driftfleet | all aboard the ss royalty

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all aboard the ss royalty

Who: Crew of the SS Bishop & friends, visitors, interlopers!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Aboard the Bishop
When: This week

[ Bishopites! How is station life treating you? Can you fit all the stuff you bought with your casino winnings into your bunk, or did you lose your last boring jumpsuit when Lady Luck abandoned you? Has anyone touched the gumball crates yet? Have at each other here and mingle away! ]

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He... [It flies in the face of everything she's ever known about Darth Vader, the thought that he'd sacrifice himself for anyone--Luke included. Leia regards him with an uncertain frown.] Why didn't you say so before?

There wasn't time before now; I'm sorry. [He hangs his head, a little, and recounts the story:] The Emperor... he tried to anger me into falling to the Dark Side, and when I wouldn't budge, he ordered F-... Darth Vader to attack me.

I defended myself, but he's such a better swordsman than I'll ever be, Leia, even with his condition. [Does she know about that? He can't recall. He continues, unable to stop now that the story's begun:] He tricked me into thinking of you, and read my thoughts through the Force. When he threatened you, I... I attacked him. I almost had him beat, but... I couldn't. He's my father.

[Our father. He doesn't say it. He can't, not before she's ready to accept that, if she ever is. If she never is, he wouldn't blame her.] When I wouldn't kill him, the Emperor... he attacked me with some kind of Force technique I'd never even heard of. I was... dying.

And then Father reached out and killed him. [He looks up at her again.]

[She can't decide what to feel. Anger at Darth Vader and worse, Emperor Palpatine--and, mixed with shame, at Luke, for doing this by himself and nearly getting himself killed and leaving so much of the story out upon talking to her. A strange sense of uncertainty at the knowledge that her presence in his life is a weak spot for him, even as it might be a strength as well.

And, more reasonably, the knowledge that they didn't have time after Endor, especially not when Luke needed space. Perhaps he wasn't ready to discuss it, last time they saw each other. Can she really fault him for that? Beneath all of it, there's even a small swell of pride that Luke remained so true to his own conscience.]

He saved you. [She can acknowledge that much, much as she'd like to believe Luke would have found a way to survive regardless.] But--

[But I can't let go of everything that happened before. She squeezes his hand gently.]

Yes. [But there's one more part to all of this. He looks at Leia gently, and hopes she'll understand.] I was with him, after. When he was dying. His last words were... 'tell your sister you were right about me.'

[And then he waits. He doesn't know how Leia will react, but he wants to be there for it.]

[That's awfully convenient is her first thought, but Luke wouldn't lie to her. Not to her, not about this. Which means--

Which means that Darth Vader's--Anakin's--last words were of her. Maybe his last thoughts entirely.

Her chest feels like it's collapsing in on itself, her free hand balling into a fist unconsciously. Did he regret it? Did he want Luke to pass that on to her--some kind of mealy-mouthed apology for everything he'd done? Was he looking for some kind of forgiveness for the ways he helped subjugate billions of people, or just the ways his actions touched his daughter's life?]

Why are you telling me this? [Leia wills the words to come out steely, but there's too much genuine curiosity and pain inside them. And if she's entirely honest with herself, she doesn't really want to have to hide her feelings in front of her brother. Of all people, Luke understands, even if they don't agree.] Just because he had a--a deathbed change of heart doesn't make up for twenty years of destroying people's lives. It doesn't change what he did to the galaxy.

[It doesn't change what he did to me.]

Of course it doesn't. [His tone is genuine. He reaches over to put his free hand on her shoulder.] I'm telling you because he asked me to. What you do with it is up to you. [And, unspoken, the promise that whatever she does, he'll support her.]

[She closes her eyes, taking a few moments to gather herself. As angry as she is--and it's roiling inside her, the idea that Anakin presumed to know anything about her, let alone that she might want a message from him--she doesn't want to be angry at Luke. Blasting the messenger won't help anything, especially when the messenger in question is her brother.]

There's nothing to do with it. [Shortly. She opens her eyes, looking over into Luke's.] He's dead.

[All that's left is to do everything possible to ensure no one ever rises to take his place.]

[Luke sighs softly. It's not the answer he wanted-- there's no point in hiding that, she'd know, and more importantly, it's not right of him to hide it-- but it's her answer, and it's better than nothing.]

If that's what you think is right, Leia... I'll do my best to stand by you. [Always.]

Luke...

[She knows he's disappointed, but his attitude towards their father is as mystifying to her as she supposes hers is to him. How do you forgive a man who stood by and watched as an entire planet's worth of people died in an instant? How do you do anything except hate him and everything he represents, and do everything in your power to free the galaxy from his influence?

Sometimes, she thinks Luke is a better person than she is.

Leia sighs in answer, shaking her head.]

You didn't come here just to talk about what happened at home, did you?

[He squeezes her hand, a silent promise.]

No, I... spoke to him recently. He wanted to know why he hurt you. [He considers, for a moment, how to explain the rest.] Leia, I swear, I'm not trying to change your mind about anything, just tell you what I think you deserve to know.

He was horrified that he'd hurt you.

[Horrified seems too strong. Anakin was upset in the turbolift, but anyone would be. The fact that it's apparently stuck with him this long, that it's eaten at him enough that he asked Luke about it--she didn't expect that.

She doesn't really know Anakin Skywalker at all, though. Only Darth Vader. It was clear in the lift that they weren't the same, but she doesn't know the extent of it.]

What did you tell him?

That he didn't know you were his daughter. I expected that to be enough for him, but he seemed upset that he would do that to anyone... [That had surprised him as well. He had expected many things of the man who would become Vader, but none of them were compassion for strangers and bystanders.] I hope that wasn't too much.

[She shakes her head.]

It's the truth. It isn't too much. [And then a pause.] If he'd known...

I don't know what he'd have done, Leia. It could have been worse. [The truth. Tell the truth. Even though he knows it won't help his argument, explain the way he feels, he can never lie to Leia.] After all, he knew who I was, when he... [Well, she can figure out the end of that sentence herself. Luke doesn't see the point of dwelling on it.]

The Dark Side, it changes you. That's what Master Yoda told me. Anakin, he feels so different through the Force. I wish you could feel it, Leia.

I know. [That's part of what gives her such pause. The fact of Luke wasn't enough to bring him back from the darkness, wasn't enough to keep him from slicing off one of Luke's limbs--and yet the fact of Leia now, her past and Anakin's future, bothers him this much?]

...I can. Not like you do, I'm sure--but standing near Vader was like walking outside on Hoth without a coat. [For a long time, she'd assumed everyone felt it.] I know he isn't Vader yet.

[But he probably will be.]

You can? [That's a cheering thought, in the midst of all this. Leia is farther along than he'd thought.]

I keep expecting that cold, when I talk to- to Anakin. But he's like a bonfire. [Yet there's something familiar at the center, that spans the gap of decades.] I don't know what the Dark Side does to people, but it did that to him. I'm sure of it.

It had to have. [She remembers what it felt like to be in Emperor Palpatine's presence as well as Vader's; the chill they both exuded wasn't normal.

There is a long pause as Leia debates speaking further. She hasn't even said this to Han--but then, she couldn't, really.]

When we spoke, I felt sorry for him. He wants to make things right, but he doesn't know where to begin, and I...I couldn't tell him. [I didn't know. Her grip on Luke's hand tightens.] But just because he regrets something he hasn't done yet doesn't mean he won't do it in the future. We can't forget that.

I know, Leia. Believe me. It's his future, maybe, but it's our past. Nothing can undo it. [He grips her hand in turn, careful, as always, not to grip too tightly and risk damaging the delicate synthskin covering.]

But while he's here, as he was... I want to try to know him. I'm not sure he wants me to, but... [I have to try.] And you have to choose your own path.

If that's what you want [of course it is, of course it is], just...be careful.

[She can't join him in this, but she can't tell him not to get to know Anakin for his own self. She might as well tell Tatooine not to have two suns.]

I will, Leia. I don't know how close he is to... the man he becomes. [The thing, the creature, no, he can never say that of Vader. Not when he's looked in his entirely too human eyes.] But I have to try.

[He looks up at Leia.] Is there anything you... want me to do? To not tell him?

I know. [She can't follow him there, but she can at least understand his need to know the man.

At the question, Leia shakes her head. Nothing comes to mind for several long moments. And then, in a low, slightly pained voice:]

Don't tell him about Jabba. Please.

I would never. [He's surprised by her even bringing it up, but then, perhaps it bears mentioning.] I swear, Leia; you have my word.

I know.

[It's not like they've spoken on it since in any real depth; for the most part, they've gone on as though it didn't happen. Bringing it up at all leaves her with a strangely guilty tang in her mouth, as though mentioning it serves as an accusation of what Luke might say. And so, as explanation (and perhaps a little apology):]

That's the only thing.

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all aboard the ss royalty

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