"The Princess, Lord Vader."

Chills charged through the Sith Lord's body, which - of which Vader was well aware - had been for almost twenty years concealed by a much stronger, mechanical exterior. He was on edge right now, in what should have been his comfortable, securely guarded chambers; but her entrance of such boldness reminded him harshly of Anakin.

His former semblance, a Jedi and a husband...and a father.

"She is here for the private interrogation, milord," announced Grand Moff Tarkin, almost as if to wake Vader from his slight daydream. Admonishing himself internally, Vader confirmed, "Bring her to me."

Seconds of shuffling feet and the shutting of automatic doors soon devolved into soundless moments, during which the newcomer stood with her chin up, proud yet unamused by her imprisonment.

Vader could not bear the lifeless air. "I know there is much you still have to tell me, Princess. Now we are alone, you will be more inclined to inform me of the Rebel Alliance's plans."

"Then you presume I am too weak to withstand the Empire's manipulative ways," answered Leia. She descended the short staircase and met Lord Vader directly before him, his repetitive breaths picking up pace just slightly. The Princess smiled at him bravely. "You do not frighten me, Lord Vader. The Alliance is my purpose, my life. So it is for all of us. Therefore your forces -"

"I did not request your presence in order to hear you talk of the Rebels' aimless schemes," cut in Vader anxiously. Something about the young woman's eyes was painfully familiar to him. "You will hear my inquiries and will answer them concisely."

She bit her lip.

"Very well, then. Who has sent you to be a spy for the Alliance, and what do you seek that is here on the Emperor's new battle station?"

Hands falling to her sides in feigned relaxation, the Princess replied simply, "I am here because the Alliance wanted me here. And what I need is nothing which would incur damage upon the civil beings of this galaxy, as your Imperial friends have done."

"You will learn, Princess, that the Emperor does not make friends with those who serve the Empire." Vader had more to criticize about the Princess' speech, but he wanted to hear how she would respond next. She intrigued him.

Leia would not back down. "Clearly not, when his and your objective is to strip peaceful peoples of their freedom, of their hope -"

"You know nothing!" Vader knew this voice he heard; it was logical, thoughtful, and unbearably resemblant of a woman whose allegiance to him had been altered many years ago: or so he remembered. Padmé is dead, his memory reminded him. She is gone, and so is our...

Wrapped and connected to wires and cables that controlled almost all of his physical actions, Darth Vader feared to recall a time at which human form had taken his pitiful semblance. When he had last loved, his wife and master had betrayed him. When he had last imagined the prospect of a child - his and Padmé's very own - Anakin Skywalker had still been alive.

Everything has changed, thought Vader to himself, and all is as it should be.

He thought this until the nineteen year-old imparted an opinion that he wanted not to hear:

"What I do know is how your orders to cause misery to many civilizations, to destroy the Senate that this galaxy had to speak freely for itself... Do you think I know nothing of your ways?"

She was stabbing at his heart...and for years, he'd thought no such organ existed in what was left of his battered body. The only woman whom he'd ever felt inferior to had been Padmé, but he was rather finished with resurrecting figments of such a past. Right now, however, Vader's worst nightmare was before him (or so it seemed to the Sith Lord, because he merely felt a closeness to this headstrong princess).

It was Vader's turn to argue. "To you, Princess, circumstances do not exist. The Emperor has reason, but it is those like you who are unwilling to see it."

"Lord Vader," began the younger, having paused to compile her strength, "only you and the Emperor know what, precisely, is in store for the future. I hope that, in time, you realize what heartbreak you're causing to the peoples whose economies you deflate." Leia turned for the door - a risk nonetheless, though she was brave enough to leave on her account - but Vader allowed her a few dozen steps.

Then, suddenly, "Wait!"

The Princess turned casually, having not sensed anything menacing about Vader's voice. In fact, she was secretly astonished by his tone of desperation, of longing. It was almost as if Darth Vader were, for that fleeting moment, a different person.

His awkwardly-patterned breathing was the only sound in the chamber while both Leia and Vader stared at each other, anticipating for one another to speak first. Just when Leia thought it acceptable to turn and leave, Vader told her, "Stay."

Can this be Padmé's child? wondered the man inside him. The Princess wouldn't have known it, but Vader was tearing up inside. This must be... She must have been born before Padmé died. And look at how...

He wanted to finish his thought with how beautiful she is, but Vader was so fixated upon the young woman whom he was convinced to be his daughter; and so he merely inhaled mechanically and exhaled in kind, overwhelmed beyond measure.

Finally, he asked, "Who is your mother?"

Leia was taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"

"Your mother," repeated Vader. "Who is she?"

"I am from Alderaan. That is all you should dare to know."

"But..." Vader couldn't find the words. He felt so out of place, out of character, that his whole being resisted every inch it took in this foreign direction toward regular conversation. "Your eyes," he finally blurted, the low, monotone voice practically breaking down. "Whose are you?"

Offended immediately, Leia retorted, "Of all people, Lord Vader, you are the last one I'd involve in my personal -"

"Answer me!" The Sith Lord had returned in a matter of seconds, the source of his reversion purely that he had become angry over something of his past: love. He remembered how dearly he'd loved Padmé, and what she had meant to him...what she still meant to him. And this princess in his midst - perhaps the most striking woman he'd acknowledged since Padmé - she was his.

She has to be, decided Vader. "What is your age?" he pressed, ignoring the woman's previous request.

"It would be nothing with which to concern you," assured Leia.

"Nineteen years?" wondered Vader. The Princess froze.

The two were quietly studying one another, as if for the first time. Leia couldn't process Vader's accuracy - she figured he knew more about her somehow, which she figured was the reason for his inability to interrogate her. Vader, too, sensed an understanding in her. But he shortly forgot such a thing.

"How dare you try to drive personal matters into this," exclaimed Leia, her voice now shattering. "When my father and the Alliance hear -"

"Your father?" interrupted Vader, interested in whom she believed such a person to be. Leia nodded simply.

"Yes. Have you not heard of Bail Organa of Alderaan?"

Every bit of hope that had clung to the dark-cloaked figure had dwindled away. He doubted his relation to this being, and wanted nothing else to do with her. He hated this "Organa" whom she called her father, also, but above all, he was furious with himself for having attached temporarily to the Princess. I sensed that she had the Force in her, Vader recalled. I was wrong.

After dismissing Leia from his chamber, Vader sent for Tarkin immediately.

"Yes, Lord Vader?"

"I want you to bring her back to me, but first, have your men set the coordinates for Alderaan."