Darth Vader Goes to Therapy

The Plan

The flight was mostly silent. Vader tried not to look too hard at the passing scenery, tried to avoid remembering unpleasant memories. But, soon enough, Luke began to occasionally point things out, memories from his own childhood that, while similar to his own, were still very different.

"I accidentally broke Fixer's arm down on those rocks."

Vader had no idea who Fixer was, but he glanced down where Luke had pointed. Like all of the other rocks on Tatooine, they were unremarkable. If he'd broken someone's arm while living on Tatooine, he would have been in massive trouble. The punishment would have been bad had it been another slave because it would have caused someone's production value to plummet, but it would have been far worse had it been a free person's.

"I cannot imagine you doing that." He finally said, turning away.

"We were kids and bored. The worst possible combination."

"There are worse."

Luke pursed his lips, but didn't pry. Good. Vader was not in the mood. Tonight, he wanted to learn more about his son, not reminisce about his own dark past. They did enough of that already.

Later, Luke pointed out, "There's Beggar's Canyon. I used to race and shoot womp rats in my T-16 there. Once I crashed it. I got in some major trouble for that."

He tried to imagine what that would be like to have his son come home after crashing his ship. It was not a pleasant thought, and for the first time, he understood exactly how his mother felt every time he crashed his pod. "I can see why."

As though sensing his thoughts, Luke threw him a look. "I've seen how you fly. You can't tell me you've never crashed."

Vader decided to stay silent on that point. If his mother were alive, he'd apologize for making her worry so much. Technically, he had scared Kenobi witless during their flights, but he wasn't about to apologize for that.

"Your flight skills are much improved." He said instead, "Perhaps once this is all over, we could go flying together."

That definitely got a positive response from his son, though he sounded like he was trying to hide his eagerness as he said, "Oh, that could be fun."

Behind the mask, Vader gave a rare smile. Yes, Luke had his mother's demeanor, but in this he was very much his son.

As the Twin Suns were setting, the farmstead appeared on the horizon, and he sensed a wave of emotion from Luke. Not negative, like his own, but also not the same level of relief that he'd sensed from him when he'd arrived back on the Executor. Vader couldn't help but be somewhat pleased by that, but...

"Do you miss it?" He was almost afraid of his answer.

Luke shrugged, starting the landing sequence. "I miss certain people, but no, I don't miss living here."

Something eased in Vader's chest. "You were meant for more."

He expected Luke to deny or avoid the subject like usual, but this time Luke surprised him. "Yes. I am." Vader looked at him in question, and Luke elaborated. "It may not be exactly what you were thinking for me, and I'm not saying that won't be in my future in some capacity, minus the whole Sith thing because that definitely won't be... but the last few months, and especially the last few hours, have made me realize just how desperately the galaxy needs good mental health programs. I know being your son means certain responsibilities, but I realized today that it also carries additional resources to get things done. I'd like to use that privilege to help."

It was the complete opposite of everything he'd planned for his son, and yet he himself could only agree. If he'd had better access to mental health, how much pain could have been avoided?