When the door closed and absolute silence reigned all around for the first time, Vader simply stood where he was, staring at the wall, his mind a blank.

Eventually he returned to himself and looked down at the helpless being in the bed. He stared and stared, feeling the weirdest feeling of alienation. All of a sudden, he felt terribly awkward, wondering what in Sith hell he was doing there. Faced with the 180-degree turn his life had taken, he didn't recognize himself anymore.

"Are they gone?" a weak voice asked.

And just like that, everything righted itself again. The caring, sleepy eyes looked at him hopefully, and everything he was responded to that primal need.

It had already become second nature to him.

"Seconds ago," he replied.

Luke nodded slowly.

"How long was I asleep?"

"A while," Vader sat down on his chair next to the bed. "And you should go back to sleep again. It'll speed up your healing."

Luke's eyes roamed his mask with such adoration, with such heartfelt joy that there was no mistaking the message they were conveying.

Yes, my son, I do care as well.

"It feels good," the boy said.

"What does?" Vader asked hoarsely.

"Being free to open my mind again. Holding up my shields was killing me."

Vader winced inside at those words.

"Let's put the killing thing aside, shall we?" he suggested more harshly than he intended.

Luke got the message and nodded his agreement.

"Are you staying tonight?" he asked conciliatorily.

Force, the look in those eyes...

"I intended to. Unless you'd prefer someone else..." Vader's heart skipped a beat at the thought.

A pained expression crossed the colourless features.

"No, I'd... I do... I... Thank you," the child looked down, biting his lower lip.

Vader saw his own hand reach out and grasp the smaller, warm one. He squeezed it meaningfully.

"Thank *you*," he whispered with a passion he couldn't hold back.

The hopeful eyes turned to his again and Vader felt himself sink into them.

Sweet one... I could drown in your eyes so easily...

"We will be fine... won't we, Father?"

So trusting, so poignant.

"Yes," Vader murmured through the lump in his throat. "We will be fine. Always," he brought his other hand forward and covered the now sweaty one in his own. "Always, Luke," he promised.

A little light kindled in the gentle eyes, and Vader saw the boy ponder a lifetime's future in a heartbeat as he gnawed at his lips, considering what he should say.

"What are we gonna do... when I get better?" he finally asked.

Vader admired his son for his neutral way of phrasing his question. But he wasn't prepared to answer it. Not yet. Still, he couldn't bring himself to burst the boy's bubble at so delicate a time.

"I'm sure your friends will have something outrageous in mind," he teased instead, hoping to divert his son's attention away from the subject.

Luke snickered appreciatively at his father's joke.

"That's not really what I meant," his gaze dropped, sobering reluctantly.

"I know," Vader nodded, acknowledging the fact that he was skirting the issue.

Summoning up his courage, Luke faced his father's eyes.

"Then, wh...?"

"I'm staying, Luke," Vader reassured his son fervently, "for the present. Let's not think about anything else. Time will tell," he squeezed the long fingers in his own again for emphasis.

The young man accepted his father's assurance without another word, but the tenseness in his body and his suddenly evasive eyes cried out his need for more.

The hand that covered his child's moved of its on volition, and the Dark Lord turned the lovely face to his.

"What is it, my son?"

The look that surfaced in the boy's eyes moved Vader to the depths of his being. There was fear there, apprehension, uncertainty... hope.

"Have you...?" he began. "Are you going to...?" he took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "Which side...?"

Vader realized what his child was trying to say, and his admiration for the guts he showed skyrocketed to new heights.

"I'm on your side, Luke," he didn't let him finish and caressed the drawn cheek with his thumb soothingly. "Yours. Now and forever. Rest assured, little one."

And then, Vader did something he'd never done before, with anyone. He dropped his shields and reached out to his son. Not with his thoughts, not with his intellect, but with his feelings. With his own naked soul.

'Never hurt you. Always honour you.'

Their eyes bored into each other, piercing through every mask – literal and figurative – every layer, every pretense. And the Sith Lord felt his son's heart miss a joyous beat that left him spiritually spent. His eyes drifted closed and he was sound asleep before the sigh escaped his lips altogether.

Vader didn't move for a very long time. He remained as he was, holding his son's hand and caressing the paper thin skin of his cheek that, for the first time, looked fuller and less pale than normal.

'Get well, my child. Don't mind me. I will be fine. I'll be content, just knowing that you are safe.'


Bit by bit, the Sith Lord emerged from the unconsciousness of sleep, becoming slowly aware of his surroundings. Not a sound could be heard other than his respirator. As sensation returned to his body, he realized he was sitting in a cramped seat. Curiously, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so comfortable.

Just then, he felt the warmth of an infinitely loving presence close by. A loving presence that was holding his hand. Or was it the other way round?

His eyes popped open and he straightened up in the chair where he'd spent the night.

He was greeted by a pair of affectionate, wide open eyes that watched him slightly amused. He returned the affectionate stare, wondering if his child could feel it.

"I never thought I'd get to see this," the boy whispered thickly.

"That you'd see Darth Vader sleeping?" the Sith Lord asked, somewhat self-consciously.

The child shook his head.

"That I'd see my father sleeping."

A bittersweet feeling tightened Vader's throat.

"Some people would consider it a privilege," he boasted arrogantly to cover it up.

"A frightening privilege," Luke joined in the banter.

"That too," Vader completed the joke, unflappable.

Luke laughed out loud, delighting in their easy rapport.

Vader's heart fluttered in his chest at the beautiful sound. He tilted his head to one side, imprinting the perfect picture into his mind.

So long. So long since...

"You're the first person to watch me sleep in over two decades," he revealed when the sweet laughter died down. Once more, his hand took on a life of its own and headed for the relaxed brow. He stroked it, moving the fluffy bangs aside, and resisting the temptation to play with them.

"Who was the last?" Luke asked in a faraway voice, trying to nuzzle his father's hand.

The saddest expression crossed the older man's features, and he pressed his palm against the side of his son's face.

"Your mother," his voice broke for an instant. Her memory was both his greatest torment and his most precious possession.

Luke cringed, and the look on his face filled with pain. His hand turned in his father's grasp and squeezed the gloved fingers.

"What was she like?" the curiosity in his voice couldn't hide his sudden desperate need to know about the woman who'd given him life.

Vader heaved a long sigh that released a lifetime of bottled up grief that would never leave him. He looked up, fighting the memories that threatened to crush him and embracing them at the same time.

"She was exquisitely beautiful," the words started to flow before he could stop them. "Long, dark, wavy hair, the colour of Ossus honey. Brown, exotic eyes that looked deep into my soul. Straight nose, full lips. Petite... Perfect."

Luke's eyes skimmed over his father's mask, reading every nuance hidden from prying eyes, but not his own.

"What was her name?" he asked in the tiniest voice.

The Sith Lord took in a deep breath. This would be the first time he would speak her name out loud in twenty two years.

"Padme," the word flowed from his lips like the blessing it was. "Padme Amidala, Queen and Senator of the planet Naboo."

Luke gasped in shock.

"Queen? My mother was a Queen and a Senator?"

Vader nodded, lost in thought.

"The brightest politician I ever knew. One who truly cared about the people she had sworn to serve." He snorted mockingly. "The very antithesis of politics. Educated, refined, sophisticated; a queen in every meaning of the word..."

The image Vader's description painted in the eye of the young man's mind seemed to take the wind out of his sails. He looked down, deflated.

"I didn't take much after her..." he smiled self-deprecatingly, "other than her height."

Vader's touch intensified in a flash. Not the touch itself, but its warmth, the impassioned earnestness he projected through it.

"You took after her in everything, my child," he enunciated blazingly. "In everything that matters. Her uncanny capacity for compassion and forgiveness. Her innate wisdom and understanding of human ugliness..." his throat closed up with a wild surge of emotion and he had to take a break. His hand continued its slow, smooth stroking, soothing both his son and himself.

"When I look at you, I see her eyes staring back at me. I see her soul, I see her heart. The heart that I broke and that came back to haunt me... and save me."

Luke gazed up at him, eyes clouded with tears, seeing his father withdraw into himself.

But then, something roused the Sith Lord from his gloomy mood, and he resumed his caresses.

"You inherited the best of her, Luke. And the best of me... if there ever was anything good in me at all."

The brutal admission shook the two of them, but it was the boy who took it harder.

"Father, that's not..."

"Shhh," Vader put his finger on his child's lips, effectively silencing him. "It's all right," he shrugged in humble acceptance. "It is all right."

On top of the bedcovers, Luke's hand released his father's fingers and interlaced them with his own in a mute gesture that was the most vocal statement Vader ever heard.

Barely one day ago the boy could only try to intertwine their fingers, that weak he was, and today he was sliding his fingers firmly between his own and squeezing tight.

Yes, things were going to be all right. Independently from him. He wasn't necessary anymore.

The Dark Lord smiled beneath his mask. He had truly learned to let go.

He moved his finger away.

"Want some water?" he asked softly.

Luke nodded, eyes completely engaged in the masked face before him.

Vader nodded back and rose to his feet elegantly. He walked over to the small table against the wall and poured half a glass of water from the pitcher there. He returned to his son's beside and slid his free hand under the boy's head. Luke tried to help by rising on one elbow, but the effort was too draining for him. Still, he managed to remain in position long enough to take a long sip from the glass.

"Easy," Vader whispered to him, placing the boy's head carefully back on the pillow.

"Thank you," Luke panted, licking his lips to wet them.

"You're welcome," Vader said, stroking his cheek proudly.

The door slid open and doctor Vilk walked in with a bounce to his step. However, on seeing the glass in Vader's hand, he faltered.

"Good morning," he greeted them, looking from one to the other and back. "Did you give him water to drink?" he asked.

"Yes," Vader replied, realizing for the first time that his apparently inocuous action could be harmful to the stomach that hadn't had any food or water for so long. "I asked him if he wanted some water and he said he did."

Vilk's head turned to Luke.

"Were you thirsty?"

Luke nodded timidly.

"That means your digestive system is working again and your body is asking for what it needs," he gave the young man a pleased smile. "Let's wait for a while and see if you can hold it down. In any case, it's time to put you on saline to keep you hydrated."

Father and Son nodded in agreement.

Vilk approached the bed while the Sith Lord went to put the almost empty glass back on the table.

"You have a much better colour today," the physician began his examination. "We'll change your sheets and wash you up."

"Ungh," Luke complained, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.

"When a patient starts complaining it means they're well on their way to recovery," Vilk countered, unperturbed.

Chastised, Luke didn't make a sound throughout the rest of the examination.

"The high fever made you sweat a lot and besides, we must keep germs at bay," Vilk explained patiently. "Your immune system is still recovering and I don't want to play with that."

The young man acquiesced with a small sigh.

"Your fever is almost gone, by the way," the doctor announced with a big grin. "It is my guess that your temperature will be back to normal during the day. More good news."

Luke smiled hopefully, holding out his hand to his father, who quickly took it in his own and shook it heartily.

Vilk's eyes bulged at that, but he continued his examination nonchalantly.

"All right," he said at last. "Everything's looking great, so we'll do as I said. The nurses will take care of the sheets and the washing up and after that, I'll put you on saline. In a day or two, we'll start you on soft foods and see what happens. If you can hold down the water you just drank, it'll be a good sign."

"Good," Luke's face lit up happily.

Vilk reached out one arm to Vader.

"If you'll come with me now, he'll be ready in no time," he invited.

Vader nodded and looked down at his son.

Luke nodded back at him encouragingly and released his hand with a fond squeeze.


Vader had been waiting in the anteroom for 10 minutes when the double doors opened and all of his son's friends walked in, with Princess Leia at the head of the group. When she saw him sitting there, she rushed to sit next to him.

"How is he?" she asked eagerly.

"Better," Vader wasted no time to answer. "His digestive system is working again. Vilk is going to put him on saline, and in one day or two he'll start him on soft foods. Also, his fever is almost gone." His eyes turned to the closed door. "The nurses should come out any minute now."

The relief in the air was tangible.

"Is he awake?" Han asked.

"Yes, he is."

"Uh-oh," Leia sympathized with Luke's embarrassing situation. "He's not going to enjoy the procedure."

"He made a very expressive sound to show his displeasure," the Sith Lord confirmed, beginning to see the dark humour in his son's predicament.

"Ungh," Han uttered in commiseration.

"Precisely," Vader's nodding head turned to the Corellian.

The short silence that ensued was followed by a rumble of soft laughter that was filled with love for the helpless young man in the adjoining room.


Five minutes later, the door opened and the nurses rolled out of the room.

"You may enter whenever you wish," the last one told them.

"Thank you," Leia stood, nodding to the others to go first.

Han, Lando and Chewie quickly made it for the door, impatient to see their friend again. Vader was rising when Leia raised her hand to draw his attention.

"There's something I want to ask you," she began.

"Yes?" Vader said.

"Would you mind if I called Dr. Senna and told her to come visit Luke now? She was a great friend to me when I had no one to turn to, and she really came to care for Luke."

"I have absolutely no objection," Vader rose to his feet. "Where do you want me to wait?"

Leia stood as well and walked with him to the doors. They opened before them.

"There's a black door twenty metres down this corridor," she pointed with her hand. "It's an observation room," she looked up to meet his eyes. "I'll come looking for you when she's gone."

Vader scanned the corridor for a few seconds, verifying there was no one around, and nodded.

"That will be agreeable," he took a deep breath and turned to her. "Take all the time you need."

Something in the way he said the words made Leia prick up her ears, but before she could ask him about it, Vader was already walking down the corridor and the doors were closing in front of her.


Vader put the small device back in his belt. Turning to the wall-wide window, he lost himself in the blackness before him. He'd already come to terms with his decision. It was the right thing to do, not only for his son and his friends' sake, but also for his own.

He thought about the endless hours he'd spent looking out of windows and into space. Wasted year after wasted year. Searching for a reason to his continued existence, looking for an answer that never came...

...Until now.

There was a definite satisfaction in knowing he still could serve a better cause instead of serving as a bringer of death and destruction. That his life still could have some meaning.

He'd also forgotten how good it felt to immerse himself in the Force instead of drawing from it for his own greedy needs.

What an immeasurable sense of peace he experienced just floating away, just sending out his consciousness to feel his son's vibrant presence on the other side, like a flower blooming in the desert. Luke's natural, selfless connection with the Force was the most harmonious relationship he'd ever encountered.

So, this is what it felt like to walk the right path again. To bask in the simple joy of being alive and rejoicing in the survival of the one closest to you.

Suddenly, he felt a shift in the Force, the now familiar signature of Leia Organa coming to meet him. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the upcoming verbal duel with the strong-willed young woman, who seemed to take an unusual satisfaction in pushing his boundaries and forcing him out of his comfort zone.

Maybe that was the reason why he had grown to like her so much.

The door slid open and soft steps moved towards him.

"She's gone," Leia announced, stopping right behind his back. The door closed after her.

"I shall be there in a minute," he acknowledged, reluctant to give up his silent communion with the stars.

She remained as she was, deadly still behind him, and Vader felt her reaching out with the Force rather clumsily, like a child feeling their way in the dark. He couldn't imagine what she could possibly find out with such shallow mind probe, but in any case, her efforts were to be commended.

"You have too much potential to let it go to waste," he praised sincerely. "I would advise you to seek out Luke's guidance when he's fully recovered. No one could ask for a better master."

A long pause followed.

"I see."

The Princess' dry tone of voice was a dead giveaway that the volcano was about to erupt again. He braced himself.

"When are you going to tell him?" she asked coldly.

"Tell him what?" Vader moved his gaze away from the stars to meet her accusatory stare.

"That you're leaving him."

Her indifferently spoken words hit him like a kick in the stomach.

"Why do you say...?"

"Why would you say such a thing if you weren't leaving?" she protested in aggravation.

"To begin with, it would never cross my mind that you would let me train you," Vader argued honestly.

Leia conceded his point with a quick tilt of her head.

"Is that also the reason why you have been subtly pulling away from him? Is that why you're so amenable to leaving his room and why you're in no hurry to return now?"

Bloody Sith hell! Why did this woman always take his every action as a wrongdoing to his child? When all he wanted...? When everything he was doing, was for his son's wellbeing? When Luke was all that mattered to him?

"I truly do not understand you," he shook his head in exasperation, "you made no secret from the moment I first arrived that you couldn't wait to get me out of your sight."

The Princess took a bold step forward.

"It's not about me, blast it!" she exploded. "It's not about what I want! It's about him! About what's best for him! And whether I like it or not, *YOU* are what's best for him!"

The incensed, unfiltered outburst, the momentous admission coming from her, brought their universe to a stop.

Her voice seemed to echo through the room over and over and over again. So much so that any word after that simply felt redundant.

But there was something very important that couldn't be left unsaid.

"Your feelings for me notwithstanding," Vader articulated with difficulty, "you must know that I only have his best interests in mind. I... do care about him."

"So?" Leia shrugged casually, as if Vader's own admission made all the problems go away.

"Let's be realistic, your highness," Vader resorted to formality to get his point across. "We're fighting in opposite sides of a war. We're enemies. What do you think the Emperor and the Imperial army would do if I just... disappeared?"

Leia blanched at those words.

Vader took his own step forward and looked down at her darkly. His intimidating, harrowing presence engulfed her in a suffocating feeling of malevolence that wiped out all sense of security.

"You've only taken your first step into touching and understanding the Force. But as minimal as that understanding is, I'm sure you can at least perceive the far-reaching, boundless power it commands."

His black shadow seemed to devour everything within its sphere of influence - all life, all light, all hope. No place to run, nowhere to hide. Fate sealed... until you surrendered your soul to it.

And Princess Leia Organa, dauntless leader of the Alliance, took her first taste of the Dark Side. She caught a glimpse of what it demanded, what it took away... and the dead carcass it left behind.

All the air seemed to rush from her lungs, and she shrank from it, from him, fearing for herself. For her life. For her very sanity.

"And this... depravity, this absolute perversion of the spirit is what you wanted for Luke?" she hissed through chattering teeth, feeling sick to the core; almost... tainted.

Vader drew back slightly. It was time to come clean.

"I wanted... him, in any way I could have him," he admitted, completely at a loss to explain his irrational compulsion. "He's my son and he belongs with me, as much as I belong with him," he eased off with a sigh, giving up the Darkness he'd drawn on for his little demonstration. "But when I... touched him, when I touched his... innocence, his naïve idealism, his integrity, I..." he looked up at the ceiling, breathless. "It appalled me, it shocked me. It reminded me..." he shook his head, denying obstinately what blossomed in his chest even now. "He showed me explicitly he'd rather die than join me in the Dark Side; and yet... And yet, I... I couldn't give up..." the words wouldn't come and he trailed off, hoping the silence would speak for him.

And the Princess nodded at him, reading between the lines, seeing beneath the façade.

Vader took a step forward again, allowing a bit of his former Darkness to peek through.

"Now, picture that colossal power serving evil, embodying it. Unstoppable, implacable, inescapable like Death itself, bent on having my son no matter what - or destroying him, crushing him to smithereens if he won't surrender," his respiration turned as ominous as the words he was uttering.

And with a bolt of insight, Leia knew to what... to whom Vader was referring to.

"You're talking about Palpatine," she stated with a shudder that racked her from the inside out.

"Yes."

Leia's eyes went wide in horrific realization.

"He won't stop until he has Luke, will he?" there was a resigned, bleak feeling of finality in her voice.

"No," Vader didn't cater to her need for reassurance. He wanted her to get the full scope of the situation, and embellishments wouldn't help. Quite the contrary. She needed to know there was no way out; no hope for a safe future, anywhere. "Unless I stop him."

The Princess had sought to hide in the deepest recesses of her mind, fleeing from the hopeless reality Vader was depicting, but aware all the same of the fact that ignoring it was futile. That's why it took a while for his words to register. She jerked back in a visceral reaction.

"Are you insane?!" she cried out furiously. "You don't stand a chance, going after him on your own. It's suicide!"

A poignant smile slowly spread across Vader's face.

Watch out, your highess; your feelings are showing.

But there was no way out, for anyone. Himself included. Especially him.

"Only a Sith Lord can destroy another Sith Lord," he declared philosophically. "And I have my chances... if we work together. With me as your inside man, providing you with all the information necessary to sabotage the Empire from within."

Leia blinked in uncomprehending disbelief. Seconds ticked by, as it gradually dawned on her what the half-machine, half-man in front of her was offering. What Darth Vader was actually...

"Are... A-Are you saying...?" she stammered.

"As of this moment, I'm defecting from the Empire," the Dark Lord intoned solemnly, drawing himself up to his full height. "And to prove that I speak the truth," he reached into his belt and produced two small devices that he promptly handed to the thunderstruck Princess. "Here."

Leia stared at the two devices in her palm, wondering what was wrong with her brain. Was this real? Was this even happening? She looked up from her hand to the empty black sockets.

"W-What is this?" she asked, more in general than specifically.

Vader pointed at the bigger device.

"This is a communications device. And here," he pointed now at the smaller device, "I recorded all the information I have about the whereabouts of the Imperial Fleet. Star systems, commands, bases... Including the new Death Star, orbiting the moon of Endor. I would recommend for you to call back your Bothan spies, as many of them will be massacred uselessly. The Emperor wants you to find out the location of our battle station in order to lure you in."

The Princess' features hardened in foreboding. Vader nodded, confirming her worst fears.

"Our forces will be waiting for you. The Death Star is fully armed and operational. You will be annihilated."

Leia swallowed hard, staring at him as if seeing him for the first time. Sickened by the information he was giving her and in awe of him at the same time.

Was the transformation she was feeling as profound as it appeared to be? Was Vader truly turning his back on a lifetime of moral corruption and unending atrocities?

The notion felt out of a bad holomovie or the cheesiest novel, and still... looking at the massive black form standing before her... considering the magnitude of what he'd just done... He'd given away the location of the Imperial Fleet, all their bases and forces, including their most secret weapon, for heaven's sake! That information alone, wisely used, could deal the death blow to the Empire.

And as their inside man, as he'd said, he could continue relaying to them any changes in the Emperor's plans.

Yes, the part of her that was one of the leaders of the Rebellion could definitely see the advantages, the potential, the ace up their sleeves that Vader was.

But the part of her that was the friend, the nurturing person, Leia Organa the human being, was torn by the idea of letting Vader go, knowing it would break Luke's heart. Especially if Vader's identity as a double agent was blown and he was executed by the Empire... Which was a very distinct possibility. If Palpatine was half as cunning, evil and powerful in the Dark Side as Vader said, she doubted that his cover would hold up for long.

She couldn't support his decision, but she had no authority to stop him either, if it was what he truly wanted to do.

Was Vader subconsciously trying to expiate his crimes by doing this? The thought came to her unbidden.

"Are you positive, absolutely positive that you want to do this?" she asked at last.

Inhaling deeply, Vader drew himself up once more.

"If my son was letting himself die to protect the Rebel Alliance from the Empire, and myself, I can do no less," he stated, conveying a strange mixture of pride and regret... and something more. Something Leia only caught sight of for a millisecond but that burned a path down her soul.

Vader loved Luke. As certain as the sun in the sky. Somehow, her kind, gentle, upright friend had awakened the black heart lost to humanity for decades and brought it back to life.

Vader wasn't about to say the words, probably he never would, but he was ready to bring down an Empire to protect his son. Could there be a greater proof of love?

TO BE CONTINUED...