Day 5: Sparkle

Summary: Agreeing to help Vader kill the Emperor, Luke allows his father to help with his training.

Luke followed the large dark form on his father. Despite having to bend over to avoid hitting his helmet against the cave walls of the ceiling, Vader moved gracefully on.

"How can you move so well in here?" Luke asked as he waved his glowrod in front of him.

"The lenses in my mask have different settings," Vader replied. His voice was loud in the small thin tunnel.

"Ah. I just thought it was a Force thing," Luke admitted with a shrug.

He sighed to himself. He wasn't sure what he was doing here. Va- his father had insisted they come here as it was the next step in Luke's training.

"I won't be trained in the Dark Side," Luke had said, holding his head up high and glared at Darth Vader.

There was a long pause from Vader before he spoke. "This has nothing to do with the Light or Dark Side. This is the next step for any Force wielder. If you were a Jedi, you have completed this step when you were still a youngling."

Luke had eventually relented, and now they were here on a barren rock at the edge of the galaxy. Luke had been lured here by Vader's promise to teach him more about the Force, but not the Dark Side. He would not learn that. But in return, when Luke was strong enough, he would help Vader kill the Emperor.

He didn't dwell too much on what would happen after that. He knew his father wanted to take the throne with Luke as his side. 'Rule the galaxy as father and son.' But Luke wasn't interested in that. He was faithful to the Alliance. What would Vader and the Alliance do after the Emperor was dead? Would the war continue with a new Emperor?

Luke shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had to take things one step at a time. First, learn the ways of the Force. Then kill the Emperor. Then deal with his father and the fate of the galaxy.

The tunnel had widened out. The ceiling now stretched far above them to where the light of Luke's glowrod couldn't reach.

"Turn the rod off," Vader said. His voice echoed. This place was much larger than Luke had assumed it was.

"But then I won't be able to see."

"Turn it off."

Luke mumbled but did as requested. His eyes strained against the pitch black as soon as the light disappeared. If it wasn't for the constant sound of Vader's respirator, he would have no idea where Vader was.

Wait. No.

He could just make out Vader's silhouette and just beyond the outline of the helmet was a faint twinkle of stars . . . But they were still in the cave . . . The twinkling grew brighter and soon the entire cavern was lit up by sparkling glowing crystals.

Luke gasped as he stared in wide-eyed wonder. "I can . . . I can feel them . . ."

"Kyber crystals," Vader said. His voice seemed softer and more natural. Not as harsh or mechanical. "They are the heart of a lightsaber. Jedi younglings would take pilgrimages to a cave such as this to find the crystal they resonate with."

"Resonate with? I already have a lightsaber."

Luke pulled out the saber he built back on Tatooine and he looked down at it. A large black-gloved hand came to a rest on top of his hand and another cupped it from below. Vader's hands tenderly surrounded Luke's own.

"This is not your kyber crystal. A kyber crystal should pick you. That is why we are here."

Luke looked all around. "How do we even know if my kyber crystal is in this cave?"

"What do you feel?"

Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. At first, the only thing he noticed was the irritating sound of his father's breathing. He took a deeper breath and allowed himself to connect with the Force. He relaxed into the velvet folds and it hummed with music. Not that it was loud, but he could sense the crystals. They were like tiny bells gently chiming all around him.

He even noticed the gentle chime coming from his own lightsaber still sitting in his hands. There was also a chime that was slightly off as if it was out of tune or damaged. Vader. It was the crystal in Vader's saber. Why did it sound so wrong?

Suddenly there was a loud chime, far louder than any of the others. There in the back of the cave, one of the crystals was sparkling brighter and ringing louder than all the others. Vader's hands slipped away and he stepped to the side as Luke passed him by. He walked slowly through the cavern, stepping around rocks and stalagmites without even looking at them. His eyes were on the crystal.

He came to a stop right in front of an outcropping of rock and crystal. On one craggy tip was a small glowing crystal. It came free with almost no effort when he pulled it out. He placed the crystal in his palm and soon the glowing and the chiming faded away leaving him with a small clear crystal.

He understood now what his father had meant. This was his kyber crystal. The one he resonated with.

He turned around with a large smile on his face and despite the mask, he knew his father was smiling as well.