Leia knelt beside Luke. She didn't know how to help him. He still struggled to breathe, and his stump was burnt and bleeding. Tearing a strip from the hem of her white gown, Leia wrapped his stump.

"Luke, please, hang on," she pleaded.

They both looked over as the sound of lightsabers clashing stopped; just in time to see Kenobi decapitated.

"No!" cried Leia.

"Ben!" Luke managed, reaching out his left hand towards his mentor, his face twisted in agony.

Darth Vader stood over the body, his lightsaber retracted, his fists clenched and shoulders heaving- rage radiating from him as he stared down at his former master's broken form.

Then he looked up at Luke and Leia. They both froze, instincts screaming.

The great black figure stalked towards them, lightsaber hilt in hand. Luke whimpered and Leia crouched protectively over him, her eyes never leaving Vader's mask.

There were distant shouts as the Millennium Falcon burst from the landing bay, R2-D2 and the plans safely on board. Leia's heart burned viciously as she imagined the Rebellion destroying this station. At least she had accomplished that, despite Vader.

Stopping, Darth Vader loomed over the pair, and it took all Leia had to keep her breathing steady; her hands shaking as she held the wrap around Luke's stump, the white material already turning crimson.

The sound of Vader's harsh breathing, Luke's pained inhalations, and the clattering of Stormtrooper armor as they encircled the group reverberated in Leia's ears. Her eyes still glared up at the man who had brought misery to the galaxy. The man who held their lives in his bloodied hands.

Vader's hand, the one not holding the lightsaber, rose towards Luke, and Leia knew he was going to kill her brother.

"Please," she forced out, fighting back hopeless tears. Everyone was gone; only the brother she had just found was still here with her. She could not lose him too.

She leaned further over Luke, trying to bodily protect him.

"Please, let him live."

Vader paused, his helmet tilting as if curious.

"What is he to you?" he asked.

Leia looked down at Luke, his clouded gaze going distant as he faded.

"He's, he's my brother," she forced out. She looked back up at Vader.

"If you give him medical care, let him live, I'll go with you. Willingly." Leia closed her eyes on the last word.

"No, Leia, no," Luke coughed.

She squeezed his shoulder gently and stood, looking up at Lord Vader. Her hands clutched in front of her to hide their trembling, she waited pensively.

Vader's mask moved between the two, looking at Luke for long moments while Leia held her breath. He could kill Luke now, and take her anyway. She knew that.

Taking a long, shaky breath, Leia lowered herself to her knees in front of Lord Vader, bowing her head.

"Please, my Lord," she begged, hoping her absolute submission would be enough to appease him.

There was a pregnant pause. Then the Dark Lord answered.

"Very well," Lord Vader said.

Leia collapsed forward onto her hands, gulping in air.

"Take the boy to my personal medic and see that he gets properly cared for," Lord Vader ordered the Stormtroopers, "Take Kenobi's body to stasis."

Lord Vader's heavy gloved hand rested upon Leia's head and she fought back a flinch, not daring to look up lest he see the humiliation in her eyes.

"Rise, Leia," he said, his crackling voice almost gentle.

She stood, her head down, and Lord Vader's hand moved to her shoulder, pulling her to his side proprietarily.

She watched numbly as her brother, now unconscious though still breathing, was put on a gurney and taken away.

At least Lord Vader was known for keeping his word. Unlike Tarkin.

The reminder nearly sent her to her knees once again, and she wavered on her feet.

"Come," Lord Vader ordered, sliding his hand down to her arm, encircling her back. His black cape drifted around her side, and she felt like she was being swallowed up by his darkness.

He steered her around Kenobi's cooling body, the cape hiding the gruesome sight as she kept her eyes firmly on the floor in front of her.

She didn't want to look up. She didn't want to see the leers, and sometimes pity, she felt from the Stormtroopers and officers that now surrounded them.

They entered the lift, and as it rose Leia stomach churned. She was with Lord Vader. Willingly.