Leia Organa, hadn't had the easiest life. Most, no doubt, looked at her, with her queenly position, her husband, and daughter, an entire core planet under her thumb, and the lavish lifestyle afforded her because of her rank, and thought, "Now, this is a woman who has it all." These people would be severely mistaken.

While Leia's life had turned perilous and painful in equal measure, it hadn't started that way. For the first fifteen years, Leia's existence was a singularly happy one. Her people adored her. Her parents cherished her. And while she never discussed it much, I knew that she had cherished Bail and Breha right back.

But everything had changed when she turned sixteen. Her parents, she soon discovered, were in the midst of plotting rebellion against Emperor Palpatine. Their core allies, Mon Mothma of Chandrila, Pamlo of Terris, and Vaspar of the Taldot sector, to name a few, often met in the Alderaan palace at supposed "dinner parties" that were anything but; they were strategy sessions. And for a few months, it seemed Bail and Breha Organa were making inroads on plotting Rebellion. They had a nascent fleet. They had some funding. Their allies were starting to consent, and to come together to form an Alliance.

And then, enter then-Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. With his sharp gaze and even sharper mind, he soon found out the dinner parties that weren't really dinner parties. He learned of the fleet's location. And soon after, he caught Bail Organa in the act of organizing the fleet.

Breha's arrest followed soon after. As did Mon Mothma's, Pamlo's, and Vaspar's, as well as a host of other innocent and guilty senators. The Empire didn't care. This was a purge, to make a point, and to wipe out all possible traces of organized Rebellion. No more. No less. Sidious demanded every last ounce of their blood.

But Leia? Leia got lucky. Tarkin saw her as young and naive, and no way a part of this; she was soon released, after giving no information under fiery torture. It had been her parents' most fervent wish for her that she hold out, and she did.

For their part, Bail and Breha offered nothing except confessions. They scorned to betray their allies, much less their daughter, and the deeper secrets about her that the Imperial interrogators didn't even know to probe for. Not that their brave silence mattered much in the end.

Leia, made the new Queen in a hasty ceremony, was forced to watch her own parents' executions at the hand of Darth Vader. It was televised live, and horrified beings the Empire over watched mandatorily. The rulers of core-world Alderaan were beheaded in graphic and gruesome fashion by Vader's crimson blade. As their heads rolled onto the stage, the message became crystal-clear: The world doesn't matter. The status of the people doesn't matter. Whenever rebellion grows, we will uproot it, and cut the throats of those roots.

Mon Mothma died every bit as bravely. Vaspar caved, giving information about allies and resources. He was killed, of course, along with the allies he betrayed, the resources destroyed. Oddly enough, Pamlo was spared, as she somehow managed to convince the Empire of her innocence. Or maybe not. Maybe they just kept her alive as a living warning.

It didn't matter. The nascent Rebellion was ash, and Leia was alone.

Which was only the beginning of her sad story. But one determination took root in her as she watched her parents being lead to their deaths, watched their heads roll to the floor, and could not shed a single tear or seem at all grieved… and that was that she would one day rebuild the Rebellion. One day, she would finish what her parents started. Honor them. Avenge them. My parents didn't live to see the end of the Empire. But I will had been her vow.

And it seemed years, time, and even the fifteen-year reign of the Death Star couldn't stop that now that she perceived a chance. With color in her cheeks, Leia finished explaining the situation to me. "And the plans are right there, Luke, in his house. You can get in, he'll give them to you, and then you can get out. This is our chance. Our hope."

I thought of several nice ways to let Leia down, and in the end dismissed them all. There was no soft let down to this, the last gasp of a desperate woman who had made too many concessions and sacrifices in her time. No way to assuage the grief and guilt she'd carry with her for the rest of her life, in perceiving it all as her failure to get there in time to warn her father that Tarkin was coming.

So, I just went ahead and asked it. "And then what?"

"We destroy the station, of course."

"Of course. How exactly are we going to do that?" And what exactly would be the point of it? The Empire could still enforce its will. Removing the Death Star didn't actually change that; it just took away some of the power and painted a gargantuan target on our backs. The fleet was so immense, so titanic, it was almost impossible for the human mind to comprehend. And Leia wanted to… what? Put a dent in it and send Alderaan to the gallows?

Leia said, "It's time to gather allies. It's time to re-form the movement, Luke. Palpatine has shown his cruelty and corruption to all the galaxy now. No one can deny it. People are willing to fight."

"Who told you that?"

Leia blinked. "I can tell."

You can tell. That's really good reasoning, Leia. "Living in the palace," I ventured, "it can be hard to always get a proper feel for public opinion. But, I know on Tatooine—"

"You don't believe in this, do you?" she cut me off, all of her smiles and cheek-color gone. "You think I'm being ridiculous, just like Han."

"I never said that."

"But that's what you think. I can feel it," she whispered. Abruptly, she stood up from the slightly damp log on which we'd been sitting. "Well. No problem. I understand. Anytime Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, comes around, let him know I'd like to talk about honoring what his mentors requested of him, huh?"

And with that, she stalked off. I'd worry, but with her pathfinder training, Leia likely knew where to go. She'd be alright. More or less.

At that moment, Han took the opportunity to duck out from the trees in which he'd been hiding the entire time, eavesdropping shamelessly. "Well…" he ventured. "Thanks for tryin', anyway."

"Yeah. Sure."

"Need a ride back?"

"No. I'll get my own. Can you just give me a few credits?"

"Here."

"That's way too much, Han."

"Keep it, kid. Plenty more where that came from." He punched me in the shoulder, then left in the general direction Leia had stalked off in.

Left alone in the rainforest, I thought of Yoda, and Obi-Wan, and what rain felt like. Before going to Dagobah for my five years of training, I had never experienced it in my life. Maybe I would never experience rain again, just like I would probably never fulfill Obi-Wan and Yoda's will for the galaxy, the Jedi, or for me. I couldn't help but think that accepting this fact was inevitable. Maybe I must now.

OOO

The White Suns met in the dingy basement of the old Caldwell store. It was now called Evvan's Eden, but no one could stop thinking of it as Annileen Calwell's "Oassis," me included. Over the years, our group—once so rowdy with defiance and full of hope for the continuation of the movement—had waned to a few die-hards and those truly willing to risk life and limb for the cause. I didn't know where Leia believed people were willing to fight, but from where I sat… that willingness seemed few and far between.

"We have," Vill said measuredly, "a few incoming."

"How many is a 'few'?" demanded Kili, the daughter of one of the planet's more successful farmers. But she and her father often disagreed about… most everything, actually. Sometimes I thought she joined up here only to rebel against him.

"Mother, two young kids," reported Vill. Groans went up among the dirty and sandy group. Sure, a mother we could handle. But kids? Young kids? They tended to make noise, thus increasing the danger tenfold. "Hey! Y'all know what you signed up for. So, who'll take 'em?"

"Too much for my blood," murmured one.

"Why can't you, Vill?"

"Kili?"

"My father is staying with us this week. I can't."

"I'll do it."

Everyone looked to me. I nodded slowly. "I'll take them."

"Mr. Skywalker," Vill replied, then gave a chuckle. "As usual. Always beware the nice ones. Alright. It's settled, then. You'll meet them at the assigned spot, they'll stay a night or two, and then you'll get 'em to the next stop on the freedom trail."

"Yes, sir," I agreed quietly.

Beware the nice ones, indeed, I mused as I left our small anti-slavery coalition meeting. Few knew, but Beru's mother had been a transformational anti-slavery advocate. She'd also taken her advocation one step further, in founding the White Suns, a movement that helped to free slaves where we could and also blazed a freedom trail Tatooine over. Once her mother passed, Beru had taken over heading the organization. She brought me into it once I returned home after my Jedi training. As her health waned, I continued to take on more of the responsibility.

One of my promises to her as she peacefully passed was that I would continue her and her mother's work for as long as I lived. That I would pass it on to whoever I could.

It was like my promise to Yoda and Obi-Wan. Only this one, I could actually keep. But should I make that distinction? I thought again of Leia's mad scheme, Erso's dying wish to hand over the Death Star plans to us, and Yoda's prophetic words from so long ago. "Someday… a chance… I see…"

I thought he'd meant about killing the Sith. But maybe not. Maybe he'd meant this. But… I had work to do here. The harvest was coming up. Slaves needed our help getting free. And Jabba was getting so stingy lately with his price gouging—

OOO

Author's note: Yes. It was meant to end abruptly like that. It's meant to show Luke's fractured state of mind over all of this, and his simultaneous sense of reluctance and duty. Hope you enjoyed reading!