A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Aww thank you to my ONE reviewer! I love you! ((and no…I'm not killing her off)) And now…back to the story!
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Leia moaned softly. It was really hot, and her skin itched from the rough material she was wearing. She opened her eyes slowly.
She was lying in a bed in a sand colored building on an alien world. She sat up slowly, rubbing the back of her head. Various tapestries and other artifacts that suggested a rough way of life were hung on the walls. She looked down at herself. She was clothed in rough sand colored clothing from her head to toe, including pants. Leia couldn't ever remember a time she'd worn pants before. A thick black belt circled her midsection, but other than that, she could blend in with the walls of this colorless world.
Wha…what happened? She thought fuzzily. Then, memories came flooding back. Luke. Luke did this to me…and Father did too.
Curtains rustled behind her, and she turned around. A young woman with dark brown hair braided down her back came in. She was dressed identical to Leia, and looked about than fifty-five. She would have been quite pretty, if the environment she lived in hadn't been so harsh. Her skin was calloused and chapped, but her brown eyes were bright and alert. "Are you finally awake?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"You've been unconscious for nearly three days. We were beginning to think you'd never wake up."
"Where am I?" Leia asked.
"You're on Tatooine. You have been for three days, ever since this tall man wearing a black hood showed up with you."
The bottom of Leia's stomach dropped. "Did his eyes glint a faint red?"
The woman nodded. Leia sighed. "It was Luke."
"Luke?"
"My brother."
"Oh." The woman seemed to realize she'd touched a sore spot with Leia, and for several minutes, neither of them said anything. "I'm Beru. Beru Lars." She said finally. A man walked in. "This is my husband, Owen."
Owen Lars grunted, and looked Leia over critically. "Is this her?"
Beru nodded.
He nodded, and then said to Leia, "I guess that makes me your uncle." Without waiting for Leia to say anything, but seeing the confused look in her eye, he continued, "Anakin Skywalker was my half-brother. My father married his mother, before she was taken by the Tuskens…I hope you're used to work, because the harvest is coming up, and we need all the extra help we can get"
His abruptness started Leia. She looked down at her hands. Work? Leia had never worked a day in her life. At least, not in this way. I guess that I'd better get used to it, because I'm never going back to the Empire. Never.
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Han Solo fought the panic creeping into him as blaster fire erupted from behind him. "Chewie! Take control of the Millennium Falcon while I make the calculations to go to light speed!" He called to his Wookiee copilot.
Chewbacca snarled a response, but the Corellian didn't listen. Han was a big time smuggler for Jabba the Hutt. He'd never been caught by the Imperials, ever. Big, bad old Darth Vader and his reclusive Emperor didn't scare him. Even the Imperial Prince, Luke Skywalker, failed to send chills down his spine But there was a first time for everything, even the legendary Han Solo. An Imperial Star Destroyer was hot on his tail, and he had a hold full of smuggled spice.
He couldn't afford to be caught. Yet there was no shaking this Star Destroyer.
Han cursed under his breath as, once again, his hyperspace engines failed. The ship suddenly rocked violently, throwing Han off of his feet. Chewie growled.
"I know we're in trouble. Trust me! We're gonna get outta this!" Han yelled.
He frantically checked his logs. "Where are we anyways?" He murmured.
Chewie muttered something.
"Tatooine? There's not much there!" Han said. "Jabba's not even there right now, he's on Ryloth. We won't get any help!"
Chewbacca snarled yet again. The Wookiee thrust the controllers to the left in a 90 degree turn to the left, towards the dust colored planet. "Alright, alright!" Han sputtered, struggling back into the Captains chair. "Tatooine it is."
He checked his radar, and noticed the Star Destroyer pulling back. "That's weird." He murmured. "What are they so afraid of on this backwards little planet?"
Yet if the Imperials were afraid to go there, that was where Han Solo would go.
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From the bridge of the Star Destroyer Executor, Lord Vader snarled as the Millennium Falcon turned towards Tatooine. "Damn you, Solo!" He cursed. "Anywhere but there!"
Even though the head of Captain Han Solo would have been a rich prize to give to the Emperor, Vader was in no mood to go near Tatooine. Home to too many painful memories of his childhood, it was a barren wasteland. And now…it was the home of his daughter, Leia.
"Pull the ship away from the planet!" Vader yelled to his officer, trying to conceal the pain, and the longing from his voice.
The commander looked confused, "But sir, we're so close…"
"I said, move away!"
Vader reached out to the Force and with a single swipe of his hand, knocked the captain to the ground. He turned angrily, and left the bridge, watched by his terrified officers.
Luke Skywalker was in his sisters' room when Vader found him. The Imperial Prince was sitting on the same space where, two days ago, he'd come to warn his sister about their fathers wrath. Now, she really was as good as dead. He reached over to one of the drawers in her writing desk, where he'd so often come in to see her scribbling on some piece of paper, and took out a small book, with the words 'My Journal' written on them. He flipped through the book, stopping at Leia's last entry. It was written the night he'd been wounded.
"…I do not know how much longer I'll be able to stay here. I cannot stand how my brother and my father behave. Why do they push me so?
Luke was hurt tonight by a droid. He was training by himself. Even though he is a Sith, I love my brother, and I can't bear it to see him hurt. I tried to help him, but he pushed me away. It was only when Father intervened did he allow me to bind his wound. Why won't they allow me to bind the wounds that hurt our family?"
Luke paused after reading the entry. Then, with one quick stroke, he threw the journal against the wall, and it sank behind her desk. "Son? What are you doing here?" Vader asked when he entered.
Luke looked up at his father. "Was it worth it? Getting rid of her like that?"
"It was what she wanted. She's always wanted it. And it's better than death." Vader said. "Luke, you are a Sith. Death is not something new to you. Neither is pain. Draw on its power, let it was over you."
But for the first time in his life, Luke did not call on the dark side. He felt like half of him had been removed. Though Leia still lived, he felt he would never see her again. Without a word, he left Leia's room, sweeping past Lord Vader, and down the hall.
Lord Vader started to leave, and then stopped. He walked over to the three holodisks on Leia's desk. He slowly picked up the last one, and looked at it. The one of his and Padme's wedding. He looked at it for a second, and then set it back down, turning it off as he did so. That part of his life was over. He was Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker.
