A/N Luke is five

Vader had been up for hours, working on proposals, and was finishing up a meeting with Captain Alima. All of this mixed into a blur when it was 0700, Vader rarely got any sleep, he mostly meditated in his chamber. He walked through the hangar with the Captain who was asking for approval on a mission to Ithor.

"If you see any vital biotech, inform my lieutenants and I shall assist in its confiscation," Vader said as he stopped near one end of the hangar, his hands behind his back.

"Of course, Lord Vader. I shall notify you right away." The Captain held a stern, business-like face. Not allowing his true fears and emotions bleed through, but his hard work had failed as he screamed fear in the force.

Just then, he saw the turbo-lift doors slide open with a ding, his small five-year-old son walked out with a grin. He gripped his backpack excitedly as he practically skipped to them but was intercepted by his Lieutenant Lekauf.

"Luke, your father is busy right now." He heard Lekauf whisper to Luke, Luke audibly whined.

"I-Is now not a good time, my Lord?" Alima asked, Vader sighed and was about to respond when Luke wiggled away from Lekauf's grasp and ran towards his father.

"Good morning father!" Luke greeted, he looked at the other man and hovered closer towards his father. Perhaps these were one of his rare shy days.

"You are dismissed, Captain." Vader's baritone voice seemed to make the Captain jump, he blinked quickly a couple of times and swallowed hard.

"It was a pleasure, my Lord." Alima bowed, looked quickly between Luke and Vader, and walked off the hangar. Vader turned to address his son and then saw Lekauf walk towards them

"I am sorry for letting him get away, my Lord" Lekauf bowed quickly, Vader raised up his hand.

"It is of no consequence, you may return to your post." Lekauf nodded and quickly returned back to his office. Vader faced his son, "What are you doing up so early, my son?"

"It's my first day of school, remember?" Luke smiled, oh yes it was his first day of school. Vader had, unfortunately, forgotten under all the hours of work he had been assigned by the Emperor. It was when Vader really took in Luke, he wore a small formal uniform, he had been admitted to the Imperial City Academy. He would go to the best school on Coruscant, he would not settle for anything less than the best for Luke.

"You're taking me right?" Luke asked, Vader unfortunately had work to do. With the new Ithor mission in its infancy, he would have to focus a lot of hours on this. He looked down on Luke, he was about to explain why he couldn't drop him off, but Lukes blue eyes looked so hopeful.

He was a Dark Lord of the Sith, in charge of the Imperial Navy, fist of the Emperor, this job required one to be strong. He has faced full-blown armies from the Rebellion, conquered enemies of the Empire. But, somehow, he folded when it came to his five-year-old son. "I will, just this once, I cannot drop you off to school every day."

"Thank you, father!" Luke practically jumped, Vader walked over to his personal shuttle as the ramp to enter slowly descended. Luke skipped happily towards the ramp, once the ramp was fully lowered Luke climbed it. Vader followed his son, it was then when he noticed his son's backpack was tightly packed as if the zipper would burst open any second. Could they possibly need that much material for the first year of school?

Once they both entered the cockpit and the exit ramp came to a close, he sat in the pilot's seat and Luke sat next to him. Luke rested his backpack at the side of his chair, Vader examined it for a moment.

"What is inside your bag?" Vader asked as he moved the shuttle out of the hangar. Luke looked at his bag then back up at his father.

"Oh- Uhm." Luke lowered his hand and unzipped his bag slightly, "My ducky blanket." Luke said softly.

"You are bringing your blanket?" Vader saw as a small bit of the blanket spill out of his bag, Luke had dragged this blanket around everywhere since he was a baby. Luke nodded with a smile, "I do not think you can bring personal belongings such as blankets to school, my son." Luke looked up at him devastated.

"Huh?- w-why not?" Luke pulled the blanket out of the bag, held it in his lap.

"Perhaps they view it as a distraction." They began to near the school, Vader chose a landing pad and slowly landed the shuttle. Luke seemed to sit still in his chair, he gripped his blanket nervously. Vader ultimately knew his son was nervous, despite his eagerness to go to school earlier that morning. This blanket comforted him.

"There is no need to be nervous." Vader stood and waited for his son to join him, Luke looked up nervously from his seat.

"Were you nervous for your first day of school?" Luke asked in a small voice. Vader contemplated this for a moment, he had never been to school. Never had a formal education, didn't even know how to read at Lukes's age. But he considered when he first left Tatooine, he had been nervous. Going to school and leaving your home planet were two different things altogether, but he wished to comfort his son.

"Yes, I was. But I am more than confident that you will enjoy it." Luke looked like he thought about his father's words for a moment,

"You really think I will like it?" His voice was quiet.

"Yes, I do." There was a moment of silence, Luke slid off of the co-pilot's seat, and set his ducky blanket on the chair.

"I don't think I will bring it anymore." He zipped his backpack up and threw it over his shoulder.

"Really, why not?"

"You said I will like it, so no need to be nervous" Luke smiled and made his way to the exit ramp. Vader pressed the control panel on the wall and the ramp slowly lowered, Luke walked down and Vader followed behind. The entrance to the school was ahead. The school was tall, elegant, a school for the youth of the Empire, the best school in Imperial City. They walked towards it, Vader noticed a buzz in the force. Parents and nannies were frightened, they clearly did not expect to see Lord Vader here.

Luke stuck as close as possible to his father, he was almost hidden in Vader's cape. His attempt at small bravery by leaving his blanket was not working as well as Luke had hoped. Vader placed his hand on Luke's head, encouraging him.

Once they reached the entrance, Vader turned to Luke. "G-Goodbye, father."Luke was tearing up a little.

"Luke, why are you crying? It is just school, there is no need to cry."

"I-I am just gonna miss you, is all." Luke sniffled, how his son grew so fond of Vader was astounding to him. Luke had such a powerful, unconditional love for his father. Something Vader had felt he did not deserve.

"I will miss you as well," Vader said, and it was true, he would miss him even if he would only be gone for a portion of the day. "Goodbye, little one." Vader tousled Lukes's hair, Luke smiled at the gesture. Luke took in a deep breath and entered the school, Vader for a moment watched as his son grew distant from him. Luke turned his head, smiled and waved, and ran further down the hall. Vader wondered why no one mentioned the hardships of leaving your child at school, it wasn't something Vader had expected to feel. It was just school after all, but watching his son leave tugged at him.

Vader turned to move back to his shuttle, the parents around him kept a far distance. He entered his shuttle, his cape billowed behind him, he moved with a swift purpose. He moved to the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat. It was an unusual feeling, he was not used to leaving Luke at a foreign place. Yes, sometimes he had to leave for missions given by the Emperor, but Luke was left safely at home.

Vader lifted the shuttle in the air, he headed back to his home, he would be there when Luke was finished. He was sure his son would tell him all about his day, what his school was like. He would finish preparing the crew for Ithor, meet with Grand Moff Berand, and finish a pile of datapads within the time Luke was in school.

He landed the shuttle in his hangar, he stood from his seat then looked down at the co-pilots and saw Lukes's ducky blanket. Vader reached down slowly and grabbed it and stared at it, this blanket had been Lukes since he was a baby. Since the first day Vader got Luke, it was always wrapped around the child's shoulders. He had held Luke wrapped around in this blanket, it comforted him through his short life, it was practically attached to the boy. His ability to leave it behind, even when he was nervous, led to one absolute conclusion; he was growing up.

A/N I know its short, but I wanted to upload something before the next mini-arch which will be a more serious one but still wholesome and family bonding! Let me know what you guys thought!