Leia was somewhere between wakefulness and sleep when she heard footsteps. It wasn't unusual to hear the soft pitter-patter of feet outside of her cell, but these ones, she could tell for some reason, were different. More than one and moving fast. Voices drifted through the air. Muffled at first, but slowly becoming more and more audible.

"Wait, what are you—"

The footsteps stopped, but the voices didn't as she cracked open an eye, shoving the tiredness as well as the bleariness away as she oriented herself. There were people congregated outside of her cell door, and they were not interested in allowing her to have her beauty sleep.

"We can't—" Leia couldn't make out the rest of what was said, but she recognized that voice. "—she's a Sith. They're not exactly known for being—"

She pushed herself up on her elbows, the thin white covers that did almost nothing to keep her warm falling off of her as she stared at the door— willing them to leave. She knew why they were there and while she had known that this moment would come, she wanted nothing more than for them to walk away and leave her be.

"You can't shut everyone out," came Luke's voice from the recesses of her mind. "Talk to them. Tell them what's going on."

"Easier said than done," she replied as she listened to Padmè's voice. She couldn't make out what the other woman was saying through the door, but it was enough to bring her some semblance of comfort. No matter how small it was.

"I don't think you really have much of a choice at this point," Luke reminded her. "You knew they would want answers. Father especially."

"He's not my father," she ground out, the muscles in her jaw twitching.

Luke said nothing in return, knowing full well that nothing he said could convince her otherwise as the door finally opened, revealing the three individuals on the other side as Leia adjusted her eyes to the sudden light.

"You know I was trying to sleep, right?" she asked as Obi-Wan strolled into the room, Padmè close on his heels as Anakin stayed back, choosing instead to keep his distance as he peered cautiously at her from behind the entrance. "I just got shot," she said pointedly before adding; "I'm supposed to be resting."

"I apologize for waking you," said Obi-Wan. "But you see we have a few questions—"

"A few?" scoffed Anakin, jaw twitching as his eyes narrowed. He stepped forward, the light overhead illuminating his features while also casting a shadow over the room. (Vader. It was Vader's shadow). "I don't know about you, Obi-Wan. But I have then a few questions."

He said that as his gaze fixated on her, arms falling from their crossed position over his chest to rest at his side, twitching— restless.

"Anakin—" warned Padmè, but her words fell on deaf ears as Leia fisted the sheets.

Here, in the midst of the man that she hated most, the mother she had never known and another man who had given his life for her and her and her family, it all felt too far away. But that shadow, the sleek interior of the brig that reminded her all too much of the inside of an Imperial cell—

"You tried to kill me for a reason," he continued, his tone pressing as Leia bit the inside of her cheek until she swore she could taste blood. "Why?"

"I had to," she said because it was the simplest answer.

Anakin— No, Vader— scowled at her response as he stepped forward, his shadow looming even more over her as she felt herself involuntarily stiffen. "I'm done playing games," his nostrils flared. "If you really are my daughter then I want answers. Why did you try to kill me?"

She looked at Padmè and swallowed. "I had my reasons," she said, carefully before meeting his gaze once more. "I still do, if we're being honest."

Vader frowned critically at her; his face still shadowed, and his nostrils still flared. "Did you have your reasons for kidnapping my wife as well?" he said, an edge to his voice as Leia felt a twist in her gut.

When she didn't answer, he pressed on. "Well?" he asked, impatiently.

"Yes," she admitted, not without reluctance either that almost caught on her tongue. "I came back with a purpose— I didn't come here just because I felt like it," she said as she pressed her lips together. How much could she tell them? How much should she tell them? "Padmè knows. She knows why I'm here. There's something I have to stop… Someone I have to stop."

Several someone's actually, but Leia would figure that out later.

"Sidious?" asked Obi-Wan as Leia nodded.

"Typical," scoffed Anakin before looking at his former Master. "You were right, Obi-Wan. This is a Sith power play," he said before turning his gaze back on Leia, cold and accusing. "Only with time travel added to the mix."

"It isn't like that at all," Leia ground out, anger bubbling inside of her. "You have no idea why I'm here, Skywalker," she snarled. "So don't pretend like you do. You know nothing."

"Then enlighten me," he said. "Why are you trying to stop Sidious? What could you possibly gain by trying to kill him except power?"

"Because power is everything, right?" she challenged.

"To a Sith? Yes."

"I don't want power," said Leia, her voice losing some of the heat as she felt the fire inside of her that had burned bright and hot only a few moments prior begin to cool. "Power corrupts. I've seen power turn good men into ruthless monsters," she said before squarely meeting his gaze. She continued, "I've seen power ruin countless people's lives. I've seen it destroy governments and even entire planets."

"So then what is it you seek?" asked Anakin.

"Justice," she finished quietly.

Anakin looked at her strangely. Except for Padmè, who merely gave her a pitying but understanding look— one that she could not find solace in no matter how hard she tried. She looked away, biting her tongue as she felt her chest tighten.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

"Sidious took everything from me," she explained. "Everything I ever worked and fought for. Everyone I ever loved. I have to stop him at all costs. Not because I want power," she said as she met Anakin's gaze once more, "but because my brother's blood demands retribution."

As if she had slapped him, he stumbled back. His eyes were wide, and his mouth opening and closing. Then he froze— the muscles under his skin seizing, stiff, tight with tension. He touched the wall, steadied himself before directing his gaze to Padmè— uncertain, scared.

"Brother?" he asked, testing the word out for himself. "Wait a minute," he said, slowly, brows creasing. "You mentioned a brother during our fight. You said that he—" he froze, his eyes widening. "Died."

He swallowed, his other hand reaching for the wall, shoulders slumping and breath sinking. Even in the dimming light, Leia could see how pale he had become— his entire face a shade or two lighter than normal.

"Did you know about this?" he asked, turning to Padmè.

She nodded solemnly. "She told me, yes."

Anakin blinked. Once and then twice.

He looked lost as Padmè reached for him, alarmed by his shakiness as a scowl formed on Obi-Wans lips, not quite sure how to help as something twanged in Leia's chest.

He doesn't even know Luke, thought Leia. How dare he mourn him. How dare—

"What happened to him?" demanded Anakin, stepping towards her for the first time. He looked like he wanted to reach out and grab her, but Padmè's grip on his shoulder held him back. "How did he die?"

Leia stilled, every single muscle in her already strained body tightening like a chord. She could feel the world spinning around her, even though she knew her feet were on solid ground. Her vision blurred, the edges of her site turning red as Anakin took one step forward, determination gleaming in his blue eyes.

Damn him. Damn him for asking her that.

"Wait," said Obi-Wan as he darted between the two of them, his back turned to Leia as he faced Anakin down, his hands reaching to stop his former Padawan. He could feel the tension as well as Leia's need for physical distance. "Anakin, I don't think—"

"How did he die?" he sounded incredulous, as if the thought of a person he had never met dying was an impossibility— an abstract concept, but too real to Anakin to be true at the same time. He ignored Obi-Wan as he placed the entirety of his attention on Leia. There was, perhaps, some measure of pain in his eyes mixed in with the disbelief. Real, intrusive, and burning pain that Leia had, once upon a time, thought Vader incapable of.

After all, monsters didn't feel pain. They made others feel it for them.

When she didn't answer, he raised his hands. Not fighting back against Obi-Wan's grip on him, but he looked as though he was preparing to as he clenched his jaw, his eyes still glued to her.

"No," she choked, shaking her head in denial. What came after was a mumbled stream of "no, no, no," that was probably too soft for anyone else to pick up on as Leia anxiously began to roll on the balls of her feet, her head tilting upwards as she closed her eyes.

"How?" he rasped as Leia continued to shake her head.

Damn him. Damn him to hell and back. Why out of all the possible questions he could've asked her, why did he have to pick that one? "How?" he yelled.

"He died because of you!" screamed Leia, anguish seeping in and through her like a sponge as she allowed herself to sink into its embrace. Obi-Wan's head snapped toward her, his entire face contorting in shock as his grip on Anakin loosened. "I told him it was too dangerous. I told him to run as far away from you as possible! But he believed that there was still good in you, no matter what I told him! He put his trust in you!" There was rage. So much rage, but also just… Sadness. Incredible sadness that only worsened as the rage began to dissipate. "He trusted you," she managed to choke out through the tears and the snot. "He trusted you and you let him die."

In all of her life, Leia had never known such pain as this. Not even when she had watched Alderaan explode into a trillion little pieces and then eventually fade into the backdrop of space— although that had been painful enough on its own. But everything seemed to pale in comparison to the loss of Han and her brother.

It was infinite. The pain never ended.

Leia expected Luke to defend their father's actions, his voice filling her ears with talk of how everything that happened was in accordance with the will of the Force, but it never came. He remained as silent as a dead person should be.

There was a sharp intake of air— gasping. "What?"

It was Padmè, her delicate hand pressed over her mouth as she stared at Leia with wide eyes. She was pale, but not nearly as pale as Anakin was. Leia wasn't sure if it was the weight of her words or if it was just the pure emotion behind them that made Anakin look as if he was ready to keel over and pass out at any moment (probably both).

"I— no, wait—" Anakin stumbled and stuttered over his words, his breath hitching and catching on every syllable it seemed like. "I don't… I don't understand. What—"

"You let him die," Leia hissed, but in the state that she was in at that particular moment, it sounded more like a sob than anything. "You stood back and let Sidious murder him," she said as she leveled her accusation at him, her eyes never once leaving his as she added; "and I came here with every intention of killing everyone involved."

"Me?" breathed Anakin. "But, why would I—" he shook his head, anguished. "Why would I do that?" He paused before adding; "why would I let my own son die?"

Leia wished she knew why, but it was an answer that not even Vader had been able to give.