Like Father, Like Son

Summary: Owen watches Luke grow up and sees Anakin in him.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property of George Lucas. No disrespect is intended with this work.

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He has so much of his father in him.

I recall Anakin that time we met, the darkness lurking in his eyes just waiting to be unleashed. I remember his arrogance and his strength, both coiled together inside him, a serpent slumbering for awhile. I think of those stories Shmi told us and I see the boy she described in the boy Beru and I care for. He will do anything for anyone. He cares almost too much at times.

He has so much of his father in him.

The Jedi reflexes are there and those things Kenobi told us to look for. All are there. Is it silly to fear them? After all, I know just what Anakin was capable of. The horrible reality. One grieving young man against.... Luke will not be trained as a Jedi. I forbid it. It was the Jedi that changed Anakin with their strange ways. Without them he would have remained the boy in Shmi's memories.

Or would he?

Darkness lurking in his eyes....

No, it was them, the Jedi, filling his head with nonsense. How could they think that keeping a child from his mother was a good thing? How could they have thought their lifestyle beneficial to anyone? No, Luke will be a farmer and that is final. He will learn to like it. He'll give up those silly dreams of being like his father.

But he has so much of Anakin in him.

Too much?

Luke's question caught me off-guard or I would have had a better story to tell him. I didn't expect him to ask for details of Anakin. His father was a pilot, nothing more. He was not a hero Jedi turned evil. He was...a pilot only, but now.... Now Luke aspires to be the same. He wants to be a pilot, like his father. He longs with such desperation for something of Anakin, of sharing an ability or talent. He longs.

How safer that he give up such dreams! What if he achieves them and the Empire discovers who he is? I can't allow that to happen. He must remain on Tatooine. He must remain safe and far from the galactic conflict. For Anakin....No, for Shmi, I will do that. I will keep Luke safe. He'll let go of those dreams, I know he will. He'll be a farmer, meet a nice girl and settle down. And yet....

Anakin's eyes look at me, the glint of Anakin there that betrays Luke's parentage.

Beru tells me he's 'just not a farmer'. Then what, I ask, is he? Not a Jedi, not a pilot. Never those dangerous things. She doesn't understand why I won't let him go and nor can I find the words to explain it to her.

Luke grows more rebellious by the day and I can't help actively discouraging those dreams of leaving, of following his friend's, and ultimately, his father's footsteps. Luke won't follow Anakin's path. I won't allow it. I gave a promise to keep Luke safe and safe he will remain, from Empire and Jedi both. In time, he will accept his life. He will.

Still....

There is so much of his father in him.