Consequences

Chapter 4 - Journey to Cloud City

I don't know how long it's been when I decide to ask another question that I've been wondering. This time, it's one I know I'll get an answer too – an answer that will hopefully make sense.

"Who are Han and Leia?"

"Close friends. How about I start at the beginning of the story?" he proposes, and when I nod, he continues. "Three years ago, when I was still living on Tatooine –"

"You lived on Tatooine?!" I interrupt, startled.

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, nothing. I've been there before, a few years back," I shake it off quickly. Luke lived on Tatooine? How did he end up there? I suppose... after everything happened, Anakin probably did still have a family there, not that he would have been impressed with the location of choice, because he's always loathed the planet.

"So, as I was saying, my uncle bought the droids Artoo and Threepio –"

"Wait, how did Threepio end up on Tatooine?" And why did I just say that? Luke has an uncle. Does that mean Anakin has a brother I've never heard about? I must ask my master about that if – when I get back home.

"You used to know Threepio?" frowns Luke, sounding confused.

"A friend of mine owned a droid designated C-3PO," I lamely attempt to explain. "Sorry for all the interruptions. I'll try to be quiet. Please continue the story." The last thing I want is for him to stop telling me because I can't stay quiet.

"So, when I was cleaning up the droids, Artoo played a recording of Leia – who is the former princess of Alderaan, Bail Organa's daughter." He had a daughter?! What else happened that I don't know? "And then insisted that he needed to find his former owner, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He convinced me to remove his restraining bolt, and later that day, escaped from my home and went in search of Ben." So, Obi-Wan was living on Tatooine...?

"I managed to find Artoo but got attacked by Tusken Raiders on the way. Ben came to the rescue, and we went to his hut to wait until it was safe. That's when Artoo – who was carrying the plans for the Death Star – played the recording of Leia asking for Ben's help."

"Wait, what's that?" I blurt out, then cringe. I've missed two decades of time, so I suppose it's not surprising I know so little. Still, it makes me feel like a complete idiot when I ask questions which I'm sure everyone knows the answers to.

"You don't know what the Death Star is?" he exclaims incredulously. From now on, I need to just try to play along and pretend I know what he's talking about. Uggghh.

"I've been in hiding and haven't really heard any news for a long time," I attempt to reason. Thankfully, he seems to buy the explanation.

"It was an enormous space station created to keep the galaxy in line – meant to destroy planets," he answers. "Oh, and the reason Artoo ended up on Tatooine to begin with was because Leia had sent them out of the ship in an escape pod after it was captured by Vader. Anyway, Ben asked me to come with him to Alderaan to give the Death Star plans to the members of the Alliance located there. I didn't want to go because of my uncle and aunt, but... when I was on the way back home, we ran into a camp of Jawas who had all been killed."

He pauses for a moment, and when he begins speaking again, I can sense whatever he's about to tell me is a really hard topic for him. "Then, we realized that those were the same Jawas I bought the droids from. They'd been killed by the Imperials. I rushed home right away but it was too late. When I got there, the house had been burned to the ground and my uncle and aunt were dead."

"I'm sorry," I murmur softly. Which means Anakin's family on Tatooine is probably dead now. I don't know how big it was, I suppose, so there may be more who are still alive... Regardless of how many there were, though, this is something else I must make sure doesn't happen. We fall silent for many long moments – I'm giving him time to gather himself – before Luke picks up the tale again.