Leia's parents had tried to teach her to take a deep breath and behave diplomatically. She had learned how to use kindness as a weapon to get what she wanted and spite people who doubted her.
Her parents had taught her to always be civil, no matter how much she may hate the person she was talking to. They described how powerful a weapon hidden animosity and hate could be. If she despised somebody, she could use it to her advantage as long as they didn't know how she felt.
Leia normally took those lessons to heart, but today they went out the window. The day had been going so well, and Leia had felt proud of the progress she had made with the Force. She'd been feeling a vague pressure in her head since coming to the Jedi Temple. It had been a manageable ache, but it was still a relief when she figured out how to shield and that pressure went away.
When Luke came into the room, and it was clear that he'd been crying, Leia tore down her mental shields even faster than Luke had earlier. She forgot about her pride and the progress she had made. Luke's comfort came first.
He wouldn't say what had gone wrong, but when that man, Anakin Skywalker, came into the room it was all too clear. He'd done something. Whether he meant to or not, Anakin had hurt Luke, and Leia would not tolerate such a thing.
Obi-Wan tried to pull Leia back and calm her, but she wouldn't hear a word he said. She stormed after Anakin.
"You!" Leia growled. She grabbed Anakin's arm and pulled on it. She didn't care if she was acting like a petulant child. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything." Anakin said. "Luke's powers are out of control."
"Don't you dare blame him." Leia hit Anakin's chest. It did absolutely no good at all.
"I'm not." Anakin said. "I was just telling Padmé that I thought Luke had latched onto my feelings, and then we just ended up feeding into each other without even realizing it."
"I did sense incredibly similar emotions from the two of you." Obi-Wan stroked his beard.
"What were you talking about?" Leia asked. Her anger didn't dim, but she could force herself to calm down and look at it a little more rationally. She could feel that Anakin was still mad, but he was speaking much less defensively than before. Maybe seeing Luke had just made him put up walls as quickly as it had made Leia tear them down.
If she didn't know that Anakin was Luke's father, she would not be willing to give him a chance to explain himself. She doubted that Anakin knew who he was to Luke, so he didn't know how much influence he had over him. That didn't mean that she forgave him for hurting Luke, but the boy was clearly sensitive. If Leia picked fights with everybody who upset him she wouldn't have time to do anything else.
Anakin took a slow breath. "I was talking to him about my mother, if that's alright with you."
Leia started. Anakin's mother. Luke's grandmother. Leia knew absolutely nothing about the woman, but if it made Anakin angry and Luke upset, then it couldn't be anything good. Leia had considered that Anakin had been right about them influencing each other emotionally through the Force or something. Now she wasn't so sure. They could have just both been upset about their family.
Leia sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It wasn't something she should be doing, but she was tired, a little frightened, and very confused. She didn't know what she was doing here. She focused on Luke because it gave her something to do so she didn't panic about being so far from her home. From her own time. But she couldn't fix Luke's problems. She didn't even know what they were.
Leia wrapped her arms around herself. She should be stronger than this, but she could feel Luke's sadness, and it made her feel hopeless herself. She usually had better masks than this, but maybe she'd subconsciously built those walls up with the Force, because when she pulled down her mental shields, the barriers she kept around her emotions came down as well.
She usually only let herself feel vulnerable around her parents. She could understand why she was naturally doing the same around Obi-Wan, because she knew him and knew she was safe around him, but why was she doing the same with Anakin when she was still so mad at him?
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she had a surge of feelings come over her at the contact. Strength. Comfort. Protectiveness. And remorse.
"I really didn't try to upset him." Anakin said. "Or you."
Leia couldn't help but lean into the touch. She didn't like this man. She didn't want to like him. But something within her was yearning for him, similar to how she'd been drawn to Luke. That part of her found peace in his comfort, even though she was still upset and she could tell that he was still tense.
"...I'll give you a break this time." Leia said. "But if you upset Luke again-" She left her warning hanging in the air. She wouldn't go easy on Anakin just because he was Luke's father and she too felt a connection to him.
"Trust me, I won't try to." Anakin said. "You're really protective of him, aren't you?"
"He's been looking for someone to save him." Leia said. "I feel like it's supposed to be me." She frowned. "I just wish I knew why." There were a lot of things she wished she understood the why to. Why was Luke upset? Why was she drawn to him? Why had they been pulled to the past?
Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "I have a theory about your connection. If you two would consent to a blood test, we could see if I'm correct."
Leia felt a rush of panic. A blood test would show that Luke was related to Anakin. She didn't know what would happen if they revealed who they were and where they were from, but she didn't want the truth to come out like this.
"Why?" Leia asked cautiously.
"You and Luke have a strong connection in the Force." Obi-Wan said. "That kind of connection forms over time, but yours didn't. It's just there. That leads me to believe that it's been there the whole time. That it's a connection formed through blood."
Leia blinked. "You think me and Luke are related?" As she said the words she realized how right it felt. But it just left her with more questions than before. "Why didn't I know?"
"I believe you may have been separated for your own good." Obi-Wan said. Anakin nodded.
"You're both so bright." Anakin said. "Alone, you're both beacons in the Force. Together, with a real bond, you could probably be felt by any Force sensitive in the galaxy. And there are a lot of terrible people who wouldn't hesitate to use that power for themselves."
Leia knew the state of her time. The Jedi had been destroyed or forced into hiding. Obi-Wan had never said a word about her possibly having a sensitivity to the Force. He must have thought that it was too dangerous. She already had the eyes of the Empire on her, just because she was the princess of Alderaan. If she ever projected into the Force in the way that Luke had been doing lately, she would be captured.
Her naivety about the Force had protected her, but now that she knew about her connection she was a little afraid of what that might mean. "Does that mean we're in danger?"
"I don't believe so." Obi-Wan said. "Even just basic shielding should keep you safe."
"Unless someone knows they're looking for you." Anakin crossed his arms. Obi-Wan shot him a look. He clearly hadn't wanted Anakin to say something that would scare her. Leia wasn't too scared though. Obi-Wan was right. She could shield now. And Leia was sure that her parents had put protective measures into place in case her Force abilities started to be noticed.
The one that Leia was worried about was Luke. He was projecting his fear and pain into the galaxy. She could feel him from lightyears away. The possibility that someone else had sensed him and was looking for him was far too real.
"If we can shield ourselves, is it still too dangerous to be with each other?" Leia asked. She would feel much better about this if she knew that Luke was okay. Whether it was dangerous or not, she was still going to stay by Luke's side. It would just be nice to know what to expect.
"You'll be in danger either way." Anakin said before Obi-Wan could answer. "If he's really your family, and you think it's important to be with him, then you should be with him. Family is something you should hold onto while you can."
Leia could feel a sadness and pain coming through her connection with Anakin. A connection that had been there since she saw him, even though he'd been a stranger. She blinked as she realized that if she was related to Luke, and Luke was Anakin's son, then this man in front of her was her family as well.
Leia had never put too much importance on blood relations. The Organas were her family, and she'd never needed more. She had always known that she was adopted, and it never mattered to her. She'd never once wondered who her birth parents were.
And yet hearing Anakin, who may just be part of her blood family, speak about the importance of families, it made her feel seen. She felt loved. It was almost like something inside of her was blossoming. She didn't realize that feeling was a manifestation in the Force until Obi-Wan and Anakin looked at her in awe.
"What?" Leia asked almost shyly.
"You got brighter." Anakin said. "How are you doing that?"
"I'm not really doing anything." Leia said. Obi-Wan shook his head.
"You and your brother are very odd indeed." He said. Leia's eyes widened.
"Brother?" Even though she was confused, it also felt like something she had always known.
"That's what I suspect." Obi-Wan said. "Though a blood test can confirm it."
Leia looked at Anakin. For a moment she could see herself in his eyes. Was he her father too? Just like he was Luke's? If he was, did she want to know it?
"I don't think a test is necessary." Leia said. She didn't want to face that confirmation, and she definitely didn't want to deal with what would happen if everybody else learned who they were related to. "I believe you're right. I can feel it."
Obi-Wan nodded. "The Force can confirm truths of the universe to us should we learn them and seek to explore them. You should listen to what the Force is telling you."
He made it sound so easy, but Leia didn't know if she wanted to listen to it. It was because of the Force that she had some strange connection with Anakin. She was letting herself be vulnerable around him even though he was practically a stranger to her. All she knew about him was that he had hurt Luke, who was also a stranger to her. She cared so much about the boy, and she didn't know why. Even if he was her brother, he was still a stranger. She wouldn't mind getting to know him, but why did she feel like she already did? It didn't make sense.
It was all too much. What didn't help was that when she tried to wrap her head around this all she could think about was how much she wanted to return to Luke's side. She didn't understand these feelings, and her instincts were telling her to embrace them anyway. It was frightening and made her want to push them away completely, but that would mean pushing Luke away, and the thought of doing that hurt.
She needed to reclaim control. She needed a break from this Force nonsense before it made her doubt everything she knew about herself.
"I need some air." Leia said. She pointed at Anakin. "Stay away from Luke until you're both calm. I'm not closing myself off from Luke again, and if I feel him get upset, I won't be as forgiving as I was this time." She hadn't forgiven Anakin yet, but she wasn't angry at him, as much as she wanted to be. If he upset Luke then she would force herself to retain that anger, no matter how much she may not want to, because she refused to let the Force control her emotions.
Leia walked past the men, glaring at them before they could imply that she shouldn't be on her own. She wasn't going to leave the premises, and she doubted the Jedi temple was a danger for her.
She walked around the temple for a bit before she found herself at the room where she had left Luke. She groaned in frustration and just let herself in. She hadn't meant to come here. She had just wanted some space, but she had found herself right back where she had been trying to avoid just for a bit.
Well, since she was here she might as well see if Luke was doing any better.
Leia opened the door and let herself in. She saw Luke sitting with Padmé, just talking. He looked so much calmer, but when she mentally reached out to him she felt a sense of bittersweet fatigue. It was the feeling that came after having a good cry. He'd felt this way before, but the feeling had dimmed before. It was back again.
"Are you okay?" Leia asked.
"I don't know." Luke said. "I think I'm doing better, but I haven't been okay for a while." He shook his head. "What about you? You feel…I don't know."
"I don't know either." Leia said. She felt like she should be more confused and concerned at the knowledge that somebody could feel her thoughts without even trying. But she was just too tired to question it. "This Force stuff is a lot to take in. I feel like I'm second guessing everything I'm feeling. I'm constantly wondering what's me and what's the Force. I tried to clear my head for a bit, and I found myself right back here with you, who I'm only drawn to because of the Force."
Luke's face fell. "Do you want some space?"
"I don't know what I want." Leia said honestly. She really was drawn to Luke. Did it truly matter if she didn't understand why? Maybe giving up a little bit of control and understanding was okay. But she wasn't letting go of it completely. She would be here for Luke, but she couldn't embrace the Force so completely. She wasn't just a being to do the universe's will. She was her own person, with or without the Force.
Padmé cleared her throat. "I don't know what you two are going through, but I know how it feels to be surrounded by Jedi when you know nothing about them. It's like everybody around you is speaking a different language, and white you understand the words, you don't truly know the meaning. It can be exhausting, and sometimes what you need is a simple break."
"That sounds wonderful." Leia said honestly.
"I have a lunch meeting tomorrow with Alderaan's senator." Padmé said. "Why don't you accompany me? It might do you both some good to get out of the temple and away from the Force.
Leia's breath got caught in her throat when she realized the meaning behind Padmé's words. She knew that in the past her father had been the senator of Coruscant. Padmé was meeting with Bail Organa, and she was offering for them to join them.
Leia hadn't even considered that she could see the past versions of her parents. Maybe this was too risky, but Leia was craving some familiarity. Maybe if she could just see her father she could calm down and overcome the instincts that made her feel like blood relations were so important when she'd never needed them before.
"I would love to come." Leia said. She looked at Luke. "You'll come too, won't you?" While she wanted to remind herself of the family connections she'd known all her life, she still wanted to be close to Luke. Maybe she could have both.
Besides, she'd met his father. It was only fair that he met hers.
"If you want me to, sure." Luke said. "Maybe getting out and not thinking about things for a bit will help." Leia didn't know if that would be the case, but she wasn't about to take away Luke's hope on the matter. And for all she knew this really would be just what he needed. Only time would tell. Leia was just looking forward to some normalcy again.