"Why do we have to listen to the news?" Leia asked as she sat in front of Anakin, letting him do her hair. Ahsoka always seemed too busy to do it, though now Anakin was just sure she was trying to tell him his skills at doing a ponytail were severely lacking. "It's the same as everything. The Emperor is great, the Emperor is saving the world, blah, blah, blah…"

"See I trained you well, young Padawan." Anakin teased. Leia rolled her eyes and then yawned.

"Long night?"

"I slept fine."

"I guess some girl decided to stay up later than I told her to then." Anakin remarked and Leia looked back at him with a pout.

"I went to bed at a perfectly fine hour, thank you very much." She commented.

"Says the one who's yawned a dozen times."

"Oh ha, ha." She remarked.

"Head forward, unless you want a side ponytail." He remarked and she faced the hologram screen again as they listened to a new law being discussed. He wondered if he would see a glimpse of his wife, but decided it was better not to, for all he knew Leia could begin to ask questions and-

"And an attempted kidnapping was thwarted in Naboo just earlier this week. Senator Amidala's son, who is reported now to be resting comfortably at his residence-"

Anakin's gaze tore up from his concentration on Leia's hair to stare at the screen.

"Was attacked during a trip outdoors with two of his friends, who are likewise reported to be in good health."

"Dad…"

"Investigations are still commencing to discover the cause for the attempted kidnapping. Resources say that it was the Senator's son himself that managed to-"

"Dad?"

"Injuries are reported to be minor, and as mentioned previously is resting at his home with his mother who is taking a small vacation from the Senate. When asked to respond-"

"OW! DAD!"

He jumped and looked down to see Leia squirming, clawing at her hair saw that his grip had tightened to painful. He hurriedly released her hair, leaving her rubbing the back of her head in pain.

"What was that for?"

"I-I'm sorry." He stammered out and she looked at him in concern.

"Dad?"

"Why don't you go to Ahsoka to finish up your hair, okay?" He asked, trying to keep the waver out of his voice as rage and panic began to mix, chilling his blood. Leia blinked in concern, but when he offered no further explanation, she frowned and then nodded and slowly left, looking over her shoulder. The moment it shut, Anakin threw the brush at the wall, dragging a hand through his hair.

His son had nearly been kidnapped. Stolen.

By common thugs who were stupid enough to try and snatch his son!

But no one knew that Luke was his son. No one knew that.

If he had been there, it wouldn't have happened. The bastards wouldn't have gotten close to his son or daughter.

If he had been there.

But he wasn't.

He wasn't.

Whatever she had done to upset her father, it was getting on Leia's nerves.

Ever since he had nearly made her bald he had been in a bad mood, snapping at people left and right. Snapping at her.

And he never snapped at her.

Okay, well never was pushing it.

Sure he had snapped when she wandered off, but this type of snapping wasn't normal. He snapped for her form being too sloppy, snapped at her for breaking meditation to scratch an itch. Force, he was snapping at her right now for not cleaning R2 correctly.

"It's not my fault I missed a spot!" She argued as she followed after her father. "I just didn't notice it!"

"Taking care of a droid is important Leia!" He snarled and she flinched, her hands tightening into fists.

"R2 is your droid too!" She argued back. "Why are you angry with me for something that is both our responsibility?!"

"Leia Skywalker, so help me-"

"What did I DO?" Her voice rising at the end. "I haven't done anything right today in your eyes, what did I do to piss you off!"

"I don't want to talk about it!" He angrily replied and she glared.

"Why?!"

"Because it's none of your business!"

"Why!?"

"Because Leia!"

"WHY?!"

"ENOUGH LEIA! I SAID NO, AND I MEAN NO!" He yelled and containers rattled around her. He had used the Force…at her. Whether or not he had been aiming specifically at her or not, the fact he had done so…

She blinked and then her eyes narrowed angrily.

"I HATE YOU!" She screamed and he went still. She was in near tears as she spun around, storming out of the room just as Ahsoka entered.

"What was that all about?" Ahsoka asked, looking at her former master who rubbed his face vigorously. "I could hear you two shouting down the hall."

"It's…it's nothing."

"Right, and I'm a Sith Lord."

"Snips."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with that attempted kidnapping, is it?"

Silence answered and Ahsoka sighed.

"I thought so."

"Snips…"

"Anakin, Leia doesn't know why you're upset. You can't take it out on her when she doesn't know that she's not the only Skywalker child."

"I know that, and I shouldn't have…" He mumbled. "It's just…if I had been there nothing would have happened."

"Because you have an all seeing eye?" Ahsoka asked dryly and he glared at her. "You're a Jedi knight, Anakin, not a god. Unless you had been having visions of this happening, you couldn't have known."

"But I would have stopped them!" He snapped desperately.

"You could have…or the events could have remained the same, or they could have become worse." Ahsoka reminded him. "Look, I understand why you're upset…and frankly, you've earned the right to be upset, but taking it out on those who have no idea why you're upset, especially Leia, isn't fair to any of them."

Anakin looked away.

"Luke managed to free himself and is healthy and safe with his mother." Ahsoka told him. "Don't think of the what ifs. He's alive. That's better than nothing."

"I know it's just-"

Alarms suddenly began to sound and the two spun around.

"Imperials!" They heard and they were already racing out the doors. As they raced past windows, they could see Imperial fighters and a star cruiser exiting hyperspace.

"Sound the alarm for evacuation, get the fighters out to lay some cover fire for the others!"

"Got it!"

"R2, you're with me!" Anakin yelled out and the droid beeped loudly as he rolled to Anakin's fighter.
"Anakin! May the Force be with you!" Ahsoka called out and he nodded as he powered up his ship.

"Start the evacuation procedures, we'll cover them!" Anakin called out and there was a flurry of confirmations before he shot out and entered the battle. It felt almost nostalgic. Sure he had done this countless times since the war, but never from defending their base or trying to buy time for escaping.

"Anakin, you have two on your tail!"

"I hear you Snips." Anakin called out and pulled the yoke back and his fighter shot upwards spinning in circles before darting back down, firing on the troopers. Both ships exploded and he grinned, noticing incoming fighters. He grinned as he flew away, avoiding shots aimed at him. Ahsoka however didn't see what was so fun about this. In fact, Ahsoka cursed as she avoided more firepower.

"Ahsoka!"

"Not now, Rex! Just get the ships into the next coordinates. We'll be there in a moment to jump to the next ones and-"

"Ahsoka, no one has seen Leia on any of the ships! Leia is not-"

"WHAT?!"

But Rex's ship had already entered hyperspace, too far from her. Ahsoka looked back at the base. It was sustaining heavy damage. If she was still on there-

"Anakin, Leia is not on board any evacuating ships! REPEAT! Leia is not on board any evacuating ships!" She yelled and glanced back only to see Anakin's fighter veer back towards the disabled base. "Anakin!"

"Head out! I'll be right behind you!"

"But-"

"Now Ahsoka, I'll be right behind you! They need you to take them to the next hop!"

"…Alright. Be careful."

"Aren't I always Snips?"

She held back the urge to roll her eyes and as she shot the last fighter after her went set her coordinates and the stars stretched as she entered hyperspace.

An alarm…was blaring…

She sluggishly blinked as the screaming sounds echoed in her already aching head. She sat up rubbing her temple before stumbling into a standing position. She remembered hearing the alarm, rushing out of her hiding spot as people raced around her. She however had raced towards her and her father's rooms. Even as the base shuddered with artillery fire she had grabbed a few items of hers. She had almost been out when she had remembered the holodisk of her mother and raced back using the force to grab that as the floor made a violent lurch. She scurried away, taking the stairs as the floors quivered. Then there was metal straining and screeching, her trying to get out of the stairwell, her feet landing on air…then nothing. She looked around dumbly and saw she was standing in what used to be a hallway of the floor that she had been above. The ceiling had collapsed and she had tumbled down with it. By some luck it hadn't crushed her.

Well it saved her the trouble of going to another level.

She stumbled forward, clutching her bag to her. She walked blindly around only realizing she was in the hangar. Leia coughed loudly, stumbling as another blast shook the platform as she entered it. She looked up when she heard the roar of an engine, panic building at the idea of a storm troopers getting in. But then she recognized the symbols and her shoulders slumped in relief as the cargo door opened and she saw a familiar form.

"Dad?"

"Leia, what in blazes were you thinking!?" He snapped as he jumped out of the ship. Another explosion rocked the decaying outpost. She stumbled, wincing as she landed on her hurt ankle. Anakin, noticing her pain picked her up.

"Sorry, I'll have to yell at the Imps for causing me to fall through a floor!" She snapped as he hurried back to his ship, stumbling as the floor vibrated. He cursed to himself. The one thing she got from him was sarcasm, and while it was amusing most of the times, sometimes he really, really didn't want to hear it.

Practically throwing her into the passenger seat he hurried to the controls.

"R2 get the coordinates ready for a jump!" He yelled as the engines roared to life and Leia clung to the bottom of her seat as the kick of the engine propelled them forward and out of the hangar, barely with moments to spare.

The ship shuddered as they were hit. R2 beeped in anger.

"I know! I know!" Anakin yelled as he pulled the controls back, and Leia felt her stomach turn as they began to climb and then he spun, narrowly avoiding several imperial fighters. He did several circles and Leia forced herself to not vomit. She then saw he where he was heading.

"Dad there's a cruiser!"

Anakin didn't reply.

"Dad?!"

They were so close she could almost see outer wiring.

"DAD!"

Suddenly he pulled back, with likely a few feet to spare. When she saw lights behind them, she realized the troopers behind them weren't as lucky.

"R2, hit the coordinates now!" He yelled and Leia yelped as the fighter shuddered from a hit and there was a popping sound as they entered hyperspace.

Alarms were blaring. Smoke filtered into the cockpit and electricity crackled.

This wasn't good.

Leia watched as her father continued to struggle with the controls as metal squealed and she could hear panels tearing off.

"I can't…stay in…hyper space!" Anakin hissed through gritted teeth and Leia's heart thudded into her throat as R2 squealed loudly. Suddenly the streaking lights vanished as the ship tumbled out of hyperspace spinning in dizzying circles. In the windows Leia could see a planet growing larger and larger in front of them.

"LEIA, BRACE!"

"BUT-"

"BRACE!"

She pulled her head down wrapping her arms under her legs. Everything was rattling around her, and she smelt smoke, listening to her father strain to keep control of the ship as orange frames licked the outside windshield as they entered the atmosphere. She heard an explosion behind them, deafening her momentarily. She could see Anakin speaking as explosion after explosion sounded. Whether it was to her, to R2, or something else she had no clue, and barely had any time to discuss it as the earth suddenly appeared. There was a sudden violent jolt, followed by more jolts as they bounced through the earth, and metal screamed as it was peeled away. Flames exploded around them and the last thing Leia saw before her seat was suddenly yanked backwards was her father turning to her with an expression that she had never seen on his face.

Then she lurched backwards the world vanished into the dark.

"D…Dad?" Leia murmured out as the world began to slowly reappear around her. At first she wondered if it was sunset or sunrise with the glow. But then she heard a familiar roar of a fire and the heat to come along with it. Groaning in pain she shifted weakly, lifting her head up and forcing her eyes open. She could swear her heart stopped.

All around her were debris of the fighter, fire crackled and roared as embers glowed on the ground.

"Dad?" She called out, struggling to stand, crying out when pain spasmed through her leg, radiating from her ankle. She cried out and was answered by loud beeping.

"R2?" She called out meekly and like a robotic angel, the droid rolled through the smoke. He seemed to shake in delight and relief at the sight of her. She smiled in relief.

"R2, where's Dad?" She asked as she struggled to stand, leaning heavily on her other leg. R2 beeped loudly, whining as Leia looked around.

"Dad!" She called out, limping around, panic building as no one answered her pleas. She began to grow worried, adrenaline numbing her pain.

"DAD!" Leia screamed, her voice cracking at the end as she continued surveying the destroyed ship. R2 beeped near her as tears began to slide down her face. She turned to look at him and saw he was focused on a part that looked like had once been part of a wing.

Something was moving under it.

Leia hurried forward as quickly as she could, grunting as pulled a heavy piece of metal off, ignoring the blistering pain in her hands and ankle. It didn't matter, as long as it was him!

Finally she peeled off another piece of metal, her hands slick with blood and burning in agony, and she spotted him. He was still, his breath ragged sounding, his face pale, and she could see blood dripping and slowly forming bruises forming under a layer of soot.

Alive, but barely.

"Dad! Dad! Wake up!" She cried out but Anakin only uttered a weak groan.

"DADDY!" She screamed, tears sliding down her face. R2 beeped in panic, looking around. There was no telling who or what could be coming towards the crash site. If they found any of them here, they were as good as dead. Leia looked at the unit and then around to scan the area.

It seemed deserted but she didn't know for how long.

She hurried to the final amount of debris, but the moment she pushed on a piece, the entire structure above seemed to groan and shake. She froze as she peered into where her father's lower half was covered. While thankfully it didn't seem that anything had pinned his legs completely, every piece of metal was balanced precariously on another.

If any of that fell on him…her father would be dead.

Shaking she looked around and spotted some rope that, by some miracle wasn't badly burnt. She grabbed the rope, hurriedly wrapped one end around R2. The droid beeped in question but she ignored it and rushed back to Anakin's side. She slowly worked the rope around his chest, pausing every single time the metal creaked around them, fire was surrounding them and she didn't want to be around when something blew.

"R2, when I tell you to, you move as fast as possible and make sure Dad is in the clear." She stated and the droid chirped loudly in agreement. Leia inhaled and exhaled, calming her mind.

Do or do not. There is no try.

It was something that she had always struggled with. How could she do something without trying?

But now that was all she had.

Her dad needed her to be able to do it.

Inhaling she extended herself, feeling the force around her, she slowly began to feel the metal, the force wrapping around it, almost like a blanket with each breath she took. Then slowly she began to imagine the pieces of metal lifting. Vaguely she heard metal creak, R2 beep lowly and she opened her eyes to see the metal having lifted a bit. She bit her tongue a bit. A little bit more.

"…Now…" She murmured, her brow furrowing as she pushed more energy forward and the metal began to creak louder, but was drowned out by R2 screeching and the treads on his feet digging into soft dirt as he began to drag Anakin's form out from under the plan. Leia's arms began to shake in exertion, sweat sliding down her brow as she grunted.

Her father made it look so easy.

"R2…hurry…" She pleaded and the droid responded with aggravated whines and beeps. She was partially glad she only understood the basic of his language, or she'd probably have learned words she wasn't supposed to know yet. Exhaustion was building up and she going to lose concentration if he didn't hurry. Her arms began to shake, her concentration straining until she couldn't hold it anymore. The ship parts fell with a deafening bang as she released them, collapsing into one another. She stumbled and fell forward, panting.

She was exhausted.

R2 beeped worriedly and she struggled to stand.

"Come on…we…we need to find shelter." She panted, stumbling a bit as R2 beeped tiredly. She and R2 began to drag Anakin's limp body away from the debris and into nearby trees. Finally when she believed they were far enough away, she collapsed onto the ground, crawling to her father's side.

"Daddy…" She whimpered, but he remained quiet, his breath ragged. She bit her lip, tears blurring her vision and she blinked rapidly to try and staunch them. Suddenly she heard the whining roar of an engine. She stiffened and looked up in her blurring vision to see the familiar form of a ship hovering above the wreckage and shapes ahead, walking around before heading towards her. Tracks. She had forgotten about the tracks. Her mind screamed to hide, but her body didn't listen. She could only curl up around her father in a desperate attempt to protect him as her eyes slid to a close and a hand came towards her.