Chapter Thirty Six:
"Hello Leia."
She stared, unable to formulate words, and Luke worried at his lip, waiting in unbearable silence for his sister to say something. Anything at this point would do.
Luke finally could take the silence no longer, and opened his mouth to speak once more when Leia abruptly collapsed.
"Leia!" Luke cried, leaping forward to catch her before she could strike her head on the ground.
He barely managed it, and Luke carried his limp sister to the couch, where he carefully laid her flat. He left her side briefly to grab a bowl of water and a rag to tend to her forehead with.
When he returned, he knelt at her side and gingerly prepped his rag, placing it to her forehead to try helping wake her up. Guilt churned his stomach at her reaction, but he knew he couldn't do anything about the past.
The minutes clicked by, each gratin gon his nerves to the point where he started to carefully nudge her.
"Leia?" Luke whispered, trying to touch her spirit with his in the Force. "Come on, wake up..."
Leia stirred, and Luke's breath caught while he gazed at her face expectantly.
Leia slowly lifted her eyelids, her mind sluggishly working to reorient itself after her fainting spell. There had been... a red haired young woman... a castle... and then...
Leia's breathing stopped, and she swallowed, waiting for this all to have been a bad dream. But as her vision came into focus, she was unable to miss the blue eyes staring at her from under a shock of dark-golden hair.
For a time she simply stared, part of her unable to accept what was right in front of her before she gave up trying to be ornery, and spoke.
"...Luke?" she whispered tremulously.
He let out a shaky half-laugh and nodded, his eyes bright with sudden moisture. "It's really me, Leia."
Leia lifted a hand, and her brother held patiently still as she used trembling fingertips to touch his face. She first made contact with his cheek, running her fingers along the bone to his temple, up to his forehead, down his nose and then finally touched his chin. All along the way she met with warm, soft flesh, lastly feeling the pulse in his artery before she accepted it.
Her eyes flooded with tears, and Leia abruptly sat up, throwing her arms around Luke's neck. "Oh Luke!"
She sobbed into his shoulder, and he held her tightly, weeping openly into her brown tresses. "...Leia, oh Leia." He choked. "I've missed you so much!"
Leia hiccupped a sob. "Y-you have missed me?" She challenged half-heartedly.
Luke cracked a tiny smile at her words, and only held her tighter. "I'm okay, Leia... I'm okay."
They held to each other for an unknown time, neither one caring about anything else in the galaxy as they simply reveled in their twin bond and the love they shared as siblings.
At some point, and on an unspoken cue, they pulled apart enough for Leia to gaze at his face, and she placed a chaste kiss to her brother's cheek. Luke smiled gratefully and tugged her up.
He sat beside his sister on the couch and offered Leia a glass of water and a tissue.
"Thank you," she murmured as she accepted both. She dabbed at her face before sipping at the cool liquid. Finally, when she was collected enough to speak, Leia looked to him. "What really happened that day?"
Luke looked down somewhat pensively. "I knew Father was going to send me to sublevel twelve, and so I planned my escape with Nella. She was the one who executed it all. She got me all the way to the battle in space before the ship blew." He glanced up at her. "This is what Nella told me, mind you, as I was unconscious after her fight with the sentinel droids down below."
Leia nodded her understanding, though she had no clue who Nella was except for a remembered snippet of conversation from her brief time with Luke in the dungeons. Seeing her gesture, Luke continued. "Anyway, she thought we were goners. And we would have been, but Nella managed to just barely seal my flight suit and helmet to give me a slim chance of surviving in the hard vacuum of space. But then Mara arrived, snatched us up and we were on our way here."
He saw Leia's frown at the name. "Who's Mara?"
Luke smiled somewhat. "Mara Jade is the one that brought you to me."
Leia's mouth opened... and then shut again as she tried to think of just how she felt about all that now that she knew why it had happened.
Seeing her reaction, Luke's smile widened unexpectedly. "Yeah, Mara can be a bit much for those who don't see past her shields, but she's really a good person at heart."
Leia's eyebrows lifted in surprise, though she managed to turn the expression into something teasing. Luke blushed faintly, changing the subject. "Anyway, Mara and Nella brought me to Maz, and she healed me."
Leia glanced around. "Maz owns this place?"
"Maz Kanata, and yes. She... she understands the Force, Leia," Luke told her, drawing his sister's chocolate gaze back to his own. "She also knows someone who can train me in the Light Side of the Force."
Leia studied her brother silently for a time, processing. "You want to be a Jedi?"
Luke straightened. "I do."
Leia pursed her lips, contemplating further before she smiled gently and laid a hand over one of his. "Then train with the... Jedi Master I presume?"
Luke shrugged. "I would assume so, but she won't clarify yet. And... thank you for supporting me."
Leia squeezed the limb of his she already held. "I will do my best to support you in all that I can from now on."
Luke turned his hand in hers. "And I promise the same thing to you. Besides, with my supposed death, I can train and work without fear of being discovered as before. I can stick to the shadows and come into the light when it's time for me to do so."
Leia tilted her head. "What, exactly, will you be training for?"
Luke's gaze slid away solemnly, and his voice lowered. "Leia... I love our parents. Despite all their... flaws, they are still our mother and father. But I will no longer sit back and let their tyranny reign unchecked. I will bring an end to it. One way, or another."
Leia heard the quiet conviction in his voice, felt it in the Force and knew her brother was completely serious. And she believed him; believed he could do what he claimed. She lifted his chin, waiting until he looked her in the eye.
"I too have begun that fight. I joined the Alliance as a double agent," Leia informed him. She was immensely grateful when Luke didn't condemn her in any way.
He took her other hand though, and held her gaze intently. "Let's promise each other that we will be as careful as we can be. We know what we are doing is dangerous, but it must be done."
Leia nodded once. "I promise."
He smiled lightly and released her. She was surprised when a small droid appeared, a tray of food on its arm. Luke accepted the food with a word of thanks, and the droid shifted to hover by the wall. Leia eyed it with undisguised interest, noting for the first time it wasn't moving on legs.
"Are you hungry?" Luke asked, interrupting her thoughts and indicating he was ready to share his meal. Leia's stomach betrayed her desire to be polite by growling loudly, and Luke chuckled at her blush. "I think that's a yes. Come on, Maz's cooking is to die for."
Leia only hesitated long enough for Luke to split everything on the plate in two portions and hand her a utensil before she dug in. When the food hit her tongue, Leia's eyes slid closed in delight.
"Stars, you weren't kidding!" Leia took a few more eager bites. "This is delicious!"
Luke smiled knowingly and ate his own meal. "I've been spoiled by her food."
Leia laughed and they ate in companionable silence. When they finished, they also split the dessert, and finally sat back with audible sighs.
Leia returned to eyeing the droid, who watched her in return. Leia frowned at the calm, quiet nature of the thing, and wondered at the craftsmanship required to build such a unique droid.
"That's quite the droid there," Leia murmured, not seeing Luke's expression.
"She is, isn't she?" he seconded with just a hint of pride.
Not truly hearing him, Leia merely went on. "It's not even touching the floor; it's sleek, clean, somehow a touch feminine... it looks like something from a scientist's futuristic wish list."
There was a snicker next to her, and Luke spoke to her again. "Nella has proven to be quite handy, and utterly loyal."
Finally his words started sinking in, and Leia whipped her head around, mouth gaping open of its own accord. "That is Nella?!"
Luke smiled openly. "Yes. This is Nella. I made her while I was away with Han and Chewie."
Leia didn't know who those two were either, but she shouldn't have been surprised. Her brother seemed to have picked up a rather odd assortment of acquaintances in his time apart from the Vaders.
"Skywalkers," Luke whispered, hearing her thought and answering it almost without thinking.
Leia's startled gaze met his, and she tilted her head. "Where did you hear that name?"
Luke hesitated briefly. "From Grandmother Shmi."
Leia sucked in a breath. "You saw her too?"
Luke shifted, his face lightening with hope. He had been sure she would think him loony. "She appeared to you? I saw her when I was on Vestar!"
Leia couldn't help but grin in return, though it was a little bittersweet. "Yes. She told me who I really am, and I've taken up that name in secret."
"As have I," Luke whispered, taking her hand again. "Luke and Leia Skywalker. That is who we were always meant to be, Leia."
His twin nodded. "Yes. But for appearances sake, I need to retain the Vader identity."
Luke indicated his understanding. "That's smart."
They released each other again and Luke motioned Nella forward for his sister to get a better look. "Nella, this is Leia, my twin sister."
Nella bowed her domed head. "Forgive me making so much trouble for you, Mistress Leia, but I was under orders."
Leia waved away her words. "No, you did the right thing. And now I know why we found no footprints anywhere. You never touched the ground."
Nella hummed in pleasure. "No I did not."
"I must say you pulled off a pretty impressive feat." Leia paused, and then smiled slyly. "And I'd say Artoo likes you."
Nella didn't seem to know how to take that, and the twins laughed gently. Luke took pity on his mechanical friend and patted her shoulder."Leia is just teasing you Nella."
"Oh."
Leia straightened suddenly. "Wait, what about Artoo? He's still on Mara's ship."
At that moment a loud series of indignant beeps was heard as the same redhead that had brought Leia inside ushered a blue and silver astromech droid into the room. It was clear from the look on Mara's face that she was at the end of her patience with the astromech and so she barely managed a civil word when the thing rolled in.
"You can keep this thing for all I care," Mara bit out to Leia, and she promptly walked out, muttering under her breath.
"Artoo!" Leia leapt to her feet and went to the droid. "Are you alright?"
Artoo tweedled at her and she read his datapad translator. I am fine, but that charge disoriented my circuits somewhat. And she's not a very nice woman.
Luke shook his head. "She is, Artoo, you just need to get to know her a little more."
Artoo did a comical double-take, and Luke grinned happily, coming forward to lay a hand on his domed head.
DOOEEPP! Artoo squealed joyfully, rolling up and repeatedly bumping himself into Luke's legs.
"Hey now!" Luke complained with a laugh after a few times. "I'm excited to see you too, but that's enough!"
Artoo blatted flatly and zapped Luke in the thigh with his arc welder.
"OW!" Luke cried, though the jolt had been very light. "Artoo! What was that for?!"
Artoo shook an arm appendage at his master. That was for making Mistress Leia and me thing you were dead all this time!
Luke sighed while Leia took her turn to laugh, but he understood this was Artoo's way of saying he'd missed Luke immensely. Shaking his head at the quirky droid, Luke returned to the couch. Artoo took notice of Nella then, and Luke's amusement raised a notch when the astromech started to chatter with her.
As the moments passed, Leia returned to sit by Luke, noting when the droids left the room.
She eyed Luke, who seemed suddenly somber, his thoughts turning inward. "Hey, are you really alright?" she asked him, worried. "I mean, with all that... happened to you..."
Luke didn't answer immediately, instead fidgeting with his fingers. But eventually he sighed. "Yes... and no. I told the others I'm basically over it... but that was a little bit of a lie. I had plenty of time while down there to come to terms with it, but the fact that it happened at all bothers me. And of course I have all the memories... and sometimes I wake at night thinking I'm still there... I have phantom pains and such at times, and I have to remind myself that it's just in my head now..."
Luke trailed off, and his shoulders slouched. "How am I even supposed to deal with this? I want to just forget it, and I have."
"Then what's wrong?" Leia asked, cringing at how insensitive that sounded, even as she was a little confused at his logic.
Luke looked up at her. "I've been dealing with it completely on my own, that's the problem. Maz and Mara are great, but not exactly the type I'd feel comfortable breaking down in front of like that. Yet." He looked away, his eyes wet again and already leaking tears. "I've had no one to mourn with, no one's shoulder to cry on... I've been so lonely... so alone with only the memories for company. I... I haven't had the chance to properly mourn it all."
His shoulders were beginning to quiver, and Leia's heart went out to him. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him tenderly to her side.
"You're not alone anymore," she told him. "Let it out Luke. I'm here now."
He hesitated, but Leia held firm, bringing his head to her shoulder and offering herself as comfort. Finally his walls shattered, and Luke turned fully into her, wrapping his arms needfully about his sister and sobbing out his heartache.
His entire body shook with each sob, and Leia's shirt was completely soaked in the place his head was located, but she didn't care. She held him through it all, rocking him slightly every now and then as a reminder she was there.
He cried until he couldn't any more, the minutes ticking by unnoticed, and it wasn't until he'd deteriorated into ragged breathing only that she realized he'd stopped crying.
It took several more minutes for him to compose himself enough to breath normally again, though Leia soothed him without question until he pulled away. He placed a chaste kiss to her forehead before he pulled back completely.
"Thank you, Leia." His voice was slightly ragged, but Leia noted a marked difference in him now that he had truly wept his pain away. Maybe not entirely away— it may never truly leave him— but he was lighter now, better off.
"Any time, brother," Leia murmured, a gentle smile on her lips.
00000
Light-years away, on a tiny, paradise world that was off limits to all but the Emperor and Empress, Padmé stood before the huge array of windows. They were completely alone on the planet, their guards in orbit outside of a planetary shield that was only able to be opened by a select few persons. Thus she could wear whatever she wanted without the hired help seeing too much of her.
It was just she and Vader.
So it was that she stood in nothing more than a skimpy piece of lingerie that left very little to the imagination. She was on vacation, and had taken— and still did take— great pleasure in teasing her husband unendingly by wearing an assortment of lingerie that revealed her feminine physique in unique and playful ways.
And she knew her husband loved it, because much of their time had been spent in each others' arms.
Padmé now stood and watched the suns set upon another day: only this time, she felt different. She and Vader hadn't just been fooling around as others might have called it.
No, they had been actively pursuing their goal of raising a new heir to the Vader throne.
And finally... Padmé could sense, somehow, that their work had paid off. She rested a hand on her abdomen, checked the chrono and returned to the refresher, where her pregnancy test waited for her to read it.
She'd taken it moments earlier, after her suspicions had been raised by a few things, and now she stood staring at the answer.
A smile crept its way up her face without abandon, and Padmé laughed openly for a few seconds before she turned to find her dozing husband and inform him of the good news.
The Vaders' hold on the galaxy would indeed continue.
