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“It never ends, does it,” Leia sighed dejectedly as she leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. Her neck tensed and pulled as she lowered her head and she winced. It had been a long day of peering over shoulders at screens and bent over assessing data for possible new resistance bases. Their forces were scattered after the last First Order attack and Leia was beginning to wonder how they had done it all those years ago. It had been so much easier as a feisty young Princess to be the one arguing with the old, stubborn bureaucrats – countering their ideas with more daring ones. Now, she was supposed to be the ancient politician offering up responsible, safe ideas for the young rebels to scoff at.
“Hmm?”
Leia looked up from her musings to see Amilyn Holdo standing before her with two steaming mugs and her head cocked in question.
“What never ends, Starlight?”
“War. Destruction. Darkness.” Leia paused and shook her head. “When we were kids, we fought so that the next generation wouldn’t have to – so that we wouldn’t have to anymore. Yet, now every time I turn around, I see our faces – yours, and mine, and Luke’s, and Han’s – looking back at me with big hopeful eyes as if we’re finally going to end it. But we won’t, will we? They’ll grow up to be just like us – misplaced veterans in a new generation's war desperately trying to end a cycle that will never, ever, break!” She threw her hands up and slumped, the fight visibly draining out of her.
Amilyn considered for a moment and sat down, pushing a cup of Deychin tea across the table to Leia.
“When you first taste this tea, it’s very bitter,” Amilyn began, taking a sip of her tea. “But you drink it anyway because the aftertaste is sweet, even though you know that you must experience the bitterness first.” She paused and then added, after a moment, “And if you hadn’t first tasted the bitterness, you might not appreciate so much its sweet reward.”
“So, we must get through the bad times to get to the good,” Leia sighed. “But where does that leave us? Decaying relics of a bygone age who might not live through this bitterness to get to its reward?”
“Same as always,” the corners of Amilyn’s mouth quirked upward as she reached across the table to squeeze Leia’s hand. “Kicking ass and saving the universe.”