Chapter Text
Luke Skywalker, soon to be Jedi, apprentice of Ben Kenobi and one of the fiercest rebels to confront the Empire, had never understood what true pain felt like, until this very moment.
Luke grew up as a farmer, just like his uncle, Owen Lars, and every day was a struggle for them and his aunt, as it was for most that lived in Tatooine. There were moments he thought he would die of dehydration or hyperthermia, episodes when his body shut down under the scorching suns, and exhaustion derived from work days that either didn't gain much or were ruined by the Tusken. Yet, as he shut his eyes and bit his cheek, he sensed the smell of burning flesh, and remembered the last hour.
Every nerve within his body sparked as if he was consumed by fire. Beside the loss of his limb, he had been beaten down from fighting, and the result was the pain that irradiated from concentrated spots across his arms, legs and chest. The fact that he was laying on a bed didn't help much, as not only was the bed stiff, the ship swayed back and forth abruptly and without rhythm, catching the man off-guard.
However, this was not the worst pain he was currently feeling.
Luke hadn't been able to fully process what had happened back in Cloud City. As the hills of knowledge came raining down on him, his body started moving on its own, even if blinded by his own erratic feelings. It was life or death, from beginning to end.
“You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.”
Anger, sorrow, anguish. Luke knew what led people to the dark side of the Force, understood how one's recklessness could lead to their own downfall, but most of all, he was aware that this was a losing fight. Even though he felt rage and sadness, even though he wasn't trained enough, even though he knew deep down in his heart that he wouldn't defeat this lord of darkness, he kept going.
Luke's hits weren't precise or even calculated, as he didn't have time to plan and act. He bluntly met blades with the other, eventually landing a powerful hit on his shoulder. The last hit he would make.
Cornered like an animal, with nowhere to go, Luke inched closer to a small platform, one that, with one slip, would throw him to the supposed ground below, as it was too far for them both to see.
The end was fast, too fast for Luke's body and mind. In an instant, of weakness and foolishness, the red saber met his wrist, and his hand, still grasping his lightsaber, flew to the abyss. He screamed, grasping his wrist and falling back, luckily on the platform still. He swallowed his urge to grunt and screech as he looked up at his adversary with hatred…
“There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you”
And fear.
His body moved with adrenaline, to the point that the only pain he felt for a while was from the stump of his right hand, a sudden blow he would never forget. Yet, as the man awaited in front of the only way out, his hazy mind couldn't grasp the mercy of his opponent. Thoughts vanished as quickly as they appeared, and he just focused on getting away from the monster before him.
“Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power.”
As the fist of the Empire beckoned with Luke, the boy carefully turned to reach towards the end of the platform, to hold onto the piece of machinery that would temporarily keep him safe.
“Join me, and I will complete your training! With our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”
Luke held onto the narrow pipes, awkwardly looking over his shoulder to stare down the dark knight who had just beaten him down. His face declared scrutiny and disbelief at the other's words, as if he had just offended Luke with the most disrespectful of assumptions.
“I'll never join you!” He spat at the lord, looking back at the pipes to adjust himself to better grasp them, carefully turning so that he could face the other.
“If only you knew the power of the dark side…” The lord reached out, making a fist. A fist of rage, of power, of desperation.
“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.” The man seemed to ask in curiosity, but it was a statement, a truth that Luke didn't know was possible to distort.
Luke held back a sob on his stiff bed.
“He told me enough!” He exclaimed in anger. He held the pipe tightly as he threw himself to a lower, but more comfortable platform, still holding onto the same support. Luke looked at the other, as the lord awaited the boy's answer, as if he wanted to rub in Luke's face the truth, the fact that…
“He told me you killed him.” Luke said tiredly, as his voice had begun to become hoarse. Hatred couldn't compare to what Luke felt. Disgust, spite, disdain. For once, he let himself feel, without shame.
“No.”
Luke wished he hadn't gone to Bespin. Wished that Leia and Han hadn't gone there as well, but he regretted not listening to Leia.
This was a trap.
He was trapped.
“I am your father.”
Confusion.
Luke stared at the man, wide-eyed at the revelation, shaking his head.
In an instant, he felt it: A connection, one that revealed itself once the truth came out.
Anger.
“No… No! That's not true… that's impossible!” He yelled, mostly to himself than the man, as his eyes started to tear up.
He felt the connection stir with each passing moment. It was impatient.
Defeat.
“Search your feelings, you know it to be true.” The lord said, staring him down expectantly.
Luke knew where the connection came from, and led to.
Anguish.
“NO! … No!” Luke screeched, not with refusal, but acceptance. He rested his head on the arm that kept him from falling, his own lifeline.
Luke's soul seemed to betray him as it grasped, for the first time, what it meant to not be alone. It wanted to be with others like itself, and even though the man before him was his enemy, it craved to at least reach out.
In Luke's entire life, he had always felt alone, in a way he couldn't describe. Anytime he did, others would look at him as if he was speaking nonsense, as if there was something wrong with him, as if he needed help. So, he kept it all to himself, and felt that familiar pressure within his chest for years.
Until Ben revealed what he truly was, and they truly connected for the first time. Luke had never known what life without that pressure felt like before.
But once Ben sacrificed himself for Luke, he was alone once more.
Until…
“Luke.” He heard the lord say, drawing his fading attention back to the other.
“You can destroy the emperor… he has foreseen this! It is your destiny!” Luke was holding on by a thread. It was all too much, and nothing stayed long enough for him to hold onto and comprehend. He looked away as his mind reviewed the last moments, mainly the fight before this conversation, and the sudden revelation kept repeating in his head, making all else seem pointless.
“Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!” The lord reached out with pride in his voice, something that he must have concealed for years. At the same time, just as before, the lord seemed desperate, waiting for the moment the boy would take his own hand.
Meanwhile, Luke glanced around below him, looking for somewhere to escape. As much as his entire being wished to reach back to hold his father once in his life, Luke had one objective: go back to his friends.
The abyss dimly brightened by lights didn't help his anxious thoughts, but he had already made up his mind. He looked back at the dark knight, confident even with an exhausted head. The other still reached out, his hand unmoving.
“Come with me.” The lord seemed to say assuringly. “It is the only way-”
Luke took one last look below him before, with a smile, letting go of the pipe. As he fell for what felt like an eternity, he could see the lord look back at him with his unfeeling mask, getting smaller and smaller from the distance that kept growing between them.
Eventually, Luke let himself look away, towards the trash vents on the sides. He felt himself get sucked into one, luckily wide enough for him to enter and slide through, as it slowed the momentum of his fall. He kept his wrist close to his chest, as he didn't want its wounds to worsen by the white walls of the tube.
After a while, Luke stopped in his tracks, resting for a moment in the middle of the vent. He looked around for any chance of getting out, pondering whether or not he should try going back up and climbing the walls outside of the vents. Yet, suddenly, he felt the efforts of working machinery from underneath him, and soon, an almost imperceptible hatch opened, bringing him to another vent that led to the outside, where most trash was thrown out of the floating city.
Luckily for Luke, he fell onto a metal frame right outside the opening, one he almost didn't catch. His legs hurt from the harsh fall, but it was gone as soon as his eyes glanced down. His heart stopped in his chest for a millisecond, as everything he saw were clouds of the gaseous planet, but he quickly diverted his attention onto holding onto dear life, forcing himself to sit better on the thin frame with the only hand he had. His head spun, not only from the fall and the spiraling tunnels, but also…
Luke focused back on getting out of the situation. He climbed higher, now standing on the frame carefully as he tried to reach the still opened hatch, but the moment he touched his fingers on it, it started closing, almost getting him off balance. His chance was gone as he stood on the frame, holding it as tightly as he could.
“Ben…” Luke said under his breath, mostly to himself. “Ben.” He spoke out more firmly, hoping that his former mentor would appear and help him, guide him, do anything. It was the least he could do after everything that had happened.
After a moment, Luke climbed higher, hoping to open the hatch himself once he got closer, but his fingers slipped, and so did his feet as he fell back and was holding onto the frame with only his legs, as he was upside down from the abrupt fall.
“Ben…” Luke called out like a lost child, but he knew the Jedi wouldn't answer, because he couldn't actually do anything. He couldn't bring Luke hope to leave. That connection, along with aren't life, was gone.
Yet, in that moment with the lord, he felt something else. Another connection, one weaker than from the man who once fought him, one he knew where it came from.
“L-Leia-” Luke called out, uncertain how this connection even existed, or what it was leading towards considering its similar nature to the fist of the Empire. Nevertheless, he tried.
“Hear me… Leia…” Luke called out once more, hoping that his friend would listen. For a moment, he thought he heard a soothing voice say his name, but the strong wind kept him from thinking straight.
Luke raised his hand to hold the metal frame to add a necessary support, in case his legs suddenly decided to slip out. He waited for his friends, for minutes on end, eventually accepting his either possible death due to the pressure of the planet's atmosphere, or capture by the Empire.
However, even through the strong winds, Luke heard the engine of a ship, and he soon saw the beauty that was the Millennium Falcon, even from upside down.
Luke spun around the metal frame, sitting on a smaller part of it so he no longer needed his legs for actual support. Still, he grasped onto the metal, waiting for his friends to get him, somehow.
The Millennium Falcon quickly set itself underneath Luke, and he recognized the hatch above it. He waited for a moment, taking a deep breath. Once it opened, an unknown man appeared, holding out his arms. As much as Luke wanted to question it, he could hear the TIE fighters getting closer, and he knew anyone inside the Millennium Falcon had to be trustworthy.
So, Luke let himself fall onto the man's arms.
Within the ship, the man repositioned him to stand up. He asked Luke quickly if he could, and the boy just nodded.
“Lando?” Luke heard Leia’ voice come out of one of the communicators, integrated into the hatch. Luke tried to make a mental note that the man who caught him was called Lando, but his mind was elsewhere as he hugged himself tighter from the cold and pain now settling in as his adrenaline lowered.
Lando carefully took Luke to the cockpit, putting around him a wool sheet to comfort and warm him up. Luke felt himself fade away, lost in thought even in such a short time. Every moment didn't seem to register in his mind. The only tangible thing was his own pain, and the Force seemed to only heighten it.
The door to the cockpit opened, and Leia came out of it to immediately hug Luke, who embraced her back in a moment of lucidity. Lando let go of him to take the controls from the princess, assured that she would care for the boy.
“Leia…” Luke whispered into Leia's shoulder, holding her close as if he would lose her if he let go.
“R2, let's go.” Was the last thing Luke heard Lando say before the door to the cockpit closed as Leia guided him to the infirmary room. First, she set on the bed a layer of aluminum, and then set him on the bed carefully, putting a thick sheet over his cold body. She took the anesthetic tube and attached it onto his left wrist, the intact one, and then focused on cleaning the ugly wound on his eye.
As Leia worked, Luke kept his mind wandering through the memories of the recent events. The battle, the fact he was almost taken or even killed, but worse of all, the revelation.
Luke couldn't comprehend it. How can an individual as vile, destructive and evil as the dark lord could be his father? Luke knew the truth, but how could he possibly be his son?
How could Luke Skywalker be Darth Vader's son?
Anakin Skywalker was his father, born in Tatooine, suddenly freed by Jedi, became one himself and then-
Something happened. In the end, it was undeniable: Anakin Skywalker had become the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader.
Darth Vader was his father.
Luke couldn't yet grasp that.
The ship suddenly rocked back and forth violently, even making Leia almost fall in place. Luke was going to ask if she was alright, but he felt her soft lips graze his as she rested her hand on his head assuringly. For the first time, Luke didn’t enjoy it. Even if his mind was reeling from all that was happening and his body couldn’t fully react, he knew there was something… wrong, but he still didn’t do anything but painfully look at her.
“I'll be back.” Leia said softly, but quickly as she left the room, leaving Luke to think of everything that transpired since this moment, to ponder on his mistakes and regrets, to repeat that memory in his head over and over.
“I am your father.”
Luke raised his hand to his eyes, covering them as tears welled up, but didn't fall. There was so much to tell them, but could he trust Leia? Chewie? Lando? R2D2 and C3PO wouldn't mind, as they respected him more than any other, even with bad blood. Where was Han? He had seen someone imprisoned in carbonite before facing Darth Vader, was that him? Had Han been taken? Had Luke arrived sooner, would he have saved Han? If he hadn't been careful, would he have been taken by Darth Vader?
Darth Vader wanted to do that. In the first room where they fought, Luke had fallen into a pit and he heard the man say “Too easy”. Luke felt the cold gas almost petrify his skin, and that's what pushed him forward.
His own father wanted to have him, no matter what.
Luke thought back to Obi-Wan, the man he respected most. His mentor, guide in dark times, the one who took him in after his family, no matter how surrogate, was killed in cold blood. He never considered himself a Lars, and barely mourned the two as he had no time, but he still mourned the lives of the two who raised him.
The Empire killed them. The three of them, and even more others Luke never met, and Darth Vader was a part of it all, hunting Luke down, along with the rebels. He wanted to rule the galaxy, “bring peace” by killing opposers and oppressing the ones who wish to have rights. That was completely against what Luke believed in. Of course, he lived submissively in Tatooine because he knew he couldn't fight the Empire, but now he's almost a Jedi, he's with the Rebellion and he knows, from his own father, that he will be the one to destroy the Emperor.
The ship rocked harder, and Luke held onto himself, looking at the wall to ease his wandering confused mind. An uneasy feeling crept up within him, as if the shaking was planned, perhaps by the Empire. Something was going to happen, but Luke couldn't focus on that.
He thought back to that single moment, the one that made it all fall apart and tear him from the inside, the moment he felt that connection with Darth Vader. That was the moment he realized the man wasn't lying. The connection between him and Ben had been close, even in the short time they had been together, but it was as if they paralleled, following the same direction, side by side.
Luke and Darth Vader converged, as if they shared the same path. They were destined to meet, and held the same origin, as distant as it may be.
Strangely enough, Luke felt that Leia had a similar connection to the both of them-
Luke swayed with the strength of the ship, thinking, for a moment, that it would all fall apart and he would be sucked out into space. He was wrong, but that only made him get even lost in thought.
Before, Luke felt his soul wish to reach back to his father. His soul was him, in the end, but his mind was more clever and resilient. Why had his own soul betrayed him? Could it not see that Darth Vader was an evil being that wished to bring death? As much as Luke wished to meet his father in person and ask every question possible, he knew he couldn't give in, because Darth Vader would take him and never let go.
Luke looked at the door, seemingly waiting for Leia to enter and return to speak with him. He needed a distraction, something to keep his mind from breaking down. It was all blurry, all but that moment.
“Luke…” He felt a presence come nearer and nearer as he heard Darth Vader's breathy voice.
“Father-” Luke answered immediately, looking away from the door, now towards his side with his tense body. It hurt how he was drawn to his father, and how easy it was for him to do so.
“Son, come with me…” Darth Vader said softly, even with his common hoarse and commanding voice. Luke almost seemed to ponder it through before resting back on the bed.
“Ben… why didn't you tell me…?” Luke seemed to whisper it only to himself, but part of him wished Obi-Wan heard it. He never told Luke any of this. He should have known. He knew his father was Darth Vader, he knew they would fight eventually, and maybe he knew the Emperor is after him and is, most likely, afraid of his strength. He respected Ben so much, but, as much as he hated it, he was disappointed in the Jedi for not warning him.
As the ship shook again, Luke made an effort to get up and walk towards the cockpit. He passed by Chewbacca, who seemed to be trying to fix the hyperdrive. If Luke had been more aware of everything, he would have known to tell them it was merely turned off, but his mind drifted as he eventually reached the cockpit. Leia looked at him with worry, but soon focused on the task at hand, and Lando, who had been trying to stabilize the ship, walked past him, quickly putting reassuring hands on his shoulder and arm.
“It's Vader.” Luke said with dread, not in the case that they would lose and get caught, but in the sense that Darth Vader had left Bespin, returned to the strange Star Destroyer and was now stopping them from getting out.
It was in the sense that Darth Vader would never stop hunting him down.
Luke slowly sat down, looking at the massive Star Destroyer in fear as they flew past it. He looked down, closing his eyes as to try not to reach out to Vader, anything but to even make contact. He knew that, from all the time that had passed, all the instances he yearned to meet his own father, he could eventually succumb to it, especially now that he was weakened in both mind and spirit.
“Luke…” The boy held back a whimper at the powerful voice. “It is your destiny.”
Luke barely sighed as he looked down, a tear rolling down his cheek “Ben… Why didn't you tell me?” He muttered in desperation. He looked up, trying to face his own dilemma head on, but, in the end, he felt his father reach out, and with his utmost strength, Luke tried to resist it.
“Luke…”
The world seemed to slow down around him, and his father's presence got closer and closer. It was as if the man was right in front of Luke, and, like a child, the boy didn't know how to behave.
“My son…”
Luke wanted to back away, leave the cockpit, get as far as he impossibly could, but his soul had become stronger than his mind, and so his own will. He sat petrified on his chair as his friends were unaware of the turmoil within him.
“Father…”
Luke closed his eyes, not needing them to know he was right before Vader, weak and trembling as the man in dark armor stood tall. For a moment, he gave into his soul as he finally held onto their connection, the bond he craved for the last twenty years.
Luke heard yelling all around him, drawing his attention for a moment before being brought back by a tug from the Force. Luke finally opened his eyes as he looked up at his father, and Darth Vader slowly reached out, as if Luke was a cornered animal.
“My own son…”
Slowly closing his teary eyes, Luke could almost feel his father's hand on his cheek.
In a moment, everything returned to normal as Luke almost fell from his chair. He gasped as the stars before his eyes turned into stripes and the connection snapped as if it were a mere strand of hair compared to the immensity of space. With his only hand, he held his chest in a panic while his friends celebrated, even if most hit some part of their body from the sudden inertia of Hyperspace.
Luke felt as if he couldn’t breathe, as, for a moment, his own soul realized its foolishness and delusion.
“..ke?”
He had almost given in to his father, lord of the dark side, fist of the Empire, the most ruthless man he had ever met.
“L..e?”
He didn't know what could or even would happen if he had allowed Vader to-
“Luke?”
A hand landed on his shoulder, and he almost flinched as he looked up hurriedly at the group, who looked at him with concern. Leia held his shoulder softly, as not to hurt him, and her fierce gaze held worry.
“Are you alright?”
Even as his own eyes betrayed him, Luke nodded absentmindedly, putting his only hand on Leia's as he let the tears fall.
If Luke was to be the one to save the galaxy from the Emperor, who would save him from his own father?