Chapter Five

Lisa was perusing the files available to her on the portable screen she’d borrowed from 2-1B while Luke was deep in his Jedi healing trance. She occasionally would get glimpses and flashes of the dream or vision he was seeing – rolling green fields, bright flowers, flowing streams. The people he’d told her he’d seen wouldn’t appear for her, but sometimes she’d hear the giggle of a young girl and, strangely, the squawk of a bird.

She idly ran her thumb over his knuckles while she read an entry on a planet in the Noad system that could’ve been the one they’d been seeing, but without Luke’s input she wouldn’t know for sure.

His hand twitched in hers as he started to wake. She gave it a squeeze as she waited for him to return to full consciousness. He groaned a little, the ache in his body still not fully faded. This healing thing wasn’t going as quickly as he wanted.

“Doesn’t a Jedi need to have patience?” she asked without looking up from the screen.

“We’re not going by the old ways, remember?” he retorted grumpily.

This caused her to look at him. “You’re not abandoning everything, are you?”

Luke started to shake his head, but a lance of pain made him stop. “No,” he said instead. “Of course not.” He rolled over onto his back to try to ease a cramp in his hip. Grunting, he massaged his leg to get some feeling back into it. “Oof…no, not everything. No one’s being separated from the people they love just to be trained. You’ll help with the loved ones. And I’m not going to tell them love is something to be afraid of. That would rather make me a hypocrite, don’t you think? Ignoring emotions won’t stop anyone from falling.” He turned his head to look at her with a little wince at the movement. “If something didn’t work, I’m not repeating it. But discipline? Control? Responsibility? That stays.”

Lisa nodded, satisfied. She tilted the screen so he could see the entry she’d been reading. “I came across this one while you were asleep. What do you think?”

He took the screen and, rather than sit up to read it, held it above his face and waited for his eyes to focus before looking it over. He shut his eyes and held a hand over the screen, concentrating. After a moment, he said, “No, this isn’t it. Thanks for trying.”

She took the screen from him and powered it off. She could sense he wasn’t strong enough to do any research right now and thus wasn’t even going to suggest it. Placing the screen on a nearby table, she turned her attention back to Luke.

“We’ll look later,” she said, stroking his hair.

Luke sighed, eyes shut, and focused on the feeling of her fingers combing through the strands. She knew he was frustrated with the situation, but there wasn’t much she could do or say that would help at the moment.

He sensed her own feelings, and he opened his eyes to look at her. Reaching for her free hand, he squeezed her fingers. “Don’t let my mood get you down, Lisa. I’m so grateful for your help with everything. I just wish I could be of more help to you. The school was my idea; I should be doing more.”

“No, you should not,” she insisted. “Not until you’re healed. I don’t mind helping. You know that. And I want you better just as much as you want you better. Even when I was able to heal, it was only mild to moderate injuries. Something like this is naturally going to take time, even with the Force’s help.”

Luke gave her hand another squeeze. She didn’t mention her lost healing power often – it was a long time ago – but he’d seen the tips of her wings briefly turn blue when she did.

She smiled at him and squeezed back. “So,” she said after a moment, “how do you intend to find our students once you’re well enough?”

He grinned at the words “our students”, then scratched his chin, thinking. “I can feel prospectives through the Force. I’m sure the figures I’m seeing in the visions are real people, but for some reason I haven’t been able to see their faces. I don’t know if it’s because I’m using the energy to heal, or maybe I’m not supposed to know what they look like?” He shrugged and winced at the spasm in his shoulders.

Lisa adjusted her position so she could massage his shoulders. “The Force probably doesn’t want to make it too easy. It shows you a planet, but not where it is. It shows you people, but not what they look like. Have you been able to talk to them?”

“No,” he said, shutting his eyes, enjoying the massage. “I seem to be a shadow or otherwise non-corporeal.”

Lisa hummed. “Your Force isn’t entirely helpful.”

He laughed, wincing again, and looked at her. “You know as well as I do that all the useful abilities tend to not be entirely helpful. The Force is something you use when it lets you. Maybe I’ll see more once I’m not using the majority of my energy to heal.”

“Don’t rush it, Luke,” she warned him.

“I won’t.” He yawned, covering his mouth with a hand.

“Go back to sleep.” She kissed his forehead. “I’ll bring you dinner when you wake up.”

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