It was their wedding day. She was radiant in her white gown – or she would have been, had her liquid brown eyes not been filled with fear and sorrow.
She pulled away from him, stepping back to huddle against the side of the balcony. "How could you?" she whispered, her voice hoarse and accusing. "If someone told me that three years from now you'd be gone, I would have laughed. You said we would be together forever. You lied to me, Anakin. How could you leave? How could you hurt me? How could you kill Obi-Wan? How could you torture and maim our children? How could you?"
Anakin sat up in bed. His sheets were damp and twisted all around him, and he was covered in sweat. Her voice kept reverberating in his head.
How could you?
How could you?
How could you?
He untangled himself and stood on the cool floor. Grabbing a cloak from the wardrobe, he tossed it over his shoulders and strode out of his room and down the corridor, not bothering to button the cloak over his bare chest.
There was only one thing that could calm him enough to fall asleep again.
"I'm grounded, sweetheart," the holoimage of Han told Leia. "I have no idea when my parts'll be in"
She frowned, missing him. "Keep in touch," she ordered.
Han grinned and gave a mock bow. "As your highnessness wishes."
She smiled wryly. "Goodbye, nerfherder."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Leia shut off her comlink with a sigh, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her eyes. She should have gone to bed hours ago, but this treaty was really bothering her. As soon as Anakin ans Rieekan had arrived with it, Anakin had made a beeline for his room with a blinding headache, Luke following soon after with the same ailment. Leia now knew how they felt. The pounding in her temples hadn't even subsided during her conversation with Han.
Frustrated, Leia was about to call it quits for the night (or morning, as it were), she caught a glimpse of a shadow moving past her door, darkening the light that shone underneath it. Curious, Leia opened the door and peered out, only to see the hem of a long black cloak disappear around the corner, into the hallway that led to the gymnasium.
Anxious to get away from the treaty, Leia followed.
She arrived in the gymnasium to find Anakin engaged in a fierce battle with one of the droids she, Luke and Jix had built. The machine wielded two deep red lightsabers; Anakin had a bright blue.
Moving quietly, not wanting to distract him, Leia sat on a bench to watch, the black cloak she had seen discarded beside her.
After a minute, Leia was fully in awe. She had thought Luke's skills with a blade were impressive, but Anakin --
Anakin was awesome.
Leia hadn't known it was possible to move with such fluidity and speed. He was everywhere and nowhere, his blade never missing a beat, and doing everything with a grace Leia never knew existed. At times, it didn't seem like a duel so much as a dance.
Finally, the droid lay in sparking, smoking pieces. "That was beautiful," Leia commented with feeling, forgetting who she was talking to.
Anakin stared violently and whirled to face her. He simply stared at her for a few moments before replying, "Thank you."
"So why are you still up?" Leia asked, desperately trying to keep the conversation from descending into awkward silence.
Anakin glanced away as he used the Force to call the two red lightsabers to his hand. "I couldn't sleep." He paused. "You?"
"Treaty difficulties."
He groaned. "Don't remind me."
He waved a hand at the storage closet full of droids and one stepped out. He fastened the lightsabers to its arms, then looked back at Leia, who had remained comfortably seated on the bench.
"Aren't you going back to bed?"
"No." She gave him a small smile. "I'm going to stay and watch."
He tilted his head, studying her. Just when she started to squirm under his silent scrutiny, he asked, "Would you like to learn?"
Leia's eyes widened. "What?"
"Would you like to learn how to use a lightsaber? To be a Jedi?"
Are you sure you are the best person to teach that? It was her turn to stare. "Me?"
He smiled slightly. "Yes, you. You are strong in the Force, Leia. You would need training anyway. Why not start now?"
She recalled Luke saying something about her need to be trained in the Jedi arts, too. And she would have to face her relationship to Anakin sometime – she had been telling herself that for weeks. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.
"Alright," she agreed. "I think I'd like that."
A faint look of surprise entered his eyes; he hadn't expected her to accept. He disarmed the droid again, waved it back to the closet, and headed for the lightsaber cabinet. He hung up the two red blades and clipped his own to his belt, then took down two more blades. "Normally, we'd start with meditation, but it's too – ah, early for that." He handed her a lightsaber. "These are training blades. They don't cut, so we can practice without worrying about accidentally killing each other. If we use the real blades, you'll learn to pull your strikes."
She shot him a look. "Were those droids using training blades? And have they been programmed to pull their strikes if you miss?"
The blush that stained his cheeks was all the answer she needed.
He coached her through the parts of the blade, the seven forms, and a couple of basic moves before she began to yawn. Anakin called an end to the session then, with a promise to continue.
"Maybe during the day?" Leia suggested.
Anakin laughed. "I'll see what I can do."
They walked down the hall together. "May I ask you something?" Leia asked tentatively.
Anakin tensed. "You may ask, but I don't guarantee I'll answer."
Leia took a deep breath. "Do you like me?" She realized that she tended to avoid him, but the fact that he never attempted to seek her out unnerved her a bit.
Anakin stopped. "Whatever gave you the idea that I didn't?" he asked incredulously.
Leia shrugged, wishing she could take the question back. "It's just – well, you never seem to want to talk to me, or anything . . ."
He shook his head in disbelief. "Leia, when you become more in tune with the Force you will realize just how intimidating you can be. A rancor would keep a very respectful distance if you gave it the same stay-away vibes you've been giving me."
"Oh," Leia said, surprised. They resumed walking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to --"
He smiled wryly. "Yes, you did."
She looked at the floor, embarrassed, trying to wrap her mind around that fact that Anakin – over six feet of toned muscle, more powerful than anyone else in the galaxy, once Darth Vader – found her intimidating. But he understood, too, she realized. He would not bring up any topics she didn't want to discuss until she decided it was time to discuss them.
"Goodnight," she said with a small smile when they reached her door.
He smiled back. "Goodnight, Leia."
Luke jogged to the gymnasium, still high on an adrenaline from the flight drill he had just completed. The only downside was that Anakin hadn't been there; he'd taken to practicing with them lately, and his reputation as a pilot had already surpassed even Luke's. Today, however, he had begged off on a previous engagement, but asked his son to meet him in the training arena.
Anakin was right by the door, and as soon as Luke entered, he tossed him the training blade he was using and leapt out of the way, clearing a path from Luke to --
Leia?
He was so surprised that he was a hair too slow reacting to her attack, and she easily disarmed him.
"Luke!" she scolded as Anakin used the Force to retrieve the blade. "That was pitiful!"
"Agreed," Anakin said, handing the practice weapon to Luke again. "Try again."
"May I have an explanation first?" Luke asked as he followed his sister to the center of the arena.
"No."
"But --"
Anakin raised a brow. "A Jedi must be prepared for anything."
Luke gave him a look. "Are you sure you should be talking?"
"Hey! That was one of the very few rules I'm pretty sure I didn't break, I'll have you know! Now begin."
Leia rushed him, obviously trying to catch him off-guard agin, but he didn't make that mistake a second time. She knew a couple moves he didn't, and she was small and quick, but he was bigger and heavier, he had more experience with a lightsaber, and he was in better physical condition. He disarmed her in less than ten minutes.
"Good," Anakin said approvingly, walking toward them from the sidelines with a smile, where he had been watching. "Leia, watch your left side. You tend to leave it open. Luke . . ." Anakin sighed. "You're too used to fighting me. Leia's short; you don't have to hold your blade so high. You're only wearing yourself out more quickly, and because Leia has to reach to meet you, you're teaching her to do the same thing."
"Oh." Luke thought about that. "I guess I am."
"You are, son. There is no guessing involved."
"So how long has Father been training you, Leia?" Luke asked his sister. "And why didn't you tell me?"
"About two weeks," she replied. "And we wanted to surprise you."
"Which we accomplished quite well," Anakin added. Leia laughed.
"You should join us again tomorrow," she continued. "We meditate every second day, and I think tomorrow is the day." She gave Anakin a look that dared him to contradict her.
"She hates meditating," Anakin explained to Luke with a grin, "so I've informed her that she doesn't get a lightsaber of her own until she manages to levitate something at least the size of my hand."
"I say it should be my hand, since I am the one doing the levitating," Leia told her brother.
"Your hand is too small," Anakin replied. Leia wrinkled her nose at him.
Utterly amazed at how well his father and sister were getting along – and wondering how it had escaped his notice – Luke agreed to join them. He and Anakin usually sparred every day anyway; now he could really learn the ways of the Jedi.
The next day, after a successful levitation on Leia's part, Anakin presented her with one of the lightsabers from the cabinet. As she activated the purple blade in awe, Anakin spoke.
"There is a little tradition that goes along with building – or in your case, receiving – your first lightsaber. I went through this tradition many, many times; not just when I built a blade, either. Anyway, tradition demands that I lecture you about the importance and responsibility that comes with this honour. Tradition also demands that you roll your eyes as soon as my back is turned."
Leia gave a slightly confused chuckle. "Okay."
Anakin stood ramrod straight, folded his hands into the sleeves of his cloak, and spoke in a voice and accent that sounded eerily like Obi-wan Kenobi's. "This weapon is your life, Leia! You mustn't lose it. And don't tell me you can always build another one later – without your lightsaber, you may not have a later!"
Luke and Leia were laughing too hard to speak. Anakin stumbled to the side, as if someone had shoved his shoulder, but a grin continued to split his face. "You haven't rolled you eyes yet," he said to Leia.
She composed herself herself enough to apologize and comply, only to break down into fits of laughter again.
Anakin looked past his twins at the glowering spirit of his former Master, and began to snicker himself.
