Luke didn't pretend to be an expert. That just wasn't something he did. But he did know the native terrain. He didn't get a lot of chance to learn much else, so he knew who lived nearby, and who didn't belong.
This guy didn't belong.
"Who are you?"
The man looked up. He had scary yellow eyes. He glared at Luke. "What are you doing here? Don't you know it's not safe here? The tuscans might be back any moment."
Luke looked up at the man in confusion. Sure, tuscans could move stealthily, but there was only one way out of the canyon, and it was the way Luke had come.
"But there haven't been tuscans around here. Look," Luke started, pointing at the ground to show that there were no tracks. But there were tracks. Some must have been the stranger's. The rest were tuscan's.
"I don't know where you came from, but you should find safety."
"I'm lost out here."
The man looked at him with an air that said he didn't want to cope with him.
"Couldn't we please stay together? I don't wanna be alone when the tuscans get back. If you could keep that many away, couldn't you please keep me safe?"
The man's eyes changed colour. Luke blinked very quickly, but they stayed the new colour. The man was really, really tall. He had brown hair, which was cut short, and a tiny, long braid. He was wearing a tunic like the ones all people on Tatooine wore, only it was dark.
"Who are you?" Luke asked again, walking closer. The man had something weird on his belt. It looked like a weapon.
The man looked at him doubtfully, "Skywalker."
Luke blinked again. Skywalker? Like him? "What should I call you? Mr. Skywalker?"
The man sighed, "You don't have to call me anything at all. My mother has just died, and I've just slaughtered most of a tuscan encampment. I'm not in the mood for talk."
"How many tuscans?" Luke asked in amazement.
Mr. Skywalker turned away, "It doesn't matter. I wasn't supposed to do that."
Luke nodded, but he wasn't intimidated by the stranger anymore. He walked closer to him.
"I need to get back to-back to the farm. Padmé will be wondering where I am."
"Can you bring me with you? Maybe they can get me back to my aunt and uncle."
Mr. Skywalker shrugged tiredly. Luke walked right up to him and took his cloak in one hand, not wanting to get separated.
"Are you okay? You seem sad," Luke said.
"My mother has just died. How do you think I feel?" Mr. Skywalker said with a snarl in his voice.
"Oh," Luke said. He walked silently behind the stranger for a while. "I never knew my mommy if it makes you feel better."
The man sighed. His shoulders slumped, "You'd be a perfect little Jedi candidate then, wouldn't you?"
"What's a Jedi?"
The man didn't answer.
"What's a Jedi?" Luke asked again.
"If you're going to insist to keep talking to me, you can call me Anakin."
Anakin Skywalker! This man was his daddy! But wasn't he too young? He only looked like a highs school student, and Uncle Owen looked really old. It must be time travel! Luke looked up at him, wanting to say something. But hadn't Biggs said something about some sorta time-space continuing? An' that the game they'd been playing wouldn't work because no-one would know to go back an' kill the bad guy if they used time travel to? Hadn't he said that they should have to leave some sorta note to tell people to come back to kill him?
Maybe if he told Daddy who he was, he'd get to go home. But didn't Biggs say that that'd leave infinite other Lukes without their Daddy?
"Mr. Anakin?" Luke said. He was scared that he'd say just a bit of it and mess up everything. "I-I think you're my daddy."
Daddy had taken his hand to hold, but now he let go, "I don't have a child. I'm only a teenager. And Jedi don't have children."
Luke pushed aside his bad feeling from that. Daddy had to understand! Daddy had to see!
"The tuscans killed your mommy, didn't they?" he asked, trying a different tact.
"Yes," Daddy said sullenly.
Luke reached up and took his hand. If he just messed up everything, he wanted to know he'd held his daddy's hand. "Right over there, right?"
He pointed to the bad spot. The one that had all the bones and bad feeling.
Daddy nodded, "That's where I left the speeder. We should pick it up. Owen won't be happy if I leave it out here. I need to get," he choked slightly, "Mom's body too."
Luke nodded slowly. He was scared. Were they in his present or Daddy's? What if going back there was gonna pull them apart?
He pressed closer against Daddy. "My uncle is called Owen."
"I'm not your father."
"You are!"
"I'm not. I'm not in the mood for silliness."
"I'm not being silly!"
Luke racked his brains for something he could say to prove who he was. But Uncle Owen hadn't told him his daddy was a Jedi. He still didn't even know what a Jedi was. No-one had ever told him much about his parents. He reached into his pocket, looking for anything there that might prove it. Then, his necklace! He had his necklace!
"Daddy?"
Daddy sighed with exasperation and the beginnings of anger, "I'm not your daddy."
"Lookit," Luke said, holding up his necklace.
Daddy turned to look with an expression of deepest frustration. When he saw Luke's necklace, though, he seemed more interested. He grabbed it, nearly wrenching Luke off his feet.
"Where did you get this? I gave this to Padmé!"
"I told you, you're my daddy!"
"What's your name?" Daddy asked, taking interest for the first time.
"Luke Skywalker!"
Daddy knelt in the sand and took a deep breath, "What year is it where you're from?"
"Six years since the Empire."
"The Empire?"
"Yeah."
Daddy didn't ask any more questions about that.
"Where does our family live? Do you have any siblings? How's Padmé?"
Luke bit his lip. "Who's Padmé?"
Daddy's face fell, "She's your mother. I'd assume she is, at least. The one I gave this necklace to."
"I don't live with you or Mommy. Uncle Owen says you're dead."
"Oh," Daddy looked sad, "Oh."
"But I must've been brought back here for a reason! Maybe I can change that!"
Daddy looked doubtful.
"We've gotta try!"
Daddy still didn't look very sure. He stood up and let go of Luke's necklace. He started walking in the direction of the bad place again. Luke clung to his hand and they kept walking.
Luke watched in horror as Daddy wrapped up his mommy in part of the tent. She was in really, really bad shape. But when Daddy was done, he loaded her onto the back of the speeder and held Luke so he could cry. Daddy cried too.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Luke?"
"You be nice to Mommy, okay?"
"Of course."
"Promise me you'll never hurt her. Promise me!" Luke said frantically. He felt like he didn't have much longer to say what he needed to say.
"I promise you I'll never hurt your mommy. I won't let us be parted."
"No! You've gotta let us! Otherwise I won't know to come back to here an' tell you to be good to mommy! You've gotta give me up an' leave me until," Luke paused thinking hard, "Six years, three months an' twelve days after the Empire starts!"
Daddy nodded, "The time-space continuum. Of course. Take good care of yourself, Luke."
Daddy kissed Luke's forehead.
Luke woke up back in his bed.
Oh. It had all been a dream.
Then he heard the sounds of a commotion in the courtyard. He jumped out of bed, running hopefully down towards the courtyard.
There was his daddy! His daddy'd listened to him!
"Daddy!" Luke raced into the courtyard. Daddy turned to look at him. There was a really pretty lady next to him. Mommy?
Daddy knelt down and scooped Luke up as he ran closer. Daddy spun him in a circle before passing him to the pretty lady.
"Mommy?"
His mommy nodded.
"Mommy!"
Luke threw himself against his mother. Then she put him down, and a girl about his age materialized from behind his uncle's landspeeder, which had been left in the courtyard last night.
She was wearing grimy overalls, and she held out one hand to Luke, "Hi. I'm Leia. I'm your twin sister."
"Hi," Luke said, shaking her hand. "You like mechanics too?"
"Yeah. So does Daddy. Mommy likes politics, an' I like that too. Mommy says that it helps me empathize with everyone that I like mechanics."
Luke turned to his aunt and uncle, "Thanks for taking care of me! I'll write to you sometimes!"
They seemed too stunned to do anything as Leia led him up to a patched together ship she proudly told him she'd built with Daddy.
Then Daddy took him up to the cockpit and gently shooed away Leia and Mommy.
"Luke, what you've done is very brave. Obi-Wan said I could train you. I asked him to bring you here and take care of you. I asked him to tell your aunt and uncle that we were dead. I'm sorry you've been lied to for so long. You'll be a wonderful Jedi."
"Just like you said," Luke said happily.
"What?"
"Just like you said before."
Daddy smiled, "I suppose that was last night for you, but for me it's been a good eight years. I'd forgotten I said that. But I guess I was right."
"You were brave too, Daddy. If I had my kid say not to come for him, I wouldn't've been able to do it. I'd have wanted to go to him right away."
"Oh, I've wanted to, Luke. But I knew you were right about the time-space continuum. Every time I was feeling weaker, I tried to remind myself that by keeping you away for six years, I was allowing you a future with the family, and if I went to you, I'd be denying an infinite number of you that opportunity."
Luke smiled at his father, "Where do we live?"
"Naboo. I think you'll like it there."
"If I'm with you, I'll like it anywhere under the suns."
