Content: Between the destruction of the second Death Star and the victory celebration, an interaction between Leia and Luke that clears up a few loose ends.

Disclaimer: This is Lucas's property and I am not he. There would be a lot more CGI if GL had his hand in this.

Note: This is for those who asked for more to 'Empty Spaces'. I don't have a sequel per se, just many vignettes that take place in the same universe of my own imagining. This is one!

The ship lurched to a stop and he pushed back from the controls with a sigh. Rubbing his neck with his gloved hand, Luke Skywalker stumbled down the plank and stood wincing in the bright, afternoon sun. Calls of avian life echoed through the trees and horns blew in the distance, but the clearing was still.

A twig snapped and Luke pivoted towards the sound.

A figure emerged from the woods. Leia Organa, her cheeks flushed and lips pressed in a thin line, stamped towards him.

He sagged and let out a long breath.

'Leia,' he greeted her with a tired smile.

'Luke.'

She stood before him and looked him up and down not returning his smile. Her small hands squeezed his shoulders tightly and Luke felt himself drawing back.

'Luke,' she said again, her voice broke. He glanced down, not wanting to meet her eyes, shining with unshed tears.

'Leia, I-

She cut him off with a sharp slap.

His hand covered his cheek and he winced. He made no effort to stop her as she hit his shoulders and arms repeatedly.

'How… could …you… do that?' She demanded, between blows. 'How… could… you leave… me …after … agh!'

She turned away from him with a final cry and Luke's strength failed him. He sunk to his knees in the dirt.

'I'm sorry,' he said softly to the ground. 'I thought it was the right thing to do. I was… I was just trying to do what I thought was right.'

'Luke,' she replied, turning to face him. 'Just answer me one thing. Just… one thing: How long did you know?'

'How long did I-?'

'How long did you know, yes,' she repeated. 'How long did you know that you and I—and Vader—

She broke off.

'Leia,' Luke started.

'Years?' She asked. 'Did you know from the beginning? Is that why you rescued me before Yavin? How long, Luke? How long were you sitting in silence, knowing, who we are? Who Vader is?'

He opened his mouth and she ploughed ahead.

'You told me that you are my brother and that that monster, war-criminal, genocidal maniac is my father and then you leave? You leave on a suicide mission and tell me that if you don't come back, I have to pick up the pieces using some supernatural power I have inherited from my Sith-lord-biological-father? Are you completely insane?'

Her voice had reached a fevered pitch and her hands were shaking.

'Do you have any idea how long I have waited for you?'

Luke chanced a glance at her face. Her eyes had long since overflowed.

'I have loved you since the moment I met you. I have trusted you and followed you and felt like I was whole person…'

'Me too,' he whispered. Leia lowered herself to the ground and looked him in the eye.

'But I never knew where you fit. I never understood it. Then you told me and it all made sense. And then you were gone.'

Leia lowered her eyes, sniffling softly and he covered her hands with his.

'One week,' he spoke up.

'What?'

'I found out you were my sister one week before I told you.'

'How?' She asked, bewildered.

'I was… told when I went to visit Dagobah. '

'Yoda told you?'

Luke stared at their clasped hands, 'Yoda confirmed what Vader told me during our fight at Cloud City. That he is, was, my father. It was Ben who told me about you.'

'Ben Kenobi?'

Luke grimaced. 'I' m not crazy, Leia.'

'Of course not. I'm just… trying to understand.'

'I didn't tell you about Vader because it was my burden to bear. And, I was disgusted. I knew you would hate me. After all that he has done to you, to your people. I couldn't stand the thought of you seeing him when you looked at me.'

She squeezed his hands.

'And maybe I should have told you at Sullust. But I couldn't tell you one thing without the other, Leia. And I might never have…'

'Really?'

'I have been living with this secret for nearly a year. It has weighed me down. It changed who I am.'

'I've noticed.'

'I didn't want that for you.'

'But you did tell me.'

'When Vader landed, I realized my time was up. I had to face him, Leia. And you are right, I didn't think I was coming back. It was a horrible thing to do. I am so so sorry. I would say it was for the Alliance, but it wasn't.'

She searched his face questioningly.

'I just didn't want to be alone.'

Leia sighed softly and pulled him toward her. She pressed her mouth to crown of his head.

'You're never alone,' she muttered into his dirty hair. 'If you've been alone at all, it's because you have chosen it. Stop running away from me, Luke.'

He pulled back and looked at her.

'Are you going to hit me again?'

'Probably,' she admitted through a watery smile. 'But not today. You're a hero, you know. It wouldn't be good for morale.'

'I guess not,' he said. Luke broke away from their embrace and rocked to his feet. He held out a hand to his sister and pulled her from the ground.

'I am sorry, Leia.'

'I forgive you,' she said. 'But only because you are alive. If you had died, we would be having a very different conversation.'

Luke glanced at her sharply and she gave him a ghost of a grin.

'What happened up there, Luke?'

'I will tell you everything. I promise. But not now. There's something I have to do first.'

'Anything I can help with?'

He shook his head. 'Not sure that's a good idea.'

Leia nodded and looked back in the direction she had came.

'Will you be back to the base this evening? Wouldn't be much of a party without the guest of honour.'

'I'll be there,' he promised.

'And that's it, right?' Leia called to his retreating form. 'No more surprises? No more relations hiding in the Fleet?'

'Not that I know of,' Luke agreed.

She turned to go.

'But Leia,' he called after her. 'We are twins. I mentioned that, right?'

She shook her head, eyes wide.

'Well, we are,' he confirmed. 'That's the last surprise.'

'Promise?'

Luke shrugged helplessly.

'I'll see you this evening, Luke.'

She left the clearing feeling lighter than she had since she could remember.

'I have a twin brother,' she said to herself in amazement. She glanced back through the trees to Luke's ship, but he was nowhere to be seen.

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