Disclaimer- I do not own Star Wars
Prologue: Battle of Endor
They won.
They defeated the Empire.
The explosion of the Death Star lit up the sky and the sound of fireworks soon followed. Leia glanced over at Han and gave him a small smile. He looked at her, his eyes shining a vibrant brown. He smirked and cupped her cheek with a firm hand. He pressed his lips to hers, pulling her closer.
Leia let out a small laugh. She heard the Ewoks celebrating and felt Han's arm snake around her waist. She felt all of their happiness radiating through her, and everything was perfect.
Well, almost perfect.
Leia suddenly felt a large wave of sadness overcome her. A sense of sorrow. Someone in the area was completely devastated. She frowned in confusion, wondering who could possibly be feeling this way after such a victory.
The princess decided to try and let the feeling slip away, but it seemed as each moment passed, the sadness only grew stronger. She pressed her hand to her head and closed her eyes. She was not familiar with the ways of the Force. She did not understand how to wield her power, whatever power she supposedly had, so she was merely attempting to hone in on this person.
"Leia?" Han's voice was filled with concern. He noticed that she was slowly distancing herself from the others. Usually, that was what she did. She isolated herself from celebration, because in her mind, the war was not won just yet. But, this time it was different. The war was won. "What's wrong?"
"Luke." She flicked her gaze at him and narrowed her eyes.
Han gave her a puzzled expression. "Luke? What about him?"
"I need to find him."
Han crossed his arms defensively. He was not jealous of the kid, even if he was a powerful Jedi and had just defeated the empire. However, he maybe did feel slightly self-conscious that Leia wanted to be with Luke right now of all people.
"Why do you need-" Han started to ask when she turned away from him and started walking towards where Luke's craft would land. "Hey, Leia!" He called after her, trying to shout louder than the Ewok's rhythmic drum sounds on the Stormtroopers helmets.
"Leia, wait!" He shouted out again.
When she did not respond, he decided to follow after her. Just because the war was won did not mean that she was ensured safety. Stormtroopers could still be lingering around somewhere. He ran, taking large strides, and caught up to her.
Leia spared him a glance and what would look like an unreadable expression to the public, was an emotion that Han could pick up easily on her. She was obviously upset about something.
He placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop. She looked up at him and gave him a distressed expression. "What happened to Luke?"
"Nothing." She shook her head quickly. "At least, I don't think anything happened. I'm not really sure what is wrong."
"Sweetheart, you have to give me some more information here."
Leia stared at him a moment. She knew that she could trust Han. She loved him. She loved him more than she loved anyone. She knew that he wouldn't care about her heritage.
"Luke is my brother."
Han stood there, his mouth twitching slightly before he nodded. He felt a mixture of shock and relief flood through his body.
"That's not all." She looked away from him. "Darth Vader. He…he is my father."
Han felt his mouth open slightly. He watched as Leia's shoulder dropped in defeat from the statement and immediately felt the need to make her feel better. He ran his hand over his jaw.
"He may have your blood, but he is not your father."
Leia gave him a small smile and started to reply when a shimmer of silver broke through the sky. Luke's space craft slowed and started to descend to land. Leia's hand reached out to Han and she intertwined their fingers as the ramp lowered and revealed a figure.
Luke stepped forward, his black uniform tattered and worn. His eyes were weary. His lightsaber was still in his hand, the light glowing.
"Leia," The young Jedi's lip wobbled as he took a few steps toward her. "I was wrong about father. There is no more good left in him."
Leia gave her brother a small frown. She was not surprised to hear this. She did not think that Lord Vader ever had good in him. But, Luke was optimistic, and she could not bring herself to tell him what she thought.
"What happened?" She ventured, Han's hand tightening around hers.
"The Emperor was going to kill me. I was defenseless and defeated, and then father saved me. He murdered the Emperor and saved my life. I thought this meant that he had changed. I thought that since he saw his son's life in danger, he would rebel against the Dark Side."
Leia bit her lip and exchanged a glance with Han. She did not like what she was hearing.
Luke clicked off his lightsaber and slid it into the holster. "He handed me my lightsaber and told me to leave. He told me that he could not kill me because he still saw potential. He said he thought that in time, I would join him."
"You had to kill him, Luke." Han said lightly. He could sense the discomfort the kid was feeling. He knew that it must be taking a toll on him.
"No," He breathed out. "I couldn't. I couldn't kill him."
Leia felt herself stiffen. She looked at her brother in disbelief. He didn't kill him? The monster that took away almost everything from them was standing right in front of him, and he didn't kill him?
"Leia, I know you are mad, but-" Luke stammered.
"You didn't kill him?"
"You have to trust me. The Force, it- it just wasn't the right time. "
"How could there be a right time?" She felt Han place a protective hand on her shoulder.
"I'm not the person who is supposed to kill him." He said quickly, trying to explain. "Father thinks I will join him in time. It's you, Leia. It has always been you. You resisted him when no one else could. You are stronger than anyone. He wants to turn you, make you the new apprentice, but he knows the journey will be hard."
"He's going to try and make Leia turn to the Dark Side?" Han asked bitterly.
"Yes." Luke nodded slowly, looking at the couple in front of him. "And if he fails, he plans on using her to make me turn."
The happiness that Leia was feeling was gone. What she felt only a few minutes ago was now a foreign concept. Now, she just felt empty.
The Empire was still alive.
Darth Vader was still alive.
And the battle that she thought had ended the war had only been a catalyst into the start of another.
