Chapter Text
All nights living in the Corustants Home for Boys were hard, but some were harder than others. Luke sat on the ledge of his window, looking out. There wasn’t much of a view, street lights flickered on the desolate road, he was beneath the surface of the city. The lower levels of Coruscant were rough and dangerous, people whispered between each other about what it was like to leave and see the surface of the planet. Luke had heard rumors of something called the sun, but Luke found something like that hard to believe. He doubted anything like a big sphere in the sky brought light and warmth was real, warmth only came from wool blankets and broken down heaters in Luke’s experience.
Luke hummed softly to himself, he gently pulled his necklace out that was tucked under his shirt. This japor snippet was with him since he was with a baby, he was told it was his mothers and was his most prized possession. Luke clutched it tightly and ran his fingers over the deep grooves carved into it, it was beautiful. Luke then felt something soft and plush hit him in the back, Luke turned quickly and saw one of the kids, Cen, sit halfway up in his bed.
“Get to bed Luke!” Cen hissed quietly, doing his best not to wake the others. Luke sighed and jumped from the ledge back into the room.
“Sorry, just couldn’t sleep,” Luke whispered back as he sat in his bed facing Cen, Cen huffed and lied back on his bed.
“Luke, when will it sink in? Your parents aren’t alive- don’t waste your time thinking about them.” Luke rolled his eyes, Cen wouldn’t understand. Something in the galaxy told him that somewhere there was something that felt like a prenatal figure waiting for him, it tugged at him weakly every day. He had attempted running away from this place numerous times, but they never worked out, he always ended up being caught.
“They are alive, I know it,” Luke whispered back, Luke saw one of the other boys throw their pillow on Cen.
“Let the boy dream!” Max laughed, Cen and Luke shushed him loudly, not wanting to wake Mr. Obrith, the man who ran this poor excuse for an orphanage. Luke knew this man was not fit for the job, it almost seemed like he lost some sort of bet and was stuck with the job. His dislike and little patience for children was evident and was put on sloppy displays when he drank too much Correllian whiskey.
“Shh! You better be quiet before Mr. Obrith wakes up!” Cen ordered, Max laughed again.
“If Mr. Obrith wakes up we can blame the noise on Luke,” Luke stared at him incredulously.
“I am not going another morning without breakfast!” Luke shouted a little too loudly, waking some other kids in the room.
“Then stop being so damn loud,” Max teased, Luke picked up his pillow and threw it at Max. Max caught it, “Nice try, kid.” He threw the pillow back at Luke hard and he fell back on his bed. Luke grumbled as he sat back up, other kids in the room sounded annoyed by all the noise.
“Go to bed!” One of them complained tiredly, “Its 0300!” Max stood up quickly and walked to the complaining kid.
“Don’t try and tell me what to do, worm!” Max pointed hard at the child, the intensity that floated through the room fizzled once they heard loud stomping run up the stairs. Max, who only a second ago was acting as tough as he could, scurried quickly to bed. All the other kids threw their bedsheets over them, pretending to sleep, Luke did the same.
The door swooshed open and heard Mr. Obrith shuffle in, “What is going on here!?!” He barked, all the kids still putting up a facade of being sound asleep. “I know you’re pretending, I heard you boys having a party up here!” Still, none of them budged, hoping he would just go away. He paced the room, the floor creaking under his footsteps. “If you boys are so awake- then I guess you can get started on your work!” Mr. Obrith punched the control panel on the wall, switching on the yellow tinted lights. All of them groaned and twisted in their sheets.
Luke sat up in his bed. Sure, he was upset to do work around the facility, but he wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep that night. Some nights he was so restless and grew more impatient as he waited for his parents to come back and get him. How long were they going to make him wait? While he cleaned up around the place he could imagine what it would be like for his parents to come and claim him, to take him home, because this place was the farthest thing from feeling like a home.
Luke and the others climbed out of their beds, Luke threw on a brown jacket, it was cold in the lower levels of the planet. “I am getting something to drink…” Mr. Obrith mumbled under his breath, “Get to work!” He ordered before leaving the room.
“Nice going, Luke,” Cen hissed, Luke slumped his shoulders and walked out of the room to begin the chores for the day.
Vader walked down the halls of the Palace with a swift determination, the Emperor had requested to speak with him. Orders from the Emperor were to be taken seriously, if someone were to get in his way they would quickly meet their end. The reason why the Emperor wanted to meet with him was unknown, the Lieutenant never got to say. The doors to the large throne room opened, revealing a large room with tall windows lining either side, giving a large view of Coruscant. Large golden chandeliers hung elegantly from the tall ceilings, Vader walked the stretch from the doors to the dias, which the jewel-encrusted throne sat upon.
Vader kneeled before him, the very act was painful, pain stabbed through him as Sidious stared down at him. “How may I be of service, my master?”
“Rise, my friend.” Vader stood up and faced Sidious. “I am afraid your recent mission has caused quite a scandal. What transpired on Onderon upset many citizens of the Empire,” Vader recalled his latest mission, it was a blood bath. Many citizens, even unarmed ones, joined in the insurgency. He and his troops mowed through them as though they weren’t even there. There was no mercy, any and all were in great danger if they got in his way.
“A large donation to the Imperial City Academy should settle any doubts about you, my master.” Sidious slowly shook his head and sat back in his seat.
“That will not be enough, unfortunately.” Sidious drummed his fingers on the armchair of his throne, “Coruscant has a unique pest infestation, orphans, while I will have them be dealt with, I believe hosting one here shall cover up any scandal on Onderon.” Vader almost didn’t believe what he had heard, Sidious wanted to bring an orphan here? He knew better than to question the Emperors orders, he chose to not act shocked in any way.
“I shall have someone retrieve an orphan for you, my master.” Vader paused, “Are you planning on having the child stay at the palace?”
“The child shall stay in a spare room somewhere, as for you, because of what you have done on Onderon, you shall keep guard over the orphan” Sidious wanted Vader to be a glorified babysitter?! He couldn’t believe his punishment was guarding some insolent child. He supposed he had been too careless, but he was so encapsulated by the dark side. The force filled him with its dark energy, chugging through him like a large train moving forward. “It is only temporary, Lord Vader, I want you to keep the child out of my sight as long as possible while they are here.”
“As you wish, my master.”
“Have the child here as soon as possible, you are dismissed,” Sidious said with the wave of his hand, Vader turned and swiftly marched back towards the hall, leaving the throne room. Once he knew he was out of sight of Sidious, he clenched his fists tightly. He hated the idea of guarding a child, he hated children. He began to wonder if he preferred punishments where he was electrocuted by force lightening to having to watch a petulant child.
If Vader was ordered to keep the child from Sidious, what was the point of having him here? He supposed the public wasn’t going to hear the smaller details, all they will know is that the Emperor invited an orphan to stay at the palace. This was a large act and would shock most of the citizens of the Empire, this would definitly coverup his failure on Onderon.
Vader pulled out his comlink and commed his personal Lieutenant, Lekauf. “Greetings, my Lord.”
“Under the Emperors orders, retrieve an orphan child and bring them to the palace,” Vader ordered, the com was silent for a moment.
“Yes, my Lord,” Lekauf’s voice sounded confused but didn’t want to question the Sith Lord. “I will have an orphan soon.” Vader cut the com and felt hot anger flowing through him, still furious at the job Sidious had given him. His job was to crush enemies, terrorists who threatened to overthrow and assassinate the Emperor. Sidious had given him a demeaning job, something a mall security trooper could do.
It angered Vader without end, he stormed his way to the Detention Center. Luckily, his mission to Onderon did leave him with something to take his anger out on. He captured Rebels, he would interrogate them relentlessly, torture them beyond recognition. He swiftly left the palace, knowing next time he would be here, an insolent orphan would be wondering the halls.
Luke and the others had been doing chores the rest of the morning, at this point all the work was done, now it was just busy work. Luke hated that the most, it was just a waste of time. When the lights outside turned on, lighting up the lower levels, Luke was able to grab a small breakfast. If wasn’t very good but he had to eat something, right?
Luke, later on, found himself wiping the glass of the front of the orphanage in large concentric circles, trying to get any and all smudges off. But one of the older boys kept placing their hand on the glass to create more work for him, Luke rung the towel tightly and swapped it at the boy. “Stop!” He commanded, the boy screwed his face tight and towered over Luke.
“What was that, worm?!” He balled his fists tightly, Luke attempted to try and seem somewhat tough but knew he could never win a fight against this boy. Max then quickly came towards them and stood between Luke and the boy.
“Hey hey, Vero, leave the small fry alone, he is just a kid.” Max held his hands up defensively, Vero huffed but Luke scoffed.
“Don’t call me small fry !” Luke ground out, trying to seem menacing, as he stared up the two older boys, Vero narrowed his eyes at Max then walked away into another room. Max turned around and looked down at Luke.
“Don’t pick fights you can’t win,” Max said, Luke looked down. Max was probably right, he didn’t like admitting it though, most of the times he was a jerk. Max turned to leave, Luke was alone now. He looked out the window and thought this was perhaps a good time to try and escape.
Luke looked around himself, really making sure he was alone before walking through a seating area to a side door. This side exit led to an ally and was usually unlocked for when someone would take out the trash. Luke crept towards it and pushed the control panel command to open it.
The door swooshed open, Luke felt a rush of excitement. He stepped out slowly, doing his best to be as quiet as possible. He quietly crept through the ally that led to the main road, unlike earlier this morning, the street was busy. Vendors and shoppers were set up all along the street, they tried to sell incredibly cheap and poor products to the public, if you were lucky, you could find fresh fruit.
Luke peered out onto the main road, making sure there were no security patrols roaming the street. He was always caught by them and returned back here, didn’t they understand this place was horrible? He needed to go and find his parents, maybe they lost their directions here and that’s why they have been gone for so long, it was the only reasonable explanation. If they couldn’t find Luke, he would find them.
He quickly and seamlessly joined into the flow of people, acting as natural as possible. So far, this escape was going as normal as it usually did, what was unusual was the sound of gasps in the crowd. Luke pushed past a couple of people to see why people were so shocked when Luke saw the fanciest speeder he had ever seen in his entire lift. The crowd gathered around it, all shocked that something could look so new and clean.
The speeder door opened, a man in a grey sleek uniform stepped out and looked around at the crowd. Luke couldn’t tell if he was disgusted or sympathetic, the man cleared his throat. “Uhm- Where is the Coruscant Home for Boys?” He asked the crowd, Luke stepped hesitantly forward towards the man.
“I-Its right there,” Luke said as he pointed to the building behind him which had a large sign, the man laughed softly.
“Of course- are you one of the orphans?” Luke bit his lip and looked side to side.
“No-”
“Yes, he is!” Luke felt a hand land on his shoulder, Luke looked up over his shoulder and saw Mr. Obrith hovering over him. “This kids a trouble maker.” Obrith paused and looked up at the man. “Who are you? What are you doing here?” The man looked slightly taken aback at the bluntness of Mr. Obrith.
“Well, I am Lieutenant Lekauf, I am here on the Emperor’s request. He would like to host a child at the palace for a week, I believe.”
“The Emperor!?” Obrith and Luke asked, both incredibly shocked.
“Yes-” Lekauf looked down at Luke and smiled, “Maybe this little guy could-”
“No, I promise you Lek-Le- oh whatever, I assure you, we have more disciplined children than this one.” Obrith squeezed Luke's shoulders tightly, “Why don’t you come on in?” Lekauf nodded, Obrith turned around and walked with Luke back into the orphanage, Lekauf followed behind him. “Boys! Line up!” Obrith yelled from the entrance, at once a loud sound of tumbling and running came from every direction
All the boys lined up in the sitting room, Luke joined in feeling quite small compared to the rest of them. “What are the age ranges?”
“The youngest we have is 8, the oldest we have is 16.” Mr. Obrith informed, Lekauf placed his fist under his chin as he examined the row of boys. He stopped in front of Luke and smiled.
“You sure? This one right here looks to be about 7.” Lekauf pointed to Luke as he looked at Mr. Obrith. Luke’s mouth dropped open and stomped his foot lightly.
“I am not 7! I am 10!” Luke folded his arms and huffed, Lekauf chuckled softly. Mr. Obrith also folded his arms over his chest and sighed.
“I think I know the age of the kids I keep here.”
“Sir- Rix is 6.” One of the boys mentioned, Mr. Obrith groaned.
“Oh- whatever,” Lekauf didn’t stop smiling at Luke, Luke felt slightly awkward under his gaze and looked to the floor.
“This one- I think he will be a perfect candidate.” Lekauf smiled as he pointed to Luke, Luke lit up and jumped somewhat excitedly. Obrith let out a long sigh and walked over to Lekauf and Luke.
“Alright- but don’t come cryin to me if he gets in a load of trouble, I warned ya.”
“I am sure that won’t happen,” Lekauf smiled, Obrith nudged Luke on the shoulder.
“Go get your stuff,” He barked, Luke nodded quickly and ran from the line-up of boys up the stairs. His heart thumped rapidly, his stomach twisted into tight knots. He couldn’t believe it, he was going to be staying at the Imperial Palace for a whole week! That’s all the way up on the surface, someplace he had never been to before! He wondered what it would be like, if they had better lights that lit up during the day or cleaner water.
He ran into the room him and the boys shared towards his bunk, the only thing he had was a pair of clothes. He grabbed them and threw them in a random bag that lay on the floor, he felt more nervous then he had ever felt before. He had a million stories he planned on telling his parents when they came to get him, but this one was going to be the best of them all.
He ran back down the stairs with his bag and spare clothes and walked towards Lekauf. “Are you ready to go?” Lekauf asked.
“Let me just say goodbye first,” Luke walked up to the row of children and waved goodbye to them.
“Bye Luke!”
“See you later, kid!”
“Bring me a souvenir!” Luke smiled brightly.
“Goodbye, you guys!” Max ruffled his hair, Luke then felt a hand rest on his shoulder and looked up. Lekauf began to direct him to the door, “So- what’s the Palace like?” Luke asked as they left the building. Luke saw there was still a crowd outside of the speeder, Lekauf pushed through them making room for both of them.
“It’s incredibly elegant, large and filled with very important people.” Lekauf opened the back door of the speeder for Luke, “I think you will like it there.” Luke nervously climbed in the speeder, it smelled so clean. He sat on the black leather and instantly felt more comfortable then he had ever felt before in his life. Lekauf shut the speeder door and climbed into the front in the pilot’s seat. The speeder began to lift, Luke looked out the window at the Orphanage and at the crowd that surrounded where the speeder once was. He felt so anxious yet excited, wishing there was a word for a combination for the two.
The speeder flew in the direction to the large exit of the lower levels of Courscant, speeders flew up and down this cavernous corridor that went down to the very core and up to the cities surface. It was dangerous to look over the edge and try to see the bottom, but it didn’t stop Luke on days when he was curious enough to look. More excited he had been in a long time, Luke sat in the back of the speeder trying to remember everything he saw so he could tell his parents.