I was so stressed over having to write my essay that it's been hard to write my fic lately because I'll spend more time on my fic and forget to do an essay until the last minute. So I've been so focused on my essay, I couldn't write my fics. Luckily, this chapter was written and so I can get back to typing the story today since all I have to do is make a works cited list on my paper and say a long prayer… But now I have to go back and rewrite another chapter I had that I was trying to write in conjunction with my essay because as soon as I edited my essay and said done, an idea for this fic came. I curse school right now. I should just quit and become a freelance writer, but that won't go over well with my parents... Anyway this is the chapter you've all been waiting for. So read, enjoy, and review.

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Chapter One

Familiarity

Vader watched with curiosity as the girl, whose name he found out was Leia (a name he found to be familiar to him), paced in an eerily familiar way as she waited for news on her brother, worry etched into her expression. Finally, Vader grew annoyed with her habit and spoke.

"Sit down child. Pacing and worrying yourself to death will not help your brother."

"Well sitting calmly like nothing's wrong won't help either," Leia shot back to the sith lord. "Just because I agreed to this to help Luke doesn't mean I'm going to cooperate with you. You're still Darth Vader."

"Must you and your brother be so difficult?" Vader asked her. "Besides, you calming down would help more than you know. You both have a very strong bond and it could entice his presence if he senses that you are in a panicked state. That won't be good for his health because he'll struggle to come to your aid."

Leia stopped pacing and tossed the idea around in her head before realizing reluctantly that Vader was right. She looked at the couch in the beautiful personal waiting room the doctors had sent her and Vader in. She probably should sit down, but sitting down meant if Vader tried anything she was at a disadvantage because she had to get up before she did anything.

"I'll sit down if you sit down," she said crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head.

Darth Vader mimicked her actions. "You're in no position to be making ultimatums young lady. As soon as your brother is well I will take you both back to my commanding vessel as my prisoners."

Leia blinked. He did have a point. "Kriffing sith lord."

"And I don't imagine your parents would appreciate your use of such vulgar language young lady."

"They're dead," Leia snapped. "Besides, what are you my father or something? You sound like a dad. You got a secret son or daughter hidden around somewhere that the galaxy doesn't know about?"

Vader was wondering why he was so concerned himself. Any other child he wouldn't have cared what they said, but there was something about this young girl that brought out a side of him that he had long suppressed.

"Not that I know of princess," Vader said since the girl's haughtiness reminded him of Princess Winter of Alderaan.

Leia rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone call me that?"

"I don't know, but I'm doing so because you're acting like a spoiled ungrateful brat and I don't appreciate the behavior when I could have left your brother for dead on Dathomir. Now get the attitude in check and sit down." Leia started to reply but Vader cut her off. "And I will not sit down to satisfy your egotistical desire to feel like we're on even ground."

Leia stared at Vader in shock. There was no adult in the galaxy that could argue with her, but here Darth Vader was doing it and to her shock, she wasn't really offended by it. In fact, she respected it… And he hadn't tried to hit her.

Leia sat down not actually offended, but she had appearances to keep up appearances, so she crossed her arms feigning displeasures.

After a moment Vader's curiosity of the girl got the best of him and he turned his head to address her.

"Who else calls you princess?"

"I have no obligation to tell you," Leia snapped.

"Actually, considering today's events I think you at least owe it to me to answer my inquisitions," Vader pointed out.

Leia sighed. How was it that he kept cornering her?

"Luke does and he says it for the same reason you do. He says sometimes I act like a little spoiled bratty princess and when he calls me that, it means I'm getting on his nerve and acting like a spoiled brat. So usually it's not a compliment."

Vader was amused by the girl's disgruntled mood as she admitted this.

"How old are you and your brother?"

"Sixteen," she snapped curtly and looked down at her lap. "How about you?"

"That's hardly anything for you to be concerned about," Vader replied.

"I don't need to be. Your force presence says you're about thirty…thirty-nine?" she finished a little uncertain.

Vader was impressed. For children who had taught themselves, they were very talented in their use of the force. He began to mention this to her when the doctor came in. Leia jumped out of her seat.

"Is Luke going to be alright?" she asked. She was certain he wasn't dead. She would have felt that. But she didn't know if it would stay that way.

"We've managed to stabilize him, and we gave him a new hand. He had three broken ribs, eternal bleeding, a concussion, and a dislocated hip and I'm amazed you kept him alive long enough to get him here. Anyone else would have died. I expect a full recovery within a few weeks. He's very strong. But he may require a blood transfusion before we can give him a full bacta submergence. We have blood on hand, but his blood has an abnormality to it… Nothing dangerous, but we'd prefer to see if his sister is a match first," he said looking over the chart to make sure he covered everything.

"What abnormality."

"His midi-chlorian count is rather high. A little over seventeen thousand…"

"Is that a lot?" Leia asked.

"Yes even for a force sensitive," Darth Vader replied and then sensing Leia's panic added. "But it is nothing dangerous. My own count is exceptionally high."

"And you're in the life support suit," Leia pointed out.

Vader resisted the urge to choke the girl for her cold unfeeling observation.

"That was from an accident a long time ago," he said tightly.

"Oh," Leia said feeling bad. Darth Vader was… well, he was Darth Vader, but he had treated her ten times better than some of her masters ever had when she was a slave. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say something so thoughtless."

Vader didn't acknowledge her apology and dismissed the doctor telling him that they would follow shortly. He needed to talk to the child. Leia seemed nervous about something.

"We should go ahead and see if you and your brother's blood type are the same. More than likely it will be even if you are fraternal twins," Vader said.

Leia shifted uncomfortably and Vader felt her nervousness.

"Is there a problem?" he asked as the girl began to fiddle with her necklace.

"No… not really," she muttered quietly.

"Yes there is," Vader declared. "Are you afraid of needles or the sight of blood?"

Leia shook her head.

"Then tell me what is it child. You certainly had no problem voicing your thoughts before so it shouldn't be a problem now."

Leia sighed. "I doubt me and Luke will have the same blood type…" she admitted quietly.

"And what makes you say that?"

Leia crossed her arms and looked like she had been caught in a lie.

"He's not really my brother. That's why. It's a front. He's actually just my best friend," Leia said.

Vader simply stared at the girl and Leia started to wonder whether or not he had heard her. She started to repeat herself but Vader finally spoke.

"That's impossible," he said.

"No," Leia said. "It's not. We met when we were ten and have been together ever since."

"So you are involved in a romantic relationship then?" Vader asked carefully.

"No. Just friends… I may have thought about it once, but it felt wrong… I don't know. People say we are a little too close to be just friends though. Maybe in the future…" Leia said trailing off.

Vader was stunned. Such a bond as strong as Luke and Leia's was impossible no matter how close the people were unless they were siblings or bound by romantic feelings ordained by the force itself.

Leia, who was still fiddling with her mother's necklace, looked at Vader and rolled her eyes. She would never be able to tell why she was so comfortable around the sith lord but his staring was getting on her nerve.

"What the kriffing hell are you looking at?" she asked putting her hands on her hips, the necklace falling on her chest instead on back in her shirt where she usually concealed it.

Vader started to reprimand her for her language again but then noticed her necklace, a very familiar necklace.

Leia noticed him staring. "Now what?" she asked and then noticed his line of vision. "You better not be staring where I think you're staring or I'm going to terrorize you better than you ever could terrorize anyone. And I don't give a kriff who you are!"

But then Vader reached out and grabbed the pendant, inspecting it carefully.

"Where did you get this child?"

Leia carefully took it from his hand. How dare he?

"What's it matter to you?"

Vader didn't even care about her attitude. He just wanted to know where she got that pendant and how.

"Please Leia. Just answer this one question without being difficult," he requested.

Leia felt his pain and hope through the force and didn't have a clue why he was feeling that way. So even though she didn't think he needed to know, those feeling made her tell him.

"It was my mother's. It's the only thing I have left of her," Leia replied softly.

Vader stepped back and Leia looked at him in concern as he collapsed on the couch behind him. Leia looked at him in wonder. What could have cause such a reaction from him?

"What was your mother's name child?"

Leia shrugged. "I don't know. All I knew was that this was supposed to be buried with her since she was wearing it when she died, but it was given to me as a something to remember her by because I was only just born when she died," she explained and then sat next to him strangely comfortable with him. "Why do you ask? Have you seen one like this before? I always wondered where she got it."

"There's only one necklace in the galaxy like that. It was hand carved," Vader replied in a daze.

"Really?" Leia asked looking at the pendant again. "You can tell by looking at it?"

Vader shook his head slowly. "No child. I know because I made that necklace," he gave. It made sense now… Why she seemed so familiar to him… She looked just like her mother and her father's traits…

Vader felt her confusion as she tilted her head and asked, "Really? She brought it from you then?"

Vader shook his head. Of course the girl wouldn't know.

"No. I gave it to her," Vader replied and then looked at Leia. "I gave it to my wife when we were children and she wore it from the day I gave it to her to the day she died while she was still pregnant."

Leia started to give her condolences until his words sank in… He gave it to his wife who died while she was pregnant. She got it as a last token of her dead mother who died right after she was born. Oh stars…

"Wait a minute. Then that means you're… You're my father?" she asked stunned.

While she was in her dazed state and her shields were momentarily down, Vader explored her shining force signature, finding exactly what he was looking for, the part of the girl that matched his own force signature and then the part that belonged to her mother both fused to create another unique force signature that was the girl before him, the spitting image of his angel. He stared at Leia in amazement. So this was the child that he would speak to when her mother was asleep at night and who's presence he used to touch to familiarize himself with her. No wonder the child had been so familiar. And then it dawned on him where he had heard her name…

"Hello Leia," Anakin said one day as he greeted his wife.

Padmé smiled. "Leia?"

"That's her name," Anakin said. "Little princess."

"Yes," he finally said. "I am your father Leia."

Leia felt Vader's presence brush against her own, and she jumped startled as she unwittingly put her shield back up. However, it hadn't been an unwelcome touch. She remembered it from a long time ago, albeit it was now darker that before but still the same.

And a bunch of questions rushed to her head as well as an explosion of emotions, so many she couldn't figure out which one to settle on. After so many years of not knowing where she came from or who she was, one of the people she had wondered about had been alive all this time and chasing her for a little over three years…

"Leia," Vader said getting a hold of himself again as he felt an abrupt change in her well being.

Leia slowly stood up holding her stomach, suddenly feeling sick before falling out. Vader, have sensed her sudden shift to unconsciousness caught her before she fell.

"Leia," he said. "Leia."

Vader muttered some choice words in huttese as he lifted his daughter in his arms, taking note that she was extremely light and could use a little more weight on her, before carefully walking out the lobby and finding a random empty room to place her in. A nurse having seen him go in came in and said, "Sir-." she cut herself off and gasped when she saw the girl.

"What happened?"

Vader stopped the nurse from coming closer and replied, "She is fine. She's just fainted from shock. But she may be traumatized when she awakes. I'd appreciate it if you found a doctor to evaluate her mental state when she awakes."

The nurse rushed out the room and Vader watched Leia with curiosity in her unconscious state. Her hair was the same shade as her mothers, and she seemed to favor the same braided hair styles that her mother had. He ran a hand over her face and hair in fascination. She was perfect, just like he always knew she was going to be, the perfect product of her parents love. Vader hadn't felt such emotions in sixteen years. He stepped back as she began to stir and then laid a hand on her shoulder when she tried to sit up.

"What happened?" she muttered moving his hand off her shoulder as she sat up anyway.

"Are you feeling alright now?" he asked.

"Yeah but…" Leia then remembered what had just happened and looked at Vader in disbelief. "Oh stang I wasn't dreaming."

Vader smiled under his mask. Padmé really would be horrified if she heard her daughter's coarse language.

Leia finally got over her shock and looked at Vader curiously. She had heard a lot of things about Vader, but she usually didn't judge a person by what people said. She really didn't know what to say, but this at least proved that under the suit, Vader was human. So she said the first thing that came to her mind to say to him.

"You know," she said crossing her arms. "A lot of people say you're a real evil bastard and if I didn't know any better, I'd say they were right. You certainly haven't tried to improve your image in the galaxy."

Vader kept silent. She wasn't finished yet.

"But I've met some real evil bastards in my lifetime and you're nothing like them, so I guess being your daughter isn't so bad. You alright in my book," Leia said with a smirk. No wonder she was so comfortable around Vader.

Vader made a mental note to ask her what she meant by having met some real evil bastards at a later date, but right now there were more pressing question, particularly who the Luke was to her.

"Who is this Luke? What is the extent of your relationship with him?' he asked suddenly more concerned that his daughter had been flying around the galaxy for the last three years with a teenage boy. Teenage boys had hormones and suddenly he was even more inclined to believe that there was something more to her relationship with him than she was letting on.

"I told you. He's just my friend. Nothing more," Leia replied. "Can I go see him now?"

"Not until you are truthful about the depth of your relationship with him. There is no way you two can be as bonded and connected as you are and not be in some kind of romantic relationship," Vader said beginning to pace back and forth.

"But we're not… I mean, I've thought about it but I swear."

Vader could feel through the force that she was telling the truth, but that didn't explain her apparent bond with him through the force.

"You have hardly any right to say anything even if you really are my father," Leia said haughtily with her arms crossed. "I had no clue you existed until ten minutes ago. I always thought you were dead."

Vader then realized he knew so little about his daughter besides the fact that she had been on the run for the last three years. Why was she on the run to begin with? Who had taken care of her all that time before that? Where did she meet this boy Luke? He began to ask her all of those questions when she suddenly looked up and then jumped off the bed sprinting out the door and down the hall. Vader followed briskly behind her wondering if Leia knew she was using a force induced run. Unsurprisingly, Leia had found Luke's room and the boy was now awake looking around in alarm.

"Leia," he muttered. "Where are we? What's going on? I-." he stopped and looked down at his right hand, the one that hadn't been there earlier.

"It's prosthetic," Leia replied. "I asked the doctors to fit you with the best hand they had when we brought you here."

"We?" Luke whispered and tried to turn his head to look towards the door. He sensed someone there, but his force senses were fogged up with whatever sedatives and pain killers he had been given.

"I had some help," Leia replied, running her hand through his hair.

Luke couldn't sense the presence at the door clearly but Leia felt different, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She didn't feel as lonely as she usually felt. She seemed complete for once.

"What's got you so upbeat?" he asked.

"It's nothing," Leia replied softly. He didn't need to know yet that Darth Vader was her father. She was still trying to process it herself. "I'll explain it later. You just need to focus on getting well."

"I'm perfectly fine," Luke said starting to sit up but then winced and fell back on the bed.

"I'm not even going to argue with you because you're not getting up," Leia replied. "Now go back to sleep. I'm going to go take care of something."

"I don't know what you're going to take care of but you better not be causing trouble without me," Luke muttered closing his eyes.

Leia sighed and stared at Luke and as Vader watched he had to wonder if Leia and this boy weren't in a romantic relationship. What was it? There was no way to explain how close they were unless by some miracle, Padmé had been carrying twins, Luke and Leia were really siblings and Obi-Wan, the last person he knew Padmé to be with when she died, separated the twins in some twisted so-called honorable jedi effort to hide them from him… Vader suddenly looked at Luke and Leia thoughtfully. That would certainly explain a lot.

Vader touched touch the force, reaching out to explore Luke's force presence, but found his presence was being shielded, but not by Luke himself.

"Leia," Vader said and Leia turned to look at the man she now knew as her father. "Take your shield away from Luke's force signature."

"Why?" she asked narrowing her eyes. Vader may have been her father, but she'd turn on him before she let him hurt Luke. Luke had been there for her far longer than the thirty or so minutes Vader had.

"I have no intention of hurting him," Vader assured her. "Just let down your shield so that I can access his presence in the force."

Leia looked at Vader wearily before closing her eyes and dropping the shield giving Vader access to Luke's force presence. It was a blinding beacon of light in the force and he didn't need to find the part of himself that was in the boy's presence to know that this was his son. His force potential gave away his heritage.

"So?" Leia asked when she felt Vader pull back from Luke's presence. "What were you looking for?"

"What is Luke's surname Leia?" Vader asked.

"Why?" Leia asked cautiously.

"Leia," Vader warned.

"I may be your daughter but you're not going to hang that over my head. No one ever told me to respect my elders and I certainly don't plan to start. I know you kill jedi and force sensitives, and if I tell you his name you'll kill him like Tytus was going to," Leia snapped. "I don't know what the jedi did but you can't blame Luke for it. He couldn't choose his parents."

Vader sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the child. "You sound like your mother. She was always coming to the defense of those who couldn't help themselves even if she had to put herself at risk."

"My mother?" Leia asked. "Can you tell me about her?"

"After you tell me Luke's last name," Vader replied.

Leia glared at him. "That's no fair. I have the right to know about my mother. You can't bargain with me on that. I don't have to tell you anything, but since my mother is the other half of me, you have to tell about her eventually."

"Princess," Vader warned crossing his arms in ever growing impatience with her. "I'm warning you. You may have traveled the galaxy and wrecked havoc with reckless abandon for three years and now you're practically cleared of all charges because of your blood, but I can still punish you for your actions."

"You have no right," Leia shot.

"I have every right. I am your father," Vader pointed out.

"Aw shit," she muttered. He had cornered her again.

"And watch your mouth. Now tell me," he demanded.

Leia groaned and rolled her eyes. "His full name is Luke Skywalker. His father was Anakin Skywalker. Happy?"

Leia was starting to wish she was still ignorant of the fact that Vader was her father, but it made her feel better. She wasn't just losing the battle of wills with anyone. She was losing it to the person she had gotten her will and stubbornness from. Leia started to say something when Vader didn't reply but then sensed his shock.

"What now?" Leia asked looking at him. "What could you have found out that was possibly more shocking than finding out I was your daughter? I know. Anakin Skywalker was your brother and Luke is your nephew, my cousin. Or better yet," she continued in her sarcastic tone. "You used to be Anakin Skywalker and not only am I your daughter, but me and Luke are actually twins and we were separated at birth by the jedi as revenge because you turned on them."

Leia was sincerely joking, really only mixing up theories she had about Luke's father in the first place, but then she felt Vader's amusement and her jaw dropped in stunned disbelief. She was beginning to wonder if it would stay that way.

"No wonder you're both so close," he mused.

Leia opened and closed her mouth before a string of huttese phrases came out her mouth surprising Vader. Where had she learned huttese? And such vulgar huttese at that…

"Luke's really my brother?" she asked in wonder.

"So it would seem through the force. But if you don't believe it, I can get the doctor and request that he-."

Leia shook her head as she fell down in a chair next to Luke's bed. "No. It's true. I… I've always known somewhere that we were more than friends, but not in a romantic way even though everyone else thought we were," she added.

Vader was forever thankful to the force that they hadn't listened to what other people had said.

"Artoo," a prissy voice that was oddly familiar to Vader said. "Artoo. You must learn to understand humans. If they don't ask for your presence or help they don't want it."

A series of beeps and whistles followed the voice.

"I'm certain Master Luke is fine. Miss Leia would have told us if he wasn't. Besides, I'd prefer to stay back on the ship away from-."

Artoo burst into the room and rolled straight for Luke's bed while Threepio took one look at Vader and squeaked.

"Oh my," he said nervously and then nodded his head to Vader. "Please pardon my friend sir. He's an impulsive little droid, never does what he's told."

Artoo pointed out that Leia hadn't given them instructions and Leia had to nod in agreement. She had been so concerned about Luke, she forgot about the droids.

"Relax," Leia said to Threepio. "You won't be harmed."

Threepio looked uncertain at Vader, who had gone strangely quiet again, before turning to Leia.

"Well, Miss Leia, since I'm here I may as well inquire on Master Luke's health. He looked so pitiful when you brought him back on board. Will he be alright?"

Leia smiled. "He'll be fine, but he's never going to get any rest if we keep making all this noise. Let's go back to the lobby and I'll tell you in more detail."

Anxious to hear more about his Master's condition, Artoo started to roll out the room, and not paying attention to where he was going, he ran into Vader who was headed out the room. Vader turned around to look at the droid and tilted his head in a fashion that reminded Leia of Luke. The droid backed up and then zipped around Leia and hid behind her legs.

Leia gave Vader an exasperated look and then craned her neck to look at Artoo.

"It's alright Artoo. He's not going to do anything to you," she assured.

Artoo shook his dome and made a low reply.

"Of course I know he's Darth Vader. I'm not blind. He's my father," Leia said not feeling at all strange about referring to a man she hardly knew as her father. She always wanted to call someone that.

Artoo made a shrill beep and Leia laughed before heading out the room, Artoo sticking close behind her.

Vader continued to look at the droid in curiosity wondering what the odds were that his two children had met after being separated for ten years (he still had to ask Leia about that), gotten their parents two old droids, and stolen their mother's ship without getting caught… For anyone else the likelihood was slim to none, but when you added a Skywalker to the mix, the odds became exponentially higher.

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Leia sat in her room on her ship tossing Luke's light saber in her hands. Luke… Her brother. It felt right. She didn't even need a blood test to show it. She just knew. It rang true in the force. The part about Darth Vader being their father rang true too. Sure she and Luke had been running from him and the empire for a while, but to tell the truth, she had never seen the man as evil. She just saw a man that was doing his job and took it very seriously and if he had to be harsh to get the job done, he did it. Leia laughed. So that's where she got it from.

Leia sighed with a small smile on her face. She supposed any other person would have been horrified to find out Vader was their father, but she had done a lot of things and if she were to be judged just based on her actions thus far in her life, she'd be on her way to hell at that moment.

Vader meanwhile had never been so contemplative about something since he turned to the dark side to save his wife. The revelation that the child he thought had died with wife was alive was one thing. But to find out that it had been two, the little girl with his temperament and her mother's looks and the boy who inherited his piloting skills and handsome boyish features, that was almost more than he could handle. There were so many questions he wanted to ask and so many emotions he wanted to express, the main ones being joy and anger. Joy that the force reunited him with his long thought dead children and anger that they had been hidden from them in the first place.

The most obvious thing was that the emperor had apparently lied to him. He hadn't killed Padmé that day in his anger on Mustafar. She had to have lived long enough to give birth to the twins or they had been cut out of her dead body before they could die with her… He may never know, but he knew one person had something to do with their separation. Obi-Wan. There was a great possibility that it was Obi-Wan's fault the twins were separated. The real questions were, how had the two met, and who had they been with before they met and ran away from Tatooine? It was safe to assume that Luke had been with his step brother and wife on Tatooine, but what of Leia. He looked toward the room she had gone in. The only way to find out was to ask her.

He started for the door but just as he got there, Artoo wheeled into him. The droid backed out and let out a shrill whistle starting to back up but Vader stopped him.

"You don't remember me?" Vader asked and Artoo shook his dome starting to go the other way.

"I guess you cannot be blamed. I did look a lot different during the clone wars," Vader replied.

Artoo stopped, his one eye inspected him closely before he began to rock in anticipation. Then he stopped and said something angrily.

Vader sighed and began to reply but Leia opened the door.

"Artoo. What are you doing?" she asked, her hair in a braid over her shoulder.

Artoo said something to Leia, and Leia blinked looking at Vader.

"This used to be your droid?" she asked in curiosity.

Vader nodded and then turned to look at Leia "Leia, I would like to speak with you. I have some questions."

Leia looked at Vader before stepping aside to let him in her room. There was something she wanted to ask him first though. As she sat down on the small cot and he stood on the other side of the room he began to start, but Leia cut him off.

"I'll answer anything you want me to answer if you just answer one question for me," Leia offered.

Vader crossed his arms. "Ultimatums again?"

"But this time you want something from me," Leia said. "And to be honest, I can live without the answer to my question. I haven't known for this long. I can go the rest of my life to be honest."

Vader would have thought she was bluffing if not for the cold, careless attitude he felt from her in the force.

"What do you want?" he asked cautiously.

Leia smiled and then leaned back in her chair playing with her blaster. "I want to know about my mother."

Vader stiffened. "Your mother?"

Leia nodded. "I never knew her. She died right after I was born… after me and Luke were born I guess. Who was she?"

Vader was silent, the only sound coming from him being that of his mechanical breathing. Leia didn't know how tall a request that was. He'd rather forget about Padmé most times. It brought back painful memories of what he had done to her which he thought had killed her but obviously, according to Leia, she had really lived long enough to give them birth and not only that name the children, because Leia was the name he had decided on before.

He sighed.

"Well?" Leia asked.

"That is in the past Leia and she is dead. There is no use dwelling on it," Vader said softly and expected the girl to blow up when she clenched her jaw.

Instead of doing that though, she simply said, "You don't like to talk about her huh? Forgetting about her helps you pretend she never existed huh? Well answer me this. I know you married her since she was your wife. But did you love her at all or was she more like a mistress or something?"

Vader felt rage bubble inside him. "You think that I have no honor? Besides, she was far from that kind of woman. She was a senator."

"Just saying. I've been around the galaxy a few times and just because she gave Luke your last name doesn't mean you loved each other. It's not in some people's capacity to love. If it were, some evils wouldn't exist," Leia said softly.

"I did I suppose," Vader replied to satisfy the girl.

"You sound uncertain… You hurt her didn't you?" Leia asked and Vader was surprised by the girl's calmness. It made him wonder what the girl had seen that made her shrug off things like this. "You weren't trying to were you?"

"I was not," Vader admitted.

Leia sat back and stared at him and Vader felt her trying to gauge his honesty through the force. Finally she nodded her head. "You'll be alright for a dad then. Can't really say how Luke will take it though."

Vader started to ask her something and then noticed the light saber sitting next to her. He pointed to it.

"Where did you get that?"

Leia scowled. "Some jedi named Ben Kenobi that Luke used to know on Tatooine. Said it used to be yours. Luke seems to think he's an alright guy. I never knew him, so I wouldn't know."

Vader felt a surge of anger in him and to prevent himself from potentially lashing out at Leia in his anger (because if their conversation in the hospital was anything to go by, father or not, she wouldn't make things easy), he left the room. Leia looked after him puzzled but thought it was a good idea not to follow him.

Days passed, a bit slow for Leia as she was used to having Luke around and without his presence, her nightmares started to return. There was only one more day. They had put Luke in the bacta earlier that day and tomorrow he would be awake and knowing him, ready to get out of the hospital. That comforting thought didn't help Leia sleep any better than night though, and so she did the next best thing.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered following the dark presence that was Vader. She still couldn't get used to calling him her father even though she was positive that's who he was and had no problem acknowledging it if anyone asked. To think the jokes she used to make about how likely it was in comparison to things like her and Luke being twins. The force had a sick sense of humor, if it had one at all.

She found Vader sitting in the cockpit of the ship, carefully inspecting its controls. Leia sat beside in the co-pilot's seat. It was odd seeing Vader sitting next to her. He was in Luke's spot.

"You and your brother have done an excellent job keeping this ship in top condition," he commented when he sensed her next to him.

"Mostly Luke's doings. He has a knack for fixing things. He used to take speeders on Tatooine and fix them up so he could race them. They never looked like much, but no one could rig an engine like Luke could. He brags that he can fly anything that will lift up into the air. I always found it fitting that his last name was Skywalker for that reason," Leia said playing with her necklace.

"Hm," was all Vader said, though he was strangely pleased that his son had inherited his hobbies.

"I can do the same things, but it doesn't interest me as much as it does Luke," Leia said shrugging.

"What things do interest you then?"

"Defending others I guess. Luke says I like to fight, but it's not about that. Sometimes talking doesn't work, even though I'm a better negotiator than he is, and it takes a blaster to the head to drive the point in," Leia muttered dryly.

"My sentiments exactly," Vader noted.

Leia sighed and became silent as she seemed to brood over something. It was then Vader realized that not only was she awake at an ungodly hour for her, but that she seemed a little frightened, nervous and apprehensive.

"Why are you awake?" he asked.

"Why are you? I've never seen you sleep in these last few days. Do you sleep at all?" Leia asked trying to change the subject.

"Occasionally," Vader admitted. "So?"

Leia held back a groan. How was it that he always knew what she was trying to do and outmaneuvered her?

He's your dad. You probably inherited your wit from him, a voice said in the back of her head.

She made the pretense of seeming relaxed, but Vader could sense the tension in her, along with her sudden uncomfortable demeanor, as well as her heightened apprehension and nervousness.

"Just worried about Luke," she lied and had Vader not been able to touch the force, he would have believed it.

"No you are not," he replied simply.

"I am," Leia retorted.

"While that may be true, it is not what is keeping you awake," said Vader. "What is wrong?"

Leia sighed. She should have stayed in bed, so she started to get up to do just that before Vader said simply with a hint of commanding, "Tell me."

"You're not the boss of me," she snapped. "No one is. Besides, you wouldn't understand. Only Luke does," she added in a softer, somewhat sad tone.

Vader was silent and crossed his arms as he stared out the window. Leia started to leave again when he finally said, "For whatever reason that you are afraid to sleep alone, if it bothers you that much, you are welcome to stay in my company although I'm not sure my presence will be as comforting as your brother's usually is."

Leia sat back down in her seat expecting him to force her to tell him what was wrong which would end up with her being angry and stomping out the cockpit, but he didn't say a word.

Vader on the other hand knew Leia was looking for a good reason to hate him and if he pried too much, she may very well use that as a reason. However, he was curious about why the child seemed so secretive and danced around certain pieces of her past. For instance, she mentioned that Luke lived on Tatooine with his aunt and uncle, but she never mentioned why she was there. It made sense that if they didn't know each other for ten years and really had been separated that she had lived on another planet. But Vader was willing to wait for a while. Hopefully Leia would say something before he grew impatient though. She tried him even now and they hardly spoke more than once a day since they met.

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In the next chapter, Luke knows something is up, especially since Leia seems like she's been somewhat subdued by the Darth Vader and it's driving him insane that she won't tell him, especially when Vader offers them bother the chance to join him and overthrow the emperor to take over the empire…

So I got my first essay back and I have to wonder why I can't pull A's on these things. The reason why? First, I'm a creative genius and like all creative geniuses, no one understands the point they're trying to make when they try to make it. Secondly is because I'm a creative genius and my forte is Creative Writing, so when I'm pushed into the confines of a subject that doesn't interest me, I'm lucky to pull off an acceptable grade. If I had the money, I'd go off to an art school in Chicago or New York or one in Atlanta and take up creative writing even though a lot of people say there's nothing I can do with the degree, but hey I'm interested in it, I'll pull something off…

Anyway, not much to say about this chapter. Only that I have to imagine Vader talking from the movies to pull off his character in relationship to the twins right. How do I make Vader a father and the cold unfeeling second in command to the empire? It's a delicate thing to play with. Hope you enjoyed. Review please!