The desert expanded onto the horizon, the humid wind carving waves into the gritty sands. The twin suns sizzled her rather conspicuous flaming red hair as the balding man said gruffly, "The Northeast, I think. Why would some prissy like you wanna be goin' there?"

"What did you just say?" Calling the woman names was not a wise idea. Not many people got away with it to see the light of day again. But clearly this man was oblivious to anything other than his pitiful shack and a whiskey bottle, full of what she could only assume to be some sort of toxic, permanently foul liquid. He kept on rubbing the cloth to the stone in a circular motion, which didn't appear to clean anything at all.

"I said, why's a priss like you goin' there? I's not thinking you high-an'-mighties'd be goin..." he hiccuped drunkenly, which concerned her, but she had no other form of direction or communication to civilization at the moment.

Tossing him a credit, she thanked him and hitched her sack back onto her shoulder. He looked back at her as she left in the opposite direction, but shook his head to resume washing the permanently stained counter top.

Mara Jade squinted, bringing her hand to her eyes as a shield. Jabba's Palace was on the northern side of the Dune Sea, while she was kilometers away. It was her first off-world assignment, and she had crashed her transport, with nothing but rations, weapons, and a screwed communicator.

So, she would just have to find a way to get there, along with directions. Wrapping a hood and scarf around her head, Mara squinted at the upper sun before heading what she assumed was north. This was not going to be a fun trip.

---

"Luke! Luke!"

A skinny blond boy of eighteen rushed through the door of the small kitchen, wiping his sweaty palms on the tan trainers before looking to his aunt.

"Happy Life Day, Luke." Beru Whitesun Lars wrapped her arms around her nephew tightly, remembering that day almost eighteen years ago that the same bundle of joy had been placed in her arms.

Her nephew patted her aunt on the back and then asked, "Where's Uncle Owen?"

"He's..." Beru went back to her chopping, "bartering with Jawas and then going to market for me today. I think he might have said something about Tosche Station, but I can't be too sure. He'll be back before supper."

The lie came easily. Beru had actually asked her husband to make a little celebration out of Luke's life day this year. Right now Owen would be at the market, fussing over a huge shopping list. That thought most definitely amused her.

Nevertheless, the young Skywalker shrugged without reply and sat down to eat lunch. Just before the boy finished with his soup, someone called his name.

"Hey Luke!" Biggs Darklighter popped into the doorway.

"Hey Biggs!" Luke grinned and quickly finished the last of his bowl to greet his friend. Biggs tousled his friend's hair playfully, "Happy Life Day, Wormie - you're growing up! Me, Fixer, and Camie are going up Dune racing, wanna come?"

Luke looked back at his aunt. "Of course you can go, Luke. Just make sure you're back before supper and be careful. Have fun, I'll clean up."

"Thanks! See you, Aunt Beru, I'll be safe all right!" With that, Luke grabbed his poncho and left out the door with his friend to the landspeeder that would house four teenagers.

---

The dust from sand rose from the seats of the speeder, their day's excitement was over and Biggs had won the race. Luke rummaged in the back for the milk, while the others goofed around in the sand.

Man, it's getting hot out here...Luke thought as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

As the cold liquid drained down his throat, he thought he saw the faintest brown speck in the distance. He squinted, and then saw it again - was it a person? It looked far too small to be a bantha, or any craft.

"Guys! See that off over there in the distance?"

His friends turned their heads this way and that, immediately supplying, "What in the distance?"

Using his macrobinoculars, he closed in on the figure. It was a person!

"Somebody's out there - I see them!"

Camie snatched the macrobinoculars from his hand - "hey!" - and then proceeded to look in the same direction. After a couple of seconds, she lowered them and said, "I see a little something, but I don't think it's anything we would need to worry about. 'Just Wormie getting a little excited from the sun."

Luke frowned. "C'mon. I saw something! Well, I'm gonna go see what it is, you guys just wait here."

Skywalker flopped on his hat and took off that way, running extremely fast for someone so small. Biggs yelled, "What are you, a womp rat on spice?"

The other three followed in the landspeeder, and eventually picked Luke up anyway. What he's seen was in the middle of the Dune Sea, and soon they were able to track it.

"It" confirmed Luke's suspicions, and it was indeed a person. A person lying face-down with a large brown sack on its back.

When Luke jumped out to help them, Fixer stopped him and warned, "Wait - It could be a Tusken Raider."

"But there's no gaffi stick," Skywalker returned.

"That doesn't mean anything. It might still be a Tusken Raider."

Biggs exited the vehicle as well and teased, "Are you afraid, Fixer-boy? Even if it is, there's four of us and one of them, so we're fine."

He pondered this, and then let go of Luke's arm, still keeping distance from the heap on the ground. Gratefully shaking is elbow from Fixer's strong grip, the blond teen knelt on the ground next to what he knew was a person.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" He gently prodded the shoulder, but when met with no response, he carefully slipped the rather large satchel off the person's back, and the turned them over to reveal a heavily wrapped young woman. Only her eyes showed through the heavy piece of cloth.

The group sat in breath-held silence until the young woman made a stifled moan. Luke snapped back into action quickly, carrying her small body into the back of the speeder and unceremoniously dumping her bag onto its floor.

"C'mon, everybody, let's get home quick! She needs some medical attention," said the kid anxiously. Fixer fired up the engine and they sped off in the direction of the Lars homestead.

Luke undid the cloth that covered her face and head, revealing bright red hair. She's beautiful...drifted through his mind as he looked down, feeling her forehead to approximate the temperature.

By the time they reached home the suns had begun to set, and Luke's aunt and uncle would be getting nervous. Still, they had a reasonable explanation even if Old Owen would still scold them.

As expected, Beru and Owen waited at the front of their homestead, arms crossed on their chests. When they saw the speeder approach, they stepped forward some, their nerves less tense.

"Young fool, don't you know by now it's dangerous to go gallivanting off after--" Old Lars stopped short when he saw the mysterious young woman in his nephew's arms.

"Who's she?" he demanded.

"Luke found her, out in the middle of the Dune Sea trying to get somewhere. She'd passed out." Camie supplied.

"I can see that. Well, no use standing out here. Let's get all you fools inside," Lars replied crossly.

As the others proceeded to enter the house with their unexpected guest, Owen exchanged a significant glance with his wife; the time was coming closer, and they both knew it. There was definitely going to be some talking to do.