A new life
By Mireille 
23-05-2005/ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)

______________________
Disclaimers: None of those characters belong to me. See my page for more 
details. 
(http://www.geocities.com/skyjade3/index.htm)
______________________

When Obi-Wan finally showed up with the baby, Owen was still uncertain about 
what he and Beru had decided to do. Shelter the child of his step-brother, who 
had turned into the dark-helmeted monster that they had seen in the newsvids 
throughout the past weeks? Welcome in their home a baby that had inherited his 
father’s powers?

He sighed once again as he gazed at the double sunset. Were they doing the right 
thing by taking the child in with them?

Soft footsteps attracted his attention behind him; Beru was approaching, with 
the baby carefully ensconced in her arms. The moment that he saw the smile on 
her face, he understood that she had already been bewitched by the month-old 
child.  Not even bantha strength would remove the child from her arms. He 
supposed that being barren, the fact that she could still have a child in her 
life was like a miracle to her.

He gave her a quick, reassuring smile, barely glanced down at the child, and 
then focused his eyes back on the setting suns. Damn, the infant was adorable.

Nothing like his father, he thought as he resisted studying the baby’s face 
longer. From what he had seen at first glance, the child looked angelic... like 
his mother, the senator from Naboo. 

“Owen?” Beru inquired in the silence.

He turned toward her, carefully avoiding looking at the baby in her arms. “Let’s 
go back inside, Beru. It’s late and the Sandpeople will come out of their hiding 
place.”

Nodding quietly, they walked back inside their humble moisture farm, the one 
that had belonged to his father before he had died of his old injuries.  He 
wrapped his arm around Beru’s hips, seeking her comfort in this moment of great 
incertitude for him.

Even though Kenobi had called them two weeks ago to discuss his request with 
them, and even though they had established their conditions about the boy’s life 
if they were to take him with them, Owen Lars was still most insecure about this 
new addition in his life.

What if the boy’s father came looking for him? According to Kenobi, Anakin 
didn’t know that he was alive, but Owen had read in the news how Vader could 
find Jedi even though they hid. What kept him from doing the same with the boy?

‘His’ child, his flesh and blood?

And if Anakin had turned into a monster when he had begun to train in the Force, 
what guarantee did they have that the boy wouldn’t follow in his footsteps as he 
grew older? 

He and Beru had reached the lower level of their hovel and went into their house 
proper. “Beru,” he began--- but stopped short when she turned toward him and set 
the baby in his arms.

“He must be hungry; I’ll prepare some milk for him. Hold him for a moment, 
please.”

Then she was gone from the dining room before he could object to her request.  

Alone with the awakened baby, Owen looked anywhere but at the child.

At least, at first.  However, the more time passed, and the more the child cooed 
as if to attract his attention, the more difficult it was for Owen to not look 
at him. 

Eventually, he gave in and tilted his head until he could peer down at the small 
life that was in his arms.

With big blue eyes and a brush of baby blond hair, the boy truly looked like an 
angel. Or rather, a cherub, he amended as he looked deep into the barely seeing 
eyes.  

Luke, as he was called, seemed to understand his thoughts and cooed again in 
pleasure.  

Owen sighed in answer. “What are we going to do with you, little one?” he asked 
him as he sat in weariness at the table.  “Tatooine is not a suitable place for 
a child... I know; I grew up here. It’s dangerous, steaming hot, and water is 
rare.” 

Luke seemed to ponder his words, a soft babbling escaping his tiny mouth.  

“But we can’t leave you to your own devices either, can we?” he reasoned out 
loud. “That would be even more dangerous for you... and us. I just hope that 
your father will not find us, though. I don’t think he will like what he finds 
if he does... I don’t know him very much, but he didn’t seem to be the patient 
type to me.”

Luke wriggled slightly in his blanket, as if to reach out with his hands for 
him.  Owen shifted his hold on him a little bit, uncovering the baby’s chest 
from the blanket. He couldn’t help but smile when the now freed hand sought his, 
as if in instantaneous attachment.

Owen tested the baby’s grip on his right index; he was strong, holding onto him 
as if to a safe line. He smiled further at this first contact between him and 
his nephew.  He looked back into the baby’s eyes.  “But fear not, Luke,” he 
reassured him, calling him by his name for the first time since he had ‘met’ 
him, “I will protect you, I will make sure that you become a good, strong man, 
and I will love you like my own son.” He nodded to himself as he finally made 
‘his’ decision about the boy’s new life with him. Yes, he would love the boy as 
if he were his own; Luke was not his father’s child only. He was Padme’s, too... 
gentle and kind Padme, and he was Shmi’s grandson. 

If only for the sake of her loving memory, he would shelter this boy from the 
harsh truth of his origins, and he would never allow him to be harmed by them. 

“Do you promise to be a good boy in return?” he asked the child, dimly wondering 
how he would handle what he had just decided to do. If Anakin hadn’t seemed to 
be patient, he himself ‘wasn’t’ exactly known for his patience either. He was 
also rather gruff on the edges, but then, he had lived in the desert all his 
life. It wasn’t an easy life, nor was it always pleasant.

But it was his home, as it would now be Luke’s.

In answer to his question, the infant smiled brightly at him, a smile that made 
him give up the last of his doubts and uneasiness about his new life as an uncle 
to his barely-born nephew. Only death would separate them, he promised himself. 

“Welcome home, Luke,” he told the baby, caressing his cheek with his now freed 
index as he did so. “I’m your uncle, Owen, and the very kind lady whom you saw 
earlier is your aunt, Beru.”

The baby seemed to ponder his words a little, and then smiled even more than he 
had before, his toothless smile swallowing him whole in the innocent love that 
generated this reaction in the child.






While young Owen Lars continued to coo and bond with his new charge, enjoying 
one of the rare moments of Happiness in his life, Beru silently smiled from her 
position in the opening that connected the dining room to the kitchen. She had 
known that Owen would not be able to resist Luke’s charms for long if he were 
left alone with him.  

She nodded in approval at herself, and then returned in the kitchen to finish 
the preparation of Luke’s first meal in his new home.

He would be Happy with them, she promised herself. He would be Happy and loved.

THE END


Written 2005, Mireille
skyjade@globetrotter.net


Please, if you had fun reading this, let me know :) Thanks in advance for your 
sharing your fun back with me! Entertaining you really means a lot to me!