Twenty-Four Hours

Summary: A bit of direct sequel to one of my small tumblr prompts. An AU set directly after ROTJ, Darth Vader didn't die on the second Death Star but is gravely injured. Luke secures an Imperial shuttle, but isn't sure where to take his father to get medical help. Vader mutters to take him to Mustafar.

The various medical machines beeped and buzzed. The medical and surgery droids worked tirelessly to remove Darth Vader's suit and to heal his injuries. Luke stood helplessly against a wall. His own body was worn and tired. He knew he should also see to his injuries, but for now he pushed the pain aside. He could only focus on the scene unfolding on the medical table.

The droids had to cut through layers of Vader's suit. Now the pale white flesh was starting to be exposed. As chunks of the suit were cut off and removed, Luke could see the horror of what was Lord Vader's body. Wires and tubes buried into his flesh. There were metal plates grafted onto his skin where the suit connected to the body. There seemed to be bags attached to his right side. One of which rose and fell with Vader's breathing. A mechanical lung?

More and more of the suit was taken off. Luke saw all of Vader's limbs were prosthetics, not just the one Luke had cut off on the Death Star. A memory from long ago drifted into Luke's mind.

"He's more machine now than man," Ben's ghost had said. He was right. There appeared to be so little of Vader left.

One of the med droids approached Luke, who straightened up.

"He is in decline," the droid stated. "The life support systems have received major damage. The artificial organs are only operating at half of their capacity and continue to fail. The prognosis is not good."

"There isn't anything you can do?" Luke asked. "Get new artificial organs?"

"The damage has already been done. The organ failure has been going on for too long. It is surprising he is still alive. By all accounts, he should be dead. It is too risky to give him new organs. His body is already under a great deal of stress. It is 97% likely the moment we unhook the old organs, total organ failure would occur."

There was a pressure building up in his eyes. "So . . . so now what?" he whispered.

"Give him pain medication to dull the pain," the droid said. "I predict he has only twenty-four standard hours to live."

Luke said nothing. His eyes at once went back to the white form on the medical table. He moved past the droid and came to a stop at the table. Vader, no Anakin, looked so different. He looked so sad. So broken. All of his limbs had been removed. The suit was completely gone. All that was left was a body and head with various tubes and plates and nasty scars.

Gently Luke placed his hand, his flesh hand, on Anakin's arm. For the first time, they were touching, truly touching. Anakin stirred. His head weakly rocked from side to side and then his blue eyes slowly opened. At once they focused on Luke. A plastoid breathing mask had been placed over Anakin's nose and mouth to assist with the breathing. It obstructed the view of his mouth, but despite that Luke swore he saw the corners of Anakin's mouth raise just a tiny bit.

"Luke . . ." Anakin said in a whispery raspy voice.

"Father," Luke replied. His voice was laced with pain and grief.

"I . . . know . . . I am . . . dying . . ."

Luke's body shook as he fought off a sob. He squeezed Anakin's arm tighter.

"It's not fair," Luke mumbled. Finally he had gotten back his father. His true father. Anakin Skywalker.

"Luke . . ." Anakin said. "I am . . . fine . . . with . . . dying."

Luke couldn't stop the sob that escaped him this time. "Fath . . . father . . ." he said sadly.

"Stay . . . with . . . me . . ." Anakin asked.

If he opened his mouth, he would cry. So Luke nodded. His eyes were wet, blurry and filled with tears. He squeezed his father's arm again. They were quiet for a while. The only sound was the hum of machines and whirl of the droids working still to keep Anakin alive a little bit longer.

"Tell me . . . about your . . . sister . . ." Anakin asked.

A sad smile stretched across Luke's lips. "She's brave and smart and pretty. I uh had a crush on her when I first met her. I didn't know she was my sister. She puts on a tough act; I suppose a bit like you."

Luke went on and on about his sister. He told Anakin various stories about her. He only stopped when a coughing fits would wrack Anakin's entire body. A few times blood sputtered out into the breathing mask. The most recent fit had morphed into a full seizure. The medical droids buzzed into action. Luke backed away to let them work.

He couldn't watch. He ran out of the room. Anakin was dying. All Luke had done was ramble on pointlessly about stupid stories. He was ruining it! Anakin's last moments! He slammed his fist into the wall. The impact left a small crater in the durasteel. He hadn't been aware he had used the Force to power his punch.

Tears streamed down his face. He leaned over and placed his head against the smooth cold metal of the wall. He let himself cry as he didn't want to do it front of his father. After a few moments, he collected himself and returned back to the med room.

Everything had calmed down. As Luke returned to Anakin's side, he saw his father with his eyes closed and breathing slowly but evenly. He looked peaceful. Luke just stood there not wanting to wake him. But eventually Anakin's blue eyes opened. They looked cloudy and unfocused. A sob caught in Luke's throat.

A wheezy sound came of Anakin. Perhaps he was trying to talk, and now finally he was unable to.

"Father . . ." Luke croaked painfully. "I'm sorry. These last few hours. I've just been rambling on and on about the most useless things."

He leaned over and placed his own face above his father's. Slowly and as gently as he could, he kissed his father's forehead. Luke's body trembled as he fought off waves of grief. He lowered his forehead and placed against it his father's scarred one.

Suddenly, Luke was filled with warmth and light. He blinked. No longer was he standing in the med room, bu in a large open field. Tall grass and flowers swayed in a soft breeze. Rolling hills were seen in the distance in one direction and in the other were waterfalls tumbling down short cliffs into a river. The sky was a beautiful light blue.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Luke spun. A man stood beside him. He was tall and wore black and brown tunics similar in style to that of a Jedi. He had long wavy dark blonde hair. A scar slashed along his face near his right eye. His eyes were the same color of the sky. Blue and bright.

The man smiled at Luke. It was large smile that felt so genuine and full of love. A smile tugged at Luke's lips, but he didn't let it form. He was still confused about where he was and who this man was.

"Luke," the man said. "There is no need to apologize. These last few hours with you have been the happiest I've had in years. Possibly decades even."

"Fa-father?" Luke whispered.

Anakin Skywalker smiled and nodded. He turned his attention to the field and Luke looked out as well.

"This is where your mother and I . . . well where we started to fall in love. Or perhaps we already were in love. At least I was," Anakin said amused.

"Where is this?" Luke asked.

"Naboo," Anakin replied. He turned back and faced his son. "What do you know of her? Your mother?"

"Nothing."

Anakin's mouth twisted into a painful grimace. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Again he faced the serene scenery.

"She was an angel," Anakin said in a soft voice. Luke took a step closer to hear better. "Her name was Padme Amidala. She was a queen and a senator of Naboo. She was beautiful and fierce and smart. And . . ." Anakin again faced Luke. Anakin's eyes were watery as if any moment he'd start crying. "And she loved you. And your sister. She was going to leave the Senate. She wanted to come here. Her family had an estate in the lake country. She wanted to have the nursery by the garden."

Luke again looked out across the green field. What would it have been like to grow up here? Amongst all this green and water? With both of his parents and his sister?

"She had long brown curly hair with warm brown eyes," Anakin continued.

As he spoke a figure seemed to appear amongst the grass. A young woman sat picking at the wild flowers. She wore a yellow dress that hung off her shoulders except for a pair of thin straps. The dress had small flowers sewn into it. Colorful ribbons were tied around her arms and streamed down past her hands. She laughed at something unseen.

"She was beautiful," Luke said. He had never seen his mother. Had always wondered what she looked like. He could see Leia in her.

"Yes," Anakin said.

Her laughter grew louder and then she looked up. Her eyes widened as if she spotted the two of them.

"Ani?" she shouted. A huge smile grew across her face. "Ani!" she shouted as she jumped up. She ran across the grass. Anakin took a hesitant step forward. He looked over at Luke. He was fighting back tears.

"Go," Luke said.

Anakin said nothing. Only nodded and smiled. Then he turned and ran. He scooped her up into his arms and spun her around. She laughed and so did he. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Their faces came together in a long and passionate kiss. Then she took a small step away. She placed a hand on his cheek and he leaned into her. She took his hand, his ungloved hand, into both of hers and started to lead him into the grassy field.

Anakin never looked back. His eyes were on her. The field started to brighten, and Luke's eyes started to hurt. He wasn't sure if it was the light or his grief or the scene that caused the tears to fall. But right before everything faded into white, he saw his mother turn around. She looked right at Luke. A smile upon her face. Her lips moved, but he heard nothing.

Then he was back in the med room. The machines were blaring their alarms. Luke stepped away unable to face his father's lifeless body. He didn't need to hear the med droids tell him his father had died. He had already felt it in the Force. He left the room and the body and the alarms behind. The tears fell down his face. His body shook with sobs he could no longer fight back. But despite all of that, Luke Skywalker smiled as he recalled the words his mother had said. The ones he hadn't heard but knew she had said.

"Thank you."