Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the prolonged update. I haven't been on the computer for a while, seeing as it is that I finished the new Harry Potter book! I apologize, but it was a good book...
Luke rose bright an early the next morning, only to find a clean tunic to be lying at the foot of his bed. He got up, brushed his teeth, combed his hair – and went over to examine said 'tunic'.

It was black.

Not that a black tunic was weird, or anything. Oh, actually – it was weird. For people who spent their entire life on Tatooine, where everyone is the same color as the sand, wearing a black tunic was a way for you to stand out and attract yourself to the blistering heat of the desert planet.

But his clothes were filthy – he needed to put this on. And, plus, he actually wanted to see Lord Vader today. He said he wanted to show him something. He suspected it had something to do with his parentage, either his father or his mother. Vader seemed to pester him about them a lot.

When he met Vader in the west wing that morning, the lord seemed a bit on edge. It was as if he was excited… or something. Excited? No! Evil dark lords don't get excited about meeting ten year-old boys, Luke thought.

"Good morning," Vader said, rather monotonous.

"What's so good about it?" Luke snapped.

Vader sighed. "You're right," he said, same tone. "Bad morning to you, Luke."

Luke noted that Vader didn't say 'Luke Anakin Skywalker' again. He's changed, he thought, that's why he so happy. He looked over Vader's shoulder. He was typing something into the database, somehow searching for a holo report. "What are you doing?" He asked, curious.

"Researching those that died in the Jedi Purge," Vader answered.

Luke's jaw clenched. Jedi Purge? He thought. The Jedi weren't involved in any other the Chancellor's business – why couldn't the rest of the galaxy, the universe, realize that this was a hoax? He was very opinionated all of a sudden – he wanted to scream and shout at Vader, telling him that everything was his fault.

And everything was.

The dark lord could sense Luke's anguish. The boy knew a lot for his age, Vader decided. "You're angry about that?" he questioned.

The boy crossed his arms over his chest, sort of distained. His sandy blonde hair fell over his eyes as he looked down at his shoes; they reflected in the squeaky-clean tile underneath them. "You're a lot wiser than you take yourself for, Vader," Luke said, meaning every word.

Vader was astounded to hear these words repeated out of the boy's mouth. He had never been wise, even in his Jedi days. It was a misconception – a simple flaw, a first impression… he was never wise…

But it was a compliment.

"Er – uh… thank you, Luke," Vader said, grudgingly, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to ask why he was considered wise all of a sudden, but he didn't bother – compassion was something for the past, and never to be dawned upon again.

The boy nodded.

Vader pointed to the screen, seemingly to keep his mind off the 'likeness' that he was getting from Luke. "See that?" He pointed to a symbol – a simple symbol, Luke couldn't distinguish what it was. Luke nodded. "It means that this person, dead," he said that was fear behind his voice, Luke could tell, "was a Senator."

"My mother?" He said. He seemed eager, and stood on his toes so he could see the screen. The blue light glowed onto his face.

"No," Vader snapped.

Luke gulped, standing down. "Oh," he suddenly regretted getting excited; maybe he wouldn't get to see who his mother really was today…

"I'm just showing you what the other… Senators," he said, "looked like." Vader wasn't aggravated, it was odd – usually by now if someone had been eager, excited, they would be on their deathbed, or already dead.

But not Luke – he was 'special'.

Vader clicked around the system, the many faces of the fallen Senators coming and going on the screen, somehow mending together with the swiftness of Vader's clicks. "Ah," the dark lord muttered, but loud enough for Luke to hear. "Here we are."

Luke had been previously occupied with tying his shoe, for he had become bored with Vader's hastiness. He had sprung up with the dark lord's few words, and joined Vader at his side.

The woman on the screen was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful, Luke decided. She was smiling in this one picture, but there was something behind her eyes… shadow? Fear? Her eyes, though – chocolate brown, as the description said. Her hair was fashioned into a weird 'do. It was sort of buns, actually, on either side of her head. No one, except royalty, wore their hair in such high fashion anymore. It was almost as if fashion was simply 'thrown out' after the War ended and the rise of the Empire took place.

It was clear that Luke had his mother's smile. And her height, for he was still short – he hoped that that would clear up when he reached puberty. The description said she was 5'1''… She was very short for someone with such responsibilities, Luke thought.

Luke looked up to see Vader turned away. He looked out the window at the passing stars, the passing planets, systems – he seemed distressed suddenly. Had he known his mother well, like he knew his father? He assumed so, because being friends with one usually constitutes you to be friends with another's spouse.

Vader noticed Luke stared. "When she didn't wear her hair up like that," Vader said, putting his obvious feelings behind him, like everything else, "She wore it down. It was naturally curly, actually."

Luke nodded. "Did you know her well, like my father?"

The dark lord sighed. "They weren't permitted to be together, Luke, so know one really knew them like… I did. Actually, no one really knew of their marriage, except those who believe the stories of the HoloNet."

"Gossip stories?"

Vader nodded. "HoloNet was obsessive back them," he thought of the memory… something he hadn't done in a while.

A memory of him and Padmé together on a rooftop garden, and the news crew found them – together – and posted the story. Just friends, right? He remembered Obi-Wan asking. Anakin smiled a nodded. Just friend, Master. Nothing more, nothing less.

"But the stories were true, Lord Vader," Luke said. "About my parents. Their marriage – they were really bound together, right?" He asked.

Vader nodded slowly. "They married after the Clone Wars started, secretly, of course," the dark lord couldn't believe he was speaking about this. He'd never… to anyone… "On Naboo."

Luke didn't want to admit that he hadn't heard of this planet, for it was obviously important – Vader seemed to clue in that it was her planet, and she thought very fondly of it. After all, she was the Senator for Naboo.

He started to read the biographical part of the file. Her mother raised her, her father was a university professor, and she had an older sister. Luke had an aunt!

Then, something very interesting caught his eye. Her funeral was held a day after his birth – the eleventh day in the calendar, winter. Yet, it said she died pregnant.

"Vader," Luke coughed. "She died – pregnant? Her funeral was a day after my birth, right? How could she die pregnant?"

Vader sneered. "Good question, Luke," he said, placing his hand on Luke's hair. The boy swatted him away. "I actually wonder it myself, sometimes."

It didn't answer Luke's question. "But – I was… born." It was the easiest way to put this.

"Perhaps she was trying to hide you from the Empire, Luke Skywalker," Vader sneered. He suddenly hated Padmé Naberrie Amidala Skywalker for betraying him, depriving him from his own child.

"Perhaps," Luke agreed. "For good reasons," he huffed, turning to face Vader, his yellow eyes flaming.

"You know, boy," Vader roared, "I showed you who your mother was. It's an act that goes unnoticed by a normal Samaritan, but for a Sith, it one for the books." He gave one last look at Luke, and turned to go, his cape trailing behind him.

"Lord Vader!" came the knock at the door. The voice chirped uncontrollably. "Lord Vader! The test results came back!"

The dark lord's anger banished when the heard his droid's word through the blast door. He got up, and punched the 'open' button. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He screamed to the droid, "Open the package, Heirback!"

Heirback 23 was a messenger droid, a stuffy, yappy robot who floated through the air. He had a purple eye and a big red one. Supposedly, messenger droids were the best – as said by the HoloNet – but Vader had yet to see the light in Heirback.

The droid fiddled with the package, finally getting it open after three tries to break the seal. The papers flew out, landing in Vader's hand, with help from the force. He threw a look at Heirback, who comprehended it as a compliment, and replied a simply "thank you", bowing in air.

The test came back as a bunch of bar graphs. Line graphs, too – but mainly bar graphs. It was many different colors: purple, blue, green, red. "What does it mean!?" Vader roared. "Read it, Heirback!" He stuffed the papers in the droid's claws.

The droid scanned it. "Here, look Master!" He shoved the paper close to Vader's eye. "Right there!"

"Yes, Heirback," Vader replied through clenched teeth. "If it was a little closer I think it would be caught in my eyeball, droid."

"Oh, right," Heirback reclined the papers, so Vader could actually read it. "I apologize, Master."

Vader read it. And he read the words over and over again, never stopping to seize the moment. Read, repeat.

He didn't know how long it was until he heard his droid chirp, "Orders, sir?"

Vader looked up from the papers, wide eyed and backwards. "Orders? Oh, yeah," he said, feeling silly and childish. He gulped, straightened up, placing the papers in his lap, and looked the droid in the eye. "Heirback, you no longer serve me."

"It's been a pleasure, sir. I – "

"You serve Luke Anakin Skywalker, in the room two doors down. He is your master now," he told the droid. "Take orders from him. Do as he says. He's one of us, now. View him as you do me; he is an equal to me."

"Y – yes, sir, Lord Vader," the droid stuttered. Heirback scurried out, as almost as if he was nervous.

The dark lord gulped. He had expected it. Why didn't he see this feeling coming? Why couldn't he feel like a Sith lord should feel when he realizes he could train a boy to become a Sith? Why didn't he feel the power of the dark lord, like he had felt for the past ten years?

Vader felt dryness in his throat, like right after you dry-swallow a pill. He ran his fingers through his dark curly hair.

For the first time in ten years, he actually felt… happy.

A/N: Thanks for the amazing feedback!