Cityscape Meditations [Open]

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

Breathe, inhale, count again.

It had taken Obi-Wan hours to find a place flat and open enough to do this in. He'd originally wanted a clearing or courtyard, but in the end the only thing that had turned up was a flat rooftop near what he'd dubbed the "North" end of the strange city in this insane place.

Step, turn back, begin again. Third form, faster now; breathe, inhale, and lift—

Comforting basics, he'd run this form a thousand times or more. He'd mastered it. There were no fancy moves, nor clever flourishes in this calm ballet. The Lightsaber hilt was warm and comforting in his hand; familiar design, familiar grip, the hum a constant stream of nostalgia near his ear as Obi-Wan whirled it again into the third stance, then the fourth.

Start again, faster, faster, the blade became and arc of light, blinding quick in time with hurried, open-mouthed breaths, less meditation than workout, now. One arm extended in a lunge— that was a touch of form two, unneeded. Calmer, slower, hold and block, it was like shadowboxing as the Jedi ran through the exercise, imagining with eyes closed a barrage of enemies and blaster-fire against a lone man and a beam of trapped power. The mock-fight cusped and faded, and in the wake left peace. This was the will of the Force glowing bright within him, re-centered and ready to face whatever this experience threw at him. If he wasn't meant to be here, then he wouldn't. Whatever else may be happening, he must be able to do some good in this place. That was his duty, as a Jedi Master, as a tool and expression of the Force within him.

And he opened his eyes, look up and smiled as the hissing crackle of a deactivating Lightsaber punctuated his meditational exercise, "Well, hello. Come for a lesson, have we?"

Comments

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke brought his saber up double-handed, blocking the strike inches from his face. The combined heat of the sabers warmed his skin for a moment before he brought his blade around, the tip describing an arc through the air as he made an attempt to knock Obi-Wan's saber wide and expose his front.

"But how often do career military beings or government leaders listen to that?" Luke asked. "Jedi aren't an army, no matter where our allegiances lie--with the government or with ourselves, and yet we keep being asked to be such."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"I'm really not the one to be asking, I volunteered for this position," Obi-Wan returned, moving his blade with Luke's rather than against it, they circled round and with an expert flick twitched the weapon so that the momentum was carried through the blade to the hilt and neatly out of Luke's hands.

Still active, the blue blade inscribed a bright arc, scored a line of charred black in the rooftop and stuck there, suspending the hilt an an awkward angle in the easily melted tar of the roof. Slowly it drooped, dripping down until the it clattered to the floor, striking some switch there and deactivating the blade. Obi-Wan stepped back to allow his sparring partner to retrieve his weapon, "I'm not distracting you, am I? Anakin hates it when I lecture him during these lessons. I'll admit, that's the main reason I do it."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"It's nothing unwelcome," Luke said, calling his lightsaber back to his hand and flicking bits of tar off it. Looks like that kid who wanted to see me do maintenance on my lightsaber will get his chance after all, Luke thought with a bit of a smile. The weapon was due for a cleaning and a once-over anyway. Luke liked to take care of it.

The mention of his father, though, made him pause, blue eyes dropping a bit. Meeting Anakin as he was before his fall hadn't been anything like what Luke may have anticipated. Of course, he had little enough reference for it, but he could still imagine it going much better.

"Anakin doesn't like me," he said. "He doesn't seem to like much of anything."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"He's...Anakin never did react well to unexpected stress," Obi-Wan conceded with a sigh, rubbing one hand down his face, "Don't think too much of it. We've both been on the rim for far too long. Coming off the front lines— the adjustment isn't easy for anyone. He's usually much more polite, if it's any consolation."

He knew it wasn't, but it wouldn't help Luke to be told so to his face. Either Anakin would be patient, or Luke would capitulate. Sooner or later, everything would even out. Why was it so difficult between them, "He's quite stubborn that you're hiding something important from him."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke sighed, rubbing his temple with one hand. This was more painful than he'd thought it would be. To meet your father, and be disliked by your father--well. He still remembered pulling off Vader's mask and finding his father underneath, seeing Anakin's Force-ghost at the celebration on Endor. Even in the blue haze of the netherworld, Anakin's eyes had shone with that clear Skywalker blue.

"We should talk," he said quietly. "It's not good for there to be dissent among us, if we're expected to fight together."

Another moment, a deep, calming breath. Luke let the Force carry away his worries in its flow. "But until things get resolved, there isn't much any of us can do about it. Let's continue."