No, this is not a Jedi Mind Trick, I've updated! Really! Thanks for all your support and waiting for this story! All the reviews and encouragement have been amazing (even the life threats lol)!

Lord Lelouch-

Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay-

ILDV-

JediTara-

Alderaan Girl-

Illusion of a Storm-

JACarter-

SHYMaryButterfly-

Chosen1-

SQUIDNEY-

ASHtheMUSICALGirl-

darthvaderandlukeskywalkerfan1-

mamadalo-

SilentDream22-

sodorland-

Addicted2you-

Wolfman217-

BlueCinders-

RiverrunOtter-

star-seed-lady-

love song for a vampire-

Shinigami Merchant-

DarthAstronaut-

Twin Tatooine Suns-

Daniella Olivaw-

Lexi-

glassheartrhythm-

dragonfire prime-

Sith Bookkeeper-

Hila Claira-

hateme101-

CrunchBantha-

Indestructible Vader-

FuryintheFire-

shadowflame89-

MlpSWaddict-

Wanted to reply to the reviews but there were too many for this chapter, and I assumed you guys would want the update sooner rather than later. Next time maybe!

::Lost Girl::

Chapter Five: Conflict

"Forgive me, Lord Vader." Vellet bowed before approaching him. "All blood samples of the royal family have been incinerated. I was only able to coax their family physician to tell me that it is protocol for all traces of their DNA to be destroyed the moment after their family's yearly physicals."

The corner of Vader's lip twitched downward at the news, but said nothing.

"Suspicious behavior to be sure." Vellet mused. "Shall I take a squad and investigate the labs of the medical facility."

"No," Vader replied, looking up at his captain pointedly. "I'll take care of this myself."

...

"Poor dear, you must be so bored." Margi replied sadly as she brushed out the princess' dark locks. "I wonder how long this lock-down will last."

Leia didn't reply as she stared at herself in the mirror intently. The last few nights she had had such vivid, strange dreams that bot confused and frightened her. She had dreamed of infant screams and a woman's voice crying out in pain, dreams she had had occasionally in the past, but now also she dreamed of clashing blue lights, the wail of children fleeing for their lives and the cry of a man... a man in such agony and pain that it would always startle her into consciousness.

Worse than that, even when she was awake she was starting to hear voices. Not often, or even coherent, but she heard little whispers in her ear, speaking words that she couldn't fully understand. She didn't know why or how this was happening to her... but it had begun when she had first seen that man... that imperial who her parent's were afraid of.

"Leia?" Margi asked, the change in the child's demeanor had not gone unnoticed by her governess. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "Just tired, I guess."

"Still not sleeping well?" Margi asked her. "I'll have to talk to your mother about that, perhaps we should have you taken to the herbalist for a remedy."

"No, I'm fine." Leia assured her. "I'm sure I'm just nervous about all the guards around."

"Worry not about them, my dear." Margy told her. "They're just here to ensure our safety for now. They will be gone soon, I'm sure."

"I hope so." Leia whispered.

Maybe then the strange dreams, voices and sensations would go away.

...

Just what was she? This child?

Vader watched from behind a pillar as Leia stood beside her tutor, who was rambling on about a painting hanging in the gallery. The little one seemed distracted as she tried to keep notes, often asking the tutor to repeat what he had just said.

He had never come across anyone with her kind of Force sensitivity before. Stranger still, it seemed each time he encountered her, the stronger the force grew around her. To reach into another's mind with such ease, at such a young age... It was unsettling. Just what kind of power did she possess?

Where in the galaxy did she come from?

He didn't understand.

He didn't understand the emotions she caused in him, the way his senses and feelings reacted to her. She filled him with amazement, confusion, fear... but more than that, she was a familiar... a familiar stranger. He knew those eyes, that hair, the raise of her brow and pout of her lip when she didn't fully understand something... She stirred the memory of a face that he had tried so diligently to forget.

It was a stone he could not leave unturned... not anymore... not when she had entered his thoughts and invaded his memories. That kind of ability, without the proper supervision, could become reckless and destructive on it's own... nor would it go unnoticed for long by the Emperor.

Gently, so not as to startle her, or stress her young and delicate mind, he called out to the child with his own thoughts, connecting to the Force that surrounded her. Not just to lure her, but to test her abilities.

Leia...

The girl stiffened slightly, but kept her attention on her lesson.

Could she really hear him too?

Leia...

She turned sharply in his direction then, as if had called her out with his own voice. He knew she couldn't see him from where he stood, but he knew she heard him. She shook her head then, convincing herself it was nothing, before turning her head back to her tutor.

His eyes narrowed in bafflement. Though, he was seeing it, he could not believe it. How was any of this possible?

Keeping watch, he waited until the princess was done with her lesson, when the tutor dismissed her and she began to exit the gallery. It was then he stepped out of the shadows.

"Your highness." he spoke, making her stiffen, just as she had a moment before. She turned to look up at him, her dark brown eyes wide and confused. "Good afternoon."

"My lord." she spoke with a nod. "I'm sorry, my governess is waiting for me."

"Don't worry, I'll only be a moment of your time, young one." he told her, crouching down to her level. "I am collecting blood samples for the Imperial Health Records, yours and your parent's are out of date... I'm afraid it's mandatory."

The dark lord then pulled a syringe out from beneath his cloak, motioning for the girl to give him her hand. Leia's amber orbs darted back and fourth between the sith and the needle, brows furrowed, too confused and hesitant to comply.

"I won't hurt you, little one." he promised quietly.

For whatever reason, because she was too afraid of the consequences should she refuse, or because she felt compelled by his sincere reassurance, the princess placed her dainty little hand into Vader's gloved, mechanical palm. It only took a second, a swift prick of the child's finger, a single drop of blood. The girl only winced slightly in pain, before pulling her hand away quickly.

"There now," he told the girl, rising to his full height. "Best return to your governess, princess."

The child nodded in agreement before hurrying away. Vader wondered if she too could sense the shift that had just taken place in the Force, the sudden forceful change. As if destiny itself had just taken an alternate path from it's original course.

...

"Mother," Leia spoke quietly, her usually loud, authoritative voice subdued to a whisper because of the presence of the storm troopers standing just outside the parlor. It was a strange world the child was living in now, she was living and acting no different than she had a month ago, but nothing felt the same... It was like being in another world within the walls of her own home.

"What is it, darling?" the queen inquired, her voice just as quiet.

"Your hands are trembling." Leia observed.

For a moment, Breha said nothing, mindfully trying to still the slight tremor of the book in her grasp. "It's just cold in here, I'll have to order them to raise the central temperature of the room."

"...Are the going to take Father away?" The child couldn't help but ask.

"What?" Breha asked, astonished.

"Will they take Father away?" Leia repeated, blinking back tears. "The imperials."

"No, of course not." Breha assured her, rising from her seat to kneel beside her daughter. "You see..."

"Then why are you so afraid?" Leia asked. "If they are here to only protect us, then what are you so afraid of?"

The queen was taken aback for a moment, before letting out a long and tired sigh, placing her hand over her child's tenderly. "Because I don't know what is going to happen... what the future holds for our family. I'm afraid of not being strong enough to protect you, your father, or our people... But, just because I'm afraid, that doesn't mean I will let anyone ever harm you or your father. I swear to you that will not happen."

The child dropped the digital article she had been trying to read before throwing her arms around her mother's neck, squeezing tightly. "I'm... I'm scared, Mother." she confessed. "Something's happening... I'm so scared."

The princess felt her mother's arms wrap around her protectively, before she felt the queen take in a deep inhale. "Leia, I... I have to tell you..."

The doors to the parlor swept open before Breha could say another word, and Bail entered a look of relief on his face.

"Father..."

He held up his hand to signal his daughter to wait before the doors slid shut once more. As soon as they were, he moved to embrace his wife, kissing her cheek before sweeping Leia up into his arms. "Thank the Force, I have good news... I've received word from Mon Mothma, she has sent a rescue fleet to recover the pilots from Governor Harren's fortress, they have just begun their assault, but she tells me that they have breached their security."

"Oh, Bail!" Breha breathed.

"I know." he replied, holding his family close. "Some hope at last!"

...

What are you so afraid of? he asked himself as he hesitated to scan the princess' blood sample. What do you think you are going to find?

He didn't need to scan the girl's blood to know that she was force-sensitive, he needed see just how force-sensitive she was... If she was as powerful as he suspected, what then? What was he to do with her?

"Anakin..."

He closed his eyes tightly in frustration. Damn it, go away!

"Anakin..."

Why are you here?

Shaking his head to rid himself of the ghostly voice, the delusion, he willed himself to properly analyse the child's blood sample. The tension in the room grew as he waited for the computer to calculate the midi-chlorian count in her DNA. He had to will his mind to be calm as the readings manifested before him, numbers flashing rapidly in a mere second before they came to an abrupt halt.

20,000 per cell.

No. No, it couldn't be. It couldn't be true.

He ran the scan again, then again, and again, but the result was the same staring at him in the face.

20,000

20,000

How was that... could she... was that little girl... her eyes... her hair... her raised brow... her pouting scowl... her stubborn quip...

"Ani..."

The sith's mind was a reeling haze as his hand moved on it's own accord over the computer, comparing the child's DNA readings with his own, and closed his eyes as he waited for the results.

"Something wonderful has happened."

No...

No. It wasn't possible, she died. Padme... the baby... they died.

They both died.

"I'm pregnant."

After a small eternity, he opened his eyes to see the results staring at him through the screen.

Match.

Shocked, the sith stood abruptly, causing the chair of his desk to tumble and crash to the floor, and backed away as far from the computer that the room would allow him. His sapphire eyes wide, staring at the results in disbelief.

That... that child... was his... his and Padme's... his daughter.

Daughter.

A storm of emotions overtook him, making his breathing ragged and his legs give out on him, causing him to collapse on the bed.

His child had survived... a girl... a little, beautiful girl... living and thriving... his... his...his.

He was utterly confused... astonished... heartbroken... and with every passing second as realization dawned upon him, more and more enraged .

His child had lived.

She had lived and had been taken from him, taken by Organa.

Hidden from him.

"Obi-wan." he hissed darkly, fists clenching tightly into themselves, his left hand drawing blood from his palm. The room began to quiver and shake under the sith's crippling, wrathful power, until the glass table and stained glass windows shattered. Obi-wan hid her from him, he took her away. His child, his only family... and that bastard, Organa...

"My lord," Mar was at the door, knocking. "I have received word from Governor Harren."

Barely stable, the dark lord circled his hand, opening the door, but leaving his back to the officer. "What is it, Admiral?"

"There has been a rebel attack on his fortress, my lord," he replied carefully. "He has requested reinforcements from the Emperor."

Vader sneered, his rage barely contained as he rose from the bed. "Round up the Viceroy and the queen and lock them in the throne room," he ordered darkly. "From now on there will be no more leniency, I'll be taking matters into my own hands."

...

"What is the meaning of this!?" Bail exclaimed as the barrel of a blaster rifle was pressed to his back, encouraging him and his wife toward the center of the throne room. Every member of the household had been dismissed from the area and the troopers locked the doors from behind them.

"Silence, sir." a trooper replied. "We are under orders from Lord Vader."

Sensing Breha's silent distress, Bail took her hand into his own, before stating his case. "This is unlawful conduct that I will be forced to bring up with the Galactic Senate if I am not given a reason for this treatment in my own home."

Suddenly, the sound of a lightsaber echoed through the hall, creating a deafening silence as all eyes turned to see Vader, his red blade in hand standing in wait within the shadows.

"Leave us." he hissed lowly, dismissing the squad of clones.

As soon as he was alone with the royal couple, he moved, slowly advancing them. "My lord and lady, we have much to talk about."

Pushing his wife behind him, the senator moved forward bravely, his hands up in surrender. "Vader..."

The sith reached forward, his hand clenched in the Force, causing restriction to Bail's neck. The viceroy gasped for the air stolen from his lungs, before he began stammer and choke.

"Stop!" Breha pleaded in horror, as her husband stiffened in restriction, life being suffocated from him. "Stop this, release him!"

The sith ignored her and kept his eyes fixed on the dying man, taking slow, purposeful. "Again, I underestimated you, Senator."

"What?" Bail managed to choke out. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me, just how long were you going to keep her from me!?" the sith seethed wrathfully, using a wave of his hand to push back an advancing Breha who meant to attack him. "My daughter!?"

Vader could see the horror flash through the viceroy's eyes, as the knowledge that his undoubtedly worst fear had become reality, before consciousness began to abandon.

Breha rose to her knees, now fully sobbing. "I'm begging you, please don't hurt him!"

The plea only made Vader hold the more tighter.

"Vader!" she called. "Let him go! Please, Anakin!"

Bail fell to the floor limply, but still alive gasping desperately for breath, as the sith turned to the queen menacingly. "It is unwise to call upon the dead, your grace." he told her. "Especially when you will be joining them so soon."

The woman could only stand frozen in horror, tears rolling down her face. "Please, do anything you wish, but spare Leia! We meant to keep her safe, to give her a the best life we could, for Padme, for you!"

"Silence!" he roared, feeling lightening tingle at his finger tips, wishing to be unleashed. "You've sealed your demise, another word and I will bring it upon you sooner."

The doors opened once more and Vader turned to the awaiting clones who seized the viceroy and his wife.

"Get both of them both out of my sight." the sith ordered, sheathing his lightsaber. "Then bring the princess to me."