Thanks a lot to Michael for the beta.
Disclaimer: it all belongs to George Lucas.
by AgiVega
"Biggs has left. For the Academy. I might never see him again…"
"I know it's not easy for you now, Luke, but I'm sure you too will be allowed to go in one, maximum two years…"
"I wish I could share your optimism," the boy said dryly. "But no, Uncle Owen will never let me go. He didn't let me go last year, and he didn't let me go this year either. Fat chance that he'll let me go next year…" Luke shook his head. "You know, Aunt Beru, I have a feeling I will never be free to leave this god-forsaken dustball…" He kicked the hot sand in a bored and resigned way. His glance slowly wandered over to the suns about to set. With an even deeper sigh, he added: "I've got to go now. One of the vaporators has been malfunctioning, got to repair it."
"All right, but hurry back, dinner's almost ready!" Beru shouted after him.
But Luke no longer heard her. He had jumped on his landspeeder and was off.
That boy's so reckless… The woman thought as she watched the landspeeder getting smaller and smaller before it disappeared behind a dune. Reckless, indeed.
She entered the house to check on the soup on the stove. It should be ready in ten minutes and they would be able to have dinner at last. Another dinner with another debate, no doubt.
For that was how it went, day by day. As soon as Owen and Luke were left alone, they started to argue. And the reason for their arguing was always the Academy.
Beru stirred the soup and watched as the wooden spoon created a tiny whirlpool in the pot. For a while, she silently stared at the madly whirling liquid. Just like Luke… like a maelstrom. Yes, just like him. Just like his father… And Luke is so much like his father!
The woman remembered the day, almost nineteen years ago, when she first held the little boy in her arms. He was so beautiful… Those huge, blue eyes that glinted so cleverly and mysteriously… She practically fell in love with the baby the first time she saw him.
Beru couldn't have a child of her own - something that had tormented her for years; but on that special, wonderful day when she set eyes on the baby, she knew that Fate had decided to give her the opportunity to become a mother after all.
Ever since, she thought of Obi-Wan Kenobi with nothing but gratitude for bringing her the greatest miracle of her life. At the same time she knew that her husband despised Ben and held him for a mad old codger.
The soup started to boil and the woman turned the gas as low as it would go. Suddenly an erratic thought flashed across her mind and made her smile. If only it were so easy to turn Luke down!
However, she knew it was impossible. He would never cease to be hot-headed. And he would never cease to hate living here either. After all, what had his place offered him so far?
All he had seen in his short life were endless sand-dunes, vaporators and profusely sweating people. All he had felt was the unbearable heat of the binary suns and that scorching wind that runs through the desert every day, stirring up the sand, ruining the old dunes and building new ones instead.
No. This was definitely not the right place for a unique young man like Luke.
Beru's heart clenched thinking how different this poor boy's life could have been if the war hadn't broken out, and especially, if his father hadn't turned to the Dark Side… For one, he could have lived with his parents. Perhaps he'd have lived on planet Naboo as Senator Amidala's son - Padme would be still alive, and wouldn't have died in her grief over losing her beloved husband. Luke could even have travelled through the galaxy with his father who would have taught him how to be a Jedi. And of course, he'd have had his sister with him as well…
But Luke wasn't destined to have any of these - neither the happy family, nor the adequate financial circumstances. All he got was Beru and Owen and a moisture farm that barely provided them with enough income to make their living. Could they - her and Owen - make up for the boy's lost parents? Had they given him enough love and caring?
Beru shook her head. What a stupid thought! Of course they had given him enough love. The Lars couple had done everything in their power to make their adoptive son happy. They loved that kid, as much as they would have loved their own son.
And they worried about him.
Not without a reason did Luke feel that Owen and Beru worried more about him than the average parents worried about their average children. They indeed feared for him more. They wanted to save him from his father, from the Emperor and from the whole galaxy that was full of evil and corruption. And as well, they also wanted to save the galaxy from Luke, in case he turned into a second Vader. No bigger disaster could happen to the already suffering people of the Galaxy than having the son of Skywalker turn to the Dark Side, follow his father, and together with Vader, serve Palpatine, the epitome of evil.
The stove gave a tiny whistling sound, warning Beru that the soup was ready.
The woman set the table. As she reached into the cupboard for a glass, her glance fell upon a drawing that was attached to the inner side of the cupboard door.
She well remembered when this drawing had been made. She had received it from Luke for her thirtieth birthday.
Beru's lips tucked into a smile. The little boy had been really talented, already at the age of nine. Really nice drawing. It showed a spaceship. Beru couldn't have defined what type of a spaceship it was, but you can't expect a housewife to be able to tell an X-wing from a TIE-fighter or a Corellian freighter, can you? Luke, however, must have been very familiar with all these machines, Beru thought. Perhaps, some day he'd even fly one. After all, he was a wonderful pilot already, even though somewhat harum-scarum. Due to his rashness, he'd once almost flown headlong into the wall of Beggar's Canyon, but thanks to his amazing reflexes he'd survived.
Beru clearly remembered how mad Owen had been when he'd found out about this incident. First she'd thought he was angry because Luke had nearly got himself killed and ruined his T-16, but soon she realised that it was about something else. What made her husband mad was that Luke told them proudly how he'd pulled out of the dive in the last second. Beru was aware that Owen knew the boy - unbeknownst to himself - had been using the Force.
The Force.
Beru wasn't an exceptionally clever woman; too many things existed in the galaxy that she didn't understand, and the Force was definitely one of these. She'd heard countless legends about the Jedi's exploits and their special gift that was in connection with the Force; but she never managed to understand what this weird, invisible ally was that helped the Jedi. An ally that helped them, but whose Dark Side destroyed them.
Beru started to rummage around in one of the drawers and fished out a ladle. Carefully she ladled the steaming soup into the three plates. For a second she felt that the steam, mixed with the desert's unbearable heat, would choke her. The heat? No… it wasn't the heat that choked her. It was her helplessness. The helplessness angered her, and her anger caused her almost physical pain. The anger that she couldn't help Luke, no matter how hard she tried. Oh, what she would have given to see him happy and satisfied; what she would give to see the endless debates between her husband and Luke come to an end!
But she knew what would - what could - happen if they let the boy go his own way… he'd end up like his father. He'd be lost, forever.
Beru wanted to avoid this, at all costs. She agreed with Owen that the only way to save the boy was to chain him to themselves for all eternity. And still… she felt that Luke wouldn't stay here forever. Tatooine wasn't his world and one day he'd leave it. He'd fly away in a spaceship not so unlike the one he'd drawn ten years earlier. Perhaps.
"Mmmm, what a wonderful smell!" Her husband sniffed the air upon entering the house. "You're the best housewife in the whole galaxy, Beru!" he said appreciatively and dropped himself onto the chair that stood at the head of the table - if there was a place at this rickety table that could be called its head. "Where's Luke? Wandering again, I presume." He chomped. "Now he's decided to boycott the family meals as well? I'm telling you, we've spoiled that child, Beru!"
"Tsk, tsk Owen, no need to be mad at him," his wife chided him gently. "He's going to be back soon, I'm sure. He said he had to repair a vaporator."
"I seriously hope he'll be back soon," Owen grunted and took a huge bite off the bread. "I haven't seen him all day. What's wrong with him, do you have any idea?"
"Of course I do," the woman sighed. "And if you paid more attention to him, you'd see it too."
"I am paying attention!" the man snapped. "It's not my fault he's not telling me anything!"
"You have no idea how wrong you are," Beru muttered under her breath, then turned around to stare directly into her husband's eyes. "He's not telling you anything because he knows that whatever he says, it would lead to another argument."
"Of course it does if all that silly boy can talk about is the Academy! He just can't understand that we don't have enough money to let him attend!"
"You know it's not about the money," the woman whispered as she took a seat. "I know that you want to keep him here for another reason."
"Then you know that I have a good reason to keep him here," the man said, his voice sounding unusually gentle all of a sudden. He reached out and took her hand. "I fear for him. I don't want Obi-Wan to take him on some idealistic crusade… and I definitely don't want his father to lure him over to the Dark Side. That would be a catastrophe. If he left for the Academy, he'd be out of our control, and then… anything could happen to him. Even what we fear most…" His voice trailed off. "He's… he's my son. Not by blood, but I brought him up, and I won't let anyone take him from me and ruin his life."
Beru didn't say a word only nodded.
"So, are you going to tell me what's bothering Luke?"
"Today his best friend, Biggs Darklighter left. Luke fears he might never see him again."
Owen caressed her hand with an understanding expression. "I see. And now, tell me what is bothering you."
"Me?" The woman shuddered. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you know. Out with it, dear, I might be able to help."
Beru took a deep breath. "I don't think you could help, but… Luke told me that he'd had a weird dream last night."
Her husband smiled. "And you're worrying about a dream, Beru? Luke's no little boy anymore, nightmares can't harm him…"
"This wasn't a nightmare, Owen," the woman said firmly. "I think… I think it might have been a vision. Only Luke doesn't know it was."
"Why, what has he dreamed about?" Owen asked. He was beginning to feel nervous.
"Storm troopers… and some huge space station," she replied heavily.
"And why do you think it was a vision? Youngsters like Luke all dream about spaceships and space stations and travelling through deep space. I don't think it is of any importance."
"But what if it is?" she worried. "What if this was a Jedi vision? What if… what if it was a dream sent to Luke by… by… the Force?"
"Better not even think of it," said Owen, and with a grim expression he put down his spoon. The thought of Luke turning into a Jedi scared him. A Jedi… or worse, a Sith. But what if that was the boy's fate? Could he prevent it? Did he have a right to prevent it? Luke's talent, his ability to sense the Force, was a great gift, but possibly the most dangerous thing a child could inherit. Owen shook his head. He couldn't let it happen… he couldn't let Luke become a Jedi.
He realised he'd been motionlessly staring at his plate for minutes. He was going mad for sure… Suddenly all the anger caused by his never-ending worries burst out of him: "That good-for-nothing boy still hasn't returned! You know what? He's not getting dinner today! It's time for him to learn who's the master of this house!" He rudely pushed the chair back and jumped up. "I am! And if I command him to do something, he has to obey! That boy… that boy… it's impossible to tame him!"
Silently listening to her husband's grumbling, Beru collected the plates. Tame Luke? Vain hope, Owen…
After doing the dishes, she walked out of the house. The suns had set already and the first, brightest stars had appeared in the sky. The paler ones would need some more time to become visible…
The woman leaned against the house's wall and watched as tiny light after tiny light lit up above. She had always felt mesmerised by the beauty of the night sky: myriads of diamonds sparkling on that infinite black velvet… She had never flown among them, and she realised that she and Owen were about to prevent Luke from ever having a chance to do so.
A familiar sound shook her out of her reverie: the engine of a landspeeder. Luke had returned. Beru heaved a sigh of relief and in herself said thanks to everything - perhaps even the Force - for bringing him home. Today he'd come back. But she knew that one day this reckless boy would leave and never return.
Perhaps that was how it was supposed to be. The young left the nest; that was the natural way of life. And, as that lunatic old Ben Kenobi would say, that was the way of the Force.
She didn't know when the day would come when she'd lose her adoptive son, but she hoped it wouldn't happen too soon.
Her glance returned to the sea of stars and the sight calmed her slightly. For a second she had the feeling that some benevolent spirit was watching her from above. Spontaneously, she began praying to this invisible, perhaps not even existing being. She prayed that whatever happened to her son in the future, he should be saved from the Dark Side of the Force - whatever that Force might be.
A/N: please drop me a review!