Luke's arm was draped around Leana's shoulders as they walked slowly down the side of the gantry. Leana ached all over, but that dull pain couldn't prevent her from feeling every inch of the warmth of Luke's arm around her. It was comforting and Leana wished she could just lean into him, preferably when neither was injured or bruised and a Sith Lord wasn't stalking around waiting to cut off Luke's hand.

So...at no point in the Star Wars saga except for the very end.

"Ready?" Luke asked through gritted teeth as they reached the door leading off the gantry. He glanced down at Leana, sliding his arm off from around her shoulders.

"Ready," Leana said, then impetuously turned to Luke. Raising up slightly on her toes, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she lost her nerve, her lips barely doing more than touching his skin. "May the Force be with you."

Luke gave her a lopsided, tired grin before the two unclipped their lightsaber hilts and stepped through the doorway.

They had entered a control room, and Leana knew Vader was waiting for them, both from the script and from being able to sense him through the Force. It was almost like a Google Maps pin, telling them they had arrived at their destination. Within a moment of their entrance, the Sith had launched himself out of the shadows, his red blade snapping to life with an ominous hiss.

Leana ducked back, igniting her own lightsaber as Luke ignited his. The three blades clashed with a crackle of noise, Vader using the Force to try and throw them backwards. Although Luke fell back, staggering and hitting the floor, Leana only felt something push against her abdomen, not strongly enough to make her move.

"That's the second one today," Vader muttered, and Leana frowned, not understanding.

Second one of what? And why didn't the Force-push work on me?

Vader swung at Leana and she blocked his blow, pushing his lightsaber back before flipping backward, landing beside Luke as he struggled back onto his feet. Vader charged forward, continuing to slash at both of them as he forced them back toward the gantry.

Then the Sith's blade cut down, slipping past Leana's, getting past Luke's, and sliced right through Luke's arm.

Luke screamed, stumbling backward as his hand and lightsaber fell down the reactor shaft. Leana grabbed onto him, deactivating her lightsaber in order not to burn him as she pulled him toward her. His weight sagged back in her arms as she held him, keeping him on the gantry leading out to the infamous vane, holding them over the reactor shaft.

We could fall now. Fall now, and avoid the revelation.

But do I really want to do that? What happens if Luke doesn't learn who his father is?

"You do not realize how important you are," Vader intoned as Leana fumblingly clipped her lightsaber back onto her belt. She had no need for it now, nor could she really use it. She wasn't letting go of Luke, who was clutching his arm against his chest. "Both of you hold great potential. You have only begun to discover your importance and your power. Join me, both of you, and I will complete you's guys' training."

Leana frowned. "You's guys? What, are you suddenly from New York or something?"

"With our combined incredibleness, we can end the Rebel conflict and bring order once more to the galaxy," Vader finished, ignoring Leana.

Once more? Peace hasn't been had – technically – since before the Naboo War. At the very least not since the Clone Wars broke out.

"I'll never join you!" Luke yelled, his voice ragged with pain.

"Jedi don't join the enemy!" Leana called. "I'll never join you!"

"First of all, that's wrong," Vader stated. "Jedi do join the enemy, at times. Second of all, fine. You brought this on yourself. I shall have to use the extreme measures." He paused, as if for dramatic effect. "Obi-Wan never told you about your father, Luke. His fate, and all that." He waved his black-gloved hand.

"He told me enough!" Luke screamed as he and Leana reached the vane, from which they would later fall.

"Really?" Vader asked. "Wonder what he said about me?"

"He said you killed him!" Luke replied. His body was shaking under Leana's arms as he leaned against the vane. "You killed my father!"

"Really?" Vader repeated, interested. "I killed myself? What a story! Wonder how I did that?"

There was silence for a moment, a tense, heavy silence. "What did you say?" Luke asked, fear creeping into his voice.

"Luke," Vader stated, stretching out his hand to them. Leana felt the hairs on her arms rise, goosebumps prickling her flesh. "I am your father."

"NO!" Luke yelled. "No! You can't be my father! My father was Anakin Skywalker! A Jedi Knight!"

"Funny, cause I used to be Anakin Skywalker," Vader countered. "And a Jedi Knight, to boot."

"No!" Luke insisted, glancing with horrified eyes from Vader to Leana. Leana wished she could contradict Vader, to tell him that it wasn't true. But she couldn't. All she could do was give him a grimly sympathetic look.

"It's not that bad," Vader remarked casually. "I used to be a nice person."

"Used to be," Leana muttered.

"No!" Luke insisted. "My father was a Jedi...."

"Who turned to the dark side," Vader finished.

"No!" Luke yelled again.

"Shut up already!" Vader boomed. "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."

"It can't be!" Luke murmured. "It can't be."

"Vader is right," Leana said quietly. "He used to be Anakin Skywalker. If it wasn't for him, the Empire couldn't have risen!" She shot a glare at Vader.

"Don't blame me," the Sith said indignantly. "There were many ways that could have gone."

"Oh, who do I blame, then?" Leana snapped. "That big pillar over there? This shaft? No, it was you who brought about the downfall of the Jedi, and allowed for the fall of the Republic."

"Don't be sarcastic," Vader reprimanded. "The last guy I met who was this sarcastic...." He trailed off, as if in thought. "Oh, that's right. I killed him." The Sith glanced at Luke. "Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. It is your destiny. He knows this."

"It was your destiny, Anakin," Leana murmured. "It shouldn't have had to be Luke. It is the destiny of the Chosen One!"

"Not anymore," Vader said. "Luke, other Jedi girl whose name I don't know, join me, and we can rule the galaxy as father and son, and whatever-you-are." He gestured to Leana. "There is no other way. Come, join me."

"No," Luke said, shaking his head. "There is another way." His remaining hand found Leana's and entwined his fingers with hers, squeezing her hand, and they both knew what was coming. Releasing Luke from her arms but keeping a tight grip on his hand, they both fell from the vane into the reactor shaft.

"Come back here!" Leana heard Vader yell. "You're in big trouble!"

Neither of them glanced back. They just fell, connected by their hands, free falling like the Tom Petty song. Eventually, a wind current crossed the shaft, drawing Leana and Luke into another, smaller tunnel, which they slid down for a ways until falling through a hatch on the underside of Cloud City.

Leana saw the clouds below them, hiding the rest of the gas planet, and saw the thin iron rods of the vane attached to the underside of the city. She grabbed onto the vane, wrapping her legs around the rods as Luke did the same. Neither let go of the other.

Panting, Leana adjusted her position slightly and glanced over at Luke, who looked like he was in shock. Judging by the fact that he had just found out who his father was and had his hand chopped off, all at once, it was pretty understandable.

"I can't believe it," Luke murmured. He glanced at Leana, but she had no idea what to say to him. So she just held his gaze.

****

"I told you," Lumina said, as the Falcon leveled out underneath Cloud City. "Leana and Luke are right there."

"What are they doing there?" Lando asked, furrowing his brow.

"They resisted Vader," Lumina snapped. "They chose to fall down the shaft as opposed to joining the dark side. See, choice. Like in there's always one."

"Got it," Lando said, rolling his eyes as he turned away.

"Chewie, slow down, and get under them," Leia directed. "Lando and Ben, go get them."

Lando and Ben hurried out of the cockpit as Chewbacca drew the Falcon up beneath the vane. Lumina tapped her foot anxiously on the floor as she waited for confirmation that Leana and Luke were in the ship.

After several moments, it came. "We got them," Ben said into the comlink.

Lumina ran out of the cockpit, racing down the halls until she approached the hatch, where Leana was supporting Luke toward them, Lando on the other side of Luke and Ben walking behind them. Her brown hair was damp with sweat and instead of her jeans and sweatshirt, she wore a long-sleeve tunic with dull colored trousers, similar to Luke's. Her face was bruised and marked with tiny cuts, but she had managed to hold on to her lightsaber, which now hung from her belt.

"Leana!" Lumina exclaimed, giving her friend a side hug. Leana hugged her back, giving her a slight, although strained, smile.

"Hey, Lu," she greeted. "What happened to Lucas?"