Five
Leia waited for her father to come put her to bed. It was their nightly ritual, from the night she had left the Organas; no matter how busy he was, he always made time to tuck her in and say goodnight. She had insisted on it, throwing a fit every time he did not make time for her at the end of her day. He had seemed bewildered, but had given in.
Some days bedtime was the only time she saw him, but usually, he made arrangements to spend part of the day with her, even when he was busy. Bed time was their special time together and Leia saved up all the things which bothered her to discuss. She felt sad, remembering that she would no longer be able to see him every day.
The door opened to admit Lord Vader. Leia quietly got into bed and Vader moved to perch on her bedside table. He sat quietly. Leia had accepted early on that she would have to talk to him and make him talk.
"Mara" Leia began, halted and then continued "Mara told me that the Emperor knew what was best for all of us". It confused her, her friend's blind obedience to a man who made her work so hard.
Vader had gone still "Did you criticize him, Leia?" he asked.
Leia shook her head and her father relaxed. "Good".
"Why shouldn't I?" Leia asked, wondering what was wrong with letting her friend know how she felt.
"Would you let anyone say bad things about me?" Vader asked rhetorically. "Mara thinks of the Emperor as her father. Also she's been trained to obey him from birth". Then more urgently Vader continued "She wouldn't hesitate to tell him anything you said about him".
"But she's my friend" Leia said, struck by a vague sense of betrayal.
"Friendship doesn't matter" Vader said as he walked off.
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I hate school, Leia Vader decided, I really, really hate school. She had been there for a month already, and the thought of being there for much longer was maddening.
She did not have to socialize with other children as much as she thought she would, and she liked that. Classes were structured like her private lessons with her tutor droid, except that she had human teachers. She was only forced to interact with other children only occasionally, in the rare discussion-based classes or in the common rooms. After a few disastrous attempts, Leia had chosen not to frequent the common rooms. She did not need to, she thought with a smug smile. She had everything she needed in her room.
It was a little like the world as she knew it had ended; Leia could scarcely believe that she had once lived on her father's ship, had had lessons only when she wished, had been free to do anything she liked in her quarters. Talking to her father on the comm. didn't help; they didn't seem to have much to say to each other. The only real contact she had with her father was when she tried to reach him at night, using the Force. Sometimes she could get a vague sense of his presence, and those were the nights she slept well.
She wasn't lonely in the crowded school, but she felt very alone. People were quick to approach her but their minds always whispered of the favors she could persuade her father to for their families. The most pure intentioned of them had been cautioned that Leia Vader could either hurt them or harm them so they'd better be nice to her. Sometimes Leia wished she didn't have the minute amount of Force sense that she did. It did her no good, it was too small and it might have been nice to think that all of the kids were being welcoming because they liked her. As it was though, their mercenary nature put her off. And even worse, they were morbidly curious about her father.
A pimply faced boy named Jason had stopped her to ask "Hey. Have you seen your father choke someone to death? I think it would be way cool". She had slapped him, Leia remembered with deep satisfaction. Her satisfaction increased as she remembered that no one had dared to discipline her, the teachers too scared that she might have some of her father's power.
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Jayelle Palmer looked at her newest pupil with a smile and invited her to take a seat. Leia was so quiet that it was hard for Jayelle to remember that this was the daughter of one of the Emperor's most feared commanders. The child was polite and gave herself no airs, but she was so detached that Jayelle wondered if she had been emotionally damaged. "Hello Leia," Jayelle said "how is Jason?"
The child looked blank, as though she had forgotten who Jason was. After a moment she said "Jayson was well, last I heard. Why?"
"Well" said Jayelle, "I hadn't thought he'd recover from your attack so soon". The boy was an idiot, but upon being questioned he had maintained that he thought Leia would be pleased to hear that he was impressed by the way Lord Vader killed "scum".
Leia drew herself up in her chair. "He insulted my father" she ground out, drawing herself up, casting off her air of aloof withdrawal to radiate danger. She suddenly reminded Jayelle of a tiger cub, lovely but also dangerous.
"I have a surprise for you" Jayelle said, wondering how Leia would react as the door opened and a man walked in.
Leia turned to the door, and as Jayelle watched, the very reserved child got up, stared for a second and then threw herself into the stranger's arms. "Uncle Ben" she said happily.
Obi-Wan set Leia down and looked at her a while. "I'm glad you're well, Leia" he said.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Leia asked, and Jayelle could hear her genuine confusion at the question. "
"When I heard that Vader had taken you" Obi-Wan said " I feared the worst".
"Why" Leia asked again, now getting angry. "I was with my father."
"Because he is dark," Ben ground out. Jayelle flinched at the harshness of his tone. He's handling this all wrong, she thought.
Leia moved away from Ben, her face pale, eyes wide. Suddenly, Leia stiffened. "It not very polite to try to read minds," she snarled.
Ben laughed, and the sound seemed sad to Jayelle "You're so much like your mother" he said. Jayelle wondered about Leia's mother. She had never thought about it, but if she had, would have speculated that the woman was a courtesan who had given her child to its powerful father to raise.
Leia looked wistful for a second. "Tell me about her" she said, pleading, and Jayelle felt a strong pang of sympathy. She too had been a motherless child.
"What do you want to know?" Ben asked cruelly."How she loved your father, How he betrayed her, How she gave up everything to keep you away from him, Or how she died of a broken heart?"
Leia recoiled, and went white.
Jayelle frowned at Ben Kenobi. She had never met him before, and was doubting the Rebellion's wisdom in sending the man.
"Forgive me Leia" Ben said, modulating his tone. "I just miss her so much, and it angers me that she sacrificed her life to keep you safe and failed".
"I am safe" Leia insisted, tossing her head angrily.
"Just because you're safe now, doesn't mean you will always be, Leia" Ben said with what sounded like genuine concern. "He doesn't really love you, you know, he just plans to use you".
Leia looked crushed, and Ben struck while the iron was hot. "He kills, you know" Obi-Wan said flatly. "He uses the Force to kill people, making sure they die slowly".
Jayelle had been standing stationary, watching. The grief on Leia's face prompted her to action and she walked across the room to take the broken hearted child into her arms. "He's telling the truth, you know" she whispered, doubting the Rebellion for the first time. It seemed cruel to shatter this girl's illusions about her father. She extinguished her doubts firmly. Surely Vader intended to misuse the girl, perhaps to sacrifice her to a political marriage. Jayelle hugged the girl protectively and let Obi-Wan speak.
"I'll come back tomorrow, to find out if you'll come with me" he spoke. " I hope you will, your mother would have wanted you to".
With that he was gone, leaving Jayelle to comfort the shattered child he left behind.
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Leia walked the grey corridors in a daze.
The kids she passed in the hallway seemed to have blurred faces and she stumbled twice during the five minute walk. When she reached the safe haven of her room, Leia closed the door and sat down hard on her bed. She would be missing a class, but that seemed immaterial right now.
Her mind whirled from Obi-Wan's revelations. Her mother had run away from her father, Her father was a brutal killer, her father had lied to her about the Organa's? But surprisingly, it was not these accusations which troubled Leia most. No, the accusation which troubled her most was the one Obi-Wan had given least importance to. His voice was still ringing in her ears "He doesn't love you".
Ben had been so sure, as if stating a proven fact. If her father didn't love her, Leia decided, than her world would never be the same. She had taken for granted that he must love her, from the day he had taken her from the Organa's. He was her father.
True he'd never said he loved her, but he always gave in to her every whim. She smiled, remembering the garden he had helped her build when she had mentioned that the lack of greenery on Imperial Center was depressing. She remembered also the time he spent with her. He hadn't sent her to this school to get rid of her, unlike most of the kids here. He had sent her under duress, and after protesting. And he had promised to find a way to take her out of school, if she didn't like it.
No, she decided firmly, Obi-Wan was mistaken about that last accusation. That most important question settled, Leia sat down to contemplate the rest of Ben's charges against her father. She took deep breaths to clear her mind, as her father had told her to do before trying to figure something out. As she did this she remembered her father's voice saying "Would you listen, if someone said bad things about me?" Feeling vaguely disloyal, Leia began to list Obi-Wan's accusations.
Firstly, he said that her father killed people. Leia knew, that if she'd ever thought about it she would have realized that he did. After all, he was a soldier and that was what soldiers did. Ben said that her father was cruel while killing, and most other people said so too. Leia frowned, wondering what to think. Maybe he was a murderer.
Secondly, he said that her mother had left her father. This certainly conflicted with what she knew of her father and mother's separation. So, basically, Ben claimed that her father lied to her. He might be right, she decided finally.
ObiWan had said that her mother would have wanted her to leave with him. Leia had sensed no duplicity coming from him when he said that. He truly believed that, Leia thought, and he was probably right. Her gentle mother would never have wanted her to stay with a man who was evil. That thought in mind, she got into bed. Sleep was a long time coming.
