A/N In this Luke is 11
Sorry if I hadn't made Lukes age more clear, I will be writing his age at the top of the rest of the fics!
His alarm in his room blared loudly, Luke slapped the alarm to turn it off with a groan. He rose in his bed, he rubbed his eyes and sat in his bed for a few minutes. His brain slowly adjusted to being awake, Luke knew today was the day of the play. Luke had been attending practice after school every day and was incredibly excited and nervous for the performance this evening. He did not think he would like being in a play was this much fun, or pretending to be his dad. Luke quickly got dressed for school and ordered something to eat, once he got his food he walked into the conference room and sat his food down on the table.
His father stood at the other end of the table, Luke sat in one of the chairs and began eating. "I have to go early to the auditorium today," Luke told his father.
"The performance is this evening, correct?" His father asked, Luke nodded and downed his juice.
"You are coming to see the play right?" Luke asked hopefully, he knew his father was busy but Luke has been working hard on this all week.
"Yes, I will be attending." Luke beamed, "As will the Emperor." Luke's eyes widened.
"What!" Luke felt suddenly incredibly nervous, the Emperor, he had never liked him. "Why does he want to watch my school play?"
"I believe the academy had asked him to view, as this play is done in his honor. When he discovered I was attending he decided to accompany me" His father put down the datapad he was working in. Luke felt a pang of nervousness but attempted to hide it, even if his father could read his emotions.
"You aren't going just 'cause the Emperor is going right?" Luke asked in a small voice, looked up hopefully at his father.
"I had already planned on attending before they asked the Emperor to view the performance." His father placed his hands behind his back.
"Really!?" Luke smiled and sat up in his chair.
"Yes, I wouldn't miss it, you have worked hard on this." His father stated matter of factly, Luke smiled to himself, he appreciated that his father had noticed how hard he worked more than he would know. Luke quickly finished his breakfast and ran off to the turbo-lift which brought him down to the hangar bay. He entered the speeder Lekauf was sitting in and went off to the school. He would be at the auditorium all day.
Luke had waved Lekauf goodbye and ran down the halls of his school towards the auditorium. The halls were decorated head to toe with Imperial flags and decorations. The doors to the auditorium slid open and Luke heard a commotion of kids talking or some reciting their lines. Luke ran down the auditorium towards the stage, which was fitted with props. "Oh good Luke, you're here!" Mrs. Dellian smiled, "Go put on your costume okay?" Luke ran behind the stage, his costume didn't have a mask, as that would be a safety hazard or something to that effect. So he wore a black outfit with a long black cape, which was equipped with a hood. Just then he heard someone enter backstage, Luke turned around and saw it was Daro Vancil, the lead of the show. He was playing the Emperor. He also wore a black robe too but was lined with red to differ from Lukes's robe.
"Hey Luke, you memorized all your lines right?" Daro asked, stepping towards him. "I don't want you embarrassing me in front of my family." Luke took a step back and blinked in shock.
"Uh- yeah, I did," Luke said, slightly annoyed at Daro. He had been a pain since the first practice, he had never met someone so snobbish, well maybe except the Emperor. He was a perfect fit to play him in the show.
"Good, just don't mess up out there!" Daro pointed at Luke, Luke huffed and was about to reply to Daro when the assistant director came in, Mr. Felis. Luke had never expected someone directing an elementary school play to take such things so seriously. Mr. Felis wanted everything perfect, like his reputation was on the line.
"Ahh, look, it's my two stars! Getting along I hope?" Mr. Felis said as he clapped his hands together, Mr. Felis had just arrived on set for the first time the other day ago. He was trying to be as friendly to the kids as possible. Daro then wrapped an arm around Lukes's shoulder and smiled widely.
"Oh, of course Mr. Felis, me and Luke are best pals!" Daro shook Luke slightly, attempting to display a close friendship between the two. Luke wiggled out of Daro's grasp, Daro huffed and readjusted his cape as Luke made his way to Mr. Felis
"Mr. Felis, can I ask something about the script?" Luke asked furrowed his brows and his friendly demeanor vanished. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down at Luke, glaring at him slightly.
"What is it uh-?" He snapped his fingers and squeezed his eyes tightly, "What's your name kid?"
"L-Luke" He was taken aback by the man's new demeanor, Luke took a small step back, distancing himself from the man.
"Okay, Luke , what's the line?" Mr. Felis looked annoyed as if Luke was wasting his time. Luke pulled out the script and flipped through the pages until he landed on the line he was worried about.
"Uhm, so I am supposed to say I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to our new Empire to the Emperor. But I don't think that my fa-" Luke was quickly cut off.
"I have, under good authority, that Darth Vader actually said those lines. If you wanted to change those lines, you would want to be changing history." Mr. Felis gave Luke a disapproving stare, Luke didn't know if Mr. Felis was telling the truth or not.
"But, I-" Luke tried again, but Mr. Felis stepped in again.
"I am not sure if you are aware, but Darth Vader is actually attending this play. Everything must be perfect." He stepped towards Luke, "I would hate to see what Darth Vader did to the kid that portrayed him poorly." He hissed.
Luke stared at him shocked, he couldn't believe what he just heard. The man did not know who Luke's father was, Luke wasn't surprised though about that. His father had been able to successfully keep Luke's image out of public eyes. While his school knew, high Imperial society knew, Luke wasn't all too sure if people knew what he looked like.
"I-uh-uhm.." Luke kept sputtering out sounds, trying to spit out a response but was still so shocked.
"This has been the script for eleven years, so just stick to the script, okay kid?" Mr. Felis sighed, "Stars, I need something to drink.." He mumbled to himself, he snapped his fingers, and a child near him brought him a water bottle. Mr. Felis walked off chugging his water, Luke stood there befuddled.
Luke sighed and threw the hood from his cape over his head and walked out on stage, the lights from the stage were hot and blinding. He squinted his eyes to adjust, he saw Daro waving his cape around absentmindedly then quickly stopped when he saw Luke on stage.
Luke and Daro went over lines from the script, Mr. Felis eyed the two and critiqued them. He made them do scenes over and over again, it was exhausting. Ever since Luke asked to critique a line, Mr. Felis had been pretty rude to Luke. But he did his best to ignore him, Luke focused on the play and doing his best,
The sun was setting on Coruscant, Luke had been gone a majority of the day working on the play. Vader was currently on his way to Luke's academy, the performance would be beginning soon. The Academy performed this play often, and every time they invited Vader and the Emperor, and every time they both denied the invitation.
The only reason Vader was going was that Luke was in the play, Vader worried that was the reason the Emperor was going as well. The Emperor's sudden interest in Luke had not gone unnoticed, first, he wanted Luke to be in the play and now he was going to watch him. Perhaps the Emperor was attempting to gain Lukes's trust, to try and appear that he cared about Luke, only to use Lukes's emotions against him later.
Vader would protect Luke, make sure the Emperor could not hurt him. He would be a step ahead, but that could be put off for later. Right now he must attend his son's play, Vader landed his shuttle on one of the landing pads. He walked down the exit ramp from his shuttle, he entered the school.
Once he entered he saw the Emperor surrounded by praetorian guards, Sidious turned around and grinned. "Lord Vader, you finally made it." Vader bowed at Sidious, "Shall we make our entrance?" Sidious laughed.
Sidious and his guards began to make their way to the auditorium, Vader followed next to Sidious. They entered the auditorium, which once was buzzing with parent activity and talking was silenced. Then they saw two adults make their way to them, one Vader recognized as the Headmaster.
"Thank you so much for attending Emperor and Lord Vader." The headmaster bowed, the second man next to him bowed as well. "We are eternally grateful, this man next to me is the director, Gil Feris."
Feris shot his hand out towards Vader, perhaps wanting a handshake, "Commence with the performance at once, Headmaster. Do not waste my time." Vader said, Feris dropped his hand quickly and the Headmaster tensed, Vader could feel their fear rise through the force.
"At once, Lord Vader." Feris's voice was shaky, he rushed down the auditorium and the Headmaster quickly followed. The lights of the auditorium lowered, the stage lit up and kids rolled out onto the stage. He then felt Lukes signature find Vader's, Vader met with Lukes's signature and Luke's mood rose and felt overjoyed.
It was only 20 minutes in when the Emperor decided to leave, Vader knew he was not going to stay during the whole play. He desperately did not care about kids, neither did Vader, he was only here for Luke. Vader folded his arms over his chest, staring at the stage from the back of the auditorium.
He then saw his son come on stage, Luke was grinning, though that was not really true to the character he was portraying. Luke tried his best to straighten his grin, to look serious, but Luke glanced over the stage and his eyes landed on Vader, his smile grew.
Luke was nervous, he was practically screaming it into the force, but hid it well in his performance. Luke was the only good part of the performance, he watched Luke perform on stage. Vader couldn't care less about the scenes when Luke wasn't on stage, but thankfully Luke was playing a major character.
The pay was not long, it was about an hour-long but hit the major points of the founding of the Empire. Vader stood in the back of the auditorium, waiting for his son so they could leave. Parents walked up the auditorium with their children, though they all kept their distance from him. Soon though an unwelcome sight came towards him, director Felis.
The closer Felis got the more rigid he became but attempted to keep his cool, he stood about a meter away from Vader. "I hope that the play was to your liking, Lord Vader." He smiled weakly.
"It was adequate." Vader towered over the scrawny man.
"I hope the child that portrayed you was able to do you justice," Felis swallowed hard, "Though I do think maybe he could have had more stage presence." Felis laughed awkwardly, was this man trying to joke around with him?
"The child who played me was the only good part of the play." Vader stated matter of factly, "Would you bring him to me, I do not wish to wait any further." Felis's eyes flew open and he nodded slowly.
"Right away Lord Vader." Felis bowed and quickly left to find Luke, the auditorium was soon empty. Eventually, he saw Felis and his son walking towards him, Felis looked bewildered and Luke had a small smile on his face. They reached Vader and Felis placed a hand on Luke's shoulder, Vader clenched his fists.
"This is the boy that played you in the show this evening." He turned to Luke, "Luke, Lord Vader wanted to see you, he believed you were the best part about the show this evening." Felis wore a weary smile.
Luke brightened up, "You really thought I was the best part!" Luke beamed, Felis looked shocked.
"That is not how you speak to Lord Vader!" Felis reprimanded, he looked at Vader apologetically. "I am so sorry for his actions Lord Vader, he is just a child after all."
"He is my child, and I would recommend removing your hand from him." Vader finally said, he had enough of Felis and wanted to leave. Felis's eyes widened and quickly detached his hand from Lukes's shoulder.
"Y-Your child- I-." Felis stuttered, Vader sighed.
"Luke, come with me." Vader interrupted, Felis was annoying as it is. He could not listen to him stuttering any further, he did not wish to scar his child by swiftly crushing the man.
"M-My apologies, my Lord!" Felis quickly spit out, Vader ignored him and turned to leave.
"Bye Mr. Felis!" Luke said and followed Vader out into the school hallway. "So you really thought I was that good?" Luke smiled.
"Unquestionably, you were the best part, my son." He sent pride through their bond, Luke smiled as he looked down to the floor.
"You think we could get some ice cream?" Luke perked up.
"Luke, it is twenty-two-hundred, it is too late for sweets."
"Please! You said I was the best part!" Luke begged, Vader was silent for a moment, they made it out to the landing pads.
"Alright, you may get some ice cream," Vader said as they entered Vader's shuttle, Luke jumped for joy.
"Thank you!" Luke celebrated.
"It is well deserved." Vader entered the cockpit, Luke followed close behind.
"You think I could also pilot us the way there?" Luke tried to add, he smiled widely.
"Luke! You are eleven!" Vader said as he started the ignition sequence, the lights on the control panel blinked to life and the hum of the ship filled the cockpit.
"Fine, fine, just ice cream then." Luke laughed as he sat in the co-pilot's seat. Luke smiled as Vader lifted the shuttle, "Thank you for coming."
"Of course, my son." Luke sent affection through their bond, he curled up in the huge cape they gave in for the play and they both made their way to the ice cream shop.