Dealer
Chapter 7a: Inside
Leia Organa Solo, pressed for time as per usual, managed to show up later to brunch than her guest. Her brother didn't seem to mind though, and had made himself comfortable on her living room couch, reading a data pad that had been on the end table.
"Luke!" she said happily, walking into the room.
"Leia!" he replied, standing up so they could exchange embraces. "I suppose you still haven't given any thought to adopting a new hairstyle?"
"Har, har," she said dryly, patting the bun on the left side of her head protectively as they moved into the quiet dining room. With the children all dorming at the temple, and Han away for several days, it was a bit too quiet for the Senator who was used to being surrounded by people. She appreciated Luke's company. "Threepio, would you please bring us our first course!" She called into the apartment.
"Oh, oh, I'm already on it Miss Leia!" a stressed, nasal voice bustled. A moment later there was a metallic clanking as the protocol droid shuffled into the room, two small soup bowls clattering unsteadily upon the tray the gold-toned machine held in his hands. Leia thanked Threepio and he retreated back into the kitchen, pleased with himself.
"So, how was your morning at the Senate?" Luke asked, picking up his spoon and dipping it into the piping hot liquid. Leia sighed.
"Stressful," she said, rolling her eyes as she doctored up her own dish with spices. "Hearings and debate all day! Would you believe that the Senate is trying to give themselves a raise? It's ridiculous. We already have an open expense account, and our salary is good to begin with." She blew through her lips, exasperated. "Of course it will pass. They're talking about calling a late-night session. After we're done here I need to go to Mon's office and talk to her about it. There must be something we can do." She shook her head, frustrated. Somebody as calm and collected as Leia didn't mesh very well with the hot-headed, often violent debates of some of the outer galaxy representatives. "How are things going at the temple? Are Jacen and Jaina doing well?"
"Oh, everything is going smoothly as usual. I've been working with some of the younglings…" Here Luke sighed. "It helps take my mind off… things."
Leia nodded sympathetically. She had never approved of Luke's wife, much less liked her, but the death of Mara had hit her sheltered brother exceptionally hard.
"Jacen and Jaina are doing exceptionally well. They're excited to be getting ready to become apprentices to some of the older knights, I think."
"And Anakin?" Leia pressed, concerned about her youngest son. She still somewhat doubted that he had been ready to leave her as soon as he did.
"He's doing fine. He gets along so well with all of the other younglings. He certainly is your son." Luke chucked. "I think he may be a bit homesick—"
"Oh, I knew it! He wasn't old enough! I should just bring him home—"
Luke glared at her, cutting her off again.
"But I assured him that my door is always open if he ever feels lonely. He's enjoying himself, Leia. I do think a visit from you might do him some good."
"I'll stop by tomorrow," Leia decided out loud, regardless of what may be on her schedule. Luke smiled at his sister. "And how are you?"
The Jedi pulled his shoulders into a shrug.
"I'm ok." Leia looked at her brother across the table with soft eyes. "Really, I am."
"I'm just concerned for you…" Leia said gently, ladling her soup into the air and letting it cascade back into the pool below. "How about in the romance arena?"
"Leia, my wife is dead," Luke said moodily, averting his eyes to his dish.
"That's not what I'm talking about."
Luke picked up his head.
"Then what are you talking about?" he said, tipping his head at her. She mirrored his motion, mimicking him. He opened his mouth in thought. "The love of my life is dead."
Leia shook her head vigorously.
"No, she's not."
"Leia, Mara Jade's star cruiser was destroyed in the outer rim."
Leia looked at her brother seriously, setting her spoon down on the plate beneath the soup bowl.
"Mara Jade was not the love of your life." Luke opened his mouth in protest, but Leia cut him off. "You may not want to hear this Luke, but she was a nasty person. She had her own agenda and she used you. That's it."
"Then who in the damned Force are you talking about?"
Leia sighed, picking up her water goblet and drawing from it. Across the table, several fleeting memories played across her twin's mind.
A young man pushing a deposit for a speeder across a counter. That same man navigating through the sky of Coruscant, a dark-haired young woman hanging onto his waist. Both of them throwing back FireDancers in Luke's favorite bar. The irresistible pull of his lips of hers. A man and a woman, older now, one in fomal wear and the other in a pretty bridesmaid dress, dancing across the floor, out of place but…
Luke's eyes snapped open. Leia looked at him, smiling a bit sadly.
"You know who I'm talking about. You love her." Leia sighed. "You always have."
Luke shut his eyes hard, shaking his head vigorously before looking squarely at his sister.
"No. No, no."
Leia looked at him and nodded slightly.
"Yes. You know it. You know it; I know it. Han knows it; Kierii knows it; she knows it."
"No, I can't. Anyhow, it's not the Jedi way. Jedi don't form attachments."
"What?" Leia asked, bewildered.
"We're reverting to the old code. Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden," he recited dully.
"You were married," Leia, said pointedly, looking at him with her eyebrows raised. "You certainly had attachments."
"Yes, and look where that got me!" Luke snapped, growing frustrated. "Attachment was forbidden. I can see why now. That's what we're going back to. That's what worked."
Leia looked at him, reaching into the long pockets of her Senatorial robes. She slowly pulled out her lightsaber and laid it on the table.
"You can have that back, then," she said quietly, firmly, standing up and starting to walk away. Luke gaped for a moment, struggling to regain his composure.
"No, Leia, wait!" he called. She looked over her shoulder. His frame had slumped defeatedly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blown up on you like that."
"No, you shouldn't have," she said firmly. Luke hung his shoulders like an ashamed child. "Talk to her, Luke. I'm your sister; I only want what's best for you."
"Alright," Luke sighed in defeat.
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow at the temple."
"Aren't you going to finish your meal, Miss Leia?" a stressed Threepio asked, having just shuffled into the room again.
"No, I need to go speak to the Chancellor. Let Luke have what he wants." She looked at her brother again, her hands on her hips. "Think about it a bit."
And then before the droid or her brother could protest, the Senator had disappeared out the door. Luke sighed, picking up a piece of shurra fruit off the platter Threepio had just placed in front of him. He tossed it in the air, catching it in his hand before biting off a piece.
As usual, Leia had managed to see what he could not.
…
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