Saga My Only Hope (Leia vignette)

Title: My Only Hope
Author: Skalen Fehl
Genre: Vignette
Time frame: ANH
Characters: Princess Leia



Princess Leia sat uneasily in the whitewashed cockpit of the Tantive IV as she stared at the distant planet far below the view screen. It grew larger ever so slowly as her ship sped through the quiet of space to reach it. They had penetrated an Imperial blockade and happened to intercept a transmission, which detailed the readouts of the Empire?s newest galactic terror, and were being aggressively pursued by the lead Star Destroyer.

Princess Leia found it difficult to focus. Since her mission to find General Kenobi began, she could think of nothing more than what her father had told her about her birth and of a brother whom she never knew. Her father knew that one day Leia would inevitably find out and he wanted her to hear it from himself before she left. Still, she could sense that he had not told her everything. She didn?t know how much it had pained him to share what very little he did but he knew that General Kenobi would inevitably reveal some of the truth and perhaps even be in the company of the brother that he had taken the day Leia had been separated from him at birth.

?We?ve been caught in a tractor beam,? Captain Antilles exclaimed from the pilot?s chair. ?We will be captured.?

Princess Leia?s breaths grew deeper and heavier as she snapped out of her thoughts. She looked around the bridge and focused. ?I need to get the data to General Kenobi.?

?You could use an escape pod but the Imperials would likely destroy it before it ever reached the surface if they detected any life forms aboard.?

?That gives me an idea. I?ll make sure that the plans reach General Kenobi if you would have your men distract the Imperials. They will surely send a boarding party.?

?I will see to it. Good luck, Princess Leia.?

?May the Force be with us all,? Leia replied earnestly. She rose from her chair and quickly made her way to her quarters. Thoughts about her father and everything he had told her along with the plans she intercepted swirled in her mind in a bright frenzy. She tried picturing her brother, who she now would likely never meet and her hopes of meeting General Kenobi now vanished. All that mattered now at last was ensuring the survival of her efforts in the Rebellion against the Empire. She entered her room and grabbed the disk from her personal safe. She marched quickly through the white corridors until she found an astromech droid.

?R2, I have a very important mission for you. I need you to record a message for me and find General Kenobi on the planet below. He will know what to do.?

R2-D2 followed closely behind until they reached the corridor that connected the hatches to the escape pods. Leia reached for her hood and put it over hear head. R2-D2 began recording. The little droid stood motionless as Leia poured her heart out.

?Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You?re my only hope!?

A sudden jolt brought the Tantive IV to a halt while mechanical sounds emanated from the hull. Leia quickly inserted the data into a slot on the small droid and worked her way back to help her crew against the infiltrating Stormtroopers. Having done all that she could for the mission, her thoughts reverted to her brother, hoping that he was still alive somewhere below and that he could help General Kenobi. She hid behind a bulkhead as a small contingent of stormtroopers approached. She wondered what her brother?s name was. If only she could have met him. Her heart pounded as she realized she had been discovered. Good-bye, brother! Darkness engulfed her.

 

Cool, I liked it.

 

I like how Leia knows she has a brother in ANH, just doesn't know who he is.

Nice!

 

Very nicely done! It would have been nice if she could have heard it from Bail.

 

Thank you ladies.

VaderLVR64: It would have been nice if she could have heard it from Bail.

It was Bail who told her in this story. The OT movies never brought her father to light, but when she speaks to Obi-Wan in R2-D2's recording and refers to him serving her father in the clone wars, she in fact was referring to Bail, her adoptive father. He is the one who sent Leia to find Obi-Wan Kenobi. We just don't get to meet him until the PT movies. Bail lost his life when the Death Star destroyed Alderaan. Just a little background info based on the official site and the Expanded Universe.

Thank you for reading and sharing your feedback. I wrote this on the fly during a break today from a hectic schedule. I hope I captured Leia's emotion well.

 

So much insight! I loved it.

 

Very nice story, SkalenFehl. The only question is if Bail told her about her brother, then did he also tell her she was adopted, otherwise, I would think she would be upset that HE separated them.

 

Glad you made it, DLR! Yes, as written, she was told about her birth by her father, meaning she was adopted. I tried to convey in few words, the anguish that Bail displayed in Leia's recollection and although she knows now that she was adopted in this story, she still considers him her father in every sense of the word.

I guess I can point out that I, too, am an adoptive father. I have two boys, now teenagers, who have been mine for only about four or five years but we have grown close and it is very natural for them to call me dad. It is realistic for me to be able to write Leia as accepting her situation, but still troubled by what Bail couldn't bring himself to tell her. That's the tragedy.

 

I loved this, SkalenFehl. You captured her emotions beautifully.

 

This vig helps explain why Leia was able to say "I know" when Luke told her that they were related. I like the idea that Leia at least knew she had a brother out there somewhere in the galaxy. Good job!!

 

Solo_Fan: This vig helps explain why Leia was able to say "I know" when Luke told her that they were related. I like the idea that Leia at least knew she had a brother out there somewhere in the galaxy.

I was hoping that someone would catch it! I based this story on that brief scene between Luke and Leia on Endor. She always had an affinity towards Luke, but somehow never placed the feeling. This story is my interpretation of what happened behind the scenes. Thank you very much for replying, Solo_Fan!!

 

Great vignette, Skalen.

She didn?t know how much it had pained him to share what very little he did but he knew that General Kenobi would inevitably reveal some of the truth and perhaps even be in the company of the brother that he had taken the day Leia had been separated from him at birth.

I thought that line was particularly good. I never would have guessed before ROTS how much Bail was in on. The guy must have been as devastated as Yoda and Obi-Wan.

Nice work. You did a good job in fleshing out that scene through Leia's eyes.

 

Cute expansion of the cannon.


Might I add this to my index? For the skywalker twin hinting moment?

 

Thank you, Exeter.

SpiritofEowyn: Might I add this to my index?


Please do.

 

Great context for a classic line.

 

Thank you DarthIshtar.

 

Ah! Thank you, Leona for your kind words. I enjoy writing back stories for brief scenes.