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Darth Vader was frustrated. After the mess at Scarif, he'd captured the princess of Alderaan. The princess was a rebel who'd escaped the battle just moments before he could get his hands on them, but he'd managed to follow them to a planet he hated and captured them in orbit. She'd had the audacity to talk back to him, but still there was no sign of his goal, the plans the rebels stole from the archive vaults on Scarif. Now the rebel princess was rotting in a cell on the Death Star and he was in charge of torturing the location of the plans out of her, and he was getting nowhere. She resisted the torture droid, she resisted threats, she even resisted his attempts to break into her mind. She was powerful. Vader knew she'd been a firebrand of a politician, he'd heard plenty of her bluster, but he hadn't known she was strong in the force as well. It surprised him. He'd never seen anyone with such potential before, not since... He couldn't think of Anakin Skywalker. The Jedi general was dead. He'd killed him and buried him on Mustafar, where Obi-wan Kenobi had mutilated him and left him to die. The pain and hatred from that one moment gave him strength, but he was getting distracted by his own thoughts. He couldn't even take a deep breath and centre himself in the force again. The constant rasp of his respirator kept grating on his mind, not to mention the constant pain in his chest from his scarred lungs, forced to breathe to keep him alive. Pain gave strength. Pain gave purpose. Pain gave power. Vader went over the Sith mantras again in his mind and balled his fists. He could never show doubt or hesitation, especially not now. Time for another round of interrogations. This time he had something else to try though.

Leia Organa laid on the slab of durasteel. She was bored out of her mind, but any moment now Darth Vader would come in to torture her again. He made the times unpredictable to keep her on her toes, but somehow Leia always knew when he'd arrive. It wasn't even that she could hear his footsteps approaching or his mechanical breathing or anything. She just knew. She always had a good intuition. It'd helped her plenty during her days as a rebel. Then just as she expected the door slid open and the dark giant stepped through, his rhythmic breathing as loud and insistent as ever. The supreme commander of the imperial military, the murderous monster, the mechanical man was here to torture her again. She wondered what he was going to try now. No matter, Leia would never give in to him. She would never give up what happened to the plans. R2-D2 would make it to Obi-wan Kenobi, and he would make sure it safely returned to Alderaan.

"Princess," Darth Vader intoned, his voice as mechanical as his breathing.

"Back again?" Leia asked, "you've been stopping by more and more often. Surely you aren't getting desperate."

"I am merely here to give you some news," Vader replied, "I am sure you will... Enjoy it."

Leia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She often had to do that, especially these days, "surely the great lord Vader is too busy to be bringing me a news holo?"

"We are currently in orbit around your home planet," Vader explained, "and you have seen what this weapon can do back on Scarif."

A shudder of dread went through Leia, "What are you insinuating?"

"I have recently learned that grand moff Tarkin wants a full weapons test," Vader replied, "I do not need to tell you his preferred target."

"No! Alderaan is peaceful!" Leia shouted, "We have no weapons! The people of Alderaan are innocent!"

"You understand the situation," Vader threateningly said, "you know what I want from you. The plans you stole and the location of the rebel base, that is all."

"You would destroy Alderaan just for that??" Leia indignantly asked, "The people on that planet haven't done anything wrong!"

Darth Vader placed his hands on his belt and stared at her. Leia again felt him intruding in her mind, but she pushed him out. He'd tried that before, and she'd never give up any secrets to that monster. "I can save your planet," Vader began, "and I can give you everything you ever wanted."

"What do you mean?" Leia asked. This was different. Vader was taking a completely new approach now, one she hadn't thought he'd ever think of.

"You are powerful," Vader replied, "your will is strong, and you are strong in the force. This empire is..." Vader looked over her head, as if in thought, "not what it should be," he finally continued, "you know of what I speak. The rebellion is a flawed attempt at bringing back a flawed system. Peace, justice, freedom, security, a new republic will not give you that. Strength can. Your strength."

"What are you talking about??" Leia asked. For once, Vader was talking with her, and for once he was making sense. The empire was broken and corrupt, and the rebellion would bring exactly those things he talked about. And yet he seemed to be of the opinion it wouldn't.

"The republic failed, but you do not need to fail like it," Vader continued, "I have long fought to bring peace, but I lack... An ally, someone who knows why things are the way they are, who has the will to put it right. I am the emperor's fist, but fighting can only do so much. You can do what I cannot."

"Lemme guess, you want a lackey to intimidate people for you?" Leia almost rolled her eyes again.

"I can do that myself," Vader let out a sound that might've been a chuckle, but his vocabulator made it difficult to parse. For a moment he fell silent again, as if deep in thought, "Once, Padmé Amidala tried to put things right, yet she was a senator in the republic. Someone was needed to make the senators agree, and yet still no one has that power. I put out fires, princess, I need someone to stop fires from being made."

Leia's father had told her of the clone wars, of the way the Jedi generals fought on the front lines while he and a handful of other senators tried to end the war through diplomacy, "you need a diplomat," Leia guessed, "why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have the will to do what is needed," Vader demanded, "yet you chose the fire. Join me, and together we can make this empire what it was always meant to be."

"And how would we do that?" Leia asked. What Vader said made sense. She hated to admit it, but he did. It's why she joined the rebellion, because they were actually doing something rather than just suffering the imperial oppression. Could she do the same from the inside?

"The emperor has long since abandoned politics," Vader explained, "I had... Hopes for him. He was to finally end the corruption of the old republic, and yet he let it languish. I need someone to fight the rot, rather than waste resources on superweapons."

"You're not a fan of this... Death Star?" Leia asked, and Vader nodded in reply. "Well, if I'm going to actually join you, I need guarantees," Leia demanded, "I'm not gonna roll over and obey over promises."

Vader nodded again, "I expected nothing less," he declared, "I will ensure the safety of your planet, and I will offer any of your rebel friends clemency, if they join the empire. Just like you. In return I need your obedience."

Leia swallowed. It wasn't much, but if it got her out of her cell it was still good enough. R2-D2 had to be making it to Alderaan by now. That meant the rebels should be able to figure out a weakness in the weapon and destroy it. Hopefully after she could get off and before it blew any more holes in more planets. "I will... Accept this," she replied, "so long as you keep to your word, I will try to help."

"You will not try," Vader demanded with another sound like a chuckle, "you will do. You never do otherwise, do you?"

Darth Vader led the princess through the Death Star. He was quite happy with how their chat went. He had to tell here more than he'd wanted to convince her, but she'd agreed. Now he just had to convince Tarkin not to murder a planet and his impromptu plan could begin. He would fix everything. With her help, he could even kill his master and take his place as emperor, and finally make everything right. Long ago he'd talked with Padmé about how they'd do it, how they'd set up the system to actually work, but that was all lost, all gone. Still he could still make that peaceful galaxy a reality. He would force it to bend to his will, and the princess would help him.

Tarkin was waiting for them on the bridge of the space station. Vader led the princess inside, and immediately she began with her familiar snark, "Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." Vader disliked her choice of words, especially with the deal they'd just struck, but he wasn't going to tell her off now.

Tarkin smiled at her, "Charming to the last. You don't know how hard I found it, signing the order to terminate your life."

"I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself," the princess scoffed. Vader had to admit, the princess had a mouth on her. Bail Organa never was that direct and sassy, but Vader approved of his new tool's attitude. It was part of why he'd chosen her. That attitude was exactly what he was looking for, defiant even in the face of danger.

"Princess Leia, before your execution," Tarkin grinned, "I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the emperor now."

The princess mockingly snarled, "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin... The more star systems will slip through your fingers."

"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station," Tarkin declared, "In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the rebel base... I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan."

Vader could sense the princess's distress. She glanced at him, but Vader remained stoic. "No. Alderaan is peaceful," she begged, "we have no weapons."

Tarkin scowled at her, "You would prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this, so it will be the last time. Where is the rebel base?"

"Dantooine," the princess finally admitted, "they're on Dantooine."

"There. You see, Lord Vader? She can be reasonable," Tarkin was gleeful now, gleeful and treacherous, "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready."

"What?" The princess couldn't believe her ears. Vader saw it, her dread, her horrible dread. Tarkin had scared her now, but Vader wouldn't let him get his will so easily.

Tarkin grinned again, "you're far too trusting."

"No." Vader declared, and he sensed that the fire-control officers were paying close attention now. They would not dare disobey him, and neither would Tarkin.

"No? What do you mean no?" Tarkin incredulously asked.

"She gave up the rebels," Vader declared, "Alderaan will not be the target."

"Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration," Tarkin calmly objected, hiding his irritation "Alderaan is not. Fire the-" A burst of coughs interrupted his command. Vader had his hand clenched, wielding the force like he had on Motti not long ago. Tarkin gasped for air, his hands grabbing his throat. He dropped to his knees, and moments later the grand moff was dead.

"Set course to Dantooine," Vader commanded, and him the Death Star officers obeyed.

"You killed him," Leia couldn't believe it. Vader had murdered Governor Tarkin and led her to a new cell. It was just a normal room, but it was just as much a cell to her. At least it was more comfortable, with an actual bed and desk with a chair.

"Tarkin would have destroyed your home," Vader coldly replied, "and we had a deal."

"You... You saved Alderaan," Leia had to admit it. This monster had protected her home, and now they were off to a planet holding only an abandoned remnant of a rebel base.

"I have a task for you," Vader changed the subject, "a test. Sit down and close your eyes." Leia obediently did so, sitting down on the bed and closing her eyes. "Now think of that moment, when Tarkin signed the death warrant of your home," Vader intoned, his voice low and dangerous, "think of that moment, think of him. What would you do to him?"

"What?" Leia had obeyed, thinking of Tarkin and what he'd tried, but she didn't understand what he wanted now. She didn't know what she'd do to him. "Shoot him, I guess?" Leia suggested.

"You have no blaster," Vader continued, "you have just your hands. No one will stop you. What would you do?"

"Stop him?" Leia tried.

"How?" Vader pressed, "How will you stop him? You have your fists, you have your will. How will you stop him?"

"I would punch him," Leia replied, "I would punch him until he stopped it."

"Good," Vader replied, "that is the right answer. I can feel your anger. Imagine it, losing everyone you love, everyone dying due to him. Imagine it."

Leia's breathing grew heavy. She could see it. She'd seen what'd happened on Scarif, she knew what that weapon would've done to her home. She could see her parents dying, burning up in a blast of that horrible weapon. She didn't want to think of it, that horrible dread, she didn't want to imagine it. Tarkin had been behind it all, that horrible man, that monster. She'd always learned to hide her emotions, to not show them in front of people who might abuse it, but she couldn't hide how angry Tarkin made her now. She scowled, her face contorting in anger. She hated him, even after she'd given in, after she'd given up a rebel base, he still was going to destroy her home and kill everyone on the planet. She hated him.

"Good." Vader's voice broke her from her imagination, "Use your anger," he commanded, "for every planet, for every innocent, fight. Bring peace. End corruption and war. Focus your anger into a blade to make your will law."

"What are you trying?" Leia asked, her anger turning into annoyance as she opened her eyes again.

"You can sense it," Vader replied, "the force moves to your will. Your instincts are strong, you can tell when someone is lying, you know what will happen before it does. That is the force."

"I know about the Jedi," Leia glanced at him, "I'm no Jedi. I know what the empire did to them."

"You can be more than any Jedi," Vader replied, "but you will need training, and you will be more powerful than even the emperor. You will be able to remake the galaxy like he could not, like he would not."

"Peace, justice, freedom and security," Leia intoned, "we can bring peace, justice, freedom and security to the empire."

"Exactly," Vader declared, "we will make things right."

Leia stood on the bridge of the Devastator, reading a datapad. She'd joined a few meetings with high ranking imperials already, and on Vader's authority she'd instituted purges. She'd done it. She'd ordered the deaths of actual people. She was an imperial now, and she had coldly, callously ordered the execution of numbers of corrupt bureaucrats. She'd ordered the replacement of imperial governors with people who would actually want to help people, and she'd set the ISB to investigating the high ranking imperials who used to be untouchable. It was a start, and meanwhile she was throwing away her soul while wearing an imperial uniform.

Behind her, Leia heard Vader's stomping feet, "Well done," he declared, "you have started. I expect good things from your work."

"I expect it to take time," Leia replied, "especially the ISB investigations. They're not used to investigating corruption."

"I have watched the empire decay for twenty years," Vader replied, "I can wait for your efforts to show results." Leia sensed him inspect her, probing her mind. She rejected him again, just as usual. "You kept up your training?" Vader asked.

"I kept up my training," Leia replied, before pivoting to a question of her own, "where's Tarkin's Grave?"

"In the outer rim," Vader answered, "It gave a demonstration on an uninhabited planet, and now it's running from the rebels."

"Running?" Leia asked. She was surprised such a massive station would run from anything.

"Your plan worked," Vader replied, "the plans you hid have reached the rebels, and rumours are everywhere that they know how to destroy it."

"What word from the emperor?" Leia kept interrogating him.

"He is furious," Vader was smiling under his mask, Leia was sure of it, "his superweapon has been made a laughing stock," he continued, "and only now he realizes how much he wasted on that thing."

"Either way, I brokered peace on Orlig," Leia finally gave her report, "as usual, you are an effective threat, and the warring parties have come to an agreement."

"Will it last?" Vader demanded.

Leia nodded, "I didn't force it, both camps realized it was for the best."

"Good," Vader replied, "then we return to Coruscant and you can continue bullying bureaucrats."

Darth Vader was content with his new apprentice. She was successful, very successful. He'd expected nothing less from her. He'd seen how stubborn and diligent she was, and she put her every effort to improving the empire. She worked for the people, Vader saw how that was her true intent. She wasn't a servant of the dark side like him, not really, because in all her violence and anger, she was selfless. She wasn't nearly as violent as he anyway. That's what made her a good diplomat. She patiently listened to everyone before enforcing her will.

Something still bothered Vader though. He'd run a basic blood test on her, to check her M-count. What bothered him was that the results didn't match her records, but the results did match his expectation. Her records were meddled with. It was well-known that Leia Organa was adopted, but everything about her true parentage was unknown. Leia Organa had no parents, but her M-count matched only one person in the empire. Him, once Jedi general Anakin Skywalker, once the chosen one of the Jedi. Was she another attempt by the force to create a balance? Something to drive out the dark and return the balance of the light? Either way, it'd failed. Leia Organa was training as a Sith. Still, Vader couldn't put the idea out of his mind that she was meant to destroy the emperor, but where would that leave him? He had to make sure she was loyal to him. He wanted to make sure she was loyal. Vader felt a strange kinship to her, perhaps it was that they'd both been born from the force, perhaps it was something else, but it was something he couldn't quite place. It made him soft. His master taught him through pain, through hurting him and humiliating him and throwing him to the wolves, all to make him strong, but he couldn't do that to her. General Skywalker had sent his padawan, Ahsoka into plenty of danger, but that was different, not to mention that she could manage it. She'd died though, twice, once by his own hand and yet Vader missed her. He missed his old apprentice. It was frustrating, he should hate her for abandoning him, but she'd been right. The Jedi order had been rotten and he'd ended them for that reason. Now he had to train Leia as something better, better than a Jedi, but perhaps also better than a Sith.

Despite all Vader's conviction that Leia was a child of the force, there was still something he had to check. While the Devastator was underway to Coruscant, Vader took his starfighter to Naboo. There was a mausoleum there, a sacred place he'd never visited. He couldn't bear it, but now he had to. The force told him he'd made a mistake and he had to check. Padmé had died while pregnant, but Leia's tampered records made him doubt. The force told him something was wrong, and when he reached the tomb, he would find out. When he finally opened the sarcophagus, he did. He looked upon his late wife and Vader was once again overwhelmed with sorrow, sorrow and anger. He'd tortured himself with the footage of his wife's funeral, but that too had been tampered with. Padmé had died pregnant, so went the lie, but the body in the tomb told a different story. Their child had survived. Vader knew it. Somewhere across the galaxy, Darth Vader had a child, and his mind was drawn to the Devastator, where Leia was organizing their answer to imperial corruption. Ironic, Padmé had been a queen, and now her daughter was a princess, at least if Vader's suspicions were correct. He needed confirmation. Vader needed solid proof, and he knew how to get it. Bail Organa had long been a friend of his late wife. Who better to take in an orphaned daughter? Vader traced his gloved, cybernetic hand across Padmé's waxen face. Anakin Skywalker was dead. His wife was dead, but he had a daughter. Anakin Skywalker's daughter lived.

After Naboo, Vader travelled to Alderaan. Once again he was glad he'd murdered Tarkin. If he hadn't, this lead would have died instead. Bail Organa, he would have the answers, and he had saved his life and that of everyone on his planet. Vader would have his answers.

"Lord Vader, I must say I hadn't expected you," Bail Organa met him at the landing pad, "to what do we owe this pleasure."

"Leia Organa," Vader declared, "I have some questions about her."

Once-senator Organa swallowed, and Vader sensed his nerves, "we haven't seen her in months," he replied, "if you're looking for her, we can't help you."

"I know where she is," Vader shrugged off his concern, "she has been a loyal imperial servant. No, I have questions about her parents."

"I'm sorry?" Vader's words confused Organa, and Vader grinned behind his respirator, "What kind of questions would you have about us?"

"No, her biological parents," Vader replied, "You tampered with her records, falsified her M-count, hid her parentage..." Now Vader was nervous. This moment would prove or disprove his theory. He had to know if he had a daughter, "Is Leia Organa the child of Padmé Amidala?"

The politician hid his emotions very well, just like the daughter he'd raised. "No, we adopted her from Alderaan. We don't know who her parents were." He was lying. It was a lie he'd practised for years, but Vader sensed it. The force told him Organa was lying.

"A true politician," Vader replied, "and now the truth. Is Leia Organa the daughter of Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker?" Organa didn't reply. "The truth," Vader demanded, louder and more insistent. Still Organa remained silent. It was as good as confirmation, but Vader wanted to hear it, to hear him say it. "Governor Tarkin wanted to do to Alderaan what he did to Scarif," Vader mentioned, "For Leia's sake, I stopped him. Now I want you to tell me the truth. Is she my child??"

"She is," Bail finally admitted it, and Vader could've screamed in triumph. His heart would've skipped a beat if not for its electromechanically enforced drum. He had a daughter. He and Padmé had a daughter, a wonderful, powerful woman who had the same drive he had to finally fix their rotten empire. Vader was proud of her, and he was furious. Organa had hidden her from him. He'd stolen his child. He was furious, but Vader had to control himself. Leia loved her adoptive parents after all. Vader would let them live for her sake. He would do anything for her, for his daughter.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Vader declared, forcing himself to keep his calm. He had his answers, but now he had to figure out what to do with it. He couldn't just tell her, Leia would never believe him, even if the force would tell her it was true. "You will tell her," Vader decided, "you have hidden it for far too long already, but you now will tell her the truth. The entire truth."

"We haven't seen her in months!" Organa objected.

"I will tell her to visit you," Vader chuckled, "she has been working under me to clean up this mess of a galaxy, but she can use a moment of rest."

Darth Vader had a child, a wonderful daughter, and now he had to figure out how to deal with her. He loved her, he decided, and he would make her princess of the entire galaxy. Palpatine would die, so they could finally have the galaxy they wanted. The emperor was a danger to her, and he would not let that stand. Darth Vader would give his daughter the galaxy she deserved.

Lord Vader had sent Leia home. Despite how busy she was, she was forced into a holiday away from Coruscant. It frustrated her. Her work still needed to be done. She'd held a meeting with a grand admiral on reducing the horrible incompetence in the navy and she wanted to do something with what she'd learned. The admiral had been an idiot, but he had given Leia the realization that the entire system was just rotten. Everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up, from academies to admirals, but she couldn't implement any of the measures she'd thought up if she had to go home. At least it could wait. This wasn't one of those efforts the ruling council was actively resisting. Not yet, but when they'd try anything they would. Perhaps it was good to have a holiday first, but still Leia wanted to keep going. She had to keep going. There was already plenty of blood on her hands, and she couldn't stop now. She could only stop when she was finished. Which would be never, she was sure of it. The emperor had to die. He was at the source of all of it. She was more and more sure the rebels had been right with every order she signed. The entire premise of the empire was built on rotten foundations. She'd wanted to discuss this with her master, with lord Vader, but that too would have to wait. It frustrated her, but unlike Vader she wasn't going to choke someone to death to get rid of that frustration. She would just follow her new orders and visit her parents. Alderaan would probably give her some well-deserved rest. She knew she needed it.

Alderaan was as beautiful as ever when her Lambda shuttle landed. She wondered how her parents would react to seeing her, especially since her father had been the one to introduce her to the rebellion. Now she returned to the palace in an imperial uniform, a high-ranking officer who has indirectly murdered many bureaucrats and governors and other corrupt imperials, and she had no remorse. Even when the executions happened right in front of her, she had no remorse. It was her revenge for the Tarkin-towns and the genocides and the murder of completely innocent people through poverty and exploitation. Now she wondered what her parents would think of her iron fist.

"Good afternoon father," Leia greeted her father on the landing pad, smiling at him, "I hope you've been well."

"It's been so long, Leia," her dad replied, "we've missed you. After Scarif, we feared the worst, but it's so good to see you're safe."

"A lot has happened," Leia replied, "I'm in the service of Darth Vader now, ever since Tarkin's Grave threatened Alderaan."

"Lord Vader has told us as such," her dad sighed, "Breha and I have something important to tell you, dear, something we should have long ago."

"What do you mean, father?" Leia asked. The force told her that whatever it was, it'd turn her world upside down. It told her that "important" was an understatement, and she had an inkling as to why. This would involve her birth parents, the mother she'd dreamed of long ago and the father she'd never met. Whatever her dad had to tell her, it would change everything.

Her father led Leia to a private balcony overlooking the lake beneath. Her mother was already there, worrying herself sick. Leia could sense her turmoil. "Leia, it's about your parents," her dad began when they sat down, "we never told you who they were, because it was too dangerous for you to know."

Leia shrugged, "I know a lot of dangerous things," she replied, "and I've done plenty of dangerous things myself."

"Your mother was a wonderful person," her dad began, "you were born to Padmé Amidala, just after the clone wars ended. She was a close friend of mine and an incredible colleague." Leia stiffly nodded. She'd heard stories of the senator of Naboo, but she hadn't expected her to be her mother. Still, it changed nothing. That wasn't the important part. "Your father was a Jedi general by the name of Anakin Skywalker," her dad continued, and Leia nervously swallowed. A face came to her through the force, but not of the Jedi hero she'd been told stories about. She saw a burning face, his blue eyes burning until they were gold, his hair turning into ashes, his face covered in terrible scars as the person who fathered her laid burning on black sands. She heard the familiar sound of a respirator and glanced behind her. Vader wasn't here. He had no reason to be here, but why did the force show her his face? "Anakin Skywalker, your father betrayed the Jedi," her dad explained, "and he took the name Darth Vader. Darth Vader is your father."

Leia couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she knew it was true. Her dad wouldn't lie to her, and even if he might have, she could sense the truth in his words. Darth Vader, her master was the person who'd fathered her. "How long have you known?" Leia asked, her voice weak and quiet. Somehow she'd known ever since he started teaching her, but still it came as a shock. She'd thought he was a monster, she'd served him in the empire, she'd learned about the force from him, and now she learned he was her father.

"We kept it secret to protect you," her dad, her true father replied, "Darth Vader was a murderer. He murdered Padmé, just like he murdered hundreds of Jedi in the temple. He only found out recently, we think. He came here demanding the truth, that you were Anakin's child, and we had to tell you."

"This doesn't change anything," Leia declared, despite knowing the opposite was true, "you're still my parents. You raised me, and nothing will change that," she watched her parents breathe a sigh of relief, and she couldn't help but smile at them. She loved them. She desperately loved them, and everything she did was because of the ideals they'd instilled in her. She would bring peace and justice to the galaxy, even if she had to use Vader's methods for that. She grabbed a set of datadisks from under her coat and slid it across the table, "I may serve Vader, but that doesn't change my goals. I'm just fighting on the inside again."

"What do these disks contain?" her dad asked.

"Give them to Mon," Leia replied, "it's information on a few governors I haven't been able to get arrested, and some other useful stuff. The rebels should be able to do something with it."

"You're still fighting with us?" her dad asked.

"Vader wants the same as us," Leia nodded, "to fix the galaxy. I just don't think he's realized that the empire is rotten all the way through, but he's right that a new republic couldn't fix this." Leia glanced away. She worried her parents would object, nor did she want to really unveil how horrible she had to be in her work. "But I'm not here for politics," she hurriedly told them, "this was supposed to be a holiday."

Her dad smiled at her, "it's good to have you home, Leia," he replied, "you'll always be our daughter."

Darth Vader was nervous when Leia finally returned from her holiday. She knew. He sensed that she knew. Bail Organa had followed his orders and told Vader's daughter the truth of her parentage. Still, he sensed that she wasn't particularly bothered by it. It angered him. Bail Organa had stolen his daughter from him, and he couldn't get her back. He couldn't be a parent. He couldn't have that life he'd dreamed of long ago, that Anakin Skywalker had dreamed of. Long ago he'd accepted he'd never have that, but now it infuriated him. He hated Organa for taking that chance from him, seeing his daughter grow and being a parent. Leia had had a good life though. She'd grown up the daughter of royalty. She'd had the childhood she deserved. Could Vader have given her that? She would've had to grow up on a star destroyer if he'd been her parent. She'd be vulnerable to Palpatine's cruel machinations. She would've suffered as his child. Perhaps it was for the best that the Organas raised her. It broke his heart all over again, just like losing Padmé had, but their daughter had had a good life.

"I have returned, my lord," Leia declared when she walked into Vader's office on the Devastator.

"You have returned to Alderaan," Vader replied, "they finally told you?"

"My parents told me who you were," Leia acknowledged, "You may be my father, but that doesn't change anything."

Vader dreaded as much, "I should thank them for raising you," he replied, not looking at her, "they gave you a good life."

"They did," Leia said, "I owe everything to them."

"I couldn't be your father," Vader began, "Bail took that role but..." He hesitated. He had to carefully pick his words. He couldn't get angry or frustrated with this. He had to be honest, "I hope you can accept me in your life," he finally asked.

"What happened to anger?" Leia drawled. She'd sensed it, how Vader controlled himself, "use your anger, Leia, turn it into a blade! You trained me to be ruthless, didn't you? Why are you being so meek now?"

Vader closed his eyes, an unnatural ache in his heart that wasn't the result of his scars, "Sith aren't parents," he replied, "I loved Padmé, I gave up everything for her, and... I love you, my daughter. Anger has no place there."

Leia scowled, "you love me?? I know I'm nothing more than a tool to you," she angrily replied, "Everyone is just a tool to you!"

"Not you," Vader replied, all his anger gone, replaced by tired anxiety, "not my daughter. I lost everything, but now I have you again," He took a deep breath and stirred the force into an angry frenzy again, "I will kill the emperor, Leia," he promised, "and you will be empress in his stead. I will give you the galaxy."

Leia had been working as an imperial officer for a long time when she received a strange order. She received an order straight from the emperor himself. The death star once again orbited her home, and both she and Vader had been called to the battle station, to meet the emperor there. It was a golden chance. Leia sent a secret message to Mon Mothma and obediently made her way to the station. She would meet the emperor there, together with her father, and together with a dozen rebel starfighters who knew the exact weakness of that station. Galen Erso had built a weakness into it, and no imperial had yet found it. They didn't have the plans the rebels had after all, something she thanked Tarkin for. His folly had become his grave, and now it'd become the emperor's as well.

"Leia Organa," the emperor declared when they entered the throne room, "and lord Vader. You two have been very busy in my empire. Do not think I haven't kept an eye on your activities. I have to say I'm disappointed."

"The empire has long been corrupt and ineffective," Vader callously replied, "we improved it."

"Do not think you can hide what you've been doing, lord Vader," the emperor snarled, "you have been trying to take control over my empire!"

"Your empire will serve you better without the corruption," Vader replied. Leia had to agree with him, but she also knew it wouldn't be his empire much longer.

"And yet you have found your own apprentice," the emperor continued his accusations, "you are trying to replace me, lord Vader, do not think me a fool. Your princess is strong in the force, but she is untrained, even with your feeble attempts." He let out a dark laugh and tossed Leia a small, gold-embossed cylinder. A lightsaber just like the one Vader always carried, "if you wish to enact your will on my empire, princess Leia, I will let you," the emperor replied with an evil grin, "on one condition. Kill Vader."

Leia lit the blade, its red light illuminating the throne room and its hum piercing the silence. She looked at her father, at Darth Vader and thought of all the evil he'd done. She could kill him, she realized. Vader had killed so many rebels, so many friends and so many innocents. He deserved it, but he was also the reason she was there. She had bloodied her own hands fighting the empire from the inside.

"I can sense your anger," the emperor whispered, "use it, kill your father and take his place. Become who you were meant to be."

Leia dropped the lightsaber, its red glow vanishing as she did so, "no," she declared, "I won't kill him." Vader might have been a monster, but he'd changed. Some part of him was still that heroic Jedi general, and she'd sensed it coming to the fore. She sensed it whenever she was with him. She let out a deep breath and stood by her father, facing the emperor. Somewhere far away an alarm was sounding, muted by durasteel walls. The Death Star was under attack, and Leia knew all her choices had been right. She sensed the future, she saw the Death Star's destruction approach.

The emperor was disappointed. Leia could sense it, she could sense his hatred, "then you will die, and soon your planet with you," he growled, standing up from his throne and pointing his hands at her. A torrent of lightning washed over her and Leia screamed in pain. Then mere moments later it stopped. Vader had drawn his lightsaber and stepped between them.

"Leia, go," he demanded. He wouldn't let her get hurt. All the anger Leia had long sensed was gone. All that was on his mind was protecting her. He didn't care for anything else, not even the destruction he too sensed. Leia saw what he was doing, "get to the shuttle and leave," Vader ordered her, "go!"

"You are nothing but a disappointment, lord Vader," the emperor cried, "you had such potential, and yet you lost everything. You are a waste! You could've been great, but you turned into that! You are barely a man, let alone a Sith!"

"Leia, go!" Vader once again ordered, taking his focus off blocking the emperor to throw Leia out of the room. Leia now sensed what Vader sensed. A rebel pilot was making an attack run. He too was force-sensitive. Leia sensed how powerful the pilot was, and the force was with him. He would not fail. Obi-wan's voice echoed in Leia's mind, repeating Vader's order, and she ran. She ran as fast as she could to the nearest hangar. No time to catch a shuttle, a TIE fighter would do. Anything would do.

In the hangar, Leia knew she had only moments left. She couldn't get Vader's last command out of her head, the love he'd given it with. That wasn't what a Sith would say, it wasn't what a Sith would feel. Vader had known he was going to die, and his last order to her was to not die with him. Her father gave that order, Anakin Skywalker, not the Sith lord Darth Vader. A loving father had given that order, and as Leia piloted a TIE fighter out of the battle station, she knew that everything was going to change. The emperor could not escape like she had. Vader, Anakin would make sure of that, and the rebel pilot would make sure the station died. This was the end, wasn't it?

Just moments after Leia was clear of the station, a humongous shockwave shook her fighter. For a moment she lost control of it, but then after a short but frantic struggle she managed to stop her fighter from spinning. Rolling her eyes at the TIE's limited field of view, she slowly turned the fighter around, back to the station. It was gone, nothing was left but a debris field. The rebels had won, and thanks to Vader's sacrifice, the emperor was finally gone. She sensed that he was gone. It was over. At the battle of Scarif the rebellion proved it could fight the empire, and here they showed it again. Far away, she saw the rebel fighters jumping off into hyperspace, the force-sensitive pilot with them, and Leia was alone. She piloted her craft to the surface of Alderaan. Her parents were waiting for her, and the people of Alderaan cheered for the weapon's destruction. Leia almost burst into tears as she made to join them. There would be plenty to celebrate, and perhaps for her to mourn.