Chapter Seven: The Hard Way
As Vader flew his shuttle down to the planet, all he could think about was Luke.
What had Luke been told about him? Did he even know that Vader was his father? And if not, how was he supposed to explain all this to his son?
Vader didn't want to admit that the thought of telling Luke he was his father made him a little uneasy.
I need to get a grip on myself! Vader thought.
He could feel Luke's presence better than ever before. It was a memorizing, peaceful presence, a presence that you just want to get lost in.
Vader was throne out of his thoughts when he realized that he had just landed in a field of moister vaperators. He had been so hooked onto Luke's presence that he had unconsciously landed right next to a little house that apparently his son was in.
After telling his troopers to arrest the owners of the plantation, Vader made his way to his son.
You could not explain the anger that Vader felt when he saw his son lying on the floor, bloodied and bruised.
For a moment, Vader was frozen in place, shocked that the slavers had gone this far to hurt Luke. But then, when Luke began groaning in his sleep, Vader was on his knees in seconds, comforting his son to the best of his ability, and holding him in his arms.
"Don't worry, young one; I won't let anyone ever harm you again."
But the sound of his voice woke Luke.
Luke's nightmare was getting worse, oh why couldn't he wake up! But suddenly, the nightmare was gone, and it was replaced by someone cradling his upper body, trying to calm him down.
Luke opened his eyes to see who was holding him.
He was greeted by a black mask, only inches from his face.
Vader!
"Ah!"
Luke tore himself from the Dark Lord's grasp, and started backing away until his back bumped into a bunk, causing his wounds to be even more agitated.
"Ouch!"
Vader was at his side in a moment, helping him sit back down on the floor.
"Don't touch me!" Luke said, shrugging off Vader's hold.
The sith paused. He almost looked………………… hurt. No, that was stupid!
"Where do you hurt, young one?"
Now it was Luke's turn to pause, momentarily stunned by Vader's attitude.
"Everywhere. My back, mostly."
"Let me see."
Vader lifted up the back on Luke's shirt to see the untreated wounds that had made Marle' cry earlier.
"Who's done this to you?" Vader asked, his mood darkening.
"The field henchman, with the electra-shock whip," Luke said, wondering why Vader even cared.
"Why?"
"Well, the first time, it was because I ate more than they wanted me to eat, the second time, I nearly fainted from hunger and I wasn't able to finish my work on time, and the last time was because I was talking to Marle'." Then, Luke remembered who he was telling all this to. "And why the heck do you care?"
"That is for me to know, and for you to find out. Why didn't they treat your wounds?"
"I don't know. I guess they just don't care how we die, as long as they know that we will die, somewhere along the line."
"And what do you mean by that, young one?"
"I mean that they were starving us to death anyway, and not treating our wounds is just a faster way to kill us."
Now Vader really got mad at that.
"You mean they didn't give you enough to eat?"
"Well that's the understatement of the year! But yeah, the guys who first caught me didn't give us anything to eat period. And then after about a week, we were sold to Taska Kamein, and he let us have one meal each day. If we had more than that, we got punished. And I really don't know why I'm telling you this, since you killed my father and I hate you more than anything else in this galaxy." Luke said this in the same manner he that he would tell someone the time.
"Is that what Obi-Wan told you?"
Luke shrugged.
"Basically."
This is what Vader had wished wouldn't happen. But Luke needed to know the truth.
"Well then, there is something that you must know. I am your father."
"What the heck are you………. oh, shut up!"
"Luke, I know this may be a little hard for you to except……."
"Once again, an understatement," Luke interrupted. "You can't be my father! My father was a Jedi! And his name wasn't Darth Vader!"
"I changed my name when I became a sith."
"You should have stayed on the light side, 'cause there is no way that I'm going to believe you're my father!"
Vader was about to retort when his comlink began to beep.
"Yes?"
"The owner of the plantation and the slavers are in custody."
"Very good. Take them to the detention cells on the Executor. We will be leaving immediately."
"Yes sir."
Vader switched off his comlink and turned back to Luke.
"What are you going to do with me?" Luke asked.
"Son, you're acting like you're my prisoner."
"Well, if I wanted to go back to my friends, would you let me? I don't think so!"
"Luke, I want to train you in the ways of the Force."
"You want me to become a sith like you!" Luke said, accusingly.
"The Dark Side is more powerful than the light. I want to show you true power."
"But I don't want to learn about power! And you know, the Dark Side sounds just as evil as it truly is. Come on, if you asked someone if they'd like to learn from the Dark Side, or the light side, naturally they'd chose the light side, because it just sounds so much nicer."
"You have much to learn, my naive son."
"Don't call me that."
"I can call you what I like son."
Luke put his hands over his ears.
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"
"You can't hide from the truth forever son."
Luke put his hands down, and looked at Vader with a maturity beyond his years.
"You came here worried about me being hurt, but you are causing me more pain than all the slavers could, put together."
Vader sat back, stunned. He hadn't expected Luke to act like this. He thought that once he told Luke the truth, he would be begging to be trained by Vader. Apparently he was wrong.
"So you won't come willingly?"
"That's the general idea."
"I see we are going to have to do things the hard way."
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Preview: Han, Leia and Chewie meet Marle', and Marle' isn't all that she seems to be………