The Trace Which Remains

Disclaimer- If I owned Star Wars, I think I'd have more money. And thus more time to update. Sorry, everyone! I don't own it, so it's been a long time!

After an INSANELY long hiatus, I'm back, with an update! Please review!

Chapter 8: ... the notion of hate...

"You may visit the prisoner, Arbiter Organa."

Leia passed the two guards outside of the prison hall, and was again permitted to pass by the four guards standing vigilant watch outside of Anakin's cell. The door hissed open, revealing an empty room. Hesitant, she entered, and the door behind her whooshed shut. A full half-minute passed before the door in front of her- rather, the entire wall- opened. Another blank room. She was growing quite exasperated with the procedure when the fifth blank room opened up to reveal Anakin, huddled in the corner of the cell much like she had sat before Vader-

-flashes of pain and fear and truth drugs and Vader!-

- and her heart clenched at the sickening similarities between the circumstances. To try to make light of the situation, she smirked wryly. "A bit of overkill, wouldn't you agree?"

Anakin snorted, and replied, "I find it likely that they do not believe in overkill with me."

She had to agree. Sitting next to him- largely to force her mind to stop thinking of this as an interrogation- she leaned back and sat casually on the cot, facing him. "How're you doing?"

"As well as can be expected." The response was light-toned, but Leia thought she sensed a
touch of bitterness in his thoughts. Suddenly, she heard a loud snarl from his stomach. Something hit her panic button.

"Have they been feeding you?" She leaned forward and rested her hand on his bare forearm-
it was ice-cold. She was cold herself in this cell- Anakin was barely dressed!

Anakin flinched, and muttered, "Please don't make a big deal of it. I've been through worse."

She pressed her lips together in anger- Anakin may be a prisoner, but she had served as
arbiter for several captured Imperials, and they were all treated decently. Never before had she been cold in her regular clothing- and never before had the wardens let a prisoner starve. Her hackles raised, she stood. "This will stop. You may be Vader to them- but we are NOT the Empire. I will see to it that you are treated humanely."

Anakin looked down, and she could see that she had embarrassed him. "Highness, it's really
no big deal. I can deal without food for a while-"

"Indefinitely? We have no idea how long this will take! Do they plan on NEVER feeding you? I need to find out who has been planning this!" Leia clenched her fists, and tried to regulate her tone. "This situation can NOT set a precedent for how we deal with captured Imperials. If this continues, who knows if we can be trusted with the lives of prisoners?"

She looked at the now openly shivering man, and saw a mild grin on his face. "You sound just like her."

Shocked, Leia asked, "My mother?"

He nodded. "Always helping anyone she could- and always trying to set an example for others. I wish I had followed more in her footsteps than I did."

"You disagreed about politics, I take it?" Leia sat back down, her curiosity piqued.

"Often, and heatedly. Oh, we agreed that everyone should have basic rights, but we had a
hard time with reconciling the differences in our ideas of justice. Padme` would have
championed a cause like mine. I probably would have let Vader rot in the dust."

"Padme`..." Leia murmured, smiling as the name rolled off her lips for the first time. "I know next to nothing about her."

"Like you, she entered politics young- and did so for the common good. I've found that the
ones who enter young do it for their ideals, rather than for the power. Padme`, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa- they were all friends to me, close to my age and sharing a faith in universal justice that I envied."

Stunned, Leia blinked. "My adoptive father was a friend of yours?"

"To a point. We didn't know each other very well, but I had a lot of respect for him. I knew many Senators, several stood out in my mind as the type of heart the Republic needed. Bail was straightforward without harshness, and had strong ideas. I see much of him in you, Highness."

With a blush, Leia returned, "I hope so. He was my hero- still is."

"And he is no less your father just because of biological difference. Obi-Wan raised me- and although for a long time I hated him- I respect him. I understand how he lived, how his mind worked, so much better now. He has been a good influence on my son."

Awkwardly, Leia beamed, unsure of what to say. "Wow. I mean- that's amazing. How did your
mind change so quickly?"

Anakin squeaked his bare toe against the metal bench, still shivering but apparently ignoring it. "Learning truth has a way of knocking your world apart- and the illusions you have lived under. Sometimes, when you learn the truth, it is a burden. Others... it is a blessing. Once I saw Palpatine how he truly was- a conniving, manipulative worm who would commit any act of depravity in the name of his own power- the illusions began to fall. When I saw how he hurt Luke... they shattered entirely. I saw his plots, his schemes, his devious machinations for what they were- all an act to bring me to his side."

Leia sat silent for several moments, before she realized that she was shaking, not just from the cold, but out of horror. Anakin had been his target for so long- possibly his entire life! All for power...

And a light flicked on in her mind as she realized what she had to do. "Do you know how
thorough the Empire was in document elimination?"

"Very well. I destroyed many works of art, literature... news recordings, ship logs... to remove knowledge of the Jedi from the collective mind of the Empire."

"What chance would you give a good slicer to find something Clone Wars-era of Palpatine?"

"It would depend on the type of document. Propaganda is rampant..." His voice faded off as
he realized what she planned. "You want to find hints of his plotting."

"Ding, give the man a cookie. Exactly."

"But where will you look?"

She smirked as she rose to leave. "I have my sources."

****

"Actually, I might know a guy," Han pondered as Leia asked him. "Met him on Sulon years
ago. Said he had a whole lot of trash about the Imps. Guy named Morgan."

"Could you find him?"

"Could try. Don't know if I'll find him- he was pretty old- but it's worth a shot. And if not, I might find his kid."

"Thank you, Han." She kissed him on the cheek. "I would come with you, but those two need
me here. They're not treating him well."

"Maybe you could talk to Mon."

"I don't know- she was quite harsh with him."

"Come on, sweetheart. You and I both know that was an act. You've played her game long
enough- and I know a sabacc face when I see it. She was expected to be harsh, but that's not Mon's style at all. Give her a shot. The big guy deserves it."

Grinning, she hugged him goodbye- for now. "Thanks. And may the Force be with you."

"Ditto."