This was still going to take some getting used to.
He wasn't sure what had actually woken him up but the first thing he noticed when his eyes opened, was that foreign sensation under his head. Instinctively he knew it was the pillows that had been piled under him, but it was a strange feeling, after so many years the soft material rubbed his burned skin just right that it felt like the beginning twinge of a welt, that middle ground of feeling pleasant and irritating.
But that wasn't what woke him up. There was something else, something...
He turned his head slightly and got his answer.
Laying right beside him in the bed was Luke, laying straight and rigid, with his blanket wrapped tight around himself, like a child sneaking into his parents' bed hoping he wasn't found out and sent back to his own room.
"Luke."
The boy's chest rose and fell rhythmically, his young face looked slightly relaxed in sleep, more so than when he was awake and seemed to carry the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders.
"Luke," he raised his prosthetic hand and lightly nudged his son.
"Hmm?" Luke's eyes fluttered open, slightly, groggily he asked, not sounding enthusiastic about the prospect, "is it morning already?"
"No, young one."
"Hmm," Luke rolled over on his side and commented, "good," as he pressed his cheek hard against his father's armored shoulder and closed his eyes again.
Well this was unexpected. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation, or for that matter, what to do about it. He got nothing through their bond in the Force, so he prodded, asking, "Did you have a nightmare?"
Luke shook his head, "No...I just wanted to make sure you didn't disappear again."
"Again?"
Now he was lost.
Luke opened his eyes and explained, "When I was a kid, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen told me that you'd died, but I didn't want to believe them. I used to imagine that you were out in the galaxy somewhere and one day you'd come back and take me away from Tatooine, and we'd fly through the galaxy on all kinds of adventures...I used to try and imagine what you looked like, and I had these dreams where you came for me, and I was so happy, it all felt so real..." the modicum of hope that had entered his voice during his recollection disappeared just as quickly as he finished, "and then I'd always wake up, and you were gone, and I was alone again...for months I've alternated between worrying you'd die, and worrying this is all just another dream."
His scarred lips smiled faintly. He reached his prosthetic arm around Luke and hugged his son close to him.
"I'm not going anywhere," he assured his son.
That didn't seem to alleviate his son's concerns though.
"I hope so," Luke glumly responded, "it'd be cruel to go through all this just for something to go wrong and I lose you now."
That hit him like a shot of Force lightning.
"Nothing will go wrong, Luke, you saw to that," he tried to reassure the younger man, "the medics said with the synth lungs, I could live for another 20 years, maybe longer."
"I hope so," Luke repeated.
There was a moment of silence between them before he told his son, "I would have."
Luke raised his head to look at him. "What?"
"Had I known you were alive, I would have come for you."
Luke smiled faintly. "I love you, Father."
"I love you too, Luke."
He wasn't sure what had woken him up, he lay in the dark for a moment, listening, waiting.
Then he heard it.
A small sound from the other bunk.
"Luke?"
Pushing himself up, he looked over to the other bed, it was too dark to actually see much, but there was no response from the younger man. After a few seconds though, he heard it again.
"Luke?"
Standing up from his bed, he walked over to Luke's bunk, up close in the dark he was better able to see that his son was still asleep, low murmurs and hums escaped him every so often as he lay on his side in his sleep.
Luke's head lolled from side to side and a louder moan escaped him, his whole body twitched and jolted in his sleep. His father felt an immense disturbance through their bond in the Force, but nothing more definitive than that. Luke's body jerked in his sleep again and he let out a long moan as he seemed to fold his arms together, but his father realized he was actually pressing his right arm tight against his left armpit.
He felt his heart drop.
"Luke..."
Luke murmured incoherently in his sleep, seemingly oblivious to the man standing over him. Leaning over he gently pried Luke's right hand out and lightly squeezed it in his own. Luke let out another soft moan as his head flopped to the other side. Reaching up with his free hand, he lightly stroked over Luke's forehead and the hair on top of his head, the boy didn't respond to the touch but he seemed to calm down slightly.
Pieces of their conversations from the past few days came back to him suddenly.
"You have done so much...for someone, who doesn't deserve it."
"You didn't deserve to be in constant pain for 25 years. I had to do something."
"Stay with me, Father, you're going to be alright."
"Did...did I do the right thing?"
"You really were willing to risk everything to help me."
"You're my father, of course I would."
"and then I'd always wake up, and you were gone, and I was alone again..."
It was inconceivable to him how, after everything he had put his son through, Luke had been willing to sacrifice so much for him, would even want to be anywhere near him.
Luke's prosthetic hand squeezed his own. He moaned again in his sleep.
Leaning down, he pressed his scarred lips against Luke's forehead and kissed him.
"It's all right, Luke," he said in a small whisper, genuinely surprised at the ability do to so after so many years. "I'm right here."
For the life of him he couldn't figure out what the boy saw in him that had been worth redeeming. But he was thankful that Luke had.
Luke started to quit down in his sleep, he sighed softly and half turned on his side. His hand finally released his father's and he fully turned over.
Smiling to himself, he straightened the covers over Luke and sat beside the bed, watching his son while he slept. This time, when Luke woke up, he would know he was not alone.