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Chapter 7- Fett's Work

A standard week had passed since his conversation with Vader before Boba received a transmission from a young officer on the Exactor, Vader's flagship.

"Boba Fett, Lord Vader has an assignment for you, but it can only be discussed in person. I will transmit our coordinates and expect you to arrive within six standard hours."

Boba nodded and glanced at the coordinates that he had received, noting that they were only a two hour jump from the Slave I's position. "Inform Lord Vader that I will arrive within three hours." Boba closed the transmission and left his cabin, he had to make the calculations for the jump and get Leia ready to meet Darth Vader.

Once they were in hyperspace Boba made Leia dress in just her black jumpsuit, forgoing the Mandalorian armour. Leia complained, as she had grown to love her armour and felt that it was an extension of herself.

"Why can't I wear it? You said that we were going to meet a client! And if we're meeting a client shouldn't I look like a hunter too?"

Boba pinched the bridge of his nose as he attempted to get Leia to do what was necessary without giving away too much of what was really happening. "Leia, we are going to meet a client, but you won't be coming on this hunt."

"What!?"

"This client is an old friend of mine who knows a lot about the Force, and has agreed to teach you in the Force while I go on this hunt." Boba held up a hand for silence as he could see that Leia was about to interject. "Wear the jumpsuit only, you'll be training in the Force, not using Mandalorian techniques."

Leia nodded and went back into her quarters to get dressed. As much as she wanted to join her father on his hunts, the lure of learning how to controll and use the Force was much stronger.

The two hours passed far too quickly for Boba's tastes. He trusted Vader, but he was still anxious about Vader meeting Leia. Leia was very different from Vader's usual companions, and Boba just hoped that his princess would do well learning the ways of the Force, and that she would maintain who she was through it all.

All too soon Boba was docking the Slave I on the Exactor, and preparing to board Vader's flagship. After ending the landing sequence in the Exactor's hanger bay Boba called Leia to join him as they exited Boba's ship.

As they descended to meet the stormtroopers that would escort them to Vader Boba noticed that Leia was tense. Her shoulders were set rigidly and she held her back ramrod straight with her lips pressed into a tight line.

"Relax, Princess. You'll do just fine."

Leia nodded and her shoulders lost some of their tension and her face relaxed, but she still held herself with unusual stiffness.

Instead of the usual routine with bounty hunters meeting Darth Vader the stormtroopers led Boba and Leia to Vader's personal quarters, a break in protocol that left the troopers befuddled but not daring to question the orders. Boba and Leia were escorted to the doors of Vader's private rooms, and the door slid open with a hiss revealing the black clad behemoth that was the dark lord of the Sith.

"Leave us." Vader boomed to the stormtroopers who immediately turned and marched back down the hallway far more quickly than they had made the march to Vader's door. The door slid back closed and locked with a click that echoed throughout the silent room making Leia shiver slightly.

"So…" Vader began, looking down from his incredible height at the diminutive form of Leia Fett, "This is Leia Fett."

Boba remained silent, knowing that Vader did not need or want a reply. Leia had slowly been inching closer to Boba during the time that Vader had been assessing her.

"This is interesting." Vader intoned, a trace of curiosity and uncertainty audible even through his vocaliser.

"What's interesting?"

"I cannot see her in the Force."

"Do you mean that she is not actually Force-sensitive? I had been so sure…"

"No, I cannot see her at all. Even with those blind to the Force they are still luminous beings within it. Every living thing is connected to the Force even if they cannot see it. You, Boba, are blind to the Force, but I still see you clearly in it. Leia, however, is absent. It is as if she does not exist at all, but I can see her with my eyes. It is bizarre, there is only one thing that I know of that is a possible explanation. Leia, can you sit down and focus on me? Allow yourself to relax, and focus your mind on opening to me."

Leia at down near Boba's feet and closed her eyes. What had Vader meant by opening her mind to him? Was there some strange trick to it? How could he expect her to be able to do this, she didn't have any training.

"Don't think, Leia. Just feel, reach for me, view me as safe, and open your mind."

Leia squeezed her eyes shut even tighter and tried to push thoughts out of her head, but they kept coming. Her anxiety rose as she worried that Vader would find her unworthy of training and that her dad would be disappointed in her and… "I can't!" she cried, burying her head in her arms against her knees.

"It's alright, Princess…" Boba started, but was cut off by Vader.

"Perhaps that way of explaining it was not the best for you. Here," Vader knelt down infront of Leia and extended his arms toward her, "Put your hands in mine." Leia hesitantly placed her tiny hands in Vader's huge ones and he curled his fingers around hers, holding her hands firmly, but gently. "Now, can you picture your mind, all of your thoughts and feelings, as being in a huge lake? Some things like your name floating close to the surface, and other things like secrets hidden deep below the water."

Leia nodded her head, her eyes closed again as she pulled her thoughts into order.

"Now build a lake shore in your mind, everything outside of yourself is on the shore, other people can be there, they can see you, but not your thoughts."

A few minutes later Boba heard Leia gasp, "There's something there! A little ball of light on the sand near the water."

"That's me Leia. You did it." Vader said, praise evident in his voice, "You let down one block that you had on your mind. You were employing an extremely advanced technique in the Force called shielding. I don't know how you managed it without training, but it keeps other Force-sensitives from being able to see you in the Force. From what I can see you are an extremely powerful being, you just need to hone and practise your skills using the Force." Vader then rose, still holding one of Leia's hands in his, and turned to Boba, "The hunt you will be on may take some time, but Leia and I will put the duration to good use. Here is the puck."

Boba took the small bounty puck from Vader's outstretched hand and clipped it to his belt before kneeling down in front of Leia and spreading his arms. Leia let go of Vader's hand and ran into Boba's arms. "I'll miss you, Princess." Boba said as he hugged her tight. Leia sniffled and buried her head in Boba's shoulder. "Be good, and try your best to learn from Lord Vader. I'll be back before you know it. I love you Princess."

"I love you too, dad." Leia croaked, tears staining her cheeks as Boba pulled her arms from around his neck.

"Dry those tears, Princess. You'll learn so much that the time will just fly by. And I won't be gone long, you know that your dad doesn't take long to capture scum." Boba said while ruffling Leia's hair as he stood up. "Goodbye Princess."

"Goodbye dad."

Boba left Vader's quarters and began to head back to the hangar, not bothering to wait for the escort of stormtroopers.

Leia turned back to Vader after Boba left, and stood still awaiting instructions.

"Come with me Leia." Vader led her through a small hallway and into a room that was completely bare except for some cushioned mats on the floor. "Sit on one of the mats, today I will teach you to meditate, then I'll show you your quarters."

Leia sat down on one of the black mats and crossed her legs in front of her. She spent the next few hours learning how to clear her mind and focus only on the Force. During the time she spent meditating she noticed her senses heightening, she became hyper-aware of every movement that Vader made, even with her eyes closed she could almost see him. She could feel the thrum of life throughout the ship too, she now knew that the section of the ship that she was in contained no living beings aside from herself and Lord Vader. Leia loved the thrill that this newfound connection to all life gave her, and was disappointed when Vader's voice pulled her out of her meditation.

"You learn quickly, Leia. I've never seen someone dive so deeply into meditation that quickly before. As you practise you'll get better, until even in the heat of battle you could fall into meditation to channel the Force. I want you to meditate every night before you sleep, and join me for meditation in this room every morning before breakfast." Vader glanced over to see Leia nod before continuing. "This corridor contains training rooms. There is this meditation room, a room to practise using the Force, as well as a lightsaber training room. You may use the meditation room whenever you wish, but for now you will only use the other two rooms with my supervision. This hallway also connects my quarters to yours."

Leia followed Vader through the hall to the rooms that would be hers. Vader showed her the different rooms in her quarters, and then left her to prepare for bed. There was a small case on her bed that contained her clothes and hygiene supplies, she assumed that Vader had stormtroopers bring it up from her dad's ship while she was practising meditation. Leia took a shower, cleaned her teeth, and put her pyjamas on before sitting on the bed in a meditative pose and began to clear her mind.

Vader left Leia in her rooms and proceeded to his own quarters. Leia puzzled and enthralled him, when he had agreed to see if she could be trained it had been as a favour to Boba Fett, but now he found himself intrigued by Fett's young daughter. Shielding oneself from view in the Force was no easy feat, for Leia to shield like a master required an extraordinary amount of both power and will.

Another thing that he found curious was her Force signature. When she finally managed to take down her shields he had brushed her presence in the Force, and what he found shocked him. She mirrored his own Force signature so closely that it both terrified and intrigued him, feeling her presence in the Force was like looking into a mirror and seeing a slightly more diplomatic version of himself. Vader filed this information away to be mulled over another time and began his own preparations for sleep.

Author's Note: Hi everyone, I'm back! I'm so sorry for the long break between chapters, I had a lot going on, but I should be back now! Thank you to everyone who has favourited, followed, and/or reviewed this story. Reviews are a fanfiction author's only compensation, so please leave one.

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Eponine-Skywalker7