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The Past
The small blonde hair, blue-eyed child sat on a large lush decorative rug. Around him various toys were spread about: blocks, toy animals, and spaceships. The boy happily built up tall towers to mimic the view he saw from the large window in the room he was playing in. Beyond the window, tall skyscrapers stretched as far as the eye could see. The child would populate his block towers with toy animals. Then he would collect his spaceships, fly them around the towers, and crash them into the buildings. Everything would topple down, and the child would start all over again.
Little Luke paused in his game as he glanced over at Foot and Sneff. They were his red guards. He didn't know their real names. He had asked his father once, but his father had only laughed. He said Luke didn't need to worry about it, so the boy just named the guards himself. They were always there standing silently with their red helmets pointed at him. Luke smile at them as he collected his blocks and started to rebuild a tower.
"Prince Luke," came a soft call.
Luke looked up to see one of his nannies approaching. She wore a black dress, which was his daddy's favorite color so everyone seemed to wear a lot of that color. Except of course the red guard. Luke wasn't wearing black today; he was wearing blue.
"Come here, prince," the nanny said with a smile. "Your father wants to see you."
Luked looked at his nanny. She was a pretty lady with black hair. Then he looked back at his toys. He loved spending time with his daddy, but he also loved playing with his toys. It was always the best when Daddy played with toys with Luke. But Daddy wasn't coming here, which meant Luke was going to Daddy. Most likely there would not be toys.
Yet he wasn't given the chance to choose for himself. The nanny walked over, grabbed the boy under the arms, and pulled him up. She collected him in her arms and walked away from the toy towers. Luke wiggled to get comfortable in the nanny's hold. He looked over her shoulder a bit sadly at his toys. His view was quickly obstructed as Foot and Sneff followed quietly behind them.
Luke frowned. He wished his daddy would just come home. They could play with toys or Daddy could read Luke a story or they could play games. Luke loved when Daddy played spaceship. Daddy was the spaceship and Luke would sit on his shoulders. Daddy would fly all around their home. Whenever Luke was taken to see Daddy outside of their home, it often meant there would be no toys or games or stories. That was boring.
But Luke smiled as he saw his nanny approach the secret wall. The wall slid back to reveal a hidden doorway into the secret hallways. He loved when they went through the secret hallways. They were a secret! And hidden! When he was little he used to be scared of the hallways. They were darker and smaller than the normal hallways, but Luke was now a big boy. The secret hallways were not scary anymore.
Luke rested his cheek against his nanny's shoulder as they walked in silence. No one said anything. Not the nanny, not Foot or Sneff, and not Luke. The secret hallways were a quiet place. Finally the nanny stopped and a door slid open. They entered a small room with another door on the other side. A red guard stood next next to that door. But the nanny never paused. Her pace was steady. She carried the prince swiftly through the room, pass the guard, and through the far door. Luke watched as Foot and Sneff stayed behind with the other guard.
He turned in his nanny's arms. She had brought him to the big chair room. It was a big room, and on one end were some steps with a big chair on it. The rest of the room was rather empty. They had just come out of a secret door to the right of the big chair, which was where Daddy sat. Luke smiled as he saw his Daddy. He wiggled in his nanny's arms and pushed against her to be let down. She slowly lowered the boy down. The moment Luke's feet touched the ground, he ran to his father.
"Daddy!" Luke shouted.
Emperor Darth Vader smiled warmly at his son. He leaned over, his arms held wide, as his son ran up to him. At once he collected his son and pulled him up onto his lap. Luke's little arms wrapped around his father's neck. Small kisses were planted on Vader's cheek. A soft laugh escaped Vader as he kissed his son on the forehead. Luke's attention had been so focused on his father, he hadn't noticed Vader's sharp wave of his hand he gave to the nanny that promptly dismissed her from his sight.
"Hello my little one," Vader said warmly. "What have you been up to today?"
"I was playing!" Luke exclaimed as he settled on his father's lap.
"Playing? Playing what?"
"Towers and spaceships! Will you come play with me?"
"Maybe later."
Luke knew it. There would be no toys or playing here. He frowned as he leaned against his father.
"I want to show you something," Vader said. Luke looked up into his father's blue eyes. "Tell me, Luke, what do you remember about what I've told you about the Jedi?"
Luke thought and as he did so he looked around the big chair room. "You said . . . You said . . . that the Jedi are bad."
"Yes, they are," Vader said softly as he brought up a gloved hand to Luke's head. He gently stroked the boy's hair. "Is that all your remember?"
"No. The Jedi steal children. When I was just a baby, a Jedi tried to steal me. That's what you said. But you saved me!" A large smile grew across Luke's face.
"No," Vader said warmly but with a sense of sadness. "It wasn't me who saved you. It was your brave beautiful mother. She protected you."
"And then she died," Luke said. He didn't remember his mother. He only knew her through a few holos his father had shown him. She was very pretty.
"Yes, and it was the Jedi's fault that your mother died," Vader said in a low voice.
"So Jedi are bad people," Luke said. They had to be. They stole children! They killed his mother! Only bad people did that.
On other side of the big chair room, the large double doors slid open. A group of white stormtroopers marched in. In the middle was a human man. His hands were bound by binders. Two troopers stood on either of him grabbing his arms.
"Luke, look carefully," Vader said. "That is a Jedi."
Luke's eyes went wide as he looked at the man. He tried to scoot forward to get closer, but Vader wrapped an arm around Luke's waist. The boy was pulled closer to his father. The Jedi didn't look scary. He looked dirty. His hair was all messy and tangled. His clothes were all torn and stained. The troopers came to a stop near the foot of the stairs that led up to the big chair.
"Leave us," Vader said in a loud dark voice. Luke shivered. It was his daddy's Emperor voice. He didn't like that voice. He liked his daddy's normal voice a lot more. The white troopers dropped the Jedi and quietly left the room. The Jedi stared up at Vader.
"Traitor," the Jedi hissed up at them.
Suddenly, Luke was scared. He wiggled back in his father's lap, so his back was pressed firmly against his father. Vader still had his arm wrapped around him. Luke looked up to see his father's eyes were now yellow. That only happened when his daddy was very mad. Vader was focused on the Jedi.
"Luke," Vader said. "This is what I wanted to show you. There is nothing to fear from the Jedi. They are weak. Pathetic. A dying breed to a rotting cause."
"You!" the Jedi barked causing Luke to startel. Vader's hand tightened around Luke. "You are the cause of our death!" The Jedi's voice was rough and cracked. He brought up his bound hands and pointed a finger at Vader. Luke frowned, but his father only laughed.
"Indeed I am," Vader said amused. "Now it is your turn to meet the fate that all your kind have met or will meet soon."
Vader turned his son around so he could hold him better. Luke wrapped his legs around his father's waist and his arms around his father's neck. Vader stood and started to walk slowly down the steps towards the Jedi. Luke twisted so he could see the Jedi, but he also squeezed his father tighter.
Vader raised one hand towards the Jedi. The Jedi's eyes went wide. His hands grasped at his throat. His head tilted back as he slowly rose off the floor to the point where his feet were no longer touching. Vader stopped right in front of the floating man. The Jedi's face was turning pale. Odd coughing noises were coming out of him.
Luke didn't like this. He hugged his daddy tighter hoping it would end soon. Then Vader quickly clenched his raised hand into a fist. An odd cracking sound came from the Jedi, and he fell to the floor. Luke looked down at the fallen man. Something wasn't right. The way the man laid on the floor was odd. He was crooked, and he didn't move.
"Utterly pathetic," Vader said to the corpse. His hand that a moment ago held up the Jedi now gently rested against his son's head. "Take a good look, Luke. This is what awaits all Jedi. A sad death."
Dead? The man was dead? Luke looked at the Jedi closely. Is what a dead person looked like? He didn't look that different from a moment ago. Luke wasn't able to examine the dead Jedi any longer as his father turned away from the corpse. With long strides, Vader quickly made it to the small hidden door Luke had come through earlier. The door opened as Vader approached.
Inside the small room the three red guards snapped to attention. The nanny bowed at her waist and lowered her head. Vader didn't acknowledge them. He moved through the room and into the secret hallways beyond. Luke rested his chin on his father's shoulder. He watched Foot and Sneff follow them back to the royal residence. His daddy brought him back to the room with the fancy rug and the toys.
Vader kissed his son before he placed Luke back on the floor in front of his toys. Luke looked up at his father, who gave him a brief smile before he turned and walked away leaving Luke alone with his toys, the guards, and the nanny. Luke looked at his toys. He no longer felt like playing towers and starships. In fact he really didn't feel like playing for the rest of the day.
He was very quiet and subdued. His nanny worried he was getting sick, and Luke was taken to the med droid for a visit. But Luke wasn't sick, so the nanny tried to cheer him up. He didn't see his daddy for the rest of the day. Eventually the nanny put Luke to bed early, but his sleep was restless and filled with nightmares.
In his dreams, Luke ran through his home. Through the secret hallways. Through the big chair room. Shadowed figures chased after him. They wore tattered clothes. Their hands were always out trying to grab at Luke. They were going to get him! They were going to take him away! No!
"Luke!"
"No! No!" Luke cried.
"Luke! It's just a dream! Wake up!"
With a jolt Luke woke up. His little heart pounded in his chest. His daddy sat on the edge of his small bed. His eyebrows were creased heavy with concern.
"Daddy!" Luke cried as he crawled to his father and wrapped his small arms around him. Vader at once cradled his son in his arms.
"It's all right, Luke. It's fine. I'm here. It was just a dream," Vader said in a soft soothing voice. A sense of warmth eased over Luke. He buried his head into his father's shoulder.
"Daddy," he mumbled into his father's shirt. "There were Jedi! They were trying to grab me and take me away."
Vader rocked his son for a few moments before he gently pulled Luke away so he could look at his son's face clearly. "Luke," Vader said. "I'm sorry. Did that Jedi earlier scare you?" Luke nodded. "Listen to me, my little one. I'll never let a Jedi take you. You're safe with me."