Please see the first chapter for disclaimer & other info

A/N: I was truly overwhelmed with the response to the last chapter. I had two full pages of reviews in my inbox. I was shocked, to say the least! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been reviewing, even just to let me know that you're reading it. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! Well this isn't the race scene...but I'm sure you'll all enjoy this scene too. I really need to go work on the race scene...after hearing your reviews, it needs to be whipped into shape! I don't wish to disappoint... :D

Chapter Seven: Daddy Daughter Talks

The twinge of guilt Anakin had felt before had turned into a giant boulder by this time. He had taken the afternoon off after lunchtime's antics to do some training with Luke. Neither of them had mentioned Anakin's wager nor his suspicions about what Luke and Leia had been up to on Tatooine.

It was now evening and while he wasn't willing to back down on tomorrow's adventure, he felt that now was the best time to have that talk with Leia. He gently tapped on her door.

"Go away!" came back an annoyed voice.

Anakin knocked again. "It's me."

No reply. Using the Force, he opened up his daughter's locked door. Leia was sitting on her bed, looking incredibly annoyed. "What do you want?"

"Just to talk, Princess," He sat on the corner of her bed and glanced around her room. Because Leia spent a lot of her time on Alderaan, her room hadn't changed much. The walls were painted a light pink and were adorned with many holos of her family.

There were many pictures of all four of them, pictures of Obi-Wan, of the Organas and even one of Yoda and the twins at Luke's padawan initiation. It was a room full of memories of his little girl. But looking at Leia now, Anakin felt a little sad. She wasn't his little girl anymore.

All the while, Leia had been staring at him while he was on his train of thought. "Well? Did you come here to apologise?"

Startled back into reality, Anakin glared at her daughter. True, she did have a reason to be angry with him. But that didn't make it much better that his eighteen year old daughter was berating him.

Padme often used the same trick on him. It drove him nuts. Obi-Wan's comments from what seemed like an age ago rung in his ears, "She's a politician, and they're not to be trusted".

Smirking, Anakin silently agreed with his old Master.

"No, Leia, I didn't come in here to apologise. From my point of view, I have nothing to apologise for. Your friend; Han Solo will be a sore loser come tomorrow!"

Leia rolled her eyes. "And what makes you so sure you'll beat him?"

Well if that wasn't a crush to Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker's ego, he wasn't sure what was.

"Give your old man a break, Leia! I may not have been out in the field for a while, but I'm still better than that scoundrel you brought home!"

Another eye-roll.

"Alright, Father. But you still shouldn't have treated him that way. He is my guest and while he may not be immaculately dressed or smell like a prime Coruscant citizen, he should be treated with respect. I'm not a child anymore and you need to respect my choice in…"

She paused.

"Your choice in what, Leia? Your choice in guests?"

Or scoundrels…

Leia sighed.

"Yes, Father. My choice in guests!"

Anakin stood up and walked over to the holo of himself and Padmè with the twins on the day they were born. They were so happy. Even though Anakin had nearly turned to the Dark Side, the birth of their children shone a light into their lives like no other. What he didn't anticipate at that moment in the holo was how eighteen year old daughters could cause an old Jedi such heartache.

"How did you meet him, Leia? Please tell me, I'm your father. I can help you. Are you in some sort of trouble?"

His thoughts went back to the conversation he had overheard. Looking at his daughter, he could tell she was struggling to keep up the Senator Façade she was so good at maintaining.

"You owe him money, I know that much. And Luke is in on it too. Don't think that I don't know," he accused, a little more forcefully then he would have liked.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Leia accused back at him, in the most dignified manner she could muster. Inside however, she was outraged.

At this moment, Anakin was not impressed. In fact, he was bordering on down right pissed off. His annoyance at his daughter's defiance had clouded his judgement.

"Are you having sex with Han Solo!" he suddenly blurted out, in a tone that would have had the Sith order killing themselves with their own red blades.

For a brief moment there was nothing but silence. Leia stared at her father, horrified at the words that had just come out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Anakin stared at Leia, the weight of what he had just said developing on his shoulders.

I really am an idiot…

"GET OUT!" Leia screamed at him, before he had the chance to react. For what felt like the millionth time since Anakin had arrived at the Lake Retreat, he sheepishly left the room.