You know what I want? I want an au where Owen and Beru survive the burning of the homestead and decide “there’s pretty much nothing for us here, no way we’d be able to start over at this rate” and head out with Luke.
An au where Owen quietly fumes even while dropping a blanket over Leia’s shoulders because she’s a kid! They’re both kids! He knows life is hard – it’s always been hard on his family – but it shouldn’t be like this!
An au where Owen looks up at the snub fighters in the hangar and picks up a toolkit without being asked. Where he looks at Biggs, getting ready to take off, sets his jaw, and says “Darklighter, you bring my boy back in one piece, you hear?” Even though he knows there’s no guarantee of that.
An au where Beru finds herself somewhere between team mom and good luck symbol of Rogue Squadron. They all call her Aunt Beru (except Hobbie, who accidentally called her “mom” once and couldn’t look her in the eye for two days).
Where Beru has Rules that she makes the Rogues recite whenever they go anywhere (based on my sweet godmother’s Life Rules she used to make my cousins repeat)
1. You are not invincible
2. Yes, you can bleed
3. YOU ARE FLAMMABLE
Where they don’t always get to be on the same base as Luke, but keep in contact as much as possible. And Owen ends up inadvertently becoming the Grumpy Cowboy Uncle for most of the mechanics while Beru sometimes ends up on the field doing a little gunslinging.
And after Bespin, they see red.
“You mean to tell me,” Owen hisses so that only Luke and Beru can hear, “That all this time we thought he was dead, he was out there playing attack dog for the only Hutt in the galaxy that walks on two legs? And then he went and cut your hand off?! I’d give him a piece of my mind if he weren’t all homicidal-like.”
“I’d give him a piece of my mind regardless of him being all homicidal-like,” Beru snaps, “And I bet he would choke on it!”
Just…rebel outlaw Beru and Owen, please
And then when they find out that Leia is Luke’s sister, can you imagine the hug they give her? And Owen’s not crying, of course not, but Beru definitely is.
‘When my father left, did he tell Uncle Owen that he was gonna come back?’ Beru frowned slightly, then said, ‘Oh, Luke. You know it’s best not to wonder about such things.’ ‘But did he?’ She shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘He didn’t. He didn’t say anything. He just left.’ Luke bit his lower lip, then said, ‘I’d never do that. Leave without saying good-bye, I mean.’ Beru smiled. ‘I know you wonldn’t.’ (The Life of Luke Skywalker by Ryder Windham)
“If Star Wars is a fairy tale, what is the moral of the story?”
Episode I, we learned that young force sensitive children are taken away from their families to be trained by the Jedi. Even Anakin at 9 years old is already almost too old to be taken away from his mother. But Anakin’s mother is presented easily as the most perfect character in all of Star Wars. She is wise. She’s virtuous. She’s good, loving. And Anakin in her care is all these things as well.
And you have to ask, if he had just stayed with his mother, even as a slave, wouldn’t that have been better for him than to be taken away from her? But that’s what the Jedi do. And the Jedi think they know best taking away those kids from their families.
And I think that what’s most telling about that then is when you get to the end of the prequel trilogy, when you get to the end of Episode III, you have Obi-Wan and Yoda, two of the greatest Jedi Masters, who could train anyone, and they have in their care Luke and Leia, who are the hope for the galaxy. I mean, two offspring of Anakin, the have more midichlorians and all that. These are potentially the greatest Jedi that they could ever teach.
And instead of teaching them, like the Jedi have always done, they say “You know what? We need to give these kids to families.” And so they put them in families with mothers and fathers. And the images Lucas ends on are not, you know, are not great Jedi Warriors training the next generation. But it’s these two babies in the care of these loving families. And that is the hope for the galaxy.
— Joshua Sikora “The Prequels Strike Back”
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the prequel trilogy makes so much of adoptive families considering Lucas’s background as an adoptive parent, but it’s still kinda nice to see. I really loved how the final scene of ROTS wasn’t anything dramatic as such, just Luke being handed over to parents who were obviously gonna love him. (Beru’s big smile when she sees baby Luke always breaks my heart.) It could’ve ended with Vader and the Emperor looking out over the Death Star, but nope, it ends with the good guys getting a tiny but incredibly significant win.
I always wonder how exactly the conversation that lead to Luke being handed over to the Larses must have gone. Did Obi-Wan call them up like “hi, I’m a total stranger, have you guys considered becoming parents?” “Ur…maybe?” “EXCELLENT I HAVE A HELPLESS BABY HERE, THE LOST SON OF AN EVIL SPACE DICTATOR WHO WON’T HESITATE TO HAVE YOU KILLED, I’LL DROP HIM OFF AT EIGHT.”
I headcanon that on Tatooine small families are the norm. With food and water and well, anything that isn’t sand being scarce having to provide for more than three or four people at a time would be a nightmare. So the women of the desert have passed down a wealth of contraceptive recipes and techniques from generation to generation.
When Beru and Owen Lars accepted the son of a man they’d met once, they knew that this was it. The only child they would ever raise. They could tell themselves sweet lies about how maybe the harvests would be plentiful for the next few years and they could get by, but they are children of the desert. They cannot refuse reality in a place as harsh as the desert. It would only serve to drive them mad or make them suffer. They could have said no. They didn’t really know his father and they know the danger will be great. They could have said no. They want their own baby and cannot have two. They could have said no. But how could they refuse the grandson of the woman they loved so much? They could have said no. But there he is, small and beautiful and helpless and in need of a loving home. So they accept him knowing that he is the only son they shall ever have. They love him as the only son they will ever have. And he loves them dearly.
Luke and Uncle Owen never got to make up to one another after having their dinner table fight
*flies off into the distance*
You won’t get away that easily. *snags you by the hoodie*
At last, the stars he beheld were not the same as those he’d gazed at his entire life. New constellations sprawled across his sight, their siren call beckoning him more strongly than ever. Yet even as he’d lain in the sand staring up at them night after night in silence both wistful and awestruck, content in his brief, peaceful solitude, he’d never thought there would come a day when he would have to watch them alone.
“Looks like I’m going somewhere after all,” Luke whispered, eyes fixed upon the heavens above his cockpit canopy.
But I didn’t know it would be without you. Not like this.
His throat ached sharply and his gloved hand tightened around the control stick. If only he’d known that it was going to be their last meal, their last words. His dreams were coming true and he could not share them, or put them aside just for a day to realize what he already had, and what they had done for him. Medallions and kill markers and effusive praise couldn’t bring back his aunt’s warm smile and gentle encouragement, or his uncle’s sage advice and hard-earned approval that somehow felt so much less hollow.
Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
A concerned warble broke through the cloud of his sudden grief. “What?” Blinking hard, Luke glanced at the translation on his screen. “Oh, I’m…um, I was…just thinking. Sorry. We clear for takeoff?”
Behind him, R2 beeped an affirmative, but wasn’t satisfied. “I’m…” Luke breathed out slowly, letting himself soak in the piercing whine of snubfighter engines idling in the warm night air. An evacuation wasn’t the time to lose himself. “I’m not okay,” he finally admitted to the droid’s persistent questioning. “But I have to be. Maybe I’ll tell you later.” It was going to be a long, lonely flight anyway, his first through hyperspace on his own.
Corralling his mind back to the present, Luke activated the repulsors and eased the fighter forward as Commander Narra’s voice crackled across the comm, reminding their squadron of their flight orders. The night sky grew darker still as he climbed and the stars sharpened to razor-edged diamonds, glittering promise and drawing blood.
Aunt Beru had spoken many times of the bonds between spirit and flesh, woven of love, trust, and wisdom, not forged from the iron of slavery. The veil between the living and the dead, she had said, was far thinner than one would think. If the Force bound all living things, Luke wondered, perhaps there was a way.
If you can hear me, his heart cast out, please forgive me. I love you. And I will fight for you, until my last breath. If I see you again, I hope you’ll receive me with open arms.
With the touch of a lever, the brilliant maw of hyperspace erased the stars and consumed his ship.
Hey, you know what I love? Fics where ladies who never had conversations in canon get to have conversations! Here is one of that genre.
Title: Pretty Dresses
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Padme Amidala, Beru Whitesun
Rating: PG13 (there’s nothing in here worse than in any Star Wars movie) Summary: Padmé has never really had a conversation with a woman who doesn’t change her clothes even once a day.
(or, some missing moments from Attack of the Clones.)
*
*
Padmé
had slept the night on the one spare bed at the Lars homestead, and
when she had woken up she discovered there was nowhere to wash. Because
there was, of course, no water.
She felt stupid for not having
realised that earlier. She had been to the planet before, after all, and
she should have remembered that it was the most unbelievably
uncomfortable place. If you didn’t need to wash, you weren’t going to get to.
So
she changed into her most Tatooine-appropriate dress, which also by a
stroke of luck was the very last clean one she had, and went to find her
hosts. She was worried about Anakin and didn’t much feel like being
sociable, but she figured she should at least show her face.
Beru
was in the kitchen cooking, and she was wearing the exact same clothes
she had worn yesterday. There was a jug of water on the side, and Padmé
badly wanted some to drink, but she thought she had better wait til it
was offered. Beru looked up at her, and then did a double take. Padmé
realised with some discomfort that this one dress of hers was probably
worth more than the Larses’ entire farm.
I’m so, so happy to have found this fic! Let me start off by saying that Beru and Padme are two of my all-time favorite characters in Star Wars (strange choices, I know) and you’re right, there absolutely isn’t enough fic about Beru (or Owen, for that matter) so I love it when people write about her. This was so beautiful and adorable; I loved the awkward interactions between Padme and Beru, how Padme felt uncomfortable because of her wealth and the opulent Naboo lifestyle in comparison to the Larses’ poverty and simple lifestyle, but how Beru wasn’t a bitter person and never once held it against Padme or treated her as strange. I love how Padme tried to help out on the farm and couldn’t do much, but eventually found a small but kind way to be helpful. I loved seeing your interpretations of Naboo culture and Tatooine culture; that was wonderful. I loved the little bits of Owen’s and Beru’s relationship, and especially how you said there wasn’t much touching between them because I actually headcanon that theirs wasn’t a very physical relationship (not that it wasn’t loving, mind you, just not very physical or sexual).
My favorite thing, of course, was Padme leaving behind the dresses for Beru. Just imagine her coming back into the house, worn-out and upset after the funeral, and seeing these beautiful things lying on her bed. I can imagine her at first being all “oh no” because she thinks Padme’s forgotten them, and then she realizes they’ve been left for her and feels both awkward but also grateful. It would be so nice for her to have something beautiful in such an ugly, harsh world as Tatooine.
And another thought popped into my head – what if she still has them when Luke’s around? Would she put two and two together that Padme was his mother? Would she tell him the dresses were hers? Would Luke feel the soft fabric and wonder what his beautiful, generous mother was like? These things give me such feels, dammit.
The one thing I was a bit surprised about was Owen’s and Beru’s nonchalant, even approving, reaction to the Tusken slaughter, because I actually have the opposite headcanon about how they perceived it, but you know, your way really does make sense. Why should they be expected to have pity for people who constantly slaughter their friends and neighbours for no reason whatsoever? Plus, yeah, they’re not bound by the Jedi Code, so there’s no reason why they’d feel any obligation to “love all creatures” or “fear the path to the dark side” or whatever.
OH, and the best thing about it all was the dark irony in the dresses representing a long life, because we know that, unfortunately, that’s not what Beru’s going to have. :C
Anyway, wonderful Fanfiction! I’m so happy I decided to go into the Beru Lars tag and happened to stumble across it!!! :D
OMG how did I not see this earlier!?!?!?! I’m so sorry I missed it until now, I LOVE it when people leave these things for me. <3
I’m glad you liked the Naboo culture bit, because I LOVED thinking all that up.
Oh no, Luke and the dresses. :(((( I also wonder if Beru still had them. Tatooine’s a highly dangerous place so there’s a chance they were stolen, I suppose. But I like to think she got to keep at least one. I’m not sure if she’d have shown it to Luke, though, she might have worried he’d start asking too many questions about his mother. Maybe she lied and said it was Shmi’s.
You know…I thought so long and hard about Beru and Owen’s response to the slaughter, and I thought as awful as it sounds they probably would be approving, for revenge’s sake if for nothing else. They probably never knew the exact details, I bet Anakin never told them, but…I always wondered the Larses filled Padme’s head with stories about the other atrocities Tuskens Raiders had committed whilst she stayed with them, and if that managed to scratch away even slightly at her sense of justice. I suspect it would have done, she’s only human after all….
It has also occurred to me that Beru did at least live longer than Padme herself did and now I’m sad.
Anyway, thanks again, so much, for this great response. :D
No problem! :) I’m glad you wrote the fic; it really put me in a great mood. I was actually telling my sister all about it and how happy I was to read something about Beru and Padme. She even said something like “this is what FanFiction should be like!” (She’s not a big Lars fan like I am, but she knows a good fic when she sees one. Or, hears about one).
So you thought up all the Naboo stuff yourself! I was thinking so, but wasn’t entirely sure whether or not it was trivia from the EU. Good job with it; it felt like something that could definitely be part of Star Wars lore.
Yeah, now that you bring it up they could have been stolen, or damaged or just worn out. And with how (over)protective Owen and Beru were, they probably would have withheld anything that could have made Luke think about his parents. But I still really like the idea of Luke finding it, maybe by accident, and wondering who it came from. (And I love that you bring up Shmi, because it warms my heart to know that, however little he may have known about his parents, Luke probably did know quite a bit about his grandmother.)
That is a really good point, and I actually like that you went with the more, let’s say, morally ambiguous route and had them basically root for the Tusken slaughter. My thoughts were basically that, while they didn’t care much about the moral issue of the killing of the Tuskens, they would (if they found out about it) have been disapproving of Anakin’s actions solely for the fact that the slaughter of an entire village would likely bring reprisals upon the homesteaders once another Tusken group found out. Revenge-killings and that sort of thing. But your way makes a lot of sense too, and is more grimly realistic than them mourning the loss of the people who killed Shmi.
The Star Wars universe just isn’t kind to these two ladies, is it? :(
I was also wondering (I was going to send you an ask earlier today but I chickened out) if I could draw a fanart for this story, of Beru finding the dresses? I can’t promise it’ll be done soon, as I tend to put fanart off for a long time, but I would really like to, and I’d credit you for the idea of course. :)
Oh my gosh, this is one of the nicest feedbacks I’ve ever gotten! And yes, ABSOLUTELY you may draw fanart!
So you thought up all the Naboo stuff yourself! I was thinking so, but
wasn’t entirely sure whether or not it was trivia from the EU. Good job
with it; it felt like something that could definitely be part of Star
Wars lore.
Aww thanks! I love Padme’s costumes in the movie and I always wondered if there were ever deeper meanings behind them, if Naboo just happened to have a really complex code of clothing that outsiders would probably be clueless about. (I mean, we Earthlings also have fairly complex rules about clothes, even if they vary from culture to culture.) Luckily I don’t think Naboo even has much written about it in the EU, so…..more room for me. :D
And I love that you bring up Shmi, because it warms my heart to know
that, however little he may have known about his parents, Luke probably
did know quite a bit about his grandmother.
I’ve always been glad about that too! Just think, she was the only relative whose grave he ever got to visit……..aaaaaand now I’m sad again, darn.
My thoughts were basically that, while they didn’t care much about the
moral issue of the killing of the Tuskens, they would (if they found out
about it) have been disapproving of Anakin’s actions solely for the
fact that the slaughter of an entire village would likely bring
reprisals upon the homesteaders once another Tusken group found out.
Revenge-killings and that sort of thing.
That is actually a very good point that I didn’t think of! Unless Anakin’s actions were enough to scare all of them away? (I actually have a feeling that EU might cover that…unless it was from a very good fanfic?)
Anyway, thank you so much for all of this! Also, I promise I will have another fic about Beru soon! A EVEN SADDER one, meep.
