Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. The sequel: The Light's Revival, will be up in a few days, so keep an eye out.

Chapter Fifteen

Return to the Rebellion

Luke jumped up immediately and pulled her into a tight hug filled with relief while Chewie barked in joy at the sight of his friend.

"Oh, Luke," Leia cried, embracing him one-handed and burying her head in his shoulder. As she always did after reuniting with her friend after a long period of separation, she felt as if a missing part of her had just slid back into place. Though she wondered, as Luke pulled back, how he would react to her new knowledge. Vader had helped to destroy his home and people, after all.

"All right, Chewie," Lando interjected tensely. "Let's go."

Luke wrapped Leia's uninjured arm around his shoulders and helped her from the cockpit as another huge blast rocked the ship.

After tending to her wounds as best he could, and leaving Leia to rest on her and Han's shared bunk, Luke hurried back to the cockpit. Neena was still in the turret, trying to hold the TIEs at bay long enough for them to get to hyperspace.

All over the ship muted alarm buzzers sounded.

Lando, who had taken over Han's seat, anxiously watched the flashing lights on the control panel and hurriedly adjusted some switches. Seated next to him, Chewie pointed out a new blip appearing on the panel.

"Star Destroyer," Luke recognized grimly.

"All right, Chewie," Lando breathed. "Ready for light-speed."

"If your people fixed the hyperdrive," Luke pointed out darkly. Another explosion rocked the ship and he noticed a green light on the panel next to her flash on. "All the coordinates are set. It's now or never."

Chewie barked in agreement.

"Punch it!" Lando exclaimed. The Wookiee shrugged and pulled back on the light-speed throttle. The sound of the ion engine changed... it was winding up. Their faces were tense and expectant. But nothing happened, and the engine turned back off.

Chewie let out a frustrated howl. Over the intercom, Neena swore. The flak still violently rocked the ship.

"They told me they fixed it," Lando complained. "I trusted them to fix it. It's not my fault!"

Chewie got up from his chair and stalked out of the cockpit. He gave Lando an angry shove as he stormed past him. Luke buried his head in his hands in a fit of despair and exhaustion.

In the distance the TIE fighters continued their chase, still shooting lasers. Vader's Star Destroyer moved behind them, determinedly following the Falcon.

Inside the main room, Artoo was beeping while he worked to connect some wires to Threepio who now had one leg attached. Chewie entered through the doorway, grunting to himself.

"Noisy brute," Threepio grumbled. "Why don't we just go into light-speed?"

Artoo beeped in response.

"We can't?" Threepio repeated. "How would you know the hyperdrive is deactivated?" Artoo whistled knowingly.

"The city's central computer told you? Artoo-Detoo, you know better than to trust a strange computer. Ouch! Pay attention to what you're doing!"

Chewie was in the pit, trying to loosen something with an enormous wrench. Frustrated, he used the wrench like a club and hit the panel.

In the cockpit, Luke and Lando, seated in front of the control panel, were suddenly sprayed by a shower of sparks.

In her and Han's bed, Leia twitched as she realized that Vader, and his ship, were very near. She felt resigned to her fate. She could sense that she was beaten, more emotionally than physically. And seeing as how she refused to Turn to the Dark, it meant that she would have to die. She just hated the thought of her friends dying with her. And because of her.

"Vader," she whispered softly. Silently, she vowed to herself that whoever shared her blood didn't matter. Vader would never be her father. Darred always would.

She heard Vader's call through the Force. "Leia, my daughter, come with me."

"Uncle Ben, why didn't you tell me?" she groaned, trying to block Vader from her mind and using a nickname that she hadn't used since she was a child. Suddenly, she wondered if the reason Obi-Wan had come in disguise to her house so often (if you could call twice a year 'often', which, for the most-wanted person in the galaxy to go repeatedly, you could.) was not so much due to her parents' and grandparents' positions in the Rebellion and to teach her little Force-tricks, but to make sure her Sith ancestry wasn't making herself known. The suspicion stung, as she had always loved spending time playing with him. She thought he had cared for her, had it all been a lie? Had he spent years watching her for signs of Darkness?

Tears leaked out of her closed eyelids.

Back in the cockpit, Lando and Luke were at the controls of the Falcon, trying to keep out of range of the TIEs. They could hear Neena in the turret. She had completely gotten rid of her court-upbringing, and was busy swearing up a storm as she struggled with her gun. Meanwhile, in the ship's hold, Chewie continued to work frantically on the hyperdrive mechanism.

"Chewie!" Lando pressed the Wookiee over the intercom. "We can't do this for much longer." The Falcon raced through space followed very closely by the TIE fighters and the huge Star Destroyer.

Leia entered the cockpit and looked out the window. She was almost unconscious with pain and depression.

"It's Vader," she announced bleakly.

"Leia...," she heard him whisper to her again. "it is your destiny."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she moaned to herself under her breath.

In the hold, Artoo raced to a control panel and started working on a circuit board. Furious, Threepio stood on one leg, yelling. "Artoo, come back at once! You haven't finished with me yet! You don't know how to fix the hyperdrive. Chewbacca can do it. I'm standing here in pieces, and you're having delusions of grandeur!"

Artoo moved a circuit on a control panel. Suddenly, the control panel lit up. In the cockpit, Luke and Lando were thrown into their seats while only Leia's Jedi reflexes and balance saved her from falling as the Millennium Falcon unexpectedly shot into hyperspace.

The ship tilted up and Artoo toppled into the pit on top of Chewie.

"Oh, you did it!" Threepio cried joyfully. Chewbacca rolled his eyes at the droid's instant turn-around.

The Falcon soared into infinity and away from the huge Star Destroyer which seemed, in contrast, to stand still.

On the bridge, Admiral Piett and another captain glanced at Vader in terror.

Vader turned slowly and walked off the bridge, his hands held behind his back in a contemplative gesture.

Three days later, the Millennium Falcon was attached to a huge Rebel cruiser by a docking tube. Rebel fighters moved about the giant cruiser in a rotating formation, and a Rebel transport ship hovered near the fleet.

Lando sat in the pilot's seat as he talked into the comlink. Chewie was busily throwing a variety of switches in preparation for take-off.

"Leia, we're ready for take-off."

"Good luck, Lando," she replied through the comlink.

"When we find Jabba the Hut and that bounty hunter, we'll contact you," he told her.

Leia was speaking into the comlink as a medical droid worked on her hand. Pooja and Luke stood near her while Threepio and Artoo looked out the window.

"I'll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine," she promised.

"Leia, we'll find Han. I promise."

"Chewie, I'll be waiting for your signal," she answered.

Chewie's wail came over the comlink.

"Take care, you two," she continued. "May the Force be with you."

She clicked off the link and looked down at her hand. A metalized type of bandage had been wrapped around her wrist. The medical droid made some adjustments in a tiny electronic unit, then pricked each one of her fingers.

"Ow!" she yelped instinctively.

Pooja leaned over to rub her shoulders comfortingly. "Don't worry honey," she murmured. "Almost done."

"Yeah," she muttered as she wriggled her fingers, made a fist, and relaxed it. Her hand was now completely functional.

With her sister's help she got up and walked over to Luke and Neena. Together they stood at the large window of the medical centre looking out on the Rebel Star Cruiser and a dense, luminous galaxy swirling in space. Luke put his arm around Neena and Leia, and Pooja linked hands with her baby sister. The droids stood next to them, and Threepio moved closer to Artoo to put his arm on him. The group watched as the Millennium Falcon moved into view, made a turn, and zoomed away into space.

While Luke, Leia, Pooja, Neena and the droids stand, looking out the window of the star cruiser, two escort fighters joined the large ship. Slowly, the cruiser turned and moved away into space. Things were silent for a moment, before Luke's comlink buzzed with a message. He checked it before turning to the girls.

"The Council is ready to meet with us," he announced.

Leia, who had been the one to request a meeting with the Leaders of the Rebel Alliance, swallowed anxiously. She knew revealing the truth was the right thing to do, but she still didn't like to do it. Pooja squeezed her hand in comfort.

"Whatever it is, Firefly," she said, using their father's old nickname for the youngest Naberrie girl. "We're with you."

Leia gave a strained smile, and the group made their way to the council room.

It was an intimidating array of figures, even if half of them were there via hologram: General Hera Syndulla, commander of the Phoenix Squadron. General Rieest, the commander of their ground forces, General Dodonna and Admiral Ackbar, the leaders of the Naval forces, General Draven, in charge of the Intelligence, as well as Mon Mothma and Luke, the two 'non-combatants', who were the propaganda leaders and public faces of the Alliance. Since Obi-Wan's death, Mon Mothma had acted as the head of the council.

Neena and Pooja stood in the corner as moral support, while Luke took his seat at the table. None of them knew why she had asked to meet with the Council. Perhaps she should have told them what she'd learned earlier, but she hadn't been able to get the words out. Leia prayed to the Force she was right in the belief that knowing her lineage wouldn't turn them against her. She didn't know what she would do if they hated her.

"Colonel Naberrie," Mon Mothma greeted her, taking up the role of spokesperson for the illustrious group.

Upon returning to the Alliance, Leia had been given a promotion to Colonel, meaning she was now just a step below General, and the highest ranking person in the Rebellion, save for the council themselves.

"What is it that you wanted to speak to us about?" Mon Mothma asked.

Leia inhaled deeply as she met the Chandrilian woman's eyes. She looked tired and sad. Unsurprising. As of yet, no one had confirmed if her son Jobin had been killed outright in the Battle of Hoth, or if he had been captured or simply forced to go underground to avoid the Imperials' pursuit, but everyone suspected the worst.

Leia had the highest esteem for Mon Mothma, and always had. Ever since she had been escorted to the Alliance by the Ghost, she had admired her courage in openly defying the Empire by condemning the Emperor's actions and helping to unite the various Rebel cells. Even when Leia had disagreed with Mon Mothma's decisions, such as when she had refused to help Atollon when Chopper Base was attacked, she still appreciated her strength and conviction.

She hated to think of the woman exiling her from the Rebellion for what she was about to reveal, but she would understand the decision if that was what Mon Mothma and the rest of the Council decided to do. She had to go back to Dagobah at some point anyway. Still, the Alliance was her home. She didn't want to leave it.

"Madam, Your Highness, Admiral, Generals," she began, summoning her courage. "I have recently discovered some information, and I thought it best to inform yourselves of it, for, well, for various reasons."

"You're not usually so vague and indirect, Leia," Hera noted with a frown as her lekku flicked. "What's wrong?"

Leia's eyes fell to the floor for a moment before she looked at them again. "Darth Vader believes that I am his daughter," she blurted out in a sudden rush of adrenaline. "And I think that he may be right. Biologically, at least."

Whatever the members of the meeting had expected her to say, it hadn't been that she might be the child of the second most evil being in existence, possibly who had ever existed. They stared at her in shocked disbelief. She couldn't bring herself to meet any of their gazes.