Morganna Bastra (danceswithewoks) wrote in thegalaxy, @ 2016-04-18 16:48:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !locale: endor, backstory, log, luke skywalker (canon), morganna bastra |
Luke and Morganna: Beginnings
Who Morganna and Luke
When: The night of the Battle of Endor so roughly 30 years ago
Where: Endor
What: Epic Backstory Awesomeness
Rating: G
Status: Complete
Morganna still couldn’t believe it was over. She’d been outside the bunker when the Death Star had blown, she knew that the Emperor was dead but still it didn’t seem real. She’d been part of the rebellion since she was a child and actively working in it since she was fifteen. She’d been the mechanic for more ships than she could ever hope to count and there were some that never returned and that hurt. There was one though that mattered more to her than the others and that was the one that belonged to Luke Skywalker. Her friends often teased her about having a crush on Luke but she insisted that it wasn’t like that. He barely knew she was alive unless he needed something done to his X-Wing but they pointed out, he always asked for Morganna, never any of the male mechanics who were older and more experienced. She would shrug and tell them that she was just that good. The truth was that she had feelings for him, she’d had them since that first day in the hangar on Yavin IV when she held out her hand to grab a part and then pushed out from under the X-Wing to see a young man not much older than herself with the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen. So blue in fact that almost didn’t seem real but they were. Over the next six years their paths crossed often and he did ask her to work on his ship whenever it needed something done but nothing ever went further than that. Morganna knew something had happened to him after Hoth, after he’d come back from rescuing Han Solo on Tatooine but she didn’t know the details. People said that he’d changed but aside from the fact that he didn’t smile as much or as often, he was the same with her. She’d long since given up hoping that he’d finally notice her but that didn’t mean she wasn’t watching him. The ewoks threw a huge celebration and everyone was there or so it seemed. There was dancing and drinking and probably some things that Morganna was better off not knowing about but something was missing and that something was Luke. She wondered where he was, why he wasn’t there but told herself it was none of her business so instead she concentrated on having fun, dancing with her friends, some of the pilots, and even with a group of ewok children. They were spinning around in a circle and Morganna tripped on a tree root and spun out of control and suddenly found herself in Luke Skywalker’s arms. She hadn’t even known he was behind her. “Uhm...hi,” she said, trying not to sound nervous. “I tripped. On a tree root, that one right there.” “That one right there?” Luke obediently looked past her, eyebrows questioning above laughing blue eyes, but he had not yet let her go. “Lots of hazards around here, Morganna. Treacherous tree roots everywhere.” His gaze returned to her face, amused. “Who knows what could happen.” Still, despite the teasing words, he gently set her upright, one hand lingering at the small of her back. “You aren’t hurt, right?” “”That’s the one,” she said, trying not to think about the fact that he was still touching her back. “This place is a lot more dangerous than they would have you believe. I should watch where I’m going and no, I”m not hurt. I’m sorry I slammed into you.” No she wasn’t hurt but she was definitely flustered and she hoped it wasn’t showing too much. “Relax,” he said, quietly although his tone was kind. He had bent slightly so his lips were closer to her ear, as the noise from the party still reached them. “This is supposed to be a celebration after all. No need to be worried about what others think.” He could feel the nervousness radiating off of her, but misread it as having to do with his rank, or his position. He wanted her to not feel so formal around him. “Especially not me. Trust me, I’m a lot less important than I act.” His smile bloomed into a grin, and he winked at her. Morganna laughed out loud at his words. “Oh really now? So you’re not as pompous as you pretend to be?”she teased. She’d never noticed that about him anyway and it amused her that he would even view himself that way. “And I really don’t care what anyone thinks about me. I’m a female mechanic and some people view that as strange but I got over it a long time ago.” A few of her friends especially thought it was odd that she’d rather spend time with her head in an engine than cooking or nursing in the med bay or any of the other things that women did in the middle of a war but Morganna was talented and she knew it. “Now, I never said I wasn’t pompous,” Luke countered, his grin not diminishing at all. “Heroes get to have a little ego, or at least pretend to.” For a moment, he glanced out at the forest, and his eyes were passing sad, but when he looked back to her, the smile was back in the blue depths. “I don’t usually hear people comment about your mechanics skills that way, so I think you’re doing fine.” He seemed to realize he was flirting, to a degree, and a bit of color showed on his cheeks, and some blond hair fell over his eyes before he brushed it away. “Do you like it here on Endor? I don’t know where you come from, so I’m not sure if it’s similar to your home planet. Is it?” He had a point. She was well aware of what he’d done over the last six years and there were probably things that she didn’t know about but the fact that he blushed when he teased her proved that whatever ego he had was kept in check. And it was also adorable. “I’m from Corellia,” she said in answer to his question. “Although it’s been a long time since I’ve been there. My parents defected when I was ten so we’ve been with the fleet since then wherever the base was. Endor is very different from home. For one thing we don’t have ewoks,” she laughed. “Corellia….that’s where Han is from.” He had removed his hand from her back, but remained just as close. “I suppose I can travel now….it might be nice to see other planets.” He sounded surprised, as if this had just occurred to him. “There’s still a lot of work to do, helping with the Republic, but it will be nice to get out and see things, don’t you think?” He grinned. “I feel like I have spent all my time in a ship or on Tatooine.” “I’ve gone wherever the war has taken me,” she said. “It would be nice to see some of the galaxy when there isn’t one going on. I’ve been to several places but I rarely got out of the hanger. I know more about what the underside of the ships look like than the people who fly them.” Except for Luke but she wasn’t going to say that out loud. She was well aware of what he looked like and though she tried to hide it, she watched for him if she knew he was on planet. “I’ve never actually been to Tatooine though. They tell me I’m not missing much.” “You’re not.” His laughter was rueful. “Desert as far as the eye can see. Happens that way in twin sun systems, really. Too hot for more temperate zones. Plus, there’s a lot of crime.” The same sadness flickered in his eyes once more. “There aren’t enough resources for it to be valuable to those not looking for just a hideout or a hidden base of operations. Years before I was born, there was a bigger variety of people, but there was also a lot of slavery.” The lines around his mouth tightened, at that. “When you travel to places in the Core Worlds, it’s easy to forget that places like Tatooine exist. At the same time….I grew up there, and I have some good memories. Mostly because of family.” Morganna had heard of the Hutts, she knew they had pretty much controlled everything in that part of the galaxy for years. “It is easy to forget. I was born on Corellia, I would probably have never left if my father hadn’t defected. I’ve seen places I’d only heard about like Hoth and this place.” She smiled and looked around her. “It’s kind of beautiful here, don’t you think? Although much more beautiful than it was when we got here without the Death Star hanging up there.” The sky was blissfully empty tonight save for the stars. “I hope that the peace holds. I’m tired of war.” “I am, too.” Luke fell quiet, which was easy among the noise that still filtered over from the party. He thought he could see his sister and Han for a moment, but he wasn’t inclined to rejoin them right now. “Endor is beautiful. I’m not sure I could get used to it, strangely enough. Perhaps it’s the open spaces I got used to, but it makes me feel slightly claustrophobic. Odd, isn’t it?” He smiled again. “And I’m not sure I ever want to go to Hoth again. Too many memories of a certain beast.” He was referring to his grave injury out there, in the snow. It was far enough in the past that it didn’t bother him anymore, but he still bore a scar or two. “It is beautiful here but I’m so used to going wherever we’re needed that I think I’d feel trapped if I had to stay in one place.” She understood exactly what Luke meant. Morganna was used to never staying anywhere for very long at a time and she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when this was over. Officially over that is. “Oh yes, the wampa. I remember hearing about that. I wouldn’t want to go back there if I were you either. I don’t want to go back because I don’t believe I have ever been anywhere colder in my life!” “That, too.” Luke’s attention was back on her and away from the party. “So, then...if you want to travel the galaxy, what sort of places would you like to see?” He made an exaggerated face, as if he was thinking deeply about it. “Some paradise? Maybe the Core worlds, see Coruscant with all those people? What attracts you most about a new place?” He tilted his head to regard her, his expression less teasing now. Morganna thought about it, she had never been asked such a question, mostly because she’d lived a military life since she was a child. “I would like to go home. To Corellia. It’s beautiful there, my parents had a house that was at the edge of a forest much like this but not as thick. We weren’t close to town, my sister and I used to play in the streams that ran through the woods.” She sighed. “But I’d sort of like to see Coruscant at least once just to say that I had. Even if I would probably feel claustrophobic about ten minutes after I got there. What about you?” Luke hesitated. “I would like to go to the places my parents grew up, maybe learn more about them,” he finally confided. “It’s easy in one respect...my father was from Tatooine as well, but my mother….that’s a longer story. I also have this idea…” He paused, then ducked his head as if it was a silly confession and he was second-guessing it. “I’d like to find the places where Jedi once lived, see what is left. The Empire destroyed so much, but I know there still has to be something out there.” “I can understand that. Wanting to know about your parents since you didn’t grow up with them. If it were me, I’d want to know more too.” The Rebel Fleet might be large but there were some stories that everyone knew. Given that the first thing he’d done for the Rebellion was to help rescue Leia and then blow up the Death Star, naturally Luke’s was one of them. There was more though, Morganna sensed that, but she wouldn’t sak. There was one thing that she did want to know however. “Then I suppose that answers my question.” She pointed to the lightsaber hanging from his belt. “That really is what I think it is, isn’t it? I’ve heard of them but I’ve never actually seen one. I’ve heard stories of the Jedi, the Clone Wars, all of that but it was hard to believe that it was real. Unless I’m badly mistaken and I’m usually not when it comes to anything mechanical, that’s a lightsaber.” “Yes, it is,” Luke answered, with a boyish smile of pride. “I’m not sure powering it on in the middle of a party is the best bet, but..” He unlatched it from his belt, holding out the crafted metal handle to her. “I had my father’s, once,” he said, a little softer. “He’d made it as a Knight, long before I was born. Back when he was still Anakin Skywalker.” He let her hold it; it was heavy, weighted. “This one, I made after I lost his in battle. That was in Cloud City. I am not sure I will ever see it again.” It clearly bothered him, although there was a lot he left unsaid about the saber and how it was lost. Morganna was surprised at the weight of it but then again, it made sense. She’d heard enough stories to know that each lightsaber was made to fit the person who constructed it. Turning it over she looked at it carefully, studying the way it was put together before handing it back to him with a sheepish grin. “It’s beautiful. I’m sorry, I can’t help but look at things and try to figure out they’re put together. It’s very intricate, isn’t it?” She had been careful not to hit the button that would ignite it but part of her wanted to see it. “Maybe sometime you can show me how it works when we’re not in the middle of a party.” Morganna had been so entranced by the lightsaber that she hadn’t even realized she had basically just asked Luke out. It still didn’t hit her as she went on speaking. “And maybe someday you’ll get your father’s lightsaber back. I hope you do.” “I try to not look too much at the past, but it’s hard not to.” As he accepted it back, he continued, “My master, Yoda, once gave me a good talking-to about not paying attention to what was going on around me. Always looking to the future, he said. And now, at what came before. I should pay more attention.” His eyes met hers as he said that, with a small half-smile. “We’ll find a good place to test it out, far away from excitable Ewoks. Deal?” Those eyes, she thought. They’d been the first thing she’d noticed about him and she wondered if she’d ever get tired of looking at them. Especially the way he was looking at her right now with that little smile that wasn’t quite a smile but still made her stomach do flips. “Deal. Besides ewoks are cute but they’re nosy and they don’t know how to stay away when they’re not really needed.” Luke laughed, low. “They are rather occupied with C-3PO at the moment,” he observed. “Odd the things that save us. I’m sure he never expected that.” Looking back to the lightsaber in his hand, he paused before latching it back to his belt. “Do you think they will miss us from the party? I think I’d like to go show you something.” Morganna was surprised. What on earth could he want to show her? “No, I don’t think anyone would notice. I doubt anyone even knows who is actually here.” She looked up at him. “So yes, what did you want to show me?” “Here, come with me.” He offered his hand and waited for her to take it, then led her across the wooden walkways that stretched across the upper trees. His grip was conscientious and gentle, slowing in spots so she could see a tricky step in the dark as they got further away from the party. They reached a curving staircase, and up they went, until they came up onto a large, flat viewing platform. Situated above the trees, it blocked out the lights below, and above them, they could see the entirety of the heavens. “I thought you might like to see where I came from,” he offered, with a brief chuckle. Lifting his arm, he pointed at a faint star near the horizon. “Tatooine. To be fair, I could be pointing at Sullust right now, as it’s in the same area, but Han assured me it was there.” She took his hand when he offered it, thinking for a moment how easily they fit together, and followed up along the walkways. Morganna noted how careful he was, how he made sure she didn’t trip or fall and she was touched. She’d known that he was considerate, she’d seen that in his interactions with others but this was different. When they reached the platform and he pointed up at the sky, she smiled. “Doesn’t look near as sandy from here,” she teased and then looked up at him. “Do you miss it at all? I haven’t had a real home since I was ten and my father defected. We’ve followed the Rebellion ever since. Corellia is my home I guess but I haven’t been there in a long time.” Her parents were retiring from the military life and returning there but Morganna had no idea what she was going to do. Not yet anyway but then again, the Empire had only fallen hours ago. “I do. I never thought I would…..I certainly didn’t at first.” Luke smiled, looking up at the sky. “My aunt and uncle, they raised me, and I’ll be frank...I was spoiled. I didn’t think so at the time, but I was.” A few years distance hadn’t dulled the pain from their deaths enough. “I don’t love Tatooine, and otherwise, I would never return, but I miss the farm sometimes.” He lowered his eyes from the sky to look down at her. “The same way you miss your childhood, because you remember being happier, more at peace, and sometimes you crave that.” Morganna thought about his words. He was right, sometimes she did miss those early days. Life had been crazy of the past eleven years yet part of her didn’t regret it. “Peace. That is something that I crave. Even before my parents defected, there was no peace although they kept the worst of it hidden from my sister and me. I have a lot of thinking to do about what I want to do next.” She shrugged. “But there’s time. I don’t have to decided tonight.” “Time. I suppose we do have that.” Luke reached over and brushed a stray piece of her hair that had blown across her cheek, although he immediately withdrew his hand as if that was too forward. If he blushed now, it was difficult to tell in the dark. “Although it took a few years, I feel as if our time fighting the Empire went by in a flash, and now….now I have to decide what to do next.” He rested his hands on the railing, leaning heavily there. “I am celebrating and grieving all at once.” He had not planned on taking the conversation down a darker path, but the words had just come out. His touch was gentle and Morganna was surprised when it came but it was sweet and she smiled even though he probably couldn’t see it. She listened to his words, they’d all lost far too many people during the conflict but something told her that Luke was speaking of something more personal than losing friends. “You lost someone important to you, didn’t you?” How could she have guessed that so easily she wondered when they had only ever spoken in passing before tonight. Luke was silent long enough to cause wonder if he would answer the question at all. Finally, he said, “I lost several people close to me. My aunt and uncle died when I left Tatooine. Their deaths were part of the reason I did leave, really. And….I lost my mentor. And just recently….my father.” So recently that he was still coming to terms with what it all meant. Had he truly succeeded, in the end? Or had it just been a tiny victory among all the pain that had come before? She had been lucky, Morganna knew that. Even though she’d lost many friends, her family was intact. Luke it seemed had not been so lucky. She reached out and gently touched his hand, placing it on top of his where it lay on the bridge railing. “I’m sorry, Luke. I wish I knew what to say or do but I don’t. I’m here if you ever need to talk to someone though.” Morganna sensed that there was a great deal more that he wasn’t saying but she wouldn’t push. She could offer her friendship though so she would. Rather than pull away, Luke turned his hand over so he could thread his fingers through hers, carefully. “Thank you,” he said, quietly. “I did not know my father well, and we were not close, but….I wanted to. I wish things could have been different.” He wondered if he would regret not acting sooner, not returning sooner. Questions like that would always remain. He finally looked back up from his contemplation of the railing, to look her in the eyes. “But...thank you.” “You’re welcome,” she softly, squeezing his hand. “I wish that things could have different for you and your father too especially since you didn’t get the chance to know him when you were growing up.” Morganna knew that much of his story and he’d mentioned being raised by his aunt and uncle but that was all she knew. She had no idea who his birth father was and would have been surprised to find out that she did know him by name and reputation if nothing else. “I try not to give in to regrets. My….master, he had little time for that. It is true that I cannot change the past, but I want to ensure that I am learning from it.” A ghost of a smile passed over his lips. “Not exactly the best topic of conversation for a party, is it?” Morganna smiled, stepped a little closer and without thinking, rested her head against his arm. “It’s okay. There’s something bittersweet about all this when you think abou it. New beginnings, yes but endings too. I think it’s probably normal to be feeling a little bit of both right now.” “Yes,” he agreed, quietly, looking up at the stars, relaxed now with her head leaning on his arm. “I don’t know what to do with myself tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But in a way, that’s a good thing. It feels like so much has opened up for me….for us.” She wasn’t sure what to say but the butterflies in her stomach woke up at his words. Did he mean ‘us’ as in the Republic or ‘us’ as in the two of them? Did he even think of her that way? Well they were here alone together and he was holding her hand and hadn’t flinched when she leaned against him. So maybe? Finally she looked up at him and said quietly, “Us?” Hopefully she had not just made a huge fool of herself she thought. “Sure,” Luke said, looking down at her upturned face. “We both…” Clearly, his thoughts had not been in the same direction, as his eyes had seemed only calm, happy, but then his gaze sharpened, the blue eyes growing a bit darker as they roamed over her face. Then, without adding anything to his statement, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, gently. His free hand came up to stroke fingers lightly along her jaw, while their other hands, intertwined, tightened. Morganna saw the look in his eyes and was about to try and cover up her embarrassment but then his look changed and she knew that he was going to kiss her. When their lips met, she leaned into it, the butterflies that only been fluttering in her stomach now doing somersaults when she felt his hand on her face, his touch gentle. She’d imagined more than once what kissling Luke would be like but it had only been a fantasy, this was real and she took a step closer to him as she kissed him back. Turning more fully so he was facing her, Luke released her hand so that he could slip his arm around her waist. He did not deepen the kiss as yet, just kept that feathery brush of his lips against hers, as if he didn’t wish to press her too much. After a moment, he murmured her name against her lips. When he pulled her closer, Morganna slipped her arms around his neck, enjoying the way it felt to be this close to him. She’d kissed men before there was something different about this and she couldn’t have named it but it was different. She smiled when he spoke against her mouth and without moving her own lips she said “Yes?” He grinned, even though he had not moved his mouth more than a breath from hers. “I wasn’t sure you liked me like this,” he said, softly. “But you didn’t hit me, so…...I suppose that’s a good first step.” His arms tightened around her waist, as he kissed her once more. “Now you know,” she said and then could say no more since he was kissing her again. Morganna shifted her hands and stroked the hair at the nape of his neck, enjoying the way it felt under her fingers. Without even meaning to, she had deepened the kiss and she moved closer to him. Upon reflection, Luke suspected that blaster fire could not have moved him from that spot at that moment. Morganna was pliable and soft in his arms; he kept wanting her closer and closer, and had to remind himself not to crush her to him. His hands began to wander, but before he could go too far, he brought himself back. Gently, he paused in his kisses and then leaned his forehead against hers. “Would you come with me when I go looking for a place for the academy?” he asked, impulsively, then immediately said, “I’m sorry….that’s a bit much, I know. I just would like to travel with you, after everything we talked about.” Morganna was surprised but she didn’t show it. She had been too lost in his kisses, too lost in how she felt, she would have followed him anywhere. “Yes,” she said simply. “I’d like that. I’d like to see other places. I’d like to see them with you.” She’d had feelings for Luke since she was fifteen even if she couldn’t have put a name to them then so him asking her to go with him didn’t seem too soon or too fast. It just felt right. He relaxed with her answer, pulling her against him again. “Great,” he breathed, pressing another kiss on her. “Tomorrow, then….for now..” Time stretched out in front of them, open and inviting, and he was going to take full advantage of that freedom. There was nothing more they had to worry about, after all… |