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Title: always in motion the future is
Author: speedy
Fandom(s): Star Wars
Genre: Gen
Pairing/Characters: Leia Organa, Bail Organa
Rating: G
Summary: As much as she wanted to pull her blaster, or even a lightsaber, it wasn’t feasible. The Emperor was too politically powerful, had been since before the Invasion of Naboo. Sheev Palpatine was a corrupt bastard, she just needed to find the evidence. And reveal it in a way that he couldn’t escape from.
Notes: Leia time travels from her death in TROS to the time between TPM and AOTC. it's a fix-it but this is all I have, not a full fic. Maybe someday when RL agrees.
Leia Organa Solo walked through the Senate halls with unease, keeping her shields locked tight. Luke had said she was naturally good at shielding but this was the first real test after her training.
There was no room for mistakes with the Emperor running around.
She was beyond grateful for her father by her side.
Her abrupt post-death, time-travelling appearance at the remote Organa fishing cabin in the Juran Mountains on Alderaan should have had him calling the guards. That he listened to her- that he believed such an unbelievable story as the fall the Republic (twice) and the rise of the Sith Empire (twice), complete with planet-destroying superweapons (twice), led by the man who was currently Chancellor of the Galactic Republic- was the reason Leia loved him. Bail Organa was a good and moral man, not afraid to act against evil in his midst. Insistent, in fact, on stopping the Sith that was weaving his web around the Senate. She was never prouder to call him Father than now, when she was a stranger to him, not the daughter he’d raised.
Bail offered her a job on his staff, giving her authority to investigate as she needed. As much as she wanted to pull her blaster, or even a lightsaber, it wasn’t feasible. The Emperor was too politically powerful, had been since before the Invasion of Naboo. Sheev Palpatine was a corrupt bastard, she just needed to find the evidence. And reveal it in a way that he couldn’t escape from.
Well, Leia already had that part worked out, she should thank the First Order for the idea of exposing his crimes in a public Senate session. For that, she needed to be in the Senate and schmoozing with individuals she’d rather shoot.
So, they were walking around the Senate Rotunda, meeting and greeting anyone he thought she needed to know.
Bail was introducing her to Orn Free Taa, an asshole she’d known in her own time in the Senate, and a few others she’d only known by name and affiliation, specifically as Imperial bootlickers. Her trigger finger was itchy, as Han would say.
She spotted Palpatine across the entrance hall. He was walking with a teen boy in Jedi robes, maybe fourteen or fifteen, heading towards the Rotunda Plaza. There was something about the boy, pulling her attention away from the conversation. His presence in the Force was almost like a massive orbital explosion in a bottle. Power under pressure; contained, but only temporarily.
The resemblance to Luke was strong. Same coloring, hair color, similar facial structure. Palpatine put a possessive hand on the boy’s shoulder and said something to him Leia couldn’t hear. The boy dipped his head shyly, a small smile on his face.
A smile that looked so much like Ben’s. He looked so much like Ben at that age.
A heavy vice tightened around Leia’s chest, stealing her breath. Her heart hurt. She couldn’t get enough air. She turned and stepped away from the group. She leaned against the wall, not trusting her body to stay upright. A hand absently rubbed her chest, just over her aching heart.
Ben’s smile was her smile, was Vad-
That was Vad-
The black death mask was leaning over her. “And now, Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your-“
Not Vader, the monster, the grown man, but Anakin Skywalker- a child, just a boy, being twisted away from everyone who cares for him.
Just like Ben.
An innocent, oblivious pawn in a Sith Lord’s plan.
The rage burned. Tears welled in her eyes. No, no, no, she would not-
“Are you well?”
She felt her father’s hand on her arm, pulling her out of the spiral. She met his worried eyes and glanced back. The others showed some level of polite concern- and hunger, like predators looking for weakness.
They would find none.
She pressed her emotions down and got her breathing under control. She straightened her back and schooled her face back into the polite political face her mother had taught her as a child, the one she had honed under the eyes of the Emperor, the one that had gotten her through the New Republic and the very public revelation of her parentage.
This one lapse wouldn’t hurt her- she wouldn’t allow it.
She gave her father a respectful nod. “I’m alright. The boy across the way just reminded me of my own when he was that age.” She could give the predators this piece of meat; it wouldn’t help them. “He died recently. Greif hits at the oddest moments. That’s what brought me Coruscant. Fresh start.”
They all made noises of understanding and gave polite condolences.
Bail continued the conversation from where it left off. Leia only listened with one ear. Polite conversation she could do in her sleep. Her mind whirled with ideas and the beginning of a plan.
Palpatine had taken all her family from her in one way or another. He would not take Anakin Skywalker. Not this time. Not if she could do anything about it. This was her line in the sand.
The conversation ended with polite goodbyes and false promises to speak later. She spotted one of Orn Free Taa’s female Twi’lek aides behind him as Bail led her away from the group, head lowered. By the end of the Imperial Senate, some of those “aides” had been slaves. Openly. She’d ranted to her parents about that often enough, among other corruptions. She wondered if that was true in this time.
“Leia, are you truly alright? Do you need to go back to the office?”
Luke had talked a lot about the slavery on Tatooine during the Rebellion, what it meant to be freed and what it meant to be the freeborn son of a freed slave. About gilded chains and his fear his grandmother- their grandmother- had never been truly freed.
She nodded. “I’m okay. I think I can-”
Once, after the joy of the victory at Endor had worn off and the emotional processing had begun, Luke had cried at the thought that his- their- father had never been truly freed either.
“No,” she said slowly, conviction growing in her voice, “I need to go back and think.”
Her time in chains still affected her and she was barely there more than two days. The first nine years of his life according to Luke, that would be foundation of who he was. Did the Jedi know how to deal with that? Were they dealing with it?
Leia let Bail lead her back towards Alderaan’s Senate office suite. She kept her voice low. “The battlefield has changed and I need to reevaluate.”
She had thought she’d tackle Senate corruption to make her way to Palpatine. No, she needed to tackle the Hutts, from Tatooine all the way back into the Core. To Coruscant.
She needed to save Shmi Skywalker.
“What do you mean?” Bail asked, masking the confusion in his voice.
She needed to make sure Anakin was actually free with the Jedi and that he knew it.
Two slaves and their freedom were the lynchpin to the fate of the galaxy’s future, she felt it. The Force whispered the rightness of it.
Even better, Palpatine wouldn’t see it coming because this plan wasn’t focused on him. She was still certain she’d still get the evidence to discredit him, no way he didn’t have fingers in something so evil; however, her focus would be the slave lanes and she could use that to get Anakin’s attention. As a Jedi, he was an accessible first-hand source to a Senator’s office, after all. She just needed to have a way to reach him.
Leia glanced around, with her eyes and with the Force. One could never be too careful- the walls in this building had ears. She did not want to give Palpatine any ammunition against her. “You said you knew Obi-Wan Kenobi? I need to make a friend before I can ask for access his Padawan.”
Author: speedy
Fandom(s): Star Wars
Genre: Gen
Pairing/Characters: Leia Organa, Bail Organa
Rating: G
Summary: As much as she wanted to pull her blaster, or even a lightsaber, it wasn’t feasible. The Emperor was too politically powerful, had been since before the Invasion of Naboo. Sheev Palpatine was a corrupt bastard, she just needed to find the evidence. And reveal it in a way that he couldn’t escape from.
Notes: Leia time travels from her death in TROS to the time between TPM and AOTC. it's a fix-it but this is all I have, not a full fic. Maybe someday when RL agrees.
Leia Organa Solo walked through the Senate halls with unease, keeping her shields locked tight. Luke had said she was naturally good at shielding but this was the first real test after her training.
There was no room for mistakes with the Emperor running around.
She was beyond grateful for her father by her side.
Her abrupt post-death, time-travelling appearance at the remote Organa fishing cabin in the Juran Mountains on Alderaan should have had him calling the guards. That he listened to her- that he believed such an unbelievable story as the fall the Republic (twice) and the rise of the Sith Empire (twice), complete with planet-destroying superweapons (twice), led by the man who was currently Chancellor of the Galactic Republic- was the reason Leia loved him. Bail Organa was a good and moral man, not afraid to act against evil in his midst. Insistent, in fact, on stopping the Sith that was weaving his web around the Senate. She was never prouder to call him Father than now, when she was a stranger to him, not the daughter he’d raised.
Bail offered her a job on his staff, giving her authority to investigate as she needed. As much as she wanted to pull her blaster, or even a lightsaber, it wasn’t feasible. The Emperor was too politically powerful, had been since before the Invasion of Naboo. Sheev Palpatine was a corrupt bastard, she just needed to find the evidence. And reveal it in a way that he couldn’t escape from.
Well, Leia already had that part worked out, she should thank the First Order for the idea of exposing his crimes in a public Senate session. For that, she needed to be in the Senate and schmoozing with individuals she’d rather shoot.
So, they were walking around the Senate Rotunda, meeting and greeting anyone he thought she needed to know.
Bail was introducing her to Orn Free Taa, an asshole she’d known in her own time in the Senate, and a few others she’d only known by name and affiliation, specifically as Imperial bootlickers. Her trigger finger was itchy, as Han would say.
She spotted Palpatine across the entrance hall. He was walking with a teen boy in Jedi robes, maybe fourteen or fifteen, heading towards the Rotunda Plaza. There was something about the boy, pulling her attention away from the conversation. His presence in the Force was almost like a massive orbital explosion in a bottle. Power under pressure; contained, but only temporarily.
The resemblance to Luke was strong. Same coloring, hair color, similar facial structure. Palpatine put a possessive hand on the boy’s shoulder and said something to him Leia couldn’t hear. The boy dipped his head shyly, a small smile on his face.
A smile that looked so much like Ben’s. He looked so much like Ben at that age.
A heavy vice tightened around Leia’s chest, stealing her breath. Her heart hurt. She couldn’t get enough air. She turned and stepped away from the group. She leaned against the wall, not trusting her body to stay upright. A hand absently rubbed her chest, just over her aching heart.
Ben’s smile was her smile, was Vad-
That was Vad-
The black death mask was leaning over her. “And now, Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your-“
Not Vader, the monster, the grown man, but Anakin Skywalker- a child, just a boy, being twisted away from everyone who cares for him.
Just like Ben.
An innocent, oblivious pawn in a Sith Lord’s plan.
The rage burned. Tears welled in her eyes. No, no, no, she would not-
“Are you well?”
She felt her father’s hand on her arm, pulling her out of the spiral. She met his worried eyes and glanced back. The others showed some level of polite concern- and hunger, like predators looking for weakness.
They would find none.
She pressed her emotions down and got her breathing under control. She straightened her back and schooled her face back into the polite political face her mother had taught her as a child, the one she had honed under the eyes of the Emperor, the one that had gotten her through the New Republic and the very public revelation of her parentage.
This one lapse wouldn’t hurt her- she wouldn’t allow it.
She gave her father a respectful nod. “I’m alright. The boy across the way just reminded me of my own when he was that age.” She could give the predators this piece of meat; it wouldn’t help them. “He died recently. Greif hits at the oddest moments. That’s what brought me Coruscant. Fresh start.”
They all made noises of understanding and gave polite condolences.
Bail continued the conversation from where it left off. Leia only listened with one ear. Polite conversation she could do in her sleep. Her mind whirled with ideas and the beginning of a plan.
Palpatine had taken all her family from her in one way or another. He would not take Anakin Skywalker. Not this time. Not if she could do anything about it. This was her line in the sand.
The conversation ended with polite goodbyes and false promises to speak later. She spotted one of Orn Free Taa’s female Twi’lek aides behind him as Bail led her away from the group, head lowered. By the end of the Imperial Senate, some of those “aides” had been slaves. Openly. She’d ranted to her parents about that often enough, among other corruptions. She wondered if that was true in this time.
“Leia, are you truly alright? Do you need to go back to the office?”
Luke had talked a lot about the slavery on Tatooine during the Rebellion, what it meant to be freed and what it meant to be the freeborn son of a freed slave. About gilded chains and his fear his grandmother- their grandmother- had never been truly freed.
She nodded. “I’m okay. I think I can-”
Once, after the joy of the victory at Endor had worn off and the emotional processing had begun, Luke had cried at the thought that his- their- father had never been truly freed either.
“No,” she said slowly, conviction growing in her voice, “I need to go back and think.”
Her time in chains still affected her and she was barely there more than two days. The first nine years of his life according to Luke, that would be foundation of who he was. Did the Jedi know how to deal with that? Were they dealing with it?
Leia let Bail lead her back towards Alderaan’s Senate office suite. She kept her voice low. “The battlefield has changed and I need to reevaluate.”
She had thought she’d tackle Senate corruption to make her way to Palpatine. No, she needed to tackle the Hutts, from Tatooine all the way back into the Core. To Coruscant.
She needed to save Shmi Skywalker.
“What do you mean?” Bail asked, masking the confusion in his voice.
She needed to make sure Anakin was actually free with the Jedi and that he knew it.
Two slaves and their freedom were the lynchpin to the fate of the galaxy’s future, she felt it. The Force whispered the rightness of it.
Even better, Palpatine wouldn’t see it coming because this plan wasn’t focused on him. She was still certain she’d still get the evidence to discredit him, no way he didn’t have fingers in something so evil; however, her focus would be the slave lanes and she could use that to get Anakin’s attention. As a Jedi, he was an accessible first-hand source to a Senator’s office, after all. She just needed to have a way to reach him.
Leia glanced around, with her eyes and with the Force. One could never be too careful- the walls in this building had ears. She did not want to give Palpatine any ammunition against her. “You said you knew Obi-Wan Kenobi? I need to make a friend before I can ask for access his Padawan.”
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