Playlist:

❶ "Rey's Theme"—The Force Awakens OST

❷ "The Cave"—The Last Jedi OST

❸ "Jessica's Theme"—The Man from Snowy River OST

Naluma grumbled as Luke dragged her down the shuttle ramp. "I don't want to deal with people, Luke. Can't I stay here?"

"No." 

They locked eyes for a tense moment on the landing pad. Passers-by gazed on.

"Don't make a scene, Naluma. People are staring." Luke glanced around at them.

She closed her mouth and walked with him.

Once they reached the busy pedestrian zone beyond the spaceport, she asked, "Why are we here, anyway?"

Luke smiled. "I'm done with the narrow bunks on the shuttle. If I get to spend a month with you, I want a better bed." A blush raced to his cheeks.

Naluma lowered her eyes demurely and then looked up through her lashes. "Really?"

He brought them to a halt in the middle of the busy path. The blinking billboards lit up the city in the twilight. He gazed into her eyes, seeing her pain, seeing the fears of the woman he loved. She fears me. She thinks— Luke clutched the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers, opening the channel of his love to her. I will always love you. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't want you in my life. I can't lose you, Naluma. It would destroy me.

With his thumb, he wiped the tears from her cheeks. He pulled her close to his chest and held her, lowering his shields entirely. For the first time since their honeymoon, no barriers separated either of them. Their love, their fears, their thoughts—all flowed between them in the middle of the street as the flood of citizens flowed around them. 

I thought you'd stopped loving me.

Luke shook his head. Never.

Oh, Luke, I don't know how—

Shh. Don't worry about that. Just trust me.

I do.

Luke glanced at his chronometer. "We'd better head over to Dheedu's Divans before they close."

"Lead the way," she said with a slight smile. Naluma intertwined her fingers with his and leaned on his shoulder as they strolled.

Luke and Naluma arrived at the three-story furniture store a few minutes before closing. The Rodian owner greeted them at the door. "I'm sorry. We're closing soon. Could you return tomorrow."

Naluma sighed at the thought.

Luke said, "Uh, I'm sorry, but we need purchase and delivery tonight. We won't take long." He pushed past the blue Rodian, examining the beds displayed on the ground floor. 

Dheedu followed him, "But, sir—"

Naluma moved toward the back of the store, wandering aimlessly.

Luke split his attention between the shop owner, his wife, and the selection of beds. "Look, if you can just give us ten minutes. I promise, we'll finish the transaction before your closing time."

"But then we have to work out delivery—"

Luke turned to the closest bed. It stood almost as tall as him, with a bulky frame and overstuffed mattress. "Naluma, what do you think of this one?" Luke sat on it, bouncing slightly on the mattress.

She glanced at him and shook her head. He could feel the strain on her, the fatigue. "Too large."

"Sir, I must ask you to leave now." The Rodian's large bug eyes grew even larger as his suction-cup mouth formed a definitive "Oh."

"Naluma?" Pick something.

She glanced around the room. "How about that one?" She pointed at a low-profile bed with a basket-weave, low headboard and footboard in white.

"That one." Luke pointed to the one Naluma had indicated. 

The Rodian said, "7,000 credits."

"For one bed?"

"Yes."

Luke folded his arms. "5,000."

"7,000 or take your business elsewhere, tomorrow."

"Very well, 7,000."

"How about a mattress? That's extra."

Luke sighed. He lay down on the mattress on the floor sample. "Not this one. How about the one on the other bed?"

"2,000."

The Rodian punched the order into his datapad. "Hmm, do you want the luxury bedding package?"

Naluma sat down on a child's bed at the back of the store and played with a plushy wampa on the bed. Luke watched as she clutched it to her chest, stroking the synthetic fur.

"A complete set of bedding with four additional sets of sheets." I really don't want to be doing laundry on this trip when we're going to have to conserve our water.

"Color?"

"Naluma?" She did not look up. Luke reached out to her, sighing when he read her thoughts. "The blue ones."

"With special delivery and installation, that brings your total to 10,438 credits." The Rodian held out the datapad.

Luke punched his account code into datapad and activated the retinal scan for the transaction.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Master Skywalker." The Rodian rubbed his suction-cup fingertips together.

Luke did not care that he had been taken. He felt Naluma's despondency and knew he had to get her out of the store.

He sat down on the bed behind her taking the toy from her hands. He set it back on the pillow and led her out. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked to Chinot's to pick up their dinners.

When they returned to the shuttle, Naluma stored the meals in the cooling unit while Luke pulled the single bunk out of the captain's quarters and shoved it into the crew quarters. He found her going through her breathing exercises on the main deck. He smiled, proud she had commenced them without his prodding.

"It was starting again." She looked at him with wide eyes. "I need something to distract me—a book, a task, something to take my mind off it."

He crouched down, taking her hands in his. "No, you're wrong. You need to learn how to face fear and deal with it. Fear leads to anger, which leads to suffering ... yourself, others. Face it down, Naluma. The situation won't change, but your reaction to it must." The Jedi Master raised his eyebrows at her and tilted his head.

Naluma glared at him.

"You're angry again. Start your exercise again. Pull from me when you require energy. Just take it one moment at a time."

Luke sensed the delivery droid approach the shuttle. "Why don't you move into the cockpit while I handle the delivery?"

Naluma nodded as she scurried to the privacy of the cockpit, shutting the hatch behind her.

After he had installed the bed, Luke punched in the coordinates for Endor and obtained clearance for launch. He would alter their coordinates once they reached Endor.

"Hungry?"

Naluma shook her head. She was still at peace, at least.

"Well, you're eating anyway. Need to fatten you up. Doctor's orders." Luke smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "Can't think of a better way to do that than with Chinot's cream sauce."

"What's the point?" She turned her head, focusing on the changing shapes of hyperspace. "I'm not hungry, and you said we're done trying to have kids because I'm—"

"Uh-uh. None of that." Luke shook his finger at her. "You will eat, and you will eat your entire meal, even if it makes you sick. Am I entirely clear?"

Naluma nodded.

"Now, why don't you make the bed while I heat the food?"

Four days later when they reached Ahch-To, Naluma had regained control, but only with internal stimuli. She still could not control herself if Luke said or did anything to her that she took as a threat.

He landed the shuttle on the lower plateau and lowered the ramp, ready to tackle that challenge. If external stimuli is what she needs, external is what she'll get. She may hate me in the end, but we're not leaving until she regains control.

❶ "Let's go."

Naluma followed him out as he led her up the steps of the eastern causeway.

When they reached the top, he ordered, "Again. Faster this time."

She glared at him but proceeded back down and up again.

With his arms crossed and his feet planted apart, he nodded at her. "Again."

"Didn't Kalonia order me to cut back on exercise, not increase it?"

"When you can get your spirit under control without this, we'll stop, but not until then."

"Luke, I can't. I'm exhausted."

"You can. Now do it."

"I can't. I don't see you doing it," she said through clenched teeth. 

"That is not an attitude befitting a Jedi Master. I'm sick of it, Naluma. Jedi do not wallow in self-pity."

She bent over, panting. She lifted her head and glared back at him for the rebuke.

He stared her down, but she did not lower her gaze. He took a deep breath before issuing his next order. "Padawan Fau, you will continue the exercise until I tell you to stop. And you will address me as Master Skywalker from this point forward. Now, again, Padawan."

She stared at him. He felt her rage swelling at the humiliation of a demotion by two ranks. Words crept over their bond. I am a fail— As the tears welled up in her eyes, her face scrunched up as she fought tooth-and-nail for the peace that had just eluded her.

Luke remained silent, waiting for her to regain her peace. After a few minutes of deep breathing, her peace returned. Naluma's back had straightened, and her muscles had relaxed. She pivoted and ran down the steps yet again.

On her seventh pass up the stairs, she felt like she would collapse. Her legs cramped. Her stomach churned. When she thought all was lost, she pulled in the Force from around her and let it empower her body.

At the top, she discovered Luke seated on the ground, beaming at her.

"Very good, Padawan. Please sit."

She collapsed, dehydrated.

He levitated a canteen from the shuttle to her. "Have you learned the lesson, Padawan?"

"I think so, Master." She huffed in exhaustion before wiping water from her chin. "I never had to do it in my own strength?"

"Never. Nothing in your own strength. That's what the Force is for. Let it empower you, even when you don't think you need it."

"I understand the application physically, but I don't see how that's going to help with the other problem, Master."

"You will learn, but enough for today. You need a shower, and I have a date with my wife," Luke said, raising his eyebrows.

"Not sure if your wife is on board with that. She's had a really tough day. Her boss was an idiot. She could use a massage on her burning calves."

"Oh, a massage was definitely part of the agenda tonight." The glint in his eye accompanied a surge of lust through their bond. "Do you feel how you make me feel? Yes, Naluma. It's you. Don't you see how much I love you? We don't need to worry about getting pregnant right now. If it happens, it happens, but there's no pressure. Only love."

Naluma winked at him. "I am feeling a little better, thanks to you, and the Force."

He lifted her in his arms and carried her down the stairs. Naluma reached up, running her fingers through his hair and kissing him deeply.

Luke pulled his head back. "Shower first, then the massage. You are quite pungent, my love."

"Not my fault. You'd better make dinner while I'm in the shower. I could eat a bantha right now."

❷ At the end of the month on Ahch-To, Luke pulled memories from Naluma's mind of her worst stressors. Most dealt with Ben, but some were more mundane. He role-played as the antagonist with her. In small increments, she learned to pull on the Force to maintain her peace and be guided to solutions.

Today, the sea raged around her, yet she was at peace. However, when she stared into the Force-well beneath her, the gaping maw dripping with the dark side of the Force, she almost quit. 

"Come on, Naluma. You need to enter."

"What's in there?"

Luke grimaced. "Only what you take with you."

She fingered her lightsaber swinging at her side and paused. She ranged out with the Force searching for an answer. Luke wouldn't have said that unless he had a purpose. What should I take with me? After a few seconds, she unclipped her lightsaber and handed it to Luke. "I don't need it."

He nodded he clipped the saber to the other side of his belt.

With a quick nod, she dove into the chasm, arms pointing above her head and legs plastered together as she plunged into the freezing water below. Before she would smack her head on the bottom of the pool, she looped upward toward the sandy shore and pull her shivering body up.

The darkness of the cave pressed in, smothering her. She gasped for breath and pushed out with the Force, creating a light-filled bubble of clean air. Once she caught her breath, she let the bubble dissipate.

A dim light glowed from the end of the cave, growing brighter every second. Naluma shivered as a gust of wind chilled straight to her bones. It's always cold where it's dark, she reminded herself. What did you expect in a dark-side cave? 

She approached the gleaming wall—a sheet of ice. Shadows floated deep within the surface. Naluma lifted her hand to the ice to shade the glare. The images solidified, no more anonymous lumps. She identified Luke sitting on the edge of a medcenter bed. The woman beside him was she. Both smiled.

Naluma reached out with the Force and melded her mind with the image. Complete delight rushed through her. Pain in her privates, pain she had never felt like a large ball had been squeezed out of her birth canal.

Luke stroked her hand and kissed her forehead. "You did it, 'Luma. You're a mother. I'm a dad. And all because of you."

Filled with elation, Naluma beamed. A Togrutan nurse waddled into the room. "Here you go, your bundle of joy! Go ahead and hold her, Mama." She placed the swaddled bundle in Naluma's arms.

When Naluma pulled back the blanket, she screamed. "Luke, no! No!" Tears raced down her eyes. "Luke!" Rotting flesh clung to gaping bones, the putrid smell revolting Naluma. "She's dead, Luke. She's dead. How can you give this to me?" She thrust the bundle back on the nurse before retching into an emesis basin.

With a jolt, Naluma broke off the connection with the vision. Shaken, she found herself retching on the floor of the cave. She collapsed to the ground and dissolved into weeping. Silent sobs accompanied the salty tears. Is this all I'll ever do? Produce dead babies? "Tell me! Tell me now!" she yelled at the Force.

The cave lightened, warmth rushing in, from where, Naluma had no clue. Tendrils of the Force wrapped around the cave, shining every color of the rainbow, threading and wrapping her comfort. "Always in motion is the future, my daughter." The spoken power pointed with its bands of energy behind her.

The darkness banished and the ice wall melted, Naluma watched herself once more. She almost looked away, but the comforting voice of what she was certain was the Force itself said, "Watch." 

Luke stroked her hand and kissed her forehead. "You did it, 'Luma. You're a mother. I'm a dad. And all because of you."

Filled with elation, Naluma beamed. A Togrutan nurse waddled into the room. "Here you go, your bundle of joy! Go ahead and hold her, Mama." She placed the swaddled bundle in Naluma's arms.

Once more, Naluma pulled back the blanket to reveal an angelic face with dark hair and round cheeks and her father's eyes. Looking up at her husband, she cradled her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Hope. You're our Hope."

With another gust of the wind, the scene evaporated and the water of the lake sucked her back in. It gushed like a geyser and sent her back to the surface, confused but filled with hope.

Luke sat in a meditation pose, seemingly one with the visions she had just experienced.

"Now you know that we can't know. Don't let the darkness scare you. Shine the light of the Force on it and beat it back."

"Yes, Master."

❸ When they awoke the last day of their visit, Luke caressed Naluma's face.

"What's up today?" she asked as he sat up.

"I need you to make a decision, Master Fau." Luke pulled on his uniform pants and a tank top. "Come to the cockpit with me."

Naluma followed him, throwing on her uniform tunic to ward off the morning chill. She smiled at her regained title. That meant as much as the hard-won control she had learned these last four weeks. Her feet and legs shivered in the crisp morning air as they made their way to the cockpit. 

Luke had retrieved four different options on the data console.

"What's this?" She leaned over his shoulder, examining the console.

"One of them is our next destination. Since you need to interact with people, we'll go where the people are. I want you to choose." Luke stood, offering the seat to Naluma.

She browsed through the destinations, all resorts of one kind or another. The first one was a snow sports resort which catered to the cold-weather enthusiasts. Naluma had no desire to deal with any more cold weather after the three-month blizzard on Khalkha.

The next one was a trip to Lianna, the gambling resort. Luke and Naluma had operated there on an undercover mission two years before their marriage, and Naluma was not sure she wanted to return. She did not like to gamble, and everything seemed so fake there.

Kattada was a beach resort planet that had been the site of a battle during the Rebellion. That one struck her interest, but Luke would hate it. He could not swim, and he hated sand.

The last option was Denon, a planet of urban sprawl, similar to Coruscant. Facilities included high-rise hotels and standard tourist-trap entertainments. Naluma knew she could handle this one only in small doses.

She looked through them again, not liking any of the choices. She sighed when she realized it was another test. Luke already knows where we're going. Let the Force guide. No logic. No selfish desires. Just the Force. She started her breathing exercises and reached out. Moments later, she spoke one word. "Kattada."

"Good. Remember to let the Force guide you in every decision, not only the ones you seem lost on. It should become second nature to you."

"Every decision?" She grabbed his hand and smiled with a twinkle in her eye.

"Every decision." He nodded as she dragged him back to bed.

Did you know . . .

● Luke has to walk a fine line. He's at once the Grand Jedi Master as well as her husband. Sometimes the compassion required in both roles can conflict with his duties as well.

● The Force-well cave is a new scene. I had originally written this scene long before TLJ came out, but it seemed like Naluma needed a trial to deal with her own desires and fears. 

Tell me what you think . . .

● When Luke demoted Naluma, was it a test or a necessity or both? Why?