TOWARD THE SUNS
CHAPTER 2
It was Tatooine. Much alike with the planet he last seen, it shined yellow.
Tatooine, his home planet, the planet which everything started. Everything changed, since the time he bought two droids from the jawas. Except for Tatooine.
Tatooine didn't change much. It still had two suns, and much of its surface was covered in desert.
Luke smiled as his old memory of childhood came to him with the entire spot of Mos Eisely. He had been there with Ben…and he was a teenager then. Now he was an old man.
Luke parked the X-Wing on the hanger and carefully re-dressed the hood. It was big enough to cover his face dark, but he had to be cautious. The First Order may recognize him, since it had more power in Outer Rim planets.
He slowly walked outside, and couldn't help but to be amazed at the unchanged planet, again. The roads, languages, the unique atmosphere of Tatooine…
'Force, I didn't thought I would miss the atmosphere of Tatooine when I was nineteen years old,' he thought to himself.
Luke walked into a catina and found out that it was the catina he went with Ben. It hadn't changed much, and Luke could even imagine he was there again, before thirty years.
"Want a drink?"
The bartender with violet skin asked. Luke nodded,
"A glass of nerf-milk."
The violet-skinned alien grumbled something about being rude but he passed a glass of blue milk to Luke anyway.
Luke drank a gulf, then turned to the bartender.
"Are there still moisture farms around here?"
The bartender was gone, however, annoyed with Luke.
Instead, a voice—which was quite familiar but couldn't be recognized—answered to him.
"Of course. I'm one of the moisture farmers, in fact. I guess you haven't been in Tatooine for a while?"
Luke turned to the man behind him. He looked as old as Luke. The man was wearing a simple white-colored tunic that marked him a moisture farmer definitely. It reminded him of his old life in Tatooine.
Luke answered,
"Yeah, it's been a while. Quiet…a while. I've been traveling the galaxy." That wasn't a lie, at least partly.
The man nodded, scratching his short beard.
He said,
"Ah. Right. I cannot see your face…but you seem to be worn of travel…or life."
Luke raised his eyebrows in the hood. He was sure that this farmer has never been outside of the planet, but he, sure, had as much wisdom as some of the most experienced travelers of the galaxy.
"And you? Aren't you tired of your life?" Luke asked.
It was from his curiosity. What if he hadn't left Tatooine? What if he lived in the planet forever? He may have not suffered. He wouldn't have have to experience the deaths of thousands of people. He wouldn't have become a Jedi. He wouldn't…
…have had his nephew's betrayal.
But then, he couldn't have met his sister. And Han. And so many friends and families. People who could've been suffered from the Empire. The Empire was gone now, and Luke couldn't help himself but think about the result of the war if he had been in Tatooine forever.
Now the First Order was here.
Along his nephew.
The man smiled at his question.
"I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes I think my life is humdrum. It's peaceful, though. A number of my friends went out to travel the galaxy, and didn't come back. Some of them dead. Some of them not returning."
Luke nodded solemnly, thinking about his old friend, Biggs Darklighter, who died in the Yabin IV many years ago. While he died, Luke became a hero, among all those pilots that got killed to give Luke a chance to blow it up…
The man continued,
"…Only one thing. I understand you don't want to reveal yourself to anyone guessing by the fact you are wearing a hood, but are you staying in Tatooine today? If so, you can stay at my home at night. It's been a long awhile I invited someone to my house."
Luke was surprised to hear the sudden offer, and he carefully allowed the Force to examine the farmer's words. He knew the man was kind to offer staying, but being careful didn't give any harm.
Sensing the man's honesty, Luke responded,
"Thank you. I really appreciate."
After checking his X-wing again, Luke followed the man, to his home.
"It's not that far from here," the farmer said, stepping onto the sandspeeder.
"…But not enough to walk."
They, together, passed across the sand-desert of Tatooine. It all looked same to Luke. The sand glowing with the intensive sunshine of the two suns looked in contrast with the blue sky. The ramp rats ran though the dunes, and hot winds from everywhere covered him and the man.
Tatooine was his home planet after all.
Luke watched the farmer driving the speeder. He was humming an old song what seemed to match the fashion of 20 BBYs. Luke didn't know the farmer, but something…something with the man was extremely familiar to him.
"Can I ask your name?" Luke asked.
The man said casually, still driving,
"Oh, of course. It's Fisert Brendsun. Please, call me Fixer."
That was the moment Luke realized he was seeing his old friend of childhood.
"Fixer…" he murmured.
It has been a while.
A/N: I had no idea what Fixer's full name is, and I just made it up. I hope it's okay.