"Luke! Pay attention!" Leia hissed over her shoulder at her friend who was distinctly lagging, fascinated by every leaf.
"I'm coming! Sorry, Leia." Luke ran to catch up.
Leia smiled at him, "Don't be. You know, Luke, maybe it would be best if you just explored for a while. You're not absolutely crucial to this mission and I know you like to explore new places."
Luke blushed at her embarrassingly accurate description of him, "Thank you, Leia. Are you sure it's safe?"
Leia brushed her hand against her blaster, "It's safer than what I'll be doing. Anyway, the Empire can't seem to find any good pictures of you, so no one will recognise you. Have fun."
Luke smiled again and turned to wander deeper into the town.
Leia smiled after the farm boy. Luke had moments that made him seem almost like a child. It was a refreshing change from the constantly serious people that made up the majority of the Alliance.
"Are we going or not, Princess?" asked one of the strike team.
"We're going, don't worry." Leia turned away from her friend and returned to leading the team to the Imperial base.
One of the other rebels was staring back at Luke too, "Are you sure he'll be okay? Luke can be a bit… naïve at times."
"He'll be fine. No matter how good he is at getting into trouble, so far he's been equally adept at getting back out of trouble. Let's move, huh, James?"
The rebel nodded and followed the princess.
Leia's patrol had managed to get into the city before they ran into any Imperials. Leia just had time to notice Vader among them before the shooting started and everything was just a fight for survival. When the shooting ended, Vader was gone. Leia didn't know where, lucky for him.
So they pressed on, shooting the last of the Imperials before they could sound the alarm.
Vader lay at the bottom of the ditch. This was not what he'd planned on. He could hear blasters above him and he decided that it would be a bad idea to let a rebel find him down here while he was effectively out of the running. He switched off the rasping sounds of his breathing support system. He hated having it making noise, but his master had insisted that it was better.
Sooner or later an Imperial would find him. In the meantime, all he could do was wait and try to repair the damage to his suit. He pressed one hand to his side to assess the damage and moaned. He was definitely having a delayed reaction to the pain. With that thought, the full pain of his predicament hit him.
Luke wandered through the market. It was really fantastic, with different colours of cloth and various species of beings. He continued through the town and finally in the general direction of the Imperial base. There was no point making Leia fight to find him again.
He wandered up the road, looking for all the world like a little kid in a candy shop. He had just left Tatooine and leaves and still water were new to him. Suddenly he heard moaning from the ditch by the side of the road and smelled blaster fire in the air.
Not one to leave anyone to suffer, especially if it might be a friend, he looked into the ditch. Darth Vader stared back up at him. Blood pooled from a hole in his side and he was groaning softly. Luke pulled back in shock then climbed down into the ditch beside his worst enemy.
"Vader?" he asked hesitantly. Am I crazy? Vader killed my father! Why should I care about him?
Vader looked up into the boy's face, "Skywalker?"
Luke shivered, He knows. He knows who I am. He swallowed, "Yes."
My child is dead. This boy is a rebel. Vader told himself, "You have me, rebel. What will you do with me? I am too weak to fight." It was true. He was too weak even to talk properly.
"You killed my father. I should just leave you here to die." Luke leaned the considerably larger body of the Sith against the escarpment that led back to the road.
"You would be justified." Vader's voice was weaker.
Luke reached into his backpack and pulled out some medical supplies. "The trouble is I just can't want to kill anyone, no matter what they've done to me. What does this suit do for you?"
"The suit allows me to breathe."
"Do you have anything on underneath?" Luke asked.
"Yes."
"Okay, then. I'm going to help you take off your armour, all right?" Luke started to help Vader out of the armour that had constrained him for so long.
"I won't be able to breathe."
Luke pulled an oxygen mask out of his bag with a grin, "Don't worry. It's not a problem."
"What exactly are you planning here?" Vader asked, distinctly uncomfortable at getting help from a stranger.
"Well, the Alliance sure isn't going to help Darth Vader, are they?"
"No, they wouldn't."
"So you can't look like Vader, can you?" Luke took Vader's helmet off. He stared at Vader's disfigurements for a moment, and then focussed on the wires and tubes that descended the older man's throat. "Okay, hold on to something. This is going to hurt. A lot," he added as an afterthought.
Vader gripped tightly to a rock as Luke grabbed the mass and pulled them out. Vader screamed and Luke immediately dropped them, horrified by the blood that had come up and the pain he had caused.
"Oh, Force. I'm so sorry! I didn't know that it was attached like that!" There were tears on his cheeks.
"I knew. Please, I can't breathe." Vader's voice was just a whisper.
"Right, oxygen," Luke muttered, carefully attaching the mask over Vader's face. "Is that better?"
Vader nodded.
"All right then. Let's get this armour off."
Vader did his best to help as Luke carefully took off the armour, revealing an equally dark jumpsuit. Luke started to wrap bandages around Vader's wounds and applying vast amounts of antiseptic and pain killer. When he was done, he sat down and leaned on the bank beside Vader.
"Do you think you're strong enough to stand?" he asked.
"Not yet." Vader relaxed.
"All right."
"You would have been a good Jedi, Skywalker."
"Really?" Luke asked excitedly. "My first name is Luke," he added.
Vader nodded, eyes closed, "Luke Skywalker. You can put others before yourself. Helping me despite what I did to you, for example, it's the rarest kind of self-sacrifice."
"Thank you. But really, I never knew my father. If I'd seen you kill him I think I might have been more violent."
"I understand."
"I wish I'd known him." There were tears on Luke's cheeks again.
"I'm sure you do. What was his name?" Don't be stupid! Luke can't be your son! The baby died with Padme. Vader told himself again.
"Anakin. Anakin Skywalker." Luke tried to brush away his tears.
"Then I think you have a chance to know him, Luke." Anakin's metal fingers found Luke's real ones and curled around his hand.
"Vader?" Luke asked in confusion.
"Anakin." Anakin corrected gently.
Luke sat straight up and Anakin looked up to smile at the surprise in his son's face.
"Dad?"
Anakin managed to reach out to his son and pull him into a hug, the wires of the breathing apparatus getting in the way a bit. "Yes, Child. Welcome home."
Luke kissed the scar tissue on his father's cheek. My father's alive! He's actually still alive! And he wants me! I get to be with my father!
"I think I can stand now," Anakin said finally, releasing his son.
"Great. Do you think you can get back up the hill here?"
"Why don't we try to follow the ditch as far as possible?" Anakin suggested.
Luke nodded and helped his father to his feet. Anakin started towards the Imperial base.
"Hey, shouldn't we be going back to the Alliance's ship?"
"No, Luke. The troopers at the base are the 501st. They're loyal exclusively to me. I can save them and your friends. Come on."
"All right." Luke said, dubiously.
Anakin continued towards the base and Luke followed closely. Finally they reached the base. Luke helped his father out of the ditch and Anakin ran to the center of the battle.
"Stop! Commander Appo! They're friends!" He called.
Luke followed his father calling similar words to his own friends.
One by one the troopers and rebels alike lowered their weapons. One stormtrooper stepped forward and spoke to Anakin, "Lord Vader?"
"Anakin," Anakin responded.
"I see," the man, who was presumably Appo answered.
"Luke? What are you doing?" Leia asked.
"He's my father, Leia. The 501st are loyal to him and we don't need to shoot them."
"You do realize you're talking about Vader, don't you?"
"I think he'd prefer to be called Anakin now. If you'll excuse me, I think it would be good to get him to a med bay."
Anakin started to sway on his feet, exhausted from the pain and exertion. Appo carefully helped him into the base and rested him on a bed in the med bay. Luke followed anxiously and stayed by his father's side as the med droid patched up Luke's attempt at healing his father.
Leia smiled at Luke, "You realize it'll be a nightmare to explain this to the High Council, don't you?"
"It'll be worth it."
"I didn't say it wouldn't be, but you saved my life back there and I think I could save your life by taking care of the political dilemma here."
"Oh, that'd be wonderful. Thank you, Leia. I don't know what I'd do without you." Luke yawned and Leia led him over to another bed in the small med bay so he could get some sleep too.