Vader was silent as he watched Leia pitch her tent then build a fire. It was agreed as long as it didn't rain, he would remain out here while she slept in the tent. He planned to teach her how to fix the transmitter then he would keep his word and allow her to contact her friends. Something about her has been bugging him for some time. When he entered her mind, he was suddenly reminded of Padme. It was almost like Leia was his but he couldn't get a blood sample to prove it.
Something else was wrong and Leia was stumbling over her feet more then usual when she first showed up. She was shaking her head and gripping it from time to time as if she was in a lot of pain. Vader was beginning to suspect she hit her head in the crash and the helmet may not have offered enough protection. Leia placed a small steel grate over the fire placing a pot on top. She was prepared for anything and was beginning to remind him more and more of Padme as he watched her.
Leia stumbled again and nearly lost her balance. She glared at him as if he was the cause of her health problem. For the first time in a long time he was feeling concern for her but couldn't explain why. She walked over to him and crossed her arms. "Princess, are you all right?"
"Don't act innocent with me," Leia spat as her eyes flashed with anger. "I know it's you making me stumble all over the place."
"Do not accuse me of things you think I'm doing when I have given you my word I would not," Vader argued as he got a good look into her eyes. They looked slightly unfocused. "Did you hit your head in the crash?"
"I don't remember," Leia answered honestly. "How do I know it's not you?"
"I gave you my word I would not behave towards you in any ill manner," Vader answered as he grasped some grass between his fingers a little as he noticed she was beginning to slur her words a bit. He suspected she was beginning to suffer from a concussion. But to prove it to her, he knew it was almost impossible considering her feelings towards him. "You are beginning to show signs of a concussion."
"And suddenly you care?" Leia questioned sarcastically. "How sweet of you, Sith."
Vader watched her not saying another word knowing she didn't believe him, but he recognized the signs of a concussion. He used to get them when he was younger. "Leia, I wasn't always ruthless and cold."
"Really?" Leia questioned as she stumbled back to the pot. "You sure could've fooled me. You're a ruthless killer who cares about no one but yourself."
Vader watched her and shook his head as she continued to stir the contents. "Any chance you could throw me a bone later and give me a nutritional shake, or do I have to beg?"
Leia rolled her eyes. "I'll give your proposal some consideration later."
It was going to take some convincing on his part. At least he could go days without food if he had too. Vader leaned his head back against the tree as he waited for Leia to cool off. He had a feeling that would be a long time coming. She reminded him of him in his younger years, which made him wonder on what part of Alderaan did they produce firebrands in the Royal family? He thought about Fress and knew she was a bit of a firebrand herself. Maybe it was possible. "How are Fress and Ahsoka?"
"Why should you even care?" Leia questioned in an icy tone. "It's not like you treated them any better than the rest of us."
Vader remained silent as Leia filled a bowl and retreated into the tent and started making sounds to indicate she was enjoying her meal. "So childish."
Twenty minutes later she emerged from the tent and started cleaning up. He knew he wasn't getting any food out of this and knew she intended to starve him. That's until she keeled over and started vomiting. He closed his eyes and did his best to drone out the sound. He could heal her but he suspected she would never allow it while she was conscious. He would have to wait until she passed out first. The sounds stopped as Vader opened his eyes and he watched Leia rinse her mouth out.
Leia leaned against a tree and closed her eyes as Artoo rolled in her direction. "Artoo, do a vital scan, is Vader telling the truth?"
Artoo extended his antenna and Vader knew he was performing a vital scan on her. He waited for the results, but he already knew what the answer would be. "Concussions are no fun," Vader commented with a frown. "I had more than a couple in my younger days."
Leia didn't say a word as Artoo beeped in confirmation causing her to sigh. "So that's how you knew."
"Yes," Vader answered as he attempted to shift into a slightly more comfortable position but found he still couldn't move. He heard the leg motors straining against any effort. "At least allow me to heal you."
Leia opened her eyes and looked at him. "And allow you to get near my mind again? That is not going to happen. I don't trust you enough."
"As you wish," Vader sighed as Artoo rolled to his side and twittered and made rude beeping sounds at him. He didn't say a word knowing the droid was telling him off. "What's your problem, Artoo?" Why do I have this feeling they never erased the droids memories?
Artoo continued to beep and twitter at him as if giving him a lengthy lecture. Leia watched the droid and he could see the suspicion in her eyes as Artoo leaned back and projected a holo of Padme and continued to scold him.
Vader didn't say a word as he studied the holo. It was when Padme was pregnant and just before everything happened. "Artoo, turn it off, I don't need this now," He placed a hand on top of Artoo's dome as the image disappeared. The holo of Padme was a painful reminder on how it all ended and didn't have too.
"You know this droid?" Leia questioned as she watched them. "How do you know this droid?"
"Sorry Princess, I would rather not get into the details," Vader answered dropping his arm off the droid's dome as Artoo went to Leia's side. He watched as Leia stood up and approached him again with a nutritional shake in her hand.
"If I give you this, you won't bite my hand off? Will you?" Leia questioned as Vader shook his head.
"No," Vader answered as she handed him the shake. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Leia retreated back into her tent as Vader leaned against the tree. He still had to find Luke. Since Leia was in trouble, he had a feeling Skywalker would not be too far behind. He wanted to talk to him since he told Luke the truth about their relations.
Fress Colias stood on the bridge of Home One. She was very concerned about Leia and she had a bad feeling settle into the pit of her stomach. Leia missed her check in four hours ago. She chewed on her lower lip as she caught sight of Ahsoka Tano and Jess Shern entering the bridge.
"Still no word?" Ahsoka questioned with a concerned expression.
"No and she is now four hours late checking in. I have a bad feeling about this," Fress answered honestly as Ahsoka and Jess exchanged a worried expression.
"Leia can take care of herself," Jess pointed out in a reassuring tone as he wrapped an arm around Fress's shoulders. "I'm sure she's fine."
Fress gave a slight nod as she leaned into Jess. The nagging feeling wouldn't leave her. Something wasn't right. "Jess, I can't shake the feeling that something went wrong."
"General, we have chatter on the Imps channel," a lieutenant shouted across the bridge from where he was sitting at the communication station.
"Yes Lieutenant Ferns?" Fress questioned as she turned her attention to the man as he stood up.
"Vader was chasing an X-wing when they lost communication with him," Ferns reported with a frown. "They assumed it was Skywalker's X-wing…"
"Do we have their last known coordinates?" Fress questioned as she glanced at Ahsoka who looked equally worried. And now father and daughter were stranded on the same planet? Fress's stomach twisted at the thought as Jess sucked in a sharp breath. She hoped Leia was all right. She feared on how Vader would react if he ever discovered that Leia was his daughter.
"Last known coordinates were five hours ago, Vader reported tracking the X-wing to a planet but he's gone silent as well," Ferns answered with a frown. "Planet unknown, the coordinates are one hour from the last known communication. They're organizing a rescue mission by sending out probe droids to find out which planet they crashed on."
"Way to go, Anakin," Ahsoka muttered under her breath causing Fress to shoot her friend a warning glare.
"Coordinates to last known communication? It's the place to start searching," Fress ordered as Mon Mothma entered the bridge.
"Belay that order, Lieutenant," Mon spoke causing Fress to raise an eyebrow, "I know how you feel about Leia, but we have to assume the worst. She's in enemies hands."
"We don't know that for sure," Fress argued as she felt the urgency to go to Leia's rescue. "This is our chance to capture Vader before the Imperial forces reach him. With him captured we have a better chance of going after Palpatine."
"Although I agree, you can't put the entire force at your disposal for a single rescue mission," Mon Mothma explained patiently.
"We're all going, just the three of us," Ahsoka spoke up from standing beside Luke. "Fress, Jess, and I can handle this. We'll draw less attention with three fighters vs an entire fleet."
"Count me in," Luke spoke up as Fress shook her head no.
"Sorry Luke. You're still recovering from your injury. You need to stay here and practice everything Yoda taught you," Fress pointed out gently. "It's best if you leave it to us. We can handle Vader."
"Fress, Vader told me something back on Cloud City," Luke pointed out as Fress turned her attention to Luke. "He told me to ask you if I didn't believe him. He used the word traitorous friend and apprentice."
Fress bit on her lip as she glanced at Ahsoka and Jess. This wasn't the place to be discussing about Anakin's betrayal or Luke's relationship to him. "This isn't the time or place."
"It's true, isn't it?" Luke questioned as Ahsoka walked up behind him and wrapped her hand over his mouth before he could speak a word further.
"Don't say another word, kid. This isn't the place," Ahsoka explained as she released her hand.
Luke's eyes widened in shock as Fress turned her attention to the Lieutenant who had a confused expression on his face. "Lieutenant, download the last known coordinates into Saber within the hour."
"Yes General," Ferns answered in a clipped tone as he went back to scanning the Imperial channels.
"Let's go somewhere and talk a little more in private," Fress suggested as Ahsoka released Luke and followed Fress and Jess out. She glanced over her shoulder at Luke who looked crest fallen. She had a feeling he already put the pieces together in his mind about Vader. That was only half of it. Wait until he finds out he kissed his sister back at the Hoth base. Jess showed her the holo he took of the two lip locked in his recovery room. She had to admit, having some leverage over Leia wasn't a bad idea. Sometimes the girl was almost too stubborn for her own good.