[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.

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[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"He seems to be handling it better than Mara or I, actually," Luke said, getting up. It didn't feel... right, not respectful enough, to be sitting when his mentor stood. He walked over until he was beside Obi-Wan, arms crossed and staring out into the Bleed still.

"I think it's because he didn't know my father--not in the way you knew him, as an apprentice and a young man and a friend, and not as the force of darkness that he was for me. He knows his family history, of course, but it wasn't reality for him until now." Luke looked at Obi-Wan, the reddish light from outside casting dark blood-red shadows on the other man's face. In this, Obi-Wan looked much older, more like the hermit that Luke had known growing up.

For some reason, that made Luke sad. He'd enjoyed getting to know this younger Obi-Wan, the man at the height of his ability. He didn't want to see his family ruin that, even though he knew it would happen... had happened... whatever.

"He's much more flexible than you or I, in that way."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"Hm," Obi-Wan agreed, noncommittally, and forced his hands to relax from their white-knuckled clenching, "He's a very fine Jedi, Luke. You should be proud of how you've trained him. You're a remarkable teacher."

He thought about that, about Luke's demeanor. How very different from his father. How truly, utterly...balanced Luke could seem. He couldn't ever remember Anakin like that. Perhaps that was Vader's true failing, but a craftsman never blames the wood for his own flaws.

"Better than I ever was, I'll wager."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

That made Luke smile a bit, stand up straighter. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the man who had handed him Anakin's lightsaber, complimenting Luke's methods of teaching! It was something Luke had always wondered about, and now had an answer for. "You were a great teacher," Luke said. "You are a great teacher, and a great man."

Luke turned to stare outside again, silent for a few moments. Obi-Wan, in the Force, was a light dimmed for now by sadness and regrets. Now he could begin to see where some of the stoop in old Ben's shoulders had come from.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Luke said, taking a stab at the reason for Obi-Wan's mood. "I don't believe it, anyway."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"I was never meant to be his Master at all," Obi-Wan rebuked, a wry, sad smile playing around the corner of his mouth a moment, before fading. He closed his eyes and the red-white flares played across his vision in a blurred, blood-tinged dance while he thought.

"Looking back...I should have- how did it come to this? What was I missing?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"You trained him in the way you knew best, and if the short time I had to train under you was any indication, you really were great," Luke replied. Obi-Wan's words echoed back to him mentally, though.

I thought I could instruct him as well as Yoda. I was wrong.

While Yoda and Obi-Wan had made Luke their weapon against the Emperor, here at this point in his life Luke was nonetheless grateful for their teachings. It had formed the basis of an Order that had seen more military action than a group of peacekeepers ought to, and it had served Luke well through his years of teaching.

"Dwelling on the past doesn't get us anywhere," he said. "We can only move forward right now."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"You're right, and I'm sorry," Obi-Wan replied and gave Luke a deep nod, one that represented a much more respectful bow than he usually gave to the Grandmaster. They had been...unorthodox in their friendliness, where cool formality had traditionally reigned supreme.

"So often, lately, I find that I am the past," And the deep breath was like a draft of cool air across his face. Yes, of course Luke was right- and Master Jinn would have agreed with him. Live in the moment, Kenobi, or have your forgotten everything you learned? Obi-Wan managed a smile for his once and future apprentice, "But we can't afford to get mired in that, can we? I will have to face him, but I have no intention of letting it come to a fight, if I can."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"I think it might help you both," Luke said. "He's... wild, I think, is a nice way to put it. He's angry and afraid. But if the two of you talking--even if it's just arguing at first--if that helps one or both of you along your paths, I'll be happy."

And he broke into a smile at that, at the thought of both Obi-Wan and Vader finding a peaceful place where, if they weren't friends again, they were at least not trying to kill each other. Perhaps it wasn't anything more than wishful thinking, one of the idealistic dreams that Mara would tease him about later with that quicksilver smile of hers, but it was something Luke could hope for.

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it would have been an argument, regardless," he assured Luke, remembering the countless pointless, petty arguments he and Anakin had scrapped over throughout the war.

"I just..." He sighed and folded his arms, then finally turned away from the bleed and smiled at Luke instead, "No, nevermind. Have you been speaking with Arha, lately?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"Here and there. We've done a little training together in the Sensorium." Luke tilted his head curiously. "I'd have thought the two of you see each other a lot. Why?"

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"There's no reason, and you're right we do," He mused, stroking at his beard, "It's nothing to concern yourself over. I think, for now, I'll refrain from visiting...your father. It hardly seems right to give him a heart attack before he's recovered enough to stand on his own feet."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke gave his friend a quizzical look, but knew when to let something go, and respectfully did. "I'm sure he wouldn't have a heart attack right away," Luke said encouragingly. "Just once he's been a few minutes in accusing you of stealing my sister and I away from him."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"You know, I haven't met her!" He grinned, "It's Leia, isn't it? How's she setting in?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke broke into a grin. "Leia Organa," he said, stopping himself from adding Solo to the end of it. While he knew in his time that Leia and Han married, for the time being they weren't, and Leia could get prickly when she was offended. "As far as I know, she seems to be handling herself with her usual poise. I think." His brow creased. "I'd know if she was in any trouble."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"If she's anything like her mother, I have no doubt she's everything but taken over," he chuckled, "Which reminds me, I must apologize if you feel I've kept anything from you. Senator Amidala has been a good friend of mine since my days as a padawan."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"We found out her identity a few years ago, from holorecordings Artoo had in his memory," Luke explained. "And from there we were able to find more information at least on her professional life. There's... not much to find on her personal life." He was quiet. "Were the two of you close?"

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"Yes, she was...is my friend," He replied warmly, smiling at the memory. It seemed like another lifetime, sitting around a desk in Coruscant, sipping tea and caf and arguing about the role of the Jedi in this political conflict or another, "Though obviously not as close as I'd have thought, given the circumstances. Still, I knew her very well. Padme is a remarkable woman."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"She seemed very kind," Luke said softly. "Just based on what she championed in the Senate."

[jedimacguyver.livejournal.com]

"She was..." Obi-Wan trailed off. How does a man sumaraize a woman like Padme to her own son, long grown and aging?

"She was very beautiful," He began again, holding the image of her in his mind, "Kind, but often sad. I believe she felt every death in the Clone Wars personally, which made her negotiations as a senator all the more vital. I respected her for that- dedication to duty is no small burden, and not easy for anyone."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"Like my sister," Luke said with a smile. "I think Leia and our mother would have been the two to get along the best. She always had a mind for politics, and it was all I could do to keep up with the Order once it got underway."