Author's Note
This is a sequel to "I Am A Father". One of my reviewers requested for Luke to see the nursery. Hope you enjoy it !
Some time after Bespin,
"Your fee shall be delivered to you shortly, Fett", Vader promised.
"You are dismissed", Vader said.
Boba Fett bowed his head and left the room. He was going to be rich. He had caught the galaxy's most wanted man: Luke Skywalker.
Boba Fett shook his head.
Skywalker had fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star.
That was not only it, his name, "Skywalker" was similar to the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.
What was relationship between them? Perhaps Luke Skywalker was a cousin or something.
The rebel had definitely inherited Anakin's Force abilities. No normal pilot could have done such a thing without the aid of The Force.
Vader gazed at the young man that lay on the ground. His blonde hair was matted with sweat and his clothes were torn.
Vader crouched down and cupped Luke's cheek. His child.
His child was finally with him.
Father and son wouldn't have been separated for years if it weren't for that Kenobi. Although he was grateful that his old master had protected Luke from Palpatine, he was furious that he had been denied contact with Luke for twenty years.
Kenobi didn't tell you the full truth, Luke but I did. We don't even know each other. We should have from the very beginning. From the moment you were only a newborn infant, new to the galaxy. Kenobi hid you well. He knew that I despised that desert and would never return to it!He could have told me. He should have. I wouldn't have taken you. I would only have visited you secretly. I wouldn't want you to be a Sith. Not like me.I wish... that everything was different. I wish that Padme was still alive and that Palpatine never became Chancellor. Padme and I would have raised you on Naboo. I would have left the Jedi Order for you and your mother to be with both of you.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Luke's breath hitch and then relax. Vader caressed Luke's face and smiled tenderly under the mask.
Hesitantly and carefully, he put one arm underneath Luke's knees and the other under his shoulders. He scooped Luke into his arms. Luke mumbled something in his sleep. Vader was afraid he would drop Luke.
Vader tightened his grip on Luke and frowned.
Luke was very light for his age. He weighed very little. Were the Rebels even feeding him properly? Vader made a note to ask Luke about this when he regained consciousness later.
Vader then looked around.
Thank The Force that there's nobody here watching.
Vader carried Luke to his private wing and keyed the code to his quarters. The doors slid open with a hiss, allowing Vader through.
His quarters consisted of three bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms, a dinning room, the main room and his hyperbaric chamber.
He locked the doors with the Force and went into the room he had prepared for his Luke.
He opened the door with The Force and laid Luke on his bed.
He had given his boy the most comfortable bed he could find. He had made sure all of the furniture in Luke's room was of highest quality.
Vader proceeded by removing Luke's boots and belt. Once that was done, Vader went to the wardrobe and picked out some clothing for his son. He had to keep the boy comfortable.
He had picked out some very soft silky sleepwear. Vader turned his attention back to his son who was lying on the bed.
Very gently he removed his son's pants and shirt, leaving Luke only in his underwear. He was greeted with many bruises on his chest. They looked fresh. Vader felt his anger flare. Did his son even care about his safety?
He had checked The Force. Boba Fett had not caused them. No doubt his son's reckless behavior did. He used the Force and summoned some bacta he had kept on the nightstand.
He applied it as gently as he could. Luke flinched in his sleep at the feeling of the cold bacta on his skin. Vader tensed but Luke still seemed to be in his slumber.
Vader went back to his work and begun to dress Luke in the sleepwear he had selected. Luke would be mortified if he found out. Once done, he pulled the blankets over Luke and tucked him in. He caressed Luke's hair.
Vader smiled to himself. This was the first time he had tucked Luke in and dressed him. He should have done all that when Luke had been younger. Well, he could still pretend that Luke was still a very young child.
Giving Luke one last caress, he left the bedroom.
Vader went into the nursery and sat on the rocking chair lost in his thoughts.
He stared at the crib and then reminded himself that the same baby he had planned this room for was sleeping in a bedroom nearby.
How many firsts he had missed? Luke was an adult now way old to be his little boy. When Anakin had found out that he was going to be a father, he hadn't thought that he would never see his child grow up.
For a second, he imagined Luke as a baby, lying in the crib asleep. Luke would have the same features but be much smaller and much more innocent.
Vader felt his heart ache and bitter thoughts about Palpatine and Kenobi flooded his mind.
If Palpatine hadn't lied, he would have his child. If Kenobi had told him where Luke was, he would at least have gotten to see a bit of Luke's childhood when he visited him.
He had his son now. He had his Luke. But it was over twenty years too late.
How had he been as a baby, a toddler and a teenager?
He was a father.
He was a father to a child he didn't know that well.
Luke groaned and opened his eyes. Wedge and the others decided probably decided to let him sleep in. He really needed it. Leia had probably persuaded them to let him have a day off.
He got up from bed and gasped. Where was he?
This wasn't the the room he shared with his squad!
The bed screamed credits at him and so did the rest of the furniture. They appeared to be worth a fortune!
His attention went to his clothing. This was the softest sleep attire he had ever wore. Who had dressed him?
His questions were answered when a tall black man entered the room.
"Hello son", he boomed in greeting.
Luke began to panic. How had he found him? The last thing he remembered was...
Being stunned by a bounty hunter.
Vader sat on the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight. Luke looked ready to run. Before he could, Vader had lifted him up and placed him on his...
"Let me go"! Luke shrieked. His father had put him on his lap like a small child. Luke struggled to escape, but with each struggle, Vader's grip on him became tighter.
Vader stroked his son's hair. "Cease squirming my child", he soothed.
Luke glared at him. "Why should I father?" he spat at the Sith.
Vader had Luke trapped on his lap by pulling him close to his chest. Luke looked ready to scream and yell at his father.
"Because there are so many things that you need to know". Vader replied. "You have to listen to what I have to say, Luke".
"What if I refuse you monster?" Luke challenged. "Are you going to spank me daddy?"
There was a cold silence between the both of them.
Monster
That kept ringing in Vader's mind. He had been called that many time but to hear it from his own son...it hurt.
"Luke", Vader began. "I know you are angry. You are angry at me and you have every right to do so. You don't want me as a father. I know you don't. But I do want you as a son. I'm sorry for everything Luke. I'm sorry for not being there for you when you were growing up. I'm sorry for hurting your friends and most importantly I'm sorry for Bespin".
Vader grasped Luke artificial hand, surprising the rebel.
He looked into Luke's eyes. Luke couldn't see his but he could see his son's. This was the first time he had looked into his child's eyes.
They reminded him so much of his own. The shape, the color. The fire in them must have come from... Padme.
" Luke, when your mother told me that she was pregnant, it was the happiest moment of my life. I dreamt of doing everything with you. I wanted to teach you how to fight with a lightsaber, I wanted to teach you to fly, I wanted to do everything with you as a father. But that never came true. That very night, I dreamt of your mother dying in childbirth. I loved her too much. I couldn't live without her. Palpatine told me that he could save her. I believed him. I became so obsessed with twisted me. I became Darth Vader to save your mother but in the end, Palpatine told me I had killed her while she was still pregnant. I thought you died. I was in despair. I lived twenty years with that guilt, with anger that I couldn't save your mother and lost you."
Luke spoke. "Why did you think you killed her? What is it you did to make you think that way?"
Vader froze. Could he tell his child what he had done? He would lose Luke forever if he did that. He would definitely nail the coffin to their relationship.
Mustafar
But Luke deserved to know the truth even if he would hate him. Well, Luke already hated him.
"Palpatine had ordered me to "deal" with the Separatists on Mustafar. After I had completed my business when I saw your mother's ship. She had come. It seemed my dear master Obi Wan, had told her everything. She begged me to run away with her. She said we could raise you together if I left everything behind while I still could. I didn't listen to her. I should have. Then, I saw Obi Wan coming down the ramp of your mother's ship. I thought your mother had betrayed me. I thought she had brought him there to kill me. Consumed by anger, I-"
Vader choked a sob. " I wasn't thinking clearly. Hate and anger had consumed my mind. Anakin was gone from the moment I- I choked her."
"You choked my mother who was pregnant with me to death?" Luke exclaimed.
"No, she had fainted and Obi Wan and I had dueled on that planet. Mustafar is a volcanic planet Luke. I lost that duel that very day, I got burned by lava and put in this suit. Palpatine told me I had killed her in anger. I spent the next twenty years as Palpatine's servant. Not a day goes by without me, thinking of that day."
Vader cupped Luke's cheek. "Happiness came back to me when I heard the name of the rebel that fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star."
Tears glistened Luke's eyes and poured down his cheeks.
His father had choked his mother.
But he didn't kill her.
"What happened to her?" Luke asked finally in a small voice.
"I don't know. My guess is that she survived long enough to give birth to you. You are living proof that I didn't kill her", Vader said.
"You loved her and me then but what about now?" Luke asked.
Vader patted Luke's hand. "I will never stop loving you or your mother. The both of you are everything to me. Luke, missed twenty years of your life. I missed everything. I want to make up for those years. I love you, my son."
Luke couldn't hold the tears back any longer. He burst into tears and collapsed into Vader's hold.
Vader held him close and stroked his blonde hair soothingly as he cried. He had his son now and he was never going to let him out of his sight.
"I love you Luke, my little boy." Vader whispered.
After a while, Luke had fallen asleep. Vader's face softened under the mask. Vader tucked him in bed and traced his face with his gloved fingers.
Vader gave his son another glance before exiting the room.
Later...
Luke yawned and rubbed his eyes. He looked around. Where was his father?
He'd better find him.
Luke got out of bed and exited the room. He reached out with the Force and found his father in one of the other rooms.
Before he could knock, Vader had sent a message into his mind just like he had on Bespin.
"Come in my son", Vader sent.
Before Luke could answer, the doors had opened and he stepped into the room.
Luke gasped when he saw what the room was.
It was a nursery.
Vader stood up from the rocking chair and smiled under his mask at his son's reaction.
"I made this for you when you were younger, Luke. I still had some hope that you were still alive before giving into my grief".
Vader was silenced and startled when Luke hugged him. Vader wrapped his arms around his son's slender frame, returning the hug.
"I love you father", Luke whispered.
Vader murmured to him. "I love you my son".
It was then when Luke knew that there was still good in his father.