Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm Ltd., itself property of The Walt Disney Company. I make no lucrative nor commercial use of my writings in relationship with the Star Wars license.

Luke bit his lower lip in concentration, a hand in his shortly cropped hair. He looked down at the training report he had to submit, thought for a second, then typed a few words on the form. Writing still didn't come naturally to him, despite the many times he'd had to do this. The most common phrases and standard formulas he could manipulate easily enough, but it still sounded stilted, clumsy to him. He supposed it didn't really matter as long as the point came across.

He huffed with a small smile. This would always remain the least fun part of his job, he was sure of it.

He absently reread what he had and typed a few corrections. He was looking forward to finishing this and finally get some free time, which had all but disappeared even since he'd started training with Lord Vader. As a result, his administrative duties had piled up to the point it had become discouraging to tackle. But he knew he'd have to face sanctions if he didn't take care of it soon, and thus he worked on it as soon as his hectic schedule allowed it.

He skimmed over the form a last time, then sent it onwards with relief. It was the last one, he was free.

Luke yawned and stretched, then let his arms fall down. Yes, he was free, but that left him wondering what to do now. The paperwork was sent, he had already worked out, and practising in the sims was out of the question: he needed to keep his energy for his session with Lord Vader, a little later that day. He thought long and hard again, but always came to the same baffling conclusion: he actually didn't have anything he needed to do.

He looked around him, a little lost. It had been so long since he'd had actual free time. He didn't feel like bothering his squad today. Before, he'd usually go and see if anyone was up for a chat or a game; often Chaser would have been with them and teased him about slacking off...

A pang shot through Luke's heart. No, he didn't feel like joining the squad today.

He slouched on his chair and put the balls of his hands on his eyes, fighting the flow of emotions that came back in full force now that he was no longer distracted from them. He couldn't break down now, in this empty meeting room where anyone could come in at any time. He'd come here to find silence to concentrate, but it turned out that once there was nothing left to focus on, the quiet was just making it difficult for him to avoid his grief.

Luke pursed his lips and took a deep breath. There was a hollow space in his chest, and he wondered if it would go away eventually. He wasn't sure he wanted it to, not if it meant forgetting his wingmate... He stared fixedly at the table, barely noticing the patterns his hand was tracing on it.

He knew Chaser wouldn't want him to wallow in sorrow like this. He'd want him to keep fighting, to survive and help them win this war, and Luke had every intention to do just that.

It didn't make any of it easier.

"Damn you," he whispered to the empty room. "So typical of you, to leave me the hardest job."

Nobody answered him, but Luke could see his wingmate smirk anyway, the smug look on his face as he'd tell him it forged character for rookies to take on the meanest tasks. Luke laughed to himself, his heart bursting with melancholy, unable to know which of mirth or sadness was strongest in him.

He heard footsteps approaching and looked towards the door.

"There you are!" Silver said. "No one has seen you since morning, we were wondering if there was a problem."

Luke gave him a small smile.

"Paperwork," he joked. "It's always a problem."

Silver smiled back.

"We're having a short lunch break with the rest of the squad. Wanna join us?"

Luke looked down, bit his lip. He didn't really want to, but couldn't find a good reason not to go.

"Uh, sure. I'll join you as soon as I finish this," he gestured at his datapad.

Silver frowned, looked down at the datapad, then back at Luke.

"Can I help with that? You've been pushing yourself so hard lately. Wouldn't a break do you good?"

Luke looked away. Silver was being so nice to him, and here he was lying to him, just making excuses.

"It's all right. I'll be fine. Thanks."

He hoped his squadmate would let it go and just leave. He could feel his composure slipping, and the last thing he wanted was to show it. Luke was so tired of being the youngest of the squad, looked after and teased mercilessly in equal parts. But the worst was that in moments like these he did feel like that green and naive boy, affected by tiny things, sensitive and weak. He hated it.

A hand fell on his shoulder, and he looked up.

"Thinking about it over and over won't help," said Silver, and Luke couldn't tell if he was talking about his paperwork lie or if he'd worked out what was really troubling him. "Come on, company will cheer you up."

"I don't need to be cheered up," Luke stubbornly replied.

"I suppose that's why you're holed up here all on your own?" Silver said, his eyebrows rising.

Luke looked him in the eye for a second, then looked away and sighed.

"All right. I'm coming."

"Such enthusiasm. You really like us a lot, don't you."

Luke's cheeks heated up. He hadn't really thought about how his moodiness would be read by the others.

"Silver, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant," he said. "Of course I enjoy spending time with you guys, it's just..."

Silver shook his head and threw him a smile, interrupting him.

"I wasn't being serious. I know what you're going through. It's just easier to go through it together, you know?"

Luke nodded, the corners of his lips turning up. He was feeling lighter already. Maybe company really was what he needed, like Silver said.

When they arrived in the squad's main rooms, the others were all around the table and had started their meal. They took a seat in the empty chairs. Luke found himself sitting next to Boomer, who set a hand on his forearm.

"Shooting Star!" he thundered, and Luke couldn't help a wince at the volume so close to his ear. "Where did you disappear?"

"Just work," Luke said. "We can't all be slacking all day long."

"If you were as efficient as you were cocky, you'd get stuff done in half the time," Boomer retorted.

Luke laughed. He held out his hand to take a piece of bread and made himself a ham sandwich.

"Man, I'm famished. Who went to the mess for the food?"

"Torpedo," said Boomer. "He replenished the cooling unit yesterday since, you know, you didn't."

Luke cringed.

"Yeah, sorry, it slipped out of my mind... I'll be more careful about it."

"Next time I need to do your job in your place I'll eat your food too," Torpedo said from across the table. Luke couldn't find a proper comeback, and instead made a note not to forget again. Vader's lessons might take up a lot of his time, but it didn't mean the others weren't busy too.

The conversation veered to light-hearted chatter and Luke laid back in his chair, enjoying the moment. Cutting himself from his squadmates had been a mistake. Silver was right: he had pushed himself much too hard.

He was eating the last of his bread when Mauler rose up.

"Boys, this was nice, but we've still got a lot to do, so let's gather in the meeting room in five for mission briefing."

Mission briefing? Luke mused. So soon after the last one? What could it be about? Curious, he rose from his chair and helped the others tidy the table before they all headed to the meeting room together.

As they walked in the corridor, a cold Force tendril came to nudge and probe Luke, who shivered. He frowned.

"Huh. Lord Vader's briefing us himself? That's unusual..."

Vil, who was walking next to him, threw him a confused look.

"Lord Vader? What are you talking ab... oh."

The man couldn't be missed, towering as he was at the end of the room, talking with Lt. Tanbris. Mauler came up and exchanged a few words with them while everybody else took a seat. Luke sat down at the end of the table, not quite in front of Vader, somewhere where he could hopefully not be noticed too much. Finally Mauler sat down too, Lt. Tanbris stood on the side, and Vader started to speak.

"Multiple clues, including the last senseless Rebel attack, lead to think that the outpost discovered on Praadost II was not the only thing the planet is concealing. We believe there remains Rebel activity on-planet. As such, a complete sweep will be needed."

He pressed a button, and the now familiar shape of the planet started slowly rotating in front of them.

"You will be on the first line, the spearhead who will scan the surface of the planet for anything suspicious. Under you, a ground team will perform their own search; your job will be to assist them and protect them."

He paused and looked at them.

"As the Praadosian authorities have not seen fit to allow investigation, resistance is to be expected. Other squadrons will be standing by near the planet to repel external threats. You, however, will be the only ones being in direct contact with the ground team and collaborating with them personally."

They nodded, frowns of concentration on their faces. Luke stared absently at the turning planet, not knowing too well what he was feeling. He hoped they would find out what the Rebels were concealing, what was so important to them down there that they had dared attack a Star Destroyer in such a disorganised and foolish way.

A wave from Vader's hand made several points appear on the globe, and he started to explain the plan in more detail. Luke bit back a smile. What a show-off to use the Force for this, when pressing another few buttons would have had the very same result! Plus nobody knew what he was doing anyway; Luke was pretty sure he was the only one who had noticed the trick.

Suddenly reminded his commanding officer had the power to read thoughts, he threw him a fearful glance. Thankfully, Vader didn't react. Luke brought his attention back to the meeting.

After answering the squad's questions, Vader closed the briefing. He headed through the door, eliciting a shiver through Luke when he passed him by. He was getting more and more used to Vader's presence, but its intensity remained overwhelming.

As on an afterthought, Vader stopped before reaching the threshold and turned towards him.

"Ensign Lars. Simulators room in –" he trailed off for a second, "ten minutes."

"Yes, my lord," Luke answered, ignoring the gazes of his squadmates on him. Vader had brought their meeting forward by a good half-hour.

Vader nodded then left, and the room breathed. Unfortunately, like Luke had expected, so did the questions.

"Simulators room? With Lord Vader? What for?" Boomer asked.

Luke swallowed. He hadn't really planned on telling the others about this. How did one explain the Force? He couldn't possibly talk about his sixth sense. They'd all think he was crazy... He decided to settle on a half-truth instead.

"Flying lessons," he said. He stared Boomer in the eye for a second then looked away, expecting the rest of the reactions.

"Flying lessons?! Why? You don't need them!"

"I do, actually," Luke muttered in response to Torpedo.

"I don't think Lord Vader has ever tutored someone privately before, you must be something special."

"Is it a reward or a punishment for the way you tend to behave?"

"Guys, please," Luke intervened, without any idea what he could tell them. Mauler was the only one who wasn't looking at him, busy as he was gathering his notes and turning off the holoprojector. "I'm not really sure either, okay? I just told him I wanted to be a better pilot, he offered to teach me, I accepted. That's all there is to it."

"That's why we barely see you these days?" said Vil. "You're running yourself dry."

"Yeah," Luke answered. Mouths opened for more questions, and Luke hastened to interrupt them. "Listen, can you guys not just ask me all about this right now? I really don't want to be late."

"I agree," Mauler said when he arrived at their level, "gossiping like old Dathomirian witches, the lot of you. Move along, you're standing in the way."

Mauler left. There were a few looks thrown both between the squadmates and at Luke, then they all went out of the room without any more comment, to Luke's great relief. He was about to cross the threshold himself when Dark Curse set a hand on his arm.

"You all right?" he asked.

Luke smiled. "Yes, thanks, why?"

Dark Curse didn't answer, thoughtful. He glanced down at Luke's throat, and Luke brought down the hand rubbing it, suddenly self-conscious.

"You've made a habit of that," the older pilot remarked.

Luke shrugged, fighting the heat in his cheeks. "Oh, well. Hadn't noticed."

There was an awkward silence. Luke looked around, trying to find a distraction.

"Lord Vader did it, right?"

Luke froze. "What?"

Dark Curse gestured to his throat, his hawk nose making him look like a sinister bird.

"That time you came back to our quarters and you could barely speak. It was Lord Vader, wasn't it?"

Luke pressed his lips together, looking down. Dark Curse gently squeezed his arm, but Luke didn't feel comforted, just overwhelmed. He retracted it, and Dark Curse took a step back.

"I apologise. This is none of my business. I just wanted to help."

"It was," Luke blurted out. He looked Dark Curse in the eye again. "Lord Vader did that. But it was a long time ago, I'm fine now."

He held his squadmate's gaze, trying not to flinch. At last, Dark Curse nodded, still looking rather unconvinced.

"All right. You know we're here if you need anything, even just talking."

Luke smiled and nodded but didn't answer before leaving the room.

He hadn't lied to Dark Curse. It was a long time ago, he was fine. Why did he need to stir up the past anyway? If Luke's heart still beat a little too quickly, if his chest still felt a little tense whenever he needed to spend several hours alone with his commanding officer, it had nothing to do with that.

He was such a fool. Vader had been nothing but an excellent teacher up until now. Luke's flying skills had expanded drastically, he was starting to feel the Force more and more acutely, around his squadmates, outside in space, everywhere in the ship. That glance into a brand new world was too exhilarating to pass up.

Challenging regulations, he launched into a jog to reach the sims room on time. As he had expected, Lord Vader was already there. He probed him in the Force as Luke entered, something the young man had started to interpret as a kind of wordless greeting. Luke threw a look at the clock: he was two minutes early.

"Come," Vader gestured to him. "Before we start, I want you to perform a different exercise. Sit down on the deck."

Luke hesitated for a fraction of a second, then obeyed and sat not too close to Vader, his legs crossed. He felt even smaller than usual, compared to the giant that was his commanding officer.

"Set your hands on your knees and close your eyes. Breathe in and out, reach out for the Force, connect with it."

Luke complied, finding it a little difficult to relax at first with Vader towering just above him. Soon enough, however, he was swept in the familiar feeling of his respiration, lulled into regularity by the slow rhythm of Vader's own mechanical breath. He reached out with his sixth sense, a practice that had become easier, and felt the Force waiting for him at the tip of his ethereal fingers, warm and moving.

"Now scan your surroundings. Expand your perceptions."

Without even thinking, Luke did as asked. He heard the hum of the machines and the electricity coursing in the wires, saw the lights on Vader's own suit flickering, coordinated in a complex process he couldn't begin to understand. But more prominent than anything else, he felt the life thrumming in the both of them and in the soldiers outside the door, linking them all.

"Wider still... Feel the entirety of the ship. Even beyond, if you can: the stars, the planet, the wildlife on it."

Incredibly, Luke could perceive it all around him, like a flux of never-ending energy. He saw colours, and light, so much light, as if he was bathing in the sun.

He opened himself some more, and another presence made itself known to him, a powerful mass of swirling smoke. Instinctively, he knew it was Vader's; he reached out, curious. Vader's presence intertwined with his, tendrils of pure Force curling around his own, pulsating at the same time. Vader took the lead, guiding him in their exploration.

Luke sank deeper in this strange state. His heartbeat was the only physical thing he was still aware of, for it linked him to the expanding novas of their presences. Around him, everything was Force: he dove at the bottom of the ocean, soared at the highest point of the sky; he was caught in the burning mass of slowly boiling plasma exploding in a star or in a volcano.

Visions started to appear to him, twisting and whirling around him so fast his head was spinning. A thousand different futures and past mixed together, time having lost all of its meaning. He saw despair, and pain, and joy. He saw destinies unfurl and crash. He saw the start and the end of the universe, and the core of all power, of all life and death together. He saw himself as a small farmer or a radiant god, he screamed in torment and laughed in euphoria. He hurt, overwhelmed by the weight of knowledge.

The vision became more precise. He was kneeling on the cold floor, unable to move, feeling like fire had replaced the blood in his veins. He was being shouted at, but he couldn't respond, couldn't do anything but scream and beg as the agony flared up again...

Then as soon as it had started, it stopped. He was back in his body, panting, filled with an immense sense of dread. For an instant, all he could see was Lord Vader taking a threatening step towards him, towering over him in intimidation; then even this fleeting impression passed. He blinked and exhaled.

"Wow," he breathed. "What – what was that?"

"The Force," Vader answered. "Its true nature and might. That is the power you might one day wield."

Luke looked down, shaking. He wasn't about to admit it, but the experience had been terrifying. The last vision remained etched into his body, the pain, the helplessness... What did it mean? Was it the future he had seen or the past? Or was it a warning with some kind of deeper meaning? He didn't know. He felt as if his brain had been overloaded with so much information it couldn't treat it, and only the sense of pure awe remained in him. The Force truly was overwhelming...

But at the same time, despite how unbalancing and frightening his foray into its folds had been, Luke had felt... lured by it. Attracted. It wasn't everyday that one was faced with the deepest truth of the universe... He didn't quite know how yet, but he was confusedly aware it had changed him on some level.

"Now I believe you are here to learn how to fly."

Luke didn't need to be told twice. He jumped on his feet, relieved to be back to something more normal, and slipped in the seat of the simulators, grounding himself by feeling the controls in his hands.

As usual, the simulation was extremely difficult. Luke gritted his teeth as he avoided his enemies, tried his best to keep his grasp on the Force. It seemed to constantly elude his efforts, as if his recent excursion so deep in it had unbalanced him, made him unable to reach out for it properly any more.

The smokey tendrils of Vader's presence laced with his again, showing him the way. Luke took his lead, and managed effortlessly to complete the exercise.

"Again," Vader said.

The simulation started again. This time, Luke was alone as he sunk into the Force. Vader's presence was still near him, but he was satisfied to nudge him from time to time in the right direction, while Luke expanded his own tendrils into the intricacies of the program's code. He saw how the enemies were designed to react to his movements, noticed the patterns in their behaviour. An idea sprung to his mind, and he smiled. He was pretty sure this wasn't totally playing by the rules, but then, nobody had forbidden it to him either.

Using the Force, he closed his eyes, and went past the individualised avatars of his opponents to focus on the bigger picture. He went through the lines of code, seeking to understand the algorithm itself rather than its results. A close push at the right place, into the circuits of the machine itself, and all the enemy fighters exploded at the same time.

Luke opened his eyes, and couldn't repress a grin when he saw the numbers displayed on the dark screen. He hadn't even thought that score was possible to obtain.

"Good," Vader said. "Very good."

Luke didn't answer. Vader's hands were set on his shoulders, he had probably set them there during the simulation. The young man tensed involuntarily at the contact, but nothing happened. His probe on Vader's emotions read positive and contented, and so he managed to relax again, even leaning into the touch a little. The weight wasn't actually unpleasant; it even felt rather comforting.

However, the moment didn't last. As if he'd suddenly realised what he was doing, Vader took a step backwards, away from Luke. He stepped to the simulator's controls, typed in a few commands, and the second after Luke's score had disappeared.

"There is no need to keep in memory a score that would only lead to unwanted questions."

Luke absently nodded. He looked at his commanding officer, still not certain how this situation had come about, or whether it wasn't just a strange dream. His hand was mechanically rubbing at his throat.

"I don't understand," he said. "Why do you help me so?"

Vader's mask shot up, stared him in the eye for a moment during which Luke felt incredibly small.

"Do you regret coming to me for training?"

"No, not at all," Luke hurried to answer. "It's just... I don't get it. I don't have anything special."

Vader looked at him without moving, his shields up, so that Luke had no idea what he was thinking. His heart started beating faster, and he wondered if he had somehow said something he shouldn't have. He considered apologising and retracting his question; he dearly hoped whatever insolence he had committed this time wouldn't be punished. But Vader didn't do anything, didn't lash out in anger, and remained watching him, masked slightly tilted.

"Don't you feel it, young one?" he finally said, slowly, his voice impossibly low. "Our fates are linked. Your destiny lies with me."

A shiver ran through Luke; of fear, anticipation, or helplessness, he couldn't say. All he knew was the truth of these words resonating in the Force in an all too final way.

Unable to speak, he silently stood there, uncertain of what the future would bring. He looked his commanding officer in the eye, who was just as unmoving, just as awkward as him in the uneasy quiet that had settled between them. He offered a shaky smile, feeling for the first time the premises of a deeper understanding grow between them.