A/N: if you see the droids only ever coming up when they're revelant to the story, look away.

also, i had Ameera and Leia's interaction planned ever since chapter two, where we first got to delve into Ameera's character, and I'm so thrilled to finally have gotten to their scenes together!

Upon arriving at the Senatorial building, their first destiny was Leia's office.

Luke Skywalker was amazed by the architectural construction of the place, while Ameera kept her eyes focused ahead, and Padmé — Padmé was simply happy to be there again. Even if not in an official capacity, she was happy to be part of the Senate once more. The Senate had once been her home, the only place where she could — try to — make her voice heard, try to make a difference.

She had believed in democracy once, and she would believe it once again.

Especially when democracy rested on the hands of the fairest person she knew — her daughter.

All things considered, Padmé was glad to be there. Not as Amidala, but as Padmé Naberrie herself. She knew her time was done, but she would vividly support those who carried on the torch of the future.

Her son and her daughter.

They were her legacy more than anything she might have achieved in the Senate, or the Royal House of Naboo.

Ameera commented that they would get lost trying to get to the very specific office in the specific hall of a specific floor that the information droid had told them was Leia's office. Padmé wouldn't; she knew she wouldn't. She could wander through the Senate building with her eyes closed and still not get lost.

Which was how they found themselves at the anteroom of Leia's office not so long after they arrived.

It was empty, and the door to her office was closed. What troubled them the most, however, was the sounds and exchanges coming from the other side of the door, powerful enough to leave the three of them rigid in their stance.

"Ouch, Your Highnessness—go easy on me!"

"What, you can't take me?!"

"Not when you're so brutal—oh yes."

"Yeah? Right here?"

A moan. A loud, pleased moan.

"I knew you could work with your hands, but damn, Leia."

"Hmmm. Hit the spot right on, didn't I, Scoundrel?!"

"Oh, yeah. I think I'm close to — ahhhhh."

"Good. Relax."

"Can't be more relaxed than this, sweetheart."

"Hm. If that's all it takes."

Ameera had a grim stamped on her face, Padmé went three shades redder, and Luke — Luke was horrified to be there. It was hard to look at each other directly.

"They wouldn't dare," Luke gasped, petrified, trying to come up with any other scenario that would explain that conversation happening between his sister and her lover.

Ameera scoffed, "Sounds like they did dare."

Padmé swallowed hard, trying her best to ignore the sounds that still came from there. "I'm sure there's a perfectly plausible explanation."

"Yeah. Your horny daughter decided to go full length with her boyfriend at her new office. Baptize the place."

"Ameera!"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? No, Leia, don't stop."

"I'm sure I heard something."

"You didn't. Come on, move your hands down a little."

"Like this?"

"Ohhhhh. Oh yeah, definitely like that."

Ameera's brows shot up as if to prove her point. Padmé was still facing the floor, and Luke — Luke just wanted to disappear in his embarrassment.

"We have to go in now," Padmé said, "They know we're here."

"Speak for yourself," Ameera retorted. "I know I said I'm not scared of the princess, but I most definitely am scared of walking in while she has sex."

Luke shook his head desperately. "My sister would never do that."

"Do what, have sex?" Ameera tilted her head to give him a pitiful look, "Oh, honey. You poor little thing."

Refusing to give in to this crazy spectacle any further, Padmé heavily knocked on the door; she didn't even need to turn around to feel the eyes of terror that Luke and Ameera were now giving her,

"See, I told you that—Come in!"

Not waiting to discuss whether to come in or not in a committee, Padmé bravely hissed the door open. At first sight, neither of them could see the loving couple inside, so they were forced to enter the room for any further insight.

When Luke stepped inside with his terrified steps and he spotted his sister and his friend fully dressed, at a considerable distance from each other, he exaggeratedly leaned against the wall and placed his hand in the middle of his chest.

"Oh, thank the Force."

Leia looked at him funnily, and when the expression of the other two women in the room matched his, she was obliged to ask, "Are you having a heart attack?"

"I was," he confessed, "Before coming in here."

Han, who was sitting in the chair behind Leia's desk, as if he was the boss, while she stood on her feet behind him, gazed at him with wide eyes. "Do we even want to know?"

Padmé pursued her lips in a thin line, and it didn't take long for Luke to start babbling, "Well—you know! The sounds you were making! And the things Han was saying! We thought—we thought—"

With her hands on her hips, Leia looked like she could kill him with her single hands. "And you thought I was having… I was having sex in my office?!" The idea was so absurd to her that she struggled to even say the word aloud. "Luke! What kind of person do you think I am?!"

"I don't know!" he shouted back, blocking Han's smirk out of his view, "Someone who was very happy to be here and decided to celebrate!"

"That's disgusting," Leia accused, smacking the back of Han's head to rid the grin from his face — she didn't even need to be facing him to know it was there. She shifted her attention to Padmé, "And you simply allowed him to believe this insanity?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Padmé threw both her hands up, "The sounds the two were making… It was very persuasive."

They'd think Leia would become embarrassed; instead, she was mad. Just mad. "You were a senator, how could you ever think I would disrespect this place just like that?"

"Well…"

And the first waves of embarrassment washed over the princess. "You've got to be kidding me."

Once he understood what had been implied, Luke panicked. "Mother?!"

"It must have happened once or twice only!" Padmé pledged, desperately, "I promise."

Enjoying it all more than he should have been, Han gave the hard table a tap, "I bet you and your sister were conceived right here."

"Han."

"Han."

"Han!"

Three voices yelled at him all at once; Ameera hid her snort behind her hand.

"Sith, I need to sit down," Luke grunted, proceeding to one of the chairs, "Is it safe to sit anywhere in this office?!"

"Yes, Luke," Leia responded, waiting until he grabbed the chair and was about to sit to add, "Well, maybe not that one."

Luke froze in the air, looking like he was about to cry until he saw the mischievous expression on his sister's face, and he dropped himself down without any elegance. "I hate you."

Leia chuckled, giving Padmé the perfect time frame to change the subject and ask, "What even were you doing?!"

Automatically, Leia's hands fell back to Han's shoulders. "Han extended his muscle. I was trying to alleviate the soreness by rubbing out the knot on his back."

All of the sudden, Luke's worry replaced his disdain. "Are you alright? How did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine," he blurted out, "I, huh… I fell off bed last night."

What Han didn't say, though, was that Leia had had a bad nightmare the night before, enough to leave her on edge for minutes long, struggling to process anything but the residues of her bad dream — not even him, or his assuring presence there, seemed to make any difference. Unsure of what else he could do to help, he proceeded to get up to fetch her some water, only to trip on the darkness and nastily fall to the ground.

At least the sound of his slump was enough to bring her back from the dangers of her own mind.

Leia squeezed his shoulders tightly, silently thanking him from the discretion.

"You fell off your bed?!" at last, Ameera, blending into the background, no longer could remain silent. "What are you, five?!"

For the first time, Han Solo noticed the strange woman in the room. Startled, he looked from face to face, trying to see if they all had also noticed the lurking Twi'lek in the back, but when nobody's expression did as much as flinch, he was forced to ask, "Who are you?!"

"Oh," Padmé spoke on her behalf, sensing Ameera straightening up her composure next to her. Meanwhile, Leia let go of Han and circled around her desk towards the three other people. "Yes, sorry, we all got so caught up in your… sex life — that I was nearly forgetting. Leia, Han, this is—"

"Ameera," Leia greeted her gently and graciously, all but pushing Padmé aside so she could stand in front of the Twi'lek. Leia took her hands, "How are you?"

Ameera looked down on the tiny princess, perplexed. Unable to move, or to breathe, or to form any coherent thought. Her eyes were startled and there was a small gap between her lips and — what the hell had just happened? Why was there a princess that she had never met before treating her like one of her Royal guests? Calling her by her name when she had never introduced herself?

Just as confused, Padmé gazed at her friend. "I thought you said you had never met Leia."

"I haven't!" Ameera reassured, switching puzzled looks between Padmé and Leia. "I—haven't...?"

Leia smiled sadly at her, squeezing her hands tighter than before. "I wouldn't expect you to remember. I was there when we rescued you from Grand Moff Tolruck."

Ameera's face instantaneously fell. She felt herself going pale, and she could not meet Leia's tight hold as the memories of her rescue came to her — of Duaa freeing her from the chains of evil, of Duaa's lifeless body on the floor, of herself being dragged to the safety of the rebel ship, of a mysterious being sitting next to her in the medical bay while she grieved in peace.

"You. You were my angel in white."

In return, Leia looked at her funnily. She didn't frown, she didn't belittle her — she stood there, silently, waiting for the explanation that was inevitable to come.

"I don't remember much from my rescue," Ameera spoke in a tight voice; she couldn't explain it, but there was something about the tiny princess that drew Ameera into a sense of comfort that couldn't be described in words. Maybe it was her ethereal presence, maybe it was her compassionate hands holding tightly to her own, maybe it was those big eyes, full of sorrow, full of hope, that knew exactly how it felt to lose everything. Everything. Ameera found herself at peace to tell a story that not many people were entitled to. "I remember the last time I saw my sister, but everything is a blur after that. All I know is that as I sat in the medical bay, there was somebody with me. I don't know her name, I barely remember her face — but her white robes brought me a serene sensation, almost like everything would be alright again. She didn't speak to me, she didn't touch me, she didn't disturb me in my grief, all she did was to sit by my side in a silent promise that I wasn't alone. Somehow, she knew exactly what I needed at that moment. And that person was… you."

Although her cheeks flushed remarkably at how she had been described, Leia showed no discomfort to it. She smiled gracefully at Ameera.

Ameera didn't find herself pressured to continue talking once Leia didn't verbally acknowledge her, but there was something about the princess that told her it was okay to be a little vulnerable. "I never thanked you for that." So out of character, but so deep in respect for the other woman, Ameera bowed her head, "Thank you, Your Highness."

"Leia," the princess corrected her. She knew that the informality of her name would feel sour on the Twi'lek's tongue for the first attempts, but she would get used to it eventually. "You're here, which means you're friends with either Padmé or Luke. Any friend of theirs is a friend of mine."

Luke almost laughed at the boldness of Leia's statement — Leia wasn't one to easily trust anybody — but she had sounded so honest in her assurance that he knew her to be sincere.

"With all due respect, Leia," Ameera started, "I don't think I'll do that."

A little bit surprised, Leia laughed freely at her, and finally let go of her hands. "Well, I'll trust you to try, at least."

She turned around before the Twi'lek could say anything else, and slowly walked back to Han's side.

"Why are you all here?"

"We came to congratulate you on your new position," Luke said distractedly, far more interested in the several datapads lit up across her desk. "What is this?"

Following his command, Padmé also took a peek of the datapads spread there. She arched one of her brows, "You're house hunting?!"

"Yes," Leia agreed diplomatically, sitting over the manchette of her chair where Han was seated. He placed his hand lovingly over her thigh. "Now, with the war walking towards its end, it seems like the most logical step to take."

Luke's light expression shut down almost immediately. He wanted to be supportive, but he couldn't help but feel left out. "When were you going to tell me?"

Han frowned at his sudden change of behavior. "We haven't bought a house yet, kid."

"Neither are we buying a house any time so soon," Leia complained, "Mr. Modest here can't show interest with any houses that we come across."

"They're all so big, Leia!" Han complained back, using the childish voice that he saved for her only. "Whatever are we going to do with five bedrooms?!"

"Our bedroom, a bedroom for Chewie, a bedroom for Luke, my office," Leia counted on her fingers. "We can manage."

Luke's eyes sparkled. "I get my own room?!"

"Yes, but you won't live with us," Leia said before he got any ideas, "You're only allowed to use it when, I don't know, you suffer a heartbreak."

Ameera gave the Jedi a whack in the back. "If you're ever in need of a heartbreak, Evil Spawn, you know where to find me."

"Evil Spawn?!" Han frowned at the name-calling, once again looking at Ameera with wariness. Considering that he had most likely dozed off while the Twi'lek and Leia shared their moment, his following question wasn't so out of character, "Who are you again?!"

Naturally, they all chose to ignore the smuggler. Padmé remarked, "Leia grew up in a Palace, Han. You can't possibly expect her to settle in a small house."

"Fine, but can we at least concede to a middle house?"

"Han, I guarantee you that all of these are far, far away from any middle term, compared to the palace of Aldera," Leia reminded him.

"Fine," he grunted, leaning forward to grab the nearest datapad in reach. "We'll buy this one, then."

Leia extended her neck to look at it, and said, "No. Not that one."

"Why not?!"

She simply shot her shoulders up and down. "I don't like that one."

Giving up, he threw the datapad back to the table. "You're going to be the death of me, sweetheart."

Chuckling softly, she wrapped her arm behind his neck, in a motion that could as well have said, yes, I am.

Luke's interest suddenly peaked, and he started to go through the houses that his sister was considering. "Should I start looking for a new house too?"

"Unless you want to spend the rest of your days in a rebel base," Leia pointed out."

"Hm," he contemplated, "Mother, will you look for a house too?"

"I used to have an apartment here in Coruscant," Padmé said casually, "Hopefully, it's still in my name."

Luke's eyes glowed with enthusiasm. "Can I come live with you?"

"You're really going to waste your youth away by moving in with your mother?!" Ameera spat, too amused with his innocence.

Luke flushed, while Leia overly enjoyed seeing her brother being picked on by the Twi'lek.

"I like her," the princess said.

Luke gazed over to his mother in despair, "See, mother, I told you that I'd never be able to breathe again once Leia and Ameera ganged up against me."

Tilting her head condescendingly, Padmé said, "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll protect you."

Her belittling tone only made the other two women laugh and the young Jedi pout.

Making herself comfortable, Padmé took the seat next to her son, while Ameera leaned in the wall behind them, making herself invisible without disappearing. She might have been welcomed by the princess, but that didn't change the fact that she was still the stranger there.

Crossing her legs, Padmé wondered, "I assumed you would have gotten your father's office for yourself, Leia."

Leia's lips compressed in one thin line at the abruptness of the question. "That office belongs to my father. It belongs to the senator of Alderaan."

"Well, I know that the Senate isn't reassembled fully yet, but I don't doubt that you will represent your people—"

"What people, Padmé?" Leia snapped before Padmé had the chance to complete her sentence; meanwhile, Luke looked up to the ceiling, pretending he wasn't there. "There is no Alderaan anymore."

Padmé shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "That doesn't mean there are no Alderaanians anymore."

"And I'll represent the Alderaanian Diaspora, when the time comes," Leia elaborated. "Not Alderaan. Alderaan will never become part of the New Republic."

Her tone was gravely, and it killed any celebrational tone still left in the atmosphere. She wouldn't apologize for it though.

Leia had always known, ever since Alderaan's obliteration, that her world would never get to see everything she had achieved for them. However, she had never felt it until now, because the concept of a new galaxy had always been so far away. But the New Republic was coming, was closer than ever, and it had taken all of her strength to step inside the Senate building earlier that day without collapsing.

Alderaan was gone. Her father would never see the new world that he had dedicated his entire life to. Her mother would never look at everything Leia had done in the name of good, like Queen Breha had taught her, and tell her how proud she was of her. Her parents' death had been such a long time ago, but it had never tormented her as much as now.

Because — there was war, and war demanded her to focus on anything other than her grief. Now, there was peace, and she did not know how to handle the grief that had been forbidden to her only to hit her at full force so many years later.

"Your father would be proud, Leia," Padmé said, sensing that that was what she needed to hear the most. Even if Leia would lash out at her again, she wouldn't apologize for it.

Padmé remembered so vividly when she told her own parents that the Queen of Naboo had asked her to represent them in the Galactic Senate, right after her term as Queen Amidala had ended. They had not been too happy about it, because they were looking forward to finally having their daughter back, away from the public eye, and Padmé had flown away from them again.

Still, they had told her loud and clear, "We are so proud of you, Padmé."

Those words had guided her during her first months in Coruscant, in the Senate, where everything and everyone seemed to be against her. Padmé prayed that they would guide Leia, too.

Leia sighed loudly, and Han kissed her hand.

"I've been wondering, for a while," Leia changed the subject suddenly, as she was prone to whenever things became more personal and emotional than she was ready to handle. "Why did my father never mention you to me, when the two of you were so close — or at least you claim to be."

Knowing there was little she could do, Padmé accepted the new topic gracefully. At least Luke had managed to look at them again. "Alderaan stood in the middle of the Empire, and Vader and the Emperor's dislike for the Organas wasn't unknown. It would be too dangerous, to reveal even to you only about your bloodline."

"I'm not talking about that. I never had any interest in learning about my birth parents," Leia said, her words as sharp as a knife, and Han and Luke both grimaced. She ignored them. "I was wondering why my father would never speak of an ally and a friend of his, someone who had once stood by his side to prevent injustice from happening."

"Again," Padmé tried, this time a little hoarser — because Leia's accusation of her lack of desire of ever knowing where she came from had cut deeply through her, even when she doubted the princess had meant any harm with them. "Your father was always under scrutiny. Not many people would appreciate remembering my name, or how I stood up to Chancellor Palpatine whenever I could."

Leia dismissed everything she had said with a simple gesture of her hand. "I realized — he must have talked about you. I was simply too young and naïve and rebellious to listen."

Padmé frowned, "Why, did you remember something—"

"I'm getting there," she held her index in the air briefly, before placing her hand back on Han's shoulder. "There was this one time, when I was very little, that I ran away from my nanny droid—"

"Why would you do that?!" Luke interrupted, his eyes wide with curiosity. Leia rarely spoke of her life on Alderaan, and he found himself yearning for stories of what she might have been like in her childhood.

"Well, why wouldn't I?!" Leia made a face at him, "Stop interrupting me."

"I've only interrupted once."

"I'm speaking ahead to any future time you might want to."

"That's not fair—"

This time, it was Padmé's turn to cut him off, "Luke, hush."

Han smirked when he became red.

"As I was saying," Leia began again, "After I ran away, I found my mother in the private gardens of the Palace. She was sitting under this beautiful statue, reading, and when she saw me, she opened her arms to me and picked me up. I remember curling up in her lap and looking up at that big statue, a statue so big that it was larger than life. I was mesmerized by it."

Padmé's lips fell half open; she didn't want to jump into conclusion, she didn't want to be so self-absorbed, but could it be—

"My mother started to talk to me. I think she was telling me about the person behind that statue, I think she was telling me something important. Of course, I was too little to remember, and I assume that was exactly why she told me that. But that statue enchanted me, ever since I first saw it. As I grew up, I would often find myself there, reading a book or drawing a picture or anything. There was just… something about the sparks of hope that it radiated… It always welcomed me."

Leia took a small pause, only to realize everybody was looking at her intensely. She didn't mind.

"I think that… That statue was you, Padmé."

Padmé found herself incapable of breathing. Damned be the Organas, that always honored her, even after her death. Damned be the Organas, who sculpted a picture of her in the privacy of their home so she would always be near her daughter. Damned be the Organas, who remembered her, when nobody else did.

"Anyway, I'm not exactly sure why I'm telling you this. I just hoped it would bring you some sort of comfort."

Padmé nodded graciously but remained overwhelmed to the point she could not bring herself to say anything yet.

"You're crying?!"

Ameera's sharp voice broke through the relative deep silence they had entered, and after her disruption, everybody turned their eyes to Luke.

"I'm sorry…!" he wailed, desperately rubbing the sleeve of his shirt against his eyes. "It's just… so beautiful! Padmé was always there with Leia, and somehow Leia was drawn out to Padmé…! Like a premonition, that they would always have each other."

Han grinned more than he should have. "Would you like a tissue, kid? Or a shoulder to cry on?!"

He expected Leia to smack him again, and was somehow relieved when she only lectured him, "Stop teasing him, Han. You'll make him think that repressing his feelings is a bad thing, when it's not."

Han offered her a pointed glare, "Forgive me, Your Worshipfulness, I didn't know you to be so open about your feelings."

This time, the smack to the back of his head came.

"It's just…" Luke rambled on, like he owed everyone an explanation. "Bail and Breha Organa did everything they could to preserve Padmé's image. Because of them, Padmé was always there to Leia, as a guarding angel. Meanwhile, all my Uncle ever told me about my parents — and trust me, there was a time in my life I would ask every day — was that my father was a spice runner. And that wasn't even true!"

Padmé obfuscated her finger briefly rubbing against the corner of her eye. Still, Leia saw it and offered her a sweet, sad smile. Padmé straightened up, "I'm sorry, Luke. You deserved more than that."

Sighing relentlessly, Luke leaned back on his seat. "It's okay. I'm just glad that Leia could have had that, even when she didn't want it."

Leia bit down on her lip at the recrimination hidden behind his words.

"The Organas were the most dignified people I knew," Padmé said, looking to Luke, although the target of her sentences was Leia. Only Leia. "I always valued them deeply, and I'm honored to know that they held me to the same pedestal. Like you said, Luke, to know that I could somehow guard Leia throughout most of her life… It almost makes up for all the time we lost."

Leia knew the importance of words just as she knew the significance of silence. At that moment, she recognized the meaning of silence.

"Thank you for telling me this, Leia," Padmé said, a tight feeling coming from her chest — she wished that Bail Organa was still here. Not to the same extent as Leia, of course, but she wished she could have seen him one last time, to thank him for everything he had done for their little girl. "It means so much."

"Of course," Leia accepted her gratitude elegantly.

Nobody had the chance to say anything else, as the door hissed open again, without any polite knocking, and, this time, a bright golden protocol droid came from the other side.

"Princess Leia, what are all these people here!" the droid exclaimed, crowding even more the already crowded office as he came through. "They were not on your schedule, Your Highness, so I will kick them out myself if you say the word."

Leia gave him a look, the image of C-3PO annoying those people out her office quite plausible in her mind. "It's okay, Threepio. Did you manage to deliver the report to Mon Mothma?"

"Yes, Princess Leia," he replied simply, his mechanical eyes focused at the strange woman who stared at him with big, perplexed eyes. He burbled, "Princess Leia, I don't think I am the most comfortable to being here."

Leia was about to say something when she found Padmé's face and frowned at it as well. The princess cleared her throat, "Ern, Padmé, this is—"

"Threepio," Padmé gasped his name with such an intensity that it would seem she was out of breath. She stood up amidst her awe, "Threepio, I—I can't believe this!"

Luke soon jumped on his feet again, interested. Even Leia, who had been perfectly aligned with Han, got up at the strangeness of it all.

"Mother, you know Threepio as well?!"

"Master Luke, I fear I have never seen this woman before," the droid commented, his robotic voice making it all more dramatic than it probably was.

Padmé took one step forward, overwhelmed. She could not believe this.

"Threepio, it's me. Padmé Amidala."

C-3PO stared blankly at her. In fact, all the other four sentient beings did as well.

"Your name is not anywhere in my data bank, ma'am."

Padmé's face fell, and Luke rushed to her side in compassion.

"Maybe you're mistaking him for another droid, mother," he proposed, "There are several protocol droids out there."

"No," her voice was hoarse and heavy, "I would never mistake Threepio."

Han and Leia exchanged a glance. That much was, indeed, impossible to do.

"Is he your droid, Leia?"

Contemplating the larger picture as thoroughly as she could, she showed a little hesitancy to reply, "...Yes."

If only her brother could at least show part of her mistrust. "Where do you know Threepio from, mother?"

Padmé had been so hypnotized by the golden droid that only then she realized she had been intensely staring at it. Clearing her throat, she averted her eyes back to her son. "He was my droid, back in the Clone Wars."

"You've got to be kidding me," once again, Ameera complained — by now, she had either grown used to Leia there or she had simply forgotten about her figure altogether. "How is it that the entire galaxy is related to you?!"

Luke waved an arm to shut her up as he said, "I can't believe this, mother!"

"Me either," Leia grunted, a disdainful tone coming from her. Next to her, Han snorted.

"Isn't it amazing how the universe works sometimes?" he carried on, overly excited. "The Force binds us together."

Perhaps the funniest thing about that entire situation was the evident panic coming from C-3PO, which could be perceived very clearly through his only statement, "Oh dear."

"Mother, how did you come across Threepio?" Luke asked her in his innocence, "I want to know how he came to be part of our family."

"Well, it's a little funny, actually," Padmé ventured, looking solemnly at Luke as if she had forgotten about everybody else. "Remember that I told you that I gave Artoo as a wedding gift to Anakin—"

"Artoo was your droid too?!" it was Han's turn to interrupt. "Nah, I'm with the weird blue girl on this one. How are the three of you related to everything?!"

"I wish I knew," Leia whispered, and her disbelief with it all was nearly as comical as C-3PO's despair.

"Anyway," Padmé emphasized as she continued, "Threepio was Anakin's wedding gift to me. Threepio was his droid."

Leia couldn't explain how a single sentence was powerful enough to suck out all the oxygen from a room — but it was, and the color drained from her face. She thought she was going to faint, and nobody was paying attention to her to see her become paler than a ghost.

"Threepio belonged to my father?!" Luke all but shouted, turning on his heels to look at the droid, "Threepio! You were my father's droid!"

"Will you forgive me, Master Luke, I did not know you to be Captain Antilles' son," C-3PO politely excused himself.

"No, Threepio, you must have belonged to my father before I assume you got your memory wiped," Luke explained calmly — all things considered, he was one of the few people who rarely lost their patience with the golden droid.

"Memory wipe? Master Luke, I believe I wouldn't forget going through a memory wipe."

All things considered — sometimes it was in everybody's best interest to simply ignore C-3PO altogether.

And they chose to do just that.

"Oh, Luke, that's not even the half of it," Padmé elaborated, "Your father built Threepio! From scratch, when he was only a child!"

Leia did not process how she stumbled back on her feet until she crashed her back against the wall — but the sound of the impact was all it took for everybody's eyes to fall back on her. If only she could breathe.

"Get him out of here."

Her voice was so small she couldn't ascertain that anyone had heard her. Heck, she couldn't guarantee herself that she had made any sound at all.

Taken aback, Han quickly jumped to his feet. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he had seen that look on Leia's face before, more often than he would have liked, and he knew it didn't mean anything good. And his meek knowledge commanded him into stepping in front of her, both to hide her from view from prying eyes and to hide whatever had triggered her away from her.

"Leia."

The princess had her eyes closed tightly, blocking everything and everyone out of her view. Maybe, if she wished hard enough, he would disappear.

"Get him out of here!"

This time, her voice was strong and loud. It was powerful enough to make the entire room tremble.

"Leia?" Han tried again, "What are you talking about? Who are you talking about?!"

Her eyes snapped open again, and they were as red as blood.

She demanded, "Threepio, get out of here."

"What?!" Luke called from behind, completely oblivious to whatever might have happened. He didn't understand, he couldn't comprehend why his sister would suddenly snap at the droid when she always made sure that other people didn't treat C-3PO badly because of his personality.

If the humans couldn't understand, then imagine how a certain protocol droid might have felt.

"Princess Leia. Where would you like me to go?"

Han positioned himself exactly so Leia wouldn't see the droid. "Leia, what's going on?"

Any other day, his calm would have driven her insane. That moment, though, it was the only rock certifying she didn't slip away. "I will not have anything that came from him."

Luke and Padmé quickly exchanged looks. She hadn't seen that one coming, she couldn't have. She stepped closer to the princess, going past the human blockage that Han had built around her. "Leia, Ani was just a child. A lonely child who built a droid so he wouldn't be all alone. He was a child, Leia, not—"

Padmé stopped herself before she spoke his name aloud. It wasn't a secret, not when everyone in that room already knew — well, maybe aside from C-3PO — but she had learned the hard way that there were consequences to that name alone.

"I don't care!" she shouted, and later on, she would become embarrassed for losing her composure in front of so many other people. "Get Threepio out of here!"

"Leia," Han said her name once more, "That's just Threepio. You like Threepio, you care for Threepio. He won't do any harm to you."

"I don't care!" those three words there again, and she — she wished people would just listen to her. "I want him out of here."

Nobody dared to move, not even C-3PO. Their — lack of — reaction only made Leia feel more cornered, and she couldn't get farther away from any of them.

It was Luke's turn to try something, "Leia, don't you think you're overreacting?"

Han rolled his eyes; of all the things he could have said—

"Luke," Han warned.

"I'm just saying," Luke insisted, "It's not Threepio's fault! And it's beyond Threepio's control."

"Luke!"

Padmé didn't remove her eyes from Leia; the princess was crammed into the corner between two walls, her chest rising up and down at racing speed. Her eyes were big and red and wet, and she had her arms wrapped around her own torso trying to protect her from C-3PO — from C-3PO? Or from what C-3PO represented?

Either way, it wasn't a nice picture. Padmé had seen Leia triggered once before, on the night that they had rescued Luke from the Jedi Temple — she had yet to figure out what had been the reasons behind her setback — and it hadn't been pretty. Padmé would never think Leia would spiral down worse than that — and yet, she did.

The image of the princess so small and scared because of a stupid droid was haunting. Padmé wanted nothing more than to close her eyes so she wouldn't have to see her daughter like that.

"Maybe we should listen to Leia," she reasoned.

"Mother, Threepio has done nothing…!" Luke nearly cried, "She can't react like this to everything regarding him…! It's not healthy! Next thing we know, she's going to overreact at you and me, because we're related to him. And what happens when she turns on herself?!"

"I don't think it's that simple, kid."

"But it is…!" Luke retorted, "I understand that Leia wants anything to do with him, and I respect that. But she needs to realize that not everything that comes from him is bad. Otherwise, we ourselves wouldn't be here."

Leia's eyes were blurry; whether because of her unshed tears or because of her uncontrollable fright, her eyes were blurry, and she couldn't see. She could barely hear them talking over her, about her. She had no control over anything, not even herself, and — was that how dying felt like?

No; she had been under the mercy of death too many times. She didn't recall it to feel like this, because death was peaceful, and it had always welcomed her as such. Unlike the peaceful sensation of death, she was surrounded by turmoil only, and the tumult stole her of her breath.

She felt trapped within her own body, within her own mind — there was no escape. The world was spinning around her and it was crushing in around her and it was heavy. She couldn't support its weight, not without losing herself in the process. Her head was going to explode.

She could faint at any moment now; she was hot and she felt every drop of sweat in her forehead, and she felt her heart throbbing against the tightness of her throat. Was she having a heart attack? Was she dying? No, she had already ruled out dying from whatever was happening to her. But maybe she was. She had never died before, maybe that was how dying truly felt like.

Maybe she was dying. That would explain why she was so scared, or why she couldn't breathe, or why everything hurt, or why she felt so much without having any control or any connection to her physical body.

Maybe she was dying.

Maybe death would set her free.

"You two, shut up," Han hissed through his teeth once he realized that something was wrong, even wronger than before — Leia had stopped talking. She had been loud and she had been adamant and Luke and Padmé and he had started bickering over her and she had never once yelled at them for talking over her about matters that concerned her, and therefore only she could speak for herself.

He looked back at her and whoever stood there a few feet away wasn't Leia. That woman so terrified, so lost, wasn't her. The sight of that woman scared him.

"Leia," he called for her, cautiously taking small steps towards her. Her eyes had been so out of focus that there was no guarantee that she had seen him approaching.

But she had. She had, because the moment he got closer to her, Leia inevitably raised both her arms and shielded her face behind them, and her legs faltered beneath her until her knees bent forward and she lost half of her height; everything while she pleaded, while she begged—

"Please don't hurt me. I'll tell you everything, just please don't hurt me. Please, please don't."

Han froze midair and he — he couldn't breathe. His heartbeat was stabbing through his chest; he wasn't the bad guy, he wasn't the enemy. He had to force his own emotions back inside, because the notion that she thought he would harm her hurt him. Amidst his despair, he looked back to the three sets of prying eyes, praying they would know what to do; instead, he found them as lost as he was.

Despite his shock, despite that tight sensation inside his chest, Luke was the first to act, as he turned to C-3PO and said, "Threepio, why won't you find Artoo?"

Which, considering that R2-D2 had remained back at the rebel base, would take C-3PO countless hours of aimless wandering through the Senate complex.

The droid took one last look at Princess Leia before conceding. "Of course, Master Luke."

C-3PO was finally gone, one less problem to deal with. Now, seeing that Han still hadn't managed to do anything, Luke closed his eyes and looked for her presence in the Force. He found her amidst chaos and distress, and he reached for her as delicately as light.

The arms that had been previously hiding her face now covered her ears.

"No, get out of my head. Get out of my head! You won't find anything there, I won't betray my father. Get out!"

The feeling of someone fiddling through her head was crushing; it was uncomfortable, it hurt, it stole her the control of her own body as Darth Vader mercilessly penetrated her mind looking for the very precise piece of information that she refused to give. His touch was unkind and heavy and he trampled her spirit and her soul under his merry fingers. Leia wanted him gone, she needed him gone before Vader suffocated her to death.

So she did the only thing she could do to protect herself. She focused on the silver strings of his ethereal presence there and she severed them, until nothing except darkness prevailed.

Luke stumbled back when a brute, invisible power shoved him away. He suddenly became dizzy and a headache started to pound against his skull; it was like he couldn't breathe, like whatever had happened stole the oxygen from his lungs. Light ceased to exist, and suddenly there was only darkness.

Like part of him had died, and his soul had been shattered in half.

It was the shove that Padmé gave his upper arm that brought him back more than anything. He opened his eyes, out of breath, and saw his sister now curled in a small position, hiding herself behind the blockage of her legs. Once again, he found himself on the verge of tears as he slowly understood what had happened — this time, they weren't tears of happiness. He was trying to help, yet, he only caused more harm than good; he had invaded Leia's mind when she was out of herself, and, as a defense mechanism, she had shut him out. She had cut apart every tie that bound them together, and now they had lost each other.

They were all alone.

"Leia," Han called her name, kneeled in front of her while keeping his distance. "It's me, Han. You're safe, Leia."

It didn't work. She remained unresponsive.

Unwilling to give up — he would never give up on her — Han crawled closer to her.

Upon seeing them coming near her, threatening her with their mere existence, she closed her eyes and brutally extended her arm, about to yell at her captors to stay away. But, as she condensed all her fears inside of her, instead of words coming out of her, one of the datapads on the desk spun in place and then violently flung into the air, hitting the wall right above Ameera's head, who was forced to deck so she wouldn't get caught in the line of fire. The datapad fell to the ground with a loud noise, shattering technological junk all over the place.

"Leia!"

Leia wasn't sure what exactly had snapped her back to herself; was it the loud sound of something crashing to the floor, or the panic on her brother's voice when he shouted her name, or the accumulated energy inside of her that disseminated so quickly, without a single visible explanation. Still, she remained there, frozen within herself, trying to catch her breath when oxygen seemed to be broken.

She locked her eyes with Han's and focused all her strength there.

Han attempted to smile at her, but he was so scared for her that he couldn't tell whether he had succeeded.

"Can you hear me, Leia?"

She did not respond, she barely moved. She was far more busier with the simple task of breathing. When she blinked, she was surprised to find her eyes wet.

Han started to inhale and exhale exaggeratedly and very slowly, trying to create a steady pattern. He hadn't expected it to work, but when he saw Leia trying to mimic him, a small part of him was more relieved than three seconds before.

With her muscles still tense, she wrapped her arms around her legs, bringing her knees close to her chin. She had never felt so small. She wanted to disappear.

"What you're feeling is very scary, but it's not dangerous, Leia," Han said, his green eyes focused on her, refusing to blink — so scared he was that she would simply disappear. "You're safe, Leia. Safe. No harm can get to you here."

"I know," at last, Leia succeeded in saying. It was barely hearable, but she said it. She knew that, didn't she? She was certain that she did. She was well aware that her friends would never hurt her, that not even Threepio would ever hurt her. But when she thought of C-3PO and she remembered that her father had built him, that the man she hated the most had given life to the droid she had considered her friend, the droid that she had unconditionally trusted, she couldn't help herself as another wave of panic hit her. She gasped loudly, unable to control herself.

"Hey, hey," Han called for her again, this time a little stronger. He refused to allow her to go back to — wherever her mind had taken her. "It's not the place that is scaring you. It's the thought. Concentrate on your breathing, stay in the present. I'm here for you."

She closed her eyes to do exactly as he had told her but immediately snapped them open again when she realized that was a bad idea. She wasn't fond of the darkness. Instead, she chose to focus on him, and his reassuring presence in front of her.

"I'm fine, Han."

Usually, that automatic answer of hers would have driven him insane. Today, it was music to his ears. His lips turned up in a shy smile, and hers almost did the same. "Of course you are. Come here."

He offered his hand to her, and when she reluctantly took it, he helped her stand. Leia welcomed his presence there to help her steady her legs, and once she was certain she wouldn't fall again, she let go of him and diverted her attention back to where she was.

And — by the gods, what were all those people doing there? Staring at her like she was some sort of invalid? She wanted them all gone. She wanted to be alone with Han so she could cry in his arms about everything that happened to her. She wanted to dissolve into thin air.

Upon realizing her discomfort, both Padmé and Ameera did her the courtesy of looking down and giving her some space. Not Luke, though, whose piercing blue eyes had that same conflict before the battle of Endor; he was worried to an extent while also keeping something important from her.

Something she should know.

She sighed, and held Han's hand tighter as she asked, "What is it, Luke?"

Luke swallowed hard, scratching his hair as he tried to decide how to proceed. Han was glaring at him to shut up while Leia was begging him for answers. But she should know, shouldn't she?! She needed to be aware of it, she needed to realize what she had done—

"You… You nearly knocked out Ameera."

Leia frowned at him, wondering whether he was talking in riddles and concluding she was too exhausted to try to decipher it. She directed her eyes to the Twi'lek, who assembled far too uncomfortable to be there — that made two of them — and her soul escaped her when she noticed the broken datapad by Ameera's feet.

Leia became pale as she stared at the discarded object in pure horror. She had done that, she remembered it far too well now. She was scared of the pain and the hurt and she channeled all her power to protect herself — but protecting herself from what? — and she had used the Force to keep all her enemies away — but wasn't her sole enemy left herself?

"It's not a big deal, Leia," Luke promised her, trying to approach her but deciding to stay put when she flinched. He wondered if she also felt the same emptiness that he did, now that they no longer shared a soul. She looked so scared and hurt that he prayed that she didn't. "You didn't mean it. It was an accident. I just wish… I wish you'd let me train you. It would help you."

If Leia hadn't already been too terrified at what she had done, she would have snapped at him. However, she couldn't take her eyes from the broken datapad, and how she had almost hurt someone. Someone who hadn't asked to be caught up in her personal dramas! Leia was ashamed of herself, she had never meant for something like to happen. She had never meant to become her father—

The walls started narrowing in on her; she needed to get out of there, she needed to get some fresh air, she needed to be alone. She needed to escape them, if she couldn't escape herself—

Leia broke free from Han's grip and rushed out of the room, never once looking back.

"Leia—"

Han was about to run after her when Padmé's arm blocked his path. She said, "Don't. She wouldn't have stormed out if she didn't want to be alone."

Han glared at her intensely, and for a moment, she genuinely believed he would shove her away and follow Leia either way. It was the pain in his eyes before he conceded that told Padmé she wouldn't need to worry about it.

A little out of his element, Han walked back and kicked Leia's chair with full force, knocking it mercilessly to the floor. Unlike his expectations, it didn't make him feel any better. He placed both his hands over his mouth and agonizingly grunted into his skin.

"That isn't going to help, Han."

He turned on his heels back to face Padmé ready to punch something, but she was right — it wouldn't help, it could only make things worse. That didn't stop him from yelling, though, "Then tell me how can I help, because I'm out of ideas here!"

"I don't know," Padmé confessed, sharing the same worry and pain as both men.

"She thought—She thought I was going to hurt her," Han choked out, and now that Leia was gone, he could finally allow himself to feel. And he didn't feel good.

Likewise, Luke felt very purposeless amidst it all. Above all, he had the worst headache; it felt worse than the pain of having his hand cut off. His heart ached for the absence of his sister; he didn't know how to live without her anymore.

"She… She thought I was Vader."

The three of them abruptly glanced at him, waiting for an explanation.

"She—She thought I was Vader, trying to invade her mind."

Padmé's eyes shot up. "Why would she think that?!"

Neither Han nor Luke dared to answer her.

Padmé exhaled deeply, "She was out of herself, she didn't mean any of those things. And Sith forbids this happens again, we need to listen to her, instead of arguing within ourselves what we think is best for her. Today, we failed her. We can't afford to fail her again."

Han agreed with a nod. Luke didn't move.

Tiredly, Padmé rubbed her forehead. "What is it, Luke?"

He wasn't going to meddle, but since he had been asked—

"Leia can't expect to be kept away from Threepio forever. Threepio is our friend, he's part of our family! She can't lash out every time she comes close to him, just because he was built by Anakin."

Han shot him eyes of fire. "Are you saying that out of concern for your sister or simply because you refuse to be separated from something that your precious little father built that somehow made its way back to you?!"

Luke looked at him with the same intensity, "I would never put Anakin over Leia, and you know that, Han."

Han crossed his arms, unapologetic.

"I'm just saying, it's not healthy. She's doing more harm to herself than necessary, she's bringing herself down. She needs to learn to dissociate because Threepio isn't Anakin. Anakin might have built it, yes, but that was such a long time ago that not even Threepio knows it anymore. And..."

He was going to say that she had been so scared upon his deeds that they no longer shared their connection. However, out of his own selfishness, he chose to remain silent. Not only was this matter private to him and his sister only, but he also wasn't ready to admit that he had failed her.

Padmé eyed him suspiciously.

"It's not that simple, Luke," Han lashed out, his jawline clenched, "Do you honestly think she wants to be like that… like this?! You're not there, kid, you don't know what it's like to be trapped inside of her mind."

Luke gave him a look. He wanted to say that he did know what it was like inside her mind, that nobody knew better than him what was like inside her head, although she constantly shielded herself from it. However, he felt like he no longer had the right to talk about things he no longer had.

Instead, he provoked, "And you do?!"

"No, but I see it beforehand. Every night, when nightmares shake her so badly that she'll think she's back and trapped in the worst days of her life. Now, I'm breaking her trust by telling you this, but you need to understand that your sister isn't you, and she can't forgive so easily. Heck, she doesn't have to! And you need to respect her, respect her choices."

Luke uncomfortably gazed down at his feet.

"Is that why you don't want to move in with her?"

Han sharply turned his head to look at Padmé, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Because Leia is a lot to handle, so I was wondering if that's why you're hesitant about moving in with her," unlike him, Padmé spoke with calm and clarity. "If that's the case, then you need to tell her. Before you hurt her even more."

"And who the hell told you that I don't want to move in with her?!"

"You did, earlier today," Padmé reminisced, "By shutting down every house that Leia proposed."

Luke looked like he could badly hurt Han if Han didn't start talking soon.

"Leia is the love of my life," Han angrily told her—them, "I don't care how damaged she thinks she is, or how badly she tries to push me away. I'm not walking out on her, not unless she explicitly tells me to."

Letting all of his anger evade him, Han picked up the chair he had thrown to the floor and sat back there without any mannerism.

"I started looking up potential buyers for the Falcon."

Luke nearly gasped when he heard that. "You're going to sell the Falcon?! Have you asked Leia? She will not like this."

Han discarded everything he said with a single gesture. "Even the best deal I get for the Falcon won't pay for half of any of those houses that Leia is interested in."

Padmé gazed at him like she couldn't believe him. Luckily, she had Luke there to voice her every feeling without losing his composure.

"Leia is a princess, Han," he reminded the smuggler, "She doesn't need you to help her pay for the house."

"But it's the right thing to do," Han argued, "It's not fair to ask her to do this on her own."

"She doesn't mind," Luke grunted, "Wait, is this about thinking your manhood is hurt?!"

Han grimaced, "What am I, five?! No, Luke, this is about me showing her that I'm committed to our relationship. That I'm never walking out on her."

"There are other ways of showing that, Han," Padmé finally said, leaning against the desk where the damn datapad had been, "But you need to talk to her about this, because she isn't a fool, Han. She might believe that you're stalling to choose a god damn house because you're having second doubts about a future with her."

Han tilted his head — he had never considered it that way. He blew a puff of air between his lips before he confessed, "Leia is also afraid of taking this next step. I know her, I know her better than she knows herself, and I know that she's struggling to move on. Be it from her past life or from everything that's going through her head right now. Whenever I agree to a house, she shuts it down, and you saw her refusing the one I proposed earlier today. And I can't push her, she needs to be ready to take this step by herself, not only because she's with me."

Padmé and Luke looked down, understanding.

"You have to give her time, Han," Padmé advised.

"That's all I ever do," he said, "I'm not sure for how long that'll be enough."

Nobody saw her anymore, everybody had forgotten that she was still there. Understanding she no longer belonged there, in the privacy of their family, Ameera walked out without a single sound.

A/N: honestly, i never gotten as many reviews here on ffn as i did on the last chapter, and you guys have no idea how happy yall made me. do consider making me happy again and letting me know what you think of this chapter *insert baby emoji*