Never Walk Alone

Chapter 3 - A New Life

Author's Note: Luke and Leia respectively adjust to their new lives... and teachers. ;)

~ Amina Gila

The Death Star is gone, thankfully, courtesy of Ben. The space battle to destroy it was by no means easy, and it nearly took out Yavin by the time they were able to get in range – especially with Vader leading the space battle against them – but it's still done.

Han came back, too, and Leia is admittedly a little overjoyed about that. She already misses Luke. Being with him was calming somehow, and it made her feel at home. It distracted her from the enormity of everything else that's happened, though Alderaan still isn't something she's even begun to be able to think about.

It still hasn't sunk in, though she leaves the festivities as soon as possible to just... something. She doesn't want to be around anyone right now. It feels wrong to be celebrating, no matter if this is the greatest rebellion victory so far. Her parents are gone, and Leia has no idea what to do now.

She's still alone when she hears Ben approaching. He's the only person she has left right now who she used to somewhat know. Everyone else is gone. It still doesn't feel real; she keeps thinking that once her present mission is over, she can go home.

There's nothing he can really say to her, because there's no way for this to get better. It's something that'll always be here, lingering in her mind and the essence of her being. When Leia made the choice to help the Rebellion years ago, she knew Keir wouldn't be her only loss. She knew there would be more. She just didn't think it could ever mean her parents, her entire planet, and her people.

"Are you... alright?" Ben asks, settling next to her.

She gets the feeling there's a lot more on his mind than that but having anyone here still... helps. "No," she tells him, honestly.

"Do you remember what I told you about your parents?" he asks after a few heartbeats of silence, "Your... real parents?"

Her adopted parents are her real parents, and the only ones she's ever known, but – but yes. Ben knew them, and she... She tried to tell herself it didn't matter, but sometimes... "Of course. I could never forget."

"Your father was a Jedi," Ben tells her, and Leia blinks at him, staring. She expected him to say something about them, some sort of revelation, but not that.

"A Jedi?" she repeats. That means he's probably dead, too, just like her adopted ones. Leia knew that, or at least assumed, but she's really not ready to hear about this right now. It feels like everyone she knows is dead.

"He was," Ben confirms, a little wistfully, "He was one of the best of them."

"I thought Jedi didn't have children?" Leia asks. She could be wrong, but she could swear she'd heard that before.

"They weren't, but he was never the best at following rules. Not too unlike you."

Leia cracks a smile, remembering their previous interactions. On hindsight, she was probably giving him the worst headache imaginable, and she feels a little bad about it, but she was genuinely freaked out on Daiyu.

Leia doesn't know why it piques her interest so much. The fact that her adoptive parents are dead doesn't mean that she needs anyone else. It doesn't change anything, but she – she wants to know. "Who was he?" she asks quietly.

"His name was Anakin Skywalker," Ben answers.

Skywalker.

"That's Luke's last name," she remarks, "Are we related?" She just wants to know. Luke felt important to her. "He seemed familiar."