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Chapter Text

Some days it was difficult for him to remember life before the Empire. Before the Dark Side. Before the decisions he'd made that had only worked to fuel the guilt and eventual self-loathing that acted as the spark that ignited the focus to do what must be done. To bend the galaxy's knee. To bring peace. By force, if necessary.

If left to that purpose and left to his own methods, he and his Master likely would have gone on until the older man's death, which would have been many years down the line. Vader was no fool. He knew the Jedi had hidden much from him - Obi-Wan in particular - and Palpatine was willing to teach him. It was grueling, and consistently left him with new scars on the flesh he had left, but he'd made his choice. He'd made the choice to serve his Sith Master. Luke had not.

When Palpatine had ordered him to bring the boy in, Vader had hoped the Rule of Two would save his son, and for a brief moment he thought it had. He'd expected the Emperor - who had had a hand in his own childhood - to push and prod, but he hadn't expected her.

Mara Jade. A Hand in training.

Vader knew what these Hands did. Investigators, assassins. He had no complaint in them if they stayed out of his way and, by proxy, his son's. His Master had made it clear that Vader wasn't to forbid Luke from being near her - not that it would have done much good. He was the son of Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, and forbidding it would have only served to guarantee the budding friendship - but she'd put his son's life in jeopardy in the very way Palpatine had threatened to if Vader didn't yield to him. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Shy of outright killing the child - something he knew he was perfectly capable of - he couldn't keep her away from Luke. He could make it more difficult by filling his schedule, but the moment Palpatine caught wind of that he would add his own task to the training curriculum. A favour, or course, to his protege, to add his own wisdom to build up his own apprentice. Not that it was ever acknowledged that that was what Luke was. Asajj Ventress had been Count Dooku's apprentice, even if not in name. The Rule of Two clearly only cared about what was openly acknowledged. Ventress hadn't been the child of the Chosen One, so as long as she had been useful she was used. Luke's fate was darker. Vader knew that, in the end, Luke's true Master was the one in which he pledged his loyalty to. And he had. He'd initiated a bond typically formed between Masters and Padawans that had only proven stronger with blood. Sidious was trying to break that, and he would use the girl to do it if he was able.

Luke was strong, but he had to be stronger. His father wasn't always going to be there to protect him. He had to learn to protect himself.

The altered battle droid fired with the stun setting and Luke's boot slipped on the marvel floor as he tried to move. He hit the hard surface and Vader could feel the shock run through the boy's muscles as he twitched, trying to move.

"Again."

The droid loomed closer and Luke struggled against the previous pulse. He could do this. He had the raw talent, he just had to find the will. If he didn't, the next adventure Sidious sent him on through young Jade could be his last.

No. Vader felt his blood boil. If it came down to it, it would be his Master that fell. Not Luke. Not Padme's son.

"Father," the boy croaked out, managing to flop over on his back and those blue eyes went wide. "I can't!"

"You must," Vader boomed and felt his breath catch, despite the forced pull of air in and out of his lungs. Luke pushed himself up, almost getting a foot in place to leverage himself upright, but fell hard again. "Focus your fear," his father instructed. "Use it. It should not use you. Nothing should use you."

He watched through the lenses of his mask as the boy - only ten for a handful of standard months now - struggled and failed.

He wasn't afraid and he wasn't angry. Mildly irritated and frustrated, yes, but nothing powerful enough for the Dark Side to use as fuel. He was certain his father would save him, and while every paternal instinct - for what good they ever did him - screamed to stay, he knew that he'd be setting Luke up for dangers when he was away. Which would be soon. He'd put off his duties for months now with only a quick few placating trips to keep Palpatine from forcing him away. The Emperor had never preferred his lingering presence on Coruscant. Eventually, Luke would have to rely on his own wits.

"Again," Vader demanded as he turned, cape licking at the heels of his boots and he felt his son's desperate touch at their bond.

"Fath-!" The cry was cut short as the stun beam hit him again and the familiar presence was lost over their connection.

Vader turned, surveying the scene, before shutting the droid off through the Force. His footsteps, heavy and slow, echoed through the room before he stopped and bent to where the boy lay unconscious. With strangely gentle movements he picked him up and cradled him against his chest. For today, the training was finished. Tomorrow it would start again.

—

"I see training went well."

Luke groaned from his place on the floor, bent halfway over his crossed legs with a cold pack balanced at the base of his skull. Everything hurt, but not so much that he couldn't shoot Mara a glare where she stood in his room's doorway. "Not everyone has dancing lessons for their training."

"Keeps me light on my feet," she countered, twirling a little in a teasing manner before she sank fluidly to sit on the floor with him. "So I can dodge attacks rather than kissing the floor all the time."

"Yeah? You wanna go up against the battle droids again?" Luke grumbled.

"With your dad controlling them? No thanks. The whole palace can hear his again -" she dropped her voice, doing her best to imitate his father's powerful tone - "every time it beats you."

It had been six standard months since he and Mara had snuck into his father's training area and accidentally activated the battle droids he'd upgraded. Since then, Father had taken his lightsaber training to a new level. He was constantly exhausted and sore. Always in new places. "I just wish he'd tell me how to fix what I'm doing wrong, but instead it's channel your fear."

"Again," Mara tried again for her imitation, but snorted a laugh halfway through.

Luke moaned as he repositioned his melting cold pack. "I just want to beat it once. I used to think I was good at it."

He felt Mara's mood shift, as if she were trying to pick up on what she was supposed to say in that situation. Without feeling her presence in the Force soften, her voice did. "You are good at it, Natus. You're the best I've ever seen."

He looked up, the ice pack finally sluffing to the floor. "Really?"

Her expression lit up, as did her presence. "Was that good? My instructor said I was having some trouble with believable empathy."

Not for the first time, Luke found himself wondering just what kind of lessons Mara was given.

Then the meaning of the words caught up. "Hey!"

She flashed him a grin. "You've never seen the Emperor with a lightsaber. You'd understand if you had."

Sure, Palpatine might be powerful in the Force, but it was difficult to imagine he was very quick on his feet, which meant she was teasing him in layers that evening.

Mara settled back against the wall. "Maybe what you need is less to channel your fear and more to overcome it. Put it in perspective. That's what my instructor in Escape taught me. He said if you're not afraid, you can think your way out of nearly any situation."

"Back up. Instructor in Escape?"

"Not important," she waved him off. "My point is that we have to give you perspective. You spend every day in this corner of the palace. Of course you're afraid of droids."

"I'm not afraid of droids. I don't like getting stunned into unconsciousness." He paused, tilting his head a little and regretting it instantly. Why did ice have to melt so quickly? "And so were you. I didn't get hit that hard."

"I'm just saying you need experience. Is your dad going to come up here tonight?"

"No, he's going off-world. Some sort of uprising in the Mid Rim the Emperor wanted dealt with quickly."

The corner of Mara's lips curled up and Luke didn't have time to protest as she reached forward, hauling him to his feet along with her, and dragged him towards her favourite entry and exit: the window.

—-

There was a big, bright world outside of the Palace walls that Natus hadn't seen. The Emperor had said that his dad didn't want him outside. Lord Vader was notoriously paranoid - so she'd heard from the palace staff she'd chatted up when she'd first come across Natus and had looked for more information on him - and there were a lot of rumours on where his son had come from. Some said Vader had killed his mother and taken the boy while others - dreamers, Mara thought with not a small amount of disdain - thought perhaps Vader kept a lover that he didn't dare bring to the capital world. Finally, many of the staff thought Lord Vader had simply stolen Natus away from some unsuspecting family. A child with promise that he'd delivered to the Emperor and asked to take on as his heir. That had been the rumour Mara had given the most credence to right up until she'd actually been in the same room as Darth Vader. Natus was naïve and often softer than she would have expected, but in that moment that Vader had stood in the training room and destroyed his own creation, Mara had been forced to acknowledge it. She hadn't thought that Siths knew how to love, and while she didn't think it was a love she would want directed at her, she was pretty sure Lord Vader would burn the whole galaxy if it would keep his son safe.

Still, Natus hadn't seen much. His father wasn't providing him with the well-rounded education that the Emperor was assuring that she had, so Mara felt a certain responsibility. Despite his absurd naïveté, his reliance on his father rather than himself, and the overwhelming desire for human connection she felt every time she was near him… she was fond of him. Mara didn't find herself fond of people that didn't prove immediately useful. Just him. She couldn't put her finger on why, but she was willing to trust the feeling for now.

He whined the whole way. He wasn't supposed to leave the palace turned into he wasn't supposed to leave the grounds, which eventually shifted to a shrill, panicky feeling as she dragged him onto the street. Her hand started at his wrist, but eventually moved to interlace her fingers with his, which served to calm him a little. Slowly, she felt him start to relax and at some point she started having to drag him along less because he was afraid they'd be caught and more because he was mesmerized by all the sights.

Mara didn't really remember coming to Coruscant. She was sure it'd been in the last handful of years and she was positive she'd lived with her mom and dad somewhere else at some point, but it was all hazy. Why, she didn't linger on. Something inside always reminded her that nothing good would come of it. This was her here and now and this was her life. Coruscant and training and serving the Empire. Serving the Emperor. It was an honour. Someone had told her that along the way.

As she and Natus walked through the streets on the top level of the city she found herself watching him watching those around him with fascination. She was used to coming out into the city to sit and observe, but he wasn't, and because of that he was fixated on every alien race and every new experience. It wasn't until she saw a set of stormtroopers that she realized it was time to go. She might have leeway to wander and learn, but he didn't.

"What about-?" he tried to ask, but she was already pulling him away from the vendor and towards the lift. A quick glance around and she tugged him inside, punching several levels from the options.

"What was that?" Natus demanded.

"Unless you want dear old dad to find out you're out and about, we need to make sure they don't see us," she explained.

"You think they'll tell him?"

"You don't have any clue who he is, so you?"

He tilted his head in the way he did when he knew she knew the answer that he wasn't certain of. "He makes sure there's peace in the galaxy."

"Sure," Mara answered as they hit the first level she'd punched. The doors opened and she tightened her grip on him so he wouldn't leave.

The doors closed and they started their plummet again.

"He does," Natus pressed.

"I'm not saying he doesn't," she defended as they started to slow again. Just a few more levels. "Maybe just not how you expect."

"Like you'd know," he groused.

Something deep in her chest constricted for him. "I see more than you do, probably." He really was hopelessly naïve.

Whatever response was battering around his head was cut off as the lift slowed to a stop and the doors opened to reveal bright, flashing neon lights and all the sights and smells that accompanied the market district level. She glanced at Natus to see his blue eyes wide and the unfiltered sense of utter awe wafted off of him so that she couldn't help but pick up on it through the Force. For half a moment, she considered dragging him back into the lift. All the lightsaber training, all of his ability in controlling the Force wasn't going to do him much good in the end if a few flashing lights stole his attention. She wanted to help him, so she guessed she shouldn't shelter him like his father did.

"C'mon," Mara grumbled as she tightened her hold on his hand and tugged him forward. "Keep up."

He picked up his gait to keep up with hers. Even so, she had to tug him along every time that a cart or a booth caught his eye.

"My instructor in Escape always says that you have to have at least half a dozen distractions when you're learning because there'll be at least three anywhere you go," she explained.

That caught his attention. "Again with your escape instructor…. What is the Emperor training you in?"

She shot him a glare, but continued her original line of thought, ignoring his question. "You're always up against time, capture, and failing."

"Failing what?"

"Your mission."

"Wouldn't getting caught be failing?"

Mara shrugged. "Sometimes that's the best way to get in." At least, that's what Instructor Korbal had said. She hadn't gotten to the explanation of how yet.

Natus frowned, the expression pronounced. "It doesn't matter. The Emperor doesn't let me go on missions with my father."

"You've just gotta prove you can take care of yourself."

"How?"

She flashed him a wide grin. "By not failing."

—

When Mara had declared it a mission to go deep below Coruscant's top level, Luke had assumed she meant more than just avoiding troopers. That had proven to be a task alone though, especially the first few times. Apparently two kids running around the market level just looked like trouble, but it gave Mara a chance to show off all the tricks her instructor was teaching her. For months now, every time his father was off-world they would sneak out for another round.

But his father wasn't off-world that day. In fact, they had training planned for late that evening. Normally that wasn't something Luke could find in himself to look forward to anymore, but this training would be different. Not that Father had said as much, but Luke had sensed the mildest tones of anticipation over their bond. It was rare. So rare, that he knew it had to be something exciting, so when Mara had shown up at the window he had turned her down.

Not that she had taken no for an answer. Instead she'd told him she'd been given an assignment by an instructor and she needed some help with it. She was vague on the details, with the exception that he was expected to be a distraction. Not a big deal. In and out, and she promised to have him back in more than enough time to make his training session.

They went deeper below the top layer of the city than they ever had before, Luke's ears popping as they plummeted further and further down. Finally they stopped and Mara hesitated just past the opening as the doors slid closed behind them. He looked to her and saw her eyes closed and her lips moving, as if she were reciting something. He reached out with the Force, careful not to disrupt her, but caught the anxiety that was slipping through the mental shields that she was getting better at constructing every day. He wondered if the feeling was contagious or if the Force was trying to warn him about something. His father constantly reminded him that, if he listened, the Force could tell him when something was going to happen. He was trying to get Luke to use it in training when the droid shot him with a stun beam, but he knew it wasn't limited to that. Father used it when he was protecting the Empire and its citizens from people that wanted to hurt them. Luke just had to zero in on the cause behind the feeling, which was hard to do when he didn't even know what they were getting into. "What exactly is your assignment?"

Mara cracked a green eye open and offered a glare. "It doesn't matter. I just need you to be a lookout."

"For what?"

"Trouble." She pulled in a breath and started forward without warning.

He scurried to catch up and caught her wrist. "Mara, I have a bad feeling about this one. If you'd just— "

She jerked her hand away and picked up her speed and pushed through a door that could have easily been missed on the street. It led to a grungy flight of stairs and she started down. "You know, you're not always going to get the full story when you get an order."

"This isn't my assignment, it's yours," he reminded her tightly as he followed.

"And that's why I can't tell you the details. It's need-to-know, and lookouts don't need to know."

Luke snorted at that one. "Sounds like—" The feeling slammed into him as hard as if someone had physically hit him and he stumbled, the argument cut off. It was enough that Mara finally stopped a step down and turned to glare a moment before brushing him off and taking the half a dozen steps down towards the door. Luke shook his head, trying to focus on the why behind it, but as Mara wrenched the door open they both saw the why in the form of three massive aliens that turned to look down at the red headed girl.

Mara yelped as Luke used the Force to pull her back and slam the door shut behind her, the thin metal bending against one of the aliens' attempts to pry it back open. Luke held it closed as Mara ran past him, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him with her. As they raced back up the stairs, he heard the aliens break through.

Another flight up and Luke stopped, pulling a startled sound and confused feeling from her as he pulled her towards the exit on that level. "Trust me," he said and with only a fraction of hesitation, she nodded.

They burst through the door and into the back alley of a residential level. There wasn't a trooper in sight, but if the Force had told Luke when to exit, either it or her training showed Mara where to go. It was her turn to take the lead and she tugged him forward, dodging in and around people and aliens alike, even as he heard their pursuers slamming through the door they'd taken to get into this level. She tightened her hand around his and pulled him off to a side alley where there was a pile of trash waiting to be hauled away. She pulled him behind it and they crouched there, neither of them daring to breathe.

A long minute crawled by, then another, and all Luke could hear was the general commotion of a dozen different species packed together in a residential district without room to breathe without breathing on each other. "You think…?" he risked after another long moment.

"Maybe. Give it a second more."

"You going to tell me now?"

Mara frowned and a sigh escaped her. "There've been some rumours floating around that an Imperial officer has been providing help to a gang of smugglers." She pulled a small cam from her belt. "I was supposed to go in, get any evidence I could, and bring it back. None of what my instructor told me made me think they'd have guards. Definitely not at the stairway."

"So what now?"

She tucked the device away again. "I still need my evidence."

"They'll be looking for us," Luke pointed out.

"They've found you," a gruff voice said from overhead.

Both kids looked up to see one of the giant, greenish-blue aliens that had been chasing them. Flat nose, glowing violet eyes, and more hair on his face than Luke thought he'd ever seen. With one swipe of his massive arm, the trash heap they'd hidden behind was scattered and both he and Mara were left in the open. On instinct, Luke started to reach for his lightsaber that was partially hidden by his black tunic, but Mara grabbed his hand and gave him the barest of head shakes. Sometimes the best way to get in is to get caught. That was one of the lessons Mara's instructor had taught her and it looked like that was her plan. Luke really hated that plan.

But, even as the giant alien and his buddies snatched them up, he reminded himself that he trusted Mara.

—-

She really hadn't meant for Natus to get dragged this deeply in. Any assignment she was given, unless told otherwise, was supposed to be handled by her and her alone. A lookout wasn't too far out of the assignment perimeters, especially if no one ever knew he was there to begin with, but he was now square in the middle. It could be a problem, but only if they got out alive.

Mara was okay with getting in trouble for blurring the lines on her assignment if it meant they got out alive.

They were hauled back down to the level she'd been trying to go to, both of them draped over one of the creatures' big shoulders with a hand holding them in place, claws at the tips of their fingers pressed into her and Natus' back to keep them from struggling.

She watched everything, just like she'd been taught. Every turn, every small marker to show her where they were and how to get back. Clearly they didn't see either of them as much of a threat. Just a couple of kids in the wrong place at the wrong time. It made people easier to manipulate when they thought that.

They entered a building that creaked when the creatures walked, the claws on their giant, bare feet scraping lightly across the flooring. Mara could hear chatter in the distance and it was getting closer. No. They were getting closer.

Mara risked a glance at Natus who was facing the other direction. She reached out through the Force. He was better at connecting to her mind than she was to his - truth be told, he made every new talent learned in the Force look simple when it rarely felt that way to learn - but she tried to communicate her confidence in the idea. They were okay. They were going to be, at any rate. In return, she felt equal parts fear and anger. He felt balanced between the two, like his mind was struggling to decide which to hold onto. Fear was pretty close to winning.

"What the —?" a male voice demanded, clearly startled by the creatures' appearance. Or, more likely, their appearance with their young hostages. "Mallicar. Explain yourself!"

The greenish-blue creature that wasn't holding either Mara or Natus - Mallicar, apparently- cleared his throat. "We commed in that there were intruders and you said to pursue."

"You indicated they were a problem," the first voice bit out. "These are children. Put them down. Now."

Mara slid to her feet, landing with more grace than Natus managed. As he stumbled to gain his footing, his tunic flipped up at his left side, revealing the hilt of his lightsaber. She turned to the owner of the voice - instantly clocking him as Lt Commander Char Ollumbra and the person she'd been looking for - and watched his grey gaze latch onto the weapon. "Come here, boy. What do you have there?"

Well this was a problem. She had hoped she could get a visual confirmation and that would be that, but they weren't so lucky.

Natus turned reflexively away, putting his body between the approaching officer and his lightsaber still connected to his belt and fixing a glare on the man. From Natus' other side, Mallicar snatched it loose and one massive, clawed finger triggered the red blade. All of the colour drained from Ollumbra's face. "The rumours are true," he breathed, but then his face flushed with rage as he turned back to his guard. "Do you know who he is? What you've done?"

"It's just a kid."

"That -" Ollumbra motioned at Natus - "is the Sith Lord's son!"

A darkness passed over Mallicar's face that Mara didn't like. There was a rage that filled the air at the mention of Vader's name, like he'd had a personal run in with the Sith apprentice. "Then we kill him," he growled as he took an aggressive step forward. Mara saw Natus widen his stance a little like he did before they sparred. Except he didn't have a weapon.

"And then he'll kill you and every last person we're trying to get off this forsaken planet!" Ollumbra snapped.

"Well we can't just let him go."

"No, we just have to keep it far away from us. Vader can't trace it back here."

With their focus on Natus, Mara's gaze swept the room. No one had come in after them because no one else was needed. With the large, alien creatures blocking them in, there was no clear path to an exit. They were trapped. Maybe she should have listened to his intuition afterall.

She let her gaze flicker back to Natus who, in turn, stood poised like he was ready for one of his father's battle droids to attack. Every muscle in his body seemed to be coiled and that icy blue gaze was fixed on his red blade in an alien's hand.

Without warning, without moving, she heard his voice in her head. DOWN! he commanded and she hit the floor.

—-

He had never had his lightsaber plucked from his belt before. He'd dropped it when hit hard enough during training, but no other living, sentient creature had dared to take it from him, or even try. Luke felt his any fear from being snatched as they had evaporated in that moment as they discussed how they were going to kill him and Mara, all the while avoiding his father's wrath that would come crashing on them if they did. They thought they had a plan - told themselves they could survive this - and that these children were merely obstacles to be dealt with. Like they weren't being trained by the two strongest Force users in the galaxy. Luke felt his fear harden into anger, each word working to sharpen it into rage.

So this is what Father had meant when he'd said to channel his fear. He understood now.

He didn't have to look to Mara to know that she was looking for and ready to take any advantage that presented itself. DOWN! he thought at her, not entirely sure it would work with anyone he hadn't formed a Force bond with like he had his father, but the instinct proved correct. Mara hit the steel floor under her boots and Luke pushed outward with the building rage and the Force slammed into the three aliens and the man that looked like an Imperial officer dressed in civvies. All four flew back, one of the aliens hitting the wall hard enough that a resounding crack echoed through the room.

Both kids - so easily overlooked just seconds before - flashed into action. Mara drew her lightsaber from deep in the folds of her tunic and the purple blade leapt to life as Luke reached for his own fallen weapon, the red light filling the room.

One of the aliens rushed Mara and she danced out of the way. Dodging and moving until she had an opening, swinging the brilliant purple-white blade at one clawed hand and severing it from the arm it had previously been attached to. The lead alien - Mallicar - drew a weapon and aimed it at her. "Put it down, girl!"

Luke tugged hard at the blaster, sending it flying towards Mara. She cut it neatly in half.

Then he stumbled. It took half a beat longer than it should have for him to realize that the Human behind him had clipped him with a shot. Not with a stun weapon like the droids he practiced against. No, he put together as he caught a glimpse of the way the fabric burned at his left shoulder. This had been a live round. He turned his attention on the man who simultaneously raised a hand as if in surrender and leveled his blast to take another shot. "I don't want to hurt you, boy. Put the lightsaber down."

"No," Luke growled and the Human began firing. Luke clumsily blocked the first shot, sending it wild. The second was more controlled, as was the third, and the fourth ricocheted off the red blade and into his attacker's chest. He dropped instantly and Luke stood ready for a fifth shot, despite what he watched happen. Slowly, reality started to catch up and he eased out of the red-hot rage that he'd channeled to keep himself alive.

"…go! Natus!"

He turned, finding Mara at his shoulder and she touched his arm, careful to avoid burned flesh beneath the still-smoldering black fabric. "What?"

"We have to go," she repeated.

Luke blinked hard, gaze sweeping from the man who lay with pale, grey eyes staring unseeing at him from where he'd fallen to where one of the aliens hadn't gotten up from his initial attack with the Force.

"The other two will bring help," Mara said as she tugged him towards the exit. "C'mon!"

He thumbed the control on his lightsaber and the red blade snapped out of existence. Mara kept pulling him forward by his opposite hand as he tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened. They'd been taken. They were going to hurt them. Kill them. They were…

"Wait," he snapped, slamming to a stop. "Who were they?"

"Traitors," Mara hissed, still trying to move him forward. "We have to go. C'mon!"

Questions folded in on themselves in his mind, too convoluted to make their way out of his mouth. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "I killed him."

"He was going to kill you," Mara countered.

"But he was a person."

"So are you."

He didn't know what to say to that and Mara didn't let him stand there to think on it too long. With a warning of backup and danger, she pulled him towards the stairwell, up a few flights, and then to the lift. It was okay, she promised. He'd done what he had to do.

It didn't feel okay.

—

It didn't come as a huge surprise when his father had delayed whatever special training that he'd had planned. Mara had finally explained that the man that had been shooting at them was a Lt Commander in the Imperial Navy that had been suspected of treason. Turned out those suspicions were right, and while Luke didn't know exactly what they'd been doing or who they'd been working with, his father was the Emperor's go-to man to quickly handle anything that might threaten the Empire or its citizens.

Ollumbra had been the traitor that Mara had been sent to find evidence on. His father's involvement was an added layer of proof that the man had not been innocent, but Luke couldn't shake the image of those pale grey eyes staring at him after Ollumbra had taken his last breath.

He couldn't sleep that night and had gone to the training room to wear himself down against droids that proved far too predictable. Into the morning, the afternoon, the evening…. Every time he tried to stop to rest, he found himself buzzing with nervous energy again, the smell of sizzling flesh filling his nose and shouts echoing in his mind. Then there was the cold. It'd all happened so fast that he hadn't known what to equate it to, but with time he realized it had set in the moment the life had left Ollumbra's eyes. The moment Luke had killed him.

Father didn't fill him in on the investigation and Luke didn't ask. Even so, three days later it was over and done and his father was ready for the training he'd promised his son. By then, Luke was so exhausted that he couldn't imagine any scenario in which this went well.

They didn't go to the training room, though. Instead Father led him up and up and up until the lift emptied them out into the private hangar bay on the roof of the palace. There sat his personal TIE fighter and, for the first time in days, Luke felt the cold, dead gaze recede to the back of his mind with the sudden understanding. Father was going to teach him to fly.

It had been years since Luke had been in any sort of craft. He knew it was a Lambda-class shuttle that had brought them there, but how his father had flown it he couldn't say. At six years old, he'd been more interested in watching the stars streak as they flew through hyperspace than the controls Father had worked to make it happen. This time he watched everything. Black gloved hands moved and he asked questions when his father didn't readily explain a motion that might have been as natural as breathing to him. More so, maybe. There was a pre-check, repulses lifting them up into the air, and the feeling of excitement that he wasn't sure was entirely his own. Father wasn't just teaching him today, he was sharing this with him. For a few moments, as the craft sped up and out of the central city, he felt free. They felt free. Maybe they were.

They stayed well within the atmosphere, Luke watching as his father walked him through every command the craft needed and demonstrated in ways he never had in his lightsaber training. They swung up above the buildings and out towards the mountains, skimming the ocean water and, at last, the TIE came to rest on the same mountain Luke recognized from when they'd first arrived on Coruscant years prior. Father had said someday. Father didn't lie to him.

But he'd been lying to Father.

The craft set down gently and the ramp extended so that they could exit. Wind whipped around them, kicking up off the ocean and cooling before it reached Luke's face. Despite the exhilaration, he felt the guilt weighing on him. "I was there," he said, his words nearly carried away by the wind.

"I know."

Two very simple words breathed out and amplified through his mask, but Luke didn't feel the usual frustration or anger that he did when the battle droids won a round. He would have thought that sneaking out would have been so much worse than a failed exercise. "You're not mad?"

"Did you think I did not know?"

"Sorta," he managed.

"I knew."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

There was a long moment of audible silence, but Luke could feel the conflict over their bond. "The Emperor… feels you are too soft. Too sheltered."

"I killed him. Ollumbra," Luke confessed, and he felt his father's surprise as he turned to look at him through the lenses in his mask. "I didn't mean to. He saw my lightsaber and knew who I was. That I'm your son. He started shooting, and I accidentally deflected one of the bolts right at him." He felt the rush of emotion as he voiced the deed that had kept him awake.

"Did you think you'd always fight droids?"

Luke looked to his father, his vision blurring a little at the idea that he might have to feel this again. "I don't think I want —"

"You are my son. He will not be the last that will try to end your life because of that."

"Will it always hurt?"

There was a long moment of silence between them and a flicker of subdued emotion. Luke saw a glimpse - a memory, maybe - of bodies laid strewn around what looked like the Palace and the overwhelming feeling of rage and sorrow mixed together, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. Father reached out, his hand on Luke's wind-blown hair in what had become a comforting gesture. "I will teach you to use the pain. To be stronger than it," he swore.

Father didn't lie. He'd said he'd bring Luke to this place someday, and there they were. Luke just had to be patient. If he was, he could be strong like him.

---

TBC