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i. Home
Bail Organa watches with bated breath as the transport ship sets down on one of the lower platforms near the palace, hidden away from prying eyes. He had dismissed all the guards mere minutes before. The risk was great; the price of which he understood all too well.
He held onto the memory of his daughter’s voice. Leia’s voice crackling over the comm, somehow sounding impossibly old and young at the same time, as the ship requested permission to dock.
He’d granted it immediately.
Breha’s grip on his arm tightened; he returned a comforting squeeze. The words caught in his throat.
The inner layers of the blast door on the transport ship pulled back first, machinery whirring softly, dust and steam curling like smoke through the cracks in between. The knot in Bail’s chest tightened. And then, finally-
A small blur of colour came rushing towards them and then, in the span of a heartbeat, Bail found himself holding an armful of his daughter. Breha let out a choked noise next to him, all sense of decorum lost, as she practically threw herself against them. Arms wrapped tight around Leia, who returned the embrace with her small arms curling tight around both their necks.
Bail was barely aware of the tears that slid down his face as he held their daughter tight, feeling her small frame wrack noiselessly with sobs. The world fell away, until all that mattered to him was his daughter and his wife, both safe in his arms.
It took some time for him to pull himself back to reality. He forced himself to take in great gulps of air, grasping onto any semblance of control.
Finally, he looked up.
Bail squinted at the blurry silhouette of brown robes in the horizon, back-lit by the Alderaan evening sky. “Obi-Wan?”
“Uh- no, nope.” The figure sheepishly lowered the hood, hand coming up to wave in an awkward two-fingered gesture. His features took a moment to sharpen in Bail’s vision.
“Haja Estree.” The man introduced, then fumbled. “I’m a, uh, not-Jedi. That is to say, not a Jedi. Just… me. I promised Obi-Wan to return Leia home, so here I am.”
Bail felt his smile fade. “Where’s Obi-Wan?”
Haja’s expression grew solemn. “He bought us time to escape."
Bail’s breath hitched in his throat. “Obi-Wan- Is he-?”
“He’s not dead.” Haja jumped in hastily, then winced. “At least, I don’t think so. I- I don’t know.”
Breha settled Leia against her. Using a free hand, she reached up and wiped her face with the back of her palm. “Tell us everything.” She said sombrely, resolve hardening into steel.
-
ii. The hardest thing
Bail attempts to tuck Leia back to bed, knowing that the whole ordeal must have been absolutely draining on the girl. Leia refuses, squirms out of his grip mid-way back to her room and clings onto his leg. Her eyes are wide, lips wobbling. “Please, father?”
He caves in.
Breha gives him a side-eye as he walks back into the private living room, having entered in precisely the same way that he left. He shrugs.
They sit.
For once, Leia does not complain as she sits in the middle.
Haja fidgets with the wine glass, hesitates, then downs the whole thing at once. Bail understands all too well. Leia doesn’t say anything, just plays with the unfamiliar gloves on her hands. Bail has a sneaking suspicion as to where it might have come from. That, and the holster that Leia has stubborny refused to part with.
Haja forces a nervous chuckle. “So, do you want my whole life story or just-”
“Ben saved me from the kidnappers,” Leia cuts in, the words rushing out of her mouth. “But then I thought he was the kidnapper so I ran away from him. I fell off this building and Ben caught me. It was so cool but then we had to run again. We decided to trust him-” She stabbed a finger in Haja’s direction. “And then we escaped on this other ship, and then Tala brought us to this secret hiding place on another planet but then the bad people came and Ben told me and Tala to run and escape through the tunnels but then I knew Ben was in trouble, I knew, so I told Tala to save him and then I got caught by the evil lady with the red lightsaber and then- and then -” Her breath gets caught in her throat, and she stutters off half-way.
Breha rubbed small circles into her back. “Breathe, Leia.” She soothed, exchanging a troubled look with Bail. Then, “Leia, you fell off a building??”
“There were people shooting at us!” Leia protested.
“Who’s Tala?” Bail prompts gently, instead.
Leia fell completely silent. Her fingers were trembling as she touched the holster again. “She’s gone.” She muttered sullenly.
“Tala was part of the Path. So am I. Kind of.” Haja supplied, after a beat. “Top secret stuff that I shouldn’t tell you, but uh, Leia already knows so… it’s an underground network that helps smuggle out Force-sensitives and Jedi to safety.” His voice went very quiet. “Kids, mostly.”
“You got them off Daiyuu?” Bail asks. He holds Haja’s gaze steadily. “Thank you, Haja.”
The tips of Haja’s ears turned pink. “It was nothing.” He answered, then grimaced. “Yeah, I lied. It was insane . You won’t believe how many people were hunting these two down. Bounty hunters and Imperials, basically the whole of Daiyuu in fact.”
Somehow, Bail was not surprised. “Sounds exactly like Obi-Wan.”
They fell silent for a moment.
Bail had to believe that Obi-Wan was alright. He needed to. He told himself that Obi-Wan would comm at any minute now. Perhaps Bail could even persuade him to drop by Alderaan. For Leia. And if he was being honest, it would be nice to see Obi-Wan again, in spite of the circumstances.
“The red lightsabers.” Leia insisted, falling back against the couch and staring at the ceiling. “They felt… wrong. Tell them about the red lightsabers and the Inquisi- Inquisiting people, Haja.”
“Princess,” Haja said gently, “I wasn’t there for this part. Not really.” His gaze flickered to Bail and Breha. “You don’t have to tell it now, Leia, if you don’t want to.”
Bail and Breha tensed.
Leia sat up, and exhaled. She took a moment to collect herself and then said stubbornly, “I want to. Father and Mother need to know. It could be important information that could help also.”
Her voice was small. “Can you start a bit?”
“Alright, Leia.” Haja says. He takes a moment to think it through and then starts, “The Path, we try to save those people from something. I don’t really know much - not really high-ranking here or whatever - but uh, people talk. And there’s this place that they speak of called the Fortress.”
“It’s where they hurt people.” Leia says, face ashen. “They hurt people and make them hurt others. And it felt so wrong. It felt bad .”
Bail’s features crumples. Voice trembling, he asks, “Did they hurt you, Leia?”
Leia shakes her head no. “Ben saved me before-” Her voice breaks. “I thought that Ben was dead. One of the Inquisiting people, she told me Ben was dead. That he burned. But it was so cold and- I was scared and- and-”
She swallows. “And then the lights went out. Ben was suddenly there and then we ran. I hid under his coat but the bad lady found out. Two ships came to rescue us - I think they were T-47 airspeeders - but then one of them got blown up.”
Leia glanced at Haja. He obliged. “They came back to base. Tala, Leia and Obi-Wan. Sully and Roken. Wade was the one that… didn’t make it.” He paused. “And then the Imperials found us. Everything went to sh- hell after that. Still have no idea how they found us, by the way.”
“Blah blah blah, fast forward,” He continued, “Obi-Wan tried talking one of the Inquisitors down. It didn’t work. There was a lot of fighting.” He looked at his hands, pained. “I didn’t really see what happened, but Tala and that droid of hers, they- they didn’t make it.”
“I’m sorry.” Bail says.
“Don’t be.” Haja answers. “You didn’t kill them. The Empire did.”
He snuck a glance at Leia. Haja knew that the grief would hit sooner or later, that the girl had not fully registered it yet. Going through all that… it was a lot. Children shouldn’t have to deal with it, and yet, the galaxy was a cruel place. He was glad she had someone who supported her. Two someones, who loved her so very much.
“I fixed the ship.” Leia said gravely.
“Yeah.” Haja gave a brief smile. “And you did a good job, princess.” She beamed at him.
The warmth in Bail Organa’s eyes was hypnotising. Distracted, Haja finished haltingly, “And then we pulled this bait-and-switch, and flew away to safety. Happy ending, right? Except not really, because the ship was still pretty busted. Thought we were goners, especially with that Imperial Star Destroyer on our tail. Obi-Wan told us he’d hold them off, left in a drop ship and steered in the opposite direction as bait.”
“It worked. So, here we are.”
“Here you are.” Breha echoed softly. “You both are.”
The way she said that, it made Haja think, for just the barest second, that everything was alright with the galaxy. Like, everything would turn out okay.
And maybe, that was enough.
-
iii. Old friends
Bail’s comm device is flashing red. Unknown link. He answers warily.
“Bail.” Obi-Wan’s figure shimmers into view. He looks exhausted, bedraggled, and yet… it strikes Bail that Obi-Wan looks more at peace than he had been for a very long time now.
“ Obi-Wan. ” The tension melts away immediately, relief flooding in to take its place. “You’re-”
“Alive.” Comes the dry reply. “Unfortunately, very much so.” He hesitates, as if bracing himself. “Is- Is Leia there?”
“Yes.” Bail says gladly. “Haja brought her yesterday. They explained everything. Obi-Wan, what you’ve done for us, if there’s a way we can repay you-”
“She already did.” Obi-Wan says, soft.
“She’ll want to see you.” Bail points out. “Come to Alderaan.”
Obi-Wan steps to the side. There is a mechanical flutter and a very familiar droid comes into view. “I suppose I will have to.” He says ruefully. “There’s someone here who is equally eager to return.”
-
iv. after
The forest stretches out all around them, endlessly green and beautiful. Bail leads Leia over a particularly large rock. There was a small waterfall here - one that Bail had discovered in his own years of exploration as a child. A memory that he would gladly pass down to Leia, and perhaps her to her own children.
He watched as Leia’s eyes went wide with awe. It never ceased to amaze him how quickly that shadow in her gaze had dissipated, replaced by passionate fire. What she witnessed, the things she saw didn’t seem to wear her down for long. It made her persevere even harder.
Exactly like an old friend that he had once known.
Bail knew that Padme would be so very proud of her daughter. If only she could see.
The surface of the water shone crystal-clear. He watched as Leia leaned over and stared at her reflection.
“Leia.” Bail says, walking over until both of them are mirrored back. “I am so very proud of you. You are our child, in every way that matters. Your mother and I love you so much. Remember that, Leia.”
“Okay.” She whispers. Her voice strengthens. “I love you and Mother too.” There is a pause, and then she turns to peer slyly at him. “Can we go look at ships now?”
Bail can’t help it.
He laughs.