[The Space In Between]

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke thought that he'd been doing entirely too much thinking since coming aboard Stacy.

He knew that since he'd taken on the task of rebuilding the Order, he'd become less inclined to act before he thought about it first; it was as though the words of Yoda (Adventure--tch!  Excitement--heh!  A Jedi craves not these things) had taken root in his mind.  That was probably Yoda's goal.  But still, it seemed he'd found himself out on the Obs Deck, staring into the Bleed, far too often since awakening from podsleep.

Nonetheless, there was a lot on his mind, and his father was foremost among it all.  As it stood, Vader was a huge danger to anyone and everyone who got in his way on Stacy, and as much as Luke hated the idea of locking his own father up or somehow otherwise restraining his movement on the ship, he had to think of the rest of the crew too.

Sighing, Luke shifted a bit on the squishy seat, blue eyes half-closed and faraway.

Comments

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

Mara stepped up behind him, lightly, knowing he knew she was there. Her fingers trailed through his hair, a light and reassuring touch. She crouched down beside his chair and looked up at him. "Hey, Farmboy."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Mara's presence was always soothing to Luke, so when she ran her fingers through his hair, he smiled and moved over, making room for her to sit beside him. These squishy, fatty chairs made for pretty cozy conversation spots.

"Hey, Mara," he replied. "Was I thinking too loudly again?"

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

She stood to squish herself in next to him, sliding her legs over his. "Just a little. Of course, it's always easier for me to hear you."

Her fingers trailed through his hair again. "And maybe I just don't want to spend too many hours apart yet. We did that enough."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"Yes, we did." Luke leaned his forehead against his wife's, for a moment just basking in her presence. He hadn't thought he was going to ever have this again, this kind of calm that only Mara could bring, and he wasn't about to waste a second of it if he could at all help it.

"Sorry I was being so mentally disruptive, though," he said after a moment, draping an arm across her legs.

[craaazyisland]

"Hey, it's not often that you're the one looking all stressed out."

Steve must have been practicing his ninja routine to sneak up on Luke like that. He grinned and had a seat at the seat next to him. "What's up?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for Steve, Luke was a Jedi and could thus sense people sneaking up on him when they weren't hiding their presences. But he could certainly pretend, and did pretend to be surprised, and smiled. Steve was like a second son to Luke, and talking with him always made Luke feel pretty good.

"There's just a lot on my mind right now," he said. "The last podpop brought in some people who could sure cause a lot of trouble around here, and since I currently hold the highest Jedi rank, they look to me for guidance. They're tough decisions."

[craaazyisland]

He hated to admit it, but it was kind of nice not being the one with the problem for once. Poor Luke had already coached Steve through an entire high school's worth of issues. Steve liked helping other people out for a change.

"You shouldn't frown so much. It makes you look old," Steve teased. "What kind of people are you talking about?"

[starlightace]

A friendly and gentle voice from behind him. "You look like you have something on your mind," Nanoha smiled softly.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke looked up and smiled in return. "Yeah. A few somethings, actually, but mostly one big something is dominating the conversation."

[starlightace]

Nanoha nodded. "Well, if you need someone to vent to, I'm told I'm a good listener."

[governorkang]

Except for podpops, Kang didn't come up to the observation deck all that often, being too busy with other things, but it seemed like every time he did, he saw that particular human. And this time, it looked like the man had a lot on his mind. Curiousity piqued, he stood next to the squishy couch, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked out at the Bleed, "It's a little creepy, isn't it? Seeing nothing but red out there."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke blinked a few times--he'd been staring and his eyes were dry--and sat back in the squishy chair rather than leaning forward. "It is, but it can also be a little calming when one's thoughts are otherwise in turmoil."

[governorkang]

"I'm too used to blue. Never left my world before this ship," Kang shrugged his wings. "Did you get your memories restored, or is it something else?"

[icy-alderaanian.livejournal.com]

Winter saw Luke sitting in thought and hesitated before she went to him. Now, and previously when she had seen him, he seemed much older and more wearied than she remembered him. Of course, she remembered him at his wedding, and in the aftermath. A happier time, when the Empire was no longer their enemy, and he was a newlywed.

"Skywalker," she said evenly, looking out for a moment. "Not worried about some local version of hyper-rapture?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"I'm hoping someone would be kind enough to come along eventually and snap me out of it before it got to that," Luke replied, bowing his head slightly. "Hello, Winter. How's it going?"

[icy-alderaanian.livejournal.com]

"As well as can be expected," she told him, letting a wry twist come to her lips. "I'm glad that Tycho's here, but..." Winter shrugged.

She was a little melancholy herself.

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

"Hey." Ben plopped down in one of the comfortable chairs opposite his father, balancing a half-finished tray of goo on the armrest. "Is this family worrying time?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke smiled. They could be hurtling toward the end of all things, and Ben would still think about eating first. "It must be. Though if you're busy--" he pointed at the tray "--you don't have to sit here and worry with me."

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

"I'm multitasking," he noted, which was the exact moment that his omnicomm buzzed with an incoming message. He pulled it out and grimaced. "So Ana -- granddad doesn't want me doing Rogue support work. I don't know if I should feel offended or... what."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

Luke wasn't the only one who worried.

Obi-Wan hadn't dared go and see Vader. No, his name was Anakin, or it had been. It seemed impossible in his mind to reconcile the twisted, roiling hatred in Vader's very Force-presence with the dedication and strength he'd always known from his one-time Padawan.

Vader was more than merely Sith, he was a pit of anger and hate. Anakin had been dark at times, but he'd grown up in a time of war- he'd been destined to kill Sith, right from the beginning.

To kill...

Obi-Wan looked up and found he'd wandered into the obs deck, that he'd been staring blindly into the bleed for some time. And then he saw Luke.

"It can never be easy, can it," he sighed, and it wasn't a question.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"No, I don't believe it can," Luke replied, once identifying who it was who was speaking to him. He felt a little bad for having simply dropped that torpedo on Obi-Wan; Ben was right, he could have eased into it. But the truth was easier to say straight-out, and Obi-Wan would have found out sooner or later just who the man was.

"I think it must have something to do with my family," he mused. "We have a knack for trouble."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"I really should have known that from the start," It was so much easier to hide behind jokes and a veneer of distance than to meet the real issue, "The week I met Anakin, I participated in the first duel any Jedi had ever had with a Sith in millenia."

But that wasn't a happy memory either. Obi-Wan clasped his hands behind his back and frowned. He wasn't an old Jedi, though by many standards he'd lived into ripe old age already, but worry-lines still creased his face. They deepened every year.

"That's how I lost my Master, as well..." He mused quietly, then shook his head, "How is Ben taking it?"

[sonofalderaan.livejournal.com]

Tycho sat down quietly near Luke on a near by couch, and didn't say anything, just nodded his head slightly in greeting. If Luke wanted to talk, he could talk, but if he didn't, Tycho didn't want to interrupt. If anyone apreciated the value of quiet, it was Tycho.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke let the silence go on for a little bit, staring out across the Bleed. It was both like and unlike hyperspace entirely, and easily lulled one into a fuzzy state of thinking.

But Luke didn't forget Tycho was there, and eventually spoke. "Winter told me you had your memories restored."

[sonofalderaan.livejournal.com]

A raised eyebrow was the only outward sign of surprise Tycho gave at the unexpected subject.

"I did," he said calmly. "I need to talk to Wedge about having a briefing for the Squadron about the Ohm, now that we know some more about them."

A beat and then, "you talked to Winter?" Tycho would have loved to spend all his time with her, now that she was awake, but he had squadron work to do, which she understood. They were good about that, it was one of the reasons they were so compatible; both understood the importance of the other's work, and neither begrudged the other the time away. Still, Tycho felt guilty; being new to Stacy was a difficult transition, and while Winter certainly didn't need him to hold her hand over everything, and in fact would probably tell him (calmly) off if he tried, he still wished he could be there for her more. She was a grown woman though, who had been in plenty of difficult situations of her own, and he really did have a lot of work to do with the new volunteers. But now that an opportunity had presented itself, Tycho couldn't help but ask, "how did she seem?"

It would be like her to not tell him everything that was going on because she intended to deal with it herself.