Tail of the Tale

Tail of the Tale

(part two)

'Twas just another hot summer day on Tatooine. A speeder bike stopped at the perimeter of a small farm in the middle of a sunburned plain. The driver - a tall cloaked man covered in yellow dust - stepped out. He cleared his throat and walked slowly towards the entrance, casually glancing around. Memories, images of the past, invisible to anyone else but this windswept stranger, whirled around. And he let them be. Pictures of long and not so very long ago merged with the one of right here, right now.

Virtually nothing had changed since his last visit, just some pretty rusty machinery was added. Right now one of the devices was smoking suspiciously, he could smell it from afar. Just another weekday... A boy of about five ran out of the subterranean house and turned the machine off. The dusty traveler stumbled watching him. This boy could be the farmer's son. The twin suns had already marked his fair hair, tan skin and faded clothes that once were white. He opened the jacket with a look of an expert, trying to locate the trouble, when something blocked the light.

On a farm like this you'd rather meet an alien than a human stranger. Surprised, the boy stared at the visitor with wide-open big blue eyes. The stranger didn't smile, but his look grew much warmer.

"Good day... Luke."

The boy blinked, amazed, and said the first thing that came to mind: "Do I know you?"

"Is it the way to answer when someone wishes you a good day?" A young woman appeared in the doorframe. She ruffled Luke's hair and smiled cordially at the stranger... But then she looked at him closely, her smile fading away. "Ben!.. What a... surprise for us."

"Good day to you too," said Ben Kenobi.

"Ah, yes, a good day," replied Beru Lars, even more astounded than young Luke was. "C-come in, please."

"No, thank you. I will not stay for long."

Relief immediately replaced her anxiety, like a flash on the steady background of Luke's intense curiosity. Exactly what he's been expecting. But there was something else, something important lurked beneath, a darker tendril of uneasiness... He knew it before she said it.

"Stene, she's..."

"I know." She's gone. His mother. Among so many others! He'd gotten used to loss, and it was nice to find something after all. "Let me thank you, Beru. We owe you very much."

"What took you both so long?" - an impatient voice sounded close at hand, and Mr.Lars showed up. He stared at Ben Kenobi in turn, and his face grew gloomy. "What a..."

Beru instinctively put her hands on Luke's shoulders, drawing him closer. Ben pointed with his eyes at the woman and the child. Owen glowered at him, but had to agree to watch his mouth. He wasn't going to stand it, anyway.

"Come, Luke," sighed Beru taking the boy's hand and entering the house. "We've got much work to do."

The last thing the men could see before the door closed quietly was Luke's face, as he could not help looking back...

The brothers looked at each other. Years were hard on them both. Brothers, they had nothing in common. Owen stood firmly on the ground like a monument to the good old patriarchal lifestyle. He seemed to absorb the very essence of the place. He belonged here, and this plot of land belonged to him. And Ben... Despite of all sand and dust he still looked as if he belonged to some better place, even if it didn't exist anymore. One man was lost in the desert, the other could hold all the sands of Tatooine among many other worlds. Of course, Owen didn't bother to put his thoughts into exact words, but he felt unsettled enough to lower his voice.

"I thought you Jedi have an idea of keeping their word, at least."

"I remember my words. I have not come to break the deal."

"So what the heck are you doing here? What's screwed up this time?"

Ben Kenobi suppressed a sarcastic grin. Screwed up, indeed...

"Generally speaking, some people cannot share the Galaxy."

"Politicians," spat Owen. "It doesn't concern us here."

Oh, I see, Kenobi didn't say.

"So far, so good. I thought it would be a nice place to settle for a while. Just passed by to greet my new neighbors."

Owen Lars choked on his tirade. Kenobi's impenetrable tranquility was enough to drive anyone mad, but this last one was outrageous! All he was able to do was to repeat the words that had shocked him: "To settle... here?!"

"Well, not right here. The planet is big enough for the two of us, I hope..." Ben waited for a reply and added with a charming smile, "I will not be a frequent visitor."

"O thank you! Fine! Is that all?"

"Yes... Thank you for patience. And, Owen? Watch your back." He took a ceremonial bow - damned Jedi rote habits - and strode away.

The bike started after a few well-aimed kicks. In a couple of seconds it disappeared leaving a dust trail and a fuming farmer behind.

Watch your back. It was not a threat but a friendly warning... Owen - thankfully - did not possess any Jedi traits, but he could feel it, too, something bad and inevitable like a summer sandstorm. He must have stood there, unusually thoughtful, for a long time, and Beru's quiet appearance by his side startled him.

"What?!"

"He's your only brother, after all," she shrugged.

"So what?!! He's an alien here. An outlaw. His ways are NOT our ways, and... it's better like that." They stared out in the desert, silent for a while. Hot dry wind whistled around. The lone trace on the sand has quickly disappeared. "By the way, our power convertor is down and half of the household units have fused. You'd better think of it."

"Sure."

*

Beru curled up cozily in a chair with Owen's jacket. It was well worn but still good and needed just a little refreshing. Besides, this kind of work was pacifying, and she needed it for real. She barely could stand the tense atmosphere in the house. First, Owen was... upset with his brother's unexpected visit, and then he brawled with Luke about it as well. She had heard him yelling. Beru sighed. The boy grew remarkably headstrong, a good match to her husband, and the combination was highly explosive. She sighed again. And he is only five... Luke was a special boy and he needed a special upbringing, maybe, but they were simple farmers, and a farmer he would most probably become.

And still...

Luke came in carrying a burned household droid's powerband belt and a bunch of reserve elements. He flopped down on the chair next to Beru and started fixing. Twelve tiny contacts per element. Beru was ready to say something comforting, but since the boy obviously wasn't in a talkative mood and seemed so concentrated upon his chore, she said nothing. Luke sniffed, threw his flaxen hair back from his eyes and took the next gadget...

Sniff. Click.

The irony was that the same household droid would make the job better, faster and with much more enthusiasm. And Luke had never suffered from surplus of patience.

Click.

The circuit has been closed. Even Beru could tell it was alright now.

Click. Click. Click.

She flinched and raised her head to see the boy clicking the switch with no purpose.

"Hey, cut it down. I see you're upset, but one angry man in the house is enough."

Luke looked up at her and she was surprised to see him not as much upset or angry as... thoughtful.

"Sorry."

He wrapped his arms around him, hard in thought of something too complicated for a 5-year-old boy.

"What is it, Luke?"

"What's wrong if I ask a question or two?"

Aha, that's it. "Nothing, I guess, unless you talk about the things someone doesn't like."

"Phhh," said Luke meaning, *Someone* certainly doesn't like much.

"Now, Luke..."

"I just tried to ask who that odd man was, big deal!"

O yes, Beru thought, a big deal. The best way to drive Owen mad. And she's got to settle it, like it always happens. Oh dear.

"Whoever loafs about the sands..." she said trying to exhaust the subject, and it hadn't worked.

"But he's not a 'whoever', is he?" Quite right, Luke. "Who is he anyway? Is he bad?" Why else would uncle Owen explode like that?

"He's... different. We should not judge the others just because they're not like us... I guess," she muttered when her husband entered the room.

"And it's so... weird. I can't remember him, but he knows my name and I feel I know him somehow..." Luke stopped, tied up in knots, but that definitely was not all.

"Well, uh," began Beru, stepping on a shaky ground, "he's just a neighbor," - she glowered at Owen. You're not helping me, you know! "His name is Ben Kenobi, and he lives out there across the Dune Sea. That's all," - at least that was more like it.

"And if you don't wanna get yourself in trouble, stay away from him," Owen Lars added firmly, pointing his finger at the boy to stress the importance of the message.

"Ow... Okay," nodded Luke, confused.

"Stay away from him!.. Oh well, how's that belt going?"

*

Outside and above the room a sandstorm was about to begin. The wind was throwing handfuls of sand at the walls almost playfully, having not had reached its rage point yet. Crusty timelessness wound round the small farm with a raspy rustle. It had all the time in the world. It could wait for a little boy and for an old beyond his age man with sky-blue eyes. It remembered the eyes. The sand hissed in thin hot air... Yes, it would wait.

~

End...