borntorebel | ✧ Third Rebellion ✧ [Action/Text]

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✧ Third Rebellion ✧ [Action/Text] - Post Luceti University

Action - Open to all on 9/13 and 9/14
[Since things at house 46 calmed down somewhat back in mid-July, Leia has settled into an easy, relaxed schedule. Well, relaxed by her standards. There were few deviations and distractions. Until the recent events of the entire enclosure turning into what appeared to be an university. In a way, she found the changes comforting. A happy family. Friends. Activities to keep her busy. Han.

But there are things about it that leave her unsettled still. How easily her mind was manipulated, for one. She finally understands on some level what Luke tried to explain to Han and herself when they were at Pagoda. It's not quite the same, not by a long shot, but to be given an opportunity where she and Anakin could get along without the baggage of their lives back home is like poking an open wound that she has been trying to steadily ignore.

She's gotten a little better at controlling the turmoil that her emotions normally cause by shoving it to an empty corner of her mind and pressing forward with things, but Leia knows that they'll have to be dealt with sooner rather than later. She's just not ready right this second to jump up and do that. So, instead of spending hours at the library or exploring the outer buildings of the enclosure, she's looking at the empty houses and apartment buildings. The rest of her schedule, she follows faithfully over the weekend. Until Sunday evening, when she has a few written messages to send out to some people before going home.]

Text to Sokka -
It was nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Sokka. If you'd like, I wouldn't mind sparring with you from time to time now that we are back to normal.

Text to Han -
When I get home tonight for dinner, can we talk in private first?

Text to Syre -
I find that after speaking to you for a week that I would like to get to actually know you. Are you available to meet me tomorrow morning? Also, are you skilled with fencing? I'd like to actively train in a sword art.

Text to Ami, Helios and Lee -
For the next week, can we suspend the cooking lessons? I have something else I have in mind for those times.

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[This time, instead of meditation, Luke pretty much insists on taking Leia to the Battle Dome to try something else. A few months of meditation was a start, but there was more to training than that.

The simulation is easy enough, and immediately after walking in, Luke tosses her a thin metal tube.]

Today we're starting with this.

Edited 2014-09-15 23:56 (UTC)

[Being dragged at the crack of dawn to the Battle Dome isn't want Leia expects that morning but she follows Luke eagerly enough. Waking up early is easy for her and the meditation she finds is helpful the more she does it.

However, she's not sure what the simulation is really supposed to be about. When he throws her the tube, she catches it easily, looking it over. It feels familiar and Leia can't help but stare at it.

It's a lightsaber, but not one she's used to seeing before from him.]

Are you sure I'm ready for this?

[He heads right over to a console on the wall, and the dull durasteel doors at the back of the simulation chamber slide open and out pops a training remote. The very same little ball of white and grey plasteel that he'd practiced with back on the Falcon so long ago.]

You have to get practical practice sometime. You've able to reliably open yourself to the Force for a few moments. Now it's time to apply it.

[He gives her a moment to mentally prepare then taps the attack command, the little droid firing a sting-bolt at her arm.]

[She watches him a bit before looking down at the cylinder again. She turns it over a few times, trying to figure out why it seems so familiar before she closes here eyes and concentrates a moment and it turns it on.

A red beam of light shoots out and she blinks. Just as she's about to say something to Luke, the remote actually hits her on the arm. It feels like she's been pricked with a needle and she hisses under her breath, checking to make sure that her arm isn't bleeding or burned. She's fine for the most part but it's a reminder that she should actually be paying attention to the training.

Leia turns her eyes onto the moving target, watching it carefully as it shoots a second time. Unfortunately, her rational side kicks in and she ducks instead of using the lightsaber in her hands to deflect it.]

[The remote bobs and ducks, aiming for Leia with several more shots. Nothing complex.]

Leia, deflect it. Don't dodge. Open yourself to the Force and feel it flow through you. Let it guide you.

Easier said than done.

[She dodges a few more of the shots, really hating this thing before she takes that emotion and throws it away as useless.

Her brother's words are right. She knows that if she's going to get anywhere with this, she needs to let herself go and just feel the energy. Getting angry and letting her temper control her isn't going to help a damn thing.

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to lose herself to the strange thrum that the Force always seems to fill her with when she gets close to it. It's easier every time, and this time is no different. Leia can almost tell when the remote shoots again and lifts the lightsaber quickly. The thrum gets louder before there's a skip in it and then the sound of a shot hitting the wall.

Leia opens her eyes again to see a spot on the dull wall, before a flash of red light comes from the remote again, as if in retaliation for her previous deflection. She raises her weapon again, barely managing to avoid being hit a second time before it shoots off and hits the opposite wall.]

[Luke watches this in silence, just letting her go through the motions. It's good, it's very good. She's had months of practice, but with this she seems to have less trouble than with meditation.

Of course...]

Be mindful of your emotions. Anger will have an effect on you. Calm. Don't hold the lightsaber so hard.

[And then he taps a command, adding a second remote.]

[She is okay with using her body in ways that feel almost natural. She's always been active, so this is just playing on that, in her mind. Meditation means she has to slow down and not do anything for periods of time, not think about things. That's a lot harder.

But she listens to his words, using them as the guide that they're meant to be instead of taking them as a reprimand. Calm... The thrum is fairly calm, steady, rational. She concentrates on that, letting it wash over her and move her hands as she adjusts her grip on the lightsaber's hilt. It's still a bit of a bulky weight, but the longer she holds it, the more she uses it to deflect the shots, the easier it becomes.

The addition of the second remote means she has to split her attention a bit, and, oddly enough, she finds it easier to deal with them. It's not perfect, though, and she still has to dodge a few more than she'd like. But the flash of the red light is nearly hypnotic as she moves.]

[Luke watches in silence, feeling her in the Force, nodding as she opens herself up to it more fully. Each time she blocks a shot, he takes a score, and each time she dodges he subtracts one. Ultimately, out of about thirty shots, she scores fifteen points. And it's that number he plans to use to motivate her.]

You've gotten about fifty percent. With two actual hits against you, I'd score that at about ten out of thirty. Not bad for your first go.

[She smiles as the remotes stop, breathing a little harder than she likes and realizing how heavy her arms feel now.]

That's not good enough, but I vaguely remember doing worse when my dad taught me how to use a blaster as a girl.

[She rolls her shoulders as she tries to shake them a bit.]

How often should I be practicing with this then?

It'll replace daily meditation for a while. It's another way to begin feeling the Force, a more practical application that'll soon become second nature to you. And it's how Obi-Wan taught me to start with.

[She nods. She actually likes the daily meditation. Even if she can't really get the connection to the Force as easily as using this lightsaber, she likes the time spent with Luke. It's quiet, peaceful, a chance for her to relax and not think about what she could be doing back home or what is going on with their current situation.

But, then again, she didn't think about those things when she was concentrating one the remotes either. And it's not as if she didn't manage to meditate while Luke was taking his fishing trip.]

You never told me how Obi-Wan Kenobi or Master Yoda trained you. I'm interested in hearing about more than just Dagobah's humidity.

[He can't really recall ever having told her about Dagobah, as he'd deliberately kept that part of his training quiet, but maybe she worked it out somehow? Either way, he shrugs.]

Well, honestly? It was stuff like this, and lots of physical training. Lots and lots of it. Also getting hit with a cane.

[He didn't tell her, but she and Han have been watching the movies Luke so graciously provided. It's been enlightening. Especially since Luke's remained so tight-lipped about anything having to do with training with the Force that isn't him giving her simple instruction. Before today.]

Getting hit with a cane. [She did see that.] Well, I hope I don't need that to further along my training.

We'll see. You are stubborn, after all.

[He nods to the weapon in her hand.]

How did it feel?

Should I find you a cane then?

[When he brings up the lightsaber, she looks at the dormant cylinder and is quite for a few minutes as she tries to describe what it was like to wield it.]

It didn't feel terrible, but... I get the feeling that I'm definitely not supposed to have this. Does that make sense?

I have one.

[After the mess with Bil, he'd needed it.]

And it does. It's not yours. A lightsaber is more in tune with the builder than anyone else.

So, they're built by the Jedi who uses them then? I didn't know that.

[But, then again, she hasn't had much chance to learn that little fact before now either.]

Who made this one? Anyone I know?

A Jedi builds their own lightsaber and infuses the crystal with the Force. They aren't mass-produced, no.

[He gives her an odd look, raising an eyebrow.]

Why don't you tell me? There's a connection there. Feel for it, and it'll click as well as it did with me.

That makes sense, considering not just anyone can use them.

[She returns the look before closing her eyes and concentrating on the weapon she still holds. That vague feeling of familiarity returns, but it's accompanied with memories she'd rather not relive. Instead of hearing the sounds and feeling the fear that always feel like they'll engulf her if she doesn't shut them down, the sight of the lightsaber hanging so easily at Vader's side comes to mind.

There's no anger, just a faint curiosity and a little bit of remorse. Of course Luke would do something like this. She's not even surprised. It might have been Han who reminded her that she was a Skywalker time and time again, but it was Luke who showed her what that meant.]

This is Vader's...

[Luke's lip curls slightly and he takes a step over, putting his hand on hers. That she'd worked it out was good, but there was more to the lesson than just that. Just figuring out that it was Vader's wasn't enough, because that would be letting her further distance herself from Anakin. Without Ruhk around, he was doing the best he could.]

It's our father's. Can you feel the hook there? The way it tugs at your mind? How it calls to you as someone bound by the Force to Anakin?

[She keeps her eyes closed, feeling for the connection to Anakin Skywalker through his weapon. Having Luke touch her at the same time helps more than he probably realizes. And after a few long, silent moments, she brushes against something that reminds her of the man she knew during the recent shift, not the Sith Lord.]

It's there, but it's faint. It's not like being around him. Our father isn't...I don't know the world...tainted?

No.

[Luke's voice is flat, blunt, and dismissive.]

Absolutely not. Anakin's fall was something orchestrated by Palpatine. But you know I managed to free him on Endor. I know you do. And the Anakin here? He's a good person. A hero, and a good man.

[His words strike harder than he probably meant for them to do so, making her remember how vehemently she'd rejected the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker so soon after his death.]

Yes, I know you freed him. And I remember the stories that I heard as a child about him.

[Bail Organa had made sure that she had some positive stories to hear while growing up. Of course, those had happened while Breha and his sisters were nowhere around.]

[They probably have the impact he'd predicted, given that she'd told him about that conversation years later. But that aside, he squeezes her hand.]

He gave us quite a legacy to live up to. [Gently, he huffs a laugh and shakes his head.]

The Son and Daughter of Vader.

Fuck it, I lied.

Well, I can accept this kind of lie.

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