On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CXXV

"I'd don't like this," Luke whispered under his breath as he escorted Luna, who was in a dress of sky blue for the occasion, into the grand ballroom of the royal palace of Shu-Torun. They had easily bypassed the guards with invitations the girl had made that allowed them to play the part of a lower aristocratic couple. The young Jedi was far from pleased to be dressed up so extravagantly and even less happy with the knowledge that he was hardly decent at any of the numerous courtly dances Luna had instructed him on in preparation for the mission. Honestly, he didn't even know which dance was called what, let alone the music or steps.

"Just play the part," Luna growled from behind her pleasant smile. They were refraining from communicating over the Force considering the presence of the base on the planet in an attempt to keep the presence—or at the very least, their intentions—unknown.

"How exactly are you going to play this anyway?"

"Leave that to me. You focus on your part."

Luke tried not to roll his eyes. "Artoo should have that covered."

"Just keep an eye on things just in case," Luna responded. "Regardless of how things go, we need that information."

"I know, I know," the boy grumbled. "I'll remind you that I have more experience with these types of operations."

"What makes you think that?"

"The fact that up until you broke off from the Empire, you could win with pure might rather than intelligence."

"....Touché. But I was trained for this," Luna said as she nudged him over to the dance floor so they could better blend in. Luke sent a silent prayer to the Force that he wouldn't mess up as they got into position and entered the confusing mixture of colors and people.

"Why did he train you for this if you didn't need it anyway?" he asked in a low voice, after he was rather sure he'd identified the general movements from watching the other dancers and through the hints his partner was throwing him through the Force.

"I was never given formal dancing lessons."

"Firstly, I don't believe that, and secondly, not what I meant."

"....Don't know. I've always been good at stealth, so I supposed he decided to capitalize on it," Luna answered after a moment of thought, voice so low that even Luke nearly lost it to the orchestra's music. "Never bothered to wonder, actually. That was a problem with it, with the entire apprenticeship, I never questioned him. Put faith and trust where it should never have been placed."

"What makes you say that?" Luke asked, genuinely curious. He'd been there when the fight had happened, he'd heard what his Father had said to the girl and what she had and had not said. He'd listen to Anakin summarize what had gone down on Earth. And yet, despite all that he honestly still wondered what in the galaxy had made his Father's apprentice take off like that, it just didn't make any sense.

"It's a fact Luke, no more to it."

"Don't you trust me?"

"To a degree."

"What does that mean?"

"Exactly that, a degree," Luna answered with a small shrug. "If we were in a fight, I'd trust you to have my back. But trust you with my thoughts? Nothing stays a secret in families, and anything I say to you will undoubtedly find its way to your Father."

"I know how to keep a secret," Luke argued.

"You are a horrid liar."

"You don't always need to lie to keep secrets."

"Yes, you do," Luna countered. "You must lie with your facial expressions, with your body language, with your actions, else someone will know you are keeping something from them. Lying is an art of acting, and one you are no good at."

Luke couldn't argue with that and he knew it. Han had informed the Jedi on more than one occasion that he had a horrible Sabacc face—as if all the money he'd lost to his squadmates wasn't evidence enough. "Well, in that case, can you trust me to be truthful?"

"....Yes," she answered slowly, voice measured and thoughtful, "I trust you to tell your truth."

The fact that half truths could be well included in the category did not go over the young Jedi's head, though he wasn't even planning to half truth anything when it came to Luna. No point to it. And if he couldn't understand what was going through her head, then maybe there was a better option. "My Father missed you."

"And I care?"

"You care because you care about him."

"What makes you so sure?"

Now Luke had many answers to that question, but he figured the hardest to deny was current happenings rather than past evidence. "You're humoring him. You and I both know you could run off again if you wanted to."

"High Coma—"

"Since when did you care about that? We could handle this mission without you if we had to. Tell them that Valkyrie isn't willing to work with her old Master. Sure, it would knock Mon Mothma's plans back when it comes to integrating Father into the Alliance, but it still could be done. And yet, here you are."

"Recruitment—"

"You said yourself there is no true relationship. Father assigned you the responsibility, and you're taking it seriously."

"And this is evidence how?"

"Luna, it would save everyone in this family a lot of grief if you just talked it out with him."

"There is nothing to talk about."

"Then why can't you stay in the same room as him for any length of time without getting into an argument?"

"He's an insufferable Sith, what more is there to it?"

"You two used to get along."

"Things change."

"But not like that. He only stopped you when it came to Ramsey because he didn't want you to go too far."

"And who was he to stop me?" Luna growled, her eyes flashing in anger as her entire body tensed. For a moment, Luke would have sworn he'd seen a flash of yellow in her deep blue eyes.

"Your Master," the Jedi answered, voice firm. "Don't tell me you've forgotten how much my Father has risked for your sake in the past."

"I was nothing more than a living tool. A placeholder, a substitute, until he recruited you and your sister. And when not that, a hack for the future."

"He's never thought of you like that."

"You claim to know how he thinks?"

"Do you?"

"I know how your Father thinks quite well. I could name dozens of living tools he's used and disposed of once they outlived their usefulness."

"Do you really believe that he counts you among them?"

"What does it matter? Who cares what he considers me or I consider him? We just need to coexist long enough to win."

"And after that?" Luke questioned.

"There are some loose ends to tie up. After that, I may just go back."

"Go back where?"

"Earth," Luna answered simply, eyes looking past him at something else beyond. Perhaps thinking of that Sophie person, of plans that did not include him or anyone else he knew.

Luke found himself knowing that this half sister of his was quite right when it came to reasons for not telling him anything. There was no way in the galaxy he wasn't going to tell his Father all about this little chat. Or his Mother about the girl's future plans.

Before the Jedi could consider things for much longer, try to see if he could convince Luna that her views were warped without backup, trumpets sounded, and the dancing stopped as everyone knelt into a curtsy or bow.

The Queen had finally arrived.