Title:A Brief Paws in the Villainous Life of Darth Vader
Author: Deja Vu
Summary: I originally began writing this to meet a Father's Day challenge on the Luke/Vader list but I stopped and wrote "To Be Bright Or Not To Be Bright...Umm, What Was the Question?" instead. A little less than a year later, I came back to this. It still meets the challenge's requirements: contains a celebration of a Father's Day sort of holiday, Luke and Vader, something squishy, and the phrase: "I swear I will not kill anyone." Kitt began a wonderful fic somewhat like this one, and I waited to see if she was going to finish it, but I don't believe she ever did. Her fic could still work even with this fic in mind though, methinks. :D
Rating: No language, not really any violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, but this story is mine.
Darth Vader was feeling irritable.
It was Father's Day (well, it was officially called "Male Guardian Day"), and the Executor was running on a skeleton crew. Vader felt as if his ship were highly vulnerable to an attack from the Rebel Alliance, though those pathetic fools were probably celebrating even more raucously than most of the members of the Executor's crew.
As he sat down in his meditation chamber, he had to concede to himself that he was maybe, just possibly, a very very little bit envious of them all. They had families they could see almost whenever they wished, they had picture perfect lives with no serious quarrels between...oh, say, father and son.
Unlike Vader himself.
He suddenly felt a deep need to sigh, followed by the urge to wipe all such emotions from his mind.
Ever since the visit from that wretched cat a few days ago, emotions characteristic of that weak man he once was kept rearing back up. Though he tried to push back all such thoughts from his mind, he couldn't help but wish that he would be able to see his son, unrestricted by the man that he was supposed to be.
Colors suddenly passed before his eyes, as if he were moving through time and space, and he suddenly found himself back on a planet he had never wanted to see again.
Luke was still fine-tuning his plans for rescuing Han as he sat in Obi-Wan Kenobi's former home. He had since dismissed all memory of meeting Vader while in cat form, although the feeling that good was still harbored within his father still remained.
His father.
Luke sighed, looking down at his right hand. Most people received gifts from their fathers...But Luke Skywalker? All his father had done for him was dismember his right hand.
Other creatures would be celebrating the lives of their fathers today; he would be cursing that of his.
Well, not quite cursing, Luke had to concede. But he certainly wasn't celebrating the life of what was known to many as one of the evilest men in the galaxy.
As he tried to push all such negative thoughts out of his mind, a strange feeling tugged at him. Taking in a deep breath, wondering if it were perhaps proddings from the Force, Luke decided to step outside and take a walk, maybe even visit Mos Eisley again, despite the celebrations he knew would be going on and had no desire to participate in.
He was nearly at his destination when a strange sight made him stop short.
Staring disbelievingly at the sand, Vader suddenly realized he could breathe again. It was then that he took in several joyous lungfuls of air, and then that he noticed something was not quite right.
For one thing, he felt it was uncharacteristically hot, even for Tatooine. As he moved about, he realized that none of his limbs were prosthetic...and then his gaze went downwards.
He almost didn't notice that anything was amiss at first; everything was black, as it should be...
But he suddenly realized that not only was he all black, but he was also...furry.
His mouth gaped open in astonishment, and he began to wiggle his toes in disbelief.
That was all he had: toes.
No fingers...
He couldn't grip anything...Couldn't make a fist...
His tail began to droop in confusion, but when Vader noticed the action, he immediately went into an angry frenzy, chasing the furry black tail and growling in rage.
Once he realized his bizarre and irrational behavior, Darth Vader came to a dead halt...And realized something else.
He was staring at a pair of legs, covered by a brown robe.
Vader tilted his head back slowly, taking in the human in front of him...
A human with very familiar blue eyes.
Luke stared down at the large sable dog with surprise on his face. One didn't see too many dogs on Tatooine; with all their fur, it was usually too hot for them to survive long.
Perhaps just as strange was the fact that the dog had just been chasing his tail. He'd never known that dogs actually did that.
He contemplated leaving, but the bewildered expression on the canine's face made him stop short. How in the world did a dog look bewildered?
Still feeling as if the Force was tugging at him to remain near this dog, Luke squatted down next to it. He placed his hands into the thick fur around its neck, searching for a collar but finding none. The dog barked uneasily, backing away from him.
"It's all right," Luke said soothingly. "Where's your owner?"
The animal made a strange almost-whimper, then turned and took off.
Luke was about to just let it go, but the Force seemed to be nudging him to follow. "All right," he sighed quietly. "Wait!"
Dog.
Dog. Dog. Dog.
No way in the ten Idanian suns was Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, walking around in the body of a dog.
But there was no other way to explain the furry paws, the strange noises coming out of his mouth. Or the fact that his son was, for once in his life, actually taller than him.
As he looked up at the young almost-Jedi and realized he couldn't touch the Force, Darth Vader felt as if he were about to have a nervous breakdown...That is, if he weren't already.
His son placed his hands around his neck, pushing through Vader's hair (hair? he had hair?). What was he doing? Was he trying to choke Vader? Was he one of those psychotic people who liked to hurt animals for fun? Wait a minute, Darth Vader was not an animal!
Unsure of whether he was confirming or belaying that last bit, Vader barked at his son and started backing away from him.
"It's all right," Luke said, in a voice that was louder than Vader remembered. "Where's your owner?"
Owner? No krethin' way!
Vader made a noise he didn't know he was capable of making before literally turning tail and running.
He wove through the legs of streetgoers, which was, considering his normal height of two meters, a new sensation for him. Rather than seeing above everyone, he was seeing below everyone. And he didn't like it one bit.
Mos Eisley had changed since his last trip, and most of the names of places were different. While running on his strange canine feet, Vader at last recognized a place: The Elegant Nerf.
Without hesitation, he slipped into the place, figuring it was about as safe as he was going to get. The place was somewhat sleazy, but it was one of the few places that could even remotely pass for a restaurant on Tatooine. Unfortunately, he was a little overzealous in his slipping, and he slipped right into a semi-aquatic humanoid's table, knocking off something wet and slimy on top of his black furred head.
Vader in astonishment barked and began frantically shaking his head, but it turned out that the aquatic patron preferred his food live, and the squid-creature latched onto his head. He growled at it, still trying to fling it off. Did he have a blasted sign on his head which said "Resting area for live cantankerous organisms"?
As he panted and squinted in the desert suns, Luke was afraid he was going to lose the canine. But right before he gave up, he saw it duck into The Elegant Nerf, and a smile flashed across his face. Bingo.
He absent-mindedly fingered his blaster for a few moments as he gathered his breath. He hadn't completed his lightsaber yet, although it was on the agenda. There was just so much to do that...He wiped the thoughts from his mind. He had a more immediate problem to worry about.
Taking a deep breath, he rushed into the semi-restaurant. A wave of gasps passed through the patrons, and Luke realized belatedly that he was actually holding his blaster. A sheepish expression on his face, he said quickly, "I swear I will not kill anyone." He moved his eyes quickly around the restaurant and at the frightened people. "I just want to find, uh, my dog. Have you seen him?" Please be a him, he prayed to himself.
Several hands raised and pointed towards a spot in the corner, where a big black dog was currently wrestling with a squid not even a fourth of its size. The almost-Jedi made a face, then strode forth.
Die die die die! was what was going through Darth Vader's mind as he snapped frantically at the squishy thing on his head, his more doggish instincts taking over.
What?! He was no dog! He growled, then realized that such a primitive mode of expression wasn't helping to refute the thought, so he tried to bend down and use his clumsy forepaws to pull the creature off, but, as that wasn't helping either, he decided to go back to the undignified method of swinging his head back and forth like a deranged animal.
Get off!
As Luke stared at the frantic canine, he wondered how in space he was supposed to remedy this problem. He wouldn't touch that squid for all the money in his father's private accounts. Thinking of that and watching the crazed creature, Luke snorted to himself, "You're a regular Bark Vader, aren't you?" The thought made him chortle, but he stopped when the dog turned and gave him a decidedly murderous glare.
Involuntarily taking a step back, Luke looked at the now-busy dog and tried to think of a way to help him out of his situation. Seeing the many eyes of patrons upon him and the dog, he hesitated at using the Force, but he decided that he could make it look like the squid's own idea.
Moments later, the squid went flying off the dog's head, landing on the nearby table of an aquatic creature that already had a plateful of such squids. The patron made a grateful noise just as squishy in sound as the squid as in texture, and Luke grinned at the disheveled-looking dog.
As if trying to keep its dignity, the dog held its head up high and walked out of the restaurant proudly, Luke following close behind.
As soon as they were out of The Elegant Nerf, Vader turned and growled at his son. He could have handled that situation by himself! He didn't need some wannabe Jedi's help.
"Take it easy, boy," the young man said soothingly. Then a thought occurred to him. "You are a boy, aren't you?" He moved forward to check.
Remembering with sudden horror a similar incident days before involving himself and a tawny cat, Vader barked and jumped backwards. He now understood the indignity of being subjected to such a thing. He bared his teeth.
As he stared at the canine, Luke sighed. Why did he insist on staying with the creature? He should go back to Obi-Wan's home and work on his lightsaber. Ignoring the Force twinges, Luke stated flatly, "If you're going to be like this, I'm just going home. I have things to work on, such as my lightsaber, though you wouldn't know anything about that." He turned to leave but paused in surprise as he heard a whimper from the canine.
Lightsaber? What an opportunity!
Vader forgot his anger and whimpered, turning his eyes up towards Luke pleadingly. If he was going to be in the body of a dog, he might as well use its every aspect accordingly.
He noted with satisfaction his son's wavering. "Well, if you'd like to come, I guess you could..."
Vader barked and wagged his tail. Ugh. His tail...
"It's gonna be green," Luke explained to the patiently listening dog, feeling a little foolish.
Artoo was sitting in a corner humming to himself, but he beeped at Luke's statement. He preferred the color blue better, but, of course, he might be a little biased...
Luke sighed, a pained expression on his face. "I wish I didn't need a lightsaber, though. But I'm gonna need it to get Han out, and I'm probably going to have to see my father again, and I'm sure he just can't wait to slice off another one of my hands..." He stared down at his right hand, flexing it.
Vader couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. He was the reason for all his son's pain. He was the reason his son had been thrust into the life of a Jedi without hardly being given a choice.
Vader remembered his own time stuck on Tatooine, wishing for the ability to escape. When Qui-Gon had given him that opportunity, he had jumped at it. But now, if he could go back...
As he looked up at his son, he decided firmly: no. If given the opportunity to never have left Tatooine to become a Jedi, Vader would not take it. At least one good thing had come out of his doing so: his son.
For the first time in his life, he was truly unrestricted by others: Watto, the Jedi, Palpatine...Vader closed his eyes for a moment, then he moved close to his son and rested his head upon his knee. For what could be but a small amount of blissful time, he was not Anakin Skywalker the Jedi, nor Darth Vader the Sith Lord. He was in a much more unusual but less stressful position. He was Anakin the dog-father...
He snorted at the thought, tensing at the strangeness of it all, but he relaxed when he felt a hand reach down and lightly stroke his head. For a moment, he was reminded of his mother, and a tear—oh, he'd almost forgotten what they were like—threatened to escape from his eye.
His son spoke, and for a moment his canine heart stopped, "You're a great companion, but I wish my father were here...Not as Vader, but as Anakin Skywalker..." The boy's voice became tight, and as he brought his canine head up to look at his son, he saw tears shining in the Jedi's eyes. "I wish my father were here, so I could say to him, 'Happy Father's Day, dad.'" Luke closed his eyes, and two tears squeezed out.
Oh, son, if you only knew...
As Vader stared up at his son, he was glad that he had been given this time to see his son as he truly was when not trying to fight against attempts to turn him to the Dark Side. For the first time in a long time, Vader truly felt joy.
A strange feeling of haziness came upon him, and, startled, he removed his furry head from on top of his son's knee and backed up, and his vision became blurry.
A sudden weight seemed to come upon him, and he realized it was the weight of machinery. Darth Vader, human and Dark Lord of the Sith, was back.
Luke hastily wiped away his tears, then frowned as he realized the dog was gone.
But the Force didn't pull at him anymore, so he decided to let it go.
He stared sadly down at the tools in front of him. Oh, Father...I'll turn you back somehow...I promise...