Ode to a Fruitcake

Luke sat morosely, staring at the tabletop. He shook his head when Leia came up behind him and placed a blanket around his shoulders then sat next to him. "I can't believe it's gone."

"You mean 'he'," Leia asked. "You can't believe Obi-wan Kenobi is gone?"

Luke shrugged. "Oh yeah, him too."

Leia blinked in confusion. "Well, what else are you sulking about?"

"He ate it!" Luke wailed.

Raising her eyebrows, Leia needed clarification. "Ate what?"

"He ate my fruitcake!" The young jedi hopeful sniffled loudly and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

The princess grimaced in disgust at both the gesture and the absurdity of the object of mourning. "Obi-wan ate your fruitcake? Why would you cry over that?"

"No," Luke corrected, "Han ate the fruitcake. It was the last thing Aunt Beru made me. She put it in my pack before I left to try to find Artoo…" his voice trailed off. Then he whined indignantly, "And he had the nerve to say it was awful!"

Leia looked at Luke with a doubtful expression. "Fruitcakes usually are."

"Yeah, and Aunt Beru's are no exception." He smiled in spite of himself.

"Well then you should thank Han for eating it."

"But, it was the last thing I had from my Aunt Beru, and now she's dead!"

Leia sighed as she rubbed Luke's back in consolation. "Where is Han, anyway?"

"If there's any justice," Luke answered sulkily, "he's in the refresher, throwing up."

The End