Prompts: Courtship Traditions & Role Reversal
Life on a Rebel base had little opportunity for stability or leisure time in all worlds, but it wasn't like all Leias expected it. The Alliance was still new and fragile, and Leia still wasn't used to the sensation of being… around Rebels from other cells. Her experience of resistance was through moving from place to place on a near-daily basis, constant jetlag, the fierce wind in her face as she flew on Enfys's tail and shot down their attackers before she was shot down herself.
Resistance was lying down in a hasty campy around a crackling campfire in a team of too many species to care for decency or distance. It was about finding a new family despite her history working for the very syndicate that they fought against. Killing Dryden Vos and leaving only a scar on her wrist where the Crimson Dawn symbol used to be had apparently earned a fraction of their trust, and every loyal mission thereafter had earned her even more.
Sitting in a Rebel base, knowing they had the chance to be something bigger, was different. She'd been a cog in the machine before, in the White Worms, in Crimson Dawn. Luke had chafed against it and escaped to fly the galaxy, but she'd been too foolishly loyal to leave until it had become unbearable.
This would be different, she knew. She and the other Cloud-Riders would be fighting for a cause she believed in. But she would still miss her close-knit families born of adversity. She already didn't see Luke enough.
Even so, she'd thought when she saw the Alderaanian delegation come to negotiate their involvement. Perhaps it would still be possible to make this fight personal.
Princess Qi'ra Organa of Alderaan was accompanying her father to the talks, but she was left to wander the base on Dantooine while Senators Organa and Mothma talked with the other leaders.
She was extremely attractive, Leia had to admit, even in her nondescript fatigues, and Leia had very much enjoyed exchanging barbs and witticisms with her when she volunteered to show her around base. Her long locks, braided in an intricate bun, made Leia self-conscious of her own short, shabby hair, but for what it was worth, the princess seemed… somewhat attracted to her too.
They were here for ten days for the negotiations. Permanently, if the negotiations went well. So Leia decided to jump on the chance while she could.
In theory, she should know nothing about Alderaanian courtship rituals. She was a scum rat turned criminal turned Rebel. She worked in the Outer Rim, far from the planet of beauty and its people. But somehow she had an instinct for how to open them, and it involved a bouquet of… candlewick flowers?
That would prove problematic, considering Dantooine's climate. But she dug around—checking with Benthic which plants were toxic or not—and scraped together a bouquet of gold flowers, some with crinkled edges, some more trumpeted, some smaller than her thumbnail. And when Princess Qi'ra was next barred from a confidential meeting, she came to find Leia.
"Come for your regular entertainment?" Leia teased, though her heart was hammering. Her torso was under the guts of the Headhunter she was working on and she was just glad it hid her face, even if it meant all she could see of Qi'ra were her elegant boots.
"Well, you're just so much better than the court jester," came the reply, and Leia laughed.
"I'm very glad to hear that." She slid out from under the ship, stood up—she was shorter than Qi'ra—and hesitated a moment, wiping her greasy hands on her overalls.
Then, before she could lose her nerve, she asked, "Does the court jester also give you gifts?"
"Only if it's my birthday. Or if I saw him damage a tapestry and he'd like me to keep quiet." Qi'ra gave her an anticipatory smile that contrasted her levity. "Why?"
"Close your eyes. I'll be right back."
"Sounds like you're about to dump engine grease on me," Qi'ra commented, but after a hesitant moment she closed them.
"I wouldn't be that crude with a princess!" Leia called as she ran to fetch the bouquet.
"It wouldn't be uncalled for. Whatever it takes to get ahead—" Qi'ra flinched, her hands automatically clasping around the bouquet, when Leia pushed them in her face. One of her hands folded around Leia's and held it there, even as she opened her eyes.
"Oh…" she murmured, then smiled slightly at Leia. "They're lovely."
Leia stood awkwardly for a moment, her hand held to the soft white linen over Qi'ra's heart. At this point in Alderaanian courtship, the receiver would kiss the giver on the cheek if they accepted the offer, but ignore it if not, and every second she stood there waiting…
Qi'ra leaned in and kissed her cheek.
Leia smiled broadly. She leaned towards her, trying to catch her lips in a proper kiss—but Qi'ra stepped back.
"First," she said, "I have to tell you something."
Leia rebuilt walls around her heart and said, "Anything."
"Alderaan will not be joining or funding the Alliance."
Leia nearly dropped the flowers. It was only Qi'ra's touch, cool on hers, that kept her hands closed.
"At least… I have advocated against it. Fiercely. If my father decides to join, I have already made clear to him that I will not further the cause or engage in such work when I take the mantle of senator, and nor will I continue such involvement when I am queen."
Leia… didn't know what to say. She'd spent her life in one fight or another. Choosing to walk away from it seemed unreal.
All she could say was, "Why?"
"Because I am the Crown Princess of Alderaan." Her tone grew colder, more clinical, as she spoke. Leia got the impression she'd made this mini speech many times. "And Alderaan is a prosperous Core world that stands for beauty, safety and justice."
"Exactly! So we need your help. You're exactly the person we need." Leia broke off. "If we'd had your support during that mission to Ryloth, we—"
"You did not have it. You still survived."
"We nearly didn't!"
"And that is precisely my point. I have a duty to my people to keep them safe, well and cared for. Entering them into a war where we will be the biggest target does not serve that."
"You are already a target." Leia couldn't fathom this at all. "The Empire will feel threatened by any move for independence, will take any excuse to raid, mine, tax or impose curfews on you—"
"So we will not give them a reason to."
"They'll find one anyway!"
"Not if we are smart about it." Qi'ra looked genuinely regretful, and that made it worse. "I am sorry, Leia; I know this hurts you. I don't mean to. I do care for you."
She squeezed her hands gently. Leia was tempted to let go. "And we… can still work. You work may still bring you to Alderaan, or neutral planets. We can meet there. I would appreciate the opportunity."
She leaned to kiss her, but Leia turned her head away. Her eyes, strangely, were as dry as they had been in the desert on Savareen. Of the two of them, Luke had always been the one who cried.
"You would still be consorting with a Rebel—quite literally, there," she said. She took a step back, taking the flowers with her. Her hands were shaking enough that the wind plucked them from her hands one by one, sending them twirling against the barren, dusty earth. "It would still endanger you, and me."
She threw the remaining flowers down. "If you have no faith for me—us," she said sadly, "then I can have no trust for you."
Qi'ra didn't argue it. She just watched her, a grease stain left by Leia's hand clinging to her lovely white dress, right over her heart.
"I am going to protect my people," she said.
"I am going to protect all people," Leia replied.
Qi'ra straightened up and, like magic, her moment of vulnerability was gone.
"We shall agree to disagree, then."
