12 BBY, Mos Eisley, Tatooine

Kin Starseeker was jerked out of a deep meditative trance by a white-hot blast of deathpainterror in the Force. He spat several Huttese curses between his teeth and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, trying to ground himself amid the echoes of thousands of dead Jedi.

The chrono on the floor next to him indicated it was almost dawn. He'd been under for nearly 9 hours. It was no wonder he'd stumbled across one of the death echoes that now swirled around in the Force's undercurrents. It was too late to go to sleep now, so he got up instead, grimacing as blood rushed back into his legs. He didn't bother to turn on the lights in the little hut, merely let the Force guide him around the mechanical detritus that was pretty much always strewn across the floor. He only stepped on one piece of mechanical plating between the sofa and the caf machine, which was pretty good, for having the beginnings of a truly awful headache inhibiting his focus.

Neither Obi-Wan not Padmé had ever managed to make him into a neat person, despite their best efforts.

He was watching the suns rise when a soft, clumsy prod at his consciousness told him that Leia was awake. The seven year old girl came in a few moments later, blinking sleepily. It was mostly his imagination, but he thought his headache lessened as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her dark head.

"How's my little Princess this morning, huh?" Leia, who was most definitely not a morning person, didn't answer, just snuffled grumpily into his shoulder. Kin couldn't help but laugh at her sleepy grumping. "Does this mean you don't want to go today?" he asked. The result was immediate. The little girl leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Don't be silly, Daddy!" she said, looking haughty. In fact, she looked so much like her mother that his heart twisted just a little. When he didn't react, her eyes widened in alarm. "We're still gonna go, right?"

"Sure, Princess," he said, tugging gently on the end of her braid, "long as you're not too tired." The haughty look returned in full force.

"I'm not!"

Despite her grumbling, Leia was good the rest of the morning. Or, she was good by his standards. She still flicked pieces of cracker at him across the table, but that was practically a game between them now. (Padmé was going to be horrified in a few years) Kin watched her out of the corner of his eye as he washed up the breakfast dishes. He was constantly amazed at her, at even the smallest things she did. She could levitate things with the Force when she concentrated, face all screwed up, and he wondered if he'd ever looked so funny while learning. He probably had. She was headstrong and stubborn as well, set in her ways. She reminded him a lot of himself, actually. It made him in equal parts proud and worried. And she was only seven. So small and fragile that in his less rational moments he didn't want to let her outside. He knew, from the holos in her house on Naboo, that Leia looked almost exactly like Padmé had as a girl, all brown curls, skinny limbs and round cheeks.

She was his entire universe, here on Tatooine. Without her in his life, he wasn't entirely sure he'd still be sane, after seven years of living on his homeworld again. The memories were sometimes stong enough to shut him down as it was. Leia brought out an inner strength he'd been unable to find in his entire career as a Jedi.

How ironic, that his personal attachments were what had finally made him a good Jedi, years after the Order's destruction.

The Boonta Eve Classic was still the premiere social event of the year on Tatooine. Kin had to maneuver around thousands of beings in order to park their old landspeeder. As he lifted Leia from her seat and set her on the hard packed sand, he spotted a Toydarian he recognized as Watto in the entrance to the Pod garage, yelling at a Dug Pod Jockey. Either betting on him or he owned the pod. Kin rolled his eyes.

Leia was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She'd asked to come to the races nearly three months ago, after hearing her older friends talk about how exciting it was. Kin had been hesitant at first, but really, there would be nothing going on that Leia hadn't seen before, up to and including fatal crashes. Tatooine wasn't exactly conducive to sheltered childhoods. He did feel for his mother though, as his daughter watched a pair of Squibs lunge for each other, shrieking obscenities in Huttese. She understood them too, she'd grown up speaking more Huttese than Basic, though she knew both. Yes, Padmé was going to be beside herself.

Somehow, he doubted Luke knew what "Dopo me gusha, loca kark?" meant, let alone "E chu ta."

There was a good two hours before the race was supposed to start, so Kin decided to show Leia the pods. So long as you didn't touch the engines, most racers were happy to show off their machines to anyone who was interested. Leia stared in open-mouthed adoration at a bright blue pod, attached to enormous, flanged engines. The racer, a small Selonian, looked over from where she was checking her plasma coupling.

"Like what you see, Pinky?" she asked. Leia grinned and nodded. Kin gave the pod engines a critical once over.

"Did you build this?" he asked. The Selonian ran one paw through the fur atop her head and laughed.

"Fierfek, no!" she exclaimed. "This is one of Sebulba's pods. He rents 'em out for races he's not entered in." She cocked her head at Kin's grin. "What's so funny?" Kin shrugged.

"Nothing. Your pod just looks like one of his I saw a few years ago."

"Oh yeah," she shrugged. "No-one's ever said that Dug was original. You'd think after the time he lost to a nine-year-old, he'd have maybe changed his design, but you'd be wrong. Still, it works, and that's more than can be said for most of the junk out here." Leia's jaw dropped.

"A nine-year-old?!" she squeaked.

"Yeah," said the racer. "Folks around here are still talkin' about it, and it happened more than ten years ago now. Right now, that idiot's trying to win bets by sayin' his pod's got the same engines the kid's did." She gestured across the way, at another racer. Leia looked over.

"Are they?" She asked.

Kin rather doubted it. He'd built the engines from nothing, after all; they'd been one of a kind.

The Selonian snorted.

"As if." She said scornfully. "No, Mareq's just a lying sack of bantha poodoo." Leia giggled.

"Come on, Princess." said Kin. "We need to go if we're gonna find seats." His daughter nodded, but turned to the Selonian racer before joining him.

"Good luck!" she said, with a wide smile. The Selonian's ears wriggled, in the species' own version of the expression.

"Thanks, kid."

The podrace was the most exciting thing Leia had ever seen, ever. The Selonian racer came in second, which Leia thought was pretty neat, because she'd been nice and nice beings hardly ever got ahead on Tatooine. Dad was grinning as they left, too, which was also great, because Dad was hardly ever happy. All in all, it was pretty much the best day of Leia's life.

"Dad?" she asked, as the landspeeder shot across the empty desert between the racetrack and Mos Eisley. He looked over, face tinted red through her goggles.

"Yeah, Princess?"

"Can we practice with the Force when we get home?" It was one of her favorite things to do, but they didn't do it very often. Dad never answered when she asked why, he just said it was dangerous. To her surprise and excitement, though, Dad nodded.

"Sure." he said, almost too soft to hear over the engines and the wind.

Leia spent the rest of the speeder ride bouncing up and down in her seat, too excited to sit still. By the time Dad cut the engines in front of their house, Leia was imagining herself lifting the whole city of Mos Eisley with the Force. She wondered if even Dad could do that. Probably. Dad could do anything.

"Wait here, okay?" he said after she climbed out of the speeder. "I need to go check for transmissions." Leia, who was used to this, just nodded. Dad had super-important friends out in the galaxy somewhere that sometimes needed his help with different things. Leia didn't really understand it, but she heard the words "Rebellion" and "Emperor" a lot the one time she listened in.

Dad hated the Empire. She wasn't sure why, and she'd never asked, because she didn't think she wanted to know. But every year on Empire Day, which was only three days before her birthday, Dad was quiet and angry and sad, which was weird. Not the angry and sad part, because Dad was angry and sad a lot, but the quiet part was weird. Normally, Dad was loud and teasing and goofy, but on Empire Day, he was just quiet. Leia didn't like it. She'd decided a long time ago that she hated the Empire too, for whatever they'd done to make her dad like he was.

Just after he disappeared, the two boys across the street came running over. Leia sighed. D'nai was her best friend, but his brother Naren was mean.

"Hey, Leia!" yelled D'nai, skidding to a stop in front of her. "Did you really go to Boonta Eve?" Even Naren's scowling presence couldn't keep the smile off of her face at the memory.

"Yeah!" she said. "It was amazing, just like you said! I even met a racer! Dad said-" Naren interrupted her.

"Kriff, would you stop bragging for one second?" he asked, glaring at her. "If I have to hear one more time how your dad is the greatest ever I'm gonna puke." Leia glared at the older boy.

"I wasn't talking to you." she snapped, "D'nai asked me a question, and I answered it."

"Ooh, look at you, acting like you're something special. What do you think you are, some kinda princess?" Leia crossed her arms, anger turning red behind her eyes. "Well, I got news for you, kid, you can't be a princess with some desert mech for a dad and a dead backwoods tramp for a-" He didn't get to finish, because Leia launched herself into his stomach, knocking him into the sand. After that, there was only red, until a big hand grabbed the back of her tunic and pulled her off of the older boy, and disappointmentworryannoyed cut through the red rage in her head.

"Apologize." was all Dad said as he set her back on the sand. He didn't let go of the back of her tunic, either. Leia furrowed her small brows and glared up at him, but there was no softness in his eyes, only hard blue durasteel, so she turned her glare on Naren.

"Sorry." she grumbled, not meaning it. Naren said nothing, just scrambled to his feet and turned away. She couldn't see very well through the grit in her eyes, but she thought he looked a little afraid.

Good. If he was afraid of her, maybe he'd stop being so mean all the kriffing time. Dad's hand, the durasteel one, tightened around her tunic, enough to make her squirm.

"So," said Dad, after locking the door and washing the worst of the sand from Leia's face. He dropped the rag onto the kitchen table, then knelt down so that their faces were at the same height. "Want to tell me what that was about?" His voice was soft, but that didn't mean he wasn't mad. She shrugged.

"He was being mean." She looked right at him, not afraid. Well, maybe a little afraid, but she wasn't going to show it. Dad nodded slowly, then raised an eyebrow, scar stretching.

"Mmmmhm. What did we say about anger, Young One?" Leia sighed. He only ever called her that when she'd really messed up, or when he was teaching her about the Force.

"That it's just an emotion and we can never, ever let it control us." she muttered. "But Dad, he was saying awful things about Mom." At that, Dad canted his head to the side. His face was still closed off and impassive, but a tiny thread of hope wormed its way into Leia's mind.

"What did he say?" he asked, voice even.

"He said she was a backwoods tramp." said Leia. All of a sudden, her anger gave way to something that was frighteningly like fear. Leia hated being afraid. In a small voice, she asked, "Was she?" Dad's hard mask finally cracked open at that, and he looked stricken.

"No, of course not." he whispered. Then, louder, "She was beautiful, and strong, and the kindest person I ever knew." He placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him. "Leia, your mom was an angel."

Her eyes were stinging from the sand, and she could tell from the look on his face that she was still in trouble, but she felt better all the same.

"You always say that." she muttered,trying not to grin. Dad just shrugged.

Come one, Young One," he said, standing up. "I think today's a good day to learn a little control over your emotions, hm?"

What Leia wanted to do was practice moving things and mind tricks, but she knew better than to push her luck, so she just nodded.

"Right," said Dad, crossing to the two sand-colored mats in the corner. Leia grabbed the smaller one and sat down on it, crossing her legs. "Let's start by calming down, okay? Watch me." Leia nodded, and watched. Dad took a deep breath, and the Force shifted around her. Suddenly she could feel worry coming through their bond, clammy against her own mind. Underneath it was a layer of icy fear. As she watched, though, they bled away, trailing off into the currents of energy around them. As the last bits disappeared, Dad opened his eyes.

"Now you try," he said, "Feel your anger. Acknowledge it and accept it, then let it go. Send it off into the Force."

Leia closed her eyes. She summoned Naren's face and his words, and the anger came with them, red and hot in her mind. She pushed at it, sending it away. Some of it went, and the rest was chased out by a wash of cool calm from Dad. She opened her eyes.

"Not bad, Young One." he said, and reached across the space to ruffle her hair. Out of habit, she smacked at his hand and smoothed it back down, grinning. Dad smiled too, and said, "I want you to practice this week, alright? When you get annoyed, or angry or afraid, practice releasing it." Leia nodded. Through their bond, she felt Dad rearrange his shields, blocking most of his feelings and all of his thoughts. Leia couldn't shield yet, Dad said she was too young to learn. As they rolled the mats back up, Leia remembered something from the lesson.

"When you were showing me how to release my feelings." she said, looking up at him. "Why were you afraid?" Dad's shoulders went stiff, and it was a long time before he answered.

"Do you know why it's important for you to keep a hold on your feelings?" he asked. Leia didn't. Over the years, she'd learned that Dad hardly ever explained things like that. She shook her head. Dad nodded. "I didn't think so." he said, and there was something like sadness under his voice. "You and I, we're different from other beings. You know that, right?" Leia nodded. She'd wondered, when she was little, why Granny Mirilba never knew what she wanted like Dad did, without her even having to say so.

"Because of the Force." she said. Dad nodded again.

"We are Force-sensitive, but the Force is also sensitive to us. Does that make sense?" Seeing her nod, he continued. "That means that when we get angry or scared, the Force reacts to that. When you use the Force out of anger, when you let your emotions control you, you can end up hurting people, more than a non-Force sensitive would." Suddenly, Leia could hear screams around her, and a faint, metallic scent of blood hung in the air for just a moment before it disappeared. "It's called the Dark Side, when a person lets their anger or fear control their Force-use. People who fall to the Dark Side lose who they are, they'd turn on their own best friend."

"They turn evil?" asked Leia, horrified.

"Yes," said Dad, reaching out and placing a hand on her knee, "They give up everything for power and become a shell of their former selves." This time, she could see, very clearly, a black cloaked creature with burning yellow eyes and black tattoos zigzagging across his face. He carried a blood red blade, and his presence was icecolddark and wrong, lightyears away from Dad's brightsunfirewarm presence beside her. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

Dad took a deep, shuddering breath as the vision faded, then continued,

"I was afraid, little Princess, because you reminded me of myself today, when you hit Naren. You weren't wrong to be angry, but you let it get the better of you." Leia looked down at the floor, shame turning her cheeks red and hot.

"I'm sorry, Apa. she murmured. Dad lifted her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his.

I'm proud of you, and I love you more than anything in the Galaxy, shisa." He pulled her close, and she tucked her head into his chest, breathing in his engine-oil, dust, and tea-spice scent. "But you're also a Force-user, and you have to learn to release your anger and your fear, or they will hurt you, and other beings, too."

The truth of his words rang through the Force, and she knew he spoke from experience.

Two days later, when Imperial stormtroopers ran a standard check for "Seditionist and Rebel Propaganda," Leia closed her eyes and let her anger fade away into the Force, even after one trooper muttered something about "lizard-eating abos" then casually knocked Dad's spices onto the floor, spilling dried tufi and fierfa flowers everywhere.

She felt nothing more than a little annoyance from Dad, but his shields were even tighter than normal, and his durasteel fingers were twitching.

She wondered, for the first time, how he knew so much about anger and fear.

A/N: Can you tell how much I love Anakin and Leia having an actual relationship yet? Also Tatooine.

'Apa' and 'Shisa' mean 'dad' and 'my girl', respectively, in the language I made up for Shmi Skywalker's people. Shmi is a native Tatooinian. Fight me, Canon.

"Dopo me gusha, loca kark?": "Do you feel lucky, crazy fuck?"

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