Luke awoke to the sound of something clattering to the floor. He let out a low groan. All he wanted to do was sleep, but curiosity would not allow him to drift back to unconsciousness. Cracking open his bleary eyes, he looked around the room in confusion. It took a moment for his muddled mind to clear enough for him to remember why he was in his old room.

Taking the sleeve of his shirt he wiped at the bit of drool that clung to his chin. Yuck. He really must have slept hard. He was still tired honestly, but he knew there was work to be done. Perhaps he'd catch a few more hours of rest once they reached the Flacon.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Luke winced at the aching muscles. Both the fight at Jabba's Palace and the one with the bounty hunters had taken their toll. He supposed the long walk across the desert had not helped either.

Yawning, he went to stretch his arms above his head, but quickly regretted the movement when a sharp pain shot through his elbow. That's right, he had landed on it when he had fallen into the rancor pit. Lifting part of his tunic he spotted the blackish, purple bruise. Yeah, that looked about as nasty as it felt. It was then he realized that he was no longer wearing his robe, but sitting on top of it. He did not remember taking it off, but he also didn't remember falling asleep. Simply shrugging, Luke folded the robe and left it on the bed. He had no more use of it.

Luke noticed his feet had landed on the ground next to his toy ship. That must have woken him up. As bent down to reach for the T-16, but paused mid action. The sleeves of his shirt, which had one reached just above his knuckles, now touched his wrists.

Was he….growing? Weird.

Bending down to he picked it up and looked it over once again. The last time he held it he had been just a farm boy with no worries beyond getting his chores done. Now he fought for a greater cause. This ship was now just a relic from his old life, from his old self. Lifting it up, he placed the model on top of the folded robe. Walking towards the door he gave his room one final scan, before exiting.

Creeping out of his old bedroom, Luke quietly made his way down the stairs into the central hub. The area was still dark as the twin suns had yet to rise, but judging from the color of the sky they would be very soon. Passing his slumbering friends, Luke made his way to the stairs that led to the exit.

Ever since he found out that Han was residing on Tattoine, Luke knew he wanted to visit his aunt and uncle's resting place. The last time he has stood there had been when he had just finished burying them. Shock and numbness had overcome him at the time. Other than the wretched smell, he could barely remember much of that horrifying hour.

Luke's feet crunched down on coarse sand as he stepped out of the entrance. The stillness of morning currently blanketed the dunes filling him with a sense of calm. He scanned the horizon until his eyes settled on the set of graves and…his father's form. The Sith stood still, silhouetted by the rising suns.

Why was his father out here and, more importantly, why was he in front of Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen's graves?

He approached the Sith's back feeling slightly apprehensive. Quietly, he came to stand next to him. Giving him a side glance, Luke examined his father who continued to stare ahead at the four grave markers in front of him. His father's scarf dangled loosely around his neck revealing the lower half of his face. His arms were folded over his chest and there was a crease between his eyebrows. He was thinking hard about something, but what the boy did not know.

Luke shifted his focus to the graves in front of him and listened to the wind ruffle their clothes.

Neither father nor son said a word and Luke began to wonder if his father felt the same discomfort he did. He sincerely wished to have a few minutes alone with his aunt and uncle. How was he supposed to concentrate on them with Vader, and all the conflicting emotions he currently felt towards him, towering beside him?

Then, all of a sudden, his attention switched to the graves that were beside Uncle Owen's and Aunt Beru's. He had almost forgotten they were there at all because he had never known the people that had laid within them: Grandpa Cliegg and Grandma Shmi. What little Uncle Owen had told him about his father came flooding back. He recalled that Uncle Owen had told him he and Luke's father had been stepbrothers after his father had married Shmi. He remembered nothing of either. Shmi had been killed by Tusken Raiders years before he was born; Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru often used the incident as warning for Luke to not venture out before daylight. Cliegg had passed away shortly after Shmi.

So, if Shmi was Uncle Owen's stepmother, and his father was Uncle Owen's stepbrother, that meant….

"Grandma Shmi… was your mother?" Luke asked, looking up at his father.

"She…" Vader paused as if the words pained him,"-was."

Luke stared at the grave as if seeing it for the first time. It was such an obvious connection, yet he had never made it before now.

"What do you know of your grandmother?"

His father's words surprised him.

"Well…Aunt Beru said she was compassionate and Uncle Owen said she was a really good cook," he remained thoughtful for a moment, "They also told me she was captured and killed by a group of Tusken Raiders."

With that said, Luke thought certainly the conversation would go silent.

"My mother and I were slaves."

The statement was so unexpected and out of nowhere, there was no stopping Luke's jaw from dropping. Vader never openly shared information about his past so why now?

"When I was a small child, my mother and I were brought to Tatooine where we were owned by a Toydarian junk dealer."

His father, one of the most feared men in the galaxy, had once been a slave? Slavery had been outlawed in the galaxy for decades, but that did not stop certain scum on Tatooine from illegally owning them. He was certain Jabba the Hutt alone owned hundreds. Part of Luke wanted to press particular questions, but he knew moments such as these where his father was willing to open up to him about the past were rare, so he remained silent as Vader continued.

"All we had was each other. I was contented so long as she was with me. But before my tenth year, we were separated when a Jedi came through and saw my affinity with the Force. With his help, I was free to leave this wretched planet and become a Jedi Knight, but my former master was not willing to let my mother go."

Vader's eyes moved from the grave and to the horizon. Though his face seemed stoic, Luke could see even in his eyes and the tightness of his mouth the great pain these memories gave the Sith lord.

"If she was a slave," said Luke, "then how did she end up married to Grandpa Cliegg?"

"While I was being trained, she was bought by the Lars family. But to them she was no slave; she became Cliegg Lars's wife. I am afraid that I know little of their life together. By the time I returned for her when I was a young man, she had been taken by those vile Tusken Raiders. Cliegg and his brood were too weak to save her… and so was I." His eyes returned to the sand at his feet. "She died in my arms, brutalized and too weak to go on after a month of torment…"

The image of the charred bodies of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru resurfaced in Luke's mind. He remembered the nausea and rage he had felt when thinking of the Empire in that moment. That was how his father must have felt too when Grandma Shmi died, he realized.

"I lost many people during those days," said Vader. "My mother, many of my comrades…" Luke was certain there were unnamed others in there, but Vader was still reluctant to share them. "For all the so-called justice and wisdom of the Jedi code, it could not save everyone or stop that wretched war. In the end, I did what I had to do in order to save more lives from needless destruction."

"You turned to the dark side of the force," the words felt bitter on his tongue, "but aren't people still dying? Has harnessing that power really done any good?"

His father went to respond, but his body was suddenly wracked by coughing. One of Vader's hands gripped his stomach as the violent fit continued. Luke stood next to him unsure what to do; he began to fear the man would not be able to take in enough air.

At last the coughing seemed to subside.

"A-are you okay?"

Vader nodded, standing up straighter as his breathing steadied, "Enough talk of that for now. Luke there is something I must tell you."

"Yes?"

"The way I have treated you…it…was not right," Vader cleared his throat, eyes connecting with Luke's, "I want you to know, from this moment on, there will be no more lies between us. If we are to work together to usurp Palpatine, we must be open with each other."

Luke turned away to look back at the twin suns which were now high into the sky. This entire conversation had been his father's way of apologizing. A piece of Luke said it all was another lie spun to further deceive him, but the force whispered the sincerity of the words. But could he forgive his father after his father lied to him and tried to force him to go with him against his will?

He let out a sigh. The answer was yes. Biggs always had told him that he was no good holding grudges and was too quick to forgive others. It was a trait that his uncle, and even Han, had warned him could get him into trouble. Maybe they were right, but just because he forgave his father did not mean he would blindly follow him. He would remain cautious, but hopeful.

Optimistic eyes returned to his father, "So we're honest from now on?"

"Yes."

With a small smile, Luke looked back at the house, sensing movement on the inside, "We should head back. I think the others are awake."

"You go on ahead. I will follow in a moment."

Simply nodding, Luke started back toward the farm, thoughts drifting to what they would do next.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Vader inhaled deeply, looking at his mother's grave. Her words from decades ago resurfaced.

You can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting.

Even now those words were hard to swallow.

"I'm sorry, mother."

AN: Hey, long time no see. It's been MONTHS since my last update. Sorry for such a long wait, but the good news is it's summer for me and I am obsessing over Star Wars again. That means you can expect more updates soon! Lots of cool stuff is coming up! As always, let me know what you think! :)