I turned to the door in surprise when I heard the knock. Cautiously, I approached the door, worrying about any traps it might have hidden. Reaching out in the Force, I sense no ill intentions, instead I felt…? No, it couldn't be. I hadn't heard from Luke in the twelve years since he had been captured. But still, I had never sensed another presence quite as… innocent.

I keyed the door open, and there stood a young rebel in a fighter pilot's outfit. I felt a disappointment deep in my heart, and tried to push it away.

But the young man's face had lit up at the sight of me, blue eyes shining. "Mister?" he asked.

I had been waiting to hear that word again for twelve years. And at last it was spoken to me. I felt everything that had transpired since Luke's capture lift off my shoulders. He was here, alive and well, safe back in my home.

"Luke?" I asked, afraid to believe it.

The boy darted into my arms, wrapping himself around me. I put my arms around him in return, cradling him as carefully as I could. He had grown considerably since I had last seen him, but he was still small for his age. His hair still had its general disregard for gravity. And his emotions were just as raw and powerful as they had been all those years ago.

"Luke? What happened? Where did they take you?" I asked him.

He didn't answer. Unless you were willing to consider him wedging himself even more closely under my arm to be answering.

I sighed, continuing to hold him. He was crying, so I lifted him off the floor, cradling him the way I had back when we had first known one another. I carried him inside, placing his shaking body on a sofa and sitting down opposite him, my hand on his.

"Luke?"

He pulled himself back into my arms and continued crying. I sat and rubbed his back before forcing him to release me and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"Shh, Luke. It's going to be okay." I promised.

He sniffled, and nodded, pulling himself together.

"That's right. Deep breaths."

He took a shuddering breath.

"W-would you take off your mask, please?"

I did as I had been asked, and he looked at my face again.

"I n-never thought I'd see you again." He said shakily.

"I thought they'd killed you, child."

"Oh, Mister. I can't believe all this happened." Luke sighed, and I pulled him close so he could rest his head on my shoulder. In my arms, he curled up, looking down at his knees.

"Why are you wearing a rebel uniform?"

"They saved me. Princess Leia, remember her? When they captured one of the Imperial ships, I was serving aboard as a slave. She forced my master to free me and took me home with her."

"Did she seem to remember your previous meeting?"

"No, you wiped her memories right."

"Has she been good to you?"

"Yeah. Life with the rebels is pretty good. We stay mostly with a guy named Han."

"And yet you've decided to return to me?"

Luke squirmed, "I'm not sure. I owe everything to the rebels, but I also owe everything to you. I'm not sure what to do now. They said you're evil, but you said that they're evil. I don't understand it, Mister. You're all good people. Both of you have saved me from slavery now. Why do you hate each other?"

"In order to have good guys, there must be bad guys. Everyone wants to be a good guy, and that means that they chose bad guys. But I don't think anyone really believes that they are evil. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'd just like there to be an easy answer here."

"Wouldn't we all?"

"What do you think I should do? I want to stay with you, of course, but I really don't want to leave Leia and Han."

"It's your choice, Luke. I would like you to stay with me, but I can understand if you want to go back to your friends. I've told you, anyone who truly loves you isn't going to put a limit on the love you can give and receive."

Luke relapsed into tears, and I held him close, comforting him in every way I could think of.

"What is it, Luke? Is it just the idea of trying to decide?"

"It's that too," Luke sobbed, "But mostly I'd just forgotten how I felt when I was with you."

I rocked him gently.

"Luke, look at me."

He tilted his head back, gazing into my face. "Yes?"

"How did you get here?"

"Leia flew me."

"Does she know why?"

"I said it would be a good opportunity for her to find some information, and that I could distract you."

I sighed.

"Should I not have done that?"

"It's all right, Luke. It's well worth it to see you again."

"I shouldn't have, should I?" Luke started to cry again, pressing himself hard against my armour.

"Shh, shh. It's all right. You're going to be okay. Take a deep breath."

He took a long, hiccup-y breath.

"And now another one."

He did as he was told, finally sniffling himself calm again.

"Luke?" I turned and saw the princess staring at us.

I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was cradling a young man against my chest as though he were a toddler. He looked up at his friend and stood.

"Hi, Leia."

"You." The young woman's voice had gone cold, matching her glare, as she gazed on her friend. "I freed you. I took you in. I gave you food, shelter, medical attention, I was your friend. And all along, you've been working for him."

"Leia, no, it's not like that." He started to move towards her. She moved forward and slapped him, before turning tail and running.

Luke raced after her, calling her name. I replaced my helmet and followed hesitantly, not wanting to cause any more damage than I already had. But despite how slowly I was moving, I still heard the shout of hatred Leia left him with.

"I thought we were supposed to care about each other!" Then engines roared in the distance. I hurried up. When I reached the landing pad, Luke sat there, staring up at the sky, tears streaming down his face.

"Luke?"

The boy was on his feet in a moment, glaring at me.

"You ruined it!" He shouted. "You ruined everything! I had a home again for the first time in years, and you just destroyed it!"

"Luke…"

"She's never going to forgive me for this; you understand that, don't you? She could never forgive me!" he held up his fists and ran at me, as though he planned to beat me up.

When he came near enough, I caught him, pulling him against myself and rocking him as his anger gave way to hurt, and he sobbed into my armour.

I didn't speak, just continued cradling him as I led him up the stairs to his old room. It had never felt right to me to change anything about it, as I had hoped all along he would return. Carefully, I laid him out on his bed, pulling the dusty blankets up around him. He gave an almighty sneeze and pulled himself from the covers.

"Can't I stay with you tonight?"

I considered trying to explain the social implications of what he was asking, but the crumpled look on his young face was enough to change my mind.

I helped him to his feet again, leading him down the hall to my own quarters and resting him on my bed. He sniffled.

"I'm going to go get on a tunic, alright? You lie down and try to go to sleep, all right?"

Luke nodded, and I turned to leave the room. But suddenly, he interjected. "Wait, can I have your cape, please?"

"Luke, there are more than enough blankets there for you."

"Please, all this time, it's been one of the things I've missed the most. The capes you used to give me."

I moved back over to him and carefully tucked my cape around his small body. As I finally moved to attach the clasp around his neck, something I had been afraid would choke him when he was younger, I noticed a chain around his neck.

"What's this?"

Luke opened his eyes again and looked down at the chain. A couple of tears trickled down his cheek. "Leia got it back for me."

I knelt down to look him in the face, "What do you mean she got it back?"

"It's the necklace the slaver took. My locket."

"May I look inside?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Sure. They're dead now, and Leia doesn't care about me, so I don't care what you do with it." He looped it over his head and passed it to me.

I took his hand, "Luke, Leia does care about you. It's the only explanation for how she reacted. She cares about you."

Luke sniffled, "Then why did she slap me? Why didn't she give me a chance to explain?"

"She was afraid you wouldn't be able to explain. She will feel guilty about what she did, but she will know that there is a chance that you didn't betray her. If you choose not to tell me where her base is, then she will know that you care about her as well."

Luke nodded and snuffed noncommittally.

Deciding it was pointless to continue to try to convince him, I opened the locket. Padme and I stared back.