Vader looked over at his son, who had finally stopped trying to find a way to help him heal without removing any armour, realizing that it had just been a ploy Anakin had invented to get him out of the cockpit. The boy had seated himself on the edge of the medical bed he had laid his father on, and was fidgeting nervously.

"Luke?"

Luke looked up, seeming surprised his father had spoken.

"Calm down," Vader instructed him gently, and Luke glanced down at his hands. Realizing what he was doing, he stuffed them into pockets. Vader smiled, "What are you so nervous about?"

Luke looked across the room, and past the wall, seeming to be searching the Force for an answer, "I'm worried about how my friends will react. To you, I mean."

Vader nodded, "A reasonable concern."

Luke's hands had slipped back out of his pockets and he was fiddling again. Vader tried to sit up, and Luke leapt to help him, apparently glad of the distraction. When he was leaning against the wall, he looked again at Luke.

"What did you spend your time doing in Anakin's galaxy?" he asked, wanting to calm Luke.

"First hiding who he was to me," Luke said, and he blushed slightly, then tried to hide it, "And then bonding a bit. We also killed Palpatine."

"Good job," Vader said, "How did he find out that you're related?"

The blush Luke had tried to hide was back, running across his cheeks, up his ears, and down his neck, "I had a nightmare," he said defensively, "And he was the one who found me, and I thought I was still dreaming, so it all just spilled out."

Vader laughed, and Luke jerked to look at him, hurt, then, slowly, smiling and starting to laugh as well.

"I'm afraid our family is prone to nightmares," Vader supplied at last.

"I've noticed," Luke answered, "If you tell me we're all prone to blurting things out before anyone should know, tell me know and I'll feel even better."

Vader paused a moment, to think on this, then shrugged, "I'm not sure. I know I'm not very good at lying, if that's close enough."

Luke smiled, and stood up, starting to pace, although not in an anxious way, simply moving, "I guess."

"You've met your mother," Vader said at last, "Do you like her?"

Luke nodded, "She's wonderful, Father. We didn't actually speak with her very much, but she seems very nice. Anakin took me to see her when I was feeling down, but I didn't mention to her that we were related until just before Anakin, Obi-Wan and I came back here. I still don't know what she thought of me," he frowned slightly.

"Obi-Wan is here?" Vader asked before he could stop himself. He wasn't sure how he felt about that revelation. Perhaps it made sense that Obi-Wan would have come with Anakin, but he would look just as he had when he'd wounded Vader so badly.

"Yeah," Luke answered, then, slightly absently, "I bet he's gonna be really annoyed we went to deal with Palpatine without him."

Vader laughed again, "Always so hurtful when your students run off to deal with Sith on their own," he choked out.

Luke smiled as well, "Well, now he's missed out on killing Palpatine twice. He probably won't get another chance. I hope he won't, at least."

"Anakin will lead you into trouble that the two of you will need to be saved from frequently enough. Obi-Wan never seemed to be unwilling to help."

"It would be kind of embarrassing if he lost you, wouldn't it, though? 'My apprentice? The Chosen One? I may have misplaced him on Geonosis. You know how these things happen, one moment you're minding your own business nearly dying in an arena, and the next thing you know, he's invited himself to the party, and you never know where he'll run off to.'"

Vader gently wacked Luke's arm, "I was trying to save him, I'll have you know."

"And that went well, didn't it?" Anakin asked, and both Vader and Luke turned to look at him.

"We're home?" Luke asked.

Anakin nodded, and Vader felt rather stupid as his younger self slung his arm around his shoulders and hauled him up, "Yeah, come on."

Luke grabbed his other arm, and Vader wished he could protest, but bearing so little of his own weight, his legs were already shaking. As the two younger Skywalkers dragged him to the landing ramp, he did his best to stumble along with them, despite Luke's protests that he should relax. When they reached the ramp, it was already down, and Obi-Wan stood at the bottom, looking every bit as annoyed as Luke had predicted he would. Vader found himself swept up in the Force, as though a giant hand had taken him in its palm. He felt more ridiculous than ever, but was glad to no longer be weighing on Luke.

"You faced him without me," Obi-Wan said with irritation, "If my purpose for coming wasn't to help fight Palpatine, what was I supposed to do?"

"Sorry, Master," Anakin replied, and Vader recognized his teasing tone, "But you're going to have to run faster if you want to keep up with us."

"I see that having a son has only made you more arrogant than ever," Obi-Wan countered, "Follow me."

Luke, looking slightly defeated, followed, and Anakin came as well. Vader floated along beside them, feeling as foolish as he thought it possible to feel.

"And you, Luke, I thought you had better sense than your father."

"Don't take this out on him," Vader interjected, "I was the one who pulled them both along."

"You must be Vader. As you very well know, Anakin has never needed pulling along in anything. I suspect that Luke is just the same."

"I am," Luke admitted, seeming slightly stung by his father's attempt to protect him.

As Obi-Wan opened his mouth to reply, the young princess and smuggler with whom Luke spent his time materialized out of a corridor.

"Luke!" Leia exclaimed, and she ran to her brother and hugged him, averting her eyes from Vader. He looked closely at her, trying to find Padme in her face, and had no trouble in doing it.

Han hugged Luke next, then looked at Vader, "He's alive?"

Luke nodded, and Vader realized that he hadn't been bothering to move very much. He nodded as well, and Han turned away from him. Then Leia began fussing over Luke, making sure that he was all right, and by the time she'd finished, they'd arrived in the medbay, where Obi-Wan deposited Vader on a bed, and Luke immediately sat down beside his knees. Han began to speak to Obi-Wan, and Leia started to pace, obviously trying not to look at Vader.

"He saved my life," Luke said suddenly, grabbing Leia's wrist as she was about to turn again, "You could at least look at him. He nearly died for us."

Leia seemed about to argue, but Luke looked at her pleadingly, and she finally looked down at Vader's mask.

"You destroyed my planet, my family, my life," she said, and all Vader could do was nod, "Luke may forgive you, but I never will."

"Leia!" Luke protested, "That's not fair!"

At that, Leia spun to glare at Luke, "It's not fair, is it? What was unfair about it? It's all true."

Luke stood up, glaring at his sister, "They weren't your real family!" he waved an arm around the room, "We were! Or we became your real family as soon as you found us! I was your family all along, and so was he!"

Leia seemed to be inflating, which Vader thought quite impressive, and although she was looking up at her brother, she seemed to be looking down on him, "When he was tracking my ship, I sent those droids down to you! I'm the one who planted them on your aunt and uncle's farm! I'm the reason you ever joined the Alliance, and I've had to live with the guilt of knowing that I sentenced your guardians to death, and you to all of this!"

Luke seemed surprised, as though he had never heard that before.

"How do you think I feel when you come back from the field with new scars, or missing an entire hand? All I can think is that if it weren't for me, you could still be safe on the farm!"

"I don't need protection," Luke said softly.

"What was that?" Leia demanded.

"I said that I don't need protection," Luke repeated, "But let's not fight, please."

Leia sighed, and Vader longed to reach out and hug her, but he knew that he would be unwelcome. Luke hugged her instead, and Vader smiled as she hugged him back, their fight already apparently forgotten. Finally Luke guided her onto Vader's bed, and though Vader saw her recoil, she didn't protest.

"It's all been a bit much, hasn't it?" Luke asked gently.

Leia nodded, "And extremely sudden."

Luke smiled, "When are our lives ever reasonably paced?"

"Never," Leia said, a smile starting to creep across her face, and then she laughed, "Our lives are never reasonably paced, or reasonable at all. We're just running along for all we're worth, trying not to let them get out of sight."

Luke grinned, and hugged her again, "Feel better?"

"Yes," Leia answered, and she surprised Vader by taking his hand and squeezing it, "I think life got out of sight for a few moments."

Han had been skirting the room, seeming uncomfortable with Leia's outburst, but he had come over to them, and as Vader watched, he hugged Leia, and then kissed her. Vader felt an immediate surge of irritation. That was his daughter the smuggler was kissing! But as Han pulled away, he was smiling, "How's that for revenge?" he asked, indicating Vader, and he realized that he'd gone stiff with indignation.

Leia laughed again, "Pretty good. Let's go to the cafeteria, I'm starved."

Luke waved goodbye, and Vader focussed on him again, "They're quite the couple."

"You have no idea," Luke said, "Wait until you see them fight!"

"Fight?" Vader asked.

"Yeah. It's hysterical. Unless they actually get angry, which can be pretty scary."

"You find it scary?" Anakin asked, poking at Luke, "I thought you were fearless."

"Scarier than an entire platoon of stormtroopers. It should be dealt with the same way too."

"Running?" Obi-Wan asked.

Luke grinned, "Flying is preferable."

At that moment, a med droid rolled into the room, and it shooed the others out so it could prepare Vader for surgery. He didn't interfere. He was used to painful surgeries every month or so. As he began to feel drowsy, he realized that this surgery would be different. He would be properly drugged.

When Vader woke up, his chest ached slightly, and Luke was curled up in the sliver of bed beside him, having apparently shifted Vader over to the wall as much as he could. Reaching out in the Force, Vader knew he was asleep. He smiled at the boy, and lifted himself into a sitting position, realizing as he did so that he was seeing without the red tinted vision of his mask. He reached up, and touched his face delicately, and his fingers found skin. He looked down at his hands, and recognized prosthetics, but far better ones than he had been fitted with. He wondered what they had been able to do with the scaring on his head, but when he touched it, it seemed lessened, although the gesture sent tingles down his spine and arm.

Luke shifted in his sleep, as though trying to snuggle closer to Vader and woke with a start, promptly rolling out of bed. Vader caught him, and rolled him back on.

"Good morning," he said, smiling as Luke scrambled to stand up.

"I'm sorry!" Luke said, "I meant to stay with you until you woke, but I guess I fell asleep."

Vader shook his head, "I don't mind. Sit back down."

Obediently, Luke dropped onto the bed beside him, "How do you feel?"

Vader stretched each limb in turn, marveling at how comfortable, how easy it was to move, "Much improved."

Luke grinned, "I hoped so. I have to get Obi-Wan, he said he wanted to see you when you woke up."

Vader resisted an urge to sigh. He thought that Obi-Wan and Anakin would soon be taking his children back to their galaxy, and had hoped for an opportunity to speak to Luke alone. He ignored the thought, and nodded, "I'll see you later, then."

"Oh, I'll come back in with him," Luke assured him, giving him a quick hug, and trotting off toward the door.

Vader watched him leave, heard a small commotion outside the door, and Obi-Wan entered alone. He took Luke's place on the bed, and Vader made himself comfortable for a lecture. It didn't come.

Obi-Wan passed him an envelope of durasheet, "It's a letter," he said unnecessarily.

"Who is it from?" Vader asked, taking it and flipping it over, looking for a name or return address, or any markings at all.

"I had Padme write it for you," Obi-Wan answered, and Vader felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Padme?" he asked, slipping his thumb under the seal and carefully working it loose, not wanting to risk damaging the precious contents.

Obi-Wan nodded, "When Luke told us he'd grown up without his mother, and made no further mention of her, I thought that she must have died, and that it would tear you apart. I thought it might have had to do with your turn to the Dark Side."

Delicately removing the letter, Vader set the envelope carefully aside, "You were right," he answered, unfolding it. Then he sat still for several moments, not reading, just staring at his wife's familiar hand lettering. He felt tears in his eyes and swiped at them, "How is she?"

"Well," Obi-Wan answered, "Read it."

He did as he was told. As he read the letter, he felt the tears increase, and he carefully held it away from himself so as not to drip tears on it and ruin it. When he'd finished, he hungrily flipped it over, searching for more, but the letter was over.

"She's all right," he said, placing the letter beside the envelope and wiping a sleeve across his face again, "The babies are all right. She's proud of Luke," he continued, "She wishes she'd got a chance to meet Leia," he buried his face in his hands, wishing he could hide his tears, "She's all right."

Obi-Wan moved closer, and gently rubbed his back, and he remembered why he had cared so much about Obi-Wan. His old master sat beside him until his tears had run dry, then dampened a cloth, and let him wash the tear stains from his cheeks, saying, "You don't want Luke to see you like that."

He nodded, "Thank you. I'm so sorry, for everything I've done. I wish I could take it back!"

Obi-Wan nodded, "I know you are, Anakin."

He looked up at his master, smiling, then sobering, "You need to take the children back to your galaxy. This galaxy will be a chaotic battleground for several years, and I'd be happier knowing they were safe."

Obi-Wan nodded, "Leia has already asked that I take Luke with me. As long as she or Han can be convinced to come back with us, the other will follow."

He nodded, "I know. You'd be willing to take them home, then?"

Obi-Wan nodded, "Yes."

"You'll make sure that the Council doesn't separate them from their mother?"

Again, Obi-Wan nodded.

"Do you have anything I could write a letter with?" he asked, "For Padme?"

Obi-Wan produced a fresh piece of durasheet and a writing utensil, which he took. As quickly as he could, he composed a letter, trying to force everything important about their children onto one sheet of durasheet, as well as a proper apology. He finally gave up trying to squeeze on that he'd once seen Leia go into anaphylactic shock at a senator's conference after eating some foreign food and folded the paper up, putting it the envelope Obi-Wan passed him and sealing it.

"I think I'll let Luke in now," Obi-Wan said, slipping the letter into a pocket, "He's not very happy I wouldn't let him come back in with me."

He smiled, and stood up, "I'd like to come with you," he said.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "Suit yourself."

He walked to the door and opened it, testing out the new prosthetics. They seemed sturdy and easy enough to use, and he was immensely comforted by that. When he looked into the hall, Luke was sitting with Anakin, chatting. As soon as he realized his father had entered, he sprang up.

"I tried to come back in!" Luke exclaimed, "But he," he pointed at Obi-Wan, "Wouldn't let me!"

He laughed and hugged his son, who seemed to realize how childish he'd been and laughed apologetically.

"I'd like to speak with you privately," he said, "Is there any way we can get outside?"

Luke nodded, and started leading him through hallways, up to the stark surface of the planet, where they walked side by side, silently enjoying the togetherness and beauty of even the most mundane planet.

"I've asked them to take you home with them," he said at last.

"Obi-Wan and Anakin?" Luke asked, sounding startled.

He nodded, and saw Luke's face fall.

"But I want to stay here, with you."

He shook his head, "Luke, our galaxy will be a chaotic hell hole for a long time. I'd feel safer knowing that you're safe in a comparatively peaceful galaxy. Besides that, in Obi-Wan's galaxy, you would have parents, both of us. And a couple of new best friends, I think."

"If you mean Anakin and Obi-Wan, I'd rather stay with you, and find new best friends in this galaxy. They're wonderful, but not that wonderful. Let Leia and Han go, but I want to stay here."

"Your sister and your friend are going as well. I meant another friend, someone you've never met. Luke, I won't be dissuaded from this, if you returning home has to mean me chaining you up and carrying you onto the Falcon, you're going. I just want you to understand why."

"Why?" Luke demanded, and he stopped walking, staring up at his father, "Why do I have to go? I want to stay with you, and I know you'd keep me every bit as safe as I'd be in Obi-Wan's galaxy. I don't need to know my mother. I've met her, and that was more than I ever expected. Besides that, our ages are far too close for it to be a proper parent-child relationship! Anakin is only a couple years older than me!"

"Padme is five years older."

"Eight years difference is not enough to make it natural."

He looked back towards the base, "Luke, I wish you could stay here safely as well, but please humour me in this. Your home is in a galaxy with Jedi, without the remnants of the Empire, a place where no one knows you as the criminal the Empire has made you out to be."

"I can live with all that!" Luke protested.

"You can," he answered, "but you shouldn't. Please understand, this isn't a home for you, and it never properly could be. You'll always be famous for the things you've done, and anything you want to forget will be kept alive by the media. If you return to Obi-Wan's galaxy, you can let it all go behind you."

"I'd be letting go of you too," Luke countered.

He shrugged, "I know."

"This galaxy needs Jedi," Luke ventured.

"I'll be a Jedi again."

"Two Jedi must be better than one."

"Luke, please go. I've brought you nothing but pain. Anakin will be a better parent than I ever will be."

Luke turned and started to walk away, "I love Anakin," he said, "But in the same way that I love my friends. He won't really be a father to me."

He followed his son, "Obi-Wan, then. You know he would take good care of you and your sister."

"So would you."

"I can never balance out the terrible parenting job I've already done," he said, indicating Luke's hand.

"I'm not asking you to!" Luke said, grabbing his father's hand, "I'm asking to start again as a family. We could train a new order of Jedi together, and protect the galaxy, and we would never have to think about what's happened before again!"

He noticed the Falcon fly out of one of the pits. Luke seemed to have noticed it too, because he clung to his father's neck very tightly saying, "I'll come back. I'll get to know Mom, and then I'll come back. I promise."

He hugged his son in return, before letting him go, "If you really want to return, I'll see you again."

"You will," Luke promised vehemently, "I'll come back if it's the last thing I do."

The Falcon landed behind Luke, and the hatch lowered to reveal Luke's friends. The boy glanced over his shoulder at him before walking up to them. The last he saw of his son was a hand raised, waving goodbye. He waved back, and continued until the ship was out of sight before walking back to the city alone.