Lady Vader asks Princess Ana a question that quickly takes an unexpected turn.

Takes place when Lady Vader is about seven/eight years old and Princess Ana is five/six years old.

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Ana shifted in her seat as she mentally recited her lessons in her head; she felt a little smug that she knew how to act properly when Lady Vader did not act in the slightest like someone that stood to inherit a government that covered a large chunk of the known galaxy; she was hunched over some junk that she was cleaning.

"Do you think 'Leia' is a pretty name?" Lady Vader asked her suddenly from where she sat; untangling a mess of wires.

"Why do you want to know?' Ana asked; puzzled.

Lady Vader shrugged as she twisted the ends of two wires between her fingers. "Just curious." She said.

Ana felt a frown form on her face, Lady Vader had interrupted her to ask her about a silly name?

Mentally she went through the proper answers and reactions to Lady Vader's question. She needed to answer politely and not show her annoyance.

"It is a name." She said noncommittedly before reaching for her datapad to go back to her lessons.

"So, you don't like it?" Lady Vader asked; her voice held some worry.

Ana internally winced, a noncommittal answer had not been the correct path, and thought of what advice her parents would give her if they were here to ask. Mother would tell her to be diplomatic and Father would tell her to deflect but the noncommittal answer had not gone over well; if she deflected she would have be diplomatic. She needed to decide which path to take. She was Royalty and therefore should not offend anyone or work hard to not be offensive.

She mulled the name over in her head and found she did not have an opinion on the name. It did sound familiar, but she could not remember where she had heard it before.

"Do you like the name?" She asked; deciding to put the ball back in Lady Vader's court and gain some insight to why the older girl was asking such a strange question.

"I asked you what you thought of the name; I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't already have an opinion." Lady Vader told her firmly.

"Then tell me what you think of the name and I will tell you what I think." Ana insisted.

Lady Vader glared at her and Ana began to regret her decision to deflect the question back at Lady Vader.

"Stop dodging the question and answer the fracking question your Royal Highness." Lady Vader spat angrily.

Ana gasped at the use of such a vulgar word.

"You should not use such crass language." Ana admonished Lady Vader.

"I wouldn't use 'such crass language' if you would answer my kriffing question!" Lady Vader screamed.

The door to the Emperor's Office opened and Lord Vader came striding out.

"What's going on out here?" he asked, anger evident in his voice.

Lady Vader turned to her father, anger sharp in her brown eyes.

"She refuses to answer my question!" She answered; her anger colored her words.

Lord Vader turned his blue eyes to her.

"What's your side of the story Princess Svetlana?" He asked.

Ana gaped; she was rarely called by her full name and everyone, including her parents, called her 'Ana' and the few times Lord Vader had addressed her he had used 'Ana'.

She had been taught it was best to not lie to Lord Vader.

"Lady Vader asked for my opinion on a name and I did not give a satisfactory answer and she became angry when I hedged answering the question. She then started to use crass language to express her anger." Ana answered.

"What crass words did she use?" he asked her, his tone was not angry just curious.

Ana hesitated, Royalty did not use vulgar language, but Lord Vader was asking her to do it, so he knew what kind of words his daughter had spoken, probably so he could punish her.

"She said 'kriffing' and 'fracking' My Lord." Ana answered.

"Is that true?" Lord Vader asked his daughter.

Lady Vader looked at the floor. "Yes," she admitted softly; ashamed.

There was a long silence before Lord Vader pointed to a corner. "Go stand there and consider how you could have better handled Princess Svetlana's lack of an answer in your opinion; now." He ordered.

Lady Vader quietly walked to corner and stood there. "Don't move or speak until I come back and get you." He said before he reentered the Emperor's Office.

Ana sat back down and tried to get back to her lessons, but she could not help but think of how poorly she had handled the situation.

'Leia' was a pretty name now she was not on the spot and could think. It sounded elegant yet dreamy.

After a few minutes she stood and cautiously made her way to where Lady Vader was standing.

"I think 'Leia' is a pretty name and you must think so to if you wanted to know what I thought of it. Whatever you give that name to is really lucky to have a lovely name. I apologize for not saying so earlier." Ana said truthfully.

Lady Vader turned from the wall, her eyes wide in surprise.

"And I'm sorry I didn't answer your question and swore at you. It was childish and adding expletives doesn't change minds; it just makes you look uneducated and dumb." Lady Vader told her, sounding more intelligent than anyone Ana knew to be about the same age; her tutors would be impressed.

"You better go so you don't get into trouble when my Dad comes out." She advised her before turning back to the wall.

Ana nodded and made her way back to her seat and went back to her studies. Part of her was envious that Lady Vader was able to call her father 'Dad' in public when she was required to call her parents 'Mother' and 'Father' in public.

What her life might have been if the first child her parents had tried to adopt hadn't died. She might be with a family where she could call her parents any one of the many short forms for 'Mother' and 'Father' no matter where she was and for it to not be improper.

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