Work Text:
The landing bay was still abuzz with frenzied activity by the time Leia reached the viewing deck. It was a fair distance from central command, plus the combination of fatigue and weathered bones made the walk take a little longer than usual. Nowadays, she relied more and more on her cane, increasingly getting more frustrated with the limitations imposed by her worn body. Slightly miffed with how she was breathing a bit heavier, she refused to allow herself to stop until she reached the glass window. She needed to see him alive and well, for he was her son in all ways but blood.
Poe Dameron was thought to have perished as he led Black Squadron in rescuing Rey, Finn, Chewbacca and the Millenium Falcon. Despite Snap Wexley’s testimony practically confirming that Poe’s X-wing was hit and had exploded, Leia could not simply accept it without at least doing to search for the pilot and his ship. Fortunately, it wasn’t a fruitless effort, with the Force once again showing how it favored the man. After nearly thirty hours of being MIA, one of the scanners picked up his mayday call and Black One was guided home.
From her vantage point, Leia surveyed the landing bay, her eyes easily locating the pilot. He was in the thick of it all, mere meters away from his smoking X-wing. As she expected, the commander had the girl in his arms. Leia saw how he tenderly wiped Rey’s tears away while keeping an arm around her waist. She recalled Rey’s rare show of vulnerability in command as they searched for Poe, anguish nearly breaking the most powerful Jedi Leia had seen. Leia knew all too well about the grief, having had the misfortune of encountering it one time too many: when Han was encased in carbonite, when he chose to cope with the loss of their son by going back to his smuggling life, and when their son’s light saber ultimately ended his life. Somehow, she managed to rise above the pain and move on, but she had never forgotten the pain.
Seeing Poe and Rey together now, holding fast onto each other, Leia couldn’t help but remember how it felt to be in love and be loved back. She might have still been called a princess back then, but with her kingdom blown to oblivion, she regarded herself as nothing more than just another Rebel fighter. Finding out who her biological father was threw her into a deep pit of despair, making her feel utterly repulsed with herself. It was Han who made her feel special again, his love for her dispelled any and all of her self-loathing. After he left to be a smuggler again, she thought she would never feel that love again, but on their reunion before he went to Starkiller base, their embrace sparked that feeling once more, if only for a brief moment.
The pilot and the Jedi continued to hold each other, unmoving, oblivious of the bustle around them. Poe was the first to pull back, but only to gaze into Rey’s eyes as if promising the galaxy to her, his space princess, before capturing her lips in a kiss. Leia felt her heartstrings tug, the scene below transporting her back to a different lifetime. She gave in to the pull, her attention shifting from the young lovers below to images that flooded her mind’s eye.
In her solitude, Leia’s lips curved up to a wistful smile. She allowed herself to dive into memories of a time when she found happiness and hope even as the world around her crumbled. Letting go of the present, she stopped being the weary wizened general, becoming once again the young vibrant princess. She lets herself get lost in her dance with her ghosts, wishing she could stay there forever. It was a life that she never wanted to leave, a time when she was just a young woman in love, when she was the girl in her pilot’s arms.