Summary: A snippet from chapter 9 of What Lurks in the Dark. Luke and Vader have another, more private opportunity to bond.
Realizations
"Were…" his father hesitated for a long moment. "Were you happy?"
Luke blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Happy?"
"As a child."
Oh.
Luke shrugged, tucking his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker. "Beru and Owen were good to me." he said quietly, feeling his thoughts grow maudlin. "They loved me and I loved them. It wasn't always easy but… yeah, I was happy. Just took me a long time to realize it."
Vader nodded, his thoughts and feelings carefully muted. It was quiet again between them for a minute or two. The only sounds around them were the cricket-like bugs chirping in the grass somewhere.
"I was never their son though," Luke continued after a moment. "Not really, anyways. Owen never wanted to take that from you. I don't know how much you actually knew him but… he always talked about you like you were his brother."
There was a short silence and Luke couldn't quite figure out what emotion his father was feeling. It was something between total nonchalance and disbelief. "I only met him once." Vader revealed with a huff. "Briefly."
Huh. He wasn't certain how much his aunt and uncle actually knew about what had happened to Anakin; he didn't think they knew about Vader, personally - but he also wasn't entirely sure. But Owen had seemed to care so much, it had always seemed like they must have known each other longer than that. But... a one time meeting must have been the reason why Owen had never shared any stories about him. He hadn't had any to give. The realization eased an old hurt that Luke hadn't realized was still lingering in his heart. It had never seemed fair - Luke had always been so desperate for some little scrap of information and it had frustrated him how Owen always evaded the topic, unless he was angry. Or whenever Luke had talked about leaving the planet and doing something else.
Luke could understand a little better now that he was older that Owen had been frustrated and angry that Anakin had "died". Family meant everything on Tatooine - and Owen had always been upset that Anakin had left; or perhaps, that the Jedi had taken him and contributed to whatever his fate had been, Luke realized.
In the end, it was why Owen had made so many excuses to keep Luke on Tatooine - to keep Luke from sharing that fate. It had always been about keeping him safe. The realization made him smile sadly.
"Whenever I irritated him… Owen always said I was bullheaded, like you were. You must have made an impression."
"I usually did," Vader said dryly. There was the tiniest flicker along their bond, just enough for Luke to know that the comparison had pleased him. "Did you irritate him often?"
Luke laughed, scratching the back of his head as he tried and failed not to remember all of the stupid disagreements that they'd had. In hindsight, they seemed so ridiculous now. "Yeah, I did."
He felt his father smirk in amusement.
A/N I have a decent rough draft for this next chapter, it's just playing with a lot of different emotions. Fingers crossed for the end of the month or the beginning of August.
Thanks for reading!