Vader had seemed perfectly docile when the Millennium Falcon departed Coruscant, but once they landed in the private space dock of Gentle Falls Halcyon Center he'd begun to get that cagey, unstable look in his eye. It was a look Leia knew well, even if Luke protested that their father was merely "alert".

"This isn't necessary," he said, aiming for humor and missing by more than a parsec, "we could go elsewhere…"

"No we can't," she snapped, even before Luke could get one of his soothing sermons in. "We've got rooms booked for the three of us- sorry Han—and they're paid for with New Republic credits, and I am here to ensure they do not go to waste!"

That wasn't exactly true- before they'd left, Mon Mothma had given her a serious lecture about allowing her personal life to go unattended to in favor of her political career. Leia had largely ignored it, with the exception of Mon's dire warning that if Leia didn't 'sort out her issues' (issues! Whatever Mon thought those were) that she would enter the paper work herself calling for a new senator for New Alderaan.

So here she was, stuck between a madman- two, if you counted her brother- and Gentle Falls, with her political career lying somewhere on the other side.

Well, here goes nothing

"Are you ready?" Leia asked, looking squarely at Va—Anakin, he insists on being called Anakin, she thought, and tried to ignore what looked like a faint sense of approval on Luke's face. Her (biological!) father snorted, and his cagey look turned defiant.

At least defiance is something I know how to deal with.

When they reached the end of the landing ramp, there was only a single human woman waiting for them. Leia had expected least four burly orderlies.

"Welcome", the woman said, opening her hands as if to include all of them in her greeting. "My name is Suu T'sung. I'm going to be guiding Mr. Skywalker during his stay with us."

Leia and her fa- Anakin heaved almost identical, weary sighs at the word 'guiding', and she smirked at Luke's glare- please Leia, pretend if you have to!- before turning back to Suu.

"I am a doctor of mental health," she said, in the same soft tone of voice she'd used before. "I'd like to show you your accommodations, before we get started. Is that ok with you, Mr. Skywalker…?"

Anakin was clearly startled, but waved his hand, almost on instinct- 'show me what you must, underling', it seemed to say. Leia scowled as their tour began, studying the good doctor. She was short, for an average human- even shorter than Luke and Leia- with long black hair secured in a nerf tail and with a warm cast to her skin. Her eyes were dark and friendly, with a slight fold at the edges. Even though she had no reason to, Leia distrusted her out of instinct.

"You'll be staying in this suite," Dr. T'sung gestured, and the doors opened at her command. "I hope you find it suitable."

Luke, who was still a farmboy at heart, even after becoming the last Jedi Master, gawped openly at the delicate fixtures and artwork adorning his temporary home. The ceilings were tall and the walls were a warm, creamy yellow. A soft breeze flitted in through an open window, stirring the gauzy white curtains. Anakin, of course, took his time examining every nook and cranny- prodding suspicious gaps and spaces.

"It's wonderful," Luke breathed, even as his father declared it was only 'sufficient'. Leia rolled her eyes at both of them, but the good doctor seemed nonplussed. Leia gazed out the window, wondering if there was some way to covertly slip out or send Han a brief holo message, when something outside the window caught her eye. Frowning, she noticed the rolling green landscape of the Lake Country was marred by large, lethal-looking spires, releasing a crackle of electricity that arced between them every so often.

"Those are newer additions," Dr. T'sung commented, following Leia's gaze. "To ensure all our guests are welcomed guests."

And to keep those 'welcomed guests' right where they are, Leia thought, grimly. Good.

"Once you've settled in, I'd like to begin right away," the doctor called after them.

Dr. T'sung had lead them to a similarly airy and inviting room, this one with a myriad of comfortable sofas arranged opposite an elegant straight backed chair. A table sat between them, and a small indoor fountain trickled incessantly. Leia suppressed the urge to turn and run yet again. Instead, she took a seat at the far end of the couch, next to her brother (who, despite his exalted rank, immediately sank into the soft cushions and sprawled like a teenager). Anakin had a couch all to himself, but sat ramrod straight with his knees slightly splayed- Luke had worriedly confided in her that Anakin's prosthetics sometimes gave him trouble.

"Welcome, again," Dr. T'sung started, warmly, as she ruffled through a few sheets of flimsi. "Mr. Skywalker…while you are here, may I call you Anakin?"

Anakin grunted in the affirmative, looking somewhere off to the doctor's right.

"Thank you," she replied warmly. "Today I'm just going to ask you a few questions, just so we can get to know one another better." Anakin nodded curtly.

"Do you know why you were recommended to me?"

Anakin's lips curled in a sneer. "I embarrassed the weak-willed New Republic bureaucracy, and this is both a convenient way for them to rid themselves of me and slander my name."

Leia resisted the urge to slap a hand to her forehead, and Luke reached out with a plaintive "Father—" but was cut off by Dr. T'sung.

"And why do you think that, Anakin?" she asked, totally unruffled, pausing only to make a brief note on her flimsy.

Even Anakin looked taken aback at her easy, gentle tone. It's been so long since me or Luke- or anyone -indulged his childishness, Leia thought, impressed. Who knew it was the way to shut him up?

"I-"The former Sith lord was at a loss for a moment, struggling to convey what was obviously true. "I wouldn't play the role of Senate bureaucrat. I wouldn't stand for the lies and half-truths surrounding my- past, ah…" he trailed off. "It's easier for them to say I'm a madman than accept that the Galaxy will fall into corruption and ruin again without firm guidance."

"And you believe that?" T'sung asked, gently. Leia felt her dislike of the woman melt into something closer to admiration. She hadn't so much as twitched at Anakin's outrageous lies.

"Obviously!" the former Sith sneered. "Are you too blind to see it?"

"Anakin!" Leia shouted, even more appalled than usual. Dr. T'sung gave Leia a gentle smile, waving her hand to as if to say it's perfectly alright, this is to be expected, and went on without missing a beat.

"I guess I am. Do you often perceive threats or plots against you when other people don't?"

Anakin's eyes lit up. "Yes. Danger lurks everywhere. The Galaxy howls for my blood, my children's blood, and—"

She held up a hand. "That's not quite what I meant. What I'm really asking is…how often to you experience bouts of intense paranoid feelings?"

It took every ounce of political training to keep Leia's jaw from dropping. Luke looked like he'd received a mighty blow to the back of the head.

Here it comes-

"Paranoid!" Anakin roared, surging to his feet. "I see you too, have revealed yourself to be a tool of the Senate! Of corruption! Do you dare to tell me the threat of- the Dark Side, the Empire, assassins, whatever force you choose, is not constantly around us? I can sense it, I can—and have!- seen far behind anything your mind could comprehend…"

"Anakin," the doctor said, taking advantage of a trailing off in his tirade. "I only meant that it doesn't have to be normal for you- you don't have to be afraid all the time."

Leia was mystified. For all intents and purposes, this woman didn't fear death by strangulation- in fact; she was sympathetic to the man heaping abuse on her.

It doesn't matter what we're paying her. It's obviously not enough.

"You think I know fear?" Anakin hissed, leaning in so that his half-mask was inches from the doctor's face, "I am beyond fear. To the rest of the Galaxy, I am fear."

Dr. T'sung gave him a passive, neutral smile, before asking "Is that why you felt the need to wear full battle armor to a recovery center?"

Anakin could only stare at her, head cocked to the side like a baffled nek puppy. Stunned and unsure of what to do, he fell back onto the couch with a heavy thud.

"The suit and I are one, a single entity" he muttered, looking somewhere beyond Dr. T'sung's head once again. "It cannot be removed, ever." She studied him for a moment, almost imperceptibly sad, before scribbling down more notes on her flimsi.

"Uh," Luke looked unsure, his hand half-raised, as if this were a classroom. "That isn't actually the way it sounded." He flushed when the doctor's full attention hell on him.

"Father's life support system is integrated into his armor. Without it he'll die."

"Oh," the doctor said, bobbing her head in thanks, while Anakin hissed "how is that not what I said?"

Dr. T'sung chose to ignore that question, pressing on. "Have you had your life support systems upgraded recently?" The silence that stretched between them made Leia itch. "Or…ever?"

"I regularly perform…maintenance," Anakin said, forcing the word out between gritted teeth.

Leia blinked. Luke lived much more closely with their father than she did, he would have been privy to whatever 'maintenance' entailed. She knew, and had known since she was a child, that Darth Vader relied on a life support system for mysterious injuries acquired in the service of the Empire…but for some reason it had never occurred to her that that would cause him problems. Vader was just…invincible. Impossible. Couldn't be killed by the whole of the Rebel Alliance, certainly couldn't be brought down by something as mundane as a short in his respirator. Her mind drifted back to the eerie sounds of mechanical breathing that haunted nightmares across the Galaxy. She'd never thought of it as anything other than an effect, a tool of psychological warfare, not some kind of…weakness .

Leia was startled from her musings by Dr. T'sung's gentle suggestion: "We have extensive medical facilities here at the Halcyon center, including a renowned surgical center. Would you be interested in having a cursory…?"

"No," Vader cut her off, firmly. "No. Not interested. Not feasible."

Leia expected the doctor to press the issue, but she only nodded. "Alright, then. In that case, would you like to take a short break? We've covered a fair amount of ground, and I'd like to speak to Luke and Leia."

Vader narrowed his eyes, clearly torn between the chance for freedom and the knowledge that there would be conspiring occurring once he left. Freedom won out, and Vader turned and stalked out of the room, where and orderly appeared from nowhere to 'escort' him back to his suite. Leia couldn't see the expression on his face, but she felt the wave of barely constrained fury left behind in his wake.

"Well!" the doctor went on, with good humor, "I was told your father was a very…forceful man, but that was quite a lot for such a short setting." She turned to look each one of them directly in the eyes. "I want you to know that my services are also available to both of you, should you ever require them. I will be available to you when I am not with your father."

Luke flushed and looked distinctly uncomfortable, while Leia felt a strange empathy with her father—she was not the ex-Sith madman, and she was a little insulted at Dr. T'sung's calm offer. If she bristled visibly, neither Luke nor the doctor took notice.

"It's fairly clear to me that your father's physical pain is deeply entwined with his psychological pain," the doctor said, carefully, and Leia did purse her lips. She deeply admired this woman who navigated Anakin's tantrums and rages without even raising her voice, but now she just sounded like a holodrama character. "I would like to have an opportunity to work with a medical team in discovering the root of the damage and seeing what can be relieved, or even repaired. Is there some reason other than sentiment that keeps him in pre-Clone Wars technology…?"

Leia exchanged a bewildered glance with her twin. The dark armor and skull-like mask of Darth Vader wasn't pre- or post- anything in her mind. It just…was.

"We've never really considered it," Luke admitted, thoroughly chagrined. "It's a sensitive subject for Father, and we just…" he shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. Dr. T'sung leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on Luke's knee.

"You've undertaken a lot of responsibility, both for the New Republic and for your father," she said, soothingly. "It's completely understandable that you wouldn't have thought to respond to a need your father couldn't articulate."

Leia wanted to roll her eyes, but the waves of reassured calm emanating from her brother stopped her. If it makes Luke happy… she thought, fondly.

"Let me give you some time to unpack your things," Dr. T'sung said, rising to her feet and collecting her notes, "And settle in for the evening. I'll arrange for a checkup with a medical facility, if that's alright with you…?"

Leia nodded, but Luke frowned. "Shouldn't you be asking Father this?"

Dr T'sung's face was unreadable for a moment. She took a slow breath before dropping a bombshell.

"As outlined in the agreements you signed, you are Anakin Skywalker's legal guardian until such time as he can be released on his own recognizance. All medical decisions are deferred to you until your father has been cleared to make decisions regarding his own welfare."

Luke looked horrified, and Leia felt numb. Dr. T'sung watched them both with concern.

"You…you usually read legal contracts before signing them, don't you?"