Chapter Text
“You are not a Sith, Vader,” Anakin Skywalker said, surrounded by smoke. “No matter how hard you try.”
He glared at the Jedi General. They were in some dark chamber on Cloud City where Vader knew the Rebels were keeping Captain Solo. He’d heard the man’s cries for help in the Force, and despite the Emperor’s anger, knew he had to answer it. He’d met the smuggler right before the Rebels blew up the Death Star, and Solo had been with him through the Emperor’s various punishments and missions. Solo had done favors for him and he was only paying his debt. Skywalker knew. That’s why the Bane of the Empire was in front of him now.
“You’ll find I’m full of surprises.”
Vader lunged at Skywalker, who stepped aside to avoid his blow. The Jedi turned his lightsaber on, parrying Vader’s attacks, and kicked Vader in the stomach. The young Sith fell to the floor, losing his grip on his weapon. “I don’t want to fight you,” Skywalker said, placing a foot on Vader’s chest. “There is much I have to explain to you.”
Vader summoned his lightsaber with the Force, and swung up at Skywalker’s chest. He missed but got back on his feet. “There is nothing you can explain to me, Skywalker,” he hissed, “because I’m going to kill you. Just like I killed your poor Master.”
Skywalker’s jaw tightened. Vader remembered killing Obi-Wan Kenobi; it was his first Jedi kill. He didn’t experience the rush of pleasure the Emperor assured him he would feel; all he felt was emptiness at the sound of Skywalker’s screams. Kenobi hadn’t looked at him with hatred, like all other Jedi. There was only sadness in the Jedi Master’s eyes when Vader plunged his lightsaber in his chest.
The Jedi General didn’t take the bait. “It wasn’t you that killed my Master,” Anakin Skywalker said as their lightsabers connected. “It was Sideous. He’s using you as a pawn.”
Vader pressed his lightsaber against Skywalker’s. He saw the scar across the Jedi’s eye, the curve of his jaw and the blue of his eyes. It was familiar somehow. Almost like Vader had seen Skywalker every day of his life.
“I’m not a pawn,” he said. “I am Darth Vader!”
The Emperor had bestowed him his father’s Sith title. “You are not worthy of your own,” his Master had said. “You must earn it. Kill Skywalker and become a Sith in your own right.”
But he liked being called Vader. It was the only connection he had to his father; his father, whom Skywalker murdered. A new rush of hatred swelled within him, and Vader swung his lightsaber again.
Miss.
He jabbed his weapon towards Skywalker’s chest.
Miss.
Skywalker smiled at him. “You don’t have to fight me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Vader flung a metal bar at Skywalker. The Jedi dodged, but it was enough time for Vader to run down into the hallway. Skywalker followed and Vader threw every object at him with the Force. Skywalker held up his hand and everything froze. Instead of flinging them back at Vader, Skywalker let them drop to the floor. He winced at the sound of all the metal crashing to the ground.
The Emperor was right. Vader wasn’t ready to face Skywalker- Skywalker, who decimated Imperial forces wherever he went- and now he would pay the price. He was no Sith. His father would be ashamed of him.
“Are you going to surrender?” There was no malice in Skywalker’s voice. The Jedi was toying with him. The idea filled him with rage.
“Never.”
He went to attack the Jedi again. Skywalker waved his hand, and Vader barely dodged metal from behind. He raced down the walkway, fear filling him. He’d failed the Empire. He failed his Master.
He only stopped running when he reached the end of the walkway and faced a window. He was trapped. Skywalker was walking behind him, not even bothering to run. The Jedi knew he’d won.
“Calm down.” Vader turned and saw Skywalker had put his lightsaber down. “There is something I need to tell you, Lu-”
Vader jumped through the window, ignoring the pain of glass ripping through his skin. Skywalker yelled as he fell on the deck, though it didn’t hurt as much as it should have. Skywalker had lessened his fall. But why?
To make your death last longer , he thought. That was what the Emperor would have done. He shrugged off his pain and got to his feet. Skywalker was already beside him. Vader didn’t have time to swing his lightsaber before it flew out of his hand and into the Jedi’s.
“This is ending,” the Jedi said. Vader felt himself being lifted by the Force and pushed back to the end of the bridge. Metal wrapped around his chest and attached itself to the gantry. The more he moved, the more Skywalker tightened his grip. “You’re hurting yourself.”
“Like you care,” Vader spat back. “You kidnapped Han!”
Skywalker shook his head. “Solo defected to the Rebellion months ago. I created the vision to lure you here.”
His heart stopped. He wanted to protest and say Skywalker was lying, but the Force confirmed the Jedi’s words. Han had betrayed him. Han, who’d patched him up after the Emperor’s training sessions. Han, who teased him about his relationship with Mara. Han, whom Vader had trusted.
Despite himself, tears started to form in his eyes. Here he was, tied up, at a Jedi’s mercy, nearly crying. He glared at Skywalker. His father’s murderer didn’t react.
“Do it then,” he said quietly. “Ignite your lightsaber. Avenge your Master. Get another shiny medal from your Rebellion.”
“Solo defected because of you,” Skywalker responded. “He saw the torture the Emperor put you through. He just wants to help you. I want to help you.”
“You’re a Jedi.” Vader struggled against his bonds to no avail. Skywalker was a sun in the Force, so bright that every push he made against Skywalker’s power died before anything could happen. “Jedi don’t want to help Sith.”
“No,” Skywalker said. “But I want to help you. You are no real Sith. A Sith couldn’t care for anyone like Captain Solo. A true Sith makes the choice to Fall. You never had a choice.”
He laughed bitterly. “What are you implying, Skywalker? That I’d choose to become a Jedi like you?”
Anakin Skywalker took a step forward. “The Emperor never told you what happened to your father.”
“He told me enough,” Vader screamed. “He told me you killed him.”
“I killed Vader,” Skywalker said. “But I didn’t kill your father.”
“What-?”
“I once trusted Palpatine,” Skywalker said. “I dreamed that my wife and child would die in childbirth, and Palpatine promised me he could save them. But I had to turn to the Dark Side to save my family.”
“Interesting story, Skywalker,” Vader retorted. “But I don’t care.”
“I realized that I’d been taken advantage of. I stopped myself from doing something….horrible. You see, for a brief period of time, I wasn’t Anakin Skywalker. I was a Sith. A Sith known as Darth Vader.”
“No,” he said. “No, that’s impossible!”
This is the truth , the Force proclaimed. Truth, truth, truth.
“You are not Darth Vader,” Skywalker- his father -said, “you are Luke Skywalker. My son. The child the Emperor stole from me.”
“I-”
Truth, truth, truth , the Force shouted. How many times had the Emperor compared him to his father? He was an unworthy Sith, unworthy of having his own name. All because he was the son of a Jedi.
“Luke,” Skywalker freed him from his bonds, but he still didn’t move. “You don’t have to be the Emperor’s slave anymore. I will protect you. I will never let Sidious touch you again.” He sensed anger and fierce protectiveness brewing inside of Skywalker, an ongoing storm that never truly went away. That was why he’d Fallen to begin with, he realized. To protect the ones he cared about. He cared about Vader- about Luke - that way. Skywalker held out his hand. “Please, my son. Let me help you.”
Vader- no, Luke, his name was Luke- stayed silent. He’d dreamed of his father coming back to life, of them killing the Emperor and ruling the galaxy together as father and son. Now his father was in front of him, but he was a Jedi, everything he’d fought against. Luke Skywalker already knew what would happen. Anakin Skywalker would train him as a Jedi, force him to never use the Dark Side again, and ruin the Empire he’d spent his life fighting for.
He glanced down. There was still one way out. He leaned to the side-
He froze. Skywalker’s power was holding him upright. The Jedi’s presence wrapped around him like a blanket, but one that was impossible to get out of. There would be no escape.
“Son,” Anakin said firmly. “Come with me.”
Luke sighed. He felt so tired. “I don’t have a choice, do I?” He already knew what the answer would be. He knew Skywalker was fiercely protective of his loved ones. And Luke was his son. A son that had been kidnapped. His father would never let him go.
“I’m sorry,” Anakin said. “You don’t.”