Poodoo.

Why did Uncle Owen ALWAYS have to be so overbearing? Why? Biggs doesn't have this problem with his family. It was true, the Darklighters were always kind and friendly to him...even during bad times.

With the Tatooine suns completely obscured from sight, Luke stormed down the stairs, trying to hide his anger from his uncle as he passed by him. Apparently it either didn't matter, or it didn't work.

Thump!

With no time to react, Luke heard a hand slam against the wall, blocking his way. Owen stared at him with blazing eyes, his nose less than a centimeter away from Luke's.

"Every night we go through this with you, and every night it's the same thing. When is it going to change?"

A long, uncomfortable silence passed between them.

"Well?!" he bellowed again. Owen was not yielding; neither was Luke.

By this time Beru was standing in the doorway, looking sternly at the entire situation.

Luke remained silent, simply looking defiantly off into the distance. He did not dare to make eye contact with Owen. The man's temper completely disgusted him when he acted this way.

I'm not going to give in, but I'm not going to be like him and fight back, either. One day, I'll be gone...and he'll be wishing that I was here to help him.

"Vaporator seventeen is fixed, just as you asked of me," Luke said, finally looking at Owen. "R4-D5 malfunctioned, so I had to finish the work manually. It took ...some time."

Owen slumped his shoulders and released his hand from the wall, and stepped away from him in the corridor. Beru remained listening in on the conversation.

Luke knew that Owen still wasn't going to let this go, but he spoke to Luke with a more restrained tone.

"Luke, listen to me. When night falls, this planet becomes a different place. You KNOW that, and yet you risk your safety anyway. You don't know what it's like to deal with a Tusken--", Owen started.

"I've heard this lesson before!" Luke interrupted. His voice then took on a pleading tone. "I'm not going beyond the perimeter of the homestead, I just like to watch the sunset! Is that really too much to ask?"

Owen gritted his teeth under pursed lips. His hand subconsciously went up to his scruffy beard to hide his boiling anger. He started away from Luke, heading back to the dinner table.

Just as he was about to exit the corridor, Owen turned around to face Luke and raised the tone in his voice again. "When you're out there, kilometers away from us, crying out in pain where no one can hear you because you've lost a leg from a gaffi stick or a sandblaster rifle, you'll think differently about these little moments you just HAVE to have for yourself."

Finally, Owen's tone calmed down. "Now get cleaned up and get yourself some dinner and rest," he said quietly. "We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

That 'Lose Your Leg' story again, Luke thought. How many times have I heard that one, and why does he keep repeating it to me?

Owen blew off steam from his mouth and wiped his hand across his face as Luke walked away from him, down the opposite end of the corridor to bathe. Noticing a faint smell, Owen cursed as he looked down and discovered astromech droid oil and grime all over his shirt.