Chapter 11

Bella POV

October 2005

Bella's first month as a newborn passed way too quickly.

Bella didn't give up and tried to think up new ways to contact Leia and switch back with her. But after one week of fruitless meditation she had to grudgingly admit that it might take some time. Edward had told his family that him and 'Bella' preferred some time alone so he could help her get used to her new nature but now it was time to meet the rest of the Cullens.

The more time passed the more antsy and short-tempered Edward grew and whenever Bella poked him with the second onion, his mood seemed darker. By the end of the week it wasn't unusual for her to find him just sitting under some tree, staring into nothingness, listless and melancholic. She'd made the mistake of telling him what kind of situation she'd been ripped out of and sharing her worries about how Vader would react to Leia waking up in her body. Now whenever Edward wasn't pestering her to try some other angle to switch back, he was starting to show signs of depression. She felt sorry for him, truly, but she already did everything she could think of.

Edward was against telling his family what had happened but there was also no way they could pretend that Bella was Leia. So instead they ended up claiming that Mario trying to brainwash Leia while she turned had had an averse effect on her that was harder to reverse now that she was a vampire during to her own unique gifts. Bella claimed amnesia, not remembering anything that happened to her since she came to Forks and so Edward introduced her to his coven as if she was meeting them for the first time.

Meeting the Cullens was a strange experience. The way they treated her, everything she heard, it was all so different from the novel Twilight. They asked her what should be done about Mario for example, a vampire that had betrayed Maria and agreed to help them clean up her mess to get away from her. Bella just suggested to let him go, because what could they really do? Everyone was surprised at that, apparently Leia had all those plans about punishing vampires who killed humans in the territory claimed by the vegetarian coven. Mario of course vehemently denied being responsible for Bella's amnesia but nobody believed him with Edward claiming the opposite. Then there was the wolf pack. Bella feared her turning might upset the feeble alliance they had with the vampires. Instead she got barrelled over by a whole pack of them. The boys, ignoring her natural 'stench', all wanted to play with her now that she wasn't 'squishy' anymore. They were positively crushed when she had to tell them that she had no memory of ever befriending them.

Bella also learned that the laboratory she'd woken up in was in use by Rosalie and Carlisle working on trying to make hybrid babies. Rosalie actually hugged Bella and promised her she'd gathered up a bunch of human samples like hair from her house to save it, in case she ever wanted to grow a baby out of it. Bella had no idea how to react to that!

While Bella and Edward were gone, Esme had bought a small wooden lodge deep in the national park for Bella to live far away from humans while she got used to being a vampire. Edward managed to convince everyone to let the two of them live there alone and roped Mario into accompanying them under the guise of working to undo Bella's amnesia. This should also serve as the first part of his punishment for helping Maria in the first place. They did later tell him that they knew he wasn't responsible. But Edward was still the only one who could keep an eye on him and tell if he changed anyone's thoughts and Bella was the only one totally immune to his gift. So Mario basically got sentenced to joining in Bella's journey to get used to vegetarianism and to help control the newborn when she had the occasional emotional or emphatic outburst.

Edward had been officially declared a victim of the Forks massacre as well. The Cullens did not expect to be able to remain in Forks more than two, maybe three more years anyway and nobody expected him to finish school while his mate was a newborn so he had all the time in the world to help her.

Occasionally Jasper or Alice would come to visit to help as well. Bella found out that all vampires (and wolves and probably humans too) had that thin film surrounding them that Bella could penetrate with her 'sprouts' to hand out Force-candy. But only Jasper, like Edward, also wore an onion. Edward's mindreading was like a gigantic dome around him that Bella could actually sense the border of when she passed through it. Jasper's emphatic ability was much more limited in range. His was a dome about five meters in diameter wherever he went and it felt similar to Bella's emphatic shield. The first time she met him, their shields bumped and bend against each other like two balloons pressed together. It was only when they consciously decided to make it transparent that they could feel each other's emotions. Like Bella, Jasper could extend and minimize his onion and thus change his range, though his default was bigger than Bella's, who could wrap it up around her like a second skin. Jasper couldn't help but feel the emotions of people standing close to him. At the same time, Bella couldn't extend her emphatic shield for more than fifteen meters, maximum, while Jasper could encompass an entire town if he wanted to. She also couldn't target people with attack-like emotions. She had to take her time to wrap everything up and slowly wobble it over to them, like balancing an egg on a spoon. The only exception was when she enlarged her emphatic shield to include others in it, in which case they felt everything she did, though not the other way around. Jasper could also fabricate emotions, to share things he himself did not currently feel while Bella had to concentrate on recalling memories that made her feel certain things and then share them.

Jasper was a great help in calming her when Bella struggled with the enhanced emotions her new nature came with. He was probably an even greater help to Edward though, who grew more and more morose with time.

Bella's time was split between hunting, trying to get her brain to focus during meditation, cheering up a depressed Edward, listen to Mario complain about his past coven leader and trying to figure out how to ghost.

...

December 2005

Bella had a breakthrough. She was trying meditation near a small waterfall, using the noise of the water to block out other distractions. As always her thoughts started to drift, making the practice useless so she started to play around with her powers a bit. Bella tried to stretch her emphatic shield as far as it would go and then grow out sprouts to reach even farther. At first she tried to do it in all directions and got nowhere with it. But then she tried to focus her feelers on just finding Edward. He never left her side for very long and didn't go very far. She knew he wasn't within her normal range but she wanted to know if she couldn't extend it. Suddenly it felt as if the sprout she used to feel was... blooming. From the sprout there grew a tiny flower that came loose and floated off the tip of her sprout. Yet Bella could still feel the flower, feel it very detailed as if it was sitting right in front of her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Edward's translucent form sitting in front of her. It didn't look like he noticed her presence. His head was lowered, his upper body shaking... He was crying. Bella's heart broke a little seeing him like this. As much as Bella missed her sister, it must be even worse for Edward. Leia was the woman he loved and he had no idea where she was, if she was alive or dead, if he would ever see her again. To make matters worse, he was forced to spend time with a girl that looked just like his beloved but acted all wrong and didn't remember him.

"Edward?" Bella said quietly.

Edward flinched and with the speed only a vampire was capable of, he'd wiped his eyes and looked around. When he turned towards her, his eyes widened.

"L-Leia?" he asked. He sounded so hopeful Bella felt doubly bad for having to crush that hope.

"I'm sorry but no... It's just me, Bella. I'm at the waterfall, I was trying to practice my powers..."

"Oh", Edward made and his shoulders sagged. But he caught himself quickly enough. "B-But this looks like you're making progress. I can see you like... like a Force-ghost I suppose. Can you see me?"

Bella nodded. "I was trying to extend the range of my emphatic shield and look for you and then this happened."

"That's good. That's... great! Can you reach Leia like that?" Edward asked hopefully.

"I will try", Bella promised. Her concentration wavered. The moment she didn't focus on the tiny flower, it dissipated and so did Edward's image.

Bella tried to repeat what she did, to extend her shield as far as she could and then look really, really hard for Leia. She tried it for two minutes - then she got distracted by her stupid vampire senses telling her stupid, useless things about her environment again. She tried again and again and then somehow Edward was standing in front of her, in the flesh this time.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm trying", she huffed, frustrated. "But I can't find her. Maybe I have to do something extra special if I want to cross dimensions or maybe she has to reach out to me at the same time. I don't know. I just get distracted by so many things."

Edward looked as if she'd declared his puppy had cancer.

"Well... keep at it. You'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeah", she replied disappointed. "Eventually."

...

March 2006

Christmas came and went and so did the new year. Before Bella knew it, it was spring. Bella had lost track of what day it was. Edward, Mario and her had become nomads traveling through the Olympic national park, feeding off its fauna. Sometimes they would meet the other Cullens or even the Denalis but most of the time, it would just be the three of them.

Mid March Bella had a near run-in with some hikers. Edward and Mario had to wrestle her to the ground together and she ended up creating a new clearing when she wrecked a few trees trying to throw them off. She was lucky that the wind changed after a few moments, bringing with it new scents that allowed her to remember that she was not a monster and should probably head away from the delicious scent. Afterwards, she apologized profusely to the two vampires. Mario was angry and a bit scared of her but Edward had barely any reaction at all.

"I prepared for telekinetic storms the size of a tornado when handling Leia as a newborn. This much is nothing", he explained.

It was an odd day when someone was disappointed she didn't accidentally destroy a national park because she was thirsty.

Bella continued to practice her powers. She was now able to ghost towards Mario as well and keep the connection for more than a few seconds. It didn't seem to matter how much distance there was either. She wanted to keep this particular ability a secret from the other Cullens, still hoping Leia would take her place again at some point. But she did make a visit to her father, Charlie.

She made sure that it was night time when she reached out to him. It was the first real conversation she'd had with him in years. They were both crying at the end of it. Bella assured Charlie many times that she was happy where she was now, that she'd made friends and could explore the world and that she'd continue to watch over him so he better not forget to eat healthy!

The next morning she send Edward back to Forks to check on Charlie. Though Edward had some trouble reading Charlie's thoughts, he could still get some bits and pieces and he confirmed that yes, Charlie had gotten and remembered her message and that seeing her 'ghost' in his dreams had deeply touched but also freed him of some of his grief.

The next night Bella contacted her mother René the same way. Her mom was a lot more scatter-brained, especially in a dream-state. There were tears here too and well-wishes and good-byes and Bella felt bad for lying but at the same time not really because she was dead and she would, hopefully, depart for a better world soon.

Edward became worse and worse. Sometimes he didn't hunt for days and the others had to deliver food to him they caught. Once Mario tried to escape. That however woke Edward from his stupor and he descended on the other vampire like a demon. He still hadn't forgotten that it was Maria's coven and Mario's interference that had lead to Leia being bitten prematurely in the first place. Edward was determined to keep him around until Leia forgave him or decided his fate.

Bella meanwhile tried to feed Edward Force-candy, the way she used to do with Vader to cheer him up. It didn't help him much though to share in her amazement of her new senses or any small joys she collected over the day. She didn't love him the way she loved the Skywalkers so her candy wasn't as effective with him. If anything it upset him that she could find any joy in her existence at all, as if that would make her try less hard to return to her galaxy. One thing that did help was when she send him hope. Hope was hard to come by with Bella making so little progress to contact the other dimension. But whenever she did have a new idea, something that inspired her, she made sure to share it with him. It kept Edward from going completely catatonic, if nothing else. That was all Bella could do.

During all this time she never got any sign that Leia was even still alive.

...

August 2006

"Edward is getting worse again. I can't get him to feed", Bella said quietly and sat down next to Mario, leaning against a tall pine. She had no idea where she was or what the date was. The days all just blurred together. On some of them Edward refused to move and just remained sitting in whatever shelter they chose from the rain the day before. This was one such day.

"Can't you, I don't know... talk to him?" Mario asked.

"And say what exactly? He's grieving... There's not much I can do. Being close to me seems to make it worse, sometimes."

"I don't understand what's going on between you two", Mario complained. "Maria was sure that you were mates. You said you lost your memory when you turned but you still talk about your parents and none of this vampire business seems to be as new to you as it should be. Why is he acting like the love of his life died or something?"

"Because, in a way, that's what happened", Bella said uncomfortably. She didn't yet trust Mario completely but he'd travelled with them for the better part of a year now. More often than not, Bella was more comfortable around him than Edward, who really could be infectious with his melancholy.

"I didn't loose all of my memories during the turning, just... just a few years. The years I spend with him. Now he's a stranger to me and I'm a stranger to him. But not all hope is lost. I had a talent, back when I was a human, one that I don't have now anymore. It mostly just triggered while I was asleep and I don't sleep anymore. I've tried to replicate it in other ways but there's been little progress. If I can get it to work though... Chances are I get to go home again... And Edward will get his mate back."

"So he's cursed to remain at your side, watching over you, in the vain hope that one day you'll rediscover your love for him?" Mario scoffed. "That's not going to happen. No wonder he's in such a sorry state."

"It might still happen", Bella objected.

"Bella, if you didn't have that shield of yours, you bet that he would've forced me to uncover those memories by now. Whether you wanted me to or not", Mario said with brutal honesty. "Vampires like that are dangerous. If he ever thinks you're not trying anymore, he will be dangerous to you too."

"I just... I need to figure out how to meditate long enough without getting distracted. I can only do two hours now but I'm steadily getting better. There's still... things left for me to try."

"Just watch your back", he advised her, "for when you run out of those."

...

November 2006

"Is there a way for a vampire to fall asleep?" Bella asked one day after her coven had satisfied their thirst on a small herd of moose. They were way up north, somewhere in Alaska and Bella was getting thoroughly tired of her existence as a vampire already. She still discovered new things every day and nature had never looked more beautiful. But there was just nothing for the nomads to do but travel around looking for large enough groups of animals to satisfy their needs. Occasionally when they passed near a city, Mario would venture out to bring back necessities such as clothes or a new mobile phone for them. But Bella wasn't yet trusted anywhere near humans and Edward was useless for anything that required him to stop moping. Bella missed her family. She missed her adoptive father and the great and vast galaxy that she had seen so little of. But she was never this horrible. She did at least still have a hobby. Much of the time she didn't spend travelling or hunting, Bella would read anything Mario could get his hands on for her about Star Wars, from novels over comics to even backstage stories about the actors and filming crew.

"Our bodies are dead", Edward replied to her questions, his tone monotone. He didn't even sound bored or tired, he just sounded like he wasn't mentally all there. "They are frozen at the state of our turning. All bodily functions are stopped and we no longer have human needs."
"Yes that's great but it would really help if I could sleep, you know", Bella insisted. "I've tried lying down, meditating as much as I could, being as calm as I can be... But I just don't get tired."

"Vampires can get mentally tired but not physically", Mario offered. "We don't get exhausted either. Even if we run the whole day, or a whole week, even if we lift heavy things, it doesn't exhaust us. Therefore, we also don't need to replenish our energy by sleeping."

"But we still need to eat. Or drink, at least", Bella mused. "What's that for if not energy?"
"I've seen newborns getting starved for days", Mario said quietly. "It doesn't make them weaker. It just makes them crazier. I don't even know if a vampire can truly die from starvation."

"We can't", Edward said with such finality that Bella wondered if he'd tried. "We just become slaves to our instincts."

"So I can't just stop drinking and hope to get weak enough to fall unconscious?" Bella guessed. The other two shook their heads. "What about states that are similar to sleeping? Or at least similar to dreaming?"

"You could try drinking from a human on LSD", Mario offered.

"Vampires are not affected by such drugs", Edward said.

"Have you tried?" Mario challenged him.

"Yes", Edward said blandly. For a moment Mario stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. But Edward didn't.

"What the hell, you're forcing me to drink this disgusting rubbish but you used to drain addicts yourself to try and get high?!" he complained.

Edward stared at him blankly. "I didn't chose them for their habits. I chose them because they were trash. Humans that others wouldn't miss, humans that were a danger to those around them. Some of them just happened to be high." He turned away from them, disinterested in the conversation. "It changes the taste but it has no effect on our minds."

"I wasn't eager to try out drugs anyway", Bella hurried to say before a fight could break out. "But vampires have all sorts of magic talents. Aren't there some that can induce sleep even in a vampire or rob them of their energy?"

She looked around but Mario shrugged. "Don't ask me. I've only been a vampire for less than six years and we didn't have anyone like that in the coven."

Edward however had gone still.

"There is... one person who can do something similar."

"Well, who is it?" Bella wanted to know.

"Alec... of the Volturi", Edward said slowly.

"Oh", Bella made. "Well, that's not an option. Anyone else?"
But Edward had a strange gleam in his eyes. "His is a gift of sensory deprivation. I've never felt it myself but I've read the thoughts of those under it. The victims loose all sense of time, of up and down. They don't even feel thirst anymore. They liken it to death more than sleep but then again, most vampires don't remember what it feels like to sleep..."
"That's awfully interesting but it's not like we can ask the Volturi for help", Bella reminded him.

"I've read plenty of human minds though while they're asleep. When they're in their deep sleep phase, the feel of them isn't very different. Alec's victims will still think, much more so than a sleeping person but the sensation is similar enough!"

"Edward", Bella cut him off more sternly. "The Volturi are not an option. Remember, they'd never let any of us go. Even if it did work, it would mean pressing her into their service and you know she'd rather die than work with them!"

The excited gleam, the first sign of life Edward had shown in months, slowly faded from his eyes.

"Ah... You're right, of course. That is... not a possibility."

The next day, Edward offered to be the one to make the trip to a nearby city to get them a few modern amenities. He hadn't done that in months, not since Mario had stopped looking like he was going to bolt any moment.

Bella tried not to think anything of it. She really, really did.

"He's going to betray you. To sell you out. You know he will", Mario told her as they waited.

"He wouldn't do that", Bella said stubbornly. "If it were just me, yes, but he wouldn't do that to her."

"Did you ever love someone?" Mario asked annoyed. "When we kidnapped your father, would you have preferred him not knowing who you even are, not knowing you exist, or him knowing and loving you but being brainwashed into working for Maria, thinking he did it for you?"

Bella wanted to reply immediately that of course she would've preferred Charlie to remain himself, even if that meant he forgot about her. That was the obviously right thing to say. But then she had to think of Vader. If she had the choice between an Anakin Skywalker, still on the light side but following a story that had nothing to do with her, never having met her... and a Darth Vader, in all his sithly glory, accepting and loving her as a daughter... What would she pick?

The right answer was still obvious but her heart clenched painfully at the thought of being forgotten.

"Maybe... it's time we pay the Cullens a visit", she said in a small voice.

XxX

Leia POV

1 year, 1 month ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

Leia wanted nothing more than to return to 'her' world, the one she'd come to love just as much as Alderaan. She wanted to return and take care of Charlie, wanted to spend time with her friends in the shifter pack and go shopping with Alice and above all, she wanted to be with Edward again. For days after her return to her original universe, Leia couldn't sleep properly, plagued by nightmares about Maria and what her coven would do to her friends. Would the terrible war in Forks draw the attention of the Volturi? What if someone uploaded a video of a vampire attack to the internet and spread it around the globe?

Luke and Master Kenobi were more patient with her than she probably deserved and invited her to meditate with them often. She took them on the offer regularly at the beginning but she had trouble clearing her head. Letting go of her worries? Laughable! Leia did however manage to connect with and experience the Force in a way she had never been able to in Forks. Luke encouraged her to 'continue' the Jedi training she'd started with Master Yoda. But while Leia knew from Bella's ramblings that she'd had such training, the exercises were entirely new to her. That didn't mean that she was bad at them. Leia only needed three tries until she could block laser beams with a lightsaber Luke lend her and after a week, she did so with the power of the Force alone, no tool required at all. Telekinesis was what she's practiced most in Forks so this was no surprise to her, though it left Master Kenobi somewhat befuddled.

Leia was also eager to start to learn how to shield her mind of intrusions. Her lack of talent in that area confused the Jedi even more. They didn't actively read her mind during training, thank the Force but she learned how a foreign presence felt brushing against her own. Keeping people out was hard for her, which Kenobi blamed on her agitated emotions. She did manage a flight forward though. Invading minds was easier, thought that might have to do more with the Jedi encouraging her and guiding her, inviting her in.

Luke had build himself his own lightsaber using a crystal he'd retrieved from the same mine he'd rescued Leia from. He wanted to to do it together with her as Bella had also found herself a crystal then, but the glowing stone had little to no affinity to Leia. She refused to so much as touch a lightsaber she knew used to belong to Darth Vader, so Luke's old saber was also out. Sometimes she would practice with Luke's new one. But eventually she stopped doing that too.

Leia hadn't given up hope that Bella would summon her back to Forks. She tried to meditate every evening before going to sleep, concentrating on her wish to see her sister. There had been a time where she'd longed to be able to call herself a Jedi. It had more to do with a bit of an inferiority complex, comparing herself to the hero of a movie series and her sister, who was playing her role so much better than her. Now that she was actually given the opportunity, she found it held little appeal to her. Force powers were useful, yes, but Master Kenobi's insistence on getting rid of emotions reminded her uncomfortably of the prequel series. Vader having to hide his relationship to Padmé no doubt had at least in part played a role in his downfall. Leia had zero intention to give up her love for Edward. With every day she missed him more, to the point where she didn't even care anymore if the Jedi deemed those emotions dangerous.

...

1 year, 2 months ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

As time passed and Leia still claimed to have memory gaps and displaying behaviour the two Jedi found unusual, they decided it was no longer feasible to just travel around with her and avoid civilization. They returned to the Rebellion instead and started to take on small missions. Leia threw herself into the work with passion. She felt so useless, not making any progress in her dimension-crossing attempts but she could at least shoot at Imperials.

Despite Kenobi's lectures about recklessness, Leia purposefully started to look for the most dangerous missions people would give her. After all there were only two occasions in which Leia had connected with Bella while not asleep and that was while she was in mortal danger, once on the Death Star and once when fighting Emely. With some luck she'd run into an Inquisitor or something and the Force would throw her back into Forks to make room for the real heroine.

So it was that legends started to spread among the stormtrooper ranks about a fearsome lady, wielding telekinetic power and blaster fire to decimate entire squadrons. Dozens of people fell to the frustrated young woman, lashing out at whatever got in her way. The Rebellion celebrated every one of her victories but Luke and Kenobi watched her progress with more than a bit of worry.

...

1 year, 3 months ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

The Rebellion was growing in power. Rumours had it that disorganization was spreading in the Imperial military. An organized effort to purge it of corruption had lead to infighting, which gave the Rebellion the breathing room it needed to really build up its strength. Eventually it became safer for even planets like Alderaan, who were already under heavy watch, to make contact again.

That was how, after nearly one and a half year apart, Leia got to see her parents again.

The princess had a minor mental breakdown when she finally fell into her mother's arms, her father hugging both of them close. She spend about half an hour just sobbing into the fabric of their clothes, overwhelmed by emotions. It was as if the last two years all caught up with her at once: Getting captured by the Empire, narrowly avoiding torture through some weird Force mumbo-jumbo that send her soul on a dimensional travel, finding out the truth of her parentage, falling in love, finding a new family and home, fighting a vampire war, loosing that love and home again, the agonizing pain of turning and then the last few months fighting at the very front lines of the galactic war.

It was a small miracle that she'd even held out this long without loosing her marbles.

In Forks, every human life was precious and she fought for the rights of humans not to be treated like cattle by the evolutionary superior race of vampires. In this galaxy however, she'd killed dozens of Stormtroopers with her developed Force-powers without even thinking twice about it. It was like a switch had been flipped in her brain, returning her to her old role of fugitive princess fighting for her live.

Leia didn't like the person she was becoming. She much preferred the simplicity of Forks.

Her parents wouldn't understand even half of that. They assumed that she'd been tortured by Vader during her captivity and Leia was happy to leave them in that belief. Her father told her how worried he'd been when she'd so eagerly agreed to the exchange. Leia was horrified to hear him describe how carefree Bella had truly been in approaching that monster. Bella had always sounded optimistic and claimed that Vader never hurt her but really, she couldn't understand how she'd done that. Bail's concerns were absolutely justified and she assured him that she'd learned her lesson and that she had zero interest to ever cross the path of that man ever again.

Ironically, Leia's breakdown was somewhat reassuring to Luke and Master Kenobi. Later on Bail claimed that it was the first time Leia had acted like Leia since she'd been send on the Death Star mission. It was ironic how true it was. Though the reasons were not at all what they assumed, it helped to convince the Jedi that she wasn't secretly actually working for the Empire and would turn against them as soon as some secret signal was given to her.

...

1 year, 6 months ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

Somehow, an Imperial assassin sneaked into the Rebellion base Leia was staying at. Actually, it was a mole that had to have been placed there weeks ago but that took his merry time to reveal himself. Leia actually went on two missions together with the man and then one day, he tried to stab her in the back. Literally. He was 'generously' offering to help her spar, letting her throw crates and equipment at him while he fired at her. Afterwards, when she was exhausted and her guard was down, he drew a vibroknife and came at her from behind. It was pure chance that she spotted his reflection approaching in the gleaming chassis of a nearby maintenance droid. Whirling around, she flung her power at him, crushing every bone in his body as she flung him against the far wall.

Later on, a communicator was found on his person that revealed he'd been send a coded message moments before he attacked.

Coincidentally(?) the galaxy was hit by quite a news sledgehammer just hours later:

Darth Vader had been declared a traitor to the Empire. A ridiculously high bounty was put out on his head as well as two dozen other high ranking military officers.

Days later, Rebellion spies reported that Vader had attempted a coup and had to flee Imperial Center. He'd taken half the Imperial navy with him and risen in open rebellion against the Emperor.

In the following weeks, planets and entire star systems started to declare themselves for one faction or the other. Most of the core worlds remained with the 'Old Empire', loyal to the Emperor. Many rim worlds and a number of mid-rim worlds however declared for Vader and his 'New Empire'. For them, Vader was a symbol of an anti-corruption movement. These worlds had profited from the order the Empire brought the most, where military occupation had rooted out criminal governments and organizations. As unforgiving as Vader was towards incompetence, he also rewarded those that served him well and was considered a fair leader. Lower ranking Stormtroopers especially liked him for leading the battle directly and fighting at their side instead of holing up in a command centre.

The new chaos was great news to the Rebellion. Entire planets could now openly declare for them and the Alliance became an actual, visible movement instead of an underground one.

Leia was utterly baffled by this development. Nothing like this had ever happened in the movies. What was going on?

...

1 year, 8 months ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

The galaxy was standing on its head. Civil war raged across its entirety, every bit as bad as the Clone Wars. With three parties, all with very different goals, occasionally it happened that two of them attacked the same target. Sometimes those unexpected run-ins resulted everyone dying. Other times, surprising team-ups were formed between former enemies. Vader had been personally in charge of rooting out the Rebellion for a while and so had made many enemies among its leadership that held a personal grudge against him and were even willing to side with with Old Empire to get a shot at him. At other times, Rebellion cells decided that Vader was the smaller evil when compared to the Emperor and were willing to side with his troops against the common enemy. These occasions grew in number when Vader started to 'liberate' (often times just wrecking) planets that were exploited by the Old Empire. He also frequently got into battles with organized crime like the Hutt Cartel over weapon smuggling and slave trading. Seeing as the Rebellion had to work with crime Lords and smugglers a lot in the past to evade the Empire, this resulted in some backlash as well. In other occasions, the Rebellion actually had people deserting to Vader's side to join in his rampage across the rim to exterminate the Hutts.

The galaxy soon became unrecognizable to Leia. The lines between good and evil began to blur and she didn't like it. Not one bit. Her missions for the Rebellion were her one outlet for all the stress and her grief for the family she'd lost. She didn't want to deal with the moral dilemma of whether or not she should side with a group that sold much-needed weapons to the Rebellion when it got raided by Vader's men for also selling death sticks.

Leia just wanted to go home. To Forks.

She took two weeks off and travelled to Alderaan, hoping to find at least some semblance of peace there. It even worked somewhat. Leia convinced herself that there was still hope. Bella was a vampire now and while that might inhibit her ability to concentrate or use the Force, it also meant her abilities would grow stronger. Maybe it was just the rowdy newborn year that kept her from contacting Leia? Maybe she just had to do better herself, meditate more, train more, to try and reach her?

After a few days though her parents approached her and asked her to take on her duties as an Alderaarni princess again. Alderaan had officially declared for the Rebellion and kicked any Imperial military off the planet. Now it was time to play the game of politics again, to coordinate the war effort with the rest of the openly rebelling planets. It was something Leia had learned and been trained to do ever since she was small, something she'd be good at.

She refused.

Accepting her role as princess would mean going back to who she was before all this madness started. But Leia was no longer the same person. She didn't want to be either. If she accepted that role again, she'd accept that she would never get to return to Forks. That was something she wasn't ready for.

...

1 year, 10 months ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

One day when one of Luke's missions coincided with one of hers, her twin brother cheerfully introduced Leia to a young woman. She was a redheaded human with a casual attitude who had apparently ran several missions together with Luke already. It wouldn't have been anything special at all if not for the name she introduced herself with.

Mara Jade.

Leia didn't immediately remember where she'd heard that name before. For a whole night she turned in her bed, wracking her brain on why it was so familiar. At last, she remembered. During one of her heated discussions over Star Wars with Emmet, he'd made a reference to some 'extended universe content', the one that got thrown in the trash when the sequels were made. In that continuity, Mara Jade was a romantic interest of Luke. More importantly though, they first met as enemies.

Because Mara Jade was an Imperial spy and a wielder of the dark side of the Force.

The next day Leia cornered Mara and confronted her about it.

"Just what do you think you are doing!?" she hissed, not even bothering to hide her fury as she pushed Mara against a wall with the Force. She didn't bother to do it gently either, pressing against her with the Force both physically and mentally.

"P-Princess, I don't know what you're talking about! L-Let me go!" she begged, trying and failing to raise her arms from where Leia kept them pressed against the concrete.

"Drop the act! I know who you are. I know you're working with the Empire", Leia snapped. She send out a vicious spike of Force energy, making Mara wince as she assaulted her mind with it. She hit a wall of course but that really only proved her point. An ordinary human's mind would've cracked like an egg, allowing her to view a stream of memories.

"Why were you with Luke!?" she hissed angrily.

And wasn't that a nasty surprise that Luke had even told this woman his real name instead of the fake he was known under in most of the wider galaxy. At least he hadn't told her his last name.

Leia wouldn't call herself particularly close to Luke. She was grateful to him for having rescued her from Vader and for taking care of her while she'd been such a mess. But his dedication to follow in the footsteps of his Jedi Master and Leia's preoccupation with wrecking havoc among the Imperials had made them drift farther part. She still liked him and even felt somewhat protective of him but she didn't really consider him family.

That didn't mean she would allow an Imperial spy to backstab him like they'd tried with her.

Mara Jade didn't make a particular effort to maintain her cover after Leia's failed mind probe. In fact she did the opposite. She relaxed her body, toes still not quite touching the ground and her face twisted into a mean smirk.

"Huh, I didn't expect you to figure it out this quickly. The little Padawan had no idea."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't crush the life out of you", Leia warned her hatefully and tightened her grip.

"Wait, it's not what you think!" Mara swore and gave a little groan when her bones started to make funny noises.

"It's true, I was with the Empire. I was part of the Inquisitor corps but Lord Vader raided the academy a few months ago. Everyone who didn't join him was killed."

"Still waiting for that reason", Leia repeated coldly. Mara was growing nervous.

"I'm on his side now, I swear! He liberated me. We're helping him to prepare and strengthen his forces for an attack on Imperial Center and the Emperor!"

Leia raised her hand just to make a point. She didn't need gestures to focus her power but this woman might need a visual cue. She loosened her hold on her lower body just a bit, just enough to see her squirm and fidget as she focused the pressure on just her upper chest and throat. Seeing her claw at her own throat, struggling against invisible hands was rather... satisfying.

"Y-You really are... his daughter", Mara croaked, her stutter real this time as her visage got twisted in pain.

The words send an unexpected stab right into Leia's heart.

She withdrew her power, dropping Mara as if she was on fire and it took all of her self-control not to take a step back.

You really are his daughter.

She was not. Leia was nothing, nothing like..!

"Talk!" she spit out at the spy that had crumbled to the ground. When the woman didn't comply immediately, the princess angrily raised her blaster and coldly pointed it straight at her head.

"Now."

"I will, I will!" Mara said hurriedly, voice still raw and raised her hands. She didn't bother standing up.

"Lord Vader tasked me with finding you. I was to ascertain your health, to get you help if you needed it, to free you if you were held against your will and to protect you if you were in danger. You are... not an easy person to get a hold off. I only got close to Darklighter in hopes that he would lead me to you."

Leia scoffed. Why the fuck would Mara think Leia would ever believe such nonsense?!

"Don't you dare lie to me", she threatened, still pointing the blaster at her head.

"I'm not lying! Those are my orders! I am to infiltrate the Rebellion and get myself a spot on your squad so I can fight by your side." Mara held her hands a bit higher, looking at her imploringly. "Once I gained your trust, I was supposed to reveal my alliance to you and offer to be... a messenger. A link, connecting you to Lord Vader."

"You think I'd betray the Rebellion to Vader!?" Leia asked aghast.

"Look, just - whatever! Those were his orders. The galaxy can't fight a three-way war forever, can it? Two sides will eventually have to team up. Vader can't take on the Emperor on his own... But with your help-"

Leia pulled the trigger.

She had barely enough presence of mind to aim the laser next to Mara's head instead of straight at her face. It left a burn mark the size of a fist near her ear. The trained assassin barely flinched.

"Get out of here", Leia hissed, shaking in fury. "Get out before I kill you!"

Mara scurried away like the rat she was.
Leia remained behind. For five minutes she just focused on breathing, counting her own racing heart beats and trying to shed the dark thoughts and tendrils of dark power reaching out for her.

You really are his daughter.

Nearly two years ago, when Leia had first learned about her parentage, she'd been terrified of the possibility that she could have anything in common with that man. The thought of being twisted into a caricature of herself by some external power had scared her so much she'd ran away again, letting Bella fight her battles in her stead.

Now she was paying the price for her cowardice. Loosing Forks, loosing Edward had dulled her understanding of what was right and wrong. She didn't care anymore about the Empire, the Rebellion and how many people she killed. She was just... She was lost and she hurt and she wanted to go back home.

Leia didn't want to fall to the dark side. She didn't want to be anything like Vader. But she'd excused her behaviour, her methods with the fact that she was fighting for the good guys. She was fighting for the Rebellion and the Rebellion was in the right so what did it matter if she was angrier, more forceful, more powerful and effective in wiping out those rats? Was that really such a bad thing? If you did the right thing for the wrong reasons, were you still in the right?

Leia thought back to Edward and his confession as he told her about his time as a non-vegetarian. Edward had said he hadn't stopped killing humans because they didn't deserve death in his eyes. He'd only stopped it because he saw himself becoming just like them.

After about fifteen minutes Leia had calmed herself down enough that she was reasonably sure she wouldn't shot the next person who looked at her funny. She also thought she'd given Mara enough time to make herself scarce. A part of her still wanted her dead but she was supposedly a character capable of redemption. She would be satisfied with ratting her out to Luke. For now.

Except when Leia met her twin brother half an hour later, she found that he was not alone. The stupid, impertinent Imperial spy was with him.

Leia knocked on Luke's door, he called her in and the princess froze when she saw saw the two of them sitting at the same table.

Her hand inched towards her blaster again.

"I thought I'd made it quite clear", she bit out between clenched teeth, "that you're not welcome here."

Mara went a little pale around the nose. Bruises were already starting to form around her neck.

"Leia, wait", Luke implored her, raising a hand in a calming gesture. "Wait just a moment, okay? Mara told me what happened-"
"Oh, did she tell you that she's here to spy for the Empire!?" Leia couldn't comprehend how Luke could remain so calm. Meanwhile the rat had the gall to practically hide behind Luke.

"Leia", Luke repeated with more authority this time. "Just listen. Okay?"

Leia closed her eyes (all other senses still primed to the max), counted to five, and focused on her breathing. She thought back to the meadow, to Edward's cold kisses. He wouldn't want her to explode for no reason.

"I already knew she was working for the Empire", Luke said quietly. "I figured it out about two weeks ago. But I didn't say anything because... I wanted to show her another path. Do you understand?"

Leia would love to claw his face off.

"No, I bloody well do not! You knew and yet you brought her here!? What's wrong with you, Luke?! The moment Master Kenobi leaves you alone suddenly you think you know better, is that it?" Luke's apprenticeship was far from over but his Jedi Master had given him more time on his own and send him on missions alone so he could get some experience without relying on his master. That and he'd been injured during a battle and was still nursing his wounds.

"I didn't know what her mission was, just that the dark side was clinging to her", Luke defended himself. "I hoped that either she'd grow to trust me enough to tell me or that we could find some kind of common ground. Now she's told me she's been send here by Vader to look after you-"
"Only after I already uncovered her identity!" Leia interrupted hotly because that hardly counted-

"Leia", Luke made again in that insistent yet calm tone. "I was trying to do what you did."

"I... what?" Leia made, her anger temporarily wavering. She didn't understand what he was talking about.

"It's you", Mara joined in quietly. "It must be you, that's the only thing that makes sense."

Leia merely stared at her uncomprehending.

"This whole war", Luke elaborated. "Vader turning against the Emperor. Don't you think that could have something to do with you?"
Leia balked at the mere idea. "Vader was always going to turn against the Emperor at some point, that's what evil people do, they turn on each other!"

"When I first met you in the mine", Luke explained, "you told me that Vader never hurt you. You told me he tried to draw you to the dark side but that you were doing the same, that you were trying to draw him to the light side. And that you were succeeding. I know you still have troubles remembering anything from before... what came after. But what if you were right, back then? What if Vader really has changed?"

That was impossible, Vader was a monster, a walking nightmare, the scourge of the Jedi!

... or at least he had been in the movies. He had been in the past in all of Leia's very limited experience with him. He had been, before Bella.

As optimistic as Bella had been when she talked about Vader, a part of Leia had never believed her that she was making progress. She'd felt bad about it even, that she didn't try harder to convince her sister to give it up. She'd been afraid that if Bella saw how futile her efforts were, she might demand her old life back.

Could it be true though? Could Bella have really succeeded in bringing about a change big enough to make Vader change his plans? Leia refused to believe that he would ever do something like that for her... but for Bella?

If it had been Leia, Vader wouldn't even know they were related. If it had been Leia, he never would've looked at her twice. If it had been Leia, they'd still be on the run. Hoth wasn't even supposed to happen for another year and yet so much had already changed compared to the future the movies depicted. What other reason could there be for those changes but Bella's interference? Surely nothing that Leia did could ever have such far-reaching consequences.

"You think he actually... c-cares?" Leia asked in a small voice.

"I don't know", Luke said quietly. "But I feel... like it's true." He rubbed a spot above his heart and Leia knew what he meant. Her eyes flitted over to Mara. Now that the anger had mostly left her, she realized that her usual sense for liars had not reacted to her at all when she told her of her 'mission'.

Feeling drained, Leia plopped down on a chair next to the two. Not for the first time, she thought again that she... truly did not belong in this galaxy anymore. She didn't even understand it anymore. She didn't know what she was supposed to do here.

"That's... bad", she said tiredly and rubbed her eyes.

"Bad? What do you mean?" Luke asked.

Leia shrugged. "Vader gets obsessed with people he cares about, doesn't he? Remember when he put my entire planet under military occupation and kidnapped my parents just to get to me? I had hoped he'd forgotten about me or deemed me useless or something..." Of course she remembered none of those things, that was just what Bella told her. She did however remember the prequel movies and how Anakin Skywalker had betrayed the Jedi order and the Republic just for the vague hope of evil Force powers capable of keeping his wife alive.

"Leia, I don't think this is the same thing", Luke disagreed. "You... You didn't see him when... Back in the mines. One moment Master Kenobi was duelling him and I was ready to join in as well and the next... you started screaming... and it was like we weren't even there. He only worried about you. He told me to take you with me because he thought you weren't safe with him. He let you go because that was what was best for you. Even Master Kenobi had to admit that wasn't something a Sith Lord would do."

Somehow, that made Leia feel even more miserable. If it was true... If it was really true, if Vader had or at least was on the way to turn to the light side... None of that was because of Leia. It was all because of Bella. But how much longer would Vader walk a path of light without her there to keep him on it? Worse, what if he found out Bella didn't even exist in this galaxy anymore?

This was no longer a matter of Leia wanting to see her beloved Edward again. She needed to get Bella back here... Because this galaxy was better with her in it.

"Maybe you're right. I... thank you", Leia said quietly. "I think I needed that." She aimed a glare at Mara Jade.

"I still don't trust you. But if Luke is alright with it, I won't report you to the higher ups. Just... stay away from me. I don't need or want a babysitter. If I have anything to tell your Master, I'll let you know."

"Of course... Thank you, Princess", Mara said with just a hint of mockery in her voice.

...

2 years ATBOY (after the battle of Yavin)

Leia had made a decision. She couldn't go on like she'd been, living one day after another, waiting for a miracle to happen. The one thing she'd never liked about Bella, the one thing she always thought she could do better was to be practical and take initiative. So what if she lost the love of her live? That wouldn't keep her down. She'd just been channelling her energy in the wrong direction. She had to go back to the very beginning, discard all of her useless notions and focus on what was important. She had to bring Bella back.

But Leia also knew she wasn't Luke. She wasn't the grand hero, even in the original movies, she'd only ever been part of a group. And so, as hard as it was and as against her nature as she felt it to be, she had to accept: She couldn't do this alone. She needed help.

So one day when Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi came back from a mission, she caught them during a training session. She'd kept her mouth shut so far, trying to respect Bella's wish to keep her identity a secret but she couldn't do so anymore.

Now it was just a question of how to explain the situation without sounding like a lunatic. Edward might've believed her but Edward could read her mind. Plus, you know, he loved her.

"I need some advice from you two on a Force-matter", she started once she sat the two Jedi down.

"Of course Princess. What do you need help with?" Master Kenobi asked politely.

Leia took a deep breath. "Alright, so it's like this..."

Leia explained to them that she wanted to go looking for the part of her that went missing during the 'incident'. She confessed that she did not believe Vader or the Emperor or anyone on their side had anything to do with it. Instead, she told them about Bella. Not the whole story of course, just the redacted version Bella had already told Vader. She told them that she had a bond with a girl living on an unidentified planet, a powerful Force bond that occasionally let them know if the other was in danger and even share their pain.

"On Bella's planet, there is this... condition", she continued carefully. "It's a... a poison, that some of the elite on her planet use. It causes unimaginable pain for three days and occasionally, will kill the victim. Those that survive though, they come out of the experience... stronger. Stronger in the Force. Sometimes, even people who were not very sensitive to it at all before could develop a gift for it after they've gone through this. Bella was already talented as she was. And these people, they wanted her to work for them. The last time I spoke to her, she told me that she'd been discovered. She'd made a couple of powerful friends to protect her but... It was not enough. She got kidnapped and poisoned. That's... That's why I was in so much pain. There wasn't anything wrong with me. I was just sharing in her pain."

"Hm. Do you know any more details about this planet or this poison? It sounds terribly dangerous", Master Kenobi said.

"Honestly, none I'm willing to share. I never would've said anything at for fear of the Empire finding out it even exists", Leia explained. "But Bella's change... it seems to have influenced me too, in a way. After I woke up... I couldn't feel my bond with her anymore. But I can't believe that means she's dead. This poison... it seriously messes with a person's connection to the Force. It takes at least a year to get used to that. She'd be little more than an instinct driven animal before that. But... a year has passed now. Bella should be getting better now. Yet I've still been entirely unable to contact her. I need to make sure that she's alright. And I also need to re-establish the bond. Without it, I am... lesser. I can't ghost anymore, I can't properly shield my mind, I even have less emotional control."
"I do not believe you are in any way lesser!" Luke protested. "You feel just as strong in the Force as before and you can move objects now with your mind like you never could before. You learned the Jedi mind trick in just three months!"

"A symptom of the aforementioned lack of emotional control, nothing more", Leia tried to divert. "Please... I need your help to contact Bella. I tried meditating in a hundred different ways but it's not working! I thought maybe it has something to do with what she's doing on her end or doing something at the same time. Bella was usually asleep when I contacted her and her... condition leads to severe insomnia so that could be one point. But there has to be something I can do to... boost the signal from my side somehow?"

"The Force is not a comm device", Master Kenobi said gently. "You have to consider the possibility that... That your friend is not among the living anymore." The Jedi looked at her sadly. "Princess, you cannot spend the rest of your life trying to solve a problem that might not even exist."

"Don't tell me to give up on her. Don't even try", Leia threatened.

Kenobi raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I only meant you might invest time in finding her planet first. Physical proximity would do wonders in re-establishing your bond."

Leia's shoulders sacked. "I... I can't do that. I can't say why but... that's not a possibility."

Kenobi opened his mouth to say something more but Luke put a hand on his arm and quietly shook his head. With a sigh, the old Jedi switched tactics. "Very well. But if your connection was severed entirely by this painful experience, it might not be enough to do the same thing you did before to open an established connection. You might need to rebuild it from scratch. In that case, you could try replicating the conditions of your first contact as closely as possible."

"She was asleep at that time and I was... focusing on the Force, I suppose. She said that just before falling asleep though, she had a very similar thought to me at that time", Leia said.

But Kenobi shook his head. "I am not just talking about you meditating at the same time or what you were thinking about. The Force can be influenced by many different things. Your surroundings might play a role for example. Where were you two when you first made contact? Was it a place in nature with a lot of life around you? Was it loud or quiet? Were there any other Force-sensitive people or creatures around? Even some astronomical events can have an influence. Just like the phases of a moon can influence the life circle of certain animals, the movement of celestial bodies can also lead to minor swirls in the Force that can influence the path our spirit takes when we wander. When, where and who we are close to can all play a role. You've spend very little time on your home planet Alderaan, Princess. Maybe it is time to return and-"

But Kenobi stopped when he saw Leia suddenly go very, very pale.

When, where and with whom.

If celestial bodies could really influence the Force... There was another detail about Bella's first contact that Leia had always dismissed as a silly superstition: Bella had wished on a shooting star. And Leia suddenly remembered sitting on the porch of the Cullen house, just before the final battle, talking about meteorite showers. How the next one would appear November next year. In the galactic standard calendar, this would be next month. That was the when.

And Leia... Leia had been a captive during her first contact, a captive of the only other Force-sensitive present: Darth Vader. That was the whom.

The Death Star of course was no more. Luke had blown it to smithereens and good riddance for that. This did however mean that it was impossible for Leia to return to the exact same place. But if the movies held truth, a second Death Star was already under construction. That was the where.

Leia suddenly knew exactly what she had to do to bring Bella back.

She just really, really didn't want to do it.

XxX

AN:

Oh my god, I struggled so much with this part. It was always clear to me that once Leia got bitten, Bella had to share that pain and that it would logically turn Vader into a headless chicken since he'd have no idea why it was happening. Then I thought, well what if that would cause the girls to switch again? If Bella, after screaming her lungs out, suddenly treated Vader with contempt?

But as I wrote the piece I changed my mind and gave Leia a chance to connect with Luke instead and then I had no idea how to justify the girls really exploring the changed worlds they were in when they had every motivation to immediately switch back. So I decided to make it impossible for them to switch back for a certain time. At that point both girls had changed the story of each other so much it would be unrecognizable. I wanted them to really, really feel out of place and wish to go back.

For Bella that was relatively easy. She left her parents in the original novel too without too much grief and now circumstances make them that she couldn't be with them even while she was still in Twilight.

For Leia it was more tricky. It felt like a waste to not let her bond with Luke at least a little bit and the Organas are still alive too. Instead I decided to put the focus on Leia's belief that Bella can handle the same adventures better than her and that having Bella in Star wars would be best for the people she cares about there too. Of course Edward is still a big reason why she wants to go back to Forks. But Leia is not a whiny broken-hearted little girl like New Moon Bella. She's not as obsessive as Anakin in her love either. She will still go on without Edward if she has to but she'll also fight for a way to get back to him.

At first I thought about tying the final switch back to Bella's newborn year. Of course there isn't really a good explanation as to when and why the girls switch. It's a fanfiction, they switch when I want them to, duh. But I still wanted an in-universe explanation that would work in both worlds. So I came up with a Force-related explanation: Leia died when she got bitten and death severs Force bonds. Undead beings can still use the Force, there's precedent for that with some ancient Sith Lords (Darth Nihilus). Logically they can also still have Force bonds then. But it has to be newly established and since the circumstances were so unique last time, we'll have to replicate them as closely as possible Which gives me the perfect stage for the finale of my fanfic.

On the Twilight side of things, Bella just has to somehow imitate a sleep-state on her side. And I do have to get the Volturi on board somehow to tie up all loose ends, don't I? So we'll get a visit from them too.

I'm almost done with the Star Wars finale. I'll have to split it into 2 chapters, plus another one just for the fallout. I'm on my third re-write but I think it'll be pretty good in the end. Special thanks to cameron1812 for always keeping my spirits up!

If you like my story, please leave a review. If you're reading this on an app where that's not possible, you can write a PM or take just five minutes to log in from a browser. It would really mean a lot to me. There have to be more than three people reading my work. I know it's an incredibly specific story but come on. I can't be the only person that randomly smashes together their favourite fandoms?! ;-)