ii. escape
Gale can feel Luke staring at him as he drives. He decides to look back only for the kid to avert his gaze down to a binder he's fished out of his backpack. He pulls out a pencil and jots something down.
"What's that?" Gale asks.
"My notes on who's who," says Luke. "It's organized, too. This is the Star Wars section-" he flips ahead. "-and this is the Harry Potter section."
"So, it's not just the Star Wars characters who are 'cursed'," he says. "It's characters from books, too?"
"Yup," Luke confirms. "And cartoons, and video games…the curse hit a lot of different franchises."
"Sure it did," Gale shakes his head as they reach a red light.
Luke shrugs. "It's fine if you don't believe me for now. In stories, it usually takes a while for the hero to get there. But you will."
"Yeah, about that." The light turns green. "In what world is Darth Vader a hero?"
Luke makes a face. "I said you were Anakin Skywalker, not Darth Vader."
"…Kid, don't tell me you're a Star Wars fan who doesn't know who Darth Vader is."
"I'm not a fan," Luke says. "And of courseI know who Darth Vader is. But the curse hit before you could turn to the Dark Side, so you're not him, you're Anakin Skywalker."
Gale doesn't know what to say to that.
"I know it's confusing," Luke says. "I'm still trying to figure it all out. Like how you were able to escape being sent to New Unity." He tilts his head. "You're the only person who didn't end up there with the rest of us."
Gale makes a turn. "Sounds like proof I'm not who you think I am."
"Or it's proof you're exactly who I think you are," the boy shoots back. "Like I said. You'll get there."
iii. cursed
Soon enough, Gale passes a large green sign that says Welcome to New Unity and heads to 504 Mifflin Street. As he drives, and Luke guides him to his house, he catches sight of a few of the neighbors walking about. "So these are the fictional characters, huh," he says. "They don't look cursed to me."
"I told you, they don't remember who they are," Luke says. "None of them can leave either. If they try, bad things happen. It's part of the curse."
"No one can leave," Gale repeats. "How did you get out then?"
"It's different for me 'cause I was born here. In the real world, I mean." Luke explains. "Me and Leia are the only people who get older, too. And you, too, I guess," he adds as an afterthought. "I guess 'cause you're the Chosen One."
Oh boy. "Wait, so not only is everyone here a fictional character, but they all have amnesia, can't leave New Unity, and they don't age?" Gale tries his best to sum up. "Seems like a pretty complicated curse. How'd you come up with it?"
Luke stiffens, deeply offended. "I didn't cast it! And I don't know who did either, so-"
"No, that's not-" Gale taps his fingers against the wheel. "What I mean is, where'd you…how did you-find out about the curse?"
"Oh," the kid calms down. "My friend Cassandra told me about it."
"I thought everyone in town was cursed to forget."
"Not Cass," Luke says. "She's the only person in town who remembers her past. She's tried to tell other people about the curse before, but no one's ever believed her."
"Can you blame them?" Gale says. "It's…a lot to take in."
"…I know," the younger boy plucks at his sleeve. "Not even Leia believes in the curse. She thinks we're part of a government experiment." He brightens up. "But now that I found you, we can break the curse and save everyone."
Gale frowns. "I told you I'm not sticking around. I just came to drop you off."
"But you have to stay!" Luke says. "We need you, Dad."
And that's it, that's the line. Hitting the brakes, Gale parks and gets out of the car. Luke follows suit, and Gale crouches so they're eye-level. He says sharply, "Luke. I'm sorry you don't have a father. But you can't just choose a random guy and decide he's going to fill in the role. It's not-It's not healthy."
"I didn't," Luke says, but he looks contrite all the same. "D-Anakin-"
"My name is Gale, call me Gale." He's really starting to lose his patience.
Luke makes a face. "…Fine. I'll call you Gale." As if Gale was asking from him a huge sacrifice.
"Thank you."
"But only until the curse is broken."
Gale feels like breaking out a few curses, alright. There's no reasoning with this kid.
"Kid," he tries again, but is interrupted by a sharp cry.
"Luke!"
Whatever Gale was about to say is promptly forgotten by the sight of the most beautiful woman he's ever seen rushing out of her house and pulling Luke into a tight embrace. Pressing a kiss against his left temple, she pulls away to glare at him. "What were you thinking?" She doesn't shout, but the anger and disappointment coloring her voice is clear. "Running off like that? I had no idea where you were, if something had happened, if someone took you-"
"I'm sorry, Mom," says her son, and for his part he does look truly regretful to have worried his mother so much. The apology shaves off some of the distress on his mother's face, but not all. She runs a hand over her face, cupping her chin and closing her eyes, and takes a deep breath. She stays still for several seconds before opening her eyes to reveal a set of stern brown irises.
"We'll discuss this at home," she says. "For now, I want you to apologize to…"
It's here she looks away from her son and at Gale.
"I'm Gale," Gale introduces himself. "Gale Bryce."
She nods. "Nice to meet you, Gale Bryce. I'm Reyna Terran. You've…obviously met my son, Luke." She shifts her gaze back to her son. "Luke, apologize to Mr. Bryce for the trouble you caused him."
Luke pouts. "Mom…"
"Luke." It's clear from Reyna's tone there is no room for argument.
Luke's pout grows, but he turns to face Gale regardless and says, "Sorry, Mr. Bryce."
The reluctance he apologizes with tells Gale Luke isn't very sorry at all. But he doesn't want Luke to get into even more trouble with his mother, nor does he want to cause Reyna any more stress, so he simply nods. "Apology accepted."
"Thank you so much for bringing him home," Reyna says. He can't get over how stunning this woman is, with her dark brown hair and rich brown eyes and glowing skin. He stares at her for several seconds until it hits him that he should probably respond.
Coughing, he says, "It was no problem."
Reyna smiles. "Still, though, I'm sorry you had to go through so much trouble-"
"It was nothing, really-"
"-you wanna come inside?" Reyna blushes, then hurries to explain, "You could use a small break before hitting the road again. We can chat, I'll make coffee..."
The offer surprises Gale. He rubs the back of his neck. "No, that's fine, I couldn't impose on you like that."
"I insist," she says. "It's the least I can do."
And, really, Gale should refuse. The last thing he wants to do is encourage Luke's delusions and give the boy false hope, which is what he'll be doing if he accepts Reyna's invitation. But Reyna's smile, wide and welcoming, tugs at his heart, loosens his lips so that instead, he says, "I could go for some coffee."