Chapter Text
by maedre13
“You will listen to me right now, young one, and stay out of this fight. Stay behind me.”
Luke tried angrily to wriggle himself out of his father’s constricting hold on his shoulder. “Why would I? Just let me join!”
“Definitely not.” Vader didn’t even hesitate a second before answering.
“Why not?!” Luke felt both frustration and fear rushing through him when he saw his father inch closer to him, his back on Luke and his lightsaber glowing in the air as he reflected the shots rushing at them.
“Simple. I have an extra weapon.” In a smooth motion, Vader grasped for Luke’s lightsaber hanging from his belt and ignited it, effortlessly keeping up his defense of both of them. Twirling the second lightsaber in his left hand, he found a balance between the two weapons, starting to weave an impenetrable shield in front of them, the glowing brightness leaving flashes dancing in front of Luke’s eyes.
“That’s MY lightsaber!” Luke cried out indignantly.
“Which does not change the fact,” Vader replied smugly.
“It is my lightsaber and you have no right to use it! Let me-!” He grasped rapidly for Vader’s hand when it came swinging back. The glowing blade passed so closely by that Luke could feel the heat. He recoiled abruptly, his sense of danger crying out loud.
He heard something that might have been a suppressed huttese curse and then strong hands where pushing him back, down, behind the cover and to safety.
“Don’t come any closer,” the boy said, baring his teeth.
Vader only took one step forward, not intimidated in the least as he beheld the scrawny boy struggling in the troopers’ grasp. Blonde-haired, a defiant scowl on his face, wearing a Tatooine farmer’s clothes, he couldn’t be more than fourteen years old.
And yet he was blazing in the Force like a star.
“You are in no state to stop me, young one,” he said, relishing the terror the boy was exuding, although he was trying to hide it.
“I have an extra weapon,” he said, an obvious lie.
As only answer Vader took out his blade, pointing it to his throat. The boy gasped.
“And what is it?”
The young man gritted his teeth, but didn’t look away.
“As I thought. Now you will answer my questions. What is your name?”
When the boy refused to answer, he brought the blade closer, forcing him to shrink into the trooper’s grasp. The young man closed his eyes in anguish.
“I said, what is your name?”
Another moment of silence, then finally he drew a shaky breath and answered in a whisper.
“Luke Skywalker.”
Vader’s entire world shattered, more surely than it would have been had it been hit by a thermic bomb.
by Slx99
“Oh no.”
Luke jumped back behind the rock hat was providing him and Han a little cover.
“What is it? Why have they stopped firing?” Han turned to him. “Kid, are you okay?”
“No, it’s Vader.”
“What?”
“Vader! He’s here. That’s why they stopped.” Luke looked at his blaster. The power cell already flashing red at him. So this was it. In retrospect he should be glad he had managed for this long to evade Vader. All these near misses and close calls. Considering the time and resources Vader had put into hunting him he should have known that one day his lucky streak would be over.
“Listen Han, you make a break and I’ll cover for you. You still have a decent chance to…”
“Stop it right there, Luke. We’re in this together.”
“No, it’s me he’s after, he doesn’t need to get both of us,” Luke pleaded. “Please Han, leave!”
“Relax, kid. I have an extra weapon up my sleeve!”
Han pulled from his belt a small thermal detonator, showing it to Luke who stared at it dumbstruck for a moment.
“Where did you…?” he began.
“Never mind that now, kid,” Han grinned encouragingly at him. Then his face froze. It took Luke just another moment to know why. Now he could hear the chilling hiss of the respirator too. “Here goes nothing,” Han said, planting a kiss on the thermal detonator, then pulling off the safety. He left the cover of the rock for a second and threw it.
Both of them were waiting with baited breath for the explosion.
But… there was nothing. Instead, the noise of the respirator was now a lot louder and finally something clicked in Luke’s brain.
“Oh no…”