Leia Skywalker
A/N: Alright, this is a completely new story, unlike the rest of my stories thus far, which have just been copied out of notebook that I wrote in years ago. That being said, this one, I think, is a lot better written. I also think that it has less weird writing.
Tbh, I'm kind of on the struggle bus with the Commander Luke story because it's been so long since I've actually written stuff for it. While I was thinking through some ideas for it, I delivered this thought baby. Maybe as I work through this one, I might get some inspiration for Commander Luke. We'll see.
I have no idea how long it takes to get places through hyperspace, but a quick google search told me that each quadrant of the galaxy takes about sixteen hours to travel through, for various reasons. Two of which are because the inner core is densely packed with stars and systems and is difficult to navigate and the second reason is because the outer rim is poorly charted and also hard to navigate for that reason. So, my hyperspace times in this piece are based off that.
All that aside, I hope you enjoy this story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or Disney
CHAPTER 1
"Okay, MD, I need you to take a sample of my blood," a young, six-year-old Princess Leia commanded the poor medical droid.
"Uh, yes, princess. Might I inquire as to why you wish for a sample?" The MD replied.
Leia looked to Artoo, who beeped a negative. She turned back to the medical droid. "No, you can't, 'cause you don't really need to know," Leia informed the droid doctor.
"Very well, Princess. This may sting a little," the MD complied and warned her before pricking her finger.
Leia gave a faint cry of "Ouch!" before demanding the droid put her sample in a vial and leaving them alone. The droid did so and shuffled out of the room. "Go get him, Artoo! Nobody can know about this," Leia gave Artoo permission to enact the second part of their plan: make sure the MD does not remember their encounter.
Artoo chortled something in response and rolled out of the room after the unfortunate medical droid, intent on giving it a short-term memory wipe. Leia turned back to Threepio.
"Okay, Threepio, what can we do with this?" Leia asked, holding the vial of her blood up to him.
"Well, Princess Leia, before we do anything, I must congratulate you on a job well done! I honestly did not believe a human of your age could pull this off but look at you now! You truly are a spectacular living being!"
"Uh, thanks, Threepio," Leia said, uncertainly. "But, now what do we do?" she asked again.
"Well, I think it is best if we wait for Artoo to return. He masterminded this operation and knows what he is doing. I wouldn't know how to run a DNA test, Princess," Threepio answered.
"Well, okay. I guess we'll wait. I shouldn't take him that long anyway," Leia slumped a little. As if on que, the doors opened and Artoo rolled back into the room. "Artoo! You're back! Awesome! Now we can find who my parents are! …or were," Leia trailed off. Artoo beeped encouragingly.
Threepio translated, "Don't worry, Princess. At least, you'll know something of your heritage." Then, he added, "That's more than I can say for myself." This did make Leia feel better.
"Thanks, Artoo, Threepio," Leia beamed at them. She then handed Artoo the vial of her blood. "Here, Artooie, work your magic!"
It took Artoo a few moments to insert the sample into the computer system, run the test, and pull up the results.
"Oh, dear! Princess!" Threepio cried out as he viewed who her biological mother was. "It seems your mother is deceased, but she was a truly magnificent person."
"Who? Show me!" Leia asked, rather impolitely for a princess.
"Very well. Artoo, if you will," Threepio requested Artoo to bring up a holo. Seconds later, a life-size hologram of Padmé Amidala popped into life in front of Leia, who gasped. "Her name was Padmé Amidala. She was elected Queen of Naboo when she was fourteen, where she served two full terms, which is the legal limit on Naboo. Her people reportedly tried to amend the Nubian Constitution so that she could remain in office, but she refused because she had a strong belief in democracy. After her terms as Queen were up, she intended to retire and had plans to start a family, but the new Queen asked her to continue to serve Naboo, this time as its Senator. She agreed to this and became one of the youngest Senators in the Senate around the time of the Clone Wars. She served as Senator until her untimely end, six years ago."
"Yes, Threepio, I know all about her! Daddy's told me so much about her," Leia informed Threepio.
"Oh, yes. Bail Organa was close friends with Padmé Amidala. There is more information on her. We can download it from the Alderaanian files onto a nondescript datapad for you, Princess, if you would like," Threepio offered.
"Yes, please. Now, could you tell me about my father?" Leia asked, knowing there would not be any Imperial files on her mother because she had died at the start of the Empire.
"Yes, of course, Princess," Threepio agreed, as Artoo downloaded the Padmé Amidala files onto a datapad for Leia. "Oh my!" Threepio exclaimed once the files for Leia's biological father came up.
"What? Is something wrong?" Leia asked, worried.
"Well, Princess, there is no easy way to tell you this," Threepio began, causing Leia to worry more. "So, I will say it straight out: your biological father was a Jedi Knight."
Leia gaped. 'A Jedi Knight?!' "Threepio, can I see him, too?"
"Yes, of course, Princess Leia," Threepio soothed as Artoo pulled up a holo.
The life-sized hologram towered over little Leia. She hopped up onto a nearby medical bed to see him better. She was happily surprised that both her real parents were very good looking.
"His name was Anakin Skywalker. He was a Jedi Knight throughout the Clone Wars. Apparently, he met your biological mother when he was a small boy, only a little older than you, during her first weeks as Queen. Just after meeting her, he won a podrace on Tatooine, which helped your mother get off planet—apparently, she was stuck there due to some hyperdrive trouble—and then came with them. He was supposed to be trained as a Jedi, but instead of being accepted immediately, he went with your mother back to her home planet of Naboo, which was being illegally blockaded by the Trade Federation at the time, and helped her free her planet by blowing up the orbital control ship—reportedly on accident." Threepio paused, letting this information sink in. He continued after a moment. "Then, he was accepted to train as a Jedi and was separated from your mother for ten years. However, due to assassination attempts on your mother's life, he and his master were assigned to protect her and uncover who was plotting to kill her. Shortly after this assignment, the Clone Wars erupted and the two had several more encounters. They were seen together many times, and there were many rumors about the status of their relationship. Due to his status as a Jedi, they were not technically allowed to be together, and always told people they were "just friends" when asked." Threepio paused again. "However, there is not much information on his past, I'm afraid. From before the Jedi, I mean. Fortunately, there are other files on him, not just this one!" Threepio exclaimed.
"Uh, Threepio. That means those other files are not the Alderaanian files, then, right?" Leia questioned.
"That is correct, Princess Leia. These are Imperial files." Leia thought that was strange.
"Threepio, do the Alderaanian files say when my father died?"
"Why, yes. He was assumed dead during the Jedi Purges. There was no body found." Threepio thought about this for a second. "Perhaps he might not be dead. That would explain why the Empire has files on him." Artoo made a strange sounding beep at this.
"Artoo has unlocked the Imperial files. I'm not sure that was such a great idea, though, because he says they were quite hard to decode?! Artoo Detoo just what were you thinking?!" Threepio angrily asked Artoo. Artoo beeped a response as he quickly downloaded all the files—there were very many—and hurriedly retraced his digital steps out of the Imperial database and made sure there would be no way anyone would notice that he had gone digging.
"Artoo? What do you have?" Leia asked, almost scared at what he had found.
"Deary me! I can't—Artoo, this is not the right information! In no way can this be correct!" Threepio shouted, none too happy concerning the information he was reading on the datapad.
Artoo made several noises that Leia could not interpret as he argued with Threepio.
"This is unbelievable, Artoo! But, I know you do not make mistakes like this, so I will inform the Princess," Threepio relented, finally. Turning to Leia, he began, "Princess, I imagine this will be hard to hear, but your father is not dead. No, something far worse has happened to him."
Artoo left the image of young adult Anakin Skywalker up but brought another, far more familiar picture up next to it. The image of Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. Leia gasped again.
"As you can see, Princess, your father somehow turned into Darth Vader. Unfortunately, there is not any information on why this is. However, Artoo did download all of Vader's medical files. He has sustained very many injuries that have caused him to be encased in this life support suit. At this, the image of Vader seemed superimposed on another image of a man. The image of Vader was moved to the side and in between it and the holo of Anakin Skywalker stood a very… changed version of Anakin Skywalker. He had so very many injuries: four mechanical limbs being the most noticeable, third-degree burns covering the remainder of his natural body, several mechanical implants that appeared to be a part of his life support system, and many scars scattered across his ravaged body. There certainly was resemblance between his younger, healthy self, and enough evidence to support the need of Vader's suit.
Instead of being disgusted at her relation to this man, she was saddened at the sight of all his pain. Instantly, she knew she had to go to him. She could make his life better. She knew she could.
"Artoo, close these images. Is everything safe on that datapad?" Artoo answered in the affirmative. "Good, let's go."
"Where are we going, Princess?" Threepio questioned.
"We're goin' to pack my bags and leave. I've got a dad to cheer up!" Leia said, determinedly.
"Princess! You cannot possibly be seriously entertaining the idea of going to Darth Vader!" Threepio cried.
"Yeah, Threepio, that's exactly what I plan to do. And, you'll have to come with me so you can keep my safe," Leia told him.
"Oh my, Princess! I have a very bad feeling about this," Threepio muttered, mournfully.
Artoo, on the other hand, could not have hoped for a better outcome.
It did not take Leia very long to pack her bags. Artoo and Threepio stood just inside her doorway, waiting for her. She packed only what she thought she would need: a few changes of clothes, some shoes, some snacks that she wasn't supposed to have in her room anyway, and that strange wooden necklace Bail had given to her when her parents told her she was adopted. Something told her it was important. Maybe it had belonged to her real mom, or something.
Once she was finished, the trio made their way, silently, to the hanger. Artoo led the way to a silver ship in the corner of the large room. Once inside, Leia noticed that the ship was not Alderaanian design. Artoo, with Threepio's translating, informed her that the ship was Nubian, and it had belonged to her real mother. Artoo then left the ship, making sure Leia and Threepio would stay put. The little astromech headed over to the flight desk and cleared the Nubian ship for launch, with no intended return date.
Artoo made his way back to the ship, unnoticed by the few night shift workers in the hanger. Once aboard, he rolled into the cockpit, where Leia was already strapped in after having started the ship's preflight systems. Artoo then assumed command of the vessel and lifted it out of the hanger and into Alderaan's atmosphere. After the exited the atmosphere, Artoo began imputing coordinates to Vjun. Artoo had been tracking Darth Vader's movements for several months, having known Bail and Breha Organa would tell Leia of her adoption on her sixth birthday. He knew the Sith had taken leave to his private property on Vjun.
Roughly Twenty Hours Later
Leia was woken up by a few kind sounding beeps from Artoo.
"Princess, we hope you slept well. We regrettably have woken you because we are about to drop out of hyperspace," Threepio informed her.
"Thanks, Threepio," Leia said, now fully awake. She was going to meet, hopefully, her real dad. They dropped out of hyperspace a minute later and a greenish-gray world filled the viewscreen. "Wow. I'm not sure if that's pretty or not," Leia mentioned.
"It certainly has a different aesthetic, Princess Leia," Threepio agreed.
"Alrighty, take us in, Artoo. There's not much we can do from here," Leia said.
Artoo beeped his agreement and began their decent. Shortly after entering the atmosphere, the comm. started to beep.
"Uh oh. We should probably answer that, shouldn't we?" Leia awkwardly formed the question.
Artoo beeped an affirmative. Threepio assured Leia that he would take care of it before he pressed the receive button on the comm.
"Unidentified Nubian ship, identify yourself and your purpose immediately!" came a tinny voice from the communication unit.
"Hello, I am C-3PO, we are here for an audience with Lord Vader," Threepio answered.
"C-3PO? You have no scheduled audience with Lord Vader," came the officer's response.
Artoo beeped a suggestion to Threepio, who took it, and replied, "No, we do not already have an audience with Lord Vader, you are correct, officer. However, we do have something that he would be interested in hearing. Do me a favor and tell him that C-3PO has information regarding a woman named Padmé," Threepio requested.
"Very well, please hold," the officer ordered, before the line went static.
"Well, Artoo, I do not know why Lord Vader would need to know that I have information about Miss Padmé, but I hope your plan will work," Threepio said while they waited. Leia stared at the comm. unit.
The comm. crackled. "Nubian Vessel, you are to dock in Lord Vader's personal hanger. Proceed there immediately," the officer announced. Leia let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding.
"Coordinates received, sir. We shall land there shortly," Threepio informed the officer, who promptly cut the line. "Well! He was a bit rude," Threepio complained.
Leia sat up straighter in her chair, straining to see more as they neared the hanger. As the entered the hanger, Leia noticed that there was row upon row of ships and speeders of all kinds. Quickly, she drew up the information she had on her biological father and found where it stated his interests. Sure enough, ships, machines, and mechanical engineering was listed. It seems he still did like that stuff. That was good, it meant he hadn't changed too much. Closing the datapad, she looked up and realized that there was no party to greet them. Just then, the doors at the far end of the hanger bay opened, revealing none other than Darth Vader, her biological father. She barely noticed as Artoo landed the ship, all her attention was on her real dad.
Darth Vader was not happy. He had arrived at Bast only days ago and had been looking forward to ignoring Imperial protocols and relaxing—or as close to relaxing as he could get—in a bacta bath. However, he was interrupted by some pesky officer who told him that some droid had some message for him. Only for said officer to inform him that the droid just so happened to be C-3PO, the droid he had built when he was nine years old, and the message he had to deliver had something to do with "a woman called Padmé" who just so happened to be Vader's now deceased wife. And so now, instead of being somewhat comfortable in a bacta bath, he was stuck in his force forsaken life support suit waiting for C-3PO to leave that force forsaken ship that looked just like Padmé's so he could learn what information C-3PO might have. So no, he was not happy. That is, until a little girl ran out of the ship. Followed by R2-D2, who was followed by C-3PO. Now, Vader was just shocked.
Shaking himself out of his shocked state, Vader listened to Artoo's rambling, noticing that the girl had stopped short of him and was standing beside Artoo.
"Artoo! Why, that is entirely preposterous!" Threepio exclaimed listening to Artoo's explanation. Still listening to Artoo, Vader walked to Threepio and went around him to remove the back of his head plate. He quickly examined the wiring and made a few changes. Threepio's eyes flickered a few times and Vader replaced the back of Threepio's head. "Oh, goodness! Artoo, I am terribly sorry I did not believe you! I'm afraid I had my memory wiped. It appears that the wipe was not a complete erasure as Master Ani has restored my memory!" Threepio happily exclaimed.
"Do not call me that," Vader growled, effectively shutting Threepio up. Moving from behind the protocol droid, Vader addressed Artoo, "Continue with your long-winded explanation, Artoo."
Artoo did as he was commanded. However, he stopped before he explained the girl's presence. Before Vader could say anything, she stepped forward. Since it became clear she was going to continue the explanation, he turned his attention to her. With his full attention finally on her, he realized this was the little Organa brat.
"Uhh, sir. Lord? How do I address you?" she had the gall to ask, as she clutched a datapad tightly to her chest.
"Lord," he answered, shortly.
"Right, Lord. I, uh, well, let me start from the beginning," she paused, waiting for him to object. When he didn't, she continued. "So, I just turned six last week, and my parents, Bail and Breha, told me I'm adopted." As she said this, she held her datapad tighter to her. "So, yesterday, I snuck into the medical bay to find out who my parents really are. Artoo and Threepio helped me do it." At this, she shakily held out the datapad to him. "All the information I found is on this datapad. I guess you should know," she said, her eyes looking at him hopefully, if scared. Vader admired her courage. He knelt down to her level and took the datapad from her. Opening it, he began to read the very improbable information it held. After he finished reading it, he read it again, just to make sure he read it correctly the first time. Then, he looked up. His daughter's face stared at him. She was obviously terrified of what he would do next. This saddened him; but he took courage in how she came to find him all on her own. She wanted him to know of her relation to him.
"I, uh, thought, well…" she started to explain before she was interrupted by Vader reaching out to pull her toward him. She took a second to process that Vader, her father, was giving her a hug. Once she did process what was happening, she threw her arms around his armored neck and hugged him to the best of her ability.
"You are very brave for leaving the security of your palace and coming to me with this information," Vader rumbled, trying to speak gently to his obviously frightened child, and failing spectacularly thanks to his vocoder.
"I thought that if I wanted to know, so would you?" Leia asked, hoping he would reassure her.
"Your instincts serve you well, child," Vader did assure her; Leia felt relived. She noticed then how close she was to Vader. Due to his kneeling position, they were eye-to-…eye piece? Anyway, she was also a hand's breadth away from his mask. She pulled away from him just slightly so she could not awkwardly stare at all the details of his mask.
"So, uh, do—do I hav'ta go back to Alderaan?" Leia asked, genuinely afraid of his answer.
"That depends, do you want to go back to Alderaan?" Vader turned the question back on her.
"No, I want to stay with you, my actual family," she told him, firmly despite her fear. "It's just, I don't want to get in your way. If I have to go back to being Princess of Alderaan to make sure you can still do your job…"
Vader cut her off. "I think I can manage," he hummed. Leia wondered if she heard humor in his voice.
"But do you want me here? With you, I mean," Leia questioned.
"Of course, I do, child. You are the only family I have left. And you have no idea how much that means to me."
Leia looked up at him, effectively giving him puppy dog eyes. "I think I do, daddy."
Vader said nothing in response, absorbing how she called him "daddy." When he continued to stare at her, Leia moved back closer to him and gave him a brief hug. As she was pulling away, she felt her father's strong arms wrap around her, returning the hug. She smiled and hugged him tighter.
"Well, daughter," Vader felt chills go through him as he said that word, "I suppose we should arrange quarters for you."
"Yeah, I think I'd like that," Leia said, pulling back from Vader, who stood up. Leia noticed that his knee seemed to catch for a moment, almost looking like it wouldn't allow him to stand up.
Vader put his hand on Leia's back and began guiding her out of the hanger.
"Master An—Master!" Threepio called, refusing to call him Vader. "Would you like for me to carry the Princess' bags?"
"Threepio, I'm not a Princess anymore," Leia told him, slightly annoyed.
"I disagree. You are not the Princess of Alderaan anymore, but you are the Princess of the galaxy now," Vader informed her. Leia gaped.
"How does that work?"
"I am the Emperor's second-in-command, the heir to his throne. Since you are my daughter, you are next in line. Therefore, you are Imperial Royalty, Princess Leia," Vader explained. He turned to Threepio, "Yes, bring her things."
"Ohhh, that makes sense," Leia responded. "I didn't even think about that," she told her father.
"Hmm. Does it bother you that you are royalty?" Vader questioned.
"No, I just didn't want to be someone's fake princess, like I was on Alderaan," Leia told him.
"You were not a fake Princess, Leia. You were adopted by the Organas, illegitimately or not, you were still their child. That would make you the Princess of Alderaan."
"Illegitimately?"
"Yes, they illegally adopted you. If I was dead, all would have been fine. However, I am clearly not dead, and I never signed away my right as your father, so they were not legally allowed to take you from me."
"Oh, okay," Leia realized. "I guess that never mattered to them, anyway, because they're rebels."
"So, they are rebels. I suspected so for some time. Would you be willing to testify to this so that I could arrest them for their treason?" Vader looked down at his daughter, who looked up and met his gaze.
"I—uh—well, they donno I'm gone," Leia mentioned.
"…They don't? Leia, did you leave a note or anything saying you were going somewhere?"
"No. I couldn't tell them where I was going! I mean, I didn't even know, Artoo did, but I didn't. And even if I did, I couldn't tell them that because then they would try and stop me!"
"Sweet child, they are probably turning the palace upside down trying to find you," Vader said, kneeling again to be eye level with her.
"Should I call them?"
"No, I do not believe that would be a good idea," Vader decided. "Although… Artoo? Can you send an encrypted message to the Alderaanian Palace describing that Leia is in your care and she is perfectly fine without giving away our location?"
Artoo beeped that he could.
"Very good, do so," Vader commanded the astromech. Artoo rolled back the way they came so he could send a clear signal from the ship they had come in.
While they were waiting for Artoo's return, Vader repeated his earlier question. "Will you testify against the Organas so that I can arrest them for treason against the Empire?"
"I guess. They did steal me from you. That wasn't a very nice thing to do. And they didn't just steal me, but they stole me from you, and you're important to the Empire."
"Yes, exactly. Although, stealing you alone is enough of a crime. However, I want to incriminate them for all of their crimes. The only issue is, I do not want the Emperor to know of you."
"Why? Isn't he your boss?"
"Yes, he is. And that is exactly why I do not want him to learn of you. I am a Sith Apprentice. They only person that could possible be my "boss" is the Sith Master. That is what the Emperor is: the Sith Master. That makes him very dangerous, and I do not want him to use you against me. He has done that before, with your mother. I could not bear it happening a second time," Vader tried to explain it so his daughter could understand.
"Oh," Leia said, slowly putting together her parents' tragic love story. "We don't have to tell anyone we're related. All anyone has to know is that I found out my adopted parents are bad guys and reported them," Leia suggested.
"That just might work. There certainly are finer details that we will have to iron out, but I think that is a solid plan, Leia. Good job," Vader praised, making Leia smile. Artoo rolled back into the corridor and beeped that his transmission had been received. "Good. Now, let us prepare you suitable quarters, Leia." Vader stood up again, and Leia studied the same knee that she noticed had struggled before. There! It did catch.
"Dad, is there something wrong with your knee? It doesn't look like it works right," Leia mentioned.
"Unfortunately, due to the accident that forced me into this suit, I have mechanical legs. I'm surprised you failed to notice this as you downloaded even my medical files onto that datapad of yours."
"Oh, well yeah. But that doesn't tell me why your knee wants to give out on you," Leia pouted.
"It is mechanical, Leia. Since it is my knee, it is an awkward joint to repair. It is not going to give out on me, as you put it. It simply is not advanced enough to work flawlessly," he explained to her the finer points of mechanical joints fused with organics as they walked toward his quarters. Leia did not understand most of it, but she gained that he was passionate about anything mechanical.
Meanwhile… Alderaan, Aldera Palace
Bail Organa was freaking out. His daughter was missing. He had looked everywhere imaginable. When he was unable to find Leia after thirty minutes, he had alerted the Royal Guard. They had been looking for thirteen hours now and had come up with nothing. No clues. It was as if Leia had vanished. They checked the holo recordings of the Palace halls but had found nothing; it appeared the cameras had been on loop. The outside cameras had not been looped but they also showed nothing. They knew one thing for certain, Leia had not been taken from someone outside the Palace. However, that gave them no new leads.
"Sir! Sir!" a palace guard came running up to him. "We received a transmission. It came from the Artoo unit that is always with the Princess. He says she is in his care and in a safe location. Apparently, he moved her because she was not where she needed to be."
Cold chills ran down Bail's spine. 'Not where she needed to be. That blasted astromech! He was Anakin's droid. And I didn't have his mind wiped. He took her to him!'
"Is the signal traceable?" Bail asked, desperately.
"No, sir. I'm sorry."
"I don't care what that droid says. My daughter is not safe! We need to find her immediately. I have a feeling she is no longer on planet, though. Search the hanger bays. Find whatever you can."
The guard ran off to deliver the new orders and enact them. Bail watched him go before he nearly sprinted to his office. This definitely counted as an emergency.
Tatooine, Dune Sea
Meditation was, and is, an essential part of being a Jedi. Meditation is key to surviving this dark world as it gave him insight. Insight. Something was wrong.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes as he came out of his morning meditation. Stretching out with his feelings, he reached toward the Lars Homestead. Hmm. Nothing was wrong with Luke, nor Beru and Owen. Just as he was wondering what this disturbance was, his comm. wrang.
That was strange. He only had one comm. link and it was to be used only in emergencies. Perhaps the disturbance he was feeling was connected to Bail and Leia.
"Hello," Obi-Wan answered the comm.
"Obi-Wan! Something is horribly wrong!" Bail's voice said.
"What? Is Leia alright?"
"That's just it! She's missing!"
"What!? Missing!? Since when? How?"
"I received a transmission from R2-D2 saying that Leia was fine and in a safe place," Bail began.
"Well, then why are you so worried? Artoo is responsible and incredibly loyal. Leia will be fine," Obi-Wan said, relaxing.
"Yes, he is loyal. But just who was he most loyal to, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan's blood froze. Anakin. Artoo was most loyal to Anakin. "Oh, no."
"Exactly! The rest of the message said that Artoo had moved Leia because she was 'not where she needed to be.' Obi-Wan, please tell me I am reading this all wrong!" Bail pleaded.
"Not where she needed to be? What else could that mean, Bail? He's taken her to her biological father!" Obi-Wan's panic was rising.
"I don't know what to do!"
"There is nothing you can do, Bail. What are you going to do, challenge Vader for parental rights? You'll go to prison if you try that!" Obi-Wan paused. "Why did Artoo wait until now to take her to him? Surely it would have been easier to get Leia to him when she was younger."
"I don't know. We've raised Leia. She's our daughter. There isn't a clear motive. She's been raised as an Organa with rebelling ideals. There is no way she would adapt to Va—" Bail paused, realizing something. "Oh, no. Obi-Wan, I don't think this was entirely Artoo's plan. I think… when Leia turned six, Breha and I told her she's adopted. That was a week ago. I wouldn't know why she would wait a week to disappear."
"She waited a week because she did not want you to suspect her motive for leaving and try and stop her."
"How would she know to go to Vader? Where would she even go? There haven't been any Vader sightings for some time now."
"He's taken leave, then. Unsurprising. He hasn't had a break in some time, and there is not much happening right now."
"Do you think Artoo convinced her that he knew who her real parents were?"
"That would hardly take convincing, Bail. Artoo has holorecordings aplenty of both of them," Obi-Wan reminded him, rather coldly.
"I can't believe Leia would go to him knowing who he is!"
"Bail, is it possible that she went to him knowing who he was?"
Bail didn't say anything.
"Bail!?"
"We have records of Anakin Skywalker in the palace library. But I don't know how she could get that!"
"Bail, she has Artoo! You have better hope Vader doesn't pay any attention to her and sends her home. If not, you are in too much trouble."
"I think you and I know that isn't going to happen, Obi-Wan. I should never have told her she was adopted. Maybe none of this would have happened. In any case, we've been talking for too long. I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. Now, that boy is our only hope," Bail said, before ending the call.
"May the Force be with you, Bail, and with Leia," Obi-Wan spoke to the deactivated comm.
Later… Vjun, Bast Castle
Vader had scraped up some very decent quarters in a short time. Leia was beyond pleased. They were right down the hall from Vader's, and they were extravagant! These were easily the nicest quarters Leia had ever had, and she had been Princess of Alderaan! Vader tasked her with using the holonet to choose things that would interest her before he left to tie up loose ends.
"What do you guys think I should get?" Leia asked her two droids as she stared at the terminal screen, browsing through shopping channels.
"Well, Princess Leia, I'd imagine you should pick out a new wardrobe. You only packed a few outfits, and they won't last you very long," Threepio suggested.
"Ooh! Good idea, Threepio!" Leia quickly found a familiar clothing line. "Hmm. I think I should get new colors. White and light colors are very Alderaanian. Do you guys think I should get some blacks and dark colors to match Dad?"
Artoo beeped an answer. Threepio translated. "He thinks that is an interesting idea, Princess. And he suggests you also take inspiration from your mother."
"Oh! Artoo! What a great idea!" Leia praised, excitedly. "Can you pull up some of her best outfits? Maybe pick ones that aren't similar to each other, so I have a lot to choose from," Leia asked.
Artoo beeped his agreement and soon had thirty photos of Padmé Amidala in thirty very different outfits lined up on a nearby wall.
"Oh wow! She has so many beautiful outfits!" Leia stared in awe of her mother's fashion. "Okay, uummm, well, she also wears black some. Oooh there is also deep blues and purples! Oh! Is that a dark pink? There's some tan and white, too. Oooh, that pretty yellow!" Leia turned back to the holonet. "Alrighty, let's order some pretty, mom-inspired clothes!"
Several hours later, Darth Vader walked into his daughter's room only to be assaulted by image upon image of his late wife, lined up across the room. "What is going on in here?" he asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.
"Oh, hi dad! I was doing what you said to do: ordering things that interested me!"
"And you needed fifty images of your mother to do so?"
"Dad, don't tell me you didn't notice that all of these pictures feature a different outfit!" Leia protested.
"No, I had not noticed. Now that you point it out, I do." Vader admitted, looking throughout the room. "I suppose you are ordering new clothes, then."
"Yes! It was Threepio's idea to get new clothes because I only brought a few outfits. Then, Artoo suggested that I use mom's outfits as color inspiration! But then, I really liked most of her dresses and pantsuits, so I copied some of the styles."
"Have you ordered anything yet?" Vader asked, hoping against all hope he wasn't too late.
"No, I haven't finished choosing outfits!"
"Oh, thank the Force!" Vader released a breath.
"What? What do you mean?" Leia asked, worried she'd already done something wrong.
"Pull up everything you have chosen thus far, Leia," Vader asked, walking over to the terminal.
"Okay," Leia submitted, pulling up all sixty of the outfits she had added to cart.
Vader studied each and every one of them for something Leia was unaware of. "Very well. These are decent," Vader decided.
"Decent?" Leia asked, hurt. "I thought they were fabulous!"
"Oh, Leia. That is not what I meant," Vader soothed. "You certainly have your mother's eye for fashion. I simply wanted to make sure these outfits were age appropriate for you. If you are taking inspiration from your mother, she had some less than appropriate outfits for you to copy."
Artoo beeped something rude at that.
"What'd he say?"
"He said that he is offended that I would think for a second he would show you something inappropriate for you to copy," Vader translated. Turning to Artoo he said, "Artoo, I apologize for not having faith in your babysitting abilities. I have learned my lesson."
Artoo accepted his apology and turned off all the holograms, somehow knowing they were causing Vader a great deal of pain. Vader nodded his thanks.
"Okay, so can I order these now?" Leia asked, drawing her father's attention back to her.
"Yes," he answered.
"Okay, how do I do that?"
"Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't tell you. That way, you will not be able to order anything without me knowing," Vader mused aloud.
"Daddy!"
"What? I do not know how mature you are, yet. It would be irresponsible of me to let you have this power. No. You are going to have to prove yourself worthy of this knowledge," Vader decided, a lighthearted tone managing to slip through his vocoder. Leia fake pouted, knowing he was absolutely right but not wanting to admit it. Vader ignored her as he forwarded the payment options to the terminal in his private rooms, where he would order these clothes without his curious daughter peeking. "Is there anything other than clothes that would interest you?"
"Like what?" Leia asked, forgetting her pout.
"Like toys," Vader offered.
"Toys are for babies!"
"Well, what do you play with, then?" Vader asked, patiently.
"…toys…"
"If it makes you feel any better, when I would slip into the hanger late at night to tinker with my ship or speeder, your mother would always say she just knew I was playing with my toys."
"Really? She called them your toys?"
"Yes, she did. I liked to tinker, or play, with them, so they were my toys," Vader told her. "And I was a grown adult, so you are not old enough for toys, Leia."
"Okay, I guess I'll get some grown up toys, then!"
Vader made a choking noise. Leia looked at him, worriedly. Vader cleared his throat, causing his vocoder to make another strange noise. "Leia, please, never look up 'grown up toys.' You will not find anything you should play with."
"Okay. I won't," Leia agreed, wondering what could be so bad about that. Vader made a mental note to block any and all inappropriate words and phrases on Leia's terminal access accounts as soon as possible.
Through the next several hours, Vader and Leia looked at things she would like and added several items to the cart. Once Leia was through looking for things, Vader once more sent the payment options to his personal terminal.
"Hey, dad?"
"Yes, Leia?"
"What's for lunch?" Leia asked.
Vader stood straighter. It was well past lunchtime and nearing dinnertime. "Lunch," Vader repeated. "Leia, when was the last time you ate anything?"
"Well, I ate food on my way here, in the ship. But then the only other thing I've eaten since then was one of the snacks I brought with me," Leia told him.
"Leia, it is nearly dinnertime," Vader stated. "How long have you been hungry?"
"Dinnertime? I've only been hungry for a little bit," Leia told him. "Maybe I'm still on the Alderaan time?"
Vader thought about this. "No, you are somewhere in between. It is currently after the normal breakfast time on Alderaan."
"Oh, okay. But what can I eat?"
"I'll take you to the kitchens," Vader said, moving to the door. Leia quickly joined him.
"Do you eat?" Leia asked, wanting to know what normal things her father could do.
"No. Which is why I neglected to think to feed you," Vader replied, silently berating himself for forgetting such a vital part of human life.
"That's okay. You don't really have to make sure your men eat. And I wouldn't have said anything if I knew where to go to get food," Leia told him, trying to make him realize it was an honest mistake.
"You make a good point, daughter," Vader was impressed by the point she had made. "Which reminds me, I should test you on your level of education. You are incredibly smart for six years old."
"I had good tutors. They made sure I was ahead in my school," Leia informed him, making a face.
"You also grew up with Threepio," Vader added.
"Well, I think that certainly helped the Princess' vocabulary!" Threepio defended himself, revealing that he and Artoo were following the pair.
"Threepio, relax. I was not insulting you," Vader told him, somewhat harshly.
Artoo chortled what sounded like a laugh.