"Luke – stay awake!" Vader reprimanded sharply, the strength of his Force suggestion causing Luke's eyes to fly open once again. It felt like there was a cold shot of pure adrenaline being forced into his system, lighting his body up with energy it didn't have, refusing to allow him to succumb to the pull of sleep.
Luke wilted against the Sith Lord, a pitiful noise of distress escaping him. "Father." he whimpered, digging the heels of his hands into his bloodshot eyes. He was too exhausted to think about how easy it was for him to say that word now. "I can't. I can't do this – "
"You must."
"I can't!"
He really couldn't. His head was splitting and his heart was pounding and everything hurt. The red light from his fathers lightsaber, their only way of illuminating the area surrounding them, was a stabbing, merciless pain in his eyes. At this point, Luke wouldn't be surprised if they were bleeding, it hurt so bad.
And it really didn't matter – it didn't matter anymore that if he fell asleep now, he'd probably never wake up again… he had been so, so close and he was just so tired….
But Vader wouldn't let him drift off into that dark, quiet void from where no one came back from. He was forcing him to stay here, to stay awake, to feel the pain of his injuries, in what Luke personally felt was a needlessly cruel attempt to encourage him to live. Something stung as that thought crossed unguarded in his mind and it took a moment to recognize the feeling of hurt emanating from their bond.
Vader wasn't trying to be cruel, Luke remembered dully, turning his head into his fathers side, hiding from the sickening, pulsing red light. He just wanted Luke to live.
And that... that was a good thing. Or at least, it was supposed to be.
"Luke -"
"I'm trying. I swear, I'm trying." He breathed, trying not to let his tears of stress and frustration fall even as he rallied himself to endure this torture for a while longer, if only for the person beside him. "I'm still awake. I'm not leaving you."
A/N I totally meant to update yesterday but I was honestly way too freaking tired. Hence, the subject of today's post. :)