sidestep↠luke skywalker

VI: Chapter 1

On the planet of Tatooine Luke and Malia stood in the desolate home of the once called 'Ben Kenobi'. Malia's father and Luke's mentor.

They had allowed Leia and Chewie to follow through with their plan, but they were on planet in case back up was required.

Dust had gathered and sand had blown in. The layer of sand and dust irritated Malia's nose, causing her to scrunch it up a multitude of times. She wiped some off the substance off a bench and sat down. Brown boots were placed on top of the table and Luke looked around, touching most things for a brief moment.

"This is where we first met." The man commented, his blue eyes falling on Malia.

"Oh." A smile broke out on the brunette's face. "Huh. It is."

"I remember when I first saw you I was frustrated that you were so pretty. Because I was mad at you. I didn't like your attitude." Luke commented, laughing a bit to himself. Malia's attitude was one of the many things he had grown to love about her.

"I thought your hair looked stupid." Malia said, blowing the dust-sand mixture off the back of the bench so she could rest her arm on it.

"Hey! My hair looks the same as it did back then!"

"It does not! It's shorter now..." Malia tilted her head as she peered at Luke, trying to figure another difference. "And darker. You spend less time in the sun."

Luke came and slid on to the bench next to Malia, "Yeah? Well you're a lot cleaner." He told her and the woman wrinkled her nose again in attempt to ward off a sneeze.

"To be fair..." She sounded congested. "I was infamous among the riff raff those days." Her words were followed by a big sniff inward.

"Look at you now, respected strategist of the Rebel Alliance."

"Eh, I'm not respected by everyone."

"You're still respected!"

"Whatever. Look at yourself, Luke. You went from a farmboy to a commander and you're almost a full fledged Jedi. That's progress." Malia told him, leaning in towards Luke slightly.

Luke's eyes got wide and a grin tugged on his lips. He was excited by the compliment, but he was more excited to hop at the opportunity to compliment Malia.

"Yeah, but you're not as angry anymore. There's a certain peace to you. Whether it's coming to terms with your parents or you've found something stable and consistent--"

"Stop trying to figure me out, Skywalker." Malia said cautiously, raising her eyebrows.

"I will never come close to figuring you out, Kenobi." Luke countered.

"I don't like that last name." Malia was growing uncomfortable. So maybe she hadn't coped as everyone thought. Who could blame her? Either way, she had gotten better.

"What if we change it to Skywalker?"

"What?"

"Nothing...I said how about going on a walk...errr."

Malia chuckled, "It's too hot for a walk. And we've got a war to win before I even consider marrying you."

Luke didn't mind the rejection, at least he had gotten positive attention back on him. He reached his calloused fingers out to brush Malia's shoulder.

Her green eyes drifted down to his fingers, and for once the woman didn't mind. She told herself it was okay and it was.

"Am I really that bad?"