"Leia!" Luke lunged forwards, grabbing his friend's wrist, and pulling her back into cover, ignoring her indignant snarl. "We can't go out there!"

"We can't stay in here, either," she hissed, pulling her arm free, and looking ready to make another attempt to bolt for the mouth of the cave.

"We agreed we should stay here until help comes!" he argued, jumping to grab her again. But she only raised her arm, and shot a couple of Stormtroopers who'd started to enter the cave.

"That was a week ago," she answered, giving his withdrawn hand a withering look. "We're out of food, and low on water. We have to get out of here."

"At least not now," he begged, flinching as her blaster kicked again, and a couple more Imperials fell dead.

"Why not? It's not as though they'll let up at night." She fiddled with her blaster, rifling through what remained of their supplies for another clip.

"I just…" his hand slipped from her sleeve as he struggled to articulate his thoughts. "I just… have a feeling about it."

Leia finally ducked back into their alcove, out of harm's way, and met his gaze. "I have a feeling about this too, Luke. Something bad is coming if we don't get out of here soon."

"What about Han?" Luke asked, dropping his voice as he flicked his hand briefly towards their prone friend. "He can't move that quickly."

There was a second of silence, before the smuggler gave a groggy, "Hey."

Luke frowned at him, reaching over to squeeze his knee quickly. "He can hardly defend himself against me."

Leia looked down too, as Han clumsily reached up and grasped Luke's hand. It'd been a piece of Leia's work that had got him out of Jabba's palace, an impulsive "plan" that Luke suspected had been spawned mostly of wanting to get Luke away from Vader for a while, or just annoyance that they'd spent time together at all.

And sure, it was good to see him again, but Luke couldn't help wishing that he was either safe or fully conscious. Or, ideally, both.

As it was, he'd had to come and push past the Imperials at the opening of their cave with medical supplies to keep him stable in the hopes that they'd eventually manage to get rid of their pursuers and get him back to the Alliance.

Leia was right. They were running out of time. She and Luke would be able to survive a few days without food, and a couple without water, but Luke was hesitant to believe that Han could last even one. He didn't want to gamble with his friend's life, but Leia's plan was only a more dangerous gamble-

"Just give it one more day."

That was a pretty reasonable request, he felt. They still had plenty of ammo, and Han would almost certainly be able to last. Sure, once they'd slipped past the Empire, they'd have to find themselves a ship, as both of theirs had surely been destroyed, but every second the Empire might be recalled was another chance that they might not have to drag their weak friend through blasterfire.

He was pretty sure they didn't know exactly who had got themselves stuck in a little cave on a planet so backwater that Leia had sent him coordinates, and not a name.

It'd been a pretty genius choice of hiding spot, except that the hiding involved more fighting than he'd have preferred it to.

Leia looked at him long and hard, before Han gave a weak cough, and she looked back down at him. "Fine. Another day." She poked her head back out to pick off a few of the troopers who'd hesitantly started to venture into the cave, and who quickly bolted back out. "Can you take care of him?"

"Sure."

Luke scrambled past her to retrieve a pack, and sit at Han's side.

"Han?" he whispered.

The smuggler barely turned his head, and Luke knew that if he'd been better lit, there'd have been a pallor in his face. Han seemed aware of how bad his condition was, and Luke thought that was probably the worst part of it. He wanted Han to have his swagger, and be arguing alongside Leia that they should try to crash through the Imperial line instead of waiting until he could stand on his own.

"It's gonna be alright, okay?" he asked gently, smiling reassuringly at Han, though he doubted he'd be able to see.

"Whatever you say, kid," Han muttered.

Luke felt his smile fade, turning into a slight frown as he pulled out a flask of water, and carefully hauled Han's torso into his lap.

"Leia and I are here," he promised, pressing the bottle to Han's lips. "We won't let anything hurt you."

"Don't think… anything could," Han croaked, and water spilled across his chin before Luke could withdraw the flask.

The words almost sounded like bravado, but Luke felt his heart twist in his chest.

"Are you losing sensation?"

"Given I've stopped noticing I'm sleeping on the ground," Han said, struggling clumsily to sit up on his own.

Luke bit his lip. He half wanted to take back what he'd said to Leia, this had clearly progressed beyond his ability to help, and he didn't want to get Han back only to find out that if they'd been a day earlier-

But, no. He knew that trying to leave now would only result in all of them being killed. The Imperials hadn't let up at all, despite their utter lack of success at entering a cave defended by only two people. It seemed almost as if the garrison had grown bored, this far in the middle of nowhere, and were eager to let their amusement last as long as possible, even if it meant additional deaths.

The Alliance wouldn't be coming, either. He'd said he had it under control, and they were busy enough with the Imperials who were breathing down their necks, anyway.

"Heads up," Leia hissed to him, reaching over Han to grab a detonator from the bag, and chucking it towards the mouth of the cave.

"Leia!"

She immediately ducked back, covering her ears, and he instinctively followed suit. There was a bang, and Han groaned pathetically, before Luke cautiously unfolded, peeking back towards the entrance.

The cave was still intact.

Thank the Force.

"A flash detonator?" he demanded, as Leia sprayed fire into the stunned troopers. "A little more warning would've been great."

"I gave you too much already," Leia snapped, scrambling dangerously out of cover to attempt to get the last retreating trooper.

Luke held his breath, clinging to Han, until she returned.

"Please be careful," he begged, carefully letting Han slide back to the ground as he scrambled back to her, attempting to put himself between her and danger.

"If we're getting out of here tomorrow, I want the run to be as clear as possible," she said, already reaching for another flash detonator.

He grabbed her arm.

"So do I! But there's no run if we're dead, Leia!"

"If it's not safe to run tomorrow, you're going to keep us here even longer," she said. "It's never going to be safe, and we don't have time to wait around!"

There was a muffled bang from outside the cave, and Luke winced. Maybe they were finally sending in the big guns, and getting serious about flushing them out.

"Oh, kriff," Leia said, and Luke was nearly flattened as she began desperately cramming their supplies back into the bags. "I think we're out of time."

Luke scrambled after her, trying not to hear Han's confused complaint at his disappearance from his side. "We might be."

She'd be mad with him later, he knew. She'd been right, and he'd put them in further danger, and it was completely reasonable that –

He stopped in the middle of trying to cram Han's thermal blanket back into its pouch.

"What?" Leia asked, looking up.

There was something off. The sound of blasters was still ringing, but it wasn't as if they were shooting, and Han couldn't even lift himself.

"Shh," Luke hissed, dropping both bag and blanket, and scooting towards the open cave.

"Luke!" Leia said, seeming frozen in place. "What are you doing?"

"I just…" He couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe there'd been some sort of wild animal attack, and the Imperials were busy with that. Whatever it was, it was a distraction, but he wanted to know more about it before trying to use it as cover. "My feeling's getting stronger."

She grabbed his arm, "Mine is too!"

"No," Luke said, trying to pull free, "Leia, this is good, I'm almost sure, I-," he cut himself off.

There was the distinct sound of a lightsaber, and for a desperate second, he wanted to dive back into cover and hope that he hadn't been seen, sure that Vader had found them.

Except there was no Vader, anymore. Not in the sense he was thinking.

"Father!"

Leia released his arm as he straightened in excitement.

A moment later, an unfamiliar silhouette broke the light being cast in the entrance of their cave, and Luke scrambled out of their cover. As soon as he was able, he was on his feet, and racing across the uneven floor towards the stranger.

For a second, the man tensed, seeming almost to raise his lightsaber, but the flicker of danger held no malice, and Luke didn't hesitate before throwing his arms around his father's neck.

The lightsaber deactivated, and for a moment, his father gave him a tight one-armed hug, before releasing him back to the floor.

"Not a second's hesitation for a lightsaber, hm?" he asked, his voice still quiet and difficult to make out as he bent close to Luke.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Luke said, turning back towards Leia and Han, walking slowly so his father could keep his balance. He wasn't sure how well his father was adjusting to the changes the Alliance had had to make to his systems. A glance back at him showed that he'd found himself some light armour somewhere, but his bare metal feet skittered on the stone floor, and Luke had a feeling that he wasn't really ready to be back on the battlefield.

"I am glad to see you in once piece, as well."

Luke turned back to his father as he reached the crevice where Han and Leia hid, "I can't believe they let you come find us!"

His father hesitated awkwardly, a few meters away, clipping the lightsaber back to his belt, "No one 'let' me come."

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Leia hunker down over Han. He realized, suddenly, that they had been sensing the same event. He'd felt his father coming, and she'd… she'd felt the monster who had put them all in this situation. He felt a flash of empathy that threatened to make him fear his father again, and took a step towards her.

"I did not harm your friends."

With the words, he sensed sorrow and pain, and realized suddenly that his father's Force signature was almost unrecognizable. It wasn't what he'd felt at Bespin, or sensed when his father had demanded his presence, but more akin to the crackle of dust and electricity in the garage back on Tatooine. It felt homey, and safe, and Luke felt ashamed of his step back.

"They will find themselves down one ship, and a few weapons," he continued, taking another small step forwards. "Until we return, and they can enjoy the return of their best strategist and their Jedi."

His father's awkwardness, and his clear awareness that he had frightened each of them was uncomfortable, so Luke tried to brush it aside.

"Han's not doing well," he said, gesturing for his father to join them and look the smuggler over. As he took the last few steps up to them, Leia carefully laid Han back on the ground, and resumed packing their things, swinging on her bag, and avoiding his gaze.

Luke helped his father to kneel, and scoot in under the overhang they'd hidden Han under, and watched as he gave him a quick once over.

"He will recover, with medical attention."

"Is it safe to get out of here?" Luke asked, accepting his own bag from Leia. "Where'd you leave your ship?"

"It will take time for the Empire to send new troopers," Anakin said, pulling Han's arm around his shoulders, and wincing. "The ship is close, I suspected there were mobility difficulties."

For another moment, he adjusted Han's arm around his neck, before carefully pulling him back to a wider portion of the cave, and lifting him fully.

Luke glanced back at Leia just in time for her to push past him, heading for the mouth of the cave, and ignoring their savior. He wanted to run after her, and reassure her, but there were no words. He knew some of what Vader had done to her, and there was no excuse, no forgiveness for what he'd done. She was right to be frightened, even if he wished she wasn't.

He caught up with his father, instead. Craning his neck, he got a look at Han's face, now visibly pale in the better light.

"You're sure he'll be alright?"

Anakin's presence swelled to encompass Luke, warm and safe. He knew his father was just wanting to keep him calm, and couldn't further back up his claims that Han would recover, but it almost didn't matter.

His father had sensed he was in danger, and come to his rescue. And despite that his friends had been an obstacle in his path to his son, he hadn't killed them.

"Do they know you're gone?" Luke asked, squinting as he stepped back into the sunlight for the first time in a week.

Anakin chuckled, gently nudging his shoulder to guide him towards the ship. "If they haven't noticed yet, I'm sure they will soon."

Luke smiled slightly, finally managing to make out Leia ahead of him, scrambling over a pile of debris, before vanishing over it.

"Thanks for coming to find us," he said, staying with his father as he headed slowly but more or less steadily for the same pile of rocks.

"I've left you behind for far too long," Anakin answered, freeing one of his arms to steady himself with. "You think that now I'm free of the Emperor, I'd let you die?"

Luke didn't answer, slipping past his father, and offering his hand to help him down the other side. The fact was that he was still trying to pin down who his father was. Sure, he was aligning more with the father Luke had dreamed of as a child, but he was still someone who had been Vader. He was still largely a mystery to Luke. He'd been confident that his father would have tried to protect him if there'd been an attack on the medbay, when they'd been recovering together, but he hadn't had enough faith to even consider that his father might come to save them here.

He stepped into the ship ahead of his father, without really looking at him, and followed as his father carefully laid Han out on a bed, strapping in the crash webbing. Anakin activated the little hovering meddroid, and watched for a few moments as it began its review of Han's state, before turning back to Luke.

"Were you or the princess injured?"

Luke shook his head, looking away from the droid as well. It was probably best to get his father away from him. Han might not have been so cruelly tortured, or forced to watch his planet destroyed, but being around Vader probably wasn't a relaxing situation for him, either.

"I could go for something to eat, though."

Anakin wasn't stupid, Luke knew. He'd know Luke was trying to get him away from Han, but he followed nonetheless. Luke led him to the small galley, and dug around for something edible, before perching on the countertop.

Uncertainly, Anakin poked at the container of food Luke had left open, and Luke watched as he delicately selected the softest item he could find.

"Your friends distrust me," Anakin said. Before Luke could try to think of a way to soften that blow, he shook his head. "I'm not angry, I deserve it. But you…" he paused, tossing the snack, and catching it again. "You ran to me."

Luke blushed, trying to hide behind his own ration bar. "I wasn't expecting a rescue."

"You're my son, I wasn't going to leave you."

"It's just weird, I guess," Luke admitted, focusing on picking a rogue bit of fruit out of his ration bar. "It's been a while since I had a parent."

"And you didn't expect to have one again, I suppose," Anakin said, and Luke tensed slightly as his father stepped nearer. He didn't want to think about it too hard right now. He was just glad to be back on an Alliance ship, and headed home.

"I guess not," he said slowly.

"I hope it's a change you can get used to," Anakin said, laying his hand on Luke's knee.

Luke looked up, startled. "Yeah, I… Yeah… it shouldn't be too hard to get used to."