Chapter 11

It had seemed like a great idea at the time. After all, what father wouldn't feel justified in trying to reach out to their daughter? Of course, Anakin had known that reaching out to Leia was a risk, especially given her visceral reaction the first time they had met. But Anakin was nothing if not persistent; he knew that Leia was going down a path parallel if not synonymous to the one he had traversed twenty years ago. If there was something he could do to help his daughter avoid his fate, Anakin would do it.

Yet now, looking upon his daughter's fiery eyes, Anakin couldn't help but feel thankful that he was already dead; if looks could kill, he would have been dead otherwise. Perhaps I've made a mistake, Anakin thought to himself, his eyes fixated on Leia's blue lightsaber. Fortunately for Anakin, he was saved from any further abuse, verbal or otherwise, when Luke rushed into the main hold, his own lightsaber in his hand.

"What's going on?" Luke asked. Noticing Anakin, Luke visibly relaxed and put his lightsaber away. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't visit," Luke told his father sternly. Before Anakin could respond however, Han ran into the main hold, blaster in hand.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, oblivious to Anakin's presence. Luke froze, unsure of how to explain this to Han. Fortunately for Luke, Leia answered instead.

"No, everything is not all right," she said icily, her gaze still fixated on Anakin. Squirming under his daughter's scrutiny, Anakin side stepped closer towards Luke.

Bewildered, Han looked to where Leia was glaring, blinking a few times as he confirmed that Leia was in fact staring at empty space.

"Leia, maybe now is not the best time to…" Luke tried to say, but was interrupted.

"I'm not the one who initiated this conversation," Leia said.

Clearing his throat, Han tried to force his way into the conversation. "Could someone tell me what's going on?" he asked.

"Han, not now," Leia told him tersely.

"Don't push him away, Leia," Anakin said, remembering why he came in the first place. Leia snarled at him.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do," she said darkly.

Stepping forward, Luke put himself between Leia and Anakin, unperturbed by the active lightsaber in Leia's hand. "I know you don't want to listen to him," Luke began diplomatically. "But he's right, Han deserves to know what's going on." Anakin nodded, grateful for his son's defense of him. Still glaring at Anakin over Luke's shoulder, Leia was silent for a few moments. Finally, she acquiesced, turning to look at Han.

"Han, meet my father," she said, the last word dripping with sarcasm. "Darth Vader."

Han stared back at her blankly, his mouth slightly agape. Under normal circumstances, Luke might have found Han's expression amusing, but the fact that Leia was still brandishing her lightsaber menacingly dulled the humor considerably.

"You can't see him because you're not force sensitive," Luke explained. "He's standing right next to me." Anakin grinned and gave Han a wave, finding the situation bizarrely funny. Clearly not entertained by Anakin's antics, Leia gave him a withering look.

"Leia, how about you put your lightsaber away?" Luke asked cautiously.

"Fine," she said bitterly, extinguishing the blade and reattaching it to her belt.

Han continued to stare at the empty space where Vader supposedly was standing, thinking that perhaps if he focused hard enough he'd be able to see what the twins saw. "He's dead though," Han said, "How can he be here if he's dead?"

"He is, but apparently his ghost feels like hanging around," Leia replied. "But he's going to stay away from us from now on, isn't he?" she said pointedly, scowling at Anakin.

Feeling a combination of bewilderment and intimidation, Han began walking backwards towards the hallway. "I think I better go…" he said timidly.

"Han, don't go," Luke pleaded. "We still need to talk to you."

Stepping forward to stand next to his son, Anakin spoke. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," he said dejectedly. "Leia, I only wished to give you some advice so that you avoid the mistakes that I made in my past."

Leia's eyes widened in indignation. "Why would I ever make the same mistakes you made?"

Anakin smiled weakly at his daughter in spite of her undisguised contempt for him. "Because you're just like me in so many ways," he told her.

Taken aback momentarily by Anakin's assessment, a flash of fear crossed Leia's previously stony expression. Recovering quickly, Leia narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm nothing like you," she retorted in a low voice.

Anakin scrutinized Leia's face for a few moments, intrigued by her reaction. I wish that were the case, he thought to himself before fading away without bidding farewell.

"He's gone," Luke told Han, turning towards his friend. "Please join us, we have a lot to discuss."

"I'd say," Han mumbled, before crossing the room to sit down next to the technical station.

Noticing Leia's ashen expression, Luke stepped towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. Not seeing Han 's bitter reaction to this gesture, Luke told his sister: "He told me he wouldn't show up unannounced. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Leia smiled faintly at Luke. "I'm not mad at you," she told him, much to Luke's relief. "I know you didn't have anything to do with it."

Returning her smile, Luke gestured to the hologram table. "Maybe we should sit down," he suggested. Agreeing, Leia walked over to the table and sat down. Sitting down himself, Luke looked over at Han, somewhat perturbed by the curious expression on his face.

"What did you want to talk about?" Han asked gruffly, slouching back in his chair with one arm behind his head.

"Well, we never actually got to tell you why we're going to Naboo in the first place," Luke replied.

"It's not got anything to do with Vader, does it?" Han asked, suddenly worried about what he had gotten himself into.

"No, no," Luke said quickly. "Well, not directly at least." Han raised an eyebrow, waiting for Luke to elaborate. "We just learned who our mother was," Luke began, glancing at Leia briefly. "So we wanted to go visit her home planet."

"She was from Naboo?"

Luke grinned. "Apparently, she was the queen for a while too," Luke told him gaily, brimming with pride for the mother he had never known.

Han raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You've got quite the pedigree, kid."

"It's pretty overwhelming, really," Luke replied. "But Leia's already royalty, so I guess it's not as big a deal for her." Leia gaped at her brother in indignation, but before she could rebuke him Luke continued. "Hey, if mother was a queen does that mean I'm royalty too?" he asked innocently.

"No," Leia told him quickly. "She was elected queen so you wouldn't be considered royalty."

"You just want to keep your fancy title to yourself, don't you?" Luke retorted playfully.

"That's not true!"

"Sure it is. You love being the Princess, don't deny it."

"Fine, you can be a princess too Luke. Does that make you happy?"

Han watched the twins bicker good-naturedly with a sullen expression. I should be the one making her laugh Han thought to himself, realizing that Luke was assuming the role which Han had previously played in Leia's life. But she's the one who pushed me away Han reminded himself, this is all her fault, not mine.

"Han, you OK?" Luke asked, startling Han.

"Huh? Oh yeah, fine," he said quickly before getting to his feet. "I need to uh… check on something in the cockpit," he lied, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Frowning subtly, Luke said nothing, knowing that Han was just giving an excuse to leave the room. What am I doing wrong? Luke thought as he watched Han walk away briskly.