Hi! This one was quicker. At least it's still the weekend. Since I wanted to have something out before Monday, this one, as well, is short, albeit a bit longer than the previous one (and by 'a bit', I mean about 100 words). So, hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon. I personally can't wait.
Disclaimer: I'm not George Lucas. If I were, I suppose that this would be canon. But, given the site that it's on, I'm gonna let you guys assume what you will. I don't own Star Wars.
Chapter Ten:
She began to tell her story.
The important parts, at least. Most of them.
She explained her predicament—a schoolgirl merely wishing to return home. That had surprised Luke—("You're only seventeen?")—who then stared at her as though she were an alien. Which, technically, she was, depending on how you viewed 'aliens'.
Holly's next statement was rather embarrassing to admit: "Everything was fine until I ran into the pole," she said. It wasn't as though she had actually seen the pole, however, and told them so.
"You didn't see this 'pole' at all?" he asked, disbelief marinating his voice.
"No," she answered. "It was like….well, like an invisible wall, I think. Actually, I have no idea whether it even was a pole—as I said, I didn't see it." Holly was quite surprised that she made it this far in her explanations; the way things had been going, she would have expected to cower away from this, as well.
That threw him into a deep bout of concentration, yet he waved an arm impatiently, urging her to continue. And so she did, recounting the occurrences immediately after her unfortunate collision with the….thing, not really leaving much out, except for the fact that she could hardly think coherently at the time, and the fact that she only recognized 3PO and R2 from pictures. In fact, she neglected to mention anything about any prior knowledge of the droids at all.
When Holly mentioned the vast expanse of nothing but sand, set upon the planet in rolling hills, a look of recognition swept across both of their faces. "Ah, you must have passed through—" began Obi-Wan, though he was cut off.
"That must've been the Dune Sea!" said Luke excitedly, not noticing that he interrupted Obi-Wan. Holly noticed the annoyed look the older man sent to the boy, but Luke certainly didn't. He just seemed to excited to have recognized the place. Did he want to know what happened that badly?
"I knew it!" Holly exclaimed. "I could have sworn it was Dune! Well, it isn't exactly, but you can give me some credit…." She trailed off, not exactly seeing the point in anything she was saying, her face flushing with embarrassment. "Um, never mind. Anyway, we just kept walking…."
In her nervousness to finish her story, Holly stumbled over a few of her words. It was undignified when she tried to cover it up, and as her voice became shaky with worry that they wouldn't the believe her story—which was, for once, the only truth she could honestly tell—she chose to stand and pace around the room.
She braced herself for the next part, which proved to be, by far, the most difficult, the part they could already guess, if everything else she had said was to be taken to heart. Shooting a silent plea to Obi-Wan, begging that she didn't actually have to say this part, his expression urged her to speak.
Taking a deep breath, she recited what she had told 3PO. Most of this Luke and Obi-Wan had already known; Luke knew it because she had used it as an alibi, R2 and 3PO for the same reason. Obi-Wan knew because….well, he just did. That was his thing, knowing before you told him.
She pointedly did not look at her new friends….acquaintances….things, fearing the look of disappointment would undoubtedly be written in their eyes and expressions. Were they really her friends? She had known them for, at most, three days; who was she to address them thus? Either way, what did it matter? There were larger plights at hand than who her friends were.
The problem was, would they believe her? Holly's heart had lodged itself in her throat and she was sure her eyes were wide with panic. She hadn't every been an expert at hiding her emotions, mainly because she had never needed to.
Just another thing to prove how woefully unprepared she was.
"You panicked," clarified Luke, and incredulous look plastered onto his face, "and it was easier to make up all of that stuff than to just say what happened?" The skepticism in his voice left no doubt to the fact that he didn't believe her, Holly thought.
"I—yeah, I panicked. But I didn't make all of that up." She could tell that Luke was about to fire off another question, but she quickly silenced him by continuing in a ramble-y jumble of nervous words. "Back home, there was an extensive story….all about different people, doing heroic deeds and saving the day—I'd loved it. It was basically my childhood. I guess it was easier to fall back on something I had always known than to actually tell the truth." She still did not look at them.
"Why?" Oh, wasn't it obvious?
"Well—must I really explain it?" she sighed in exasperation. "I'm dismally unfamiliar with all of this, that much is painfully obvious. But where I come from, telling random strangers vulnerable, possibly compromising personal information is unsafe," she explained, as if trying to drill it into them, to force them to believe her. "And, of course, I had no idea at the time that I wasn't in some desert on Earth and that this wasn't just some sick joke. 3PO and R2, they looked like something from science fiction. So why not spew something equally unbelievable?"
"You'd seen droids of this type before?" Obi-Wan pressed.
"No," she said. "Never. Nothing of the sort exists where I'm from. The closest thing to it is speculation about the future…run by robots and such. I'd never personally seen droids before in my life." True enough.
She finally looked up at them, secretly dreading the mistrust and disappointment that would undoubtedly mar their expressions. But she didn't see anything of the sort.
They seemed understanding enough. 3PO, who Holly had been most worried about, only said, "Your other story wasn't particularly believable. I was just humoring you." He made sound as though he were praising himself, which made her laugh. She'd been so stressed that 3PO, her first—and possibly only—true friend here, would become uncharacteristically angry that she lied. It seemed that she did not know him quite as well as she thought.
Obi-Wan just nodded sagely. He stroked his beard absentmindedly, eyes narrowed as he looked at her, but somehow past her at the same time. Holly was familiar with this look; she had given it to Clare many times when she was pretending to listen to her Star Wars rants. Why couldn't she have listened? It would save her so much trouble.
Luke, however….his head hung down, hair falling in front of his eyes so she couldn't see his expression. "So….so Uncle Owen was right?"
"In part," she said, still wary of how he would react. "I wasn't a captain. I'm really sorry about lying; I just had….absolutely no idea what to say. I didn't want to tell anyone who I was. Paranoia for you. But I'm no thief."
She told them everything short of the most important aspect of the journey. She told them everything short of why she didn't automatically dismiss this as a dream. She told them everything short of why she thought 3PO was a creepy Cosplayer and why she thought that she had been abducted and dumped into the Sahara or Mojave.
Holly did not say anything about Star Wars itself, existing as some movie series; she'd end up saying the wrong thing. She'd end up mentioning Darth Vader, and it would turn out that Luke isn't his son, that this was another Luke. He would get mad at her and kill her for suggesting such a thing. Or, Chewie would hear how much Holly knew about Harrison Ford, but how little she knew about Han Solo, and he'd pull her arms out of her sockets.
Or something like that.
She was overreacting and she knew it. There was no real reason not to tell them about the movies, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Something made her bite her tongue involuntarily and stopped her from uttering a single word about the films, as if an entirely different person were forcing her into silence.
Finally, they were through. It had taken a long time, but she finally told them everything that she physically could about her predicament. She turned to Obi-Wan. "So, what is your verdict? Has your Gandalf mind come up with a reason for why I'm here?"
She waited in eager anticipation for his answer. However, what his reply was less than satisfactory: "I'm going to need some time to think about it."
Holly was obviously crestfallen. "That doesn't mean I won't find an answer," Obi-Wan added. "Just give me some time."
Holly looked away. "All right," she agreed reluctantly. She turned to her golden robotic friend, an apologetic look on her face. "Are you mad at me?"
She knew that 3PO would tell the truth. "Of course not, ma'am," he said. "It's perfectly understandable. Besides, you were not very convincing." R2 beeped beside him. "Oh, quiet, R2; never for a second did I think she was really a captain. I did not!"
She had to smirk at that. Holly loved the dynamic between the two droids.
Turning to Luke, she asked again albeit more cautiously, "Are you mad at me? Mad that I lied and caused a lot of trouble?"
Luke looked up, and she found his blue gaze unreadable until he gave a sort of half-smile and chuckled. "You didn't cause me any trouble," he said, as if it were apparent. "If anything, the worst of it was when Aunt Beru got mad at Uncle Owen for sending you away."
Holly cocked her head to the side, completely lost for words. After a moment, she decided upon: "Err….sorry." She didn't want any of the earlier awkwardness that ensued when Luke first brought up his aunt and uncle; that had been downright uncomfortable. She looked down at her hands, suddenly very interested in them.
Why wasn't talking to Luke as easy as talking to Han?
42.
"Hi," Holly said. She was still looking at her hands, but this time, there was something to look at. Xenon crawled there, spry as ever, as if he hadn't just heard her basically confess her weird life story. Three-day story, whatever.
Maybe he just didn't care. She couldn't see why he would; after all, he was only a droid. What easy lives droids must lead. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
Xenon clicked a few times, pressing against her palm and reminded Holly the way a cat would brush against one's leg. "Guess not, then. I'm just glad that you finally found your way away from that bug-hogging Wookiee."
Chewie growled good-naturedly, being well within earshot. They were all gathered around the table, after all; Holly had lost interest in the game of hologram chess that Chewie and the droids were playing, choosing instead to play with Xenon. She hadn't had much time since they boarded to be with her little droid.
"Oh, it's fine," Holly sighed. "Honestly, I'm just glad neither of you are trying to kill me." "Are you not afraid that we may try to harm you?" 3PO asked. R2 beeped beside him.
"Who would be afraid of you?" Holly chuckled. "When I met you, I could stroll faster than you could run."
"I'll have you know that we can both be rather antagonistic."
Holly looked at him, and his perpetually expressionless face just stared back at her as if he thought that he wasn't blatantly lying. "Ah, yes, I'm practically shaking with fright."
"I don't think she believes us, R2," 3PO turned to his shorter friend, who beeped in agreement, adding something else at the end that she couldn't discern. "Oh, of course I can, R2! You're not the only one capable of handling enemies."
"You just let yourself believe that," Holly smirked. Then she patted the slightly distressed droid on the shoulder. "Don't worry, 3PO. Even if you can't defend yourself, you'll come to no harm with me by your side!" she raised a fist as if in triumph.
"Yeah," mocked Luke from the middle of the room, where he was practicing with his lightsaber. "And what can you do that he can't?"
Holly scoffed at the personal affront. "I'll have you know, Blondie," she said, pointing a hopefully threatening finger at him, though its effect (if it had one) was diminished by the smile on her face, "that I can pack a pretty mean punch."
"Of course you can," he replied sarcastically. "Just as long as you have spiked gloves and your opponent isn't struggling. Actually, as long as your opponent is already on the ground."
"Ha, ha," she said, turning back to her droid friends. She leaned over the table and whispered in a voice perfectly audible to the entire room, "He's just jealous that I've got an army of droids by my side and he doesn't." It was an army of three droids, but an army nonetheless.
"So you admit that we're worth something in a fight," Luke pointed out. It wasn't really helping his claim, but it was refuting hers.
"Oh, hush it," she waved her hand. Holly didn't see his borderline gloating smirk, but she was certain it was there.
42.
"Are you alright?"
Upon hearing Luke's concerned tone, Holly rotated in her seat. She had taken to completely ignoring the 'Force Lessons' being given to Luke by Obi-Wan and became immersed in playing with Xenon; as of yet, she had not been given irrefutable proof (or any proof at all, for that matter) that the 'Force' existed. So far, all Luke was doing was waving his lightsaber around.
Obi-Wan sat down as if in fatigue as Luke crossed the room to him. The wizened man leaned over and Luke placed a steadying hand on his elbow as Holly rushed over as well. "What happened?" she demanded in a worried voice.
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force," he said. The only thing that kept Holly from scoffing was the obviously venerable state Obi-Wan had been rendered in. "As if millions of voices cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced." He looked away, eyes wide with his own fright. "I fear something terrible has happened."
Obi-Wan suggested that Luke continue with his rather unimpressive swinging of a lightsaber as he rested his forehead on his hand. Holly thought that Luke complied only to give the old man some space.
"Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs," they all heard Han state as he strode down the corridor and turned a corner into the central room. It was odd to think of him by his first name instead of 'Solo', but it was slightly more natural. "I told you I'd outrun 'em."
The pilot sat in a chair besides Obi-Wan and herself, the side of whom she had not left. She was quite afraid that some dire fate would soon await him; he was particularly susceptible to death by the hand (or perhaps pen) of the writer, she mused, being the mentor character and all.
Luke, on the other hand, was standing in the center of the room, being the one who wielded the lightsaber. It was glowing bright blue, flooding his face in light that mirrored his eyes. Holly was sure to keep far away from the instrument of destruction, not thinking that Luke would purposely harm her but assuming that he wasn't the best at fighting with such a weapon just yet.
If only to add to the perplexing atmosphere of, well, everything, a small grey sphere floated in midair. It hovered around the former farm boy, and Holly took a frightened step back as she saw it shoot a blast of red energy at him.
He blocked it with the saber, thankfully, but not even his eyes were calm as he did so; Holly could tell that he was scared, perhaps more frightened than she had been. After all, he was the one being shot at.
"Don't everybody thank me at once," grumbled Han as he watched Luke's lightsaber practice. He didn't seem to notice Obi-Wan's distress. "Anyway, we should be at Alderaan at about oh-two-hundred hours." Ugh. Military time.
"What the—why is that thing shooting at you?" Holly demanded of Luke, a shocked expression on her face. She wasn't angry at him—no, more accurately, she was worried: worried about the safety of the ship, housing both a lightsaber and the blasts, and the safety of Luke himself. She kept her distance, however, as he continued to dodge the blasts.
"Practicing," Luke said through clenched teeth, holding the saber steady before him, waiting for the next shot to be fired. "You heard Ben say that I have to practice with this, and apparently, getting shot at is the best way to go about doing it." He gritted out the words as he concentrated on not getting killed.
"It won't harm you," commented Obi-Wan from the side, head still resting against his hand. Holly wondered what was wrong, but he continued before she could ask. "The most they can do is sting you."
The two younger passengers nodded, Luke resuming his training and Holly turning back to Obi-Wan. "Um, sir?" she asked, getting his attention. "I don't quite get what happened, a minute ago. Are you suggesting telepathy of some sort, something that would let you hear when others were in terror?"
He looked over at her for a moment as if he were talking with her without speaking. It was a unique look that only those most experienced can master, one that required years, of toil behind them. Holly would have normally flinched under a gaze akin to this one, but somehow, the way that Obi-Wan delivered it never quite seemed hostile. "Do you not feel it?"
She tried to feel it. Honestly, she did. Holly came up with nothing. "I'm afraid not. At least, I don't think so. Nothing abnormal. What was I supposed to feel?"
Obi-Wan was quiet for a moment. "It was something I felt it through the Force. Much like an immense wave of fright—many voices, many thoughts of imminent doom, calling out through the Force, begging for help. It comes from far away, many agonizing screams—something terrible has happened."
Holly stood very still, eyes wide. "That means that they died?"
Obi-Wan nodded gravely.
"Was it like….like you were personally feeling something, but it wasn't your emotion?" she asked cautiously. She didn't want to be seen as a fool, bringing up what she felt—or, at least, thought she had felt—when she had that bout of empathy (or whatever it was) from Luke.
"You know of this feeling?"
Holly nodded slowly, unsure. "I felt it a couple of times—well, once, really, a bit earlier, before we left Tatooine, but it was so….different," she said, suddenly sheepish. If it turned out that she wasn't really feeling any empathy of any type—which it probably would—it would be rather embarrassing. "I mean, it wasn't anything like what….what happened to you, obviously. But it was an emotion that wasn't my own, though I still felt it."
He nodded in a way that suggested he wasn't really nodding an 'affirmative', but rather simply showing that he heard her. His eyes were downcast and his hand was still on his forehead, but Holly could tell that he was deep in thought, mulling over this information.
Holly knew that she could tell him the simple answer: she felt sorry for someone. It hadn't happened before, she mused, because there wasn't anyone in her life for whom she should feel sorry; that's why she only felt it when she spoke to Luke—Holly must have seen something in his face that changed her emotions.
Yes, that must have been it.
"Sir?" she asked. She expected a verbal acknowledgement by now, but he didn't respond. "Obi-Wan, sir?" Holly repeated more forcefully.
"Oh, yes," he said, looking up now, as if just waking up. "This is….this is confusing, indeed…." He trailed off.
"Have you thought of….of any reason why, you know, why I'm here?"
"I've not," he said. "Yours is certainly a…." he hesitated, thinking for the proper word, "unique tale. All I can say is….it is undoubtedly tangled with the Force…." he began to trail off again, "much more than I'd expected."
The Force? What she and Han had spoken of earlier was ridiculous. It was the sort of thing that people back home would be divided into two groups on: those who swore their lives to believing that it and everything about it controlled them and everything about them, and those who swore their lives to believing that it and everything about it was complete basket weaving, beetle tracking, occupational therapy for morons. Like destiny, or Murphey's Law.
The thing was, Holly didn't believe in destiny, but she did believe in Murphey. Maybe those had been bad examples.
Not wanting to offend him and his weird strange magic, Holly remained silent.
"Let him have it," she heard from Han beside her, addressing the droids and Chewie and bringing another conversation to her consciousness. "It's not wise to upset a Wookiee."
"But sir," 3PO argued. "Nobody worries about upsetting a droid."
"That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose," Han explained in a tone that suggested incredulity. "Wookiees are known to do that."
3PO looked from Chewie, who put his arms behind his head in a very smug (and very Han-like) manner, to R2, who just beeped lightly. "I see your point, sir," he conceded. "I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win."
Holly chuckled. There was something about 3PO that should have annoyed her, but didn't; usually, she despised people who flaunted their ego, nurturing it until it grew legs and ran them over. That was why she didn't like Han Solo when she first met him; she thought that his existence was one over-inflated ego. 3PO had an absurd ego, true, but rather than being annoyingly abrasive in advertising this fact, he was just amusing. Maybe it was because everybody knew that nobody believed him.
The methodical humming of Luke's lightsaber had all but escaped her notice. Having grown used to the sound, Holly found it oddly soothing, and because it didn't distract her from thinking, that was exactly what she found herself doing.
What was all of this about? Not the lightsaber's noise, no, nor the humorously egotistical droid. On Obi-Wan her thoughts dwelt, for she knew that he, and only he, could actually give her some answers. Her first impression of Obi-Wan was that he was a sagely old guy, which most people probably thought when they saw him. He was the one with the answers; it was his role. She knew that this was a story, and if this adventure actually went along with, well, the story, Holly was pretty familiar with the roles that people played. Being the only old guy here, Obi-Wan must be the cryptic guide.
She couldn't imagine that Luke would know anything. She wasn't stupid; she could gather from what he told her and what little she knew of his personality that the way he acted was highly implicative of relative ignorance (relative because, only to Obi-Wan was he ignorant—to Holly, he was like Sherlock Holmes with how much he knew). Yet everything seemed to be about him—other than the movies, of course; he's the main character, obviously.
But everything else—everywhere she's been had led to him. In the desert—Dune Sea or whatever it was—she had met the droids, of course, and the Jawas, but the first humans she met were Luke and his late uncle. Then, Luke send her to Mos Eisley; where, again, she ended up crossing paths with him. And now, Obi-Wan and his band of merry men, droids, Wookiee, and teenage girl were on a quest with the main character.
But beyond that—Holly's 'empathy', as she had taken to calling it, was something that she felt when he, specifically, was doleful, mourning the loss of his family. It had been an enlightening moment for her—her friends (correction, her one friend) had not suffered through the deaths of their parents or parental figures, and she had not been close to anyone who was particularly depressed. Thus, she had never really been empathetic for anything more malignant than a common cold or stubbed toe—it was like a lesson learned, another experience gained.
So why had it been so unpleasant? Was empathy always so pitiful?
"Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him," Obi-Wan, by now recovered, said to Luke, the sudden statement pulling Holly out of her reverie as she glanced towards Luke, who was still doing the exercises.
"You mean it controls your actions?" he asked, still staring at the glowing robot in front of him with wide, tracking its every move.
"Partially," he affirmed, "but it also obeys your commands."
That didn't make much sense at all to Holly, but she had learned long ago not to argue much with those who pledged their lives to some weird religious following, which the 'Force' seemed to be. But how could something control you, yet at the same time obey what you say?
Conversation seemed to be a distraction to Luke, and the droid found his weakness, taking this opportunity to send a red bolt of energy shooting towards him. Luke jerked away as it hit his side, and Han laughed at his expense.
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are hardly a match for a good blaster at your side, kid," he chuckled.
Holly nodded, agreeing. However, she did think that the lightsabers were cool, even if the people who used them were crazy….
"You don't believe in the Force, do you?"
It sounded more like a statement than a question. "I've flown from one end of this galaxy to another; I've seen a lot of strange stuff. But I've never seen anything to make be believe there's some all-powerful force controlling everything," he explained. Since Holly already knew this, she only found herself wondering what 'strange stuff' Han had seen in his travels. "There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny," he added pompously, as if he were at least entertaining the notion that the Force existed, but he was an exception to its universal monopoly. "It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense."
"Even if it does exist," Holly began, "how would it exist in the universe? It doesn't seem like any form of matter, if it's everywhere. And if it's somehow dark matter, or anti-matter, how do people harness it?" she scoffed, shaking her head. "It's a physical impossibility."
Obi-Wan begun to stand. "I suggest you try it again, Luke," said he, turning to pull a helmet off of a hook on the wall. "This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct." He placed the helmet on Luke's head, as if only to prove them wrong.
"With the blast shield down, I can't even see!" Luke complained. "How am I supposed to fight?" His tone suggested that Obi-Wan were crazy, which he probably was.
"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them." That's a death sentence.
"Just remember," Holly added, imitating Obi-Wan's lecturing tone. "There is no spoon." She smirked at the reference that no-one but herself would understand and appreciate.
Han made an amusingly confused face, which Luke accompanied with a confused noise. But he activated his lightsaber anyway, preparing to prove Han and Holly incorrect. As if to prove their point, the first bolt hit him square in the shoulder.
"Amendment," Holly said. "How about: 'There is no blaster'?" They ignored her again, understandably.
"Stretch out with your feelings," Obi-Wan urged.
This time, Luke held himself more carefully, yet at the same time, less so. The next three shots—all fired in quick, heart-wracking succession—were blocked by Luke's glowing blade. Holly stared, wide eyed, at him as he took off the helmet.
"See? You can do it," Obi-Wan smiled.
"I call it luck," Han dismissed.
"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," he countered.
"Well, what of calculation?" Holly asked, serious for once. "It's a droid, a machine. It's programmed, and must run off of patterns. Even though it's unlikely, Luke may have just found the glitch in the system and known where it would fire the shots. A pattern." Maybe she should cool down with the references. They were getting old, even to her.
"Look, good against remotes is one thing," Han backed her up. "Good against the living, that's something else." He locked eyes with Holly, as if confirming their truce. She understood it, nodding; they were going to gang up, fight the forces of….the Force, and conquer the galaxy with logical reasoning.
Okay, maybe not, but at least they could be the two with common sense.
A beeping alerted them to a new development. "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," Han said, striding out of the room with Chewie in tow, preparing to land or…whatever. Holly felt a rush of excitement at the prospect of finally going to a different alien planet—she'd been to Dune, so what's next? Caladan? Magrathea?
"You know, I did feel something," Luke said with confidence. "I could almost see the remote."
"That's good," Obi-Wan clapped him on the shoulder. "You've taken your first step into a larger world."
The two of them began to follow Han down the corridor. Holly hung back, standing and crossing her arms as she considered what they would see when they went to the cockpit, for that was the undoubtable destination. She didn't realize that Luke had halted, as well, until he spoke up.
"You know, Holly," he said, approaching her. "You're really….unusual."
"Is that really news to anyone?" she asked rhetorically. "I tell you my true story, and only now you deem me weird?"
"No!" he objected. "No, I mean….not weird, really, just….different. You know, how everything about you is just so, well, surreal."
"You're traveling with a guy who believes that dark matter tells him what to do—but only once he orders it to—and you call me surreal?" Her tone wasn't harsh; if anything, it was playful, incredulous. What was Luke getting at?
"Look, I honestly can't understand how you, of all people, don't believe in the Force," he pointed out. "You're obviously surrounded by it! How else could you even be here if not for the Force?"
"God?" she suggested. He fixed her with a pointed stare. "Hey, it's just as plausible—no, even more plausible than any of your theories."
"Then why are you depending on Ben for answers, if he's just a guy who believes in the Force?" he mocked, though it wasn't quite scornful. Holly didn't respond; he had her at a loss for words. "Okay, how about this," he proposed. "I'll prove to you the Force is real."
"Oh, yeah?" she asked. "Try all you want. You can't even prove God; he exists out of faith. Doesn't the Force do that also?"
"No, it's fact," he pressed. "Really, once I've learned enough from Ben, I'll show you, beyond all doubt, that the Force is real." He could tell she wasn't buying it. "I bet—I bet there's even a way that the Force could get you home."
She gave him a withering look. 'Home' wasn't something to just joke about, as he must have been doing now. This was a joke, right?
"No, seriously. You'll know exactly why you're hear, exactly how you got here, and how to return," he continued. "I'll get the answers for you, if you won't look for them. You can count on it." His face was completely humorless, earnest. "Trust me?"
"No," she said, starting for the corridor. "But have at it—I'll still wake up, back at home, and this'll all be a dream, but if you're so certain that you can solve all my problems by trusting the Force, well….who am I to stop you?"
"I'll get you answers," he repeated. "I swear."
Holly shook her head, a soft, amused smile on her face—it surprised her at how simply hopeful Luke sounded, as if it actually mattered to him what came of her. His confidence in the Force was, as well, shocking—from what she understood, he didn't know much of it himself, yet that he believed it wholeheartedly was something astounding. Holly lacked his faith, but he seemed to think that he could prove her wrong.
Honestly, she'd like to see him try.
And then she remembered—oh, how could she forget? This was Darth Vader's son. She knew that this couldn't be good. But….there was nothing, nothing about Luke to suggest that he was inherently evil or anything. He seemed nice enough, until he decided to insult some random piece of fully functional machinery, that is.
Though….Luke hadn't been raised by Vader. Maybe he didn't learn to be evil from his father; his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had raised him, maybe just so Darth Vader wouldn't have to.
Luke wasn't evil. She could tell; in stories (at least, stories like this) the main character, the good guy who saved the say, wasn't evil. He just wasn't. They never had that trademark 'bad guy' sort of look—they were nice, dependable, heroic. They were brave.
Luke seemed to be all of those. No, Holly decided. Luke Skywalker didn't take after his father at all.
Or maybe he was just a late bloomer.
42.
So! She's told them. They know about her unexpected journey. (Some of it, at least.) Only time will tell what Obi-Wan makes of it... And, I just thought I should note that, although Han wasn't in the room when she explained what happened, he still overheard. (The cockpit can't be that far away from the other room.)
Time Lady Tinkerbell: I actually had to ask my anime-guru friend what that means, and once he told me, I completely understood why you'd think that with Han. I always pictured him as the sort to take some getting used to. And, yes, she's really confused about Luke and his Dad-it may just cause her trouble in the future. I guess only the author knows, right? Thanks for your review, as always, and I hope you liked this chapter too!
Brievel: I'm so glad that you reviewed every chapter. It made me smile when I remembered what I had typed to warrant all those reactions...I'm glad you're finding a lot of amusement from the story. And, yeah, Holly's impulsive; if she weren't, you'd be reading about her sitting on a dune in the desert. Not too exciting.
Guest: Aw, thanks. And, yeah, I love murder mysteries. I'm not often right, but trying to find out whodunit is fun.
Himeno Kazehito: Don't worry, it'll get there. I just wanted to waste time establishing a friendly-ish relationship first before getting to the romance, but I'll get to it either at the end of this movie or the very beginning of the next. I just hope I don't botch it :) But it's nice to know what my readers want to see.
Oh, yeah, and I went back and changed all of those misspelled names and other typos I've been alerted of. If you see any others, please tell me!
Thanks to all who followed, favorited, and reviewed!