Luke and Leia were still sitting on the bed in each other's arms when Vader opened the door and entered the room with two large bags. Luke couldn't help but notice how much, despite the mask, his father's presence was oozing anxiety. He looked nervous.

"I brought something to eat and some warmer clothes for you. In case you didn't notice it, there is a fresher on the right" the Sith Lord explained as he pointed a small metal door.

Leia was shocked, to say the least: she didn't imagine that a man like him could understand such basic needs.

"If you need me" Vader added hesitantly "just call me, I am here".

Then he abruptly left, closing the door behind himself.

The twins just stared at each other with some perplexed looks on their faces. None of them had ever seen Vader being so careful, so eager to help.

Leia opened immediately the bag with her clothes and disappeared in the refresher, while Luke dove into the food.

There were a lot of products, which looked like a royal meal to the starved Rebel, who had been living on the meager rations of the Alliance for three years. There was even some meat, which hadn't been seen for maybe one year. Obviously, fattened warriors would have been useless in battle. But Luke had been weakened and thinned since Bespin.

When Leia emerged from the fresher she couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Luke eating everything he could see. She picked up a sweet with growing curiosity. Despite being part of the High Command, she wasn't used to such an abundant meal either.

"I hope nothing of this is poisoned" she said half-seriously. She was too hungry to think about that... and her brother was still alive.

Luke glanced at his sister to see on his face whether she was serious or not, and just then he noticed how beautiful she looked in her new clothes. She was wearing an elegant red jumper, skinny white trousers and a pair of leather black boots.

Clearly their father had been quite sensitive in his choice, because the jumper's neckline was very high, and it could hide the burn marks perfectly.

"You look good" Luke said to Leia with a kind smile. He knew how much she needed to feel a woman again, and not just a tool in Vader's hands or a prisoner.

Leia grinned back and sat beside her brother, straightening her trousers absent-mindedly. "I must say that our... father has good taste" she commented. "And I was a bit astonished before".

Luke nodded his head, happy to know that even his sister had noticed something in Vader.

"You see it, don't you? He isn't completely evil" he said after trying an interesting exotic fruit. He hadn't ever tasted anything similar, neither in the Alliance nor on Tatooine.

"We'll talk about this later" Leia conceeded diplomatically. "Go change. Leave the food to me". She quickly took the fruit from her brother's hand and bit it, making a satisfied noise.

Luke decided to let her steal his food without complaining: this was the first sign of the real Leia, the spicy, astute Leia. He smiled despite himself and went to the fresher.

The girl kept eating alone, and was surprised by the amount of food Vader had brought. Obviously he wanted them alive, but no Imperial would ever feed his prisoners like that, or bring them warm clothes.

Leia was thinking about these things when suddenly she choked on her juice. A normal person would have just coughed a bit, but her airways had just recovered and her throat hurt terribly. She fell in a heavy fit of cough without control until a small drop of blood fell on her hand.

She didn't expect Vader storming in the room in a hurry. The Sith Lord was immediately at her side, sitting beside her; he placed a cold hand on her throat and focused on the Force.

Leia couldn't react, but she felt surprised and relieved when the pain vanished thanks to a soft, warm wave.

"Are you better?" Vader asked, his voice sounding strangely soft.

The girl nodded her head, but stopped in the utmost confusion when her father brought his gloved hand up to her mouth to wipe the blood with a napkin.

"Thank you" she murmured, looking at Vader's face for the first time. Obviously, with her eyes, she could only see the black mask, but she caught a glimpse of a pair of luminous, soulful blue irises, much similar to her brother's, which emanated love and gentleness. Was it just a hallucination?

When Luke emerged from the fresher, he smiled at the sight he found. Leia had always hated their father, and now she was calmly sitting beside him. She didn't look frightened, and Vader wasn't either. Her presence was broadcasting gratitude through the Force itself.

Darth Vader noticed Luke only a few seconds later, and he immediately put a space between his body and his daughter's. He noticed that the boy was still wearing the medical uniform, so he asked why: Luke blushed slightly and explained that the stitches on his side wound had been damaged during the previous accident.

Vader offered his help to his son, and this time Leia didn't protest. Maybe that huge man in black was scary, mysterious and vaguely crazy. But was his soul really as black as his cape?

~~~

Admiral Piett stood on the deck in his perfectly straight grey uniform, busy as always. He was checking on some data when a soldier called him: the man was bringing, apparently, some important news.

Emperor Palpatine had personally left a message in which he said that he was going to visit the Executor the following day, in order to see how things were going on the major ship of his Imperial fleet.

A detail caught the Admiral's eye: His Majesty had requested explicitly for Vader being kept unaware of his incoming arrival.

But the loyal officer told the trooper that the orders would be obeyed. Then he went back to his occupations, perplexed and confused.

It's been a while, but I managed to publish again. This chapter in particular was very difficult for me to translate, so be merciful (-: