Fairness. Darth Vader was anything but fair, because life had never been fair to him. Or anyone else, for that matter. It seemed everyone was miserable on some level because of the hand life dealt them, and sometimes he wondered what the point of it all was. And if there was no point to life, then perhaps he was giving people a mercy when he ended their pathetic lives.
At least, that's what he told himself.
Still. When he thought about ignoring the boy's request, his mind brought up the memory of the boy and his droid. He had no idea why. It wasn't like he hadn't seen plenty of mechanics work on droids before. But there was something about the boy...the way he looked when he did it. It...stirred something, something he'd wanted to forget about but couldn't...
There was something about him--something he'd failed to see before in his rush to attempt to control the therapy situation. Was it his abnormally calm demeanor? The way he refused to flinch or outwardly react when he was threatened?
Well. That was strange enough, but he doubted that was the reason why he was bothered so much.
After more hours of contemplation than Vader would care to admit, the answer came to him in the middle of the night cycle.
It was the boy's appearance.
The color of his hair. Vader knew it to be blonde just like billions of other people in the galaxy, but it was the way it fell across his forehead, the way it curled just barely at the ends.
His eyes. Again, Vader couldn't actually see the color, but the boy's military profile said they were blue. But it was the shape of them that struck him as familiar, especially when his brow furrowed over them.
The angles of his face. The cleft in his chin. The shape of his nose...the damn innocent smile.
And the way he'd been focusing on that droid, the way his hands moved that spoke of years of experience, perhaps even natural talent...
And yet knowing it was the boy's appearance that was bothering him so much didn't explain why.
It made him curious enough to pull out the boy's military profile (where he confirmed the color of his eyes) and look into it.
And for whatever reason, the boy's name caught his attention.
Luke Lars.
It wasn't unfamiliar, though he didn't care to bother remembering it. And yet now...
Lars.
Why was that name familiar?
It was on the very edge of his mind, as if he were close to the answer but something were blocking it. He attempted to meditate past whatever block was there, but to no avail.
He couldn't find the answer himself.
But he knew how to get the answer.
________________________________________________
Luke frowned at the completed droid. C-Y-L-2 was the manufactured name. It was humanoid, and he'd programmed everything correctly, and yet when he turned it on, there was something...off about the personality. At least, off for a droid that was meant to be a therapist receptionist, because when it looked at the schedule for the upcoming day, it shook its head, made a concerned noise, and said, "Darth Vader is our first appointment today? Really? Are you sure? I could pretend we closed for the day if that would make him go away."
Luke honestly wasn't sure if he'd messed up on the personality, or if accessing the holonet information on Darth Vader just scared the droid anyway. He pulled up his schematics, looking for where he might have gone wrong as he answered. "No, Lord Vader is our primary patient. You should have access to the court order in your files."
"I do, but I believe you should attempt to convince the court to change their minds or we will both be dead by the end of this."
Luke...couldn't completely disagree. "I already tried to switch assignments. It's not going to happen, Cyl."
Cyl made another noise that sounded like a humph before asking, "Are all of our other patients murderers too? Should I keep a weapon in case one of them tries to kill us?"
Everything looked correct...perhaps it was displeasure at finding out Darth Vader was a patient that was making the droid react the way it did. Perhaps he should put up a sign that read "DROID IN TRAINING, please excuse and report any odd behaviors."
"No, as far as I know they're no more killers than most soldiers." And even then, most of his clientele were in positions where it was technically possible that they'd only been trained to kill, and hadn't yet had the opportunity. "Besides, I'm a therapist. How would it look if my receptionist had a gun at the front desk?"
Cyl considered the question, likely searching the protocols he'd installed for an appropriate answer. "I suppose that would not do. But don't blame me if you get chopped into little pieces, Mr. Lars."
Luke almost corrected the droid...it was his, after all. If anyone would call him Luke Skywalker on this ship, it would be his own droid. But before he could, the doors swished open and in walked Darth Vader.
"Right on time." Cyl said, wheeling over to Darth Vader with a datapad. "You are even five minutes early. Congratulations."
Lord Vader stared at the droid, then looked to him. "You finished."
"Yeah...not sure how I feel about its personality, though."
"My personality is perfect." Cyl objected, then handed Vader the datapad. "Sign in, please."
"I do not need to sign in. You are well aware of who I am."
"Yes, but it is protocol--"
"It's fine, Cyl." Luke interrupted. "Lord Vader can be the exception to the rule."
"Rule breaking already." Cyl shook its head, but nonetheless took the datapad back and rolled back to the reception desk. "Might as well cancel all of your appointments today and go on holiday."
"That won't be necessary." Luke frowned, but shook his head. Perhaps he'd need to attempt to redo the personality circuits from scratch. "Anyway. Come in. Sorry for the awkward greeting."
"I am not awkward." Cyl muttered, and this time both Luke and Lord Vader ignored it as they headed into the office.
The moment the doors were closed, Vader announced, "Surprisingly, I am quite eager to speak with you, Mr. Lars."
Luke paused on his way to his desk. "That is a surprise." He said, somewhat suspiciously, "As is you calling me by my name."
My legal name for now, he added in his head. He'd planned to submit the name change application tonight when he'd finished for the day, but it had taken him weeks to get Vader to call him by his name, he couldn't imagine how long it would take him to get him to change it again. Maybe he'd hold off.
"I have my reasons." Was Vader's cryptic answer.
Well. He could revisit that in a moment. He sat down, pulling out his datapad. He knew better by this point than to offer Vader the seat in front of him. "So are you eager to see me because you practiced FAST and had success?"
"Oh, no, that did not last more than one conversation. I killed an officer just yesterday for his idiocy."
Luke withheld a sigh.
"Okay, so why did you wish to speak to me?"
He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but "Because there is something familiar about you, Lars." Was not it.
He raised his brows. "I'm certain we haven't run across each other before I took a job here." There was no way he'd forget meeting someone like Darth Vader, that was for sure. He was in every way unforgettable.
"Yes, but for some reason you are familiar and I do not know why."
That was...odd. "Maybe I look like someone else you know?"
"I considered that, but no."
"Is...this a Force thing?"
Somehow, he could practically feel Vader's annoyance. "I assure you, it is not."
Luke still didn't quite know what to do with the magic powers aspect of Vader's profile, so he was pleased to hear that. "Well...why now? What triggered this reaction?"
Vader stared at him, like he usually did when he thought he'd asked a stupid question. Luke was therefore fully prepared to not get an answer, but suddenly Vader pointed at him. "I will entertain your idiotic questioning for now. Your...familiarity is bothering me and interrupting my work, so if it means that we figure out why, I will deal with it. But do not take it too far."
Another surprise. Luke struggled to keep the emotion off his face. "Duly noted."
Satisfied, Vader continued. "It was initially seeing you working on that droid."
"Why?"
Wrong question. When Vader answered, the modulated voice was dripping with sarcasm. "If I knew that, I would not be entertaining twenty questions."
"But if we're to figure this out, I need more than that to go off of." Luke frowned. "Perhaps it might have something to do with our shared interest in droids?"
"I...considered that." Vader said.
"Then perhaps that's where we should start." Luke leaned forward. "You said you built your droid from scratch so that you wouldn't feel lonely. When I questioned you about it, you said you had friends."
The room suddenly felt cold enough that Luke wished he'd brought a jacket in. Vader didn't answer for a long time. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
"Everything is...confidential, correct?"
"Yes."
"....You will not write this information down."
A weird request, but if it got the man to finally talk... "Okay."
Still, Vader hesitated.
Then, finally...
"I was born a slave on Tatooine."
The words were strangled and imbued with anger. For a moment, Luke stopped breathing.
That...that was quite the revelation. He didn't even know where to begin with a statement like that. Already, that one statement alone explained a lot of Vader's reactions to things, and probably influenced quite a bit of who he was as a person.
A slave...
Thankfully his voice remained calm as he asked, "How long?"
"Nine years. I...lived with my mother."
"Were you--"
"I do not wish to discuss my slavery!" Vader pointed at him, and there was definitely a threat in his voice.
It was such a major traumatic life event, Luke knew it needed to be addressed...but something in him told him this was a dangerous topic and he needed to back off. So, reluctantly, he instead said, "Well you're from Tatooine. Perhaps you feel a shared connection because we're from the same planet?"
Truth be told, it was also hard to imagine someone like Vader being from the same planet as him. He tried to imagine bumping into him at Tosche Station and the image was so weird he immediately dispelled it.
"That...may be possible." From the tone of his voice, Luke was certain that wasn't a good familiarity.
"Where on Tatooine are you from?"
"Mos Espa."
Luke's interest perked further, but he was cautious as he said, "Where the podraces are held?"
"They are no longer supposed to be."
He smiled sheepishly. "The key words there are supposed to."
Vader crossed his arms. "I have a hard time picturing you at a pod race. You are too...your personality does not match."
"I've never been exactly because of that." Though he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to... "I've never even been to Mos Espa, though my grandmother was from there."
"I do not care." Vader waved it off, but Luke had made another connection...
"Actually, my grandmother was a slave, too."
"As I said, I do not care."
He could again somehow feel Vader's annoyance, but his mind wouldn't leave the woman whose headstone he'd often looked at when he was bored and had nothing to do. It was the only physical connection he'd had with his father. His uncle, after all, was only his uncle by adoption, not by blood. The only person who'd been related to his father was the woman who was buried next to Uncle Owen's father near the main house.
"Tell me about your mother."
Again, the temperature plunged, and Luke shivered. But after a long pause, Vader haltingly said, "She...was perfect. She was beautiful. She did not deserve the life of a slave, but she was perhaps foolishly kind anyway. She did her best to give me a life resembling something normal. Sometimes she was successful. I...I was taken from her to study to become...I was freed and taken from her."
Yet again, Luke was struck by how much trauma there was to unpack in those sentences, but before he could circle back, Vader continued, "She was later bought and freed by someone who had fallen in love with her. They married, but he failed to protect her. The last time I saw her, she..." He trailed off. And this time, he didn't continue.
Luke considered the story. It was a similar one to the romance his grandmother shared with Uncle Owen's father. Maybe it was more common on Tatooine to fall in love with a slave than he thought. There were unfortunately way too many slaves, especially in the larger cities...
"What was her name? Maybe I know...well, at least her family."
"I doubt it." Vader paused, as if thinking about something. "I do not even remember the family she married into."
"I guess she didn't take their last name?"
There was a hesitation. "I do not believe so. When...when she died, she was buried as Shmi Skywalker still..."
Luke's entire body tensed, and it was suddenly difficult to breathe.
"What did you say her name was?"
"I will not repeat myself."
Shmi Skywalker.
The name he'd grown up staring at on a daily basis. The name who received nothing but high opinions from his aunt and uncle. The name of the woman who'd given birth to his father...
Skywalker.
His father.
"Did...do you have siblings?"
Surely, she had to have had more children--
"No. Not that I am related to."
It was a struggle to keep his face neutral. Everything he'd learned about staying impartial and calm was being used in that moment just to keep it up. It would not be professional to--
But then again, when did most therapists find out in the middle of a therapy session that their client was none other than their supposed dead father?
And that their father was none other than Darth Vader?!
He...didn't even know what to think. He didn't know what to feel except complete shock and confusion. How he maintained his composure, he didn't know, but glancing at the holo clock, he found that they were nearing end of time anyway. It was still a bit early, but...
He could say nothing. He could...process this by himself first before telling Vader. But the man had come here because he'd somehow seen a familiarity that was probably a literal family resemblance that Luke, with no reference other than the suit, still did not see. He'd come and finally opened up to him. If he didn't give him the answer...
"So." He began, laying the datapad flat on the desk. He didn't know how he sounded so calm. Perhaps he was going into shock? That was completely possible given the magnitude of this revelation. "I regret to inform you that I'm about to add onto your troubles."
Somehow, he felt Vader's utter confusion.
Wait.
He'd been feeling Vader's feelings all session.
He'd thought it was just his imagination but what if he'd somehow inherited his fat--Lord Vader's weird magic?!
He could not deal with that right then. So, he continued.
"We will definitely need to work this out together, and possibly find a relationship therapist."
Immediately Vader bristled at the mention of bringing in another therapist. He pointed at him threateningly. "If you so much as think about bringing in another one of you idiotic therapists, I will personally make sure to eradicate everyone in your profession by the end of the year!"
Luke just stared at him.
This. This was his father.
"Everyone I know just adds onto my troubles, you most especially." Vader continued, beginning to pace as he ranted.
Luke cut him off. "I assure you, I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't think it was absolutely necessary."
Vader stopped and whirled on him, sarcastically biting out, "Why? What could possibly be wrong with you that would require me inviting another cursed therapist onto my ship?!"
"Oh." Luke looked down, at the datapad, resisting the urge to immediately call his supervisor for help. "I'm just your son apparently."
Vader froze. Stared.
And the room dropped to the coldest temperature yet.
"What. Did. You. Say?!"
He was on thin ice, but he couldn't even force himself to care. Not as he wondered if he could magically make the room feel like the inside of a refrigerator-- "My aunt and uncle are Owen and Beru Lars. Their father was Cliegg Lars. His second wife was Shmi Skywalker. Her son, my father, was Anakin Skywalker. So unless you're just now finding out that Anakin is your long lost brother--"
"He is not." Vader interrupted, then continued to just. Stare at him. For once, Luke couldn't read the man. He just. Stared. That mask completely emotionless.
Luke wished he had a mask to rely on. Getting through this was a struggle.
"Well. I suppose that's why I'm familiar to you." He said.
Vader made a noise that Luke couldn't quite identify. "You are remarkably calm about this, Young One!"
Again. More pointing. His...Lord Vader's apparent favorite intimidation move.
"No my lord," Luke said with far more composure than he felt, "I assure you, I am having a midlife crisis at the age of twenty two right this very second."
Yes. Because that's exactly what he was going through. Already he was rethinking his entire life. Everything he'd been told, everything he'd been taught, and he definitely wanted answers but he needed a moment to process all of this. And for some insane, crazy reason, he blurted out, "This is an example of keeping your emotions in check. Please note how I do this so you can try it this week when an officer has disappointed you."
He was losing it. Why he thought telling Darth Vader that, the guy who killed people on a regular basis, he had no idea. His brain wasn't functioning correctly. He needed time to stop and breathe.
And, thankfully, when he glanced at the holo clock again, it was time to end. "Well. That's our time--"
"You just told me you are my dead son!" Vader roared, and Luke noted with alarm that cracks were beginning to form on the viewport.
Not good.
"Yes, but I am a son with other appointments and I think I'll need to find my own therapist after this."
"You will cancel them!" More finger pointing. Oh, Stars, did he ever do that? Was this a habit that he'd been given and he'd never noticed?
"Lord Vader. I am setting a boundary. I need to process this information just as much as you do."
"You do not look it!"
"Because again. I am choosing to keep control over my emotions at this very moment." Then, realizing that his...Vader might be concerned if indeed he thought he was dead that he'd disappear, Luke added, "I will clear my day tomorrow. You may return then, and we can work this out. That should give me enough time to deal with things on my end."
"I run this ship! I am Darth Vader and apparently, your father!"
"And you are about to break the port windows." He pointed at the cracks getting larger. "It's obvious that we are not ready to continue this conversation until we have both calmed. I will see you tomorrow, Lord Vader." And for some reason, he gave him the biggest, brightest smile he could muster. "Have a lovely day!"
Vader stared at him. Luke thought for a moment he might ignore him anyway and continue to demand answers Luke didn't have. But then, without another word, Vader stormed from the office, only pausing to look back at him.
"I will be here tomorrow. Do not fail me."
Luke didn't even want to know what would happen if he wasn't there, but he nodded. Vader didn't say another word as he yet again turned and left, leaving Luke alone in a silent office with a cracked port window.
For a moment, he just sat there, staring after Vader, his heart pounding in his ears. Then, numbly, he reached for the comm and speed dialed his new droid.
"Are you ready for your next appointment?" Cyl's voice replied the moment the line picked up. "My, Lord Vader sure seemed like he had quite the session."
More than you know. Luke rubbed his face. "Cancel all of my appointments today and tomorrow."
Cyl made a clicking noise. "But your next appointment is already here."
"I know!" Luke bit his lip, trying to keep his emotions in check just a bit longer. "I know. I'm sorry. An emergency has come up. Give everyone priority rescheduling, but I need today and tomorrow for other business...actually, for tomorrow, just put that the entire day is Lord Vader's time."
His father's time...
"If you say so." Cyl sounded unenthused. "I will make it work, Mr. Lars."
Lars.
Skywalker.
He groaned.
The moment Cyl hung up, Luke reached over, grabbed the fluffy duck, buried his face in it...
And started screaming into it.