Chapter 2

by Saber Girl Leia

2/19/05

Here it is! Chapter 2! Affectionately titled "'Hate Leads to Good Fight Scenes (Part 1)'" in the immortal words of SG AmiDee P enjoy!

Love you all, reviewers! This is the best response I've ever gotten to a single chapter of any fic. In fact, I've gotten as many reviews for this chapter one as I have for all six chapters of "Baby Mine"...

Question to all readers- Do you think I should bring Mara Jade into this story at some point, or would that seem too cliché, or detract from the story for any other reason?

Disclaimer: See chapter one for full thing. In brief, George Lucas's and James Kahn's.

Again, I have used dialogue from the movie and the book. Most of the Emperor's lines.

Relyan: Thanks for the review! I am so glad that you liked the emotions- I love writing and reading emotions. They add so much depth when done well. Yeah, she probably will distract him. I mean, think about it. In the movie she distracted him and she wasn't even with him! I think he doesn't sense her -yet- because Luke is helping her to shield and she is trying to stay calm... That probably won't last long, knowing her ;). Inner battles are fun, as long as it's somebody else experiencing them... Thanks again!

Nadia Mack: Awesome- poetic! It wasn't entirely intentional right there, but I try to write a bit poetically whenever it works, so I guess it kind of was. Thanks for reviewing, and here's the next scene.

wltdnfaded: Thank you! Here's some more.

PadawanMage: Thanks for the comments :D. I like 'what if?' stories, too. There are so many possibilities... Yeah, that is a good point, she probably should have talked a little more back there. Well, I can tell you that if all goes as planned, she will be much more involved once they meet the Emperor. shiver Just reread the POV switch in the beginning. It is a bit confusing; sorry 'bout that. I think the rest will all be Leia in 1st person... or at least most of it. If not, I will try to make it clearer next time. Again, thank you very much for taking the time to comment.

Kazzy: Thanks for the review! Wow, is this really original? I've never read another fic like this, but I would assume that someone had the idea before... Yeah, the perspective is different. But that's part of why it's fun. Hopefully I can keep it up... Here's chapter two, hope you like it :).

Quenn Ame: Thank you! Chapter two is here!

Gionareth: Here's chapter two. I'm so glad you like it!

SHAWN PROVONCHA: Thanks for the review! Glad you like it!

tensixtythree: Here's your update! Sorry if it took a while- Darth Writer's Block shows no mercy. Glad you like it!

tweets: Here's the next chapter :). Don't worry, Leia is going to start talking and doing more, now that she's had some time to adjust to everything. She is most definitely not the type to sit still while Luke and Vader and the Emperor have at it. Thanks for the advice.

LVB: Thanks for the review! Sorry about any rushing; I must admit that pacing is not always my strong point. Hopefully I'll be better about that in the future. Otherwise, glad you like it!

SparrowSkywalker: Thanks for the review! Glad you like it!

Shadow131: Thanks for reviewing! Glad you like the idea. I must admit, I haven't given much thought to how things will go on the ground yet, but when you mention it...

Saber Girl AmiDaala: LOL! "I can't wait for a lightsaber duel. I sense much fear in Leia. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to a good fight scene." Love it!

Casper: Thanks! Here's more!

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We are led through a long corridor to the throne room. Stormtroopers flank us, cutting off escape in their sterile white uniforms. Their minds must be likewise blank, to serve people such as they do. Red-robed royal guards wait to lead us further in. I shiver, and so does Luke. But both of us do our best to hide it. All is silent, save for our footfalls and our father's breathing.

We are led into the room, and the doors shut, ominously silent, closing us in. In the darkness at the far end of the room, the throne turns to face us. A small shriveled man sits upon it, and cackles as we enter. He radiates power. Evil power.

I hold my head high under his gaze. Luke and I follow the light side of the Force. If we remember that, we need not fear the Emperor. Or so I tell myself.

Vader bows to the monster, and I feel potent anger grip me. As much as I hate the black creature my father has become, I hate this man more. He is the one who holds the leash. I want to kill him! Luke gives me a look that speaks volumes, though I can tell he is also battling anger and hatred which threaten to overtake his very soul.

The Emperor cackles again, and looks us up and down. "You will no longer need these," he proclaims, and the binders slide from our wrists. I want to yell back something defiant, but bide my time. Getting us chained again would be counterproductive.

"Tell me, young Skywalker," the Emperor begins after a moment, "who has been involved in your training until now?" His smile is dark, and lacks any sort of soul. Luke does not answer. "Oh, I know it was Obi-Wan Kenobi at first," he continues. "Of course, we are all familiar with the talent Obi-Wan Kenobi had, when it came to training Jedi." He gives a meaningful glance towards Vader, and I recall what Luke told me on our trek through the forest earlier.

I sense Luke tense. How dare Palpatine. I knew Kenobi only briefly, but from all I have heard he was a great man, and he taught my brother. And he is the one who brought Luke to me in the beginning, and more recently told him of our relation. I will not let the Emperor deface his memory so!

"How dare you!" I yell, making my voice fill the empty space as best I can, "You have no right to say that! He was a good man, and you are worse than slime!"

The deformed ruler laughs dryly. "You think so? Your friend has told you then? I am surprised you think so- he tortured you, did he not? Do you truly believe that he and I are any different? He is lesser, that is all." I do not understand at all, at first, until I realize that he thinks I meant Vader.

Luke speaks before I have time to retort. "Peace, Leia." I can see he is struggling, and I hold out my hand to him. He grips it tightly, and I do my best to feed him strength. He gives a little nod of thanks. I can feel him struggling against the Emperor's tainted probes.

"There was one called... Yoda. An aged Master Jed... Ah, I see by your countenance I have hit a chord, a resonant chord indeed. Yoda, then." Luke's anger crashes into me like a breaking wave. Anger at himself, for not being strong enough to keep the evil man out.

"Does he still live?" Palpatine wonders aloud.

I reach out to help Luke block the thoughts, almost unknowingly. Leia, no! comes through our bond, which is abruptly cut off. The Emperor breaks out in gales of sinister laughter.

"He lives not! Very good, young Skywalker, you almost hid this from me. But you must learn that you shall never fully be able to hide anything from me. Let this be your first lesson. For you have given me a second piece of useful information just now. And for this, I feel, the credit is not yours alone, boy. It must be shared,... young Skywalkers!" His triumphant peals of crazed laughter beat at us.

I can see Vader start, and have the minor satisfaction of knowing we have startled him. He turns and looks at me, for much longer than I am comfortable with. But I stand tall. I will not be intimidated. Not by my own father.

Suddenly it is as if thousands of needles are boring into my mind. Through the haze of pain I can only tell myself that I must resist... the Emperor is probing my mind... I must not let him in...

I resist as best I can, but I do not even know what he is looking for. Finally, the assault breaks off, and the room stops spinning in front of my eyes. But Palpatine is once again victorious. "So you are untrained!"

"And you," he says in a quieter, sickly-sweet voice to Luke, "Yoda has trained you very well."

Sudden pride plays its way over Luke. I am certain- and if I'm not right we are surely lost- that it is subconcious, not him giving in and allowing the Emperor to control him.

"Luke is strong," I interrupt, "and he is strong enough to know good from evil, as am I."

Palpatine looks down on me scornfully. But there is a slight glimpse of... something... there for a flickering moment. In his eyes. In the way he carries himself.

Fear, perhaps?

Luke stands straighter beside me. We both stare at the Emperor. I am aware of Vader just behind us, but I can't tell how he is taking any of it. A long moment passes. I think of Han and the strike force.

And suddenly I realize what we have really gotten ourselves into. This is a possible suicide mission. And whether or not we die depends, for the most part, on Vader's conscience or lack thereof. And I am very afraid that the odds are heavily weighted. A ghost of a smile brushes my features as I remember Han's voice: "Never tell me the odds." God please help him now. He is down there on the ground with a mission possibly as impossible as ours. And Luke and I aren't there to be with him.

My reverie is broken by the Emperor's grating voice. "I look forward to completing the training of you both. In time, you will call me Master."

For the first time, Luke speaks to the shriveled man. "You're gravely mistaken. You will not convert us as you did our father." I nod in affirmation.

"No, my young Jedi. You will find it is you who are mistaken... about a great many things." He walks down to us, and leers in our faces. Vader hands him Luke's lightsaber and my blaster (the blaster I turned in, that is) to the wicked creature. Looking past his arm, I can see Endor out the viewport, and think again of Han.

Palpatine spins the lightsaber hilt, crazy reflections from the slight starlight bouncing every which way. "So, you have a Jedi weapon. Much like your father's. By now you must know that your father may can never be turned from the dark side.

"But you," he spits, turning on me, "a blaster? Such a random, foolish weapon." He shakes his head in mockery, "Well, I suppose we are not all strong enough and brave enough to train." I know I am being goaded, but that needs a response, and preferably a biting one.

"Oh, and if I had carried one, what good would it have done me?" I want to add 'We were made to turn in our weapons at the door,' but don't, having heard that he can sense lies or even, as in this case, half-truths.

He grimaces at us. "It matters little. Soon one of you shall be turned to the dark side. One... or the other..." he cackles and I feel my stomach, coward that it is, turn tail and run.

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Please review! Constructive criticism is much appreciated!