Beru found out about their new neighbour on a one pretty unremarkable day.
Owen was out that afternoon, gone to recycle some of the old machinery parts they had left after one of their perimeter sensors had finally been worn down by the increased storms. The desert was calm that day, thankfully, as Luke had started to become very restless from not getting to go outside in days.
Perhaps Beru should've realised that such restlessness was going to make Luke forget their usual rules, in his haste to get out of the house, as all of a sudden she noticed that the immediate area around the house was uncharacteristically quiet, and not full of noises made by little boy playing space battles.
She didn't, however, get too far in her searches, when there was a tall shadow casted onto the sand right next to hers.
"Excuse me-" The man didn't even get to finish what he was saying, when Beru had already reacher for the prybar in the toolbox and turned around, gripping it tightly and ready to strike.
The Suns were partially behind the man, obscuring his features momentarily from her. She was tall and broad-shouldered, standing straight with his head held high even in the heat of the day. On his arms he held Luke, who had his arms around the man's neck in a relaxed, loose grip.
That made her loosen up her grip from the prybar just a little. Luke had the gift of knowing when to trust people, even if sometimes that trust overextended itself a little. The man's hold of Luke was, however, also relaxed, which made him a bit more trustworthy to Beru.
The man bend down and placed Luke onto the ground, and by doing so, he gave his face enough shadow for Beru to see him better.
He looked young, if a bit weathered, with some lines already forming on his face, though Beru could tell that they were in places that usually got creased up when someone was constantly concerned about something. There was a long scar running down the side of his face, showing up starkly as the skin around it had tanned more recently. It was the thing that told Beru that the man had not spent too much time on the desert yet, despite his clothes having already been weathered as well, and his footing being even enough on the sand. His dark, curly hair looked like it had only now started to grow out of a very well-maintained shorter cut. Another sign of him being a newcomer.
Still, there was something familiar in him, something Beru couldn't quite place, and she wasn't quite sure if that should've made her relax more or be more suspicious of him.
The man looked at her. His dark eyes were just as weathered as the rest of him, but still kind.
Beru made her decision. She lowered the prybar, and let go of it with her other hand, grabbing at Luke instead.
The man's shoulders lowered a bit as well.
"Excuse me", he said. "I saw your nephew had gotten a bit far away from the house."
Beru looked down at Luke. He looked up at her, and gave her a bit of a sheepish smile.
"Yes", Beru said, and looked back up at the man. "Thank you."
The man nodded.
"No problem at all", he said to her, and then turned to speak to Luke. "Stay where you're supposed to. The desert is a dangerous place."
"But you were there by yourself as well", Luke piped up, not able to resist the urge to talk back just a little.
The man smiled at him. Beru though he had a rather nice smile, even if it was worn down as well. She wondered what kind of hardships he had gone through, out there in the Galaxy, to seem like he had been sanded down by a multiple of storms already.
"I've seen a lot of places that are worse than this, kid", the man said. "I'll be just fine."
He then nodded his head again at Beru, lifted the back of the dark blue cape he had draped over his shoulders over his head, turned around and walked into the desert without another word.
Beru watched him go, ever so slightly confused about the whole interaction. She only moved his eyes away when Luke tugged at her hand.
"Did you know him?" He asked. "I've never seen him before. Not here or in town."
Beru shook her head.
"No", she said. "Did he say anything to you?"
She had not had the mind to even ask the man his name. She looked back out in the desert. He had already disappeared somewhere beyond the dunes.
Luke shook his head.
"He did know you are my aunt", he said. "And not my mom."
True, Beru realised. He had called Luke her nephew, without any introductions.
She decided not to be too alarmed about that. There weren't a lot of people who lived in the area. Chances were that the man had just heard about them already, and remembered who lived in the house.
Still. Not a lot people lived in the area, and even less had any business around there either. On top of that, even though she was more than sure that she had never seen the man before, Beru thought he had looked awfully familiar in some way.
"He seemed nice", Luke said. "He felt nice."
"If you say so, my little sun", Beru said. "Your feelings are often very precise."
She decided not to tell Owen about the man that evening. He would've just gotten unnecessarily worried about it.
----
Beru saw a dark blue cape in the corner of her eye.
When she turned, it wasn't the man from the desert, even if she was sure it was the same cape, with the tattered edges and faded shoulders.
She did know the man wearing it, though. Ben seemed to feel her eyes on him, as he also turned to look at her, and very briefly nodded at her before he went back to dealing with a customer.
Beru thought about it as she went on her business, and she walked back by Ben's stall as she came back.
Ben was already packing up by then, and Beru saw that he had also made purchases, as he was tying some wares that Beru didn't believe he had brought all the way from his house to the town. At the top were a new bedroll, and a pair of boots that even from afar looked too big for Ben's feet.
Beru smiled, before turning away. It really seemed like Ben wasn't alone anymore. That was good.
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