Saga Tatooine Incident: Healing {The Lars' Story} THANK YOU!

Title: TATOOINE INCIDENT: HEALING {The Lars' Story}
Timeframe: Attack of the Clones
Characters: Cliegg Lars, Owen Lars, Beru Whitesun, Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, C-3PO, OCs
Genre: Drama, Angst
Keywords: Episode II, missing moment scene.
Summary: With the return of Anakin Skywalker, old wounds are reopened in the Lars family.
Disclaimer: Goes without saying. Lucasfilm owns all the rights to Star Wars. I don?t. No infringement is intended or profit to be made by me.

A/N: This is the last ?chapter? of the TATOOINE INCIDENT mini-series of the AotC Missing Moments Theatre but it is completely standalone. I decided to post it in a new thread because the Theatre is supposed to be an anthology of ?short stories? and this one and the last one before it are novella-length fics.

A/N2: All the Tatooine Incident stories are inspired and based on Meredith B Mallory's Burial of the Dead, a story that essentially highlights Padmé and Beru bonding during the former?s stay in Tatooine. Hopefully, this story stands on its own but the reader would be doing his or herself a big disservice by not reading the preceding story.

A/N3: Posting schedule is once a week on weekends.

 

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[b]Chapter I[/b]

~*~*~

[i]?Accept it son, your mother is dead.?[/i]

[i]The weight of his father?s large hand on the boy?s shoulder was not as heavy as the stark words that were intoned gently above his head. The boy stared numbly at the figure being mummified. A month earlier, his two-week old sister had died in his arms and he had wept until his head felt hollow. Now, as his mother?s face disappeared under the wraps of the embalming cloth, his eyes were so dry, they smarted.[/i]

~*~*~

From outside came the roar of the scoop engine, the peculiar whine of high-energy repulsor-lifts against sand, and then silence.

?Your mother is dead, son. Accept it.?

Pain had not so much suffused Mother Shmi son?s face as it had bored through it, hollowing it out and leaving it stark with grief and anger. He had actually lifted his head, and shaken it slightly as if surprised at its sudden lightness.

Owen stared down at the scratch marks on the wooden table. He could feel his father?s gaze on his neck and Beru?s small hand in his elbow but inside he felt nothing, empty. It was not that he had forgotten so quickly. He doubted if any of them could ever really forget, but he had pushed the useless rage and bitterness into a rarely opened compartment in his mind and put himself to his work with a passion. Now, Anakin Skywalker?s return had brought all those feelings to the fore again: the anger, the misery, the bitterness, the guilt. And he could barely stand to be in his own skin.

He pushed back from the table.

?I have work to do,? he declared. Beru?s hand slipped out of his elbow and she and Father watched him sadly until he left the room.

?This will be hard on him,? Father said needlessly.

Beru sighed. ?It will be hard on all of us, Shmi?s son especially.?

Father Cliegg shook his head gravely, as if he could not possibly comprehend the level of grief that Anakin Skywalker must be going through.

?There [i]is[/i] a chance, isn?t there?? Beru asked suddenly. ?Father Cliegg, he?s a Jedi. Wouldn?t he know if his mother were dead??

She could see hope struggle desperately against realism on Father Cliegg?s face. ?I don?t know, Beru. I don?t know.?

~*~*~

The comfort of routine had always suited Owen. Life had taught him early that grief and anger were best channelled into productive work or they would prove self-destructive. It was a lesson he had learnt after his mother?s death.

By early evening, he looked at the harvest he had collected in half a dozen vats and he felt his spirits rise with a sense of accomplishment. He was locking up the storage room when he heard footfalls behind him. Automatically his hand went to the hand blaster that he always carried around now on the farm but before he could turn, he heard his name. He let his hand fall.

Beru was walking towards him, the foreign woman in tow.

?Finished?? she asked when she was within speaking distance.

He shrugged. ?For today.? A month ago, the work he had just completed in a few hours would have been done leisurely in one day; but the farm had lost a lot of money since then - money spent on Father?s medical treatment and additional security facilities for the property. The farm had also lost a pair of hands to the raid on the Sandpeople.

Father had been indisposed early in the crisis and Owen had been forced into making some hard decisions on his own. Those decisions would have grievous consequences in exactly two days if by then the farm had not broken even and a little more.

Owen realized suddenly that his mind had wandered off and he forced himself to pay attention to Beru.

~*~*~

?So, can you go now?? Beru asked again.

Owen stared in confusion.

Beru looked at him, the expectant expression on her face bellying her alarm. Owen?s distractedness had started a while ago, weeks after Shmi?s capture and failed rescue. Father Cliegg had noticed it as well and he explained to her that that was Owen?s coping mechanism. The normally stern taskmaster had been unusually accommodating of Owen?s absentminded

 

VERY nicely done! I can really see this happening. I liked your characterizations, the descriptions of their emotions and surroundings. I can't wait for updates.

 

Bravo! Another excellent chapter, leia, but I would expect nothing less.

I'm wondering, is there more behind Owen's anger than the thought of having abandoned Shmi? His reaction to the words "your mother is dead, son" seems to hint at something. Maybe something about his mother, perhaps?

Again, well done.

 

Oooh glad to see this story up! That was beautifully written (like usual)... I loved the way Owen was a little gruffy when it came to fuel. These little details really pulled me into the story.
And Padme almost being shy was great. It must not have been easy for her to stay alone with strangers while thay all worried for the outcome...

This last conversation between Beru and Owen gave me the chills. I have to say it once again: I thought I hated Tuskens before that...

Anyway waiting for the next update... Argh. In a long time. Must. Learn. Patience...

 

Poor Owen, losing two mothers. The guilt he is feeling, along with how he tries to bury himself in farm work, really cement his character with the guy we saw in ANH. He?s known so much loss it isn?t any wonder he didn?t want his foster son going away to join the military.

The comfort of routine had always suited Owen. Life had taught him early that grief and anger were best channeled into productive work or they would prove self-destructive.

But not a lesson Anakin learned, eh?

I liked Beru?s hopefulness when she asked Cliegg is there was a chance because Anakin was a Jedi. His pragmatic response was appropriate too. He wanted to hope, but he just couldn?t quite bring himself to do it.

Padmé?s behavior at the ship was good too. It wasn?t so much that she was self-centered, just that she is used to being able to do what she wants when she wants (Queen, galactic senator, etc.).

Beru?s sympathy for Padmé's worrying was excellent too ? showing that she?s been exactly where Padmé is.

 

What I enjoy on this board is the way the movies, which can be shot with only one point-of-view, gradually become many-faceted jewels as authors explore this or that scene that was never shot, depicting what is happening offscreen - or even onscreen, within the characters' mind.

This facet on the AotC jewel looks like it'll be carved with great care and add quite some beauty to the jewel as a whole.

 

It?s funny. I never had given much thought to Owen?s experience of the events on Tatooine until you came along with these stories. I certainly had never thought about the fact that he had another mother before Shmi. I?m glad you are writing these stories ? they really need to be told.

I?m also delighted that we are getting another long story. Like everyone else said, the writing and the characterizations are what one expects from you ? beautifully crafted and accomplished.

I loved Owen?s appreciation for the thing of beauty that is the Nubian ship ? it underscores the vast difference between the abundance, sophistication and refinement of Padmé?s world, and Padmé herself, really, and the rough, coarse, and ?well ? sandy world of Tatooine. Watching the film I was always fascinated by those contrasts, while at the same time watching a story unfold that ultimately made them irrelevant.

I agree completely with the very eloquent and poetic Lordban: This facet on the AotC jewel looks like it'll be carved with great care and add quite some beauty to the jewel as a whole.

 

I agree with everyone. I love the characterization of the characters....and it's also refreshing to read about what Owen and Beru might have been feeling during this time at the Lars homestead.

This adds so much depth to the particular scenes in AOTC. I'm glad you wrote this.

 

Great characterization of Owen. I particularly like the way you've used the pain he still carries from his mother's loss as the undercurrent to his fear for Shmi, his guilt about sending Anakin out alone, and the rest...

All in all a sad start, and yet with all sorts of signs of hope too.

I thought the Owen/Padme interaction was especially good. They have so little in common, after all, so the awkwardness is totally believable.

And of course I liked how you showed that Padme's stopped hiding from herself her feelings for Anakin.

One more thing -- devious how you've made Owen so worried for further attacks, when we the readers know full well there won't be any...

 

VaderLVR64:
Welcome to the Theatre! And thank you. While you wait for updates, you can check out the stories that came before?

Ander:
Bravo! Another excellent chapter, leia, but I would expect nothing less.



I'm wondering, is there more behind Owen's anger than the thought of having abandoned Shmi?

Well, nothing ominous. It?s a very bad memory and he feels like if he?s reliving it in a sense with Shmi and Anakin.

Padlei:

I loved the way Owen was a little gruffy when it came to fuel. These little details really pulled me into the story.

Yeah, those our our Lars men for you? endearingly grouchy?

And Padme almost being shy was great. It must not have been easy for her to stay alone with strangers while thay all worried for the outcome...

Yeah, it must have been awkward; the circumstances for this ?meet the family? scene are nightmarish relative to the other cozier one on Naboo.

I thought I hated Tuskens before that...

Do not hate the Tuskens! Hate is of the Dark Side!

Reihla:
Poor Owen, losing two mothers... He?s known so much loss it isn?t any wonder he didn?t want his foster son going away to join the military.

I actually never thought of it tallying in with the over-protective man we see in ANH but it makes sense!

not a lesson Anakin learned, eh?
Nothing like good honest hard labour to drill life?s lessons into your head. Why do you think Luke didn?t turn?

I liked Beru?s hopefulness when she asked Cliegg is there was a chance because Anakin was a Jedi. His pragmatic response was appropriate too. He wanted to hope, but he just couldn?t quite bring himself to do it.

Precisely. In the film, he said he would still be searching for her ? but for his leg ? but he also accepted that she was probably dead.

It wasn?t so much that she was self-centered, just that she is used to being able to do what she wants when she wants

I think farm life would have been good for Padme as well... Actually, as a child, she did have some experience of working the fields?

LordBan:

What I enjoy on this board is the way the movies, which can be shot with only one point-of-view, gradually become many-faceted jewels as authors explore this or that scene that was never shot, depicting what is happening offscreen - or even onscreen, within the characters' mind.

Tell me about it! In fact, I am putting it back in my sig: FAN FICTION RULES!

This facet on the AotC jewel looks like it'll be carved with great care and add quite some beauty to the jewel as a whole.



geo3:

I?m glad you are writing these stories ? they really need to be told.

I?ve always thought so, too.

I loved Owen?s appreciation for the thing of beauty that is the Nubian ship ? it underscores the vast difference between the abundance, sophistication and refinement of Padmé?s world, and Padmé herself, really, and the rough, coarse, and ?well ? sandy world of Tatooine.

Puts a whole new dimension into ?I don?t like sand, doesn?t it??

I agree completely with the very eloquent and poetic Lordban:



BrownEyes_Blue:

I'm glad you wrote this.

Thank you. I?m even gladder that you?re reading it.


Darth_Lex:

All in all a sad start, and yet with all sorts of signs of hope too.

Well, what did you expect?

I liked how you showed that Padme's stopped hiding from herself her feelings for Anakin.

I think that ?shadows embracing? scene marked a turning point in Padme?s stance in the relationship.

devious how you've made Owen so worried for further attacks, when we the readers know full well there won't be any...[/i

 

This is the first post of your series I've read, but now that I know how good they are I'm definitely going to go back and read the rest. Even though I know how things turn out, the way you've shown it from another character's perspective brings back the thrill of being on the edge of my seat. I'm very much looking forward to your next installment.

 

Cool so far, but Anakin should be taking care of those Tuskens. Nothing for Owen to worry about anymore. It's all good.

More soon!

Calen.

 

Chenin: This is the first post of your series I've read, but now that I know how good they are I'm definitely going to go back and read the rest.

I am flattered and absolutely thrilled to have a new and enthusiastic reader! Welcome!

Even though I know how things turn out, the way you've shown it from another character's perspective brings back the thrill of being on the edge of my seat.

It's always fascinating when you look at a familiar situation from an unusual perspective, isn't it? You more or often than not see something unexpected. That's one of the great joys to me of fan fiction.

I'm very much looking forward to your next installment.

Wait no longer, it follows immediately!


Calen2kk:

Welcome to the Theatre!

...Anakin should be taking care of those Tuskens. Nothing for Owen to worry about anymore. It's all good.



More soon!

Ask and ye shall receieve!

 

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[b]Chapter II[/b]

~*~*~

Owen and Beru held hands all morning when the fear of missing the first moments of Anakin?s arrival - or worse - had prevented them all from leaving the house. Her presence had been as comforting to him then as it had been the night before but despite her words, Owen could not stop thinking that if the worst happened, he was responsible and no one else.

The roar of the engine had freed them all of their fears and very briefly, brought to them unexpected and unsought-for hope. Hope that had been dashed all the more brutally for having been given at all.

~*~*~

At Cliegg?s insistence, Shmi was laid to rest on her own bed. Beru covered the mattress with the same thick muslin that she put as a screen in Anakin?s room; Owen gathered stones from the rock garden and made the traditional arrangement at the foot of the bed; Padmé drew the curtains and lit the candles; Cliegg sat on his hoverchair in a corner of the now darkened room and tried to reconcile the profile of the anonymous mummy with the gentle features of his wife.

After he had reverently placed his mother?s body on the bed, Anakin had stalked into a darkened corner and blended with the shadows. Owen remembered passing by him when he returned from outside. Other than that, no one except Padmé, who stood across the room from Anakin with her eyes ever fixed on his face, paid much attention to him. Everyone?s attention was on the embalmed figure on the bed. Padmé was the only one who knew when Anakin slipped out of the room and left them. The burning candles had diminished considerably when Cliegg looked up from his wife?s face and saw that her son was no longer with them.

As if on cue, the young people started drifting out then. Owen was the last to leave, his face almost alien with emotion as he passed his father. Then they were all gone and Cliegg Lars was left alone with his wife. He drew his chair to the bedside and finally decided that yes, the profile of this dead thing was indeed his wife's.

[i]Twice widowed.[/i]

For long weeks now, the house had been trying to tell him that she was gone. He remembered the day he had finally had enough strength to leave his bed and his room and he had passed through the house and noticed the changes in the new way that books were stacked and the plates were placed to drain, the new solid meals that he was served and all the hundred little things that told him that it was a different woman from Shmi that did his housekeeping now. But somehow, even though the physical relics of her presence were being gradually erased from their home, he could not believe that she had completely left them. Her spirit was still very much with him, an almost tangible thing that he could almost reach and touch and there were times, early in the morning, between sleeping and waking when he felt that he need only roll over and his arm would fold around her.

When he woke up this morning, the illusion had left him. The air was thin and empty of any sense of her presence. His heart had jumped with pretended hope when the boy had returned; there was no real disappointment when he realized that the body Anakin lifted was lifeless. The old farmer had already felt his wife?s passing sometime in the middle of the night when for the second time in his life, his heart had been broken into shards.

~*~*~

Cliegg went looking for the boy. He supposed that the girl - Padmé - would be the logical person to comfort Anakin but Cliegg suddenly felt greedy, desperate to have something of Shmi?s to hold onto. Shmi had told him so much of her son that for the longest time, he had felt that he would know Anakin almost as much as Owen. But the person that turned up yesterday had not been a bright-eyed boy with a cheerful smile; neither had he been a stereotype Jedi with an imposing manner and wisdom beyond his years on his face. Anakin Skywalker was a strange young man with lines of unhappiness that had already marked his face before the news of his mother was broken to him. Yesterday, his face had been a

 

Another fantastic post, leia.

Once again, your style and attention to detail creates a familiarity that makes me feel as if I've known the Lars' and life on Tatooine all my life instead of these few pages you have written so far. The emotions and essence of the family leaps from the screen to dissolve into my eyes, creating honest and vivid images of a family dedicated to their farm and each other.

I honestly feel that you top the ability of many of the professionals recruited to write Star Wars when you write these stories.

Again, well done.

 

Once again, your style and attention to detail creates a familiarity that makes me feel as if I've known the Lars' and life on Tatooine all my life instead of these few pages you have written so far. The emotions and essence of the family leaps from the screen to dissolve into my eyes, creating honest and vivid images of a family dedicated to their farm and each other.



I honestly feel that you top the ability of many of the professionals recruited to write Star Wars when you write these stories.



Again, well done.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

P.S.
Do I have lurkers? I'm just curious...

 

Absolutely agree with the above poster

ACK! I didn't realize you had updated this!
Bad Rebel... bad, evil, naughty Rebel!


Wow, I didn't think it was possible for this to get any better, but no, it did. I can't even tell you how glad we all are that you wrote this... not many touch on the Lars' at all, and very few can do it the way you can. It's just beautiful- the characterizations from Cliegg to Anakin, the descriptions of the homestead and their financial situation... I felt like I was there. How you can write with such utter believability and realism is beyond me. I wish I could write with that level of detail and obvious care.


This was my favorite:

When was the last time I said ?Good job? to Owen? Cliegg wondered suddenly. Have I ever said so to him since I got out of that bed? He did not think so. It was a dreadful mistake, one he intended to rectify as soon as possible. Life was too short. Life was too damn short. If he had never thought so before, the look on Anakin Skywalker?s face as he carried his mother?s body home was testament to the fact.

If only Obi-Wan would think that way as well.

 

Of course you have lurkers! Me, for one - I'm always hovering around your stories! But I have a few thihngs I want to say.

First off, I need a little point of clarification on a sentence that confused me: Other than that, no one except Padmé, who stood across the room from Anakin with her eyes never fixed on his face, paid much attention to him. If her eyes were ?never? fixed on his face, was she paying attention to him without appearing to? I mean, she?s the only one who notices when he slips out of the room?

For long weeks now, the house had been trying to tell him that she was gone?The old farmer had already felt his wife?s passing sometime in the middle of the night when for the second time in his life, his heart had been broken into shards.

I loved everything about this whole passage ? from the insightful truth about how a house changes when someone important is no longer in it, to the bond between Shmi and Cliegg that was so strong that he knew when she had passed. Beautiful.

Owen was the last to leave, his face almost alien with emotion as he passed his father. This is such a perfect image of the stoic Owen Lars: it?s exactly the way he was when we first met him in EPI.

Your characterization of Anakin?s grief is also some of the best I have ever read, from your descriptions (through Cliegg?s eyes) of his face when he learned about his mother?s fate, to the changes in him when he returned with her body, to his complete immunity from physical pain:

The action did not repulse Cliegg as much as it anguished him. The boy?s pain was as closed off now as it had been vivid yesterday but it was all the more heartrending for that. And Cliegg was as powerless to reach out and comfort Shmi?s son as he had been to his own son almost ten years ago.

I wonder about this. A few words from Cliegg made all the difference to his son, Owen. Perhaps if he?d had the courage to say something to Anakin at this point, it could have made a difference to Shmi?s son, too? the sheer helplessness in this exchange made me tearful:

Anakin continued his work, completely ignoring Cliegg. The old farmer felt at a complete loss. He had wanted to meet this boy, to talk to him, help him somehow?

? to ask his forgiveness?

but he had nothing to say now.

?If you need anything, son, I?ll be in the house,? Cliegg said.

?Yes, sir.?

The colourless voice did not invite confidences. Cliegg gave the boy one last look, then he steered his chair out of the garage.

The way you have portrayed it is so real. So true.

Finally, the way you have shown Owen and Beru and their relationship makes it abundantly clear why, years later, these two would take in Anakin?s son as their own. Of course they would. They held hands as they left the table and did not separate their link until they reached the first vaporator. Even then, the connection between them remained a tangible thing as they worked in tandem under the setting suns.

I'm really looking forward to the next installment.

 

Wow. Another great post.

You did a remarkable job of conveying Cliegg?s grief through both his own thoughts and how others perceive him. And I particularly like the way you showed us Anakin?s coping (such as it is) and grief through the others? eyes.

Your writing is so lyrical and descriptive, yet concise, that it conveys its images and emotions so powerfully. Amazing work, truly.

Oh, and I just have to say Cliegg?s musing on Threepio were very funny ? a great light moment in the midst of the angst.

Looking forward to more.

 

RebelScum77:
ACK! I didn't realize you had updated this!

I really should start sending PMs again!

Wow, I didn't think it was possible for this to get any better, but no, it did. I can't even tell you how glad we all are that you wrote this... not many touch on the Lars' at all, and very few can do it the way you can. It's just beautiful- the characterizations from Cliegg to Anakin, the descriptions of the homestead and their financial situation... I felt like I was there. How you can write with such utter believability and realism is beyond me. I wish I could write with that level of detail and obvious care.



If only Obi-Wan would think that way as well.

Me too! That?s like the motto of Star Wars? If Only?


geo3:

First off, I need a little point of clarification...

I fixed it ASAP! Thanks for the tip-off!

the insightful truth about how a house changes when someone important is no longer in it, to the bond between Shmi and Cliegg that was so strong that he knew when she had passed.

Thanks! Their love might not have been angsty A/P but it was just as strong in its own way. Cliegg?s utter broken-heartedness really stuck on me the first time I watched AotC.

This is such a perfect image of the stoic Owen Lars: it?s exactly the way he was when we first met him in EPI.

Strong and silent. Just the way I like ?em. Yum!

A few words from Cliegg made all the difference to his son, Owen. Perhaps if he?d had the courage to say something to Anakin at this point, it could have made a difference to Shmi?s son, too?

If only? If only? If only?

Finally, the way you have shown Owen and Beru and their relationship makes it abundantly clear why, years later, these two would take in Anakin?s son as their own. Of course they would.

Thank you. I hope the next chapter lives up to such high expectations!


Darth_Lex:

You did a remarkable job of conveying Cliegg?s grief through both his own thoughts and how others perceive him. And I particularly like the way you showed us Anakin?s coping (such as it is) and grief through the others? eyes.

Oh, that?s nothing? The A.K.A. Title of the whole Tatooint Incident stories is ?Grief?? Whenever I get stuck in a plot rot, I just ask myself? ?how do I make this even sadder?? then inspiration hits!

Oh, and I just have to say Cliegg?s musing on Threepio were very funny ? a great light moment in the midst of the angst.

Hooray! I was afraid my labout of love on the Threepio scene might go un-remarked! You?ll be seeing more of Threepio in latter scenes?

 

Oh, that?s nothing? The A.K.A. Title of the whole Tatooint Incident stories is ?Grief?? Whenever I get stuck in a plot rot, I just ask myself? ?how do I make this even sadder?? then inspiration hits!

LOL@ the Angst Queen!!!!

 

Sorry I'm late! I've been a little preoccupied lately.

This post was great. I never could decide exactly how Cliegg felt about Anakin during AOTC, but your description kinda put it all in perspective. Of course he would care for Shmi's son, but I didn't see him being open about it, or Anakin opening up to him for that matter. Its always sad when two people are at such cross-purposes.

Owen and Beru working side by side as the sun sets was a beautiful picture. It just defines the relationship they must've shared - strong and solid. I like the way you described how well he was running the farm. Cliegg's praise of his performance was also well done. I agree with RebelScum77 that Anakin could've benefitted from some of the same positive reinforcement from Obi-Wan.

I know she wasn't mentioned much in this post, but I think Padme's presence was a strong addition. The way she watched Anakin intently and said nothing was very much how she came across in the brief scenes we saw when Anakin returned from the Tusken camp in AOTC. All in all, a very satisfying chapter.

 

Sorry I'm late too... That was an awesome chapter...
Just full with emotions and Anakin not talking, just concentrating on his work, was so... and true to life. That's what I love with your fics. I always have the impression to be right there with them...
*waiting for the next update*

 

I love this story. You've done a wonderful job of portraying what life is like for the natives of Tatooine - the harsh conditions, worrying about keeping the farm from going under, the constant fear of attacks by the Raiders.

I really liked the scene where Cliegg tells Owen and Beru what a good job they were doing. That one gesture meant so much to them.