Leia was already looking forward to dyeing her hair back to its regular shade when she finally stepped out onto Coruscant. The red shade was a little obvious, despite carefully making sure her eyebrows and eyelashes matched, but it was enough to give any Imperial pause. The prosthetic nose helped too, or at least she hoped. It was good enough, for right now, for where she was going.

There were fewer and fewer cameras as she took stairs down, away from Republica 500 looming on the skyline. It was dizzying and disorienting – she only knew a little of Coruscant, only in the spires where the Senatorial elite lived comfortably. But the lower city called to her. It was safer, anyhow, in a way. There was at least a chance that a swoop gang or drug lord could be sympathetic if she was recognized.

As she stepped into the elevator, shoulder to shoulder with a crowd heading home from work, the collective exhaustion around her made her shoulders slump. But she looked up, tucking her hands in the pockets of the ratty old coat she had borrowed to complete her costume, and sighed. Han would be furious with her when she got back. Mon Mothma would be furious, too, as much as Leia suspected the serene older woman ever became angry – well, perhaps not furious. It would be worse if they weren't angry, but instead just smothered her with worry so that she was crushed under the weight of her own guilt.

Don't think about that, she reminded herself. This was more important than anyone could ever understand. Perhaps Luke, someday, but –

The open-air elevator groaned before dropping in almost a free fall, her hair pulled up around her face by the wind. Republica 500 gleamed, catching the light, before finally disappearing along with most of the sky, swallowed by dirty-looking buildings with garish neon displays. And the elevator continued to go down…

"Thought you should know someone's been looking for you, old man."

He glanced up over the mug of ale, trying to keep his face impassive. "Is that so, Vadis?"

"Yeah," the boy drawled, flopping in across from him and giving a wide, toothy grin. "I don't normally disclose such information but, you know, I'd rather not see my aunt get caught in a shootout, so if this is some bounty hunter after you, try not to get shot around her, eh?"

A very slight smile played over his face. "Your concern is touching."

"Sure thing, Naberrie. I'll point her out to you, even. Have another ale and stick around, she was eager to meet you." Selian grinned even as he got up, going back to his usual perch in the dingy bar.

He wasn't stupid enough to order another ale. But he did watch quietly as Vadis waved a confused-looking redhead over to him. She was too clean and held herself too upright, walking with a self-assured confidence even as she was obviously uncomfortable with the surroundings. Something was familiar – very much so – but he couldn't place it, not yet. It was dangerous to reach out with the Force so, but he was at least reasonably sure she wasn't Mara Jade… after all, the red hair color was too garish and obvious.

He closed his eyes, taking the last sip of his ale, reaching out with the Force. Almost immediately, as something recognizable rang true, his eyes snapped open. Surely it wasn't – surely she wouldn't be that foolish, it couldn't be –

No, she was sitting straight in her seat, just the way a Senator would. A Princess to the last despite all that remained of her people was space debris and rubble. A shining gem even in the dirt-covered setting, still gleaming – still attracting undue attention.

By the time Selian Vadis finally turned in his seat to try and point out the widower Naberrie to her, he was gone out the back door, not even leaving enough credits to pay for his drink.

"- and he usually sticks around for awhile. Dunno what's up with him, but he'll be back tomorrow, same time more or less." Selian Vadis yawned lightly and gave Leia a shrug. "I even told him to stay."

A small, frustrated sigh escaped her, and the young man looked hurt before she gave him a smile. "Thank you anyway. I'll be back tomorrow. Oh –" It was forced, but it was at least something to give the patrons of the bar something to talk about other than how much she stood out: she leaned over and planted a kiss on Selian's lips. His eyes widened in shock even as she gave him a wink and walked out of the bar. The rising buzz of amused conversation carried her out in a wave, riding the crest as she stepped out into the grimy city street. There was no need to go back to the freighter, not so soon. She had an address and that was enough for a start –

Three steps away from the door and someone grabbed her wrist tightly. Instinctively she twisted away, but the infuriated scream died in her throat.

"Keep walking, Princess," a low and somewhat familiar voice growled out behind her.

"Let go of me."

"No."

"I said let go of me."

She wasn't sure why her voice wouldn't raise above a whisper, or why her blood had gone to ice. She wasn't even sure who he was – just someone who knew her, and who dredged up some instinctive fear that normally she was so good at pushing away.

"I can't do that, Princess."

"I'll scream." It was grasping weakly at whatever threat she could. His hand, gloved and solid, was nearly crushing her wrist.

"Neither of us want Imperial peacekeepers taking too much of an interest in us. Now keep walking." The last two words were slippery in a way that she couldn't quite place, and her feet were moving before she was aware what was happening. It was dizzying, and she was being dragged forward, stumbling through the crowd. Now all she could see was his back – in a cheap poncho, hood pulled up – broad shoulders, gloved hands. As soon as she tried to step forward to catch his face, he pulled away.

With a frustrated half-growl, she tried to pull out of his grip again. "Let go –"

"No." If anything, his grip on her wrist became tighter, and she sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "You're going to be off of this planet in two hours."

"How dare you order me around like –"

"Like a soldier of the Alliance?" His voice was pointedly low enough not to be heard, a reminder to keep hers down as well even as she grew indignant. "Because you are one. I am only going to say this once, so please pay attention."

She snorted in anger as she stumbled, venom already on her lips as she readied a stinging insult in reply. But she was smoothly interrupted as he dragged her down a set of stairs.

"If you die, the Alliance dies with you. Skywalker's absence is almost enough to crush it. Without Skywalker or you, the Alliance will be without heart or soul. You cannot take foolish risks like this."

"This isn't foolish –"

"Yes it is."

"This is important –"

"Yes it is. Something can both be foolish and important. But you are not only endangering yourself, you are –"

"You there!" The drawling yell made her flinch, but his hand didn't move away from her wrist, even as a sour-faced Imperial officer flanked by five stormtroopers walked over to them. From the looks of it, the officer was having a bad day, and was looking forward to sharing the misery. "Is there some sort of problem, here?"

It was such a sudden movement that she nearly shrieked, but he pulled her closer and locked an arm around her in a bad parody of a friendly embrace. "No problem at all, officer. Just having a bit of a disagreement with my daughter. That's all."

Icy fear was almost paralyzing – surely he didn't know, surely he couldn't, not now, not yet – but Leia knew the ruse was a good one. Yes – play along – she gritted her teeth and put on her best smile, a nervous wheezy laugh half-squeezed out of her by his crushing grip.

"A disagreement?" The officer looked between them peevishly. "What about?"

"Her terrible sense of fashion," he said placidly. This actually made her jaw drop a little, her head whipping around to glare at him – or what little she could see underneath the hood, now, the neatly trimmed beard distinctive and peppered with grey.

"Now that you say it, that red does look awful," the officer said snidely. She could feel the color rising in her cheeks but she bit her tongue, choking back the anger. "I'll need to see your identification and your passes, please."

"You don't need to see those."

The officer's face went slightly slack. "I don't need to see your identification and your passes."

"You'll let us be on our way."

"I'll let you be on your way," he murmured dazedly before giving a cough and straightening his uniform. "Right. Of course. Be on your way, I don't want more miscreants lollygagging around this sector." He nodded a little to himself before motioning to the troopers, setting off in a self-assure swagger. To Leia's mild amazement, he didn't even glance back – and neither did any of the stormtroopers.

The small hovering droid following them, however, only moved on after getting a clear photograph of her face.