Companion

Silence filled the sand-colored dome of the Lars residence, penetrated only by the quiet sigh of the night wind outside its protected interior. Soft, muted tones of gray covered the walls; simple stone covered the floors, interspaced here and there with soft dark rugs woven with simple patterns.

Suddenly, there was the soft shh of a footstep.

A quick, muffled click sounded as the owner of that foot stepped to the side, its rapidity indicating the mentality of the figure in the darkness. It hesitated for a moment, then started forward again, nearly silent despite the natural sounds of shifting sand, somehow managing to blend with the sounds of the wind. There was a pause as someone shifted behind a closed door, then a flurry of shuffling footsteps as the figure reached the door and slipped through it, closing it silently behind him.

Once outdoors, the small figure breathed a silent breath of relief and relaxed in a way he seldom allowed himself. Instantly the shoulders straightened, unconsciously imitating his uncle's stance as he let his awareness expand in a way he once overheard his uncle say was 'unnatural.'

He stopped doing it after that.

Though the wind still howled around, he could somehow feel there was no danger out here, at least not to him – not the subtle pressure of a sandstorm, or the quiet thuds he had come to recognize as Sand People. And a good thing too, because danger or not, he was going out tonight.

The small figure started out toward the Jundland Wastes.

It took a long time – too long, in his opinion – before he reached the doorway of a familiar home, above ground rather than half below, like their own. He knocked.

The door swung open almost immediately, revealing a figure clad in simple tan robes and auburn hair that was slowly turning white. He smiled as he recognized the boy standing there. "Why hello there, young Luke. Come in."

Luke smiled and stepped through the doorway, his eyes curiously roving the walls of the dwelling. He had only been here once before, as a small boy, but it hadn't changed too much. The neat, orderly manner of the place remained; a small trunk, which his gaze passed over after a moment, a hook in the wall where Ben's robe hung, a small table suitable for one, a few chairs and a bench along the back wall were still the only adornments. The room was lit well, and he wondered at this for a moment, wondering if Ben had somehow expected him, then shrugged it off. He'd better not get too curious, or he might accidently ask Uncle Owen about it again. Last time he'd asked he'd been forced to endure a stream of expletives aimed at the old hermit.

Not that Ben struck him as either old, or a hermit. He was more lonely than solitary.

"Luke." Luke started and turned around, slightly sheepish, as Ben sat down and asked, "What brings you out this far?"

"Well…" Luke trailed off, for the first time since he had left his home questioning his motives.

Ben waited patiently.

"Here." The fourteen year old reached a hand into his pocket and carefully brought out a small creature, cradling it in his hand. It was a tetri, one of the small lizards that lived in Tatooine's deserts. He turned the small creature around so Ben could see its leg, which was bent at an unnatural angle. "Can you help it?" Luke asked hopefully.

Ben carefully reached out and took the creature in hand, gently stroking its back. Despite its wild nature, the tetri seemed quite at home in his hand and calmed down rapidly as soon as Ben stopped moving. "I might."

He looked up, fixing Luke's eyes with his own steady gaze. Luke shifted nervously. "You evaded my question." A small smile touched his face for a moment, a twinkle in his blue eyes, before both faded.

Luke looked down, embarrassed. "Uncle Owen doesn't know I have it," he offered.

Ben gave him a look.

"I just needed to get away for a while."

Luke blinked. He hadn't meant to be quite that blunt, but Ben didn't seem to mind. The older man turned the lizard about for a moment, studying it and mercifully not asking any more questions. After a moment, he looked up. "Where did you find our little friend here?"

"Out by the north ridge." Luke slid into the other seat and added, "Uncle Owen doesn't like it when I get distracted during my job, and he'd just tell me to let it go." He looked up hopefully. "Can you help?"

Ben looked down at it, then turned his gray gaze back on Luke – wait, gray? He'd thought his eyes were blue – before nodding. A ghost of a smile touched his lips again as he replied, "I may know something that would help."

Luke heard something move a ways outside the hut and started before realizing that he couldn't have heard anything at that distance. He glanced over at Ben to see him looking the same direction. Ben looked back at him, eyes sparkling in genuine humor for a moment before offering, "Krayt dragon." He added in a gently chiding tone, "It's a lucky thing you weren't out there when he arrived. This is no place for a night stroll."

Luke nodded, a relieved smile crossing his face briefly before he swiftly looked down. Ben was the only person who he had ever met who had the same odd impulses he did. He just knew things.

At least he wasn't the only one.

Ben smiled at him, this time genuinely, and asked, "I assume you left a note?"

Luke nodded. "I said I'd gone out for a walk. They won't expect me back until late next morning."

Ben smiled again, green eyes – green? What color were they? – showing his amusement. "Well then, I suppose you'd better stay the night. I'll walk you back in the morning, after we've taken care of our little friend here."

It wasn't long before Luke was tucked into a blanket on the floor, curled up next to the small box that held his lizard companion and sound asleep.

Unknown to him, Ben stopped one last time before heading off to his own bed. It was Obi-wan, not Ben who looked down on the sleeping youth, smiling slightly with the bittersweet memories of a different boy, his hair similarly tousled with the wind and curled up in his master's cloak, unaware of the gentle gaze that rested on him.

The older man stirred, turning back to his bed. In the morning he would take Luke Skywalker back to his home, preferably without his uncle's knowledge, though he doubted kind-hearted Beru would object. In the morning… but until then, he would watch over his brother's son.

With a sigh, Obi-wan Kenobi rolled over into his bunk and fell into a quiet sleep.