Saga Guardian in the Mountains (Bail/Leia/Sabé post-ROTS vignettes) Author's Note 01/30/06

Wow, what a tense, dramatic chapter! I couldn?t stop reading.

Annealed
Heehee! You caught me, EP. I had to look this one up. The perfect choice for the title, too, especially relating to Forged.

Lungs burned with the desire for air. Her limbs shivered from the liquid?s chill. Amid the cruel juxtaposition swirling blues tinged her vision. It hurt to exist, let alone endure.
What a great description of her agony. I particularly liked the ?cruel juxtaposition? of burning and chill, fire and water.

For the briefest of moments, her head shot above the foaming cacophony. ? Sucked back down into the noiseless churn she choked on a lungful of water.
Another awesome juxtaposition: the raging noise above the water, and the eerie silence beneath it. So real, and vivid to the senses.

She wanted to yell at him. Safe! We?re in the middle of River Theed, heading towards the falls!
That?s a Naboo handmaiden, all right. Great humor in the midst of the nightmare.

She was caught in the embrace of a Jedi of all things, a Jedi who couldn?t use the Force for fear that the monster they fled would find them out.
Eep! Vader?s on Naboo? At least he?s not hunting for them (yet?)?

This was surely hell.
Wonderful interactions with Obi-Wan?s guardianship. His hell is fire and heat; hers is water and cold. Perfect.

"Vader." The name exploded inside her mind like a planet shattered with an immeasurable force.
Wow. What a chilling reference to Vader?s line to Motti in ANH, and Alderaan?s ultimate fate at the hands of that technological terror.

Bail was studying his feet when Sabé faced him.
Oh, that?s so Bail! Integrity to the max. Come on, dude! She?s hawt! Sneak a peek like a real man!

"You must sedate her," Sabé ordered.
Bail's jaw drew back sharply. "She is my wife."
What a choice! Then again, when your wife?s a blabbermouth, what other option is there?

Sabé had designed the child's quarters like the Queen's on Naboo.
Again, what a moving idea to work in? So powerful.

Weekly drilling since age five had taught the little girl to snap quickly from sound asleep to fully awake.
Methinks I need a bit of that drilling.

"Leia," she growled.
Oh my. Isn?t that our dear Skywalker daughter in a nutshell?

"I really do hate this part," she muttered as rain dripped down her nose.
More spot on SW humor. And the perfect visual to go with it.

At the base of their arc, they released their hold on each other, and the girl landed in a crouch on the balcony below.
The whole palace escape sequences was thrilling. I especially liked this acrobatic flip. Talk about training and trust. [face_relieved_they_didn?t_go_splat]

"I sense something?"
Oh crap!

Who needed the Force when you had Bail Organa?
Poor Obi!

?He?s going to kill Papa.? ? "Alderaan will burn,"


She could only watch Padmé's daughter fall into the raging river below.
Double crap!

Nothing but a black ribbon of water.
Just liked this imagery.

Her hand smacked into something thin. A cord. Closing her fingers, she felt the familiar ridges of carved japor, the same ridges that had rested in her palm for the first years after Padmé's death. Pulling on the cord, Sabé was able to capture Leia in her arms.
I knew it! The japor snippet saves the day!

Amazing chapter, EP. Can?t wait to see what?s in store next.

 

Alderaan wil burn

SHIVER!

another eeks!
But what a mission impossible section..it just highlights what a different life Leia may have had growing up from Luke, in effect she was more under his nose than her brother ever was!

I just reread Guardian in the Desert and whoa what a parallel..

Twin histories both almost dying at the age of 7. Wow.

Both to some extent mimicking terrors of the Guardians.
Excellent parallelism making the viggie's on the two threads connected yet individual enough to show how Leia and Luke grew to be who they are.

did i say good job yet?
Good job!
p

 

Well I FINALLY have some time on my hands to try to get caught up. I have made a vow not to start any new stories this semester for fear of becoming hopelessly behind.

Before I do this, because I'm not sure my response will do this post justice, I must say that your writing here was VERY powerful. The imagery in this scene was just fantastic.

It hurt to exist, let alone endure.
I just hurt reading this part. I didn't know who was drowning (but assumed it was Sabe) and felt the deepest of sympathy.

The truth. Her mind still grappled with it all. Padmé was gone; her beauty snuffed out forever.
It really has to be very painful for her. Sabe was Padme's best friend. Her bodyguard. They spent so much time together since she had been 14 and now to lose that. I can only imagine what it would be like. I've been going through a similar experience lately (though my best friends didn't die, I just found out that they weren't the people I thought they were) so I know what the pain of that loss is like.

This was surely hell.
Yes, it can feel like that for awhile.

Save fingers pinching her shoulder in a desperate hold.
Obi-Wan's. I can't imagine how he would feel to lose her under these circumstances after all that they both have been through. After all, they're in the same boat. Both of them have lost their best friend.

"He's here." Bail spoke softly, but the words boomed like hammerdrops in her ears. "On planet. He just arrived unannounced ?"
Oh boy. When I read this line for the first time, I didn't even need Bail to confirm who "he" was. I just knew.

"What does he want?" she asked, her back to him as she grabbed a dark shirt off the top of the bureau.
Not what she fears, although I wonder what would've happened if Vader had sensed that Leia was his daughter (or rather his former self's daughter).

"Do you think he can sense her?"

"I don't know."
This is something I've always wondered about. How did Vader not sense that Leia was his? How did he not recognize Padme's and his own Force signatures in her over the times that they met?

"She will be your daughter's undoing if you aren't careful." With that Sabé turned to the door controls and punched in the entry code. Ultimately, she trusted Bail would do the right thing.
Yes. Bail would do the right thing, but what a sucky position to be in. He either does something that may hurt his wife, or risk the girl he has accepted as his daughter.

The child's brown eyes shot round. She glanced to her father, then back to her protector. Her lips drew into a thin line, and she nodded resolutely. "I understand."
Yes, I think she does. And yet, I feel that it's too much for a seven year-old to fully understand. And it's so sad that she even has to.

She had to be the strong one this time. There was no other handmaiden to fall back upon, no Dormé or Eirtaé. No Padmé, who had fought at their sides.
Oh, how alone she must have felt.

There was only Sabé and a child, Padmé's child.
And she would protect that child with her lie.

Outside lurked the mutilated vestige of a father who had earned only the right of ignorance to his child's precious life.
And yet, it is so sad, knowing that if he wouldn't have fallen, he'd probably be an excellent father.

"From now on, you don't leave?" She hesitated, noting the familiar drape of Padme's japor snippet across Leia's neck. "?my side."
Oh my gosh. What a great idea that it would have been passed on to Leia. A symbol of the innocent love that her father had once held for her mother.

"Senator, it has been too long." Vader remained at his position by the balustrade.
This line made me think of when Anakin and Bail spoke after Anakin had just gotten back to Coruscant in RotS. Remembering their fondness for eachother makes me sad, knowing that it no longer exists.

"Not at all," Bail replied smoothly. "It is more for my own safety, unfortunately. My loyal work for the Empire

 

Whoa! That was very...extreme. Poor Leia. If she spent her childhood training like that, no wonder she was such a young senator. Drive to succeseed indeed! And talk about scary memories of Daddy Dearest! No wonder she had a harder time than Luke of adjusting to the idea of Vader being her birth father.

Beautiful attention for detail, my friend! I could see them going through everything.

 

“He’s going to kill Papa.”

Faster than the blink of an eye, Leia launched halfway up the balustrade. Sabé wasn't prepared. She snatched at a leg, snaring a bare ankle. Her fingers felt like they were touching fire, and released of their own accord.

"Alderaan will burn," Leia cried out, scrambling onto the balustrade

That is so sad

great post again...

 

Good Morning!

Well the fence is up and the post-hurricane repairs are finally complete. So I?m back to offer some replies. Thanks in advance to all who read and offered such kind words

Lucid_Lady: I must say I love your icon.

Wow! Good post.

Thanks

The dynamics that have developed between Sabe and Leia are great.

I?m so glad you?re enjoying that part. I wanted them to be a team, and a way for Leia to become more like her mom in many ways. It?s a fun relationship to write and because it?s intertrilogy I feel less limitation.

obi_ew: Hello there[/obi voice]

Excellent post.

Why thank you, missy.

The action was written so well I almost gasped when Vader paused saying he sensed something.

Woohoo! I love to get feedback like that.

I'm so glad Leia has someone so dedicated to protecting her.

I think Bail is a good father, but he?s got a rebellion to run. Obi was truly dedicated to Luke so I felt like Leia needed someone too.

EP: I couldn?t stop reading.

Well you could, when you hit the end

I had to look this one up. The perfect choice for the title, too, especially relating to Forged.

Finally! Guess those years of owning horses finally paid off.

Another awesome juxtaposition: the raging noise above the water, and the eerie silence beneath it. So real, and vivid to the senses.

For anyone who?s ever been in trouble in the water, that?s exactly how it feels and sounds like.

What a chilling reference to Vader?s line to Motti in ANH, and Alderaan?s ultimate fate at the hands of that technological terror.

Mmmm. I couldn?t resist. Of course you know I love to weave threads along stories so this worked perfectly.

Oh, that?s so Bail! Integrity to the max. Come on, dude! She?s hawt! Sneak a peek like a real man!

I think Sabe?s too much for even Bail

More spot on SW humor. And the perfect visual to go with it.

I do try

The whole palace escape sequences was thrilling. I especially liked this acrobatic flip. Talk about training and trust. [face_relieved_they_didn?t_go_splat]

Come on. We know Leia had to have been a thrill seeker with all those daring dos on the Death Star. Most girls would have run away screaming with the swoop across the expanse to escape the Stormtroopers.

jade51999: SHIVER!

Got ya!

But what a mission impossible section..it just highlights what a different life Leia may have had growing up from Luke, in effect she was more under his nose than her brother ever was!

Totally! It was daring to give Leia to Bail. Very much under Vader?s nose. Leia?s life was probably at more risk all along.

I just reread Guardian in the Desert and whoa what a parallel..

Aw! It?s fun to read them back to back, and I?m glad you did. They become more than the sum of their parts then.

Excellent parallelism making the viggie's on the two threads connected yet individual enough to show how Leia and Luke grew to be who they are.

So alike yet so different. What a tragedy they missed having each other to lean on early in life though.

Wildcat: Before I do this, because I'm not sure my response will do this post justice, I must say that your writing here was VERY powerful. The imagery in this scene was just fantastic.

Why thank you, friend.

I just hurt reading this part. I didn't know who was drowning (but assumed it was Sabe) and felt the deepest of sympathy.

It?s hard to be vague as to the speaker yet make the reader sympathetic. I?m glad I pulled it off.

Oh boy. When I read this line for the first time, I didn't even need Bail to confirm who "he" was. I just knew.

Love it! He of no name, who needs no introduction. Scary stuff. That?s how well GL has embedded his villain into our psyche.

And yet, it is so sad, knowing that if he wouldn't have fallen, he'd probably be

 

Prankster?! And what did I do to deserve that?

The only SW convention in Poland that was a total success in last 5 years and I got sick after just warm-up day No luck at all And to make it worse I paid for 3-day event because it was cheapier. Yeah I lost more money Oh and my award from Sabacc tournament is gone too And I'm still in bed!!!! Life sucks!!!!

 

A Mother?s Gift

This was so incredibly touching and bittersweet. Sabe?s devotion to Leia, her old friend and Queen's daughter, is just remarkable. I?m so glad Leia had her while she was growing up since it seems that Brehu was not the devoted, loving and nurturing mom she should have had. Very interesting take on that. Could the ?beautiful but sad? comment have been a reference to Sabe instead? And it?s logical that Leia would show Force sensitivity at an early age. Perhaps thru the Force she sensed a closer connection to her mother in Sabe than she did in Brehu. Great job, my twin.

Annealed

Wow! Just wow! I don?t think I have the words of praise to do this viggie justice! That was just so bloody brilliant! I felt the emotions tugging at the heart throughout. I was almost shaking when Vader was going over the bridge. Your gift is truly amazing!

With Sabe at her side, it makes sense that Leia grew up without Vader finding out about her until she chose to venture into his playing field. I get the feeling that Sabe would have tried to prevent her from being anywhere near Vader, but then Leia had a lot of her mother in her. Was Sabe still around when Alderaan was destroyed? Really curious about that and how that would have made Leia feel. Sorry, I?m getting ahead of the story as usual.

"Alderaan will burn," Leia cried out, scrambling onto the balustrade.
The curse of being Force sensitive.

This piece was truly breathtaking.

Apologies for the late replies, mi gemela. I truly can?t wait for more!

 

Chimpo: Prankster?! And what did I do to deserve that?

Don't you wanna know

The only SW convention in Poland that was a total success in last 5 years and I got sick after just warm-up day No luck at all And to make it worse I paid for 3-day event because it was cheapier. Yeah I lost more money Oh and my award from Sabacc tournament is gone too And I'm still in bed!!!! Life sucks!!!!

Sometimes it does. For those moments we have

red: I?m so glad Leia had her while she was growing up since it seems that Brehu was not the devoted, loving and nurturing mom she should have had.

I think Brehu is a good person but she's not the mother figure Leia needs.

(BTW - GAH! I had researched Bail's wife's name and came up with Brehu and now she's Breha in Dark Lord? *beats head on desk*

Could the ?beautiful but sad? comment have been a reference to Sabe instead?

Possibly...but I'm not sure. I think that is one of those George moments that can be interpreted a million ways.

Wow! Just wow! I don?t think I have the words of praise to do this viggie justice! That was just so bloody brilliant!

*squee*



Thanks!

I was almost shaking when Vader was going over the bridge. Your gift is truly amazing!

I love it when people "feel" something from reading my stories.

Apologies for the late replies, mi gemela.

And I'm late back at you

 

I'd like to thank everyone who nominated this story for the WFFA. I am truly honored. Guardian in the Mountains has made it to the voting rounds in the following categories -

• Best Vignette for Annealed


• Best Canon Interpretation, Female for Leia


and


• Best Series for the entire Guardian Series

None of this would be possible without the fantastic support of my readers. I also would like to announce that a post is coming soon over at GitD.

Thanks again!

 

Don't want to lose this to a lock, so shoving it up!

Look for more coming this summer