Under The Cover Of Darkness

Chapter Three

It was with a quiet, cautious joy and no small amount of apprehension that Luke let his father lead him into the interrogation room the next day. Mara had forewarned him of what Anakin would be trying, and Luke...

Honestly, he had no idea how he'd handle it. But he was about to get the chance to talk to his father, actually talk, without his father trying to interrogate him, and that was something. Something amazing, actually.

Anakin motioned for Luke to take a seat, and Luke did, his binders clanking on the metal table as he folded his hands on top of it. Anakin flinches, but said nothing about it.

In fact, Anakin said nothing at all—for once. He was too busy staring at Luke in... In something.

"So," Luke ventured after about a minute passed, "about that interrogation?" It almost certainly wasn't forthcoming, but he couldn't afford to let on to his father that he knew that. Unfortunately, if Luke wanted a chance at saving Anakin Skywalker, he couldn't make this too easy on him.

Luke just needed to figure out how hard he did have to make it.

Anakin, for his part, blinked rapidly. "No—no interrogation today," he said. "Or maybe later, with Obi-Wan, I don't—that's not why I'm here." Anakin raised his chin, stared Luke straight in the eyes. "You're my son. I want the chance to get to know you."

It was what Luke had dreamed of since he was a child. "Even your son the Sith?"

Anakin's expression tightened, but he didn't back down. "You're still my son. And I'm sure you have things to talk about besides being a Sith. So let's talk." Anakin attempted a warm smile. Luke appreciated the effort.

Luke had dealt with much worse than a conversation with a non-evil version of his father, and yet...he had no idea what to say.

He was probably supposed to play up the Sith thing, at least a little bit. Before relenting. But...he just couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

"Alright," Luke said, swallowing back his apprehension. "What about?"

Anakin's gaze darted across him intently, as if he was trying to decrypt and memorize Luke's every emotion and feature. "Anything. Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like? What's your favorite starship?"

Well, it was good to know he had inherited something besides the Force from his father. "My favorite ship doesn't exist in your time yet," Luke said, chuckling a little. "But it's a starfighter called an X-Wing. Pretty utilitarian, but they handle like a dream. Some of the most maneuverable fighters in the galaxy. And they have their own built-in hyperdrives."

Anakin's attention seemed to be successfully caught. "You say that like it's uncommon," he scoffed with a real smile, "which makes me think these X-Wings can't hold up at all against Jedi Starfighters."

---

"I can't...talk too much about the future," Luke said, with a hint of apology that seemed like it might be real.

"Then tell me about your family. Without, you know, compromising details."

"Well," and here Luke actually started to smile—a small but genuine smile, not some evil, hollow mockery of one. "I just got married about six months ago."

Anakin couldn't stop himself from sputtering, Jedi dignity be damned. "You have a wife?"

"What, is it hard to believe?" Luke asked, looking both amused and confused.

"Yes. Jedi don't get married."

"Huh." A pause. "Well. That explains...some things."