Saga Right Under His Nose -- Luke/Owen/Beru/MissingScene - CONCLUDED 12/17/04 -- What did Luke find?

Hello. Most of you familiar with my writing know I'm already working on another piece right now (now almost two years in the making), but I wanted to post another story that I wrote about a year ago. The venerable LP and Obaona did an awesome beta on this. I have no intention of getting it into the Archives, so I would rather just share it here.

Disclaimer: All characters, planets, dialogues, lightsabers, starships and galaxies far, far away belong to my Overlord and Master, Mr. George Lucas. I am just playing with them here strictly for my own amusement, in a non-profit manner.

WARNING WARNING WARNING to those that are reading At the Turn of the Tide!!!! READ THIS: This is a much more emotional story than action-laced like ATTOT. If you're looking for action, stick with At the Turn of the Tide!

RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE
By Tycalibur

This is a missing scene story that takes place during the years of a teenage Luke Skywalker on the Lars' farm. Luke runs into an old friend, and makes an amazing discovery that was always right in front of him.

Author?s note: The story mainly takes place during the teenage years of Luke, but the beginning jumps backward in time, then forward to ANH, then back again few years.

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Nineteen Years Before ?A New Hope?

The heating element was reaching its required temperature for operation. The operator watched as the green light blinked, indicating that it was on. He stared at the hallowed ground before him, disgusted at what he was about to do.

My wife and I just made an important choice. There is no going back. This is one of the possible consequences we have to avoid, for now.

Owen Lars stood up, wearing protective clothing to shield him from the heat. His body was sore from working all night.

"Owen, are you certain you wish to do this?" Beru asked solemnly from behind him.

He turned and faced her then. Her beautiful young face looked sad.

"Beru, get back downstairs, please. I have to return this equipment to Anchorhead today. It's too dangerous for you to be around this equipment without protective clothing, much less out here at this time of night. I didn't want you to have to see this."

Beru frowned and turned around to go back downstairs. She was clutching a small, sleeping bundle in her arms.

"I wish you would reconsider,? she said desperately as she walked away, "this isn't going to harm him."

I told Kenobi?I told him we would have nothing to do with his past. I have to do this. It's for the best, my darling wife.

Owen Lars opened the valve to the nozzle in his hand and bluish-green flames began flowing from its emitter, piercing the darkness of night. He began melting the sand, forming solid rock around it.

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Stay tuned...!

 

hey!! that's not fair...pulling me in like that and just *poof* it's gone! can't wait for more!

 

Now that's just mean! I want more! YOu must write more! Post it now...you know you want to! Great start!

 

Ok, I wanted to see if I got any replies first. I didn't expect any so quickly, thank you!

All right, here's the 2nd half of part 1.

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Nineteen Years Later, During ?A New Hope?

They were dead.

Luke gaped in horror and disbelief at the charred remains of his aunt and uncle. For the rest of his life, he would be glad that at least he didn't have to see it happen. But for now, his entire life crumbled around him, and inside of him.

Luke fell to the sand. He cried. He sobbed. At points he screamed and slammed his hands into the sand. Other times he grabbed fistfuls of it and threw it against the wreckage of the Lars? home -- his home. He would later recall that this went on for what seemed to be an eternity to him at the time.

The Imperials were not anything Luke considered honorable. They were cold, vicious killers.

His entire world just seemed so much darker. The Imperials are going to pay. I will destroy every one of them for taking everything away from me. At one time as a younger man, Luke had very briefly entertained the notion of joining the Imperial Academy. The thought now made him nauseous.

It wasn't enough that they decimated the entire farm and had taken his aunt and uncle's lives needlessly. It was the fact that they did it with no remorse for those lives they were taking. Luke wondered how many other beings they had killed in this manner; how many other lives they had destroyed.

I knew I would leave someday, but I didn't want it to be like this!

Luke sat in the sand in which he had fallen during his tirade, longing for the scene before him to disappear and for things to go back to the way they were. But, wishing was not going to make it so.

He stood up after a very long time, almost falling again. His knees hurt and buckled from being on the ground for so long. He stumbled around, assessing all the damage for what it was worth. His walking soon became aimless, as he began to wonder if the stormtroopers had left anything intact. Hopelessness and despair were flooding his senses until he saw something that he had missed when he first stood up.

I can't keep Ben waiting. But first, I've got something to do.

He walked over to where it was standing, unscathed by a single blaster bolt or detonator charge. His hands working feverishly, he spent at least another hour piling sand on it until it was completely covered up.

I'm never coming back to this place again. There is nothing left here for me here now.

He climbed into his speeder and headed back to an undoubtedly concerned Ben Kenobi.

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Okay, that's the real end of the first part of the story. We'll call it a prologue. Stay tuned for the next update.

 

well, thanks for putting up the rest of the chappie, but what's going on???? is it just me, or are you being elusive on purpose??

see....it's stories like these that make me sick--i'm addicted! lol!!

keep it up--and, hey--quick replies for quick posts! deal?

 

What? You leave us hanging there? What kind of writer are you? Obviously cruel! I hope you post more soon, I'm not that patient, LOL!

 

Very interesting indeed. Update soon!!

 

I can't wait to find out what is going on! This is a great story so far, keep it up!

 

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Six Years before ?A New Hope?

A landspeeder roared to a stop as it completed its approach to the Lars? homestead.

This is the most annoyingly long day I think I've ever had, Luke thought. When is Uncle Owen going to give me a break?

These blasted vaporators, always breaking down on my days off. Normally, Luke would just shrug this off. Today things were annoying him extraneously for some reason. His energy was spent, knees and legs burning with pain from a long day's work. He stumbled out of his speeder clumsily and began to walk inside.

"WEEEP! DOODOPBEEP!" an impatient, offended electronic voice behind him wailed.

Oh, Luke thought idly, his mind and body simultaneously thirsting for rest. That thing.

His uncle, Owen Lars, had just purchased this droid two days ago and had ordered Luke to take it to the north ridge to see how well it performed today.

Luke failed to understand why Uncle Owen kept dealing with those slimeballs in the local shops. Ten years ago, Owen had bought the finest new set of moisture vaporators available from one of the more reputable and trustable dealers in Mos Eisely. Uncle Owen spent his life savings on these machines. The ?plan? after was to buy a decent set of used droids that could help maintain all of them. But it seemed that no one around here had any affordable droids available that were properly retrofitted to reliably stand up to the Tatooine sun.

We go through one of these droids a year. They're always breaking down. If only he'd listen to me just once and deal with the Jawas when they came around. I'll have to humor him for now. Better to not rouse his temper.

Uncle Owen had indeed been in a particularly foul mood lately, much more so than usual. Luke's little ?stunt? in Uncle Owen's T-16 five days ago in Beggar's Canyon had nearly cost him his life. The shields held up well when he wrecked it, but his failed turn through a tight loop sent the old Skyhopper off balance and careening into the canyon wall. Luke swore with dread as he saw Uncle Owen's speeder pull up that the old man was going to kill him. Uncle Owen didn't like seeing something he had owned (owned since he himself was a teenager) destroyed in what he had called a 'moment of complete, reckless stupidity'.

I did almost have that womprat, though. Luke smiled at the thought, the recollection of his uncle's wrath washing away with the expression on his face.

Luke carefully hoisted the oily, smelly, impatient astromech droid out of the speeder. The little nuisance had barely been any help at all in repairing the vaporator today. It showed its gratitude for being helped out of its backside position by spitting oil out of its dome, splattering Luke?s already dirty garments. The oil was hot and immediately stung his stomach like a thousand needles when it hit him.

"Agh!" Luke screamed. "You know what, no oil bath for you!" he spat, pointing at the dirty old droid. It was already rolling away from him, ignoring what he had said.

Luke mused for a moment about taking the droid to Anchorhead to have its memory wiped, but then reconsidered...

..a worn out droid with its memory wiped would still act like a worn out droid.

Luke felt some pity for the poor thing as it hobbled along on a very bad motivator. His pity ended when it spun its dome and uttered a hiss of nasty sounding beeps and chirps, then continued to roll away from him. Anyone and everyone in the galaxy that had ever been around an astromech droid knew exactly what that series of beeps was -- a form of droid profanity.

"You know, I think Uncle Owen likes picking out droids that act just like him," Luke muttered quietly to himself.

He always gripes about me spending my credits on my speeder upgrades, about wasting credits playing games, or wasting time with my friends. But he should be one to preach -- he won't even buy a newer astrom

 

Oh, this is excellent. Anxiously awaiting more.

 

you are really getting on my nerves....you know that?

what did Luke see...? When will the mystery be revealed...? How does a droid learn to curse...?

this is great, Ty! you're doing a good job frustrating the living daylights out of me!

I'll be here for the next post!

 

Glad those of you that posted are enjoying it. Sarka, I'm sorry... ...the reason the posts are so short is because the story is completed, but the entire story itself is also very short.

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Poodoo.

Why did Uncle Owen ALWAYS have to be so overbearing? Why? Biggs doesn't have this problem with his family. It was true, the Darklighters were always kind and friendly to him...even during bad times.

With the Tatooine suns completely obscured from sight, Luke stormed down the stairs, trying to hide his anger from his uncle as he passed by him. Apparently it either didn't matter, or it didn't work.

Thump!

With no time to react, Luke heard a hand slam against the wall, blocking his way. Owen stared at him with blazing eyes, his nose less than a centimeter away from Luke's.

"Every night we go through this with you, and every night it?s the same thing. When is it going to change?"

A long, uncomfortable silence passed between them.

"Well?!" he bellowed again. Owen was not yielding; neither was Luke.

By this time Beru was standing in the doorway, looking sternly at the entire situation.

Luke remained silent, simply looking defiantly off into the distance. He did not dare to make eye contact with Owen. The man's temper completely disgusted him when he acted this way.

I'm not going to give in, but I'm not going to be like him and fight back, either. One day, I'll be gone...and he'll be wishing that I was here to help him.

"Vaporator seventeen is fixed, just as you asked of me,? Luke said, finally looking at Owen. "R4-D5 malfunctioned, so I had to finish the work manually. It took ...some time."

Owen slumped his shoulders and released his hand from the wall, and stepped away from him in the corridor. Beru remained listening in on the conversation.

Luke knew that Owen still wasn't going to let this go, but he spoke to Luke with a more restrained tone.

"Luke, listen to me. When night falls, this planet becomes a different place. You KNOW that, and yet you risk your safety anyway. You don't know what it's like to deal with a Tusken--", Owen started.

"I've heard this lesson before!" Luke interrupted. His voice then took on a pleading tone. "I'm not going beyond the perimeter of the homestead, I just like to watch the sunset! Is that really too much to ask?"

Owen gritted his teeth under pursed lips. His hand subconsciously went up to his scruffy beard to hide his boiling anger. He started away from Luke, heading back to the dinner table.

Just as he was about to exit the corridor, Owen turned around to face Luke and raised the tone in his voice again. "When you're out there, kilometers away from us, crying out in pain where no one can hear you because you've lost a leg from a gaffi stick or a sandblaster rifle, you'll think differently about these little moments you just HAVE to have for yourself."

Finally, Owen's tone calmed down. "Now get cleaned up and get yourself some dinner and rest," he said quietly. "We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

That 'Lose Your Leg' story again, Luke thought. How many times have I heard that one, and why does he keep repeating it to me?

Owen blew off steam from his mouth and wiped his hand across his face as Luke walked away from him, down the opposite end of the corridor to bathe. Noticing a faint smell, Owen cursed as he looked down and discovered astromech droid oil and grime all over his shirt.

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Ok, that's the end of this section. Next part will be posted in just a few minutes.

Next update: Luke has a meaningful talk with Beru.

 

Ok, here we go, the beginning of Act 3....

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Later That Evening

As she cleaned up the last of the dinnerware, Beru thought to herself, I wish I could tell him the truth. Owen is never going to figure out a way to break it to him lightly, and when he finally does tell him, we're going to lose him. He's going to run away recklessly, and get himself into trouble.

She appeared more concerned at her husband during Owen?s confrontation with the boy. They do have one thing in common, and it's not a cohesive trait to form a parent-child bond, she thought. They are both so stubborn...

Beru sat down at the dinner table with a poured glass of her favorite drink. The glass was half-empty after just a few seconds. Imported from Alderaan, the drink was sweet and refreshing, even more so tonight. Two birthdays ago, Owen had bought her a flask of it from the Mos Eisely Cantina. She didn't drink often, but tonight she felt she needed it. Beru was a bit tipsy from the alcohol because her body was not normally accustomed to it.

She looked up to see Luke heading into the dining room. He initially offered her a smile, but his face betrayed a look she had seen before; it was cringing, holding back.

All her life, Beru had always been an intuitive woman. She had always been able to bond with people she trusted. Beru had a natural aura and charm about her as a housekeeper and a homemaker. She was always a very motherly person, and knew the boy well. She and Owen were never able to have a child of their own, and it was a truly amazing gift from the stars when Luke had been brought to them to be adopted.

He sat down and began to eat. Carefully reading Luke?s facial expressions and mannerisms, she knew he needed someone to talk to. She was likely going to have to try and comfort him.

"Does Uncle Owen need any other help tonight?" Luke asked her.

Luke had truly worked his heart out for his uncle today. Beru could see it in his eyes. But hard work never ends when you own your own business, and you have no one to answer to but yourself. This was a lesson Luke had yet to learn.

"No, he's turned in for the night. He was very tired,? Beru said. "While you were out today, Vaporator twenty-five's power core went down, so he had to go repair it himself--Luke...what is it? What's wrong?"

Luke started to take a bite of his food, then stopped. Now that he was an adolescent, he rarely had moments like this. A few stinging tears that had welled in his eyes had begun rolling down his face.

Beru regarded her nephew's relationship with his uncle with deep regret.

Luke is so unlike Owen. Now that he was thirteen she doubted he was ever going to develop that fatherly bond with her husband. The boy had an amazing intellect and efficiency Owen was appreciative of, but that appreciation was only from a business standpoint. He never acted very fatherly to Luke, and had a great deal of trouble expressing gratitude; or any other emotions, for that matter. That was just Owen's way. He had developed a much harder philosophy of life after Cliegg had died. He felt he had to be the strong one. So naturally, his only attitude toward Luke was to push him harder and faster, and make him better and even more efficient.

Nevertheless, Beru did not agree at all with the way Owen treated him. Beru finally did persuade Owen to at least give the boy something. On his tenth birthday, Beru finally convinced Owen to reward Luke with a small allowance for his work.

Owen was still not prepared for the consequences of staying so emotionally disconnected from his adopted son once the boy reached adolescence. Now that Luke was a teenager, he was starting to rebel. But, being from a strict subservient upbringing, Beru did not feel it was her place to tell Owen any of this.

For now, she simply listened to Luke ventilate his emotions as he gave his despondent side of the story. The frustration; the broken vaporator; t

 

Very good so far-- anxiously awaiting the next part-- I hope this intrigue is all leading up to something good.

 

Amazing story! You've done an incredible job with this. I can't wait for the next post.

 

yeah, really--what was it that he saw out there??

great job, Ty--except you haven't answered my questions yet!

looking forward to the next post!

 

Hooray! Another post. I liked seeing the dynamics of Luke interacting with his aunt and uncle. I can picture it happening that way.

 

Nice moment between Luke and Beru.

 

I really felt for Luke in the last couple posts. There is just so much tension between Owen and Luke. Nice moment between aunt and nephew.

 

You did a great job with Beru, a nice combination of AOTC and ANH Beru! Look forward to more on this story, hopefully very soon!

 

No, seriously... what *was* the thing he saw in the sandstorm, dangit?

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

And, here we go, with the next segment of the story.

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THE NEXT DAY

Owen Lars and Luke Skywalker were walking through the streets of Anchorhead. The annoying little R4 droid rolled along pitifully behind them. Its attitude had changed considerably since it knew that Owen was going to try to sell it back to that horrible garbage dealer, Velpa.

They approached Velpa's shop. Owen said, as he always did, "Let ME do the talking."

Always the same, Luke thought through a clenched jaw. Things never change with him. Ever. They went inside?

One hour and one very heated argument later, Owen walked back out of the shop with three-fourths of the credits he had spent buying the piece of junk. The poor droid squealed and beeped for its ex-master to come back and save it, only to be silenced by Velpa with a restraining bolt. Luke wasn't with Owen when he had originally purchased the droid, but was now even less sure of why he bought it in the first place. Velpa?s shop was full of scrap, and judging by the fact that the R4 unit was the only WORKING astromech droid in the place, Luke surmised that Velpa pieced it together hastily from spare parts to sell it.

Owen cursed as they walked out of the shop. Luke learned to remain silent and calm around his Uncle at times like this, only speaking when spoken to.

They walked the streets for a few more minutes when Owen noticed another shop, owned by a Toydarian. He told Luke to wait outside in the speeder. "I don't trust this guy, his family has a bad reputation", were his last words before going in.

Pulling a cloak over himself as protection from the twin suns (which were reaching their blistering peak), Luke sat back down in the speeder and waited. Compared to the boring life of moisture farming, a day trip to Anchorhead was always a treat for him. He began to assess his surroundings.

Structures of heated and hardened sand filled the streets, most of them filled with shops. All of them were thriving with buyers and traders.

Yeah, buyers and traders of garbage, he thought. Anchorhead was a vast flea market, primarily full of locals. It was still nowhere near the size or caliber of Mos Eisely or Mos Espa.

Nearby, Luke noticed a sign written in BASIC that read:

"Imperial Academy: Human Applicants Over The Age of 18 Welcome"

Luke?s mind went straight into the clouds.

The Imperial Academy. How wonderful it must be to be a star pilot. Seeing different worlds, expanding your horizons, encountering countless races and planets with new technologies, the possibilities are so-

"Well, young lad, it's been a long time,? said a familiar voice from behind him, interrupting his train of thought.

Luke turned around in the cockpit seat and removed the cloak from his head.

"Ben? Is that you? I'm sorry, my mind was...elsewhere."

The old man was standing by the speeder, in the same cloak and robe Luke remembered him wearing when he last saw him. He was nine at the time...the time Uncle Owen had run him off in a fit of --

Uncle Owen! Luke began to feel the panic welling up in his throat, but remained outwardly composed.

"Ben, it's really great to see you!" said Luke, shaking the old man's hand. "Hang on a second, ok?" Ben nodded politely with a wave of his free hand, as if he already knew what Luke was up to.

Luke walked briskly to the end of the street and peered into Watto's shop. Uncle Owen was still talking with a flying blue creature, hovering above different astromech droids, rambling about different prices in Huttese. Good.

"Sorry", Luke stated as he returned. "I'm with Uncle Owe-"

"Yes, I know,? Ben said, plainly. This didn't surprise Luke at all. Ben's perception was beyond that of any human being he'd ever met.

"We're trying to find a new astromech droid. Uncle Owen won't spend any real money for a newer one in good condition. But, you know the junk they peddle around here."

"Actually, you'll

 

whoops, forgot to update the date, sorry

 

At least Ben knows what Luke saw. When do we get to know?

 

Shmi02: I hope so as well.

DreamofKenobi: Thank you, and welcome.

SarkaVrae: Ok, I'll answer your questions now.

what did Luke see...?
Can't say yet. Will ruin the climax of the story.

When will the mystery be revealed...?
It will begin to unwind itself after the next update (which will be today or tonight).

How does a droid learn to curse...?
Hmmm, hadn't thought of it. Since droids in the SW universe have a multitude of personalities, I thought 'Why not?' with droids having less-than-desirable personalities programmed into them, or developing irritating personalities due to years of neglect and abuse.

Jedi_Chani: Thank you. That's the feel I had hoped I would pull off in this story with character interaction.

Rebel_Mom: Things will unwind after the next update.

VaderLVR64: Thank you! Being where we are in the timeline, that was my goal of trying to create Beru's character. And she's more important in this story than you might think at this point!

solojones: Welcome. Can't say yet.

For those that missed it, there was an additional update (almost immediately) after the Luke/Beru conversation. Be sure and read above about Luke's trip with Owen to Anchorhead!

Next Update will be today or tonight!!!!