Star Wars: The Alderaan Affair/Part XIX - When Love And Hate Collide

When Epin awoke a few hours later, he noticed it was still dark out. He blinked to get the sleepiness out of his eyes and being careful not to wake Leia, rolled her from his shoulder where she had fallen asleep. As he did so, she stirred slightly and mumbled something before curling up again under the blankets. Epin smiled as he contemplated what he and Leia had shared only hours ago, a small part of him still unbelieving. He sat and watched her sleep, wondering exactly what this meant for their friendship.

“Clearly the girl cares for you.” Came Kreia's voice.

“What the...?” Said Epin, startled as he saw her appear at the foot of the bed. “Did you, where you in here, you saw?”

“No, I did not.” Said Kreia, smirking. “I took my leave when you were pouring it on with that flower twirling routine.”

Epin raised his eyebrows. “Yeah well, how do you know we wouldn't be...”

“Dear boy.” Said Kreia, holding up her hand. “I was a living being once myself you know and I am well aware of the time frames involved in...well, I gave you sufficient time before returning.”

“So what did you come for?” Asked Epin. “I don't want to practice anything, I want to stay with her.”

“Well, you will surely have to leave her side at some point.” Said Kreia.

“You know what I mean.” Snapped Epin, laying down next to Leia and stroking her cheek with a finger. “You know, Leia is the only thing that makes being on this planet worthwhile. I might have left otherwise, but I've got some really good memories here, a real reason to care about my otherwise miserable life on this planet, it's not so bad with her around. She really seems to care about me doesn't she? More than I can say for my supposed family.”

“You ran from your family.” Said Kreia. “How do you know what they feel now?”

Epin put his hands behind his head as he lay back on the bed, contemplating what Kreia had asked. Quite honestly he didn't care what his family felt at this moment, he himself had moved on since then. Or had he? He still desired to bring down the mystery fighter and prove to himself and by extension, to his father that he wasn't a failure. But according to Leia, none of that even mattered to her, she had said so herself when asking if he cared more for what others thought rather than those that cared for him. Epin wondered what his mother felt about all of this. He hadn't seen her in years and wondered why she hadn't come looking for him. Maybe she didn't love him as much as he did her.

“Don't be certain you know all there is about the feelings of another.” Said Kreia, speaking softly from the shadows.

“What?” Epin said angrily, sitting up. “Listen, I don't need a lecture right now alright?”

“Would you like to know how your mother feels?” Asked Kreia. - “Ep?” Said Leia, as she awoke several hours later.

Epin was nowhere to be found, though she did find a slip of paper pinned to the back of the door. It was a note from Epin explaining he had gone to lunch with his mother and was trying to work things out with his family and he'd be gone sometime. Although Leia was disappointed Epin wasn't there for them to spend some time together, she was glad he was working out problems with his family. She smiled and continued gathering her things. -	One year later, Epin stood backstage at The Black Manka. He sat, waiting for his name to be called for his fight. While he had kept his hair somewhat long and tied back, he kept his face clean shaven. He felt nervous, almost like the first time he had fought all those years ago.

Epin stepped into the arena and heard the roar of the crowd. He felt the energy from them, this was his return to the spotlight after his defeat all those years ago. They were eager to see what he could do after an absence of three years. As Epin stepped into the are sectioned off for fights, the PA man came over the speakers.

“There he is folks!” The gravely voice said. “Alderaan's own, Epin Lanmaw, who had disappeared from the scene after a loss to the current club champion. The champion has since gone on to decimate every challenger within seconds of the start of a fight. There's no doubt that they are a skilled combatant. Lanmaw managed to last for a bit during their first meeting, let's see how well he does this rematch.”

The crowd roared again as the mystery fighter arrived in the arena, making their way to where Epin stood. He felt a slight coldness in his stomach, of the kind he had felt several years ago while at the lake with Leia. He put it out of his mind and focused on the task at hand. The fighter stopped and faced him as the PA announced the official start of the fight. Epin looked into the fighter's eyes and saw a burning anger and hatred there, as though they wished mortal injury upon him. He knew that this really wasn't anything to be surprised at, but all the same, he felt that it was unnatural in a way.

Epin began the fight by approaching cautiously, he wanted to end this as quickly as possible. He was wary that this opponent was as, if not more, skilled in using the same abilities that he was. The opponent made no indication that they were aware Epin was advancing, though when he took a swing, they knocked it to the side and returned with one of their own, which Epin dodged. Epin then snapped a kick at the opponent's leg, which they blocked by kicking with their own. He followed the kick up with a punch to the stomach, which connected, sending the opponent to the ground. He then went for a kick to the stomach as the opponent was kneeling, but it was blocked and held onto. Epin jumped slightly off the ground, bringing his other foot up and kicking the head of his opponent, which sent them to the ground.

Epin thought he might have knocked the opponent out, as they did not move after Epin had returned to his feet. The PA man was about to declare Epin the victor, but the opponent stirred, groaning and talking to themselves in a female voice. Narrowing his eyes, approached the opponent and cautiously knelt beside them. He looked into the eyes of his opponent, which were all that was visible and thought he recognized them. As Epin reached down to pull their mask off, Epin felt himself fly backwards, landing on his back.

“Look out folks!” Yelled the announcer, over screams and cheers. “The mystery man is still in this fight! It looks like Lanmaw may have tried to get out of the way a little too fast!”

Taken off guard by the force of the blast he had felt from his opponent, Epin landed hard and had to shake his head to clear it. But by that time, the opponent had charged in and landed a blow to his jaw, sending him reeling into the cage. He dodged to the side and grabbed for the the opponent's arm as they came in for a shot to his body. The opponent seemed to predict this move however, as they pulled away before Epin could get a grip on the arm and threw a punch at him with the other. Epin dodged this by ducking under and thrusting his shoulder into the opponent's chest, sending them backward. He went for a follow up punch, but this time he allowed his mind to go blank and at the last second he let loose with a hard frontal kick straight to the opponent's stomach, doubling them over. Epin moved in and raised his fists, clenching them together and brought them down into the back of the opponent's head, knocking them out.

“This could be it!” Yelled the announcer, as the crowd erupted in a mix of cheers and boos. “Lanmaw may have just become the new Manka champion.”

Epin let out a breath of relief and gazed down upon his fallen opponent, who looked out cold. He knelt down again and reaching for their mask, he grabbed a hold of the folds of cloth and pulled it from their head. As he pulled, long strawberry blonde hair was revealed, causing Epin to gasp and fall back. Epin hadn't seen her in almost four years, but he knew that this was his sister. What did this mean? Was she the one who had beaten him and broken his ankle?

“Oh my!” Said the PA man over the roars of the crowd. “Looks like we've indeed got a winner! And an identity on the mysterious fighter.” As he stood and thought about this, Epin was blasted onto his back. Raising his head, he saw his father entering the arena and blasting aside a Manka guard as he approached. Eyes widening with shock and surprise, his mind went wild trying to think of something he could do but nothing came. The crowd roared their displeasure at this and in response, Sadvo sent a blast of Force energy into the crowd, knocking them all back, panicking them and sending everyone running for the exit. This left Epin alone with his father and unconscious sister.

“Boy, I must admit you've done fairly well during these fights.” Sadvo said pleasantly. “You did quite well to beat your sister, who I've been training in the ancient Sith arts.”

“Sith huh.” Said Epin, getting to a seated position.

“You can be just as powerful as I am son.” Said Sadvo, grasping Epin with The Force and lifting him into the air. “Kill your sister and I will teach you to be a man!”

So this is what it came down to again. Be a man, fight to be a man, just fight, be aggressive. If that was the only thing that his fool father would respect, than that's exactly what Epin would give him. His father was lying about training Rena with Sith arts, because he didn't sense such energy from Sadvo or Rena as he had been trained to sense them by a Sith master. His master. Epin had finally opened the Holocron and inside he had found an ancient Sith named Darth Traya.

“You know dad...” Said Epin, starting to laugh. “All I ever wanted was to be accepted, and if what I'm about to do will accomplish that, I'm more than happy.”

Breaking free of his father's grasp, he instantly charged him, but stopped short at the last second and correctly interpreting his father's response of a side step, Epin was able to drive a hard punch into Sadvo's stomach, which winded him for a moment. Taking advantage of this, Epin kicked hard at the back of his father's knee, which would have seen him crumple to the ground if Epin hadn't prevented it by grabbing a handful of hair. His father's head drawn back, Epin spat onto his father's face before sending him to the ground with a punch. Sadvo swore as he felt the nose that had just been broken by his son. As he started to get to his feet, he was greeted by Epin's foot to his face.

“Eye for an eye dad.” Said Epin as he stepped on his father's neck and pressed down. “You choked the life out of my childhood and now I return the notion.” -	Epin made his way out of The Black Manka and was greeted by a voice that he hadn't heard in some time.

“Hey Ep.” Said Princess Leia. “It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?”

“Leia!?” Exclaimed Epin, jumping slightly as he turned to face her.

“I've missed you.” Said Leia, smiling. “Come take a walk with me.”

“Leia, where have you been?” Epin asked, squinting to see her in the relative dark of the alley.

“Oh, I uhm, went to Coruscant to do some stuff with my dad.” Said Leia.

“Really?” Said Epin, growing suspicious. “Talk around the city was that you were captured and...”

“Listen Ep.” Said Leia, taking his hand. “I've been away doing secret stuff for my dad, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, so he and I came up with a fake story.”

“You could have sent me a message or something you know.” Said Epin, allowing himself to be taken by the hand.

“I didn't even tell my dad what was going on during the mission.” Said Leia, squeezing his hand while leaning in to kiss him on the neck, which she accentuated by hovering her mouth close and breathing lightly. “Let's go catch up.”

Epin and Leia headed towards his room at The Weary Traveler, talking about the past and touching on Leia's absence and her involvement in galactic affairs while on Coruscant. Epin wasn't sure why, but he couldn't help but believe her, after all, the two had been close friends for quite a while, why would she lie? Arriving at his room, they entered and as Epin closed the door, Leia pressed up against his back.

“You know Ep.” Said Leia, beginning to rub Epin's shoulders. “It's been such a long time since we've seen each other, why don't we lay down and enjoy each others company.”

Leia removed his cloak, rubbing his neck and back while leading him over to the bed. Epin still noticed the faint tingling of cold in his stomach, but couldn't pull himself out of the moment as Leia started to kiss his neck. She pulled him down next to her and moved on top of him. Moaning softly as she leaned in to kiss him, Leia moved her hands up his arms slowly and interlocked her fingers with his when their hands met. -	Bail Organa stood in the tallest tower of his palace, watching a truly spectacular and yet, frightening sight. A solar eclipse was about to take place, but the next one wasn't supposed to occur at this location. He was quite certain what the object was that was causing it, but not the reason for its appearance at his planet. How could it be here? All of his information told him that it should be beyond the outer rim, in almost intergalactic space. Unless he had been given false information or the thing was more capable than anyone realized. There was a third way, but it was almost too terrifying to fathom. He had to evacuate, but how could he possibly alert the entire planet and safely move everyone off? It was an impossible feat at this point, he knew there would be no way to do it, even if he did manage to convince the entire population to do so. He leaned against the edge of the tower window and gripped it firmly, knowing what awaited. He would not die in vain, he would send his final message and also make sure he said what needed to be said. -	Epin was on top of Leia now, though the circumstances were not exactly what he would have preferred. She had attempted to pierce his heart with the blade of a lightsaber, which now lay on the bed, a smoking hole in the sheets, a reminder of its contact with the bed. Epin had reacted to a flash in his mind of being hit with the weapon and had rolled the two of them off the bed as the weapon came plunging down. The weapon had come close to shearing off his arm as they tumbled off and although it did make contact with his back, it only seared the surface of his skin.

“Leia what are you doing!?” He yelled at her, trying to keep her pinned to the floor.

“Finishing my mission.” She said angrily, struggling against his weight. “I must remove that which I hold dear in order to advance.”

“What?” Said Epin, raising his eyebrows. “What are you talking about? What mission, I thought the mission your dad sent you on was over.”

“Oh no.” Said Leia, with a slight laugh. “In fact, my mission is you, and my father's waiting for me back on Coruscant. As soon as I'm back on board the station, I'll send him a transmission.”

“I still don't get it.” Epin said. “Why wouldn't he be here on the planet? What station?”

“You never came for me Epin.” She said after a pause. “You didn't try to rescue me.”

“From what?” He asked, looking her directly in the eye. “I told you I had no idea where you were!”

“I waited for you to come back when I woke up.” She said. “But you had gone off somewhere.”

“You're not making any sense.” Said Epin. “When you woke up where, when!?”

“You left me!” Leia screamed, finally breaking free and hitting him with a punch that sent him to the side and giving her a chance to push him off completely. “I gave myself to you and you abandoned me!”

Epin suddenly realized what she was talking about as he got to a knee. His room at The Weary Traveler when they had consummated their relationship. He had never returned in time to see her, though never imagined she had any issue with it. Why hadn't she left a message for him with someone or sent a transmission over holo? What had gotten into her in the year since?

“Leia, I had to get answers to questions I've had for a long time.” Epin said as she launched herself at him, sending them both to the floor again.

“You took what you wanted and tossed me aside.” She cried, as they rolled around and she attempted to grab his throat. “I missed you so much!”

“You're doing a great job of showing it!” Epin grunted, grabbing at her wrist, trying to get it under control.

“Well Ep...” Said Leia, as she got the upper hand, sitting on top of him. “It looks like I'm the one on top in this relationship.”

“Yeah well, I'm not really in the mood right now.” Said Epin, attempting to toss her off.

“Oh come on Eppy.” Leia said seductively, licking his ear then sitting up, arching her back and grinding her hips into him. “I know how badly you wanted to get me into bed when we were kids, you must be aching for me after so long.”

Epin managed to throw her off and get to his feet, though it was a short respite, as Leia came immediately charging at him, picking him up and attempting to slam his back into the door. However, before he hit the door, Epin flicked his hand at the open button and they fell into the street. They struggled and faced each other, both on their feet and ready for a fight. Taking the first shot, Leia connected with a punch to Epin's face, sending him stumbling back. Raising his eyebrows, he brought himself to the realization that this fight was going to happen. Gathering himself and taking a shot, Epin's fist collided with Leia's open palm, which closed and twisted, bringing him to a knee, followed by her bringing a knee to his face. Falling back, Epin's fist remained in Leia's closed hand and trying to break Epin's arm, she began bending it back at the elbow. Grabbing his wrist with his other hand and pulling to prevent Leia from doing what she was attempting to do, he shifted his body so he was able to kick one of her legs and knock her off balance. She stumbled and reaching up, Epin grabbed her head under his arm and wrapped his legs around her middle as he lay back on the ground, trapping her in a headlock.

“What's the point of this!” Epin demanded. “What will you accomplish?”

“Let go of me.” She yelled. “I'm The Princess!”

Several people had now stopped to watch the fight and were shocked to see Princess Leia suddenly appearing after such a long absence. Some said perhaps she had escaped and this thug had tried to recapture her. Some yelled for Epin to release her, while others cried out in anger at him. Some even called for the police, though no help came.

Suddenly, Epin felt a searing pain on his back and cried out as he felt skin part company with his body. Releasing Leia, she came away with a small strip of his burned flesh, having dug her nails into his back and tore away the burned and dead skin. Epin felt his back and felt wetness, no doubt blood was flowing from the now opened wound. Leia tossed the strip aside and laughed.

“Well Ep, you always did go to pieces when I was around.” She scoffed.

“I still don't know why you want to do this.” Epin said, wincing as he felt the gash in his back again. “I always treated you like, well, a princess.”

Epin was blasted backwards by a surge of Force energy that Leia sent at him in response to his statement. Landing sprawled on his back, Epin took a second to register exactly what had just occurred. He had been hit with the same energy he had been training with for years and while he had been hit with them before, none felt quite like this. He felt like someone had hit him in the chest with a large hammer and coughed a few times, catching his breath. An uncomfortable realization came to him as he saw Leia leap into the air, she was like him, and she knew how to use these abilities in a much more effective manner.

Epin rolled away at the sight of Leia coming down on him and she too, shifted to allow herself to land safely. Upon landing Epin loosed a straight punch to Leia's upper chest, which connected, causing her to gasp and take a deep breath to get air back into her lungs. Seeing an advantage, Epin grabbed Leia's arm and flipped her onto her back, following with a chop to her throat, which she blocked. Kicking his hand away, she rolled to the side and used The Force to push him away.

“Leia, stop!” Epin yelled as he came to a stop after tumbling down the road and getting to a knee. “What the kriff is the matter with you!”

“You're the matter!” Said Leia, landing a kick straight to Epin's face. “You've been nothing but a hindrance to me and must now be removed.”

“A hindrance!?” Epin said, spitting out a tooth and blood. “When did I ever stop you from doing anything?”

“He told me you're stopping me from reaching my full potential!” Cried Leia. “You held me back, you never cared for me, you're just like every other boy I've ever met! Just wanted me because I was a princess!”

“Who told you?!” Epin yelled, blocking another kick by grabbing Leia's foot and twisting it so she was forced to spin.

Leia fell onto the ground and Epin scrambled onto her back, pressing her head to the ground and trying to hold her down. She struggled and tried to elbow him off but Epin wrapped an arm around her throat, attempting to put her to sleep with a choke. To his amazement, Leia grabbed his legs behind the knees and lifted herself up, with him on her back. Holding him with one arm, she grabbed his hair with the other and flipped him over her head and down onto his back. Epin felt the breath being knocked out of him as he hit the stone pavement. Leia brought her foot down hard, but had hit next to Epin's head.

“I can end you at anytime, my dear.” Said Leia in a mocking tone, pretending to be checking her nails.

Epin knew she was more powerful in The Force than he was, he knew it the moment he was struck with the wave of energy earlier. He was the better fighter and stronger physically, sure, but with The Force, such advantages could be negated. This fight could last a while. The only sensible option would be to run. But then, she had found him once and would surely pursue him if his death meant this much to her.

Alderaan Affair

Part XVIII - Part XX