Chapter Text
The attack was relentless. Try as he might, Luke Skywalker couldn’t escape the Emperor’s Force lightning. Eventually he was backed into a corner. The Emperor raised his hands for the killing bolts, which seemed to focus on Luke’s mechanical hand, striking it again and again…
Luke opened his eyes abruptly. He sat up and glanced around, shivering violently. He was safe, for now, in a cell in the Emperor’s palace. Which wasn’t the most comforting, but it was better than “currently being electrocuted.”
Princess Leia was next to him, still sleeping. He moved closer to her, relieved it was only a dream. He was honestly surprised he’d only started having that nightmare a few moments ago, having endured an attack from the Emperor earlier. It had left him exhausted and in pain, and he’d barely noticed when the Emperor’s guards had brought him back to the cell he shared with his sister.
He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to relive the experience. His hand still felt like it was being shocked, although it didn’t hurt anymore. He hugged himself absentmindedly, trying to calm down.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side, where he’d put his right hand. He cried out, waking Leia, and stared at his prosthetic hand in horror. It was giving off blue sparks randomly, and Luke wasn’t sure if it was leftover Force lightning or if it was just broken. In either case, the sight of those sparks so close to him again, this time coming from his own hand, sent shivers through him.
Leia gasped. “What happened?”
Luke glanced over at her. “I…I don’t know…” He could barely focus. All he could think of was what the Emperor had done to him, and the possibility that it might get worse next time. Every time he tried to get his mind off of it, the strange malfunction his hand was having reminded him of what he’d been through again.
Leia put her arms around him and whispered, “I’ll tell Father. He can probably help us…”
Luke nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, trembling as he desperately tried to forget what had happened to him.
Darth Vader opened the cell door. “What is happening?” Luke glanced up at him, still shaking.
“I…I don’t know… the Emperor… the Emperor attacked me a few hours ago and… and now my… my hand won’t stop sparking….”
Vader put his hand on Luke’s shoulder, and Luke sighed in relief. He let himself relax… and then his hand shot another large spark. Vader jumped back instinctively and Luke felt Leia flinch next to him.
Vader sat up straighter, getting down to business.
“This has happened to me before. It’s a side effect of the Force lightning on prosthetics. I can have it fixed easily.” Vader pressed a button on his chest, apparently summoning a medical droid. He turned back to Luke.
“We should probably remove it ahead of time.”
Luke held out his hand to his father. Vader reached for it but stopped when it gave off several more sparks.
“Take a deep breath and try to stop moving it,” advised Leia. Luke focused on trying to hold his hand still, but he could barely look at it without thinking of his “fight” with the Emperor.
He turned to Vader. “I… I can’t stop shivering,” he whispered, although that much was obvious from the way his whole body quaked, if not from his quivering voice and the fact that he could barely speak through his chattering teeth.
Vader tilted his head at Luke, and even though neither of them could see his face, both Luke and Leia could tell he was gazing at Luke sympathetically and presumably resisting the urge to scoop his son up and hold him close. That part would have to wait until Luke’s prosthesis was removed and/or fixed.
The Dark Lord moved a little closer to Luke. “It’s okay,” he said as softly as his vocoder allowed. “I also find it hard when this happens…” Luke blinked at him in surprise. Vader held out his hand with a motion implying he was holding some invisible object, and Luke felt something wrap around his right arm, holding it still. There was something incredibly soothing about it to him, even though he knew Vader used the exact same gesture to choke his enemies.
The sparks slowed down, and Vader was able to gently remove his son’s prosthetic hand. Luke breathed a sigh as soon as it was off. Not having it made him feel even more vulnerable, yet he was so relieved he didn’t have to feel the sensation of it malfunctioning on him, and he didn’t have to hear the electrical shocks so close anymore.
The medical droid Vader had summoned must have arrived, as Vader gave it Luke’s hand and sent it off with a command to have it repaired. Luke glanced down at his right arm, noticing how it suddenly ended at the wrist, unable to help remembering exactly how that had happened, the moment his world had been turned upside down, even though he knew Vader regretted it, even though he cared for his father now.
He shuddered, tucking his missing hand under his other arm. Leia pulled him close.
“Does it remind you of…”
Luke nodded. “I know, I’m a mess…”
Why did he have to be like this? Why couldn’t he just handle whatever came his way? He wasn’t in danger anymore, so why was he so afraid?
Vader put his hand on Luke’s shoulder again. Luke leaned into the contact gratefully and tried to stop trembling. Vader pulled him close.
“Take a deep breath. Everything will be alright, little one.”
Luke did so, trying to match the steady breathing of his father’s respirator. It really did help.
He looked up at Vader.
“So… you said this has happened to you before?”
Vader nodded. “The Emperor usually doesn’t have reason to, but occasionally… I have… chosen my own quests. And if he finds out…” Vader trailed off for a moment but continued, “I think the Emperor designs his attacks in a way that makes my—our prosthetics go haywire later on.”
Luke hadn’t thought of that before. He realized that it must be much worse for Vader, who had four prosthetics, as well as countless other life support systems. It probably hurt, too, given that fact. Luke couldn’t imagine his lungs giving off electric sparks like that every time he took a breath.
He looked up at Vader in horror. “I… I’m sorry.”
Vader gazed down at him. “Whatever for?”
Luke closed his eyes, ashamed. “I… I lost one hand and fought the Emperor one time and I’m honestly still scared, while you’ve had to deal with him all the time, either fighting him or the possibility of fighting him, while you’ve lost all your limbs and that just makes it so much worse… you’re going through the same thing I am and you’re never afraid… why… why am I like this?”
Vader and Leia stared at the young Jedi. Leia put an arm around him. Vader said nothing for a moment, but eventually he put a hand on each of Luke’s shoulders.
“Luke. Look at me. You have every right to be afraid of… all this. You have every right to want our help. And you have every right to want a break occasionally. And we will be here for you. Always.”
Luke smiled slightly. That made him feel a little better.
“But… you’re never afraid of him.”
Vader looked down. “Yes. I am. When I think he might hurt one of you. Or he might do something to me that prevents me from protecting you.” He paused. “That almost came true today. I left you to face the Emperor, and look what happened. But he’d sent me away and specifically commanded that I not return. I… I was so afraid I’d lose you…my son.”
My son. Those were the words Luke had often dreamed of hearing, all those times back when he’d been younger that he’d imagined his father coming to find him. Now that had happened for real, and while it was nothing like he’d imagined, he couldn’t be more grateful.
“Thank you.”
He turned to Leia.
“Both of you. For being here for me.”
Leia smiled.
“What is a family for?”
Luke smiled back at them.
Vader put his arms around both of them. “I love you both so much,” he murmured.
Luke smiled to himself. He didn’t have to go through this alone. He had his father and his sister by his side. And he knew they’d get out of this together.