Luke's mind was no longer on Tatooine's surface as he finished his chores on the Lars farm, his thoughts instead up among the stars. For once, it wasn't because he was wanting to break free of the planet and go out into the galaxy, but because of something he'd seen, and a feeling that wouldn't leave him alone. He was counting down the hours—now minutes, ideally—before he could leave the farm and take the landspeeder into town to go find his mother at the cantina. He wanted to tell her about the space battle he'd seen, however brief it had been, even though his friends at Tosche Station—if most of them could even be called friends—didn't believe him. She'd seen plenty of battles, and her cantina was a hub of information, so maybe she'd know more than he did about what had happened.

"Luke? Luke!"

Luke's attention snapped away from his thoughts at his Aunt's call, and he broke away from mechanically following his Uncle to go see what his Aunt wanted. He planted his foot at the edge of the hole looking down into the main courtyard, spotting his aunt in the center below.

"Luke, tell your Uncle if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bocce," his aunt called up to him.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, but I'll remind him."

Hurrying off to catch up to his Uncle as Owen perused the droids the Jawas were putting on sale, Luke relayed Aunt Beru's message moments before his Uncle chose a red R2 unit as one of his purchases. As his uncle continued examining the line up, Luke knelt in front of the red droid, checking it over to make sure it was in working order and nothing looked like it was on the verge of breaking down. As he was checking the unit's wheels for wear or jamming, he glanced over at the blue R2 unit sitting next to them, pausing in thought as he gazed at the droid for a reason he...couldn't quite explain.

Though he did know if it was his instincts telling him to look, then it had to be a prompting from the Force.

But why would it have him look at a little droid?

Clearing his throat, Luke went over to his uncle, who was sealing the deal on the red R2 and a golden protocol droid. "Uncle Owen," he interrupted, still a little hesitant about the spontaneousness of what he was asking but deciding to trust whatever it was the Force was trying to tell him. "What about getting that blue one instead?"

"The blue one?" his uncle asked, glancing back at the two R2 units. "I already agreed to get the red one."

The protocol droid leaned in to interject. "Excuse me, sirs, but that R2 unit is in prime condition, a real bargain."

Uncle Owen was looking at Luke suspiciously. "Why the blue one?"

Luke shrugged. "I've got a feeling," he said simply, perfectly aware that Uncle Owen didn't approve of all the Force nonsense his mother put in his head. If it was up to Uncle Owen, Luke wouldn't be learning about any of that, and would be staying on Tatooine instead of being prepped to join the Rebellion. Thankfully, that decision had been up to Luke's mother, and not Uncle Owen.

Again, the protocol droid interjected.

"I'm sure you'll be quite pleased with that one, sir. He really is in first class condition. I've worked with him before."

"Sure," Owen cut off the protocol droid with a scowl, but nodded reluctantly to the Jawa salesman. "We'll take the blue one instead."

The R2 unit rolled over as soon as the restraints on its wheels were removed, the other Jawas starting to pack up the remaining droids and file them away into the sandcrawler while Owen paid the salesman for the two droids.

"Take these two over to the garage, I want them cleaned up before dinner," Owen told Luke, nodding to the two droids as he spoke. Luke felt his ire prick, and he immediately protested.

"But I was going to go help Mother at the cantina," Luke protested. He'd been getting ready to leave before the sandcrawler showed up—cleaning up the droids would mean he was here for at least another hour or so. At this rate, his mother would be coming back from work by the time he was on his way into town.

"I'm sure your mother would agree with me that you need to finish your share of the work here before you go for extra hours at the cantina," Owen returned firmly, and Luke had to hide a scowl, looking back at the two droids.

"All right, let's go," he muttered, ushering for the protocol droid and the R2 unit to follow him, guiding the way towards the garage.

**************************************

"Thank the Maker. This oil bath is going to feel so good. I've got such a bad case of dust contamination, I can barely move."

Luke largely ignored the ramblings of the protocol droid as he chose to instead gaze at the R2 unit curiously, still puzzling over why he'd been prompted to convince his uncle to buy it instead of the other one. Maybe it was nothing more than the red one had some sort of issue with it...maybe it was something more.

Luke pushed away from the oil bath he'd just helped the protocol droid into, moving over to get tools to start cleaning up the R2 unit as he tuned back into what the protocol droid was saying. If he was going to get answers, it was probably going to be from the chattier of the two.

"I'm not even sure which planet I'm on," the droid was saying, prompting a light snort from Luke.

"Well, if there's a bright center of the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from."

"I see sir..."

Something squirmed uncomfortably inside Luke at the title, an odd laugh coming out of him at being addressed as 'sir.'

"Ah...you can call me Luke," he corrected.

"I see, Sir Luke."

That was even worse!

"No, just Luke," Luke corrected again, moving over to the R2 unit to start cleaning it up and make sure it really was in prime condition.

"Oh..." the protocol droid said thoughtfully, and Luke had a brief flash where he sincerely hoped the droid understood. It would probably take a bit more time and more corrections before the droid would just call him Luke. "And I am See-Threepio, human cyborg relations. And this is my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo."

A shiver went down Luke's spine at the names for a brief moment, his work on cleaning up the R2 unit—Artoo—pausing at Artoo's dome.

Hadn't Artoo been what his father and mother had called the R2 unit that helped them on countless missions over the Clone Wars? An R2 unit that his biological mother had owned before his father started using it in the war? And Threepio had been the name of the protocol droid his father had made as a child, if Luke remembered right. His mother hadn't mentioned Threepio as much as Artoo, but he still remembered.

But there were billions of droids in the galaxy. There was no way these could be the exact same droids. Maybe stumbling across one in his lifetime he could have swallowed, but both? At the same time?

No, it had to be different droids, it had to be...though the Force had prompted him to get his uncle to buy Artoo instead of the red one...

"Are you alright, Master Luke?"

"Huh?" Luke asked automatically, brought out of his thoughts and back to the fact that the droids had just introduced themselves—or rather, Threepio had introduced himself and Artoo. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking. Your names sounded familiar, that's all."

Turning his attention back to Artoo, he studied it closer, fingers brushing absently at some of the markings on it's dome. "You've got a lot of carbon scoring here...Looks like you boys have seen a lot of action," Luke commented vaguely, hoping the comment might earn him some information in return.

"With all we've been through, sometimes I'm amazed we're in as good condition as we are," Threepio complained, with Luke paying closer attention to it's ramblings now that he had names and some interesting possible answers for why he'd been prompted by the Force. "What with the Rebellion and all."

It was like Artoo had shocked him Luke stood up so quickly, startling Threepio enough the protocol droid leaned back in surprise from the sudden movement. "You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?" Luke asked sharply.

This was quickly surpassing being a coincidence. He was pretty sure his heart rate was picking up.

A battle in space above their planet, droids with the same names as the droids from his family's past, droids that were part of the Rebellion, his mother's comment that she'd had a feeling that caused her to carry her lightsabers on her recently...

It could be one giant leap in logic, or it could actually be something.

"That's how we came to be in your service, if you take my meaning, sir," Threepio said politely. Luke's mind was racing. Maybe they'd been part of the battle above Tatooine—maybe they knew what had happened.

"Have you been in many battles?" Luke asked, trying not to be too obvious about his line of questioning.

"Several, I think. Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm not much more than an interpreter, and not very good at telling stories," Threepio told him, which brought Luke to the realization that while Threepio might have had easily obtained answers, he wasn't going to have the answers Luke needed. If Threepio couldn't even think of anything to tell him about Rebellion battles, if he was just a translator... "Well, not at making them interesting, anyway."

Luke sunk back down in front of Artoo, frustrated anew. Threepio wouldn't give him answers, no, but there was still Artoo. Maybe if he tried chatting up the little R2 unit with Threepio translating, he might get some of his questions answered. He was about to go back to cleaning the surface problems when he noticed something a little more interesting. Something metal had been wedged where it wasn't supposed to be, and Luke was curious to know what it was.

Picking up a larger instrument than the pick he'd been using to scrape at the grime and sand, Luke got started trying to wedge the metal fragment out, concentration centering on the foreign object even as he started trying to chat up Artoo.

"Well, my little friend...You've got something jammed in here real good. Were you on a star cruiser or a—"

His inquiry was cut short as the metal budged just enough to make Luke lose his balance without the metal coming free. At the same time, something seemed to shock him, and Luke leapt back on instinct, falling on his hands with a curse bubbling up in his throat.

Another voice, one he'd never heard before, interrupted that curse before Luke could voice it.

"Help me Zelina Du'ahn, you're my only hope."

Luke froze, following a beam of light that had suddenly appeared from Artoo to the holographic image of a beautiful young woman now materializing in the middle of the garage. The message repeated on a loop as Luke stared, chills going down his spine.

There was no way...

"What is this?" Luke asked almost shakily, pointing at the hologram as it repeated its message. A better question might have been when was this recorded, who is the woman, what's this about, is there more, but the only thing Luke could manage at that moment was the one question.

Artoo beeped innocently, rocking slightly in place. Whatever the little droid said, it apparently annoyed Threepio, who suddenly thwacked the droid on its dome.

"What is what? He asked you a question! What is that?" Threepio implored, pointing towards the hologram that was still repeating it's message.

"Help me Zelina Du'ahn, you're my only hope."

Zelina Du'ahn.

That was his mother's name. Her real name.

Threepio was reiterating Artoo's answer, but Luke wasn't paying much attention anymore—his own mind was stringing together the answers

"Oh, he says it's nothing, sir. Merely a malfunction, old data. Pay it no mind."

There was no way he was going to ignore this. Here were two droids from the Rebellion going by the names Artoo and Threepio, carrying a message for help meant for his mother, when the Force had prompted him to have his uncle buy Artoo, and there had been a battle above Tatooine.

Someone—this woman—was in trouble.

She was calling on his mother for help.

This might be the sign that his mother had been waiting for, their sign to finally leave Tatooine and go out into the galaxy to do something, to join the fight against the Empire.

"Who is she?" Luke asked suddenly, cutting off anything Threepio might have been saying, his gaze still fixated on the looping hologram.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. I think she was a passenger on our last voyage, a person of some importance, I believe. Our captain was attached to—"

That last voyage was probably that one above Tatooine. "Is there any more of this recording?" Luke asked seriously, finally tearing his eyes from the hologram to look at Artoo. Artoo trilled something that sounded either indignant or insulting. Whatever it was, it earned another thwack on the dome from Threepio.

"Behave yourself, Artoo, you're going to get us into trouble! It's all right, you can trust him, he's our new master!" Threepio tried to reason with the droid, who tootled reluctantly in response. "He says that he's the property of Zelina Du'ahn, a resident of these parts, and it's a private message for her. Quite frankly sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but..."

Luke tuned out Threepio once he started rambling again and kneeled down in front of Artoo almost as if in a daze, one hand now placed carefully on its dome. Could this be the very same droid..?

"Did you once know anyone by the name of Anakin Skywalker?" Luke asked carefully, staring at Artoo's photoreceptor like he was gazing into its eyes, holding his breath as he waited for Threepio's translation. Artoo gave a hesitant beep of question.

"He wants to know how you know that name, Master Luke," Threepio translated, and Luke felt his heart jump into his throat.

"Because Anakin Skywalker was my father—and Zelina Du'ahn's my mother. I was about to go see her before the Jawas came by."

The announcement made Artoo break out into a flurry of beeps and whistles, waddling back and forth in the process.

"Are you quite certain, Master Luke? I'm not even sure what he's on about, it has to be some sort of mistake—"

Luke was already moving, setting down his cleaning supplies and scrambling over to the chrono to see what time it was. "I don't know if there's any point in leaving, now. She's probably already on her way back from the cantina, or getting ready to leave..."

He was going to have to wait until his mother came home to share the news. If he left now, he'd miss her and would have to double back. He doubted Artoo would play the message for Luke, if it was the same Artoo from his mother's stories. Artoo had said the message was a private one for Zelina Du'ahn, so he'd probably play it only for his mother. Which meant he couldn't peek at the message ahead of time, either.

"Luke? Luke?" Aunt Beru suddenly called from the main courtyard. It was probably time for dinner, too, and no matter what important message these droids had, his aunt and uncle weren't about to let him wiggle out of dinner.

"All right, I'll be right there, Aunt Beru!" Luke called back, hesitating and gazing at the two droids. "My mother will be home soon. As soon as she gets here, I'll bring her back here and you can play the message for her, all right? Just...stay here, in the meantime."

Artoo beeped impatiently at Luke, who looked to Threepio for a translation. "He says he won't be able to deliver the message until his restraining bolt is removed, that it's preventing him from accessing the full message."

Luke eyed the little droid suspiciously, well-informed from his mother's stories about how tricky and mischievous Artoo could be. "Then I'll make sure to take it off when she gets here," he assured Threepio, hearing his aunt's insistent call return. "She'll be here," he finished firmly before rushing out of the garage and trying to reign in his excitement.

Best not to tip his aunt and uncle off that there were rebellious things happening in the garage until his mother was here to back him up.

****************************************

Zelina was justifiably on edge as she made her way to the Lars homestead to pick up Luke, having left Benon in charge for the rest of the night so that she could retreat to their home and try to calm down so she didn't do anything rash.

The Empire was on Tatooine. It wasn't a small presence, either—there were stormtroopers everywhere, and a blockade above the planet. It was making Zelina jumpy, her lightsabers suddenly heavier on her person as she sincerely hoped that the stormtroopers weren't about to cross her and Luke's path. Her mind raced to think of any way the Empire could have learned of their existence, but nothing came to mind. Besides, if they'd come to eradicate the two Jedi on the planet, they would have sent someone subtle, and probably someone with the Force, not an entire parade of stormtroopers.

Even if it didn't have anything to do with her and Luke, something was going on, and it bothered Zelina that she didn't know what it was. She was going to have to talk to Luke, make sure the young man was on his toes, and was keeping armed, just in case...

Leaving her speeder parked outside the Lars home since she was just going to pick up Luke and head home, Zelina made her way into the home, calling out so no one would think she was an unwelcome intruder.

"Luke? Beru? Owen? It's me."

To her surprise, she heard a burst of action suddenly erupt from the kitchen, almost like someone was scrambling to exit in a hurry. Considering how on edge she already was, Zelina reached towards her hidden lightsabers, half expecting trouble, but stopping herself when she felt no sense of danger. The burst of action was followed by some disgruntled exclamations and rushed apologies before Luke suddenly appeared at the base of the stairs before Zelina could even make it down into the main courtyard.

"Mother! Finally, I've been—come on, I have to show you something!" Luke said, sounding out of breath from excitement—if it had been from the burst of activity she would have been worried, considering she kept the young man on a vigorous exercise routine so he would be in peak Jedi shape. He took the steps two at a time as he spoke, grabbing her wrist when he reached her to pull her in the opposite direction.

"Luke, what are you rambling about?" Zelina asked in surprise, thrown off by his unbridled enthusiasm, especially since she could sense undercurrents of seriousness that simply hadn't breached past his excitement.

"Earlier today, while I was helping fix some of the vaporators, I saw a space battle above Tatooine," Luke started to explain, the seriousness starting to leak into his tone as he practically dragged her towards the garage. "I was going to head to the cantina after I was done helping here to ask if you'd heard anything about it, but Uncle Owen wanted me to clean up the droids he bought from the Jawas first and, well..."

Before Zelina could inquire about the space battle—something that riled her uneasiness and made her wonder if it had anything to do with the Empire's sudden strong presence—and ask him what two new droids had to do with anything, they entered the garage, with Luke releasing her so he could turn on the light.

Zelina nearly had a heart attack in the doorway.

Her brain rushed to rationalize what she was seeing, telling her that with all the billions upon billions of droids in the galaxy, there was no possible way these were the exact same droids standing in the garage of the Lars homestead now...

The gold-plated protocol droid stepped forward, cutting off the little blue and white R2 astromech droid that had tried to roll forward when she entered the room. "Hello, I am See-Threepio, human cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo."

Some logical part of her brain thought of how Threepio's memory had been wiped that day they'd all gone their separate ways, so he wouldn't recognize her. But Artoo...

"Artoo...is that really you, buddy?" Zelina asked in a bare whisper, kneeling down as the astromech wheeled confidently up to her, twittering excitedly in a wide range of electronic beeps and whistles as he nudged her. It was all the answer she needed, feeling her throat suddenly close and tears starting to prick her eyes.

We got 'em, Artoo.

Have we heard anything from Artoo or Obi-Wan?

Thanks, Artoo!

It won't take us, Master, right Artooy?

Lead the way, Artoo!

Artoo, go back, I need you to stay with the ship.

Stop—Stop! Artoo, we need to be going up!

No loose wire jokes.

Did I say anything?

He's trying.

I didn't say anything!

She was going to start crying, she was right on the brink as all the memories of the past suddenly rushed through her, memories of a time when things had been happy, when Anakin had been alive, before this whole...mess happened.

Zelina placed a gentle hand on Artoo's dome, giving the droid a shaky smile as he tootled softly at her. "It's so good to see you again, Artoo. I didn't think I would see you again..."

Artoo beeped sadly at her, and Zelina made a conscious effort to stop the tears burning in her eyes before they could fall, clearing her throat and glancing at Threepio. "Let me guess...same old Threepio?"

Artoo beeped something that sounded suspiciously smug, and Threepio immediately reacted with great offense. "I am not a mindless pile of tin, you rusty bucket of shrapnel!"

Yup, it was the same Threepio. The very same one Anakin had built with his own two hands when they were children. That Padme had owned and upgraded...

Zelina frowned, reaching up to get the restraining bolts off of Artoo and Threepio. "These don't belong on you two..." she mumbled, trying not to think of the rant she would have heard if Anakin had been alive to see restraining bolts on his two droids, especially Artoo. As she removed the bolts, she asked the question that was gnawing at her mind.

"How in the name of the Force did you two end up here? Both of you, for that matter," Zelina commented. It was at that moment Luke stepped forward, reminding Zelina of his presence. He must have been giving her a moment to have her much needed reunion. Even now, he looked hesitant to speak up, like he was worried he was interrupting too soon.

"It's like I said earlier, Uncle Owen bought them from the Jawas today. They said they'd been in a space battle with the Rebellion, and I think they were talking about the same one I saw earlier. Artoo's apparently carrying an important message for you."

"He's what?" Zelina asked sharply, suddenly turning her full attention back to the little astromech droid. Artoo beeped in a far more serious tone, rolling back and positioning himself so he was facing the middle of the garage. Zelina shuffled off to the side, finding a ledge to sit on facing the center of the room. "Well, go on, Artoo—if it's serious you should probably go ahead and show me now."

Artoo whirled in confirmation, and Zelina had the briefest moment where she was able to wonder if the droids had something to do with the sudden Imperial presence on Tatooine before the hologram flickered to life in the middle of the room.

A young woman, roughly Luke's age with a strong resemblance to Padme, appeared before them and began to speak.

"General Du'ahn. Years ago you served the people of the galaxy during the Clone Wars. Now we beg you to help in the struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father, Bail Organa's request to you in person—"

Zelina felt a jolt go through her. Bail? This was Leia! This was Anakin's daughter, Luke's twin, the other Skywalker! Zelina wanted to take a moment to get a good look, but the message continued, and she didn't dare lose focus long enough to miss something important.

"But my ship has fallen under attack, and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed."

That was the space battle Luke must have seen.

Force, Zelina thought, suddenly feeling an overpowering sickness sweep over her. The Empire has Leia.

"I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Zelina Du'ahn, you're my only hope."

Leia looked away as if something had disturbed her, bent over and stretched out to something unseen, and the message ended, leaving Zelina staring at the space where Leia had been a few moments prior with a storm of emotions raging inside her.

Her predominant thought was the Empire has Leia, her concern for the other of the two Skywalker twins rocketing to the front of her conscious. Forcing herself to calm down and take several deep breaths, she examined the information that had been placed in front of her in a matter of minutes, so she could decide what to do next.

Yes, the Empire had Leia, but Zelina had no idea where Leia herself was. She couldn't help Leia until she had a direction, or at least a starting point. Leia was the highest on her priority list at the moment, but there was nothing she could do...yet. Leia's message, however, was asking her to take something Artoo was carrying to the Rebellion, and asking—or rather, begging—for her help in the war. If Leia's message wasn't a clear sign it was time for Zelina and Luke to leave Tatooine...well, they weren't about to get a sign any clearer than this. Which meant she needed to keep these two droids in one piece—already something that would have been a goal, considering they had been Anakin's droids—and head to Alderaan. After she delivered whatever Artoo was carrying, Bail would be able to fill her in, perhaps point her to Obi-Wan, Satine, and Pria, and she could go from there. Maybe she'd get a lead on where Leia was being kept in the process.

All this also meant that the Empire was here for these two droids, which had been purchased by Beru and Owen, putting them directly in the line of fire.

It also meant her and Luke needed to get off this planet as soon as possible...and her job protecting Luke was about to become that much harder.

He was finally going to be stepping into the picture, and that terrified her. She could only hope she'd trained him well enough, though his temperament made her think she might have neglected a rather important part of his Jedi training. Or perhaps the temperament would come with more experience.

She also needed to stop sitting here mulling this all over and get into action.

Zelina snapped out of her thoughts, looking at Luke, who was standing patiently off to the side, waiting for his mother to speak once she finished processing her thoughts. "We're leaving. As soon as possible."

Luke immediately perked up as Zelina rose to her feet. "We are? We're going to help the Rebellion?"

Zelina reached out and placed a heavy hand on Luke's shoulder, locking gazes with him to make sure he understood the seriousness of what she was about to say. "That's not something to get excited about, Luke. Owen and Beru are in danger now because they bought these droids, the Empire will come here looking for them," she said seriously, hoping that she could use this as an opportunity to ground Luke a little more before they jumped into the fray. Luke mellowed at the news, and Zelina continued once she was sure she had his attention. "I know you've wanted to leave Tatooine to really be a Jedi ever since I started training you, but we're still fleeing the Empire when we leave the planet. After this, nothing's going to be the same, and even though I've trained you for years, you still lack experience. I'm going to need you to listen to everything I say, all right? This isn't training anymore, this is real, and you could get hurt or killed. Do you understand?"

Luke nodded, a spark of fire lighting in his eyes as he drew himself up. "I'm ready, I promise."

Zelina studied him carefully. "No one's ever really ready, Luke. They just think they are," she said softly. "Now I want you to pack these droids up into my speeder outside. I'm going to talk to Beru and Owen, then we're going home. We're going to get what we need, and we're going to leave. We cannot be at that house by the time dawn comes."

Luke suddenly looked uncomfortable. "We're going to be traveling at night? But the Sand People—"

"Are now the least of our worries. The Empire is going to be tearing Tatooine apart looking for these droids. We have to get out now, while we're still ahead of them. Now go on, we'll talk more at the house. Right now we need to get Beru and Owen out of the line of fire."

Luke nodded much slower this time, turning towards the droids. "All right you two, we're going outside."

"I'll be right behind you," Zelina told him, already moving to head back towards the main part of the house, hoping Owen and Beru were both still in the dining room.

She was acting faster than her brain could catch up with the events that were happening, which was partially a good thing. It meant she might actually be acting fast enough they could get off Tatooine without having a run in with the Empire. She could take the time to process later, when they weren't running on borrowed time. She didn't think their luck went far enough to avoid a scrape with the Empire of some kind, but it was nice to hope for a smooth exit while simultaneously planning for things to go wrong. At least she already had the perfect candidate for their way off the planet.

Owen and Beru were in fact still in the dining room area, the married couple looking up as Zelina appeared around the corner with all the seriousness of what was happening clearly displayed on her face. Beru spoke up first, immediately picking up on the other woman's concern.

"What's going on? Luke bolted out of here as soon as he heard you."

"We're leaving," Zelina said bluntly, coming to a stop in the doorway. "I don't just mean headed home, I mean leaving Tatooine."

"Why?" Owen exclaimed, rising from his seat as if preparing for a confrontation.

"Those droids you bought today? They came from the Rebellion and are carrying some kind of information the Empire wants very badly to keep out of Rebellion hands. There's a full scale Imperial occupation going on in the towns right now," Zelina explained, speaking over Owen's curse as Beru hid her shocked expression behind a hand. "On the bright side, the droids were trying to get that information to me, so it's a good thing they ended up here. Luke and I are going to take them to the Rebellion, ideally tonight, first thing in the morning at the latest. The longer we stay on the planet, the more dangerous it will be."

"You really are going to drag that boy into the middle of a war, aren't you?" Owen asked in disbelief. "You should leave him with us, leave him here on Tatooine where he'll be safe and out of harm's way—"

"That's not who Luke is, Owen," Zelina said firmly, locking gazes with the man. "I know you just want to keep him safe, but you can't keep him locked up on this planet. Not only is he meant for more, but he wants to do more. He wants to help people. He's old enough to take care of himself, and I've been training him to take care of himself all these years. Not to mention, I swore I'd look after him—I'm not about to leave him behind. Besides..."

Zelina looked back, making sure Luke wasn't headed their way or anywhere within earshot before she spoke in a much softer voice. "His sister was the one who sent the information. And she's most likely been taken by the Empire. I swore to Anakin I'd take care of his family, and that means both the twins. Luke's my primary concern, but I won't ignore Leia needing my help as well. We have to go."

"What about us?" Beru asked from where she still sat at the dining room table. "If the Empire finds out we bought the droids—"

"Don't worry about that," Zelina soothed. "When they come asking about the droids, tell them you bought the protocol droid to help me because I'm a working single mother, and tell them Luke wants to be a pilot, so you bought him the astromech. Cooperate, be the innocent, helpful civilians. Tell them where we live. Then it won't be your fault. You bought the droids and immediately passed them on, you have no idea what was in them or that they were important to the Empire, they were simply scavenged droids you bought from Jawas for your relatives."

"You want us to willingly give you away?" Owen asked incredulously. At that moment, Luke rushed into the courtyard.

"I've got them secured in the speeder—we're ready to head out," Luke informed her.

Zelina gave Owen a reassuring smile. "We'll already be long gone by the time the Empire reaches our place. We're already ten steps ahead of them." Zelina looked back at Luke, giving him a pointed look. "Luke, you should say your goodbyes. Chances are we won't be back here for a long, long time."

Luke blinked, looked at his distressed looking Aunt and Uncle, and hesitantly made his way over, giving Beru a strong hug first.

He was lucky they had enough of a heads up he was getting the chance to say goodbye. If this had gone any other way, there might not have been any goodbyes.

Beru said something too quiet for Zelina to hear, though she wasn't trying to eavesdrop anyway, before Luke pulled away. He stood awkwardly in front of his Uncle Owen before the man known for his gruff demeanor allowed a brief hug.

"You take care of yourself, all right? Don't do anything stupid...don't get yourself killed," Owen said gruffly as he released Luke.

"I'll be all right," Luke assured him, carefully pulling away and heading towards the door. Zelina turned to follow him before Owen called out, causing her to pause for a brief moment and look back.

"You take care of him, all right?"

Zelina looked back at the man she'd had plenty of disagreements with over the years simply because they had different views on how to protect Luke, fully aware that despite all those disagreements...they both just wanted to see Luke safe.

"You know I'm not about to let anything happen to him," she said in reply, turning back around and placing a hand on Luke's back briefly as she urged him to quickly head outside.