empiresbane

[empiresbane]

Is it scary? Having to pretend?

Yeah, sometimes. But it's worth it if I can help people.

IND. TALA DURITH of the Star Wars universe. safeguarded by Sophie. est. 2022.

[empiresbane]

Leia’s serene expression breaks into a smile as she regards the older woman, lovely face still familiar eight years later. “I will never be too old for hugs from my friends, Tala Durith,” Leia says. She steps forward, spreading her arms wide to enfold the other woman in a tight embrace.

She’s taller now than when last they met, but still shorter than Tala. She’s shorter than most sentients, a fact which does not help the youngest member of the Imperial Senate convince her fellows to take her seriously. But Tala didn’t come here to talk about the Senate, or the frustratingly little that Leia has managed to accomplish in her first few weeks as Alderaan’s representative.

Leia steps back and pats the blaster holstered at her side. “I had a number of very good teachers,” she demurs, but there is no mistaking the satisfaction in her eyes or the way her chin tilts up in pride. “But, yes, I’m trying to do my part. Both on the political battlefield and...others.” She smiles. “And you, Tala? I hope these past years have been good for you. Fruitful.”

Not safe; Leia knows better than to think any of them have been safe.

@empiresbane said: ❝ you know who i am. ❞

"Of course, I do, Senator." Tala scans the young woman from head to toe. The sight of a blaster brings a bitter smile to her lips. "I heard you've turned into a good fighter." She had hoped Leia wouldn't need to learn so quickly. "Leia, don't tell me you're too old for a hug."

obi-wan kenobi starters // accepting

[empiresbane]

BAIL ORGANA & family in OBI-WAN KENOBI Part I

[empiresbane]

obi-wan kenobi starters

ep1 - ep3 .

❝ you know who i am. ❞   ❝ something you want to say? ❞   ❝ they’re hunting me. you have to help me. ❞   ❝ i’m not the man you remember. ❞   ❝ whatever power you are craving, it will not change what you are. ❞   ❝ what do we do now? ❞   ❝ have i made a few bad decisions? sure. do i feel bad about it? sometimes. ❞   ❝ you think the less you say, the less you give away, but, really, it’s the opposite. ❞   ❝ you haven’t even told me your name. ❞   ❝ you’re not gonna tell anyone, are you? ❞   ❝ you’ve never made one decision for yourself in your entire life, and you never will. ❞   ❝ you are too impulsive. ❞   ❝ i really…i don’t have time for this. ❞   ❝ look, i don’t know what to tell you. ❞   ❝ i’m not afraid of you. ❞   ❝ there are many ways to leave. you just have to find yours. ❞   ❝ you have to rise above. ❞ ❝ if you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy. ❞     ❝ don’t be afraid. come closer. ❞ ❝ there is no point in protecting them. ❞   ❝ my family’s of no concern to you. ❞   ❝ it’s like living in a prison. ❞ ❝ you’ve made mistakes. we all did. it’s in the past. ❞       ❝ help! help me, please! ❞   ❝ you should’ve killed me when you had the chance. ❞ ❝ i’m trying to make amends. ❞ ❝ it’s just….you seem kind of old and beat up. ❞   ❝ i didn’t know that you could bleed. ❞   ❝ well? you coming or not? ❞   ❝ it’s not like anyone would miss me if i wasn’t there. ❞   ❝ try not to make anyone cry. ❞   ❝ half the city is looking for you. ❞   ❝ the shadows are my realm, the light is an unforgiving place for my kind.❞   ❝ people like their secrets out here. ❞   ❝ why should i trust you? ❞   ❝ all the power in the world can’t mask the stench beneath. ❞   ❝ what happened to you? you were once great. ❞   ❝ you have no idea what i’ve been through. ❞   ❝ how can i trust you when i know you’re hiding something? ❞   ❝ you have no idea what i’m risking behing here. ❞   ❝ in our line of work, rumors run rampant. ❞   ❝ you’re a bottom feeder. a rat who preys on weakness. ❞   ❝ if i ever needed guidance, it’s now. ❞   ❝ don’t make me kill you. ❞ ❝ nothing. you just remind me of someone. ❞ ❝ i’m surprised you fell for it. ❞   ❝ the whole time i’ve known you, you’ve been hiding something. ❞ ❝ the years have made you weak. ❞ ❝ you’re wasting your time. you know that, right? ❞   ❝ i will not warn you again. ❞   ❝ you are not in charge here. ❞ ❝ this would’ve been easier with an army. ❞   ❝ you’re bleeding all over my floor. ❞   ❝ why do you do this? risk everything? ❞ ❝ actions speak louder than words. ❞ ❝ if i’d known what you were… ❞ ❝ i’ve been watching you. i know what it is you seek. ❞ ❝ you’re not getting out of here. ❞   ❝ since i met you, i’ve been chased, shot at and i almost fell to my death. ❞ ❝ no one’s coming for you. ❞   ❝ fail me and you will not live to regret it. ❞ ❝ i am what you made me. ❞ ❝ it’s been years. i’m not who i used to be. ❞   ❝ you’re scared of him. your father. ❞   ❝ you’re looking for somebody else. ❞   ❝ people are not all good. ❞ ❝ what about the people that need us? ❞   ❝ i didn’t think you’d survive. ❞   ❝ you must leave. you’ll draw too much attention. ❞   ❝ you will only find pain. ❞  

[empiresbane]

who are your exclusives/mains?

I don't have any. I don't see the point tbh. Everybody writes these characters differently, has different ideas, verses, styles, preferences, etc. So I don't have any issue with writing with multiple versions of a character; you get something fun and different out of all of them. The idea of being like “no thanks I don’t want to write with your character-x because I’ve written something with this other person’s character-x and that’s the only stuff with character-x I can imagine ever being interested in” is just totally alien to the way my brain works. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for mains, I understand that for most people it seems to be a way of reducing anxiety or guilt about writing with some people more than others, which I get, but I've never felt that sort of concern myself so I personally see no need to make that sort of a defined list. The people I write with the most will be the people who write with me the most and that will change based on who’s around and feeling inspired to write with me the most, simple as that!

If you’re just trying to find the blogs of the cool people I write with so you can write with them too, check the rp promo tags on my blogs, they’re awesome.

[empiresbane]

You drive, I shoot! 😌✊

[empiresbane]

Aren’t You A Little Tall For A Brother?

ididsaysobefore​:

“It doesn’t matter. Not really,” he shrugged, realizing that it didn’t. And explaining it would probably just make him feel even more like the dumb farm kid he was definitely feeling like at that moment. “It’s just a thing at the farm.” 

Luke had no idea what forthcoming meant, but he felt like he could sort of feel it out. “It’s not like I know much of anything, either,” he offered. “It’s good, though. Like, I know you exist now, so that’s all okay.” 

Her explanation was kind of funny, but it didn’t feel like the kind of funny that you laughed at. He thought it over for a minute, but he decided that Leia’s description really didn’t feel entirely correct. “I don’t think that kidnappers usually come to your house and get your aunt and uncle to agree before they take you,” he offered, finally. “I think I’m more like… I  don’t know… I wasn’t really kidnapped, is all.” 

“What are they like?” he asked. “Your parents, I mean.”

Leia’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t like not being told things -- didn’t like when people tried to hide things from her. True, Luke didn’t seem like he was trying to conceal some big secret...but she still didn’t like it. “Well, we’ll just have to make Ben take us back to your farm sometime so you can show me,” she declared imperiously. “Then I’ll understand what you’re talking about.” Leia gave a nod, more to herself than to Luke, satisfied with this plan -- then she was struck by a fresh question and blurted out, “What do you farm, anyway? Flowers? Or some kind of food? If I were going to live on a farm, I’d want it to be one that farmed glitterflies or wingfliis, maybe. That sounds fun.”

She thought about what Luke -- about what her brother -- said, about knowing each other existed now. And he was right, it was good...but Leia didn’t think it was okay. “Well,” she huffed, “I’m glad I know about you now. But I bet I would have been even gladder if somebody had told me sooner.” She shook her head, her tight bun thumping against the back of her head. “I bet my parents wish they knew I had a brother!” Tears stung her eyes suddenly, hot and salty, at the thought of her dad and mom. Leia stomped her foot in an attempt to shake the tears away and cried, “But if it’s not safe for me to go back home, how are they supposed to meet you?”

The spark of outrage drained away like a glowrod at the end of its power supply. Leia’s shoulders sagged and she stared at Luke, feeling sad and angry and hurt and tired. “Maybe we weren’t kidnapped,” she agreed reluctantly. “But we weren’t not kidnapped, either. I want to go home. I want to take you home with me. I want you to meet my parents, not just tell you about them.”

Despite her words, Leia couldn’t resist doing just that in response to Luke’s question: “They’re the best. You’ll love them! My mom is Alderaan’s queen and she’s really nice and patient, except when I really annoy her, and she’s in charge of the whole planet and keeps everybody happy and safe and makes sure they’ve all got nice homes and food and stuff, and welcome all the refugees and sometimes I go along and sometimes it’s boring, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes,” Leia repeated, making sure Luke understood this very important distinction before she continued gushing.

“And my dad is a senator, that’s somebody who has to go to lots of boring meetings and argue with stupid people to convince them to do nice things for other folks, and usually they don’t want to, but my daddy argues until they have to, and then sometimes he goes to see the people who need help to make sure they get it, and he comes back with all sorts of stories about his adventures and I -- and I...” Leia’s face fell, her smile crumpling away into distress. “And now I’m finally, finally have an adventure of my own,” she whispered, “and I can’t tell him about it.”

[empiresbane]

saintshope​:

bail’s   hands   run   gently   up   and   down   his   daughter’s   back   as   she   weeps   into   his   cloak.      he   feels      –      not   better  ,    not   whole  ,    but      –      something  ,    able   to   hold   her  ,    to   comfort   her.      this   is   what   he   is   meant   for.      perhaps   the   reason   he   had   been   spared   is   so   that   his   daughter   would   not   be   alone   with   this   crushing   guilt. 

for   the   thousandth   time   and   certainly   not   the   last  ,    he   curses   the   empire.      their   cruelty  ,    the   utter   lack   of   humanity.      of   course   he   had   known  ,    has   known   since   the   moment   palpatine   had   raised   his   empire   in   place   of   the   republic      –      but   this.      to   force   this   child  ,    his   child  ,    to   watch   as   everything   she   has   ever   loved   is   obliterated  ,    turned   to   less   than   dust. 

and   vader.      his   own   daughter.      would   he   care  ,    if   he   knew?      if   he   knew   that   leia   was   padme’s  ,    would   he   show   mercy?   

she   pulls   away  ,    but   still  ,    bail   keeps   his   hands   on   her   shoulders.      whatever   she   searches   for   in   his   face  ,    she   will   find   nothing   there   but   love   and   utmost   sorrow.

“      you   have   said   it   yourself  ,    leia  ,      ”        he   says   softly.        “      you   gave   them   what   they   asked   for  ,    and    they   …       “        his   throat   tightens   around   the   words.        “      they   did   it   anyway.      they   would   have   done   it   regardless   of   what   you   said.      as   for   what   happened   on   the   tantive   iv  ,    leia  ,    you      –      you   were   facing   darth   vader.      there   was   nothing.      i   would   argue   that   the   fault   lies   with   me.      ”        his   throat   is   dry  ,    and   it   hurts.        “      i   am   the   one   who   sent   you   the   plans.      i   am   the   one   who   put   you   into   that   situation.      ”

Her father’s words are an absolution, but they hold in them an acceptance that Leia herself cannot accept. Her father truly might not blame her -- somehow, impossibly, might not blame her -- but then, Bail has always been a better person than her. Leia knows she’s too impatient, too hot-headed, too sharp. She tries, every day she tries, to temper herself in the mold of her father -- and more often than not, she does succeed, at least in the senate -- but it took effort in a way that she didn’t think it did for her father, being measured; being kind.

Not that Leia is cruel, but her kindness is the blistering heat of too many suns: it warms, it shelters, but it can also burn. Her father, in turn, always seemed more like water to her -- the cool, life-giving waters that fell from Alderaan’s cliffs and streamed through her rivers and seas and have now all been boiled-off by the Empire into so much vanished steam. Leia’s kindness will tear-down a thousand sharp-toothed threats to protect the things she cares about; Bail’s is the shelter and the love that will lift up the fallen and carry them away from harm.

Leia longs to be who her father was someday. She doesn’t think she ever will.

And now he's trying to take the fault for Alderaan away from her, to shoulder it himself instead. “You put me there, sent me the plans, because you trusted me,” she reminds him, her voice flat and heavy. “The fault for failing you, failing that trust, lies with me, not you.” Leia shakes her head, trying to push away the kindness -- the forgiveness -- she craves with every fiber of her being but knows she does not deserve.

“No, you don’t understand. If I hadn’t been there,” she repeats insistently, “hadn’t been on the Death Star at all, if I had done what I should have done and fought harder, fought to the death before I let them take me off the Tantive IV, then there would have been nothing for them to threaten Alderaan for. It’s my fault, daddy. I didn’t know Vader was there -- that he’d ordered us taken alive. If I had know, I...I could have triggered the self destruct, maybe killed that monster for all of us. Instead...” Her voice falters, drops to an agonized whisper. “instead they killed our whole world. All because I didn’t die when I needed to. I failed you, I failed the Rebellion, and I failed Alderaan. I’m so sorry.” Leia should have died on that ship. It’s what she had thought would happen, what she had meant to happen. That was why she’d only fired one shot before running.

She could have killed more stormtroopers than that; she was an excellent shot. She could have killed them all and kept running, picking-off so many more of the Rebellion’s enemies before they finally cut her down. But she’d known they were outnumbered, doomed; had known that a prolonged battle would only have provided a chance for her courage to falter or for an injury to leave her helpless but alive. Leia knew how the Empire operated. Killing one stormtrooper and running from the rest should have left her dead.

Instead they’d stunned her, spared her, and as a result had killed her whole world.

[empiresbane]

fauxamidala​:

Leia  reminded  Sabé  of  her  mother  everyday.  She  was  tenacious  and  confident  and  held  herself  with  a  wisdom  and  decorum  beyond  her  years.  Of  course,  she  was  still  a  child  and  she  still  liked  to  play  and  run  and  enjoy  her  privilege  as  a  princess  but  since  the  kidnapping,  she’d  seemed…different.  For  having  seen  the  outside  world,  perhaps  she  knew  now  something  she  had  not  before.  Fear.  Suffering.  One  could  only  be  kept  from  those  things  for  so  long  and  Leia  had  witnessed  them  first  hand.  Leia  was  kind  and  bright  and  intelligent  and  a  good  person  and  Sabé  knew  Padmé  would  have  been  proud.  And  yet,  she  couldn’t  tell  her  so.  Padmé  had  been  only  four  years  older  when  she’d  become  queen  and  the  youngest  of  her  handmaidens  only  two.  She’d  never  known  enough  of  Anakin  to  correctly  identify  his  specific  contribution,  though  she  knew  he’d  been  strong  and  brave  and  he’d  love  Padmé  with  all  of  his  heart.  He’d  been  a  Jedi,  which  implied  to  Sabé  that  he  had  also  been  a  good  person,  once.  A  pity  then,  for  that  person  to  be  lost,  murdered  by  Darth  Vader.  It  was  a  secret  very  few  knew,  and  she  intended  on  keeping  it  that  way  as  was  her  job,  really.

Sabé  was  so  full  of  secrets,  she  sometimes  thought  she  might  burst,  but  still,  she  kept  them.  For  Padmé.  For  the  Organa  family.  For  the  Resistance.  When  Leia  approached  her,  calling  her  name,  Sabé  set  down  the  datapad  she’d  been  reading,  and  turned  to  greet  the  young  girl  as  she  entered  the  study.  Oh,  what  a  request!  A  smile,  genuine,  as  Sabé  gave  her  an  appraising  look,  prepared  to  answer  before  Leia  continued  on.  Oh  dear.  A  serious  conversation  needed  to  be  had,  didn’t  it?  Surely  her  parents  had  spoken  to  her.  Told  her.  But  perhaps  she  needed  to  be  told  again.  Sabé,  still  smiling,  reached  for  Leia’s  hand  and  led  her  to  a  plush  bench,  leading  her  to  sit.  Sabé  crouched  before  her,  and  reached  out  to  tuck  a  strand  of  hair  behind  her  ear.  “Listen  carefully,  Leia.  What  you  saw  on  Jabiim,  what  you  went  through,  the  people  who  were  there,  the  one’s  being  hunted,  you  must  not  speak  of  them.  All  you  need  to  know  is  this:  The  Path  is  but  one  route  for  those  who  suffer  under  the  oppression  of  the  Empire  to  get  to  freedom.  To  live  without  fear.  To  be  safe.”  She  moved  from  her  crouched  position  to  sit  next  to  Leia,  looking  down  at  her,  her  expression  gentle  and  warm.

“Do  you  remember  when  you  were  interrogated?  By  the  Inquisitors?  And  you  didn’t  tell  them  anything,  even  though  you  were  afraid?  You  were  so  brave,  Leia.  If  you  speak  of  it  now,  even  safe  at  home,  all  those  people,  and  people  like  them,  could  be  in  danger.  Do  you  understand?  I  know  you  want  to  know  everything  there  is  to  know,  princess,  but  sometimes,  the  best  thing  we  can  do  is  keep  a  secret.  To  keep  others  safe.  You  haven’t  done  anything  wrong,  but  the  more  people  who  know  about  The  Path,  the  more  dangerous  it  becomes,  and  we  wouldn’t  want  anyone  to  get  hurt,  would  we?”  She  thumbed  across  Leia’s  cheek,  searching  her  dark  brown  eyes  and  was  satisfied  she  understood.  “Always  ask  questions.  It’s  good  to  be  inquisitive.  In  time,  you’ll  know  more  about  the  world  and  things  will  make  more  sense  and  you’ll  understand  your  part  in  all  of  it,”  Sabé  promised.  A  beat,  and  then  she  raised  both  her  eyebrows.

“But  you  mentioned  a  blaster,  didn’t  you?  That’s  what  you’re  really  here  for.  And  just  how  do  you  think  your  father  would  feel  about  that?”  She  laughed,  her  tone  teasing,  the  seriousness  evaporating  as  quickly  as  it  had  come.  

Leia held her tongue as she was led to the bench, even though she was practically bouncing on her soft shoes in anticipation. She scrambled up and folded her legs across the cushions, her face filled with expectant pleading and her wide eyes fixed on Sabé‘s face. She drank in the words like they were the answer to all her questions -- but they weren’t. The more Sabé talked, the more eager Leia got, certain that she was on the brink of having everything explained...but Sabé kept talking, and even told her it was good to ask questions, and then didn’t answer any of them!

“I know all that,” Leia assured Sabé, her small brows furrowing in frustrated confusion. “I do. That’s why I’m asking! Because I know you know about it all too. You know what nobody else will tell me! But I wouldn’t tell anybody else! I didn’t tell anybody else, even when they got really scary and said they were going to hurt me,” she reminded  Sabé. As if she could possibly have forgotten that interrogation. As if that wasn’t exactly why she was asking! Leia’s fingers curled into tight knots in the fabric of her long tunic. “If I’m supposed to ask questions, then doesn’t that mean you have to be supposed to answer them?”

She stared up at Sabé and widened her eyes, making herself look especially imploring. It was a look that never failed to sway Leia’s attendants, no matter how sternly mom and dad told them to have her dressed and ready for some function or another. Sabé was tougher, yes, but Leia had to try. She had to know.

“I’m here for answers too,” she continued, folding her hands neatly in her lap and raising her chin in imitation of mom’s most dignified posture. “We can start with the blaster, though, if you think that’s better. Or you can tell me about the Path while you’re showing me how to shoot! That would be good!” She beamed up at Sabé, then frowned and added, “And I think dad would want me to be able to protect myself the next time somebody tries to kidnap me. Ben can’t always be around to save me, you know. And you’re really good with a blaster -- I know you are.”

It wasn’t something Leia had known before her adventure offworld, but she had seen a lot of people shoot blasters over those days away. There was something about the way people carried them -- she wasn’t sure exactly what, but she knew it when she saw it -- that set those who really knew how to use the weapons apart from those who didn’t. Leia had only seen Sabé openly carrying a blaster once (and hadn’t been supposed to see even that, but she and L0LA had been snooping around one day when Sabé came back from the spaceport) but she’d moved the same way Tala had.

“You can teach me,” Leia insisted. “Please? Dad will be so impressed when we show him, and mom too. I know they will.”

[empiresbane]

This is how you do it. You think the First Order would rescue four pilots? Hell no. And that’s everything the resistance stands for. We won’t just tell the rest of the galaxy who we are, General. We’ll show'em.

                JOIN THE RESISTANCE, 

                                                   AND NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND.

by kel

Ⓒ

[empiresbane]

Important character development question: would they lick someone’s hand if they tried to cover their mouth?

[empiresbane]

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022 - ) “Part IV”

[empiresbane]

btw if I’m not reacting to your Kenobi show spoilers it is because I will always be half-a-week behind on seeing the new episode, because my mom loves watching these things with me so I save seeing it until Saturday when we can watch together. So yes I am watching the show, and yes that is a large part of what drove me back to these blogs with such enthusiasm, but I’m always going to be just a little late to things. Sorry!

[empiresbane]

A Princess’s Questions

@fauxamidala​ | Palace of Alderaan

Leia was very happy to be home, of course she was. She’d barely let her parents out of her sight for the first week after her return (not that they’d been any more keen to let her out of theirs) and she’d slept in their bed for three nights, like she was a little kid again.

But Leia wasn’t a little kid anymore. And she wasn’t the sheltered princess she had once been, either. Leia had seen the galaxy. She had withstood Imperial interrogation! She had helped Jedi! She was basically an expert in survival now...or she would be, if she could convince her parents to let her learn all the stuff she was ready to know, now!

Mom and dad were skittish because of the kidnapping, though. Leia understood that. Understood why they were so anxious, so opposed to the idea of her doing anything risky. But what they didn’t seem ready to understand was that Leia had already done things that were risky. The best way for her to be safe was to be prepared -- but mom and dad were still dealing with how scared they’d been. Leia understood that.

She just wasn’t going to let that get in her way.

“Sabé?” Leia called, stepping into the pearl study and looking around until she spotted the woman who was much closer to being a real aunt to the young princess than any of her parents’ relatives. (Leia had never stopped to think about how she could almost always find whoever she was looking for, no matter where they were in the palace; that was just how it worked, you looked for someone where they were and then you found them.) If Leia’s parents wouldn’t tell or teach her what she needed to know, then surely Sabé would.

“Teach me how to shoot a blaster, please?” Leia asked politely, coming to a stop at Sabé’s side and looking up at her with wide, imploring eyes. “And tell me everything about the Path!”

[empiresbane]

Vader’s Shrine

harkenhope​:

Everything had fallen apart, that was all she could remember or focus on. Her last few hours to what she believed to be the end had been a series of moments in which she lost everything she TRULY devoted herself to. The crumbling of the Republic and the reality of Anakin’s FATE inching towards the dark side were catastrophes she saw no resolve from, haunting her like ghosts of the past she would never be able to rid herself of. Those thoughts were endlessly on replay, the idea she had put herself in some in between of life and death to riddle out what would happen in the end, but alas… The end, in a sense, felt right, and yet, that was not the way her story would unravel.

The thoughts came rushing in seamlessly to the reality of her waking up, eyes blinking as the face before her looked familiar yet unrecognizable. For a moment, all Padmé could do was stare, her own hands raising to touch her face as though that would wake her up from whatever NIGHTMARE she had found herself in.

Still cold, she felt herself slowly falling, yet the WOMAN before her seemed to capture her. Eyes blinked again, hesitant to the world around her more than ever. “I am far from alright,” her words were low, head shaking as she steadied her breath. “I do not suppose you’re an angel of sorts? I’m alive?” her hand raised, feeling the pounding in her chest as an immediate realization that it was far from that.

“How do you know my name?” the stubbornness grew with each breath, her brows knitting together. “Who are YOU and how do we know we’re SAFE?”

Over the last several months, Leia had studied carbonite’s effects -- what little was known of them, anyway -- on living tissue in preparation for a very different thawing. She had not expected the woman in her arms to be so coherent, so immediately awake...but the tubes and wires and most importantly the crystals running through the walls to the slab, so carefully inlaid in the stone that they were almost invisible until one looked for them, probably explained the difference between expectation and reality. Whatever Vader had done to preserve this slab of carbonite and its impossible contents -- whatever he had done to Padmé Amidala to turn a dead woman into a living one, intentionally or not -- had worked so much better than Leia or anyone could have anticipated.

The part of Leia’s brain that never stopped strategizing, never stopped calculating, made a mental note to get some of the Alliance’s techs in here before they left to investigate the strange shrine and the low throb of energy that pulsed between the crystals and the now empty slab and made the few hairs that had slipped free from Leia’s tight bun stand on end. She hoped they would be able to learn something that might help with another impending unfreezing -- but right now, the important thing was the woman in front of her, not the man whom she eventually meant to rescue.

“I am Leia Organa,” she said gently. “Princess of Alderaan. I know you because I recognized your face from my parents’ holos and stories. Bail and Breha Organa. You knew them -- you were friends. Do you remember? Do you remember...how you got here?” Leia tried to muster a reassuring smile for the shockingly not-dead woman, even as her eyes raked Padmé’s face and form looking for signs of injury or distress.

There were medics on the exploring teams, and Leia would summon them if she needed to, but they were currently dealing with the injuries of a scouting pair who had unwittingly triggered some sort of laser trap that Vader had rigged over a hangar entrance and she didn’t want to call any of them away from that unless she had to. Padmé would need to be examined medically, of course, and Leia would have been surprised if a bacta bath wasn’t in the unfrozen woman’s immediate future, but she didn’t appear to be in immediate danger. That was good. Leia was in a bit of a state of shock at finding this long-dead legend alive and was operating partially on auto-pilot as a result.

She probably shouldn’t have been quite so forthcoming, she realized belatedly. Shouldn’t have identified herself as the adult daughter of people whom Padmé had last known as childless; shouldn’t have used the past tense when talking about their friendship. At least she hadn’t gone so far as to mention that Alderaan was gone. There were enough shocks for Padmé to get used to, including simply breathing again, without that. Best to take things slow -- slower than this, but Leia hadn’t been thinking about how much time had passed since Padmé went into the carbonite. She had been more concerned with making her comfortable by identifying herself as someone safe.

And there was just something about this woman -- probably a result of all those aforementioned childhood stories -- that inspired confidences, inspired honesty. Well, it was too late to take it back now. They would both just have to live with the reality Leia had revealed.

“I have some people here with me. We’ll get you out of here, get you to some medics. They’ll take care of you. You’ll be all right, Padmé, I promise.” A feeling of certainty, of determination, welled-up inside Leia and she knew that she would die before she broke that promise. She hadn’t been able to save her mother and father from the Empire; she was damn sure going to save their friend.

[empiresbane]

“Are you my real father?”

“I wish that I could say I was.”

I need time to process this scene, okay. I need time to process baby Leia trying to protect this broken old man, and I still need time to process Obi-Wan’s achy-breaky-heart in general.

[empiresbane]

Blog’s not quite done yet, but...

                                        { A Barve Like That }

                         A blog for Boba Fett and his successor, Ailyn Vel Boba Fett.