CHAPTER 21:

Princess Leia found her hands shackled to the bench behind Darth Vader. He piloted his shuttle himself, which put the princess at unease. If they were headed to the capital of Coruscant, the destination she expected, the Dark Lord would have a show of Imperial officers, pilots and stormtroopers. Instead, it was just she and Darth Vader.

"Please, tell me if Captain Solo is still alive," she entreated without sounding as if she was begging. She had already demanded and yelled and begged, but Vader remained silent about Han. Leia felt sick to her stomach, and all hope was lost.

The shuttle touched down with a lightness Leia didn't expect. She always figured someone like Vader, encased in cumbersome armor that made him menacing but heavy-footed, couldn't pilot anything so well. It seemed even odder that someone at his level whose place was on the bridge of a Star Destroyer or Death Star would know how to pilot a smaller craft. But everyone had a past.

Leia craned her neck to steal a peek at the scenery that lay outside the canopy, "Where are we?"

Again, Vader remained silent. He removed his restraint and strode toward the princess. She shrank back out of reflex, but he continued on. The Sith Lord disappeared into the dark interior of the shuttle, leaving Leia alone. She pulled against her restraints to test their strength. They held her tight but all restraints had a weakness. She only had to figure out the weak spot of hers. Leia leaned forward, searching for Vader's whereabouts. There was a dim light and she speculated that the shuttle's ramp was open. She chewed her lip. Would Vader leave her alone on the shuttle?

She decided she'd waste no more time trying to work out that puzzle. She surveyed her surroundings. A screw driver lay on the grated floor, and Leia tightly smiled. It wasn't like Vader to make such careless mistakes, but then Vader wasn't acting in his usual fashion. Leia stretched her leg out and tried to touch the screwdriver with her foot. When she failed she slid herself off of the bench as far as her restraints allowed her. To no avail, she still couldn't reach it.

"Why couldn't I be just a few centimeters taller?" she cursed.

Darth Vader's footsteps fell heavy upon the grated floor. Leia sat up and feigned a look of innocence. Vader looked at the wide-eyed girl and then to the screwdriver. He stretched out his hand and the slim tool flew to it. He then handed it to the princess.

Leia stared at his outstretched hand holding the screw driver and narrowed her eyes. When she did nothing, the screw driver gracefully drifted toward her and came to a rest on the bench within her reach.

Princess Leia lifted her chin and straightened her spine. Vader rested his hands on his belt as he waited for a response from her. Her dark eyes shifted toward the tool then darted back to him.

"Perhaps," Darth Vader pulled the screwdriver back to his hand, "Captain Solo would have found a use for this."

Leia clenched her teeth and looked away.

Vader twisted the tool in his hands as if he was studying it, "It's most unfortunate he isn't here."

Leia bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from revealing anything to her greatest enemy. He already knew enough.

"I, however," Vader's booming voice slammed against her, "have no need for such a tool…anymore."

The Sith Lord carelessly dropped the screwdriver and waved his hands. The chain holding Leia secure to the bench dropped to the floor, leaving her hands still bound in stun cuffs but able to stand. The princess stood on shaky feet, and though he never gave the order, she followed Vader through the shuttle and down the ramp.

Leia's head swiveled around as she tried to orientate herself to her surroundings. She hadn't seen the light of day, or the light of dusk as it seemed to be in so long. The air was stale and the sky polluted, but it still was a nice change from the artificial life support of a ship. She focused her attention on the ground. It was rocky and gray as were the scraggly vegetation that surrounded her.

"Where are we?"

"Coruscant."

"I've never seen this part. I never thought…"

"Of course you haven't. Not many people venture this far out of the cities."

Leia stayed quiet for a moment as she walked in Vader's shadow. He continued on a path she could not see and didn't turn around once to check on her. He seemed to have trusted her to follow him. Leia rubbed her nose with the back of one of her bound hands and surveyed her surroundings more carefully. She could run, but to where? She probably wouldn't get far, and if Vader feared she would escape he would be keeping a closer eye on her. Then there was Han. Leia would not leave Han, and since she didn't know anything about his whereabouts or his condition, escape wasn't an option. Leia narrowed her eyes on her monstrous captor. Vader probably knew that.

Darth Vader came to a stop, and Leia moved to stand next to him. Her mouth opened and her breath caught in her throat.

"I thought you should be here for this."

Leia couldn't tear her eyes off of the funeral pyre that held Luke's body. Vader was true to his word, but that did not bring her an ounce of comfort. "Han should be here. And Chewbacca. They were his friends, too."

Vader did not respond. He turned toward her and guided Luke's pendant over Leia's head. Her hands instinctively went to the pendant, and she smoothed the stone between her fingers. She saw Vader make a gesture in her peripheral vision, and the stun cuffs fell from her hands. She looked up at him as she rubbed her wrists, completely bewildered.

"Tell me," Vader's words were slow and careful, "have you ever seen a pendant like this before?"

Leia's brow knitted, unsure if he was baiting her with such an odd question. She ran her bottom lip through her teeth before answering, "Yes."

Vader's mechanical respiration filled the void between the two enemies. He had hoped for more of an answer, but then the princess had never been one to offer an ounce of information to him willingly or unwillingly at that. Since he could read none of her thoughts he decided to continue on assumptions. "You were given one as a child."

Leia's large brown eyes widened and she swallowed down her surprise, "Why is this important?"

"Answer my question."

Leia clamped her mouth shut and clenched her teeth together. Vader expected as much from her. He considered using more forceful tactics to extract the information he sought, but that would affect the outcome he sought. He sighed and felt her confusion.

"There were only two pendants made," he stated. "One is around your neck."

Leia looked down at the pendant. "Luke's father made this for him," she whispered more to herself than to her captor. "General Kenobi said…"

She lifted her face as she felt Darth Vader bristle, "Obi Wan said a lot of things."

"He lied to Luke?" she inquired. That would make more sense. Maybe it was something orphan children were told when given an object said to be from a missing parent.

"Not about the pendant."

Only two pendants were made… The princess gazed upon Luke as if she expected him to untangle her thoughts. She closed her eyes. I'm in your blood. A chill ran down her spine, and she pushed down what she knew to be true but so seemingly impossible.

"Where is the pendant you were given?"

Although his volume was barely above a whisper, Vader's voice incited her to jump. Her eyes sought out the pendant, "On Alderaan."

He knew she felt his surprise. He didn't expect that answer to come so easily. But then he was certain she didn't expect to learn what she now fought against.

"It's impossible. He grew up on Tatooine. He's a farmer. I'm a princess and—was a senator," she muttered as her brain churned. She looked up at her enemy, "How?"

Darth Vader turned away from her, taking two steps toward the rugged trees. "Ask Obi Wan," he snorted.

General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars… Leia shook her head. Ben Kenobi didn't meet Luke by accident. She squeezed the pendant so hard that her fingertips turned white. Coincidence didn't figure into the equation. She bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood. Her life and Luke's had been manipulated by the old Jedi and her adopted father and who else, she didn't know.

"But why?" The words escaped her mouth before Leia could catch them. She smiled mirthlessly to herself. She was asking that monster Darth Vader for the answers. But why should that be any stranger than Luke being her brother?

"It seems obvious that you were not to know the true identity of your biological parents."

"You…" Leia's toes curled in her boots, "you killed my father."

"No," Vader couldn't hide his distaste, "Obi Wan lied to Luke." He turned to look at his son lying on the pyre. "I'm glad I killed him," he muttered to himself. I'd kill him again if I had the chance.

Then Vader lifted a torch Leia hadn't noticed before. "Say your good-byes." He held the torch near the pyre, giving the girl a substantial amount of time to make her peace.

Leia's eyes misted over as she gazed upon Luke for the last time. All the time they spent together, and neither knew of their true identity. Luke, her sweetest friend… Luke so wanted to know who he was, where he came from, something Leia never wondered about. And now, he lay there dead, and their mutual enemy, the monster who killed their father held all the answers to his questions. She should be the one lying on the pyre. Luke should be the one asking Vader those precious questions. How cruel fate was!

Darth Vader lit the pyre and the two enemies watched the fire as it consumed the boy's body. Leia's mind went blank and numb, and had she the ability to think at the time, she would have wished she stayed in that state for the rest of her life.

But, luck seemed to be her foe. None of this made much sense. "Why are you doing this for Luke? Why do you care about him getting a proper funeral rite? I know you didn't do it for me."

Darth Vader unhooked Luke's light saber from his belt. He studied it for a moment then held it out toward the princess, "This belongs to you."

Leia blinked her eyes as she stared at the hilt of Luke's light saber. His and her father's light saber given to Luke, now to her by her greatest enemy… Darth Vader was handing her a deadly weapon and answers to questions she never asked. She wondered if she was drugged and dreaming. Or being manipulated in a novel way she never expected. She closed her eyes and cursed herself.

In one swift move, Leia snatched the light saber from Vader's hand and had it activated and descending toward the Sith Lord. Vader, taken by surprise, took a step back and activated his own weapon just in time to block her attack. His strength knocked Leia back, and she stumbled a few steps before resuming her attack. With unexpected speed, she swung the saber in precise and deliberate moves that Vader definitely didn't expect from the diminutive politician. He easily blocked her blows as he appreciated her talent for light saber dueling.

Though he found her amateurish but adept offensive skills entertaining, Darth Vader quickly grew bored of playing defense. He lunged at her and forced her to back pedal as he stalked forward swing his blade in deadly arcs. Leia may have lost ground but she parried each blow with more strength than Vader expected. He pushed harder and took pleasure in the fearful look in those haunting brown eyes.

Her eyes… How did he miss it for so many years? Darth Vader knew the girl since she was a child quizzically studying him in his monstrous armor from behind her—Bail Organa's leg. He could see those large dark eyes, her mother's eyes, as plain as the red glow of his light saber. Senator Organa hid her well right under her true father's nose. Did he know? Organa had to know that Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, was the girl's father. Was.

Vader's anger fueled his assault on the daughter stolen from him. The princess surprised him, her anger surpassing his own, as she pirouetted out of his blade's reach and came at him with her own attack that forced Vader back half a step. He couldn't help but smile. Her anger was powerful, and although he still couldn't detect her in the Force, that anger promised to be quite useful to him.

Darth Vader soon tired of the duel. He slashed his blade down upon her. Leia blocked it but the force of the blow knocked her to the ground. Luke's light saber rolled out of her hand and deactivated itself. Vader held the tip of his saber at her throat. The princess stared up at him, and he noticed that her anger replaced the fear in her large brown eyes. She was, indeed, her father's daughter.

The Sith Lord deactivated his light saber and hooked it to his belt. He held out his hand and Luke's light saber flew to his hand. Vader hooked it to his belt as well, "Perhaps I should hang on to this for the time being."

Leia's chest rose and fell. A part of her wished Vader would have killed her. Another part of her couldn't believe she still lived after attacking him. For a moment, her thoughts focused on Han. She wondered what he'd say. Leia's eyes dropped to the pendant lying on her chest and prayed she would have a chance to share her story with him soon. Please be okay, Han.

"Who taught you how to duel?" Vader broke into her thoughts.

Leia sat up straight, "My father made sure that I was tutored in all the arts of weaponry." Now she understood why. The princess tried to swallow down the bad taste in her mouth.

"Bail Organa is not your father."

The princess gave a start at the fierceness of the Dark Lord's voice. She regained her composure before she spoke. "He's the only father I have known."

"So be it," Vader growled. He began to pace. Then he stopped in front of her. "Bail Organa stole you from your true father."

"What?"

The Sith Lord ignored her question. He paced again, and his hands balled into fists as he thought about the deception perpetrated by his best friend and his wife. In the end, his Padme betrayed him in a way far worse than having relations with Obi Wan, which she probably had. She died of a broken heart. Vader shook his head. What foolishness! And he had almost forgiven her.

As he continued to pace, he addressed the princess, "Your father is still alive."

"Anakin Skywalker is alive?" Leia slowly whispered, and her heart pinched as she thought about Luke. He should be here instead of me. Leia looked up at the pacing monster. Vader could be lying, but Leia no longer doubted his words so strongly. Why did she want to believe her worst enemy?

Anakin Skywalker…

"Did," she paused as she sucked in a breath. "Did he go into hiding during the Jedi Purge like General Kenobi?"

"No," Vader grumbled.

"He wasn't a Jedi?" she asked.

"At one time," he mumbled as his mind traveled to a time he'd rather forget.

Leia intently stared up at Darth Vader without fear or anger, just confusion. She always thought that once one was a Jedi, one was forever a Jedi. "I don't understand," she finally said once she was certain Vader had no intension of elaborating.

Darth Vader once again halted in front of her. Senator Princess Leia Organa, Leia Skywalker, was always quick and intuitive. It bothered him that she failed to use her intuition right now. She doesn't want to face it. Would he?

"I am your father," Vader spoke with such tenderness in his voice that he didn't recognize himself.

Vader watched the girl's brow crinkle as she swallowed his revelation and mulled over how much truth his words held.

"No."

Vader sighed, "In time you will come to accept it."

Leia looked down at the pendant around her neck. There was no way she'd ever accept it. She leaned to her side and emptied the contents of her stomach. Leia then grabbed the pendant, tore it from her neck, and threw it as far away from herself as possible.

"Why?" she challenged. "You've tortured me, destroyed my home, have taken everything I loved from me." Please don't let Han be one of those things. Why would I believe anything you say?"

"The late Governor Tarkin ordered the destruction of Alderaan."

Leia's eyes narrowed, "You didn't stop him."

Vader thought for a moment about the truth in that statement. He didn't. He had no feelings about the decision that Tarkin made. It was a strategic move, and had his own son not destroyed the Death Star, the galaxy would be orderly and peaceful because no one would want Alderaan's fate to be theirs.

"Alderaan would have been destroyed whether or not you cooperated."

"All those people," Leia lamented, "my father."

"I am your father," Darth Vader yelled, causing the princess to shrink back.

Leia shook her head, "After what you've done to me, I find it too hard to believe."

The Sith Lord turned away and stared at the flames that engulfed his son's body. "You weren't the only one lied to."

"Would that have made a difference?" her voice shook, and Leia fought to contain her emotions. She would not let him see her cry.

"No. What was done to you was necessary."

She inhaled, "Then nothing changes."

The girl was right; nothing changed the ugly truth. Vader couldn't help but wonder if his choices in life would have been different if he had known his children lived. He snorted. The damage had already been done. When Obi Wan left him to die, Anakin Skywalker's fate was sealed.

Darth Vader chose his words carefully, "You can't change the past, but the future is always in motion." When the princess remained silent, Vader continued, "With my help you can overthrow the Emperor."

"Why would you help do that?"

"When you are trained in the ways of the Force, the Sith ways, you will be a powerful and feared foe."

Leia expelled an angry laugh, "Luke's the Jedi." She glared at Vader, "This is what you had planned for Luke. He would have never followed in your twisted path."

Her words stung, and Vader paused to mull over this unfamiliar sensation. He folded his hands behind his back, "That is something we will never know."

Leia found no comfort in the sorrow she detected in his voice.

"Your ability to manipulate the Force has been suppressed. I would have detected the Force within you if it wasn't. You were never meant to be discovered," he surmised. "But Luke…" he thought out loud, "I don't understand why he wasn't protected the same way."

"That's something we'll never know," Leia said, her words dripping with venom.

Vader looked up at her. Everyone who knew was dead. What did they have in mind for his son?

Well, he knew what he had in mind for his daughter. Darth Vader held his hand out to her, but she didn't take it. Leia climbed to her feet and lifted her chin.

"I am offering you what you have fought for your whole life," he dropped his hand.

"And what is that?"

"A galaxy orderly and just. You and I together can rule the galaxy as we see fit."

Leia snorted, "I don't want to rule the galaxy."

"But you want to end the Emperor's reign."

"So you could take his place?"

Vader pushed her question aside, "Only with my help can you defeat the Emperor."

Leia shook her head, "Why don't you just do it on your own?"

"I can only be successful with your help."

"A deal with the devil. It will never happen."

"I may appear to be a devil, but good and bad, right or wrong, it all depends on what side you're on."

"I'm not on your side. And you're not my father."

Darth Vader stretched out his hand, and the stun cuffs flew to him. The princess held her own hands out to him and allowed him to restrain her without a fight.

"You will soon come to accept the truth as I have."

She didn't bother contradicting Darth Vader but not because it was pointless. Leia felt her world shift under her feet. What if that monster's truth ended up being true? She blinked her eyes and suppressed that thought.

Han… Leia needed him more than ever. Her heart pounded hard against her chest and breathing hurt. How could she…please Han, be alive. She felt as if she was dying. She had no life without him.

"Han…Tell me," she demanded but her order was weak. She was met with silence. Leia sucked in her breath, ignoring the pain. Her shoulders slouched in defeat. "At least," she whispered, "tell me if he's still alive."

Darth Vader led the princess out of the cold night and into the chilly interior of the shuttle. He spoke no more words to her, and Leia was left to herself forced to endure the thoughts swimming around in her head.