They had left the space station and were now on their way to Manda. Anakin was hoping perhaps he could train with Luke some more. Teach him some more about lightsabers. Anakin enjoyed sharing his knowledge. He had once made a holocron about lightsaber techniques. But Luke was uncomfortable about it when Anakin brought it up. Anakin figured it was due to Vader.
Vader was constantly around Luke. He barely left the poor kid alone. When Anakin was around, Vader kept glaring at him. Anakin just glared back for he was watching Vader closely. He had yet to really observe Vader and Luke's interaction until now. Luke was still a bit shy and uncertain around the Sith, but he was also willing to be around him. He could have avoided and ignored his father, but didn't.
There was something gentle but fierce inside of Luke. Like when Vader had lost control and Luke walked up to him. All he did was simply put a hand on his arm, and yet that had calmed Vader down. There was a part of Luke that wanted to know Vader. It also wanted to know Anakin. Anakin smiled at the thought.
Anakin thought he had Luke pretty well figured it out. Vader? Vader not so much. Which was odd considering Vader was Anakin. So Anakin watched Vader carefully. Luke was looking at one of the old Sith books. The book was talking about hyperspace travel. Luke thought it might be good to look into considering Vader and Luke were both in their fighters when they were sent into the past. Perhaps they had been knocked into hyperspace.
Luke was reading out loud and musing to himself. Vader would comment every now and then. When Luke wasn't focused on Vader, Vader's face would soften. He would lean in closer to Luke.
"So you do care for him," Anakin had said to Vader.
"He is my son," Vader had replied. He had said nothing more
He is my son? What kind of response was that? What did that mean? What would that mean if Anakin had said it? In truth he still had a hard time wrapping his mind around that Luke was his son. He liked the kid. Cared for him. Would even call him a friend. But did he love him? Like he did his mother? Like he did Padmé?
No, he did not. But Vader did. That's what he meant when he said Luke was his son. He loved Luke. Yet Vader was a Sith. They weren't supposed to love. They were supposed to value power above all else.
Foolish idiot, Anakin thought to himself.
Though if Vader was willing to love his son, truly love him, perhaps there was hope for the stupid Sith yet. Anakin waited for an opportunity for when Luke left. He approached Vader.
"Thought you were going to teach him some lightsaber techniques," Anakin said.
At first, Vader did his usual, glared grumpily at Anakin, then he spoke in an annoyed tone. "He has not brought it up."
"He probably won't," Anakin said. At least not with you, he added to himself. "Not like he came up to me and asked to be taught. I offered."
Vader frowned.
"I thought you wanted to be the one to teach him," Anakin pushed.
Vader kept frowning and glaring. Anakin shrugged. It was at least worth a try. He decided to leave so when Luke came back he and Vader could have some time alone. Proper father-son bonding. Not knowing what else to do, he made his way to the cockpit and was surprised to find Luke sitting in the pilot's chair.
"Hey," Anakin said. "What are you doing in here?"
"Thinking," Luke said as he stared out the viewport at the blue swirls of hyperspace.
"Good place to do that," Anakin said as he sat down in the copilot chair.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"It's about my twin."
Anakin nodded and said, "Padmé said you and Vader had no clue there was a second baby."
"No one ever told me. I wonder if anyone ever knew. Surely someone had to know. But I was thinking about it. Do you think it is possible that we were separated?"
"Like maybe your sibling went to live with Padmé's family?" Anakin asked. "I wouldn't allow it. I would have never had my children separated. I'm sure Padmé feels the same."
"I'm sure you also said you would never allow your child to be raised on Tatooine."
"That too."
"But maybe that was the point? To hide us from the Empire and Vader. What if he did come back to Tatooine? What if he found out he had a son sooner? Then at least the other child would still be safe."
"It's possible," Anakin said. "And it sounds like something the Jedi Council would do. Do you think you have a lost sibling back in the future? You suspect someone don't you?"
"I do . . ." Luke said.
"You could talk to Vader about it," Anakin suggested.
Luke noticeably paled. "No. No. That wouldn't do any good."
"Why not?"
"They have a history. A bad history. They hate each other."
"It won't get any better unless you tell them."
"Well it's not like I know for sure," Luke said. "I don't want to jump to conclusions."
"Trust in the Force, Luke. Listen to it. It should guide you."
Luke smiled. "You sound like a Jedi."
Anakin smiled and nodded as Luke got up and left.
Luke entered the hold to find Vader hadn't moved. He still sat on the gravity couch. His gold eyes were at once on Luke. Luke paused and nodded awkwardly. He moved towards the couch to resume his research.
"Luke," Vader said.
It made Luke jump in surprise. "Yes?" he asked.
"You wanted to learn lightsaber techniques."
Luke stood there unsure of what to say. Of what to do.
"Skywalker was showing you through the forms of Shii-Cho."
"Yeah . . ." Luke said nervously.
"That form is beneath you," Vader said gruffly. "It is for younglings. You are beyond that."
Luke sighed. This sounded like typical Vader. "I never learned those basics," Luke said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Especially when it comes to dueling against another lightsaber."
Luke noticed a slight flinch in Vader's jaw. Vader stood up. He towered over Luke. He was even taller than Anakin. Luke had realized all of Vader's limbs were prosthetics. The prosthetic legs must be longer than his natural legs were.
"I can teach you some," Vader said.
Luke shifted awkwardly. The only reason he hadn't asked Anakin to teach him some more was because Vader was always there.
"Come," Vader said not even waiting for Luke to say anything. He swept past Luke. The ends of Vader's cloak brushed against Luke's legs. He headed down the hallway towards the cargo hold.
Luke stood there awkwardly unsure of what to do. He didn't want to practice with Vader, but at the same time he did. He knew he was lacking in knowledge and experience. Luke took a deep breath and followed after his father. He found Vader in the cargo hold. The metal crates were still pushed to the side. Vader had taken off his black cloak, and it was tossed on top of a crate.
"Did you . . . Did you want to continue learning Shii-Cho?" Vader asked. For the first time he sounded uncertain.
Luke thought he could do this. But now he just stood there. A lump in his throat. A cold sweat forming on his neck. He gripped his right hand tightly with his left. Right where his real flesh ended. Right where he lost his hand to the man right in front of him.
Vader's eyes looked down at Luke's hands. "Luke . . ." he said softly. It was too soft. It wasn't the right voice. It wasn't the deep baritone that echoed in your very bones. It didn't have the even rasp of a respirator.
"You hold that weapon like an untrained child. You have no right to it. You boy, are no Jedi." Old words, even older than the ones from Bespin, came to Luke's mind. "This is most pathetic. You are not worth the seconds it would take to finish you. Who sent you here to die like this?"
That first encounter with Vader on Cymoon 1 . . .
"So . . . Obi-Wan Kenobi gave you this lightsaber. A shame he did not teach you how to wield it. He never did make for much of a master."
"I'd rather die than yield to you!" Luke had said. But at that point Vader had already used the Force to snatch Luke's lightsaber away. His old lightsaber. The lightsaber of his father. Of Anakin Skywalker.
But right as Vader was about to strike, he paused.
"Wait . . . this lightsaber . . . I know this weapon. This once belonged to-"
What was Vader going to say? Was he going to say the lightsaber once belonged to Skywalker? Would he disassociate Anakin from himself? Like he always did when talking about his past? Or was he going to say the lightsaber once belonged to him? Because he was Anakin.
Luke slowly let go of his right hand. He unhooked his lightsaber and nodded. "Yes, let's just do something simple," Luke said. His throat was tight.
He wasn't even sure how he managed to get words out. He didn't want to do this. Not with Vader. But he couldn't keep running away from this. He ignited his lightsaber and nodded.
Anakin smiled smugly to himself. Vader was walking Luke through the basics of Shii-Cho. He had been spying on the two from the hallway. He stretched as he made his way down the hallway away from the cargo hold. It would be best to leave those two alone. While he walked, he entertained himself with the thought of raising his own son, his own little Luke. Of teaching him how to hold a lightsaber and to fight.
He entered the hold and looked at the books Luke had been looking at. He sighed. He had yet to really look at any of the artifacts despite the deal he had made with Vader. He should probably at least look at one of the books or-
The ship suddenly bounced. Anakin was able to keep his balance, but he wobbled a bit on his feet. He started to move towards the cockpit, but the ship jerked again. Anakin had to brace himself against the side of the hallway. He heard feet running down towards him. He made it to the cockpit first. Vader and Luke came in shortly.
"What's wrong?" Luke asked.
Warning lights blinked and a beeping alarm was going off. Anakin looked at the ship's computer as it ran its diagnostics.
"I tried to warn you about that warp stabilizer," Anakin muttered.
"It is not the warp stabilizer," Vader growled.
The computer was lagging. Anakin pulled the ship out of hyperspace. He then pushed away from the flight console. He had to shoulder his way past Vader to get to the door.
"I'm going to the engine room," he said. "Something is not right."
