Chapter 1: Prologue

Destiny, people say that it is set in stone from the day one is born. But that is wrong.

Someone once said,

"Destiny can change just as quickly as the love in one's heart conveyed; nothing is set in stone."

How right they are, the slightest of changes can have such a drastic effect on everything, on the galaxy itself. Destiny changes, and with it the whole of the galaxy follows.

Imperial Center (4 years 6 months BBY)

Princess Leia, even at the age of fourteen was not someone that could be intimidated easily. She was fearless and was not someone that could be easily threatened. Even though she was quite young she was someone of integrity, principles and had a great sense of justice.

But today was different for her. Today she was nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. As she grew closer to her destination she glanced up to the palace she was going to be arriving at in both awe and slight nervousness. While she was waiting to arrive, Leia began going over everything that had occurred and had led her to this singular moment.

For about three years she had been planned this. Ever since she originally came to Imperial Center she was trying to meet him but every time she was on world he never was. She had come to believe that her 'father' Bail Organa had planned that. So that the two would never meet. But after the first few months of going back and forth between Imperial Center and Alderann and not being able to meet him she began planning to meet him.

The big break Leia had was when Bail finally gave her access to her own ship. It was going to allow her to go back and forth when she wanted between the two planets. At the time she had just turned 12 and had wanted a ship so she could get more insight on how politics and the senate meetings took place. So that she could be even more prepared to follow in Bail's footsteps. But to Leia the request for the ship was also for her goal to be able to meet him.

When choosing her ship, the Tantive IV had just called to Leia. In the past there was always a sense of familiarity when she was on it and she did not know why and because of that familiarity it was the ship she chose. In the end Leia would later look back and know why and that she was happy she about her choice. If she had chosen the Tantive IV then she would not have come across the most helpful pair of droids ever. An astromech droid by the name of R2-D2 and a protocol droid by the name of C-3PO. When she had first began making her plan she was stumped. While she knew where his residence was she never knew when he would be on Imperial Center. That is where the droids came in, more importantly where the astromech Artoo came in. The astromech droid had somehow figured out what Leia was planning and confronted her about it with Threepio translating for him. What she did not expect was that the astromech droid was willing to help but also what he contained inside him.

The astromech somehow contained a backdoor in Empire's system. When the protocol droid told her, she was baffled. How could some random droid her adopted father owned have a backdoor into the systems? Did he even know what he had that could help with the growing rebellion? When both Leia and Threepio questioned the astromech about it he told them that his old master had made the backdoor before she was born and put it into the system and gave it to him for safe keeping. That was it. Threepio though seemed to not know what his counterpart was talking about as he told Leia that both he and Artoo had no other before Captain Antilles. Artoo was quite reluctant of sharing anymore on the subject and would give no other information.

But with the backdoor she was able to get schedules of both him and the Emperor. Leia needed the Emperor to be gone and he to be on world. The reasoning behind it was simple. Not only had her adopted father given her the best tutors for her education but he had personally taught her about politics. While the knowledge Leia learned from him about politics was insightful and very useful, Leia believed that the most important information that he taught her was what he knew about the Force.

The Force. She had been taught about it for years. Ever since she was 5 years old she was taught what it was. An energy field that binds all living creatures together. She was taught that their two sides to it the light and the dark. Told of the two different wielders the Jedi, the users of the light who were peacekeepers and sought justice. And the users of the dark, the Sith who were monsters, beings who through hate, anger and deception will try to gain power no matter the cost. Bail had told her that he had met and knew many Jedi from before the Clone Wars and during it. She was taught that it was not the Jedi that betrayed the Republic. But that they had tried to bring the one who caused the Clone Wars to justice and because of that they were wrongly executed for it.

She had believed him about the Sith, the Jedi and Force for two years. But that all changed one night where she overheard something that she knew she was never supposed to find out. Ever.

Flashback-7 and a half years ago: Leia age 7: 12 BBY

Princess Leia hazily stumbled out of her room, the strange and scary dream Leia had made the little girl's desire to be held by those that loved her an all-consuming command to one so young. So, she had sought out one if not both her parents for comfort.

The dream was always the same and it confused and frightened her. There were always flashes of a woman, a beautiful woman, but she would be so sad. Then everything would go black and there would be screaming, two sets of them in perfect sync. Her dream would then become so cold and hot at the same time. She never made it past that part. She would always wake up before anything else happened. She had never told anyone about it only that she had a nightmare and could not remember.

As she walked through the halls to one of the many balcony areas her parents usually frequented and where they would talk or hold each other. Leia never understood how she knew where they were at any time when she needed one of them but being so young it had never occurred to her to ask. All she did was follow the voice in the back of her mind to trust her instincts and to seek them out especially after this dream. Especially tonight.

So, she did just that, every time it happened.

But this time was different. As she made her way toward the balcony she heard voices become louder and louder as she grew closer and closer. When she saw them, they were not having a nice or a caring moment. For the first time as she came close to the balcony she heard raised voices and arguing. This surprised Leia, she had never heard them like this. She wondered if she had done something that had caused this argument. Leia though could not recall a recent memory that would make the two most important people in her life to argue like this. This though only sparked even more curiosity and worry within her.

The voice in Leia's mind that usually helped decide and direct her on what to do was adamant on her spying on the two. Leia could even hear the voice clearly as if someone was talking to her and it sounded so much different than before, as if it wasn't the same voice, as it told her,

"Listen to them young one."

The voice was pushing for her to learn what they were arguing about. So, Leia got close enough where she could hear them, but they could not see her.

"We are not having this conversation again Breha, it is a moot point." She recognized as her father Bail Organa.

"You have to tell her eventually Bail. Sooner or later she will learn the truth! Such a secret kept from Leia does more harm than good for her future." was the voice of Breha Organa her mother in a pleading fashion.

"No! She cannot learn the truth. If she did, we do not know what she would do. It could undo all we've planned in taking down the Empire, and the corruption the Emperor has allowed to spread through the Galaxy." argued Bail, as he had been against Breha's idea from the start and had told her many times when this topic came up during their talks at night.

"Secrets like these hurt or kill people Bail. Look what it did to Leia's parents. They kept such a secret and the result…" replied Breha but couldn't finish the sentence because of the memory it brought, and all the pain within it.

"We are her parents now! They are not! We are the ones who must keep her safe fromhimand the Emperor. Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala died. The galaxy will only remember them through the history holo vids in connection to the Clone Wars. We don't need Leia learning the truth about her biological Father being alive and what he became!" said Bail with Leia looking through the corner of her spot as she saw Breha shaking her head.

"And what would happen should Leia in the future get into trouble with the secret growing rebellion you and Mon Mothma are forming. She is so very like Padme she will want to help fight against it. What then? What if Vader gets his hands on her? He will not know she is his child. I do not believe he would hurt his only connection to Padme. Anakin worshipped Padme and will always no matter what form he takes. He would have done anything for her!" argued Breha with Bail scowling at her.

"It's a risk we will just have to take Breha. Leia will make Vader her enemy no matter what, with the actions he takes in killing and hurting others all over the Galaxy in the name of his Master. If Leia were to ever find out her Father became Darth Vader, she will not have the strength to fight him and the Empire, and we need that girl to grow up without regretting what needs to be done for the good of the Galaxy. For us to achieve victory over Darth Vader, we need to use his offspring against him. Both are the key to the fall of the Sith." replied Bail with Breha looking away from him with tears running down her face.

"Padme would hate what is happening, turning both of her children against him like this. It's so…so Sith like!" whispered Breha with Bail's eyes softening for a moment.

"Padme would understand if she were here. The Jedi know what they are doing when it comes to these things." said Bail before Breha turned and glared at him.

"Would she? I highly doubt it. You told me that in the end that she believed there was still good in him. Besides, the Jedi do not care about the twins Bail. It is bad enough we must keep Leia in the dark about her parents, but Luke her twin brother as well. Having Kenobi raise him away from her is even worse! You know that it is wrong Bail. The Jedi see Luke and Leia as weapons to be used against their Father and then the Emperor without regard to the emotional damage that it might inflict on them. Look what happen to their father. The Jedi treated him the same and look what happened to him! They do not care if the twins succeed in destroying their Father without knowing he is their Father. Blood ties, emotional ties and family mean nothing to them. These secrets Bail, they get people killed if exposed and there is a big risk of this being exposed no matter how hard we try to hide it." said Breha with Bail having no comment now since the first time in a long time he had no rebuttal.

"Regardless, Leia must never know about her parents especially her Father, or about her twin brother Luke until the time is right. By the time we possible tell them…they should not care what we did to save the galaxy. They should understand that it was necessary." Replied Bail with Breha not liking what she had heard.

Neither did Leia, as she quietly ran off back to her room, and she hoped the neither adult heard the girl they both cherished so much was crying.

End Flashback 4 years and 6 months BBY

Leia had never told her adopted parents that she knew all the dark secrets kept from her. She did not want to know how they would react to what she was doing with the information, and she honestly could not care.

Now here she was, in a speeder heading toward the dubbed Vader's Palace to meet her Father. That was why she was so nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. Breha seemed to believe in the Sith Lord, and in the terms of him loving his dead wife and that being the daughter of the late Senator would protect her from the darkness that the man had embraced for thirteen years.

She had heard rumors of what Vader might look like beyond the suit and armor with each ranging from the possible truth to the outrageous in their entirety. That he was a diseased or deformed man and the suit kept any disease from spreading to anyone. Other's said Vader was not human but a creature. His overall size should not allow someone to move so fast when fighting or do what he did when fighting. She had been shown some recordings from rebel bases or holo videos from Imperial Propaganda of how he moved when fighting.

But she knew why, because of the Force. From everything her adopted father had told her the Force could help a person move and enhance their movement. There were some who believed the Jedi never existed or the Force was fake. She knew these people were either stupid or ignorant or a mixture of both.

She had come to understand the voice she had heard many times as a child. It was the Force. At first when Leia realized it she almost instantly reached out to that power and maybe she could connect with her father. But she had stopped herself. She was untrained, just like in anything, the untrained get beat, fail, destroyed, and lose. If she connected she would be letting her presence be known to the whole Galaxy not just Vader but also the Emperor. And the thought of the Emperor just knowing of her existence gave her chills.

She was sad it took about three years to finally meet him, but this was the only week that the Emperor was unofficially not on Imperial Center. The man's 80th birthday. The Emperor never rarely left the capital. This week her father was also going to be on Imperial Center, and it gave her the perfect time to meet her father. Which is what she required, the Emperor to be as far away from her father as possible.

She had learned that the closer a force user is the easier it is to sense a change in emotions. She had learned that the Sith strive on anger, and if she were to meet her father and with the Emperor on world he would surely sense a change in Vader's emotions.

So, she waited and formulated a plan for how it was going to happen. She had arrived a few days before the Emperor left for a week so that she could be on world before her father arrived. From his schedule she had tracked it over the last two years and concluded that he always was on time and never later or early. She had gotten herself a speeder that an astromech could drive since she was not much of a pilot, one of the only things she had not practiced and not talented at.

Now all she could do was wait as it came closer and closer until she heard beeps of R2. It had taken her a little while, but she had learned to understand binary and could easily understand that they had arrived. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the vehicle. Walked toward the entrance of the palace where there were two stormtroopers guarding the doors.

Hearing a rolling sound, she turns around and saw that R2 is coming. Smiling a bit, she said,

"It's okay Artoo just stay with the speeder. I need to do this alone."

R2 could remember those same words that were spoken to him all those years ago and the memory was not good, not good at all.

Flashback 19 BBY

R2 and his master had just gotten out of hyperspace to the planet that in his memory banks he could remember as being called Mustafar. From his memory he had only ever came here once before to save little children with his master and his master's padawan. Other than that, it puzzled him why they would be coming here. And in all honesty his master had seemed to have changed over the last week, he had stopped talking to him lately and had changed, and in general become quieter.

As they landed the ship R2 popped out and started rolling after his master only for his master to look back at him and say,

"Artoo stay with the ship."

All R2 could do is watch as his master, his friend, flip his hood on and walk away. To this day he had not talked with his friend again. And his mistress that he had served for over a decade and a half died the next day from childbirth.

End Flashback

Leia looked back to see R2 having a fit about her needing to bring him, looking back and putting on a stern and brave face she said,

"It's alright Artoo I will come back; everything will be okay"

As she made her way the stormtroopers made their way to her, she got ready for the conversation she had been waiting for half of her life.