Vader hurried out of the cave, blushing under his mask. Luke was willing to give up everything he had to stay with his father, and that was more dedication than anyone had had to him in his son's entire lifetime.
He couldn't bring himself to re-enter the cave, and have to face Luke's promise. So he started climbing down the mountain again, determined to reach their ships and find something there so as not to waste the remains of the ships.
It wouldn't take him nearly as long to climb back up as it had with Luke. He had taken the slope slowly so that his son would be able to keep up. He felt ashamed that he'd begun to carry his son on their way up. It had been demeaning to Luke. He hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but he'd become impatient.
He vowed not to do that to Luke again, if the opportunity came. He would learn to be more patient if it would help Luke not to be embarrassed.
At last, he leapt the last few meters, landing carefully and setting off in the direction of their ships. As he neared them, he noticed smoke rising from them. Frustrating. That meant that some of the scrap would have been ruined.
He continued towards the burning wreckage, glad that Luke had left Artoo back with the Alliance for some cleaning.
When he reached the ships, he pulled out a melted piece of metal with heat-resistant gloves and formed it into a bowl. Then, because it was his own ship that was burning, not Luke's, he opened one of the panels in his son's ship and removed an extra case of supplies. If they were stuck, they were going to need the supplies.
Just so as to be careful, he levitated Luke's ship away from his own burning one. After years of training with the Force, there was no strain whatsoever. Perhaps it would be wise to carry the entire ship back, at least to the base of the mountain.
Vader looked at the still hovering dead ship and thought about it.
At last it occurred to him that taking it back would give him an excellent reason not to go back to his son immediately. The ship was coming with him. He guided it back to the foot of the mountain, and took the bowl and the container of supplies to the top in a series of bounds.
He landed at last beside the cave and put down the supplies.
"Man, I wish I could do that," a voice said wistfully.
Vader spun, reaching for his lightsaber, but it was only Luke, sitting at the edge of the cliff, from which he had apparently watched his father's climb.
Vader opened his mouth to snarl, but Luke didn't seem to have meant any disrespect. He was just sitting silently at the edge of the cliff, continuing to watch as his father started leaping back down the mountain.
As Vader returned to the foot of the mountain, he took another container and began up the mountain again. As he approached the top, he was aware of his son gazing down at him.
Luke. Always near now. Always distracting.
Vader missed being alone at times, almost. With his son watching his every move there was a feeling of being monitored. He didn't want to do anything to scare his son. But sometimes, he really did need to destroy something. Or someone, but the only available someone was his son, and therefore off limits.
He tried to force himself to ignore his son's gaze, putting the box down atop the first one and beginning back down the mountain.
As he returned with a third box, his son was still waiting at the top. He dumped it atop the first two, and began back down the mountain at a faster pace. Why couldn't Luke stop staring and find something useful to do? Why did he have to be so avidly interested in every move his father made?
As he turned about to begin the leaps up the mountain, though, he found himself gazing up at a rebel shuttle. Immediately, he ducked behind a huge rock.
He sensed in the Force that his son had gone to the ship. Now he had only to wait for the ship to be gone, and he could resume his climb up the mountain. Luke would be happier and safer somewhere away from Vader. He could forget about their family ties, and he would be happier for it. He would go back to his friends and return to hating everything about the Empire.
Vader just wished he'd said goodbye. He wished he hadn't been frustrated with his son last time he'd looked at the boy. More than anything, he wished he'd thought to return Luke's kindness regarding their connection. It would have only been right to answer Luke's promises of protection with his own.
That was how it was supposed to be. A father was supposed to protect his child, not the other way around. How had their roles been so completely reversed? For all his innocence and childish enthusiasm, Luke was certainly the more mature of the two.
To try to distract himself from the idea of his son leaving him, and being happier for it, and to avoid thinking about his failures as a father, he tried to imagine the boy growing up with him.
Luke must have been adorable as a toddler. As he thought it, he smiled. Adorable, certainly. A handful, even more definitely. Probably a handful of garment as his guardian pulled him away from whatever danger he had most recently decided was fascinating.
Vader smiled again, thinking of how like Anakin Luke was. He felt he should hate the idea, as he hated his past self, but somehow Luke made all of Anakin's faults his own in such a way that it was impossible for Vader to see them as faults. Anakin's impatience was translated into Luke's enthusiasm. His daredevil nature was channeled into Luke's willingness to do anything for those he loved. And Anakin's fatal flaw, his love, had been transformed into Luke's compassionate affection for all around him.
Vader closed his eyes silently, resting his helmet against the rock behind him. Why had the Force chosen him as its 'Chosen One'? Why hadn't it chosen Luke?
He wrenched his thoughts away as they finally landed on how much better a husband Luke was going to be. He looked up the mountain, expecting to see the ship flying away, but it had landed, and unless he was much mistaken, there was a small form, dressed in bright orange, leaping down the mountain towards himself.
Reaching into the Force, it was unavoidably Luke.
Without a second's thought, he came out from behind the rock he'd been hiding behind, "Luke! Stop! You're going to kill yourself!"