Daddy's Little Girl
Summary: What would happen if a young, ambitious, rebellious, speed loving Leia Organa met a certain Sith lord? The title explains all. A dark(ish) Leia Skywalker story.
Rated: T
Disclaimer: It all belongs to the Great Flanneled One and Lucasfilm, no infringement is intended.
A/N: Ok so this is my first SW story even though I am ridiculously obsessed with the fandom. I've had this story floating around in my head for months and in an effort to try and actually get something done I needed to get it out of my head and onto paper. Partly inspired by a new SW shirt I got from Her Universe!
Chapter 1 Musings of a Princess
Leia moved silently down the long, expansive hallways of the Senate Rotunda, carefully checking behind her as she went. While it didn't seem as if anyone had noticed her, Leia wasn't taking any chances. After escaping from her minders, she had decided that a little exploring couldn't hurt.
As she walked through the winding hallways she had seen beautiful alcoves filled with priceless art works and gorgeous atriums bursting with plant life and water features. While Leia found these sights captivating they could not hold her attention today. Today she wanted to see something a little more exhilarating, like Coruscant proper. Her father, the Prince Consort of Alderaan, had never seen fit to take Leia anywhere outside the boundaries of the Senate complex, and she had to beg him to allow her to accompany him there. He didn't believe it "proper" for a princess to want to lose herself in the colorful, vibrant, dangerous undercity. Leia wanted to see the endless city spread out before her, the speeders racing through the congested cityscape. She wanted to observe the people and blend in with the crowd for once.
Leia finally found herself in a small hanger that the delegates used to park their private transportation. She walked quickly through the overpriced and underrated speeders that most senators seemed to favor. Leia knew the type: pretty on the outside, with too many ridges and dips to actually be considered aerodynamic, and possessing an engine that was probably cheaper than the bantha hide custom leather seats. All style and no substance, no speed.
She moved past the ostentatious speeders to the small observation platform off to the side. As soon as she stepped out onto the balcony Leia was enthralled. There were only a few rails of durasteel that separated her from the buzzing traffic and the dizzying drop below her. One day I'm going to fly like that. The moving traffic patterns captivated her, they resembled insects buzzing back to their home nests.
If Leia really concentrated she could pick out one speeder from the crowd and focus her vision enough so that she could see the detailed face of the driver, and slow the progression of the vehicle in her mind's eye enough so that she could observe the design and the way the driver cut through traffic.
When Leia realized what she was doing she immediately ceased. She wasn't supposed to ever use any of her strange "abilities;" that had been drilled into her head by her father practically since birth. Well not since birth, he wasn't there when you were born. He's not your real father. Leia sometimes couldn't stop these thoughts from popping up into her head. While Leia loved Bail, she couldn't help but wonder who had given her life. She didn't exactly fit into the world she lived in. She would much rather be outside, playing a game with the local boys than to be stuck inside learning about the correct placement of table settings at a function of state. It's not as if I'll be going to a function of state anytime soon, I'm not allowed to do anything fun, or to associate with anyone from the Imperial court.
The restrictions of a princess chafed Leia. She longed for freedom, longed to be left alone for a little while. She hated having nurses, nannies, assistants, aides, guards, etc. around her 24/7. Leia wondered who she would have been if her real parents would have survived. She knew she wouldn't have been a princess; maybe she would have been an athlete, or a smuggler, or a famous swoop bike racer. Maybe she would have fit in a little better then she did now. There's no use crying over spilled blue milk. You're a princess of the Royal House of Alderan and that's all you'll ever be.
A part of Leia recoiled at this thought. She didn't want to be just another pretty face, just another powerless figurehead of the Empire. She wanted to be somebody real, somebody respected for their skills not for their title or social status. She knew the Senate was powerless, that the only real power lay with the emperor himself. She knew her father got up everyday, dressed in his senate finery and sat around and listened to a bunch of meaningless words from a bunch of meaningless politicians. The only true power was in Palpatine's hands, and he wasn't exactly the sharing type, from what Leia could tell. Leia wanted to throw herself off the balcony she stood on, land in a sleek open cockpit speeder and fly far away from here. Fly somewhere and forget Her Royal Highness Princess Leia Organa. She just wanted to be Leia for a little while: tomboy, wannabe pilot, lover of cheesy holomovies. Yeah speaking of holomovies, you've definitely been watching a few too many. Get a grip for Force sake. Someone is probably looking for you by now.
Leia reluctantly turned away from the beautiful skyline and headed back through the hanger. On her way back to the hanger door she spotted a speeder that she hadn't seen on her way in. It was sleek and black and ridiculously shiny. The speeder of my dreams! There was not one protrusion that interrupted the speeder's sleek lines and Leia was sure it cut through the sky like a vibroblade. It was like no vehicle Leia had ever seen before, and she had seen quite a few considering the large collection of speeder magazines stashed throughout her extensive suite of rooms. Everything on it had been modified, from the control panel to the steering mechanism, and Leia was willing to bet a years allowance that the engine underneath the hood would be even more impressive. There's no way this thing belongs to a senator, no bureaucrat could have built this.
Leia's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sound that was well known throughout the galaxy, a deep hissing sound that signaled the inhale and exhale of breathe that could only belong to the emperor's second in command. Darth Vader.