Hope Reborn - Chapter 2

Luke loaded up R2 and 3P0 into the speeder before sunrise. It had been too hard to sleep. Instead, he had settled for meditation. He could feel the Force just as strong as the day he had died. If anything, it was stronger. Luke had no idea how much he had tapped into it without even knowing. Little things like fixing machines, driving his speeder, or even navigating the sands without hitting sinking patches. All these unconscious activations that stacked one on top of another.

He could understand now. Training with Ben and Yoda wasn't about finding the Force like a pocket of water on Tatooine, it was more like riding the rapids on Kamino. He could focus the flow into a pinpoint of immense power, wear it like armor, or float in the currents. Luke had to stop himself from delving too deep. He wasn't supposed to be able to use the Force yet. It would draw too much attention if he continued.

Luke thought of Ben and Yoda, or the other Jedi who survived Order 66. He had found more Force Users once the bounties weren't being paid. Not to mention the prisoners held in various facilities. Blowing up the second Deathstar and the Emperor dying hadn't destroyed the Empire, that took time. Liberating system after system, each one with a Moff and thousands of stormtroopers. That was a problem for another day. The matter at hand was his presence in the Force. Right now, there weren't supposed to be more than a handful of Force Users, Jedi or Sith, and he wasn't counted among them. There had to be a way to mask himself. That way he could still be in touch with the Force but not become a beacon.

He paused after strapping R2 into the speeder. It didn't have a backseat, but it did have a broken droid dock.

"Just..." Luke said. "Don't try to connect. I don't know what would happen but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be pleasant."

R2 beeped in reply.

"He understands, Sir Luke," 3P0 said.

Luke lost himself in the trip. Without an attack by the Tusken Raiders the stretch from the homestead to Obi-Wans hut was rather boring. Luke focused on the Force around him. Tatooine was a harsh and unforgiving world, but even it was teeming with currents of the Force. Those sensitive to the Force were like pebbles in the stream, a stronger connection were larger bits of stone holding fast in the flow. Right now, he was an island. He hadn't needed to hide himself in the Force. His self-imposed exile handled that.

He held the imagery of an island in a stream. Its absence would garner as much, if not more, attention that its presence. Luke studied the smaller points of interest. On closer inspection he could see that they weren't necessarily smaller, just obscured. The peddles were, in fact, the tips of a much larger piece. Luke pulled the speeder off the small road and brought it to a stop,

"Sir Luke," 3P0 said. "There does not appear to be any sort of lodging nearby."

"No," Luke replied. "There isn't. I need a moment."

"Ah," 3P0 said. "Biological needs. Understood."

Luke smiled, "something like that."

He closed his eyes, conjuring the island in the stream again. Slowly, he adjusted the flow, shaping it to cover his imprint. He could feel the change in his very being. The Force rumbled along, now submerging his island save for a small bit that didn't look out of place with those around him. Luke could still feel his connection to the Force. It had changed, but not diminished. It felt almost like when he had died and become one. Instead of having the flow move around him, he was part of it.

Luke felt something shift in his connection. He could feel something deep below him move. Almost as though a large pit had opened under his feet. Luke could see it. His connection to the force was much deeper than he had ever realized. His training had been incomplete, the knowledge he was able to compile was not the same as actual experience. The life of Luke Skywalker Jedi Master connected to Luke Skywalker Tatooine Farm-boy. In that connection the true size of his power in the Force took shape. There was so much of his potential that had faded away before he had a chance to train with Yoda.

The island in the stream shifted again. This time it lurched upward, piercing the flow, and towering over its previous form. Luke swayed in his seat. This was more power than he had ever dreamed. Lifting an X-Wing would have been easy. Right now, he felt like he could pull a Star Destroyer out of orbit.

Something nearby in the Force moved. It was another Force User. Much farther down the stream he could see another presence. He had tried to hide himself and had managed to bring even more attention. Luke blocked out the others, focusing only on himself. With all this power there had to be something he could do.

He needed to change his approach. Luke smiled, Tatooine given him the answer.

Moisture farmers didn't just have one unit for collection. Trying to pull from a single location never worked. The units had to be spaced out for maximum yield. Luke sculpted his presence, flattening the island out along the flow, and raising a multitude of smaller pillars. The interest from afar, and nearby, faded once he was complete. That had been harder than he had expected.

"Are you well, Sir Luke?" 3P0 asked.

"Yes," Luke said. "Let's get going."

~ꬸ~

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Ben said. "Obi-Wan, now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. A long time."

"I think my uncle knows him," Luke said trying to sound confused. It wasn't hard considering it took considerable concentration to remember what he had said all those years ago. "He said he was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead," the old man said. He paused. "Not yet."

"You know him?" Luke asked.

"Well of course I know him," Ben said patting his chest. "He's me."

R2 beeped excitedly.

"I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since, oh, before you were born," the Jedi hermit said.

"Well then, the droid does belong to you," Luke said.

"I don't seem to ever remember owning a droid," Ben said looking at R2. "Very interesting."

Luke couldn't hold back his smile. In the previous life, R2 had recounted the multitude of adventures Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan had had through the Clone Wars. The droid had been there for most, if not all, of it. The conversation was close enough to the first time, but the location had changed. They sat in Bens hut instead of out on the dunes and 3P0 didn't need to be put back together this time.

"The only thing that makes sense is if your father or I had owned the droid during the Clone Wars," Obi-Wan said.

"My father didn't fight in the war," Luke said. "He was a navigator on a spice freighter."

"That's what your uncle told you," Obi-Wan said. "He didn't hold to your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved."

"You fought in the Clone Wars?" He asked.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said with a nod. "I was once a Jedi Knight, same as your father." Obi-Wan pushed himself to his feet. "That reminds me. I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this once you were old enough."

Obi-Wan opened an old chest and pulled the lightsaber hilt from inside. Luke stared as the old man moved closer. There were words being spoken, but he didn't hear them.

"Your father's lightsaber," Obi-Wan said offering him the lightsaber. "This is the weapon of a Jedi knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age."

Luke knew what he was supposed to say. He was supposed to ask about his father. Then Obi-Wan would tell half-truths. Luke didn't have it in him to listen to it again. He looked over to R2.

"I saw part of the message before, but-" Luke said.

"It seems I have found it," Obi-Wan said.

The message played out. Luke could feel his chest tighten. Leia, his sister.

"You must learn the ways of the Force," Obi-Wan said. "If you're to come with me to Alderaan. I need your help, Luke; she needs your help. I'm getting too old for this."

Luke thought for a long moment. What was he supposed to say now? Would the Stormtroopers be attacking the homestead already? Were they still ambushing the Jawa? His aunt and uncle had left for the day, there wasn't any reason to go back to the homestead. Luke didn't want to see what had happened if they had stayed. Once was more than enough.

"I want to come with you to Alderaan," Luke said softly. "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi, like my father."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Come, then. We will need a ship to get us off planet."

They packed up a few Obi-Wans possessions and left for Mos Eisley. This time they didn't stop to look at it from above. Coming in via a side-road bypassed the Stormtrooper checkpoint entirely. Even with a standing garrison there were only so many places they could guard.

Luke pulled the speeder up in front of the cantina.

"Watch your step," Obi-Wan said. "This place can be a little rough."

Luke nodded. He followed the old man into the cantina. They had barely made it inside when Luke sent the droids back out to wait. He stepped up to the bar and waited. A brief moment later he felt a rough hand on his shoulder. Luke brushed it off and turned back to look at the bar.

"He doesn't like you," an alien growled, getting into Luke's face.

In all his years travelling the galaxy he had never seen another alien quiet like this one. It was possible they were some sort of cross-species, but what he couldn't tell. There were human features, but they had a porcine nose. The side of their face was twisted up in a scar which didn't help matters.

Luke didn't react.

"I don't like you either," the alien continued. "You just watch yourself. We're wanted me. I've got the death sentence on twelve systems."

Luke looked over his shoulder. Ben was busy talking to a couple of different ship captains. One of whom pointed out Chewbacca.

"You don't want to start a fight," Luke said.

"I don't want to start a fight," the alien repeated.

"You want to go home and rethink your life," Luke said.

"I want to go home and rethink my life," the alien said. He turned around and walked out of the cantina without another word.

"Luke?" Obi-Wan said.

"Yes?" Luke replied.

"Was there trouble?" The old man asked.

"No," Luke answered with a small shake of his head. "Just some guys with a big mouth."

Obi-Wan nodded looking over Luke for a moment longer.

"Yes," the old Jedi said. "Chewbacca here has told us he is the co-pilot on a ship we might be able to charter."

Luke kept quiet through the negotiations this time. He hadn't helped matters last time. Even now, he had to struggle against the emotions of his younger body. His feelings were constantly intense from one moment to another.

"We'll have to sell your speeder," Obi-Wan said.

"It's okay," Luke replied. "I don't plan on coming back to this planet."