empiresbaneâ:
Arenât You A Little Tall For A Brother?
âThe Evaporators on the ridge,â Leia repeatedly blankly. She shook her head, frustrated. âLuke, I donât know what youâre talking about.â What a silly boy. Did he think that his ridge, wherever that was, was something universally known? Leia was from Alderaan, one of the best and most important planets in the entire Empire, and even she knew better than to assume that everybody she met knew everything about the palace and its grounds, or sometimes even the biggest features of the planet. Luke might not even know what her favorite waterfalls looked like! But she was supposed to know about some ridge that he didnât even name? How annoying.
Leia scuffed her foot, then stopped at Lukeâs question and looked at him instead. âHe didnât tell me anything.â She shook her head, her frustration shifting from her brother to Ben. âHeâs not veryâŚâ What was the phrase her mother used? Oh, right: âNot very forthcoming, if you havenât noticed. He didnât even tell me I had a brother until he came in with you, and there were loads of times he could have said something about you while he was rescuing me if heâd wanted to. Or even if he didnât.â Leiaâs frown deepened and she added, âAlthough I guess he sort of didnât rescue me, since he didnât take me back to my parents? So Iâm not sure it counts as a rescue, actually.â
She bit her lip, thinking hard. Saying that Ben hadnât rescued her felt mean and unfair, because he had â but heâd been supposed to rescue her by taking her home, and he hadnât. Heâd changed his mind, and said she couldnât go back â not yet. Because it was too dangerous, and somebody would only kidnap her again, and maybe this time theyâd hurt her mom and dad to get to her. Leia didnât want that, of course, butâŚ
âI guess he kind of kidnapped me from my kidnappers?â she told her brother finally, shrugging weakly. âAnd I guess heâŚsort of maybe kidnapped you too?â
âIt doesnât matter. Not really,â he shrugged, realizing that it didnât. And explaining it would probably just make him feel even more like the dumb farm kid he was definitely feeling like at that moment. âItâs just a thing at the farm.âÂ
Luke had no idea what forthcoming meant, but he felt like he could sort of feel it out. âItâs not like I know much of anything, either,â he offered. âItâs good, though. Like, I know you exist now, so thatâs all okay.âÂ
Her explanation was kind of funny, but it didnât feel like the kind of funny that you laughed at. He thought it over for a minute, but he decided that Leiaâs description really didnât feel entirely correct. âI donât think that kidnappers usually come to your house and get your aunt and uncle to agree before they take you,â he offered, finally. âI think Iâm more like... I donât know... I wasnât really kidnapped, is all.âÂ
âWhat are they like?â he asked. âYour parents, I mean.â















