Chapter XXXIV: In The End

"Answer the question, Leia."

The princess heard as if from a stranger.

This voice that spoke to her seemed somehow foreign in its hues. The man that raised her, that gave her life, knowledge, and practically the world—he had not spoken to her.

The eyes that burned onto her weren't exactly new. She had seen its yellow shade when he instructed them, and sometimes got carried away, excited when discussing the Dark Side of the Force.

Yet this was a stranger.

"Leia, repeat what you just said," Anakin demanded, still with the face and voice of the stranger. White face. Shining eyes. Evil expression.

Leia cowered, she took a step back as Anakin kept advancing towards her.

"Please," she begged, her voice low, already shaking. "Please not now—"

"Answer me!" he shouted. Leia in turn screamed.

"You said Obi-Wan," Anakin's voice also shook even as it thundered. "Why would you say that? Leia, where did you see him? Was he with the rebels at Yavin? He's the one who left you half-dead before you came to Coruscant?" he took a deep breath. "Why aren't you answering me?!"

Leia screamed and whimpered. She struggled as she felt herself being shook. Her arms burned and sored. She tried to free herself from this pain but Anakin was still standing halfway across from her. The touch of invisible hands made it all worst for the princess, who remembered as if had happened yesterday, all the times she had been helpless.

"Stop it!" Leia heard her mother's voice, resonating with greater rage, and woe. "Anakin, stop right now! You're hurting her!"

"I'll stop when she answers me!"

Leia's legs failed her. She screamed, not just for pain but for frustration. It was as if her body was no longer under her command. It was extremely painful trying to run when the Sith held her back.

"Father, you will kill me!" she cried. "Please let me go!"

"Tell me where Obi-Wan is!" his stentorian, monstrous, scary voice screamed. As his voice and words gained volume, so did his painful, invisible grip on her.

"Stop it now!" Padmé cried and ran to him. She tried to smack him at least to distract him but it was useless. He pushed her aside.

Leia felt herself being pulled, and every second, she was closer and closer to the Emperor.

By the time he had dragged her to him, she was on the floor, crying and sobbing.

He loosened his grip but didn't free her. "Now," he said, "I'll give you one more chance. Tell me at last: where is the Jedi?"

There followed a short pause that like usual felt a century old.

Leia thought herself stupid. Why didn't she answer the first time around? It would have saved her pain and tears. But just as she looked up from the ground, and to the Sith's yellow eyes, she knew.

Obedience was not in her nature. Stubbornness was.

She felt it hurt in her stomach. Felt it burn in her heart. Explode in her mind. This strange, natural, instinct to go against what was being requested from her. The rebelliousness was in her blood.

She was petrified, that fact she couldn't deny. Her father had used the Force against her, and she'll never forget it. She felt her tongue tremble and clash against her teeth as she finally could speak, the word not a full sentence, not loud or strong, but yet raging like an insurgent: "No."

Both Anakin and Padmé seemed astonished.

"What?" Anakin asked, slowly.

"You clearly heard me," Leia said, wiping tears away. "I can't—I do not wish to talk to you."

"Leia…"

"Never."

The princess sniffed like a child.

"My darling!" Padmé was obviously emotional. She looked almost proud.

"Neither to you, Mother," Leia coldly stated.

"Leia!"

"It's true!" the princess cried, rising; Anakin had finally let go of her. "Everything they say about you in the galaxy… it's true. Father, you're cruel. Evil. Beyond reason. And you, mother… you are even worse! For loving somebody like that! I wonder if that doesn't make you the worst of the pair—"

"Shut up, Leia! How can you speak to your mother like that?"

"I can't say what's clearly true, but you can choke and shake her?"

"Leia, please…" Padmé tried reaching out to her.

Leia flinched at her touch. "Don't! I can't believe I was so blind…"

"Leia, I don't know what the Jedi and the rebels said to you—"

"Father, there's not a word they could have used against you I would have ever believed! I defended you when even reason begged me not to! It is you… being in the castle with you two… You are the ones who take the blindfold from my eyes!"

Anakin and Padmé stared at each other for a moment, then at their young, damaged daughter.

"I thought that I had been hurt before," the princess said, without facing them, reaching for the door. "But this might be the ultimate low. I feel as though life has ended… but I refuse to let that happen!"

"Leia!" Anakin called, and he tried one more time. "My child, please, this is so important! Tell me, where is Kenobi?"

Leia shut her eyes tight. "Where is Han Solo?"

"I already told you."

Leia smirked, so sadly.

She stormed out.

As she exited the castle, Leia felt her legs quavering, though the scene had passed.

She found herself by the castle's gates, the guards outside looked like walls between herself and the real world.

She groaned and walked back, but found she couldn't go into the house. She tried to reach into the Force for some guidance but she was far too into the storm to think of anything. She paced around, trying again.

Don't think of them—they could only drive you to madness.

But think of him. Han… Han… Han… What happened to you?

She could still feel him, as if she tried, she might find him. Oh this type of ache, the heartbreak, was the more unbearable!

My father killed him!

I killed him…

Why did I drag him along to my doom?

Seriously, had she just let him in Tatooine… he'd still be alive. He would be in a cantina somewhere, gambling money and his life, but free from the Skywalker curse.

Oh could she ever live with this guilt?

Could she ever forget about him?

It seemed impossible when his presence was so alive, so palpable in a fantasy way…

Ow.

Leia suddenly stumped against the form of her brother.

They stared at each other.

"Are you going back?" Luke asked, softly.

She turned her back on him.

"I still can't look at you," she breathed.

"You don't have to look at me. But I don't want you to be left completely alone…"

"Isn't that what you wanted of me, though? You wanted to make me forget about all the people around me, you wanted me to live without love."

"Without attachment. Without the passionate love that only fogs our judgment. The Jedi way could save you, Leia."

"Maybe all religion will destroy us, Luke. The Sith way… has not helped me in the real world."

"No, my dear sister," Luke smiled. "But why not give the Jedi a try? Come with me, with Master Yoda and Master Kenobi—"

"Oh don't even say that name!" she cried. "I never want to hear it again."

Luke seemed lost. "And what do you want?"

Leia looked down.

"About that pilot that helped you out…"

"Helped me out?" Leia repeated, as if he had said something insulting. "He did more than that. He… I can't even begin to explain what he became to me… and to think, he's gone because of me!"

"You are not to be blamed for Father's twisted methods."

"I just want to hear it from his lips. I want Father to tell me what happened to Han and Chewbacca. They were my friends when my own family turned its back on me," she glared at him.

Luke sighed. "I will help you."

"What?"

"I will try to find how he—I mean, what happened to them."

"How he killed them?"

"Don't fall into despair just yet."

"You don't know how Father's been acting."

"I can imagine it."

"He will never confess. He'll never own up to his crimes."

"Let's try finding for ourselves then."

"What do you mean?"

"Leia, you know how he, the pilot, feels. You know his presence in the Force. Reach out. Try to find him!"

"But it is so painful! You have no idea. I almost think my own heart deceives me—because I can still feel him with me. Oh Luke no. I can't. You're just going to make me cry again… Why are you smiling?!"

"I'm sorry," he shook his head and lost his smile. "I just thought of something…"

"Give me a moment before you say anything," Anakin sighed, rubbing his forehead.

Padmé sat on their bed, she couldn't stray her eyes from him.

"What is there to say? You went too far this time, Anakin. You hurt our own daughter. After Force knows what she went through… Oh how could you! I can't believe looking at you, what you have become—"

"You have seen and known me to do worse. Oh erase that look! I only raised my voice at her and kept her from moving. No permanent damage has been made."

"You're wrong. I believe permanent is exactly the word for what you have caused."

"Leia is too passionate. When the fever passes she will come to her senses."

"Will she? I mean, you never did passed it."

"A little madness might help her. She has so much potential to be the greatest, most powerful Sith. It hurts me to know my little Princess has to go through that transition Padmé! But it will be for the best. She will be so powerful one day, no one will be able to defeat her. She needs that hate. Hate will enforce aggression. I know in the long run I made the right call."

"How is making her hate us a right call?"

"She does not hate us. She might resent us, but it the Corellian whom she will ultimately come to detest. Heartbreak turns love into hate so quickly… I know that too well."

"She is heartbroken for that man… I don't see how she will ever hate him."

"I made the choice to make her think he abandoned her. She will come to hate him."

"Anakin, she does not believe you. She knows you're trying to feed her lies—and you're only making her distrust you more."

"I got carried away, yes. But she does not cooperate," he said in despair. "Did you hear her? For all the gods! Kenobi… Obi-Wan is alive!"

"I know!"

"Could you at least pretend to not be so happy about it?" he said with burning jealousy. "How could you after what he did to us?"

"Better not make me think about what he did for me… I might end up hating you, too."

Anakin took a calming breath.

"He attacked our daughter."

"We don't know that. The Jedi that has been spotted is supposedly young."

"That only makes it worse! More dangerous. He's raising a new order. You know what that means?"

"We could lose the war, Anakin."

"How can you say that so calmly?"

"My family is being ripped apart! The last thing I give a damn about is the Jedi vs. Sith, Anakin. I worry too much about my children. And about you."

"And what about yourself? Damn it, Padmé, why don't you ever worry about yourself?" the threat of tears made his voice shook.

"Me? What do I matter?"

"You matter the world to me," he gathered her in his arms, she looked away from his strong gaze. "Everything I do… I do it thinking of you. I can't even imagine what I would do… if they hurt you."

"Ani, the only person that's hurting me… is you," she said, struggling, as if the confession pained her more than it pained him.

"I know," he said with a broken voice, after a painful pause. "But in the end, it will make sense."

"Perhaps, but Anakin, what if by then, it doesn't even matter anymore?"

He let go of her, his hands leaving her arms to rest on his face. "I can't even consider that a possibility."

He walked to the door.

"Anakin," she called. "What did you do to that man?"

"Your scared eyes tell me you believe I killed him?"

"I know you did. It must've been in a really horrifying way… if even you can't admit it to Leia."

Anakin looked back at her and smirked. So unhappily. "You misunderstand me again. I didn't kill him."

Padmé cried hard tears as she watched him go. The thing about liars is a time comes when even the closest person to them can't believe a thing they say, even when they say the truth.

Anakin walked steadily, sick of the nonsense, sick of it all.

He was the Emperor of the galaxy! He was Darth Vader!

He made decisions and the world had to adapt to them.

Leia's reaction had been unprecedented, so, perhaps, a change of plans would be better.

He entered the lowest region of the castle; the prisoner chamber, somber and grim welcomed him, couldn't possibly be worse…

He stared at the torture device he called Triple Zero, he asked him how the day had been—the results were rather pleasing.

"Captain Solo," Anakin said to the chained man on the floor; "rise."

The prisoner tilted his head slightly, he opened his bruised eyes; first he gazed upon the protocol droid, then after much hesitation, towards the Sith Lord.

"Droid, did you cut off his tongue?" the Emperor asked.

"I did not, Your Majesty. Would you like me to?"

"No. Did you impale his legs?"

"I did not, Your Majesty. Would you like me to?"

Darth Vader shook his head. He breathed hard as he approached his castle's prisoner.

"Captain Solo," he repeated, shortly out of patience. "Rise! Now! You still can do it."

Han Solo grunted as the Emperor used the Force to lift him up.

"Is…" Han Solo muttered, "Today the day?"

Vader breathed patience into himself.

"You are not yet so lucky. I made a promise to myself I would not be the one to kill you."

"That's… hard to believe, sir."

"It is Your Majesty. Rest assure, I came today only to ask some questions."

"I can hardly speak…"

"Oh you will speak."

"Why now, after all this time?"

"Trust me, not many days have passed since you came here."

"Maybe time stopped for me."

"Captain Solo, did you see the Jedi my daughter encountered?"

"Could you let me sit again?"

Anakin waved his hand, Han fell harshly to the grimy floor. He whined in pain for some moments.

"Well?"

"I… did not. We… I… I landed my ship on the planet, but Leia went to face him alone."

"Of course she did," Anakin's eyes shone with pride. "What planet?"

"Some swamp called… Dagobah, I think."

"Dagobah. How long were you in Yavin?"

"I don't know. Time stands still when you're a prisoner. Probably the only worse thing is being a slave. Wouldn't you agree?"

Anakin shook with rage, his eyes, once again, flashed yellow.

"Captain Solo," he said, almost unwillingly. "What is your relationship with my daughter?"

Han seemed to consider it for a few moments. "I'm afraid, sir—Your Majesty, I mean— that to answer that question I'll have to speak to her first."

The Emperor also waited some time to give his sentence. "Wrong answer," he said, imperatively.

"Uh?" Han was confused. "What would the right answer be?"

"None," Vader's voice was harsh. "You have no relationship whatsoever with the princess. I would advise you to begin accepting that."

Han released a long breathe of air. "I must apologize again, sir. But Leia and I already have a relationship. Granted, I can't name it, but it's most definitely there."

The man on the floor simply had to shrink in fear, as the Sith's yellow eyes came near his face. He kneeled before him, "Erasing the smug look from your face has been one of my greatest pleasures, Solo." Vader said, smiling grimly. Hate and anger pouring out of his skin. "But the smug quality lingers still in the tone of your voice… but that will change. Though it will not be today, you will meet your fate. I really want to give you all the attention you deserve. Right now I'm too busy. But I will be back, Solo. Of that you can have no doubt. Just wait…"

"Hey, Your Majesty. You take your time. I'm in no hurry."

"In the meantime," Vader said, his anger causing him to breathe loudly. "I can give you a thought to spend your time."

"Thanks, I'm all set."

"Listen," he almost lost control as he grabbed Han's collar. He let go of him and continued, "You may smile at the idea that you've done me a great favor. And my daughter."

"I doubt it's what I'm thinking about."

"Most definitely," he clenched his teeth. "Captain Solo, you've pushed my daughter over the edge. As you took her from my care, you dropped her in an endless sea of tragedy, danger and hatred. You gave her the opportunity to truly experience the Dark Side of the Force."

"There's nothing Dark about Leia," Han interrupted. "Not anymore."

Vader went on. "She will be my best apprentice. She will help me keep the galaxy in check. She will crush down the Rebellion."

"No," Han interrupted again. "Leia does not hate the rebels as you think she should. She even helped me save one of them. In return, they saved us. In some level, I'm sure she's thankful. I'm sure Leia—"

"It is Princess Leia for you," Vader said, looking disgusted. "The thought I mentioned before, Solo, is this: go every moment of every minute thinking that, she will be the one to kill you. Don't look so relieved—she'll do it!"

With that, he turned around with a swift movement, his black cape flowing black as he stalked away.

Han breathed out and let his head fall. He convinced himself he should feel some sort of relief, if his life depended on Leia, he should be safe. Yet he couldn't stop thinking about the strange shade, the odd, fiery flame that sometimes ignited in the princess's otherwise sweet brown eyes. And it was, he couldn't ignore it, scary and disturbing, because now he saw the flame come full circle. The flame took over that man's eyes, devouring and erasing any other color.

Author's Note: Way past the halfway point. Closer now to the end of this story. Many thanks to those still reading!