Love, so thought Leia Organa, was a ludicrous idea. Everyone had their own ideas and opinions on the matter, none of it seemed reliable in the least bit. Even in her own family, each of her three aunts had their own vain theory about love and how it all worked. As for herself, Leia was hardly interested in men that way as she had a full schedule with politics and her cover work for the Rebellion. She could hardly even entertain the thought at the moment, it seemed so very childish. Of course, her father, aunts, and many of the other senators were anxious as baby nexus to marry her off to a wealthy prince from one of the other royal Alderaanian houses. But what really scared Leia was the fact that she was running low on excuses and missions to stall her aunts' work.
The marriage market, when it came to the Organa sisters, was an important, multi-step process of wearing Leia thin to the bone. With her twentieth birthday fast approaching, her aunts had been buried in files, tabs, and reports on the other princes of Alderaan, traveling to visit many of the other houses and speak to the young men. Her father was less invested but agreed and understood when it came to Alderaan's traditions. But Leia had a hard time trusting even her father as the whole process went and the time came for them to choose her a husband. Leia had little patience to endure the whole market season and the constant trips to buy new dresses, lessons on proper etiquette with Sabé, dance lessons with Winter and Aunt Tia . . . and meeting some of the men they wanted her to marry . . .
It was all a huge scandal and a waste of time. And suddenly politics were less boring to the princess. Her disinterest had slowly waned, but her daily lessons and sessions with tutors were still boring and long. As they all seemed pointless to Leia still, it was no wonder they were all part of her aunts' grander plan. No, not the marriage market plan. The Proper Princess Plan, Tia, Rouge, and Celly's greatest, grandest plan yet. By any and all means, the three sisters were dead set on grooming the finest, most proper and elegant princess they could for the House of Organa. And Princess Leia Organa was, thus far, far from it.
To Rouge's utter disappointment, Leia's tomboy "phase" had turned out to be the very essence of her personality, a trait that was second nature to her. A little dirt and grime was more than fine. However, there were a lot of other attributes to Leia's personality that didn't bother her aunts. Her selflessness, for example, or her loyalty. But her tomboy nature preferred to overrule and snap at her aunts' attention. Leia often found it fun to annoy the three dowagers, but they weren't the only ones who had something against it. Bail had made it clear the other young men from Alderaan's houses would not be pleased with a smart-mouthed, quick-witted, tomboy princess and insisted she seriously take into account her aunts' lessons and act more regal and proper. Leia was also honest and she saw no point in lying to a man who very well may one day be her husband. And she knew she would want to know who she was really marrying before her aunts dragged her down the aisle.
As far as her own thoughts on the subject went, all Leia knew was that she wanted to marry for love, marry whoever she wanted when she wanted. Not when tradition called for it.
Stretched out on her bed, Leia tapped away on a datapad, entering notes she was taking from her studies on an indignant species of the planet Honoghr, the noghri. A few months ago, there had been reported issues of unrest on the planet Honoghr which was very close to one of the Rebels' bases. Leia's father had gone with a team to investigate and had discovered a civil war between the planet's two main inhabiting species, humans and the noghri. The noghri had, as far as anyone knew, been native to the planet and there long before humans started settling on the plain and jungle planet. The Empire had most recently started settling on the planet and at a raid pace, too. The noghri had been given no time at all to adjust before their home was overrun by selfish, needy Imperialists, the consequences horrendous. Leia had agreed to help do some extensive research on the noghri, but this simple sounding task was proving to be a bit more difficult as there was very little information available on them. Still, Leia kept up her work. It was either this or lessons on Core World History with Madame Vesta. That was an easy choice.
She switched to another tab on the device just as AT-AV(All-Terrain Attack Vehicle), Leia's favorite of her aunt Tia's pet pittins, curled up in a ball at her feet. Smiling, Leia reached out to pet the pittin which she had long ago named. She smoothed back his soft, light pink fur until he started to pur and crawled to fit into the crook of Leia's arm. "Hey there, little guy. How are you?" AT-AV jumped and licked Leia on her cheek and she laughed, cuddling the pet to her chest. "Isn't Aunt Tia looking for you? I bet she's worried. After all, you make a much better child than Nial."
And speaking of the devil . . . "Mm hmm. That was soooo hot." Leia's door opened and in came the galaxy's densest idiot and his girlfriend of the week. Hanging from his body like an animal of prey, it was a beach blondie with gray eyes and features so sharp, they cut like durasteel. But, Leia had to admit it to herself, this was was a step up from last week's choice.
"Yeahhh? You know, I was thinking of you the whole time."
"Nial, your personality in itself repulses people enough, you don't have to bring home a different girl every night," Leia retorted without missing a beat, her eyes still on her screen. Nial snorted, lowering the blonde to the floor. "Relax, would you, Leila? Wouldn't want Daddy hearing those things coming from your mouth, now would you?"
"Careful, Nial," Leia finally looked away from her notes to advise her cousin. "Before you know it, you'll find yourself suffering the very same holovids your mother does. One scandal and the press doesn't take too kindly to your privacy rights."
Nial stopped short to glare back at her, practically fuming his brains out. Finally, after a long, tense moment, he responded back. "It's alright, Leia. I understand how jealous you must be since you can't attract any low-level prince of Tatooine."
"Shut your mouth, you sleemo!" Leia grabbed a pillow and slammed him until he grabbed it and hit her across the face. "Sorry about that," he told the chick waiting in front of the bed. "Don't mind her. She's just jealous."
"You wish," Leia muttered under her breath as the two left for his room which was inconveniently next door, a single door between her wall and his away. Too close, she shuddered. There was a door, like every door to every room in the galaxy, placed on the outside wall for Nial to enter his own room without going through Leia's, but the dimwit's favorite hobby was ticking off Leia. If only he had the brain to realize what a mistake it was . . .
"Lelila! Nial!" she heard her father call from downstairs. "Dinner's ready." And she tucked away her notes, heading for the dining room.
Down the gleaming staircase, across the main foyer, and through a double door-wide doorway came Leia to the dining hall where her aunts, father, mother, and Winter were already seated. The servants were already beginning to set out the first course and so Leia hurried to join her family. "Good evening, Father," she smiled and gave a light curtsy before sitting. "Mother."
Breha smiled back with a nod and said, "Leia."
Leia gave a quick sidelong glance to her aunts as though to say 'there, was that good?' and neatly folded her napkin on her lap. Seeing the brief exchange, Bail laughed. "Looks like someone's trying to impress their aunts!"
"Well, I've only been practicing all week. I thought I'd show you, Aunt Rouge."
"What do I keep telling you about those shoulders?! Keep them back!" Leia sighed aloud in frustration, only earning a scowl from her mother. Leia gave her a look to say that she knew Breha enjoyed the Organa sisters as much as she did, but Breha only shrugged helplessly.
Memily, Leia's favorite servant and cook, a young woman who used to babysit Leia and Winter when they were much younger, set a steaming plate before her, curtsied to the princess, and smiled pleasantly. "My Princess. Dinner is served."
"Thank you," Leia replied with a gracious smile back. "Memily." She picked up her utensils and, emphasizing her etiquette as she seized a fork with a hand, began to pick at the meal. Juicy and rubbery nerf meat was served with a thick Aldera sauce drizzled over it, greens and fruits placed at the side of the ornate, oval-shaped ceramic plates.
"Lelila," her father spoke up, swallowing a piece of his own steak. "I trust your research is going well?"
"Unfortunately, it's not. There's very little in any of the archives on the noghri. All I've found was that there was a toxin spill a short while back when Imperials started settling there. It's been slowly destroying the planet, but Vader is trying to help them." Leia couldn't help it. She snorted in amusement while her father reacted by nearly choking on his greens. Breha's gaze darted to her husband and the two shared a very uncomfortable look, remembering a great Jedi Knight. From the other end of the table, Celly offered a short-cut laugh, shaking her head over her wine glass. "Dear Lelila, listen to your aunt here. I can promise you Lord Vader cares about those . . . whatever they are about as much as your father cares for Imperials. Not at all, but one might not catch the difference."
"Well," Breha quickly chimed in before the discussion on Vader's empathy levels could continue on any longer. It was enough for Bail who had witnessed the death of a very close friend, a death he chose to blame on the wayward man that called himself Darth Vader. "Isn't that something now? Leia, I believe there is something your aunts have planned for you tomorrow night. After dinner tomorrow, you might want to wash up and clothe yourself in a finer dress. I heard they want to take you to Crevasse City to meet with princes of the other Great Houses."
Finally out of patience, Leia dropped her fork and shoved her plate away, leaning back in her chair with a heavy sigh. Before she could even voice her own objection, Rouge slammed her own spot at the table, glaring daggers at the younger woman. "How dare you, Leia Organa! How dare you! I expect more from you, after all we've taught you! I think we deserve a little more respect than that! If you are to rule over this great planet as your father has prepared you to, you better learn some respect real fast, young lady! None of the other houses will want a sharp-tongued woman for their princess-!"
"Rouge, that will be enough," Viceroy Bail Organa's stern voice broke through the chill of Rouge's, staring her dead in the eye. Sheepishly and slowly, the sister back away and grabbed her fork again to resume eating. Then, he turned back to his own daughter who remained fuming in her seat, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "Leia, I do expect you to have more respect than that. They are only trying to help you."
"Can't any of you take a hint?" Leia yelled, jumping from her seat. "I don't want you all to try marrying me off to the wealthiest of the Great Houses. I want to wait until I can present myself as a senator and in my own right!"
"But all the other Houses will be filled, their princes already married!" Celly objected, her brows knit together in fury. "The other houses don't have that patience! The time is now and they aren't going to wait for you to be ready. Trust us dear," she tried warming up a smile, but Leia was seeing red and all of her aunts' words sounded cold and selfish. And that only made her more angry. "We're doing you a favor. On the day you are married into the Panteer House or Killesa, you will thank us."
"Panteer!" Nial shouted, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth as he leaned into his cousin. "Isn't that the boy you like, one of the Panteer boys?" Leia shoved him back, muttering, "If they aren't nerfs like you."
"Well, tomorrow night we go," Celly declared, gently dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. "And you will meet with the other nobles and princes. Perhaps, you can start thinking about which you'd prefer to marry."
Exhausted, impatient, and weary, Leia fell into bed, still dressed in her proper senatorial gown with her hair up in buns. She reached for the covers, pulled them over her body and hit the pillow, sound asleep.
The next morning, she woke up reluctantly. Lying awake, she closed her eyes and wished for it to be yesterday again. Or tomorrow. Any day but today, really. Once she'd finally come to terms with the date, she got up to sanisteam. From her deep closet, she fished out a cream white dress with a straight neck line, long, laced sleeves and a billowing skirt. Fashioning a brown hand purse, she hurried down the staircase to meet her parents who were seated in the small library living room where the Organas often met with other politicians or visitors if the visit was supposed to be short. Arriving at the doorway, she saw Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin speaking with her parents and she immediately stopped behind the door. The Moff stopped speaking in his hush tones and offered a light smile, nodding her over. "Princess," he took her hand and bowed over it. "Must I say, you look very lovely this morning. You must be on your way to meet with the other houses." He turned to smile at Bail and Breha. "Marrying her off I suppose."
"Yes, Grand Moff," Leia nodded back as was expected and added, "Thank you."
"Yes, well you just look stunning. Good luck then in your near future. I was just leaving anyway. Goodbye, Viceroy," he bowed quickly to Bail. "Queen." Then, Breha. And, lastly, Leia. "Princess." Then, he turned on his heel and briskly left the living room and down the corridor of the palace.
"Why are you still negotiating with him?" Leia asked her father, watching Moff Tarkin with pure disgust as he left. "With the Empire. I don't understand! Why aren't we taking up our opposition yet?"
Breha settled a hand on her daughter's shoulder and gently steered her out to the open hallway. "Lelila, my dear, have patience. All in due time, we will strike like lightning. Just as the Emperor himself silently prepared to rise to power, we will rise above what demands to rule over us. But, you must have patience, dear. It'll happen. All in due time."
"Let's not discuss politics so early in the morning!" Bail insisted, taking his daughter into his arms and planting a kiss on top of her head. "Look at yourself! You look . . ." he searched for the most accurate word, failed to find one appropriate enough and shook his head in defeat. "Wonderful, just stunning, Lelila."
"Thank you, Papa. But I don't want to marry this year. Not yet."
"I know what your feelings are on the case. Perhaps, once you get to Crevasse, you will start to think otherwise. Now, come along. Surely, Memily has breakfast waiting on the table."