Chapter 3:

Universe 1 – 11 ABY

"I thank you again for the Council's and your acceptance of my leadership as the Chief of State. I promise to continue making the New Republic a strong governmental body that fixes the wrongs of the Empire and listens to the interests of all planets." Leia finished her speech to Mon Mothma.

It was the day after the meeting with Sumi. Leia had finished the speech late in the night and had spent the morning practicing it. After working herself ragged, Leia felt it was ready. It might not be perfect, but it satisfied the points she aimed to address as the future leader of the New Republic.

"It's a good speech." Mon Mothma's blue eyes gazed at her intently. "But I think you should rework it a bit. There is too much focused on your goals and promises. The speech is meant to present your platform, but its more to set the tone for your leadership. Take some time to add some authenticity, some of your personality. Show the people how relatable you really are."

"What do you mean?" Leia was confused. How does a person make a speech authentic?

"I mean add some enthusiasm or gratitude." Mon Mothma explained. "Any emotion that shows that you take pride in being the leader of the New Republic."

"Why does that matter?" Leia slumped into her chair.

"You need to keep the audience engaged. You want the public interested in listening to you in the future."

Leia knew that. She wanted the whole Galaxy to listen to her ideals and her plans. She just did not know how to act charismatic. Why couldn't her speech focus on her plans as the new Chief of State.

"Ok. I can that," Leia said resolutely. "I'll rewrite my speech this afternoon and present you a better version tomorrow."

"That works with me." Mon Mothma shuffled into one of her desk drawers. "Before you go, I do have something else I need to address with you."

"Ok. What is it?" Leia was eager to address something simpler than an authentic speech.

Mon Mothma placed a memo in front of her. It was titled, Urgent: Professor Julius Olomo and Nanotechnology.

Mon Mothma explained. "As you know we are still facing some resistance from former Imperial loyalists. Professor Olomo originates from Carida is in the works on creating a new nano-weapon that might severely damage humans in the brain instead of just affecting the nerves in the body. Based on what was reported so far, if he succeeds, there is a possibility that the Imperialist can make any human brain dead with a small, hard-to-notice nano-transmitter. I need you to look into his work and think if there is any way we can prevent his invention. He is currently working out of Hays Minor, a small planet in the Outer Rim known for mining."

"I'll look into it." Leia promised. Finally, a project that did not require her to think about her upcoming responsibilities. She had enough reminders already between the speech and the frequent meetings the past few months with Mon Mothma.

Leia went to put it in her bag when she noticed it was not below Mon Mothma's desk. "Frick," Leia cursed. "I left my bag in my office." She must have. It must not be lost in the crowded ship she rode over in this morning or the café she stopped at for a mid-morning snack.

Leia hurried away. Hopefully, the bag was not lost. She had everything that mattered in their: her main communicator, her communicator that securely transmitted to only Han and Luke, her credits, and her keys.

Leia found an unwanted visitor in her office. Sumi was standing in the middle of her office right next to the chair that held her bag. Was he trying to steal it?

"What are you doing?" Leia barged in, not caring that the Zabrak likely did not know what she was saying. Her tone worked well enough.

Sumi raised its empty hands to say that he was unarmed. Leia knew better than to trust that. She dealt with a few Imperials and other enemies in the past few years. They all wanted either to kill her or harm her. They all ended up dead or imprisoned.

She felt her pocket for her short-barreled blaster pistol. Good. She was ready to use it if the Zabrak turned hostile. She also pressed her communicator to signal a possible intruder to the Senate's security. Lastly, Leia checked her hip for her stun cuff. She always carried the stun cuff around for situations such as these. Just in case.

Leia had a few minutes until they came. She needed to distract him.

"Do you know any Basic?" If possible, Leia wanted to find a way to convince him to leave the office without any infighting.

The Zabrak stared at her blankly. "Luke Skywalker?"

So that was his game plan. He wanted to appear like he wanted to find out about her progress with communicating with Luke. Yesterday, Leia presumed that he was a friendly visitor who wanted to negotiate. Today, she was less sure. He went into her office while it was empty. He wanted to give her a dark artifact. All signs pointed to the Zabrak wanting to bring her harm.

"Luke Skywalker," the Zabrak repeated.

Leia shook her head.

"Chui yakimuka sita wachi makalaka wakuni," the Zabrak mumbled to himself.

He then quickly grabbed something from her desk. It looked like a pile of papers. What did she have that could interest the Zabraks?

Multiple answers came to mind: Senate reports, Senate memos, and military plans and strategies. All items that could bring great harm to the New Republic if in the wrong hands.

She really needed to start locking her office. The Senate's administrative buildings were no longer secure, if they ever were. But now, her earlier complacency was gone. She really should have learned better after the fourth break-in two months ago.

Leia pulled out her blaster pistol and pointed it towards the Zabrak.

The Zabrak let out a roaring chuckle before tugging out his own weapon from beneath her desk. It was a yellow blaster pistol that had a dark gold rim.

Leia shot at him. She was not going to let him steal her important papers. The New Republic was counting on her to keep the Galaxy safe.

The Zabrak ducked and the bullet hit the top of her desk. Just as the bullet made a clanging noise, One of Leia's communicator sounded, a lively ring signaling a message.

The Zabrak did not react to the sound and shot back at her.

Leia used the Force to deflect the shot. She instinctively squirmed at the loud chime the bullet made when it hit her wall. Her communicator rang again.

He was well-coordinated. While she was distracted, the Zabrak jumped over her chair and landed on his feet. That happened at the same time another one of her bullets hurled towards him and her communicator rang yet again.

The bullets were not working. It was time for Plan B. Why did the security team at the Senate have to be so slow? She could defend herself, but still, it was their job.

Leia reached into the Force around her. She felt the power tingling in her fingers. Thank goodness, she allowed Luke to convince her to train as a Jedi. While she decided to give up her lightsaber to Luke at the end of her training, she still used the skills he taught her to fight with the Force.

The Zabrak was now racing towards her, likely planning to push her down. Many opponents had thought her an easy target in the past, usually because of her short stature.

She urged the Force forward and the Zabrak flung into her desk, squirming all the while, hoping to escape her invisible hand. The papers flew from his hands and spiraled across the ground.

As the Zabrak squirmed, Leia pushed him through the Force towards her chair. Breathing heavily as she kept the Zabrak in place, Leia unclipped a stun cuff from her hip and placed it around the Zabrak's hands.

"That looks fun." An amused voice said behind her. It was Mychelle Danes. Mychelle was one of the security workers for the Senate's administrative headquarters.

"It wasn't. He was a difficult opponent." Leia sighed. "Can you bring him to the cells?"

Mychelle rolled her eyes and brushed past Leia. "Yes. I'll be back shortly for your report on the incident."

"Good. What took you so long?" Leia angled around Mychelle as the security worker forced the restrained Zabrak to stand upright.

She reached into her bag for her communicator. Something felt wrong as she held her bag. Something foul and dark. What was that feeling? The bag held the usual items, her keys, her credits, her secure comlink and her standard beeping comlink. Nothing …

Oh, no. Why, oh, why did she have to deal with yet another problem today?

Leia's annoyance intensified as she shuffled through missed multiple messages from Hanna City Elementary and one from Han. The earliest was from an hour ago. The latest had a dark red signal that meant the message was urgent. Great. What did Ben do?

"It has only been five minutes since you commed." Mychelle pushed the prisoner forward as Leia shuffled through her messages. "Hey, Leia."

Leia looked up. "Huh?" Oh, she was blocking Mychelle's exit.

"Can you get out of the way?"

Leia leaned on her desk and allowed Mychelle to past.

As soon as the security worker left, Leia put on her coat, pocketed the secured comlink and gathered her bag. She needed to handle the latest Ben-related problem. Why couldn't her son be one of those obedient and entirely problem-less children?

She was so wrapped up in worry, that she ignored the aura of darkness resonating from her bag.

"Ben did what?" Leia exclaimed as Principal Sera Holland finished explaining the incident. The Bothan took great pride in recounting Ben's latest incident, as evident from her perked up ears.

Bantha shit, she should have held that in.

"I know it's hard to hear," Principal Holland said calmly.

"Its …," Leia paused, scrambling for a good defense. "Ben is a good kid. He knows better than to use the Force on his classmates."

"We know its hard to hear." Principal Holland's face was stern. "But he did break his classmates arm though the, um, Force? Is that what you call it? We have a strict no violence policy here at Hanna Elementary. We made some exceptions during the earlier, um, incidents, but now that he broke his classmate's arm, we have to expel him. You understand right, the safety of the school outweighs any other considerations."

No doubt, she meant Leia's political position. During the other incidents, Leia and Han had used their reputation as heroes of the Alliance to their advantage. But breaking an arm was different from breaking a table or accidently throwing net-balls at a classmate's face.

"I see," Leia said simply. "You plan to expel her over one incident that lead to physical harm. Even though it is common knowledge that young children will sometimes get into physical alterations. As I see it, there is no permanent damage. A simple combination of healing ointment and time should fix it. It's not like the injury requires a heat-seal or extensive bantha treatment."

"He still harmed another student, and he had multiple of other incidents where his special ability lead to harm to his classmates and severe disruption to class time. I have to take the strict …"

"I know that it feels like you're in an impossible situation right now." Leia sighed. "But you don't have to make a decision to expel him right away. Can't you suspend Ben for a few days? That will give us both some time to think about the situation with a clear head."

Although, Leia wanted to throttle the woman, she knew better than to yell at her. The Principal always had it out for Ben. She never understood Ben's ability with the Force and deemed it an inconvenience and something shameful. She never tried to change her approaches to handle Ben. Like asking Ben's teacher to pay more attention to her son or punishing certain classmates who bullied Ben over his Force-related accidents. No, it was always a fine line against Ben with her.

"Senator, I know you don't like to lose and you're used to winning in the political field, but I'm in charge here. You will have to settle with my answer. I will not change my mind." Principal Holland said sternly.

Leia almost laughed, but caught herself in time. This woman thought she could make this decision without any consequences. The Principal really thought she could settle this argument over a short conversation. After all the enemies Leia dealt with, this woman was nothing against Jabba the Hutt or bounty hunters like Bobba Fett and Bossk or V-a…

Suddenly, all she could hear was cold, unrelenting breathing that was similar to a machine letting off gas. Her forehead ached as a dizzying sensation emerged. She closed her eyes to hide from the black mask that promised nothing but pain.

"Senator?" A rare tone carried from Principal Holland's voice. Was that concern? "Senator?" The Principal was trying to catch her attention. She tried to speak, but her voice squeaked. She could not talk, not when Stormtroopers were trapping her and Han in the room with him.

Breathe. She needed to breathe. She was simply feeling a memory in the Force.

He was dead. She would never have to deal with him again.

Leia opened her eyes, focusing on the Principal. The Bothan's furry face bore a far kinder expression than usual. Ridiculous. As if the Principal really cared. She probably was thrilled that Leia failed to hold her position.

Dammit, the papers in a nearby draw looked a little rumpled. Did she move them with the Force while she was distracted?

Her bag called to her again, the same enchanting, but vicious sensation from before. The Zabrak must have done something dark to the bag before Leia arrived at the office. What was it? Was it safe to walk her son home with that ominous impression nearby?

Leia needed to relax. Forget about whatever the Zabrak was planning, at least for this moment. It was a problem for another time. Leia needed to regain control of the situation.

"Where were we?" Leia sat up straighter. "Oh, right. You wish to expel my son."

"That is …" Principal Holland started.

Leia raised her palm, signally that she had the stage now. "You spoke in great length on your plan. But we both know that you can sign the form that signals expulsion, but you will need approval from Hanna City's School Administer Yetva Nguyen and she has a strict no discrimination policy, which include discrimination against Force sensitive individuals and others with unique abilities. You may suspend him currently, but you have no power to expel him."

Principal Holland gazed at her, her mouth quirked downwards. "Senator, I know this is hard for you to handle. But you should realize that Ben needs someplace where he can belong and that is not Hanna City Elementary. You may be right about Nguyen preventing this expulsion, but I think it's in the best interest of your child that you find someplace better for him. You have to see that. A good mother would."

Leia's eyes glazed up. "We could talk about this in circles, but that won't change our circumstances. You are out of line to expel a student over an accident and the School Administer will agree. I accept that you will suspend Ben for a few days, but I don't accept your expulsion. We both know that you are unable to do so at this time."

They both gazed at each other silently for a long minute.

Finally, Principal Holland pursed her lips. "Yes. You got me," Principal Holland said sadly. "I'll suspend him for the next two weeks. I'll give your son one more chance before pursuing a final solution. That doesn't mean, I don't think I was considering the right choice. I'll still reach out to Nguyen and see how he lands in the situation."

She was trying to save face. Leia could respect that. What Leia could not respect was the words the Principal said against her and her child. The Principal words were terribly wrong and uncalled for.

The Principal was only right about one thing.

Leia did not like to lose.

As Leia and Ben walked to their apartment form the school, Leia tried repeatedly to com Han. She kept getting a ring that indicated that he was out of range from any signal.

Of course, he was too busy traveling to answer. Right when she needed his help the most.

Ben walked uncharacteristically silent behind her. Occasionally, tree branches and leaves bounced in the air behind him. One branch eventually fell off and spun in circles beside Ben.

"Stop that," Leia ordered. "You need to stop playing around with the Force."

"Mama. I bored." Ben pouted, continuing to spin a branch beside him.

"Then, talk to me. Don't play with a power you don't understand. Especially not when we are in public. You might hurt someone else."

"Aaron was being a meanie." Ben complained.

"But he's still your friend. You seriously hurt him."

"He not my friend no more." Ben screamed as he used the Force to throw the branch across the sidewalk. It ended up poking the back of the woman walking in front of them.

The woman groaned in pain. She turned towards them, grimacing, and said, "Control you kid." She then raced away from them.

"What are you thinking?" Leia raised her voice at Ben. "You just made a scene at school. Now you're making one here? What is wrong with you?"

"Accident." Ben shrugged his shoulders. "Not my problem teacher mad."

"It is." Leia struggled to find the right words. "You used the Force dangerously. Don't you remember what Luke and I told you about control?"

"He was meanie. Said I big baby."

"Ben. I'm sorry Aaron was mean to you. But you can't go around using your power every time someone bothers you or is mean to you. You need to act better." Why was he staring at her so confused? How could she make Ben understand the importance of controlling his anger? "We are not like other people. We have a special power that can make us dangerous if we don't control it."

Suddenly, a branch from a nearby Garren Tree slapped Leia's neck. Leia used the Force to catch it as it moved to swing again and broke it in half in the air.

Ben's hands were in front of him, a vicious scowl on his face.

Leia shouted, "What are you thinking? I told you time and again to not do that. You're acting really bad right now."

"I hate you," Ben shouted, his brown eyes flashed red.

"Ben." Her voice sounded terrible, infurious. Leia needed to reign in her temper. Ben did not mean that. He said that all the time when she reprimanded him. The darkness she felt in the Force around him was nothing to worry about. It was only his anger and Do you really want to hurt other people? anger can be reigned back in. "The Force is not something you should play with. Do you really want to hurt me?"

Ben deflated, lowering his hands. "Sorry, mama. I didn't wanna hurt you." Her son then widen his eyes sweetly. "I don't wanna make Force hurt people. But-t, it's so fun to play with it."

"I'm all for you enjoying yourself." Leia kneeled down so her face reached her son's. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But hurting someone through the Force or otherwise is not a good thing. A good boy is kind to others and does not hurt their classmates. You want to be a good boy, right?"

"Yes!" Ben bounced and hugged her. "I wanna be good boy."

"Then, you agree …" Leia's comlink buzzed. It was Han. "Give me a moment, play near that tree while I talk to your father." Leia told her son.

Ben raced over, immediately playing around with the Force. This time he lifted up tree leaves in a beautiful colorful array. What a sight!

"Hi, Han!" Leia attempted to sound cheerful, but her worry came through.

"Leia, what's wrong?" Her husband answered then laughed. "I mean, I heard about Ben being expelled."

"He wasn't expelled. I worked it out with the Principal. It's only a two week suspension."

"Working your wonders as always." Han sounded amused. "Good work."

"It's still not handled." Leia sighed. "If he hurts someone again, we may have a problem. I know the School Administer will likely resist it with all his anti-discrimination policies, but Ben did break his friend's arm and I'm not sure if I can convince Ben to stop hurting others with the Force."

"I'll talk to him when I get home." Han shouted over a loud banging behind him. "Talk to him, man to man that violence is not the answer."

"What's going on?" Leia heard Chewie howl behind him. "Are you in trouble?"

"No trouble. Chewie is just playing around after a successful job. You know how excitable he can be after a big win."

"A riveting story." Leia laughed. "What is really going on?"

Han groaned humorously. "Fine. Fine. Have it your way, Princess. We had a small run in with the Guavian Death Gang. They're mad about losing a game of sabacc. Nothing life-threatening."

"Ok. Be careful."

"Ain't I always."

"Fine. Fine. As long as you survive, it should be fine." Leia breathed in, trying to relax her racing pulse. "Back to the problem at hand. How can I get Ben to stop abusing the Force? He broke a kid's arm! What's he going to do next?"

"Maybe a leg," Han joked. "Hmm, an arm and a leg."

"Han!"

"Relax, princess. Don't worry about it. Just talk to Luke. I'm sure the kid has a whole game plan on how to handle all this Force mumbo-jumbo."

"Maybe." Leia relented. "I just hate …"

"Mama. Can I talk to Daddy?" Leia instinctively twitched, causing her comlick to float by itself for a moment. Ben now stood next to her. Why did she not feel him arrive next to her? His Force signature was so entwined with hers that she rarely did not feel him when they were in the same area.

"Darling, daddy's busy …" Leia started to say when Han jumped in.

"Leia. I can spare a few minutes with Ben. The gang's long gone. Just cruising through hyperspace."

"Ok." Leia answered on the communicator and then smiled at her son. "Looks like dad has some free time after all."

"Yay!" Ben bounced in the air.

"Just walk with me home as you talk." She then handed the comlick to Ben.

As Ben cheerfully talked to his father as the round the corner near their house, Leia recognized the strange, cold darkness from earlier pulsating in her bag. There it was again. Was it Ben? Was his anger rising towards a dangerous Sith zone? No. This was different. Darker. More seductive than anger. Also, she felt it twice before without Ben nearby.

What did the Zabrak do? Leia needed to focus. They were now in the elevator rising up to their apartment on the ninth floor. They were almost home. Ben was still distracted by talking to Han. She would let him to keep doing that while she examined her bag in the room.

And she exactly that. Leia felt a rush of happiness when Ben hugged her after she told him he could continue to talk to his father.

Once she was in the room, she placed the bag on her nightstand and leaned on her pillows at the edge of her bed. The bag hummed a bit through the Force. Like before, Leia saw nothing inside besides her normal comlink and her other supplies.

Only the faint hum of the dark Force signature made Leia certain that the Zabrak had some something. Was this his plan? To have her bring her bag home with some kind of curse?

She should wait for Luke. Let him look through it and figure out what the curse could be.

But she brought it home. It was so close to her son who was already so engulfed by darkness at such a young age. She could not leave Ben alone with a babysitter while she waited for Luke to return, not after his suspension and their earlier argument. He needed stability more than anything. Leia rather not return the bag to the office and endanger her co-workers with a possible curse.

No. This was her problem. She needed to fix it. She would have to do with talking it over with Luke the next time he answered her calls.

A flash of light reflect from her lamp to the bag and Leia noticed a shadow outline of a familiar symbol. A circle that surrounded a star. Did the Zabrak make the Sith artifact from yesterday invisible and then stuff it in her bag?

Leia lifted her bag, but it lack any extra heaviness that could have come from the artifact. Was the tablet weightless too or was Leia reaching the wrong conclusion?

The sensation from the bag drew her in and told her that she was right. Leia hesitantly reached in the bag and felt solid stone. She pulled the invisible stone tablet out and lowered it on her bed. Slowly, like an image from a broken holo-cam, the invisible tablet flickered into life. First, the etchings of the circle and a star shined a bright yellow and then, the solid lines of letters formed underneath. Soon, she could see the whole tablet on the bed before her.

She better let Luke know about what the Zabrak likely sneaked into her bag. He would know how to handle this artifact without endangering Ben. Leia moved to get her regular comlink. While it was not as secure as her other one, Leia preferred to not interrupt Ben's conversation with his father or have her son in a room with the object. Ben had enough problems with his Force sensitivity.

Right as she dialed Luke's number, bright yellow and blue lights glittered off the tablets surface and stretched towards her ceiling. A wide space opened before her as the lights created a door.

"Mama!" Ben was on the other side of the newly formed door. He was holding her communicator near his ear. "Daddy. Help! Something in room."

"Ben," Leia gasped and she felt sweat smolder around her neck. "Get out of the room. I'll handle this."

Her son's brown eyes widen in worry. "But Mama."

"Please, go."

Ben continued to stare. He moved one step forward when she heard a voice squeak from the communicator at his side. Likely Han was telling him to leave as well.

"Listen to us. Get out of here. I'll handle it."

Leia let out a sigh of relief as a shaky Ben left the room and slammed the bedroom's door.

During the brief conversation, the door that the tablet created had opened. She felt something in the Force calling for her. It likely came from whatever was beyond the door.

Leia was running out of time.

Leia pressed her call button and listened to the comlink ring.

Come on, Luke. Answer.

It continued to ring until it asked her to leave a message.

"Luke. A Zabrak left a tablet in my bag. Some Sith artifact. I …" Leia started to leave her message when she mind felt floaty.

It was hard to describe. It was like her mind was no longer in her body and was instead floating in the air. Instead of the usual pressures of body pains, all Leia felt was the spirit of the Force.

Then, Leia felt a rough tug that tore her spirt form her body. She looked down to see her image glittering blue and yellow as her body lay still on her bad.

Dammit. What was she going to do? Besides Ben, she was all alone! Why did she have to touch the artifact without Luke around?

Luke. Urgent Force related problem. Help! She tried to reach her brother. It had worked before, in Bespin and during her trainings. Maybe Luke would hear her.

Some bright blue and yellow was coming out the door. It looked exactly like the girl from her dreams. The Leia who had brown hair cropped in a mismatched manner and wore a tarnished pant and shirt. Her eyelids fluttered up and down in terror.

Leia, she heard Luke call for her through the Force. Hold on.

Then, like a rampant wave at a sea shore, Leia felt herself fling through the door and into an unfamiliar scene.