The doll was perfect – long dark hair that fell in gentle curls, a blue dress of soft matte fabric, a silvery cloak with hood.

Beru Whitesun forgot her usual timidity and shrieked as she ran into the outstretched arms of her father.

"Thank you!"

"Your mother and I were hoping you would like it."

"Oh, yes!" Beru held the doll to her cheek, never having felt fabric so soft.

"What is her name?"

Beru thought for a moment. "Tanu."

Her father knelt to see eye-to-eye with his child. "So, tell me, who is Tanu?"

It was a game that Beru and her father often played, making up stories about an object. Beru studied the doll with a serious look on her face. "She's intelligent and kind. She gets to travel wherever she wants, because she's very important." Seeing the amused look on her father's face, she continued. "And she can do anything…cook, pilot a spaceship, even fight with blasters!"

He laughed and caught her up in his arms, spinning her around. "Just like my little girl."

Perhaps because it pleased her father, Beru never forgot that description of her doll. Whether confronted with the teasing of her siblings or a difficult study problem, Beru would visualize that capable persona. "Tanu can handle it. She can do anything. I can do anything."

Today, a gentle hum rewarded her. Beru rested in her perch midway up on the vaporator, savoring the noise against the silence of the unending desert. Pleased with her work, especially so because her brother had failed at fixing this moisture vaporator, Beru jumped lightly down to the ground. Immediately she heard a hissing sound off to her left side. About a meter away stood a womprat. In one fluid motion, she unholstered her blaster and shot it. Her precision filled her with adolescent pride, even while she wrinkled her nose at the smell of charred flesh. She returned her blaster to her work belt and estimated that scurriers would completely scavenge the carcass by nightfall.

"Well done," called her father from a passing landspeeder. His two companions, Cliegg and Owen Lars, applauded.

Beru smiled and gracefully curtsied, just as Tanu would have done. As the speeder moved farther away, she wiped her hands on her trousers and deeply inhaled the dry air. Then she hurried back to the Whitesun homestead to change into cleaner clothes. It was not every day that the family had visitors.

"Owen, do you think he'll find Shmi?"

Owen Lars looked up at his girlfriend.

"I don't know, Beru. Even if he does, she won't be alive."

"So, you didn't believe Anakin when he said he still sensed her?"

"I think it was wishful thinking. I don't know what really brought him to Tatooine. He may find her body due to his training, but he couldn't possibly have sensed her."

Beru sat down at the kitchen table with Owen, exhausted from the day's work and emotions. "But he's a Jedi Knight."

Owen laughed gently. "Jedi Knights are nothing more than specially trained soldiers. Their mysticism just keeps the various planets of the Republic too frightened to rebel. Nothing more."

Beru sighed. "I suppose you're right."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Padmé believes him, and she doesn't seem the sort of person who places her trust lightly."

"Hmm…well, in any case, Anakin won't return before morning. I'm going to sleep."

"I'll follow in a little while. Sleep well."

Beru watched Owen cross the dimly lit courtyard to the sleeping quarters. She was exhausted, but knew she would not be able to sleep yet. She looked around the kitchen and saw fresh fruit in a bowl on the far counter. Beru juiced the fruit in preparation for the morning meal, hoping that the repeated motions would relax her. The month since Shmi's disappearance had left all of them fatigued, but tense. Beru's sleeplessness was enhanced by her memory of the young Jedi's facial expression when he left the homestead.

"He will find her."

Beru jumped at the sound of Cliegg's voice, then heard him murmur, "And then time can finally help us heal."

Beru handed a beaker of fresh juice to the man who was as much a father to her as her own.

"You believe him."

Cliegg shifted in his chair to put his emptied beaker on the table. "Yes, yes, I do. Shmi frequently spoke of his intuition and how strong it was. He'll find her, but my intuition knows that it will be too late."

The two shared silence until Beru said, "I thought Jedi were supposed to break all ties with their families."

Cliegg moved towards the sleeping quarters and Beru followed. He said, "Anakin was taken later than most. His bond with his mother was very strong. To have sensed her pain, all the way from Coruscant…he must be every bit as powerful as Shmi said. More so. I just wish he'd gotten here sooner."

"Please, don't say that in front of him."

"Why not, Beru?"

"It would make him angry at himself." She shivered. "I don't think we want to see him angry."

"Do you think that fear is what keeps her awake?" asked Cliegg, gesturing towards the workshop where Padmé's soft voice mingled with Threepio's strident one.

"No," said Beru, "it isn't fear that Padmé feels."

In the darkened room he once shared with his wife, Cliegg sat vigil with the body. Owen and Beru retreated deep into their living quarters, not wanting to intrude upon Cliegg's grief or the conversation between Padmé and Anakin. Owen fell wearily onto the couch.

"We knew she wouldn't be coming back to us," he said. "This is just proof."

Beru looked at him through her tears. "I know you loved her. You don't need to be stoic in front of me."

Owen's voice broke as he said, "She was alive when he found her. Why didn't he get here sooner?"

"He isn't supposed to be here at all," said Beru, as she knelt beside him. "You know that. Say what you are really feeling."

"Why couldn't I find her? Why did we stop looking?"

Owen hid his face in his hands, his sobs shaking his entire body. Beru placed her arms around him.

"Too many of us already died. The sandpeople were too strong for us. I'm thankful that your father survived and that you're still with me."

Owen kissed her gently and said, "We'll always be together. I promise."

Beru smiled through her tears as she sensed the truth in his words.

Beru was anxiously looking around the workshop for more vaporator parts to tinker with when she heard the approaching landspeeder. She ran into the courtyard to greet Owen.

"Owen, what took you so long in Anchorhead? I was beginning to worry."

Owen hugged Beru and glanced around, "Where's father?"

"He's inspecting the moisture vaporators on the east side. What's wrong?"

They walked shaded portion of the courtyard and stood close to each other.

"I'd been hearing some rumors from the other farmers, and I confirmed them today," whispered Owen.

"Rumors about what?" asked Beru.

"A slaughtered village of Tusken Raiders."

"A whole village?"

"Yes. Men, women, children, even massifs. Semi-cauterized wounds, like nobody around here has seen before."

"A whole village," repeated Beru.

They stood silently with their arms around each other.

"Father can't find out," said Owen, a pleading note in his voice.

"Why not?"

"The real Anakin does not match the perfect image that Shmi carried of him. I don't want Father to suffer any more pain."

Beru pulled away. "I will not tell him. But the stories of Jedi that I always heard were noble and peaceful. The entire village! He can't possibly claim self-defense against the babies."

Owen said. "He's a rebel. He wasn't even supposed to be here, remember? Anakin obviously doesn't believe the rules apply to him."

"They love each other," Beru said with dismay in her voice. "Anakin and Padmé. And she was the only person who could soothe him."

"And they can't be together, which leaves us with an angry, rebellious Jedi Knight."

"And one with great power, " added Beru. "Suddenly, I'm afraid."

"Don't be," Owen smiled resolutely. "Tatooine is so far removed from the Core Worlds that nobody has even heard of it. We'll be safe here."

Beru smiled back, but her eyes held a tinge of fear.

A weary Owen trudged into the kitchen and placed a single woven bag on the table.

"I'm sorry, Beru, but this was all I could buy."

Beru looked at the meager foodstuffs on the table before her and said, "It's a good thing so many mushrooms are growing on the vaporators this year."

Owen said, "It's the war. I thought that the supply shortage wouldn't hit here."

"It shouldn't have."

Beru and Owen turned at the sound of Cliegg's voice as he entered the room. He continued, "I spent several years living in the Core. None of the major supply routes come anywhere near here."

"So, it's the Senate?"

The two men looked at Beru.

"Well, it is the only thing that makes sense," Beru continued. "Trying to convince us that even the worlds of the Outer Rim are dependent upon them. Reminding us that no matter how far away we are, we're all part of this war."

"At least the fighting won't make it all the way out here," said Owen. "Eating Beru's mushroom stew is likely the only consequence we will feel of this war."

Beru slapped him on the arm. "Oh, you like my stew. And I'll try to coax something out of the underground garden."

"You are good faithful children, and I'm proud of you both," said Cliegg. He stared at Shmi's favorite chair, and Beru knew he was thinking of the child who wasn't here with them.

Owen slumped down on the bench in the courtyard.

"I got what I could for Father's swoop bike, but it isn't much. Just enough to cover the repairs to the vaporators on the north side."

Beru sat beside him. "That's all we needed, right?"

He smiled at her. "That's right. Father would have been disappointed if we didn't have a good harvest this season."

They held hands, each remembering Cliegg. Then Owen said, "But this means we should give up our plan to start a family this year."

"I know. There is always next year."

Owen frowned and Beru knew his pain. Owen had worked hard the past few years in the hopes that their family could grow. Then came Cliegg's illness, closely followed by a spate of repairs.

Swallowing her own sorrow, Beru said, "We lost the Holonet News feed just before you came home."

"Bad receiver?"

"I think the Senate closed it down."

Owen tensed. "Explain."

"You know that one journalist, whose articles always read a little differently?" Owen nodded. "She had just posted a report claiming that the Jedi were being killed. Systematically hunted down and killed. I had just finished reading the article when the link disappeared."

"I can't believe the Senate let that article get by them to begin with."

"Owen, the article mentioned that the killings were being orchestrated by a rogue Jedi."

Owen looked aghast. "By the suns, Beru, you think it's Anakin?"

Beru looked down at their intertwined hands. "As I read the article, I was berating myself for not feeling more concerned for Anakin's safety. That's when I realized that I knew it was him. So powerful, and so angry."

Owen pulled her into his arms. "We're safe. It's all happening a long way from here."

Beru awoke with a start. "Did you hear that?"

Owen sat up and they both heard a cry against the desert wind.

"Come on."

They pulled on tunics and ran out to the central courtyard. They saw a robed man carrying a bundle standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Lars! Lars!"

"I am Beru Lars, and this is my husband, Owen. Who are you?"

"Take this."

The stranger placed the bundle in Beru's arms. The bundle whimpered. "A child?" she asked.

"His name is Luke. He is the son of Anakin Skywalker."

"Is Anakin dead?" asked Owen.

"No," said the stranger in a sad voice. "But he is not able to be a father to this child."

"Will he come looking for him?"

"No. I must leave now, but I will be back to check on him."

"So we're supposed to raise him as our child? Just like that?" exclaimed Owen.

The hooded figure bowed his head and said, "Give him the Skywalker name. And teach him about the good young man who was his father."

He climbed up the stairs. Beru handed Luke to Owen and followed. "Wait, please! Please, Master Jedi!"

He halted and turned to her.

"What is your name?" asked Beru.

He paused before saying, "Ben."

"Ben, what happened to Padmé?"

The Jedi looked at Beru and said softly, "I do not know yet."

"I thought you could use something to drink."

Ben Kenobi smiled gratefully up at Beru and said, "I must be getting too old for this. I didn't want to be seen."

Beru looked out at the horizon of endless sand dunes and laughed. "I've lived on Tatooine every day of my life. It's easy to notice things that aren't supposed to be there."

Ben took a long drink from the offered container. "The first time I came to Tatooine, I barely left the ship and was glad of it." He drank some more. "Have you enjoyed your life here, Beru?"

Beru sat gracefully to share the shade of the moisture vaporator with Kenobi. "I used to dream of traveling, but I knew I'd always want to return here. And now, we cannot leave."

"I am sorry, Beru. We thought it would be best for Luke to be raised by people we could trust, and you were his only family. We didn't consider your needs."

"Luke has brought much happiness to Owen and me. We are glad to have him."

"But no children of your own?"

Beru thought of the lonely childless years and looked directly in Kenobi's eyes. "You would not be here if there was no possibility of danger. We are willing to face that for Luke's sake, but how could we knowingly place another child at risk?"

Ben bowed his head to his knees. "I am so sorry."

She looked at Ben and knew that his apology was sincere. She also realized that his Jedi abilities enabled him to sense the depth of her pain.

He suffers enough, she thought to herself.

"It isn't your fault, is it?" said Beru comfortingly, but Kenobi remained silent and seemed to pull even further into himself.

In an attempt to cheer Ben, Beru started to talk about Luke. "He's strong for his age and very smart. He can already read a little and is finally over the stage where he chews on everything."

Ben raised his head and smiled. "I can sense that he is happy. He feels safe and loved. That is what we wanted for him."

"Ben, we've already started to tell Luke stories of his father – reckless, but smart, handsome, a good pilot. But what should we tell him of his mother?"

"The truth…that you did not know her very well and that she is dead," he said in a flat voice.

Tears came to Beru's eyes. "You know, she was everything I had dreamed to be when I was a child."

"I think, in the end, she wished she had fallen in love with a farmer."

"Beru!" Owen's call sounded faintly.

"I should go back to my farmer before he sees you. He doesn't like you being around."

"But I always will be." Ben stood and Beru could see the powerful Jedi he once was. "I will always watch over Luke. You need never worry about him. Here, Anchorhead, Beggar's Canyon…anywhere. I give you my word."

Ben took Beru's hand to help her rise and then he left. She grabbed a few mushrooms and placed them in the container Ben had emptied, and then started to walk back towards the homestead. "Coming, Owen!"

When she glanced behind her, Ben Kenobi had vanished.

Luke played with a model skyhopper in the center of the courtyard.

"I don't want to!" he whined.

"But pilots have to eat breakfast. Otherwise they'd fall asleep and crash their ships," said Beru coaxingly.

The little boy heaved a great sigh and came into the kitchen. Soon his complaints were forgotten as he drank fresh juice and ate stewed grains sweetened with nectar.

"Do I get a story while I eat?"

"Sure," said Beru. "What do you want to hear?"

"Tell me about my father again."

Beru cleaned Owen's discarded breakfast dishes from the table. "His name was Anakin Skywalker. He was a talented pilot and skilled with weapons. He had hair and eyes just like yours." At this, Luke straightened his posture proudly, Beru noted. "Anakin was brave and much loved by his family. Just like you."

So many similarities, Beru thought.

Luke chewed thoughtfully and then asked quietly, "Did I have a mother, or just a father?"

Beru paused. She always knew that he would figure out the absence of his mother from all of the reading he did. A queen, a senator, a martyr…Luke shouldn't have to bear the knowledge of her story. Not yet, anyways.

"Yes, you had a mother, but we did not know her well. She died when you were just a babe. I'm sorry, sweetheart. "

"Oh, I'd figured all that out, otherwise you'd tell me stories about her, just like you do for my father. I wonder what she was like."

Beru swept the floor as Luke ate. Lost threads of fabric from their frayed coarse clothes mixed with the inevitable sand.

Beru rested the broom against the wall and asked Luke, "Are you finished with your breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Come with me."

Beru led Luke into the sleeping quarters that she shared with Owen. She smiled at Luke's curiosity about every detail; he hadn't been allowed to play in this room since he was a toddler. He looked behind wall hangings and warily touched the spines of a potted plant. Then she noted that a chest in the corner fascinated Luke.

Seeing his aunt's gaze upon him, Luke asked, "This is yours, right?"

"Yes."

"What's in it?"

Beru walked over to the chest and bent over to raise the lid. "Some of my childhood belongings."

Luke peered into the chest. "Oh, you had toy blasters, Aunt Beru?"

She laughed. "Of course. What self-respecting moisture farmer wouldn't?"

"What's in that cloth? It's pretty?"

Beru picked up the white bundle that Luke pointed to. "This fabric is leftover from my wedding dress. I used it to wrap this because I wanted to keep it safe."

She handed the bundle to Luke and nodded when he looked at her questioningly. His face fell with disappointment. "A doll?"

"Yes, " she smiled. "My favorite doll."

Luke looked at his aunt. "I never imagined that you played with dolls."

"Actually, I just kept her in my room and dreamed up adventures for her."

"Did you have a name for her?"

"Of course." Beru paused. "Her name is Padmé."

"That doesn't sound like a Tatooine name."

Beru smiled, then asked, "What sort of person do you think she'd be?"

Luke studied the doll. "She's pretty. And she'd be smart and brave."

"And you know what, Luke? When I met your mother, just that one time, she reminded me of this doll."

Luke's lips trembled a little as he carefully wrapped up the doll and placed it back in his aunt's chest. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and said, "I love you, Aunt Beru."

She ruffled his hair and hid her own tears. "I love you, too."

Beru watched an adolescent Luke from her vantage point at the top of the stairwell. He stood wistfully looking at the setting of the twin suns. Beru walked down the stairs and confronted Owen in their living quarters where he was working on the moisture farm's accounts.

"You know, every time you run Ben off of our property, you only make Luke more interested in him."

"I don't care. I don't want there to be any contact between them, " replied Owen without looking up from his desk.

"Even after Ben saved Luke and his friends from that krayt dragon?"

"This was different."

Beru tensed. "Different, how?"

Owen set aside his work and looked at his wife. "He wanted to give Anakin's lightsaber to Luke."

Beru was horrified. "But that would draw attention to Luke if his friends ever saw it and talked about it. Lightsabers were outlawed when the Jedi were destroyed."

Owen stood and clasped Beru gently by the shoulders. "My love, I think Ben wants to prepare Luke, train him as a Jedi. I think all of these seasons of isolation have addled him."

"He isn't that weak, Owen, and you know it. I'm more afraid that Luke needs the training to face his future."

"The Empire stays away from Tatooine."

"For now. But what will we do when Luke wants to apply to the Academy like the rest of his friends?"

"We have to keep him away, "said Owen. "Keep him here where he's safe. Even if it makes him hate us."

Beru moved into Owen's embrace.

The last glimmers of the setting suns dimly illuminated the room. Beru and Owen sat side-by-side on their bed, too stunned to turn on the lights.

Finally, Beru broke the silence. "At least Threepio has already had his memory wiped."

Owen sighed. "That's exactly what I was thinking. But the return of those two droids can't be a coincidence. They were looking for Ben."

"Worse. They were looking for Obi-Wan. Do you think Artoo remembers?"

Owen played with the edge of a blanket. "I don't know, but as long as the restraining bolt is on, he can't access the part of his memory unrelated to mechanical repairs."

"They were sent to Tatooine purposefully."

"Well, Luke will wipe their memories in the morning and that will be the end of it, "said Owen, with a forced joviality.

Beru smiled ruefully. "Do you really think that will be the end of it?

"The Empire will trace the droids to us. Owen, the time has come. The Empire has come."

"Shall I get out the stronger blasters?"

Despite herself, Beru laughed. "I'm a better shot than you are and even I'm no match for Imperials."

Owen rested his hand upon her knee. "You have been a good wife and a good mother to Luke."

"And you, a good husband and father. But we must prepare for tomorrow."

"I'm still hoping that they won't…"

Beru interrupted, saying with a blank face. "We have no children."

Owen continued. "I don't know anyone around here with the name Skywalker."

"Or Obi-Wan."

"We purchase droids once every season or so. Shall I contact the Jawas for you?"

"The ones we bought yesterday seemed normal. Anything wrong?"

"Our neighbors said we had a young nephew? We have a farmhand who sometimes stays with us."

"Named Deak, " both said at the same time.

They smiled at each other.

"We may not live through this," said Owen.

"It will have been worth it, if Luke survives," replied Beru.

She leaned against her husband. "Tomorrow we'll carry on as normal. I'm make breakfast, you'll be grumpy." She kissed him on his cheek. "And we'll face whatever comes together."

Owen kissed her gently on the mouth. "You're a good woman, Beru."

Beru drew him close and burrowed into the arms of the man she loved and who had loved her so well. "That is all I ever wanted to be."