Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SW. Can I make it any clearer than that?

A/N: Yes, another fic from me. Joy. (sarcasm)

Part I

Luke's POV

It's either very late at night or the early morning hours, but I can't be sure which. Either way, any normal, sane person would most likely be found sleeping. I was beginning to doubt my own sanity, and I knew for a fact that I was far from normal, unless you called related to Darth Vader normal. Instead, I was sprawled on the floor of my cabin. I hadn't slept in days, but I had no desire whatsoever to face him again. He was everywhere, even in my dreams – nightmares, I corrected myself.

It had been less than a week since the duel. Less than a week since I lost everything. I had lost myself. My dreams – gone. My greatest ambition had been to become like my father in every way. Oh, the irony. I had often wished he were still alive. If only I'd known. My ideals – gone, proven to be worthless lies. My soul – gone. There was nothing more to say.

It was as if someone had flipped a switch inside of me, the one switch that triggered the self-destruct. Not someone – Vader. Vader had flipped the switch, as carelessly as one would turn on the light. Except this switch turned on the darkness. I had died on Bespin, murdered by my father's killer. No, I am your father.

Even days later, the words still sent a wave of shock through my mind. For the thousandth time, I wondered if this was nothing but a twisted creation of my own mind. Perhaps this was an ongoing nightmare, and I would wake any minute.

No, I am your father. My mind tried to deny it as it's done countless times before. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. Deep down, I knew Vader hadn't lied. I could not explain it. All I knew was that it was the truth. The truth was harsh, it stung and burned after a lifetime of sweet lies. It fills me with a dark nothingness that seems to taint me, engulfing the core of my being. I tried to force the darkness out, but my efforts were to no avail. Do or do not, there is no try. I gave up trying. As much as I fought against it, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

Leia's POV

I threw the datapad down onto the desk and decided to attempt sleep. I couldn't help Han if I died of exhaustion. I threw off my clothes and crashed onto my cot.

I am falling…again. It is some sort of dark, vertical tunnel, except there are no discernable walls. There is only an eternal darkness around me. It is beneath me, and I fall into its gaping maw. There is a patch of pure white light above me, but it rises further with each breath I take. I try to fly, to escape the abyss, but I cannot, for I have no wings. I had fallen before, but I had always had wings. Now they are gone, leaving only their skeletal white frames. So I helplessly stand by and feel myself fall into the shadows. An eternity passes, until I hit the bottom. Strange, as I feel no pain.

I open my eyes and explore my surroundings. Instead of empty space, I am now in a room, dimly lit, the light oddly reddish. It is filled with smoke of some sort. The fumes hurt my eyes. With a start, I recognize it as the Carbon-freezing chamber on Bespin. What am I doing here? That was days ago…Tears threaten to force their way out of my eyes. At the far end of the chamber stands Darth Vader, my arch-nemesis. My hatred burns white-hot, and I want nothing more than his death.

I holster my blaster – what blaster? – and stride toward the platform above that he stands on. I will have my vengeance.

"The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet." Skywalker?…Jedi? This makes no sense. I must have misheard, or else I am bordering on insanity. I cannot formulate a coherent answer. Instead, I ignite my lightsaber. What lightsaber? I look down at it. Then I realize that somehow, Luke's lightsaber has come into my possession. What next?

While I'd been thinking, Vader and I had begun to fight. I lunge at him, and he blocks me without effort. Blue clashes against red as I attack him once again. I struggle to gain the offensive, which I eventually do.

"You have learned much, Young One," He says, though I have no idea of what he is referring to. All I know is that I will give him hell if it's the last thing I do.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," I grit out. My voice sounds different than I am used to. In fact, to say so would be an understatement. It's a man's voice…Luke's. I turn to look at my body, only to realize that is it not my own. This is getting weirder by the minute…first I am back at Bespin, now I am trapped in Luke's body…and dueling Vader. Somehow I doubt that this will be a pleasant experience.

In two swift moves, Vader sends my – (his?) – saber flying out of my grip. I find myself tumbling down the stairs, and this time I do feel the effects of my rough landing. Out of nowhere, he swoops down on me like a dark bird. I roll out of his way as he lands.

"Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker. Obi-wan knew this to be true," Vader rumbles. Now that I know what is going on, it makes sense. I must be reliving Bespin through Luke's eyes…Reliving? Did this already happen? Then why am I here?

"No," I say. Whatever Vader wants, he isn't going to get it from me. I cautiously move away. Without warning, he launches himself at me. I struggle to maintain my balance but end up falling into the pit below. I frantically look around, searching for an escape, but find none. In a last-ditch effort I propel myself upward, and strangely enough, I now hang from some hoses dangling from the ceiling.

"Impressive…most impressive." Damn right it was impressive. I would show him what I'm made of. I jump down and spray the freezing steam in Vader's face, if you could call it that. I use that split second to try and figure something out. Too late…my lightsaber somehow finds its way back to my hand, and our fight resumes.

"Obi-wan has taught you well. You have controlled your fear…now release your anger." I would do so, but isn't it exactly what Vader wants? Why would he want that? Not surprisingly, Vader now has the upper hand. His blows are heavy; my knees nearly give out on impact. In spite of Vader wanting me to release my anger, I channel it into my own blows. I slash at him aggressively, driving him back. I flip over him, and attack Vader anew, this time sending him flying over the edge. He is nowhere to be seen. Panting hard, I deactivate the saber and lower myself into the pit, which leads to some sort of tunnel.

It leads to another room with a large, circular window. It is filled with machines I cannot name. Vader comes out of nowhere and we resume the duel. Machines detach themselves from their rightful places and are thrown at me. I do my best to deflect them. A large piece of machinery crashes into the window, shattering it. Before I can begin to make a move, another slams into me, and I fall through the broken window.

There is nothing to catch my fall. Is this the end? No, it isn't. Otherwise I would still be falling. I have caught onto the edge of a gantry. I haul myself up onto the gantry. Below, I can see an endless shaft. That was too close for comfort, I think. I make my way to the room from which the gantry protrudes. A rush of adrenaline floods me as Vader materializes out of nowhere.

He throws himself at me, forcing me back towards the gantry. I fight to absorb his increasingly heavy blows. He is driving be back, and I know that the gantry has an end. Unless I somehow fight him off, I will fall to my death.

Vader is simply too strong, approximately ten times more so than me. I fall to the ground, Vader's lightsaber at my throat.

"You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-wan did." I almost snort at that. Does he really expect me to give up just like that? Sure, I'm going to die, but not without a proper fight. I refrain from telling him to go to hell. Instead I right myself and viciously stab at him. I smirk as the blade nicks his shoulder.

My smile fades as he attacks anew as if nothing had happened. I am in for it now. Vader seems furious, like a feral beast. His saber is alive with motion. He slashes off an instrument complex. As it blows away, I reflexively turn my attention toward it, only for a split second, but a split second is all it takes.

Pain. All I know is intense, burning agony blossoming in my forearm, spreading through my whole arm. For a few seconds, my vision turns dim and hazy, but I can still make out the skull-like design of Vader's mask above me. I seem to have a distorted perception of time, as if each second ticks away twice as slowly as usual. I somehow find myself at the very end of the gantry. It is the only thing between me and certain death.

Vader is still there. So it's death either way. I dimly wonder which way is a better death, being cut down by my sworn enemy or dying in freefall. Vader speaks.

"There is no escape," That's kind of obvious, ain't it? I mentally spit at him.

"Don't make me destroy you," he continues, my thought unheard. "You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." I nearly snort in derision. End this destructive conflict, Vader? No offense meant, but you are the embodiment of destruction. Bring order? The Emperor has already brought your kind of order to the galaxy. Don't make me laugh…Although I am certainly not laughing. Oh Force, what have I gotten myself into? Sith, I'm going to die…

"I'll never join you," I bite out, spearing him with the meanest glare I can muster.

"If only you knew the power of the Dark Side. Obi-wan never told you what happened to your father." Never told me? Of course he never told me, I already knew. I knew the moment I saw Alderaan be destroyed. How dare he speak of him? Fiery rage rises in me.

"He told me enough! He told me you killed him." The words come out on their own accord. Wasn't Tarkin the one who ordered the shot to be fired? Either way, he did nothing to prevent Alderaan's destruction. The briefest of pauses follows, and he utters the very last combination of words I expect.

"No, I am your father." I hear only a random string of words. A moment later I register their meaning. I feel my eyes bulge and the blood drain from my face. This can't be true; this must be a long, dragged-out nightmare. Yes, a nightmare. No…it can't be. It's too painfully real.

"No…no, that's not true. That's impossible!" Tears of anger fill my eyes. I try to hold them in, failing. It can't be true. It just can't. Me, Leia Organa, Vader's spawn? No, it must be a sick, twisted creation of my own mind. This isn't real.

"Search your feelings. You know it to be true." And I do, but I find nothing but conflicted, jumbled up emotions. I scream my denial.

"Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way," He says. Luke? Son? With a start, I remember that this isn't my body. But then, is Vader my father or his? In spite of myself, I fervently hope it is the latter. But what if it isn't? Either way, I know I would choose death over joining Vader. I look down. The shaft is deeper than anything I've ever seen, save for space itself. I will die before I hit the bottom, for there is no bottom. I let go and let myself fall.

I woke up drenched in sweat and on the floor rather than on my cot, breathing hard, almost to the point of hyperventilation. My mind seemed to be fused to another. Almost fearfully, I broke the contact. What was that? I sighed in relief. As I'd thought, it was only a nightmare. Still, it had been so vivid; it could scarcely be called a dream.

A vision, maybe…It was possible, but wouldn't that make said events real? No, that was absurd, there was no way Vader could be my father. Bail Organa was. But that hadn't been my body, I remembered. Then…could it be possible that it was what had actually happened at Bespin? Then Vader was Luke's father…

Somehow, I knew it was so. I could not explain it, it just sounded right. A wave of hatred plowed into me, dragging me under. Had he known all along? Had he been faking his idolizing his nonexistent father all along? Was he an imperial spy? No, it couldn't be…Otherwise he most certainly wouldn't have fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star. Yes, the vision was true. It wasn't his fault who his father was. Hell, he had only found out days ago.

I winced in sympathy. That must have been a rude awakening… Then my sympathy was smothered by the blinding hate. That didn't make him any less Vader's offspring. I loathed them, both of them. From that moment I knew that I could finally take revenge against Vader, if only indirectly. Luke Skywalker had to die.