"All those fantastic stories your parents told", Finn said still bubbling with enthusiasm at what he had heard last night. "I can't believe that you are….I mean…"
Lara just smiled as they both hurried across the landing pads from her parent's living quarters to the domed control tower. Her mother had sent a message earlier that both she and her father would like Finn and herself to join them there this morning.
"Yeah", Lara said. "I am…..and it's really not such a big deal"
"Not a BIG DEAL-!", he said incredulously. "How can you possibly say that? Your parents are galactic heroes"
"I don't know", she replied as she shrugged. "I guess when you live it, it just doesn't seem out of the ordinary. They really are just normal people, Finn"
"Ok…ok", Finn agreed. "But still. I still can't believe I'm here"
Lara audibly chuckled this time at his excitement. She had to admit that is was endearing seeing his reaction to the tales her mother and father had told last night. Many of them she had heard before—The Kessel Run, Dad meeting Chewie for the first time, Threepio's origins on a desert planet called Tatooine along with the Battle of Scarif and the Rebellion's later victory against the Empire were just a few. There were some, however, that Lara surprisingly had never heard, including one detailing her mother's ghastly experience with a powerful Falleen crime lord named Prince Xizor.
Finn was awestruck during the entire evening, rarely saying a word yet soaking in all the stories like an enraptured boy. So much so that during the entire walk to their separate rooms before retiring for the night, all he could do was ask Lara over and over again about the people, places and events that he had just heard about. The early rise hadn't dampened his enthusiasm either as he seemed just as wide eyed now as the entrance at the base of the control tower came into view. So they wouldn't be any later than they already were, Lara motioned to him to pick up the pace.
As they broke into a slow jog, Finn said something that made her shudder as she had at a single awkward point last night.
"Admiral Solo mentioned your brother one time last night." He said. "I noticed the strange reaction that got. Why didn't anyone want to talk about him?"
Lara felt a flash of emotion run through her head. Before it could control her, though, she stopped jogging and faced Finn. As he, in turn, stopped and looked at her with a somewhat confused look on his face, she spoke to him.
"He's out there somewhere trying to find his place just like me, I guess", she said as her eyes dropped to the ground "We always were similar in many ways"
"I hadn't thought about him in a long time", she continued. "Haven't seen him in even longer and don't think either of my parents have either. I suppose we all feel a little guilty about that"
"All right", Finn replied, but clearly not satisfied with her somewhat of a non-answer. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dredge up bad feelings"
"Don't worry about it." Lara told him. "Now come on. Let's get to the control room. They're waiting on us"
"Miss Lara, how wonderful to see you again…", said the shiny golden protocol droid as he greeted Lara and Finn at the elevator doorway that provided access to the domed control room. "….and Mister Finn…I have heard much about you. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am C-3…"
"Threepio, Good to see you too, now can you tell my parents we are here?", Lara interrupted, pointing behind the droid towards the center of the massive control room.
"Oh….well….yes, Miss Lara.", C-3P0 stammered, seemingly thrown off by the girl's interruption. "I will show you to them right away. Please follow me."
Lara turned to an amused looking Finn and gave him a sly smile. He returned it and after a moment's pause they were following the shuffling droid as he led them to the center of the humongous room.
As they walked to meet Lara's family, she and Finn could see across the entire transparent glass domed area. The view out over the ocean shore they had glimpsed from the landing platform last evening was even more breathtaking from up here. A cloudless yellow orange sky buttressed up against the sharp horizon line in contrast to the blue water to create an almost mesmerizing scene in the distance. She was still dead tired but the stunning beauty of the early morning Nuldarra sunrise made her glad they had risen so early.
How many hours of sleep did I even get?, Lara thought. One, maybe two?
She was surprised she even fell asleep after the stories her mother and father told went deep into the night.
"Good morning you two.", Leia said as Lara and Finn arrived at the control room holoreceiver. "Did you get any rest?"
"Yes, ma'am.", Finn replied while nodding reverently. "Thank you once again for your hospitality."
"I think I got a little", Lara added.
"Probably more than me", Han chimed in. "I gotta tell you, reliving some of those memories got my old blood pumping a bit more than I'd like to admit. I couldn't fall asleep right away thinking about some of the close calls we had been in over the years."
A sharp bark from Chewbacca confirmed that he too enjoyed the stories last night of what his best friend referred to as the 'good old days'. Lara smiled and playfully punched the great Wookie on his tree trunk like thigh and before long he had her hoisted off the ground again in a loving hug.
"You will never change Chewie.", she remarked while bellowing out a loud laugh. "And I don't ever want you to."
He stroked Lara's long brown hair while setting her down and let out what sounded like an affectionate growl that caused everyone there, including an arriving Poe Dameron, to laugh in unison. BB-8 had also rolled up and joined the group. As Lara regained her footing, she knelt down to tap the little droid on the top of his dome, eliciting an excited series of beeps.
"So why did you want us to meet you here so early?", Lara asked as she stood up and turned her attention to Leia.
Leia exchanged a nervous glance with her husband before speaking. "We're scheduled to receive a holo-transmission to discuss an important issue facing the New Republic in the Outer Rim. I thought you might like to be included since you are here."
"We flew past a New Republic warship on the way to the surface, a big one.", Lara commented. "Is that related?"
"Yeah, it is.", Han disclosed. "Multiple planets out here have had their surfaces decimated by a small fleet of ships in the last few months. They've done a good job of leaving some sizable destruction in their wake and the brass on Coruscant is finally taking notice."
"They sent it out here because your mother volunteered us to help them gather some information", he continued as he shot a sly glance at Leia. "I'm leading a small force and Poe here will be running fighter escort for my capital ship."
"You didn't take much convincing.", The Princess shot back quickly. "And weren't you the one who was just talking about your blood pumping, old man?"
Han shrugged and rolled his eyes as if he was a teenager caught in a lie. Lara laughed to herself, yet again, at her mother's quick reply. It never got old watching her father walk right into her traps and pay for underestimating her wit.
"My guys should be running escort for the whole operation.", Poe Dameron inserted with more than a trace of irritation in his voice. "But these New Republic scrubs won't take orders from anyone, much less what they consider a bunch bush pilots from the Outer Rim."
"Relax, hotshot.", Han replied to his ace pilot.
"I wonder if this is the same group we ran into at Anoth?", Finn interjected.
"Anoth?", said Han. "Last I heard there was a small remnant of The Empire there, harmless really. The Republic basically lets them alone and they keep to themselves. When were you there?"
"More of the trouble you were running from, but forgot to mention?", Leia asked. Not only questioning but also scolding Lara.
"Yeah, just before we arrived here", Lara replied while nodding. "And 'WAS' is definitely the correct word, dad. But it's a story for another time."
A sour look appeared on Leia's face as if she was going to protest her daughter's deflection, but she was suddenly interrupted by an excited sounded C-3P0.
"Madame Leia-!", the golden droid exclaimed excitedly. "We are receiving an incoming transmission. The encryption codes match those used by Master Luke."
"Thank you Threepio.", acknowledged Leia. "Please have the transmission patched through to the main holopad."
"Of course", C-3P0 answered.
Master Luke!
Lara was taken aback by hearing these words. Any icy cold feeling formed in her stomach and started emanating outward until it threatened to freeze her in place. Is THIS why her mother wanted her to be here? To see and maybe have to communicate with the uncle she hadn't seen in years. If so, it was a dirty trick. The cold pit in her guts suddenly turned to fire as an anger welled up from somewhere deep, somewhere almost forgotten. Before she could react, she noticed her family moving away and the rage subsided a bit. With some effort Lara gathered her composure so as not to create a scene. She reluctantly followed her parents as they walked.
The entire assembled group moved to a large circular table in the center of the domed control room, each member gathering around it to face the center of the table itself as a holographic image began to shimmer into view on the table top. After a few seconds of transmission interference, the hologram started to sharpen into focus revealing a high definition color image of a man wearing a brown robe with his face obscured by a wide hood. Beside the man stood a squat cylindrical silver and blue astromech droid that looked like it was at least a hundred years old. The stunning images that had just winked into existence were also life sized, giving the illusion that the man and droid were actually standing on the table. Lara and Finn were temporarily taken aback by the lifelike clarity of the vision in front of them. They had never seen a hologram projection this gorgeous before.
The man raised his hands up to his hood and slowly lowered it. He had long brown hair with a similarly colored beard and both were speckled with gray revealing that he was most likely the same age and Leia Organa and Han Solo. His eyes were piercing green that showed an intensity about them but one could also see that there was a confident kindness in his gaze. A smile appeared on his face as he spoke.
"Hello Leia…Han", the man directed to Lara's parents.
"Luke", her mother replied as a warm and loving smile formed on her face. "It's so good to see you"
"You too, Leia", he replied in kind with a reciprocating smile.
"How you doing Kid.", interjected Han. "Still trying to welch on our bet, I see. You're not gonna be able to stay away forever, you know. I WILL eventually collect from you…WITH INTEREST."
Finn was even more flabbergasted at this exchange than he was yesterday upon meeting Lara's family. The hologram in front of him, talking to the group was one Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master and the pilot that destroyed the Death Star over thirty years ago in one of the most pivotal battles in Galactic History. Finn had read all about the history of the Great Rebellion against the Empire and knew this man's face before he even spoke.
Of course Skywalker would have known Lara's parents, Finn thought. Seeing all three of these heroic icons together, however, was beyond incredible and humbling. If earlier in his life someone had told him that he would be standing in their presence someday, Finn would have laughed right in that person's face. Nonetheless, here he was.
"Han, You KNOW that race was fixed.", Skywalker answered.
"Not my fault.", Solo shot back without missing a beat. "You should have waved your hand or read someone's mind or some other trick you could conjure."
The Jedi Master burst out laughing followed by a shake of the head showing exasperation with his longtime friend.
"Chewie?", Skywalker asked turning his attention to the Wookie. "Why haven't you slapped this guy out of his boots yet."
Chewbacca shrugged then roared with delight which in turn caused almost everyone else around the table to laugh in unison. Finn noticed, however, that Lara was not laughing or even smiling. Her furrowed brow and pursed lips made it actually look like she was angry with the conversation taking place in front of her. He was truly puzzled as to why she seemed disinterested in the playful banter going on between Skywalker and her family and he even tried to catch her attention but she ignored him and continued her steely gaze forward at the Jedi Master.
As if he could sense the cold hostile stare from wherever in the galaxy he was, Skywalker's image turned toward Lara and spoke.
"Hello Lara", he said with a newly formed serious look on his face. "I truly wasn't expecting to see you with your mother and father."
"It's been a long time, Master.", replied Lara curtly.
"I'm not your Master anymore, Lara.", he countered. "Although I wish that wasn't the case. You know that I'd do anything for you to come back."
No reply came from Lara. She continued standing as still as a sentry soldier with her arms folded in front of her, never once changing the irritated look on her face. The tension in the room was becoming palpable, causing Finn to become uncomfortable. He looked around and noticed that the smiles and grins had vanished from everyone else's faces also, replaced with the same concerned look he felt he was projecting. Just when he felt that he needed to say something to end this awful silence, it was thankfully broken by the Jedi's heretofore unmoving droid suddenly rocking in place and beeping frantically.
"I know Artoo.", Lara said to the droid allowing a small smile to appear.
The astromech continued to beep and whistle in response to the girl until C-3P0 interrupted.
"R2-D2, don't be rude. You haven't seen Miss Lara in years.", said the protocol droid
The robot immediately grunted in reply breaking the tension and producing a laugh from everyone.
"Lara", the Jedi spoke somberly. "The invitation to return to your training is an open one that still stands and always will. But I also know that only you can choose the correct path of your journey."
A slight look of annoyance still remained on her face as she replied but it had softened slightly. "I get it Mast-…I mean….Uncle Luke. And it IS good to see you are well.", she replied. "But I'm going to guess that you didn't make an encrypted transmission just to talk to me, right?"
"Actually, no", Skywalker stated. "I have felt the Dark Side of The Force multiple times in the last few months. Each time I have felt it, it has gotten stronger…closer to me somehow. I reached out to your mother through The Force and sensed that she was aware of it also. It compelled me to make contact."
"We're glad you did.", Han interjected. "The New Republic contacted us recently for some help and it sounds like what you were sensing was the result of some planetary attacks…heavy surface bombardments and damage not seen since the Empire's heyday."
The Jedi had no reaction to this information from his brother-in-law, his stoic face displaying nary a clue as to what was on his mind.
"You thinking you might be interested in giving us some help, Luke?", Solo continued. "We could really use it and I would feel much better having you on board if things get…well…overwhelming"
"There is a familiarity to this dark presence.", Luke announced solemnly, as if he hadn't heard a word Han had said. "It confuses me and gives me great pause at the same time."
"I have felt the same thing…and each time it was becoming clear, I lost focus.", Leia interjected, directing the comment at her brother, also seeming to be ignoring the words of her husband. "But I certainly don't have your power or wisdom, Luke."
Upon hearing this the Jedi Master raised a hand to his face, contemplatively stroking his grey speckled beard as if lost in deep thought. Watching his expression, Lara felt annoyance bordering on anger creeping back into her head. She remembered all the conflicting emotions she had experienced during her Jedi training with this man all those years ago. The lessons that seemed designed just to irritate and confuse swirled through her mind along with the pain and loss she experienced just before she left his stead. Lara was just about to interrupt by speaking out, when her uncle replied to both her parents.
"This is not something with which I can get involved right now.", he said with a what seemed like regret. "You both know that The New Republic leadership has made their position very clear on the future of the Jedi Order."
Leia nodded in understanding disappointment, but her husband was not quite ready to give in.
"Listen Luke…..", he began as a scowl formed on his weathered face. "We wouldn't be asking you if we didn't think it was absolutely necessary."
"I'm very sorry, Han.", The Jedi responded sternly. "I have a duty to my students…a duty to protect them."
"A DUTY-!", exploded from Lara's mouth. "You speak of a duty to your students? What about your supposed sacred Jedi duty to help all the living beings of this galaxy?"
"All the talk about the Living Force that you tried to sell me and you precious students on.", she continued, her volume and intensity rising with every word. "How wrong the Jedi of old were to neglect their greater duty. Now you won't help even your own FAMILY-?! What kind of champion, what kind of HERO are you?"
The Jedi master lowered his gaze with what looked like shame but quickly lifted it to meet Lara's eyes.
"Lara, please" He said softly. "Don't give in to this anger. It will…"
"STOP", she bellowed. "Just stop. I don't want another one of your lectures. My life has been just fine without them. You really should look inward and ask yourself the real reason why you won't act…the real reason you have lost students."
Her father tried to defuse the anger filled rant by placing his hand compassionately on Lara's shoulder but it only served to increase the agitation. She violently pulled away from him in reaction to the gesture before composing herself for one last verbal salvo towards Luke Skywalker.
"Maybe if you look deep enough, you will finally see what a coward you really are.", Lara exclaimed before turning away from the entire stunned group and running towards the exit of the command center, a surprised and exasperated Finn following close behind.
"Lara, where are you going?", her mother called. The girl, however, didn't look back or break stride. Within seconds both she and her new companion were gone, leaving just the elders gathered in solemn silence.
"Luke, you know she didn't mean that.", said Han, breaking the awkward tension that had permeated the room since Lara's outburst. "I'll talk to her. We still have a lot of catching up to do."
The Jedi Master continued to stand stoically as if meditating. They all knew what he had been through in his life but he never seemed to waver in his composure. Nothing seemed to bother or distract him even in the best or worst of times. This time, however, Leia could sense the conflict of something troubling her brother. She readied herself to speak when, as if anticipated, Luke turned and spoke directly to her.
"A wise young woman once said to me", Luke began. "He's got to follow his own path…nobody can choose it for him. Do you remember that?"
Leia smiled as she recalled those words leaving her lips so many years ago, when they were infinitely more young and naïve. Her mind travelled back to that fateful day on Yavin 4 when none of them were sure if they would live to see another. She felt her emotions stir deep inside remembering how they had come together as a group on that day…meeting her twin brother and the eventual love of her life for the first time in the most dire of circumstances.
"Lara has quite a lot of her father in her…", Luke continued with a sly smile crossing his lips as he swung to face his old friend. "….and HE turned out all right. She'll do the right thing Leia. She always has."
Han's puzzled face turned to amusement as he recognized the meaning of Luke's quote and just as quickly transformed to a look of pride…pride in his family and the multitude of accomplishments of his friends gathered here
He spoke and simultaneously so did his wife, uttering the same simple statement.
"I know."
