Chapter Text
Part One: A Family and A Secret Rebellion
Some would call it terrible timing. Some would call it providence. It really all depended on who you asked. And who was to say it couldn’t be both, from a certain point of view. It had happened when a little girl on another planet had been kidnapped, it had happened when an old hermit had been off trying to save her. It had happened, that a certain Sith lord had been out of comm reach on his way to the outer rim to oversee rumors of potential rebellion and thus did not receive the call that his former master was once again on the Empire’s radar. It had happened when the Tuskan Raiders had decided they had had enough of the little farms on the outskirts, encroaching on their deserts. And perhaps it was his proximity to the planet that had caused so much of his pain, perhaps it was the fact that he was coming up on an anniversary, an anniversary that had meant death. Perhaps it was that the shielding presence of the old master was no longer there to protect the boy. But whatever the reason, when the fires burned and the blasters scorched, Darth Vader on his ship had felt the anguish of a little boy. Though he had vowed never to return to that sand infested planet. He did, he followed the call like a tether tied to his heart. He had not been there in time to exact revenge, but he had been there to pull the child from his hiding spot, to ask his name and hear the words he had never expected.
Luke Skywalker.
Of course, Vader recognized his family when he saw him. Of course Vader saw in that face so much that was familiar. There was the face of the little boy from a shop in the desert for sure. But also the face of an angel, his angel. And Vader vowed in that moment to never, ever, let him go. But that begged the question, what to do about him?
Vader thought about the Emperor, he thought about what he would think of a child born of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. He thought about other things too. Things like lightning and red sabers and lava and suffering. And that is when the cracks in his armor started to form. He would need to do this carefully. He would have to be sure about his next moves. He would need allies. And it was that realization that shocked him in the end. He hadn’t needed allies in years. People he used, sure, but people he could trust? No. But he needed them, for Luke, anything for Luke.
And so Vader made his plans.
When Vader brought Luke back to Coruscant, it was with triumph. He had found the boy, his son, and brought him back to the Empire as his true son and heir. Even if the son part was kept secret. Certain question might be raised if Darth Vader showed up with a son with the last name Skywalker.
Emperor Palpatine, to the cameras anyways, was ecstatic. Finally, an heir, a charge that would serve his purposes. Vader brought the boy before him, and oh how eager the Emperor had been. Until he sensed the boy, or rather, sensed what was not there. No connection to the force, no potential. None whatsoever. It was like looking into a void. And Palpatine recoiled. His first instinct was to have the boy killed, then and there. He was useless after all. No gift, a complete lack of gift. It was something even he had never foreseen. Any offspring of Anakin should have shone twice as bright! But perhaps, perhaps something had gone wrong? Could it have been when he had removed the life force from Amidala to save Vader? It wasn’t like there was a lot of evidence as to what happened when a force wielder as strong as Anakin was had a child. And perhaps there could be other uses for the boy…
Palpatine was not one to throw away perfectly good resources. A puppet figurehead could be just as useful as a real one. And of course, that would mean the rule of two would be satisfied, at least for now. It was a fitting conclusion. One he could live with. One he could hold over Vader’s head. And that, at the moment had been good enough for him. So let Vader have his son. Let the boy live and grow up in the courts. He could always kill him later. So the problem could remain.
Vader had opted to take the boy to Naboo, some misguided trip down memory lane. But Palpatine knew his hold over his apprentice. Let the memories twist their way into his heart, let them work their pain on him. Perhaps it was all bad timing. Perhaps it was a girl who got kidnapped at the wrong time and a boy who was orphaned and found by his father. Perhaps though it was other things too. Perhaps it was the sun dragon in Anakin’s heart that told him to protect his son, perhaps it was Palpatine’s arrogance that took what he saw at face value. Perhaps it was the Force’s way of putting things in action just a little bit sooner than perhaps you may have originally thought. As Vader stepped off the transport on Naboo, he finally let himself breathe. Away from his master’s presence he was free to remove the mask and run a gloved hand through his thin, ragged hair. He looked then for the first time on his son, his own son, with his own eyes. Above them, stars were aligning in ways none of them, not even the Emperor, could have predicted.