"Owen!" Ben cries out. "Owen, please! I need your help!"
One moment, he had felt their bond ringing beautifully with joy, and the next, Anakin had given a soft cry and slumped like a collapsing mountain into his arms. Though he does his best to cushion their fall, Obi-Wan cannot help but slump to the ground with the full weight of Vader's bulk.
It seems that Vader's legendary endurance has at last given out.
When the moisture farmer at last appears in the entryway, his rifle is aimed at Ben's throat, and his face is livid with rage.
"What is the meaning of this, Ben?!" He demands, gesturing toward the crumpled shape of Darth Vader. Even without the helm or cape, it is easy enough to identify him. "What is the meaning of bringing us this monster into the home of my family?! I warned you to stay away after the last time!"
Ben swallows hard, staring up at him, unsure what to say but only too grateful that the farmer hasn't shot them.
"It's Anakin, Owen…" he says somberly, gesturing toward the white-scarred face. "It's always been Anakin…I—I am sorry…I didn't know. I thought he died, I—" but before he can finish the thought, Owen has lowered his rifle and dropped reverently down beside Vader.
In just a few seconds, his face has shifted from being purple with rage to open with awe and horror.
"Anakin, brother…" Owen whispers, his fingers reaching out then retreating from the white bandages stark around the middle of the black suit, "…what have they done to you?"
"He needs help," Ben says gravely. "I thought—I thought you might be willing." He conveniently omits the fact that they had technically come here for Luke; that is a truth that will not curry any favor with the boy's adopted father.
The farmer fixes him with a look of pure hatred. "You left him to live like this?" He snaps, his blue eyes burning Obi-Wan with his rage. "To live as a slave of the emperor!?"
They might not be technically blood-related, but Owen certainly possesses the essence of Anakin's anger.
Ben has no defense for himself. In some ways, what Owen says is true. But, even if Vader's existence was more like that of one enslaved than as a second in command, Anakin had made his decision to join the Emperor as a free man. In the end, he supposes that, from Owen's perspective, that might be the only way of making sense of what Anakin has done in the Emperor's name.
"I—I am sorry, Owen. I didn't know. I swear it. Please, help him."
The farmer's burning gaze is difficult to meet. But Obi-Wan meets it all the same.
"I will take him under my roof…but only for his sake. Not yours."
Vader wakes to the feeling of dry desert air upon his skin. He is nauseous, sore, and warm but not nearly as hot as he had been before. It takes him a moment to get a sense of his surroundings, but once he does, he realizes he is in an unfamiliar room. To his horror, he has been stripped of all but the most basic components of his armor.
Before he panics, though, he realizes there is something cool across his forehead and a soft snoring noise echoing in his ears.
The cooling pack on his forehead slides gracelessly to the floor as he raises his head to take in his surroundings. As his gaze roams around the room, he realizes the blurry shape of the old Jedi is asleep in a chair beside him.
Evidently, he has been taken into the Lars' home. And, much to his surprise, Obi-Wan has…stayed with him…?
Something inside him softens, but after a moment, he remembers his reason for visiting the loathesome planet: The child, where is he?!
"Wake up…you old fool…!" he hisses.
Obi-Wan's eyes fly open as he jerks upright, startled. It takes him a moment to recover his senses, but as he does, he is met with Anakin's glower.
"Bring me… the boy…" he half growls.
"Anakin—" Obi-Wan begins.
"Do not make me wait any longer, or your reprieve will be at an end, Jedi!"
"And what if you frighten him?" Obi-Wan asks, anger flaring on his face.
"I am…his father…it is my ri—!" he breaks off in a choking, painful cough.
Before he can stop him, the Jedi moves to place his hand over the wound in his stomach. If he were in better possession of his faculties, he would shatter the Jedi's wrist for daring to touch him. But weakened as he is, he cannot deny that the counter-pressure softens the pain of his paroxysm and prevents the wound from re-opening.
After several moments of gasping for air, his lungs relax marginally, and the steady hiss of the rebreather resumes its place as the only sound to breach the desert's silence.
"Alright…" Obi-Wan says softly. "…alright, Anakin." His gaze meets Vader's with a rueful expression. "I will fetch Luke…But if you do anything to frighten or threaten him, I will not hesitate to protect him. Even from you."
Ben is surprised by how easily the Lars family acquiesces to allowing Luke to meet Anakin. However, in the end, family runs deeper than anything on Tattooine. And he supposes that, to them, not even Darth Vader's mountain of sins can overcome the primacy of his blood relationship to Luke.
The boy is all at once scared, elated, confused, hopeful, and frightened, as Owen explains that the man he is about to meet is his father. A father the eleven-year-old had been told was long dead.
"But my dad was a spice pilot!" The boy protests as Ben interjects and tries to explain that his father is a soldier, and that he had been very badly hurt.
Obi-Wan can only imagine what the child must think. Isolated as he is, Luke seems young for his years. Innocent in ways the similarly-aged children of the Core worlds are not. Unfortunately, it seems that innocence is almost at an end. All Ben can do is warn the boy that Vader's injuries are grievous and that he may look a bit scary, but that, no matter what, Luke can leave whenever he wants.
As Ben leads him to the repurposed storage room where Vader has been installed, a small voice pipes up from behind him.
"Do I have to call him 'dad?'" Luke asks, his open, innocent face full of a child's trepidation.
Obi-Wan swallows hard. "I know it would make your father very happy if you did. But no, you do not have to." Truthfully, Obi-Wan does not know what he should tell the boy to call him. 'Mister Skywalker' seems like it might provoke him…but he most certainly will not tell the boy to call him 'Darth.'
They are close enough that he can smell the infection from Vader's body, can still feel the aching of his wounds and the burning of his diminished fever. What will Luke think when he sees him? Vader looks more like a desecrated corpse than a human being. Even Obi-Wan finds the sight stomach-churning.
He stops just outside the doorway. His own heart hammering with anticipation and fear as he turns to Luke whose face betrays the same hesitance.
"Luke…you have to understand that your father…he is very sick. He will look frightening. But remember, things that are merely scary-looking cannot hurt you. He is in a lot of pain, so he may say or do things that are hurtful. But please know that deep down, he loves you very much."
Luke nodded quickly. "Aunt Beru told me that, too," he mumbles, suddenly very interested in the dirt beneath his feet.
With a sigh, Obi-Wan opens the door, and prays to the Force that all will be alright.
Author's Note: I am afraid this first meeting is not going to go well for Darth Vader...