Luke moved silently and steadily through the forest floor, trying his best to put Mara out of his mind and concentrate on what he would say when he faced his father once more. The Imperial garrison was about two kilometers ahead and he couldn't say that he was in a particular hurry to get there. Still, the Force seemed to be tugging at him, urging him to increase his pace, so that the meeting between himself and his father could finally occur. Luke almost felt as though his whole life had been leading up to this moment.

So why does half of me want to turn tail and run in the other direction? he mused with a rueful grin. Luke hadn't allowed himself to think much on what would happen if his father refused the Light. If he thought on it too much, he knew he'd turn and fly back to Mara. Straightening his shoulders and lifting his chin in determination, Luke picked up his stride.

His father would not turn him over to the Emperor. Luke trusted in the Force.

It was because of this trust that he listened when a rush of danger thrummed through his senses. Diving to one side, he twisted and rolled, coming up in a ready stance as a body dropped from overhead, landing where he had been standing just a moment ago.

Luke's eyes widened fractionally, but he managed to keep any other sign of surprise from showing on his face as he gazed at Arica Alie. She was crouched facing him, one hand on the ground, the other hand on one of her knees. She raised one eyebrow mockingly as they stared one another down.

Arica surged upwards, the hand on her knee moving to a blaster at her hip. Just as swiftly, Luke straightened and his lightsaber was off his belt and in his hand, pointed in her direction, but remaining unlit.

"Don't," he warned.

"Or what?" she sneered. "You're going to poke me with your glowstick?"

Luke's jaw tightened at her insult, but he chose to ignore it. "I don't want to hurt you."

She snorted in derision. "As if you could, Skywalker! You really have no idea who I am, do you? All those months at Hoth, and you didn't have a clue."

"I know you must work for the Empire."

"Not just the Empire, fool. Palpatine himself. I am his Hand, an extension of his voice and the enforcer of his will," she said harshly.

Luke narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, the bond that had begun to form between them on Hoth swelling up once again, letting him inside her head where he sensed…uncertainty and pain.

"And does that make you happy?" he asked softly.

She stiffened and glared at him fiercely and he could feel her trying to push the bond away, to deny it. "It's not my place to be happy," she snapped. "It's just my duty to obey."

"I see," he said and a tiny, knowing smile flitted across his lips.

"Don't be smug, Skywalker. You know nothing about me, nothing," she ground out. He could see her struggling to regain her control. "And aren't you a little lost?"

"No, I know exactly where I'm going. Can you say the same?"

"Don't get all philosophical on me, Jedi," she said, spitting the title like a curse.

"Is that what I was doing? I hadn't noticed," he said as he cocked one eyebrow, mimicking her earlier expression. The two of them still stood ready for battle, Luke with his lightsaber aimed towards her and Arica with her hand on her blaster. "Look, can we agree that we got the drop on each other and relax? I'm starting to get a cramp."

"I never relax, Skywalker."

"Yes, I'm beginning to see that."

She sent him a withering look of hatred before suddenly straightening and holding her hands out in front of herself, again mockingly. "It's the reason I'm still alive."

Luke didn't reply as he carefully snapped his lightsaber back to his belt, still keeping a wary eye on her. They stood regarding one another for a long moment before Luke tilted his head to one side and said softly, "There's something different about you."

"You don't know me well enough to know if there's anything different about me," she scoffed.

He took a step closer to her and she tensed.

"No, there's definitely something…" he murmured. "The bond is still there, isn't it? And you still feel it, too."

He took another step closer and he could see the panic flare in her eyes, but she didn't move away. It was as though she was frozen to the spot she was standing in.

"I don't feel any bond with you. I'm doing my Master's bidding, and that's all."

Another step. He smiled at her as she tried to deny what they both sensed. Now he was only a pace away from her and he could see her hold her breath as he leaned towards her. Her alarm was suddenly blooming in his head and he easily picked up the thoughts racing through her mind. Oh, kreth, is he going to kiss me!

The thought was repellent to both of them somehow, even without considering that he was all but married to Mara, but that wasn't what Luke had in mind. He wasn't sure where the impulse came from, but he leaned forward until his cheek barely brushed against hers and then inhaled slightly. He pulled his head back just enough to gaze at her face. Arica was looking up at him with a wide-eyed expression, her confusion evident.

Luke wasn't exactly certain of what he was doing either, but he found himself faintly mesmerized by her dark brown eyes. He'd seen those eyes before, but couldn't for the life of him remember where.

"You smell like…" he said and he paused as his voice dropped to a whisper, "…home."

It was the oddest thing. Luke felt as though he'd been fighting his way through a tangled maze and suddenly he was on the verge of finding his way to the center, where he knew the answers to all his questions, ones he didn't even know he had, would be. His hand came up, starting to cup her cheek. Before he could do so, it was as though Arica snapped out of the semi-trance she was in and she stiffened in anger.

The next thing Luke knew, he was staggering back three steps, holding his nose where her elbow had abruptly smashed into it.

"Owwww!"

"You keep your hands to yourself, Jedi! And no more sniffing, if you don't mind."

That struck Luke as very funny and he couldn't help but chuckle, even as his nose was throbbing. He tenderly pushed on each side of it, before stretching his mouth open to see if she'd broken it. Nope, just gave me a good wallop.

She was looking at him in disbelief and he wondered why for a moment, then realized it was because he had laughed.

"Why does the Emperor even want you? You're insane," she said.

At the mention of her Master, Luke's mood sobered and he looked at her seriously. "He's not going to get me."

Arica smirked at him. "Yes, he will. Why do you think I'm here? To make sure that he does."

"And just how were you planning to do that? You haven't exactly captured me, you know."

Now she was the one laughing, but it was a bitter sound and that made him sad for some reason.

"You don't believe that I could take you, Skywalker? I've taken down men twice your size."

"Judge me by my size, you should not, for my ally is the Force," Luke said, his smile mysterious and serene as Master Yoda's words came to his mind.

A look of utter disgust crossed Leia's face. At the same time, she was trying to clamp down on the uncomfortable feelings his talk of 'home' had awakened in her. She could still sense him subtly trying to prod her emotions over that blasted bond, or whatever it was between the two of them.

"Is that the kind of nonsense the Jedi taught? No wonder they died out," she said, aiming the barb directly at him. She knew such harshness would hurt him, especially since they both knew exactly who was responsible for the death of most of the Jedi.

It worked. Skywalker's expression went grim and his frame tensed. More importantly, to Leia's own peace of mind, she could feel him ease back through the Force. Surprisingly, it only lasted for a moment before that cloak of serenity fell back over him again and he answered her calmly.

"The Jedi have not died out completely, Miss Alie, or I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"By the end of this, Skywalker, you will be either dead along with the Jedi or one of us," she promised coldly.

Again, he tilted his head slightly as he gazed at her with a bemused smile. "Us?" he questioned. "Do you truly count yourself as one of them? Because I can sense your longing to be free so strongly. It's as loud to me as my own heartbeat," he said, placing a hand on his chest.

Kreth! What happened to that naïve farmboy from Hoth? she wondered in dismay and irritation as she tried to hide the effect his words had on her. If Luke had never seen her for who she truly was back then, Leia was having difficulty reconciling who he had become with her memories of him. No matter. She knew what her orders were and she knew only too well what the punishment for failing to carry out those orders would be. Straightening her shoulders, Leia gave him her darkest stare.

"Enough of this. You're coming with me to the Imperial garrison."

"Very well," he said softly.

For some reason, his quiet acceptance only made her angrier. "This is not a game, Skywalker," she growled.

He looked at her with a sadness in his eyes. "I've never thought that it was," he acknowledged.

She held her hand out towards him. "Give me your lightsaber," she ordered.

He hesitated and then gave her another of those enigmatic smiles. Leia was really starting to become annoyed with those.

"You realize that would imply an awful lot of trust on my part, don't you?"

"What?" she asked, frowning at him.

"How do I know that you're not just going to kill me right here and now?"

"Because my Master wants you alive, for some reason completely beyond my comprehension, and I obey orders, Skywalker. Anyway, I could take it from you the hard way," she threatened.

"No need for that. I do trust you," Luke said, as he pulled the lightsaber from his belt and offered it to her.

Leia took it, keeping her expression carefully blank as she replied, "Then you are incredibly stupid and naïve, Jedi."

"I've been told that before." He gave her a small, only slightly mocking bow, and indicated that she should precede him with a wave of his hand. "After you."

"I don't think so, Jedi. I'm not letting you get behind me."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Have it your way, then." He turned and continued walking in the direction he'd been going before their confrontation. After only a moment's hesitation, Leia followed, her gaze slipping down only once in curiosity to the weapon in her hands. This was not the same lightsaber he'd had back on Hoth, she was certain. She wondered where he'd gotten his hands on this one.

"I made it myself," he said without looking back at her.

Her head jerked back up in irritation as she slammed her shields down forcefully. "Stay out of my head, Skywalker!"

"Sorry. It's just kind of hard to shut that connection off. It's pretty strong, don't you think?"

Sullenly, she refused to answer him and they stalked in silence the rest of the way to the garrison. Just as they were about to step into view of the soldiers there, Leia called to Luke.

"Hold it, Skywalker." He turned to face her, a question in his eyes. Leia pulled a pair of binders out of a pouch on her belt and threw them at him. "Put those on."

He opened his mouth to question her verbally, but she cut him off before he could.

"These troopers won't know who I am until I give them the proper codes. If we come waltzing out of the woods like old friends, they might blast first, ask questions later."

Luke sighed and clipped the binders on one wrist, standing patiently as she attached them to the other one since he couldn't do it himself. Leia pulled her blaster from its holster and pointed it at him, gesturing with it to tell him to move. He looked at her with an inscrutable expression for the longest time and Leia had the feeling that he wanted to say something, but he obviously decided against it as he turned to step out of the foliage towards the Imperial outpost.

They had only walked a couple of meters before they were noticed and in seconds, they were stormtroopers running towards them, weapons drawn menacingly. There was a shout for them to identify themselves and Leia called out a string of numbers and code words, telling them she was an Imperial double agent who had captured a high ranking rebel.

Luke didn't say anything as they were escorted to a landing platform for shuttles and armored walkers. Leia had to give up her blaster and Luke's lightsaber, but her own weapon was returned to her momentarily when her code words checked out.

"So this rebel scum thinks he can blow up another Death Star, does he?" the Imperial officer said as he sneered at Luke. Skywalker didn't reply. This incensed the Lieutenant and he slapped the prisoner sharply across the face.

Luke's head jerked to the side with the force of the blow, but still he didn't give any response as he turned his head back to stare at the man calmly.

"I would advise against doing that again, Lieutenant," Leia said coldly. "Lord Vader will be wanting to talk to this prisoner and he will be taken to the Emperor himself shortly."

The Lieutenant glared at her in anger and was about to retort when one of his men walked up and said, "Lord Vader's shuttle will be landing in less than five minutes, sir."

At the trooper's words, a swell of emotion suddenly blasted her from the bond with Skywalker. It was almost like back on Hoth, except that it was slightly more controlled. Still, it was unnerving. She shivered as hope, fear, anxiety, resentment and an odd sense of longing swept over her.

Before she quite realized what she was doing, Leia 'spoke' to him over the bond the way they had the day she blasted off the Home One so long ago.

Damn, Skywalker, get it under control, will you? That's annoying.

He looked at her in surprise, before a tiny grin lifted the corner of his mouth.

Sorry. The surge of emotion calmed and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

The smile on his face vanished as the lift doors at the end of the corridor opened and Lord Darth Vader strode out, heading straight for them. Luke stiffened and turned to fully face his father. Leia watched with interest as the two of them held each other's gaze while the Lieutenant explained what had happened and handed over Luke's lightsaber.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. You may go," Vader said, dismissing the man. The officer nodded before he turned and left and Leia couldn't hold back a smirk at the resentment in his expression. Vader shifted his attention to her. "Emperor's Hand. Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

"I do my Master's bidding, my Lord."

"Indeed," Vader said and she could swear she almost caught a hint of amusement in his tone. "You may wait for us aboard the shuttle."

It wasn't a suggestion, so Leia nodded, not unlike the Imperial had a moment ago, and turned to walk towards the Dark Lord's waiting shuttle. Behind her, she could hear Vader address his son.

"The Emperor has been expecting you."

"I know…Father."

Leia's eyebrows raised in amazement at Luke's boldness.

"So, you have accepted the truth."

She could easily hear the satisfaction in Vader's voice. Unfortunately, Luke's reply was lost as she moved out of earshot of their conversation. Unable to resist, Leia didn't step onto the turbolift. Instead, she lingered by the door and turned to watch father and son. She could hear the low rumble of Lord Vader's voice, but she couldn't make out his words. Luke, soft-spoken anyway, she was unable to hear at all.

Fascinated, she watched the earnest expression on Skywalker's face as he spoke to his father. She even tried to pick up a little of what he was feeling over this bond that she normally so despised, but Luke must have learned a thing or two about blocking from whomever had taught him about the Force. Luke turned his back on Vader and stepped over to the railing of the walkway, still saying something with that intense look on his face. Leia let out a tiny gasp when Vader ignited Luke's lightsaber and for a moment, she thought he was simply going to run the boy through.

Luke must have thought along similar lines, judging by the hesitant way he glanced back over his shoulder, but Vader merely seemed to be admiring the craftsmanship of the weapon. Luke turned back around and took a step closer to his father, the pleading on his face now painfully obvious, even from this distance.

Vader shook his head slightly and said something else, and Leia had never wanted to eavesdrop on a conversation more in her life. Luke's posture sagged in disappointment and he looked at Vader with such sadness that Leia felt tears pricking at her own eyes. The Dark Lord extinguished the lightsaber and gestured with one hand towards some stormtroopers at the other end of the walkway.

The troopers walked up, one on each side of the prisoner and started to escort him towards the shuttle. Before they could move, Luke spoke one last time, and Leia was shocked to see Lord Vader's reaction to whatever his son had said. The ebony helmet dropped and he didn't follow as Luke was moved down the walkway. In fact, he still stood in the same spot as Luke and the troopers stepped into the turbolift beside Leia and the doors closed.

Leia and Luke stood at the back of the turbolift, the troopers in front of them cradling their blaster rifles as they guarded their prisoner. Leia stole peek at Luke's face. He was staring down at the floor and it was the first time she'd ever seen such dejection on his countenance. This would probably be the last time she got to speak to him alone and, not wanting the grunts to overhear what she wanted to ask, Leia employed the bond again. She tried not to think about the fact that it was becoming somewhat comfortable.

Luke was shielding as best he could, but his emotions were turbulent and she could easily sense that he was upset.

What exactly was that supposed to accomplish?

He cut his eyes over at her, seeming a little taken aback that she would use the bond between them this way, before looking back down at the floor of the lift.

I'd rather not talk about it.

Leia reached out to him through the Force, her curiosity over his meeting with Vader overcoming her distaste of the connection between herself and Luke. He glanced her way again, giving her a look of extreme annoyance before closing his shields even tighter. But not quickly enough to prevent her from getting a glimmer of what he'd had in mind when talking to his father.

Shavit! You were trying to turn him, weren't you? Are you insane?

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" he shouted angrily.

The two stormtroopers spun around and aimed their rifles at him. Leia held up her hand to forestall them as Luke visibly tried to regain his control. His hands were clenched into tight fists and he turned away from her, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

Look, you had to know that it would be useless. Did you really think he was going to renounce everything and run off to live happily ever after with you? Be the daddy you never had while you were growing up?

Shut up! Why do you always have to push and push? Why can't you just shut up?

His bound hands jerked upwards to cover his face and his agitation was plain to see both physically and in the Force. Leia pushed some more anyway. The stupid boy had to be made to see if he was going to live through this, and oddly enough, she wanted him to live through this.

Face reality, Skywalker! He's a Sith and so will you be after this is all over!

He uttered an inarticulate sound of rage and faced her with a look of absolute fury.

A sudden rush of Force-energy flooded from him, pushing her backwards against the wall of the lift and knocking both stormtroopers completely off their feet. Two long strides forward and he had her pinned with his forearm at her throat. Leia knew a brief moment of real fear at the swirling jumble of emotion in his Force-sense and the absolute torment visible in his face.

"I said to shut UP!" he growled.

Fortunately, he had forgotten that while he was unarmed, she was not. Quickly, before the troopers could get up and shoot him, and before he choked her, Leia's hand found her blaster. She shifted it to stun and jammed it into his ribs. When it went off, he crumpled soundlessly to the floor.

The stormtroopers finally managed to scramble up and started towards his inert form menacingly. She could feel their embarrassment at being brushed aside and knew they were itching to take it out on someone. Skywalker was both the cause of their disgrace and conveniently unconscious.

"Stand down! He's the Emperor's prize and not to be touched!" she ordered.

They stopped in their tracks, although it was obvious they weren't happy about it. Leia could practically see the frowns of irritation through their helmets. At that moment, the lift doors opened, Vader's shuttle visible on the landing outside. The troopers grabbed Luke under the arms and half-carried, half-dragged him out onto the platform and into the shuttle. Leia followed more sedately, not deigning to give the lowly troopers any more of her attention.

Luke was dumped unceremoniously onto the floor of the shuttle. Leia settled into one of the chairs after informing the pilot that Lord Vader would be along momentarily, and stared down at Skywalker's still form. Unconscious, he once again looked like that naive young boy she had met on Hoth. Unfortunately for him, he would never have the chance to be that young boy again.

She looked up as Vader marched onto the shuttle. He stared down at his son for a moment before turning his gaze to her.

"What did you do?" his voice rumbled in anger.

Leia's lips flattened into a thin line. "Your son lost his temper, my Lord."

The Dark Lord's hulking figure stilled at her words. "He told you of our relationship?"

"Let's just say, I figured it out," Leia said with a smirk.

The Force fairly bristled between the two of them, and for the first time, Leia could see the similarities in their Force-signatures. Except where Luke's was flooded with brilliant Light - his recent fit of temper notwithstanding - his father's was suffused in Darkness.

But now there was something…

Leia's eyes narrowed as she studied the Dark Lord's presence. Where once there had been unrelenting Darkness, now there were flickers of luminosity here and there, gone almost before she could get a read on them. Interesting.

The atmosphere in the tiny space grew thick with tension as the two enemies faced off, neither of them able to truly gain an advantage over the other for fear of displeasing the Master they both served. Finally, Vader turned to walk to the cockpit and informed the pilot they were ready to depart.

He stalked back over to sit in a seat opposite the Emperor's Hand. Neither of them spoke another word for the duration of the short journey to the Death Star.