Summary: With Poe Dameron on the way to Jakku, Leia and Evaan have a quiet moment to themselves to reminisce on the battles they have withstood together, and the ones to come. They may have grown older and gotten more tired, but Alderaan's daughters endure.
Notes: For thedevilchicken at May the 4th Be With You exchange. I couldn't resist your prompt asking for TFA-era Leia/Evaan, so here we are. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into their AU. I couldn't decide what to do about Kylo in this verse, so you're free to take "get our family back" to mean just Luke or both as you like.
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Things That Endure
by Artemis1000
"If it takes fancy flying, I should have gone."
Leia looked up from the flexi she was reading to see Evaan standing in the doorway to her office, looking as imposing as ever with her military-straight posture, not a strand of blonde-turning-grey hair out of place. Only in the depth of the lines around her mouth could Leia read her concern.
"Poe Dameron's as good as you were, when you were his age."
"And you trust him." Evaan stalked into the office, perching on the edge of Leia's desk in a manner which wasn't soldierly at all.
"And I trust him," Leia echoed.
"I should have gone anyway. Finding your brother is a family affair."
It wasn't, not when said brother was the last Jedi, and the free galaxy's last best hope against Supreme Leader Snoke, but Leia's heart skipped a beat anyway. Thirty years, and it still left her breathless when her wife spoke of their family.
Getting Evaan to look past their difference in rank and standing, and trust Leia that she wanted to share her life with her of all people, that had been an uphill battle, but it was a meaningful battle Leia had won.
The fact she sat in a secret resistance base on D'Qar and not in her senatorial office on Hosnian Prime, or their home on New Alderaan, showed that she hadn't won many important battles lately. Not for good, anyway. Spending a lifetime making sacrifices with no end in sight could make a woman bitter, but no matter how high the losses piled up, Evaan's faith had never faltered, and as long as her faith remained strong, so would Leia's.
"I think you are going to have your hands full once Commander Dameron returns with the map." Leia stood up, she placed herself right in front of Evaan and took her right hand. She cradled it between both her own. Her eyes softened. "But right now you are exactly where I need you most, Admiral Verlaine."
Amusement sparked in Evaan's brown eyes and softened her stern face. "I suspect nepotism, General Organa. I thought better of you."
Leia's lips twitched into a smile. "Harsh accusations, Admiral, I see you're as blunt as ever."
Evaan arched her brows. "Of course. You would expect no less from me, my Queen."
"I am no…"
Evaan's forefinger was warm against her lips. Leia felt hot and cold pinpricks where she touched her, just like thirty years ago when Evaan touched her like that for the very first time. It had been Leia who yanked away Evaan's hand, indignantly furious at being shushed, and kissed her pilot right there in the middle of the hangar. It had been just before Evaan had to leave for the space battle of Endor, while Leia went to fight on the ground.
"You will always be my queen."
Leia's resistance wilted away into loving amusement. "Only to you."
Their gazes met and held another spellbound.
All these decades, and some things hadn't changed. Leia's body tired more easily these days and she knew that running came harder to Evaan, too. They still spent more time running towards danger than from it. Some things would never change.
Leia tore herself away from Evaan's gaze and her touch, regretfully turning back to the flexis piled on her desk. "But I didn't schedule a meeting with my most trusted Admiral because I meant to indulge myself. We have an Empire to take down."
Evaan perched herself on the edge of her desk, and Leia felt herself thrown back in time to a much younger Evaan perching in the exact same position, somehow managing to be reckless and respectful at once. In the here and now her hand had aged, but it was as steady and quick as ever as she snatched up the flexi on top of the pile. "Not an Empire, just a specter of the past come back to haunt us. They are a pale imitation, but the Empire couldn't break us, and neither will they."
"That's what they say about us in Republic City," Leia said quietly. "That we are just a specter of the past… clinging to Alderaan, to the war… that we never learned to move on."
"Alderaan's alive and thriving on a new world, it's neither ghost nor sad memory. We return every year to light the candles. We have a house at the foot of snow-capped mountains. If that's clinging to the past I'll keep clinging."
Leia inhaled, exhaled, inhaled again. Evaan's hand found hers again. They smiled at another. "When this is over I want to go home with you, and remind myself of what has persevered."
"We will. We have to get our family back, but then we'll go home together."
Leia's chuckle felt a little bit more brittle than she would have liked, but that was okay, too. She couldn't show her fears and doubts in front of the Resistance fighters who had entrusted their lives to her, but Evaan could see everything, even the weak moments. "Right. What's one more tyrant to overthrow?"
"Just one more. And there's nobody at whose side I'd rather fight than my queen's."
This time, Evaan didn't wait for Leia's protests, she silenced them with a kiss before she could voice them.