Author's Note: A short little vignette between a father and daughter. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are welcome :)

Bedtime Stories

...

"Tell me about Padmé… My mother."

Bail Organa stared at his daughter in surprise at her sudden request. She was sitting in bed, her head propped up against the pillows, and blinking at him with her large, brown eyes, swimming with curiosity. He shouldn't have been surprised. Leia had always been a curious child. She got that from her mother, he thought with a miserable sigh.

Her mother. Her biological mother. Not his wife, Breha. But Padmé Amidala, the courageous, selfish, compassionate senator that had been Bail's close friend for many, many years. The woman who, after her unfortunate passing twelve years previous, had entrusted him with her child. The child of Anakin Skywalker.

"Leia, it's past your bed time," Bail reasoned.

She pouted her full lips and tossed her brown hair over her shoulder stubbornly. "Please, Daddy," she begged him, batting her eyelids in that way she knew made him melt. He was hopeless when it came to Leia. Breha often reprimanded him for it, but he loved her with all his heart. He would give her the Galaxy, if she asked it of him, without a second glance. She was his daughter, regardless of who her biological parents were.

A fond smile crept upon his lips at her persistent nature and he shook his head, but sat back down on her bed, his hand coming to rest upon her knee above the quilted blanket she lay under. "Oh, alright. What would you like to know?"

"How did she die?"

Like always, Leia was blunt and straight to the point. It was one of those traits that reminded Bail bitterly of Anakin Skywalker, and yet, he loved his daughter all the more for it. It gave her spunk. He adored it. "That's not a very nice bedtime story, darling," he told her.

"I don't care," she insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm old enough to to know. You've never told me how she died before. I want to know."

Bail squirmed uncomfortably. The topic was a delicate one because, to this day, they still weren't sure exactly why Padmé had died. Some say she'd lost the will to live. Others, that she'd had the life drained out of her. The situation was controversial, and not something Bail wanted to discuss with his twelve year old daughter.

Still, he didn't want to lie to her. She was smart enough to see through that. Instead, he told her the only thing he knew to be true.

"She was killed… by Darth Vader."

"Oh."

A frown crossed her young face, her eyebrows knitting together, as she processed this information. Bail watched her cautiously, eying her with deep pity. He couldn't imagine what that kind of knowledge would do to a person, particularly one so young. Her top lip suddenly began to quiver and deep scowl lines etched themselves into her forehead as she was overcome by an intense hatred that Bail had never seen in his daughter before.

Taking her chin in his fingers, he tipped her head up to staring into her eyes, and stroked her cheek affectionately. "Leia…"

"He's a monster," she spat, voice dripping with venom. Tears welled in her eyes, but she coughed them back furiously.

All Bail could do was pull his little girl into his arms and hold her tight, whispering to her that everything was going to be okay, that she was safe, that he'd never let any harm ever come to her. Leia clutched at him desperately and he sighed. He didn't want this moment to end.

"You'll always be here to protect me, won't you, Daddy?" she said in a small voice when they pulled apart, and oh how Bail's heart almost broke. Nothing in the entire galaxy held the same hold over him as his precious little girl.

Smiling, he nodded his head. "Of course, my darling."

Leia sniffled and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "Daddy…?"

"Yes, Leia?"

"Even though you and Mommy aren't my real parents... well, not really… you are to me," she gave him a big, bright smile that made Bail's heart clench tightly with affection. "I love you, Daddy."

He bent forward to press a soft kiss to her dark hair and caressed her cheek. "I love you too, my little Princess. You'll always be my daughter."

They embraced once more, before he bid her goodnight and turned out her light. As he gazed upon her sleeping form, he couldn't help but wonder how someone as terrible and twisted as Darth Vader could create something so pure and wonderful.

Fin