Based on the comic of Luke vs Boba fighting in Obi-Wan's hut. WILL NOT INCLUDE THE SMUGGLERS MOON SINCE THE CONTINUITY IS OUT OF WACK BY PUTTING THIS PART SO LATE IN THE STORY. I'm not well-versed with the comics, so I hadn't even known about what happened with Nar Shadaa, meaning it isn't part of this story at all.
I wanna say a quick thanks to the reviewer who told me about this comic: TheOkWriter. Thank you!
Also:
Kaia - I am not planning on a filler chapter from Boba's POV but am hopefully planning on addressing what he was going through when I start writing the chapters for Empire Strikes Back. I do not have a concrete plan yet though as I am tossing around various ideas and paths to go down.
Reika88 - I'm so glad you mentioned it because I hadn't heard or even known about that song yet, but now I love it!
2 ABY
A few months had passed since the small band of rebels had met with Boba Fett. They had reported back to Rebel Command with what little news they had been able to ascertain, namely that their supply routes were compromised by the efforts of the Empire. The routes had to be changed and the fleet was moved. Construction had started on a new base on the remote ice world of Hoth, but the fleet wasn't stationed there quite yet if it ever would be. Kal and Luke had continued with Jedi training, mainly focusing on the saber forms since he still had a poor grasp on being able to use the Force.
A small ship was fully equipped and ready to go for the last minute trip away from the Rebel Fleet. It had just been sanctioned and was so last minute, Luke hadn't even been told. Kal marched through the command ship, trying to find the blond farmboy. She had been struck with an idea the previous night on how to help Luke connect with the Force and use it. He hadn't had any luck with her trying to teach him, so perhaps an actual master might get through to him? Her father had many artifacts and books and holorecordings in his hut. They just had to go fetch them.
She found Luke in one of the ship hangar bays with a few other pilots, namely Wedge, Hobbie, and newer recruits Kesin Ommis, Tycho Celchu, and Dak Ralter. Like Wedge and Hobbie, Tycho had defected from the Imperial Navy. Dak had been born in an Imperial labor colony. The only thing distinctly known about Kesin was his hailing from Coruscant. Together, they made up Rogue Group, with Luke being Rogue Leader and a newly appointed Captain. The only one missing seemed to be Wes Janson.
The first one to spot Kal heading towards them was Wedge. "Hey, hunter!" he called out, waving his arm with a large smile on his face. One by one, each of the other pilots turned their heads towards the woman who had captured the attention of some of Rogue Squadron's leaders. It wasn't every day that someone could manage to hook Skywalker, Antilles, and Klivian, albeit for different reasons.
"To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence, gorgeous?" Hobbie asked with a cheeky grin.
Kal rolled her eyes. "I'm kidnapping your almighty leader. C'mon, farmboy." She waved her hand and jerked her head to signal Luke to follow her.
"Where are we going?" Luke asked as he started to follow her away from the other pilots.
"On a field trip."
"How does it feel to be replaced?" Wedge asked Hobbie as the group watched their two friends walk away.
Hobbie shook his head, strands of his blond hair falling out of place. "I haven't been replaced yet."
"You're just saying that, but I bet you haven't gotten your dick wet in a while."
Tycho, Dak, and Kesin glanced between each other, mildly confused at the exchange, yet none of them said anything. It wasn't a secret on the ship that Hobbie and Kal were sleeping together. They simply hadn't noticed the woman's growing affection for the hero of the rebellion that Wedge had seen since they had no more than a handful of conversations with her around.
The small transport reminded Kal of the Phantom, just a little bigger. Gray beeped excitedly from where he rested on the back of the pilot chair as he spotted his master enter the ship. "Hey, buddy." Kal then started up the ship as Luke sat next to her in the co-pilot seat.
"Are you going to tell me where we're going or do I need to guess?" Luke asked. "Did Command clear this? How long are we gonna be gone? Is this for training?"
Smirking at his constant questions, Kal didn't answer him, instead flying the ship out of the hangar bay and programming the navi-computer with the coordinates to Tatooine. Once set, the ship entered hyperspace. "It'll be a few hours, blondie. I suggest you rest up," Kal told him, standing from the pilot seat and laying down on one of the benches. She used her arm as a pillow as she stretched out her legs and stared up at the ceiling of the ship.
"You're not going to tell me anything?" The disappointment was clear as day in his voice.
"Training can wait for when we get there. Relax for now. You've earned it, Mr. Rebellion Hero." She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.
Luke scoffed at the nickname. No one had said it to his face, but he heard it whispered occasionally. He didn't feel like a hero. Luke was at least glad Kal said it jokingly rather than sincerely.
After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Luke decided to lay down on the bench opposite of Kal. Except instead of closing his eyes, he found himself studying Kal from the corner of his eye. Like when meditating, her body had released all of its tension. He tried to do the same thing but could never succeed. The Force continued to be an enigma to him. Just like her.
The way Kal acted with him was usually different compared to how she acted with Han or with Wedge or Sabine or Hobbie or Leia. Right when Luke believed he figured her out, she would say or do something that baffled him. Respectful and strategic with Leia. Rude sarcasm with Han. Flirty with Hobbie. Playful with Sabine. Fun-loving and joking with Wedge. But Luke? Patient and stern. Sometimes with a dash of teasing if she was in a good mood. Because of her ever-changing face, he never knew how to act around her nor what to say. It had only gotten more difficult with the falling out between her and Fett, not like she had spoken about it since. They were all keeping an eye on her because of it though.
Luke saw her open her eyes slowly and stare at the ceiling once more. He then took the chance to start a conversation. "How-how are you and Hobbie?" he inquired. He tried his hardest to sound nonchalant and relaxed, but to Kal he came across as nervous, as per usual.
Kal raised an eyebrow but continued looking at the ceiling. "Um, we're fine, I guess."
"That's good. Good."
Does he actually think Hobbie and I are together? she thought, chancing a glance at the pilot. His fingers were drumming against his abdomen. "You know we're not actually. . . like, we're not . . . together, not really. It's just. . . fun." For lack of a better term.
"Oh, oh, I didn't, I didn't know that. It's none of my business, sorry," he apologized, though he wasn't very sincere.
"No, it's okay." Kal briefly closed her eyes, silently berating herself, before opening them again.
A few moments of silence passed between them. "So, um, what exactly do you do for the rebellion anyway? Like what is a Fulcrum?"
Kal's eyebrows pinched together at his questions, tempted to muzzle the former farmboy. "I'm an informant. I traveled a lot as a bounty hunter and picked up on a lot of dealings with the Empire, so I reported anything useful. But I haven't been doing much informing as of late, just training you and helping out in the Command Center."
Luke nodded from his spot on his bench. "Can I ask about the tattoo?"
Instead of answering his question, Kal pitched him one of her own. "What's with all the questions?" It was snappier than she had wanted, showing more frustration than she had desired, but it got her point across.
Luke's wide eyes stared over at her. "I just. . . We never really have conversations that aren't about the Jedi Order or the Force."
"Oh." Kal's voice grew soft. "I guess we don't."
"We-we don't have to talk. It's okay."
"No," Kal responded. "No, it's. . . We should get to know each other. Go ahead. Ask whatever you'd like." Kal thought she might regret saying that, but she knew Luke was right. They didn't actually know much about each other. If they were going to trust each other fully, they had to learn more about the other. Be comfortable with each other.
Luke took a moment to process her statement. Ask whatever he'd like. There was plenty he wanted to ask, but he knew he should start off simple or at least fairly simple. "Why'd you join the rebellion?"
She played with the seam of her coat. "Well, um, I had already had run-ins with a band of rebels and gotten to know them. I mean, you've met Sabine. When I found out one of them died, I joined to honor her memory. She was a Fulcrum, too. One of the best." She clearly pictured Ahsoka in her mind as she stared at the ceiling. "She would have been a great person for you to meet."
"Why's that?" Luke asked.
"She was a Jedi. She was. . . she was your father's padawan."
"What?" Luke's head snapped towards Kal as he sat up quickly, almost hitting his head on the low hanging-metal siding. "What-what was her name?"
Kal's sad eyes gazed over at the young man. She slowly sat up to be eye-level with him. "Her name was Ahsoka Tano. She was a padawan during the Clone War before she left the Order."
"Do you know why she left?"
Poor hopeful, optimistic, naive Skywalker, Kal thought as she remembered what Ahsoka had once told her in private about her last days as a padawan. "The Jedi Order was not some paradigm of perfection and goodness, Luke. They wronged her and she lost faith in them. She came to her senses and that's what saved her from the downfall of the Jedi in the end. There were many Jedi that had become disillusioned with the Order. Some were corrupted. The council literally had a Sith Lord flourishing under their noses. And they were fighting a war."
Kal fervently shook her head as she glared at the floor in front of her. "A war. Jedi were supposed to be peacekeepers, scholars, diplomats, not generals and commanders in charge of troops on the battlefield. They became arrogant. And then they fell, along with the Republic that they had sworn to protect. That's why she left in the first place, avoiding being slaughtered by her own troops in the process."
"You mean the Jedi Purge?" Luke asked shyly, eyes drooped and frowning.
Kal nodded. "Yeah. Anything else you wanna know?"
"N-no, I think I'm good."
After the heavy turn of the conversation, Kal laid back down and Luke stayed quiet. He realized why she tended to be quiet and stern with him. She had to be. If he was going to learn the ways of the Jedi, she didn't have time to mess around. Training him was her main focus. It probably didn't help how he was probably the only one she could talk to about anything related to the Jedi. Most other people didn't believe in the Force or still thought the Jedi had betrayed the Republic, which they didn't. They failed it.
Soon Gray woke Kal up to let her know about their arrival. Kal and Luke sat in the chairs as Kal brought the ship out of hyperspace, revealing the dustball that was Tatooine.
Luke recognized the planet almost immediately. Turning to her, Kal had a difficult time determining his emotions once he looked in her eyes. His were wary but not quite sad. They definitely hid exhaustion as well. "What are we doing here?" he asked calmly.
"We're going to my dad's hut," Kal replied as she brought the ship to the Western Dune Sea, as close to her old hut as she dared to fly. Once they landed, they readied themselves to travel, wearing light brown cloaks to ward off the blinding twin suns. Kal also carried an empty backpack, in case they were lucky and found some things. The air was dry, as usual. Both found that they hadn't missed it. They didn't miss the sand either.
"'There's nothing here for me now.' That's what I said when I left this place," Luke said as they exited the ship, their boots sinking into the coarse sand. His eyes scanned the horizon.
Kal lifted her hood to help shield her face from the sun rays. "Let's hope you were wrong." Gray was in charge of watching the ship as the two humans started making their way to the abandoned hut a few clicks away.
"Can I ask what you're hoping to find?" Luke wondered, unsure of what her answer would be.
Kal glanced at him. "As long as it hasn't been completely pillaged, there should be holorecordings, lightsaber parts, and probably a few other things. Almost everything I learned came from him, and I know I have shortcomings as a teacher. I'm hoping maybe he'll have things that will help you."
"I'm sorry I suck at this."
His continued pessimism towards his lack of advancement wasn't helping his psyche, and Kal knew it. "Luke, you can do this." She said it with such conviction that he almost believed it, but the negative voice in the back of his head said he couldn't, and it showed on his face. "So you can't move a crate or a blaster, you will. Everyone has to start somewhere, and you started with blowing up a battle station using the Force." Kal placed a hand on his as they walked, leaning toward him with a smile. It took all his effort not to blush at the contact. "You've been subconsciously using the Force your whole life. Now it's time to make it a conscious effort."
Luke's shoulders sagged as he stared at her with a lack of spirit. "But how?" he repeated.
"You might be trying too hard. The Force should come easily to you, instinctual, at least for little things. You just need to relax and open your mind. And if my constant nagging isn't enough to persuade you, maybe my dad's will be. Where do you think I get my stubbornness from?" Her small smirk made him smile.
But something else was troubling him. Something he hadn't told her. "I hear him sometimes," he confided after dropping his smile. Kal's hand left his as her eyebrows furrowed together. "I know that sounds crazy, but somehow it's really Ben's voice in my head. I don't know if I'm just going insane or it's something with the Force, but I was always kind of scared to tell you. Didn't know how you'd react to me hearing voices."
"He's speaking to you." Her words were less of a question and more of a statement of truth. Her expression unreadable, Luke stayed quiet. Thoughts and feelings swirled around in her mind since she didn't quite know what to make of the information. Her father was speaking to Luke and not her. No matter how often she meditated, searching the Force for guidance and answers, her father never reached out. But he readily spoke to Luke. She didn't know if that made her mad or sad. Perhaps a mix of both. He was her father, not Luke's. Luke had friends. Luke had a purpose. Luke had guidance. Kal lost her father. Kal lost her mentor. Kal lost the only Jedi she'd ever met. Even when with her friends, Kal felt alone, isolated, different. She jumped from place to place, job to job, people to people, because she didn't feel like she belonged anywhere. She was a constant screw up, and Luke was the hero. So why didn't her father talk to her?
"I'm assuming by your silence, talking to ghosts isn't normal, even for Jedi," Luke said quietly, tugging at the sleeves on his cloak.
Kal sighed, letting her agitation go. He didn't deserve her anger and frustration. He was struggling too, in fairly similar ways. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him that his father had turned to the Dark Side, that his father had killed her's, that his father had hunted down and killed many Jedi, that his father helped rule the Empire. It would break him. And she couldn't let that happen. "It. . . it's complicated. I have no doubt that you're actually hearing him." She took a moment to figure out how she wanted to explain it to him. "Part of the Jedi Code is believing that when you die, you become one with the Force, which is good and all, but one Jedi found a way to transcend death, to continue living after death through the Force. My dad was learning how to do it, which means you are actually hearing him. He's speaking to you through the Force. If you open yourself up to the Force more, you should be able to commune with him as well. Try it."
About half an hour passed as Luke tried to calm his mind and open himself up to the Force while they walked, regulating his breathing and trying to overcome his fears and concerns. He worried about living up to his father's legacy. He worried about letting down his friends. He worried about the war against the Empire. He worried about seeing the disappointment in Kal's eyes if he wasn't able to move anything. Realistically, he knew she wouldn't hate him or anything for having difficulties overcoming what he had already learned, but he wanted so badly to prove himself that it manifested in ridiculous thoughts.
Occasionally, Kal would glance over at Luke and see his worry and frustration take over his expression. He would flex his fingers, clench his jaw and fists, take strangled deep breaths, and stretch his neck, all in efforts to relax or in response to not being able to. Kal didn't need to be her father to recognize that his shortcomings came from overthinking, lack of true maturity, and attachment issues. While Kal readily formed attachments, she had learned to never let them hold her back, otherwise, she would've been stuck on Tatooine far longer than she would have liked.
The point had come for a guiding hand. She decided to do something her father would frown upon. Kal stood straighter as they continued forward across the sand dunes and closed her eyes. Feeling Luke's Force-signature, she reached out and used hers to mitigate his emotions. The tension oozed out of Luke, allowing him to transcend the conflict within him, at least for a brief moment.
Luke gasped as his mind was brought back to reality after the few seconds of pure tranquility. "What was that?" he asked, looking at Kal.
"That was what you're supposed to feel when letting the Force flow through you. Come on, the house is just over there." All thoughts and words were cut off by the familiar sounds of a Tusken Raider jumping out from behind a rock formation. "Sand People! Look out!" Kal unclipped and ignited her lightsaber, slashing through the gaffi stick that the Tusken Raider swung at her.
Luke ignited his own lightsaber and rushed towards Ben's hut to scare off the other Sand People. "Get away from there!" he yelled, swinging the laser sword. The easily startled group quickly ran off, leaving the small dwelling alone for the time being. Kal joined Luke's side, her blade on to shine light into her old house. "Suddenly, I'm not so hopeful. Look at this mess." Everything in the main room was trashed. The table was upturned. The bed scorched. The appliances pillaged. "Didn't look like those Sand People made off with anything, but I'm guessing there wasn't much here, to begin with."
"Look around up here, I'm going to check the cellar," Kal told him, not waiting for his reply before opening up the heavy, mildly rusted cellar hatch and plopping down inside. As she heard Luke ruffle around the disaster upstairs, the cellar seemed to be mostly untouched as she shined her lightsaber around the small room. Other than a layer of dust coating everything, it didn't seem like even her father had been down there much after she had left. Everything was exactly how she remembered it. Taking off her backpack, Kal scooped boxes of lightsaber parts into the bag.
After filling the bag with the parts, she felt the familiar nudging of the Force guiding her to her bed. Kal narrowed her eyes as she gazed at the small bed she had once curled up in. Nothing seemed wrong with it, but Kal ruffled the blanket and pillow anyway, then knelt on the floor to look under the bed. There sat a small metal box. Kal pulled it out and looked at the lid. "For Kaleena," she read aloud, wiping off the dust.
A bang went off upstairs as the cellar door slammed shut with a startled yell. Kal jumped to her feet and screamed, "Luke!" She shoved the box into her backpack, shouldered it, and scrambled up the ladder to the cellar door and tried to push it open but it didn't budge. Through the thick metal and the hum of her saber, all she could hear was muffled voices. Urging herself to remain calm, Kal reached out with the Force to get a sense of what was going on above her, and she felt a familiar presence by Luke. "Boba." She had to get up there, but the only way out was the cellar door, which something heavy was on. She hadn't actively used the Force to move something larger than her lightsaber or a holocron in years. Her specialty was combat not Force tricks. She tried to focus long enough to use the Force to move whatever was blocking the door, but it didn't budge. All her thoughts and energy were focused on Luke and his safety.
Up above was a blinded Luke Skywalker and an angry Boba Fett. Fett wasn't surprised to find out that one of the rebels who had accompanied Kal to meet him was none other than the rebel who had destroyed the Death Star. Darth Vader would be pleased to finally have the rebel in his grasp. Fett kicked the young rebel in the face and said, "You could've walked, but I can just as easily carry you to my ship."
To Fett's surprise, Skywalker, just a boy no older than Kal, quickly got to his feet and ignited a lightsaber. "I'm not going anywhere with you," Luke replied.
The color was slightly different than Kal's, pure blue rather than offset with some blue-green, Fett noticed, but he didn't dwell on it, instead focusing on the blind rebel in front of him. "You can't fight me blind. You couldn't fight me even if you could see."
"A Jedi doesn't need eyes."
Fett had to hand it to the kid. He had bravery. "Maybe. But I've met a fair few, and you're no Jedi."
"No, I'm not, but I knew one once. And this was his home. You should never have come here."
Fett didn't have time to react to the rebel as Skywalker slashed at him with the bright blue laser sword. Fett dodged the erratic moves of the rebel and moved to use his whipcord on the young man, but Skywalker sliced the cord midair. To avoid being sliced in half as well, Fett dodged again but fell as he tripped over an upturned chest.
"Your armor's noisy," Luke pointed out.
This only made Fett angrier. Were all Jedi or Jedi-wannabe's jaunty? "So's your mouth." As they fought, Kal got an idea and stuck her lightsaber through the thick metal door, starting to cut a hole while Fett knocked Skywalker to the ground. Neither noticed due to the divide between the kitchen, where the door was located, and the living area. "You're running out of options. And blood. Put down the lightsaber."
"No. Ben. . . Ben would never. . ." Luke's breathing was ragged as he bled from cuts on his lip and cheek. The metallic taste in his mouth only spurned him on more.
"Kenobi's dead. He can't help you."
"He. . . He already has."
As Skywalker tried to stand, Fett shot him in the shoulder. Luke cried out, much to Kal's chagrin since she felt his pain through the Force as she finished cutting through the cellar door and whatever had landed on top of it. "You were right," Fett said. "I'm supposed to bring you in alive, but 'alive' just means breathing."
Luke held his father's lightsaber in front of him as he tried his best to stand tall and work through the pain. He remembered the words Ben had told him on the Millennium Falcon two years prior. "A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him," he muttered.
"Feel this." Fett fired his blaster, only to have the bolt blocked by the lightsaber. Fett flew forward with his jetpack and crashed into Luke. The two grappled for the fallen lightsaber as Kal used the Force to blast open the hole she had cut with as much emotion as she could. The metal circle and a piece of the refrigerator unit she had ended up slicing through hit the ceiling of the hut with a loud smash, startling the two above. A box hit the back of Fett's helmet, stunning him for long enough for Kal to jump out of the cellar and land on the upper floor, lightsaber in hand. Her panicked eyes quickly found Luke as he scurried away from the bounty hunter.
Kal's eyes narrowed in on her former mentor and he looked up at her in return. The sight of him and an injured Luke filled her with immense anger and desperation. Quickly reaching out with the Force, Kal lifted Fett off the floor and slammed him against the wall of her home. Her eyes wide and nostrils flared, Kal glared at the bounty hunter as she used the Force to hold him against the old synstone walls. Fett tried his hardest to struggle against her hold, watching her walk closer to him.
"Are you going to kill me?" Fett asked.
Kal's anger slowly dissipated into despair as she stared at his familiar armor that the sight of used to bring her a sense of safety. "Oh, Boba, you know I can't do that. . . But I can do this." She willed him towards her slowly, only to push him through the wall with as much power as she could muster, knowing his armor would protect him and effectively rendering him unconscious. Her shoulders sagged and she put away her saber as exhaustion coursed through her. She hadn't used the Force like that in too long. The hole in the wall allowed Kal to see the darkness of the sky outside. Darkness. "Luke!" She gasped as she turned around to see Luke sitting up against an old appliance. Hurrying over to him, she knelt next to him and took his head in her hands as she assessed his injuries. "Are you okay?"
"Kal, he-he used a flash grenade," he explained, eyes wide and not looking directly at her. "I can't see."
She could hear the panic in his voice. "Hey, hey, it's alright." Her fingers ran over his messy hair in an attempt to calm him. "Your sight will come back soon. We should get back to the ship before he regains consciousness."
Kal began to help him up. "Wait, there was a box. It had my name on it." Despite not being able to see anyway, Luke tried looking around for the mysterious metal chest.
Glancing around, Kal spotted it and picked it up, noting the "For Luke" written on the top, similar to hers. "I've got it," she reassured, handing it too him. "I don't have any more room in my pack, so you're gonna have to hold it while I guide you back." He nodded and allowed her to help him off the dirty floor. He leaned heavily on her, but she didn't mind. By the look of him, Luke had taken a rough beating by Fett before Kal busted out of the old cellar. The two stumbled back to the ship as fast as possible, with Kal comming Gray halfway through for him to start up the ship and prepare for their arrival.
Once they entered the small transport, Kal laid Luke down on one of the benches to rest while she got them off Tatooine. The moment they entered hyperspace, Kal checked on Luke, who was slouching against the wall and staring at the box on his lap. His gaze turned to her when she sat down next to him. "I can see again. Mostly."
She smiled at him. "That's good. We should probably get you cleaned up. Wouldn't want Command to freak out when they see you."
It made him laugh. "There isn't exactly a refresher in here."
"Guess we'll just have to sneak you back to your quarters as quickly as we can." Luke's eyebrows rose a fraction, but Kal didn't notice. She looked down at the box he held. "Looks like we got what we came for. You should open it."
The moment she tried to stand to give him privacy, Luke's hand shot out and grabbed her's, stopping her from walking back to the pilot seat. "Stay. Please. . . He was your father. You should see what's in it, too." Looking into his eyes, Kal couldn't say 'no'. She sat back down and folded her legs under her, the top of her head brushing up against the low overhang of the alcove. Luke thumbed open the box to reveal the contents inside. Confusion spread across his face as he held up the only object inside. "The Journals of Ben Kenobi."