Vader sat motionless into his hyperbaric chamber. He would never admit it, but losing so much blood had weakened him more than he had expected. No matter; it was not too serious. The nutritive serum that his personal medical droid had just injected into his veins was working quite well. He closed his eyes for a moment and allowed the Force to flow through him. He could feel the blinding presence of Luke in the Executor's medical area, shining as intensely as a small star. He still found it hard to believe that the boy was finally in his hands. What the hell had Luke been doing here, in the Executor? How had he managed to infiltrate into none other than his personal ship? Vader knew that a little group of rebels had been captured by the tractor beam but even in his wildest dreams he would not imagine that Luke would be among them. Especially taking into account that he was the most wanted rebel in the galaxy. The boy was anything but cautious, that was clear. Vader shook his head. Yes, he could not deny the Skywalker heritage. He was too similar to... Anakin at that age... Vader shook his head angrily, pushing away his old self, and he focused on the boy's signature. He could sense that his son was out of danger and that made him breathe o relief. Suddenly, that relief fueled his rage again. Why knowing that Luke was fine was so comforting to him? There were no blood ties for a Sith; such a thing was a weakness. He persuaded himself that his only interest for that boy was his great power and nothing more. Thanks to that power he could achieve his greatest goal: destroy the Emperor and take the place which belonged to him. That was all that mattered.
The Dark Lord allowed the robotic arm to place his helmet over his head, blocking his normal vision with that cursed red filter. Palpatine would pay for all he had doing to him. Once Luke had fallen to the Dark Side, both, father and son, would be invincible. Nothing would stop them. Together they would crush the Emperor like the womp rat he was. But first, he had to get his son seduced by the Dark Side. He knew it would be the greatest challenge. The boy had an enormous potential, even in the weak Light Side of the Force. And he was as stubborn as powerful. When he finally embraced the Darkness, his power would be unmatched. Vader smiled. He had always liked difficult challenges, and this one was the most stimulant ever.
Vader moved one hand and the hyperbaric chamber opened with a snap. It would be best if he went to talk to Luke. Oh, yes, they had a great many things to talk about...
A soft brightness made its way into Luke Skywalker's unconsciousness and startled him awake. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to focus on the blurred image in front of him. He blinked at the sight of the white sheets that covered him. His eyes moved quickly to the ceiling, the walls... all absolutely white and unsullied. Suddenly he glared at the bandage which covered nearly his entire abdomen. No, it had not been a nightmare. He felt a light pain in the wound when he tried to get up. A man whose face was too kind to be an Imperial officer shook his head.
"I wouldn't move if I were you"
The young Jedi looked at him.
"Who are you?"
"I am Medical Commander Veers, aboard the Executor".
Luke swallowed hard and looked around. Veers gave him a sympathetic look.
"You better calm down. After all, you can do nothing and, in your situation, I assure you that stress is very harmful. Your recovery is amazing, true, but you should not tempt fate."
"Why am I here? I do not understand. I should be dead."
"You are right," Veers agreed. "It seems that your life is very important for Lord Vader. If it wasn't for him, you would most certainly not be here".
"Why not?"
"Because he is the donor of the blood which has saved your life."
The young Jedi opened his mouth, astonished.
"What?!"
"You heard me correctly. So try to relax and recover completely so as not to waste Lord Vader's generous gift. I doubt he would find it funny."
The boy swallowed. No, it could not be true. Vader... had saved his life? He looked at his arm. Oh, damn it! Vader's blood flowed through his veins. Although well, anyway he carried that blood since he was born. He shook that thought aside. Why the hell had Vader saved his life? Deep inside, he knew the answer.
Before he could ask more questions, a freezing presence flooded him, stopping his breath for a moment. The medical center's door opened to reveal Vader. The Dark Lord stared at Luke as he strode in, with his black cloak waving behind him.
"Leave us," he said, not bothering to look at Veers.
The doctor did not need to be told twice; he disappeared, closing the door. Luke and Vader looked at each other in silence, one really frightening and the other one trying not to seem too frightened. The Dark Lord pierced the boy with his gaze and was pleased to see that the boy's rebelliousness prevented him from turning away those eyes he knew were blue. Luke gritted his teeth.
"Why did you save my life?" the young Jedi asked abruptly.
Vader smiled behind the mask, unable to avoid it.
"Would you rather be dead?" he replied with a hint of amusement.
"Rather than being here? Of course, I would."
The Dark Lord looked at him, amused and wicked.
"At this point, you should know that your destiny is not in your hands but in mine."
Luke looked at him defiantly.
"At this point, you should also know that I will never join you, 'father'," Luke replied, imitating Vader's venomous tone surprisingly well. The Sith Lord stared at the boy, approached him, and took him by his shirt collar offhandedly. Luke felt his bravado weakened at the sight of his own face reflected in the nearby black mask, but he still held his head up, in part trying to keep on his pride and in part hoping to prevent his father from raising him up and causing further pain to his abdomen. But Vader knew very well how to calculate his strength. Luke was surprised to find that, despite the threatening gesture, he was not hurting him at all.
"Insolent brat..." Vader muttered. "I see that not only do you need to complete your training in the Force but you need some education classes as well. But everything will come in time."
Luke did not have time to react. Vader released him and took a step backward, still watching his son.
"What were you doing, or rather trying to do when I found you in the hangar?"
"Escaping from a hundred stormtroopers, perhaps?"
Vader glared at him. At that point, Luke realized that he had pushed his luck enough for that day. Yes, he was furious because his father had captured him, but provoking the Dark Lord would be useless. Well, yes, it would help him to figure out Vader's tolerance limit and see how far his patience could be probed before the Dark Lord crushed his trachea with a snap of metal fingers. The young Jedi grimaced.
"Han, Leia, Chewie and I were trying to escape after stealing information about Carida's Imperial base computers."
Vader blinked.
"Are you saying that you and your friends had considered it feasible to infiltrate the Executor, steal high-security information and escape as if nothing had happened? Who has been the genius who came up with such nonsense?"
Luke looked at him, his expression annoyed. Vader could barely suppress a laugh. He had not felt like laughing for what seemed like a thousand years, and it was a really strange feeling.
"Hey! It was not such a bad plan. In fact, it worked... more or less. The important thing is that Han and Leia managed to escape with the information."
Vader shook his head.
"It is surprising that you give such importance to that information. It will be useless for your rebellious friends; much more since I finally have you in my hands."
The young Jedi swallowed.
"I will never be useful to you. And you know it," he said, holding Vader's gaze.
The Dark Lord did not answer. He knew this would lead to an endless discussion and, to tell the truth, he did not feel like having that quarrel for the umpteenth time. He simply examined his son. The boy seemed to be quite recovered, although Vader could also see through the bandage that his wound was still healing. Luke felt the dark power wind through his abdomen and he could not help but give a start. The abrupt movement made the pain appear again.
"Relax,"Vader said. "You know I am not going to hurt you."
"Actually, I do not know that at all" Luke replied. "What are you going to do with me? Are you going to hand me over to the Emperor?"
Vader stared at his son again.
"That would not be very smart, considering that to destroy him it is necessary that you are alive and turned to the Dark Side."
The young Jedi gritted his teeth.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I will NEVER turn to the Dark Side? Of course, I want to destroy Palpatine. We agree about that point. But I will not do it by becoming a monster like him or you."
Vader snorted. Sometimes he wondered how the hell he had so much patience with that brat. Ah, of course, he was his son...
"I am not going to discuss that now," he snapped. "We are heading to Coruscant. The Emperor is absent from the Imperial Center and he will be away for a few months. That gives us time."
"Time to what?" Luke asked.
"To complete your training. At least, to complete it enough so you will not be an easy prey for Palpatine."
Luke looked defiantly at his father.
"And... you think you will be the one who is going to do that? I will not allow..."
Vader approached and grabbed his shirt collar again, threatening.
"You are not in the position to allow or not allow anything," he snarled."I regret to inform you that, in your current situation, you have no alternative. You are my prisoner and no one defies me, not even my own son. Have I made myself clear?"
A few eternal seconds passed. The young Jedi stared at the death's head mask mere centimeters from his face. Suddenly his helplessness, fear, and rage seemed to evaporate. A very strange feeling was invading him. It was as if he could almost "see" the unknown face of his father through the mask. Luke knew it was impossible. However, he could swear to have seen a pair of blue eyes staring into his, full of fury, but also full of a delirious mix of feelings as well. Two eyes identical to his. No, it could not be true. He didn't know why, but it was impossible to imagine Vader with blue eyes.
The Dark Lord also seemed to feel something strange; a powerful bond with his son that he had not felt so far. The Force burned between them and it was the damn weak side which was tying him to the boy. He knew it came from Luke. The young Jedi had created it without being aware of and Vader had also accepted it unconsciously, showing through it secrets he should not. His anger burned at this thought. Luke shuddered to feel it. Something seemed to have changed forever.
"Yes," answered the boy. There was a new resolution in his eyes. "I want to complete my training, but not on the Dark Side."
Vader blinked. The boy's voice, clear and determined, surprised him somewhat. It seemed as if he had modulated it to use the old Jedi trick of mental dominance, though that made no sense. However, this change of attitude in the boy... Suddenly he had stopped behaving with that rebelliousness and stubbornness so typical of the Skywalkers. Why? He knew the strange connection that had appeared a minute ago had something to do with it. For a moment, Vader considered the idea of invading his son's mind and searching for the answer without further ado, but he cast it aside. The boy was powerful. Certainly not powerful enough yet to block the invasion of his mind, but Vader knew that he would resist with all his might. That not only would cause him terrible damage in his still convalescent condition but would also destroy that momentary willingness of Luke to collaborate... even in part. No, it was better to control his curiosity, at least for the moment. The fact that the boy wanted to continue his training was an excellent beginning. Patience was not his strong point, but Vader knew he should not force things. There was much at stake.
"I am glad to see that there is still some common sense in you," the Dark Lord slowly released the crumpled collar of the rebel commander's shirt and stepped back from the young man without breaking eye contact."All right, for the moment your instruction will not include the Dark Side's knowledge."
Luke opened his mouth.
"Seriously?"
Vader just nodded.
"But... Does that mean that you will train me on the Light Side?" the boy blinked astonished. "Can you do that? You are a Sith Lord. It is supposed that you..."
He fell silent immediately as he felt the dark power of his father dancing around his throat. Vader shook his head.
"At least I have figured out what I have to do to make you shut up," he said, half angry and half amused.
"It is not funny," Luke dared to say.
The Dark Lord seemed to breathe heavily as if he was doing an exercise of patience unknown to him so far.
"Listen to me well, because I will not repeat myself," he said, staring at the boy so fiercely that Luke shuddered. "The first rule you must learn is that my orders are never questioned. No one has lived long enough to dare to try. You are not an exception for being my son, although I must add that this circumstance is what allows you to continue breathing thus far." Luke swallowed and looked away for a moment. Vader continued. "Having said that, yes; I can train you in the use of the Force without using the Dark Side and yes, there are some uses of the Force in which the weak side is more useful than the powerful side."
The fear of his father's reprimand seemed to evaporate at such a revelation. Luke's eyes widened.
"Like what?"
"You will learn them in due time. Now you should rest. The Executor will arrive at the Imperial Center in two standard days. It will be much better for you if you are fully recovered."
"Actually, I am quite well. I am just... hungry," admitted the young Jedi feeling a little embarrassed.
Vader repressed a mixture of mockery and bitterness. That boy was like him. No, not him but Anakin. Yes, the "hero without fear" had also had an excellent appetite. A black feeling invaded him again.
"I will order to bring you something to eat."
Without saying another word, the Dark Lord straightened, turned on his heel and left. Luke, at first paralyzed from feeling his father's bitterness, looked at the door through which he had disappeared.
"Thank you..." whispered the boy.
