Everyone Else's Father
by Rose Aislin.
Summary: Young Luke Skywalker can't wait to invite his father to his school's 'Father's Day'. Afterall, everyone else's fathers are going.
Rating: PG / T (probably more of a G, really, but considering it deals with Star Wars, which is itself rated at least a PG....)
Warning/s: none
Disclaimer: Star Wars, it's characters and plotline belongs to George Lucas, and I'm pretty sure whoever else helped make the films may have some claim as well. I don't.
This fic is written entirely for entertainment purposes. No money has, is, or will be gained from this fic.
Kitt's Force Bond Series inspired this ficlet.
A/N: this ficlet is set in what I've started to call my 'kid luke universe' (all the other names I came up with were too long, like the 'young luke lives with vader universe'). Luke is living with Vader.
Everyone Else's Father
�Father!�
If he'd been able to, Vader mused, Luke would have slammed the door shut behind him as he entered their corridor of the Palace. Fortunately, the doors were self-regulating. Vader had no wish to deal with a Luke-induced headache on top of everything else at this point in time. He glanced towards the door even as it swished open and Luke appeared, grinning from ear to ear.
Bursting into the room in a whirlwind of, so far, inexhaustible energy, which continued to amaze Vader, he dashed towards his father, before skidding to a stop just beside his chair.
A moment of indecision seemed to flitter across Luke's face before he flung himself at Vader, wrapping his arms around his neck.
Vader choked.
Instantly, Luke let go, backing up, his eyes worried. Vader may have been concerned, but he was too busy getting his breath and his composure back.
A slight pressure, barely there and waif-like in it's presence, brushed against Vader's shields, before retreating. Vader scowled, turning his impassive black mask towards Luke disapprovingly.
His son merely shrugged slightly and grinned sheepishly, no longer worried about his father's health.
�Luke,� Vader warned.
�It's Father's Day at school tomorrow!� Luke gushed out, his words tumbling over one another in his haste to make his father understand. �All the other kid's father's are coming in! And they get to see what we do at school, and talk about what they do for a living, and -�
Vader put up one black-gloved hand, halting his son's impassioned flow of words. �I am not 'all the other kid's fathers',� he intoned sternly, �nor do I believe that anyone will be terribly interested in what I have to say about what I do for a living.�
�Yes they will!� Luke exclaimed, reaching out to place his hands on Vader's shoulders. It was just shy of a hug, and Vader was only thankful that he'd refrained from that, at least. �Billy and Ong-Na were asking me just today what exactly it was you did for the Emperor. Well, apart from stalking around and looking scary, that is.�
Vader scowled once more, his head tilting slightly in irritation. �Do I need to speak to these kids?� he asked, his voice sounding even more threatening than usual.
�Of course not!� Luke replied hastily, before adding, �but you could come to Father's Day with me tomorrow, and -�
�Luke,� Vader cut in once more, �you know that I cannot just do whatever I like, when I like. I have work to do.�
�There, see!� Luke cried, �you do want to go!�
�I do n-� Vader paused. �I never said that,� he said.
�Yes you did, just then, you said you couldn't just do whatever you wanted, which means you want to go. Besides, surely the Emperor can spare you for one day? You're always working.� Luke paused, another flicker of indecision crossing his face, before he looked up at Vader from under his eyelashes. �For me? Please? I'd really like it if you'd come,� he said.
Vader sighed. It was times like this that he wished he could massage his forehead. It seemed as though he was going to suffer a Luke-induced headache after all.
�Luke,� Vader sighed, �I am not exactly the kind of father that you bring to these things,�
�Yes you are! You're MY father!� Luke dropped to his knees before Vader, clasping his hands in front of him and raising them up in supplication. �Please?� he begged, �please, please, please, please?�
Vader stared at him in shock for a moment, before reaching down, grasping Luke's upper arms, and dragging him to his feet. �Get up!� he snapped. �That was a pathetic display, son.�
Luke sighed, hanging his head slightly. �I guess Do-Lan was wrong,� he mumbled.
Vader frowned, and considered pursuing that thought for a moment, before dismissing it. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know just what this Do-Lan had told his son.
�Although she did say there was something else I could try...� Luke muttered. If Vader had still had eyebrows, one of them would have been creeping towards his non-existent hairline by now.
�You're the best father in the whole galaxy!� Luke exclaimed, throwing his arms out as if to somehow encompass the whole galaxy in that gesture. �You're very smart,� he added hastily when he saw the incredulous tilt to Vader's helmet, �you're a great pilot � the best pilot! And you have great fashion sense. You -�
�I do not have great fashion sense,� Vader interrupted his son, something he seemed to be continuously doing this afternoon. �I do not even choose my clothing, it is all provided for me -�
�But it's all black and dark and scary!� Luke exclaimed, �just like it's meant to be. And the cape swishes out really well behind you, so that you can stalk around looking big and black and dark and scary, like the Emperor wants you to!�
�And I am most certainly not the best father in the galaxy,� Vader continued as if he had not been interrupted. �In fact, at times like now, I wonder why I even bother.�
�You love me!� Luke tried a last ditch effort, even as Vader started to herd him out the door.
�I am not the one you want to take to this 'Father's Day',� Vader said firmly.
�Please?� Luke begged.
�No. Now go.� Vader pushed him gently out the door, stepping back to let it shut.
�Please?�
�Go.� Vader said sternly, pointing down the hallway, even as the door slid closed between them.
There was one last, fainter, �Please!� before silence reigned once more. Vader sighed in relief, before sitting and glancing down at his work once more. His head pounded intolerably, and he didn't dare to think about what Luke would come up with next.