*STAR BOY

@fatherbeforeme

/ “ is this an illusion ? ” ♡

Padme couldn’t help but stare at her child, almost in a daze. So may years since she last looked at him, he was a new born then and she had let him and his sister go. Now he was an adult, his own man. Years that she never got to experience with him that shaped him into the man that not only blew up the death star, but also killed the emperor saving the galaxy. Something that would be remembered by all, but non of that mattered to Padme, all that mattered to her was that this was her son. And he was right here safe and in front of her.

“ Luke?… ”

HE HAD TO BE DREAMING—THERE WAS NO OTHER LOGICAL EXPLANATION. upon learning his mother’s identity after the fall of the empire, luke had spent hours upon hour upon hours combing through every book, every holo that contained mention of padme amidala. memorizing her facial features, her speeches...longing to know the mother he would never get to meet. that is how he knew the woman who stood in front of him shared an uncanny resemblance with the once queen of naboo. that was impossible. she was dead.

your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. 

as if his old teacher was finding amusement in the scene, obi-wan’s words rang throughout his mind, echoing off of every surface. eyes betray you...he reached out with the force—with his feelings. the sensation of the woman’s mind left his gasping. it was so BRIGHT. so familiar. beneath his hood, tears welled behind blue eyes. yet, he remained frozen in place. 

“ Sure you could , hotshot . “ He replies with a roll of his eyes. Typical Jedi, Koruz mightve just watched him kill a man by launching somebody else straight at him but that doesn’t mean he’s invincible. Obviously.

The smaller man only notices the other staring at him when he speaks up. Gaze intently focused on the ship drawing closer every step, but not fast enough for his liking. When his attention shifts to the other, only for a moment, those bright blue eyes meeting his own and the sincerity of his words catch him by surprise. “ I - “ He blinks rapidly, feeling very self conscious all of a sudden. He turns his attention back on where he’s going. Pointedly avoiding the Jedi’s gaze. “ You’re welcome … I guess . “ He grumbles, the interaction only seeming to sour his mood further.

He ignores the rest of the boy’s rambling. Gritting his teeth so hard his jaw aches by the time they finally reach the Arcanum. With one hand holding the Jedi up by his waist, he opens the hatch with the press of a button, dragging him inside far enough that he can drop him down on the nearest surface. Which luckily happens to be a shaggy couch poorly installed against the wall. With the Jedi laid out on the soft surface, he himself drops down to the ground.

Heavy breathing is interrupted by insincere laughter. The irony of the situation hits him like a slap in the face. If only Ligeia could’ve seen herself here ten years ago.

It doesn’t take him long to raise to his feet again. Half a mind to hide any personal items out of view before getting a bacta patch from his medical supplies. Throwing it towards his guest unceremoniously. “ I trust you know what to do with this . “ He adds in a condescending tone.

LUKE BLINKS. huh. he didn’t need the force to sense that his sincere gratitude had caused the stranger’s attitude to shift. that was...interesting. he stored that information away, although he truthfully could not see a day where he didn’t express thankfulness. 

the rest of the walk felt like torture, the young jedi having to call upon the force several times for fortitude and something resembling serenity...yet that could only help so much. by the time they were walking aboard the ship, a veil of sweat had appeared on his forehead—his forehead that had turned several degrees paler (along with the rest of his face) from pain.

when his body fell upon the couch, the hiss of discomfort was quickly replaced with a sigh of relief as his eyes closed against the cushion. oh, it felt GOOD to be off his feet. his broken body sung in rejoice, the couch somehow feeling more comfortable than the luxurious bed his sister slept on. it was like a cloud. a nice fluffy cloud. he could almost just...

he sat up a bit straighter, cringing at the sudden pain. no, he could not sleep. not right now. 

luke wasn’t phased by the man’s rough tone. he already had done so much for him—who was he to nitpick his attitude? he had only opened his eyes just in time to catch the bacta patch tossed his way, not wasting a moment before opening it with his teeth. a smile flickered on his lips. “ i think i can manage. ”

the jedi lowered his hood for the first time, dust covered blond hair flying every which way from the explosion. he tenderly moved aside his torn robes, cringing at the site of the biggest gash on his side. that...well. that didn’t look great. he tried not to linger on the gaping wound before placing the bacta patch overtop. the cold initially sent a shock of pain up his spine, although he quickly sunk into the cushions once more from relief. 

@ofdcthomir​ said: “ is it true? what they say about you? ”

HIS BACK IS TURNED AWAY FROM THE STRANGER, A SMALL UNSEEN SMILE DANCING BETWEEN HIS LIPS AT THE QUESTION. while luke did not exactly REVEL in the hero-worship that seemed to follow him, he could not deny the twinge of interest that followed whenever somebody knew who he was—even if it could make him feel unsteady more times than not. the jedi turns around, watching the woman with a curious sparkle in his eyes. beside him, artoo let out a string of beeps, essentially asking who the hell this woman was...was she a threat? he didn’t think so—yet something about her force presence was difficult to pin down. 

his reply is half self-indulgent, and half a result of uncertainty. was what they said about him that he had SLAIN the emperor, along with his harbinger of death darth vader? or, perhaps did they speak of his inhumane feats, that meant he must be anything but human?

@fatherbeforeme​ ASKED:  “  i  really  don’t  want  to  fight.  ”

TRUTHFULLY, neither does Kerian. And his posture conveys just that as he lowers his weapon, expression still guarded. He’s willing to lower his weapon but not his complete defenses, it seems.

 “Yeah? Plenty of  people runnin’ their gobs with the same thing who then VERY much turned out to want to fight.” he doesn’t like the VIBE of things, that electric crawl beneath his skin, it settles like a dull thrum in the back of his head.

“So what DO you want to do with me, hm?”

HE CLOSES HIS EYES FOR THE BRIEFEST OF MOMENTS WHILE CONTEMPLATING HIS RESPONSE. sight was not useful, not right now. luke reached out with the force, stunned at the unique force presence standing in front of him. that—paired with the subtle yet DISTINCT imprint of a kyber crystal on his person—was enough for his interest to be more than struck. hood remaining overcast, blue eyes open once more. 

the stranger’s words cause his lips to twitch into something resembling a smile. he shrugs beneath his robes, hoping to likewise appear unthreatening. docile. “ to talk. to learn, maybe. ” the twitch of his lips turns into something a bit more curious. “ ...like, how you came to possess a lightsaber. ” did he gamble the jump from kyber crystal to lightsaber? maybe. 

@carriedhope​ said: “ i… i thought you’d be taller, for some reason. ”

HE FELT HIM BEFORE HE SAW HIM. wisps of the force seemed to gravitate towards his presence, stretching across the miles that separated them on the ashy—like calls to like. his presence was still COLOSSAL among the other living beings that scurried in the space between...but it was no longer overbearing and stifling as it once was. it was...well, subdued wasn’t the right word either...

it wasn’t like obi-wan, who had felt like a piece of weathered driftwood, strong despite the years of hardship and pain. and it wasn’t like yoda either, the resilience and certainty of the wind that never seemed to stop billowing. and it was even unlike the vader he had met among the halls of bespin, a storm of DEATH AND DARKNESS so strong that every breath felt like a struggle to inhale. no. it was...

lighter.

it was lighter.

luke’s feet picked up their pace, feeling like a young school boy as he held back the urge to break into a full-on sprint. he was here. he was here. any worries of the new republic, of the jedi order, of all of it were pushed aside. he would let himself have today. beside him, artoo struggled to keep up, a beep of protest sounding off from the droid. “ you insisted on coming with, ” he quipped with a small laugh, smile upon his lips as he ducked under a fallen tree branch with ease. “ i wonder what we’ll even talk about... ” he mused quietly, half to artoo, half to himself. but really, what would luke not want to talk to him about?

the distance between them closed into mere feet. and then he saw him. HIS FATHER. his father. in a dazed state, luke yanked the hood off his head, unable to do anything but stare. his fatherhisfatherhisf—

@fatherbeforeme​

Puppy didn’t ask questions when it came to his work. He didn’t say anything, in fact, which was something his employers often liked about him.

So in this case, when he was contacted to go to some dusty little planet in the middle of nowhere that wasn’t supposed to have anybody on it, he didn’t ask why he was being paid a disproportionately high amount of credits to do it. He was even given a small scout ship to borrow to get there and back with. Very unusually generous, for the types of people he was used to working for.

Maybe the planet had hazardous weather or atmosphere? Maybe dangerous fauna or flora? He couldn’t be sure until he arrived.

Yet, he was able to land without incident, and the landscape looked grassy, slightly mountainous, but the terrain wasn’t particularly difficult. No large or predatory-looking animals roaming around, from what he could see. Just some old ruins, with a staircase that led down underground - which Puppy had been told about, so he headed down. He proceeded cautiously but there were no traps, strange doors, or other obstacles like one might expect of ruins hiding something valuable.

Following the underground corridor, he eventually found the object on a shelf of some stone tablets and other artifacts. The thing looked… kind of like a rock. A crude sphere with some patterns carved all over it. Puppy wondered just what made it worth so much money, but that wasn’t his problem. So he reached for it - only to freeze and look over his shoulder when he heard some stones being displaced by footsteps down the corridor he had come through.

INFORMATION ON THE JEDI ORDER WAS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO COME BY. when the empire had, censored—no, obliterated any mention of the jedi, they had done so with the fervor of a thousand suns. his father had done so with the fervor of a thousand suns. say what you wanted about the empire, but they were nothing if not thorough. so, when luke had gained a tidbit, which had led to another tidbit, which had led to another tidbit, which had led to an ancient woman who knew of a planet rumored to home a temple—

well, let’s just say he was practically buzzing with anticipation by the time he saw the ruins in the distance.

able to sense the clear excitement coming from the jedi master, both artoo and grogu voiced,  both in no uncertain terms and in their own unique ways, that they would accompany him. he had chuckled...knowing full well that they would find a way to follow him no matter what his verdict was. they were quite the duo, when the set their minds to something. 

so, that is how luke found himself walking through the musty corridors, grogu sitting in the cloth backpack he had fashioned, artoo at his side. “ i can feel the history in the air, ” he said softly, his padawan gurgling in affirmation. yet, whatever laugh was about to escape his lips was cut short. he sensed—

somebody else was here.