Author's Notes: Thank you so much, Jkay, for your kind feedback. Yes, Luke will eventually open up to his father, but not for a while yet. And I do hope you will keep reading.

Okay, here's the next part. Hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and I'm not making any money from it, etc.

The Lost Ones-10

Tatooine.

Mos Espa hadn't changed much in twenty-five years. Anakin noted this, in a detached way, as he and Luke made their way through the dusty streets to the slave quarters. Except possibly for being even hotter and more disreputable. Tatooine's twin suns beat down with relentless fury. The shimmering heat, the dry winds and blowing sand, the streets and buildings that suddenly seemed all too familiar were all threatening to bring back Anakin's childhood memories. He could feel them pushing at the edge of his consciousness, but he refused to allow them in.

Not that his childhood memories were unpleasant. Most of them weren't. But thinking of Shmi was too painful. If he let one memory come, then they would all rush in and he would have to remember how her life had ended, and how he had taken his first steps toward darkness. And he didn't want to remember that.

He had enough to deal with already, trying to locate two missing women who would be safely at home with their husband and father if he hadn't taken them, trying to atone for his other misguided acts that had caused so much damage, and now trying to figure out how to ease his strained relationship with his son.

He glanced at Luke, who was walking along quietly beside him. If Luke had reservations about coming back to Tatooine, and Anakin knew he must, he was keeping them to himself. //No surprise there.// he thought dryly. Luke had been keeping everything to himself lately. It was driving Anakin crazy. He knew Luke was upset about something and wanted so much to help, and yet everytime he tried to talk with his son, he just seemed to drive him further away.

Further inward would be a better description, he decided, remembering how carefully Luke shielded his emotions now. Anakin was trying to give the boy some space, and let Luke either resolve things on his own, or decide for himself when to talk, but it wasn't easy. Sitting back and doing nothing ran counter to Anakin's personality, especially when someone he loved was hurting.

He sighed helplessly as he glanced at Luke again, noting his son's pale, drawn features and thin frame. However much Luke might deny it, something was obviously tearing him up inside. He wasn't eating or sleeping well, and Anakin knew he himself wasn't going to be able to keep quiet much longer.

"Father, is this it?"

Anakin was brought back to the present by Luke's quiet question. He looked around to see the adobe hovels of the slave quarter ahead. It wasn't going to be easy to find traces of two lowly slaves here, he knew. Unlike Kessel, where the slaves had been Imperial prisoners and the Empire had kept records on each slave and their supposed 'crimes,' most of the trading done on Tatooine was kept quiet and paperwork was minimal.

He and Luke had decided during the journey from Kessel that their best bet would be to go to the slave quarters in Mos Espa and talk to people personally. Former slave quarters, Anakin corrected himself. The slave trade had pretty much been abolished on Tatooine. The Hutts were behind most of the slave trafficking and with Jabba's demise, they had abandoned the desert planet and taken business elsewhere.

New Republic troops had visited Tatooine weeks ago to ensure that the slaves were free and they had reported that they'd seen no evidence of anyone being held illegally. Of course, some slave owners could have simply hidden their slaves during the New Republic inspection, but for the most part slavery no longer existed here.

Which didn't mean that the former slaves weren't still living in appalling conditions, Anakin realized as he and Luke approached. Everything seemed to be in a state of disrepair, and the people were thin, dirty, and bedraggled. Luke looked dismayed.

"Father, this is awful," he murmured. "I had no idea things were this bad. I thought freeing the slaves would be a wonderful thing, but they look like they're worse off than ever."

"At the moment, they may be," Anakin had to agree sadly. "Now that slave owners have no reason to keep them healthy and well-fed, they've just been abandoned. I'm sure they don't have much money, and probably not much chance of earning any."

"No, jobs have never been plentiful on Tatooine, and with the Hutts gone, lots of stores and cantinas and hotels have closed down. Leia told me that Tatooine had applied for emergency aid, but I didn't realize things were so bad," Luke shook his head. "I tried to avoid a fight with Jabba, but there was no other way to save Han. I didn't think about all the repercussions for other people, though. I wish they didn't have to suffer."

Anakin said reassuringly, "You're taking too much responsibility on yourself, Luke. The Hutts would have had to leave here anyway, once the New Republic began cracking down on their illegal activities. I think hard times for the people here were inevitable, but Leia will see to it that the New Republic sends help and now there's a chance for things to become better than they were."

"I hope so," Luke replied, watching a group of ill-clad children play tag in the street.

As the children came close, Anakin called, "Hello there. Can anyone tell us of someone who's lived here a long time?"

"Lots of people have lived here a long time," a little girl piped up. "Gammy Meep has been here the longest, probably. She lives there." The girl pointed at the first door on the lower level of apartments.

"Thank you," Luke told her as the children ran off and he and Anakin headed for the door. A short woman with a lined face and gray-brown hair pulled into a straggly knot on top of her head answered. She invited them inside, and insisted on serving them drinks of cool, sweet juice, although Luke and Anakin tried to decline, knowing she probably didn't have much to spare. Then she sat opposite them at the small center table and waited expectantly.

Anakin took a deep breath, savoring the relative cool of the apartment and then smiled at their hostess. She didn't really look like Shmi, but something about her calm, accepting attitude reminded him of his mother.

"My name is Anakin Skywalker, and this is my son, Luke. We're trying to find-" He broke off, because Gammy Meep was staring at him fixedly, and then she began nodding excitedly, "Yes, yes, I knew I recognized that name," she spoke almost to herself. Then she focused on her guests again. "Are you Shmi's son?"

"Well, yes, I am," Anakin replied, a little surprised. "Did you know her?"

"We were good friends for a time. You'd already left Tatooine by then, but she spoke of you often. Then she was freed and married Cliegg Lars, and I lost track of her. How is she?"

A lump came to Anakin's throat and he found he couldn't answer. Unbidden, all the horrible memories of his mother's death rushed into his mind and it took every ounce of self-control to keep from breaking down then and there.

Understanding his father's distress, Luke said softly, "She was killed in one of the frontier wars with the Tusken Raiders." He laid his hand on Anakin's arm in comfort.

Gammy Meep shook her head sadly. "That's a terrible thing. Those Tuskens..." Her voice trailed off and she left the rest unsaid. After a moment she continued. "Well, I'm sure you didn't come just to share bad news. You were going to say something when I interrupted."

Seeing that Anakin was still too upset to speak, Luke answered, "Yes, we're looking for two people, a mother and daughter, who might have been sold into slavery. Their names are Betta and Keren Colzin. Have you ever heard of them?"

Their hostess shook her head. "Their names aren't familiar. Do you have any pictures of them?"

"No," Luke sighed. "Unfortunately, any holos of them have been destroyed, and even the descriptions I can give you are seventeen years old. At the time she was taken, Betta was in her early twenties, and had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was average height and weight. Keren was only two years old then. She had curly, blonde hair and a heart-shaped face like her mother, although her eyes were brown. She'd probably be average height as well, by now, unless she's been malnourished, in which case she might be smaller."

Gammy Meep was quiet for a long while. Finally she said slowly, "I don't want to get your hopes up. It's not much to go on, and I can't remember their names, but there were a mother and daughter who lived here seven or eight years ago, who fit those descriptions. The little girl would have been eleven or twelve then, I think. I remember them because I always thought she was a pretty child with those golden curls and big dark eyes. I don't remember their names. I didn't know them well, and they weren't here for long, anyway."

Anakin suddenly found his voice. "Do you know where they went?" he asked hopefully.

"I think they were sold to Jabba," she told them. She gave a small shrug. "That's all I know. Like I said, it's not much. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help to you."

"It's still the best lead we've had," Luke said as they prepared to leave. "Thank you."

"Can we do anything to help you?" Anakin inquired. "We could take you with us when we leave, if there's any place you'd like to go."

Gammy Meep laughed. "Bless you, but no. I've lived on Tatooine all my life. I don't have any family, but I do have friends here. None of us has much, but we look out for each other."

"We'll make sure the New Republic sends food and supplies here," Luke told her as they left. Back out on the street, father and son looked at one another with barely concealed excitement. The tensions of the past couple of weeks temporarily vanished in the thrill of finally getting a lead on the Colzins.

"Of course, it's probably not them," Luke cautioned.

"And even if it is, it's still been a long time since they've been heard from," Anakin agreed. "But there's a chance, at least. If they were here seven or eight years ago, Keren would have been the right age as the girl Gammy Meep remembered. Come on, let's get the Angel and go to Jabba's. I only hope we can find some record of them there."

Luke hesitated. There was something he wanted to do before they went. "Father, which one was your apartment?"

Anakin didn't move for a moment. Then he pointed, "That one."

"I wonder if I could see it," Luke murmured. "I'd like to, just to see where you and Grandmother lived. Do you want to come?"

His father was already shaking his head. "No. But I'll wait here if you want to ask to see it."

Luke looked at him, suddenly aware that the eagerness in Anakin's voice had disappeared, to be replaced by pain. "I'm sorry, Father. I shouldn't have said anything. Let's just go."

"No, son. It's all right. It's hard for me to think about my mother, but I knew it would be painful to come back here. I understand that you want to know about her. She's part of your roots. Go see the apartment. If the people who live there don't mind, that is."

As it turned out, the family who lived in the former Skywalker apartment was delighted to let Luke in. He studied the small, bare rooms and tried to imagine his father living there as a little boy with his mother.

Luke realized that one reason he wanted to see this place was to try to get a new image of his father. All he had were the haunting memories of Darth Vader, and now the kind, remorseful Anakin. He loved his father deeply, and knew that Anakin loved him just as much, but somehow their relationship had become strained. Luke felt very guilty about this. He knew it was all his fault, that he was hurting them both. He hadn't been able to suppress his memories of Bespin, and even worse, he hadn't been able to keep Anakin from realizing that he was troubled.

Now his father was determined to find out what was wrong, and Luke was just as determined to keep him from it. Not to be stubborn, but because he knew Anakin would be devestated if he knew how much Luke was still hurting. The thing that really bothered Luke about their first duel was that Anakin (or Vader) had hurt him knowing that Luke was his son. He had known the truth about their relationship, but it hadn't stopped him from beating and maiming Luke.

If only Luke could understand his father better, if he could maybe figure out how, even on the dark side, his father had been able to act so brutally, perhaps he could push Bespin out of his mind again. //And everything could be normal again between Father and me,// and then Luke grinned in spite of himself. //What exactly is normal for Father and me, anyway?//

He thanked the family and left, with the distinct impression that they were going to be calling everyone they knew to tell them about his visit. Seeing the apartment had been interesting, but he found it difficult to imagine Anakin and Shmi there.

Father and son went back to the Mos Espa spaceport to board the Naboo Angel and flew to Jabba's deserted palace. They landed a short distance away and walked down the winding road towards the domed building.

"It looks just like I would imagine Jabba's Palace, fat and ugly," Anakin mused.

"Jabba never did have good taste," Luke agreed. He remembered confronting the gangster slug five months ago. Had it only been five months ago? It seemed like so much longer.

Anakin must have been thinking along the same lines. He gave Luke a look that was half guilty, half wistful. "I wish I had been on your side when you were here before. I wish even more that your mission here had been unnecessary."

"I know."

They didn't speak again until they inside. Anakin commented on how dark and gloomy it was. They could hear rodents and insects chittering and whirring in the darkness around them.

"It wasn't much better when Jabba was here," Luke remarked as he lit a torch. "I really don't know what to look for. If Jabba did keep any records, I suppose they'd be in some kind of office or storeroom, but I don't know where those might be."

"Just start looking around, I guess," Anakin made a face at the squalor and led the way down the stairs.

In the doorway of Jabba's throne room, Luke stopped and stared at the alcove where Han had once hung in a slab of carbonite. He'd been freed from that by the time Luke had come, but the young Jedi had heard from Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando where he had been. He'd heard from Han how lost and terrifying it had been to be trapped like that. And all because of his father.

Luke's gaze turned to Anakin, who was picking his way across the large chamber. //Father, how could you? How could you ever justify these things in your own mind? How could you not care how much you were hurting people? I love you, but I don't understand. How could you fall so far?//

"Luke, are you coming?" Anakin had reached a hallway on the opposite side of the throne room.

Luke nodded silently. At that moment, he didn't trust himself to speak.

They did find record books of some sort in a small room in the back of the palace. They were kept in slipshod fashion, and written in Huttese shorthand, so Luke and Anakin had not made much progress going through them when evening fell.Neither liked the idea of staying in the palace after dark so they locked the room and went back to the Angel, planning to continue in the morning. Both Jedi were tired so they ate a quick dinner and retired to bed.

It was sometime in the middle of the night when Anakin was awakened by anguished cries from Luke's room. He hurried to wake his son. Kneeling beside Luke's bed, he held him by the shoulders and said gently, "Luke, it's okay. It was just a dream. It's okay."

Luke's eyes snapped open and for a second, he struggled against Anakin before coming back to the present and relaxing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Anakin asked quietly, knowing already that Luke would refuse. His son had been suffering from nightmares on a regular basis for the past couple of weeks, ever since Kessel. Anakin didn't know what they were about, but he hated the haunted look in Luke's eyes. He'd tried repeatedly to get Luke to share them, but to no avail.

As he expected, Luke shook his head and turned away. "No, thank you. I'm sorry I woke you, but I'm fine now."

The helpless frustration he'd been feeling suddenly overwhelmed Anakin. "Quit lying to me, Luke! You are not fine. It's very obvious to anyone with half a brain that you're not fine. All I want to do is help you, and you lie to me and insult my intelligence. If you want to be a martyr, I guess I can't stop you, but I wish you would at least be honest enough to admit that something is wrong. I'm sure your aunt and uncle taught you not to lie."

//My aunt and uncle taught me not to hurt people, which is more than anyone seems to have taught you!// The angry retort was on the tip of Luke's tongue when he caught himself. Forcing himself to swallow the words, he made his face expressionless, masking the hurt. He said stiffly, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, Father. It won't happen again."

Suddenly Anakin wanted to weep. His relationship with his son was falling apart, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He didn't even understand why. But the last thing he'd ever wanted to do was to hurt Luke again.

"I'm sorry, son," he whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you, or make you feel bad. And I don't mind you waking me. I just can't bear to see you in pain. And I don't know why you won't talk with me about it. I only want to help."

"Good night, Father." Luke kept his face turned to the wall. He could shield his thoughts, but he couldn't hide the tears in his eyes.

Anakin got up to leave the room. At the door, he paused and whispered again, "I'm sorry."

Luke waited until he heard his father go back to his own room before pressing his hands to his face and allowing himself to weep quietly into them.