Luke Vader 23

Luke Vader Series: From slave to Dark Lord of the Sith
Part 23: A new family
By SJ 12-12-00/26-12-00 (skyjade@globetrotter.net)

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Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
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The same day, Lord Vader quietly stood in his daughter's room, watching her from inside while she practiced her levitation skills on her balcony. Ever since she had accepted her link to her family, she had shown much interest toward her Force heritage, but at the same time, she was wary about what they wanted to teach her.

As far as levitation was concerned, she was open, but when it came to reading
minds, or learning how to use her skills in combat, she wasn't that interested.

He and Luke were still hoping that she would eventually change her mind about
this, but at the same time, they now knew that even if she did become a Sith
apprentice, she would never be a full-fledged dark Jedi. She simply didn't have the gifts to achieve this; she was only a little more than sensitive to the Force.

Luke had told him about the new plan to subtly convert the young woman; he himself had agreed that it couldn't fail this time.

He finally stepped within her sensing range; she lifted her head in his
direction, then smiled as she spotted him.

She looked so much like her mother, he reflected once again, then crushed the images that surged forth in his mind upon that thought.

"Good evening, Father," she smiled gently, turning her focus back on her
statuettes.

The dark lord was impressed that she had managed to keep them both air born
while greeting him.

"You are improving," he noted with interest.

Not greedy interest, he dimly realized, but genuine, caring interest.

"I'm trying to," she nodded, slowly making them revolve around one another.

As he sat down beside her, he noticed the way she was chewing on her lower lip as well as felt how she was mentally straining to maintain her focus.

"Try it like this instead," he suggested, tentatively joining his mind to hers,
then, once she accepted his presence without any backlash, guided her toward
true skillful use of the Force, no matter how weak she was with it.

It was almost, he reflected, like when he had taught his wife how to use his
lightsaber even though she hadn't been Force sensitive... Just in case she would
need that knowledge, he remembered.

Back then, his large hands and covered his wife's, his strong arms had surrounded her slim ones and their physical contact had overridden his senses; now, his mental senses were surrounding his daughter's while guiding her in her task, creating a somewhat similar effect to the one he remembered...

It was strange, he admitted, how his daughter wasn't at all like his son. They
were both from the same parents, were both endowed with the same strength of
spirit and will, even with the same basic personality, he conceded, but working with Leia wasn't comparable in any way to working with her brother.

First of all, she was a woman, something he hadn't had in his life for a long, long while...; she was delicate yet strong, beautiful and pleasant to the eye, yet she was also intelligent, compassionate, and she wasn't as skilled as her brother had been.

She was also constantly re-evaluating the situation, judging what she wanted and
what she rejected, constantly keeping both himself and Luke on their toes.

She had inherited the Skywalker intelligence, no doubt about that, he conceded
with some pride, but in this case, it could easily turn against them.

Leia's senses withdrew from his, pulling him back to the present.

"Thank you, Father, I had never seen it that way before," she told him
gratefully as she picked the two crystal statuettes from their positions in front of her.

"It is only a matter of seeing it and doing it once the right way, then
you can never forget it, much like flying," he told her with a shrug.

His daughter nodded in answer, then silently put her slight burden on a nearby
table beside her seat. He could feel that something was on her mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered her.

Her eyes flashed slightly, as if fearing that he had read her thoughts, then she
became aware that she hadn't felt any such intrusion, hence, relaxed.

"Luke once told me how he was a natural with anything that flies," she began
wistfully.

"Yes, he is," he agreed with a nod. "It's as if the ship becomes part of
himself, or vice-versa. Why the sudden worry about this?" he asked her
diligently.

"Oh, it's not a worry," she answered with a light yet sad voice, "it's just..."

Vader set his hand over hers, delicately squeezing them. "Leia, what is it?" he
inquired again.

She turned away from him to gaze at the lines of traffic that were glinting in
the horizon.

"I know that the Emperor doesn't really care about me since I don't seem to be
much of a dark Jedi... but what if he discovers that I have the same skills than
my brother?" she finished, turning toward him.

"Do you have those skills?" her father asked her seriously.

Both Luke and himself knew that it wasn't the case, but... had they missed
something?

"I don't know," she shrugged, "but I never needed more than one flying lesson
to learn how to fly crafts that ranged from speeders to shuttles and
starfighters," she admitted truthfully.

The Skywalker-touch, he realized with a touch of pride.

"I had heard about that," he reassured her, "but I assure you that being a very
good pilot isn't enough to draw the Emperor's attention on you. Luke is an
exceptional pilot, yes, but he is also many other things... that require skills
that you simply don't have, Leia," he finished gently, reassuringly.

Both reassured and afraid by her father's words, Leia jumped to her feet and
threw her arms aside in frustration.

"Don't you find it strange that we both have flying skills yet I don't have much
Jedi skills?" she asked him in annoyance.

"No," her father calmly shook his head.

"And why not?" she asked, crossing her arms in slight defiance.

Either they were hiding something from her, she decided, or else, she was blocking herself somehow. It just didn't make any sense otherwise. Much like her attitude toward the Force, she admitted silently.

She wanted to use it as easily as her brother and father did, but at the same time, she didn't want their dark lives. She just wanted to be like her family.

Would she ever fit in??, she wanted to scream.

Her father regally stood up from his chair and stood right in front of her. She
looked up at him, suddenly fighting tears of frustration. Her powerful father, her powerful brother... She would never be like them on more than one aspect.

Her father rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Have you ever noticed how much like your mother you are?" he asked her gently.

Of course she had noticed, she wanted to snap. She would be a fool not to see
herself as a her mother's ghost.

She barely nodded.

"This is only a theory, Leia, but I think that Luke inherited the Skywalker-
strength, Force-wise, and you got your mother's."

"Mother was a Jedi?" she gaped in sudden bemusement.

"No," her father shook his head, "but she was a part of the living Force. With
half of my chromosomes in you, even though they are not the dominant strength,
they make you Force-sensitive, but not skilled enough to become a full-fledged
Jedi Knight," he told her regretfully.

Leia felt her tears suddenly stream down her eyes as her father's wisdom
registered in her mind. He was right, she admitted. She could feel it... had somehow always known it. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't their fault... It was the way it was, nothing else.

"Then..." she sobbed despite herself, "then what can I be?" she queried softly.

If she couldn't be like her family, which meant not fitting in yet again...
where would she fit in?

Her father gently pulled her in his embrace; she surprised herself by burying
herself in his arms, ignoring his breast plate, his black-leather armor, what he had always represented for her until lately; she simply reveled in the fact that her father was there to comfort her, that he was caring about her even though she would never be like him or her brother.

Strange how he had gone from being a monster being pressed up against her back
while she had watched her planet being destroyed... to a father who was
comforting her...

"You can only be who you are, Leia; you are my daughter, your brother's sister, a beautiful, intelligent young woman who can use the Force to a certain extent,
but who also has many other skills that don't require the Force at all... skills
in which you excel, like politics and leadership," he soothed her warmly.

She didn't answer him, merely tightened her hold around his strong body.

*Thank you, Father.* she sent him gratefully.

There was at least one good thing about her situation, she sadly reminded
herself: she truly was beneath the Emperor's notice now, and 'that' was a great
thing.

While he held his daughter, Lord Vader marveled at how things had turned out
between them.

Years ago, before he had found his son, he had never thought that he would
someday have a child, then he had found Luke and discovered fatherhood.

He had then thought that he would never discover anything new about this status,
then... his daughter had come out of nowhere... and he had realized that he
still had much to learn about fatherhood.

Planning, training and caring wasn't all there was to it: listening, sharing, demonstrating his feelings,... wanting the best for his children, Force-skilled or not... holding his grown-up child in his arms to reassure and comfort her...

Now he knew about those things.

He had just never, ever expected the feisty little princess from Alderaan to
teach him this much... In a way, he conceded, it was a very good thing that she wasn't too much like her brother.

A very good thing indeed.

******

The weeks passed and Leia slowly but surely began to truly become a part of her
family, even without her Force-strength. Luke and his father alternated their 'shifts' at the palace, thus giving off the impression that they were on-duty once again.

Before their missions, she often spent time with them to know what they were
going to do while off-planet, then, when it wasn't threatening for anybody, she
made a few suggestions to make sure that this part or that part of the population would be 'visited' by their troops, not assaulted. During such exchanges, Luke dimly listened to her political advice, focusing instead of how to draw her even closer to their side. However, she did help them to pacify some areas of the galaxy without causing any bloodbath.

Unknowingly, she thus helped the Emperor to strengthen his hold on the
galaxy; at last, they were getting true results to show.

When she was alone, Leia varied her activities from beginning to study the
Empire and see what she could really do to help while in its heart, to training her fledgling skills, to going outside with her escort and take advantage of
Coruscant's establishments, to spending time alone with her father, her brother,
and even her brother's girlfriend.

Mara Jade.

The first times that she had found herself alone with the red-head, both women had spent long silences studying each other, but as they had begun to comment on
some subjects, they had slowly begun to build a tentative friendship which slowly evolved into a real one.

Eventually, they discovered that there were truly a few things that only another woman could understand.

******

That day, Leia had managed to convince Mara to go out for some serious shopping.
She had made the judicious observation that both the red-head's and Luke's wardrobes needed some refreshing, as well as her own of course.

At first, Mara hadn't been too warm to the idea to spend her whole day in a
shopping center instead of training at home, but as she had begun to follow
Leia's eager lead, she had discovered that she had missed out a very interesting
activity during all those years.

It was time to catch up with the years, she had resolved.

And she did catch up.

Leia was leaning against a rack of shirts and t-shirts while Mara was still in
her cabin, trying on yet another audacious top.

"I shouldn't have told you about my fortune," she complained mock-seriously,
referring to their earlier conversation about the princess' use of her own personal account instead of her father's or brother's.

"If you hadn't, I would have used another source," Mara shot back playfully.
"Oooh, he's going to die for this one," she smiled devilishly above the door
before lowering herself back in the small room.

"Him and any other man who'll see you in that thing they call clothe," she
agreed with a smirk.

"Those other ones are definitely going to die," the red-head stated, a trifle more seriously this time.

Leia sighed at this. It was a useless reminder that her new best friend was an assassin, even more active than her brother was. It was hard not to forget it, she reflected seriously.

Jade's eyes were always alert for trouble, her stance was always straight and intimidating, making sure to keep any unwanted bystanders at bay, and her Force senses were radiating with a deadliness and efficiency that was only matched by that of her brother and father.

Well, she thought glumly, they had all been molded by the same dark artisan.

Then, her eyes fell on the pile of clothes that the red-head had discarded as well as the bunch of bags they already had.

Yet like her brother and father, she continued more lightly, Mara hadn't completely lost her humanity. She was in mad love with Luke, and she liked to have fun like everybody else.

Leia straightened up as her friend walked out of the cabin; she noted that she was grinning in a most satisfied way.

Oooh, Luke had better be ready for her when he'd come back, she grinned back.

*His jaw is going to hit the floor so hard that you'll probably hear it,* Mara
sent her through the Force.

Leia could only agree with her, fighting against the laughter that was bubbling
up inside of her. She managed to keep it down for as long as they were in the rather pompous store, but as soon as they were outside, she exploded in a fit of laughter; so did Mara.

******

An hour later, Mara still couldn't believe what Luke's sister had dragged her
into.

Shopping. Hairstyling. A snack at a restaurant.

Never in her life had she ever done something even remotely similar to this.
Whenever she had gone out to buy something, it had been a one way trek to the
store, then back home without any other stopovers for anything else. she had rarely had to do so anyway since other servants had always fulfilled her requests one way or another.

After all, she conceded, until recently, her life had always been one thing only: secrecy.

Not that it had been less secret today, she reflected wryly, just more normal.
She refocused on her companions who was talking about one of the time when she
had seen Luke 'farmboy' get into a completely foolish thing because of an
accident.

"You should have seen him with his hair all stuck with that oily goop," Leia was
laughing. "I don't think that the mechanic ever realized who was glaring at
him." she finished with mirth.

"I can imagine how unhappy he was," she answered half-seriously, half-lightly. "He never particularly cared about those cleaning up jobs we sometimes had to do." she added, careful not to reveal anything serious about her boyfriend.

"Hmm, that must be why he disappeared from his usual spots for the following
hours," the petite brunette reflected more seriously.

He had probably been venting a rather unSkywalker-like rage, Mara reflected
silently, not willing to bring up that subject with the slowly-cooperating
princess.

"He probably licked his wounded pride," she instead commented.

"Probably," Leia agreed. "You know, I never asked you this, but when did you
begin to see him as more than a friend?" she asked cautiously.

For a moment, Mara silently poked at her piece of Leahnab cake, debating with
herself whether it was dangerous to talk about this in an open area or not.
She finally decided that it was okay, as long as they didn't name anyone.

"I think it began to change when we were around fourteen years old," she began
wistfully. "Back then, we were constantly together, and other than the regular
limits between friends, we were sharing almost anything."

"Was it a physical or an emotional thing at first?" Leia inquired with interest.

Mara noticed the way the other woman was eager to hear her tale, but dismissed
the danger it might entail. It was illogical in this situation.

"It was both," she answered. "Whenever we were close, the physical attraction
was slowly building until it would become unbearable, but without his personality, it wouldn't have gotten us as far as we are now." She shrugged as she continued: "I simply couldn't imagine not being with him."

Leia had grown extremely quiet during her last sentences; it first puzzled the assassin, then, when it stretched into the next minutes, worried her.

"What?" she asked her, suddenly realizing that she had dropped her guard and
that someone might have crept up on them during that time---

Her companion shook herself out of her gaze.

"Nothing," she finally said neutrally. "I... was just remembering how I felt
for someone... it took me a while to understand that I hadn't seen it for what it was at the time, and now it's too late..."

"You mean you loved someone and you lost him?"

Leia barely nodded in answer.

Her admission surprised Mara, but, she reminded herself more coolly, she couldn't do anything for her now.

"I'm sorry," she simply said, resting her hand over her friend's.

Leia didn't show any sign that she had heard her, then she suddenly stood to her
feet.

"Let's go back home," she told her as gaily as she could managed.

Her effort didn't escape Mara, but she wisely didn't add anything. When they exited the restaurant, she felt their escort resume their distant duty.

******

TBC in part 24: Reborn Hope

Copyright 2000, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Well, liked it? (Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff won't even be
read.)