EXT. DESERT - SUNSET
Obi-Wan, at the controls of a rented speeder, races over sand and low dunes. Small animals scamper to get out of the way as the vehicle passes toward them.
EXT. LARS HOMESTEAD - COURTYARD - SUNSET
As he approaches a moisture farmstead erected in the middle of a flat plain of hard-packed sand, Obi-Wan pulls back on the speeder's controls, cutting power to the vehicle's engines. As he glides to a stop a ways away from the small igloo-shaped rock entrance to an underground dwelling, he hoists up his duffel bag and climbs out of the speeder.
Standing there, the man surveys his surroundings, taking the sight of the familiar farmstead in with a wistful expression on his face. As he looks over toward a lone moisture vaporator in the distance, two young boys and a man -- ghosts from the past -- fade into existence beside it. They are Obi-Wan and OWEN LARS as young children -- twelve and nine, respectively -- with their father, Cliegg Lars; the two boys are at work repairing the vaporator, Cliegg standing over them, content merely to watch over them but ready to step in if they need an extra hand.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (squatting down low beside the vaporator) Okay, Owen, I'm ready to bolt this sucker back in place -- hand me a 12mm.
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (crouched down low next to Obi-Wan) 12mm?
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (frustrated) Yes, 12mm -- hurry up, would ya?
Reaching into a bag full of assorted bolts, young Owen scrambles around inside until he finds a bolt of the right size. Pulling it out, he hands it to Obi-Wan.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (places the bolt into place under the vaporator) Alright, now hand over the hydrospanner.
Owen picks the hydrospanner up off the ground beside Obi-Wan and hands it to his older stepbrother. Placing the hydrospanner against the bolt, he tries driving it into place.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: Dammit, it won't go in!
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Move over, Ben, and let me try.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: Oh, be quiet and stay where you are! I know what I'm doing!
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (looks up at Cliegg) Dad ...
CLIEGG: Ben, give your brother a chance.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (frowns) He's not my brother, and you're not my father.
CLIEGG: (facepalms) Alright, boy, now you've really pushed my buttons -- back the hell away from there right now before I give your ass a bare-knuckled thrashing!
Fuming, but in no mood to receive a bare-knuckled ass-thrashing, young Ben puts down his tools and steps away from the vaporator. Grinning, Owen takes Obi-Wan's place, sticking his tongue out at his older stepbrother.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (glowers) He's just a kid. What does he known about vaporators, anyway?
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (examines the side of the vaporator) Here's the problem, you dunderhead! You need a 16mm bolt for this panel, not a 12mm!
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (furrows his brow) What?
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Bend down and take a look!
Crouching down beside Owen, Ben looks at the panel his stepbrother is now working on.
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (smug) See? 16mm!
Able to see that his stepbrother is right but unwilling to admit it, Obi-Wan silently picks up the bag of bolts and fishes out a 16mm bolt, handing it to Owen angrily. Owen takes it and puts it into place.
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: (holds out his hand) Hydrospanner.
Sulking, Obi-Wan hands Owen the hydrospanner. Owen takes the tool and places it against the bolt.
YOUNG OWEN: Hey, Ben ...
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: (moody) What?
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: You want to screw it in?
Obi-Wan looks down at his younger stepbrother, who is now offering him the hydrospanner. Turning his nose up at him, the older body crosses his arms across his chest in defiance.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: I'm not your grease monkey.
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Oh, c'mon, don't be such a sore loser!
Turning back to regard Owen, Obi-Wan sees that the younger boy is now wagging the hydrospanner at him, teasing him with the prospect of using it. Sighing loudly, Ben gives in to the temptation.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OBI-WAN: Okay, fine.
Grinning, Owen scoots over so that Obi-Wan can join him by the open panel. Once Ben is there beside him, Owen hands him the bolt and hydrospanner. Taking them, Obi-Wan starts driving the bolt into place.
NINE-YEAR-OLD OWEN: Hey, wait! You're using too much --
Before Owen can finish his warning, Obi-Wan drives the bolt in too far, punching it through the panel, through the machinery beyond it, and into a storage tank. Before the two boys can do anything, a cascade of pressurized water comes shooting out into their faces, soaking them.
CLIEGG: (alarmed) Ah, dammit! Look what you've done! (beat) I'm taking this out of your allowance!
The boys, for their part, merely begin laughing, finding the ordeal nothing short of funny.
The three spectres of the past fade away, and we return to Obi-Wan in the present. Turning away from the vaporator, he finds Owen -- now a grown man in his late teens who is almost the spitting image of his father -- standing before the entrance into the underground homestead. Dressed in the sand-coloured clothes of a moisture farmer, Owen regards his stepbrother gravely.
OBI-WAN: Hello, Owen.
OWEN: It's been awhile. (beat) You're a long way from the Empire.
OBI-WAN: I told you I was coming home.
OWEN: Yes, I know. (beat) Look, I've got some errands to run. You go inside and I'll be with you later.
OBI-WAN: I can help you if you'd like.
OWEN: (shakes his head) No, no, forget it. Just go on inside and make yourself at home.
Without anything further to say, the grown up Owen leaves to do what he has to do. Obi-Wan, for his part, simply stands there, watching the man he grew up with as a boy saunter away into the approaching night.