Leia Solo was standing in the kitchen in her family's home when she heard a familiar sound. Being the mother of three teenagers meant that she had to have sharp hearing as well as sight, and she could recognize the sound of her frustrated daughter from a parsec away.
Sometimes she couldn't believe that her daughter was seventeen. How did any of her children grow up so fast? It seemed like only yesterday she and her husband Han were taking care of two drooling little brown-eyed babies. And not only were those two all grown up, but Jacen and Jaina had been joined by their younger brother, Anakin. It seemed like Leia had merely blinked and then woke up one morning to find that she had to tilt her chin up to look in her baby boy's ice-blue eyes.
But right now, hearing the heavy sighs coming from the living room, she knew she had her only daughter to attend to. As she entered the room, she found Jaina seated on the couch displaying the sort of posture that made all mothers cringe. Her body was sunken low into the couch, her knees spread out in front of her, her head thrown back against the pillows and an arm casually draped over her eyes.
She was clad in a matching set of gray sweats and her long, brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, messy and slightly wet at the ends; matted to her head in spots. It was obvious she'd just come from exercising.
"Rough workout?" Leia asked as she approached the couch, startling Jaina and causing her to look at her mother.
"I wish that was all it was," Jaina replied.
Leia moved in front of the couch and sat down next to her daughter, placing a comforting hand on her knee. "You want to talk about it?"
Jaina moved her arm so she could look at Leia's. The girl's eyes were the same brown as her mother's, and while she certainly reminded Leia of herself at that age, she could still see so much of Han in her. And Leia was having more and more trouble convincing herself that this was her little girl as day by day she continued to transform into a beautiful young woman. Although right now with her messy hair and oversized sweats, Leia had no trouble convincing herself that she still had a few years left to look on her as a child.
Jaina took a moment to decide whether or not to elaborate further. Leia had gone to great lengths to make sure that her children felt that they could talk to their parents about their issues, and she was happy to see that those efforts had not been in vain.
Sighing, Jaina finally answered. "What is wrong with boys, Mom?"
Leia couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up into a smile. So it was going to be one of those discussions. Being seventeen years old, Jaina had certainly shown some interest in boys of the past few years – much to Han's chagrin. She'd dated a bit but as far as Leia could tell nothing had gotten particularly serious.
Leia reached up and smoothed some unruly brown hair on her daughter's head. "I'm afraid you might have to be more specific, sweetie. I don't really have time to run down the entire list right now."
Jaina gave her mother a look that indicated she was not in the mood for humor. "They're just so… confusing."
"You know, they usually say the same thing about us, so you're pretty well even there. Just ask your brothers."
"Whatever. I don't need them in my life, anyway."
"Are you sure about that?" Leia asked, thinking that she was pretty sure once upon a time she thought the same thing.
"Absolutely. I don't need anyone. I can take care of myself."
"You know, having a man in your life doesn't mean you couldn't take care of yourself."
"Then what's the point? Why bother dating or getting married or anything?"
"You don't think I'm happy with Dad?"
"Well, Dad's different. He's… Dad."
"Honey, someday you'll meet someone who treats you the way you deserve to be treated and who you love more than anything and you might find that you actually want to share your life with him."
"Well, how do you know that, though?"
"As much as I hate to say it, because it makes no sense until you experience it yourself, you'll just know."
Jaina threw her arm across her face again. "That's what I was afraid you'd say."
"It's simpler than you think it is. You're just too young to see that now. You'll find someone and realize that your life will be better with him than without him, and if he's the right choice then it's the easiest decision you'll have to make. But I'll be honest, Dad didn't make things easy on me, either. Not at first, anyway."
Jaina looked at her mother again. "Really? He always told us that you were the one who was always calling him names and stuff."
Leia's eyes widened. "He did, did he? We'll just have to have a little chat when he gets home."
"When who gets home?" Leia heard a familiar deep voice saying from the entryway. Looking up she saw her husband walking in. She had been married to that man for twenty years and somehow he seemed to get more and more handsome every day. His hair was tinged with silver in spots and there were lines on his face that to her only served to make him look more distinguished.
"Have you been telling our children all these years that I'm the one who gave you such a hard time when we first knew each other?"
Han looked a bit taken off guard at this questioning the moment he'd walked in the door. Leia knew he had a hard time when faced with both his wife and daughter as opposition. He never beat those odds. "Sweetheart, you know you didn't exactly think highly of me when we first met."
Han moved and sat on the couch on the other side of his daughter, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "Hey, kiddo."
Jaina smiled up at her father. "Hey, Dad."
"Don't try and be cute, Han."
Han looked back and forth between the two most important women in his life and then slowly started to stand up. "I'm sensing this is an argument I'm not going to win no matter what I say. So why don't you two just finish up your little talk and I'll go see if I can get dinner started. Sound good?"
He received no reply and then spoke directly to Jaina. "You all right, honey?"
Jaina smiled up at her father in the same way she'd been doing since she was a toddler. Nodding, she replied, "I'm fine, Dad."
Han's hazel eyes moved to look at his wife to confirm Jaina's answer. Leia smiled and nodded. "It's fine, Han. Really." Han had always taken his job as a father very seriously. He never wanted to see any of his children, or his wife for that matter, anything less than completely content. It was one of the things Leia loved most about him… except for times like now when she wanted to be irritated with him.
"All right, then just let me get a kiss from my other favorite girl," Han said as he leaned down and gave his wife a quick kiss. "Hang in there, kiddo," Han said as he mussed his daughter's hair.
"Daaaad," Jaina whined, reaching up to straighten her hair as her father smiled and walked away.
Once Han had left the room, Leia turned her attention back to her daughter. "Don't worry, sweetie," Leia said. "You need to remember that Dad still sees you like you're seven years old. I don't think he's ever going to accept that you've grown up."
"Well, I admit that sometimes it's nice to feel like a kid, but someday he's probably going to have to realize that I'm basically an adult."
"Just don't tell him that yet," Leia said. "I think he still hasn't quite gotten over that time when you told him you were too old for the Tauntaun ride to your bed. I don't know what he'd do if you ever told him you were a grown woman."
Leia smiled at her daughter, the fond memory of her happily being carried on her father's back while he pretended to be one of the large, stubborn snow creatures vividly replaying in her mind.
She certainly remembered herself at that age, almost equally frustrated with her own inability to figure out boys. For someone such as the princess of Alderaan, having a hard time with anything was an unusual occurrence. She did not handle things well when they didn't come easily to her, especially when so many things did. So rather than trying, she mostly opted to avoid the problem. Instead she had thrown herself into being the youngest member of the Imperial Senate. She wanted to be a diplomat and make her father proud. Why should she bother with being frustrated with boys when she could make such a big difference in the galaxy?
It had been so easy at first to stick with her decision. And then one day she was rescued from her cell on the Death Star by two well-meaning but less-than-well-thought-out men dressed as stormtroopers. And one of them had shattered her delusions that she was better off alone. Even if he had been incredibly difficult to deal with at first.
Leia hoped that her only daughter would someday find a man that treated her the way her own husband did. And she knew someday she would, but right now Jaina was a stubborn teenager and there was likely nothing to be said to make her see that eventually things would be all right.
"I guess I should go shower," Jaina said, not seeming at all placated.
Leia considered asking specifics about whatever her current situation was, but Jaina was the type of girl who talked when she was ready to talk, and no amount of questioning was going to help matters along. So she simply offered a few more words of reassurance. "I promise it gets easier when you get older, sweetheart. You just have to give those boys a chance to become a bit more mature."
At the sound of those words, the door opened and the Solo boys had returned home. At fifteen Anakin was only a few hairs shorter than his older brother, though still considerably scrawnier as he had not quite grown into his own body. Both boys were still only eye-level with their father's chin, a fact they blamed on their height-stealing mother. They'd certainly grown into handsome young men. Even if they did still act like children much of the time.
"I'm telling you, I beat you this time!" Anakin shouted adamantly at his older brother. The two hadn't even acknowledged their mother or sister.
"You did not!" Jacen insisted. "First of all you started before I said go, and second, I told you the finish line was the far side of the walkway, not right when you touched it."
"You never specified that. You're such a liar."
"And you're still a little brat," Jacen said before he moved behind his brother, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and yanking it up and over Anakin's head so it blocked his eyes, leaving him blinded as Jacen bolted off toward his bedroom.
Anakin stood there, looking ridiculous with his midriff exposed and his shirt pulled up to cover his eyes, only his nose and chin visible. He turned to the couch. "Hi, Mom."
Raising teenagers had certainly proven to be entertaining at times. "Hi, Anakin. Tough day?"
Anakin finally reached up to pull his shirt back down into place, leaving his dark brown hair sticking out in several directions. "Not really. Jacen's just getting nervous because he knows I'm getting faster and he's not going to be able to win at everything we do for much longer."
"Just go easy on him, honey. It's going to be hard for him to get used to his little brother beating him."
"When's dinner?"
"Your mind is always on food, isn't it?"
"Yes," he said matter-of-factly.
"Well, Dad's working on it. Why don't you go get cleaned up and I'm sure it'll be ready soon."
"Okay. Hey, Sis," he nodded toward Jaina as he walked back toward his bedroom.
"Hey," Jaina nodded back.
Once Anakin was gone Leia turned back to her daughter. "See, honey? Boys aren't that hard to understand. They don't like it when you're faster or stronger or better than them at anything, and they are easily distracted by food."
That finally brought a smile to Jaina's face. "Thanks, Mom. I'm going to get cleaned up before dinner."