AN-It has happened, I have been bitten by the go to the past bug. I also need a break from Viel'tar (you haven't seen it yet. I am determined to finish it before I post it.)
Beru's character is a bit exaggerated. But from what you saw in ANH, her loyalties are clearly with Owen. Thanks to A.B. and P.G. for their invaluable support. You will notice that this is more professional, and more tweaked, credit them for this.
Dealing with the Past of Luke Skywalker.
PrincessSkywalkerOrgana.
7-year old Anakin was playing around in his Uncle Luke's Coruscant suite waiting for his mother to come home from the council meeting. This was a good place for his to play as Luke kept only bare necessities here, and dress outfits for the occasional state dinner. He 'accidentally' hit the message button on Luke's comm. unit. Luke had two numbers, one for private use and one for official use, but both were connected to the same message unit.
He heard a puzzling message on the machine. "That's weird." He said aloud.
He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged it off and went and played with bubbles again. He only thought about the message when he felt his mother coming home.
"Why does Lukie wear make-up?" Anakin asked his mom, coming into the common room of the Solo family suite.
" Don't be silly, he doesn't." Leia said, a bit absentmindedly. She was still rehashing her day in the senate in her mind.
"Then why was someone from a make-up company calling him?"
"Who called?" Leia said, starting to pay more attention to what Anakin was saying.
"Lijesh from Livelong inc. He left a message saying Uncle Luke's annual shipment was ready if he wanted it delivered to the usual spot."
"I know livelong inc. I have used them at times. They wouldn't just call. They pride themselves on being an upscale business, that doesn't need marketing ploys." Leia said, puzzled. "Why hasn't Luke asked me about make-up, I mean I have been using it for years?"
Leia's natural curiosity, heightened by concern about what her brother was up to took over. She then moved to the comm. unit. "May I talk to Lijesh." She said, calling Livelong inc.
"Of course, madam. We have the best products in the galaxy. You will not be displeased." The operator said. "I have been using livelong for years, and never have been." Leia said.
"Please hold while I get Lijesh."
Leia held and imagined what the operator was saying. "Be extra nice, you are talking to the Chief of State."
Leia normally didn't like pulling rank, but it was helpful in getting information.
"Lijesh, you called to say my brother ordered stuff, what did he order?"
"Well he has said his order is confidential, but you are his sister… He has ordered 40 limicks of concealator."
"Concealator." Leia said, trying to keep her voice even. Concealator was used to cover scars.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you." Leia said. "Organa Solo out."
"Livelong inc out."
"Why is Luke buying so much concealator?" Leia mused aloud.
She then called Luke, but she got no answer from Luke when she asked him.
She then had to drop her investigation as Jacen was home from his tutoring sessions. "Hi, honey." She said, moving to kiss Jacen.
"Anakin, Jacen is home." She called, knowing that he could sense him, but preferring to say it. "I am putting snacks out, come and get it."
Once snack was out, she had to break up the occasional argument, and that took up the rest of the evening, especially as Han wasn't home to help.
But the mystery didn't go from her head. Leia, Anakin, and Jacen met Han at the Palace landing pad. "Hey hey." Han said, hugging all three of them. "Best welcoming committee in the galaxy." He said, looking into Leia's eyes.
She smiled back at him. "I love you." She mouthed over her kids' head.
"I know." He mouthed back.
"All right, everyone." Leia said after an hour. "Bedtime."
There were groans all around. "You have had a wonderful hour with your father, and his home for awhile now." Leia knew not to give an exact time, both Leia and Han had too many spur of the moment trips to be able to promise that they would be home for any given amount of time. "Why is he hiding this from me?" Leia asked Han when once she had put the kids down.
"Leia, don't be nosy, it is his business." Han said, motioning her to come sit next to him on the couch. "That's better." He murmured, putting his arm around Leia. "He probably wants to look good for his prospective girlfriend." He said, continuing their conversation.
"There is more to it." Leia said, feeling that in her heart.
"We aren't going to find out unless the kid wants us to."
Just then a call came in from the Jedi academy. "Jaina!" Leia said pleased.
"I knew you weren't asleep yet." She said, satisfied. "The communications director, who is a senior trainee today by the way, kept telling me it was late in Coruscant, and that I should wait to call. Mom, What did you say to Uncle Luke?"
"What?" Leia asked, taken aback.
"He has been in a really bad mood since you talked to him last."
"See, Han." Leia said, turning to Han. "There is a story behind the scars he is hiding, why else would it affect him so much."
"Or maybe he is just mad that his sister doesn't let him have any privacy, and that is 7-year old nephew tapped into his comm. and opened his private messages." Han said, mostly for the sake of argument. He had already decided to try and talk to the kid.
"Thank you, and tell me if you get anything out of him." Leia said, demonstrating that she had read his plans.
"Hello?" Jaina said, annoyed at being ignored.
"Sorry, dear. How is the Academy?" Leia said.
Han let Leia talk, his mind on how he was going to get anything out of The Kid.
"Hey, Kid." Han said, on the comm. link in the morning. "Pack your bags, I am takin' you for a guys night on the galaxy."
"Han, no thanks. There is a lot of work to be done here, then Senator Blips'n has asked me to make a presentation about Jedi in a few schools around L'nin to dispel the anti-jedi propaganda the Emperor spread. Some other time though."
Han could almost hear the, when you aren't going to pump me for information that I don't want to give.
"All right, kid." Han said. "Take it easy."
"No luck." Leia said, coming in, her robe still tied around her. She handed Han a cup of Kaffe.
"None whatsoever. The kid is just going to have to tell us when he feels ready." Han said. "He is resistant to your mind reading powers-"
"-unless he wants me to read his mind, or practice and even then he controls it."
"So that is out of the question, and I really don't have any other plans of getting it out of him. " Han said.
"That's true." Leia said. "I am dry too."
Han smiled as the kids came in. "And let's enjoy the company of the rest of our family. We get too little time together to waste the time worrying about a problem we can't solve right now."
"I guess." Leia said.
The Solo family, except of course Luke, did drop it. A few months later they made their usual trip to Yavin to visit the rest of their family, and to bring Jacen to Yavin. But they had resolved not to mention the concealator. "Luke." Leia said, greeting her brother with a kiss on the cheek.
"Leia." Luke said, hugging her.
His demeanor told Leia that he expected her to push him on the concealator issue. She resolved to show him that she wasn't planning to. "Anakin, Jacen." Luke said, hugging the two of them, as Leia greeted Jaina.
After hugging her parents, Jaina joined Jacen and Anakin. A few minutes later thre three left to go hang out with their friends at Yavin. "So, what do you have planned for us during the next few days." She said, trying to tell Luke she wasn't going to push him on the concealator issue.
The relief in Luke's eyes when she didn't convinced her and Han that they had done the right thing. But it also bothered Leia, a bit, it told her that whatever it was still strongly hurting him.
"Well, Han mentioned a guys night out, I may take him up on that offer. Then show you around some classes, let you guys rest and relax, and hang out together. That's basically it." Luke said, shrugging.
"Mara wanted to see you guys." Luke said. "She is in Quarters 5. She is meditating right now, but you should be able to wait in the room."
"That's right next to your quarters, what are you playing at, kid." Han said, slyly. Even though he wasn't sure how he felt about the Emperor's hand turned smuggler, he always kept his eye out for possible love interests for his brother-in-law.
"Nothing. Those were the only available quarters that she would take." Luke said, answering the insinuation. Luke winced when he finished the sentence, he realized that he had given Han more ammunition. "Quarter 6 is also right next to mine, though." He said, in a poor attempt to cover himself.
Sure enough Han smiled widely. "We will go see Mara now." Leia said, deftly breaking up the two of them.
Luke looked at his chronometer after they left. It is a good thing they left when they did. It is almost time. Towards the end of the year, the concealator needs to be constantly reapplied as it starts to die.
Luke drew his brown Jedi cloak tighter around him, and ran as fast as he could to his quarters while still staying out of the sight of Han and Leia. Sure enough by the time he reached his quarters the concealator was ineffective. He saw the long scar on his arm and remembered when he got it. For the first time in a really long time the emotion of the moment took him over…..
Mara was deep in meditation when the Solo's arrived. They stood behind her and waited. Leia frowned. "What is going on?" She said aloud. "I feel a strange wrinkle in the force." Her eyes widened. "Mara!" She yelled. "Your meditation is combining with-"
But before she could finish her sentence the thing she was afraid of happened. Han, Leia, Mara, and Luke were sucked into a force vortex. "Where are we?" Leia asked.
Everyone looked around. Luke grimaced, clearly recognizing the place. But it was Han who answered. "We are at Tatooine, I don't know exactly where, though. It isn't Mos Eisley, or Mos Espa."
"We are right outside the Lars Homestead." Luke commented, trying to be emotionless.
"So it was your emotion! The wrinkle in the force wasn't letting me identify whose emotions I was feeling."
"I guess." Luke said, uncomfortably.
"Hey, Luke, is that you?" Mara asked, pointing to a little kid who was running around the homestead.
"Yeah." Luke said. He recognized the scene, and closed his eyes tightly. He knew what was coming. "Uh guys… why don't we go see how we can leave."
But everyone had noticed his panic and said "No."
"Besides, Skywalker, you know the rules. It was my meditation that brought us here, I will be the one taking us back. So my choice." Mara said.
Luke sighed. "Fine, you guys stay then."
Luke was anxious to get away as soon as he could. Reliving this moment in his memories was different from actually seeing it in front of him. Maybe now Leia would understand why it was so hard for him to reconcile Owen and Beru as loving parental figures.
Luke quickly walked away. He knew the beggar's canyon area would be empty right now. Empty of people, and empty of feelings. The perfect place for him to go.
"Luke!" A voice resounded through the homestead.
Mara, Leia, and Han watched as a man came up and started yelling at him. "I told you to fix the vaporators." He said.
"I was doin' it, Uncle Owen." The boy said.
"Then why are you out here running around?"
"Cause, I needed a break."
"You have only been working 2 hours, come on boy." Owen urged.
It was then that Han noticed that Owen was a little inebriated.
"3." Luke said.
"I said two, Luke." Owen said, dangerously.
"'Twas 3."
"Luke, stop with the cheek."
"It was three." Luke said.
"Let's look at the vaporator and see how much you have finished." Owen said.
"There is no work done on this." Owen said, raging as he looked at the vaporator.
"Was too."
"Liar!" Owen said, his inebriation and anger sweeping over him.
"I thought there was." Luke said, in a childish way.
"You disgust me."
Luke pulled his lip between his teeth, unknowingly making his face more like Anakin Skywalker's. Owen's rage tripled. "You, liar, cheater, and pathetic young boy are going to end up like your father." Owen said, picking up the bottle that lay next to the vaporator and driving it into the kid's hand.
Leia, Mara, and Han watched askance. The kid yelped loudly and lay on the ground bleeding next to the vaporator crying. Owen had his hand raised to strike it again, when Beru came home. "Owen." She said, exasperated, but not with the emotions anyone would've thought this situation warranted.
She ushered Owen inside, giving Luke a fleeting look of sympathy. "Gosh." Leia said, "she could've done more."
"She didn't even wait to see whether Luke was okay, or wrap his arm in something." Someone said.
They watched as a sniffling Luke tied up his arm with a cloth nearby. Beru came an hour later, untied the cloth, applied some soothing cream to it, and took out a piece of glass. "Sleep, Luke." She said, gently.
That made Leia, Han, and Mara feel a little better, especially as little Luke's tears stopped and he hugged Beru as Beru helped him walk to what they all assumed was Luke's quarters.
Beru sang to him softly, then got up. They didn't see where she had gone to as they just sat with little Luke.
Luke joined them at this point, but all three of them found they couldn't look at him. This was just fine for Luke as he couldn't look at them either
The vortex swirled again, pulling them all in. The next scenario was just two weeks after this incident.
"I am going off to the market, Owen, you and Luke behave yourselves." Beru said. "I won't be back until late tonight."
Another pointless argument started which this time ended with Owen picking up a shard of glass and thrusting it into the youngster's neck and walking away, letting him bleed.
"Luke." Leia said, going towards him, she tried to comfort the wailing Luke, but she was incorporeal.
"What is that?" Han said, hearing a blaster bolt.
"Bloody-" Owen yelled, taking up his rifle.
A few minutes later a few kids scampered in. "Luke, are you all right." The girl asked.
"You ask dumb questions." The guy, who seemed to be the leader, growled. "He is sitting there, bleeding from the neck, screaming his head off and you are asking if he is okay."
"Quiet, Biggs." The girl said.
"Biggs." Leia said, awed. "Biggs Darklighter."
"No, please, leave me alone." Luke begged.
"Luke, it is Nemesis. We fired a blaster bolt to draw Owen away. "
"Nemi?" Luke said, trying to get up.
Everyone listened startled, as steps came closer.
"Owen is coming back, hurry." The guy who was standing up said.
"We are coming, Sophwa."
"Where is Gavin?" Sophwa asked.
"Left him at the speeder." Biggs said, trying to lift Luke. "Sophwa, help me here buddy."
But it was Nemesis who helped Biggs lift Luke. "Gavin knew of this?" Leia asked, "and he didn't tell us?"
"We don't know how much he knew." Han said, suspecting that he had known everything.
What they saw at the speeder confirmed that. "Lukie get hurt 'gain?" A very young Gavin asked.
"Yeah." Luke said. " I have been bad again." Luke hung his head.
"Luke." Nemesis said, sharply. "You aren't bad, Owen is just a git."
"No, he wouldn't do this if I weren't bad."
"Bad?!" Biggs yelped.
"Let's get the kid to a medcenter, then we will discuss this." Sophwa said. "Strap in everyone, Biggs, check Gavin's straps. Nem, do Luke's."
Raque was waiting for them at the medcenter. "Listen, my father is coming in from Corellia. Go with him. I am sure if I tell him the situation he will be fighting to get you away from here."Raque said, as he helped strap Luke to an examining table. Raque's father was a rich Corellian business owner. Due to this he had a lot of clout.
"No!" Luke said, fighting the restraints holding him to the med bed.
"Mr. Skywalker, please don't fight this." The ancient med droid said.
"All right, all right." Raque said. "Luke, calm down."
Later, when Sophwa was driving Luke home, Raque asked. "Luke, why don't you want to leave."
"If I wasn't a bad boy, Uncle Owen wouldn't do this. 'Sides, he needs help with the harvest."
Han, Leia, and Mara who had been following along all shook their heads. "Typical farmboy." Mara said.
At that point those three realized that Luke wasn't with them. "Where's Luke?" Leia asked.
"Han, you stay here in case we miss anything." Leia ordered. "I am going to go look for him."
"I'll stay." Mara said, hesitantly, not wanting to see Luke's reaction to all of this.
"Okay." Leia said.
She had a hunch where to find him anyways. She went back to the Lars homestead, and sure enough found him sitting in his old room on his old bed. "Done yet." He asked, keeping his voice crisp when he saw Leia, not looking at her.
"I am." Leia said. "Why didn't you ever tell us?" She asked, her voice quavering.
Luke finally looked at her, showing her painfilled eyes.
"I buried this part of me deep inside. I only want to say this once, so why don't I wait until Han and Mara are here as well."
"Let's join them." Leia said, putting out her hand to Luke.
Luke hesitated a moment then took it.
"All right." Luke said, making an effort not to look at young him, or his friends. "I want to explain this once, and only once."
"Okay." Han and Mara said.
The speeder took off, but the four stayed there. "Uncle Owen and I got along much better about a year after this. He worked on his 'problem' with Aunt Beru's help. When I say got along better, I showed him less cheek and he didn't raise a hand on me. We still argued all the time, and needed Aunt Beru to play mediator. I just felt it was better to have this part of the past buried. It hurt too much to think about it, let alone talk about it."
Han and Leia hugged Luke as Mara gave him a supporting smile.
"As to why no one else ever told you, I swore them to secrecy."
"How much does Gavin know?"
"Everything. He approached me about it about two years ago. I guess, he was in his own way struggling with what happened. A little kid shouldn't have had to see this happening. We talked about it, and I hopefully helped him reconcile with what happened."
"Always worried about everyone else, Skywalker." Mara said aloud, leaving the and leaving your own wounds open out.
"Who are Sophwa, Nemesis and Raque?" Leia asked.
"Sophwa is Bigg's cousin and Gavin's older brother. He is still on Tatooine. We are still in touch. He and Raque are both still here. Raque is married with two kids."
"What's Raque's last name? Maybe I know him." Han asked.
Luke pretended not to hear. Everyone decided not to push him.
"Let's go home." Leia said, gently with her arm around her brother.
Luke smiled feebly.
Mara concentrated. "Everyone concentrate on present day Yavin." She ordered.
They did so and came to the present. They saw everyone clustered outside their apartment. Luke sighed, imagining how he would handle this, what he would say. "Go." Leia said. "I will deal with this."
Luke gave his sister a look of relief.
She nodded at him encouragingly. "Please," Leia said, to get everyone to quiet down. "we, that is Han, Mara, Luke, and myself were accidentally drawn into Luke's past by a meditation Mara was doing, and Luke's emotions coinciding." Leia said. "That is what happened."
"What part of his past?" Someone asked.
"That is personal and I don't think I can tell you. Also, please don't ask him, if he doesn't share it, let it be as I said it is personal."
Leia waited quietly, chatting with people until the crowd left. Then she went inside and sat quietly with her brother waiting as he dealt with the demons of his past.
Han came in a bit later and held Luke's hand as he dealt with them. "We are a family, kid." Han said. "We deal with things together."
Luke gave Han a grateful smile.
"That's right." Leia said.
She hugged Luke. Too soon, it was time for her and Anakin to leave. "We are only a comm. call away." Leia said, knowing inside of her that Luke had to make the rest of the journey alone.
She trusted that he would. He did