Saga A Single Thread (OT AU; Leia/Vader/Luke) Author's Note 1/3

Part I: A New Hope



The door slid open with a low hiss, and a shadow fell across the floor.

Stepping into the holding cell, Darth Vader glanced at the young woman curled up on the durasteel bench along the back wall of the small, dark room, even as she drew herself up tall and lifted her chin defiantly, as if daring him to do his worst.

It was lucky for her that she would never personally know just how bad his worst could truly be.

Dark eyes glared at him, full of steel and fire, and strength that most would find strangely out of place in a woman-a girl, really, hardly more than a child-of such petite build. She was slender and lean, that much was obvious even with the loose white gown she wore, and at full height, she wouldn't even reach his shoulders, but somehow she still managed to carry about her an air of importance and dignity.

And there was more courage in her fierce gaze than he'd encountered in most officers in the Imperial forces.

But that was to be expected, of course, for she was no ordinary girl.

No, there was nothing ordinary about her in the least.

Wordlessly, he gestured to the stormtroopers waiting outside in the corridor of the detention center, and a low, ominous hum filled the air as the interrogation droid hovered into the room. The dark metal sphere was, perhaps, as frightening a sight to behold as Vader himself, with a farrago of metal arms protruding from its sides, a multitude of delicate and deadly instruments on the ends.

As the interrogation droid made its way forward, the loud humming now reverberating throughout the room, even drowning out the noise from his respirator, the girl pressed herself back against the wall, as if trying to push her way right through it to escape the monstrosity approaching.

"Now, Senator," Darth Vader rumbled from where he stood on the other side of the room. "We will discuss the location of the Rebel base."

With that, the thick, heavy soundproof door slid closed behind him, leaving him and the princess alone with the interrogation droid.

For a long moment, the two stared at one another.

And then Vader made another gesture with his gloved hand, this time turning off the interrogation droid with a flick of the Force, and the humming died out as the droid fell still, suspended in midair and silent.

"That was quite the performance earlier, Princess," Vader observed evenly.

With the door securely shut behind him, Leia Organa relaxed, her posture immediately changing from that of a cowering prisoner to a young woman completely at ease. "It was, wasn't it?" she agreed wryly. "Wynssa Starflare has nothing on me. Maybe I should think about a career change and go into holofilms. What do you think?"

"I think," Vader said slowly. "That it is bad enough you chose to be a politician."

"Says the man who married one," Leia snorted in an unladylike manner.

Beneath the mask, Vader's lips twitched of their own accord, despite the ache in his heart at the mention of his departed wife, whose memory was never far from his thoughts whenever Leia was near. "I will admit that you do have a certain dramatic flare," he replied flatly. "For instance... spitting on my helmet?"

Leia had the grace to look ashamed. "I got a bit carried away?" she offered sheepishly.

"An excuse I have heard you use on many occasions," Vader retorted sarcastically, but not without a hint of exasperated amusement. "Including, if memory serves me right, on your thirteenth birthday, when Bail Organa brought you along on one of his senatorial trips to Coruscant and you stole an Imperial speeder for a joyride, only to wreck it in the Industrial Sector."

"Oh, like you've never wrecked a speeder before," Leia declared, miffed, and lifted her chin in a manner that was entirely her mother, right now to the affronted sniff.

"If I have," Vader said smoothly. "The error was never on my part."

"Of course not," Leia muttered, rolling her eyes.

While it was true that the young princess took after her mother almost exclusively in appearance, with a few mi

 

It took me a moment to figure out what was going on, but once I did... So Vader and Leia know they are father and daughter, have for most of her life. Wow, I can't wait to see how that changes things. And Leia is helping Vader lure Obi-Wan into a trap? Wicked

 

Bad Leia, helping your Sith father set a trap for poor Obi-Wan- bad

This is really interesting so far, I am very intrigued.

 

Very interesting twist on things. I can't wait to read more.

 

Ooh, does Leia know how to use the Force? I thought I picked up a few subtle hints at that Very cool premise, I love it!

 

Neat! What a twist

 

very interesting

 

I like this so Leia is helping her Father/Vader by asking for help from Obi-Wan. Does she know that Vader name at one time was Anakin Skywalker? If she does I bet Leia will get the surprise of her life when she meets Luke her brother.

 

Told you if you posted it, I would find it

I loved the idea when you told it to me, and the first post was even better than I imagined it Me thinks that it should be interesting to see Luke come into the picture

 

Incredibly cool plot bunny! Hurry up and post more, I'm anxiously awaiting more... and LUKE! Great job!

 

Cool! Leia is on Vader's plans? He he, can't wait to see the look on her face when Luke shows up, then, lol!

 

Very nice start, Rach He he, you know, we never did see Leia tortured with the droid in ANH, maybe Vader just turned it off inside and they went back to plotting his schemes

~JPS~

 

Nice idea you have here. Sneaky little Leia.

Something tells me the line "I'm Luke Skywalker and I'm here to rescue you." could get interesting in this case. Please tell me you're using that.

 

Brilliant, simply brilliant. I can't wait for the "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you" scene. Gives a whole new meaning to Leia's "You're who?!" doesn't it?

 

Wow! A great start!

 

*follows plug* Hey, cool start! I will enjoy seeing where you go with this!

 

Leia and Vader... okay, I'm hooked Boy, are they in for a shock when Luke enters the scene, huh?

 

Oooo, very interesting so far! So is Leia on the Imperial side then or is Vader on the Rebel? *is occasionally easily confused*

:Targeter:

 

I, too, followed the plug

This is off to a great start, the idea is very original and very neat, I think it will be a fun read for sure.

 

What a cool twist.....So Leia and Vader know they're family all along eh? Hmmmm should be interesting to see when Luke comes into the picture. I can't wait to see what develops from here.

 

Wicked!

Lol, so I guess Vader goes back to Tarkin after this and says "her resistance to the mind probe is considerable"? He he, sneaky Sith Lord, isn't he?

 

Like others, I was sent here via the plug from JPS And I am very glad I clicked on that link, because this is a really cool idea, and I think it's going to be great I read your shorts on the Obi Challenge thread, Angel, and they were fantastic! So I am certain this fic will be incredible, as well

 

Interesting... most interesting.

That plot bunny is just awesome, Angel.

I'll be keeping an eye on this story from now on.

MTFBWY,

Lauré

 

He he, bet Leia's going to nearly faint when she hears "I'm Luke Skywalker", isn't she? Loving this, it's a very interesting twist on the OT

 

When's the next post?