So the good news is, I have almost the entire story written out! Kind of like an outline...but the bad news is I have to edit it still. Lol. Anyway, I'm hoping to update weekly until the story is finished.
And in other news, please heed the rating as mature as this piece will be a bit on the darker side as we delve deeper into Luke's past and present.
Following after Anakin, the Grand Admiral set a quick pace, Luke struggling to keep up as he tried to observe the ship further. It seemed to be a busy hour, many officers and troopers making their way through the halls as they completed their various duties. Trying to mostly focus on the floor right behind Anakin, Luke tried not to make his looking around too obvious. Everyone was also giving him curious glances between moving out of the way for them to pass, saluting their Grand Admiral with friendly but respectful greetings that he returned quickly but in kind.
In the Alliance, no one greeted those of higher rank to them with anything but a salute and complete silence. Only once had Luke seen someone try to casually greet the Princess during a surprise evaluation; he wasn't able to ask around openly after, but he certainly never saw the kid again, and those he was able to ask didn't either.
"I'm sorry for the intrusiveness of the guards, but it's really more for your own safety. From now on, you'll probably have to keep at least four with you. That's what they make me tote around anyway." Anakin spoke while still moving, clearly a man that was used to planning on the go.
It was hard for Luke to tell if Anakin was serious or if he was saying it sarcastically, like the Princess would have spoken to an Imperial prisoner. It certainly seemed like some sort of joke, Luke picking up amused feelings from the guards around them, but he chose not to respond in kind and instead chose a simple, "Yes, sir."
If Anakin was put off by this, he didn't show it, continuing to smile and greet people as they walked, Luke grateful that everyone was simply ignoring him. It was too soon to be meeting new people already, and the guards had him on edge.
While he wasn't surprised that they would put guards on him, considering he was a captive prisoner, Luke was still wary of them. None of them were giving off any suspicious feelings, but Luke knew exactly how this system worked. Get the prisoner to trust you, they spill all their secrets, and then when they are useless: get rid of them.
Then sometimes, when a prisoner chose not to trust anyone, they would resort to...other methods. It was well known that officers would turn a blind eye to any guards that were abusing approved prisoners (and in a lot of cases, unapproved prisoners as well). Having taken a few lessons in guard training (which was required of everyone in the case they had to fill in a roll), the Alliance and especially the Princess liked to remind everyone it was the enemy or the Alliance.
"Don't forget – the Alliance is nice in comparisons to what the Empire will do if they get their hands on you." That was the main motto of any of the training lessons given: if the Alliance seemed harsh, the Empire was a level above it.
Often the Princess had tried to get him to participate in the brutality, using her power to put him on more rotations of guard duty then any of the other pilots, but he did his best to remain neutral through it all. It was perhaps not any better, simply standing back and watching, but any sort of interference would have been seen as betrayal on his part. Besides, they rarely took prisoners captive in the first place, so it wasn't that often Luke had to consider the controversy of it all.
After another few minutes of walking, Luke found them walking through mostly empty halls, the doors thinning out the further they walked. Pushing down his anxiety, Luke was mostly certain he would find himself being placed in a sparse cell where they would eventually just forget all about him.
Once, he found a cell with a dead prisoner in it on one of the Alliance flagships, still chained to the wall. When he asked one of the other officers about them, they simply shrugged and said they used it to show other prisoners what their fate would be if they didn't talk. Sometimes they would leave them in the room together so prisoners could wonder if they would be the ones chained to that wall next.
Now that his mind was wandering, Luke wondered what other horrors the Empire might commit to him. What if they decided to leave him with the Wookies to do whatever they pleased with him for almost bombing their planet? Or as punishment they might lock him in a room and leave him in the dark for days, no food or water, all alone with only his thoughts for company.
Anakin finally stopped before a door as Luke got himself totally psyched out, scanning it open without touching anything despite there being a hand print activation scanner right beside the opening.
Stepping inside, Luke was shocked, moving to stand quietly in the middle of it all. Half expecting a dead body to greet him as his new roommate, Luke was floored by what he was actually met with. The room was not sparsely decorated by any sense of the word – it had a quaintly made up living room with a couple of couches, a small kitchenette with a food replicator that could make simple drinks and dishes, a full refresher and a bedroom with a separate door he could close. It was like a small but nicely made apartment, and nothing like the cramped four person quarters he had in the Alliance.
Still smiling warmly, Anakin stood before him. "You will have to remain in your room for the most part, but I know for a Skywalker that will be hard to manage. I won't keep you locked in, but you'll have to ask Piett and I before going anywhere. It's only going to take us a few weeks to return to Coruscant anyway, so you won't have to manage for too long."
"Yes, sir." Luke said quietly, just loud enough for Anakin to here, but the man seemed pleased enough by the response alone.
Going over to the wall, Anakin also showed him the internal comm system. "If you need anything, you can just press this green button. It will connect you with whoever is on shift as my aide."
"Yes, sir. Thank you?" Luke couldn't help that the last part of the sentence came out a question.
Trying to reassure him, Anakin gave him a quick pat on the back, letting his arm wrap around Luke's shoulders for just a moment before letting go. "Get dressed when they bring you some clothes. I will come and fetch you in about an hour – relax, make yourself at home here. I know you have a lot to process, so I'll leave it at that." Seeming hesitant to leave, Anakin finally made his way out of the room after whispering something quietly to the guards, leaving Luke still standing in the middle of the room.
Two guards remained in the room with him and two stood outside the door, but Luke wasn't sure he wanted to try and start a conversation with them. It couldn't be that they really wanted to be watching some sixteen year old commander do nothing in a room all day, and they probably resented him for it.
Plus, maybe if they forgot he was in the room, they would forget any orders they had to torture him.
"Do you need anything, sir?"
Apparently Luke had stood still for too long, one of the guards speaking up. The man seemed friendly enough, and was the only one not in Stormtrooper armor. It appeared that he also held the rank of commander.
"Ah...no. Thank you," Luke said, gulping, finally moving to sit on the edge of the couch where he could keep an eye on the guards and the door to the room. If anything was going to happen, Luke at least didn't want it to be a surprise.
The guard, however, did not give up. "You can watch the holovid if you want, or there is a pad that has access to most of the Imperial databases if you want to read. There probably isn't a lot of time before dinner, though."
"Okay, thank you." Luke continued to simply sit on the couch and stare at the wall near the door and the guards, waiting for whoever it was that was supposed to bring him new clothes. It was true that his Alliance uniform was looking a bit raggedy after his time on Kashyyyk. Plus, the Alliance uniforms tended to make him feel like he was choking. Suppressing the urge to pull on his collar, he began to try and picture his situation on a whole.
So "Darth Vader" was apparently not real, and Anakin Skywalker, his father, was? Why hadn't he come for him before then? Why hadn't Anakin known he had a son? Was it just an elaborate ploy to gain Luke's trust? But for what? Why would they need him, some lowly Commander? He wasn't even high up on the Alliance food chain.
Now, if Anakin had been trying to convince the Princess thatshe was his biological daughter, that would make more sense. Technically, the Alliance was run by the council, but in reality, it was run by Princess Leia. When she joined the Alliance, she took it by storm and was the push behind nearly the entirety of the Alliance's growth in the past three years.
Logically, it didn't make sense that the second in command of the Imperial Empire would be trying to gain Luke's trust and loyalty, if that's what this ploy was.
Could it be they just didn't want him to try and escape? To Luke, that seemed like the more reasonable of his ideas – it was easier to keep someone docile if they thought they were safe. Plus, they might think they could get him to spill his guts and reveal a secret or two. Then after they milked him dry of information, it would be very simple to get rid of him.
Gulping, Luke couldn't fight the urge anymore and reached up to pull at his collar. The more he considered his situation, the less he felt confidant about finding a way out alive.
"You are welcome to make something to eat or drink. Do you know how to use the replicator?" Again, the guard butted into Luke's overthinking.
Turning to give him a longer once over, Luke shook his head. "No, thanks." The guard was about Luke's height with brunette hair and brown eyes. In terms of what Luke could sense, the guard seemed like someone he could trust, but his common sense told him that would be a bad idea.
Seeming disappointed, the guard nodded and stepped back into place once more. It was like he was trying to start a conversation with Luke.
A knock came at the door, a droid entering without waiting for permission. Flinching, Luke jumped to his feet and took a hesitant step back as the droid approached him immediately. But instead of needles or knives or anything else one would use to torture someone, all it carried were the clothes Anakin had promised Luke.
"Here you are, sir." When Luke refused to step closer to take them, the droid simply placed them on the table before asking, "Is there anything else you need, sir?"
"No, thank you," Luke said, his voice catching in his throat, the droid nodding politely once more before leaving.
The guard, for his part, looked amused. "Is that all you know how to say? It's alright to want something."
Picking up the clothes, Luke went to walk to the refresher, trying to keep himself from turning his backs on the guards without it looking completely unnatural. "I just don't need anything right now." Luke did not say it angrily or haughtily, just simply like a fact.
Shrugging, the guard continued to stand at attention. "Very well. Have a good shower, sir."
Nodding his thanks, Luke could not help but let out a pent up breath as the refresher door closed behind him, effectively hiding him from his guards.
Setting his clothes on the counter, Luke turned on the water and let it run over his hand for a moment, relishing in the warmth of the water. In the Alliance, they had sonic showers that just knocked the dirt off, like on Tatooine. It was faster and cost less than water, but there was something about a water shower that seemed like it did a better job.
On the few occasions when he had been able to take a real water shower since leaving Tatooine, the water had either been freezing cold or he was restricted to a couple of minutes, or in a lot of cases, both. Having a water shower that appeared to have no limit and could be set to the exact temperature he wanted was such a foreign idea to Luke that it took him a full minute of just running his hands under the water before he realized he was wasting time. Stripping quickly, he shuddered as he stepped under the unfamiliar feeling, wishing that he could wash the memories of the day down the drain along with the dirt falling off his body.
Scratch that, he wished he himself would just wash away down the drain, a never ending stream of water until he finally just settled in a puddled blob where nobody could ever find him. But, finding that he was unable to transform himself into water, he settled for cleaning himself up. Scrubbing himself thoroughly, Luke must have spent ten minutes under the water before he reluctantly got out and let the air dryer blow the clinging droplets of water away.
Finally taking a closer look at the clothes he was provided, Luke was pleasantly surprised despite his cautions. It was not extraordinarily expensive fabric by any means, but it was of a higher quality that was soft under his callused fingers. When he pulled on the shirt, it didn't chafe his neck at all or feel like he was being choked.
The outfit was entirely black, a color fit for mourning, which made his blond hair and blue eyes stand out startlingly. Having been raised on a planet with twin suns, Luke had never worn black before in his life, not even when he had been exploring space with Han and Chewbacca, and the Alliance colors were gray and blue.
Slicking his hair back, Luke stepped back out, finding Anakin already waiting in the living room on the couch. The guards inside the room had been dismissed or went off duty because they were no longer posted at the door, but Luke could sense the other two right outside still along with Anakin's guards.
"Ah. There you are. Are you ready? Do you need anything else?" Anakin stood up, wearing a matching black outfit but with a cape embroidered with gold.
"No, sir," Luke said, wishing he could shrink away and disappear. As soon as he stepped foot on that planet, those Wookies were going to tear him apart.
Nodding, Anakin gestured towards the door. "Very well. Piett is going to meet us down on the planet."
Following Anakin out the door, the guards once more surrounded them as they headed to a different hangar bay than the one Luke had been dragged into.
The flight down to the planet was much shorter than Luke wanted it to be, his heart just about racing out of his chest. As they were getting off the ship, he felt Anakin's hands on his shoulders. "You'll be fine, Luke. I won't let my only son get torn apart by Wookies." Anakin sounded sincere despite the joking to his words.
"Yeah...okay." Luke wasn't convinced, but he allowed Anakin to guide him off the ship anyway, stepping off down the ramp towards a waiting Piett and a congregation of Wookie chieftains and their King. In the background, Wookies milled about and watched on in curiosity, Luke feeling their eyes like little prickles all over his body.
Before anyone prompted him, Luke bowed to the Wookies. "Greetings, your highness's and your majesty. I am Luke Skywalker." Chewbacca had actually told him in detail about the world of Kashyyyk, an eleven year old Luke listening like all of Chewbacca's stories were great legends.
One of the Wookie's warbled back, a translator droid about to step forward when Luke stopped them. "I apologize. I understand Wookie, but I can't speak it."
Several murmurs went through the crowd, and several of the chieftains nodded among themselves as if approvingly.
"Greetings, Luke Skywalker. I am King Kynthwya. I thank you for joining us as we mourn for those that we lost." The King stepped forward, towering over Luke by at least four feet.
Gulping, Luke nodded. "Of course. May I ask...what happened? I thought the Alliance was coming for peaceful negotiations?" As soon as Luke spoke, a dark feeling ran heavily through the crowd of Wookies.
Anakin's hand gripped Luke's shoulder tighter. "I apologize. My son was not present during the battle and I did not have time to debrief him."
"Son? I was not aware the Great Jedi Skywalker had a cub," the King now regarded Luke in a new light.
"It's a recent development for me as well."
Feeling properly scolded by not being scolded at all, Luke wished he could disappear back onto the shuttle and stay there until this was over. A dark feeling ran through him again, Luke shivering as he tried to figure out what it was. Every time he had this feeling, something bad happened.
"To answer your question, young cub, the Alliance has never been peaceful with us. They came here to force us to join their cause. Despite this, we were able to fight them off today, but not without heavy losses." The king bowed his head towards a row of carefully laid bodies.
Again, Luke felt sick to his stomach, Anakin squeezing his shoulder gently as if to try and get his attention. Leaning forward, Anakin whispered in his ear, "Luke? What's the matter?" In response, Luke only shook his head, unable to answer.
"Despite this time of grief, we must thank the Empire for coming to our aide and helping us scare off the Alliance in our time of need. On top of freeing all of our kind from slavery, we owe much to the Emperor and of course to you, Grand Admiral," the King bowed low to Anakin, the other chieftans and the other Wookies following suit.
It was an awe inspiring sight against the lamp lit night. Now that it was dark, the orange glow from the lamps gleamed over the polished wood city, and the Wookies began to blend in to the background wherever they remained in the darkness. Never in the Alliance had he ever seen such a grateful welcome from any planet. Normally when he got to be apart of the visiting delegation, all he felt was fear from people, but tonight was an array of grief, anger, and resentment all directed towards the Alliance, but gratitude and relief towards the Empire.
The feelings were so heavy around him that Luke felt dizzy if he didn't focus enough on what was happening directly in front of him. It made little sense to him – why would the Alliance be trying to force planets to their cause? Hadn't all the planets before wanted to join to fight the Empire? The Princess had told him before that the reason they planted bombs was because any of the planets resistant to joining the Alliance had clearly already been corrupted by the Empire, and that it would be better for the galaxy to take out that corruption before it spread.
The more Luke thought about everything, the less it all made sense.
"Now, come. Tonight, we feast in gratitude to our saviors, and in memory of our lost!" the King roared, all the Wookie's joining.
Against their roars, Luke could hardly hear himself think, his heart thudding in his chest. Anakin's hand squeezed him again, but Luke didn't acknowledge it as in his panic he began to follow the tug of dread that had been pulling at his attention.
Eyes searching the bodies laid out before them, somehow, his eyes narrowed in on one in particular.
Forgetting protocol, Luke felt as he pulled out of Anakin's grip, his guards trying to stop him when they thought he was escaping until two of the chieftain's for some reason stepped forward and gently cleared his path. Luke had no idea that there were tears running down his face as he strode toward the Wookie, the body far too still to be believable.
"Chewie?" Luke murmured under his breath. The blood rushed out of his head when the realization finally fully hit him.
Chewbacca lay with his paws folded neatly across his chest, his eyes closed. Sobbing, Luke felt as hands tried to pull him back, but he did not hear the chaotic roars or shouts that surrounded him. His eyes never strayed from that of his friend.
"Please, open your eyes! You can't leave us like this! What about Han?" Luke suddenly found himself alone beside his friend, not realizing that the guards his father had assigned him had been driven back by a couple of the Wookies who realized Luke was indeed mourning a dear friend. If Luke had looked, he would have found two of the Chieftain's standing guard over him while Anakin, Piett, the King, and his guards stood back and watched in sympathy.
The Princess had lied to him. Chewbacca had never been sent back with Han – he had been killed. But why? Why would she lie about something like this? Why wouldn't she have told him that the negotiations had gone south, and that Chewbacca had died?
Sobbing into his friend's arm, Luke's voice joined the mournful cry of the Wookie's as they grieved for their losses.
The next morning, Luke did not want to wake up, but the presence of Admiral Piett disturbed him as soon as the man walked into "his" room. Luke doubted that the quarters he had assigned to him would last very long, because they were very, very nice. The bed was far softer than anything he had ever in his life laid on, and Luke could not believe how comfortable he already was here.
It was far more than someone like him deserved.
He barely remembered getting back to the ship early that morning, having been dragged away finally by Anakin when the sun had begun to rise over the horizon and start another day. Luke's eyes still felt swollen from his tears, and his heart felt like it was sinking into his stomach.
"Good morning, Luke. Would you like anything for breakfast?" Piett asked kindly, his arms folded neatly behind his back and his uniform freshly pressed. It did not look as if the Admiral had only caught a meager few hours of sleep at all.
"Did the Admiral of the flagship just ask me if I wanted breakfast?" Luke asked, trying to crack a smile and failing. It sounded like something Han would say, and it made Luke wonder if Han even knew. Had the smuggler made it back to the base? Was he even told where is first mate truly was, or was he being lied to as well?
Han wasn't stupid like he was, though. After he couldn't find Chewbacca, Han would know something was up. Right?
Unless, of course, Han wasn't alive either, which after discovering Chewbacca, Luke realized wasn't an unreasonable fear.
Piett did manage to smile back. "Just this once. Your father doesn't want anyone else to know about your relationship until you've been more secured at the Capital, and it is part of my duties to oversee important guests."
"Important guests? I'm neither important nor a guest, Admiral," Luke sighed, slowly forcing himself to sit up. It felt like every muscle and bone in his body was protesting movement, whether from lack of sleep or the awkward position he held all night as he sat kneeling beside his friend, Luke couldn't tell.
Shrugging, Piett waved a droid forward. "Please order what you'd like for breakfast. They'll have it brought up right away. Your father had an important meeting with the Emperor this morning, but he will be here as soon as he can. I believe your guard explained the holovid and the pad you've been provided, but if there is something you would rather do, please let me know. Just know that your father would prefer if you stayed out of the heavily occupied areas of the ship, and you won't be allowed near the hangar bays."
"Admiral…" Luke looked up at him with still rather dull eyes. "There wouldn't happen to be a training room, would there?"
By the time Anakin came to find him, Luke was bleeding in two places and had bruises all over. The Admiral had to leave to tend to other duties, but had left Luke's guards to chaperon and guide him back to his room when he was finished. Of course, he left before Luke turned up the level difficulty on the training droid, and the guards had no power to stop him as far as Luke could tell.
In any case, they simply stood by the doors and watched, the same guard from yesterday watching with the occasional wince when Luke took a hard blow.
The entire world no longer made sense. Everything he had been fighting seemed to be focused on the wrong group, and everything he thought he knew appeared to be a lie. Unable to come to terms with his thoughts, Luke did the only thing left to stop feeling: focus on destroying the droid before him while not thinking of anything else. It was not going very well, considering Luke had only managed to dent the droid once and scratch it twice.
If Anakin wasn't impressed after he took in Luke's condition, he did not say anything. Instead, he merely stood to the side and watched as Luke attempted melee combat with a simple training sword against a droid set on medium difficulty.
Once more the droid disarmed him and left a nasty gash across Luke's shoulder, this time deep enough that Luke had the stray thought that it might need stitches as he lay panting on the floor.
"Enough." Anakin finally deactivated the droid with his strange powers, coming to stand over Luke, who was struggling to get back to his feet. "Is this what the Alliance considers training? Have you even held a sword before?"
Shaking his head, Luke slumped back to the ground. "No. I didn't receive any combat training."
Anakin's eyes widened. "They were sending you out on espionage missions without any ground training? Were they trying to get you killed?"
For a moment, Luke wanted to defend them, but quickly decided against it. "I don't know. I was always busy. We had to repair our own ships for the most part, and there was always work to be done on them. Most of the other bo-men, didn't know how to do much repair work either, so I had to teach them."
Sighing, Anakin shook his head disapprovingly. "I heard you skipped breakfast this morning. Were you aware it's well past lunch time as well?"
The nauseousness churned in Luke's belly at the thought of trying to eat again, and Luke slowly shook his head. "No. I guess I'm not very hungry today."
"Oh, child. I'm sorry about your friend, he seemed very dear to you. But would he want you to run yourself into the ground like this?" Anakin held out a hand, helping Luke to his feet. "Come, let's have the medics take a look at your cuts and we will go have a snack. Does that sound manageable?"
Not "alright" or "good", but manageable. Despite being treated like a child, Luke nodded, because it did indeed sound like something he could manage.
If this were the Alliance, he could hardly imagine the Princess asking what he could manage. The words she would say to him would certainly be something along the lines, "Oh well. If he wasn't strong enough to survive, he would have dragged you down with him."
Luke didn't even want to know what Han would say to him – if Han hadn't been busily trying to help destroy the planet with bombs, mislead by Luke, perhaps he would have had Chewie's back in the battle. If Han had been there, together they almost certainly would have made it out alive.
No matter how he turned the situation around in his mind, it always came down to one conclusion: Chewbacca died because of him.
After getting a light scolding from the medic and a few bacta patches (as it turns out, his cut did not need stitches after all), Luke was released to get a meal with Anakin. Once again he found himself in what he had now discovered was the Grand Admiral's office.
Anakin sat across from him sipping away at a cup of tea while Luke tried to work his way through a small bowl of soup and a piece of toast (which was not his decision, but Anakin's after Luke took too long to decide).
"Tell me about him. Your friend, I mean. How did you meet?" Anakin finally said when it became clear that Luke was only going to silently eat about half his soup and a bite of the bread.
Setting down his spoon, Luke felt relieved to focus on something else. "Chewbacca – the one who died – got me off Tatooine with his friend, Han Solo. After my Aunt and Uncle died, I worked at a few of the mechanics shops, but it wasn't enough to really survive on. Chewbacca was the one who suggested I travel with them and help them fix up their own ship, the Millennium Falcon."
"You must be an excellent mechanic then," Anakin praised, Luke blushing.
"Sort of. I get by. Anyway, I went with them, and somehow we ended up doing ends and odds for the Alliance, and I got signed up as a pilot. I think Han regretted it after a while, and Chewbacca was always telling me that we could leave whenever we wanted. It wasn't like the Alliance was going to come after some oddball pilot anyhow."
"I see. So were you?"
"What do you mean?" Luke asked, confused.
"Were you going to leave with them?" Anakin cleared up the confusion.
"Oh. I don't know. I suppose eventually. If they had decided to leave the Alliance, I think I would have gone with them."
Nodding, Anakin poured himself another cup of tea, offering to pour one for Luke as well. Shaking his head, Luke declined.
"You must have been very close with Chewbacca, and this Han by the sounds of things."
Tears welled up in Luke's eyes again as he remembered his friend's fate, wondering if he could have done something to prevent it. "If we'd only left like they wanted...then Chewbacca would still be here…"
Reaching over, Anakin placed a hand over Luke's gently. "You don't know that. The problem with the past is there is nothing we can change. We cannot reverse time, nor can we sit forever and consider what we should have done yesterday as we must continue to face today."
It sounded so reasonable when Anakin said it, but Luke continued to break down, feeling like the little soup and bread he had eaten was threatening to resurface.
A few minutes later, after Luke managed to get himself put back together, he asked the question he had been avoiding. "So what now? Where do we go from here?"
"Well, that's up to you. I won't allow you to return to the Alliance, but if you want, I could train you."
"Train me?"
"Yes. We haven't gotten to this discussion yet – I can train you in the ways of the Force." Anakin sounded quite enthusiastic about this idea, his eyes lighting up. It was obvious that he cared deeply about whatever this "Force" was.
"I...suppose." Luke tried to muster up as much enthusiasm as he could find, but there was little to be found.
Seeming to notice Luke's lack of response, Anakin seemed to take it down a notch, smiling kindly. "It's alright, Luke. We don't have to start right away. As a matter of fact, it's probably best if we don't."
Freezing, Luke considered Anakin's words carefully. In the Alliance, Luke never had choices, he simply had orders. If the Princess ever phrased something as a question or option, it was always a trick and she was looking for a very specific answer. At the moment, Luke could not figure out exactly what it was that Anakin wanted from him, and he felt his heart constrict again.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Luke! Can you hear me?"
Blinking, Luke realized he was no longer sitting in his chair but on the floor, feeling like his heart was in his throat and that he couldn't catch his breath. Anakin was kneeling before him, hands on his shoulders, trying to snap him out of it.
Taking a gasping breath, Luke flushed as he realized that he had apparently had a panic attack. It had been a while since he'd had one – the last time had been almost a year ago, in front of the Princess. Only, she had laughed at him and told him he was weak for falling prey to such useless emotions, not looked at him with the concern that Anakin was nearly boring into him at the moment.
"S-sorry. I think I'm just a bit tired." Stuttering it out, Luke felt like a fool sitting on the floor in front of the guards and the Grand Admiral, so he kept his eyes glued to the floor in front of him.
Helping him up, Anakin continued to support him, which Luke was grateful for. At the moment, he wasn't certain that his legs could hold his own weight up. "It's alright, Luke. It happens. Why don't you go get some more rest, and I'll come find you at dinner?"
Nodding, Luke allowed his father to help return him to his quarters. Thankfully, the hallways seemed extremely quiet compared to the first time he had made his way through, only the occasional officer making their way through to the other side of the ship. Oddly enough, no one was stopping and saluting today, they all just made sure they were well out of the way.
Filing the information away for later, Luke could feel himself falling asleep on his feet as they finally made it to his door, Anakin helping him all the way to the bed before tucking Luke in like a kid. But Luke could not even make a comment in his head because as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out cold.
It felt like every time he woke lately, something hurt. Currently his head was pounding like he had hit it with a hydrospanner (which he unfortunately had the experience to compare it to), and his stomach was flip flopping in his abdomen like a fish out of water (which he had only seen once before).
This time, however, neither the Admiral nor the Grand Admiral were there as he woke. Instead, the Commander guarding him was sitting on a chair beside the door, watching him with bright, curious eyes.
Watching back for a long moment, Luke finally managed to put a string of words together. "What is your name?"
"Commander Wedge Antilles of the First Sky Squadron."
Leaning back, Luke had to consider his knowledge of Imperial troops. "I've never heard of the Sky Squadron before."
Grinning, Wedge nodded. "You wouldn't have. It was recently formed by the Grand Admiral himself. I was personally picked for this position."
"Congratulations. So how did you get stuck guarding me then?" Luke asked, still feeling off. Groaning, he tried to sit up and failed the first time, barely managing it by leaning back on the headboard the second time.
"Careful – the medics gave you a sedative. They didn't think you'd wake up for several more hours," Wedge said, not coming over to help yet but looking like he was about to, having leaned forward in his chair.
"Sedative? Why? When did I see medics? I don't remember..." Luke could feel the effects of it dragging him back down, but he forced himself to stay awake to hear the answer. Had they drugged him with some sort of truth serum? Was this the start of the interrogation?
"You were tossing fitfully in your sleep, and weren't waking up. Grand Admiral Skywalker requested the medics to take a look at you, and they said you were simply exhausted and needed rest. They want to see you in the morning." Wedge answered like he was making an informal report.
Frowning, Luke slumped back down in his bed. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Almost twelve hours now. As I said before, the medics didn't think you would wake until the end of the night cycle. They warned me to keep you in bed until then anyway – you'll be feeling pretty unsteady right now." Wedge said when Luke looked ready to try and crawl out of bed.
Pausing, Luke could tell Wedge wasn't lying when the room started to spin when he simply started to lean forward.
"Who is Biggs?"
Too tired to be entirely surprised, Luke still felt himself tense up. "Where did you hear that name?"
"You were saying it in your sleep before the medics came." Wedge said it simply.
Sighing, Luke felt as he started to drift off again. "He was just...a childhood friend." Shutting his eyes, he let himself drift back into the softness of his bed and let sleep claim him for just a while longer.
After all, if they really wanted to interrogate him, what could he do to stop them?
The next morning, Wedge was gone and Admiral Piett had taken his place. Not even mildly surprised anymore, Luke watched the Admiral read through reports on his pad for several minutes before Piett realized Luke was no longer asleep.
"Good morning, Commander. How are you feeling?" Piett set aside the pad immediately, turning to him with a smile.
Luke slowly sat up in bed. "You know, I don't think I'm a Commander anymore. You can just call me Luke."
"Very well, Luke. But don't avoid the question – the medics wanted me to update them as soon as you were awake."
"I'm alright. My stomach is a little upset, but otherwise everything seems in place," Luke ignored the fact that if anything else happened to startle him, he was certain his heart would race right out of his chest again. But it wasn't at the moment, so there couldn't be anything that wrong with him, right?
Not looking entirely convinced, Piett tapped a quick message into the pad before turning back towards Luke. Before he could say anything, Luke interrupted. "I'm sorry you got stuck babysitting me again. I'm sure you have more important things to do."
Piett raised an eyebrow, looking very unconvinced. "You do realize you are the son of the second most powerful man in the Empire? If Grand Admiral Skywalker wanted me to become your personal assistant, it would still be an extremely coveted position."
Alarmed, Luke sat up quickly, having to a stop for a minute when the room spun around him. "Excuse me? An Admiral as an assistant? He wouldn't…"
Looking alarmed, Piett had risen to his feet, holding out a hand like he had been about to help steady Luke. "I was kidding, Luke. But don't underestimate your position – even without a rank, you command more power than anyone but the Grand Admiral himself on this ship."
Paling, Luke shook his head. "You know, I was really hoping he was lying about that."
"Lying about what?" Piett sat back down when it seemed like Luke was going to manage on his own.
"Being his son. I don't...I'm not sure I'm ready to be his son." Luke couldn't even bring himself to say Anakin's name out loud. Besides, it still might not be true – nothing that Luke had seen so far was irrefutable fact that he was indeed Anakin's son.
Laughing, Piett shook his head. "I felt the same way when he appointed me from his personal assistant to Admiral. I told him 'Sir, are you alright? Did you hit your head? Or did you just lose all your senses?' But you know what he told me? He said, 'Piett, sometimes to grow you have to do things you don't think you can do'."
Laughing weakly, Luke shook his head. "That sounds insane."
"Yes, it is insane. That's your father."
For a minute, Luke expected Anakin to jump out of no where and simply murder Piett for saying something so insulting, even if it was a joke. Once, the Princess had overheard some boys in the hangar bay joking about deserting. From what Luke remembered, three men disappeared immediately and the others were oddly silent for a long while after until one by one they simply disappeared as well.
Luke never joked after that.
Yet, here he was, joking with an Admiral of the Imperial Empire Navy like the Grand Admiral wasn't on the same ship with them.
The room had fallen eerily silent, Piett regarding him from his seat without even acting like he wasn't. "What are you thinking about?" Piett asked, leaning back in his chair.
Shaking his head, Luke shrugged. "Nothing. It doesn't matter. Is the Grand Admiral busy?"
Not seeming content with Luke's answer, Piett still let it slide. "I think he's finishing a meeting. After the medics see you, we can go see him at his office. I'm sure he'd be glad to see that you're awake."
Nodding, Luke got up slowly, feeling much better than the night before.
Someone had brought more clothes for him at some point, which made Luke feel slightly uncomfortable that people had been around him when he hadn't noticed. The outfits were all pretty much the same thing – a simple shirt in either black, blue, or gray and plain pants and shoes. There was nothing extravagant, and Luke felt oddly comforted that Anakin wasn't trying to push anything more frivolous on him.
Or it was that in reality Luke was being taken back to Coruscant so they could make a huge scene about his arrest and execution, and they didn't really care what he wore. Gulping, Luke changed into a plain gray shirt and black pants, Admiral Piett still waiting for him when he came out.
"Excellent. Shall we?" Piett walked out the doors, Luke following behind him. The guards fell into step beside them, Wedge not present.
The medical center on the ship was very clean and bright, Luke almost feeling overwhelmed by the smell of sanitizer and the brightness of the lights.
"Ah, . We've been expecting you – would you mind coming with me?" A woman in a white coat approached as soon as they entered.
Glancing at Piett, the Admiral encouraged Luke with a smile and a nod. "I'll wait here for you, alright? Don't worry."
"I'm not worried." Luke, sulking slightly, followed after the medic into a quiet back room, the lights dimmed slightly.
"I'm Doctor Janet Sona, Chief of Medicine aboard the Receptor. It's nice to properly meet you, ."
"You can call me Luke."
"Very well then, Luke. Now, last night I administered a sedative. Do you remember anything about that?"
Feeling uncomfortable, Luke shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry. I remember briefly waking up and talking with one of my guards."
"That's alright. I didn't expect you to. You were very stressed. Along with the sedative, I gave you something for anxiety. I'm going to keep you on it for the rest of your stay on board, and will recommend you continue it after you reach Coruscant."
Scribbling a few things down on her pad, the doctor glanced back up when Luke remained silent. "Do you have any questions?"
"Who approved of the medicine?" Luke asked. On the Alliance, they had very limited medical supply at all. It was best to avoid injuries if one could, and they had no medicines for sleeping, anxiety, or anything of that sort. The Princess often said if one wasn't strong enough to handle the world, nothing would help with that.
"Your father. He's already told me if you want to stop, we won't force you to continue if that's what you're worried about. He was simply worried about you last night and wanted to do everything possible to subdue some of your stress."
Still unsure how he felt, Luke nodded. It was hard to tell if he felt any better.
seemed to sense his hesitations. "Why don't you give the medicine a try for a few days? This medicine can be a bit fickle, so you can't start and stop it as you please - I've already given you what we call a loading dose, so you would have to take another weaning dose tonight even if you want to stop. Then if you don't like it after that, we can wean you off then, alright?"
"Alright." The people here seemed too understanding, and Luke was waiting for the other ball to drop. What exactly that was, he couldn't say, but still he waited while the doctor continued to scribble a few things down.
"Good. Now, are you up to date on all your vaccinations?" After that, the rest of the appointment went relatively smooth. asked simple questions about his diet, his activity levels, and a few more subtle questions about how he was doing not only physically but mentally. Nothing overly obtrusive in Luke's opinion, and before he knew it, he was walking back out to the still waiting Admiral and his guards, bidding a good day before moving on to her next patient.
"How was it?" Piett asked, like a doctor's appointment was supposed to be fun.
"It was fine. Can we go see the Grand Admiral now?"
Nodding, Piett lead the way out of the medical center and through the ship, Luke following closely, keeping his eyes down. It didn't seem to take as long to find Anakin's office this time around, Luke feeling like he had better bearings with his surroundings now. Anakin was sorting files in his pad when they walked in the room, but he set it aside immediately, turning to look at Luke with consideration filling his blue eyes.
"Luke, Piett. Good timing – my meeting just finished a few minutes ago. What's going on?"
Piett spoke up first. "I suggested that Luke come to see you after his medical exam."
"Ah. I see. Very well – you may go about your duties, Piett. I'll escort him back to his room when we are finished."
Bowing, Piett gave Luke a quick pat on the shoulder and a wink, leaving just Luke and Anakin in the room. Unsure what to do, Luke just stood in the middle of the room and waited, still not having said a word.
Anakin for his part studied Luke from his seat, leaning back slightly as if considering something important. "Do you want to sit down?" Gesturing to the seat before him, Anakin smiled pleasantly.
Nodding slowly, Luke came and sat down.
Leaning back in his chair and sighing, Anakin stretched his arms high above his head. "These meetings can get so long and dull sometimes – I swear it's like we keep saying the same thing over and over and over."
"What was the meeting about?" Luke asked casually.
"Oh, just fleet regulations and keeping each other updated on everything going on between ship sections. Most of the time we end up joking that we should just go out for drinks and a chat because we already communicate fairly well. But the Emperor insists we have weekly meetings anyway." Anakin gestured to the pad on the table. "It really just generates more paperwork for me to do, which I think he knows so he does it on purpose."
Freezing, Luke stared at his father. Did his father just openly insult the Emperor?
Noticing that Luke seemed a bit panicked, Anakin stopped. "Is everything alright, Luke? You seem a bit worried. How was your exam?"
"It was fine. I, uh, just didn't think the Empire would be so…"
"Relaxed? Many of the Alliance recruits think the same thing, although we don't get many."
Nodding, Luke fell silent again.
"Would you like to spar with me a bit? I noticed you were trying with the droids the other day, but I think you need some help on your technique." The offer was rather unexpected, Luke unable to stop his hopeful glance. It had been a long while since he'd had someone to teach him sparring – Han was more backstreet fighting skills and Chewbacca had been longer range accuracy with a blaster. Once in the Alliance there had been a man around for a while that had been a skilled melee fighter, but he died off rather quickly after offering to help Luke with his skills. It was strange to Luke because he seemed like an excellent swordsman, but he died on only his second scouting mission.
"Sure."
"Excellent. Follow me." Heading towards a back door that Luke hadn't gone through before, Luke found them in what must have been Anakin's personal training room.
"Have you ever seen a lightsaber before?" Anakin asked, going over to a display case filled with elegant silver handles.
Luke shook his head.
"You are awfully quiet today. Bad dream?" Anakin picked out two of the handles before closing the case, turning to hand Luke one.
The more Luke mulled over the night before, the more he wanted to forget. Biggs had been in his dreams all night again. But of course, his father already knew he'd been having bad dreams.
Shrugging, Luke studied the handle carefully, realizing there was an activation switch. "I think I'm off because of the sedative."
"Hmm. Yes, I always hate trying to wake up from sedatives. I'm usually much groggier than you are right now. You must take after your mother."
That caught Luke's attention. "My mother?"
Nodding, Anakin paused. "Oh. I suppose you never knew your mother. You were raised with Beru and Owen, yes?"
"Yes. They died when I was eleven. Tuscan Raiders."
The Grand Admiral flinched heavily when Luke mentioned the Tuscans, like he had personal experience with them. "That is terrible. I'm sorry, Luke."
"My mother...what was she like?"
"Padme Amidala Skywalker, formally Naberrie. She still has a few relatives on Naboo, her home planet. How do I describe her?" Anakin paused, considering his words. "She was Queen at fourteen, and then she went on to become a Senator. She cared about everyone deeply – too much sometimes."
Looking haunted, Anakin turned away from Luke as he wiped at his eyes, the mere memory of her bringing him to tears.
"I've never loved anyone else the way I loved your mother…"
Before Luke could say anything else, Anakin turned back towards him, eyes free of tears and clearly ready for a new topic of conversation.
Padme Amidala Skywalker. Making note of the name, Luke decided he would try and look her up later.
"Now, shall we learn some basic swordsmanship?" Anakin grinned, lighting up an elegant blue blade.
Lighting up his own, Luke found his own blade's color matched his fathers.
"Be careful. It's only a training blade so it won't actually cut anything, but it will still sting."
Nodding, their lesson began.