Walking through the jail with my Daddy, I was very bored. It was weird too, because yesterday he got mad at me because I snuck into his ship and came here, but today he said I had to. Daddy's weird. I don't care. I'd love him no matter what.

Maybe while I'm here I can see the rebel who helped me with my math. He was nice. I hope he's okay. Daddy will be mad if he knows. I promised that I'd forget it. I just can't though! I'll find a way to see him today. Daddy doesn't need to know.

Okay, his cell's down the next hallway. I just have to let Daddy get ahead of me and then I can sneak down and see him. He'll be happy that Daddy sent his letter. Okay, Daddy's far enough in front. I just have to sneak into here and I'll be able to find him and see if he's okay.

I ran down the hall to his cell, but he wasn't there! I raced back to Daddy so he could tell me it was okay.

"Daddy! Where's the rebel I saw yesterday? He's not where he was! Did he go home?" I grabbed Daddy's hand again.

Daddy looked down at me and I felt his hand go cold, "Luke, what have I told you about talking to rebels?"

"Sorry, Daddy. Where is he?" I didn't really feel that bad about it and Daddy could sense it. He frowned at me a bit.

"Luke, I don't see why I should answer your question if you only have it because you disobeyed me."

"What?" Daddy uses such big words! I almost never understand him on the first try.

"You broke my rules. I don't want to answer your question because that would be like rewarding you for breaking the rules."

"Oh," I hung my head for a moment to show that I was sorry. Then I looked back up at him. I had managed to get some tears in my eyes. "Please, Daddy? I need to know he's okay!"

I really was worried about him now. Normally Daddy'll answer my questions right away. When he didn't answer after he saw I was crying the tears started to come faster and be a lot more real. Daddy will always do what I want if I start crying! He always does! If he won't answer me now, something must be really wrong!

"Daddy, what happened to him? He went home, right?"

Daddy bent down and picked me up, "He's safe now. I promise."

Daddy was avoiding my question, "Where is he?"

"He's in a better place." Daddy hugged me.

I knew that sentence. That was what he always said about Mommy. He also said Mommy couldn't come to visit. He said that she wanted to, but she couldn't. I want my Mommy. I want him to be okay too. Maybe he really is safe somewhere else. Maybe both of them are. But my teacher said it means something else.

"He's dead, isn't he?" I didn't really want to hear the answer. But I had to know. I had to know about Mommy too.

"Luke…" Daddy trailed off.

"He's dead and you won't even tell me," I cried.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't want you to know." Daddy hugged me close and kept carrying me as he walked. I lay on his shoulder and cried.

When I stopped crying, I stayed in Daddy's arms but looked up so that I could see where I was. I was still in the prison and I was about to put my head back down when I noticed one of the prisoners staring at me. I stared back at him.

I mean, staring's rude and everything, but he was staring at me! If someone's being rude to you, you can be rude back.

He looked worse than the rebel who'd helped me with my homework. I think his hair might have been brown, but it was hard to tell under the blood. His eyes were definitely blue, but other than that I had no idea what he would look like if he was okay.

When I looked at his face to get a better idea of it, I felt the weirdest feeling ever. When Daddy and I look at each other's eyes, we both feel a little bit of a kinda zing that's us being Force sensitive. When I saw the rebel's eyes it was like that but way more.

"Daddy," I whispered in Daddy's ear, but didn't break eye contact, "Daddy, I think that guy over there's Force sensitive."

He was still staring at me, and he seemed as curious about me as I was about him. Daddy wasn't responding.

"Daddy, that guy over there's Force sensitive," I said, a little louder, and the man in the cell moved a little as he heard it.

Daddy still didn't answer.

"Daddy, that guy over there's Force sensitive and you said you needed to train another apprentice!" I almost shouted in Daddy's ear. Finally, Daddy turned to look at him.

"Not him, Luke." Daddy turned and I could see the man again. He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking down at the floor of his cell.

"Why not? You said that anyone would work. As long as they were Force sensitive."

"Not him, Luke." Daddy repeated. In his cell, the man's cheeks started to shine a bit.

"Daddy, why not?" I asked again.

"Because he is a Jedi. A Jedi would never agree to becoming a Sith."

"He can't be a Jedi. You wiped them out years ago. And anyway, didn't you say that Jedi don't have feelings?"

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"Because he's crying." I was pretty sure he was, anyway. His shoulders were shaking and his cheeks were shinier than ever.

Daddy turned again to see the man, "He is just trying to gain your sympathy, ignore him."

I rolled my eyes, "What?"

"He just wants to make you feel bad."

"I want to talk to him." I pushed away from Daddy to show I meant it. Daddy put me down hesitantly and I went over to the man in the cell.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He looked up at me again and shook his head.

I sat down outside his cell, "You're gonna be okay though, right?"

He just shook his head again.

"Daddy, why won't he talk to me?" I called at Daddy.

He came over and pulled out a little stun stick he used to make people tell him things. I hate it when he does that. "Why won't you talk to my son, Rebel?"

I pushed the stun stick away, "Don't hurt him! He's probably just scared!" I turned to the man, "Are you scared?"

He nodded.

"Are you scared of my Daddy?"

He nodded again and looked at the stun stick.

"Are you scared of me?"

He tilted his head and looked at me oddly then he shrugged.

I put my hand on his cheek to wipe away his tears, the way Daddy does when I get hurt. He felt too hot and some blood came off on my hand. I didn't want him to be scared of me.

When that didn't work to stop him from crying, I kissed his cheek. He stared at me in surprise.

"Daddy always does that when I cry," I explained, "I'd hoped it would make you feel better. Is it all better now?"

He smiled slightly and a bit of blood flaked off the edge of his mouth. He nodded a little.

"Are you still scared of me?"

He shook his head and smiled. I smiled too, to show him that I didn't want him to be scared.

"Why won't you talk to me?" I asked curiously.

He opened his mouth and made a small rasp, coughed, and some blood came out. I tried to push it away from his mouth, but Daddy stopped me. When he finished coughing, he started to say something, but his voice was very quiet, so I pulled away from Daddy and listened hard.

"Because when I try to talk that happens, and I'm hard to hear. It hurts too." Then he started coughing again and I moved out of the way. Daddy tried to pull me away, but I grabbed one of the bars of the cell and he gave up.

"Luke, I have to continue the inspection. I will come back for you when I have finished." He started to leave and I called after him.

"Can you let me into his cell? I'd be safer in there."

"Whatever makes you think you would be safer locked in a cell with a rebel?"

"No one could take me and he doesn't have any weapons."

Daddy looked at the rebel in the cell and back at me, "I suppose. If he does anything, just scream and someone will help you."

I nodded and Daddy let me into the cell. Then he grabbed the man and pulled him over to a wall and sat him against it. I followed him and sat next to him. The rebel tried to pull me on to his lap, but he wasn't strong enough, so I crawled on for him. Daddy gave us one more look and pulled something off his belt.

As he handed it to the rebel, I saw that it was a water container, "Here, drink this so you can talk properly. Luke, if he starts coughing, get out of the way."

The rebel took the flask and nodded gratefully. I nodded too and Daddy returned to his work. The rebel's fingers slipped on the lid of the flask as he tried to open it, so I took it and opened it for him. I let him drink some before I started talking again.

"What's your name?" I asked.

The man paused for a moment, "Cliegg Darklighter."

"Really? My name is Luke Skywalker!" I bounced on his knee a bit and he flinched. I stopped right away.

He smiled and his eyes sparkled.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I disobeyed the Emperor and tried to learn to be a Jedi. Like your daddy told you." Cliegg took another sip of water.

"Why doesn't the Emperor want people to learn to be Jedi? It seems silly."

Cliegg looked at me oddly, "He feels that they would be a threat to his Empire."

I looked up at him, "Why, though? I mean, the Empire is the Old Republic called somethin' different, and they used to protect the Old Republic, didn't they? Why wouldn't they protect the Empire too?"

"The Emperor had your daddy hunt down and kill all the Jedi he could find. He thought they were attempting a coup d'état."

"What's that?"

"A coup d'état is a movement when the people rise up and overthrow a tyrant or leader. Basically, he thought they were plotting against him, so he killed thousands."

"Oh. Why did he think they were plotting against him?"

"That I wouldn't know. I wish I did," he sighed and I put my head on his chest to comfort him.

I could hear his heartbeat. I do that to Daddy too sometimes, but the pattern for him was different. Cliegg's was faster and kinda like a rhythm. He hugged me and I could hear him breathing too. Too fast.

"Are you okay?" I asked again.

"No. Not really, no," he was out of breath again just from the two short sentences.

"What happened? Why are you breathing so fast?" I was worried about him.

"This isn't a very good place to be healthy. I just got sick."

"That means you'll get better then, right?" I looked up at him hopefully.

"I'm not sure. If someone cared enough to give me a chance I might get better. If I stay here, I won't."

"My daddy could help you. He owns the prison. You could come to be with us. You could be safe and you could get better." I wanted him to be happy. I didn't want him to die too. I might have been able to convince Daddy that he owed me for letting my last rebel friend die.

Cliegg smiled sadly and hugged me close, "I don't think your daddy would be too interested in taking me in. Thank you, though."

"But I want you to be happy! I want you to be safe too!"

"Little guy, you can't protect everybody. If you want me to be happy, tell me about living with your daddy."

"Why would that make you happy?" I was confused, wouldn't hearing about something he thought he couldn't have just make him sad?

"Because I never had my own parents. I just want to know what it's like to have a father." He sounded so sad.

"Why didn't you know your parents?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe I did something wrong. Maybe they didn't want a son. Maybe they didn't even know I'd been born. My father, that is. My mother is dead. Tell me about having a father. Please."

I didn't know where to start. Having Daddy around was so normal that I couldn't imagine him not being there.

"What does he do with you?" Cliegg asked helpfully.

"Well… we play together."

"What do you play?"

"We play with my snake together. He plays starship with me."

"What does he do to play starship?" His voice was so curious it was kinda creepy.

"He spins me around and flies me around with the Force."

"Is it fun? Or does it scare you?"

"It's really fun! I love doing it!" I laughed, he was silly.

"It must be wonderful. What else do you do together?"

"What'd ya mean?" I mean, he feeds me, but that's not very interesting.

"Does he read to you? Does he tuck you in at night? Does he make you laugh?"

"Yes, yes, and yes."

"What does he read you? Is it interesting?"

I put my hand to his mouth, "Wait, wait! Too many questions! Too fast!" He nodded and I pulled my hand away.

"What's your favorite thing to do with him?"

"I like it when he tucks me in and reads to me. Sometimes he makes the stories up. He's really good at telling stories. He tells me about the Jedi sometimes, but don't tell anyone I told you. He says he shouldn't. He also tells me great stories about the rebels, but he said to never tell anyone."

"If he told you not to tell anyone, why are you telling me?"

I tipped my head and looked at him from the new angle. Then I tried another one trying to figure out words to explain it, "You won't tell. I can tell you won't tell. It's like having you look like it, but it's different too." I shrugged. I didn't have the words.

"All right. I'm not sure I understand, but all right. Didn't your Daddy use to wear a life support suit?"

"Yeah, he did. But he got healed. Now he's totally okay." I smiled.

He focused over my head, "Look, here comes your daddy now."

I turned and Daddy was coming. I slipped back into Cliegg's arms and whispered in his ear, "I will make sure Daddy helps you. He'd like you."

I was surprised to feel his chest heave and I heard something like a whimper, "He doesn't want me. Just enjoy having a father and forget you ever met me. Trust me. It's good advice."

Then he brushed my hair away from my forehead and kissed me. He let go of me and sat me on the floor beside me as Daddy opened the door to the cell.

"Hey, Luke. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Daddy asked.

"No! Of course he didn't!"

Cliegg nudged me gently, "I might have. You are technically the son of the enemy."

I laughed, "You're both silly! Daddy, he's nice. Could he come home with us? I get lonely sometimes when we go to Vjun. You wouldn't need to get a babysitter ever again! It would be easier!" I pulled Daddy's sleeve.

"No, Luke. I can't. We can't." I could feel something in the Force. I'd never felt it quite as strongly in anybody else as I felt it in my daddy almost every day. Most people just get it if they break something or whatever, but Daddy sometimes gets it just when he's giving me a snuggle or playing with me. Anyway, he was doing it. Giving me that feeling.

"Why not? Please, Daddy! Please!" I grabbed Cliegg again, "I'm not coming if we don't bring him!"

Cliegg tried to pull me off, "Go with Daddy. I already told you to forget about me. Just go home with your daddy and be glad you have him. Go on."

Daddy stared at him for a moment, then he pried me off. I did my best to hold on, but I wasn't strong enough.

Cliegg passed Daddy his water bottle, "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

I felt the weirdest mix of emotions from them. I really couldn't figure it out. So I just put my arms around Daddy's neck and let him carry me back to our ship.