Anakin watched Luke walk back over to his friend, who had finished making sure that the wookiees were all aware that they were free, and had returned to the cockpit with Chewbacca. They exchanged a few quiet words, and then Han hugged Luke tightly and gently directed him back towards Anakin.
Seeing his friend's face, Anakin noticed a few tears still clinging to his cheeks and that he was looking quite red in the face.
"I can trust you with piloting, Master?" he asked Obi-Wan.
"You would allow me to pilot? I'm honoured, Anakin," Obi-Wan teased.
Anakin ignored him and hugged the boy, who was looking very small and pathetic, needing attention, one-armed.
"Come on, Luke. We'll go back to the hanger, and our ship, all right?"
Luke sniffled and nodded. Anakin felt Luke's fingers slip into his hand and he smiled at the boy, who looked up with the same complete trust he had shown from their first meeting.
"Still not feeling completely safe from slavers?" he asked.
Luke turned away, and Anakin felt his hand start to shake in his own.
"You'll be okay," Anakin promised, "You can protect yourself well, and I'll be glad to help you as well."
Suddenly Luke released his hand and began to run down the hallway of the ship. Anakin ran after him, not wanting to let the boy out of his sight while in pain. Each time his arm moved, it shot pain up to his shoulder, but he ignored it. He'd get treatment when he returned home, but Luke clearly needed his help now.
At last Luke sat down in the cockpit of their ship. Anakin took the seat next to him, and watched as Luke turned to him, crying much harder. Anakin wrapped his arm around Luke, who accepted his affection gratefully.
"Luke, you know that I'm here whenever you need me, don't you?" he asked.
Luke nodded slightly, "Yeah, I know. I just get scared when you get angry sometimes. It's too… familiar."
Anakin thought he sensed a deeper meaning behind the words, but he pushed the thought aside and merely continued to hug Luke, who sobbed.
"There's more wrong than the slavers, isn't there?"
Luke pulled away, and Anakin watched helplessly as he shook his head, tears racing down his cheeks.
He moved Luke's chin up until he was looking into his face, "Can you tell me what's wrong? Or is that too hard?"
Luke gazed at him for a moment, the tears slowing. The boy blinked uncertainly, then turned away. A moment later, he was looking at Anakin again, "I can't."
He watched as his friend closed his eyes again and simply turned away. He watched concernedly as Luke slowly stopped moving. Finally he looked around his friend and saw his eyes closed, noting that his breathing was slow.
Asleep, he thought thankfully, Maybe he'll feel better now. Sometimes a bit of sleep is all it takes.
He sat silently, making certain that Luke wouldn't wake up and feel abandoned.
Several minutes later, he heard Han entering the ship. He looked up, and saw the smuggler enter.
"What've you done to Luke?" Han snarled.
"I haven't done anything with him. He's here, asleep. Don't speak too loudly, or we might wake him. I don't think anger will make him feel any better."
Han nodded and turned to look at Luke, "He's all right, you think?"
"He'll be all right. He's upset, but I think he'll feel better once he's slept."
"Well, we've arrived. I'll take him," Han said, carefully lifting Luke's sleeping body.
Anakin followed him closely, watching as Luke shifted in his arms.
"Can you take him back to my room for me? You'll be staying with Obi-Wan tonight, all right?"
Han glared at him over their sleeping friend, "I'm staying with Luke. Look at him, he's going to want me when he wakes up. Besides, you need to go to the hospital."
"Fine. You're right. I guess Obi-Wan would want that too. When I come back, you're going to stay with Obi-Wan. And if you wake him, so help me, I might do something I'll regret."
Han nodded nervously, and Anakin finished escorting them to his quarters before heading off to the medbay. Much to his chagrin, his squirming, his impatience to return to his friend, greatly slowed the healing process.
Once he finally managed to shake off the last droid, who was trying to remove the bandage from his left arm, he raced back to his quarters. Han was sitting in a chair beside his bed, where Luke had curled in his sleep.
Anakin sat down next to the child and began ripping the last coverings off his arm. When he was done, he leaned on the wall and watched Luke moving slightly in his sleep. Han yawned and rolled off the chair, waking up with a curse, which he silenced rapidly, looking over at Luke.
Luke merely rolled over. Anakin grudgingly helped the smuggler to his feet. He didn't like the man, he was too hardened, but he had reacted to the slaves similarly to Anakin, and he couldn't help respecting the care he'd shown.
"Are you all right?" he whispered.
Han nodded, and yanked his arm away, "I'll be fine. Should I go, then?"
Anakin nodded, and Han took one look at Luke, then left.
Anakin returned to his friend's side, and pulled a blanket over himself. Luke mumbled something and rolled over again, putting his head on Anakin's knee, along with one hand. He mumbled again, and curled up against him.
Anakin smiled, putting his head back and starting to go to sleep. Luke's muttering became more frantic, and he gripped Anakin's knee with startling strength. Anakin sat up straight, and Luke started to twitch and struggle against the blankets.
"Wake up, Luke," Anakin said, shaking Luke gently, "Wake up."
Luke cried out, "Father!"
"You're not at home, Luke. Wake up."
"Father! Father, let them go! Please!" Luke's other hand gripped the blankets and the one on Anakin's knee dug in even deeper.
Anakin shook Luke as hard as he could, and the young Jedi blinked once, then clung to Anakin with such strength that, despite his best attempt, Anakin couldn't remove him.
"Daddy," Luke sobbed into Anakin's tunic, "Daddy, don't leave me again! P-please don't send me away!"
"Luke, it's all right. It was only a dream. You're safe here. Now let me go, please."
Luke's arms only tightened around Anakin's neck, and he sobbed more loudly, "Please don't renounce me! You're all I've got here! I've been taken away from my home, and I don't want to be alone!"
Anakin hugged the sobbing boy, who was shrieking in terror between wails and gasps for breath.
"It's all right, Luke. You're not alone, I'm here, and you have your friend Han."
Luke simply wailed again, clinging to Anakin, "Where's Han? What've you done to him? You didn't put him back in carbonite, did you?"
Now thoroughly confused, Anakin squeezed Luke tightly, and Luke immediately squeezed a little tighter, "I didn't do anything to him. I sent him to sleep in Obi-Wan's room. He's all right, and you're all right too."
"Ben!" Luke howled, "Where is he? What have you done to him?"
Anakin tried again to lower Luke to his bed, "It's all right, Luke. I haven't done anything to anyone. I'm sorry I frightened you back on the slavers' ship. I was angry because of what they'd done, you can understand that, can't you?"
"Daddy," Luke sobbed again, clinging even tighter, "Daddy."
"Shh," Anakin said, giving up on trying to understand, for the moment, at the very least, "Shh, you'll be okay. Relax. Take a few deep breaths."
Luke wailed once more, then clung tightly to Anakin's shoulders and took a deep breath.
"That's right, can you do that again?"
Luke nodded, taking another gasping breath.
"Do you feel better now?"
Luke nodded slowly, pressing himself against Anakin again, "Yes, Dad."
Anakin laughed awkwardly, "What did you just call me?"
Luke took another deep breath and let out a sob, "Don't. Don't pretend you don't know who I am. You're my father, and you mean the galaxy to me."
Anakin lifted him, deciding he was too confused to walk for himself, "You'll be all right. I'm going to take you to see Han and Obi-Wan now, okay?"
Luke nodded and carefully extracted himself from Anakin's arms, although he made sure Anakin kept an arm around him, and Anakin felt that it was all that supported him.
"I'm gonna be okay," Luke repeated.
"That's right," Anakin promised, leading Luke across the hall to his teacher's room, "You'll be fine," he finished as they entered.
Obi-Wan seemed to have sensed Luke's distress, and was standing from his sleeping place on the floor, while Han snored loudly from the bed.
The moment Luke set eyes on Obi-Wan, he attached himself to the older Jedi.
"Luke?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Ben," Luke mumbled, "I'm so glad. I'm so, so glad you're all right!"
Obi-Wan hugged Luke cautiously, looking to Anakin for an answer.
Anakin shrugged, and Luke finally released Obi-Wan to lift Han in a hug. The smuggler blinked awake, and without question hugged his friend, dragging himself properly upright.
"Are you all right, Luke?" Han asked, "Did you have one of your nightmares again?"
Luke let out another sob and then nodded slightly, "Yeah."
Anakin took a seat and watched as Han calmed his friend completely, then set him against the wall, where he wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled awkwardly around at them.
"You were pretty worked up, huh?" Han asked, finally letting his amusement show.
"I think so," Anakin said, "He called me daddy."
Han whipped around to stare at Anakin, "He did what?"
Luke looked down at his knees, "I'm sorry, Han."
Anakin looked from one man to the other, confused, "Why is he apologizing?"
Luke looked back up at Han, silently begging for help.
"Oh, no, Junior. You got yourself into this."
Luke looked to Obi-Wan as well before turning to Anakin, looking very ashamed, "I called you my father because you are."
"Luke, that doesn't make sense," Anakin said, completely thrown.
"That's only the beginning of it," Luke groaned.
"I do not have a kid," Anakin argued.
"I'm pretty sure your wife is pregnant," Han interjected unhelpfully.
"Wife?" Obi-Wan asked, glaring at Anakin, who was much too preoccupied to care, or even really notice.
"Pregnant?" he demanded.
Han blinked at Obi-Wan, but didn't turn to Anakin before saying, "…Shit."
"Han," Luke warned.
Anakin stared at Han, and was suddenly very aware of Obi-Wan staring at him.
"Anakin, you know the code," Obi-Wan finally said.
Anakin bowed his head, and found Luke still looking up at him. His friend looked very alone, despite the fact that Han was still sitting next to him, holding his hand.
"You don't want me either, do you," Luke said, though it was not phrased like a question. Anakin immediately wondered who else might have abandoned him, and if he was referring to the fact Anakin hadn't raised – but Anakin's thinking was getting ridiculous.
"Luke, I think you owe us some explanation," Obi-Wan said kindly.
Luke sighed, "I guess I do."
"Well?"
Luke looked around at them again, with a trapped expression on his face that made Anakin wish that he didn't need so desperately to know. Luke shook his head and began to cry, "Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, unsure of how to answer. He certainly didn't want Luke to cry any more, but he knew it would be important to Obi-Wan to know exactly where Luke had come from, and he couldn't deny being curious himself.
"I just wanna go back to bed," Luke moaned.
Obi-Wan smiled at him, before turning to Anakin, "Why don't you take him back to bed? I think understanding can wait a little longer."
Luke sobbed again and reached for Anakin. Still confused and uncertain, Anakin ignored the events of the night and took Luke's hand, helping him to his feet. Luke stumbled against him, and cried harder.
"Dad?" Luke asked.
"Not now," Anakin said, "Let's keep that for at least until you've explained."
Luke nodded despondently, and allowed Anakin to tuck him into bed. Anakin watched over him until he was fast asleep, then rolled a mattress out on the floor for himself. He watched as Luke's hand slipped over the edge, reaching for something. Anakin wrapped one hand around his friend's hand, and Luke slipped deeper into sleep.
