The Gift of the Jedi

A Luke/Vader Star Wars Fan Fiction

Summery: Sixteen years after Padme's death, Vader finds his son… only he's a merperson. But turning Luke back into a human is only the beginning… along for the ride are all your favorite characters, including Han Solo, Princess Leia and Chewie.

Author Note: This story was once called A Mer at Heart, a Hero by Fate. I never liked that title, so I changed it to The Gift of the Jedi. I think it's a much better title.

Chapter One: A Meeting With Fate

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, walked along the ocean shore on the planet, Roithan. He had had a rough day, and it was nice to finally have some time to stare at the sea and relax.

Vader had always liked this planet. More than half of it was covered by an ocean, and the land part of the planet only had one, small town simply called, Capital. But Vader hardly ever went into the town. He had a small palace retreat which could be seen from here on the beach. His master had allowed Vader to come here for a month and take a vacation that he desperately needed.

Though Vader was on the beach here on Roithan, his mind was parsecs away. As usual, in quiet moments such as this, Vader was thinking of Padme. It had been sixteen years ago that she'd died. That she'd been killed… by him. If it hadn't been for him, she'd still be alive… and so would their child.

Their child would just be turning sixteen, and entering its most nerve racking teenage years. Would it have been a boy or a girl? Would it look like him, or his beloved Padme? So many questions! Questions that he knew would never be answered. Because of him.

Suddenly, Vader was thrown out of his musings by the sound of the rapid splashing of waves and… screaming.

Vader enhanced his sight with the Force… and he saw the fins of a fully grown Opee Sea Killer. What was it doing so near the surface? Then Vader saw the last thing he thought he'd ever see. It was a mermaid! No wait… that was merman that he saw. And it was being chased by the Opee Sea Killer!

Vader couldn't understand the waves of panic that he suddenly felt. All he knew was that he had to help the merperson. Now! He reached out with the Force and touched the Sea Killer's mind. The Opee Sea Killers were vicious, but stupid animals, and it was easy to plant the suggestion in its head for it to go some place else.

Once the Sea Killer was far out of sight, Vader directed his attention to the merperson who was now floating unconscious on top of the water. He reached out with the Force once more, and pulled the body toward him.

Now at such close proximity, he could tell that this merperson was still just a boy, barely seventeen at the oldest. Probably closer to fifteen. The merboy had tousled blond hair, and a small frame. The upper part of his body was one of a normal human, but the lower part, instead of legs, he had one, long fin that was dark green in color.

The most remarkable thing was that he was Force sensitive. Very Force sensitive. Interesting. But the most interesting thing was that the boy looked a lot like the way he'd looked at that age.

Stars! He was letting his imagination run away with him! This was a merperson that he was talking about!

A groan directed his attention back to the boy. He was waking up. The boy slowly opened his eyes.

His extraordinary blue eyes.

The boy tried to focus… and when he did, he drew in a sharp breath, his face one of horror. In one swift, deft motion, the child tried to dive back into the ocean which was lapping at Vader's cloak.

For some reason, unexplainable to him, Vader just couldn't bare to let the boy escape without talking to him. He grabbed the child's upper body and dragged him toward the rocks up the beach. There, he saw a large, circular rock that he pushed the boy against. Vader was careful to be gentle however.

"Let me go!" the boy pleaded. He looked as if he was ready to burst into tears, and, for a moment, Vader felt guilty for not letting him go. But he couldn't. Not yet. "Please let me go!"

Despite the boy's pleas, Vader grabbed his arms and held him in place. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you."

"Just let me go," the boy said, this time almost whispering.

"Not yet." Vader paused. "Why are you frightened, child?"

The boy stared at him for a moment before answering. "We… we aren't supposed to come anywhere near the land."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Land dwellers… you and the others... kill us. Don't you?"

Vader almost laughed. "I can assure you that I don't believe anyone even knows about your existence. And I don't think they would kill you anyway. We are not half as bad as you think."

There was silence for a moment while the boy digested this information. "Then... you'll let me go?"

"Maybe."

The boy looked up again with fear in his eyes. "Please let me go! I want to go home! My friends will be worried about me!"

"Your friends? What about your family?"

"I don't have a family," the child whispered regretfully.

"Really? What's your name?"

Nothing could have prepared Vader for the next words that he heard from the boy.

"I'm Luke. Luke Skywalker."

Vader almost lost his grip on the boy when he heard this. Skywalker? Luke Skywalker? By the Force, this child, this merchild was his son! How in the name of the Sith had his son ended up a merperson? A species that feared all humans and land dwelling aliens. What would he do with such a child? This was so CONFUSING!

Vader looked by at the boy. His boy. "Well, Luke, what do you know of your parents?"

"I… I only know their names: Anakin and Padme Skywalker. And even then, I'm not sure. I only heard these names in my dreams. No one ever actually told me. No one knows."

Vader resolved to tell his son now about their relationship with each other. "That's not entirely true."

Luke looked up curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I know about your parents."

"You do?" Luke asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Luke… I'm your father."

This time, it was the boy's turn to stare disbelievingly. His eyes widened in shock and he tried desperately to make his mind work.

"That's impossible! You can't be my father! You're a human!"

"As you should be too." Luke shook his head, unbelievingly. "Yes, my son, I'm a human and your mother was too. I'll still wondering how you ended up a merperson."

"But... how in currents of the Ocean of Slimia could you be my father? How could you even be sure?"

Vader relaxed his grip on his son's arms. "My last name used to be Skywalker. I changed it and became Darth Vader…"

Luke gasped. "You're Darth Vader?"

"Oh, even in the depths of the ocean you know of me?"

"Yes! You are an evil demon who kills just to entertain yourself!"

Vader sighed. Apparently the merpeople had a habit of exaggerating their stories of the people who lived out of the water. "Those are exaggerated stories full of half truths."

"You aren't a demon?"

"Of course not! If I were a demon, do you think that your mother would have ever married me?"

"I… I guess not." Luke paused. "Are you really my father?"

"Yes, son. And I would like for you to be able to live with me."

"Excuse me? You're a human, and I'm a merperson. I can't stay for more than one day out of the water if I want to stay alive."

Vader nodded disappointedly. "I understand. Well… if you were a human, would you want to live with me?"

Luke thought for a moment. It was true that he'd always wanted a family. Most of all, a father. But he'd never contemplated that fact that his parents might have been humans, and his father would be Darth Vader. But… this was his father. He'd always wanted one. Even now, he could feel the pull that bonded him with this man.

"Yes, I'd want to live with you."

Vader smiled. His son wanted to be with him! He may have a chance at raising his child yet! All he had to do was contact a professional medic and have him see what was wrong, and how his son had ended up as a merchild, and have him correct that wrong. No problem.

"What would you say if I told you that you may have a chance at living with me? What if I told you that I could have you transformed into a human?"

Luke looked up in surprise. "Is that possible?"

"Yes. I know of a medic who lives on Corescaunt who find out why you are a merperson. If we can only find out what's wrong, it would all be downhill from there. Would you like to do that?"

Luke smiled. His son had a charming smile. "Sure!"

"Alright then. I'll contact the medic. He should be here in a few days. In the meantime…"

"In the meantime, I will go back home and wait. Please?"

Vader thought for a moment before finally giving in. "Alright."

Vader lifted his son in his strong arms, took him down to the water's edge, and put him down in the water.

Luke swam for about two meters before stopping and looking back at Vader.

"How will you know when to come back?" Vader asked.

"Just call. The water carries sound."

"Alright. I'll be calling for you."

"I'll be listening."

With that, Luke turned around to face the ocean, dove into the blue depths, and swam to his home. Leaving Vader alone, standing on the shore, looking into the sunset.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

To Be Continued…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Author Note: Now this is interesting, isn't it? Please review and tell me if you think this is cool… or if it isn't. Should I continue it? Should I delete it? Your reviews will decide the answer…