Coming home. . .

He ran until he hit the invisible wall that would let him go no further.

Luke looked at the smoldering scene before him. He realized that everything he had been so familiar with, everything he had known so intimately now looked completely foreign. He was viewing his homestead through different eyes; like a hostage released from a dark dungeon. He tried to focus on the changed images of a world he thought he knew. It was painful and brilliant all at once.

Luke felt every imaginable emotion take hold of him. It was the emotion he didn’t expect that caught him off guard. It swept over him like a cool wind and surprised him like a violent desert storm: it was peace.

Peace. How could anyone feel peace at a time like this?

The murder of Luke’s beloved Aunt Beru and his never-quite-good-enough Uncle Owen changed his life in a stunning flash. And yet, somehow he knew the change had little to do with Owen and Beru. Yes, they were the precipitants. But it was their time. He knew this. He felt it. Although their murders were horrific and inexcusable, Luke knew they were at peace after a long life of toil and hard labor. It was just hard to accept that HE himself could feel. . .peace.

Peace.

How else could one describe it? He did not mourn for his adopted family. He felt no obligation to stay, no ties to anyone or any place. But what Luke was feeling was more than lack of guilt or lack of ties. No – peace and freedom are two very different things.

Peace.

Looking back, Luke had always been restless growing up on the farm. It wasn’t where he belonged. And although Beru was loving and Owen was both watchful and dutiful, he knew they weren’t his. No – he had always felt alone.

And on this desert world of Tatooine, he was not only alone, but also out of place. He wondered at his oddities – his seemingly unique ability to see and feel things in a way that was very different from others. He felt guilt over his restlessness and shame at his lack of contentment. He despaired at his unrelenting desire to become something more. And yet he felt deeply for his family and for the universe at large. Compassion and empathy coursed through his veins with no outlet but the broken moisture evaporators and the occasional droid. He was being crushed by his own apathy. He knew he was not the dutiful son and farm-boy that he should be – and yet. . .

Peace.

Luke began to realize with a painful certainty that these murders would’ve never happened if he’d been there. He could’ve stopped them. He didn’t know exactly how, but he knew he could’ve saved his family. And even though he did feel both guilt and regret, he also realized that these senseless deaths had succeeded in pointing him in another direction. . .

Peace.

Somehow, Luke did not find himself swearing revenge for this horrific event. Oh – he knew how to be angry and how to feel hate. He had been angry for a long time: angry at the futility of farming the desert, angry at the loss of his real parents, angry at the limits set by his surrogate family and angry at his lot in life. But, like many others who had grown up in the desert wastelands, he learned early on that anger served no purpose. It didn’t change things. Only individual beings and the choices they made could change things. . .

Peace.

No, Luke did not swear revenge. Instead, the compassion that was part of his very nature moved him to action. His new clarity told him that there were others – many others – to be saved. In this knowledge, he found a way to escape the planet and to escape the apathy. He could not save Owen & Beru – but he could save others. And he knew exactly how he would save them.

Jedi. The word pounded in his head and beat through his heart. Jedi. Possessing unimaginable skills: courage, power, knowledge, control, strength. Jedi. Near mythical beings from a now golden age. Jedi. Gone from the universe, exterminated long ago. Jedi. No – there is another. Jedi. No – there is ANOTHER. Jedi. You are Jedi. Jedi. YOU are Jedi. Jedi. Your destiny, Luke, is to bring the return of the Jedi. . .

Peace.

Now, as he watched the effigies that had been his only family, Luke recognized the façade for what it was. And as it evaporated in the light of the harsh desert suns, so did his self-doubt. He knew with utter certainty who he was and what he had to do – as if a veil had fallen from his eyes. The universe – and his place in it – were suddenly blindingly clear.

Peace.

Luke Skywalker, orphaned farm-boy from Tatooine, had purpose. He was a Jedi. And this knowledge – this sudden and completely unquestionable certainty – gave him a peace he had never experienced before. The peace of purpose; of knowing one’s place in the universe. And the universe cried out for his presence like a dying mother clutching for her newborn. He was ready, now, to accept that long-awaited embrace.

Peace.

Luke knew that by putting on the mantle of the Jedi, he would be fulfilling a destiny he couldn’t even begin to understand – but one that he could never deny. Yet even as the acceptance of his new identity began to sink in, Luke felt familiar doubts and fears trying to claw through the peace. Doubt, fear and anger seemed desperate to break through this strong and threatening tranquility. It became clear that being a Jedi would not be easy – there would be tasks ahead far more difficult than burying his family – battles he could not even begin to imagine. Still – he knew he had to go – he had to try.

I want to come with you to Alderaan. There’s nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force an become a Jedi like my father. . .

And for this brief and fateful moment, Luke Skywalker wrapped himself in the peace he felt – the real cloak of any true Jedi – and walked away with his new mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

And – unlike many others – he never looked back.

Well. . .there you have it. My first fanfic ever. I think it's fine -- except for dialogue and scene descriptions and a general plot. Other than that, just fine! Well -- as you can tell, I write more like an "academic" than a storyteller. But this has been a good experience. It makes me appreciate even more those of you who have the special talent of being able to tell a good tale. Thanks to Luuke and to River for the encouragement and the suggestions.

Your Senator,
Soph-ia

PS -- that's not a plea for mercy, btw -- just an explanation of the facts! ;-)