A/N: Don't expect this frequent updates a lot.
Luke Skywalker arrived back to the homestead with his aunt, his mind going over the strange encounter he had with the stranger who could do the same things that he could, the things that his aunt and uncle warned him not to do in public. He wanted to know more about them.
"Luke? Luke, did you hear me?"
Luke shook his head before turning to his aunt. "Sorry, Aunt Beru," he said.
"What were you thinking about?" Beru asked.
Luke looked around. "I met someone by the pallie stand. He could do the same things that I can, I saw him doing it," he told her.
"Luke, you shouldn't be around someone like that," Beru told him.
"Like what? Like me? Aunt Beru, I thought I was the only one, he didn't look any older than me even. He even said that he was staying with old Ben Kenobi..."
"Luke, I know how excited you are about this, but please, don't go looking for them, it's too dangerous," Beru said interrupting him. "And don't mention this to your uncle," she added.
Luke was disappointed by her reaction. If there was one person he had expected to understand, it was her. "What were you trying to say?" he asked.
"I want you to go help your uncle with the droids he's purchasing from the jawas over there," Beru told him.
"Okay," Luke said, getting out of the speeder and walking over to where his uncle stood, purchasing the droids. One being a gold plated protocol droid and the other being a red astro-mech droid which then stops and starts smoking. "Uncle Owen..." Luke said, gaining his uncle's attention.
Owen Lars turns to look at him. "Yeah?" he asks.
"This R2 unit has a bad motivator. Look!" Luke informed him.
Owen turned back to the lead jawa. "Hey, what're you trying to push on us? he demanded.
The Jawa went into a loud spiel. Meanwhile, Artoo has snuck out of line and began moving up and down trying to attract attention. He let out with a low whistle. Threepio tapped Luke on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir, but that R2 unit is in prime condition. A real bargain," Threepio said pointing to Artoo.
"Uncle Owen..." Luke called again.
Owen turned back to him. "Yeah?" he asked again.
"What about that one?" Luke asked, pointing to Artoo.
Owen turned back to the Jawa. What about that blue one? We'll take that one," he decided.
With a little reluctance the scruffy jawa trade the damaged astro-droid for Artoo.
"Yeah, take it away," Luke said, indicating the damaged droid.
"Uh, I'm quite sure you'll be very pleased with that one, sir. He really is in first-class condition. I've worked with him before. Here he comes," Threepio said, indicating Artoo.
Owen payed off the whining Jawa as Luke and the two droids trudge off toward a grimy homestead entry.
"Okay, let's go," Luke said, leading the way into the house.
Threepio turns to Artoo. "Now, don't you forget this! Why I should stick my neck out for you is quite beyond my capacity!" he said.
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The Lars garage is cluttered and worn, but a friendly peaceful atmosphere permeates the low gray chamber. Threepio lowered himself into a large tub filled with warm oil. Near the battered Land speeder little Artoo rest on a large battery with a cord to his face.
"Thank the maker! This oil bath is going to feel so good. I've got such a bad case of dust contamination, I can barely move!" Threepio gushes.
Artoo beeped a muffled reply. Luke seemed to be lost in thought as he ran his hand over the damaged fin of a small two-man T-16 Sky hopper resting in a low hangar off the garage. Finally Luke's frustration get the better of him and he slammed a wrench across the workbench.
"It just isn't fair. I don't understand why it's so dangerous to be able to do something that comes natural!" Luke declared.
"Is there anything I might do to help?" Threepio asks.
Luke glanced at the battered droid. A bit of his anger drained and a tiny smile crept across his face. "Well, not unless you can tell me what is so dangerous about being able to do this," he said raising a hand and moved a nut in mid air.
"I don't think so, sir. I'm only a droid and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet, anyways. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I'm on," Threepio said, not quite understanding.
"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from," Luke told him, forgetting about this strange ability.
"I see, sir," Threepio said.
"Uh, you can call me Luke," Luke told him.
"I see, sir Luke," Threepio said.
Luke laughed. "Just Luke," he said.
"And I am See-Threepio, human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, Artoo-De too," Threepio said.
Luke turned to Artoo and raised his hand slightly. "Hello," he said.
Artoo beeped in response. Luke unplugged Artoo and began to scrape several connectors on the druid's head with a chrome pick. Threepio climbed out of the oil tub and began wiping oil from his gold body.
"You got a lot of carbon scoring here. It looks like you boys have seen a lot of action," Luke said, looking at Artoo.
"With all we've been through, sometimes I'm amazed we're in as good condition as we are, what with the Rebellion and all," Threepio said.
This caught Luke's interest. "You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?" he asked.
That's how we came to be in your service, if you take my meaning, sir," Threepio told him.
"Have you been in many battles?" Luke asked.
"Several, I think. Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm not much more than an interpreter, and not very good at telling stories. Well, not at making them interesting, anyways," Threepio told him.
Luke struggled to remove a small metal fragment from Cartoon's neck joint. He uses a larger pick. "Well, my little friend, you've got something jammed in here real good. Were you on a cruiser or..." he trailed off as the fragment broke loose with a snap, sending Luke tumbling head over heels. He sat up and saw a twelve-inch three-dimensional hologram of a beautiful girl about his own age being projected from the face of little Artoo. The image was a rainbow of colors as it flickered and jiggled in the dimly lit garage. Luke's mouth hung open in awe.
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope," the hologram said.
"What's this?" Luke asked.
Artoo looked around and sheepishly beeped an answer for Threepio to translate. the girl continued to repeat the sentence fragment over and over.
"What is what?!? He asked you a question...What is that?" Threepio demanded, pointing to the holographic image.
Artoo whistled his surprise as he pretended just notice the hologram. He looked around and sheepishly beeped an answer for Threepio to translate. the girl continues to repeat the
sentence fragment over and over.
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."
"Oh, he says it's nothing, sir. Merely a malfunction. Old data. Pay it no mind," Threepio said to Luke.
Luke became intrigued by the beautiful girl. "Who is she? She's beautiful," he said.
"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir," Threepio answered.
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi..."
"I think she was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance, sir -- I believe. Our captain was attached to..." Threepio began to say.
"Is there more to this recording?" Luke asked and reached out for Artoo but he lets out several frantic squeaks and a whistle.
"Behave yourself, Artoo. You're going to get us in trouble. It's all right, you can trust him. He's our new master," Threepio said to Artoo.
Artoo whistled and beeped a long message to Threepio.
"He says he's the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a resident of these parts. And it's a private message for him. Quite frankly, sir I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but with what we've been through, this little R2 unit has
become a bit eccentric," Threepio said, looking at Luke.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi? I wonder if he means old Ben Kenobi?" Luke said thoughtfully as he thought about giving the message to Ben Kenobi, allowing him another chance to see the stranger he ran into earlier.
"I beg your pardon, sir, but do you know what he's talking about?" Threepio asked.
"Well, I don't know anyone named Obi-Wan, but old Ben lives out beyond the dune sea. He's kind of a strange old hermit," Luke answered as he gazed at the beautiful young girl for a few moments."I wonder who she is. It sounds like she's in trouble. I'd better
play back the whole thing," he said, getting more intrigued.
Artoo beeped something to Threepio.
"He says the restraining bolt has short circuited his recording system. He suggests that if you remove the bolt, he might be able to play back the entire recording," Threepio translated to Luke.
Luke looks longingly at the lovely, girl and hasn't really heard what Threepio has been saying. "H'm? Oh, yeah, well, I guess you're too small to run away on me if I take this off! Okay," he said taking a wedged bar and popped the restraining bolt off Cartoon's side. "There you go," he said and the hologram instantly disappeared. "Well, wait a minute. Where'd she go? Bring her back! Play back the entire message," he ordered indignantly.
Artoo beeped an innocent reply as Threepio sits up in embarrassment.
"What message? The one you're carrying inside your rusty innards!" Threepio cried.
Beru's voice called out from another room. "Luke? Luke! Come to dinner!"
Luke stood up and shook his head at the malfunctioning droid. "All right, I'll be right there, Aunt Beru!" he called.
"I'm sorry, sir, but he appears to have picked up a slight flutter," Threepio said to Luke.
Luke tosses Artoo's restraining bolt on the workbench and
hurries out of the room.
"Well, see what you can do with him. I'll be right back," Luke told him, leaving the garage.
"Just you reconsider playing that message for him," Threepio said indignantly to Artoo who beeped in response.
"No, I don't think he likes you at all," Threepio answered.
Artoo beeped
"No, I don't like you either," Threepio said turning his back.
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Obi-Wan finished setting the table and poured two cups of jawa juice just before Anakin set the roasted gorg on the table. "It's been a long time since I've had anything but rations," he said.
"You just miss my cooking," Anakin said teasingly as he sat down and carved himself a helping of the gorg. "I haven't had this in a while either," he said.
"Yes, I suppose so," Obi-Wan said, briefly forgetting the pain of loosing his best friend and briefly forgetting the past twenty years.
"Do you have any thought on what, we're going to do, besides sitting here on Tatooine. I mean, shouldn't we be fighting the Sith?" Anakin asked.
"Are you anxious to get into a fight?" Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin didn't say anything at first, he just chewed a mouthful of the food on his plate. "I just don't see why any of you have been letting them get away with what they did for this long," he said at last.
Obi-Wan regarded him, sensing his true feelings. "Revenge is not the Jedi way," he said.
"And sitting, doing nothing is?" Anakin retorted.
"Calm yourself, Anakin. Everything will fall into place in due time," Obi-Wan told him.
"I don't want to wait, Master," Anakin told him.
"In this day and age, you'll need patience," Obi-Wan told him. "The Sith are too powerful right now," he informed him.
"And I'm not? Master, you know that I can do it..."
"And you failed once before," Obi-Wan cut in. "You need time, Anakin, and revealing yourself to the Sith is too dangerous," he finished.
"You don't believe that I'm ready," Anakin stated.
"No, I don't. But you will be if you're patient," Obi-Wan told him.
"Then why did the force send me here?" Anakin challenged.
"To learn, Anakin. Not to engage in a battle of life and death," Obi-Wan answered. "Now, we are dropping this subject," he finished.
Anakin frowned, but didn't say anything further and finished eating.
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Beru filled a pitcher with blue fluid from a refrigerated container in the well-used kitchen. She put the pitcher on a tray with some bowls of food and started for the dining area.
sat with his Uncle Owen before a table covered with steaming bowls of food as Beru carried in a bowl of red grain.
"You know, I think that R2 unit we bought might have been stolen," Luke started as they all filled their bowls and plates.
"What makes you think that?" Owen asked as he began eating.
"Well, I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him. He says he belongs to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi,"
Owen seemed greatly alarmed at the mention of this name name, but managed to control himself.
Luke notices this and looked at his uncle. "I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what he's talking about? Well, I wonder if he's related to Ben," he said.
Owen broke loose with a fit of uncontrolled anger."That old man's just a crazy old wizard. Tomorrow I want you to take that R2 unit into Anchorhead and have its memory flushed. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now," he commanded.
"But what if this Obi-Wan comes looking for him?" Luke protested.
"He won't, I don't think he exists any more. He died about the same time as your father," he told him.
This caught Luke's interest. "He knew my father?" he asked.
"I told you to forget it. Your only concern is to prepare the new droids for tomorrow. In the morning I want them on the south ridge working out those condensers," Owen told him strictly.
"Yes, sir," Luke said dejectedly. "I think those new droids are going to work out fine. In fact, I, uh, was also thinking about our agreement about my staying on another season. And if these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year," he said changing the subject.
Owen suppressed a scowl. "You mean the next semester before harvest?" he asked.
"Sure, there're more than enough droids," Luke put in.
"Harvest is when I need you the most. Only one more season. This year we'll make enough on the harvest so I'll be able to hire some more hands. And then you can go to the Academy next year," Owen told him.
Luke toyed with his food, not looking at his uncle.
"You must understand I need you here, Luke," Owen told him.
"But it's a whole 'nother year," Luke whined.
"Look, it's only one more season," Owen told him, wishing that he could give in, but he needed to keep Luke far away from Vader.
Luke pushes his half-eaten plate of food aside and stands."Yeah, that's what you said last year when Biggs and Tank left," he said, disappointed.
"Where are you going?" Beru asked.
"It looks like I'm going nowhere. I have to finish cleaning those droids," Luke answered resigned to his fate and left the room.
Owen mechanically finished his dinner.
"Owen, he can't stay here forever. Most of his friends have gone. It means so much to him," Beru said, looking at her husband.
"I'll make it up to him next year. I promise," Owen told her. "Besides, you know who he would end up running into," he added.
"Luke's just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him," Beru told him, ignoring her husband's comment.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Owen told her worriedly.
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Luke enters the garage to discover the droids nowhere in sight. He took a small control box from his utility belt similar to the one the Jawas were carrying. He activated the box, which created a low hum, and Threepio, letting out a short yell, popped up from behind the Skyhopper spaceship.
"What are you doing hiding there?" Luke asked.
Threepio stumbled forward, but Artoo is still nowhere in sight. "It wasn't my fault, sir. Please don't deactivate me. I told him not to go, but he's faulty, malfunctioning; kept babbling on about his mission." he begged.
Luke realized what the little droid must of done and grew worried. "Oh, no!" he cried and raced out of the garage, followed by Threepio. He rushed out of the small doomed entry to the homestead and searched the darkening horizon for the small triped astro- droid. Threepio struggled out of the homestead and on the salt flat as Luke scanned the landscape with his electrobinoculars.
"That R2 unit has always been a problem. These astro-droids are getting quite out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times," Threepio babbled.
"How could I be so stupid? He's nowhere in sight. Blast it!" Luke chastised himself.
"Pardon me, sir, but couldn't we go after him?" Threepio asked.
"It's too dangerous with all the Sandpeople around. We'll have to wait until morning.
Owen yelled up from the homestead plaza, "Luke, I'm shutting the power down for the night!"
"All right, I'll be there in a few minutes!" Luke called. "Boy, am I gonna get it," he muttered taking one final look across the horizon. "You know that little droid is going to cause me a lot of trouble," he grumbled.
"Oh, he excels at that, sir," Threepio agreed.
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Blaster fire was coming from everywhere as the Jedi fought to defend themselves and their stronghold but one by one they were taken down, either by a blue bladed lightsaber or more blaster fire, their faces angry with the shock of betrayal. The scene progressed all through the Temple as the carnage was left behind until finally the scene changed to the council chambers where a group of younglings were hiding. One of them came out of his hiding place, putting on a brave face. "Master Skywalker, there's so many of them. What should we do?" he asked bravely, but his fear was evident.
Anakin snapped awake, the dream that he just had disturbing him greatly. Instantly, he got up and peered out a window. The suns were rising already, bringing their intense heat with them. But Anakin still felt cold and he rubbed his arms absently. He began questioning what he was truly being here for and what purpose the force had in doing so. He had a feeling that Obi-Wan was hiding something from him. Not once did he mention who the Sith were and how they came into power, but his master knew something that he didn't want to share. After that dream, Anakin suspected that Vader had once been a Jedi. It made sense. Dooku had once been a Jedi as well.
"You're up early."
Anakin turned to look at Obi-Wan. "I couldn't sleep," he told him.
Obi-Wan regarded him, seeing the very familiar posture and look in Anakin's eyes. "Why is that?" he asked.
Anakin turned away from him and shrugged, knowing that his master knew why. "It was just a dream," he told him.
"What kind of dream?" Obi-Wan asked cautiously.
"Was Darth Vader a Jedi?" Anakin asked and sensed Obi-Wan's alarm skyrocket.
"What makes you ask that?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It's just something that I can sense," Anakin told him.
"You shouldn't dwell on who or what Vader was," Obi-Wan told him.
"Why?" Anakin asked.
"Because it is irrelevant. Vader is a Sith, more machine than man," Obi-Wan told him.
"There's more to it. What aren't you telling me?" Anakin asked.
"Anakin, I can't tell you anything that you would want to hear," Obi-Wan told him.
"Don't you think that I need to know?" Anakin demanded. "Or are you afraid to tell me?" he asked, sensing something coming off of his master that he never thought that he ever would. "You are and what's more, you're afraid of me," he deducted.
"You're imagining things," Obi-Wan dismissed.
Anakin looked at him, sensing Obi-Wan's unease. "Why are you afraid of me, Master?" he asked.
"I'm not afraid of you, Anakin, more of what might happen to you," Obi-Wan told him.
Anakin wasn't sure if he believed him and needed time to think about this so, he thre on a tunic and grabbed his lightsaber before heading outside.
"Where are you going?" Obi-Wan asked.
"For a walk," Anakin told him walking out the door.