Chapter Seventeen:
Darth Vader sat in his commandeered room that had once been Zolar's. The man had a luxurious taste, that was for certain, with silken sheets one could slide across, a plush couch Padmé would die for and a wampa-hide rug on the floor.
But Vader wasn't here for the decorum. No, he just needed a quiet place he could work undisturbed. He opened himself to the Force and began to concoct his false vision, sending it out along the Force to find its intended recipient.
00000
Asleep in his bed, Luke at first didn't register what he was getting from the Force, but slowly the images permeated his subconscious enough to draw him to awareness, and then he went rigid in his bed.
..."Luke... Luke help me!"
Leia was looking up at him from the ground where she lay, and then her gaze turned toward a figure in a mask and dark robes. Leia tried to back away, but with her injured leg and middle, she couldn't.
She was dressed as if for a mission, but the blood seeping into her clothes indicated just how seriously hurt she was.
"Luke!" Leia pled; something that ended in a shriek as the robed figure grabbed her ankle and began to drag her off. Leia fought and kicked but it was to no avail. She was dragged with terrified screams into a vehicle that took off with her, leaving a trail of crimson in her wake.
"LUKE!"...
"Leia!" Luke cried as he jolted awake, sitting up so fast he hit his head on the bunk above him. "Ow!"
Head now throbbing, Luke cringed and closed his eyes, placing a palm to his forehead as he tried to calm down. Had that been a vision of the future... or was it happening right now?
Deeply troubled, Luke stood and paced the room desperately, shivering as he had before with his nightmare.
"Leia..." Luke breathed in despair when he couldn't make any headway.
Feeling caged, Luke left the room, not noticing the set of pale blue eyes that was now watching him in a mix of concern and perplexity.
For whatever reason, Luke ended up in the ship's cockpit, where he sat and watched as the mottled view of hyperspace passed by. He was on edge, and hoping that the scene before him could calm him down.
He wasn't expecting for the communications console to beep. Blinking in mild surprise, Luke bit his lip, glanced behind him and then activated it out of sheer curiosity.
What he saw only made him feel worse.
There was a news report that had been sent to Han by someone named Lando Calrissian detailing how Han and Chewbacca had supposedly kidnapped Imperial Prince Luke Vader. And to make matters worse, there was Luke's holo clear as day on the page.
Swallowing, Luke bit his lip, looked behind him again and then with shaking fingers deleted the message.
Han and Chewie couldn't know who they had on board... but by deleting this, was Luke making matters worse?
Luke was rapidly losing his control, and to avoid damage to Han's precious ship, Luke left the cockpit.
The young man walked the Falcon until his frayed nerves refused to obey his command to remain calm. With a half-whimpered growl, Luke grabbed the training remote he had brought along and set it to the most dangerous level while its lasers set to not injure anything on the ship. Then he retrieved his weapon and dropped into ready-stance.
Luke ignited his ruby lightsaber and deflected the hail of laser-blasts that came his way, releasing his emotions into the action. His blade flew here, there, front, back, and through all zones as the remote shot at him from all angles and without mercy.
Not a single attack was missed, and Luke still wasn't sated. Once the remote shut down for the first round, Luke instantly set it off again. Tears began to roll silently down his face, his vision blurring, but Luke only delved deeper into the Force, trusting it to guide his every move.
He kept at it for some time, moving through four separate rounds of this before his quivering body finally forced him to stop. Luke fell to the floor amidst choked-off sobs that he could no longer hold at bay. Images of Leia being dragged off by an unknown assailant had him on edge, and yet... he couldn't shake the gut feeling that all wasn't as it seemed.
He still missed the surreptitious gaze of Chewbacca as the Wookiee watched him to see what was going on. Eventually, however, the Wookiee made himself known by stepping from the shadows.
Luke caught the movement in his peripherals and jumped, looking up as the towering being approaching.
Worried that the Wookie may have seen Luke in the cockpit, the human prepared for a scolding. But the Wookiee merely sat beside Luke and offered a gentle hand to his shoulder.
[You are a very troubled young man, even for a human, Velius,] the Wookiee commented without ire. [And considering I spend all my time with Han, that is saying something.]
Luke, despite the situation, managed a tiny laugh, but his mirth was only skin-deep. He shook his head, not looking at Chewbacca. "I... I am troubled. Deeply."
The Wookie studied Luke for some time before he spoke.
[Why did you leave your master in the first place?] Chewbacca asked.
Luke blinked at his tears, wiping away the moisture with his hand as he shook his head. "I've wanted out for a long, long time now, but haven't had the courage to do so. It wasn't until... my mission to kill you two that I had the... push I guess I needed to leave my... Master."
How sad was it that a son could no longer call his father anything but Master? Luke mused sorrowfully.
[But why?] Chewbacca pressed.
Luke blinked up at the Wookiee now. "What do you mean?"
[What made you so loath the life you live that you would leave it in such a manner?] Chewbacca clarified.
Luke stared for a moment, and then looked down in thought. Why not be honest about this?
"Because I hate what I am forced to do, what I have been trained to do... and who I have become under that training and the ever-watchful eye of the man I call master." Luke took a deep breath. "I hate killing for him, and I don't want to be evil... I want to be a free person who does good in the galaxy like... like the Jedi used to do. I don't believe the stories told by... the Emperor. The entire Jedi Order couldn't have been evil, right?"
Chewbacca looked to the youth. [Speaking from personal experience; no, the Jedi were not evil. They were honorable beings with the good of the galaxy's people at heart. They lived to serve the Force and help people; they were guardians of peace and justice, fighting to protect those who couldn't do it for themselves.]
Luke's eyes widened and he suddenly paid rapt attention. "You know the Jedi?"
[I did.] The Wookiee corrected sadly. [During the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Yoda helped my people to defend our homeworld from the Separatists. He was a good friend, and we loved him. I miss him, but he disappeared at the end of the Clone Wars. I do not know if he died, or if he managed to live and go into hiding.]
Luke looked down again. "Sometimes... I wish they were still around. The one time— and really the only time, since I learned my lesson— I mentioned Jedi I ended up in serious trouble. That's when my training truly began. I wasn't old enough at the start to realize it then, but now that I am older I can see that I was being brainwashed and worked to the point of exhaustion so I would forget all about the Jedi and think like Vader instead. But I can't... I can't be like him. I won't be like him."
[Ah...] Chewbacca rumbled gently, touching a finger to Luke's heart. [There it is.]
Luke blinked in confusion. "There what is?"
[Your true reason for being here right now instead of back with Vader,] Chewbacca answered. [All this time you've said you don't want to be, and can't be like him. This last time you said you wouldn't be like him. Won't versus can't.]
Luke took that in with a wide set of eyes, and then looked within himself, seeking to validate Chewbacca's claim. And for the first time, Luke realized that it was true.
"Wow... I... I never looked at it like that." Luke admitted softly.
[Someone I met once told me that things usually happen from a person's point of view,] Chewbacca told the young man. [You must choose how to see the world, and yourself.]
Luke nodded slowly. "Yes."
They fell into a companionable silence for a time before the images of Leia returned, and Luke grew solemn once more. "I really, really wish I knew the Jedi's art of meditation. I could really use some peace of soul right now."
[I am sorry; I cannot help you with that one.] Chewbacca tilted his head, bringing up old memories of his own. [But perhaps if you quieted your mind? From what I observed, Master Yoda was always calm, and he didn't let emotion control him.]
Luke lifted a brow, and then nodded slowly, considering. "I guess it's worth a try. Thank you Chewbacca."
[You may call me Chewie,] the Wookiee told the young man, squeezing his shoulder gently. [I know you've earned Han's trust, but now you have my respect.]
Luke dipped his head, his deletion of the file coming to mind. "Thank you..." Luke whispered, ashamed of himself for what he'd done.
He stood, needing an escape. "If you don't mind, I would like to shower and clean up before we arrive."
Chewie nodded. "Go ahead. We should be reverting soon anyway."
Luke managed a weak smile and stood.
[Who is Leia?] Chewbacca asked suddenly, and Luke froze, heart wrenching in momentary dread. Did the Wookiee know who Luke as after all?
But Luke sensed nothing like that in the Force and so he relaxed some, muttering out an answer and praying the Wookiee didn't catch the half-truth.
"My best friend."
Luke turned and disappeared before the Wookiee could question further.
00000
Damielle knocked on the door to the Empress' quarters, waiting nervously for admittance. She didn't know why she had been called before the Empress, but for some reason Damielle couldn't relax. She hadn't fallen behind on her reports, and she had so far done everything ordered of her by the Empress.
The young woman straightened her dress as the door opened and Irmé allowed her in.
"This way," Irmé said, leading Damielle to the office.
Damielle followed obediently, noticing the yellow-skinned man in the hallway as she did so. Frowning, and wondering what was going on, Damielle was let inside and then the door shut behind her, but not before the Ansionian stepped inside also.
Damielle frowned worriedly, but at a cough from the desk, the redhead remembered her place and turned to bow deeply. "Your Highness."
Padmé eyed Damielle in a way that only served to further set the girl on edge. "How have you been, Damielle?"
The young woman blinked. "Ah... I am doing well, Majesty, thank you."
"And you enjoy working for my daughter?" Padmé pressed.
Damielle tried to keep her face impassive, but nodded once.
"Good. And Leia has accepted you?"
"I believe so, Milady." Damielle shifted uncomfortably.
"Excellent. And you will continue to make friends with her. She will come to trust you." Padmé's words were a statement, and Damielle sensed that she should not answer, even as Padmé shuffled some datachips on her desk.
"I have a new task for you, Damielle." Padmé at last began, and Damielle straightened.
"Yes, Milady?"
"I need someone... taken care of, and you will be my helper in this matter." Padmé looked Damielle in the eye.
The redhead frowned. "Taken care of? You mean this person needs help?"
The Ansionian snorted behind her and Padmé spared him a glance, then met Damielle's gaze seriously. "No, Damielle. He needs to die."
The redhead balked. "I... y-you want me to... kill someone?"
"Yes," Padmé said simply.
Damielle's mouth hung open for a long minute, and she couldn't help but shake her head. "N... no! I can't! I am not a murderer!"
Padmé's eyes flashed and Damielle back-stepped warily. The Empress stood and leaned across the desk in a threatening manner, causing the young woman to swallow with difficulty.
"Tell me, Damielle, how is your family?" Padmé asked, and Damielle froze. "I hear they work a farm on Tatooine? It's ironic, because my husband has... family there as well that also farms for moisture. I suppose someone has to on that dust ball."
Damielle was trembling now, and she only nodded, unable to speak just yet.
Padmé stood up straighter and continued. "I also hear that things are not going well on the farm. The harvest has been almost nonexistent, what with their broken moisture vaporators and the lack of farm-hands since they can no longer pay the hired help. Things aren't looking so hot for them, Damielle. This is why you left them to train as a handmaiden. I know part of your pay goes to help your loved ones back home."
Padmé paused for effect. "Would you like to see them?"
Damielle's gut turned to lead and she didn't get a chance to respond before the Empress touched a key on her desk and a holo screen appeared above the desk to show Damielle a perfect view of her family's farm... held under armed guard by two squads of the Empire's elite stormtroopers, one Inquisitor and a heavily armed speeder.
"You will do this job, or things may get a little messy for your family," Padmé said.
Damielle gaped, horrified before she chalked up her courage. "No!"
Padmé's eyes narrowed. "You don't seem to fully understand: your service and loyalty to me for their continued survival. They will be supplied with food and other necessities so long as you are obedient to me."
Damielle glared at the Empress, finding her voice at last. "My family is proud, they won't accept charity!"
Padmé's lips lifted imperiously. "Your father wouldn't have... but we both know he is no longer around, don't we? He died two years ago from a Tusken Raider attack, and now you work here on Coruscant to provide for those remaining."
To Damielle's horror, the feed zoomed in to show her mother and young sister kneeling in the sands with several blasters pointed at them.
"So what will it be, Damielle?" The Empress asked. "Our window of opportunity is small, and I need an answer soon."
Damielle gazed open-mouthed at her family... her beloved mother and little sister, who was crying in fear while hunkering down next to the adult woman beside her. And Damielle deflated then, unable to watch her family be massacred because of her own stubbornness.
"Please, Milady... I can't kill someone," Damielle whispered. "Isn't there another way?"
"No." Padmé snapped. "Give me your answer or they die."
Damielle heard the click of several rifles, and even the added measure of the Inquisitor's lightsaber igniting. When her sister screamed in terror, Damielle cried out an answer.
"I'll do it! Just don't harm them! Please!"
Padmé smiled victoriously. "Wise choice. Your family will be held until the job is complete and I have proof of death, then they will be allowed to go about their lives on the farm while under the Empire's watchful eye."
Damielle's shoulders slumped, and she nodded, defeated. "Yes Milady."
Padmé gestured to the Ansionian, who stepped up and produced a vial. "I know you aren't proficient with any weapons that would be silent, so use this poison. Bail Organa will be at the Diamond Spectacular restaurant after his meeting in the Senate. Slip seven drops of this into his drink and then I want proof he's dead."
Damielle took the vial with a heavy heart and then nodded. "As you wish."
00000
Leia sat beside Bail in their meeting, listening half-heartedly as a senator across from them droned on about how his idea would vastly improve their proposition. Leia was of the opinion that the man just wanted to hear himself speak, and so she shut down, turning to Bail and receiving a small, knowing smile in return from the man.
Leia couldn't quite hold back an amused smirk, and so she hid it by taking a sip from her water glass.
Finally, two hours later the assembled group of dignitaries broke for the day and Leia all but sagged with relief. "At last. I thought we would never settle that proposal."
"Senator Yul has always been long-winded," Bail replied, looking to her with smiling eyes. "But he does have a few good points."
Leia sighed. "You're right."
Bail nodded once and eyed the leaving group. Leia did so also and noted the absence of one key member.
"Where is Mon Mothma?" Leia inquired, looking to Bail.
"She had to take a few days off for a personal matter," Bail replied somewhat evasively, and Leia got the distinct impression he was telling her Rebellion news. "But she should be back soon."
"Let's hope all goes well for her then," Leia replied in kind.
Bail eyed Leia. "Indeed. By the way, I am... sorry to hear about what happened to Prince Luke."
Leia thinned her lips, looking away in a moment of anger. They both knew the wanted-poster Padmé had sent out was loaded with half-truths. Luke hadn't been kidnapped at all, but Leia knew it was probably better for the general population to not know any differently. At least for now.
"I am too," Leia answered quietly, unable to hide her loneliness completely. "I miss talking with him... but at least I have you."
She risked taking his hand for a moment in a chaste manner that a daughter might do with her father. She felt Bail's surprise, but he responded by squeezing her limb lovingly before he released her since they were in a public setting and didn't need false rumors starting.
"Do you have time for lunch?" Bail asked as they neared their speeders.
Leia spied Sergeant Quane waiting by the vehicle she was to take and sighed. "I'm afraid I can't. I've been confined to the Palace whenever I am not doing Senate work."
Bail dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Alright."
They got to the speeders and to Leia's surprise, Quane stepped forward. "Princess, you've been granted permission to have lunch before you return home. Where would you like to go?"
Leia blinked in total surprise, but though she was a little wary, she smiled. "I will go to lunch with Senator Organa, since he just invited me along. Thank you Sergeant."
Quane nodded, getting the location from the Alderaanian and then taking Leia there himself.
00000
Damielle had her disguise in place and she was ready to deliver Bail Organa's usual drink order out to the table. The man and— to Damielle's continued dismay— Princess Leia had been at the restaurant for thirty minutes now, and the man had asked for a refill on his drink.
This was her chance, and Damielle took it, confident that her looks were altered enough that not even Leia would recognize her by sight.
00000
"The gift you gave me the other day is still in a safe place," Leia was saying as they continued their meal.
"Good to hear," Bail said of the spider droids they were talking about. "I hope they come in handy some day."
"I'm sure they will, but if there's some chance I need you to show me where to get more and I can't get you on the comm., who else can I ask?" Leia inquired quietly. The noise level of the restaurant, while not obnoxious, was enough to hide their conversation from ears not right next to their table.
"Senator Mothma is actually the one who helped me acquire the perfumes, Princess. I had to ask her which ones she thought you might like," he added a slight blush to sell his act.
Leia smiled some, and dipped her head, not looking up as Bail received his second drink. She did feel a stir in the Force, however and frowned softly, looking around for the disturbance. She saw the back of the head of their waitress, but though something seemed off about the person, Leia was drawn back to the present by Bail's voice.
"If I'm not available and you need help, she will be there for you," Bail was saying as he lifted his drink and took several long sips. "Don't be afraid to let her help you."
The brunette nodded her understanding. "I know I can trust her too."
Bail smiled. "Good. Oh, Winter wanted me to say hello... for..." Bail trailed off as something in him shifted ominously and he turned white as a sheet right before Leia's gaze.
"Bail?" Leia asked in deep concern.
The man looked to her, morbid fear in his eyes as he placed a hand to his heart and fell from his chair.
"Bail!" Leia screeched, flying from her own seat as people around them reacted in horror at the scene happening before them. "Someone call an ambulance!"
Bail was gasping for air and Leia could feel him in immense pain as his presence in the Force faded swiftly. Desperate, Leia reached for his spirit.
"Bail, stay with me! Please..." Leia begged, already crying as she lost her tenuous grasp on his life essence. It was bleeding steadily away and Leia bowed her head to his shoulder.
"Don't leave me..." she pled brokenly, weeping.
"Leia," Bail breathed in a weak voice, touching her head lovingly. "I have loved you... as a daughter for many... years now."
Leia lifted her head, tortured brown eyes meeting his fading ones. He was smiling at her like her father never had.
"And I've loved you as a father," Leia whispered, kissing his cheek. "More-so than my own."
Bail, since Leia was so close, kissed her forehead in return with the last of his strength. "Be... s-strong... Leia... You are... a v-very... special y-young L-L-Lady..."
Quane appeared then, trying to tug Leia out of the way, but she snatched her hand away, snarling at him to leave her alone.
She turned back to Bail, but the man was already going limp.
"No..." Leia begged in a broken whisper, touching his face with shaking fingers. "Please no..."
But Bail's head lay back on the ground and his chest went still, his eyes darkening forever.
Leia stared, open-mouthed, at his prone form, not realizing how she began to rock and cry harder until she reached trembling fingers to close his eyes. Then she bent over him and sobbed heavily into his chest, unaware of how Quane cleared the area for her privacy.
00000
Light-years away, Luke abruptly sagged in the refresher as Leia's immense grief hit him like a tidal wave. Her anguish called out to him stronger than the vision had, and Luke found himself slumping to sit on the floor, a hand clutching his heart as he wept for her. He didn't know what had happened, only that his sister was in pain like she'd never known before.
"Leia..." Luke mouthed around his tears, cursing himself in that moment for not being there for her, and praying she could forgive him.
00000
Damielle was also in tears as she returned to the Empress, a video of the entire ordeal in hand. Seeing how Princess Leia had taken the man's death had hit Damielle hard, and yet... she had a family to protect.
She was admitted without trouble into the Empress' quarters.
"You have proof?" Padmé asked, even as the news story played on the screen on the wall.
Damielle felt ill, but handed over the video and was forced to listen to it again as the Empress played it.
Padmé's private little smile angered Damielle, but she was powerless to do anything, so she only waited.
"You have done well, Damielle." Padmé praised. "You may go now, and I don't have to tell you to keep this under wraps."
"Yes Majesty," Damielle bowed and left, wondering how she was going to keep playing innocent with Leia now. She would have to work hard at it, that was for certain, and pray the Princess was too distraught to notice.
