OF STARS AND ROSES

In which a young Leia Organa wanders the Alderaanian gardens past nightfall and meets a strange man. She doesn't know why, but he seems oddly familiar.

Leia Organa was nine years old, and she should have been asleep by now.

Instead, she was wide awake, listening to the sounds of the night through her window, and if anyone was walking outside her room. Seemingly satisfied, she stood, and when she pushed away her blanket, it was evident that she was in fact not planning on going to bed at all.

Clad in a pair dark-coloured pants and an equally dark-coloured tunic, Leia grabbed a light jacket and crept to the windowsill. The summery winds from the mountains blew her hair out of her face as she breathed in the sweet smells from the gardens below. Leia took a hair ribbon out of her pocket and did her long hair into a ponytail before carefully getting up onto the sill.

She took her usual route, climbing down the uneven bricks and using the thick vines for support as she lowered herself into the gardens. Once she was sure that she had reached past the half-way point of the wall, Leia looked down and gauged the distance between herself and the ground. Seeing as it was only a few metres and not half the wall, she let go of the vines and jumped, reaching for the Force to cushion her fall.

She tumbled through the air for a breathless few seconds before her feet softly touched the ground and she was ready to take off.

The gardens were always her favourite. Sneaking at night to look at all the flowers and gaze upon the stars was the one thing she looked forward to. Sure, she had everything, sure, she was a princess, but Leia was only nine, and at some point it was all too much.

She wanted to be free.

Running in the gardens in the middle of the night with nobody around, no one to listen to, no one to tell her what she could and couldn't do, nothing but the stars above her, that, to Leia, was freedom. It was where she could let her thoughts run rampant and ask questions to which no one would give the answer to.

Who her father was, for instance. She knew her mother had been a queen, and a senator, but her father, her birth father, had always been a mystery. She imagined that he would have been kind, with a special smile he would've reserved just for her. She imagined that the would have been tall, powerful. She liked to think that he would have loved mechanics, maybe even had a bionic hand. That would've been so cool, Leia thought. But, she still wanted to know more. Her own theories and daydreams could only suffice for so long.

She ran through the gardens, the wind in her hair, and she laughed, for it was only her and the stars and the flowers and nothing else. She was free.

Leia thought of the Imperial convoy that had arrived that day. There were stormtroopers, lots of them. And the man that had greeted her father, he'd been the strangest of all. She'd seen him on the Holonet before, but only glimpses, for whenever her parents saw him on the screen they'd turn it off. Leia never knew why. She knew his name, though. Darth Vader. She'd heard whispers about him from the maids. Some said he was a machine rather than a man underneath that mask. Some said he was an alien, and that he wore the mask to conceal it because what a scandal it would be if the Emperor's right hand man wasn't human. Others, whom were older, old enough to have been around for the Clone Wars, said that he was a Fallen Jedi. And while Leia was barely older than a youngling, she knew that they never lived long, for she'd heard space-pirates and weary travellers talk about those little few in hushed tones and frightened voices whenever she snuck off into town past nightfall, and she knew now, the past was a dangerous thing.

She slowed as she neared the fountains, taking in the sound of the water cascading over the beautifully crafted metal, standing tall against the sky. Leia looked up, her eyes widening slightly in a never-ceasing awe as she took in the heavens above her.

She longed for the stars.

Being a princess was great and all, but she never got one moment to herself. She was constantly surrounded by maids and tutors and people, and she was sick of it. Sometimes, Leia wished that she was just another girl on some faraway planet with regular people and a father and mother who weren't royalty. She wanted to know her real parents. Her father, especially. She wished she knew his name, at least. Her name. She lived well, she couldn't deny that. She had loving parents and everything that she had ever wanted. She had pretty dolls, and she had nice gowns to go out in. She had people who prepared her food and a security detail that could rival a police force in size. She had everything, and at the same time, she had nothing.

She didn't even know her real name.

And suddenly, she was running from the fountains. She didn't want to hear the trickle of water hit the golden statues, she didn't want to be reminded that she was the Princess of Alderaan, and she didn't even know her own name.

She didn't know where she was running to. Her feet swept her over path upon path, and she let them. Leia ran for what seemed like forever (in reality, it wasn't that long), her feet moving methodically, going anywhere but back to the palace.

When she finally looked up and cared to notice her surroundings, she realized that she had gone further than she had meant to. The night was completely still. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, her breaths heavy in her lungs, and Force, she was only nine years old. Leia stood completely still, trying desperately to calm her breathing. She tried to remember what Master Yoda had told her the last time he had visited.

She was rational. She could do this. Leia reached out to the Force, letting the invisible tendrils of bright energy envelop her mind. She reached out again, this time strengthening her shields. Master Yoda had always said to make sure that her mental shields were up. Once she had calmed down her erratic breathing, Leia began to look around. However, she quickly realized that she had no idea where she was. She could see the palace, but she didn't know which path would take her back to the spot underneath her window, and while she might have recognized the spot she stood in when the sun was shining, hard as she tried she couldn't, not now, for it was night, so the entire area was awash in shades of black and grey. She tried reaching out with the Force again, but to no avail. The bright energy that was so easy to grasp just a moment ago shied away from her reach, muted and hazy.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, and set off down a path, blind, just hoping that it would get her back to the palace. She walked on and on, never ceasing, yet her surroundings didn't get any more familiar. Some time later Leia stopped at a crossroads. She looked around once more, and then, suddenly, the Force made itself known again and told her; left, left, left.

One of her first lessons with Master Yoda was that she should listen to the Force, follow her instincts, and so, Leia went left.

She walked down the path in silence, a slight breeze whispering to her as it gently pushed her hair. Had she looked up, she would've sworn that the stars shone brighter.

However, she didn't look up, not pausing as she walked. Soon, she reached a clearing; in the centre of which was a circular bed of roses in all colours. Red, white, pink, violet, dark now, but Leia knew that under the light of the sun they would have been radiant. On the other side of the flower bed, there was a railing, and beyond that, the mountains of Alderaan.

A man stood at the edge of the small area.

Leia crept towards him, silent. His hair was to his shoulders in length, dark blonde, and slightly wavy, fluttering in the breeze. He wore a dark cloak, and beneath that, a slightly-lighter tunic. One of his hands was covered by a black glove.

He hadn't noticed her yet.

She sidled up beside him, looking to the mountains.

"Lovely night for stargazing," she said.

The man jumped up, startled, shaking his head as if clearing it from a reverie. He looked at her and met her eyes, and she gasped, for they were the clearest, brightest blue that she had ever seen.

"Yes," he said quietly, nodding, and Leia was surprised at how soft his voice was. "It is a good night for stargazing."

"I want to go up there one day," she said, looking up at the sky. "I want to see them all."

The man looked up to the sky with her, his eyes filling with a sudden sadness. The night seemed to still as he spoke.

"I once thought as you do," he said, his expression filled with an indescribable melancholy. "But now, I've realized that the stars are more trouble than they're worth."

Leia frowned up at him.

"And why's that?" She questioned.

The man's mouth twitched slightly.

"They can never get along," he replied, and suddenly Leia felt the dark veil of sorrow and pain that shrouded the man in front of her like a cloak.

"Who are you?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. He looked down and met her eyes, as if nobody had ever asked him that. He looked thoughtful, for a moment.

"My name is Ani," he said. He searched her features with his eyes, and frowned slightly.

"And who might you be?" He said, pausing. "Little girls don't usually sneak around royal gardens at night."

"I'm Leia," she responded. "Leia Organa."

He blinked. Once, twice.

"Leia," he whispered, as if tasting the word. "That's a very pretty name."

"Thank you," she replied. "It means beloved, on Alderaan, but I don't think it's an Alderaanian name."

"Oh?" said the man, Ani, slightly raising an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"A feeling," she said, scrunching her eyebrows. The man looked wistful.

"It's an old name," he said, his voice suddenly even quieter than before. "Once, long ago, I was going to give that name to my daughter."

"What happened?" Leia asked, looking up at the tall man's face. She only now realized that there was a thin, white scar that ran from above his eyebrow to his cheekbone. He looked out across the mountains, and Leia could almost swear that his eyes misted over with unshed tears.

"She died," he replied. "My wife. She died, and I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"I'm sorry," Leia said reverently.

"It's all in the past now, little one," Ani told her. "There's nothing to be done."

He closed his eyes momentarily, and suddenly Leia wrapped her arms around him. He jerked a bit, surprised, but when he saw her hugging him, a semblance of a smile graced his features and he awkwardly hugged her back. She didn't know why she hugged him, but it felt instinctive, right. He was someone whom she had only met moments ago, but somehow she felt as if she'd known him her entire life.

"You don't smile often," she remarked as she pulled away. "You should do it more. It suits you."

He turned away, his warm presence filled with something that Leia couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Perhaps," he said, looking up to the stars once more. Leia followed his gaze.

"What was she like?" She asked, looking back at Ani. "Your wife? What was she like?"

He looked down at her, his hair casting a dark shadow across his face.

"She was breathtakingly beautiful, for one," Ani began, looking back to the sky, his eyes wistful again. "She was kind, and she had this dazzling smile that could instantaneously light up a room. She was gentle, and she was the only woman whom I had ever loved."

Leia was entranced. The corners of Ani's lips twitched up.

"What was her name?"

"Her name was Padmé."

"She sounds wonderful," Leia replied, her eyes tracing constellations. She heard Ani sigh beside her.

"She was," he agreed, his voice reverent and tinged with sadness.

As she watched the sky, Leia leaned against Ani's warm torso. After a few minutes of simply standing and looking at the stars, twinkling in the heavens above, Ani took off his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she murmured, suddenly tired. He smiled at her, and she thought; smiles really do suit him, and soon, she was fast asleep, standing there with Ani's arm around her shoulders and his soft cloak enveloping her legs.

When she woke up, it was already the next morning, the sun shining brightly through her window, the curtains fluttering in the morning breeze. She wore her pants and tunic from the night before, and she could see her jacket carefully slung over the back of her desk chair.

Ani and his cloak were nowhere to be found, but a single rose lay on her bedside table. There was a small flimsiplast attached to it.

Leia crawled over to the nightstand and carefully pried the small flimsi from the stem of the rose.

For Leia, it read. The mighty one.

Leia smiled and clutched the flimsiplast tightly in her small hand, looking out to the mountains that could be seen from her window.

It truly had been a lovely night for stargazing.

The next night, Leia was ready. She waited until she couldn't hear the footsteps her handmaidens in the hallway outside, and then she got up and went to the window. She grabbed her jacket and a hair ribbon and climbed onto the windowsill. Her hands and feet moved with an elegant expertise, grabbing the bricks and the vines that made up the palace wall. Soon, she was on the ground.

Wasting no time, she began to jog in the direction of the fountains and towards the rose garden. The moon shine brightly above her, and she could hear the sounds of various insects in the bushes. The stars were bright, but Leia paid them no mind.

She sped up once she neared the fountains. She smiled as the wind ruffled her hair, running faster and faster and faster… and then she was there, at the opening that lead to the roses.

She felt his presence before she saw him. It was warm, to her, like before, but guarded. He stood in the same place, facing the mountains. Leia walked to stand beside him.

"Thank you for the rose," she said. Ani didn't jump this time, but his head whipped down to look at her. Once he saw her, however, his face relaxed.

"Oh," he replied simply. "Leia."

His voice was soft, like the night before, but it was also a bit hoarse, as if he'd been straining it not long ago. The dark veil around him consisted of slightly more pain, but what from, Leia didn't know.

"Are you okay?" She asked, looking up at him. He didn't answer, just stared at her, a little bit confused.

His next words broke Leia's heart.

"I can't remember the last time someone asked me that."

She was silent, and then, much like the night before, she wrapped her slender arms around his torso. She didn't know what had possessed her to hug him, or even to trust him, but something did, so she had. Like the night before, the action wasn't really driven by thought, but by instinct.

"I'm sorry," Leia said, her voice sounding muffled from Ani's cloak.

"It's alright," he whispered, slowly hugging her back. His arms enveloped her fully, and Leia felt at peace.

She let him go after a few long moments and stepped back.

"Really, though, are you alright?"

He didn't reply for a long moment, and Leia began to think that he wouldn't reply at all. But then, he turned his head to the sky, the scar on his face glistening stark white against his already slightly-pale skin.

"No," he answered. He turned back to her then, and she saw his eyes, the brightest blue in the galaxy, and his face, kind. And suddenly, in a flash that she wasn't entirely sure was real, she saw him, but it wasn't Ani. This man's face was cold, and yet, it was as if he was a wildfire, and his blue eyes were icy, barely keeping in an unrelenting rage, but as soon as she saw him he vanished and Ani was there, with his kind features and warm presence and haunted blue eyes, and then Leia felt herself shaking, unable to get rid of the feeling that the sudden flash was not just something that her mind had made up but a telling.

And then Ani was kneeling down and his arms were around her and her head was buried in his chest and she could hear his heartbeat and his ragged breaths and she could feel his warm presence, tainted by his pain and sorrow.

"Tell me about your wife," she said, looking up at him. For a moment he smiled, and then nodded.

"Well," he began, his smile lighting up his features, "you already know her name, and that she was beautiful, but she also had a heart of gold. She helped people in need and always stood up for what she believed in. She was stubborn, at times, but brave. She would find a way to solve problems without fighting, a compromise. She was a burning fire in the galaxy, and she was everything to me."

He stopped then, closed his eyes.

"She sounds like she was an amazing person," remarked Leia, much like the previous night, looking up at Ani with a small smile. He gazed down at her, his dark blonde hair moving gently with the wind, the corners of his lips twitching slightly upwards.

"She truly was," he replied, his voice suddenly soft again. Leia looked up at the stars.

"How many of them have you seen?" She asked him inquisitively.

"Too many to count," he said, his eyes, so bright a moment ago, slightly dimmer now. "There are so many worlds out there, planets with lush forests, planets covered in dark swamps and marshes, planets that are completely frozen over, or completely engulfed by sand. There are even some worlds that have two suns."

"It sounds magical," said Leia, entranced.

"It's was, for a time," Ani said, his face once again going sad. He turned away, and under his breath he muttered, "then the war started, and everything went to hell."

Leia was sure she wasn't supposed to hear that, but she had.

"You fought in a war?" She questioned.

"I—yes," Ani said, a bit uncertain at first, but then his voice evened out. Leia watched his expression with slight awe and widened eyes.

"Can you maybe tell me about it?" She asked, hopeful, but then continued, her voice nervous, "I know… if you don't want to—"

"No, it's okay," Ani said, gently. "I was a general. So was… my best friend. My sister, too, was a commander. We were quite the team."

Ani shook his head, a small smile on his lips.

"What were their names?" Leia asked.

"My best friend's name was Ben," Ani said, his voice a little more subdued, but amused nonetheless. "And my sister, well, more daughter, really, she was called Snips."

"Some of the things Snips and I pulled off, Ben was sure I was going to get us killed," Ani started, this time letting out a small laugh, the scar on his cheek slightly wrinkling as he did. "This one time, I crashed an entire cruiser into an enemy ship. Of course, everyone was evacuated first, well, when I say everyone, I mean everyone save me. I had to pilot it, you see…"

He trailed off then, still smiling slightly.

"That was such a fun report to give," he said sarcastically, letting out an amused huff. "Ben probably wanted to hit me with something hard after that. No, scratch that, he did want to hit me after that. He was most likely upset that I got out alive without his help so he couldn't add a tally to the number of times he'd saved my skin. It ended up being a bit of a competition. I won, of course. Snips spent most of her time laughing at us."

He looked at Leia, his smile still there, bright and happy. His presence had become more pure then, as if some of the pain had been lifted. He laughed, as if remembering some other silly thing. Leia began to laugh with him, but then paused.

"Wait, you rammed an entire cruiser into another ship?" She exclaimed in awe. "By yourself?"

"Uh," he said, a little sheepishly, raising a hand to rub at his neck. "Yeah. It was supposed to be a diversion, I think."

"That's awesome!" Leia replied. "You must a really good pilot to pull that off!"

"You could say that," Ani continued fondly. "Of course, Ben and Snips always said that getting in a ship with me was suicide."

Leia laughed again along with him, and there, she felt at piece. They were sitting on the ground now, Ani's cloak pooled around them. Leia watched intently as Ani animatedly told her the next story, and the next, with added hand gestures and blaster noises and everything. Leia was entranced. Ani told her about times when he and Ben were caught by pirates, about the time that he first met Snips ("I thought she was ridiculously annoying at first, to be honest, but now, her snippiness is more like a redeeming quality."). Ani was just finishing a story that involved a space battle and lots of things called buzz droids, which he had told her were the most ridiculous and annoying machines ever created, and that he would like to personally escort all of them straight into an incinerator for all the grievances they've caused him.

"What happened to them?" Leia asked, her curiosity once again getting the better of her. "I mean, Ben and Snips? How did you end up all alone?"

Just like that, Ani's smile was wiped off his face, his eyes growing sad.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "The last time I saw Snips, she was walking away, and Ben, well… I had to make a really hard choice, and I had to leave him. I didn't want to, but… it was very important that I did. It saved a lot of lives. He doesn't—"

Ani stopped abruptly and choked up a little, but his vulnerability lasted only a second and then he was back to being the quiet and reserved Ani from before.

"It's getting late," he said, his voice sounding strangely robotic. "You should be getting back."

"Yes," agreed Leia, frowning a little at how he had cut off. "We probably should."

She turned from the end of the garden and began to head back.

"See you tomorrow," she called to him. He nodded and raised his hand in a mock salute.

And then, with a final glance back at Ani, Leia ran back to the palace. Luckily, she remembered the route back, although she had a sneaking suspicion that the Force had had a hand in that. She climbed back up the wall to her window and undid her hair, placing the ribbon back on the dresser. She slung her jacket over the back of her chair and walked back to her bed, glancing momentarily at the rose that was in the vase on her bedside table. She fell asleep with a blissful smile upon her face.

The next morning, she was awoken early by her handmaidens. She got up blearily, rubbing her eyes of sleep.

"Quick, Princess," said one of her handmaidens. "The Imperial convoy is leaving shortly, and Lord Vader wishes the presence of the entire royal family."

At hearing the handmaiden's words, Leia sat bolt upright.

"All of us?" She questioned, confused.

"Yes, all of you," her handmaiden nodded. "Now, up! We haven't got much time."

Leia's morning was a flurry of excitement and slight fear of what was to come. Her handmaidens dressed her in a beautiful gown and intricately did up her long hair. They lead her to her father's study, where he and her mother were waiting.

Bail and Breha Organa were dressed nothing short of royal. Breha's hair was swept together in a complicated-looking braid, a golden band resting upon her head. She took one of Leia's smaller hands in her own.

"Come now, Leia," said her mother gently. "It's time to see that Lord Vader makes it off Alderaan safely."

She gripped her mother's hand tighter and then they were escorted to the main hangar, where there stood a large shuttle. Stormtroopers and Imperial officers with immaculate uniforms stood at attention in neat rows. The three members of the royal family positioned themselves in front of the ship, and then, they waited. Ten minutes went by, but there was no sign of the Dark Lord. Fifteen, twenty, and Leia could see that the officer at the front of the convoy was getting nervous. Half an hour had gone by at that point, and yet Lord Vader still hadn't shown up. Leia began to feel restless. She fidgeted with her hands and shifted her weight from foot to foot, her eyes glancing around the large hangar.

Where was he?

All of a sudden, the doors to the hangar slid open and Darth Vader walked in. The room's temperature dropped several degrees. He was tall compared to the rest of the occupants of the room. His helmet gleamed in the light from the ceiling, the armour he wore shone, and his lightsaber was at his waist. His robes, like always, were dark. The tension in the room rose.

Darth Vader approached them first.

"My Lord," greeted Bail, bowing his head respectfully. "We wish you safe travels."

"Your hospitality has been appreciated, Organa," replied Vader in his menacing mechanical voice. "However, that would not have helped you had you been found a traitor to the Empire. The Rebel Alliance covers their tracks well, and even though you may not have been aware of the various rebel cells operating on your planet, it would be in your best interest to reign in these pests before they become a problem."

"Of course, my Lord," said Bail quickly. "It will be done."

"Good," Vader stated, his voice still somehow keeping its commanding monotone. "You can expect more visits from the Empire in the near future to help end these little rebellions. Make sure you take care of them yourself until that point, or else we will have to take more extreme measures to ensure the safety and prosperity of our great Empire."

Bail nodded. Breha looked to the floor. Leia looked up to see Darth Vader's mask turned towards her. Their gazes met for a moment, and then he looked to his right and began to walk away from the royal family, his troops falling in line behind him as he marched. Leia's stare followed Darth Vader's retreating form as he boarded his shuttle. As strange as it seemed, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was somewhat familiar, but that couldn't be. Darth Vader was dark and dangerous, a blazing inferno. He razed entire cities to the ground with no mercy. He killed with no remorse.

No, Leia didn't know him at all, but the feeling lingered.

That night, she wanted to ask Ani about Darth Vader. He'd probably heard a lot more than she had, for he did say he'd travelled to many worlds, after all. She snuck out like before; impatiently waited until there were no more sounds from the halls, grabbed her jacket, her hair ribbon, and climbed onto the windowsill. She clambered down with more urgency tonight, but for what reason, she didn't really know. As soon as her feet touched the ground she took off running through the seemingly-endless gardens, past the golden fountains, past the various shrubs and flower beds. In almost no time at all, she had reached the rose garden.

However, Ani's tall form was nowhere in sight, and his warm presence was absent from the air.

"Ani?" She called, in her heart knowing that it was in vain. Ani was gone.

Leia sighed. It had been too good to be true. She was about to turn away, but then something caught her eye. It was a small box, tucked away in the shrubbery that lined the small clearing. She ran to it and pulled it out carefully. There was a flimsiplast attached to the top, and Leia could instantly recognize Ani's handwriting.

To Leia, it read.

I apologize for not looking at the stars with you tonight. Inside you will find something that I would like you to look after while I'm gone. I don't know when we'll meet again, but I know that we will. Thank you for being there, Leia. May the Force be with you.

—Ani

She frowned slightly at the use of the old Jedi saying, but she carefully tucked the flimsi into her jacket nonetheless. Then, she opened the package. Inside was a holo of two men and a young-looking Togruta. The man on the right had a short, neatly-trimmed beard and wore light-coloured robes. His eyes twinkled as he smiled, his hair a little ruffled from a wind that Leia couldn't feel. The Togruta girl in the middle was grinning wildly, her arms thrown over the shoulders of the two men alongside her. The last figure, the man on the left, was clean-shaven, his hair cut to his shoulders and slightly wavy. He wore dark robes, unlike the first man. He looked younger, too. Leia studied his features and gasped as she recognized the scar over the younger man's eyebrow. The man in the holo was Ani, she was sure of it. And if the man was Ani, then the other two would have to be Ben and Snips. Leia drank in the image like it was the most important thing in the world, and it that moment, she realized that it was.

Ani left this for her. Why? She didn't know, but she would look after it as best she could, for she was Leia Organa, and in a world where she was a princess and royalty and anything but normal, Ani had made her feel like a regular girl again, and she was thankful for it.

Once she got back to her room, she took the two flimsiplasts and the holo from Ani and put them all safely into a small drawer before carefully climbing into her bed. Leia lay there for a long time before she fell asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Ani. He was in pain, she knew, and he had much sorrow in his heart. She wanted to help him. He'd been kind, and he didn't tease her or make her feel awkward. He was a good person.

Wherever you are, Ani, thought Leia, I hope you're alright.

As Leia drifted off to sleep, she found herself hoping that she would see him again.