something is stirring

For the past seventeen or so years of their lives, Tatooine was all the Skywalker twins had ever known. Leia and Luke spent their days dreaming of something bigger, Luke wanting to fly and Leia with her dreams of cleaning up the planet – the both of them wanting to make names for themselves. Living in the cesspool of the galaxy, dreams like that seemed impossible, especially with Uncle Owen determined to keep the both of them grounded and busy, helping out with moisture farming and keeping house. It was difficult to say who resented it more, though Leia was more prone to clenching her jaw and her fists.

She had just finished helping cleaning up after lunch with Aunt Beru, fixing her now messy plaits – Leia was not a vain girl but her hair was a point of pride for her, even as desert kid, though it was always difficult to maintain with the weather here, regardless of how skillful she had become. With some pins between her teeth, she ventures outside, where Luke tinkered with their speeder. Squinting into the suns, felt their heat through the thin fabric of her dusty beige clothes and leaned over to roll her leggings up, exposing her calves at least, though it didn't seem to help much. Today seemed wearier than usual.

"Did you see that?" she asked suddenly after spying a figure out of the corner of her eye, turning to follow the shadow. It disappeared without a trace, though it was easy not to leave tracks in the sand.

"D'you think it was old Ben Kenobi again?"