Luke was six when Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru first told him about the shelter. They called him inside to the table and everyone sat down as if they were in a meeting.

Aunt Beru said they were going to practice a safety drill and that it was all pretend. That nothing was happening but it was good to be smart "just in case." If something happened then it was his job to hide in the small shelter that Uncle Owen had dug and stocked with a small footlocker of supplies, including a light and some water. Considering the rarity of water on Tatooine, Luke was baffled that they were hiding bottles of it that were apparently never supposed to be touched.

"If something scary ever happens," Aunt Beru told him, "your job will be to help us by hiding in the shelter and being very quiet. Don't come out for any reason, even if someone tells you to. Even if we tell you to. When it's time to come out, we'll bring you out."

It sounded weird, but it was simple, so he agreed.

"Even if someone says they know you, that they're a friend," Uncle Owen said, "do not believe them. They're lying. Do you understand, Luke? Even if they say they're your father, don't believe them. Don't leave the shelter."

"I understand," he said. "But aren't you going to hide with me?"

"Maybe," Aunt Beru said. "If we don't, it's because we're helping to make things better, all right? Our job is to do that. Your job is to hide. It's teamwork, right?"

Then they practiced running to the shelter and closing the door over his head. Ingeniously, Uncle Owen had designed it so that the paneling blended in with the rest of the floor.

"What's the scariest thing outside of the homestead?" Luke asked when the drill was over. He wasn't afraid-but he was interested.

"Tuskens," Aunt Beru said, while his uncle frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe a sandstorm-a bad one. But as long as you hide in the shelter you have nothing to worry about."

"As long as you listen to your aunt and uncle, you'll always be safe," Uncle Owen said.

That night, Luke had already forgotten the drill. It wasn't his fault-a few stray dewbacks wandered past the homestead and it was all he could think about the rest of the day.

That night, after Aunt Beru put him to bed, he could hear them talking. They whispered or argued sometimes, though they never yelled. This time Aunt Beru sounded more distressed than usual, though. That made him listen instead of letting his mind wander.

"What are our chances realistically, Owen? How much denial are we in?"

"Nothing's going to happen," Uncle Owen said. "Why would it? Even with those…abilities, Tatooine is so far away. It's insignificant. It's for all intents and purposes Hutt Space. They have no reason to come here. He has no reason to come here. Not after his mother. It's just a precaution. We just have to be cautious, that's all. It's what we agreed to."

"But-if it did-will anything we do matter at all?"

"The only other option would be to just let it happen, and we're not doing that. Definitely not just doing that. And anything that buys time could make a difference, Beru."

"Should we tell Ben? See if-"

"No. He needs to stay far away. And good riddance. He'd only make things worse, confirm everything. Besides, if he's half as vigilant as he thinks he is, he might already know if something got to that point."

Eventually they went to bed. Luke didn't know what exactly they were worried about, but he had heard Ben Kenobi's name. Maybe his parents were worried about him, for some reason. But Ben was nice, so it couldn't have been in a bad way.

Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru ran the drill once a year. Occasionally the water in the shelter was replaced. After a while, he never thought about the secret hideaway his uncle had gone to such lengths to make for them.

When he told his friends about it, they said the drill was definitely in case Tuskens attacked, or maybe to hide from some spillover conflict from Mos Eisley or Mos Espa. Both places were controlled by crime lords, and violence was common. On Tatooine there was always a slight chance of danger like that, because of the Hutts. They'd controlled the planet for most of known history. The Empire had a presence on Tatooine now but no one took it seriously.

The drills continued until Luke's age reached the double digits. His guardians trusted him to retain the information after that. Eventually he pushed the shelter far to the back of his mind, never thinking about it at all. Despite its harsh living conditions, nothing ever really happened on Tatooine.

-End-