revivalproject | A homecoming of sorts

Entry tags:

A homecoming of sorts

WHO: Ezra, Luke, and anyone else around
WHERE: Temba Jedi Temple
WHAT: Ezra bringing Luke to the temple complex/mingle with residents and visitors
WHEN: Soon after Luke's arrival
WARNINGS: Discussion of canon levels of violence, maybe? Others added as needed

"We're pretty sure this used to be a museum," Ezra rambles as he leads Luke to the complex of bulidings Obi-wan had chosen to designate as the Jedi temple. "We packed up all the artifacts. And we're still working on actually making it, you know, nice. Obi-wan and I live here."

He pauses, debating his phrasing, but lands on going with how he'd describe the other Temple residents to anyone else.

"So does Padme and her twins, who are Force sensitive. Cal - he was a padawan at the end of the Clone Wars - has been here in Temba by far the longest, and he's pretty settled in his workshop, but he comes by to train and visit. Grogu's developmentally pretty young, so while Master Kenobi's taken him as a padawan - in front of the Council when we were on Coruscant and everything - he lives with his adoptive father."

***
Open Mingle

It felt good, bringing Luke here, but also really, really weird. They should be age mates, but they aren't, and besides, Ezra's gotten used to sharing living space with the infant version of Luke and Leia.

Still, he's glad that this version of Luke, who had talked about being alone, has a chance to meet more Jedi. To spend more time with some of his family, both of the Jedi variety and not. He's curious they'll all have to say to each other, but he resolves not to hover and eavesdrop.

Although as the afternoon goes on, he does try to make sure there's tea and snacks on hand.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I know. I met Padme at the beach." He hasn't met the babies yet, but he can sense them. He can sense Leia, even now. "He's asleep, she's fussing because she's hungry but comfortable where she is." His gaze comes back from where it went. "Turns out that without my version of Leia here, I'm really, really aware of the baby one."

Well that's a relief. He's glad that Luke already knows about them and is taking it well. He's not sure how he would take it if he met another version of himself. But he's not going to think about that possibility. Instead he just nods in approval at what Luke feels, able to sense it himself.

"It's your bond with her. You would have had it before birth. There's quite a network of Force bonds that have developed between all of us here, and you have already fit into it."

He's not taking it well, he's just not taking it badly. He's not sure what to make of it.

"I realised. When I got here, there was this terrible emptiness for a moment then it settled and I didn't realise what had happened. I don't really know much about Force bonds, but I knew Leia and I were connected. I've used that connection before."

And Vader had made a connection to him. He was sure of it. During Bespin, when he'd been open and broken and vulnerable, and he'd used it to speak to him several times after.

"Force bonds are an interesting thing," Obi-Wan admits. "They can be very useful, and in the Order they were primarily used for training purposes. Bonds are strong between master and apprentice. Customarily we were only allowed one at a time, partly for that reason."

And here Obi-Wan had three apprentices effectively. With Luke, he could feel a bond as well. Though they would have to figure out where things stood between them.

"But that doesn't mean you can't form bonds with others too."

"But we have one." He knows that, like he knows how to fly. It just is. "Don't you have like... three apprentices? Ezra, and Grpgu, oh, he is so cute, do you think Master Yoda was ever that cute, or was he hitting people with his stick from the cradle?"

"We do," Obi-Wan says without a shred of denial. "I formed that bond with you during our trip to Tatooine when you were small. It helped me keep you calm."

He then laughed at Luke's rambling about Yoda. "I would like to think that he was that cute. In fact I had hoped to see when we visited Coruscant. But I think we were just a bit too early." It was a shame, but perhaps it was better that way. "But yes, my apprentices are Ezra, Grogu, and Cal. You're welcome to join us in our training sessions if you like, or assist in their learning."

He wasn't sure exactly where Luke was at in his own knowledge.

"Knowing what a baby wants before they do is sort of helpful." He's noticing it even now, the vague awareness of the babies and how they are. Nothing complex or deep, just a surface brush, like glancing at a familiar sign.

"I haven't met Cal." He looks at the glowing crystals. "I don't know if I'd be much of a teacher yet. I've only officially been a Jedi for about two months. And I don't know what I don't know. Though... Ezra was surprised at how combat focused my training was. That it was just what I was taught, without... whatever else he thought it should have."

“You won’t be able to miss him. He’s usually walking around with a small droid.” Cal kind of stood out in that regard as there were not many droids here. Plus he was another Force sensitive and there were only so many of them too.

The comments Luke made about his training caused Obi-Wan to put his hand on his face as he thought about it. “Then perhaps I can help fill in the gaps where you are lacking. If that’s what you would want.”

"A droid?" He perks a little. "I noticed how... empty this place is. Even of machinery and droids. It's weird." He's never been in a place like this. The closest would be Dagobah, probably.

"Is it dumb to say I don't even know what I don't know? I know like, three forms of lightsaber combat, I can lift the X-Wing fairly easily these days and I've managed the mind trick thing about five times ever. Oh, and I once managed to reach out to Leia to save me. Once."

“It is a bit,” Obi-Wan admits but he’s gotten used to it. “Cal has his droid, Poe has one as well, and Padme has a medidroid to help with the babies. And there’s a man, Reeve, who has a… sentient doll.” It’s weird, he knows, but that’s the best way to describe it.

“It’s not dumb at all,” he then says. Because it’s not like Luke can help it. “That at least gives me an idea of where to start.”

"I wondered how she coped with twins. Aside from help from you." He'd had no doubt that she had that. "That sounds bizarre and awesome. I want to meet it. The doll. Ezra said he can communicate with animals. Animals generally like me, but I don't know if it's a Force thing or just a quiet and calm compared to the people I hang around thing. And it only goes as far as not aggressive ones. Certainly didn't stop the wampa ripping my face open."

“I’m certain you’ll get your opportunity,” Obi-Wan said with a chuckle regarding the doll. Personally the thing kind of weirded him out. He could feel it in the Force though it wasn’t technically alive. It was very strange.

“As for you being good with animals, I would say it’s both. Anakin had the ability but he struggled with connecting with animals. Was sometimes downright terrible at it as his control wasn’t always the best. Keeping calm wasn’t one of his strong points.”

Obi-Wan had always been the one that was good with animals. Anakin was good with the machines. They both had talent in both areas but they really excelled in one and the other in another. They balanced each other out often.

“Beast taming is along the same lines as the mind trick. And communicating with them is a form of telepathy. I can teach you that easily enough. Ezra just happens to be exceptionally gifted in that area.”

Luke is better at calm than he used to be, but he still has his moments. The flash of pure rage when Vader had threatened Leia, when he let instinct carry him, the violent urge to protect her at any cost.

But he overcame it. He keeps reminding himself of that. He overcame that moment. "Maybe I'll work with Ezra. I think it would help him, do him good, to see a Jedi Knight who has shortfalls and that he can help teach?" It's a question, because he looks to Obi-Wan for affirmation that that would be a good decision, might help both him and Ezra.

Luke’s idea has him pondering that for a few moments before he finally nods in agreement. “I think that would be an excellent idea.”

It would be a way for the two to bond, and help with Ezra’s learning himself. He would need those teaching skills one day when he had his own Padawan. So why not start learning that now? It would be good practice, and Luke would learn from someone more talented in that area than him.

"So, telepathy is a thing I need to work on, clearly, what else is there that I don't know?" He thinks for a moment. "Force healing? Is that a thing? I feel like that's a thing, I think you might have used it on me when you saved me from the sand people. When, Ben, saved me."

“It is a thing, though I never studied to be a healer originally. I know the basics of course, but I also got some instruction during our trip,”

He motions to the flickering crystals in front of them.

“In fact these crystals are very powerful healing tools. And I have some smaller one that are more portable too.”

He then paused and looked at Luke.

“Am I really so different that you have to differentiate between me and myself in your time like that?”

Luke thinks about how to phrase it while watching the crystals. "It's easier for me, I guess. Yeah, you're pretty different, but it's more than just that?"

He watched Ben die. Look at him with a glance, a smile and then raise his blade to let Vader strike him.

"Does it bother you? I can try and stop."

That makes Obi-Wan wonder just what all has happened in those nearly 20 years that he'll spend on Tatooine. A lot can happen in that time after all. He would expect to be at least some different, but so drastically? It must be a good thing if Luke is that fond of him.

"No, it doesn't bother me. I just have no perspective on what I will be like then. And I hope you're not too disappointed."

Edited 2021-08-12 14:04 (UTC)

"I'm not at all disappointed." Luke looks over sharply, frowning a little. "How could I be?"

“Because I’m not the man you know.”

He doesn’t know Luke the way his older self would. Doesn’t share the memories and the experiences. And Luke has already that he’s different. Enough to differentiate them by name.

"I didn't know Ben half as well as I wanted to. You're more like the man in the journals he left me." Not the sort of weird hermit who had been worn down and shaped by the desert.

“Oh…”

That certainly gives him a new perspective on it.

“I left journals behind?” He has to admit that was a very forward thinking idea.

"In your home, in a box sealed shut with my name etched on it. Stories about your time on Tatooine, why you weren't there as much as you wanted to be. The answer to that is mostly Owen, by the way."

Taking a moment to digest that, he can’t help smiling a little to himself. It sounds like something he would do, and he’s glad of it. That Luke was able to know how much he cared.

“Well, I’m here now.”

Though it does break his heart a bit to hear Owen would keep him from being in Luke’s life more.

"You are. And I'm not disappointed." He gives Obi-Wan a warm smile.

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