A/N: Okay, Star Wars EU books are officially my favorite thing ever. I've been reading them for like two years now, but my forever favorite will be The Courtship of Princess Leia. I definitely totally 100% recommend it if you've ever wondered what happened leading up to Han and Leia's marriage XD
SO! How's everyone doing today? I'm on spring break, so I guess you could say life is good for me :p It's about TIME they let us kids out of that juvenile learning prison.
Alright, so, welcome to chapter 43! This puppy just keeps going, doesn't it? Don't worry—it'll be tying up the loose ends and ending pretty quickly after these next few chapters (and this time I'm not kidding, heh). Just as a recap, Luke and Leia have stowed away ONCE MORE on an Imperial shuttle, on their way to Darth Vader's personal Star Destroyer, the Devastator.
Things will pick up into a run, then a jog, then it'll slow down and we can all catch our breath, haha. Bear with me, guys.
REVIEWS!
changingdestiny40: Excellent point! XD the twins are certainly in over their heads. . .but so is Vader, so I'd say they're about equal. Plus, Vader is the one that'll have to deal with two Force-sensitive teenagers. I almost feel bad for the guy. . .almost.
Well, yeah, you'll be able to see what she looks like in stormtrooper armor in this chapter, actually. You're right—she's pretty short. So is Luke. . .yikes. The twins will look GREAT, I'm sure ;)
Luke was maybe possibly kinda sorta dreaming about Vader, which matches up pretty much PERFECTLY with the dream Leia had a while back, if you remember that. I wonder if that will be significant...*wink wink*
WHOA, NO, Vader won't be killing that lieutenant! He just knows that the members of lower ranks don't really have a lot of recognition and victory, so he's letting this one guy revel in his (probably only) good day :p Haha, I can see why you thought that, though XD
Thanks for the review!
Nobodythestormcrow: No problem! I love responding to reviewers ^_^!
Ooh, what's your fanfic's name? Is that your only story, or is there more? I'd totally be willing to check your page out! I'm always looking for stuff to read, hehe XD
Yeahhh. . .I'm gonna go with "maniac crazy evil overlord" Palpatine. . .but I guess we'll have to wait and see ;)
Thanks so much for the review! :)
Well, everybody, buckle your seatbelts.
WHEEEEEEE!
As the room continued to fill with smoke, Luke stared at the pile of shiny stormtrooper armor on the floor. He had removed it from the stormtroopers a few minutes ago while Leia yelped and covered her eyes.
"Leia, calm down," Luke had said, rolling his eyes. "It's not a big deal."
Leia gaped at her brother. "But. . .they're not. . .decent," she had replied, wincing.
Now she was facing away from the troopers, even though Luke insisted they were still wearing dark clothes that were underneath the armor.
"So," Luke began. "Here goes nothing. . ."
Leia immediately whipped around to look Luke in the eye.
"What?! You're not actually going to—"
"Leia, I already told you: I'm serious! Their masks filter out smoke, and it'll be an easy way to blend in when we land."
"If we land," Leia muttered sardonically.
Luke glared at her. "Listen, just put it on. There's absolutely no reason to be worried about it."
"It's just really, really weird."
"No, it's only weird if you make it weird!"
"It doesn't need my help to be weird!"
"Why do you have to be difficult about everything?"
"I'm not! Luke, it's completely unnecessary. Plus, we're both way too short to be stormtroopers!"
Luke gave an exasperated (and mildly offended) sigh and tossed a clunky helmet at Leia. She stumbled back as she caught it.
"Just grab the rest of the armor and put. It. On," Luke ordered, pointing to the pile.
Leia nervously shifted her gaze from the helmet in her arms to the heavy armor in the corner. She looked back to Luke, silently begging him to come up with another idea. He stood firm with a steely expression set on his face. Clearly this was going to happen.
Well. . .Father used to say that sometimes you have to sacrifice your dignity in order to fix the problem. I hope he wasn't kidding.
Leia pursed her lips begrudgingly and sighed, letting the helmet dangle from one hand. This time, though, the sigh had a tone of acceptance to it.
"Fine," mumbled the Princess. She dejectedly dragged her feet all the way to the corner and picked out the armor to complete the set, eyeing it with disdain the whole time. Luke watched to make sure his sister was actually complying.
Finally, her arms full of Imperial armor, Leia stood up and staggered away to the trap door opening.
"Hey, where are you going?" Luke asked.
Leia strained to look over the stack she was holding. "Down the ladder. Why?"
"Why don't you just change up here, like me?" His tone was perfectly serious, if not a little oblivious.
"Uh. . ." Leia's own tone turned awkward. "Because I'm a girl and you're a guy. Just 'cause we're twins doesn't mean I'm changing in front of you. Sorry Luke, but we're not that close."
Leia stopped at the opening and dumped all the armor into the hole. It collided with the floor in a clatter, and Leia dropped down shortly after.
A few minutes later, when Luke was fully changed into the three-sizes-too-big armor, he heard a loud commotion coming from the lower room, followed by a sharp, "Why me?!"
More clanging sounds, then Leia poked her head up out of the opening. She didn't look happy. In fact, Leia's expression was rather murderous.
Leia's hands appeared next, then her torso, then her legs. The young girl was very obviously having a hard time coming back up the ladder.
As Leia finally dragged her body to the main floor, Luke heard her muttering, "Stupid Empire with their stupid stormtroopers and their stupid armor and these stupid ladders. . ."
Leia's small frame was covered in the clunky white and black uniform of a stormtrooper—for her, it was about four sizes too big. She held the helmet at her side and stumbled over to Luke.
"This is possibly the worst idea you've ever had. What's the point of this?" Leia demanded, glaring daggers at her brother. Luke eyed Leia with caution like she was a ticking bomb.
"Um. . .how about I show you?" Luke replied, gesturing to the cockpit. Leia frowned in protest but was forced to follow Luke when he grabbed her hand and started walking.
They stopped at the edge of the smoke-filled room.
"Put your helmet on," Luke said. He demonstrated by shoving his own shiny helmet onto his head. Leia swallowed a laugh; he looked ridiculous.
"Your turn," Luke said. He made a point of staring at Leia until she groaned and put her helmet on.
Leia noticed right away that she could barely see anything through the helmet's eyeholes. The darkness threw off Leia's sense of balance and direction, which made her feel like she was in a very dark, endless box.
"Follow me," Luke said, his voice sounding muffled and slightly hollow. Leia took a few shaky steps forward, only to sway sideways and slam into the floor. She felt herself being hauled to her feet and dragged into the smoldering cockpit.
Though the eyeholes didn't allow for much of a view, Leia knew the smoke was still clouding the room. Occasionally, the Princess could see a bright spark flash through the haze, but other than that, things were mostly dark and blurry. How did stormtroopers get anything done in those helmets?
Leia couldn't quite understand why Luke had brought her back into the cockpit, but he decided to answer her unsaid question almost right away.
"See? The helmets filter out smoke! We can find a way to put out the fire now."
The wonderful realization dawned on Leia that she could breathe in the cockpit! The helmets really worked! At least they were good for something.
"How do we put out the fire?" Leia asked. "The only liquid in here is the coolant, but it's obviously flammable."
"Is there water anywhere?"
"I'm sure there is, but I don't feel like taking the time to search this whole ship—"
"Wait! I have an idea!"
Luke bolted from the cockpit, leaving Leia standing blindly in the smoke. She didn't even attempt to follow her brother, but he was back in seconds anyway.
"What's in your hand?" Leia inquired, squinting beneath the helmet. She could see a light-colored object in Luke's right hand, but the helmet was preventing seeing anything too clearly.
Luke didn't answer. Leia saw his hazy white form dart past her and beat the fire with whatever he was holding.
At first, it only made the smoke spread out, but then the blazing fire dulled until it blended with the rest of the smoke.
Triumphantly, Luke bounded back to Leia and pulled off his helmet.
"Ta-da!" he exclaimed, grinning happily.
Leia waited another moment before taking off her helmet as well, noting that the smoke hadn't really cleared yet. There was no "open window" for it to escape from, so it would most likely linger for a while.
"Uh. . .what exactly were you—oh. Oh, wow," Leia said. She was staring at what Luke had used to put out the fire: her borrowed Tatooine tunic. It was now decorated with a rather large scorch mark in the center. Leia was almost upset, but it didn't actually belong to her, so she let it slide.
Wait a second. . .
"Hey! What am I gonna wear when we have to take off this stormtrooper armor?" Leia asked suddenly. Luke's expression turned sheepish.
"Oh, whoops. I didn't think of that. What are you wearing under. . ." he gestured to the armor, ". . .that?"
"My pants from your house and a tank top. Why?"
"I don't know, at least you won't be naked if we—"
"Lemme stop you right there," Leia dead-panned. "Forget it. I'm sure I'll think of something."
As the twins (waving their hands in front of their faces to help with the smoke issue) exited the compact space of the cockpit, the ship emitted a screeching sound, eventually jolting forward a few times. Leia and Luke grabbed onto the wall for support and exchanged petrified glances. They both knew without saying a word: they had arrived.
~•~
Darth Vader was getting tired of waiting—especially when there was absolutely nothing he could do to pass the time besides stalk around the control room and intimidate the commanders.
People on the Devastator were getting as restless as Vader. They hadn't moved the ship for days, and the cabin-fever had set in. Lieutenants milled around stiffly while members of higher ranks pretended to look busy. Everyone made sure to stay out of Vader's way, because they had definitely picked up on his mood.
The Dark Lord's mood could be picked up from anyone who dared to be in the same vicinity as him. Vader paced back and forth in front of the main deck's large window, pausing now and then to turn his head and observe the space outside.
The ship's crew was used to seeing Vader in a mood, but this particular one was new. Never before had the grand Darth Vader allowed anyone to see his anxiety for matters such as this. It came as a shock to everyone.
Vader, however, was involuntarily oblivious to the nervous stares and curious whispers. He was too busy listening. Listening for the prescence of Leia. . .and whoever was with her.
Yes, Vader felt the two Force-signatures before, on Tatooine, though he hadn't known it was two. At the time, the impact of the presence was enough to throw Vader off track. But no more.
Not only did he intend to see the Princess of Alderaan, but also her friend. Their own signatures combined were as powerful as Vader's own. . .or, maybe he hoped they would be. All the better to exploit, one way or another.
As the minutes continued to tick by at an agonizingly slow rate, Vader suddenly felt a pulsing. His head whipped around to see out the window.
An Imperial shuttle was leisurely drifting toward the Devastator, and two people were definitely aboard.
"Ready the loading dock," Vader thundered.
~•~
The twins were frantic. They ran through the shuttle, making everything look as normal as humanly possible after everything that had happened. The phrase "Leave it like you found it" was proving to be difficult to achieve.
Coolant was lying in puddles everywhere, the control panel was still letting off small wisps of smoke, and the de-armored stormtroopers were also on the floor. . .not to mention the open "secret" trap-door and various tools and stormtrooper weapons scattered about.
The shuttle was a mess, Leia and Luke were wearing Imperial solider armor, and the whole fiasco was about to land on Darth Vader's ship.
Wow, Vader's in for the surprise of a lifetime. . .
The chaotic shuttle continued to make the rough trip toward the Star Destroyer.
"We must be in a tractor beam!" Luke said suddenly. "No wonder it feels like an earthquake in here."
Leia paused, in the middle of shoving something into her bag, to look out the cockpit window. A humongous, grey, monster of a ship was looming in the distance, progressively becoming closer and closer. A shudder crept up Leia's spine; they were so close. Vader was on that ship. Vader was on that ship. Leia almost didn't believe it.
"Uh, Leia?"
Luke was looking out the window as well, but he had a look on his face that made Leia nervous.
"Yeah?"
"What now?"
"What do you mean?"
"When we get on that ship. . .what do we do?"
"We find—"
"No, there's definitely someone on that Star Destroyer that wants us dead."
Leia's heart skipped a beat at the sudden piece of information. He had to be messing with her. Yet, his voice was kind of lacking the telltale joking tone.
"Luke, stop kidding around. This is no time for jokes."
"No, I'm serious! I can already feel it!"
Leia spoke carefully. "Are you. . .one hundred percent sure?"
"I'm positive."
Afraid to know the answer, Leia squeaked, "Who?"
But, as the shuttle was pulled even closer to the larger ship, a sudden wave of sickening dread swept over the twins, engulfing them in fear.
The previously warm room turned ice cold; Luke put a hand to his forehead and Leia clutched her churning stomach. The entire atmosphere of the shuttle took on a dark, unsettling feeling. It was as if hate itself had polluted the air, precipitating down like venom.
At the same time, the twins knew exactly who was on that Star Destroyer. A man so wicked that the galaxy feared him and every word he spoke. A ruler so mighty that the great Darth Vader was under his control. A Sith so vile that his dark prescence could be felt over the greatest distances.
The twins whispered, "The Emperor."
~•~
A few tense, quietly frantic minutes later, the shuttle was officially approaching the docking bay of the Devastator.
Luke and Leia were too terrified to move, scared of what awaited on that Star Destroyer.
Leia had a sudden burst of realization, which prompted her to grab Luke by the shoulders and yell, "Luke! We need to hide!"
Leia's brother agreed, and the twins scurried to the main-level cargo hold, where they had stayed the first day. The room somehow seemed even more cramped than before, despite being exactly the same as they'd left it. Boxes still sat in the corners, accompanied by the rack of dangerous-looking blasters.
While Luke made sure the door closed behind them, Leia hurried to the back wall and emptied her satchel's contents on the metal floor.
Luke found Leia mumbling to herself as she took careful inventory of everything.
"Journal, check. Pen, check. Glowrod, check. Chrono, check. Tiara, check. Tools, check."
Luke asked, "Tools? What tools?"
Leia looked up from her inspection. "I found a few things onboard that might come in handy later."
The answer was vague, but Luke supposed it didn't really matter at the moment.
"Do you have the lightsaber?" Leia questioned.
"Check," Luke nodded. "Do you have your blaster?"
Leia affirmed with, "Check. Is there anything else we need?"
At that, she caught the bulky, white helmet Luke threw at her.
"You might wanna put that on," Luke advised, smiling. Leia gave a resentful groan but complied; Luke hesitated just a second before putting his helmet on as well.
"Now what? Do we just wait?" Luke inquired, crouching down next to Leia.
"I guess. They'll send a scanning team through here for sure, though. We might need to. . .improvise."
"That doesn't sound like a good thing."
"It depends. I'm pretty sure I have a plan, so just play along if anything happens. And, if things get rough, let me do all the talking."
Luke thought about arguing the point, but then he knew he probably wouldn't want to deal with any questions anyway. He'd let Leia handle this one. Although, the "pretty sure" wasn't reassuring. None of it was, really.
"Oh, by the way," Leia continued, "are you really sure that the Emperor wants us dead?"
Luke was appalled she'd even consider the question. "Of course! Didn't you feel that—that thing? All that darkness and hate?"
"Yeah, I did, how could I not? But how do you know that's not just his presence or something? How do you know it's how he feels about us?"
"I just know. Like, you know when you get a feeling and you just sorta know, but you don't know for sure if you know or if you think, but you know that you know something?"
Leia stared blankly. "You lost me after 'know'."
A rumbling brought the siblings' attention back to the current circumstance. A quiet scraping of metal could be heard from somewhere below, and the sharp grind of the docking bay door told the twins that it was closing.
They were on Vader's ship.
~•~
He knew as soon as they were even remotely close. Leia (and someone else) was on that shuttle, and Vader's new purpose in life was to find them and bring them to the Emperor personally.
Granted, he couldn't help but feel that this task was somewhat degrading. After all, Princess Leia was still a child, only thirteen years old. How difficult could she really be? Wasn't she raised in a palace, with guards and servants? Surely the Princess would be meek towards the harsher aspects of Vader's personality.
Vader had truly only met the Princess once before. While she had been no trouble then, Darth Vader wondered the slightest bit if Leia Organa would be as calm now.
If anyone knew how dramatic teenagers could be, it was Vader.
"Send a team down to scan that shuttle immediately," Vader ordered, striding briskly down a hallway. "If there are any passengers, I want them alive, do you understand?"
The commander nodded curtly before dashing down a different hallway to fulfill his orders.
A memory of Princess Leia's holopic flickered through Vader's mind, and he decided to explore it one more time—just for good measure before he headed off to the docking bay.
The mental image became vivid in Vader's mind. He looked at it, but then paused. Previously, Darth Vader had only been looking for a general description. . .now he was noticing more than usual.
There she was: brown, curly hair; large, dark eyes; a small figure. Regardless of the appearance of Leia in the photo (wearing a gown and adorned with a glistening tiara), Vader could see so much more than a young princess.
In that picture, Leia was smiling, but it wasn't a real smile. It was the smile of someone who would rather be anywhere else. The smile of someone posing for a probably forced photograph. A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her eyes. . .those were the next things Vader noticed.
Those rich, brown eyes didn't seem entirely focused on whoever was taking the picture. Leia's eyes were actually looking just barely to the left. Looking at something beyond the photographer, or perhaps just focused on an entirely different reality altogether.
Vader knew that look. That was the look of someone who felt trapped in their own life. Someone who had so much spirit and potential, but was kept separated from the one thing they really wanted: freedom.
That wistful look. Yearning for a life where they could do what made them happy. Longing for something more.
Vader knew every detail of that look. In fact, he was given years to properly observe and memorize the expression. Firstly, he himself had practically invented that particular look, and later on in life, his own wife had adopted it as well.
His wife. She and Leia looked so much alike in more ways than one. Such a resemblance just couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
The Dark Lord accepted the oncoming thoughts with caution. A small idea was worming its way into his consciousness, and Vader wasn't sure if he liked it very much.
Could it be a coincidence? Leia. . .and Padmé. . .could it be? He had pondered the possibility before.
Vader, realizing with horror how close he brushed with the Light, squared his shoulders and firmly told himself to stop imagining things.
But the thought was still there, quietly taking up residence in Vader's mind.
He tried his best to lock it away and continued his walk to the docked shuttle, where he would finally find Princess Leia Organa.
A/N: AAAAAAND here we are again! How'd you like that chapter? Hopefully you found it entertaining...especially that bit about the twins in the armor, heh. Fun stuff XD
It's time for Luke and Leia to head into the unknown. I wonder what could go wrong. . .
Thanks for reading, buddeez! Leave a review letting me know whatcha think - open to constructive criticism, opinions...all that jazz.
See ya next time! :)
- Lia
