Charting the Stars - Dinluke AU

Chapter One: One Day

Notes:
Find me over on Tumblr @mari-novak I just made a new account to interact more with readers if that's something people are interested in. I've seen other authors do it, so I figured why not? I will say that I live for criticism, so if you have any please don't hesitate to share. I always put this on my fics and no one ever does, which I suppose is a good sign, but for me, the reason I post is to get better. I don't want to keep writing sub-par stuff, which I feel like I do, so I really would appreciate some guidance if anyone has any. Personally, I think my ideas are good, but the writing itself can use a little work. I know I repeat certain words like "wonder" a lot, but it's hard to find synonyms that have the same tone. Any suggestions are welcome

Warnings for this chapter:
Past child abuse is mentioned, specifically depriving a child of food and water. It is not talked about in detail. Stockholm syndrome is sort of present as well. Luke does not love his father, but he is also all that he knows at this point. He will heal from it and move on later in the story though. There is also some gun violence but in the typical Star Wars fashion where everyone has at least six blasters for some reason.

---

The stars were beautiful here. They cut across the sky in a jagged arc, centered around some invisible line that made up the galaxy. Sometimes, Luke would just sit at his window for hours, watching as trillions of little lights appeared in the sky as the sun got lower and lower before disappearing over the horizon. He charted their movements and studied maps so that he would know what they were all called.

This useless knowledge would hopefully be useful one day. It would surly come, the day when it was finally safe to leave this dustball planet. For now, though, he had the stars and the knowledge that even if he had only ever seen one other person his whole life, each of those stars was a system that housed countless people. People he promised himself that he would meet.

One day.

-

Luke had taken to meditating. He didn't cast his mind out, since that was far too dangerous, but he did open it to other influences. He sat in the window, basking in the sunlight, and allowed himself to feel the quick heartbeat of one of the baby birds from the nest that rested in an alcove along the same cliff face as the window.

This routine was becoming more and more frequent the longer he got away with it and he was starting to develop a farmer's tan.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the rumbling of the earth. He unfolded his legs, left the ledge, and moved to stand in front of the door. After a few moments, it opened. "Hello, Father. I hope your travels were smooth?" He held out his hands as Darth Vader unclipped his cape and draped it across them.

"It was fine." Luke looked at the ground as the other man passed by him, dropping a bag near the bookshelf. "I brought you some more books. Some fruits too, something from Lothal. You will like them."

"Thank you, Father," he said as he carefully folded the article of clothing that he had been given. "I'm grateful that you thought of me."

Vader stood there, breathing loudly as Luke placed the cape onto the waist-high cabinet near the door. All the drawers on it were locked, and he had never seen inside them, but once when he was young, he had heard his father sifting through them and peeked through the gap in the door to his bedroom. Vader had noticed, of course, and intentionally closed the door on Luke's fingers, then left him locked in there the entire day. The morning after when he came out, hungry to the point of shaking and seeing spots, his father had reminded him about the importance of privacy.

"You're my son," he said now, as if that explained everything. Maybe it did.

Deciding to move on, he instead asked, "Forgive me, Father, but I wasn't expecting you for a few more cycles. Is everything well?"