In which Jalani Hal'star meets Luke Skywalker when he almost runs her over with his landspeeder accidentally.

I run across the hot sands. The wind whispers in my ear, taunting me to go faster and racing along my side. It's always been a challenge. You would say the same thing if you were the oldest of seven sisters and you had no parents to help you. My feet race and my lungs burn as I run. We need food desperately. I didn't have time to go into the small village nearby last week and now we are suffering greatly for it. My thirteen year old body hurtles across the sand. I become lost in my thoughts as fantasies of me as a great warrior flash through my mind. I'm a protector of my family and I will not be stopped. My sisters will not die on my account. This alone urges me to move faster to the small village in the distance. Small tan buildings dot the landscape maybe thirty feet away as I close in on it. I run faster towards the small buildings hoping against hope that I'll be able to buy something, anything for my sisters. Feeding six girls younger than you is no small feat.

Why did my parents have to disappear forever? Where did they go? Are they every coming back? How much longer am I going to have to do this? Will we grow up without parents for the rest of our childhood?

Will anyone ever answer my questions??? Probably not. I'm used to not getting answers because nowadays no one cares enough to answer them. Not like there's many questions to answer on Tatoonie anyways. At least not enough that anyone cares answering. People just go about their business here, trying to survive. I suddenly feel a weird sensation within myself, something I've never felt before.

Where is this coming from? It almost feels like I'm connecting with....someone else. I look around. There's nothing but the buildings and there's no one outside. Maybe there's someone inside? This is just odd, I've never felt anything like this before and I've been around people my whole life. I have six sisters for goodness sake. I look around again. Still no one. I keep running through towards the cluster of buildings that lead to a town a little bit further in. I finally break past the buildings but the connection only grows stronger. I need to find whoever it is I'm connecting to. I feel very drawn to them. I spot a nearby stand selling food. Walking up, I greet the alien behind the counter.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Jalani herself gracing us with her presence," he says with a snarky tone of voice. I bite my lip in embarrassment and irritation. Why does he have to be so difficult? "You're so much like your mother when she was your age," the old cantankerous alien continues, "She was very quiet but had a strong personality."

"I'm not one for crowds, much like she was," I continue, handing over the credits that I have budgeted away for food, "May I have some food?"

"What do you want this week? And what is these measly amounts of credits? The deal was 300 not 250!" he gripes in response, "What are you trying to pull on me, Halstar?" I don't repress the sigh that sneaks out this time.

"That's all I have set aside for this week. Please, I'll pay you fifty extra the next time in town," I struggle to negotiate. The standowner looks me in the eye and carefully slides the food across the counter.

"Don't tell another soul about this or you'll have a lot more than a lack of credits to worry about," he says harshly.

"Thank you! I really will try to get the extra fifty to you next week. You know I'm not just saying that, right? It's just that week of the month when we don't have 300 credits for food," I say and the standowner nods his head.

"You tell me this every month and you keep it a secret every month. You're fine. Go home and feed your family before somebody gets suspicious," he says starting to shoo me out of town.

"Thank you. I'll bring you the fifty..."I start but he shakes his head.

"If you can't afford to spare me fifty, I won't cry. My children are all grown, you know. It will make things a bit tighter but, we'll manage if you can't spare it," he replies. I nod my head slowly. Anyone can use an extra fifty credits when they can get them. No one is exactly rich on this planet. Except for the gangsters and bounty hunters. Jabba the Hutt has a nice stash of credits that he probably gathered from spice runs while innocent, hardworking people are starving.

"I'll try my best. I don't like owing people money," I call out as I walk away. I maneuver my way through town just trying to see if I feel the connection again. People mill by, laughing and talking as they do. I peek my head around corners just trying to see if doing a certain thing will set it off. I want to feel it again. I'm not sure why I want to feel it again but I do. It almost felt comforting and secure. In the meantime, I check in with the records building of Tatoonie where I do a little work to earn some credits under the table. I haven't been summoned in a couple of days but that doesn't mean that there aren't things that need to be done there. My boss asks me to fetch a couple of records from their storage places. It doesn't take me long to accomplish and before I know it, I'm back out into the bright Tatoonie suns.

The connection reappears again, although this time stronger. So strong, I can almost feel it. I take a step forward out into the line of traffic to see if I can locate the source of the sensation or feel it even stronger.

The connection feels really strong right now and I hear the sound of the speeder approaching right next to me. I fall to the ground to avoid being hit. The speeder comes to a screeching halt.

I can still feel the connection. Whoever is behind whatever just nearly hit me is the one who is fostering this connection or is completing it. I don't really know what they're doing because I don't understand what this is. I hear the sound of someone jumping from the speeder and I prepare for the worst, some ill-mannered creature or person telling me that I'm an idiot for standing in the middle of the traffic. They're not entirely wrong but speeders should never attack an innocent pedestrian. I start to push myself up off the ground as the city keeps moving around me. The driver of the speeder appears in front of me. The connection swells again as I sit on the ground looking into the eyes of the driver. He looks to be about my age, which means he's just old enough to be driving a speeder in the first place. His shaggy sandy blonde hair falls near his bright blue eyes as he looks seriously into my green ones.

"Are you alright?" he asks gently. I nod my head quickly and start to stand up from the ground. He offers his hand and I take it, allowing him to help me pull myself to my feet.

"Yes, I'm alright. Just a little surprised," I say as I feel the connection swell again.

"I'm sorry for almost hitting you. I didn't see you. I have to ask though, what were you doing standing in the middle of everything?" he asks. 

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I say, looking at him nervously. He's really handsome in an innocent childish sort of way. I could get to use being around him if anything becomes of this. The driver looks me in the eye seriously.

"Try me," he says with a hint of defiance in his voice.

"You cannot tell anyone," I say quickly and he nods his head in respect. Hal'stars have always been fairly private people so opening up to a complete stranger that could be about something fairly intimate is a bit of a concern for me. I'm not used to doing it but I haven't felt anything like this before so, I'm not sure what other options I have. I've never felt a connection around my sisters or at least a connection that I can recall feeling around my sisters. I look around to make sure no one's listening.

"I feel a connection...inside of me," I start and the boy looks a little nervous, "No, wait. I'm not trying to be strange, I promise. It's not romantic or anything. It's almost like I could feel you coming. I could feel it faintly as I was running into town. It was....strange. Like I felt connected to you in my mind." The boy keeps staring at me with a concerned but somewhat fascinated look on his face. 

"I felt it too. It was strange," the boy says, "I think something else is going on here that we don't understand yet."

"Can anyone help us?" I ask quietly scanning the city around us. The boy shrugs.

"I don't know. With the Empire keeping a tight hold on the galaxy, it's hard to tell who you can trust. I should have said this earlier. I'm Luke Skywalker," he says, holding out his hand for a handshake.

"Jalani Hal'star," I say, shaking his hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Luke says, his gazing flickering to other places in town. He looks nervous and I get the feeling that being alone with a girl his age is probably an awkward experience for him.

"I should probably get going," I say gesturing to the sack of food I'm holding, "I have to get home and feed my family."

"You feed your family? What about your parents?" Luke asks innocently. His words, even though I know he means nothing by it, sting.

"Don't know where they are," I reply, looking to move away from this awkward encounter and back to my home where I know I'll be safe.

"How come?" Luke asks. I bite my lip, desperately trying to hide the nasty retort threatening to spill out.

"They left home one day when I was ten years old. I haven't seen them since," I answer, tears threatening to spill over. Luke's brow furrows in concern.

"How about I walk you over to your speeder?" he asks kindly. I shake my head, still trying to fight back the tears.

"Don't have one anymore. We used to have one but it disappeared with my parents," I say. Luke jumps into his speeder and pats the seat next to him. I hesitate for a moment.

"I'm not leaving you to run all the way back to your home. The sand people will be out soon," Luke says.

"I can take care of myself just fine," I say with a hint of irritation in my voice. Luke looks concerned as he sits in the speeder. I finally give in and toss my food onto the passenger seat. I gently vault myself over the side of the speeder, landing next to my food sack not nearly as gracefully as Luke had previously jumped into the vehicle.

Forget being graceful. It's the least of my worries right now. Luke starts to drive out of town. It's a quiet ride all the way back to our home. My younger sister, who's eleven, Paylee stands outside of the house waiting. As soon as Luke and I climb out of the speeder, Paylee runs up to me, shooting Luke a wary look.

"Where have you been?" she asks, hugging me tightly.

"I had a bit of an accident," I say, taking the food inside. Paylee walks with me, still clinging to me. Luke leans up against the front door. She lets go of me and marches over to Luke.

"Who are you?" she asks. Luke looks a little nervous at her forwardness.

"Paylee, that's Luke. He's a friend and he's very kind bringing me back  here in his speeder," I say as I store our food for the week in appropriate places. Luke smiles at Paylee, who shoots him a skeptical glare before retreating further into the house. I walk back over to Luke, offering him a warm smile.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Luke asks, taking the house in with my younger sisters running everywhere with their toys and whatnot that they use to entertain themselves.

"We'll be fine. Thank you for bringing me back here in your speeder. I appreciate it a lot. It's been a long time since I last got to ride in one," I say smiling gently at him. Luke smiles back before starting back out into the night.

"Of course. If you need anything else, we don't live far away from Anchorhead," Luke says, "Feel free to come by and ask if you need help."

"That's really kind of you," I say, "Thank you for the offer."

"I'll see you again, right?" Luke asks, his face glowing in the setting of the two Tatoonie suns. I nod my head in agreement.

"I think you will. You're a kind person, unlike many others on Tatoonie. I would also like to get to know you better when one of us isn't hitting the other with a speeder," I say smiling at Luke. He smiles back.

"Well, I better get going. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are going to wonder where I'm at," Luke says, jumping into his speeder, "Goodbye, Jalani!"

"Goodbye, Luke!" I call out. I wave as I watch his speeder pull into the night and out of sight.

AN:/ Well......here we go! It's out!! So, at first when I was writing this book, I really wanted to write Jalani a lot like me and I kind of just decided to go with how I originally developed her character and I'm happy with it. I like the way this turned out.

Also, welcome to my first Star Wars book ever!!! Prepare for all kinds of jumping around in Jalani and Luke's friendship and in the Star Wars storyline. I hope this was interesting enough. I'm worried that this disconnected storyline that I'm sort of building is just going to fall apart. We'll see what happens in the next chapter/oneshot.

What did you guys think of Jalani and did I write Luke okay? He doesn't know Jalani that well and since he's a little bit quieter around people he doesn't seem to know as well, I figured 13 year old Luke would be kind of a shy kid around people (especially girls) he doesn't know very well. We'll see where it goes. Feel free to drop your thoughts as you read. I appreciate reading them. Thanks for reading and I hope people enjoy this. Thanks for voting, commenting, or doing whatever it is you do. I appreciate it!! Hope you enjoy this book!!

See you around, peeps.

-Aisling