Missing and Presumed Dead

To Lose a Daughter

Luke sat on the couch, legs propped up on the cushions. Leia sat in a chair nearby, as regal as any princess about to listen to an important briefing. Compared to her, Luke felt oddly informal, like he was seriously under prepared or even dressed for hearing something as important as information about his mother. But it was a miracle he'd gotten his overprotective father to let him stay on the couch, and he doubted he'd let him get up again.

Vader stared out the viewport, hands behind his back. He was reminded of what he'd once told him, that when he was stressed, he enjoyed staring out at the stars on the bridge. This wasn't the bridge, but Luke could feel him trying to maintain control over his emotions anyway.

This would not be an easy conversation for his father. Considering their past experiences, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like everything he'd hear, too.

"What do you want to know?" Vader finally asked, his tone just barely neutral.

He and Leia glanced at one another. I thought he would just tell us, Leia said down their bond, slightly irritated. They had, after all, interrupted her time with Han for this.

Luke decided to take the initiative. "How did you meet?" It seemed like a safe question to start with.

At least, until he felt the air plunge.

Maybe not.

It was a while before Vader spoke, and when he did, it came out almost strangled. Luke didn't miss his clenched fists. "We met on Tatooine. She was posing as a handmaiden of the queen. I had no idea who she was, I just..." he paused, and was silent for so long, Luke and Leia glanced at each other in concern. "I thought she was an angel."

Luke swallowed, processing that intensely personal detail.

"I won repair parts for her ship in a podrace, as well as...other things."

He knew instantly what he referred to, though it was hard to picture Vader as being associated with it. "The Boonta Eve Classic?"

Vader's shoulders tensed and he turned slightly. "...I am not surprised you know it."

"Well...podracing may be banned, but you know the Hutts ignore the ban anyway. Not that I've ever been."

"Good." Vader turned back to the stars, and Luke frowned at his back. As much as he didn't care for the Hutts, he had to admit he'd always wanted to go to a race. He wasn't allowed for obvious reasons, and now with Jabba dead...

"When the Jedi took me from Tatooine, she was the only person who bothered to stop and make sure I was okay. I was alone on an unfamiliar ship, going to a planet I'd never seen without anyone I knew, and even though she was a queen with other important duties, she made sure I was cared for." He paused, tilting his head. "She was as kind as she was beautiful. And she served her entire life in the service of others."

"I filled Luke in on those details." Leia was frowning, staring at Vader like she'd never seen him before. "I didn't realize you valued those qualities."

"I don't," Vader replied firmly. "But at one point Anakin Skywalker did."

Luke made a face at the way Vader phrased that, but for now...he'd drop it. He was afraid that if he changed the subject, it would take forever to get his father back in the mood to tell him about her. "How long did you, uh, date?"

Asking Darth Vader about his dating life was definitely one of the strangest sensations he'd had in a while, but he was beginning to get used to it. Everything was weird between them.

"I was a Jedi. Dating or attachments of any sort were forbidden. There was not a long courting period as a result."

Luke couldn't read the emotions coming from his father clearly; most were blocked, but some still bled through. Bitterness. Amusement.