Хан, Лея и Бен-младенец“Never imagined this,” Han had murmured, sitting up in their bed late at night, Ben’s tiny head resting in the crook of his father’s arm. “Having a kid. Even wanting a kid. But now he’s here, and—”
“And you’re a dad.” Leia had leaned closer, unable to resist the chance to tease her husband. “Just think, hotshot. Someday you might even be a granddad.”
Han’s chuckle had warmed her. “Speak for yourself, sweetheart. Me, I ain’t ever getting that old.”*
Хорошо поясняется, почему люди, почти не заставшие Империю, грезят о ее возрождении“Terrorist tactics?”
Casterfo stopped mid-pace; the two of them now stood in the heart of one of the long, dark tunnels, the wind rippling their robes and chilling Leia to the bone. He said, “Destroying the Death Stars, for a death toll of nearly one and a half million people, the vast majority of whom were low-level Imperial officers or even civilian workers? The slaughter on Noult after the rebels had left, and the planet was discovered to have housed a secret base? Or what about the rebel assault on Vivonah? Or the campaigns of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans? Can you condone that?”
“We did what had to be done.” Leia’s voice shook. “We went up against a power so much greater than ours, whose tactics were so much bloodier. Can you imagine what would have happened if the Death Stars had remained operational? What act of terror could be more horrible than what happened to Alderaan? Have you forgotten that? I was there. I saw it happen, stood there watching while they destroyed my world, my home, everyone I had ever loved—”
By now Casterfo’s face had paled; he’d gone too far and he knew it.
But Leia could take no pleasure in seeing Casterfo’s dismay. The death of Alderaan had never left her, but it had been so long since she’d spoken of it. So very long. A few words, and suddenly she was back there—the sick ozone smell of the Death Star’s recirculated air thick in her nostrils, Tarkin’s chilly smile as thin as a knife’s blade, and clamped around one of her shoulders the armored hand of Darth Vader—
—her father—
“You understand nothing.” Leia had to force the words out. “Less than nothing.”
“I had not intended to—the destruction of Alderaan was of course terrible—I meant—” Casterfo held out a hand as if to soothe her. If he actually touched her, Leia would not be held responsible for her actions.
He didn’t, so she lashed back with words instead. “You get to daydream about a glorious Empire because you grew up in the freedom and safety we bought for you. The price wasn’t cheap, Casterfo. It was paid in lives and years and suffering and terror, none of which a spoiled brat could possibly comprehend, because you’ve never had to fight for what you really believe in.”*
Печаль по Альдераануt was lost in the tide of memories of Alderaan.
The Cloudshape Falls with their great billowing spray that seemed like a cloud come to nest on the river. Bail Organa’s ringing laugh. The white-winged birds that flew in an X-formation, always westward, circling the planet once a year so that different regions marked their seasons by the birds’ appearance. A bedroom high in a castle tower, surprisingly simple for a royal residence, where Leia had dreamed and dozed and kept her most beloved possessions in a keepsake chest, in the belief that she could then have them with her forever and ever.
As the door to her quarters slid shut behind her, Leia leaned heavily against the wall. She closed her eyes and kept back the tears. It had been a very long time since she’d allowed herself to cry for Alderaan or the people she had lost there. She’d told herself she would never cry about it again; this promise had seen her through many years. But it never got any easier to keep.*
Это... кхм. Любители тройничков оценятHan had dedicated himself to Luke in the days after the first Death Star’s destruction. Leia had watched as Luke slowly overcame his grief for Obi-Wan Kenobi and his aunt and uncle, while learning about gunnery, ship repair, and countless other things from Han. The sarcasm and wit Han used disguised his concern from Luke, and even Leia took a while to realize that Han was looking out for her, too.
*
Разговоры Леи с Ханом убийственно-печальны. Хочется обнять обоих и рассказать, что в другой Вселенной они и правда путешествовали вместе “This?” Han shrugged as if it were nothing, but already he’d begun to smile again. “Actually, thought I might soup this baby up before I take her out again. Give her a little fighting power, and see how far I can push the engines. She’s a good ship—fast, handles well—but she needs that little something extra.”
Han had said virtually the same thing about every ship he’d flown since the Millennium Falcon. He kept hoping to re-create that magic. But Leia knew he never would, no matter how much speed or maneuverability any other spacecraft might have. Some loves came only once in a lifetime.
*
“Han? I’m sorry about the campaign. I really wanted something different for us.” She thought of her daydreams about the two of them flying through the galaxy together, carefree at last. Already those dreams were fading to shadows. “But nothing ever changes.”
“Hey.” Han looked up from his work, more solemn than he’d been at any other point in the conversation. “Don’t apologize to me for taking this seriously, okay? You put duty first. Drives me crazy sometimes, but that’s who you are. It’s also probably why the New Republic is still in one piece.”
Leia couldn’t quite smile. “Someday.”
“Someday.”
The words sounded like a promise. But Leia couldn’t make herself believe that day would ever really come…and she knew Han couldn’t, either. Про ненависть к папке Вейдеру. Кому как, а мне вот совершенно не хочется винить Лею за то, что она его не простила. Стал он снова Энакином перед смертью или не стал, она об этих событиях знает только из пересказа Люка, а пытки и уничтоженный Альдераан от этого менее значительными событиями и вовсе не становятся. Люк и Оби-Ван святые, прощать любые прежние грехи за один хороший поступок в настоящем, а Лея просто обычный здравомыслящий человек и с чего ей Вейдера любить? Не с чего совершенно“Then he brought me to witness Alderaan’s destruction. Vader’s hand gripped my shoulder just after I watched my planet die. He made me suffer in every way a human being can suffer, all for the love of the Emperor.”
Casterfo slipped his arm from under her hand—she had gone utterly motionless—and grasped her fingers in his. As old as she was, as cynical as she’d become, Leia would never have guessed that such a gesture could still move her, but it did.
“I hated him so much,” she whispered. The breeze blew past them, rustling the blueblossom trees within the hanging gardens. It was as if they were helping to hide her painful words. “Sometimes I felt as if the only thing that kept me going in the aftermath of Alderaan was the strength of my hatred for Vader.”
For my father.
As always when Leia thought about this, she called upon what Luke had told her of their father’s last hours. He had renounced darkness, saved Luke, and become Anakin Skywalker again. Whenever Luke told the story, a beatific smile lit up his face; his memories of that event gave him a level of comfort and even joy that sustained him. Those were memories Leia couldn’t share.
@темы:
любите книги. пусть это старомодно, но всегда взаимно.,
может сила и пребудет с тобой (но особо не рассчитывай)
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31.05.2016 в 11:43При том, что в новом каноне им с отцом конфликт все углубляют и углубляют. Но и Энакина жалко - Император на него ЗС повесил, Лея Альдераан - воистину избран, чтобы огребать(
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31.05.2016 в 11:54да уж(
Энакина оч жаль, но с другой стороны после того, что он натворил во время МС и далее, огребает вполне заслуженно.
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31.05.2016 в 16:03Как его еще больше углубить можно?
На самом деле одно из самых печальных , что Лея по настоящему похожа на Энакина. Как ее это пугать должно было то .
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31.05.2016 в 20:43