When Dr. Vilk entered his patient's room two hours later, he was pleasantly surprised to find him walking around the room aided by Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, and under the watchful scrutiny of Darth Vader and Princess Leia.

"Now that's the sight that makes a doctor happy!" he exclaimed with a big grin. "How're you doing, young man?"

"Just fine, doctor," Luke replied, giving him a fast look and continuing his walk uninterrupted. "I feel somewhat stronger."

"You should've waited to have something in your stomach first," Vilk said, "but it's all right. You'll be walking around on your own tomorrow."

"You think so?" Luke's head turned again and he stared at his physician with the most hopeful look.

"I know so," Vilk nodded emphatically. "Now, when you feel you've walked enough go back to bed. It's dinner time."

Luke nodded to his friends and they all headed back to bed.

"Bring it on, please. I'm hungry," he requested.

"No wonder," Vilk muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "I heard that this afternoon's puree was... let's say insipid."

"It's a way to put it," Luke pulled a funny face.

Vilk let out a short laugh.

"Sorry about that. I'll see what I can do about your dinner," and with that, he turned and left.

Luke covered his legs with the sheet and the coverlet, and laid his palm flat on the bed.

"What kind of puree will he bring me this time? Come on, don't be shy. Make your bets," he asked impishly.

"Vegetables," Han said.

"A pulse puree," Leia ventured.

"Wrong answers, both of you!" Vilk announced, walking in with a bed tray and placing it over Luke's legs.

Luke stared down at it.

"White potato?" he blinked up at his doctor. "WHITE POTATO?!"

"Bear with me," Vilk requested with a conciliatory look. "I had a couple extra ingredients added, which should make it tastier. And you've got carrot juice instead of water," he looked pointedly at the glass.

Relenting, Luke smiled at Vilk's sincere attempts to make things look better.

"It's all right, doctor. I understand," he simply said, picking up the spoon without another word.

Touched by the young man's compliance, Vilk squeezed his shoulder.

"You already proved that your stomach can take this. I'll compensate you tomorrow," he promised.

Luke moved the puree around in his mouth and swallowed it. He nodded with a genuinely suprised look.

"It is tasty!" he confirmed. "I don't know what else you put in here, but it does taste good. Thank you for the effort," he grinned at the man who'd worked so hard to save his life.

Vilk smiled back.

"It was my pleasure. You deserved a reward for being such a good sport," he patted the young man's back warmly. "Enjoy your dinner and the company," he swept his eyes around the room complimentarily. "See you tomorrow at breakfast. Sleep well."

"Thanks, doctor. You too," Luke replied.

After bidding everyone goodbye, the white-haired man left. Luke finished his puree, delighting in every spoonful, washing it down occasionally with the juice.

"It was really good," he said when he was finished.

As if she had heard him say the words, the door slid open and a nurse rolled in to take the tray. When she left, everybody looked at each other in wonder.

"Best room service than any hotel in the galaxy," Han voiced their thoughts.

"Any hotel where good guests know when it's time to say goodnight," Leia gave them all the cue, droids included, with a smiling nod in the door's direction.

Nodding/beeping their comformity, Han, Lando, Chewie, Artoo and Threepio followed her out. They all acknowledged that the next few hours belonged to Luke and his father. They could only leave them alone and hope for the best.

When the door closed after them, Vader walked up to his child's bedside. Luke gazed up at the approaching colossus with a look full of trust and adoration. The Sith Lord smiled beneath his mask and put his hand on the pink cheek, revelling in all the small but noticeable changes in his boy since he'd first arrived.

'My little miracle,' he sighed inside. 'My pride and joy... My heart. My soul.'

Luke pressed the leathered palm to his face needfully. If only he could find the courage to...

"Father..." the breathy word left his lips like a caress, making Vader shudder.

"You need to sleep," Vader persuaded, as if he knew the thoughts that were crossing his offspring's mind. "The more rest you get the stronger your body will become."

Eyes riveted on the beloved form, Luke bit his lower lip.

"I would..." he began clumsily. "I- I'd like... I..."

Vader sat down on his son's bed without freeing his hand. His thumb escaped the child's grasp and caressed the thin skin of his cheekbone.

"Yes?"

"F-Father, I-I... I'd..." the young man bit his lower lip harder, revealing such bottomless pit of despair that it was more than Vader could bear.

"Tell me, Son," he asked, feeling all resistance crumble. "What is it?!"

Vader's vehemence felt almost aggressive and Luke recoiled, thinking he was trying his father's patience.

"I... I'd..." he shook his head and released the big hand, looking down at his lap. "W-would you raise the head of the bed a bit, please? I'd like to sleep sitting up a little."

Something died in Vader on hearing those words.

"Of... course," he nodded after a brief pause. He rose and searched the panel at the foot of the bed. He pressed a small button for a few seconds.

"That's enough, thank you," Luke said when the head had been raised to his satisfaction. He lay down. "It's more comfortable now," he gave his father a shaky smile.

Vader nodded assent, sitting on the chair next to his child's bed.

The two men stared at each other for the shortest eternity, gauging one another. Hesitant, desperate, until...

"Good night, Father," Luke whispered almost inaudibly.

They reached out, squeezing each other's hands for dear life.

"Good night, my son," Vader stroked the backs of the pale fingers with his thumb. "Rest well."

"You too," Luke gave him the ghost of a smile.

They closed their eyes, one single word echoing ruthlessly in their minds.

'COWARD!'


Blue eyes blinked open sleepily and looked around, foggy brain wondering where he was. The hand he was holding and the body it belonged to were the first things in his line of vision. Recognizing them instantly he clung to them, literally and metaphorically.

He fixed his gaze on their intertwined fingers and frowned. Something was wrong there. He was staring at flesh and black leather and yet, he couldn't tell what fingers were his and what were…

Suddenly, the room began to spin.

'What... What is this? Force, what...?'


A barren desert. Twin suns in the sky. Scorching heat. And a white-clad little boy standing on a dune, looking up at the heavens, tears running down his cheeks. Quiet, resigned tears. His calm appearance couldn't disguise the fact that his heart was torn in two. A wild gust of wind disheveled his hair and he raised his small hand, waving longingly at an ascending ship.

'Goodbye, Daddy.'


"Father."

The world righted itself in a split second - the time it took him to snap out of his impromptu vision and focus on the smiling creature lying in the bed before him.

The purest soul that had ever existed, encased in a frail body struggling to recover from a deadly illness he had instilled.

Big, gentle eyes stared up at him as if the sun rose and set on his repulsive form.

'This is how I want to die. Looking into your sweet, loving eyes. Cradled in your warm embrace. My saviour, my redeemer, my master.'

"Good day, my... My Son," Vader took a deep breath and pulled himself together with a wince. Holding back the automatic endearment felt like a betrayal to everything his child had gone through. If nothing else, Luke deserved his father's emotional honesty.

'Not even if I lived a billion years I would ever compensate for all my crimes and wrongdoings, so what's the point...? Force, it all seems so pointless... Why can't I tell you what's in my heart? What could I possibly...?'

The soft squeeze on his fingers brought Vader out of his morbid, defeatist introspection.

"In case I never have the chance to tell you..." Luke's eyes softened, staring at him with an openness that left Vader speechless, "...thank you for coming to me. Thank you for everything you've done. For me, for my friends and for the Alliance," he made a short pause. "Thank you for being my father."

Vader smiled sarcastically.

"Unfortunately for you, you never had a choice in the matter."

Luke sat up and stared at the Sith Lord with a forthright look that made his heart skip a beat.

"Don't you know by now?" he released Vader's fingers and grabbed his wrist in a hard grip.

"Know?"

Luke's grip tightened even harder and his eyes burned with fervour.

"You're the only father I want. The only one I would ever accept."

Vader jerked back and gazed at his child in disbelief.

"You don't know what you're saying," he said almost disdainfully.

Luke smiled sadly.

"And one day..." he chose to ignore his father's last words as he went on, "...you'll understand why. And that day nothing will stand in your way... And between us. That day you will be truly free, from yourself and the hopelessness that's robbing you of what's yours and yours only. What no one will ever take away from you, not even yourself." He looked down dejectedly. "As much as you try."

For the first time, Vader saw Yoda's teachings in his son's words, and in the deepest part of him he knew that his son would be a Master one day. A Master the likes of which the extinct Order had never seen in all the millenia it had existed.

"All I understand, is that one day you will be the greatest Jedi ever," he stated with no trace of bitterness in his voice. "You'll become everything I never was, everything I failed to be. And the galaxy will flourish into a new era of prosperity that will last for a thousand generations."

Luke blushed at his father's words and looked down self-consciously.

"The only way I could ever hope to become even a tenth of the Jedi you're describing... is having you by my side," he braved the black mask entreatingly.

A sad smile crossed the scarred features and a big hand framed the rosy cheek.

"Only the Force knows." Vader shrugged self-dismissively. "And anyway, you don't need me to be what you already are, what you're well on your way to becoming."

Luke pressed the prosthetic hand against his face.

"You've been as much a mentor to me as Ben and Yoda," his eyes glistened with sincerity. "You've taught me so much without even knowing... Without even trying..."

"I'm sure I have," Vader nodded ironically. "About the decisions you must never make. About the paths you must never take."

Luke shook his head patiently.

"You've taught me about possibilities, about never giving up, about clinging to your convictions regardless of what others think," he smiled lovingly and his voice softened. "You've taught me about keeping an open heart to all the marvels out there..." he reached out and cupped the side of the durasteel mask in his palm, "...with you being the most wondrous one of all."

Vader let out a smile of exasperated defeat.

"It seems to me I didn't teach you anything you didn't already know at some level. Just never lose that endearing naiveté of yours, my child. You don't know the miracles it's capable of bringing about."

"Are you talking from personal experience?" Luke teased tenderly.

"You tell me, my recalcitrant one," the Dark Lord teased back just as fondly, taking the smaller hand in his own.

Luke chuckled bashfully. With his eyes fixed on their clasped hands, he spoke his heart out.

"Make no mistake, Father," he met the black sockets that were riveted on him. "I will need you always. For the rest of my life."

Humbled by the outpouring of naked emotion, Vader also studied their linked hands as if they contained the secrets of the universe... or the answer to the questions that had been plaguing him since he'd come aboard.

Maybe... Maybe there were no answers to his questions. Maybe their joined hands were the answer.

Before he could go further with his musings, the door slid open and a robot nurse rolled in carrying a tray.

Their hands unlinked and Vader shuddered, experiencing a chilling feeling of bereavement.

The nurse placed the bed tray over Luke's legs.

"Enjoy your breakfast," she said before rolling away.

"T-Thanks," Luke replied distractedly, looking down at the plate.

Two Corellian apples and a hindian pear, plus a glass full of a yellowish liquid which he reckoned had to be a juice of some kind. He took a small sip.

"Banana!" he licked his lips unconsciously, but the smile froze on his face when he saw the fork and the knife next to the plate. He swallowed hard, not daring to look up.

Ignoring the searing stab of pain and guilt, Vader straightened up in his seat.

"Please, allow me the honour," he rasped out.

The Dark Lord took hold of the knife and the pear and began to peel it under Luke's timid gaze. When he was finished, he put it back on the plate.

"Wait," he asked softly when he saw his son reaching for it.

Luke looked at him interrogatively.

Holding the fork now, Vader cut the pear into several pieces. Then, he raised his right hand and with a delicate flourish, levitated one piece up to Luke's lips.

Grinning in amused, childlike joy, Luke allowed himself to be fed, knowing all too well what it was costing his father to keep a lighthearted mood about the situation. But he was determined to not let Vader's feelings of guilt devour him. The past was in the past. He had forgiven his father wholeheartedly and he wouldn't allow any negative feelings to sully the bond they were building, together.

He ate the pear and both apples with gusto, and he was actually sorry when he took the final sip of his banana juice.

"Still hungry?" Vader asked after his son wiped his mouth with the napkin.

"No," Luke put the napkin by the plate, "but I don't feel stuffed either. It was the right amount of food."

Vader nodded, satisfied.

"I must say I've never been fed so originally," Luke smiled impishly, bent on keeping his father's mind away from any gloomy thoughts. "You're very imaginative; thank you."

"It wasn't the first time," Vader admitted, swept away by an ocean of poignant memories.

"Mother?" Luke's voice was a reverent whisper following a brief silence full of meaning.

The Dark Lord nodded assent.

"I bet there's a lovely story behind," the young man prompted gently.

A scornful smile crossed the dry lips.

"Just a juvenile attempt at courtship from an inexperienced, totally smitten kid."

"If you don't mind, I'll see it as an incredibly considerate act of kindness... with maybe an aim to impress," there was a definite twinkle in the crystal blue eyes.

"Absolutely. Both times," Vader stated arrogantly.

Luke burst out laughing happily, soaking up these moments of relaxed banter between them. It meant so much... It meant everything.

The Sith Lord smiled at the sound of his son's hearty laughter. It warmed his heart like nothing ever had. Reaching out, he tousled the blond hair.

'To hold, to caress... I had forgotten what it was like. You brought it all back to me, sweet angel. Thank you. Thank you for giving me back my humanity.'

The door slid open and Han and Leia walked in. Upon seeing the pair's antics they faltered, not wanting to intrude on the private moment.

Luke and Vader's heads turned to them simultaneously and Luke's face lit up.

"Hey, good morning!" he greeted happily.

Shaking off her indecision, Leia approached the bed with a smile.

"Good morning," she greeted back, kissing him on the cheek. "I see you had breakfast already."

"Yes," Luke nodded. "Two apples, one pear and a banana juice. A normal breakfast at last!"

"That's great, kid," Han walked closer. "You're looking much better."

"It's wonderful to see you improving day by day," Leia combed through the blond hair maternally.

"It's wonderful to be surrounded by people who care about me so much," the gratitude in Luke's words was so disarming that everyone felt a lump form in their throats.

Leia's eyes sought Vader's and they nodded to each other in wordless acknowledgment.

"Had a good night?" she asked after taking a deep breath.

"Yes, we did," Vader answered for the two of them.

"Where are Chewie and Lando?" Luke inquired curiously, meeting her gaze.

"They slept in and we left them finishing their breakfast in the mess. They'll be here any minute," Leia explained.

Luke nodded.

"Anything new from Headquarters?"

The unexpected question startled everybody. Not only because of the question itself, but because it showed that despite having suffered a mortal illness that had ravaged his body, the young Jedi's brain remained as sharp as ever. More than that, there was an authority in his voice and stance that hadn't been present until now. Luke's dramatic growth and maturity exemplified everything that had changed in the past few weeks. Around them and inside them all.

"Nothing," Leia replied, honouring the change in the young man she so adored. "The High Command's verdict stands. Your father's been unanimously pardoned and offered political asylum as an Imperial defector. Whatever he decides to do from this moment on, is strictly his own personal choice."

Leia wasn't one of the top leaders of the Alliance for nothing. After a career as a politician and several years in the Senate, she knew how to turn practically any situation around and redirect it where it suited her best.

The ball was now back in Vader's court. Where it had been all along.

Her words sobered Luke almost like a reprimand, effectively taking the wind out of his sails. He nodded again sharply, withdrawing into himself.

Vader cast the Princess a reproachful look, knowing she wouldn't see it. His assumption was proved wrong when she threw him the fakest smile.

The door opened and the robot nurse rolled in. She took the tray over Luke's legs and rolled away. The door hadn't begun to close behind her when Lando, Chewie, the droids and Dr. Vilk walked in.

"Good morning, young man!" Vilk greeted him cheerfully. "Did you enjoy your breakfast?"

"Very much," Luke's voice sounded somewhat subdued. "It felt good to eat solid food at last."

"I bet it did," Vilk nodded his understanding. "But now you know what's coming next, don't you?"

"I think I do," Luke said, moving the bedcovers aside and sliding over to the edge of the bed.

Immediately, Han and Lando placed themselves beside him, and after Luke put on his slippers and wrapped his arms around their shoulders, they helped him up.

"Slow and easy," Vilk instructed. "Find your balance and make sure that you can stand first."

"All right," Luke nodded, testing the strength in his legs.

Securing his hold on his friends' shoulders, Luke took his first tentative steps of the day. He gained confidence as he progressed, and after a couple minutes he looked up at his doctor.

"You want to try walking on your own," Vilk read the silent request in the expressive eyes. "Go ahead," he nodded gently. "But you two stay close, just in case," he told Han and Lando.

Carefully, the two friends released Luke's arms and moved their hands away from his waist. They hovered close as the young man took his first steps unaided. His legs shook under the effort but he stood firm. Slowly, the young Jedi persevered and walked on his own for an entire minute. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and he bit his lower lip, refusing to stop, but in the end he returned to his bed and leaned on it. He bowed his head and blew out all the air in his lungs.

"Well done," Han whispered to him, putting one hand on his back and moving it in circles proudly.

"Indeed," Vilk praised effusively. "How're you feeling?"

"The muscles in my legs burn. I need to practise some more," Luke replied, wiping the sweat off his upper lip.

"And you will," Vilk assured him. "After lunch and after dinner. It'll get easier the more you try."

Lando squeezed Luke's shoulder wordlessly. Luke smiled at him in acknowledgment and then looked up at Chewie, who growled with an emphatic nod. Leia's big grin warmed his heart and he returned it happily. Finally, his eyes turned to his father.

"Impressive," was Vader's word of approval.

Luke smiled at him tiredly and climbed into bed, sitting back against his pillows. The muscles in his thighs and calves twitched, and he bent forward to rub them briskly.

Artoo rolled up to his master's bedside and beeped an enthusiastic sound to him.

Grinning, Luke reached out and patted the blue dome softly.

"Thanks, Artoo."

"Master," Threepio joined in. "It is so good to see you getting better. You will be fully functional in no time."

"Thank you, Threepio," Luke chuckled. "I hope to stay that way for many, many years."

"And I join in the sentiment," Vilk stressed his words with an energetic nod. "You broke all known records in bad luck, young man. The fact that you survived, makes you indestructible in my book."

Luke threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"Why thank you, doctor!" he looked back down and his eyes sought the man in black leather standing at the foot of his bed. He gazed at him adoringly. "But having something to live for made it easier. Being challenged to survive for the chance to witness a miracle was an opportunity I couldn't let pass."

Vader gave a soft start and returned his son's gaze with a gentle tilt of his helmeted head.

'Come back and let me prove you wrong!'

Luke nodded at him and his eyes misted with tears. Vader took a deep, painful breath and nodded back. Even half-conscious and in the middle of a seizure, his child had somehow listened to him and given him a chance. To his monster of a father who'd done nothing at that point but terrorize and brutalize him. And still...

'I don't remember much,' Luke's shy voice entered his thoughts. 'I just remember floating away... and a booming voice commanding me to return and stay. And I just couldn't refuse. Suddenly... I wanted to stay.'

'Thank the Force that you did, my boy. If you hadn't...' Vader couldn't bring himself to even contemplate the possibility. His son, dying in his arms. Losing him forever, like his mother, like his wife, like so many others he'd cared about...

In three strides, he was at his child's bedside, holding his outstretched hand in his own. He squeezed it until the boy winced.

"Easy, easy," Luke told his father in a light tone. "Let the blood flow... That's it. Much better," he smiled up at him with a wink.

Vilk watched them unblinkingly, his jaw almost hitting the floor. After a few seconds of paralysed astonishment, he pulled himself together with a shake of his head.

"As I was saying, you've earned decades of iron health if everyone's protectiveness is anything to go by. Especially his," he raised his eyebrows at Vader. "I can't imagine what you are to him, but..."

"Everything, doctor," Vader's lack of qualms stating his son's importance to him shook everybody to the core. "He is everything that matters."

"Good," Vilk's aplomb wasn't any less impressive. "As obvious as it was right from the start, it's important to hear you say it out loud," he reached out his hand.

The Dark Lord looked down at the proffered hand and shook it with a hard squeeze.

"You have my eternal gratitude for saving my... his life," he quickly amended.

"Never been one to not take the credit for a job well done," Vilk shrugged off the sting of his half-serious words, "but I'm no fool. It was your doing as much as mine that healed him, if not more," his half-smile never belied the fact that he knew who was mostly responsible for young Skywalker's continued existence.

Vader released the doctor's hand, feeling inexplicably self-conscious. It still felt hard to believe that anything good could come from him. From his actions or emotions.

"Now," Vilk addressed everyone in the room with a sweeping glance, "I must ask you to please leave for a while. We're going to clean the room and take care of this young man's necessities."

"Does it mean I'll be allowed to finally have a shower, doctor?" Luke's anticipation was contagious.

"A supervised bath more like," Vilk gave him a long nod.

The young Jedi raised his eyes to the ceiling, but acquiesced without further protest. Any advancement was something to rejoice in, as small as it was.

TO BE CONTINUED...