Divided Loyalties

VI

Six days later, Luke and Leia were released from the medical centre, with the doctor's relief (he wasn't so glad to meet Vader every day).

During that long period, the Dark Lord had divided his time between the Empire and his son and daughter, passing by their room even three times a day to check upon they health. He would have felt even worse if anything bad had happened to them on his ship.

When the two were allowed to go, Vader was just happy to have his children with him, but they weren't as cheerful.

Leia hadn't talked to her father since the night of the revelation, while Luke had used only a few monosyllables to answer any question. And this time was like that as well.

The whole walk to Vader's quarters was filled by Luke and Leia's silence as they asked themselves what they were going to do.

Their father couldn't kill them (and he didn't want to), so he would certainly try to seduce them with the Dark Side.
Luke was extremely worried for his sister. Since she hadn't been trained in the ways of the Force, she could be easily corrupted with a mental attack.

For sure Leia did feel attacked, just like Luke, when Vader opened the door of his rooms, revealing a completely black space with monumental furniture and lugubrious war trophies. Among these last ones, there was Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber.

The air was freezing cold, especially with those light hospital robes, and had an unpleasant smell of disinfectant.

"These are my quarters" Vader explained quickly and coldly as he pushed his two children in the wide dark space that, clearly, wasn't drawing their interest.

Luke moved a first step in the black chamber, unsure about what to do.

"Do we have to stay here?" he asked timidly, the first complete sentence he had spoken in a week.

Vader tilted his head down to look at his son and gently nudged him into the room, hoping that wouldn't hurt the boy's damaged back.

"I have already prepared a place for you in the chamber I used as a storage" he said, as if that could make the two happy.

Leia stayed on the door, as still as a stone. She wasn't going to sleep in the same quarters where Darth Vader was! That was simply besides the point! She stiffened, but her father understood her intentions and carried her on his shoulders. She was so lightweight, and in her weak, painful condition she certainly couldn't resist.

Vader marched into the apartments holding Leia, followed by a visibly anxious Luke, and opened a black metal door which brought to a small, dark room. He turned the lights on, revealing two beds and a metal closet.

"You two will stay here" he explained as he put Leia down on one of the beds. He immediately unclasped the two siblings' binders with the Force and made them disappear under his cloak.

"You can do whatever you want, but do not move from here. And obey my commands" he added then. Without saying another word he shut the door behind himself as he left the room, his steps echoing everywhere.

Luke waited for him to go before sitting beside Leia, his new metal hand protectively squeezing her shoulder.
"Did he hurt you?" he asked thoughtfully.

Leia didn't answer and seized her knees with her hands as if she was trying to strengthen herself.

"I want to go back to the Alliance" she murmured, even if she knew that such a sentence could sound childish.

Luke sighed and nodded his head.
"I want to as well" he said. "But look at the bright side: we aren't in the cell anymore".

"This is just a different prison, Luke! How will all this end? We'll be here for all our lives, if Vader doesn't feel done with us!". The princess was furious, she would gladly strangle her own father with her bare hands.

"I mean the prison where they tortured us" Luke replied, keeping his voice low, not wanting to make Leia angrier. Honestly, though, something was moving inside him. He had sensed something different, something luminous in Vader those days.

Strangely, the girl seemed to calm down and hugged her knees to her chest, letting out a mute sob.

"Please, don't talk about it again" she implored.

"Alright, I'm sorry" Luke said as he pulled her closer to him. He hated seeing Leia in such a pain, that made him feel helpless. She was so strong, so combative, and now she was just a weeping girl looking for shelter. This wasn't Leia Organa of Alderaan, the princess who had been adamantly loyal to the Alliance even on the Death Star, alone with terrible people.

Luke had to do something for her.

With a sigh, he reluctantly left Leia alone and went to find Vader.

The Sith Lord was still in his private room, looking at the holo of a beautiful woman. As soon as he felt Luke's presence, he put the projector in a drawer, which was immediately closed.

"What do you want?" he asked, his words not even sounding like a question.

"I want you to do what you must do with your daughter!" the boy snapped with such a determination that Vader didn't say a word for some endless seconds.

The Sith Lord faced him, hands on his hips. A part of him just wanted to kill that foolish boy, but he was curious too.

"And what should I do?" he asked.

Luke raised his chin and squared his shoulders; no one was going to stop him now.

"Let her live, she's tormented because of you" he said passionately. "You want to be forgiven, it can be seen from a parsec far away! I can see that Anakin is still somewhere behind that stupid mask! But no, you don't even try to be forgiven! Feeling guilty is useless if you don't do something. Wake up!".

Luke believed firmly in that, he had felt Anakin since the night when he had talked to Leia: he wanted to rip off that mask, to free his father.

But Vader wasn't ready, he was still too attached to the Dark Side and to the Emperor. He reacted violently to his son's exhortation, and a Force push slipped beyond his control.

Before he could register it, Luke found himself crashing on a metal closet - a hard one - full of things that fell upon him. He didn't manage to keep a groan when he fell on that side he had not to touch.

Then Vader understood what he had done; he knelt beside his son and picked up all the objects which had fallen on his body. He couldn't afford to hurt again him or his sister.

"I am sorry" the Sith apologized. "I lost my control. I ask you to forgive me for this, and not to say that name if you want to avoid unpleasant experiences".

Luke propped himself up with his elbow and nodded his head. Clearly he had made the first step too early, and Vader had punished him. He couldn't risk again, or his father would have killed him before he could save his soul.

Without looking at Vader, the boy stood up and slowly made his way towards the door of his room.

He wasn't expecting the metallic embrace that caught him from behind, an embrace that was a desperate call for help.