Padmé gives birth to one child, one crying and screaming child, and names her Leia. She kisses her head and holds her close with trembling arms, the life already leaving her body like a slow crashing wave.
There is no other child with them, no small sandy haired boy with bright eyes and a soft heart, destined to be one half of a whole change. Just Leia, aware and demanding, the galaxy's last hope.
She looks up at Obi-Wan and says, in a quiet, wavering voice, "Take care of her."
"I will," Obi-Wan replies, but he does not know how. He takes Leia out of Padmé's hands when she can't hold her daughter anymore and he's still holding her long after the droids move the body away.
She's so small, Obi-Wan realizes, watching her snuggle up against him and smear blood on his tunic. And yet, he can feel the Force emanating from her, so strong, just like her father.
When Bail Organa agrees to adopt the child as his own, Obi-Wan agrees to go with him to Alderaan.
"She'll need to learn the ways of the Force when she is old enough," he explains.
"Will this be enough to keep her safe?" Organa asks.
Obi-Wan thinks of Anakin, of the young slave he met on Tatooine, hopeful in his ignorance, before everything began, and says, "I won't make the same mistake twice."
Organa gives him a look full of pity and reluctantly concedes. "I hope you do not," he says, and Obi-Wan thinks he can only hope too.
Leia settles in nicely with Breha, and Bail couldn't be happier. He watches the two of them settling on the balcony and tries to ignore the heavy weight in the back of his mind.
Obi-Wan - Ben - seems to feel it too, standing in a corner and looking out into the distance. Bail can only imagine what he sees.
"She's going to be powerful," he says after a moment. "I can feel it."
"Will it be a problem?" Bail asks. He has a feeling that it will, but a part of him is still caught in the idealistic hopes of the past. It'll be hard to get rid of them.
"It might, and it might not," Ben replies carefully, but Bail can see the true answer in his expression.
The next few months let him push the thoughts of the future away as he focuses on the state of the Empire, on settling Ben into the unknown shadows of his court, on trying to find the few remaining senators who are aware of the dangers coming toward them.
The thoughts still come forward, in small increments. Leia never cries, unless there is sadness around her. She wanders about and winds up in places she shouldn't be, high on shelves or branches of trees with the ease and grace of someone much older. And there is something about her, something strong and powerful behind her small brown eyes.
She is such a small child, he thinks, with such a heavy burden to bear.
He tells this to Ben one night, sitting with him in the makeshift chamber they've made from the remnants of the dungeons.
"I wish there was another way," he sighs, shaking his head.
"I wish there was too," Ben says, and there's a long quiet moment between them.
Leia is six years old when she learns she is adopted. Her mother tells her the day of her birthday, sitting by her bedside and telling the story of an unknown woman who died on the eve of the Empire's ascent, an old friend of her father's, who'd asked them to take care of her.
Leia doesn't ask who she was, and she doesn't ask who her father was either. She has a feeling her mother wouldn't tell her anyway. Not until she's old enough.
It's only two days later when she goes around exploring the darker parts of her home that she finds the man living there.
He sits on the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed in immense concentration, but when Leia tries to sneak away, she hears him speak.
"It's all right, young one," he says, slowly standing. He walks over to her and crouches down. His hair is lighter than her father's but his beard is fuller and unkempt. Leia wonders why he's been living here.
"Why have you been living here?" she asks.
The man smiles, eyes crinkling slightly in the corners. "It's my home," he says.
"It's dark here," Leia points out. She stands up a little straighter. "You don't have to stay here if you don't like it."
"I like it," he assures her. There's something vaguely familiar about him, like something she once dreamed of, long ago, and when he holds out his hand, she barely hesitates before accepting it.
"Come on, let us go deliver you back to your mother," he says.
"She's teaching," Leia says. "What were you doing earlier, on the floor?"
"Meditating. It helps clear the mind and enhance focus."
Leia nods and doesn't say anything else until they've arrived back into the relative light of the main hall. She turns to face the man and asks, "What's your name?"
"Ben," he replies, after a brief moment of hesitation.
She can tell he's lying, just a little, but time with her aunts has taught her not to point out the half-truths and white lies unless she wants trouble. "Okay," she says instead. "I'm Leia."
He smiles down at her and pats her on the shoulder. "Nice to meet you, Leia. I'll see you later." He turns back to the dungeons and disappears into the darkness. She watches him go and has a feeling he already knew her name.
She visits him from time to time, during the free hours of her day when she's not under the care of one of her many tutors. He doesn't do much, just meditates and listens to her complain about her days' work. She's taught mostly about court etiquette, how to listen to her people and let them listen to her, how to blend into the background or stand in the spotlight, how to keep her ears open and her mouth shut when the time is right, and how to toe the line between standing for what is right and staying out of trouble.
In another lifetime, this all would have been for her destiny as a princess of Alderaan. Except this is not her destiny, not in this lifetime, and instead this is to keep her out of suspicion, out of trouble with the Empire.
"I don't know why I need to know any of this," she huffs, leaning against the bars. "I don't want to be a princess who holds her tongue and silently stands in the background."
"You'll understand when the time comes," Ben says sagely, and he returns to his deep meditative state.
She wishes he would say more. She wishes the time would come sooner than later. She's too bright, she hears her tutors tell her parents. Too busy reading history and mechanics and fiction to study what she is being taught. An inquisitive mind seeking all answers within her grasp, though not ones she should seek just yet.
She is thirteen and skipping one of her lessons on the finer politics of the Senate when she hears of Grand Moff Tarkin's official visit to Alderaan. Her father warns her to stay in her room, hidden from sight and away from Tarkin.
"He is not a man you would like to meet," he says, the faintest quiver of dread in his voice, but it is not enough to keep Leia from sneaking around in the familiar halls of her home to eavesdrop. It is then, listening to their conversation, to Tarkin's cold and sinister voice talking about the deeds of the Empire that she starts to understand the importance of her lessons - they're weapons, of sorts, against the system. The way to beat it is to join it.
She becomes a junior legislator for her father the very next day, and never misses a lesson after that.
She is fourteen when her mother finally leads her down to the dungeons, stopping just short of Ben's cell to put her hands on her shoulders and say, "Whatever you learn here, you must not tell anyone. Understand?"
Leia gives her a firm nod. She's a little older now, a little more mature, and a little more aware of what is going on around her. "I understand," she says.
She waits until her mother is gone to enter the cell. Ben stands up and gives her a slight bow. "Princess."
"Master Jedi," she greets in return, and smirks slightly at the surprise in Ben's expression.
"I thought I was doing well keeping it a secret," he admits, slightly humorous. "How did you find out?"
"I read a lot," Leia replies. "And the meditating was a dead giveaway."
"Of course it was." He sits down in the center of the room and Leia follows suit. "You're a very perceptive child, young one. Not much can get past you."
"I know. My father thinks he's hiding it well, but I haven't missed the secret meetings behind closed doors, the supply shipments not on record, the hidden communicators - he's working with rebels, isn't he?"
Ben gives her a slight smile. "What do you think?"
Leia hesitates a moment. "I think that whatever it is he's doing, it's very dangerous, and I would like to help in whatever way I can."
"That's a good answer," Ben says. "Your mother would be proud."
Leia lets out a laugh. "She'd rather I focus on my language lessons and finding a husband than whatever Father is doing in the Senate."
Ben shakes his head. "I'm sure she would be proud too, but I meant your birth mother."
She takes a second to register Ben's words before giving a tentative reply. "You - knew my mother?"
He nods, his smile more wistful than sad as he lets out a slow sigh. "She was an outstanding woman, truly. A great politician and a good friend."
"What was her name?"
He tells her, and Leia makes a mental note to find every archive available on Padmé Amidala. "What about my father?"
Ben stiffens at this, and Leia's first instinct is to think that he may be her father - but it doesn't feel right, for surely she would've known from the moment they met if there were some familial bond between them. And surely he would not have hidden himself from her for so long, if he were related to her.
"I don't think that is a topic I'm ready to discuss just yet," Ben finally says.
Leia nods and sits back as he clears his throat and starts to tell her of the Force.
Her father finally tells her of the rebellion when she's fifteen years old and a proper aide in the Senate. He sits her down and looks her in the eye and makes her promise not to reveal training or Ben to anyone at all.
"There are too many ears, too many potential spies to be comfortable disclosing such information," he says to her, squeezing her shoulders. "You must be cautious."
"I am," she promises, and he pulls her into a tight hug before letting her resume her duties.
She meets Rex first, one night when her father is transporting him along with medical supplies to a remote outpost in Ryloth. She sits with him in the back and watches him dismantle and clean his blaster before putting it back together. It takes all her self-control not to blurt it out - she's fifteen after all, too old to have her lack of social subtleties excused - but he looks at her and she says it anyway.
"You're a clone, aren't you?"
Rex gives her a wiry grin. "Took you that long to figure it out, huh?"
"I thought all the clones were under control of the Empire," she says.
"All the troopers, maybe, but not all the clones." He absently rubs his blaster and puts it aside. "They put a chip in us to control us and use us against our Jedi generals - you know about the Clone Wars, yeah?"
Leia nods. "Order Sixty-Six."
"That's the one," he sighs. "My group and I, we managed to take ours out before the war ended. Some others took it out after, but it was too late for their Jedi." He shakes his head, slowly, and Leia wonders if it’s because of the Force or the sheer intensity of his emotions that she can feel his sadness in the air.
She puts a hand on his shoulder and stays by his side until they land.
"Good luck," she tells him as he unloads the cargo. "May the Force be with you."
He smiles back. "May the Force be with you, too."
Her studies continue to go well - she reads, goes riding, practices her self-defense training, and learns from Ben in her spare time. He doesn't teach her much, though; only things like meditation, calming herself, moving things with her mind.
"Shouldn't you be teaching me more?" she asks him often. He rarely gives a response, until finally, while they take a quiet stroll across the estate. The surrounding areas are filed with little besides trees and snow and mountains, letting them walk together without fear of being caught.
"I mean, meditation is good and all," she continues, "but while I'm here clearing my mind, people like Grand Moff Tarkin are killing people in the name of the Empire. I can't sit idly by while things like this are happening."
"Patience, young one," Ben replies. He pauses a moment, then adds, "You should know, I am not your true master."
Leia blinks, brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, it is only my destiny to teach you how to control your powers," he says. "Not how to use them."
"Then - whose destiny is it?"
"I will tell you when the time comes."
Leia lets out a groan. "Being a Jedi is just loads of sitting and waiting for the right time, isn't it?"
Ben doesn't respond, but the smile on his face is answer enough, and Leia rolls her eyes. They walk around for a while more until Leia asks another question.
"How did you manage to escape Order Sixty-Six?"
Ben hesitates a slight moment, but instead of telling her he couldn't answer, he says, "My commander was given the order to shoot me down, but instead he shoot my steed and I managed to survive. He's an excellent shot, so it could've been a conscious decision, but I've never gotten the chance to ask him. Or thank him."
It's the only time he's spoken of the war and, just like Rex, Leia can feel its toll on him. She takes his hand and they finish their walk in silence.
She's almost sixteen when she meets another clone. Her father and Rex bring him down to the dungeon in the dead of night and Leia follows the trail of dried blood the next morning to find Ben's bed occupied by the mystery clone. He looks a little like Rex, like any clone would, except for the scar by his eye and the grey hair on his head. His torso is bandaged up and arm wrapped across it, blood barely leaking through.
He looks up when she walks inside and gives her a small smile. "Hey, you must be Kenobi's new Padawan, huh?"
She nods and steps inside, holding out her hand. "Princess Leia Organa."
"CC-2224, but call me Cody." He takes her hand and leans back. "So, what have you been learning?"
"Besides meditation techniques?" Leia replies, and Cody laughs. "He's going to teach me some basic lightsaber stances soon."
"That's good," he nods. "I don't know how many times those things have saved my skin and plenty others." He sits up straighter, grunting under his breath, and reaches for his blaster. "Anyone ever taught you how to use one of these?"
Leia shakes her head.
"Lightsabers are fine and all, but you're in trouble if you lose yours - and believe me," he says with a slight smirk, "even Kenobi has lost his when he needed it most. But as for blasters, everyone and their mother across the galaxy has one and they all run on the same basic principle." He examines the blaster for a few moments. "Hey, why don't you bring over some spare parts or something, so we can use them as target practice."
Leia grins and runs out, returning with an armful of faulty butler droid arms and pieces of a long discarded protocol droid. Cody turns out to be an excellent instructor, and by the end of the day he tells her she has the makings of an excellent marksman.
Ben comes out to watch them at one point, taking a break from the secret meetings and the meditations. Cody shoots him a grin and he smiles back and Leia thinks Ben finally got the chance to see his commander again.
"Just remember to practice every day, all right?" Cody makes her promise when they're back in the cells.
She nods, holding the blaster close to her chest. "You're leaving tonight?"
"Yeah," he sighs. "I've got some intel the rebels need and the sooner they get it, the better." He pauses a moment and ruffles her hair. "But I'll try to stay in touch, yeah?"
They hug each other goodbye and Leia watches her father's ship leave from her window the next morning.
"There are two polarizing sides of the Force," Ben tells her, as she blocks blasts from the training probe. The blast shield obscures her vision but his voice rings out clearly. "The Light side, and the Dark side."
"The Jedi and the Sith, right?" Leia asks, deflecting another shot. She pulls off her helmet and lets the probe fall to the floor. "I know about the Clone Wars, how the Jedi were defending good."
"Not exactly." He sits down on the floor beside her and takes a moment before continuing. "It's a complex matter, young Padawan, especially in the context of the Clone Wars. Jedi were supposed to be peacekeepers and defend the galaxy, and we also were supposed to suppress our emotions and resist earthy attachments."
"It was hard to care about the people you were saving?"
Ben shakes his head. "It was hard not to care about them." He pauses again. "Say, for example, someone you cared deeply about - your parents, your family - say they were in danger. Would you not think it right to do whatever it is in your power to save them?"
"Yes," Leia replies. "I would do anything."
"What if it meant killing someone? What if it meant going down the deepest, darkest roads, at the risk of yourself and possibly others to ensure their safety?" Before Leia could think of a response, Ben continues. "Consider the other side - what if saving them meant possible destruction of yourself, others, the entire galaxy? Would you be able to make that kind of sacrifice?"
"I..." Leia blinks and Ben looks down at her with a sad smile. "Just something to think about, Leia. You must always know what your limits are, and you must know what the consequences will be for crossing them." He stands up and holds out his hand. "Come now, let us finish today's training."
She only tells Ben the details of her mission on Lothal. Her mother had been worried enough when she learned that the mission would be aiding the rebels on a planet controlled by the Empire and their reunion hug had lasted quite a while in Leia's opinion, though it wasn't unwelcome.
"I didn't tell them about you," Leia says, "but... I think you should help them."
Ben raises a brow. "Leia, I am a highly wanted fugitive from the Empire. It would be more dangerous to have me with them and that is saying something, considering the danger they get themselves into."
"I know," she says. "But, well, I've been hearing some rumors in the Senate. The problem with the rebels seems to be growing and... they're going to send Grand Admiral Thrawn after them."
He's silent for a long while, and Leia lets out a sigh of relief when he nods. "I'll talk to your father about it."
It's less than a day later when she sees him again, packing his few belongings. Her lightsaber is set on the bed and she waves it over and tucks it into her belt.
"I'm leaving tonight with your father," he tells her. "Your mother is sending one of her students with me. Young, but strong-minded and excellent with a blaster. Reminds me of somebody else I know."
Leia laughs and he smiles and puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You've grown up to be a wonderful princess and an excellent Jedi. I am proud to have been your master." He gives her shoulder a tight squeeze. "You can always reach out to me through the Force, whenever you need to."
"I will," she promises. She's prepared to hug him goodbye but he puts his free hand on her other shoulder and crouches down before her.
"If you're ever in trouble and you can't contact me," he says, "get the droid R2-D2 and send him to Tatooine. Someone will make sure he gets to me."
Leia nods and Ben pulls her into a hug, wrapping his arm tightly around her. "May the Force be with you, Master," she says quietly.
"And you, young one. I will miss you." He kisses her head and goes, and Leia stays alone in the room for a little while longer before leaving it behind.
She spends her seventeenth birthday in the Senate archives, the first time she's been able to go without any escort to look up files during the time of the Clone Wars - specifically, Senator Amidala and her addresses to the Senate.
According to the accounts, her speeches sparked in the hearts of the people. Padmé used words like a weapon, and Leia had no idea how to accomplish such a thing.
She rubs her face and stares at her mother's picture, lost in thought and missing the presence right behind her.
"She was quite the speaker," Mon Mothma says.
Leia nearly jumps and turns around, face slightly flushed. "I - yes, I heard so from my father." Mothma smiles at her and Leia relaxes fractionally. While her father frequently dealt with the senator, Leia herself has no idea what her allegiances are.
As if sensing her worries, Mothma leans forward and whispers, "Ben sends his love," and Leia resists the urge to grin.
"If you can, send some from me," Leia replies and Mothma chuckles softly. She takes a seat beside Leia and plays the fragment of Padmé's speech.
"Padmé did have a wonderful way with words and worked tirelessly in the Senate," Mothma says. "Though I hear you're also looking like quite the politician, aren't you?"
Leia nods. "My father lets me go on relief missions on my own, though I've never actually given a speech or made policy or anything real politicians do."
Mothma lets out a sigh. "You'll find that most 'real' politicians don't do half the things you've described." She looks back at the image of Padmé and then back to Leia. "But, if you really want to, I believe I can be of some assistance in that aspect."
"Really?" Leia asks.
Mothma turns the screen off and gestures for Leia to follow her. They walk down the secluded hallways and into her chambers. Leia stands quietly by the door while she goes to her desk and pulls out a holovid. "This was one of her more famous speeches, during the military funding debate."
Leia's eyes widen. "I didn't think there were any full copies of her speeches."
"I had one made, after she'd delivered it," Mothma says, a nostalgic tint to her smile. "She and I worked very closely during the Clone Wars. I'd like to think I knew her well." She hands Leia the vid and pauses for a brief moment. "You know, I am working on a bill to provide some relief aid to the Outer Rim systems. I could use an assistant, if you'd -”
"Yes," Leia says. She clears her throat. "I mean, uh, I would be honored to, Senator."
Mothma smiles down at her and Leia gives her an excited grin. She can't wait to get started.
Leia is eighteen when she meets the Emperor. Finally a proper senator with all these ideas for change and democracy, like her mother before her, but none of her ideas can be implemented without speaking directly to him. She's long since realized that there are few senators who actually want to bring about a difference in the galaxy.
Her father forbids her from seeing him for the longest time before relenting. "You must be careful, Leia," he tells her, and there is genuine fear in him as he holds her arms and looks straight into her eyes. "You must be conscious of what you are doing, say nothing that could provoke him, and above all, you must not make him suspicious of you."
She nods and agrees readily, an uneasy feeling developing in her stomach. She pushes it away and goes back to her work.
She gets a group meeting, along with all the other new senators, and has a comprehensive list of all the ideas and projects she wishes to get started when.
When he enters and all the air rushes out of her body.
He's ancient, disfigured (an accident with the Jedi, so he claims), and there is an intense darkness emitting from him that Leia is quite certain comes from the Dark side of the Force. She takes a deep breath and tries to keep her presence as unnoticeable as possible.
It is the hardest thing she's ever done.
The meeting is halfway over and all Leia has managed to do is nod along to whatever he has been saying when he steps out to speak to someone and in enters his right hand, Darth Vader.
Leia has only ever heard of rumors, whispers in secret of a man more machine than organic who can use dark arts to torment one's mind and kill them without laying a finger on their person. She looks up at him, resisting a shudder when she hears the mechanical breathing, and doesn't avert her gaze when he looks straight at her.
There's something familiar about him, she thinks, but the feeling passes as soon as he looks away.
Once the meeting is finally done, she heads off to her ship and meditates, reaching out for Ben's mind as she grabs her communicator. She feels him in her head and can almost see him, sitting in an unknown location with his back to the wall and his legs folded under him as he meditates.
The communicator turns on and Leia can hear the smile in his voice. "Leia, nice to hear from you. You've gotten rather good at communicating through the Force."
"I'm practicing," Leia responds. "Master, you didn't tell me that the Emperor is a kriffing Sith!"
"Watch your language, Padawan," he says, pursing his lips. "I didn't expect you to come into contact with him. Are you all right? Did he notice anything strange about you?"
"I didn't really pay attention - I was too busy trying to make my presence unknown so he wouldn't realize I was a Jedi!" Her fear and anger begin to flare, bubbling under her skin and slowly pushing out. She takes a calming breath and tries again. "Sorry, it was just... It was hard. So much darkness."
"I'm sorry you were subject to that, Leia," Ben says, with real sympathy. "I thought it best not to tell you until you were ready, but, well, I've been wrong before about things like that."
"It was bad enough with him, but then Darth Vader was also there," she sighs.
"Darth Vader?" Ben asks. "I didn't think you'd ever have to meet him."
"Do you know anything about him?"
"Nothing I can tell you yet," Ben says carefully. "Not now."
"Master, you thought the same about the Emperor," Leia huffs.
Ben sighs. "You do make a good point... We'll see how it goes the next time we see each other face to face."
Leia nods. "Hopefully soon. I haven't seen you in a while."
"I miss you too, Leia," he smiles. "May the Force be with you." He shuts off the communicator and Leia is left alone.
She's nineteen when her patience with the Senate runs out. There's only so much of political stagnation one can handle before frustration and desire for something to change become too much.
"There is so much strife and discord here," Leia complains to Mothma. They'd traveled to the Imperial Palace together for the ball and left early, once the Imperial cadets started drinking more than they could handle. "I mean, it's one thing ignoring all of my work and labeling me a good-for-nothing princess, but it's another blatantly ignoring the reasons for all the suffering in the galaxy!"
"You would've been a riot at the ball, had we stayed," Mothma replies dryly.
"I would've killed everyone there," Leia huffs. "Literally no one publicly supported my speech on increasing the relief missions to the neglected planets."
"I did," Mothma interjects.
Leia rolls her eyes. "You don't count." She laughs as Mothma gives her a halfhearted shove before sighing. "I just wish there was something real I could do."
Mothma looks away, fiddling with her hands slightly. "Well, I wasn't going to mention it without speaking to your father, but there are a couple of things we need help with."
"Like what?" Leia leans forward.
"We're moving our base, for one thing, to a more secure location, where we can work a little more comfortably. And..."
Leia leans closer. "And?"
Mothma looks at her. "It would be a very dangerous mission, even with your limited role in it. You might not even be needed, honestly."
"I don't care," Leia says. "I want to help. What is it that I have to do?"
She thinks her father's head might explode when she tells him.
"No," he says. "Not under any circumstances. You will not be involved in this. I promised Ben and I promised Padmé that I would keep you safe and so, I will keep you safe." He walks away with an angry huff. "Talk some sense into her, Breha."
Her mother looks at her with a quiet expression. "Leia, your father is very concerned about your safety."
"I know, Mother," Leia says. "But I know this is something I have to do. I can feel it."
There's a quiet pause. "You'll make certain to stay safe?"
"Yes," Leia promises.
Her mother walks over and pulls her into an embrace. "You've grown so much, Leia." She kisses the top of her head. "If you feel this is something you must do, then I won't stop you."
They look over to her father, who's considerably calmer but no less worried. "I'm not going to be happy about it, but fine. I'll give you a cruiser and two of my best droids." He walks over and puts a hand on Leia's back. "Don't take any unnecessary risks. If you find you need to abort, then abort. Don't put your life in danger if you don't have to."
"I won't," she says, wiping the few tears from her eyes, and he kisses her head.
"May the Force be with you, my child."
She thinks about this moment, when their ship is intercepted by the Devastator and she can feel the presence of Darth Vader from within. She wishes she could apologize to her parents, tell them not to worry, that she'd make it out alive and safe in the end.
She takes the plans and gives them to R2-D2. "Go to Tatooine," she instructs. "Get these to someone who knows - knows Obi-Wan Kenobi." She wishes she could reach out to Ben and let him know she's in trouble but then she feels it, feels Vader entering her ship and knows it's too late.
She can only hope that the droid makes it to the Rebel Alliance, that what she's done won’t be in vain.
Leia doesn't cry, not when they start torturing her, not when she comes face to face with Tarkin and Vader, not when they blow up the only home she's ever known and she can hear the cries and the screams, not when she can feel her parents there one second and gone the next, not when she realizes that she'll never be able to tell them she loves them.
She does cry, a little, when they move her back to her cell and leave her there until her execution. She sheds a few tears, wipes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and starts to plan her escape.
They took away her blasters when they'd captured her but her lightsaber remains safely hidden in her robes (it was always risky, using Jedi mind tricks around Stormtroopers, never knowing if one of them would be smart enough to realize what was happening). She wonders if Vader would be able to sense her if she used the Force to see how many guards were stationed outside her cell.
She feels Ben's presence a while later, familiar and comfortable, but resists the urge to reach out to him and tell him where she is - it'd be too risky, with Vader likely tracking his movements. He could be captured, she thinks, gripping her lightsaber hard and waiting for the door to open.
There are sounds of a scuffle outside, blasters firing and consoles exploding, until the door opens and she's face to face with a trooper. She takes her helmet off and holds out her hand. "Your Highness. Evaan Verlaine, I'm here to rescue you."
"Highness?" Leia frowns. "Who are you?"
"I'm here to rescue you," she repeats. "We're here with Master Kenobi."
"Ben," Leia says, whispering it almost like a prayer. He wasn't captured, he was here to rescue her. "Where is he?"
"Come on," Evaan gestures her along and they run out of the cell together, straight into a man and a Wookie running toward them.
"Can't get out that way," the man says.
"Looks like you managed to cut off our only escape route," Leia says.
He turns around and gives her a look. "Maybe you'd like it back in your cell, Your Highness," he snaps. Before either of them can say anything else, Stormtroopers start shooting and they're pushed further back. Evaan talks to C-3PO through her communicator and Leia borrows her blaster.
These troopers are terrible shots, she thinks, but still, she manages to knock only a few down by the time Evaan is done.
"There isn't any other way out, Han," she says.
"Some rescue this is," Leia grumbles. "When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?"
"She's the brains, sweetheart," Han gestures to Evaan.
Evaan, to her credit, looks sheepish enough. "Sorry, ma'am, I didn't expect - " She's cut off by the sound of Leia shooting open the garbage chute, dangerously close to where Han is standing.
He jumps and glares at her. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Somebody has to save our skins," she says, jumping over to his side. "Into the garbage chute, flyboy." It's only after she jumps in that it occurs to her that this may be a bad idea, but it's too late for second guessing herself.
The Wookie and Evaan fall in moments later, one roaring and the other wrinkling her nose when the smell hits them. "This is disgusting," she mumbles.
She moves over and struggles to open the hatch as Han lands down. "Oh! The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea," he says sarcastically. "What an incredible smell you've discovered!"
Leia has half a mind to push him straight into the watery muck but instead raises her hand and uses the Force to pull open the hatch.
"You were saying?" she smirks at Han as she pulls him out of the chute.
He grumbles to himself and dusts off his armor. "Lead the way, Your Worship."
It takes a long while to reach Han's ship - a rather decrepit old thing that looks like it'll fall apart if she should so much as breathe on it. But Han seems strangely proud of it and Ben seemed to think it was good enough to ride so she goes along readily.
Her lips are still tingling, just a bit, from the kiss she gave Evaan. For luck, she had said, but honestly it had a little more to do with how kriffing hot she'd looked shooting at those troopers earlier. Not that Han isn't easy on the eyes - she doesn't know if she wants to kill him or kiss him. Probably not the best time to think about this, she thinks, and keeps on running.
They're running through the hangar, finally reunited with Han and his Wookie when she spots them in the distance - Vader and Ben.
Time seems to slow down for Leia as she watches troopers rush to the dueling men, the sounds of their clashing lightsabers echoing through the hangar.
He's going to sacrifice himself for us, Leia realizes, slowly. He's going to die so they can make it out alive.
Ben looks over at her, meeting her eyes, and time stops. She thinks about the late nights she spent in his makeshift room, watching him meditate. The long walks they took together as the sun set around them. The warm smile he'd give her as he called her Padawan. She'd already lost her parents today - she wasn't going to lose him too.
Leia picks up her blaster and shoots it square in Vader's chest. It knocks him back just a bit, but it's enough of a distraction for her to pull him over above the heads of the shocked troopers. They only start shooting when he's almost by the ship and he only gets a hit to his ankle before they're all running aboard the ship and flying to safety.
"So much for subtlety, huh?" Leia tries joking as she and Evaan seat him by the table.
"That was very dangerous of you, Leia," he says, before his gaze slowly softens. "But... Thank you."
"You're a real good shot, ma'am," Evaan says, lips quirking at the edges.
"I had a good teacher," she replies.
"If we're done with the bonding there," Han shouts from the cockpit, "I'd like to remind all of you that we're not out of this yet." He gets up and comes to the back. "Evaan, help Chewie fly us out of here. Old man, you just stay here and, well, whatever. And you, Your Highness..." he smirks and gestures to the gun ports. "Let's see what you've got."
"You've got guts, I'll give you that," he says, once the TIE fighters are down and they’re safely on their way.
"It's not enough to get comfortable yet," Leia says. "They're tracking us."
Han lets out a laugh. "Not this ship, sister."
Leia rolls her eyes. And just when she thought they could get along. "At least the information on R2 is still intact."
"What's he got that's so important?" Han asks.
"The technical readouts of that battle station," Leia tells him. "With any luck, we'll find a weakness. It's not over yet."
It's a relief to make it back to Yavin 4, Leia thinks. After everything that's happened, she would love a moment to just sit and reflect, but she knows there isn't time for that yet. Willard needs this information as fast as possible and it's their only chance of defeating this vile machine.
She finds him easily and he rushes over to give her a hug. She pulls back before it can last too long. "We don't have much time - our ship was likely tracked. We have to look at the information in this R2 unit to plan an attack. It's our only hope."
After the briefing, she finds Willard again and hesitates before asking, "Did - did the crew of the Ghost make it here? Or Rex and Cody?"
Willard lets out a sigh. "Rex and Cody are fine - they're on a supply run together. But the Ghost was in Alderaan when it..." he trails off and sighs again. "I'm sorry."
Leia swallows hard. "Oh. I... thank you for letting me know."
He pats her back comfortingly and walks off. In the distance, by the fighters, she sees Evaan and Han talking. She didn't think they were very close but it was apparent that they respected each other a great deal. Though she didn't think even that would be enough to keep Han from taking his money and leaving.
"You have little faith in him," Ben says, limping over to stand beside her.
"You shouldn't be up," Leia replies, crossing her arms.
Ben smiles a little and leans on the cane he was given. "You should give him some credit. People can always surprise you."
Leia looks at him, then back at Han and wonders. She meets up with Evaan before she heads to her fighter and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"I knew he wasn't going to stay," she says to her. "But I thought I could change his mind."
"It's fine." Leia squeezes her shoulder and kisses her cheek. "May the Force be with you, Evaan."
She runs into Wedge Antilles, quite literally, and the two step back and look at each other awkwardly. They had never interacted much before, but they did have something in common.
"I heard about the Ghost," Leia says softly.
"Yeah," he says. "It's bad, but we can't let that stop us, now can we?"
Leia shakes her head and they exchange brief smiles before parting ways.
(There is a fighter pilot named Biggs, who wouldn't meet an old friend of his from Tatooine who'd fight along his side and die saving him from Darth Vader. Instead he nods to Evaan as he walks by and heads into his fighter.)
The fight is as stressful in this universe as it is in any universe, though perhaps more so in this one.
In another lifetime, it would've been easy for a certain sandy haired boy from Tatooine to use the power of the Force to fire torpedoes into the reactor shaft and save the day. Here, Darth Vader comes out at the very beginning of the fight and destroys so many fighters, killing so many. But in this lifetime as well, Han Solo changes his mind earlier and comes back to save many lives that would've been lost, including the one of Biggs Darklighter.
In the end, it is the combined efforts of Evaan, Wedge, and Han that manage to destroy the Death Star, and Leia awards medals to all three of them for their services.
"I can't believe there's more to you than money," Leia jokes to Han when she sees him, right after the battle, before laughing as he gives her a playful shove.
It's a good day, she thinks. Despite all their losses, it's a good day.
After the ceremony, Evaan comes to speak with her in private. "Ma'am, if I might have a word -”
"Evaan, we were trapped in a garbage chute together," Leia says. "I think you've earned the right to call me by my first name."
"Leia, then."
"That's better," she smiles. "What is with the formality, anyway?"
She listens as Evaan tells her of her past and her concerns over Alderaan's future and, like in another lifetime, they go off on an adventure to find the remaining Alderaanians and rebuild their civilization.
It's a little harder this time around - the bounty on her head is much higher, as the Empire spreads the word that she is one of the last remaining Jedi and must be destroyed at all costs. But it's also a little easier for her and Evaan to escape from tight situations, for her to catch the inadvertent spy, and for her to win the trust of her people.
In one universe, Evaan stays with the Alderaanians and is elected their new Queen while Leia goes off to fight with the Alliance again. But in this one, Evaan smiles at her and says, "We were trapped in a garbage chute together. I think that's enough reason to stay by your side and see this through."
Leia thinks she's going to kiss her again and together they make it back to the Alliance's new base.
They keep fighting, the six of them – her, Evaan, Han, Chewie, 3PO, and R2; seven, if you count the few times Ben shows up and manages to get them out of tight scrapes; more, when they team up with the rest of the Alliance.
These new adventures aren’t as easy as fighting in the Death Star was, and they get increasingly harder as the Empire starts to close in on them. But when she jokes around with Evaan or trades insults with Han or fights alongside the both of them against an army of Stormtroopers, she feels invincible.
She's finally reunited with Rex and Cody in Echo Base, and they both give her a sizable hug when they see her. They're much older, she thinks, lines on the edges of their features and a weariness settling into their bones, but the smiles they give her seem as lively as her own.
“You’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you,” Cody grins, ruffling her hair again. Leia rolls her eyes and swats the hand away.
“I was much younger then,” she says. “I’m glad the rebellion has been treating you all right.”
“This isn’t our first battle against evil,” Rex says. “Though I’m sure this time, we’ll win.”
"I feel the same way," Leia smiles. She wishes she could stay for a while longer but there's work to be done and she can't delay.
Except she does delay when she overhears Han talking to Rieekan about leaving, ignoring her work for a moment so she can sneak a glance at them. Han walks over to her when he’s done and there’s an awkward moment.
“Well, Your Highness, I guess this is it,” he says.
“That’s right,” Leia says, not sure of what else to say. She knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before he finally decided to abandon their cause and go back to what he did best, but a part of her never thought that the day would actually come, that he’d actually leave behind all that they’d done together.
She can tell he’s a little upset by her response but, as always, masks his feelings with sarcasm and sulks off until she gets frustrated enough to go after him.
She sighs and goes to follow him. “Han!”
“Yes, Your Highnessness?’ he says, looking down at her.
Leia crosses her arms. “I know the bounty hunter in Ord Mantell scared you –“
“Scared me?” Han scoffs. “I’m not scared of anything!”
“Then why are you running away?”
“I’m not running away, I’m just…” he shrugs, then frowns. “Hey, don’t use any of those Jedi mind tricks on me, Princess.”
“I don’t need Jedi mind tricks with you, Han,” she replies with a roll of her eyes. “Come on, stay. We need you.”
“We need?”
“Yes.”
“What about you need?” he asks, pointing at her.
“I need?” This conversation seems to be going nowhere, she thinks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And maybe she doesn’t, or maybe she doesn’t want to admit that the playful banter and the near touches and looks they give each other might lead to something.
And then Han has to go and ruin the moment by making it all a joke and she storms away, angry and upset. Good riddance, she thinks. The rebellion doesn't need another asshole like him.
“He’s insufferable,” she complains to Ben.
Ben shrugs. “I think he likes you.”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” she mumbles, focusing back on setting up some more consoles.
She doesn't get any more time to think about it, not when Evaan goes missing and then Han and then the shield doors are closed and then there's nothing she can do but sit and try to feel them through the Force, hoping they're safe.
It almost makes her reconsider calling Han an asshole.
She finds them the following morning with the droids and Chewie in the recovery room. Evaan looks a little injured, a little sick, but thankfully alive.
"That's two you owe me, Verlaine," Han says.
"With the messes I've gotten you out of, I'm sure you owe me twenty," Evaan smirks.
Chewie lets out a roar and Han huffs, stifling a smile. “Fine, fine, just take it off my tab, then.” He turns around when Leia enters and gives her a smug look. “Well, Your Worship, looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer.”
“Yes, and it has nothing to do with the fact that General Rieekan thinks it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy shield,” Leia replies sarcastically.
“I knew it was because you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight.” He sits back smugly and Evaan gives an exaggerated eye roll behind him.
“I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain,” Leia says.
Chewie lets out a laugh and Han gives him a look. “Laugh it up, fuzzball. But you didn't see us alone in the south passage.” He stands up and puts an arm around her shoulder. “She expressed her true feelings for me.”
Leia gives him an incredulous look. And just when she thought they were getting back on the right track. He starts walking away and she tries to come up with some clever insult before the moment passes. “Why, you stuck up... half-witted... scruffy-looking... nerf-herder!”
He turns around, and for a split second, Leia thinks he might say something vaguely intelligent, when, “Who’s scruffy-looking?”
There’s a beat, then Evaan lets out a laugh. “God, that’s what you’re hung up, on?”
“Well, I mean – I’m not that unattractive, am I?” Han says.
Leia scoffs. “Insufferable is what you are.”
“Oh, please, Princess,” Han says, “I know you’ll miss me. Afraid I’m gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?”
“I’d just as soon as kiss a Wookie.”
“I can arrange that,” he shouts after her.
“You really don’t know anything about women,” Evaan says as the doors close.
There’s an alert only a few minutes later, where they find the droid and locate the Star Destroyers, and then all of a sudden it’s rushing around and fighting off AT-ATs and trying to get the ships safely out of harm’s way, all while the presence of Darth Vader looms over them, waiting to catch them off guard and destroy them.
She can feel him, his slow and steady breathing as he watches their ships fly away. He’s looking for something, she thinks. He’s looking for her.
Ben finds her right before his shuttle is supposed to take off, walking over with his cane and grabbing her shoulder. “Leia, do you remember when I told you that I was not your final master?”
Leia gives him a slow nod. “Yes, but –“
“It’s time,” he says. “Take R2-D2, go to Tatooine, land anywhere in the desert. They will find you.” He takes a deep breath. “Tell them I said hello. And – and tell them I’m sorry.”
“I will,” Leia says. “I’ll – I’ll see you soon, Master.”
“I’ll miss you too,” he smiles, and pulls her into a tight hug. They stay like that for a while until Cody calls him over and someone calls her over and they reluctantly part ways.
Evaan lands her X-Wing and she and Han are about to pull Leia onboard the Falcon when she tells them what Ben told her.
“You have to leave now?” Han says incredulously.
“Alone?” Evaan adds.
“I’ll be fine, I’m taking R2, he’ll fly the fighter for me,” Leia says. “And you were all prepared to never see me again.” She points at Han.
“I never said that,” he replies. He lets out a sigh. “Well – be safe, all right? May the Force be with you. Or whatever.”
“Don’t act like you don’t know what it is,” she says with no real venom, and nudges his shoulder.
She’s about to leave when Evaan pulls her over and kisses her on the lips. “For good luck,” she says softly.
Leia blinks and nods. “Uh, right. Thank you.” She gestures R2 along and runs off to get into Evaan’s X-Wing.
“And that’s how you’re supposed to do it,” she overhears Evaan telling Han.
“I’m just taking my time,” he huffs, and Evaan laughs.
Leia smiles. They’re going to be fine without her.
It doesn’t take them too long to get to Tatooine and they spend a while just flying over the ground, trying to decide where to land, when a powerful force suddenly pulls on the ship and then they’re landing in a small, stable piece of land.
Leia jumps out of the cockpit and watches as R2 removes himself from the ship and rushes over to a mysterious hooded figure standing before them. He beeps happily and the figure laughs.
“It’s great to see you too, R2,” she says. She removes her hood and smiles at Leia. “My name is Ahsoka Tano and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Leia.”
The very first thing Leia is taught is history. “You need to know the past if you are able to save the future,” her other master, Barriss Offee, tells her. She and Ahsoka had been living on Tatooine for some time now, running a small moisture farm in the middle of nowhere.
Ahsoka passes her a bowl of something green and sits across from her. “The story of how all of this happened started long before the end of the Clone Wars. It started here, on Tatooine, with a slave named Anakin Skywalker.”
And so Leia learns of the boy who would become Darth Vader, a boy full of promise and love, controlled by deceit and manipulation, who just wanted to save his wife.
“His wife was Padmé Amidala,” Barriss says. “Which makes Vader –“
“No,” Leia says.
Barriss just raises a brow before continuing. “You will have to face him and the Emperor if the galaxy is ever able to have peace.”
“We wouldn’t be putting this big of a task on your shoulders if we had any other choice,” Ahsoka says, and there is real sorrow in her eyes. Leia can see the years in exile weighing down on both of them, the weariness and the exhaustion. “Our fight is over, but we’ll make sure you are prepared to face whatever comes your way.”
Her training is much different than what she’s used to from Ben. Then, it was just basic training for no real reason (or so she thought) other than for the sake of learning it. Now, it’s not simple exercises and basic meditation (and it’s not running through a swamp and standing on your head).
It’s sparring against Barriss and her two lightsabers, feeling the Force with Ahsoka and learning how to use it to her advantage – there aren’t many new skills but it’s a steady improvement on her old ones.
They spend their evenings together, the four of them in a quiet and intimate setting. Ahsoka tells stories of the Clone Wars and her Padawan training and Barriss laughs at her wife’s antics and watching the two of them, Leia can almost forget the horrors of the world outside and thinks fondly of Han and Evaan.
(She misses them.)
“Why don’t you talk about Anakin?” Leia asks one evening, while she and Ahsoka are sitting outside under the cool desert moon, watching the stars. “You talked about his past, about your time with him, but never actually him. What was he like?”
At first, she thinks Ahsoka won’t say anything, like how Ben never talked about him, but she lets out a sigh. “He was always in a rush. Never sitting still, always moving from mission to mission, and never sticking with whatever game plan anyone made - even his own.” She let out a soft chuckle. “He was funny, too. Cracking jokes with Rex and the rest of the gang, making fun of Obi-Wan every once in a while…”
“He sounds nice,” Leia says softly.
“Yeah,” Ahsoka says. “I could go on, about how loyal and selfless he was, how much faith he put in people, his strong convictions and belief in right and wrong…” She sighs. “He would’ve been a great dad if he’d gotten to raise you.”
She looks over at Leia. “There is still some good in him, Leia. All the things he’s doing – it’s not all because he wants to. I mean, he only did this because he thought Padmé was going to die. The real Anakin is in there, somewhere.”
She looks so hopeful, so certain that there is still hope for him, that Leia finds herself wanting to believe too. But she thinks about the destruction of Alderaan, of how he was about to kill Ben, of the man he choked right in front of her, and wonders if maybe he’s too far gone.
She’s meditating with Ahsoka, eyes closed and lost in thought, when she sees it – flashes of pain, a city in the sky, Darth Vader looming over her friends, he raises his hand and –
Leia lets out a gasp and opens her eyes.
“I saw it too,” Ahsoka says. “Your friends are in danger.”
“I have to save them,” Leia says. She swallows hard. “But – what if it’s a trap?”
“It’s definitely a trap,” Ahsoka leans over and puts a hand on her shoulder. “But I have enough faith in you to know you’ll get them out alive.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to do that,” Leia says.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” Ahsoka assures her.
“Because Anakin is my father?”
She shakes her head. “Because Padmé is your mother.”
Leia seeks out Vader and finds herself in the Bespin system, making her way down to Cloud City. She feels him, somewhere deeper in the bowels of the city, and starts to make her way inside. It’s unusual to encounter no guards – he must be expecting her.
“This is definitely a trap,” she mumbles, and R2 beeps beside her.
They stay quiet, wanting to avoid unnecessary confrontations, when she hears footsteps and sees some Stormtroopers and someone who’s likely a bounty hunter escorting some big grey slab. The troopers open fire and she knocks them down easily but not quickly enough and the bounty hunter shoots a chunk out of the wall before she could get a good look at what he was carrying.
She has a bad feeling about that slab, and something jerks in her chest when she thinks about it.
She and R2 make their way down another hallway and she spots Evaan, Chewie, and 3PO being herded down along a corridor.
“Evaan!” she shouts without thinking and tries to use the Force to knock out a few troopers.
“Leia! It’s a trap!” Evaan shouts back, but before she can say more, she’s dragged through a doorway and pulled out of sight.
“Dammit,” Leia mumbles and rushes after them. She thinks she’s getting close when – when she can feel him, Vader, close by. She takes a deep breath and calms herself, rubbing the hilt of her lightsaber.
“R2, you go after them,” she instructs. “I have some business to take care of.” She goes through a door and it closes behind her.
Fighting Vader is nothing like fighting Ben, where each movement is careful and controlled, or Barriss, whose sabers dance and strike like a surprise. Vader hits where he sees an opening and doesn’t stop hitting. (It reminds her a little of Ahsoka but she can’t think of that because if she thinks of that she’ll think of Anakin)
“You have learned much,” he says, and Leia can’t help but smirk.
“You’ll find I’m full of surprises,” she replies and strikes again.
He tries to intimidate her, to push her back and get her on the defensive. “Obi-Wan has taught you well.”
“He taught you well too,” Leia says and she sees the way Vader hesitates before she strikes him back and moves away from the carbonite pit.
The fight goes on. She doesn’t realize how hard she’s hit Vader with those few words until she sees she’s kept him on the defensive for so long, until he regains his footing and hits her back harder than ever. They fight their way through until they’re on the narrow platform of the reactor shaft, neither side ready to give up.
In another lifetime, there would be a sandy-haired boy here, who’d lose his lightsaber and his hand, and learn the truth of his heritage. But instead here is Leia, lightsaber extended at the man she knows is her father, eyes full of passion and determination.
“Don’t make me destroy you,” he says. “Not the way I have destroyed your planet. You have much potential in you, Leia.” He extends his hand. “Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”
Leia can’t help it – she lets out a laugh. “You really think that after all you’ve done – after killing my family, destroying my home, destroying the entire galaxy – I’d join you in the Dark side?” Her emotions bubble under her skin and she wants to lash out, wants to strike him down and end him, but she knows she should not. There’s another way she can win this fight.
Vader lowers his hand but he doesn’t swing his saber, not yet. “Obi-Wan has poisoned your mind against me. You do not know his treachery, the things the Jedi have done in the name of peace.” He spits out the last word with as much venom as he can.
“Obi-Wan told me enough,” Leia says. “But I didn’t learn it all from him. Ahsoka told me about what happened, all those years ago.”
And then, for a second, she feels it – something shifting in Vader, something underneath him making its way up. She lowers her saber slightly. “I know what happened – with Padmé, with Ahsoka, with Obi-Wan. The Emperor poisoned you against them, made you think that they were the ones who were evil. And yeah, the Jedi weren’t that great so it was easy for him to manipulate you. To turn you against them.”
She takes a deep breath and thinks for a moment. About the sad smile Ben gave her when he spoke of Anakin, of Ahsoka’s expression when she thought of him and all the good he was capable of, of her father’s few stories of his dealings with Ben and Anakin during the Clone Wars, and of her mother, the few feelings she has of her, the little she knows about her.
“They know you’ve done terrible things,” she says, “but they still believe that there’s a way for you to help us, to end this. I’m not saying you’ll be forgiven, but… But you can help us end what you started.”
There’s a heavy beat of silence, and Leia thinks she might die within the next couple of seconds.
“Go,” he says after a moment.
Leia blinks. “What?”
“Your ship is still in the hangar and – and R2 is waiting for you,” he says. His voice cracks when he says R2’s name and she knows this is not a trick. “Go.”
“What about you?” Leia asks.
“Leave me,” he says. “Just get out of here. Go!”
Leia goes.
She finds R2 in the hangar with the X-Wing still untouched and they meet up with the Falcon at the rendezvous point with the rest of the rebels.
Evaan finds her and pulls her into a tight hug and Chewie pulls her into a tighter hug. “Where’s Han?” she asks and Evaan scoffs.
“Ask him,” she gestures to an unfamiliar man.
“Lando Calrissian,” he introduces himself, then launches into an explanation (with interjections from Evaan, Chewie, and 3PO) as to what happened.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Leia tells him. “I get the sacrifices you must make to protect your people.” She pats his shoulder. “You said they were taking him to Tatooine?”
Lando nods. “Yeah, to Jabba the Hutt.”
“In that case, there’s nothing to worry about,” Leia says, a slight curve to her lips. “I’ll go bring him back.”
Chewie lets out a roar and Evaan scoffs. “You’re not going alone – we’re coming too.”
Leia shakes her head. “You guys have faced enough in the past couple of days. Besides, I have someone who’s got a score to settle with Jabba.”
“Be careful,” Evaan says and Leia kisses her cheek.
“Come on, R2,” she gestures him along. “We’ve got to go rescue my favorite idiot.”
She takes him out of carbonite once Ahsoka and Barriss have cleared the palace, grabbing him before he falls to the floor. “Come on, flyboy, I’m here to take you home.”
He lets out a groan and rubs his eyes. “Leia? Came to rescue me?”
“Yup,” she smiles. “Turned out that I really didn’t want you leaving without a goodbye kiss.”
“Well, sucks for you because I’m not leaving even if you –“ he’s cut off by Leia hugging him within an inch of his life.
“It’s good to have you back, Han,” she whispers quietly and he smiles.
“It’s good to be back,” he says.
She helps him up and they make their way slowly out of Jabba’s palace. “I guess this ends my successful smuggling career,” he laments.
“If it was so successful, how did you wind up with a huge bounty on your head?” Leia asks.
“That’s ‘cause I hang out with crazy people like you.”
She laughs and pats his back. “I’m glad you do.”
He recovers nicely back at the moisture farm, letting Barriss help him around while Leia tells Ahsoka of what happened in Cloud City.
Ahsoka looks thoughtful, rubbing her chin absently. “This is… surprising. He just let you go?”
Leia nods. “I don’t know where he is now.”
“Could’ve just been a moment of weakness,” she trails off and looks at Leia. “But I can tell there’s something on your mind. Go ahead, ask me.”
“Why don’t you two work with the Alliance?” Leia asks. “I know you said your war is over but Rex and Cody and Ben are still all fighting for the galaxy and I know you two would rather do that than be here on Tatooine, far from the action, far from taking fate into your own hands.”
“We’ll think about it,” Ahsoka says, and after some quiet deliberation with Barriss in the night, they leave the farm in the morning and go with them to the Rebel base.
Leia is a bit guilty for getting the two of them to come out of what is essentially retirement, but she changes her mind when their shuttle docks and she and Ahsoka exit to see Ben waiting for them.
They exchange a quiet look before Ahsoka runs over and wraps her arms around him and Leia can see the tears in his eyes as he holds her with the strength of a man much younger.
They speak to each other in hushed tones and Leia gives them their privacy. She can’t imagine how it must feel, to see someone you haven’t seen in years and finally get the chance to be with them again. She thinks of her father and the last time she saw him and wipes her eyes.
(“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan says, still unable to pull away.
“I know,” Ahsoka says with a little laugh. “You’ve told R2 to tell me, you’ve told Leia to tell me.”
He smiles softly. “I don’t think I can say it enough, considering what happened after.”
“Now’s not the time for thinking about past mistakes,” she says, finally letting him go. She wipes her eyes and looks over at Leia and Evaan and Han, all hugging each other and chatting animatedly. “I’m glad you sent her to me. She’s really something.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten the chance to meet her if you hadn’t managed to get R2 to me safely,” he says. “I tried contacting you when I found him, but…”
“I didn’t want to be found, then,” she admits. “We weren’t ready yet, Barriss and I, to get back into the saving the galaxy business.”
“Well,” he sighs, “I guess the Force had other plans for us.” He shakes his head. “I just hope that these kids can fix our mistakes.”
“I think they can.” She catches Leia’s eye and smiles at her. “I have faith in them.”)
Leia tells the gang about what she’s learned about Vader and they react as well as she’d expected.
Chewie roars in disbelief, at the same time as Evaan and Han start shouting about how crazy and ridiculous Leia’s actions were and why the hell did she do what she did and how the kriff was she still alive while 3PO starts calculating how impossible the odds were for her survival and –
“Okay, everyone, calm down,” Leia says, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “Look, what matters is that I’m alive and we’re all together.” She takes a deep breath. “I told you this because I trust you all – with more than my life. We’ve been through so much together and, well I – I wanted you all to know what you’re getting into.”
“If that’s code for ‘leave me alone’ then we’d like to respectfully decline,” Evaan says. “So just tell us – what’s the plan?”
“We keep working,” Leia says. “Even though Vader let me live and knows who I am, it doesn’t mean he’s any less committed to destroying us and the rest of the Rebel Alliance.”
“So that’s what we’re doing, then, huh?” Han asks. “We just keep working?”
“We keep working,” Leia repeats.
He nods and pats her shoulder. “All right, then. We keep working.”
And that’s what they do. They keep working, all of them together, just like before, except there is a lingering feeling of something approaching, of the heavy presence of the Empire breathing down their necks, waiting to strike.
(There are whispers, few and far in between, rumors that Darth Vader has been absent from the construction of the new Death Star, that he gives fewer orders, spends less time with the Emperor. That he’s drifting away from the Empire.
Leia doesn’t linger on these rumors and keeps her head on straight.)
It hits her all at once when she’s on Endor, standing outside the small Ewok huts and staring up at the sky. Han and Evaan, because they love her, come outside a few moments later. She turns to face them.
“Vader’s here,” she says quietly.
Han nods and starts to move, likely to get their supplies, but Evaan grabs his arm. “You’re going to face him alone, aren’t you?” she asks Leia.
Leia sighs. “You two have your own mission to accomplish.” She looks back up at the stars. “I’ve been training for this for so long. I can do this.” She looks back at them and smiles. “I’ll be fine.”
Han nods and starts to go for the shoulder squeeze before mumbling, “Oh, kriff,” and goes in for a hug. He pulls back and presses a kiss to her lips. “Go and kick the Emperor’s ass for us, yeah?”
Leia lets out a small chuckle and nods. “Yeah,” she whispers.
Evaan laughs and pats Han on the back. “Congratulations for finally getting the courage to kiss her,” she says. She hugs Leia as well and kisses the corner of her mouth. “For us and Alderaan too.”
Leia nods and hugs her back tightly. She looks at them one last time, under the starlight, smiling at her, and hopes that no matter what happens, she’ll always have this memory to remember them by.
She lets herself be captured by the troopers and they escort her in cuffs to Vader. He dismisses them and hands her back the lightsaber when they’re gone.
“You shouldn’t have come,” he says. “The Emperor, he will destroy you.”
“I had to come here,” she says. “To see if I could destroy him first.”
“Destruction isn’t the Jedi way.”
“I never said I was a Jedi.”
He doesn’t give an immediate response, instead turning to the scenery outside. “You’re playing a dangerous game,” he says slowly. He pauses a moment, looking back at her and regarding her carefully. “You shouldn’t play alone.”
Leia’s eyes widen slightly. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
He lets out a heavy breath, deep and mechanical, and nods. “You were right. All this time, over all these years, I’ve done so many terrible things. I’ve destroyed planets, murdered in cold blood, killed men, women, even children.” He takes another breath. “I am far from redemption, but I can still work to end this, before it’s too late.”
He turns to her and holds out his hand.
Leia takes it.
The Emperor is no match for them.
In another lifetime, a father and son would battle each other and the son would be tortured to the brink of death before the father comes to his senses and saves him. But here, a father and daughter, both powerful, both willing to do what it takes to make things right, face off against the reigning Sith and defeat him.
They’re quiet for a while, in the aftermath, sitting together in the shuttle as it flies back to Endor. Leia looks out the window and sees the last remnants of the second Death Star. She squeezes her lightsaber tight in her hands.
“Did Obi-Wan tell you that lightsaber was once mine?” Vader’s voice cuts through the silence.
Leia shakes her head. “Ahsoka did. She said I should probably make a new one with Barriss but I never found the time.”
“You should,” he says. “I killed younglings with that weapon.”
Leia doesn’t know what to say. “Oh.”
Vader looks down at his lap, staring at his hands. “I wish I could take it back, everything I’ve done as Vader, as Palpatine’s pawn, as a tool of the Dark side. I know I must answer for my crimes when we land and I surrender to the Alliance, but…” He looks up at Leia and she can feel a softening in his gaze. “As Anakin Skywalker, or what remains of him, I’m… I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished. Bail and his wife – they’d be proud to see you now.”
“Thank you,” Leia says. She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand and takes a deep breath.
“Padmé would be so proud of you too,” he adds in a quiet voice. “I wish she could’ve seen you grow. I wish we could’ve had the privilege of raising you.”
Leia reaches out and takes his hand, and they spend their last few moments on the shuttle in silence.
(Later, when he is put on trial for his crimes, Mon Mothma, leader of the new Senate, will sentence him to exile, claiming that the New Republic cannot begin with more blood than what has been shed already. People would disagree, but when the delegates of New Alderaan, who lost the most in this long and terrible war, do not object, no one else objects either.
Vader spends the remainder of his time on his home planet of Tatooine, working on a moisture farm with his last known relatives, living near a Togruta, her Mirialan wife, two clones, and an old hermit.
But before that, on the night of the Emperor’s death, Anakin Skywalker, after so many long years, finally meets his old master and his old Padawan again.)
The celebrations are lively, as they ought to be. Han and Evaan tease each other, Biggs and Barriss exchange wild anecdotes about Tatooine, Chewie and R2 listen to 3PO ramble about all the times they could’ve died, and Wedge and Lando dance together by the fire, surrounded by all the other Rebels and Ewoks who’d worked hard to see this day come to pass.
It’s a good night, Leia thinks. She looks away from the festivities and stares a little off into the distance, thinking about everything she’s done, all the hard work, the years of training, everything coming together to lead to this exact moment.
It takes her a moment to see it but something comes together in the distance, a vision from the Force: a boy in black clothes, sandy hair and bright look in his eyes. He smiles at her and she smiles back.
“Leia, what’re you looking at?” Han asks, coming up from behind her.
“Luke,” she says, still looking into the distance. “My brother.”
Han gives her a confused look and she laughs, taking his arm and listening to him and Evaan recount what had happened on the moon while she wasn’t there.
It really is a good night, she thinks, and smiles.