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Things are going well here- I’m sure you’ve noticed the drop in rebel casualties recently. I was right about him. Don’t worry about me, I’m safe. I’ll plan an in-person meeting soon, but I don’t think I can get away quite yet. Miss you guys!
“He’s totally screwed,” said Han, looking at the frozen image of a smiling Luke.
“I can only imagine what Vader’s done to him,” Leia shuddered, thinking back to her own torture at the hands of that monster.
“Arghhh!” agreed Chewbacca.
“You’re right Chewie, we’d better check on the kid. Come on Princess, we’ve got another suicide mission to plan.”
___
Honestly, Luke was surprised his gamble had gone so well. After a year of his father trying to regain contact with him after Bespin, Luke had started suspecting (hoping?) his father viewed him as more than a tool. With each near capture, Luke had made it clear he was not going to acquiesce to Vader’s demand that he turn to the Dark Side. Despite that, Vader never made a serious attempt to kill him, and his restraint when it came to Luke allowed for many of his narrow escapes. He eventually decided that whatever face he might lose with the rebels when he revealed his parentage, he needed to press his (hopefully existent) advantage. Too many lives had already been lost at Vader’s hand.
After Han and Leia had picked their jaws back off the floor, they were not happy with his plan.
“Luke, this is suicide! Or worse! He’ll torture you.” Luke knew she was thinking of her own experience with Vader.
“But that’s what I’m trying to say, Leia. I don’t think he will. He claims that if I don’t join him I will die, but again and again he hasn’t even taken the opportunity to hurt me, much less kill me. You of all people know what he’s capable of; with how he’s been pursuing me I should have been dead ages ago.” Leia didn’t seem to appreciate his reassurance. Luke continued. “I think I have a real chance here to throw him off balance. I’m confident he’ll accept my terms if it means he gets me.”
“I still can’t believe Vader is your dad,” interjected Han, “I mean, I thought there had to be some special reason he was dead set on capturing you, but I thought it was because you destroyed the Death Star. Or because you can do that Force magic. Or because you got away from him at Bespin. Or, you know, literally any other reason that isn’t him being your dad.”
“Yeah, uh. That threw me for a loop too. Nightmares, remember? I’ve kind of accepted it now though.”
“But Luke, that’s the other issue,” started Leia, “I know you. I don’t believe you’re capable of manipulating Vader in cold blood. If anything, I’m worried he will manipulate you, and use your desire for a relationship with your father against you.”
Luke looked slightly hurt. “You really think I’d fall to the Dark Side? Join the Empire?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Leia began, knowing that is what she’d meant. But she knew Luke, she knew how he almost radiated light, in a way that felt weirdly tangible to her at times. She couldn’t imagine Luke Skywalker turning voluntarily. But she didn’t trust Vader not to snuff out that light once he discovered it was inextinguishable.
“I knew everyone would be concerned about Vader’s impact on me. But why can’t it work the other way around? Why can’t I bring him out of the darkness? Maybe he just needs someone to lov- like him,” Luke finished awkwardly, aware that he sounded like the hopeful orphan Leia was casting him as.
Leia looked at him surprisingly compassionately. “I don’t want you to go- you’re risking a whole lot, both personally and for the rebellion if he were to successfully bring you to his side. But if we cut ourselves off from hope, from the chance of redemption, from love,” Leia looked at him pointedly, and Luke flushed, knowing she knew exactly what he was originally going to say, “then the Empire has already won. I refuse to accept their worldview, even to beat them. If you can convince leadership, then you have my support.” She left her skepticism at the possibility of success unsaid.
“Thank you, Leia,” said Luke, and he pulled her into a hug.
___
With Leia’s support, the mission had been approved by High Command. All that had been left was logistics- furnishing an untraceable comm, making plans to move the base to a location unknown to Luke as soon as he left, keeping him out of the loop for a few months so he had no important intel- and he was off.
Exiting hyperspace directly in front of a Super Star Destroyer and proceeding to hang off its bow like a sitting duck was a bit nerve-wracking, but Luke was confident his father would be able to sense him. Sure enough, after he was tractored into the hangar, his father was the only one there to greet him. Luke’s hopes that Vader would be willing to negotiate instead of simply capturing and torturing him were significantly buoyed by his apparent unwillingness to parade Luke’s presence around the Executor.
Luke had held his breath after presenting his terms to Vader. They were simple, really. Luke would engage civilly with his father and stay on board the Executor voluntarily, as long as Luke was able to retain contact with the rebellion to let them know he was unharmed. Luke had waited with bated breath, his imagination conjuring images of Vader laughing derisively as he simply imprisoned him. His entire plan hinged on his father actually caring about him and wanting a relationship with him. He thought he knew the answer, but in the face of that impassive black mask, he felt a fool.
Vader had agreed to his terms, however. Luke had been given quarters in Vader’s private wing, not knowing what to expect from a civil conversation with the man. It soon became clear that Vader hated discussion of the past. Luke could feel the echoes of pain each inquiry had, the rage and loss breaking their way through Vader’s ironclad shields. Yet he could tell his father pushed himself to tell Luke what he deserved to know- about his mother, about the fall of the Jedi. It was hard for Luke to hear, but he knew he had to be right about there being good in his father. There simply was no reason for Vader to agree to Luke’s silly terms if he didn’t care about his son. So as much as he wanted to push, to learn more about the family he could have had, he had to focus on his goal of reaching his father.
“Father,” began Luke, “I want to move on from the past.” I can tell it causes you pain Luke added mentally, but he kept it to himself, knowing Vader would refuse to admit to any level of vulnerability. “I want to just spend time with you”. A beat passed, and Luke imagined that Vader was totally bewildered by someone volunteering to spend casual time in his presence.
“I would like that, son.”
___
Having somewhat achieved his goal of forcing his father to start humanizing himself, Luke now found himself feeling uncertain. One does one do with their father? Especially their terrifying, armor-clad murderer of a father? Luke had exactly zero father experience at this point in his life, so he was at a bit of a loss.The door to his quarters hissed open, removing his ability to mull over it anymore.
“Son.” said Vader. He proceeded to stare at him, artificial breathing filling the room. Luke wondered if his father was at just as much of a loss.
“Um,” started Luke unhelpfully, “what do you like to do in your free time?”
“I don’t have free time.”
“Well, that can’t possibly be true. But fine. What do you like to do other than intimidating people and paperwork?”
Vader seemed to decide that disputing his job description wasn’t worth his time. “I noticed you modified your X-Wing. I modified my ship as well. That is a useful skill, and one we seem to share.” Luke noticed Vader refused to describe himself as liking anything, but he’d take it.
“Great! We could modify something together. I bet I could make your TIE even better-”
“Absolutely not.” Luke sulked. “However,” Vader continued, “The Empire just implemented updated engines into the TIE fighters. It would be…acceptable to take a look at the old engine model. And perhaps determine how to upgrade it.”
The next day, Vader came to collect him.
“The engine is in my private workshop,” said Vader, gesturing for Luke to follow him.
Entering Vader’s private quarters, Luke noticed there was nothing of the comfortable sitting area that his quarters had. There were a number of rooms behind closed doors, and his father strode past them to a back room. As they entered, Luke was overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the workshop.
“Wow Dad, this is awesome!” Vader turned and stared at him. Luke flushed, wondering if it was the ‘dad’ or the ‘awesome’ that had done him in. During his time in the rebellion, he was frequently mocked for his lack of reserve, and although he’d tried to reign it in to get Vader (and his squadmates) to respect him, it was hard to change his fundamental personality. To his surprise, he felt a rush of what he could only describe as affection from his father, there one second and then shielded the next.
Luke genuinely enjoyed his time working on the engine with Vader, finding his father to be exceedingly knowledgeable when it came to mechanics and engineering. He also was starting to learn more about what it was to be a son- with just a word, he had Vader wrapped around his little finger. All he had to say was, “thank you Dad, that explanation was really helpful! I get it now!” and Vader absolutely melted into a puddle of Luke pleasing goo. Not that he ever uttered anything verbally- Luke was finding Vader wasn’t much of a communicator, on any topic. They mostly worked in companionable silence, Luke munching on whatever treat Vader had brought him from the kitchen that day.
“How are you able to explain to the kitchen why you’re suddenly ordering dessert?"
“They don’t require an explanation. If they dared to be so impertinent as to ask, they would die.” Luke put down his cupcake.
“I don’t know if you’re joking-”
“I assure you, I am not.”
“-but I don’t want anyone killed on my behalf,” Luke continued, “I’m serious. Please Dad?”
“I- fine. I promise I won’t kill them.”
Luke smiled, taking another bite of his cupcake.
___
Luke was positively bouncing with excitement. “I can’t believe you have your own private hangar. And that you didn’t tell me about it immediately.” Vader said nothing as he input the access code to the door. Luke’s jaw dropped as they walked inside. He wanted to see everything, all at once.
Without thinking, he grabbed Vader’s hand and pulled him towards the nearest ship. Vader must have chosen to follow- Luke in no way had the physical ability to pull Vader’s bulk. As Luke paused in front of the ship and began to ramble excitedly, he belatedly noticed that he was standing there holding Darth Vader’s hand and- even more alarmingly- that his father hadn’t taken the chance to let go. Vader began to answer Luke’s question, seemingly ignoring the hand holding.
Luke felt extremely awkward, but he didn’t want his father to think he was rejecting him, not when they had just started making progress. To Luke’s ever increasing shock, his father never let go of his hand throughout the rest of the tour. By the time they went to leave the hangar, Luke was beginning to hysterically wonder if Vader’s prosthetic was malfunctioning, but right before the door opened Vader released his hand.
___
“Can we go flying together? I miss it.”
Luke stood hand in hand with Vader, staring out the viewport in his quarters. Holding hands with Vader had become normal to the point where Luke often forgot how strange his life had become. His mission had hinged on his father being willing to build a relationship with him, but he’d certainly never imagined any sort of… physical intimacy coming into play. Luke had to admit it was nice, though. He’d certainly wanted these sorts of father-son interactions when he was younger. Perhaps they were simply making up for the time they had lost.
Vader had never uttered a single word about it, as if he was afraid he’d break the spell if he did. At first he wouldn’t initiate it either, Luke having to offer his father what he clearly wanted but stubbornly wouldn’t ask for. As time passed though, Vader started reaching for his hand seemingly out of pure habit. That more than anything forced Luke to accept he wasn’t going through some sort of extended and embarrassing hallucination of him frolicking around with Darth Vader, and he truly was spending his time discussing mechanics with the Dark Lord while holding hands.
“I’d have to make certain arrangements to not raise any suspicions of your presence-” Vader paused and pointed at Luke, “And- you must not try to escape. I will be able to stop you.”
Luke looked at his father’s gloved fingers intertwined with his own. “You really think I’d break the deal I made?”
“...The evidence points to the contrary.”
“I won’t leave you, Dad. I promise.” Vader was silent behind his mask, but his fingers tightened around Luke’s.
A few days later, Luke whooped as he corkscrewed the TIE, making risky move after risky move to get it out of his system. He had been trapped in his quarters for far too long. Vader was allowing him to feel his approval though the Force.
“Excellent, Luke. You’re a natural born pilot, just like I was.” Luke positively glowed at his father’s praise. Luke briefly thought of Leia’s words (he’ll use your desire for a relationship with your father against you) but he dismissed it. He could tell his father wasn’t trying to manipulate him, he was sure he would feel it in the Force if he was. “I will arrange so that we can do this on a regular basis. Skywalkers weren’t meant to remain grounded.”
“Thanks Dad!” Luke smiled broadly. He decided not to comment on Vader’s tacit acknowledgement that he was, in fact, Anakin Skywalker.
___
“How are you possibly sick?” Vader asked incredulously, “I know you haven’t had contact with anyone, I would have received an alert.” Luke looked up from his dramatic flop on the couch to shoot his father a look of disapproval. Of course Vader has some sort of tracker on him.
“I mean, I see you. Couldn’t I have gotten it from you?”
“My suit filters out pathogens. I don’t ‘get sick’.” Vader paused to think. “There have been a lot of crew on sick leave recently. It’s extremely unlucky of you to have gotten sick from such an indirect exposure.”
“Great, now that we’ve determined I’m not making it up, can you start babying me now?” Luke immediately regretted making that joke, hoping his father wouldn’t take him seriously. At first, to Luke’s relief, he didn’t, but throughout the day Luke really started to go downhill. Vader had left after lunch to go back to threatening his officers (or whatever), and in the intervening time Luke had started getting a bit loopy. I must be getting a fever Luke thought blearily, as the room began to spin.
He didn’t even notice that his father had returned until he was standing right in front of him.
“You should have commed me,” said Vader furiously, “it wouldn’t do for you to get so sick you need medical attention. No one can know you’re here.” Luke just looked at him miserably. “I am giving you a fever reducer.” Vader injected something in his neck. “Now come sit down.” Vader picked him up off the floor (huh, how did I get there?) thought Luke, and deposited him on the couch.
After the fever reducer kicked in enough for Luke to sit up, Vader brought him some soup. “Before you ask, son, no I did not threaten or harm the kitchen staff.” Luke smiled to the best of his ability.
“Thank you, Father.” He slowly ate the soup, trying not to upset his stomach. Even with the fever reducer, he didn’t feel up to much of anything. He dreaded trying to walk to the refresher later but he determined he would use every shred of willpower to walk there on his own before he asked his dad to take him potty. That was one father-son experience he didn’t feel the need to make up for. “So Dad,” he looked to find Vader, who seemed to be awkwardly staring at a bulkhead, “do you wanna watch some holos? I don’t really have the energy to do anything.”
“I haven’t watched a recreational holo in many years,” Vader began, “but that is irrelevant.”
“Is that a yes? Or?” Luke patted the couch next to him. Vader sat, looking strange sitting on a couch in full battle armor. Luke turned on one of his favorite holos, and proceeded to mostly just phase in and out of consciousness. At one point, Vader must have stood up and returned without him noticing because a soft blanket from his bed was laid over him. Luke smiled and snuggled into the blanket.
Luke blinked his weepy eyes as he took in the soft light around him, signaling ship’s morning. He must have fully lost consciousness at some point, then. He sat up slightly and rubbed the crick in his neck. He definitely needed another dose of that fever reducer. He looked over and realized he’d been sleeping on Vader’s shoulder.
“Oops. Sorry, Father. I didn’t mean to trap you here all night, you could have woken me up.” Vader didn’t respond. Luke paused. Was he… asleep? His presence in the force felt more mellow than Luke had ever felt it. As far as his father had told him, Vader only meditated in his hyperbaric chamber. Luke looked around at the chrono. 0800. Shavit. So much for sneaking away. He was pretty sure Vader was supposed to be on duty soon. “Uh… Father?” ventured Luke awkwardly. He lightly shook Vader’s shoulder.
“Wha-?” said Vader, starting and looking side to side. For a few seconds Vader simply sat silently, his Force presence a bit muddled.
“Uh, I think you might need to be at work soon,” said Luke hesitantly. Vader practically jumped off the couch. “Can I have more fever reducer before you go?”
“Oh- yes. Here.” said Vader, who handed him the shot then fled from the quarters. Well that was awkward.
___
When Vader came back later that day, he continued his long honored tradition of Pretending Nothing Had Happened. Luke didn’t want to scare his father off, not to mention he was still exhausted from the cold, so he allowed it.
“I brought you something to do while you recover,” said Vader, handing Luke a cardboard box. Luke read the box: Model Super Star Destroyer, 5,000 pieces. Ages 16+. Luke grinned.
“This is awesome! Thanks, Dad. Can we start it together? Now?” Luke briefly felt intense affection. He grabbed Vader’s hand and pulled him towards the dining table.
“After you eat, my son.” Vader tightened his grip on Luke’s hand.
They worked on the model together until Luke’s continued low grader fever started to get the best of him. Luke was eating up every second of time with his father, the happy silence as they worked deeply fulfilling what he had so wanted as a child.
“You are exhausted, Luke. It is time to rest.” Luke grumbled but began to stand up, about to turn towards his bedroom when he noticed the slight embarrassment coming off of Vader. Luke suspected he knew what he was refusing to ask for.
“Uh- would you like to watch a holo together first?”
Luke once again woke up without even having remembered falling asleep, cheek pressed uncomfortably against Vader’s chestplate. An alarm was chirping from a nearby datapad. 0730. Luke laughed to himself, realizing his father really had overslept yesterday. He imagined Vader running onto the bridge 30 minutes late for work, not that anyone would dare question the Dark Lord’s timing. His father sat up at the alarm.
“Good morning,” said Luke, “I’m starting to feel better.”
“Good. Maybe we can go flying again soon,” Vader said, clearly uncomfortable but as always unwilling to acknowledge the situation. “I must be going now,” said Vader as he once again fled the room. Luke rolled his eyes.
The next night, Luke humored his father with the same farce. Luke was feeling significantly better now, and so did not instantly fall asleep. Leaning against his father’s armor wasn’t exactly comfortable, either. Still, as Luke fell towards sleep, he felt a strange sense of something cold pulling Luke's presence towards it like a blanket. He was hit with the (somewhat obvious, now that it occurred to him) revelation that Vader must be… comforted by him. Was his proximity allowing his father to truly sleep for the first time in years? Although the situation was still a little weird, Luke felt warmth grow in his chest towards his father.
Luke could see the subtle change in Vader- a blink-or-you-miss-it softening. Less of a tendency towards violence. Luke wasn’t allowed contact with the crew, but he’d bet they noticed too. Vader’s refusal to verbally acknowledge their arrangement was laughable at this point, but Luke humored him, not wanting to impact the progress he was seeing in his father. Luke had his limits though; he’d taken to grabbing a fluffy blanket off of his bed to throw over Vader’s chestplate. Vader seemed to be so deep in denial that even Luke snuggling up to him with a blanket while they were both wide awake wouldn’t break his determination to pretend like everything was normal.
___
“Hello, Father,” said Luke, picking up on an unusual level of coldness radiating off Vader, “are you alright?”
Throughout the time they had spent together, it was normal for Vader to leave for days at a time on one mission or another. Luke was even more bored than usual when Vader was gone, not being allowed to exit his quarters or interact with anyone aboard the Executor. The trip that Vader was returning from had been the first since they’d started…sleeping together? (absolutely not, Luke thought in horror)... sharing a bed? (just as bad)...cosleeping? (better than the alternatives, though Luke was going to choose to view Vader as the infant needing comfort). Luke briefly imagined himself rocking a baby wearing Darth Vader’s armor, then considered whether or not he’d finally been pushed over the edge into a full psychotic break.
His plan was going considerably better than he’d hoped, and light years better than the rest of the rebels had expected (they had expected torture, mostly). He was definitely reaching his father, but his father still didn’t talk much. Luke could feel the constant conflict warring in Vader, and knew he needed to be careful not to push too hard.
The days Vader had been gone had been good, aside from the boredom. It gave Luke time to reflect, as well as three blissful nights of sleeping in a real bed instead of pretending to not be snuggling his father to sleep, who just so happened to be an armored, murderous terror known throughout the galaxy. Luke was fine.
Vader was not, apparently. “Of course I am alright.” A glass shattered on the dining table.
“Did something happen on the mission? I know you can’t tell me about it. But in general?” said Luke, as he approached Vader and took the large, gloved hands into his own. He could feel Vader soften infinitesimally at the contact.
“It was standard,” replied Vader unhelpfully. Now that he was in such physical proximity to his father, he could sense the sheer exhaustion radiating off of him. Had he not slept for three days? Luke guessed that now that he was used to getting actual sleep, his body was demanding the real thing.
“You’re tired, Father,” Luke said directly. Unfortunately it was morning ship’s time, and Luke wasn’t at all tired after his peaceful night of sleep. He knew his father would be unwilling to actually admit to needing Luke’s presence to sleep, but he could tell Vader was on the brink.
“I am fine. I meditated before coming here.” Luke was going to have to push. He steeled himself.
“Father, I can tell you aren’t fine. I know you want to pretend like everything is normal, but let me help you. I want to.” He released one of Vader’s hands, and gently led him towards the couch.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Luke.” Vader must have been having trouble keeping his shields up due to exhaustion, because Luke could feel waves of panicked embarrassment pouring off of his father. Had Vader really thought this could all go on unacknowledged until the end of time? Luke sighed affectionately, and pulled Vader into a hug. Vader froze.
“I am happy that I can help you sleep,” said Luke into the armored chestplate, “and you’re so tired I can literally feel you about to keel over.” Vader’s arms slowly wrapped around Luke, pulling him closer. Luke could feel a loud litany of humiliation. exhaustion. humiliation. exhaustion. Vader didn't speak, but allowed Luke to guide him onto the couch. Luke grabbed his blanket and threw it over his father, then forced Vader to lay back a little as he rested his head on Vader’s chest. This time, Luke intentionally invoked the warm blanket imagery in his mind, reaching out towards his father, who seemed to accept it in relief and begin to relax. Luke grabbed Vader’s hand again and stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. Luke had no idea how much Vader could actually feel through the prosthetics and thick gloves, but the action resulted in a chorus of affection. comfort. affection. comfort so Luke continued. He felt his father fall asleep within minutes, practically passing out after three days of no sleep.
Vader slept for hours. Luke took to working on his datapad, then when he ran out of work he started playing games. Luke felt it in the force when his father started to regain consciousness. As he stirred, he reached out for Luke and forcibly snuggled him back to his chest. Luke yelped as he started being hugged to death by a Sith Lord; that would be an interesting way to go for sure, but Luke wasn’t ready.
“Uh-Father?” Vader began to nuzzle Luke’s hair with his mask as Luke slowly suffocated. “FATHER-” Vader woke with a start and released him.
“Luke?” said Vader blearily. Luke could feel the very second Vader was fully awake; suddenly his shields slammed down like iron and he released Luke like he was a burning coal.
“Okay, before you start spiraling-”
“I’m not spiraling,” said Vader as he began spiraling-
“Dad.” Luke put a steadying hand on Vader’s shoulder. He saw his eyes reflected in Vader’s red lenses as his father (presumably) made eye contact with him. “I care about you. I’m not going to leave. I know being open is hard for you, and I respect that, but I want a relationship with you. I want to know you.” Vader didn’t say anything for a few breaths.
“It is… unacceptable how weak I have been. Not only due to my position, but because you deserve a better father, Luke. And for that I am sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Father,” Luke began, “I want to be here for you. Everyone needs a context where they don’t have to put up a front, and I feel like you haven’t had that for a very long time.”
“...yes, my son. It has been a very long time. I want to know you as well.” Reaching for Luke’s free hand, he intertwined their fingers.
___
Han and Leia crawled through the ducts of the Executor, trying not to make a noise. Well, at least Leia was.
“I can’t believe Chewy got out of this because he’s ‘too big’- he just didn’t want to get his fur dusty,” said Han.
“Shhh.” Han rolled his eyes with a clearly implied, ‘yes, Princess’ but obediently didn’t say anything. They stopped above the vent that their intel had told them was closest to Vader’s quarters. Luke had said that Vader had given him quarters next to his; it was possible he had been forced to say this to mislead them and lead them into a trap, but they had nothing else to go on, so here they were.
“This will crack the encryption on the lock,” whispered Leia, holding out a device Artoo had programmed to interface with the Executor’s computer. “It’s the middle of the night ship time, so there should be no chance Vader is in there. We’ll go back to the bedroom and get Luke as quickly as we can.”
Han sighed, “I sure hope this isn’t all a ploy and Luke is in a torture chamber somewhere. That would be anticlimactic.” Leia gave him a hard look. In sync, they dropped out of the vent into the corridor. As the decryption sequence ran, Leia sighed.
“I can’t bear walking into him being tortured. I hope he’s okay.” The decrypter beeped, and Leia pushed the button that would open the doors. The doors hissed open and they quickly ran inside before they could be spotted, door shutting behind them. The quarters were dim, lit only by the mellow lights of the night cycle. Han and Leia froze in horror as they noticed the steady sound of a respirator filling the room.
WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE, thought Leia in a panic. Maybe if they were quiet and backed out the door, they wouldn’t be noticed…
“What the hell?” said Han. Leia could have punched him. How had he possibly smuggled anything? Leia followed his line of sight, and she paused, absolutely baffled by the scene in front of her. Luke was right in front of them, laying on top of Vader on the sitting room couch. The scene was… concerningly fluffy. Luke’s head was laying on a white blanket covering Vader’s chest panel, and he was also wrapped up tight in his own blanket. Vader- the infamous, terrifying murderer who had personally tortured Leia, had one arm wrapped around Luke’s torso and one arm falling off the couch and dangling limply above the floor, looking for all the world like he was fast asleep. Luke definitely was- eyes closed, mouth open, and hair a complete mess as if someone had run their hands through it before he’d fallen asleep. Leia didn’t want to follow that train of thought to its obvious conclusion.
Han and Leia snapped back to their current reality as Luke began to stir, Vader surely not far behind him. They turned and ran back out of the door, making their way back inside the vent as quickly as possible, shutting it behind them before disappearing back into the duct system of the Executor.