When Luke was really small, he had had a tendency to sleepwalk. He had grown out of it, so it never seemed like something he should ever bring up. After all, Han would just make fun of him, and he didn't do it anymore, so it seemed irrelevant.

That first night on Endor was long. Everyone was celebrating. Luke was happy as well, but after putting his father to rest, he just couldn't bear the party for too long. Not to mention he was trying to hide from Leia how much pain he was in. She was surprisingly perceptive, and he didn't want to be stuck in medbay, even though he had almost died earlier. Halfway through the night, the party was still going strong, but he just couldn't stand up anymore. He slipped off and found an out-of-the-way spot to sleep.

It wasn't long before he was back in the throne room, trying to keep Palpatine from twisting his mind. The fight went the same as before, ending with him writhing on the floor screaming in pain. Except this time, he managed to spring up himself and charged the Emperor with his lightsaber, determined not to lose his father just as he gained him again.

"Luke, stop, it's me!" Leia shouted at him.

Luke was in the middle of the Ewok village, lightsaber drawn, charging at a tree. He shook himself out of the nightmare. His lightsaber deactivated and fell from his numb hands. Leia walked up to him and grasped his shoulders. "Luke, what's wrong?"

Painful cramps gripped his muscles. His legs gave out under him. He lay on the leaf-littered floor gasping. "Leia, he… he… he hurt me."

"Vader?"

"Emperor," he gasped. He couldn't hide his weakness in anymore. He was fading in and out.

Han said something, and then Chewie's strong arms picked him up.

The sleepwalking didn't go away. Oh, most of the time, he woke up charging inanimate objects (usually trees, if he could find them), but it still didn't change the fact that he was wandering around, with a lit lightsaber, in his sleep. The problem was, he just couldn't convince his sleeping body that he didn't feel Palpatine's presence. And of course, whenever he felt Palpatine, he went to fight him. At first, Leia tried to help him by strengthening their Force Bond and keeping their minds linked to each other at night. It helped some, but then she married Han and that just got…awkward.

After a few terrible months, Luke decided he should just…not sleep. It was too dangerous, and the only other option of hiding his lightsaber far away from himself at night was not an option at all. Surely he could just use the Force for strength instead of having to sleep.

He was on his third night of this, surrounded by broken droids he was fixing to keep himself awake, when a familiar presence, yet not quite familiar, filled the room.

"Luke."

Luke's head shot up. A grin spread across his face. "Father!"

Anakin Skywalker's ghost sat down across from Luke, his legs crossed. "You can't keep doing this."

Luke turned back to the droid and dug the tool into its innards, stubbornly ignoring his father.

"You have to sleep sometime," Anakin continued.

"No," Luke said shortly.

"You can't use the Force to sustain yourself forever. Trust me, Obi-Wan knows. He tried to do that way too many times during the Clone Wars. And failed, spectacularly."

Ben's ghost appeared next to Anakin, a strange contrast in their portrayed ages. "Oh, like you've never done that before. I seem to remember one time at the end of the Clone Wars when you did the exact same thing."

"Yeah, and I turned to the Dark Side. What do you have to say about that?"

Luke fixated on a stuck bolt and wrenched it, hoping he would be able to unstick it without the use of the Force. "I am not going to turn to the Dark Side because I'm not sleeping."

"No, but you could exhaust yourself to death, which is worse," Anakin replied.

"Or end up having hallucinations. I never let it get that bad, but it is a side effect of no sleep." Ben had his arms folded and was staring pointedly at Luke's father.

Anakin stared back at Ben. "Obi-Wan…"

Ben raised his hands in the air. "Fine, I'm leaving. Enjoy your father-son chat." That said, he disappeared.

Despite the fact that his father was a ghost, the words warmed Luke's heart. Father-son chat.

"Luke, I understand—"

"I highly doubt that," Luke said mildly. As far as he knew, Vader had never sleepwalked. Did Vader sleep? If not, was that ammunition he could use against his father? Still, he'd probably just say it was bad decisions that spawned from the Dark Side.

Anakin plowed on, ignoring Luke's interjection. "—to be scared to sleep. But trust me, it'll only get worse the more you avoid it."

"But what can I do? The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that I'll attack real people. I can't go my entire life fighting Palpatine in my dreams!"

Anakin sighed and looked away. "Have you thought about a therapist?"

"No." Luke's voice brooked no argument. He turned back to the droid in his lap.

"No, you haven't thought about one, or no, you don't want one?"

"No, I haven't thought about one, and no, I don't want one." Luke removed the bolt and lifted the droid's circuit board away.

"But it could help you, so much! If I'd gotten a therapist when I was nine, I never would have turned to the Dark Side," Anakin protested.

"I'm not going to turn to the Dark Side!" Luke exclaimed.

"I never said you were! But still, you can't discount therapy. Why don't you want a therapist?"

"Because she'll want to talk about you," Luke said exasperated.

"What's wrong with that?"

Luke stared at his father for a minute. Could he really be that dense? "Oh, hello, Doctor, I'm Luke Skywalker, Rebel hero. My father, did you say? He's Darth Vader. Yes, I know everyone thinks I'm the son of Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. No, that wasn't a lie. How did it affect me to kill him? Oh, didn't you hear? Darth Vader killed the Emperor and turned back to the Light Side before he died. I didn't kill him. Why yes, I talk to my father's Jedi ghost at night for advice. No, I don't think I should be prescribed anti-psychotic medicine. Why do you ask?"

Anakin pulled up his ghostly knees to his chest. "I didn't think of that."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should think more. Thinking suits you."

Anakin snorted. "Now you sound like…" He trailed off.

"Like who?"

He swallowed and seemed to gather his courage before finally replying. "Your mother. Leia looks like her, but she acts like me."

And that Luke could definitely agree on. Though decidedly on different sides, Leia and Vader were both powerful, capable, dynamic leaders. He didn't really want to think how similar their personalities might be beyond that.

"But you? You act so much like her. You know, I offered to rule the galaxy with her too. As…you know." Anakin shrugged. "She…didn't exactly throw herself into an unfathomable abyss, but…she said I was breaking her heart." He squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head.

Luke's heart beat hard. So much he'd never thought he'd ever hear, and to be compared to the mother he never knew… "She was beautiful…kind, but sad."

"She was stubborn, and she had a temper, but it was different from mine. She was loyal to ideals, fought for ideals. I…was loyal to people. To her. To Obi-Wan, too, to a lesser extent. She…couldn't be moved from what was right." Anakin finally looked up and gave a small smile. "Just like you."

Tears gathered in Luke's eyes. He could almost hear the voices, the exchange. "We can rule the galaxy…" "You're breaking my heart!" "How did she die?"

Anakin shuddered. He shook his head. "I thought…for the longest time I thought… Palpatine told me that I…"

Luke's right hand, his prosthetic hand, snaked up involuntarily to his throat. His mind flashed to Bespin. Vader, in his anger, had injured him severely, despite his love for him even then. "Killed her?" He almost whispered it.

Anakin nodded. "I lashed out. I…she told me she loved me, and I…I said she was a liar. I saw Obi-Wan, and thought they…oh, it doesn't matter what I thought. Palpatine had lied to me for so long, trying to get me to doubt her, I finally started to believe him. But even before I turned back, I realized Obi-Wan never really wanted to kill me. That he never would have betrayed me. But I thought I had killed her, so on the Death Star… you're just so much like her. You believe in me, just like she did. I couldn't be the cause of your death, just as I'd been the cause of hers." He curled over and hunched his shoulders, unable or unwilling to face Luke. "Obi-Wan…told me later she was perfectly fine, medically, when she died. She just lost the will to live. I guess, with me on the Dark Side, and her beloved Republic gone…" He shrugged. "He said…her last words were that there's still good in me. Even then, after all I'd done, she believed in me." He raised his head and finally met Luke's eyes. "She would be so proud of you."

The tears in Luke's eyes spilled over. He wiped them away, too overcome to speak.

"Obi-Wan also told me, 'cause he was at your birth, yours and Leia's, he told me you were born first. By half a minute. So, you know, if you ever need anything to hold over your sister's head…"

Luke laughed. "That's good to know. She's started calling me little brother."

"Well, you can tell her Obi-Wan says she's wrong." Anakin folded his arms. "Is she happy with that smuggler?"

"That smuggler is her husband, and yes, she's very happy."

"Good." Anakin nodded firmly.

Luke took a deep breath, then finally decided to go ahead. "What was Mother's name?"

"Hm? Oh, it was Padme. Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo. Queen and senator."

Luke squeaked. Queen? His mother was a queen? His father was a lord (Lord Vader), and his sister was a princess. "Does that make me a prince?" He'd hate to be the only commoner in the family.

Anakin shrugged. "I don't know. It was an elected position, and she left it before you were born, but you might get an honorary title. I also kind of made you an Imperial Prince, so if anybody who's left in the Empire digs up my will, which I doubt they will, they'll try to crown you Emperor. So, uh, sorry about that."

"What?" Luke shook his head. "Wait, you made me an Imperial Prince while I was still a Rebel bent on destroying the Empire and you?"

"Yes?" Anakin shrugged again. "Family's always been the most important thing to me, so it didn't really even seem a question."

Luke shook his head again. "You know I'll never be able to sleep after hearing all this."

"Do you want me to wake Leia up so she can sedate you?"

"What? Leia won't listen to you, she doesn't like you," Luke protested, even though he wasn't sure he was right. Leia had mainly just avoided the conversation. Given how long it had taken him to get used to the idea after Bespin, he was giving her space.

"She's coming around. She's coming to be at peace with it. And she'll always band with me to keep you safe."

"What? That's not fair. How do you know that?"

"Why do you think I'm here? I mean, I would have come anyway, but she said what your main problem is."

Luke's face grew hot. "It was mostly working, too, but I can't share a mind with her at night anymore."

Anakin chuckled. "I can imagine. Well, you could try it with me instead."

Luke glanced up. "Would that…work?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Anakin looked genuinely confused. Was he really that oblivious?

"You're dead."

Anakin shrugged. "And?"

Luke shrugged back. "I guess it's worth a try."

Amazingly, he felt his bond with his father, which he had felt snap when he died, reopen.

How's this? Anakin asked.

Much better than when you harassed me about the Dark Side for a year.

Luke felt a mental wince from Anakin. Yeah, sorry about that. Now get to sleep, young one.

Luke smiled and climbed into bed. Yes, Father.

There was a night or two where Luke still found himself out of bed in the middle of the night attacking random objects that weren't Palpatine, but these instances faded until they were gone completely. Not that having Anakin bonded with him at night didn't give Luke weird dreams sometimes, but the sleepwalking eventually faded away. Force ghosts couldn't sleep, so Luke found himself having dreams every night of Obi-Wan in embarrassing situations or being rescued by his father. Once Obi-Wan found out, of course, Luke found himself caught in an all-out war between his father and his former mentor. It was sort of nice to have all this information about his past, but he'd rather not have competing Force ghosts giving him dreams about each other's embarrassing situations and times needing rescuing so they could show each other up. Eventually, he had to get Yoda and a new Force ghost he was introduced to named Qui-Gon involved to convince them to cut it out.

After that, his sleep, for a long time, was peaceful. He was over the moon with the birth of his nephew Ben. Even through all the turmoil of the galaxy, he stayed at peace. And if he occasionally had dreams of Obi-Wan Kenobi being embarrassed, he didn't complain. Not when his father finally decided to share dreams of his mother with him as well.

Eventually, he forgot about his sleepwalking again. It was a mark of how worried Han and Leia had been for him that they never teased him about it, even after it went away. And everything was right with the galaxy.

Darkness began to grow in Ben. They were all concerned, but hoped Luke's new academy would help. He was becoming obsessed with Vader, and no amount of Luke, Leia, Mara, and Han trying to discourage him worked. Anakin tried to talk to him, but he didn't seem to see him. Luke thought that Ben might not be able to see him because he'd never met him in person, but Anakin said Ben was just ignoring him, except for the few times Ben called him weak for being redeemed.

That concerned Luke even more, but he hoped, with gentle love, Ben would see the error of his ways and grow out of it.

He tried not to think of the fact that Ben felt a lot—a scary amount—like Palpatine. He couldn't let his previous experience color how he dealt with Ben's dark side.

Then one night, Luke found his night plagued with dreams of Palpatine. He had nightmare after nightmare of being tortured by Force lightning. Anakin was still bonded with him, though he didn't always share his mind at night now that Luke was married, but it didn't help this time. Anakin said he could feel Palpatine's presence too.

The last time Luke awoke from his nightmare, he found himself standing over Ben with his lightsaber drawn.

And his world crashed down around him.

Luke fled to Ahch-To, in part to discover more about the Jedi, and in part to try to heal from his brokenness. But he didn't know how. Because of him, his nephew had murdered so many, a lot of them children that had only been there because of him. Ben had murdered Mara, his beloved wife, and his young son Anakin [A.N.: Disney can pry this canon out of my cold, dead fingers]. He didn't think he could ever forgive himself. Anakin tried to help, but the nightmares wouldn't go away. Eventually, Luke cut himself off from the Force completely. He couldn't bear for anyone to be killed in Ben's desperation to hunt him down, even if the only ones that would be killed were First Order men. Their lives were still valuable.

He struggled. He still refused to turn to the Dark Side, but still struggled with depression and self-loathing, so he turned into a bit of a grump. He didn't quite realize how bad it had gotten until Rey Nobody from Nowhere landed the Falcon on the island and presented him with a lightsaber he hadn't seen in thirty years. He admitted he probably shouldn't have thrown it over his shoulder, but it kind of freaked him out to see his father's lightsaber, which he hadn't seen since he was clinging to a weather vane underneath Cloud City and watching his lightsaber and his hand disappear into the gaseous atmosphere of Bespin. He was half-convinced it was a Dark Side trick from Palpatine. Where had it even come from? How had she got it? Why hadn't it been lost in Bespin's atmosphere forever?

It wasn't until Rey convinced him to rejoin the Force that he realized how much cutting him off from it had caused his depression to spiral downward until he could barely recognize himself anymore. It had made him unable to deal with the trauma of seeing children he had taught murdered before his eyes, something, despite the Empire, he had never had to face before. Also, rejoining the Force allowed him to speak to his beloved wife, who had learned how to become a Force ghost herself and lectured him until his ears blistered for thinking any of this was his fault.

Seeing Leia again healed his heart. Facing Ben wasn't as easy, but it helped Luke finally move on.

Luke had become a Force ghost himself when Palpatine finally revealed himself. Despite the gathering of the Dark Side, he could hear Palpatine reveal he had been habiting inside Ben for a long time, whispering to him.

He felt all kinds of a fool to realize he had actually felt Palpatine that night everything fell apart. But it did make him feel a lot better.

He had never tried to murder Ben, even unintentionally. He had felt Palpatine, and he had tried to fight him, but Palpatine's spirit was inside Ben the entire time.

Ben himself did what he believed was "weak" and redeemed himself. He had a long talk with Luke as he tried to find a way off Endor so he could follow Rey, and he told him he didn't truly blame him for what he had done.

Luke still asked for forgiveness anyway. Ben told him he wished Luke had been able to defeat Palpatine that night somehow, before Ben went ballistic because of him and murdered everyone. Now that he was redeemed, he said, and now that Palpatine had a somewhat rotting body to inhabit instead of his, he was free of what he labeled a partial possession. He told Luke he'd never realized how much Palpatine had affected his thoughts until he was gone, and begged for forgiveness for killing Mara and Anakin.

Luke said he never needed to ask.