The End of the Beginning – In which an old married couple babysit a Jedi-to-be
Disclaimer – See first chapter.
Luke knew he wasn't supposed to wander away from his uncle, especially not in Anchorhead on market day, but there was the man with red and blue bird and the lady with the cakes that were so sweet… Now he was alone. There was no sign of his uncle and the crowds were thinning out and in the east he could see the first stars. Oh he wasn't worried about being on his own, he could take care of himself he was sure, but he was worried about getting in trouble.
For a 6-year-old Luke was very self-reliant. If he was also reckless and a bit wild, well he WAS a little boy after all. When things did go wrong he could usually charm his aunt Beru into intervening, but she was back on the farmstead. There would be no buffer between himself and his uncle's anger.
The change from twilight to dark was fast approaching, as it does in the desert. Luke continued walking between the stalls; some closed already, some in the process of closing down. His confidence began to wane and he began to panic. The sense of his uncle that he had felt earlier, always just around the corner, so no need to really worry, was gone now. Luke began to run and call out for his uncle. He was trying his best not to cry, but he could feel the heat behind his eyes that announced the tears were on their way. Without looking where he was going he blundered around one stall, then danced out of the way of a pair of poles. He turned to run the other way and ran smack into a pair of skirt-clad legs.
Clutching a fold of pale green homespun to keep from falling, Luke lifted his small face to look into a pair of flashing green eyes. The face they were set in was an odd mixture of clever and sweet. The woman looking down at him had lines at the corners of her eyes and a few on her forehead so he thought she might be near his aunt's age. But unlike his aunt, her small rosebud of a mouth was a smile of amusement, and those eyes were bright with suppressed laughter at the small growth she had acquired. His aunt Beru would have sighed with resigned patience at his running into her. This lady, Luke felt, might somehow get him into more trouble than he was already in.
"Hey there laddie! Slow down, the Boonta celebrations aren't for another month." She laid a hand on his head and looked around at the disintegrating market booths. "You're rather small to be out here by yourself. Where are your folks?"
"I-I-I lost Uncle Owen a-awhile ago." He gulped; unaware he was still clutching her skirt.
"Well that was rather careless of you… Say! Do you mean Owen Lars? Are you Luke?" He could not understand the look on her face. The mischievousness had disappeared and was replaced by one that was sad and happy and sort of far away. It was the same face old Gruder the mechanic made when he was about to tell a story of the old Republic.
"Yeah, I'm Luke Skywalker. What's your name? How do you know my uncle? He tilted his head to the side a little. She was stroking his hair, something she'd been doing since she said his name. Luke found he was comforted by it, so he didn't object.
"You can call me Del, and I've known your uncle since before you were born. We'd better find him, I'm sure he's-"
"-Halfway back to the farmstead by now." Interrupted a new voice. A man stood beside Luke's new friend. He wore the typical dune-colored tunic and leggings of the planet, along with a heavy dark, hooded robe. The hood was thrown back, revealing a face that looked older, but infinitely friendlier than his uncle's. His blue eyes held the same light of resignation that his uncle's would, but none of the anger. And even though his kind face looked older and more serious than the lady's, the covering close-cropped red beard and cropped reddish hair, with its streaks of white at the temples lent him a similarity to her. He had the same impish air that said Luke had unintentionally hooked up with a couple that were about to make his life far more interesting. "Owen thought you might have started home without him when we couldn't find you, so he went home, and I continued to search."
The words pulled Luke's attention away from his study of the man back to the present situation, and his lower lip started to tremble and his eyes started to fill, "H-he left without me?"
The man dropped to one knee beside the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. "No lad, he went one way, I went the other so we could be sure you were safe." He gave the sky a glance, noting the twilight was fast deepening into true night, and then shifted his gaze to Del. "It's too late to make it out to the farm before dark, we'll take him home with us tonight." Tilting his head and winking at the boy he smiled, "Well young Luke, it looks as though your adventure continues. Don't worry, you'll be safe with us, and I'll call your aunt and uncle when we get to our speeder. Relax, the worst that could happen to you with us is you might be bored to death."
"Speak for yourself Ben Kenobi!" Del exclaimed, looking mock insulted, her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.
Luke barely noticed her indignation. His fear vanished and his attention was suddenly riveted on the man before him, apparently his judgment was correct. "Ben Kenobi! My uncle says you're crazy!"
Del squawked, (that was the only word Luke could think of to describe the sound she made) and put a hand to her mouth, turning her back to them in a hurry, her shoulders silently shaking.
Ben rolled his eyes and grimaced in annoyance, mostly at her Luke thought. "Well I think your uncle might have been a little hasty in his judgment. Why don't you wait and decide for yourself?" He reached out and scooped Luke into the crook of his arm and rose to his feet. He gave the woman's back an exasperated look and shook his head. "As you can see, no one has ever been bored in Del's presence, so between the two of us we should keep you entertained."
Del turned and narrowed her eyes, about to give the man a piece of her mind when Luke's stomach gave a growl like a wounded bantha. As Ben laughed and Luke tried to hide a deep blush, her annoyance vanished, "I thought we were having a little boy over for supper not a karyat draigon! Come along you two, no one has ever been bored or starved in my company."
Ben shifted Luke in his arms to free a fold of his cloak to wrap around the boy. They snickered together, following the woman to the waiting speeder.
"C-can I have another piece please?" Luke looked hopefully/bashfully up at Del.
"That would be your third piece young man. If I give you any more you'll explode." She rolled her eyes and went back to her oven.
Luke turned to Ben, hoping to charm him into another helping, but the man forestalled any pleas with a shake of his head. "Save room for dessert, trust me."
He was right of course, and Luke was so full afterwards that he could barely move from his chair. Ben smiled when he saw the boy yawn and said, "Let's find you a bed young one." He lifted the boy up once again. Luke snuggled against his chest and Ben felt an unexpected pang of longing – for another boy he'd held, and a girl he never got to.
"I've made up the couch for him dear." Del walked past them, leading them into the small sitting room. Luke tried to keep his eyes open, but was failing miserably, blinking owlishly past Ben's cheek. The man settled him into the makeshift bed and the adults knelt, stripping his boots and outer tunic. Del gently tucked the blankets around him and kissed him lightly, "Sleep well Balach biodheach." She brushed his hair from his forehead and left in a soft swish of green.
Ben sat on the table before Luke, his hands folded. He placed them on his knees and stood, reaching out to pat Luke on the shoulder, before turning to leave. The boy caught his hand before he could go and looked up into his eyes, "She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
The man smiled, "Yes, and likely ever will see."
Trying desperately to stay awake, Luke clutched Ben's hand tighter, "Wha's a Balach biodheah?" He asked, butchering the words terribly. Fortunately, Ben caught his meaning.
"It means beautiful boy in her native language. It means she likes you."
Luke nodded, yawning hugely, but still stalling for time asked, "Will you tell me a story?"
Ben chuckled, "You can barely keep your eyes open as it is! Go to sleep Luke."
"I can, I can!" The boy opened his eyes very wide.
Defeated more easily than he had ever been, Ben sat on the table again and sighed. "Alright, a short one. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there lived a beautiful princess alone with her father…"
+++++
Ben walked into the kitchen, moving past the table where his wife swept up the last crumbs from dinner. He took the dishes from the sanitizer and stacked them neatly in the cupboard.
"He's asleep?" She asked, wringing out the cloth and tossing it in the recycler.
Without turning around he nodded, "Oh yes. I didn't get three lines into the story before his eyes shut."
She went to the doorway, resting her hand on the wall to look into the other room. All she could see from there was the back of the child's head. "He looks just like his father doesn't he?"
"Yes." Ben slipped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "And if anything his powers are stronger. When they grow up and he works in tandem with his sister there will be no power in the galaxy to stop them."
"Is that what you're hoping for?" Her voice held a hint of steel to it, even though she laid her hands over his. She had never had any power to interfere with Jedi machinations, but that didn't mean she'd learned to like them.
"Perhaps we can let him be a little boy for now? Wasn't that part of plan in bringing out here to the ass of nowhere?" She turned, staying within the circle of his arms to lean against the side of the doorway and wrap her arms around his neck.
Ben obligingly moved with her and pulled her a little closer. "Of course I will. Why do you think he even lives with Lars's? If I were going to train him as a Jedi in the normal way, I'd have kept him with us and started training him before he was old enough to walk. Waiting until he grows up will be safer and perhaps work better for him. He doesn't have a whole tem-" Ben's voice faltered and he cleared his throat before going on. Though he covered his hurt well with other people, she could still see the terrible pain that word cost him. "- Doesn't have any other students to work off of or commiserate with like his…like I did. Once he's grown, he'll be able to train without having to go through growing up at the same time. An adult's maturity will help him deal with the emotions of training, and the hard truths he's going to have to face."
"But I'm hoping that one day," He said almost wistfully, "He will defeat the emperor and his apprentice. With peace reestablished he and his sister could build the Jedi order anew."
"A more realistic order if possible this time, please sir?"
"Realistic? In regards to what?"
She sighed, "Oh I don't know, a code that allows a man and woman, or whatever, to fall in love and get married? Or allows people to join as adults? Maybe an order where masters decide things for their apprentices rather than a council who barely knows them?" Shaking her head, she turned to their bedroom, "Need I go on?"
"No, of course not, in fact I have a few rules I would change as well." He followed her into the bedroom and sat on the bed to remove his boots.
As Del untied her tunic she turned to take his boots from him and set them in the open wardrobe. "Indeed? What rules would you change?"
"A more autonomous order, one that would assist the government, not be controlled by it, and a rotating council that every Jedi is required to serve on. Study groups that would recommend changes to the rules as often as they are needed." He gave her his pants to hang up and proceeded to the small fresher to finish preparing for bed. She followed him, clad in nothing but her underdress.
"You've been thinking about this haven't you? Del took the tie from her hair and brushed it out with long gentle strokes.
Ben put down the clippers he was using to trim his beard and took the brush from her to attend to her hair, thus allowing himself the pleasure of running his hands through it. "Yes, since before the war. So much could have been done different that would have saved the order, maybe even the Republic…"
She took hold of the hand wielding the brush, "Perhaps, and perhaps it was inevitable. But as usual you've managed to turn the conversation so that it's all your fault, which is of course, nonsense."
He looked slightly offended, "I never said it was my fault. I was merely pointing out what might have been-"
"-Had you not gone and f**ked it up. Please don't start this again, your endless bouts of self-flagellation really bore the hell out of me."
"That's not what I said at all! I was bloody agreeing with you that things should be changed, and had they been earlier, things might have turned out different!"
She cupped his cheek in one hand and smiled softly, "Luke will succeed, it will be a new and improved order, and there will be peace once again. You are one man and what happened before was NOT the fault of just one man. The plans you have laid for the future will have a good chance of succeeding because of all your hard work. But even if they still fail, you did everything you could. Try just a little, for me, to see that and forgive yourself."
Ben covered her hand with his own, "Do or do not, there is no try. I will forgive myself, eventually, but I cannot do it all at once."
"Can you let it go, just for tonight?" Del pressed close to him, smiling wickedly.
"Why yes," His smile answered hers and he bent so their lips touched, "I can, for tonight, for a thousand years if you'll let me."
She laughed, "For a thousand years? Now that's Jedi stamina for you."
"Inspiration is highly underrated. I can go for a thousand, thousand years with you my love." He picked her up and deposited her on the bed and crawled in beside her, "The emperor can have the damn galaxy, I have you."
"You're getting romantic in your old age Kenobi."
"Ha! Let's see how old you think I am in the next couple of hours."
It was a good thing Luke was a sound sleeper, little things like loud giggles and furniture banging against the wall never had any effect on him.