The Hands of Fate

Dancing with Light

A day had passed since the events on Cloud City.

Princess Leia Organa alternated her time between the cockpit and roaming emptily around the ship. She wanted to make herself useful but she couldn't help but feel so defenseless, useless. Lando and Chewie had control of the Falcon and they had the ship under control, for the most part.

Artoo and Threepio would occasionally wander about the cramped halls and speak with her, trying, she assumed, to cope just like the rest of them. Sometimes Artoo would sit by her side and whistle sadly, before nodding off into a short slumber.

She felt for him.

Throughout the last few hours, Leia was attempting to patch in to the radio through her commlink. She hoped for some kind of news; local, Empire, Alliance, anything. Anything that would tell her what had happened overnight. It still made such little sense in her head. How did they get here? How did they fall apart so fast and so hard?

I love you, she'd play back in her head, wanting to say so much more to the man she loved. Leia wished there was a more positive memory she could focus on; his lips against hers for the first time, the humorous way he'd snark up a conversation, the first time he taught her to use a swipe a datacard.

I know. The pain in his eyes was all she could remember, all that the mind allowed her to reflect on. His pain had become her own pain, his sad eyes looking up into her face one last time. She wished for more time. She wished he were here, now, at her side. There was still so much left unsaid.

Suddenly, the commlink in her hands began to twitch.

"This just in, from our beautiful capital of Coruscant," a voice over the commlink said plainly after several hours of static. Leia had finally been able to get close enough to connect to a radio frequency. She jumped up from her seat and pressed the commlink directly to her ear. Imperial Propaganda.

"Rebel fugitive and activist Luke Skywalker was sighted on the planet Bespin yesterday evening. We are unsure exactly why Skywalker had made his way there, but rest assured, we made our presence known and quickly intervened on behalf of our friendship with Cloud City when we found out the danger they were in."

"Danger," she laughed at how ridiculous his statement sounded. The people of Cloud City were in danger, alright, just not the danger this drek pretended. They were in danger of losing their freedom and their rights as an entity, in danger of losing whatever basic civil rights existed within the Empire now. It had been some time since Leia listened to speech like this - at least a year. There was once a time when she would listen to individuals talk like this for hours on end. Truth be told, she didn't miss it much.

"There were also reports of a sighting of Princess Leia Organa, also wanted fugitive, though we weren't able to make any kind of confirmation. The Emperor was quick to respond to the potential threat of terror and sent in his best to apprehend Skywalker, Lord Vader among them."

It was irritating to hear all these half-truths being spun and twisted to fit the Imperial agenda. After what she had endured through them, all of this blathering dug under her skin. Leia just wanted to know what happened after she left – what they did with Luke.

"Unfortunately, both Lord Vader and Skywalker went missing overnight. There weren't much details to share, unfortunately, as a large amount of this story remains confidential. What we can share is that the entire city was searched and all that could be found was the hand of a human male, confirmed to be Skywalker. If you happen to catch sight of either Lord Vader or Skywalker, please, call our hotline."

His... hand?

Vader. It must have – it had to have been him. Only someone like him would be able to do something so cruel, so horrible. Leia thought she was seeing things as she saw the shadow of Luke Skywalker desperately cling to the ends of Cloud City, unable to climb, hanging with mere seconds before dropping. She had hoped that it was just the macabre inner workings of her mind reflecting on the horrors she'd endured.