Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. George Lucas is too cool for me.

Moonflies
first touch

She did not wait a heartbeat before following him out the room. The princess was in danger; her Leia was in danger. Rédora was amazed at how quickly he walked and had to nearly run to keep up with his inhuman speed. She abruptly had to stop by the front doors and hide behind a spiraling ivy column when he stopped to speak with a few men clad in the signature white stormtrooper armor standing outside.

A ship was already waiting on the open meadow. She looked around tentatively and wondered how she was going to accomplish the impossible. Running back inside, Rédora went into a small closet room where Paddy kept random repair tools and machine parts and found the trusty blaster that he kept underneath the toolbox shelf. She hadn't held one of these things since the Republic had fallen, nor had she felt the thrill of actually doing something worth risking her life for in a long time.

Nearly sprinting back to the front doors, she was glad to see that the ship was still there, and Vader had already boarded. One stormtrooper was already taking off while the other was entering his own smaller TIE fighter— she knew it was now or never.

She started for the boarding ramp of Vader's ship and ran as quickly as she could. She heard one voice from her left shouting in alarm, but thankfully her intuition and wits were still about her and she automatically raised her blaster over her left shoulder and started firing. The voice was silenced and she felt her feet land on the mental ramp right when it was starting to fold back into the ship.

She hurried down the slanting surface before it was almost vertical and landed terribly ungracefully at the bottom of the ramp. But no matter; she had made it! Rédora quickly got back onto her feet and scanned her surroundings. There was no one in sight.

She nearly fell again when she felt the ship leave the surface, picking up speed quickly. She felt a small smile dance on her lips. He had always flown so recklessly, but with admirable precision and skill.

But she had no time to dwell on the past. Rédora decided that she would hide herself further away from the cockpit so that she would be able to keep a steady head; she rather him not sense her presence on board his ship.

--

He still felt a bit lightheaded from the words ringing in his head. He could not shake off the handmaiden girl's presence and he felt very irked by the way she could seemingly reach under his very soul. He was frowning deeply, and could not focus on the task at hand. It was not like him at all, and it bothered him to no end.

"Vader."

He was snapped out of his foolish reverie when the voice of the Emperor rang clear through the transmission system on his ship.

"Master, I am on my way to the princess."

"Yes, very good my friend," came the raspy voice of Palpatine. "You must kill her. While those plans will not aid them greatly, I would prefer that they be destroyed along with that little rebel princess."

"That will be done, my master," Vader responded readily, though as confident as he sounded, he was feeling troubled.

"I will be waiting for good news."

With that, Vader was left in silence again and unfortunately to his own, pesky musings. He started to bring the ship to lower heights as he gained speed, and the beautiful landscapes of Naboo was reduced to mere marbles of color scattered out of a silken bag. It was truly beautiful.

And it troubled him even more deeply when he realized he was somewhat hesitant about the mission— at least, completing the mission. He would have no reason to be on Naboo anymore, no reason to continue being like the sulking, miserable, nostalgic creature he was suddenly becoming.

No reason to talk to her again.

That thought made him want to crash his ship to the ground. He was acting like such a useless, foolish boy. It made him feel disgusted with himself and his very existence. He did not mind shedding blood or hearing the cries of people suffering ring hollow and loud in his ears. But to feel some sort of…compassion towards a worthless handmaiden girl…

What was wrong with him?

"My lord, sir, we are approaching."

The voice of one of his men rang clear throughout the intercom. He pulled his ship to even lower heights and was joined with a few more starfighters from the side. The fleet pulled into a V-shape formation with him at the lead and together they flew towards a distant shadow of tall, green, mountains.

Vader knew they were very close, he could always sense things when they were about to happen. His feelings were proven correct when the wing of a ship to his right suddenly erupted into flames. He instinctively pulled even lower and saw a laser beam whiz high above the top of his ship.

"Rebel fire," another voice buzzed in warning.

Vader dismissed the buzzing of voices filling the intercom and picked up immense speed, drawing himself out of the original formation and pummeled straight ahead. He was grazing the grass and the small lakes beneath while the lasers simply flew over him in arcs. He pulled upwards when he decided he was close enough to the mass of mountains and swerved into a deep U-turn.

A dozen X-wings were flying out of various caves hidden behind thickets of bushes and trees and were engaging fire with the Imperial starfighters behind him. Three of his Imperial ships managed to tail him as he followed the flow of the Force and pulled into a smooth landing on a northern cliff.

At once he was outside, the cool air and darkening sky of no effect to him as he headed straight for a cave that he knew would appear around the cliff corner. His stormtroopers were already following behind him, some even going ahead to clear the way. The distance sound of firing echoed, but it was awfully quiet on their side of the mountain. He held up a gloved hand and the men behind him immediately stopped.

The two ahead kept on advancing though, and just as he expected, a sudden explosion that rocked the cliff erupted into the air. He ducked as debris of rock and sand flew around, and the two men who had gone on ahead were instantly thrown back with a burst of flames.

Out of the dust came dozens of rebel fighters, armed with blasters and the likes, running towards them as if they stood a chance. Vader whipped out his lightsaber and swiftly blocked the flying lasers raining down on him and his men. He advanced forward and saw huddled figures ushering a group out of the cave. He knew she was amongst them.

--

Luke Skywalker had never been caught in such a battle zone during his short lifetime. He was baffled, amazed, and struck with awe, and was surprisingly not at all frightened by the many men running around him, aiming fire at the Imperial troopers advancing towards their hideout in the caves of Naboo's mountains.

It was all happening so fast though and he was very overwhelmed.

When his hermit friend Ben Kenobi had suddenly sprung the Jedi question on him, he thought the old man had lost his mind or was suffering from severe heatstroke. But while Luke had tried to convince himself that, that was the case, Ben had looked so severe and solemn that the young boy had known the man was not playing games with him.

And now, here he was, trying to save a rebel princess from the grasp of the infamous Darth Vader himself, mass murderer of the galaxy; murderer of his father as Ben had explained to him.

"This is not really part of your Jedi training, young Skywalker!" The voice of Ben, who Luke had actually learnt was the great Jedi Master and hero of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, rang out clearly over the shouts of rebel fighters.

"Right, Ben—um, master," Luke corrected himself awkwardly as he fired his blaster somewhat clumsily at an approaching stormtrooper. He felt like he had been thrown into a battle that he had nothing to do with, but the thrill was amazing and he felt like his lifetime on Tatooine was galaxies away from him now.

When Obi-Wan had convinced his foster parents to finally let him leave the moisture farm, Luke had felt so exhilarated and so freed. His new master had immediately taken him on a mission to find a skilled pilot with a ship, and that was how they had crossed paths with the smuggler Han Solo who seemed to be only a few years older than Luke himself. The young man had been reluctant to help them, but when he had heard that there would be a handsome reward if he were able to save the princess, he finally could not resist.

Luke thought there little threesome was a bit strange. Well, it hadn't been only the three of them, as his lifetime companions Threepio and Artoo could not have been left behind. Han's own furry companion, a Wookiee named Chewbacca, was also part of their bizarre little crew that had been assembled so suddenly that Luke was still feeling as if he were in one of his own adventure dreams.

"Luke!" An alarmed sounding Obi-Wan cut into his thoughts sharply and he instinctively ducked.

He saw a beam of light whiz right above his head and thanked the Force that he had moved quickly enough.

"Stop daydreaming kid!" Han Solo had suddenly rejoined him at his side, brandishing a blaster in each hand and looking quite dazed himself, though he would never admit it.

"I wasn't!" Luke exclaimed and felt someone grab at his arm. He turned to look over his shoulder and immediately relaxed when he noticed it was just Leia— Princess Leia. It was strange though, as he had felt such a warm sense of familiarity when he had first laid eyes on her that the two had forgone formalities almost at once. The princess' eyes were wide as she started to pull him towards their left.

"We have to get to the Millennium Falcon!" She insisted fiercely.

Obi-Wan came closer to the group and nodded at the three behind him. "Han, lead them to the ship quickly. Where did you land her?"

"It's just over in the clearing behind those trees!" Han yelled back and started pushing the two younger ones towards that direction.

Obi-Wan shielded them from fire from his lagging position behind them, but suddenly a large boulder came hurtling in the air towards them through the streams of lasers being fired off. The Jedi Master stumbled back a few steps and held his lightsaber firmly before him, timing his fatal blow with practiced calculation.

The rock was hurtling ever closer, and with his brow furrowed, Obi-Wan directed a severe swipe of his lightsaber towards it and it immediately erupted into thousands of little rock pebbles that rained around him. He took a deep breath and looked down the clear path from where the rock had been directed from. Past the dozens of fighters engaged in battle, past the dozens of running men…

He was finally met with a hideous face.

The figure did not move. "…Obi-Wan Kenobi."

--

Darth Vader felt himself walking and walking, closer and closer, his steps hard against the dirt, his presence very fearsome. He drew nearer to his old master, a sense of utter disbelief filling him but also a sense of deep anger. His gloved hand clutched the hilt of his lightsaber more tightly as he brought it to a raised formed.

"Master," he greeted when he was now very close to his old friend, his breath icy and harsh, his tone unforgiving.

Obi-Wan had taken a few steps back, his own lightsaber held high and ready for battle. Vader studied his old master's face, noticing he still looked relatively the same as he had last saw him…when he had left him to burn to death by the rivers of lava on Mustafar. The anger continued to boil, but the confusion did not abate.

How was he alive?

Were they not all dead?

"Darth Vader," Obi-Wan greeted, just as sternly, just as without emotion. The two gave one another leveled stares and it was almost as if there was no battle going on around them, just the two of them, in silence, waiting.

Vader was the first to break the cloak of silence and lunged forward, lashing out his reddened blade to meet fiercely against Obi-Wan's blade of green. The two exchanged quick parries and blows, neither of them giving, neither of them able to strike a fatal blow.

"Ben!!"

The voice of a younger boy was ringing out in shock over the noise of blasts and fighting, and Vader did not miss it. He was momentarily distracted when he sought out the face of the boy who had screamed out, and Obi-Wan was almost able to strike at his right shoulder. He dodged but the face of that young boy was still vivid in his mind.

That boy…the Force was so strong with him.

Who was that boy?

The boy was running closer, brandishing a lightsaber of his own; a bright cerulean blue. The boy looked like he was out of place, handling the skillful weapon clumsily and waving it wildly in the air.

Foolish, was all that Vader thought now.

The boy had no chance.

He gave his lightsaber a quick spin and stab, knocking Obi-Wan into the air and onto the ground a few feet away. His old master struggled to get back onto his feet, but Vader's attention was no longer on his insignificant master. He turned his blade towards the young boy running at him, the boy with sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His face was determined, his gaze steady and unafraid.

Vader raised his weapon before him and pulled back, ready to strike the boy down—

"No!"

A shrill cry did not break his concentration as he swooped downwards, but the sudden figure of a young woman plummeting towards the young boy caused him to pull back at colossal speed. Darth Vader was rarely surprised, in fact, almost never, but the woman that had suddenly appeared before him, shielding the young boy he was trying to kill, had surprised him nearly out of his mind.

"Handmaiden!" He nearly spat out in anger.

Rédora looked up at him from her fallen position at his feet, her hair in her face but her eyes slightly brimming with tears and intense fire as she clung onto the teenage boy as if her life depended on it. She was holding onto him so tightly that her knuckles were turning a ghastly white and she was starting to shake.

"Do not kill him," she was almost hissing out of anxiety, but Vader had to admit that he had never seen such severity in the face of a woman. She looked like she would murder him.

Unfortunately, Vader knew the stupid girl could do nothing like that.

"I do not know how you got here, but you are in my way, foolish girl."

--

If Luke thought his day could not get any stranger, he had just been proven wrong. He was now being held tightly by a woman he had never seen before in his life, and she did not seem to want to let him go. She was breathing heavily, but the warmth that he felt from her was soothing and the fear that he had felt moments before was suddenly gone and replaced by a heavy peace.

He glanced at the woman awkwardly, and saw that she held such intensity in her eyes as she stared up at the horrific Sith Lord. He could not help but admire her audacity, and even though there was dirt on her face now and her hair was a tangled mess, he thought she was quite a beautiful woman.

"Luke, get up. Now!"

Obi-Wan was at his side, pulling his arm and pulling him out of the woman's embrace. Luke felt a strange sadness as he was heaved away from the woman and stumbled into Obi-Wan with a confused expression on his face. His master was almost dragging him towards the distraught looking Leia and the pale-faced Han Solo, but he felt like he had almost lost all mobile functions and could not snap out of his little reverie.

"But, but Ben! Ugh, master—" he was stuttering, overwhelmed, he could not tear his gaze away from behind his shoulder at the woman at the Sith Lord's feet. "We can't just leave her!"

Obi-wan was frowning gravely, also taking a quick look over his shoulder at the woman who had saved his young Padawan's life. He could not place it, but the woman was very familiar and had a touch of the Force surrounding her that felt all too familiar indeed. As he turned back to face Leia and Han, he caught sight from the corner of his eyes the woman stand up next to Vader as if they were about to engage in conversation.

"I think…I think she will be fine," Obi-Wan managed to mutter before Han was at his side and helping to pull Luke into the bushes and clearing where the Millennium Falcon would bring them to safety.

--

He did not know what he was feeling right now. Anger wasn't really it, but anger he indeed felt. But it was the curiosity intertwined with his anger that threw him off, as Vader stared down at the handmaiden staring defiantly up at him. As she stood, he did not make any move to stop her, nor did he make any move to chase after Obi-Wan and that boy. His focus was all drawn towards Rédora, who was now looking slightly unfocused, her mind as if in a different world.

A few of his men ran up next to him, indicating a few ships had taken flight and would be waiting for the rebel princess' ship if it were to make it out of Naboo's atmosphere. Vader felt himself nodding and felt his men run towards the clearing where Obi-Wan, the boy and the princess had disappeared through, but he still could not turn away from the woman standing next to him.

"You—" he started, but did not know where to end.

Rédora seemed to be drawn back into reality from his voice as her eyes flickered upwards to look at him. Her gaze did not shake, and he noticed that her little fists were clenched at her sides.

"I—He was so young," Rédora uttered, knowing whatever explanation she gave him would not work, but she did not know what to say. She finally looked away, her gaze faltering, her chin slightly shaking.

Vader was angry, he really was, but he also knew that those pesky rebels would not get far. That fact calmed him, and he felt his anger diminishing very quickly, surprising even himself. He could not control the sudden desire to feel her trembling chin, and he felt one gloved hand raise to hold it gently. He had not been so gentle…in a very long time.

She looked at him in alarm, her eyes wide, not fearful. He heard his breath coming out in loud, rasps, and could almost hear the loud thump of her heart thudding rhythmically with every loud breath he took.

"I snuck onto your ship. I…I wasn't really thinking. And…" she trailed off, unable to explain herself further.

Vader did not speak. He was surprised, slightly impressed, that she had been able to hide out on his own ship and have him not sense her. He was also surprised by her lack of sense, or what one could call foolish courage. He let his gloved hand linger for a moment longer on her chin before pulling away, turning around in the opposite direction to go back towards the cliff where he had landed.

"Do not interfere next time, I won't be as forgiving."

She watched him with shock on her face.

Darth Vader stopped in his tracks abruptly when he noticed that the silly handmaiden girl was still standing, rooted dumb to her spot a few feet behind him. He frowned impatiently and turned with a billow of his black cape behind him.

"Hurry up if you do not want to waste my time as well."

Rédora tried to regain her composure as she quickly caught up with the Sith Lord, following closely behind him with a mixture of unbearable surprise and exhilaration coursing through her tiny frame. She wasn't really sure what was going to happen, but she knew that she had just made massive progress in her hopes of saving him.

--

Threepio jumped up from his seat in the Millennium Falcon as his master and fellow companions boarded the ship in a hurried frenzy. Han was already at the pilot seat, bringing the ship into readied flight as Chewbacca hooted excitedly next to him.

"Master Luke! You are so pale! What was going on out there? Artoo was making all sorts of silly noises!"

Luke was helped into a seat by Leia, who was equally pale but equally relieved that they had managed to get onboard. The impatient princess leaned over from behind Han's seat and frowned heavily. "Can't you hurry up?! We're all going to be killed if you don't' get this thing off the ground now!"

"I'm trying princess! If you weren't screaming in my ear all the time maybe I could be more efficient!" He hissed back as the ship roared to life and sprang from the ground.

Obi-Wan was quiet as the usual banter between Princess Leia and Han Solo filled the air. He was deeply troubled and contemplative, his arms crossed in front of him out of habit when he fell into deep thought.

"Master, why do you look so troubled?" Luke was looking at the Jedi Master with a mixture of worry and confusion.

Obi-Wan did not really stir, but simply looked straight ahead with his brow furrowed. "It's nothing my young Padawan. The woman that saved you is just troubling my thoughts."

"Me too," Luke admitted and sat back in his seat with a small frown. "I don't know…I don't feel right about leaving her behind like that!"

"What's done is done Luke," Leia cut in, her voice calming Luke's jittery nerves at once.

Obi-Wan's mind was running furiously. He was trying to pinpoint exactly why that woman had given him such a strange feeling when he had laid eyes on her. That Force signature…reminded him of Master Yoda's. His mind came to a reeling stop.

…Padmé?

This thought troubled him greatly, but he was hoping that he was wrong. No one but Yoda himself knew what sort of disguise Padmé Amidala was in. After all, it had been the great Jedi Master's own powers that had been able to cloak the woman from harm's way and he had decided that the fewer people who knew of her identity, the better.

But if that woman…if that woman was her, she was with Vader.

Obi-Wan's frown deepened. He really hoped he was wrong. What was that girl doing so close to the Sith Lord? Was she asking for death? He hoped she would not do something completely stupid…

The last he had seen of the former queen and senator had been the night he had helped her slip out of her supposed final resting place. That had been nearly fifteen years ago, and that was the day that the former senator had bid good-bye to her newborn children and had disappeared on Naboo under Yoda's spells. Obi-Wan had then taken the children and brought them to their respective foster homes.

And then here they all were now, paths at the brink of crossing again.

Maybe.

He was not too sure.

"Han!" Leia shrieked in surprise as the whole ship rocked to the right.

Han Solo cursed unapologetically as he brought the ship lower. They were speeding by various Imperial starfighters that had been waiting outside of Naboo's atmosphere and were now firing and swooping onto the Falcon, unforgiving and relentless.

"There's too many of them!" Luke observed anxiously, standing up from his seat.

"You know where to go," Han nodded towards the younger boy, who nodded back immediately and ran down to where the ship's firing controls were located.

Leia got up as well, refusing to just sit there and do absolutely nothing. "I'm coming with you!" She started after Luke, but then quickly spun on her heels. "Can't we go into hyperspace?!"

Han grunted in response. Chewbacca whimpered, swiping a paw at his human companion.

"Chewie stop distracting me!" exclaimed Han in a disgruntled voice. "And princess, I'm trying, but as you can see it's not exactly—"

All of a sudden the lights had gone out in the ship and a feeling of stilled suspension fell onto the Falcon and its crew; they had gotten caught in a tractor beam. Han looked out of the windows nervously as Leia's breath caught in her throat. Artoo whirred and wheeled itself towards the glass pane and beeped insanely, as if telling them all to look at what it was looking at.

"What is that?" Obi-Wan had stood up and approached Artoo, all thoughts of Padmé and the blonde girl suddenly gone but replaced with a sense of foreboding.

Looming ahead of them was what looked like a moon, and it was casting a giant shadow onto them and everything else in its path. The group noticed that the Imperial starships had seized fire and were zooming ahead of them towards the strange looking moon. And as they were drawn closer by some sort of magnetic force, Han's eyes widened in surprise.

"That's no moon! It's a…a battle station!"

Luke had returned from below and had come to stand by Obi-Wan's side, his face holding amazement and a bit of apprehension.

"Master, what are we going to do?" His question came out louder than it actually was, as the ship was deathly silent, all eyes on their impending doom.

AN: Oh no, a sort of cliffhanger again this chapter! Thank you guys for reading my little story so far, and your reviews are greatly appreciated! And to answer Rinter's question, yes there will probably be many more chapters. This chapter itself was a lot more action than I intended, and I normally don't write a lot of action so it was kind of weird on my part ( I think the next chapter will definitely be more toned down…a family reunion? Sort of, maybe? Captures? Escapes? More Rédora/Vader? D