Chapter Twenty-One

Luke and Lisa awoke at the same time, their fingers laced together across the medical beds. Both of them were smiling.

“That was beautiful,” said Lisa, squinting to compensate for her glasses being on the table. “It felt clearer. Brighter. I see why you were trying to rush things. I can’t wait to go there, too.”

He reached over and cupped her cheek. “Soon,” he said softly. “I’ll be healed soon enough, and then we can move toward our future.”

“I like the sound of that,” she said, leaning over to kiss him. Then she swung her legs down from the bed and grabbed her glasses and boots, putting them on. “I’ll go get us some food.”

He rolled over onto his back to wait, hands folded on his stomach, his eyes closed. He was definitely feeling stronger, but he knew better than to try doing anything until she returned.

“I’m a little annoyed we didn’t see the girl with the tablet,” she said as she re-entered the medical bay carrying a tray of food. She split the portions into two, handing one to Luke and keeping one for herself. “Didn’t you say she’d been in most of the visions?”

Luke shrugged, relieved he was finally able to do so without pain. “You’re asking me to make sense of visions of a possible future brought to me by the Force.”

She blinked. “Yeah, good point.”

He grinned, and they ate their breakfast in relative silence; it was their minds that were less than quiet – replaying images and remembering what they’d seen. Lisa kept coming back to the very young students and their lightsaber training.

“We won’t let anyone get hurt,” said Luke, reaching for her hand.

She ran her thumb over his knuckles. “That’s not what I’m thinking about.” He waited while she collected her thoughts. “In your opinion…would it be possible for someone not Force-sensitive to learn how to use a lightsaber?”

He shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” An image appeared in his mind, and he smiled. “Of course I’ll teach you.”

She returned his smile and squeezed his hand before returning to her food. Then her lips twisted into that hard-to-describe “I just thought of something” position and she said, “I hope these kids don’t think you and I have an advantage because of the link.”

He frowned. “How do you mean?”

“We can read each other’s minds and feel each other’s emotions,” she explained. “The Force lets you sense others’ emotions, right?” He nodded. “The partners of the Force-users probably won’t be able to do that. Communication is going to be key. Not everyone is able to read minds; people can’t say they’re fine when they’re not.” Beat. “No, that wasn’t directed at you.”

Luke chuckled. “So we make sure they know not to bottle their feelings. We already know denying them is a bad idea. We’ll make healthy outlets for them. Everyone will help everyone else. No one is going to go through anything alone.” He took a breath. “The most important thing is to make sure they know what it means to be a Jedi with attachments. Look what Vader tried to do to me.” Vader, he’d said; not his father. Because at that time he had been more Vader than Anakin, trying to goad Luke to the Dark Side. “He found out about Leia and used her against me. I had a lapse…I nearly…” He broke off and shuddered.

Lisa put aside her food tray and sat beside him, wrapping her wing around him and linking their arms. “You’re okay,” she said softly. “I’m here.”

He leaned into her and took a few deep breaths, pressing his forehead to hers. I don’t regret anything… she heard. Not loving Leia, and I absolutely don’t regret loving you. My feelings had consequences…and I accept that. He clenched his bionic right hand, thinking about when he’d severed Vader’s during their fight on the Death Star II. Lisa reached over and put her hand over his.

We learn from our mistakes, she said. And we try not to repeat them. Nobody is perfect; not you, not me, not Leia, not Han…no one. We take what we learn from those mistakes and apply it to the future. Including our students. We’ll make sure they all know what it means to have attachments. It’s a dangerous road to travel, and they will have to accept that in order to stay on that path.

We’ll probably get resistance.

Oh, I have no doubt. But we’ll deal with it together when and if it happens.

He smiled and kissed her softly. Thank you.

Then, aloud, he said, “You always know just what to say.”

She shrugged and grinned. “Eons of practice.”

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