Chapter Text
Leia was his twin sister.
Luke could hardly believe it- both of them could hardly believe it, but again, it was something they knew had to be true. Vader had just shared that information, mid-argument, without any warning, and probably without thinking about how Leia might react to it.
He didn’t know what he would’ve guessed, if someone had brought up this hypothetical situation to him before. But, Leia physically attacking Vader was, at the same time, both surprising and not surprising at all. Once he’d recovered from his own shock at the news (he had a sister, Leia was his twin sister), he’d tried his best to hold her back.
It wasn’t very successful, but he gave himself points for trying.
Of course, Padmé was rather shocked by this information as well, and by everything else she’d been told that day, so she couldn’t exactly help him with Leia, either. At least Vader wasn’t really doing anything in response. Which was- well, it was odd, at the very least.
That had been a few days ago, by now. Vader had left again, not long after the conversation, to do whatever it was he was doing in the past. One of the lucky consequences of that was that it actually gave them time to process everything that had happened. Or, at least start processing it, Luke doubted any of them were truly settled.
He was trying to be strong, for his family. He would listen to them talk, give them hugs when they needed them, and just be there for them. They all talked a lot, over these few days. They needed to, because now that the biggest secrets were out, there wasn’t much reason to hide much more.
He talked about Obi-Wan (or Ben, as he knew him), about his Jedi training, about going to Yoda and being trained by him. However, he didn’t mention how Obi-Wan died, and Padmé didn’t ask.
Leia talked about the Rebellion, in more detail than before, and about her parents. Her adoptive parents, obviously, not her biological parents. Luke had wondered if knowing who they were might’ve changed how she looked at that, but it hadn’t.
It did change how they looked at each other, though. She was already in love with Han, yes, but this completely closed the other possibly. Yikes.
He liked being her brother. He liked having a sister, more family that he could share his life with, and Leia was already one of his best friends- and she was happy that they were related, as well, so his happiness was shared.
At the present moment, they were having breakfast (ration bars, as always), and coming up with more plans on how to escape. The ones that they’d tried so far hadn’t worked, but they hadn’t stopped trying to find a way. Padmé had been there for more than a week, by now, and she knew people would be looking everywhere for her (especially Anakin, she’d noted). It was starting to look like the best course of action would be to send out some sort of signal.
“How could we do that, though?” Leia asked. “There’s nothing we can hack here, except for the security cameras, which wouldn’t help.” She looked better than she had yesterday, and Luke hoped that meant she was feeling better. It had been a really rough few days.
“And we can’t get outside to do any sort of fire signal, or to yell for help,” Padmé added. “And even if we were able to do that, there would be no guarantee anyone would see it. Or, at least anyone friendly. We don’t even know what planet we’re on.”
Leia nodded. “Good point. Which means any sort of signal we send has to be constant, so that it can be traced back to us.”
“In that case, we should find a way to focus it,” Luke said. “Padmé had a good point, we don’t know which planet we’re on, so we don’t know who’s closest to us. If they’re not part of the Republic, we won’t know if they’ll be willing to help us.”
They continued on that discussion for a while, and still had trouble finding an answer. It was proving really difficult to find a way to escape (he was pretty sure that was the point, but still), which meant this conversation had gone on for hours. It would probably continue to go on for more, unless they had some sort of breakthrough…
Luke thought of one of the last times he’d been rescued, back underneath Cloud City. He’d been physically and emotionally exhausted, and knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer. That was what made him try calling out to Leia, which had surprisingly worked. She’d heard him.
Of course, he hadn’t known they were twins, back then. That was the reason it had worked, because they had that connection, amplified by the Force-
The Force.
His eyes widened as he made the realization.
“I got it,” he said, accidentally interrupting Padmé mid-sentence. She didn’t seem to mind, though, and both her and Leia looked to him. “I figured out how we can send a signal.”
“Okay, what’s your idea?” Padmé asked, and Luke turned to Leia.
Once he saw her face, he saw the determination in her eyes. Whatever he would ask, she would try her hardest to succeed, he knew this for sure. He recognized it, from their years working for the Rebellion. It was familiar, and he was so happy to see that look in her eyes again.
“Leia,” he started. “Even though my access to the Force is blocked right now, I’m Force sensitive. And back when I called for you on Bespin, you heard me, even though it would normally be impossible. That means that you’re probably Force sensitive as well, and that means that-”
“That I can call for help, too,” she finished. Her eyes lit up, she looked excited to have a plan that might actually work. Then, she looked a bit more skeptical. “But, I don’t know how to use the Force, how can I-”
“I’ll teach you,” he said. “I won’t be able to demonstrate, but I’ll describe it as best as I can.”
Padmé spoke up. “That sounds like a good plan,” she said, nodding along. “You could try to call for Anakin or Obi-Wan, they’d be most likely to hear the signal. Since you already have a connection to them, and all that.”
Leia looked deep in thought for a moment, weighing the costs and benefits of this plan. It was only for a moment, though, and she quickly nodded afterwards. She turned to Luke.
“Who would be easier to contact?” she asked.
He thought for a moment, then answered. “Anakin, probably. You barely met Obi-Wan, but theoretically, if the Force doesn’t take the flow of time into account, we should already have a familial connection with Anakin.”
She nodded.
“Teach me.”
On a planet in an entirely different system, Vader felt something in the Force. He allowed himself to ignore it. He was in the middle of fighting a platoon of droids- surely, it was just related to the battle.
Later, when looking at an empty house, he would regret that decision.
And while standing there, out of frustration, he would scream.
On a planet in an entirely different system, Anakin felt something in the Force. He focused on it. It didn’t matter that he was in the middle of the bridge, mid-sentence even- surely, it had to be related to where Padmé was.
“Sir?” Rex asked, confused. Anakin gestured for him to wait a moment.
He put his complete focus on that feeling- no, that call, in the Force. It felt somehow both new and oddly familiar, however paradoxical that was. Either way, it was calling to him, and the more he focused, the more he could feel it pulling him where to go-
“I know where Padmé is.”
Hours had passed since Leia had started meditating.
Padmé was starting to get worried. If Anakin had been in the middle of battle, or somehow unable to receive the message, how long would Leia have to keep calling out for him? The plan was to keep it going for as long as possible, to better the chances of her being heard. It was possible they were already on their way now, as she was thinking about it.
But still, she worried.
Luke was sitting next to her, holding one of her hands with his own hand. Leia had said that she knew it wouldn’t help the effectiveness of the signal, but that she wanted his support, which he gladly gave.
Padmé watched both of them, and waited. There wasn’t much else to do, so she tried to think of the next steps, once they were rescued. How to keep them from being captured by Vader again, how to keep Palpatine from going any farther in his plans, and how to tell Anakin who the twins are- or, would be- to them, all of it.
She didn’t have any solid plans, but there would be time for that. For now, she was just watching, and waiting.
Then, she heard footsteps from outside.
Not knowing if it was Vader or a rescuer, she looked to the twins, and was about to yell out a warning when both of their eyes opened. Luke looked worried, like her, but Leia-
Leia looked relieved.
“It’s him,” she said, sounding completely certain.
Padmé trusted her, and she knew Luke did, too. So, they all stood up, and waited for the door to open- this time, with anticipation, not apprehension.
There were the sounds of a code being entered, on the other side of the door. The person entering it didn’t know the code, however, so a rejection noise followed, which was followed itself by a muffled curse. She couldn’t quite tell, but it sounded enough like Anakin that Padmé let herself hope.
A lightsaber ignited, and suddenly the end of it was through the wall- assumedly, through the keypad for the code, as well. It was blue.
The door opened, and on the other side of the doorway was Anakin.
She ran towards him.