Chapter One: A Night Terror

The holding cell was small and she was sitting on the hard black bench, her knees tucked into her chest. She had been sitting there for hours, who knew how long, there was no track of time in the tiny room. She had a lot of thinking time on her hands now, and she wasn't used to that, sitting and thinking. She moved fast, she was always acting and making things happen. She never had time to sit around and think, nor did she want to.

After a few moments her brain had gotten mixed up, and now she couldn't retrace her thoughts. Her eyes began to close, and the tingling in her rear end set in right when the door slid up. She didn't need to look to know Lord Vader was in the door way, she just knew. She just knew a lot of things.

"Come with me now." His deep voice boomed into the small cavity. She looked up at him and for a moment didn't move. "My patience is wavering, princess." He warned her, she snapped back to reality, remembering who she was; she got up and followed him through the space station. Her mouth was dry, there was a strange feeling in her gut that she had come to regularly know as a hint that something horrible was about to happen.

Ever since she was a small child she had feelings, instincts, which told her about a situation before she entered the situation. When she was young they came when she was relaxed, when her mind was clear, now they fought their way through many barriers of thoughts and emotions. Now was one of those times.

The only sound heard for a very long time was the clicking of their shoes as they made their way to the main control station. The sight of a thin, ugly old man came into her view, and she sucked in her breath deeply as the rooted hatred for Governor Tarkin began to grow within her stomach. She lifted her chin as she approached him, "Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." She said, under pressure her wit never left her.

"Charming to the last." He chuckled, slightly amused, he was used to her antics. "You don't know how hard I found it, signing the order to terminate your life." He gloated, holding her chin between his cold bony fingers. Her head began to pull away from his grasp as he released her,

"I'm surprised that you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself." She said spitefully.

"Princess Leia," he began, he had a distinct thing to his voice, where he always drew out his 'e's, "before your execution, you will join me at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now." He said as he walked away from her.

"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." She predicted; her constant rebellious tone frustrated him.

"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station. In a way you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the rebel base I have chosen to test this stations destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan." He finished as he walked over to the window, revealing the green-blue sphere floating in space that was known as Alderaan. She sucked in her breath, had it come down to this? She moved over to him, pleading.

"No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't possibly..."

"You would prefer another target, a military target?" he asked her irritably. "Then name the system!" he paused, then he began to advance, she stepped back and stumbled into the hard mechanical anatomy of Lord Vader. She looked up at Tarkin, looming over her, "I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: Where is the rebel base?"

In time of an emergency, say Dantooine. If others lives are at risk, besides your own, remember, Dantooine. She was reminded of her very own mission briefing she gave to the soldiers before their ship had been boarded, andher very own words rang through her head as she looked over Tarkin's shoulder. The sight was so familiar, she had watched from this very distance as many a times she was leaving and arriving. Usually, when she was this close, she felt a sense of serenity and calm coming over her, to see her family and enjoy the familiar sight of the landscape. But now, now she felt dread, dread that she may never feel any of those things again.

"Dantooine," she said, looking up at Tarkin and then lowering her head, what she hoped was a convincing act, "They're on Dantooine."

"There, you see Lord Vader, she can be reasonable." He spoke as he moved away from them. "Continue, with the operation, you may fire when ready." He ordered. Her heart twisted within her chest,

"WHAT?" she exclaimed shortly.

"You're far too trusting." He accused, "Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don't worry; we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough." He said matter-of-factly.

"No…" she pleaded as she tried to move towards him, but Vader was there to pull her back, she didn't know what she was going to do to Tarkin if she had got her hands on him. Then the longest ten seconds of her life proceeded. For a moment there was nothing, and then a low vibration started that made her teeth clench. A shutter went through the station as a green beam of light shot through the emptiness of space towards Alderaan. Upon contact, the planet disrupted from the inside out. In an instant, everything she had once known and loved, was now, simply gone. A billion chunks of rock, floating through space.

A fire burned inside of her, starting where she knew her heart to be and spreading out to every capillary of her body. She looked accusingly at Tarkin, "You monster." She growled through her teeth and in a moment she was upon him. How she had wrenched herself from the grip of Vader she could not imagine, and how she shoved Tarkin to the floor with no hands was beyond her imagination. However, there he was, curled on the floor and she was standing above him, her chest heaving up and down, her nails clenched into her palms.

"Get her away from me!" he shouted, as he looked at the hand he withdrew from where it had been inspecting the back of his head. Before Leia felt the solid arm of Lord Vader around her waist, she saw small spots of blood on Tarkin's hand, and as she was lifted from the ground and out the door, she felt good about that.

Vader let go of her forcefully, so that she stumbled and fell to the floor. She picked herself up with her arms and looked back at him, "Take the Princess to her cell in the detention center." He commanded before turning back into the room.

As soon as the door slid down behind her she dropped to her knees upon the grated floor. Hot tears spewed over her sockets and poured down her cheeks that were red with fury. She could see the countenance of her parents in her mind. Adoptive or not, they were the first things she had ever known to love. Her father's quiet demeanor, her mother's sweet aura. They're irreplaceable love and comfort. Now the place where she had felt that love was a throbbing, empty hole.

Alderaan had been hers, with small dispersed cities settled in the crevices of hills. The sight of snow covered mountains as far as the eye could see. The breathe of thin air that filled her lungs and cleared her mind. The very first places she had laughed and loved had cried and been comforted. The only place she felt at ease, the only place that could piece her back together. Her anchor, her rock, her foundation had just shattered and her sobs turned into cries of desperation.

Suddenly the holding cell was torn from around her, and instead of being curled up on a hard floor, she was on a soft mattress, under heavy blankets. When she realized the cries were coming from her she calmed down. The intercom sounded outside her door, paging Commander Skywalker, and that's when she relaxed, remembering where she was.

She sat up and wiped her eyes and face, the other beds in the room were unoccupied, she was grateful, for the fact that no one had witnessed her night terror. She got up from the bed, put on a pair of slippers before stepping onto the icy floor, and went into the bathroom. As she looked at herself in the mirror she was disappointed, her hair was a poking out of her braid and her makeup was smeared across her face. Her mind wandered to Han Solo, and how he would react if he saw her like this. She shook the thought away and went about to cleaning herself up.