Dressed completely in white, Leia Organa, Princess and Senator of Alderaan, stood at the archway that led into the Organa household. She could still hear her father's words ringing in her ears. Before coming out here, she and her father had shared a private conversation.
"Everyone on Alderaan is very proud of you, Leia," Bail had told her, as they said farewell and Leia prepared to depart on her mission. "I know you will do well on your mission."
Pleased that she could be trusted to carry out such an assignment, Leia had promised that she would succeed and that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be able to help preserve the Rebel Alliance.
Although Alderaan wasn't currently in danger, the time would eventually come that the planet's designation as the training ground for the Rebel Alliance would soon be discovered. Therefore, Leia had been assigned to travel to Tatooine and meet with Obi-Wan. In turn, he would come back to Alderaan and assist the Rebel Alliance in moving to a safer, yet unknown, location.
For now, the Rebels were scattered across the planet, training in small groups so that they would someday be strong enough to combat the Empire and take back the galaxy.
Much had been lost over these many years, Leia thought, as she silently stared out at the sunset.
"Princess Leia?" a deep voice suddenly sounded out from behind her. "Are you ready to depart?"
Snapped out of her thoughts, Leia turned and smiled when she saw who was standing before her.
Mace Windu, who had taken on the false name of Anton Macias, an advisor to the royal family and key figure in the Rebel Alliance, smiled as Leia turned to him. Behind him, R2D2 and Threepio approached the princess in absolute silence, prepared to accompany her.
"Please keep the droids safe," Mace explained. "Remember what the astro droid carries."
Leia nodded, "Anton, I fear that I will never see Alderaan again," she suddenly said, despite needing to focus on her upcoming mission. "I've been having strange dreams about it..."
Leia is strong in the Force, obviously, since she is Anakin's biological daughter...Yet, that can be worried about much later...One step at a time. Mace silently thought, as he nodded.
"Princess, I will make it a priority to continue preparing the Rebel Alliance for the fight ahead," Mace promised. "For now, however, I will escort you and the droids to the cruiser."
Forcing herself to let go of her dreams, Leia nodded and walked in-step with Mace towards the platform where Captain Antilles waited with the cruiser. The plans that Artoo carried would help Obi-Wan determine how best to act in the days ahead. For safety was quickly disappearing.
It was still unsure how plans for the Death Star had not only been acquired, but also implanted into Artoo's memory circuits, but Leia had long suspected that Anton had been involved.
Ever since she was a baby, Anton had been protecting not only Alderaan, but also her family and for that, Leia was grateful. Life would certainly be different without him, she was certain of it.
"Greetings, Princess, are you ready to depart?" Captain Antilles said, as Leia suddenly realized that she, Anton, and the droids were now on the platform and quickly approaching the ship.
Leia nodded, "Yes Captain," she replied, walking up the ramp.
Mace watched silently as Leia disappeared into the ship and the droids hurried up the ramp, followed by the Captain, who was, along with his crew, very anxious to get underway.
As the engines came to life, Mace turned away and retreated from the platform.
All had been silent for many years, but now the time of reawakening was fast approaching.
What seemed like hours later, a pod crashed on to the sandy surface of Tatooine.
Having both heard and seen the Pod falling from far off, a Jawa sandcrawler rolled towards the crash site, the inside occupants eager to salvage whatever they could from the wreck and sell.
At the pod, the hatch suddenly burst open and a shaky Threepio staggered out on to the sand, "Oh my!" he whined, seeing the barren wasteland that the Pod had landed upon.
Beeping merrily, as if he knew everything would be all right, Artoo rolled out of the Pod and coming to a stop beside Threepio, he continued to his electronic rumination.
"We shall probably die here," Threepio moaned, bothered by the fact that Captain Antilles had literally shoved them into the Pod right before the ship had come under attack.
Little did Threepio know, however, Leia had ordered the droids sent to Tatooine in a Pod because somehow, she felt that there would be trouble and she would never set foot on the planet.
Sensing approaching creatures, Artoo gave a sudden, urgent beep, earning him a glare from Threepio, "What is it?" the golden droid moaned. "We're doomed anyway!"
Before Artoo could reply, however, the Jawa sandcrawler stopped several feet away from them.
Not realizing that they were about to become goods for the Jawas selling trade, Threepio gasped and began shouting incoherently. Artoo gave an exasperated beep and was quiet from then on.
Although they would be in no danger, Artoo knew that he must remain quiet in order to succeed.
On the other side of Tatooine, a deafening roar sounded out from Beggar's Canyon.
Two speederbikes sped along the canyon walls and with each turn, the race intensifed. Both riders wore helmets, racing suits and gloves, for both their bodies and hands needed continual protection in the heat.
For a while, it seemed like neither bike pulled ahead of the other, riding perfectly in-sync.
Suddenly, one of the bikes came to a halt and the rider lifted his visor, revealing a winded Luke Skywalker as the rider. He had lost the race, but it was all right, as it was just a race.
Frowning, as he could instantly feel that something was wrong, Luke watched in horror as the other bike suddenly hit a rock and as it exploded, the rider flew on to the sand in a somersault.
Ignoring the wrecked bike that was engulfed in flames, Luke quickly re-revved his speeder and rode over to where the other rider lay very still on the sand.
"Father, are you all right?" Luke asked, as he knelt down and gently lifted the other rider's helmet from his head, revealing a very tired looking Anakin Skywalker. "What happened?"
Trying very hard to calm his unusually shaky nerves, Anakin sat up and took a deep breath. He had been riding on instinct, which had gone very well in the past. However, his mind had suddenly drifted and had caused him to crash and nearly injure himself. It was highly disturbing to him.
"Father?" Luke asked again, concerned that his father might have injured himself in the crash.
Feeling shaken by the fact that he had allowed strange visions to cloud his accurate use of the Force, Anakin blinked, "I'm all right, Luke," he replied. "Just very shaken."
Nodding, Luke offered his hand, "Can you stand up?" he asked, very concerned for his father.
Unaware that he was literally shaking, Anakin took Luke's hand and allowed himself to be helped to his feet. He felt Luke holding him up and leading him over to the remaining speeder bike.
"Maybe we'd better head home," Luke stated, feeling extremely uneasy about the fact that his usually headstrong father had crashed his bike. "The suns are gonna start setting soon."
Trying to keep himself from throwing up, as the Force was telling him that something alarming had happened and more would soon happen, Anakin nodded silently and allowed Luke to help him sit on the back of the undamaged speeder. Luke climbed on the front and frowned.
"Hold tight to me, Father," Luke instructed, as he revved up the speeder bike.
As the speeder bike took off back towards the Lars homestead, Anakin lowered his head.
For days, he had been having persistent visions that both Leia and Alderaan were in grave danger and had been immensely frustrated that he wasn't meant to do anything about it at the moment.
Whenever he was alone, which was only at night when Luke was asleep, Anakin had often thought of the few surviving Jedi scattered across the galaxy and how time had weathered them, and also how they had healed from the Massacre.
He also thought of Leia and although he was continually haunted by the decision he had made to give her to the Organas, Anakin knew that no other course of action would have been right. Leia had deserved much better than a peasant's life on Tatooine. It was only because of Obi-Wan's continued support in earlier years, Anakin knew, that he and Luke had managed to survive.
Luke had never known about his mother, let alone that he had a twin sister. Although Anakin knew that he could have told Luke everything, it was better at the time not to. For the sake of their safety, he had raised Luke to believe that it was and always would be just the two of them.
Of course, had it not been for Owen and Beru not only allowing them to live there, but also being willing to care for Luke when necessary, Anakin knew that things would be much worse.
Speaking of Owen and Beru, Anakin realized as he continued to hold on for the ride towards the homestead, they would be concerned and ask questions about the crash, as it wasn't normal.
"We're almost home, Father," Luke's reassuring voice stated, as he could feel his father's shaking hands struggling to hold on to his waist. "Just relax, we're almost home."
Latching on to the comfort that Luke's voice seemed to bring, Anakin forced himself to relax and silently meditate for the rest of the ride. He needed the Force now, more than ever.
The suns were setting as Luke stopped the speeder bike in front of the homestead and got off only to find that his father was already standing, looking as if he'd very much like to be inside.
"Are you all right?" Luke again asked, suddenly noticing how pale and tired his father looked.
Anakin sighed, "Luke, let's put the speeder bike in the garage," he said, not wanting his son to worry about him, as there was nothing that could be done except have extreme patience.
Despite his instinct of worry kicking in, Luke nodded and helped his father haul the speeder bike into the underground homestead's garage. Anakin grunted as they set the bike down on the floor.
Luke watched as Anakin took his flight suit off, revealing a ragged farmer's tunic and peasant pants underneath. He then removed his own suit, revealing a clean white tunic and pants.
"I'm sure your uncle will have something to say about my wrecking one of his bikes," Anakin lamented, as he put an arm around Luke and led him from the garage.
Luke nodded silently as they walked into the kitchen, where Beru was just putting dinner on the table, which had already been set for four.
"Aunt Beru, do we have any of that bean tea in the house?" Luke asked, as he watched Anakin take a seat at the table and close his eyes.
Casting a worried glance at Luke, Beru nodded, "Did you have an accident during the ride with your father today, Luke?" she asked, as she knew that Luke had never asked for that tea before and the only reason he would ask for it now would be to calm his nerves.
Before Luke could reply, Owen, who had just put his tools in the garage and had only seen the one speeder bike, walked into the kitchen, "Luke, what did you do with my other speeder bike?" he asked, giving Luke a sharp look. "You didn't have an accident, did you?"
Luke shook his head and gestured towards Anakin, who looked asleep, despite being in an upright position, "We were racing in Beggar's Canyon and he hit a rock, was thrown from the bike, and hit the sand in a somersault."
Not able to believe Luke's tale, Owen looked at Anakin and as Anakin opened his eyes, Owen swore under his breath: it was true, Anakin had crashed.
"How'd it happen?" Owen asked, looking Anakin directly in the eye.
Anakin stealthily refused to meet Owen's gaze, instead remaining silent as Luke brought over the cup full of Tatooine H'Kak bean tea and set it on the table in front of him.
"It's a little hot, so be careful," Luke said, as he sat down next to his father.
Ignoring Luke's warning, as he didn't care if he scalded his tongue with the tea, Anakin picked up the cup and drank the contents in one gulp. He then set the empty cup down and closed his eyes.
"Father?" Luke said, watching as Anakin relaxed while keeping his eyes closed.
Sensing Luke's intense concern, Anakin opened his eyes, "Don't be alarmed, Luke, I am perfectly all right," he replied in a gentle, yet very subdued tone. "I am just very tired from the day."
"Well, maybe if you ate more than scraps once in a while, you'd be less tired," Owen commented, grinning at Anakin as Beru brought a stack of plates, untensils, and a bowl of food to the table.
Anakin managed a small smile as Beru set out the plates, utensils, and the bowl of what looked like a very hearty stew with a serving spoon in it. He silently took the serving spoon and dished himself enough food so that nobody would comment on his strange eating habits.
As everyone began to eat, Anakin occupied himself with the food and resigned himself to listening to Owen, Luke, and Beru make small talk about the race in the desert before the crash.
Without warning, visions of Leia suffering filled Anakin's mind, causing him to drop his fork.
"Are you all right, Father?" Luke asked, concerned by the sudden grimace on Anakin's face.
Anakin nodded and slowly rose from the table, "It's been a very tiring day for me," he replied in an apologetic tone. "Forgive me, Beru, for not finishing...I think I am going to retire for the evening."
With a look of concern on his face, Luke watched as Anakin slowly and silently left the room.
"Luke, before I forget, you should also go to bed early tonight," Owen spoke up, his tone indicating that Anakin's departure from the table had not affected him much. "I need you up bright and early tomorrow morning to help me deal with some Jawas who are going to come and sell us a few more droids. Even with you and your father working hard, the farm still needs more help."
Luke nodded, although his mind was distracted, "Uncle Owen, do you think my father is okay?" he asked, a deep concern for Anakin in his heart. "Maybe I should go check on him."
Owen and Beru exchanged a glance, "Luke, I suggest you stay here and finish your dinner," Owen stated, his tone slightly snappish. "After that, I want you to go to bed...Your father's a grown man and probably wouldn't appreciate you hovering over him...Just never you mind, okay?"
Recognizing his uncle's tone as one of warning, Luke nodded and continued eating. Owen sighed, exchanged another look with Beru, and there was a prolonged silence from then on.
Little did anyone know that Anakin and Luke's shadowy concerns would soon turn into reality.
Later on, when everyone else was asleep, Anakin sat up in bed and gazed into the darkness.
The Force was strong within him, but he could feel continual pain and suffering.
Not only was Leia in danger, but there would be more danger and nothing could stop it.
For years, he had done his best to raise and protect Luke from his past and the remnants of it that had not been eliminated with time. The time for protecting his son was running short, however.
Soon...very, very soon...one Jedi would revive to fight and another would rise from fragile ashes.