AN: Takes place in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi as Luke and the team are on Tatooine to rescue Han. Instead of Artoo going with Threepio to the palace I had him remain with Luke.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or the Characters. Surprise!

Chapter I

He was late.

Again.

Why was he always late when it came to saving those he valued most?

Really he should've known better by now. His poor three-year track record of constant and ill-timed delays was proof of that. Though in his defense, Yoda nor Obi-Wan had warned him how outrageously long one could be lost in such a deep meditative state that came when constructing a new lightsaber, which Luke had been doing for the past seven hours.

Kriffing Hell. If something hadn't already happened to his friends by now, which he was certain he would've been able to sense, then Leia was surely going to kill him.

He would insist that time had escaped him; the Force kept his conscious away from reality and solely focused his mind on other means that it deemed more important than his friends.

So really it was the Force to blame, but Luke didn't know how he was going to explain that to Leia. He had a hard time imagining the Princess scolding the air around them, as she demanded what in the nine hells had taken him so long. She needed an actual physical entity for that and unfortunately, Luke was going to have to be the buffer.

Evidently, the Force thought building a weapon that has taken more lives than imaginable was more important than the security of his closest friends. Comforting thought.

Next time the Force tries to lure his inner mind's eye away from actuality, he was going to ask Artoo to use his extendable prong to shock him out of it. Obviously, he couldn't depend on his own inner instinct to pull him out of it.

Artoo sputtered persistently in binary, roughly along the lines of 'be careful' – because Luke might've stumbled over an abnormal molded rock that he knew to watch out for but still managed to clip his boot against.

He jogged unsuccessfully around the uneven landscape with his attention split between the trail ahead of him and the newly built lightsaber in his hands. There had been a few details he wanted to fix on the saber after he came to, but sitting down and working on it back in Obi-Wan's old hut became out of the question after he realized how long he spent actually constructing it.

Artoo suddenly spat out a sharp hoot in warning but Luke heard it too late as he went tumbling forward – very un-Jedi like – over a rock and rolled onto his side, his saber tucked safely into his chest because he'd be damned if he broke this one after all that time kriffing building it.

Luke groaned and blinked up at the two suns that hung overhead. Artoo rolled over and softly hooted down at him, his front bulk either tapping his shoulder in a way of saying 'get up' or 'are you okay'? Luke decided upon the latter, not wanting to argue with his high-spirited droid who always seemed to have a knack for constantly being right.

Almost immediately when Luke shifted in a sitting position he knew something was wrong. He sat still for a moment, too scared to think what his poor concentration had caused for him this time.

"Just give me a minute, Artoo," he responded when the Astromech whistled impatiently again.

Luke leaned to his right side and slowly eased his way up onto one foot. He wobbled, balanced, then finally decided to test his luck and put pressure on his other foot. Quite predictably, the pain seemed to explode in his left ankle and Luke stumbled back a few hops before plopping down on a fortunately placed boulder.

"Just my luck, huh Artoo?" Luke sighed and stared down at his left ankle that was hidden beneath his black pants and boots. He had a feeling if he removed the layers he would find his skin starting to blossom in soft purple and blue blemishes.

Artoo rolled over and Luke nearly jerked back when the droid stopped a little too close to his injured leg.

Artoo was a great co-pilot and all, but he wouldn't say he'd trust the droid with probing and treating injuries. The only way he could possibly help would be if Luke could somehow balance himself on top of Artoo's dome head and rode him the rest of the way to Jabba's palace. He briefly amused himself with the image of the guards' faces if a Jedi clad in black were to roll up and expect an audience with their superior.

He'd probably get shot on the spot.

The Astromech sat next to the boulder and sputtered a string of binary that Luke had to take his guess at.

"Nah, I don't think it's broken," he rolled the ankle and winced. "Or least I hope not… Either way, I can't just sit here while everyone is countin' on me. I'll just have to tend to it after we save Han."

Artoo seemed to protest the notion.

"Well, what do you expect that I do, huh? Not like I can call a medic or go into town and have it fixed. You know we don't have time for that."

Artoo sputtered rudely and wobbled in his spot. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well remind me to equip you with a med-pack next time."

The overbearing twin suns seemed to beat down hard on Luke as he struggled with the heat and the pain in his ankle. Wearing all black was unquestionably the worst decision he'd made since the color seemed to absorb the suns' rays and cook him alive in his robes. He didn't know how the Jawas' did it with their russet dyed woven robes.

Luke squinted in the direction that was the Hutt's palace, heat waves nearly smothering the tan towers from sight. It was a long walk – hop- from where Luke sat. If he didn't collapse from the pain in his ankle first, then the heat surely would do the job. The Force could assist him as long as he remained focus.

And conscious.

The last thing he wanted was to pass out and wake up in the hands of Sand People – or worse, not waking up at all.

Just as Luke was about to suggest to Artoo that they better keep moving, a cold, spine-tingling sensation washed over Luke in such swiftness that he bolted upright and, forgetting his injured limb, landed on both feet. The reaction was just as jolting as Luke went skipping backward and nearly went tumbling over Artoo.

There were no cool breezes on Tatooine.

This cold… The last time he'd felt this type of bitter chill was…

Luke's blue eyes widened in shock, as dread and complete mystification slowly nestled its way into his very core. His thoughts began to swirl with questions as he spun around in search of the source of the spine-tingling chill.

He didn't want to admit it but somehow he found him… But How?

HOW!?

Artoo whistled loudly and Luke snapped his attention to the little droid that was insistently nudging his leg in an attempt to get him to move. To do anything except stand there and wait to be plucked off his own two feet by the approaching predators from above.

His stared off in the direction of the Hutt's palace, knowing there was no way he would be able to hop all the way there without being spotted. It also didn't help that he was wearing all black against a neutral colored landscape. It'd be suicidal even if he weren't injured and dressed as he was.

"Come on, Artoo," he instructed and did a limp mixed with a hop towards the canyon's wall, eager to find some sort of cover where he could hide and hope – more like pray to every Tatooine deity – that the Imperials would just unsuspectingly fly right over.

Artoo chirped and Luke spun to find him wobbling in front of a small cavity in the wall that would expectantly fit them both. He didn't waste any time and leaped over, ducking low and squeezing himself in first, trying not to whack his head on the rocks above by putting too much-unwanted power into his panicked hopping. Artoo rolled in after him, blocking the exit and shielding out the glaring light of the two suns. Luke didn't think it before but he really hoped that Artoo's white and blue exterior wouldn't give them away if the suns reflected off it at just the right angle.

Not too soon after taking cover, they heard the shifting of loose rocks and the pattern of boots marching in sync. Artoo let out a low, concerned whistle and Luke reflexively swat at the droid to silence him.

"Quiet, Artoo," he whispered and the droid listened but only after he spun his domed head around as if affronted Luke had actually thumped him.

The red light of his droids foremost sensor flashed in his face and Luke wondered if the astromech was just glaring at him or hiding the obvious light from the cave's mouth where it undoubtedly would've been spotted amongst the dark interior.

Like a left open blast door from the now destroyed Rebel base on Hoth, the cold from outside the cavern started to creep its way in, swerving around the bulk of Artoo who stood immobile and filled the majority of the opening, trapping him in. Luke shivered when the invisible cold inched its way towards the tips of his boots then wrap and climb its way up his legs. He moved further away from the touch, trying to keep quiet as pebbles shifted under his weight in a slow grinding crunch.

The sounds from above their hiding spot seemed to come to a stand still but Luke was too distracted by escaping the possessive frosty coils to notice. All he could feel was the foreign (yet all too familiar) coldness that swept over his body, actually causing him to shiver. Such an insane thought after years of suffering under Tatooine's cruel suns.

"As imaginative as you may be, my son, you are no canyon krayt dragon."

"I'm no wha-ow!"

In reflex to the deep voice that had intruded his mind, Luke had forgotten the tight compact position he was stuffed into and smacked the top of his head hard against the rock ceiling.

He rubbed the spot sorely, scrunching his face from the annoying pain and the slight embarrassment of the tone from the one who had manifested their imposing presence in his head. There had been annoyance, that much predictable, but also a thin hint of incredulity and exasperation.

It'd been the latter that caused Luke's cheeks to flush and tempted him to throw his head back into the wall in mounting frustration. Almost.

In the end, he almost did unintentionally, because the last thing he expected to hear as his nerves still stood on end after the voice was the high piercing shriek of Artoo that resounded tediously loud in their snug hideaway.

"Artoo!" Luke reached out to grab the droid that'd been plucked from the entrance by an unseen force, the tips of his flesh hand's fingers barely grazing the Astromech's mass. He was left with a clutched fistful of dry air.

The arresting light that'd been blocked suddenly burst in one brilliant, blinding swoop that forced Luke to lift his right mechanical hand to shield his eyes. He had somewhat of an idea of what would happen next, but the feeling of the cold tendrils constrict around his middle while twin suns beat down on him was most definitely a sensation he never wanted to experience again.

It was just wrong.

The two suns greeted him just as warmly as he was yanked from the small cave and Luke quickly realized that the suns weren't the only ones there to welcome him. After rudely being dragged across the rocky canyon floor, the young Jedi found himself brought to a halt in the center of an organized ring of Sandtroopers. The clatter of their armor sounded next as they pointed their blasters down at him in warning.

Luke blinked up at his welcoming party, trying to picture how he must appear to them after being dragged out of an abnormal crater in the wall like one would yank the tail of a spooked womp rat. He assumed this was karma after all those years as a kid he used those rats as target practice. Talk about life coming full circle if this was how he was going to die.

Typical Skywalker luck…

Feeling the cold creep closer again, Luke didn't have time to wonder what it planned to do next as he felt a tug at his hip then watched helplessly as his newly constructed lightsaber went flying through the air.

"Hey!" Luke yelled and scrambled to his feet, which he found to be a big mistake for a second time that morning as pain erupted in his ankle. The Sandtroopers didn't even have to force him back to the ground because Luke fell to his knees in a slump.

He ground his teeth and waited for the pain to slowly ebb away to a dull, still very much existent, pulsing throb. He couldn't help to think that his wound was probably just as worse as it'd originally been after all the times he accidently sprung on it.

It could've been his imagination, but Luke swore he felt the chilling tendrils became somewhat lenient in their probing. They moved along his limbs lightly, marginally growing warming to the touch too, oddly enough.

Somewhere near he heard Artoo whistle in concern and Luke's gaze shifted towards the noise, silently relieved to see that Artoo wasn't immediately damaged or powered down. If his captures only knew what the droid was capable of then they wouldn't have wasted a second to put a restraining bolt on him.

"I see you have constructed a new lightsaber, young one. Impressive."

Luke's head snapped up at the baritone voice, his eyes landing on the giant black form that strode closer, parting the circling Sandtroopers in silent authority before they caged them both back in.

There, encamped in the ring of soldiers that didn't seem the least bit willing to budge and allow an opening, Luke found himself glaring up into the hard-edged mask of Darth Vader.

Not being able to endure the image of himself being on his knees in front of the Sith like the willing apprentice Vader wanted him to be, Luke defiantly stood up, though the Sith still towered over him like the monumental Lord he was.

"Well, I was in need of a new one after our last encounter, which I'm sure you remember," Luke's right hand twitched and the slight downward tilt of his father's mask told the blonde that the deliberate action was detected.

"All too well," Vader rumbled, his voice not hinting any of the feelings that he was emitting along the bond they shared.

Anger.

Betrayal.

Regret.

And…something else he didn't quite recognize. It made his entire right arm throb painfully though for some reason. The cold tendrils seemed to also make their way there now too as if surveying the healed wound for itself.

Luke tried to shrug them off and keep his father from his mind. He didn't need to know how his father felt. He didn't want to. It was too late anyhow. His hand was gone and Luke honestly doubted that Vader would've acted any differently if they were to do it all over again.

Sure, Luke had been trying to kill him, but he hadn't known that he was dueling with his father at the time. Vader, however, knew he was battling his son. He knew and still they were left with the outcome that left Luke one limb short.

"How did you even find me?" Luke asked, and then suddenly his thoughts fell on Leia and his friends. Had Vader already been to Jabba the Hutt's palace and finished them off? Had he led Vader right to them?

"As nimble as you may be, hiding within the lands rock formation and behind a droid," he rumbled and Luke didn't need the Force to hear the clear amusement in his tone. "does little to conceal a Force Sensitive from detection, young one."

Luke was sure his face was red, even if Vader hadn't answered to what Luke had truly meant by his question. "That's not what I-hey!"

Distracted by his own embarrassment, Luke had totally missed the trooper that approached and put a pair of binders on him. Artoo let out a flurry of hoots and whistles but the soldiers quickly turning their guns on him made the Artoo unit think twice about rolling past them.

"Don't shoot him! He won't do anything, isn't that right, Artoo?"

The droid let out a low, reverberating sound and tittered side to side almost anxiously. Well, he hoped Artoo wouldn't do anything. It wouldn't be a first if he did, though.

"Have a bolt put on the droid and take it to the shuttle. Alert the Executer that my arrival is to be expected along with the addition of a prisoner," Vader commanded and the trooper to his left gave a sharp salute.

"Yes, sir."

Luke was more than willing to give the rest of the Sandtroopers a hard time as they moved to grab him and take him aboard, but the dark bulk of his father separated him from them before they could.

"Leave the boy to me."

Luke gulped, knowing there wasn't a chance at getting away now as his father's black-gloved hand fell heavily on his shoulder. He shifted under the weight that seemed to grow stricter the more he struggled with each step.

Tired of the pain in his shoulder and his ankle, Luke spoke up.

"I'm injured, you know. You could at least try to act like you care," he snapped, not being able to take being stirred and herded like a wampa towards the ramp that would lead him to his holding stale – or in his case, a cell.

His father's helmet didn't even bother to turn in his direction, nor did his brisk pace lessen by any.

"Would you prefer I carry you the remainder of the way?" He responded and Luke scuffed in doubt.

"Don't think that'd help keep up your dark, foreboding appearance if your squadron saw."

An odd, unrecognizable sound emitted from behind the mask that made Luke look up at his father in surprise and uncertainty. Had that been a chuckle? Luke checked their bond and found amusement bouncing from Vader's side of the bond to his.

Had Luke actually managed to make Darth Vader laugh?

That thought alone nearly caused Luke to stumble over his own feet if his father hadn't gripped his shoulder firmer and yanked him back up, saving Luke the embarrassment of falling into the sand for the third time that day.

"Thanks…" he muttered awkwardly, keeping his gaze on the path ahead in case another rock decided to test his coordination.

He was taken back, quite literally, when the hand on his shoulder yanked him backward and nearly sent him falling right into Vader's armored chest. Luke looked up; worried that he had said something wrong (though he didn't know how 'thanks' would be in any way offensive) or that they were under attack.

"Father, what-?" the words died on Luke's lips as his father and the surrounding landscape seemed to explode in a swirl of colors then scatter away as if kicked up sand in the wind.

Quite suddenly he found himself standing there alone.

Luke brought up his bound hands, practically smacking himself in the face with the heavy metal. The wind picked up, throwing tiny shards of rock across the flesh of his face and leaving them red and scorned. He didn't dare open his mouth knowing he'd have sand stuck in his teeth and gums for weeks afterward.

The only thing that Luke could sum up from the situation was that they'd been overwhelmed in a powerful sand storm. How two Force sensitive's missed it, he truly didn't know. Even Artoo should've picked up on the impending storm with his sensors.

Luke tried reaching out a hand to grasp his father, searching for the black cloth that he knew must be flailing wildly in the wind. With the tight clasp that Vader had had on his shoulder, Luke was surprised that he'd even been able to break free. It was almost as if-

"Luke…"

Luke fought against the lashing of his robes and turned towards the voice – the voice that oddly wasn't muffled or affected what so ever by the storm. The intensity of the eruption seemed to lessen and he staggered forward, careful not to put too much pressure on his left foot.

"You must hurry, Luke."

With the wind not howling so loudly in his ears as it did previously, Luke found himself frozen to the spot at the familiar voice.

"Ben?" Luke responded with a yell. A memory of the deceased Jedi appearing to him during the blizzard on Hoth came to mind. Why did his old Master always come to him during elemental disasters?

"You must save her, Luke. She is in need of your help."

Luke squinted his eyes to watch as Obi-Wan Kenobi's blue Force ghost materialized. He stared, confused and perplexed about the situation and about this 'she' that the Jedi Master was talking about.

"Who is? Ben, what's going on?"

Obi-Wan looked troubled for a moment, the curve of his pale lips tightly pulled together. "Yoda was to tell you after your return to the Dagobah system, but I fear it will be too late by then."

Luke pulled his hood higher to help shield his face, the sand still blowing fiercely.

"Tell me what?"

There was a pause as if Obi-Wan was deciding whether he should really tell Luke this information premature or not. The young Jedi shuffled impatiently in the sand, leaning his weight on his right more heavily.

"There is another Skywalker."

"There's another what?!" Luke gasped, then immediately closed his mouth when sand filtered in. He shook his head, wide-eyed at the news.

That was impossible! His mother was dead, despite the unexpected revelation of learning the truth of his clearly undead father, but he doubted he'd be fortunate enough to have two living parents.

"That's can't be, Ben! I would've known!" Would he have? He doubted it; being hidden away on a moisture farm on some outer rim planet all his life seriously limited his accessibility to, well, anyone really.

An expressive grin formed on the old Jedi's face – like he found humor in Luke's choice of words from his outburst.

"To protect you from the Emperor and Vader, you were hidden from the two Sith when you were born. The Emperor knew, as I did, that if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a great threat to him."

He paused, and Luke thought he'd go mad if Ben decided to suddenly disappear and leave out an important clue like he always did. He could only take the Jedi's cryptic declarations and patient guidance to a certain extent.

"That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous."

Luke was sure his mouth must've fallen open because the biting pieces of sand that suddenly assaulted his tongue were more overwhelming than before. The sand shifted under him, causing his vision to sway away from Obi-Wan and far, far past the deceased Jedi. He obviously couldn't see any further than a few feet in front of him, but Luke's gaze seemed to train on a specific pinpoint to the east that made his insides clench in uneasiness.

It clicked then, and part of him seemed to find some peace in the revelation at long last.

"Leia."

Obi-Wan nodded, his hands coming up to rest in the deep folds of his sleeves over his luminous chest. "Your insight serves you well. Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor…"

And like a poor reminder of their parting on Hoth, the sand kicked up and Luke was left blinded, desperately trying to catch a final glimpse of his old Master before he faded away into the whirled of orange particles of all that made up Tatooine.

Luke stumbled back from the persistent battering of the wind that was lashing him around while he remained near blinded. It was as loud as it'd been before when the sand storm first approached and swallowed him whole. And also like before, Luke found himself reaching outwards to grasp onto anything to hold him steady. His fingers clutched nothing but shifting burst of air before he felt a familiar cold sensation crept up into him.

He shivered – still not used to such a sensation during the prime hours of a Tatooine day – as he nervously waited for what he knew would come next. In his defense, the startled gasp he let out when the heavyweight came down on his shoulder was completely adequate since he'd been expecting it on the opposite shoulder.

Even with his eyes shut he could see the dark stature hover a great deal over him. The cold from before encircled his legs and climbed their way up like hungry vines, snacking around his torso and holding him firmly in place.

"Son?"

Luke heard the mental call and the almost concerned impression that carried with the word through the Force. The cold tendrils seemed to grow nervous when he didn't respond and circled around him stricter, trying to fit through the barriers in his mind to get the answers he was not divulging them in.

With a start, Luke gasped and shot upward, very nearly right into the chest of his father who had been hovering over him as his upper body lay cradled in his arms above the hot sand. Wait, what? Anxiously Luke looked around and realized that he was laying on the ground with none other Darth Vader who was down on one knee, supporting his back and neck while his legs remained sprawled out in the sand.

Pain blossomed in his head but when he went to rub it he was met with heavy resistance from the binders that held his wrist together. He let his hands drop back onto his lap. His memories from earlier were all making their way back. He'd been captured.

Figuring he couldn't ignore the looming black giant to his right any longer (or the cold tendrils that wouldn't seem to back off), Luke met with Vader's pointed gaze.

"What'd you do?"

His father paused, his cycled breathing echoing in the space between them for three breaths before Luke felt aggravation shoot through the bond and winced. The arms that were once cradling him repositioned to under his armpits and Luke was jerked upward again. The world spun but his father's firm grip held him upright.

"I did nothing." And then they were moving again. "It was you who took a sudden interest in the sand beneath your boots."

"I what?"

"You fainted," his father ground out, his tone apprehending sounding to Luke. "For one who was raised under these suns, you'd think they'd be more experienced in dealing with the heat and signs of dehydration."

Luke felt his jaw tick and some inner Tatooine pride that came from being raised on this treacherous planet swell up in him. How dare Vader suggest that he didn't know how to survive on his own kriffing planet.

"Of course I know! I spent 19 years on this planet just so you know! I grew up on a moisture farm, so don't go lecturing me the importance of remaining hydrated!"

"And yet you still fell victim to heat. Perhaps your time with the Rebels meddling in a war that you are on the wrong side of has diminished your most instinctual intellects."

Luke's mouth opened and closed impulsively.

"After everything I've learned about your Empire, I'd say I'm most definitely on the right side of this war! It's you who is on the wrong side! And my 'instinctual intellects' are working just fine because they're telling me to get the hell away from you."

Ignoring his outburst altogether, Vader instead chose to ask: "Then why are you dressed in all black? Don't you know it absorbs and traps the heat?"

Luke almost threw his head back in mock laughter because Vader was scolding him on wearing black when he too was dressed in the same color from head to toe, though he resisted from making the rebuttal since he had a feeling that his father had no choice with what he wore. And that for some reason made Luke feel a tinge of sadness at the reflection of his father's health state.

Luke didn't know if his father caught the stray thought or emotion that swept through him and seemed to stifle his resentment, but his grip on his shoulder tightened anyhow and their conversation ended there.

Darth Vader.

Lord of the Sith.

Second in command of the Empire.

Heir to the Imperial throne.

Father.

The last one still made his stomach do little flips. Luke thought he was the unluckiest kid in the galaxy to be the child of Vader, but he now knew he didn't share that misfortune alone. If Leia was his sister (his twin!) then that meant they shared the same father.

Leia Organa was really Leia Skywalker… And that little name change meant so much.

It changed everything.

And that's what concerned Luke the most. What happens now?

"You must save her, Luke. She is in need of your help." Ben's words echoed in his mind.

Save her from what exactly?

Luke struggled to turn his head around in the direction of the slug gangster's palace and put forth all his focus on the tall pillars and mass structure, searching for the signature of Leia that was much easier to find compared to before. She shown brightly now, causing a secret grin to spread on his face. It was like a heavy curtain that'd been shielding her had been pulled aside, revealing the brilliant blue glow that was his sister in the Force. Even Master Yoda had such a striking Force signature, though he supposed that was being a bit biased.

Not being able to resist himself from reaching out and touching that comforting, familiar glow, Luke stretched out through their now exposed bond and-

"Leia?"

A flicker of recognition ensued from her side.

"Luke?"

Relief and giddiness filled Luke to the point that he was sure he was making his delight evident for others to see if they looked in his direction. Trying to control his emotions some attempt, Luke cooled his features and refocused on the new mental link.

"No time to explain – just tell me how things are. Are you all right? What's going on? Is it too late to abort the mission? I've been captured by Darth Vad-agh!"

The world spun in a flash of bright oranges, blues before finally settling on black. This time, both his right and left shoulders were profoundly clasped and Luke struggled to slide on his one foot as he was yanked forward and nearly into the arms of the enraged beast that was his father.

Luke did his best to incline away when the forbidding mask of Darth Vader tipped down and clipped the tip of his nose.

"Where is the Princess?" Vader all but growled in his deep, threating baritone voice and Luke fought the shiver that snaked up his spine.

"You've gotten what you've come for, so leave her alone!" Luke snapped right back into the dark visor that hadn't moved an inch from his direction. If he couldn't save himself from his father or the Dark Side, then he'd do what he can to save Leia from the same fate, especially since he just accidently revealed her sensitivity with the Force.

The cold tendrils tightened around his chest and Luke let out a shuddering breath. He knew Vader wouldn't choke him to death, but that didn't mean his father wouldn't squeeze the information out of him somehow.

"I do not have the time or patience for your stubborn defiance, young one. You'd be wise to tell me what I wish to know for your sake as well as hers. Your thoughts betrayed you, you're scared for her and I sense I am not the placement of that fear."

Ben's words repeated again in his head and Luke shut his eyes, trying to block the two voices that competed for responsiveness over one another. Luke knew there was little he could do to help Leia. With his ankle injured and being in the possession of his formidable father who happened to be a very powerful Sith Lord, Luke didn't know what choice he really had left.

Ben said Leia was in trouble and needed help – help that may now never arrive, he thought with growing dread.

He looked over his father's armored shoulder at the pillars that swayed in the distance because of the heat. If only he hadn't been lost in meditation for so long and hadn't hurt his ankle. He could've saved her – from whatever it was – and wouldn't be in the current situation that he was in now.

He didn't have time for this.

Leia didn't have time for this.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself and extinguish the angered embers that were rising to a steady flame in his chest, Luke relaxed in his father's hold and reached out with the Force. Almost instantly the hands on his shoulders slackened and the splintering ice tendrils seemed to warm and hover in place, unaware of what to do next.

Luke felt his father's curiosity and suspicion through their bond at his sudden change. To show that he wasn't planning anything worth punishable, Luke opened his mind enough to show his father that he was being harmless and not devising some type of escape plan.

"Yes, Leia is a Force Sensitive, but I've just found that out too. She doesn't have the training like I do, father, and poses the Empire no threat….as Jedi that is." He added as an afterthought because Force sensation or not Leia was a force to be reckoned with.

"Your collapse was not caused from dehydration… The Force show you something. You had a vision," He stated perceptively.

Luke swallowed, remembering how his vision had caused him to collapse unconscious and think he'd been lost in a sandstorm. He was willing to bet Ben had something to do with the mental storm bit, though.

"That and…more. She's in trouble, father, and we're the only ones who can save her."

"First you try to steer my confrontation of her away and now you wish I intervene?"

"We, father, we go together."

He winced slightly when his father's probing tendrils entered the part of his mind that he left exposed to him, letting him really feel the seriousness and reliability of his words. They brushed up against a wall that held the truth about Leia but Luke held the wall firm in refusal. Not yet…

Vader leaned away and returned to a fully upright position, his hands crossing over his chest in silent contemplation.

"The well-being of the Princess is none of my concern. She condemned her fate by alleging to that insufferable Rebellion she thinks to lead." A gloved hand was brought and pointed in his face, which Luke had to cross his eyes just to see. "You'd be wise to distance yourself from her disorderliness now, my son."

"But Jabba's got her! We can't just leave her to him knowing what he'd probably do with her!" Luke protested hastily, even daring to step closer. "She doesn't deserve-"

Vader advanced on him like an angry storm with thunder and all. "What she deserves or not is irrelevant to either of us as of now! She was foolish to attempt a rescue of that smuggler friend of yours. Her failure was guaranteed as soon as she set foot in the Hutt's territory," A pause, then. "And consider it fortunate that I arrived before the same fate could have befallen upon you too, child."

It was hopeless, Luke realized, Vader was never going to willingly help the Princess (his sister!) because to him there was simply no logic in it. To him, it was just one less Rebel on the Empire's ever shorting list.

Vader's gaze lifted over him and towards the awaiting command shuttle that would take them both back to the Executer. Luke started to grow antsy. He was running out of time to convince his father.

He really didn't want to do this, but at this point, he felt he was left with no other option. Also, Ben wouldn't have warned him if it weren't urgent.

When Vader started to drag him again Luke tried digging his good heel into the ground in resistance – Vader only pulled harder. Too hard. Luke ran into his side before his father corrected him.

"We can't leave her, father!" Luke hissed as they neared the command shuttle and the Sandtroopers that stood ready by the lowered ramp.

"We can and we will."

"No, I really mean it! She's in danger and you'll regret this decision forever if you-"

"Doubtful."

Luke groaned, now knowing where Leia got her stubbornness from and wasn't that weird to think about? She would deny it, of course, but Luke could imagine his father feeling some sort of paternal satisfaction about the trait.

"Will you just stop!" he tried again to dig himself to a halt, which caused Vader to round on him in irritation. He flinched back.

"I will not hesitate to have you sedated and carried on board if you keep up with this childish behavior, boy." His father threatened and Luke found that gloved finger back in his face.

He wasn't going to back down, though. His father needed to know the truth and if he wasn't going to listen to him then Luke was just going to have to show him.

Without responding, Luke shut his eyes grabbed onto the bond that he had with the Sith, surprising his father with the action and to feel him pull away slightly in apprehension. Hoping he wasn't making a mistake that he would come to regret it later, Luke invited his father back into his head.

Vader was hesitant at first, but soon enough Luke felt him ease up as he led the way around the complexities of his mind. Memories recent and old flew past them in a blur, and despite Vader's inquisitiveness to learn all that he could about what his son had been up to in his long absence, he let the boy drag him along. The wall that protectively hid away Leia's secret identity came up and Luke let his father's cold tendrils probe the area in eager inquisitiveness.

He could sense his father's shorting patience and inquiry about this certain piece of shielded information. Luke really hoped he wasn't making a mistake by showing him this…

Slowly, as if savoring the fact that he actually had something up against his father, Luke started to weaken the wall to expose the truth, but apparently, Vader was having none of that slow divulge and instead thrust himself right through.

Luke gasped, clutching his head at the intrusion as Vader rammed his probing tendrils forward and shattered the tightly put together barrier like it had been a thin sheet of glass. And like a floodgate that'd been abruptly opened, all memories that Luke had of Leia and her recently discovered identity surged outward in a tidal wave.

His father didn't seem to hold back and absorbed the knowledge almost hungrily, shifting them around until Luke knew that the Sith had finally stumbled upon what he'd been trying to show him. Vader tendrils recoiled back as if bitten.

"Do you see now, father?" he asked, but Vader remained inaudible except for his mask's constant hissing. "We can't leave her. She's family…"

There was a pause, then…

"You're to remain here where it'll be safe," Vader sharply turned, whiplashing Luke with his cape in the process, and motioned for two Sandtroopers to come forward.

Dread filled Luke as he started to think that maybe he'd put too much faith in the assumption that Vader would actually care for his family. He knew he shouldn't be surprised but it still hurt to have his doubts confirmed like this.

"But, fath-!"

"While I'll retrieve your sister."

Luke froze, and then couldn't help but to smile and let his gratitude and appreciation flow through the bond with a giant sigh of relief. Even now that Vader knew the truth about Leia, Luke couldn't detect any signs from the Force telling him that he'd made the wrong decision. Dots were finally starting to connect and gaps in his heart and mind he didn't even know existed were starting to be filled and mended.

The sensation of being of being woven and connected together with other living beings like himself through bonds in the Force became addicting.

"She won't go willingly," He grinned; despite the fact that he was being dragged towards his father's command shuttle more urgently to be apprehended by the troopers who were to meet them half way.

Luke felt satisfaction and pride run through the bond from his father's end.

"If she's anything like her mother then I expect nothing less."