Tatooine
9 BBY
Everyone knew about Darth Vader, but no one knew about his family who lived on Tatooine. They scratched out their meager lives in the shifting sand year after year, and little had changed except for Luke growing up.
Luke was nearing his tenth birthday now and was a bright child, good with mechanics and flying. He was a painful reminder of Anakin at that age, something Shmi had to stop commenting on—comments led to questions, and questions led to evasive answers.
They'd told Luke a few lies. Obi-Wan had only recently discovered Darth Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, and all four adults at the moisture farm had made a pact not to tell Luke. It was simply too much for a child his age. It had almost been too much for Obi-Wan. They kept to the old story, that Darth Vader had betrayed and murdered Anakin. It was already close enough to the truth.
Luke knelt in the courtyard of the house, slowly pulling apart his speeder in the fading light. It had been acting funny the last few days and they couldn't afford a new one, so he'd been tasked with fixing it. A few wires sparked and Luke swore under his breath.
"Luke. Language." Shmi had been watching him from the doorway with a cup of blue milk in hand.
"Sorry, Grandma."
"I don't know where he gets it from." Obi-Wan was standing in the doorway next to Shmi. "Probably Owen." They shared a look. Owen was rather resentful of Obi-Wan always being around and having such a large role in Luke's education.
"I'll have a talk with him." Shmi said gently. As Luke's only blood relative she was his primary guardian. "It'll be better coming from me, not you. Owen is man of the house, and he sees you as a threat."
Obi-Wan nodded.
"So how was training today?"
"He's coming along with the lightsaber." Luke's Jedi training had been kept to a minimum, but he'd learned the basics of shielding himself with the force and wielding a lightsaber. "In today's climate he absolutely needs to reach for a blaster first, though. Would you tell Owen to keep up with blaster practice?"
"Of course."
Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "I do wish he could've trained at the Jedi temple. He has so much potential. And perhaps I could . . ." Obi-Wan trailed off, but they both knew what he was thinking. Perhaps if Luke had been trained in the temple, he could be a do-over for Obi-Wan. "Or maybe not." Obi-Wan mused. "Perhaps if the Jedi weren't so strict about earthly attachments, this whole mess could have been avoided."
Shmi nodded. "It's so hard to know. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened."
"I know, I know. But on these long nights in the desert, I have no one to keep me company but my thoughts. I replay it over and over and wonder, could I have prevented it?" He sighed again. "And we already lost Leia . . ." Leia had been captured many years ago, but try as he might Obi-Wan could find no trace of her. After several years of searching he was forced to conclude that she was either dead or being trained by the empire. He had a hunch that she was being trained to follow in Grand Inquisitor Reva's footsteps, but he couldn't prove it.
"Hey, Luke's on the right track." Shmi's voice brought Obi-Wan back to the present moment. "He's already so much calmer than Anakin was at his age. He's got a good head on his shoulders."
"I know. I just hope it will be enough."
"Aha!" Luke held up a metal disc. "This is what was broken!" He ran over to them to show them where it was corroded. "Grandma, can we go to Tosche Station to pick up another one?"
"If we have time after farm chores are done." said Shmi.
"Oh, all right."
Shmi glanced up at the sky. "It's time you went to bed, Luke."
"Aw, do I have to?"
"Yes you do. Lightsaber?"
Luke took the lightsaber off his belt and passed it to Shmi. "Here." They kept the lightsaber on a high shelf, and Luke was only allowed to have it when Obi-Wan said so.
"Good night, Luke."
"Goodnight."
