Imperial City

Imperial Center

18 years after the formation of the Empire

"The Senatorial Apartment Building, Your Highness," the driver droid announced courteously.

Princess Leia of Alderaan metaphorically girded her loins, tightened her grip on her datapad, and stepped outside the enclosed vehicle with her two bodyguards, a pair of gigantic twin brothers from her home planet of Alderaan, on either side of her. Grimly, the twosome waded their way through the cluster of hysterical reporters with Leia huddled between them for protection.

"Your Highness, your Highness!" came the calls from the holonet beings, mostly human, with a fine mix of Twi'leks, Togrutas, and Miralins in the mix.

"Is it true that you and Prince Luke are engaged?"

"Are you lovers?"

"What does Emperor Vader think about your relationship with the prince?"

"What do your parents, Bail and Breha Organa, think of your relationship with the prince?"

"What is Prince Luke's favorite food?"

"Does Prince Luke wear black because he likes it, or to please Emperor Vader?"

"Your Highness, please!"

Leia kept her head down and her mouth shut, though her eyes were blazing. Of all the stupid situations. Gossip columnists were the very worst. She wanted to find Cristen Chandler and pour eel flavored pudding on the woman's bright purple hair!

At last, her guards attained the door to the apartment building, and Leia thankfully stepped into the quiet of the main lobby, with its soaring marble pillars, its expensive art, and the holograms of various landscapes across the galaxy. The place was a little ostentatious for her taste, but at least it was quiet and well-guarded.

"My apologies, Princess Leia," a voice said from beside her, and Leia turned to face the major domo of the senatorial building, Cassian Rotz. He was a human male of approximately 60 standard years, and was usually impeccably dressed and imperturbable. Today, however, he looked quite frazzled.

"Yes, they are quite noisy," Leia agreed with a disdainful glance at the horde of beings now crowded against the building, their holocams pointed toward her. "I am surprised that you have not ordered these individuals to be disbursed. They are blocking the way into the building."

Rotz's skin grew slightly pale at these words, and he turned away from the windows, apparently worried that someone would read his lips, "I am sorry, your Highness, but we had orders from the Emperor himself that the journalists should be permitted to …"

"Harass me?" Leia continued, her eyes flashing. "Of course, I would expect nothing else from our Emperor."

"Your Highness, please!" Rotz moaned. "You know it is not safe …"

"I am sorry," the girl responded with contrition. "None of this is your fault. Are there any journalists in the building itself? Are my quarters clear?"

"I assure you that the building itself is secure."

"Good. I will get out of sight, then, and take a nap. Thank you."

"Thank you, your Highness."

Leia silently strode into a nearby elevator with her bodyguards behind her; both men hovered close by until she had reached the door of her room. She waited patiently for the retinal scan and the door slid open to her own quarters.

"I will let you know when I will be departing for the Senate Building tomorrow," she instructed her bodyguards, who nodded obediently.

With a soft sigh of relief, she walked through the door, shut it behind her, and strolled into the living room where she stopped mid step with one foot hanging oddly in the air.

"Mother!" she finally shrieked faintly. "Father! What are you doing here?"

Queen Breha and her consort, Bail, swept forward to envelop their only child in a tangle of loving arms and kisses.

"Dearest Leia, it is wonderful to see you," Breha exclaimed, stepping back to gaze down fondly into her daughter's beautiful face. "You look well!"

"I am well," the senator from Alderaan responded with a chuckle, "especially now that you are here. I missed you! But why are you here? How can you possibly be away from Alderaan right now? The annual flame lily festival is in two days! You never miss opening the celebration, Mother."

The monarch and her husband exchanged glances before Breha gestured to the nearby living room, "Shall we sit down, my dear? Threepio, would you mind bringing us all some Tarine tea, appropriately sweetened with honey?"

"Oh yes, Mistress Breha! It is my pleasure!"

Leia gazed wide eyed as the protocol droid, trailed by a small blue and white R2 unit, tottered off toward her kitchen before turning back to her parents, "And you brought C3PO and R2D2? You never take them away from the palace in Alderaan! What is going on?"

Bail leaned forward and stared directly into Leia's brown eyes, "Surely you must know, Leia. We saw the reporters flocking around your apartment building like Nabooian bees to a bevy of stalisti flowers."

Leia's expression shifted from puzzled to outraged in a moment.

"Are you serious? You can't be!"

Her parents exchanged glances, which only increased her indignation. She leaped to her feet and began pacing up and down the open area behind her couch, her hands clenched.

"You are serious! You actually raced here because some stupid holonet journalist caught me having a meal with Prince Luke at Dex's Diner, and then Cristen Chandler had the incredible audacity to put it on the Holonet's #1 gossip show! It is just a stupid story! Don't you see how your decision to rush here will only fuel the rumors? This is crazy!"

"Leia, sit down," Breha said commandingly. It was a tone she rarely used with her daughter but Leia found herself, somewhat to her astonishment, sitting on the couch facing her parents again.

"Drink your tea, Leia, and calm yourself," Bail suggested as C-3PO appeared with a tray of steaming cups. Amid the rather annoying chatter of the protocol droid, the three humans silently drank tea, Leia in an effort to simmer down, and her parents with deep concern about the conversation to come.

"Is it true, Leia?" Bail asked gently. "Are you and Prince Luke ... dating?"

Leia tightened her lips, rolled her eyes, sighed, and finally ground out one word, "No."

The look of relief that spread across both her parents' faces incited her to lift her chin defiantly, "Not yet, anyway."

Now both monarchs looked thoroughly alarmed.

"Not yet?" Breha inquired in little more than a whisper. "You are ... romantically attracted to the prince?"

Leia wrinkled her brow and looked out the window, through which she could see the looming black castle that was the private residence of Emperor Vader and his son, Luke.

"I am not sure," the princess responded thoughtfully. "I never have been in love before and this doesn't seem like anything I've seen in a Holonet movie or read in a romance book. It's more like a ... a connection, if that makes sense. I mean, the day we met, it was like I'd known him all my life."

She leaned back in her chair and ran a thoughtful finger down her left cheek, her eyes faraway, "He is really cute, though. I know you've seen his holo, but his eyes are so blue and he has that adorable cleft in the chin. At the last Imperial ball, the daughters of all the high officials and officers were clustering around him like steelpeckers on rotting meat. Poor Luke!"

Her parents exchanged hunted glances before Breha spoke carefully, "How did you meet the Prince, Leia?"

"Oh, he asked me to dance at the ball," she explained cheerfully. "I think mostly because I wasn't stalking him like most of the women. He is actually a pretty awful dancer but then the poor guy spent the first fourteen years of his life on Tatooine, and they aren't exactly up on the latest dance moves there. So yes, he asked me to dance and we ended up talking about famine relief for the Twi'leks on Ryloth. He really cares about them! I guess probably it's because he grew up on the Outer Rim, and his guardians, while they did their best, weren't always to provide enough food for a growing boy. He says that's why he's so short compared to the Emperor, though of course that's not it."

Breha leaned forward worriedly, "Why do you say that, Leia?"

Her precious daughter snorted most inelegantly, "Oh, come Mother, I'm not an idiot. Vader isn't Luke's biological father, of course! I know he must be some kind of sentient because he can wield the Force, but given how tall he is, it is more likely he is a Neimodian or a Falleen or some taller species. Maybe a Gungan, but probably not, because he'd have trouble fitting his ears in that crazy mask."

In spite of himself, Bail Organa let out a strangled gasp as the image of Jar Jar Binks, shoving his floppy ears into a black mask, forced itself into his reluctant mindscape.

Leia shot her father an odd look and continued loftily, "Anyway, it is obvious that Vader found out Luke was a powerful Force sensitive and grabbed him and then pretended they were actually related for dynastic reasons."

"Is that what the prince thinks?" Bail inquired hopefully, even as he cast a rather nervous glance around him.

Leia sighed in a world weary way, "If you are worried about listening devices, there aren't any. My security team sweeps several times a day. And regarding the prince, no, he doesn't. He really thinks Vader is his biological father, which is rather pathetic. He says Vader did a blood test but that means nothing since of course the Emperor could have manipulated such a thing. Luke also claims the Force confirms their relationship, but I figure if the Force is telling him something, it is because the Emperor is making the Force tell him something. The Emperor is really powerful, after all. Besides, I did take that psychiatric course a few years ago, and I can tell that Prince Luke experienced intense father hunger as a child – his aunt and uncle are really nice, apparently, but his uncle isn't interested in flying and starships and that kind of thing. So when Vader showed up on Tatooine and claimed him, Luke latched onto the cyborg like a mynock to a power cable. It is sad, but I don't blame him. I mean, I don't really get it – I'm adopted as well but you are definitely my true parents and I don't feel any real loss – but Luke is different from me. I respect that."

The Organas exchanged another distressed glance and Breha straightened her body, her face shifting into one of royal determination.

"Leia, as much as you like the prince – and I agree, he seems like a very fine young man – you cannot be involved romantically with him."

Leia glared at the queen, a ferocious scowl marring her lovely features, "That is ridiculous, Mother! Luke is an awesome man, nothing like Vader. I am not saying Luke and I will ever get romantically involved, but if we did, wouldn't it be a good thing? Luke is the heir to the Empire! He has already had a wonderful effect on the Emperor's personal habits and political views. You may not know this, but Luke was behind Vader's willingness to release all the political prisoners from Palpatine's reign. If Luke and I were, hypothetically, married ..."

There was another choking sound from her father, causing the girl to turn her puzzled gaze on the man, whose face was now as red like a blumfruit.

She frowned at Bail and shook her head, "I just don't understand! You are both reasonable people, and yet you are being ridiculous about this. It isn't Luke's fault that his so-called father is scary and kind of evil!"

The Organas exchanged one last lingering, horrified gaze and Breha gave her husband a tiny nod.

"It isn't that, Leia," Bail explained, going down on the floor on one knee near his daughter's chair. He reached out both hands to grasp hers, and looked intently into her face. "It is that ... Prince Luke and you are ... are closely related."

Of all the things Leia had imagined might emanate from her father's mouth, this was the last.

"What?" she demanded in a dazed tone. A minute passed before she could continue. "Related? Like ... like biologically?"

"Yes."

She shook her head in bewilderment, "Like we are cousins or something?"

Bail found he could not look into his daughter's eyes and dropped his gaze to focus on her elegant necklace of chryospaz, which he had given her on her 16th birthday.

"He's your ..."

She pulled one hand free and reached out to lift his chin gently upward, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"He is who, Papa?" Leia demanded urgently.

"Your twin brother," he admitted.

Another full minute passed as Leia Organa stared into the face of her beloved father.

"What?" she finally whispered.