2 months later
The soft twitter of R2-D2 penetrated the consciousness of Luke Skywalker. Groggily, like a man swimming from the bottom of a lake, he pulled himself into consciousness.
Ugghhh, that taste in his mouth. And that tingling in his feet and hand (not the cybernetic one, thankfully.) Was this normal for Jedi hibernation trances? Master Yoda hadn't warned him about any unpleasant side effects of hibernation trances, so maybe he was doing something wrong.
But then again, Yoda hadn't warned him about quite a few things.
Luke shook his head to clear it more, and looked over his instrumentation. Two hours until he would reach his unknown destination and all looked well. He was returning from a mission to a small Rebel cell on the planet Jakku. It had been a success, and had been almost relaxing compared to his previous five missions. He knew that his superiors were concerned that he was pushing himself too hard, taking too many risks. His own sister had taken him to task after the rescue of Prince Listoff. That had been a dangerous mission, but he had been near enough to get to Champala quickly, and had thought he could pull it off. And indeed he had, by using his relationship with Darth Vader to bluff his way into the hospital where Listoff was being held.
Luke Skywalker ran a weary hand over his face. Darth Vader. His father.
He had deliberately chosen to wake up a couple of hours before arrival so he could think about his father. His natural tendency, in the middle of a hectic and stressful life, was to avoid contemplating the deep rooted problems surrounding the menacing figure of Darth Vader. Obi-wan and Yoda wanted him to kill his father but he knew he could not do that. He knew that if he destroyed his father, he would turn to the Dark. Maybe another man, a better man, could kill his own father for the good of the galaxy, but he could not. He loved his father, in spite of all their differences, in spite of all of his father's evil. Love didn't mean like. He disliked his father intensely. But he couldn't kill the man who had brought him life. And indeed, he felt some sympathy, and a strong connection, with the man in the mask.
He sighed. But was the feeling of connection entirely on his side? Did his father care at all about Luke, as a person? Or was he merely a potential tool?
Luke remembered Lando Calrissian's account of a conversation that took place in the carbon freezing chamber of Cloud City.
"Lord Vader, we only use this facility for carbon freezing. You put him in there it might kill him!"
"I don't wish the Emperor's prize to be damaged. We'll test it first, on Captain Solo."
Luke shuddered a little. Was that all he was? A prize? A gift from Vader to Vader's even darker master?
And yet…when he had stood on that gantry, filled with horror at Vader's words, he had sensed real longing on Vader's part. His father's words had been almost … frantic…with desire for his son's allegiance. And later, during that brief conversation while Luke was on the Millenium Falcon and Vader was on his flagship – again, Luke had sensed a hunger for a more intimate connection than that of master and slave.
Yoda himself had been surprised that Vader had told Luke about their familial relationship. Was it really just manipulation, or did Vader truly long for his son as a son?
Master Yoda and Obi-wan Kenobi thought not. They both made it completely clear that Vader was lost to the Dark, lost to all good.
"He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."
But they hadn't been right about everything. Luke knew that neither had expected Luke to return to Dagobah after the confrontation at Cloud City. Both had expected him to either die or give in to the Dark Side.
On the other hand, Luke knew that his longing for his father might be blinding his ability to see the situation clearly. He remembered the sorrow of his early years on Tatooine, teased by his classmates and friends for being an orphan with no direct knowledge of his parents. He knew his incessant questions to Owen and Beru Lars had pushed them into making up the comfortable fantasy of the spice freighter navigator who perished in an unfortunate accident.
Even that, he remembered, had inspired him. His father had flown the stars!
He was an adult, and a near Jedi at least, but was he still succumbing to the forlorn hopes of the child on Tatooine?
His mind went back and forth on this topic, and his hopes and fears rose and sank depending on the day. This was definitely not the peace and calm of the Jedi way, but so far Luke hadn't achieved any level of equanimity.
He could give up any hope that his father could turn back, and some days he almost did. He remembered, with a wry smile, that his interview with that doctor on Champala had been one of his discouraged days. His depressed mutterings about his relationship with his father had convinced the psychiatrist that he was indeed suffering from Malintis Syndrome, which was of course Luke's goal.
Luke chuckled aloud grimly. He remembered coming across the concept of Malintis Syndrome after finding out the truth about Vader. As a child, he had just longed for a father, and it had never crossed his mind that his sire might in any way be involved in galactic affairs.
Then, he found out his father was Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight.
Who became Darth Vader. Who was the second most powerful man in the galaxy. Who was hunting his son incessantly. Who had tortured his (unknown) daughter. Who had deliberately cut off his own son's hand.
He didn't have Malintis Syndrome. He was living the real life counterpart to Malintis Syndrome!
He was surprised, at times, that both he and Leia were (mostly) sane. He and his sister had joked, with dark humor, that both really needed extensive psychotherapy, but they thought the psychotherapist might go mad after dealing with either or both of the Skywalker twins.
And Leia - his wonderful, headstrong, stubborn, beautiful twin. Above all else, he must keep Leia safe from both Sith Lords. She didn't have any Force training and, if he was honest with himself, her personality was perhaps more prone to the Dark Side than his. Maybe that was why they chose him to train, instead of her? Leia was brilliant and strong, and he was occasionally surprised that Kenobi's focus had been on himself.
Luke sighed again, and R2-D2 twittered comfortingly. Luke smiled. He was thankful for his little droid, who gave him both sympathy and encouragement when his own thoughts pulled him towards despair.
A soft beeping interrupted any further cogitation. He was almost ready to drop out of hyperspace. He glanced again at the message from Leia, which had arrived encoded right before he left Jakku.
We're changing the location of the meeting. Big things happening. Big surprise! Last visit went well. I'm not just another pretty face, you know. With love.
The coordinates had followed, instructing him to meet up with Leia at a truly bizarre set of coordinates, out in deep space between Yavin and Mandalore. He was confident that they were from Leia, though, as she had included in her message the little inside joke about the "pretty face". He had been the witness to a remarkable contest between Leia and Rogue Squadron, after some of the bolder men had interpreted Leia's romance with Han Solo as permission to treat her less like a Princess and more like a little sister. Wes Janson had made a comment about Leia being just a pretty face, whereupon Leia had challenged the entire squadron to a precision blasting contest. She had beaten them all handily, to their awe and chagrin.
Luke twisted his neck and moved his shoulders. He had been sent a specific flight plan to avoid hyperspace problems, but had chosen to use his Jedi skills to route a faster path. It had still been a long trip, and he felt grimy and very ready to be out of both his flight suit and his X-wing.
The proximity alarm sounded, and Luke Skywalker dropped out of hyperspace.
His first feeling was one of shock and unadulterated terror. There, looming in the near distance, was the Super Star Destroyer Executor.