themugglepadme24: That is good to know! I didn't know it and made this mistake. My apologies. I'll make sure not to repeat it :)

Chapter 184

After losing the Echo Base on Hoth, the Rebels moved to Mako-Ta Space Docks to stay there temporarily. They had to be somewhere, and that was better than nothing.

Aboard Malevolence Bismarck, Laetitia was staring into the blackness of the space. It was too quiet and dark. The silence was the worst. It left her mind with everything to think about.

Everything she wanted to forget.

Luke was sitting on a bed, a droid tending to his new hand. Ahsoka was sitting by his side, making sure nothing went wrong. And Rex was receiving the data he was getting from Mon Mothma.

"Leah, we're ready to take off." Lando said over the ship's radio.

Leah raised the comlink on her arm to answer him. She decided to let Lando go, since he was only doing what he should have done. He was no match for Darth Vader. He had to protect his people. He had no choice.

Unlike Qi'ra, who willingly helped destroy an entire Base. She was a true monster.

"Good luck, Lando." She simply replied.

"When we find Jabba the Hutt or the Bounty Hunter, we'll contact you."

"And I'll meet you at the rendezvous point of Tatooine."

"Princess ... we'll find Han. I promise." Lando firmly promised over the radio.

Leah had to stop herself from crying out loud. 'Princess' ... Han was the only one who could call her that. It didn't feel like with others. Even if it was one of her oldest friends.

"Chewie, I'll be there waiting for your signal. Take care, you two. May the Force be with you." Leah said.

She was ignoring her emotions, and using lots of words for as much as she could. She had had enough of being emotional for one day.

Chewie responded with a roar in his language, which brought a smile to Leah's face. She didn't say anything and just ended the transmission. She really hoped they would be able to do something with Han's situation. She didn't want to lose him.

When she found out about what happened to Han, Leah immediately contacted Maz on Takodana. If anyone could help, it was her. She was one of her oldest friends, ones she actually liked.

Luke looked down at his hand. A metalized type of bandage had been wrapped around his wrist. The medical droid approached the patient, and made some adjustments in a tiny electronic unit. It grabbed something sharp to check the sensitivity of Luke's mechanical hand.

"Ow." Luke softly groaned as the droid pricked every finger on his 'hand'.

It looked completely different than the one Laetitia had. She had actually lost a hand. The one she chose to replace it with was ... a bit scary and droid-like. But his replacement was so good that even he could forget that it ever happened.

But how could he? Even his hand was replaced, some things could never be healed or forgotten.

Leah walked slowly to her brother. He seemed to be alright ... considering the circumstances. It was as alright one could be.

"Now, you're officially a Skywalker. Even if people doubt you, you have the mark to prove them wrong." Leah sarcastically said.

Luke smiled at Leah's effort to cheer him up. But that didn't help much. Yes, he had lost a hand ... but he had also lost something else. Something that was far more important than his hand. He was actually more upset about that than his hand.

"What?" Leah asked when she saw the look on his face.

"Dad's lightsaber ... I lost it." Luke quietly said.

He closed his eyes and looked down in shame. Leah had trusted him with one of the most important things to her. She had cherished that lightsaber since he first met her. It was the last piece of their father she had ... And he lost it.

"It's not your fault." Leah sadly smiled.

"But I could have ..."

"What? Grab the lightsaber in the air with your hand? Oh, that's right. You had no hand." Leah pointed out.

"Harsh, but thanks." Luke sarcastically snipped.

Leah just giggled as she put her hand on his shoulder. She really didn't know how to feel about that. That lightsaber had done a lot of things. It gave life and then, took it away. It was the light in the darkness, but became the darkness. Did good things and bad.

It belonged to Anakin Skywalker.

"Maybe it's for the best." She quietly muttered to herself, unaware that she had said it out loud.

"Why do you say that?" Luke asked.

Leah looked up. She didn't realize he heard her.

"I don't want you to live in our father's shadow. That lightsaber was his ... You should build your own." She said.

Luke just nodded. Whatever that meant. She was a lot different than when she left for Dagobah. What the hell had happened to her?

"How's my little nephew?" He suddenly asked to change the subject.

Now, Ahsoka and Rex both stopped what they were doing and walked to Leah. They had completely forgotten about the baby.

What great friends we are!

Leah took a deep breath and managed to put a smile on her face. Whatever state she was in, she promised herself that she would always smile for her baby. That was the least she could do ... as a mother.

"Good, I think." Leah simply said.

"That is good news." Rex smiled warmly.

"Well, you should do see a medic later. Just to be safe." Ahsoka said.

"I will ... And I will have you know that it's 'niece'." Leah corrected him.

"What?"

"It's a girl." She quietly said.

She could feel her daughter's light in the Force. And she was already masking her Force-signature. She knew how to use the Force before she was even born. That was both amazing and terrifying.

Luke, Ahsoka and Rex all smiled in happiness. They were truly happy for her. She was gonna have a girl. That was something to see.

After making sure Luke was alright, Laetitia went to find Qi'ra. She needed to ... talk to her.

She didn't know what to do with her. She wanted to use all her hatred and snap her neck to get it over with. It was justified considering what she had done. She let the Empire and Darth Vader know the location of the secret Rebel Base. She killed a lot of people.

But what was she supposed to do? Could she really kill Han's girlfriend? Yes, he was angry at her for betraying her for the 100th time ... but he still loved her. Would he really forgive Leah if she killed her?

Qi'ra was sitting on the ground with cuffs around her wrists, connected to a chain to the ground. Leah definitely knew what she was doing. She didn't leave any room for even the thought of escape.

Suddenly the door opened with the sound of a hiss. A very angry Laetitia walked in. She gave the prisoner a death glare as she began walking slowly towards her. It was clear that she was struggling to what to do.

Qi'ra wanted to get away from her so bad. She was ... afraid of her. And she should have been. Laetitia Skywalker was a very dangerous powerful person to mess with, and Qi'ra just betrayed her. Besides, Leah was in a very emotional state, so that made her even more scary and unpredictable.

Qi'ra tried to hide her fear as best as she could. She was very scared. She wanted to get out of the room, but Leah didn't even create an opportunity for her to do so.

"Laetitia ..." Qi'ra stuttered nervously.

Leah tried to calm down, but it was no use. She could feel the call of the dark side, and it was ringing very loudly. She didn't know how to resist it.

But once she heard Qi'ra say her name, she lost control of her very powerful rage and gave into it. She grabbed Qi'ra's hand and twisted it in the very opposite direction. Qi'ra screamed out in pain as she fell to the ground. The sight ... was a nasty thing to watch. It may have hurt to look at it than being the one in pain.

"I swear by the Force, if you say another word, the next thing I break will be your neck." Leah hissed in rage.

Qi'ra stiffened in pain. She knew very well mean what she said. She would be a fool to underestimate her threat. She just whimpered as she held her hand.

"How could you do this? Not to the hundreds of men, women and children that you killed. Not to me ... But to Han. How could you betray the person whose only crime is loving you?" Leah asked angrily.

She really couldn't understand how people would ever betray the people they loved, or loved them. How could they do that to them? How could Qi'ra do that to Han? How could Anakin ... do that to Padme?

"I didn't know that was gonna happen." Qi'ra quietly cried out.

"Oh, thanks! That makes everything okay!" Leah snapped sarcastically.

This time, Qi'ra gathered all her strength and bravery to stand up and look Leah in the eye. She had no right to talk to her like that. She had no choice ... She was a victim.

"You have no idea what being a part of this war can do to people." She defended herself, which caused Leah to scoff.

What the hell was she saying? Did she really say that to the Leader of the Rebellion? If she didn't know what sacrifice and war meant, no one did. Besides, she was a Jedi for 5 years. Survived everything Darth Sidious and Vader threw at her.

How dared she say that to her?!

"Don't I? I have been in this fight for as long as I can remember! Since before I was even born! So I think I have some ideas. At the very least, I know more than you!" Leah shouted at her.

"I had no choice!"

"You made that decision to sell us out, Qi'ra. Live with it."

"No, I couldn't ... I couldn't say 'no' to him."

"'Him' who?"

"Darth Vader." Qi'ra quietly said.

Leah frowned in confusion and alarm. What did Darth Vader have to do with this? He had never even met Qi'ra before. How did he ...?

"He was the one who set the bounty on Han. He told Jabba to do it. He wanted to get him away from you. He found me a while ago. He tortured me for weeks! He said he'd only let me go if I delivered Laetitia Skywalker to him. But I didn't want Han to get hurt, so I tried to get him away from you ... But he didn't want to leave you." Qi'ra explained.

Leah exhaled deeply as she closed her eyes. She found another reason to hate her father ... How could he do that to him? To her? How was she supposed to forgive him for everything he had done? Everything he was doing?!

"I had no choice ... Do you have any idea what it's like to be tortured by that monster? I had to get away from that nightmare ... You would have done the same thing." She quietly argued.

Leah just gave her a look. She, better than anyone else, knew what it was like to be in constant pain by a Sith Lord. She learned that lesson very well in her classes with Arcann ... That's exactly why she couldn't understand Qi'ra.

Why didn't want to protect the others more than she wanted to protect herself?

Besides, Leah was more than happy to go back to Arcann, and be tortured for the rest of eternity ... If it meant she could un-know what she did. If that would stop the pain in her heart. If that would make that pain endurable.

"One may think her problems are bigger than anyone else's ... But when there is someone in front of you weeping tears because her heart has been torn out ..." Leah pointed at her heart, her voice breaking.

"... You shouldn't say you're hurt. That'd be a shameful thing to do ... even for a gold-digger like you." She quietly stated.

When Qi'ra heard that, she looked down in shame. She didn't know how to argue with that.

Done :)