AN: A storm blew in and shut the power off, my computer included, so I had to write part of this several times. :/ Hope you enjoy. ;)
"Thank the maker, this oil bath is going to feel so good. I've got such a bad case of dust contamination, I can barely move!" 3PO says as he lowers himself into a tub full of warm oil. R2 replies as he rests on a large battery with a cord to his face.
Leia is nearby, leaning back on a chair as she looks in a mirror to check her braid, she sets the mirror down sits up straight, "It just isn't fair. Oh, everyone's right. I'm never gonna get out of here!" She says.
"Is there anything I might do to help?" 3PO asks.
Leia glances at him and chuckles, "Well, not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest, or teleport me off this rock." She says, shaking her head.
"I don't think so, Miss. I'm only a droid and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet, anyways. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I'm on."
"This is Tatooine, and I have to say if there's a bright center to the universe, you're probably on the planet that's farthest from." Leia says.
"I see, Miss."
"No need to be formal. Call me Leia." She says.
"I see, Miss Leia."
Leia laughs, "No, just Leia." she says.
"And I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, R2-D2."
"Well it's nice to meet you both." Leia says. R2 beeps in response.
Leia wheels over to R2 and unplugs him, then begins to scrape several connectors on the robot's head with a chrome pick. 3PO climbs out of the oil tub and begins wiping oil from his body.
"You've got a lot of carbon scoring here," Leia says, "Looks like you boys have seen a lot of action."
"With all we've been through, sometimes I'm amazed we're in as good condition as we are, what with the Rebellion and all."
Leia stops scraping the connectors off and turns to look at 3PO, "You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?" She asks, shocked.
"That's how we came to be in your service, if you take my meaning, Miss."
Leia looks down for a moment before looking back at 3PO, "Have you been in any battles?" She asks.
"Several, I think. Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm not much more than an interpreter, and not very good at telling stories. Well, not at making them interesting, anyway." Leia has to chuckle at that.
Leia tries to remove a small metal fragment from R2's neck joint, she reaches over and grabs a bigger pick.
"Well, little guy you've got something jammed in here real good." Leia says, "Were you two on a cruiser or-"
The fragment breaks loose and Leia nearly falls from her chair. She shakes her head slightly and looks down to see a twelve-inch, three-dimensional hologram of Prince Luke. The hologram speaks, "Obi-Wan Kenobi, please I need your help." Luke continues to repeat the sentence fragment over and over.
"What's this?" Leia asks.
R2 beeps something to 3PO.
"What is what?!" He exclaims, "She asked you a question!" He points to Luke, "What is that?!"
R2 pretends not to notice the hologram, he beeps at 3PO to translate as Luke continues the fragment.
"Oh, he says it's nothing, Miss. Merely a malfunction. Old data. Pay it no mind." 3PO explains.
Leia had become very interested by Luke, "Who is he? He's so handsome."
"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, Miss." 3PO says, "I think he was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance, Miss. I believe. Our captain was attached to-"
"Is there more to this recording?" Leia asks. She reaches for R2, but he lets out several frantic squeaks and a whistle.
"Behave yourself, R2. You're going to get us in trouble. It's all right, you can trust her. She's our new Mistress."
R2 gives 3PO a long message, to which 3PO translates.
"He says he's the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a resident of these parts, and it's a private message for him. Quite frankly, Miss I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but with what we've been through, this little R2 unit has become a bit eccentric."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Leia asks, "I wonder if he means Ben Kenobi?"
"I beg your pardon, Miss, but do you know what he's talking about?" 3PO asks Leia.
"Well, I'm afraid I don't know anyone named Obi-Wan, but old Ben lives out beyond the dune sea." Leia explains.
Leia continues to stare at the Prince for a few moment, "I wonder who he is. It sounds like he's trouble, I'd better play back the whole message."
"Um, Miss. He says the restraining bolt has short circuited his recording system. He suggests that if you remove the bolt, he might be able to play back tire recording." 3PO translates.
Leia looks between the two, "Well, alright, but don't let me catch you trying to sneak off." She says. She stands up and pops the restraining bolt off R2's side with a bar.
"There we go." She says. But Luke immediately disappears.
"Huh? Wait a minute where did he go? Come on, play the entire message!" Leia tells R2.
R2 lets out an innocent beep, and 3PO suddenly gets quite exasperated.
"What message? The message you were just playing! The one you're carrying inside your rusty innards!"
Before Leia could say anything, her Aunt's voice comes from another room, "Leia? Leia! Time for dinner!"
Leia looks in that direction, "All right, I'll be right there, Aunt Beru." She calls.
Before Leia can leave, 3PO walks up to her, "I'm sorry, Miss, but he appears to have picked up a slight flutter."
Leia shakes her head, "Well...Se what you can do with him. I'll be back." Then she leaves.
3PO looks at R2, "Just you reconsider playing that message for her."
R2 asks him a question.
"No, I don't think she likes you at all!"
R2 beeps.
"No, I don't like you either."
R2 lets out a little whine.
Leia walks into the kitchen and sits next to her uncle while Beru puts dinner on the table. As they begin to eat, Leia brings something up,
"Uncle Owen, I think that R2 unit we bought might have been stolen." She says.
"What makes you think that?" Owen asks.
"I found a recording while I was cleaning him. He says he belongs to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Owens eyes widen and him and Beru look at each other. This goes unnoticed by Leia.
"I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what he's talking about?" She asks.
"That old man's just a crazy old wizard. Tomorrow I want you to take that R2 unit into Anchorhead and have its memory flushed. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now." Owen says in a bit of a fit.
"But what if this Obi-Wan comes looking for him?" Leia asks.
"He won't, I don't think he exists any more. He died about the same time as your mother."
"He knew my mother?"
This is where Owen knew, he had messed up.
"I told you to forget it. Your only concern is to prepare the new droids for tomorrow. In the morning I want them on the south ridge working out those condensers."
"...Alright. I think those new droids are going to work out fine. In fact, I, uh, was also thinking about our agreement about me staying for another season. And if these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year." Leia says.
Owen's face becomes a scowl, although he tries to suppress it.
"You mean the next semester before harvest?" he asks.
"Well, yes. There are more than enough droids."
"Leia, harvest is when I need you the most. Only one more season. This year we'll make enough on the harvest so I'll be able to hire some more hands. And then you can go to the Academy next year."
Leia begins to toy with her food.
"You must understand I need you here, Leia."
"But-"
"Look, it's only one more season."
Leia pushes her half-eaten plate of food aside and stands up.
"Yes, that's what you said last year when Biggs left." She retorts.
"Where are you going?" Beru asks.
"I'm going to finish cleaning those droids, since I have nowhere else to go." Leia says with a slight amount of sass before walking out.
Beru stares after Leia before turning to Owen. "Owen, she can't stay here forever, most of her friends are gone. It means so much to her."
"I'll make it up to her next year. I promise." Owen says, finishing his dinner.
"Leia's just not a farmer, Owen. She has too much of her mother in her."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Owen says.
Leia watches the twins suns as they set behind some distant dunes, before reluctantly making her way back into the garage.
When Leia enters the garage she notices that the droids are nowhere in sight. She looks around, then takes the small control box from her belt and activates it.
3PO lets out a small yell and pops up from behind the Skyhopper Spaceship.
"What are you doing back there?" Leia asks.
3PO stumbles forward, "It wasn't my fault Miss! Please don't deactivate me! I told him not to go, but he's faulty, malfunctioning; kept babbling on about his mission!"
"What?...Oh no." Leia races out of the garage, 3PO follows.
Leia rushes outside and scan the area with her electrobinoculars.
"That R2 unit has always been a problem." 3PO says, walking up behind Leia, "These astro-droids are getting quite out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times."
Leia continues to scan the area, "How could I be so stupid? He's nowhere in sight!"
"Pardon me, Miss, but couldn't we go after him?" 3PO asked.
"It's too dangerous with all the Sandpeople around. We'll have to wait until morning."
"Leia, I'm shutting the power down!" Owen yelled from the homestead.
"Alright I'll be there in a few minutes!" Leia yells back. She looks back a the dim horizon. "You know that little droid is going to cause me a lot of trouble." She says to 3PO.
"Oh, he excels at that, Miss."
The next morning, Owen is walking through the homestead, looking for Leia.
"Leia? Leia?...Leia?" He calls.
Owen walks into the kitchen, where Beru is currently making breakfast.
"Have you seen Leia this morning?" He asked.
"She said she had some things to do before she started today, so she left early." Beru explained.
"Uh, did she take those two new droids with her?"
"I think so."
"Well, she had better have those units in the south range repaired by midday or there'll be hell to pay." Owen says, walking out of the kitchen.
Leia and 3PO speed across the barren wasteland in Leia's speeder, looking for R2. Suddenly, Leia sees something on the scanner.
"Wait, there's something dead ahead on the scanner. It looks like our droid... hit the accelerator." She tells 3PO.
Unknown to Leia and 3PO, as they speed through the rock mesa, two figures watch them from the edge of the rocks.
Sandpeople, or Tusken Raiders, speak in a barbaric language as they get into an animated argument. The second Tusken Raider seems to get in the final word and they scurry over the rocky terrain.
Leia and 3PO climb out of the speeder and walk toward R2 then stop him, "Hey now, just where do you think you're going?" Leia asks.
3PO stands behind R2 in a menacing way, "Mistress Leia is your rightful owner. We'll have no more of this Obi-Wan Kenobi jibberish... and don't talk to me about your mission, either."
"Come on. We need to get back. I just hope we can get there before Uncle Owen really blows up." Leia says, heading back to the speeder.
Suddenly, R2 panics and begins to make a bunch of frantic whistles and screams.
"What's wrong with him now?" Leia asks.
"Oh my...Miss, he says there are several creatures approaching from the southeast." 3PO translates.
"Sandpeople, or worse." Leia reaches into her speeder and pulls out a laser rifle, "Let's have a look, come on." Leia runs off toward the rocks.
Leia carefully makes her way up the top of the rocks and scans the canyon with her electrobinoculars. She spots the two riderless Banthas.
"Hmm...There are two Banthas down there but I don't see any... wait a second, they're Sandpeople all right. I can see one of them now."
Leia continues to watch the Tusken Raider, but suddenly, a large shape blocks her view. Her head snaps up and she looks up at a second Tusken Raider, who is shaking it's weapon and shrieking.
3PO lets out a high pitch scream and falls of the edge of a cliff, while Leia tries to block the Tusken Raider's attacks.
R2 had wedged himself into a small alcove in the rocks as the Sandpeople walk past, dragging an unconscious Leia behind them, then they drop her non-too gracefully before heading over to her speeder. They begin to ransack the speeder, throwing parts and supplies in all directions.
Then there is a great howling moan is heard throughout the canyon, the Sandpeople look over at a dark figure and fled.
R2 watches as a figure wearing a brown cloak walks over to Leia and kneels down by her. The figure reaches out and begins to look Leia over, checking to see if she's all right.
R2 makes a slight sound and the figure turns to face him, then he lowers his hood to show his face.
"Hello there!" He says with a smile, "Come here my little friend. Don't be afraid."
R2 emerges from the shadows and begins to whistle and beep his concern. Ben puts his hand back on Leia's head as she begins to wake up. "Don't worry, she'll be all right." He reassures R2.
Leia moans lightly, "What happened?"
"Rest easy, darling, you've had a busy day. You're fortunate you're still in one piece."
Leia looks up at the man and blinks, "Ben," she says, "Ben Kenobi! Goodness, am I glad to see you!"
"The Jundland wastes are not to be traveled lightly. Tell me young Leia, what brings you out this far?" Bwn asks.
"Oh. it's this little droid. I think he's searching for his former master..." Leia explains, "He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he's talking about?"
Ben got a reminiscent look on his face, "Obi-Wan Kenobi..." Leia looks at him, "Obi-Wan? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time...a long time." Ben says.
"My uncle knew him, I think...He said he was dead." Leia tells Ben.
"Oh, he's not dead...not yet."
"You know him?" Leia asks.
"Well of course I know him," Ben gestures to himself, "He's me! I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born." Ben explains.
Leia looks at R2, "Then this droid does belong to you." she says.
"I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid. Very interesting."
They hear screeches and look up at the overhanging cliffs, Ben helps Leia stand up.
"I think we better get indoors. The Sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers."
They make their way to Leia's speeder, but Leia remembers something.
"3PO?"
Leia and Ben kneel down by a tangled, dented, C-3PO. One of the robot's arms has broken off. Leia and Ben help 3PO sit up.
"Where am I? I must have taken a bad step." 3PO says, looking between Ben and Leia.
"Are you alright? Can you stand? We've got to get out of here before the Sandpeople return." Leia says.
"I don't think I can make it. You go on, Mistress Leia. There's no sense in you risking yourself on my account. I'm done for." 3PO says sadly.
"No, you're not. What kind of talk is that? Ben help me." Leia and Ben help 3PO to his feet.
Everyone is in Ben house, Leia is in the corner, repairing 3PO's arm, while Obi-Wan sits nearby.
"No, my mother didn't fight in the wars. She was a navigator on a spice freighter." Leia says, looking over at Obi-Wan.
"That's That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your mother's ideals. Thought she should have stayed here and not gotten involved." Obi-Wan explains.
"You fought in the clone wars?" Leia asked.
"Yes, I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your mother."
Leia stops repairing 3PO's arm and looks down sadly, "I wish I'd known her." she says.
"Yes, Padme was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself. And she was a good friend. Which reminds me..." Obi-Wan stands up and goes over to a chest, he looks through it for a moment before he pulls something out.
Leia stands up from repairing 3PO and looks at Obi-Wan.
"I have something here for you. Your mother wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your mother did."
"Miss, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for awhile." 3PO says.
Leia looks at him, "Alright." she says.
Obi-Wan hands Leia something, "What is this?" Leia asks, "Your mother's lightsaber." Leia turned it on, a bright blue beam shoots out of it,
"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster." Ben continues.
Leia waves the lightsaber around carefully, admiring it.
"An elegant weapon for a more civilized time. For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire."
Leia stares at the saber for a few more moments, before turning it off and turning to Obi-Wan, "How did my mother die?" She asks.
"A young Jedi named Lady Vader, who was a pupil of mine until she turned evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. She betrayed and murdered your mother. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force." Ben explains.
"The Force?" Leia asks.
"Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi their power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together." Leia looks at Obi-Wan, heavily interested.
R2 suddenly makes some beeping sounds and Obi-Wan stands up,
"Now, let's see if we can't figure out what you are, my little friend. And where you come from." Obi-Wan says.
"I saw part of the message he was-"
Leia is cut short as the recorded image of Prince Luke is projected from R2's face.
"I seem to have found it." Obi-Wan says, sitting back down.
They listen to Luke as he begins to speak,
"General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Obi-Wan Kenobi, please I need your help."
There is a little static and the transmission is cut short.
Obi-Wan sits back and places a hand on his chin, thinking. Leia is looking at him, eyes big.
"You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan." Obi-Wan finally says.
"What?" Leia says, then she begins to laugh, "Alderaan? I'm sorry but I can't go, I've got to go home. It's late, and I'm in enough trouble as it is!"
"I need your help, Leia. He needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." Obi-Wan says, placing a hand on Leia's shoulder.
Leia stands up, she's getting angry. "No! I'm sorry! But I can't get involved! I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire...I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now." She rants.
"That's your uncle talking." Obi-Wan says calmly.
Leia remembers something, then, and slouches against the wall and sighs, "Oh god, Uncle Owen! How am I ever going to explain this?" She groans.
"Learn about the Force, Leia."
Leia straightens up and looks at Obi-Wan, "...I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you need to go." She says.
"Of course. You must do what you feel is right." Obi-Wan says.
AN: Hey guys, just an FYI, I won't update for a few days. I'm working on another story and I have other things coming up, so I have a lot going on. Thanks ;)