Fourteen months later…

Amera huffed and puffed as she climbed the steps of the old temple to the ledge where Lyra sat enjoying a cup of caf. The sounds of hammering and drilling drifted up to them. Every now and then, there was a shout for a load to be taken here or there.

"My goodness, I think they should have added a few more steps," Amera exclaimed as she sat down with a huff. "Things seems to be running smoothly, and I think we might even be ahead of schedule. Poor Vanee though, I think Jael is running circles around him."

Lyra laughed. "They've done a great job organizing all this. Like I've said before, we can't thank all of you enough. Luke, Anakin, and I could not have done this without you. We'd still be living in our elderly ship if it hadn't been for you three. By the way, is Jael growing out her hair?"

"Yes, which I have to say, surprised me. She originally got rid of it to help her overcome vanity, why when her hair was always a mess, but now look at her. She's taken to wearing those colorful headcoverings because they help her get past the 'awkward growing out stage,' as she said."

"You know, those are my scarves."

"She broke into the boxes you sent to us and 'borrowed' your scarves. She said that we had nothing suitable."

"Nothing suitable! My gosh, did she say what brought all this on?"

Amera sighed and sat back. "When I asked, all she said was that you're never too old to up your game."

Lyra laughed and shook her head in amazement. "Who is this person, and what has she done with Jael?"

Amera chuckled and asked, "So how did the interview go?"

"Not bad. I made it clear that I guard my privacy, and Caren Jil agreed."

"Caren Jil? Impressive."

"Yeah, she was pretty nice, not too terribly intrusive. I stuck to the truth, and to our cover story, pretty well and said that after Vader's death, I really didn't know what to do. You two had protected several Jedi for years, so I helped you help them as they came out of hiding. That answer seemed to satisfy her, so I didn't even mention Luke or Anakin. Other than that, she just wanted information on what it was like living with Vader and being adjacent to Palpatine's inner circle, or something like that. Nothing I couldn't answer truthfully."

"Good! I can't wait to read it. Now, you said that you'd tell me the full story of how you left Tatooine."

"Yeah, it was a bit earlier than we planned…."

After Han, Leia, Jael, and Amera left Tatooine, Luke and Anakin spent several months studying Jedi teachings and laying out the plans for the new Jedi academy. Following Anakin's directions, Leia uncovered a large cache of Jedi materials seized and hidden by Palpatine and Vader. Luke and Anakin poured over these and discussed them in fine detail, which Lyra tolerated to a point before the eye-rolling began. Pondering the Jedi teachings was challenging and painful for Anakin as he had to confront hard truths about himself and what he had done. He was also a bit anxious about meeting any Jedi who might come out of hiding. Luckily, Luke and Lyra talked him through these times and reminded him of his Force vision.

Lyra and Anakin spent a week at the reconstruction center on Hosnian Prime, and Anakin's new skin and hair growth were settling in nicely, although his skin was still quite sensitive to the sun. He had taken to spending time riding through the desert on a new speeder bike Lyra had ordered for him. On this day, a prompt in the Force caused Anakin to pause at the top of a cliff overlooking the Dune Sea. A pack of womp rats quickly scurried by him, not even pausing to look at him. Something definitely wasn't right. As Anakin looked through his binoculars, he gasped. Fear and memories of fire and burning shot through him.

Shad'ruu's Fire!

Shad'ruu's Fire was a very rare natural phenomenon that caused the sand to burn. It could sweep through vast spaces on the planet, not stopping until it ran into a mountain or hill that had more rock than sand.

'Lyra! Lyra!" Anakin shouted into his comm link.

"I'm here! What's going on?"

"I'll explain later, but there's a large fire headed your way. You and Luke get to Mos Eisley as fast as you can. I don't think the fire will get that far."

Lyra was already on the move, pulling her jacket on. "Luke is out making repairs, but I can get him. What about you?"

"I've got to warn the Darkspear homestead, then I'll head to Mos Eisley."

"All right, I'm on it. Be careful!"

With that, Anakin cut the connection and speed west.

Lyra ran into the small bathroom and zipped up her makeup bag and Anakin and Luke's shaving kits. She stuffed these into her backpack along with the medication Anakin still took to help his skin heal. Into the pack also went her and Luke's data pads. Running over to the medical droids in the corner, Lyra retrieved their data chips, just in case. Grabbing Luke's jacket and her purse, Lyra was out the door in just over a minute. Running to her speeder, Lyra threw everything in the back and was off. Luke meanwhile had sensed something was wrong and was jogging back to the house. Lyra slammed on the brakes beside him and threw open the door. "Get in!" she yelled, and they were off. Lyra explained everything as they zoomed towards Mos Eisley.

"Shouldn't we help Father?" Luke asked.

"No, he said to go to Mos Eisley, so that's what we should do. We might get caught in the fire if we tried to get to the Darkspear homestead, and he might already be on his way to Mos Eisley."

Meanwhile, Anakin sped towards the neighbor's homestead. About halfway there, he spotted not too far away a group of Jawas already on the move. They ignored him and moved off in their crawler at a high rate of speed.

Moving on, Anakin saw in the distance a group of Tusken Raiders on a hunt. Three raiders, one still on his bantha, with the other two dismounted. Each was armed with the customary poison-tipped gaderffii stick. Years later, Anakin would still ponder in amazement how he didn't hesitate. How to approach the group was the tricky part. Raiders were known to pummel first and ask questions never. Here goes nothing. Anakin hit the throttle and zoomed up at top speed, hoping to catch them by surprise. Once upon them, Anakin slammed on the brakes while holding on to the handlebars for dear life. The raiders whirled around in surprise. Before they could attack, Anakin pointed towards the east and shouted, "Shad'ruu's Fire! Go towards Mos Eisley! Shad'ruu's Fire!" That got them moving. Forgetting Anakin, the two dismounted raiders jumped on their banthas, and the group was off.

While the raiders were mounting up, Anakin sped off and about seven minutes later arrived at the Darkspear homestead. The elderly grandmother came to the door in response to Anakin's shouting and banging. When he explained, she hit the alarm and moved to start up the family's hauler. As Anakin rode off, the family was running towards the house with two dogs at their heels.

Anakin rode into Mos Eisley without further delay. Word of the fire had spread, and speeders, haulers, and riders on banthas and other creatures streamed into town. Anakin connected with Lyra and met up with her and Luke at an old tavern Luke had known. On a normal day, a tavern in Mos Eisley would be filled with less than reputable beings, but today, it was full to overflowing with all types who had fled the fire. Business was booming. So they could hear better, Lyra, Luke, and Anakin took their drinks and moved outside. As they left, the Darkspear family entered, all talking at once, arguing about where to go next. As they passed, the parents shook Anakin's hand, and the grandmother gave him a quick hug. They then went back to their arguing, the dogs joining in.

"Oh my!" Lyra laughed as they settled on a bench. "What a day."

"Do you think the fire got to Ben's homestead?" Luke asked.

"Probably," Anakin nodded. "It was heading that way."

"Well," Lyra sighed, "now's as good a time as any to leave. I've been thinking that maybe we should just buy our own ship. Later, we can get something far better, but this space port looks big enough that I think we can find something that will do in the meantime. I have my purse, so I can easily pay."

In the end, they took off later that day in a smaller cruiser left over from the late Republic era. The previous owner had kept it in good shape, so after buying supplies, they were off.

"When we landed, the temple area was a big mess. With more than one battle between the Empire and the Alliance and the wildlife in the area, the whole complex was uninhabitable. Luke, and Leia I might add, were attached to the place because of its historical significance and because they had both served here. Leia put out the word, and people began arriving to help, including many who wanted to be Jedi. The rest you know: we hired some skilled craftsmen who helped to get this place up and running, and you and Jael arrived. I think we ended up living on the ship about eight months total."

"I imagine Vanee was shocked when you contacted him."

Lyra laughed, "My goodness yes. I explained that I was helping Luke, who was an old friend of yours, slight fib there, and another person he might be familiar with. He instantly figured it out, and to Vanee's credit, didn't hesitate to come. Seeing Anakin as Anakin instead of as Vader took some practice on his part, but he's adjusted well."

"How has Anakin been with the soldiers and others who came to see General Skywalker?"

"Better than I expected. He didn't have to lie, for the most part, and they all fell into story after story of the Clone Wars. He seems more comfortable with that than with training the new Jedi. Oh, a quote unquote 'anonymous source' has been sending Leia information on Imperial secrets. So, working with her has kept Anakin very busy, busy and happy."

"And the two of you?"

"We'll see."