"We're staying here?" Luke asked in amazement, staring at his father's castle.

"Yes," Vader landed the speeder on his landing pad and climbed out. Luke scrambled out too and pulled his backpack out from behind the seat. Instead of taking the extra few moments it would have taken to go around the ship, he went down on his hands and knees to crawl under it instead.

Vader laughed as his son crawled out. He bent and pulled the boy into his arms, "Why did you go under the speeder? I think that it would have taken less time to go around it on your legs, the way your body was designed to move."

"Probably," Luke shrugged, then feigned anger, "Geez, I gotta have a reason for everything?"

"No, I guess you don't really. Good point," Vader put his son down. Luke's hand immediately found his father's again. Vader smiled and led his son into his castle.

"I don't have a spare room or anything, this is a complete surprise to me."

"I don't mind!" Luke said happily.

"That's good." Vader said gently.

"Where're we gonna go?"

"Let's go to the living room," Vader said. He led his son into his living room. Luke leapt onto the couch and Vader sat next to him.

"Are you okay, Daddy?"

"I'm fine, Luke. No, I'm better than fine. I have you. Everything is perfect." Vader pulled his son close for a hug.

"Daddy, you're not fine." Luke said in concern. "Something's hurting you!"

"I'm fine. Just a little stiff from a battle."

"Why've you got to fight?"

"That's what I do, Luke. It's my job." Vader assured his son as best he could.

"I don't like it."

"I'm all right. How are you? Who are you, Luke?" Vader asked.

"I'm your son! Who do you think I am?" Luke laughed innocently.

"Luke, you are my son. It's what you are, not who. Who are you?"

"I'm Luke. I'm your son, and I'm… I'm in grade two. I can play a bit of xylophone. I um…. I err… I love you!" Luke faltered, unsure of what to say.

Vader smiled at his son, who was snuggled close against his side. It was enough explicit information for now, he decided.

As Luke gushed enthusiasm to his father, Vader's dark heart slowly being changed by the light he willingly allowed to flow through it. The light of his life. The light that was Luke.

"Daddy, wanna play a game?"

Vader blinked down at the child, who looked up at him with such hope that he couldn't refuse, "Sure. Do you have a game in mind?"

"No. I've never really had anyone to play with before. Can you teach me a game?"

Vader stared at the child another moment, trying to force his mind to find a game, "I don't know any games that don't require the Force."

"Oh," Luke said softly.

"It's not fair he cut it from you."

"I guess not. But what can we do about that?"

Vader looked at the little boy snuggled against himself, "I've never done it before, but I could try to return you to it."

"Isn't that Jedi for," Luke paused, looking nervous, "Kill me?"

Vader fought down a smile, "I guess it might be, but I don't mean it like that. No, I suppose some would say that I should've said I'd return it to you, but using the Force is more like belonging to it. Just a personal quirk, you understand?"

Luke smiled, "I'm gonna get used to those aren't I?"

Vader allowed himself to laugh, "I suppose I am quirky."

"I didn't mean it like that, Daddy."

"I know you didn't, honey. Now," he stood up and then knelt before his son, "Let me take your head, like so," he took the child's chin in both hands marveling at the soft skin, "And trust me as much as you possibly can, alright?"

Luke nodded slightly, and Vader caught his head again.

"Now hold very still."

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the boy's consciousness, bright, intelligent, reaching for a power it knew it possessed, blocked by darkness. Then he imagined the boy's light spreading, intensifying, cutting through the darkness like a thousand tiny white lightsabers. At last, they seemed to cut through the darkness, and he allowed his magnification to leave, letting the brightness sink to less blinding levels. But they didn't sink as low as they had been, and he noticed a detour in the path of the Force, a fork in the road, so to speak. The fork pointed to himself, to his own imaginary power, no matter which way he tilted the imaginary scape.

He brushed that thought aside and returned to the real world to find his son holding his elbows with both hands, his own eyes tightly shut.

Vader smiled, "That's good, Luke. You can open your eyes now."

Luke opened his eyes and blinked around the room, "Okay. Now what?"

Vader felt a stab of worry, "You do feel a bit of a difference, right?"

Luke shook his head as if he was trying to jiggle all the pieces together, "No, not really."

Vader bit back a curse, "Okay, I'm going to look inside your head again, all right? I won't hurt you, and you don't need to focus as hard this time."

"Okay."

Again, Vader looked inside his son, and found the glowing pulse of his Force sensitivity, still apparently magnified by his father's presence.

He opened his eyes, "I don't understand. You clearly are Force sensitive now, just as clearly as that you weren't before. Here, Luke, I'm going to try something. I'll try to send you a thought with the Force, alright? It's advanced even for a fully trained Jedi, but I think you can manage."

Luke seemed very nervous, but he didn't protest.

I love you, only son.

I know you do, Daddy. I love you too. I love you this much, Luke answered, sending another wave of blinding light.

"Okay, Luke. Clearly you are Force sensitive. Are you sure you don't feel any different?"

Luke thought about it for a moment, then shook his head, saying brightly, "No."

Vader smiled, "Maybe being Force sensitive doesn't make you as different as I thought it did. Our next problem is that all of the games require some training. Can I teach you a bit first?"

"Yeah! Sure," Luke said enthusiastically.

"Okay, lesson number one," Vader started, but was cut off by his son's unsettlingly intense gaze, "Luke, you really need to learn not to do that. It would scare anyone away."

"Sorry."

"Lesson number one, never tell Palpatine I did that."