(no subject)
Title: Almost-but-not-Quite
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Kyp Durron
Prompt: #1 -- Beginnings
Word Count: 503
Rating: G
Author's Notes: Kyp tells a little girl the story of how her parents met. Introspective angst with a bit of fluff. Unbeta’ed but proofread by me.
“Uncle Kyp?” Her voice is quiet and muffled from where she rests her head against his chest.
“Hmm?” Kyp is content in this moment, lying across his couch, his hold-daughter curled up atop his chest, the both of them almost-but-not-quite asleep.
“Will you tell me a story?”
“About what?” Kyp can no longer remember the stories from his childhood and so the only stories he knows now are war stories and his almost-but-not-quite niece is too young and innocent to be burdened with that knowledge.
“How did Mama and Papa meet?” She shifts a little and raises her head to look him directly in the eye. Since the moment she was born, he has been putty in her hands and nothing can change that now and so instead of refusing, Kyp merely ponders where to start.
“Your mama and papa met a long time ago, in a very beautiful place that went away not long after that.” It was so long ago, Kyp thinks. After Miko, but before Ganner. A whole lifetime of regret ago.
“They saw each other for the first time at a big fancy ceremony, but they had been flying together before that. Your papa said hello to your mama before almost everyone else there.” He doesn’t even try to explain the political ramifications of the father’s actions to the daughter. She is much too young to understand how twisted the galaxy was and still is.
“How come they never met before that?” Her voice is muffled again as she once more rests her head on his chest. She yawns widely and buries her face in the soft fabric of his tunic.
“At the time, there were bad guys who were trying to take over the galaxy and do terrible things. Both your mama and your papa were very busy trying to fight the bad guys that they never had time to meet before then.” It is almost-but-not-quite true, Kyp thinks. Still, he doesn’t tell her that her parents had started off on different sides of a three-sided war, their two sides working together against the third, but still not quite friendly towards each other.
“Did they beat the bad guys?” She is nearly asleep; Kyp can hear it in her voice.
“Yeah, they did.” His voice is a whisper now, full of regret. They beat the bad guys, but they lost so much along the way. Most labeled the war a victory on their part, but Kyp knew that wasn’t the case. It was a winning loss, an oxymoron. They won the war, but they lost themselves in the process.
“Good.” The word is no more than an exhalation before she is asleep, her breathing deep and even. Someday, she will know the full story; will understand that not every story has a happy ending, that her parents had to lose themselves before they could find each other, that no one comes away from conflict without scars. But for now, she will remain innocent. And Kyp is almost-but-not-quite content.
End
My Big Damn Table
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Kyp Durron
Prompt: #1 -- Beginnings
Word Count: 503
Rating: G
Author's Notes: Kyp tells a little girl the story of how her parents met. Introspective angst with a bit of fluff. Unbeta’ed but proofread by me.
“Uncle Kyp?” Her voice is quiet and muffled from where she rests her head against his chest.
“Hmm?” Kyp is content in this moment, lying across his couch, his hold-daughter curled up atop his chest, the both of them almost-but-not-quite asleep.
“Will you tell me a story?”
“About what?” Kyp can no longer remember the stories from his childhood and so the only stories he knows now are war stories and his almost-but-not-quite niece is too young and innocent to be burdened with that knowledge.
“How did Mama and Papa meet?” She shifts a little and raises her head to look him directly in the eye. Since the moment she was born, he has been putty in her hands and nothing can change that now and so instead of refusing, Kyp merely ponders where to start.
“Your mama and papa met a long time ago, in a very beautiful place that went away not long after that.” It was so long ago, Kyp thinks. After Miko, but before Ganner. A whole lifetime of regret ago.
“They saw each other for the first time at a big fancy ceremony, but they had been flying together before that. Your papa said hello to your mama before almost everyone else there.” He doesn’t even try to explain the political ramifications of the father’s actions to the daughter. She is much too young to understand how twisted the galaxy was and still is.
“How come they never met before that?” Her voice is muffled again as she once more rests her head on his chest. She yawns widely and buries her face in the soft fabric of his tunic.
“At the time, there were bad guys who were trying to take over the galaxy and do terrible things. Both your mama and your papa were very busy trying to fight the bad guys that they never had time to meet before then.” It is almost-but-not-quite true, Kyp thinks. Still, he doesn’t tell her that her parents had started off on different sides of a three-sided war, their two sides working together against the third, but still not quite friendly towards each other.
“Did they beat the bad guys?” She is nearly asleep; Kyp can hear it in her voice.
“Yeah, they did.” His voice is a whisper now, full of regret. They beat the bad guys, but they lost so much along the way. Most labeled the war a victory on their part, but Kyp knew that wasn’t the case. It was a winning loss, an oxymoron. They won the war, but they lost themselves in the process.
“Good.” The word is no more than an exhalation before she is asleep, her breathing deep and even. Someday, she will know the full story; will understand that not every story has a happy ending, that her parents had to lose themselves before they could find each other, that no one comes away from conflict without scars. But for now, she will remain innocent. And Kyp is almost-but-not-quite content.
End
My Big Damn Table