Hope Reborn - Chapter 1

"Lue," a gentle voice called. "Lue?"

Luke Skywalker took a breath. He rolled onto his side and felt the rough spun blanket that had been draped across his torso. The bed back in his little stone hut was unusually rough and the air was too dry. It had taken some adjustment, but moisture was one of the few constant things he could count on these days. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had been dry. The unending swell of the sea mingled with almost daily rainstorms soaked down through his layers of clothing.

He brushed the thin blankets off. It was too hot to have on. He hadn't felt heat like this since he was a child.

"Lue, can you hear me?" the voice continued.

The only person who ever called him Lue was his aunt. His eyes snapped open. The gentle curve of the adobe walls greeted him. Repurposed ads from Starship Catalogues plastered every available inch. Something else felt off. Luke looked at his hand. His hand. Not the mechanical replacement. His actual flesh and blood hand.

Luke wiggled his fingers. He had had dreams like this before. Usually it ended with his hand popping off and crawling away. One time it had even done a little musical number and hopped out a window. He snapped, clapped, and made a fist. It was his hand. Even the little scar at the base of his thumb was there.

"Lue," his aunt called. "You need to hurry. Your uncle is heading out to trade with the Jawas. I forgot to tell him I need a droid that can speak Bochii."

His aunt popped her head into his room. "Please don't let him buy another one of those 'Jawa Specials' like last time. I'm still finding pieces of it in the fresher."

Luke nodded. She was alive.

He was alive. On Tatooine. This wasn't right. He had joined the Force. His spirit had become one with the Jedi of the past. He shouldn't be here. Had it all been a dream?

Luke wrapped himself in a tunic and stumbled up the stairs. It hadn't been hot in his room; it had been warm. This, out here under the two suns, was hot. He stopped in his tracks as he saw the line of droid setup in front of the sandcrawler. A gold-plated humanoid droid prattled on to his uncle. Luke looked back the row and found R2 waiting nearby.

A smile crossed his face as he raced over to the little droid.

"R2!" He yelled.

"Luke?" His uncle snapped looking over at him. "Do you know that droid?" His uncle shifted his glare to the Jawa nearby. "Are you selling me stolen goods?"

The droid beeped at him in concern.

"No," Luke said quickly. "He's not stolen. He's an R2 unit. Just recognized the model from the cortex."

R2 whoo-ed in a low two-tone reaction.

"This is a good unit," Luke said as he rested a hand on top of the droid.

"I already picked out the red one," his uncle replied.

How had he never noticed how angry his uncle looked? Every look was a glare, every word growled out. Luke had written it off as his uncle being tired, but that wasn't it. He could feel through the Force that his uncle was angry. It was directionless, formless, but there.

Luke blinked. He could feel the Force.

"You want this droid," Luke said with a wave of his hand. "The gold one and this one."

Uncle Owen looked back at the Jawa. "I'll take that droid and this gold one."

R2 hooted.

"Quiet, R2," Luke whispered. "I know what I'm doing."

Once the transaction was complete Luke led the droids down into the garage. He stopped at the steps, looking down at his old speeder. A lump formed in his throat. This was real.

"Excuse me, sir," 3P0 said. "Are we stopping here?"

"No," Luke said. He cleared his throat. "No, I just saw something."

He let 3P0 step into the oil bath. Luke spotted the model ship propped up on the crate nearby. He reached out with the Force, lifting it into the air, and sent it on a gentle loop of the room. For once, 3P0 was silent.

"Sir," the droid said. "Is that a flying model?"

"No 3P0," Luke replied. "Keep that part a secret, got it?"

"Understood, sir," the droid replied.

"It's Luke," he said.

"Understood, Sir Luke," 3P0 replied.

Luke smiled. He sat on the crate and motioned for R2 to come closer. The droid rolled into the space before him.

"If I take off that restraining bolt, we both know you'll make a break for it," Luke said.

"Sir Luke," 3P0 started.

Luke held up a hand.

"R2," Luke said softly. "I can help you find Obi-Wan."

The droid beeped and booped excitedly.

"Sir?" 3P0 asked.

"I know exactly where he is, or rather where he lives, and I know how important it is for you to speak with him," Luke said.

R2 let out a skeptical tone.

"You were on a blockade runner and arrived on the planet by an escape pod," Luke said. "Princess Leia Organna gave you a private message meant for Obi-Wan Kenobi. A squad of Stormtroopers are looking for you as we speak."

R2 went quiet. 3P0 looked from the little droid to their new owner.

"I do say, Sir Luke," 3P0 said. "I have no idea what you are talking about or how you know what you know."

"I'm not an agent of the Empire," Luke said. "I just," he popped the restraining bolt off with a tug of the Force. "Know things," he floated the bolt to a nearby shelf. "We can leave in the morning. I'll take you to Obi-Wan. It's safer than heading out tonight. You don't want to get caught by the Jawa again, or the Tusken Raiders. They would rip you apart hoping to find something tasty inside."

"Oh dear," 3P0 whispered.

"I'm trusting you R2," Luke said. "The princess is trusting you. You carry the hope of the entire rebellion in that little disk you've got. I give you my word that I will take you to him first thing tomorrow."

R2 let out a string of short tones and one long that started high then dropped down low.

"R2," the other droid snapped. "Watch your language. Sir Luke would never betray us."

Luke leaned in closer so only R2 could hear.

"My name is Luke Skywalker," he whispered. "You might recognize the name. My father is Anakin. You got him through the Clone Wars. I think you can get through the night."

R2 squeaked and chirped excitedly.

"I've got to go eat dinner," Luke said. "You two stay here."

He stopped at the top of the stairs to empty out the sand from both his boots.

"Are you alright, Sir Luke," 3P0 asked.

"I don't like sand," he muttered. "It's so coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

All he had done was walk to the sandcrawler and back.

No, that wasn't right. He had slipped into his room and taken a nap after working on the harvesters all morning. His uncle had been distracted at the sight of the Jawa in the distance. That meant the workday was over.

It was going to be night soon. He sat down at the table at the space his aunt had set out for him. She had already poured him some blue milk. He took a sip and smiled. It still tasted horrible, but it was a staple of his childhood. Luke watched his aunt and uncle eat dinner. It had played out like he remembered it. His uncle wanted him to take the droids to get wiped. Luke had agreed but had left out the part about Old Ben. There was something else he wondered about. His busted-up speeder was a second-hand Life Day present from Biggs before he went off planet. His aunt and uncle had their own. Their speeder had a canopy and a full backseat as well, not to mention side storage and an attachable freight unit.

He couldn't just let them be murdered. The talk with R2 had clinched it. This was real. Somehow, he was in the past. This was a chance to change things and to save countless lives. Luke decided to start with his aunt and uncle.

"I can take the droid in to get their memories formatted, but my speeder can't haul unit forty-nine," Luke said casually. "They have a repair droid at Tochii station. I could take your speeder and get it both done in one trip."

His aunt laughed. "Nice try, Lue. You're not going to drive our speeder."

"I don't trust that droid," his uncle grumbled. "It took thirty-one down to half capacity when I took it in for cleaning. We'll head to Eracian and get him to fix it up."

"Owen," his aunt said. "That trip will take all day."

Luke smiled. His aunt wasn't worried about how long the trip would take. She was worried Own would come home smelling like three-day old droid lubricant again.

"I'll go with you," she said.

"And leave Luke alone?" His uncle snapped.

"I won't be alone," Luke cut in. "I've got the two new droids to set in rotation and with forty-nine out for repair I'm going to need to adjust the others nearby. If I don't then they'll wear out trying to account for a unit that isn't there. I can get it done, but I'll have to take a shell with me just in case."

The shell was a hardened compartment that fit a single average humanoid, or two depending how desperate you were. It protected against the drop in temperature and roving wildlife. A low power camouflage unit made it look like just another rock.

"Just in case," Luke added.

His aunt and uncle traded a look. Luke sighed.

"The deal is next season," Luke said quietly. "I get it. I'm not going anywhere until next season. It just kind of clicked," Luke explained. "I can either whine about it constantly and every day until next season will get longer and longer. Or I can keep busy and the time will go by faster. I'm good with machines and there are plenty of things that need to be fixed or maintained around here."

"That," his uncle said. "That's good to hear, Luke."

"Very mature," his aunt added. She smiled and gave Luke's hand a gentle squeeze.

His uncle nodded, "we'll take forty-nine over to Eracian tomorrow. Don't make me regret this."

Luke stared at his uncle for a moment. He nodded.

"I promise."

Luke finished his meal as fast as he could. The longer he was there the more likely that his uncle would change his mind. Luke hurried back to the garage. He let out long breath as he found both droids waiting patiently. Sure, he had dropped a couple of names and made promises, but it was still up in the air if R2 would actually listen.

Now all he had to do was go with Ben, hire Han and Chewie, rescue Leia, and blow up the Deathstar. Along the way he wanted to save Ben and redeem his father. The next couple of weeks were going to be busy.

~

AN: A preview of one of the possible stories