Leia stumbled, and Luke hurried to support her. She'd been having trouble retaining balance for several blocks now, and he was very worried about it. Han was starting to stumble as well, and he was running between them trying to help.

"I'll carry you, Leia," he said, bending at the knees and helping her to climb onto his back, "We're nearly there."

As Han stumbled as well, Luke ran to help him back up, "Where is 'there'?" Han asked.

Luke bit his lip and looked for a way to skirt the question. The fact was that he was taking them to Vader's castle, but somehow he didn't think that it was the right moment to tell them about his heritage.

Han began leaning sideways, and Luke grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back up.

"Whatever," Han said faintly, "Just as long as we get there soon."

Luke shifted Leia's weight, glad that her head had fallen on his shoulder so he could feel her warm breath on his ear, reassuring him that she was alive. He looked up at the horizon, so far above them and found his father's castle again, carefully leading them towards it. Han stumbled again, his legs buckling, and he cursed and tried to get back up.

Luke hurried to lift him back to his feet.

Curse the Empire! Curse them! His father must have ordered that he not be harmed, but they had shot his friends everywhere except the places that would have killed them! Leia's arms were tight around his neck, and Han looked like he would need to be carried soon as well, and Luke simply couldn't figure out how he could carry both of them. He shifted both of Leia's legs so they hooked over his left arm and used his right to steady Han.

He wondered why no one had tried to stop them yet considering how conspicuous they were. Tugging Han upright again, he realized that they were probably assuming that he was taking them home from a party. At the thought, he nearly giggled in hysteria.

They were nearly to Vader's castle now, and Luke guided Han towards it, waiting for his indignant demand about where they were going.

"Kid, tell me you're not," Han started.

"I am," Luke answered quickly, "He won't be there. He'll have got reports that we're back down in the sewers, and he'll have run there, trying to catch us." He desperately hoped it was true. Strangely enough, he wasn't concerned with how his father would cope with them, but he was worried about how his friends would react.

He helped Han up the steps to the door, and used the Force to open it. He leaned Han on the wall and closed the door. After pausing a moment, he started off again, holding on more tightly to Leia, and allowing Han to use the wall to hold himself up.

"Luke?" Leia asked, and the weakness in her voice made Luke's stomach flip over in terror, "This isn't…"

"A good idea?" Luke demanded, "Yeah, I know. But I couldn't think of anything better. At least here, he's the only imperial who might find us."

He was searching for something, he realized. There was a reason he hadn't simply entered the first room he'd passed. He could sense that somewhere was a room his father had made for him, and he hoped that his father would allow him to keep his friends safe there for a while.

They were nearing it, he realized with a sudden painful thrill. He tightened his grip on Leia as he discovered that he had a strange feeling that he was returning home. A part of him even wanted his father to be there.

He caught sight of a door with a small plaque and used the Force to open it before his friends could see his name on it. He carried Leia inside and noted with relief that his father had put a double bed in for him, and he placed Leia on one side, motioning Han to take the other.

As soon as Leia was comfortable, he stood up, rolling his shoulders and starting to pace. He wished there was something more that he could do to ensure their comfort and safety, but he knew that there wasn't. Already, his friends were sleeping soundly, Han with one arm slung over Leia, who seemed comforted by his closeness.

Luke continued to pace. He was frightened, and he hated the feeling of helplessness that was permeating him. He wished he could have taken them to a medcenter instead. A medcenter with real medicine and doctors, who would have known how to treat them properly, not just make them comfortable.

He forced himself to sit down on the edge of the bed, and took his lightsaber off his belt, rolling it between his hands to distract himself. He wondered if his father had found the old lightsaber, and wished it was the blue bladed weapon Obi-Wan had given him that he was holding. The ancient traces of his father's presence had comforted him so many times, a comfort his own lightsaber would never give. Checking one more time that his friends were all right, he stood up, and hurried down the hall a couple of doors to a room that he could sense was his father's. He rushed in, quashing a feeling that he was intruding. A quick glance told him that the old lightsaber wasn't there, but something small and absolutely infused with his father's emotions sat on the arm of the chair in the oxygen chamber, and Luke ran up to the chair and grabbed it. Then he spun, and ran back to his own room, feeling as though he'd stolen a holy relic from a temple.

He sat down on the edge of the bed next to Leia's feet, and looked down at the little talisman. It was a small chip of wood, which Luke recognized as a piece of japor from the long dead forests of Tatooine, and it had been carefully carved with a simple symbol meant to focus the magical properties of the wood. Smiling slightly, he remembered that it was also a sign of love.

The piece of wood was radiating such strong emotion that he couldn't bear to look at it any longer, and he clasped it tightly in his hand, holding it to his heart. He could sense happiness even older than that which had been attached to his lightsaber, and just a shadow of nervousness that seemed to have been added when it had been carved. The happiness he could sense had lain dormant for years, just a background comfort to its wearer, and then, after so long, it had blossomed and become a constant part of her life.

Her, Luke thought, Was this my mother's?

But then the happiness had broken, had disappeared, and the snippet's life in the ownership of that woman had ended, and Luke thought he could sense that his own presence had been close to it for a very brief moment, and, oddly enough, Leia's. For a time, the necklace had lain forgotten, and then Luke could sense that there had been a swell of pain and loss near it, which, he imagined, was when it had returned to his father's possession. From then, the history he could sense from the necklace had been broken feelings and loss.

"You found it," Vader said from behind him, and he leapt to his feet, reaching for his lightsaber before realizing that it was sitting at the foot of the bed where he'd left it.

Vader summoned the lightsaber with the Force, "I don't intend to harm you."

Luke was still too startled to use the Force properly, and he couldn't verify the words, but they had sounded genuine. However, this was a man who had not hesitated to separate him from his arm before mentioning that they were father and son. He felt skittish, and began fidgeting with the japor snippet as though it would calm him.

"Sit back down," Vader instructed him, and Luke sat down at the head of the bed, his hands shaking.

Vader stepped closer, "Please don't be so afraid."

Luke had shifted back unconsciously, trying to keep some distance between them. He stood up, and stepped closer again, his hands shaking harder than ever, despite his best efforts, the emotion of the japor clutched in them blocking his ability to feel his father's present state.

Vader stepped forward again, and took the necklace from Luke's hand, returning his lightsaber at the same time. Luke held on very tightly to his weapon and watched as his father dropped the necklace into a pouch on his belt. Then Vader looked back up at him, and he didn't know what to say. He knew that his father was waiting for him to speak, and silently analyzing his every reaction.

"Thank you," he said at last.

The response seemed to have pleased Vader, because Luke sensed a smile behind his mask. However, the dark man didn't answer immediately, and Luke was searching for something else to say when his father spoke, "Would you like me to bring you another bed?"

"A what?" Luke asked, completely thrown by the unexpected question. He had expected to be told that he shouldn't have been here, or that he was going to be kept here, but this question… It hadn't occurred to him.

He could sense a sort of stung amusement from his father, "A bed. Somewhere to sleep. You look exhausted."

Luke was tired, but he shook his head, "No, I'd like to stay with my friends until they wake up."

At those words, Vader stepped forward and placed a hand on Leia's forehead. Luke's thumb hovered over the activation of his lightsaber, nervous, but Vader seemed only to be checking her health, as he soon took his hand back and checked Han.

"They will heal," his father assured him.

"Still," Luke answered, "I'd feel safer awake and with them."

"Do you distrust me?"

Luke didn't answer, instead returning to the foot of the bed and sitting down, "I'll just stay here. Thanks."

He watched as Vader went, feeling safer with each step the older man took out of the room. He hadn't expected Vader to return home so quickly. In fact, he'd thought that his father might engage in another mad race to find him. He looked down at his lightsaber, and realized that it had now been touched by his father, and might offer the same comfort as his original one. He could feel a trace of his father's presence, and it was surprisingly comfortable, as though holding Luke's lightsaber had helped Vader as holding Anakin's had always helped Luke.

He wished his father hadn't mentioned his tiredness. Now that it was at the surface of his conscience, his eyelids were drooping, and sitting up was becoming more difficult. He rested his head against the post of his bed, and felt his eyes close. There wasn't a reason to open them yet, really. His father hadn't seemed hostile to them, and besides that, he would sense him coming…

Luke slept soundly, and instead of his usual tendency towards nightmares, he dreamt of flying. He seemed to be some sort of bird, although he couldn't tell what sort. He stretched each wing, and then decided to test them, flapping cautiously, then with greater enthusiasm as he rose easily. He flew up, higher and higher, until he was soaring amongst the clouds. Then tiredness took him, and he feared that he would fall back down to the ground, but the clouds became a tangible thing, and he landed at the base of a particularly large spire, stretching his wings one more time before folding them down against his back and nestling against the spire for safety.

When Luke awoke, he had been moved from the foot of the bed, where he had fallen asleep, to a cot. He was wrapped in blankets, feeling very comfortable, and not very inclined to move. However, he could hear that Han and Leia were up, because they were speaking in whispers and stepping lightly as they moved, as though trying not to wake him. He opened his eyes and sat up, and his friends turned to look at him.

"Good afternoon," Han teased.

Luke rubbed his eyes, "What time is it?"

Leia passed him a sandwich from the plate they'd been eating off of, "Only nine hundred. Thank you for having these ready."

Luke looked down at the sandwich. It wasn't him who'd got them, but they couldn't have logically been for anyone else. His father must have brought them when he'd moved Luke to the cot. Luke began to shiver without the warmth of the blankets, so he pulled one up around his shoulders.

"Is Vader here?" he asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

Han shook his head, "Checked. He must be on some other planet."

Luke nodded, but he felt a pang of sadness. He'd wanted to thank his father for the comfort and care he'd offered. As he thought of his father, he felt the man's emotions suddenly, and very close at hand, and felt something small hanging on a string around his neck. It was the japor snippet, he thought. His father must have put it around his neck, and dropped it down the front of his tunic so his friends wouldn't see it. Something scratched against his chest, and he realized that there was some durasheet attached to it.

He finished his sandwich as slowly as he could manage, what with wanting so badly to see what his father had put on the durasheet. When he was done, he excused himself to use the 'fresher. The moment the door was closed, he yanked the necklace out of his shirt and turned it over. The small piece of durasheet said only 'Take the plate to the kitchen', which was something of an anticlimax. On the other hand, Luke thought, it was a comfortingly parental direction, and he carefully untapped the piece of sheet, and put it in his own belt.

He returned to his room to find that Leia and Han had finished with the sandwiches, and were sitting on his bed again, talking amiably. He joined them for a few minutes before suggesting that they should leave before Vader returned. The others agreed, and he reached for the plate the sandwiches had been on. As he lifted it, his fingers snagged the end of a piece of durasheet attached to it. Hiding it with both hands, he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Leia asked in confusion.

Luke's heart was beating very quickly, and he was itching to read the piece of paper, but he forced himself to turn back to his friends, flipping the plate so that the bottom was pressed against his chest and completely hidden, "He'll notice if I leave this up here."

Han raised an eyebrow, "No way the cot will raise any suspicions."

Luke bit his lip, "Oh, yeah," his father had brought that in, and he didn't know where it belonged. He supposed he could sense where it belonged, but that would mean asking his friends to drag it along with them, and that would mean that they would come down to the kitchen with him, and he might not have time even to take the note off the bottom of the plate, let alone read it. "Could you just stuff that in a closet or something?"

Han shrugged, "Sure."

"I'll be right back," Luke promised. He turned and left, hugging the plate very tightly. As soon as he thought that they wouldn't hear his footfalls, he ran. He raced down to the kitchen, and removed the note quickly, but carefully. He quickly put the plate in a dishwasher, and began to read his letter.

Luke,

I'm glad you understood my clue. I'm sorry it wasn't any clearer, but I couldn't think of another way to keep your friends from being the ones to find the note. I meant to tape it to your hand, but you're a very restless sleeper. You got that from me,

Luke smiled at that, and continued reading.

Your friend's ship has been confiscated, but it will be kept in the Kessel Shipyards. I've left you access codes, and the keys to one of the ships in the hanger. Don't get caught. I've left the codes in the yellow Jedi Interceptor. The keys are there too, as well as those to a small freighter next to it. I thought you might want my old Jedi ship. I've modified the speed capabilities of the freighter. The modifications work. The speedometer doesn't. I've also fitted it with extra firepower.

I've treated your friends, and they may be somewhat groggy because I needed to drug them to ensure that they wouldn't awake. They can manage themselves on the way back to the Alliance, but as soon as you arrive, you should make sure that they are treated.

I hope you slept well, and enjoyed the sandwiches.

Father.

Luke carefully folded the sheet until it fit easily into his belt pouch, smiling all the while. His father had left him gifts, given himself and his two best friends safety. It wouldn't be too hard to convince them that the hanger was the easiest way out, and, although the Jedi fighter would be conspicuous, the freighter would be an excellent way out. He hurried back up to his friends, and led them without argument to the hanger.

He showed them to the small freighter next to the Jedi starfighter his father had described, and Han looked approvingly at the speed modifications, and was nothing short of thrilled by the weapons. As Luke insisted upon flying the Jedi Interceptor, however, there was some argument.

"Luke, there isn't a more dangerous ship in this room," Leia argued, "The laws when it comes to those ships read 'shoot on sight'."

"It was my father's," Luke protested, "And the laws are the same about me. Should we leave me here too?"

"A ship is not worth your life, no matter whose it was," Leia said.

"I've read about the Interceptors," Luke argued, "They have awesome speed capabilities."

"And next to no shields!" Leia countered.

"Pretty good weapons," Han said.

Leia spun to him, "Whose side are you on?"

Han smirked, "Now that you put it like that… Luke's."

Leia glared at Han with such force that Luke wouldn't have been terribly surprised if he had started to smoke. She knew she was beaten, though, and she fumed back into the freighter. Luke grinned at his friend.

"Thanks," he said, and began climbing up onto the hull and into the cockpit. On the seat sat a comlink, a datapad, and two sets of keys. He kept the one marked with a piece of yellow plastic and tossed the other set down to Han, "Try these in the freighter!"

"Yes, general!" Han said, giving a mock salute.

Luke poked his head back out, "What?"

"Never mind," Han said, and he began to walk towards the freighter, tossing the keys in the air and catching them again.

"Why did you call me general?" Luke called after him.

"Jedi were generals during the Clone Wars, and that's a Clone War era ship," Han answered.

"Oh," Luke said to himself, sitting down and feeling foolish. He quickly forgot his embarrassment in the joy of figuring out the controls. As he ran his hands over the dash, one of them found another piece of durasheet. He carefully extracted it from the tiny seam it had been slid into.

The comlink is programmed with my personal contact codes. Don't let the Alliance find it. This ship has some modifications of its own, but I'll let you find them. Fly safely.

Father.

Luke smiled and started the ship. He followed the freighter into open air, and if anyone recognized the Jedi fighter, they had forgotten the laws about it, because the sky was free of blasters.