-- Set Forth Good Wine -- vig (Complete)

[Guest]

Title: Set Forth Good Wine

Author(s): Zonoma

Characters: Mara, Leia

Genre: Angst, Dark Humor

Summary: Dealing with the loss of loved ones is hard.

Author's Notes: And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. -John 2:10

Disclaimers: I don't own Star Wars. Artwork courtesy of Darth Mikus on tf.n.

 

 

 

 

Leia stood outside the Falcon's guest sleeper and paused for a moment, studying the scuffed hatch. Mara might have already found the sweet oblivion offered only by exhausted sleep, dreamless and empty. Waking her would be cruel. Peace didn't come easily in an empty bed.

 

Her breath quickened into tiny gasps and she poured everything she was into the hole gnawing where her heart beat just days ago, trying to fill it. Instead, the void just grew, consuming her confusion, her pain, her anger, and she found herself revolted by the greedy nature of its appetites. She didn't understand how she could also welcome this sensation as one would welcome an old friend.

 

An empty bed”¦she closed her eyes and opened them just as quickly, shying away from the image of the bed she left behind in the main cabin. His sleep shirt was still thrown across the pillow and the sheets rumpled. Small though it was, the bed seemed like an ocean of fabric trying its best to drown her. She was awake because she couldn't stay in there alone. Not now. Maybe never again.

 

It was a curious thing but she was terrified to stop the hurting. She would rather hurt and hold on than to heal and risk losing the sound of his voice or the rough feel of his cheek on hers first thing in the morning. She didn't want him to fade away into the ghostly perceptions of memory, so she trembled and welcomed the pain. For better or worse, she embraced the monster willingly in the end.

 

The hatch before her opened, and Mara's haunted eyes startled Leia out of her reverie.

 

”œI came to see if you were alright.”

[Amidala Skywalker]

First off, WELCOME to our little corner we like to call FanFic!! We're always so excited to have newcomers.

 

I LOVED this vig. You have great characterization of both Leia and Mara, and they really seem to be straight out of SW. I wish it was longer so I could enjoy it more!

 

I like how you captured my attention straightaway, acurately portraying their grief and attitudes. It made me wonder how Han and Luke were killed...something you didn't answer, which was my only complaint about this story. But at the same time, a narrative section telling how they died would have taken away some of the feel of the fic, and the emotions of the characters. So I guess it didn't bother me that much in the end.

 

Anyway, excellent stuff! I hope you write and post more around here, and I'll be eagerly waiting for your next peice.

[Guest]

Thank you! I'm always excited to find fanfic sites that are new to me. I always wind up finding new authors to stalk!

 

I considered putting in the background for their deaths but decided, for the reasons you mentioned, that I would just stick to alluding to it. Initially the bunny was inspired by the question "What if Han and Luke didn't escape Wotebu in The Swarm War?" I left it at a vig because, though in my mind's eye I can see these two becoming a formidable team on thier own, I didn't want to follow the continuity lines of DN trilogy (mostly because I found that interlude in EU to be irritating- and I like writing fics that don't rely heavily on prior EU knowledge).

 

Thank you for the warm welcome, Amidala_Skywalker!

[Amidala Skywalker]

...Oh yeah, you're definately going to fit in around here. That's for sure. You're definately a writer after our own hearts!

 

So the idea was based off of the old "what if" scenario...that's always my favorite for short stuff like this.

 

As I said before, I'm looking forward to reading more of your work.

[jedi_master_gimpy]

Welcome to TF.N, Zonoma! I've definitely seen your name floating around JC...it's always nice to add new people here (warning, although I'm sure you've noticed: things move much slower).

 

Wonderful, wonderful vig. As Ami said, your characterizations were spot-on. I also found myself wondering what was supposed to have happened to Luke and Han (your thoughts on that later on make perfect sense), but it certainly wasn't a need-to-know for the actual reading.

 

It was a curious thing but she was terrified to stop the hurting. She would rather hurt and hold on than to heal and risk losing the sound of his voice or the rough feel of his cheek on hers first thing in the morning. She didn't want him to fade away into the ghostly perceptions of memory, so she trembled and welcomed the pain. For better or worse, she embraced the monster willingly in the end.

 

I thought you did an excellent job of catching hold of grief and the fears it holds as well as the sorrows.... you also did a wonderful job of walking the thin line between grief and the sporadic bursts of humor which come when the mind has to have some outlet to survive.

 

”œCause I couldn't have my brother?”

[Guest]

Ami: Again, thank you for all of your encouragement! I know I said I don't like to post things that require a lot of EU knowledge, but I have one or two canon speculations working right now that are - quite simply - breaking my own rules. Go figure.

 

gimpy: I think I love your user name! And yes, it does move much, much slower here and that suits me just fine to be perfectly honest. And *is scared* I hope I've been well-behaved on the JC!

 

I would love to have a coherent reply to your wonderful insights but it would seem you've covered all of the bases! I giggled at your 'oh my fuzzy slippers' though - that is a new one for me! Thank you so very much for taking the time to read and letting me know you enjoyed it.

 

I would like to post more, but I am trying to be careful of how fast I post things. I don't want to spam the boards with 'Z's. Perhaps one more this evening wouldn't hurt, though.

[jedi_master_gimpy]

haha. Thanks, I'm kinda partial to my user name myself. Well, I haven't run a background check through the Mods at JC, but at first glance you seem to check out as well-behaved.

[Amidala Skywalker]

Welcome to TF.N, Zonoma!

 

Yeah, except this isn't TheForce.net, Gimpy.

 

Welcome to Jnet, Zonoma!

[Ethro Brealis]

Wow, that was a nice vignette! I really haven't read any of the New Jedi Order, but I could still see it all happening. I'll be watching for you, Zonoma.

[Laela]

Yes, a very nice piece. Good characterization. Short, sweet, to the point. No complaints here.

 

But now I have images of pink, Star Wars icons floating past my eyes...

 

Maybe I need to get more sleep.

[Mara N. Jade]

Wow! Where to begin...

YOur characters were great. It was so nice to read a fic that was able to capture the true characters so well.

 

"Cause I couldn't have my brother?"

 

Jimminy Crickets, what a line. That one had me laughing so hard I almost fell off my chair. It was great to see someone finally make a joke from that one!

[Anakin T Skywalker]

You did a great job with the bittersweet tone of this. I know very little about the EU and I understood it perfectly, so you achieved that goal, too.