Hi everyone. Firstly I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but dragging it out would only make it worse. Secondly this is the last chapter of this story, and I'm not sure when I will finish the sequel, so, my young padawans, you must practice patience. However, and I'm totally gonna guilt you all, tomorrow is my birthday and I happen to have a lovely one-shot set in this universe featuring Luke and, well, Anakin's other padawan, so keep an eye out for that and go read it as a birthday present for me. And now without further ado, the final chapter.

Chapter 20

When Luke woke up he was aware of two things: he could feel his right arm, and hear his father's heavy breathing.

Lord Darth Vader sat beside his son in the Medbay of the Exactor looking 100% like the concerned father he was. His breathing was harsher than normal, a stark reminder to why anyone was in the Medbay, but he refused to lie down. For one he was a dark lord of the Sith, and dark lords of the Sith did not just 'lie down', but he also wanted to be there when Luke awoke. Few people knew what it was like to have your arm chopped off, but he did. For it to happen to Luke at such a young age… They wouldn't even fit him with a permanent mechanical arm because he was still growing! It was just wrong.

"You're alive," Luke whispered, his grin larger than normal. (He was on some pretty heavy painkillers, so who could blame him for being a bit goofy. Plus Luke was always a bit goofy.) "And my hand is there." Luke lifted his new mechanical arm and laughed. "It looks different."

Vader would have to see just how heavy those painkillers were. "It's metal. The rebel assassin took off your flesh one. I'm very sorry."

Luke didn't look particularly sorry. Carefully he used the new arm to push himself upright in the bed, and just shrugged. "It's different, but it doesn't hurt." Luke bit his lip, and then suddenly burst out laughing hysterically. "Now we match!"

Oh yeah, he definitely needed to check on those painkillers. "You, my son, will hopefully never match me when it comes to losing limbs. One is more than enough."

"I'm glad I lost it." Luke must have realized that his father seemed to think he'd lost it, because he explained more. "I mean I wish I hadn't but I'm glad I was there. Ha! You thought I was being stupid but I saved your life. Ha ha!"

Painkillers or not having his fifteen year old son say 'I told you so' irked the Sith Lord. Yet Luke was right. If the boy hadn't been there… the Force only knows what would have happened. Perhaps Vader would never have been so exhausted to need that nap if Luke hadn't been there, or perhaps he would have just died. There was no way of knowing, and it really didn't matter. "It is still not your job to be in danger to save me," he reminded his son with a pointed look. "But I will admit I am glad you were there. I'm also glad you don't consider letting me die whenever we have a fight."

Luke's grin somehow managed to grow wider. "I mean I considered it but if you died I'd have to go back to Tatooine and there is just so much sand!"

"I think it's time you went back to sleep," Vader decided actually pulling the covers over Luke's chest. "I think you're still in a state of shock."

Luke did slink back into the bed, and his father went to check up on things up until Luke spoke again. "What did you do with the last one? The one I managed not to kill."

A part of Vader, the part of him that was still Anakin Skywalker, found it endlessly endearing to know that Luke had tried not to kill, but Vader knew it was just more proof of how young Luke still was. He may have the power to defeat three assassins, but that did not mean he was ready to. "He's still alive. He's to be executed publicly after his trial. You may have to testify."

Luke bunched up his eyebrows probably trying to figure out if it was just the medicine confusing him or if the galaxy didn't make sense again. "Don't you normally have the trial before offering the sentence?"

"Is he not guilty? You were there," Vader reminded his son. Luke just shrugged, but he could tell it still didn't sit well with the boy. Well, he was just a boy. (But not, it seemed, a little boy.) "As I said, he will face justice for his crimes and serve as an example for others who would dare attack us."

Luke sighed, and turned over on his side, before quickly realizing he was lying on his mechanical arm, and turning to the other side. (Which unfortunately made him have to face his father.) "I didn't want to kill them. I know you don't understand that but it feels wrong."

Vader didn't really understand why Luke would feel bad about killing rebels, but he didn't say so. "You were acting in defense, selflessly even as you were protecting me. Even Jedi carry weapons, because there is nothing nobler than defending the helpless."

"They thought they were doing the same thing though." That was what was bothering Luke so much. To the rebels Vader was a threat to all things good and innocent. He was the merciless killer. "They thought they were saving lives by killing you."

"You will learn that everything is a matter of perspective. When a Hutt kills a slave they see it as defending their way of life, their people, but it is nothing more than murder. Anyone can look at themselves and see a hero. Perhaps it's not right to kill rebels, but it is certainly wrong to let them kill us and so we have no other choice."

That made sense to Luke, even if his mind was still cloudy. He just wished he knew why anyone had to kill anyone at all.

Luke went back to school the next week feeling completely different, and discovered that everyone else was exactly the same. The attempt on Vader's life and his son's 'heroic fight against murderous rebels' had been largely publicized over the weekend, and so everyone wanted to hear Luke's account. Of course everyone only wanted to hear Luke's account until he discovered that the sensational HoloNet articles were more interesting than the truth.

They did find that Luke's arm, which had yet to be fitted with synthetic skin, was more interesting than any picture, however. More kids than Luke even realized attended the school asked him to see it, and so Luke just ended up letting them form a line at lunch to come poke, prod, and examine the mechanic.

"You know it's no different from a droid's arm," Luke reminded Rickon as his friend asked to see if oil made it bend back more. "Really I compared it to 3PO's and they're basically the same.

Rickon still continued to run his finger along the seam between flesh and metal. Luke slapped him away with his good hand, and enlisted Leah to help him place the new bacta-equipped bandages on. (That was the worst bit of everything for Luke. He hated having to change the bandages every three hours.)

"It's like you're a whole new person though!" Rickon truly sounded amazed, and Luke was considering that perhaps he needed the metal to be less shiny. "But at the same time you're not at all."

"Yeah," Luke couldn't help but share a grin with Leah who undoubtedly knew how he felt. "Something like that."