Timeframe 49 ABY (Legacy Era)
Characters: Ben Skywalker, OC, some Luke (I'd like to work Mara in but I don't know if it will work out)
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Disclaimer: I own nothing...
Authors Notes: This is my attempt at writing non-angst... so we will see how that turns out :p I know the title bites but it was the best I could come up with so, please forgive me!
Thanks to Nat for the beta!

Chapter 1

Twenty-three-year-old Ben Skywalker sometimes hated the places being a Jedi took him. This was one of those places: Tatooine. When people told him it was dry and hot, they hadn't even begun to scratch the surface. His skin felt like a tree bark looked, and sweat was a relief that had long since ceased. He had no idea how his father had spent the first eighteen years of his life on this dreadful excuse for a planet.

As Ben sat in a local cantina, sipping his drink, thinking about how miserable he was, a woman walked in. Ben was completely enthralled. She had blond hair that was tied up in a messy bun and the most beautiful bronze tan. In a word, she was mesmerizing.

The woman walked into a back room and disappeared for a few moments, but soon reappeared and made her way behind the bar. She had a brief exchange with the man who was there. Soon, he disappeared into the back room, and then left the cantina, giving a wave to the woman as he exited. Ben polished off the rest of the drink he had been working on and headed to the bar.

"What are ya having stranger?" the woman asked.

Ben grimaced. "Is it that obvious that I'm not from around here?"

"Well, nowadays most people that come around here are regulars, but what really gave you away is your skin is too pale. If you spent any time out in the sun with that skin, you would be burnt to a crisp. Not to mention your clothes look to new and you look rather . . . uncomfortable in the heat."

Ben nodded and smiled. "A reasonable assumption."

"So what are you gonna have?"

"Surprise me," Ben said.

The woman just stared at him for a moment with raised eyebrows. "Surprise me," Ben repeated with a lopsided grin.

"Okay, you're the one buying."

She dispensed a drink from the tap behind her and set it down in front of Ben. He took the drink and downed it in one shot. It felt as if fire was running strait down his throat and into his stomach, but he didn't so much as flinch.

The woman nodded her head. "Impressive; not many can do that."

"Well, I learned from the best; my uncle can drink just about anything and in mass quantities," Ben said with a laugh.

"So, do you have a name, stranger?" she asked

"Ben."

"Well, Ben, no last name, what brings you to our lowly back-no-water planet?"

Ben chuckled at her joke. "Business."

He didn't want to give away the fact that he was a Jedi, nor that he was a Skywalker. His surname would be recognized anywhere in the galaxy, but here, where his father grew up... he just didn't want to attract that kind of attention. Besides, there was a beautiful woman who seemed interested in him, and had no clue who Ben and his family were. He normally had girls falling all over him because of his name, and not because of the person he, Ben Skywalker, was. For these reasons, he ignored her jab at him not giving his last name until he could think of an alias to give her.

"Business? What kind of Business?" she probed.

"Oh, I'm just doing some scouting for the, uh, company I work for," Ben managed to answer

She looked skeptical at his answer but let it drop. "Are you gonna be around here for a while?"

"For a few, weeks at least," he answered.

"Good. Maybe I'll see you again sometime, but for now I have to get back to work," she said as another customer she seemed to recognize walked up to the bar.

As she left, Ben stood up and placed a sizable tip on the bar. As he was making his way out of the cantina, it occurred to him he had no idea what her name was. He turned around and took a few steps back in.

"I didn't get your name."

She looked up and smiled. "Jastra."

tbc...