Title:  All Good Things
Author: earthworm 
Date Finished: June 25, 2000
Archive: No
Feedback: Yes 
Time frame: Pre ANH.  Luke is 8.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to George 
	Lucas.  I'm borrowing his creations at no monetary 
	gain.  Actually, if you were to account the time I 
	spent writing this as time that could have been 
	spent working, I've done more than made no money: 
	I've lost money.
Summary: Underneath the tension seen between Luke and his 
	guardians in ANH is a foundation of love and 
	warmth.

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All Good Things
by earthworm 



	The twin suns of Tatooine greeted Owen Lars as he and 
his eight-year-old nephew were installing two new 
vaporators on the Western Front of the farm.  Owen glanced 
at his chrono and groaned.  They were only about halfway 
done with their work, but it was already dawn and he had to 
have Luke back at the homestead in an hour, or Beru would 
kill him.  He glanced at the second vaporator and wished he 
had left it on the speeder.  Now they'd just have to 
wrestle it back on, since they'd never have time to finish 
installing both.

	His nephew grunted then, and Owen turned around just 
in time to see a frustrated Luke throw his tool at the 
panel in front of him.

	"Don't you dare damage these vaporators, young man!  
These cost 30,000 ducats apiece.  I better not catch you 
doing that again," Owen growled.

	Luke mumbled an apology, but didn't pick up the tool 
he had dropped.  Owen sighed in frustration.  "Come on, we 
don't have time for temper tantrums.  You've got school 
today, remember?"

	Luke's elation at the reminder made Owen grin.  
Sometimes the boy just got so excited about things that one 
had to laugh.

	Luke picked up his tool distractedly, and didn't 
immediately get back to work.  Owen waited patiently for 
the question he knew was coming.  "Do you think Aunt Beru 
remembered to make me a lunch?"

	"Yes, I'm sure she did.  Goddess knows you've been 
reminding her about it enough.  Now get back to work.  I 
don't want you late to your first day of school."  Luke all 
but leapt at the vaporator in front of him as he worked 
with new gusto.  Owen managed to mask his hearty laugh as a 
cough.  It wouldn't do for the boy to think it was abnormal 
to like school.

	Three-quarters of an hour later they had finished 
installing the one vaporator.  Luke had tried to help get 
the other one back on the speeder, but the small boy's 
effort was no more than a token, really.  Owen was so 
exhausted that he was glad when his nephew asked to drive 
home.  He did let Luke drive the speeder back, though he 
made the boy beg a bit on principle.  Owen normally tried 
to limit Luke's time behind the controls because he was 
afraid that Luke would soon after discover more exciting 
means of travel, and before he knew it, the boy would fly 
away looking for the edge of the universe.

	Owen allowed himself to relax on the way back to the 
homestead.  He began drifting to sleep, and had to remind 
himself that he shouldn't leave a child driving a speeder 
unattended.  Luke was young, but he had an intelligence and 
ability that Owen suspected was a little beyond that of 
most boys his age, and he often found himself trusting Luke 
to treat heavy machinery with respect.  Luke, for all his 
natural talent though, was still a boy, and had a tendency 
to go as fast as possible just to find out how fast that 
really was.

	Though he was only eight, Owen could easily see the 
presence of his father's genes.  He had an intense sense of 
wanderlust for an eight-year-old, which was one of the 
reasons he was looking forward to school with such giddy 
anticipation.  Of course his mother had left him her iron 
determination, so where his father had been somewhat 
pliant, Luke was anything but.

	Owen had a sneaking suspicion that Luke's teenage 
years were going to be Hell.

	When they reached the garage, Luke had stopped the 
speeder, jumped out, and ran inside before Owen had even 
gotten himself upright again.  Owen slouched down in his 
seat, threw back his head, and laughed heartily.  He 
wondered how long this excitement over school would last.  
Knowing the boy's resentment when being made to do anything 
he didn't want to do, Owen guessed that if Luke had his 
way, his first homework assignment would be the last.

	It was a shame, Owen thought, that Luke was so lazy 
sometimes.  He really was a bright kid.

	Luke's teacher had called the other day to give Owen 
and Beru the roster and syllabus for this year's school 
session.  Beru had been especially pleased to find out that 
there were two boys and one girl exactly Luke's age, and 
about five that were a year or two younger.  She had been 
worrying recently that Luke didn't have any friends.  Owen 
knew that she was right, that Luke needed playmates, but he 
knew that as soon as the boy developed himself a group of 
friends, Owen's influence over his life would dwindle to 
nothing.

	Beru always gives him the most exasperated look when 
he says that.  Right before she tells him to stop being 
such a control freak.

	Luke's upbringing was somewhat of a sour point 
between the couple.  Owen was unendingly afraid that their 
happy life could all so easily be destroyed, if they 
weren't careful.  Luke's natural piloting skills were 
advanced enough that Owen strongly suspected the boy could 
make quite a name for himself if he were encouraged to 
race.  His mother had insisted that Luke carry his father's 
name, which Owen swore he could almost see hanging over 
Luke like a flare.

	The downside to hiding right under the enemy's nose, 
Owen thought, was that you always felt their breath down 
the back of your neck.

	He followed his nephew's track into the courtyard, 
where Beru was drawing some water for the boy to take to 
school.  She looked up at him and smiled.  He grunted in 
response and pecked her on the cheek, and she said softly 
to him, "He's so cute.  I haven't seen him this excited 
since that day we went to the party in Anchorhead."

	"Yeah, well, it won't last long.  The minute he finds 
out that he has to work, he's gonna try his damnedest to 
wheedle his way out of going.  I suspect he'll be a much 
more sickly child in about three months."

	They chuckled quietly together, but masked their 
amusement when Luke came back up.  He waited expectantly 
for Beru to inspect his appearance.  "That new tunic looks 
good.  Do you like it?"

	Luke sighed and said, "I guess."

	"You guess?"  Owen asked with a smile.  "You don't 
like it do you, boy?"

	"Owen-"

	"No.  It's too big.  And hot."

	"Well, you're wearing it, young man.  That's the 
nicest outfit you own," Beru told him desperately, but she 
knew she had already lost.

	Owen pretended like she hadn't even spoken, his gaze 
intent on Luke's.  "What do you want to wear?"

	"The tunic I had on this morning."

	"Beru, let the boy wear what he wants to wear."

	Beru's shoulders slumped when they both turned to her 
imploringly.  Owen's eyes were dancing with mirth, and Beru 
had to struggle to not giggle at the hope floating in 
Luke's eyes.  "Oh all right," she relented.

	"Yippee!" Luke shouted and ran back to his room, the 
tunic already halfway off his back.

	Owen laughed, and Beru tried to hold her scowl, but 
she had to admit that Luke was funny.  His uncle's 
attention always made him feel important.  When Luke came 
back, Beru walked them back out to the speeder and asked, 
"So what were you guys doing this morning anyway?"

	"Man stuff," Owen replied.

	Luke's eyes lit up.  "Yeah," he said.

	Beru laughed at the pair, amused by the pride in 
Luke's eyes and Owen's apparent good mood.

	Owen and Luke piled into the speeder, this time with 
Owen driving.  "You remember to listen to everything your 
teacher says, Luke," Beru instructed.

	"I will."

	"Always say yes ma'am."

	"I know!  You already told me this last night."

	"Chew with you mouth clos-"

	"I will!"

	Owen grinned at her.  "You done?"

	Beru smiled.  "Have fun."

	Luke sighed.  "Okay.  Bye."

	She stood to watch them drive off, but the glare of 
the suns' on the white sands was too much for her eyes.  
She turned towards another direction, towards the Dune Sea 
and the Jundland Wastes that lay beyond, unseen.  Beru sent 
the man she knew lived there a silent thanks.  On a planet 
as desolate as Tatooine, it's easy to live a life just as 
empty, but Beru's was rich and bright with love and 
laughter.  She wondered what her life would have been like 
without Luke.

	The white sands of Tatooine made Beru think of the 
comparatively colorful homestead as a planet in the vast 
blanket of space.  Her own little world.  The metaphor 
almost managed to become a concrete reality at night when 
the defense shield was raised.  Its shimmering blue hue, 
though invisible to those inside it, could be seen by one 
standing on the outside of the family's little bubble.  
Beru wondered if one day some one would burst her precious 
bubble, as Owen was convinced would happen.

	Despite the heat, she felt a breeze raise the hairs 
on her neck and arms, and heard the shifting sands of the 
Dune Sea whispering their timeless wisdom to her.

	"All things must come to an end."

~end~

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