Chapter 4 – Discovery
Luke waited for the hand to clench and for the blackness of oblivion. But suddenly, very unexpectedly, the grip round Luke's neck vanished altogether. The restraints round his wrists dug in painfully as he fell forward in the chair. He cried out in pain, and then gasped frantically for all the free air around him as he remained slumped forward. His wrists aching from the weight of his body.
Then it dawned on him. I'm not dead. He was sure that Vader would have crushed his neck the moment he realized that he "Luke" was the son of Anakin Skywalker. But why had the dark lord released him? He did his best to sit up despite his aching neck. When he caught sight of Vader he was standing further away from where he had been standing before, he had his hand against the wall as though afraid he was going to fall and his respirator seemed to be out of sync to its usual rhythm. What was going on?
"I am Luke Skywalker…son of Anakin Skywalker. The Jedi knight you…betrayed and…murdered."
Vader felt as though his mind had been plugged into a power socket. His thoughts went into turmoil, running in dizzying circles and turning his ordered world upside down. Numerous voices echoed in his memories.
"Something wonderful has happened. Ani, I'm pregnant."
"That's…That's wonderful."
"You die in childbirth."
"I'm not going to die in childbirth Ani, I promise you."
"I came to see if you and the baby are safe."
"Come away with me, help me raise our child. Leave everything behind while we still can."
"Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she alright?"
"It seems in your anger, you killed her."
"I am Luke Skywalker…son of Anakin Skywalker" "… son of Anakin Skywalker…" "Son of Anakin!" "Son!" "Son!" "Son!"
His whole world came crashing down. His clenched fist fell to his side, releasing the boy and staggered backwards bracing himself with a gloved hand against the wall. There had been no trace of deception in the boy's declaration. The words he had spoken were nothing but truth. He raised his masked face and looked harder at the boy, and there was that flicker of recognition again. The blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin and the unmistakable familiarity in the boy's face.
This could not be! She had died. She'd died with the baby. Palpatine told him so. He had choked her to death! He reached into his robe and brought out the lightsaber, staring at it. There was no mistake. This was the same saber. He placed the cylindrical hilt on a sideboard, lowered his head and closed his eyes. He felt the boy's strong force signature. There was no doubt a signature that strong could only match one other. The boy's father, Anakin Skywalker. Vader leaned harder against the wall as the answer flashed behind his closed eyes as clear as crystal.
I have a son.
Luke himself was still staring at Vader who looked as though he was in pain. Leaning against the wall with his head bent forward. But he felt no sympathy, just confusion to what was going on. Why had he released him? Why had his identity declaration caused this peculiar reaction from the murderous Sith Lord? Did Vader regret killing his father? That was highly unlikely. He had seen him strike Ben down without any hint of regret or hesitation. He had been all set to strangle him to death before. He moved to straighten up in the chair, but he winced as the movement caused his wrists to sting against the binders.
Vader's helmeted head shot up and the dark lenses made contact with his eyes. Luke froze, now that his enemy had snapped out of whatever trance he had been in. Was he going to kill him now? His fear resurfaced as Vader straightened up and came towards him. He then raised his hand and Luke braced himself. But to his surprise the binders opened and he fell out of the chair to the floor.
But before he could speak or even try to sit up a pair of large gloved hands took hold of him by the waist, lifting him off the floor. Panic began to spread through Luke, but Vader's touch was not rough. In fact, he was carefully helping Luke to sit back down in the chair, but made no move to restrain him in any way.
Once Vader released him, Luke instantly began rubbing his sore wrists and neck as Vader stepped back and seemed to be studying him closely. The dark stare Vader was giving him was starting to make Luke feel more agitated then he already was. His throat was feeling a bit better so he risked a question.
"Why've you…released me? Aren't you going to…kill me?"
The gloved hands clenched into tight fists so that the leather squeaked. "No! You will not die Luke. I will not allow it." His answer was so abrupt and sharp that Luke jumped in his seat. This was getting more bizarre by the second.
"But why!" he demanded. "You were all set to kill me a minute ago!"
For a while Vader took several deep breaths then made eye contact with Luke.
He seemed about to say something, but all of the sudden a massive explosion came from outside the viewport and the sound of laser blasts. Luke instantly stood up and Vader strode over to the viewport. Luke followed but stopped a few feet from Vader not wanting to be anywhere near him. The next second something shot past making Luke's heart leap. It was the Millennium Falcon and it was letting loose a barrage of laser fire.
Luke could not believe it. Han and the Princess were attacking the station alone. What the kriff were they thinking? Leia and the droids needed to get to the rebel base and deliver the plans. Yet here they were attacking this gargantuan station themselves. For what purpose? The ship was but an insect size compared to the size of this death machine. Or were they attempting to rescue him? Yes, that had to be what they were doing. He barely knew Han, but he was sure he wasn't stupid enough to think he could destroy this place alone. So they must have come back for him.
The same idea seemed to come to Vader. He turned back to Luke and strode over to him. Luke staggered back until his ankles touched the chair and he fell back into it just as Vader reached him.
"You will stay here Luke, while I deal with this. When I return we will continue talking." He whirled round making his cloak brush his ankles, then he strode across the room and through the door. Luke stood up but before he'd taken a step the door closed.
He hurried over, but there was no switch or control panel on the wall to open the door. He banged on the door with his fists, but winced as the violent action aggravated his sore restraint marks which had turned pink. He wanted to yell after Vader, but he had to be out of earshot by now, he was all alone. Another explosion erupted from outside and Luke flinched even if his friends caused a good enough distraction, he was still trapped.
Author's Notes
Hello there everyone! I know there has been a big gap between updates but as I am sure you can understand we've just had a busy season. In my case Christmas, my birthday and a Pantomime Performance. So I was not able to concentrate enough to focus on fanfiction. But now I'm slowly getting back into it. Those of you who read my other stories I have every intension to continue them but some may take a while so I hope you can be patient until the new chapters get posted.
I hope you also enjoyed Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. I loved it so much especially the performance of Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley. And all the cameos the film included.
Anyway, wishing you all the best and that you like this new Chapter. Please keep sending me your reviews.
May The Force Be With You
Louisa XXX
