Chapter 19 – The Great Game

Luke woke up that morning to find his mother asleep on the opposite couch. Squinting because of the copious sunlight streaming through the windows, he pushed his blanket away and sat upright. It took him a moment before he remembered the events of the previous afternoon.

After the fireworks on the patio and the subsequent revelation that Leia was his sister – a fact he still couldn't get his head around – things had mellowed out quite quickly. Vader and Padmé had each insisted upon waiting by Leia's bedside for the rest of the afternoon, ostensibly out of parental obligation, but Luke knew they were really doing it to compete for Luke's appreciation. They wanted to prove to him that they were a more caring parent than their counterpart. They were playing a bizarre game, and Luke didn't want any part in it.

He hated being the pawn in all this. He was powerless, stuck in the middle between his two indomitable parents. The only choice he had before him was which parent he would choose, and no matter how much Luke dreaded this choice, he had already made up his mind. Yes, he had been disenchanted by his mother's lie to Leia about Vader hitting her, but he understood why she had done it. The urgency of the situation could not be properly conveyed without some embellishment.

Even so, it made Luke question certain things that his mother had told him. If she had lied to Leia about this one thing, wouldn't it stand to reason that she had lied to him about something as well? But Luke couldn't believe that. Had she wanted to lie to him about Vader's monstrous exploits, she would have done so by now. Instead she had refused to tell him anything about what had happened between her and Vader. He suspected the subject was too painful for her to broach.

He smiled wanly when his mother let out a soft snore as she shifted position. Determined not to wake her, Luke stood up as quietly as he was able and tiptoed away. He paused at the trifurcation, unsure whether he should proceed to the kitchen, the bedroom, or to the patio. His instincts led him left toward the latter.

His bare feet pattered against the cool marble floor as he made his way down the grand hallway. He held a hand up to his eyes, blinded by the amber glow of the morning sun reflecting against the veranda. Stopping a few feet away from the stairs, he adjusted to the light and made out a figure seated on one of the semicircular couches below.

She was wearing a silken gown which he recognized as belonging to his mother. Her hair was damp, tendrils spilling out of a messy bun atop her head and undulating down her shoulders in thick brown ringlets. She hadn't seemed to notice his arrival as her gaze was still fixated on the busy skyline. Luke elected not to reveal himself for the time being. Instead, he took the opportunity to stare at her unabashedly.

He loved her from the moment he had met her, and he was fairly sure she felt the same way about him. It wasn't a romantic love, although Luke wasn't entirely sure how he knew that. They had an intimate yet platonic relationship which he cherished above all others. Friendship hardly seemed to be the appropriate term. They were each other's confidante and sympathetic companion.

Leia was the only person in the Rebellion with whom he felt comfortable discussing his innermost thoughts; anxieties, qualms, and nightmares – he shared all of them with her. In turn, Leia had allowed herself to open up to him a fraction. He knew she withheld things from him and he knew that she was lying whenever she said she was fine. Yet this never bothered Luke. He knew that by sharing his own personal struggles – of which he knew to be minuscule in relation to Leia's – he was indirectly helping ameliorate her suffering. There was a silent pact which existed between them: Luke provided the metaphorical liquor, Leia the metaphorical glass, and together they would drink away their demons.

It was a largely ineffectual method – he knew that what Leia really needed was therapy, not him – but he was glad that he could at least provide this service for her. After Alderaan, she had been determined to keep everyone around her at arm's length. He alone had been able to reach her. He alone had been able to help her. He alone had been able to love her.

And now he understood why. She had lost everything that day. Her home, her friends, her life as she knew it – yet the most devastating loss of all had been the loss of her family. She had unwittingly sought him out, her brother, to fill the gaping hole in her heart. What a curious twist of fate that had been – to have one family wrenched away only to discover another. Perhaps that was the universe's way of making things right.

After several minutes, Leia finally turned her head to see him standing at the top of the stairs. "Luke," she said, smiling.

Luke felt his heart skip a beat. He had always marveled at the princess' beauty, but now it felt wrong for him to even acknowledge that.

"Uh… morning," he said.

Leia's expression faltered at this awkward greeting. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Luke allowed himself to relax. Nothing had changed between them. Leia was still his friend. "This is just… so weird," he confessed as he walked down the steps toward her. Taking a seat on the opposite couch, he gave Leia a reassuring smile. "I'm not upset, just… confused."

Leia nodded in understanding. "I felt that too when I first found out," she said.

"When was that?"

"A little over a week ago."

"Who told you?"

"Ahsoka."

"Who is she exactly? Everyone keeps talking about her, but no one's ever told me who she is."

"Amidala never told you?"

Luke faltered at this. It would have been strange to hear Leia refer to Padmé as her mother, but for some reason it was still jarring to hear her call her by her regnal name like that.

"Um… no, Mom didn't say much," he said.

Leia arched an eyebrow. "You've gotten really close to her, haven't you?"

Luke detected a hint of judgement in her tone. He frowned, unsure what had warranted such a critique. "I have," he said, definitive in his loyalty to his mother.

"I'm glad," Leia said flatly. Before Luke could tell whether she was being sarcastic or not, Leia studiously diverted the conversation back to his original question. "Ahsoka was Vader's Padawan apprentice," she told him.

Surprised by the shift in subject, Luke took a moment to lower his shields before registering this comment. "His apprentice?" he repeated slowly. "You mean back when he was a Jedi?"

Leia nodded. "She knew all about his secret relationship, so she was able to put the pieces together."

"And that's when she gave you my lightsaber?"

Leia gave him a sheepish look. "Technically, it's mine just as much as it is yours," she said.

"How do you figure that?" Luke asked, perplexed more so than indignant at the assertion.

"It belongs to our father," she explained. Luke stiffened. He wasn't sure which word had caused him more surprise – 'our' or 'father'. Oblivious to his discomfort, Leia continued on. "And since both of us are training to be Jedi, it's only fair that –"

"Wait, what?" Luke interrupted. "You're training to be a Jedi? Since when?"

"Since…" Leia trailed off as she scrunched up her forehead in contemplation. "I guess it's been a week now? After Tatooine."

"A week? That must have been a month ago," Luke said. To be fair, he had lost all sense of time while he had been trapped in this apartment. Could it only have been a week? Surely it had been longer than that. It certainly felt longer.

"Maybe," Leia shrugged. "Either way, Ahsoka started training me."

"But why?"

Leia gave him a strange look. "To rescue you, obviously."

"Maybe you should have trained for longer."

Leia reached out and slapped him across the shoulder. It was good-natured, but it did actually sting a bit. Perhaps the princess didn't know quite how much punch she really packed.

"So you can use the Force too?" Luke asked her.

"I guess," Leia said unconfidently. "I mean, I should be able to, shouldn't I?"

"Maybe," Luke mused. He didn't know what made someone able to use the Force. Was it simply genetic like Leia was suggesting? That would make sense in Luke's case, but what about for others? Did Ben and Yoda both descend from Force-sensitives as well?

"I haven't been able to move anything with the Force yet, but I'm working on it," Leia said. Her tone was casual, yet Luke could see the glimmer of excitement in her eyes. He wasn't sure he had ever seen her look like that. Maybe Jedi training could be a good thing for her.

"I could help if you want," Luke suggested. "I'm no expert, but I've had a bit more training that you."

Leia's expression turned rueful as she looked away toward her knees. "I, um… thank you, Luke, but…"

"But what?" Luke asked when she trailed off.

She looked back up to meet his inquisitive gaze. "Vader said he was going to train me," she said.

Luke's eyes bulged out of their sockets at this. "What!?" he exclaimed.

"I know what you're going to say, but hear me out," Leia said, holding up her hands to him. "I think this could be a really good thing."

"A good thing? Leia, he's a Sith!"

Leia furrowed her brow. "I don't even know what that means," she said.

Luke sputtered, unsure how to explain this to her. Truth be told, he didn't understand it very well either, but he knew that the Sith were anathema to the Jedi. Ben and Yoda had told him as much. "The Sith use the dark side," he told her.

"I don't know anything about that," Leia said as she began to wrap a strand of hair around her finger. "He just said he was going to help me learn about the Force, that's all. It's not a big deal, really."

"But Leia –"

"Just listen, Luke," Leia interrupted. "He's asking for my help."

"Your help?"

"He wants me to help him reach a settlement with the Alliance."

"A… what?"

Leia leaned toward him. "This could mean peace, Luke," she said. "Do you understand? The war could end!"

Luke shook his head dazedly. "But the Empire –"

"It's falling apart," Leia told him. "Vader's the only person holding it together. That's why I need him to trust me. I can convince him to help dismantle to Imperial apparatus for good."

"But why would he do that?"

Leia frowned at this question. "You haven't talked to him at all, have you?"

"What do you mean? Of course I have."

"Then you haven't talked to him enough," she said as she leaned back. Brushing the hair out of face, she sat upright and crossed her legs underneath her. "I misjudged him, Luke. We all did. Vader doesn't care about the Empire. He hates it as much as we do."

"How can you say that?" Luke asked, aghast. "Think about all the people he's killed! All the Rebel agents he's tortured!"

"He's done horrible things, I don't deny that, but that was in the past! He was operating on the Emperor's orders. Now he's the one in charge!"

"And you think that's a good thing?"

"It is because he has me to help him make the right choices! You could help too if you weren't so stubborn."

"Stubborn? I'm not stubborn!"

"You have to stop listening to her, Luke," Leia said in a whisper.

Luke blinked a few times in bewilderment. "You mean Mom?" he asked, lowering his voice as well.

"She's been lying to you."

"No she hasn't!"

"She doesn't want you to see things clearly. She wants you to hate Vader."

Luke faltered. He knew Leia was right on this account. But he wasn't going to switch allegiances because of that. Vader's crimes greatly outweighed his mother's. All she had done was stretch the truth a little!

"Vader's trying to use you, Leia," Luke told her.

"And Fett's trying to use you," she shot back.

Luke flinched. "Don't call her that," he demanded.

"She tried to kill our father!"

"Only because he deserved it!"

"You don't know that! You don't know anything! What has she actually told you about him?"

"She's told me enough!"

"She's a chronic liar! Ahsoka told me not to trust a word she says."

"Do you even hear yourself right now? You're trusting Darth Vader over your own mother!"

"No, I'm trusting my father over Boba Fett!"

Luke was about to hurl another retort when a voice suddenly sounded from the apartment.

"What's going on out there?"

They froze, neither brave enough to look away. A distinctive jingling sound pierced the silence as his mother approached.

"You two are arguing already?"

Emboldened by the fact that he hadn't said anything wrong, Luke turned first. His mother was standing atop the stairs with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She had changed out of her nightgown and was wearing what Luke called her 'bounty hunter outfit': baggy khaki pants, a cargo jacket, and steel-tipped boots with spurs. His eyes gravitated toward her belt where he saw an empty holster. No doubt she was livid about having lost her blaster yesterday.

"What are you fighting about?"

Luke let out a subtle exhale of relief. So she hadn't heard, after all.

"We weren't fighting," Luke claimed.

Padmé arched an eyebrow skeptically. "It sure sounded like you were."

"We were just… talking."

Padmé considered him for a few moments before mercifully deciding to drop the subject. "Where is Vader?" she asked bluntly.

"He went back to his ship," Leia answered. "He needed to repair his shoulder after you shot it."

Padmé's eyes narrowed as she turned her gaze to Leia. "How do you know about his prosthetics?" she asked.

"He told me last night."

Padmé took a step toward the stairs. "Did he now?"

Leia glanced at Luke before nodding.

"Well isn't that nice," said a sardonic Padmé. "He must have told you that I was responsible for what happened to him."

"No, actually," Leia said. "He said he has no one to blame but himself."

Luke was surprised to hear this. When he had asked Vader about it, he had told him that everything was Obi-Wan's fault, not his own. Could Vader have realized he had made a mistake with Luke and was therefore trying a new approach with Leia? That would make sense. After all, Vader hadn't been competing with Padmé at the time when he had told Luke about that. He hadn't needed to put on a show for Luke's benefit. With Leia, however, he was clearly making a concerted effort to highlight his humanity.

"How are you feeling?" Padmé asked Leia after a few moments of heavy silence.

Leia blinked twice, clearly caught off guard by the question. "Um… fine," she said.

Padmé descended the stairs and took a seat next to Leia on the couch. Surprised, Leia scooted back a few inches, yet she stopped when Padmé raised a hand to her forehead. "It's healing nicely already," she said, oblivious to Leia's discomfort. She ran her thumb over the bruise gently and took a close look. "You're lucky," she said finally. "It could have been much worse."

"I, um… yeah, I guess," Leia stammered.

Luke smirked at her fluster. Leia didn't know what she was talking about. She didn't know Padmé like he did. In time she would learn where their true loyalties ought to lie.

Or so he hoped.

"The three of us need to talk," Padmé said, turning away from Leia and clasping her hands together on top of her lap. She waited for a moment, but when neither of them prompted her, she continued on. "I'm sure you both have a lot of questions and I want to make sure that you get answers. I don't want you to think ill of me for hiding things from you. I wanted to tell you the truth. Believe me, I did. Luke, I wanted nothing more than to tell you that you had a sister, and Leia, it tore me up inside not to be able to reveal myself to you when we were together. But you have to understand that I had to hide things from you for your own safety."

Padmé paused. Pursing her lips, she glanced between Luke and Leia who remained silent. "The only thing that matters to me is keeping you two safe," she said. She seemed to grow frustrated when neither of them said anything. "Well?" she asked. "Don't you have questions?"

Luke and Leia looked at each other. Of course they had questions, but neither of them honestly expected her to answer them truthfully. He didn't want his mother to know that, however, so Luke went ahead.

"So Leia and I are twins then?" he asked.

Padmé nodded with a smile, clearly grateful for an easy question. "You are," she confirmed.

"We always thought it was weird that we had the same birthday," Luke said. "Remember that, Leia?"

Leia's severe expression softened a fraction as a much needed sense of levity permeated the tension. "I thought you were trying to steal my thunder," she said.

Luke chuckled. "And I thought you were trying to steal mine."

"Luke told me that you two are good friends," Padmé said. "I wanted to ask more, but I didn't want to tip you off, Luke."

"We're best friends," Luke said at once, and Leia cheeks turned pink. "Wouldn't you say so?" he asked her.

"Luke's just being kind," she said to Padmé. "He has much better friends than me."

"That's not true!" Luke gasped.

Leia waved her hand at him. "What about Wedge and all your pilot buddies?" she asked. Her expression suddenly turned bitter. "And then there's Han," she said. "They're all better friends than I am."

"Why would you say that?"

"I'm no fun," Leia frowned. "I never have been."

"Who cares about that?" When Leia gave him a skeptical look, Luke leaned toward her and boldly extended a hand toward her knee. "You better learn to accept it," he told her. "You're my best friend and nothing you say is going to change my mind."

Leia seemed to be astonished by this declaration. "I… I've never really had friends before," she admitted in a small voice.

"I didn't either," Padmé said, and Leia turned to her in surprise. "It's the sacrifice you make by entering politics at such a young age."

Luke could see the conflict brewing in Leia as she found herself relating better and better with Padmé. Luke also found it difficult to reconcile the two incongruous aspects of his mother's identity. She was paradoxical in that way.

"He was your first friend, wasn't he?" Leia asked. The 'he' in question didn't need to be defined. They all knew who she meant.

Padmé contemplated the question for a few moments. "I suppose," she finally said, but didn't elaborate any further. Dissatisfied with this laconic response, Leia pursued.

"You really can't forgive him?" she asked, and Luke sensed a hint of desperation in her tone. Just like him, she clearly didn't want to have to pick a side. But unlike him, however, it seemed that Leia was situating herself to choose Vader when the time came.

"Forgiveness is not an option," Padmé said definitively.

"Why not?"

Padmé clenched her jaw and looked away. She had never encountered this type of persistence from Luke. He had always been willing to respect her privacy. Leia, however, was far less considerate in this sense.

"So whatever he did is so bad that he deserves to die, yet you can't tell us what it was?" she asked. Padmé shook her head, refusing to answer. "What did he do?" Leia pried.

"I don't want to talk about it," Padmé mumbled.

"What happened?"

"Leia, just drop it," Luke warned.

"I deserve an answer," Leia said haughtily. "I deserve to know why she tried to kill him!"

Padmé leapt to her feet. "Stop it! Just stop it!" she shrieked. Leia's eyes widened and she scampered away in fear. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Padmé said, her voice quivering as she took a step away toward the stairs. "Just… just stop asking me. Don't make me…"

Her eyes glazed over as a shiver ran through her body. Shaking herself out of the stupor, she gave Leia one last look before spinning around and marching away.

Author's Note: I believe now would be a wonderful time for some shameless self-promotion. I posted the first chapter to my new story Hollow Hero yesterday afternoon, so by all means check it out if you're interested.