Chapter Text
“Father?” The boy asked faintly, reaching up with a bloodied hand to rest on Vader’s mask. Vader ever so carefully held the boy’s hand, enclosing it with his large leather glove as he cradled the rest of his petite body in his mechanical arms.
“Father?” The boy repeated as he ran his fingers over Vader’s mask, looking unseeingly up at Vader. Force, even being so dazed, the boy could still meet his eyes.
“Ani?”
“I am here, son,” Vader tried to assure. “You are safe now.” The boy never broke eye contact, although still not quite seeing Vader.
But all Vader could see was his own mother.
“Father?” Luke asked once again.
“I am here,” Vader repeated.
“Ani?”
Vader ever so carefully scooped up the boy and carried him out of the Raider hut, being sure to cradle his head with his elbow.
He may not have been able to save his own mother, but he would do whatever it took to save his son.