Brothers
The two men are not related in any way, yet intertwined in the same life when they look on the boy who ties them together. He is neither of theirs by blood, both of theirs by heart. One man acts as a distant protector, while the other defends the position given to him by marriage and fate as uncle of this unknowing youth.
Yet for all these unacknowledged similarities, one fact remains: they both love him, and will do anything for him. Even if it means cutting him off from those who could help him the most.
For one, the boy's very presence here is due to him. He should have been raised with his sister, unknowing of his fate and a prince of Alderaan, but a promise made to his mother long ago and the passing of ownership of a single, forbidden blade have created this future.
And he cannot say he regrets it. For all the painful similarities to a man he now realizes he never truly knew, he also knows that he would likely have never seen Luke again if that promise had never happened.
The other watches him warily, but cares immensely for the life that was so unexpectedly passed into his care. He can never quite bring himself to act as a father – never that to the boy who he fears will follow in his father's footsteps 'til the very end. He doesn't know what death had befallen his brother by marriage, or the identity of Luke's mother. But the unknown is enough to spur him into a protectiveness that confuses him at times. Though muted, there is an affection there he thought himself incapable of harboring.
But tonight, all that is forgotten. Owen Lars has left his brother's son at home, safe in the care of his own wife, and will not change his mind. There are too many risks out here in the desert, though he knows that is only part of the truth. He does not want to encourage attachment to the man who once cared for his father.
It doesn't occur to him that Luke's closeness to Ben might help protect him.
Abruptly, Owen's mount rears in fear, throwing him off into the desert sand, and takes off back in the direction of home. Owen stands up shakily to see the approaching mounts of a full band of people – Sand People, he realizes with a shudder. And he has no weapon.
Despite this fact, he stands fearlessly, waiting for their approach.
Suddenly there is a flash of brown.
The mounts of the Sand People abruptly rear and toss, throwing their riders out of control and bolting in every which direction. The brown flickers again, closer this time, and one of the dismounted People abruptly goes flying into a mounted one.
They have had enough. Abruptly, those mounted and those not vanish into the desert, frightened at the acts of a phantom.
For a moment Owen stares at the brown cloaked figure. He can tell the figure is looking back. Then he vanishes into the night.
Owen lets out a quiet sigh of relief and treads toward home.
The next day, Obi-wan Kenobi is just about to set out on his own rounds when he notices a package on the doorstep. He opens it to find a note, written in Owen's blunt handwriting, and a cooling unit of the sort he has been saving for the past three months.
Ben smiles, then draws the hood of his brown cloak about his face and continues on his way.