Finally, the speeder slowed to a halt in the shadow of a cliff. The advancing twilight coloured the rough landscape in shades of purple and blue as the twin suns slipped beneath the horizon, covering the ruddy shades of day and calling the night creatures from their crevices. The speeder's sole occupant watched the advancing night in silence, lost in angry thought. It wasn't safe to be alone in the desert even during the day, much less so at this time, but at that moment she didn't care, couldn't care....

Besides, she was never alone for long.

"One of these days, the Sandpeople are going to find you before I do, you know."

Beru Lars started at the voice, for all that she had been expecting it. She never knew how he always found her, never wanted to know. "They haven't yet."

"That doesn't mean that they never will," came the stern reply. "There are more of them than there is of me."

"They're scared of you."

"For which we may both be grateful...." Obi-Wan sighed and vaulted gracefully into the speeder's passenger seat, glancing quickly around at the rocky landscape before turning to her. "You and Owen had another fight, I take it?"

"How did you guess?" Beru muttered bitterly, her thoughts turning dark.

"Because it is the only thing that will bring you out here alone and unprotected. Beru, this is the third time in as many months." Obi-Wan looked at her appraisingly. "Is the marriage ending?"

"I...." Beru frowned as the first chill wind of night stirred her brown hair. "I don't know."

"Luke needs a stable home."

"Is the boy all you care about?" she snapped. "He's fine. He's only two, for crying out loud, he doesn't even notice."

The Jedi shook his head. "Children are very perceptive at that age, especially the Force-sensitive. He notices. And yes, Luke is my main concern, as you well know. He's the reason we're here, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Beru looked up at the stars, her thoughts turning to the legacy of the child she was raising, the legacy of the man beside her. "Your precious secret weapon. Don't you see him as a person?"

Obi-Wan's voice was weary as he answered. "That is a luxury I dare not allow myself."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Beru spoke again. "I thought you had blocked his abilities."

"Not exactly." Grey eyes turned towards her, reflecting the deepening blue of the sky. "He still has heightened empathy and reflexes, the things that are most basic to his nature. I placed barriers on the higher level talents -- childish temper tantrums are difficult even without adding telekinesis to the equation."

Beru gave a bitter laugh.. "Owen throwing things is bad enough."

"He throws things at you?"

Catching the edge in his voice, Beru quickly clarified. "No, not at me, and never in front of Luke, if that's what you're worried about. He just gets... frustrated sometimes. This isn't the life he wanted."

"He's needed here. And he did volunteer."

Beru snorted. "No, Obi -- I volunteered. You 'persuaded' him and I'm not even going to speculate on how you did it."

"If I could have chosen another, I would have." The Jedi's eyes turned towards the skies, seeking points of light familiar from a life long past. "But the connection is necessary. I have no other family --"

"And you had no other choice," Beru finished for him. "I know. I know that we are all here for a purpose and that we are all expendable for the greater good if it means defeat for the Empire. I know it, you know it, Owen knows it. But it's not easy for him to accept sometimes. He feels as though he has no control over his life any more. As if he's turned it all over to you, his brother, for the sake of some warped vendetta."

"But I'm not there for him to scream at, so he takes it out on you?"

"Something like that."

"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan murmured. "Do you want me to speak with him again?"

"To play with his mind again, you mean? No, we'll manage, somehow. If it gets worse... I'll let you know."

Silence stretched between them for long minutes. "You should go home," Obi-Wan finally said.

"Not yet," Beru told him. "I'm not ready yet."

"You can't stay here all night, it's not safe." As if to emphasise the Jedi's words, something gave a shrill cry from just above them on the cliff, a shower of small stones testimony to some predator's success.

"No, I can't." She looked across at him, at the still-handsome planes of his face touched by the faint starlight, blurred in places by the light furring of his beard. Never taking her eyes from him, she gently ran a hand along his thigh. "But you have a bed."

"Beru," Obi-Wan said with a sigh, "this is hardly the way to save your marriage."

"No? Sometimes I think it's the only thing keeping me on this rock any more." Loosening the safety harness she wore, she leaned across to brush her lips against his, feeling as much as hearing his soft moan as he responded. "I need this," she whispered as she drew back, "and so do you."

"I know, but --"

"But you still feel the need to at least make an effort at protest every time. How gallant." Beru smiled as she tugged the straps across her chest once more.

"Wait." Obi-Wan leaned over to reach into the recesses beneath the steering column, seeking something in the darkness. Beru closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his firm, sweat-scented body jostling against hers as he worked, imagining other, more deliberate caresses to come later....

Obi-Wan caught the tenor of her thoughts. "A little impatient, aren't we?" Straightening up, the Jedi nodded towards his work. "I've reset the homing beacon -- it'll read as Mos Eisley on your monitor at home. You can tell Owen you stayed in a spaceport hostelry or something."

Beru shook her head in amusement. "You'll have to show me how to do that."

"I thought you wanted me to show you something else?" This time it was Obi-Wan who moved towards her, his mouth finding hers as a hand slipped beneath her skirts, pushing material aside as he sought his goal. Beru groaned and leaned back as far as the harness would allow, spreading her legs and pushing into his touch, hearing his soft chuckle at her gasp as fingers brushed lightly across her folds. The Jedi bent his head to nuzzle her covered breasts as he slid first one, then two callused digits inside her, pressing and stretching the hot, wet passage that opened hungrily to his exploration. "Gods, Beru," he breathed huskily, "does Owen never touch you?"

"Not like this," she gasped, squirming as his thumb stroked roughly across the swollen nub of her clitoris, seeking reaction. "Never like this...."

"More fool he, then." Obi-Wan stopped speaking, concentrating instead on establishing a rhythm within her, pumping and caressing until she stiffened and screamed, muscles clamping tightly around the invading fingers. He waited until the spasms finally ceased before withdrawing his hand, gently cupping her quivering mound in his palm for a few moments, then pulling back and carefully licking his glistening fingers clean. "He doesn't know what he's missing."

"But I do," Beru murmured, trying to force her suddenly boneless body into movement. "And that's why I keep coming back out here...." She glanced across at her lover, noting the way his rough leggings tented at the front, but he caught her hand as she reached for him.

"Not here."

"But --"

"I can wait." Obi-Wan smiled at her then closed his eyes in concentration; moments later his erection began to flag. "We should get moving -- there's a group of Sandpeople not far off and I would rather they didn't try using us for target practice."

Beru frowned. "I'm sure you can see off a few Tuskens."

"Not with you... distracting me like that. Besides, out here at this time of night the 'sabre would be visible for miles. There are some kinds of attention I don't need."

Sighing, Beru straightened her skirts and sat up, aware of the delicious throbbing between her thighs and of the promise of more to come. "If you insist. You'll have to point me in the right direction -- I'm lost out here."

He smiled, teeth a pale flash against his tanned and bearded face. "Start going south-east...."

They started the journey in silence, Obi-Wan watching for trouble and providing occasional directions as Beru drove. He seemed almost jumpy, unlike his usual, frustratingly calm demeanour. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing to concern you," he told her sharply, then relented. "There was a bounty hunter through twelve days ago."

She turned to look at him in shock. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine -- she was just some Rodian chancer chasing a spaceport tale. I found her tracks before she found mine, caught her while she slept. She never even knew what hit her. The womprats disposed of the body with their usual efficiency."

"Oh. Good." Beru said, feeling uncomfortable. She had always known what Owen's brother was, what his life entailed... but it still disturbed her to think that she could be attracted to one who could take life so easily.... "So you're worried that others might try to follow her out here?"

"Yes," he admitted. "The fact that none have returned from this region in two years will just serve to convince others that there is something out here. But I can't let them find me."

"Right." Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Will I be too much of a distraction tonight?"

Obi-Wan laughed. "Gods, no. Tonight, Beru, you are just the sort of distraction I need. I've been scouring the area for intrusion for eleven days now and you are all I've found. I... need a break."

"Good to hear it," she told him, relieved. "I'll expect an inspired performance from you, then...."

"By the time I'm done with you," came the amused reply, "you won't be able to walk straight."

It was her turn to laugh. "I hope you're joking. I wouldn't want to have to think of a way to explain that to Owen."

At the mention of his brother's name, Obi-Wan quieted again, his expression unreadable. Beru sighed -- somehow she always forgot that these adulterous meetings troubled the Jedi more than they did her. "Obi, what he doesn't know about won't hurt him. That's why you fix the homing beacon, remember?"

"Beru, have you ever wondered what would happen if he did know? If he found out?"

"He's not going to."

"Think about it, Beru."

"Look," she said firmly. "He's not going to find out. And what if he did? Is divorce too traumatic an experience for your precious Luke?"

"Divorce?" Obi-Wan laughed. "Do you know why the bounty hunters come here? Do you have any idea how high a price I have on my head? My brother is a jealous man -- one quick call to the authorities and he'll have his revenge and his fortune in one easy package."

That thought chilled her. "They'd never take you," she said softly.

"They've taken so many already, one more wouldn't be so hard. The bounty hunters come occasionally, chasing rumours, but there are never more than one or two at a time, hoping to collect the blood price for themselves. They're easily dealt with... but an Imperial purge? Hundreds flooding the area and killing everything that moves?" The Jedi turned away from her, gazing out across the darkened wastelands. "I'm good. I'm lucky. But I'm not immortal. Not against odds like that."

"It won't come to that."

"I sincerely hope not." Obi-Wan lapsed into silence again and they continued in that way for a while. Beru had the feeling that he had more to say and waited until he had his thoughts in order enough to express them. There didn't seem to be much she could contribute on the subject anyway.

"I'm one of a dying breed," the Jedi said at last, his voice weary. "They've hunted us, slaughtered us like animals, pursued us until we can run no more. So many gone.... I feel them, did you know that?" He turned back to her. "Each time one of us dies, I feel it. It... hurts."

"I didn't know."

"No reason why you should. It never happened before the purges, not with those I wasn't bonded to in some way. But now that there are so few of us left...." He stared out at the horizon. "I feel them all. Not enough to know exactly who, or how, but enough to know that another of us has joined with the Force."

Beru glanced at him. "It's not your fault, Obi."

"Isn't it?" His tone was bleak. "I know -- I did the best I could but there were so many other factors I couldn't contend with. I couldn't watch over him forever and once he was free from the training bond... Palpatine closed in on him. But it's hard not to feel some guilt. I wish I hadn't listened to Qui-Gon...."

"What's done is done." Beru reached across to briefly squeeze his hand. "And you're doing your best to fix things."

"By putting your lives in danger. Brave of me."

"This is a war, remember. We do what is necessary." The surrounding terrain was becoming more familiar, navigation a matter of recall now. "Do you think he'll come?"

"I hope so." Obi-Wan ran his hands across his face. "We could be here a very long time if he doesn't. The trap is baited and set but that doesn't mean that the prey will come to investigate."

"I don't know if I want him come or not," Beru admitted. "There is so much risk to Luke and he's so very young...."

The Jedi sighed. "There will be risk to Luke either way. If Vader comes, the boy is a weapon. If Vader doesn't, then he is the one who will need to be trained as a Jedi. His sister has the greater potential but there are time limits involved...."

"What will happen to Leia if Vader doesn't come?"

"She'll be trained as a politician -- I trust Organa to do a good job there." He smiled slightly and Beru kept her eyes on the canyon around them, trying not to remember that Bail Organa had been one of Obi-Wan's numerous lovers. "But she would make a better Jedi."

"And you want to train her yourself?"

"Yes," he said simply. "She is my reward for coming here and playing the assassin. If I survive it."

"And nobody else could do this... task?" Beru failed to keep the distaste from her voice.

"I know Anakin. Better than anybody else alive. Besides, I've survived encounters with Sith before now." Obi-Wan shrugged. "Of all of us, I have the best chance of success. And I bested him the last time we met. This time I'll just make sure that I finish the job."

"If he comes."

A sigh. "Yes. If he comes."

The rough shape of the hovel Obi-Wan called home came into view, its windblasted walls pale in the starlight. Beru eased the speeder into position on the more sheltered side of the building, jumping out and watching as the dusty brown covering that would protect it from windblown sand eased itself into place over the vehicle's frame, guided by invisible hands. The casual use of telekinesis disturbed her somehow, a too-clear reminder that Obi-Wan was different, not quite human in ways that scared her if she thought about them too closely.

In ways that scared her even more when she thought about the child she was raising as her own, knowing he harboured talents that made Obi-Wan's look weak in comparison. Luke was a potential time bomb, one that she could never fully understand but only attempt to contain. There were days when that thought hung heavy in her mind, when she wondered just what she and Owen had taken on, what they would do if Vader did not rise to the bait and Luke had to remain with them on Tatooine.... But her dark imaginings rarely lasted once she had looked in on the boy and seen him laughing in play or curled innocently in sleep. Luke was a charming child in spite of his bloodline and would likely grow into an equally charming man. If he survived that long....

"Beru?" Obi-Wan touched her arm, a frown creasing his features.

She shook her head, dismissing her thoughts and the mood that the Jedi was evidently sensing from her. That wasn't what she was there for.... "It's nothing, Obi."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." Smiling, she turned and looked up into concerned grey eyes. "Come on, I don't want to stand out here all night freezing to death." Taking his hand, she led him towards the door of the small building.

Any doubts she might have had regarding Obi-Wan's own mood were dismissed the moment they were inside. Beru had barely made it past the hanging that provided extra protection during sandstorms when there were hands on her, spinning her around and pinning her against the wall as a hot, hungry mouth covered hers. Startled, she gasped and felt his tongue thrust past her opened lips, exploring with a savagery that frightened her even as her body responded with a wave of arousal that the Jedi could not fail to detect.

"Need you," he growled, pulling back with an apparent effort and tugging her towards the sleeping chamber at the back of the hut. Panting, Beru followed, too aware of the feel of his callused hand around her wrist and of the insistent erection that made his steps awkward. Her body was screaming for his touch, inside and out, and she gave in to its demands, letting herself go pliant as he pushed her back onto the bed and began unfastening her clothing, nimble fingers joined by unseen touches that she knew to be Force-driven. Pushing her own garments aside as they loosened and fell away, she reached for his, desperate to feel the heated skin beneath. One hand slid into his trous, wrapping triumphantly around the thick weight of his erection, fingertips grazing the furred heat of his balls. At last....

Obi-Wan drew back from her touch, kicking away boots and leggings to join his already-discarded tunics on the floor before falling on her like a starving man. She groaned as he dropped open-mouthed caresses on her throat, his beard scraping at overly-sensitive skin until she could barely breathe. Hands found her breasts, stroking and kneading, pinching her nipples to painful hardness even as his knees parted hers, opening her to invasion.

Beru cried out as the blunt tip of his cock nudged against her thigh, her mound, her folds, blindly seeking entrance. Disengaging from his rough exploration of her breasts, Obi-Wan moved a hand down between their bodies, fingers probing until they slid within her, then withdrawing and holding her open as his hips drove forward, burying his length to the hilt with two quick thrusts.

It was obvious that this was not going to last long. Beru wrapped herself around him, legs locking about his hips as he set a fast rhythm, harsh grunts marking each plunge into her body. Obi-Wan was large, thicker than Owen, stretching her almost painfully but Beru didn't care -- she wanted this. Wanted him. Wanted....

Obi-Wan gave a short, sharp cry as he came, jerking and shuddering as he spasmed within her, his seed a warm rush against inner muscles. Gasping, he stayed buried inside her as he softened, then pulled out and almost collapsed beside her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Beru reached up to stroke his hair back from his forehead. "You didn't neglect me -- remember earlier?"

"Yes, but --"

"Hush. You needed it, I offered it. I have no complaints." She placed a gentle kiss on his brow. "And we have the rest of the night still to go."

Obi-Wan looked at her fondly. "I don't deserve you." Smiling, he slipped a hand between her legs, watching her squirm as he played with her open, sex-slick body. "You like that?" he asked quietly.

"Gods, yes...."

"Good." Sliding down her body, he nuzzled her belly, scraping his beard across the too-sensitive skin before moving on to the damp curls that covered her mound. "You smell good," he murmured into the rough hair, inhaling deeply, then moved his mouth to join his fingers in their caresses.

Beru yelped in reaction as his tongue curled and probed around her, sweeping across her clitoris before exploring her folds, moving back and forth in an unpredictable motion as he lapped at their mingled juices. She buried her hands in his shoulder-length hair, holding him in place, not wanting him to even consider stopping. The world narrowed to the movement of his mouth, the wet sound of his tongue against her heated flesh, the electric flashes that jolted her nerves each time he touched her there....

Pulling his fingers from her, he grabbed her hips and went down on her fully, lips and tongue and grazing teeth playing across her core as she moaned and writhed beneath his assault. Her breath catching in her chest, Beru squeezed her eyes tightly shut, her body torn between pulling away from the overload of sensation and pressing hungrily into it, seeking yet more. Her orgasm struck her like a hammer blow and she screamed, her body arching up from the mattress before crashing down again, her legs jerking and trembling as he rode her climax, driving her to the peak again and again until her body had no more to give. Finally relenting, he drew back, wiping at his glistening beard with one hand as he lay alongside her, nestling his body against hers, both of them panting hard. Reaching down, he slipped two fingers within her, giving her something to bear down on as the spasms eased, stroking the inner muscles as they pulsed against the intrusion.

Beru lay, trying to bring her breathing back to normal as Obi-Wan pressed his face against the nearest breast, laving gently at the erect nipple with his tongue. If it could just be like this with Owen, if she didn't have to creep away for these stolen, illicit moments with a man who couldn't afford the risk of discovery.... Moving with an effort, she lifted a hand to gently stroke a muscular shoulder, "Thank you."

"Least I can do," he murmured into her flesh, then shifted to lay his head against her shoulder, his hair tickling her neck. "You make this more bearable. It can get so... lonely out here sometimes."

"You should go into Mos Eisley more often," she told him. "It's not Coruscant, but at least there are people there you can --"

"Not the same," he interrupted, his tone weary. "In Mos Eisley, I'm just the crazy human who lives in the Wastes. They don't know who I am, what I am, not like you do. If they did, I'd be dead. I'm worth too much to leave free. I know that this solitude is necessary but that doesn't mean that it is always easy."

Beru sighed and pressed a soft kiss into his hair. These confessions weren't easy for him, she knew -- the Jedi were not a group known for their admissions of weakness. But Jedi or not, he was still a man, and physical needs were only a fraction of what these occasional visits represented. "One day it'll be over and we can all get on with our lives."

"You believe that?"

"I have to." Beru hesitated a moment before asking, "Can you see it?" Precognition wasn't something she really understood or wanted to understand, but she knew that it was one of Obi-Wan's talents. "The future? What will happen?"

"No," he whispered into her shoulder. "It's too uncertain, too much in motion. The possibilities... they're there but they won't settle into a pattern. We could be here months, or years or forever...."

"Forever?" Beru closed her eyes. The thought of never getting off this sandy rock was terrifying -- there had to be something more for them. For herself, for Obi-Wan, for Luke... even for Owen. There had to be. "Is it likely to come to that?"

"I wish I knew."

"Obi --"

"Shhhh." He reached up to press a finger against her lips, quieting her. "The future will reveal itself in its own time. Our task is simply to wait." Sighing, he reached down to pull the rumpled covers across their bodies, protection against the chill of the desert night, then pressed himself closer to her. "Sleep now."

Beru lay still as the dim light suddenly extinguished at some unseen command. "I wish Vader would come."

"So do I." Obi-Wan shifted in the darkness, making himself comfortable, and Beru moved with him, forming her body against his and appreciating the warmth of his embrace. "But for now... I'm glad that you're here. Even these rare nights are a comfort. They remind me that I'm still alive...."

Beru had no answer for that, so she simply held him until sleep came to claim them both.

"NO!!!"

Beru came awake with a start, her disturbed dream evaporating as Obi-Wan jerked out of her arms with a scream of denial. Hastily reaching out to activate the light, she turned back to find her lover sitting bolt upright and staring into nothing, his skin pale and clammy beneath her worried fingers. His pulse was racing, his breathing laboured, and Beru was suddenly terrified, not knowing what could affect a Jedi in this way. "Obi-Wan? Obi? What is it? Please talk to me!"

For a few moments there was no response, just the same fixed stare and gasping breaths, making Beru wonder if she should slap him... and making her wonder what he would do if she did. The last thing she needed was to upset a panicked Force-user but something had clearly spooked him and she couldn't just leave him like this --

Obi-Wan blinked, swallowing hard before collapsing back into the covers, curling in on himself like a frightened child. Beru followed him down, her own pulse hammering in her ears and threatening to drown out the harsh sobs that wracked the Jedi's body. "Obi? Obi, please...."

For long minutes there was no answer, just the sound of weeping. Beru settled herself next to him, uncertain what else to do, petting his hair and soothing him with soft nonsense as she would Luke. It scared her to see Obi-Wan like this -- he was always so composed, so utterly in control, even his moments of weakness underpinned by a steel core of duty and focus that never seemed to waver. He was the centre, the key to their presence on Tatooine. He couldn't falter, not now....

After a while, the desperate, clawing sobs eased, softening into the less distressing rhythms of rasping breaths, harsh against his raw throat. Feeling her own panic recede, Beru waited for him to find his voice. In anybody else she would put this down to a mere nightmare, but with Obi-Wan there had to be more to it. If he had had a vision --

If he had had a vision that could provoke that reaction, Beru wasn't certain she wanted to know it.

Finally, after what seemed like hours in the dimly-lit room, the Jedi slowly uncurled, rubbing at tear-reddened eyes. Helping him up, Beru pulled the rough blanket around his shoulders. Obi-Wan smiled at her weakly. "Thank you."

"What happened?"

"I...." Obi-Wan closed his eyes, as though in pain. "I told you -- I feel them all now."

Beru nodded slowly, recalling their conversation in the speeder. "Do you know who?"

"No," he said quietly. "But they were strong -- it doesn't usually take me that badly. One of the elders, I think. They... did not join with the Force willingly. And there was something else -- almost an echo." He hugged his knees to him. "I think there may have been an apprentice too. Two fewer against the darkness...."

"I'm sorry," Beru whispered.

"Don't be," he told her. "You're already doing everything you can. I've learned to live with the losses. I've had to. What scares me the most is the thought that one day there might be no more left to lose...."

"Do you think it might have been Yoda?" She had met the ancient master once, had been startled by his sheer, overwhelming presence. It was strange to think that a being so old could be killed.

Obi-Wan snorted. "That old troll will outlast us all. No... I don't think it was Yoda. Possibly another of the old Council -- I know there are some out there still. One less now, I guess."

"Obi...." Not finding any more words to say, Beru wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. For a moment he sat stiffly in her grasp, locked in his private misery, then he slowly began to relax, turning awkwardly towards her until he could return her embrace.

"Thank you for being here," he murmured roughly into the curve of her neck. "It's not that I cannot handle this alone -- usually I have to -- but company makes is easier to bear. Lets me know that I'm not alone in the universe. Sometimes I wonder...."

"It's all right now, I'm here."

"I know." Lips brushed against her throat, startling her anew -- after that shock she wouldn't have thought Obi-Wan would be in the mood for passion. As if reading her thoughts, he whispered, "Please. I need this. They're gone, I'm not...."

Nodding, Beru drew him down, pulling the covers across them for warmth as she sought his mouth with her own, suddenly feeling the edge of his hunger. He was right -- life was to be celebrated, no matter how poor and secretive it might be, shrouded in the shadows of this backwater world. Somewhere out there the greater drama was unfolding, lives lost and chances taken while they hid here and waited for the fight to come to them. Hoped that the fight would come to them.

Oh gods, please let him come....

Afterwards, Beru lay awake, staring into the darkness and listening to the steady rhythm of Obi-Wan's breathing. She would have to leave with the dawn, she knew, to take advantage of the Tuskens' morning somnolence, but she didn't want to leave the man sleeping at her side. These fleeting liaisons were dangerous, a risk they really couldn't afford, and yet they provided all the escape that was available from the weight of the heat and of history, each stolen night leaving the bittersweet sense of a moment caught in isolation. It couldn't last, could never last, but if they could just pretend for that one night then it might be enough, at least until the next time....

She didn't love him, she knew that, but for this she didn't need to. Owen still held her heart, no matter how frustrated they could become with one another and their situation. With Obi-Wan it was different -- he touched a part of her that Owen never could, the part of her that wanted the risk, that needed the touch of adrenaline that came with claiming the forbidden. Her husband was a good man, for all his moods, but his brother was the one that kept her on this godforsaken rock. She needed the danger so that she could deal with the day-to-day business of living.

"You should go," Obi-Wan said sleepily. "Luke needs you."

Beru nodded. "I know." Luke was what it was all about, after all, the entire reason they were there. A child staked out in the sun like a piece of meat, growing up blissfully unaware of why his guardians watched the skies so carefully.... She envied his innocence even as she waited for the bait to be taken. "Owen will be getting worried too."

"Have you forgiven him yet?"

She smiled ruefully. "I suppose so." Pressing a final, lingering kiss to the Jedi's lips, she made her way to the small sonic unit to clear his scent from her body. She would return here, she knew, when she next needed the release, but until then she would play the part assigned to her -- wife and mother and moisture farmer, just another poor fool trying to scratch a living out of the desert. The waiting game was hard but one day, she knew, one day....

One day, Vader would come and Obi-Wan would finish the work he had started.

To think anything else was to invite madness.

END

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