Author Note: Someone asked about "Darth Ditra" – I came up with it as something close to "daughter". Darth Vader is kind of like Dark Father, Darth Ditra, Dark Daughter.

Conference Room

Eclipse

In orbit around Tatooine

"I have a twin brother," Leia continued firmly. "And so do you. Or did. Assuming he's still alive in this timeline."

Ditra was wide eyes with shock and yes, longing. Vader was completely immobile onscreen, but Leia felt the ripples of shock in the Force from both father and daughter.

"A son," Vader said finally. "I have a son?"

"I have a brother?" Ditra asked, her eyes flickering briefly from yellow to brown.

"Yes," Leia said to both of them.

"What is his name?" The cyborg Sith demanded angrily.

"What do you think his name is?" Leia demanded back, her eyebrows raised.

There was a pause during which Ditra looked from Leia to her father, and back again.

"Luke," Vader said finally, his voice reverent.

Leia blinked and nodded, "Got it in one. So you and Mother talked about our names, huh? Because in my timeline, you didn't know I existed but I am named Leia, just like your daughter."

A full minute ticked by as Vader stared at her, then shifted his attention to Darth Ditra.

"You are saying," the elder Sith said slowly, "that Pad ... that your mother named you."

"Yes, obviously," Leia said with a roll of her eyes.

"She lived to give birth."

"How could she freaking not have lived to give birth?" Leia demanded in exasperation. "Your daughter is alive and is named Leia!"

"I named her that," Vader riposted, "in honor of Pad ... her wishes. I assumed that … that Kenobi ... that he ... after she died …"

"Cut her open like a meiloorun and snatched the baby?" Leia demanded with a horrified grimace. "That is truly disgusting. Why do you have to be all negative like that? No, she survived and gave birth, then tragically died but really! Kenobi was an idiot at times but he wouldn't do anything horrific like that. I'm sure he tried to save her."

Darth Ditra had an equally nauseated look on her face, "You thought Kenobi cut me out of my mother's womb, Father? That really is nasty!"

"Enough," Vader snapped with obvious discomfort. "My daughter, have you determined the location of the Rebel base?"

The black clad woman winced openly and shook her head, "Princess Organa escaped, I am afraid."

"What?!" The Emperor thundered angrily.

"I helped her escape," Leia said helpfully. "I managed to get a few glimpses of Darth Ditra here and threw my hair up to look like hers, and then marched into the cell block and freed her and a bunch of Rebels. It was quite fun to snarl like a Sith Lady for a few minutes, though I wouldn't want to make a lifetime of it."

She sensed a surge of ire from her double and turned a snarky look on the young woman, who stepped forward and slapped Leia across the face.

Leia wasn't about to put up with that nonsense. She promptly leaped forward and tackled Ditra, managing to get her manacles on the woman's throat within seconds. Ditra's eyes widened with surprise and a moment later Leia found herself being thrown into the air, though she was able to cushion herself with the Force so her landing wasn't too hard.

"Stop this puerile display!" Vader snarled across the parsecs.

"She started it," Leia said, rolling to her feet with an insolent shrug of her shoulders.

"Leia," Vader warned in an admonishing tone.

"Yes?" chorused both women.

The elder Sith actually groaned loudly enough to be heard, then turned his attention on his daughter, "Leia, don't harm your alternate."

"She's a Light Sider," Ditra muttered sullenly.

"She has valuable information," Vader replied sternly. "Continue to search for the droids on Tatooine, but if they have not been recovered in 12 hours, order the Devastator to meet me three parsecs from Alderaan."

Leia paled in spite of herself. Alderaan!

/

Destroyed Jawa Sandcrawler with lots of dead Jawas lying about

Tatooine

"If they traced the droids here they may have learned who they sold them to, and that would lead them back ... home!" Luke Skywalker exclaimed in horror.

"Wait, Luke!" Obi-Wan cried out as the boy took off toward his landspeeder. "It's too dangerous!"

Luke vaulted into the seat of his craft, only to freeze in surprise as the roar of another speeder impinged on his startled ears. A moment later, his aunt and uncle's speeder drew up to his own in a cloud of sand.

Luke reeled in shocked relief as he recognized both Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru standing up to carefully descend from the speeder. There was a third person as well, but the youth was focused on his family.

"Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru," he exclaimed, leaping out of his own speeder and rushing forward. "I'm so thankful to see you. I was worried the Empire was on their way to the farm."

"They were," Beru replied quietly, stepping forward to envelop her nephew with a loving hug. "We were rescued from certain death by a most unexpected visitor."

Luke turned as Obi-Wan, who had hurried over to the group, emanated a strangled cry.

"Hi Ben," the visitor said.

Luke let out his own startled yelp as he took in the features of the Other. He was exactly the same height as Luke, with a very similar build, and had dark blond hair like Luke, and looked a lot like Luke. Except older.

"What is this?' Ben demanded, clearly shaken.

"Sorry, I'm sure this is a big surprise," Other Luke said with a smile, then swept forward to give his old mentor a hug.

"It's been too long, Ben, way too long," Other Luke continued, his eyes glimmering with tears. "But we don't have a lot of time. We need to head towards Mos Eisley and get off planet with the droids."

"Um, who are you?" Luke asked timidly.

"I'm you in about 6 years, but from a different timeline," Other Luke explained bluntly. "I know that sounds impossible but it isn't. The Force keeps tossing me and Leia back in time to fix messed up things. This particular timeline seems particularly messed up. What happened to Leia? How did she end up a Sith?"

"Who is Leia?" Luke asked, shooting a puzzled glance at Owen and Beru. Beru shook her head and shrugged. She had no idea what her Alter Nephew was talking about."

"Erm," Kenobi said nervously, shooting an anxious glance at Luke.

"Oh, right," Other Luke said with a scowl, "you just had the talk with my younger self, didn't you? Darth Vader betrayed and murdered your Jedi Knight Father and all that jizz. I know you had good intentions, Ben, but that lie brought me untold suffering in my timeline."

"It's a lie?" Luke squeaked in bewilderment.

"You told him about Anakin being a Jedi?" Owen roared almost simultaneously. "I gave you strict orders ..."

"Stop, both of you," Other Luke interrupted firmly. "Listen, I don't know how much time I have before the Force yanks me away and Obi-Wan is weird about this topic, so I'm just going to spit it out and you'll have to deal with the horrible emotional fallout. Darth Vader was once Anakin Skywalker and he is your father, Luke. He is mean and evil but he is your father. And this Darth Ditra character is your twin sister Leia, who in my timeline was the Princess of Alderaan and a noted Rebel leader. So yeah, that's the truth, not the half lies that you've been hearing from the Lars and now Kenobi. That. Is. The. Truth."

A stunned minute slid by with total silence from everyone gaping in horror and dismay at the Jedi.

"Anakin is ... is that true, Obi-Wan?" Beru hissed suddenly. "You told me Anakin was killed defending the Jedi Temple!"

Kenobi frowned, "I thought it best not to share the difficult truth and you, Older Luke – I strongly disagree with this. Your younger counterpart was not ready for this knowledge."

"So it's true," Luke blurted out. "Darth Vader, Emperor Vader, is my father?"

"You know what, Ben," Older Luke stated, taking deep breaths to control himself, "as I said before, your choice to conceal the truth nearly ended up with me turning to the Dark Side. I bought the lie that Vader had murdered Anakin Skywalker and rushed to face him when I wasn't ready. We fought, he cut off my hand, and then he revealed that he was my father. My soul teetered on the very edge, Obi-Wan. I always longed to know my father and I was suddenly faced with a Sith father who had torn the galaxy apart to find me. I chose a suicidal leap into a chasm which I managed to survive, but I was very close to Falling."

"Your father cut off your hand?" Luke repeated in horror.

Luke held out his prosthetic limb towards his alter self, but kept his clear gaze on Kenobi, "What happened to Leia!? Why is she with Vader?"

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, seeking wisdom, and found it. The Force had brought this version of Luke Skywalker back in timeline and thus everything was changed. He might as well go with the Force flow.

"She was adopted by the Organas," he explained abruptly.

"Ok," Other Luke replied in a puzzled tone. "Same as in our timeline."

"But Palpatine sent agents to abduct her when she was only 3 years old. She was moved ... somewhere, we don't know where, and kept in protective custody along with a host of other children of potential adversaries to Palpatine."

Other Luke groaned aloud and shook his head, "As hostages. That is terrible."

"Yes," Kenobi agreed, looking down and scuffing his boot on the ubiquitous sand. "They were not physically harmed and even well cared for, we believe. The Organas received frequent holo updates though no communication was allowed. But they saw her maturing and she was well fed and clothed."

"And indoctrinated, no doubt," Other Luke said with a shake of his head.

"No doubt," Obi-Wan agreed, and took a deep breath. "Then 10 years ago, Palpatine died in an extremely suspicious shuttle crash, Vader was crowned Emperor, and a month later his daughter was introduced to the galaxy as his heir."

Other Luke's eyes grew distant with wonder, "He found her somehow, and killed Palpatine."

"We believe so."

There was another long pause and Owen finally found the words to speak, "So what you're saying, Old Man, is that my step-brother lost his freaking mind and became an evil Sith Lord, and my niece, Luke's twin sister, is his apprentice, and you've been lying to us since you placed Luke in our arms as a newborn."

"What I told you was true," Kenobi began weakly.

"From a certain point of view," Other Luke and the old Jedi finished together.

Other Luke waved an impatient hand, "I know this is a lot to take in but we need to get moving. That Death Star won't blow up by itself, after all."

/-

Leia's Cell

Devastator

2 hours later

The door slid open and Leia looked up warily. Her hands had been freed, which was a relief, but she had a shock collar around her neck. If this was some kind of interrogation, then she'd have to fall back on sheer determination to hold out.

A stormtrooper stepped into the cell carrying a small table, which he proceeded to set down in the narrow space between bench and door. Two more troopers brought two chairs, and a protocol droid followed up with a tray containing a steaming pot of something, 2 cups, and a plate of ... was that dweezel?

Lastly, Darth Ditra marched into the room, dismissed the troopers, and sat down on one of the chairs, gesturing wordlessly towards the other.

Leia narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then rose elegantly to her feet and walked over to the chair across from her adversary.

"Well, this wasn't quite the kind of interrogation I expected," she stated calmly. "I was expecting a torture droid, not dessert."

Ditra shook her head even as she poured something fragrant from the pot into the two cups, "I wouldn't bother with a droid. You are a version of me, and we are both incredibly strong willed. Also, Father told me not to harm you."

"That was generous of him," Leia replied, and was surprised to hear the bitterness in her tone.

The other woman looked up suddenly, her eyes startled, "Did Father hurt you in your timeline?"

Leia felt a sudden and surprising surge of anguish. This cell was so much like that cell.

"He tortured me twice," she said, lifting a slightly shaking hand. Well, this would not do. She needed to stay calm. The tea was, she realized with a lurch, from Alderaan, which wasn't helpful in maintaining a settled demeanor.

"He tortured you?" Ditra asked in surprise and some distress. The girl shook her head to clear it, then said calmly, "Well, he didn't know you were his daughter, right?"

"Right," Leia agreed grimly, "though he chopped off my brother's right hand, and he did know Luke was his son."

Ditra winced slightly and shook her head, "Ok, that's harsh. I can understand why Father isn't your favorite person."

"No, he is not," Leia agreed with very precise diction, and then took a bite of dweezel.

It was excellent dweezel.

"So," the younger woman asked in a hesitant tone, "what is your brother like?"

Leia lifted her gaze from the sticky dessert and focused on the young woman. Again, a rush of compassion filled her. Poor thing. She'd been raised by Vader, presumably, and naturally was a walking disaster.

"I suppose," Leia said carefully, "I could tell you a little about my Luke. Yours may be different. He might even be dead, which is dreadful but possible."

"He isn't," Ditra said confidently, touching her breastbone.

Leia nodded with understanding, "I know exactly what you mean. You can feel his presence. It's like something has been missing your whole life and now you know, inside, that that something is your twin brother. It was the same for me in some ways. We met for the first time at age 19 and we didn't know we were twins for 4 more years. But he always completed me. We were compatriots and friends and confidants ..."

She shook her head slightly, her gaze faraway.

"But what is he like?" Ditra asked, single-mindedly.

Leia shrugged, "Well, my Luke is someone you probably wouldn't appreciate very much. Very kind, very noble, very determined, very strong. Very Light."

Ditra scrunched up her nose disdainfully, "Is he a Jedi?"

"Well in my timeline, yes, but not the same as the Jedi of old. I freely admit the old Jedi Order had their really screwed up aspects. Luke doesn't want to resuscitate the Jedi, he wants to remake them into a healthier entity. For one thing, we are so done with the no attachments rules of the Old Order. We're both married and Luke has a son."

"You're married?" Ditra demanded, wide eyed. "To whom?"

"Oh no, I am not telling you that," Leia responded firmly. "You would not approve."

"Another Jedi?" the Sith demanded angrily.

Leia surprised herself by laughing aloud, "No, not at all. He's ... well, he's scruffy and something of a scoundrel. But we love each other."

"Love," the other woman said with a tightened jaw. "Love is weak. The Sith do not love."

Leia frowned, "You don't think your father loves you?"

Ditra huffed and angrily grabbed a dweezel, taking a ferocious bite, "I am his servant and his apprentice. The reality of our biological relationship is of no concern. He does not love me."

Leia sighed, "You know I hate Vader, but that is obviously not true."

"Why do you think that?" Ditra demanded skeptically.

"Because in our timeline, when he found out Luke existed, he tore the galaxy apart trying to find him. When he did find him, he tried to claim Luke as his son. And when they met again a year later, Vader killed the Emperor to save Luke's life. No, Darth Vader is a man who attaches strongly to people. He was devoted to his mother and his wife, and eventually he threw off his chains of slavery to the Dark Side to save his son. I am sure he cares for you deeply. I am not sure if it is love, exactly. If it is, it is a twisted, obsessive sort of love."

Darth Ditra stared at Leia for a full minute of silence even as her eyes filled slowly with tears.

"I think you are wrong," she said finally.

"And I know I'm right," Leia replied firmly.

/

Author Note: Thanks so much for those of you reading and reviewing this fic. And thank you to my editor and best friend, my beloved husband!