Starting School

by Ecilya

Summary: Vader just dropped the news. Now Luke is on his way to a private Coruscant school with snobby students and a girl who despises him.

Characters: Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader

Genre: Family

Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by George Lucas, not me (the only things I own are the students/teachers), and I did not and will not make any money by writing this fanfic. It is only for entertainment.

Notes:

This is part of a series of short stories:

#1: Afraid of the Dark

#2: Exploring the Palace

#3: Attack

#4: Starting School

If you haven't read the first three, you might want to, as this one follows directly after those.I'd appreciate reviewing! (but no flaming, please)

By the way, this story is completed.

Idea partially from some of SophieAnnWard's Luke/Vader fics.

Starting School

Luke was standing in front of his father, dressed in his new, black school uniform. "Can't you take me, pllleaseee?"

Vader turned the chair to face his son. "Luke, I already informed you that I have a meeting with the Emperor in a few minutes. I do not have time today to take you. Possibly tomorrow, but for today, someone else will take you. Perhaps your stormtrooper friend can fly you over."

"TJ?" Luke's eyes brightened a little. "Can you comm. him now? I have to be there in twenty minutes."

"I will comm. the commander and have him meet you in the hangar bay. Start down there."

Luke nodded obediently and left the room. Just before the door closed, he yelled to Vader, "Have a good day, Dad!"

An officer who was passing by widened his eyes and Luke smiled at him innocently.

Commander TJ met Luke in the hangar bay. Luke was standing beside his favorite speeder, the Firebolt 300, helping Artoo and Threepio polish it. He looked up when TJ approached.

"Hi! Ready to go?"

"Yes sir."

Luke turned to the droids. "Thanks for the help, guys. You can go now."

Artoo whistled a farewell before wheeling away behind Threepio.

TJ climbed into the cockpit and took off toward the Coruscant school Luke was to be going to. Luke sat quietly in the passenger's seat, watching the speeders whiz by once they entered the skylane.

"I hope you enjoy this school," TJ began. "I've heard it's quite a good one."

Luke sighed heavily. "You don't have to cheer me up about the school, TJ. I used to go to school on Tatooine and loved it. It's just that– that…"

"You wanted you father to fly you."

"Yes. But he said he was too busy."

TJ mulled over a response to this. Finally the trooper replied, "Luke, there's something you oughta know, just moving in and all. Lord Va– your father is always going to be busy. He is second in command of the Empire, after all. But even though he doesn't spend a lot of time with you, he still cares for you." I can't believe I'm saying this about a Sith Lord.

"Thanks, TJ."

"Sure."

The Firebolt pulled up to the school entrance and Luke jumped out.

"Before you leave, I think I'd better give you a few instructions. First, I don't think your father would want you to announce who he is and that he's your father. The school principle has already been informed and will make sure everything goes smoothly for you. And secondly, have a good day, Luke. I'll be here to pick you up at oh three hundred."

Luke smiled at his friend, grabbed his bag, and watched as the Firebolt sped back into the skylanes. He turned around and stared at the gold lettering that spelled out the school's name: Imperial Middle School.

Students were streaming through the doors. Luke checked his watch. It was almost ten minutes until his class started, so he went inside and found the front desk. A receptionist looked down at him and smiled.

"What can I do for you?"

"My name is Luke Skywalker. This is my first day, and I don't know where my class is."

The lady flipped through a holobook. "Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker… oh yes! You're in Room 105 with Mrs. Lehren. It's right down the hall on your left. When you receive your datapads, put them in the locker with your name on it."

"Okay. Thanks, ma'am." He headed down the hallway and saw a girl with blonde hair leaning over her locker. A small metal sign on the door a few feet away from the lockers read "105". He approached the girl. "Hi! I think we're in the same class."

The girl gave Luke a look of disgust. "And who are you?"

"Luke. This is my first day here."

"Oh really?" She looked a little curious. "Where are you from and who are your parents?"

"I'm from Tatooine and–"

She started to laugh. "Tatooine? You're from Tatooine? That's a farm planet. Farmboy!"

Luke began to feel low when another girl with brown hair and brown eyes came up beside the blonde. Great, now there are two of them.

"Victoria, isn't it time for class to begin?"

The blonde, Victoria, gave him a despising glance like he was dirt before going into the classroom. The other shot him an apologetic look before hurrying after Victoria.

A loud bell rang for lunchtime and Luke managed to find the cafeteria by himself. He got his lunch and sat at a table in the corner, alone.

The teacher, Mrs. Lehren, was nice, but the students wouldn't talk to him and left him out of everything. His first day in the first grade hadn't gotten off to a good start, and it was only the afternoon! Luke was taking a bit of his sandwich when the girl with brown hair came up to him, carrying her tray.

Luke frowned. "Come to laugh at the farmboy?"

"May I join you?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Okay."

"I'm sorry about Victoria." She said, sitting down across the table from Luke. "And the rest of the students."

Luke shrugged again. "I guess they just need some time to get used to me."

Embarrassment covered her face. "It's… it's not exactly that. You see, this is one of the finest private schools on Coruscant. All the big officers and officials send their kids here. Victoria's dad is Admiral Holmes of the Solstice, and she thinks that makes her the boss. All the students obey her, and somehow she's chosen me for her best friend. There's a pecking order here, and unfortunately, the new kids are always at the bottom of it. Telling Vicky you're from Tatooine didn't help your standing, either."

Luke stared at his sandwich. "Oh."

"Sorry to tell you that, I thought you should know. Oh, and my name's Kathryn Stillwell. What's yours?"

"I'm Luke, Luke Skywalker. So, if everyone gets here 'cause their parents are famous, who are yours?"

Kathryn took a bite of her lunch. "My dad's Captain Stillwell, and he works in the Palace. What does your dad do?"

Luke found himself faced with a contradiction. He wanted to have a friend in this rather forbidding place, but TJ had told him not to talk about his father. "He works in the Palace."

"Really? Maybe my dad knows him! What does he do?"

"I can't really say… but, if you promise to keep it secret,"

Kathryn nodded excitedly. "I promise!"

Luke leaded over the table to avoid any prying ears and whispered, "He's Lord Vader."

Kathryn looked at him like he was crazy and laughed. "Very funny, Luke. So, who is he, really?"

"That is who he is!" Luke protested. "My father is Lord Vader!"

"I can't believe it," Kathryn breathed, staring at the table. "I do trust your word, but, could you prove it?"

Luke glanced from side to side warily. "I have a comm. chip Father gave to me. After school, meet me back here and I'll call him."

"Okay, I'll meet you here. After school."

Luke crept down the hallway and toward the cafeteria. He'd have to hurry – TJ would be here any minute now.

The door to the cafeteria opened and Kathryn was standing in the corner. He spotted her and ran over. "I have the comm. chip!"

She motioned for him to be quiet. "Shh! The cleaning droids will be coming out in a moment to wash the tables."

Luke held out in his hand the comm. chip. "Watch." He pressed a red button and a few seconds later, there was a buzzing on the line.

"Yes, Luke?"

Kathryn nearly stumbled backward, but caught herself on the table just in time. "Believe me now?" Luke whispered at her. She nodded, eyes wide.

"Luke, I am very busy. Do you need anything?"

"Just calling to tell you I'll be home in a few minutes. See you then!" Luke closed the line quickly. He turned to Kathryn after pocketing the comm. chip. "So, you do believe me now, right?"

Another quick nod answered him. "That was Lord Vader!" Kathryn whispered. "But why didn't you tell Victoria? You could've been hanging out with the high–rankers this whole time!"

"Kathryn, I'm not anybody special. I'm plain Luke. And I don't want people to like me just because my father's important, even if he is important. I want them to like me." He hoped she would understand, and she was just about to say something when the comm. chip in his pocket began to buzz loudly. Luke took it out and saw who was ringing. "Oh, it's TJ – uh, gotta go. See you tomorrow!"

Luke dashed out of the cafeteria and down the hall, exiting the school in haste. TJ sat in the cockpit of the Firebolt; Luke ran as fast as he could and hopped into the passenger's seat.

"Have a good first day?" TJ questioned.

A breathless nod replied. "Yeah, it was a good day."

Vader left his battle droids and headed in the elevator up to Luke's room. His son had called him, requesting his presence immediately. A few moments later the door opened for Vader to see Luke shooting a death look at a datapad. At the top of the datapad the title read, Math Homework.

"You requested my presence, son?"

He looked up, desperation filling his eyes. "Father, I need help with my homework."

"Son..." Vader was unsure of what to say. Part of him wanted to say "Of course, son.", but the other part wanted to say "No." Despite of what the Sith Lord was trying to convince himself of, he said, "of course I'll help you."

Vader sat down on the bed beside Luke. "Math is giving you trouble?"

"Uh–huh." Luke handed him the datapad. "I just can't get it."

Vader scanned the pad quickly. "So, son, this is how–" He cut himself off when a sudden weight was pressing itself against him. Luke was leaning against him, and Vader couldn't help but feel a little caring toward his young son.

A few minutes later, Vader resolved the math issue with his son and stood up to leave. "Does that answer your questions, son?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Father." Luke was beaming at him.

"Anytime, my son."

Hope you enjoyed! I'd also like to thank the reviewers for the great reviews I've gotten on my three other stories. You don't know how wonderful that makes me feel to know that people love them!

More reviews would be great!

–Ecilya

P.S. Oh, and check out the poll on my page.