DRABBLE: The Visit, Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, Clonetrooper, Rated G
Title: The Visit
Author: my_ani
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Luke Skywalker, Clonetrooper
Rating: Rated G
Time: Between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Word Count: around 480
Disclaimers: I do not own these characters.
Summary: Luke Skywalker seeks answers about his father.
The Visit
Luke tried to take a deep breath but the air was thick and cloying and strongly laced with a sourness that made him feel nauseous. Lines of sweat trickled distractingly down his back and along his sides and his hair was sticking to his forehead. He lightly touched the new lightsaber that hung at his belt.
“Tell me. You said you would.” Luke tried to enhance his voice with the Force, to compel the older man to speak the words he needed to hear, but from the look on his face it had little effect.
The man had hair that had grown white cut short against his scalp. His face was lined and scarred, his mouth twisted with either pain or disapproval. His right leg had been broken and not healed properly. There was a slight crook to it. He was missing two fingers on his left hand and the tip of one ear.
“There’s no use for this now, boy. It doesn’t matter anymore.” He was staring at the far horizon, eyes dark and haunted.
Luke sighed, wondered if he had strength for this. “I have to know. It makes a difference to me. He matters to me.”
“He probably wouldn’t have wanted you feeling that way. He was a fighter and he knew the dangers. But he’s dead and gone and there’s no reason to go back.” His eyes dropped to the ground and he turned his head away from Luke.
“I know he’s not dead.” Luke’s voice was soft, almost inaudible. “You know it too, don’t you?” The words hung in the air between him. The old man, the clone, sat so still that Luke couldn’t even see his chest rise and fall with his breaths.
“Don’t know why you’d say that, it doesn’t make good sense.” The man’s voice was thick, he was strangling under the weight of his emotions. They poured off him in a wave. Sadness, longing, and a deep-seated loneliness for…for…the others. His brothers. Then Luke caught a sudden blurred image of a young face and blue eyes and caught his breath sharply. He knelt in front of the old warrior and grasped his hand.
“He was your friend, wasn’t he? All those years ago? You were one of the clones who fought alongside him during the wars.”
The man looked down at their clasped hands, his old and scarred, Luke’s young and smooth. Then he looked at Luke’s face, really looked for the first time since Luke had confronted him. He saw the blue eyes and the lines of bone that made up his face. He swallowed slowly and then took a deep, shaky breath, his hand tightening around Luke’s.
“He…he was the best commander I ever served under and a great pilot. Even better than General Kenobi. He took care of his men. And that’s the way he saw us. As men, not just clones…”
Author: my_ani
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Luke Skywalker, Clonetrooper
Rating: Rated G
Time: Between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Word Count: around 480
Disclaimers: I do not own these characters.
Summary: Luke Skywalker seeks answers about his father.
The Visit
Luke tried to take a deep breath but the air was thick and cloying and strongly laced with a sourness that made him feel nauseous. Lines of sweat trickled distractingly down his back and along his sides and his hair was sticking to his forehead. He lightly touched the new lightsaber that hung at his belt.
“Tell me. You said you would.” Luke tried to enhance his voice with the Force, to compel the older man to speak the words he needed to hear, but from the look on his face it had little effect.
The man had hair that had grown white cut short against his scalp. His face was lined and scarred, his mouth twisted with either pain or disapproval. His right leg had been broken and not healed properly. There was a slight crook to it. He was missing two fingers on his left hand and the tip of one ear.
“There’s no use for this now, boy. It doesn’t matter anymore.” He was staring at the far horizon, eyes dark and haunted.
Luke sighed, wondered if he had strength for this. “I have to know. It makes a difference to me. He matters to me.”
“He probably wouldn’t have wanted you feeling that way. He was a fighter and he knew the dangers. But he’s dead and gone and there’s no reason to go back.” His eyes dropped to the ground and he turned his head away from Luke.
“I know he’s not dead.” Luke’s voice was soft, almost inaudible. “You know it too, don’t you?” The words hung in the air between him. The old man, the clone, sat so still that Luke couldn’t even see his chest rise and fall with his breaths.
“Don’t know why you’d say that, it doesn’t make good sense.” The man’s voice was thick, he was strangling under the weight of his emotions. They poured off him in a wave. Sadness, longing, and a deep-seated loneliness for…for…the others. His brothers. Then Luke caught a sudden blurred image of a young face and blue eyes and caught his breath sharply. He knelt in front of the old warrior and grasped his hand.
“He was your friend, wasn’t he? All those years ago? You were one of the clones who fought alongside him during the wars.”
The man looked down at their clasped hands, his old and scarred, Luke’s young and smooth. Then he looked at Luke’s face, really looked for the first time since Luke had confronted him. He saw the blue eyes and the lines of bone that made up his face. He swallowed slowly and then took a deep, shaky breath, his hand tightening around Luke’s.
“He…he was the best commander I ever served under and a great pilot. Even better than General Kenobi. He took care of his men. And that’s the way he saw us. As men, not just clones…”