22nd Transmission: Memories [Action/Written]

[thefinaljedi]

Action

[Waking up this morning had been harder for Luke that it’d been in a long, long time. The past few weeks had been trying, with nearly everyone around him seeming to fall apart at once. Friends and family arriving from home, fellow Jedi and other people familiar with life in that galaxy so very, very far away were a blessing, but admittedly a mixed one. Each new arrival had seemed to come bundled with a bantha laden with baggage, a load of new problems to be dumped onto the growing pile that seemed to be collecting around the house Luke had called home for a little over two years. That house had seen many people come and go, and every single one of them had their own share of troubles, but never quite as bad as this. Han, Leia, and Anakin had been a perfect storm, a genuine disaster that Luke had no idea how to even begin to approach, and yet he still felt responsible for finding a way to resolve some of the tension. Ahsoka hadn’t helped matters, tearing off without much word to anyone, and all of this wasn’t even taking into account how Obi-Wan must be feeling with his emotions beyond his control.

And then there was today.

A reminder pinned to his mental calendar, a day he’d broken down and just completely failed someone he was supposed to care about. The last time he’d spoken that someone, someone he’d never see again, and one of the few moments he’d ever really regretted in his time in Luceti.

And of course, that had to be the day the Malnosso fulfilled his mission point request for a house expansion. A little bit of cruel irony that he’d expanded the house to better accommodate the influx of people into a home that felt somehow…emptier…than it should have. The second floor was lovely and put together precisely how he’d requested, but somehow stained for him. So, rather than face that chasmal emptiness he gathered up a few things and just left. Enough was enough, and there was only so much tension and emotional turmoil that a single man could take, even with the Force to aid one’s mind.

Luke strides the through the village with a purpose, Artoo rolling along behind him and whistling solemnly, the empathetic little guy the only person with any real inkling of what was running through his head. His first stop is the clinic, where he carries out his early shift with mechanical precision, but once that’s over he silently takes his leave, slipping out the back with the droid. Next, an hour or so in the Battle Dome running through a series of gymnastic exercises, and then he heads to by both the item shop and the flower shop. From the item shop, he picks up a fishing pole, and the flower shop a single winter jasmine and a sprig of wolfsbane. Finally, he’ll end this trip on Cherry Blossom Hill, planting those flowers.

After that, Luke heads straight for the teleporter, and to a place where he’d always liked to go and think: the beach. Sitting in the shade of a tree, he writes out a few notes, though he tosses most of them away before sending out three. After doing that, he lays out under a tree with only his droid and a small, glowing box for company, losing himself in conversation with the two machines.]



Written, Private to Red (Gameverse)

Red,

I’m going to be a bit preoccupied for the next few days, I was wondering if I could count on you to look after Hamal for me.

Luke





Written, Private to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ben,

I’ll be away for the next few days. I need to get a little space from the house. I haven’t been kidnapped if anyone asks, I’m just out at the beach, fishing. If you need me, I’ll be out by the fort with Artoo.





Written, Private to Spock

Spock,

I’m sorry to bother you, but could you meet me down by the beach sometime in the next few days? I have a question for you and I’m not entirely comfortable asking about it over the journal.




[OOC: Luke will be out and about, and down at the Beach for the next few days, if anyone needs him or cares to run into him. Sorry for the lack of a more general message.]

Comments

[thefinaljedi]

I will be, of course.

[He smiles sadly, but nods as he takes it.]

It's funny, it's been a year since the incident. But it's only really hitting me now.

[wise_maiden]

... Sometimes things take longer to hit than we realize. [There's something in her tone at least that indicates that she knows that one all too well.] You may have been preoccupied with other situations. [Other losses. Or detaching himself in that way so as not to get overwhelmed.]

[thefinaljedi]

Still. [He trails off, distant and emotionless, like he's a bit lost.] It was after the invasion. Someone who was family. I should've taken the time sooner.

[wise_maiden]

You're taking the time now, which counts for something. Though I do know that guilt is it's own monster.

[thefinaljedi]

Yes. Yes it is. I just...I should have realized it...how I felt...before now. Arya deserves to be remembered.

[wise_maiden]

She's free of this world... which is a lot better than some of us.

[ For now, she thinks, because it's hard to say whether a person is truly free of the world or not. The line of thought is a little harsh, and she doesn't know all of the girl's circumstance... but she remembers her, and having talked to her. The memory garden is for memories, but there are times when it feels like something more. Something almost sinister. She doesn't like it.

... But she can't take that comfort from someone else. Not when she knows full well how much of a torture guilt is and how it's difficult to ease it away from others. ]

I'm sure she would be glad to know that you still think of her, Luke.

[thefinaljedi]

[Unfortunately, Luke has had the same thought. And the sense of guilt...of melancholy...that just suffuses the whole village has never sat well with him. Anakin had come four times now, and other friends easily as many.

Arya, his...not quite daughter...included.]

I hope so. She left after we'd had a rough patch. The invasion hit her hard.

[wise_maiden]

It's your entire life, rewritten... and for a girl like her who had experienced a lot in her world but was still unused to the experiences here... it really is no wonder.

[ And knowing now what they do about the truth of the invasion... ]

You never got to resolve... your bonds with her. This is your way of attempting peace.

[thefinaljedi]

Yeah. I guess so.

[He looks down at the plants, still somewhat numb.]

It's just...strange...because sometimes I still feel like she's my daughter.

[wise_maiden]

That's not so unusual, in this place, when you're manipulated... but at the same time, you can't push all of it aside, or even cast it all in that same negative light. [ Because they're experiences to be learned from, in some way or another, something she had struggled long and hard with. ] Especially when ... bonds are involved. It gets harder. It is harder.

[And she doesn't quite remember, if Luke was around the first time it happened. It wasn't that long ago, was it?]

But she's not really your daughter, though she could have become something else. A friend, a student... and it's that aspect that's really been taken from you. All you really have left is that emptiness.

[thefinaljedi]

No. She's not. It's...awkward...when I have those memories. Not always unpleasant...but never good.

[He was not around for the first one, but he's got his own insights with bonding. When a Force Bond is severed, like when someone close departs, it's a special breed of loss.]

She was a friend, though. The flowers are for her memory. [Something to fill that emptiness in, at least a little bit.]

Thank you, Raine. For listening.

[wise_maiden]

You're welcome, Luke.

[She nods, and glances over toward the gated section.] I'll go get the other plant for you, now.

[thefinaljedi]

Thank you again.

[He'll wait patiently this time, giving Artoo a little nod.]

[wise_maiden]

[ He'll be able to see her move through the back rows, though she has to pause to inspect a few of the plants - something to get back to later - before finding the plant she needs. After a few moments of deliberation she finds one that seems like it would suit Luke's needs and survive on it's own after being replanted -- before carefully removing it and slowly carrying it back through the gate. ]

... Here you go.

[thefinaljedi]

[He accepts it quietly, carefully taking the pot and avoiding contact.]

Thanks. I owe you.

[wise_maiden]

[She shakes her head.]

Don't worry about it. I hope it helps.

[Besides, as far as debts went, she was sure she'd have one over her for the few times he had seen over some of her clinic stays in the past.]