Someone was in the house.

Camie opened her eye and reached for the old blaster rifle that she kept at her bedside. She didn't bother asking how someone could have bypassed the alarm system that Fixer had set up before … don't think about that now, Camie … because she knew it was time that she didn't have. If the alarm had failed, and the intruder was a Jawa then they would have grabbed whatever was the most valuable thing nearest the door and bolted … if they had even been brave enough to enter the house instead of the garage. A Tusken Raider would have killed her before she had time to wake up. This was something worse.

This was people.

A neighbor or a friendly would have announced themselves before entering the house even if they had found the alarm down. A scavenger … or one of those drunken farm boys she encountered time to time to who thought a woman homesteading by herself needed company would not have been this quiet. Whoever it was didn't want her to know they were there …

Camie took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm. She could do this. She could protect herself.

She was all she had.

Fixer …

She wasn't ready to join him yet.

She crept out of the bedroom, towards the living area, blast rifle in hand.. Voices. Multiple voices. At least two men. A woman. And some alien she didn't recognize that liked to growl. And at least one droid judging by the sounds …

"I thought you said this place was a burnt out shell," one of the voices said when she got close enough to hear them clearly. It was one of the men.

"Obviously someone else took over," the woman said. "And they're probably still home, so keep your voice down."

They didn't sound hostile, but Camie had learned a long time ago that didn't mean anything. She flipped the blast rifle to stun (she wasn't sure she could kill someone) and spoke up. "Everyone stand very still. I've got a blaster and I'm not afraid to use it."

"Young miss, we're not here to hurt you." A tall black man with a mustache held his hands up in a placating gesture. His voice was soothing. "We didn't know that anyone would be here. We just needed a place to lay low ..."

The blast rifle flew out of her hands and into the arms of the other man who stood in shadows.

Camie gaped at them. She turned and made a run for the kitchen … and her knives.

"Camie!"

She knew that voice.

"Wormie?" she whispered.

"I prefer the name Luke," he said with a gentle smile as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Luke Skywalker ..."

"Miss … Camie is it?" The woman was young … no older than Camie herself … and extremely pretty. She laid a hand on Luke's shoulder. "We aren't here to hurt you. Luke didn't know that anyone would be here. We needed a place to rest and plan to help another friend of ours who's being held by Jabba the Hutt."

"Jabba? You're going against Jabba?" Camie stared back at them. "You're all kriffing crazy!"

"Yeah, I told them that too," the black man said with a smile. "But here we are."

"Camie … we're not asking you to join us."

"Good. Because there's no kriffing way-"

"We just need a place for my friends to stay a few days. I've got something to take care of, and I need to do it alone." He looked around. "Where's Fixer?"

"Dead." It hurt to say it. It hurt to live it. "Landspeeder accident a year ago. We'd just started homesteading here."

"Force, Camie. I'm sorry ..." he walked towards her.

He was different. Somehow, he seemed more mature … more competent … nothing like the boy who used to stammer and turn red every time he tried to talk to her. He'd a crush on her.

Lots of boys had a crush on her once upon a time, Camie thought bitterly. They used to call her "the prettiest girl on Tatooine."

They didn't call her that any longer.

She stepped back into the shadows. She didn't want Luke to see her. She didn't want to see the pity in his eyes. "Thank you. Who are you? The rest of you, I mean?"

A gleaming golden droid stepped forward. "Pleased to meet you. I am C-Threepio. Human Cyborg Relations. My compatriot is R2D2-"

"That's enough, Threepio," the woman said. "The smooth talker is Lando Calrisan. The Wookie-"

"Wookie? There's a Wookie here?"

A furry hand placed itself on her shoulder … on her blind side. It squeezed gently before letting go.

"The Wookie is Chewbacca. My name is Leia Organa-"

"Leia Organa? The Princess?" Even on Tatooine, they had heard news of Alderaan's destruction. "You're dating a Princess, Luke?"

Luke blushed. "We're not dating. We're friends."

"Oh."

"Camie … just let us stay here tonight. Tomorrow we'll be on our way." Luke started to walk forward.

Camie retreated. "Okay. You can stay here tonight." She chuckled nervously. "It used to be your home, after all."

"I don't think Uncle Owen or Aunt Beru would mind," Luke said. "I was never cut out to be a moisture farmer."

"That's for certain. Fixer always thought you and Biggs would make it to the Academy and then we'd never see you again-"

"Biggs is gone, Camie."

"His parents said he never made it to the Academy. He must have jumped ship."

"He did. He joined the Rebellion. He died at Yavin." Luke closed his eyes.

"Oh no, Luke. I'm sorry. Biggs was such a good guy. I know you two were close." She stepped towards him.

She stepped into the light.

Luke gasped. "Camie …."

The look. The look everyone gave her. The reason she preferred to live kilometers away from everyone else … even with all the dangers of the Tatooine desert.

She hated that look.

Pity.

She had tied her hair up as she did every night. Her missing right eye … the burn scars on the right side of her face … even with the dim night lighting they were clearly visible.

Camie let her hair down, covering that side of her face as she habitually did whenever she had to be around other people. "The landspeeder accident I told you about, Luke. The one that killed Fixer. I was in the speeder too."

"I'm sorry, Camie-"

Camie wouldn't look at Luke. She couldn't stand to see that look again. Instead, she looked into the eyes of the woman … Leia Organa. "Before Luke left … before the accident … they used to call me the prettiest girl on Tatooine. That's why he's looking at me like that. Make yourselves comfortable. In the morning, I'll make breakfast before you go."

"Camie-"

"Don't, Wormie." She moved past him without looking at him. "Just don't."

"Camie-"

"Goodnight … Luke."

She left left them … left him … standing in the dark and went back to bed.

Alone.

Author's Note. So this was inspired by the beginning of The Last Jedi novelization. Camie and Fixer were in a scene that was cut out of the first Star Wars. Google "Camie from Star Wars" and you'll see what the actress (a young Koo Stark) looked like. I think Camie could make Luke forget all about kissing his sister … and a non Mara Jade relationship kind of interested me. Koo Stark was in an auto accident, and that gave me the idea for the landspeeder accident. She was not hurt nearly as bad as Camie was in this AU, thankfully.