Seven Years after RotS
Bail Organa stood, waiting patiently in his rooms, watching out of his balcony doors. The air was cool and calm, the scenery peaceful, unspoilt, and at complete odds with the turmoil that was rolling through him. Breha was getting worse by the day, her illness sweeping through her body. And for the past seventeen months he had lived in fear that Leia might be able to contact Vader.
With an angry sigh he kicked the edge of the wall, knowing it was a fruitless gesture. All he could do was wait for Obi-wan to put in an appearance.
They had not agreed, when or where or how. He remembered enough to know that getting into the royal household would be easy enough for a Jedi, and to put such a plan into words would have been asking for trouble. As it was he had no idea how long it had taken Obi-Wan's original message to reach is ears.
"You seem troubled"
Bail didn't turn around but bit his tongue not to scream at the man.
"I am" he said simply, fighting to gain back control. He turned around.
The years had not been kind to the Jedi, his hair was greying and his face was weathered. Still, he was relieved to see that the former general had not lost the familiar way of holding himself, and the slight bulge to the side of his cloak, which he knew to be a lightsaber, reassured him somewhat.
"You still dress like that?" he asked walking around him to pour a drink determined not to appear fazed by this. It was easier now with the jedi as a distant and extinct order to no longer view them with wonder.
"Perhaps the only benefit that Tatooine offers, is that this" he gestured "Is what is considered normal attire"
Bail eyes him suspiciously. "It's not normal attire here"
Obi-Wan sighed "I shall be gone soon. You do not need to worry"
"Worry?" Bail repeated in disbelief. "You are closer to the Sith than you have been in years and you are going to do some mind trick on my daughter. Do you honestly think i'll do anything else for the duration of your stay?"
A look fluttered behind the blue eyes, but disappeared before he could really study it. "Then I will get it out of the way"
Bail stood staring at the man, hoping to anything that the tightly controlled voice had not been suppressing anger. He nodded wordlessly and walked out of the room, knowing that Obi-Wan would follow.
He opened Leia's door quietly and stuck his head around. Leia was sound asleep, her long brown hair loose around the round face, a hand wedged under her head and her lips slightly pursed in deep sleep. He stood watching her, feeling himself calm, as he always did around her.
Obi-Wan sucked in a breath. "There's...a strong resemblance"
Bail hesitated "between?"
Obi-Wan shook himself "She looks like her mother"
"I can't see a drop of..." Bail broke off, unsure how to phrase himself. Obi-wan seemed to have got the idea.
"No, Luke seems to have that"
Bail glanced around him, "Are you sure it's_"
"_Safe?" Obi-Wan asked "As much as I can be, for the task ahead"
Bail studied his daughter "Will she feel anything?"
Obi-Wan sighed, "I'm unsure. How strong is she?"
Bail didn't take his eyes away from the sleeping child "She knows things sometimes just from a touch. She can tell when your lying..." he broke off "That's a pain in a seven year old, i'll tell you"
A faint smile finally graced Obi-Wan's lips. "So..." he paused, seeming hesitant. "You do not fear her?"
Bail looked at him in surprise "Why would I?" he asked genuinely confused.
"Her abilities, her heritage?"
Bail looked thoughtful. "No. She may look like her mother but she's her own person. She's my daughter. My Leia." he smiled "I'm fascinated to see what she'll be when she grows up. Though I'm sure that when it happens I'll be wishing her back to this age." he smiled fondly and then looked sharply at Obi-Wan as his reason for the question became a little too clear. "I take it Luke-"
Obi-Wan's face darkened from the almost smile he'd been wearing. "We should get to work"
Bail stood and watched as the cloaked figure bent over Leia, shrouding the pair of them in shadow. He let his hand stray to his blaster, utterly ready to shoot if something should go wrong. Any questions about Leia would be lost in the thanks he would get for bringing Obi-Wan in.
He had no idea what he'd expected. Something more dramatic certainly. But Obi-Wan had stood a few minutes later and stretched, his back popping.
"That's it?"
Obi-Wan looked over at him "Yes Bail, the blaster was a wise but unnecessary precaution"
Refusing to feel guilty for wanting to protect Leia, Bail shrugged.
"There is a link there, but nothing quite as strong as..."Obi Wan broke off. "Perhaps its because she has a father figure in her life that she doesn't need to go searching for it in the force"
Bail nodded with relief "So he can't connect to her?"
Obi-Wan shifted "I didn't say that Bail. I said that their bond is weaker, not non existent. Likely because she has no need of it and he doesn't know of her existence. Should it be awakened I will be powerless to stop it."
"Because Vader is stronger than you?" Bail challenged, inwardly wincing at how defensive he was being.
"No, because he is her biological father and I am nothing to her." Obi-Wan said a little woodenly.
Bail swallowed back anything that he cold have said in reply. It wouldn't have helped. Instead he took a deep breath "What can you do?"
"Without disturbing the Sith's? Nothing."
Bail's heart skipped a beat "I beg your pardon"
"If I try to set up shields or worse disrupt that connection I will raise their attention and bring their combined force on her mind. It is better to leave it as it is. She has not been discovered so far, and even if she was, she is untrained and there is no evidence as to exactly who she is."
Bail snorted in frustration, "You said it yourself that there is a strong resemblance to Padme. Vader and the Emperor are aware that a child can take after its mother as well as it's father" he swallowed and shook his head. "No, I wont leave her unprotected...there must be something...there's a root, isn't there, a plant of some kind that suppresses"
"You cannot do that" Obi-Wan hissed
Bail drew himself straight "You would prefer me to leave her open to the Empire, at constant risk?" he pointed at her "She will want to go into politics, I can already see it. Even if she didn't she would eventually cross paths with those on Coruscant. This is not some farmboy we are talking about now"
Obi-wan's eyes narrowed dangerously and Bail paused suddenly aware of how detrimental that had sounded. "I simply mean that Luke's status keeps him utterly hidden, Leia's will not"
Obi-Wan was quiet for a long time and looked as though he were wrestling with himself. He turned from both Bail and Leia and walked to the window to watch the view outside. His shoulders slumped and when he turned back he looked utterly defeated. He looked up to the ceiling "Give it to her as something to calm her nerves. It will block out feelings for her so that should work. Take it yourself and tell her its something that you take as a tradition before going to the senate, or meeting important people. It will have no affect on you" he shook his head "Do not give it to her too often or with too large doses, or it may hurt her and she may start to guess what's happening. Over time the exposure should weaken her ability."
Bail watched him "You needn't sound as though i've asked you to commit murder."
Obi-Wan shook his head "To be force sensitive is something beyond description. To condone this...i feel like i'm blinding her. Anakin would_"
Bail drew himself up "I care not what he would or would not do in this situation" he snapped.
Obi-Wan nodded. "If you do this it will not destroy her abilities, but fog them. With time and practice she could start to access them" he held up a hand to stop Bail from speaking "Should she ever discover this and ask."
Bail nodded, then paused slightly. "You won't return?" he asked in a light voice.
Obi-Wan shook his head "I have nothing more to do here. You protect her utterly now, I will simply bring danger upon you both"
Bail nodded "And Luke?" he asked with some concern
"Luke? Do not give it to her for at least another two years, I should be able to prepare him."
"Prepare him? But"
Obi-Wan paused "I should not have taken him to Tatooine. Luke is reaching out for people to fill the gaps in his life, a father, a sibling. And he is managing it unconsciously. We do not realise what we see until its gone" Obi-Wan smiled bitterly "Luke cannot be blinded to the force, Vader will realise that his vision had some actual point to it. And Luke will feel it when you dose her. I will train his mind to feel her dimly. It should lessen the cut between them when the doses are applied. I would suggest however, should Luke ever make his way to her presence you do not dose her in front of him."
"If Luke is ever found_"
"Do not go down that path Bail" Obi Wan warned "You will not like my answer"
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Far away in the depths of space Vader watched the fighters from his position, aware of the crew behind him shuffling about and working to produce an optimal battle attack for the pilots. How naïve he had been to believe years ago that the rebellion was being squashed. The leaders were proving to be surprisingly resourceful, even allying themselves with the most unexpected creatures. Those with sharper instincts than humans in a craft, who, in this battle, appeared to be winning easily.
Vader could feel his mood darkening as yet another Tie was shot down. He was surrounded by incompetence. This was supposed to be a routine clearing of rebels from this system, yet every time one system was rid of them they popped up in another. Worse than scurrying rats.
And to add insult to injury he had felt Obi-Wan flicker briefly in the force earlier. The rage that he had felt at feeling the old foolish Jedi has caused him to lash out on the nearest presence, which unfortunately had been the Commander of the fleet now out there, making a mess of things.
He whirled around noting vaguely the way that the officers froze for a mili-second and waited to see who would drop to the deck next. Storming along the floor he headed towards the door.
"Ready my ship" he snarled at anyone who was capable of doing so.
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A frustration that had been building for months was slowly released as he swept across the stars, gloved hands carefully and confidently releasing laser bolts into the crafts in front of him. There was no challenge but the familiarity of it was like going for a run after being cooped up for too long. He had a sudden urge to leave the destroyer behind him and shoot off into space, going wherever he wanted to go, having the freedom that he had always longed for.
Annoyed at himself he reigned himself back and turned to destroy the remaining foolish few who claimed to be part of some grand opposition to the empire. They were like flies to the him, target practice at best and not even good at that. Irritants that served no purpose.
And they exploded magnificently against the darkness of space. Then there was nothing.
Vader leaned back slightly in the chair, fingering the trigger. The monotony of life was starting to irritate him. Something new was needed he thought. The politics on Coruscant was…trying at best. Yet the Emperor, Palpatine enjoyed it with a ferociousness that confounded Vader. Why not simply…
He shook the thoughts away. It was what it was. It was better than it could have been. Back when the Jedi existed and weakness was encouraged and traitors walked the planets.
A sudden twitch in the force caused him to snap back to attention. His vision through the helmet showed nothing, the ships scanners confirming that. It had to be something else, a disturbance on the ship
Feeling the irritation that seemed to be his constant companion ebb back into him he turned to go back to the Destroyer.
Curiosity grabbed him though when he stretched out with the force one last time and discovered that the disturbance was coming from somewhere behind the magnificent craft. On the scopes a shadow had appeared. Over the radio he could hear confirmations that a craft had jumped into the atmosphere.
A sudden panic hit him, a feeling that was unfamiliar. The force was literally screaming at him, but for the first time in his life he could feel a divide, as though it was…uncertain.
The hesitation that he experienced made up his mind for him. His red vision saw an explosion occur behind the Destroyer and a wave of light reaching out. Everything it hit seemed to shake, and then it hit his own craft. The feeling that shot through him was horrendous. His screens flashed warnings that the mechanics were failing and it entered his mind that it meant that he was failing too.
The destroyer in front of him began to veer dangerously, the fluctuations of power leaving it failing around in the middle of space. Vader was having difficulties of his own, he could feel each and every system fighting to regain control of his dying body. Knowing that there was little hope he flung himself into the force hoping to anything that it would keep him alive until he was found.
His fading mind focused on anything. Obi-wan. The name brought rage and flung him deeper into revenge, deeper into the dark side. Padme. Self hatred bellowed through him, deeper into the dark side. He raised the image that he hidden from himself for years. Blond hair, huge blue eyes.
And he lost the dark side and fell into black.
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Obi-Wan sat in the holding area of the ship he had smuggled himself onto. A sudden twitch in the force made him look up.
Controls were beeping furiously,black gloved hands shook and then there was an overwhelming hatred and he was thrown back
Obi-Wan nearly crashed backwards at the force he had been thrown from his former apprentices mind. It almost broke his heart to think of how scared he must have been to have accidentally re-established their link to that extent.
A sudden wave of pain followed and he doubled over, feeling Luke scrambling for foothold in the force. Terrified, he wondered if Luke had been sucked into Vader's mind with that same wave of desperation. Slowly he reached out to Luke, with the intention of calming the boy before Vader got his reason back, or Palpatine noticed.
It was only when he reached out the he realised that the burning beacon could no longer be felt.