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Chapter 7

Darkness fell as Han, Leia, Luke and Pooja left the table. The meal had proceeded cordially, though with little discussion. Luke could feel the others struggling with their own thoughts. He could sense Pooja's veiled thoughts but he did not know what she hid from them. There must be plenty to hide.

"We've prepared rooms for you," Pooja announced as she led everyone back to the room overlooking the lake. "You will be staying?" Luke looked uncertainly at Han and Leia. Han's eyebrows furrowed into disapproval but Leia seemed both eager and reluctant at the same time.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Luke said. "It would be...nice to stay here." Han seemed ready to protest but Leia pulled him down to sit next to her on the plush sofa and laid a soothing hand on his arm.

"I will sleep better knowing you are here," Pooja said and she grimaced. "This is a dangerous area. Imperials hide in the lake caves and people here are still too afraid to go about their lives with any confidence."

"The queen has asked me to help with that problem," Luke told her. "I expect several enforcement officers to join us tomorrow."

"Yes, Cliaé mentioned it. I want to help too."

"I'm not sure..."

"You doubt me?" Pooja interrupted, seeming more amused than offended. "I would love to be rid of the Imperials and, I assure you, I can hold my own with a blaster. Our family has never been helpless."

The force runs strong in my family, Luke thought wryly. He had thought Yoda and Obi-Wan referred only to his father and sister but now Luke realized the strength flowing through all of his family. Han shifted uncomfortably and Pooja turned to speak to Leia.

"You look very much like your mother, though your features are slightly different. My sister bears a resemblance to you both. You are very much a Naberrie." Leia's eyes shone in the flickering light but she did not speak. "And you," Pooja addressed Luke, "I can see some of your father in you. I met him once, you know."

"No, I didn't," Luke admitted.

"He came to my – our - grandparents' home when I was very small. The Jedi Council had sent him to protect Aunt Padmé." Pooja smiled. "My mother called him Aunt Padmé's boyfriend. She, Aunt Padmé, didn't like that. They spent some time here, in this very retreat, hiding, I suppose. Your mother, like my own, always loved this place," she added. "They left rather suddenly and I remember my grandmother, I'm sorry, our Grandmother worried about Aunt Padmé very much. I have only fragmented memories of those days. And the stories my grandparents and mother told me."

Luke paced the floor again, restless with his own thoughts. Pooja's next words did not calm him.

"When they returned Aunt Padmé didn't speak of what had happened but my mother knew something had. Before the Jedi – your father ­– left for Coruscant they came back here, to this retreat, for several days. I suppose that's why she - Aunt Padmé - bought it, to remember the time she spent here with your father." Pooja paused before continuing her reminiscing, "He had lost his arm, I recall. I remember being fascinated with his mechanical arm." Leia's sharp intake of breath startled Pooja. Of course Pooja did not know that the dashing Jedi knight she remembered had become the monster both man and machine, Darth Vader.

Luke instinctively flexed his own mechanical hand. His ears buzzed with remembered lightsaber parries and the sickening burning as he had severed his own father's arm. Your hate has made you powerful...

"I'm sorry, this must be upsetting you," Pooja apologized. "Ryoo always tells me I'm not sensitive enough to the feelings of others."

"I'm fine," Leia murmured, though her anger and turmoil appeared quite visibly to anyone who looked closely. That monster...my father.

"It's just so tragic, isn't it? That Vader killed them." Luke turned sharply to face his cousin. "That is what Bail Organa told my family. Darth Vader killed your father and Aunt Padmé."

A very powerful Jedi called Darth Vader...was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He betrayed and murdered your father, Luke couldn't help but remember the words.

"Vader must have been very powerful to kill your father. Aunt Padme always spoke of him as if he were, I don't know, omnipotent or something. My mother told my father that Padmé must be in love, 'because she talks about that Jedi like he personally set the stars in the sky'. She told Papa that if she heard Padmé say 'Ani did' such and such one more time, she would shake her". Ani?

Pooja paused, absorbed with thoughts about her long lost mother and father and Luke opened his mouth to speak and closed it again. "Of course we didn't know about you," Pooja continued, not noticing Luke's indecision. "I wonder why your mother did not confide in mine. My mother talked as if they had once been very close. I suppose because their marriage broke so many rules..."

"I think we're ready for some rest now," Luke interrupted his impetuous cousin. "It has been a long day."

"Certainly, let me show you your rooms," Pooja began walking but stopped suddenly. She turned and hugged Leia as Leia stood still, astonished. "I'm thankful the Force has brought us together at last," she said before spinning on her heel and leading them down the dim corridor.

xXx

Luke sat on the bed in his quarters and waited. The soft tap did not startle him and he reached through the Force to swing the door open. Leia slipped in.

"Threepio is in my room," she informed him. "Switched off, of course."

"Artoo is here," Luke assured his sister. She had changed into comfortable clothes and she looked around the room once before dropping into the nearest chair, apparently settled for a long discussion.

"Am I invited to the party?" Luke smiled as Han walked in and sat next to Leia in the other chair.

"Did you follow me?" Leia asked.

"Are you suggesting that I don't trust you? Or that I was watching your door to make sure you didn't do anything crazy?" Han protested.

"No," Leia said.

"But you were of course," Luke added.

"Hey," Han grinned, "It's me." Leia snorted but she didn't reprimand Han. He smiled more gently and continued, "So, what's your plan, kid?" Luke sighed and leaned against the head of the bed.

"Subdue the revolt, round up the culpable Imperials, ask the provisional New Republic to send a prison ship, restore order and peace to Naboo..."

"In other words, the same as always," Leia observed with a tight smile for her brother.

"Right."

"Great," Han interjected. "And how do you suggest we find these Imperials?"

"I don't think we'll have to do much. It bothers me that this secluded place should have the most trouble with Imperials." Seeing that his friends had not followed his logic he continued, "I mean, why here? What's so special about this place, other than our mother loved it?" Recognition dawned on Han and Leia's faces. "Like I said, I doubt we'll have to do much."

"You mean you think they'll attack again," Han clarified. Luke shifted uncomfortably.

"Luke," Leia warned but he shook his head.

"It's the only way that I can see." Luke looked to Han for support. Han sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"He's right, Leia." Leia tried to protest but Han continued, "It's the easiest way. Luke'll be the bait and we'll spring the trap."

"Easy?" Leia nearly shouted before remembering they were in an unknown house. She continued slightly more subdued, "What's easy about putting yourself in danger?"

"I'm the most recognizable," Luke said, "I'm the one they think killed the Emperor." He closed his eyes, as if reliving those last terrible moments before his father destroyed Palpatine. Concern etched Leia's face and her voice softened.

"Luke, did you?" She asked hesitantly. He smiled but no happiness warmed the room.

"I couldn't, I was too...weak. Vader...Father killed him." Leia glanced at Han to see if he already knew this. Han's face remained impassive. Leia attempted to process all the information she had learned in the past few days.

"No one knows," she observed, "That Darth Vader was really Anakin Skywalker."

"Some must have known," Luke argued. "Yoda and Ben did."

"Maybe the Force told them," Leia suggested all though she did not appear to believe that herself. "My father, Bail, told the Naberries that Vader murdered our parents. I can't believe he would lie like that; that he lied to me." She shook her head, brown hair tumbling around her face like a curtain to screen her eyes and the tears once again sparkling there. "We've been told lies our entire lives, Luke."

"No, we've been protected our entire lives," Luke corrected her as kindly as he could. "I once felt as you do now but...what we perceive as lies were meant to shield us."

"I'll decide when I need to be shielded," Leia protested rebelliously, though the fire had gone from her words.

"Anyway," Han finally interrupted, having displayed far more patience than usual. "Back to the plan for getting rid of these supposed goons..."

"Right," Luke replied, "I was just getting to that." He confided his plans to his friends and listened to their input late into the night. Leia's eyes began to close involuntarily and Han stood to stretch several times when Luke finally called their meeting to a close.

"I think we better get my sister to bed," he told Han, smiling at the now sleeping princess.

"Good idea, junior." Before Luke could rise from his own bed Han had swept Leia into his arms. "If you could just get the door," Han directed and Luke laughed. He gestured, easily calling the door open and then closing it behind Han before flipping the control for the soft lights illuminating his room.

"Where are we going?" Leia whispered drowsily, leaning her head against Han's shoulder.

"I'm putting you to bed," Han answered truthfully.

"I'm not tired," she protested, waking slightly.

"Well, Luke and I are and you wouldn't want to keep us awake, would you?" Han said but Leia already appeared to be dreaming again. He gently dropped her onto her own bed, pulled a blanket over her, and brushed a kiss against her forehead before backing out of the room.

"Han?"

"Yes, your worship?"

"I love you," she murmured.

"I know," he spoke tenderly, as she turned away. Knowing she had already fallen asleep again, he closed the door softly, smiling to himself as he headed for his own quarters.