Chapter Eleven:
Leia woke the next day and found that she was the only one up. Realizing how early it was, Leia weighed her options: go back to sleep or get in some extra reading without being bothered?
Or... Leia's head came up and she pursed her lips, considering. She could read up on brain ruptures...
Leia stood and threw on her robe, then left her room silently, listening for any tell-tale signs that her parents were awake. But when she got to the main room, there was no one around. Leia went so far as to check her parents' door but it was closed, which meant they were still asleep.
Her parents left their door slightly open during the waking hours to let their children know they were welcome if they needed something. So if it was closed, there was a good reason.
Satisfied, but not knowing how much time she had before someone woke, Leia went to her mother's office and again logged into the computer terminal. Leia opened the browser and searched for any information she could find on bleeding in the brain.
Brain Aneurisms... warning signs and symptoms...
Leia clicked on the first site she found with legitimate credentials. She was presented with a load of information, which was far too much for her to read in so short a space of time. Thinking fast, Leia hurried back to her room and grabbed her datapad.
Once she had returned to the office, Leia connected her 'pad to the computer terminal and downloaded the article. Smiling at her quick thinking, Leia looked up a few more articles, and even looked for some holos to show exactly what a brain aneurism was.
Leia was so engrossed in her task that she lost track of time, though when she felt a niggling in her mind, she looked up. It had been an hour, and she could feel in the Force that her father was beginning to stir.
Grimacing— and not willing to answer questions— Leia ended her search once she was sure everything she needed had downloaded. Then she cleared her search history and shut down the computer.
Rising, Leia crept to the door, cracked the portal open, and peeked outside. Once she was assured the coast was clear, Leia left the office and made for her room, trying to look as natural as possible, especially when her parents' door opened.
Leia slipped the datapad into her pocket to hide it from immediate view as Anakin emerged from the darkened room in which Padmé still slept. When he caught sight of his daughter, Anakin smiled warmly at her.
"Good morning Princess." He greeted her.
"Good morning Dad," Leia replied, not having to fake her return smile.
"What's got you up so early?" Anakin inquired, coming up to her and embracing her.
"I just woke; not for any particular reason," Leia said. It was true: she had awakened naturally.
Anakin shrugged, glancing down the hall to Ijon's room. "I'm going to check on your brother, but then work on making some breakfast. Care to help?"
Leia wanted to read her new material, but she couldn't pass up on this chance to spend one-on-one time with her father. Anakin had turned out to be a pretty good cook, in Leia's opinion, though she didn't know where he'd learned the skills.
"Sure! I'd like to change first, though," Leia answered, veering from Anakin when they arrived at her door.
"Alright," Anakin said, peeking into Ijon's room as Leia entered her own.
Leia breathed a sigh that she hadn't been caught in Padmé's office, and then hid her datapad as usual. Then she detoured to take a swift shower before she indeed got changed. Finally ready to greet the day, Leia reemerged feeling better, and she joined her father in the kitchen.
Anakin was already working at some batter for his griddle-cakes. Leia loved his griddle-cakes, and she opened the cooler unit to pull out some eggs and nerf-bacon. Anakin smiled at her as she began cracking the eggs carefully into a bowl.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Anakin asked as they went about their tasks.
"I did, thanks," Leia said honestly. However, if she was completely honest, she had stayed up a little later than intended. Despite her efforts to forget about him, she was still perplexed by the odd little Jawa they'd encountered. "Hey Dad?"
"Yes?" Anakin glanced to her before returning his attention to the hot griddle so he didn't burn breakfast.
"Did you get anything in the Force from that Jawa?" Leia wanted to know.
Anakin frowned gently as he recalled the event Leia spoke of. "I felt distrust, for sure. But then, Jawas never do truly trust others."
Leia had little personal experience with the creatures, so she could only go off of her father's more extensive knowledge. "But aren't there Jawas on other worlds?"
"Yes: they're not only on Tatooine, though that is the place that people most often associate them with."
Leia hummed in curiosity. "Are they all that jumpy?"
Anakin snorted. "Oh yes. Jawas are only comfortable in their sandcrawlers or when scavenging or selling something."
Leia pursed her lips. "Is— what was his name? Haz... Hazal— the first person to try befriending Jawas?"
"Hazael," Anakin corrected patiently, "and no, he's not. But he is the first to bring one to Coruscant, at least to my knowledge."
Leia shrugged, though something about the Jawa still tugged at her. Why had she been unable to look away from the Jawa? Was it because of the sheer oddity of seeing one on Coruscant of all planets? Or was there something more to it? Or... was she just on edge because of her search for Luke? Was Leia grasping at any and all things that came to her?
Noticing her contemplative gaze as Leia cooked the scrambled eggs, Anakin lifted a brow. "What's on your mind?"
"Hmm?" Leia blinked from her thoughts. "Oh, I don't know... it's just there was something about that Jawa is all." Leia shrugged, unable to explain.
Anakin observed her for a moment, and then spoke again. "What about him, do you think?"
Leia was quiet for a time, not knowing herself what to make of it. Finally she sighed. "I don't know: really. I just... couldn't stop looking at him."
Anakin removed the current cakes from the griddle and put new batter on, then turned to Leia as she began fluffing the eggs in the pan.
"Perhaps it was the strangeness of the situation." He suggested. "It was pretty odd to see a Jawa here."
Leia smiled somewhat. "Yeah, it sure was. Did Mom say what Hazael was here to do?"
"He is here for a business opportunity, though I don't know the details yet." Anakin flipped the cakes, and Leia began to remove her eggs from the pan onto a plate. Then she put the meat into the pan and listened as it sizzled animatedly.
Not wanting to spend her entire morning on the Jawa, Leia turned to a new line of conversation. "Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Where'd you learn to cook?"
Anakin paused as he was retrieving a stack of plates for the table, and a loving smile appeared on his face. "I learned from my mother. She taught me what she could when I was young... before I left Tatooine."
"Oh," Leia said, eyeing the stack of steaming cakes. "Are the griddle-cakes her recipe?"
Anakin nodded. "Yes; though she made them from complete scratch."
Leia smiled softly too now. "What was Grandma Shmi like?"
Anakin's smile widened. "She was the kindest person I'd ever known. She helped a trio of complete strangers when I brought them to our house. Looking back I know what a strain that placed on her, but she never complained. "
Leia thought about that. "You know, you're like her in that way sometimes."
Anakin turned to his daughter, intrigued. "How so?"
"Well, you do help people, and you tend to be selfless," Leia said honestly. "Not to mention you're considered a hero by the galaxy, but you don't flaunt it."
Anakin grimaced. "I always hated the name 'Hero With No Fear'."
Leia laughed. "You do fit the part."
Anakin scowled. "No; I just did my job."
Leia sobered, offering her heart-felt opinion next. "Well, you're my hero, Dad."
Anakin's heart melted to hear her say that, and he gathered her to him. "Thank you, Leia."
00000
Luke was woken for once not by a sudden blaring of light in his tiny living space, but by the glaring sun in his eyes through first Hazael's window, and then his own. It blinded him and Luke wished he could just go back to sleep.
It hurt too much to be awake.
His beating had left Luke immobile, and he'd not returned to consciousness until two hours before sunrise. He was so sore it hurt to move at all, and yet, he knew he would have to, so Luke tried to loosen his muscles the best he could. But his two black eyes were swollen around his goggles, which only made them feel that much tighter.
Hazael's act of throwing Luke into that pillar had caused the boy a world of hurt. Luke didn't know if he had a broken rib, but one or two of them were definitely cracked now. Every time he drew a breath his ribs ached. When he'd lifted his Jawa robes to relieve himself in his bucket, he had discovered a huge bruise where he'd connected with the pillar.
Luke's window view had come at the cost of not having an actual toilet to use. Instead he had a crude bucket Hazael had given him, and fully expected Luke to empty himself when he was let out for the day.
Luke now sat on his bed, watching Hazael as he got ready for his day for a while before the man came to Luke's door. Luke was swift to make sure his robes were in place as Hazael liked them before the door opened.
It was deeply uncomfortable to sleep in his outfit, because— as Hazael had made utterly clear— Luke was not to remove anything for any reason unless ordered to. Not even to sleep. Luke could feel an indent forming in his skin where the goggles were attached, even without the swelling from his beating. His belt was cinched too tightly, and didn't allow him to sleep in a natural position, so his hips hurt. Then there was his shoulder-piece: it was heavy and cumbersome, and it was rubbing Luke's shoulder raw, so much so that the area had begun to seep blood.
And, of course, there as Luke's constant, gnawing hunger. He had lost count of the days since his last morsel of actual food... though he was allowed to drink. But again, only when Hazael permitted it, which was only often enough to barely keep Luke alive.
"Morning worthless," Hazael said as he peered inside. "Get out here."
Luke obeyed, though his stride was stiff. As soon as he was outside, Hazael grabbed him by a shank of the robe and whirled Luke around to face his master. Luke cringed instinctively; waiting for what he thought would be a continuation of last night's punishment.
Hazael felt this through the robes and smirked happily. "You still fear me, that's smart. Let me warn you now though." Hazael leaned forward to sell his point, and Luke did his best to hold still, though all he wanted was to lean back. "If you ever pull a stunt like last night, you will never walk again, understood?"
Luke swallowed in sudden terror, knowing Hazael was good for his word. When he didn't answer swiftly enough for his master's taste, Hazael grabbed Luke around the neck; his strong hand clenching so hard that Luke heard something creak. Luke balked instantly, nodding the best he could around the hand holding him.
Hazael continued to hold Luke, however, and Luke struggled, seeing black fuzz form on the edges of his vision. Finally Hazael let him go, and Luke dropped to the floor, gasping heavily for air. But Hazael didn't give him long to recover, because seconds after Luke fell, he was wrenched back to his feet.
"Stand up, stupid boy!" Hazael barked.
Luke locked his wobbly knees, doing his best to stay on his feet, but his body was trembling, and Luke couldn't get it to stop.
"You will accompany me to my meetings in order to keep up with appearances," Hazael informed Luke, "but after we return, you will do your cleaning chores, no matter how long it takes you."
Luke could only nod, though when his gaze happened to land upon a bowl of fruit on Hazael's desk, his stomach growled particularly loudly. Luke licked his lips beneath his robes before he could help it, his base self starting to become desperate.
Hazael followed Luke's gaze and he smirked. "Are you hungry, Runt?"
Hazael was fully aware of Luke's state of being, but Luke knew that if he didn't answer, he'd be hit again. So he nodded once, looking down as his stomach twisted at the thought of food.
Hazael moved to the bowl, drawing Luke's gaze as the man picked up a piece of fruit and sniffed it, closing his eyes. Then he slowly and deliberately took a bite and chewed thoroughly, making sounds of pleasure as the juices dribbled down his chin.
He looked haughtily at Luke, who turned away, and Hazael nodded, tossing what was left of the fruit into the waste basket. "Let's go. We have places to be."
As he moved to join his master, Luke's gaze unwillingly went to the trash, where he could see the top edge of the discarded fruit. Luke's stomach gave a particularly harsh twist, and he clasped at his torso with shaking hands.
Just before they got to the door, though, Hazael produced the first of Luke's serum shots, and Luke knew what he was expected to do. With quivering fingers, Luke opened his robe for Hazael, and the man administered the serum as always.
Luke felt the pain as usual, but he did his best to ignore it, replacing his robe and letting his hands fall back to his sides.
Hazael saw his quivering form and scowled darkly. "For stars sake, boy, get yourself under control! Stop shaking!"
Luke took several deep breaths and strove to do as ordered, and to his relief the trembling did stop, at least enough that only he noticed it anymore.
Hazael nodded and petted Luke's head as though he were an animal. "Good boy."
Luke's already lacking self-esteem plummeted further at the action, feeling the collar on his neck more intimately now. Hazael chuckled cruelly and led the way, with Luke following obediently in his master's shadow.