Saga Anakin's First Father's Day, a RotJ-AU, Author replies 10/21

Hi, everyone,

This mini-story is something I wrote in response to a challenge. The story had to include these things:

-Luke and Vader

-celebration of a Father's Day type holiday

-something squishy

-the phrase "I swear I will not kill anyone."

I came up with a RotJ-AU because I love those. And also because it could tie in with my other stories.

Kristeh

Title: Anakin's First Father's Day

Rating: G or PG

Characters: Luke, Anakin

Summary: After defeating the Emperor, Anakin tries to save his dying son.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars and I'm not making any money, etc.


The Emperor's dying scream faded through the air as Vader stared down
the reactor shaft. His mind was blank with shock. What had he just
done? What was happening here?

Just moments ago he had been determined to lure his son to the dark
side with him. It had been his solitary goal for over three years.
He had dreamed of the time when Luke would join him. They would
defeat the Emperor, rule the galaxy, and be together forever.
Finally he would have the family he had always craved.

The dream had seemed so near today. Luke had stubbornly resisted for
a long time, longer than Vader had thought he would be able to
resist, to be honest. But then he had found the key, the right key
to unlock all the boy's fury and resentment. His sister. Luke would
do anything to protect his sister. Even turn to the dark side.

Or so it had seemed. At the last instant Luke had refrained from
embracing the darkness, and then had fallen victim to the Emperor's
vicious attack. That was when the voice that Vader had been trying
to silence since his first meeting with his son months earlier
screamed out, demanding that he save Luke.

All the darkness that was Vader struggled to ignore the voice, but it
would not be denied. Suddenly he could no longer bear the sight of
his son in torment. He grabbed the Emperor from behind and threw him
down the reactor shaft of the Death Star. Then he collapsed against
the railing, hoping he had acted in time to save Luke, expecting to
breathe his last breath any second, for the Emperor's Force lightning
should have destroyed all his life support mechanisms and he couldn't
survive long without them.

Instead he found that he could breathe easily on his own for the
first time in over two decades. A second later he realized he had
two hands again. Real flesh and blood hands. Two real arms, and
legs. In a daze, he lifted his mask off, and felt his fingers brush
against hair instead of bare scalp. But how? His hair had all been
burned off when he'd fallen into the lava pit so long ago. What??

A strangled, agonizing breath from behind him brought Anakin (for he
was Anakin again now) back to the situation. His son!

Completely forgetting about the miracle that had just taken place, he
leaped to his feet and rushed to Luke's side. There didn't seem to
be any miracle healing for his son, which bothered Anakin in the back
of his mind, but there was no time to dwell on that now. Luke's skin
was ashen-gray, his breath came in shallow gasps, and when Anakin
felt for a pulse, he was terrified at weak and uneven it was.

"No," he whispered. "You can't die, Luke. You can't die." He tried
to send healing power through the Force to his son, but he couldn't
tell if it was helping. One thing he did know was that Luke needed
emergency medical care right away.

He started to lift his son in his arms and rush to the medical wing
when he felt a sense of impending danger. The Death Star would
explode soon and kill them all if he didn't act now.

He hated to leave Luke's side but there was no choice. He rushed to
the top of the stairs, to the Emperor's throne and activated the
communication panel.

"This is Lord Vader. The Emperor is indisposed and you are to follow
my commands immediately. Cease fire on all Rebel ships and begin
broadcasting a surrender signal," he ordered.

"S-Surrender?" the voice on the other end s

 

Awwww, so sweet kristeh
So that's how it happened. Very
I 'd it.

 

Wonderful viggie, kristeh. Always great to see Anakin/Luke interaction. :X

 

Commenting on your other stories I always said that it was OK you never told us how the miracle had happened to Anakin... Still, this viggie - I liked it very much Now I'm glad to have read it, that you let us know the whole story!

 

Aww bless that was sooo sweet. It's nice how Anakin wishes suddenly he had known Luke with the simple things.
Well done a lovely viggie.

 

Talk about an extreme awwww factor. Especially:

"I've
never really believed in the Force, but I might have to reconsider.
It's certainly given you a wonderful Father's Day gift."

Round of applause for Kristeh, methinks.

 

Great work as always, kristeh. I echo what LadyZ said.

 

AWWW, HOW SWEET!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

 

Hi, everyone,

I just wanted to say hello and respond to your wonderful feedback.

JM: Thank you! I'm so happy you enjoyed my version of Anakin's healing.

Kobe: Thank you so much! You know I love writing those father/son scenes!

Viceroy Rook: Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it.

You guys have been some of my most loyal readers! Just want you to know how much I appreciate it!

LadyZ: Thanks so much! When I wrote RTN and TLO, I knew I wanted Anakin to be well again, but I didn't really have any ideas of my own for making it happen. Like I said in my other summaries, I'd already read several good stories that showed Ani's healing and reunion with his children, but most of them ended with that. I wanted to know what would happen next so I started writing my own stories. With this one, I finally got an idea for Anakin's healing of my own.

Hananiah: Thank you! I'm so happy you enjoyed the story.
>It's nice how Anakin wishes suddenly he had known Luke with the simple things.

Yes, I think at this point Anakin and Luke are still practically strangers to one another. They may know a few background facts and a few personality traits, but they don't know all the little idiosyncracies that make up a personality. I wanted to give them a chance to get to know each other.

darla101: Thank you! You're embarrassing me, but I love it. Yep, I had to work in that Father's Day reference, you know.

diamond_pony2002: Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it. It's always wonderful to know.

Thanks again, everyone!

Kristeh

 

Shamelessly upping my stories today.

Kristeh

 

Well, your upping worked! A very sweet story. I still don't understand why the Force healed Anakin immediately but not Luke, and why Luke wouldn't respond at first to the healing energy his father directed at him. But the Force works in mysterious ways, no? I can certainly imagine how strange it would be for the stormtroopers and officers to have a healthy de-masked Vader walking around carrying a hurt Luke and giving orders to surrender, though! That was very good.

 

Thanks, ShrunkenJedi! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, of course the real reason Luke was dying was to fit the plot of the story, but if there could be another one, maybe the Force wanted to make certain that Anakin truly loved his son and would take good care of him before letting him have Luke back.

Not a very good explanation, I know. It's just the best I could come up with for now.

Kristeh

 

What a lovely viggy!

 

Thank you, DB! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Kristeh

 

Very touching. I wish Anakin and Luke had had a chance to be together in canon.

 

Thank you, Cat. I've always wanted Luke and Leia to be able to get to know their parents. It seems unfair to me that Luke was willing to risk everything to save Anakin, and he had always dreamed of having his father, and then he lost him just as his dream came true. There are some wonderful fics out there where Anakin survives, or stays on the lightside, but not enough for me. That's why I started writing my own stories.

Kristeh

 

Up!

 

Loved it, Kristeh!

 

Thanks, Gina!

Kristeh

 

I LOVED IT! I actually started to tear up when Anakin was holding Luke.SO SWEET!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Mariana

 

Thank you, Mariana. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Kristeh

 

You are very much welcome kristeh.