Luke Skywalker Didn't Know She Was His Sister (jedifarmboy) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2015-09-09 21:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, luke skywalker, mara jade |
Who: Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade
When:Saturday night August 15 (Backdated)
Where: Jo’s Roadhouse
What: Having a drink and talking
Rating: G
Statsu: Complete
Luke had been meaning to visit the Roadhouse for some time but there had been so many things happening that he’d kept putting it off. When Mara suggested they have a drink, it seemed like the perfect time to go so he made his way there after dinner on Saturday evening. The place was busy but not overly crowded yet and Luke looked around for Mara but didn’t see her yet. He made his way to the bar and ordered a beer and then took it to a table near the window so that she’d be able to spot him when she came in. Not that she needed to actually see him to know he was there. Just as he would know the moment she walked in even if he wasn’t watching the door. They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk since Ben’s departure and then everything had happened with Ultron, amnesia, all the usual things that seemed to be par for the course in this world. There were definitely plenty of things for them to discuss and Luke found that he was looking forward to seeing her. It hadn’t always been easy but they seemed to have settled into their friendship. Neither of them wanted to cut the other out of their lives and couldn’t have even if they’d tried, the Force had seen to that, but they did have lives apart from each other and Luke was comfortable with that. He might not have understood Mara’s choice at first but now he did and he couldn’t believe how far they’d come in the year that he’d been here. A year. It certainly didn’t seem that long but it was and what a year it had been. As much as Mara had appreciated Luke not asking or digging when she'd kept quiet about the name of her partner, it was nice to know that she no longer had to with him. It had been a chance thing - with their two separate organizations converged in one place to help clean-up and to make people's lives better - but it had also been a relief. The sort of thing that Mara didn't like keeping from Luke, but did because it was not her name, her secret, her story to tell. It had been Nick's, and the time of revelation had been of his choosing - or at the very least, he had made the decision to reveal himself to SHIELD, and ultimately to her niece and her future husband. As she stepped into the Roadhouse she could zone on to his presence and she turned to find him in the corner, offering a smile to him as she approached. "Hey Farmboy," she said, and reached out to give him a quick hug as she slid into the seat across from him. There had been so much that they had done together at home, so much that they would do, and they were still friends here - something she was immeasurably grateful for. Ben being here had reminded her that they would never completely be separated here even if they wanted to be. Ben was always there to mark them being a them, and it was… nice. "How have you been?" Luke returned her hug and then sat down with a smile. “Very busy. Especially this week with what happened at the UN and all the protestors. It seems like we never get a break,” he was used to it though, he never got many breaks at home either but at least here, he wasn’t expected to have the answers and he was grateful for that. “and I realized earlier today that I’ve been here for a year now. I remembered it was the month they call August here but the date escaped me so I looked up the tags on the network and yes, it’s been a year.” he shook his head. “it’s hard to believe it’s been that long already but a lot has happened so it was easy to lose track. What about you? How have you been?” "It's amazing how quickly the time can fly," Mara smiled warmly. It was a bit difficult to believe that Luke had been here for an entire year, but then again, it had been over a year since SHIELDs collapse, and over a year since she'd taken off with Nick Fury, and Luke had arrived just after all of that. So of course it had been. She was so grateful that he'd stuck around as long as he had, because whatever the nature of their relationship - and it had at times been difficult to suss that out - he was a friend and someone she counted on and relied on to help her get through tough points. "I can't say I'm fond of the protesting," Mara mused, after taking a moment to order a beer and then turning back to Luke. "It's outside the purview of my current assignments, but I've been tracking it anyway. This type of thing can turn nasty very quickly, and we both know that people like to have someone to blame when things go wrong." “That they do,” he agreed. “it seems that’s the same no matter what galaxy you’re in. The thing is they’re protesting about the same thing that just a few months ago they were praising. People are fickle.” Luke took a sip of his beer and looked over at Mara. “I stopped at a newsstand on the way here because something caught my eye,” he reached down and picked up the copy of Entertainment Weekly that he’d purchased. “I wasn’t going to buy it but the guy kind of insisted since I’d been standing there for twenty minutes. I can’t help but wonder how much this new movie is going to affect us. I started reading the article, apparently the director is trying to answer the question ‘Who is Luke Skywalker?’ I’ve been trying to figure that one out for 38 years, I’ll be impressed if he can figure it out in two and a half hours. I’m also wondering what it will be like if another me shows up or another Han or Leia. It could happen since this is obviously not our world. At least it won’t be like when we had four versions of Captain America here or is that the current count? I know we have at least three Tony Starks.” he shook his head. “Part of me wants to know about the other path and part of me doesn’t.” "You know at one point early on, when they made the announcement that the films would follow different paths, I had a barista - after having gotten my name - helpfully tell me that I was no longer real," Mara laughed lightly and shook her head and smirked lightly. "I stopped giving them my name at the coffee counter. When I'm feeling mischievous i give them Natasha. Although - not so much right now," she amended referring to the earlier topic at hand. "Still," she picked up the magazine and flipped through it. "It is interesting, isn't it? You may be a completely different person in this story. You might not have found me, and we all know your life will be lacking something amazing then," she teased as she looked up at him. "Mostly, I've not worried about it too desperately as it only marginally affects my life here, and does not affect my life at home at all, but… you do have a point." “I just hope I’m not a complete bantha’s ass,” he said with a little snort. “and I do hope I found you or someone like you at least. My life would be very boring without you in it.” Luke smiled at her. It was true, regardless of the way things were here, he couldn’t imagine Mara not being around. “It’s funny to think that I didn’t even meet you until nine years after the war was over yet you’d been on the periphery of my life for a long time. Trying to kill me, yes but that’s beside the point.” He picked up his coffee and took a sip. “I’m not planning on going to see it, I have a feeling I won’t have to. Someone will find the need to tell me or I’ll overhear something, one way or the other, I’ll find out. I do enjoy the fact that people don’t recognize me as Luke Skywalker, it helps. Unfortunately I do get a lot of people asking me for legal advice or calling me an asshole but that’s easily taken care of. I just tell them I’m not the asshole they’re looking for,” he shrugged. “Obi-Wan would be proud. Or maybe not…” "Well, I tend to help you find me. Clearly I didn't find you and decide to just leave your X-wing in space in this timeline, so we can rule that particular event out," Mara said warmly. At times she couldn't help but think that part of the reason she didn't spend so much time thinking about it was because there was a part of her that couldn't help feel some jealousy of a life that Luke - well a Luke - might live that would include her as no part of it. Not that she needed him to complete her or anything so fairy-tale-esque, but in their galaxy, in their world, it felt as if they were equals and partners in a way that she suspected was rare. And while she didn't think it was impossible she might find it with someone else - she couldn't help but feel that a life without Skywalker in it would be lacking something important. And of course, if she wasn't there, it begged the question of what had happened to her? Something similar? Something different? maybe it would never be said, and she would exist in that reality as merely one other person among trillions throughout the galaxy. "I haven't thought that far ahead, but I will probably see it. Curiosity if nothing else. Do you think the kids will see it? Perhaps we ought to make it a family event - the family that is traumatized by alternate reality versions of themselves together stays together - no?" Luke laughed. “I saw a man on the subway the other day wearing a t-shirt that said “My family puts the “fun” in dysfunctional.” I wanted to ask him if we might be related but I decided not to,” He grinned. “but you do have a point. We could all go together and get it over with. It’s a better idea than letting people tell us what happens. I did see a picture though of my alternate self. I don’t age too badly.” Someone at work had shown it to him and he’d been amused. “although you wouldn’t be too impressed with the long hair and beard desert dwelling look. My first thought was that you’d tell me to get a haircut.” Mara laughed because Luke probably wasn't wrong on that front. It would depend, of course, on how strongly he wanted the beard, but she couldn't say beards were among her favorite things in the world. "You're probably right. If nothing else I'd make you comb your beard and trim it up," her eyes twinkled. "But I suppose I'd take you with a beard rather than not having you in my life at all." She'd tried that for a while in this place when the Tesseract had taken Luke away last time and left her without even her very farmboy Farmboy and it had been lonely. Even with new friends and new companionship. And then he'd returned and even with having those friends in her life, she was grateful for his friendship still. "So how have you been, Skywalker?" The question was asked and she watched him kindly for a moment and then added. "I'm glad you got to meet Ben." “So am I. I wish I could have had more time with him but I’m very glad you got to know him. I know that meant a lot to you,” Mara’s time with her son was destined to be cut short by their nephew but at least here, she’d gotten to meet Ben and to know him in a way she wouldn’t get to at home. “He’s a lot like you, I saw more of you in him than myself. Maybe he’ll come back, there’s always that chance.” after all, Ben had been here before, Luke himself had been here before but there were no guarantees. “Well I’ve been busy as you know since we were in the same place for a bit,” he smiled. “I think that might be the first time that’s happened since we’ve been here. Almost felt like being at home but with less space ships.” While he'd never been here for long enough for her to really get to know him, Mara had been grateful for the few times that Ben had arrived and stayed. She'd been grateful for the opportunity to see him a little more grown-up. After all, she would never know him beyond what had been written in the books. While Luke's words made her smile she shook her head a little. "You know, I think he's got a fair amount of you in him. He's a good kid. And he's going to be a good Jedi Master someday, I know it. Even if there's not much beyond his late teens about him." Mara laughed outright at Luke's next statement and reached for her drink. "You know, almost. Although I think we've spent a good portion of the past decade apart too. But, yeah, it did more or less feel like home. It's surprising to me sometimes how much it can even when I sometimes tend to focus on all of the things that don't feel like home - like the lack of a decent spaceship. However, I do have transportation at my disposal these days, and that helps." Her eyes twinkled a little at this. It was one of the delightful perks of being with Nick Fury. Not the only one by a long shot, but definitely a perk. "But I suspect with Nick being back more a little bit more publicly, we'll be around New York more in the future. I guess time will tell. This entire three years has been a wild ride." “You know I’d already figured out that the man I met in your apartment last winter wasn’t the man you were with,” he said and laughed. “Mostly because I met him in person at a time when you had said you were out of the country and I knew you weren’t alone. Which meant he couldn’t possibly be him. By the way, Jasper..that’s his name, right? I enjoyed meeting him. I’m not sure what he’s planning to do with scans of my hand but he said they were to help someone who needed it so I didn’t mind. There’s also the fact that you trusted him enough to let him stay in your apartment so that told me I could trust him.” Luke knew Mara didn’t give her trust easily and if she had let Jasper in enough to allow him access to her personal space, that was all the information Luke needed. “It will be nice having you around New York more often, I miss talking to you when you’re not around.” he took a sip of his beer and thought about his next words for a moment. “So Nick, you’re happy? I know it’s none of my business really but given all we’ve been and are and will be to each other, I figured it was okay to ask. I was curious to meet him but I wasn’t sure if that would be a good idea but Jaina pronounced him “cool” so he made a good impression on her.” he smiled. “and I liked seeing the two of you working together. Jaina’s missed that I think even though you haven’t gotten there yet.” Mara's eyes twinkled slightly. "I suppose I could have said something, but under the circumstances I decided not to. It's been - challenging I suppose is one word for it - but the 'death' was for his safety, and I respected that. There weren't very many people who knew the truth, and it wasn't my secret to tell. Plus, Jasper, yes, that's his name, was I think enjoying it a little. He's a good friend as well, he got me through some very difficult times, and I was simply glad to offer the opportunity to help him get through a challenging transition." Mara wrapped her hands around her cup and considered Luke's question. It would have been odd a year ago to admit that she was, and perhaps she would not even have been certain of that happiness a year ago, but she was - and having Luke know that here and now simply felt natural. "Yes," she said simply. "I am happy. And it was good to work with Jaina again. Perhaps there will be more of that in the future for me as well." She stopped and smirked. "What about you, Farmboy? I noticed Carol around with SWORD." Luke felt his face grow warm when she mentioned Carol. It seemed he would never quite leave the farmboy part of himself behind. “I am. Sometimes it’s hard because she’s so devoted to her work but so am I so that helps but in answer to your question yes, I’m happy.” :He too was surprised that he could admit that so easily, that he could be happy with a life that didn’t include Mara in the way he had once hoped it would but it was true. It had taken some time but he knew that at home they were together. Maybe they didn’t have as much time together as either of them wanted but they did have a good life together and they had Ben. “It’s funny isn’t it? We couldn’t have had this conversation a year ago. Or for that matter even eight months ago. We’ve come a long way.” It was true, they’d both grown since then, both had had different experiences with different people yet they still were part of each other. They always would be and Luke was grateful for that. “I have to admit though that I’m glad to know who it is that you’re with. Not that you can’t take care of yourself, I know you can but it’s good to know that Nick has your back. I have a feeling there isn’t much he hasn’t seen or done.” "I suspect more than I'll ever really know," Mara said matter-of-factly. There was much of Nick's past she didn't know, and most of it she didn't need to know to know him. He'd give pieces of himself to her, small pieces, things she hadn't even anticipated, and in doing so she'd gotten a picture of the man he was. She knew there were things that were beyond classified - pieces of who he had been as a young man that she would simply never discover. This was true with anyone whose life you hadn't lived, it was true even of the more open man she was currently sitting across from, but it didn't mean you could know someone. She knew Nick well. And she knew his strengths, his weaknesses -- and it was a much different relationship than she would have with Luke, but it was still a good one. "But you're right - it's been an interesting year hasn't it? And I think that every year, the growth and change as I look back - you can't see while it's happening, but you find yourself on the other side thinking, but it has been a change. And it's not a bad thing - it's just how things go. But we've both experienced that throughout the course of this year, and I've had to consider pieces of my past and my future in ways that could only happen here. We both have." Luke nodded. She was right, he’d had to rethink his entire life, had to face what would happen to Mara in their future as well as face her murderer. It hadn’t been easy and at times it had been painful but he’d done it and come out the other side. “There are things about this place that I’m very grateful for. The chance to know my parents for example. I wish they didn’t have to go back to what they’ll be facing but I got to know them here and I miss them. Even if they were younger than me,” he laughed and shook his head. “but it puts everything that happened at home in perspective in a way. I can understand the choices my father made even though I don’t think they were the right ones, I can see why he did it.” He’d done it because he’d wanted to save Padme but it didn’t work, he’d ended up destroying himself but Luke and Leia has survived and Luke had had the chance to bring him back, to find that bit of good that was still in him. He couldn’t be sorry about that. “I also wouldn’t be an ordained minister at home,” he took a sip of his beer and shook his head. “in fact I honestly don’t think that was ever on my list of things I wanted to do but I’m honored that Anakin and Rikki wanted me to do it. That’s another thing I’m grateful for. Anakin has challenged me, he’s made me think about things that I had never thought about before. He’s taught me a lot, he might not believe that but he has. We’re very much alike which I wouldn’t have guessed but we are.” "It's one of the benefits of this place," Mara said simply. "Being able to step outside of events from their time, and their immediate context, and to look at them in a larger way and within a larger picture." She'd done that multiple times for herself. It had been difficult to face Jacen. And difficult to admit to herself that she had made some stupid calls around what would happen in the future. To admit them to herself and to Luke. They weren't decisions she would have seen herself making, but nobody had perfect reflexes and decision making capability one hundred percent of the time. But it was a conversation she'd had many times and in many different ways and was not needed in this particular moment. "We learn as much as we teach I think," Mara said softly. "Thus far I have almost always found this to be true. It is one of the amazing pieces of teaching and having the opportunity to mentor others." “I think you’re right. I’ve learned far more from Anakin than he’s learned from me, I’m sure. I’m grateful for the chance to be able to do it. I enjoy teaching others, it’s funny but I wouldn’t have thought that about myself. Mostly because my own training was so sporadic but there were some benefits. I found other ideas that I might not otherwise have discovered.” he took a sip of his drink and shook his head. “and I discover more every day even here.” The world they lived in might not recognize the Force in the same way but it was here all the same and Luke had learned a lot from observing the people in it. Mara nodded. "That's life, isn't it?" Everything they were able to live and do - those things all came together to create growth and learning. Even being here and learning her future had brought about growth. Having to look her future in the face had done that. Working with Nick, learning from Jasper, being both a leader and a student at the same time - it reminded her of the things that she had to learn. Perhaps being here where there was much she hadn't known had reminded her that even where she knew a great deal and had a good deal of experience she didn't know everything there was to know. "Are you still training Anakin? Or is he more or less on his own these days?" “We still work together but not as often as either of us would like. Time is hard to come by but he’s grown so much this year, he really doesn’t need me. I think for both of us, it’s more a good way to spend time together and now he’s getting married so I’ll have to think of ways to get him to hang out with me. I’m really happy for him, Mara and Rikki is a remarkable young woman. Not that I’d expect Anakin to choose anything less of course.” he smiled. Luke had come to think of Rikki as part of the family long before he’d known that she would officially be that. Mara nodded. "I've been similar with Jaina. I've been in and out of town so much, but I've tried to offer support where I can. She's got a lot of good things going on with SHIELD I think and a lot of potential. But it's good for me to have the challenge of keeping up with her," her lips quirked up gently into a small smirk. "I suppose we'll have a wedding to attend sometime this year won't we?" She took another sip of her drink and shrugged. "Best pull out your dancing shoes, Skywalker. And you'd best save me at least one dance." |