Author's Note: Disclaimers may be found in the first chapter.
Sorry you guys had to wait a few days for an update. I've been really busy, and also I wanted to plan out the rest of the story before continuing. This chapter is the last before Obi-Wan and Vader "get together".
Oh, and if I have time (and I think I will), I'll post another update today. Enjoy! – Kaitie
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It had only been about five seconds since she had finished talking to Luke, but already Leia felt like she was either going to throw up or bawl.
Since neither was really an option, under the circumstances, she swallowed hard and looked around her surroundings yet again. The hangar seemed to very neatly organized and in the cleanest of conditions. There were no nooks or crannies big enough for a mouse to hide in, let alone a four-year-old. She hung on to her gremmel for dear life. She didn't want the bad man to find her, but without her gremmel's help the whitesuits would find her! Calm down, Leia, think grownup-ly.
Later she wasn't sure if it was her gremmel or herself, that thought of it. But somehow, she suddenly saw the perfect hiding place. Across the hangar, five small fighters were parked inconspicuously along one wall. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them, and they were out of view of the whitesuits, always a plus.
With the typical impulsiveness of a four-year-old, Leia dashed across the intervening space, dodging people and droids at full speed, trusting her gremmel to keep her invisible. Once she got to the fighters, she bounded up and in, huddled down in the pilot's seat and told her gremmel to go to sleep, as Ben had told her. Hopefully the gremmel would understand.
It had been about half a minute since Luke had finished talking to her. She felt Luke-in-her-head go quiet, and then her own gremmel winked out. She felt very alone and began to feel very scared. Hurry up, Ben.
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Bail Organa stood in the hangar, surrounded by his Cabinet and a few bodyguards. Not that they'll do much good against Vader, he thought glumly. The two never did get along well, and Bail hoped this wasn't a "choke-the-Viceroy" mission for Vader. But if it was, Bail was prepared – his successor was ready to take his place, and his wife Soni was ready to explain to her all about Alderaan's place in the Rebellion. Jophi, his neice, had her head on her shoulders and would make a good Viceroy.
His thoughts shifted, as he waited restlessly for Vader. He'd be landing any minute now, but would likely keep the receiving committee waiting to show them "who's the boss".
I wonder what having children would be like? he thought. Jophi was a smart, charming girl, and the closest thing to a daughter he'd ever have, since the doctors had told him and Soni that they'd never be able to have children of their own. But sometimes Bail thought about what it would be like, to have a child, a little one to raise through childhood and adolescence to adulthood…
A sudden breeze whipped by his cheeks, startling him from his thoughts. Getting drafty in here…must remember to tell the technicians to give this place a thorough cleaning. That is, if I live. He focused his thoughts firmly back on the upcoming meeting with Vader.
Vader's ship landed, wind whipping Bail's robes this way and that. He stood straight and proud, waiting for his fate.
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Vader set his ship down rather more roughly than he might have, had this been a normal day. But this had definitely not been a normal day! First, he'd had to deal with Skywalker's weak thoughts and memories – why they'd chosen now to surface, he had no idea. And now, he couldn't even track a child's Force aura! It was somewhere in this hangar, he knew, but he just could not find it!
Fuming, he threw a tool across the cockpit, enjoying the crash it made. But then he tried to control his anger, biting his lip in an attempt to keep his frustration at bay. Powerful as anger might be to a Sith Lord, if he met Organa this way, he might choke him first and answer the Emperor's displeasure later. And that was not a prospect to be braved simply for the relief of venting his anger.
He wouldn't leave without finding the child, though. Oh, no. It was his job to find and kill all Jedi and Force-sensitives. He'd stay right in this hangar and conduct his Master's business without letting the child out of the hangar. Then, when the other child arrived (with a grown Jedi, he had no doubt; perhaps the Jedi was raising a whole flock of child Padawans), he'd kill them all. Nice day's work.
Ha. Hopefully Organa would try to interfere. Then he could dispose of him at the same time and yet avoid the Emperor's wrath.
He got out of the fighter and strode toward Bail Organa and company, in a very good mood.