faithfulson | PSL: MoM Game End

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mom event,
psl

PSL: MoM Game End

The announcement came to everyone in the form of a dream. The goddesses they had fought against, apologizing that they could not fulfill their promise; the multiverse was too unstable to keep their little melting pot of realities as it was. The Porters would need to be closed, but to make it up to them, they would use the power they had to send them wherever they wanted: they could stay, go home, or go to another reality altogether.

It should have been an easy choice, but when Luke woke up that morning, he felt conflicted.

He should go home; he was the last of the Jedi, and he had an obligation to revive the Order. Besides, it seemed they would be able to remember what happened here; maybe he could keep himself from making the same mistakes this time. Yet when he thought about it, thought about how him and Leia never spoke anymore, how his own nephew hated him more than anything, how he had been betrayed and lied to endlessly, the thought of going home turned his stomach.

When he finally removed himself from his bed (crawling out from under Ace, who picked up he was sad and flopped on top of him to make him feel better), he dressed slowly, coming to a realization of what he wanted as he did so. His gaze fell to the window, staring out like he could see his destination even though it was no where in sight, before finally turning to the big dog.

"C'mon boy," he said softly, clipping on his leash, before quickly heading out the door.

It was a bit of a walk, though nothing he wasn't used to; yet Luke still felt out of breath when he finally made it to Lucina's place. He hesitated at her door, doubts and fears momentarily worming into his head, and it took Ace sitting down and whining softly before he finally quickly knocked on her door.

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Leave...? After so much time and strife?

Lucina can't say her own answer is any easier, especially so suddenly. Leave and say goodbye to all she'd come to know here? The people still yet remaining? Jaime, Ruka, Luther...Luke....

She has always missed home. Rather, her family -- her father, mother, sister...Owain, the rest of them...But she knew her place there was already taken. There's already a Lucina living, thriving, being cared for by that family. Her true parents were dead. But she still remembers how earnestly Owain, then a surprisingly older man, reported that they'd won -- that everything Lucina and the others were desperate to save was safe. The job was done.

So what was there to go home to? She never even...she can't even go to them. Present herself to them. Wouldn't she just cause a mess? It might be better to either stay or...

...Go somewhere else.

Part of Lucina is always going to love and miss Guzma. He was her first! And, to date, her only. But could she justify wandering into his world alone? Could she be certain he'd even know her? After all, those who left and came back have always said they'd forgotten their time in this world when they were home. The thought of stranding herself in that land, being unknown -- hell, likely resented for imposing -- is too much to think on for too long.

Such is the anguish she's stewing in when she hears a knock over at the front of the house. She sits up from where she'd flopped facedown on the sofa, needing a moment to reorient into the present moment before she gets up, smoothing her hair out, and opens the door to--

"...Luke?"

It's still a bit of a surprise each time they encounter each other now; part of her still isn't sure they'll ever be alright. But she's also relieved he's still around -- she doesn't want to lose anyone else.

"Hey..." he said softly, his throat locking up almost immediately. He had been rehearsing in his head what he would say on the way over, but now that he was face to face with her, the words just seemed to fly out of his head.

Ace stared up at him, a look on his face like he was judging Luke, before he leaned toward Lucina, nudging at her hand.

Thank the gods for dogs. Lucina may have suffered from the same suffocation that atmosphere filled up with, were it not for the diversion of Ace. Her expression shifts from concern to something softer, kinder, as she takes the dog's face in her hands.

"Hello, friend," she says. "I didn't know I'd have company today...but it's a good surprise."

She says that latter part while flicking her gaze back up at Luke, as if to reassure him he's not trespassing. Honestly? Anything's better than drowning in her own chaotic sea of thoughts and speculations all alone right now.

Thank the Force for dogs indeed, Luke eased a little as Lucina turned her attention to Ace (whose tail was close to turning into a lethal weapon with how pleased he was at the attention), his own soft smile coming to his face at her words. He reached down, scritching behind one of the big guy's ears fondly, before focusing back on her.

"I guess you don't mind if we talk?" he asked.

She straightens back up, a hand lingering under Ace's chin before falling away. Given the recent events, it's not hard to guess what this could be about, and dread clenches at her heart anew.

"Of course not," she replies, and then steps away, allowing them to enter. "Please, come in."

"Thank you."

Ace happily trotted in before Luke started moving, half tugging him in along with him. He let out a faint grunt, stumbling to catch up with the dog, only to nearly trip over him as he sat down. He was indoors, so that meant the leash came off, and he stared up at Luke expectantly as he collected himself.

"I know you're being silly on purpose," he murmured, reaching down to unclip his leash before going to sit down.

Lucina smiles briefly at the little nonsense, closing the door and moving to sit in the space left, again offering her hand to the dog to sniff and receive pets should it please him. Thankfully, there's nothing breakable or of value currently on the coffee table, so his tail poses no threat.

She doesn't prompt Luke to speak. If she did, it'd bring about some talk of him bidding farewell, and she isn't sure she's ready for that. With how sudden and harsh a person's porting out is, it at least doesn't come with the torturous buildup this sort of revelation has brought upon the community. Like ripping a bandage...it hurts more to anticipate and pull slowly.

So, no...no questions. She just sits quietly, letting silence prevail until Luke finds his courage.

Luke watched as Ace accepted the attention, looked extraordinarily pleased. He finally moved away from Lucina's hand after a long moment, resting his head in the space between them and looking back and forth. It looked like he could pick up on the sad from the both of them, and he didn't know which one of them he was supposed to flop on. Luke smiled fondly, gently running his fingers along his head, before looking up at Lucina.

"So... this is the end of this place, hunh?" he said softly. "What do you plan to do?"

She exhales with a pained smile, her eyes still on the dog.

"I...haven't finished suffering the question," she admits. "Which one would think I had plenty of time to imagine what I'd choose, back when there was no choice, but..."

Luke nodded in understanding, lapsing into a brief silence, before he let out a breath.

"I know what I should do," he admitted, finally voicing his thoughts from earlier. "Too much in my galaxy hinges on my being there, that it would be irresponsible of me not to go back... even with knowing how badly I'll fail."

Ace shifted so he was a little closer to him, his wet nose poking at his gloved hand. Luke shifted so he could rest his head on it, fingers curling slightly.

"...but I don't want to go back," he confessed softly. "I can't just willingly march toward my own failure, especially knowing how fragile my bonds with people I treasured really are."

Lucina's eyebrows raise, her heart thumping a beat louder for a moment at the admission.

"You...really believe you're fated to change nothing?" she asks, dread prickling at the back of her neck. "Knowing what you know now, I mean...wouldn't that be able to change things?"

That would mean she, knowing what she knows, may not see the same future Owain saw, right?

"I have no doubt I'll try, but I also know how things work in my galaxy," Luke replied, a hint of bitterness seeping into his voice. "Even if I succeed in changing things, my nephew will still remember what happened here; eventually, he'll come to hate me with a passion. Knowing that there's still going to be a greater threat? Knowing his hate?"

Luke shook his head.

"Even if it doesn't happen again, there's always something waiting in the wings in my galaxy," he explained. "I... truly feel it would be better if it's believed I died on the Death Star; let the galaxy find its own path with just the strength of normal people, and not dependent on a special few."

He let out a breath, slumping back. "...thing is, I'm not sure where to go," he confessed. "I don't think I could stay here, not with everything that happened, but I don't know what that leaves me with."

Lucina listens, her heart heavy. It doesn't seem fair, the way he speaks of his expectations -- with the knowledge he has now, shouldn't it be enough to change things for the better?

But...part of her resonates with that, understands that she, too, knowing what she knows, can't be certain she'd be any better off.

Yet staying here with the ghosts of all those forever gone...how is that any better?

"That's so...terribly grim, Luke," she utters, shaking her head. "I thought I was supposed to be the negative one..."

Luke couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at that.

"That's why I asked what your plans were, hoping you had some wisdom I couldn't find," he admitted. He paused, running a hand through his hair. "I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know if it would be any easier than these other options."

Folks coming to Lucina for wisdom isn't new, but it has been a while since it's been done. Probably a good thing -- most of her advice is for battlefield survival or coping with grueling marching campaigns, and she isn't even sure it's good advice. Something like this is a bit harder to parse, as it probably ought to be, all things considered.

After a moment of thought, she tilts her head to peer at him.

"Shouldn't you lean into the better of choices if you can? Whether it's hard or not. I mean, considering how most worthwhile things are seldom simple anyway..."

Luke was silent a moment, mulling his thoughts and her words over, before he let out a breath, shifting slightly so he was looking right at her.

"Could I have your thoughts on this, then?" he asked, waiting for her nod before pressing on. "My sister was a humanitarian long before I met her. She traveled the entire galaxy, just helping people and planets in need. As I learned more of the Force, I thought that's what it meant to be a Jedi, but..."

He trailed off, casting a miserable glance out the door, as if the world itself was responsible for contributing to that revelation.

"The Jedi even failed in that, when they shouldn't have. I don't want to make that mistake; I want to help people, wherever I can. I just... don't know where that could be, or if I could do it alone."

"Well, you can't do it alone," she replies pointedly, sitting up a little straighter. "If I've learned anything, I've learned that much. No matter who we are, or...what we're told we're meant for...humans aren't meant to shoulder the weight of all their burdens alone. And...the bigger the burden, the more one could use the help, right?"

She had meant to change fate and take the responsibility of it on herself, but that utterly insulted all the effort and support from her friends and family that got her that far. She'd have managed nothing without them, and would likely only have been able to move farther with them.

"But...I don't know if even that much can fix the entire world, or...universe, or anything. Certainly not alone, but also...I don't know how many it takes.

"I admit, my scope had always been so much smaller..." She shrugs, looking askance with a little bit of shame. "I could say I meant to save the world, but my focus was always more on my life. My family. The ones I loved. The rest would be nice, but..."

Luke was silent, listening intently as she spoke, and realizing how little he knew of her world. Now that he thought about it... she hadn't spoken much of it, and he hadn't asked. There was pain there, he could sense as much, and he wanted to kick himself for not reaching out before this.

Even Ace had switched people, going to rest his head on Lucina's lap.

"But...?" he prompted, tilting his head in silent encouragement to go on.

"But," she echoes in a sigh, scritching at Ace's ears, "I was only one person. Just a girl at that. And the whole scope of a world's problems...they can't be solved by a single person. Especially when that person hasn't lived much of their own life to know best, right?"

She looks back over at Luke, expression thoughtful. This is a dialogue she has to comfort herself, quietly, alone...and it hits a little differently when she's speaking with someone else about it.

"I think having the power to help people is good, and I think you should use it where you can. But I don't know if that means you have to run around looking for those things...you're allowed to live a life, just as much as anyone, right?"

Because if he's allowed, so is she.

Luke's mouth worked a moment, a million responses running through his head and not one of them seemed appropriate. He clicked his mouth shut, pursing his lips, before finally letting out a soft chuckle.

"I spent so much time at home 'knowing' my life was going to be dedicated to serving the galaxy that I haven't even considered what a life actually means for me," he confessed, shrugging sheepishly.

It was so true, that he really had no idea what he was supposed to do. Anywhere he went, he was going to be picking up pieces of a life and fitting them together. If he had to go somewhere alone... he didn't want to think about how poorly that would go.

He took a deep breath, holding it a moment as his gaze grew distant, seeking guidance from the Force. It was a moment before he exhaled slowly, finally focused on Lucina and the emotions swirling around her.

"Well... wherever I end up... it'd be nice to have a friend along."

It's something they have in common: What's a life without some dire, world-ending quest? Lucina has struggled with it throughout her few years here separated from it, and in ways...she thinks she's found something of it, but it's always, always hampered by that looming shadow of purpose. Not even Owain's assurance that she'd succeed could shake her free of it for very long, especially when the cities here were in peril. Why else inherit a sword if one isn't meant to do something with it, right?

But...heirlooms shouldn't dictate one's future. They should only aid, or...be set aside for those who need it. That's the lesson that's hard to remember most of all -- that her parents would never fault her for following where her own path leads, under or away from the long shadows their legacies cast.

Wherever she ends up, she--

Huh-?

She blinks a couple times, looking back at him with a little start.

"What does that mean?" she asks, a touch nervous. "Are you saying you're...not even deciding where you plan to go? That's not what I said at all, you know-!"

Luke couldn't help but grin at her reaction; sometimes he could make her flustered without even trying, and it was never not amusing.

"I know," he replied easily, "but... I was homeless for three years before I even came here the first time around. Even if -- stars forbid -- I did end up going back to my own reality, I'd have no where to go and no one I would want to be with. Having a friend with me, wherever we ultimately agree to go, would..."

He trailed off, letting out a breath.

"...would be less lonely, and keep me from just withdrawing entirely."

That particular expression of his resurfaces, and Lucina has to fight a want to grab and shake him. At least, for a moment, until he explains himself. Her own expression sobers into a thoughtful frown.

It's true that he is apt to just...ferreting himself away in caves and the like, isn't it? And if he's so adamant on not following his pathway back to his home universe...

"Then come along with me," she blurts, looking at least a little surprised for having said so at all. "I--that is, that's...actually pretty pushy, isn't it? After all we've put each other through, I mean..."

Luke was momentarily surprised; he was trying to hint that they should go off together, but having her just blurt it out like that still caught him off guard. Then she started rambling, and his grin slowly reappeared on his face, infinitely amused. He finally reached out, resting a hand over hers to try and quiet her.

"Yes, I'll come with you," he assured her, withdrawing as soon as she stopped rambling. "Where do you intend to go?"

Edited (What is tense?) 2021-04-09 20:43 (UTC)

As always, Lucina's face colors with her typical cocktail of embarrassment and annoyance at being embarrassed despite the reassurance, fingers twitching after-the-fact and prompting her to retract her hand entirely to herself. Sorry, Ace, it's Luke's fault.

"I, I don't know," she fumbles. "That is, I...I hadn't completely decided up to now or anything, I'm...It's. Complicated, I think. It might be." Her eyes wince as some part of that truth, a heavier part, sinks in.

"It...might actually be bad to follow along...if I'm returning to exactly where I left off. And you'd be walking into a whole other war that you've got nothing to do with."

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