At first, the loneliness was suffocating.

But Camie was a survivor, and the simple act of living on Tatooine did not leave her with to much time to regret her decision not to accompany Luke and his friends. Within a few days, the presence of the Rebels- the rescue of Han Solo- had become little more than a pleasant memory … something to bring a smile to her face when she had time left over for self-indulgence. Luke was a dream; Tatooine was her reality.

The bounty of water that Han Solo had procured for her gave her more spare time to work on her technician's license. If she were careful- if she did not attract too much attention- then she might finish her training months- perhaps even a full year- earlier than otherwise. She applied herself with a vengeance, working and studying so hard that she had to drag herself to bed each night. If she were lucky, she wouldn't dream.

When she wasn't, she dealt with it.

She did what she could to remove Jabba's markings from the casks that Han Solo had given her, but it wasn't a good idea to leave that much water in her place at one time. If anyone found out how much she had- let alone that it had originally belonged to the Hutt- then she would be at risk of constant attacks. The Tusken Raiders would lay siege- even some of her fellow moisture farmers might be tempted to take from her what Solo had given her. No- even though she might lose some profit- it was best to unload some of the water now rather than wait for her buyers to come around at their usual time.

She gave her parents an extra 25 percent over their contract. When they asked her how she had come by it, she simply told them that an old friend had helped her out by repairing more of the vaporators. It was true, after all- just not the whole truth.

In exchange for the extra water, her parents agreed to allow her to borrow one of their older cargo speeders. Loading it with as many casks as she deemed prudent, she made her way to the one place where she felt she could make a sale with no questions asked.

Mos Eisley Cantina.

Ackmena always had a use for water, so she was not adverse to making an early purchase, and as the Cantina was a frequent haven for smugglers she didn't ask too many questions.

"Your timing is as impeccable, darling," the older woman told her as Camie brought the cargo speeder up to the cargo dock. "What with the recent celebrations I've been going through water like it's going out of style."

"Celebration? What celebration?" Camie asked.

"The Imperial withdrawal, of course." Ackmena frowned at her. "Haven't you heard the news?"

"What news?" Camie asked her. "I've been busy at the farm. I haven't had time to check the news broadcasts … and my parents didn't mention anything unusual."

"You farmers are all alike," Ackmena said with a smile. "Unless it interferes with your work the whole world could burn down around you." The smile left her face. "Or the Galaxy itself. The Empire is withdrawing from Tatooine."

"Withdrawing?" The Empire had come in Force to Tatooine shortly before the Deathstar had destroyed Alderaan. They had drawn down most of their forces, but they had left at least a token presence ever since.

"Yes. A full pullout." Ackmena lowered her voice. "The Imperials are doing their best to keep it secret, but my sources say that the Emperor himself is dead..."

"The Emperor?" Camie gasped. "But Darth Vader-"

"He's believed dead too."

"Luke," Camie whispered.

"What did you say?" Ackmena asked her.

"Nothing," Camie decided. Ackmena was no friend of the Empire, but that didn't make her an ally of the Rebellion. No, best not to give too much away. "Nothing at all."

..**..

Camie spent some time in Mos Eisley. With the money that Ackmena had given her, she managed to buy her next set of lessons for her license as well as some new clothing and- perhaps in memory of her recent visitors- some caf. The quality wouldn't be as good as what Leia had brought, but she could still drink it in memory of Luke and his friends.

While she shopped, she listened.

With her own eyes, she saw that the Imperial presence was much less than it had been the last time she was in Mos Eisley. Beyond that, she heard people talk of some huge battle that had occurred near somewhere called Endor. The Imperials were considered to be in route and the Rebels were taking more and more systems, but even the most optimistic people believed that it would be years before the Empire was finally destroyed.

But it was plain to see that most people now believed that day would come.

The Emperor had never declared anyone to be his official heir. There were rumors of children- twin boys was the most common one that Camie had heard- but there had never been any formal declaration that Palpatine had a family. The second most powerful man in the Empire had been Darth Vader, but if he were truly dead then no one person would be in charge of the Empire's response to Endor.

There were rumors that a Jedi Knight had fought alongside the Rebels at Endor … no one knew for sure- and many outright scoffed at the idea … but more than one person said that it was so.

Camie had tried to find out about what had happened to the Jedi Knight … to find out if Leia and the others had survived … but without asking, the information that she learned was minimal … and she did not quite feel that Mos Eisley was safe enough to exercise her full curiosity on the matter.

Luke's not dead, she told herself firmly. I would know if he were dead …

And yet she could find nothing more about the Jedi Knight who had been at Endor.

He's not dead, she told herself as she returned the cargo speeder to her parents and then returned home in her own. I refuse to believe he could be dead.

She had to race to get home before dark. No one wanted to be caught in the desert after dark. Tuskens were the least of the dangers the foolish and wary could encounter when the double suns set.

She sighed as she neared the homestead … and then gasped in surprise.

There was a ship parked in front of the house.

She had heard of them- studied schematics in her class- but this was the first time she had actually seen one:

An X-Wing.

The ship hadn't been there long. The engines were still cooling off. The cockpit was open … and the door to the house was open.

Camie cursed. This was all she needed. She was certain she had set the security codes before she left home. That ship should never have gotten through the screens.

She shut down her speeder just outside the gate and considered. The smart thing to do would have been to turn around and head for her parents' farm … or at least it would have been if she would have time to make it there by sunset. As it was, she wouldn't cover more than half the distance before night fell.

She might get lucky. She might make it in safety. It was possible …

Just not likely.

Fortunately she had her blaster rifle. She had been foolish to wait this long to return home, but she was not guilty of folly enough to travel unarmed.

I don't think that X-Wing can carry more than one pilot and a droid, so I shouldn't be outnumbered too badly. I just have to be careful and get them before they realize I'm coming.

She made her way carefully to the open door.

Inside, she saw a figure seated at the dinner table.

He had his face in his hands. He wasn't looking at her. He seemed lost in thought.

She knew him. Of course she knew him. "Luke ..."

He lowered his hands, showing her eyes that seemed a lot older and sadder than they had been just a few weeks ago. "Hello, Camie. I told you I would come back."

"Luke!" She wants to get closer to him- to hug him- but something about his expression kept her from him."What is it?"

"My father died. I found him, and he died."

"Oh Luke, I'm so sorry-"

"He was Darth Vader."

Camie flinched.

"That's why I didn't tell you. That's why I didn't tell anyone. That look."

She sat down at the table beside him and took his hand. "You're not him, Luke. You're not your father. You're good."

"And so was he." Luke squeezed her hand gently. "At the end, he turned. Darth Vader became Anakin Skywalker again and gave his life to save mine. I didn't destroy him. I didn't destroy the Emperor. My father did … and no one will ever believe the truth except for me."

"I believe it," Camie told him with a smile. "But, Luke … he turned because he had you."

"You can't know that."

"I can."

"How?"

"Because I know you."

Luke sighed. "And Leia …"

Camie fought down her jealousy. She had to be supportive. She had to be the friend that Luke needed her to be. "I'm sure she's very proud of you."

He shrugged. "Maybe. She and Han are so busy making eyes at each other I'm not sure they've even noticed that I'm gone yet." The ghost of a smile touched his lips. "It's for the best, all things considered."

"You love her very much, don't you?" Her heart actually seemed to hurt.

"I do. I always have, I think. I always will."

"Luke -"

"Camie … she's my sister."

"What? How can she be your sister? That makes no sense!"

"It's true though. My twin sister. We were raised separately to protect us." Luke sighed. "At least I think so. It turns out that Old Ben had a tendency to leave certain things out – like mentioning who my father was, that I had a twin sister ..."

"I'm sorry, Luke."

"I thought I was in love with her, Camie. I thought I was in love with my own sister!"

"You didn't know. This isn't on you, Luke. Whatever happened, it's not on you. The blame lies with Old Ben." Camie touched his face. What had they done- Luke and Leia- what had they done before they knew they were family, before Leia knew that she wanted Han Solo?

As if in answer to that unspoken question, Luke mumbled. "I kissed her."

"What?"

"I kissed Leia." He paused. "She kissed me, actually."

"That makes a kind of sense, actually," Camie told him with a smile.

Luke stared at her.

"I've known you all my life, Luke. The idea that you would actually take the initiative and kiss a girl on your own is even less likely than you're becoming a Jedi Knight." Her lips quirked. "Or Leia being your sister."

Luke chuckled wryly. "You're right. Leia's the only woman I've ever kissed … and she's my sister! Maker, this is so kriffed up …."

"Luke ..."

He looked at her. "Camie?"

She leaned forward and lightly kissed him on the lips. "There. Now you've been kissed by someone who's not your sister."

"Thank you?" He blinked and touched his lips.

Camie laughed. "Help me put away my supplies and I'll make us dinner. Then you can tell me what happened with your father."

"Are you sure you want to hear it? It's not a pretty story."

"You need to tell it. I'm here to listen." She stood up and offered him her hand. "Come on, Luke. It's getting dark and I'm suddenly starving."

"Me too." He stood up.

Hand in hand, they walked into the darkness.

Together.

Author's Note: Ackmena was played by the late great Bea Arthur in the infamous Star Wars holiday special. And holy cow, I'm not the only one who ever used her in a Star Wars fanfiction! I do hope to continue this at some point … ideally I'd like for Camie to be around to meet Ben Solo and Rey, but I've got many open fics right now that I don't know for sure when that might happen.