A fun little ficlet

[matril]

Darn. It's 2008 and I didn't meet my goal to submit my novel for publication by the end of the year. It's not that I ran out of time working on it; it's about as ready as it'll ever be. I'm just a coward. But I'm not going to give up just because I couldn't find enough courage by December 31 - I mentioned this to my family and I expect I'll have them all kicking me in the backside until I go ahead and submit it.

Meanwhile, I got an idea for a rather humorous post-ROTJ scene (which completely ignores the EU, thank you very much) and I thought it would be a good idea to sharpen up my writing skills. So here we go.


It had become almost absurdly easy to call on Obi-Wan or Yoda - not quite as simple as clicking on a commlink, but not far from that. Father was a bit harder to reach; apparently the pursuit of peace that had eluded him in life was keeping him very busy in the afterlife. But in any case it was one or both of his old masters that Luke was hoping to speak to this time. He couldn't keep a slight smile from slipping onto his face as he summoned them in the solitude of his meditation chamber, already anticipating their reaction to what he was going to ask.

Yoda had the look of someone who had been woken from a long sleep, but there was no annoyance in his tone as he nodded at Luke. "A question you have for me?"

"Yes, Master Yoda." Luke fought back his smile. "I've been retrieving the old archives here on Coruscant, the ones that escaped the Emperor's purge. It's been quite fascinating to read about the Republic and the Order." He noted the smallest bit of discomfiture slide across Yoda's face before being hastily hidden. With careful casualness Luke went on, "There's a few things about the Order you never mentioned, Master Yoda."

"Hmph. A storyteller, I am not," Yoda said evasively.

"That's all right. Artoo has already told me plenty of stories," Luke said pleasantly. "But there's something in the archives that was new to me." He looked sideways at Yoda. "This no-marriage rule in the Jedi Order." Yes, Yoda was definitely squirming. "It seemed to be considered quite important. Very strictly enforced. And yet in all my training, both by you and Ben, I never heard about it."

"More important things, there were..." Yoda was actually muttering.

"Ah, I see." Luke paused. "It's strange, though. Between what I've heard from Artoo, and what I've pieced together from the archives, it would seem that much of my father's problems came from the fact that he wasn't supposed to marry my mother. Isn't that right?"

Yoda was practically scowling. "Speak to Obi-Wan, you should. His apprentice, Anakin was."

Obi-Wan appeared almost instantaneously, looking positively sheepish. "You've been listening all this time, haven't you?" Luke said. Ben's face took on that "certain point of view" look, and Luke hastily went on before he could say anything. "So what's your answer, Obi-Wan? Why not mention this rule that carried such great importance with the Order?"

Ben frowned uncomfortably. "Times have changed, Luke. Different circumstances, you know...with all the other Jedi killed off..."

Luke looked from Obi-Wan to Yoda, seeing them exchange a glance. He blinked. "You were hoping I could breed more Jedi for you."

Obi-Wan flinched. "Such an uncivilized word."

Luke found himself laughing. "But true nonetheless."

"Please try to understand," Ben said desperately. "Your midichlorian count is considerable. You and your sister are the only ones we knew of with any potential Jedi powers. To counsel against marriage would have been -"

"Oh, I'm not angry," Luke said, finally feeling sympathy for his old master's obvious discomfort. "I can't help thinking that if my father had followed this no-marriage rule, my sister and I wouldn't exist. I'm amused, really. Especially when I imagine how Leia would have responded to anyone who tried to keep her from marrying Han." Even Ben had to let out a chuckle. "The thing is, I'm planning on getting married myself." He was pleased to see both Yoda and Obi-Wan completely flabbergasted. "It's someone I met in Mos Espa while looking for my father's old home," he went on smoothly. "Smart, kind, very level-headed, though she's certainly up for a bit of excitement every now and then. I don't suppose I could find anyone better suited to be married to a Jedi. Besides, I love her." He smiled.

Yoda found his voice first. "This woman, is she -?"

"Sensitive to the Force? Sorry, no," Luke answered pleasantly. "Midichlorians not much higher than the average count. I admit being quite relieved. If she had Jedi potential, she would have to be my pupil. I'd rather she were my partner." He looked at both his old masters. "Now are you going to try to discourage me?"

Obi-Wan laughed outright. "I know better than to try to keep a Skywalker from marrying." His face took on an expression that Luke supposed was an attempt at mock seriousness. "You do realize it's your duty to produce as many children as possible."

"Hmm. I think that decision is up my wife," Luke laughed. "But being a father is a duty I'll take on more gladly than any other."

Comments

[krpalmer.livejournal.com]

This was indeed a fun little story, and I was especially interested by the surprise of just why Obi-Wan and Yoda were soft-pedalling the "no marriage" rule to Luke... although I have to admit that the story inspired me as much to contemplation "beyond" it as it did "of" it. As you can see, I seem to have contemplated at length...

The bit about Luke being able to reach his two old mentors with great ease, as you said, gave me a calm yet somehow fascinated "non-EU" feeling right off the bat, but then I was wondering about Luke having his very own "meditation chamber"; maybe I was thinking a little too much about Darth Vader's little pod. After that, of course, I started wondering about Yoda and Obi-Wan wanting Luke to have children to provide Jedi candidates; I was perhaps thinking they would have been more interested in just getting him to a stage where he could defeat the two Sith Lords, and they'd start worrying about "rebuilding the Order" after that; to me, I could see them "trusting in the Force" to have Jedi candidates show up like I presume they did in the old days, and my own explanation for them not bringing up the "no marriage" rule would be just in the hopes that this would help keep Luke from asking questions about his background. (Although I'm also wondering now if the Empire might have spun a bit of anti-Jedi propaganda along the lines of "We all know just how 'unpleasant' repressed people get, right?")

The bit at the end where Luke talks about having found someone to marry was also a surprise for me, of course in a "non-EU" way, and yet I did seem to wonder about it a bit more than I had about the other ideas of the story. I admit I stopped reading the EU novels altogether right about the time Luke got married (not for that particular reason), and tend to associate him being paired off with Mara Jade with memories of assorted fanfics arguing in no uncertain terms that they were "Destined" for each other and yet being unable to remember any moment in the "Zahn trilogy" that seemed especially romantic to my admittedly young-at-the-time mind... Maybe, though, attempts to envision "someone else" still feel a little odd to me because my fallback position is "He'll be a monk..." In any case, I was interested in the bit about him being relieved he's found a "partner," not a "pupil," but wondered a little about "one half of the relationship feels they're missing out..." and then remembered that I simply don't imagine that happening with Padme and Anakin, and then remembered I simply don't imagine that happening with Han and Leia, either.

[matril.livejournal.com]

Yes, we have two fine examples of happy Jedi/non-Jedi pairs. True, Anakin and Padmé's relationship falls apart, but certainly not because she's not a Jedi. And true, Leia's not technically a Jedi in the films, but there's no indication that her potential powers are going to hurt her relationship with Han. So why not Luke?

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

I like it! I can see a union like that working very well - after all, A. and I are, in many ways, completely skill-less in each others' areas of expertise, but that just makes it more interesting; we learn things from each other and the lack of direct competition is also nice (for me; I think A. would be able to handle it). Are you going to write any more about Luke's new Significant Other? (I'm only vaguely acquainted with the EU, so while I know who Mara Jade is it doesn't bother me to have her displaced).

That's a good idea about sharpening up with fanfic. I'm a fanfic reader, not writer, but as I haven't written a thing for two months (plenty of ideas, but no inclination thanks to various factors, also not much time) I think it might give that idea a whirl. I've had questions rattling around in my brain about, of all people, Miss Grey from Sense and Sensibility. Why, oh why, when she with her money could have her pick of men, would she choose Willoughby? I don't mean that it's unrealistic - women with every advantage threw themselves away as often then as they do now - but why in her particular instance? Hmm...must think ...

[matril.livejournal.com]

I don't much buy the "opposites attract" idea - people ought to have something in common, after all! - but there's definitely something to be said for the balance of having skills in different areas. Too much competition can be a bad thing.

You've sparked my interest with the Miss Grey story - she's totally and completely unsympathetic, which would make it rather fun to explore her motivations.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Nice ficlet. may_child would love the fact Luke's intended isn't Mara ;).

[matril.livejournal.com]

I'm always glad to please fellow Mara-haters. :)

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

I like it! I'm always up for takes on post-RotJ continuity that don't reference the EU one whit. ;)

[matril.livejournal.com]

Glad to oblige. :)