Chapter Text
"I'm worried about her," Mom said.
"I know dear," Dad said. "But Leia is her own person and sometimes that means she will do the unexpected."
Leia did her best not to move even a little bit. If she did her parents would discover her hiding place and that was unacceptable. She needed to hear what they were saying about her. If Mom was worried then she needed to fix it so that she wouldn't be. Leia couldn't be the reason her mom had more stress. So she kept herself still in the small space she had squeezed into. Even if her ten year old body wasn't really fitting into the space anymore.
Soon she would need to find another bigger one. But that would not be easy with the room. That was future Leia's problem though.
"She doesn't have any friends her own age," Mom said. "Not even one. All she has is her droid."
"She prefers to be alone," Dad said. "And you know that she doesn't trust easily."
"Which is another worry in itself."
"It will keep her safer though."
Her mom sighed and Leia could imagine the look on her face. It would be tired and a bit disappointed, but also annoyance at her dad because he was right. Leia knew how dangerous it was to trust others. It would only get her hurt.
"It will but it does not stop the fact that a child her age needs to have friends her age as well. It is not good for her social development."
It was her dad's turn to sigh as he gave into her mom's argument.
"What can we do? She already can't stand her cousins and seemingly has no interest in making friends with her classmates. Her teacher said the other kids find her no fun and Leia said she doesn't think they care enough."
"I don't know right now. Maybe we can ask her about finding or starting a club of some sort."
There was silence and then Lei heard her parents get up to leave the room. Once they had been gone for a long time, Leia crawled out from her hiding spot. She stretched her sore muscles while she thought. They thought she needed friends. But Leia didn't know how to make friends which would be a problem. And she didn't want them.
Other than Luke. Who everyone told her was just an imaginary friend. But Leia knew he had to be real. Even if no one believed her (except maybe Dad who always got a pinched face when she mentioned talking to Luke). She decided she needed to talk to him. She always came up with the best ideas when she was able to do that.
Leia hurried back to her bedroom and told the droids outside that she had a headache and wanted to lie down for a little while before locking herself in the room.
She sat on the floor and took a deep breath, calling up the part of her that could speak to her only friend. And waited to see if he would answer. Sometimes it would take a while before he could come to her.
Quicker than normal he appeared in front of her, also appearing to sit on the floor in a cross-legged position very similar to her own. His hair was a mess and it made Leia want to fix it. She itched to reach out and straighten it. But she knew she couldn't. His blue form couldn't be touched by her. Which was very frustrating. For many reasons beyond just his hair.
"Hi Leia!" he said with a huge smile.
"Hi Luke," she replied. "How are you?"
She knew it wasn't normal for her age to start with conversations with that question. But it was what all the adults did so she did too. It made people give her information. At least when they didn't think she was weird. But Luke never thought she was, which was nice.
"I'm doing great! I got to go into the town and ride in the speeder and it was amazing," he said, nearly bouncing.
"That's good," Leia said.
Luke's demeanor shifted. And he squinted his eyes at her. Like he was looking into her soul. Which was possible because Leia felt like she could see into his sometimes. Or those were the best words for what she felt that she had.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"My parents are worried about me," she said. "About the fact that I don't have any friends. That they can see."
She added the last when Luke's face started to fall at the idea he wasn't her friend. Because he was the only one that Leia had.
"So you just need to make some," Luke said, matter of factly.
Leia frowned at his easy smile. He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world to do. Which it wasn't. She had thought that Luke would understand. But he wasn't.
"It's not easy to make friends."
"You've never had trouble with me."
"You're different," Leia said. "You're easy to talk to and there isn't the same kind of pressure."
Luke tilted his head to the side. He had a look of deep thought on his face. Which was unusual for him. She was normally the thinker of the pair of them.
"Didn't you say you wanted to be a senator like your dad?" Luke asked after a long moment.
"I do," Leia said. "Which is why I don't have time to make friends with other children."
"Why not pretend that it is practice then? For when you are going to have to get along with others in the senate? There's no way you will like all of them."
She thought about it for a long moment. Luke was right that there would be a lot of people that she didn't like in the senate. Too many of them actually believed in what the Emperor did. Which meant they would not be on her side. So practice with making the people around her like her while she hated them would be useful for when she got to the senate. And as long as she pretended to like them in front of her parents it might even help them stop worrying about her lack of social interactions.
"That might work," she said.
Luke smiled and then looked up and disappeared without a goodbye. Which wasn't unusual. She had done the same when her parents appeared.
She set her new plan in motion.
-
"So is it working?" Luke asked.
It had been almost two months since their times had lined up and they were able to talk again. Two months of Leia trying with the idea that Luke had helped her come up with. Two months of trying to become friends with other children who she found boring or annoying. Or both. She was still avoiding the ones that she really couldn't bear to be around. It had been different for her to not reject when the other kids came to ask her to join their games. And even more to start taking her own turns at coming up with them. It hadn't been easy with how she had acted to all of them previously but she was making headway. And some of them became more bearable over time. Maybe almost to the point where Leia could almost like them.
"I think it is working," she said. "The other kids in my class have been asking me to play with them more. I don't have the most fun with their games but they are doing some of the things I like with me too."
Luke had a giant smile on his face. Which made Leia smile. His was always infectious and was the best way to get her to smile sometimes. He looked so happy that he had been able to help her.
"That's great! You have friends now."
"I'm not sure they really count as friends," Leia sighed. "I'm not sure I really like them."
Luke just shrugged.
"I don't like Biggs's brother but I still say we are friends. We play when I am over at their homestead."
It was Leia's turn to shrug.
"Sometimes it is fun and my parents seem less worried. They smile when I tell them stories."
"Which is what you really wanted."
Leia nodded her agreement. That was her main goal and it was working. Which was great and it made her happy. And even if she wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even Luke, she did think she was happier after playing with the other kids. Even if she did think they were somewhat silly. Maybe her parents had been right and she needed to act more her age. But the galaxy didn't want to let her do that anymore than being the sole heir to her mother's throne did.
At least some parts of the experiment were going well and she would be able to continue it. And maybe she would have an actual friend other than Luke by the end of it.