Chapter Fourteen: The Son

Luke sat on the floor of the small kitchen. Aunt Beru stood at the counter chopping vegetables. Luke had a pile of audlo root next to him that he was to peel the skin off of. He grabbed one of the long orange-brown hairy roots and started to shave the top layer of wiry fuzz off. He let out a deep sigh, loud enough that hopefully Aunt Beru would hear. But she kept to her own business up on the counter, ignoring the five year old at her feet.

Luke was grounded. Peeling audlo root in the kitchen was his punishment. He wasn't allowed to go out and play. He wasn't even allowed to go out with Uncle Owen while he did his daily rounds on the farm. Luke would much rather prefer being out with Uncle Owen checking on the vaporators. Uncle Owen could be strict and a bit mean at times, but at least he'd be outside. He would be around some of the farm's droids. He'd probably get to run around a bit. But no. He was stuck inside with a growing pile of hairy vegetable skins.

Luke gave another loud sigh, but still his aunt ignored him. Annoyed Luke picked up another root and started to peel it. He didn't think he deserved this punishment. This was the worst. He had been taking apart some old junk in the garage. He found an old adapter and tried to hot wire it up to an old droid. However the wiring overloaded, not used to the increased power of the old droid. It had created an electrical fire.

It was only a small fire. Luke was able to put it out pretty quick. The only way Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru found out was because Luke had burnt the sleeve of his tunic. Yet of course Uncle Owen got really angry at Luke. The uncle yelled at the boy and scolded him for being so reckless. Yet what hurt worse was Aunt Beru's sorrowful look and soft but scolding words.

Several more loud sighs later, Luke finally finished peeling all of the audlo root. He handed the peeled root over to his aunt, who placed them into an open container on the counter. Luke picked up all the horrible hairy skins and threw them into the compost.

"Why don't you go play out in the courtyard?" Aunt Beru offered.

"I'm not suppose to play. Uncle Owen said I'm grounded," Luke reminded his aunt. She gave him a soft smile.

"Your uncle won't be back for another hour or two. You've been cooped in this kitchen all day. You aren't allowed to go to your room or to the garage, but you can play around the courtyard."

Luke nodded and made his way through the dining room and out in the open courtyard of the homestead. Like many farms, the house was built into the ground to help keep it cool. Tall walls stretched up to the desert floor above Luke's head. Stairways and short tunnels branched off from the courtyard leading into other rooms of the farm. Luke stared a bit longingly at the steps that would take him up to the garage.

He sighed as he tried to turn his attention elsewhere. He walked over to the large vaporator unit in the center of the courtyard, before he made a slow circle around it. There wasn't much fun to be had out in the courtyard. He didn't have any of his toys. There was no machinery out here for him to take part or examine, except the vaporator and Luke dared not touch that.

He found a loose desert pebble and started absentmindedly kicking it around the courtyard. Slowly he started to form a game. He was a fighter pilot in a spaceship, and the rocks were his missiles. He was flying through space, taking down enemy craft. He needed to line up his shot. He would kick the pebble. Often the pebble rolled horribly off course. It wasn't the best make-believe missile.

Luke herded up some more missile-rocks and lined up his shots again. He took aim at a spot on the wall. He needed to be quick, his starcraft was being surrounded by the enemy. He aimed, he pressed the button, and off went the missles! One pebble hit the spot on the wall.

"A direct hit!" he shouted as he ran a circle around the courtyard. Imagarinary explosions playing off in his head. He gathered up the pebbles again. He was lining them up when he noticed the pebbles starting to shake. Then he felt the vibrations. Then he heard the loud screaming noise of an engine.

Luke glanced up as he saw two small ships zoom overheard. The whole homestead shook. Luke's mouth was open. He couldn't believe. What were ships doing way out here? If he ran up top, would he be able to make them out? Or would they be too far gone?

"Luke!"

Luke was brought back to his current situation of being grounded. That's right he wasn't allowed to go out. His aunt was coming towards him from the dining room. Her eyes kept darting between the sky and the boy.

"Aunt Beru did you see that? There were ships flying above us!" Luke said as his aunt approached and put a hand on his shoulder. "What do you think they're doing all the way out here? You think they're lost?"

But his aunt didn't say anything. Luke wiggled a bit, but her grip on the boy was strong. Luke craned his head back to examine his aunt and noticed she did not look happy. In fact she looked scared. Luke's head lowered as he made out the small line of pebbles lined up. He noticed them starting to shake and rattle. Again two ships zoomed over the courtyard, their shadows briefly crossed Luke and Aunt Beru.

The ships seemed to be going slower this time, and Luke was sure they looked like Imperial TIE fighters. Those ship were pretty distinctive. Luke had only seen them a few times on the holonet. His aunt and uncle never let him watch the hololnet for very long.

The screaming the engines got softer, but didn't fade completely away like last time. Instead the sound got louder again as it appeared the ships were circling back around. Luke couldn't help but burn with curiosity. What were the ships doing? Suddenly Aunt Beru's grip tightened on Luke as she started to steer him towards the stairs that led up to Luke's room. Shortly they were inside his room.

"Aunt Beru?" he asked. He wasn't supposed to be his room.

"Luke I want you to stay in here," she said. His aunt kept looking over her shoulder into the courtyard.

"But-" Luke started.

"Luke." Her attention was completely on him. She leaned over. "Listen very carefully. I need you take this very seriously. I need you stay in your room. Do not come out, no matter what you hear. Just wait for me or Uncle Owen. Do you understand?"

Something was different. Something was wrong. Luke could feel it. He nodded in agreement. His aunt gave him a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She turned and left the room. She closed the door behind her and Luke was alone. He stood there for a moment, perhaps wondering if Aunt Beru would be right back. Yet when she didn't return immediately, Luke looked around his room for something to do.

He quickly found his favorite toy. It was a small T-16 skyhopper model. The wings were movable to allow for flight and landing position. Luke grabbed it and held the toy out as he dashed around the room. Luke really wanted a skyhopper model kit, where you build your own model. The model would much bigger and have so much details than his toy model. But such models were expensive. Aunt Beru had said that maybe if Luke was good enough and they had a good harvest of water this season, then just maybe they might be able to get Luke one.

Luke hoped so, but then he stopped playing with his toy as a wave of guilt rushed over him. Setting electrical fires in the garage was not helping him get a skyhopper model kit. He would have to be on much better behavior from now on. With a new sense of determination, he went about playing with his model toy.

He paused after a while wondering where his aunt was. She had yet to return. He wandered over to the door and heavily contemplated going outside to look for her. He was a little bored and hungry. Eventually he decided he would be a good boy and wait for his aunt or uncle to come get him. He did after all just promise himself he would behave himself better.

Luke took up a new game. This time he took another toy spaceship and had it pretend fight against his skyhopper. He would bang the two together as they fought. During one such encounter, a wing of the skyhopper fell off.

"Oh no!" Luke cried as he brought up the toy to examine it.

It looked like the small metal pin that attached the wing to the body had fallen out. Luke glanced around the floor of his room trying to locate. He needed to find it. His skyhopper was his favorite toy, plus if Uncle Owen saw that his toy was broken then Luke would never get the model kit. Luke got down on his knees as he started to really look for the missing pin.

That was when the door to his bedroom opened. Luke sat upright as a wave of fear hit him. How would explain this if it was his uncle? But what if it was his aunt? She would help him find the pin. But it oddly enough it was neither one of them. It was man. He stood shadowed by the bright daylight. He walked into the room and door shut behind him.

Luke was able to get a good look at the man now. He was tall. His dark blonde hair was swept back. There was a scar that slashed across his right eye. Though what most caught Luke's attention was his clothing. It looked like some sort of uniform, but with a cape. Did uniforms have capes? The man also wore leather gloves. But was really odd about it all, was that it was all black.

"Don't you get hot in that?" Luke asked the man. No one on Tatooine wore all black. It was too hot. Luke himself was wearing his white farmer's tunic. Even Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen wore light colored clothing to help keep them cool. He had never seen anyone wear all black before.

The man looked down at his clothes as if he was noticing for the first time what he was wearing. What an odd man, Luke thought to himself. But the man only looked back up at Luke and smiled.

"It does get a bit hot," he replied gently. The man walked over to Luke and took a seat on the floor in front of the boy. "Hello Luke," he said softly. Luke looked at this strange man. He was smiling warmly at Luke. Something was wiggling at the back of Luke's mind. Had he seen this man somewhere before?

"What are you doing on the floor?" the man asked. He looked at the broken skyhopper. "Playing?"

"No," Luke said. The man raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I mean yes," Luke quickly replied. "But it broke." He held out the skyhopper for the man to see. "The pin fell out. I was looking for it. Uncle Owen will get mad if he sees I broke it."

"Uncle Owen?" the man asked.

But Luke wasn't looking at the man. He again casted his eyes to floor in hopes of finding the elusive pin.

"Yeah . . .," Luke mumbled. "I want a T-16 Skyhopper model kit. The one you build yourself. It's much bigger and better than this toy model. I won't be able to get it if I can't take care of this one though."

Luke braved a look at the man, who was staring intently at Luke with blue eyes. He smiled when he noticed Luke's eyes on him. Then he held out a hand, palm up. Luke looked at it curiously. Then suddenly a small pin floated from a feet away. Luke's mouth hung open. The pin was flying. Flying through the air. It landed softly in the man's hand, who then held it out to Luke.

"Here," the man said.

Luke reached out hesitantly, but took the pin from the man. He quickly set to fixing his toy. Once the pin was back in, he tested the wing. It slid up and down steadily. Luke smiled as relief washed over him.

"Thank you!" he said to the man, who had a big smile across his face.

"Do you like ships?" he asked.

"Yes!" Luke said. "I want to be a pilot when I grow up. Just like my dad."

The room seemed to get suddenly cold and a bit darker. It couldn't be sunset already. "Your father?" the man asked. His voice sound strained as if it was difficult to talk.

"My dad was a pilot," Luke said again. He looked at the man. This time he really looked at him. Something was off about him, but Luke just couldn't quite place it. "That's what Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen tell me."

"What else did they tell you about your father?" the man pressed.

Luke frowned and shook his head slightly. "Nevermind . . ." Luke said. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Because everyone makes fun of me."

"Why? Who?"

"People at school. The other kids. Because I don't have a dad. He died. Attacked by pirates when he was running spice on his freighter."

"Dead?"

Luke saw the man's eyes go yellow. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. He scooted away from the man as he found his legs were too weak to let him stand. He ended up bumping into his bed and could go no further away from the man. Where were his Aunt and Uncle? Who was this scary man?

"Luke," the man said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He sounded sorry. He moved forward and reached a hand out to the boy. Luke tried to wiggle away, but his bed blocked his path. The man's hand came to rest of Luke's shoulder. Suddenly, the man didn't so scary. His eyes weren't yellow, they were blue. A sense of calm washed through Luke. Why had been so scared a moment ago?

"Luke." Luke shivered at the sound of his name. There seemed to be vibration when the man spoke his name. A sense of power. The man's other hand came to rest on Luke's cheek. "Luke, your father isn't dead."

Luke blinked. Blinked again. "What?" he finally asked. He wasn't sure he had heard the man correctly. The man smiled at him.

"Your father isn't dead," he repeated. "Luke, I am you farther."

Luke could only stare open mouthed at this man who claimed to be his father. Was that true? All he had ever been told was that his father was dead. He had at times questioned this. But it only made Uncle Owen angry. "He's dead! Dead is dead!" Yet now there was this man saying he was his father. It couldn't be, could it? Yet the more Luke repeated the information in his head, the more right it felt. The man- no his father- was speaking the truth.

"F-father?" Luke finally managed to say after working through his thoughts. His father's hand that was on Luke's cheek left it and started to stroke the hair on Luke's head. Sometimes Aunt Beru would do the same thing. Uncle Owen never did it.

"Yes, Luke. I'm your father."

"But- but- but they said you died!"

His father sighed as his head turned away. "I'm sorry. They lied to you." Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru lied? They had known the whole time his dad was alive?

"But why?" Luke couldn't hide the desperation and the need for answers from his voice. His father looked back at him. He looked sad.

"Because," his father said softly, "they were trying to keep you away from me, son."

"But why?" Luke demanded.

"Because they were afraid of me," his father explained. But Luke was still confused.

"They were afraid of you?"

His father closed the distance between the two and brought Luke into a warm embrace. "It doesn't matter now," his father said softly as his hand rubbed up and down Luke's back. "We're together now. You'll come live with me. As it should have been all along."

A sense of warmth was growing inside Luke. Isn't this what he had always secretly wanted? That his father was still alive and would come for him? The two would go off and ride through the stars together.

"Come now, we must go. Your mother is waiting," his father said.

"M-mother?" Luke couldn't hide his shock. He thought he couldn't be any more shocked to learn his father was alive and right in front of him and wanting to take him away to live him. But also his mother?

His father looked annoyed. "What did they tell you about your mother? Surely they didn't tell she was dead too?"

"No . . ." Luke said looking down at the ground. He knew this man was his father. He shouldn't feel embarrassed, but he did. He remembered their jeers and taunts of the children in Anchorhead when he attended school. A soft leather gloved hand came up to Luke's chin and titled it upward. He was staring into the concerned blue eyes of his father.

"Tell me, Luke," his father asked softly. "What do you know of your mother?"

"That . . . that she left me here," he whispered. His father didn't lower Luke's chin. He stared and Luke knew he was wanting to hear more. "Aunt Beru told she was really pretty and really nice. She said she loved me more than anything and said she was going to come back and get me. But everyone else said . . ." He swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat. "Everyone else said she abandoned me. I wasn't wanted."

"Look at the little bastard," one child joked to the others in Luke's memory.

"Your mother was probably a whore. Pawning you off on some poor farmer. No better than a slave. Wonder how much she got for you?"

A sharp coldness sliced through the room. Luke instinctively curled up. He looked up his father. He wasn't looking at Luke. He was gazing off into the distance, but his eyes were a glowing yellow and scowl was across his face. Luke didn't like this. Luke was scared. He wanted Aunt Beru. His father's eyes were suddenly on him. Luke flinched.

Then as quickly as it had come, it was gone. The cold was gone. His father's eyes were blue. Luke felt the reassuring hand of his father's rubbing his back in comforting manner. He found himself uncurling and relaxing. He leaned against his father.

"Luke . . ." his father started. "Your mother did leave you, and she loves you so much. She left you here because she thought she was protecting you. But she has missed you every moment you have been away from her. She wants you. She has always wanted you."

So Aunt Beru had been right? Luke closed his eyes and took comfort in that. But he still wondered what his father meant. What was his mother protecting him from?

"That's why I'm here now," his father kissed Luke on the head. "To make us a family again. Like it should be." Luke nodded at the the thought. Yes, this felt right. He was going to be in a family. A real family! "Come on, it's time to go," he father said as he picked Luke up. Luke rested his head against his father shoulder. He was still clinging to his toy skyhopper.

His father gently carried him out of the farmstead. Waiting in the sand outside was a large shuttle. Luke sat upright with his mouth open.

"Is that your ship?" he asked excitedly. "It looks just like a skyhopper!" He looked down at his small toy for comparison. His father laughed.

"No. This is just a shuttle that will take us to my ship," his father explained. Luke's eyes widened. How big was his father's ship? He couldn't wait to see it. His father pushed Luke back onto his father's chest. Luke again settled against the man as he walked up the loading ramp.