Chapter 1 - Connection

Plot: Luke grows up plagued with constant nightmares about what happened on Mustafar. He wants answers about what really happened to his father, answers no one is giving him. He's certain Ben Kenobi is hiding something, both about his own real identity and Luke's father. And his suspicions are confirmed when on the Death Star, he senses who Vader truly is.


Author's Note: This is another gift for IceyGemini on ao3! :D Updates will be weekly. :)

~ Amina Gila


Pain. Pain. Pain. Vader can't register anything else. All he knows is that it feels like it's never-ending, ceaseless, and he hardly knows where he is anymore except that Sidious found him. The pain is more than he can handle, but he can't give up. He can't.

He has to –

Padme.

His child.

He has to save them. Everything he did, all of it was for them, and no matter how much he wants to give up, he can't. Not until he knows that they survived.

His vision is swimming, and he can't make out anything, not that he's really trying either, but suddenly, the sheer agony ripping him apart feels much further away. Like it's happening to someone else even if he can still feel it.

He can vaguely see a flash of red that soon fades to white. He feels a rush of air against his skin everywhere, as though he isn't strapped down to an operating table anymore, which doesn't really make sense. Not that he can make sense of anything in this state.

The room around him is shifting again, and he suddenly sees Padme's face next to him. She looks bigger than she ought to, but maybe it's because he can't see anything straight right now. He can hear her whispering something, face tensed in pain in a way that reminds him so much of his nightmares, and then the full reality of the pain tearing him apart suddenly comes rushing back again. Whatever he was just seeing is gone, replaced by the medical room again.

**w**

The name Artoo-Detoo somehow feels familiar, though Luke isn't fully certain why. Just... as though he's heard it before, from somewhere, from another time, but it doesn't really matter.

What does matter is getting their droids situated and cleaned up.

Or, at least that's what Luke tries to tell himself as he works on the astromech. It works until Artoo starts projecting a small hologram of someone. She has dark hair and eyes, but something about her looks... familiar. He knows her somehow. She's safe. She means home.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi," the girl in the hologram says, "You're my only hope."

Obi-Wan.

He's heard that name, too. From his dreams. But who is she, and why does she want Obi-Wan's help?

"What's this?" Luke asks, turning to the droid. He feels a little breathless and mind blown. First, he saw a space battle, and then the droids his uncle bought are from the Rebellion? That's where he wants to be. And now, Artoo knows someone who knows Obi-Wan?

Luke doesn't really know anything about him. He just knows what he sees almost every night. Of Obi-Wan and his father in a fight to the death on a lava planet. And he's seen the – how it ends far too many times. It makes him sick every time he sees it, and he doesn't understand what's happening or why he's seeing this again and again. Is it something that really happened years ago? And what happened?

Artoo beeps, as the hologram continues playing on repeat.

"What is what?" Threepio repeats, incredulous, "He asked you a question!"

The droid beeps, almost sheepishly.

"Oh, he says it's nothing, sir. Merely a malfunction. Old data. Pay it no mind."

Old data? That only makes Luke more intrigued. If the droid used to know someone who knew Obi-Wan, then... what if this is a way he could get real answers about his father? But if this is old data, why does he feel such a connection to the girl in the hologram?

Even if it is, he needs to know. He wants answers, wants to know what really happened to his father.

He wants to know who Obi-Wan is, and why he hurt him.

"Who is she?" Luke asks instead, leaning closer to study the hologram. "Is there more to this recording?"

Artoo whistles, dome swiveling wildly when Luke scoots closer to him.

"He says he's the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it's a private message for him. Quite frankly, sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but with what we've been through, this little Artoo unit has become a bit eccentric."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Luke echoes. Artoo still belongs to him? Then he highly doubts the claim that this is old data. He wonders if there's some connection between Obi-Wan and Ben Kenobi, considering that they have the same last name, but Ben looks entirely different than the Obi-Wan he sees in his dreams. It's too outlandish to think someone who fought his father would be out here on Tatooine, anyway. "I wonder if old Ben could help with that." Though, Uncle Owen is never terribly happy when Ben is around.

"I beg your pardon, sir, but do you know what he's talking about?" Threepio asks.

"I don't know anyone named Obi-Wan, but old Ben lives out beyond the Dune Sea. He's kind of a strange old hermit. Maybe he could help." Maybe. He doesn't know why someone would be asking for Obi-Wan's help. That's the person who hurt his father and maybe Luke knows nothing about his father, but he doesn't know why someone would be going to Obi-Wan for help. That doesn't change that the girl in the recording is important somehow, and she's obviously distressed about something. "You should play back the whole recording. It sounds like she's in trouble."

Artoo beeps again.

"He says the restraining bolt has short circuited his recording system. He suggests that if you remove the bolt, he might be able to play back the entire recording."

It's a little risky, but probably one worth taking. It's not like Artoo has anywhere to go – this Obi-Wan isn't even here – so Luke takes off the restraining bolt.

And then, the hologram promptly disappears.

"Wait!" he protests, "Where'd she go? Play back the recording."

Artoo whistles, innocently.

"What do you mean what message?! The one you're carrying in your rusty innards!" Threepio exclaims, swatting at him.

It must be trying to hide the recording for some reason. If they're from the Rebellion, that probably explains it, but he'd really like to know what it is. And if it's important... There's nothing he can do, anyway. The droids belong to them now, and Owen won't let them go anywhere, whether they have something important to be doing or not.

"Luke!" Aunt Beru's voice calls from inside, "Come to dinner!"

Luke stands up with a sigh. He'll have to get back to this later. "See what you can do with him," he calls over his shoulder to Threepio, as he heads into the house.

**w**

"I think that Artoo unit we bought might have been stolen," Luke comments, taking another bite of his food, though his mind is entirely elsewhere. This is the first time he's heard of anyone who knows anything about his father. It's the first time it's actually felt like there's a connection to him in the real world, instead of just dreams.

"What makes you think that?" Owen asks, looking up.

"I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him. He says he belongs to Obi-Wan Kenobi." Owen's expression twitches slightly at the name. They know about his nightmares, even if they don't know what they mean any more than Luke does. All he does know is that... what he's been told about his father can't be true. He was using a lightsaber in his dreams, and if he was really a navigator on a spice freighter, he could in theory have gotten one on the black market, but that doesn't feel right. At all. "I wonder if old Ben would know something. Maybe they're related."

"That old man's just a crazy old wizard," Owen replies, shortly, "Tomorrow, I want you to take that Artoo unit to Anchorhead and have its memory flushed. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now."

"But what if Obi-Wan comes looking for him?" There's a part of Luke that almost hopes he does. He – he needs answers, but he doesn't know how he'd handle seeing his father's killer in person. And it's not like he just killed him, either. It's not something Luke ever wants to think about, but nor is it something he can get out of his head. It's haunted him his entire life for reasons he can't even understand.

"He won't. I don't think he exists anymore. He died about the same time as your father."

Luke can't help perking up at that. He's seen his aunt and uncle exchanging glances whenever the name Obi-Wan comes up, but he doesn't understand why. "You know what happened to him?" Luke asks.

"I told you to forget it," Owen cuts him off. Sometimes, Luke really thinks he does know something that he isn't saying, but Anakin was his brother, and if he knew about the person who killed him... Well, there's no way he couldn't be furious about that, too.

Owen just wants the droids fixed up and the entire situation put behind them, but Luke really doubts it's going to be that simple. It's just a feeling, and maybe he just doesn't want it to be that simple either. If there's a chance that – that whatever's going on with the droids could tell him something more about his father, he hopes that happens.

**w**

When he dreams, he sees fire. He always sees fire. The flaming rivers are burning all around him, and he can feel the heat as though he's physically here. He sees it, feels it, from his father's perspective every time. He's trapped on the ground now and he can't move. All he can do is look up at the top of the embankment, where Obi-Wan is turning to leave, the same way he does every single night. Even if the dreams usually start before this point.

It always hurts, and today is one of those days where it's a little more, and it burns and blurs over his ability for rational thought, not that there's anything he could do anyway. It's always the same – that Obi-Wan cuts off his legs and left arm, yelling something at him that Luke can never fully decipher, before leaving when the flames start.

Luke hates fire.

He always has.

It's agonizing and it leaves him breathless.

He's expecting to jolt awake the same way he always does, but then the scene starts shifting. A cool hand touches his forehead, though it burns more than anything else, but he's lying on his back on the smoking ground now, with... a hooded figure hovering over him. Everything hurts, and he can hardly breathe, but several armored figures move into view to pick him up.

Everything fades out again, and he doesn't become aware of what he's seen until a jolt of agonizing pain spears through his chest. He's in a room somewhere, blinding bright lights shining over his head and it hurts. But everything does.

He still can't move, but now it's because he's strapped down to a table, and there's medical droids hovering over him, and one of them is cutting into him.

He jolts against the restraints, a strangled scream escaping him, but they don't stop. They don't sedate him either. Not even the hooded figure who rescued him – he's still in the room – does anything. He seems entirely unperturbed.

Luke has no idea how long it drags on. It feels like hours, but it could only be minutes. He thinks he passed out several times during the procedures anyway before the droids start strapping armor onto him.

He can't move enough to get a good look at it, but it's all black and there's lights on his chest area – which was already cut up and replaced with machines anyway. A helmet is lowered over his head, tinting the room red. The hooded figure steps forwards, saying something – Luke can't make out the words. The last thing he does make out is the satisfied look on his face.

Luke jerks awake, breathing hard in the darkness of his bedroom. The phantom pain burning strongest in his chest and limbs is imaginary, but it still felt so real that it takes him a moment to realize he isn't still feeling it. Maybe it wasn't happening to him, but he still felt every bit of what his father went through, as though it was.

His aunt and uncle were never fully convinced that his dreams were real versus something... else, with how strange they were, but Luke knows it's real. And he's never, not once, dreamed of anything that happened after Obi-Wan walked away. It's always ended there.

He thought his father died there. But he... didn't? He must not have, or Luke shouldn't have dreamed about something happening afterwards.

Does this mean there's a chance his father is still alive? Because if that wasn't his death, Luke has no reason to think he's dead, except that it's what Owen's always said. But maybe he doesn't know for sure. Maybe it's just what he thinks. Luke's hardly sure how his father could've survived those injuries, either. But he did. And that means...

Past the sickening horror that always overwhelms him after he has another nightmare, he feels a flicker of hope and almost excitement. Probably, he should stop getting his hopes up so quickly, because just because his father survived that doesn't mean he's still alive, but it's all he's longed for, for years, and if there's a chance – He needs to know.

Luke sits up, glancing out the small window in his room, far enough off the ground that no womp rats or other creatures can try coming inside. It's still dark out, but the horizon is starting to get light.

Maybe, he could just get up now and go after Artoo. The droid took off during dinner. Why he ever thought taking off the restraining bolt was a good idea, he doesn't know, but maybe something good could come of it. Provided it hasn't been scrapped by Jawas by now, it's likely out in the Dune Sea in search of Ben. Unless Obi-Wan also lives out there somewhere. But maybe this will give him the chance to find answers. Maybe Artoo even used to know his father. At least it wouldn't hurt to ask.

**w**

The sun is already high in the sky when Luke catches up with Artoo. "Master Luke here is your rightful owner," Threepio scolds, as Artoo beeps sheepishly, "We'll have no more of this Obi-Wan Kenobi gibberish."

"You think Obi-Wan is out here?" Luke inquires. They need to get back before Owen realizes what happened, but he's too taken up with his dreams to really focus on that right now.

Artoo beeps.

"He says that he is, and he needs to complete his mission," Threepio replies, "Stop talking about that, Artoo. You're fortunate Master Luke doesn't blast you into a million pieces right here."

Luke wavers a moment, looking between the droids and the skyline. "If Obi-Wan really is here, maybe we can ask old Ben about him sometime. We need to get back before Uncle Owen really blows up." Even if all he cares about is finding answers about his father. Owen has always been very clear in his disproval of Luke searching for answers, but that doesn't mean he'll stop trying. Just... maybe not right now.

Artoo suddenly rolls forwards, beeping and whistling wildly.

"What's wrong with him now?" Luke demands.

"Oh my. Sir, he says there are several creatures approaching from the southeast."

"Sandpeople," Luke realizes grimly, pulling out his rifle. This is exactly why he didn't want to come out this far. He scrambles to the top of a nearby, rocky ridge to look around, and just manages to make out a group of sandpeople a distance off when something steps right into his field of vision. He looks up sharply to see a Tusken towering over him, brandishing a club.

Luke jumps to his feet, swinging up his blaster but the Tusken lunges forwards, hitting him with the club, throwing him off-balance. He lands on the ground before he ducks out of the way, frantically rolling sideways as the Tusken repeatedly swings for his head. A blow finally catches him in the side of the head before he can duck, and the world goes dark.

A hand touches his shoulder, and Luke blinks, half expecting to see the dark hooded figure crouching over him, in a world of fire, but instead it's –

"Ben? Ben Kenobi?" Luke asks, brightening as he sits up unsteadily, rubbing the side of his head, "Boy am I glad to see you!"

"The Jundland wastes are not to be traveled lightly. Tell me, young Luke, what brings you out this far?" Ben is studying him with a look he can't really read. It's almost unsettling, or maybe it's just that Luke can't help thinking for a moment, how much he really does resemble Obi-Wan.

"This little droid," Luke replies, motioning towards Artoo, "I think he's searching for his former master. I've never seen such devotion in a droid before. He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know what he's talking about?"

"Obi-Wan?" Ben muses, something in his expression shifting, "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time."

"You knew him?" Luke demands, leaning forwards. He actually knew the person who his father fought, who –

"I did, once."

"Do you know where he is?" Luke presses. Now probably isn't the time to ask about it, but...

Ben pauses, glancing around. "You've heard of him before?"

He's not about to explain his nightmares, obviously. "A few times," he brushes it off.

"We should get indoors. The sandpeople are easily startled, but they will soon be back, and in greater numbers."

Yeah. Luke knows a little too much about them, and they need to move.

**w**

"You knew my father?" Luke asks curiously now that he and Obi-Wan are safely back at Obi-Wan's hut. He's been pressing for details on Anakin and Obi-Wan himself from the moment they met again. Obi-Wan doesn't understand what's changed, but there's something darker about the boy than when he was younger, and it's only growing steadily worse.

He can't really ask Owen what it is either, but something's not right.

And every time he says the name "Obi-Wan", there's a distinct undertone of anger there. He knows something, and Obi-Wan doesn't know what. (It's not as if Owen knows what happened to Vader. No one did.) Probably, just not mentioning that that's who he is would be best, right now. Maybe he'll be angry about it later, but that's also something Obi-Wan will worry about later.

Luke listens with fascination as he explains they both fought in the war, until Obi-Wan gives him Anakin's lightsaber.

Something tightens in his expression when he sees the hilt, almost as though he's seen it before, which doesn't make any sense. He couldn't have – he shouldn't know anything about Anakin. Owen had made it evident that he didn't want Luke knowing anything about his father or past. He didn't want him to be a Jedi.

"Is everything alright?" Ben asks, when Luke gingerly takes the hilt, as though he's expecting it to blow up in his face.

The boy blinks, fingers tightening on the hilt. "Yeah." It sounds like a flat out lie, and he doesn't understand what he's missing.

"How did my father die?" he asks finally, looking up.

"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father."

"Who was Obi-Wan?" Luke presses, again.

"Another Jedi who Vader and I worked with," Ben answers, evasively. He doesn't know what Luke thinks of him, or how much is safe to say.

He looks like he wants to ask more, but decides against it, so Ben finally turns his attention to Artoo. He doesn't know what's wrong or what Luke heard, but he's getting an increasingly bad feeling about it.

It's a message of Leia, requesting his help getting the information in Artoo to Bail, on Alderaan. It reminds Obi-Wan jarringly of ten years ago, when he was called away to rescue her. Leia's grown up so much since then; she looks even more like her mother now, but most of all, he can distinctly see Anakin's passion in her.

Thinking about him hurts, but it always does, and he's grown used to it by now.

"You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan," Obi-Wan asserts. He's... wary about training Luke in the Force if he's being honest. He's too dark, and he's hiding something, and Obi-Wan's afraid that it's going to end the same way it did with... Vader. But he's been preparing for this day for the last nineteen years, and it's a risk he'll have to take. Maybe he can train Leia, too, later, but Luke is the one here, and they have to rescue Leia first.

"Alderaan?!" Luke asks incredulously, almost amused, "I'm not going to Alderaan. I've got to go home. It's late. I'm in for it as it is."

"I need your help, Luke," he presses because this is the chance he's been waiting for. Owen is never going to agree to Luke's training, but it's what needs to be done. He needs to get Leia out of trouble – again – and if she's messaging him, it's probably time for him and Luke to stop hiding on Tatooine. It's high time Luke meets his sister, anyway. "She needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

"I can't get involved!" Luke protests, "I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's such a long way from here."

"That's your uncle talking," Obi-Wan points out, because it's exactly what Owen would say.

Luke stands abruptly at that, moving for the door. "Right, my uncle. How am I ever going to explain this?"

"Learn about the Force, Luke," he insists, one more time. The galaxy needs it, but Luke wasn't raised as a Jedi. Obi-Wan can't expect him to make the choices they would. (Training Luke isn't something he can risk waiting on anymore. He doesn't know what mess Leia got into but if it's anything like last time, he has no way of knowing if it's something he's going to come back from.)

"Look," he sighs, "I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley, or wherever you're going."

"You must do what you feel is right, of course," he concedes reluctantly at last. He can't force Luke to go – he just thought it would be so much easier to get him off-world. Luke is a Skywalker, and if he's anything like his parents, he wouldn't want to stay. But Obi-Wan doesn't know him, and he doesn't really know what Luke wants. All he does know is that there's something... not quite right that he doesn't really understand yet, but he'll have to be careful.

**w**

Luke only has more questions now than before he first talked to Ben – his dreams have never shown him anything about Vader. Did Vader kill Anakin later, or is Vader Obi-Wan? Did Ben train someone related to him, and that's why he's being vague about what happened? Maybe because he doesn't want to discuss it?

He needs answers, but he doesn't know Ben, and he doesn't want to be pushy about it, either. Maybe Ben doesn't even know that Anakin survived what happened. If he did, long-term. Luke doesn't want to think about that. He only just got his hopes up.

He's distracted from that line of thought entirely, though, when he sees the destroyed Jawa camp, and realizes the stormtroopers would've tracked the droids home.

Luke doesn't know what the Empire is doing here, but they probably tracked the droids. It doesn't really matter. Doesn't matter, period, actually – all that does, is getting back home. He takes for the speeder, ignoring Ben calling his name.

He sees the smoke from afar, but that doesn't stop him from pulling all the way up to the house.

They burned it.

He doesn't see anyone, except the bodies in the doorway. Burned, the same way his father was in his dreams.

This is his home. What's left of his family, and it's – it's gone. The Empire took that from him.

Everything he's ever had is destroyed, gone. He... has nothing here anymore. Mostly, he just feels numb right now, from shock. When he left home this morning everything was fine, and now it's all gone.

He barely registers how he finds his way back to Ben, who's finishing up burning the Jawa's bodies. Luke hates the smell of smoke and the sight of fire, but he tries to ignore it, approaching him. It's only half registering through the haze in his mind right now, anyway.

"There's nothing you could have done," Ben tells him after he approaches, "Luke, had you been there, you would have been killed too. And the droids would be in the hands of the Empire."

It's not really what he needs right now, but it's... the truth.

If his father's out there, he needs to go find him. He doesn't even know how, but if his father was a Jedi, at least maybe... he can find out what really happened to him. Ben might have answers. The girl – whoever she is, exactly – does, too. She's important somehow, and Luke doesn't even know how he knows it. He just... does.

"I want to come with you to Alderaan," he decides, "There's nothing here for me now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father."

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