Title: The Force Binds Us
Rating: PG/K+
Originally posted: 22nd April 2022
Originally written for: sincereously
Characters/Pairings: Luke & Leia
Notes: for May The 4th Be With You Exchange 2022 on Dreamwidth and AO3.

Leia Organa had always been a princess, knew she was destined to be a senator, longed always to be something more than the sum of her parts. There were times when she dreamed things, thought things, felt things that she simply could not explain. She never spoke of them, because she would not have known how. Not a part of it made any sense at all, until now.

In meeting Luke, there had been a sense of something. Some kind of longing, a strange kind of peace, somehow. It was not the same as what she felt about Han. That was attraction, from the very beginning, whether she liked it or not. Something about Luke was different, but there was a strange pull inside of her that drew her toward him. For a while, she had misinterpreted it, knew that he had too, but those moments were best left in the shadows to be forgotten. Now, Leia understood, and it frightened as much as comforted her, for all the truth of who and what they were now lay before her, and there was no escape.

"You're in conflict," said Luke as he approached her, seemingly as if from nowhere and yet she had felt his coming - she always did now. "You suddenly know too much and a part of you wishes you didn't."

Leia sighed and glanced up at him. "I don't think we need to be so intimately connected by our birth for you to realise that's true," she said with a look. "Wouldn't anyone be overwhelmed to find out they have a twin they knew nothing about? To find out their father was..."

She couldn't say it. Her mind could barely stand to think it, and yet, it was true. Their father was Darth Vader, had been one of the most evil men to ever breathe within the known galaxy. Yes, Anakin Skywalker had come back to the light in the end, to save Luke, to be redeemed, but that did not undo what came before. It all weighed far too heavy on Leia's heart. Perhaps Luke was the only one who could really understand it. The expression on his face, not to mention the waves of compassion she felt radiating from him, told her it was true.

"Leia," he said, no less than a sigh as he sat down on the next tree stump over and reached to take her hand into his own. "I can't say that all our father did wasn't his fault, but I do know he was seduced by a power he didn't understand, used by the Emperor and-"

"I know." Leia nodded, not needing him to go on. "Believe me, Luke, I do understand. I didn't know what it was at the time, but more than once I think... I'm sure it tried to take me too. The Force. The dark side of it," she explained, stunned herself by the tears such a confession brought to her eyes, the shake that it put in her usually strong voice. "There's so much from my childhood that suddenly makes sense, in ways that I can't even really explain. Not all darkness, a lot of it was... was the light side, I'm sure. Feelings and moments and... and dreams," she said, meeting his eyes once more. "I think I dreamed of you."

She was surprised by how wide a smile that drew from Luke's lips, until suddenly, she realised what it truly meant.

"Yes," he told her, nodding confirmation to a question she had yet to ask. "That's where I saw you too. Obviously, I didn't know it was you, not even when we met, but you were there. I think you always have been."

That made Leia smile too. To think that they had been each other's closest friend and ally, if only inside their own minds. Friends who laughed and played, guided and counselled in their subconscious minds during sleep. Perhaps it was only the Force alone that caused it, or perhaps being two halves of one whole, brother and sister grown and birthed together, perhaps that made a difference too.

"I wish I had known our mother," said Luke then, a sorrowful sigh escaping his lips. "Even as little as you did."

Leia shook her head. "There are times when I wonder if I did know her at all," she admitted, staring into the dark of Endor's dense forest at twilight and wondering how to explain the feelings muddling within her. "The beautiful, sad woman I see in my head, I know it's her. With every part of me, I just know, but... but I wonder, is it a memory? Can it be as simple as that?"

"It could be." Luke nodded, catching her attention. "But it also might not be. If we were so very young when she died, perhaps what you think are memories are actually something more. After all, you saw me in dreams, and I saw you."

"Yes." Leia smiled. "Yes, we did. Oh, but Luke, however I saw her, whatever it is that lives in my head, I do know it's her and somehow... Though she couldn't live for us, I do know she loved us, more than anything else in the world."

If she had the words to ask, she would have urged his arms around her then, but Leia found she did not need to. Luke hugged her closed, rubbed her back and eased the pain of loss from within her so easily.

Two halves of the whole, that was what they were, able to find peace as simply as finding each other. The past of their family could never be fixed, but what they had now, what still existed, twin brother and sister together at last, that could not be broken now it had been put back together.

Though they did not say as much, spoke nothing more of the connection and love that was between them now and forever, it was evident enough when they parted and shared a smile.

"So, when the celebrations here are over, what happens then?" Luke asked of Leia. "Are you and Han...?"

"Yes, I think so," she said without pause. "If only I could explain it, I would, but I don't have a way. I just know that my life wouldn't be half so interesting without him around," she said with a half-smile.

"I believe that." Luke chuckled. "For what it's worth, I am sure that he loves you, and that you could probably do a lot worse."

"I'll take a brother's approval of my choice, because believe it or not, it is worth something to me," she assured him. "Not that I would change my mind if you didn't approve."

"Of course not." Luke shook his head. "I'd be disappointed if you did," he said so definitely, it made her laugh too. "It's going to be a lot for him to take in, when he knows everything. To understand The Force, how strong it is in our family..."

"I know." Leia nodded. "I can't deny, it's almost a little too much for me, but so long as you're going to be close by, I'm sure we'll find a way."

It wasn't supposed to sound like a question, certainly not a request, and yet, it came out that way, unbidden. Leia knew better than to become reliant on anyone, even a twin brother. Though she spoke of throwing in her lot with Han, she knew to always be ready for the worst to happen, for changes and losses beyond her control.

"We'll find a way," Luke confirmed anyway. "I believe our family always does, in the end."

Leia smiled, believing him in spite of herself. "Oh, I hope so."