Rules? What Rules?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story itself. Although I suppose Disney could lay claim to this as well if they wanted to. I wouldn't know, seeing as I'm not fluent in legalese.

Summary: Yoda and Obi-Wan have decided that Luke must remain untrained until he's old enough to defend himself. Qui-Gon has decided that's a load of Bantha poodoo.

Chapter One: Don't try this at home

It was right there! So close and yet so far away. Standing on his bed, Luke stared longingly at the miniature TIE fighter lying on the top of the dresser across the room. Luke pouted as he remembered his Uncle Owen placing it there earlier in the day, out of his reach. Apparently it 'wasn't nice' to refuse to share your toys. Luke didn't care; that Biggs kid should have brought his own!

"Use the force, Luke." Luke stumbled and fell on his butt as he searched for the source of the voice. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't see anyone else in the room and he struggled back to his feet, again staring at the TIE.

"Concentrate on the toy." Luke glanced from side to side, again looking for the mysterious voice. Maybe he should just do what the voice said? Well, he didn't know what concentrate meant anyways, so he turned back to the TIE.

"It means focus," the voice said. "Oh, Force; you don't know what that means either, do you?"

"I know what focus means!" Luke cried indignantly. Of course he knew what it meant! He was four years old, after all. He wasn't as stupid as the voice was implying.

"Focus on the TIE, Luke." Luke considered disobeying the voice, just to spite it for calling him stupid, but after a few moments of deliberation, he decided that he had nothing better to do anyway. And it wasn't all that different from what he'd been doing before, at that. So he went back to staring at the TIE, his eyes narrowed to slits, and he focused on it for all he was worth.

"Very good, Luke," the rude voice said again. "Now reach out to it." Luke stretched out his arm as far as he could; Nothing happened, and he took the opportunity to examine his arm. It was tanned from the hot Tatooine suns, and it was also somewhat-

"Reach out with the force. Not your arm, Youngling." Luke began to lower his arm again.

"Wait!" the voice said. "You should probably keep your arm up, actually. To help you focus." Luke wished the voice would stop contradicting itself and just give him straightforward instructions. He glared all around him as he raised his arm once again, and the voice seemed to get the message.

"Use the force, Luke," the voice said again. Luke rolled his eyes. He hoped the voice would just get on with it. He wanted the toy, sure, but listening to the droning voice was rather boring. "Feel the energy deep inside of you. Imagine a light and submerge yourself within it!" The voice seemed to be getting excited, but there was a small problem.

"Uh, Mr. Voice? Wha's submarge mean?"

He heard the voice sigh, rather loudly, before it answered. "Submerge, Youngling. It means to go under or inside."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Luke grumbled.

"Ahem," the voice said, clearing its throat. "Feel the light, and submerge yourself within it. Grab onto it Luke, and feel the force within."

Luke glanced around skeptically, but ultimately decided to follow the voice's directions. He imagined the twin suns of Tatooine, the brightest things he knew. He held that image for a second before it began to change on its own volition. Seconds later, he could instead see a bright light. He imagined that he was there, within it. At this point, he had forgotten the voice's directions, and was merely following his instinct.

The light was all around him, and it filled him up. It was the brightest thing Luke had ever seen, but as he stared straight into it, it didn't blind him. Instead, he felt immeasurably warm, and full of energy.

"That's very good, Luke," the voice said, and it snapped Luke from his reverie. He knew his normal response would be to glare at the voice, wherever it was, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to do it right then, as full of light as he was. The light was soothing, and his worries fell away as if they had never been. He heard the voice speaking in the background again, but he didn't pay it much attention.

Instead, he listened to the light. It didn't speak per se, but he suddenly had a strong urge to once again lift his arm, which he had let drop while he was enraptured by the light. He focused on the TIE fighter, and now he knew exactly what to do. He reached out with the light, and pulled it to him. It shook slightly, before it slowly floated over to Luke and into his outstretched hand. He stared at the toy in wonder as his control over the light slipped and left him, upon which he felt strangely drained of energy.

"Wow," Luke whispered. "Did I just do that?"

"Yes, Young-" the voice began, but Luke once again ignored it.

"I can do magic!" Luke shouted, springing up from his bed, still clutching the TIE tightly in his hand. He ran out of the room shouting, "Unca Owen! Aunt Beru! I can do magic!"

Qui-Gon flickered into view, shaking his head at Luke's back and thanking the force that he'd had the foresight to wait until Luke's aunt and uncle were out of the house. He sighed to himself. Force knew that the boy would need training- he had no idea what his padawan was thinking, just acquiescing to the couple's wishes and letting the supposed future savior of the galaxy go untrained. Fortunately for Luke's destiny, Qui-Gon had never been one for following the rules.

Unfortunately for Qui-Gon, he'd just seen an example of what he could expect for at least the next four years in regards to Luke, if not more. It was strange really, when the boy's father had been rather quiet- the exact opposite of Luke's exuberance- as a child, almost emotionless at first. Of course, it could just be the fact that one had been raised a slave and one was being raised in freedom with loving guardians, or that Anakin had been over twice Luke's age when Qui-Gon had first met him. Whatever the reason, Qui-Gon knew that for the next few years, his patience would be tried like it never had before.

He groaned as he floated after the future savior of the galaxy. The incredibly loud future savior of the galaxy. The incredibly stubborn future savior of the galaxy. The incredibly- Okay, he needed to stop that line of thought immediately, before he managed to talk himself out training the boy altogether.

Luke wasn't exactly the ideal Jedi in certain areas. For instance, it was truly a struggle just getting him to sit down for meditation, much less actually teach him to meditate.

"Sit down, Youngling."

"Don' wanna."

"You're going to need to sit down in order to meditate."

"Whassat?"

"Meditation, Luke, is a process in which one focuses their mind or thinks deeply on a subject. You will be using it to connect with the Force, and to find your inner peace."

"I don' wan' peas!"

"Peace, Luke, peace. Not peas."

"Oh, ok . . . can I go outside now?"

"No. We're meditating. Remember?"

"We are?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Although, while he did have the patience of a normal young boy, and not an indoctrinated Jedi youngling, he was particularly talented in most other aspects of the force. He could already heal cuts or scrapes easily- he tended to get those a lot, with his natural recklessness, so this was a particularly important skill. He was practically prodigal when it came to levitation and various physical manipulations of objects, which was to be expected, when his father had had an absurd midicholorian count that must have been passed onto his son.

He was quickly learning Force Concealment, mainly due to the fact that Qui-Gon devoted an excessive amount of time to teaching it. It was very necessary, due to the fact that without it, Luke's force presence would have grown enough that he would have been discovered by the Emperor or Vader within a number of months. His realized force presence was one of the downsides to teaching Luke at a young age, before he could adequately defend himself and Qui-Gon did have to remind Luke quite a number of times before he started holding the concealment constantly.

Luke wasn't particularly well versed in most body enhancement force powers, owing to his young age. It would be more harmful than beneficial to work on those until he was much older.

As Luke grew older, Qui-Gon began to send him on minor excursions. In the beginning, it was to simply help his neighbors where he could. Luke had shown considerable resistance at first, but gradually grew used to the menial tasks.

"I believe the Loneozner family is having difficulties with their R4 unit."

"So?"

"You are going to help them out."

"Nu-uh."

"Yes, you are"

"Nope."

"I will assist you in learning one superfluous force skill for every five tasks of my choosing that you complete."

"Master Qui-Gon?"

"Yes, Luke?"

"What's superfluous mean?"

"It means unnecessary. In your case, you simply do not require many force skills, due to your isolation and lack of complicated or abstract tasks that would require them."

"Well, that's not my fault."

"I didn't say it was, youngling."

"Just making sure. What kind of force powers could I learn anyways?"

"There are too many to name without writing them down."

"Should I go get something to write with then?"

"I couldn't even list them all. As you may have noticed, I'm not exactly corporeal, and I don't have a way of writing down the information."

"Then how will I know what to ask for?"

"It's a rather complicated explanation, really."

"Master Qui-Gon . . . stop being dramatic, and just tell me!"

"Younglings . . . no patience these days."

"Have 'younglings' ever been patient?"

"Not really. But one can dream."

"Well, I'm not patient either. I wanna know!"

"As I've undoubtedly told you, I'm the only Jedi- of those who have become one with the Force- currently able to manifest as a visible apparition to the living."

"You never told me that. And that was way more complicated than it needed to be. You really could have just said you're the only dead Jedi who could talk to me."

"Well, now you know. And youngling? There is no death. There is only-"

"The force. I know, I know. Don't worry, old man. I'm not your last padawan. No senility for me!"

"He's not senile . . . just stupid."

"Well, whatever he is, let's get back on topic. How would you know so many force techniques to teach me if you consider them inconsequential or useless?"

"I never said they're useless, youngling. However, it's true that I've never used many of the possible force techniques."

"Then how could you teach me, Master?

"While I may not know them, I'm in contact with those that do."

"Uh, come again? I thought you said that there were only two Jedi Masters alive, which included your decision making impaired apprentice. Are you talking to Yoda about different force powers or something?"

"Not exactly. I'm actually in contact with a few Jedi who have managed to maintain their consciousness. While they didn't know how to appear to the living, and it is far too long since their death to learn, I am still able to commune with them."

"But master Qui-Gon! There is no death! There's only . . . the force."

"Don't patronize me, youngling. First you wish for me to simplify it, and when I do, you mock me. Do you want me to go back to my 'overly complicated' speeches?"

"No, no. Keep it simple!"

"That's what I thought. The point is, the Jedi who accidentally retain their individuality upon death tend to be those extremely skilled at manipulating the force, which makes finding those who know abstract skills a much simpler task."

"So what kind of skills could you find for me?"

"Through my good friend Plo-Koon, you could learn weather manipulation, although it would take years of focus and study to master."

"That's lame. Does your friend have any other cool skills?"

"He did develop a skill that he calls 'Electric Judgement,' but I won't allow you to learn it until you are much older and more in control of your emotions. It's a very difficult skill that is closer to the dark side than many of the masters of the Jedi Order were happy with."

"So if I'm not going to learn those two, what others are there?"

"There's Ionize-"

"That sounds awesome. What does it do?"

"It's actually a rather useful skill that allows you to overload electrical systems. It was commonly used to shut down droids, and many chose to call it 'Droid Disable.'

"I wanna learn that one, then."

"Are you sure? I haven't even listed very many yet."

"I'm sure. And if I want to learn more things, I'll just have to help people around here. I'll only need to do five tasks per force skill. So when can we get started on this Ionize skill?"

"Hold your Banthas, Luke. I refuse to begin teaching you until you've completed five tasks already."

"Aww, Kriff!"

"Language, youngling."

"Why do you keep calling me youngling? It's kind of annoying."

"Youngling is the term that we Jedi used to refer to children. You are young; therefore, you are a youngling."

"Any chance you'll stop doing that?"

"Not until you are no longer a youngling, Luke."

"I didn't think so- wait, when will I not be a youngling?"

"Compared to me? Not until you're in your fifties at least. I have every right to continue calling you a youngling until you near the age at which I died."

"Aww, Kriff."

"Again- watch your language, youngling."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, old man. What family did you say I needed to help?"

"The Loneozner family. They're having problems with their R4 droid."

"I'll get right on it. But you'd better keep your promise! Only five per force skill!"

"Jedi do not lie, youngling. We obfuscate, withhold the truth, or divert attention, but never lie."

"That's a load of Bantha poodoo, and you know it."

"Be that as it may, you have a job to do. The droid won't fix itself."

"I'm going, I'm going . . ."

A few years after Qui-Gon began bribing him to complete menial tasks, his master decided that he needed experience in actual battle. As Luke was a Jedi padawan hiding from the Empire, he couldn't really go on a killing spree, due to his being a Jedi, and he couldn't search for more Jedi padawans, due to the fact that Jedi were hunted. There probably weren't any left in the first place, and even if they were, he didn't exactly have any way of finding them. So instead of the usual Jedi training methods, Qui-Gon began to send Luke to take care of any dangerous beasts nearing the Tatooinian settlements.

Most notably were the Krayt dragons. It was rare that one would come close enough to be a danger, but it did happen.

"Luke."

"Mmmmm . . .Yes, Master? If you hadn't noticed, it's about three in the morning . . . can this wait?"

"No, no it can't . . . Luke, wake up . . . you leave me no choice. Luke! The Emperor's here to capture you!"

"Ah! What? Where? . . . Qui-Gon, stop doing that. I told you my nightmares in strict confidence."

"And I haven't told anyone else. Besides, your nightmares are incredibly strange and if they get you out of bed, I'm not going to shy away from utilizing their effects."

"I don't need to be awakened with the thought that there's a pedophile right nearby!"

"As I said, your dreams are incredibly strange."

"And it was incredibly strange how you told me about dad's fall. I mean, seriously. 'Palpatine preyed on your father when he was a young boy.' Why would you say it like that?!"

"In my defense, I had no idea that your twelve year old mind would take it way out of context and come up with warped nightmares based on the misunderstanding."

"But still! There were so many other ways you could have said it!"

"That's enough of that."

"At least admit you made a mistake or at least a really strange decision!"

"Anyway, the reason I woke you-"

"It had better be a good reason. I don't make a habit of waking at three in the morning! And don't try to play this off as some kind of Jedi training. You've told me enough stories for me to know that a number of Jedi slept in until the afternoon on days when they didn't have a mission. I'm not conditioning myself to wake up at three in the morning, no matter what you say, Master."

"You could have just let me speak. It was in fact for a specific reason. There is a Krayt dragon nearby."

"How 'nearby'?

"A little over a kilometer away."

"Son of a Bantha!"

"My sentiments exactly. Somehow, I doubt you wish to lose a few neighbors on this fine morning."

"You got that right. Kriff. A Krayt dragon! Master, what am I supposed to do with a kriffing Krayt dragon?! I don't have a lightsaber!"

"Language, Luke."

"I think I've got better things to worry about right now, Master! A Krayt dragon is more important than some foul language."

"I'll concede the point, youngling."

"But Master? How am I supposed to take care of a Krayt dragon?"

"You have a vibroblade and a blaster. Use them in conjunction with the force, and I have faith that you will get the job done."

"I'm not sure about this, Master. But I have to try. I can't just let it kill innocent people!"

And that was Luke's current quest. He was to kill a Krayt dragon lingering dangerously close to the surrounding moisture farms. Luke jogged three quarters of the way to the dragon; with the endurance training Qui-Gon had started him on, it wasn't overly tiring, and he only slowed down in order to maintain the element of surprise.

Luke was rather nervous about his mission. He had never seen a real live Krayt dragon before, much less fought one, and it would be an entirely new experience. He'd also heard the tales about their fearsomeness and strength. Equipped with only a vibroblade and a blaster, he couldn't help but be nervous.

It wasn't long before he happened upon his beastly foe. "Whoa," Luke whispered. The dragon hadn't reached full maturity, which was rather lucky for Luke. It was only around thirty meters, which, while a considerable size, wasn't even close to the average size of a fully grown Krayt dragon, forty five meters.

Luke crept closer, step by step. While it may not have been honorable to kill an enemy in its sleep, he would do what it took to protect his relatives and neighbors. He gripped his blaster, preparing to fire into the dragon's barely protected cranium, hoping against hope that it wouldn't wake up.

Luck wasn't on his side, or perhaps the force was testing him. Whatever it was, the Krayt dragon began to stir when Luke flipped his blaster from stun to kill. As he stepped forward to get a better shot, the dragon leapt up and charged towards Luke. He was understandably startled by this, and made to leap out of the way. Unfortunately, the dragon was much faster than he had anticipated and instead of a calculated jump, he ended up diving to the side. He landed heavily and was forced to release his blaster, which went skittering away.

Luke scrambled to his feet in order to chase after it, but the dragon had turned around and was charging again. "Oh, Kriff." Luke panicked, and did the only thing he could think to do. With not enough time to get out of the dragon's way- it was rather large and it was already close by when it started its latest charge- he instead jumped straight up.

His split second decision was actually partially due to a holothriller he'd seen once about this exact situation. Well, the thriller hadn't starred a Jedi in training, because the Empire had outlawed anything relating to the Jedi around the time of Luke's birth. But it had been a daring explorer, instead, who had taken a running leap off of a cliff to land on the back of a Krayt dragon.

At the time, Luke had scoffed at it, pointing out how stupid the move was. Now, his first hand experience was affirming his beliefs; it was in fact incredibly stupid to jump onto the back of a Krayt dragon. For one thing, as soon as he landed, he had to struggle to hold on by one of the dragon's spikes, while at the same time trying not to be impaled by another spike.

For another, he had no idea what he was going to do next. Every time he tried to reach for his vibroblade, the dragon made a sharp turn or sped up. Luke wasn't proficient enough with illusions yet to use them in the heat of battle, or while riding on the back of a Krayt dragon, so the dragon certainly knew that he was there. And it was trying its hardest to get him off. Luke had to hold on tightly with both hands in order to not get unseated when the dragon took to slamming into the side of a rocky outcropping.

Luke couldn't see where he'd dropped his blaster, so retrieving it with telekinesis was out. He couldn't reach his vibroblade, so that was out. His only remaining option seemed to be using the force. He cursed his lack of planning; if he'd remembered to set up some kind of illusion, the dragon wouldn't have been alerted to his presence at all, but he had gotten arrogant and assumed that he could sneak up on it without any form of concealment.

Nothing for it now. He would just have to use the force. He raised his right hand, tightening his left hand so he didn't get thrown off, and pushed. One hand wasn't enough to hold on, owing to the recoil from the point blank force wave and the dragon's continued struggling. Even as he fell and prepared to roll and cushion the fall, Luke could see the dragon. As if in slow motion, the beast's cranium crumpled inwards, before it exploded, showering the area- and Luke- in brain fluid and pieces of the dragon's head.

Luke just laid there next to the dragon's carcass for a few minutes, exulting in his success. Maybe he could have done it much more easily, if he'd been more prepared, but in his defense, it had been barely three thirty in the morning by the time he'd reached the dragon. He hadn't exactly been wide awake or thinking clearly. He was now, however, just calming down from the adrenaline rush.

"Luke." Luke groaned; he'd been hoping to not hear from his master for at least a few more minutes. The desert sand was almost cool at night and he'd have liked just five more minutes to relax after killing a Krayt dragon. But no; no rest for him. He was a Jedi apprentice and needed to be berated for everything he'd done wrong immediately.

"What?" Luke wasn't really in the mood to chat at the moment, and he definitely wasn't in the mood for a complete list of every single one of his mistakes.

"The pearls, Luke," Qui-Gon said.

"What pearls?" Luke asked, straining to remember if his master had ever mentioned any specific pearls before. At least his Master wasn't lecturing him about his stupidity.

"The Krayt dragon pearls," Qui-Gon said. "Or pearl, I suppose. We won't know until you find them- or it."

"Oh, those," Luke muttered. "Wait a second. You mean I've got to stick my hand into that thing?" He gestured vaguely towards the dragon carcass lying next to him.

"Yes, Padawan," Qui-Gon said. "Those pearls won't harvest themselves, and as you may have noticed, I'm not exactly corporeal."

"That's just great. I killed it; why can't someone else get their hand all slimy?" Luke stomped his foot, feeling very much like a two year old. He ignored the feeling and continued to pout, despite knowing that it was his exhaustion speaking. With the adrenaline wearing off, he could feel his lack of sleep acutely.

"I assumed you'd rather claim the pearls for yourself. You did kill the beast by yourself, after all. However, I suppose you could walk all the way to the nearest town, pay for some help, and split the value of the pearl or pearls two or three ways." As usual, Qui-Gon was the voice of reason, if not a very welcome one.

"Ok, I'm getting up," Luke mumbled.

"Now actually get up," Qui-Gon said fifteen seconds later, when Luke still hadn't shown any signs of movement.

"Fine," Luke said, groaning as he slowly clambered to his feet.

Twenty minutes later, Luke was holding two pearls. "I had hoped you could use one of them as a lightsaber crystal," Qui-Gon said with a sigh.

"Why can't I?" Luke asked.

"They're red," Qui-Gon said bluntly. "You're a Jedi. You're not allowed to have a red lightsaber."

"Makes sense," Luke said. "I'd probably be more annoyed if I'd actually wanted a red lightsaber. But I think I'd rather have a green one."

"Which will be difficult to acquire," Qui-Gon said. "But not impossible."

"And how do you suggest I get a green crystal, Master?" Luke asked.

"Luke," Qui-Gon said in an apparent non sequitur. "Is there any way you could leave the farm for a few days without worrying your Aunt and Uncle?"

"You mean to go somewhere? I could probably make some excuse to go to Mos Eisley for speeder parts. They know I like tinkering with machines." Luke frowned. It might be that Qui-Gon just wanted him to sell the pearls, but getting to Mos Eisley and back using the speeder shouldn't take a few days. He'd probably be able to find a buyer for the pearls fairly easily. Even on Tatooine, they were highly prized.

"Not to Mos Eisley, Luke. Although that will be a stop on our way."

"What? A stop on our . . ." Luke trailed off and stared at Qui-Gon, his mouth hanging open. "Off planet? You want me to go off planet?"

"That I do, Padawan," Qui-Gon said.

"Where did you have in mind?" Luke asked, crossing his arms.

"Coruscant," Qui-Gon said bluntly.

"Are you crazy, old man?!" Luke gaped at his master. "I thought Obi-Wan was the senile one!"

"I assure you I am not senile," Qui-Gon huffed. "And Obi-Wan isn't senile, he's just-"

"Stupid," Luke finished. "I know, Master. But you're looking that way too right now. I'm not going to Coruscant without a very good explanation. The Emperor's there! And Dad's probably there too!"

"I have it on good authority that the Emperor and your father are leaving tomorrow to inspect something called a 'Death Star.' I wasn't able to figure out what a Death Star is, but I do know that they will both be away from Coruscant for nine days."

"And what's this good authority, Master?" Luke asked.

"Myself, of course," Qui-Gon said. "Did you never wonder where I am when I'm not with you? Sometimes I simply talk to Yoda. Other times I watch over my previous apprentice. Not often, though. He lives an extraordinarily dull life. And sometimes I even follow your father around. I don't do that often either, because really, it pains me to see what he's become.

Most of the time, however, when I'm not with you, I trail Palpatine. As a force ghost, he can't sense me unless I choose to reveal myself, which I obviously never do, for him at least. I can glean valuable information from his dealings, as in this instance."

"Wow." Luke blinked. "I kind of just assumed you spent the time talking with other people who can still think even though they're dead."

"Padawan . . . do you know how boring most people who have retained their consciousnesses are? A good percentage of them were anti-social shut ins when they were living. Most of the people who retain their minds, even accidentally, are Jedi who devote their entire lives to studying the force. Many of them are as dry as this desert. And the ones that aren't lived centuries or millennia ago. We don't exactly have much common ground."

"Oh, yeah," Luke said. "That makes sense, I guess. Now, explain to me why exactly I need to go to Coruscant. It's only what? The number one imperial stronghold! And I'm a Jedi padawan. Like I said, it better be a good reason, Master."

"I think it's time for you to create your lightsaber."

"Yeah," Luke said. "I kinda got that when you told me I could maybe use one of the Krayt dragon pearls as a lightsaber crystal. But they were both red."

"Yes, Luke," Qui-Gon said. "Which means you need to find a crystal elsewhere."

"Ok," Luke said. "I can agree with that. But not that I need to go to Coruscant. I thought I'd need to go to Ilum. You know, cause it's the planet all the Jedi padawans used to go to in order to get their lightsaber crystals."

"I remember, Padawan. Again, I'm not senile." Qui-Gon huffed again, before his shoulders slumped and his cheeks became bright blue, the ghostly equivalent of a blush. "It's just, well, the Order didn't exactly have anyone memorize the coordinates. Or if they did, that person isn't still living. It was written down in the database, among all of the information lost when Palpatine turned the temple into the palace. So you could search for months in the unknown regions- we know it's in the 7G sector, but that isn't very specific. Or you could take a week long trip to Coruscant while the main danger is away. Your choice, Padawan."

"Fine, we'll do it your way," Luke said. "But I don't have a ship. Or money. How exactly am I supposed to get to Coruscant?"

"Have you forgotten about the pearls already, Padawan?" Qui-Gon asked, frowning at him. "You're a little young to be going senile, but you could be a special case."

"Shut up, Master. I'm tired, ok? I'm not at full functioning capacity!" Luke crossed his arms and glared at Qui-Gon. "So . . . you're saying we need to hire a ship. You've apparently been planning for this trip. So do you have a ship in mind?"

"Not really," Qui-Gon said. "Any ships I scout out now might leave before you reach the city. Almost no one around here is force sensitive enough to see me, so I couldn't possibly detain anyone. No, this is a task you'll need to do for yourself."

"Alright," Luke said. "I'm really tired-" he punctuated this with a yawn "so I'm going to go back to bed. I'll convince my Aunt and Uncle and we'll leave later. End of story. I need sleep." He turned and began the kilometer walk back to the moisture farm.

"Luke-"

"Later!"

A/N: Luke is four in the first two scenes, twelve in the third, and then seventeen for the rest of the chapter.

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As with all of my stories, updates will probably be erratic, as my interest waxes and wanes. So don't get your hopes up. I do try to update regularly but real world issues often interfere. Sorry.