So because I love my readers sooooo much, I'm going to give you fair warning:

There's a decent sized cliffhanger at the end here ;)

thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you guys have actually stuck with this story so long :D I'm glad you like it! Don't forget to review, i love your feedback! And, of course, as always...

Enjoy!

Anakin kept his hard gaze on the planet of Korriban as he raced for its surface, ignoring the concerned look that Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were giving him. The sight of the planet brought up too many unpleasant memories, and his grip tightened on the controls. A sense of urgency filled the cockpit, causing Anakin to push the ship as fast as it would go.

Obi-Wan put a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "We're going to make it Anakin, don't worry."

Anakin wished he could be as sure of that as Obi-Wan. Behind them, Nydri whimpered.

Luke heard the door to his cell open once more, and he pushed himself up, leaning against the wall for support and keeping his weight off of his broken leg.

His own voice came from the other side of the room. "We're leaving."

"Already? I was starting to like my new room," Luke responded sarcastically. The comment earned him a rough yank on his arm, causing him to stumble and fall before he was pulled up again, his arms clasped behind his back in Eius' ironclad grip. Luke squinted as he was pushed out of the room, the dim light of the hall torturous on his eyes after being in the dark so long.

Once more, Luke tried to make some form of conversation.

"So, do you still have any of my memories," he tried to ask casually. Eius twisted his arm sharply, causing Luke to gasp and hunch forward from the pain. He spoke again through grit teeth. "I'll take that as a yes. Do you want to talk about them? Because I know I have a few questions about what I saw from your life."

"You're not going to stop with the small talk any time soon, are you?" Eius snarled.

"It's just a little curiosity, what harm could it do?"

"How about annoy me enough to just kill you and be done with it?"

"Wouldn't that technically mean you killed yourself?"

The ground disappeared underneath Luke, and he felt himself knocked to the floor. Eius landed a blow on his broken leg before he grasped it tightly, pressing down on the broken bone to cause Luke pain. Luke screamed from how much agony it caused him, but found his airway cut off. Eius glared down at him, his free hand wrapped around Luke's throat.

"You are not me," Eius hissed.

Luke's eyes flashed dangerously. "I…guess…you're right. I…wouldn't be…stupid enough…to fall…into Sidious'…grasp…"

Eius slammed Luke's head against the floor in response, and this time Luke was sure that the crack he heard was his skull. He blacked out for a few seconds before he regained consciousness, gathering his frail strength to push Eius off of him with a strong blow to the head when Eius' guard was down.

Luke stumbled to his feet, launching himself down the hall blindly in the hope that he could get away from Eius and not run in to Sidious on the way. His eyes desperately searched the wall for a vent he could disappear in, his jaw clamped shut in an attempt to avoid crying out in pain and giving away his location.

There!

He could hear Eius as he ran to catch up to him, which only strengthened his resolve. Luke gathered himself, jumping up and grasping onto the edge of the vent shaft.

This would be so much easier if I wasn't cut off from the Force, Luke thought mournfully as he pulled himself slowly up into the vent shaft. Once inside, he shimmied down the narrow passage before letting himself stop and rest for a moment, his heavy breathing echoing around the vent before he managed to pull himself back upright, starting to painfully drag himself through the old vent.

Against his will, his mind wandered to a more recent time when he had crawled through an old vent. It hadn't worked out so well, considering he ended up buried under meters of rubble. Hopefully this time it would be different.

Now that I'm free…how do I get out of here? I can't use the Force to guide myself, I'm just crawling blind!

Up ahead, he could see another vent opening. Slowly, he inched towards it, peering down. It was another empty hall below him, though he didn't see anyone around. It was another moment that Luke wished he wasn't cut off from the Force. He could have prodded around to see if there was anyone nearby.

I'm not going to get very far crawling around in these old vents. I'm bound to run into some section that's too weak to support me, he thought. As quietly as he could, Luke removed the grate on the vent opening, easing himself down the hole before dropping to the floor. Darkness clung to the edges of his vision, but he stayed conscious, slowly straightening up. Tense, Luke's gaze traveled around the hall as he limped along, ready just in case he was—

There was a bang, and Luke found himself knocked to the floor. Once more, he cursed being cut off from the Force as he found himself pinned to the ground by a section of the vent that Eius had pulled down on him with the Force. Eius himself had appeared from one of the darkened doorways, and was slowly making his way over to Luke, who struggled to free himself out from under the vent.

Eius was breathing heavily, his golden eyes glinting dangerously. "I have to hand it to you…I wasn't expecting that."

Luke finally managed to free himself, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet to face Eius once more. Both of them were panting, and neither of them broke eye contact. Eius sighed.

"You're not going to come quietly, aren't you?" he asked.

Luke set his jaw in determination. "Why should I?"

"Have it your way then," Eius said in a mocking voice.

He lunged at Luke.

"Anakin, slow down!"

Anakin ignored Ahsoka. He couldn't afford to slow down. The Force was practically screaming at him that he was running out of time, yet somehow, he knew where to go. He followed the path by memory, ignoring the eyes of the tuk'ata lurking in the shadows. Nydri was the only one who could keep up with him, sprinting by his side.

Finally he turned the corner, and the Valley of the Dark Lords came into view. His gaze focused on the Sith Academy ruins on the other side. That was where he needed to be. That was where his son was, where Luke was. And this time, he refused to let them slip though his fingers. He couldn't lose them here; Luke couldn't afford Anakin being tossed back to square one. They couldn't afford to have to search the entire Galaxy.

"Anakin, wait; we need to go in together!" Obi-Wan called.

Anakin spun around at the foot of the Academy. "We can't wait Obi-Wan; Luke's in there, and we don't have the time!"

"But if you go in there alone than you might be lost too," Obi-Wan responded sternly before he finally came even with Anakin. "Now was that so hard? Come on…"

Anakin sighed in frustration, taking the steps two at a time. Thankfully, the other two had the sense to match his pace. He powered through the entryway, throwing his senses out in an effort to find Luke—either one of them. His impatience and fear only grew as he had to search deeper and deeper before, finally…

"I found them," Anakin gasped. He hadn't even realized that he was already navigating the tunnels, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka hurrying behind him.

"What about the others? They said they were coming," Ahsoka asked as they followed Anakin through the halls.

"We don't have time Ahsoka. Am I the only one that can sense that?" Anakin responded sharply as he followed his son's dark presence through the halls as they wound deeper and deeper. He tried not to think of the anger and malice he sensed from his son, tried not to think of how submerged in darkness he was, tried not to think of how much of himself—of Vader—he saw in him.

Tried not to think of how he couldn't sense Luke.

Tried not to think how much that scared him.

No matter how afraid he was, he didn't stop. Luke, his son, needed him. Even if one of them didn't realize it.

Luke hurt all over.

He was just one large, broken bruise. He'd fought Eius when Eius attacked him; he'd fought like his life depended on it. But still, it had not been enough.

Now he sported a broken jaw, a broken nose that blood flowed steadily from, and a broken arm on top of his broken leg. He had head damage too; he vaguely remembered leaving a trail of blood as Eius dragged him by his ankles through the halls. His mouth was bloodied too, his lip split again, and he coughed on the blood as he teetered on the edge of consciousness.

Distantly, he heard voices. They floated to him, a dark melody that promised more pain; whether that pain would come sooner or later, Luke neither knew nor cared. He just knew he was in pain…

"...tried to…free..."

"…on the ship…coming…"

Luke felt himself start to float away, even as the ground was sliding again. Which way was up? Which was down? Was he even still alive, because he felt like he was floating away…though wouldn't death be light, not full of darkness?

Someone was calling his name…

"Luke…Luke…Luke!"

His father was calling him…he wanted Luke to wake up…but Luke didn't have the energy.

The sound of a ship's engines filled his ears, but the sound was distorted, like it was coming down a long tunnel. Even as the sound registered, it was fading into oblivion, just like his thought process.

His father's voice disappeared, drowned out by the darkness and the sound of the engines. Too tired to fight it any longer, Luke let unconsciousness and darkness take him.

I'm sorry Father…I'm just…too…tired…

Anakin had waited until he saw him to call out his name this time, not wanting to alert the others he was there. But when he had turned the corner and seen the scene in the room at the other end of the hall…he couldn't stop himself.

He'd seen his son dragging a horridly beaten and bloodied Luke onto the ship, seen the awkward set of several limbs that he immediately realized were broken, and called out his name. He hadn't necessarily been calling for Luke, or calling for his son, but he'd been calling for both; whichever one would listen.

But Luke seemed to be unconscious, unable to respond, not even through the Force. With dread Anakin realized the boy must not only be beaten, but cut off from the Force. And his son…

His son had cast a glance his way, but it had not been the face of his beloved son that he saw. It had been the face of a stranger; a golden eyed, fury twisted stranger. A sickening feeling twisted in his gut, and he picked up his pace. But even as he ran to stop the ship, as he ran to catch up to his son and bring him to his senses…

The ramp pulled up, sealing the two off from Anakin. He reached the room even as the ship rose into the air. He could practically hear Sidious' laughter at Anakin's failure as the ship took off, leaving Anakin standing alone in the room.

He'd failed them again. Once again, Luke had slipped through his fingers: both of them. He hadn't experienced this much failure since he had been Vader, jumping from planet to planet trying to catch up with the Rebel pilot whose last name was mysteriously Skywalker.

Anger and helplessness swelled inside him, and he let out a shout of fury that caused rocks to cave in even as Anakin fell to his knees, hands clenched into fists in his hair. A single thought dominated his mind, one single word.

Why?

Luke felt someone shaking him gently, but it was like they had the phantom hands. It hardly made any impact on him. Why couldn't they just let him rest? Didn't they realize how much he hurt? How much he needed the rest?

The shaking became rougher, not so gentle. He gave a coughing groan, the blood still clogging his throat and nose, struggling to breathe as a cacophony of noise reached him through the fog that clouded his brain. He erupted in a fit of coughing, hacking up blood and grimacing at the pain in his chest.

"Luke…Luke…" he heard someone say. But…this wasn't his father's voice. It was a woman's…someone he'd only met once…but he had memories of from Eius…

Lifting his eyes was just as challenging as carrying his father on the Second Death Star had been, if not harder. Everything was a painfully white blur, and he squeezed his eyes shut again as he came back to the real world filled with agony. He coughed, his breath bubbling in his throat and interrupted by the blood.

Someone helped him sit up enough that his airway cleared a little as he swallowed the blood with a grimace, trying to clear his airway a little more.

"Take it easy…" the woman said again. Once more, Luke tried to open his eyes, though this time he squinted against the light until shapes began to form. Breathing shallowly, he peered up to see what kind hearted person could possibly be there on the ship with the two Sith. Shock jolted through his broken and battered form when he did register the face.

"Mara?"