burst into flame as the pilot touched
down. Luke started forward with a gasp.
"It's Wedge!" Luke cried. "Jump free, Wedge!"
"Sit down, Luke," Kerri said, leading him to a stone bench by the
side of the landing pad. Behind them, Wedge Antilles leaped clear of
his burning X-Wing. Crews of mechanics turned firehoses on the X-Wing,
trying to rescue any evidence.
Wedge dashed up to Luke where he sat on the stone bench. "Glad to
see you back on your feet, buddy," Wedge said. "We were afraid we'd
have to organize a funeral for ya."
"I'm too tough for some cowardly saboteur to kill," Luke said,
with a half-grin.
Kerri shivered abruptly. "Luke, it's getting cold. I'll help you
back inside."
PART 4
As the days passed, Luke slowly grew better. The Rebels packed up
their supplies and fleet to move to a new base. Luke hobbled around,
with the aid of a carved walking stick. His slight, white-clad body
was a frequent sight around the base.
Among the last to leave Yavin IV were Luke and Kerri, who would
fly with Han Solo on the Millenium Falcon, by their own choice. Leia
would have preferred that Luke go on a bigger ship where his fragile
health could be tended to by a medic. But, although she was not likely
to ever admit it, Leia trusted Han Solo to get aid to Luke if he
needed it.
The tortured remains of the three destroyed star fighters were
loaded aboard transports too.
Luke sat in the main cabin of the Falcon, sleeping with his head
pillowed on his arms. Kerri sat next to him, holding his hand as he
slept.
As soon as the battered old Corellian freighter entered hyperspace,
Han left the cockpit to Chewie and delivered a message to his
passengers. "Her Highness requests that we stop at Tatooine for some
sort of conference," Han said. "Tell Luke when he wakes up."
"He'll probably sleep the whole way to Tatooine," Kerri replied,
gently stroking Luke's blonde head.
Several hours later, a few Rebel landing craft descended around an
abandoned moisture farm on the topaz-sanded planet. Koto came to the
hatch of the Millenium Falcon.
"Luke, Captain Solo, the Princess and General Rieekan request your
presence to discuss the sabotaged X-Wings," he said, "Come with me."
"Luke, let me come with you," Kerri said, helping him to his feet.
"Luke and Han go with me," Koto said. "Not you."
"Well!" Kerri exclaimed. "I was the one who got him here!
Without me, you would have removed the life support and killed Luke
long ago!"
Koto walked slowly, matching his pace to Luke's halting steps.
They eventually came out into a cavernous chamber that had once housed
immense tanks of water. There, Luke, Leia, Han, Rieekan and some other
leaders of the Rebellion gathered.
As the meeting went on beneath the sands, Kerri slept in a bunk
aboard the Falcon. She was wakened by halting footsteps in the
corridor--Luke's footsteps.
"Luke?" Kerri called to him, sitting up.
"It's me, Kerri," Luke replied. His voice sounded tired. He
walked over to the bunk she lay on and sat on the edge.
Kerri sighed as Luke embraced her and his strong hands slipped
into her hair. His lips brushed lightly against hers.
"Will you come with me?" Luke asked her.
Kerri shivered at the feather-light touch of Luke's lips to her
own. "Of course," she replied.
As Luke led her out of the Falcon, Kerri abruptly realized that he
was no longer wearing the black shirt and pants he had earlier. Now,
he wore the flight suit of a Rebel pilot.
"Luke, where are we going?" Kerri asked.
"Come with me," Luke whispered, his face somber. The laughing boy
hero was mysteriously gone from his face.
Upon entering the cavernous chamber beneath Tatooine's sandy
surface, Luke left Kerri and went to stand between Leia and Wedge.
Kerri looked around, unsure of what was happening in the Rebel
Alliance.
Abruptly, Kerri's hands were grabbed by Han Solo. Han held her
back and prevented her from joining Luke.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kerri cried, struggling in the
Corellian's tight grip.
PART 5
"Kerryne Malinne, you stand accused of the murder of Merriman
Keernan and the attempted murders of Wedge Antilles and Lucas
Skywalker," Rieekan said.
"What?!" Kerri shouted, twisting her wrists in a desperate attempt
to free her hands from Han Solo's hold. "You're crazy! Why would I
try to kill my own boyfriend?"
"An accident," Luke said, his voice cold. "That was why you were
so concerned and didn't want me to fly. I might have gotten-did get-
one of your doctored X-Wings."
"Of course I was concerned!" Kerri shouted. "With a madman loose,
you were a natural target! You were the Hero of Yavin. And I was
right, they did go for you. But you didn't listen to me! If I would
have checked the X-Wing you were to have used, you might not have
crashed!"
"Of course not," Wedge growled. "You would have removed the
explosives from the hydraulic compressor and disabled the timer."
"You have no evidence to prove that I planted explosives there,"
Kerri spat. "Luke, how can you let this happen to me? I thought you
loved me!"
"Because all of the evidence, what little there is, points to
you," Luke said. "Several of the mechanics saw you working on the
hydraulic systems of the crashed fighters. And that is where the
traces of explosives were found."
"You have nothing to back that up," Kerri said, wrenching at Han's
hands. "It's all circumstantial. Why would I do this?"
"Your hatred of all pilots except for Luke is a well-known fact,"
Leia spoke now, cool and calm. "You had motive, materials, no alibi,
and were seen in the right place."
"We find you guilty," Rieekan said. "We cannot afford the loss of
pilots and equipment that you have caused in your private war. You
are sentenced to death for the murder of Merriman Keernan."
"How am I to die then?" Kerri asked.
"By blaster. We cannot afford to leave anything for the Imperials
to find and make use of," Rieekan said.
"Wait! May I speak?" Kerri shouted.
"Speak your piece," Leia said.
"My father was a pilot. He knew the lives of Imperial TIE pilots
are short, so he did as he pleased. He never was faithful to my
mother. He often forgot we existed. All he ever did was hurt us.
Until I met Luke, I had never met a pilot who was any different. They
deserved to die before they could hurt anyone they way my father hurt
me and my mother," Kerri said.
Luke turned toward her, tears welling in his blue eyes and hurt in
his gentle voice. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you loved me,
trusted me."
"I just couldn't..." Kerri said.
"Very well," Luke said icily, and turned away.
Han stepped before Kerri and levelled his blaster.
"Can I at least kiss Luke goodbye?" Kerri asked.
"That is up to Luke," Rieekan said.
Luke turned back toward his one-time girlfriend, his love dead in
his heart. He swallowed hard at the stricken look in her eyes. "I
will kiss the girl I once loved goobye. I will kiss the woman who
waited by my bed while I was ill, the one who believed in me. But this
monster, I will not. In memory of what you were to me, I will kiss
you, Kerri," he said.
Luke stepped into Kerri's arms, the twin trails of two tears
marking his face. Kerri pressed herself close, offering her lips for
a kiss. Luke pressed his warm lips to hers. His caramel-colored hair
tickled her face.
"Goodbye," Luke whispered. Kerri cried into the curve of his
neck.
"Commander, I suggest you move," Rieekan said. "Unless you wish
to join this traitor in death."
Luke shook his head almost imperceptibly and walked away from her.
PART 6
Luke watched sadly as Han squeezed the trigger. Kerri's slight
body flew backwards as time seemed to distort and slow for Luke. She
crumpled into a slight heap on the floor. Luke gazed at the body,
unable to comprehend how all his hopes had seemed to crumble in the
space of a few hours.
"I can't believe how much she managed to hide from me," Luke
whispered. "I thought I knew her..."
"We all did, kid," Han said. "We all thought we knew her, that
she'd finally be happy with you."
"How could I have been so wrong about her?" Luke asked. "Why
didn't I see all that hatred in her, right under the surface?"
"No one did, Commander," Rieekan spoke now. "She was not a
suspect until no others appeared. She was an expert at hiding."
"I just wish that there was something I could do," Luke said.
"Some way to remember the good she did and not the evil."
"There will be a marker placed at her grave here," Leia said.
"Would you like to write the inscription?"
Luke nodded. He picked up a stylus and a pad and began to write.
Leia instantly recognized the flowing curves and tendrils of
traditional Tatooin script rather than the Galactic Standard she had
always seen Luke use before. However, it did not surprise her that
Luke could write it.
Leia looked over Luke's shoulder. She had never learned to read
Tatooin script, so she was relieved when Luke began writing in
Standard instead.
'Here lies Kerryne Malinne. The first woman I truly loved.' the
basic script said.
"Would you get them to engrave this on the marker?" Luke asked,
handing the pad to Leia.
"Yes, I will," she whispered. "Go back to the Falcon and rest,
Luke."
Luke nodded and started walking slowly to the surface. He looked
up at the stars that sprinkled the night sky. Constellations
familiar to him from his childhood beamed down upon Luke. At any
moment, Luke almost expected to hear his uncle calling to him.
But deep inside, he was no longer the boy who had found adventure
risking his life in Beggar's Canyon. He had seen pain, seen worlds
destroyed. He had had his heart broken in the last few minutes.
His whole universe had changed.
Slowly, Luke turned toward the Millenium Falcon. It seemed safe
and homelike to him, and Luke realized that the Rebel Alliance was all
he had left. He had lost everything else.
Luke's hand closed about his father's lightsaber at his hip. He
had not lost everything. When he sat still and thought quietly, he
could feel the Force as Ben had taught him.
He walked aboard the battered Corellian freighter. The Falcon was
all the home he had now, and Han and Leia were all the family he had.
Slowly, Luke headed for a small cabin where he had bunked when working
with Han before. He fell asleep in his flight suit after managing to
remove his boots.
In dreams, Luke was on Yavin again, standing atop one of the
Massassi temples. A woman, beautiful with firey red hair and vibrant
green eyes, was in his arms. She kissed his lips gently, then backed
away from him.
"I will wait for you," she said. "You will know me when the time
comes."
A tear coursed down Luke's cheek as he awoke. It was more than a
dream, he knew. And when it was time, there would be a true love
waiting for him.
The next day, Kerri was quietly buried, with only Luke, Leia and
Han watching. A small stone marker was placed at the head of the
grave. The inscription that Luke had written in Tatooin and Standard
showed clearly in the early morning light.
After Leia and Han had left, Luke knelt at the marker. "Goodbye,
Kerri," he whispered. "I have to go, but I will remember what we had,
even though I may love again."
With those words echoing in the still Tatooine afternoon, Luke
walked away, back toward the Falcon and the Rebels. He never looked
back.
By Aura Thundera deonii@yahoo.com
Catagory: Rebellion
Keywords: Luke X-Wing romance
Rating: PG
Spoilers:minor hint at Vision of the Future
Dislaimer: I'm not making money off this. George Lucas owns all the
Star Wars characters. I created Kerryne Malinne, and I'd be perfectly
happy to disown her. Other authors are free to use Kerri, though I'm
not sure why you'd want to.
Summary: Someone is sabotaging the X-Wing fighters of the Rebel fleet.
Or that's what Luke thinks, and he thinks he knows who it is too. Of
course, it's a little more complicated than that.
Standard fanfiction author's too-long intro ramble follows...
Author's note: I apologize for some of the events in this story.
I wrote the beginning and outline before seeing The Empire Strikes
Back and Return of the Jedi, and also before I had read any of the
books. If I had known what Luke went through in the course of those,
I would have never written this story. The ending, however, was
written later (several months later, as a matter of fact), during
late nights after work with a bottle of Jolt, a Phantom Menace
soundtrack CD, and a ton of chocolate. The end result? A vision
that ties in very nicely with the Star Wars canon.
Timeline: almost immediately after ANH; more specifically during the
evacuation of Yavin Base.
***
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax
And other fancy stuff
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Together they would travel
On a boat with billowed sail
And Jackie kept a lookout perched
On Puff's gigantic tail
Noble kings and princes
Would bow where'er they came
And pirate ships would low'r their flags
When Puff roared out his name
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee
Now dragons live forever
But not so little boys
Painted wings and magic rings
Make way for other toys
One cold day it happened
Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff the Magic Dragon
He ceased his fearless roar.
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autmn mist
In a land called Honna Lee.
***
The X-Wing streaked back toward the base on the moon of Yavin.
There were no survival pods to be found in the wreckage of the
Deathstar, and the Rebels' mission was done.
Luke Skywalker relaxed in the cockpit of his fighter. His
girlfriend, Kerri, was waiting for him back at base. Luke felt
a warm, familiar tightening in his lower body. He cursed under
his breath and tried to control himself.
But Kerri's long black hair and blue eyes kept coming back
into his mind. Kerri had agreed to a date after he got back from
this mission.
Kerri had caught his eye from the first time he had seen her.
At the time, she'd been on her back, working at the guts of a Y-Wing.
Han Solo had walked up to Luke and closed Luke's mouth with his
finger. Luke hadn't even realized that he'd literally been drooling.
On another occasion, Luke asked another pilot about the
beauty who fixed the engines. The other pilots had responded to his
excited queries with a sigh.
"That's Kerri Malinne," one had said. "The Ice Queen of Yavin.
Don't get your hopes up. She's looking for her true love, and whoever
he is, compared to him pilots are the scum from the Deathstar's
toilets."
"I wonder what she'd think of a Jedi Knight?" Luke muttered
under his breath.
Eventually, Luke decided to try his luck and walked up to Kerri
one day while they were watching other pilots train. Kerri had noted
the lightsaber clipped to his belt, and decided to be a little more
friendly to this one. After all, a boy who believed in the Force was
less likely to be after nothing but her body.
Kerri had found a good friend in the young pilot who always kept
the lightsaber by his side. And Luke found a good friend in the
mechanic who disliked pilots. Their friendship grew, and they became
very close.
Now, Luke sat in the cockpit of his X-Wing, fidgeting inside his
sweaty flight suit. He wanted a bath and a clean shirt almost as much
as he wanted to see Kerri.
At last, the moon loomed up ahead. Luke brought the X-Wing in
for a clean landing at the North Landing Pad. As he climbed out of
the cockpit, Kerri ran up and hugged him.
Luke Skywalker's sleek body thrilled Kerri with how strong and
handsome he was. Luke kissed her softly on the cheek, ashamed to be
caught in his rumpled flight suit.
"I'll meet you in twenty minutes," Kerri whispered.
"Good. I need a bath," Luke replied.
Twenty minutes later, Luke met Kerri. Kerri giggled and slung a
leg over her boyfriend's hip. Luke pulled Kerri close to his sleek
chest and caught her lips in a warm kiss.
As they stood kissing in the isolated corner of the base, a
disaster was about to take place. Abruptly, a loud explosion echoed
across the moon, knocking Luke and Kerri off their feet.
Luke began muttering ungentlemanly words as he noted every place
where his body had contacted the unforgiving stone pavers. Those were
going to be beautiful bruses tomorrow, all right. Kerri, however,
didn't mind. When they had fallen, Luke's shirt had opened a little
more than usual, revealing his lean chest.
Luke picked himself up, and looked out across the jungle. A
column of black smoke was rising from the area of the South Landing
Pad.
"Come on!" Kerri cried, and the duo raced down a narrow path
to the landing pad.
Luke and Kerri came out onto the pavement of the landing pad. In
the middle lay the smoldering remains of an X-Wing.
"What happened?" Luke asked. "And who?" He noticed some medics,
carrying away a body on a stretcher, but it was little more than a
charred skeleton.
"We don't know what happened, he appeared to lose control, but
was coming in for a near-perfect landing. He would have made it
too, but the X-Wing exploded just a few meters above the pavment,"
said a frazzled lieutenant.
"Who?" Kerri asked.
"Merry Keernan," the lieutenant replied.
"Damn," Luke said. He bestowed a vicious kick upon a piece of
slagged conduit, sending it flying into the jungle.
"Hey!" the lieutenant bellowed at Luke. "I'll thank you not to
kick evidence!"
"What do I care?" Luke bellowed. "Merry was my friend, and now
he's dead." He immediately looked sorry about his outburst and
spoke again. "Sorry."
Kerri clutched Luke's arm. "I'm sorry, Luke. I know Merry was
one of your best friends."
"Why should you be? Merry's out of your hair now," Luke said
nastily, still upset. "He was the one you disliked because your
Ice Queen act wouldn't get him to stop asking you out."
"Luke, I may not have liked him, but I certainly don't want him
dead!" Kerri cried out. "You know me, Luke. I just needed the right
boy to love, the one who would be just right and put me at peace with
the world. And I found him."
"Kerri, I'm sorry. I suspect everyone, and especially that rat
Koto," Luke said.
"Koto?" Kerri said. "Koto's a harmless mechanic."
"Koto is nuts," Luke said. "He's a frustrated pilot-he lost his
hand irreplacibly in a crash, and now he's jealous of anyone who can
still control a starfighter. He went for me once, choked me."
"Oh, Luke!" Kerri said. "I've worked with Koto a long time.
While he may not love pilots, he does love the fighters. He would
never destroy one!"
"I'm sorry," Luke said, giving her a quick kiss. "Do you mind if
I break off our date? I feel like I've been shot down by an Imperial
star destroyer, and I'd like to rest. I have a training flight
tomorrow."
"Wait! Luke!" Kerri shouted. "Don't go on that training flight
tomorrow! Let me and the other mechanics check out the fighters
before you fly again!"
Luke shook his head and continued to his room.
"Luke, please!" Kerri cried, her face contorting. "Do you want
to go down in flames too? Do you think I want to watch you go down
in flames?"
Luke shut the door.
"Luke Skywalker, you can be stubborn as a mule," Kerri said as
she turned around and walked toward the mechanics' barracks.
The next morning, Luke climbed into an X-Wing. He sat ready for
the high speed search and destroy practice.
As he lifted off, Luke noticed a faint rumbling sound in his
engines, but he assumed he'd simply gotten a cranky older fighter.
He pulled out of the hangar to contiue with the training mission.
Kerri had been watching the pilots train from a window and
talking over some strategic locations for a new base with Leia.
And then there was a second blast.
In an instant, both Kerri and Leia took off down a path toward
the South Launching Pad. They swiftly arrived to view another
starfighter laying in a pile of twisted, charred parts on the stone
paving.
"Oh, who is it this time?" Leia cried.
The commander of the training mission spoke."Sorry to have to
tell you two ladies this, but . . . it's Luke Skywalker."
PART 2
"Dammit, Luke," Leia said, turning toward the wreckage. "Make
me like you for the fool idealist you are, and then go get yourself
killed."
Tears stung Kerri's eyes. She hoped against hope that Luke had
somehow managed to survive the crash.
Two medics were hauling away the remains of the canopy, trying
to get at what was left of Luke. They pulled a body out of the
wreckage that was clothed in a charred and bloodied flight suit--Luke
Skywalker.
Kerri ran to where the medic were strapping Luke to the stretcher.
Kerri gasped as one of the medics ripped the flight suit off of Luke's
upper body, revealing burns and bloody gashes. His ash-blonde hair
was singed and his face scratched.
"Don't die, Luke," Kerri whispered, stroking Luke's bangs out of
his face. "I love you."
Kerri and Leia were abruptly shoved aside by a medic, who began
cleaning Luke's wounds.
Later, Kerri was permitted to sit with Luke as he lay in his bed.
Luke had been heavily sedated to keep him from feeling his many wounds,
but Kerri held his hand anyway.
Luke lay still without a sign of life except for the slow rise
and fall of his bandaged chest. He was naked except for the bandages
and the sheets of his bed, which left him looking pathetic and
helpless.
Kerri released his hand and began to gently trim away the charred
ends of Luke's hair. As she worked, soft blonde curls began to frame
his innocent, round face again.
When she was done, Kerri bent down and bestowed a kiss on Luke's
still lips. Sadly, she relived the night before, when Luke had
returned her kisses.
"Luke was probably right," Kerri muttered. "Koto probably did
this to Luke because Luke Skywalker was the hero Koto could never be!"
Kerri left Luke's bedside and tore off toward the hangar where
Koto had been scheduled to work that day. She was no longer able
to bear the sight of Luke's still body.
"Koto?!" Kerri bellowed. "Where are you?"
The little man with his single hand appeared. "What's your
problem today, Kerri?"
"You know full well, Koto!" Kerri shouted, not caring who heard.
"You didn't check Luke's fighter like I asked you to. He almost died
because you didn't check it properly."
"I checked it. There was nothing wrong," Koto said.
"No one had even touched that fighter in a long time because it always
ran well."
"Or maybe you wanted Luke Skywalker to die!" Kerri yelled.
"Because he was what you weren't. Because he was the hero of Yavin!
You didn't care that he was my boyfriend and I planned to marry him!"
"Whatever you may think," Koto said, shrugging his misshapen
shoulders, "I did not try to kill Luke. I hold respect for anyone who
could train as a Jedi, as he does."
"Whatever," Kerri said.
Weeks later, Kerri still sat by Luke's bedside. Now, he had
nutrients flowing through a needle into one arm and waste flowing out
through a catheter hidden by the sheet. He still slept, although he
was no longer sedated and his wounds were nearly healed.
During that time, the Rebel Alliance kept vigil over its hero.
The wreckage of the X-Wings, both Luke's and Merry's, were pulled to
pieces. No clues were found.
Late one night, Kerri cried by Luke's bedside. Luke lay, still
and silent. His bandages were gone, but the catheter and nutrient IV
remained. His pale skin was covered only by a sheet.
As Kerri cried, one of the medics appeared and began to speak to
her.
"Kerri, I know this is going to be hard on you...hell, it's hard
on me too, but I have to say it. We think he may never wake up, and
even if he does, he may not remember anything," the medic said.
Kerri gasped. She had been clinging to the hope that he would
wake soon, squeeze her hand. She had dreamed of his baby-blue eyes
fluttering open and him proposing to her.
"The essential part of Luke Skywalker, Luke's mind and heart,
they will be gone. It's your decision, because you are the closest
thing to family that he has," The medic sighed, and continued.
"You have to decide whether we should let Luke die now, without any
pain, or let him live, perhaps forever a vegetable, dependent on life
support."
PART 3
"No," Kerri said. "I must give Luke the chance to return to me."
"Very well then," the medic said, obviously relieved that he would
not have to pull the plug and kill one of the Rebel Alliance's few
heroes.
Days passed and Luke still lay deathly still in his bed. As each
day passed, Kerri grew more distraught, more sure that the medic had
been right. ~Is Luke dead? Is his mind, the power of the quiet Jedi,
gone?~ Kerri asked herself. ~Is it right to leave this soulless hunk
of flesh on support to help it live like a vegetable, the light within
gone?~
Kerri cried again, sobbing into Luke's caramel-colored hair and
clutching his limp, saber-callused hand in hers. Eventually, Kerri
thought she felt Luke's hand move, but she wrote it off to her nerves.
The squeeze at Kerri's hand came again, stronger this time. She
dropped Luke's hand and looked at him. Slowly, Luke Skywalker's baby
blue eyes fluttered open.
"Oh Luke!" Kerri cried. "You're awake!" She embraced Luke as he
sat up.
Luke slowly nuzzled Kerri and kissed her. Kerri returned the kiss,
reminded of how much she had missed this while he had been out, and
caressed his bare chest.
"Do you think you could go over to the closet and get me some
clothing? No offense, but I'd rather not be naked," Luke asked Kerri.
"Hey, I don't mind it," Kerri said teasingly.
Luke playfully shoved her off his bed. "Just get me some
clothing."
Kerri dashed to the closet and pulled out Luke's old white tunic
and pants. As she helped Luke slip into the tunic, one of the medics
came in the door. Immediately, the medic's eyes widened.
"Luke Skywalker? You're awake?" he said.
Luke rolled his blue eyes. "Of course I'm awake. I'm fine, but I
can't get up."
"You shouldn't be paralyzed..." the medic said.
"I'm not, my legs are just weak. I can't stand," Luke replied.
"With Kerri's help or a stick to lean on, I should be able to walk."
"Well, first let me remove the catheter," the medic said and
reached under the sheet. He yanked the catheter free of Luke's body.
Luke bellowed like a wounded Wookie and took a weak swing at the
medic. Fortunately, Luke's punch missed.
The medic laughed. "Every man who I've seen have a catheter
removed acts like that." Luke replied by grabbing his pants
wrathfully and yanking them on. Kerri giggled, because Luke never was
quite so cute as when he let the whiny and frequently indignant
Tatooine farmboy come to the surface, like now. She kissed him
tenderly on the forehead.
"I have to go for my shift in the hangar now," Kerri whispered to
Luke. "But I'll be back in time to eat dinner with you. They refused
to exempt me from duty to sit with you."
"And that is just as well," Luke said. "The Rebellion can't afford
to lose a skilled mechanic to sit with an injured pilot."
In the hangar, Kerri laid on her back, working in the guts of an
X-Wing. She groped for her socket wrench to tighten down the casing of
the compressor to the hydraulic system.
Koto pushed the wrench into her hand. "Thanks," Kerri muttered.
Meanwhile, Luke lay in his bed. He'd given up on watching the
trashy holovids long ago. He'd never had the patience for romantic
holos anyway. If he wanted romance, he'd take the real thing with
Kerri. Now he watched the preparations for a test flight of some new
X-Wings.
Kerri pushed open the door, carrying a large tray of food for
herself and Luke. Luke made a face and pulled a pillow over his head.
"Come on, Luke, you have to eat," Kerri said, pulling the pillow
off of Luke's head. "This isn't that bad, it's the same food everyone
gets."
"Just keep the medics and their nutro-paste garbage away from me,"
Luke replied. "I want REAL FOOD."
"It is," Kerri said. Using female wiles and a large amount of
trickery, Kerri managed to get all of the food into Luke.
After Luke managed to finish his dinner, Kerri slipped into the
bed beside him. Luke slid his arm around her and held her close.
"Do you think you could take me to the landing pad so I could
watch the training flights?" Luke asked Kerri.
"Sure," Kerri said, slipping Luke's poncho over his shoulders.
She helped him walk to the nearest landing pad.
Luke smiled as he watched the fighters in the air above. Abruptly,
one X-Wing peeled off from the tidy squadron and headed for the landing
pad.
One of the fighter's engines burst into flame as the pilot touched
down. Luke started forward with a gasp.
"It's Wedge!" Luke cried. "Jump free, Wedge!"
"Sit down, Luke," Kerri said, leading him to a stone bench by the
side of the landing pad. Behind them, Wedge Antilles leaped clear of
his burning X-Wing. Crews of mechanics turned firehoses on the X-Wing,
trying to rescue any evidence.
Wedge dashed up to Luke where he sat on the stone bench. "Glad to
see you back on your feet, buddy," Wedge said. "We were afraid we'd
have to organize a funeral for ya."
"I'm too tough for some cowardly saboteur to kill," Luke said,
with a half-grin.
Kerri shivered abruptly. "Luke, it's getting cold. I'll help you
back inside."
PART 4
As the days passed, Luke slowly grew better. The Rebels packed up
their supplies and fleet to move to a new base. Luke hobbled around,
with the aid of a carved walking stick. His slight, white-clad body
was a frequent sight around the base.
Among the last to leave Yavin IV were Luke and Kerri, who would
fly with Han Solo on the Millenium Falcon, by their own choice. Leia
would have preferred that Luke go on a bigger ship where his fragile
health could be tended to by a medic. But, although she was not likely
to ever admit it, Leia trusted Han Solo to get aid to Luke if he
needed it.
The tortured remains of the three destroyed star fighters were
loaded aboard transports too.
Luke sat in the main cabin of the Falcon, sleeping with his head
pillowed on his arms. Kerri sat next to him, holding his hand as he
slept.
As soon as the battered old Corellian freighter entered hyperspace,
Han left the cockpit to Chewie and delivered a message to his
passengers. "Her Highness requests that we stop at Tatooine for some
sort of conference," Han said. "Tell Luke when he wakes up."
"He'll probably sleep the whole way to Tatooine," Kerri replied,
gently stroking Luke's blonde head.
Several hours later, a few Rebel landing craft descended around an
abandoned moisture farm on the topaz-sanded planet. Koto came to the
hatch of the Millenium Falcon.
"Luke, Captain Solo, the Princess and General Rieekan request your
presence to discuss the sabotaged X-Wings," he said, "Come with me."
"Luke, let me come with you," Kerri said, helping him to his feet.
"Luke and Han go with me," Koto said. "Not you."
"Well!" Kerri exclaimed. "I was the one who got him here!
Without me, you would have removed the life support and killed Luke
long ago!"
Koto walked slowly, matching his pace to Luke's halting steps.
They eventually came out into a cavernous chamber that had once housed
immense tanks of water. There, Luke, Leia, Han, Rieekan and some other
leaders of the Rebellion gathered.
As the meeting went on beneath the sands, Kerri slept in a bunk
aboard the Falcon. She was wakened by halting footsteps in the
corridor--Luke's footsteps.
"Luke?" Kerri called to him, sitting up.
"It's me, Kerri," Luke replied. His voice sounded tired. He
walked over to the bunk she lay on and sat on the edge.
Kerri sighed as Luke embraced her and his strong hands slipped
into her hair. His lips brushed lightly against hers.
"Will you come with me?" Luke asked her.
Kerri shivered at the feather-light touch of Luke's lips to her
own. "Of course," she replied.
As Luke led her out of the Falcon, Kerri abruptly realized that he
was no longer wearing the black shirt and pants he had earlier. Now,
he wore the flight suit of a Rebel pilot.
"Luke, where are we going?" Kerri asked.
"Come with me," Luke whispered, his face somber. The laughing boy
hero was mysteriously gone from his face.
Upon entering the cavernous chamber beneath Tatooine's sandy
surface, Luke left Kerri and went to stand between Leia and Wedge.
Kerri looked around, unsure of what was happening in the Rebel
Alliance.
Abruptly, Kerri's hands were grabbed by Han Solo. Han held her
back and prevented her from joining Luke.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kerri cried, struggling in the
Corellian's tight grip.
PART 5
"Kerryne Malinne, you stand accused of the murder of Merriman
Keernan and the attempted murders of Wedge Antilles and Lucas
Skywalker," Rieekan said.
"What?!" Kerri shouted, twisting her wrists in a desperate attempt
to free her hands from Han Solo's hold. "You're crazy! Why would I
try to kill my own boyfriend?"
"An accident," Luke said, his voice cold. "That was why you were
so concerned and didn't want me to fly. I might have gotten-did get-
one of your doctored X-Wings."
"Of course I was concerned!" Kerri shouted. "With a madman loose,
you were a natural target! You were the Hero of Yavin. And I was
right, they did go for you. But you didn't listen to me! If I would
have checked the X-Wing you were to have used, you might not have
crashed!"
"Of course not," Wedge growled. "You would have removed the
explosives from the hydraulic compressor and disabled the timer."
"You have no evidence to prove that I planted explosives there,"
Kerri spat. "Luke, how can you let this happen to me? I thought you
loved me!"
"Because all of the evidence, what little there is, points to
you," Luke said. "Several of the mechanics saw you working on the
hydraulic systems of the crashed fighters. And that is where the
traces of explosives were found."
"You have nothing to back that up," Kerri said, wrenching at Han's
hands. "It's all circumstantial. Why would I do this?"
"Your hatred of all pilots except for Luke is a well-known fact,"
Leia spoke now, cool and calm. "You had motive, materials, no alibi,
and were seen in the right place."
"We find you guilty," Rieekan said. "We cannot afford the loss of
pilots and equipment that you have caused in your private war. You
are sentenced to death for the murder of Merriman Keernan."
"How am I to die then?" Kerri asked.
"By blaster. We cannot afford to leave anything for the Imperials
to find and make use of," Rieekan said.
"Wait! May I speak?" Kerri shouted.
"Speak your piece," Leia said.
"My father was a pilot. He knew the lives of Imperial TIE pilots
are short, so he did as he pleased. He never was faithful to my
mother. He often forgot we existed. All he ever did was hurt us.
Until I met Luke, I had never met a pilot who was any different. They
deserved to die before they could hurt anyone they way my father hurt
me and my mother," Kerri said.
Luke turned toward her, tears welling in his blue eyes and hurt in
his gentle voice. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you loved me,
trusted me."
"I just couldn't..." Kerri said.
"Very well," Luke said icily, and turned away.
Han stepped before Kerri and levelled his blaster.
"Can I at least kiss Luke goodbye?" Kerri asked.
"That is up to Luke," Rieekan said.
Luke turned back toward his one-time girlfriend, his love dead in
his heart. He swallowed hard at the stricken look in her eyes. "I
will kiss the girl I once loved goobye. I will kiss the woman who
waited by my bed while I was ill, the one who believed in me. But this
monster, I will not. In memory of what you were to me, I will kiss
you, Kerri," he said.
Luke stepped into Kerri's arms, the twin trails of two tears
marking his face. Kerri pressed herself close, offering her lips for
a kiss. Luke pressed his warm lips to hers. His caramel-colored hair
tickled her face.
"Goodbye," Luke whispered. Kerri cried into the curve of his
neck.
"Commander, I suggest you move," Rieekan said. "Unless you wish
to join this traitor in death."
Luke shook his head almost imperceptibly and walked away from her.
PART 6
Luke watched sadly as Han squeezed the trigger. Kerri's slight
body flew backwards as time seemed to distort and slow for Luke. She
crumpled into a slight heap on the floor. Luke gazed at the body,
unable to comprehend how all his hopes had seemed to crumble in the
space of a few hours.
"I can't believe how much she managed to hide from me," Luke
whispered. "I thought I knew her..."
"We all did, kid," Han said. "We all thought we knew her, that
she'd finally be happy with you."
"How could I have been so wrong about her?" Luke asked. "Why
didn't I see all that hatred in her, right under the surface?"
"No one did, Commander," Rieekan spoke now. "She was not a
suspect until no others appeared. She was an expert at hiding."
"I just wish that there was something I could do," Luke said.
"Some way to remember the good she did and not the evil."
"There will be a marker placed at her grave here," Leia said.
"Would you like to write the inscription?"
Luke nodded. He picked up a stylus and a pad and began to write.
Leia instantly recognized the flowing curves and tendrils of
traditional Tatooin script rather than the Galactic Standard she had
always seen Luke use before. However, it did not surprise her that
Luke could write it.
Leia looked over Luke's shoulder. She had never learned to read
Tatooin script, so she was relieved when Luke began writing in
Standard instead.
'Here lies Kerryne Malinne. The first woman I truly loved.' the
basic script said.
"Would you get them to engrave this on the marker?" Luke asked,
handing the pad to Leia.
"Yes, I will," she whispered. "Go back to the Falcon and rest,
Luke."
Luke nodded and started walking slowly to the surface. He looked
up at the stars that sprinkled the night sky. Constellations
familiar to him from his childhood beamed down upon Luke. At any
moment, Luke almost expected to hear his uncle calling to him.
But deep inside, he was no longer the boy who had found adventure
risking his life in Beggar's Canyon. He had seen pain, seen worlds
destroyed. He had had his heart broken in the last few minutes.
His whole universe had changed.
Slowly, Luke turned toward the Millenium Falcon. It seemed safe
and homelike to him, and Luke realized that the Rebel Alliance was all
he had left. He had lost everything else.
Luke's hand closed about his father's lightsaber at his hip. He
had not lost everything. When he sat still and thought quietly, he
could feel the Force as Ben had taught him.
He walked aboard the battered Corellian freighter. The Falcon was
all the home he had now, and Han and Leia were all the family he had.
Slowly, Luke headed for a small cabin where he had bunked when working
with Han before. He fell asleep in his flight suit after managing to
remove his boots.
In dreams, Luke was on Yavin again, standing atop one of the
Massassi temples. A woman, beautiful with firey red hair and vibrant
green eyes, was in his arms. She kissed his lips gently, then backed
away from him.
"I will wait for you," she said. "You will know me when the time
comes."
A tear coursed down Luke's cheek as he awoke. It was more than a
dream, he knew. And when it was time, there would be a true love
waiting for him.
The next day, Kerri was quietly buried, with only Luke, Leia and
Han watching. A small stone marker was placed at the head of the
grave. The inscription that Luke had written in Tatooin and Standard
showed clearly in the early morning light.
After Leia and Han had left, Luke knelt at the marker. "Goodbye,
Kerri," he whispered. "I have to go, but I will remember what we had,
even though I may love again."
With those words echoing in the still Tatooine afternoon, Luke
walked away, back toward the Falcon and the Rebels. He never looked
back.