Vader's fighter tore across the skies of the rebel planet. Vader snarled in annoyance as his ship bounced as a laser hit him. This stupid battle had already lasted two hours and it showed no signs of slowing.

Luke whimpered as he watched the knife being heated in the fire. As it became red-hot the interrogator pulled it from the furnace. Luke moaned in terror and tried to squirm away, but he was chained to the interrogation table. The other man pressed the knife to Luke's skin and he screamed. As the knife cut it cauterized his wound, but not without adding severe pain. Dad, where are you? I need you. Please! Make him stop! Suddenly the small body fell still on the rack.

Vader felt a sudden pressure on his lap. He snatched a glance down to see what had fallen out of the ceiling of the ship and was surprised to see a blond child. Is that Luke? "What are you doing here, Luke? This is not a good time."

"I'm sorry," Luke's voice was very small, "I don't know how this happened. One minute I was on the torture rack wishing you were there to protect me and now I'm here. Please don't be mad."

"I don't know how to send you back so just stay still, all right?"

Luke nodded mutely and nestled against Vader's chest. He didn't move at all as the battle progressed. He was with Vader and the pain had stopped, that was all that mattered.

Finally the battle ended. As Vader flew back to his ship he looked back down at his burden, "Oh, Luke. What am I going to do with you? They will want to know why I'm carrying a toddler."

"I don't know." Luke pressed his cheek against Vader's cool chest plate. All he wanted was a few moments of willing protection and comfort from Vader.

"Well, then. Let's buy some time. Hold on tight." Vader turned his ship and flew straight down towards the planet.

"What are you doing, Dad? You're going to kill both of us!" Luke put his arms around Vader's neck and held on for dear life.

"I won't kill us. We will be safe. It will only look as though we have been killed. Don't let go."

"I wasn't planning on it."

The hull was on fire and the inside of the pod was getting unbearably hot for Luke. Vader's suit repelled heat. Luke started to cry as his skin started to blister. Finally they landed and bounced along the ground. As the pod cooled, Luke let go of his adoptive father's neck and stopped crying.

"I'm sorry, Luke. It hadn't occurred to me that that would be painful for you."

Luke hiccupped and held his arms out to Vader for a hug and some gentle love. Vader bent and scooped his little rebel up in his arms. Luke put his head on Vader's shoulder. Every moment he was with Vader was an improvement on being strapped to a torture rack. Already his burns were vanishing from his projected Force clone.

"What will we do now, Luke? Are you sure you have absolutely no idea how this happened?"

"Yes."

"You just wanted to be with me?"

"Yes."

"Could you try not wanting to be with me?"

"I don't think it'll work because I can't really want to go back. I'll try, though." Luke closed his eyes and buried his face against Vader's neck. Vader thought for a moment that Luke sort of flickered. "I can't do it. I'm too scared."

Vader stroked his son's hair with one hand and carefully rocked him. "Maybe if you fall asleep you'll go back." He walked to a small cave and carried Luke up into it. He leaned against the back wall and Luke curled up in his arms.

The poor, sleep-deprived child was asleep in moments. I guess that isn't going to work. Sleep well, Luke. The moment we can figure out how to send you back to your body I'm going to have to let you go.

Luke squirmed in his sleep and started to cry. Vader held the boy close and carefully reached into his sleeping rebel's mind to prod the mental relaxation point. Luke fell still in Vader's arms with a little murmur of, "Dad".

Vader felt the boy move, finally, and Luke sat up in Vader's arms. He yawned and crawled off Vader's lap to stretch like a pitten. Vader couldn't help laughing softly as the child walked to the edge of the cave and curled up in the sun.

"Are you all right, Luke?" Vader walked to the entrance of the cave and sat next to his son.

"I like the sun." Luke smiled innocently at his adoptive father, "But I never get to see it anymore. They're very careful that I don't see natural light anymore. They don't let me see light much at all, actually."

Vader felt the boy's happiness and wished that the child could feel this way all the time.

Luke reached up, on impulse, and kissed Vader's shoulder.

"Err, Luke?" Vader looked at the boy in surprise.

"You needed a kiss," Luke said. Vader decided that appearing as a five year old had certainly affected the boy's shields and decision making.

"Maybe I did. I can't kiss you, but we could choose something we could do instead of a kiss." Vader remembered making secret codes for fun and pulled out an old one. He touched his pinky and index finger and touched his rebel's neck with his thumb, "Would this work for you?"

Luke giggled and followed suit. "Where was that from?"

"A secret language I had with some other Jedi younglings back at the temple." Vader flinched as he remembered the same friends' deaths.

"What should we do about our little problem here?" Vader looked at Luke and wondered if it would be worth taking the child back to the ship and facing any suspicion.

"I don't know. Trial and error?"

After hours of trial and error Luke and Vader were both running out of ideas.

"This is going to be hard to explain to my Master." Vader watched Luke playing in a meadow they had descended to from their cave.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, pausing half way through rolling in the grass so that he was staring up at his adoptive father upside down.

"I mean that my Master has been trying to contact me for the past three hours."

Luke burst into tears and jumped out of the grass. He ran to his father who embraced him in confusion.

"Luke, what's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry, Dad. I just wanted to be with you. I was scared! I never meant to get you in trouble." With that the young boy vanished from their clearing.

"Luke?" You did this on purpose so that you could be with me? Oh, Luke.

Luke found himself back in his cell. He looked at his body and took in the new wounds that he had sustained while his spirit had been in Vader's protection. The pain was incredible. He moaned and curled into a ball.