audio ; un: a.solo

[hopesparks]

[ There's a faint sound of wind in the background of his broadcast, as if he's sitting somewhere up high. ]

Hello. Again. [ Oof, okay, not the strongest start. ] I'm Anakin Solo, a knight of the Jedi Order, at your service. I sort of remember being here before, and I wanted to thank everyone who helped me out.

They offered me a bed at the orphanage, but I don't want to take it from someone who might need it.
How does housing work here, exactly? I don't mind sleeping outside, but that doesn't seem wise in the long run.

[ A pause. ]

By the way, I don't remember the sky being like this before-- is this normal? As normal as anything is here, I mean.

[ Another pause. He's clearly not in his element. ]

Thanks again.

[ The feed ends. ]


( ooc: let me know if you want to keep his tdm thread! i'm cool either way. )

Comments

[facultative]

[And now he has gone from surly to angry.]

What do you mean uncle?

[faithfulson]

[ There's a softer thump of the hammer, followed by a yowl of pain -- poor Luke hammered his own finger in surprise at the unexpected voice. ]

F-father?!

[ There's a pause, before his voice is suddenly sterner. ]

Anakin Solo.

[ Amazing how quickly people picked up the, "You are in trouble," voice. ]

[hopesparks]

[ Ah. He knows that tone of voice.

Mumbling: ] I was working up to telling him.

[ As usual, things have escalated quickly with him around. ]

[facultative]

You. Quiet, you just got here.

I want to know what's going on, Luke.

[Luke is in no position to tell anyone off here.]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke's wince could practically be felt across the network. Thanks a lot for getting him in trouble too, nephew! ]

Uh... another member of our family showed up?

[ ...could he get away with lying and saying he married Han, and Anakin was adopted? No, definitely not; he was not that convincing of a liar, and considering what just happened, he doubted Anakin would be good enough backup. ]

[ He let out a pained sigh, muttering a soft apology to no one that was present, before continuing. ]

I... may have neglected to mention that I was only one of your children.

[facultative]

[He's furious right now, but behind it is a hurt that Luke hid this from him. For all his son's grand speeches about how there was good in him, he hadn't seen fit to tell him this. Now he had cause to doubt if Luke even believed it or if it was just the best way to try and keep him placated.]

I see. Any reason for that?

[If he hadn't slipped up here, would he have ever mentioned it?]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke took a deep breath, letting it out slow. He could feel the distrust and the hurt coming from the other side of the line, and it hurt him too. At the same time, he couldn't blame his father for mistrusting him after keeping a secret like this. ]

I promise, I kept this to myself out of the best of intentions.

[ He took a deep breath, ready for a very unhappy conversation. ]

To protect us from the Emperor, Leia and I were separated when we were born. While I was farming, Leia was fighting as a politician. She... doesn't exactly have the best history with 'Darth Vader.'

[ Understatement of the decade. ]

I had only just learned that we were related, and told her as much a day before I ended up here. If she ended up here from around the same point in time as I did, it wouldn't be fair to her that everyone knew something she barely had a chance to process herself.

[facultative]

And I'm 'everyone' to you? You had no right to keep this from me.

[Anakin frequently reached for anger when faced with difficult situations and this is a betrayal.

And he can draw the parallels between their situations. Luke had seen fit to dump everything about the future on him on their first meeting as traumatic as it was and yet now he was deciding otherwise?]

Either I am him or not. Make up your mind.

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin listens with an increasing sense of guilt. He's forced his uncle to reveal something he'd kept secret for his sister's sake. There has to be a way to fix this, a way to bring everyone back together, a perfect response.

Then it hits him-- that's the answer. There isn't a perfect response. ]

Wait. Look, I've known Uncle Luke my entire life and he has never done anything out of malice. He always thinks of the needs of others and tries to respect them all, even if it's impossible. There was never going to be a perfect way to tell you any of this. And there was never going to be a perfect way for you to respond. Families are messy under the best of circumstances.

[ Anakin can't help but think of his own father. Their own messy, strained relationship that's slowly piecing itself back together. ]

And you're not under any obligation to be my grandfather here in the Trench. But you can be, if you want.

[ He braces himself. This wasn't enough, was it? It's never enough. ]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke took a deep breath when the younger Anakin interrupted, taking the chance to draw in calm from the Force, and release the heated response he initially had from his mind. His father was such a hot head... it was like he knew how to press every single button he had to make him forget all his training and just dissolve back into that reckless farmboy again. He took another deep breath when his nephew finished speaking, making sure he had his emotions in check, before he spoke again. ]

Anakin's right; I meant no offense, and was only thinking of Leia. She is not nearly as forgiving as I am.

[ He paused, a wry smile coming to his face, something easily heard in his voice, knowing what he would say would get him smacked. ]

She is very much her father's daughter: quick to respond with anger first, even if it isn't always a logical response.

[ His tone calmed slightly, a bit of fondness creeping in. ]

The fact that 'Anakin Solo' exists and is here is proof enough that her opinion of you would change, father. But if she appeared here, she deserves a chance to sort all that herself first.

[facultative]

[The fact that both of them could remain so calm enrages him further. It's like this wasn't an issue for them. Luke's seeming condescension calling him illogical doesn't help matters.]

There's no perfect way, but anything would have been better than this.

You can't claim to be thinking of others when you saw fit to tell me my future the first day we met. You were being a coward, this isn't about her.

[That knowledge had knocked him off course and he was still struggling to find his way even now. He doesn't know what's worse, that Luke thought so little of him that he didn't think it would be devastating to hear or that this was the point, the only way he could retaliate against the man that brought so much pain and suffering to the galaxy.]

I thought Owen would have taught you better. I know your grandmother did for him.

[And then he's hanging up, his omni discarded.]

[faithfulson]

[ Luke opened his mouth to reply, only to let out a frustrated noise as he heard the click of the omni shutting off. He rubbed at a temple, wanting to say so many things right now, but none of it really mattered, since the person that needed to hear it wasn't part of the conversation anymore. ]

[ Instead, he let out another sigh, muttering: ]

Not everything is about how you feel, you know...

[ Before he shook his head, focusing on the omni instead. ]

Anakin, you wanted to ask me something?

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin felt the sting through the Omni. He's halfway to coming up with a proper rebuke until the older Anakin hangs up.

He sighs. ]

It's not important. I'm sorry.

[faithfulson]

Somehow I don't believe that, considering you were clearly trying to prove a point to your grandfather.

[ Luke didn't sound bitter by that at least, just more amused and a little saddened by his father's reaction. ]

You can tell me.

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin sighs quietly. ]

Jedi aren't allowed to have a family. He said love and attachment are forbidden. When I told him compassion was a form of love, he disagreed. I asked him what compassion was, then, and he told me to 'ask my master.'

[ He wilts. ]

It wasn't worth starting trouble over.

[faithfulson]

[ Luke let out a breath. ]

No, and it's not the first time I've heard this either...

[ And now he was wishing his father wasn't so over dramatic and would have stuck around to listen to him. ]

Yes, Anakin; compassion is a form of love. It's selfless love; a means of caring for others beyond your own self. Compassion is essential to being a Jedi, to care for the life that drives the Force, and to know when that life ends, the Force will welcome it back.

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin knew that already of course. It's something he learned early in his training. ]

I wonder if he knows that. I think he does, otherwise why would he get so frustrated?

[faithfulson]

I think he does as well; I think it's the 'attachment' part he's struggling with.

[ Luke let out a breath, hating to admit this, but... ]

I don't know your grandfather very well, Anakin. I'll admit... I'm used to him being 'Vader', and when I first arrived here... well, I treated him as such, deciding to be truthfully blunt to him about what the future had in store for him, only to have it backfire miserably.

But I do know where he came from, and... well, I'm starting to think that perhaps he views 'attachment' the same as owning something, or someone.

[hopesparks]

[ It's not a connection he would've made, but, as he considers the conversation, it makes sense. Love isn't forbidden and attachments aren't dangerous in and of themselves. But trying to own someone is antithetical to the core of the Jedi code. ]

What do you mean? Where he came from?

[faithfulson]

[ Luke let out a breath; this wasn't going to be a happy conversation. ]

I knew from a young age that I was the first free-born son of our family line on Tatooine. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen could never tell me much, of course, but... knowing that father went from a lifestyle where he was owned, to one where he was free but could own nothing for himself... I'm sure he struggled with that.

[hopesparks]

[ Anakin hadn't been told any of that, but perhaps Uncle Luke had his reasons. He always did.

Still, it does explain a few things-- in theory. ]

And the idea of "owning" someone wasn't a theoretical for him. That's... [ Anakin sighs sadly. ] ...worse than terrible.

And I'm sure it was hard for you to hear too, Uncle Luke.

[faithfulson]

I was young, when I first heard of it, and slavery runs rampant on Tatooine. I... always wanted to do something about it, but freeing slaves is a dangerous responsibility, and my aunt and uncle would have lost their minds if I put myself in that kind of danger.

[ He smiled faintly; not to mention Obi-Wan's hair might have been entirely white a lot sooner. ]

But... I think that's what the problem is, and I just... don't know a way to help your grandfather.

[hopesparks]

[ It's not surprising to him at all that his uncle would want to fight injustice and save people. He's pretty sure that drive is written into his very bones.

Anakin's voice is soft: ] All you can do is what you think is right. You can hold out your hand, but he has to take it on his own.

[faithfulson]

[ Luke snorted softly. ]

That sounds like something I would say.

[hopesparks]

That's how you know it's good advice.