Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter One: Where do We Go from Here?

Summary: Ahsoka finds Luke on Tatooine. Nothing further needs to be said.

Ahsoka might never know just what had compelled her to land her ship on the desert planet of Tatooine.

She'd been in a state of wistlessness flying with the aimlessness of one with nowhere in particular to go.

She'd long since given up searching for survivors of the massacre that was the Jedi Purges. At first she'd resolved to scour the galaxy for refugees until she found someone, but months, then years of coming up empty-handed had had weakened that resolve. Either anyone who was left were either too well hidden, or they were really all dead. A familiar lump of emotion bobbed in her throat at the thought. She simply couldn't wrap her head around the fact that everyone she'd grown up with was dead. Master Plo. Obi-wan. Anakin. Everyone.

She'd been aroused by the familiar sight of the barren world below.

Tatooine. Memories flooded her. She hadn't been back here since one of her first missions with her master, when they'd been walking after they'd cash-landed, with a desperate objective to return Jabba the Hutt's son to him.

Should she land? She hesitated for a few moments then shrugged to herself. Why not? It was as good a place to look for work as any.

Ahsoka pulled the cowl of her robe lower over her head. It was unlikely anyone would ever recognize her. Especially here, this far on the Outer Rim, on a planet she had visited once in her life. She'd grown up. She hadn't been in the media spotlight for years. Still, she had been the apprentice of a prominent Clone Wars hero, and it never hurt to be too careful. And the robe provided sun protection as well.

She'd quickly become a bit lost on the unfamiliar sand covered streets. She was confident she could find her way back to the hanger bay if necessary, but she didn't want to get herself hopelessly lost. She knew, if nothing else, that Tatooine was a detestable hive of thugs and scum.

She sighed to herself.

What was she even here for? She had landed under the self-pretense of looking for work, but deep down she knew that wasn't really it. What was she looking for? A sign? A direction? A semblance of what to do? Of where to go from here?

Maybe she could go out to the desert and just walk for a bit. Walk, and pretend. Pretend she was a young teen again. A freshly minted padawan learner trotting behind her master and carrying a huttlet, skipping a bit to keep up with his long strides as he grumbled about the sand.

She didn't get the chance to decide anything.

She was interrupted from her idle musings when she heard a crash followed shouting from a nearby shop. A scrap shop from the looks of it. The shouting continued, then the door into the shop was suddenly flung wide open, and a small dusty figure was hurled out into the street.

Her kind nature roused, Ahsoka ran over to the figure to see if it or they, were alright. What she saw brought her up short.

A small human boy, sun-bleached hair tousled, lay on his side, curled up, crying but not sobbing. He wore ragged, too large clothing that hung loosely on him, making him seem even smaller than he was. She approached him quietly, her heart going out to him. She tentatively placed a hand on his head. He flinched and quickly looked up at her. Ahsoka took a sharp breath. His eyes were so blue. Bluer than her own, almost like-no she didn't want to think of it. His tears had made two streaks down his dusty, tanned face.

"It's okay, Little One. I won't hurt you, I promise."

He said nothing, but he seemed to relax when it became apparent she wasn't intending to harm him. Still, he remained alert, staring at her curiously. He sniffed.

"What's on your head?" He asked quietly.

Ahsoka stifled a laugh, and pulled back her hood so he could see. "My montrals. I'm a togruta."

"Oh." Was all he said. Still watching her, he sat up.

"What's your name Little One?"

The boy sniffed again.

"L-Luke Skywalker."

Ahsoka's train of thought ceased.

She didn't blink for several seconds. Then she shook herself. It had to be a coincidence. It had to! It could be. Had to be. After all, Tatooine is Anakin's home planet. Maybe Skywalker was a common name around here. It wasn't as if she'd been here often enough to know. And Anakin had certainly never spoken of it.

But.

There was something. A stirring in the Force. She looked more closely at the boy before her. Blue eyes. Blond hair. High, prominent cheekbones. A soft, cute nose that was scrunched up from crying. The beginnings of a cleft in the chin that would likely deepen when he got older. All features she recognised, reminding her of a certain Jedi knight, with touches of a certain senator.

It couldn't be.

Her mind raced. She wasn't blind. She'd realized almost right away that Anakin had feelings for Senator Amidala. Feelings the Jedi would definitely have disapproved of…. Feelings she was almost certain Padme returned…. But a child! It was inconceivable!

...No actually, it wasn't, she corrected herself. This was Anakin she was thinking of after all.

But how could she know? How could she confirm? If this boy was who she thought… Did the boy even know who he was?

"Who are your parents?" She asked suddenly, surprising the boy, who hesitated, glancing down.

"I don't know who my mother is...was."

Ahsoka dismissed this information and the boy's hesitation. She'd heard Padme had died at the Empire's birth and had been devastated all over again. Padme had been a dear friend after all. "And your father?" she said, perhaps a bit too quickly, and waited with bated breath.

A hint of both pride and longing entered the boy's voice as he said "Anakin. Anakin Skywalker."

Time seemed to slow. The Force rang true, her heart surged, and she knew.

She just knew.

She fully took in the little boy before her. There was a stinging sensation in her eyes. Her lips were parted slightly. She took in every detail. She reached out and placed her hands on either side of the boy's face. Of Anakin's son's face. He didn't shy away. Her throat closed. He's beautiful Anakin.

Then an incredible, wonderful idea came to her. Was Anakin here? On Tatooine with his son? Had he escaped with his little boy after Padme died and taken him to the least likely place in the galaxy to hide? Hide him from the Empire that was still on a murderous hunt for all things connected to the Jedi? That would explain everything! Explain why he'd simply disappeared without a trace with no witnesses to his death. It would explain why he hadn't risen to fight, to help with the even now blossoming rebellion. It would be all too like her old master to put family over anything else, even the entire galaxy.

"Where is he? Your father?" She asked trying to keep the eagerness out of her voice.

She also tried to quell the blossoming hope in chest. Hope that crumbled and died with the boy's next words.

"He's dead."

She closed her eyes briefly. She'd known. She'd known Anakin was probably dead.

She'd known for a while it was very likely he was killed long ago. She'd heard rumors that Anakin Skywalker had died on Coruscant. Heard that he'd died defending the future emperor when the Jedi had made their assassination attempt. She knew it wasn't impossible, but something told her that story wasn't quite right.

She'd known that wherever he was when the order to terminate the Jedi was given, he would have fought to protect his comrades. He'd never have run. And as such had probably gotten himself killed. (She tried not to picture Rex doing the deed.)

Still, no matter what logic told her, she had hoped against hope. Hoped maybe just maybe….He was so strong. The strongest Jedi there was she believed. If anyone could survive the purges, he could. This, she had repeated to herself again and again, an ongoing mantra.

But the fact that Anakin's son was here, without Anakin, said it all, even without Luke's own confirmation. She knew Anakin would never willingly abandon his child. He'd never leave him here alone, on Tatooine of all places, a planet he loathed above all others. No. Never. He'd rather die than do that. She knew, instinctively, he would have died rather than do something that. And there lay the irony. He had died. And so couldn't prevent the outcome he'd rather die than let happen. The boy had lived here without either parent. And that raised another question.

"Who raised you, then?"

The boy cocked his head at her.

"Who's taken care of you?" She amended, "Who fed you and gave you clothes?"

She saw understanding light in the boy's eyes, swiftly followed by an intense sorrow that panged at Ahsoka's heart. "My aunt Beru and uncle Owen took care of me. But they were killed by Sand People."

"I'm sorry." She said softly. Sympathy warred with her surprise. Anakin never mentioned that he had family on Tatooine. But then, Anakin told her little, if anything about his past. He had always avoided the topic as if it were the plague.

But then who had brought the boy here? And when?

Her eyes were drawn back to the boy, Luke, as he shifted on the ground. "Um. I have to go back inside. My master is gonna get angry if I don't get my chores finished."

She frowned in confusion. "Your master?"

His face scrunched a bit and he looked away. "You know. My owner."

Oh.

Something in Ahsoka went cold.

Anakin's son was a slave.

Oh he had to be dead.

Ahsoka knew almost nothing about Anakin's past, but she did happen to know he'd been enslaved as a child. She remembered vividly his open hatred of slavers and anything to do with slavery. And she knew, for a fact, that if he were alive, he'd have long since torn apart with his bare hands any who'd dared enslave his son, and he'd do it without so much as a thought to the Jedi code. Stars, it wouldn't surprise her if he came back from back from beyond the grave to do just that just in spite of it all.

And in that moment a fierce sense of protectiveness came over her. It was similar to the instinct to protect that she'd felt around the younglings at the temple, but deeper, stronger. Anakin was dead. There. She said it. So was Padme, and now their son was alone, and miserable, and a slave. A new resolve washed over her. This was why. Surely the Force had brought her here. Led her straight to Anakin and Padme's child. And she would look after him from now on. She would die before she let anything harm this precious little one.

"Well," was all she could think to say, "We'll have to do something about that."

He frowned a little, still gazing up at her with those innocent blue eyes.

She stroked the boy's soft hair in reassurance, and on impulse, she leaned down and kissed his head.

He smiled a smile that was definitely Padme's.

With a great deal of haggling, and a little encouragement given by one of her lightsabers, Ahsoka had bought and freed Luke from his master. A disagreeable man who looked to be half alien. He had been reluctant to give the boy up, young, skilled and useful as Luke was. But in the end Ahsoka had... convinced him.

Now they were in the cockpit of her ship, going to- she still wasn't sure where, but she'd figure something out. Where to go from here.

Luke had been ecstatic at the sight of her ship and his eyes had widened as she led him inside. He'd spent the good part of an hour scouring every inch of the interior, asking questions about everything. It was amusing, and heartwarming to watch. He'd obviously inherited his father's love of ships and flying.

She'd finally gotten him to settle down enough that she could begin taking off. There was no reason to stay she decided. She found what she came here for after all.

Luke's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open when they first broke the planet's atmosphere and began traversing the stars, then he smiled with pure joy.

After a time, he'd fallen asleep in the seat beside her. His angelic features seeming to glow as he slumbered peacefully.

Before he fell asleep he tentatively asked, "Did you... know my father?"

She gazed at him. "Yes." She said simply. "I'll tell you all about him after you get some rest," she told him. His eyelids were drooping.

"Okay" He murmured just before he drifted off.

Ahsoka slouched, mentally and emotionally drained. She was still processing all that had just transpired. It was the will of the Force, she decided. And suddenly an incredible thought struck her.

Her expulsion from the order. They'd offered to let her come back but she found she couldn't. No matter how much she'd wished to rejoin and simply go on as if nothing had happened, she knew she couldn't stay. So hurt and disillusioned as she was.

Maybe there had been a purpose for that after all. For years now she privately bemoaned the unfairness of it all. She questioned the reason for it, and even cursed the Force for her lot. But it had allowed her to escape the Jedi purges unscathed, and allowed her to lie relatively beneath the radar, unbothered by the Empire.

For so long now she'd wandered the galaxy with no true sense of purpose, taking odd jobs as a bodyguard or informant wherever she could while trying not to draw the Empire's attention.

Obi-wan had said once that nothing happens without a reason. She looked at the boy. Maybe this…. This miracle, this precious boy was the reason. Maybe everything had led to this. Had she stayed with order she would have been killed, or hunted down. Then she could never have cared for Luke.

Her eyes were still on the little blond boy beside her, and once again, she felt her resolve, something she'd lacked for too long, deepen and solidify itself.

She looked back out at the stars.