Disclaimer: All things Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and Disney, not me.

A/N: Hello, my lovely readers! Thank you for checking this out! Star Wars has recently consumed the entirety of my life - I've been binging Clone Wars on Netflix - and thus this was born. Anyone who's been reading my other fic in progress, The Curious Case of Chekov's Gift, have no fear! I have not abandoned it; in fact, the beginnings of chapter three have already been written, though I am suffering from some writer's block in regards to how to finish it.

As for this fic, without revealing too much, I'd like to issue a warning that it contains mention of internalized aphobia and struggles with heteronormativity. I'll give a longer explanation about where this is coming from and my various headcanons in the author's note at the end of the chapter, if you'd care to read it.

Luke Skywalker was twelve years old when he realized there was something very, very wrong with him. He supposed it all began when Nadalia Loe, a classmate, blushingly asked him on a date. Luke's heart had skipped a beat, just like Aunt Beru said it would when he met someone special, but it wasn't the happy feeling he'd imagined. Instead, it felt as if the sand outside had somehow found its way into his chest and stomach, making him feel heavy and making it hard to breathe - a feeling Luke could safely say he never wanted to experience again. He managed to choke out that he was very sorry, but he wasn't interested, before fleeing into Uncle Owen's speeder and then home.

"You turned down Nadalia?" Biggs had asked when Luke told him. Luke shrugged.

"I guess I'm just not interested in her."

"How can you not be?" Biggs eyes were wide and searching. "She's so pretty."

"I'm just...not."

Biggs just shook his head. "Weird."

After that, it became rapidly apparent to Luke that he didn't like girls at all. He assumed, then, that he must like boys or other genders - everyone had to like someone, right? - but found that no matter how hard he tried, that wasn't right either. Quite frankly, Luke didn't like anyone.

People said being in love was like wearing rose colored speeder goggles that made someone look like an angel to the wearer. Luke thought that his pair must have been made with blue glass instead and were full of scratches. It wasn't that the idea of a relationship was terrible - frankly, having someone you could trust to stick around for your whole life sounded nice - but, to Luke, a theoretical concept was all it was. He never felt that much-revered pull towards another person. Even more alarming was the fact that, apparently, a relationship involved a very disturbing act involving genitalia that Luke rather wished he could scrub all knowledge of from his brain. For the life of him, he could not figure out how people could look at another person and want to do that. He couldn't fault anyone for wanting that, it seemed to be a part of normal people's lives, but personally, he'd rather lick Jabba the Hutt. In fact, for the longest time he thought the "sexual attraction" he'd heard about in science class was a myth, and that people just chose to partake in the act because their species reproduced that way. With mounting horror, Luke Skywalker realized he wasn't normal at all.

The realization sent Luke into an anxious tizzy that haunted his every waking hour, and even a few of his dreaming ones. Both Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru expressed their concern as their nephew retreated into himself, but Luke couldn't bring himself to broach the subject of his abnormality with them. Not only was the idea of talking about such things with the people who'd raised him unsettling, but Luke was certain they would not know what was wrong at best, and never look at him the same way at worst. A very small part of him wouldn't blame them if they couldn't; he imagined learning you'd raised a freak of nature wouldn't inspire pride or joy.

Almost two weeks later, it dawned on Luke that maybe there was someone he could ask. Ben Kenobi might have been an odd fellow who spent more time with grains of sand than other sentient beings, but, no matter what Uncle Owen thought, Old Ben knew things. Luke, despite being expressly forbidden to do so, had snuck out to visit the hermit on a number of occasions; Luke liked Old Ben - he was cryptic and a little crazy, but kind in what was almost a grandfatherly sort of way, and could name more stars than anyone else Luke had ever met. If anyone would know what was wrong with Luke, it'd be Ben Kenobi. Maybe he could even fix him - people did say Kenobi was a wizard, he might have a spell to make everything right.

There was a knock on the door.

Ben Kenobi, once Obi-Wan Kenobi, did not often get visitors. He had carefully constructed his image of a crazy old man - an image he was not too vain to admit was rather accurate these days - and the people of Tatooine, settlers and Tuskens alike, tended to avoid him. As he rose to answer the door, the part of him that had been living in a war for far too long pumped adrenaline into his system, preparing him for the possibility of an emergency despite the fact that he could sense Luke, and no one else, outside. Furthermore, he'd like to think Bail or Ahsoka would have tried to send a warning should there have been Imperial danger.

However, Luke's presence could be a concern of its own. Though it wasn't unheard of for the boy to visit, his force presence had never been so wrought with distress. Had something happened to Owen and Beru?

"Luke! Is everything alright?"

Luke swallowed hard at the question, shifting from foot to foot, before slowly shaking his head. Ben frowned.

"How about you come in?" Ben projected as much calm as he could in hopes of calming the boy. "I could get you some milk and you could sit down. It'd certainly be better than standing in this sun."

Luke followed silently, Ben's concern mounting all the while. Luke accepted the milk poured for him, though he stared at it intently instead of drinking it.

"Ben, I think there's something wrong with me."

Ben's heart constricted. "Luke, are you sick? Have you told your Aunt and Uncle?"

"No! Nothing like that. I don't think so anyway - I mean, I guess I could be - but, um-" Luke took a large, shaky breath. "I'm not like everyone else. There's something weird going on with me."

Tension seeped out of Ben's shoulders. Luke was healthy. It seemed, however, that it would be time to tell Luke about the Force. Had Luke accidentally moved something with it, perhaps?

"I don't like anyone." Luke blurted out. "I mean, I like people, I have friends and stuff, but I don't like people. I've never wanted to date anyone. Or kiss anyone. Or-" he shuddered, his voice dropping to a near whisper and coloring with discomfort. "have sex with anyone. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you, this is really weird, it's just that-that you know all sorts of things and I thought maybe you'd know what's wrong with me and how I could fix it?"

That hadn't been what Ben expected at all.

"Luke, you might not believe me, but I can't tell you how to fix this because there's nothing wrong with you."

"What?" incredulity dripped from the word. "Ben, you can't be serious. No one else is like this; I've never even heard of anything like this-"

"Luke." the interruption was gentle but firm. "Just because you haven't heard of something before doesn't mean it isn't real. The same principle applies when it comes to people - just because you've never met someone with a trait doesn't mean they don't exist either."

"You mean...you know people like me?"

"Certainly." Ben saw that person every time he looked in the mirror. Mind you, his own experience discovering his sexuality had been wildly different than Luke's - he had thought all Jedi were that way, considering their policies on attachment and celibacy. "It sounds to me like you're asexual. Aromantic too, if you'd like to use that model of self description."

"There are words for this? I'm this 'asexual' thing?"

"Well, I can't tell you how to identify - that's entirely up to you- but from what you're telling me, I think it could apply." Ben smiled. "Would you like me to tell you more, so you can see if the term fits?"

Luke nodded vigorously.

"Asexuality is an orientation, just like being straight or gay. In this case, it describes an attraction to no one. Some people feel their experiences with sexual and romantic attraction are separate, or don't like the idea of the concepts being intertwined, and that's where the term aromantic comes into play. Of course, there's no requirement to use it, and if someone would rather only use 'asexual' to encompass the ideas associated with aromanticism as well, that's entirely valid."

Luke was silent for a few heartbeats, mulling the words over. "So….I'm not broken?"

Ben's heart constricted, breaking a bit for the child in front of him. He fought the urge to ruffle Luke's hair. "Not at all."

A/N: It may come as no surprise to you that this is coming from a rather personal place. I myself am an asexual aromantic, and Luke's experience, down to the age at which he realizes all of this, is a direct reflection of my own. As for Obi-Wan, his words are much what I now, as a young adult, wish I could have said to my younger self.

I did choose these characters for this narrative for a reason. For all that I love the Clone Wars series, the writers can pry acearo Obi-Wan Kenobi from my cold, rigor mortised hands. As for Luke, I firmly headcanon him as ace, though I can't really say I'm set in my ways about him being aro.

Anyways, this is obviously mildly AU from the movies, as I think the whole...issue...regarding Luke and Leia's relationship would have never happened. (From the point of view of my headcanon, Luke's actions regarding Leia in the films are born of recognizing that she's aesthetically beautiful and heteronormativity. I spent a long time trying to convince myself I was straight as well.)

Also, there is an epilogue planned for this! Ironically, what's contained in the epilogue was actually the concept that inspired me to write this in the first place, but the characters got away from me and it just doesn't fit here. And if anyone has any questions about asexuality/aromanticism, or really anything else, feel free to drop me a private message. I can't guarantee a rapid response, but I'm always open to conversation.

Update 01/04/18: It was respectfully pointed out to me by a reviewer that Luke's confession of his anxieties to Obi-Wan is too abrupt. I've read it over, and I agree and am working on it! However, I'm having some trouble with getting it to flow naturally, so I'm not terribly sure when the revision will be up. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them.