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Title: Sith or Father?
Summary: Vader found Luke when he was twelve and offered him the chance to travel the galaxy with him. Obi-Wan has not seen him since, but has often wondered what became of the youth. Rated T for mentions of physical and sexual abuse, but nothing explicit.
Obi-Wan wasn't sure why he found himself heading to the old Lars moisture farm that day. He had been in the sector, had some time to spare, and found himself wondering how the place had fared in the past four years. Afterwards of course he realised it was the work of the Force, but at the time he simply found himself wandering around the buildings. Everything of any value was long gone, and some of the outlying buildings had been reclaimed entirely by the sand. But the main building was still intact and he wandered through the rooms remembering better times. Or at least different times, they had had their own difficulties. He froze as he entered what had been Luke's room, suddenly aware that he was not alone. A crouched figure in dark clothing, holding a vicious-looking blade, was already in the room. At first he wondered wildly if it had been a trap for him, if he was expected, but he dismissed the idea. He hadn't known he was coming here himself, so how could anyone else have predicted it? No, he was just unlucky that some fugitive had picked this as a place to hide out. And careless to have made no effort to check the place for life-signs.
"You have no wish to harm me. You want me to leave quietly" he suggested to the figure, using a touch of the Force to convince him that those were his own feelings rather than coming from his potential victim.
A short harsh laugh answered him, then "Well, one out of two, General Kenobi. But the bigger question is whether you want to harm me." He stood up awkwardly, his left arm pushed into the front of his jacket, and an ugly bruise discolouring the same side of his face. A shaft of light now hit him, and Obi-Wan took a sharp breath as he recognised the slim figure.
"Luke?" A nod in reply, not that he had needed it. The boy had become a young man since Obi-Wan had last seen him, but the 12 year old he had known so well was still visible in the features. Add the unmistakeable similarity to Anakin and he could not have been anyone else.
"Why would I want to harm you?" Obi-Wan countered. Actually he could think of a number of reasons, starting with how Luke had come to be here waiting for him, but he'd rather Luke told him which if any were applicable.
"Oh let's start with the fact that you've hunted me down to this place. Add four years with the Sith, and I think we can both work out why you might want to get rid of me."
So Luke thought Obi-Wan had tracked him, rather than vice versa. That at least was a reassurance that it wasn't a trap. But the Sith comment was true enough - if Luke had been training all this time, he'd be a skilled opponent by now. But that was a blade and not a light saber in his hand, which didn't make sense. No Sith would use such a vulgar weapon by choice - even if by some chance they were without a light saber they would use the Force directly.
"That would rather depend if it was four years with the Sith or four years as a Sith, wouldn't it." As he said it, Obi-Wan reached out with the Force to try to determine whether Luke was Sith or Jedi or neither, but he could hardly detect the young man through the Force - he was no more visible than any Force-blind person would have been. Obi-Wan frowned, Luke's raw ability had been significant even as a child, and it had taken all of Obi-Wan's skill to keep him shielded for as long as he had. Not that it had worked in the end of course, or the past four years would have been very different for both of them. But the fact remained, Luke should be visible, for good or ill, and he was not.
"I'd hardly be waving this around if I could use the Force, Dark or Light, now would I?" He sounded bitter. But then he seemed to pull himself more upright and his expression changed. "I'm tired of games Obi-Wan. Just tell me - do you plan to kill me?"
"No. I don't."
"Well, I'm glad I got a chance to see you again. I never thanked you for looking after me all that time. It must have been a pain, and I don't remember ever being properly grateful. I know now how hard it must have been. So, thank you, but now it's time to say goodbye" and with that he put the tip of the blade against the centre of his chest and shifted his grip on it.
"No!" Obi-wan grabbed the weapon with the Force, preventing Luke from using it on himself. "That's not the answer; it's never the answer, whatever has happened!"
"Don't you get it? If you could track me here then so can he! And I am never going to let that happen. I hoped you'd come to kill me and I wouldn't have to do it myself, but I have to do it, don't you see I have to?"
"Luke, I didn't track you, I can barely see you when you're right in front of me! Whatever you're doing to hide yourself is working. Your father won't be able to find you, I'm sure of it." As Luke's arm relaxed a little, Obi-Wan released his grip, though he remained wary. Luke sagged, weariness in every line, "It's not Father I'm worried about. He knows better than to look."
"The Emperor then?" A nod in reply. "Tracking aside, he might guess you'd come here and send troopers anyway. We ought to get away at once. And that arm looks like it needs some urgent attention, what did you do to it?"
Luke hesitated. "I bumped into a wall"
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow - that was one hell of a 'bump'. But if Luke didn't want to talk about it yet, then that was understandable, the trust that had existed between them would take a lot of rebuilding, and rushing him would not help. But they did need to get away from here as soon as possible. "I have a speeder outside, and a ship docked at Mos Eisley. I have friends who can help with your arm, if you'll come with me?"
Luke seemed hesitant, but it was obvious he had few other options. "I take it your friends won't put anything on the Imperial database about treating me?"
Obi-Wan smiled "Oh they're not in the habit of telling the Empire very much."
Luke climbed into the speeder quite nimbly despite having only one working arm, and Obi-Wan found himself wondering again about the injury. Luke gave no further information during the trip however, and Obi-Wan focussed on getting them to the spaceport, into the ship, and away into hyperspace before making any further attempt to draw the boy out.
"It will be about an hour till we reach my friends, so you might as well get comfortable. Can I fetch you anything? There's only water and ration bars I'm afraid."
"No, thank you. I'm fine."
Fine but with a broken arm. Fine but suicidal at the thought of being found by the Emperor. Not quite within the range of what Obi-Wan would class as 'fine'. But then he had little to no idea what the boy had been through these last years, since Vader had found him and invited him to take his 'proper place' at his father's side. He had gone willingly, enthusiastically even, eager to know the father for whom he had longed all his young life. Had it continued to be a willing association for long? Had he regretted it almost at once, or had it taken time to reach whatever had driven him away now?
Luke was watching him with an odd expression. He may not be using the Force but he could read expressions, and Obi-Wan's had told him enough. "I don't regret it. I never have. There've been... difficulties. But if I had it to do over, I'd still go with him. He's my father and I want to be where he is."
"So... what happened? Why aren't you with him now? You said your father wouldn't look for you, but you're clearly afraid that the Emperor will."
Luke was silent for a long time, and Obi-Wan started to worry that he had pushed too hard, that the boy would simply clam up and refuse to talk. But after long minutes he finally spoke. "Father can't protect me from the Emperor. To keep away from the Emperor I have to keep away from Father."
"The Emperor... wants you to use the Dark side? To become a Sith?"
Oddly enough, Luke started to laugh at that, giggling almost hysterically. Obi-Wan watched him warily, his moods were too volatile, and far from the placid boy he had known. Stress and injury might be enough to explain it, but there was a risk that the instability went much deeper, that he had been damaged mentally and emotionally by his time with Vader. Even as Anakin he had hardly been a stable influence, as a Sith Lord his ability to adequately parent an impressionable youngster had to be in serious doubt.
Eventually Luke calmed himself, wiping tears from his face with his one good hand, before becoming serious again. "Sidious knows I'll never be a Sith. Or a Jedi. He worked that out back when I was twelve. Something... broke inside of me. I can't even feel the Force any more, let alone use it. But he still thinks I could be useful to him, and he wants me to live there in the palace, now that I'm older."
Obi-Wan still felt that every sentence left out as much as it included, but at least the picture was becoming clearer now. Luke loved his father and would have stayed with him, but once that was no longer an option he had run rather than be in the Emperor's direct power. The fact that he still felt loyal to his father would make things tricky though, where they were going. Speaking of which, they had better agree what story to give when they arrived.
"I think you've probably guessed already that my friends are members of the Rebel Alliance." An answering nod. "In the circumstances, I think it would be wiser if we don't tell them who you are. I can just introduce you as an old friend who I met on the planet, who doesn't want to attract Imperial attention but needs medical treatment. I'm not sure how widely the name Skywalker is known. Would you mind being Luke Lars for a while?"
Luke assented readily. He had no wish to be a hostage or bargaining chip.