The Emperor cackled his victory as he stood over the choking boy. Luke fought to stand but collapsed back to his knees as his blood thundered in his ears and darkness invaded the edges of his vision.

Suddenly, the force grip on his throat vanished and he gasped air into his aching lungs. The Emperor staggered and stared down in shock as the magenta glow of a lightsaber blade bloomed from his chest.

The old man crumpled slowly and the unwavering lightsaber sliced a path up through his chest and shoulder as he fell.

Where he had fallen stood a diminutive figure in black robes, holding the lightsaber. The hood fell back with a toss of the head, revealing a fine-boned face framed by dark braids.

"Leia…?"

"Get up, brother. Don't cower there like a rugger."

"What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life, it seems." She switched off her lightsaber and tucked it into her robes.

"I had hoped you would handle the old geezer yourself, but you couldn't kill him without offering him mercy first. You forgot that Palpatine has no concept of mercy."

"You killed him!"

"Yes, I killed him. Try to keep up."

Luke scrambled to his feet, snatching up his fallen lightsaber and igniting it in a guard position.

Leia gave the glowing blade a scornful look. "You didn't kill our father. You didn't even kill Palpatine. You won't kill your own sister, now.

They stared at each other for several endless heartbeats and then Luke lowered his lightsaber and extinguished the blade. "No. I won't."

"Of course not." Leia agreed. "Because you're the light twin."

"The light twin? What does that make you?"

Leis smiled. "Empress."

"Like him?" Luke gestured toward the fallen body of Emperor Palpatine.

"No," She said disdainfully. "Palpatine was weak, and so he resorted to fear to control his empire. But fear is a brittle thing and it shatters in the wielder's hand. I won't repeat my master's mistakes. My subjects will adore me. I will be the glorious Empress who delivered them from the iron hand of Palpatine and no one will dare to stand against me."

"Your master?"

"The old fool thought he could control me. He was dead from the day he took me as his apprentice. He just didn't know it until now."

"This was always your plan," Luke said in dawning horror. "To make yourself empress."

"Now you're starting to catch on." Leia smiled at him. "You could join me, brother. Think of the good that you could do as my co-emperor. You could temper my rule with your mercy. You want balance in the force? This is it. You and me, ruling side by side. Together, we could usher in an age of order and peace unlike anything the galaxy has ever seen."

With apologies to Princess General Leia Organa, who never did anything to deserve the slander I've committed upon her here.