A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

STAR WARS

A BINARY SUNRISE

EPISODE I

A FINAL HOPE

It is a period of Civil War. The Rebel Alliance struggles against the mighty Galactic Empire, though they have yet to achieve their first major victory. Time is running short, though, as the Empire is poised for a major attack.

There are rumors that the Empire has, in secret, constructed some kind of ultimate weapon. One that will permanently shift the balance of power in their favor and forever put freedom and liberty out of reach.

And on the small, Outer Rim world of Tatooine, seemingly insignificant in the scope of the greater conflict, one young man makes a decision that could change the fate of the entire galaxy.

It was deathly quiet on the Jundland wastes that morning. Even the Tusken Raiders hadn't begun to stir. Luke knew he had to get up early both to evade the blistering heat of the twin suns and to make sure Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were still asleep. He slung his pack off his shoulder and into the back seat of the family's X-34 Landspeeder as quietly as he could and paused as he put one hand on the vehicle in a moment of quiet contemplation. This was his last chance to change his mind. After this, there'd be no going back. He could take the bag back out, sneak back into the house, put everything away, and forget this ever happened. Try to catch a couple hours of sleep before Uncle Owen woke him up before the morning chores.

But he recalled the argument he'd had with his Aunt and Uncle the night before. The same kind of argument he'd been having with his uncle for months, maybe years at this point. Tatooine wasn't safe. The whole Outer Rim wasn't safe. Murder, theft, these crimes had basically no consequences at all. His own grandmother had been a slave that his grandfather bought. Nothing was going to change unless it was forced to. The firm hand of the Empire was the only thing that could bring these systems in line, to install law and order to places that had long forgotten what those words meant, if they ever knew in the first place. Biggs Darklighter knew what the galaxy needed and it was finally time for Luke to join him.

His resolve renewed, Luke hopped into the front seat of the Landspeeder and fired up the engine, pushing the speed to full throttle. He tore out of the Jundland Wastes like hell was behind him, leaving a huge cloud of sand and salt in his wake. There was a transport on Mos Espa that would take recruits to the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant. Luke was going to get on that transport and leave Tatooine far, far behind him. Until the day he would come back to turn the Hutts and all their ilk into Galactic History. As Luke sped across the wasteland he had been forced to call home for all eighteen years of his life, he watched the twin suns of Tatooine beginning to crest over the horizon, burning away the night sky and bringing on the fiery dawn of a binary sunrise. It felt like destiny itself was sending him a sign. He was finally going to leave this planet, to step out into the cosmos, to make something of himself. He knew that from this moment forward, his life would never be the same.

OoOoOoO

Obi-Wan Kenobi woke up with the unsettling and unshakable feeling that something was deeply, desperately wrong. He sat up in bed and, paradoxically, closed his eyes. He opened himself to the Force, hoping that it would provide some reassurance and ease his mind. But the Force was not in a particularly reassuring mood that day, if one could ascribe emotion to the Force at all. When Obi-Wan closed his eyes, he knew exactly what was wrong: he could not feel Luke in the Force. Which could only mean one of two things; either Luke was off-planet or he had died. Neither outcome was good and at the moment Obi-Wan could not decide which was worse. He got out of bed and quickly dressed before leaving his hut and setting out for the Lars Homestead.

The sight that greeted Obi-Wan upon his arrival was hardly an encouraging one. Owen and Beru were standing outside their home with forlorn expressions. Owen's expression bordered on furious but both appeared worried, distraught, and… ashamed.

"Good morning," Obi-Wan greeted them once he got close enough for them to notice, "Is everything alright?" When neither responded, he took one glance around their property before finally asking the question whose answer he was dreading. "Where is Luke?"

"Gone," Owen said curtly. Obi-Wan's mouth went dry in a way that he couldn't blame on the desert and he felt his spirits begin to sink. "And he took the damn speeder with him," he added bitterly. There was just enough hope there that Obi-Wan could grasp for it desperately like a man who was falling off the side of a mountain. If Luke was merely off-world then Obi-Wan could track him down. It would be a chance to speak with the boy, to see what was troubling him, and even offer him guidance. As he had done for Luke's father years before.

"He's probably halfway to Coruscant by now," Beru said with a weary sigh that turned the blood in Obi-Wan's veins to ice.

"Coruscant?" he echoed. "Why would he be headed to Coruscant?" Why was Luke heading straight into the heart of the Empire? To the waiting arms of Vader and the Emperor themselves?

Owen scoffed at the question. "Probably joining the Imperial Academy," he guessed. "He's been talking about it for long enough. Just last night, we were having another damn argument about how he thought we'd all be better off if the Empire expanded its reach. He's got this fantasy in his head that if the Empire had control of Tatooine, Stormtroopers would be assaulting Jabba's Palace and not breaking heads of normal people like us." He spat into the sand in disgust. Owen scratched his chin thoughtfully after a moment's silence. "Maybe this is my fault," he admitted. "I should have let him spend more time with you, Kenobi. Maybe let you train him. Could have done him some good to get some context about how we wound up in this mess." Then he shrugged. "Suppose there's no use wondering about that now, though, is there?" he asked as he turned to look at Obi-Wan with a bitter half-smile. But Obi-Wan appeared to just be staring out across the horizon. "Kenobi?" Ben asked.

Obi-Wan had stopped listening after Owen had said the words "Imperial Academy." His heart had fallen into his stomach with the gravity of a collapsing star. How had this happened? How had he allowed it to happen? He had one purpose in life, to watch over Anakin Skywalker's son and shield him from his father and now, while Obi-Wan had been asleep, Luke was running headlong toward him. A hand absently drifted to the space on his hip where a lightsaber's weight had sat for all but the last eighteen years of Obi-Wan's life. This could not be allowed to happen. If there was any chance that Luke was the Chosen One then it would be irresponsible for Obi-Wan to let Sidious turn him to the Dark Side as he had done with Anakin. He would have to track Luke down before he could enlist, before the Emperor could take notice of him, and…

And what?

Kill him?

Obi-Wan's mind drifted back to the day Luke and Leia had been born. How he had held the babies in his arms within moments of their coming into the world. How he had been there with Padmé when she named them and had been at her side when she died. Could he kill one of those same children? Dishonor Padmé's memory so cruelly?

But if he did nothing and simply allowed Luke to join the Empire, to be found and trained by Vader and Sidious, how many would suffer? How much stronger would the Dark Side's hold on the galaxy become? Could he justify all that misery on the life of one boy and the memory of a woman who had been dead for nearly twenty years?

Thinking of Padmé once again, however, it was like an illuminator went off inside Kenobi's mind. There was still one thing he could do, a way he could help without resorting directly to bloodshed.

"I'll transfer ownership of my home to you," Obi-Wan told Owen and Beru absently, as though he were only vaguely aware of their existence. "You'll be able to sell the property and hopefully make back some credits to help replace your speeder. I won't be needing it after tomorrow. I have to go and make preparations." He stopped himself and turned to Owen and Beru to place a comforting hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm sure you did all you could to raise Luke well," he assured them, "But he is still an independent being capable of making his own choices. Do not blame yourselves too much. May the Force be with you." Obi-Wan turned and made his way back to his hut as quickly as he could manage. He packed up what little he owned that he did not intend to sell. Which really only amounted to his Jedi texts and his lightsaber, as well as Anakin Skywalker's. Inside the same box where he kept all of these things, there was a communicator that had gone unused for nearly a decade now. Obi-Wan took a moment to run his thumb over it thoughtfully with the hope that this particular use would not lead to quite as much of an… adventure. "Help me, Bail Organa," Obi-Wan muttered to himself before activating the communicator, "You're my only hope."

A/N: Yes, yes indeed, rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. This was something that I had started working on last year for NaNoWriMo and it felt like a very appropriate time to start posting it. I had hoped to post it on May the Fourth, but life got in the way a little bit. And if you're a long-time reader of mine who'd started to read because of a different project of mine? Your patience will soon be rewarded.