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On nights when she couldn’t sleep, Leia Organa walked the frozen halls of Echo Base. She could walk through the entire base in just under an hour when no one else was around to impede her path. Because things had been particularly stressful lately, Leia found herself roaming the halls late at night more and more.
Not only were things extremely dire for the rebellion at the moment, things were also tense in her personal life. Three days ago, Han Solo had left on a weeklong mission, but before he did, he and Leia had a lovely dinner aboard the Millennium Falcon…that ended in a disastrous shouting match. The fight had quickly become the hottest piece of gossip among the younger rebels on the base. Leia had been mortified and had even been given a talking to by her long-time family friend General Rieekan. He had told her that if she and Captain Solo were going to fight, they needed to find a way to do it that wouldn’t distract the whole base.
On this night, as Leia paced the halls, she ran through possible apologies to Han in her head. Initially, the fight hadn’t really been her fault, but she had egged Han on until it escalated out of control.
When Han got back to the base, Leia planned to head over to his ship and perhaps say… “Han, I’m sorry for what happened last week. As a leader of this rebellion, I have a responsibility to be more mature, and my behavior was not reflective of mature leadership.”
No. That sounded so formal. As she began to formulate another apology, Leia turned a corner—a particular chilly corner—and wrapped her arms around her body.
Maybe, she should leave that part about mature leadership out of the apology. Would that sound better?
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out her name.
“Princess Leia?”
Leia turned around and saw General Hera Syndulla walking toward her from another corridor.
“Good evening, General Syndulla,” Leia greeted, stopping so that the general could catch up.
When Hera Syndulla reached Leia, she smiled tenderly. “How many times have I asked you to just call me Hera?”
“Probably the same number of times I’ve asked you to just call me Leia.” Leia responded, her lips quirking up into an amused smile.
Hera laughed and dipped her head in concession. “Fair enough. What are you doing up? Is everything okay?”
Leia nodded. “I walk around sometimes when I can’t sleep. I’ve been having hard time turning my mind off.”
“I understand. I’m sure it must be incredibly difficult to clear your mind in hectic times like these.”
“It is,” Leia agreed. “How do you do it? You’ve been at this longer than I have. How do you turn your mind off at night?”
“Let’s keep walking,” Hera said. “Let’s walk a little and talk. And then I’ll tell you.”
Leia looked at Hera curiously for a moment before responding. “Okay.”
The two women walked for a few dozen steps in silence, and then Hera spoke.
“Do you mind telling me what’s on your mind?”
“No,” Leia replied. “It’s just a lot. It’s worry over the rebellion as well as anxiety over personal stuff.”
“Well, let’s start with the rebellion. What exactly are you worried about?”
Leia looked at Hera as if she was crazy. “What isn’t there to worry about? I’m constantly wondering if I’m doing the right thing by sending people into these battles to die. I’m always afraid that at any moment the Empire could show up and obliterate our rebellion.”
Hera nodded thoughtfully and didn’t respond immediately. They walked without speaking for a few moments, and Leia wondered if she had stumped Hera.
Finally, Hera spoke. “The most important thing to remember about this rebellion is that everyone here chose to be here. This isn’t the Empire; people are not manipulated or coerced into serving. Our rebels fight because they want to see the Empire overthrown. They want to see a better galaxy.”
“But the Empire could crush us at any moment!”
“Let me tell you what I learned from all my years fighting the Empire: as long as there’s oppression, there will be good people to resist it. Remember, when I started fighting, we didn’t have a full-fledged rebel alliance. It was just a bunch of people scattered throughout the galaxy trying to stick it to the Empire while also helping those in need. If, Force forbid, the Empire shows up tomorrow, kills us all, and annihilates our rebellion, I am confident that another rebellion would form somewhere else. New rebel cells would spring up to fight in our place.”
Leia had never thought about that before, and she found it strangely comforting. She wasn’t particularly worried about her own death; instead, she feared the death of the rebellion. But Hera was right. The galaxy was massive, and there would always be people there to stand against the Empire’s iron fist.
“That actually makes me feel a little better,” Leia told the general.
“It should,” Hera replied kindly. “I mean it.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, princess. But now—can I ask about your worries in your personal life?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard.”
“About your fight with Captain Solo?” Hera asked, glancing over at Leia as they walked.
Leia let out a humorless laugh. “Yes.”
“I’ve heard some things.”
“We got into a fight, and it was stupid,” Leia said, rolling her eyes at the memory. “He invited me over to his ship for dinner—“
“Like a date?” Hera inquired with a twinkle in her eye.
Leia blushed. “I think so, yeah. Things started out really nice, but then we got into a screaming match. And this wasn’t our first fight. We argue all the time. I just don’t get it.”
“Well, Captain Solo is definitely a piece of work,” Hera commented knowingly. Then she added, “And so are you, princess.”
“What do you mean?” Leia asked, as they turned a frosty corridor.
“You’ve both got strong personalities,” Hera answered simply.
“I guess.”
Hera chuckled. “I’ve found the best rebels are the ones with the forceful personalities. We know how to get stuff done.”
“Yes, maybe it makes us good rebels, but what about how it affects my personal life? I mean, am I even allowed to have a personal life?”
With more force than Leia expected, Hera grabbed Leia’s arm to stop her in her tracks.
“Yes!” she responded passionately. “Yes, you are absolutely allowed to have a personal life. The rebellion is important, of course. You may even believe the rebellion comes first; that’s fine. But please don’t think for a moment that you can’t live and love at the same time.”
Hera’s eyes were almost wild now and she was gesticulating enthusiastically. She had paused in her speech for a moment, but Leia could tell she wasn’t done.
Hera took a deep breath, as if to steady herself, and then continued. “You must remember that it’s so important to have people you can depend on and confide in. War is lonely and harsh; don’t let it take more from you than it already has. Don’t close yourself off to others. You need to have people around you to lift you up. That’s how I’ve been able to turn my mind off night after night and then keep going day after day. I know you’re close to Commander Skywalker. Stay close to him, if you can. And as for Captain Solo…yes, you both have strong personalities, but if you care about each other—as I think you two do—you need to learn to put that care ahead of your pride.”
“It’s just so hard with him. Everything seems so much more difficult with Han.”
“Yes, and I expect it might take some time to adjust, to learn to put that care ahead of your egos, but you can do it if you want to badly enough. And if I can be frank with you, I’ve seen the way Han Solo looks at you…I think he wants it badly enough.”
Again, Leia blushed, and the two began walking through the icy halls of the base again.
“Can I be frank with you once more?” Hera asked, after a few minutes.
“Yes, please.”
“If you find that you’ve fallen in love with someone, tell them. Make sure they know how you feel before it’s too late. Especially when you’re involved in a war like this, it’s important to let those you love know how you feel.”
Hera’s voice had softened considerably from the volume she spoke at earlier in their conversation. Leia glanced over at the Twi’lek general and saw a somber, thoughtful expression on her face. It was clear that Hera was speaking from personal experience.
When Leia first met Hera many years ago, she recalled there being an older man around Hera’s age—a Jedi—working with Hera. She remembered hearing that he had died heroically, saving Hera’s crew on Lothal. Though she’d never heard Hera speak of it, Leia speculated that this courageous Jedi might be the person Hera was referring to.
“Thank you, General Syndulla,” Leia said, after a moment. She offered a gentle smile to the rebel leader.
“Hera,” Hera corrected.
Leia smirked. “Thank you, Hera. I won’t forget what you’ve told me.”
“I hope you don’t, princess.”
“Leia.”
Now, it was Hera’s turn to grin. “Leia.”
The two women continued walking through the base in thoughtful silence until they’d made their way back to their bunks. They parted with a hug—something that Leia didn’t dole out often—and Leia went back inside her private bunk, where she eventually drifted to sleep with Hera’s words swimming through her mind.