One Big Happy Family

by Liminalliz

Ficathon:Multi-Fandom Lyric Wheel
Song:"Nemo" (Nightwish), "walk the dark path"
Fandom:Star Wars, very much an AU
Setting:Circa-ROTJ-ish
Summary:A quiet night with the Skywalker family.
Spoilers:Spoiler-y for Star Wars Episode III
Rating:Teens

With the flick of her wrist, she sent the advancing Imperial commander -- bustling with the news that they already knew -- hurtling backwards into the wall behind him. With his remaining dignity, he straightened himself and almost ran out of the grand office, wondering why he even dared to trespass in the first place.

They were not to be disturbed, not when she had gotten him this close to telling her.

"You will answer my question, father."

"Father, please!" Tears were streaming down his eyes and blood dripped slowly down his temple.

Darth Vader was watching the stars through large windows, silent and guarded against her as she tried to delve into his mind.

"She died." He said it as simply as possible.

Leia laughed bitterly and leaned heavily against the pillar, surveying her father carefully. "How?"

He turned to face her and she felt the swell of anger flare into her heart again as she wished to see his eyes, not the mask. She betrayed me and I killed her with my own hands. "She died in childbirth."

Luke cried out to her, "No, it doesn't have to be this way!" and her fist slammed into his face, breaking his nose. Lifting her bruised hand to her lips, she licked the blood off her fingers. Her index finger still lingering against her tongue, she turned to look at her father who was looking over the crumpled figure of the creature who had once been the Emperor.

A small smile graced her lips. "I don't understand. I remember her."

Vader flinched sharply, the Force radiated out of him in crushing waves that made her heart race. "You remember her?" He rarely mocked her, knowing how that would strengthen her resolve further. But perhaps he couldn't help himself in this situation. "Impossible."

Leia reached out and showed her memories -- a gentle woman with long dark hair caressing and singing an ancient tune, beautiful face and sad eyes.

With a short - almost cruel - laugh, he turned from her. "That was not your mother."

Recoiling as if he had struck her, Leia closed her mind at once to her father who was still lingering in her memories, searching quietly for a truth, an image of the woman she had only seen in holograms. Shutting her eyes, she focused her anger, letting it fill every inch of her so her trembling would cease.

"You always wanted to know who your father was," she whispered fiercely in his ear, her hands tight around his head, ready to crack his neck the minute he refused her. "Walk the dark path with us, brother. It is the only way." He whimpered against her.

"Who was it then?" She asked even though the crushing truth was already unfolding before her eyes as she found her father's memory, brought out of the deep recesses of his mind.

"It was your mother's mother, Jobal. And she never knew. She was only holding what she thought to be the daughter of Alderaan. In her mind, her grandchildren died with the mother." Vader walked away from her, his cape swirling behind him as he marched down the stairs.

"You killed the Nabarrie family." She felt no sorrow for them, no connection.

"They were always friendly to the Jedi. I hunted down three of the missing to Naboo and found them in their summer home by the lake. They died with honor and it --," he stopped a moment. "It helped."

Leia explored his memory, widely open to her prodding, and saw the vaguely familiar faces of each of her mother's family crumble into death. Savoring the memory, she licked her lips and thought of her true family -- the pure blood that raced through her veins -- brushing away the fading image of Organa.

"Obi-Wan taught you many things, my son. But only by joining us can you truly understand the power that lies inside your heart." Leia felt her brother's shaking subside and a new wave of something ripple out of him, through her arms -- still tightly holding his head -- and into her mind, a screaming sound of perfect agony.

She felt his approach and smirked as her father felt it a half second later.

Instead of the stars, Leia looked at her reflection in the window -- the pale skin and lengthy hair in tight curls (how her father wished it). "What would have happened if Padme..." her father flinched at the name "...had joined you? Ruled the galaxy at your side?"

She felt him turn to look at her, his gaze lingering and she saw in a flash of light and darkness the eyes of the child he had once been, dark with a golden crimson. A surge of energy singed her skin.

"I have you now," he said simply.

"Trust me" were her final words, calmly stated in the bleeding ear of her weeping brother.

"And me," said a figure cloaked in darkness at the doorway.

Leia's heart skipped a beat, her anger unfocusing as a flood of delight overtook her. With a graceful leap down the stairs, she ran straight into his arms, almost crushing him in an embrace. Holding her brother this close made her feel so very powerful, so much stronger united with him than alone. It was the Sith way to feel this, to be consumed by another -- but there had never been such a pair of Sith -- twins in a perfect cohesive rhythm. The closer they were, the more she felt the universe falling apart at its seams to have such a pair controlling it.

His lips brushed her scarred cheek before turning to his father. She let him go at once and he approached him and bowed with elegance. "It is finished, my lord," he said with a clear voice.

A scorching heat flared out of him and she had to let him go. Luke lept away from her, his lightsaber back in his hands, his eyes narrowing he watched his sister and father advance slowly. There was only one truth now. He would be one of the lost without them. With as much grace as he could, he kneeled before them. "As you wish."

"Rise, my son," Vader said and both Skywalker twins could each feel the pride searing out of the dark figure.

She sided up to him, her fingers entwining in his and they shocked each other playfully with Force lightning. Lifting her mouth to Luke's ear, she growled, "Take me with you next time. Father's such a bore."

Turning towards the holoscreen, Vader said, "The next task is for all of us, actually."

"One big happy family," Luke replied, an arm tight around Leia.

She could swear that she could feel her father smile.


Nemo

Nightwish

      This is me for forever
      One of the lost ones
      The one without a name
      Without an honest heart as compass
      This is me for forever
      One without a name
      These lines the last endeavor
      To find the missing lifeline
      Oh how I wish
      For soothing rain
      All I wish is to dream again
      My loving heart
      Lost in the dark
      For hope I`d give my everything
      Oh how I wish
      For soothing rain
      Oh how I wish to dream again
      Once and for all
      And all for once
      Nemo my name forevermore
      My flower, withered between
      The pages 2 and 3
      The once and forever bloom gone with my sins
      Walk the dark path
      Sleep with angels
      Call the past for help
      Touch me with your love
      And reveal to me my true name
      Oh, how I wish...
      Nemo sailing home
      Nemo letting go
      Oh, how i wish...