Author: Stephanie
Title: Just a Kid
Fandom: Star Wars (OT)
Pairing: Han/Luke
Rating: PG
Summary: Han's thoughts about Luke.
Kid makes him sound like he's five.
Hells, when Luke first climbed aboard all ready and eager and big blue
eyes he could have been five. The way he pouted, lower lip stuck out in
defiance and dirty locks of blond falling over his face like he'd just
been caught doing something wrong reminded Han of a child. Before
Han knew anything about him he was already calling him kid - the
perfect nickname for someone as young as Luke.
He gets upset about it, just like a kid would too. He tells Han he is
certainly not, pouting and kicking at the floor all the while, and it's
all Han can do not to laugh in his face. It's true that Luke isn't a
child, isn't some five year old trailing after Ben like a lost puppy,
but he does an awfully good impression. No, Han knows that Luke isn't a
kid. He's much too tall and handsome to be a young, awkward teenage
human and, as whiney as he can be, he is dedicated at least ten times
that much. But Han calls him kid anyway - at least until he can think
of something more fitting.
Kid makes him sound like a baby brother.
Han didn't have anything to base it on, but if he had a baby brother he
was betting he'd be named Luke. Always trying to impress him, just like
those little younglings running around the shopping bazaars of
Alderaan, trying to show their big brothers what they can do. That's
what Han is reminded of every time Luke looks at him with that 'I can,
too' look glowing on his face. The one that is always followed by the
kid doing something so stupid that Han invariably has to save him, no
matter how many times Han says to himself he's just going to up and
leave Luke to take care of himself. Of course, every time he says
something like that, Luke dares him to leave, saying he can take care
of himself without help from some scoundrel (and Han knows who taught
him that word). Then he does something even more stupid than usual to
prove he's just fine without Han. If it were anyone but Luke, Han might
think he was doing it to make sure that he stuck around but he didn't
have time to think about that - he had to go after the kid again and
make sure he stayed safe and alive.
Part of the danger of calling him kid is that now Luke can't grow up
because Han doesn't want him to. Just like younger siblings will always
be the babies, Luke will always be a kid. At least, he will be as far
as Han is concerned. Even now that he's the Alliance Hero he is still a
kid to Han, and the more grown up Luke becomes the more Han calls him
kid and the less Luke whines over it.
Kid makes him smile every time.
Luke is not a kid anymore, and every time Han calls him that, the man
(not young man even) just smiles. Every victory is a miracle. No matter
how prepared they are something always goes wrong. No matter how
under-planned, something always goes right. 'Kid' is how Han
congratulates Luke at the end of every battle - a sort of reminder that
they survived yet again against all odds. 'Kid' is Han's way of telling
Luke that he's still younger and less experienced, so Han still had the
upper hand, even if he didn't. He would at least like to pretend that
he could still stop Luke from growing up, that he was still there to
protect him, even if more and more it seemed to be the other way around.
Han calls him a kid, ruffles his hair and gets Luke to smile, which is
a good thing because he doesn't smile enough these days. The rest of
the Galaxy sees the Last Jedi as a symbol of peace and hope in the face
of all the evils they have come to known. That's a lot of pressure for
a farm boy from Tatooine. But when Han calls him kid, all the lines his
face has collected disappear, and that is all Han needs to do for him.
Kid makes him a stranger.
No one can use it. They all call him Jedi. Knight Skywalker. Hero. Only
those who are close to him seem to know him as Luke anymore, expect for
Han. Han still calls him kid, even if his hair and eyes are both darker
and his attitude is nothing like a five year old. Han is the only one
who gets to call Luke kid, and he makes sure he keeps doing it for his
own protection.
Kid means he doesn't have to say Luke because Han is terrified that if
he calls him Luke, then that will be the end of him. Calling him Luke
means admitting that, despite every one of Han's attempts to the
contrary, he has grown up and no longer needs Han. Even without the
nickname it is already happening. Every day the alliance is in more
need of Luke and Luke is in less need of Han. Calling him kid means
that they aren't even on a first name basis, and there is nothing
there. No reason for Han to stick around except for his own
stubbornness. Han has it in him to just pick up and leave behind some
overly eager farm boy he found on Tatooine and never managed to shake
off.
He could never leave Luke. He needs Luke. He doesn't need some kid. So kid it is.
Kid makes him his.
One little nickname that makes Luke giggle like a schoolboy and
suddenly he is a kid again, leaning against Han's chest and batting his
eyelashes like he's trying to flirt. And of course it's too cute for
Han to do anything but kiss him, and even that is broken up with
giggles and light swats and growls from both parties. It's hard to find
the dark corners and rooms where no officials are waiting to drag one
or another away for whatever reason, but they manage to.
It's in these little emergency hideaways that Luke tells Han how much
he misses him and needs him, and Han just smiles and kisses his Luke so
that he'll shut up and they can move onto the important stuff. The rest
of the Galaxy can hold itself together for a few minutes while Han
takes back what was his to begin with. Calling him kid is his way of
telling everyone that Luke is his, and was his before they even knew
who the great, last, Jedi Knight Skywalker was. He calls him kid less
now, uses it only when he wants Luke to remember all of that. It has
become Han's keyword for how much Luke means, and without him ever
explaining the difference between this time and all the other times
Luke understands. His eyes go light and soft and the way he smiles at
Han is the way he smiles only for Han.
And while Luke is telling Han how much he needs him, Han is ruffling his hair and calling him Kid, and everything is right.