Where Am I Going To?

Part Two

Chapter Fifteen

"Luke, honestly, move out of the doorway."

He was glaring at her. Literally glaring at the woman he adored. Didn't matter. She was infuriating, she wasn't listening to his plaintive pleas, and if this was the only way to protect her, he'd do it.

"Leia, please," he begged, "don't do this."

"I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." She now tried to brush past him and to the hanger bed. "I've got to protect you from-"

"No!" he cried, grabbing her by her shoulders and swinging her around to face him, surprised. "No, I've got to protect you!" His face softened slightly, and he shook his head. "You simply cannot go chasing after Black Sun," he whispered. "Anyone who's ever done that has never lived to talk about it. I'm not going to let that happen to you."

She gulped for a second, glared, and then ripped herself from him, turning to walk through the ship dock. He stared at her back, flabbergasted, and glanced at Chewie, who was standing by the small ship he'd be piloting to take her to Coruscant. He shook his head and shrugged as a multitude of fighter pilots watched the scene silently. Luke finally growled, clenching a fist. "I was the Imperial Prince, you've got to believe me!"

Leia froze and turned, stunned. Indeed, there was a collective gasp as the unmentionable was mentioned. Luke cast a contemptuous glance at the people staring before focusing back in on the girl. "If anyone's going to know about Xizor, it's going to be me. He…." He stopped. Xizor had…he was….Luke shuddered. He'd never really done anything, had he? It was strange, Luke really couldn't remember….

Sighing, Leia walked back to him, taking his hand. "I promise you, I will come back. I can handle Xizor."

"No one can handle Xizor," Luke denied. "Palpatine's only fooling himself. Why, my father-"

"You're father?" Leia blinked, surprised. Luke hadn't mentioned him in ages, hadn't called him by the name father for well over two years. Was this far more serious than she thought?"

"He tried to choke him once," Luke continued, sort of staring off into space. "He didn't finish, obviously. And Xizor would do the same if he could. If he could." He now stared at Leia hard, demandingly. "And you he could do much worse to."

Leia sighed, pushed a lock of hair from his eyes. "You need a sabbatical. Maybe you should go to Tatooine for a while, study there."

"I hate Tatooine," he shook his head. "Besides, I have business in the Core."

Now Leia's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? They'll spot you in no time!"

"I'll lie low," Luke insisted.

"Luke, don't go to the Core."

"Then don't go to Coruscant."

She opened her mouth to protest only to stop herself. He meant it passionately. Well, she wasn't about to back down, and neither was he. "I've got to go. This is important."

"And so is my thing. With any luck, we'll both be alive afterwards to see each other again."

Leia smiled weakly. "I thought you didn't believe in luck."

Obi-Wan didn't believe in luck. Luke didn't believe in luck. Simple as that. "Nope," he shook his head. "I don't."

She kissed his cheek, said goodbye, and turned around. Nor did she look back, even while Luke's eyes followed the ship for as far as he could.

…

She was….and…so….

Xizor sat staring at the hologram for a very long time. Princess Leia Organa. The last of a breed. There would be no more Alderaanian princesses. Neither would there be any other of Xizor's own line.

And in both instances it was Vader's fault. How extraordinary.

Destiny takes a hand.

She was perfect. Well educated, beautiful, smart, and obviously with enough guts to seek out the very head of Black Sun. She was supposed to be a close cohort to Skywalker. If that were the case, then how on earth did she come to be on Coruscant? Surely that annoying pest Skywalker would have warned her soundly of the dangers inherent in Black Sun. He'd known, and even used, some of them his whole life before turning Jedi. A smile tugged at the Falleen's lips momentarily. Skywalker had always been thoroughly terrified of him. And with good reason. He'd subtly threatened and surreptitiously accosted that boy from when he'd met him at the age of nine to when he'd never seen him again in person at the age of eighteen. Wasn't Skywalker's fault, really. It was all aimed at Vader, always at Vader. Of course, he hadn't been very careful about it that first time, and he'd won Vader's gloved mechanical hands wrapped around his throat because of it. He hadn't counted on their Force Bond. The child was only nine, for the Force's sake. He shouldn't have had that much power yet.

Blasted little Imperial Prince. But he wasn't anymore. And there were no more heirs to the Empire. Legally, when Palpatine was no longer useful and died, and when he finally took out that bastard Vader…..

His, all his. But he wasn't thinking about that tonight. Instead, he was dreaming of a human girl with long brown hair, and a flash in her chocolate eyes that intrigued him and called him…. No other girl in the galaxy like her existed. He loved one of a kind things, such as himself. And then there was Guri, who was well worth every single credit spent, and then some. But Leia wasn't like Guri. Leia was warm and alive and no phantom to fade in the air.

I must have her.

It wouldn't prove a challenge, of course. Nothing did. Life was dull, and so he sat on a powder keg, almost welcoming the threat of a spark. That was what his game with Vader was – a dance with death. But he would cheat, and death would lose. It was unavoidable.

She wouldn't be able to resist him once he put out his full pheromone arsenal. No woman could. He wanted an equal, a partner, if only temporary. He wanted a spark. He wanted his passions to explode, and Leia Organa was just the sort of girl who could do it.

You will be mine.

In the back of his head he heard a buzzing sound, and had he listened, he would have heard the familiar cadence of, "Skywalker, Skywalker, Skywalker." Skywalker should take number one priority. Only when his death was accomplished would Xizor most assuredly win the battle. And yet, somehow, despite every effort, that son of a bitch remained alive and well. The Empire had tried, and Xizor had sent no less than twelve assassins, all of them never to be heard from again. Dead – at the hand of that blasted Skywalker.

Could it be that this was the self same boy who, at the age of nine, had brought his father running with a mere mental word? Was Vader's pride and joy truly as powerful as claimed?
No, no, he'd rather not think about that…..

He called in Guri, who watched him with that blank look of patient indifference. She lived but to do as he wished. How utterly boring for her. But she wasn't human, it didn't matter. But he was craving a little bit of human flesh.

He ignored the buzzing in the back of his skull. He focused on Leia instead.

"Princess Leia Organa has been smuggled onto Coruscant." No news to Guri. It was her job to know these things. "Apparently, she wants to see me. We will grant her the privilege." There was a slight spasm in Guri's face, a bit of a twitch. Didn't like it, did she? Well, too bad. He didn't feel like consulting her about his love life. Besides, this was probably only temporary. Everything always was.

But then….to make it permanent didn't sound half bad at the moment, either….A bit of a change from the usual wine and dine sort of deal.

We'll have to wait and see.

"Have her smuggled in during the 1300 police shift change. You can kill or buy off whoever might see her, whichever you prefer. Naturally, a costume wouldn't hurt."

"Naturally."

He dismissed Guri to do her job, the rest was up to her. He said what he wanted, now she had to figure out a way to do it. If he'd wanted a star from the sky, it was Guri's job to figure out how to get it, and then go get it.

He turned in his chair and switched the holo back on.

Princess Leia Organa….what a surprise you're in for.

…

Luke had picked a pretty much desolate moon hosting an abandoned Rebel outpost and parked himself there, his comrades from X-Wing standing guard. From there, he ordered everything he needed, barricaded himself in his room, and got to work.

His work? Watching holo after holo after holo. Whatever had survived the Fall of the Old Republic and the Jedi Purge. Granted, that wasn't much, and much of what he did find was meaningless and trivial.

"Artoo, pause it right there!" R2D2 did just that. "Now back it up just a couple frames…there….yes…Okay, that's good, stop! There….."

Luke was sitting cross-legged on the floor, entirely breathless. Behind him, the crystal for his lightsaber was finishing forming, and in front of him was something almost more important.

His master. And his father. Both sitting there, pensive, silent, very Jedi-like. Members of the Council, though his father had never made the rank of Master.

For most of the time he sat there, staring at the much younger picture of his beloved savior in the grainy holo. His eyes still held that look of infinite patience, but not that sadness yet…..no….not that sadness.

And his father! Pensive, brooding, angered about something.

"Great fear I sense in you, great unrest. Same as your father, when brought before me, he was. A danger to the Jedi, I proclaimed, and still young Skywalker was trained. All too true…my words became…."

His father, Anakin Skywalker. The danger to the Jedi. Shouldn't he have every reason to be happy? Wasn't he in love with a beautiful woman – or so he'd always said?

Always so angry, Father?

He would find out. He'd promised himself that.

To Be Continued…

Not much to say this time, other than ENTER MY CONTEST! If I don't get one soon, I might withhold a chapter until I get at least one more. Might. It depends. That's about it, life's been busy, and it's only going to get busier. So, onward!

HermioneSkywalker: I do admit to the Finding Nemo thing. On an unrelated topic, our local pet store sells clown fish. I'd get one, but I wouldn't want it and my five year old goldfish to fight or something…..

Stephanie C: Ah, but they're not. Or are they? Or not? MUAHAHA!

East Coast Ryder: o.O? Interesting picture…..

xInuyashaxangelx: Nope, sorry, not evidence. Just something for me to tease you with. However, there is at least two little bits of something that could be proof (or not) buried in past chapters. But maybe it's not proof, and I'm just screwing with you. You'll never know.

denique: It's gonna be pretty good, if somewhat short compared to Shadows of the Empire. Sorry, I don't have time to write the novel, and I don't want them to be insanely similar.

TorontoBatFan: Ah! I've been missing your reviews Anyway, yes to just about everything, except for Tatooine, he doesn't go. Oh, and Leia. Cause they're not related. Or are they? I've got to stop this – maniacal snicker -