A/N If I say I own Star Wars will my bank account grow? No? Well I guess I don't own it. Sorry about the last chapter. The last chapter was just previews of what's to come. Let me know which ones you want to see!! Please Review you know I don't get paid for this!!

Good Luck

"Mother, are you very sick?" ten-year-old Leia asked peeking into her mother's bed chamber.

"Come on in, my darling," the older woman called to her child. Leia creeped into the room.

"Have they not sent a doctor?" the child asked, her lips pursed as if to call the doctor herself.

"A doctor cannot help me now," the woman answered reaching out for her child's hand.

"Why not?" Leia asked holding onto her mother's hand as if just by holding on she could push death away.

"I'm dying, Leia," the older woman stated searching her child's chocolate eyes, eyes so much like her own and yet so different. She had the look of someone else, someone that right now the Queen did not wish to think about. Leia had been hers from the day she was born.

"Do you have to die?" the child questioned.

"Yes, Leia, it's time. I want you to know that I don't want to leave you, that I will always be with you through the will of the Force." The child looked around fearful.

"You mustn't speak of such things, Mother. The Force, indeed. The Force doesn't exist. It was just a bunch of smoke and mirror effects."

"Leia, you feel it don't you deep in your bones, I know you do."

"No, Mother. You can't talk like that. There are spies everywhere."

"What more can they do to me?"

"What do you mean, Mother."

"Nothing, dear child. I need your promise. I want you to always listen to your instincts. You are a good girl. A wonderful child. You have always been a blessing. You are stronger than you can ever know," the woman smiled the serene smile of one who knew what was waiting for her on the other side. The child's eyes filled with tears.

"I don't know how to be strong without you, Mother. Daddy won't know what to do without you. And I, I don't know anything. I need you, Mother. Please!" she pleaded as the tears that had filled her eyes spilled forth. The Queen reached up and wiped away her tears and she pulled something from her pocket.

"Wear this, and I will always be with you. It will bring you good luck. Now smile for me baby." Despite her tears, Leia smiled. She stared down at the old carving as her mother placed it around her neck.

"I'll never take it off. Never," she vowed.

"Then we will always be together," her mother promised her. "Now, if it's not too much trouble will you go and get your father."

"Of course. And mother, what's this called."

"Your father once called it a japor snippet." Leia mouthed the words as she ran down the halls of the Alderaan Palace in search of her father. He came at once and Leia crouched real low, trying to hear what they were saying. She couldn't make out everything just tiny snippets.

"She needs to know. When the time is right tell her. Tell her that no matter what I will always love her. She was right."

"How can you say that after all he's done. This is his fault. Sithspit."

"There's so much light in her." Leia stared on confused. Who was this he? How was her mother's death this his fault? What didn't she know? What were they keeping from her? Suddenly, she wasn't certain that she wanted to know. When her father came out of that room he smiled a gentle smile at her and she leaped into his arms. She knew. Her mother was dead.

Five years later, Leia was still trying to get out of her Princess duties. She wanted to be free. This was way too much responsibility for anyone. She wanted to race. She wanted to see the stars. She felt like there was something out there missing. She had a feeling it wasn't just her mother. There was someone else, someone elusive who kept calling to her. Sometimes when she slept she could see other people. She was tired of constantly being surrounded by the three redoubtable dowagers as she constantly called her aunts when complaining to her father. Leia smiled running her fingers through her now short hair. Let them try to style this she thought as she snuck into the garage where the swoop bikes were. "Mind if I give you a hand?" she asked with a lopsided smile.

"Just who do you think you are?" a gruff voice replied.

"Just a handmaiden? Who did you think I was Queen of Alderaan?" she scoffed. She peered at the greasy engine and smiled. "Come on, you look like you could use some help."

"Sure kid, help yourself."

"Thank you," she stated primly as a smile split her grin in two. She liked this. At least she didn't have anyone standing over her.

"So kid, what's your name?" he asked distracting her from boosting the speed to the swoop bike.

"Lelila," she replied, without missing a beat.

"Is there a last name that goes with that?"

"What do you think I'm a nerfherfer?" Leia stated with an easy smiled. "It's Antilles."

"Name's Han Solo," he replied and something inside of her tensed when he smiled at her, as if pronouncing his name was as proficient as naming a whole galaxy after himself. She smiled and stuck a greasy hand, "Can you hand me the vibroblade there?" she asked her voice going deep and husky all at once. He tossed it behind her head and bent to pick it up grabbing her waist at the same time. She tossed her head back and laughed before the laughter died on her lips and her breathing became a little shallow. She had started to tell him how clumsy he was but the words died on her lips as their eyes met.

"So how did a street urchin get out here all by herself? Any brothers I should know about?" Leia frowned. She wanted to say no, but why did that taste a lie. Instead she answered a question with a question. Right now she could be anyone she wanted. Anyone except Princess Leia Organa. She was Lelia Antilles, mechanic.

"Any sisters I should know about?"

"Nope, I'm an orphan," he kissed her cheek. "And a scoundrel. If you don't know by now."

"Oh, I know," she stated and gave a little laugh as she pushed at his chest, not really wanting to push him away. Just then Sabe called her name.

"Lelia, your father is going to kill me if you don't come back right now." Han's arms had immediately dropped from her waste and reluctantly she say back up, glared once at Sabe and stalked back toward the palace. "Really, Lelia, this is no way for a princess to act. And you cut your hair, why for Force sake's would you cut your hair? You've always had such pretty hair. If your mother was alive..." and on and on it went. Leia met her father's eyes and saw that he had burst out laughing.

"Sabe, you may go."

"Lelia, what have you done to your hair?"

"I cut it," she stated the obvious.

"Why for Force sake would you do that?"

"Because I'm tired of being everyone's dress up doll. When can I just be me, Dad?"

Bail Organa sighed, "You know you are going to have to wear a wig until it grows back."

"But it's summer, it's so much cooler without it. Dad, please."

"No, Leia. You must learn your place. You are a princess."

"What if I don't want to be a Princess? What if there's more out there just waiting for me to experience it?"

"And what if Emperor Palpatine gets his hands on my little girl? No, I will not risk it. Perhaps it's time I told you the truth."

"What truth?"

"Your mother and I, we are not your real parents."

"Then who is?"

" Your mother was a great woman. She was a dear friend of mine. She was a fellow senator who had gotten herself into some trouble with a traitor. One of the Jedi. Do you see why I worry? They say that those abilities can be passed down. If the Emperor were to discover."

"I'll be careful, Dad, I promise. What's the worse that can happen on Alderaan?" she asked innocently enough. "I love you," she stated as she threw her arms around him. "Is that all?"

"What else do you want?"

"The japor snippet?"

"It belonged to your true mother. Queen Breha loved you as much as your own mother could. Your mother was to be buried with it."

"She's dead?" she asked, in her secret put away heart the moment she had heard of another mother she had wanted to find her.

"Yes, but Breha had always thought that you should have it."

"And my father? The Jedi?"

"There were so many of them killed in the Jedi purge. Jedi weren't allowed to marry, my sweet. He must have been one of them. I believe at one time he must have been a great man. It's nothing short of tragic," he stated looking at her with very sad eyes. "Your lightning fast reflexes come from him."

"Who do I look like?" Leia asked curious as a junebug.

"Your mother. She was kind, she was smart. She was beautiful."

"Which one?"

"Both of them."

"You know the person I am and the person you want me to be are so different. I just want to be myself. I don't want to be a princess."

"You can be both, my beloved daughter. You can be both. Besides being a princess isn't something you are born to do, it's something you learn."

Princess Leia Organa was now nineteen. She had been in the Imperial Senate for a full year. She finally felt as if she could be herself when she was out there fighting for the good of the Galaxy, like what she said really mattered. She looked up and saw Darth Vader chatting with her father. She stared at him from afar. Why he was nothing more than a droid! Was there a real human in there? What had happened to him? He looked in her direction. Some said he was a sorcerer. Could he read her thoughts? Hate and fury swirled in her replacing the confusion and pity. He had murdered the Jedi. He had stolen not only her mother from her but her father as well. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes, I can," the deep voice replied.

"You can?"

"Read your thoughts, Senator."

"Oh," she lowered her voice. Any tips on how to shield them?" She saw him tilt his head and wondered what was going on under that helmet.

"Think of something else. Completely off subject. I'm sorry for your loss. You aren't afraid of me."

"No, I mean, yes I am."

"Still, you do not show it," she closed her eyes and felt him there inside her mind.

"You are very brave. The Emperor comes," he replied and bowed. "What is thy bidding my master?"

"Stand up, Vader. Introduce me to the girl."

"Of course, my master. This is Princess Leia Organa, Senator of Alderaan. Princess Leia, as you very well know this is Our Emperor Palpatine." The gentle prodding she had felt before was nothing next to the painful push that forced her to step back as she bit her lip. Finally it stopped and he smiled.

"It's good to have you with us, dear girl."

"Your highness," she stated with a slight bow. She could almost feel her skin crawl under his intent gaze.

Leia Organa had recently celebrated her twenty second birthday. She, along with her father, were part of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. The Empire was wrong, and it needed to fall. It heeded the whims of one man, and that man had manipulated his way into power. She had a contact on the death star. A man she had once dated named Kyle Katarn. He had been a musician and a dreamer. They hadn't been compatabile. But he worked on the Death Star and would feed her the plans if she could get close enough. She looked around her room, feeling an overwhelming feeling of loss. She picked up the japor snippet and tucked in inside her dress. 'This is for good luck,' she had been told. She couldn't bare to part with it. She grabbed her favorite flower and a few holo's along with a change of clothes and went to say goodbye to her father.

"And, Dad, I love you. I'll be home before you know it."

For some reason Viceroy Bail Organa felt the urge to call out an old Jedi greeting. "Leia, may the Force be with you."

"I love you, Dad. Take care of yourself. Be safe. And cover for me," she stated with a lopsided smile. Days later she had the plans, and knowing they were caught in the tractor beam. She quickly and quietly made her way to the controls launching all the escape pods but one. She then went to program Artoo with his secret mission, knowing she would be caught. "Please, come through for me, Obi-Wan," she whispered clutching the japor snippet in her hand as she picked up the nearest blaster and began shooting at the stormtroopers who had boarded her starship.