Star Wars-Princess Leia/Xizor

Leia woke up early. Through the windows of the palace she was sleeping in, she saw the dawn of a new morning, the sky pasted in pastels of blue and pink with the birds singing loudly. A fairybook scene she would have liked as a girl, and even now as a woman it made something in her smile. Even as she knew aboard this skyhook that it was all fake. Another fruit of his privilege, she wondered if he had chosen to emulate Alderaan’s scenery before her.

The small excuse for a wedding dress that had made her feel too nude the whole ceremony was lying on the floor alongside his regal groom wear. Here alone with her thoughts, for once she was tempted with possibility. She had only agreed to this decision, this arrangement, purely for the sake of advantage, she needed his power. But now naked and in his bed, the past night’s events still marked on her and the mesmerizing scene still playing out before her, she had to honestly ponder to herself. Had she truly made the wrong decision?

For once she did not feel the overpowering shame that had come over her in the wake of one of their trysts. Instead alone with him not as a woman of the alliance but having accomplished one step of her victory over the empire with him, she was made to look at the road before her. He was lying next to her just as naked as she was, the proof of their nuptial celebrations only hours before. Fresh memories of last night were active in her mind, he had driven her mad with his power as he had so many times before, bringing her to satisfaction long before they lay exhausted together.

Yet Han was fresh in her mind. She remembered the agony on his face as she left with Xizor to go to the second Death Star. The smuggler who had stolen her heart, he couldn’t have begun to understand her betrayal. Why she had given into the Falleen prince so easily time and time again was something that perplexed her every time after and only then with him shackled as a prisoner of the alliance as he tried to tempt her once again did she finally understand what he had been doing to her. Only then did she make her choice to use his imperial ties to destroy the empire and rescue Luke in the clutches of the dark side.

Leia remembered how happy she had been to have Han forgive her. On the eve of what seemed like certain death in the Death Star’s power, everything seemed right again. To spend one final night in his arms before she embarked on this plan. She never wanted him to see her leaving with Xizor after she freed him, a prisoner of the alliance, their so-called benefactor having been an ally with the empire all this time, the man who had played the smuggler like a fool and taken his woman, totally unaware of how things had really been. As far as she was concerned, she was going on a death run.

And still she lived. Luke was freed, and the imperial armada suffered a horrific blow. She had used all her power in the force not just to kill Palpatine but to banish him from the galaxy forever. For all of Sidious’ machinations to rule forever as the final Dark Lord and the apex of the Sith line, he was now just another spirit condemned to wander in chaos like all who came before him. The alliance must have been celebrating.

But now another Dark Lord ruled the Galactic Empire. Vader’s cruelty in the imperial age must have made everyone’s thoughts of fear no matter what planet they hailed from instantly hear his cold breaths. Once a pathetic dog leashed by Palpatine’s perverse cruelties, how hungry this beast of prey would prove to be. Denied his son and daughter and without a Death Star to enforce his imperial regime, what terrors would he personally unleash upon the galaxy?

Leia didn’t have long to ponder that. She felt the man lying beside her beginning to stir. He hadn’t even begun to move yet, but she sensed it as a gift from the traces of the force she still had. He brushed his fingers on his naked back, making her quiver before she realized it.

He kissed her cheek and blew a stream of air on her earlobe. Naked next to him, just something so simple made her shiver. Closer, his lips whispered into her ear, “Good morning Leia.”

Whatever ambivalent thoughts she had were arrested on the spot. She had made this arrangement on political grounds and wrestled with her doubts in the morning after. But now she would have to answer him.

Leia turned over to look at him. Xizor was handsome as ever, and naked next to her in a bed that was even more evident. Whatever misgivings she had about him, how he had taken advantage of her, used her without her knowing of his power, were nothing compared to his natural good looks, he could pass for near human and his slitted eyes and reptilian traits made him look even more exotic. Naked next to her just as nude, she found herself staring at more of him than she liked.