JAOA Webpage: http://digitalmidnight.simplenet.com/garden/jaoa.html
Category: AU, Drama
Disclaimer: George Lucas is god. We just slip in and play with
the toys when he's not looking.
Pairing: Han, Luke
Rating: PG
Series: JAOA
Summary: Luke begins his training in the Force.
The soft vroom of a light saber filled the room as Luke tried to dodge the shots from the practice droid.
"Ow!"
He wasn't very good at it.
"Quit complaining, kid," Han said. "That light saber is going to save your life one day, just wait."
Luke took his helmet off irritably. His sandy blond hair was mussed and slightly sweaty. "Why do I have to do this?" he asked. "I'm perfectly good with a blaster - "
"The science of a blaster isn't going to do one bit of good to you compared to having a saber at your side, kid," Han said. He moved forward to program the droid into another sequence.
Luke pouted, his posture slumping. "Look, whatever you think about this hokey religion of yours - "
"Hokey?" Han said, He shook his head. "Unbelievable. Look, kid, that 'hokey religion' has saved my neck more times than I can count. Blasters jam, droids malfunction, but this - " he tapped Luke's forehead "is always going to be around. Put your trust in the Force and you can't go wrong, got it?"
Luke rolled his eyes before he put the helmet back on again. "I still don't know why I have to learn this if I'm perfectly capable of defending myself."
"Just do it, kid, ok? And quit complaining." Han turned the droid on again and let Luke go to it.
The kid wasn't that bad with the Force, really, if he just shut up long enough. Like he kept saying he did have a body that was trained to fight (and it wasn't that bad a body either, Han had to admit). He just kept thinking too much.
"This is a waste of time."
And whining too much.
"Alright, kid, try this. Shut your mind down to everything that's distracting you and just feel, ok? Just feel whatever the heck it is you're feeling right now. Can you do that?"
"I feel bored."
Han sighed. "Besides that. Take a couple of breaths, calm yourself down and just feel everything that's around you."
The kid, to his credit, obeyed. Which was good because if nothing else it kept his mouth shut.
Not for the first time Han wondered why they were bothering with this. Sure the kid was a Prince and sure rescuing him was going to bring them some reward down the line, but he still couldn't figure out what the big deal was about this kid, even if Kenobi seemed Force-bent on taking him under his wing.
"I... I think I've got it."
Han looked up, then probed a bit with his own meager Force talents. "Yeah, kid. I think you might. Ok, try it again."
The droid hummed into life, firing shots at Luke randomly. The first two hit, but then the kid hit a rhythm with it and successfully blocked the rest. He tore off his helmet again, grinning excitedly. "I got it! I definitely got it!"
Han smiled. "Yeah you did, kid. Now don't get cocky, that's still the training level. Put the helmet back on and let's try for level two."
The pout and slump returned again as Luke put the helmet on once more. True to form, he immediately forgot everything he'd just done and got hit by the blasts again and again.
Han raked a hand through his hair. It was definitely going to be a very long night.
[...to the next stage]