Chapter 19: The Flight
After lunch was quiet hour. Luke didn't have to nap, but he did have to be quietly in his bed. Sometimes he looked at books. He didn't know how to read as well as Leia, so if often meant just looking at the pictures. But he loved looking at them. They were made from real paper. However, today he was bored of looking at books.
He climbed out of bed. He adjusted his clothes. He still wasn't quite used to the fancy clothes he now wore. He kind of missed his old Tatooine clothes. These clothes were too soft or too slinky. Luke made his way across the room to Leia's bed. Both his mother and Leia were asleep in the bed. Mother's arms were wrapped around Leia.
He looked at his two new family members. He was still getting used to the idea of having a mother, a father, and a sister. So far he liked it. Father was very different from Uncle Owen. Uncle Owen was a bit strict, as Aunt Beru liked to call it. He always seemed to have a frown on his face. But Father was very nice. He played with Luke. He also gave hugs and kisses, which was something Uncle Owen never did.
Mother was very nice and pretty. Like Father, she also played with Luke. Yet there were times when he missed his aunt. Sometimes he missed the food she made or the small pats on the head she would give Luke. However, the best thing about his new family had to be Leia. The moment he met Leia he liked her. Back on Tatooine he didn't have a sister nor a brother. It was great to have someone to play with. Leia wasn't mean to Luke like his classmates had been. She was the best sister.
Luke sighed as looked as his mother and sister asleep in the bed. Leia kept having nightmares. Her nightmares sometimes woke him up too. He could sense how scared she was. One time he saw one her nightmares in his own dreams. He wasn't sure what to make of it. There was a lady and a man. They were screaming. They were in pain. A lot of pain. Luke brought his hand up and gently patted Leia on the top of the head. Right now Leia looked like she was sleeping soundly, so did Mother.
Luke made his back to his side of the room. He collected his favorite toy skyhopper from the floor and sat on his bed. He knew Leia missed her family. Her other family. The family before she had come to live with this family. Luke again thought of his aunt. In fact when he thought about his aunt and uncle, really thought about them, he could tell they were close. He thought they would be far away back on Tatooine. But no, they were here. On this big ship somewhere. He was certain.
Luke could also sense his father if he really thought about him. Luke jumped off his bed and entered the hallway. To his left was the sitting room and kitchen, with his parents' room beyond that. To the right the hallway kept going. He had never gone that way before, but Father was down there right now. He sometimes spent time down there when he said he was working. Clutching his skyhopper, Luke walked down the hallway.
He passed several doors until he came to the door he knew Father was behind. He reached up and pressed the button to open the door. Nothing happened. That was odd. The doors always opened when he pressed the button. He tried again. Still nothing happened. He looked at the ground unsure of what to do next.
But then the door slid open. Father stood there looking down at Luke. "Luke?" Father asked. He bent down picked Luke up. Luke wrapped his legs around his father's waist and his arms around his father's neck. "What are you doing here?" his father asked. "Where are your mother and Leia?"
"Asleep. They're napping," Luke answered.
Father turned and walked into the room. Luke got a good look of the room and realized it was a . . . He didn't know what kind of room this was. There wasn't a room like this back at Uncle Owen's home. A large circular holoprojector stood in the middle. It projected a large blue hologram of a bunch of stars. There were red and blue blinking dots scattered around the stars. Father walked closer to the table.
"Is this where you go to work?" Luke asked noting the large desk behind Father.
"Sometimes," Father replied.
"What do you do?" Luke knew when Uncle Owen was working he was collecting water or working on vaporators or droids. Yet he wasn't sure what Father did. Leia said he was the Emperor, but she said this to him in whispers. As if it was a secret. A secret she was scared of.
"Hmmm," his father said. "I keep the galaxy safe." Luke followed his father's eyes to the star holograms. He then realized it was hologram of the galaxy.
"The whole galaxy?" Luke asked. "That seems like a lot. Like a lot a lot."
"It is my little one," Father said softly. He leaned forward and kissed Luke's head.
"I guess that's why you're busy a lot," Luke said.
"I try not to be. I would rather be with you and Leia and your mother." Luke leaned against his father. He placed his head on Father's large shoulder. Father brought up a hand and gently stroked Luke's hair. "Now," Father said. "You never told me why you are here."
Luke leaned back so he could look at his father properly. He looked into Father's blue eyes. "I want to see Aunt Beru," Luke said.
There was a slight flinch in Father's face. The room suddenly felt different. Luke glanced around, but found nothing amiss. Yet there was an unease growing. A sense of cold.
"Why do you think you can see your aunt?" Father asked. His voice sounded off. It was no longer the soft warm voice from earlier.
"I can feel her," Luke explained as he looked back at his father, who was staring intently at his son.
"Feel her?"
"Mmmm. Yeah. If I think about her really, really hard and close my eyes. She's here on this ship!" Luke explained. Father was quiet for a moment before he brought Luke closer and tighter to him.
"Ahhh I see." The warm voice was back. "Oh how strong you already are my little one. But no, Luke, you cannot see your aunt."
Luke frowned. "Why not?"
Father turned back towards the projection of the galaxy. "I said I work to keep the galaxy safe, yes?" Luke nodded. "I'm afraid your aunt and uncle were helping a bad man. A very dangerous and bad man. He's responsible for a lot of bad things. I'm trying to find him." Luke looked up at him. "That man would try to take you away from me. He would try to take Leia and your mother away too. I'm trying to keep you all safe."
Luke frowned again. He wasn't completely sure about what Father was talking about. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen were good people. He had never seen them help anyone who was a bad person. Luke had seen bad people before. People who worked for the Hutts who came along demanding the water tax. But Uncle Owen never helped them.
"Are- are you sure?" Luke asked.
"Trust me, Luke, I am," Father said as planted a small kiss on Luke's forehead. Luke was about to argue when a beeping sound came from the large desk stopped him. Father, still holding Luke, walked over to a comlink blinking on the desk. "Luke, be quiet," Father said as he picked up the com.
"Vader," Father said in a very dark voice.
"Your majesty. The committee has gathered," came a voice from the com.
"I will be there in ten minutes," Father replied in his dark voice. Yet then Father was back to normal. A warm smile crept upon his lips as he looked down at Luke. When he spoke his voice was kind and warm. "Now let's get you back to your mother before she wakes up and worries where you've gone."
That night Luke slept. Yet then he became aware of big warm hands pulling at him. He slowly came awake and noticed his father was changing his clothes. Luke thought about helping him, he was a big boy after all, but he was so tired. He kept flopping back down on his bed, and each time he thought he'd finally get back to sleep, his father would sit him up. Eventually Luke was dressed in a warm outfit with boots.
Then Luke was picked up by his father. Luke leaned against his father's chest and closed his eyes. Luckily, his father let him sleep this time. He came awake briefly when he felt his father sit down and turn Luke around. Luke was sitting in his father's lap with his back to his father's front, but the boy slumped over and fell asleep against his father's arm.
"Luke," his father called. "Wake up."
There was a gentle nodding in his mind. Luke. He snuggled against his father's arm in protest. A small chuckle left the father. Luke felt a hand come up to his head and start to stroke his hair.
"Luke, wake up."
Luke opened his eyes. He immediately noticed everything was tinted in a red light. He rubbed his eyes and straightened up. His father's arms came to wrap loosely around Luke's waist keeping him secure in his father's lap. Ahead stars lazily moved ahead of through an octanglal viewport. Below the viewport were two handles of a steering yoke.
Luke was now wide awake as he looked around the small room. Small monitor panels were spread out by the yoke. Electrical panels and buttons filled the rest of the room. He was in a ship! Not like the big ship where he had been living, but a small ship. Like his skyhopper toy!
"What?" Luke finally asked as he his head tilted to the side so he could look up at his father. His father had a huge grin on his face.
"This is my fighter," Father explained. He slowly unwrapped one arm from Luke's waist and grabbed one of the handles of the yoke. He nudged the steering and the stars in the viewport slightly moved in response. Luke let out a delighted gasp.
"Can- can we go flying?" Luke asked eagerly.
"You have to stay seated," Father replied.
Luke agreed. Father's other hand reluctantly unwrapped from Luke's waist and took hold of the other handle of the yoke. He pushed and turned the yoke, and they were flying. They were flying! Luke was flying! In a ship! Amongst the stars! Just like he always dreamed he would. His small hands grabbed onto his father's pants to make sure he kept seated. He wanted to jump up and get a closer look out the viewport.
Father took his ship through space. Zig-zagging. Up and down. He even did a flip. Luke squealed in delight. Father turned the ship and Luke saw five white arrow shaped ships in the distance of space. Luke could tell they were large, massive ships. He had seen them before, in brief glimpses on the holonews.
"That's where Mother and Leia are," Luke said as he pointed at one of the ships.
"Yes," Father replied. "How did you know that, youngling?"
"It's easy to find Leia," Luke said. "She's the easiest person to find. Easier than you. I don't even have to close my eyes and think real hard to find her." Father let out a small laugh. "Can I steer?" Luke asked as he eyed the two handles.
"I'm afraid you're still too small, Luke," Father replied. Luke reached out his arms, and it was true. He couldn't reach the yoke. He started to scoot forward in his seat, but Father let go of the handle to pull him back in his lap. "When you're bigger you can steer."
"And when will that be?" Luke whined. "When I'm six?"
"Hmmm. I don't know."
"When I'm seven?"
"Possibly not until you're twelve."
"Twelve?" Luke said aghast. "Twelve. But that's old. That's really really old!" Father let out a hearty laugh in reply.
Luke jumped and skipped through the halls of the big ship. Or at least he tried his best while he held his father's hand. The hangar where Father docked his fighter had been filled with other fighters. Father promised Luke that he'd be able to ride in them all one day. As they made their way through the big, long halls, they passed other people. Luke had never seen them before. He wasn't surprised that other people lived on the big ship like he did with Father and Mother.
Some of them wore gray uniforms. A few wore black. There were also a lot of white armored guards. Luke smiled at them and waved at a few, but none them seemed to notice him. Their eyes would just glaze over him and keep looking down the hall. Perhaps they just didn't like kids. Luke didn't see any other kids on this ship. He only saw adults.
After a long ride in a turbolift, which was also very exciting to Luke who had never ridden in one before, Father picked up Luke. Luke chatted about the fighter and the flight.
"And then you did the flip!" Luke said excitedly. "Did you remember that? And then we saw the big ships, remember?"
"Yes," Father would reply to each of Luke's questions.
They came to two large doors. Father stopped at the door control, and shortly the two doors slid open. Luke quieted down as soon as he saw the two bright red caped men standing on either side of the door. He leaned into his father and hugged him tighter. The men were scary. But father just walked by them. He didn't say a word. Didn't even look at them. His father was so brave.
"Who are they?" Luke whispered when they had left them behind.
"The royal guard."
"What's that?"
"They protect our family. Protect you."
"They're scary," Luke said softly.
"You have nothing to fear from them," Father said soothingly.
They shortly came to another door. Again Luke heard the beeps as Father pressed buttons at the control. Luke wiggled in his Father's grasp. They were back. Back to their home. Leia and Mother were on the other side of this door. Luke was a bit surprised to see once they went through the first door, they were in a small hallway with yet another door. Really how many doors do you need? Only bedrooms had doors back in his home on Tatooine, and that was to keep the sand out.
But then they were in the kitchen. Sitting by the large viewport were Leia and Mother playing with each other. Father stopped at the edge of the kitchen watching them. Luke noticed the pain in his father. It was always there when he was around Mother. Like a bruise.
Luke leaned over and kissed his father twice on the cheek. "There, there. It'll be better." It was what Aunt Beru used to do to him whenever he got hurt.
"And what was that for?" Father asked.
"For your hurtie," Luke explained.
"My hurtie? I'm not hurt."
Luke just looked up at his father. It was so obvious he was. "You hurt in here," Luke said as he tapped his father's chest. "Whenever you're around Mother. You hurt."
Father looked at Luke in surprise. "Ah . . ." he finally said. "I see. Yes, I suppose you are right. Thank you, Luke."
Father let Luke down. Luke gave one more glance up at his father before he ran over to his mother and sister. He could no longer hold back his excitement. He had to tell them about flying the fighter.