Summery : Five years after Mustafar, Darth Vader is but a shadow of the powerful Sith Lord he should be. To the point where the emperor must use the apprentice bond to force Vader to act. But why?

Chalk it up to two undaunted women who will not let even death stop them from saving the soul of the man they both loved.

Force-Speech

*Thoughts*

Disclaimer - I neither own copyright or receive money for anything. I write to improve my ability and for enjoyment.

We all need something to fight for:

Chapter Four: The Hidden Light

"Time for bed young man," called the woman at the kitchen doorway. The boy wiggled gleefully enough and ran to his aunt's side. "Really Aunt Beru? Wizard!" Beru laughed at her beloved nephew even as her husband came in from locking the garage. "I've never heard of a boy ever wanting to go to bed as much as you seem to like it, Luke,"she teased, tousling his blond hair. "Don't encourage the brat, Beru. He only likes going to bed because he can dream all he wants there," Owen snapped irritably enough.

Luke ignored his uncle's taunt. Uncle Owen could not understand or would want to since he knew Luke would be dreaming of his father. Yet Luke knew it was no dream. He had learned to keep quiet about these dreams when his uncle brought old Ben Kenobi to the house when he was but three and a half. Owen despised Ben with a vengeance that made the little boy sad and unhappy. And when he overheard his uncle talk about having Ben use his 'hokey wizard power' to stop Luke from dreaming about his father, the boy was frightened.

His father needed him. He was in a dark place and only Luke's presence gave him any light. He'd known that as long as he could remember. And there was the 'bad man' who was so very mean to his father. Luke couldn't let anyone take his connection away. He had help in this though. A presence other then his father helped him learn to shield himself at a very young age. The presence, which told Luke that 'she' had been his grandmother in life, also told him that the 'bad man' would hurt him if he could.

So through his Nana's guidance he learned to shield and shield well. So much so that when Ben showed up that day and probed his thoughts, he felt that the boy was just making things up as was natural. And told Owen such. After that narrow escape, Luke never told anyone about his dreams. It was not every night that he could speak to his father. Sometimes the 'bad man' would be there and Luke would instantly close up. He was beginning to realize that his father was shielding him too.

But Daddy didn't think he was real. That hurt Luke a bit, but he understood. Nana had explained that his daddy thought that he'd done something horrible to mommy and she'd died because of it. He'd been angry and thought that mommy had betrayed him. And Luke knew what his father could do when he was really angry. It didn't happen often because Luke would stay away for a while after such a thing. When he came back though as he always would, his father would beg his forgiveness.

He didn't want to be nasty, not really. Being nasty had harmed all the people he had loved one way or another. But the 'bad man' would make Daddy do things. Mostly Daddy didn't care one way or another. Only when Luke would talk to him about it and ask him why would Daddy get upset. Luke understood that his father was very angry for things had always been hard for him. Anger was something Luke didn't like though, especially in himself. It felt like the 'bad man' was looking over his shoulder and gleefully using his anger against him. So when Luke got mad, he'd work himself out quickly so he could accept it calmly.

He hoped that one day soon he'd get to see his father for real. Because time seemed to be running out.