A/N: For anyone who still remembers this fic, I'm sorry it's been so long... I've actually had chapters 4 and 5 written for a long time and just forgot to post them here. I've been working aprox. 75 hours a week recently along with going to school part time so I haven't had any time to work on this fic, but I am going to make time now. I refuse to leave it unfinished! I apologize again, and I will really try to get the new chapters posted in a timely manner!

Chapter Four

After they had eaten and their plates had been cleared, Jastra and Ben continued to talk.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Ben asked. Jastra had been asking question after question about his life, which made it hard to keep up his charade. If he got the attention off himself, he wouldn't have as much of an opportunity to mess it all up.

"I think you just did."

Ben just stared at her with a deflated look.

"Sorry, you left yourself wide open for that one. Shoot." She laughed

"Do you like it here on Tatooine?" Ben inquired sincerely.

"I don't know anyone who lives here that particularly likes it here, but it's home. There was a time when I would've said I'd give anything to get away from here, but that was a childish dream. Nobody really ever gets away from Tatooine," Jastra said with almost a disappointed tone to her voice.

"My father got away," Ben said. "Although he had to give an awful lot in order to do so," he added as an after thought. Ben often wondered if his father would have left had he known all that he would have to give. Ben didn't doubt that being a moisture farmer was a hard life, but saving the galaxy time and time again wasn't a small feat, either.

Of course, had his father never left Tatooine, the galaxy would most likely still be ruled by the Empire, his parents would have never met, and therefore he would never have been born... a thought he didn't particularly relish.

"You father was from around here?" Jastra asked breaking through Ben's thoughts. "What's his name?"

"He left when he was young; I doubt you would have heard of him."

"But my dad might have known him; he's lived in the same place his entire life." She let out a small laugh. "As if anyone around here didn't"

Panic started to rise in the pit of Ben's stomach. He couldn't tell her his father was Luke Skywalker; that would blow his entire story. He had to come up with a name, and quick.
"His name is Tad Dissek. But like I said, he left when he was young, so I doubt your father has heard of him."

"It can't hurt to ask," she smiled.

"No," Ben said, with a feeling of dread that he hoped Jastra couldn't hear in his voice. "I guess it can't hurt."

Ben and Jastra headed back to the cantina where they had met for their date. By this point, the second sun of Tatooine, Tatoo II, had begun its plunge below the horizon to follow its twin and cast this hemisphere in darkness.

"So, shall I take you home?" Ben asked with a smile, figuring he would do the gentlemanly thing and ask, knowing she would probably turn him down.

"Uh... I don't know if that's such a great idea. You might get lost on the way back, and then you would have to spend the night out here in the middle of nowhere. That's not something I want to subject you to, unless, of course, you make me mad," she explained to him with a teasing smile.

Part of him was relieved that he wouldn't have to keep up his pretense for much longer that night; it was exhausting work. But he also couldn't help wanting to spend more time with the beautiful woman. "But there are so many shady characters around here, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Jastra looked at him like he had lost his mind. "I've lived here my entire life; I think I can handle it."

Ben moved closer to her and looked into her grey eyes. "If you're sure."

She nodded her head as Ben leaned down to capture her lips with his own. It was a gentle kiss, but Jastra could feel a passion behind it. She knew there was something different with this one, he was a kind and compassionate man, but she could see a strong person beneath, and she could feel it in his kiss.

Too bad it won't last, Jastra thought to herself. He's from Coruscant and I live on Tatooine; what chance do we have?

Ben pulled away from the kiss and smiled at her. "So I'll see you later?"

"Sure." She figured she might as well have fun while it lasted.
Ben hoped out of the speeder and started to walk to his own. He got a few of meters away and turned back around as he heard her voice once again.

"Hey, Dissek," Jastra yelled to him, "I have the whole day off, day after tomorrow." Then her speeder was kicking up dust as she left.

Shaking his head, Ben climbed in his rented speeder and headed back to his ship; his temporary home.

As Ben climbed into his bed for the night, he began to ponder. He knew he really liked this girl... woman, but how would it work? They lived so far apart, and while Tatooine and Ossus were not across the galaxy from one other, they were far from neighboring planets.

And besides the tiny little fact of distance, when she found out the truth would she still like him? The life of a Jedi wasn't usually calm and peaceful, even in a time of peace. He would always be sent on missions, sometimes dangerous ones, and while his parents usually got to go on missions together, that was not something he could do very often with a non-Jedi. Would she be willing to put up with his long absences and always wondering if he was safe or not? Would the fame of being with a Skywalker be too much for girl from a backwater planet?

Woah! Getting a little ahead of yourself, Skywalker? Ben thought to himself. You just went on your first date; pondering how she will take your life style that she doesn't even know about is a little quick, don't you think?

But he knew that Jastra was special, and he considered giving her the dream she had talked about: getting away from Tatooine. However, the fact that they just met came to mind again. He didn't think asking her to go away with him was the best course of action just yet, but then what else was there? Rolling on to his side, Ben shut his eyes and started to drift into sleep. These were all things he could worry about tomorrow.