Chapter 25 – Collateral Damage

"Did we really have to pack all of your clothes?"

"I need them, Luke!"

Letting out a sigh, Luke sealed the final suitcase and wiped his brow. While they had been packing up Padmé's extensive wardrobe, he had been fighting off a looming sense of dread. The commander had made reference to a bomb going off. What had she mean by that? Had Vader been the target? That certainly would make sense considering they were intending to rescue Leia.

"Let's get these out of here."

Luke nodded and lifted two of the suitcases off the bed. Activating the antigrav, he guided them away while Padmé did the same with the other two.

When they reached the living room, he paused to take one last look at the apartment. While he had effectively been a prisoner during his time here, Luke also had come to think of the place as home. After all, it was the first place where he had really been with his family.

Padmé seemed to share his moment of melancholy. Stopping next to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's time," she told him softly. When Luke didn't respond, she gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Hey," she said. "I'll be with you."

Luke turned to give her an appreciative smile. "I know," he said. That was what really mattered. Home was with her. The apartment didn't mean anything.

"Come on," his mother said. "Let's go."

Luke followed her without a moment's pause. Making their way down the hallway, they emerged on the patio to find the shock troopers packing up the E-Webb cannon while Han and Cara talked at the bottom of the nearest flight of stairs.

"I don't know, Solo," he heard the commander say. "She seemed really bent up about it."

Han shook his head vigorously. "You're wrong," he said with an agitated swipe of his hand. "She was his prisoner!"

"It didn't look like that to me," Cara said.

Han opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when he saw them approaching. "Took you long enough," he called out. "What were you packing in there, Fett? All your bounty?"

"No, actually," Padmé said when they came to a stop at the top of the stairs.

"Then what?"

"Dresses, mostly."

Han blinked a few times in puzzlement. Before he could speak, however, Luke cut him off. "What were you two talking about?" he asked.

"We'll tell you later," Cara said. "Right now, we need to get out of here."

"My son and I deserve some explanations from you two," Padmé said with far greater authority than Luke could have ever mustered.

"There's no time."

"Then make time."

Cara and Han looked at one another. Before either could respond, however, one of the soldiers below called out to get their attention.

"Commander Dune! There's a speeder incoming!"

Cara spun around and walked past the couches toward the stairs. "A speeder?" she asked. "Where?"

Discarding their luggage, Luke and Padmé hurried down the stairs and followed after Han toward the edge of the veranda. Cara was holding a set of binoculars to her eyes and looking at something on the horizon.

"Do you recognize that vessel?" she asked, lowering the binoculars and pointing toward a rapidly approaching vehicle.

Padmé squinted at the speeder yet Luke didn't bother to look. The Force was rippling with seismic waves of anger and fear. And at it's very core was an intimately familiar presence.

"It's Leia."

Han spun around. "What?" he asked.

Luke took a step toward Han and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What did you do, Han?"

Han's eyes widened when Luke shook him. "What do you mean?"

"To Vader! What did you do to him?"

"Vader?"

"Tell me!"

"Skywalker, let him go!"

"Hey! Don't talk to my son like that!"

"Han! Tell me what you did!"

Han didn't get a chance to answer, because just then the speeder came to a screeching halt in front of the veranda. Leaping out of the driver's seat was Leia. She soared high in the air before landing gracefully at the base of the stairs. Luke tried to call out to her, but he stopped when she drew two lightsabers – one red and one blue.

"Stand down!" Cara ordered when the shock troopers all pointed their weapons at Leia. "Lower your blasters!"

The soldiers all hesitated before begrudgingly complying with the order. Once they had all backed off, Padmé went rushing down the stairs. "Leia!" she cried. "What happened?" She stopped abruptly when Leia slashed her sabers into the marble ground.

"Stay back!"

Stunned, Padmé held up her hands. "Leia –"

"Shut up!"

Luke pushed Han aside and hurried down a few steps to his mother's side. "Leia, calm down and tell us what happened," he requested.

Leia's arm trembled as she pointed the red lightsaber at him. "Don't lie! You know what happened!"

Caught off guard by this accusation, Luke faltered. "I, uh… I don't," he said.

Leia seemed to sense the sincerity of his confusion. "Well, if you don't, she does!" she screamed, pointing her lightsaber to Padmé.

"Leia, lower the lightsaber."

She ignored him and instead pointed the blue one at Han. "And you!" she roared. "You were there, weren't you? You did this!"

"Leia, I –"

"Mothma sent you, didn't she? Don't deny it!"

"Princess, please," Cara said as she descended the stairs toward her. "We weren't operating on anyone's orders. We were trying to save you!"

Leia shrieked and Cara went flying backward. She crashed into the stairs by their feet and her head whipped back into the marble. At once, the soldiers all raised their blasters again.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Luke pleaded frantically.

"You tried to kill him!" Leia bellowed. With that, she charged forward with her lightsabers raised high.

"No!"

The shock troopers all opened fire. Leia managed to deflect a few of the bolts, but she didn't know how to properly wield the lightsabers. One bolt grazed her shoulder and another struck her directly in the thigh. She stopped in her tracks and screamed in pain.

"Stop!"

While Luke and Han were frozen with shock, Padmé leapt down the stairs toward Cara's unconscious body. Reaching for the holster on her belt, she drew Cara's blaster and pointed it at Leia. Setting it to stun, she opened fire and hit Leia square in the chest. Her lightsabers fell out of her hands when she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Springing to her feet, Padmé raised her arm up high and activated her flamethrower.

"Stay away from her!" she yelled as she unleashed a wave of flames toward the soldiers. They all dived out of the way to avoid the salvo. Padmé turned the flamethrower off, but she kept Cara's blaster raised as she approached Leia's prone form. "Stay where you are! Don't come any closer!" Satisfied that the soldiers weren't going to approach, Padmé kneeled down by Leia's side.

Only then did Luke finally regain control over his limbs. He jumped down the stairs and rushed toward his mother and sister. Seeing the lightsabers on the ground a few feet away, he stopped to scoop them up before falling to his knees by Leia's other side.

"How badly is she hurt?" he asked.

Padmé shook her head as she applied pressure to the wound to Leia's thigh. "We need a med kit," she said.

Luke looked up and called to Han who was still standing at the top of the stairs. "Han! We need a med kit!" Han didn't look as if he had heard him. His eyes were wide and he was staring back at Leia with a stunned expression. He probably couldn't recognize her. Luke wasn't sure if he could either.

"You there!" Padmé said to a soldier who had just gotten back to his feet. "Get me a med kit now!"

"We don't have one, ma'am."

"Why the hell not?"

"There's one on the Falcon."

At his voice, Luke and Padmé swiveled their heads back toward Han.

"Where is it? Is it nearby?"

"It's, um… it's close."

"Then what are you doing standing there?" Padmé asked. "Let's go!"

Leia woke up with a groan. As she rubbed her eyes and attempted to sit upright, she registered a jolt of pain in her thigh. She let out a yelp and reached for her leg. Blinking a few times as she adjusted to the darkness, Leia saw that the hem of her dress had been torn off and her left thigh was heavily wrapped with gauze.

How had she gotten here? And where was here, exactly? Taking great care to avoid aggravating her wounded leg, Leia propped herself up against the pillows and looked around. She knew this place. This was the guest room in the Falcon.

It all came flooding back to her. Having taken the two lightsabers from her father's belt – his red one and the one which he had been holding for her – she had commandeered a speeder and left for the apartment. Upon arriving, she saw that the shields had been breached and the patio was bustling with activity. Half a dozen or so Rebel shock troopers, one of whom she recognized as her fellow Alderaanian Cara Dune, had come to break out Luke and Padmé. To further complicate things, Han Solo had been accompanying them. He had most likely provided the transportation, Leia belatedly realized.

The thought of Han's betrayal caused renewed anger to surge within her. Ignoring the dull ache in her thigh, she stood up off the bed and limped toward the door. She grit her teeth when she arrived in the hallway and a wave of lightheadedness threatened to knock her over.

"Leia? Leia, what are you doing?"

Looking up to see Luke running toward her, she allowed herself to lower her guard. He alone could be trusted. He hadn't been a part of the plot, or so it seemed.

"Where is Solo?" she asked with a growl.

"You shouldn't be on your feet."

"Take me to him, Luke."

Luke blocked her path to the main hold when he came to a stop in front of her. "Let me take you back to your room," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No!" She swiped Luke's hand away. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Leia."

Leia let out an exasperated sigh and attempted to push past Luke. At first he didn't yield, but he ultimately thought better of it.

"Let me help you," he said.

She begrudgingly accepted his assistance. Wrapping her arm around him, she leaned on his shoulder to lessen the weight on her left leg. They plodded forward in this cumbersome manner a few more meters until they arrived in the main hold.

"Leia!"

Leaping out of her seat by the checkered table was Padmé. She was still dressed in all of her Mandalorian armor.

"Stay where you are," Leia snarled. She scanned the room. The main hold was packed with shock troopers. They were all standing attentively and giving her suspicious looks. Her eyes gravitated toward Cara Dune who was standing against the back wall with an ice pack held to her head. The Alderaanians met each other's gazes before Padmé's voice compelled her to look away.

"Leia, I know you think I'm responsible, but I'm not," she said. Ignoring Leia's demand that she stay back, Padmé walked toward her with hands raised. "Luke and I had no part in this."

"All you ever do is lie," Leia snapped. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's true," Cara Dune said and Leia swiveled her head back to her. "We had no communication with Commander Skywalker or Ms. Fett."

Leia arched an eyebrow. "Ms. Fett?" she repeated.

"Nor were we operating on anyone else's orders," Cara continued. "This was all Captain Solo's idea."

"It was, was it?" Leia asked viciously.

"Yeah, it was."

The group of soldiers by the technical station parted to reveal Han Solo standing in the circular doorway. His expression was inscrutable as he stared back at her. After several moments of tense silence, he took a few steps forward and began talking.

"I got contacted by HQ for consultation. The head of intel told me that they had received a communique from Mothma and they wanted my opinion on something. When I showed up, they told me that Mothma thought you had been taken hostage by Vader and were being forced to do his bidding."

"That's a lie!"

Han shrugged. "She said you had an ugly bruise on your forehead and had suddenly switched sides for the Empire. I thought it was pretty conclusive evidence, but the Rebels refused to send a rescue mission. They thought it would be too much of a risk and could jeopardize the negotiations with the Empire."

"So you decided to do it on your own," Luke said.

Han offered a strained smile. "You know me too well, kid," he said in a feeble attempt at humor. "Chewie and I would have done it ourselves had Commander Dune not found out what I was up to and offered to help."

"So Mothma didn't tell you to do it?" Leia asked.

"She did not."

Leia retracted her arm from Luke and limped toward Han. Looking up at him, she contemplated his expression for a few moments before slapping him across the face. Shocked, he staggered away and held a hand up to his reddened cheek.

"I hate you!" she screamed.

She reared back to strike him again, but was stopped when Padmé rushed forward and grabbed her. "Stop this now!" she demanded. "There has been enough violence as is."

"He deserves it!" Leia cried as she struggled against Padmé's grip. "He tried to kill him!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Han asked. "I saved you!"

Leia was too furious to even formulate a response. Instead, she bared her teeth and strained as hard as she could to free herself. Padmé's hold on her was too strong, however.

"Calm down!" she yelled in her ear. "Don't make me stun you again!"

Leia ceased struggling when she felt a sharp pain in her thigh. Gasping, she looked down to see blood soaking through the gauze.

"Well, now you've done it," Padmé said. When Leia went limp, she dragged her away toward the bench. Setting her down with a thud, she stood up and crossed her arms irritably. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked.

Leia tried to come up with a snide retort, but she found that she was too exhausted to speak. Sinking into the cushioned padding, she bit down on her tongue to alleviate the pain in her leg.

"Give us some space, would you?" she heard Luke say. "You especially, Han."

"Gladly," the smuggler said.

The soldiers all filed out of the main hold and soon she was alone with Luke and Padmé. Opening her eyes languidly, she saw them both standing over her with concerned expressions.

"Do you think we should rewrap it?" Luke asked.

"In a bit," Padmé said. "First we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk," Leia mumbled.

"Well too bad, you're going to," Padmé said without compassion. "Cara gave me her account of the story. I want to hear what you have to say."

"About how they tried to kill my father?"

Padmé flinched when Leia referred to Vader as that. "Yes," she said crisply.

Leia closed her eyes again and sighed. "What else is there to say?" she asked. "You heard what happened. They blew him up."

"Cara said that you were running after him. What happened?"

"He was angry," Leia said vaguely.

"About?"

She rubbed her eyes and sat up straighter. "I didn't understand," she said. "Ahsoka showed up and he lost it."

"What do you mean Ahsoka showed up?"

"Mothma brought a recording of her. The Rebels weren't willing to cooperate with Vader because of all the blowback it would cause, so Ahsoka suggested that he go by his real name instead."

"And that's what made him angry?"

"He said that Darth Vader was his true name and that… and that he killed Anakin Skywalker."

A heavy silence followed this statement. Leia looked up and was surprised to see an almost sorrowful expression on Padmé's face.

"What's his condition?" she asked finally.

Leia shuddered involuntarily. "Horrible," she said. Tears began to well up in her eyes when she pictured in her mind Vader's mangled body. "I… I need to go back. I need to be there when he wakes up."

"I can't let you do that."

"What? Why not?"

"It's too dangerous to go back."

"Too dangerous? How is it dangerous?"

"Think about it, Leia. The Rebellion has been accused of attempting to assassinate Darth Vader. You'd be arrested the second you step foot on Imperial Center."

"No I wouldn't!" Leia insisted.

"You're a known member of the Rebellion! Of course you would!"

Leia hesitated. "You're wrong," she said after a moment of consideration. "The stormtroopers listened to me."

Padmé frowned at this. "They listened to you?"

"I told them the truth. I told them I was Vader's daughter."

"Leia, how could you!?"

"I had to do it. They wouldn't have let me leave the Senate otherwise."

"But Leia –"

"It's done, okay? And it worked! They believed me."

"They did?" Luke asked, clearly skeptical.

"After some persuasion," Leia mumbled.

"What does that mean?"

Padmé held a hand up to Luke. "You can't be telling people that, Leia," she said. "If the Alliance were to find out –"

"They already do."

Padmé's mouth fell open. "What!?"

"I'm not ashamed of it," Leia said, elevating her chin in defiance. "You might be, but I'm not."

"You do realize what you've done, don't you? You can't ever go back to them. Not now. They'll consider you a traitor."

"I don't care what they think."

"This affects us too, Leia! What about Luke? Do they know about him?" Leia shook her head. "And what about me?" Padmé asked. Leia was about to shake her head again when she stopped.

"Well, Mothma knows that you're my mother," she said. "So yeah, I guess she does know."

Padmé threw her hands up in the air. "Leia!" she exclaimed.

"What does it matter? Nobody knows who you are. You're Boba Fett, right?"

Padmé exploded at this comment. "I don't want to be him anymore! I don't want to have to wear a mask! I want to be myself again! I want to be your and Luke's mother! But I can't do that anymore! I'll never get to be myself ever again! All I'll ever be is Vader's wife! Don't you understand? You ruined me, Leia! You ruined me!"

Stunned, Leia stared up at Padmé with wide, unblinking eyes. She watched as Padmé pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and spun around to pace away a few lengths. She stopped in the center of the main hold and sighed loudly.

"I don't want to have to put that mask back on, but you've given me no choice," she said.

Pressing her hands against the checkered tables, Leia struggled up to her feet. Luke stepped forward to help her, but she waved him off.

"I'm sorry," she said candidly. Padmé bowed her head and didn't respond. "I can fix this."

Intrigued, Padmé turned back around. "What do you mean?"

"I can make it so that you'll never have to wear a mask ever again," she said.

Padmé furrowed her brow and took a step toward her. "How?" she asked.

"By making Vader take off his."