A/N: Hello! Guess who's back! ME, obviously. And boy does it feel good! I know I skipped a weekend (AGAIN), and I apologize. And I apologize. And I apologize AGAIN. Hopefully nobody was just desperately waiting for this chapter, but if you were, you're in luck!
High school is wild, you know? The people are weird, the teachers are weird. . .even the HOMEWORK is weird. Maybe I'm just bias because I was homeschooled. Who knows, really?
I'll save all my relentless chit chat for the Author's Note at the end. READ AND ENJOY, and I'll see ya at the bottom.
As always, WHEEEEEE! (Why do I do that.)
After agreeing on a plan of action (not a reasonable one, mind you), the twins began the short trek back to Obi-Wan's house. But they weren't in a hurry, which gave Luke some time to ask his sister a question.
"So, Leia," Luke started, glancing sideways at her. "Can I ask you something?"
Leia raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.
"Um. . .sure. Go ahead."
"Okay, so. . .have you been writing in your journal lately?" Luke gestured to the book Leia was holding firmly under one arm. The Princess turned away.
"Not really," she admitted, suddenly very interested in the sand beneath her feet. "It's been a while."
Luke was confused. That journal was pretty much Leia's one true love. Since when was she not writing in it? It puzzled him. He decided to probe a little further, but he'd have to be careful of his wording.
"Why?" Luke asked. He noticed Leia frown as she watched the ground.
"I. . .don't know," she lied, still not making eye contact with her brother.
Luke nudged her shoulder. "That doesn't sound like you," he said. "If you've stopped writing for now, you know exactly why."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Everything! You're just so confident and sure of yourself. You must have a reason. You've been acting so weird today."
"Why the sudden interest in this? Are you trying to prove a point?"
The twins had stopped walking and were standing in place, facing one another. Luke shook his head rapidly.
"No, I just want to know! Is there something wrong?"
"No, there's nothing wrong."
"Then why aren't you writing?"
"Why do you care?!"
The siblings' voices were slowly escalating to a loud argument, which had never been in Luke's intentions.
"I care because. . .because you aren't acting right! It's not just the fact that you're completely ignoring your journal, but you're acting different! You're usually so happy, and lately—"
"What? Lately what?"
"You're just. . .I'm just. . ."
"You're just what?"
Luke threw his hands in the air in defeat as Leia watched him with an angry expression of expectancy.
"I'm just worried!" Luke exclaimed, gesturing wildly as he attempted to reign in the argument.
"About what?" Leia's tone was sarcastic.
"ABOUT YOU!" he yelled.
The twins both froze where they stood. Leia's arms, which were formerly crossed tightly over her chest, fell to her sides limply. Luke stood still, breathing heavily after their heated discussion. Both siblings looked anywhere but at each other. The desert suddenly felt very small, despite the vast expanse of blowing sand. Leia forced herself to comprehend this new information.
"You're. . .you're what?" she asked, making sure she heard correctly.
"I'm worried about you," Luke responded, exasperated. The Princess shook her head as if to clear it.
"Oh, uh, well. . .I'm not sure how to respond to that. . .so I'm just gonna. . .keep walking," Leia said. She began moving towards Obi-Wan's house at a brisk pace. Luke ran to catch up with her.
"Hey, wait! You never answered my question!" he called. Leia paused and waited for her brother to catch up. When they were at a matched pace once again, Leia spoke up.
"Luke, you already know my life is a mess right now. I don't want to write in my journal until I have my life sorted out. Plus, it feels weird now that I know. . .that it was Mom's."
"Oh. I thought you said writing helps you think clearly, though."
"Yeah, I did. But I don't wanna waste my time writing about stuff that isn't necessary. I'll pick up writing again. . .eventually. But first I need to fix things."
"How?"
"That's what we're about to find out."
Leia and Luke were rapidly approaching Ben's home. They stopped at the door and Leia said, "Let me do the talking. Do you trust me?"
"Uh. . .not really."
"Ha ha. But seriously. You need to let me to the explaining."
"Right. When has that ever gone wrong?" Luke asked with a tone of intense sarcasm. Leia rolled her brown eyes good-naturedly and stepped into the house.
Obi-Wan was sitting where they had left him, but his eyes were closed. At first, the twins got the impression that he was asleep, but he suddenly opened his eyes and frowned.
"Um, Ben, Sir?" Leia started, slightly unsure of what to say. "We. . .we have a plan now. We're gonna have to be on our way."
Kenobi shifted his gaze from Leia to Luke. Then from Luke back to Leia. The twins squirmed.
"I know," the retired Jedi finally stated. "I know where you are going. And I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to warn you. What you're about to do is extremely dangerous. Keep each other safe. Please."
The twins glanced nervously at one another. Luke had no idea what was happening, because Leia had never really told him her plan. Now, though, he decided it probably wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Leia's plans never were.
"Okay," Leia said, uneasy. When the room took on an atmosphere of uncomfortable silence, she continued.
"Hey, uh. . .thanks. You know, for all your help."
Obi-Wan smiled and nodded. "Anything for a Skywalker," he said.
Leia spotted her satchel and threw it over her shoulder. Luke headed out the door, but Leia lingered a moment longer. There was something she needed to ask first. Now or never.
"Ben?" she asked.
"Yes, young one?"
"What if this plan doesn't work?"
"Trust in the Force, Leia. It will guide you in whatever you do. You're a brave girl, child. Very brave. And for that, I commend you."
Leia gave a small smile in return. "So. . .will we ever see you again? I mean. . .I may not be coming back to Tatooine," she said, the smile fading. Who knew where her plan might take her?
"Oh, I'll always be around. Maybe stop by and visit again sometime, if you ever get the chance."
"Sure thing," Leia laughed. Before she stepped out the door, Leia hesitated once more.
"Ben?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"Do you really know what I'm planning to do?"
"Yes, I do. And that is why I warned you. Whatever you are trying to accomplish. . .it won't change anything."
"How do you know?"
"Leia, I am too old now. I have seen it all. War. Death. Murder. Some things never change."
Leia's hopeful expression became downcast, then quickly changed to one of determination. She was going to carry on anyway.
"Then that's one more reason to try," she finalized. Before leaving for what could possibly be the last time, the young girl rushed into a quick hug with the old man. Obi-Wan was rigid for a moment, but he eventually relaxed and embraced her as well.
With that, Leia smiled one last time at him and turned around. Luke was waiting patiently for her outside.
"You ready?" he asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"So, you do have a plan, right?"
"Yeah."
"Is it a. . .good plan?"
"It's. . .a plan."
"Okay, good enough."
The twins shared a nervous smile and started off towards the heart of Leia's idea.
Not ten minutes into their walk, Luke's curiosity couldn't be contained any longer.
"Okay, what exactly are we doing? And where exactly are we going?" he asked, turning his head to look at his sister.
"We'll get there when we get there. Not a second sooner," Leia responded, unwilling to reveal anything regarding her scheme. Luke, however, was growing increasingly impatient.
"I didn't ask when we'd get there! What are we doing?"
"Well, I don't have all the details planned out yet, because it's all kind of complicated. But, guaranteed, when it's done, we'll both be a lot happier."
"How long have you been thinking all of that through?"
"A long time. Like, really long."
"Are you gonna tell me what the plan actually is?"
"It has multiple steps. I really don't want to tell you."
"Uh, why not? I have a right to know—you're the one dragging me into it."
"Some of the steps are kind of. . .risky. You might back out if I tell you."
"Take your chances."
"Okay, so, step one is a surprise, step two is to figure out if Vader is on Tatooine, step three is to find how Vader got here, if he's even here, step four is to. . .find Vader's ship, step five is to get onboard Vader's ship, step six is to find Darth Vader and confront him about this whole problem. Then, step seven is to walk away alive. I mean. . .steps one through six seem pretty simple, but the seventh step is the one I'm worried about. What do you think?"
Luke's jaw had been slowing dropping since the mention of step two. Now, he appeared to be stuck in a state of disbelief. And Leia's tone had been so casual!
"Luke? Luke," Leia said, snapping her fingers in front of her brother's face.
"Are you insane?" Luke exclaimed, running a hand through his dusty, blonde hair.
"Dunno," Leia responded, nonchalantly. "I'll keep you posted, though."
"Leia, this is serious. You want to find Darth Vader. That in itself is gonna get you killed! There's no way you'll be able to talk to him! Never!"
"Never say never."
"Everything about your plan says, 'recipe for disaster'! You can't just waltz up to Vader and ask him why he's after you! That's—that's suicide!"
"Luke. . .I need to know why he wants me. It's because I can use the Force. And I had this dream. . ." Leia sighed. "Pretending it didn't happen isn't going to fix it. Finding him will. Please, Luke? For me?"
Luke's eyes were turned towards the sky, which was slowly being tinted red by the setting Suns. The fiery tones gave the setting a warm, comfortable feeling, which may have influenced what Luke said next. He closed his eyes, took two deep breaths, and fixed his gaze on Leia again.
"That is a terrible, horrible, incredibly foolish idea," he said. When Leia gave him a pleading look, Luke finished with, "So let's try it and see what happens."
Leia's face broke out into a grin.
"Really?" she said, assuring herself that he wasn't kidding. Luke was actually agreeing with her?
"Really," Luke answered, matching her smile. "But we're not going on a suicide mission until we at least take a nap. Agreed?"
Leia laughed. "Agreed."
The twins went a little farther into the desert before scouting out a place to sleep. The Suns glowed a brilliant shade of orange and were almost completely under the horizon. It would be dark soon.
"I can't believe you're actually going along with my idea," Leia said, sitting down. "I thought you'd freak out and talk me out of it."
"Well, it's not ideal. And I don't know why you want to do this. But. . .you're my sister, and twins should probably stick together. There's no way I'm letting you do this by yourself."
"Thanks. I'm glad you're not the type to ditch people."
"No problem. And. . .you realize that this is gonna be dangerous, right?"
"Yeah, and it'll be difficult. But fear is just another reason to try harder."
"I still think you're insane."
"Thanks. It must run in the family."
Not fifteen minutes later, Leia was fast asleep. Despite the fact that the Suns had only set moments earlier, the events of the day had caught up to both Luke and Leia. Now, Luke was curled up in the sand for what seemed like the thousandth time that week. When his eyes accidentally glanced at Leia's leather bag, Luke remembered when he had written in Leia's diary. It felt good to let his feelings out on paper.
It was freeing. Leia had every right to enjoy it. She hadn't seemed very mad when she caught him writing in the journal the first time. . .but would she be as forgiving the second time?
There was only one way to find out.
Luke reached out his hand and grabbed the strap of the bag. He pulled it towards him and sat up. The next thing Luke did was fish out the glowrod, then he used the dim light to find Leia's journal and pen. As Luke's fingers touched the journal, he instinctively drew them away, excepting Leia to wake up again. This time, however, his twin stayed unmoving. He took that as a good sign.
Diary of Leia Organa:
Luke Edition!
I definitely didn't expect to be writing here again, but life is funny that way. Leia is asleep next to me, and she hasn't shown any signs of objection to my writing, so I'll assume it means I'm in the clear. But that doesn't mean I won't keep an eye on her. She won't sneak up on me like last time.
We were at Ben Kenobi's home, but Leia suddenly concocted some "brilliant" plan, so we decided to head off on our own again. Ben was pretty helpful. He gave us a ton of backstory on our parents and stuff. I just wish our real mom and dad were still around. I wonder if they'd be proud of us. Parents aren't usually proud of children who embark on suicide missions, yet that's exactly what Leia and I are doing. Why, you ask? It was Leia's idea, not mine. That's an important fact.
She's bound and determined to not only find Darth Vader's ship, but to board it and ride in it. Then she wants to talk to him! I don't even know why, which is what I wanted to write about.
Things are already so complicated, but they got even worse when Leia had that little Toolbox Incident. I'm sure she told you what it is, but she basically used the Force to reach Han's toolbox and it went flying into her and made a really big mess.
Leia hadn't used the power on purpose, but it somehow made its way to Darth Vader's knowledge, and now he's after her. Why? Is he afraid of what she can do? Does he want to know what she can do? Does he think she's a threat? A possible ally? Trainee material? I have no clue! Leia seems really terrified about the whole thing. Not that I blame her. If the most dangerous, evil man in the Galaxy was after me, I'd be terrified too.
But she somehow thinks that talking to him will smooth matters over! I tried to tell her that it won't work, but she refuses to listen. Like I said: she's determined. And when Leia's determined, it's not a good idea to make her mad. I speak from personal experience.
Step one of Leia's plan is a surprise, according to what she said earlier. I hope it's something mentally and physically relaxing, because I have a feeling that the next few days are gonna be more than stressful.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Ben told us more about our power. We know it had a name. It's called the "Force", and it's some sort of energy field that can be used to the benefit of people. The few people that can manipulate this energy are called "Force-sensitives", which is simple enough.
We were given a brief overview of a really rough war, and Ben even told Leia and I about the Jedi massacre. I was really shocked by it, but Leia seemed kind of neutral. Almost as if she'd heard it before. I'm sure it was part of her Alderaanian upbringing.
You know. . .I'm really worried about Leia. Ever since the Toolbox Incident, she's been acting differently. She seems so distant and. . .almost detached from reality sometimes. I'm hoping that her "plan" will somehow succeed and make her normal again.
If for some reason it does succeed, she'll have my eternal respect. Key word "IF".
-Luke
A/N: Well, what do we have here? Journal Luke has returned! Do you all like it when Luke journals? Who thinks he should get his own so he doesn't have to write in Leia's? :p
So. Leia and Luke are about to do something that is one of two things: incredibly STUPID, or incredibly NECESSARY. And that's actually a lie because it's BOTH! But Leia is stuck on "KICK BUTT DETERMINATION" mode, so Luke won't be contradicting her anytime soon. Does he disagree with her logic? Yep. Is he doing her seven step plan anyway? HECK YEAH. Cover your eyes folks, because the twins are about to make or break their lives 0_O
And is anyone else terrified of clowns? Anyone? Because Halloween is just around the corner, and since clowns are the big thing right now, I have this feeling that everyone is gonna dress up as clowns for fun on Halloween. And then I'll be chillin' at home and I'll see a clown walking down the street, and I'll scream and dial 911. Then the clown will turn out to be some teenager who thought it would be funny to freak people out, ya know? Is that anyone else's fear? Do I just have problems? XD
Alright, well, it's 12:46 AM here. . .so I think it's time to hit the hay, no? I'll see you lovely people of the Internet in another week (or potentially two), and until then, keep being the wonderful supportive unicorn sparkles that you are!
BYEEEEEE!
-Lia :)