That night Leia sat on her bed flipping through her datapad as her handmaid packed her things. She was hoping to find something new about the hijacked Alderaanian ship on the HoloNet, but even the fringe sources were silent.

"My lady?"

Leia looked up. "Sorry?"

Her handmaid dipped a small curtsy. "I'm sorry, my lady. I only wanted to know where you would like your jewelry packed."

Leia looked down at the glittering array of necklaces, bracelets, and hair ornaments on her bed. She was usually pretty disdainful of jewelry, but had acquired quite a few pieces during her tenure in the Senate. "Somehow I don't think I'm going to be needing them that much." She muttered.

"What about this one? I don't remember seeing it before." Rabé asked, pulling a small wooden pendant out from the sea of silver and diamonds.

Leia snatched it away immediately. "That one stays with me." She said as she tucked it into her pocket.

"I'm sorry, my lady. It just looks so different. I've only seen something like it once before, but it was on my homeworld."

"And where is that?" Leia asked.

"Naboo." Rabé answered. "But I haven't been there in many years."

"I see." Leia said softly. She reached up and touched the pendant absently. "Thank you, Rabé. I think I can finish from here."

"Of course, my lady."

Rabé curtsied again and left the room. When she was sure she was alone Leia pulled the necklace back out. She brushed her fingers gently over the carvings that had obviously been carved with care. What had the man called it? A japor snippet?

"She gave it to me about a month before she died. She never went anywhere without that necklace, but she wanted me to save it to give to her unborn child...of course, there's no way that she could have known, but I think somehow she guessed that something terrible was going to happen…"

Leia shoved the pendant back into her pocket.

She flipped her datapad back on. Nothing. There was nothing about the Tantive IV, nothing about a security breach on Danuta, nothing even about the missing Senator Organa. It was like the whole thing wasn't happening.

Except Leia knew better.

She pressed a small button on the underside of her nightstand. A tiny hidden compartment opened up. Leia reached in and pulled out a small object. She opened her fist slowly, almost cautiously, as though she still couldn't quite believe what was there.

Inside her palm was a small data chit.

XxXxX

The next morning Leia was uncharacteristically quiet. She loaded up her belongings and closed the door on her apartment with a strange sense of foreboding. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had a nagging feeling that she wouldn't be back. She didn't really even say much to her father. She could sense Vader's concern but she kept her guard up.

Once they were in lightspeed Vader opened his own datapad and pulled up a new report. He had always been the second in command of the Empire, but it seemed that his duties were always expanding. And this rebellion was not the weak collection of discontent star systems that he had once imagined. He had the feeling they were going to need to take more drastic action.

"You look tired."

Vader looked up to see his daughter watching him with sharp, observant eyes. "I'm fine." He said uncomfortably. Leia had a way of seeing things that he could hide from everyone else.

"What are you reading?" She asked.

"A report from Mandalore." Vader said as he shut the datapad off. "There are still cells on their moon that we have contracted to hunt down and exterminate any rogue Jedi Knights.

"But the Jedi were exterminated years ago." Leia said. "Surely there aren't any left."

"Never underestimate a Jedi. Their mastery at manipulation is surpassed only by their instinct to survive." Vader said darkly.

Leia had been barely alive when the Jedi Purges began, but she'd grown up hearing the stories- how the Jedi had risen up in rebellion against the Emperor and her father led the charge against them. An idea suddenly occurred to her.

"Father, instead of sending me to the Death Star, why can't I join the hunt for Jedi Knights?"

Vader paused. "Don't talk such nonsense, Leia. You are needed here."

"But why?" Leia pressed. "Luke is to be the next Sith apprentice, so there's nothing for me. Isn't that why you sent me to the Senate in the first place?"

"You were sent to the Senate because of your skills in diplomacy." Vader said evenly, but Leia could sense the growing anger in his words.

Anyone else might have backed down, but not Leia. She was stubborn in ways that she didn't fully understand. Instead, she scoffed. "Skills in diplomacy? You saw what happened with that assassin. My instinct is to attack first and ask questions later, that's hardly a suitable characteristic for a politician."

"The Jedi don't fight fair. And the ones who have survived this long are ruthless. What if something happened to you?"

"I don't need a babysitter!" Leia exclaimed. "You've trained me my entire life! Maybe I can't use the dark side, but neither do the Jedi and they must be powerful to make you so nervous."

She had touched a nerve. Vader stood to his full height. "You will not, under any circumstances, go after any Jedi. Period."

It seemed as though all of the frustration that had been quietly building up in her suddenly threatened to spill out. "Then what is going to happen to me?" She cried. "You gave me your lightsaber, you trained me to fight! I know that I struggle with the dark side, but I can't keep doing this! I don't want to just sit around and talk, I want to do things! I can help you, let me do something!"

"I will not take any chances with you fighting any Jedi!"

"But you've said it yourself, I am the equal of any being in this galaxy! I can hold my own against both you and Luke…"

"As long as you don't touch the dark side, you will never be strong enough!"

Leia was stung into silence.

Vader sighed. "One day, when Luke becomes a Sith, things will be different. And the Emperor...won't be able to interfere."

"But why can't…"

"Because you are not ready, Leia! Luke is not ready. Patience is one of the core values of the Sith. You wait until the moment is right, and then you strike."

Leia groaned. It was always someday.

XxXxXx

Lord Vader's shuttle docked in the main hangar with little fanfare. Vader was not flashy like the Emperor and did not require a large party to mark his arrival. Captain Piett and a small squad of stormtroopers stood alone in the hangar to mark their arrival.

Vader and Leia stood at the hatch, waiting for it to open. They had not spoken in hours and Vader could sense Leia still quietly simmering beside him. But when the hatch opened and the waiting men snapped to attention, Leia held her head high and exited the ship with dignity worthy of a queen. She did, however, walk straight by Captain Piett without a word and exited the hangar, no doubt headed down to the training levels for an intense session with her lightsaber.

Vader watched her go with something akin to regret as he was approached by Captain Piett. "Welcome, Lord Vader. We have been expecting you."

"Let me know when my son arrives. I will be in my meditation chamber." Vader said curtly as he swept past Piett and the troopers without stopping.

"Oh...yes, Lord Vader." Captain Piett said, immediately flustered. "As you wish."

Only when he was safely immersed in his meditation chamber did Vader dare to let his thoughts expand. Emotion flooded his senses as he let his mind scatter amongst the stars. He began to drift. He knew that it did not do to dwell on the past, but sometimes Vader couldn't help himself. Sometimes he needed to feel again. All of a sudden he found himself back on the fiery planet where the last remnants of Anakin Skywalker had been destroyed and Darth Vader had risen from the ashes.

"Twins, Padme." Anakin whispered. "Twins. And you were going to keep them from me."

Sweat beaded on Padme's forehead. Her breathing was becoming increasingly shallow and sporadic. There was blood...too much blood...Anakin wrapped her in his arms, wanting to take her back to the safety of her star skiff but he knew they'd never make it, for his legs had been neatly cut off at the knees.

He held her close to his chest and began to sob. The vibrating motion jolted her back to consciousness and her eyes fluttered open. "Anakin…" She whispered.

"Padme...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Anakin said in a broken voice.

She looked up at him, eyes wide open but unseeing. "Anakin…" She repeated.

She reached out a hand towards the wailing newborns when suddenly her arm fell limp and Anakin felt her entire body go still.

"Padme...Padme!" Anakin cried. He shook her, but she didn't respond. After crying her name over and over for several agonizing minutes Anakin looked up with blazing red eyes to where the body of Obi-Wan Kenobi lay some twenty yards away.

"This is all your fault! I hate you! I hate you!"

Vader shook himself, scaring the ghosts away. If he dwelled too long on these memories, he knew he might truly go mad. He had crawled in agony back to his starfighter, carrying his newborn children and he'd been forced to leave Padme's body on Mustafar. He told himself for the thousandth time that her ship had been crushed, there was no way her body could have fit in his fighter. This calmed him down a little, but Vader didn't even know if Padme's body had ever been recovered. Seventeen years later and it was still too painful for him to find out.

Composing himself, Vader reached out again, this time searching for his children. He could sense Luke, impatient as always, getting closer to the Death Star. And yes, down in the lower levels of the Death Star was Leia, her thoughts intently focused on the droid she was sparring with. Unbidden, a vision of her floated into his consciousness.

His daughter.

When he thought of her his heart ached. As fierce as she was and as brave as she acted, inside Vader knew that she was still a little girl. He knew that she felt lost, but he couldn't risk telling her his plans. That eventually, he and Luke would overthrow the Emperor and when they did, he would break the rule of two. Leia had not embraced the dark side as Luke had, but there were times in her training when the hatred would fill her and Vader could barely keep up with her. But then Leia would seem to realize what was going on and back down. It drove Vader crazy, but at the same time he knew that Leia wasn't quite ready to fully embrace the dark side. He also had to be careful. Having one child in line to be a Sith was threatening enough to the Emperor, but if there were two...no it was definitely too early.

But then, there were also times when Vader wanted to tell Leia the truth: that deep down he didn't want her to become a part of the Empire. That when he looked at Leia he saw her mother, and he couldn't bear to drive Padme away again.

It was a moment of weakness. He had to be hard on her. Only when the Emperor was safely disposed of could Leia fulfill her destiny. Only then would Vader finally feel that he and his children were safe.