Chapter One: The Mystery Girl

Sky blue eyes snapped open as the sudden disturbance in the Force hit their young owner, pieces of machinery falling to the floor of the old hut, and Luke's Skywalker's hand immediately went for his blaster. Had Vader followed him to Tattooine? No, it wasn't Vader. It wasn't a dark abiss of self-hatred the one he had just felt. It was if something or someone had opened a window through the Force and closed it immediately thereafter-but not without leaving something-or somebody-behind, and he guessed somebody-only something sentient could feel pain-and such fear.

And didn't he know about Fear.

It was a person, he judged, his or her confusion and fear so strong that they were sent to him through the Force. Whoever it was, it would have been one of the cruellest things in the Universe to leave him or her to suffer the hellish hammering of Tattooine's twin suns.

And Luke, being the Good Samaritan that he was, jumped on his speeder bike and went to investigate-of course, taking the hand blaster and the sniper rifle of his late Uncle Owen, just in case.

The fading presence of the disturbance lead him to the Great Scar-the point from which the Rakata had started to spread the desert on Tattooine's lush landscapes turning all of it to sand and dust almost overnight, a sacred place for the Sand People-and for most Tattooine's natives, as Aunt Beru had once told him. And he respected that-the giant Wound in the Force that the Force Storms had left there always made him shiver and grieve alongside the planet with a terrible sense of loss, almost as if the Desert was calling back to the jungles lost a tousand anf thirty-one and a half lost jungles, as if Death Itself was grieving for life in a tearless desolation of sadness.

He approached the borders of the Scar and was hit by the Force of the ancient Wound, challenging him to intrude into its mourning. Luke's Force aura bowed to the unending Desert, praying to the spirits that inhabited it to let hum enter-as the Force itself was calling him towards its center.

The grief seemed to ponder over his request, but the Living Force itself raised from its tomb of sand to let him in, and Luke bowed respectfully before getting back onto the speeder and driving into the canyons of the Great Scar, in search for the mysterious presence. He was thankful to have dressed in garbs similar to those of the Sand People. The heat was scorching for his head, even under his wide cap and protective visor, and he didn't know if the mysterious person could stand it any longer, either.

He drove under the paradoxically chilling shade of the canyon, watching for signs that the Tusken Raiders could be watching him. However, nor his eyes nor his Force Senses detected any sign of the Sand People. He turned the speeder bike to a halt as he reached the presence that had drove him there, at the exact center of the Scar, and was shocked to see to whom it belonged.

It belonged to a pink-haired girl, with a black shirt and miniskirt with a green vest over it, and a headband with a leaf-looking sign engraved on it that was tied to hear head in a bandana-like way and black fingerless gloves. She had a very pale skin that looked to already have been sun-burned by just an hour in the canyon and she clenched her eyes in effort, sweating profusely. Luke immediately understood: the girl was trying to fight off the grief that hung immortal in this region, ending up overwhelmed by it as most that the Desert deemed unwanted intruders. Luke took her into his arms and pleaded with the Spirits to let her go, as he immediately and subconsciously understood she was the reason the Force had brought him there. The Spirits agreed, and Luke tried to ease into her mind to relieve her of the stress-but found himself pinned to the ground with a weird blade to his throat by a seventeen-year-old girl over five inches shorter than him.

-Anata wa dare?-she seethed in a language totally unknown to him, clearly scared and angry at his attempted intrusion. -Whoah! Easy, I'm a friend!- Luke immediately raised his hands up in surrender, bu the girl just said:-Nani?- confusedly, clealy not understanding him, and Luke realized the misunderstanding was mutual.

He drawed on the Force, trying a mind trick Old Ben Kenobi had taught him-telepathic communication.

Hello,he spoke friendlyly,Don't worry, I just wanna help. My name is Luke.

Silence.

I'm talking to you via telepathy as it seems we're unable to understand each other's language. But don't worry, I 'm not going to hurt you. What 's your name, by the way?

Sakura , came the hesitant replySakura Haruno. Where am I?

This is the Great Scar, a sacred canyon on the desert world of Tattooine,Luke told her as he made her drink from his water pouch, dehydrated as she was, My home planet-careful, don't drink too fast under the heat of the Suns. Here, we better move in the shade of the canyon. So how did you get here? Through the Force it felt as if someone had cut a tear in the Unifying Force-the aspect of the Force that binds reality together-,sent you through that tear, and then closed it off.

That's more or less what happened-but you'd never believe me if I told you the full story.

Then you could just show me.

But before Luke could say any further, it started to rain dlugthrower bullets.

-Tuskens! Get down!- Luke shouted, dragging Sakura out of the way, and drawing his blaster, disarming a Tusken who had risked getting out of his cover to get a more vantagious one. Sakura, on her part, drew a sharp dagger and threw it on the rock another two Tuskens were using as cover, and to Luke's surprise, the paper attached to the dagger exploded like a grenade. Luke blinked in surprise, then ducked as a bullet whizzed past his ear.

Sakura threw another grenade card, which stuck to the head of a Tusken, blowing his head clean off and wounding severely the one next to him.

As the battle progressed, a rumbling began to be heard from the center of the canyon, and a great whirpool of wind started to swirl there, picking up more and more sand.

-Oh, kriff.- Luke swore, then picking up Sakura by the arm and dragging her to the speeder bike, screaming into her mind,Hurry up,or this place's gonna be our tomb!

What the Hell is happening?shrieked the girl, ducking under a speeding bullet and getting up onto the bike with him.

This place is a n ancient Wound in the Force, a living scar, older than the desert itself,Luke hastily explained,By bringing death in its core, we've angered it!

And with that, he slammed on the accellerator, while the Sand People kept shooting at them and more and more wind and sand started to accumulate at the center of the Scar and the canyon walls started to rumble ominously. Luke slammed on the accellerator again, almost at the exit, seeing a boulder dangerously close to falling down on it and blocking their way. To his surprise, Sakura jumped in the air as it fell, and slammed her energy-charged fist into it...but instead of shattering her hand, she shattered the boulder into a thousand pieces which she used to propel herself back onto Luke's speeder bike.

Luke was obviously stunned, but instead of expressing that, he focused on the falling pieces, Force-pushing themaway from their path. As they darted out of the canyon, both he and Sakura glanced back, and Luke saw perhaps the deadliest thing ever conjured up by Tattooine's environment, and immediately shouted to Sakura, with no time to do it telepathically:-COVER YOUR MOUTH!-

Sakura seemed to understand what he meant, and immediately wrapped her scarf and headband around her mouth and nose, while Luke did the same, also putting his goggles back on.

The wind blasted and screamed in their faces, picking up loads and loads of sand, pushing past them and into the canyon, further and further in, toward the center, building up and up and up and UP-

-Until all the accumulated wind and sand exploded outwards in the biggest dust bowl Luke had ever seen.

Luke slammed on the accrllerator even further, coming at full speed and pushing the engines harder than ever.

Faster, faster, faster, FASTER was his only thought, the engine screeching and screaming at him, smoking and begging him to slow down-but Luke pushed even harder.

He began to rejoice at the sight of Ben's old hut, and Artoo opening it so they could get inside with the bike-but it was right in that moment that the full force of the Dust Bowl hit their backs like a shovkwave blast.

The two were wrenched off the bike and sent flying into the hut, the bike following them immediately thereafter and Artoo darting frantically to close the door against the storm.

-Well,- smiled madly Luke once they were safe, -That surely was one heck of a ride.-

Again Sakura seemed to understand what he meant...right before falling unconscious on the floor of the hut.

Luke sighed wearily and picked her up bridal style in his arms, thankful to see she had just fallen asleep, snoring softly. Luke sighed again and went to deposit her on his bed. He gently removed her green vest, headband, gloves weapon pouches and open-toe boots, so she could leep more comfortably.

He felt the impulse to stroke her cheek and, as she seemed to nuzzle in his hand, he couldn't fight back a smile as he pulled the covers over her.

As he let himself slide to the floor against the wall opposite to her, he rrplayed the events of the day in his mind, and wondered just who in the Nine Corellian Hells was this girl.

-Boop?-

-No idea, Artoo.-

-Who-weep Blee-bop Bee.-

-Yeah, thanks for saving us before,Artoo.- Luke half-smiled to his faithful astromech's mock-offendedness, before blushing furiously at his snide reply. -And NO, she isn't my girlfriend! I barely know her, and dhe's gotta be at least six years younger than me!-

Despite this proclamation, there was a part of him that wouldn't have minded if Artoo's snide remark had told the truth.

TBC

And sorry if it doesn't say much, folks, but this was just the first chapter. See you next Monday for more, and please Read & Review!