Leia paced outside one of the Ewok huts, nervously picking at her fingernails. She heard Bail Organa's voice playing on the holoprojector, and within another minute or two Tess would no everything. Had she made the right choice? It pained her to go against her father's wishes, but Tess was older now and the circumstances were not what Bail expected. At the rate they were going, as much as Leia hated to imagine the Empire getting a hold of Tess again, hearing the truth from the wrong people was a very real possibility. Leia couldn't have that happen.
Just then, a warm presence calmed the princess.
"Leia?" said Luke, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Leia assured him quickly. She forgot that she could never fool this Jedi. Still, she wasn't up for explaining the Tess situation to Luke, so she pulled to a more westward deck where he couldn't hear Bail Organa's holocron message.
Ever the intuitive one, Luke seemed to understand that Tess was not a topic of conversation that Leia wanted to get into. Besides, Leia sensed something else on his mind.
"What is it?" the princess inquired. Luke smiled slightly.
"I do believe the last time you asked me that," the Jedi Knight reminded her. "I told you to ask me again sometime. I guess now is better than ever, huh?"
Leia readily welcomed the distraction from whether or not she was doing the right thing for Tess. Seeing he had her attention, Luke gained the courage to ask her a question.
"Leia…" he began. "Do you remember your mother? Your real mother?"
"Just a little bit," Leia said after a moment. She wasn't expecting that. "She died when I was very young." That was a bit of an understatement. Leia was told that Padme Naberrie died soon after childbirth. Still, somehow Leia remembered her mother.
The Jedi was surprisingly eager.
"What do you remember?"
"Just…images really," Leia told him. "Feelings." She could tell on Luke's face that he wanted more. The princess closed her eyes. She imagined the woman she often saw in her dreams ever since her adoptive mother died. "She was very beautiful," the young woman continued. "Kind. But…sad." The princess eyed Luke again. "Why are you asking me this?"
Luke sat down on the rail of the bridge, looking down.
"I have no memory of my mother," he confessed sadly. "I never knew her."
This was very unlike Luke. He rarely talked about the many friends and family they had lost—particularly during the past four years. Something was wrong.
"Luke, tell me," Leia insisted. "What's troubling you?"
"Vader's here," Luke informed her. "Now. On this moon."
Leia thought she heard him wrong at first. What did that have to do with anything?
"How do you know?" she asked, a chill running down her spine at the recollection of that dark mask that destroyed everything she had ever known.
"I felt his presence. He's come for me. He can feel when I'm here," he explained. "That's why I have to go. As long as I stay, I'm endangering the whole mission."
Leia knew better than to doubt Luke by now. If he said Darth Vader was here, then Vader was here.
"What about Tess?" Leia asked urgently. "Can he sense her?"
"I don't know," Luke said honestly. "All I know is that I have to face him."
"Why?" queried the princess.
Luke grew silent for a moment. Leia could feel a sort of darkness about him. Finally, he spoke.
"He's my father."
The air caught in Leia's throat. No. There was no way. Someone as kind and good as Luke could not possibly come from a cruel, heartless monster. Leia was speechless.
"There's more," Luke assured the princess—though she had hardly processed the last revelation. "It won't be easy for you to hear it, but you must. If I don't make it back, you and Tess are the only hope for the Alliance."
"Luke, don't talk that way," Leia interjected. "You and Tess have powers…I don't understand—and could never have. And Tess—if I have anything to say about it, she will never have to see Vader again."
Luke frowned. He obviously didn't want Tess in danger either. He decided to address her later comment first, since his Padawaan was a touchier and more difficult subject.
"You're wrong, Leia. You have that power, too," the Jedi promised Leia. "In time, you'll learn to use it as Tess and I have." Luke looked down in thought. "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And…my sisters have it."
Leia just stared at him. Her brain told her mouth to say that it was impossible—ridiculous—but somehow, in her heart, she knew that Luke was right. Their connection—it was a connection between siblings. Brother and sister. Like her connection with Tess, but just slightly different.
"Yes," Luke assured the princess as he saw that she understood. "It's you, Leia. You and Tess—you're my sisters."
"I know," Leia gasped, astounded at the revelation yet amazed that she hadn't seen it before. "Somehow…I've always known."
"Then you know why I have to face him," Luke assumed. "For you. And for Tess. He will come after you if I refuse."
"No!" Leia protested. She jumped to her feet. "Luke, run away! Far away! Take Tess with you if you have to—you can't face him! I wish I could go with you—"
"No you don't," Luke insisted, taking her hands. "You've always been strong."
Tears welled up in Leia's eyes.
"But why must you confront him?" she cried.
"Because there is good in him—I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor. I can save him. I can turn him back to the good side. I have to try."
Leia bit back tears. Luke gave her hands a comforting squeeze, then suddenly his sister's eyes widened.
"Oh no…" Leia gasped, shaking her head. "No…no…no…"
Luke could sense what conclusion she had just come to.
"Yes," he said softly. "Darth Vader is your father, too."
"No!" Leia snapped. "Darth Vader tortured me, tortured Tess, and destroyed my home planet! He killed my father!" She shook her head furiously. "No, Luke. Maybe it's easier for you because you just had an Uncle, but Bail Organa was my father! I loved him more than anything else in the world—and Vader killed him!"
Luke allowed Leia to vent, standing silently.
"And Tess?" Leia inquired. "Is he her father, too?"
"I don't know," Luke answered honestly.
"But what are the chances that our half-sister's father was also a Jedi?"
Luke shrugged.
"Maybe our mother was sensitive, but I honestly don't know," Luke answered honestly. After a moment, a slight smile reached his lips. "Padme Naberrie…I wish I remembered her like you did."
Before long, it became clear that it was time for Luke to go. Leia did not want to let go of his hands. Luke did not seem to want to leave either, but he knew he had to. The Jedi leaned forward and kissed his sister on the cheek. After another warm smile, he turned away.
Luke disappeared in the blue night fog of the Endor treetops.