Runaway

Summary: Imperial Prince Luke runs away from home to escape his overprotective father Emperor Vader. Jumping from planet to planet he finds himself creditless on Tatooine. While working for more money to leave the planet, Luke meets an old man named Ben Kenobi. But Luke knows he can't stay in one place for long for surely his father is hunting him down.

I do not own Star Wars. Done for fun.

The twin suns of Tatooine were finally starting to set. The sky was changing color from its bright blue to a golden red. Luke pulled at the borrowed tan tunic he wore. It was itchy and coarse. Sand had gotten everywhere including places he wasn't sure how the sand had actually gotten there. He looked over his shoulder at the farm homestead. It was small and meager and was just like the other homesteads he had seen while on this trip. But what had caught his attention were the three rectangular stones set away from the home.

They were graves, Luke realized. He read the names. They all belonged to the Lars family. Yet his eyes kept being pulled back to the grave of Shmi Lars. Shmi. Shmi? The name tickled his brain. He had heard it before, but where? When? Was it in a history lesson? When he was forced to memorize names of important people of the Empire? There were a lot of names for Imperial Prince Luke Vader to know. From senators to royalty to high ranking officers to influential businessmen. There were thousands upon thousands of names. Yet the name Shmi bounced around his head. Where did he know it from?

He felt the hair on the back of his neck and arms stand on end. Luke turned. That old man Ben was staring at him as he stood beside the speeder. He wore long brown and tan robes, which he kept wrapped around himself. He made Luke uncomfortable. It was unfortunate there was nowhere to go to get away from those piercing blue eyes. The sands here were flat. There was nothing to hide behind.

"Luke! Come on!" Hernan called. "The Lars invited us in for a cool drink. We don't turn that down out here!"

Hernan was a merchant on Tatooine. He went through the various towns and homesteads selling parts for droids, vaporators, and speeders. When Luke had landed on this desolate planet two days ago, he was finally out of credits. He had run away from the palace on Imperial Center with only a handful of credits as he didn't want to draw too much attention.

For a week Luke jumped from public transport to transport as he moved along the systems. He didn't care where he went, as long as it took him further away from Imperial Center. After his money ran out, he started hitchhiking and offered to help the space crews for a lift. Thus he found his way to Tatooine. His last ride had told Luke to look up old Hernan if he was looking for a quick way to earn some credits. Hernan was an old man with a bad eye. He needed help driving his land speeder and keeping a look out for raiders. Luke was hired as a pilot. Luckily the man didn't question why a seventeen year old was looking for work.

Hernan also had provided Luke with a change of clothes. The leather spacer clothes allowed Luke to blend in at spaceports, but it did not help with the dry heat of the planet. As Luke passed the speeder, the old man Ben kept his eyes on Luke. Luke glowered at him in exchanged. After Hernan and LUke had left the previous homestead, they had come across old Ben sitting next to a smoking old speeder. Hernan had offered Ben a lift. As soon as they were off, Ben started asking questions.

"And who is your young friend?" Ben had asked.

"Just a hired hand for the trip. Can't pilot as good as I used to with this bad eye." Hernan explained.

"You have a name?" Ben asked.

"Luke," Luke replied.

"Just Luke?"

"Yeah. Just Luke."

"I get the feeling you're not from Tatooine," Ben said.

"No," Luke said a bit annoyed. This old man was being nosey. At least Hernan had gotten the cue that Luke didn't want to talk about himself. "Just looking for some work before I move on."

"Where you headed?" Ben continued to prod. Luke glanced over his shoulder at the old man. His hands were folded into his robe and he had a calm smile on his face.

"Why does it matter to you?" Luke finally replied.

"I'm just merely wondering."

Inside the homestead, Luke found Hernan sitting at a table with the Lars couple. Ben followed shortly after. It quickly became clear that Owen Lars and Ben were not friends. It mostly seemed one-sided from Owen's side who promptly didn't even look or acknowledge the old man. Ben just stayed calm, quiet, and sipped at his drink.

"Well I'm not one to turn down a refreshing drink," Hernan said as he placed his hands on the table to push himself up. "Owen, Beru, thanks. Best be going. I would like to make it to the Renit's homestead by nightfall."

The group made their way out of the dining room into the circular courtyard. Sand was blowing down from the walls. Everyone had stopped to look at the sky. It was no longer clear, but hazy and dusty.

"A sandstorm is coming," Ben said. Silence stretched among the group.

"Best stay here for the night," Beru Lars said. "We have one extra guest bed. The other two," she gestured towards Luke and Ben, "will have to sleep in the garage."

"Young Luke and I will accept any place," Ben said.

The sandstorm lasted well into the night. It was good thing they didn't try to go out in it. Luke laid on a thin blanket on the hard floor of the garage. It was a long way from the plush beds of the royal palaces and luxury spaceships he had grown up on. In attempts to make it better, he had rolled up his leather spacer clothes as a makeshift pillow. Ben laid nearby.

"I noticed you looking at the gravestones earlier," Ben said breaking the silence.

"Mmm," Luke mumbled.

"You were looking at Shmi's grave for quite a while."

"Mmm."

"She was Owen's step-mother. A slave Owen's father bought, freed, and married. She herself had a son. He left Tatooine at the age of nine. He became a great pilot."

"Mmm," Luke mumbled again.

He didn't care. Luke rolled over so his back was to the old man. Tomorrow they would make it back to Mos Espa, and Luke would get on the first transport he could find. Granted he wasn't sure how further he could go. Tatooine was already out there. Perhaps he should just start looping around the outer rim?

Again Luke felt the hair on his body stand on end. A small shiver ran through him. That old man was staring at him again, Luke just knew it. And it felt like Ben wasn't just staring, but examining Luke. Analyzing him. Looking through him. Luke was tempted to call upon the Force. Perhaps he could gleam some emotion off the old man, but Luke was purposely blocking himself off from the Force. In fact he constantly checked to make sure his shields were up and strong. The moment Luke slipped, the moment he connected with the Force, his father would be waiting along their Force bond.

No doubt his father was very angry with his son for running away. Luke's father was most likely scouring the galaxy for his son. It was only a matter of time before either Luke slipped up or his father finally caught up to him. In truth he had gotten farther than he had imagined. He never expected to make into the mid-rim much less into the outer rim on a Hutt controlled planet. His father would be furious if he discovered where his son, and only heir, was now.

Luke sighed and closed his eyes. He let the sound of the wind and sand lull him to sleep. He drifted through a gray dreamscape. It was foggy and hard to see in any direction. The place was cold and silent, but Luke became aware he was not alone. Something was moving amongst the fog. Then he heard a muffled call.

"Luke?"

Luke froze. He had clearly heard his name.

"Luke?" it called again. The voice sounded desperate. Should he answer? The call came again. There was a growing urge inside of him. The words bubbled inside his throat. He wanted to answer. To call out, but something was holding him back. "Luke!"

"He-here." The words finally stumbled out of him. "I'm here!"

"Luke!" the voice sounded relieved and happy. This time Luke realized he recognized this voice. It was the voice of his father.

Slowly a shadowed figure started to form in the fog. All too quickly it took the silhouette of his father. Then the fog faded away, and Emperor Vader stepped out of the fog. He wore a black leather tunic with his lightsaber clipped onto his belt. Both his hands were covered by long black leather gloves. His dark blond hair, which was now graying, was cut short in a military fashion. As Vader moved closer, Luke could make out the scar next to Vader's right eye.

"Luke . . ." Vader said softly as he looked over at his son. There was relief in Vader's blue eyes, but they quickly hardened. "Where are you?" Vader demanded as he brought up his gloved hand and pointed a finger at Luke.

Again there was an urge to answer. The words were just there, trapped inside of him. All he had to do was open the mouth, and the answer would come out. Yet before he could, a hand fell on his shoulder. Luke titled his head to see old Ben standing next to him.

"Don't tell him, Luke," Ben said softly. The old man's eyes were focused ahead on Vader. Luke followed the gaze back over to his father. For just a brief moment, Vader was surprised. It quickly faded away as his face twisted in a scowl. His eyes faded from blue to yellow lined with red.

"Obi-Wan," Vader growled between clenched teeth. "Let go of my son."

"Luke," Kenobi said softly and still not taking his eyes off Vader. "You need to wake up before he can discern your location."

Vader marched forward and shouted, "Luke! Come here!" Vader held out a hand to his son as he approached. Without thinking, Luke brought up his own hand as if to take his father's hand. Ben's grip suddenly tightened on Luke's shoulder. Then Luke was was thrown backgrounds and landed in a swirl of fog. The fog started to grow thicker and darker.

"No!" Luke heard his father shout. Luke tried to move, but found he couldn't. The fog was pushing him down. Just as the fog was to completely claim him, he felt a hand grab his arm. "Tatooine . . ." Vader said in fading whisper.