Edges of the World

Chapter 6

They dropped out of hyperspace, and as she took in the sight before her Leia had to admit Ahsoka's story was the only explanation that made any sense.

They were approaching Coruscant, yet in the space around the planet, Leia saw not a single Imperial ship or symbol. In fact, the satellites that were scattered around the capitol all bore symbols of the Old Republic.

It truly did not feel real.

Their ship was cleared to land and moved towards a pad in Core Square. As they got closer, it became apparent that they would be landing at what Leia knew as the Imperial Palace. It seemed brighter somehow, the whole planet did, and the banners around it all bore the crest of the old Jedi Order.

She really was in another timeline.

Which meant her parents would really be there to greet her.

As she let herself truly believe it, it occurred to her that her parents would be upset, concerned that their daughter had been replaced with a different version of herself.

Leia could scarcely understand it, and she was living it, she imagined it'd be even more of a shock for them. If it wasn't for the fact that she was on Coruscant, the very heart of the Empire, and it looked so different from what she had come to know when she had worked and lived there, she'd still be doubting the validity of her situation as well.

As much as she knew they would not be welcoming to her at first, she was incredibly eager to see them again. To be able to talk to her parents one last time, share all she had experienced since their deaths, since the genocide of their people, it was more wonderful than anything she had ever imagined.

She rushed down the hatch as soon as it opened, glancing about eagerly for either parent and found neither.

Instead, two strangers stood on the platform.

Her stomach dropped, and she pieced together who these people were.

They had to be the people whose genetics she shared, the people who had conceived and given birth to her.

Then a strange realization.

She knew who that woman was.

She'd first seen a holo with her in it when she had been studying history as a youngling of about nine or ten. The woman had been younger in the picture, standing between Leia's father and Mon Mothma. Something about that holo had captured Leia's attention, and she had spent the rest of that day researching as much information as she could about Senator Amidala of Naboo.

The official accounts all claimed she had been killed by the Jedi in the immediate aftermath of the Empire's founding, killed two days after the very first Empire Day.

She'd gone to her father to ask him about her, about this incredibly beautiful and sad woman who had died alongside the Republic. He told her that Senator Amidala had been murdered by Palpatine, assassinated since it would not do for a popular Senator from his homeworld to be opposed to his regime.

Leia's father had used Senator Amidala's story as a cautionary tale, to impress upon his daughter the need to always be mindful of where the line stood on the Senate floor. She could go up to it, and critique the policies the Emperor put forth, but she could never give full voice to her convictions so long as she was operating within that world.

Leia had dreamed about Senator Amidala for a long time after that.

She had kept researching her too, eager to know as much about her as she could. Leia had even studied old speeches the senator had given, both for their content as well as the lessons they contained on poise and vocal tone.