Title: Bound By Blood Author: KelliLeanne
Timeframe: Post ROTJ
Characters: Leia, Darth Sidious, Han, Chewbacca, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Yoda
Genre: Drama
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Lucas owns everything; I'm just playing with his creations. I promise I'll put them back where they belong when I'm finished.
Summary: After failing to ensnare Luke Skywalker and losing his apprentice, Darth Sidious is determined that another Skywalker will be at his side.

Chapter 1:

The young Skywalker was certainly a disappointment. Here he had wasted all this time and effort into preparing the boy to take his father's place at his side, but the child was too much like his mother. She was idealistic until the bitter end, I'm sure; and now Amidala's little brat is proving to be even more of a fool.

"You have failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

If you only knew, boy. The Sith sneered, he hated it when a carefully laid plan of his fell apart. "So be it, Jedi." Calling on the awesome power that had been at his command for decades, Sidious unleashed a torrent of Force energy directly into the boy.

Of all the ways to destroy life, this method was, by far, the Sith master's favorite. He always loved watching them squirm around on the floor, completely helpless, as their life was slowly leeched from their bodies. Their fear and pain were a powerful fuel that fed the very power that was killing them..

"If you will not be turned, then you will be destroyed."

Sidious laughed as the boy, in a desperate attempt the save his pathetic life, tried to use the Force to deflect the energy; but he was nowhere near as powerful as he needed to be in order to accomplish the task. The master was so intoxicated by feeling the tiny Jedi's pain and fear that he barely noticed as his injured apprentice moved to stand beside him.

"Young fool...only now, at the end, do you understand." All the fight in this once proud warrior was gone. All his Jedi ideals were lost. Like the Order that produced them, those ideals failed him when it really counted. Sidious enjoyed watching, not only the boy's physical death, but the destruction of all he believed in. The killing of a broken man was always much more satisfying.

As wave after wave of power emptied into the boy, Sidious had to laugh at the Jedi's attempts to keep his discipline. His skills were pathetic and useless, much like the Jedi themselves. "Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side. You have paid the price for your lack of vision."

Sidious knew that the Jedi was wondering when the power would be exhausted and his torment would end. Your own pain is feeding my power; this will go on as long as you do.

With his last ounce of strength, the young Skywalker reached out to his last hope. "Father, please. Help me."

Suddenly, the Sith felt a massive shift in the Force. In just a few seconds, something had changed drastically. Sidious had spent his entire life listening to the Force and molding it to his advantage; he knew the signs of something significant happening. So Vader is thinking about betraying me. Well, I can't have that, now can I?

With power that neither his apprentice or the boy knew that he had, Sidious quickly shifted his attack and engulfed both of his enemies in Force energy. "So, Lord Vader, you want to save your pathetic son."

As father and son were both writhing in pain, Sidious' anger at the betrayal allowed the attack to increase. All of my plans are ruined! The Force then reminded him of the new information that he had learned about the boy's sister. Where I failed with one Skywalker, I will succeed with the other.

Vader's suit was destroyed, all of the mechanisms that had kept him alive for so many years had failed. The electronics that allowed his apprentice to move were completely useless. As Vader lay dying, he did not even have the use of his limbs.

The Emperor ceased his attack and regarded his former apprentice. Something had changed; inside the suit was not the angry, hate filled man that the Sith had put in it so many years ago. There was a brightness to his rapidly diminishing Force presence that Sidious had not felt in him since before the Clone War. "Embracing the light before death; how cowardly of you."

Vader did not respond, he could not even if he wanted to. The machinery that allowed him to be able to speak with the respirator was damaged beyond repair. There would be no final words, no deathbed confessions, and no displays of remorse for choosing the dark side. "As you tumble toward oblivion, just remember this...Anakin. I will not lose another one of your children. Your daughter will be bound to me. She will be mine--body, mind, and soul, as you once was."

Sidious thought that he heard a raspy "no" coming from where his former apprentice lay dying, but he paid it no mind. He turned to where the other Skywalker was laying. Unlike his father, the boy was not quiet. He was moaning in pain while in a fetal position; he wanted to die, that much the Sith was sure of. "I will give you the death you seek, young Skywalker. I just need to know one thing. Who is your sister?"

The Emperor did not expect the boy to answer, but in his weakened state the Jedi had no mental shields left. With the Force, Sidious drove into the dying boy's mind to find the answer. He did not have to look very hard. Immediately after the question was asked, the boy's mind was filled with an image of Leia Organa. Very interesting, but I suppose it makes sense. She always annoyed me like her mother. "Thank you Luke, your weakness has led me to my next apprentice."

The boy cried out in both physical pain and emotional anguish. Addressing both father and son, Sidious grinned, "As much as I would love to stay here and chat with you both, I'm afraid that I must go. It seems the rebels are about to blow up this station. It's a setback, but I can always build another one. This victory of theirs will not last." With one last burst of awesome power, the Emperor unleashed a killing amount of energy. He felt a major tremor in the Force as they passed; the shockwave almost knocked him over.

After recovering, Sidious moved quickly to the communicator on his throne and ordered his guard to requisition a shuttle for them to leave. He then ordered most of the remaining Imperial ships to retreat while a few were ordered to stay to cover his escape after the Death Star inevitably explodes. They will think that they won a great victory today, but I will snatch that victory right from their hands. I have tolerated this rebellion long enough; with my new apprentice at my side, they will collapse.

Something horrible had happened, something that was not supposed to happen. Leia thought that she heard screaming, but she then realized that it was coming from her own mind. She felt sick as pain hit her in waves. She bent down and put her head in her hands in an effort to block out these overwhelming feelings--feelings that she had no idea of the source.

"What's wrong? Leia, answer me!"

The sound of Han's frantic pleadings barely made it through the fog that was being caused by whatever was happening to her. She wanted to scream, to cry, to beg whatever was causing this to make it stop; but she somehow knew it would be no use.

Then, as quickly as it began, it suddenly stopped. What replaced the pain was the horrible realization that Luke was dead. She also knew that Vader was dead as well; although, she did not want to think about the reason why she would be aware of his passing. She had not had long to process the fact that she was Luke's sister, and Vader's daughter. "Luke."

"Luke? What's wrong with him? Leia, you're beginning to worry me here. Tell me what's going on."

Before Leia answered, she looked up to see the death star that orbited the sanctuary moon of Endor, explode.

Han looked over to Leia, "I'm sure Luke wasn't on that thing when it exploded."

Tears began to stream down the princess' face, "He was."

Instead of questioning how she would know that, Han embraced her to try and give what comfort he could. "I know you loved him."

Leia shook with sobs, "My brother is gone."

"Brother?" Mercifully, Han did not ask her anything more; he just held her as she wept.

The princess knew she did not have the time for this; despite her anguish she had to act quickly. She broke from her lover's embrace, "The Emperor isn't dead."

"He was on that thing, he has to be dead."

Leia shook her head, "Trust me on this, Han, the Emperor isn't dead. We need to leave this place."

"What about Vader?"

"He's gone."

"Leia, if Luke was your brother, does that make Vader..." Han trailed off, not sure how to finish the question.

The princess shut her eyes, as if to block out the wave of emotion coming toward her. "Yes." No more explanation was necessary.

Han nodded, "What do you want me to do?"

"I must contact the Alliance, we need to retreat quickly. Contact Lando and Chewie, have them get all remaining fighters back here as soon as possible to help with the evacuation. We don't have much time."

Anakin knew he was dead, that much he was certain. Everything else, he was not so sure about. His surroundings seemed surreal, he could see vague outlines of shapes on the distance, but he could not make out what they were. The place seemed unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. He could not get the idea out of his head that he should somehow recognize where he was.

He looked down at his hands, they were flesh. The rest of his body was also not covered in the armor that had imprisoned him for so long. I'm free.

The last thing he remembered was the pain coming from the energy the Emperor drove into him. He remembered Sidious' mocking words as he destroyed him and his son. My son! Luke, I'm sorry I couldn't save you. In a split second decision, everything had changed. As he watched his master kill his son, Anakin knew that he had to do something and that he could not allow what was taking place. But he was too slow, and did not act as quickly as he should have and Luke paid the price for it. Leia will pay as well.

Before his death, the former Sith did not have much time to process the fact that Padmé had twins before she died; he had a daughter. Looking back, he did not understand how he could not see the resemblance between his dead wife and the princess. They had the same fiery spirit and the same hatred of tyranny.

She also has a Force presence. That was something that he had known about Leia from the time he had first met her. Even as an untrained child, she had a strong presence within the Force--so much that he had even then entertained the idea of taking her on as his apprentice when she came of age. She got her connection to the Force from me, and that will damn her to Sidious' service.

"Anakin"

He turned around to see his former master standing behind him. "Obi-Wan. What is this place?"

"It is the netherworld of the Force, at least that is my theory." His former master smiled, something that Anakin never thought he would ever see again from him.

"Why am I here?"

"Some of us remain here."

"Us? There are more of you?"

Obi-Wan smiled again; and suddenly the figure of Yoda appeared, along with someone Anakin had not seen since he was a child. "Qui-Gon?"

The older man reached out to grab Anakin's hand, and he was surprised to find that it felt like regular flesh. Somehow, he thought that they would pass through each other like ghosts. "I'm glad you're here Anakin, we have much to do."

The former Sith had not imagined death to be this way. While the Jedi Order, or the Sith, did not subscribe to the idea of a heaven and hell, like some cultures, Anakin still never thought he would spend his afterlife with other Jedi--especially his former masters. "Why isn't Luke here?"

Yoda shook his head, "Strong, he was in the Force, but strong enough he was not to transcend. One with the Force, your son is."

A wave of despair came over Anakin as he accepted what he already knew to be true. "I'm so sorry."

"He did not fall to the dark side; he was strong enough to resist it's pull."

The former Sith knew the truth in Obi-Wan's words, there were things worse than death. "I tried to turn him."

"We know, Anakin, but you didn't. Leia, on the other hand, is another matter." Qui-Gon's voice was grave.

"Knows about her, Sidious does."

Anakin thought about the girl that he had just learned to be his daughter. A desire to protect her swelled up within him, the feeling was similar to what he had felt when he believed Padmé's life was in danger. After so long without these kinds of emotions, Anakin felt overwhelmed. "What can I do?"

Qui-Gon shared a relieved look with his fellow Jedi Masters. "We must find a way to contact her. If we do not, she will be alone against the darkness and will stand little chance to fight against it."

"Training, she has none. Difficult, this will be."

"If we do not, all will be lost." Obi-Wan's words were a sobering reminder that the galaxy would have little chance if Leia succumbed to the dark side.

Maybe it was a holdover from his days as a Sith, but Anakin was not really thinking about the fate of the galaxy. He knew it was something that he should have been concerned with and that it was selfish of him to think of his own before the galaxy; but if he was truly honest with himself, he would admit that the fate of the galaxy was not his main concern. He was thinking about the young woman with Padmé's face and his stubbornness. I will save Leia, she will not fall. "Where do we begin?"

All over the galaxy, rumors began to grow--rumors that their hated Emperor was dead. At first they were small; few people were willing to put their hope in such an elusive dream. They had learned throughout the years of the Emperor's reign that hope something very dangerous to hold onto. Many of them admired the rebels for their courage in the face of tyranny, but most did not actually believe that they would be successful.

However, as the rumors grew of the death of Emperor Palpatine, hope began to grow as well. Beings all over the galaxy watched their HoloNet viewers waiting for the official announcement; most of them with a smile on their faces as they looked at one another. "Is it finally over? Is Palpatine dead?"

Some of the younger beings even began to rally on the streets of their home-worlds. They cheered as statues of their hated dictator were torn down. The stormtroopers were strangely absent; none of them appeared to disburse the rallies.

The Emperor-controlled media were scrambling. None of them were confirming the rumors, but they were also not denying them.

Even on Imperial Center, there were rallies in support of the rebels. The statue of the Emperor that had stood for many years in the governmental complex was torn down by thousands of jubilant youths.

The older beings tried to warn the younger ones that it was too early to celebrate. The Emperor had not been confirmed dead, and some would not dare to hope until they saw a body. However, their warnings fell on increasingly deaf ears.

All over the galaxy joy was growing, shouts of "We're free!" could be heard in millions of languages all over the Empire. For hours, there was hope for a future free of tyranny.

However, as quickly as it began, it all ended. The first thing that was noticed was Imperial ships flying over some of the rallies. Some participants wisely decided that it was time to go home, but most stayed. The ships did not do anything but hover and wait.

There was no warning given to the media of an official announcement. It was immediately patched through to all channels, all over the galaxy. A cry was heard throughout the Empire when the face of the Emperor appeared on all public information screens and HoloNet viewers.

The smile that he had on his face chilled everyone to the bone. "I am here to announce that, despite the rumors, I am very much alive. There was an attempt on my life and the destruction of Imperial military assets. This rebellion will no longer be tolerated and all those who support them will be destroyed."

All at once, at the pre-arranged signal, the ships that had been hovering quietly over the rallies opened fire.