Growing Up Solo

Chapter Two *Revised*

Now that Leia had finally settled down, Luke would be able to train her as a strong Jedi. Yes, it took a lot of convincing from her older brother, but in the end, he convinced her that it would the best for the them to use their Force sensitive powers.

The siblings trained in the deep forest of Endor, away from the Ewok village and the base. Luke put his sister to the test, giving her challenging lessons and Leia would often have to do some work outside of their training to get her powers up to speed with Luke's.

The first few weeks of her training, Leia studied past Jedi, the history of the Force and everything in between. She learned that certain Force-sensitive individuals who were strong in the Force and of the proper age would leave their respective families and be taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to begin their Jedi training.

Although some of the trials were challenging, Leia passed them with flying colors and Luke officially took her in as his Padawan.

Today Luke was teaching Leia how to use the Force to levitate objects. As she grew stronger, Leia would be able to levitate heavier objects, but for today, Like decided to have her start with some rocks.

"Come on Leia, focus," Luke said, trying to get Leia to focus longer than five seconds. Who knew this is what Obi-Wan and Yoda had to go through for his training.

"I'm trying, Luke, I really am," She said to her older brother. Her eyes closed and she held a hand out in front of her as a stone shook in about two feet in front of her. When she finally lost the connection and the stone sat still, Leia let out an annoyed huff causing her hair to float upward then back down on to her forehead. 

"I don't understand. What am I doing wrong?" Leia questioned as she looked at Luke who sat on a boulder next to her.

"You're not focusing hard enough," Luke explained to her. "Focusing is a key part of your training. You need to be able to focus on the light side and not be tempted like our father once was."

"Luke!" Leia protested with her hands on her hips. "You know that's not how our father was tempted by the dark side! He loved our mother and wanted to save her! That was his only option. If he didn't try to save her, who knows where we would've ended up," Leia stated. "Probably under the Emperor's power," she finally said in a whisper. "Or maybe even dead."

Luke slowly nodded his head, realizing that his sister was right. "Okay Leia I get it. I apologize. But I'm sure there were other ways that he could've saved her."

Leia had been told the story of their parents probably a hundred times in the past three years, mostly by old Senators that their mother worked with when Leia had to visit for diplomatic relations. But she didn't mind hearing it over and over. She was intrigued by her father's decision and the love that he had for her mother. Sure, she was upset that she never got to meet her birth parents (except for a brief moment when her father blew up her home planet of Alderaan). Leia just wished her and Luke could've been raised by the both of them, instead of being separated.

She sighed and rubbed her head. She could feel herself getting lightheaded from the outburst. She didn't feel like herself recently, and she was having a hard time deciding what was causing the shift in her emotions. Luke thought it could've been the change of lifestyle and adopting the Jedi philosophy plus the added training. But Leia knew it was because Han wasn't there.

She knew that Han and Chewbacca had to leave on short notices to pay back some bounties, but it didn't make it any easier when they left.

Leia was caught in a daydream, thinking back to the day when Han was scheduled to leave for a month. She hated watching him scope out the Falcon for any knicks before taking off.

"Are you sure you have to go?" She questioned him as she leaned against the metal core that was his ship.

Han glanced up from his work and pulled the safety goggles off his eyes, placing them on his forehead. He walked over to her. "You know I don't want to sweetheart," Han explained to her. "But I'll have an even bigger price tag on my head if I don't pay back the bounty hunters," he said before wrapping his arms around her lower back, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Leia embraced his hug, laying her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "I know. Just be safe out there, please," she said with her warm chocolate eyes looking up to his soft hazel ones.

Han gave a small nod of his head along with his lopsided grin that always seemed to be plastered to his face. "As you request, Your Highness," Han stated, getting an eye roll from his wife. "Don't worry about me, Princess. I'll be back before you know it," Han assured her. "I love you," he whispered to her as he pried her lips open with a kiss.

After a moment, they both pulled back, a huge smile on Leia's face. "I know," she said with a small laugh and a wink of her right eye. She smiled up at her smuggler and stood back from the ship as he gave her a small wave with a smile when her walked up the ramp.

Life without Han was a big change for Leia. Many sleepless nights and longs days became tough and she wanted him back the moment that he left...

"Leia? Oh Leia..." Luke called to her, snapping his fingers and trying to get his sister's attention. "I've been calling you for the last minute," he said, an annoyed tone added to his voice.

"Sorry," Leia said, coming out of her trance. She looked down at the ground and kicked a rock. It had been almost two months since Han left, a lot longer than she thought he'd be gone.  Since he had been gone, Leia found herself staying in their bunker much more frequently than their house near the village. Putting in more hours with the base was a lot easier than working from home.

"I think that's enough training for today. Go ahead and go back, we'll continue tomorrow." Luke said to her, heading back towards the camp.

Leia watched him walk and decided to pick his brain. "Luke..?" Leia started to question. "You said you knew our father. What did you learn from him?" Leia asked, looking at Luke.

Luke took a deep breath and turned around to face his sister. "It's a long story, you better take a seat," Luke suggested as Leia nodded and found a sturdy rock, next to her brother.

"There was still good in him Leia, I felt it. I only saw his face for a couple of moments before he passed away. When the celebration was going on here after the defeat, I saw our father again. There was still light in him Leia, I could feel it, and I knew he felt it too," Luke told her. "I tried to save him the best that I could, but he was gone before I could get him back to the ship," Luke explained, sadness overcoming his facial expression. "I haven't told you yet, but after I gave him a proper Jedi funeral, and I kept his helmet as a reminder of what I never want to become," he added.

When the forest was deathly quiet, Luke stood up and looked down at his sister. "We have already gone over the Force Ghost lesson, so now you may be able to see and communicate with another Force sensitive person. Of course it's not you who chooses the time, but them. I saw our father, along with Obi-Wan and Master Yoda." Luke added, looking over at Leia.

Leia took a deep breath and pulled her knees up to her chest as the forest grew colder.

After a moment of not speaking, Luke broke the silence. "Leia, listen. That's enough for today. Let's get back home," Luke said and started walking back towards the base, Leia trailing a few steps behind. The twins parted ways once they reached the village, Luke heading towards the mess hall and Leia heading towards her hut.
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May the Force be with you, always.
M.S.

Word count: 1462