A/N Luke is a little over a year old in this one
This day marked a year since he had found his son, the son that was stolen from him by the Jedi. Something so unforgivable, so twisted, so evil, something only a Jedi was capable of. He had sent search parties down on Tatooine in search for the Jedi who had done this, though he felt he may know who it was. Nothing had come from the search parties, while he would have searched the desert planet himself, he had a baby now. He didn't expect a baby to change his life this drastically, but he was sure that his master was not happy with his new life.
He was on his way to speak with his master, he strode through the halls of the palace. His footsteps were hard and echoed off the marbled walls, people gave him a wide berth as he passed them. He hoped his master would be quick, as a small celebration was going to be had for Luke. Vader knew today was not Lukes birthday, but this day was impactful nonetheless.
This day was the first day when father and son were reunited, where his life had changed. Vader didn't really think much was worth celebrating, but this was. While this wasn't going to be much of a celebration, he wanted to be with his son. But he couldn't let Sidious believe his son came before the Empire, so that's why he found himself entering Sidious's private audience chamber instead of being with Luke.
Vader walked down the red carpet that led to a dias at the end of the room with a large throne covered in jewels, Sidious was a dark crumpled figure who sat in the chair drumming his fingers. He could feel Sidious's gaze burn into him, Vader walked to the front of the dias and kneeled before Sidious. Silence passed between the two as Sidious took in Vaders form.
"Rise, my friend," Sidious said, finally breaking the silence. Vader stood and faced the dark lord who sat up in his chair. "The interrogation on the small group of Rebels went well, I trust?" Sidious folded his hands over each other gently.
"The group that had been captured had given little to no information on the small Rebellion movement, my master." Vader paused, "I believe they will be willing to divulge more information once they are met with the proper amount of force." Sidious looked slightly pleased at Vader's thinly veiled threat to the pathetic rebels. Rebels were like bugs, there weren't many right now but if they were not treated right away they would grow quickly. Something that could not be allowed to happen.
"I am sure you will show them what happens when someone commits treason and takes part in the Rebellion against the Empire." Sidious laughed hoarsely, "We must not allow a Rebellion to form, Lord Vader. Find what they are hiding."
"Yes, my master." Vader bowed slightly, he felt slightly disappointed he couldn't return to his son right away. he turned around and stalked down the throne room with his cape billowing behind him. The large throne room doors opened and left, soon after he was out of Sidious's vision he clenched his fists tightly. He would have to make the interrogations with the Rebels quick, they were the only thing holding him back from going home to his son.
He walked out of the palace towards his shuttle, up the exit ramp and into the cockpit. He started the ignition sequence and lifted the shuttle. He flew quickly in the direction of the Imperial Detention Center. Vader was not a patient man, if these Rebels did not willingly give the information Vader and the Emperor were looking for, he would force it out of them.
Vader walked out of the Detention Center, a few hours had passed since he had arrived. He had finished interrogating the pathetic Rebels who practically crumbled under his force. They barely held up in the interrogation, Vader wondered if they truly believed to be a threat to the Empire. They reluctantly gave potential locations on where there may be small bands of rebels. Once he got home he would inform several Generals of said locations and Senators that their planet may contain Rebels. But first, he had to see his son.
He entered his shuttle and walked into the cockpit. He lifted the shuttle and quickly flew through Coruscanti traffic. He never cared to follow traffic laws, he was the best pilot in the galaxy after all. He neared his building, the second-highest in Coruscant. The Emperor's building was the tallest in Imperial City, of course, no one was allowed to build anything exceeding the Emperor's building.
The city was still cleaning up after the first Empire Day celebration, which was about 2 months ago. It was huge, the Emperor threw huge parties with fireworks bursting in the sky, which frightened his small son. Vader found that Empire Day turned out to be just a painful reminder of his old life, of everything he lost. A year since her death and yet he found that his mourning had not eased with time.
He flew into his hangar and gently landed the shuttle, shut off the engine and left the cockpit. He walked down the ramp of his shuttle, the hangar was empty. He then saw the Lekauf's office door swoosh open, he had a few large bags hanging off his arms stuffed with a variety of items as he worked on a datapad. Lekauf quickly looked up at Vader with a slight frantic look in his eyes and attempted to bow without the bags sliding down his arms. Vader held up his hand signaling the bow was not necessary.
"What are you holding, Lieutenant?" Vader asked as they both walked towards the turbolift. Vader walked in as Lekauf fit in, holding the bags in such a way that wouldn't intrude on Vader's personal space.
"These-" Lekauf struggled to say as he balanced everything, "Are gifts I had gotten for Luke, via your request, my Lord." Vader looked down into the bags and saw they were filled with toys of a different variety. Lekauf had continued to exceed Vader's expectations, which was a difficult challenge for the average man, but not for Lekauf.
The lift doors opened to his floor, he felt his son's bright force presence glow radiantly through the force. "Bring the gifts to my conference room," Vader instructed.
"Yes, my Lord." Vader led the way down the hall, Lekauf shuffled behind carrying the bags, Vader reached the entrance to Luke's room. Lekauf passed behind Vader and continued down the hall, Vader pressed the control panel to Luke's room and the door swooshed open. His son was holding on to one of the gates to his playpen, his eyes darted up to Vader and made a cheerful noise.
"Da!" Luke yelled out as he pointed to Vader and smiled widely. His son was perhaps the only person in the galaxy that had a positive reaction to his arrival. Luke's nanny, Miss Berik, bowed once Vader entered the room.
"Greetings, my Lord," Berik said in a small voice, though Vader almost didn't hear her. He walked up to his son, Luke reached out a tiny hand and Vader met it with his large gloved hands. Luke radiated pure happiness and love from his end of the bond, Luke babbled towards him.
"He has not said his first words while I was away, has he?" Vader asked Lukes nanny, not turning to face her.
"No, my Lord." Luke's nanny kept herself in the corner of the room and looked down on the floor.
"You are dismissed for the evening," He said as he turned to face her, she nodded quickly and ducked out of the room. Luke reached for Vader, he held out his hands. Vader turned back to his small son and placed his hand softly on Luke's head. "Hello, my son." He said as soft as his vocoder would let him. Luke babbled softly, just then, Lekauf entered the room and Luke cheered.
"Hi, Luke!" Lekauf smiled brightly at his son, Vader held his hands behind his back as he noticed what Lekauf was holding, it seemed to be a toy. Lekauf turned to Vader and slightly held it up in his hands. "I got Luke a present if that is alright, my Lord," Lekauf said slightly awkwardly.
"You may give my son the gift you have gotten him," Vader replied as he watched Lekauf kneel down and hold out what looked to be a plush cat. Luke reached for it curiously, wanting to inspect the object in Lekauf's hand.
"This is a cat, Luke." Lekauf smiled softly, "Can you say cat?" Lekauf looked somewhat hopeful as Luke held the toy in his head, turning it over as he observed it. Vader didn't know when to expect Luke's first words, from the information he read, Luke was in the age gap where you can expect to hear their first words. It still could be a while though.
"Do not pressure him!" Vader announced, Lekauf jumped to his feet and bowed towards Vader.
"Forgive me, my Lord," Lekauf said quietly.
"I do not want my son's first words to be cat," Vader said as the sun began to slowly go down in the horizon. Unfortunately, the interrogations had taken up a lot of Vaders time and he would not be able to spend as much time with his son on this day as he would like. It was closing in on his son's bedtime and he had to inform several people of the information he had received from the interrogation. The least he could do was put his son to bed.
"Is there anything I can further assist in, my lord?" Lekauf asked as he watched Luke play with the toy he had gotten him.
"Bring one of the bags of gifts in here, after that you may return to your post," Vader instructed, Lekauf bowed and exited the room. He then felt a small nudge on his hand, he looked down and saw his son was handing him one of his toys. Vader took the toy in his hands, he had read that babies reach a development stage where they are learning to transport objects.
When he had gotten Luke he had absorbed as much information on infant development stages for Luke, he did not want to go into this blind. As much as he hated to admit it, he was clueless on what to do with babies. He was determined to not ask for help or advice and do this on his own, he would never admit needing help. After reading everything he could, he felt prepared, the only person's advice he would take was from Lukes's doctor.
Luke picked up another toy off the ground and handed it to Vader, he also took that one. He used the force to gently lift out of his hand and placed them down on the ground. The sun slowly disappeared under the horizon, the sunlight glared and bounced off the glass of the buildings in Imperial City. He picked up Luke and placed him in his crib, luckily Miss Berik had already in his footie pajamas.
"Here is the bag, my Lord." Vader turned around and saw Lekauf holding the bag out towards Vader. Vader grabbed the bag, he wanted to give one of the gifts to Luke before he went to sleep. He would give the rest to Luke tomorrow, but it was getting late and Lekauf had picked up a large amount of gifts for Luke. He shuffled through the bag and pulled out something that seemed soft, he pulled it out.
It was a plush Peko-peko bird, native to the planet of Naboo. It was light blue with a yellow beak, he considered stuffing it back into the bag. Anything to do with Naboo was too hard to look at, but he felt a sharp tug at his cape. He turned and saw his son desperately reaching for the bird.
"Ah!" Luke announced as he kept reaching to grab the bird, Vader slowly gave it to Luke. Luke grabbed it and held onto it tightly, perhaps he should have something from the planet. His mother was from there after all.
Vader turned to Lekauf, "You may return to your post, Lieutenant."
"At once, my Lord." Lekauf bowed and turned to leave the room, he saw his son standing in his crib facing Lekauf as he left. It looked like he was trying to grab something in the air, but Vader realized he was waving goodbye to Lekauf. Vader turned back to Luke and moved Luke to sit down in the crib.
"It is time for you to sleep, young one." Luke just looked back up at him, Vader moved to turn on Luke's nightlight. He turned around and saw Luke standing up again holding onto the rails, he reached out his hand towards Vader.
"Da!" He yelled, Vader sighed and began to walk back towards Luke. He was considering using force suggestion to put his son to bed. As he walked towards Luke his son bent his legs up and down excitedly, still gripping the bars. "Da! Da!- Dada!" Luke yelled as he reached the crib. Vader froze and felt something jump in his chest.
"What did you say?" Vader asked then instantly realized his son wouldn't understand the question, but it just spilled out.
"Dada!" Luke repeated, Vader was speechless for a moment. Luke had just said his first words, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming surge of pride. Hearing the words coming from Luke meant more to him then he thought it would. Vader moved Luke again to sit in his crib and laid his hand on his head.
"Yes, that is right, little one," Vader said softly, he pulled his hand away from Luke. "Goodnight, my son." He turned around and left Lukes room, he was so distracted by the milestone Luke had just hit that when he walked into his conference room he didn't know what all these bags in here were for. He remembered it was the gifts Lekauf had gotten, perhaps Lekauf had gone overboard with the gifts. He walked to the end of his conference table and pulled out an array of datapads and his comlink, he would try to finish the work he was given.
A/N I hope you guys liked this latest chapter! I really like writing for baby Luke cause it's just so cute lol I hope you liked it too.
Please let me know what you thought! I love hearing from you guys lol