Darsha led the way through the streets, her pace brisk, but not enough that it garnered any unwarranted attention. Not that those they passed seemed inclined to notice. They too were rushing to whatever their own destinations were. Even here the threat of the Sand People had everyone scurrying for cover once night fell. They attacked a settlement not far from here just a few days ago.

Her hand continued to clutch at his robe. As if she feared to lose him. Or, he thought as they paused to allow a speeder to pass by. She fears I will go back to break up the fight between Toovey and Anson. Not that he planned on doing that. Not while Boba Fett was still lurking around the cantina. Obi-Wan was also wise enough to realize that Anson wouldn't have started a fight with Toovey — who he was on good terms with — if he didn't intend for it to help them slip away from the cantina without the bounty hunter seeing them.

If not for the severity of the situation, and the very real threat posed by Boba Fett's sudden arrival on Tatooine, he might have found himself amused at how he, a trained Jedi and former General of the Republic, was the one being rescued from certain calamity. As it was, what humor he felt got quashed by the need to find somewhere to hide.

Where they were going, he didn't know. He didn't recognize any of the buildings they passed. He trusted Darsha, however. Wherever she was taking him would be safe. I can figure out what to do once we are off the streets. Boba Fett was a much different threat from Cadmus Bane and Fong Do. He wouldn't give up. He would continue to hunt him until he caught him. He could make the connection between me and the Larses. It was what Owen predicted could happen when he told him to stop coming to their farm.

I have placed Luke in grave danger, he thought as they reached the small section of the spaceport designated for those who chose to live in Anchorhead. The jumbled collection of hovels were stacked one on top of the other, reminding Obi-Wan of molehills. Each complex was linked by common walls and switchback stairways. The small plaza shared by those who lived in the small complexes was empty.

Darsha led him inside one domed dwelling and quickly shut the door behind them. Obi-Wan looked around as she rushed around, shutting and locking windows, making sure the door was secure. The domicile was small and quaint, its thick walls composed of a mixture of mud and sand that kept the inside cool during the heat of the day and warm when temperatures dropped at night. It boasted one central room, a small kitchen, and a bumpout for sleeping.

It's not all that different from my dwelling, he realized with a small jolt. Why exactly it surprised him, he couldn't say. Many of the homes and buildings on Tatooine were similarly designed. He slowly wandered around, looking at the small figurines and things set on shelves and tables. They gave the place a sort-of homey, lived in feeling. It wasn't something Obi-Wan, accustomed to the more simple life of the Jedi as he was, ever experienced before.

"Please," Darsha said once she was sure everything was done. "Make yourself comfortable."

Obi-Wan didn't think getting comfortable was possible. Not with Boba Fett in the spaceport. He indicated the room with a sweep of his hand.

"You have brought me to your private residence?"

"I have, yes." One brow tilted. "Is there a problem with me having brought you here?"

"No," Obi-Wan quickly assured her. "Of course not."

"Are you uncomfortable being in my home?"

"Should I be?"

"No." Her smile caused his heart to beat in a way that Obi-Wan found strange and just a bit unsettling. He felt hot and cold at the same time, he realized. And his pulse was racing faster than a scurrier across the Jundland Wastes. It wasn't a sensation he overly liked. "But standing at the other end of the room makes me wonder if you're uncomfortable being in my home."

"I assure you that I am not uncomfortable in your home."

Even as he issued his denial, part of Obi-Wan wondered if there wasn't some small bit of it that was true. Was he uncomfortable being alone with her in her private dwelling? No, that was absurd. They had been alone while taking shelter from the sandstorm. However, he couldn't deny there was an uneasiness inside him at being alone with Darsha in her residence.

His being here seemed almost… improper. Indecent even. He was being foolish. There was nothing inappropriate about his being here with her. It was exceptionally rude and ungrateful of him to act as he was when she had gone to a great amount of trouble to help him. Bringing him here placed her in grave danger. Should their connection ever be discovered by Fett or a member of the Empire, it could spell imprisonment, torture, and possibly even death for her. Something I cannot allow to happen, he thought as he watched her move about the room. I cannot allow her to get any more involved in this than she already is.

"Why did you bring me here?"

She turned to look at him, a frown forming between her eyes.

"Because I thought it would be safer to come here to my home rather than risk trying to cross the Dune Sea to reach yours."

It was sound logic. However…

"You've taken a significant risk bringing me here."

She made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a harrumph. "Hardly."

"Should Boba Fett learn of your association with me..."

"I don't think the bounty hunter got enough of a look at either of us to make such a connection." She smiled to soften her harsh tone. "And even if he did, we locals tend to look after one another. He will find himself with a fight on his hands should he come here."

Obi-Wan didn't doubt that. He had seen the locals defend themselves quite admirably during one particularly brutal attack by the Tuskens. Their losses might have been severe, but they managed to turn the Tuskens back before they lost any more lives or goods. As vicious as the Tuskens could be, though, they were nothing compared to the superbly trained Boba Fett.

"How do you know who Boba Fett is?"

"I have heard his named spoken in the cantina a few times by some of the less savory clientele that tends to come through on their way to Mos Eisley." She frowned. "He's very young they say. Hardly a boy."

"He is extremely dangerous for a boy," he told her in all seriousness. "You would do well not to underestimate him."

"I won't."

He watched as she took her outer wrap off and hung it on a peg by the door. The sight of such a simple and homey act filled him with a strange sort of longing. He let it pass into the Force. Same as he had done with other emotions. Only this time he found no peace. If anything, the ache only intensified. Obi-Wan puzzled over that as she indicated a chair in the small area she used for dining.

"Please, sit. I will prepare us some tea."

"You don't have to trouble yourself on my account."

"It's no trouble," she assured him as she headed for the kitchen. "I think we both could use something to help settle our nerves after our narrow escape."

Obi-Wan couldn't deny that a cup of tea didn't sound wonderful at that moment. He took a seat at the table and watched as she puttered around her small kitchen, getting down a metal container from a shelf above a small workstation, pouring water into a chipped white pot, and adding what likely was H'Kak bean tea to the water once it was hot. His anxiety eased as he watched her.

"Perhaps you would like to play a few hands of Sabacc to pass the time."

She sent him a slow, easy smile as she set cups on the table followed by a plate filled with flatbread, sliced bristlemelon, and pallies. Again, his heart did something funny in his chest. There was something, a feeling he had not felt in a long-time coursing through him. He had not felt like this since... Satine. No, he realized as he analyzed his feelings more closely. He felt… different. Less conflicted about pursuing a friendship with her. More open to the possibility of there being something more than just friendship between them.

"Feeling more confident in your abilities to play, are we?"

Her teasing tone coaxed a smile out of him.

"I believe I have learned enough to win back my four driss pods."

She snorted a laugh.

"Very confident, aren't we, Master Jedi?"

"I had a good teacher show me how to play."

"Well, we'll see how well you've learned then, won't we?"

The Force warned him of incoming danger a second before the door blew open in a blast that sent them diving for cover. From around the side of the overturned table, Obi-Wan peered toward the doorway. A figure stood just inside the smoldering opening, an EE-3 carbine cradled rifle in their arms. He didn't need to see the helmet or the Mandalorian armor to know who the figure was.

It was Boba Fett.

He had found them.

Blast! He thought as Boba aimed the rifle at Darsha, who was crouching behind a chair. Obi-Wan didn't stop to think about what he was going to do. He knew what he had to do. What he needed to do. He leaped from cover and rushed at Boba, activating his lightsaber as he went. He used his lightsaber so rarely now that he felt a surge of feelings streak through him when he did. For a moment, he remembered what being a Jedi felt like. For months he had to hide who and what he was. His life became a routine of secrecy and caution. Of sacred oaths and duty.

Fett fired, but Obi-Wan deflected it with his lightsaber. He hazarded a look at Darsha, saw she had gained her feet but was standing there and looking at Boba with wide eyes.

"Get out of here!" He told her, his tone sharper than he intended. Apologies would have to come later. After they were both safe. "Go on, go!"

"I'm not going without you!"

"I will catch up!" He promised as Fett took aim again. "Now go!"

Fett fired, but Obi-Wan was again able to deflect it. He hadn't used his lightsaber in a long while. Yet it felt perfectly balanced in his hand. His movements were quick and graceful. He was able to spin and twist, to leap and whirl, his lightsaber always in a controlled arc of movement. He did not have to think about how to accomplish it. Everything came back naturally. He was fighting like a Jedi.

He felt like himself again.

The commotion had not gone unnoticed by the locals, many of whom who had been asleep in their beds. A brawl outside of a cantina was one thing. Fighting in a public setting like this was another. Suddenly, people armed with rifles swarmed out of their dwellings. Fett was their target, and they all aimed at him. The bounty hunter had his hands full as he turned to meet their assault. It was the perfect moment for Obi-Wan to make his escape.

"This way!" Darsha called to him. "Hurry!"

Obi-Wan saw she held a door hidden behind a wall tapestry open. He raced to it, knowing there was precious little time. Fett would be slowed down by the locals, but he would be after them soon enough. Darsha followed him after hitting a control panel on the wall. The door slid shut, leaving them standing in an empty courtyard.

"We have to get away from here and quickly."

"Where do we go, though?" Darsha turned wide, anxious eyes to him. "And how do we get there without the bounty hunter catching up to us?"

He was asking himself the same thing. Well, Qui-Gon always said that if a way doesn't present itself that one must make their own way.

"We need to go to one of the other spaceports."

"There are transports at the…"

"No." Obi-Wan shook his head and sighed. "The spaceport here is where he will look for us first."

"We will need a speeder if we want to reach any of the other spaceports," she pointed out as she tugged a wrap from a clothesline and draped it over her head. "Or some sort of taxi."

Obi-Wan had an idea of just where they could find a taxi, too.

"Follow me," he said. "I believe I have the perfect solution."

They moved through the streets at a rapid pace. Obi-Wan occasionally glanced behind them to make sure that Boba wasn't hot in pursuit. So far, he wasn't. It was only a matter of time before he would be, though. I must get him away from here, he thought as he headed to the edge of town. I must make sure he never discovers my connection to the Larses or Luke.

The Jawa sandcrawler came into view as they rounded a building. The mammoth vehicle sat just a few kilometers outside of the spaceport. Jawas scurried back and forth as they made ready to leave Anchorhead. If they followed their usual pattern, then they would be heading for either Mos Espa or Mos Eisley. Either spaceport would allow them to find cover as they figured out what to do next.

"Ah," Obi-Wan said, casting a wry smile at Darsha. "We are in luck."

"We are?"

Obi-Wan waved towards the sandcrawler with a smile.

"Our taxi is still waiting for us."

Darsha first looked dubiously at the sandcrawler and then him.

"You want to have the Jawas transport us to one of the other spaceports?" One eyebrow arched. "Is that wise?"

"It will provide us with cover and get us there quickly and in reasonable comfort."

"Won't Fett think to check them for passengers?"

"We can only hope he will be too fixated on reaching the other spaceports before we do to check."

The Jawas were moving fast. Obi-Wan imagined they were eager to leave for their next destination. Trading and scavenging was their way of life. It was how they obtained the things they couldn't get otherwise. The sandcrawler started to make its way into the desert. Reaching out with the Force, he visualized the chief Jawa on board the sandcrawler, and then projected a thought to him: You should stop to pick up your passengers.

The sandcrawler instantly rumbled to a stop, and several Jawas scurried out to hail them. Obi-Wan and Darsha quickly made their way over to where they waited. Many chittered apologies for not having waited for them, but Obi-Wan soothed their fears with a gentle smile and kind word.

"You thought I chose to stay in Anchorhead," he told them with a subtle wave of his hand. They jabbered back they thought he was remaining in Anchorhead. "We should leave now so that you are not late in getting to your next destination."

They nodded their heads and indicated for him and Darsha to climb aboard.

"Subtle," Darsha whispered once they got seated comfortably inside the sandcrawler. "Very subtle."

A slight smile curved his lips. "I thought a little persuasion was in order."

Darsha made a soft sound and smiled at a few of the younger Jawas who were staring at her with great interest. "Well, hello there."

They chattered happily back at her as the sandcrawler pulled away from Anchorhead. When the sandcrawler changed course and headed for Mos Espa instead of Mos Eisley, most of the Jawas were baffled, but the chief Jawa insisted that it would be their pleasure to take Ben and his friend to Mos Espa, instead.

A/N: Hello, all! Hope the week has been good to you!

I want to thank all those who are following and have commented. Your support is very appreciated!