"Leia?"

"mmm" she replied, stretching her arms out, it was warm and soft here, and she did not want to wake up just yet.

"You need to wake up Leia" Now the voice was closer and someone was shaking her gently. Slowly she opened her eyes. Vader was staring down at her, a hand on her shoulder. With a groan she sat carefully sat up in the bed, and he let her go. "How did I get here?"

"I carried you"

"You picked me up?" she asked abhorred, not liking the thought of Vader carrying her anywhere.

"Evidently" he said, indicating the bed she was lying in "But if it makes you feel any better I picked you all up, including the wookie" That image almost made Leia smile, almost. But then she remembered what he had done to Han, and apparently to Chewie.

"Where is Han" she asked, retreating as far away from him as she possible could, in the enclosed space of the bed, letting her hand move slowly underneath the blanket down towards her belt, to get to her blaster. When she could feel its familiar handle beneath her fingers she tightened her grip around it, ready to strike.

Seeing her movement, a sad expression crossed his face, and he shifted slightly offering her the view of the bed just across from her, where Han seemed to sleep peacefully, his chest raising and falling steadily.

"You shouldn't have done that" she told him furiously, letting out a breath in relief that Han was ok, but she did not let go of the handle. She was becoming increasingly aware of just how powerful the man in front of her was, and how easily he could take them all out if he wished. And she was the one that had let him out.

He sighed, "It was unfortunate, but by the time you two had stopped bickering, we would already have crash-landed on the planet. As for the wookie he tried to attack me again, I had no choice"

"Han will never forgive you for this, or me for that sake" she said, but she finally let go of the blaster, it was done. No point in arguing about it, especially since her head was pounding. Carefully she lifted her hand to her temple to feel for any blood, it came away clean, a small bandage the only evidence of any injury, that and her aching head. Seems Vader had taken to fixing her as well as Artoo now, who she just noticed was standing at the head of her bed, clucking worriedly.

"Add it to my list of sins, what matters is that you are safe" he said wearily, and she looked up at him, realising for the first time the Falcon was no longer shaking.

"You managed to land the Falcon?" she asked, sitting further up in the bed, her head spinning so fast, she almost dropped back down. Vader looked a bit offended at her question, "I can land anything. However, we sustained some damage, which would not have happened if your smuggler had let me land it in the first place. Nor would you have been hurt." he stated, sounding cross.

Leia sighed while waiting for her head to clear. "May I remind you, you did freeze said smuggler in carbonite? You should be glad he let you aboard the ship in the first place. Now move so I can get out of this bed."

Relenting he moved to the side. Carefully she stood up, her knees nearly buckling under her as the room kept spinning. Vader reached a hand out to steady her, but she avoided it. "I can manage" she told him, but paused when she saw his expression, he looked genuinely worried. "Thank you for helping me" she told him, begrudgingly, because he had helped her, even if his methods were questionable.

"Anytime Leia" he told her, with a small smile. She turned away at the sight, deciding instead to check on Han and Chewie. The wookie was lying on another bed, his long limbs poking out at all angels, but he seemed no worse for wear. Crossing the room slowly she shook Han awake. "Han are you alright"

Han jumped to his feet hitting his head on the top of the bed with a curse, before gathering himself and pulling his blaster on Vader again "I told you this was a bad idea" he spluttered.

Vader had come up to stand next to her, arms folded across his chest. "It was necessary" he said.

"Now listen here, my lord" Han spat, waving his blaster in Vader's face "This is my ship, you had no right to do that"

"Leia got hurt because of your stubbornness" Vader told him, not even remotely bothered by the blaster in his face.

"Hah, like you care. Where were you when she really needed you? Did you save her from the empire, did you keep her safe?" Han said, moving closer to Vader "No, you tortured her. And I don't know what is going on here. But as far as I am concerned you deserve to die, and I am more than happy to oblige"

Leia looked on in shock as Han finished his speech, she understood his rage, Vader had hurt them all. Her logical mind told her she was insane for bringing him here, but the force told her told her otherwise. But which was she supposed to trust?

Vader had let his arms fall down his sides, looking stricken. "Your right" he said quietly. "I do deserve to die. But not until my son is safe. Then you can shoot me if you wish" Han blinked, tightening his hold on his blaster.

"Stop it, the both of you" she said, stepping in between them, suddenly angry with them both "We have no time for this" Turning to Han, she pushed his blaster down.

"Please Han, you get started with the repairs. I will take and Vader and go look for Luke, this is why we came here after all"

"And you" she turned back to Vader, "We should probably go before Chewie wakes up. And this time I just might let him rip your arm off" Then she turned on her heal, not bothering to listen to their replies, and headed towards the boarding ramp. Vader caught up to her, just as the ramp finished lowering, and she headed out onto the planet's surface.

Artoo started rolling down the ramp to follow them. "You stay with the ship Artoo." Vader told him, making the droid abruptly stop his downward decent, and utter some sad coos and beeps, before becoming agitated, causing Vader to flinch. "I only meant" he continued. But before he could finish, Artoo was all the way down the ramp, having extended one of his prods, giving Vader a brief electric shock, causing him to jump backwards a step. Leia had to lift a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter, the sight removing the last traces of her anger.

"I only meant so you could help with the repairs" Vader said, trying again, while keeping his distance from the droid, who still had his prod outstretched, making threatening jabs in Vader's direction.

"Don't worry Artoo. Besides if I do something stupid, Leia here will shoot me" he added, indicating her with one hand.

Following the line of his hand, Artoo spun his head towards her, then back to Vader, uttering an affirmative beep, slowly retracting his prod, before turning around and starting back up towards the Falcon

"I suppose I should be grateful for that vote of confidence" she said, managing not to laugh. "But what was that about?"

"That the last time I left him behind, I did not return. Not really." He replied, pulling his hood up, "Come, this is no place to linger" And he sat of towards the swamp, leaving her no choice but to follow.

"Well it's certainly a dismal place" she muttered to herself after they had walked for a while side by side, further into the swamp. There was a layer of fog hugging the ground, it's wispy tendrils crawling up her boots as they walked. She sidestepped a small puddle not wishing to get them wet, Vader did not seem to mind, wading through with long strides, making her increase her pace to keep up with him.

All of a sudden he stopped turning to face her, his eyes barely visible beneath his hood. "I agree" he said, turning his head around taking in their surroundings "I do not sense Luke"

Neither did she, carefully she let her senses feel for his presence again, but what came back was confusing "It's so noisy" she said, rubbing her temples, her head still hurt.

"Yes, making it a perfect place to hide" They set of again searching for any semblance of sentient life, or traces of Luke. There was nothing just the sound of the local wildlife, all in all the place was creepy, why Luke would ever go to such a bleak place was beyond her.

"He is not here, this is pointless" she said after a while, "If he was here, I would have sensed him by now, we should leave"

"Patience" Vader said, holding up a hand to silence her, the gesture rising her ire. Before she had a chance to tell him exactly what she thought of him at that moment, he spoke " Wait I sense something" Moving away from her, he walked further into too thick of the swamp until they reached a small clearing next to a large fallen three, an old man was sitting on it, watching them. After being forced to stomp after Vader to keep up, her feet were soaked through, not adding to her current mood.

"Obi Wan" Vader said in a weary voice, Leia had to peak out from Vader's side to get a good look at the man "But he is dead, you killed him." That's when she noticed the man in front of her shimmered ever so slightly, and she could almost she through him. She blinked, this wasn't happening.

"Nothing ever truly dies, Leia" Obi Wan said, smiling at her. "Your powers seem to have grown, I see"

Had they? Leia could not say if she liked that idea, especially if it meant she would start seeing dead people, she had to many ghosts in her past to ever contemplate. "I suppose" she offered, but Obi Wan had already turned his attention away from her, towards Vader. Getting to his feet, he slowly approached Vader, who had not moved from the spot since they entered the small clearing. Being the shorter of the two, Obi Wan looked up beneath Vader's hood an uncertain look on his face.

"Anakin?" he asked finally. Vader did not reply, just stared down at the old man in front of him, the hood hiding him from view. Then he drew in a deep breath within his small breather, and exhaled. "Yes"

"I didn't think it was possible, not after all this time" Obi Wan whispered, offering Vader a hesitant smile. He did not return it, instead lifting his hands to lower his hood, exposing his face. Obi Wans smile faded as he got a good look at Vader's ravaged features. To her surprise, Vader's expression actually softened before he spoke "Neither did I"

"Well I suppose the fact that your son is as stubborn as you are, turned out to be a good thing after all" Obi Wan offered more playfully, like he was trying to draw Anakin out from beneath Vader's serious countenance.

"Speaking of Luke, is he here?" Leia interjected getting impatient

Obi Wan turned to her a sad look on his face, "I am afraid he is not"

"Well do you know where he is then" she asked, they better not have come all this way for nothing.

"Your instincts were correct Leia, he is indeed in trouble, but as for finding him, you will now very soon where he is, but I fear it's a trap. I brought you here to warn you, and offer what help I can"

"You could not just have shown yourself at the fleet instead of dragging us all the way out here, we are wasting time while Luke might be hurt" she said, terror spreading through her, as Obi Wan confirmed what she already knew to be true.

Obi Wan gave Vader a fond look "This one reminds me of someone I used to know, always on the move"

Leia did not appreciate that comparison "Why are we here?"

"You are here because you needed to be, you both do. Only together can you prevent further evil from taking root and to help Luke. You need your fathers help to do this Leia. Had we not intervened, you would have left him behind and gone after Luke alone, and very likely not returned. That's why we sent you the vision." Obi Wan told her patiently.

We, who was this we? She looked around the clearing but spotted no one else, and how could they send her visions?

"We should go to Yoda's hut, there is something for you there. But first there is also something else I wanted you to know Anakin" Obi Wan said turning to Vader, hesitating for a moment before he spoke again. "It's about Padme"

Vader froze "Please don't" He said, his voice coming out as nothing but a hoarse whisper "I cannot go through this again. Not now" he shook his head vehemently, somehow appearing smaller than she had ever seen him before.

"Anakin" Obi Wan said gently, reaching a hand out.

"No I can't" Vader snapped at him, and he let it drop. "I see her beautiful face in my mind every day, every night. Is that not enough torment? Her face constricted in fear. I did that, I made her fear. Me, the one person that should have protected her and I killed her! Please Obi Wan, just leave it be" His voice was increasing in pitch as he spoke, his pain and remorse palpable, so much it hurt her just standing so close, making her want to move back a step, just to get away.

"You didn't kill her Anakin" Obi Wan said softly, taking a careful step towards Vader, but he stepped back.

"No you don't understand. I did it, it was me. It was all me!" Vader roared, backing away from them, retreating to the shadows.

Obi Wan sighed " I thought this would make you happy, help with some of the guilt. "

"Don't you understand, that was the whole point, that there wasn't any. What could I possible do now, that was worse then what I had already had done. Kill someone else's wife, what did it matter, I had killed my own. Kill someone else's child, what did it matter, I thought I had killed mine" Vader pointed an aggravated hand in her direction. Leia looked on in surprise, she had gotten used to his controlled motions, slow and calculating like a machine. This was erratic and human.

"You did not kill her Anakin" Obi Wan said again, this time more firmly, not letting Vader escape. "Your living children are proof of that, one standing just before you" Vader's eyes flickered to hers at Obi Wan words, a wild tormented gaze, but she held it anyway, letting her eyes pull him back, his own softening as he looked at her.

"The truth is we don't know exactly what happened, she just faded before our eyes, like her life force was being drained away" Obi Wan added frowning.

Vader actually snorted "Don't be ridiculous, Padme would not lie down and die because I betrayed her, not as long as our children lived. If I did not kill her something else did!"

"I know that Anakin, and I know of only one capable of doing such a thing" Obi Wan added, eyeing Vader carefully

"He told me I did it. And all this time it was him!" Vader clenched his fist and started pacing around the small clearing, his voice becoming more cold and menacing as he spoke. But then he looked at her, and took a deep breath, unclenching his fist on the exhale. "He is dead, it is done" he whispered to himself.

"Her last words were of you" Obi Wan added compassion in his eyes.

"No just no" Vader said, lifting his hands up palms out, as if to shield himself from the words. She got the distinct feeling he desperately wanted to hear them, yet he also wanted to get as far away from there as possible.

"She believed in you until the end Anakin" Obi Wan finished. Vader's eyes widened, and he spun on his heels turning away from them.

Clenching his fists, head bowed, he was doing it again, curling himself inwards, like a great wounded animal ready to pounce, but she knew he wouldn't. For a moment he just stood there, then started to walk away, before he abruptly stopped again, back still turned to them

"Obi Wan." he said weakly, his voice sounding more like that of a small child than a grown man. "Thank you. Thank you for keeping them safe, and I am sorry, for everything." with that he stalked away towards the dark swamp, leaving Leia in the clearing with the ghost of a dead man. She watched him walk away until she could no longer distinguish him from the rest of the shadows. It was becoming increasingly difficult to hate a man in so much pain, and she was starting to believe he just might hate himself enough for the both of them. When he was no longer visible she turned to Obi Wan, who was still staring at the point where Vader had vanished.

" So am I Anakin, so am I" he whispered.

Notes:

Yes I know this is technically a fan theory, but I hated Padme's death, I always felt it diminished her entire character. So no she did not die of a broken heart in my story! A bit longer this chapter, oh well.

Thanks for all the reviews, and all of those who are still reading my story.