Hello :)
Here is another AU story with Luke, VAder, Mara, the Emperor, and surprises
as the story evolves :) Based on a suggestion by Jessica Moon
(moonartist@aol.com), it is about what if Vader had found Luke as a
pre-teenager during a mission on Tatooine. What if he had shown up at his
local school, taken him with himself and decided to be the father that he
had never been allowed to be before.
Where the R rating comes in is because the Emperor wants Luke for himself,
and thus pits him against tough challenges until he surrenders to his will
to stay on Coruscant instead of with his father. (this is all part of
Jessica's basic idea, so all rights on this belong to her ; thanks for the
suggestion, my friend :) It's been a pleasure to bring your idea to life :)
Type: action, drama, family, adventure
And now, on with the story :)
__________________
Disclaimers: None of those characters belong to me. See my
front page for more details. (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702)

Note about the story's copyrights: All the rights related to the basic idea
of
Vader finding Luke as a child at his school, protecting him from any bad
things and the Emperor, as well as the Emperor's scheme concerning Luke
belong to
Jessica (MoonArtist7@aol.com). Thanks for your suggestion, my friend ; this
story wouldn't have come to be without it.

Also, special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend,
Adrianne,
for her help with the final editing of my new stories. (Eh, I have no choice
but to mention you, my friend ; your secret is still safe though ;) Thanks
for
giving us some of your precious time, my friend :)
(Note to readers: if you still find mistakes after our three heads going
over it
again and again, then, well, I guess perfection doesn't exist on that planet
;)
So let's have fun instead! And I insist on FUN!)
____________________


Tatooine.
Once again, he, Darth Vader, dark lord of the Sith and right hand of the
Emperor, had to bring his command ship around that cursed sandpit... that...
darn planet he wished he had never set foot on. Most of the time, he always
managed to dispatch another ship to fulfill whatever errand he had to
accomplish on that windswept desert, but sometimes, he had to take care of
it himself.
The last times that he had had to come back 'home', his return had been
related to the underground activities that had slowly poisoned the Empire's
mission there. The second time had been due to a Force disturbance that he
had never been able to pinpoint.
But now, the Emperor insisted that it was back, and that he had to find it
and destroy it.
Once and for all.
He didn't have to fear, Vader thought grimly. He would do everything he had
to do to make sure that he would never, ever have to return to this
trice-cursed place.
The moment that his ship exited hyperspace, he began to scan the planet's
surface with his senses, being twice as inquisitive and insistent as the
last time that he had been there.
He almost instantly stumbled on a Force presence, which in return shielded
itself, but it had been too late. He had found him.
Kenobi, he mentally snarled.
He whirled around, ordered for his shuttle to be ready when he would reach
the hangar, then stalked toward the closest turbolift.
He had an appointment to keep with his former teacher.

******

Even though the older Jedi was now shielding his presence, Vader had no
trouble tracking him down. Now he knew who he was looking for.
As he landed his shuttle out of hearing range of the Jedi's position, he
reflected that the good thing about Kenobi shielding himself was that it
also made it difficult for the Jedi to pinpoint his position since he too
was shielding his presence ; the aging Jedi would need his full, undivided
focus to sense him.
Now his betrayer of a 'friend' and teacher was in for a most unpleasant
surprise, he thought in dark satisfaction.
He walked all the way up to the spartan hut, thinking that it was a small
consolation that his personal nemesis had had it rough ever since he had
betrayed him.
It was a slight revenge for what he himself had had to bear to be alive
today... for what he had been bereft of because of his 'friend'.
And now, he thought jubilantly, it was time to finally end it.
He shoved the door aside with the Force, sending it flying all the way to
the far wall of the small abode.
Kenobi jumped to his feet, startled by his appearance.
"Did you really think that you'd escape me for long?" he demanded as he drew
his lightsaber and turned its ruby-blade on.
His former friend recovered from his stunned shock and drew his own weapon.
For what good it would do him, Vader snarled mentally.
"Anakin, I---"
"Anakin is dead," he stated ominously, taking long steps toward his
adversary. "but you probably know that better than anybody else," he
continued darkly, "since you've pushed him in that lava pit." he finished as
he pounced on his enemy.
Kenobi barely parried his attack, then his other one.
Vader could see that the older man was out of practice.
"You've grown weak, old man." he sneered contemptuously.
"And you have become a monster." the other answered him.
Vader countered the Jedi's feeble attempt to break through his defenses,
then he put all his arm and shoulder in his wide sweep.
He didn't manage to slash the man in two, but he did graze the tip of his
blade across his chest and stomach.
The Jedi reeled under the sudden pain.
"And whose fault is it, pray tell?" Vader demanded ominously, not giving any
respite to the other before resuming his attack.
"It was an accident." Kenobi tried to defend himself. "I didn't realize what
I was doing until it was too late." he grunted as he deflected two more
attacks from the dark lord.
"And I suppose that you didn't think either before you took my wife away
from me." he snarled, using his mounting rage to break yet again through the
Jedi's defense.
This time, he cut a deep gouge in his left biceps.
He had the pleasure to hear him scream in pain.
The Jedi began to circle away from him, putting the sparse furniture between
the two of them as he tried to reason with him.
"I had no choice, not if I wanted to protect her from the monster that you
had become."
His words incensed Vader ; he slashed the armchair and shoved it aside with
the Force.
"Had she stayed with me," he began, intending to put an end to it this time,
"I wouldn't have become what I am now. You've created who I am, Kenobi." he
snarled before knocking the Jedi's blade aside and kicking him back in the
nearest wall.
"No!" Kenobi defied desperately as he felt his death coming closer and
closer to him in the form of his approaching blade.
"Yes," Vader stated ominously, "and in her name, I finally avenge the both
of us. It is time to pay for your crimes, Jedi." he finished, his blade now
resting just under the Jedi's chin.
When he felt his former friend mount a last-ditch attack, he kicked him in
the stomach once more, then slashed him up.
The last scream of his nemesis was the sweetest sound he had heard in a
long, long time.
At last, he sighed in dark contentment, he had had his revenge. He had
avenged what he had lost, as well as his wife's death.
He reached out with the Force to savor the effect of the old Jedi's death,
marveling at the reassuring feeling that he wasn't hidden somewhere in the
Force anymore. He was one with the Force, like any Jedi, but dead, and thus,
powerless. He couldn't deceive anybody----
He suddenly stopped his reflection as he stumbled on a strangely diffuse
Force presence.
Not again, he snarled vehemently.
He used his anger to sharpen his focus, then meant to strike through the
Force when he realized that he wasn't dealing with Kenobi's ghost... but
with a young soul... a child.
He was strong, he noted, but also untrained.
The Emperor would want him, he quickly surmised.
Recovering his full senses, he turned away from the pile of clothes that
were the last remains of his adversary, clipped his deactivated weapon back
to his belt, then picked up his comlink as he made his way out of the hut.
"Commander, send two squads and a squadrons of Tie Fighters at the
coordinates Beta 970 Mu-9980. I will meet them there."
"Yes, Sir." the other clipped obediently.
As he began to walk away from the small house, he used the Force to topple
some vats inside of it, then set the liquids afire with a candle that had
been burning on a table.
No one was ever going to remember the old fool, he thought in grim
contentment.
Five minutes later, he boarded his shuttle and flew toward the coordinates
that he had transmitted to his commander.

On his way there, he let his anger and hatred finally drain from his mind,
taking a moment to mourn the memory of his wife.
It was done ; the man who had destroyed and ruined their life was dead.
Up to now, he had never really realized that he had been the driving force
behind his anger and hatred, but now that he was gone, he felt less
passionate about his upcoming detour, less... driven.
It was, he reflected, as if he were finally at peace, at least with his
past. Now, if only his wife were still alive, everything would be perfect.
He finally came in sight of what served as the local school in the vicinity
of a small town named Anchorhead.
Back to Imperial business, he reminded himself.

******

Twelve-year-old Luke Skywalker was trying to focus on what his geometry
teacher was explaining.
Man, if only it could be an astronomy course, or even an astrogation one,
but no, it had to be maths...
He sighed and resumed toying with the keys that were on his pad.
Suddenly, he felt a strange cold feeling run down his spine ; he sat up
straighter in shock.
What had that been?!, he uneasily wondered.
He looked around himself. His companions didn't look like they had felt the
strange freezingly cold something... They were still bored like he himself
had been 'before' the strange event.
Why had he had been the only one to feel the sudden chill in the air?, he
wondered in slight fear.
The loudspeaker suddenly cut in his thoughts as it came to life ; as if to
punctuate the fact that this was an important message, a couple of Tie
fighters flew above the school, making its wall shake as an aftermath of
their low flight.
What the?--, he whirled toward the nearest window, then joined the other
boys as they crowded around the small opening.
This was far from being normal, young Luke knew.
"Attention everyone," the principal was saying, "we have an unexpected
imperial visitor within our walls. Leave everything you're doing and gather
in the cafeteria. And hurry for once."
There was terror in that voice, he thought.
Even their normally stoic teacher seemed to hear it.
"You've heard her, students. Go downstairs, hurry."
Everybody exchanged concerned and/or curious looks then filed up and began
to exit the room.
Anything was better than geometry courses anyway.
At least, that's what he thought until he came closer to the cafeteria. The
closer he walked, the stronger his unpleasant chill became.
Suddenly, he had the almost overwhelming urge to remain inconspicuous, to
hide if possible.
Then he noticed the presence of white-clad stormtroopers and knew that
hiding would be impossible.
He settled for staying in the back of the crowd.
He couldn't say why he was reacting that way, but he was too frightened to
not obey his feelings.

Vader watched the students as they gathered in the room. He could feel the
Force-strong child nearby, the problem being that he somehow couldn't
pinpoint him. Either the kid was partly trained, or he was stronger than
he'd thought.
Fifteen minutes later, Vader watched as the young people filed out of the
room, subdued by his empty threats. If nothing else came out of his visit
here, he would have at least teach those kids respect and fear of the
Empire.
Like he had done during his 'speech', he continued to make his probe jump
from one mind to another, searching for the Force and finding none... until
a group of younger students made their way out.
The were the last group that he had to scan... and as far away from him as
possible, he spotted a blond-haired child... and when he brushed his
presence with the Force, he realized that he was the child that he had been
looking for.
He turned toward his commander.
"Bring that blond-haired, white and blue dressed boy to me." he instructed
his captain.
"Yes, my Lord." the other bowed shortly.

Luke was beginning to breathe easier, happy to be leaving the presence of
the dark lord, when the stormtroopers suddenly closed on him. For a fleeting
moment, he thought about trying to bolt away, but he already knew how nobody
escaped the Empire.
"Lord Vader wants a word with you, boy." one of the soldiers said.
Luke's friends turned around at this. His own eyes bulged in shock ; he took
a step backward while he threw an horrified look in the dark lord's
direction.
What had he done?!, he wanted to plead.
A teacher noticed his distress and walked closer.
"Is there a problem, soldiers?" he asked as cooperatively as he could.
"Lord Vader wishes to speak to this one."
"Luke?" the man looked at him questioningly. "Have you done something, boy?"
"No, I swear." he said earnestly.
He didn't want to meet with the dark lord.
'Please.' he silently thought, hoping to convey his innocence with his eyes.
The teacher nodded, indicating that he was believing him, then turned back
to the stormtroopers.
"Perhaps I could stay with him in this case." he offered to the soldiers.
A trooper stepped closer and took hold of the young teenager's arm.
Luke couldn't help but briefly struggle against the trooper's hold before he
realized what he was doing ; he forced himself to behave.
He already was in trouble, he reminded himself, he wasn't going to get in
even worse trouble. Lord Vader was probably worse than his uncle when he was
angry.
"This is none of your business, teacher." the trooper in charge snapped. "If
either of you make our lord wait any longer, we'll have to use more drastic
methods." he threatened them both.
Luke relented and stepped out of his group.
"Thank you, mister Ainn, but I won't cause any trouble." he reassured his
teacher. He bravely turned toward the trooper who was in charge. "I'll come
with you."
He and his companion herded him away from the group without another word.

Vader watched the boy as he reluctantly came closer to his dark presence.
The closer he came, and the more he became aware that the boy was an eerie
reflection of who he'd used to be, way back when.
Perhaps that was why he could feel a strange connection to the boy. There
was the Force, of course, but there also seemed to be something else,
something... that was nagging at his mind while not revealing itself to him.
The youngster finally stood in front of him, trying to keep his eyes on the
floor. Vader motioned with his finger and the troopers let him go but
remained close to him.
The boy was subdued enough without any need for security measures, not that
he represented any real danger anyway. He was quite young, perhaps not even
into his full teenage yet.
"What's your name?" he asked him.
He reflected that it was a normal way to begin a conversation, and talking
with the boy was probably the best way that he could use to figure out what
was bothering him about him.
"L-l---l-Luke Skywalker, my Lord." the boy stuttered in obvious fear,
keeping his eyes down.
"Skywalker?" Vader gasped, taking a step closer.
Had he heard right?
The boy cringed back, definitely frightened now ; he was naturally held back
by his weary guards.
Suddenly aware that he was scaring the poor boy out of his skin, Vader took
a step away from him and did his best not to look 'too' intimidating.
It was hard to achieve given his black armor and gruesome mask, but if the
boy was---
"Who are your parents?" he asked him, slowly beginning to understand what
his strange connection to the boy was.

What was going on?, Luke wondered. Why those questions about who he was? Why
was the dark lord retreating from him instead of punishing him for his bad
behavior?
"I---don't know, my Lord." he finally managed, bravely gazing up at the
black giant. "I've always lived with my aunt and uncle." he told him as
maturely as he could managed given the frightening circumstances.
"What are their names." Vader asked again.

An aunt and uncle?, Vader wondered. Could the boy only be a long lost
relative he had never known he had?..
"Owen and Beru Lars." the kid answered him.
Kenobi's step brother!, he realized in shocked horror.
It led to only one possible conclusion: that boy was... his boy.
He had a son!
Luke somehow felt the sudden shock in the Dark Lord and took an other
involuntary step backward in uncertainty. This time, the troopers clasped
their hands around his arms.
"Release him." Vader ordered his troops, which seemed to surprise them
greatly.
It also surprised him, he admitted.
The troopers obeyed.
A son!, Vader continued to gape.
Not only had his wife been taken from him, but she had taken their unborn
son with her... and to recover him today, of all days...
It was as if he was reunited with her once again.
He wasn't as lonely as he had thought he was... he still had a family, a
son.
A son to care for, to guide, to catch up with...
By the Force, that discovery meant so many things all of a sudden, so many
possibilities that he'd never even imagined before, and not only because his
boy was very strong in the Force.
His mere existence changed a whole lot of things in his up to now bleak,
dark, lonely world.
He refocused on the boy who was brave enough to look at him, his icy blue
eyes betraying his state of thorough confusion and fear.
When he reached out to sense his living presence once more, to reassure
himself that he was well and truly alive, he felt the boy's worry that he
had done something extremely wrong, but he of course didn't know what it
could be.
Yes, his father wanted to tell him, he had done something wrong. He had
remained away from him for what, twelve, thirteen years? But he couldn't say
that to his son yet. Later.
For now, it was time to move on and inform his son of a slight change of
plan in his life.
"You will be leaving with me." he told him seriously, doing his best to not
sound ominous.
The youth's eyes bulged in disbelief and fear. "What?!?" he gasped. "What
have I done to anger you, My Lord?" he asked in a pleading voice.
"You haven't angered me, boy. I merely came here looking for someone and you
are him."
"What?" the boy repeated again, "But---"
"I'm sure that you're old enough to know that there is no defying what the
Empire wants." he stated in slight warning.
He didn't wish to bully the boy into obedience, but if the child didn't want
to cooperate, he wouldn't hesitate to leave him in his troops' care until
they were aboard the Avenger.
"Can I at least warn my family that I'll be late tonight." the boy finally
asked him, subdued.
Vader chuckled inwardly at his son's naivete.
"When I said 'leaving' boy, I meant this planet, and this life." he
explained to him.
The kid was flabbergasted. He tried to speak but nothing came out of his
lips.

Go with Darth Vader, Luke mentally gasped in disbelief, Dark Lord of the
Sith, second in command in the galactic Empire and servant of the Emperor???
Him?? A more than simple farmboy??? Not even old enough to know how to use a
weapon???
He finally managed to ask: "Why?"
*In time, you will know.* Vader spoke in his mind, spooking him for good for
a few seconds.
Then he gasped as he felt a great wave of energy enter his awareness, then
it was gone. He wanted it back, he realized once he could think again.
No matter what it had been, it had felt great, as if a part of him, and now
that it wasn't there anymore, he felt empty.
One thing was sure though: it had to be why the dark lord was here for him.
He looked up at Vader ; the other nodded, acquiescent.
Yes, that was why he'd been looking for him.

As he watched the youngster debate his latest experience, Vader couldn't
help but smile in fatherly pride.
His son was intelligent, no doubt about that, just like he had no doubt
anymore that he was meant to be with him if the speed with which a bond had
appeared between them was anything to go by ; he had merely meant to awaken
his son's Force senses, but he had also inadvertently created the beginning
of a Force-bond between the two of them.
Of course, he admitted, this could be useful to keep his son from rebelling
too much if it came to that... but he didn't wish to come to this
conclusion.
"Will you come quietly?" he asked his son, stepping closer again, this time
to subdue the boy.
His clever little son understood his implicit threat and cringed again
before settling for obedience.
"Y---y---yes."
"Good." he nodded in satisfaction. If the boy was---
"What about my family?" young Luke interrupted his thoughts.
For a moment, Vader couldn't decide whether he was surprised or greatly
upset by his question.
He was his family, nobody else, so Luke had no real right to worry about
those imposters who had hidden him from him for years.
But then, he could detect no trace of violence on the boy's features, no
fear related to his guardians... They were probably loving with him.
He finally settled for being gentle but cool.
"Your friends will tell them what happened. They are not your family
anyway." he informed the boy.
"Not my---" he gaped in confusion.
"We will go back to my ship and I will explain everything," he comforted
him, "but only if you behave until then." he reminded him sternly. "I don't
want any scene once we get out of this room, am I clear?" he asked his still
unsure son.
"Yes, my Lord." the youngster said at last.
Without any other word, Vader headed for the exit door ; his troopers herded
the boy after him, but not as roughly as they could have done.
They had probably understood that he was someone special, he reflected in
grim satisfaction.
Soon, everybody would know how special that young boy was.

Luke followed the dark lord out of the cafeteria and into the courtyard. His
friends saw him, threw him terrified looks and questioning glances, but the
only thing he could do was shrug and wave his hand in goodbye.
Biggs wanted to walk closer but Luke shook his head no.
He didn't want to anger the dark lord... because he wanted to know what
secrets he knew about him.
"Take care of yourself, hotshot." he smiled lamely at his best friend, then
he was out of the yard and heading toward the waiting imperial shuttle.
Inside the shuttle, Luke followed the imperial troopers, but when they
headed for the rear compartment, Vader stopped them with an order.
"No, come with me, boy."
He was waiting for him, Luke realized.
He braced himself, tried to hide his fear, and slowly walked toward the dark
lord.
Vader wanted to rest his hand on his son's shoulder as he led him toward the
cockpit, but he had the feeling that the boy wouldn't be ready for this. He
settled for inviting him to take the lead.
Luke was scared.
His heart was racing and his hands were cold and wet with his sweat. The
dark lord Darth Vader was right on his heels.
What was he going to do to him next?, he was wondering, trying to come up
with other images than painful ones.
He couldn't.
They reached a door which opened upon their approach.
To his surprise, it gave into the cockpit of the shuttle.
Luke couldn't help but gape around himself. He was in a real cockpit, not
one that he was making up with his mind...
As he walked further inside the cockpit, he slowly turned around to see what
was behind him.
He stopped short when his eyes rested on Vader--- who indicated a seat right
by the window bay.
Luke threw him a look of disbelief, then he eagerly sat close to the window.
He could see the far away shape of Tosche station, and, if he could look
beyond that dune, he was sure that he would be able to see his home.
He wondered what his uncle would say if he would see him now---
After giving a few orders, the dark lord sat right beside him.
It put an end to his happy thoughts and instead made him cringe in
discomfort.
Right, he had almost forgotten that detail...
The moment the shuttle was off the ground though, his fear disappeared into
fascination and he truly forgot the specifics of his situation.
He was flying!
He was finally flying off this dust ball and toward the glorious stars that
were beyond the blue sky.
Stars that he could now see, he smiled gleefully.
He pressed his hand against the window and took a deep breath in happiness
as the shine of the stars seemed to feed him energies.
"They do, in a way, boy." Vader commented from beside him.
Luke whirled toward him, shocked that the other knew what had been in his
head.
"How do you know what I was thinking about?" he asked spontaneously, then
remembered who he was talking to and cringed yet again, fearing some
rebuttal for his reaction.
None came.
"I know a lot about you, Luke," Vader commented coolly instead. "and I
understand exactly how you feel."
Luke couldn't answer him, couldn't make himself produce any sound. He was
too confused by the dark lord's behavior.
As if he hadn't noticed that, the darksider continued.
"I've also felt the same way when I left Tatooine." he told him wistfully.
Now Luke was openly gaping at the dark lord.
"You lived on Tatooine??" he asked in disbelief.
Tatooine was the armpit of the galaxy. How could a man like Vader live
there?, he wondered.
"That was a long time ago." he gently answered him.
Luke nodded, feeling suddenly more interested in the dark lord, but he
fought his interest and turned back toward the view port.
He knew that the dark man was bad... he couldn't become friend with him.

Vader smiled under his helmet.
The bond between himself and his son was undeniable now, and easily steadied
by a few 'struts' here and there, but not in need of much reinforcement
either. It was growing stronger with every passing minute, making them both
eager to know more about each other, not... that his son recognized it like
he did, nor was he aware of his light 'touches' that would ensure an ever
lasting communication between their two souls. But... He had been raised by
his enemies, he reminded himself. He first had to break through his
brainwash before he could completely bind themselves together... even if
Luke seemed to be naturally drawn to him.
If possible, he wanted it to be a painless breaking.
His son seemed to have suffered enough as it was, if only on the emotional
side...
An idea came to him.
"Would you like to feel the stars' energies?" he offered the child.
Before Luke could answer, he made the Force's wave of awareness overcome his
mind once again, this time charging it with warmth and light.
His boy gasped in surprise and pleasure, which made the dark lord smile
under his helmet. He reminded him so much of himself at his age...

It was the second time in less than an hour that he was feeling better than
he had ever felt in his life. "What is this power?" he asked the dark lord
without turning around ; he was too awed by the sight and feeling of the
stars to turn his eyes away from them.
He did wonder why he somehow knew that the dark lord was also watching the
star,... that he was slightly closer in his back, although he was not
touching him.
*It's called the Force; I will teach you its ways, boy.* he promised him. *I
will also teach you other things, many other things, if you want to.* he
offered him.
Luke nodded, now eager to know more about what Vader had made him
discover... and the rest, he admitted to himself.
Perhaps they couldn't be friends, but... if he wanted to teach him... then
that was okay, wasn't it?
The stars slowly disappeared from his view and senses as the shuttle
approached the huge shape of the dark lord's Star Destroyer.
The moment the power disappeared from him, he felt his mood go down in the
dumps.
He didn't know why, but when he had felt the Force, he'd felt almost as if
he had been flying as a pilot, then he had been taken away from his ship
before he had had time to try any maneuvers.
He wanted his 'ship' back, he now knew.
The shuttle disappeared inside its docking bay.

******

Once they were securely docked, Vader didn't have to tell the boy to follow
him; Luke practically sprang to his feet, eager to learn what the dark lord
had to teach him.
Luke dimly thought that it was strange how he instinctively trusted the
dark, cruel right hand of the Emperor, but he somehow knew that Vader
wouldn't hurt him.
He had said that he wanted to teach him things, him, a young farmboy who had
a strange power in him...
Besides, he shrugged mentally, he knew when people were bad, and he couldn't
feel cruelty in Lord Vader ; instead, he felt warmth, and care.
At least he had while Vader had been showing him the power of the stars.
He followed the dark lord down the shuttle and through corridors. He noticed
the looks that the others gave him, but the dark lord didn't slow down ; it
forced Luke to not stop and gape back at the imperials. He instead picked up
his pace.
They finally reached strange quarters. Lord Vader dismissed everybody except
him.
For a moment, the giant simply looked at him, as if studying him.
Did he approve of what he saw, Luke found himself wondering, then he shook
his head in foolishness.
Why was he worried about what the dark lord was thinking? It wasn't like he
liked him... or was it?..
Finally, feeling nervous under his scrutiny, Luke gathered his courage and
spoke up.
"What will you do with me, my Lord?" he shyly asked.
He already knew about his desire to teach him, but that didn't give him much
of a clue of anything.
"It is not as much a matter of what I want from you, boy, as much as it is
about who you truly are." the dark man told him gently. "Come, I will show
you something."
Who he was?!, Luke frowned in confusion. He knew who he was, he wanted to
tell him. He was Luke Skywalker, son of a freighter's navigator who had died
during the clone wars and who had been entrusted to his uncle and wife.
Wasn't he?
He followed the dark lord.
Vader touched a control on a wall and a huge screen, along with a keyboard,
came out of the wall.
The sight of the hidden technology sent the boy in yet another spin of awed
gaping.
What else was hidden in the walls, he suddenly wondered in curiosity.
The dark lord spoke once again.
"I will tell you a story, boy." he told him gently. "I've known your parents
before some things changed and you were hidden." he informed him.
Luke gaped in disbelief, then he turned his attention to the glowing screen.
The dark lord's fingers flew on the pad, calling up directories. Soon holos
of people appeared on the screen.
Luke gazed at the young woman and man. The man looked exactly like him,
except that he was older.
"Those are your parents: Queen Amidala of the planet Naboo, and Anakin
Skywalker, a former slave boy from Tatooine turned Jedi-Knight and hero."
the dark lord identified them to him.
"A Queen and a slave together? That's impossible." Luke commented seriously,
already dubious about Lord Vader's story.
"Your mother met your father while she was in a mission, trying to save her
planet. Events happened so that your father helped her leave Tatooine and
continue her mission, and he himself won his freedom. He left the planet
with her and the Jedis who were with her."
"But a Queen?.." Luke asked, still unsure. He had been told that royalty
never stooped to any lower status than their own.
"Amidala was no regular queen, boy." he kindly explained. "She was the
youngest ruler ever to be elected on Naboo. She was kind, generous,
intelligent, and dedicated to her people."
"And Father?" Luke asked in curiosity.
"He was a wizard with machines, one of the most selfless man his world had
known... and he was passionate."
"Like Mother." he realized, nodding in understanding.
"Yes..." Vader agreed. "What you must know about their story is that he
didn't know that she was the queen when he fell in love with her. He thought
that she was a handmaiden."
"Oh. And when he found the truth? Why did they marry?" he asked earnestly,
still not understanding how a queen could marry even an ex-slave.
Vader chuckled at his reaction.
"It didn't happen right away, Luke. Since they were both extremely young, it
took them many years to cultivate and admit their true love to one another,
but it was fated to happen, no matter how different their statuses were."
Here, Luke noticed that Vader took on a pensive tone.
"Anakin had told her that he would someday marry her ; it was true."
"Were they happy?" Luke asked then in confusion. "Why did they abandon me?"
Here, Vader shook his head and barely rested his hand on his shoulder, as if
in reassurance.
"They didn't abandon you, Luke." he told him seriously, comfortingly. "In
fact, your father didn't even know that you were born."
"What??" Luke asked in bemusement.
How could a father not know about his own child?

Vader sighed, then took his hand away from his shoulder and crossed his
arms, as if in deep thoughts.
"Anakin became a Jedi," he began, "but the Jedis were weak, always trying to
help the galaxy while never doing anything to help it. Since Anakin wanted
to do something, he began to learn how to use stronger powers. The Jedis
were afraid of those powers, so they labeled them as Dark Side and such, but
it was the same power than the ones that they used, only more efficient." he
explained seriously.
Luke listened his father's tale, fascinated. He had never been told those
things before...
Vader continued. "Only another Jedi was brave enough to work with those
powers: Senator Palpatine. Anakin allied himself to him. When his teacher
discovered that, he decided to kill his student." He paused for a few
heartbeats. "He almost succeeded."

Luke, who had slowly taken a few steps closer to the dark giant throughout
the tale, now looked up at him, afraid yet wanting to hear the rest of the
story.
It was his father's story, a story that he had never heard before.
"What... what happened?" he asked the dark man.
"Your father fought against his former teacher,... but he fell in a lava
pit."
Ouch!, Luke thought with a physical wince. That had probably hurt a lot...
and it meant that---
"He's dead then..." Luke said, lowering his head in grief.
Somehow, he had always known that his uncle had lied about his father, but
now, he knew that he hadn't lied about his death... he truly was an
orphan...
"No, you aren't." the dark lord answered his thoughts.
Luke's eyes darted up at that, surprised by both the dark lord's comment and
his ability to read his thoughts.
Vader took a step closer to him.
"Your father is alive, young one, and he wants to reclaim the son that he
didn't know he had."
"Alive?!" Luke exclaimed in relief. "Where is he?" he asked, taking a step
closer to the dark giant.
Vader looked at him, his entire demeanor belying sympathy.
"I am right here, my son." He gently told him. "'I' am your father."
Luke sucked in his next breath, too shocked to do anything else.

TBC right after this :)

SJ