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gen_battleTitle: Images
Author: Missy (rise_your_dead)
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing/Characters: Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, gen
Rating/Category/Trigger and Content Warning: G; slice of life, family
Word Count: 504
Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me, belongs to Lucasfilm/Disney etc.
Spoilers: general spoilers for the original trilogy.
Summary: Leia just wants to know what she looks like
Notes/Warnings: Written forgen_battle, prompt: Information about Padme Amidala
All information, Leia discovers quickly, is heresy when it comes to deposed royalty. The life of Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo has been shuttered and cloistered away in the memory banks of ancient information files, the twenty plus years that have passed between her death and the ascension of her daughter to the Alderaan throne making the path of recompense long and thorny.
It chews at her, in a way the rebellion never did, this dissolution of her mother’s memory. She wonders if her father had a hand in erasing her existence from the record books, blotting out his pain, trying to blot out their children in a likewise way, just to make his life bearable again.
But she doesn’t give up. And neither does Luke, though his attitude is a tad more hopeful and cheery than Leia’s. Whatever bit of time Leia has to spare is spent upon the reformation of the New Republic or in courtship with Han, but her mind is perpetually focused inward – on the matter of her origin.
They’re on the far-flung planet of Libor in the western part of the galaxy when they find it: an abandoned hall of holographic records. The right documents are discovered under piles of long forgotten organs of report and copied, then Luke spends hours installing them into R2’s memory bank. After a few week’s work they gather in the privacy of his rooms on Tatooine for a viewing.
There she sits, in a hazy stream of blue-white light- their mother on her throne, giving a speech to the galactic senate upon the importance of Naboo’s survival.
“She’s so young,” Leia whispers, and Luke’s hand reaches for hers. It’s the false one, and the chill of remembering spreads through her body.
“There are some other speeches,” Luke says. “An address she made during the Clone Wars.”
Leia blinks away the tears clouding her vision; she can’t allow herself to be weak even with this brother of hers, this mannish boy she barely knows yet who’s shared the most important moments of her life. She nods and he presses a button upon R2’s facefront.
The older Padme smiles into the camera, this time wearing a less theatrical outfit. “She was beautiful,” Luke breathes, the tips of his fingers brushing the holographic hand of their mother. It flickers when contact is made and he pulls back.
Afterward, he asks her how she feels. “Better, now that I know what she looks like.” She has an image to go to now, to compare herself with, one entirely separate from the images she has of the Organas. “Were you surprised? Was she what you imagined she would be?”
Luke was raised well by his Aunt and Uncle; they were his family and he was happy with them. It’s no surprise that he’s moved but not as moved as his sister. “I wish I could have known her.”
What he says startles Leia and causes her grateful tears to spill forth at last.
“She reminds me of you.”
Author: Missy (
rise_your_dead)Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing/Characters: Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, gen
Rating/Category/Trigger and Content Warning: G; slice of life, family
Word Count: 504
Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me, belongs to Lucasfilm/Disney etc.
Spoilers: general spoilers for the original trilogy.
Summary: Leia just wants to know what she looks like
Notes/Warnings: Written for
gen_battle, prompt: Information about Padme AmidalaAll information, Leia discovers quickly, is heresy when it comes to deposed royalty. The life of Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo has been shuttered and cloistered away in the memory banks of ancient information files, the twenty plus years that have passed between her death and the ascension of her daughter to the Alderaan throne making the path of recompense long and thorny.
It chews at her, in a way the rebellion never did, this dissolution of her mother’s memory. She wonders if her father had a hand in erasing her existence from the record books, blotting out his pain, trying to blot out their children in a likewise way, just to make his life bearable again.
But she doesn’t give up. And neither does Luke, though his attitude is a tad more hopeful and cheery than Leia’s. Whatever bit of time Leia has to spare is spent upon the reformation of the New Republic or in courtship with Han, but her mind is perpetually focused inward – on the matter of her origin.
They’re on the far-flung planet of Libor in the western part of the galaxy when they find it: an abandoned hall of holographic records. The right documents are discovered under piles of long forgotten organs of report and copied, then Luke spends hours installing them into R2’s memory bank. After a few week’s work they gather in the privacy of his rooms on Tatooine for a viewing.
There she sits, in a hazy stream of blue-white light- their mother on her throne, giving a speech to the galactic senate upon the importance of Naboo’s survival.
“She’s so young,” Leia whispers, and Luke’s hand reaches for hers. It’s the false one, and the chill of remembering spreads through her body.
“There are some other speeches,” Luke says. “An address she made during the Clone Wars.”
Leia blinks away the tears clouding her vision; she can’t allow herself to be weak even with this brother of hers, this mannish boy she barely knows yet who’s shared the most important moments of her life. She nods and he presses a button upon R2’s facefront.
The older Padme smiles into the camera, this time wearing a less theatrical outfit. “She was beautiful,” Luke breathes, the tips of his fingers brushing the holographic hand of their mother. It flickers when contact is made and he pulls back.
Afterward, he asks her how she feels. “Better, now that I know what she looks like.” She has an image to go to now, to compare herself with, one entirely separate from the images she has of the Organas. “Were you surprised? Was she what you imagined she would be?”
Luke was raised well by his Aunt and Uncle; they were his family and he was happy with them. It’s no surprise that he’s moved but not as moved as his sister. “I wish I could have known her.”
What he says startles Leia and causes her grateful tears to spill forth at last.
“She reminds me of you.”
no subject
Date: 2013-03-03 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-07 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-03 10:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-07 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-11 01:48 am (UTC)It's very interesting, the mixture of ambivalence and acceptance you give Leia here; she didn't know Luke growing up, and she was raised by the Organas and not Padme, and she welcomes them as family but at the same time it's still a bit weird and separate from her actual childhood. I had never really imagined that as Leia's reaction/feelings (especially regarding Luke), but you have definitely convinced me that it makes sense and works.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-14 03:54 am (UTC)I couldn't resist capturing Leia this way - she's sort of trying to figure out how strong the biological pull back to Anakin and Padme is, and how she feels about Luke. The two of them have an instant camaraderie and friendship throughout the series, and ROTJ doesn't spend a lot of time exploring how Leia's feelings for Luke change from an innocent kiss to sisterly love; it's more focused on the romance between Han and Leia from TESB on. I just imagine it's not easy for her to both mourn the Organas and celebrate her Skywalker heritage. Since she and Luke both had basically happy youths and childhoods, it must feel surreal to them both, right?
no subject
Date: 2013-03-03 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-07 01:07 am (UTC)