Author's Note: The next chapter is the epilogue.
Though Luke was obviously jittery, Vader was impressed at his fortitude as they walked through the Imperial Palace. Their Stormtrooper escort surrounded them, but at a careful distance, as Vader had instructed. Artoo followed behind them, and every now and then, when Luke turned to look back at him, the little droid gave a reassuring whistle.
When at last they reached the landing platform where their shuttle awaited them, Luke paused and stood still, awed by the sight of the Coruscant traffic.
Vehicles of various sizes and colors sped through the air in front of them, and Vader recalled with strange fondness the time he and his former master had chased after Zam Wessell through that organized chaos. It was an impressive sight to any who had not seen it before.
When they finally entered the shuttle, Luke gazed eagerly out the window at the outside world, watching as the lights passed them by. Vader wondered if he should be worried that the boy would be overwhelmed by the sight before him, but after glancing at the expression on his face, Vader knew he did not need to be concerned.
They left the planet and went up to Vader's newest flagship, the Atlantis. Luke's eyes were wide as he took in the sight of the stars, and for a few minutes, Vader allowed himself to think that Luke was simply a normal boy who was marveling over the wonders of outer space for the first time.
Yet when they set down on the docking bay, the new noises and the movement of the ship caused Luke to remember himself, and he turned his back upon the ship's consoles and cowered a little as he looked at Vader.
"It will be all right," Vader said softly.
As they exited the shuttle, Luke's intimidation by his new surroundings soon became much more apparent, and Vader had to coax him to move down the landing platform.
Every step had Luke withdrawing further and further into himself. He began trembling a little due to his new exertions. Vader began to fear that they might be facing a breakdown before they reached their destination.
At last, however, they made it to his suite, and Vader took Luke to his room. Inside, it was simply the two of them and Artoo. Luke seemed to calm down at the sight of his surroundings— the room had been prepared so that it looked as similar to the other one as possible—and he at last began to talk to Artoo.
"I saw . . . the stars, Artoo," he said quietly but eagerly. "The real ones. There were . . . there were so many!"
As Vader listened to the boy's halting but excited words, he could not help but feel slightly saddened. He wished the boy felt comfortable enough to talk to him instead. Yet the boy obviously knew more about what to expect from droids, so Vader could not blame him.
After listening a few minutes more, Vader left the boy and the droid so he could tend to some of his duties as the master and commander of the vessel. For what was not the last time, he cursed the responsibilities that took him away from his son.
A few hours later, Vader returned to the boy's quarters with See-Threepio in tow. He had decided a few days before that he would bring the droid with him to assist with translation on Kashyyyk. The droid had seemed somewhat frazzled and intimidated by his presence when he told him to accompany him to his quarters, but the droid had not tried to disobey him.
Once inside Luke's room, Vader was encouraged by the boy's look of interest at the golden protocol droid.
"This is See-Threepio," Vader said by way of introduction. "A long time ago, I built this droid."
Slowly, Luke walked forward to examine the protocol droid. He glanced up and down, as if interested in looking at Threepio's parts. "Not human?" Luke asked.
"No," Vader said. "I am human, but he is not." He hesitated, and then he said, "Both of the droids are yours if you want them."
Luke seemed puzzled. "Mine?"
"Your . . . your property. Your belongings."
Luke shook his head. "No, not property." He reached out and touched the protocol droid. "Friends."
After returning to the Atlantis from his mission on Kashyyyk, Vader's mind was in turmoil.
While there were rumors of Rebels attempting to stir up rebellion among the Wookiees, he had not been able to find any solid leads. He had felt he might be able to obtain more information from a certain elderly Wookiee through a judicious use of forceful interrogation, yet he could not bring himself to do it. And that was what had him so confused.
He did not know what was happening to him. He could not understand why his mind had been focused on Luke and not on the mission.
The Empire had once been everything to him. It was the best way to save the galaxy from the ruinous squabbles of politicians. The different peoples in the galaxy were always at odds, and they needed someone to force them to unify—to enforce order among them. That was what he had once thought.
That was before he had seen what destruction could be wrought by greed and revenge. That was before he found a boy suffering for everything he had done. His dark paradise had been built on the pain of this boy and countless others like him. The Empire might have brought stability, but it was founded on wretched darkness. Its order was ensured through suffering.
He went to Luke's room, where the two droids still were. Threepio was chattering on as usual, and Artoo was projecting an image of a Nubian starship moving through space. The boy was watching the image in rapt attention, not even registering Vader's presence for a few minutes. When he finally did see his new visitor, Luke did not jump or even recoil. Instead, he smiled.
It was a small smile, a hesitant smile . . . but it was enough to cause a new resolution to pop up within Vader's mind.
Vader knew just what he had to do.